A little bird told me

That this blog needs more butterfly pictures (mouse over pictures for captions, click for larger versions).






Any other beesness?

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Helping Jennifer

Jennifer is about to go back to teaching her old art students (think Old Masters, minus the Master part). Apparently she needs an inspirational speech.



Musical version:



I've adopted the habit of taking photos of the bed of veggies when I make something that will be cooked on them, for art's sake. Maybe your students can use these once they've been put in the proper frame of mind by your speech, Jennifer.






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Chillin'

Nice post on peaceful things, which means a fine rant is building, I bet.

-Ms. F, on my last post.

This is true, although much of my ranting pressure steam is released via comments on other blogs. In any case, here are a few more recent pictures.

Ladles and Jellyspoons, may I present the Transverse Flower Fly, Eristalis transversa?


The local Datura grew to tremendous size last summer, but most were mowed down before the first frost. They're back again, growing through the brick sidewalks of German Village:



UPDATE: Walk On By


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Surfin' Bird

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A Wretched Hive Of Scum And Villainy

Obi-Wan: Mos Eisley spaceport - You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.



Speaking of wretched hives...



Jennifer Rubin at the War Criminal Post:

This is a sobering reminder for those who think it’s too expensive to wage a war against jihadists. I spoke to Gary Schmitt of the American Enterprise Institute, who has been critical of proposed cuts in defense and of President Obama’s Afghanistan withdrawal plan. “There has been a lot of talk over the past few months on how we’ve got al-Qaeda on the run and, compared with what it once was, it’s become a rump organization. But as the attack in Oslo reminds us, there are plenty of al-Qaeda allies still operating. No doubt cutting the head off a snake is important; the problem is, we’re dealing with global nest of snakes.”

The Washington Post no longer employs an ombudsman (whether the last quit in despair or was fired as a useless expenditure, I do not know). But the WaPoop can't just go full shrieking harpy, can it?

Update: Ms. Rubin has issued her nonpology.


I won't quote any of it, Thers has a fine shorter. If the WaPo had a shred of dignity left, it would fire this woman immediately (of course, if it did she wouldn't have been hired in the first place).

Here's a picture of the jihadist (h/t M.B.):



Last Update: That armpatch.


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A.B.C.

A.B.C.

Always
Bee
Crossing!

(As always, mouse over for alt text captions, and click for larger images.)







Fledgling Cardinal (Note the caption at Flickr.)

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Breakin' a Sweat

Sometimes, you just got to go with the flow.







UPDATE: J—'s link added. Home Run™ achieved!



RE-UPDATED: Here is a google search for "Zardoz zombie rotten mcdonald". Here you may find context and perhaps, enlightenment. Or perhaps not.
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How about an orb or three?

It appears that this blog has been slowed by blogging disease. Perhaps this will fix the problem?



Oh, and how about some Killdozer, just for the halibut?


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Fledgling Cardinal

Here is one of the fledgling cardinals in the neighborhood that are still being watched over by mom and dad (in spite of being almost as big as they are, at this point). There were two more on the other side of the tree, but I had no chance to take a picture...they've inherited the shy gene. I did get pictures of a couple more dads as I walked further into German Village.





As you can see, here in Columbus you can take the COTA green hybrid bus to Toronto, via Randal's place, and on back and across the ocean to Africa.


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Flower ID and Mystery Bee

That is the site of my Three Little Birds post from long ago. The plants? They are either/or Shasta Daisies, Purple Cornflowers, and Gerbera Daisies. I have some closeups, and I am pretty sure that those are Purple and White Cornflowers (at middle and right). I didn't even know they made White Cornflowers. They're all member of the Asteraceae family, which makes identification tougher for someone like me who doesn't grow them. I'm afraid I misidentified some of these as Gerbera daisies on a previous post. Although I can't afford the care and upkeep of an Ombirdspersonmoose, I'll make the needed corrections because I care about you, the reader.




In other local picture news, I've seen a certain bee over by this home's awesome garden (pic was from this post in October, 2009).



I don't think I've ever seen one before. It is like a bumblebee that is trying to slim down and fit into a wasp suit.


UPDATE: For those who don't know, you can click on the pics I post (at least the ones I've taken myself) for a much larger version. For those who don't want to click because it's too much like work, here's another crop of the Slimblebee™.

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