Today I received my prize for the mushroom photo. I am so happy!
Friday, October 14, 2016
Tuesday, October 11, 2016
A Fungus Among Us
I entered the BIOSOC photo contest so I could get some of my photos displayed in the biology atrium at my university.
There were several contest categories including "Animals," "Plants" and "Other."
I entered some obligatory kea photos and one of a blue mushroom known as Entoloma hochstetteri.
I was thrilled to find this specimen near Fox Glacier.
To set the stage for the trouble I went through to get the picture,Nick's sons were running around the trail screaming, Nick was getting irritated at my taking so long to photograph a lowly mushroom and my pants got soaked while I tried to get on eye level with it.
Because there was low light, getting a clear shot without a tripod was a painful process.
On a side note, this is why I didn't join my university's hiking club-I didn't want to hold everyone up while I hovered over some small plant trying to get the prefect shot.
Anyway, here's my picture:
There were several contest categories including "Animals," "Plants" and "Other."
I entered some obligatory kea photos and one of a blue mushroom known as Entoloma hochstetteri.
I was thrilled to find this specimen near Fox Glacier.
To set the stage for the trouble I went through to get the picture,Nick's sons were running around the trail screaming, Nick was getting irritated at my taking so long to photograph a lowly mushroom and my pants got soaked while I tried to get on eye level with it.
Because there was low light, getting a clear shot without a tripod was a painful process.
On a side note, this is why I didn't join my university's hiking club-I didn't want to hold everyone up while I hovered over some small plant trying to get the prefect shot.
Anyway, here's my picture:
Today I found out my picture won a prize in the "other" category.
I stood no chance of beating the excellent work in the other categories but thankfully, a fungus is neither a plant or animal so I won in the weird, not likely to be entered class.
Hurrah!
Thursday, October 6, 2016
A Little Closer to Antarctica
In celebration of 60 years of a New Zealand presence in Antarctica, the International Antarctic Centre hosted an Ice Fest and gave the public a chance to go on board the U.S. Air Force C-17 that carried researchers and supplies down south.
It was awesome for me and mostly awesome for Alex although there were some tears for the latter.
First he wailed when we took him on the aircraft and then he wailed when it was time to leave.
I got to speak with some cool Air Force peeps and talk to some academics getting ready to head south to do a science.
It was awesome for me and mostly awesome for Alex although there were some tears for the latter.
First he wailed when we took him on the aircraft and then he wailed when it was time to leave.
I got to speak with some cool Air Force peeps and talk to some academics getting ready to head south to do a science.
 |
| There was a group of children dressed as penguins. Even the smallest of these sent Alex into tears. |
Saturday, September 24, 2016
The Amusing Trump
I was unpleasantly surprised when two of my friends recently confessed that they admired Trump.
It was particularly strange as one of them is Maori and the other is gay.
I tried to understand where they were coming from.
Here is a man who espouses xenophobic, homophobic, Islamophobic, racist and misogynistic views.
Even if he is merely pandering to his supporters, how can you admire someone who would do such a thing?
How can you admire someone who is has a low regard for your sexual orientation and would have no sympathy toward your historic struggles?
Maybe it's the fact that we all live in New Zealand where the threat of him affecting our daily lives seems too remote.
I can't admire or "give him credit" for being openly racist.
"He's not afraid to say what some people are thinking," they say.
So he's essentially amazing for taking advantage of the fears of ignorant white people who think their "way of life" and "American values" are under threat?
It was telling when The Daily Show sent reporters to interview Republicans on the subject of when "America was last great."
Most of the interviewees named dates before women could vote and when slavery was still legal.
Now we know what "Make America Great Again" really means. It means restoring it to a time when white, mostly Christian males held all the power.
But even if this could be brought about there is still the fact that a certain poofy haired oompah loompah isn't exactly a man of the people.
He's a wealthy businessman, one of the elite who throw their money at Congress to buy favors and chip away at democracy.
When I asked my gay friend why he admired Trump his response was because Hillary was corrupt.
I suppose he hadn't read about the $250,000 that Trump funneled from his charity to defend himself from lawsuits.
I also suppose he's never heard about the con game known as Trump University.
Look, it was fun for a while.
Even I enjoyed watching Trump trounce the GOP candidates who were trying to do business as usual but that was before he became the actual party candidate.
Now it's not amusing.
It's not funny.
As much as I don't hold the land of my birth particularly dear, I still care enough about my friends and relations there to want better things for them than Donald J Trump.
It was particularly strange as one of them is Maori and the other is gay.
I tried to understand where they were coming from.
Here is a man who espouses xenophobic, homophobic, Islamophobic, racist and misogynistic views.
Even if he is merely pandering to his supporters, how can you admire someone who would do such a thing?
