Rachel Maddow and Bill Nye on Climate Change

Just because big winter storms are happening, doesn't mean "global warming" is false. For god's sake I'm tired of hearing this crowing from the right. In fact, it could be a proof that climate change is actively in progress creating that very storm.

Here is Bill Nye on the Rachel Maddow show addressing this sentiment directly.

The quote that says it best from Nye is, "there's more energy in the atmosphere, and this is stirring things up." The global climate is a complicated system, you heat one area and another could get very cold because of it -- thus the 'stirring things up' he's referring to.



Enjoy logic and reason applied to large planetary problems,

Bp

Great geek out fun with microscopic size comparisons

Here is a link to the University of Utah "Cell size and scale" teaching illustration tool. It's great fun for geeks and nerds alike. Give it a shot.

Below is just a picture of the the flash tool, use the link above to actually use the thing.



Enjoy geeking out in the privacy of your own home,

Bp

[via my ex-pat Canukistani Uncle Ted]

Half inch jellyfish that can take you out, quick

That little guy pictured on the right there can kill you dead, pronto.

Here is the post from Boing Boing, and here is the post they referenced at The Telegraph UK.

The jellyfish's sting can lead to "Irukandji syndrome," a set of symptoms that includes shooting pains in the muscles and chest, vomiting, restlessness and anxiety. Some symptoms can last for more than a week, and the syndrome can occasionally lead to a rapid rise in blood pressure and heart failure.

and

There is no antivenom, and people generally do not realize that they have been stung at first. The initial sting causes little pain, and it may be up to half an hour before a victim starts to feel the effects.

But those effects, Miss Gershwin says, can ultimately be disastrous, with some stings causing blood pressures to soar as high as 280 over 180.

Enjoy never meeting this organism in your whole life,

Bp

[via Boing Boing, photo Wiki Commons]

Building a passive solar greenhouse

The chard outside in the garden is frozen and wilted. I hear it will perk right back up, but as of the moment, it's lookin' pretty sad.

What would be better this time of year than a nice, passive-solar greenhouse out in the garden. Here is a great link from the Bradford Research and Extension Center, University of Missouri, showing plans and instructions and design concepts for a very straightforward passive solar greenhouse.

An illustration with the basic concepts [click picture for a better view]:



The solar gain off of those water barrels is amazing.

So, for the serious geeks out there, here is the page with the construction details and materials list.

Enjoy dreams of season extension in the garden,

Bp

Tibetan Yogis on film

Ran across this archival footage on Boing Boing. A Frenchmen named Arnaud Desjardins took the images, they are just scenes from the movie "Message of the Tibetans."

I am posting the third video of the series, because it's such a visual trip. To see the eyes of the yogis as they practice is quite a thing. It turns out that the first two of the last practitioners depicted are heroes of mine. They all rock, of course, but these two gentlemen I have a connection with from back in the day. Here is the list from the description of the video:

1) His Holiness Dudjom Rinpoche, head of the Nyingma lineage in India

B) Venerable Kalu Rinpoche, great realized master in the Kagyu lineage.

C) His Holiness, the 16th Karmapa! The head of the Karma Kagyu lineage.

Here is a link to the first of the youtube videos, and here is the second:



Enjoy running across blasts from the past,

Bp

How to build a Coracle (traditional Irish hide boat)

I love seeing skills like this demonstrated. Those that are, to quote the narrator, in the "ancient and sufficient way."

Text from Neatorama's post:

This video incorporates footage from 1935, in which Irish craftsmen build a coracle from willow and an ox hide, then use the craft to set their nets in the River Boyne. One has to admire the skill and experience required to propel a keel-less craft in a reasonably straight line. As the narrator notes, these river craft are related to the larger currachs that were capable of substantial ocean voyages.

Enjoy peeks into the past through traditional skills,

Bp

[via Neatorama, dedicated to my faithful Canukistani operative, "Yuri"]

A real cost of Premarin -- Hormone Replacement Therapy drug

Horse lovers, honestly, just pass this post up.

