So, today i had to give this class to fill in for the professor. It was at nine a.m. so i thought to make it a little informal so as not to put all the students to sleep. I think i succeeded, at least their eyes were open all the time, but they didn't have any questions afterwards. Also, i kind of had to fill two hours but didn't get so far, kind of was finished after one hour and a bit, after which they were happy to be let go. Luckily the prof wasn't there....
It was kind of fun to do, but i can see the demands of giving an entire course of many, many hours, and then multiple in one semester. Well, don't have to worry about that for the moment, but i can see how it would be challenging to balance teaching and writing.
Other than that, seeing the impact of the flu pandemic. Nothing yet here in the Netherlands*, only a suspected case in Belgium. But it makes you think, my colleague in front of me is sneezing all the time and very tired, could it be? Really sad this is happening in Mexico, thinking of some of the places i visited and people i met there. It's very good that the WHO has this crisis centre and all the experts, it's tragic enough as hundreds have died (although it seems unclear all due to this virus, maybe normal flu as well) but not millions by having analyses and preventive measures.
* Update: there is a case here now, a 3yo kid, but he/she seems to be recovering.
** Update 2: so someone tried to cover his ass saying he send an email to the WHO after the outbreak and that they responded late, which reminded me of this funny vid:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqQ6Z-HmAqY&feature=fvst
woensdag 29 april 2009
donderdag 23 april 2009
collapse
So, i had some setbacks since last week, and, man, am i ever feeling grumpier and grumpier. It was like this one disappointment, then the next and before you know it there's an avalanche of negativity you allow coming your way. What to do?? One thing is to think about causes, what to do about changing that. Try not to take it out on people you meet, not drink anything, etc, etc. Watch funny movies. Yea, i found my old Robin of Sherwood series from the 80s on youtube, thanks Ravindraa for uploading, the only good appearance of Robin Hood on the screen ever, with the stuff on paganism and the hilarious characters.
But that still leaves a lot of dark thoughts.
So i was doing a lot of thinkng on collapse. That is one good subject for negativity, and something more specific came to mind reading Cristopher Hitchens piece in Slate on the handing of the Swat valley in Pakistan to sort-of Taliban/AQ factions:
http://www.slate.com/id/2213246/
There's a great deal to be negative about here, not only will the thugs impose cruel punishment on men and women who do not follow their 'divine law', there's also the threat that this will spill over to other parts in northern Pakistan and that they will cooperate with the army and secret service to gain control of the country. And the nukes. It's the potential first stone of the domino effect. That, at least, is what hawks will tell you. For others there is this inevitable march towards modernity where such relapses to medievalism (sorry Robin!!) are seen as errors or little accidents along the way, to be resolved, i guess, by history, or more accurately, i think, by magic. So, which narrative is right?
Well, i would think it's about power, the desire of the Taliban/AQ to gain power over people, the desire of some to make their nation 'great' by attacking India. But there's also the desire of some to protect their country against the fanaticism, as large parts of the population are more secular and democratic. For example, the people of Chitral, wedged between Afghanistan and Swat have formed their own units and are protecting their community through force of arms. So, we'll see who wins, but Obama was right that this is a more dangerous thing than Iraq atm.
I was busy thinking about such things because i am writing this paper, based on earlier research, on collapse, specifically the collapse of the Mycenaeans in Greece c. 1200 B.C. Everything disappeared here, cities, writing, government, art (mostly). What happened? Well, people have put forward quite dramatic things, invading barbarians, massive 'earthquacke storms', peasant revolutions, plagues, desastrous inter-city warfare, even comets from outer space. My theory is not quite so dramatic and deals with the basic way the economy worked. This was based fundamentally on getting a surplus of grains to 'finance' other kind of activities. Getting this surplus is quite difficult in labour terms because of some seasonal factors where you have limited times/manpower for ploughing the field and harvesting the crop. To get around this you can either use intensive garden agriculture or scale up and use massive oxen for your ploughing. But the latter makes you quite vulnerable, as computer models have shown. It seems that if plough oxen become unavailable or too few you have no surplus of grains anymore.
