Knowledge Transfer and Science Fiction

I just left the Los Angeles Science Fiction Convention where the theme was archaeology and I gave presentations on three panels: problems that archaeologists have, ethics, and the future of archaeology. I got a lot of insights from the experience in terms of dealing with the interested and educated public. This is what most people call public outreach, but what my Uni now calls "knowledge transfer." One of the other panelists was an indigenous Californian who is also an archaeologist. So, the panels were worthwhile. I also went to a presentation on the real archaeology on Indiana Jones, where I got some information I can use in my course on Egypt. The experience also gave me a chance to promote the excavations at Tel es-Safi/Gath and meet up with many Jewish fans. Of course, there were also some great parties and the green fairy made an appearance. I also got to see an Astronaut diaper, something that was an endless topic of dinner conversation last year at the Albright - that is till Anna Nicole died and Paris got sent to the slammer. I'm spending a few days with friends and going to a couple of concerts before heading back to work and a new government in Australia.

Interlude, Friends, and Doggies

I'm not driving so I ordered the large margarita!


Brian, Me, Sandi, and Leslie on Thanksgiving
I'm spending 2 days in Carlsbad, California before heading to my next conference, which starts on Friday. I'm staying with my friend Sandy, her daughter Kate, and her 2 dogs, Scruffy and Tommy (Trojan). Sandy is one of my oldest friends - she and I were undergrads together at USC. I miss Asta, so I've been walking Tommy and Scruffy to compensate. Sandy made some home made chili. Last week we also went out for Mexican food before the ASOR conference started. Brian met us at Leslie's house on Thanksgiving. Leslie and I were in the USC banc together.

San Diego Maritime Museum

I spent my last day in San Diego at the Maritime Museum. This reavealed some unusual symmetries with Australia. The centerpiece of the Museum is a ship known as the Star of India, but it was originally the Eutrepe, which took English emigrants to New Zealand after it was built in 1863. A new addition to the museum is the HMS Surprise, used in the movie, Master and Commander, which my sister-in-law worked on. Behind the Surprise is a 1974 Soviet Submarine.

San Diego: Zoo, Sea World, Brian's Birthday

I managed to also make vistis to the San Diego Zoo and Sea World - the Shamu show was a highlight. I took Brian out for a good steak for his birthday before he had to drive up to Anaheim to spend time with his mom. I spent my last day in San Diego at the Maritime Museum.

ASOR Meeting

Aren Maeir is Reporting on the 2007 Season at Tel es Safi

Jeff Chadwick is speaking about Cooking at Tel es Safi

Morag Kersel Answers Questions In Our Theory Session While Jonathan Lawrence Prepares to Begin and Andrew McCarthy Moderates
Both of the sessions I co-chair went well at ASOR as did my paper on an international style of Bronze Age architecture. This paper provided many examples, but focussed on the site of Hala Sultan Tekke on Cyprus. Aren Maeir and Jeff Chadwick also gave terrific papers on the site of Tel es-Safi/Gath. Aren talked about this season's new finds and Jeff spoke about the cooking installations in Area F. We also attended an exhibition at the Museum of Man and made several visits to more Mexican restaurants.

Arrival in San Diego

Brian and I met up yesterday in the OC and drove down to San Diego in the afternoon. The hotel we are staying in is located on Harbor Island - a beautiful place, but further away than I expected. While Brian took a nap, I checked out the pool and jacuzzi (spa in Oz-speak), which was quite nice given that it's a "chilly" 73 (20 C) degree winter day here - much warmer than the "spring" in Melbourne. In the evening we drove out to our favorite Mexican Restaurant - Casa de Pico - the one that serves margaritas you can swim laps in. We had the medium size, which for $7 are still 3 x as big as the Australian ones that cost twice as much - do the math. I will be spending the next couple of days getting my powerpoint presentation ready.

Los Angeles Hash and Foothill Hash

I spent my first full day in Los Angeles going through the 60 e-mails that accumulated in just 24 hours, then driving to Glendale for the Los Angeles Hash. It was kind of a small turnout, but it was still great seeing everyone. I was kind of tired at the end and skipped the on on on. I ran another hash, the Foothill hash, today in Griffith park. It seemed pretty much like it was all uphill with lots of dirt trails and shiggy. This one had a bigger turnout. I got a couple of down downs both days - for being a returner. I've now done more hashes this year in California than in Melbourne. It's "freezing" here in LA - dipping down as low as the mid-60's! (18 C) - shocking! We went out for pizza afterward, which for me is kind of like taking coals to Newcastle. Tomorrow, we're heading down to San Diego for the ASOR conference.

