Animal Sounds

Ya know, I love INXS for sure, but I really love songs that use animal sounds. There's more than most people think. Many animals can be just as good at singing as any humans! Some songs I really love have sounds that seem to mimic animal sounds. Especially birds. Ever hear Baltimora's "Tarzan Boy"? Toward the end of the song, they have what sounds like either parrots or elephants sounds mixed in the music. Then there is Billy Joel's "Downeaster Alexa", during the middle instrumental section I'd swear I could hear the mournful shrills of whales! Awesome!!! On Ace of Base's "Don't Turn Around" if you listen carefully, throughout the chorus and instrumental bridge of that song, I swear I could hear what sounds like the underwater calls of weddell seals. It also sounds like a spaceship taking off. LOL!! Then there is "Fly Away" by Lenny Kravitz. Throughout the chorus, that sort of loud aquatic dripping sound reminds me a lot of the sounds of oropendolas. Oropendolas are South and Central American relatives of blackbirds and orioles. I once saw some at the Woodland Park Zoo and heard them calling out and I swear to GOD it sounds just like that weird dripping sound on that song!! I don't know if Kravitz meant the song's music to sound like these birds, but it sure does to me!! But that makes the song more fun to listen to.

INXS should try something similar to this! Birds are excellent candidates to contribute sounds. So are whales or primates. I think these animalian sounds added to songs just makes the songs sound so much more exciting!! As a lover of music, and animals, my most favorite animals are the ones that can sing! That's why I love whales, primates and birds so much. Wolves and coyotes also sing very well! Cats and panthers try to sing, (and I emphasize the word try) but they sound like Lucille Ball on "I Love Lucy" with a clogged throat! Really, I heard Lucille Ball was a good singer, but on "I Love Lucy", she's supposed to depict a housewife with no talent. Lions, specifically, sound like the flushing of a toilet. That's what the felines sound like to me. Ugly all over, even their voices!

However, when a bird or primate calls, they can make even the simplest sounds sound very euphonic. I think sifakas have the cutest little calls!! They make a sound kinda like a kiss and a "pok" combined. I've always referred to primates as furry songbirds for this reason. Well, I am not one to tell INXS how to write their music, but this kind of stuff in a song I think makes it more exciting.

Speeders

I was watching Speeders tonight, it's a funny cop show. But one of the police men gave a woman a ticket for speeding. Her excuse was she was not used to the car she was driving. The police man said that that isn't really a good enough excuse. My question is Why?? I have that same problem every time I rent a new car. I don't know what it is, but it happens all the time with new cars. All cars have a steering wheel, speedometer and a gas pedal, but there is a strange phenomenon about new cars and owners. What feels like 60 in one car, feels like 25 in another. And I cannot always look at my speedometer. New cars, I don't know what it is, you can go 80 mph, and I swear it'll feel like 50! That's why I think the excuse of "I'm not used to this car" should be considered a legitimate excuse. Of course I am not saying all people should use that excuse, maybe the cop could ask the person to see the Bill of Sale too. If you're buying a used car, it's different. 60 feels like 60 in an older car. But in brand-spanking new cars I don't know why, but 60 feels more like 30.

Funny how I have felt like picking on George Bush today. I am surprised my lurker here has not retaliated against my analysis of that video she posted in the Obama thread on this blog. The video really didn't prove anything except that Obama would do a half-assed job as the president! Actually, that was proven in the article linked with that video. Obama's own representative said sometimes he says the pledge of allegiance and sometimes he doesn't. As the future president of the USA he should ALWAYS say it when he is supposed to! Well anyway, I put the link up in my response. Me, I don't want a president that is going to only do a half-assed job!! Take the message Obama!!! The only thing I like about the guy is that he promises to take care of the high gas prices and low economy. So does Dino Rossi, who definately has my vote!! But Obama's pledge, how do I know that isn't just a bunch of political BS? Many a politician has made promises that only last up to the time they get into office. As far as I know, Bush didn't even know about the high gas prices at all.

Really, I would make a better president than any of today's candidates!! I only wish Hillary was still running! This country would be different with a woman running it.

