Open Thread – Frosty Moose
Finally! This morning I was looking outside as the sky got light and I saw Brian out there in the yard chewing on the ends of the frosty twigs of the cottonwood trees. It would have made an awesome picture – the beginnings of pink cotton ball sunrise clouds over the snow covered mountains, and there in the foreground, antlered Brian reaching up so delicately to chew on the very tips of the branches disturbing the frost just enough that it sprinkled down a little every time he nibbled. There was even a tiny sliver of a crescent moon resting right on top of the mountain peak, looking like someone had stuck it in the snow like a shovel.
But, alas… it was just too dark. I tried to take a picture and got absolutely nothing. So, not wanting to deprive you completely, I’ll resurrect one of the “best of” shots from last winter around this time. This is the one that would come trotting over to my sliding glass door when I wiped down the glass with Windex and a paper towel. I never did figure that one out. But I’ll try again this year and see if the experiment works again.
I’m quite sure it’s the same one I saw today. As the daylight becomes longer again, I’ll get more moose shots. But rest assured… they’re still out there.
Have you placed a salt block out for Brian? They love them. And its not the same as feeding them because they have no idea how the salt block got there! You’re no where near it, so they won’t associate people with food/salt blocks.
Surprisingly I haven’t had a single moose track in my yard since snow arrived.
Here’s a clip guaranteed to start your day with a smile, totally OT and Palin-free.
http://www.pawnation.com/2009/12/11/viral-extreme-shepherding-ad-campaign-lights-up-the-welsh-hill/?icid=main|classic|dl7|link3|http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pawnation.com%2F2009%2F12%2F11%2Fviral-extreme-shepherding-ad-campaign-lights-up-the-welsh-hill%2F
Having witnessed sheep dog trials years ago at the Royal Welsh Agricultural Show, I am in awe of the speed and intelligence of these dogs. They are simply poetry in motion as they respond to either whistle or hand commands given at great distances. This clip is over the top in showing what they can do, and how imaginative some Welsh farmers can be. Makes me very proud of my Welsh roots. Enjoy!
Action alert:
Ok, I have one for all the mudpups out there. I am up late and just finished watching a movie called “The Cove”. It’s out on DVD. Now that I have dried my tears I suggest that everyone who loves dolphins watch this. It is about the 20,000 dolphins that are being slaughtered in one cove in Japan every year. The man who was instrumental in having it made it is the man who trained the dolphins for “Flipper”. There is a website where you can sign a petition that will go to President Obama, Vice President Biden and the Japanese Ambassador to the United States. They are also selling the meat (sometimes marketing it as whale meat) to the Japanese people. The dolphins are contaminated with high levels of mercury. The website is TakePart.com/the cove.
This reminds me of SP’s wolf hunting.
Be sure to have kleenex handy and don’t eat before you watch it if you get the movie.
54,995 people from all over the world have signed this petition so far.
Moose are cool animals. I read in The Nome Nugget that there will be a winter hunt because the alloted number wasn’t caught last fall. The management needs to grow a set. If they weren’t around in the fall, perhaps they won’t be around in the winter.
lovemydogs -
Thank you for that link.Done.
Here is a link to the Sea Sheperds. They are very aggressive in going after the Japanese rapers of the ocean.
http://www.seashepherd.org/
Can someone tell me:
Is Brian one particular moose or the name you give to any male moose who graces your property? How do you tell them apart?
Also, where do these meese go to get warm? Like at night, for example. Or when the temp plunges way below Alaska winter normal (whatever that “normal” is, it’s too cold by half even for this New Englander).
I can’t help it. I worry.
Brian is the name given to all male moose that wander into the area. When I was a child, my sister named a “particular” seagull Oscar. Oscar miraculously followed us everywhere we went. Brian is like this. Brenda is his female counterpart. It also helps not to get too very attached to a particular animal… And they can take some pretty heavy duty cold. Temps in the interior can get to be 50 or 60 below and they pull through. Moose hair is warm. AKM
A Moose Frosty: A cool drink you get at Wendys?
