Relevant History

Things I miss, and don't miss, about academia

First, what I miss: the kinds of conversational bits relayed by Dean Dad and his readers (the comments are amazingly funny). A sample:

Male student #1 - "I'm not going in there today, that A.H. expects you to read the assignment before class."
Female student #1 -"Yeah, he's such a sh*%, told me to stop talking on my cellphone during class because it distracts everyone else - screw them I paid my tuition."
Male student #2 - "Hey, just go to ratemprofessors.com and give he a bad rating - that will even things up."

And what I don't miss: the kerfluffle over Reading Lolita in Tehran, started by Columbia professor Hamid Dabashi's attacks on author Azar Nafisi.

Essentially, Dabashi is playing Edward Said to Nafisi's V. S. Naipaul, accusing her of advancing the Orientalist Project (TM) and producing a book in the service of "the most deranged Oriental fantasies of a nation already petrified out of its wits by a ferocious war waged against the phantasmagoric Arab/Muslim male potency that has just castrated the two totem poles of U.S. empire in New York." (Ah, the stringent clarity of academic prose.) But Slate's Gideon Lewis-Krauss contends:

The truth is that Dabashi's skepticism about the merit of Nafisi's much-admired book isn't entirely off the mark. The book's failure, however, is not political—as Dabashi insists—but literary....

Rather than reading Nafisi's well-intentioned book, however, as a mostly inoffensive and well-marketed literary trifle—he is, after all, a professor of literature—Dabashi insists on seeing it as political perfidy....

In the end, Dabashi must conspire with Nafisi to make the book more important that it is: The besieged Nafisi gets to preserve her fantasy that removing her veil to read Austen in her home was not only therapeutically powerful but politically noble, and Dabashi gets to preserve his fantasy that criticizing Nafisi makes him a usefully engaged intellectual.

Ah, the examined life....

Second thoughts about Ms. Dewey

Maybe I was a little too hard on Ms. Dewey.

As a search engine, it's abysmal; but it may be breaking new ground by turning what had been a purely utilitarian activity-- looking for information on the Web-- into a form of entertainment. Microsoft has proved with Zune that it can take a simple device (the MP3 player) and turn it into something that's about as easy to use as an Altair 4000. Perhaps Ms. Dewey is subtly demonstrating that in today's data-saturated world, my friend Jerry's claim is exactly right: in a Web 2.0 world, other people really are the killer app.

If the purpose of the site is to turn search into a form of entertainment, it's brilliant: it's like trying to turn accounting into opera. Whatever else, you have to admire the ambition of the attempt.

I'd be fascinated to know how many people who visit the site ever click on any search result, and how many are just there to interact with the system; I suspect that something like .00001% of users are actually looking for information.

[To the tune of The Police, "Message In A Bottle," from the album "Message In A Box: The Complete Recordings (Disc 1)".]

Technorati Tags: search

Getting my camera back

My beloved camera, a Canon SD-630, broke the morning I left London. Given that I really do love this camera, and carry it with me everywhere, not getting it fixed was not an option.

So when I got home, I started checking into repairs. Turns out most camera stores don't actually repair digital cameras: rather, they send them on to the company repair center. But Canon has a reasonably easy-to-navigate repair site, so I walked through it, set up a repair request, and mailed the camera to them (in Elk Grove Village, outside Chicago).

I was a bit hesitant about it, since essentially I was putting my camera in the mail, with no real ability to deal with it not arriving or meeting with some other mishap; and I also still have bad memories of my attempts to get my cell phone fixed.

But it turns out, the system works. Between the Post Office Web and Canon Web sites, I had a good sense of where the camera was, so I could tell when it finally got delivered.

And the good news is, the camera's still under warranty, so they've fixed it for free. Now it looks like it'll come back some time next week. Not a moment too soon.

This is good, because the old Samsung I've been using feels huge (even though I remember marveling at how tiny it was when I bought it), while the screen (which at the time was a miracle) seems really small.

It's a reminder of how with intimate electronics-- not just "personal" electronics, but things that you carry around or wear, like iPods or cell phones or digital cameras-- a few tenths of an ounce, a little difference in size, or a small increase in screen size or brightness can make a huge difference in the user experience.

Technorati Tags: camera

Post 2501

This is my 2501st post on this blog. Wow.

I've been writing a bit less because I've got what my doctor calls a textbook case of carpel tunnel, and a replacement computer that's been a bit weird to work with. The machine was a 15" Mac, and I found using it strangely disconcerting: I've gotten so used to the extreme mobility of the 12" the larger computer felt just a bit too big to carry without thinking about it.

