Toads!

I'm such a good photographer. Check these out!

This is an Eastern American Toad, anaxyrus americanus americanus. He's a big fella, about the size of a baseball. They have a pretty unique call, described as a shrill 6 second whistle. This is what is known as a true toad. 

They say that all toads are frogs, but not all frogs are toads, but I don't understand this line of logic. Frogs and toads together are amphibians from the order Anura. Within this order are two superfamilies, Bufonoidea (true toads), and Ranoidea (true frogs). Since all the species in the order Anura are considered frogs, then I guess toads are also frogs, but this seems to be based more on informal naming than actual taxonomy. 

Anyway, this dude knew how to pose. 

like a boss!

For I am a Rain Dog Too

Tom Waits

Rain Dogs

RCA, 1985

singles-

• Downtown Train

So... Tom Waits. He is this legendary dude apparently, who has influenced a ton of musicians (M Ward from She&Him, the Pogues, Fiona Apple, Les Claypool, Mark Lanegan from the Screaming Trees, Nick Cave, and even Bruce Springsteen although they are contemporaries). Rain Dogs is supposed to be one of his best albums, the first of only two to be certified gold in the US. It is certainly interesting, and totally not what I expected. But I can tell how this became an influence for so many artists.

Waits blends traditional blues (which I like) with other weird shit (sometimes I like). Most of the tracks on the record are around two minutes, which is great, because I don't think I could handle four minutes of Cemetery Polka. This is definitely not a record (or a musician for that matter) for anyone looking for anything resembling a pop tune. Waits decided, in the 80s, that new gimmicky equipment, and devices for making music (such as synthesizers, drum machines, and sampling) were worthless, and couldn't be matched by conventional means of creating sound. This is awesome, considering these are the very things I hate about the late 70s, 80s, and early 90s. So, instead of creating a bass drum sound on a machine in a studio, he used 2x4s on the bathroom doors (that rhymed, by the way). 

I'm sure Tom Waits would be considered a throwback today, as his material seems to stem from early Americana folk, traditional blues, and other ethnic folk genres. In the mid 80's as American Hardcore wound down, Glam Metal wound up, and Hip Hop started to come into its own, Waits tried to put the brakes on, and it turned out great. 

The Shiny Blue

Wasps are so cool! Probably the coolest insect family there is. I'll explain later.

Today I found something zipping around my apartment. It, like most flying insects, started smashing itself into the window screen, and so I went to take a look, and some pictures. They aren't very good pictures.

It appears to be a Steel Blue Cricket Hunter. A wasp from the Sphecidae family, Chlorion aerarium is related to other thread-waisted wasps such as the mud daubers, and digger wasps. 

They look very similar to Blue Mud Daubers, but I live in the Northeast and Blue Mud Daubers range from Tenessee to Mexico. I live a little too far north for them I think, and therefore I think it's safe to assume there was a Steel Blue Cricket Hunter in my apartment. 

Chlorion aerarium hunts crickets. Like most parasitic wasps, this one uses the crickets to incubate and feed its young. They actually eat sap from plants. Apparently they have been known to sublet Cicada Killer burrows, which I run into all the time.

The good news is I persuaded the wasp to fly out of my window without stinging me. Lucky me, lucky wasp.

Carry our Bodies Safe to Shore

Of Monsters and Men

My Head is an Animal

2011, Record Records

produced by Aron Arnarsson and Jacquire King

Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir - guitars, vocals

Ragnar "Raggi" Þórhallsson - guitars, vocals

Brynjar Leifsson - guitars

Arnar Rósenkranz Hilmarsson - drums

Kristján Páll Kristjánsson - bass

singles - 

• Little Talks
• Dirty Paws
• Mountain Sound
• King and Lionheart

I love when bands from outside of the US and UK make it big in both markets. Of Monsters and Men are from Iceland. This is a folk/rock band, a genre that has grown in popularity as hard rock and metal are on the decline. The group is fronted by Nanna Bryndis Hilmarsdottir, and grew out of her folk project Songbird. They are very reminiscent of bands like Death Cab for Cutie, Arcade Fire, and Mumford and Sons. However, Of Monsters and Men has two lead singers, which allows them to duet, swap lines, harmonize, and sing conversations. 

During an interview, Ragnar responded to the statement "it takes balls to be a musician" by saying they have ten balls and a vagina, so they'll be alright. And so far they have been more than just alright. This record produced four hit singles. The album placed number 1 on the Australian, Irish, and Icelandic charts, number 1 on the US Alternative chart, number 3 in the UK, and number 6 on the Billboard 200, which is the highest charting Icelandic album ever in the US, beating out Bjork's Volta. 

Also as an aside, these Icelandic names are not easy to spell. Also, you'll note the Icelandic practice of still using the Scandinavian patronymic system

The Mighty Mighty Arabs

I have become invested in mascot name changes for a while now. I've posted about this before a few times, mostly in reference to The Washington Football Team. Recently, a high school in upstate New York has decided to change their 68 year old Redskins name to the Legends (apparently, a legend is a Knight). 

Good for them. It's always nice to see a group of people choose to do the right thing, even though moving away from tradition is difficult. Al Jazeera reported on this in their article here. An eighth grade girl chose the new logo and name and unveiled her winning designs at a town meeting. 

Of course there are opponents of the name change. Nothing is ever easy, apparently. And of course these people oppose the new mascot for the same old and tired reasons. Why should they turn their backs on 68 years of tradition? They apparently had no problems turning their backs quite literally on the 13 year old designer during the town meeting. The president of the town council was interviewed by local television and expressed his disappointment with these people. The news coverage is below. 

Apparently these proud Lancaster people who just want to hold on to their heritage turned the meeting into an ugly display, as reported by the Buffalo News. Some of them thought it appropriate to yell "Heil Hitler", which I don't understand. Are they being supportive of Nazis, or calling the council Nazis? Either way I don't get it. Nazis were all about using offensive and demeaning iconography, but why would you want to bring that up? It doesn't help your argument. And calling the council Nazis makes no sense. They are changing the mascot to be more inclusive and neutral, not because they are fascists who believe in a super race.  



 
In other name changing news, my favorite "accidentally racist" mascot received a makeover the other day. Coachella Valley has officially changed their name from the Arabs to the Mighty Arabs, and updated their logo from cartoonishly offensive to slightly more dignified. Al Jazeera reported about this too. The logo has been replaced, and the mascot and similar iconography removed. However, it's a pity they will no longer be belly dancing on sidelines. 

As an aside, the State of California has declared the Redskins mascot to be banned in the state as of 2017. I'm sure opponents of this are declaring that their state is targeting the four schools in the entire state that use the mascot. But... that's exactly what's going on. 

The superintendent of Coachella Valley said something truly important about his mascot change, something that opponents don't seem to realize or care about. He said the decision was easy for his school district because communities need to "forever keep our eyes, ears, and hearts open to the feelings of others even when no disrespect or harm is intended."

Frogs!

The other day this little fella made my jump. Totally unexpected, this guy was just hanging out in a fence post. The hyla versicolor is better known as the Gray Tree Frog, or the Eastern Gray Tree Frog. Despite it's colorful name, this guy is decidedly not colorful at all. Apparently this species does change color like a chameleon, only slower, and on a green-gray scale.