Paulahmartin

Marty Stouffer, eat your heart out! From the Department of Awesome Moments in Nature comes this truly breathtaking photo of a Great Grey Owl frozen in time just before making a meal of a little mouse. The splendour of the owl, the unwavering focus of its predatory gaze, and the cuteness of the mouse, who, let’s hope, was completely unaware of what was about to happen, together form an impressively intense image.

The photo was taken by Tom Samuelson, who had this to say about the experience:

“Great gray owls come south from Canada into Minnesota during the winter to find food. This owl was on the north shore of Lake Superior, just south of Two Harbors, Minnesota. We happened to find him as the sun was setting, and in the evening light, we were able to be in a position to see an owl that was hunting when a mouse came out, and the owl was quick to pounce and pick up an evening meal.”

Nature is awesome and so is this photo.

[via National Geographic]

(OK, you’re almost home, just don’t drop the nut. In fact, don’t even think “don’t drop the nut,” because if you keep thinking “don’t drop the nut,” then you’ll get scared that you’ll drop the nut, and that’ll make you drop the nut.)

(But wait, if I tell myself not to think “don’t drop the nut,” then I really am thinking “don’t drop the nut,” because I can still hear “don’t drop the nut” in my head, which is what I don’t want, because I might drop the… ARRGH DARNIT DARNIT!)

Via traveling.lunas.

There are no data documenting the two products’ relative market shares in the bakery aisle. Both sides, perhaps unsurprisingly, claim they’re winning. There seems to be general agreement that twist-ties have taken the lead with bread, while clips hold sway with buns, rolls, bagels, and English muffins. There are also pockets of regionalism: Everyone agrees, for example, that the West Coast is clip territory.

Are you a clip tie person or a twist tie person? I hadn’t considered that question until I read this fascinating piece in Bloomberg Businessweek explaining the multimillion dollar business of bakery bag ties. The piece goes into some of the consumer psychology on why people have a preference for either clip, but personally, I am a clip tie person because A) I like seeing the expiration date on the clip and B) I occasionally get the twist tie too twisted, so it becomes a hassle. But really, I’ll buy the bread regardless of what kind of tie is on there.