Let’s Play: At the Legoland 5

No, really, I don’t like rollercoasters. Maybe it’s an acquired taste or one you need to learn young, but it’s not my fun part. I rode my first one last summer and before even considering this one I researched whether it was faster (no way!) or slower than the one in Spain. I don’t like the sudden movements, though I was not fighting unconsciousness this time as I did in Spain. It’s not like I don’t like speed as such, there’s some fast stuff i really like, just not this. So enjoy the pics from the “harbour trip” in small boats at slower than  walking pace.

©Giliell, all rights reserved

©Giliell, all rights reserved

©Giliell, all rights reserved

©Giliell, all rights reserved

Wednesday Wings: It’s a Hoot!

There have been multiple exasperated conversations here about how wildlife, especially birds, refuse to cooperate with our attempts to get pictures. I swear that there is a memo going around when I leave the house as to whether I carry a camera or not. Last week was no exception. On Monday, when we had our friends over, I took my camera for the walk. I also took many pics the days before, the ones posted on Saturday, so I left the camera at home on Tuesday. When we arrived at our fountain we took a small break and sat down. I looked up at the old willow tree and was like “This branch looks strange. It is fluffy. It also wasn’t there yesterday and trees don’t grow thick, short, fluffy branches over night.” I took a closer look and it turned out to be a young owl, drowsing there in the branches of the willow.

I was so fucking angry. This was the first time in my life that I saw a wild owl. Oh I hear them almost every night, no problem, but seeing them? Only at the zoo. And no camera but the crappy phones.I told Mr “I’m going back and I’m going to get the camera and heaven help this owl if it is no longer there!”

So that’s what I did. 1 km back home, 1 km  back to the fountain, so about half an hour later I was there again and of course the owl had moved! But only a few metres and it was actually two owls. Back home I tried to identify them and my most likely guess is a tawny owl, since they’re also the ones I keep hearing, but honestly the pics I found all look very much alike.

To cut a long story short, I saw owls and here’s the evidence:

©Giliell, all rights reserved

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Canyon Matka – Part 6: Rocks

Yes, just a close look at a small (seriously, not sarcasm this time) selection of rocks – and some rock formations that were especially interesting.

Rock slices everywhere! © rq, all rights reserved.

My all-time favourite quartz, popping up in the most unexpected of places! © rq, all rights reserved.

A look at the rock face itself – in this part, all the layers were vertical. © rq, all rights reserved.

A look straight up the rock face – those trees and shrubs are quite impressive. © rq, all rights reserved.

And this, probably my favourite – just look at those strata bending ’round, how much power and how much time is behind that shape. © rq, all rights reserved.

It may be that nothing breaks like a heart, but certainly nothing breaks like a rock. Take it away, Miley.

The Tactical Kitchen Auction

Have you always wanted a kick-ass knife that can handle any kitchen task with ease and also protect you from Ninjas? If so, then you should head over to Stderr where Marcus is auctioning off 2 of his handmade knives, here and here. The auction closes on May 5/19 at 10:00 so be sure to check it out soon.

All of the money raised will go towards paying off the legal bills from the Richard Carrier lawsuit. The ridiculous suit is finally done and gone, but the bills didn’t vanish with it so if you’re in the market for a tactical kitchen knife now is the time to buy. You’ll get a fabulous knife (seriously, both knives are wicked) and you’ll be supporting Freethought Blogs. That’s what I call win-win. Of course, if you just want to make a donation to the fund that’s easy too. Just click on this link to go to our Go Fund Me page.

Good luck to you and thanks.

Jack’s Walk

©voyager, all rights reserved

©voyager, all rights reserved

The trilliums are here. And there. And everywhere. They’re positively busting out all over the place and I can’t recall ever seeing this many trilliums in our little forest. It’s a bumper crop. I couldn’t find any open blooms yet, but it won’t be more than a day or two before they appear. Jack and I plan to come back tomorrow and I’m betting I’ll find a few open flowers to share with all of  you.

