Awesome Sighting Of The Day

This morning I spotted a gentlemen, probably in his 50's or 60's, and of some sort of middle eastern decent. His head was shaved bald and he had tied a colorful sports bandanna across his forehead. He wore running shoes and track pants and covered his slightly protruding belly with a Gold's Gym T-shirt. He also sported a well-worn backpack. The awesome part? In his right hand he carried a Trapper Keeper style folder adorned with the most adorably sad kitten face you can imagine.

I'd like to think he is some kind of fitness guru who keeps his business records in his kitten folder.

Totally makes me smile :)

David Sedaris

Just got tickets to see David Sedaris. Orchestra seats. Third row from the front and right smack dab in the middle.

So excited!

Space is AWESOME

More Images from the newly refurbished Hubble Telescope here.

Everyone's a Collector

I got my degree in Anthropology with an emphasis in Physical Anthropology. Which basically means many hours of looking at bones. That little bump on the inside of your ankle, that's your Medial Malleolus (that's probably the extent of what I remember).

Anyway, this article that ran over the weekend reminded me of when I visited the Hickam identification lab (then known as CILHI) way back when. The lab does the identification of all recovered remains of soldiers lost abroad. I'm not sure how things are setup now, but back then there was a series of about 6 tables each laid with the remains of what was thought to be a recovered soldier. Essentially, it's a big puzzle. Not only do you need to piece together the fractured remains, but once you do you need to look at the structural indicators on the bones and the overall body to help you identify (in general terms) who you are looking at. Male or Female? How old? What build/stature? etc. They also have a separate odontology department that helps more specifically identify remains when teeth are available. Pretty fascinating to see one of these labs in operation.

The one thing that really stands out in my mind though was not related to the actual identification process at all. Apparently HPD had uncovered a special little find when it had to remove an unstable older woman from her home. What they had found they turned over to the lab. The prize? Several sets of woman's pantyhose filled with patella. Patella is the proper name for your knee cap bones. There were probably between 20 or 30 patella in all. All neatly tied up and organized. Everyone assumed she unearthed them from a graveyard. But you have to wonder. I guess we all have hobbies, some more morbid than others.

Scents in the City

Really like this article from the NYT.

For me, scent is the strongest sense linked to memory. On my grandma's last trip to Japan she brought back my great grandpa's Yashica camera for my mom. It's older than I am. The first thing I did when I saw it was take a wiff. I realize, totally weird, but I had an overwehlming urge to smell it. He passed away when I was pretty young, but the camera still smells exactly like he did. I got independent confirmation from my mom (who I encouraged to sniff the camera as well) that it indeed carried his scent.

The NYT map is also a great way to determine what areas to hit in the city. Yorkville, yes. Civic Center, no.

Don't Fear the Reaper

Is it me, or is the most annoying thing about the health care debate the irrational fear of a "Death Panel"? It infuriates me that people (viz Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich) are so irresponsibly trying to equate a productive end of life discussion into some type of death tribunal. I mean come on, Grandma has a better chance of getting run over by a reindeer than being euthanized by a "Death Panel". Frankly, if having "Death Panels" means better planning for end of life care, I am completely pro Death Panel. Yeah Death Panel!!

Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich, you have watched too much Logan's Run.

Courtroom Sketch Artists

I was watching NewsHour last night and they aired a piece on courtroom sketch artists, you can stream it here.

So I was thinking that this really is an awesome job, it's kind of where law, journalism and art intersect. If only I was a better artist this would be up my alley. I like that essentially you're just an observer on the sidelines who can catch the subtle facial changes and interactions between the parties. Kind of like a courtroom wallflower. I wish options like these came up in high school when I took those career guidance tests. I managed to get the strangest and the most impractical selection of job suggestions. Iron worker, Priest, Accountant, etc... If those jobs were people they would be a motley crew. Not helpful.

And on another note, sketch artist are so underutilized, we should find other ways to use their talents. I think it would be awesome if for a wedding you had one of these sketch artists chronicle your day in addition to a photographer. Or if I was like a promoter or something, I would totally have one of these guys at one of my events. It's such a unique and fascinating aesthetic.

p.s. I LOOOOVE NewsHour.