The dodder plant resembles nothing so much as a vampire—at least in behaviour.
According to the NPR story Devious Dodder Vine Sniffs Out Its Victims, it smells the plant it wants to attach itself to (it prefers tomatoes to wheat, for example) and moves toward it.
Then, it becomes a parasite for life on the host:
Swarthmore College biology professor Colin Purrington says the vine starts out as just a tiny tendril with no roots or leaves. It then has about a week to find a host plant it can wrap itself around. The vampire-like dodder then sinks its fangs into its victim and starts drinking.
According to Wikipedia, it has a raft of folk names: “devil’s guts, devil’s hair, devil’s ringlet, goldthread, hailweed, hairweed, hellbine, love vine, pull-down, strangleweed, and witch’s hair.”
Via Mystery of the Haunted Vampire.
Posted by Amy as Science & Nature at 7:37 AM EDT
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Here’s an amusing site: What Do Your Pets Do While You’re At Work?
Scroll down to see the photos, which are introduced by the following commentary:
Did you ever wish you could have a hidden camera in your house so you could see what your pet is really doing while you are away from home?
Perhaps you are foolish enough to think that your beloved pup or your darling kitty is patiently sitting by the door, waiting for your return.
Boy, are you wrong!
Some of these photos are pretty similar to what goes on at our house.
Via growabrain.
Posted by Amy as Animals at 2:17 AM EDT
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Did you hear about the cow who swallowed a bottle of ink?
It mooed indigo.
Via Gary Hyland.
Posted by Amy as Music, Humour at 1:12 AM EDT
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One of the more entertaining pages I’ve come across lately is The Canonical List of Weird Band Names.
Here are just a few of the names the site lists:
• An Emotional Fish
• If Cows Had Wings
• Furious George
• He’s Dead Jim
I’m a big fan of one of the bands listed on this site (the Cherry Poppin’ Daddies), but I have always regretted the name.
The page lists names that range from mildly eyebrow raising to downright vulgar—some would say offensive. Consider yourself warned if this is an issue for you.
Via growabrain.
Posted by Amy as Music at 1:05 AM EDT
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Here’s a lovely site to visit: Keith’s Fractal Art.
There are numerous great images, such as Edge
or Crystal Cave 
There are also some great links to check out.
Via Ursi’s Blog.
Posted by Amy as Arts & Culture at 5:11 AM EDT
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Here’s an interesting site: The Most Fabulous Wedding Dresses Ever Created.
From browsing this site, I learned the following:
In the 18th and 19th centuries brides wore many colors on their wedding day. It was not until the 20th century that white became the traditional color of wedding gowns.
There are many photos here of wedding dresses; the dresses date back as far as 1759.
Via Quiddity.
Posted by Amy as History, Daily Life at 1:51 AM EDT
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As you probably know, this month marks the 40th anniversary of the original Star Trek.
There are many events and interviews being held to mark the occasion; here’s one to check out: An Interview with George Takei (who played Mr. Sulu).
Via Boing Boing
Posted by Amy as Popular Culture, Television & Movies at 12:10 PM EDT
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The Whirling Dervishes are a branch of the Sufi tradition of Islam.
They are known as the Whirling Dervishes because they whirl as a spiritual practice, one in which they maintain awareness of Allah.
Photographer DanK is the first photographer allowed to take photos of the practice as performed by the Mevlevi Order of America.
Check out these skilful black and white photos.
It’s a fascinating glimpse into a little-known religious practice.
Posted by Amy as Photography, Religion & Spirituality at 1:28 AM EDT
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Paris: the city that has the Eiffel Tower, rude waiters, the Champs Elysees, and much more.
Now I find out that it also has underground tunnels with stacks and stacks of human bones. You can check it out at Underground Paris: A Virtual Tour.
Here’s the site description:
Far below the city streets of Paris, in the quiet, damp darkness, seven million Parisians lie motionless. Their skeletons, long since dis-interred from the churchyard graves their survivors left them in, are neatly stacked and aligned to form the walls of nearly one kilometer of walking passage.
Welcome to the Denfert-Rochereau Ossuary– The Empire of the Dead.
This site is gruesomely fascinating.
Via Weblog V2.
Posted by Amy as Death, Unusual, Travel at 5:49 AM EDT
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If you’re a fan of unusual vehicles, you might like to check out Sports Vehicle Encyclopedia: Strange Vehicles.
You can find such interesting items here as the following:
• the Bionic Dolphin
• the Segway Human Transport
• the Batmobile (really)
• the Peel P50
I can’t say I’m very interested in automobiles (I can usually only report accurately on the colour) but even I found lots to interest me here.
Via Look At This . . .
Posted by Amy as Unusual at 1:42 AM EDT
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Here’s a resource for those of you who like to play games: Games For the Brain.
This site has numerous online games including the following:
• Sodoku
• Letterama
• Chinese Checkers
• TriviaNut
• Guess The Flag
• Crime Scene
• Number Hunt
• Square Words
I like to think I’m good at trivia, but TriviaNut defeated me. I did better in Letterama and Crime Scene, but I didn’t even try Sodoku—that game just makes me tired.
