"PORTLAND Ore. (Reuters) - Millions of jellyfish-like creatures have washed up on beaches along the U.S. West Coast over the past month, giving the shoreline a purple gleam and, at times, an unpleasant odor, ocean experts said on Thursday.
Though not poisonous to most people, beachgoers should avoid the animals because their venom can cause stinging in the eyes and mouth, said Steve Rumrill, an expert at the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Known as Velella velella to scientists, and more informally as "by-the-wind sailors," the creatures regularly cluster offshore each spring. But it is unusual for so many to wash ashore at once, especially this late in the summer, he said.
In addition to the millions that have been spotted on beaches from Southern California to Washington, millions more are floating near the ocean surface offshore, Rumrill added.
Ocean experts do not know why more by-the-wind sailors are washing up this year, or why they are arriving later than usual, said Erin Paxton, spokeswoman for the Oregon Coast Aquarium.
Climate change may be a factor, but it is impossible to be certain, Rumrill said. "This is a wind-driven event, and winds are unusual this year," he said.
Though most people think the animals are jellyfish, they are in fact colonies of much smaller creatures known as hydrozoans, Rumrill said.
Hundreds of tiny organisms cluster together to create a gleaming purple body and a translucent sail-like protrusion that looks like a single animal."
Thursday, July 31, 2014
One Direction - What Makes You Beautiful (5 Piano Guys, 1 piano) - ThePianoGuys
"**ALL THE SOUNDS YOU HEAR WERE CREATED BY THE PIANO AND ONE CELLO BOW** (WITH SOME VOCALS AT THE END)
STORY BEHIND THE SONG
The idea: A couple months ago the 5 of us were gathered round a piano prepping for a video shoot scheduled for that day. We were brainstorming ideas when one of us (can't remember who!) got off task and starting flicking a piano string. Since all of us are poster children for ADHD, it wasn't long before ALL of us had joined in -- banging out a beat, plucking a string, or hitting keys. The brainstorming meeting had been sabotaged beyond repair, but another music video idea was born!
The song: We went through several song possibilities before landing on "What Makes You Beautiful" by One Direction. We like this song because its catchy and the music, lyrics, and video passed our "sesame street" test (meaning family friendly). We thought about the ramifications of taking on a teenybopper boy band tune as five middle-aged married guys who are desperately holding on to their hairlines. One of us even has a son older than the guys in One Direction (we won't say who) :-) BUT you know us -- we love a good challenge! This one was so fun to write that the "challenge" part of it never was felt. We just acted like kids playing a piano and it totally worked! :-) After we figured out the main "techniques" of playing the piano unconventionally we loved experimenting with swapping out chords and throwing the structure of the song around until it clicked.
The location: Where to film? Fitting in video shoots between touring, writing, recording, editing, and spending time with family has always been a challenge. Let's be honest, even getting all 5 of us in the same place at the same time has been a challenge! We had a big sold-out show at the Sandy, Utah Amphitheater. We all determined to be at the show and film the video right on stage sometime between sound check and the performance. Sounds like a good idea right? Well...because of a lot of factors, including weather (we had a huge storm sweep in and knock everything down on stage during sound check) the only time we had to film was between the hours of 2AM - 7AM the morning of the concert. In the video at 2:30 you can see the morning light start breaking -- we literally played into the sunrise! :-) "
via helen
Tuesday, July 29, 2014
Of Monsters and Men
Of Monsters and Men - Dirty Paws (Official Lyric Video)
Of Monsters and Men - King And Lionheart (Official Lyric Video)
Of Monsters and Men - Mountain Sound (Official Lyric Video)
Of Monsters and Men - Little Talks (Official Lyric Video)
Of Monsters and Men - King And Lionheart (Official Lyric Video)
Of Monsters and Men - Mountain Sound (Official Lyric Video)
Of Monsters and Men - Little Talks (Official Lyric Video)
Sunday, July 27, 2014
Wednesday, July 23, 2014
Tree of 40 Fruit
via Sam Van Aken
"The Tree of 40 Fruit is an ongoing series of hybridized fruit trees by contemporary artist Sam Van Aken. Each unique Tree of 40 Fruit grows over forty different types of stone fruit including peaches, plums, apricots, nectarines, cherries, and almonds. Sculpted through the process of grafting, the Tree of 40 Fruit blossom in variegated tones of pink, crimson and white in spring, and in summer bear a multitude of fruit. Primarily composed of native and antique varieties the Tree of 40 Fruit are a form of conversation, preserving heirloom stone fruit varieties that are not commercially produced or available."
"The Tree of 40 Fruit is an ongoing series of hybridized fruit trees by contemporary artist Sam Van Aken. Each unique Tree of 40 Fruit grows over forty different types of stone fruit including peaches, plums, apricots, nectarines, cherries, and almonds. Sculpted through the process of grafting, the Tree of 40 Fruit blossom in variegated tones of pink, crimson and white in spring, and in summer bear a multitude of fruit. Primarily composed of native and antique varieties the Tree of 40 Fruit are a form of conversation, preserving heirloom stone fruit varieties that are not commercially produced or available."
Tuesday, July 22, 2014
Monday, July 21, 2014
Free Fall Ride
Published on Jul 17, 2014 Theme Park Review
"'Nothing but a net!' - This INSANE nearly 100 foot total free fall at 55MPH is one of the most CRAZY rides on the planet! There is NOTHING between you and the net below!
This version of the ride is called "Sky Tower" and is located at Tivoli Friheden in Denmark."
Sunday, July 20, 2014
Carving the Eiffel Tower in a Pencil
Published on Feb 12, 2014
Students of Kamla Raheja Vidhyanidhi Institute for Architectural and Environmental Studies
Pencil carving:Lead role: Vilas lakkabathini
Helpful Vendor: Jayant Khedekar
Lil girl: Abhita Lakkabathini
DOP:Ginny Moolya
Camera man : Gautam Indulkar
Support: Akshay Chikhalkar, Jayesh More
Conceptual Direction by : Sachin Badhe Music by: LAKSHYAM CREATION
Producer : LAKSHYAM CREATION
Thursday, July 17, 2014
Rainbow Wasp
The Cuckoo wasp.
"Commonly known as cuckoo wasps, the hymenopteran family Chrysididae is a very large cosmopolitan group (over 3000 described species) of parasitoid or kleptoparasitic wasps, often highly sculptured, with brilliantly colored metallic-like bodies. They are most diverse in desert regions of the world, as they are typically associated with solitary bee and wasp species, which are also most diverse in such areas."
"Commonly known as cuckoo wasps, the hymenopteran family Chrysididae is a very large cosmopolitan group (over 3000 described species) of parasitoid or kleptoparasitic wasps, often highly sculptured, with brilliantly colored metallic-like bodies. They are most diverse in desert regions of the world, as they are typically associated with solitary bee and wasp species, which are also most diverse in such areas."
Sunday, July 13, 2014
Saturday, July 12, 2014
Wednesday, July 9, 2014
World's Tallest Waterslide
Published on Jul 8, 2014 Garmin
"The world's tallest water slide drops thrill-seekers an insane 168 feet - the equivalency of 17-stories. As the official action camera of Verruckt, Garmin VIRB is there to capture the plunge and highlight the intensity of the ride, including speed and heart rate. Check it out at: http://bit.ly/1f9G17K"
Tuesday, July 8, 2014
Monday, July 7, 2014
Friday, July 4, 2014
Thursday, July 3, 2014
Tuesday, July 1, 2014
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