Quick morning random

The internet is full of a lot of garbage, just ask my dad. But it's also full of amazing cool things. Reason alone for the internet to exist is Awesome Tapes from Africa. In many parts of the world, cassette tapes are still the currency of music, especially (one imagines) in areas with limited resources. This blog is the work of a man who collects these cassettes, changes them into mp3 files, and makes them available on the internet. Disseminate the worthy obscure! that's my new motto.

Before the internet, photographs were available only in bulky and wasteful paper format. I have several thousand of these. Because these were created using a primitive machine which did not allow you to preview your image before you printed it, the vast majority are complete garbage. I attempted to discard some, opened up an envelope of washed-out blurry images of palm trees, and realized I was looking at my first trip with my father, to Rio De Janeiro. I started to go through them--not a single image was worth keeping, but they reminded me of the trip--then I started to separate out the doubles (back in the day you would print two copies of everything in case something was worth sharing--can you imagine?!). It was then that I accepted that I was not up to the task, not yet.

3:00 snapshot #421, plus random

A zookeeper makes diets for small primates.

Unrelated to that, how about some mushrooms for dessert? I've eaten other mushrooms in the genus Lactarius but not the couple species called "candy caps." Now I want to. Not sure I want to drop San Francisco money on some though.

If you are a Portland Oregon person, I recommend you bookmark Urban Adventure League, the blog by my old friend Shawn Granton from the zine days. Like me he is a former Nutmegger who leads urban nature walks--but he takes it to the next level, leading urban nature HIKES and urban nature bike rides. This Saturday he's leading a workshop on long-distance (by my standards) bike touring, like with saddlebags loaded with tents and stuff.

Ever read a comic and thought that a 5 year old could do a better job writing this crap? Maybe he has.

Obligatory political note: undoubtedly you've already heard about Sarah Palin's hand note. Palin is the conservative's gift to the liberals. I can't wait to hear the talk shows take this story for a ride. What are her chances for running for president now? How stupid is too stupid for the teabaggers?

Urban Nature Pictures 2/8

A young woman photographing something in the park.