The Assos Journals of Francis H. Bacon

The idea of finding a set of journals kept by an Archaeologist is one of those that just tickles the edges of my little black heart. Considering that these early notebooks were considered primary sources for much of the early work done in the field, many researchers studied art to be able to more accurately represent maps, objects, recovered pieces of art and the like within the pages of their journals.

Prior to photography, all that we had was a sketch journal or perhaps some artist's work to capture the likeness of a statue or ruined building.

In its early years, the Archaeological Institute of America sponsored investigations in the American Southwest from 1880 to 1884 and excavations at Assos (Turkey) from 1881 to 1883 and at Cyrene (Libya) and Quirigua (Guatemala) during the early 1900s. Extracts from the journal of Francis H. Bacon, one of the Assos expedition leaders, appeared in the April 1974 issue of ARCHAEOLOGY. Those are republished here, illustrated with a selection of photographs and drawings from his monumental publication of the excavation, Investigations at Assos.

Click here for more of the story.

So it began with a phone call

2:35 p.m. Brr. Cold feet. Yesterday, in the early evening, Em gave me a call and asked for my help since her car had overheated. So I grabbed some supplies and headed up to see what I could do.

I am not a mechanic by any means. Anyone who knows me would agree, but I figured with the temperature dropping that I should go help if I could.

The original plan was to remove the thermostat from the coolant line since that has gone bad in the past and once it's removed it will still let the engine run without overheating - but other things might not work as well.

This involved my socket set and an elbow joint to get into a very tiny place. The wind was very cold and the chill in the air dropped quickly as the sun went behind the hills. It took a while but I finally got the bolt off and removed the thermostat. Putting it back on should not have been that big of an issue.

SHOULD...mind you.

I didn't have a long-handled screw driver to actually tap the mounting neck back onto the engine so it didn't want to sit right. When I thought I had it, I tried to screw down the bolt in hopes that it would pull things into place. It didn't exactly work. The elbow joint broke just as a huge gust of wind crawled up the small of my back and under my jacket. Well, without needle-nose pliers to pull out the broken socket or a new elbow joint, I had to call it for the evening and try again today with the sun up.

So, after a quick trip to Walmart to get a new elbow joint, I got it back together and followed Em on her way back home in case there was a problem. She got about 2 miles or so and then pulled over because of the temperature warning light. So we pulled over and let it cool down. The second leg took us into Ironton, but had to stop before crossing the bridge into Russel. The last leg got her parked in front of apartment and then I came home.

My toes are still cold.

This was not my idea for an adventure.

But, these things always seem to happen when it's half-dark and in the worst weather imaginable. Rarely have I ever heard of anyone breaking down during a nice, sunny day within 2 miles of a garage or parts store, six hours before they close. It must have something to do with the grand unified theory.

Buttered bread always lands butter-side down.

Cars always break down at 9:00 p.m. on a weekend night 20 miles from the nearest parts store during bad weather.

The moment you need to use your cellphone to call for help, there will be no signal.

Etc.

-T.

Prehistoric Romeo & Juliet

I ran across this article on CNN where archaeologists found a pair of lovers in a last embrace somewhere near Verona; the setting for Romeo and Juliet.

Click here to read more about the article.

Buried between 5,000 and 6,000 years ago, the prehistoric pair are believed to have been a man and a woman and are thought to have died young, as their teeth were found intact, said Elena Menotti, the archaeologist who led the dig.

I doubt that they'll be able to find that many details about the pair other than that they're young. They're not even sure if they're male and female.

Yeap, it's real winter

11:00 a.m. Well, I just shoveled out my driveway and threw about a bag of salt out there. There's at least four inches of snow on the ground if not more in some places.

I decided to get out and clear the drive just in case I wanted to go somewhere tomorrow. Since my driveway is usually a sheet of ice with all the run off from the hill, I have to make sure it's salted as early as possible or there's no way to get the car up or down it.

So, rather than skipping a workout entirely, I was out clearing snow. When I got down to the sidewalk, I turned and saw that my front stairs looked kinda interesting. Yeah, this is a little dark but my battery was dying and the flash didn't work. I've tried to lighten it but I'm not the best with color correction.

-T

It came!

Well, after I spent the time to email all 120 of my students yesterday to tell them that I was canceling classes, the University helped me out by canceling the whole thing. So, today, I get to sit in my sweats and goof off because I have the rest of the weekend to myself and I get paid for it.

I was planning on heading up to Athens this weekend but I don't know if I'll be able to pull it off unless the snow melts and the weather gets a little better.

It's Coming

Close all shops in the malls.

Hoard food.

