Denisovans in Spain? Human origins may now be characterizsed as "It's Complicated"

Firstly, the National Geographic link.

They tested the Neanderthal bones from Spain and the result said Denisovan, the still apparently poorly understood third strand of modern human genetics, along with homo sapiens sapieins and the cold-adopted Neanderthals of Eurasia.

Maybe the Denisovans were the original Eurasian population and Neanderthals replaced them in their range?

Maybe any hypothesis can float a while in the current void of knowledge.

Tarim Basin

Last year, so very late in life, I learnt about the Tarim Basin, a huge area in west China that is obvious once you stare at it, with a unique history, home of the "Tocharian" Indo-European languages and mummies wrapped in Celtic-like tartans.

Indo-European, as everybody should know, is the language family encompassing all languages from Western Europe to Iran and India.  This is the beginners explanation of the centum-satem west-east split of these languages: The Tocharian languages' word for 100 belongs to the "centum" (Latin centum, English hundred are descendent words in this group), along with the Germanic, Celtic, Italic and other western branches of the Indo-European language family, as opposed to the more eastern group of the Indian, Iranian, and Slavic group of languages whose word for 100 is derived from "satem", no nasalized vowel or hardened initial consonant.  But why is the "centum" language Tocharian only found on items from the Tarim Basin, thousands of miles from the other "centum" groups like Italic and Germanic?  Supposedly the development of the "satem" language features arose in the eastern part of the Indo-European homeland after the emigration of the group now known as Tocharian.

The Tocharian people lived 2000BC into the first millenium CE, until the Uighurs overran the Tarim Basin in 800AD or something like that, but the people of the area still have features like red hair and blue eyes, so ponder that.

That is the 30000 foot overview of the Tocharians, the name is cool but is probably an inaccurate exonym.

Geologically, the basin is a micro-continent embedded in the Asian supercontinent, once a separate land mass but now quite ensconced within Asia, ringed with its mountains.  It's a forsaken desert surrounded by mountain stream nurtured oasis Silk Road towns for 4000 years now 

Glib remarks on "Correlations in the population structure of music, genes and language"

The original article Correlations in the population structure of music, genes and language is now paywalled by the so-called Proceedings of the Royal Society, I could log in using Facebook Oauth voodoo but I don't feel like  it, so as I won't be quoting from it, I'll just misrepresent and mischaracterize it, internet-style.

Here's the money shot, or, if you will, the tl;dr:  "An examination of population structure for genetics showed stronger parallels to music than to language".

One might think, "One wandering minstrel and the whole model crumbles".  Popular music today has certainly no limits, but even in the Bronze Age stories and songs wandered.

This study would have us believe that on Taiwan, an island slightly smaller than the combined area of MA, CT and RI, there were distinct districts of genes and music.  We know that in pre-Columbian times, the Algonquian peoples of southern New England would and could from the Berkshires to the ocean and back, maybe even every year, but the aboriginal peoples of Taiwan apparently kept apart from each other.  Or liked different music, because of cultural identity and religion, and taste?  What about the Malay and Polynesian folks who long ago descended from one or more of these Taiwanese groups?

I think we need a Papua New Guinea study.

Testosterone

Most men are either fit or unfit, but I am both; historically unfit with poor eating practices, but compulsively a runner.  After this latest typically fattening, obesening American holiday, went for a jog in the cold yesterday, carbo loaded, at first plodding, but with musical help better, breathing fully, varying pace, never stopping, finished covered with sweat.

Beforehand, I drove slow and careful, but afterwards I was racing, winning, I swaggered through Trader Joe's, insouciant, insolent!  A different man!

I see why men take pills to restore their testosterone, but you don't need a pill.  

The White Album

Full disclosure, compulsively listened at age 14-15 on 8-track repeatedly overnight until the cartridge was white hot in the morning; overly familiar with TWA.

The Beatles album cover palette cleanser, generous with 30 album tracks.

So if we play the "reconfigure-as-single-album" game we reduce to 15 tracks.

Dear Prudence
The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill
While My Guitar Gently Weeps
Happiness is a Warm Gun
Martha My Dear
Blackbird
Piggies
Julia
Yer Blues
Mother Nature's Son
Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey
Sexy Sadie
Helter Skelter
Savoy Truffle
Cry Baby Cry

For the rest, Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da should have been on a single to be collected in on the Hey Jude collection, with Birthday as the B side, Revolution I should have been suppressed because of the single version,  Back in the USSR, Glass Onion (I accept disagreement on Glass Onion), Wild Honey Pie, Why Don't We Do It in the Road,  I Will, Long Long Long, and Honey Pie should have been out-takes, maybe a special out-take EP, as much as I've grown accustomed to Honey Pie; Revolution 9 should have gone on a Lennon/Yoko single EP, Good Night saved for Ringo's solo album.

Perhaps some of the songs could have been composed into medleys; McCartney showed on side 2 of Abbey Road he could tastefully arrange symphonic suites of Beatles songlets from him and John, maybe some of the numbers that go on too long on the White Album would benefit from the Abbey Road Side 2 treatment, with an Ob-la-da Ob-la-da, Glass Onion, Why Don't We Do It in the Road, Wild Honey Pie, Back in the USSR medley.

Happiness is a Warm Gun is already a medley.

Sexy Sadie is the most underrated cut, the chord pattern is fun.

Julia is the lost classic.

CutAndPastify.bs

Guessworks Venture Capital is enchanted to announce the investment of $11.2 million in the innovative tech startup CutAndPastify, which has developed a fast efficient method of code development.

CutAndPastify's CEO says that he expects revenues next year to be in the range of zero to infinity, probably on the lower end.

More details at CutAndPastify.bs

Craigster

In the days when Rob Schneider's SNL office pest roamed the earth, some Craigs like myself bore the nickname Craigster.  Thanks merciful heavens that now when brandified that nickname sells lobster tails and not sanitary napkins or suppositories.