My vegetable garden

I just planted a "Better Boy" tomato plant.

The green plastic around the plant is filled with water and acts as a mini-greenhouse.

Hungarian partridges

The two birds near the fence are Hungarian partridges, according to the local bird expert.

(Click on the photo to see the flickr notes.)

Surface area

Fun (?) fact:
I have a surface area of 2.43 square meters according to http://members.nuvox.net/~on.jwclymer/bmi.html.

Pop art

I received my new iMac today! As you can see, it has a built-in camera.

I also downloaded a tool that integrates flickr uploads with iPhoto. Very convenient for us Mac users.

Mike's law of movie multiplication

I saw Mission: Impossible III at the matinee yesterday. I was disappointed that the movie's music was not in 10/8 time like the TV show's music.

Did I ever explain "Mike's Law of Movie Multiplication"? It works as follows. Going to a movie alone costs X dollars and gives Y units of pleasure. Going to a movie with a date costs 2X dollars and gives 2Y units of pleasure. Since the single-o can attend twice as many movies, the total amount of pleasure is the same.

This Law doesn't hold if each person pays for their own ticket, though. Or if the other person pays for both tickets. Or...

Cinco de Mayo

A festive Cinco de Mayo to everyone. I think I'll drink a couple of Coronas tonight in celebration. Or maybe a Negro Modelo. Maybe some Dos Equis for old time's sake - I drank that back when I was an undergrad at Texas A&M - always in moderation, of course.

20" iMac

I ordered a 20" Apple iMac yesterday. It should arrive this Friday...

The perils of a being Big

It seems that "big" men are a major source of ethical conundrums, at least according to this BBC article.

(h/t Crooked Timber)

I teach a course in Engineering Ethics, but never get to cover extreme cases like those discussed in the BBC article.

Ferguson Avenue

Just north of the intersection with Durston Road. Those trees are not long for this world ;-(

Cadastral map of Montana

A cadastral map shows real estate boundaries and ownership information. So, if you are interested in who owns a particular piece of land and the most recent appraised value, look at a cadastral map.

How to use the official cadastral map of Montana.

Bisson meat

If you do a google search on "bisson meat" you get this good story by Terry Bisson: "They're made out of meat".

Bloggers I have met

I met Wulfgar! today for the first time. He saw me lusting over a 20" iMac at the MSU Bookstore, figured out who I was, and introduced himself. It's cool to be able to put a face/voice to a blogger.

I've seen several student bloggers around campus, but I've never identified myself - don't want them to get weirded out that a professor has seen their blogs.

Meta - defunct blogs deleted from blogroll

I removed the following defunct blogs from my "Bozeman Blogroll":

• Bozeman's Beaten Path


• Life in Bozeman Montana


• Montana Ramblings


• Wisdom Journal

Gopher hole

There seems to be a new gopher hole about every 15 feet on the land behind my house.

Historical photos of Bozeman

• Historic Bozeman and Gallatin County
  


• Postcards at ePodunk
  


• Penny postcards from Montana
  

Dirty dancing

From the Bozeman Daily Chronicle: Dance debate divided on grinding. Basically, the kids at Bozeman High dance a bit more "expressively" than their parents ever did.

Several years ago, I chaperoned a group of college students to an out-of-state conference. If the dancing at Bozeman High is like that which I observed on that trip, I can see why parents would be a bit concerned. It certainly would not have been acceptable at the Methodist-sponsored dances I remember ;-)

Meta - kinja.com

Kinja.com has lots of blog-related goodies. For instance, you can find out more than you ever wanted to know about this blog.

Stormy weather

In northwest Bozeman, Montana.

Newspaper article on Bozeman scuba shop

Re my previous post, the 3/30/06 Bozeman Daily Chronicle had an informative article about the "Sports Cove" scuba shop.

In addition to sponsoring trips to Fiji, etc., the shop hosts scuba diving in Hyalite Reservoir - even under the winter ice. Sounds chilly to me....

Meta - recent changes

1. Comments now require "word verification." I could handle spam comments manually except Blogger doesn't tell me exactly which posts have received comments. I hope this doesn't reduce the extensive commenting on my blog posts ;-)

2. Comments now show the commenter's "profile photo." Now I need to upload a "profile photo" of my own...

MSU: landscape/architecture

MSU is developing some long-term campus plans. See this article for links to photos of what people like & don't like about the campus architecture and landscape.

Amusingly enough, some of their photos are the same as some of my photos.

Peach-Pineapple salsa

So, I went to a student picnic this afternoon. I got some chips and salsa (so far so good). But.... whoever heard of peach-pineapple salsa?!? I'm an old-fashioned Pace Picante man.

