I CHALLENGE THEE

Hey–who wants to have a ScienceBlogs vs. Discover blogs vs. Nature Blog Network throw down for Donor’s Choose?

This October, I’ll be part of the DonorsChoose.org Social Media Challenge.  This is a friendly month-long competition between blogs to see which can bring in the most donations to help low-income classrooms on DonorsChoose.org.  DonorsChoose.org is an online charity that provides an easy way for people to fund worthy projects in schools by donating online.

Please visit my Giving Page to make a donation.

I’ve chosen schools in high poverty areas that have insect-themed or garden themed proj
ects. A couple of them are in Michigan!

ALL NATURE BLOG NETWORK FOLK:

Make sure you choose the “Nature Blog Network” as your Giving Group!

I hereby challenge PZ and BA. I think all our the little nature blogs  can kick your A-list blogs’ asses in donations to get kids involved with nature. NEENER! 

The Stout Scarab

Apparently it’s Insect Car Week at the Bug Blog!

I think everyone knows the Volkswagen Beetle–the iconic Coleopteran car. But how many of you have heard of the 1935 Stout Scarab?

“The Stout Scarab was a 1930s U.S automobile produced in small numbers by Stout Engineering Laboratories of Detroit, Michigan. Among a host of novelties and innovations, the Stout Scarab is credited by many as the world’s first production minivan.”

I had a chance to see one of these lately, and it is both astonishing and ADORABLE.

Only 9 of these were ever built–the idea was that it would function as a hotel on wheels. The back seat is about 6 feet wide, and folds down into a bed.

You can see this cute mega-beetle in action here:

Check out the scarab as hood ornament.  What a great little tidbit of Michigan History!

Pestival Festival

Ed alerted me to this–it’s wonderful!  And where the heck have I been that I wasn’t in on this myself??  From their Mission Statement:

“Pestival is a mobile arts festival examining insect-human interactivity in bioscience, through paradigms of contemporary art, cinema, music and comedy as well as direct scientific demonstration and educational projects.

Pestival will bring together eminent international artists and scientists and local and global communities to collaborate on cutting-edge interdisciplinary art projects, placing the natural world under the microscope in order to further public understanding of our place within the biosphere.”

This SOOO needs to happen in the US.  The termite pavilion looks simply lovely. And check out the Bee Cab:

There is, BTW, a working hive in that cab!

More Pestival Coverage:

• Flickr Pestival Pool
• Guardian Photos and news coverage

I say next year, we set up a hive of insect bloggers as an exhibit. Who’s in?

Rock Flipping Day 2009: Mark the day!

International Rock Flipping Day will be Sunday, September 20th this year!  Wandering Weta will be the coordinator this year.

“Here’s a quick rundown of the procedure:

• On or about September 20th, find your rock and flip it over.
• Record what you find. “Any and all forms of documentation are welcome: still photos, video, sketches, prose, or poetry.”
• Replace the rock as you found it; it’s someone’s home.
• Post on your blog, or load your photos to the Flickr group.
• Send me a link. My e-mail address is in my profile, or you can add a comment to any IRFD post.
• I will collect the links, e-mail participants the list, and post it for any and all to copy to your own blogs. (Maybe we can Tweet it, too, this year. Use the hashtag #rockflip.)

There is a handy badge available for your blog, here.”

Join in!!