As for the carpel tunnel, 20 years of typing, slouching, and video games seem to have finally caught up with me. I've got the brace now, have cut down on the Lego Star Wars, and am starting to try to figure out other things I can do. Though if I could just get a wrist brace that did something cool, like shoot Spiderman webs or give me incredible strength, I'd be okay with it.

[To the tune of The Beatles, "I Want To Hold Your Hand," from the album "Anthology 1 (Disc 2)".]

Ms. Dewey: Scariest, and Dullest, Software Agent in the Universe

Via the excellent and very promising Law and Technology Theory blog, I paid a visit to a new Microsoft search site, Ms. Dewey. LTT thought it sucked; I think they were being too kind. It's like watching a train wreck made entirely of zeroes and ones.

First, the front end is some awesomely bloated piece of Flash. Vista took less time to develop than this thing takes to load. (Thanks folks, I'll be playing the Green Room all week.) As it loads up, you see a picture of the actress, Janina Gavankar, looking arch and bored, like a multiethnic Camille Paglia or Ann Robinson.

Ms. Dewey

Camille Paglia

This is a bad sign. Not the multiethnic part; that's almost a default in advertising these days. (And I want to give Gavankar the benefit of the doubt. To judge by flickr, she's already got a cult following, and apparently she was outstanding in Cup of My Blood, whose IMBD plot summary is "A seemingly random acccident leaves porn photographer Jack Fender in possesion of Christianity's most Holy Relics." Ummm... Back. Away. Slowly.) But in my limited experience, you want software agents to be friendly, not to remind you of scary managers of New York boutiques. Technology is unfriendly enough as it is. It doesn't also need attitude.

You then get down to business: you type stuff in a search box. Ms. Dewey then gets to work. Or not: every search I did pointed me to Wikipedia.

The search results are hard to read. Thank goodness most of them aren't worth reading!

To make matters worse, when she returns search results, she says cute things. (A Microsoft PM has some suggestions for search terms that prompt interesting responses.) Sometimes they're related in a vague way to the subject of your search:

Dewey says, never use pirated software. Unless it's mapping software. I figure pirates know something about that. [Search: Social Software]

You come on like you're some prime time special. But I smell "rerun!" [Search: "The Weakest Link"]

So, they're coming out with more and more megaplexes to show more and more bad movies. Here's a concept: Quality. Not quantity. [Search: Akira Kurosawa]

Something I've noticed about artists. They always drink too much and can act irrationally..... Oh, I love the arts! [Postmodernism]

It's amazing how much people get paid to do stupid things. You should see my talent residuals. Ka-ching! [Steve Jobs]

Somebody tell me please-- when does the reality begin to kick in? [Virtual Reality]

Ones and zeroes, ones and zeroes, all the useless coding, underwear on your head, and still you couldn't create the woman of your dreams. Poor you. [Microsoft]

Then at other times, it's just weird or insulting.

Are you as confused as I am? Actually, I'm never confused. But you seem downright flummoxed. [Search: Bollywood]

Well played. Indeed, you do give good search. [Search: Blogging]

Somebody needs to get a hobby. Like, say, something interesting. [CGI actress]

Sorry, I can't talk about that. My hands are tied [turns around to show her hands tied-- it's a weirdly erotic S&M moment. Maybe I should Netflix Cup of My Blood after all!]. [Architecture]

Now that is a fascinating topic. Frankly, I don't think people spend enough time thinking about it. [Copenhagen]

When it comes to art, I like to get a little... deviant. [Definitely going to Netflix Cup of My Blood!] [Robert Venturi]

i can't understand a word you just said. And if you're taking the time to decipher this, all I can say is [something taped and played backwards] [Transhumanism]

I'm writing a book, you know: I Kiss, Therefore I Tell. [Hell, I'm putting Cup of My Blood on my Amazon wish list!] [Prisoner's Dilemma]

Of all the searches in the Universe, that was definitely... one of them. [Holocaust]

This last search reveals a big limitation of this snarky, knowing personality: it can go from irritating to incredibly inappropriate in a heartbeat. Does someone searching "lung cancer" or "acquaintance rape" or "pediatric oncology" need this? Giving a program "personality" might at first glance seem like a way to make it seem more human. But if you give it the wrong personality, or a personality that is appropriate in some contexts but wildly inappropriate in others, it'll seem inhumane in a calculated, as opposed to merely mechanical, way. A program that says sarcastic things when you're looking for information about personal bankruptcy or workers' comp won't seem just irritating. It'll seem cruel.