On a more serious note: The Cove was largely the work of Ric O’Barry who was Flipper’s trainer. Years ago he and the late great songwriter-singer Fred Neil stated an organization called the Dolphin Project which was dedicated to re-training captive dolphins so they could be released into the open ocean. The project produced a beautiful video which may or may not be still available on vhs – The Dolphin Project, which featured 4 of Fred’s songs. There are 2 Dolphin Projects – don’t get confused.
http://www.dolphinproject.org/
If I could only have one video it probably would be this one. Ric has also authored books which are worth reading.
Aw, Brian is letting mudflatters know he’s the cats pyjamas know. He got to pose “flat” with a hero, and “what’s her name again?” Oh, yeah, Sarah, the one who likes to shoot moose. Good thing he was just a photo with the trio.
Frosty Moose sounds like a soothing adult beverage. …
AKaurora #2:
Thanks for the link to the dawgs, that’s amazing!
Congratulations to Houston on their new mayor and for showing us that sexual orientation is irrelevant when it comes to doing one’s job. (Especially when so many holier-than-thou politicians cheat on their spouses and then do illegal stuff to cover it up.)
AKM, your word picture + frosty Brian should leave no one disappointed that the light wasn’t cooperating this time.
austintx, a Frosty Moose would probably be a nice dark brown. Maybe a kahlua and chocolate milk over shaved ice with a powdered sugar rimmer?
I think this is my favorite photo of Brian, especially the part about him liking the window cleaning process. It’s just too funny.
The great liberal writer, Steven King and his wife Tabitha, to pay to bring Maine troops home for the holidays.
http://updates.kennebecjournal.mainetoday.com/updates/stephen-king-paying-for-troops-christmas
If S’error Punked is so gungho on the troops, why isn’t she using some of her new-found fortune to bring AK troops home for the holidays??
oops, that last to sauerkraut. Mornin’, sunshine!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zORv8wwiadQ&feature=player_embedded
A simple, very logical and non political approach to how to respond to global warming, regardless of whether scientists are right or not.
This is a logic even Sarah Plain and Simple can’t argue against.
Video by science teacher Greg Craven “The Most Terrifying Video You’ll Ever See”
AGHH!! I opened my Sunday paper this morning and saw they had published SP’s op-ed about climate change! I am furious. This is a small city, the paper is crap, but it’s all we have. It ruined my Sunday morning ritual of drinking coffee and reading the news.
akaurora…
as owners of two beardies who do weekend herding, that sheepherding vidio was especially entertaining.
thanks oodles
I know it would be extremely unwise but I really want to kiss that Frosty Moose face! I’d also be awfully tempted to leave apples for him too. Guess that’s not a good practice, eh ?
Ok – yesterday I posted a Palin photo from MSN news that I felt was really allowing $P’s inner dufus to show through. Here’s another one from a book signing.
http://image3.examiner.com/images/blog/EXID22884/images/resized_sarahpalin.jpg
I realize that with so many photos being taken now we’re bound to see some that are less photogenic than others but there’s a very specific ” Alice the Goon” quality that is showing up lately. It’s almost like the awkward 14 year old wonky eyed Sarah is trying to come through.
Maybe she’s just really peeving me more than usual and I’m needing to pick at her. Either way – I doubt she’d be pleased to know they are out there !
I would totally dig a moose at the window like that. We get deer in the backyard here on occasion, but not quite the same affect as your Brian.
Tnx Marnie! I hadn’t encountered that.
Off to spread the word…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zORv8wwiadQ&feature=player_embedded
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Thanks for the laugh, AKM! I love those fat moose noses.
