grrlscientist | December 2, 2008tags: Times Square, 42nd street Times Square, 35 Times, subway art, NYC through my eye, photography, NYC
35 Times (2005).
Glazed ceramic panels. Artist: Toby Buonagurio. Photographed at 42nd Street Times Square in the transfer corridor (between the 1, 2, and 3 trains and the Shuttle).
Image: GrrlScientist 5 November 2008 [larger view].
The commission for this work was received in 1992 and the art work was finally installed in 2004 and 2005. The complete work consists of 35 ceramic panels installed in over 800 feet of passages at Times Square.
Toby Buonagurio is a lifetime resident of…
grrlscientist | December 2, 2008Here's a few more blog carnivals for you to enjoy;
History Carnival, December 2008 edition. This blog carnival focuses on history, both recent and long past history.
Europe Travel, 1 December issue. This blog carnival is crammed with lots of travel photoessays, and lots of gorgeous images, too.
Berry Go Round, issue 11. This blog carnival features one of my images, isn't that cool? I am pleased, of course!
That's Blog, 29th edition, a blog carnival that focuses on .. writing a blog!
grrlscientist | December 2, 2008tags: wild stallions, National Geographic, international photography contest, image of the day
Wild Stallions
Image: Chris Gimmeson,
Nature Honorable Mention,
2008 International Photography Contest [larger view].
The photographer writes:
These are two wild stallions from the McCullough Peak's herd of wild horses, which is located just outside of Cody, Wyoming. This image was taken in September 2008 with a Canon Rebel XSI and a long telephoto lens. I expected them to fight but they went back to grazing after a minute of posturing. The peaks area is pretty desolate, with little in the way…
grrlscientist | December 2, 2008
It's nice to know that a PhD in science is good for something .. what was your score?
grrlscientist | December 2, 2008tags: Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Pheucticus ludovicianus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Pheucticus ludovicianus, photographed at Sabine Woods and Sabine Pass area, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 28 April 2008 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/250s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
Every birder has a "trigger" bird, and most of us have…
grrlscientist | December 2, 2008tags: Snowball, dancing cockatoo, behavior, streaming video
This streaming video is a clip from a longer DVD, Snowball's Snowy Christmas DVD, which is now available for Christmas gift giving. Children love Snowball and this DVD features the sulfur-crested cockatoo, Snowball, dancing to Christmas carols.
grrlscientist | December 1, 2008tags: Times Square, 42nd street, 35 Times, subway art, NYC through my eye, photography, NYC
35 Times (2005).
Glazed ceramic panels. Artist: Toby Buonagurio. Photographed at 42nd Street Times Square in the transfer corridor (between the 1, 2, and 3 trains and the Shuttle).
Image: GrrlScientist 5 November 2008 [larger view].
The commission was received in 1992 and the first phase of the work was finally installed 2004-2005. Ultimately the work will consist of 35 ceramic panels installed in over 800 feet of passages at Times Square.
Toby Buonagurio is a lifetime resident of New York City…
grrlscientist | December 1, 2008tags: Ivory-billed Woodpecker, Ghost Bird, movie trailer, streaming video
This streaming video is a clip from an upcoming movie called Ghost Bird. This film is a documentary about the controversial rediscovery of North America's largest woodpecker species, the Ivory-billed Woodpecker, which went extinct early last century [3:29].
To learn more about the film, visit the Ghost Bird website. You might also be interested in reading this news article.
grrlscientist | December 1, 2008Oh wow, more blog carnivals to educate and entertain you!
Carnival of Family Life, the Snowman Edition. This blog carnival features all sorts of family stuff, along with a bunch of snowcreatures, almost all of which are nearly identical humanoid snowblobs.
Movie Monday blog carnival, 1 December 2008 edition. Since this is the "movie going season" when the best films are released in preparation for the Oscars, this is a timely blog carnival for those of us who seek to spend our movie funds (and time) wisely.
Holiday Spirit blog carnival, 1 December 2008 edition. Filled with lots of holiday-…
grrlscientist | December 1, 2008tags: three eagles, National Geographic, international photography contest, image of the day
Image: Jose Hernandez,
Nature Honorable Mention,
2008 International Photography Contest [larger view].
The photographer writes;
This is a shot of three [bald] eagles fighting over a fish in Homer, Alaska, from March 2008. You can see the fish at the top of the image flying by itself, but it was caught in its fall by another eagle.
