Octopus DNA and the West Antarctic Ice Sheet

Interesting!:

A study of octopus DNA may have solved an enduring mystery about when the rapidly melting West Antarctic ice sheet last collapsed, unlocking valuable information about how much future sea levels may rise in a warming climate.

The innovative research focused on the genetic history of the Turquet’s octopus (Pareledone turqueti), which lives on the seafloor across the Antarctic, and what it could reveal about the geology of the region over time. 

Tracing past encounters across the species’ various populations suggested the most recent collapse of the ice sheet occurred more than 100,000 years ago during a period known as the Last Interglacial — something geoscientists suspected but had not been able to confirm definitively, according to the study published Thursday in the journal Science.

A New Mexican Approach To Homelessness

Not a good model:

Two men were arrested after being accused of chaining a 50-year-old unhoused man to a Jeep and dragging him, New Mexico officials said.

Police in Santa Fe responded to a Speedway gas station after getting reports from the fire department that two men had been seen dragging someone through the parking lot with a Jeep, according to a Dec. 20 Facebook post by police.

Adrian Montoya, 31, was the driver of the Jeep and was seen dragging a man later identified as Julian Perez by a chain attached to his legs, according to a probable cause statement obtained by McClatchy News. Jonathan Gomez, 22, was also involved in the incident, police said.

...Gomez said he called Montoya, his manager, and they were still unable to wake Perez up, according to police. Gomez said he kept trying to call the non-emergency phone number as Montoya got a chain from his vehicle, authorities said. The chain was then attached to the man’s feet, and he was dragged, police said. Officers found a video uploaded to Gomez’ Instagram, and he was heard saying they had dragged the man with a Jeep, police said. 

...Montoya was charged with kidnapping, aggravated battery, conspiracy, tampering with evidence and driving while intoxicated, police said.

Gomez was charged with kidnapping, aggravated battery and conspiracy, officers said.

The victim was taken to a local hospital with minor injuries, police said.

Rosemont Lights at Holiday Time

I wanted to see the two-story Santa in the North Natomas neighborhood that LaToya mentioned, but apparently the owners had taken it down, maybe due to winds associated with the recent storm. Instead, laToya recommended the Rockmont Lights - a project in the Rockmont neighborhood. They go all out there. They apparently go all out at Halloween time too. So, I followed up, and even saw LaToya and Jenn driving around too!

Holiday Barbie Ballet Class

On Tuesday, I went to the beginning-level special Holiday Barbie ballet class at the Ballet Studio. 

The instructor, Katie Rogers (seated, lower right), hosted her first Barbie ballet class during the Barbenheimer phenomenon last summer. I later put out a little suggestion, of doing the class again, maybe even on a semi-regular basis (I suggested Safari Barbie). Katie took the idea and ran with it. The Holiday Barbie class hosted 19 students - probably close to a record attendance for such a small space! As one of two Kens, I brought a fourth-grade, papier-mache, California Mission classroom project that I found in the alley behind my house a few years ago as my Mojo Dojo Casa House. Fun was had by all!

   

Christmas Season 2023

"Waitress" - The Movie

Saw "Waitress" - the movie, starring Sara Bareilles. Excellent! I love the choreography regarding the many small props and set pieces: so hard to do!

 

"Poor Things"

A lot of 19th Century books concerned themselves with Education: even “Huckleberry Finn” fits the mold that “Poor Things” occupies, with the only difference being a girl instead of a boy. Jimmy McGill’s BCS rant to shoplifting scholarship student Kristy Esposito comes from “Les Chants du Maldoror,” written in 1869 for a boy rather than a girl. It’s like history repeating itself. I loved that crazy dance in the movie. I loved the fanciful technology. Emma Stone did great. I also thought William DaFoe was great - he loves Bella so unreservedly. Here is an excellent review:

Since Bella needs to have someone monitor her progress as she learns language and motor skills, Godwin asks one of his students, Max McCandles (Ramy Youssef), to be a companion for her. Godwin has kept Bella shielded from society, but when Bella gets a taste of life outside — Lanthimos has depicted the impact of seclusion from society since his brilliant breakout film, “Dogtooth” — she becomes hungry for adventure. Despite becoming engaged to Max, Bella runs off with Duncan Wedderburn (Mark Ruffalo), a handsome cad, shortly after discovering how to pleasure herself in a rather . . . resourceful way. “Poor Things” takes off at this point in ways that astound and amuse. 

The plot borrows heavily from “Pygmalion,” “Frankenstein” and “Prometheus” among other narratives.

 

 I really like the dance sequence.

