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Tuesday Tunes – Alien Ant Farm edition

Fun Stuff, Insects, Pop Culture, Tuesday Tunes No Responses »

Jan 032012

Well here we are, a full year after I started this little musical column. Turns out there are a lot more artists who have brought in the funk with insect content than I could have imagined, making quite a diverse playlist (which I’m going to curate in one place and post soon, don’t worry). My goal was to feature a new song every week, and I almost made it, having only forgotten last week! So close! Oh well, I’ve covered more than 52 songs throughout the year, so I suppose I’m still ahead of the game.

I enjoyed writing these pieces each week, and often surprised myself with where the final product ended up. Some were silly, some I tried to deliver a message, and some were intimately personal. It goes to show just how a song can impact a person and inspire a full range of emotions.

With that being said, this may be the last Tuesday Tunes for a bit. No fear, I still have plenty of insect music to share and write about, but there are some other weekly projects I want to try and do, and I’m ready to turn this into an occasional feature, coming around maybe once a month or so.

Today is as good a time as any for another multi-song version of Tuesday Tunes, with another band I listened to through high school; Alien Ant Farm.

When you hear about Alien Ant Farm, you probably think of their biggest hit (and Michael Jackson cover), Smooth Criminal. Other than the band’s ant-head logo on the canvas of the boxing ring, there’s not much entomological about this song, but it’s still a fun song, so enjoy!

Their logo isn’t their only entomological expression however, as they also penned and performed the songs Crickets and Beehive on their 2006 album Up in the Attic:

And to top it all off, Alien Ant Farm wrote a special song for the 2002 movie Spider-Man, Bug Bytes:

So that’s it for Tuesday Tunes for awhile! Thanks to those of you who joined me on this journey through music history, and keep an eye out for more songs in the future!

These songs are available on iTunes (except for Beehive, which was a bonus song):
Smooth Criminal – ANThology
Crickets – Up In the Attic
Bug Bytes – Spider-Man (Music from and Inspired By)

Tuesday Tunes – Empire Ants – Gorillaz

Fun Stuff, Insects, Pop Culture, Tuesday Tunes 1 Response »

Nov 212011

From last week’s ESA meeting, you’d think that ants were all powerful and super diverse or something by the number of people talking about them and the level of excitement surrounding those talks! You might say people were going ape over the empire of ants…

Ya, that was a pretty horrible reference. But the thing about ant enthusiasm and the large number of talks about a single family wasn’t hyperbole!

This song is available on iTunes – Empire Ants (feat. Little Dragon) – Plastic Beach

Tuesday Tunes – Ants Marching – Dave Matthews Band

Life as a Grad Student, Thumb Twiddling, Tuesday Tunes 3 Responses »

Jul 262011

I’m busy. Not just a little busy, but really busy.

I’m on track to have 5-6 peer-reviewed papers submitted and/or published by the end of the year, I’m co-authoring a field guide which should be coming out this fall, I’m running a field trial for the first time in my life to help pay the bills while I wait for PhD funding, I can’t say no when asked for help from friends and colleagues, and of course the blog (although lately it’s been slightly neglected; sorry about that). Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining and love what I do, and I willingly signed up for all of these projects ~~knowing~~ hoping that time spent now will pay off later when I’m applying for funding and looking for PhD/Post-Doc/Faculty positions.

But with all of these projects on the go, something has had to give, and lately it’s been my photography. After I defended my MSc this spring, I figured I’d have plenty of time to shoot more insects, experiment with a few ideas I’ve been thinking about (when I was supposed to be writing my thesis) and just spend more time in the field relaxing and creating new images to share. As the summer has slipped by (can someone tell me where July went?), photo opportunities have come and gone, and I’ve found myself repeating that there’s always next year…

A recent post by travel photographer and inspirational blogger David duChemin has given me pause however, and made me consider my priorities somewhat. I think it’s one of his best (which is really saying something), and hit close to home. Take the time to give it a read, then come on back (I’ll wait, don’t worry).

Well, what did you think? Amazing that a seemingly small commitment can add up to such a significant amount of time!

While I have dreams of becoming a tenured professor at a mid-sized university teaching, researching, and looking at flies until retirement, I also dream of that perfect photo, and the road trip with no fixed destination or deadline, dreams that seem nearly incompatible with my professional aspirations at times. But an hour a day? I think I could work that in. Whether it’s an hour writing something for the blog, editing photos that have become back-logged, or banking a couple of day’s worth for an afternoon out with my camera, I’m going to do my best to take a breath more often and leave something in the tank for things other than academia. While 45 days in a row could allow a pretty kick ass road trip or South American odyssey, let’s be honest; I’d probably end up with another project on my platter instead. I think the daily hour is a pretty good place to start.

This week’s song fits nicely with the idea of taking time for yourself, and allowing yourself a moment’s peace away from the busy colony life.

That’s it for this week, but I hope you’ll take the time to find an hour a day for yourself and your outside interests. If you’re interested in hearing about my “daily” hours, I’ll try to keep a Tweet-log about my time spent; feel free to follow along (@BioInFocus) or contribute your own journal by using the hashtag #1hr4life.

Have you found yourself passing up opportunities in order to get just one more paper/project/promotion? Feel free to air your thoughts below in the comments.

This week’s song is available on iTunes – Ants Marching – Under the Table and Dreaming

T.G.I.Formicidae – Formica with Aphids

Blogosphere, Insects, Natural History, TGIFormicidae 7 Responses »

Jul 012011

T.G.I.Formicidae is a new occasional feature here on the blog, and this inaugural edition features some collusion between Alex Wild, Ted MacRae and myself. Alex normally features beetles on Fridays, and Ted and I thought it might be fun to continue the trend, with Ted blogging flies today while I cover ants to complete the triad of major insect groups! Make sure to check out their blogs to see what fantastic Friday finds they have to share!

In a last minute rush to produce some ant photos to compliment the fine photographs of Ted’s and Alex’s, I ran back to the Dairy Bush on the University of Guelph campus with hopes of finding some interesting ants to shoot. Luckily for me, I happened across what I believe are ~~Camponotus~~ Formica ants tending to masses of aphids. Ant mutualism with aphids was one of the first insect interactions I can remember learning about in my intro entomology courses, and I can’t resist watching and photographing these tiny ranchers whenever I come across them!

Tuesday Tunes – Mardi Gras Special

Fun Stuff, Insects, Pop Culture, Tuesday Tunes No Responses »

Mar 082011

It’s party time down in The Big Easy, with eusocial gatherings in the streets, plenty of ethanol being wasted (i.e. not being used for insect preservation) and females displaying mammary glands for petroleum-based jewelery (or so I’ve heard). In celebration, here’s the Dukes of Dixieland playing the entomological fight song, “When the Ants go Marching In”!

Wait, you mean it’s actually about SAINTS, not ants? And it’s a traditional funeral song? Shit. Well, in that case, enjoy EL-P featuring New Orleans resident (and Academy Award Winner) Trent Reznor – Flyentology (I think I might start referring to myself as a Flyentologist now…)

I’m off to eat some pancakes and pączki with some Jack Daniels Syrup. Fleacrest out!

These songs are available on iTunes – When the Saints Go Marching In – Timeless, The Classic Collection

– Flyentology (Cassettes Won’t Listen Remix) – Single – El-P