otterman’s posterous

"Anyone who can email can now blog" 

"The two talking cats" YouTube video - apparently an unusual hour for Stina and Mossy

TheCatsPyjaaaamas posted the second video clip below in 2007 and it
has since received >18 millions hits. According to their owner, the
10-year old unrelated females, "Stina and Mossy usually fight instead
of communicat[ing], so this was an odd moment. They kept "talking" for
about 1 hour, constantly."
 
Prelude to "The two talking cats" YouTube video

 
"The two talking cats" YouTube video by TheCatsPyjaaaamas

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Battle of Pasir Panjang Commemorative Walk

It was a tough walk for me as I was quite exhausted from the week and my flu. Thankfully Stella brought us morning coffee and a sandwich so although I still struggled to guide, the other guides, Oi Yee, Airani, Kenneth, Kiah Shen and Stella, later said we did okay.  

One reason I suppose is that we had 53 eager beaver participants - I forget that we usually have bright-eyed and bushy-tailed participants during the commemorative walk; after all these are the people who get up to meet us at 7am in "ulu" NUS!

It got muggy towards the midday and then a quick shower relieved us of the heat. A bunch of people came forward later to thank us which was sweet. Many are guides or educators so they can appreciate the effort that went into the trip.

I twittered every now and then thanks to tweet.sg on my shiny new Sony Ericsson w902; I love having a clear screen on my phone once again!

After the trip, our reward - the guides + Wendy (who joined us after her unfortunate training stint), sit down for a long and relaxing lunch all afternoon; with the bonus of special members Georgiana and Darren. Georgi, like some of the guides, took turns napping...

Akan datang - photos of the walk and an account by Kenneth at the Toddycats blog.

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Darwin's 200th birthday

I posted a useful lead at <a href="http://staff.science.nus.edu.sg/~sivasothi/biorefugia/2009/02/happy-200th-birthday-charles-darwin.html">The Biology Refugia</a>. Google marked the event with this on their home page which I missed. Luckily, one of our biograds-to-be, Mindy Tuan,  <a href="http://sunflecksurfer.wordpress.com/2009/02/12/born-200-years-ago-today/">blogged it</a> yesterday.


<a href="http://sunflecksurfer.wordpress.com/2009/02/12/born-200-years-ago-today/"><img src="" alt="spotlight2019s on nature"/></a>

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w902 wallpaper

Xylo is my phone's wallpaper now. This shot is from testing the phone's camera out of the box.

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Mangrove mapping

When detail is required in our very heterogeneous mangroves in order to track animal movement, the resolution afforded by a GPS is too inaccurate. Since Google Maps for the Buloh mangrove patch we are working in is tragically covered by clouds, detailed mapping is a critical step for this and future work. So its back to the Murphyian tape, compass and clipboard days for me, a tradition in our mangroves dating back tot he late-80's. 


The student has to hold the compass though, not me. For she has to learn, make mistakes, get frustrated by inexplicable plots back in dry land and plan a remapping. I have to exercise restraint and remember that it was my mistakes as much as my successes that honed my skill.

   
Click here to download:
Mangrove_mapping.zip (641 KB)

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Smooth-coated Otter in Sungei Buloh mangroves

13 Feb 2009 - One of the Toddycats, Teo Kah Ming was assisting one of Ecolab's honours student Theresa Su, on her mangrove mudskipper field trip and was rewarded with an encounter of a "scampering  Smooth-coasted otter," Theresa reported. The otter disappeared into the bush, after swiping at something in the mud, probably a mudskipper.

   
Click here to download:
Smooth-coated_Otter_in_Sungei_.zip (472 KB)

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The Battle of Singapore...

would be going on now, in 1941. Japanese landings began on 8th February 1941 .

""We'll Meet Again" is a 1939 song made famous by British singer Vera Lynn (#29 (US, 1954)) with music written by Ross Parker and words by Hughie Charles. The song is one of the most famous songs of the Second World War era, and resonated with soldiers going off to fight and their families and sweethearts. The assertion that "we'll meet again" is optimistic, as many soldiers did not survive to see their loved ones again. Indeed, the meeting place at some unspecified time in the future would have been seen by many who lost loved ones to be heaven." - Wikipedia 


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Signature's Michael Jackson/Bhangra mix

From Alvin Wong:

Signature (Suleman Mirza & Madhu Singh) in Britain's Got Talent (2008)


Michael Jackson - Bhangra


Semi Final: Thriller


final: they came in second!

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"I Am A Man Of Constant Sorrow"

Movie trailer of the Coen Borther's movie, "O Brother Where Art Thou,"  set to the Soggy Bottom Boys singing "I Am A Man Of Constant Sorrow" that is heard twice in the movie. The 2000 movie was loosely based on Homer's Odyssey but set in Mississippi during the great depression. 


According to IMDB trivia, George Clooney practised his singing for weeks, but for the movie his singing voice was dubbed by country blues singer Dan Tyminski. He did his job at the microphone and turned in a hilarious performance!



Story-telling at its best, the movie was just about eclipsed by the soundtrack composed of American folk music of the time, featuring bluegrass, gospel, blues and country music [link]. 

"The film's soundtrack became an unlikely blockbuster, even surpassing the success of the film. By early 2001, it had sold five million copies, spawned a documentary film, three follow-up albums ("O Sister" and "O Sister 2"), two concert tours, and won Country Music Awards for Album of the Year and Single of the Year (for "Man of Constant Sorrow"). It also won five Grammys, including Album of the Year, and hit #1 on the Billboard album charts the week of March 15, 2002, 63 weeks after its release and over a year after the release of the film." - IMDB 

Here's Dan Tyminski with Ron Block at the Crossroads Festival:

Lyrics to the song from songmeanings.net:

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Yaay! Rain!

It's been a dry January so its nice that the forests and animals get a little reprieve.

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