Sunday, September 25, 2011

Roger Clyne at the State Theatre

Roger Clyne

Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers performed September 25, 2011, at the State Theatre in Falls Church, Virginia. They played the following songs:

1. All Over the Radio

2. Down Together

3. Heaven on a Paper Plate

4. Banditos

5. Dinero

6. Mexico

7. Lemons

8. Marie

9. Tell Yer Momma

10. Maybe We Should Fall in Love

11. Interstate

12. Paper Airplanes

13. Wanted

14. I Know You Know



15. Girly

16. Yahoos and Triangles

17. Empty Highway



18. European Swallow

19. Mekong



20. Green and Dumb (encore)

21. Counterclockwise (encore)

22. Nada (encore)

Photo and videos by Kevin Borland.

Saturday, September 24, 2011

Trip to the Zoo

I took my mother to visit the National Zoo today. I have visited the few a handful of times before, but this time I spent quite a bit of time in the Small Mammal House. Here are a few of the animals we saw:

White-Faced Saki

The white-faced saki, also known as the Guianan saki and the golden-faced saki, is a species of saki monkey, a type of New World monkey, found in Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, and Venezuela. This species lives in the understory and lower canopy of the forest, feeding mostly on fruits, but also eating nuts, seeds, and insects.

Golden Lion Tamarin

The golden lion tamarin is diurnal and primarily arboreal, forming small groups of patrols with a consistent territory of around 400,000 square metres (100 acres). Fighting between groups is avoided by scent marking and ritual encounters. By night, the tamarins sleep in abandoned nesting holes in trees, or in large bromeliads.

White-Faced Saki Golden Lion Tamarin

Pale-faced saki (left), golden lion tamarin (right). Photos by Kevin Borland. Portions of text derived from Wikipedia.

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Blacksmith at Gulf Branch Forge

Blacksmith at Gulf Branch Forge

I wanted to get out of the house today, so I went over to the Gulf Branch Forge, where I met this friendly blacksmith. I watched her make an ornate hook out of a steel rod. First she made each end of the rod pointed and rounded using the hammer and anvil. Then, she bent one of the ends into a spiral for decoration. Next, she formed the hook portion by wrapping the bar around a circular piece of metal. Then, she bent the straight end at a 90 degree angle so it could be hammered into a wall. She then proceeded to twist the middle of the hook (between the 90 degree angle an the curved portion) for a decorative effect. Finally, she straightened it and polished it. The piece was finished about a half hour from when she first placed the rod in the forge. While she was making the hook she explained every step of the process, and discussed everything from how the coal forge works to how lasers are used to check the insulation on modern gas forges.

Photo by Kevin Borland.