featured friend
the blue-footed booby bird

Hey, why do they call it a “booby-trap” anyway?! Well, read on because you're about to find out. In this section, we'll talk about interesting animal-related facts and hopefully raise awareness of some critically-endangered species at the same time. Part of our mission here at SRD is to help preserve and repair our planet. That's why we donate 3% of our income from this website to either an eco-charity of your choice or one of our own favorites...like an endangered species charity.

The Blue-footed Booby (Sula nebouxii) is a bird in the Sulidae family which comprises ten species of long-winged seabirds.

The name “booby” comes from the Spanish term bobo, which means “stupid fellow”. This is because the Blue-footed Booby is clumsy on the land, and like other seabirds can be very tame. It has been known to land on boats, where it was once captured and eaten.

The natural breeding habitat of the Blue-footed Booby is tropical and subtropical islands off the Pacific coast of South America from Peru to Mexico including, most famously, the Galopagos Islands.

Booby trap: The origin of booby trap comes from a sailing background. In need of a bit of dietary variety, sailors would set up a simple rope noose on the decks of their ships baited with bread or stale biscuits. Passing sea-birds, like booby's would land on deck seeking rest or shelter and be lured and caught in the rope, hence “booby trap” (www.phrases.org.uk)

                                   Jean Lee Design
                                     Mike Moccia
                                      Longaevus
                                    Molly Gordon
  IPCC (Intergovernmental Department on Climate Change)
      PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals)
        WWF (World Wildlife Fund - Endangered Species)                 IUCN (The World Conservation Union)
                                   Kyoto Protocol

artist series
      mike moccia



Welcome to the Artist Series. This month, we'll have a quick talk with multi-instrumentalist and composer, Mike Moccia. Now living in Los Angeles, Mike's primary focus has been tenor saxophone, improvisation, and composition. "For me, there's something really inspiring about playing music that's mostly improvised. Then things can't get stale as easily. You're forced to draw on you own experiences internally as well as what's happening around you in the moment. I just love all the possibilities!" When we asked him what his favorite part about living here was, he said, "You almost have different countries and states all within this city. You can go downtown and be around hundreds of people, go 10 miles north and feel like you're in suburbia and then a little bit outside of the city, you have the mountains and trees, not to mention everything in between. There aren't very many places like that. NYC is similar with all of its neighborhoods in Manhattan, but I like it here better...it's not as cramped."

That's all for this month. Next month we'll sit down with a visual artist and talk about all of her favorite mediums.