Some of my shelves are semi-organized by topic (emphasis on semi). We’ll call this shelf “Hunting Smilodon with a .375 H&H Ruger No. 1.”
Afterthought – hie thee over to Strange Maps if you haven’t visited recently. The latest post is A Vulture’s View of Ethiopia – wonderful stuff.
I just got back in from airing out the dogs in the woods behind my house. We’d gotten about 20 yards deep in the woods (see snow pictures below for an idea of what I’m talking about) when 2 birds flew toward me – moved by the dogs I think – and perched between me and the dogs, who were a ways in front. At first, I thought they were crows (based on their size), but when they perched, I knew that wasn’t the case – typical raptor posture, and the one I had the best view of had his head low and out in front. The sky is overcast and the light is poor, so I didn’t pick up much more than silhouettes. They were calling to each other – one would krek and the other would reply: krek-krek (think of the sound of trees creaking in an otherwise quiet wood). They stayed perched for a heart-stopping 35 seconds or so, then flew off – under the canopy. I know what I think they are, but I’d appreciate a reality check/wishful thinking alert. I know a pair of what-I-hope-they-are nests about a half mile south of the house (though I can never find the current year’s nest). There was some logging last year where they normally nest – maybe they’ve been pushed towards me?
Later – I realize there’s not a lot of data to go on – it’s really the calling that I was curious about – whether that was enough to rule anything out or in.
A couple of hilarious visions of the future (or the present, depending on how you look at it).
First, via MeFi, the engineering triumph of the modern age. Ladies and Gentleman, I give you the Alameda-Weehauken Burrito Tunnel.
*
More practical, and preferable in my book, would be a NYC-Portsmouth (NH) Bánh mì tunnel. All silliness aside, I’m hoping to spend time visiting Babylon-on-the-Hudson in the near future (more than once, I hope) – on the gustatory agenda will be Bánh mì, Korean-style fried chicken and (mythical?) Cuban-Chinese food.
Those of you who have been reading the blog for a while know that Gerry Anderson’s Supermarionation played a big part in my childhood. From Coop via BoingBoing we get this Peter Cook/Dudley Moore sendup of the whole genre: Superthunderstingcar.
*
The underlying question remains unanswered – where’s my dang flying car (I’d settle for a jet-pack)?
I received a picture today of a couple dart frogs (D. tinctorius Surinam Cobalt) I sold to a local frogger last fall. He was just getting started in the hobby – I’d say he’s off to a very good start. We both think he got a male and a female; males tend to have larger, heart-shaped front toe pads. I’m grinning like a Cheshire cat…
*
Courtesy of Stephen Bodio, a falconer’s (among many other things) bookshelf:
*
*
(As is often the case here, click the picture for a larger version)
Extra credit for identifying the green book and the gold book that are next to each other in the center of the shot (the two that are duplicated in my library). I’m having a lot of fun with this theme – expect another shelf of mine soon…
Yesterday afternoon, while waiting for power to return, I finished Eco’s Search for the Perfect Language. Interesting and useful – especially the second half, from Wilkins onward, where a priori languages are discussed. More on the topic later- I mention it to set the stage for the book I dove into last night: Salmon’s Gazehounds & Coursing. I’ve been reading a paragraph here, a page or two there – now it’s time to start at the beginning and stop at the end.
For double suspension gallop dogs – and owners – everywhere, allow me to tell you a story about Boone, my 12 year old German Shorthair. About 10 years ago, Boone and I used to visit a local town park – Wagon Hill Farm. Back then, Wagon Hill was a popular spot to run dogs (it was eventually killed by it’s popularity – the town started enforcing it’s leash law). Boone thought he was pretty hot stuff – although there were a few (very few) dogs that could keep up with him, nobody could outrun him. He figured he was the fastest dog on earth. Until… We pulled into the lot one day and I started to grin. There was a car I’d never seen before – clearly a dog car – blankets covering the back seat and (here’s the kicker) retired racer greyhound bumperstickers all over the back end. We got out of the truck and walked into the field a bit; since the greyhound car was the only other one there, it was not a big assumption to guess that the not-so-little old lady in tennis shoes was the one with the retired racer. I said “hi” and did introductions, she whistled her greyhound over so he could meet Boone, and off they went. I’m likely reading way too much into it, but here’s what I saw. They ran off together – not a hard run, but Boone wasn’t trotting – and as they got out into the field the pace started creeping up. At no point was the greyhound trying to drop Boone (he seemed happy just to be running), but it sure seemed like Boone was trying to make a point. Up and up they went – Boone’s effort increasing until he was going pretty much flat out. The racer, of course, was matching stride for stride like nothing was going on. Boone let it all hang out – 105% effort – the kind of thing that one can sustain only briefly. The greyhound was cool, calm and collected; he stayed right at the shorthair’s shoulder. After 10 seconds or so of heart bursting effort, Boone figured it out – not the fastest dog in the world by a long shot. To everyone’s credit, that was that – no spitefulness from Boone, no ‘neener, neener, neener’ from the greyhound. They circled the fields for another 20 minutes or so, just loving the wind in their faces; Boone got a great workout, and I imagine we at least got the greyhound’s heart pumping a little faster.
