Added a new plant to the aquarium

I found a couple of bunches of Rotala wallichii at The Fish Store, up in Sandy Springs, last Wednesday. I didn't know what it was, but it looked healthy, and had that reddish tinge that I've been thinking would add a bit of spice to the aquascape. I took one of the bunches home for a mere $4.59. We'll see how the red color holds up under my lighting.

P.S. Here's a note from the future, from October 17, 2008, to be precise. The Rotala didn't hold up. I'm guessing that it needed more light than it was getting in my little tank, but maybe it was needing more nutrients, as well. There are a few small bits left, but most of it gradually turned to a dark brow mush.

Koi Pond T-Shirt

My wife, Nola, is out of town this week, so it was my turn to go check the mail. There was a key in the box to one of the big boxes. In the big box was one box and one Tyvek bag. In the bag was this beautiful shirt.

The shirt is by a Marie McVey, a lady I met on the Aquarium Photography Forum. Marie keeps goldfish and koi, photographs them, and manipulates the images to get the watercolor effect you see here.

Her work is displayed, and available for sale at extremely reasonable prices, here.

New fishes!

After work today, I headed out Roswell Road, about a mile past the Perimeter, to a tropical fish store. I was hunting a specific fertilizer for the plants in my aquarium and I did find that, but as long as I was there, I browsed the shop, and turned up a bunch of these guys:

They are known in the trade as Corydoras julii, though they are almost certainly actually Corydoras trilineatus. Hmph. Anyhow, they are delightful little guys, now about an inch long, and I picked up three of them. They have this charming habit of swimming around in schools, with their noses in the gravel, looking for some left-overs for lunch. Very cool.

Crayon Physics Deluxe

The most amazing game / simulation.

Ellery Creek Bighole

Ellery Creek Bighole
Originally uploaded by Patricia Mc

I want to go swimming here, or just sit quietly for a day.

Beatnix: Beatles "performing" Stairway to Heaven video mashup

found via boingboing.net

Warp 9

Warp 9
Originally uploaded by Wings of the Morning

In the Civic, headed for home, about 9:30 p.m., down Georgia Highway 400.

Orbital “The Box” Video, with Tilda Swinton

A significantly sciencefictional item, in which Tilda Swinton, who went to school with Diana, Princess of Wales, appears.

What does a lazy, beer drinking roboticist do in his spare time?

Nikki on the job: V-Day, 2007

Here's my daughter Nikki directing part of the cast of Atlanta's V-Day fundraiser, "A Memory, a Monologue, a Rant, and a Prayer". These folks are, from left to right: Nikki's exercise coach, an actress by the name of Jane Fonda, a singer, half of an act known as "The Indigo Girls", Emily Saliers; and Doria Roberts, a musician.