A New Cousin - Maybe

Evolutionary anthropologists are all atwitter over the discovery of hominid finger bones that MAY have belonged to a previously unknown relative of ours who lived between thirty and forty-eight thousand years ago in a cave in the Altai Mountains of Southern Siberia.  Study of the fossil's DNA suggest that this hominid may represent a whole new branch of our family tree.  Take a look at the article in Spiegel Online:  http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,685630,00.html  Welcome aboard, cousin!

It's been a quiet weekend.  Went to the Moose Club for Prime Rib supper with Dougie, Eric, and Stu on Friday night.  The food was OK and the company was good.  But I woke-up in the middle of the night with a seriously upset tummy and had the scoots for about 12 hours.  I was more than willing to blame the Moose; but since it appears I was the only one afflicted I have reluctantly concluded it is more likely I picked-up a Norwalk-like virus at the Club - something that happens periodically.  The signs at the Club remind you to wipe-down the equipment after every use...but it's even more important to wipe-down the equipment BEFORE use...if you catch my drift.

I've spoken with Amanda a couple of times this weekend.  Only ten days 'til she arrives in Juneau.  I'm really looking forward to her visit.  It sounds like she's got some part-time work lined-up at a local gift shop while she's here and she's looking forward to the folk festival.  YIPPEE!

It appears that we're going to have an early spring in Juneau. This morning I heard robins chirping in the woods behind the house.  The skunk cabbage is already coming up and the blueberry bushes are in bloom.  Lots of stuff coming up in the gardens.  Indeed, weather permitting, I will be doing some garden work at auntie's and my folks' places this week.  Mom's going to have crocus and primroses blooming before long.  Another YIPPEE!

Finally, on the drive back from the Club on Friday I heard a very amusing story on NPR regarding the ghost chili - reputedly  the hottest chili on the planet.  http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125184572

A burger joint in Texas uses them on their burgers.  It is quite the macho thing to order one of these fiery sandwiches.

From the interview with Mr. Joey Prado, owner of Chunky's Burgers in San Antonio:

BLOCK: Is this kind of a bragging rights thing, do you think, for people who come in? They want to put themselves up to the test, see if they can handle the ghost chili?
Mr. PRADO: That's exactly what it is. I guess being here in south Texas, it's a machismo thing. You know, they want to see they think they can handle hot, and if this is the hottest pepper, they want to do it. They want to try to do it, anyway. I would say maybe one out of every 30, 40 people can actually eat that burger because it's just crazy hot.
BLOCK: What do they look like when they're eating it, tears streaming down their face?
Mr. PRADO: Oh, yeah. The tears coming down, the nose is running, the lips are bright red from being on fire. They're just constantly - they're having trouble keeping it down because they just want to spit it out, it's just so hot. It looks like, you know, their puppy died or something because they're just crying, and nose running, and it's crazy.

...

BLOCK: Do you have some kind of warning on your menu?
Mr. PRADO: Actually, if they come in and order the burger, they have to sign a waiver.
BLOCK: Really?
Mr. PRADO: Yeah, they have to be over 18, can't be pregnant, have no medical conditions that may be affected by it because it'll raise your blood pressure. You'll start to sweat. And we have people say their hands start to tingle, their ears start to burn. It's crazy hot. If they don't sign the waiver, we won't make them the burger.

Happy Seward's Day everyone!