TEDx talks presents 'Trees: The superheroes we’ve been waiting for' on Arbor Day, Superhero Day, and Flashback Friday

Happy Arbor Day and National Superhero Day on Flashback Friday! For today's observance of two holidays that celebrate some of my favorite topics, I'm sharing Trees: The superheroes we’ve been waiting for | Andy Lipkis | TEDxUCLA from July 7, 2015.

When is the last time you stopped and really looked at a tree? Sometimes the things we see everyday lose their profound importance as they seem so commonplace, ordinary, already understood. Andy Lipkis has dedicated his life to trees, and talks about the extraordinary, and untapped power of the tree.

Andy Lipkis if the Founder and President of TreePeople, a nonprofit organization that is growing a green and climate-resilient Los Angeles.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community.

This is at least the second time Andy Lipkis has appeared on this blog. The first time was Rocking the boat down the Los Angeles River, which included a brief interview of him. I didn't even mention him or his charity, TreePeople, then, but he made important points about water in "Rock the Boat" that he repeats in this video. I'm glad a gave him a chance to repeat them a decade later. It beats Captain Planet!


Follow over the jump for a retrospective about last year's holiday posts that became popular on Pinterest and Twitter.

UCLA study shows high-risk fire days in southern California could double by 2100

Another climate study came out last week in addition to the determination that the American West is in the worst drought during past 1,200 years. CBS Los Angeles reported UCLA Study Shows Southern California Wildfire Risk Will Continue To Increase.

It seems like there are major wildfires in Southern California every year and a new report from UCLA predicts things will only get worse. The study shows the number of days with a high risk of fires could double by the end of the century.

It's Glen MacDonald, not Park Williams, explaining the findings, but he's also a professor in the UCLA Geography Department. On the one hand, go Bruins! On the other hand, yikes! I thought California's year-round fire season was bad enough already, but it's going to get worse.

CBS Sacramento also reported New UCLA Study Predicts More Fires In CA.

A new study out of UCLA predicts more disastrous fires throughout California.

I found this clip worth including just for the spectacular fire footage.

KTLA included a relevant location, a fire station, in High-risk fire days could double by 2100 due to climate change, study finds.


I hope Californians respond by making their developed environment more able to survive the increased fire risk and by joining the rest of the world in reducing their greenhouse gas emissions. I'm doing my part by reducing my driving because of the pandemic. I don't expect that will last past May, when I will probably return to in-person teaching and commuting, but we'll see.

That should conclude my climate change blogging for the month unless another study comes out that makes the news. Stay tuned.

American West in worst drought during past 1,200 years

Western drought likely worst in a millennium and may be the beginning of 'aridification' that I originally promised at the end of One foot sea level rise by 2050 according to U.S. government study. I begin with PBS NewsHour reporting Western states face a bleak future amid the worst drought in more than 1,000 years.

The so-called megadrought that is afflicting the American West is the worst in 1,200 years, according to a study published this week. It has dried up water supplies, threatened ranchers and fueled wildfires. Park Williams, the lead author of the study just published in the journal Nature Climate Change, joins William Brangham with more.

About the only good news is that PBS NewsHour interviewed the lead author of the study, who is an Associate Professor at UCLA, my undergraduate alma mater. They went to the source and got a brief yet clear explanation of the science. Yay, PBS journalism standards and go Bruins! Other than that, this is bad news.

NBC News opted for more video clips to illustrate Western States Face Worst Megadrought In More Than 1,000 Years.

A megadrought in the western U.S. has become the worst in more than 1,000 years and is being driven by humans, according to a new study. NBC News meteorologist Bill Karins breaks down whether the drought is showing any signs of letting up and how California officials are hoping to combat the unprecedented drought.

At least NBC News focused on solutions.

To see how the local media where I grew up covered this story, watch CBS Los Angeles The West Enters Worst Drought In 1,200 Years.

Experts believe 42% the so called "Megadrought" can be attributed to human-caused climate change.

CBS LA went for a combination of expert interview, location footage, and a search for solution with a local emphasis, which I thought was a good combination for them. Still, they didn't avoid this being bad news.

