4/21-Somehow, Buddy must have seen my last post concerning the conspiracy of the Bun Bros to wreack havoc on my plants. This morning, I had the half-eaten corpse of a young Bun under my desk. Wonderful-blood and organs to clean, all before I've had my coffee. And, if you remember, Buddy and I had a heart-to-heart chat last Xmas concerning this. Sigh. I keep getting the strains of some early 60's girl band singing "he's a predator but I love him" in my head. Meanwhile, how can one stay upset with such cuteness?
4/23-I've never been a fan of musicals but curiously, I have enjoyed "Oklahoma" most of my life. Partly because I grew up with it in my house as it was a favorite of my folks. They had seen live in San Francisco where Dad was stationed after surviving Guadacanal. This morning, I drowsed with the opening song in my head-such a positive expression of American optimism-something sorely missing these days in our country. In addition, it's a warm, sunny day-Spring has finally arrived here in this part of Michigan-everything has greened-up, birds are hollering because it's egg-makin' time and the trees are beginning to leaf.
Well, I was in a pretty chipper mood from working outside tearing down the 15 year old raised beds, when late in the day I saw this:
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| Can't wait to chow down on everything you have, bitch! |
Discovered in the raised bed soil:
4/26-The demo of the raised beds is finished with mulching coming in a couple of days.
Nutkin says "hello there!":
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| Stock |
Curiosities and fun facts:
Critters:
Shark teeth contain a natural fluoride.Their teeth are composed of a mineral called fluorapatite, which is essentially fluorinated calcium phosphate, the same mineral that makes up the enamel on human teeth and is the active ingredient in many toothpastes and mouthwashes. This natural fluoride content contributes to the strength and durability of shark teeth, helping them resist decay and cavities.
Ants have two stomachs: one for personal consumption and one for storing food to be shared with other members of the colony. This process, called trophallaxis, allows ants to efficiently distribute food within the colony.
A group of ferrets is called a business due to the hyperactive nature of these creatures-always busy taking care of business!
The dog ate it-John Steinbeck's Irish Setter, Toby, ate half of the first draft of "Of Mice and Men" in 1936.
Crocodiles can digest metal due to their exceptionally strong digestive systems and high concentrations of hydrochloric acid in their stomach. This evolutionary feature helps insure that they can eat practically anything such as bone, shells including metal fragments that might be part of something they happen to chomp into.
Wombats, native to Australia, have poop in the shape of cubes. It's believed that the cube shape helps the wombats collect their poop and place it on prominent landmarks in their territory, according to a study published in Physics World. The flat, square shape makes it less likely to roll away when stacked. Let's hope they solved the square peg, round hole puzzle.
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The largest living organism on Earth is a massive colony of Honey Mushrooms in Oregon's Malheur National Forest. It covers an estimated 3.5 square miles with the main fungal network extends far beneath the surface and is a single organism, not a collection of individual mushrooms and is estimated to be between 2400 and 8000 years old.
Mr. Lonely-since 1989 to present, an unusually high-pitched whale call (52 Hz) has been tracked off the US Pacific coast. The whale has never been seen and has been dubbed the Loneliest Whale as he is unable to communicate with others-they do so on a different wavelength.
Studies indicate that humans and cats share roughly 90% of their homologous genes, meaning genes that are inherited from a common ancestor. This high level of similarity highlights the evolutionary relationship between humans and cats. We share 99% of our DNA with chimps, 85% with mice, 80% with cows and dogs, 61% with fruit flies.
Beautiful but dangerous: Wagler's Pit Viper found throughout Southeast Asia
Humans:
Origin of honeymoon: in ancient Babylonia, around 4000 BC, it was customary for a bride's father to give newlyweds a month's worth of mead as a gift. This tradition is believed to be the origin of the term "honeymoon". The gift of honey wine was likely meant to symbolize the sweetness of marriage and the bounty of the moon cycle, with the honey wine being consumed by the newlyweds for a month after the wedding.
In ancient Greek mythology, throwing an apple at someone was a symbolic declaration of love or a marriage proposal. If the person caught the apple, it signified their acceptance of the gesture. The apple itself held symbolic importance, often associated with Aphrodite, the goddess of love.
The world's oldest known flute is a 60,000 year-old Neanderthal flute found in the Divje Babe cave in Slovenia. This flute is made from the left thighbone of a young cave bear and has four pierced holes.
Technically speaking, the longest word in English is “Methionylthreonylthreonylglutaminylarginyl… isoleucine”. That's the scientific name for the largest protein in the human body, scientifically known as 'titin,' made up of over 190,000 letters.