How can you admire someone who is has a low regard for your sexual orientation and would have no sympathy toward your historic struggles?
Maybe it's the fact that we all live in New Zealand where the threat of him affecting our daily lives seems too remote.
I can't admire or "give him credit" for being openly racist.
"He's not afraid to say what some people are thinking," they say.
So he's essentially amazing for taking advantage of the fears of ignorant white people who think their "way of life" and "American values" are under threat?
It was telling when The Daily Show sent reporters to interview Republicans on the subject of when "America was last great."
Most of the interviewees named dates before women could vote and when slavery was still legal.
Now we know what "Make America Great Again" really means. It means restoring it to a time when white, mostly Christian males held all the power.
But even if this could be brought about there is still the fact that a certain poofy haired oompah loompah isn't exactly a man of the people.
He's a wealthy businessman, one of the elite who throw their money at Congress to buy favors and chip away at democracy.
When I asked my gay friend why he admired Trump his response was because Hillary was corrupt.
I suppose he hadn't read about the $250,000 that Trump funneled from his charity to defend himself from lawsuits.
I also suppose he's never heard about the con game known as Trump University.
Look, it was fun for a while.
Even I enjoyed watching Trump trounce the GOP candidates who were trying to do business as usual but that was before he became the actual party candidate.
Now it's not amusing.
It's not funny.
As much as I don't hold the land of my birth particularly dear, I still care enough about my friends and relations there to want better things for them than Donald J Trump.
Wednesday, September 21, 2016
The Carry Box
On Saturday I went to a garage sale.
I had been looking for a small side table to go in my office and nothing I saw online answered the call.
At this sale I came across a nice wooden box set on four legs with leather straps to hold it shut. I had never seen one before and asked the woman what it was.
She said she had made it in the Girl Guides and that they used to carry food and supplies in them.
She sold me the box for $5 and as I was giving it a good clean I got to see just how much detail and excellent skill had gone into making it.
Once again I swelled with indignation at the Brownie Scouts of America.
While we were carrying out non threatening "feminine" tasks like baking cookies and sewing buttons onto fabric squares, our sisters in New Zealand were Getting. Shit. Done.
I feel that in order to get rid of this bitterness I need to take an adult education course in basic carpentry.
Only after I have built a rickety spice rack or wobbly stool will I feel that the order of my universe has been set to rights.
I had been looking for a small side table to go in my office and nothing I saw online answered the call.
At this sale I came across a nice wooden box set on four legs with leather straps to hold it shut. I had never seen one before and asked the woman what it was.
She said she had made it in the Girl Guides and that they used to carry food and supplies in them.
She sold me the box for $5 and as I was giving it a good clean I got to see just how much detail and excellent skill had gone into making it.
Once again I swelled with indignation at the Brownie Scouts of America.
While we were carrying out non threatening "feminine" tasks like baking cookies and sewing buttons onto fabric squares, our sisters in New Zealand were Getting. Shit. Done.
I feel that in order to get rid of this bitterness I need to take an adult education course in basic carpentry.
Only after I have built a rickety spice rack or wobbly stool will I feel that the order of my universe has been set to rights.
Sunday, August 28, 2016
Fact vs Opinion
Last Saturday was the first time I had ever heard Greg Newbold's name. I was at the district court volunteering to be a juror so some young lawyers could work on their courtroom skills.
I learned that he was a professor at my school and had done time in prison for being part of a drug ring.
One former student recounted how she had visited his office when he was wearing short shorts with nothing underneath. She discovered this when he put his leg up and she could see his bits. She laughed about it but it sounded like something that would be hard to do "by accident."
One of his current students who was also in my jury group recounted how the professor told his class about a inmate who he thought was a really great guy before ending his story with a nonchalant mention that he had brutally murdered his wife.
After hearing these stories I made a mental note to avoid this man and his classes at all costs.
But it was not to be.
The very next day Nick sent me a news article about the same professor.
He had recently given a talk to promote his new book at the uni and several complaints had been lodged about sexist commentary he made during the event.
This gave rise to several more sexist and misguided comments in the press about "PC culture," "silencing freedom of speech" and "people's rights to have an opinion."
I will address these issues in a moment but first to his comments.
When speaking of a woman who was a champion of feminism Newbold instead focused on how attractive she was.
He also claimed that ladies wouldn't buy underwear modeled by fat women, sex will sell for biological reasons, women are attracted to strong men, men only want nubile women and women sometimes falsely report rape.
He then followed up with a statement to the press saying, "I wasn't there to make women feel good about themselves; I wasn't there to mollify feminists."
No, apparently he was there to start off with solid facts based on research and personal experience before derailing into psych evo and gender essentialist bullshit.
