Views of Lagos

This is a presentation I produced for an Urban Studies class at the University of Washington Tacoma. I present Lagos as a megacity of the global periphery and outline the geography of the city, showing conventional development statistics and current issues facing the city. I have embedded a preview for the documentary Nollywood Babylon which shows a different perspective on the development of Lagos, generated by the people who live in the city for their own consumption. This presentation was also influenced by Jonathan Haynes' paper Nollywood in Lagos, Lagos in Nollywood Films Africa Today 54:2 [Winter 2007] p.130-150.

Green Shoots

The furniture store next to this McDonald's across the street from my parents' house burnt down last night/early this morning. I tried to convince my dad to don a suit, put a hot dog on a stick and wander around asking: "Can you spare a dime for a brother just lost a furniture store?" The economic recovery is nigh!

Tianyulong

This is a picture of lagosuchus, a close relative of dinosaurs, not the newly discovered Tianyulong, an ornithschian dinosaur covered in protofeathers. (Click here for a picture of Tianyulong by Lida Xing.) I drew this picture years ago to illustrate the idea that dinosaurs are descended from fuzzy warm-blooded creatures with elevated metabolisms. 20 years ago it was a reasonable idea, but there was no evidence for (or against) fuzz on small dinosaurs. (Scaly skin was known for some large dinosaurs, but large mammals are also often naked.) Greg Paul's comments on the Dinosaur Mailing List add some important information missed by the news stories covering this new discovery.

Intelligent Designs

I have uploaded some pictures of the intelligent species along with theories about their origins - specifically their own theories in their own words. One theory based on religious tradition claims that all living things share a common ancestry while the other theory - based on information available to scientists in the Squawk setting - is skeptical about this claim and suggests that complex machines like animals were probably created by simpler machines.

More pictures and controversy...

Obamanation Day

Conservative megachurch pastor Rick Warren provided the invocation for the inauguration of the 44th president of the United States. In his prayer, Warren testified that the Lord is One, pleaded for forgiveness when we fight each other, and closed the name of "the One who changed my life, Yeshua, Isa, Jesus [prounounced 'hay-sooss' as in Spanish], Jesus [prounounced 'jee-zuss' as in English]"

"Yeshua" is a hebrew name popularly believed to be equivalent to the name Jesus. (Actually the correct hebrew name for Jesus is probably closer to "Yehoshua" which is often translated into English as Joshua.) "Isa" is the Arabic name for Jesus. So with these names Warren specifically addresses Jews and Muslims.

By using the spanish pronunciation of Jesus (though the compound name "jesucristo" is probably more common when referring to Jesus Christ as opposed to other people named Jesus,) Warren is reaching out to latinos, perhaps especially Roman Catholics. About 70% of the US hispanic population identify themselves as Catholic.

John Williams provided a musical composition entitled "Air and Simple Gifts" performed by Yo-Yo Ma (cello), Itzhak Perlman (violin), Gabriela Montero (piano) and Anthony McGill (clarinet). This instrumental peice is based on religious themes: The main theme is easily recognized as Elder Joseph Brackett's Shaker dance song "Simple Gifts", but before this theme was introduced I'm pretty sure I also heard the tune "Old 100th" which is used in several hymns, but which I most associate with the single verse "Praise God, from Whom All Blessings Flow."

Obama, in his address explicitly mentioned the usual trinity of American religions: Christians, Muslims and Jews, adding Hindus and a slightly mumbled recognition of nonbelievers. It would be difficult to properly express the diversity of American religion in a 20 minute speech, but with so much press attention on the problems of Israel and the Muslim world, at least we can remember that people are not defined only by which side they are expected to take in each violent conflict.

Squawk Renaming

Within the last year we have changed the naming conventions in the Squawk Role-Playing Game. Many creatures including the intelligent reptilian species of the Squawk setting were often named after well-known monsters from mythology. The new names are designed to be less confusing:

• Aeolytes, named after Aeolus, ruler of the winds in greek mythology, used to be called rocs.
• Behemoths, who get their name from the bible (Job 40, suggesting the largest and most powerful animal,) used to be called ogres.
  
• Boreans, named after Boreas, the cold north wind from greek mythology, used to be called orcs.
• Dromes, from a latin root which suggests running, used to be called basilisks.
  
• Gafflings, whose name suggests a gaff or hook, used to be called hobgoblins.
  
• Gremians, from an English name meaning "enrages", used to be called gremlins.
  
• Gygeans, from the Ring of Gyges described in Plato's Republic (which made it's wearer invisible,) used to be called gargoyles.
  
• Leviathans, who get their name from the bible (Job 41, suggesting a giant sea creature,) used to be called draconians.
  
• Lyndwyrms, whose name suggests lindworm (a wingless bipedal dragon in British heraldry,) used to be called minotaurs.
  
• Myrmidons, named for a tribe commanded by Achilles in greek myth and whose name meant "ant-people", used to be called manticores.
  
• Orns, from a root word suggesting birds, used to be called gryphons, cockatrices or harpies.
  
• Phages, from hematophagy (blood-eating), used to be called vampires.
  
• Skand, from the root of words like "ascend" and "descend" (suggesting leaping and climbing,) used to be called kobolds.
  
• Strix, from a bird in roman legends that fed on human flesh and blood, used to be called elves.
  
• Stygians, from the river Styx which separated Earth from Hades in greek mythology (also used in words like stygofauna to suggest underground water,) used to be called trolls.
  
• Titans get their name indirectly from the titans of greek mythology through the english word titanic, suggesting largeness.
  
• Zephyrs, named after Zephyrus, the west wind in greek mythology, used to be called unicorns.

Zephyr

In the Squawk Role-Playing Game, zephyrs are small intelligent hadrosaurs with a single ridged horn as a crest. Originally they were conceived as furry creatures with a zebra-like mane and stripes.

However, we have extensive information about the skin of some hadrosaurs like the "trachodon mummy" discovered in 1908. The interesting skin of real-life hadrosaurs is covered in fine scales with patterns, wrinkles and variations that suggest how the creatures might have been colored in life. Hadrosaur species also had distinctive frills running down their backs.

Inspired by the skin impressions of these and other herbivorous dinosaurs, we have redesigned the zephyr to have smooth skin covered in tiny non-overlapping scales and a "mane" which is actually a frayed dorsal frill.

More pictures and information about zephyrs...