For my conclusion, I'm going to be a good environmentalist by recycling what I wrote last June for my reaction to the PBS Terra video I embedded.

Calling this "the worst drought in 1200 years" and the process "aridification" instead of a mere drought reminds me of something I said in the interview I linked to in On BlogTalkRadio for Earth Day today.* I told host John Henry that I thought that the drought was comparable to the once-in-a-lifetime one that caused the Dust Bowl but it could be worse. The current drought could rival the ones that occurred in the U.S. Southwest during the mid 1100s and late 1200s, during which time the Anasazi, the ancestors of today's Hopi, who were featured in the PBS Terra video, abandoned many of their previous settlements and started building their current pueblos. I'd listen to the descendants of the survivors of that drought about how to cope with it.

I still would, even though these videos didn't feature indigenous voices. That's an additional perspective that might have been valuable.

Bill Maher gives the Best Picture nominees at the Oscars two thumbs down for being serious instead of entertaining

I concluded Carbon dioxide at levels not seen for 3.6 million years despite economic slowdown from pandemic by telling my readers "Enough DOOM. Stay tuned for more on the Oscar nominees tomorrow, the Sunday entertainment feature." Once again, I'm featuring something my wife found, New Rule: The Debbies | Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO) in which Bill gets some cheap laughs at Hollywood's expense and demonstrates why he called his old show on ABC "Politically Incorrect."

Bill gives two thumbs down to the trend of virtue-signaling Oscar films.

Bill has a point about the movies the Hollywood creatives in the Motion Picture Academy nominate for awards. They are serious "coffee table" cinema that the entertainment industry wants to show off as serious art. I grew up around these people and they've always been like this, so that's not new. It's just that two trends have made it more apparent this year.

First, the elite and popular tastes have diverged more dramatically this century, so that the last Best Picture winner that was number one at the box office was "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" in 2004 and the last Best Picture winner that was number one at the box office was "Black Panther" in 2019. That they were both speculative fiction films demonstrates that "speculative fiction films have become well-made mainstream entertainment that are also outstanding examples of the movie-making craft, if not great art."

It turns out Hollywood has a business reason for this in addition to an artistic one, to say nothing of snobbery.

“The Oscars aren’t just about the most popular movie,” said Jonathan Kuntz, film historian and lecturer at the U.C.L.A. School of Theater, Film and Television. Instead of mass appeal, the best picture award recognizes intangible qualities such as originality, technical innovation, cultural significance and artistic value.
...
“The Academy Award has always been, since the early days, Hollywood’s way of helping itself in promoting films,” said Mr. Kuntz, explaining why lower-grossing art house films are often favored. “The value of an Oscar to a medium or small film can be great, whereas to a large film, it can be insignificant.”
...
“They want to reward new people and new ideas,” said Mr. Kuntz, which is why best picture rarely goes to reboots or sequels. The first “Star Wars” movie, “A New Hope” (1977), was nominated for best picture, but did not win. The “Star Wars” franchise has enjoyed enormous commercial success since then, but Mr. Kuntz doubted that academy voters would pick a “Star Wars” film for best picture.
...
“The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” (2003) is one of the few fantasy movies, and one of few sequels, to win best picture. “In 2001, when the first movie was nominated,” Mr. Kuntz said, “it was considered a major achievement.” He suspects that the reason it took three films for the academy to recognize the trilogy was because of its genre.

So there is a method to Hollywood's madness. I just hope it doesn't backfire.

Second, the pandemic has completely messed up Hollywood's box office and release schedule, so it's almost impossible to really gauge the popularity of movies and a lot of movies that would have been released in theaters ended up delayed, on streaming services, or both, like "Wonder Woman 1984." The following graph from Calculated Risk using Box Office Mojo data shows how the pandemic has caused the domestic box office to crater.



By the way, the uptick at the end of the 2021 series is from "Godzilla vs. Kong," which became the top grossing film so far this year after one week, even though it's also available for subscribers of HBO Max to stream.