Which means your economy is gone. And i don't mean a 5% decrease here. People can go back to their gardens, but they cannot supply the state/market with all the produce to sustain scribes, specialists, government officials and the like. So, there you go. Of course i have to add a lot more scholarly detail to this but the basic logic is there. Was this so bad for the people? Hard to say. If you see the destructions and site abandonments, you think yes. But on the other hand people might quite welcome the return to simpler societies. After all we humans are more adapted to live in smaller societies, which are often more egalitarian as we know from ethnography. Well, despite being grumpy i like my society, more or less, so i think such value judgements don't matter so much.
Grumpy still, well, the cat managed to change back in one day to being really cheerful.
But that still leaves a lot of dark thoughts.
So i was doing a lot of thinkng on collapse. That is one good subject for negativity, and something more specific came to mind reading Cristopher Hitchens piece in Slate on the handing of the Swat valley in Pakistan to sort-of Taliban/AQ factions:
http://www.slate.com/id/2213246/
There's a great deal to be negative about here, not only will the thugs impose cruel punishment on men and women who do not follow their 'divine law', there's also the threat that this will spill over to other parts in northern Pakistan and that they will cooperate with the army and secret service to gain control of the country. And the nukes. It's the potential first stone of the domino effect. That, at least, is what hawks will tell you. For others there is this inevitable march towards modernity where such relapses to medievalism (sorry Robin!!) are seen as errors or little accidents along the way, to be resolved, i guess, by history, or more accurately, i think, by magic. So, which narrative is right?
Well, i would think it's about power, the desire of the Taliban/AQ to gain power over people, the desire of some to make their nation 'great' by attacking India. But there's also the desire of some to protect their country against the fanaticism, as large parts of the population are more secular and democratic. For example, the people of Chitral, wedged between Afghanistan and Swat have formed their own units and are protecting their community through force of arms. So, we'll see who wins, but Obama was right that this is a more dangerous thing than Iraq atm.
I was busy thinking about such things because i am writing this paper, based on earlier research, on collapse, specifically the collapse of the Mycenaeans in Greece c. 1200 B.C. Everything disappeared here, cities, writing, government, art (mostly). What happened? Well, people have put forward quite dramatic things, invading barbarians, massive 'earthquacke storms', peasant revolutions, plagues, desastrous inter-city warfare, even comets from outer space. My theory is not quite so dramatic and deals with the basic way the economy worked. This was based fundamentally on getting a surplus of grains to 'finance' other kind of activities. Getting this surplus is quite difficult in labour terms because of some seasonal factors where you have limited times/manpower for ploughing the field and harvesting the crop. To get around this you can either use intensive garden agriculture or scale up and use massive oxen for your ploughing. But the latter makes you quite vulnerable, as computer models have shown. It seems that if plough oxen become unavailable or too few you have no surplus of grains anymore.
Which means your economy is gone. And i don't mean a 5% decrease here. People can go back to their gardens, but they cannot supply the state/market with all the produce to sustain scribes, specialists, government officials and the like. So, there you go. Of course i have to add a lot more scholarly detail to this but the basic logic is there. Was this so bad for the people? Hard to say. If you see the destructions and site abandonments, you think yes. But on the other hand people might quite welcome the return to simpler societies. After all we humans are more adapted to live in smaller societies, which are often more egalitarian as we know from ethnography. Well, despite being grumpy i like my society, more or less, so i think such value judgements don't matter so much.
Grumpy still, well, the cat managed to change back in one day to being really cheerful.
dinsdag 21 april 2009
cat truble
During the weekend i spotted on of the cats on the roof calling me out to say hello. That is what he does, doesn't come in to you, you are summoned outside to hear the message. This time i noticed that there was something strange with his head, that a lot of hair was missing and some blood and huge scratches. Not so good, so it was time to go see a vet.
Unfortunately he hadn't lost any of his strength so i also got some nasty scratches trying to get him in the transport-thing. Nice. As the vet explained it was likely from a high sensitivity to itches, so the poor cat used his nails to peel down his own skin in order to get rid of the feeling. Luckily that had some easy cure in the form of an injection and extra anti-flee stuff. The latter also to be applied to the other cat. So i did and he hates me now. Everytime he sees me he stares at me or runs away. Sometimes comes a little near, but then jumps back again. You can almost see the doubt, "i hate you, i thought you were my friend, you put this stuff on me, how could you, how could i've been wrong about you!". I just sort of signal, "later, later, you will understand why i did it".