Ruff-ruff

I enjoy walking around the neighborhood. This dog barks at me every time I go by.

Stuck

This is what happens if you ignore the sign that says "no vehicular traffic"...

Read the sign...

Sounds like good advice to me.

Riparian grammar

According to Language Log, Missoulians go "up to Hamilton".

RIP - blogger style

This site is slightly unnerving: www.mydeathspace.com.

These hounds are "greyt"

I saw some beautiful greyhounds at the Bozeman Petsmart last week. I forgot to take my camera (of course), but you can see some pics at the Gallery of the Greyhound Pets of America - Rocky Mountain Chapter website.

Gate

This pasture (behind my house in NW Bozeman) will developed later this year.

(I need to learn how to better "frame" my photos - it has a nice view of the sky, but where's the bottom of the gate ;-6 )

MSU - Danforth Chapel

I've been to this chapel a couple of times to attend honor society initiations.

Graphical timeline for 'The Subtle Knife'

When a book involves many worlds, don't be afraid to draw a timeline.

MSU - "The Bent of Tau Beta Pi"

Tau Beta Pi is the national engineering honor society.

This particular Bent is for the Montana Alpha chapter. I was inducted into the Texas Delta chapter circa 1987.

MSU - steel sculpture

I don't understand how the students can resist climbing on this.

Misc notes

Bozeman got a mini-mention on Wonkette.
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We're #168, according to Progressive Farmer.

MSU - Satellite dishes

These dishes are used by the local public TV station, I've been told. In the background, you can see two huge dorms.

Grilling season begins

Earlier this evening, I fired up the gas grill for the first time this year. Of course it then started to rain...

The grilled chicken was excellent, though.

Energy costs in Bozeman

More info for folks considering moving to Bozeman:

1. Electricty and Natural gas - My house's electric bill was $26 in March 2006. The gas bill was $123.

2. Gasoline - currently about $2.43 per gallon.

Bogie

An hilarious Bogart/Frodo video mashup.

Scary song

I first heard "The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins" on a Dr. Demento CD. Little did I realize that the music video was even more demented.

Info about relocating to Bozeman

A fellow emailed with some questions about possibly relocating to Bozeman, and I promised to answer in this blog.

For general info, I recommend the Relocation Packet from the Bozeman Chamber of Commerce.

1. Is it a real bone chill cold or does it not feel so bad when the sun is out?
> It feels fine to me, and I grew up in the South.

2. How often does it get below Zero?
> Fairly common at night this past winter.

3. Housing seems pricey...
> I think the average cost of a home in bozeman is about $220 K. Belgrade (the next town over) is cheaper, but Belgrade is not as nice as Bozeman (IMHO). For more info on housing prices, shoot an email to our local real estate blogger: Inside Out.

4. Does Bozeman feel like a mountain community or how would you describe it?
> I would describe Bozeman as half "ski town", half "college town" located in a flat valley right next to the mountains.

5. Would you feel the quality of life to be good or is there a lot of hustle and bustle?
> I think the quality of life is good. The folks in Bozeman are very outdoors-oriented. There is a brief rush hour around 7:45 AM and 5:00 PM. (FWIW, I previously lived in Houston, Dallas, and Atlanta which are all traffic nighmares.)

6. (Paraphrase): "small town beautiful" or "small town ugly" ?
> "small town beautiful"

7. High tech or behind the times
> High tech (I work a the university so might be biased in what I notice).

8. Elementary schools?
> As a forty year old bachelor, I can't help you here.

> I'll answer some more of his questions later.

Waiting patiently

This dog was very happy to see its master a few minutes after I snapped this photo.

MSU: Bench or Sculpture ?

This cantilevered bench/sculpture is located across the street from the MSU Duck Pond.

15 of 25

I've read 15 of the 25 most widely held library books.

Now open at 11 am

This bar is next door to the bagel shop I frequent.

A touch of the Dutch

You can see this windmill on N. 5th Avenue in Bozeman.

MSU: Duck Pond willow tree

This large tree was chopped down on 3/13/06. The tree was diseased and a potential hazard to pedestrians according to an arborist hired by MSU.

Tex-Mex in Bozeman

I had nachos here last weekend. So far, this is my favorite tex-mex restaurant in Bozeman (as a native Texan, I claim some expertise in the selection...). The grilled meat and the salsa bar were nice. And it never hurts to play some Bob Dylan on the radio.

Maybe cal-mex is a better classification, though, since they also serve fish tacos.

