Archive for the ‘Wanderings’ Category
Death Metal Rooster
When 30 seconds of video makes me laugh this much, naturally I want to share the joy with all y'all who might not otherwise have this much fun today. Besides, it's my blog. [YouTube link for those who don't see the embedded player.] p.s. The music is original for this video. That is so cool. [...]
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Birding at Blackwater
As you may remember, Isaac and I like to make day trips on federal holidays. In 2009 we had the pleasure of making a Presidents' Day outing (16 February) with our friends Lisa and Byron,‡ who shared with us one of their favorite day trips: birding at the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, near Cambridge, MD, [...]
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Staying Creative
Thanks, I'm pretty sure, to Alex Ross ("Unquiet Thoughts", his blog), I read what I found an interesting piece by composer Anne Gosfield ("The Score: Advice to Young Composers", New York Times, 5 December 2009). She said in her introduction that, via an email interview, she was surprised by the question "Any advice for young [...]
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Beard of the Week LXXXV: An Early Conservationist
This week's historic beard belongs to Congressman John Fletcher Lacey (1841 – 1913).* Mr. Lacey came to my attention while I was writing a short article on the introduction of starlings to North America ("Starlings Arrive in North America"), of all things. Just how his name came up should become clear shortly. Here is my [...]
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Celebrity & Politics
We liberals seem to have a difficult time at politics because we like to talk about ideas and problems and solutions to those problems, even though we know that the electorate doesn't particularly care to talk about ideas and solutions to problems. Instead, what gets the candidate elected is celebrity, that elusive and vacuous quality [...]
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Little Snoring
It turns out that, in Norfolk, England, there is indeed a village called "Little Snoring" (map here). We're told that the name merely means that it's the place of the people who followed a man named Snear, as though that makes it better somehow. Among other interesting facts: Little Snoring is bigger than Great Snoring, [...]
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