What does a woman's appearance have to do with her authority and understanding of subject matter?
Here, let me make my point a little clearer.
This is a photo of professor Newbold:
Because I think he resembles Mr Potato Head I can't be bothered to take anything he says seriously. No matter how many insights into prison conditions he may have gained through personal experience, he just isn't sexy enough for me to listen to.
Does this make any sense?
And yet, some men in two thousand and mother flippin' sixteen still feel the need to comment on a woman's appearance as if it has any relevance to what she has done with her academic career.
It's an insidious way of demeaning women and their accomplishments.
When a man does this he is attempting to confer importance onto his own opinion when there is none.
Whenever I hear of someone doing this I will automatically assume they are feeling threatened in some way.
The problem with a university giving a platform to someone like Newbold is that it gives his words an air of legitimacy.
While most universities wouldn't host a speaker claiming that some races are inferior to others or that the world is flat, many still seem to tolerate learned men passing off their misogyny as scientific fact.
The problem with claiming that everyone is entitled to their opinion is that Newbold's talk wasn't supposed to be about his opinions. It was supposed to be about facts, research and lived experience.
Opinions and facts are not the same thing.
Newbold wasn't in a debate. His was a solo performance in which his opinions were the only ones being heard.
Freedom of speech means the government doesn't interfere with private citizens rights to express themselves, It does not obligate universities have to give speaking time to every man with a crackpot theory about women and how they work.
If anything the administration should be embarrassed for having an employee who actually blurts out this sort of retrograde shit in public.
As for the term "PC," the people who deride it the most seem to yearn for the old days when you could openly demean others who you thought were beneath you.
When it comes to underwear purchases, I personally do not base my decision on the slimness of any model. I base my decision on whether or not something is likely to fit me and be comfortable.
From what I've seen of the world with my own two eyes, women take men in all shapes and sizes and men who only want nubile women are usually trying to compensate for something.
As for the false rape statistics, it seems that statistics from several international sources estimate between 2% and 8% of cases qualify. But the research is problematic because in several cases "false" was confused with cases declared "unfounded" and some of those cases weren't taken any further due to the personal bias of the investigating police officers.
To say the data is flawed is an understatement.
As for Newbold's right to speak his mind, I don't think it's under any threat.
He was able to blather out a whole bunch of ignorant nonsense, be an unapologetic a-hole about it in the press and keep the day job where he will likely tell more students about the great wife murderers he's known and befriended.
I learned that he was a professor at my school and had done time in prison for being part of a drug ring.
One former student recounted how she had visited his office when he was wearing short shorts with nothing underneath. She discovered this when he put his leg up and she could see his bits. She laughed about it but it sounded like something that would be hard to do "by accident."
One of his current students who was also in my jury group recounted how the professor told his class about a inmate who he thought was a really great guy before ending his story with a nonchalant mention that he had brutally murdered his wife.
After hearing these stories I made a mental note to avoid this man and his classes at all costs.
But it was not to be.
The very next day Nick sent me a news article about the same professor.
He had recently given a talk to promote his new book at the uni and several complaints had been lodged about sexist commentary he made during the event.
This gave rise to several more sexist and misguided comments in the press about "PC culture," "silencing freedom of speech" and "people's rights to have an opinion."
I will address these issues in a moment but first to his comments.
When speaking of a woman who was a champion of feminism Newbold instead focused on how attractive she was.
He also claimed that ladies wouldn't buy underwear modeled by fat women, sex will sell for biological reasons, women are attracted to strong men, men only want nubile women and women sometimes falsely report rape.
He then followed up with a statement to the press saying, "I wasn't there to make women feel good about themselves; I wasn't there to mollify feminists."
No, apparently he was there to start off with solid facts based on research and personal experience before derailing into psych evo and gender essentialist bullshit.
What does a woman's appearance have to do with her authority and understanding of subject matter?
Here, let me make my point a little clearer.
This is a photo of professor Newbold:
Because I think he resembles Mr Potato Head I can't be bothered to take anything he says seriously. No matter how many insights into prison conditions he may have gained through personal experience, he just isn't sexy enough for me to listen to.
Does this make any sense?
And yet, some men in two thousand and mother flippin' sixteen still feel the need to comment on a woman's appearance as if it has any relevance to what she has done with her academic career.
It's an insidious way of demeaning women and their accomplishments.
When a man does this he is attempting to confer importance onto his own opinion when there is none.
Whenever I hear of someone doing this I will automatically assume they are feeling threatened in some way.
The problem with a university giving a platform to someone like Newbold is that it gives his words an air of legitimacy.
While most universities wouldn't host a speaker claiming that some races are inferior to others or that the world is flat, many still seem to tolerate learned men passing off their misogyny as scientific fact.
