tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-92151041540579519562024-02-07T04:28:04.301-08:00New York Erratic: Paleontology, Nature and Life In GeneralNew York Erratichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12910004748099284750noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9215104154057951956.post-85384243189813695112014-01-09T10:01:00.002-08:002014-01-09T10:07:15.105-08:00Eleven questions...<a href="http://www.rogerogreen.com/" target="_blank">Roger </a>at my favorite blog posted this list of eleven questions. I invite you to answer them as well! If you do, let me know so I can check them out.<br />
<br />
<b>1. What is your dream vacation spot and why?<br />
2. Where did you come up with the name of your blog?<br />
3. How do you define blogging success?<br />
4. What is your favorite type of “going out” entertainment?<br />
5. How many states (name them) have you lived in?<br />
6. What is your favorite holiday and why?<br />
7. What’s your favorite number and why?<br />
8. What would be your dream vehicle to own?<br />
9. What is your favorite hobby?<br />
10. How do you try and keep your blog fresh?<br />
11. Where do you do your best thinking?</b><br />
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1. What is your dream vacation spot and why?<br />
<br />
In reality, my dream vacation spot would be a tropical island or the rain forest. I love heat, humidity and tropical fruit. I'm also pretty crazy about wildlife and I would love to learn more about tropical animals. A friend of mine visited Costa Rica, and that sounded so wonderful I'm planning my own trip.<br />
<br />
In fantasy land, one dream vacation would be to Europa, one of the moons of Jupiter. It's one of the places in our solar system that might support life. I'd also like to visit any planet outside our solar system with life. Another fantasy vacation would be to the Library of Alexandria. Ever since I saw the Cosmos episode about it as a little kid I've wanted to go there. I also imagine the food was terrific in that place and time.<br />
<br />
2. Where did you come by the name of your blog?<br />
<br />
An erratic is a weird rock deposited by glaciers. I was picked up and dropped in upstate New York. I'm also a little nutty, so it works on two levels.<br />
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3. How do you define blogging success?<br />
<br />
A multitude of adoring followers.<br />
<br />
4. What is your favorite type of "going out" entertainment?<br />
<br />
I go out and do a lot of things. Lately I've been ice skating a lot. A neat restaurant, a play, a show, a movie, skiing, hiking... I just like to go out!<br />
<br />
5. How many states have you lived in?<br />
<br />
In the US only two, New York and Illinois, but I lived in Denmark and Germany as well.<br />
<br />
6. What is your favorite holiday and why?<br />
<br />
Used to be Christmas because I love the feel of Christmas - the decorations, the lights, the food, how everyone seems a little nicer - but I'm starting to love Thanksgiving more and more. It's like Christmas but people don't seem to be as hung up about appearing to enjoy it. It's more relaxing.<br />
<br />
7. What's your favorite number and why?<br />
<br />
I have a favorite expression with five of my favorite numbers. It's known as Euler's Identity:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/math/f/8/9/f897005615c391e14cd50112cda44665.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/math/f/8/9/f897005615c391e14cd50112cda44665.png" /></a></div>
<br />
I love it because it's like a poem that encompasses all reality.<br />
<br />
8. What would be your dream vehicle and why?<br />
<br />
A dinosaur because they are obviously awesome as well as being a carbon neutral form of transport.<br />
<br />
9. What is your favorite hobby?<br />
<br />
Yikes, I have so many. Right now singing is the most fun, but I also like writing, baking... my research in mathematical paleontology has become a hobby more than a career as well. Hiking, biking... ice skating right now. Just don't lock me alone inside and that's my favorite thing to do!<br />
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10. How do you try to keep your blog fresh?<br />
<br />
Doesn't Summer's Eve have a product for that?<br />
<br />
11. Where do you do your best thinking?<br />
<br />
What type of thinking? I think I do my best emotional thinking in church or during meditation, wherever the meditation happens to be. I think I do my best analytical thinking related to teaching when hiking outside. I do my best research-type thinking in the library or alone at my desk at home.<br />
<br />
