I hope many of you remember our maiden effort at creating quality nature porn with fondness. Eventually, I’ll be making further forays into the ondonta orgy business, but today we’re doing lady beetles. Well, the lady beetles were doing each other, but we’ve done the photographing and setting to music and so forth.
May 05 2013
And That, Kids, Is Why Superman Changes in Phone Booths
My amazing coblogger Karen found this bit of yum. The geek in me swooned with delight.
Bwah-ha-ha! So true, so true.
While we’re on the subject of Superman and The Doctor, you should really go check out The Metapicture’s wonderful “Superman in Britain.”
You’re welcome.
May 04 2013
The Grand Canyon! From Space!
I loves me the Grand Canyon. So when Ron Schott mentioned this on Twitter and someone else reposted it to Facebook, I was a happy human. Nothing like seeing the grandest canyon on Earth from space!

The Grand Canyon! From Space! Satellite image by Robert Simmon, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey and NASA. Image courtesy NASA Earth Observatory.
In the image above (top), the Colorado River traces a line across the arid Colorado Plateau. Treeless areas are beige and orange; green areas are forested. The river water is brown and muddy, a common occurrence in spring when melting snows cause water levels to swell and pick up extra sediment. The black line that follows the river in the upper right side of the image is comprised of shadows.
There are two more images! And an absolutely awesome caption. Go see.
May 03 2013
Geologists are Punny, Mark II
You all seemed to enjoy Mark I. The geopuns flew fast and furious, and some of you achieved heights I never expected. So Mark II seems almost anti-climactic, but I’m hoping it inspires you to exceed your personal best. I’ll do up a post with your puns soon, and propel you to fame, if not fortune. I doubt it’ll take much to get you all started.
Is it the beer? Or is it just an innate perversity in our personalities? All I know is that even the anti-punsters among us can’t help ourselves.
May 03 2013
An Outstanding New Addition to the FtB Family
I love it when we get new people here. I love it even more when they’re as awesome as Yemisi. I’ve only just started reading her and got sucked in the first night, ending up spending far more time with her words than I’d intended. She’s one of those bloggers who grabs my mind with both hands and stretches it out beyond its well-worn little ruts. So having her here on FtB where she’s nice and easy to see every day is awesome, and I hope you’ll all drop by and say hello and welcome and enjoy her as much as I have been.
Her intro post leaves me no doubt we have a superbly strong blogger joining us:
My tagline is ‘Proudly Feminist, Proudly Bisexual and Proudly Atheist’. These tags are not things I do part time or caps I take off when things get hot, as they often do, it is simply my life. I live it every day, every minute, actually every second with no apology.
Hopefully her archives will be live soon, and I look forward to her new material. Welcome to the network, Yemisi!

May 02 2013
New at Rosetta Stones: Re-introducing the Woman Who Inspired Batman
It’s a repost, I’m afraid, but if you missed Mary Roberts Rinehart the first time round, you’ll be happy to make her acquaintance. I’m hoping to make it to Cascade Pass this summer to walk in her footsteps a bit. If you’d like to join, let me know and we’ll get a trip arranged.
Enjoy!
May 01 2013
Cryptopod: The Most Patient Moths
Apr 30 2013
Who’s Interested in Some Geogallivanting?
Summer adventuring season is almost upon us! Lockwood and I will be doing an epic trip to the Josephine Ophiolite next week, and hopefully later this summer we’ll make it to the John Day Fossil Beds. I had a coworker prodding me about those the other day. You know, I love it when folks get all up in my face asking about things I’m woefully ignorant about, because then I’m all like, “Right! Field trip!” or get heavily involved in research, and I adore that.
You know what else I love? Proving to people they’re smarter than they think. Also, showing them things that make their eyes pop wide.
Apr 29 2013
A Personal Post from Karen
I have a cousin by marriage — we’ll call her Mary for the sake of this post, not her real name. She has lots of health issues, though the most dire one is bipolar disorder. It keeps her from holding down any sort of job. She’s married to a guy who has troubles of his own, and is often on disability. Family members say he’s amazingly lazy; I only met him once, at their wedding, so I can’t say. But they definitely have trouble making the rent AND eating.
I suggested she put up a web page (another relative, who runs a small ISP, will host one for free), explain the situation, and put up a Paypal donate button. I, and I suspect many of her friends, would be glad to sign up for small Paypal subscriptions. I got no response. Perhaps she’s having a “down” episode.
I want to help Mary help herself, but I don’t know how. She does fantastic things when she’s “up”, and struggles mightily when she’s “down”. She does take meds, but they don’t seem to help much.
So I ask you, readers of this fine blog, for suggestions.
Thanks, Karen
Apr 29 2013
The Real Heart of the Ocean
One hundred years ago*, a ship sideswiped an iceberg on its way across the ocean, and the Titanic legend was born. Speaking of legend, James Cameron’s film was so sweeping and dramatic that some folks think it must have been entirely fictional. But it was based on a true story, right down to the Heart of the Ocean.




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