grrlscientist | November 27, 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].
grrlscientist | November 27, 2008This amusing essay is making the rounds on the intertubes (as usual) this year, so I had to share it with you.
Ingredients:
Turkey
Stuffing
Sweet Potatoes
Mashed Potatoes with Gravy
Green Beans
Cranberry Sauce
Hot rolls and Butter
Relish tray
Pumpkin Pie with Whipped Cream
Hot Coffee
Instructions:
Get up early in the morning and have a cup of coffee. It's going to be a long day, so place your parrot on a perch nearby to keep you company while you prepare the meal.
Remove parrot from kitchen counter and return him to perch.
Prepare stuffing, and remove parrot from edge of stuffing bowl and…
grrlscientist | November 27, 2008tags: thanksgiving escape, wild turkey in central park, bob levy
Image: Bob Levy, author of Club George, 2008 [larger view].
The photographer writes:
I found the one and only Wild Turkey continuing to forage in Central Park this week. However it was the first time I found him at Turtle Pond which is north of his usual haunts. Apparently he is extending his range. I wonder what powerful motivating force has convinced this bird to remain here alone instead of joining others of his kind outside the city?
grrlscientist | November 27, 2008tags: Thanksgiving holiday, Snoopy, Chales M Schulz, humor, comedy, streaming video
If you are like me, you do not have a television, so you are missing all the special holiday programming. This sweet video is a late one created by the late, great Charles M. Schulz about celebrating Thanksgiving on a ping-pong table. Of course, it includes really fine jazz as background music -- does anyone know who wrote and performed the background music and how I can get it? [20:18].
If that video was deleted by YouTube, this one probably survived, because it is a condensed version [4:55];
grrlscientist | November 27, 2008tags: Northern Cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Northern Cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis, photographed at 40 Acre Lake, Brazos Bend State Park, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 28 February 2007 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/50s f/8.0 at 500.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
The huge bill, long crest, and lavish tail put us onto the…
grrlscientist | November 27, 2008tags: Thanksgiving, what are you grateful for?, giving thanks
Image: orphaned [larger view].
Thanksgiving is a celebration of the things that we are thankful for, so I thought I'd make a list of everything I am grateful for;
I found a wonderful little cafe and deli that provides free wifi (and an outlet where I can plug in my laptop, which is strategically hidden behind their cookies), so I am thankful that I have free wifi today, when all my usual sources of wifi are closed to the public. (If you happen to be in the neighborhood, stop by and say hello!)
I am thankful that I still…
grrlscientist | November 27, 2008tags: Thanksgiving Turkey, I Will Survive, Gloria Gaynor, humor, satire, streaming video
While you are sitting around, licking your chops while watching your mother do all the cooking, this amusing streaming video reveals that your turkey was busy too: this is a Thanksgiving turkey's response to overfed Americans everywhere [1:14].
grrlscientist | November 26, 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 26, 2008tags: south Kirkkonummi, Finland, nature, image of the day
Birding in south Kirkkonummi, Finland.
Image: GrrlScientist 22 November 2008 [larger view].
Thanks to two of my readers, the snowflakes on my camera lens were removed from this image. This image was improved by a reader named Brandon, who removed the snowflakes and also "bumped up the color a bit" to accentuate the gold in the vegetation.
grrlscientist | November 26, 2008tags: Helsinki, Finland, Espoo, Finland, photography, nature
Sun setting behind a rocky ridge somewhere near the border between Espoo and Helsinki in Finland.
Image: GrrlScientist, 18 November 2008 [larger view].
The flight back to NYC from Helsinki was fine; long, but uneventful. The crew were great and the plane wasn't as jam-packed as the flight leaving NYC was .. I wonder why? Perhaps the children of Finnish immigrants are doing the same thing as the children of Polish and Indian immigrants are reportedly doing: leaving this country and going to their ancestral homes because the…
grrlscientist | November 26, 2008tags: Luonnontieteellinen museo Helsinki, Helsinki Museum of Natural History, diorama, education, construction, streaming video
This streaming video is a time-lapse documentation of construction of the bear diorama at the Luonnontieteellinen museo Helsinki (Helsinki Natural History Museum) [7:42].
Suomi: Karhudioraamaa rakennetaan Helsingin Luonnontieteelliseen museon Suomen luonto -näyttelyyn keväällä 2008. Seppo Polameri tekee aluksi taustamaalauksen, jonka jälkeen konservaattorit tuovat paikalle täytetyt karhut ja muut eläimet sekä viimeistelevät dioraaman. Rakentaminen kesti…
grrlscientist | November 25, 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 25, 2008tags: south Kirkkonummi, Finland, nature, image of the day
Birding in south Kirkkonummi, Finland.
Image: GrrlScientist 22 November 2008 [larger view].
This reminds me of Bev Doolittle's early paintings.
grrlscientist | November 25, 2008tags: Penelope Guan, Penelope species, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Unidentified Penelope Guan, Penelope species, photographed in South America [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Indonesian Parrot Project [larger view].
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
The cracids -- chachalacas, guans, and curassows -- are a large family of spectacular gallinaceous birds found in tropical America; large and meaty, they are often under intense hunting…
grrlscientist | November 25, 2008tags: Smithsonian, National Museum of Natural History, collections, education, science, streaming video
This streaming video is by one of the scientists at the Smithsonian Institute. It shows pair formation, spermatophore transfer and reproductive anatomy of the jellyfish Carybdea sivickisi (Cubozoa: Carybdeidae) at the National Museum of Natural History, aka, the Smithsonian. I think they should have used Bolero as the music to accompany this video, what do you think? [6:35].
grrlscientist | November 24, 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 24, 2008tags: south Kirkkonummi, Finland, nature, image of the day
Birding in south Kirkkonummi, Finland.
Image: GrrlScientist 22 November 2008 [larger view].
Can anyone out there get rid of the snowflakes that were on my camera lens when I took this image?
grrlscientist | November 24, 2008tags: Painted Bunting, Passerina ciris, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Painted Bunting, Passerina ciris, photographed at Pelican Island, A&M Property, Galveston, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 19 April 2007 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/320s f/8.0 at 500.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
There are very few bright green birds north of Mexico. This is a fairly…
grrlscientist | November 24, 2008tags: Smithsonian, National Museum of Natural History, collections, education, science, streaming video
This streaming video is by the Smithsonian Institute. It shows a time-lapse series detailing the construction of the Sant Ocean Hall at the National Museum of Natural History, aka, the Smithsonian. This is the museum's largest permanent exhibition, and it just opened in September 2008 [3:07].
grrlscientist | November 23, 2008tags: Suomi, Helsinki, Finland, travel, language, streaming video
This charming little video attempts to teach me how to name family members and months of the year in Finnish. I really wish I'd found these videos a few weeks ago [3:25].