As for my day, I thought common houseflies were only supposed to live for 24 hours! LOL! I had one in this house that I think followed us all the way from Olympia, and for a week I could not get rid of the damn thing!!! Several times I have tried!! I would try to swat it with a newspaper and the little sneak would get away! And you think I'm lying! But I swear on my grandma's grave, when that fly got away, he would fly into my face and I'd swear I could hear him say "Ha-Ha!" I finally got rid of him, caught him on the window. He must have got out because I haven't seen him since. I just hate flies in the house!! I know they don't bite, but they do something just as bad, if not worse!! They puke up their last meal (usually animal droppings) on your food and countertops and stuff.

Bushbabies

Well, I just want to chat about my favorite animals. Bushbabies! Now when I say "bushbabies" I don't mean something like this:

I mean the tiny, nocturnal prosimians from Africa. Also known as "galagos". They look like this:

I think they are adorable anyway! The reason they are called "bushbabies" is because they are tree-dwellers, and they make noises that sound like that of a baby crying. They are very agile animals. For their size (between 6 and 15 inches not including the tail) they can make enormous leaps. They can leap several times their own body length. For example, a 8-inch senegal bushbaby can leap up to 20 feet. That's about the same equivalent of an average-sized man leaping 250 feet. And when bushbabies leap, they do it so smooth and gracefully that it can seem like the animal is gliding.

The bushbabies will be the predecessors of all tomorrow's prosimians. I figure anyway. They are very likely to survive as their diet is varied. They love to feed on insects, nectar, fruits, sometimes bird eggs and fledgelings, young shoots and leaves. Very rarely, a larger species like the greater galago (Otolemur) will feed on birds, rodents and even bats. The classification for bushbabies is still on the fence. Some scientists still place them in the same family with lorises and pottos. Some place them in their own family. To me, a loris or a potto is a slow-moving, hand-over-hand climber. Bushbabies are leapers. Bushbabies definately deserve to be classified in their own family. One other reason for this, a bushbaby's legs are a lot longer than their arms, whereas lorises and pottos have limbs all the same length. The habits may be the same, both lorises and bushbabies are nocturnal, but that's as far as the relationship goes as far as I am concerned.

In my Metazoica site and book, I have some "last-minute" bushbabies, species that resembles bushbabies and even has the same habits, and everything, but I place them in the same family with species like Oreolemur and Leptonosoma.

Oh yes! I also wanted to mention one of my favorite stories that will be available on my UMG site is called "Growing Up is Hard to Do" and it's about a bushbaby and an otter-shrew. The "shrew" (actually a tenrec) is lost and needs to make it back home to his river in Uganda, Africa. So the bushbaby helps him find his way. When she finally gets him home she turns to leave and the "shrew" does not think he can survive by himself and wants her to stay with him. So she does at his request, but she is miserable. One morning the shrew wakes up and finds the bushbaby missing. At first, he is upset, but then shakes off the tears and moves on with life and learning to grow up. He learns and the bushbaby "magically" appears again, just long enough to congratulate him in finally doing things for himself. It's really a great story, I cannot explain all of it here (mostly because I don't want to give it all away).

Thank You Ladies!!

Thank you to The Star Celeb for the acknowledgement of the wonderful and beautiful Tim Farriss!! Y'all are doing GREAT! Keep up the good work!!

http://thestarceleb.com/2008/08/16/celebrity-birthdays-for-august-16th-2008/

There ya go Tim! Special message from some friends!

Tim Farriss!! Special Surprise!!!

OK, the Star Celeb isn't going to do this, so I may have to do it myself, hehe! I know I said this last night, but I will say it here again. Today Tim Farriss turns a fabulous 51 years old! And still looking good! I have made it an annual tradition to go to every forum I am a member of (even though none of them have anything to do with INXS anymore) and post up a Happy Birthday message to him. I even braved it on the anti-PETA forum. I even put "Happy Birthday" to him up on my websites! I would love to do it on my UMG site, but I don't know how to put up announcements on the front page there. Sorry Tim! I wish my UMG site was now up and running, I'd give Tim a freebie of my most favorite story of all! That would be my gift to him. Maybe he could read it to his new niece or nephew on the way soon. hehe! I dunno. The story was written with young adults in mind, kinda like Harry Potter. I'm not too sure Tim would enjoy that himself. I have adult stories, but they mention INXS too much.

