Snakes on a Plate

So, I had my first meal of Western Diamondback tonight. Seems it's actually a pretty common thing to eat here, and you know, it's not unlike beef! Everyone else will tell you that snake tastes like chicken... but of course anyone claiming that something that's not chicken "tastes just like chicken" is being an unoriginal, ignorant clod.

The guys I work with bashed it with a shovel for its skin and rattle, and i figured I could take the rest and make dinner. Very Indian, kind of a 'noble savage' thang. I'm sure Michael Pollan would approve.

In other, exciting news, I get to attend the 2008 ESA Conference in Milwaukee from August 3rd thru the 8th! (That's Ecological Society of America... not to be confused with the Endangered Species Act). I'm stoked. I conveniently padded my flight times a couple days before & after the conference... to of course have some Minnesota time to break up all this Roswell madness. So, I'll be in the Twin Cities Thursday & Friday and a bit of time afterward............. yeah!

So enough with titles of posts that are also flavors. I'm kind of liking the whole movie parody thing (this post, of course, parodies the 2006 Samuel L. Jackson masterpiece, Snakes on a Plane). Speaking of movies...

-I finally saw the new Rambo tonite. Pretty good, and cool that it took place in a real-world genocide that few people know about, Burma. Let's hear it for senior citizens taking on military juntas!
-Saw new Batman, and can't say anything that hasn't already been said. Excellent movie.
-Last, I was watching Casino Royale for the fourth time the other day, and it occurred to me. If anyone makes a movie about my life, I really, really want to be played by Daniel Craig. I know, i know, i've gotta hit the gym. just sayin.

Cool Ranch

Hi Readers. I decided i might start giving my posts titles flavors rather than titles, because, well, flavors capture people's attention. I called this one 'Cool Ranch' because I got to spend the weekend in Mora, NM at my roommate's grandfather's cool ranch. It was reee-laxing, and awesome to get a change of scenery. There are actually really cool mountains in the north and center of New Mexico and, apparently, great skiing.

Haha, there's also a Mora, MN about a half hour from my house. It's a few houses, a school, and a sweet thrift store called Mora Unclaimed Freight. It's exactly what it sounds like.

Did you know that New Mexico has the highest per capita military enlistment of any state? I raise this point because it's been sort of a recurring theme of my time here. In Roswell, many/most males my age attend NMMI, the New Mexico military institute. Nearer the college which can barely be considered a college, is a huge National Guard, uh, place. And everyone's dad seems to either work for an oil company or be in the military.

My roommate's dad, for instance, is a weapons instructor for the Air Force. Meaning, I got to try on Air Force night vision goggles (the ones that make everything look green) at the ranch! And sweet they are. It was pitch black out; slip those babies on, and you can see all the glorious green contrast you need. Not all fuzzy like TV depictions make it seem, these puppies were clear as a bell. I kind of want a pair now, but don't want to fork over the $1500 that they go for. We also shot at stuff (non-living), but sadly with civilian rifles and not anything cool like the AF would have.

Sort of feel like this guy: http://www.theonion.com/content/node/28181

Coming from a school like Olaf, it seems suddenly weird to have all this military stuff around, reminding me that the military actually exists. It's strange. The moment I was born, I was headed to college. Probably like that for most Olaf folks. I was once listening to a political commentator, who was posed the question of why college students haven't opposed the Iraq War as vehemently as those of a generation ago opposed Vietnam. His answer, and i think i agree with him, is that in the 60's with the draft in place, it could have been anybody sent to fight. Young people opposed war as much out of self-preservation as principle. If you yourself weren't sent off to fight, surely some of your closest friends or family would have been.

Nowadays, enlistment occurs so strictly within lines of culture and, yes, class too. Your average Ole grad can probably name a buddy or two from high school who went and signed up for the military... but thats about it. For better or for worse, the personal cost of our military endeavors isn't being paid by the upper-middle class. It's largely places with a military culture (like New Mexico, Texas, etc.) and the poor who feel the crunch. The commentator went on to speculate that, if the draft were reinstated and a bunch of upper-middle class students were to be shipped out, the outcry would be such that the war would end the next day. Thoughts?

My dad served in the army during Vietnam, luckily well away from combat. It was an incredibly formative time in his life, and I find myself unable to relate to the military actually benefiting someone from an upper-middle class background. Much different times, I guess. Hey, if we had a military like many European nations (a compulsory term of actual civil service rather than combat), i'd totally do it. But oh wait no, there's a war going on. Guess I'll pass.

The Land of 28 Lakes

Upon moving to Roswell, the first thing here that surprised me was the SCUBA shop on 2nd street. I went in and talked to the owner, told him that I'd just moved from Minnesota, and explained my surprise that SCUBA diving would actually exist in New Mexico. With surprise, he said "Why? We have 28 lakes here." Big frickin' whoop, I think. We've got 10,000! (actually, more like 13,000. With names at least).

That said, i got hooked up to the aquatic scene in Roswell. I've been diving once already--on a "trash pick-up", but really an excuse to dive. And this past weekend, tubing & wakeboarding near Carlsbad. = Good times! man i'm red though. And sore. and... smell like coors light. good weekend.

Gotta say, when I left Minnesota/Wisconsin, I thought I'd be leaving lakes for quite a while. That hasn't turned out to be the case! I heard (not sure if I believe...) that New Mexico of all states has the highest boat ownership per capita. And all for 28 lakes? Jeepers.

People down here, upon hearing I'm from Minnesota, seem disappointed that I don't have an accent. And hey, I'm happy: Non-regional diction is a good thing, right? The locals down here do kind of have an accent. Sort of Texan, I guess. Which brings me to another point, New Mexico seems to have a serious man-crush on Texas. And the rest of the south in general. I'm so fricking sick of seeing the Confederate Flag. C'mon guys, New Mexico became a state some 45 years after the Civil War ended! Do the math! I haven't figured out why this place wants to be Alabama so bad. I guess some mysteries are better left unsolved.

