Category Archives: Culture

Culture, humor

Civilzations come, civilizations go

Tired of living in a violence-obsessed society, where teachers are barely paid enough to buy decent shoes and children are being poisioned by everyday objects?

Welcome to Valarium, the third largest city in ancient Roman Britain, home to about 8,000 souls and located on the site of the modern British city of St. Albans (now a leafy, trendy commuter neighborhood for London). Back in 400 A.D. at the height the city teachers were paid 180 denari per year, but a pair of boots cost 60 denari, or a third of the yearly salary, according to the Velarium Museum in St. Albans. About a liter of salt cost 18 denari, or ten percent of a year’s pay. By comparison, a skilled construction worker back then could earn two to five times the wage of a teacher. Sounds like Hawaii before the housing bust.

Cups, utensils, plumbing and other everyday objects contained lead, poisoning adults and children a little bit each day. (Recall the lead paint in childrens’ toys scandal of 2008.) Lead poisoning was a serious problem for ancient Romans, leading to insanity, infertility and premature death. But lead was an integral material in their way of life at the time and nearly as common as plastics are now.

For entertainment, citizens of Valarium went to the outdoor theater. Spectators gorged on violent sports such a bear fighting and gladiators fighting to death. The theater also hosted the occasional public hanging. (Violence is so widespread in our society that film, TV, sports and the death penalty provide plenty of examples.)

Eventually Rome fell and Valarium was abandoned by about 700 A.D. The East Anglians took over, eventually becoming the modern British city of St. Albans. (A Celtic tribe possessed the site for hundeds of years before Rome.) Civilizations come, civilizations go. If history is any gauge our society will eventually fade as well. But similarities persist, including those that helped the Romans undoing in Britain.

Culture, Lifestyle, Travel

Public shaming and punctuality

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At Schiphol airport in Amsterdam, a woman’s voice booms over the loud speaker, “Ellie Yudna you are delaying the flight. Please board at gate B80 or we will proceed to offload your baggage.”

I look up from my tea and paper expecting to see Ellie running harriedly through the gleaming modern terminal. Instead I see only an elderly couple sipping cappuncinos at a table nearby and a few travelers browsing the newstand, toting small rollerbags. Ellie must have been stuck in traffic, or worse, stricken with a sudden, severe illness. Why else would she caused her fellow passengers to suffer (*gasp*) a flight delay?

The woman on the loudspeaker booms again, “Patrick Gerha you are delaying the flight. Please board at gate H31, or we will proceed to offload your baggage.” Again I look around for the guilty passenger, and see only a young couple making out in the boarding loung and solo travelers tapping away on their computers. No sign of Patrick. I start to wonder. Maybe his business meeting ran over.

She booms again, “James Gibson you are delaying the flight…” I lose sympathy. James must be that guy I passed on the street last night on my way home. After stepping on mu foot, bumping my shoulder and spilling my beer, he ducked out of the bar and across the alley into a sex worker’s room at 2:30 am. No doubt he overslept the alarm and is now making everyone else late. Public shaming serves him right.

The announcements keep coming one after another. So many people are delaying flights. No wonder the Dutch take action with a loudspeaker. How else are wayward travelers going to learn to be punctual? The woman booms, “Genevive Bjorn you are delaying the flight…” Wait, that’s me. I get up and shuffle for the gate, embarrassment flush red on my cheeks.

Culture, humor, maui, Science

Maui students explore the universe through fun and radio

Students at the Paia Youth and Cultural Center (PYCC) in Paia, Maui, teamed up with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and started a new radio show for the low-power radio station, Radiopio. The show, called “Astrofacts“, explores questions about the universe and creatively reports findings on air in short, highly entertaining spots. The kids at PYCC produced each segment of the show, now numbering about 30, together with the Laura Civitello, the program director for Radiopio at PYCC, and Adam Burgasser, assistant professor of physics at MIT (and full disclosure, my husband).

The spots take a fresh look at some important questions about the universe. If you’ve ever wondered what black holes colliding and duking it out might sound like, Michelle and Mason, PYCC members, re-enact such a scene in their segment “Black Hole Showdown“. (If you have no idea what a black hole is, not to worry, the kids will make you laugh anyway.)

In another fun spot, Charae and Mekena sing “Happy Birthday” to the universe, only to realize that 13.7 billion candles will never fit on a cake. Even intergalactic weather gets its due with a series of spots that humorously report the local (and bizarre) weather conditions around the Milky Way.

The show also includes interviews with scientists, such as Roy Gal and Robert Jedicke, both assistant professors of astronomy at the University of Hawaii. Charae reached out to Maui phenom Harriet Witt, the official astronomer of the Maui Film Festival.  In her interview with Witt, Charae finds out how one person of science can embrace both astronomy and astrology and explain it all in a way that most people can understand easily.

When the program first started in March 2009, the kids recorded the spots using scripts. But after a few segments, the PYCC members really took off running with their own ideas, according to Civitello. Thanks to PYCC’s mission of providing a forum for fun–not more school work–for its members, the program has stayed true to its core mission of recreation. The program has evolved accordingly into something much more creative and innovative than originally envisioned, says Burgasser.

The stated purpose of Astrofacts, as posted on the blog, is to “touch on all aspects of astronomy and space science, as well as science-related topics relevant to the Maui community…guided by the principals of ‘oli ‘oli (fun and enjoyment), kipaipai (encouragement and inspiration) and akamai (good old smarts!).”

You can listen online to Radiopio and try to catch the spots when aired. Alternately, you can hear the spots on demand on the Astrofacts blog. Either way, the spots are likely to make you laugh out loud. Listening may alter your view of our universe, at least temporarily, through the lens of kids having fun.