Online Catalog of Bird Calls

Too awesome.

If you live in coastal regions of the American Southeast, you might be familiar with the fish- and crab-eating fish crow, which has a significantly different call than its cousin, and the crow most Americans are familiar with—the American crow.

Personal Note

"...the prognosis for children diagnosed with this type of tumor is excellent."

GAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! GAHHHHH!

That is all.

President Obama Needs to Sing One of My Songs

We should start a movement or something.

A day after President Obama sang a bit of Al Green's classic "Let's Stay Together" from the podium at a January 19th fundraising event in Harlem, videos of the crooner-in-chief went viral on YouTube, racking up millions of views. But it wasn't just Obama's version of the song that the web's music fans sought out: according to Nielsen (via Billboard), digital download sales for Green's version of the song jumped up 490% in the period ending on January 22nd.

With 16,000 downloads, the song had its most successful online sales week since Nielsen began keeping track of web transactions in 2003. It's good news for Green's wallet, just as the President's cover was music to his ears.

I'm thinking "Relish."
 

Obama would nail that song...

Keith Ablows Newt Gingrich

This is "Fox News psychiatrist" Kieth Ablow trying to convince the self-described "pro-family" people who watch Fox News that, if they squint real hard, twice-divorced admitted adulterer Newt Gingrich looks exactly like a mix between George Washington and Jesus. So start squinting:

I want to be coldly analytical, not moralize, here. I want to tell you what Mr. Gingrich’s behavior could mean for the country, not for the future of his current marriage. So, here’s what one interested in making America stronger can reasonably conclude—psychologically—from Mr. Gingrich’s behavior during his three marriages:

1) Three women have met Mr. Gingrich and been so moved by his emotional energy and intellect that they decided they wanted to spend the rest of their lives with him. 

2) Two of these women felt this way even though Mr. Gingrich was already married.

3 ) One of them felt this way even though Mr. Gingrich was already married for the second time, was not exactly her equal in the looks department and had a wife (Marianne) who wanted to make his life without her as painful as possible.

Conclusion: When three women want to sign on for life with a man who is now running for president, I worry more about whether we’ll be clamoring for a third Gingrich term, not whether we’ll want to let him go after one.

Sometimes you've just got to call it as it clearly is: Kieth Ablow obviously wants to have the hairy with Newt Gingrich. He should just go do that. And leave the rest of us out of it.

And this: "Three women have met Mr. Gingrich and been so moved by his emotional energy and intellect that they decided they wanted to spend the rest of their lives with him." Wow! It's the "Charles Manson was also awesome!" ploy! Did not expect that!

Holy Crap: "All Along the Watchtower"

I went to YouTube to hear the original version of this song. And this happened. I thought world had broke.

 

I like it.

Colbert Attacks...Colbert!

And kicks America's broken political world right in the nuts one more time.

And he gets a little help from Samuel Jackson.

 

Our Bacterial DNA

The endosymbiotic theory of the bacterial origin of mitochondria is blowing my mind right now.

Are we simply hosts for a very, very sneaky bacteria going through an eon-dodgingly successful series of life stages? As meaningful as a virus-infected cricket that will be left to drown in a bird dish as the virus carries on to another cricket that comes for a drink?

"We are Devo" means so much more to me now.

Second Son Dies in Afghanistan

Good god. The first line says all your stomach needs to hear.

The war in Afghanistan has claimed the lives of two sons of an Arkansas couple who also have a third son in the military.

10 years and 3 months of war in Afghanistan. And no end in sight.

"I Never Intended to Become an Antarctic Researcher"

Cools post from a brand new blog to me - BioBlog.

And because I just found this, too, here's another site - BrainPickings.

Pamela Anderson-Anderson...

Because why not?

Jay-Z Will No Longer Call Women "Bitches"

In honor of this heroic stand by the 80-year-old hip-hopper, I, as an old folksinger, will no longer refer to traveling, or the living of a kind of restless, untethered life on the road, as "ramblin'." It's just been long enough, you know? I always felt so dirty when I said it.

Boy, do I feel better.

Oh My God Stephen Colbert

This is becoming the "Stephen Colbert is God Blog" - hey, there's an idea - but where was I? Oh yeah: Oh my God, Stephen Colbert.

FOR LICKETY-SPLIT RELEASE

TELEVISION, USA – The Definitely Not Coordinating With Stephen Colbert Super PAC released a new television commercial today in South Carolina, in advance of the upcoming underfunded GOP Primary. The ad, entitled "Not Abel," shows support for Stephen Colbert's possible candidacy by offering voters a way to show support for Stephen Colbert's possible candidacy.

Oh man. Oh man. The ad:



The "Plus: the economy" graphics - oh man. Every millisecond of this ad - right up to the very, very end - is funnier than anything that ever happened anywhere. Ever. Good god. We are a lucky country right now.

Stephen Colbert is Going to Kick America's Ass

...until they have to put a complete media blackout on him.

This is just so deadly, so powerful, so freaking perfect, that a political system so far up its own ass can not survive anywhere near it. This is sunlight to E. coli.

 

 More Colbert here.

Fish-Eating Bats

I've just finished a short article on bats which was too damn fun to research. Fish-eating bats? Why didn't I ever know there were bats that captured fish? Unbelievable.

 

Cloacal Popping in Snakes

I'm reading the abstract of an in-depth study of the ability of two snake species to take part in what is known as cloacal-popping - that is, snake farting - to ward of predators. Did I mention I'm pretty happy with my job?

 Cloacal popping.

Animation and Song: Mexican Standoff

Old friend Chess sent this to me. Wow.