I was out walking for an afternoon break, and I happened upon another wounded butterfly.

This time, the victim was a Mourning Cloak Butterfly (Nymphalis antiopa), which has a vast range across both America and Europe. It wasn’t keen on being examined, but the damage was heavy: the right forewing wasn’t moving at all, the right hindwing was torn up, the left forewing had a chunk torn out, and one antenna was completely missing.

For whatever reason, though, it loved just crawling on my hand and arm, and sat there rather contentedly as long as I wasn’t poking at it. It only briefly opened its wings to show the long, delicate, rust-colored hairs near its body.

I found a safe, shady spot for my new pal, but only after it hitched a ride on my hand for a good 10 minutes.

Butterflies are far from unusual in the wooded areas around my workplace. In fact, last year, there was a huge milkweed plant that produced a startling amount of Monarch butterflies. However, I think I’ve certainly seen more varieties of butterfly this year than I ever have, and it’s very strange that I’d stumble upon two wounded ones within a week of each other. I wonder if there are new predators about.

I swear I’m not tormenting butterflies for blog hits.

This, my friends, is a giant guitar squid. Playing baseball with a whiffle bat.

I was at the Peelander-Z show at the 7th Street Entry last night. I’d never heard one whit of their music before, but I handed over $12 simply because I heard that they play one hell of a show.

They certainly did not disappoint. 

I don’t really know how to describe what I saw. It involved five Japanese people, dressed like homemade Power Rangers and weilding giant cue cards, playing very loud music and claiming to be from Planet Peelander. At one point, Peelander-Red (yes, they are color-coded) was hanging from the rafters over the audience by his sneakers, playing guitar upside-down. At another point, the band handed tin pans and drumsticks to the crowd, who became their own percussion section. Then there was a giant guitar squid wielding a whiffle bat.

There was crowd participation galore. These guys are fun.

The two opening bands were both locals: In Defence and Birthday Suits. Both rock very loudly.

I snagged a few other photos with my iPhone, but they aren’t quite as good as the one above. Mostly, I was trying to avoid injury at the edge of the mosh pit.

Yesterday was a beautiful, summery day in Minneapolis. I had some time to kill before a concert at the 7th Street Entry, so I parked about a mile away and walked there. I amused myself with Instagram.