Biomes Blog

Entry #3059: JDRF

This weekend I attended a black tie event for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), which is an organization dedicated to curing type I diabetes. It’s been 30 years since I’ve worn a tie and I actually rented a penguin suit for the event. It was held at the Hyatt Regency, which is a very cool hotel that covers a small island off Newport RI. As part of the fundraising activities, I won two auctions. One was for two dog training classes, which includes a monthly shipment for a year of dog biscuits from Johnny’s Barkin’ Bakery. The other one I can’t mention because it’s a surprise for my staff, although to win it I had to hide the pen with 30 seconds left so the old lady trying to beat me out couldn’t get it.

The MC was Peter Farrelly. The Farrelly Brothers have written and directed eleven comedies, including Something About Mary, Dumb and Dumber and the new Three Stooges film. Turns out we grew up in the same town, but they graduated eight and six years ahead of me. I got to hang out with Peter for a while talking about the old town, movies, marine biology and dogs (he has four). I was kind of dreading this event, but I had a really good time. Here’s Peter and I posing as the tie tries once again to throttle me into submission.

 

Entry #3058: Text From Dog

I should have a photo of me in a tux later tonight. Wearing a tie is on my reverse bucket list, but it doesn't count if it's a clip-on.

Text From Dog is this week’s very funny niche blog.

Update: None of the photos came out except for one, which I'll post tomorrow. In any case, this is the tux and part of my chin.

Entry #3057: Coffin Couches

Read Colbert’s speach at the annual Time 100 banquet.

Morford: Diets for the lost and mortified.

For $3500 you can get your very own couch made out of an actual (I’m assuming unused) coffin. This one’s called the Back Draft.

Entry #3056: Experiencing the Extinction Burst

The reason it’s so hard to quit bad habits like overeating or smoking.

A guy in Georgia calls 911 to say he’s become invisible. Turns out his criminal record includes arrests for criminal trespass and failure to appear.

An eagle owl has adopted two two baby chickens at a German zoo.

 iPod Shuffle:

1. There She Goes (Chris Isaak)
2. Mud Slide Slim (James Taylor)
3. If You Know What I Mean (Neil Diamond)
4. Sun Comes Up, It's Tuesday Morning (Cowboy Junkies, live)
5. Fair (Ben Folds Five)

Entry #3055: Anthropology of Garbage

Pet corner: Meet Milly, the world’s smallest dog. My vet fumes over stories like this, claiming these dogs are subjected to all kinds of unnecessary health problems.

World scientific productivity map.

In The Anthropology of Garbage, Jason De Leon explores modern migration.

Entry #3054: Lost Turtles

Meatloaf, graymail, data snacking and other internet terms you probably didn’t know existed.

The twenty-five most endangered turtle species. Included is “Lonesome George”, the last surviving member of the Abdington Island giant tortoise colony. I was pretty sure that George had died a few years ago, but he’s alive and well. Also highlighted is the last pair of Yangtze giant softshell turtles, now living in the Suzhou Zoo (only four individuals exist, and three of those are males, and one of those males is over a hundred years old.) Like the Yangtze River dolphin, which was snuffed out of existence in 2007, there isn’t much hope for the giant softshell.

Hump day musical interlude: Rebecca Black's "Fridays" video has been taken off the worst music video in history by "The Three Second Rule". Be warned.

Entry#3053: Iceberg the Whale

Hans sends in this story about an albino killer whale named “Iceberg” that has been spotted off Kamchatka, Russia (my favorite piece of the “Risk” map.) My logs show over 3,000 hits yesterday and when I checked the records there seems to be a huge number of searches for “white killer whale”, “white orca” and “albino killer whale”.

As a forty-something who took the latter route in this scenario, this post by Atrios was like a little anxiety-inducing kick to the gut.

Top ten lessons of the Iraq War.

Entry #3052: One That Got Away

Thirty years on the road has taught me never to buy anything that isn’t a Toyota. But I admire Ford for making some progress in eco-friendly manufacturing. Here’s some of the ways Ford has reduced the amount of plastic waste by 30 million pounds a year. This report focuses not on fuel efficiency, but rather on the components that go into making the actual vehicle.

When you hook a fish and it breaks the line, this is the result. It’s a blue shark off Rhode Island’s coast. And it probably won’t survive very long.

Pet corner: Ashpoopie, available next year, is an incinerating pooper-scooper.

Entry #3051: Megalodon Revisited

This summer I’ll be attending my 30th high school reunion, which doesn’t even seem possible. This essay by Jim Wright, about reuniting with a long lost friend and finding that neither of them had grown into the people they thought they were, is a must read before heading out to one of these bashes.

We’re told that Hollywood is a bastion of liberal elites, except there are many self-proclaimed conservatives there as well. I think Jon Voight and James Caan bum me out the most. They both seem so smart.

Read my 2008 essay about magalodon sharks.

