Month: November 2008

Animals, Kenya

I’m in the market for a new TV show. I have been watching Arrested Development for the past eight months and I’m starting to get sick of it. It’s gotten to the point where I’ve watched all three seasons in order at least twice (not to mention two or three times in America), and now I just pick a random episode from a random season when I want to “watch TV.” I like Arrested Development because it manages to be intelligent and hilarious at the same time. I want you people to suggest a new TV show for me to watch.

Here’s the criteria:

  • Must have at least three seasons (what good is a one-season TV show?)
  • No reality shows (Survivor, Dancing with stars, etc)
  • No CSI, sorry!

I don’t know much about TV shows current or past, but for some reason I think Gilmore Girls must be a good show, though I can’t say I’ve seen more than two episodes. Can anyone help me out?

In other news, I found a huge, hairy spider in my hallway today. My camera bit the dust so I don’t have a picture for you. I don’t know if we have tarantulas here, but this thing was so big and hairy that it gives me the willies just thinking about it, do you have a mental picture now?! I’ve dealt with several other spiders, a snake, and a scorpion, but this was just too much. I called the sisters in the convent and they sent their cook, Johnson, over to help me out. I’ve never seen such a nonchalant act of violence as the way this man stepped on this spider. Thanks, Johnson!

Update (9 pm): Merely one hour after the spider incident I found a huge snake ON TOP OF MY REFRIGERATOR. Johnson has gone home and I can’t just whack this snake like a spider. I may not survive this night. It was nice knowing all of you.

Update (10 pm): Chased the snake out of the house only to enter the kitchen some minutes later to find a rather large scorpion. Squished.

Update (next day, 4 pm): Dropped by the house on my way to the market and found the snake in the living room. The snake is now outside of the living room but missing its head.

Rants, The Sky is Falling

I just saw an article in Science Daily which talks about a “Digital Dark Age.” The introduction sums up the idea:

“What stands a better chance of surviving 50 years from now, a framed photograph or a 10-megabyte digital photo file on your computer’s hard drive?”

The article mentions 8-inch floppy disks as an example. Remember those, from the 1980s and ’90s? They were the floppy disks which were actually “floppy,” not those 3.5-inch ones some old people still use today. The “floppy disks” of this era are CDs, DVDs, and flash disks, and you may not foresee them going away any time soon, but it’s inevitable; what happens when those are phased out for “newer, better” storage formats? The year is 2020: where will you find somewhere to plug in your now-ancient USB flash disk (let alone your circa-2001 floppy disk)?
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Books

Skeletons on the Zahara cover
Skeletons on the Zahara cover
I’m resisting writing about the USA’s presidential election because I fear it will turn into a lengthy rant, and I know you guys don’t care what I think. In lieu of that I figured I’d write something that was a little more interesting. I just finished Skeletons on the Zahara by Dean King. This is another book recommended and given to me by a fellow VSO volunteer, which means I paid nothing for it. It also means: if you’re a volunteer in Kenya (even non VSO) I will give it to you for free!

This was a fascinating story of an American trade ship that crashed on the West coast of Africa in 1815. The crew ends up being robbed and enslaved by the locals, which sounds like it was more common than you might think in the nineteenth century. I wonder if would have steered clear of the merchant marine line of work if I lived during those times. Anyways, the men experience the harshness of life on the desert, constantly shifting to find clean water and shrubs for their owners’ camels.
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