Brotherly Love
“If you don’t own a dog, at least one, there is not necessarily anything wrong with you, but there may be something wrong with your life.”
- Roger Caras
wildlife photographer and writer
3/31/10
“If you don’t own a dog, at least one, there is not necessarily anything wrong with you, but there may be something wrong with your life.”
- Roger Caras
wildlife photographer and writer
3/29/10
The Most Bashful Plant of Them All
Meet mimosa pudica, one of the most interesting plants I've ever seen. Its fronds actually close up when touched. I was introduced to the Sensitive Plant in Australia, where it thrives and is considered a weed. It's native to Central and South America, but it is found in countries all over the world now, including Texas. (Yes, Texas is it's own country.) I'm always on the hunt for it around here. A few summers ago I saw some hiking at McKinney Roughs, but I haven't seen it again since. Just been thinking about it a lot now that summer is imminent. Any of you seen it lately?
3/26/10
An Alternative to Corporate Media
Freedocumentaries.org offers just that: full length viewing of a variety of documentaries made by independent filmmakers. They explain it best.
We created Freedocumentaries.org because we wanted to find an easy way to bring thought-provoking, educational, and entertaining documentaries to anyone with a high-speed internet connection. We believe that the mainstream media increasingly practices self-censorship, and that it ignores many opinions and historical events. With the media distorting or ignoring information, it’s often very hard to get an accurate picture of a problem, even while watching the news. Sites like Freedocumentaries.org are a much-needed counterbalance to corporate media: an industry dominated by special interests. Even though every dollar we make via advertising or donations is critical, we do not let any advertisers have any influence over which films we play. We would rather lose that money than lose our independence. And the fact that we won’t shy away from controversial films is one of the things that makes us unique.
A few of my favorites available on the site:
No canine or feline octomoms, please.
Haha... Octomom needs money, so she's letting PETA pay her to place this sign in her front yard.
3/25/10
Please Rob Me
After hearing about a woman in Austin who was robbed while at a show she had posted on Facebook, I checked out PleaseRobMe.com. The site is of course not set up with the purpose of making crime easier, but rather to raise awareness of the risks of posting information about your location. 4 Square, Twitter, and all of those other sites I'm too old to participate in create heightened "location awareness." If you're at Billy Bob's, or Hooters, or The Mohawk there's one place you're not - HOME. I know this will make me think twice about RSVPing for events publicly in the future.
3/24/10
We're Number One! We're Number One! Yay?
We've made it to the top of another list, but unlike the drinking one, I found this one a little surprising. Austin households spend more (outside of mortgage/rent) than all other American cities. We spend on average $67,076 a year while the country's average is $37,782. Yep, we are spending nearly double the national average.
I am not surprised by #5, Plano, the Upscale Shopping Mall Center of the World and the one place I've ever lived that I truly wished would vanish from Earth forever. Or Scottsdale, #2, Arizona's Plano equivalent. Texas actually had a big showing with 6 of the top 25. Gooooooooo Texas! More evidence that financial education classes should be a mandatory component of high school curriculum.
Play around with the Austin data here and compare your own spending habits.
3/22/10
Happy World Water Day
Today is World Water Day, and National Geographic has released an interactive issue all about water. It's available free here (only for a few weeks) and I highly recommend it.
The photo above caught my eye because Hallett Cove is a small town outside of Adelaide where my childhood pen pal grew up. While every family there is certainly not making the same concerted effort to save their valued water, Aussies are in general more in tune with its importance than us Yanks. Living in Australia and driving through the neverending outback was the first time I think I truly understood fresh water's value.
There it is - those little slivers in yellow. Enough to go around ....except .....we humans are really skilled at procreating.
Anyway, there is plenty of info worth checking out in the magazine, and Zinio makes it a much more fun experience than reading it on a dead tree. I especially liked this representation of drugs found in fish from Chicago's North Shore. The number one drug these fish are being involuntarily prescribed? Antidepressants. Along with anti-seizure, antihistamine, and blood pressure meds. Yikes.
3/21/10
Mellow
One thing I really love about SXSW is the use of unconventional spaces for shows. I took this photo at Mellow Johnny's bike shop, and the rows of bicycles are illuminated by the makeshift stage.
3/14/10
3/12/10
3/11/10
How to Turn Your Hoodie into a Backpack
You can also turn your hoodie into a pillow, laptop sleeve, or baby carrier.
3/9/10
3/3/10
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