Thanks to Metafilter, Mirth, Musings, & More and Site of the Day for an unexpected burst of visitors. Normally the site is sleeping at this time of year.
November 6, 2006
August 18, 2006
March 19, 2006
Brood X: Year of the Cicada movie
The Brood X: Year of the Cicada movie is playing noon Monday (3/20) in the Charles Sumner Museum and Archives, 1201 17th St, N.W., Washington, D.C. (the address has been updated).
A story about the movie in the Gazette.net (thanks Dan Threadwell).
Another article in the Washington Post (thanks Roy Troutman).
The movie features about 15 minutes of Roy Troutman’s cicada footage.
If someone gets to see it, let us know.
October 11, 2005
Return of the 17-Year Cicadas
Way back in July a man by the name of Samuel Orr mailed me a DVD trailer of a film he had a part in making called Return of the 17-Year Cicadas. At the time my reaction was “I am simply blown away by its excellence. That might be the best cicada video I’ve seen so far”. Somehow I let it slip through the cracks and I forgot to write about it. In the mean time the movie has won first prize in the Non-Interactive Media category of the 2005 Science & Engineering Visualization Challenge. I’m sure once the film reaches a wider audience — perhaps PBS or the Animal Planet channel (hint! hint!) — it will win more awards.
Read all about the new, award winning cicada documentary Return of the 17-Year Cicadas on the excellent EurekAlert! Science Reporting Alert website. Make sure you download and watch the video too. It is incredible.
Thanks to Roy and Dona for reminding me to post something about this film.
August 24, 2005
International Film Festival of Insects (FIFI)
In October 2005 the 6th International Film Festival of Insects (FIFI) will be held in Prades France.
From the FIFI homepage:
Since 1995, OPIE-LR (Office for the Insects and their Environment in Languedoc-Roussillon) has organized the International Festival of Film on Insects every two years.
This 6th biennial event will take place from 5th to 9th October 2005 in Prades (Pyrénées Orientales) in southern France.
FIFI is a cultural, educational, scientific and convivial feast with an international dimension. This year it occurs in a unique natural site: Canigou mountain, which has 7 Nature Reserves and the Regional Natural Park of Pyrénées Catalanes
August 7, 2005
Brood X: Year of the Cicada documentary
Director Rohit Colin Rao is getting set to release his documentary Brood X: Year of the Cicada. The documentary focuses on the Brood X emergence of last year. The trailer looks awesome.
Speaking of Brood X, I found a home movie from 2004 on the Internet Archive: Cicadas in Cincinnati, May 2004.
August 4, 2005
Jar Fly, Harvest Fly, Locust, Dog Day cicada
There are many nicknames for cicadas. Periodic cicadas (17-year/13-year Magicicadas) are often called Locusts. Annual, summertime cicadas (primarily Tibicens) are called Jar Fly or Jarfly, Harvest Fly or “Dog Day” cicada depending on what part of the USA you’re from.
I found this site which provides guesses at the entomology of Jar Fly:
One is that when you catch one and hold it in your hand it “jars” or vibrates. The other thought is that the nickname came from the constant singing that might “jar” or unsettle some people’s nerves who are not accustomed to hearing it for hours on end.
My uneducated guess would be that kids catch them and put them in jars, hence “jar fly”.
Thanks to Becky for asking about Jarflies.
May 6, 2005
The Cicadas of Winter
Here’s a review for a Japanese Anime titled Human Crossing: the Cicadas of Winter. From the review, it doesn’t seem to have much to do with cicadas, but I’m posting the link anyway.
May 22, 2004
Cicada News 5/22/2004
Photos from the New Jersey epicenter: cicadas invade
Princeton university from Julie Angarone.
From what I see and hear you will find cicadas galore down Prospect Street and at 171 Broadmead. The upper old campus (Nassau Hall etc) is slowly being inundated, and they are running rampant down near New South and the dorms near the dinky.
MP3 Music: Brood X (Magicicada septendecim) by George Fox.
Seventeen years was such a long time
Now we’re coming out and going up to the sky