I don't have my own list of eleven questions, but feel free to use Roger's.<br />
<br />
- NYENew York Erratichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12910004748099284750noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9215104154057951956.post-4307275937031983802013-11-12T13:39:00.000-08:002013-11-12T13:40:05.870-08:00The Best Selfie EverNo, not a shot of me.<br />
<br />
The "blue dot" story of <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21452513" target="_blank">Sagan, NASA and Voyager, by the BBC</a>.New York Erratichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12910004748099284750noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9215104154057951956.post-9879243967637647492013-10-01T21:31:00.000-07:002013-10-01T21:31:49.657-07:00WTHeck, Government?Before the shutdown, everybody said they "didn't know" if the government was going to shut down.<br />
<br />
But look:<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivrNZJ_BWHIFRpbXzMSfQzf6fUj0pskXX4oYJUOB1xc3fUoltXHkHUC4GxnQlc9-JAiCxX8StNTUfX9X_LINd6-UPgFOOcg8SxgDdQDQ8yx4Y73Q4kDQRhUa53VNalLm9ivujn882mXBk/s1600/shutdown.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivrNZJ_BWHIFRpbXzMSfQzf6fUj0pskXX4oYJUOB1xc3fUoltXHkHUC4GxnQlc9-JAiCxX8StNTUfX9X_LINd6-UPgFOOcg8SxgDdQDQ8yx4Y73Q4kDQRhUa53VNalLm9ivujn882mXBk/s1600/shutdown.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo from BBC News</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
They had all these nice, neat professional signs designed and printed? That doesn't take 5 minutes. They wanted this and planned this!<br />
<br />
When did this become acceptable? I'm annoyed.New York Erratichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12910004748099284750noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9215104154057951956.post-47297190167780966712013-09-13T15:24:00.000-07:002013-09-13T21:46:23.211-07:00Boundary of Heaven, Reach of the Gods<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d2/Voyager.jpg/766px-Voyager.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="250" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d2/Voyager.jpg/766px-Voyager.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<br />
<br />
In his post on the Voyager spacecraft's most recent milestone, Samurai Frog said:<br />
<br />
<i><a href="http://samuraifrog.blogspot.com/2013/09/35-years-and-11000000000-miles-on.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+blogspot%2FOcnm+%28Electronic+Cerebrectomy%29" target="_blank">"[Voyager is] headed out towards nothing in particular, but will come within 1.6 light years of the star Gliese 445, in the Camelopardalis constellation in 40,000 years, assuming it continues on its current course.</a></i><br />
<i><a href="http://samuraifrog.blogspot.com/2013/09/35-years-and-11000000000-miles-on.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+blogspot%2FOcnm+%28Electronic+Cerebrectomy%29" target="_blank"><br /></a></i>
<i><a href="http://samuraifrog.blogspot.com/2013/09/35-years-and-11000000000-miles-on.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+blogspot%2FOcnm+%28Electronic+Cerebrectomy%29" target="_blank">"I wonder what things on Earth will be like in 40,000 years."</a></i><br />
<br />
As someone who both teaches Earth science and works in paleontology, I think about deep time and deep space a lot<br />
<br />
40,000 years... It's only since the most recent recession of the continental ice sheets about 12,000 years ago that Man has become civilized as we understand it. For more than 90% of the 200,000 year history of "modern" humans we were barely discernible from the other great apes. No buildings, little technology, no writing.<br />
<br />
We have only had iron for about 4,000 years. We have only been using electricity as a tool for about 150 years.<br />
<br />
Today I am writing you from dozens to thousands of miles away. You will get the message in less than a second.<br />
<br />
200,000 years of history, but only 10,000 of writing, 4,000 of iron, 150 years of electricity and Voyager has crossed beyond the edge of our solar system.<br />
<br />
The ancients knew the planets were special because they moved differently from the stars. The stars were trapped in their paths; every year the constellations repeated themselves.<br />
<br />
But not the planets. The planets traveled the sky in strange motions, sometimes appearing to even move backwards. We remember this observation in their name: "planet" means "wanderer."<br />
<br />
Because they were not forced to move in the same straight lines as the stars, many cultures believed they were somehow connected to the gods who ruled heaven<br />
<br />
