Varia, Quick Hits, and a Friday Commercial

I went to be last night thinking that I didn’t have anything to blog about this morning and feeling a bit relieved.  But there is always something to blog about.  So, some quick hits in the tradition of blogs in days gone by when authors would just provide links with just a touch of commentary.

• The North Dakota Humanities Council has a new e-newsletter and blog called Prairie Polis: Mindful contributions to North Dakota’s public dialogue on ideas, values, and history.  I like the title because it confirms my long held belief that there is some kind of link between life in North Dakota and the Ancient Mediterranean World.  (Polis is the Greek word for City, the basic form of political, economic, and cultural organization of the Greek world which encompassed so much of the Eastern Mediterranean).  The title reminds me of conversations that I’ve had with UND alumnus Aaron Barth who wrote an MA thesis on the writings and experiences of the late-19th century trapper and later newspaper editor Joseph Henry Taylor.  Barth and I had talked about Taylor’s use of Roman imagery in his experiences in North Dakota particular the image of the Rome’s civilizing effect on the frontier. The ancient world is alive and well in the North Dakota imagination.  The first post on the Prairie Polis blog “Why North Dakota?” is a response to the National Geographic article which I posted on a couple of weeks ago.  If you haven’t read the article it’s haunting, perhaps in a good way.
• I received an email last night announcing the formation of the Graduate Society for the Study of Ancient Religion.  It seems to be based at my graduate alma mater, Ohio State University, and is presumably a kind of graduate student outgrowth of the their interdisciplinary program on Religions of the Ancient Mediterranean.
• The folks at the University of North Dakota’s Office of University Relations put a link for my Archaeology Magazine Online Feature article on the University’s front page.  Thanks for the link!
• Scott Moore reports that we have purchased the domain name www.pkap.org for PKAP.  We haven’t done anything with it yet, and old site will continue to work.

One more thing, if you’re in South Florida this weekend, be sure to check out the Surf and Song Festival, a rock ‘n’ roll festival featuring both great national and local bands in Ft. Myers.  The proceeds benefit The John Entwistle Foundation (he was the amazing bassist for the Who; if you don’t know listen to “My Generation”).  By youngest brother is promoting it through his Ocean Roads Promotions.  Since it’s for charity, I don’t feel too guilty helping the cause here.  The weather is supposed to be beautiful on Sunday and what goes better with sunshine than rock and roll.

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