Yes, I've been a bit busy and not so much time for another update. Things are going well. Writing is coming along, weather is excellent so lots of biking as training for my summer plan. Barca managed to win the CL cup quite easily over ManU so that was good.
I found another use for Youtube to deal with quarreling/whining cats. Sometimes they just can't seem to leave you alone with their ways or leave each other at peace. Funny if you play some clips on youtube of cats meowing they think it's the real thing!! So they go absolutely crazy and try to find where is this Invader Cat in the house. It's hilarious to see, but I have to keep myself from doing it too often, lest they suspect something. :)
vrijdag 29 mei 2009
vrijdag 15 mei 2009
space 'geek'
So, i admit to being a bit of a space 'geek', watching the space shuttle go up to service the hubble telescope. This stuff really appealed to me from an early age, as an extension of my fondness of aeroplanes. I didn't end up being an aerospace engineer, which suits me just fine, but i like to keep following all things above the earth.
In my mind there's two basic visions of space. One is that it's a frontier that we will go and settle, you know go to the Moon and strip-mine it to get an even bigger economy. Kind of the Star Trek way of viewing the future. The vision of humanity conquering ever more and more. I think this is unlikely. For starters the human body isn't adapted for space. Not only is there no ecosystem to support us, the radiation, weightlessness and other dangers are prohibitive to living in space long-term. Also, even if there were diamonds lying on the Moon's surface it would cost too much bringing them back! I think the frontier idea is a false analogy.
No, i think space is more about exploration, about gaining new knowledge. Say, if we went to Mars we could find out about its climate and whether there was or is life there. That would give us more insights into evolution and climate change from a comparative perspective, which has important implications for science and through that for society. It may cost $100 billion to go there, and that is a lot, but in the larger scheme of things i think it could be very useful for us.
Yea, and the space 'geek' in me would find it really cool to see humans on some far-away planet.
In my mind there's two basic visions of space. One is that it's a frontier that we will go and settle, you know go to the Moon and strip-mine it to get an even bigger economy. Kind of the Star Trek way of viewing the future. The vision of humanity conquering ever more and more. I think this is unlikely. For starters the human body isn't adapted for space. Not only is there no ecosystem to support us, the radiation, weightlessness and other dangers are prohibitive to living in space long-term. Also, even if there were diamonds lying on the Moon's surface it would cost too much bringing them back! I think the frontier idea is a false analogy.
No, i think space is more about exploration, about gaining new knowledge. Say, if we went to Mars we could find out about its climate and whether there was or is life there. That would give us more insights into evolution and climate change from a comparative perspective, which has important implications for science and through that for society. It may cost $100 billion to go there, and that is a lot, but in the larger scheme of things i think it could be very useful for us.
Yea, and the space 'geek' in me would find it really cool to see humans on some far-away planet.
vrijdag 8 mei 2009
guitar etc
So, i am trying to learn to play guitar. Simple opportunism, there was one lying about and i felt like doing something new between writing and all the other stuff. After dusting off the instrument i went to this shop, where a very friendly person helped me get the snares right again. Now i have to learn some chords. Difficult! My fingers are not really very adept. Right now i'm typing this with one finger as i never got comfortabel with typing with two hands, so it's going to be a struggle i think. Well, that never scared me off.
Bit of a slow news week this. We put the sailing boat in the water (actually had forgotten about its existence), so maybe some sailing next week if the weather is good enough.
Bit of a slow news week this. We put the sailing boat in the water (actually had forgotten about its existence), so maybe some sailing next week if the weather is good enough.
maandag 4 mei 2009
stories
Last week i visited a friend and former colleague of mine, Karin, who had her first baby a few months ago, Tobias. Really funny guy this Tobias, understood my sense of humour too, unlike some adults. :)
Speaking of kids, i was thinking about education after reading Anna Simandiraki's article on the Minoans in Greek primary school education. I've been thinking about this, what is the impact of archaeology as conceived on a global scale, what is the meaning for people. Yea, you can come up with the heritage thing and roots and whatever at a national level, that may have some value but is also pretty narrow. It's the Story of Us as Whatevernationality. More appealing could be that education would allow for multiple perspectives, to allow students to explore the different aspects of the human condition, not as something distant from themselves but as part of their own life. The Story of Us as We Are.
How would you tell such a story? I don't know for sure, world archaeology is quite removed from history as most people know it. It can be very abstract and has a pretty arcane language, which i personally like a lot btw, which takes years of reading to grasp fully. You cannot go to kids, or even teens, with your 'dual-processual model', 'down the line trade', 'galactic polities' and all the other niceties we use in texts without much explanation. Neither do i believe in 'dumbing it down'. My tentative guess is that we ought to try for a new kind of narrative structure, one in which a set of stories about different early civilizations and cultures can be tied together by some larger story that appeals to children or teens. Something that makes it more relevant than getting to hear that this pyramid or castle is very important because it happened to occupy the same bit of land you are growing up in.
Some half-random thoughts this, but there is something to it also.
Speaking of kids, i was thinking about education after reading Anna Simandiraki's article on the Minoans in Greek primary school education. I've been thinking about this, what is the impact of archaeology as conceived on a global scale, what is the meaning for people. Yea, you can come up with the heritage thing and roots and whatever at a national level, that may have some value but is also pretty narrow. It's the Story of Us as Whatevernationality. More appealing could be that education would allow for multiple perspectives, to allow students to explore the different aspects of the human condition, not as something distant from themselves but as part of their own life. The Story of Us as We Are.
How would you tell such a story? I don't know for sure, world archaeology is quite removed from history as most people know it. It can be very abstract and has a pretty arcane language, which i personally like a lot btw, which takes years of reading to grasp fully. You cannot go to kids, or even teens, with your 'dual-processual model', 'down the line trade', 'galactic polities' and all the other niceties we use in texts without much explanation. Neither do i believe in 'dumbing it down'. My tentative guess is that we ought to try for a new kind of narrative structure, one in which a set of stories about different early civilizations and cultures can be tied together by some larger story that appeals to children or teens. Something that makes it more relevant than getting to hear that this pyramid or castle is very important because it happened to occupy the same bit of land you are growing up in.
Some half-random thoughts this, but there is something to it also.
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