So I don't know what humans will be like in 40,000 years and I say anyone who thinks they have the answer is a fool.<br />
<br />
Because what Roman staring at the sky a meager 1800 years ago would guess that today Man would cross the boundary of heaven, sending a ship beyond the reach of the gods?New York Erratichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12910004748099284750noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9215104154057951956.post-36639748385820670292013-09-10T18:07:00.005-07:002013-09-11T03:16:33.858-07:00I, RobotYou want to read this book.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/ca/Ghostintheshellposter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/ca/Ghostintheshellposter.jpg" height="400" width="281" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is a poster for the movie <i>Ghost in the Shell</i>. Like the movie <i>I, Robot</i> it has absolutely nothing to do with the book <i>I, Robot</i> other than it has robots in it. It also has a naked lady. I have noticed that naked ladies attract people to blogs. I know it works on me.</td></tr>
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<br />
<a name='more'></a>Recently I went on a reading binge focusing on classic books that have had movies made out of them.<br />
<br />
Like many of the books I read, the book <i>I, Robot</i> is (1) incredibly good and (2) has nothing to do with the movie.<br />
<br />
<i>I, Robot</i> is by Isaac Asimov. Like most Asimov, it is perfect when you are looking for a really good, thoughtful but short and not too strenuous read, what I think of as a "bus book." It's wonderful if you just want to be caught up for a Sunday afternoon or for reading when you're busy, stressed and likely to be interrupted.<br />
<br />
Rather than focusing on a single story, it's really a series of short vignettes that together describe the amazing impact of the career of the fictional scientist Susan Calvin. Many of the stories have the same feel as an old Twilight Zone episode and are based around paradoxes, riddles and reflections on the human condition.<br />
<br />
I'll leave you with one of my favorite quotes:<br />
<br />
<i>"Consider relatively modern times. There were the series of dynastic wars in the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries, when the most important question in Europe was weather the houses of Hapsburg or Valois-Bourbon were to rule to continent. It was one of those 'inevitable conflicts,' since Europe could obviously not exist half one and half the other.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>"Except that it did, and no war ever wiped out the one and established the other, until the rise of a new social atmosphere in France in 1789 tumbled first the Bourbons and, eventually, the Hapsburgs down the dusty chute to history's incinerator.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>"And in those same centuries there were the more barbarous religious wars, which revolved about the important question of whether Europe was to be Catholic or Protestant. Half and half she could not be. It was 'inevitable' that the sword must decide - Except that it didn't. In England, a new industrialism was growing, and on the continent, a new nationalism. Half and half Europe remains to this day and no one cares much..."</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>"And so we have a pattern-"</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>"Yes. Stephen, you make it plain," said Susan Calvin, "Those are not very profound observations."</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>"No. - But then, it is the obvious which is so difficult to see most of the time. People say 'It is as obvious as the nose on your face.' But how much of the nose on your face can you see, unless someone holds a mirror up to you?..."</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<a href="http://abcwednesday-mrsnesbitt.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">ABC Wednesday</a>New York Erratichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12910004748099284750noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9215104154057951956.post-30124307783924718522013-09-03T02:30:00.000-07:002013-09-03T03:00:24.979-07:00Hiatus: Some Geological Truths May Never Be Known...<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOb-kI7w2MbfHlAIoNNm2J7q6bKRe1jIxGhpkSUwtJ0GTgyeL3yfLTTxlg15ehkdf2kS2UA69df2zroHu942eeoJn1oka7iswfcy_nYppDsbEKandxKMGSEHCOg99SQLjgJ1cr4-KV1WY/s1600/Pic-08052013-013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOb-kI7w2MbfHlAIoNNm2J7q6bKRe1jIxGhpkSUwtJ0GTgyeL3yfLTTxlg15ehkdf2kS2UA69df2zroHu942eeoJn1oka7iswfcy_nYppDsbEKandxKMGSEHCOg99SQLjgJ1cr4-KV1WY/s1600/Pic-08052013-013.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A <i>hiatus</i> in geology is a significant interval of time where there is no rock record in an area. The boundary between the two beds is called an <i>unconformity</i>. Here a granite deposited 1,100 million years ago is directly touching a 500 million sandstone. This unconformity represents a 600 million year hiatus.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<a name='more'></a>Sometimes in geology we're very lucky and the right "recipe" leads to amazing insights into a period of time.<br />
