Wide World

I've always joked around about girls who would walk into a tattoo parlor and ask for a Chinese character that means something to them... like love, hope, or faith. Of course the tattoo artists don't know one damn character in Chinese so they just pick a random character from the internet and the girl ends up with something that actually says slut, pink slippery Christmas tree, or something else random. I never imagined a scientific magazine would fall prey to something absolutely ridiculous like this. Science journal mistakenly uses flyer for Macau brothel to illustrate report on China…
Cristiana Senni from World Parrots Trust just let me know that their organization has uploaded several movies to YouTube of African Grey parrots in the wild. I live with a Grey, and was absolutely amazed at their vocalizations and behaviors--pretty much exactly like Pepper. Reminds me that while Pepper is tame, he is still just one generation from his wild brethren. Check out their beautiful videos! Another under the fold...
The Dalai Lama has been making appearances and giving talks in the US, with his most recent talk at the University of Michigan (where I am) yesterday. Although I was unable to attend the actual talk, since the tickets were sold out within an hour of going on sale, his appearance was videotaped and uploaded (check out the movie here.) According to the press release from UM, the Dalai Lama's talk skirted most of the tough issues that Tibet is now facing, and focused more on environmentalism--a topic certainly near and dear to the inhabitants of Ann Arbor. Check it out.