Folks interested in knowing where your medicines and foods come from -- here's a quick note about Premarin, by Pfizer.

Click quoted text for a Discovery News article about Premarin, horses, and horse rescue (they leave you on an up note in the article, thankfully):

The active ingredients for Premarin—used by around nine million women to relieve menopause symptoms—come from the urine of pregnant horses. The mares are confined to narrow stalls for 20 hours at a time while hooked to collection devices, MSNBC reports. The foals of these mares usually go to auction, where they are often snapped up by bidders known as "horse killers," who send the horses to feedlots. There the animals are fattened before slaughter, according to the report.

Bp

Thom Hartmann - The Crisis of Western Culture

A good interview of Thom Hartmann regarding his new book Threshold: The Crisis of Western Culture.



Enjoy hearing the good news,

Bp

[via Canukistani Kate]
.

Saturday Morning Awesome: Grey Fox caught in a camera trap

There is a wonderful blog I follow called Camera Trap Codger, and I saw this post today that really shows the best of the best one can get using a camera trap. Hit this link to see the rest of the pictures. Not only great shots of a photogenic animal, but with a possible storyline/narrative as well.

This, of course, makes me want to run out and get one and set it up. That's what I need -- really, a new hobby. Yeah, with all that time I have.

Enjoy folks following their passions and creating great content for you to enjoy on the intartubes,

Bp

[photo credit Camera Trap Codger blog]

Take a baby Mushrooming! Take a class on taking your bebeh mushrooming!

What have I been doing you ask? Well, getting out and mushrooming as often as I can. Since I'm home with the Bebeh 3 days a week, we just take her along.

Some very helpful, patient and kind friends and I have made two trips up into the Oregon Cascades for mushrooms in the last two weeks. The first trip was dry and sunny and provided us with those lovely, early-season tan chanterelles. Dry and clean and perfect for pasta.

The second trip was much colder (in the low 40's) and wet, and we really had to bushwhack to get in. The baby was an absolute trooper, got swaddled up and conked out for an hour once we got into good mushrooming territory. Thanks to Canukistani Kate not only for the pictures but for being on Nap Duty both trips.

As for the class, here is the info from Arctos School of Herbal and Botanical Studies:

Mama/Papa and Babe Mushroom Outing with Missy Rohs
Tuesday, October 6, 10am-4pm

By special request, this excursion is geared towards parents with little ones. The day is a little shorter, and we won't be away from the car for more than an hour and a half at a time. This parent- and baby-friendly hunt will focus on delicious edible mushrooms like Chanterelles and Matsutake. Our hope is that we'll not only find an array of beautiful fungi, but score a basketful to take home and savor! Bring sturdy hiking shoes, water, and lunch.

Carpool will meet in SE Portland. Register by Oct. 3rd by emailing missy@arctosschool.org.
Cost: $35 per adult (sliding scale available) -- kids under 10 are free!







Enjoy sharing your life with little ones,

Bp

[huge thanks to Canukistani Kate for not only the pictures, but all the baby holding]

Mark Twain Quotes

Ran across these at Refspace, and picked out a few choice numbers that caught my attention. Click the linked text to see the whole collection. There are 3 pages, and its worth the scroll. Folks who know me will recognize some of these as I use them often -- see further, the Wagner comment:

History does not repeat itself, but it rhymes.

The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read them.

If voting made any difference they wouldn't let us do it.

Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.

A banker is a fellow who lends you his umbrella when the sun is shining, but wants it back the minute it begins to rain.

Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on, or by imbeciles who really mean it.

In religion and politics, people's beliefs and convictions are in almost every case gotten at second-hand, and without examination.

When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years.

Wagner's music is better than it sounds.

In the beginning of a change, the patriot is a scarce man; brave, hated, and scorned. When his cause succeeds, however, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot.

Enjoy wisdom from the past,

Bp

[image via Wiki Commons]

Backwards Beekeeper shows how he harvests honey

I just stumbled across this video on Boing Boing, and am now intrigued. The video is a nice watch about how the "Backwards Beekeepers" harvest their honey. One gets the sense that they do much of their beekeeping in an unconventional, bee-friendly fashion.