<br />
The <a href="http://paleobiology.si.edu/burgess/" target="_blank">Burgess Shale</a> is a great example. Strange, soft animals living more than 500 million years ago were suddenly buried under a sheet of fine mud. The mud kept away scavengers and oxygen, locking the animals away like mummies in a tomb. Half a billion years of lucky chances lead these fossils to survive erosion and tectonic activity, leaving the exquisitely preserved remains to be discovered in Canada in 1909. It is an amazing snapshot of some of the earliest complex animals on Earth.<br />
<br />
But usually we're not so lucky.<br />
<br />
Sometimes rocks are destroyed or altered by the squeezing forces and heat that move continents, turning sandstone and shale into quartzite* and schist. Sometimes wind, ice and water scour away any trace of the rock. Sometimes the rock is never deposited at all.<br />
<br />
We don't always know what causes a <i>hiatus</i> - a gap in the time represented in the rock record. Like a cut in video footage it can skew our interpretations of events.<br />
<br />
But I have always loved the idea of a <i>hiatus</i> because it means that we not only don't know everything, we literally <i>can't</i> know everything. There will always be some mystery.<br />
<br />
My favorite quote on the idea of hiatus comes from Darwin's "On the Origin of Species":<br />
<br />
"<i>For my part, following out Lyell's metaphor, I look at the natural geological record, as a history of the world imperfectly kept, and written in a changing dialect; of this history we possess the last volume alone, relating only to two or three countries. Of this volume, only here and there a short chapter has been preserved; and of each page, only here and there a few lines. Each word of the slowly-changing language, in which the history is supposed to be written, being more or less different in the interrupted succession of chapters, may represent the apparently abruptly changed forms of life, entombed in our consecutive, but widely separated formations.</i>" - Charles Darwin, On the Origin of Species<br />
<br />
*Pro tip: play "quartzite" on a triple word in Scrabble and your opponent will never know what hit him!<br />
<br />
<a href="http://abcwednesday-mrsnesbitt.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">ABC Wednesday</a>New York Erratichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12910004748099284750noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9215104154057951956.post-29175864294511497302013-09-02T14:21:00.001-07:002013-09-02T14:22:36.796-07:00An Ode to My New Table"An Ode to My New Table"<br />
<br />
---or---<br />
<br />
"My Eyes Were Bigger Than My Living Room"<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbI_FHrUxvgpegdes0gVKMNltgvqU_DbpHG7g-FCwBNBuFI1UBQVbMeJfyH3zUglIgADkdCPV2vurEfkWrLSecankKUS2tNcVv_9vA7r2W1yrLjZHOvglx0-OUG-ej4lnLwXU1yvrc9hM/s1600/Pic-08312013-002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbI_FHrUxvgpegdes0gVKMNltgvqU_DbpHG7g-FCwBNBuFI1UBQVbMeJfyH3zUglIgADkdCPV2vurEfkWrLSecankKUS2tNcVv_9vA7r2W1yrLjZHOvglx0-OUG-ej4lnLwXU1yvrc9hM/s1600/Pic-08312013-002.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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<a name='more'></a><br />
<br />
Oh beautiful table, where will you go?<br />
Now that I own you, I simply don't know.<br />
<br />
A woman online said that you had to go<br />
You were so lovely I couldn't say no<br />
You came with four chairs, a price hard to beat<br />
I answered her post and asked where to meet<br />
<br />
I took your legs off, I lugged you inside<br />
But put together you had a surprise<br />
<br />
You're a wonderful table of solid hardwood<br />
I was planning to put you where the card table stood<br />
<br />
But you're too tall for my windows<br />
Can't fit through my doors<br />
And dragging you around<br />
Is scratching my floors<br />
<br />
Oh beautiful table, where will you go?<br />