On the other hand, the kind of films that the Motion Picture Academy likes to nominate got released anyway. That made Hollywood's taste for socially conscious Oscar nominees even more prominent this year than in previous years, when there were more popular movies to see in theaters. Just the same, even some of the Oscar nominees have found audiences on streaming, as the following graphic from Cord Cutter News shows.


Yes, "Nomadland," which Bill Maher dumped on, broke into the top ten streaming movies as measured by Nielsen. That's why I think it has a very good shot at winning Best Picture, whether Bill likes it or not. At least we know people, including the Motion Picture Academy members, are watching it.

Finally, Bill mocked the documentaries as the category for serious examination of issues to make people feel bad. As I pointed out in Politics, government, and injustice among the 2021 feature documentary Oscar nominees, while I found little uplifting about "Collective," I thought "Time," "Crip Camp," and "My Octopus Teacher" featured positive stories and "The Mole Agent" to be surprisingly fun. Maybe Bill should watch those for a better movie experience.

That's it for today's entertainment feature. I'll be back tomorrow for Yuri's Night. Stay tuned.

World Food Program wins Peace Prize and the winners for economics, science, and literature on Nobel Prize Day 2020

Happy Nobel Prize Day! Today, the anniversary of Alfred Nobel's death in 1896, is the day the Nobel Prizes for peace, economics, medicine, physics, chemistry, and literature are presented to their recipients. Normally, that ceremony would take place in Stockholm, Sweden, for all the prizes except the peace prize, which would happen in Oslo, Norway, but because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the presentation happened remotely.

I begin today's coverage of the prize winners with World Food Program Wins 2020 Nobel Peace Prize from Now This.

This year's Nobel Peace Prize went to the World Food Program, a UN org that combats hunger worldwide by helping feed nearly 100M people across 88 countries.

Bloomberg Quick Take had a worse video, but a better description that expanded on the reasons for the World Food Program earning the award.

The organization is being honored “for its contribution to bettering conditions for peace in conflict-affected areas and for acting as a driving force in efforts to prevent the use of hunger as a weapon of war and conflict,” the Norwegian Nobel Committee said on Friday.

The need for international solidarity and multilateral cooperation is “more conspicuous than ever,” the committee said. The World Food Program is the world’s biggest humanitarian group to specifically address hunger and to work toward food security, it said.

Last year, the World Food Programme helped close to 100 million people in 88 countries in the face of acute food insecurity and hunger. The WFP is also the main body through which the United Nations works toward eradicating hunger as one of the Sustainable Development Goals.

The committee chose to highlight hunger in this year’s peace prize after a deterioration in circumstances over recent years. In 2019, 135 million people suffered from acute hunger, the highest number in many years, it said. Most of the increase was caused by war and armed conflict.

This isn't the first time someone trying to feed the world earned a Nobel Peace Prize. The other that I have mentioned on this blog is Norman Borlaug, who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970 for his contributions to the Green Revolution. I teach about both Borlaug and the Green Revolution in my classes. When I return to the classroom, I plan on adding the World Food Program to that lecture.

I'm continuing with the youngest award, "The Sveriges Riksbank [Swedish Royal Bank] Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel," instituted in 1969. Stanford economists Paul Milgrom and Robert Wilson react to winning the Nobel Prize in economics tells their story.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences cited the pair for improvements to auction theory and inventions of new auction formats.

This video shows that auction theory isn't just an academic interest; it applies directly to government functions as exemplified by the auction of radio frequencies. The airwaves are public property, which is why the government regulates broadcasters through the Federal Communications Commission and auctions off radio frequencies. Auction theory is one way of insuring accountability and transparency in the process.

Follow over the jump for this year's science and literature prize winners.

Alex Jones removed from Facebook, Apple, YouTube, and Spotify, prompting free speech concerns

Regular readers of this blog should know that I am no fan of Alex Jones.  When I first mentioned him on this blog, I called him a "tinfoil hat wearer" and later wrote "Here's to everyone, including Trump, learning that the voices in Alex Jones' head are not reliable sources."  So it should come as no surprise  that I reservedly welcome the news that Alex Jones and Infowars have been removed at least temporarily from Apple, Facebook, Spotify, and YouTube.  I begin with CBS Los Angeles reporting on the story.

