Got Blogs?

While in Russia, I'm giving a presentation on weblogs. Here's the title: "Weblogs: The Changing Face of Academic and Political Discussion Online"

It's going to be a fairly short talk, as they translate it into Russian in real-time, thus reducing the amount of time I'm going to be blathering by half. I've already got some sites selected to showcase in my presentation, but if you've got a favorite political or academic weblog that you think is important or interesting, and worth a mention, please post it in the comments below, and I'll add it to my talk.

Russian Terror

Looks like I'm in for some fun when I travel to Russia in thirty days, I'm flying by plane to Moscow, will be traveling via Subway when I'm there, and staying at a school. Hopefully I won't be blown up in the process too.

Vaccination

I was vaccinated this morning for Hepatitis A, in preparation for my upcoming trip to Russia. I also got some Typhoid vaccine pills, which are a bit expensive at $10/pill. Thankfully, it only takes four to vaccinate you. I asked the doc if I needed to get Hepatitis B as well, and he told me no, since I wasn't going to be having unprotected sex or getting a blood transfusion while in Russia. How does he know what I'm going to do there?

Passport

I made my way through the government bureaucracy to get my passport ordered today. I had to put a rush on it, so I would have time to get my Russian visa, all told, the cost was $172.50, plus $10 to get my picture taken. I'm definitely turning these receipts in. I was pleasantly surprised to find that Uncle Sam lets you fill in the Passport application form via Acrobat, then print it out, so it's nice and neat. Of course, it'd be more efficient to let me submit it online, or even print a barcode on the form, so that someone could just scan it, rather than re-key all that data. In any case, seven to ten days from now, I should have my shiny new Passport, complete with awful picture.