I never really thought about fat people burning hotter. Sounds morbid. In fact, I think thinking about the obese corpses of dead people burning defines “morbid.” My World Geography students keep journals. They scour English-language foreign newspapers for informational tidbits which can be tied to geography. Since we cannot take a field trip, we cannot…
Only yesterday I became the proud owner of a 5-year old Macbook 3. For years, the mere thought of owning anything Apple was anathema to me. I did not want to belong to any snooty Apple clique, change my wardrobe to include turtleneck shirts nor thick high-collared sweaters seen adorning male models in an L.L.…
Escape From Camp 14, by Blaine Harden, published by Viking. Hardback. $26.95 Shin Dong-hyuk still remembers his first execution. In a North Korean prison camp, attendance at executions is mandatory, regardless of age. The prisoner had rejected an opportunity of redemption, and was bound to wooden posts in a grassy field. The man’s mouth was…
http://www.sciencefriday.com/embed/video/10444.swf Coyotes & the Biodiversity of Urban Environments; from ScienceFriday 4/6/2012 I like coyotes. They look like puppies, to me. Little Mr. Inquisitive in the frame above appears fascinated by the camera or something off camera. I understand people consider them a pest. Farmers in the Great Plain and the Mountain West have poisoned them…
A segment of the Travel Channel’s popular “No Reservations” show, with Anthony Bourdain Anthony Bourdain clearly has one of the best jobs ever. Travel. Meet. Eat. Drink. Swear. Sleep off the gluttony-induced euphoria and repeat. Bourdain’ shows are brilliant in both content and message: learn about people by talking to them, share their lives through…
“King Leopold’s Ghost, A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa;” by Adam Hochschild; Houghton-Miflin Company; 1998. ISBN 9780618001903. $15. Adam might have titled his book, a National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist, “E.D Morel, One Man’s Heroic Effort to Bring Down A King And Shame Western Society.” Hochschild’s history of colonial Belgian…
My discipline lives and breathes by technology. Personal computers helped revive the discipline of Geography beginning in the 1990’s. Along with rapid advancements in personal computer technology came application development environments such as Microsoft’s Visual Studio. Several companies were poised to avail themselves to rapid changes in personal computing technologies, Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI),…
As I write my journal, I am prepping for tonight’s class. Prepping for class nearly always puts me in the frame of mind of, "What the hell am I doing? I can’t teach." I’ve been working through this negative self-talk since I became responsible for teaching courses. So, since August of 1993. Here I sit,…
Over the Winter Break, I bought and read Walter Isaacson’s biography of Apple CEO Steve Jobs. Fascinating book, and also a brief history of “Silicon Valley.” I highly recommend the book. Steve Jobs never completed college. Neither did Bill Gates, of Microsoft. Mark Zuckerberg, the developer of Facebook, he dropped out of college, too. I…
Let me ask you this question: How much money did the United States Interstate Highway System make in 2010? Undeniably, the United State Interstate Highway System is critical to commerce not only within the United States but really the world. Americans are consummate consumers and what we buy has to end up at Wal-mart, Target,…
Constant Geography 
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