tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-187549582009-04-07T16:53:54.347-04:00Ecology and the environment, space, world citizenship, global government, geography, big history, bizarre connections, speculations and a fair amount of miscellany.Jane Shevtsovhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13689631181076302842noreply@blogger.comBlogger86125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18754958.post-907217250179342892007-12-12T16:00:00.000-05:002007-12-12T16:45:17.061-05:00

Ahhh, finals. The urge to waste valuable study time on random websites is almost irresistible... so I'm not resisting it. Instead, I give you a list of mondegreens from England Dan and John Ford Coley's song "I'd Really Love to See You Tonight".Original lyrics:I'm not talkin' 'bout movin' inand I don't want to change your life.Misheard as:I'm not talkin' 'bout:forgivin'the linen / the linens / my

Jane Shevtsovhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13689631181076302842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18754958.post-16466169061340930652007-05-03T22:41:00.000-04:002007-05-03T22:41:06.728-04:00

Wally Schirra died today. I'm playing "Fire in the Sky" and "Hope Eyrie" in his honor.

Jane Shevtsovhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13689631181076302842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18754958.post-89125020679250310782007-03-26T23:09:00.000-04:002007-03-26T23:49:53.210-04:00

A promising-looking article about mushroom hunters in northern California focuses mostly on the "dark side" of the activity -- fines and possible poisonings. While these, particularly the latter, are real threats, people go overboard over them. One spectacularly silly quote, from the director of the Sacramento division of the California poison control system: "If you're going to eat mushrooms,

Jane Shevtsovhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13689631181076302842noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18754958.post-41850102758369183172007-02-24T22:40:00.000-05:002007-02-24T22:41:37.995-05:00

Human solidarity and the power of international connections, both at their best.LA Koreans Angry at Anti-Jewish Cartoon - Forbes.com: "Korean-American community leaders said they plan to launch a protest against the publisher of a popular South Korean comic book that contains anti-Semitic images."...Yohngsohk Choe, co-chairman of the Korean American Patriotic Action Movement in the USA, said, "I

Jane Shevtsovhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13689631181076302842noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18754958.post-57939381307885471332007-02-15T23:35:00.000-05:002007-02-16T21:53:22.821-05:00

Hello and welcome to the (slightly delayed) February 15, 2007 edition of oekologie, the carnival of ecology and environmental science. Let's start off by clarifying what ecology actually is. Jeremy Bruno of The Voltage Gate starts off a series of basic ecological concepts by asking "What Is Ecology? ". My favorite definition is one of the oldest -- the study of how organisms interact with each

Jane Shevtsovhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13689631181076302842noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18754958.post-52817885133800224382007-01-02T12:37:00.000-05:002007-02-17T11:05:56.577-05:00

We know that volcanic eruptions can change the climate. The ash they throw up into the atmosphere blocks sunlight, cooling Earth. (The 1815 eruption of Mount Tambora in Indonesia caused the "Year Without a Summer" in Europe and North America -- and led to the writing of Frankenstein.) But can climate affect volcanic activity? Several discoveries reported in 2006 say yes.The first discovery

Jane Shevtsovhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13689631181076302842noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18754958.post-26970849691220933322006-12-25T19:49:00.000-05:002006-12-25T20:54:22.951-05:00

Thank you, Bill O'Reilly. For the last two years, the normally pleasant holiday season has been polluted by heated arguments over a purported "War on Christmas". The allegation, for those of you living under rocks, is that political correctness is forcing Christmas out of the public sphere and "Merry Christmas" is being replaced by the generic "Happy Holidays".Never mind that New Year comes just

Jane Shevtsovhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13689631181076302842noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18754958.post-1166648652610188092006-12-20T15:52:00.000-05:002006-12-20T16:30:19.246-05:00

Today is the ten-year anniversary of Carl Sagan's death and he is being memorialized in the blogosphere. Here is my own little contribution:Sometime in the eleventh grade, I was browsing the shelves of my local public library and came upon a copy of Pale Blue Dot. That was not my first encounter with Carl Sagan's work -- I had read The Dragons of Eden a couple of years earlier -- but it was the

