October 27, 2005
October 26, 2005
3 Megapixel Point & Break
My digital camera broke this weekend, but not before I got some great pictures of Bear Vs. Shark. I have sent it off for repairs and , hopefully, it will be back in a couple of weeks. What horrible timing, too. Right before GA/FL and Halloween. If you were thinking about getting a Canon point & shoot, just be aware that after about a year of heavy use, it'll probably break. This is the second time it's happened to me in two and a half years. Good thing I got that Best Buy warranty.
October 24, 2005
Homicidal Psycho Jungle Cat
http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/books/10/24/reclusive.cartoonist.ap/index.html
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4968065
http://jawboneradio.blogspot.com/2005/11/jawbone-81-in-search-of-bill-watterson.html
Kevin Bacon hearts squids
It seems that "actor and musician" Kevin Bacon has written a song about the giant squid, photographed recently by Japanese scientists. However, Mr. Bacon doesn't yet have a title for the song. He wants to name the song after the scientific name of the squid, which he doesn't know. Too bad that Kevin Bacon isn't a regular reader of mackwilliams.com, your number one source for the scientific name of the giant squid.
Star Easy & The $.E.GA Boys
Here's an awesome music video (40 MB WMV) I stumbled across over on The Dawgvent. It's Star Easy performing, what I assume is his hottt new sigle, "Georgia."
"Why is this awesome?" you may be asking... Well, for one thing, Star Easy is from Waycross, GA, and the video was filmed there. Waycross is about 8 minutes from my hometown of Blackshear (which gets a shout out near the end of the song). Also, most of the people in the video are decked out in clothes from my alma mater, The University of Georgia.
Star Easy is also a member of The $.E.GA Boys, a rap group that has been around since I was in high school. I am pretty sure that $.E.GA stands for Souteast Georgia, but I could be mistaken. Unfortunately, the world of undergroud Waycross hip-hop is woefully under-represented on google, so we may never truly know.
October 23, 2005
Shark Wrestling
Check out this article from National Geographic News. It is about conservation scientist Ram Bonfil and his work with great white sharks. For three years, Bonfil has been "hand-fitting South Africa's great whites with dorsal-fin satellite tags." That's right. Hand-fitting. The photos that go along with the article have some awesome shots of Bonfil straddling the sharks as they are lifted out of the water on a sort of shark-cradle.
In a related note, I just finished reading The Devil's Teeth by Susan Casey. If you are at all interested in sharks, especially great whites, this book is a must read. The Farallon Islands just jumped to the top of my "Places to Visit in the U.S." list. Yes, I really keep a list. Chicago is number 2. [via Dive South Africa]
October 21, 2005
Dromaeosaur Family Tree Extended
A recent discovery in South America is rewriting the history of dromaeosaurs. For those of you who don't habla dinosaurese, dromaeosaurs make up a group of carnivorous therepods from the Cretaceous period, including Velociraptor and Deinonychus. These new fossils seem to indicate that dromaeosaurs may have begun evolving before the Pangea split 180 million years ago.
In other recent dromaeosaur news, scientists hired by the BBC built a robotic recreation of a dromaeosaur leg, killer claw and all. Unfortuntaely, when tested on a variety of materials, the claw didn't have the terrifyingly effecient effect movies like Jurassic Park would have you believe.
[vis dinosaurnews]
UPDATE: The Discovery Channel has a picture of the robotic raptor claw tearing into a chunk of pig carcass [via engadget]
October 20, 2005
Little Nemo in Slumberland
Thanks to the concept of expiring copyright, a new collection of Winsor McCay's "Little Nemo in Slumberland" comics is available. The new book features strips painstakingly restored and reproduced in their original size and color. The book is 21 x 16 inches and costs $120. Check out this NY Times article for more info about how one man put together and bankrolled the book himself. While I can't quite afford to pick it up right now, I've added it to my Amazon Wishlist in case any of you generous readers would like to send it my way. [via boing boing]
October 19, 2005
Bear vs. Shark
This Friday night at the Masquerade, Bear vs. Shark will be opening for a bunch of other bands I don't know anything about. I will be there because their latest album, Terrorhawk, is currently on infinite repeat on my ipod. Pitchfork describes them as "post-hardcore" whatever that's supposed to mean. Whatever they are, they rock.
Check out these mp3s from their official site for a small taste:
October 18, 2005
The Georgia Aquarium
I am very excited about the new Georgia Aquarium here in Atlanta. The aquarium is being funded by Bernie Marcus, co-founder of Home Depot, who has donated $200 million towards the project. When it opens, the Georgia Aquarium will be the largest aquarium in the world, with over 100,000 animals and over 8 million gallons of water.
Of those 8 million gallons, 6.2 million will be in the tank of Ralph and Norton, two young whale sharks who will be the aquarium's feature attractions. However, it seems not everyone is as excited to see these two fish as I am.
In other aquarium news, two male beluga whales arrived yesterday on a UPS flight from Mexico. Nico and Gasper will soon be joined by three female beluga whales. Aquarium staffers hope that the whales will then get it on, leading to lots of baby belugas.
The aquarium is scheduled to open to the public on November 23, but if you want to get an advance look, you can buy an annual pass and get in two days early. I bought mine last week and I will be there first thing on Monday the 21st.
October 17, 2005
Picture Me Rollin'
After reading these articles and seeing these pictures, I decided that I had to make a visit to Stone Mountain's Tupac Peace Garden at the Tupac Amaru Shakur Center for the Arts. A pilgrimage, if you will.
The irony of a peace garden dedicated to a violent sex-offender who once shot two police officers, is not lost on me. However, you can't deny that, since his death, Tupac has become a figure of inspiration to many poor, young African Americans (and caucasian Americans, for that matter). Whether or not this is appropriate, I will leave to you to decide. I am not interested in getting into a debate like this one.
When we got to the Center it was, unfortunately, closed. After a couple minutes of debating, my friends and I hopped the fence (I'm sure 'Pac would have been proud). The "garden" is more like a nice little park with benches and everything, wedged between a nightclub and a Piccadilly Cafeteria. The fountain was turned off, and the statue didn't really look like 2pac, but it was pretty cool anyway. Behind the statue and fountain there are six plaques featuring poems and lyrics by 2pac and one with a message from his family and children.
By far the most interesting aspects of the memorial are the bricks in the ground around it. Some of them are engraved with names and messages from fans and what I assume are financial donors. Strangely though, while some of the bricks were obviously from living people, others just featured the names of famous dead musicians or people from black history. After a few minutes of quiet reflection, we all headed back over the fence leaving the peace garden as peaceful as we had found it. Check out my flickr set for pictures of the whole hip-hoppin' adventure.
October 5, 2005
Wildlife Update
So there have been two stories in the news lately that have caught my eye... First, Fabien Cousteau, grandson of the famous underwater explorer Jacques-Yves Cousteau, has created a submarine that can impersonate a great white shark! Check out these two stories. I can't wait to see his documentary.
Also, in the Everglades, a 16-foot Burmese python was found burst after it tried to eat a 6-foot alligator. Scientists think the alligator may have used its hind claws to kick its way out of the python after being swallowed whole. That sounds way more awesome that seeing one alligator eat another. When we were reading this story in our office, it reminded us of this picture you see photocopied and taped to the desk of every secretary you've ever known.