Facebook took down the Alex Jones Channel Page, the Alex Jones Page, the Infowars Page and the Infowars Nightly News Page after some users complained about the content last week.

I did say my support was reserved.  That's because the restriction on speech on social media imposed on Jones could expand to affect me and people who agree with me.  I'm not alone in thinking that.  CNN's Oliver Darcy expressed those sentiments, too.

YouTube, Facebook and Apple have taken steps to remove content associated with InfoWars and its founder Alex Jones.

Despite my reservations, I think these actions are generally beneficial, as the Media Bias Chart describes InfoWars as "utter garbage/conspiracy theories" and "nonsense damaging to public discourse."   I agree with both descriptions.


Finally, I can't resist having some fun with this news.  The time I wrote about a notorious media figure who promoted conspiracy theories in R.I.P. Art Bell, I dedicated a song by Muse to his fans along with my mixed opinion of the band.

On the one hand, they're brilliant musicians.  On the other, they're complete tinfoil-hat wearing kooks.  Here is a song about a notorious conspiracy theory, MK Ultra, which is about CIA mind control....The next time I post this, it will likely be the UCLA Band version.  I can never get too far away from movies or marching band with my music.

Since Jones is such a major figure, I'm not just sharing one song, I'm sharing an entire show: 2010 - UCLA vs USC Halftime "The Muse Show" 12/4/10.  "MK Ultra" begins the show.

"Mk Ultra" "United States of Eurasia" "Resistance" "Knights of Cydonia"

I wish to thank Alex Jones for giving me an opportunity to feature the UCLA Band, which I marched in 40 years ago.  It shows that no one is completely useless.

Vox on going green by reducing waste for Earth Day 2018

Happy Earth Day!  To celebrate, I'm sharing two videos Vox created last year about the impact of trash on the environment, how people can reduce it, and how people can be persuaded to do so.  The first is Going green shouldn't be this hard.

Going green does not need to be a sacrifice, either for us as individuals or for businesses, governments and the economy.

The second video is from the same series and calls back to the previous one at the end, Takeout creates a lot of trash. It doesn't have to.*

Our single-use items aren't helping the fight against climate change but there are easy hacks to reduce and reuse. Climate Lab is produced by the University of California in partnership with Vox.

Hosted by conservation scientist Dr. M. Sanjayan, the videos explore the surprising elements of our lives that contribute to climate change and the groundbreaking work being done to fight back. Featuring conversations with experts, scientists, thought leaders and activists, the series demystifies topics like nuclear power, food waste and online shopping to make them more approachable and actionable for those who want to do their part. Sanjayan is an alum of UC Santa Cruz, a Visiting Researcher at UCLA and the CEO of Conservation International.

Both videos show ways to reduce our impact through changes in personal behavior, business practices, and government policy.**  All of them are worth doing, not just today, but throughout the year.  Remember, every day is Earth Day.

*The entire series of nine episodes is available at the link: Climate Lab with the description "Conservation scientist and UCLA visiting researcher Dr. M. Sanjayan explores the surprising ways we can change how we think and act about climate change."

**Think of these actions as a kind of technology.  That way they fit in the equation I=P*A*T, where I is impact, P is population, A is affluence, and T is technology.  Only technology can reduce the effects of increasing population and affluence and these behaviors counteract affluence.

The UCLA Marching Band at the 1969 Oscars for Marching Music Day

via GIPHY
Happy Marching Music Day!  Since the Academy Awards are also tonight, I've decided to make today's theme marching music at the Academy Awards.  To that end, here is my the marching band of my undergraduate alma mater in Ingrid Bergman, Sidney Poitier and the UCLA Marching Band: 1969 Oscars.

Ingrid Bergman, Sidney Poitier, Paula Kelly and the UCLA Marching Band offer their own interpretations of "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" at the 41st Academy Awards in 1969.

I watched that as a nine-year-old and was enthralled.  I suppose it was one of the reasons why I marched in the UCLA Band beginning eight years later.

That's it for Marching Music Day.  Stay tuned for the winners of the Razzie Awards tomorrow.

