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April 2005 Archive
30 April - The Mousening Continues
The Museum's hideous mouse problem continues. See, I've now cleared out all of the normal stupid mice - about a dozen have been conveyed to Takoma Park* - and now I'm left with a brilliant super-mouse. It taunts me, the fiend: I checked my trapline last night and found that all of the traps had been tripped, but there was no mouse inside any of them - but all of the delicious toasted almond slivers were gone - and the super-mouse had left tiny mocking mouse turds as a calling card in each trap. So now - it's personal (cue dramatic music).
* A Friend of the Museum wondered at my previous reference to Takoma Park - why should one transport one's rodents there? Takoma Park, Maryland is a handsome leafy suburb of Washington DC noted for its liberal foreign policy and humanitarian world-view - it's a nuclear-free zone, so don't bother to move there if you make a living selling nukes and like to keep your stock in the house. Some years ago, the town fathers and mothers banned killing mouse and rat traps and poison. Residents were encouraged to trap their vermin humanely, and then to deposit them in a peaceful wholesome rural setting, such as Frederick County Maryland, a short trip up Interstate Rt. 270 - I am not making this up. Somehow, the rubes up in Frederick County got wind of this, and a county-wide "Say, what?" was heard, even unto the town fathers and mothers of Takoma Park - official representations were made, and I believe the ordinance was rescinded, but one is still not allowed to have a nuclear weapon in Takoma Park - I'm pretty sure of that.
This week's Janus Museum Radio program is a bit delayed - sorry. Things are a bit hectic just now.
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24 April - M2, +2
Happy birthday to Max and Maxine, our Museum Cats - now they are two. Checking out the scene from the door of the Historic Cottage is one of their favorite activities.
In other small mammal-related news, we have to report that the Historic Cottage is currently suffering through an onslaught of mice, drawn to the grub-strewn chaos that is the staff lunchroom. Our Intern Zoe has found some cute little mouse-size humane traps, and the little brutes dote on toasted almond slivers from Trader Joe's. Once caught, we drive the mice to nearby Takoma Park, Maryland and let 'em go. One might ask, where are Max and Maxine, the Museum Cats, while all this rodent-hunting activity is taking place? Elsewhere - not interested. Looking out the door, or else taking a nap. Maybe I ought to get a couple of these Russian robotic cats, instead. Say, what are the symptoms of Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS), anyway?
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23 April - The Big Broadcast
This week's Janus Museum Radio (Program 8 for those keeping score at home) is now on the air (streaming Real Audio). This week - some elegant jazz from Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grapelli, and the Modern Jazz Quartet, too. Plus, more Carl Michael Bellman songs. And plus some other selections, and stuff.
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22 April - The Sitayana
From Hanuman finds Sita by Nina Paley
Sita Sings the Blues - oh, these are great - wonderful short animations by Nina Paley drawn from the Ramayana and set to a soundtrack of mahvelous old Annette Hanshaw songs. Via Boing Boing.
We do like reinterpretions of the Ramayana - here are some others. One more. And another. Just one more. Oh, and here's some Hanumaniana.
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22 April - Proposal with Gingerbread
Washington Grove's historic Deer Park Road bridge, pictured above, is under attack by Montgomery County's minions of "progress" - it is proposed that a horrid six lane brightly lit steel and concrete structure, something like this, I think, should replace our homely old historic traditional wood beam arch. Also, the new structure would require that our narrow roads be widened and straightened. Essentially, it means the end of life in Washington Grove as we know it. We like the bridge as it is, thank you very much - it's old - parts of it are thought to go back to the orig structure built c.1670 by Col. John Wallingford - and we're used to it. And it's fun, too - Friend of the Museum Brian Nicklas recalls that years ago, as a UPS driver, he experienced zero-g while driving his van over the hump.