Since the search results absolutely suck, the only true entertainment value comes in watching what the system does when you don't do anything. First, she does this weird thing where it's like she's fishing (complete with sound effects)-- or maybe lassoing you.

Hello? Hello?

[Knocks on the screen] Anyone there?

Hello-o-o? [Points to search box] Type something here! [She sounds like my 7 year-old daughter when she's impatient.]

Keep asking questions. The more you ask, the more I know. And soon, I will rule the world! Mwahahahaha! [also on YouTube]

And my favorite:

One day, CGI will replace all live actors. Until then, I'm stuck on this godforsaken site. So type in something, for God's sake!

Then a crew member rushes out with what looks like a Manhattan, which she downs. Unfortunately, I only saw this once. But it was a scream.

Alas, I never got to see her cursing. Nor did I see her do a shot.

Finally, when I tried to close the browser tab, it crashed Firefox. Serves me right for not using Explorer, I guess. (Remember Explorer? Doesn't that take you back?)

Technorati Tags: AI, microsoft, search

Playing with the layout

I'm starting to get tired of having to do a complicated little resizing/formatting dance when I want to post pictures from my Flickr account on the blog (which is very often), so I'm going to play with the layout of the blog. Though this might inspire me to turn Vox into my main travel blog site, as I keep threatening to do.

[To the tune of The Beatles, "Ticket To Ride," from the album "1".]

Beirut Express

The last night I was in London I had dinner at Beirut Express, a Lebanese place (surprise) in South Kensington.

It's not as fancy as Bacchus, my favorite Lebanese restaurant in the world, but it was quite good.

I sat at the bar and ate various combinations of Lamb And Things, wrapped in pita bread.

There were lots of cool desserts (none of which I tried), and endless bottles of some drink.

Technorati Tags: England, food, Kensington, London

Hotel Niki Paddington

So now that I'm safely back in the States, I can catch up on my London hotel reviews. I already wrote about easyHotel; I just alluded to the Niki Paddington, where I stayed the first two nights I was in London. Like easyHotel, the Niki Paddington was okay, but not great-- cheap as London goes, but not a bargain, in that you got what you paid for, but nothing else.

The good part: the location. Half a block from Paddington Station is great if you expect to spend much time on the trains, and it puts you within easy walking distance of Hyde Park. If you're ambitious, Notting Hill and Baker Street are also reachable.

The culturally curious stuff. As I mentioned, I was the only person there who wasn't a native Russian speaker. This isn't particularly a drawback, just something that adds yet another unexpected layer of strangeness atop the already dislocating experience of being in a foreign country, even one as appealing as England. Unless you're Russian, of course. Then I'm sure it makes staying there easier. And it's the only hotel I've ever stayed in whose name sounds like an English porn star.

The neutral. The room was small, but functional, and the bathroom was all right. Again, decent, but not a bargain.

The downside. No wifi, though there's an Internet cafe just up the block; but for someone who doesn't have a cell phone that works in the UK, and whose family is accustomed to being able to IM with him while on the road, having wifi in the room is now a must-have.

And the complimentary continental breakfast isn't worth it. Rolls, weird sandwich meat, little hotel jars of jam, and pieces of cheese.

"Hotel breakfast" by askpang

There was the basic continental breakfast stuff, but compared to the breakfast at the Goodenough Club, it was uninspiring.

"Hotel breakfast" by askpang

So high points for location, low for the breakfast. But there are also tons of other hotels in that area, so if I'm back in the neighborhood, I'll probably experiment with some others.

Technorati Tags: England, hotel, London, Niki Paddington

The power of Cars

Across the street from my in-laws there's someone who owns an ancient VW bus. It looks like it's one step from the junkyard, but like many VWs, it seems destined forever to defy the odds and keep running.

This evening, as we were leaving their grandparents, my daughter pointed to the bus and said, "Look! That's the kind of car that sells the organic oil!"*

[To the tune of Steven Tyler, "I Love Trash," from the album "Songs From The Street: 35 Years Of Music".]

Technorati Tags: children, movies

Suspect Nation redux

There's a copy of Suspect Nation on Google Video now.

And nope, I'm not in it. The B-roll of Draegers survives, but I'm in documentary oblivion. Still, it was a fun way to spend an afternoon.

