The Indiana Jones of ______________!

Ryan Truesdell: The Indiana Jones of Jazz

The Indiana Jones of Jazz

Truesdell is nominated for three Grammy Awards for his album, "Centennial - Newly Discovered Works of Gil Evans."

NEW YORK - Grammy nominee Ryan Truesdell felt like a "jazz archaeologist" as he sifted through thousands of pages of manuscripts in a safe in the apartment of renowned jazz composer-arranger Gil Evans, best known for his collaborations with Miles Davis.

"It was like being the Indiana Jones of jazz, only without the boulder coming out after you," said the 32-year-old Truesdell. "I was sitting in a dusty room and going through papers from the '40s and all of a sudden finding all these gems."

Truesdell's two-year odyssey would take him to university music archives and the personal collections of musicians who worked with Evans, and he eventually discovered more than 50 previously unrecorded arrangements by Evans who died in 1988. Truesdell's mentor, jazz arranger-composer Maria Schneider, Evans' former assistant, likened his find to buying an old house only to "discover a box of lost Beethoven manuscripts in the attic."
 

Attila the Professor

Moderator
Staff member
The Indiana Jones of Ancient Ales, Wines, and Extreme Beverages

?An archaeologist?s life is not always as exciting [as Indiana Jones],? Patrick E. McGovern, Ph.D. affirms with a laugh. ?It?s labor-intensive.? He?s the Scientific Director of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology?s Biomolecular Archaeology Laboratory for Cuisine, Fermented Beverages, and Health. McGovern?s wide-ranging academic background includes a Bachelor?s degree in Chemistry from Cornell University, neurochemistry graduate work at the University of Rochester, and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Near Eastern Archaeology and Literature from Penn. His perfect concoction of credentials, personality, and passion make him approachable and engaging to everyone, including beer lovers.

As two keywords in the Penn lab?s name indicates, McGovern knows a few things about the importance of alcohol. In Uncorking the Past: The Quest for Wine, Beer, and Other Alcoholic Beverages ? an archaeological account spiced with historical records and a hint of memoir ? he wrote, ?Wherever we look?we see that the principal way to communicate with the gods or the ancestors involves an alcoholic beverage, whether it is the wine of the Eucharist, the beer presented to the Sumerian goddess Ninkasi, the mead of Vikings, or the elixir of an Amazonian or African tribe.? Alcohol?s significance doesn?t end there, according to the archaeologist, as it also influences humanity?s social growth. Drinking together is a basic human activity that, in addition to sustainment, leads civilizations to cultivate the land. Social desire also acts a powerful motivator for other tasks. ?Imagine,? McGovern suggests to me, ?The monumental achievements we?d lack without beer.? For example, survival and the daily promise of a refreshing beverage often encouraged Egyptian slaves to complete their work constructing the pyramids.

The fact that McGovern understands alcohol?s noteworthiness isn?t the only reason beer enthusiasts should feel a kinship with him. If they sample some of Dogfish Head Craft Brewery Inc.?s Ancient Ales series, then they?re also at an intersection between the past and present. McGovern works with the Delaware-based company to examine, recreate, and adapt brewing techniques to bring a bygone experience to the modern beer bottle. These successful collaborations have led to the title that the archaeologist expected least in his career. Don Russell, in his Joe Sixpack columns, dubbed McGovern the ?Indiana Jones of Ancient Ales, Wines, and Extreme Beverages.? The academic?s upbeat and proud demeanor lacks any disdain for his career?s comparison to a pulp fiction throwback character, but it?s not a role he always pursued.

It's a moderately lengthy piece. You can read the rest here.

(And a number of those Dogfish ancient ales are well worth sampling, by the way. So is the mentioned Monk's Cafe in Philadelphia. Try the house Flemish sour.)
 

Le Saboteur

Active member
Rocket Surgeon said:
Not a coffee drinker, I may record a few of these anyway...

I've mentioned this elsewhere, but any show that has the host begging a monkey to give his map back is worth a watch.

Da Capo Press said:
Jeremy Wade--a freshwater Indiana Jones--brings the adventure to life on the page as well, taking readers below the surface to explore one of the last frontiers

That's British angler & biologist Jeremy Wade star of Animal Planet's River Monsters. The companion book is on store shelves now, and the fifth season debuts in April.

Singular City said:
?That trip was a disaster,? Jeremy says. ?The water was like mud, there were no fish and we were stranded up river on a log raft with a drunken skipper.? It got worse. Government officials interrogated him; he lived on blackened fish corpses, slept in filthy, bedbug-infested rooms, caught malaria and nearly died.

Singular City said:
Aside from nearly dying in the Congo from malaria, Jeremy was detained in Thailand as a suspected spy; spent months tromping through thigh-high mud swarming with insects; was smacked so severely in the chest by a giant arapaima fish in the Amazon that it bruised his heart, and experienced a range of tropical diseases.

Article: Jeremy Wade: Hooked on Adventure

jeremy-wade-river-monster.jpg
 

Le Saboteur

Active member
The Indiana Jones of Wildlife Protection

Here's one I nearly forgot about: The Indiana Jones of Wildlife Protection

Time said:
Alan Rabinowitz knows tough. The director of the Wildlife Conservation Society's science and exploration program, Rabinowitz made his bones as a young zoologist who would go anywhere to map the shrinking habitats of big animals. He's endured 500-mile hikes through pure jungle, survived malaria, leech attacks, shaky flights on questionable airlines and virtually every other threat that comes from walking the wild parts of the world. His physical bravery earned him a movie-star nickname ? the "Indiana Jones" of wildlife science ? and even at 53, the muscle-bound Rabinowitz looks like he could wrestle a boa constrictor, and win.

