Calendar for Tuesday, November 14, 2006

What a day!

Things that I learned at the NY Aquarium

• Walrus's - They are usually 10 to 12 feet long. They eat 85 lbs of food a day. Their call sounds like a foghorn. Their wiskers have muscles in them. Male Walrus's have inflatable air sacs in their necks so that when they fall asleep in the water, they will stay afloat.
• The Sea Lion Show -The sea lions that performed in this show were named Otis and Osbourne. They breakdance and walk on their hands if they hear the song, "Walk this Way." A sea lion's kiss on the cheek feels exactly how you might imagine it to be - sloppy, suctiony, whiskery, with a potent odor of fish. Sea lions can bend their necks all the way back so that their head touches their back. Sea lions eat 25 lbs of fish a day. This show was a little bit propaganda-oriented. At one point the trainers asked Otis and Osbourne if we humans should eat shrimp and squid. Otis and Osbourne shook their heads, "no" and let out a roar. Then the trainers asked O and O if we humans should eat farm - raised talapia and catfish. Otis and Osbourne nodded their heads, "yes" and clapped. I guess we humans are taking shimp and squid from the sea lions and destroying the ecosystem or something.
• California Sea Otters - ADORABLE. They never have to leave the water. They eat on their backs. To protect themselves from predators, they travel together in the water and form a huge otter raft. Otters can hold their breath for five minutes.
  
• Seahorses - Male Seahorses do the childbearing. Don't buy seahorses as pets because feeding them requires expensive equipment and skill.
• Lobsters - Can be right or left handed. The one at the NY Aquarium is about the size of a microwave. Lobsters, as well as shrimp and crab, see an image made up of many small dots. If a dot moves, the animal detects motion.
  
• Jellyfish - The longest animal in the world is the Lion's Mane Jelly. It has tentacles up to 200 ft long.
• Stingers Exhibit - Didn't learn much because I was more interested in the creepy audio crap that was going on. It was audio for the exhibit for sure, but boy was it surreal. There's underwater-y music but it's more on the side of experimental than ambiant. Over the music, a woman's echoey repeats a word that sounds like "nidaria." Then, a man's voice with slight reverb comes on and says a fact, but then repeats part of the fact as in, "all animals living in the water have to have their own system of protecting themselves because the competition's so great. competition's so great. competition's so great." The repeated phrases don't fade out. They just repeat. They just repeat. They just repeat.
• Gift shop - awesome. I bought seahorse and whale socks for my parents and some candy - a NY Aquarium lollipop and some Haribo Clown Fish gummies. I wanted to buy huge stuffed animals of fish because it's hilarious to picture someone (myself, i guess, if i had bought this) cuddling up with a giant plush catfish.

Joanna Newsom was fascinating. She's other-worldly, in a way, but also part Renaissance Faire.
I wept when she sang "Sadie." I love that song -- my favorite lyrics of all time ever. I posted the lyrics to it back when I started writing here. Before the dawn of time. (in '04) She sang through her entire new album in its entirety with a band. At first I didn't know if I liked it, but I didn't know if I liked her first album until I began to obsess over it. There are a few songs that are very long and complicated with different themes at the beginning, middle and end, like a story. When the story starts to build, the theme is orchestral and drums and other instruments join in and take it further and then the story revisits the original theme and comes to a harp/vocal conclusion. Quite powerful. There was a hipster in front of me and a little to my left who, whenever the drums came in, would nod his head like he was listening to death metal or something. He drew a lot of attention.

Calendar for Tuesday, November 14th

Lower East Side Tenement Museum

BODIES . . . the Exhibit

Maybe a show at the Knitting Factory? Not sure yet how I'll feel.