Hedwig Pöllöläinen
grrlscientist
Posts by this author
May 4, 2006
[Whistle-blower: Bruce Crowley of the Burke Museum.
Photo: Mary Levin/University of Washington]
With every day that passes, more people become aware of exactly who writes this blog. My true identity has been revealed publically twice this week alone, and the week is only halfway over. True, I…
May 4, 2006
Do you remember the film that I linked a long time ago, A Flock of Dodos: The Evolution-Intelligent Design Circus? I am pleased to see that this film, by producer and former biologist, Randy Olson, is receiving quite a bit of media attention after its recent debut in the Tribeca Film Festival…
May 4, 2006
Some of you, dear readers, have probably wondered where I have been hiding these past few days. Well, besides being busy with teaching a conservation genetics course, I was also, unexpectedly, reading another book so I could publish the review here as soon as possible. Last Monday, Darksyde, co-…
May 3, 2006
The Carnival of Education, week 65, is available at The Education Wonks. This is a big one -- almost as big as Tangled Bank -- and it's packed with interesting stories and insights.
The Carnival of the Vanities is now available, too. Unfortunately, this particular edition is a truly sparse…
May 2, 2006
What do you think of when you hear the phrase, "Dust Bowl"? Like most people, I learned about the Dust Bowl in my high school history class. But even though I attended high school last century (iieee!), as I recall, my textbook devoted perhaps one paragraph to this event before moving on to other,…
May 1, 2006
I know that some of you are very talented code writers, whereas my abilities in that area are rudimentary. So maybe one of you could help me? I would like to have a button that would, with one click, automatically redirect the clicker to Birds in the News, without me having to update it on a weekly…
May 1, 2006
My friend, Shannon, whose poem I republished here yesterday, commented! So go take a peek to read what she said.
May 1, 2006
I am amazed and humbled by you, my readers. You have made me feel so appreciated by sending me emails as well as the most wonderful gifts. Recently, one reader sent the entire set of the Lord of the Rings DVDs! I am excited because I have not seen all of the films yet, although I have read the…
May 1, 2006
Male Painted Bunting, Passerina ciris.
Image appears here with the kind permission of the photographer, Judd Patterson.
Click image for larger view in its own window.
Birds in Science
The European starling, Sturnus vulgaris (pictured) -- long known as a virtuoso songbird and expert mimic - may…
April 30, 2006
The skull of the Berlin Archaeopteryx lithographica specimen [resized].
Notice that feathers are faintly visible near the throat region.
Photo: Nick Longrich.
Click image for larger view in its own window.
Today is the last day of National Poetry Month. For some reason, I had forgotten this was…
April 29, 2006
Burning Sun over Iceland.
Image appears here with the kind permission of Hallgrimur Sveinn Sævarsson.
More spectacular photographs of Iceland can be viewed at his other site, Nykur.
(The image is linked to its source).
This poem was written by another Seattle pal of mine. Neile Graham is a…
April 29, 2006
Finally, my band has a name!
Your Band Name is:
The Screaming Panties
Band Name Generator
And what sort of rocker am I?
You Are an Emo Rocker!
Expressive and deep, lyrics are really your thing.
That doesn't mean you don't rock out...
You just rock out with meaning.
For you, rock is more about…
April 29, 2006
Your Theme Song is Comfortably Numb by Pink Floyd
"There is no pain, you are receding.
A distant ship's smoke on the horizon.
You are only coming through in waves."
You haven't been feeling a lot lately, and you think that's a good thing.
The comfortable part is nice... but you should really work…
April 28, 2006
Andes, Ecuador [resized].
Photo: Born2Bird.
Okay, most people thought yesterday's poem was a stinker, so I am making up for that today by posting a wonderful poem written by a Seattle pal of mine. My friend, Jim Gurley, supports his poetry by working as a librarian. He writes about nature,…
April 27, 2006
Okay, my peeps. I just have to brag, just a teensy bit, and this is a gloat that you will enjoy, too. Bob Levy, the author of the book, Club George, stopped by to read my review of his book and he commented, too! Of course, I am trying to work his contact into an interview with him for my blog, and…
April 27, 2006
Germ #14
by Warron Prentice.
