Amalgamated Friday #21

The Simpsons

Does this seem somewhat frivolous? Hmmm... Heard the movie was good, though

• Nature and the Simpsons, Pharyngula brings us the link to an interview in Nature's blog with the executive producer Al Jean
• Nature Podcast index, with a transcript and podcast of their interview with Al Jean and how many PhD's clutter up the writing staff

Science, in general

• Math doesn't suck, according to the new book by actress and math whiz Danica McKellar and her interview with Tara Smith explains why, on Aetiology
• Wandering Empathy, John Hawks takes a whack at the notion of empathetic mice
• Swedish Heritage Board: "We Have Abandoned All Scientific Ambition", Martin on Aardvarchaeology and struggles between politics and science in the heritage community

Around About

• Mineral Streak Gallery, Andrew Alden on Geology
• Harry Potter and Latin, N.S. Gill in Ancient History has compiled a list of spells in the latest HP that at first glance appear to be Latin or Latinate
• Tewkesbury Castle flooded, Melissa Snell, Medieval History
• Sigrid the Haughty, a 10th century Swedish princess, from Jone Lewis, Women's History

Archaeology

• Iceman bled to death on the glacier, from Tim on Remote Central
• Mike Smith in Publishing Archaeology asksWhy Aren’t There More Good Book Reviews in Archaeology?
• Reviews in Archaeology, Alun on Clioaudio replies
• The Rise of GPS & GIS Requirements, Fenelle Miller on Digging Digitally wants to know what hard and software people use to record GPS/GIS data on archaeological sites
• Adventures in Angkor - Ta Prohm, noelbynature describes the Angkor temple site of Ta Prohm, with lots of great photographs
• Book of Jeremiah Confirmed?, Laura Sexton on Archaeology magazine, describes Assyrian texts that mention Nebo-Sarsekim, a character in the biblical book of Jeremiah

New Journal Issues

• Current Anthropology 48(4)
• Journal of Near Eastern Studies 66(3)

Video

• Celtic Archaeology and History, a 10 minute interlude showing photos of Celtic artifacts, archaeological sites, paintings, and reenactors (including a quick glimpse of Mel Gibson in blue paint) with a melodic Celtic soundtrack, from Richard Edward Wurst on YouTube
• Anthropology Field Notes a new podcast journal from Central Washington University, host Faith Haney interviews Trent de Boer on his work on Shovel Bum the 'Zine, and takes a tour of the museum with former curator Martha Duskin Smith and anthropologist Karl Heider on TAC

Miscellany for the Heck of it

• Rice Paddy Art, a positive variation on crop circles and corn mazes, via BoingBoing
• Mythical satyr may be preserved in salt, when Stanford folklorist Adrienne Mayor saw the stories of the men found preserved by salt in an Iranian salt mine, she was instantly reminded of a story she wrote about in her book The First Fossil Hunters: Paleontology in Greek and Roman Times
• Self-archiving, from Mike Smith in Publishing Archaeology

Previous Amalgamated Fridays