Archive for May, 2010
Rabid Mexican Chimps
Posted by Grg in Grg's Reference on Thursday, May 27, 2010
It is from a collection of portraits of rabid animals from a Mexican school lesson sheet
Why I don’t go in the water, especially during the Late Miocene
Posted by Grg in Don't Go In the Water, Grg's Reference, Science/Geek on Monday, May 17, 2010
The baby teeth are still nothing to sneeze at
But this isn’t that story. No, this is a story about how these gigantic predatory, be-toothed demon creatures loved their babies.
Yes, gentle reader, scientists publishing in the Public Library of Science describe the discovery of Megalodon nurseries (awww!) where hatchling sharks were protected by their enormous mothers until they themselves were big enough to swallow an entire Grateful Dead cover band in one go (including their van, most likely). How sweet.
(via Everyone PLoS ONE’s community blog)
Puppies of Jenkintown: Maggie
Posted by Grg in General stuff on Friday, May 14, 2010
They want to lick your face more than anything in the world. Your face is like candy to them.
Still, Maggie managed to hold still for a good 30 seconds, which I believe broke they all-time yellow lab “sit” record once held by Prince Bob of Des Moines, Iowa who, upon later examination may have been part basset or was, quite possibly, dead.
Nice shot Julia.
Puppies of Jenkintown, lollypop bribe edition
Posted by Grg in Tales from Stinkbug Manor on Thursday, May 13, 2010
We were headed out the door, lollypops dangling from our lips, as Jake and his family passed. I felt bad not offering them a treat, so I told them to wait, ran back inside Stinkbug Manor, through the kitchen and out the side door in case Benny (who gets into the picture, as you can see) decided to bolt down the shared drive for the neighbors pond.
They fished their wish from the bag of Dum Dums — one chose butterscotch, on purpose! — and posed Jake for the shot.
(No, this isn’t some sort of extreme facepainting, I pawed out the girl’s face, just in case her mother isn’t as reckless as I am in plastering my kids’ gobs all over the Internet.)
Jake (seated on the driveway in the picture to the right) is some sort of pit bull mix thingamabob. I don’t know for sure if I bothered to ask. I was just grateful to get the shot…and to dispose of some of these godforesaken butterscotch Dum Dums.
Seriously, man, every the kids reach into the big bag of Dum Dums (Dum Dums: a sack of stupidity!) that the missus bought for no defensible reason, they pull out some flavor like Butterscotch or Banana Rumpus or, worse, a mystery flavor, which is usually Butterscotch. Now, I don’t mind the occasional butterscotch hard candy, as I’m old, but few kids enjoy candy that actively rejects the concept of “sweet.” Still, I let the kids pick their own. I’m their father, so they should get used to disappointment. Here’s a freebie for Spangler Candy, a new tagline: “There’s a heaping dose of reality in every handful!”
Then again, I enjoy the stick. I don’t know about you, but lollypops with plastic sticks just aren’t the same. You get Dum Dums for the candy, but you stay for the lingering oral fixation and the fine gnawing sensation you can only get from tightly-wrapped paper.
Photo courtesy of Julia Rose Lester.
Look, the more tag, as if enough hasn’t been said already! Continue Reading Puppies of Jenkintown, lollypop bribe edition
WHY I DON’T GO IN THE WATER…
Posted by Grg in Don't Go In the Water, Dumb thoughts, Science/Geek on Wednesday, May 12, 2010
In Sweden, even the sea life is flat pack.
The Regalecus glesne, known as the King of Herrings or Giant Oarfish, was found dead in the small fishing village of Bovallstrand on Sweden’s west coast, about 140 miles from the Norwegian border.
In less sensational terms, this is an oarfish, which normally makes its home in the Eastern Atlantic/Mediterranean. While rare for Sweden, I gather, this isn’t a very large specimen, as they seem to grow to 50 feet. So, for the King of Herrings, this one’s a bit of a pike(r). Here’s an entry from SeaSky, for the wikipedia-averse:
The most noticeable feature of the oarfish is its extremely long, ribbon-like body. These fish can reach a length of over 50 feet (15 meters) and weigh as much as 600 pounds (272 kilograms). Its scaleless body is covered with a silver to silvery blue skin and is topped with an ornate, red dorsal fin that resembles a decorative headdress. This dorsal fin runs the entire length of the fish, with a tiny spine projecting above each of over 400 individual fin rays. The pelvic fins of this fish are elongated and similarly colored. The oarfish has a small mouth with no visible teeth. Their diet consists mainly of plankton, small crustaceans, and small squid that they strain from the water using specially formed gill rakes in their mouth. In turn, the oarfish may be a food source for larger ocean carnivores such as sharks.
Oh, and SeaSky, green and yellow text on black? Really?
So, to sum up. Not really a herring. Not really that big (as far as these things go). And, while it is a plankton eater, I would not be terribly happy to see one swim past. (I’d get bored after the first 30 feet, for one thing.)
(via Museum of the Weird, one of my favorite places in Austin.)
Puppy Season is Open in Jenkintown
Posted by Grg in Tales from Stinkbug Manor on Friday, May 7, 2010
Why did we wait so long into spring to start it up again? Julia’s first camera, a pink “Insignia” brand 5 megapixel thingy, broke. I’m fairly certain her mother dropped it.
However, Julia’s Grammy, supplier of the original camera, underwrote the purchase of a new camera (I picked it up on Woot!), a sleek, turquoise(ish) 10 megapixel number from Kodak. Our five year-old has a nicer camera than the family. It has more settings than I know what to do with, but it takes pictures quickly, which is a good thing when folks your mission is to interrupt people during their evening’s perambulations.
We spent Monday night scouring the Jenkintownside looking for dogs to little luck until we found Roxie (below, click to embiggen) and her family marching up Walnut Street. (We should just wait until they pass our house, that’s usually when we see them, but what’s the fun in that?) Benny was with us, which adds a bit of a wrinkle to the process, since I have to help Julia get the camera set while keeping Ben out of traffic or away from the dog.
I have no real notes on Roxie other than she’s a mutt and that she has a black tongue. But she’s our inaugural dog, snapped with the new camera, so we can’t complain. It took a few tries, but eventually Julia remembered to hold the button until the click and to keep her finger and camerastrap away from the lens. Nice job, sweetie.
We had better luck Wednesday, when we found two dogs right outside our house.
More to come.
All pictures courtesy of Julia R. Lester.