Thursday, December 29, 2005

Sleep as a socially shameful activity

When a ringing phone wakes you up, do you deny to the caller that you were asleep?

If someone wakes you up, do you say that you were "just resting my eyes"?

There is an interesting thread on Metafilter on this topic.

Is this societal shame universal, or Western, or American?

What do you do when someone wakes you up? Do you deny it? If yes, why?

Friday, December 23, 2005

Clocks, Migration and the Effects of Global Warming

Circadian systems are involved in annual migrations in two ways.

First, the circadian clock is used to measure the gradual changes in daylength (photoperiod), thus giving the animal sufficient time to prepare for the annual migratory event.

Such preparations include molting (change of feathers or hair) and pre-migratory fattening in birds (sometimes to the extent that all other internal organs shrink). Both circadian and circannual (PDF) timers may be involved.

There are also behavioral changes. For instance, migratory animals aggregate into large groups (flocks of birds or herds of wildebeast, for instance). Birds undergo practice flights - you've all seen birds flying in circles above your head and practicing their flying formations.

Most migratory birds are normally diurnal (day-active), but tend to do their migratory flights over nights. Changes in hormone levels associated with seasonal preparation for migration induce a splitting in the circadian output into two components: one guiding daytime behavior (foraging, practice flights) and the other controlling nocturnal migratory restlesness which is behavioral preparation for night-time migratory flights.

Photoperiod is not the only environmental cue governing timing of seasonal events. Thermoperiod (relative durations of daily warmth and nightly chills), average temperature, food availabilty and rainfall are secondary (or proximal) cues that fine-tune the timing of seasonal events in animal behavior and physiology.

There is a whole range of responses to photoperiod and other cues. In nature, finches in Australia respond only to rainfall, yet are capable of responding to photoperiod in the laboratory. Tropical/equatorial birds, naturally exposed to minimal yearly changes in daylength are quite capable of (PDF) measuring tiny changes in photoperiod in the lab. On the other end of the spectrum are birds like the famous swallows of San Juan Capistrano, in which photoperiodism is clearly the most dominant seasonal clue.

Photoperiodic response is genetically determined. Variation in the relative importance of photoperiod versus proximal cues exists not just between species but also within species (this has mostly been studied in mammals, see the work of Paul Heideman, for instance).

The second way in which the circadian clock is involved in migration is in orientation and navigation. Animals use a number of clues in the environment to orient to, including landmarks, orientation of the magnetic field of the Earth, sense of smell ("olfactory maps", specifically in salmon who remember the olfactory stamps of their native streams and rivers), position of the stars and position of the Sun. Position of the Sun changes over the course of the day, thus internal clock is used to correct for the Sun's movement across the sky (I will write in detail about the mechanism in the future). Likewise, stars move across the sky during the night and the clock controls for such movement. The intensity of the magnetic field is higher during the night, too.

Thus, clocks help animals decide both when to go and where to go. Both the timing and the direction of migration are finely tuned by evolution. Migration is a very energetically expensive, as well as a dangerous endeavor. Thus, it is to be expected that natural selection has resulted in quite optimal solutions for both timing and direction of migration in each species.

Now, this is all starting to fall apart due to global warming. Proximal cues, like temperature and food-availability, are beginning to conflict with photoperiodic information. Species in which photoperiod is dominant continue to migrate at the same time and in the same direction. Other species are shifting their timing to later in fall and earlier in spring. As there is genetic variation within species there is now evidence for change in relative proportions of phenotypes as some strategies are more adaptive than others, namely migrating later, migrating closer, or not migrating at all may be more adaptive than enduring a long dangerous migratory flight.

Some of those changes in bird behavior have already been reported.

For instance, various species of European warblers mainly migrate to Africa for the winter. It has been known for a while now that there is a genetic basis for intra-species variation in migratory direction. There exists a small subgroup that migrates to the South of England instead of Africa. As of very recently, this subpopulation has been doing great and increasing in relative proportion within the species, threatening to completely abolish the trip to Africa from the species' behavioral repertoire. The genetic basis for the trip to Africa may dissappear, and if the global warming is successfully countered and reversed, this species will be unable to migrate to Africa again, leaving the "England-bound" genotype to freeze and starve in the future. And nobody is asking how will the absence of warblers affect the ecosystems in Africa!

