Okay, I'm jumping on the bandwagon..here's something about Obama

I was watching Rick Mercer tonight and - brace yourself for the surprise - he was talking about Barak Obama's inauguration and speculating on how he has gained such a cult-like following. The thing that really rang true to me was when Rick said that Obama's popularity, not just in the United States but worldwide, is partially due to the fact that he has appealed to the better side of people. This more than anything has reaffirmed to me the enormity and significance of his becoming president. In the few months that he has been the president elect, I've come to think of him as more than the leader of the United States. I've come to think of him as a representation of all people who are willing to stand up for human rights and a person's right to pursue happiness. His intelligence, eloquence, drive to succeed and ability to inspire and instill hope has united people in countries all over our planet as human beings, regardless of skin colour, religion or ethnicity. So against all odds, and all my pessimism, hope is not dead in the world.

So here's the thing.. I find bones fascinating. There is so much information you can learn about a person, just by studying their skeleton, which as it turns out, is pretty helpful in police investigations and whatnot. I spent a lot of time in the osteology lab looking at the study skeletons during my undergrad, and I could almost tell what their faces looked like when they were alive based on the morphology of their facial bones (in fact, you can so that with facial reconstruction techniques). Apparently, a lot of people find this kind of thing disturbing. Whenever I tell people what it is I'd like to do (excavate mass graves/identify victims of war crimes as a forensic anthropologist) they always ask me something like 'don't you find that a little morbid?'. Which is a silly question but I suppose I can understand why people would ask it. A forensic anthropologist does have a lot of contact with human remains, bones and soft tissue - I can only imagine the smell - which is probably pretty unpleasant (not to mention how traumatizing the evidence of violence on the bones can be). People in this profession, however, are not focused on the gore, but rather on helping people understand what happened to their loved ones, which provides much-needed closure.

I imagine that people who deal with dead bodies have to keep a mental distance from the grusomeness of their work (in order to maintain their emotional health), but not so much as to lose sight of the reason why they're doing it. Of all the subdisciplines of anthropology, I find forensic anthropology the most altruistic, which is why I'm attracted to it. Much of the world has suffered an unhealthy dose of horror and violence, and those who committed (or are responsible) for such acts need to be punished. It always amazes me how some people can have such a lack of empathy - how they can kill so many without flinching.

Makes you angry to think about that, doesn't it? That's why people don't think twice about handling corpses. That's why forensic anthropologists don't mind the macabre nature of their work.

If you're interested in reading about forensic anthropology, war crimes and the violation of human rights, check out a book called 'The Bone Woman' by Clea Koff, or this, and this, and this.

Music, and why it's awesome

For those who know me, you'll know that I have a beef with shitty music and alternatively, I'm a huge advocate of non-shitty music. Now before you get your hackles up about that statement, let me explain what exactly constitutes good and bad music.

Music is found in nearly every culture around that world, so despite all our differences, it's obviously something that all humans share. So what's the reason for that? There are probably many, but I speculate that it stimulates a part of our brain that is connected in some way to emotions. Through experience, I know that music is evocative - it makes people feels things through its lyrics, the singer's voice, super-awesome guitar riffs and other instrumental pieces, etc. But there is also another intangible quality - I don't know if I'm alone in thinking this - but it seems that with some songs/bands I can tell if the artists really means what he or she is singing, and that comes through in all aspects of the music. So I suppose I'm saying that music is good if it's sincere or genuine and not just a cash cow. Of course there are other reasons people like a particular song or band, so conversely, music is junk if it doesn't mean anything to the artist. That tends to occur when bands or artists don't write their own music.

I've got a feeling that it's far more for complex than this though. I'll have to read more about it.

And so it begins..

Okay so here I am. I'm new at this, so bear with me - I do not possess a computer engineering degree, nor am I technologically inclined. But I do like to express ideas and opinions and whatnot so if you're interested in any of that, read on.

So blogging... it kind of sounds like a dirty word that the British would use, doesn't it? It isn't, but feel free to start calling people 'bloggers' to confuse them into not knowing whether they should be offended. Anyway, the point of this blog is to share with you any bit of information that I've learned or feel is relevant and should be shared with the world..or whatever small reader base I may acquire. I would encourage any input that you have, and welcome your opinions-whether they agree with mine or not. Nothing wrong with a bit of debate, as long as it remains civil.

Hope you enjoy it!