Weather has improved, time for biking, I've been thinking of making a really long one somewhere, maybe UK or France or even Spain, well busy now anyway, we'll see.
Unfortunately he hadn't lost any of his strength so i also got some nasty scratches trying to get him in the transport-thing. Nice. As the vet explained it was likely from a high sensitivity to itches, so the poor cat used his nails to peel down his own skin in order to get rid of the feeling. Luckily that had some easy cure in the form of an injection and extra anti-flee stuff. The latter also to be applied to the other cat. So i did and he hates me now. Everytime he sees me he stares at me or runs away. Sometimes comes a little near, but then jumps back again. You can almost see the doubt, "i hate you, i thought you were my friend, you put this stuff on me, how could you, how could i've been wrong about you!". I just sort of signal, "later, later, you will understand why i did it".
Weather has improved, time for biking, I've been thinking of making a really long one somewhere, maybe UK or France or even Spain, well busy now anyway, we'll see.
zondag 19 april 2009
futbol
So today, this day, a day in history.......maybe even a day of history. Today, my dear readers, AZ Alkmaar became champions of futbol in the Netherlands.
Yes, i wanted to share that, for the rest i find myself totally uninspired to say something about this shattering event. Maybe i'm just drained of the excitement i didn't experience, it can all be a little too much sometimes.
No, i like futbol, i really do. Can just remember playing it with my friends when i was a kid, on summer days on the grass between the flats. We'd be playing and lazing in the grass till it got dark, the game being a very good excuse to hang out there. I also like to watch the really high-quality games of the Champions League (the Europe-wide club competition) on tv sometimes, some of them are quite fun to watch. Knowing a little about it is handy for small-talk too. I've also found that it is a really good and fun way to tease those of the female persuasion.
But there's darker sides to it as well. I remember being in a train as a little kid with a load of these hooligan types. And just when we got out, they threw this bomb out of the window which, just in front of me, got this man in a quite serious condition. Ever since then I've been having dark thoughts about the lot. Also, today here there is this idea that futbol is part of our culture and it gets millions from municipal governments because it would promote social cohesion or something like that. For sure, i just love the way cohesion is expressed by the hooligans calling each other funny names and trying to hug each other desperately.
So, it leaves me a little underwhelmed. And so it does for the AZ Alkmaar fans. They're called the 'kaaskijkers' (cheese watchers), a reference to the perception that they watch their team playing with about the same passion as they watch cheese being made (Alkmaar is a cheese town). So maybe it's a good thing they're the ones winning.
Yes, i wanted to share that, for the rest i find myself totally uninspired to say something about this shattering event. Maybe i'm just drained of the excitement i didn't experience, it can all be a little too much sometimes.
No, i like futbol, i really do. Can just remember playing it with my friends when i was a kid, on summer days on the grass between the flats. We'd be playing and lazing in the grass till it got dark, the game being a very good excuse to hang out there. I also like to watch the really high-quality games of the Champions League (the Europe-wide club competition) on tv sometimes, some of them are quite fun to watch. Knowing a little about it is handy for small-talk too. I've also found that it is a really good and fun way to tease those of the female persuasion.
But there's darker sides to it as well. I remember being in a train as a little kid with a load of these hooligan types. And just when we got out, they threw this bomb out of the window which, just in front of me, got this man in a quite serious condition. Ever since then I've been having dark thoughts about the lot. Also, today here there is this idea that futbol is part of our culture and it gets millions from municipal governments because it would promote social cohesion or something like that. For sure, i just love the way cohesion is expressed by the hooligans calling each other funny names and trying to hug each other desperately.
So, it leaves me a little underwhelmed. And so it does for the AZ Alkmaar fans. They're called the 'kaaskijkers' (cheese watchers), a reference to the perception that they watch their team playing with about the same passion as they watch cheese being made (Alkmaar is a cheese town). So maybe it's a good thing they're the ones winning.
vrijdag 17 april 2009
serenpidity
Maybe life has a way of making these little suggestions to you as you wind your way through it. I mean, lots of times my thoughts are completely occupied on Big Issues That Need To Be Resolved and then, seemingly random, some little suggestion seems to come out of nowhere and changes everything. It's true for many things, but also for writing. So, when i was travelling through Mexico, i had invested heavily in the archaeology of Oaxaca (where one of my supervisors is doing work) and the Yucatan (where i really wanted to be). So, one day i went from D.F. (that is Distrito Federal, Mexico City) to see the site of Teotihuacan. I did not really want to be there, but yea it's one you are obliged to see in Mexico. Walking around it gave me a quite strange feeling, so unlike as it was to any archaeological site i had ever encountered.
