Outside The Interzone: Nov 14, 2010

Friday, November 19, 2010

Rising Empire

According to Sharenator/empires, Outside the Interzone is more ~~powerful~~ populous than Vatican City.

This is based on the supposed 5029 visitors the blog gets daily. Color me dubious. On the other hand...

...the idea of the OTI crowd as 3459 people wearing Groucho Marx glasses seems utterly perfect.

When Terrorists Win

When we live in fear, and allow this sort of thing to happen. Via @Dhunterauthor, Cancer surviving flight attendant forced to remove prosthetic breast during pat-down. Add to that a quote from an article in today's OregonLive:

"Honey, no one has wanted to pat me down in so long, I'm going to say, 'take me, take me,' " says Gabrielle Duvall. "Seriously, we are a blessed country and they are doing this for our protection."

Also,

...many PDX travelers say they're happy to do what they see as their patriotic duty.

So there you have it. When the terrorists win, it's your patriotic duty to allow complete strangers to feel you up. Bonus: you'll think it's a fun turn-on.

Followup: A new entry for the Urban Dictionary, apparently coined here: gate rape.

Schist Happens

Yeah, it's been one of those weeks. I'm glad it's almost over. My feline overlord has been having seizures- at least two I've seen, and a couple more that can be inferred. Internet problems. Blarg.

see more So Much Pun

Life. Don't talk to me about life. Talk to me about rocks.

Thursday, November 18, 2010

News Item

From The CSM:

Bristol Palin and her mom, Sarah Palin, have used their reality TV shows – 'Dancing With the Stars' and 'Sarah Palin's Alaska' – to underscore a secret to their appeal: the disarming smile.

So about that disarming smile... know who else had a disarming smile? No, not Hitler.

USA with some fava beans and a nice chianti.

Of Coffee, Trees and Rocks

I don't think it's quite yet a geo-meme, but in the past day both Garry Hayes and Callan Bently have posted lovely photos of fall foliage around their stomping grounds. Which reminded me there have been a couple of tree-and-rock related things I've been admiring outside the Interzone. The two commercial rentals next door are being remodeled for something, and that includes replacing the windows, apparently. So here are a couple of pictures of place-holders for the window panes:

"What does this have to do with geology," I hear you cry.

Well, take a look at this:

From Oxford's "Rocks under the Microscope" page, muscovite-biotite schist thin section in plane polarized light. I think it indicates a certain degree of obsessive nerdliness to look at this:

...and be mesmerized by its resemblance to a medium-high grade foliated metamorphic rock.

This magnificent ginkgo is more in line with the fall foliage theme. Every year, this tree seems to hold on to its summer greenery a few weeks longer than most of the other trees, then almost overnight, transform itself into a billow of golden fire.

But once again, what does this have to do with rocks? You didn't click the "ginkgo" link above, did you? Ginkgo is most famous for being a "living fossil," that is, an organism that has survived for many millions of years with very little change. Fossils of Jurassic and later ginkgoes are essentially indistinguishable from the modern species, and very similar species are found as far back as the Permian. Wikipedia has some interesting information on their history and ecological habits.

Part of my fascination with this tree is the stark contrast between it and its neighboring fir.

In a quick walk around the block, above is a gum tree- they've been quite vibrant this year, but the leaves are quickly falling off now.

And this is a little ornamental maple partway down the block from Interzone.

This is a cross section, or transverse section, through a sample of permineralized wood that normally sits on the table next to my traditional station at the Interzone. I think this may have been a gift from my friend and colleague Larry Enochs. If so, it came from the Holley, OR area, where a remarkably diverse Oligocene to early Miocene flora has been preserved in astonishing detail. Irene Gregory's 1968 paper in The Ore Bin makes for a good read (1.85 Mb PDF). However, I'm not absolutely positive that this piece is from that area. Below is a radial section- 16 oz. coffee glass for scale.

Next is an approximately tangential section...

...and an oblique shot- I have labeled the surfaces on this, X, R, and ~T, for cross (transverse), radial, and tangential, respectively.

Followup: I love synchronicity... the very first thing I looked at after finishing this post was the cover of this month's GSA Geology Journal.

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

La Nina

It's a La Nina year. Last year was an El Nino year... we had record highs in January and February. This year, in terms of climatic norms for the PNW, we can expect below average temperatures and above average precipitation. Looks like we may be off to an early start.

A COMPLEX...COLD LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM THAT WILL MOVE INTO SOUTHWEST
WASHINGTON AND NORTHWEST OREGON TODAY AND LINGER NEAR THE COAST
INTO THE WEEKEND WILL LIKELY BRING THE COLDEST AIR OF THE SEASON
TO THE INTERIOR VALLEYS AND THE WESTERN COLUMBIA RIVER GORGE.

RAIN COULD MIX WITH SNOW NEAR HOOD RIVER IN THE COLUMBIA RIVER
GORGE AS EARLY AS THURSDAY NIGHT AND FRIDAY MORNING. BUT THE MORE
SIGNIFICANT COLD AIR IS EXPECTED TO FILTER INTO SOUTHWEST
WASHINGTON AND NORTHWEST OREGON OVER THE WEEKEND...WITH A SECOND
SURGE POSSIBLE EARLY NEXT WEEK. IF THIS COLD ARCTIC AIR
MATERIALIZES...IT WILL BRING THE COLDEST AIR OF THE SEASON TO THE
AREA...WITH LOW TEMPERATURES POSSIBLY FALLING INTO AT LEAST THE
20S IN THE VALLEYS. IF ANY MOISTURE IS AVAILABLE...THIS COULD
ALSO BRING SNOW TO THE VALLEY FLOORS BY EARLY NEXT WEEK. WHILE A
LOT OF DETAILS ARE STILL UP IN THE AIR...NOW WOULD BE A GOOD TIME
TO MAKE PREPARATIONS FOR A SIGNIFICANT COLD SNAP BY PROTECTING
TENDER PLANTS...WRAPPING OUTDOOR FAUCETS...AND COVERING FOUNDATION
VENTS.

I don't mind a little snow, though I enjoyed much more when I was younger. It is awfully pretty, but it's getting so it's hazardous to me, and I don't tolerate cold as well, either. And "at least low 20's?" Eep!

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

WiFi Problems

The Interzone is having them. I'm logged on as a guest at OSU, but it's weak, slow, and interrupts every twenty minutes so I can log in again. Way behind on my reading. So don't expect too much here soon.