Foremost (with particular notice to Brandon and Anne): bluegrass band Nickel Creek is re-forming, at least for a little while. Of course, by the time i figured this out, their shows are completely sold out.
i'm sure you've all seen this in recent news; a kerfuffle is being made over a Danish zoo deciding that a young giraffe is surplus (well represented from the genetics standpoint), and harvesting him for meat. i personally don't see any problem with this (giraffes are probably expensive to feed [and lets note that 'cost of feeding a giraffe' will yield a completely different result than you'd think], and serve as part of the food chain outside of zoos all the time), but now can't get Disney's Lion King Circle of Life theme out of my head.
i have had at least one betta (B. splendens) fish at a time since early college. They have all had distinct, delightful personalities (yes, fish have personalities), and i've spoiled them as much as one can spoil a fish (in the non-senescence sense). My current betta is a red-and-teal veil-tailed male named Atreides of Wisconsin, and i think my PI just realized last week that i keep a pet fish in a jar on my desk (Atreides has been there for the last year, and a male red-and-blue betta named Atlas Ramses of Wisconsin lived there for about 4 years before him). Oops? He's pretty contained, and my desk is in an office and not the lab proper, so it's okay. It was suggested today that we make Atreides mobile via this nifty set-up, and i'd be sorely tempted if it wasn't quite so technical. Honestly, i'd like a version of that myself, for walking around outside this winter.
The NYTimes recently did an article on chili. As a native San Antonian, this is a topic very dear to my heart. For the record, chili does NOT contain beans, contains very specific brands of chili powder, and is occasionally served on rice (mashed potatoes or a slice of white bread also work in a pinch). i've also recently had Frito Pie on the brain; it's a common concession stand snack consisting of (Fritos) corn chips with chili, shredded cheddar cheese, onions, and (ftw) jalapenos. Ah!
Finally, let's talk for a minute about the Daft Punk's Get Lucky cover by the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs Choir (better known as the Russian Police Choir), as performed at the Olympic opening games in Sochi: please watch this. Kelly AT and i were curious as to how this came into being. Apparently, the group released a music video version in November, " most likely prepared for a Kremlin concert on November 10". Remarkable. Also, this Today article is hilarious and has a few embedded clips that are worth watching. Finally, from the biography portion of their official website, " By the prestige and the eclectism of its conductor, who mixes with great panache during the shows, the traditional melodies of the Russian folklore, the songs of the Patriotic War and the most famous classic airs or international varities (the Ensemble plays Bizet, Wagner, Mozart but also Michel Legrand, Francis Lai…) " . So, perhaps we can credit conductor Major-General Victor Eliseev for this spectacular rendition.
Jeremy says: "my grandmother in Texas would always make us chili and then put Fritos on top of the chili. I didn't know it could be done the other way around. While I am OK with a giraffe being used for meat, (really, what's the alternative?), I do feel that fish are inhumanely restricted in their movements, and should all have tanks like the one in the video. If I had a fish, I would be building him a tank like that right now. Also I have a nickle creek CD in my car right now. They were great when they played the super bowl (just kidding). Jeremy out."
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