Bike Blender

I salute the people behind this thing. Clearly, I had previously not realized the full potential of my bicycling time.

Itinerant hermano

My brother left a week or so ago for a South American trip of indefinite length -- he and his friend Andrew started in Costa Rica and are traveling south. Here they are on top of Cerro Chirropo, the highest peak in Costa Rica, at sunrise (guess which one is Davin):

Yes, I'm a little jealous. It's possible I'll go meet up with him after finishing school and before starting work, but the odds are against it working out.

Anyway, after a cold and blustery day here yesterday, spring suddenly broke out today. It was quite gorgeous, and I took a big meandering bike ride around the northwest portion of the city. And then I got home to find ants had started swarming the kitchen counter, right on cue...

YouTube Elders

YouTube member "Elizaisme" commented yesterday on the "Ooh Child" video that I have posted. ("Really nice! I'm glad I hung on to the end to see the circle stuff!") She also became the second subscriber to my videos, which was also kind of nice.

Then, the kicker: Elizaisme is 80 years old! Holy crap! True, her profile also shows that she has watched 28 videos and subscribed to 25 channels, so I shouldn't be too honored that she subscribed to mine, but it's still pretty cool.

Of course, you can say anything you want on the internets, and Elizaisme might not really be 80. But I kinda think she is. And I really hope I'm still that with it when I'm 80.

(Also, I love the fact that someone who's 80 has this video saved as one of her favorites.)

Bird Mobsters

This Washington Post article about possible evolutionary roots of human behavior contains this rather astonishing example from the animal world:

It all began, he says, when ecologists started removing the eggs of cowbirds from the nests of warblers. Cowbirds leave their eggs in the nests of dozens of other birds. It has long been a mystery why birds such as warblers allow the eggs to hatch and why the hosts then feed the young cowbirds -- sometimes at the expense of their own offspring.

Hoover and colleague Scott Robinson found that when they removed cowbird eggs from the warbler nests, those nests mysteriously got trashed. Turns out that the cowbirds, much like members of the mob, were keeping a close eye on the nests in which they had laid their eggs. If anything bad happened to the eggs, the cowbirds would return and destroy the nest.

Hoover found that, much like the way the mafia operates, the cowbirds begin with detailed surveillance of their potential targets...

"Nice nest you got here...lots of dryer lint, real nice warm place to hatch kids. It'd sure be a shame if somebody with a really sharp beak like mine came in and pecked it to bits, wouldn't it?"

Spring Break in the Smokies

I'm back in Baltimore after a great Spring Break trip to the Great Smoky Mountains in North Carolina/Tennessee.

Alex came down here from NYC on Friday, which was the first time he'd visited since I moved from Minneapolis. We had a spring break "martini party" at my house on Saturday instigated by Femi, which was fun and relatively low-key. On Sunday Alex and I drove down to Chapel Hill to meet up with Matt and Risa...it was quite relaxing staying at their house on either end of the camping trip. (Minus the episode where Alex awoke to find their hamster had escaped and was running around on his leg.)

We camped Monday through Wednesday nights at Big Creek campground at the northeast edge of the park (and the only campground you can drive to that does not allow RVs). It's pretty, lying next to the eponymous large creek. We took hikes each day: The first day we hiked up to the Mount Cammerer fire tower, which was pretty strenuous (~15 miles RT, more than 3000 feet up) but worth it. The second day we took it easy and hiked up Big Creek a bit and hung out along the creek. Partly on Stephen's recommendation at the martini party (he grew up in Tennessee), we drove to a trailhead on our way out of the park for a fairly substantial hike to Charlie's Bunion. It's a pretty spectacular spot, and thanks to our late start, we had it to ourselves. And it only drizzled on us on the hike back, instead of pouring, as it looked like it would.

I've posted a set of photos from the trip on Flickr.

Along with the outdoors activity, I also got to go 10-pin bowling (141 and 125, in case you're interested) and play Beetle Battle with Alex, two things I haven't really gotten to do since moving to Baltimore.

Now, back to work on my thesis, which needs to be wrapped up by the April 6 library deadline. After that I'm home-free. And the new Modest Mouse album comes out on Tuesday!

Bruuuce?

Yesterday I treated myself to two albums that came out this week -- !!!'s Myth Takes and Arcade Fire's Neon Bible. They're both really good, going by the first couple listens.

I'm listening to Neon Bible (pictured above) right now, and when "(Antichrist Television Blues)" came on, I was like, "Whoa, this sounds a lot like Springsteen." Take a listen [mp3] for yourself.

A quick Google search shows that it's so hilariously obvious that I was far from the only one who noticed. I wonder if it's intentional? Isn't that parenthetical song title thing something The Boss has done?

Sackful of Dinosaurs

I went home to visit my parents this weekend, which was nice. The motivating force for going this weekend in particular was that it allowed me to pick up some camping gear. I was also able to take home a sack of dinosaurs:

Always a plus.

Mom cooked a couple things I particularly like, we took a couple walks, very relaxing in general. Dad and I went to see Breach (based on the story of a mole in the FBI), which was surprisingly good. This woman's cell phone rang during the movie, and she proceeded to answer it, and then talk on it for a few minutes! Man, some weaker people might get all sheepish if their phone rang in the theater, but thankfully this woman was strong enough not to feel any shame whatsoever.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to my spring break trip next week. Alex will be down here on Friday, and then on Sunday we'll be driving down to Matt and Risa's in Chapel Hill for a camping excursion to the Smokies.

Songs of the Moment (An occasional feature)

Love Is All - Busy Doing Nothing [mp3]
RJD2 - 2 More Dead [streaming]
Wolf Parade - Grounds For Divorce
TV On the Radio - Wolf Like Me [YouTube]
Death Cab for Cutie - Song For Kelly Huckaby [mp3]
Desaparecidos - Survival of the Fittest

Lemurs

In case you forgot, I would like to remind you that lemurs are awesome.

For evidence, see:
Gray Gentle Lemur
Pygmy Slow Loris
Lesser Bushbaby

When I grow up, I want to be a noted lemur advocate, just like John Cleese.

A simple request

Via Andrew Sullivan, a dispatch from the Scooter Libby jury.

Hey guys, could you get me some yellow highlighters while you're at it?