 

Violent Crime Rates Plummeting

Interesting. “The quarterly data in particular suggests 2023 featured one of the lowest rates of violent crime in the United States in more than 50 years.

”The drop in 2023 comes atop a 6 percent drop in 2022, according to statistics released by the FBI in October. Two consecutive years of declines are doubly encouraging, but one reason the rates are able to drop so much is that they rose so sharply in the two preceding years.

Hopeful About the Movie "Lee"

Lee Miller had an outsized influence in the 30s and 40s, and with Kate Winslet's new movie, I hope they've done her justice:

A surrealist with an incisive eye, finding the beauty and absurdity of everyday life. A model who posed for Vogue and sat for Pablo Picasso and Man Ray, but whose fashion career was suddenly cut short. A war photographer who embedded with the US military to chronicle the harrowing events of World War II — and posed defiantly in Hitler’s bathtub on the day of his death. 

Lee Miller was an American artist who remade herself many times without straying from the principles that guided her life and career. When she died in 1977, her photographic work had largely been forgotten; her own family was unaware of the scope of her practice, and what she witnessed in the war, until they found her cache of negatives. Now, five decades later, she’s the subject of the Kate Winslet-led biopic “Lee,” which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September, as well as a recent monograph of her work and an ongoing exhibition at mega-gallery Gagosian in New York, where some of her prints are for sale.

Gabe Is Also Intrigued By Vanessa Da Mata

Gabe Sends This Kylie Minogue Interview

Voyager 1 Is In Trouble

So far away, and having computer troubles:

NASA's Voyager 1 probe is currently unable to transmit any scientific or systems data back to Earth. The 46-year-old spacecraft is capable of receiving commands, but a problem seems to have arisen with the probe's computers. 

...When functioning properly, the FDS compiles the spacecraft's info into a data package, which is then transmitted back to Earth using the TMU. Lately, that data package has been "stuck," the blog post said, "transmitting a repeating pattern of ones and zeros." Voyager's engineering team traced the problem back to the FDS, but it could be weeks before a solution is found.

At Last, Someone Who Deserves To Commit Suicide, Commits Suicide

Given all the true injustices in the world, I have nothing but disdain for gun rights folks. It's just sacrificing the innocent for a hobby. I think the premise of the article is that we are supposed to feel sorry for this guy. Sorry. He deserves the most painful death possible:

Owens had a few hours before he had to drive to Wake Tech Community College to pick up his older daughter, Maya, who was taking a final. So he kept walking. As he made his way down Sequoia Ridge Drive, he caught the attention of a neighbor, a woman who didn’t know him but was struck by the way he was hanging his head. That man, she thought, seems remarkably sad. 

Eventually, Owens arrived at the intersection of Sequoia and South Judd Parkway, not far from his house. Cars whipped by rows of well-kept shrubs. Owens pulled out his phone to post a message on Facebook. “In the end, it turns out that I’m not strong,” he wrote. “I’m a coward, and a selfish son of a bitch. I’m sorry.”

Looking Up Old Friends

I wondered, what are old friends from high school doing? I looked up Mark Reece (on the right in this picture). Here is an article from 2012 describing trauma shears that he was working on. Useful!:

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — An Albuquerque physician teamed with a Sandia National Laboratories engineer to improve the doctor’s trauma shears design so emergency personnel can get to the injuries they need to treat more quickly.

“Sometimes seconds count. This product will make a difference for the medical community,” said Mark Reece of Sandia’s Multiscale Metallurgical Science & Technology group. “It’s neat to see something come out of Sandia that will save lives.” 

Reece worked with Scott Forman, an emergency room physician and CEO of the Albuquerque startup Héros, formerly known as EMvolution, to improve the performance and durability of trauma shears — the go-to tool for responders in the first seconds of a crisis. The shears must cut through a wide range of materials, from denim to leather to Kevlar, to expose wounds for treatment.

Green Valley Theatre Company VerteFée Cabaret - December 16, 2023

Green Valley VerteFée Cabaret's cast poses for photos after the end of the show at The Gathering Place, St. John's Lutheran Church, at 17th and L Streets in Sacramento.

I went to support Rachel and her castmates at Green Valley Theater Company in their semi-annual VerteFée Cabaret.  (Green Valley generally features the best musical theater talent in the Sacramento area.)  The Cabaret was filled with fun skits (which I think should be longer).  It was nice to see a few old friends too, people like Nick Thompson.

Leah Visits Ballet Class

Leah points out her mom, Michele, in today's ballet class. They both took ballet class.  The irony is that I overslept, missed them, and missed class altogether.