Not only strange but it seemed a bit desolate, the wind eerily blowing on the long Avenue. You could sense the past there, but it was unsettling, i was just longing for the forests, pyramids and cenotes of the Yucatan. After wandering around for a few hours, i exited the site and saw this sign for a museum. That is strange, because there is a huge museum inside the site, but this was another one. It's called the Museo de la Pintura Teotihuacana, that is the museum of the paintings of Teotihuacan (to go there, exit through gate 2 and walk a little to the right on this path to where you see this large white building, if you have time and feel in the mood to go there, you should, it's amazing!!). Here you, there's really no one else there, can see the murals of the city. They are really beautiful, depicting strange creatures and gods, i was really impressed.
btw, you can read something about them online here:
http://www.jqjacobs.net/mesoamerica/teo_murals.html
So, i went on, returned to the wonderful land of the cenotes, and later back to Europe. But the images somehow lingered in the back of my mind. Then, as you can read in two blogs ago, i got a really big headache from this comparative stuff, trying to compare the 2% with the other 2%. Also, i was taking this iconography class from the Oaxaca professor, and then it occurred to me that maybe i could limit myself to answering a more limited question. Questions started to come up in my head: have all early civilizations kings or can there be alternatives? Can we say something about this from the way these societies portrayed themselves in images? Is this not an important question asked by those studying the images i saw in the Museo de la Pintura Teotihuacana? Is this also not an important question asked by scholars of Minoan Crete?
Yea, i had my writing subject.
It's quite new for me, as i started out from a very different angle, but it is good to do something new. It also shifts the balance very much towards the Americas. Of course, i would have really liked to write something about the Yucatan, but i feel it is good like this, no need to write up everything you encounter in life, otherwise it's very hard to enjoy it ;)
Not only strange but it seemed a bit desolate, the wind eerily blowing on the long Avenue. You could sense the past there, but it was unsettling, i was just longing for the forests, pyramids and cenotes of the Yucatan. After wandering around for a few hours, i exited the site and saw this sign for a museum. That is strange, because there is a huge museum inside the site, but this was another one. It's called the Museo de la Pintura Teotihuacana, that is the museum of the paintings of Teotihuacan (to go there, exit through gate 2 and walk a little to the right on this path to where you see this large white building, if you have time and feel in the mood to go there, you should, it's amazing!!). Here you, there's really no one else there, can see the murals of the city. They are really beautiful, depicting strange creatures and gods, i was really impressed.
btw, you can read something about them online here:
http://www.jqjacobs.net/mesoamerica/teo_murals.html
So, i went on, returned to the wonderful land of the cenotes, and later back to Europe. But the images somehow lingered in the back of my mind. Then, as you can read in two blogs ago, i got a really big headache from this comparative stuff, trying to compare the 2% with the other 2%. Also, i was taking this iconography class from the Oaxaca professor, and then it occurred to me that maybe i could limit myself to answering a more limited question. Questions started to come up in my head: have all early civilizations kings or can there be alternatives? Can we say something about this from the way these societies portrayed themselves in images? Is this not an important question asked by those studying the images i saw in the Museo de la Pintura Teotihuacana? Is this also not an important question asked by scholars of Minoan Crete?
Yea, i had my writing subject.
It's quite new for me, as i started out from a very different angle, but it is good to do something new. It also shifts the balance very much towards the Americas. Of course, i would have really liked to write something about the Yucatan, but i feel it is good like this, no need to write up everything you encounter in life, otherwise it's very hard to enjoy it ;)
dinsdag 14 april 2009
two songs
I always get uncomfortable when i have to say what music i like. It kind of defines you, huh, so you should really say the right thing. If you like a lot of different styles and are changing what you listen to a lot, that's just hard man. Better to say nuthing? No no no, i like talking about it with the non-fanatic crowd!!