Church expansion

I drove by Grace Bible Church on the way to my accountant. I wonder why they are expanding - are there more heathens who need preaching to, or ?

Car dealership

Interesting design, huh?

Update: Located on the NW corner of 19th and Main in Bozeman, MT. Re sarpy sam's comment: I can certainly believe this building was originally a bank.

The Kinkade-Pooh nexus

After reading this story, I will be unable to contemplate "ritually marking my territory" without simultaneously imagining Winnie the Pooh in one of those awful "paintings of light."

(BTW, the Gallatin Valley Mall has a Framing Shop which includes a Kinkade Gallery. I only visit the Gallery when I want a case of the heebie-jeebies. The rest of the framing store is OK, though.)

States where I've spent the night

create your own visited states map

Interesting essay

Jenny Turner's essay in the London Review of Books is the most insightful piece of Tolkien criticism that I've read.

(See here for my previous post on Tolkien.)

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Technorati tags: tolkien

MT license plates

Top: old plates
Bottom: new plates

The "6" means these tags are for a car registered in Gallatin County, which was the 6th most populous county when Montana became a state.

No taste

I found different piece of Bozeman graffiti that would earn the title "Bad Taste", but I don't think I'll blog it.

Credit card debt

Thinking of paying off your credit card debt? Think again.

birth order quiz

You Are Likely A Fourth Born

At your darkest moments, you feel angry. At work and school, you do best when your analyzing. When you love someone, you tend to be very giving. In friendship, you don't take the initiative in reaching out. Your ideal jobs are: factory jobs, comedy, and dentistry. You will leave your mark on the world with your own personal philosophy.

The Birth Order Predictor

Correct - I was the fourth (and last) child. I don't know about the "ideal jobs" suggestions, though.

(The site has all sorts of silly quizzes...)

8th grade math

You Passed 8th Grade Math

Congratulations, you got 10/10 correct!

Could You Pass 8th Grade Math?

My graduate degree in operations research (applied math) actually helped ;-)

A matter of taste?

World traveler

I visited five countries at the MSU International Food Bazaar this evening: Malaysia, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, India, and Germany. Yum.

Old grain elevator

This disused grain elevator is located between I-90 and Oak Street in NE Bozeman, Montana. Pigeons like to congregate on the roof (and maybe inside, as well).

Indeed

View on Peach Street

Narnia - overanalyzed

The Narnia flick was recently shown at the MSU Student Union, so I figured I'd write a short theological discourse ;-) (Yes, yes, the Narnia books were written for very young children and can't stand up to much analysis. But I can't help myself.)

In The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe book, Aslan wakes up from a hundred-year catnap, finds Narnia in a deep-freeze, and calls the four Pevensie kids to help set things right. Edmund betrays his siblings to the White Witch, and thus becomes her "lawful prey." Edmund is saved from death when Aslan takes Edmund's place. After being slain by a quick thrust of a knife, Aslan dies. He comes back, however, because of a heretofore unknown rule (the Deeper Magic).

Aslan's death and resurrection parallel the "classical theory" of atonement that held sway over Christian thinking until about A.D. 1000. According to this theory, humanity was enslaved to Satan as a consequence of sin. Satan thought he was making quite the bargain with God when God offered up his Son to be sacrificed in humanity's place. In a cosmic version of Calvinball, Satan was unaware of the game's actual rules, and lost everything.

Did Aslan sacrifice himself to save all of Narnia, or just Edmund? All of Narnia, since Narnia was only going to be saved if the four Pevensie kids occupied to the four thrones.

So there you go - an analysis by a non-religious resident of Montana. I can think of several Montana bloggers who could offer other perspectives: Zen, Objectivist, Catholic, Franciscan, Jewish, Pagan...

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Technorati tags: narnia, aslan, atonement

A house on Babcock Street

Luxury living in Bozeman, Montana.

Free sample

I received a free sample of .... gardenia-scented body lotion. Woo-hoo!

Qix

Flash version of one my favorite arcade games: Qix.

My gift-giving needs satisfied

Roulette Chocolate

Lone Mountain Gymnastics

This gymnastics studio is being built in a renovated industrial space on the NW corner of Rouse and Oak in Bozeman, Montana.

Redevelopment: Oak and Rouse

A large site on the NW corner of Rouse and Oak is being redeveloped. As near as I can tell, the site formerly housed a steel fabricator.

Oh frabjous day!

The pic shows my most recent shipment from Amazon. Coincidentally, I received a check from book publisher McGraw-Hill (for reviewing a book) on the very same day.

