Saturday, October 10

We haven’t been getting out much, in no small part because I’m teaching two classes this semester. This is adjunct work, in addition to my regular work. I like some aspects of the teaching but it sucks up the time in a major way. But it helps pay for Molly’s collage and the occasional photography toy.

One of the classes is a programming class using the Python scripting language. As an intro to Python I have the students start with a list consisting of Who, What, I don’t know, and Today. Then they write a script that prints out the lineup for the Abbot and Costello Who’s On First routine. Last year when I told the students to write the Who’s on first lineup, I had 12 blank faces looking at me. Stopped me in my tracks. Three of the students were nonnative English speakers, so I could understand them not knowing it. But the other nine? How could they not know this piece of classic American comedy? I didn’t even want to ask them what brand of scrapple they preferred.

I tried again this year, with almost the same results. Only one person heard of it. So I found a YouTube video of Abbot and Costello performing the routine and played it for the class. Some of them even found it amusing. So if they get nothing more out of the class, at least I can say I broadened their horizons a bit.

We did a little rarity chasing today and got a Hudsonian godwit. And no, I didn’t make that name up. These guys are a shorebird that nests way up in Canada and Alaska and migrates through the Great Plains to South America. So it was really out of range here in Michigan. Someone reported it at a small park about 20 miles from here yesterday. Luckily it hung around today until we go to see it. A nice little find.

On the science front, the Nobel prize for Physics was awarded to Takaaki Kajita and Arthur B. McDonald for showing that Neutrinos have mass. May sound trivial but it helps explain how the universe ended up in the configuration it did. But as our friend Evie said, isn’t the more important question determining whether Catholics have mass?

Haven’t had much time for any new photography. I have been organizing files and found a few pictures I could do some quick black and white work on.