Non-migratory species are also affected. For instance, sparrows in Scotland are not preparing for winter adequately. The falls are mellower and warmer, so they do not prepare for winter in time. At the same time, human activity is limiting their food supply, further diminishing their ability to prepare for cold Scottish winters (and yes, they are still cold, despite global warming, it's just that they come later, and stopping of Gulf Stream will make them VERY much colder).

A genetic response to global warming in photoperiodic responses in Pitcher-plant mosquitoes and Mexican Jays as well as in many other species have already been documented. Effectively, whole ecosystems are moving North, but some species move faster than the others, thus breaking up old ecosystems and building new ones. A plant predominantly responsive to temperature may move North, but its pollinator-insect may be strongly photoperiodic and lags behind. The plant lacks its pollinator in the North, the insect lacks its plant food in the South. Such times of tumultuous changes often lead to extinctions of species that cannot quickly adapt to such changes.

Many researchers around the world are watching evolution in action right now. Ecosystems break down and new ones get assembled. Migratory patterns change and new predator-prey and pollinator-flower relationships will emerge. Some species will go extinct and others will change so much their entries in ornithology (and entomology, mammalogy, botany, etc) books will have to be substantially re-written.

On one hand, watching evolution in fast action is fascinating (not to mention that it provides plently of new ammunition to counter creaitonists' claims against what they like to call "macroevolution"). On the other hand, watching species go extinct due to unwillingness of some humans to accept responsibility for global warming and to implement strategies to counter it, is more than frustrating. It makes one ashamed to be a Homo sapiens.

Wednesday, December 21, 2005

Carnival of Education - The Winter Hibernation Edition

Welcome to this week's Carnival of Education and to my blog. Thank you to Education Wonks for letting me host the Midway today. The school is (finally!) out and you may be sick'n'tired of it, but you cannot possibly be tired of reading good posts by education bloggers - who could be?! Fix yourself some coffee, sit back and enjoy!

Let's start at the source, the Education Wonks. The Dover decision on Intelligent Design has been issued, and here is the latest response: God And Man In Pennsylvania: Part VII.

Dr. Freeride of Adventures in Ethics and Science also has thoughts on the Dover ruling and what it means to teach biology in school, as well as some experiences with plagiarism.

From An Educational Voyage an informative and link-rich post: The Socratic Method and Accountable Talk:
"Mr Garilkov details an experiment whose objective was to see whether he could teach these third grade students binary arithmetic (arithmetic using only two numbers, 0 and 1) only by asking them questions."
The Biotech Game Of Life is a group effort by Kaan Biron, Stephanie Cheung, Arthur Kwan, Mei Mei Tian, Jane Wang, and Sara Wilcox of The Science Creative Quarterly. It's essentially a game that allows a student to go through the whole biotech therapeutic development and FDA process. Very cool gameboard!

From Going to the Mat, a thought-provoking post on Reading as Opposed to Literature Class:
"When did the teaching of reading--a skill, become the teaching of literature--a subject matter?"
Lauren of Feministe wrote her Final Thoughts on Student Teaching:
"Disappointingly, I found that in many ways I am the teacher I always hated. Even worse, I found that this demeanor is, at times, necessary."
I wonder if Lauren has students like this: Get Lost, Mr. Chips and his friend used to have a strange game when they were kids. They drew the nastiest, crudest pictures of their teachers - letting out all those anti-authoritarian aggressions - in the paradoxical belief that in doing so, they'd be nicer to them: Teacher Voodoo and Juvenile Dabbling in the Occult.

HipTeacher appears to have had a great last day of school.

Tall, Dark and Mysterious: So, what IS the point of those introductory college statistics classes, anyway? Dunno, I got an easy A, forgot it all the next day, then re-learned it once I started generating my own data a year later.

The state that i am in is in a state of frustration, judging from this post: Assistant Assistance:
"I've been having a difficult time with my teaching assistants lately, and I've spent a good deal of time thinking about just what I should do about the situation."

Diane Weir does comparative analysis of....nope, this is a warm reminiscence about Snow Days:
"When I was a kid, the town's fire horn would sound the "2-2-2" signal to let folks know school was closed. I can still remember how the deep bellow echoed through the downtown."
Steven Krause warns us all: Never write a textbook!

You can just scroll down a bit on my blog, or you can click on this link to see why I really run this blog: "I Love Positive Feedback!" Perhaps Steven Krause should consider self-publishing.

