Epistaxis http://blog.lib.umn.edu/fole0091/epistaxis/ Random drippings of a leaky mind. en Copyright 2008 Sun, 06 Jan 2008 21:10:59 -0600 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/?v=3.33.uthink http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss A belated Saturnalia greeting from Sir James George Frazer I hope everyone had a happy Holiday with their families. I did, and that meant spending some time on airplanes. My favorite thing to do on airplanes is to read difficult books, because once I get on the plane, there's nothing more fun I could possibly do with my time, hence there are no distractions (once I've popped in my earplugs, anyway - never fly without them).

For several months, I've been working on The Golden Bough by Sir James George Frazer (1854-1941), that scandalous defining achievement of civilization in which Frazer very thoroughly and eloquently dissects the entirety of magical and superstitious practices across all cultures and eras of human existence. As it happened, on the night of December 24th I got to a passage about the origins of Christmas. It's not hard to see why the book ignited such a controversy (which Frazer tried to defuse by censoring it himself - a new abridgment restores the offending material).

]]> http://blog.lib.umn.edu/fole0091/epistaxis/2008/01/a_belated_saturnalia_greeting.html http://blog.lib.umn.edu/fole0091/epistaxis/2008/01/a_belated_saturnalia_greeting.html Highbrow Sun, 06 Jan 2008 21:10:59 -0600 Objet trouvé, de mon courriel I don't know what you've been telling them, but I seem to get a lot of advertisements for the same product in my e-mail. [Warning: not work-safe]

]]> http://blog.lib.umn.edu/fole0091/epistaxis/2007/11/objet_trouve_de_mon_courriel.html http://blog.lib.umn.edu/fole0091/epistaxis/2007/11/objet_trouve_de_mon_courriel.html Annoyances Tue, 06 Nov 2007 01:36:45 -0600 Nobel laureates say the darnedest things As you've probably heard, Jim Watson, co-discoverer of the double-helix structure of DNA (with Francis Crick and really with Rosalind Franklin too), said a not-nice thing:
He says that he is “inherently gloomy about the prospect of Africa” because “all our social policies are based on the fact that their intelligence is the same as ours – whereas all the testing says not really”, and I know that this “hot potato” is going to be difficult to address. His hope is that everyone is equal, but he counters that “people who have to deal with black employees find this not true”.

]]> http://blog.lib.umn.edu/fole0091/epistaxis/2007/10/nobel_laureates_say_the_darned.html http://blog.lib.umn.edu/fole0091/epistaxis/2007/10/nobel_laureates_say_the_darned.html News Sun, 28 Oct 2007 01:58:08 -0600 Blessed are the first-person shooters This is unexpected: churches across the country are sponsoring Halo nights.

]]> http://blog.lib.umn.edu/fole0091/epistaxis/2007/10/blessed_are_the_firstperson_sh.html http://blog.lib.umn.edu/fole0091/epistaxis/2007/10/blessed_are_the_firstperson_sh.html News Sun, 07 Oct 2007 13:25:35 -0600 Don't send gifts to me via UPS Why are people in brown shirts always ruining the world?

]]> http://blog.lib.umn.edu/fole0091/epistaxis/2007/10/dont_send_gifts_to_me_via_ups_1.html http://blog.lib.umn.edu/fole0091/epistaxis/2007/10/dont_send_gifts_to_me_via_ups_1.html Annoyances Fri, 05 Oct 2007 20:47:21 -0600 OMG! Stealing is teh illegalz! Arrr! It turns out that even though everyone's doing it and no one expects to get caught, piracy is technically illegal.

]]> http://blog.lib.umn.edu/fole0091/epistaxis/2007/10/omg_stealing_is_teh_illegalz.html http://blog.lib.umn.edu/fole0091/epistaxis/2007/10/omg_stealing_is_teh_illegalz.html News Fri, 05 Oct 2007 11:30:04 -0600 Dobson for President! Yeah, I mean it!

]]> http://blog.lib.umn.edu/fole0091/epistaxis/2007/10/dobson_for_president.html http://blog.lib.umn.edu/fole0091/epistaxis/2007/10/dobson_for_president.html News Thu, 04 Oct 2007 01:36:37 -0600 The Apple business model This shouldn't surprise nearly as many people as it has.

]]> http://blog.lib.umn.edu/fole0091/epistaxis/2007/09/the_apple_business_model.html http://blog.lib.umn.edu/fole0091/epistaxis/2007/09/the_apple_business_model.html News Fri, 28 Sep 2007 23:03:07 -0600 Don't waste the First Amendment on this guy By now, I'm sure you've seen this and read the phrase "freedom of speech" with more caps lock and exclamation points than the Founders ever intended.

]]> http://blog.lib.umn.edu/fole0091/epistaxis/2007/09/dont_waste_the_first_amendment.html http://blog.lib.umn.edu/fole0091/epistaxis/2007/09/dont_waste_the_first_amendment.html News Wed, 19 Sep 2007 00:45:41 -0600 Spring cleaning I wonder if the U of M is doing this now that I've left.

]]> http://blog.lib.umn.edu/fole0091/epistaxis/2007/08/spring_cleaning.html http://blog.lib.umn.edu/fole0091/epistaxis/2007/08/spring_cleaning.html News Tue, 07 Aug 2007 15:53:57 -0600 Troubled Times? The juxtaposition of opinion columns in the New York Times is a little weird this week.

]]> http://blog.lib.umn.edu/fole0091/epistaxis/2007/07/troubled_times.html http://blog.lib.umn.edu/fole0091/epistaxis/2007/07/troubled_times.html News Thu, 19 Jul 2007 23:23:32 -0600 Osama wins again! This is just ridiculous.

]]> http://blog.lib.umn.edu/fole0091/epistaxis/2007/06/osama_wins_again.html http://blog.lib.umn.edu/fole0091/epistaxis/2007/06/osama_wins_again.html News Sun, 17 Jun 2007 16:32:27 -0600 Screaming match Everyone loves a good screaming match.

]]> http://blog.lib.umn.edu/fole0091/epistaxis/2007/04/screaming_match.html http://blog.lib.umn.edu/fole0091/epistaxis/2007/04/screaming_match.html Whim Sun, 08 Apr 2007 22:58:19 -0600 Spam: Where's the BEEF? I like to think of myself as a responsible Netizen, but there's only one of me.

]]> http://blog.lib.umn.edu/fole0091/epistaxis/2007/04/spam_wheres_the_beef.html http://blog.lib.umn.edu/fole0091/epistaxis/2007/04/spam_wheres_the_beef.html Annoyances Fri, 06 Apr 2007 11:35:12 -0600 Don't be part of the problem, you pompous dandies A recent study reports that today's college students are more narcissistic than previous generations. I'm not surprised.

]]> http://blog.lib.umn.edu/fole0091/epistaxis/2007/03/dont_be_part_of_the_problem_yo.html http://blog.lib.umn.edu/fole0091/epistaxis/2007/03/dont_be_part_of_the_problem_yo.html News Wed, 07 Mar 2007 11:28:38 -0600