Friday Varia and Quick Hits

After a mild week, it is no surprise that we’re in for a cold few days. There’s a light at the end of the tunnel, though. On Sunday night I head south to Richmond, Virginia to give a talk at my alma mater, the University of Richmond. I haven’t been on campus there for close to 20 years, so it will be exciting to visit a place where I spent so many of my formative years.

In the meantime, I’m sitting by the fire and conjuring up a little gaggle of quick hits and varia for your weekend reading pleasure.

• Congratulations to Dallas Deforest for defending his dissertation this past week. It’s on baths and bathing in Late Antiquity. I can’t wait to get my hands on a complete copy. Get to know Dallas’s diverse interests better by checking out his blog here. Be sure to check out the photo of a 19th century urban man camp.

• Byzantine Bottlecap Art.

• A bill to fund a survey of the Killdeer battlefield was trimmed from $250,000 to $4,999 because of the objection from “one landowner, Bryan Dvirnak, whose family has owned part of the battlefield since 1928. He said no one had contacted his family regarding the survey.” So we now should contact landowners BEFORE we have funding for a survey? The Bismarck Tribune could not have done any more to make this all sound insane. 

• Good thing this crazy project will begin at Killdeer Mountain.

• Improvised trash cans in Japan.

• Boredom.

• This is what happens when you lie and your car catches you in those lies.

• My wife and I really like TONX coffee. Hear about it here. In fact, they should sponsor my Friday Quick Hits and Varia, because it’s always fueled by a delicious cup of Tonx. Sponsorship is SUPER cheap.

• Omeka 2.0 is out. I wonder whether it will available on Omeka.net.

• More and more disturbing news from Greece as Y. Hamilakis chimes in. 

• Some oil patch blogs: My Life in Williston, North Dakota, Real Oilfield Wives, The Education of an Oilfield Wife. And check out Amy Dalrymple’s Oil Patch Dispatch.

• More on the patch from documentary filmmakers.

• Some love for the North Dakota Man Camp Project from the AP and Oregon.

• What I’m listening to: Jack White, Blunderbuss; The ABCs, Stona Rosa.

• What I’m reading: N. Gaiman, American Gods.