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Here are two maps of the state of Kansas. Each map is filled with spots.
In figure 1, each spot marks a county in which the spotted sandpiper has been spotted.
In figure 4, each spot marks a county in which the spotted towhee has been spotted.
Both maps were prepared by the Kansas County Checklist Project. Their work, they say, “is intended to reflect the current records of bird sightings on file, somewhere, for each county. It is hoped that birders will print out these lists, use them in their birdwatching trips and report bird sightings not on the list to the appropriate individuals/organizations.” Much of project’s data is available on the web at Kansas Bird Species County Maps.
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The article above is from the September-October 2008 issue of the Annals of Improbable Research. You can download or purchase back issues of the magazine, or subscribe to receive future issues. Or get a subscription for someone as a gift!
Visit their website for more research that makes people LAUGH and then THINK.
Beaker tries for YouTube fame. It’s not as easy as he thought! -via YesButNoButYes
On November 15, 1959, Herb and Bonnie Clutter and two of their four children were murdered in Holcomb, Kansas. This crime was later chronicled in Truman Capote’s book In Cold Blood and in four movies. The Guardian takes a look back at the crime, the book written about it, and how the town of Holcomb has dealt with its notoriety for 50 years. Some of the townspeople welcomed the attention; others wish everyone would stay away. Bob Rupp, the last townsperson to see the Clutters alive, and who erected a memorial plaque honoring the family, has his own opinion.
Bob Rupp has a third view. He says he has never read In Cold Blood, nor seen the movies, and never will. But he believes that Capote was unfair to the Clutters, because he left to posterity a memory of them that is dominated by the gruesome manner of their deaths rather than the wonderful accomplishments of their lives. He still thinks about the Clutters often, hence his idea for the memorial.
Link -via Metafilter
