Farewell, You Lying Arrogant Scumbag(s)

I think I can speak for all the secret Muslim-Marxists out there when I say "Whew"! Eight years of Bush/Cheney, finally coming to a close, though we still have to live through the effects of their disastrous rule. At least we can usher in the Global Communist Caliphate (finally!).

A brief but comprehensive review of the George W. Presidency, courtesy of Dave Chappelle:

Chappelle's Show

Black Bush

Charlie Murphy Clips
Buy Chappelle's Show DVDs

Black Comedy
True Hollywood Stories

Good Riddance, you dumb bastard!

Geocommunicator

You know, there are some really nifty earth-science resources on the old internets that serve as bright spots in the otherwise nihilistic cyberscape of porn, L33T-speak, and rickrolling that makes up the bulk of the greatest communication tool ever devised by humans. Now, I might be behind the times on these things - being a neo-luddite - but I have recently made the acquaintance of a the online component of the BLM's and National Forest Service's "National Integrated Land System", called Geocommunicator.

It's a pretty handy set of online maps for most of the U.S., complete with a faux-GIS interface that lets you put different layers onto different base-maps, annotate the maps, and the nab pdf versions of the maps for quick and easy printing. According to their "About" Page, the Geocommunicator provides a central point for clearing geospatial data related to Land and Mineral Use, Federal Land Stewardship, and Land Survey Information.

You can use a topo map, a road map, or an aerial view as your base layer, and then populate it with all sorts of information. For me, at least, the most practical maps available are the Land Use Maps; these allow you to quickly and easily scope-out where you'll have easy access to outcrops (i.e., BLM land) versus where you'll get a free ticket to some CIA-run torture camp in Uzbekistan (i.e., DoD administered land). The picture below is a grab from one of the maps I made, showing the checkerboard of SW Wyoming and all the sweet, sweet BLM land there is to wander around on.

With some planning ahead of time, you could just print out the needed maps, instead of having to haul the "Lowley Worm's Biggest Day in the Field Ever" -sized Gazeteers around with you everywhere. It's a pretty handy little tool for field work, and it's free (or rather, you've already paid for it by paying your taxes).

I'm Not Dead Yet!

Something I have learned recently: planning, surviving, and returning from field work overseas, combined with year-end academic work AND holiday travel, leaves little time for the luxuries of life, such as sleeping and blogging. Now that things are settlin' down, lemme stretch my bloggin' legs and get back into it!

Field work in Egypt was incredibly fun and challenging, and has given me plenty of things to think about (and, by extension, eventually blog about). Working over the data we collected, and planning out the papers that need writin' is the first order of business, though once that is all lined up, I'll be able to share more details about the geology with the interblogospheroweb.com.

FIRST and foremost, however, let me tell you guys this: The Wadi Hitan UNESCO World Heritage Site is gorgeous, and the geology... she is how you say? Rad.



The picture above is maybe a ten minute walk from the front on the Park, and nicely captures the wind-eroded look of the terrain.



Seriously, rad pretty much describes it.



Everyone should put this spot on their "To Visit" list immediately, probably up there in the top ten, honestly.

Anyway, we'll try and get back into a more reasonable posting schedule in the next few days. And happy 2009!