June 2010

Monthly

Newsletter

TRIANGLE AREA GAY SCIENTISTS 

PO Box 1137, Chapel Hill, NC 27514 

 
Are you coming to the June potluck? Why not RSVP on the TAGS webpage at http://www.
meetup.com and meet some fellow attendees?


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Also: You are invited by RDU Prime Tmers to a live music and potluck event on Sunday evening, June 27th at the Piano Lounge at the CC Club in downtown Raleigh.

You can see more about the event and a video clip of a previous Piano Lounge gathering at the TAGS meetup.com site.
 

RSVP to Steve Luyben at luyben@gmail.com if you plan to come so that the club can be made a private event venue if possible.****************** 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Here's a TAGS puzzle: Is this science, religion, or neither?

     My friend Pepé is a 40 year old Double Yellow Headed Amazon macaw. Her life partner, Beito, got electrocuted by a power line in Mexico back in '75, and some guy forced her to be his pet. She still hates men. Then Pepé was imported to America where she outlived a woman who kept her in a tiny cage for 20 years. The woman's daughter tried toys and a bigger cage for 9 years which Pepé fled when she could, until Pepé was entrusted to Catherine O'Brien at Flying Colors Bird Sanctuary in Haw River, NC. Pepé would attack people but was still very insecure about being left alone. What else can scientific avian care accomplish to reverse trauma and increase adaptation?

     Catherine took Pepé to a St. Francis "blessing of the animals" at her church (why do sinless creatures need blessings?) Pepé was surrounded with blessing. Catherine reports: "She is now an avian chaplain to the Burlington Home Place of North Carolina, visiting the elderly each month. She holds her head high bringing joy and laughter as she chats with her happy comical talk to anyone that will listen." Pepé no longer attacks; she chants continuously, and her health is great. So, scientifically, is this anomalous reversal, an avian adaptation placebo, mid-life crisis, or an otherwise sad, angry, and dislocated bird getting back to what macaws naturally do best: being contributing and very talkative members of a larger society? Answer carefully. Pepé may yet outlive you. And she'll talk about you in English and Spanish.

     Our TAGSters really enjoyed John's attentive and flawlessly landscaped hospitality at our May potluck. Some were late because of traffic snarls, but all arrived safely with food to share. Thanks, John for packing your home and back porch with so many veteran TAGSters as well as first-timers who are just discovering TAGS!

      In June, Tony DeAngelo welcomes to his Durham home, garden, and dogs for our potluck on Saturday, June 12, 2010. Arrive around 7:00 p.m. and we'll dine at 7:30 p.m. The map on the back of this newsletter will guide you, and Tony's phone number is included. In July, TAGS remains in Durham where Martin and Clyde will be your hosts. They have no blooming spring daffodils, but their bright new mango metal roof is a real "slip 'n' slide" for local squirrels. So, escape your cage, spread your wings, and cheer up the rest of us at Tony's home on Saturday, June 12th! - Martin