Where some rather brilliant people make and store Guinness.
For now, this is all you need to know.
Also known as “The Not So Secret Bar” at Kelly’s Hotel in the heart of Dublin. It felt a lot like the upstairs at Elizabeth’s restaurant in the Bywater of New Orleans. All the way from the little American hipsters hanging out in the various high-ceilinged rooms to the Neville Brothers and Killer’s favorite Professor Longhair on the jukebox.
Remind me later to tell you about the time I was asked “If he was bald, why did he call himself Professor Longhair?” by a young woman in the city of New Orleans, and the look I gave her.
It stormed like a bag of wet cats that night. Across the street from Kelly’s is a tall old red-brick Gothic I was certain was a church of some sort (but no cross, hey?). Turns out it used to house a sausage factory. Guess the Irish love their bangers so much they’ll build towering edifices to protect them. Anyway, think this is where Bram Stoker got his inspiration for Dracula? Where’s Gary Oldman in Princess Leia buns when you need him?
Aaaand a gratuitous shot of three full pints of Guinness. With mood lighting. Sláinte.
“A is for Arsenic someone thought fun
To include on the icing on top of a bun.”
— “ABC” by The Tiger Lilies & Kronos Quartet
When an undergraduate and folks asked me why I went into geology, I’d reply, “Because you can talk to rocks and they don’t talk back.” Unlike with humans, entities that are another variety of dumb.
What“s even more puzzling is the apparent indifference of the Obama team to the effect of such gestures on their supporters. One would have expected a candidate who rode the enthusiasm of activists to an upset victory in the Democratic primary to realize that this enthusiasm was an important asset. Instead, however, Mr. Obama almost seems as if he“s trying, systematically, to disappoint his once-fervent supporters, to convince the people who put him where he is that they made an embarrassing mistake.
Whatever is going on inside the White House, from the outside it looks like moral collapse ” a complete failure of purpose and loss of direction.
2) “Who cares, it’s done, end of story, we“ll probably be fine.”
BP initially ordered the extra centralisers. But when the devices arrived at the rig, engineers mistakenly thought they were the wrong type. BP decided at this point to continue with the project without the additional centralisers, taking other safety steps. It also decided not to rerun the cement modelling software, and questioned the accuracy of the technology.
3) Aliens! Bears! Alien Bears! Shut up.
Regardless, the runaway speculation in the blogosphere imperils the work of trusted science reporters who respect the embargo system and may have wanted to cover the paper. Most professional science journalists have access to Science“s embargoed papers through the EurekAlert! service run by AAAS (which publishes Science) and would have been able to easily figure out that the research behind NASA“s cryptic press release did not support the hype about aliens.
CJR should have said “runaway speculation in the blogosphere AND the following unvetted copycat reporting by the lamestream media.”
I don’t really blame Kottke for connecting the dots wrong because a) nowhere does he call himself a scientist and b) he said he was guessing. But, for everyone else online to get their undies in a wad because Kottke Said Something and for so-called Real Journalists to ignore the whole vetting thing before publishing just so they can be Fr1st!!!1!! is irresponsible.
To top it all off, it’s not even an arsenic-based lifeform.
The fossiliferous limestone facade of #4 Kildare Street in Dublin. Brachiopods and crinoids, oh my, indicate an ancient coral reef, evidence that Ireland was near the equator in the Silurian period.
We understand so little about this marble we live on and yet what we grasp, comprehend, maybe even know, amazes to no end. “Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known,” as Carl Sagan said. Humbled while enhanced, this is enough reality and truth for me. Today, I am thankful for the Earth.
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.
Following is a picture I took at the Smithsonian of the skull of an American badger. Looks menacing, right? Actually, it looks like I feel right now, what with my huge canines as well as the sinuses and head ready to explode and rip the skin off my face.
A Flickr commenter argues this is not a badger but a Fur Seal skeleton (Callorhinus ursinus). Are there any Caniformia osteologists out there who can put an end to this debate? The better question is: Why would I take a picture of a fur seal? Makes one wish the Smithsonian had an indexed online gallery of all of their exhibits.
Update:
vs.
Blair found these in the Carnivora section of Skulls Unlimited (The World’s Leading Supplier Of Osteological Specimens! Shop Thousands of Real & Replica Skulls & Skeletons Online Today!!! Who knew?!)
American Badger skull on top, Fur Seal on bottom. You decide. I’m going with badger-fur seal hybrid. Stranger things have been documented at the Smithsonian.
And, yes, more happy pictures of Ireland and rocks soon.
