Wild At Heart
It is now officially 2012 and I spent the first day of the new year catching up on on football (nice game for the Lions despite the loss) and various TV shows (Bones, American Horror Story, Once Upon A Time and Terra Nova). My New Years Eve was a bit more exciting.
Our Science Center just got the new exhibit courtesy of the American Museum of Natural History called "Extreme Mammals". I hadn't been to the museum is about 2 decades and enjoyed walking through their exhibits of Native American culture and dinosaurs including these Wooly Mammoths (which of course is the Michigan State Fossil with a great exhibit at Cranbrook).
I have always enjoyed watching and reading about unique animals and this exhibit gives us a look at some of the most unique animals, both living and dead. It ranges from the smallest known mammal (the shrew-like Batodonoides) to the largest, the extinct Indricotherium, shown below.
You have animals with poisonous claws, quills, unique horns and numerous other unique features. A lot of unique animals ranging from the armor plated Glyptodont, the egg laying Platypus, the large nosed Macraucheria, the horned Narwhal, the pig-like Babirusa with teeth growing through the top of it's mouth, the Giant Ground Sloth and one of the first large mammal, the marsh dwelling Coryphodon (seen below) are seen.
This is a very cool exhibit with a lot of great specimens that show the true beauty of this world. Hopefully this will make it's way to Detroit because it is a nice exhibit but if you don't want to wait (or take the chance it might not come), Rochester is a good road trip. One thing the exhibit also looks at is some newly discovered animals which is always amazing considering all the nature shows and such around the world. Here is a picture of the Striped Rabbit which was first discovered in 1999 in a food market located near the border of Laos and Vietnam.
After the museum, I went to a local Japanese restaurant, The Sakura House, and tried this interesting dish. It is sliced beef and vegetables which they bring to the table with a lava rock that is preheated to 750 degrees. You place the meat on the rock and it cooks right at your table and it was delicious. I enjoy unique dining experiences like this. They had great sushi also.
After dinner, I went to see the Capitol Steps. They started as a bunch of Senate staffers that turned to performing comedy sketches and have been going strong for 30 years as of last week. They do a wonderful job doing parody songs of current events and do a good job picking on everyone deserving despite their political affiliation. This night they took on Obama, Bush, Newt, Palin, Dole, Kim-Jong II, Perry and many more. My favorite song of the night was a pirate song based on the melody of "We Are The World" which I have included below as well as a picture of most of the cast mingling with the fans during intermission.
I highly recommend checking them out when you can. They will be playing just south of Detroit at the Croswell Opera House in Adrian on March 18th so look into this before you forget.
Lastly, I spent the night at the Bug Jar taking in my high school buddy's bands the Quitters and the Thundergods. He has been a drummer in a number of great bands in the rock and punk genres and has been a popular fixture of the Rochester music scene for a good 20 years. He had a couple of big articles in the local magazines about problems with drugs and working his way through it. With the help of his family and wife, he is making some hard choices for which I am very proud of him. It is not easy being if the music industry which might look down on drugs but also puts people like Morrison and Joplin on a pedestal despite their problems. This is also why a book like Motley Crue's "The Dirt" can be seen as a classic which some people admire and some condemn. He is looking good right now and by the picture of his smile of the picture below shows he is on the correct path and I wish him the best at fighting those demons. Enjoy the pictures.
With the New Year, I had trouble finding that many shows to recommend though those Magic Bag shows look mighty promising esp on Sunday.
Saturday (1/07) - Lath Al-Saadi w/Pazman and Jim McCarty @ Magic Bag, Jill Jack @ the Ark
Sunday (1/08) - Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band w/Thornetta Davis and Johnnie Bassett @ Magic Bag
I hope everyone got through last year safetly and has a good New Year.