squirrel fight!

via

seattle slip and slide

remember that random seattle snow? it turned to ice. via

why is an American bird called a Turkey?

Centuries ago, Constantinople was an important hub of international trade, where merchants sold goods from Africa and the Far East to distributors in Europe. These products, instead of retaining a sense of their origin, often became known by the nationality of the exporters. For example, Persian rugs sold wholesale by Turkish vendors were called "Turkish rugs." In turn, one popular type of bird shipped from Africa, called a Guinea fowl, became known as "Turkey cock" throughout England.

And, when British settlers arrived in the New World and encountered a large woodland bird that looked a bit like the Guinea fowl fowl they'd grown fond of eating back in England -- perhaps out of confusion that the two were the same species, or maybe in longing for something familiar so far from home -- they ended up referring to this bird as a "Turkey cock" too. Later, it was shortened to simply 'turkey'.

Another factor that helped perpetuate this unusual choice of names occurred when these new North American birds became a popular commodity throughout the world -- sure enough, mostly by way of Turkish merchants.

Ironically, the name of turkeys in the Turkish language is even more geographically off base; their called Hindi, short for "bird from India." The Turks, better than anyone, knew the birds weren't from their homeland, but may have originally thought they came from India -- thanks to a little miscalculation by Columbus.

so, enjoy your turkey cock, folks! source.

more spiderman promotional material

via

here's a new robyn song you might like.

Call Your Girlfriend by robyn

ugggghhh jelllyyyyyybeanzzzz!!!

last night kanye put on a surprise show at the bowery ballroom to celebrate his new album. i tried to get tickets but it sold out in about point-five-secs. they were also $100 each, so it was probably for the best. here's a video of kanye on stage with bon iver and nicki minaj for "monster".

and here's a report from nymag. apparently he said some shit about taylor swift or something.

happy thanksgiving eve.

this ran in harper's weekly 150 years ago. from the DISUNION blog. click2enlarge.

Winslow Homer’s editors asked him for an illustration to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday that week. They may have gotten more than they’d bargained for. (via)

i'm thankful that i don't live in a mid-nineteenth century tenement. what are you thankful for?