Anyway, he looks good in this pic. I'm not sure of the name of the person who took that pic (it wasn't me) but it is one of my most favorite pics ever!! If the person who took it will speak up and say it was them, I can at least give them their due credit. But doesn't he look handsome there?! I think so! hehe! I love gushing over him, makes me feel like a kid again. That's a good feeling. Especially for a fat old crone like me I don't get too many chances to act like a kid anymore. Life is so short and I'm spending it writing and making figures out of ceramic clay! At least my walks to the ocean give me some sense of inspiration. So does Tim Farriss!! To quote the INXS song, Mystify, "In all that exists, none has your beauty", that is definitely a great description of the fabulous Tim Farriss!! I used to think Michael was all that! But Tim is way ahead of him in that department!! Well, it used to be I was 60% into Michael and 40% into Timmy. Now that number has dramatically changed to only 1% into Michael, 99% into Timmy! hehe! See! I didn't totally lose the interest in Michael, it's just been greatly reduced. Well, I have friends and family who are on both sides of the fence about Michael. Some say INXS will never be the same without him, and some (including me) say INXS has moved on so why can't we. I think I lost one of my so-called online "friends" because of this feeling I have, who called herself Ninarogue on INXS.com. hehe! Funny too she used to be one of the first to warn me when Catsredrum was talking shit about me. I used to think she was a good person, who I could just agree to disagree with about Michael, until just a short while ago. Oh well! LOL! She'll get over it. And if she doesn't, who cares?! She'll just join the ranks of those so-called "fans" who IMO suck donkey balls!! Just like her friend Bittertears. They aren't real INXS fans anyway! They said so themselves.

I don't mind if people still LOVE Michael. They have their opinions and I have mine. What I don't like seeing is those Michael fans who diss the band because they have decided to move on. I saw one group saying JD Fortune is trying to be Michael. When I saw that I thought "This has got to stop!!" I get so fricken sick and tired of people saying JD is trying to be Michael!!!! Michael was Michael and JD is JD!! When these stupid fans start opening their eyes and start seeing that INXS has moved on with their NEW lead singer, they may stop trying to compare him with Michael and start seeing him as an individual! I don't think the problem is JD "becoming" Michael. I think the problem is these so-called "fans" can't differentiate the two! Probably by force of habit. They see the name INXS, and hear the band, and still want to see Michael, but he is not there. LOL! Kinda like the same effect of a hunter trying to lure a buck to them using urine from a doe in heat. The buck is taken in, but when he finds the scent leads to a hunter instead of a doe in heat, he gets pissed and attacks the hunter.

Well, I wanted to wish Timmy a Happy Birthday, and I did! Love ya Tim!!

Madonna also has a birthday as posted on The Star Celeb, but I won't say happy birthday to her!! I can't stand that woman! She could drop dead today and I wouldn't care!

Happy Birthday Timmy!!!!!!

Happy Birthday Tim Farriss!!!!!!
Today the most wonderful and beautiful man in the history of rock n roll celebrates his birthday, and as a part of an annual tradition, I am posting this everywhere to assure he will be blessed for the year! hehe!
I want to say thank you to Tim for being the sweet and kind man he is, and granting his time to me that one cold, dark night in Seattle when I was alone and unsure of walking down a dark alley. His smile was like a light in that tunnel. I momentarily forgot I was alone in a big, unfamiliar city.
I also want to thank him for the music. I know he doesn't want to be considered the best guitarist, but to me he always will be. Not only do I enjoy his remarkable talent, but I also enjoy his facial expressions as he is having fun on the stage. I love him for that too!!
I also want to say he is looking good at 51, just like he did at 30!! Some things never change, and the beauty that is Tim Farriss is one of those things.
GOD bless you Tim Farriss! Love ya lots, lots, LOTS!!!!!! I still think you are the GREATEST!!!!

Happy Birthday Jon Farriss!!!!!

