No, not the kind with the slit in the floor, which in variations from modern to disgusting is common in the east. I’m talking about a pic that our friend Christina sent, taken in Istanbul: Turns out it does NOT say “No blogging on the loo”. Professor Janet Jones, one of our intrepid band in …
Author: Steve Bodio
House Finch
Anne Price at the Raptor Education Foundation sent this photo of an oddly- marked house finch (Carpodacus mexicanus) trapped at a banding station. They seem to be an exceptionally variable species, with males in particular varying from almost all red to brown with just traces of red. Could this have something to do with the …
Marketing
Reid sent this interesting NYT piece on publishers selling books in non- traditional venues like sporting goods stores and delis. Matt mused: “Eagle Dreams on table with wilderness gear at outfitters store… “Edge of the Wild dual-billed at Whole Foods with the authentic Italian meats AND in pasta isle… “Tiger Country [ unpublished novel] at …
Dinosauroids and Nemo Ramjet
Darren, while still tormenting us over the cladistics of the Giant Hoatzins of Doom, has written a good post on the “dinosauroids” of popular imagination (and, as Reid reminds us , of the splendid science fiction novels of Ken MacLeod). He doubts the humanoid appearance of the early model, and prefers a “birdier” version by …
The Food Police..
…are coming for you. I never met a trans- fat I liked. But doesn’t this give you a shiver? “New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, by contrast, likes the idea. On Monday he reiterated that support, saying, ‘The next big health issue is obesity. If you want to do something about it, it’s going to …
Agnostic
I blogged recently on Rod Dreher’s moving account of his conversion to Orthodox Christianity. Last week the one and only John Derbyshire wrote an essay on his loss of religious faith. I thought I must be nuts to like both, finding them sane and thoughtful. But apparently I am not alone– both Dreher himself and …
Hmmmm
Patrick sent me this item: a foxhound pack in England is flying a hybrid eagle at foxes. IF– very big “if”– the bird is very well- trained and, above all, the dogs are accustomed to it, this could work– after all, hounds, eagles, and horses work together every winter in Asia. But most likely this …
“Sun Head”
The petroglyphs Reid blogged about below put me in mind of the “Sun Head” figure at the Tamgaly site in Kazakhstan, below. Could it be a shaman figure? According to a Kazakh brochure, other figures might be as well. “Unique representations of ‘magic personages’ can be found, dressed up in animal skins with wolf tails …
Around the web
Peculiar writes to me: “This one sounds like the first chapter of a pretty good thriller: “Disgraced South Korean stem cell scientist Hwang Woo-suk said on Tuesday he spent part of private donations for research to pay the Russian mafia for mammoth tissues to clone extinct elephant species.” He adds: “I like this line too, …
French guns again
For fans of French design, like, for instance, my 16 gauge Manufrance Ideal: here is an even prettier one, a twelve. It is available if you want it, from Kirby Hoyt.