Atheist Revolution did some legal investigation on Graduation Prayer:
"Is school-initiated prayer at college graduation legal?"
Ms. Cornelius of A Shrewdness of Apes has some interesting students, including 'The Slasher' - A Do-Over on Dropping Out:
"I’d like to hope that this story has a happy ending. We've all had kids like this. But you know what they say-- insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting a different result."
Waterfall is a teacher who decided to quit writing her online journal, called a "blog", with a title "A Sort of Notebook", and instead write her blog - or is it a "journal" - offline into a real notebook titled "A Sort of Blog". I hope she comes back online soon - look through her archives for some cool teaching posts.

How is Web 2.0 learning changing the very way we design our schools? The Science Leadership Academy will open in Philadelphia in September 2006, and it will be a better school because of the blogs. These links detail the interaction between two education bloggers -- the principal of SLA, Chris Lehmann (who blogs on Practical Theory) and school facilities expert Christian Long (of Think:Lab):

Chris I: Open Source School Design, Blogging and Why This All Matters

Christian I:Design a School, Web2.0 Style!

Chris II: Web 2.0 School Design -- Something Powerful is Going On

Christian II: Science Leadership Academy and Web2.0 School Design

Eric of East Ethnia is expanding on the use of blogs in teaching that he started last year: New blog for my students.

Assorted Stuff would agree, I bet, while Bud may worry a bit.

And I meander about the teaching blogging and using blogs in teaching on my other blog, too: Schools in Blogs, Blogs in schools.

Mamacita of Scheiss Weekly sent two posts and I gladly included both:One voice, but whose?
"I do not believe there is a 'War against Christmas.' But I do think there are battles being fought about it."
The clock will tick away the hours one by one. . . .:
"One student is still working on her final exam. Everybody else has finished and gone home. This student has been struggling all semester, and I hate to hurry her, and I won't hurry her. She can have all the time she needs."
DeputyHeadmistress from The Common Room sent Teacher's Exam, part two, the second half of her great, great grandfather's teaching exam from 1900. See what he had to pass in order to get his teaching certificate.

Muse of Me-ander is in Big Trouble!:
"I've been getting into big trouble at work recently. I can't keep my mouth shut." See how it ends.
From Patricia Graham of Oxford University Press Blog, the last part of a series of posts: Schooling America: Achievement: 1983-Present.

Right On The Left Coast preserves an old and nice habit: Thank You Notes:
"I don't know about other teachers--and I certainly don't ask!--but I always write thank you cards and bring them to school the first day after Christmas Break ends."
I hope First Year Teacher writes the Thank-You cards, too.

From Personal Finance Advice comes some interesting advice: Let Your Children Teach You To Save Money!:
"Sometimes the best way to cut expenses in your family budget is to let your children take over the finances and let then teach you how to save."
Reb Chaim HaQoton sent a history and religion lesson: From Maccabean Warriors to Hasmonean Kings to Roman Slaves

Henry Cate of Why Homeschool was there! Report of Joanne Jacobs' kickoff meeting for her new book "Our School."

Starling Hunter of The Business of America is Business is teaching this year in the United Arab Emirates, at the American University of Sharjah, just outside of Dubai: Sand and Deliver:
"One topic which gets frequently discussed around the water cooler is the state of education in the Emirates and Gulf States, in particular, and the Arab world, more generally. But we are not the only ones talking about it. So are high government officials and the local English-language media."
Friends of Dave is asking: Is is Really Just About Money?
"There are some funding issues in public education, but raising taxes to give schools more money without making needed structural reforms isn't going to be money well spent."
From The Median Sib, a question: A 'Balanced Calendar' For Schools?
"People who have been in a district with a balanced calendar have told me that they like it - a lot! I haven't had the opportunity to talk with anyone who has experienced a balanced calendar who didn't like it."
What It's Like on the Inside defends the public school system in Maybe It Isn't Just Us:
"People pay a lot of money in order to get a degree. Wouldn't we think that there would be more for the money besides a piece of paper? Why isn't there?"
From Get on the Bus, a part of an inspirational speech to a school on career day: Five things I wish I knew in high school.

