bookofjoe

Molting Arctic Fox

The fox is shedding its thick white winter fur to expose its brown summer coat.

British photographer Kevin Morgans, who took the photo one June while exploring Norway's remote Svalbard archipelago, spotted a lump in the distance and was unsure at first whether it was a rock or an animal.

Approaching slowly, he soon realized it was a sleeping Arctic fox — the first he had ever seen.

Crawling closer, Morgans waited with his camera until the animal began to stir.

"First one eye opened, then the other," he recalls.

Then their eyes met (above).

Soon it yawned widely (below),

then stood to stretch (top). 

"To my good fortune," said Morgans, "as it stretched, a gust of wind came through, blowing the fur all over the place."

The whimsical image earned Morgans wide acclaim.

"I owe this fox so much," he said.

[via National Wildlife Federation]

James Brown, Michael Jackson AND Prince — live at the Beverly Theatre

It happened in Hollywood, California on August 20, 1983.

"L'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux" (What is essential is invisible to the eye)

So wrote de Saint-Exupéry in his 1943 classic, "The Little Prince."

Above, the original dust jacket of the first edition.

Soda or Pop?

 

Depends where you live.

Created by Joshua Katz, this map illustrates regional variations in the generic term for a sweetened carbonated beverage.

Many people in the South ask for a Coke even when they're ordering a Sprite, as in: "I'll have a Coke. What kind? A Sprite, please."

Speed Tape

You don't need to be an airplane mechanic to find this stuff useful.

It works great around the house: I use it to seal the access port of my heating system's replaceable air filter housing.

2.8" wide x 148-foot-long roll: $32.23.