Jane Shevtsovhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13689631181076302842noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18754958.post-1165457832377766042006-12-06T21:01:00.000-05:002006-12-06T21:17:12.433-05:00

Chris Clarke of Creek Running North asked readers to describe what the world would look like "if our side won". We're not talking about getting out of Iraq or implementing Kyoto but about having a vision. What kind of world do we really want to live in?Several years ago, I ran a few Future History Project workshops in which participants imagined the world they wanted to exist in a hundred years

Jane Shevtsovhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13689631181076302842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18754958.post-1161733097572242362006-10-24T19:38:00.000-04:002006-10-24T19:38:17.650-04:00

Creek Running North is back up after dealing with anonymous threats. What does the writer's dog have to say about it?"When I brush Chris’ cactus plantsI sometimes wince or cry aloud,But for an online thug? Fat chance.My leg is lifted, and bow-wowed."

Jane Shevtsovhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13689631181076302842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18754958.post-1161659554176066572006-10-23T23:12:00.000-04:002006-10-24T00:17:25.823-04:00

Creek Running North, to which I have linked several times, is down. Its owner, Chris Clarke, who is an environmentalist and progressive activist, has had his dog threatened. From prior experience, Chris does not expect the police will be of any help. In a comment on Pharyngula (you'll have to scroll down), he writes:"My blog is one of the least important things I do. Becky and Zeke are up top,

Jane Shevtsovhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13689631181076302842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18754958.post-1161549419938326572006-10-22T16:13:00.000-04:002006-10-22T16:37:30.103-04:00

I have a confession to make: I don't like Charlotte's Web. At least, I didn't care for it in the third grade, when my class read it. (I disliked all fantasy and fairy tales at the time.) However, seeing the movie was completely different and one song from the film has stayed with me to this day. And a couple of days ago, I finally got around to looking it up.The song is called "How Very Special

Jane Shevtsovhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13689631181076302842noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18754958.post-1160760724779424162006-10-13T13:30:00.000-04:002006-10-13T13:32:04.793-04:00

Emerald Rose, "Penny in the Well". A warm song about searching for fulfillment.Tim McGraw, "Tiny Dancer". I like this version of the song.Alabama, "Fiddle in the Band". Can you listen to this and not tap your toes?John Denver, "Islands"Jackson Browne, "Running on Empty". A very LA song about growing up.Bruce Cockburn, "All the Diamonds in the World". Gentle and lyrical.Vladimir Vysotsky, "Vyet

Jane Shevtsovhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13689631181076302842noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18754958.post-1160536057944381222006-10-10T22:56:00.000-04:002006-10-11T00:11:10.026-04:00

Since North Korea claimed to have tested a nuclear weapon on Monday, geologists and policy wonks have been wondering why the tremor the detonation caused was so small. Was the bomb small, not very good, or fake -- simply a pile of regular explosives? While the authorities study and debate, I am struck by the surrealness of the situation. Human beings have weapons that imitate tectonic plate

Jane Shevtsovhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13689631181076302842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18754958.post-1160186392051832732006-10-06T21:57:00.000-04:002006-10-06T21:59:52.070-04:00

Jackson Browne, "Doctor My Eyes". "Doctor, my eyes cannot see the sky. Is this the price for having learned how not to cry?" A classic.Aladdin soundtrack, "A Whole New World". We learned to sing and sign this one in fifth grade!Peter, Paul and Mary, "Oh, Rock My Soul"Kathy Mar, "Child's Song". A melancholy song about leaving home.John Lennon, "Imagine". Music just doesn't get much better than

Jane Shevtsovhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13689631181076302842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18754958.post-1159934636936812532006-10-04T00:03:00.000-04:002006-10-04T00:03:57.033-04:00

If you've been reading this blog for any length of time, you know that I'm a fan of WorldChanging, and a couple of weeks ago, they posted an essay that I've been meaning to comment on. The question raised in the essay is, "Where is home?"."Home is a fiercely individual concept: it's hard to articulate all the elements that make a 'home'; our location, and notion, of home may change over time; we

Jane Shevtsovhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13689631181076302842noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18754958.post-1159714760101148752006-10-01T10:59:00.000-04:002006-10-01T10:59:20.883-04:00

The new Festival of the Trees is up and seems to have an unusual number of fungal posts. There's a post about a huge artist's conk (Ganoderma applanatum) and one with pictures of several fungi, most likely wood-rotters, growing on trees. But the close-up mushroom photos on Riverside Rambles take the cake!