Abandon the Elderly

Board up the Windows & Doors

Get the Sled Dogs

Dogs and Cats living together.

Mass Hysteria.

This has been an over-reacting bulletin from the general populace of Portsmouth, Ohio.

Jeasus Camp: Follow Up

I found this link from a friend.

Click here to read the article from Christian Today.

The controversial Jesus Camp in the US has shut down after a documentary film which featured events of children praying in tongues and sobbing with repentance in the camp met with a negative response.

Real Winter

Morning

Well, it's in the single digits today as the post below will tell you. 1 degree when I got up. Ugh.

When I got on campus the wind was freezing the last bit of water left by the snow that melted yesterday. It seems as though everyone I know is sick with some kind of flu or bronchitis. Thankfully, I haven't caught anything too severe this season. Being away from human contact for the past year may have either helped me or will condemn me to a fate worse than death.

When I was talking to friends of mine about winter they had different views. One wanted one real good snow just so it's not ice and rain all the time. Everytime we have gotten hit here in Portsmouth, he's got nothing down in Huntington. Another friend talked about how when she lived in D.C. and how they have "real winters" up there. Real is opposed to the faint concept of winter we have around here these days.

When I thought about it a bit more, I thought about some of the information that I've read about the 'mini ice-age' and how there's a cycle of weather that seems to settle that kind of pre-historical weather on the Northern Hemisphere every six hundred years or so. I think that we're do again if I remember correctly, but I don't remember if they had an actual prediction for when it would come of if they're theorizing a ten-year period for when they think it might happen.

That would be a 'real winter', I think. Crops would freeze and fail, people would have to adapt their thinking to a whole new level of climatic survival.

11:40 a.m. I'm back in the Faculty Lounge. The lecture today was short and there weren't that many people in class. I'm guessing that they didn't feel like coming in today. The Army Reservist guy wasn't there today either. He was gone last Wednesday too so I'm wondering if he's pulled himself out for something or perhaps was recalled.

I've decided to switch my workouts to the afternoon. I like the extra time I have to get my act together in the morning and I don't have the urgency to rush to get it done and then run off to class. So, after Sociology, I'll be heading over to enjoy the heat of the sauna and the workout. I just hope that there's no swim meet this time.



Real Winter

These are the days when
the Wind has Teeth,
and the Cold is Hungry.

It remembers when it covered the world
and the sun was a memory.

1 Degree?

I woke up and I was cold. I jumped onto Weather.com to find out that it's only 1 degree outside. BRR.

I don't think I'll be in my dress clothes today. The wind / cold would eat through them easily with its sharp teeth.

Something I saw online

Your Birthdate: August 25

You excel at anything difficult or high tech. In other words, you're a total (brilliant) geek. It's difficult for you to find people worth spending time with. Which is probably why you'll take over the world with your evil robots! Your strength: Your unfailing logic Your weakness: Loving machines more than people Your power color: Tan Your power symbol: Pi Your power month: July

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

Considering that the joke has always been: "When my Armies invade, your name will be on the list of those who are saved..." and THIS survey says that I'll take over the world with an army of evil robots...

Makes ya wonder. :)

-T

Tseo says "&%@#*%%!"

So I shoveled my driveway last night in the hopes that things wouldn't freeze up today. There was a chance that we would get cold weather but I wasn't expecting snow.

Guess what? I was wrong.

I shoveled my way out of the drive this morning to go grab my meager paycheck and pay some bills and by the time I was back, you couldn't tell that I had even touched it.

Ugh.

So I made chili and started reading Psych. Yeah, this is my life.

Tseo, my backyard guardian, is half-covered in the white stuff. If there's any hint of a spirit within him, I'm in -so- much trouble for leaving him out in the cold.

-T.

Doesn't this just seem fitting?

WASHINGTON - People once again spent everything they made and then some last year, pushing the personal savings rate to the lowest level since the Great Depression more than seven decades ago.

HOUSTON - Oil giant Exxon Mobil Corp. on Thursday posted the largest annual profit by a U.S. company — $39.5 billion — even as earnings for the last quarter of 2006 declined 4 percent.


People are draining their savings at a record not seen since the Great Depression and yet the mega-corporations like Exxon Mobil are reporting their largest annual profits. How can anyone think that these two things are unrelated?

And, what's worse - it probably won't change. This coming year the big companies will continue to get bigger and the average person will probably go through the last of whatever savings they were able to acquire just to continue their lifestyles. Are people living beyond their means? Probably. Are the big companies raising prices unnecessarily? Probably. Can we do anything about this? No.

Gods this is depressing.

2006 personal savings fall to 74-yr. low
Exxon Mobil posts record annual profit