Hexed

The Cassini probe has photographed a bizzare hexagonal cloud formation circling the North pole of Saturn. The feature was first noticed 20 years ago by previous probes. Apparently, hexagons have staying power.

Visit the Nasa Cassini page for more details:

Clouded Leopard, Hidden Dragon?

Well, no dragon, but the leopard may have been hidden. A new species of leopard has been discovered living in Borneo and Sumatra. This kitty is as genetically different from other leopards as the lion is from the tiger.

The clouded leapard is not really new. Researchers have known about it for many years. They did not think that it was a unique species, however, until the DNA comparison was made with other cats. So the real mystery is why it took so long to figure out.

From AP:

The Borneo clouded leopard is darker than the mainland species and has many distinct spots within its small cloud markings. It also has a grayer fur, and a double dorsal stripe.
Clouded leopards from the mainland have fewer and fainter markings within large clouds on their skin. They are also lighter in color.
"It's incredible that no one has ever noticed these differences." said Andrew Kitchener from the Department of Natural Sciences, National Museums, Scotland.

I'm ready for my close-up, Mr. Demille . . .

Here is a recent, true color view of Saturn from high above the plane of the rings.

See more at the Cassini-Huygens mission home page.

Danger, Will Robinson!! DANGER!

This is the new international warning symbol for radiation. The feeling was that the old three triangle symbol was vague (unless you are afraid of fans). The new symbol sure scares me!

I feel like a Monty Python knight facing a fierce rabbit . . . "Run away! Run away..."

Sally

Something special for Valentine's Day. She's red. She's hot. She's raring to go!

Thank you, Matt

http://www.stiny.org/index.php?c=1

Here fishy, fishy, fishy. . .

For all of you wierd animal lovers out there (YOU know who you are).



Japanese scientists have captured on film a very rare type of shark. The frilled shark usually keeps to very deep water. Not something you are likely to find in the wading pool.

That was no sloth, it was my husband.

Not surprising. He probably could reach the remote. Any similarities to the previous post are completely coincidental.

From Yahoo News:

Wed Jan 24, 11:46 AM ET
JENA, Germany - Scientists in the eastern German city of Jena said Wednesday they have finally given up after three years of failed attempts to entice a sloth into budging as part of an experiment in animal movement.
The sloth, named Mats, was remanded to a zoo after consistently refusing to climb up and then back down a pole, as part of an experiment conducted by scientists at the University of Jena's Institute of Systematic Zoology and Evolutionary Biology.
Neither pounds of cucumbers nor plates of homemade spaghetti were appetizing enough to make Mats move.
"Mats obviously wanted absolutely nothing to do with furthering science," said Axel Burchardt, a university spokesman.
Mats' new home is the zoo in the northwestern city of Duisburg where, according to all reports, he is very comfortable.

Uh . . .yeah . . .I'm awake . . .

Still here, and almost recovered from the holidays.

Party On

We recently enjoyed the CAI holiday party at the Hotel DuPont. The best part of the night was seeing daughter Karen dreesed to kill, in a real dress even! Here she is with boyfriend Adrian.
She looked even better in person - simply gorgeous.

Wave On

Here is great shot of Saturn's tiny moon Daphnis, which the Cassini orbiter discovered inside of the rings. The moon, named for a shepherd from Greek mythology, creates waves in the rings as it "shepherds" the material and creates one of the prominent gaps in the structure.

Zappa Plays Zappa

We took in a wonderful tribute concert by Dweezil Zappa in Atlantic City. The terrific band played a wide range of selections going back to "Call Any Vegetable", but included much of Frank's later, jazzier music. Other highlights were "Peaches en Regalia", "Montana", "Zombie Woof", and "Idiot Bastard Son".

http://zappa.com/zpz/index.html

The show featured Zappa alums "stunt guitarist" Steve Vai, drummer Terry Bozio, and Napoleon Murphy Brock on vocals, sax and flute. The band also included another drummer, percussionist, guitar (along with Dweezil), bass, keyboards, and additional saxophone. I have never seen so many percussion instuments on one stage (this, from someone who has seen a lot of indoor drum line performances).

It wasn't quite Frank and the Mothers at the Filmore, but it was great to hear that music played live.

Blue Corn Tortillas

Nice teeth.

Thanks, Matt.

http://www.stiny.org/index.php?c=1

The play's the thing

Joe just completed a run playing in the pit orchestra for the Rutgers production of the hilarious play "Urinetown". He played trombone and euphonium for the quirky, offbeat musical, and sounded great!

In this picture, he certainly looks like a denizen of the town where everyone is forced use pay toilets, or else!

Ring Light

A beautiful view of saturn and its rings, taken while Saturn was between the Sun and the Cassini probe.



