Mokka mit Schlag

Today’s moth is #8914 in the Hodges Catalog, the Alfalfa Looper Moth, Autographa californica:

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I caught the premiere of Fringe last night. More plausible than Alias but not quite as plausible as Lost. I’ll probably set the DVR to record future episodes, but as long as they’re enough King of the Hill repeats to keep me occupied, I probably won’t get around to watching them until they’re automatically erased.

Well actually it’s only the second Moth Monday here at Mokka mit Schlag; but today’s moth is #7390 in the Hodges Catalog, the Toothed Brown Carpet Moth, Xanthorhoe lacustrata:

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I finally caught Tomb of the Dragon Emperor yesterday. Moving the story to China insead of Egypt, and finding a new mummy was a nice change of pace. Maria Bello was a definite improvement on Rachel Wesiz (if not quite as easy on the eyes) and Brendan Fraser was, well, Brendan Fraser.

However the basic rule for these sorts of movies is that they need to move so fast that you don’t have time to notice all the holes in the plot. Tomb of the Dragon Emperor didn’t quite achieve sufficient speed to lift off. Just when you thought it would; there’d be a long boring sequence that gave you time to catch your breath and start laughing at how silly the whole thing was. If you haven’t seen it yet, don’t bother. It’s not worth the $10.

I had a hard time deciding whether to walk over to San Joaquin this morning or drive up to Santiago Oaks for the monthly Sea & Sage Walk led by Susan Sheakley. San Joaquin’s been great lately, but I haven’t been up in the hills in the morning for quite some time. Fortunately I decided to go to the mountains because we had an exceptionally cool morning, which meant we walked further than usual, which meant we got all the way to the dam, which meant we found this Rock Wren, a bird I hadn’t even thought of looking for in Orange County:

(I’ve been focused on Black-chinned Hummingbird and Barn Owl.)
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Short-billed Dowitcher, Limnodromus griseus
Bolsa Chica, 2008-08-31
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