Keeping in line with my recent Fred Astaire post, an article regarding Fred and a contemporary dancer Savion Glover. MoveTube is apparently a recurring dance/youtube column, wow.

A New Yorker article on profanity in print found here.

And backtracked from Mr. Gaiman's most excellent tumblr, a dude explaining Obamacare as one might to a 5-year-old.

Two rather interesting things popped up on FB today.

One is a color test, where you're asked to arrange various hues of color in a spectrum order. i'm not particularly good, i got a 10 (caveat to make myself feel better; i took it in about 5 minutes, while distracted with lab stuff).

The other is an article from Science magazine regarding the scientists who actually performed the influenza studies on ferrets (like, the actual post docs in the Kawaoka and Fouchier labs). This is cool; in the past i've looked up particular scientists (typically grad students and post docs) whose work i've read a lot of; i feel like it sort of adds another dimension to the work - not all is hopeless: this really cool work was done by that person in the picture, so there might one day be hope for me. Speaking of connections, a NYTimes article regarding scientists' connection to their work here.

Finally, "Be distinct and credible", maybe the best advice i've seen in a while.

crayons, colors, and mummy tattoos

Something that popped up on FB today and i very vividly remember watching as a very young child, a crayon factory clip from Sesame Street. PBS Online reports it first aired in the 1980-1981 season, so it's still got some rockin' late '70s styles happening.

A recent viewing of John Hawks' very excellent blog popped up two very, very interesting articles. One regarded women with 4 types of cone receptors in their eyes; one such woman is able to distinguish colors past what ordinary folks can, plus features some really neat experimental design. A shame that their fathers/sons might be colorblind, though?

The other article featured kurgans (ancient burial mounds in Russia) and various associated discoveries, including, towards the bottom of the article, a gorgeous tattoo of a red deer preserved on a mummy's arm. Gosh. (This one's for you, Jack.)

batty

i was shaking Ryan this afternoon, angrily yelling "Why Do i NOT HAVE A PET BAT?!" That was following viewing of this photographic compilation of adorable tiny animals that he linked to me. LZ also heard the same rant, and sent me this link of a baby bat, apparently having recently proclaimed the same thing. (Thank you, LZ, for understanding.) Ryan asked Suri (why i don't have a pet bat), which netted us no good answer, so that pretty much only leaves Google to answer for my dearth of bats. Short answer, it's bad for the bat. Fine, i guess i can live with that.

Also acceptable would be a tiny fawn, and i would even appreciate a grown deer. It could run with me, though apparently it would be more a fast-twitch thing. i prolly should just hold out for a dog.

Also possibly of interest, NY Times article regarding the health of vegan runners (fine so long as they're getting adequate nutrients and calories, like any other runner), an article regarding the progression of Pixar's Brave heroine design, something humorous on the disgusting-ness that is Taco Bell's Dorito taco, and, well, an article of perfumed food/drink.

i frequently have headaches on Sunday night, and i don't know if they're from dehydration or lack of caffeine.    Sunday mornings tend to be given over to long runs or bike rides, and i'm usually out the door before making coffee, so really it's prolly both. i think, you know you've made some pretty decent life choices when this is a problem (apart from the apparent coffee addiction and inability to drink enough water).

LZ mentioned Bell Biv DaVoe today, which required some googling on my end. Fashion-wise, i'm terribly glad that i don't currently inhabit 1990, nor was i old enough during 1990 to be fashionable.

i've been meaning to post on Fred Astaire. Quite frankly, he wasn't much of a looker, actually a bit of a square, but seriously, the man could dance. GOSH. The old bromide regarding Ginger Rogers being a better dancer than Fred because everything he did, she did backwards and in heels? Tripe. The NY Times recently posted a book review for a book about, actually Fred and his first dance partner, his sister Adele. That review is notable in that there are numerous youtube clips embedded in it to some fantastic dancing. My favorite of these may be Fred and a room full of objects including a coat rack; he seems to be having the time of his life. It also couldn't hurt that i adore tap and this strikes me as being akin to the dancing around i do when alone (though mine is much, much lower quality).

Highly likely to be stuck in your head, perhaps because of the marimba?

Many odd things were googled today. Went for a long walk with a friend last night, and as it's summer in Wisconsin, the conversation turned to mosquitoes, and why some people are more frequently bitten. Turns out, the mechanism isn't well established yet and varies between mosquitoes. Commonalities are carbon dioxide and lactic acid. Other factors are the ketone 1-Octen-3-ol (octenol), found in human sweat), as well as possibly blood type, body temperature, and the amount of cholesterol present on skin.  DEET apparently works by binding to insect olfactory receptors to block them. Curious.

Other interesting links are one from Facebook regarding "America's Brainest Cities", the characterisitics of which always seem slightly discriminatory to me, but whatever. A link on that page was one regarding how entrenched red Solo cups have become in pop/American culture. (That last link has a few other interesting links in it, itself.)

Finally, my cohort has taken to attending a trivia night at a local bar. The bar posts one free answer per night on their website, which last week involved, apparently, dictators with less than 2 testicles (Hitler and Spanish dictator Franco). Interesting, and apparently featured in a semi-jingoist song (Hitler Has Only Got One Testicle). Tonight's free answer is "the Ultimate Santana", question-yet-unknown.

Finally, an interesting story of a personal hero, Bill Cunningham of the street photography fame.

hands, gel, Bradbury

A curious discussion on what people do with their hands as they sleep necessitates Cake's When You Sleep. Asuka's dad apparently fell asleep on the beach once with his hands on his chest, imparting the outlines of his hands around his pecs. Discussion ensued. My own hands are curled around a pillow or bent around my head. You?

Poll: what are you favorite energy gel/gu flavors? i tend towards fruit, not spiced. i know Kelly AT and Patricia like the apple cinnamon hammer gel. Any suggestions? This becomes relevant due to long bike rides.

Ray Bradbury is no longer with us. A friend posted a note on FB, "Goodbye, Mr. Bradbury"; immediate sharp inhalation, dash by the NY Times to confirm. i told my friend Katherine that it's how you know when you're an adult: you childhood heroes die. Bradbury's Dandelion Wine is a filter through which i view the Midwest (like McCarthy's depictions of the southern border of America are a bit of a mirror for home). His use of breathless imagery is, in my opinion, the most notable thing one gets from his writing. One of my favorite accounts of running is a passage from Dandelion Wine ( warning, it downloads a pdf, which also appears in R Is For Rocket) describing the way new shoes feel: "The boy looked down at his feet deep in the rivers, in the fields of wheat, in the wind that already was rushing him out of the town. He looked up at the old man, his eyes burning, his mouth moving, but no sound came out.

"Antelopes?" said the old man, looking from the boy's face to his shoes. "Gazelles?"

The boy thought about it, hesitated, and nodded a quick nod. Almost immediately he vanished. He just spun about with a whisper and went off. The door stood empty. The sound of the tennis shoes faded in the jungle heat.

Mr. Sanderson stood in the sun-blazed door, listening. From a long tune ago, when he dreamed as a boy, he remembered the sound. Beautiful creatures leaping under the sky, gone through brush, under trees, away, and only the soft echo their running left behind.

"Antelopes," said Mr. Sanderson. "Gazelles." " 

JCPenney ad

Because i really appreciate this recent JCPenney ad for Father's Day, it's getting it's own post.

Way to get with the program, Penneys!