Making the Rounds

So this song is making the rounds amongst anthropologists and their blogs. I've tried to avoid it, mainly because it just seemed so silly in concept. But really, it's pretty cool at explaining what I and other anthropologists do.

I give you The Anthropology Song by Dai Cooper. Bravo!

What anthropologists do...

An anthropologist, an archaeologist, and a paleontologist walk into a cave.

The archaeologist pulls a roll of string out of her left pocket and a handful of little stakes out of her right. She begins marking off identically-sized square sections across the floor of the cave. The paleontologist rushes to a corner of the cave yet unmarked by the archaeologist, and starts unpacking his jackhammer, saying "You fool! You won't find anything of any value that close to the surface."

The anthropologist is staring at the mouth of the cave. Eventually, the archaeologist stops laying string and asks the anthropologist "Well, are you just going to stand there all day, or are you going to do anything?"

"Oh, I'm already working," replied the anthropologist. "I'm trying to figure out what is motivating our hosts to fill up the cave entrance with rocks."



My friend Sabine sent me this joke in response to a discussion about the difference between anthropology, archaeology, and paleontology. Thanks!

Extraordinary Lives

31 March 1979
An online friend recently posted a link about a man who took a picture of himself or some part of his life everyday for 18 years. The photos begin March 31, 1979 and end on October 25, 1997 - a total of 6,697 polaroids dated in sequence.

Jamie Livingston's Life

In the series, we see a man at picnics and parties, work and Met's games. He goes through chemotherapy, gets married, hangs out with friends, lives, loves and, yes, eventually that cancer comes back and he dies. He also chronicles how New York City changed.
19 July 1981
28 August 1990
I haven't had a chance to look through all the photos, but I think it is a wonderful commentary on being a human. His friends Hugh Crawford and Betsy Reid put together a public photography exhibit and website (which I linked to above). The exhibition was held at Bard College where Livingston was a student and started his photo project originally. I really encourage anyone reading this to check out the online exhibit.
9 October 1996
8 October 1997
We always wonder what our legacy will be and this gentleman made his own. Or as another community member wrote, "That is indeed a cool thing and it is a constant reminder that each of us, famous or not famous, normal or not normal, do live extraordinary lives."
22 October 1997