Finally, last but not the least (hey, some people may read carnivals backwards!), Half Sigma explains why there are Too many people going to college:
"First of all, we know that people with more years of post-secondary education have higher average salaries. But why?"
It was great fun reading all of these posts while putting together the carnival. Feel free to look around this virtual home of mine and thank you all for coming. Also, the winners of the 2005 EduBlog Awards have been announced, so you can go there and find even more good stuff.

This midway is registered at TTLB's carnival roundup.

Next week's Carnival of Education will be hosted at home, at The Education Wonks. Submissions should be sent to: owlshome AT earthlink DOT net. Submissions should be received by 9:00 PM Eastern on Tuesday, December 27th. Barring unforeseen circumstances, the Midway should open next Wednesday morning.

Monday, December 19, 2005

Milestone

Wow! This blog just reached quite a milestone this morning - 100,000 visits! In less than one year. Thank you all for coming!

Circadiana
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The 100,000th visitor was from Pakistan, coming here from someone's stumbleupon and landing at my most popular post:

Circadiana
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Continent : Asia
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Time Zone UTC+5:00
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Visitor's Time Dec 19 2005 5:14:34 pm
Visit Number 100,000

Saturday, December 17, 2005

Reading Recommendations: Books about Clocks and Sleep

I know the holidays are coming in just a couple of days, but perhaps you still have time to order a book or two for your friends and family.

There are tons of books about sleep out there, mostly of suspect quality. Books about clocks tend to be either very old (thus out-dated) or far too technical for your uncle and grandma. So, here are some of the books that I have read and I can vouch for their quality (Note - none of the authors/publishers has asked me or paid me to do this).

If you click on any of those links and then buy something (anything - not neccessarily the book I linked to), I will get a few pennies from Amazon. Not much, but a few pennies plus a few pennies plus....adds up and helps me pay my internet access every month.

If you are interested in a book about clocks that an educated layperson can read and understand, I suggest either Rhythms Of Life by Russell G. Foster and Leon Kreitzman, or The Living Clock by John D Palmer. Both are up-to-date and well-written books. Authors are highly regarded researchers in the field.

An older book that is really fun to read is The Clockwork Sparrow by Sue Binkley. Somewhat out of date, but explains everything very clearly.

If the target of your book-buying is a biologist or a student of biology, thus you can "go technical", you have quite a few options. The clocks that time us by Moore-Ede, Fuller and Sultzman is the best book ever written on the subject. It is still, 25 years later, used in some courses as a textbook because no recent attempt to write a textbook is as satisfactory.

Even if some of those newer books may not be suitable for the classroom, it does not mean they are not excellent books. By far the best of the lot is Chronobiology: Biological Timekeeping by Jay C. Dunlap, Jennifer J. Loros and Patricia J. Decoursey. It is big, well-illustrated, and quite expensive! But it is excellent in explaining many areas of chronobiology and is as up-to-date as such a book can be. If you can afford it, this is my strongest suggestion for someone who has biological background.

Circadian Physiology by Roberto Refinetti is very good, too. However, it is limited to humans, mammals, SCN and genes. No mention of fascinating areas of photoperiodism, spatial orientation, clocks in birds, insects and plants, circannual, lunar and tidal rhtyhms, etc. For that, as much as the topics that are covered are covered well, I don't think $100 is appropriate.

If your interest is primarily historical, you will greatly enjoy The Living Clocks by Ritchie R. Ward. It covers the early history of the field (up to about early 1970s), with lots of great characters, anecdotes, historical photographs, and classic experiments.

For more medically minded, there is a plethora of books trying to sell you chronobiology as a magic bullet for your health. The only one I vouch for is The Body Clock Guide to Better Health by Michael Smolensky.

Finally, if your interest is more in sleep than clocks, I have to recommend Sleep Thieves by Stanley Coren which covers the recent findings (as well as history) in sleep research wonderfully well for lay audience.

The Promise of Sleep by William C. Dement is already a classic. Thick, big book, written by one of the pioneers in the field, it will provide you with everything you ever wanted to know about sleep (but were too afraid to ask) and you will have FUN while reading it.

Also, The Mind At Night: The New Science Of How And Why We Dream by Andrea Rock is an up-to-date survey of the research on dreaming.