Here is a link to the Backwards Beekeepers blog -- I've only just started researching their methods and philosophy and I do like it, and their attitude. Biologically, their philosophy of maximizing and propagating already-naturalized populations of bees makes perfect sense. I strongly suspect I'll have more to report after I've spent some more time with their information.



Enjoy folks using their heads, and making awesome local honey in the process,

Bp

National Do Not Call Registry -- Register Your Cell Phone Now

There is an email circulating that claims all our cell phone numbers are about to be distributed to telemarketers. This doesn't appear to be true. But the rest of the email is true -- it gives information on the National Do Not Call registry. Below is the information to get your phones put on that list:

Call this number: 888-382-1222 with the phone that you want on the list and register on the National Do Not Call registry.

Or you can go to the National Do Not Call Registry to register multiple numbers at once. I think I'll be doing both... you know, just to be safe.

Enjoy opting out,

Bp

[via Richard and T.]

Free books online, no joke

The Burgomeister's Books is a site where you can find scads of books for free.

The terms are completely reasonable. You can only download 5 books in a two week period. And when done, you nuke them from your hard-drive.

It's a free service, but the kind host does appreciate donations to keep it going.

Enjoy public access to goodies,

Bp

[via Canukistani Kate, illustration is The Librarian, by Guiseppe Arcimbolo, via Wiki Commons]

Saturday (almost) Morning Awesome: Best Wedding Walk Evar

Just in case you are living under an internet rock, you may have missed this viral video. It's only been a few days, so I hope I catch some of you as "first timers."

It's worth watching the whole way through. Some of these folks have got the moves.

It's a bit cute, I will warn the cynics in the crowd.

I think the groomsman who enters at around 1:12 is my favorite person today.

Oh, also The Wife mentioned, and I agree, that the sunglasses are a nice touch.



Enjoy crying to wedding videos of people you don't know,

Bp

[via too many places to name in this short piece of text, thanks everyone]

Jobs that actually exist: Pedestrian Decoy

How'd you like to get paid to walk across a street (repeatedly) that's known to be dangerous to pedestrians so cops could catch crappy drivers as they nearly hit you?

The job exists, see this Blogtown post about it happening here in Portland.

Oh and as "entrapment-y" as it sounds... look at the details of the situation: tons of signage (4 signs on this site), and tons of cops in the open, right there, waiting. This is catching folks who REALLY aren't paying attention while driving.

Hell of a job -- wonder what the training was, dodgeball?

Bp

[photo credit in linked article]

Family saved from burning car

I don't watch television, so I miss stuff like this. Here is another side of humanity that reside in this country (in contrast to the last post I made).



Enjoy seeing what it looks like to do the right thing,

Bp

[via Neatorama]

Fantastic Eye Candy -- Scintillation by Xavier Chassaing

"This is an experimental film made up of over 35,000 photographs. It combines an innovative mix of stop motion and live projection mapping techniques."

Just watch it.

SCINTILLATION from Xavier Chassaing on Vimeo.

Enjoy being totally harnessed, visually,

Bp

[via Dani Boynton Photography]

Saturday Morning Awesome: ZeFrank is back

As long-time readers of this blog know, I'm a big fan of ZeFrank. This morning, ex-pat, Canunistani Uncle Ted sent me a link to a Time.com piece done by ZeFrank himself. Too awesome, I'm glad he found work.

I'll keep ya'll updated whenever I find him popping up again.

Enjoy underground artists getting paying jobs,

Bp

List of 50 classic Dystopian movies

Ok actually the list is "top 50 dystopian movies of all time" -- but that's a bit big in the britches don't ya think?

It's a good list, nonetheless.

Kinda freaky how many of these I've seen. What is so damned appealing about Dystopias?

Enjoy the future bummer, in art,

Bp

[via Uncle Ted, image credit in linked article]