There's lots more gorgeous images here for you to enjoy!
grrlscientist | December 1, 2008tags: animal cognition, animal communication, animal behavior, birds, parrots, Alex and me, Irene Pepperberg, book review
He was not ours, he was not mine.
Thank you for sharing him with us.
He brought us much joy. We loved him well.
-- Irene Pepperberg (p. 226), modified from Karen Blixen's
eulogy for Denys Finch-Hatton in Out of Africa.
As a scientist who studies, lives with, and even breeds and hand-feeds parrots, it is easy for me to empathize with Irene Pepperberg, the author of the long-awaited book with the awkward title, Alex and Me: How a Scientist and a Parrot Uncovered a Hidden…
grrlscientist | December 1, 2008tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
Whimbrel, Numenius phaeopus at Bolivar Flats, Texas.
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 2 July 2008 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/2000s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Christmas Bird Count News
The Annual Christmas Bird Counts are rapidly approaching, so I am publishing links to all of the counts here; who to contact, and where and when they are being held, so if you have a link to a Christmas Bird Count for your state, please let me know so I can include it in the list:
Alabama (Thanks…
grrlscientist | December 1, 2008
I receive a fair number of books to review each week, so I thought I should do what several magazines and other publications do; list those books that have arrived in my mailbox so you know that this is the pool of books from which I will be reading and reviewing on my blog.
Red State, Blue State, Rich State, Poor State: Why Americans Vote the Way They Do by Andrew Gelman (Princeton, NJ: Princeton; 2008) Brief Comment: Gelman and a group of fellow political scientists crunch numbers and draw graphs, arriving at a picture that refutes the influential one drawn by Thomas Frank, in What's…
grrlscientist | December 1, 2008tags: Male Hooded Merganser, Lophodytes cucullatus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Male Hooded Merganser, Lophodytes cucullatus, photographed in Arizona. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Rick Wright.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
The challenge of this mystery bird is less to diagnose its identity than to figure out how you identified this fine male Hooded Merganser. The responses from readers point to two very different modes of…
grrlscientist | December 1, 2008tags: Thick-billed Parrot, streaming news report, conservation, streaming video
This streaming video is a Bird News Network (BNN) video by American Bird Conservancy, and includes some amazing footage of the Thick-billed Parrot taken by Greg Homel, Natural Elements Productions. The video discusses several recent conservation successes to help boost populations of this endangered species that may one day be reintroduced back into the United States where it once lived in Arizona. [3:37].
grrlscientist | November 30, 2008tags: The Freaking Brothers, humor, silly, funny, entertainment, streaming video
I thought this was a viagra commercial, but now I realize this is a career option that I am -- genuinely -- not qualified for. [1:50].
grrlscientist | November 30, 2008tags: Times Square, 42nd street, The Revelers, subway art, NYC through my eye, photography, NYC
The Revelers (2007).
Artist: Jane Dickson. Photographed in the passageway at 42nd Street/Times Square traveling east between the 8th Avenue/Port Authority Bus Terminal A, C, & E trains) and the 7th Avenue/Broadway (1, 2, & 3 trains) platforms.
I watched the workmen install these mosaics (I wish I had photographed the process to share with you) and photographed them all after the adhesive had dried.
Image: GrrlScientist 5 November 2008 [larger view].
I have photographed glass tile…
grrlscientist | November 30, 2008
I know that the holidays were originally celebrated by non-religious folk -- more commonly known as "godless heathens" by the religious wingnuts of all persuations in the crowd -- but our holidays were savagely stolen, repackaged and sold as religious consumer events devoted to orgiastic spending, so I'd like let you know that you are not stuck sending out schmaltzy religious holiday cards any longer. Now you can reclaim our holidays for what they were: time for celebrating the solstice and spending peaceful time with our loved ones, instead of spending money we don't have on trinkets that…
grrlscientist | November 30, 2008tags: Etu-Töölö, Helsinki, Finland, nature, image of the day
Walking through Helsinki after the snowstorm.
Etu-Töölö, Helsinki, Finland, 24 November 2008.
Image: GrrlScientist, 24 November 2008 [larger view].