More at: http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.cfm

Giant Pink Space Frog

Giant Pink Space Frog Crushes Earth

His eyes see nothing but the sorrow of eternity.

http://www.stiny.org/oekaki/

Rutgers Rah Rah

Some scenes from the Rutgers homecoming game last week, and the Rutgers Glee Club.

RU Rah Rah!

RU Rah Rah!

Hoorah! Hoorah!

Rutgers Rah!

Upstream Redteam!

Redteam Upstream!

Rah Rah Rutgers Rah!

Agent #1

Good thing he's on our side!
More of Agent #1, and Stiny, at www.stiny.org

Steelyard "Sugartooth" McDan

That's the name of the wonderful summer tour featuring Steely Dan and Michael McDonald. We caught them on a beautiful August evening at the Tweeter Center amphitheater on the Camden Riverfront.

The show opened with Michael McDonald doing a long set that combined many Doobie Brothers hits, along with Motown covers that he has featured on his last two CDs. McDonald's voice was in great form belting out Marvin Gaye and Smokey Robinson tunes, accompanied by a strong backing band that included a terrific sax and backup vocals. He finished up with a rousing rendition of "Taking it to the Streets", that brought the crowd to its feet. We felt that we had already gotten our money's worth with half the show to go.

Donald Fagen and Walter Becker arrived with a 10 piece backing band that included four horns and two backup singers. They opened with the exuberant "Bodhisattva" and then carried on with a virtual greatest hits list of Steely Dan songs, including "Aja", "Peg", "Hey 19" and many others. Only one recent tune, "Pixeleen", was tossed in the mix. I would have enjoyed hearing "Cousin Dupree", or anything from Fagen's excellent new Morph the Cat CD, but most of the songs were rooted firmly in the 70's. Mid way through the set, Michael McDonald joined in on vocals and keyboard. He added an extra spark to "Show Biz Kids", "Do it Again", and others. The show ended with my favorite Steely tune, "My Old School", filled with wild guitars and a crowd once again standing and singing along with every word.

We left feeling that we had gotten two great concerts for the price of one.

They got the house on the corner

With the rug inside

They got the booze they need

All that money can buy

They got the shapely bods

They got the steely dan t-shirt

And for the coup-de-gras

They're outrageous
Show Biz Kids

Steelyard "Sugartooth McDan - The man, the legend

All God's Critters

We took a day off to visit the Philadelphia Zoo. And who did we find in the Monkey House? None other than Terry Hendrix and WXPN's Kathy O'Connell. WXPN is the University of Pennsylvania's celebrated radio station, where we first heard Terri's music. Kathy is the host of XPN's "Kids Corner" show - a truly unique and fun radio show for kids of all ages.
We said hello to Terri and Lloyd Maines when we first arrived at the zoo. They were setting up for their show - part of the zoo's Rock 'n' Roar concert series. They smiled at our shirts and we talked briefly about seeing them at the Tin Angel.

We let them finish setting up and visited some of the animal exhibits. When we arrived about 10 minutes before the show, we saw Terri and Lloyd talking with Kathy. Lloyd waved us over and we said hello to Kathy, who says she has the best job in the world. Terri asked to take a picture of us with Kathy. Then we took some snapshots of them.

We talked about seeing Terri and Lloyd in Amenia. Lloyd remarked about how beautiful that area was. He also really enjoyed New Hampshire, where they had recently performed at an area the reminded him of On Golden Pond. Kathy O'Connell is originally from Long Island, and has family in Beacon and Fishkill.

Marsha told Terri that we wanted to see them in Texas sometime (although they said it was too hot in San Antonio during the summer - come in the spring). Terri recommended coming for one of her "Life is a Song" workshops, or one of the festivals in the area that, feature other Texas musicians, as well.
The concert was a mix of many of the songs from her children's CD, with a few other songs thrown in (notably, the zoo themed "I Found the Lions", "Wallet", and the fun "Wind Me Up").
Terri got all the kids to roar like lions and make their favorite critter sounds.

Get on up and dance everybody, get on up and dance . . .

. . . and get your goat on!

All us critters clapped and sang along to "Play Ball", "Car Car", "Celebrate the Difference", and more. What a wonderful day at the Zoo! And we didn't even get to the animals yet. More pictures to come!

The Garden Diaries - August

The weather is hot and humid, and the tomatoes are ripening on the vine. Can we eat them fast enough?

The eggplant have certainly grown - but we are still waiting for fruit.

The crook-neck squash are fairing better.

Spicy pepper, anyone?

Self portrait with sunflower. About 7' and growing.

Red and juicy . . .

Or try a Golden Jubilee