Another one bites the dust

When I go out on my bird surveys, which are sadly coming to an end (gotta get that thesis done!), I often catch the 9 at 9 on Bob FM. Listening to the 9 at 9 on Bob FM (the Austin counterpart to Jack FM in the TC) makes this scientist happy and sometimes perplexed that certain songs were ever popular. They pick a year and play 9 songs from that year. Yesterday was 1991. The previous day featured 1980 (hello disco!). I'll admit, I love jammin out to the "oldies", which now officially includes the 80's and maybe even the early 90's. Wow. Last night as I was channel surfing, I came across Nick at Nite and FRIENDS was on. What the hell? I guess it did start 17 years ago... and I am almost a quarter century old. If I were living during the conditions in which humans lived for most of history (small nomadic groups), I'd probably be dead (or geriatric) by now! Technology is really something, isn't it?

I recently tried to abandon coffee and cut back on my caffeine consumption, but it beckoned me back. I washed my coffee thermos that had been sitting in my office (with some coffee in it) yesterday and I pulled out a gelatinous like sheet of fungi. The next few minutes involved hot water and a copious amount of soap. When dealing with our close relatives (the fungi, closely related to the metazoans), the thought of me inhaling fungal spores and then dying enters in my mind. I cautiously approach our eukaryotic kin. Those creatures are tricky and sometimes nasty little things. Hats off to you, fungi! Thanks for the penicillin, beer, bread, and LSD! Our paths have been intertwined probably since we both first emerged from the slime and will continue to cross into the future. I wonder if there is a "Fungi Appreciation Day" or something like that. There should be. 

Anywho, the GOP primary race is in full swing, even though the first primaries have not yet happened. The candidates have been playing a game of popularity musical chairs, with Michele Bachmann starting out strong, then came Rick Perry, now Herman Cain and Ron Paul are rising to the top as the GOP flavor of the week. The wonderful writers at huffpost put out this hilarious gem today which pretty much sums it all up. 

Occupy Wall Street continues on. Rock on to the people have showed up, and continue to show up in NYC and in cities all over the country. Don't listen to the pundits or the douche bags leaders of our country. 

The rhetoric spit out by our leaders (particularly on the right but some Democrats are guilty, too) involving the "debt crisis", unemployment, and the austerity measures is so ridiculous that I wonder if they know they are regurgitating indefensible bullshit and just continue to do it anyway. 

Oh, and you go Elizabeth Warren.