I missed Anchorage Film Festival’s screening of “The Least Among You” with Anchorage’s own Eash High graduate Cedric Sanders. So, I loved seeing this Q&A after the show at the Bear Tooth. Sanders plays the first black student at a seminary after the Watts Riots in 1965. His co-star is Louis Gossett Jr, who plays the janitor who becomes his father role model. In the reviews I read that Gossett educated himself by reading stuff from the trash bins.
http://whatdoino-steve.blogspot.com/2009/12/aiff-2009-cedric-sanders-talks-after.html
Marnie, awesome video. This must be spread.
Here is a thought……
I think, the Christians (such as Palin) deny global warming because they want to attribute the floods, famine, etc, to God’s power and the “End Times”. If they admit to man’s hand in global warming, it takes away their power (and the power of their God) to scare people about comin’ to Jesus because the “End Times are near.
I don’t think they want to stop the destruction of the world because they want Jesus to return “in His Glory” and take them away in the rapture. The effects of global warming, are to them, “a sign” from God. They welcome it.
During the financial melt down last Fall, I had Evangelical family members trying to scare me into salvation saying it was a “sign” that the end is near and I better repent.
Scare tactics……It’s what they do.
BuffaloGal, maybe they uped her meds to prevent a meltdown, thus the crossed eyes. Wonky, is right!
That beautiful moose mug puts a smile on my face. Thanks!
sauerkraut – Didn’t Sarah make a statement when she was in Kosovo that she was going to work on getting home leave for service personnel? Is she all talk or has she actually done something on that one?
Speaking of wild 4-legged creatures looking for a meal….
Unlike AKM I didn’t even have a camera to take a picture because I was working but wish I did. Last Monday I was in the Mt. Shasta CA area at a Golf course early in the morning. As we were leaving I looked out across the fairway from the top of the hill at the Clubhouse. There was a Doe and what looked like maybe her yearling following closely behind just munching their way across the golf course fairway. This was a wide-open course with very few trees around but the two of them seemed perfectly content, oblivious and felt no need to hide as they slowly moved along.
I guess you can’t blame them…they know golf courses maintain their grass very well.
wfm CA Says:
December 13th, 2009 at 7:30 AM
Congratulations to Houston on their new mayor and for showing us that sexual orientation is irrelevant when it comes to doing one’s job.
*****************************************************************************
Dang right !! Grew up there and this is wonderful.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_HOUSTON_MAYOR?SITE=TXDAM&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2009-12-13-00-39-48
I was watching ” This Week with George S.” and he ended his show with the announcement that he will be leaving “This Week” as he takes on his new job with Good Morning America as Diane Sawyers replacement there. A Google search for stories doesn’t say who will take over ” This Week ” once he is gone.
George’s experience is Political and I always liked him on Sunday.
Every morning on GMA… doesn’t seem like the right fit. Out of his element.
“This Week ” might become unwatchable from now on…. depending upon the replacement. Especially if they LET George Will talk more with his nonsense.
LOL, have a look at how the Brits took Palin’s ‘climate op ed’.
watch from about the 8 to 10 minute mark for the Palin stuff, although the whole programme is funny.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00pd9zc/Have_I_Got_News_for_You_Series_38_Episode_8/
Try lightening you pic in Photoshop, you might be surprised to find it is all there.
Thanks for reprinting my favorite photo of Brian.
Marnie – what a great video. That was a treat. I’ve shared it with my kids. They’ll love it.
Lovemydogs – I just can’t bring myself to watch it. I’ll sign the petition but I doubt I could handle more. Just reading your post was almost too much. I dream of dolphins often and the emotion in the dreaming is very intense. Can’t even wrap my brain around such barbarism.
And yay for Houston!! Back in 1994 I had a partner who lived in Dallas. I spent a good deal of time there and at that time being openly gay was not a comfortable thing unless you were in the “gay district”. I remember one day we were crossing a very busy street and a car came winging around a corner. I instinctively reached over to scoot her out of harms way and her knee jerk reaction was to be afraid of being seen physically interacting. She had a high level position in a very Republican/Christian filled company and was from a similar type family. The paranoia she carried every day about being found out just broke my heart. Even though she’s still in Dallas I bet she’s pretty thrilled about the Houston outcome. I’ll have to drop her a line. It’ll make up for my giving her a bunch of snark recently after she said she thought Palin is hot.