Tuesday, December 13, 2005

Clock Quotes (Coco Chanel)

There is time for work. And there is time for love. That leaves no other time.
- Coco Chanel, 1883 - 1971

Monday, December 12, 2005

I Love Positive Feedback

The last good textbook in chronobiology was The Clocks That Time Us by Moore-Ede, Sultzman and Fuller. It is now two decades out of date, yet recent attempts to produce a new textbook did not satisfy instructors of Biological Clocks courses taught around the world.

One thing I am hoping to do with this blog, especially the Clock Tutorials category, is provide essential background material covering major areas of the discipline in a manner that is accessible to students - in a sense as a Supplemental Reading for the courses.

Apparently it worked for at least one person, someone taking a class (Update: that particular post has mysteriously disappeared!) on Biological Clocks with Dr. Martin Ralph at University of Toronto. Amidst gushing and promises of sending chocolates and muffins (hey, there are PayPal and Amazon buttons on the sidebar!), she writes:

"This incredible, amazing, generous, brilliant man has basically summed up my JZP326 course but in a CLEAR, CONCISE, and EASY TO UNDERSTAND manner."
It is great to hear those words. Perhaps I am doing something right.

Not that Dr. Ralph has anything to worry about - he seems to be rated quite well on ratetheprofessor site. If his name seems familiar to you, it is because I have mentioned him before. He discovered the hamster Tau-mutant and was smart enough to realize what he had in his hands, to breed her and do cool experiments with the progeny. His famous SCN transplantation experiment paper showed that circadian clocks in mammals are endogenous, have a genetic basis, are inherited in a roughly Mendelian fashion, and are located in the suprachiasmatic nuclei of the hypothalamus. Pretty big, I'd say.

His student also wrote that she was "visiting your site 1023478087253 times a day", which, sadly, my Sitemeter could not confirm. Perhaps that is a long-term project for the future.

Although, she did voice "one complaint: You did not cover the orientation of birds and amphipods...."

Well, my work here is only half done, if that. I have stalled here a little, but intend, once I finish my Dissertation, to put much more effort in covering up the remaining topics, of which there are many, as well as to revisit some of the topics already covered with new posts containing more details and references for more advanced readers.

I need to cover circadian (and photoperiodic) physiology in separate posts for various groups of organisms (e.g., Molluscs, Crustaceans, fish, fungi, etc.) or even individual species (e.g., fruitflies, hamsters, or zebrafish). There are several posts to be written about development of the circadian system (including developmental timing, maternal transfer of circadian and photoperiodic information, ontogeny of photoperiodism, etc.), as well as more on seasonality and photoperiodism.

Circannual, circalunar and circatidal rhythms deserve at least a post each. Much more needs to be said about the molecular basis of circadian rhythms and the nitty-gritty neurobiology of the SCN. And Continuously Consulted Clocks will also be covered in several posts, including those focusing on control of migration, orientation and navigation (including, yes, birds and amphipods).

All this will probably take at least a year, more likely two. Once it is all done, I may turn the Clock Tutorials category into a Blook, so people can download it online and use in classes as a textbook.

Wednesday, December 07, 2005

Skeptic's Circle #23

Welcome to the Skeptic's Circle. It is great fun for me to be a two-timer...twofer...whatever term may be appropriate for someone hosting for the second time. I did the fifth issue on my other blog back in March, and this one is the twenty-third edition. Apparently, the world did not become any less superstitious and gullible in the meantime.... Let's jump straight into it.

Many religious gatherings start with a prayer or a song. We can start with a nice poem instead, why not? From Socratic Gadfly, who also blogs at The Philosophy of the Socratic Gadfly comes GENESIS 6 RETOLD. Remember to keep the proper chanting tone while you read it out loud.

After letting the art of the poem make us feel all warm and emotional, the cold logic intrudes. Uncredible Hallq explains, once and for all, that favourite logical fallacy of trolls - the ad hominem.

EoR of The Second Sight sent Nurse! Prepare for an Urgent Auraectomy!. At first glance I thought this was about medical quackery! Scratch "medical"....

Joseph O'Donnell of Immunoblogging has two entries. First, how much should we be afraid of nanotechonology? Read Nanofear for the answer. Second one was personally interesting to me, as I have, on a couple of occasions, successfully treated my own painful GI bloating and gas with humongous doses of Lactobacillus spores. But is it appropriate for everyone, for every disease, and at every time? As a prophilactic? You will learn everything you ever wanted to know about this in Probiotic skepticism.