Roswell...

...is the Mecca of a very weird religion. I type this on the heels of the UFO festival last weekend, which (true) consisted of some really, really interesting lectures on the 1947 UFO incident. Something definitely happened here, something other than a weather balloon, that justified one hell of a cover-up.

I have to issue an apology--that Roswell movie, that I made fun of in an earlier post, isn't half bad! It offers a concise history of the event, plus the whole town seems pretty proud of it. Which makes sense; if they ever make Northfield: the movie, surely the locals would be brimming with pride. I can see it now: a young Norwegian man from rural Minnesota leaves the dairy farm to get an education at St. Olaf College, becomes a successful off-brand cereal entrepreneur, preaches his wisdom as a lecturer at Carleton, then dies after a night of drinking at the Cow, plunging to his death in the Cannon River. Perfect. Next project: Cambridge-Isanti: A tale of two cities...

I actually find UFO enthusiasts to be quite a bit more informed than the average person. There's quite often something to their message. Often times however, they don't stop there. I heard the UFO conspiracy tied into damn near every other conspiracy you can think of--the Kennedy assassination, Marilyn Monroe's suicide(?), 9/11, global warming (which is supposedly now a conspiracy), the moon landing, NASA is run by the freemasons... etc. Oh, and for everyone's reference, here's a breakdown of all alien species known to science:

http://www.ufos-aliens.co.uk/cosmicspecies.htm

It's pretty funny to hear these guys argue with each other. "No, UFOs aren't extraterrestrial, they're human craft from the future, piloted by super-evolved human beings, dumbass!" Geez, reminds me of my BTS-T credit. I guess it's fun to guess at things.

Work is okay. It's been really rainy here (i know, we're all surprised too), so things are pretty slow. Weekends are boring--i think i'll take in nearby Carlsbad Caverns sometime soon. Other than that, i'll try to be in touch. Oh, and thanks everyone for all the kind birthday wishes! I got to celebrate with free beer and ice cream. NOM NOM.

Happy Birthday, America!

Wooo! U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!
okee, enough of that. It's July now, which means I take down the puppy-poll (the yeses have it. i voted 'maybe'.) and replace it with one that actually makes sense. I think I'll stick with the patriotic theme for the month.

So i've been catching up on the UFO festival the past couple of days. I attended some free-to-the-public lectures yesterday and today, by folks who are in the business known as ufologists. Certainly some interesting perspectives, although each I've seen has certainly been too sure of his own various theories. I enter into the idea of extraterrestrials with an open mind, although I see severe limitations of anyone study of the phenomena which has no empirical basis. Then again, if there is some sort of cover-up of said evidence, that's precisely what justifies the need for ufological (sp?) research. right?

Here's what I thought coming into the weekend. If ETs do exist, there's an excellent chance that their existence would be withheld from average people such as you or myself. It's the nature of government to cover its ass on matters that could threaten political stability. If ETs don't exist, well then, they don't. So the question shifts from "how can we tell" to: "does it seem likely?" And, with the number of stars and number of planets and blah blah, etc., it seems incredibly likely. So, I'll hear these guys out.

Something did crash here in 1947, nobody disputes that. The wreckage was a sizable skid of debris discovered by local ranchers, and in the days following army personnel and media alike reported the object to be a "flying disc." The idea of a flying saucer wasn't stigmatized as much in the 40s, and their existence wasn't challenged as much as it is today. The military changed its story the next day to say that the object was merely a weather balloon (uh... skid?). Military officials sealed off the area and took the debris and/or remains off to places unknown. The next 6 months saw the passing of the National Security Act, as well as the establishment of the National Security Council, CIA, Air Force, and Department of Defense. hmm, all in late 1947.

Yeah, yeah, there's a serious lack of direct evidence. But you've gotta admit, some of the fragments are pretty cool (presence of titanium in the soil around the crash, zoom-in of a photo of a memo re: Roswell reveals word victims (unmanned weather balloon?), death-bed reference to "creatures" by the officer in charge of locking down the site, etc). It's all pretty cool, and quite festival worthy.

Yeah. Well, Happy Birthday again America! U-S-A! U-S-A!

Fishing for lizards

Long day, and i'm reely tired. We got our damn truck stuck in sand today, as a mild form of protest over being demoted to 2-wheel drive. i've said too much.

I'm now quite handy at catching lizards! I was budgeted to build myself a 'lizard stick' - a retractable metal rod with a noose of fly backing on the end, around which to snare lizards. Little buggers are about the size of your finger and incredibly fast. I cannot emphasize enough how ungodly fast those little things are.

Why do we catch them?? Well, the sand dune lizard is a species under consideration for being listed as "endangered"--which, of course, comes with many a legal ramification. Our job (myself and the two guys I work with) is to prove or disprove the existence of these lizards in various locations, to assess where they are. The data gets heaped along with that of other years, and someone higher up (i suppose) decides whether or not to list these guys.

Basically, my typical day at work is something like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jV1bRfLHA3A

I lied. that would be awesome though.

I'm really excited for this weekend. It will afford me a chance to sleep past 5am, yes, but also it's Roswell's 4th of July UFO festival--woo! Roswell has a steady tourism industry. In that, there's a constant stream of downright weird people who visit Roswell simply because it's Roswell, New Mexico. Alien skeptics, believers, freaky-believers, and of course the whole aluminum-hat crowd converge here for the festivities. I'm excited to people watch, and to take some pics.
Any real gems, I'll stick somewhere online. I know for a fact people dress up for this thing... be excited.