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technorati tags: gores, pullman, stark

MSU: narrow door

This incredibly narrow door is located on the 4th floor of Roberts Hall. I would be unable to pass through this door unless I turned sideways.

Skiing in 1941

I recently purchased a ski video from 1941: The basic principles of skiing. My main conclusion: I'm glad I didn't start skiing 'til the 2000s.

Mistakes made by Mac newbies

Top 30 mistakes made by new Mac users

Happy Valentines Day

I own a single pair of earrings. I got them at a jewelry store in the Salt Lake City airport, of all the unlikely places (Spirit of the Red Horse). Unfortunately, I broke up with my then-GF before I had a chance to give them to her. (This was several years ago, so you can hold the sympathy.)

So what can I do with a tasteful pair of silver earrings shaped like horses? Maybe I'll get a piercing myself...

English fantasy fiction

I recently re-read two very long English fantasies: Tolkien's Lord of the Rings and Pullman's His Dark Materials. After careful consideration, I must declare that I prefer Pullman's book to Tolkien's.

Of course, Pullman and Tolkien were trying to do two very different things when writing their stories. Pullman was trying to re-imagine the Fall from a humanistic viewpoint. Tolkien was trying to "sub-create" a world as a backdrop to his invented languages, such as Klingon (oops, I meant Quenya ;-).

Thinking over all the Tolkien material I've read, I think the short story Farmer Giles of Ham is my favorite. At least, I needn't fear uttering "not another elf" when reading it.

Update (2/14): Tom Bombadil == Winnie the Pooh ?
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technorati tags: pullman, tolkien

Glass building

This glass building is located in the parking lot of US Bank in downtown Bozeman.

I have a proposal for US Bank: fill the glass building with crumpled dollar bills. Then offer the money as a prize to whoever guesses the correct amount.

Bozeman blogs - latest list

Here are the blogs in "semi URL alphabetical" order...


The Best of the Bozeman Chronicle Police Reports (place)


Blogs against the government (politics)

Bozeman Engineers (expert)

bozeman-mt (place, personal)

Bouncer Blog (personal, place)

Cascade Neighbors (place)

Bozeman's Beaten Path (adventure)

A chicken is not pillage (politics, personal)

Chrismukkah

The Dude Abides (adventure, personal)

Easy and tasty recipes (expert)

Geocaching in Bozeman, Montana (place, adventure)

Gothy and the Least (humor)

Inside Out (place)

In the Mind of a Gangsta (personal)

jesse_james (personal)

Jesse Newland (personal)

kevin.lexblog.com (expert)

Lemon Curry? (personal)

Life in Bozeman Montana (place, personal)

liftedlorax (personal)

logistica-design (expert)

merciless.org (place, adventure)

The Monkey Cage (humor)

Montana Man (personal, place)

Montana Ramblings and My Thoughts Here (personal)

My Crazed World (personal)

New Economic Literary Theory

Rambling Thoughts (personal)

Revolving Duck (personal, adventure, place)

Ron's Montana Musings (personal, ideas)

Rose Colored Cynicism (politics, personal)

Speedkill (ideas, adventure)

Strong Copy Builds Brands (business)

Theresa (Steel Tears) (personal)

A thought over coffee (adventure, place)

this be my shiny page (personal)

travelblog.org: Bozeman (place)

The vulgar ravings of a drunken, Irish Catwoman (personal)

Wisdom Journal


Apparently Defunct: You all should know better (personal), Oral Traditions

Lend me a hand

Here is a list of literary characters I've encountered who have a missing, malformed, or mutilated hand. I would welcome any additions to the list.

Will Parry, one of the protagonists of Pullman's His Dark Materials, loses the two small fingers of his left hand to "the subtle knife." The resulting wound marks him as the "Knife Bearer" and is important in the remainder of the trilogy.

Frodo Baggins, protagonist of Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, has one of his fingers bit off by Gollum in the climax of the final volume.

Mannie, the protagonist of Heinlein's The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, lost a complete arm in a mining accident. This took place before the events recounted in the novel.

Ijon Tichy, in Lem's Peace on Earth, suffers a severed corpus callosum when investigating some mysterious incidents on the moon. His consciousness is governed by the left hemisphere of his brain. His left hand, however, is separately controlled by his brain's right hemisphere. It has a "mind of its own", as it were.

Saruji, a very minor character in Clavell's Shogun, has a withered/twisted right hand - he can't handle a samurai sword correctly. He is the son of Mariko.

Arabian Nights - several characters get their thumbs or complete hands chopped off.