 

Entry #3050: The Biggest Nut on the Intertoobz

So, who’s the craziest person on the internet? My vote goes to this guy.

It looks like the Disney movie "John Carter" is going to be a huge financial flop, but Stonekettle explains why it’s really a very good film.

Throughout my childhood my grandfather would give me a stack of National Geographics whenever I’d see him, and the two covers that stick with me most are the Afghan girl in the red shawl and the snow monkeys of Jigokudani.

Entry #3049: You Lose

Reading these historical witty comebacks, I don’t think I would’ve messed with Churchill.

Driving while blind. Watch Steve Mahan, who is 95% blind, drive around town and order at a Taco Bell drive through by using one of Google’s new autonomous cars. Here’s a video showing how these self-driving cars work.

Morford: Collapse of the shiny pretty things.

 iPod Shuffle:

1. What Do You Do (Lyle Lovett, Live)
2. The Last Worthless Evening (Don Henley)
3. Ghost Story (Sting)
4. Fields of Gray (Bruce Hornsby)
5. Idiot Wind (Bob Dylan)

Entry #3048: Rin Tin Tin

Did you know there is a social networking site for old people? It’s called Faceliftbook, and I still have three more years where I can refer to over 50 as “old”.

Has anyone tried out this electronics cleaning putty? Looks like a great idea.

Learn about the real life of Rin Tin Tin.

Entry #3047: Puking Lepidopterans

The large white butterfly (Pieris brassicae) protects itself by vomiting on its predators, but mostly when they are alone.

If you liked the movie Gladiator (the one with Russell Crowe), David Neelin dissects the film to separate fact from fiction.

Calendar years the U.S.A. has been at war since 1776. Until you really think about it, this seems like it can’t possibly be right.

Entry #3046: Advanced T. Rex

Could advanced dinosaurs rule other planets?

Seven rules for recording police who are carrying out their duties in public.

The U.S. has a $1 trillion underground economy, money people make through means outside government or IRS regulations, and in bad economic times this shadow economy is growing.

Entry #3045: Strawberry Leopard

There’s an interesting theory about why passengers on the Titanic didn’t panic, while those on the Lusitania did. People tend to adopt herd behavior, so I’m not sure about this. You’re more willing break the law when others around you are doing so. If the Titanic had a captain that was able to enforce calm somehow, I think that would explain it better.

Congratulations Arizona women, every one of you is officially pregnant. And this is reason #2,768 why you should never vote for a republican.

Albino Monday: The world’s first known “strawberry leopard” has been discovered. Animals with a mutation that causes reddish fur or skin are know as being urythritic.

Entry #3044: Chains They Crash Like Thunder

This is an amazing shot of lightning striking both towers of the Golden Gate Bridge at the same time. But that was nothing compared to this weekend’s simultaneous eight-bolt strike on the Bay Bridge in San Francisco.

It’s three hours long, but watch a three-part documentary on atheism.

Entry #3043: Eye-pokes

This week’s niche blog is devoted solely to posting entire episodes of Real Time with Bill Maher. Watching these shows in full, which I never get a chance to do, as opposed to the little clips I catch on blogs here and there, I’m getting the feeling that the host and his guests really have a lot of fun making this show. It’s thought provoking, but it’s also fun watching people have a good time discussing issues.

A dactyl fractal zoom.

Ebert reviews the new Farrelly Brother’s movie “The Three Stooges”. Love them or hate them, you can't deny these three actors nailed the parts:

Entry #3042: Both Sides Do It

Conservatives don’t trust science, and it’s not because of under-education since the trust is lacking even among those with advanced degrees.

It came as a surprise to me that Jenna and not-Jenna are supporters of Obama.

America’s political spectrum. The problem of course is the call for a third party implies the “both sides do it” myth.

iPod Shuffle:

1. When We Ran (John Hiatt)
2. Pig, Sheep and Wolves (Paul Simon)
3. Wild Horses (The Rolling Stones)
4. Another Round of Blues (Shawn Colvin)
5. Rosalita (Bruce Springsteen)

Entry #3041: Violet Kills a Crab

Gawker.com has a mole planted at Fox News, and he/she will be filing regular reports presumably until he gets caught.

[Update]: Well, that didn't take long. The mole got caught by the fox.

You can see all the YouTube videos I’ve ever linked to here. If you scroll back and back and back and back you can find my Violet Kills a Crab. I miss that octopus even more than Ruby. 

Entry #3040: The Life of Flowers

Here’s some of TBogg’s typical top-notch snark from ’08 on the Romney boys not helping out in the glorious war their dad and all his friends loved so much. Substitute “Iraq” with “Afghanistan” and it works pretty well for this election cycle as well.

Mohammad Ali is a mess, and using him to open a new stadium in his condition is degrading. You may disagree, but I’m appalled. And this is coming from someone who couldn’t care less about sports in general, and is disgusted by both boxing and baseball equally.

Hump day musical interlude: The life of flowers.