Turkey!

This guy is a pet of a man I met during work.  I asked if the idea was to eat it for Thanksgiving, as it was pretty close to the holiday, and I was laughed at.  He's far too old to eat, apparently.

This particular bird is a Narrangansett turkey, which is a rare type of heritage turkey, which are domestic breeds of Meleagris Gallopavo.  This particular breed is a cross between the Meleagris Gallopavo, and the Meleagris Gallopavo Silvestris.

Judging from the picture I took, this could even be a Silver Narrangansett, which is even more rare, as the Bronze, and Narrangansett breeds are far more popular.  Happy Thanksgiving!

A Dynamic Duo, or, those Low Notes that you Hear

Royal Blood

Royal Blood

Warner Brother Records, 2014

Produced by Tom Daglety

Mike Kerr - bass, vocals

Ben Thatcher - drums

singles-

• Out of the Black/ Come on Over
• Little Monster/ Hole
• Come on Over/ You Want Me
• Figure it Out/ Love it and Leave it Alone
• Ten Tonne Skeleton/ One Trick Pony

There has been a lot in the media recently about how rock music is dead.  Gene Simmons said it, Jerry Coyne from the University of Chicago said it, Pigeons and Planes ran an article about it, and I read a great article about the rise and fall of all great artistic styles with a focus on rock, but I cant find it.  The point made, though, was that all great artistic styles have a golden age where all the best material is created, and Rock Music's golden age had passed.

Royal Blood seems to be a glimmer of hope for a genre that has been in the decline since the mid '90s.  The music is fundamentally sound (pun intended), the lyrics meaningful and catchy.  And it isn't overly produced.  It's only two British guys, without a traditional lead instrument.  Move over Black Keys.  If it's rock you want, that is new and kicks some ass, check them out.  Also, the art for the album cover, and all their singles, is pretty sweet.  

Peacock in a Box

This is another post where I just show pictures of weird-ass nature that I see at work. Today, I have one of the coolest mostly flightless birds ever invented. Apparently you can keep peafowl as pets, as evident by these pictures. There are two of them, a male (peacock) and a female (peahen). The male is rather obvious.

There are three kinds of peafowl, these particular peafowl are Indian Peafowl, pavo cristatus, and are probably the most recognizable of the three species. It is also the national symbol of India. These birds are most closely related to tragopans, pheasants, and junglefowl.

Feeling Lucky, Punk?

I think it has been well established now that I work outdoors and see cool nature things all the time.  The other day I found something lucky, which I immediately plucked and took pictures.  After all, the internet says "pictures or it didn't happen".  So, here are your pictures, you weirdo voyeurs.

That is a four leaf clover.  I've actually found a bunch.  Usually they are found in the same patch.  Science says the fourth leaf on a regular trifolium repens (white clover) is most likely a recessive gene found at very low probability.  There are estimated one four leaf clover for every 10000 normal clovers.

According to what we can remember about Druids, they considered clover to be magical, and therefore, rare 4 leaf clovers to be even more so.  They were also thought to be markers of fairy gardens.

Because Christianity borrowed a lot of traditions from other religions, the clover stuff found a new home in the Christian mythos.  St Patrick was said to use the 3 leafs of the clover to teach about the holy trinity.  A four leaf clover looks an awful lot like a cross, and therefore would be extra holy.

Its a Snap!

I almost ran over this guy the other day.  Another segment in my "cool things I almost run over at work", I bring everyone pictures of a snapping turtle.  This is a common snapping turtle, the chelydra serpentina, found in North America.  Not as cool as an alligator snapper, but still pretty awesome.  I tried to push it out of the road with a broom, but it just snapped at the broom, and stayed right where it was, stubborn bastard.