Harper Lee's Estate Sues Over Broadway Version of "Mockingbird"

Good.  Here's the full article at the NYT, and here's the bottom-line quote:

In the complaint filed Tuesday in federal court in Alabama, the estate argued that Mr. Sorkin's adaptation deviates too much from the novel, and violates a contract, between Ms. Lee and the producers, which stipulates that the characters and plot must remain faithful to the spirit of the book.

It's about time.  After decades of watching scriptwriters mangle well-regarded works of literature into generic story lines resulting in movies and plays that neither convey the author's original ideas nor actually turn a buck, it is gratifying to see an author's estate go after these hacks.

In other news, I hear that the estate of Robert Heinlein has despatched a crack team of up-armored camel spiders to Paul Verhoeven's last known location, in retribution for the theme-reversal job he did on Starship Troopers.

Long-Term Trends in Oyster Development

Long-term trends in oyster development – on the order of 80,000 years – are discussed in part of this week's edition of Big Picture Science (link).  It's the first segment and only about 16 minutes long, which makes it convenient to just click and listen at your computer, no downloading needed.

The take-away is that production is enhanced by limiting the harvest of large oysters.  This is a complete U-turn from the current laws which forbid the harvesting of undersize oysters.

Amazing what insights can be gained by carefully observing nature.  Sometimes things that seem completely, well, wrong turn out to be right when given a closer look.

I'm sure you've been hearing about Hawking all day,

... so I won't re-hash the news.  But it is worth perusing this article of memorable quotes.  Then there's the time he threw a cocktail party for time travelers – and didn't send out any invitations until afterward.  The man had a sharp mind and a sharp sense of humor to match.

Huh, so it is Pi Day

And here I was struggling for something to blog up.  Happy Pi Day!

From The Argyle Sweater.

Unbelievable

Stunningly beautiful and clear today, tomorrow, and the next day.  After that, here's the extended forecast:

Yes, it really does only rain on weekends.

Cheated the Weather Yesterday

Despite a standing policy of "it only rains on weekends" around here, that little leading front that was supposed to keep people from mountain biking rained out as it crossed Louisiana.  The key point here is always have your gear ready to go.  I'd changed an aging chain Thursday night so it was just a matter of pumping the tires and filling the camelbak.  Turned out to be a beautiful day on the trail after all.

Doesn't look like much, the scale's hard to judge, but this ravine's about fifteen feet deep.

It was a good day at the Bethel Trails.  Not just for biking either, there were a lot of nice people out there enjoying the reprieve in the weather too.  However, today the weather has some payback in mind:

A good day on the bike yesterday, a good day to stay inside today.

Yes, It Really Only Rains on Weekends

*ahem*

Oh and yesterday (not shown)?  Stunningly clear blue skies.  The extended forecast for next Saturday?  Rain.