Miss Michigan on diversity and #BeingAmerican

I blog very little about beauty pageants, here or elsewhere.  I've only mentioned the phrase "beauty pageant" once on this blog in a passage I quoted in 'Divergent' and other teen dystopias, which means that I didn't even write it.  I did write about Miss USA in Univision to Trump: "You're Fired!"  That was in the context of Donald Trump's offensive comments that I covered in Trump is Penguin for President.  Other than that, nothing.  I have to go back six years to a LiveJournal entry to read something from me about beauty pageants and their contestants.*

That written, this year's Miss Michigan has moved me to blog about her here.  I'll let her speak for herself in Day with Miss Michigan 2016 from MLive.

The recently crowned 2016 Miss Michigan, Arianna Quan talks with MLive reporter Brandon Champion at the Holiday Inn on Sunday, June 19, 2016 in Muskegon, Mich.

Three paragraphs in particular from the accompanying article stand out, along with the headline: From China to Miss Michigan: Arianna Quan says America must embrace its diversity.

Her multicultural heritage is also a point of pride. As Miss Michigan, Quan will advocate for her platform, "Being American: Immigration & Citizenship Education," in an effort to help Americans realize the true diverse dream that is the United States of America.

"During this election year I realized how important it was for immigrants and naturalized citizens especially to speak out about their experiences in this country," she said. "We are so diverse and it's so important for all of us to embrace that. That's why my platform is what it is and hopefully going to Miss America in this election year I can raise awareness about what it means to be an American."

Her timing is pretty good, too. Since June is Immigrant Heritage Month and July is National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month. Both month-long initiatives should provide plenty of opportunities for Quan to speak on issues that have affected her directly.

Quan has an entire page on her website devoted to her #BeingAmerican campaign.  She also has this message on her site's home page.

My name is Arianna Quan and I am currently attending the College for Creative Studies in Detroit studying Transportation Design. When I am not drawing cars or using power tools I am out and about promoting my platform through the Miss America Organization; Being American: Immigration and Citizenship Education.

As the first Asian-American Miss Michigan and to be a naturalized citizen, I find it absolutely imperative to speak out on subject matters that so many immigrants and foreign born citizens face in our ever polarizing society. Obstacles like sexual assault, mental health, gender inequality and beyond are ubiquitous yet exacerbated from the marginalized perspective of a minority. As this election year has revealed some sobering and enlightening perspectives, the time is now to step forward as a first generation American and encourage fellow foreign and US born citizens to engage and learn from one another.

Along with my personal cause I am a strong supporter for MAO’s national platform: promoting women in STEM – Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. With the automotive industry in serious need of young ladies, I aim to use my education as an extension and focus while talking about STEM and the arts to young girls.

A beauty pageant contestant promoting progressive causes and STEM education for women.  I support all of this, so I support her.  Good luck in Atlantic City, Miss Michigan!  I'll be rooting for you this September!

Follow over the jump for the footnote.

Election stories from Discovery News and University of California

This should be the last update of election news from campuses on the campaign trail.  I begin with three stories from Discovery News.

First, Eric Niiler asks Why the Rural-Urban Political Divide?

The red-blue map of the United States got a lot redder this week, as large swatches of the country voted Republican during mid-term elections for the House, Senate and state governorships. Some of this can be explained by swings of the political pendulum, dislike for the sitting president or a low turnout that favored the GOP.

All that is true, but observers also note that the nation’s political and social divisions are also split by residence: How you vote is determined by where you live. The rural vote is solidly Republican, the urban centers remain Democrat.

This is one of many reasons why I'm glad I no longer live in the country; I'm around people with similar politics now.

Follow over the jump for the other two stories from Discovery News plus election news from the University of California, both UCLA and Berkeley.

Parasites and prostate cancer

I have more stories I tell my students than just Cleaning Cleopatra's Needle and the Collosseum.  UCLA and Discovery News have an item that I'm going to include in my lecture about protists this afternoon.  First, the video from DNews, which asks Could An STD Cause Prostate Cancer?

