26 May 2013

I am... Batman !!


Mourning Cloaks (Nymphalis Antiopa) overwinter at our latitude, then emerge as harbingers of spring, typically before any other butterflies.  This fellow has some ragged edges on the trailing edge of his/her hindwing, suggesting successful escapes from bird beaks, or perhaps just the wear and tear of aging.  Basking in the sun on a porch railing is a typical warming behavior on a coolish spring day.  (closeup photos here)

"Rabbit Island", off the coast of Japan, is the site of an abandoned WWII poison gas production facility, but now it's home to hundreds of rabbits that thrive in a predator-free paradise.

A thread at Reddit addresses the question What is the "rule #1" in your profession or hobby? There are some amusing replies among the 14,000 responses.  In one of the emergency rooms at Parkland Hospital in Dallas in the 1970s, #1 on a list of posted rules was "Don't hurt yourself."  Rule #2 was "Don't yell at the nurses (See rule #1)."

Some amazing plays happen in high school basketball games.  Here's an unusual buzzer-beater.

A lady recounts how dolphins saved her life and that of her pet dog.

At Google Images you can pull up hundreds of photos of "cat litter cake." (edible cake that looks like dirty cat litter).  Perhaps not safe for non-ailurophiles.

The Mnozil brass present a most unusual performance of "Lonely Boy."

Wikipedia has a listing of The 50 Greatest [animated] Cartoons.

An erotic statue from Pompeii is now being exhibited at the British Museum. "The sculpture is of the mythical half-goat, half-man Pan having sex with a nanny goat. The Times reports that the museum is determined to display the object in plain sight, rather than hidden behind a curtain or in a "museum secretum" – a restricted area for those aged over 14 in the Naples Museum."  Graphic photo at the link.

Some prisoners in Venezuela are sewing their mouths shut (or partially shut).  The reasons for this are explained at the Atlantic article.

The National Forensic League's website has a list of all the debate topics from 1939 to 2012-13.   I vividly remember spending weekends in empty schoolrooms debating federal aid to education, the Common Market, and Social Security/medical care.

A Reddit thread compiles suggestions of books that are better understood/enjoyed when read for a second, third, or fourth time.

For the home handyman: how to fill missing knockouts in electric boxes.  Also an explanation of combustion air vents, and preventing or correcting problems with them.

The world's most expensive car crash: a pileup of ten Ferraris and similar cars on their way to a supercar event in Hiroshima.

"Archaeologists surveying the construction site of the former City Hall in Rotterdam have unearthed a collection of 477 coins stuffed inside a 16th century shoe. The oldest coin in the hoard dates to 1472 and the most recent to 1592."

If you use a credit card and the clerk asks for your ZIP code, giving that information may subject you to unwanted sales mailings, or your data may be sold to a data broker.

A Texas homeowner threw gasoline on a snake and set it on fire.  The resulting karma-fueled fire burned down her home.

A supercut of rabbits in the movies.

Food may taste bad after you brush your teeth because surfactants in toothpaste interfere with receptors on your taste buds.

A GIF of a dog happily cavorting with a venetian blind.

6 comments:

  1. "If you use a credit card and the clerk asks for your ZIP code, giving that information may subject you to unwanted sales mailings, or your data may be sold to a data broker."

    I feel bad for the retail folks who often have no choice but to do these things. So, to make everyone happy, I give them an incorrect zip code.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I was in debqate in 74-75. Our resolved was "Resolved: That the United States should significantly change the method of selection of presidential and vice-presidential candidates."
    I wrote up my experience that year. If it had not been for Debate, and Speech club, my HS years would have been a total waste.
    http://srevestories.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-great-debate-parts-i-ii-and-iii.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Interesting story at your blog post. Sadly, I never had a partner like yours.

      Delete
  3. The statue of Pan and the she-goat is sort of touching. He seems to be looking at her almost with tenderness--or at the very least, telling her, "Relax, sweetie, this won't hurt a bit."

    ReplyDelete
  4. Seems a little strange to me that after decades of predator-free existence, there would be only 300 rabbits on the island. You'd think there would be hundreds of thousands by this time, considering how fast rabbits breed.

    ReplyDelete

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