How rare is it to be born on February 29? The odds are 1 in 1461.
It is estimated that over 100 billion human beings have lived on the planet.
Only 10% currently are left-handed. I've been amazed that in recent years with the numerous outcries concerning injustices to minority populations, that no one has hollered about the suffering of lefties in a right-handed world. Tools such as scissors and can openers, zippers, self-checkout lanes can be a challenge. In some cultures, lefties are viewed with negative stereotypes and face discrimination. The perfect opportunity for a TikTok influencer/evangelist to step up and change the world for fame and fortune!
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A memorable quote from a NFL broadcaster about the effect of defensive linesmen shifting their lines on the offensive before the snap: "you make them think and if they're thinking, they're not so quick".
Walking the entire length of the Great Wall of China, which spans over 5,000 miles, would take approximately 15-18 months. This calculation is based on walking a specific section of the wall (Ming section), which is well-preserved and stretches over 5,500 miles. However, the total length of all sections of the Great Wall, including newly discovered ones, is estimated to be over 13,000 miles, suggesting it could take even longer to cover all of it .
Mona Lisa has no eyebrows. She used to, according to high-resolution scans but degradation over time and overcleaning and restoration has erased much of Da Vinci's work.
Oranges are green but still can be ripe and delicious. The green color is due to chlorophyll which is vital for photosynthesis and protects the fruit from sunburn. In warmer climates such as Vietnam and Thailand or during periods of warmer temperatures, oranges may retain their green color even when they are fully ripe. When transported to cooler climes, they turn orange.
In 1860, French inventor Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville made the first known recording of a human voice using his phonautograph. This recording, a fragment of the song "Au Clair de la Lune," was created by tracing sound waves onto soot-covered paper. Although
it was not intended to be played back, the recording was later
reconstructed and played in 2008, revealing it to be the oldest known
recording of a human voice. While Thomas Edison
is often credited with inventing the first machine capable of recording
and playing back sound (the phonograph), Scott de Martinville's
phonautograph predates it by nearly 20 years, making it the earliest
known recording device.
The oldest message in a bottle ever found was 131 years and 223 days old when it was discovered according to the Guinness World Records. Australians Tonya and Kym Illman found the message on Jan. 21, 2018, at Wedge Island, Australia. A German ship captain threw a gin bottle overboard on June 12, 1886, Guinness World Records said, with a message written in ink, that contained the ship's coordinates and details, including departure and arrival times. The note, from the Deutsche Seewarte in Hamburg, requested the finder deliver the note to the nearest German Embassy.
One of the oldest board games is the Royal Game of Ur. From Wiki: The Royal Game of Ur is a two-player strategy race board game of the tables family that was first played in ancient Mesopatamia during the early third millennium BC. The game was popular across the Middle East among people of all social strata, and boards for playing it have been found at locations as far away from Mesopotamia as Crete and Sri Lanka.
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| A modern version |
Canada has more lakes than the rest of the world, combined!
The aroma in the air after a rain is called petrichor. It was coined in 1964 by scientists Isabel Joy Bear and Richard Grenfell Thomas. The word derives from the Greek words "petros" (stone) and "ichor" (the fluid in the veins of the gods) emphasizing the connection between the earth and the rain, as well as the ethereal nature of the aroma. The smell is primarily caused by the release of certain compounds when rain hits dry soil and ozone which is produced by thunderstorms.
Dark Matter: a hypothetical form of matter that's invisible and doesn't interact with light, making it undetectable by conventional sensors. It's thought to make up a significant portion of the universe's mass, about 27%, and its presence is inferred from its gravitational effects on visible matter, like the rotation of galaxies. Scientists believe dark matter is some sort of as-yet-undiscovered subatomic particle, potentially weakly interacting massive particles or axions.
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FUBARland
Will Pete Hegseth be the first to get fired on a upcoming episode of Cabinet Apprentice? Stay tuned!
(satire) Roach, having problems getting any attorney to come within a half-mile of his insanity, manages to enlist help from our local ambulance chaser Sam Bernstein. It seems Roach misunderstood the term "personal injury lawyer" and thought Bernstein would be the perfect fit for Roach's endless vindictive lawsuits against those who have said mean things about him. Besides, Bernstein sounds Jewish and Roach loves Jewish lawyers especially since his mentor was Roy Cohn, infamous for his prosecution of the Rosenbergs and chief counsel to communist witch-hunter Senator Joseph McCarthy.
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Memorable CC gem of poor translation: Mike Hammer is leaving a message with someone ...tell them my camera called. Thanks. LOL