Jane Shevtsovhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13689631181076302842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18754958.post-1159581060271619972006-09-29T21:51:00.000-04:002006-09-29T21:51:53.210-04:00

Last Saturday, I linked to a WorldChanging post that said that E. coli O157 is linked to factory farming because it prefers to grow in grain-fed cows. I have just become aware that Tara Smith at Aetiology has written on this topic and the issue is not really clear-cut. There may indeed be a connection between grain-feeding and pathogenic E. coli, but the evidence is hardly unequivocal. Tara

Jane Shevtsovhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13689631181076302842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18754958.post-1159579048440999742006-09-29T21:09:00.000-04:002006-09-29T21:17:28.450-04:00

An unusual amount of very good stuff came up today. I guess it's my lucky music day! Bruce Cockburn, "All the Diamonds in the World". Cockburn's usual lyrical imagery, spirituality and perfect guitar. Good stuff! Kathy Mar, "Flowering Green". A fairy tale for the modern world. Kathy Mar, "Everybody's Moon". Thoughful but light folky song. Jackson Browne, "For Everyman". Life will be good

Jane Shevtsovhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13689631181076302842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18754958.post-1159417364414528072006-09-28T00:22:00.000-04:002006-09-28T23:29:53.396-04:00

I've never watched Steve Irwin, but I'm a member of the ECOLOG mailing list and lately my inbox has been filling up with ecologists' commentary on his approach to education and entertainment. Commenters seem to fall into two categories: those who admired Irwin and those who thought he wasn't serious enough, that his wildlife-based entertainment had little value.I can't comment on Irwin

Jane Shevtsovhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13689631181076302842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18754958.post-1159328705340141972006-09-26T23:11:00.000-04:002006-09-26T23:45:05.616-04:00

I may be a fungus freak, but learning life cycles is, well, a necessary evil. Rusts, plant pathogens with up to five types of spores, are a particular pain. So today's lecture on rusts in my mycology class was a bit less than exciting -- that is, until we got to soybean rust. The organism is not particularly fascinating, but the story of how it got to the United States is worth telling.Like

Jane Shevtsovhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13689631181076302842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18754958.post-1159235445018494812006-09-25T21:39:00.000-04:002006-09-25T21:50:45.030-04:00

Have you heard of Anousheh Ansari? She's a space tourist, the fourth one in history and the first woman, and she has a blog that gets updated several times a day. (She can't blog live because of Internet connection outages during orbit; instead, she sends down emails that her friends post on the web.)Only the very wealthy can afford space travel right now, but what will happen in 15 or 20 years?

Jane Shevtsovhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13689631181076302842noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18754958.post-1159234477225390162006-09-25T21:33:00.000-04:002006-09-25T21:34:37.240-04:00

A lizard and a dolphin.

Jane Shevtsovhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13689631181076302842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18754958.post-1159028099902711582006-09-23T12:14:00.000-04:002006-09-23T12:15:00.013-04:00

WorldChanging has a great piece called Spinach, Feedlots and Knowing the Backstory. Did you know that E. coli O157:H7, the dangerous strain that is now contaminating spinach, thrives primarily in the digestive tracts of grain-fed feedlot cows? Where does our food come from, anyway?

Jane Shevtsovhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13689631181076302842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18754958.post-1158972047086277282006-09-22T20:28:00.000-04:002006-09-22T20:40:47.096-04:00

Animaniacs, "Parts of the Brain". Sung, of course, by the Brain. Linda Beck, "La Tierra Misma". A gentle song in English and Spanish. Bruce Cockburn, "My Beat". Impressionistic word painting of a city. Collin Raye, "Twenty Years and Change". Definitely the best thing Collin's written so far. Mindy McCready, "Guys Do It All the Time". Oh yeah! Collin Raye, "Sweet Miss Behavin'"

Jane Shevtsovhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13689631181076302842noreply@blogger.com0