One of Last Year’s Batch

Or at least that’s the theory…

Sent, via BlackBerry, by AT&T

Cats Can Yodel, Did You Know?

It’s true!! And it’s thanks to Beryl that we know this:



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Now playing: Sting - Gabriel’s Message
via FoxyTunes

Quacking About

Just as I woke up this morning, I heard an odd noise out the bedroom window; sounded suspiciously like quacking. Sure enough, the mallards (a pair of them) from the river were back in the big pond, paddling about like they owned the joint.

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Now playing: Amanda Jane Kelley - Let It Be Done To Us
via FoxyTunes

The Wildlife Brigade

I looked out the bedroom window at the big pond this morning, and lo and behold, there were three ducks paddling around, two mallard drakes and a hen, undoubtedly from the river. This was a pair and a third wheel, according to Bob. Wikipedia has a very interesting article, with great photos, on mallards.

About the same time there was a whole herd (comparatively speaking) of deer lounging on the point, basking in the sun. From the bedroom, I could make out a couple of what seemed to be fawns; Bob reported there were several more deer, including a buck. I hope his photos turned out; stay tuned.

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Now playing: Wright Sisters - Orange Blossom Special
via FoxyTunes

A Near-Indy/Columbus Experience

As I was at the front gate this morning, getting ready to leave for St John’s, I happened to look up and saw what looked like a small flock of Canada geese flying north! The birds were basic black (the sun hadn’t come over the ridge yet), but they were flying in basically a V formation, they had long necks, and their wing flapping looked a bit awkward, like Canada geese...

I Saw Old Faithful Go Off!!

And from my very own living room!

Bob spotted a short piece in the Senile this afternoon about the National Park Service’s new streaming Webcam for the Old Faithful geyser in Yellowstone National Park.

To get to the new camera, point your browser to the Yellowstone Web site and click on the Photos and Multimedia button on the left side. That takes you to the Photos and Multimedia page, but also drops down the Photos and Multimedia menu. From either the page or the menu, click Webcams, which takes you to the Yellowstone Webcams page.

From here, you can look at the original Yellowstone Webcam. This shows real-time still images of Old Faithful which update every 30 seconds. It also shows the predicted time for the next eruption. Just below the Webcam image is a little graphic from The Weather Underground that shows the time and the temperature in ° Farenheit and Centigrade.

Back on the Yellowstone Webcams page, clicking on the Old Faithful Geyser Live! link near the top takes you to the page for the new and improved streaming Webcam.

Before clicking on the Launch Old Faithful Geyser Live!—Video WebCam link, please note that Windows Media Player (or equivalent) is required. ::::rolling eyes::::

I’m using the VLC media player from VideoLAN; it’s available for Windows, Mac (OS X only), and a ton of UNIX and LINUX flavors. VLC just works. I clicked on the live Webcam link, and it took over from there. What more can you ask for?

If you’re running Mac OS 8.1 through 9.x, VLC isn’t available, and I’m not sure what options other than Windows Media Player there are… Any road, Windows Media Player 7.1 is still around.

Once you’ve got your video viewer set and ready to go, click the link and enjoy!




Did you know? There are more people hurt by bison than by bears each year in Yellowstone. Park regulations state that visitors must stay at least 25 yards away from bison or elk and 100 yards away from bears.

Bumper Snicker & Kitty Snicker

Spotted in an e-mail just now:

What if we kept tech support local and outsourced the CEOs?
--LJMac


Also spotted in the e-mail:


moar funny pictures

Geography Lesson

Acampo is just up Hwy. 99 from Lodi, in Central California. In the general vicinity can be found:

• Always Enough Ranch
• Woodbridge Winery
• Jewel Winery
• Housley’s Century Oak Winery
• Jessie’s Grove Winery
• Cottage Bakery
• and, of course, Lodi Airport

And how did we get from Boulder Creek (via Indy) to Acampo?? One of the gals on the hummus-and-pesto-recipes list is the co-owner of the Always Enough Ranch in Acampo.

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Listening to: Stephen Petrunak - Jesus, The Lord
via FoxyTunes

Furry Fiends

On mercurynews.com today:

Bushy-tailed suspect attacks school, escapes:

“It was a warm morning Wednesday at Evergreen Elementary School and the door to the first grade classroom was open to let in the air. Inside, 20 first-graders twittered excitedly, waiting to leave on a field trip.

“Suddenly, a squirrel darted into the room, ran up the leg of one of the mothers chaperoning the trip and bit her, then bit another parent and an 11-year-old student passing by the room.

“After a call to police at 8:43 a.m., officers quickly arrived at the South San Jose school, followed later by animal control....”