Alternate Lyrics

Sometimes I come across strings of similar things. Today's similar things appear to be misunderstood lyrics. First, Obama's Elf:

And second, a truly surreal version of Carmina Burana:

Carmina Burana is not a piece of music that many people recognize by name, but the introduction, mocked above, has been used in so many soundtracks and other audio and audiovisual productions that it is familiar by sound to nearly everybody. If you ever have the opportunity to read a translation as you listen to the full production, I highly recommend it. in the 1930's, Carl Orf took medieval lyrics discovered in the early 1800's (written in the 1200's) from a Bavarian abbey, and set them to music. As you might expect of monks, they're all about wine, women and song (the middle ages equivalents of sex and drugs and rock and roll). It's a beautiful work, but awfully funny when you contrast the grandeur and formality of the music with the, ummm... earthyness... of its subject matter.

Good News, Bad News

The sea otter has been essentially extinct in Oregon for over a century; I say"essentially" because there have been occasional spottings of individual animals, and a failed attempt in the 1970's to reintroduce them. However, Oregon Live is reporting that one has been spotted at Depoe Bay. The article specifically states that we shouldn't read too much into this, but does point out that this might indicate conditions are right for a natural recolonization by the species. I for one adore otters (in the youthful fantasy game "what animal would you be," "otter" was always my preference), and couldn't be happier to hear of this possibility.

In an opposite and heartbreaking vein, the gorgeous Worcester's buttonquail is pictured below. This is the first known photograph of a living speciman; all previous representations are drawings from dead animals in museum collections, and the creature has been thought extinct for decades.

Why heartbreaking? The photo was taken at a meat market. I saw this article in The Telegraph a couple of days ago, and I thought it was worth commenting on. But it was so depressing I didn't really know how- or even if- I wanted to approach it. I guess it feels like the otter news makes it a little easier to cope with, but this still strikes me as impossibly tragic. And by the way, the quote Club president Michael Lu said the group was "ecstatic" about the find, but they also "feel sad that the locals do not value the biodiversity around them" is infuriating to me. I suspect, much as I hate to admit it, if I had a couple of hungry kids, that I would kill an otter to put food in their mouths. Why didn't Michael Lu buy the poor bird?

The More You Know

...the more you know you can't really comprehend. If you've learned a lot but feel like you understand nothing, that sentence will make perfect sense to you.
(Hat tip to Lisa)

Wednesday Words

I've gotten backed up on my posting... too much reading, not enough writing. I was sort of hoping after the inauguration that my political fixation would settle a bit, but I just seem to get so involved and so compelled by all the nonsense, then I have to go read every link and story I come across. But the Wednesday words are easy... no excuse not to do them. Remember, the idea is these look like they might be words; your assignment, should you choose to accept it, is to tell me what they actually mean. And in accordance with the pleading of blogger Lisa, I'm going to try turning my own verification off. If I start getting a bunch of spam, it's going right back up.

Eight Years of Bad Taste

I had heard of Ben & Jerry's "Yes Pecan" ice cream tribute to Obama, and I had heard that they had called for suggestions for tribute flavors for GWB. I had heard of one suggestion, "Cluster Fudge." I hadn't heard there were a whole slew of suggestions. Here's the first quarter or so of the list:

- Grape Depression
- Abu Grape
- Cluster Fudge
- Nut'n Accomplished
- Iraqi Road
- Chock 'n Awe
- WireTapioca
- Impeach Cobbler
- Impeach Mint

From Alternet- quite a few more there, those to my taste, the suggestions seem to be listed from best to not as great. Additionally, some of these flavors have been mocked up with a photoshop treatment here.

Strength of Conviction

can lead to conviction of stupidity.

Another fine piece from The Onion. They also had an article on the transition to Digital Food Format that I got a laugh from.

Ooh! Ooh! I Want to Try This At Home!

Callan Bentley just posted this YouTube video at his site. I have never gotten up close and personal with real live lava, and this looks like a feasible way to make it happen. In addition to his comment that the basalt is runny, while the granite/rhyolite is too viscous to drip, I think it should be pointed out that the melting temperature of basalt is much higher than that of rhyolite. So the different viscosities are not the result of the different melting temperatures: basalt melts at a higher (not lower) temperature. Also, technically the materials being made in the vidclip are lavas, not magmas, but in this case, that's pretty much irrelevant in light of the awesomeness of it being done at all. A previous post on this topic here.