Doin' The Puyallup

Thought I'd explain why I've been so quiet lately. Well, okay, not really quiet 'cause I've kept up my Daily Fanart & Just 'Cause posts, so maybe nobody noticed I wasn't online much (LJ, Twitter, Tumblr) this weekend.

Why? You might ask?

Spent all of Saturday & Sunday at The Western Washington Fair (Next yr. to be called The Washington State Fair) aka known as The Puyallup Fair (or if you're a local..."Doin' The Puyallup"). It's the biggest fair in WA state and it's been over 15 years since we were last there.

I'm sore, exhausted, tired, and just plain beat, but I had an amazing time with my mom at the fair. I won't go into specifics now, but our main reason for attending this year was that our favorite band (The Shoppe) from the fair was having a reunion during the last week. So of course, we had to go and check them out. Turned out we enjoyed them so much that we not only sat through 2 of their 3 shows on Saturday, but we returned Sunday and sat through all 3 shows that day as well.

I think I took as many photos of The Shoppe playing as I did during VanCon this year. :P

Their final show at 6 p.m. was great, but sad. Nobody wanted it to end. All the guys were so gracious and loving to the fans...which they call "family" (remind you of the relationship between another fandom and it's stars?). It would be wonderful if they returned next year, but reunions are usually one-time deals, so I'm not counting on it. So glad we saw their final show on the last day of the fair. It was special...as they all are. :)

A better post will be made later, with some pics and a better account of our two days at the fair. Btw, this is the first time ever that we've gone there 2 days. :P But I digress...there will be a post w/pics, videos, and lots of tales from The Puyallup later. ;)

Just 'Cause

This cap is from 4x08 "Wishful Thinking".
Click to see the full-sized cap.

I may very well feel like Dean here in the morning. Ouch!
What an exhausting, but fun weekend. My body is complaining severely for it now, however. Owie. Muscles are complaining, proving that I'm not as young as I used to be. Hope I can get out of bed come morning/early afternoon. Btw, sorry for skipping (again) on posting to spn_ontheset and for skipping the Daily Fanart post today. I'm simply too beat to handle it all. Things should be back to normal by Tuesday. Heads to bed...
Have a good Monday folks. *hugs*

You Can't Make This Stuff Up - Zombie Bees

Apparently there's zombie bees in the town/city where I live. Think I'm safe though. Heh. :P

Source: http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/dailyweekly/2012/09/holy_crap_zombie_bees_in_kent.php

Holy Crap! Zombie Bees! In Kent!
By Matt Driscoll Mon., Sep. 24 2012 at 1:43 PM

Yep, we're doomed. If you weren't already convinced of civilization's imminent demise at the hand of zombies, surely today's news of zombie bees in Kent put you over the edge. How could it not?

We're talking about zombie bees. In Kent!

If, by chance, you have yet to hear about Kent's zombie bees - the first such reported zombie bees in our state - let The Daily Weekly be your warning: run for your goddamn lives!

The Seattle Times had the story this morning. It all started at the home of Kent's Mark Hohn, a man the Times describes as an amateur bee keeper. Apparently, upon arriving home from vacation, Hohn found a pile of dead bees outside his shop. He didn't think much of it, until he encountered some strangely acting bees hanging around a light at his house, and remembered the so-called "zombie bees" at the heart of a 2008 discovery by San Francisco State University biologist John Hafernik.

Hafernik's discovery involves a parasitic fly that pumps its eggs into unknowing bees, causing them to go all zombie. And it's serious stuff. Hafernik wonders whether the parasitic flies could be, "contributing to the demise of bee colonies across the country," according to the Times, and has even launched a website - ZombeeWatch.org (get it?) - to help gather information from beekeepers like Hohn from across the country. So far there's not a ton of evidence suggesting such a phenomenon is taking place, but, you know ... we're talking about zombie bees here!

From the Times:

Unlike healthy bees, which spend the night tucked up in their hive, infected bees fly after dark and tend to congregate at lights. Hohn noticed bees buzzing around the light in his shop, flying in jerky patterns and finally flopping on the floor.
What's up with those "jerky" flying patterns and death flopping?

Oh, you know, just some hardcore zombie shit.

More from the Times:

The fly's life cycle is gruesomely reminiscent of the movie "Alien" -- though they don't pose a risk to people. Adult females, smaller than a fruit fly, land on the backs of foraging honeybees and use their needle-sharp ovipositors to inject eggs into the bee's abdomen. The eggs hatch into maggots. "They basically eat the insides out of the bee," Hafernik said.

Jesus. We're all going to die.

Or, at the very least, maybe some bees are going to die.