The problem with claiming that everyone is entitled to their opinion is that Newbold's talk wasn't supposed to be about his opinions. It was supposed to be about facts, research and lived experience.
Opinions and facts are not the same thing.
Newbold wasn't in a debate. His was a solo performance in which his opinions were the only ones being heard.
Freedom of speech means the government doesn't interfere with private citizens rights to express themselves, It does not obligate universities have to give speaking time to every man with a crackpot theory about women and how they work.
If anything the administration should be embarrassed for having an employee who actually blurts out this sort of retrograde shit in public.
As for the term "PC," the people who deride it the most seem to yearn for the old days when you could openly demean others who you thought were beneath you.
When it comes to underwear purchases, I personally do not base my decision on the slimness of any model. I base my decision on whether or not something is likely to fit me and be comfortable.
From what I've seen of the world with my own two eyes, women take men in all shapes and sizes and men who only want nubile women are usually trying to compensate for something.
As for the false rape statistics, it seems that statistics from several international sources estimate between 2% and 8% of cases qualify. But the research is problematic because in several cases "false" was confused with cases declared "unfounded" and some of those cases weren't taken any further due to the personal bias of the investigating police officers.
To say the data is flawed is an understatement.
As for Newbold's right to speak his mind, I don't think it's under any threat.
He was able to blather out a whole bunch of ignorant nonsense, be an unapologetic a-hole about it in the press and keep the day job where he will likely tell more students about the great wife murderers he's known and befriended.
Monday, August 15, 2016
Towards That Great Frozen Land
I regularly dream that I have somehow made it down to Antarctica.
In my last dream I was attending a domestic social event on board a ship and I found a berth available for $6,000. I decided I would be able to come up with the money somehow and I sailed down with them.
In my dreams, Antarctica has often been terraformed and there are young pine forests and permanent houses. There are more young people there because they are being encouraged to foster a lifelong interest in scientific research.
There is inevitably a thrill as the icy shores come into view. It's finally happening!
And then I wake up.
The other day I was driving to Christchurch and on my way into the city I came across a building called "Antarctic House."
Of course I had to go in.
This is the offices of a specialized travel agency for polar expeditions by ship.
One of the ladies showed me a travel plan beginning in New Zealand, covering its sub-antarctic islands and making landfall at the Ross Ice Shelf.
"How much is that one?" I asked.
"About $24,000.00 US per person," she said.
And therein lies the major roadblock to my dream.
I have thought of volunteering to be a deck hand or offering to be a travelling companion for an insanely wealthy individual who feels they have "done it all" but neither of this options is likely to happen.
Not long ago the UK was looking for brave individuals to man their Port Lockroy post office and do some penguin counting and I was dying to apply but Nick wasn't keen on living without me for five months (It's like he's in love with me or something).
I don't dare start a crowd funding page because those things seem to be for creative projects and good causes and me really, really, really wanting to see Antarctica just because doesn't seem to fit the criteria.
In my final year of law school I plan on studying Antarctic legal issues so maybe I can hitch a ride down with some of our biology students who are on their way to do a science.
In the meantime, I suppose I'll just savor the weird converted winter land that constitutes the Antarctica of my dreams.
In my last dream I was attending a domestic social event on board a ship and I found a berth available for $6,000. I decided I would be able to come up with the money somehow and I sailed down with them.
In my dreams, Antarctica has often been terraformed and there are young pine forests and permanent houses. There are more young people there because they are being encouraged to foster a lifelong interest in scientific research.
There is inevitably a thrill as the icy shores come into view. It's finally happening!
And then I wake up.
The other day I was driving to Christchurch and on my way into the city I came across a building called "Antarctic House."
Of course I had to go in.
This is the offices of a specialized travel agency for polar expeditions by ship.
One of the ladies showed me a travel plan beginning in New Zealand, covering its sub-antarctic islands and making landfall at the Ross Ice Shelf.
"How much is that one?" I asked.
"About $24,000.00 US per person," she said.
And therein lies the major roadblock to my dream.
I have thought of volunteering to be a deck hand or offering to be a travelling companion for an insanely wealthy individual who feels they have "done it all" but neither of this options is likely to happen.
Not long ago the UK was looking for brave individuals to man their Port Lockroy post office and do some penguin counting and I was dying to apply but Nick wasn't keen on living without me for five months (It's like he's in love with me or something).
I don't dare start a crowd funding page because those things seem to be for creative projects and good causes and me really, really, really wanting to see Antarctica just because doesn't seem to fit the criteria.
In my final year of law school I plan on studying Antarctic legal issues so maybe I can hitch a ride down with some of our biology students who are on their way to do a science.
In the meantime, I suppose I'll just savor the weird converted winter land that constitutes the Antarctica of my dreams.
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