Life in the PDC

The great thing about flying to Los Angeles from Melbourne is arriving 2 hours earlier than I left. I really needed those 2 hours just to drive across Los Angeles to my friends house - Craig and Christine who I stayed with last year. My first nite back, we went for drinks at the Pacific Dining Car where I got married and which features prominently in so many James Ellroy novels. I was still able to muster the energy to drink martini's and howl at the moon. Meanwhile Brian is visiting his mom in Anaheim and we are meeting up on Monday to head to San Diego for the ASOR conference.

Marking Papers

It's hard to believe that I've had very little to say on my blog for over a month, but it seems like every time the 10 inch high pile of papers I've had to mark goes down, that more come in. I've been getting a little help with the last batch from Asta. I can't believe that the marking is finally done, the grades are in, and the 8 (count 'em EIGHT) honours theses I supervised were all finished and I'm packed to go to ASOR tomorrow.

Calling All Star Trek Fans

I've been staring at an endless mountain of papers the last few weeks: huge piles of receipts from 265 days of travel, essays to mark, honours theses drafts from 6 students, galley proofs of my book, more essays to mark, 2 more thesis drafts to read, 2 more theses to mark - you get the idea. In the midst of this, I found this video on the web and put it here for a bit of fun.

My New Book: Theory for Classics

I was surprised to find that the cover for my new book, Theory for Classics, Routledge: 2008, is already posted. This is one of the things I did during my sabbatical in Jerusalem. It's available for pre-order.
This is the official blurb:
This student's guide is a clear and concise handbook to the key connections between Classical Studies and critical theory in the 20th century. Louise Hitchcock looks at the way classics has been engaged across a number of disciplines.
Beginning with four foundational figures - Freud, Marx, Nietzsche and Saussure - Hitchcock goes on to provide guided introductions of the major theoretical thinkers of the past century, from Adorno to Williams. Each entry offers biographical, theoretical and bibliographical information along with a discussion of each figure's relevance to Classical Studies and suggestions for future research.
Brisk, thoughtful, provocative, and engaging, this will be an essential first volume for anyone interested in the intersection between theory and classical studies today.

2 Week Interlude

I'm coming to the end of a 2 week teaching break. It started fun with a tour of the Yarra Valley Wineries with some of my colleagues. A visitor, Haim Gitler, Curator of Numismatics at the Israel Museum of Jerusalem came to Melbourne to give some lectures. He had a free day and wanted to do something, so this gave us a great excuse to visit some wineries! In the top photo, Haim and I are in front and in the back, from left to right: Brian, KO, Kevin, and Roger. Touring wineries is just about my favorite thing to do in Australia and we finished the day at the Domain Chandon winery (aka Mecca).
The rest of the time was unremarkable: grading about 50 papers - most of them on ushabti figurines, doing my US taxes so the IRS doesn't hunt me down, and drafting a grant proposal. The fun isn't over yet - I still have to do my Australian taxes. Moving here means I get to have double my fun.
There is hope on the horizon: we are going to California in November for 3 weeks and I have managed to score tickets for the Rage Against the Machine concert in January.

KROQ/Weather/Voting

My favorite radio station, KROQ has finally joined the 21st c. and started streaming live 24/7 over the internet, bringing Los Angeles another step closer to Melbourne. Now, if we could just stream Mexican food and some warmer weather over the internet (it turned cold again!), life here would be just about perfect, except for the long drive to the House of Blues. 3 days ago on Thursday was the warmest Aug day on record here - I think it got up to about 20 C (68 F), but Friday was about 10 C (50 C). I think I could retire if I had a dollar for everytime I've heard: "all four seasons in 1 day." I'm not used to 4 in a year, let alone 4 in a day. I finally sent in my voter registration form to "enjoy" my "right" to compulsory voting. I don't like either major party here. The only choice is whether to spoil the ballot or pay the fine. Oh, well a 4 inch steak and a bottle of sparkling shiraz at the pub across the street goes a long way to compensate.