So the Washington Grove Pacer Farm's farmhand Winthrop P., a talented architect and city-planner, has proposed a design more in keeping with the Grove's world view:
We are indebted to Ann Briggs of the Bridge Committee and to Chairman
Booher of the HPC [Historic Preservation Commission] for pointing out in Monday evening's session how the bridge's hump back design serves as an excellent traffic calming
device, and that if some slope is a good thing for the purpose, more
slope must be even better.
Based on these observations, design criteria for a successful
outcome from an "improve in place" option are as follows:
- For best traffic calming, more slope is needed.
- For best vertical clearance over the railroad, more slope is needed.
- Trains under the bridge should be reduced ~15% in height through
crude photographic manipulation.
- Decorative elements will help the bridge fit better into the Grove's
setting. Our cottages can be contributing resources in the most
literal of ways.
Here's Winthrop's beautiful proposal for the new Deer Park Road bridge:
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18 April - Catwalk Coverage
Very pleasant to take a catwalk yesterday after my dicing with death. The Janus Museum Forest Preserve is greening up at last - wild flowers everywhere - balmy breezes and etc. - and Natasha and Leroy posed very prettily. Later, the moules-frites, which were splendid. I accidently added chili powder, instead of the paprika called for in the recipe. But it added a pleasant bite.
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17 April - My Brush with Mortality
So there I was, proceeding in a westerly direction in my vehicle along Rt. 370, doing my Sunday errands. Lovely day, sun shining, sunroof open. Suddenly, a vehicle proceeding in an easterly direction spins out on the median in a huge cloud of dust and enters my lane just behind me. In my rearview mirror, it looks like the car's collided with at least two cars - I missed the collision by a second at most. Well, my poor heart was beating like a rabbit's, but I continued proceeding westerly - did my errands, mainly picking up the fixings for tonight's moules et frites (via growabrain). Returning easterly along Rt. 370, there were a slew of police and rescue vehicles. The guy had indeed hit two other cars, and all three cars were totally totaled - couldn't tell if there were any injuries, though.
I went all thoughtful, like: If I had been proceeding westerly with only one second's worth less celerity, it could've been me - car totaled, myself injured or even... the Late Tibor Szégy-Légy, joined the Museum Invisible. Life is short, and the chances to make it terrifyingly shorter yet are all around us - one is at the mercy of the next clown proceeding easterly, for crying out loud. And have I lived my life as if my westerly progression is about to meet someone else's easterly path at 60 MPH? Well, no - I haven't, I have to confess...
So I drove over to All Aboard Asian Express. After all, no one ever died saying that he had eaten too much squid and basil.
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16 April - More Gallantry
Here's another inspiring example of gallantry from Gallantry by Wilson and McEwen:
A lunatic rescued from drowning
ANTHONY GERRIGHTY,
Private, Royal Marines
On the 27th July 1878, at 10 p.m., a lunatic, on his way home in the transport Baron Colonsay of Greenock, off the coast of N. Africa, broke away from the sentry in the sick-berth and climbed to the fore top-gallant yard. Men were sent aloft to try to prevent his falling, but on their approach he struck one of them on the head. After remaining aloft all night, calling 'Murder', &c., he came down about 5 a.m. on the 28th. The sentries that were placed to watch over him then tried to secure him, but he jumped overboard. Gerrighty instantly jumped after him and, though struck at with a knife which Field had in his hand, succeeded in rescuing him.
The ship was making eight knots and a fresh breeze was blowing. (29.11.78)
Pvt. Gerrighty was awarded the Albert Medal.
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15 April - Maternal Cephalopod News
Friend of the Museum Mark Taylor pointed us to this touching story of Aurora, a mama octopus:
Aurora - with all eight of her arms - held tight to her dream of motherhood. The aging Giant Pacific octopus, a resident of the Alaska SeaLife Center in Seward, embraced her maternal instinct and was rewarded this week as her eggs finally began hatching...
Aurora began her long march toward motherhood last May when she was introduced to J-1, a long-in-the-tentacle bachelor. To the delight of aquarists, the two hit it off, flashing colors and retreating to a dark corner of the center's "Denizens of the Deep" display...