Trichomoniasis is the most common STD in the world, and people have been finding links between the infection and prostate cancer! Tara and Laci are here to report on this finding, and also discuss research showing that dogs are able to sniff out patients with prostate cancer!

Next, the press release from my undergraduate alma mater about the research that DNews is citing.

UCLA: STD may heighten risk of prostate cancer
Elaine Schmidt
May 27, 2014

Could a common sexually transmitted infection boost a man’s risk for prostate cancer?

In a new study, Patricia Johnson, a professor of microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, explored the connection between prostate cancer and the parasite that causes trichomoniasis, the most common non-viral sexually transmitted infection in men and women.

Johnson’s team discovered that the parasite, Trichomonas vaginalis, secretes a protein that stimulates the growth of prostate cells and also induces an inflammatory response, which the researchers suspect enhances the cells’ progression to tumor cells.

This news hits close to home for me as it's not only about a topic that I teach (today!) and from the university where I got my first degree, but is about my health history.  As I described in Surgery as a fresh start, I am a prostate cancer survivor.  There is no history of the disease in my family, so other causes have to be suspected.  This at least offers an explanation, even if I never presented with symptoms.

Oscar hype, with emphasis on science fiction, fantasy, and local subjects

ABC talks about the usual suspects for the top awards in Oscars 2013 Preview: Winners, Losers and Upsets.



Chris Connelly previews the Academy Awards ceremony.
Of the top five awards, the only one I'm officially rooting for is Jennifer Lawrence, not on the strength of her acting in "Silver Linings Playbook," which, other than the sustainability theme of mental health parity, is not really on topic for this blog, but for her leading role in "The Hunger Games."  I like the idea of top-flight actors in genre films.

Speaking of genre films, there are two fantasies up for Best Picture and Best Direction, "Beasts of the Southern Wild" and "Life of Pi," but both of them could best be described as magical realism.  That's not my favorite fantastic subgenre, so I'd rather root for the historical dramas of "Argo," "Lincoln," or even "Zero Dark Thirty," even if Al Jazeera English has legitimate reservations about at least two of them.

History, nature, violence and love make up some of the heady ingredients of the films at this year's Academy Awards in Hollywood.But as always, it's not without controversy. One film, 'Zero Dark Thirty', a Best Picture nominee, is being criticised for distorting the role of torture played in tracking down the Al Qaeda leader. The historical accuracy of another film, 'Argo' , is also questioned. The 85th Oscars spectacle also features the oldest and youngest nominees for Best Actress. Al Jazeera's Rob Reynolds reports from Hollywood.

On the other hand, the animated nominees are rich in fantasy, science fiction, and horror.  My favorite so far is "Brave," but I bet I'd get a kick out of "Frankenweenie," as my wife and I own a pair of dachshunds.  I also have a favorite among the animated short subjects, "Maggie Simpson in 'The Longest Daycare.'"  I marched with the film's director/producer David Silverman in the UCLA Band, where he and I played tuba together.

At this place in the nominee list come the five nominations for Skyfall, Cinematography, Original Music Score, Original Song, Sound Editing, and Sound Mixing.  The nominators at least think the movie looked and sounded great, regardless of what they thought of the direction, acting, and script.

The two Snow White movies, "Mirror Mirror" and "Snow White and the Huntsman," are competing for Best Costume Design.  I enjoyed the latter more than the former, but I suspect the two will probably cancel each other out, letting one of the period films defeat both fantasies.

I've already talked about the documentary feature nominees in Crazy Eddie at the Movies 3--"Searching for Sugar Man" favored to win an Oscar.  As for the documentary and live-action fiction short subjects, I don't have an opinion.  Nor do I have one for Foreign Language film or Editing.

As for Make-up and Hair Styling, I'm rooting for the first installment of "The Hobbit."  It's the only genre film nominated for the category.  It also shares a nomination for Production Design with "Life of Pi."

If one is looking for a category in which genre films dominate, it's Visual Effects, where all five nominees are science fiction and fantasy (I'm including comic books as fantasy).  Both "The Hobbit" and "Life of Pi" are there, along with "The Avengers," "Prometheus," and "Snow White and The Huntsman."  I'd be happy with any of them.

