Biomes Blog

Entry #2030

Modern teapots. I really like this one.

Today’s long read is a Rolling Stone expose on Goldman-Sachs, who has engineered every major market manipulation since the Great Depression.

In 1971 Juliane Koepcke was sucked out of an airplane, fell two miles and survived, and then wandered around the jungle for nearly two weeks before being rescued.

Timewaster of the Week: Do not press the red button.

Albino Monday: Not sure why there are so many images of white hummingbirds around, but here's another one. I love how this one's balancing on that orange thing.

Entry #2029

This week’s Green Thing is the environmental blog Treehugger.

Welcome to the official purple frog appreciation page.

The extremely funny Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest winners for bad writing for this year have been announced. Here’s the winner of the Detective catagory:

“She walked into my office on legs as long as one of those long-legged birds that you see in Florida - the pink ones, not the white ones - except that she was standing on both of them, not just one of them, like those birds, the pink ones, and she wasn't wearing pink, but I knew right away that she was trouble, which those birds usually aren't. “

Morford: Your imminent apocalyptic death.

Buy your kick the habit cigarette tube socks here.

Entry #2028

Pet Corner: Why dogs yawn.

Twelve great escapes by animals in captivity.

Lance highlights a video essay by Matt Zoller about Steve McQueen, one of my all-time favorite actors who died all too young in 1980 at the age of 50. I remember being crushed at the time, even though I was only fifteen. I’d seen most of his movies by then.

Buy your Obama newspaper tote bag here. It’s made from an actual cover page of the November 5th LA Times.

Excuse me waiter...? There’s a large bird of prey in my soup.

Entry #2027

 Today’s slide show is a stunning collection of 128 trees.

Cool Site of the Week: Click on any element in this periodic table to get hundreds of pictures, stories and facts.

On Doonesbury, Mark has Condi Rice on his radio show.

Play! Soundory, by Games for the Brains.

iPod Shuffle:

1. Melting Pot (John Mellencamp)
2. Cotton Fields (Creedence Clearwater Revival)
3. Something in the Air (Tom Petty)
4. Hard Times (Eric Clapton)
5. You Better Hang Up (Don Henley)

Entry #2026

This is Eco-diary week over at Daily Kos and I was one of about two dozen environmental bloggers that were chosen to take part in the week-long blogging marathon. We were each assigned a different time slot so that an ecology essay was always up on the front page. I drew the late shift last night and wrote about responsible shrimp buying. This one was a ton of work.

Amazing animal tables by Hella Jongerius.

The internet as imagined in 1969. This is an actual video made 40 years ago.

Animal of the Week: Meet Elizabeth, the pig who looks like a sheep.

Cell phone earring, and it’s not dangling.

Entry #2025

Watch Bailey play dead. I don’t think I’ve seen Letterman laugh this much.

They’ve been in movies such as the original King Kong, appeared with Franken and Davis in Trading Places, Three Stooges shorts and many other films. Meet the actors who have played movie gorillas.

It’s about time. Al Franken wins his senate seat.

Today’s slide show is a collection of twenty exotic birds.

Hump Day musical interlude: The Avett Brothers “Murder in the City”.

Entry #2024

Tuesday Coonhound Blogging: Click to make it glow. I don't think I've posted one of Creole on the front porch. I took a series of these and every one has her eyes glowing white, so I need some suggestions. I took them at different angles, around 5:30 am and the flash on my Nikon did go off each time. Also, she did a great job not bolting down the street, which is a habit I've been working on breaking. There's something about the front porch that says "go".

Watch Grandeur Nature, a timelapse movie about the earth and stars. It’s beautiful.

The cab ride I’ll never forget is pretty touching.

Stuff You Should Know: How to make your own laundry detergent.

Now we’re cookin’: Scans of sandwiches. This one is a Reuben.

Entry #2023

Albino Monday: Baby sea turtle, via Liza J in comments and Derryl by email.

Missed this on Father’s Day, but here are some award-winning animal dads, via National Geographic.

Today’s long read is about the biology of B-movie monsters.

Three Biomes points to anyone who solves the Puzzle of the Airtight Alibi without looking at the answer. I figured it out right away, so it should be pretty easy. Honor system.

Timewaster of the Week: Make a celebrity odd. I thought it would be fitting to try this out by typing in David Lynch.

Entry #2022

The Boy asked me yesterday what the bioluminescence in a firefly is good for. I guessed it was the males trying to attract a mate. And I turned out to be right. Maybe that’s what I need; some green luciferase on my ass. As you may have guessed, I’ve had yet another romance blow up in my face, this one due to a sight-unseen Facebook infatuation.

Entry #2021

Pet Corner: Get your cat hammock here.

The ten biggest intellectual fights of all time.

Today’s slide show takes a look at some behind the scenes moments at the Obama White House.

Meet some extinct cannibalistic creatures.

What would you taste like to a cannibal?