Jumping Frogs of Calaveras County

Years ago, Mark Twain wrote a short story titled "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County."  From what I understand, this was the work that made him famous initially.

Anyway, the annual fair in Calaveras County pays tribute to his story by hosting frog jumping competitions.  After thinking about checking it out for years, I finally got the chance to go see it in person.  I thought it was fun and quite silly, but most importantly, it was entertaining.  I think this event is a great one for families with kids.

The world record of 21' 5.75" was set in 1986.  This year's winner jumped an impressive 20'10".  The jumps are measured from origin to the landing spot of the 3rd hop (or step).  So, if a frog decides to u-turn, you are pretty much screwed.

Okay, here are pictures of the frogs.  There was a lot more to see there, but I find these frog pictures hilarious.

Enjoy.

More from Florida

I've been crazy busy at work over the past few months.  Now that we had a major product launch, I have found a little extra time to go through some more older pictures from the trip to Florida that we took back in January.

Might as well post them up here for everyone to enjoy.  And, in a separate post, I'll put up all the different bird pictures that were taken.

Here are some pictures taken from part of the Everglades National Park.  We rented bicycles and rode around a loop to see all the alligators and wildlife.

While down in Florida, we decided to check out Fort Jefferson, part of the Dry Tortugas National Park.  It is one of the most remote National Parks out there.  We took a fairly long boat ride just to get out there.  The fort operated as a prison long ago, and once held the very famous Dr. Mudd, who had helped treat John Wilkes Booth.

Having gotten back into diving again, we checked out the History of Diving Museum.  It was pretty neat.  

This crazy diving hood thing doesn't work, but it was part of an early attempt at creating an underwater suit.

The Fish House served some really good food.  We also went to the sister restaurant, Encore, to try out the Lionfish.  Having dined at both, I prefer the original Fish House restaurant.

 

Tried some conch at the Key Largo Conch House.  Food was decent there.

Also, we did some kayaking through the mangroves.  This was a lot of fun.  Saw a ton of birds, an American Crocodile, and an iguana... not to mention the mangrove tunicates I posted a picture of previously.

In Miami, we dropped by the Vizcaya Museum and Gardens.  Nothing really to write home about.  It was nice, but having seen quite a few of these rich person's estates in various places, it wasn't anything special.

Here's an almost-sunset shot from Key West.

Latin American food at Ola in Miami was really delicious.  They are famous for their ceviches and their braised pork.  As a 97% pescatarian, I cheated here with the pork.

A random restaurant we tried out for brunch in Miami, Otentic.  Food was decent here as well.

In Ft. Lauderdale, we went to Sublime, which is a vegetarian restaurant on the nicer end of the spectrum.  The service was really slow, the place was packed, but the food was delicious.

Mangrove Tunicate

A mystery has been solved.  Last month, when I was kayaking amongst the mangroves in the Florida Keys, I saw some weird orange things growing on the mangrove roots in the water.  I lifted up the root and took a photo of these orange egg-like balls.  I could not figure out what they were, and it didn't help that I kept thinking they were eggs of some sort.

After failing to identify them on my own, I put the photo up on Facebook.  And, within 20 minutes, an old friend of mine commented and told me exactly what they were.  These are mangrove tunicates (Ecteinascidia turbinata), and they are used to produce some types of anti-cancer drugs.  Amazing, huh?

Mangrove Tunicate (Ecteinascidia turbinata)

Razr Maxx HD Frozen

So, I'm super new to smartphones... but, I have been using the HD Razr Maxx HD for a couple of months.

That said, the device has completely locked up on me about 4 times.  I have learned that you can force the device to reset by holding down the Power Button and the Volume Down button simultaneously for about 10-15 seconds.

Once you do this, you should be able to power the device back on, and everything should be back to normal.  In any case, this worked just fine for me in these situations.

Not even sure why I am writing this, but I guess I was bored.

Butterflies and Moths

While at Key West, I visited the Butterfly and Nature Conservatory there.  If you are ever out there, I highly recommend it. It's really cool, and if you are into bugs at all, you will find yourself spending hours there.

Here are a bunch of butterfly and moth pictures taken while inside the butterfly greenhouse.  Additionally, I'm including some pictures of butterflies taken in the wild.

Update: I contacted the nice people at the conservatory, and they helped me identify a few of the ones that I wasn't sure about.  Thanks!

Emerald Swallowtail (Papilio palinurus)

Golden Hairstreak (Habrodais grunus)

Comet Moth (Argema Mittrei)

Cloudless Sulphur (Phoebis sennae)

Great Eggfly (Hypolimnas Bolina)

Paper Kite (Idea leuconoe)

Great Orange Tip (Hebomoia Glaucippe)

Peleides Blue Morpho (Morpho peleides)

Red Postman (Heliconius Erato Notabilis)

Red Postman (Heliconius Erato Cyrbia)

Red Postman (Heliconius Erato)

Tailed Jay (Graphium Agamemnon)

Sapho Longwing (Heliconius Sapho)

Tiger Longwing (Heliconius hecale)

Viceroy (Limenitis archippus)

White Peacock (Anartia jatrophae)

Zebra Longwing (Heliconius charitonius)

Galapagos Blue Butterfly (Leptotes parrhasioides)

Cydno Longwing (Heliconius Cydno)

Giant Owl Butterfly from Asia

Sapho Longwing (Heliconius Sapho)