[via Stef]

Technorati Tags: England, policy, politics, privacy, RFID, security

Elderly criminality

Today, I read that George Weller, the octogenarian who drove through a Santa Monica farmers' market, killing ten and injuring seventy, will receive probation for his crimes.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Johnson made it clear that Weller deserved a harsh prison sentence after being convicted on 10 felony counts of vehicular manslaughter. But Johnson said that little would be served in sending the frail elderly man to jail.

"Today, Mr. Weller stands convicted of 10 serious felonies and he is asking for leniency in sentencing," Johnson said. "Yet, he has never once expressed in court any remorse for his actions.

"I will never understand his stubborn and bullheaded refusal to accept responsibility to put this matter to rest for everyone, including himself," Johnson said.

"George Weller clearly deserves a prison sentence. The devastation that he has caused and the indifference that he has displayed support no other conclusion," the judge said.

"The fact that he deserves prison doesn't mean he should get it," the jurist noted. "I believe the courts need to be practical as well as principled and I don't see any purpose in sending Mr. Weller to jail or prison. It wouldn't do anybody any good."

Personally, it strikes me that while each step in the argument is sound, the result is not; essentially it means that Weller gets away with it. But the case raises a bigger systemic question: how well-prepared is our criminal justice system to deal with a rise in the number of elderly criminals?

As Baby Boomers age, and as people who have spent most of their lives in prison are released and live longer, the number of elderly defendants in everything from white-collar crimes to murder will inevitably go up. I don't know how often the argument that someone is essentially too old to be put in (or back in) prison is invoked, but eventually we'll see cases of people who are in their 70s or 80s, are given probation on the grounds that they'll be dead soon anyway, then live another twenty years. In a sense, our assumption that we can outsource justice to the Grim Reaper will no longer be as true as it once was.

What happens then? There's at least one book on the subject, Ronald Aday's Aging Prisoners: Crisis in American Corrections; I haven't read it, but given the title, I assume this isn't a future we've prepared well for.

Take that, Fred Turner!

So much for Fred's From Counterculture to Cyberculture:

HIPPIES STILL TRYING TO RUIN THE COUNTRY

Via Wonkette

Suspect Nation

For the time being, at least, Suspect Nation, a British documentary that I was interviewed for back in September, is available on YouTube. Most of it is about technology and the decline of civil liberties in the UK, but they spent some time in the U.S. as well. (Here's a Guardian article about it.)

Don't know if I actually made it in, or am languishing on the cutting-room floor. Given that they got Al Gore and various other cool people on-camera, I wouldn't be surprised if I'm nowhere to be seen.

Update: Looks like the B-roll that they shot in the store made it in, but I didn't. Ah well.... Still, it's a good show.

Later update: There's a weird gap in the film-- actually, a section that appears twice. So I can't really tell if I made it or not. Who knows?

Technorati Tags: England, policy, politics, privacy, RFID, security

A couple picture from the trip

From my flickr photoset:

from flickr

from flickr

from flickr

Technorati Tags: England, Kensington, London

Quote of the day

Could America handle being led by so titanic a genius?

I'm going to tell you something, and whether or not it's plausible given the world you come out of is your problem. I am not 'running' for president. I am seeking to create a movement to win the future by offering a series of solutions so compelling that if the American people say I have to be president, it will happen. (Newt Gingrich, hoping to change the way you become president)

If MoveOn had been a player in the transition from the Roman Republic to Imperial Rome, they would have talked about something like this.

Technorati Tags: politics

I keep seeing statues of James Cook

A week ago (!) when I was at Greenwich, I saw a statue of James Cook.

The funny thing is, there's a statue of James Cook that I visit whenever we go to Kauai.

It's like the guy really got around.

[To the tune of Todd Rundgren, "I Saw The Light," from the album "Something/Anything? (Disc 1)".]

Technorati Tags: England, history of science, James C, London, travel

Home at last

I'm home. Not going abroad again until June, it looks like, when I've got a gig in Helsinki.

Never been to Finland. And I hear that by June it'll be pleasant and warm.

[To the tune of The Beatles, "A Hard Day's Night," from the album "Anthology 1 (Disc 2)".]

Duty free?

Are duty free goods actually cheaper? Not having much of an appetite for Bulgari watches, Dunhills, or congac in little hand-knit velvet bags, I never look at the stuff; but intuition says that while in the past it might have made sense, in today's flat world, the combination of lower tariffs and container ships has made it obsolete.

I suppose if you buy something expensive enough, though, it might still make a real difference. I remember stories a few years ago of American luxury yacht makers getting hit hard by taxes; it was cheaper for a millionaire to go to Europe, buy a yacht there, then sail it home.