An Almost Warm Day...

It's finally almost spring here - a whole 20 degrees C (68 F) - about as warm as the coldest winter days in California. We took advantage of this to go to an outdoor cafe, my favorite pizza place, Cafe Coretto. During the Grand Prix, Cafe Coretto is the hangout of the Ferrari club. We walked to the cafe so that Asta could come along too. The semester is 5 weeks along and almost half over and I've finally caught up enough to begin doing my own work.

Expat Blog of the Month!

A few months ago, I listed my blog on Expat Blogs in a futile attempt to get more hits than my dog Asta. This is a web site that lists blogs of expats and it is a lot of fun to visit. Asta is listed on Dogs with Blogs. Like Dogs with Blogs, Expat Blogs has started nominating a blog of the month and I'm pleased to be the first blog to receive this honor.

Work, Winter Colds, Footy

2 weeks after I got home, we went to see Gwen Stefani at the Rod Laver Arena. Since GS is from Anaheim, it reminded us a lot of home. She put on a terrific concert. A couple of days later Brian got a bad cold or flu and then I caught it. It was tough cause I still had to lecture. I went to the doctor last week and got antibiotics. I'm feeling a lot better except for the fact that our footy team, the Carlton Blues, lost again today. Unlike most games for the past 3 years where they have been hopelessly behind they only lost to the Essendon Bombers in the last few minutes. Asta is comforting me. On a higher note, my college football team, the USC Trojans should have another winning season.

Welcome Home/Welcome to Oz!

Returning to Australia also meant eating and drinking, in other words, feasting - a means of renewing relationships. My former supervisor, Prof. Donald Preziosi, his wife, Prof. Claire Farago, and their daughter Mia have been here the month of July as visiting fellows in Art History and in the School of Historical Studies (Inc. Classics and Archaeology). They actually got here several days before I did, and once I caught my breath, they came over for dinner. Donald gave a really great public lecture as well as a talk for my Aegean seminar. We also had dinner with our neighbors, Philip and Dorothy, a few days later. Philip did the rennovation on the church, which became our house, and they live in the front of the house, ooops, church. Dorothy is American, which gives us lots to talk about!

Asta's Homecoming

I arrived home on July 20 and so did Asta. It was uneventful for both of us, but we were glad to see each other and Brian. Both of us immediately settled in to our routines. I'm grateful to our friends Grant and Mandy, and their kids Ellen and Billy for taking such good care of Asta while I was away. Meanwhile, the day after I left Tel Safi, they had a major find of a cult assemblege.

Absence Makes the Hearth Grow Fonder

Today was my last day of digging at Tel es Safi as I have to return to reality, freezing cold weather, and an 8 month high pile of mail. I spent the day uncovering a series of floors, one of them with bones on it, which were associated with the hearth. I also found a tiny piece of bronze - probably scrap. It's important because it may indicate bronze working or at least the possession of it at the site. Meanwhile Brent found a Late Bronze Age wishbone handle from an imported Cypriot bowl while cutting a section through an earlier hearth. Brent is staying for the full season, while Amanda leaves this weekend. I want to thank everyone on the dig, especially Aren, Alex, Jeff, Linda, Miriam, Rotem, Amit, Deb, and Jeff and the students in square A2 for a memorable time. I wish for continued success for the rest of the season!

Tel es Safi: Absence Makes the Hearth Grow Fonder...

Although the dig at Tel es Safi goes on for another 2 1/2 weeks, I'm leaving after we finish digging tomorrow as I need to start teaching next week. I'll be back in frigid (it's only 41 deg F!!!) Melbourne on Friday afternoon. We had a pretty eventful day that started with Aren Maeir photographing 2 of our hearths. We had a group photo (Aviva,Aviva, Josh, Me, Brent, Udi, and Area Supervisor Linda Meiberg) taken behind 2 of them before the large one in the middle was taken out. But, that's OK, because we found 2 more later on. Meanwhile, Aviva found a small gold bezel - possibly the only one found on the site. This is in addition to 4 beads found in the square - including 2 carnelian ones! We ended with the usual washing of our pottery. All in all, an eventful day!