grrlscientist | September 12, 2009tags: flowers, Gardening, Horticulture, Botany, nature, Helsinki, image of the day
Dahlia blossom.
Photographed in downtown Helsinki, Finland.
Image: GrrlScientist, 3 July 2009 [larger view]. (raw image)
grrlscientist | September 12, 2009Another competitor in the competition has endorsed me to be your official Antarctica blogger: Rooth MacMillan, from Canada! She writes;
I wanted to say a big thank you to all of you who made it through the onerous voting process and were successful in casting a vote for me - I know it's been a trial for many of you and I appreciate your perseverance.
I have however, decided to bow out at this point and ask that if you have a second, login and switch your vote over to Devorah Bennu here: http://www.blogyourwaytoantarctica.com/blogs/view/152
She sounds like an interesting person who would…
grrlscientist | September 12, 2009My e-pal, Digital Cuttlefish, who is "teh Bard ov da Intert00bz" wrote this amazing poem publicly promoting my candidacy as official Antarctica blogger. Now, I have to tell you that there are several things about this blog entry that I find amazing.
First, this poem is great! I know for a fact that Digital Cuttlefish wrote this poem in less than 24 hours because last night I asked him if he could ask his readers to help me out. And this morning, I find this wonderful poem waiting for me. How many of us could write a poem in such a short time span? Second, this poem made me cry. It is so…
grrlscientist | September 12, 2009tags: conservation, environmentalism, global warming, ocean acidification, AMNH, American Museum of Natural History, New York City, A Sea Change, film premier
Image: A Sea Change [larger view].
Can you imagine oceans that have been emptied of all fish? What would life be like for other life forms on this planet if there really were no more fish in the sea? This is not science fiction: human-caused ocean acidification is already making its effects known. Sometimes known as the "wet underbelly" or "evil twin" of climate change, ocean acidification is caused by excess carbon dioxide from…
grrlscientist | September 12, 2009tags: African Green-pigeon, Treron calvus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] African Green-pigeon, Treron calvus, photographed drinking on the Masai Mara, Kenya, Africa. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Dan Logen, 31 August 2006 [larger view].
Nikon D2X, Nikon 200-400 mm lens, ISO 200, f/7.1, 1/45 sec.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | September 12, 2009tags: birds, parrots, Quaker Parrot, Monk ParakeetGrey-Breasted parakeet, Myiopsitta monachus, NYC events, NYC Life, Brooklyn, Wild Parrot Safari
Monk Parakeet (Myiopsitta monachus) Old San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Image: Magnus Manske, 10 May 2008, Wikipedia [larger view]
Even though NYC is located in the armpit of hell where, during the summers, the air is a humid miasma of fetid human sweat and decomposing dog shit, and the winters possess the cold and wind of Antarctica with none of its natural charms, there is a brave group of illegal aliens who not only live here, but are actually thriving…
grrlscientist | September 12, 2009tags: peace sign, silly, streaming video
This streaming video is a new mockumentary that describes the evolution of the peace sign.
grrlscientist | September 11, 2009tags: music video, Beethoven, moonlight sonata, NASA, space station, Astronaut Ed Lu, streaming video
In this video, astronaut Ed Lu plays Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata" on board the International Space Station in 2003 (Video courtesy of NASA). I can't help but wonder what Beethoven would have thought about his music being performed in space. Was his music the first to be performed in space?
grrlscientist | September 11, 2009
Image: Sneer Review.
The current Antarctic Trip Vote count is as follows; 6123 - 1903 - 1859 - 1279 - 1234 out of 589 candidates registered. I am in third place and sloooowly creeping up on second place. With only 2 weeks remaining, things are heating up and voting is changing rapidly as previous voters reassign their votes and new voters cast theirs for the first time. [Yes, you can change who you voted for, even if you voted weeks or months ago! All you have to do is log in using the account you created to cast your original vote, a process that takes only seconds] Many tens of thousands…
grrlscientist | September 11, 2009I just read Eugenie Scott's review of the movie, Creation, a drama about the life of Charles Darwin that was recently screened at the Toronto Film Festival. This film, which -- astonishingly -- does not have a distributor in the USA, humanizes Darwin by showing us key events from his life after he returned from his famous five-year voyage aboard the HMS Beagle. But Eugenie Scott is not the only one who likes this film; it has received positive reviews from Rotten Tomatoes, Ray Bennett of THReviews, the IMDB and Roger Ebert. Besides being touted as an excellent film, Creation has the coolest…
grrlscientist | September 11, 2009
Eight years ago today, I watched 7 WTC (7 World Trade Center) collapse at 17:20 after its structural integrity had been compromised by fires and by the collapse of the nearby north tower due to a terrorist attack by a group of religious wingnuts. These attacks killed 2,603 people in New York City in the towers and on the ground.
grrlscientist | September 11, 2009
Image: courtesy of Bob O'Hara, author of Deep Thoughts and Silliness.