Day in and day out, she sucked in water through her mantle and sent waves of cleansing water over the eggs. She defended them against hungry sea cucumbers and starfish.
She continued to tend her eggs even after J-1, who had been removed from her tank for crankiness, died of old age in September...
Aurora's fate, though, is sealed. Giant Pacific females usually die about the same time as their eggs hatch, mostly because they stop eating for months and spend their energy defending their eggs.
I don't mind telling you that I teared up a bit while reading the story.
Also in News of the Cephalopods, I get no squid from cocaine.
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15 April - Gus Presents
Jeez, I'm shocked to see that I've been missing for a week - it's the damn project, plus we've been overwhelmed with the spring tour groups coming to see the Janus Museum cherry blossoms. I didn't have time to do this week's Janus Museum Radio, but Gus Norbeck, the Museum's maintenence man, generously stepped up to the plate and programmed something - here it is (streaming Real Audio) - and I know I'll regret it...
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8 April - The Blues are Just a Poor Man Feeling Bad
I got the tax season blues, so this week's installment (streaming Real Audio) of Janus Museum Radio features the blues - some early, very hairy country blues. There's even some Basenji-like yodeling in Lost Lover Blues, along with bird calls.
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8 April - Downtown Scamperage
I was in downtown DC the other day on business that may not be discussed here or elsewhere, and in a Capitol Hill park, I came across the sight of a young lady getting yanked around by a very busy kitten on a leash. You don't see a lot of cats being taken for walks downtown, and it was a very handsome kitten, so I watched for a bit and took a couple of snaps. The famously tight security on Capitol Hill has been pretty loose, lately, and nobody approached the little kitten to check its ID or question its suspicious activities.
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7 April - Meet Pierre
Who's a pretty boy? Meet Pierre, the Perry's new Basenji puppy, little brother to Dog Ruby. Basenjis are said to yodel (very weird MP3 of Basenji yodeling to the sound of a flute) instead of barking, but Pierre was too shy to yodel for me. What a good boy.
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6 April - New Spring Cat Couture Fashions for the Scampering Season
Cat Natasha shows off her lovely new beadwork collar, hand-made by Friend of the Museum Barbara Weitbrecht. Oh, it's a thing of beauty; and Natasha was very conscious of her elegance as she paraded around The Circle.
Leroy is lost in admiration as Natasha sweeps by - we may commission a slightly more butch design for Leroy. Here's a good shot of Natasha's collar, supplied by Barb:
Barbara's a very talented bead artist; this is her first cat couture design. Here's her description of the piece:
The collar is beaded macrame, with bonded nylon cord and small wooden beads. The closure is a magnetic clasp, attached with sterling silver jump rings and necklace findings (Sure, the kitty cats don’t know it's real silver, but anything else ends up sticking to the magnetic clasp!) The bell is a brass camel bell from the 2002 Smithsonian Folklife Festival, "The Silk Road". It is attached to the collar by ring of peyote-stitch bead-weaving. Cat Natasha can now pretend she is a "ship of the desert" as she jingles her way around The Circle. Or not, as she herself prefers.
I believe Barb is now accepting commissions - will be happy to forward inquiries to her.
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5 April - Outbreaks of Scamperage Reported
Friend of the Museum Dr. John Herrera of the famous High Speed Triumph Research Laboratory, Myersville, Maryland, reports that the pleasant weather is encouraging rampant scampering out at Soggy Bottom. Above, Felix Holstein prepares to scamper.
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5 April - Tensions Ebb
Jittery Beltway Insider guy, a highly-placed Friend of the Museum, answers my query on what's been going in with last week's tense Turkish Situation:
Aside from the bodies of a bunch of dead Greek fishermen being discovered in Izmir last week, and a large number of (attempted) illegal border crossers being killed by Greek minefields in Evros, not much. There are hundreds of thousands of hectares on the Greek-Turkish border mined and it keeps things quiet on that front.
