Musings

I found the spitting rain beautiful in its own way, and was glad we could mold our schedule to it. This is the Certosa di San Lorenzo di Padula, which the nation has restored. Despite its over 300 rooms, we saw maybe two dozen—a choice two dozen. This is the elaborate staircase—I’m not sure why it was added to the complex.

We all enjoyed the museum of Western Lucania, tucked into the center of the area we could explore. Expect a pottery photo or two to appear at some time in the future.

Posted at 10:22 PM | Comments Off on Rain didn’t best us

Sea coasts host many a land’s end. This is the one at the west end of the Sorrentine Peninsula. Its name is usually given as Punto di Campanella, or a version thereof. The latest construction there I think dates to WWII, and the guidebooks say ruins go back to Roman times. From the landward side, this is an obvious spot to keep track of passing vessels. From the water, however, this is a difficult spot to access.

Oh, and that looming chunk of rock on the horizon? That’s Capri. (Where’s the hem on your slacks?)

That hike occupied our morning after we tore ourselves away from the fine table our B&B set. Mid-day we drove south to Paestum, a long-occupied city that today has some Greek ruins (temples/civic-ceremonial architecture) set amidst mostly Roman residential streets and housing complexes. Here’s a photo of the two largest standing stone buildings, within, I think, a walled precinct. I wonder how much time the hoi palloi spent near them.

Posted at 6:37 PM | Comments Off on Punto Campanella and Paestum in one day

I didn’t really stand around and listen to the guides talk to their groups, but I did overhear one guy (in authoritative British English) say that this is the oldest temple here, and another say the white marble came from Ephesus (west coast of what is now Turkey). Both mentioned that the white pillar to the left of the steps supports a sundial. One of these three tidbits is mentioned in the WikiPee entry for this, the Temple of Apollo at Pompeii.

I might have given you a photo of a (wild?) poppy or a hedge (huge, mind you) of rosemary, but here you go with the imposing columns thing.

I found the sundial and a large water basin to the right out of the frame particularly interesting. They indicate this wasn’t a pure Greek version of Apollo-worship being replicated, but a Romanized approach to the adopted Greek deity.

That lump in the far left background is the monster that did in Pompeii in AD 79. P is on a hill relative to the sea (Gulf of Naples) and the Sarno River to the south, although it doesn’t look like it on Google Maps. My sense was this temple was on the highest point nearest the water, although there’s architecture between it and the edge of the Pompeii landform. Anyway, plenty to ponder here.

This must have been spiff-up day for the park personnel, as the grass was newly cut (not mowed).

Posted at 1:13 PM | 1 Comment »

Personal news item #2: new shooze.

The most exciting news today in my personal word is that my friend Keith became Dr. Keith—okay, it won’t be formalized until he completes a few fixes here and there and the not-small chore of making a PDF…but, still, pretty darned exciting! He told me from his post-defense happy-buzz that he started along this route in 1994. Kudos, Doc Keith!

Lots of people might say somebody else’s personal news was the newz of the day, but I already wrote about that here.

Okay, one more personal news item: this is my first blog post using the iPad and an iPad picture…. Heh!!!

Posted at 5:21 PM | 3 Comments »

This aging stuff is…complicated. Apparently, I’m tough on my teeth due to a combination of genetics and behavior. So, today I went through another step in the Dance of the Root Canal, and acquired my ration of a bio-inert substance, now filling the space where the nerves were in the afflicted tooth. It’s called gutta-percha, and it’s a natural latex from the sap of a Malaysian tree.

Apparently, this latex dries in the open air/sun. This contrasts to the substance that native peoples collected from trees in the Mesoamerican lowlands to make the balls used in the games in those elaborate ballcourts; they set up that latex by mixing the tree-milk with compounds from a plant in the morning glory family.

The Doc who installed my tooth-quota of gutta-percha used a fancy light microscope and other high-tech equipment to do the job (which was pretty darned pain-free—believe it or not). The blanks are pre-shaped into long cones just right for filling those pesky canals.

I love the juxtaposition of a twenty-first-century electronics and tropical plant that lead to my own consignment of set-up plant-sap….

Posted at 5:42 PM | Comments Off on Bio-inert point-tip-needle-spikelets

There are some days I feel like I’m spinning my wheels, and, sure enough, I have a hard time putting my finger on what I got done.

Today I met a somewhat higher standard, but not a particularly rigorous one. I did track down a few dust bunnies (maybe more like dust-ponies), and I did venture out for some groceries, and, um—see what I mean?

I did find a super-helpful 2010 article by Tina Thurston that helped me understand the Bronze Age in Italy and Europe; she combines archaeological data and archaeological theory, rather than being cowed by the writings of the ancients…. Yippee!

Thurston, Tina L. 2010. “Bitter Arrows and Generous Gifts: What Was a ‘King’ in the European Iron Age?” In Pathways to Power: New Perspectives on the Emergence of Social Inequality, edited by T. Douglas Price, and Gary F. Feinman, pp. 193–254. Springer, New York.

Posted at 6:33 PM | Comments Off on White knight, white flower

We just did a drive-by (the tourist kind), as it was raining (mostly) and miscellaneous other (mostly nebulous) factors were in play, but the house looked prosperous for its time.

The house: John Glenn’s boyhood home. Long before his space tour.

The website says it was moved back to Main Street. Wonder where it was moved away to….

Anyway, the house now fronts the National Road, now US 40. We even saw the old mile-markers in a few places.

Posted at 10:22 PM | Comments Off on Glenn’s early days

View south-southeast across the mouth of Sandusky Bay.

We discovered (well, really: RE-discovered) that from the lighthouse in Marblehead you can see Cedar Point*.

Not Russia.

We’re talking Ohio and Lake Erie….

* WikiPee says the Cedar Point amusement park dates from 1840. Whew!

FOOTNOTE: Téo has become Téo Two.

TECH NOTE: Maybe do the operating system upgrade to version 4.2.1 later.

Posted at 8:12 PM | 1 Comment »

A few of you Gentle Readers may remember when this building was actually a post office. Then I remember enjoying a series of outstanding breakfasts here (much better than steam-table dorm food, ya see)….

It’s now East Lansing’s Dublin Square eatery and bar. Of course…yes, we drank Guinness.

Posted at 10:22 PM | 1 Comment »

I spent a fun day exposing social science schoolteachers from around the state, in Athens for a conference, to the ArchaeoBus, with a great crew of ArchaeoTenders. We even had two who said they’d seen the Bus at the Georgia National Fair earlier this month, who were excited to be making a return visit!

I got bonus family time at the end of the day, driving back to Big A-Town with the Budding Scientist…great!

And a super-bonus James-chili meal, too!

Posted at 10:22 PM | Comments Off on Bus time