Can’t SOMEone/ANYone tell me:
Is Brian one particular moose or the name you give to any male moose who graces your property? How do you tell them apart?
Also, where do these meese go to get warm? Like at night, for example. Or when the temp plunges way below Alaska winter normal (whatever that “normal” is, it’s too cold by half even for this New Englander).
Really, I’m dying to know what becomes of Brian and his pals in the winter.
AKM
While this might seem a little course for most of you here, I looked out the window of the Jewal Lake home of my friends and saw a yearling moose just five feet away. I turned to my buddy and said, umm, mun-yuk(sp).
M. Paul
honestyinGov @30 -
From what I’ve been reading this past week, the powers that be at ABC have not yet chosen a replacement for George Stephanopolous. He’s going to commute for several weeks between DC and NY until a replacement is hired and he relocates his family. Rumors say that he’s been considering a $40,000 A MONTH home in Manhattan. Soooo far beyond my comprehension…that’s more than I make in a year!
Hopefully they’ll make a better choice for host than NBC did with David Gregory on Meet the Press. You need someone who is smart, knows their politics and government inside and out, has lots of high level connections, and who’s willing to ask the uncomfortable questions. Can’t think offhand of anyone at ABC who meets those qualifications.
@18 I hope you write your paper a letter and attach the AP article debunking Palin’s claims.
I feel that the attention that the WaPo post got was mostly from people wanting to get a peek at her crazy post, not because they follow Palin’s word. I am sure 90% were rolling their eyes.
I told my husband about it (he a Republican) and he said, people love to look at a trainwreck and newspapers will print anything for attention. Although, he woudn’t read it. He said that she is a waste of his time.
But, I am not clicking on any more Palin stories that are posted in newspapers, huffpo, etc. It is giving the illusion that a lot of people care what she has to say-when it’s mostly for comedy.
UK Lady, couldn’t watch that video. It said it was only available in the UK.
Anyone else able to view it?
I do know that she’s an international joke.
For a good laugh, meander on over to Gryphen’s site and check out the video on the Sanitation Crisis post. VERY funny!!!
http://theimmoralminority.blogspot.com/
this my favorite photo of brian……http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3618/3627674121_809ca7400e_b_d.jpg. it is on the right hand side of the blog where akm has put all the extraordinary pics she shared with us. those new to the flats will enjoy them. there are also pics of brians’ mate and his babies.
austintx, I almost moved to Houston in 2004 to work for a fantastic guy I met in NYC who was originally from Boston and commuted to TX from the LA area. The night before my dad went into the hosp for congestive heart failure, this guy’s life was cut short. So everything was upended. I didn’t move there, because I only would have to work for that terrific guy, but Houston puts the Prop8 whackos here in CA and Maine to shame for their stupid fear mongering. What happened to live and let live, and why are people so threatened by GLBT? Wait until some prominent R comes out….
To: Andree and Celtic Diva:
Please share the emails you’ve received from the State. I think many people want to read them not just a post about them. Maybe a download link for Xmas?
Thank you.
moose are Jewish!
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/comics/Rhymes_with_Orange.dtl
Sorry trisha @ 39, I get the same problem the other way round from your end. If they ever stick it on youtube I’ll post it.
ADN runs a piece that rips $P –
http://www.adn.com/opinion/comment/story/1052988.html
**** To Page, she is entertaining, funny, self-effacing, a woman in need of only a boffo speech to finally position herself on the national scene.
For many of us, she is much, much more: delusional; paranoid; vindictive; bitter; polarizing; petty; and, more than a trifle pathological. ****
Apphouse50 @35 – I’ve always thought Brian was a moose of his own and then there was Brenda and the younguns. Beyond that there were other moose that wandered in and out. Now that you bring it up, I have to say I don’t know for sure I just know I love them all!
