Petrichor

Erik gifted me a new word, in response to the post about rain just below.

I think that word needs a post all of its own ... Petrichor.

petrichor (PET-ri-kuhr) noun

The pleasant smell that accompanies the first rain after a dry spell.

[From petro- (rock), from Greek petros (stone) + ichor (the fluid that is supposed to flow in the veins of the gods in Greek mythology). Coined by researchers I.J. Bear and R.G. Thomas.]

"Petrichor, the name for the smell of rain on dry ground, is from oils given off by vegetation, absorbed onto neighboring surfaces, and released into the air after a first rain." Matthew Bettelheim; Nature's Laboratory; Shasta Parent (Mt Shasta, California); Jan 2002.

"But, even in the other pieces, her prose breaks into passages of lyrical beauty that come as a sorely needed revivifying petrichor amid the pitiless glare of callousness and cruelty." Pradip Bhattacharya; Forest Interludes; Indianest.com; Jul 29, 2001.

Darren the Bull ... with Robert & Sheepy

Martin OConnor introduced me to this series of youtubes short films by some New Zealand sheep over on ThePenNZ's Channel.

I went searching and found the website where it says: Two Kiwi sheep and their take on life.  Written and voiced by Guy Capper and Jemaine Clement.

I've been giggling away, remembering all the kiwi blokes I've heard saying similar stuff while under the influence. 

Listen carefully and you'll hear some New Zealandese there near the end ... 'couldn'thaveI'

Anthony Pisano ...

This Is My Home from Mark on Vimeo.

I loved this ... On an unseasonably warm November night in Manhattan on our way to get ice cream, we stumbled upon what appeared to be a vintage shop, brightly lit display window and all. As we began to walk in, a man sitting out front warned us that we were welcome to explore, but nothing inside was for sale. Our interests piqued, we began to browse through the collections the man out front had built throughout his life. This is a story of a man and his home.

 

Murmuration ...

Loved this!

Murmuration from Sophie Windsor Clive on Vimeo.

Video of a massive starling flock turning and twisting over a river in Ireland has gone viral, and with good reason. Flocking starlings are one of nature’s most extraordinary sights: Just a few hundred birds moving as one is enough to convey a sense of suspended reality, and the flock filmed above the River Shannon contained thousands.

What makes possible the uncanny coordination of these murmurations, as starling flocks are so beautifully known? Until recently, it was hard to say. Scientists had to wait for the tools of high-powered video analysis and computational modeling. And when these were finally applied to starlings, they revealed patterns known less from biology than cutting-edge physics.

Feel free to continue reading here  :-)