Textiles

Examples of indigenous textiles (and accessories) from the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology in Hanoi (see Musée d'Ethnographie du Vietnam, Another Carving, and Bicycle With Fish Traps). Goes without saying, but these textiles are hand-loomed and colored with vegetable dyes. Exquisite. What are you wearing to work this morning?

Hong Kong

Hong Kong is a convenient, albeit pricey, lay-over for many of my study sites in Southeast Asia (see The Sun Goes Down in Hong Kong). With an area of 420 square miles and a population of 7 million, this city-state is one of the most densely populated places in the world. Image above was shot out the window of a public bus on the way to my hotel after a 16 hour plane ride. 

Ricky Lost His Apple Tree

Yesterday was a mess. Lot of rain, high winds, trees crashing down, rivers flooding, and many parts of New York lost power. My backyard is flooded and there is woody debris all over the place, but we have electricity, my basement is dry, and everybody is OK. Bad news is that my neighbor across the street, Ricky (shown above), lost the Golden Delicious apple tree that was growing in his front yard. And it was full of crisp, delightful fruit. Neighbors were always welcome to pick as many apples as they wanted.  This tree will be sorely missed. 

Waiting For Irene

They don't really know when, or exactly where, or how hard, but it's pretty clear that this is going to be a significant weather event and that it will pass very close to where I live. Gulp. [NOTE: Image a screengrab from the Hurricane Tracker at The Weather Channel].

Calamus erectus Roxb.

Another rattan from northern Myanmar (see Myauk Chee Kyein and Hukaung Valley Rattan Survey). This one is Calamus erectus Roxb., a clustering, but non-climbing, palm found in Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, and Thailand. Beautiful whorls of long yellow spines. Unfortunately, this rattan is more photogenic than useful, as the cane is relatively short, thick, and unflexible given its free-standing habit. [NOTE: Link is to the C. erectus entry in Andrew Henderson's wonderful Palms of Southern Asia book].

More Mantled Guerezas

Image above is really a footnote to this one. Don't like the fence, but its good to see the expressive faces of these incomparable canopy acrobats. [NOTE: Taken in the African Forest exhibit at the Columbus Zoo].

Wolf Totem

Am about halfway through Jiang Rong's (Lü Jiamin) marvelous book, Wolf Totem. What an engaging, beautifully rendered story about Inner Mongolia, the Cultural Revolution, grassland ecosystems, ethnic nomads, Han Chinese, agricultural collectivization - and wolves. Great book (thx, Jeff). [NOTE: The exquisite wolf portrait is by Danish photographer, Morten Koldby].

Ebb Haycock

The Ross Art Museum on the campus of Ohio Wesleyan University is currently hosting a retrospective of the work of sculptor Ebb Haycock. Some lovely pieces on display. Shown above are Vertical Figure (foreground) and Family Group; both are bronzed resin.  

Ziplining

Zooming through the trees of Warren County in southwestern Ohio. I zoomed first, clipped in, and then did the filming. Video shows Elysa and Amy completing the first line.  There were 10 ziplines in all; the longest extending over 1,100 feet. Wonderful way to spend a summer morning. [Ziplining experience offered by Ozone Zipline Adventures. Highly recommended].

Eclipse

A number of ancient cultures thought that a solar or lunar eclipse was caused by an enormous celestial snake that devoured the moon or sun. Lovely representation of this is hanging from the ceiling of the reptile house at the Columbus Zoo.