music, biology, and earworms

So, GREATLY appreciated the recent blog post title by Hipster Birders, "Rock me, Ammodramus" about the sparrows they'd been seeking. SO much so that I had to comment. And got this in reply:

"We've been really wanting to see the Ammodramus sparrows since we've moved here,

and I've actually been singing that tune for weeks."

So, THAT brought up this topic: music, biologists, and earworms.

And reminded me of years ago, when I was being hounded by Hemizonia.

This is the genus of a common plant at my research partner's and my study site.

EVERY DAY, once that plant (tarweed) bloomed,

and I passed it on the way to our study site,

the Hemizonia record would start spinning ROUND and ROUND in my head

to this tune--substitute "Hemizonia" for "Paranoimia"

(specifically it's the singers that come in 1:25 into the video):

Made me wonder just how many of us, during whatever obsession (required or otherwise) we're enduring, have had songs adapted by our brains into something subject-relevant, then repeated again and again.

This was not something I TRIED to do.

I didn't search my mind for song lyrics and compare them to
the myriad biological terms I have in my brain.

It just happened.

Thankfully, I DO enjoy the above song.

Tho' what was in my head was mostly just those voices,
repeating Hemizonia, over and over. And over.

hee.

Well, I suppose that's just one of the dangers of knowledge.
You never know where it will take you.

Has this ever happened to you? Do tell. =)

And now, this biologist, must break away to dance in her kitchen.

=) bb

random vocab quiz from the depths of biobabbler's psyche

 
For those of you who've followed this blog somewhat closely, you may recall that occasionally biobabbler's brain flings words up from the recesses, requesting a definition, with the implied threat of "tell us what this is or it's going in the trash."

Today, mine came to me about 2 seconds after getting out of bed this morning, shuffling in my slippers, in the process of feeding the cats, squinting and trying not to run into walls.

The vocab-crew in my brain was very much awake. Today was a two-fer (don't know if I've ever had a two-fer before).

So I've decided to make this an occasional quiz, frequency and content dictated by the filing crew (data managers) in my brain.

WITHOUT looking it up, can any of you offer up definitions for these words?

1. propitiate (not bio word)

2. fistula (definitely bio word)

And please, even wild guesses are more welcome than thinly disguised re-wordings of Merriam-Webster. Take a stab at it! =)

biobabbler

ooh, fyi handy handy thing

  
A list of Latin phrases on wiki. Very useful!

bb