Now that I own you, I simply don't know.New York Erratichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12910004748099284750noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9215104154057951956.post-49987815116248946812013-09-01T06:15:00.003-07:002013-09-01T06:16:13.538-07:00When People Ask...When people ask "How can you get lost in a town of 30,000 people?," this is why.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy4PubtTRdqmwdahPJB7fdzLqAtXEqe8tLcxuHE3N5hIIwsZvYrTHMMj2qeSRPn8SDohIQfJlSPokG6u-NZN12MlOFgJHLM-8DGlebptSX2tm-IV1eaxEjSM3jKu4zYmiocxpwGxIppLE/s1600/Pic-08022013-002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy4PubtTRdqmwdahPJB7fdzLqAtXEqe8tLcxuHE3N5hIIwsZvYrTHMMj2qeSRPn8SDohIQfJlSPokG6u-NZN12MlOFgJHLM-8DGlebptSX2tm-IV1eaxEjSM3jKu4zYmiocxpwGxIppLE/s1600/Pic-08022013-002.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"South. You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means..."</td></tr>
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<br />New York Erratichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12910004748099284750noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9215104154057951956.post-34395371332067128872013-08-27T03:02:00.001-07:002013-08-27T03:06:42.635-07:00Glaciers in Illinois and New YorkIf you live anywhere near the Great Lakes, then the evidence of glaciation can be seen all around you. You just need to know how to look!<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUmUr14rPskCdFJZ2wpQKA1tBn4yc2lrtshrQg50vEe6eBBakZEmQjwQlKrTwxz7vTmuv8Klb4U7yerTNBw5j_AEB9o54bPZrWl6UCugBb_boDDm9NfoThIMxgJNT-uzQj-B3FaH-JRJM/s1600/2013-07-20+12.30.18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUmUr14rPskCdFJZ2wpQKA1tBn4yc2lrtshrQg50vEe6eBBakZEmQjwQlKrTwxz7vTmuv8Klb4U7yerTNBw5j_AEB9o54bPZrWl6UCugBb_boDDm9NfoThIMxgJNT-uzQj-B3FaH-JRJM/s1600/2013-07-20+12.30.18.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here a river has cut through a glacial feature known as a <i>moraine</i>. It's in a forest preserve in Palos Hills, IL, which is is just outside of Chicago. That's me. Picture by my friend Tom.</td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<a name='more'></a>Have you ever seen a pile of fine dirt mixed with random rocks? Have you ever wondered what that was?<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
If you live anywhere near the Great Lakes, you're very likely looking at a natural sediment called <i>till</i>. Till is one of the signs that glaciers once covered the area around the Great Lakes.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Other features that are easy to spot are large, rounded rocks that look like they were just dropped there. Those are <i>erratics*.</i> They're very often made of granite. This is because granite is so hard it's difficult to erode.</div>
<div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6BpGb_Frw-qo0P3vQBCwTERp1I8fuurmHBlL1U3NTqfgsI_kEal59uMrxTaYTUdczmqRNNMnrq7kNstyv9u1fSgUXWweatUXdfoglr2SaX94lzMRkBfX-8URx_aJC8XJFVE_rx6UrJs0/s1600/fun+photos+048.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6BpGb_Frw-qo0P3vQBCwTERp1I8fuurmHBlL1U3NTqfgsI_kEal59uMrxTaYTUdczmqRNNMnrq7kNstyv9u1fSgUXWweatUXdfoglr2SaX94lzMRkBfX-8URx_aJC8XJFVE_rx6UrJs0/s1600/fun+photos+048.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An erratic from the same area of Palos Hills. Photo by me.</td></tr>
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<div>
You can also find long, deep scratches or grooves across rocks. These are known glacial <i>striations</i>.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYo5tpp4KCrstvaddqeXgNVcEnIR6BxNVOhBc1TP3HL70m6qaqY-tgecY4evG2QxJRmanb9AA3wEK6y6gFyT_1uOUgbV8HguGlDh-G-cVaIXTIsEHQOZpSn2PPy2zwxEfBiKOH1SeaHVY/s1600/Pic-08052013-010.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYo5tpp4KCrstvaddqeXgNVcEnIR6BxNVOhBc1TP3HL70m6qaqY-tgecY4evG2QxJRmanb9AA3wEK6y6gFyT_1uOUgbV8HguGlDh-G-cVaIXTIsEHQOZpSn2PPy2zwxEfBiKOH1SeaHVY/s1600/Pic-08052013-010.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Glacial striations in a small trough. This photo was taken near the entrance of Keewaydin State Park in Alexandria Bay, NY. Those are my keys for scale. Photo by me. </td></tr>
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<div>
So if you live anywhere near Chicago or in the state of New York, evidence of glaciers are all around you. So keep your eyes open for them!</div>
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*This blog is named after <i>glacial erratics</i>.<br />
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<a href="http://abcwednesday-mrsnesbitt.blogspot.com/2013/08/letter-g-to-google.html" target="_blank">ABC Wednesday</a></div>
