BlogNog

It's that time of year again. For Eggnog and Frankincense.

Here's a solar rainbow to make up for my slacking on the job.



Well, let's bring things up to speed shall we? While you were gone--err.. during the period of time this space was neglected the sun rose and set. The stars shown bright whether clouds obscured their truth or no. Snow fell and more snow fell and sleet and more sleet and freezing rain and more sleet and freezing rain and some more snow and sliding cars. I love my car, but it's unsafe without snow tires. Fun, but unsafe. Safety first.

Presenting the in-laws.


Okay, what's the big idea. Is this the cat claw the air picture? Why do we have to strike a pose. Why can't we just be ourselves.


I guess this guy thinks he's cool cause he's got his back to the camera. Okay, no. NOT cool.


I guess this girl thinks she's cool cause she's got her face to the camera. Yeah, whatever.


Okay, this girl is cool. Yeah. She knows how to turn her back to the camera.


Wait, we're not done yet. Coolness is about to go to a-whole-nother level. I didn't know it was possible to get drunk off of cold.


Now that is cool. Like really cool. Like cooler even than Siberia. Oh, wait, it is Siberia! Yes, folks, I'm afraid it's true. This is what happens to those who winter in Siberia. I don't know what's so funny about the cold, but there you have it. Cold silly.

This is what you do in Siberia during the winter. You knit, play scrabble and laugh. It doesn't get any cooler than this.


Nori blazes the way to new, hip trends in Siberian styling.

Cool, man, cool.

After about an hour or two of laughing at the absurdity of the situation, we finally awoke from our reverie and realized that we weren't actually in Siberia at all. But rather, the door had been left open. So the Siberian cold air was getting inside from outside, as in, a draft. No studies have been done on the effects of winter on intelligence.

Now here's a man who isn't deterred by a little cold. Ben erects a wall for his new private gym. Now that's cool!


Okay, now what is with this. Let me guess, another person who thinks they're cool. Taking credit for Ben's hard work are we?


John talks to Richard Scarlet dappled in scarlet light after the performance of the the annual Shepherd's Play. Richard's daughter Leslie played Marry, but we have no pictures because John restricted flash and non-flash photography during the performance and then lied about setting up shots after the performance. Way to go dad.


But we do have pictures of the magnificent stained-glass windows! (And Mr. Eurich)



Oh, and the red innkeeper. Everyone's favorite.



Sneezed in snow.

Old man winter. I swear, no respect.
"Haha, I got you stuck in the snow and made you late for school!! Hahah, Aren't I cool!!!"

%&$!ing asshole.


John fails it.


Piece of cake.


BCC was closed three Mondays in a row because of sleet, freezing rain and blowing snow. Old man winter really thinks he's cool. That's because he doesn't know any other way to party. Really quite pitiable actually. He can't have any real fun so he tries to spoil it for everyone else. Well, OMW, I happen to like missing school. It's actually FUN. so there.

Giving thanks with the Greeks.


Oh boy, it's the cool couple again....

What, you talking to me?



Teddy's toy, except that's not Teddy.


Oh please, don't be ridiculous.


If you're gonna go crazy, might as well go crazy for oversized cupcake.


What in the hell? Are we still trying to be cool?


Dude, don't even go there.

You are all sorts of 0wned.

Name the frightening political figure.



Butterflies with wing tips that mimic snake heads from the Rene's taxidermy collection.


Okay, can we close the book on cool once and for all?


Someone's idea of fun: snipping off the feet of teeny saw-whet owls.
Okay, that's not cool.

But I'm cute! Sorry bub, cuteness doesn't care about science.


Wow, the coolness awards are really heating up now. Tobias Heine puts it all on the line.


Seasons collide.


Giant ... thing.
another taxidermy thing from Rene's "museum".

Coolness submission #26. Exibit A


Forget it, this competition is closed. We have a clear winner.

Poor mouse has been traumatized by finger nail polish.

Well, you've done it again. You've wasted another perfectly good 2 minutes festooning on empty calorie frivolity.

Hope you enjoyed it.

