storm washes up sea critters

Here in the PNW, we've been focused on the havoc that the storms caused us terrestrials on the surface, but the big storm last week really shook up the underwater world, too. It washed up a lot of life on the Pacific shore that belongs on the ocean floor.

More "ghost forests" appeared on the beaches, there are odd finds on the central coast, and a ten-mile stretch up north is covered in a massive debris field.

There was a dead but lifelike umbrella or butterfly crab,

a giant jellyfish,

numerous sea stars and egg casings, ascidians, various types of sponge, bryozoans, moon snail shells, hermit crabs, cockle clams, tubeworms, Dungeness crabs and black skate egg casings, according to the Seaside Aquarium.

Also quite rare was the leather star, which is hardly ever seen above water in this part of the Pacific Ocean. ... The sights are stunning, but they make me sad for the creatures.

All photos by Tiffany Boothe, Seaside Aquarium

nut bars

Sooo good! Thank you - interesting, radical guy blogger Ran Prieur - for sharing this recipe/guide to making nut bars. Delicious! Nutritious! And they keep.

Made mine with diced almonds, cashews, pecans, dates, maple syrup, and a dash of quinoa flour, although the flour wasn't necessary after all, since I was sparing with the sticky stuff (don't be too stingy, though, because the bars and/or the air absorb it). I dried mine out in a warm oven for an hour or so instead of letting them air dry.

From Ran's blog
Store-bought "energy bars" are expensive and poor quality, typically made with processed soy protein that's quite bad for you. (Unfermented soy was not used as food until the industrial age.) And high-quality organic nut bars, like Govinda or Bumble bars, are even more expensive. But you can make the same thing at home, with exactly the ingredients you choose, for less than a quarter the price.

Miss Penitentiary 2007

Finally, coverage of this surfaces again! I haven't seen anything for two years.

Rio de Janeiro (IOL) - A 26-year-old woman serving time in a Brazilian prison for holding up trucks has been named her penitentiary's beauty queen in a competition between convicts, authorities said.

Brunette Dione Normando Pires was on Tuesday named "Miss Talavera Bruce" in the Gericino women's prison in western Rio de Janeiro, beating off competition from eight other convicts.

"Today I don't feel like prisoner. This is the happiest moment of my life," Pires said as she accepted the red winner's sash, which she put over her pink dress.

Runners-up were two drug traffickers, aged 20 and 24.

Photo from Bad News Day

Boxer Esther Phiri

African Esther Phiri beat U.S. fighter Belinda Laracuente to defend her world title over the weekend, increasing her status in the country.

Here in Christian Science Monitor is an article about a Zambian single mother who has turned her life around by becoming a boxer. She's doing well for herself and is becoming a role model for African girls.

Thanks Kris & Andru
Photo by Joseph J. Schatz

Go around twice if you're happy

This is wonderful

first snowfall

This one's especially for Scott in Australia, who loves snow but has to go south for it. :-)