Battlestar Galactica

I just watched the Battlestar mid-season conclusion, Revelations, on the Sci-Fi website. All the cylons, but the fifth hidden one, are now out in the open. The humans and cylons had to work together to find earth.

I didn't expect the ending. Be careful what you wish for; it may not be what you want. The ending reminded of one of Isaac Asimov's Foundation sequels, Foundation and Earth, where the group from the Second Foundation find the once-thought mythical home of humanity. They find an earth that is uninhabitable because of past wars. But, they find on the moon the ancient robot, R. Daneel Olivaw, a character from the Robot series of novels. Olivaw reveals that he has been manipulating human history over the centuries to protect humanity. Here's a link to the Wikipedia entry. The second half of the series will probably concentrate on how the humans and cylons will try to make earth livable. Also, the last hidden cylong will be revealed. It should be exciting.

Scarlet Tananger

While visiting the Waynesboro Watershed on Saturday I noticed this intensely bright red bird with black wings. It was in a mature hardwood stand. I tried to zoom in as much as possible. When I got home and looked in the bird book I found that it was a male scarlet tananger. This one was probably on display looking for a mate. From the book:

" When the male arrives on the breeding grounds, he perches at the tops of tall trees and sings to defend his territory and attract a mate. In the molt following the breeding season, the male retains his black wings and tail, but his plumage becomes a misture of green, yellow, and red patches, later becoming dull green and yellow, appearing similar to the female."

I guess I got him at the right time.

The book I used is Birds of North America by Fred Alsop

Canada Geese

P1030893
Originally uploaded by P_Linehan.

I was at the Waynesboro Watershed reservoir yesterday with a group of alumni. I saw this Canada geese family swimming in the water. The goslings have grown quite a bit. They were probably just eggs when we were doing field labs here back in April. I wonder when they will start flying?

Flag Day Floral Display

Flag Day Floral Display
Originally uploaded by P_Linehan.

I found this floral planting at the Welcome Center on Interstate 78 in Easton, PA while returning home from Maine. It was a hot, hot afternoon and the flowers were holding up well. As it happens it was Flag Day, which is celebrated mostly in Massachusetts and Maine. The next morning I saw a report on Flag Day on the CBS Sunday Morning show. They discussed the huge varieties of American flags over the years. And the father of vexillology ( the study of flags), or at least the man who invented the term (Whitney Smith) was interviewed.

The American flag is truly the people's flag that has always and will continue to develop over time.

Remains of post office, Bangor fire (LOC)

Remains of post office, Bangor fire (LOC)
Originally uploaded by The Library of Congress.

I've been poking around Flickr and found the archives of the Bain News Serivice showing the Post Office on fire during the Bangor Great Fire of 1911. I used to live on Center St. in the late seventies. I had no idea this had occured sixty years before. Fascinating.

One of the Flickr members gave this link to a Wikipedia article describing the damage of this fire.

Here's one more image from the same collection showing a man made homeless by the fire.

Building the Pyramids

I am currently reading Red Land, Black Land: Daily Life in Ancient Egypt by Barbara Mertz. I am reading the chapter on technology. The author gave a delightful description of how the Great Pyramid was constructed with just the simple tools available in Egypt. She did a better job describing it than all the Discovery channel or National Geographic specials on the topic, and without commercials. She discounts all the pyramidologists who claim that the pyramid has some supernatural meaning. It was just a tomb.

She explains how in the modern world we have separated science, magic, and religion. In ancient Egypt these three were all one thing. We can only hope to understand the Egyptians if we can try, even imperfectly, to understand how they perceived the world.

The book uses a very conversational tone. It isn't meant to be a scientific treatise, but calls on all the author's years of research. I like how Mertz will say we do or don't know something. Or that we can or can't hope to understand something else, where the information is lost. This book is definitely worth reading.

A Great Improvisation

I just finished reading Stacy Schiff's A Great Improvisation. It's the story of Benjamin Franklin's essential diplomatic mission to France to find an ally and financier for the American Revolution. Using his immense scientific reputation in Europe, a lot of guile, and his amazing negotiating skills Franklin was able to weedle support and funding from the government of Louis XVI.

There are so many ironies in this story. Franklin had to fight against the constant backbiting of his other commissioners: the Lee brothers and John Adams. I had previously read David McCollough's biography of Adams. Adams developed a terrible jealousy and dislike of Franklin over the years they worked together. I enjoyed seeing the affair from Franklin's point of view. It helped that Franklin had no personal ambition. He only wanted the fight for Independence to succeed against England.

Franklin had only tepid support from Congress. Over the course of his long mission he was almost fired several times. When he returned to Philadelphia the American government didn't want to acknowledge how much it had relied on France. My impression is that he was never reimbursed for many of his expenses.

Franklin's advanced age and frequent illnesses worked against him. At the end of his time in France he could barely walk from gout and bladder stones. Still he kept on with his mission.

The ultimate irony is that France became nearly bankrupt by helping the Americans. Within a few years the French Revolution swept away the royal regime. And the Americans still were slow to realize what France had done for them.

In light of today's diplomatic issues I was amazed that the American mission would often go six months or more with no word from America. They had their orders, but often had to supplement them as events required. France couldn't understand why the American government wouldn't or couldn't tax its own people to pay for the war. Not much has really changed after all these years.

Thank goodness for Benjamin Franklin.