Rats, Oysters

Rats

I'm hearing so much about rats these days.

People loved the movie Ratatouille.

Rats are being trained to find landmines in Colombia. (I had no idea there were so many land mine fatalities there.) To teach them to chill out so that they are better mine detectors, they get innoculated to stress by sparring with cats wearing mitts.

Also, a study showed that rats who were treated with kindness by other rats were more likely to treat there fellow rats kindly in turn.

My new neighbor has several and sings there praises.

Who're you calling a rat? Thank you! There were days when lots of people told horror stories about rats biting babies in ghettos. Haven't heard people talk that way in a long time.

Oysters

Loved the NYT article about the oysters growing in College Point, Queens. A scientist created a metal structure, put in the East River, ran electricity through it. The electricity caused a layer of limestone to form on the metal, which attracted oysters, a mainstay of NYC dining before the beds were depleted by pollution. The electrified "reefs" seems to grow a very robust oyster, no surprise there. The photo shows an overhead view of one of the metal structures, it is DNA shaped and appears as a spiral studded with oysters. Reminds me of that other spiral that developed on the shores of the East River this year, the one connecting the 77 drummers organized by the Boredoms on 7/7/7. And of Robert Smithson's Spiral Jetty. So many spiral dreaming dreamers.