When I saw the above painting, the first thing I thought of was the poem, The Microbe. This is another poem that I was introduced to by Gene Wilder when he starred in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971), except he quoted the last two lines of this poem instead…
April 27, 2006
There is yet another blog carnival to add to the parade of blog carnivals that have been published within the last 24 hours. This time, I and the Bird, issue 22, was published this morning on Home Bird Notes. This blog carnival focuses on the best writing about birds that has been recently…
April 26, 2006
Wow, today must be blog carnival publication day because I just learned that the Carnival of the Liberals, issue 11 was recently published at And Doctor Biobrain's Response Is.... This is a new blog carnival for me, so I look forward to reading my fellow contributors' material over the next few…
April 26, 2006
Tangled Bank, issue 52, is now available at The Innoculated Mind. This time, it has a Star Wars theme (complete with the streaming soundtrack) and I, as a proud fighter against the Evil Emperor, am referred to as "GrrrlJedi".
Because I am a Jedi, I will tell you my light saber color (below the…
April 26, 2006
The Rocks near Pourville at Ebb Tide (1882)
by Claude Monet.
Click image for larger view in its own window.
This painting and this poem (below the fold) also seem to be made for each other.
This poem is one that I discovered several years after Gene Wilder first introduced me to it. When I was a…
April 26, 2006
The Carnival Of Education, Week 64, is available at The Education Wonks. This carnival focuses on the best writing about education that has been recently published on a blog, and there is a lot of really great stuff there! They also saw fit to include something insubstantial by me, more as comic…
April 26, 2006
The 188th edition of the Carnival of the Vanities is now available. For those of you who don't know, this is the first and longest-running of all the blog carnivals, and it celebrates the best writing on any topic that has been recently published on a blog. In addition to the long list of great…
April 26, 2006
I have been preoccupied with other things recently, so I did not post an online quiz over the weekend, as I usually do. I hope that you can forgive me, especially since I found this quiz that you might enjoy.
Harry Potter Personality Quiz by Pirate Monkeys Inc.
But if I change the answer to…
April 25, 2006
I always enjoy picking up my mail from my post office box, but there are days -- many days, recently -- when walking to my post office to check my snailmail is the only thing that I look forward to each day. And so it was yesterday; once again, I enjoyed a small break by walking to my mailbox…
April 25, 2006
I first learned about this book, Club George: The Diary of a Central Park Bird Watcher (NYC: Thomas Dunne Books, 2006), when the author, Bob Levy, was interviewed recently by Brian Lehrer on the local National Public Radio affiliate, WNYC [mp3, 17:54]. After that interview concluded, I poked around…
April 25, 2006
Garlic on Onion.
This image appears here with the kind permission of the photographer,Katrin Eismann, PhotoshopDiva.
After I read this poem by WisÅawa Szymborska, I knew I had to read more of her material. I love the way that she plays with words. This is even more amazing when one realizes that…
April 24, 2006
Autumn Path through the Woods (1876)
by Camille Pissarro.
Click image for larger view in its own window.
Not only do I love this poem (below the fold) and this painting, but I think they were made for each other.
The Road not Taken
By Robert Frost
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I…
April 24, 2006
Thanks, Biosparite!
tags: humor, Tiktaalik, cartoon
April 24, 2006
Red knot, Calidris canutus rufus.
This image appears here with the kind permission of the photographer,Arthur Morris, Birds as Art.
Click image for larger view in its own window.
Ornithologists fear the red knot could go extinct in as few as five years due to overfishing of horseshoe crabs in…
April 24, 2006
Male magnolia warbler, Dendroica magnolia.
This image appears here with the kind permission of the photographer, Pamela Wells.
Click image for larger view in its own window.
Birds in Science
Spring is the season for flashy mates, at least for house finches, Carpodacus mexicanus (pictured, right…