I've already seen this post linked a lot around the science blogs because it is both good and funny. Q. Pheevr of A Roguish Chrestomathy looks at The Wrathful Dispersion controversy: A Canadian perspective . Heh. I personally know a dead-serious guy who has published books denying the evolution of language.

In this edition we have not one but two responses to Dean Esmay and the ongoing HIV/AIDS controversy. Orac, the Oh-All-Knowing-Boss-Of-Us-All, of Respectful Insolence wrote some more rebuttals of HIV/AIDS 'skeptics'. Trent McBride of Catallarchy continued with HIV Dissidents, continued. I have a sad feeling that this controversy is "to be continued..."

Skeptico is skeptical that this boy may be a reincarnated Buddha. He also continues his series of posts on logical fallacies, with the appeal to 'science was wrong before'. Finally, he alerts us to a new useful resource for all skeptics - the SkepticWiki (so go ahead and bookmark the SkepticWiki homepage).

From Josh Rosenau of Thoughts From Kansas, first… ghosts! A review of an exhibit of ghost photos at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and a discussion of the use and abuse of Galileo by pseudoscientists: The Good, the Bad, and the Heretical. Then, a post ripped from the headlines, a discussion of the interface between science and religion: God, science and the kooky Kansans who love them both!

Cosmic Watercooler thinks that Perhaps Something Might Kill You, Maybe. If my wife does not read this, perhaps I can persuade her that I should not be a "frequent shaver and antiperspirant user"...

Matt of Pooflingers Anonymous continues the heroic effort of reviewing "The Evolution Cruncher" so we don't have to read it, in Crunch Squared: Volume 3. A good skeptic works with an open mind. If it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, and walks like a duck (and tastes like a roasted duck...mmmmmm), it may be a goose, but sometimes it is really a duck, or perhaps a mallard: Vocalizations of a Duck.

On my other blog I am looking at the preliminary reports of something that looks like a duck, quacks....but may end up being a goose, or chicken, or turkey - who knows - A Pyramid in Bosnia? I think it is still too early to cry "Fowl!"

Speaking of turkeys, most of us had some for dinner a couple of weeks ago. Did it make you sleepy? Some people boldly state that it is impossible. I don't know if it actually does make you sleepy, but it is certainly possible, as a potential mechanism exists, perhaps good enough for a dinner-table banter, if not for a scientific review. As they say, "more research is needed"....

What is a Skeptic's Circle without a touch of controversy. I'll adopt the Fox News motto "We report, you decide" and let you make up your own minds. First, Tom Nelson, whose blog is called Ivory-bill Skeptic (wow, that is focused!) sent in a post titled Red flags in the Ivory-bill evidence. Mike Hendrickson of Mike's Soap Box wrote a rebuttal: Tom Nelson's Post and My Reply.

Now for a different point of view - and another controversial entry that gave me uneasy thoughts as an editor. But we are here to debate and learn from one another and the discussion in the comments thread of this post is very good for that purpose. Krauze of Telic Thoughts uses the word "skepticism" somewhat differently than most of us do when he questions the basic premise of the science of the origin of life. Responses in the comments are interesting. I hope the discussion continues.


This wraps up the Circle for today. Thank you all for coming to my little piece of virtual real estate. I hope you also stay a little longer and take a look around this blog. Also, please continue the discussions in the comments of all the posts presented here.

Next edition of the Skeptic's Circle will be hosted by Immunoblogging in two weeks from today, on December 22nd, 2005, so start thinking about your next entry.

Thanks to Respectful Insolence, Immunoblogging, Uncredible Hallq, Pooflingers Anonymous, Neural Gourmet, Unscrewing The Inscrutable, Science And Politics, Telic Thoughts, Pharyngula, A Roguish Chrestomathy, Cosmic Watercooler, Shakespeare's Sister, Majikthise, Buridan's Ass, Skeptico, A Concerned Scientist, Paige's Page, The Saga of Runolfr, History News Network, Milkriverblog, The Modulator, 10000 Birds, Deltoid and last but certainly not the least James Randi for linking to the carnival.

Monday, December 05, 2005

Clock Quotes (Garrison Keillor)

A minister has to be able to read a clock. At noon, it’s time to go home and turn up the pot roast and get the peas out of the freezer.
- Garrison Keillor, Lake Wobegon Days (1985)

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