One of the main characters in The English Patient had his thumbs chopped off.

Note: I have ignored literary instances of stigmata.

Mural

The mural is on the east side of Ace Hardware in downtown Bozeman, Montana.

Ski: Day 8

I set a personal record today: my longest fall. I must have slid at least 50 meters down Deer Park Face (at Bridger Bowl). I guess any fall you can ski away from is a "good fall", right?

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Technorati tags: ski, bozeman

Two more Bozeman blogs

Strong Copy Build Brands

Montana Man - includes photos

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Technorati tag: bozeman blog

PSA (Public Service Ad)

When the little ad section on the right says "Public Service Ad", it means that Google Ads is not able to match any of my recent posts to any advertiser's "key words."

With a normal ad, the advertiser pays a small amount every time someone clicks the ad (and some of that moolah eventually filters down to me). With PSAs, however, rest assured that clicking does not cost the charity any money.

So, if you see a PSA that interests you, please click it.

Light

I recently re-listened to The Golden Compass. Lyra (the main character) travels to another world through the aurora borealis. That puts me in mind of some lights I'd like to see:

Aurora (Borealis or Australis)

Bioluminescence: I've seen plenty of fireflies (though not in Bozeman). I would like to someday see the milky sea.

Supernova: The soon-to-be Crab nebula went supernova in 1054. Wikipedia says it was visible during the day (and night) for 23 days.

Cherenkov radiation

Stephen King's It gave me the willies, so I have no desire to see the "deadlights."

Chili dogs always bark at night

In recognition of the newly arrived Year of the Dog, I have resolved to eat chili dogs more ofen this year.

In somewhat related culinary news, I have declared "freedom from fries": I will try to avoid french fries, onion rings, etc.

Meta: Revised Bozeman blogroll

I revised my Bozeman blogroll (on the right of the blog). I added several newly-discovered blogs. If you know of any I missed, please leave a comment.

I'll post the revised list in a blog entry in a few days so that others can easily link to it.

The following two blogs dropped off the list since they are apparently defunct: Oral Traditions (this was for a class at MSU, apparently), and You all should know better (which has the most user-unfriendly background image of any blog I've ever seen).

More Bozeman blogs

The Dude Abides - adventure/personal

Chrismukkah - the merry mish-mash holiday

travelblog.org: Bozeman

Nicole Didier: Wisdom Journal, New Economic Literary Theory, Oral Traditions

Blogs against the government

MSU: another book lover

Gaze into my red beady eyes...

Spider

I found this little spider near my telephone a few weeks ago. A confirmed fan of spiders, I let it be.

MSU: Book lover

A plastic lizard to keep watch over my books.

MSU: a bookcase

One of my office bookcases.

MSU: Roberts 302

Here's a view of my office. There's a little bit of clutter, but less than a couple of months ago.

Tuesday Kitchen Blogging: meatballs

I made meatballs for the first time tonight (woo-hoo!). Overall, they were a success: they tasted great, and I did set off the smoke alarm. I used Half Circle Ranch Organic Piedmontese Beef - very tasty, and it's from Montana.

Advice to bachelors

Here's my advice to bachelors (i.e., never-married men over 30 living alone): if you are earning a good living, then (for goodness sake) hire a cleaning service. Yes, even if you have to cut back on pay-per-view, beer, and chicken wings. My life is so much smoother now that I have a maid service come in every other week.

Soup & Salad

I had lunch today at the Bozeman Community Food Co-op (on Main, across from Safeway). It's a great place for soup, salad, and sandwiches.

The process: you make your salad (etc.) at the deli on the main floor, pay at the regular checkout, and eat upstairs.

Ski: Day 6

A great day for tree-skiing at Bridger Bowl. I fell down a bunch in the moguls, though.

@ the movies

I saw Underworld: Evolution last night. If you think you might enjoy watching a leather-clad lady vampire kick werewolf butt, go see this movie. (trailer)

Two new Bozeman blogs

I created a couple of blogs recently for organizations I'm active in:

Cascade Association of Neighbors is Bozeman's newest officially organized neighborhood.

Bozeman Engineers is the local chapter of the Montana Society of Engineers.

Woo-hoo

I saw a woman with a pierced tragus today...

City engineer to speak at 2/9 meeting

Everyone is welcome to attend the 2/9 meeting of the Bozeman chapter of the Montana Society of Engineers.

Rick Hixson, City Engineer, will speak on: "Bozeman Engineering Projects: the next five years."

For info on venue and cost, see the PDF flyer.

NPR (National Public Radio)

Stories about Montana

Stories about Bozeman