Darwin in Davis

Since this is kind of a Davis thing too I am cross posting it from my work blog.

Well, this has been a good week for me in Davis in terms of things in which I am interested. First, the Tour of California started in Davis and then tonight we had a Darwin celebration (with cake and talks) in a movie theater in downtown. The three talks were by Rick Grosberg, who gave a good background on Darwin the person, Mau Stanton who talked about Evolution and Society and me, who talked about Uses of Evolution. The shindig was sponsored by the Center for Population Biology and funded by the Storer Endowment. And it was organized by Angus Chandler and Dena Grossenbacher and possibly some others. And the theater was packed to the gills. Food. Folks. And Fun. And I owe some thanks to folks who responded to my FriendFeed posting asking about other examples of Uses of Evolution.

Here are some pics ...




Also see

• The California Aggie Story
  
• The Bug Squad Blog

Some pics from the Tour in Davis

Well, it was really really really wet out there but tons of people were out in Davis nevertheless. I got some pics -- although my phone cam was not working great in the pouring rain. Anyway - here they are, including one of Floyd Landis ..

Tour of California before the start in Davis

Here comes the tour (of California) --- Davis is going big ---

Very excited that the Tour of California is starting in Davis this year (for Stage 1 on Sunday). It should be a good stage --- from Davis to Santa Rosa.

And there are many many big names in the tour this year - even more than last year. In particular of course is Lance Armstrong. I have been a big fan of Lance for many many years -- since I encountered him in Palo Alto when I was a grad. student. He had just won the World Championship and was in town to sing autographs and hang out at Wheelsmith, the best bike shop in the area. I was just getting into cycling and was going to Wheelsmith for some other reason and there was Lance. I got him to sign a few things and then thought, what would be coolest would be if he signed my favorite T-shirt (which I am wearing in the picture here). And he made my day by saying "Cool shirt" and asking where I got it.

Anyway --- it is going to be a big big day in Davis tomorrow with Lance Armstrong, and a whole gaggle of big time cyclists here in the best biking town in the country.

And here are some links related to the race ...

• Lance's Twitter RSS feed (pretty entertaining stuff)
• Livestrong
• City of Davis information about the tour
• Davis Bike Club
• Bicycle Friendly Community - Davis
  
• 
  

Pictures from Yolo Basin - Bitterns, Night Herons, Owl

Yolo Basin