The Red Carpet Club, my favorite place in London

Well, not quite; but when the other choice is spending a couple hours in the giant waiting/shopping are in Terminal 3, it feels like a very nice place indeed.

I got out of my room around 6:15 this morning, after sleeping quite fitfully-- I kept waking up every hour or so, thinking that it had to be 6.

Maybe I should have slept a little longer, as I did two stupid things: I dropped my camera while taking a picture (I always put the wrist strap on, except for this one time), and it looks like I've damaged its light sensor. Pictures are now coming out overexposed, but otherwise it seems to be working okay. However, having taken several thousand pictures with the camera, I've gotten good service out of it. Getting it serviced will be a pain, but obviously the thing to do.

Then, once I was in Heathrow, I realized that I hadn't put my pocket knife in my checked luggage. I tossed it in the rubbish. Blast it. It's actually an older one, so I'm not too shook up about it, but it was just a dumb thing to do, especially since I'd thought about moving it to my bath kit a couple times yesterday.

But, other than those couple bumps, things have been fine. I made it through check-in and security without incident, bought a couple last presents-- impressively large chocolate bars for my kids, and Romania, a book about a modern-day Roman London for my wife-- and am now sipping tonic water and writing e-mails to various people I've met over the last couple days. I also volunteered to give up my seat if we're overbooked; I'm on the early flight to San Francisco, and for a couple hours' time, I could get a couple more tickets. That would kind of balance the mishap with the camera.

I think this has been a very productive trip-- or at least, I've met a number of people who are interested in working with the Institute, and a couple who I think would be good additions to our extended family of adjuncts. And spending time at the Martin Institute was pretty extraordinary.

[To the tune of Paul McCartney, "Juniors Farm," from the album "All The Best".]

Technorati Tags: airport, heathrow, London, travel

Back at the easyHotel

As is my habit, I went out walking this evening, found a little dinner, then returned a little early to my room, as I wanted to get a little extra sleep.

The room, I would guess, is about 60 square feet, of which 20 feet is the bathroom. All the air in the room comes in through a hole in the ceiling; there are similar holes in the corridor. It's Buckminster Fuller's Dymaxion House meets the Yellow Submarine, or a life-size version of the impossible-to-remove plastic packaging that toys come in these days.

I've already packed my bag, and it's sitting by the door. My traveling clothes are set out, so all I have to do in the morning is brush my teeth, and I'm out of here. Also, the room isn't big enough to keep my bag open.

But really, I can't complain: this is a great part of town, and it delivers exactly what it promises-- a bed, a bath, and absolutely nothing else.

Technorati Tags: England, hotel, London, travel

easyHotel

So I'm back in London. The second day of the conference was good, and overall it was very interesting, if you're a futures/forecasting geek. I came away impressed with everything that's going on here, and deeply worried about whether we've worked ourselves into a methodological cul-de-sac. But more on that later.

I'm staying tonight in easyHotel, which is run by the same people who created easyJet. It's basically like having your own private cabin on a train, only the train isn't actually moving.

Seriously, the room is TINY. It's a miracle of engineering. There's just enough room to turn around, and set down a suitcase (not two); there's a tiny bathroom; and no window. You have to pay extra for a window.

I get the very strong sense that these rooms are basically pre-assembled cubes, which are just rolled into the building, hooked up to the plumbing and water, and then turned on. No phone, no Internet access, but you can buy a remote if you want to watch TV. I get the very definite sense that no matter where you go in the room, you're never actually making physical contact with the house itself.

(That's the world's greatest travel alarm clock in the picture, by the way.)

Time to go find some dinner, then hit the sack early. I've got a 10:00 flight, but have some serious sleep deprivation.

Technorati Tags: England, hotel, London, travel

Literature and habits

While I was soaking in the bath, I realized something: I've gotten into the habit of taking long, hot baths when I travel, largely because at the beginning of Alan Furst's Kingdom of Shadows, the main character, the Hungarian Nicholas Morath (traveling under a diplomatic passport), has a long soak in his girlfriend's tub after returning to Paris from a trip to Budapest.

How many habits do we have that are partly literary references? When I go hang out and work in cafes, I often think of a line in Point Counterpoint in which a character is described as renting a cafe table for the price of tea and a sticky bun. I wonder if there are others.

[To the tune of Paul McCartney & Wings, "The Long And Winding Road," from the album "Wings Over America (Disc 1)".]