So, i was browsing through which songs are in the charts, checking them out on youtube. Really a bit depressing the lot. 37 out of 40 were really horrible, 2 i already knew. But i did find this 'new' song i had missed somehow, it's called 'The Fear' by Lily Allen. Who? Oh, i saw she was the one from 'smile' (hhhmmm, mixed feelings). But this song is something different, it has a lot of pace, a delightful ironic directness and the vid is funny. Of course, this slow-to-catch-on is not going to say "check it out", unless you're even slower ;)
The other two were by the Killers, did like 'human' already. But, if you know the song, the lyrics are pretty puzzling. They sing:
"Are we huuumaaan, or are we.....(something like denser or dancer)"
Never got this, what does it mean that i could either be human or "denser" (huh) or "dancer" (why, can humans not be dancers, then?). But boorens18 on youtube has solved the problem for us!! Its "dancer" and, yea, if you look at the rest of the lyrics it kind of makes sense. But in his listening its not dancer as positive but as a puppet, for example to quote him:
I really began to understand the song much better listening to it like this, there'd always been some parts i liked and understood but as a whole didn't make much sense. Can see it for yourself here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2vGiAyAWvE&feature=channel_page
Selling nine of my books today. Some of the stuff i bought years past, what was i thinking!! I'm only keeping what i really need or really like, stuff doesn't own me. Btw thanks to Sammy for pointing out an important book (and on pdf)! Should get all study stuff on pdfs, but not my really old book on Ivanhoe i should think....
So, i was browsing through which songs are in the charts, checking them out on youtube. Really a bit depressing the lot. 37 out of 40 were really horrible, 2 i already knew. But i did find this 'new' song i had missed somehow, it's called 'The Fear' by Lily Allen. Who? Oh, i saw she was the one from 'smile' (hhhmmm, mixed feelings). But this song is something different, it has a lot of pace, a delightful ironic directness and the vid is funny. Of course, this slow-to-catch-on is not going to say "check it out", unless you're even slower ;)
The other two were by the Killers, did like 'human' already. But, if you know the song, the lyrics are pretty puzzling. They sing:
"Are we huuumaaan, or are we.....(something like denser or dancer)"
Never got this, what does it mean that i could either be human or "denser" (huh) or "dancer" (why, can humans not be dancers, then?). But boorens18 on youtube has solved the problem for us!! Its "dancer" and, yea, if you look at the rest of the lyrics it kind of makes sense. But in his listening its not dancer as positive but as a puppet, for example to quote him:
I did my best to notice,Or:
When the call came down the line.
(called meaning the strings are pulling the puppet, metaphor for society pulling him to one direction)
Pay my respects to grace and virtue,
Send my condolences to good.
Give my regards to soul and romance,
They always did the best they could.
And so long to devotion,
You taught my everything I know.
Wave goodbye, Wish me well.
(this whole verse is simulating what the "dancers" of this generation do. Give up their personal emotion and individuality to become the dancing puppets)
I really began to understand the song much better listening to it like this, there'd always been some parts i liked and understood but as a whole didn't make much sense. Can see it for yourself here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2vGiAyAWvE&feature=channel_page
Selling nine of my books today. Some of the stuff i bought years past, what was i thinking!! I'm only keeping what i really need or really like, stuff doesn't own me. Btw thanks to Sammy for pointing out an important book (and on pdf)! Should get all study stuff on pdfs, but not my really old book on Ivanhoe i should think....
maandag 13 april 2009
grappling with the subject
This Easter i was harassed by supernatural forces, i swear!! I had drawn up such a nice plan for work, that i would read and write this and that. Already feeling really good about myself. Now it is the last day and nuthing happened.
Why?
The old bogeyman of 'the subject' came to visit me.
For any writer this can be a killer. You sit behind wherever you are writing on and then what? Worse, for an academic thesis i can't just turn out anything i like, it's going to be judged on things like coherence and method. It's kind of tortured writing, for myself i like something like what in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica was known as 'flowery speech', where style and message where linked to create a powerful resonance with the audience.
But i digress.
