Monday, November 3, 2008
Guys!
So sorry for no updates! Unfortunately work has blocked blogger and I've been traveling and then sick. I've been reading updates here and there and I hope to figure out a way to get over my blogger's block!
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Preppiest Movies
A Continuous Lean is a fascinatingly cool style blog about the classic American (often preppy) look, coming from a guy's perspective. I spied this post about the movie Trading Places, which I have never seen, supposedly the preppiest movie ever. I must update my Netflix immediately. What are your thoughts on the preppiest movies?
I'm thinking 80s movies involving the Brat Pack or James Spader, don't you think? St. Elmo's Fire, Less Than Zero, and the like...
Ordinary People is a classic...
I love Match Point (and Matthew Goode)
Maybe even The Big Chill (oh Kevin Kline, be still my heart)
Back from Wedding Central
You may not have noticed, but I've been MIA this past week. I was at home in Massachusetts for my brother RBM III's wedding! It was such a blast, and everyone's hard work paid off because it was absolutely gorgeous. We had perfect weather, too, and amazing fall foliage to complement everything. That's me with my brother and niece dancing up a storm. (My mother, SDM, made that gorgeous flower girl dress!) I'll be posting with more frequency soon, I promise!
Friday, October 10, 2008
Dogs Are Proof That God Loves Us And Wants Us To Be Happy
A video titled: "My Dogs greeting me after returning from 14 months in Iraq".
My friend Toi shared this video. I cribbed the title of this one from Benjamin Franklin, I think.
Whale of the Day
My favorites, humpbacks!
"The Humpback Whale, Megaptera novaeangliae, is one of the most charismatic whales in the sea. Acrobatic, easily recognizable, and found in many locations in both hemispheres, it is a popular target of the whale-watching industry. Growing to just over 50 feet in length and weighing in at 30 to 40 tons, it is a large member of the Balaenopteridae, but certainly nowhere near the size of the blue and fin whales.
Scientists have been studying the humpback whale extensively for decades, researching among other things its 1) impressive yearly migration- up to 10,000 miles round-trip- from summer feeding grounds in high latitudes to mating and calving grounds in the tropics; 2) eerily beautiful mating songs, the animal kingdom’s most complex melodies; and 3) communal bubble-net feeding behavior. The latter is truly one of nature’s most amazing spectacles, a summer-long "all you can eat Alaskan buffet." Up to twenty whales circle underneath a school of herring, exhaling streams of bubbles which, upon rising, entrap and disorient the fish. Swimming upwards into the stunned mass of fish, the leviathans open wide and gulp hundreds of gallons of sea water and the herring snack it contains, erupting from the surface with cavernous maws agape.
Slow to recover from heavy losses in the early twentieth century, especially from the Antarctic whaling fleets and shore stations in the Southern Hemisphere, roughly ten percent of the pre-whaling era population estimate of 125,000 survive today. Sadly, this earns an "endangered species" badge even in our age of enlightenment.
One of the continuing mysteries in whale watching circles is exactly why whales jump clear of the water, or "breach". Does the thunderous splash resulting from a 40-ton bellyflop serve as some form of communication with other nearby whales? Could breaching be a threat display, or a show of dominance? A means of knocking off itchy barnacles, parasites and other skin irritants? Or could it be simply for the sheer fun of it? My guess is that all are possible explanations- especially the last! We honestly know so very little about these giants of the deep and their mysterious ways, but everything science has uncovered hints that cetaceans are intelligent, social animals, capable of a remarkable array of complex behaviors."
Scientists have been studying the humpback whale extensively for decades, researching among other things its 1) impressive yearly migration- up to 10,000 miles round-trip- from summer feeding grounds in high latitudes to mating and calving grounds in the tropics; 2) eerily beautiful mating songs, the animal kingdom’s most complex melodies; and 3) communal bubble-net feeding behavior. The latter is truly one of nature’s most amazing spectacles, a summer-long "all you can eat Alaskan buffet." Up to twenty whales circle underneath a school of herring, exhaling streams of bubbles which, upon rising, entrap and disorient the fish. Swimming upwards into the stunned mass of fish, the leviathans open wide and gulp hundreds of gallons of sea water and the herring snack it contains, erupting from the surface with cavernous maws agape.
Slow to recover from heavy losses in the early twentieth century, especially from the Antarctic whaling fleets and shore stations in the Southern Hemisphere, roughly ten percent of the pre-whaling era population estimate of 125,000 survive today. Sadly, this earns an "endangered species" badge even in our age of enlightenment.
One of the continuing mysteries in whale watching circles is exactly why whales jump clear of the water, or "breach". Does the thunderous splash resulting from a 40-ton bellyflop serve as some form of communication with other nearby whales? Could breaching be a threat display, or a show of dominance? A means of knocking off itchy barnacles, parasites and other skin irritants? Or could it be simply for the sheer fun of it? My guess is that all are possible explanations- especially the last! We honestly know so very little about these giants of the deep and their mysterious ways, but everything science has uncovered hints that cetaceans are intelligent, social animals, capable of a remarkable array of complex behaviors."
images and text via Brandon Cole
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