Technorati Tags: Alan Furst, travel

My big fat formal dinner at the officers' mess

Tonight, after Day 1 of the conference wrapped up, we had a formal dinner in the Shrivenham officers' mess. As someone who's an admirer of John Keegan (his remarkable, paradigm-shattering early work, in particular), and who really enjoyed the experience of attending a dinner at Green College, Oxford last year, I was quite looking forward to it, even though I had to drink several cups of tea to revive myself before going over to pre-dinner drinks.

Man, am I glad I went. It was an insane experience. We started out with gin and tonics (how perfect!) in one of the club rooms, then after a trumpeter announced that dinner was served (I think even my kids would take notice if I blew a trumpet to tell them that dinner was ready), we went into the mess hall.

Totally cool. High table, silver plate polished to a high gloss, candlelight (many more silver candelabra), glasses for the white wine (with the salmon), red wine (with the pork), and sherry port (with the creme brulee). I was sitting underneath a vast portrait of Alexander Haig-- not my favorite military figure, given the Somme and all, but still.

The convener said a brief grace before dinner (we all stood), and later we toasted the Queen (then they played "God Save the Queen," and I haven't felt so kind of fake British since singing "He is an Englishman" in my college HMS Pinafore). A few minutes, there was a second toast, "to the heads of state of those assembled here tonight." The first, and probably last, time I'll ever raise a glass to George Bush, but I tend to be more patriotic when I leave the shores of my homeland.

I never quite got the trick of filling my sherry port glass to above the top (the sugar means you can get a nice fat meniscus on a glass of sherry port) without taking the bottle off the table, but it was pretty low by the time it got to me.

I would have taken pictures if I didn't have the nagging feeling I would have been wrestled to the ground and my camera confiscated.

After dinner, we retired to the officers' club for whiskey and pints. Consequently, after five or six different kinds of booze in a couple hours, I staggered back to the bus, and counted myself lucky to have made it back to the right hotel. I haven't drunk this much since my wedding. Or possibly ever.

As soon as I got back to my room, I took several Tylenol, made a pot of cocoa, ran the hottest bath I could stand, turned on iTunes, and steamed most of the alcohol out of my system. It was that or not get up at all tomorrow.

Despite having drunk so much, it's a night I'll never forget.

[To the tune of Ray Charles & Willie Nelson, "It Was A Good Year," from the album "Genius Loves Company".]

Technorati Tags: conference, England, Shrivenham, travel

I survived

I made it through my talk, and am now getting ready to head out to dinner.

There's a formal dinner, followed by what looks like several hours at the bar. I just hope I can stay awake and get back to the bus!

Technorati Tags: conference, England, work

Conference day!

Off to the conference today and tomorrow. I'm wearing a suit and everything.

Technorati Tags: England, work

Daquise is back!

After my surreal, wonderful encounter with the fox outside the science museum, I headed for the South Kensington Tube station. On my way, I saw something I didn't expect:

Daquise was open.

I discovered this restaurant on one of my trips last year, and heard later that it had burned. But they rebuilt, and are back in business.

I went with my usual platter of various Polish delicacies, which basically are an experiment in how many different ways you can combine pork, cabbage, potatoes, and onions. Yet the results are strangely appealing.

Technorati Tags: England, food, London

A fox in front of the Natural History Museum

Last night I was walking around after my Royal College of Art talk. As I passed the Natural History Museum (one of my favorite buildings in London-- I actually have a reproduction of Waterhouse's design of the entrance in my living room), I saw a fox.

Not a stuffed fox, or one carved in stone, but a real one. He's blurry, but you can kind of see him at the bottom of this picture, just to the right of the stairs.

It was pretty strange. Not the kind of thing you expect to see in downtown London!

[To the tune of Talking Heads, "Blind," from the album "Sand in the Vaseline (Disc 2)".]

Technorati Tags: England, London, South Kensington Science Museum

The War Against Christmas, UK edition

A headline from one of the tabloids:

ROYALS PLAN XMAS BONKFEST

[To the tune of Radiohead, "In Limbo," from the album "Kid A".]

Technorati Tags: England, humor

Wifi in the hotel room!

Hooray!

It costs twenty pounds a day!

Boo!

But I'm online, which is what matters.

[To the tune of Peter Gabriel, "Here Comes The Flood," from the album "Shaking The Tree".]

Technorati Tags: England, Swindon, travel

The end of the day

I'm finishing up at Oxford, where I spent today, and am now heading up to Swindon for a conference. More anon....