Easter with The Sicilians and Their Progeny

Quick Easter trip to see A in Maremma, where Spring was just beginning to work its way up the hills.
Everywhere was singing birds, bursting buds, popping shoots, and jumping lambs as Nature sprang out of Winter in a flurry of reproductive activity.

The Sicilians were no exception. As we know, it's all about the Family on that island, and so what was meant to be small group of them quickly ballooned into a clan gathering. As the saying goes, you can pick your friends, but not your relatives. However, it should also be added that you cannot pick your friends' relatives. But they can pick you.

And they brought offspring.

Who were obviously adorable. Francesca is at the age where she combines the most endearing attributes of a monkey and a sea slug, while little Roger has progressed right to the edge of his Terrible Twos without yet falling into them. His interests include cleaning products found under the sink and leg hair.

Plenty of frenzied cooking ensued.
Strange American customs were introduced to general bemusement.
But it wasn't all babies, baking, and homely crafts. A few deviant types established an exclusive gentleman's club in the dependence (whiskey, hip hop, tanks, etc.). Thank god.

The trip back included a revealing moment. You might feel a bit decadent when the stewardess exclaims, "Back so soon?" when you get on the plane. But you might not care when she then plies you with 'left over' champagne all the way back to New York.

Treasure trove of online absurdity

Andy has alerted me to this, a finely curated collection of WTF images. Let's all strive to contribute, shall we?

The New Jersey Jungle

Set out at dawn for a nice run along the Princeton canal. The heavy mist rising off the lake made everything wispy and mystical, and the new spring leaves smelled good after a night of rain.
Little did I know I was about to enter into an epic battle of Man versus Nature.


The first thing I noticed was the abundance of geese. Canadian immigrants, these ugly birds are a common nuisance. They make noise and shit all over the place, but are harmless enough. Or so I thought.

The first one came running at me and landed a glancing blow on my right thigh with its beak. More surprised than anything, I kept running. The goose, joined by its chums, pursued. This ridiculous spectacle continued for 50m or so, at which point the geese declared a moral victory and returned to shitting and honking.

A mile or so further down the canal, I came to a large puddle blocking the path. I swerved into the grass on the side to avoid it, requiring me to jump over a large log. As I was about to leap, the log suddenly stood up and jumped into the water, causing me to do a little half-side-leap-triple-axel-stumble-type thing.

I had stumbled on a beaver! Having never been so close to one, I didn't realize they were so big. Really more the size of a dog than a pussy cat.

On the way back the geese were waiting for me. Their leader, a big brute of a bird, took a running start and came flying directly at my face. Fortunately, I have some experience dealing with aggressive birds (chickens, cockatiels, budgerigars, pheasants, turkeys) and this time I was ready. As the beast swooped in to peck my eyes out I knocked him out of the air with a satisfying right hook. But the fucker was not deterred! Launching back into the air with surprising agility he came at me from behind so quickly that all I could do was turn and slap at him awkwardly. Managed to fend him off again but not before the creature boxed my ears with its powerful wings.

In short, I'm lucky to be alive. Next time I'm bringing a big stick.

Office politics (science of)

Theory:
Realism. Political outcomes are attributable to the distribution of power amongst actors (cf. Machiavelli, Hobbes, Marx, Chinese Communist Party).

Unit of analysis:
Graduate student

Dependent variable:
Office space

Independent variable:
Subject matter of academic work

Causal mechanism:
Patronage. Professors will allocate office space to graduate students who work in their area of interest.

Hypothesis:
Desirability of graduate student's office space will co-vary with power of professors interested in graduate student's topic.

Evidence:
I started the year with a drab, moldy basement cubicle. Two weeks ago I presented an international political economy paper in graduate seminar. It was well received. Today, the director of the powerful political economy center offered me a new office which has "suddenly" come free (see figure one). It is spacious, sunlit, clean, stocked with computer equipment, and sits a few doors down the hall from Paul Krugman.

Fig. 1

Inference:
Power matters. Patronage is a powerful force in academia.

Policy implications:
Write what they want to hear.

Normative implications:
But at what cost?

Adventures in the back country

I have never liked cross-country skiing. It seems that if one is going to strap sticks to one's feet, it's important to have gravity working with you, not against you. But our tour into Grand Teton National Park has broadened my mind.

Perhaps it was the glorious peaks rising up from the flat valley.

Perhaps it was the beautiful sunshine.
Perhaps it was the little reminders of animals, like these wolf tracks on a frozen lake.
Or these rather intimidating bear marks on a tree
Or perhaps it was the grace with which one can swish across the frozen wilderness:



Yes, I think I may have to reconsider my opinion.

Skiing in cowboy country II

This evening we ventured out to explore the town of Jackson, Wyoming. As mom reminded everyone we met, the parents had been here 35 years ago as vagrant hippies and were eager to see what remained of the past.


The cowboy culture remains nicely commodified for tourist consumption. Wooden sidewalks. Those low-slung Western buildings.



Decor mostly consists of dead animals and the implements used to kill them.

This arch is made entirely from elk antlers (don't worry, elk shed their antlers each year).


Spent some time in the good ol' Million Dollar Cowboy Bar.

Played some pool with drunken college girls with low self-esteem. Conveniently, the bar stools have saddles.
This bear was, the bar claims, was killed by a man with his bare hands.

I can only guess what other wonders this town will reveal to us.

Skiing in cowboy country I

This week the family finds itself in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, enjoying the largest vertical rise of any ski resort in North America. It is a big and serious mountain. Today the winds were gusting over 40mph:

But of course we persevered.
This much change in elevation means that weather and snow condition are totally different on the summit and the base. The top half of the mountain has some glorious powder. The bottom half is covered with either a sticky glue-like substance. Beautiful terrain, though. I hope is snows a bit more before we leave....