@apphouse50…Brian is the handsome one always. he is distinctive in that he interacts with AKM and has a personality. the others may wander on and off the property but AKM knows her ‘boy’ and he knows her.
Well, we’re never supposed to admit we have favorites but… This particular Brian plays with yard toys and loves window washing, so he does kind of stick out.
AKM
@ apphouse50 Brian is rather distinctively dark brown for a moose (chocolate moose, mmm), and we all kind of fetishize him as the handsome moose.
Moose are wild animals. They spend their time during the winter in the woods, just like during the summer. They eat branch tips to survive for the most part. They also grow winter coats, which are quite thick and shaggy. Some die every winter, but usually from predation and lack of food, not the cold. They are well adapted for northern life.
is there always a window between you and Brian? …or have you braved venturing out into the yard with him?
@46 thanks BuffaloGal
Regarding Brians frosty nose, I know I can’t, but I just want to rub his fuzzy-widdle nose. That photo is awesome.
Here is an article written by the person who threw an egg during a Sarah booksigning in Rochester that is in The Buffalo Beast:
http://www.buffalobeast.com/?p=619
meteor shower tonight! enjoy……
also too, oh dear, the Alaskan Ear thinks Meg has gone missin from Palin camp and is under the bus. Meg, Meg, Meg, didn’t you know this was going to happen? it always happens with Scarah, wake up Palin camp.
http://www.adn.com/296/story/1053259.html?pageNum=1&mi_pluck_action=page_nav&commentSort=RecommendationsDescending#Comments_Container
“SHORT TIMER? . . . It’s gone viral in watering spots around town. Still more a question than certifiable fact: Is Magnum Staplegun out with Sarah? There’s no sign of her on the book tour and friends say she may have to stake out a spot under that high-centered bus where Sarah tosses people who have served their purpose.”
where are the people? lol
http://twitpic.com/teigk
I think Palin has dumped Meg for a team of Washington power brokers and Nixon insiders.
How very populist of her to be palling around with the power players in Washington.
Her fans have been so duped.
But think about it, can you think of a better match than dirty rotten Nixon insiders and Palin? A match made in H_e_l_l.
London @51 – I read the article, and noticed on the web page an ad for newsmax (right wing site that’s giving the books away w/membership) and the ad says, “Like Palin? If you do, you’re retarded”.
Seriously.
I didn’t click the link because I don’t want to go to Newsmax, but if it’s legit, they don’t care one iota what they say, just want the traffic. I wonder if the CW knows about this???
Thanks to bubbles, the problem child, and of course, AKM for the info on Brian. When I was in Alaska in 2000 we went to the home of Iditarod winner Jeff King, and while we were there we saw a young moose lurking outside his fence. King said that this particular one had apparently lost its mommy, as it was hanging around a lot, alone, and would most likely not survive the winter. Broke my heart, so I worry about Brian, Brenda, et al., to whom I feel sorta attached now.
We also watched a drama that had been going on for well over a week in Denali, where an exhausted moose was stranded in a river surrounded by wolves near a bridge. As we first crossed the bridge we were told a bear was making its way down the river. A couple of hours later as we came back, the bear had the moose, which had essentially starved over the course of all that time (some estimated 2 weeks), in its teeth trying to finish the poor thing off, hurling it against the ground. The rangers’ policy was not to interfere, though they were pretty sure all the nature photographers lined up on the bridge filming the drama actually prolonged the agony. The wolves were standing around, well back, hoping the bear would give up; it was said the bear would sleep atop whatever he couldn’t finish that day. It was shocking, fascinating, and sad. They tell me that’s the law of the animal kingdom, but I found it quite difficult to watch.
One year later while visiting Mt. Monadnock in NH, I walked into the ranger’s cabin at the base and they were talking about that very incident, where some other ranger they knew had been on that bridge that same day. Even they found the whole tale compelling if sad.
I understand Jeff King was found guilty of killing a moose just inside the Denali boundary, by the way.
Thanks again.