Australian Crested Pigeon

We've had s regular vistor (along with the cockatoos) for the last couple weeks. We first got to know him (her?) by the sound of his flight: a buffeting whistle and hum, kind of like a partridge or quail, but louder and tighter.

If startled, this pigeon takes to the air with a characteristic whistling flight, and glides with down turned wings. The whistling sound is produced by the air passing over a modified primary feather on the wing.

Before long we saw him on the veranda, poking around for leftover seeds or whatever else he could find.

Cute fella, huh? It's a Crested Pigeon, native to Australia.

He's been back almost every day since. Very comfortable, will poke around right next to the much larger cockies, let's us walk out and talk to him.

Here he is doing a fluff-up:

I'll try to get some audio of the wing sound:

If startled, this pigeon takes to the air with a characteristic whistling flight, and glides with down turned wings. The whistling sound is produced by the air passing over a modified primary feather on the wing.

You get a little better look at the wonderful wing colors here:

Aussie Wins First Nobel in Physics Since 1915

AN AUSTRALIAN who found that the universe is accelerating and will end with a whimper rather than a bang has won the Nobel prize in physics. Brian Schmidt's research suggests an invisible force known as dark energy is pushing the cosmos ever faster apart.

I see that and I go - An Aussie won the Nobel in physics in 1915? Get out!

* I had to go look. It's actually an interesting story. Not only does William Lawrence Bragg remain the youngest Nobel Laureate in history,  he's the only one to share the prize with his father. (He's also the first Aussie known to have x-rays used on him for surgical purposes.)

Watching My Old Open Mike in Oregon Right Now!

This is too cool. I'm actually looking at the bar in Oregon where I ran an Open Mike for going on ten years. My old buddy Dave Hampton, who took over, is setting up right now, and has it streaming on the web. How freaking cool.

You obviously have to sign up with Veetle, and with Google Chrome (I did, anyway) to do it. It took me abouot two minutes total.

Rick Perry's "Niggerhead" Hunting Camp

Just saw this story:

Paint creek, tex. — In the early years of his political career, Rick Perry began hosting fellow lawmakers, friends and supporters at his family’s secluded West Texas hunting camp, a place known by the name painted in block letters across a large, flat rock standing upright at its gated entrance. 

“Niggerhead,” it read.

Lovely.

That reminded me of when I worked on a purse seiner (fishing boat) in Alaska. Every seiner has a winch drum - a large, hydraulic-powered, rotatable drum (you can see it clearly at 2:19 of the video I linked) - around which you could throw a line to winch something, like the net, into the boat. I was told it was called the "niggerhead." Because you throw a rope around it. (Get it? Get it? Funny, huh?) Pretty sure they're still called that on all or most seiners up there.

Maybe it relates somehow to the source for the name of Perry's camp? Maybe it was a logging or oil term, too? I dont know. Just occurred to me.

Update: More on the word.

National Rugby League Grand Final Tonight! [Manly Wins]

I moved to Australia and immediately caused my local team to make it to the Grand Final. You're welcome!

Bonus: "My" team is the most hated team in the league, by everyone's estimate:

LEAGUE fans across NSW will today become passionate Warriors supporters for just one reason: they can't bear to see Manly, the most hated club in the NRL, winning another grand final.

Ha! Hate on! We will crush the warriors and ride to victory oh whatever. I don't care that much.

But we will have pork chops and beer tonight for the game. That's always good.

Update: Brutal bloody brilliant game, the Sea Eagles won - and I even understood some of it!

Defunct U.S. Satellite: 11 AM Sydney-Time [updated]

The latest projections have the UARS satellite contacting the earth's atmosphere around 11 AM Sydney time - and there still remains a chance that some of the doomed spacecraft will made make landfall in Australia.

For me, this falls under the "Tornado Rule.": I want to see the damn thing! But I don't want anyone to get hurt, of course...

Here's a Twitter feed with constant updates.

Here's NASA's UARS site.

Update: Live satellite tracker:

Watch live streaming video from spaceflightnowmobile at livestream.com

Update 12:47 PM Sydney: Oh hell yes. Projected to enter atmosphere in this neck of the woods.

1 in 4 American Young Children Live in Poverty

Good God.

The number of children living in poverty in the United States increased by 2.6 million since the recession began in 2007, bringing the total to an estimated 15.7 million poor children in 2010, according to researchers from the Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire. The researchers estimate that nearly 1 in 4 children under the age of 6 now live in poverty.

Most of their parents do and will continue to vote for politicians who say the poor should pay more taxes and the rich should get more tax breaks. Figure that one out.

My CD, "Bottomfeeders"

Buying LT songs just got easier, and only 99 cents a pop.

 My favorite on this is probably "Sigh." Although Bob Evoniuk's National Reso-Phonic guitar on "You Can Use My Bathtub" is something to behold, too.



If you're not with CDBaby, you can find links to more digital music sites, including iTunes and Rhapsody, at the top right of the page. Thanks for listening.

Live Video Outside Troy Davis Prison [update: killed]

At 11:14 PM Troy Davis has just been pronounced dead. This is a shameful day for the U.S.

At 10:22 PM AP is reporting that the Supreme Court will not stay the execution of Troy Davis.

At 9:53 PM EST (U.S.) we're almost three hours post-scheduled execution time for American Troy Davis. Story here. Democracy Now is doing an amazing job outside the prison.

 

Watch live streaming video from democracynow at livestream.com

Let's hope for good news soon.

The Aussie Meat Pie

Behold, it is a pair of Aussie Meat Pies, seen here in their natural habitat, their flaky top crusts liberally adorned with the requisite tomato sauce.

Here they are again, seconds later, the victims, one gathers darkly, of a most brutal and savage attack.

And why do Aussies eat the Aussie Meat Pie? Because of the "classic taste of meat and gravy" is why.

Classic.

Aussie Bacon

Bacon in the U.S. and Australia are completely different beasts, no near-pun intended. This is Aussie bacon:

We don't get the loin (or "eye") in America, just the strip, and I don't know why the hell not. I feel cheated!

And wow, there is a whole lot going on with bacon, I see, and now I get a bacon education:

Side bacon, or streaky bacon, comes from pork belly. It is very fatty with long layers of fat running parallel to the rind. This is the most common form of bacon in the United States.

And in Oz:

Middle bacon is the most common variety and are sold in "rashers". Middle bacon includes the streaky, fatty section along with the loin at one end.

Who knew?