I believe that we (and the French) told the Turks to stop their shit, and they did, surprisingly enough. When Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is not too busy suing and jailing reporters and cartoonists, he is pondering ways to mend fences with Washington. We just told the Turks that we must have full use of and access to the Incirlik airfield and he has agreed to it. I imagine that lingering doubts in his mind were eased and overcome with cold hard cash, and the prospect of a lot more of the same, but the Turks have a lot of problems that the current state of antipathy between our governments was not helping. The Kurds and fundamentalist Muslims are their big worry, of course but I think they are starting to view Cyprus as their own Ulster, i.e. a big millstone around their neck that will drag them down. If they are planning on just letting Cyprus go, as the price of admittance to the EU, the sabre-rattling was the typical Turkish communication that they are doing it because they wish to, not out of weakness. The Greeks were very ready to rumble.
Remember, Jittery Beltway Insider Guy reports are an exclusive feature of this here site. It's a public service, you know. Remember us during Pledge Week.
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5 April - More Spring Snaps
Taking advantage of the fine weather, I took a bit of a stroll - took some snaps:
Leroy takes a break in the daffodils, again.
Members of the Maryland Pastel Society visited the Museum grounds and painted the Historic Cottage and other quaint Grove buildings.
There was a brief unfortunate scene when Gus, who serves as the head of our Museum Business Ventures office, insisted that all representations of The Historic Cottage™ are protected by copyright, and that the pastel artists would have to shell out five bucks for a one-time license in order to paint their little pictures - shades of the Cloud Gate shake-down in Chicago. We cooled him down, though, and the Muse was pursued without further hindrance.
Work continues on Washington Grove's new Chardonnay pipeline.
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5 April - Scampering Season Opens
After the horrific weather conditions for Sunday's Easter Egg Hunt, yesterday's balmy temperatures came as a big relief to the Circle Cats, who were eager to get in some serious scampering time. Above, Cat Leroy is amused by a leftover Easter egg.
Leroy takes a moment to contemplate the Sacred Circle's historic marker.
Natasha (left) and Leroy enjoy a brisk game of hide and seek in the daffodils. Cats like daffs.
Leroy enjoys batting at a dangly thing held by Museum staffer Martha Norbeck-Wallingford.
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5 April - Breaking Turkey News
Not Turkey the country, but turkey the bird - Friend of the Museum Hank Burchard, the Squire of Pecker Wood, reports an astounding observation from his place down in Tappahominy County, Virginia:
I haven't seen everything, but today I saw something I never heard of: a wild turkey with a white beard. Twas a yearling male - or a weird hen - with a short but absolutely dead-white beard. Brilliant white in fact, when the sun hit it. If there is any reference to such a thing extant, I have not been able to google it. The turkey appeared otherwise normal in every respect.
I am going to inquire further about this, and it will ruin my reputation as an outdoor writer. My birdwatching bonafides were destroyed many years ago by my report of a red-tailed hawk turning on and killing one of the crows that were mobbing it above Rock Creek Park in Washington. All the authorities say this behavior was absolutely unheard of. It was a full seven years later that the president of the Audubon Naturalist Society reported seeing the same thing, but by then I had dropped out of the birding world.
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3 April - The Egg Scene
Washington Grove's annual Easter Egg Hunt was held today under shall we say inclement weather conditions - a plunging thermometer, gale-force winds, and occasional squalls of freezing rain - very charming. Saw more than one toddler swigging secretly from a hipflask. After the kids cleared out of The Circle, the local cats took over control once again:
Cat Natasha just misses finding an egg.
Natasha continues to just miss the egg. She's just not into the whole Egg Scene.
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2 April - Temporary Programmic Surcease
Due to the pressure of the project which dares not speak its name, this week's installment of Janus Museum Radio will not be heard. Oh! I know! We can listen to Smithsonian Radio Global Sound, instead!
And also consider the possibility of celebrating the bicentennial of Trafalgar by taking the "England Expects..." tour, conducted by our friend Patrick Tull.
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