Cat's have the right to negotiate their own terms.

Be good to your cats, because at any moment they may decide to up and leave.

I recently read an article in Discover Magazine about the 100 scientific discoveries of 2007. One of them was the history of feline domestication. When Man first developed agriculture they created fields, to grow plants. These fields did much more than just that. They offered smaller animals, such a mice, a feeding ground. This eventually brought cats to the fields. After all they do love to eat those furry little rodents. Shorty the cats who were predisposed to tolerate people flourished, living in fields, then huts and villages. The cats had found a world where they could hunt to their hearts content, but sleep protected from larger predators by man.

So those cute little kitty cats who always act like they own the place, and their doing you a favor by allowing you to be in their presence, actually have a right to be proud. They are the only "domestic" animal to never be domesticated by man.

Merry Christmas Eve!

Since it is Christmas eve this will be a short post, but I felt I had to share my story. Today I went shopping. Not Christmas shopping. I did not leave shopping for the last minute this year. Today I went watch shopping.

Recently my watch died. It lasted me five and a half years. It was a good watch. Durable. Told me the time, date and day of the week. It's time was up. So today I replaced it, with an almost exact replica.

When the sales representative came over to help me I had already narrowed my selection down to two choices. One was the replica. The other was a thinner model. The first question was...are these water resistant?

Sales Clerk:

They should be. It will say on the back.

Me:

It says's water resistant.

Sales Clerk:

That means it can be submerged up to 100 meters. So about 5 miles.

Yes, you heard that right 100 meters is equal to 5 miles. Well after that we moved on to a new topic. One that has less to do with measurements.

Me:

When can I get the watch sized?

Sales Clerk:

We won't be able to do any sizing until January 1.

Me:

There's no way we can have it happen sooner, cause I will be leaving on the 27th.

Sales Clerk:

Oh well I can get it sized for you after Christmas, we're just busy right now.

Me:

Oh. Can you guarantee that it will be ready to be picked up on the 26th. Cause I will be leaving in the morning on the 27th.

Sales Clerk:

Well let me see if I can get it for you today. Follow me.

We then went over to talk to the guy who does the sizing. She handed over the sale to him, which we were very thankful for. He was able to get the watched sized in five minutes.

In the end I got to see the difference between an incompetent sales clerk and a competent one. The later made my shopping experience much less stressful, but with less hilarity.

Pictures

Bill Richardson with Mun Jong Choi in January. Richardson is running for president in 2008. He says he has more international experience than the other Democratic Candidates.



Jay Leno, Conan O'Brien, Jon Stewart, Steven Colbert and David Letterman are all expected to return for production in January. Despite the writers strike. They are doing this to help offset the people involved with production, such as cameramen, who are not getting paid due to the strike.



New research has led scientists to believe that Whales evolved from Mammals. The Indohyus, tiny deer like animals went back into the water that they had evolved out of and became the Whales we know today.



For all you star gazers out there now is the time to check out Mars. Located just above Gemini, the planet is the closest it has been since 2003 and will not get any closer until 2016.

National Museum of Iraq

Following the norm whenever a country goes through turmoil, Iraq's art community has suffered greatly these past few years. When Baghdad fell looters stole around 15,000 Mesopotamian artifacts from the National Museum of Iraq. This is a huge loss to society as Iraq was in the center of various great early civilizations, including the Persian Empire. (From whom those of the Middle East claim descendants, and are ironically, if not significantly the ancient rivals of the Greeks, whom the West claim descendants.)

Since the looting of the museum the museum directors have managed to recover 4,000 of the missing pieces. 400 of which were returned by Ahmad Chalabi, a Shiite politician who is trying to get international support in locating and recovering the artifacts that remain lost.

The museum's tragedy has also brought a spotlight on the vast amount of illegal digging that occurs at 12,000 of Baghdad's archaeological sites. In a country of turmoil, black market antiquities can bring in enough money to support a whole family for a long time.

Hobbit

YAY!

I am very happy to see that New Line and Peter Jackson have patched things up. Jackson will now be directing the Hobbit. The book, a prequel to the Lord of the Rings, will be made into two films. The Hobbit just wouldn't have stood up to the Lord of The Rings if Jackson hadn't been on board.

I'm not saying that the films will be as good as the trilogy, that debate has to wait for the completion of filming. What I am saying is that having any other Director would have caused stylistic difference between the films. I'm grateful for the potential for consistency Jackson offers.

Can't wait to see the films.

History

tom Holland on King Darius' view of his reign over Persia:

History, in effect, had been brought to a glorious close. The Persians' empire was both its end and its summation - for what could a dominion be that contained within it all the limits of the horizon, if not the bulwark of a truly cosmic order?"

It is interesting to note how man has viewed history. History is what has gone before. Our view, or opinion, of that history is what the dominate social group chooses to make of it. Manipulating the populous' view of History through propaganda campaigns, the dominate groups have been able to create a history that benefits their own agendas. This is a pessimistic view, yes, but I believe it is true.

King Darius campaigned that "History" had been working toward perfection, towards truth, and the empire had finally reached that perfection under his leadership.

Take your Girlfriend to work day!

This weekend I followed my boyfriend around as he worked. He's a sports reporter for the Trenton Times. He typically covers highschool sports, but will occasionally be called to cover college basketball.

He really loves his job, and now I can see why.

This weekend we watched a girl's basketball game and three wrestling matches. It was a lot of fun. As a student athelet I didn't get the chance to watch many sporting events in highschool, other than my own. This weekend I discovered how fun that can be (and yes I do ealize how often I am using the word "fun" in this paragraph).

The girl's b-ball game was all defense, except for number 2 of the away team who stole the show on offence. It was entertaining to hear the parents cheer on their daughters and yell at the calls the refs were making. It made me feel nastalgic for how my dad would cheer me on at my Volleyball games.

Wresteling was far less thrilling. This was the first time I have ever seen a match. All I can say is, while it was entertaining to watch the 285 pound kids push eachother around. It reminded me of two bulls locking their horns and fighting for supremency. I do not understand why any man would want to play this sport. I guess its a kind of motcho thing I will never understand.

After 4 hours of wresteling we were done covering sports for the weekend. I'm glad I got to see what my boy does while he's far away from me. If you can and you don't have a standard desk job or have a job you dislike, I completely suggest taking your significant other to work with you sometime.