The two magical realism films, "Beasts of the Southern Wild" and "Life of Pi," also have nominations for Best Adapted Screenplay, although I think they'll lose to one of "Lincoln," "Argo," or "Silver Linings Playbook."  As for Best Original Screenplay, my favorite is "Moonrise Kingdom."  As soon as I saw that movie, I knew it would be nominated for an Oscar, although I didn't know which.

That's it for my Oscar opinions.  Happy viewing and may the fantasy and science fiction films, including "Skyfall," make a great showing tonight.

Michigan football players as biodiversity tourists

In my report about UCLA football players visiting the San Diego Zoo and Sea World, I made the following comments about the University of Michigan's bowl game.

Here's to hoping that Michigan does better against South Carolina in the Outback Bowl next week.  MGoBlue has already posted a video of their trip to Tampa.  They've already visited a children's hospital, something UCLA also did in San Diego.  If they visit Busch Gardens, I'll let you know.

They did, and the Detroit Free Press has a video of them feeding the giraffes there.

The Michigan football team visited Busch Gardens on Saturday, days before the Outback Bowl. Here, a few players feed a giraffe.

The players seem to be both interacting with the animals and learning something about them, a combination I'm not sure the UCLA players achieved.  Unfortunately, I can't seem to copy the correct code to embed it, so it has to be watched at the Free Press's site.  The one that does embed, and which the Free Press featured about the visit, is this one.

Video: U-M's Lewan, Gibbons show off dance moves at Busch Gardens

The Wolverines visited Busch Gardens today as they get ready for Tuesday's Outback Bowl. A couple of teammates partnered up to learn some belly dancing moves at the park.

Sex sells.  Also, I wonder what their girlfriends think of this.

As for the game, U of M lost to South Carolina 33-28 with 11 seconds left.  I can say they were better than UCLA; at least they were in the game right up to the very end!

I'm now 0-2 with my alma maters in bowl games with none left.  Here's to hoping my wife's alma maters, Wisconsin and Northern Illinois University, do better in their games later today!

UCLA football players as biodiversity tourists plus biodiversity news

Last night, my undergraduate alma mater played in the Holiday Bowl.  Before the game, the football players visited the major attractions of San Diego, which just happen to include the San Diego Zoo and Sea World, both places for a certain kind of biodiversity tourism.  Here are the videos UCLA posted on its YouTube channel about the visits.

First, UCLA Football Visit the San Diego Zoo.

The Bruins visit the World Famous San Diego Zoo as part of activities leading up to the Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowl.

It looks like the players got some entertainment value out of the zoo, but I'm not sure they learned much, or if they did, they didn't communicate it.  How about the next stop on their itinerary, Sea World, which is more about entertainment than education?

UCLA Celebrates Christmas at Sea World

Bruins continue the leadup to the Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowl.

I think this was a better video, but that's because the focus was on Christmas, not the animals, although the players really enjoyed their experiences with the beluga whales.

So, how did the team do at the game itself?  The Los Angeles Times has the answer.

Bruins' flat showing in Holiday Bowl takes fizz out of UCLA's season
The Bruins' weak performance in a 49-26 loss to Baylor casts Coach Jim Mora's debut season in a much less flattering light.

SAN DIEGO — There have been rumors down here that the Chargers might be interested in UCLA's Jim Mora as a replacement for Coach Norv Turner.

If the Holiday Bowl was an audition, Mora could not have done more to prove himself the ideal choice to be the next Chargers' head coach.

Like the Chargers do so often, the Bruins played flat and let their fans down, losing 49-26.

It's just as well I didn't watch the game.  Here's to hoping that Michigan does better against South Carolina in the Outback Bowl next week.  MGoBlue has already posted a video of their trip to Tampa.  They've already visited a children's hospital, something UCLA also did in San Diego.  If they visit Busch Gardens, I'll let you know.

What, you were expecting something more serious from me?  First, I can't be all doom all the time.  Second, follow over the jump for the biodiversity news from the past three weeks of Overnight News Digest: Science Saturday on Daily Kos.  That should be serious enough for anyone.