Whiter Shade of Pale

March 9, 2005 6:51 PM

Gallery of Albinos.
posted by ori (23 comments total)

They need to add Edgar Winter.
posted by SisterHavana at 6:59 PM on March 9, 2005

Winter claims to be the first artist to use a synthesizer as a song's main instrument.

Oooh. Albino animals.
posted by NickDouglas at 7:09 PM on March 9, 2005

...or cartoon albinos.
posted by pxe2000 at 7:32 PM on March 9, 2005

I've known one person who was albino, and used to "know of" another (he used to ride the same bus as me, so I saw him daily for about ten years). We had an albino squirrel in my neighborhood when I was in grade school (the first time I saw it, I thought it was a cat), and then when I was an adult, my parents had an albino catfish in their lake... it was absolutely gorgeous. (And they didn't let anyone fish in their lake, so it grew to an impressive size.)
posted by BoringPostcards at 7:41 PM on March 9, 2005

Neat! Although Captain Nemo seems to be applying the term albino rather liberally. This bird on the right is a Great Egret, which is a regular old white bird. (The left one looks like an albino Great Blue Heron, though.) And the white morph of the Gyrfalcon isn't that unusual.

Nonetheless, white squirrels are something to see.
posted by hydrophonic at 7:43 PM on March 9, 2005

The frog is easily the coolest looking albino. Especially when it smiles at you.
posted by puke & cry at 7:51 PM on March 9, 2005

An albino snake? I wouldn't have guessed that was possible.
posted by orange swan at 7:52 PM on March 9, 2005

They also need to add Salif Keita.
posted by mike3k at 8:00 PM on March 9, 2005

Tonight will, I'm sure, be the first of many nights in which my dreams are populated by bounding, sinister albino kangaroos.
posted by Dr. Wu at 8:11 PM on March 9, 2005

Here's some nineteenth-century images of albinism.

Twentieth-century here. [both posts via monkeyfilter]
posted by goofyfoot at 8:52 PM on March 9, 2005

Hey, Dr Wu - a few years ago I accidentally turned a very small albino kangaroo into very messy albino roadkill. It was quite sad, but no nightmares yet. (And the "albino" duck just looks likes a regular white duck to me.)
posted by bunglin jones at 9:33 PM on March 9, 2005

When your town's claim to fame is white squirrels, your chamber of commerce needs to shift priorities.
posted by NickDouglas at 9:48 PM on March 9, 2005

My older brother's best friend is albino. I grew up not really thinking it was terribly interesting, after having gotten used to it. Sure, his eyes were pink. Sure, his hair was white. I asked some questions sometimes (brother Dan and John are about 7 years older than I am), and we all called him Whitey (very original). Thus I am not really all that intrigued or interested when I see people with albinism.
But now that I think of it I have been in the company of many people with albinism. John, two former students, one former high school colleague, two former college friends, a professor, and a girlfriend of a friend. Many of them were Black, as well, which usually gets far more stares and ooohs.
Funny story. John, brother Dan's friend, is about 6'4", and likes to hang out in the bar. He challenged my husband to a game of darts at one point. My husband later admitted that he had some real hesitation. Being pretty good at darts, husband felt bad about playing against a man who is legally blind, but he went ahead anyhow. Whitey proceeds to KILL him in darts; Whitey is in fact a phenomenal dart player.
posted by oflinkey at 10:04 PM on March 9, 2005

(The left one looks like an albino Great Blue Heron, though.)

Isn't the white morph of the great blue heron (see third photo on page) common in Florida, though? Are they really all just albino GBHs? They seem to have some pigmentation in the lores (between the eye and bill.)
posted by cirocco at 11:15 PM on March 9, 2005

I just saw the PBS Nature show on Snowflake the albino gorilla shown on that first page last week. He was pretty damn cool-- but then again, most gorillas are.
posted by obloquy at 12:43 AM on March 10, 2005

An albino snake? I wouldn't have guessed that was possible.

My friend had a baby albino Burmese python - I'm not very comfortable with snakes, especially constrictors, who wanna hold on really tight.. but being a baby, and being an albino, orange and white, with beautiful eyes, this snake was my favorite, and he'd wrap around my wrist and sit in my palm for hours. I tolerate snakes now. (Even though this one probably eventually grew large enough to strangle my entire family in one fell loving grip.)
posted by hypersloth at 12:50 AM on March 10, 2005

I remember going on a fishing trip here in FL many years ago with my pop and there were white squirrels all around our campsite. I think it was Lake Talquin, but it may have been Deerpoint Lake. I bet they're still there. It'd be cool to see them again.
posted by wsg at 1:38 AM on March 10, 2005

More on albinism from a prior post including information on blacks and people of color with albinism.
posted by madamjujujive at 2:31 AM on March 10, 2005

One of my favorite emcees deserves to be mentioned in this thread.

Anyone know Minneapolis native Brother Ali?
posted by pelican at 2:43 AM on March 10, 2005

that albino raven is one cool honky nigga raven.
posted by hellbient at 10:48 AM on March 10, 2005

James Romanesko from Obscure Store wrote a great article for Milwaukee Magazine on local albino people in an article he called The White Minority.
posted by jessamyn at 11:00 AM on March 10, 2005

A very good pal of mine is albino, legally blind, and is allowed to drive so long as she wears some really sci-fi-looking glasses.
posted by matildaben at 11:08 AM on March 10, 2005

While not quite albinos, these piebald ball pythons are beautiful. Makes me think of Hopkins, though I don't think painstaking selective breeding is what he had in mind.
posted by breezeway at 1:36 PM on March 10, 2005