That was from 2008. He's now CEO of Panthera.
 
Le Saboteur said:
That's British angler & biologist Jeremy Wade star of Animal Planet's River Monsters. The companion book is on store shelves now, and the fifth season debuts in April.
Great pic, but how is the rest of the series...beyond that giant catfish episode?
Oh, and:

Edinburgh’s ‘Indiana Jones of botany’ given medal

2368182852.jpg


A DAREDEVIL explorer based in Edinburgh who gathers exotic plants from the remotest and most inhospitable places on Earth has been honoured by one of America’s leading botanic gardens.



Dr George Argent has ventured through sweltering rainforests and up remote mountains, braving dangerous wildlife and civil wars, in search of the world’s rarest plant life.

Thanks to his expeditions, the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) – where Dr Argent, 71, has been based for nearly three decades – holds the world’s largest cultivated collection of Vireya rhododendrons.

Now, America’s National Tropical Botanical Garden in Hawaii has honoured Dr Argent’s exploits, awarding him the 2013 David Fairchild Medal for Plant Exploration.

Dr Argent said: “I feel as much as anything that it’s also recognition for the Botanic Garden here in Edinburgh.

“I believe I’m the first person to have won it on behalf of Edinburgh – the previous UK winners were from Kew Gardens in London – and it’s a very gratifying recognition of one’s career.”

He said one of his most vivid memories was of an expedition in 1986 in Papua New Guinea, when he was forced to fly from an airport while natives outside were engaged in a tribal war.

“When we got to the airport, my driver took one look at the crowd and told me I could either walk to the airport by myself or come back with him,” said Dr Argent.

“Of course, I got out and walked to the airport. It was all boarded and shut because of the rioting, but the tribesmen stopped when they saw me.

“They removed the glass from one of the airport windows and helped me climb through. The airport staff were cowering behind the check-in desks.

“Incredibly, I was then able to check in while this tribal riot was happening outside. I think the fact I was white meant I wasn’t targeted.”

Dr Argent said his daring expeditions had brought him closer than he would have liked to dangerous wildlife, including jungle cats, but he has also discovered plants including the rare and beautiful slipper orchid, which had not been cultivated in the West for more than a century when it was found by Dr Argent on Malaysia’s Mount Mulu in 1977.

He said: “Finding plants like that and bringing them home has always been incredibly exciting for me.”

Dr Peter Wilkie, RBGE tropical botanist, said: “The gathering of such a vast collection of Vireya rhododendrons from across south-east Asia has been no small task, given that most of them are to be found at the top of high tropical mountains.

“I am sure this award is also in recognition of the cumulative months, if not years, that he has spent in the Tropics working in often very difficult conditions.

“Dr Argent’s efforts in collecting these plants and training future researchers has meant that these collections will continue to be an important research resource and important in the conservation of these species.”
 
The Indiana Jones of Insects...

Mark Hoddle, director of the Center for Invasive Species Research at UC Riverside, is looking for a way to save the state's oak trees from an invasive threat: the goldspotted oak borer beetle, which has killed up to 80,000 trees in Southern California. Hoddle's research sends him around world in search of natural enemies that can combat the goldspotted oak borer and the 10 new species non-native insects that establish themselves in California each year.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/KZQDdZmE7mg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 

Indy's brother

New member
The Indiana Jones of?..PERFUME?

According to Perez Hilton, there is no such a person, but the hunt is on to sniff one out:

Relativity Media is searching for "the Indiana Jones" of the fragrance industry to star in a new reality show on Animal Planet.
The show would be produced by RelativityReal, but they're having a hard time finding a fragrant participant that wouldn't mind being followed by a camera crew.
The production company's already approached Erwin Creed and Mandy Aftel, but neither are biting.
We don't know about you, but we think this idea stinks.
Would U watch a fragrance reality show???
 

Le Saboteur

Active member
The Indiana Jones of... Poo.

poo_man.jpg__800x600_q85_crop.jpg


36-year-old George Frandsen of Bradenton, Florida was recently inducted into the Guinness Book of World Records after they certified him for having the largest collection of fossilized poop in the world! Technically known as coprolites, Frandsen's collection of 1,277 fossilized #2s is normally housed at the World Famous Poozeum!

Full article: Collection of Poo Certified as World's Largest

<iframe width="853" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/uIJ_Fjpk1Vk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 

Le Saboteur

Active member
Attila the Professor said:
(And a number of those Dogfish ancient ales are well worth sampling, by the way. So is the mentioned Monk's Cafe in Philadelphia. Try the house Flemish sour.)

Dr. Pat is in the news again! This time he's written a book. Or, a new book anyway!

Dr. Pat said:
Do you have a favorite fermented beverage that you've re-created?

I like the Chinese one, Chateau Jiahu ... the earliest chemically confirmed fermented beverage that we've ever found. But it's a very complex beverage. Already at the beginning of the Neolithic period, we're starting to get the domestication of plants and animals and settling down to take care of everything. It's got rice, some of the earliest rice, in it. We couldn't take ancient rice and use it, but we did use rice that had bran and the hulls intact, and it's because they wouldn't have been able to grind up the grain that purely. It had honey; it had grape, some species of Chinese grape. This would be the earliest wine, the earliest mead and the earliest beer. So that, to me, is really the one that appeals to me most, and it also has a very nice flavor, because it's kind of sweet and sour and goes very well with Chinese food.

Buy it here!

giphy.gif
 
Top