Tree Tuesday

Trees in the News:

A massive yellow meranti found in the Dunam Valley area of Malaysia has been confirmed to be the world’s tallest tropical tree at 330 ft. (100.5 meters). Originally seen from the air, the tree was climbed by a daring local man with a tape measure to confirm it’s status. Logging is prohibited in the area and it is thought that there may be even larger trees as yet undiscovered in the same area. The video has some very nice aerial photography.

 

From The Smithsonian Magazine

The Art of Book Design: The Dark Way of Love

Le Goffic, Charles,.Dark way of love. Westminster : Archibald constable, 1898

A change of pace for today with a Celtic design from the late 1800’s. The lettering has a handwritten feel to it and I think it’s simplicity works perfectly with the complex, serpentine knots.

 

via:  worldcat.org, (which is a great site for anyone looking for a specific piece of written work. The site will tell you which libraries carry the book you’re looking for and how far away they are.)

Let’s Play: At Legoland 4, or capitalism sucks

Theme parks will always try to milk you for more money. From the entrance fee to overpriced food to games where you can “win” overpriced toys at every corner, it’s an all out assault on your budget. I don’t know if other theme parks “offer” a similar “service”, but at Legoland you can buy “express passes”. In their most basic version (just 20 bucks per person per day!) you can reserve you place in line and then wander off to eat some overpriced food and then return at your scheduled time to take your place in the line. This goes up to the premium version (almost no waiting time for only 70 € per person per day!) and of course you are simply not making any friends when you walk past people who’ve been waiting for an hour and take “their place”.

Now, it would be perfectly easy to integrate the basic version into an app for all customers and thereby eliminate those fucking waiting lines altogether, but that might lose them some money (maybe it would make them some money because people would have more time to hang around the food courts instead of eating home made sandwiches while standing in line?), therefore it’s inconceivable!

On the other hand I mentioned to Mr: “Imagine we’d spent some 600 bucks on those express passes and could ride one of those things every 15 minutes. Wouldn’t that be horrible?”

I still don’t know what I find worse: waiting in line for the rolercoaster or riding it, but I’m tending towards the latter. Before you think I’m all grumpy, enjoy some images from the “Atlantis” aquarium.

©Giliell, all rights reserved

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April Light

The light in springtime is beautiful and Nightjar has taken some absolutely stunning photos to show it off.

The garden is full of Iris flowers this time of the year and I love the way Iris petals reflect light, so that’s what ended up inspiring me this month. I also couldn’t resist a shiny green garden visitor and a backlit ice plant.

©Nightjar, all rights reserved

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Jack’s Walk

Trout Lilies ©voyager, all rights reserved

Bloodroot ©voyager, all rights reserved

Yesterday was about as perfect as a spring day can get. It was full of sunshine, the air was warm and a gentle breeze whispered through the budding trees. Jack and I took a long leisurely walk through our little forest and marveled at all the new life since our last visit. The trout lilies are sprouting all over the place, making the most of the spring light before it vanishes behind the burgeoning leaves. The mayapples and false Solomon’s seal have poked their heads up and a few trilliums have appeared here and there.

I’m talking about yesterday because today is not a nice day around here. It’s overcast, cold and threatening rain. Jack and I haven’t even gone for our walk yet, but I won’t complain because at least we don’t have snow, which they do out west. We are also not underwater which they are to the east. I’m living in a goldilocks zone and a bit of cold and damp is hardly worth mentioning. I hope none of you are living in the flooded area around Ottawa and Montreal and if you’re in an area still dealing with snow you have my sympathy.

You may notice that Jack’s Walk is posted later than usual today and that’s on purpose. Most things on the blog get posted earlier in the day (New York time) and because we have readers all over the world I’m trying to space things out a bit. Jack’s Walk will now get posted later in the afternoon. I’m always open to feedback, though, so let me know what you think.