Enthusiast's Taxidermy museum

In the basement of an unassuming house in an unassuming neighborhood in Pittsfield are located thousands of insects on display and dozens of wildlife taxidermies and moose and deer busts. Over the course of his life, Renee Wendel has collected them as a hobby. "Everybody needs a hobby in life. Everyone should be happy as kings" he says of his hobby. Tom Tying thinks he probably has a few never before identified species of insects among his collection, but because he is unschooled (dropped out of school somewhere around the 4th grade) Tom thinks he does not quite have a full appreciation of the significance of his collection. He does it purely for fun.

Now 90 years old, Renee is still adding to his collection on a regular basis. He says to Tom "here, you can have this specimen, I already have it and have no more space anyway." He has about 50 drawers filled with butterflies, moths, beetles and other insects. Most of his collection is local from the Berkshires, but some things are exotic such as the legendary Morpho (blue butterfly) and some cool looking critters from New Guinea among other fascinating exotics.

I will upload pictures when I have time. Been busy of late. I also am behind on a few other blog updates, including Halloween, small mammal trapping and owl tagging. Maybe during Thanksgiving break I'll be able to get to some of these.

Halloween at the Dreamaway Lodge

Fun with MS Paint

It looks better when you click on it for the full view.

World Series Update

The Red Sox are set for a repeat performance of their 86 year drought ending World Series sweep against the Cardinals in 2004 as they stand poised to shut out the Rockies as they just wrapped up game Three of the World Series for their third consecutive win of the first three games to bring the standings 3-0 with the Rockies on the verge of being shut out. Be sure to watch tonight's 4th and last? World Series game at 8pmEST.



Some highlights from last night's game:
Rookie Jacoby was the star of the night being the second Rookie in World Series history to score two doubles in one inning. He also became the first rookie in 61 years with four hits in a Series game, getting three of Boston's seven doubles. By inning 3 the score was 6-0 the Red Sox. The Colorado Rockies rallied in the bottom of the 6th, bringing in 5 runs to only be trailing by one. But the Red Sox were quick to snap back from complacency, keeping the Rockies from scoring anymore the rest of the game and managed to finish up the longest 9 inning game in World Series history (4 hours, 19 minutes long to be exact) to win it by a sizable margin, 10-5.

Things to take note of going into game 4.
No team in the 103 year history of the World Series has come back from a 3-0 deficit to win the World Series, putting the Rockies in a rather rough position. They are off to a... rocky start (ahem) to say the least. Between a rock and a hard place as it were. The Boston Red Socks were the first team ever to come back from a 3-0 deficit in the World Series playoffs for the Pennant against arch rivals the New York Yankees in 2004. The curse really seems to be broken.

Click here For more on the Red Sox and the World Series

Random Shenanigans.

Dan rockin' the Nat Sherman shirt.


A flower keeping the Co-op pretty.


I wonder how often the driver of that Delorian goes back to the future.

Actually, I think it's a Lotus Esprit. here is a pic of a Lotus Esprit Concept car from 1972:


Self taken photo monkeying around on the outdoor gym ropes at Ben's. Notice the form: perpendicular legs to torso. Not easy.


I dunno if images like this are boring or not. But fall fell. Err.. fall has fallen.


A fine evening for a hot air balloon ride. This harked me back to Australia.

A life less... ordinary...

A very curious Mantis wants me to play with him/her.

Come on, put 'em up. I ain't afraid of you.


Aww, c'mon, you're no fun.


Aww, man, don't make me beg. Won't you play with me?


Alright, whatever. I'm outta here.


In a deep Barry White voice: "I'll just be grooovin' along now. See you around."

Mt. Graylock

On the way to Mt. Graylock...


Greeted by the opening of the heavens at Mt. Graylock


Lovely Leslie lilts through the leaf litter


Maria leads the march


The wayward travelers: Maria, John, Doug and Leslie


John reads about forest succession where competition is low for the small mammals. (They'll be a blog on those later...)


Red is the color of war. A blood red leaf upside down is the signal of a nation in distress.


Maria tries to get the tree to come with her.




Das Ende

More nonsense for your horse sense

Joan doesn't like to be late, so she sets her watch ahead by 7 minutes. When she travels from Los Angeles to Chicago, she forgets to adjust her watch. In addition, her watch stops for a full 23 minutes before she notices. By how many minutes is her watch off?

