When three couples of forty- and fifty-somethings get together for dinner out, and then wind up at one couple's house for a few after-dinner drinks, and they're all mildly buzzed on tequila and Grand Marnier, and almost all of them are computer geeks, what wild and crazy things to they do? Well, they fire up iTunes, download this, and dance to it. (I tried to talk them into downloading the Mrs. Miller version instead. Couldn't budge 'em, though.)

After sleeping off this wild night of indulgence (blame it on the Bossa Nova?), Rick and I made the ~40-mile drive to my closest field site today, just to go wildlife-watching and check up on my little buddies. The ants seem healthy, and are cheerfully devouring anything unlucky enough to land near their nests, although something large and motorized with lots of tires appears to have run through a number of the mounds. This makes it nearly impossible to recognize the mounds from which I made collections last fall. Not a full-fledged data disaster, since right now I'm only doing a pilot study to make sure that the genetic markers are useful, but it points out the importance of either indelibly marking one's field sites (if your budget is modest) or else using GPS (if you're well-funded in the gadget department). Or else, as a third option, hiding in the rubble of one of the tree stands left behind by last season's deer hunters, and blasting loud scary music at anyone caught destroying ant mounds. In keeping with today's theme, I recommend these selections.