The Readiness is All

Gardner Campbell writes with stunning eloquence about those moments in class when teaching becomes what he calls (quoting CS Lewis) a "solemn romp." Thanks to Brian Lamb at UBC for the link. I can't hope to match his words; here's a sample:
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Wildlife

Two items caught my eye today, ranging from the ridiculous to the sublime.

The ridiculous: armed guards hunt were-rabbit as reported in The Guardian. Hee hee.

The sublime: this article in today's Victoria Times-Colonist about the "eagle-cam" on Hornby Island apparently attracting thousands if not millions of viewers. The greatest irony, of course, is that the article will increase the traffic to the site that is apparently causing the server to crash and the host to have to pay very large amounts of money to support. Be prepared to sit through some advertising before the nest appears. But it's worth the wait.

Birthday meme

Inspired by oursin I went to the Wikipedia to research important events on January 28, the anniversary of my birth...

I share a birthday with Colette, Arthur Rubenstein, Jackson Pollock, Susan Sontag, David Lodge, Mikhail Barishnikov, Sarah Mclachlan and Frodo (Elijah Wood), among others.

People who died on January 28 include Charlemagne, Francis Drake, William Butler Yeats and the creator of Pippi Longstocking - Astrid Lindgren.

On this day in
1754, Horace Walpole coined the word "serendipity"
1813, Pride and Prejudice was published
1935, Iceland became the first nation to legalize abortion
1946, the Bluenose foundered (it's a Canadian thing...)
1986, the space shuttle Challenger blew up. I remember exactly where I was on that one... in Hong Kong, where happily for me because of the time/date difference I didn't see the news report until Jan 29.