April 23, 2006: 10:21 pm: acedtecteastmeetswest
Roger gets changry as the gentlemen discuss the morality of eating fake meat, the fate of train transportation, various theories on migration to the Americas, and the real reasons for high oil prices.
April 24th, 2006 at 5:09 am
There is just something about the phrase “Immitation Human Skin Lampshade” that makes me think of Veronica and her love of zombies.
Or maybe it was just the reference to fake bacon.
Speaking of meat products…
I too was under the impression until recently that the once plentiful buffalo were now extinct. A quick trip to wikipedia reveals that the buffalo were hunted to “near extinction” largely to pave the way for railroads by forcing out the Native Americans and to keep the tracks free from wandering bison.
What is it with you guys and trains? ;)
April 25th, 2006 at 3:16 pm
It’s my fault. I am a fan of the rails, the real ones. I even took the train out to the Bay Area last week to for a trip.
No buffalo in California though. There is a herd in Utah on Antelope Island in the Great Salt Lake. Wildlife management officials have to keep the cull the herd once a year. There is also some buffalo west of Denver on I-70 as well.
April 26th, 2006 at 12:08 pm
A quick note on something Roger said, and that might shift the direction away from trains, if only briefly. Roger had mentioned that we all should buy a car designed to run on rails, then we don’t have to worry about steering or getting lost.
Well, look no farther. Take a quick look around the web or wikipedia for Personal Rapid Transit, in interesting amalgam of all the wondrous forms of mass transit available, all in a nice little personal package.
Now, will it ever work? Probably. Will that time be soon? Who knows?
April 26th, 2006 at 2:16 pm
Is Tom a Neal Stephenson fan?
I’ve heard Tom make two Stephenson references on two different podcasts (and one unintentional William Gibson reference) in recent days.
As someone who is currently halfway through the The Confusion (volume II of The Baroque Cycle), I found it interesting.
April 26th, 2006 at 8:25 pm
Who said “the difference between tragedy & slapstick is distance”? I was reminded of that & your macabre conversation about the many faces of tofu – and subjects carniverous…
A coworker told me of an incident she witnessed at a greasy spoon, where a customer was having a near-orgasmic dining experience. The diner called the waitress over and commented how it was the most delicious meal she ever had and asked where they got their vegan burgers. The waitress dully replied that she didn’t know. It was just an ordinary bacon cheeseburger. The incredulous customer replied “you mean VEGAN cheeseburger. I ordered a VEGAN cheesburger!” To which the unblinking waitress replied, “yea. a VA-con cheeseburger. whatever!”
Then I guess it got really ugly. :D
Joe in Boston
April 26th, 2006 at 10:18 pm
Thanks Tom and Roger for the mouth-watering/appetizing episode of “Eats Meats West-ern Buffalo”.
As for Buffalo, throw in some Black Bean sauce and now you have tasty combination or maybe, Sizzling Buffalo w/black pepper sauce, or some Szechwan Buffalo :) The chinese can cook anything on 4 legs or 2… as in chicken :)
I doubt Hannibal Lecter was a vegan. I was waiting for Roger to exclaim “I ate his Buffalo [liver] with some fava beans and a nice Chianti.”
ciao fun!
g
April 26th, 2006 at 10:24 pm
When I ran 5 or 10K’s in Golden Gate Park (in San Francisco), I distinctly remember a few buffalo or “bison” grazing aimlessly — or was I having a runner’s high? For all I know, it might have been dehydration…
graze and live free,
g
April 27th, 2006 at 8:00 pm
quick post
Kelp Highway: simply, there’s a relatively continuous seaweed ecosystem (rich marine community) running the lenght of the Pac-Rim (from Japan, north through NE Asia, NW North America, down to South America. this abundant food-resource base was either the impetus or aid for humans to coast-hop along the Pac-Rim down to South America. currently, the site of Monte Verde, Chile (~14500 BP) is the earliest known Paleoindian site in the “New World,” predating the older hypo of human passage thru the ice-corridor by 2-3 millennia. if Monte Verde C14 date stands, must factor in the travel time (several tens of generations) down the North and South American coast. that would push back the Asia-North America crossing upwards of 17-18000 BP. that puts it well within late Upper Paleolithic and away from the Holocene Epoch/Lower Mesolithic boundary.
got to catch the bus. post later about Atlantic Ice Floe nonsense.
April 27th, 2006 at 10:29 pm
as for the Atlantic ice floe hypo, or something like that since i cannot remember the established or accepted name of the hypo or so called theory,
basically there were two major migration pathways during the same time period. one from Asia and the other from Europe. the early humans from Europe crossed the Atlantic on vast ice floes which separated from the northern ice sheets and traveled upon the North Atlantic Current.
supposedly, small hunting groups (~5 persons) became trapped on these ice floes and the ice floes carried them across the Atlantic in 2-3 months.
more assumptions:
*enough people survived the Arctic conditions and starvation for the 2-3 months
*of those, enough people ended up in the same areas along the North American continental coastline
*of those, there were enough females and males
*of those, there were enough females and males within the age range of successful sexual reproduction
*of those, there were enough that were healthy enough or were biologically capable of reproducing (fertility of gametes)
*of those, enough had healthy babies and those babies survived
and in the end, a population came into existence and developed independently into the Paleoindians and Native Indians come 1492 or they interbred with populations that came from Asia, etc.
understandably, this has been quite controversial, especially with the racialization and politicization brought about by Aryan/supremacist groups who like to take the idea that the first Americans were white.
April 30th, 2006 at 2:17 am
wow. oh my #@$&!& wow. i just saw a clip of Stephen Colbert at the White House Correspondent Dinner. undaunting and hilarious. Colbert has the biggest huevos this side of the Rubicon.