Since I have recently developed quite a history of visiting cold and snowy places, often during the winter (remember Morris, Minnesota in January? Or how about Helsinki, Finland in November, then again in February?), I wish to preserve that tradition. I am competing for the opportunity to go to Antarctica in February 2010 -- a dream adventure that I've always wanted to pursue (and almost did pursue when I was an undergraduate researching Fin Whales and Crabeater Seals at the University of Washington). To enter, all…
grrlscientist | September 11, 2009One of the competitors, Andrew Evans, who is in the official Antarctica blogger contest with me just talked to me on the phone and says he wants to donate all 500 of his votes to ME! He is going to write a message on his blog to this effect on Monday, after he returns from a writer's retreat being held on a tiny island in the state of Maine. So please everyone, VOTE VOTE VOTE for me!! The momentum is growing rapidly, since there's only two weeks remaining in this contest!! And I would love love love to have this job!!
grrlscientist | September 11, 2009tags: flowers, Gardening, Horticulture, Botany, nature, Helsinki, image of the day
Dahlia blossom.
Photographed in downtown Helsinki, Finland.
Image: GrrlScientist, 3 July 2009 [larger view]. (raw image)
grrlscientist | September 11, 2009The cricket sang,
And set the sun,
And workmen finished, one by one,
Their seam the day upon.
The low grass loaded with the dew,
The twilight stood as strangers do
With hat in hand, polite and new,
To stay as if, or go.
A vastness, as a neighbor, came,--
A wisdom without face or name,
A peace, as hemispheres at home,--
And so the night became.
~ Emily Dickinson
This is the cutest event I've heard of for NYC: a night spent counting crickets and katydids.
What: NYC Cricket Crawl (counting 7 species of crickets and katydids in NYC)
Where: New York City area
When: Friday, 11 September 2009 at 7:…
grrlscientist | September 11, 2009tags: birds, parrots, Quaker Parrot, Monk ParakeetGrey-Breasted parakeet, Myiopsitta monachus, NYC events, NYC Life, Brooklyn, Wild Parrot Safari
Monk Parakeet (Myiopsitta monachus) Old San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Image: Magnus Manske, 10 May 2008, Wikipedia [larger view]
Even though NYC is located in the armpit of hell where, during the summers, the air is a humid miasma of fetid human sweat and decomposing dog shit, and the winters possess the cold and wind of Antarctica with none of its natural charms, there is a brave group of illegal aliens who not only live here, but are actually thriving…
grrlscientist | September 11, 2009
[larger view]
Eight years ago today, I watched WTC 1 (the north tower) collapse at 10:28, after it burned for approximately 102 minutes in a fire caused by the impact of United Airlines Flight 11. These attacks killed 2,603 people in New York City in the towers and on the ground.
grrlscientist | September 11, 2009
Eight years ago today, I watched numerous television news reports depicting a smoking hole in the ground, created by a fourth flight, United Airlines Flight 93 that crashed into a corn field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania at 10:03. The passengers on board engaged in a fight with the hijackers, who then rolled the plane into the ground, killing all 40 passengers and crew. It was likely that the ultimate target of this plane was the United States Capitol.
grrlscientist | September 11, 2009tags: Crested Tern, Great Crested-tern, Swift Tern, Thalasseus bergii, identify this bird, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Crested Tern, also known as the Swift Tern or Great Crested-tern, Thalasseus (Sterna) bergii, photographed at Michealmas Cay, Great Barrier Reef, Australia. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Steve Duncan, 24 August 2009 [larger view].
Nikon D200 w/ Nikkor 300mm f/4.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | September 11, 2009
[larger view]
Eight years ago today, I watched WTC 2 (The south tower) collapse at 09:59, after burning for 56 minutes in a fire caused by the impact of United Airlines Flight 175. These attacks killed 2,603 people in New York City in the towers and on the ground.