New York Erratichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12910004748099284750noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9215104154057951956.post-86947270942618413972013-08-24T06:12:00.001-07:002013-08-24T19:34:37.992-07:00Cool KarstsAt first I was annoyed that we weren't going to the site we had planned and were instead going to a quarry almost an hour away. I wasn't annoyed once we got there.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnt22x1Ln-S-xFKtLzAxPemeSVnaYNowEW_xCph2I1dC1eurm1GGyR57HPxuxhvLcgG-CFhns61V5hj1JWa93kFCm_JevEXTzzOWPypkS8vmdCxtjsUy1GWZyDzzmQ9ZQKrCfnCQ24nP0/s1600/Pic-08232013-030.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnt22x1Ln-S-xFKtLzAxPemeSVnaYNowEW_xCph2I1dC1eurm1GGyR57HPxuxhvLcgG-CFhns61V5hj1JWa93kFCm_JevEXTzzOWPypkS8vmdCxtjsUy1GWZyDzzmQ9ZQKrCfnCQ24nP0/s320/Pic-08232013-030.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stunning karsts near Boonville, just north of Utica. Photo by me.</td></tr>
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<a name='more'></a>One of the coolest things about the North Country is its stunning range of geologic features.<br />
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A colleague and I had been planning to visit potential field trip sites for over a week. Our previous excursion had been pretty successful. Near Alexandra Bay we visited some beautiful granitic gneiss outcrops that clearly showed the scars of the last glaciation. Nearby there was a lovely contact between a Cambrian sandstone and the Mesoproterozoic igneous rocks of the Canadian Shield.*<br />
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But what was supposed to be just another student field trip recon turned out to be something more spectacular.<br />
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Limestone is very common in the North Country. It's what's just beneath the soil and why North Country water is often very hard.<br />
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Just north of Boonville, NY, the Sugar River has carried away the thin soil from the limestone bedrock, leaving it exposed to rain and surface water.<br />
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Rain and surface water are naturally slightly acidic. This acidic water dissolves the limestone and forms what geologists call <i>karst topography</i>. In other words, the strange ethereal landscape you see in the pictures below.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitsGOPCJO88vIMdjp-R-L6uRZJFqtEKNhwoo_D4S037u4IVYZLbZQ27b4nBX0BI2Mp4v4SbPZ8ZlMklFvEyTQdblH5xG0C9DRX_7otA1cyLxdkCULywUvTbprRrYR-KWkcxpyon2Nqsmc/s1600/Pic-08232013-031.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitsGOPCJO88vIMdjp-R-L6uRZJFqtEKNhwoo_D4S037u4IVYZLbZQ27b4nBX0BI2Mp4v4SbPZ8ZlMklFvEyTQdblH5xG0C9DRX_7otA1cyLxdkCULywUvTbprRrYR-KWkcxpyon2Nqsmc/s320/Pic-08232013-031.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Sugar River disappearing to some subterranean system. Disappearing streams are a hallmark feature of karst topography. Photo by me.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlTJnR4u2tGt3HqWiWHY66SEo2lHFUc3vpYu1I8JAkIjO8FAd3RO7cnpUwh39niRV4gvWfXYZdqiA5ZE_rap1YCfxYPMdo5Uu31NyL8AjOue9LxZLpgLhAR0YgqH-I1rtqQu4Rw_b3244/s1600/Pic-08232013-004.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlTJnR4u2tGt3HqWiWHY66SEo2lHFUc3vpYu1I8JAkIjO8FAd3RO7cnpUwh39niRV4gvWfXYZdqiA5ZE_rap1YCfxYPMdo5Uu31NyL8AjOue9LxZLpgLhAR0YgqH-I1rtqQu4Rw_b3244/s320/Pic-08232013-004.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">When the Sugar River is low, life fills the moist fissures in the rocks. Photo by me.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR1xFY4qqupGjbP8xFf8DRukOMPgPUFpbo4YbssX4JYwHVAj2F5jbS69L7g8wIVLs3ByxYJ_q5P0GA7U26YsBSUHfsCGDWoPExxOw60BjVBS_FQNIc3ALUFKUKyu3oYSOVpLbtUSCJ0_4/s1600/Pic-08232013-029.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR1xFY4qqupGjbP8xFf8DRukOMPgPUFpbo4YbssX4JYwHVAj2F5jbS69L7g8wIVLs3ByxYJ_q5P0GA7U26YsBSUHfsCGDWoPExxOw60BjVBS_FQNIc3ALUFKUKyu3oYSOVpLbtUSCJ0_4/s320/Pic-08232013-029.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Though beautiful, you have to be careful where you step. Cracks and rushing water can be hidden by plants. Photo by me.</td></tr>