One of the possible answers is the right one:

90
104
120
136

Uhhh... say what??

umm... there's 14 minutes between the first two possible answers.
16 minutes between the second and third as well as third and forth.
Ohh... heh, I get it.

mmmm, here's an easy one:

Which picture completes the analogy?

An even more absurd one

Brain Teaser

Complete the "pattern" with one of the appropriate images from below. Oh really? Pattern, huh? You think so, do you? WHAT FREAKING PATTERN!! Who designs these tests, honestly? If anyone thinks they know how to solve this abominable riddle, please, please enlighten me. I will be adding more brain teasers periodically, so check back often. Please provide your reasoning for your choices. Thanks.



Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater:

No dice

Well, I think the prosthetic limb was just completely covered by her pants and earlier in the semester maybe she was wearing shorts because I always remember it being pretty prominent. But today it was moving just like her other leg, with only the ankle of the prosthetic showing - and it was in a sock and boot like her right leg, so no blip in the matrix I'm afraid. Oh well, would have been fun. :)

The following is true.

"It is true, that which I have revealed to you; there is no God, no universe, no human race, no earthly life, no heaven, no hell. It is all a dream--a grotesque and foolish dream. Nothing exists but you. And you are but a thought--a vagrant thought, a useless thought, a homeless thought, wandering forlorn among the empty eternities!"
He vanished, and left me appalled; for I knew, and realized, that all he had said was true.

from "No. 44 The Mysterious Stranger"
by Mark Twain

This is exactly the realization I had come to that has pained my feeble brain for the last two years.

Here is what happened today:

Chesterules: strange thing happened in class today
Chesterules: funny, because I think about stuff like this often
Chesterules: what if something "impossible" happened in my scope of reality?
chesterules: why shouldn't something happen?
Chesterules: how would I react?
Chesterules: Would I bother telling anyone?
Chesterules: well, something did happen today
Chesterules: while I was taking my test
Chesterules: the overweight lady in the back of the classroom - the one with the prosthetic leg, she left the classroom after she finished her test -but she walked out normally - her leg was no longer prosthetic but normal. I didn't even much notice. I mean, I noticed but I didn't react. I watched her leave, to make sure it was her, and to make sure her leg was normal, even though I could plainly see that it was, I didn't need to look on.... I then went back to my test... feeling a little "uhh" about it, but that was it, nothing more. I had enough to worry about right in front of me, I couldn't worry about whether peoples' prosthetic legs are magically becoming normal over night.

Now I am very curious if it will be normal on Monday or if I was just momentarily tripping...

Short winged blister beetle or oil beetle

Happy Birthday Sharon!

Thanks for having me be a part of your birthday Sharon. It was fun digging holes and running the wheelbarrow back and forth. I needed the exercise. Sorry about your tree. :( Dan, email me the pics so I can post the foolish reason why the tree got hurt.

Ben digs a hole.


Sharon found some very strange antlike bugs. What to do? What to do? We pulled our hair out and screamed frantically. But we never were able to figure out what they were online. It shall forever remain a mystery unless Tom Tyning can shed some light on the matter in class on Tuesday when I show him da pics.




We also saw a cool bat looking moth:


It actually was trying to mimic a leaf, not a bat.


Dan heaves. Dan hoes. While Ben looks on.




Well... that's all folks!

Gone fishin'

Went down to the pond to catch some fish in Field Methods class. We caught fish. I squealed like a little girl when I had to put the worm on the hook and hold the fish and try to remove the hook from its mouth. I failed at both. Well, I eventually got the worm on the hooks. Tearing worms apart is not nice. Poor worms. Poor fish. Poor world.

The girls caught most of the fish.






Tom removes the hook for the squeamish girls. *ahem*


Nate and I caught some minnows.


All in all we caught 4 fish. 3 caught by girls and one by the boys, and the one guy that caught the fish was the one who brought all the fishing poles and is a fisherman. So what do we learn from this? Guys can't fish.


Oh yeah, and one fish caught bare handed by me. As you can see I'm about to eat it raw. "Riggling, and raw" mmm mmmm.