Now when I’m out running the dogs and someone comments on how fast they are, I just smile. They are pretty fast when matched against most folk’s experience, but Boone and I are here to tell you – there’s a whole ‘nother speed range out there that just gets going when my dogs are topping out. My best to Steve, Gail Goodman and Dutch Salmon.
We’re back – hopefully for a while. A little bit of New England springtime knocked out power sometime in the wee hours last night, power came on this morning just long enough for me to brew a pot o’ joe (hallelujah) and came on again – for good, I hope – a half hour or so ago.
*
*
There’s always a silver lining – to keep the house warm, a nice fire in the woodstove was needed. Janey was able to work on her research project: testing how close to a stove a dog can lay without bursting into flame.
*
Two good ones from Bruce Schneier’s blog:
Mennonites moving to avoid photo ID requirements.
Mennonites are considering moving to a different state because they don’t want their photo taken for their drivers licenses. Many (all?) states had religious exemptions to the photo requirement, but now fewer are. *
Another issue touched on in the NY Times article is the inability of Mennonites to leave the country to visit relatives in Canada or Mexico. No passports = no border crossings.
Also via Schneier on Security a great Onion link.
“We believe the yield signs were removed in order to disrupt traffic patterns, most likely to cause an accident,” Steinhorst said. “The party responsible for the crime could be anyone from suspected terrorist Ahmad Ibrahim Al-Mughassil, who is on the FBI’s most-wanted list, to that Fairman kid and his buddies. It could be the work of one or the other. Possibly both, though I have to say I doubt that.”
*
The frog folk who visit the site know this already, but for people whose tastes may not run so much in the direction of anuran minutia – a dendrobatid that hasn’t been seen in 77 years has been rediscovered. With all the news about chytrid decimating tropical amphibians, this is the best thing I’ve heard in a while. Story and pictures here (there’s also an article in the April National Geographic, I’m told). The effort is already underway to protect and conserve these little gems. Congratulations and thanks to all involved.
Some pictures from today’s get together of froggers at Black Jungle (thanks to Mike and Richard for their hospitality). You can see all the shots worth uploading here.
From the greenhouses:
Heliamphoras
*
Nepenthes
*
*
*
In the store – frogs:
*
In my post on internet radio I mentioned the adaptation vs. control choice that the media industry is facing. I’m going to eventually post Kauffman’s rules of systems thinking, but since there are 28 of them, I thought I’d soften everyone up with 11 Laws of the Fifth Discipline (from Peter Senge’s book):
I remain suspicious of folks that lay out characteristics of effective organizations – the descriptive often segues into the prescriptive and as far as ‘just do these things and your organization will flourish’ – if it was that easy I’d think we’d see a lot fewer Dilbert meets Kafka workplaces. I spent many years working for a very large corporation; we had a CEO who was regularly fêted as a managerial genius. Down in the trenches one of my favorite inside jokes was filling in the blanks on a couple bits of management speak: the inside-out view (how do we see ourselves) and the outside-in view (how do our customers and suppliers see us).
In fairness to Jack, I think he realized that the company he liked to describe was some kind of idealized construct – that didn’t make the cube farms any more hospitable though… Whining aside, thinking about systems rather than a naive linear cause and effect is a habit all of us need to cultivate (IMHO).
Rule 10 makes me think of another rule from one of the best project management books out there – The Mythical Man Month. To paraphrase a point from Brook’s book in call and response form:
Q: How do you make a late project later?
A: Add more people!