The subject. Mine is comparing societies. Fascinating, but a bit vague. You can compare anything, how are you going to limit yourself?? Time to bring out the weed cutter. First thing that needs to be cut is 'theories'. There's 1,000s of them about societies, from Marx to Adam Smith to Badiou, Zizek, whoever happens to have a good old or new and hip idea. You never get out of the library in your lifetime if you take this too seriously, and i don't like sitting in libraries for more than a few hours. Better to focus on the data itself and work from there back to general ideas.
Problem is that the data of archaeology are so %^&%^&I^ incomplete. For example only 2% of Teotihuacan has been excavated (even that is huge). This is nothing new for archaeologists, we live with it. But for comparing regions it's a killer i've found. You can see, what does it mean when you compare 2% of one society with 2% of another??? Even worse you might just have in those 2% samples things that can't really compare. I've spent over a year going over the literature of different regions in Greece and Mesoamerica, including spending 4 months or so in Mexico and around looking at ruins.
That was fun, but now i have to write!!
I thought i had a winner, then another horse passed and got in front. We're at the finishing line almost, i have to present my ideas and approach this Thursday.
Am i betting on the right horse? I think so, my present idea is both elegant and workable. Elegant means that it is original and addresses a question other people find interesting too, workable means that it can fit within my as yet ill-defined wider plans. But yea, the horses are still racing and alternatives kept hitting me the last few days. I decided yesterday to drink a few beers to get 'some oversight'.
All that did was that for some reason my rather intoxicated brain had me registering myself on facebook!! Buh, i know i should not get behind a computer when i am drunk. Maybe that's why this blog is such a good idea, that i just can write something silly here instead of sending crazy emails, don't you think mr house on the mountain, ms hut on the beach. ;)
No, my friends, of course that is not the subject for the blog. It's just that like my travelling blog i will use it to put down news and my thoughts. Don't worry it won't be all about research either!!
So, happy Easter all, will try to update regularly, once a week i think.
Why?
The old bogeyman of 'the subject' came to visit me.
For any writer this can be a killer. You sit behind wherever you are writing on and then what? Worse, for an academic thesis i can't just turn out anything i like, it's going to be judged on things like coherence and method. It's kind of tortured writing, for myself i like something like what in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica was known as 'flowery speech', where style and message where linked to create a powerful resonance with the audience.
But i digress.
The subject. Mine is comparing societies. Fascinating, but a bit vague. You can compare anything, how are you going to limit yourself?? Time to bring out the weed cutter. First thing that needs to be cut is 'theories'. There's 1,000s of them about societies, from Marx to Adam Smith to Badiou, Zizek, whoever happens to have a good old or new and hip idea. You never get out of the library in your lifetime if you take this too seriously, and i don't like sitting in libraries for more than a few hours. Better to focus on the data itself and work from there back to general ideas.
Problem is that the data of archaeology are so %^&%^&I^ incomplete. For example only 2% of Teotihuacan has been excavated (even that is huge). This is nothing new for archaeologists, we live with it. But for comparing regions it's a killer i've found. You can see, what does it mean when you compare 2% of one society with 2% of another??? Even worse you might just have in those 2% samples things that can't really compare. I've spent over a year going over the literature of different regions in Greece and Mesoamerica, including spending 4 months or so in Mexico and around looking at ruins.
That was fun, but now i have to write!!
I thought i had a winner, then another horse passed and got in front. We're at the finishing line almost, i have to present my ideas and approach this Thursday.
Am i betting on the right horse? I think so, my present idea is both elegant and workable. Elegant means that it is original and addresses a question other people find interesting too, workable means that it can fit within my as yet ill-defined wider plans. But yea, the horses are still racing and alternatives kept hitting me the last few days. I decided yesterday to drink a few beers to get 'some oversight'.
All that did was that for some reason my rather intoxicated brain had me registering myself on facebook!! Buh, i know i should not get behind a computer when i am drunk. Maybe that's why this blog is such a good idea, that i just can write something silly here instead of sending crazy emails, don't you think mr house on the mountain, ms hut on the beach. ;)
No, my friends, of course that is not the subject for the blog. It's just that like my travelling blog i will use it to put down news and my thoughts. Don't worry it won't be all about research either!!
So, happy Easter all, will try to update regularly, once a week i think.
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