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*For those interested, the Cambrian is a time period between 542 and 488 million years ago, while the Mesoproterozoic is between 1,600 and 1,000 million years old. The Cambrian is interesting to most people because it was during the Cambrian that fossilization of animals and their burrows became common. There is a huge debate about whether or not that means that complex animals first became common and widespread during the Cambrian or if animals were common in the very late Neoproterozoic but soft bodied and non-burrowing.New York Erratichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12910004748099284750noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9215104154057951956.post-11715815409134751762013-08-18T06:38:00.002-07:002013-08-24T19:34:02.756-07:00Grown-up MovesI should have been tipped off when every person I talked to said "You're moving? Wow. That sucks."<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdUbF-NlisbcMLT0f2DiNAZYHVwlGvb1_QiFlp3ra3un9-kdIjswA-5AK1UzHJjENKYari18hSlb2jebIe3XcRWltdjCV-p8UJ_fi7YQcDAvws7W2210GEwU299-ffj0k2P-sXz58fMf4/s1600/Pic-07272013-002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdUbF-NlisbcMLT0f2DiNAZYHVwlGvb1_QiFlp3ra3un9-kdIjswA-5AK1UzHJjENKYari18hSlb2jebIe3XcRWltdjCV-p8UJ_fi7YQcDAvws7W2210GEwU299-ffj0k2P-sXz58fMf4/s1600/Pic-07272013-002.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some friends say that they'll go to hell and back for you. But how many friends are willing to go to Cleveland at 3 am for you?</td></tr>
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<a name='more'></a>So I have survived my first grown up move. Moving as an adult, it turns out, is radically different from moving as a student.<br />
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I have moved long distances before. For example, I moved to Europe. However, moving as an adult alone from an apartment filled with furniture, books and other things I want to keep is tremendously different.<br />
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One thing I learned is that packing involves <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeno's_paradoxes" target="_blank">Zeno's Dichotomy Paradox</a>, which goes something this:<br />
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<i>Suppose it takes 2 hours to pack half your stuff. It then will take approximately 2 hours to pack the next half of your stuff, or 1/4 of your total stuff. The next half of your stuff (1/8 of your total stuff) will also, surprisingly, take 2 hours, and so on.</i><br />
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So... how long does it take to pack all your stuff? Before I was aware of the Zeno's Paradox problem, I had figured it would take about 8 hours to pack all my stuff. But like any math teacher will tell you it will take <i>an infinite amount of time to pack all your stuff</i>. This is a real phenomenon, and one that I plan to account for in my next move.<br />
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I am really excited to be in my new home. There are things I'm going to miss, like my friends. My close friends in Chicago are amazing and irreplaceable.<br />
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Other things I will miss in my new home includes things like Indian food. There isn't an Indian restaurant for at least 50 miles.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBP31VjLJ8OOdg_cAMK5IObHoW-OMT4dNyd6d2BtsgpjsVX-ad8NeR68niASFj6DkVvCoVs6RswJWFMbmDPlsUUavO7SF-MX-qXFB2e1RzqgoqTcnl2LkN6pUAzP9Z8vIMSSpWyqh4LT8/s1600/Pic-07242013-002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBP31VjLJ8OOdg_cAMK5IObHoW-OMT4dNyd6d2BtsgpjsVX-ad8NeR68niASFj6DkVvCoVs6RswJWFMbmDPlsUUavO7SF-MX-qXFB2e1RzqgoqTcnl2LkN6pUAzP9Z8vIMSSpWyqh4LT8/s1600/Pic-07242013-002.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I will miss you, plate of spicy seasoned awesomeness.</td></tr>
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But on the whole I'm incredibly excited to start my new life in a small town in New York's North Country.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGUnW6Mw0ShA-h6vBiDM0Emg9BiDy7pkBCguI0rSpyPY_1ITGWvI5q_V88n1q1d0xsIb59lCmbkHFV10_yX3AjCDD6G8U7442LoGzRmRJ3PCFUSU_3pBp-QEZLNvbVY0ZmtvatGgK3SCU/s1600/Pic-07272013-003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGUnW6Mw0ShA-h6vBiDM0Emg9BiDy7pkBCguI0rSpyPY_1ITGWvI5q_V88n1q1d0xsIb59lCmbkHFV10_yX3AjCDD6G8U7442LoGzRmRJ3PCFUSU_3pBp-QEZLNvbVY0ZmtvatGgK3SCU/s1600/Pic-07272013-003.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My dwarf hamster Krav Maga, strapped in and ready for new adventures!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXLKwSypUUMeqanlApwVQNKBOqAR9Sq8aUVvrMa29Ccw2uK_pdOBQMJ2ogPcseu5HyxFknB-hrxAb6EDHWA7mYNDlfHyBnF9i3ShHk5hn9k-LhOtsWRZgjdVJBsa58bgKA4c2vd5-de0U/s1600/2013-07-28+10.03.20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXLKwSypUUMeqanlApwVQNKBOqAR9Sq8aUVvrMa29Ccw2uK_pdOBQMJ2ogPcseu5HyxFknB-hrxAb6EDHWA7mYNDlfHyBnF9i3ShHk5hn9k-LhOtsWRZgjdVJBsa58bgKA4c2vd5-de0U/s1600/2013-07-28+10.03.20.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My new home.</td></tr>