Via Resource Shelf.
Posted by Amy as Fluffy Stuff at 2:13 AM EDT
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I’ve found a good article by Robert L. Park that tells us how to be on the lookout for scientific fakes. It’s called ”The Seven Warning Signs of Bogus Science.”
It’s a good list; it includes such items as the following:
• “The discoverer says that a powerful establishment is trying to suppress his or her work.”
• “Evidence for a discovery is anecdotal.”
• “The discoverer has worked in isolation.”
Park cautions us not to follow this slavishly: “Of course, they are only warning signs — even a claim with several of the signs could be legitimate.”
This is the sort of article that should be regularly circulated to the public.
Via Shopiere.
Posted by Amy as Science & Nature at 1:43 AM EDT
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Well, this is fun: Ronald McHummer Sign-O-Matic.
The site protests McDonald’s giving away toy Hummers in Happy Meals, and it invites people to use their generator to come up with a sign that also states objections.
I’m not very imaginative, and I decided I’d rather see what a sign looked like that advertised alternative meals. So here’s my result:
Via Vegan Lunch Box.
Posted by Amy as Fluffy Stuff at 7:24 AM EDT
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As anyone who has ever been to Starbucks knows, a coffee is no longer just a coffee.
If, like me, you don’t know the differences between their offerings, check out Starbucks Coffee Product Information.
Here you can find the difference between Espresso Con Pana and regular Espresso, and you can find out what distinguishes a Caffe Latte from a Cappuccino.
I also learned that the person who takes my money and gives me my coffee is called a Barista. I did not learn why a pretentious title is necessary.
Via Knotted Knickers.
Posted by Amy as Food at 8:33 AM EDT
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You Are Apple Pie
|
You’re the perfect combo of comforting and traditional
Those who like you crave security
|
Posted by Amy as Fluffy Stuff at 4:10 AM EDT
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Sam Barer, of the blog Sam Barer’s Four-Wheel Drift, has had a little fun with advertising slogans for automobiles. He’s created a list of Honest Automotive Taglines.
Here are some of my favourites:
• Audi: because all the people you hate drive BMWs
• Chevrolet: the best vehicles that cost-cutting can create
• Kia: you get what you pay for
• Saab: quirky cars for quirky people
Via Hassenpfeffer.
Posted by Amy as Humour at 2:44 AM EDT
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Melissa Kronenthal at The Traveler’s Lunchbox has an interesting project going.
She’s collecting lists from people itemising the five things they think everyone should eat before they die. So far she’s received enough entries that she’s up to 1,220. You can read the list of “Things To Eat Before You Die” here.
Some of the items are particular dishes in specific restaurants; others are very general (“a vegetable you have grown yourself”).
I agree that everyone should eat vegetables fresh from the garden before they die, but that’s a little too general for me.
I came up with my own suggestions, but it was tough keeping it down to five. Here they are:
• mangoes
• basmati rice
• channa masala (curried chick peas)
• falafel served in a pita with a garlic sauce
• peach pie
Via Yahoo! Picks.
Posted by Amy as Food, Memes at 1:51 AM EDT
2 Comments »
Because this week is the 40th anniversary of the Original Star Trek series, Robert J. Sawyer is pondering his favourite Star Trek episode.
Sawyer plumps for “Errand of Mercy” or “Requiem for Methuselah.” Those are good, but they’re not my favourites.
I think I would vote for “Mirror, Mirror” (where there is an alternative universe where the Enterprise crew are vicious, evil).
For comic relief I’d pick “A Piece of the Action” or “Assignment Earth.”
I’ve always thought “The Trouble With Tribbles” and “The City On The Edge of Forever” were overrated–not bad, of course, but just talked about way too much.
Posted by Amy as Popular Culture, Television & Movies at 1:52 AM EDT
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Many people pooh-pooh the notion that there’s anything to the idea of intuition, but scientists are starting to take a closer look at it.
Now there’s an article written by Sarah Mahoney called ”Going With Your Gut: Strengthening Your Sixth Sense”.
The article gives some documented examples of intuition and offers tips to develop your own.
Equally importantly, it gives some tips on what not to pay attention to when you’re hoping to develop that sixth sense (such as general anxiety).
Via dangerousmeta!
Posted by Amy as Psychology at 2:19 AM EDT
3 Comments »
Here’s a nifty site to visit: Your Weight On Other Worlds.
You enter your weight (it doesn’t matter if it’s in pounds or kilograms) and the calculator will tell you how much you weigh on each of the planets in the solar system (including the sun, moon, Pluto, all five moons of Jupiter, a white star, and a neutron star).
For another spiffy site, check out Your Age On Other Worlds.
On Earth I’m 45, but on Mars I’m 24 and on Saturn I’m 1.5!
Via Ursi’s Blog.
Posted by Amy as Science & Nature at 6:19 PM EDT
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Family historians everywhere can only hope for the kind of fabulous material that Chris Crombie donated to the Mills Library Archives.
After his mother’s death, Crombie cleaned out her basement and located a treasure trove of documents.
