Comments on: Galapagosiana

By: Don Snow

Don Snow — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 09:00:40 +0000

Glad you’re having a good time. I’ll also be glad, when you return. smile

By: Dan

Dan — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 21:21:06 +0000

You are making me jealous. Can we trade places?

By: Buzz Parsec

Buzz Parsec — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 05:46:27 +0000

Phil, shame on you for referring to penguins as “cuties.” What does their physical attractiveness have to do with their worth as individuals? This is extremely classist. There is nothing remarkable in the fact that non-mammals might be “cute” and you shouldn’t be commenting on it incessantly.

P.S., since this is the internet, Poe’s law and all that, it might not be obvious that I’m parodying some of the comments on the next thread. Or maybe it’s just too lame. … Oh, no! “Lame” is a derogatory reference to ~~people~~ organisms that are differently abled.

By: Zephryous

Zephryous — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 19:12:49 +0000

I think this article will be a bit tintillating:

http://judson.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/07/15/lets-get-rid-of-darwinism/index.html

It’s true all the same, there’s no such thing as “Darwinism”, only the facts of evolution and what science can do to make us understand those facts.

By: Quiet Desperation

Quiet Desperation — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 05:28:29 +0000

I’m fairly certain that petting the penguins is NOT allowed, the Galapagos being a fragile ecological site

Aw.

Well, maybe the Antarctic trip, then.

Here’s some videos from Lindblad outings.

http://www.expeditions.com/Theater17.asp?Destination=283&Theme=0

They get pretty close. If a curious penguin were to wander over to me, hey, nothing I can do about that.

By: Jose

Jose — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 01:16:43 +0000

@Todd W.
What are you thinking? Don’t mention his name. He can sense it. In no time he’ll be here claiming the Galapagos tortoises are from outer space, and he’ll have links to Gamera movies to prove it.

By: Todd W.

Todd W. — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 22:17:41 +0000

@Jose

“Sorry, I think I may be spending too much time on the UFO thread. My brain has partially shut down.”

I feel your pain, man. On the plus side, Michael Horn seems to have left that thread.

By: Jose

Jose — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 21:15:16 +0000

@Arthur
I don’t know about Ecuadorian beef, but there’s a definite difference between in Puerto Rican beef and American beef. It could be the breed of cow as much as diet. The cows there have a similar look like the type of cow you’d see in India or central Africa. In the tropics, fat temperate cows have a tendency to die of things like disease and heatstroke.

By: Arthur Maruyama

Arthur Maruyama — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 19:14:05 +0000

Quiet Desperation:

I’m fairly certain that petting the penguins is NOT allowed, the Galapagos being a fragile ecological site which the UN has placed on its list of World Heritage Sites which are in danger. You might check with your local SeaWorld or other such similar parks, but even then my guess is that penguin-petting isn’t likely.

*****

BA:

I wonder if the difference in the hamburger you had (being presumably from local Equadorian suppliers) was due to the cows likely to have been grass-fed rather than corn-fed like most American cows are. This may be anecdotal, but some people reportedly can distinguish between grass- and corn-fed beef because the flavor is different.

By: Nicole

Nicole — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 18:30:38 +0000

I hope you didn’t walk on the aa. It might hurt, and make you say “Ah! Ah!”

(sorry… I had to)

By: Walter

Walter — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 16:19:28 +0000

Excellent use of the word “aa”, sir! As a sometime Scrabble player, I envy you.

By: Quiet Desperation

Quiet Desperation — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 15:07:12 +0000

Can you pet the penguins? I’m not sure I can bring myself to spend five figures on a trip to Galapagos to Antarctica (or some other place without casinos and buffets and cocktail waitresses) unless I can pet a penguin. That would make it worth it.

Bonus points if I get to see a something chase and brutally take down something else (preferably not me). Probably one of the safari packages for that one, I guess.

Or the country of Georgia. (rimshot) Oh! Pow!

Hmm. Too cruel? Oh well.

I second the plea for more pictures!

I pi it.

By: Jonathan Lubin

Jonathan Lubin — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 14:48:01 +0000

You’re much too far from Mexico for a good Margarita: you should be drinking Pisco Sours.

By: Jason Thibeault

Jason Thibeault — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 12:12:55 +0000

Jose sounds about one step away from declaring that the reflections are all wrong in those pictures. A quick tip for you man -- don't browse the UFO threads for more than an hour at a time without stepping out to breathe some air, maybe read some science blogs or something. It's something like looking away from the computer every once in a while to refocus your eyes.

By: Nemo

Nemo — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 07:16:01 +0000

How come you’re still blogging, and PZ has to bring in guest bloggers?

By: madge

madge — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 06:04:32 +0000

Glad to hear The Little Astronomer is feeling better now. I reckon PZ is poisoning the food! That is why it tastes “different”

By: Jose

Jose — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 05:34:05 +0000

Sorry, I think I may be spending too much time on the UFO thread. My brain has partially shut down.

By: Jose

Jose — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 05:33:25 +0000

And tell me why there’s an extra margarita at the beginning of my post? Oh, I know. If somebody disagrees with Mr. BA, you insert grammatical errors to make them look stupid.

By: Jose

Jose — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 05:23:23 +0000

margarita How could margarita be awful? And penguins near the equator? Come on. I knew it this whole Galapagos trip is a hoax. Look at the back of your wife’s shirt. Are we supposed to believe that man is technologically advanced enough to get to the Galapagos, but they can’t spell expedition? Blue life jackets? Everyone knows life jackets are bright orange. And if you really were at the Galapagos, wouldn’t the sky be yellow because of your close proximity of the sun? Stop this “food tastes different” charade and tell us where you really are.

Man has never been to the Galapagos.

By: Gavin Flower

Gavin Flower — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 05:14:12 +0000

Hmm…

I think Mrs BA is much better looking than you…

Maybe you should prepare stuff and get her to present it!

By: Bigfoot

Bigfoot — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 04:47:15 +0000

JREF Prez or no, do not cross PZ! When accomodated aboard a small craft set upon the Central Pacific amidst a chain of biologically isolated islands, it is unwise to embark on a path which may result in being Expelled.

By: Fernando Magyar

Fernando Magyar — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 01:37:10 +0000

I wandered over here from Pharyngula, since PZ wasn’t home, to see what the new President of JREF might be up to and I find he’s off in the Galapagos listening to PZ’s talks?! Anyways I really didn’t know that JREF was actually located in my own back yard in Ft. Lauderdale, well at least you can tell I’m not psychic…:-)

By: IBY

IBY — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 00:49:55 +0000

I know what you are talking about food being different even though they look essentially the same. It was kind of like that when I moved here in Delaware from Venezuela. Anyways, so sorry you had to listen to PZ talking.

By: Jason Thibeault

Jason Thibeault — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 00:13:19 +0000

My jealousy knows no bounds. Rather than getting to sip margaritas and explore pseudo-Martian terrain, I’m stuck moving both myself and my mother-in-law over the past week through into next week. Oh, to be as internationally beloved as Mr. Plait…

By: Chip

Chip — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 00:07:20 +0000

The BA writes: “…I’m delighted to eat things I’m used to but are somehow altered in ways I can’t precisely determine. That’s fun!”

Yes. Those burgers look and smell just like the one’s back home (yummm) yet somehow are subtly different. That’s because they are recreated on the molecular level from Robby’s synthetics. Dr. Morbius “tinkered” Robbie together while we was stranded on the Galapagos last year. Robby also has some whiskey stacked up somewhere near the Giant Tortoises. – “Would 60 gallons be sufficient?”

If you ask nicely he might show you the underground Krel lab.