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New York Erratichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12910004748099284750noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9215104154057951956.post-34580262929714364112013-07-22T12:45:00.003-07:002013-07-23T11:22:29.837-07:00Black Mulberries and Summer in ChicagoMmmm... Black mulberries...<br />
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<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e5/Silkworm_mulberry_tree_zetarra_marugatze_arbolean3.JPG/800px-Silkworm_mulberry_tree_zetarra_marugatze_arbolean3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e5/Silkworm_mulberry_tree_zetarra_marugatze_arbolean3.JPG/800px-Silkworm_mulberry_tree_zetarra_marugatze_arbolean3.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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It's my last few days in the Chicago area, so I thought that I'd do a little post on something that played a huge role in my summers growing up around here: the black mulberry.<br />
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In Chicago black mulberries are almost a weed, so most people don't even realize they're edible!<br />
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But they're not only edible, they're downright delicious. They're rich, sweet, and messy to eat, which make them a perfect kid food.<br />
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Many people mistake <a href="http://www.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/forums/showthread.php?t=14468" target="_blank">black mulberries for blackberries because their berries are similar</a>. However, blackberries grow on a woody shrub called a <i>bramble</i>, while mulberries grow on trees. When I was little, I practically lived in the black mulberry trees near my apartment and school.<br />
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<a href="http://abcwednesday-mrsnesbitt.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">ABC Wednesday</a>New York Erratichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12910004748099284750noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9215104154057951956.post-46284580470786290522013-07-17T06:14:00.001-07:002013-07-17T06:38:50.114-07:00Weird Al (SQUEEE!)<div>
Weird Al? SQEEE!!!</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXWxnFq4iRX2gBuZmmv8Eqgsgcp-EJsL6yB_YklTRVfM5Q7B3btf1ha6iLIWsGPMI5wEjxJApwC8w8sadrDXaNrFOup8bijWP_WW4mV9gdSfhQ8vD7PeycjDSood5SalT4kBQDw8jfw7U/s1600/20130626_231621%25280%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXWxnFq4iRX2gBuZmmv8Eqgsgcp-EJsL6yB_YklTRVfM5Q7B3btf1ha6iLIWsGPMI5wEjxJApwC8w8sadrDXaNrFOup8bijWP_WW4mV9gdSfhQ8vD7PeycjDSood5SalT4kBQDw8jfw7U/s1600/20130626_231621%25280%2529.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
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<a name='more'></a>Welcome to my brand new blog on rocks and fossils and the wonderful nerdcopia of the nerdosphere!</div>
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That photo was taken several weeks ago at a book signing for Weird Al's new children's book. The funny thing about the experience was that I never thought I was the kind of person to go ga-ga over someone famous. However, it turns out I was. As a friend put it, I "totally fangirled out." Christine Levin's song about bumping into Harrison Ford <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lquZsEbgQOE">sums it up pretty well</a>.</div>
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So what makes Weird Al so amazingly awesome? First, Weird Al is smart - really smart. He graduated as valedictorian of his high school at 16.</div>
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But, second, he's also a little bit of a hero to anyone who said "Ooooh... this job was not what I expected it to be..." and changed careers. His college degree is in architecture but after college he decided to be a comedy singer. </div>
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So Al's music is a lot of fun, but he's also someone I admire because he had the guts to say "Wow, I worked really hard for this one thing, but it turns out I don't like it."<br />
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Weird Al doesn't just do parodies; he also does originals. Here's one of my favorites from his most recent album <i>Alpocalypse</i>, "Stop Forwarding That Crap to Me":<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/KCSA7kKNu2Y?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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[ <a href="http://abcwednesday-mrsnesbitt.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">ABC Wednesday</a> ] </div>
New York Erratichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12910004748099284750noreply@blogger.com5