According to the Hamilton Spectator, Crombie found “page after page of farm notes, the day’s news, offbeat poems, horseshoe scores, visitors to the farm, literature reviews, profiles and more, all typed around hand-drawn illustrations.”
The documents span the time period 1760—2002.
There’s another link to the story in the McMaster Daily News.
Via Books, Inq.
Posted by Amy as History at 5:41 AM EDT
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Click on the image above to take the quiz yourself!
Posted by Amy as Fluffy Stuff at 8:20 AM EDT
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The Carnglaze Caverns in Cornwall sound like an intriguing place to visit.
The Carnglaze Caverns are made up of three very large underground caverns which were created by slate miners. There’s even an underground lake to complete the experience.
It’s an area that’s now being used not only for tourism but also for weddings and classical concerts.
One nice touch: dogs on leashes are always welcome.
If I ever make it to Cornwall, I’ll do my best to get there. If you’re not going in the near future, you can check out their home page at Carnglaze Caverns.
Posted by Amy as Travel at 2:19 AM EDT
2 Comments »
If you’re a fan of medieval English music, you might like to check out the following display from England’s Bodleian Library: 15 Original Leaves of “The Worcester Fragments.”
The Worcester Fragments are pages of sheet music featuring vocal music that date back to the late 1200s and early 1300s.
You can read more about the Worcester Fragments here.
Via Mick Jagger’s Web Site.
Posted by Amy as Music, History at 2:45 AM EDT
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Here’s a fun little meme: the Random 5 Quotations.
You go to Random Quotes: The Quotations Page and choose 5 that explain your beliefs or worldview.
Here are the ones I picked:
• “Take what you can use and let the rest go by” (Ken Kesey)
• “A human being is only interesting if he’s in contact with himself. I learned you have to trust yourself, be what you are, and do what you ought to do the way you should do it. You have got to discover you, what you do, and trust it” (Barbra Streisand)
• “Learning is not attained by chance. It must be sought for with ardor and attended to with diligence” (Abigail Adams)
• “Not to know what has been transacted in former times is to be always a child. If no use is made of the labors of past ages, the world must remain always in the infancy of knowledge” (Cicero)
• “Develop interest in life as you see it; in people, things, literature, music - the world is so rich, simply throbbing with rich treasures, beautiful souls and interesting people. Forget yourself” (Henry Miller)
Bonus quotation from Mark Twain:
I thoroughly disapprove of duels. If a man should challenge me, I would take him kindly and forgivingly by the hand and lead him to a quiet place and kill him.
Via Ancrene Wiseass.
Posted by Amy as Memes at 2:15 AM EDT
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The BBC has a fascinating article about Nazca Lines.
The lines are actually 300 very large drawings on the face of the earth in Peru. It seems that they were likely created by the Nazca between approximately 200 B.C.E. and 800 C.E.
In addition to the lines, there are also drawings of animals and shapes (such as spirals).
If I ever go to Peru, I will definitely try to get a look at these.
Via Weblog V2.
Posted by Amy as Unusual, Travel at 2:18 AM EDT
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I see that there’s a list out that features the top 75 heroines from speculative fiction. The heroines are drawn from books, television, and movies.
The list features Lucy from The Chronicles of Narnia, Lady Jessica from Dune, and Buffy The Vampire Slayer.
To see if your favourite SF heroine is listed there, and where she placed, you can check out the following sites:
• 75-56 on the list
• 55-36 on the list
• 35-21 on the list
• 20-11 on the list
• 10-1 on the list
Via SF Signal.
Posted by Amy as Popular Culture at 2:39 AM EDT
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Suddenly, photos of pet rabbits are everywhere on the Internet, and I don’t think it’s possible for a rabbit photo to be anything other than captivating.
There’s the always funny site Disapproving Rabbits with photos of rabbits that look, well, disapproving.
Cute Overload regularly publishes terrific photos of
rabbits (along with some very funny captions).
One of the cutest is probably this one: Desdemona stealing a cookie.
Now, thanks to Negativesmart, I’ve discovered Bunny Yawns: a site devoted to photos of rabbits yawning.
Warning: it’s easy to waste a lot of time at all these sites!
Posted by Amy as Animals at 2:32 AM EDT
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In the Middle Ages, anchoresses were women who, in the service of God, were walled into a small room on the outside of the local church. The anchoress would spend the rest of her life there.
The room (called an anchorhold) had no door—the anchoress never left. However, there were three windows:
• one where she could receive food and talk to her assistant
• one, facing into the church, where she could listen to the services and receive communion
• one where the people from the village could consult with her (anchoresses were thought to be very holy)
Today most people would shudder at this concept, but in the Middle Ages it was considered to be an admirable choice for women or men. Men who secluded themselves in this way were known as anchorites, but anchoresses were far more common.
Here are some links to more information about anchoresses:
• The Way of An Anchoress
• Wikipedia article on anchoresses
• Anchorites In Church and Cloister
• Anchoritic Spirituality In Medieval England
Posted by Amy as Religion & Spirituality, History at 4:45 AM EDT
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