Heavy (bird) science warning! John Burchard asked me recently about the current evolutionary status of New World Vultures, and I realized my answer “reviewed” a book I had been meaning to. So consider the following to be my semi- official review of the amazing book The Inner Bird by Gary Kaiser. The very latest– this …
Author: Steve Bodio
Miss Tig
Often photos here are either my point- and- shoots or pro- level stuff by the likes of Cat, Daniela, or Alpaugh saluki maven Herb Wells. But this recent one by John Burchard of his (“our”) Tigger and friend racing straight away from the camera after a jack is what it usually looks like.
Links at Last
I have had to drop some as not timely– but finally a feast of the good, the bad, and the strange. Good: first, and rather belatedly considering how long I have been following these people’s work (one has even bent an elbow at the Spur): three blogs by poets plus. First in line and I …
Bad State Fossils
I am obviously busy, but with enough time to quote rather than link. In that spirit let me excerpt a HILARIOUS rant, also from Locavore Hunter, on Bad State Fossils. What were these people (with the possible exception of the ones who picked the Utah Allosaurus) SMOKING? “I’m picturing the Kentucky state legislature being on …
The Elegant “.275”
Locavore Hunter, in a post on teaching new hunters to build their own rifles, has a nice quote on my favorite cartridge, perhaps more commonly called the 7 X 57: “The 7mm Mauser has a fascinating history that I won’t get into just now, but suffice to say that the sort of person who favors …
Beating the Drum Again…
Arguments in the saluki- tazi world again (and implicitly in the whole dog world) on closed studbooks, “invalid colors”, the usual. And as always, sane and scientific counsel from John Burchard: “I think we have to remember that the breed subdivisions within the “oriental sighthound” group are to some considerable extent a Western artifact which …
Quote of the Week
Heard on network TV no less, but still worth it; “Better to write for yourself and have no readers than to write for your audience and have no self”. Credited to Cyril Connolly which rings true, and sounds like Enemies of Promise, but I can’t find my copy. Readers?
First Let’s Kill All the Tigers..
Professor McMahan, the guy who wants to eliminate all predators, is back with what he thinks is a refutation of his critics. This time he begins with a thought experiment: since Amur (“Siberian”) tigers are supposedly insignificant ecological actors these days, why not let them go extinct? “Many of the commentators said, in effect: “Leave …
Vance Bourjaily RIP
Just got the news from Chad at Mallard of Discontent that novelist Vance Bourjaily is dead at 87. Bourjaily was considered one of the best of the postwar novelists and then just faded from popularity– I don’t know why, as I considered his best as good as any and better than most. He was unapologetically …
Chinese Tazis Continued
When I wrote about old tazis in Asia recently one commenter sneered and asked if I thought Chinese “sheepheads” were ancient too, meaning the roman- nosed tazis of northwestern China (colloquially, “thin dogs”). I replied with this image from Prince Xanghui’s 8th Century tomb. Here is a recent photo of a similar hound, a male …