Happy Birthday Jon. I think it may already be the 10th in Oz, not sure, but whether it is or not, I just wanted to wish you a wonderful birthday!! Thank you so much for being the kind-natured man you are!! And good luck in becoming a father for the first time too!!!! I'm still very happy for you. :)

I do so love Jon! I love everything about him. His talent, his personality, his beautiful face, that Kerry is a lucky girl. Boy! I wonder how many other "Jonettes" have said that before me? I don't know the woman, but I envy her. In a good way of course. I used to know A Kerry from Oz, Melbourne to be exact. She was a sweet person. I don't think she's the same one though. I met her in the old INXS chatroom. I remember our road was rocky at first, but that was because of a stupid misunderstanding on my part. I had no idea "Simple Simon" was an INXS song at that time. When I asked her how long she'd been a fan, she mentioned that and I thought she was calling me names. LOL!! Yeah, dumb I know! I should have asked what she meant exactly by "Simple Simon". All that time I wasted thinking she was a rude person, when really she was not.

One night I remember she and a woman named Jan were frolicking with each other in the chatroom. I had no idea at the time they were best friends. I said Kerry was a rude person and Jan damn-nearly bit my head off!! If we had been standing in the same room with each other, she might have gone so far as to kill me!! That's what she sounded like anyway!! She attacked like a wolverine. After she left the chatroom, I began to feel bad because of the way I attacked back and for saying disrespectful things to her. That was when another poster calling herself "Brat" took me aside and told me I got the wrong ideas about Jan and Kerry. The real reason I attacked that night had nothing really to do with Jan or Kerry, I was simply having a bad day that day. I wasn't angry at them, I was angry at the one who made that day such a bad day. My ma! Long story there. Brat and I stayed up chatting for hours about various things. She was my comfort that night. It was due to her advice that I decided to confront my ma with my problem and not take it out on anyone in the chatroom anymore. So I did. After that, from that day on, my mission was to get back in the chatroom with both of them and apologize for being such a disrespectful ass! I finally did. Kerry was very sweet about it, Jan well she was a little indifferent. Jan, BTW, was a friend of Michael's, and he wrote the song "Jan's Song" for her. But anyway, I felt better. I always wanted to hear that song, I never had. I wanted to see exactly what kind of a song Michael would write for a woman like that. In 2005, I finally heard it. Not bad. As for Kerry, she did turn out to be as sweet a person as everyone said she was.

Well, I don't think Jon married the same Kerry I speak of but that came to mind as I was writing this. As for Brat, I wonder what ever happened to her? Last I heard from someone who knew her, she moved from Canada to Australia and married the man who called himself "Kick" in the chatroom. He and I used to be friends because he called himself "Kick" and I called myself "Kick87". At first I wanted to take the name "Kick" myself because it was my favorite INXS album, but then everyone told me the name "Kick" was already taken, so I settled for "Kick87". That became my nickname for the whole time I was in that chatroom. Until I took the name "Bambi" after a dog that belonged to my cousins. The name "Bambi" angered everyone though. Back then I was a sweet, innocent young thing, who got along with everybody!! Had lots of chatroom friends! But then again, those were the days before INXS fans started forming "cliques". I try to stay away from cliques. They're usually full of nothing but ass-kissers and followers. And if you say one little thing against what they believe in, you're then OUT of the clique. So I purposefully stay away from them. It may have made me the most hated person on the internet, but I'll worry about that when the fans that hate me start paying my bills, my rent, or my way into the INXS concerts. Until then, they can eat shit!!!

OOPS! I got sidetracked. I'm sorry Jon! This message went in all different directions that I didn't want it to! LOL!

Anti-PETA

I've recently joined this group of anti-PETA activists. I love animals for sure, but PETA really SUCKS!!!! At first last night, I was beginning to wonder if I joined the right group because I looked in on some of their posts and I notice they acted like the people of the delusional fans forum. They copied and pasted things from the PETA group to their site and made degrading comments about the people. But then I thought long and hard about what PETA really does to animals and what hypocrites they are, and then I thought "Well, this isn't anything like the delusional fans forum!" The DF forum takes posts of innocent people who simply love the band and band members and twists the posts to take on meanings of their own on their forum and put words of their own in the fan's mouths. Then they talk nothing but BS. These people twist nothing, and speak from facts, and they don't seem to put words in the mouths of PETA supporters. Besides everyone knows PETA is nothing but a bunch of jerks anyway!! I always knew that!! They are not as innocent as they portray themselves to be.

Not too long ago, I found an article about how PETA jerks (this group calls them "PETArds") raided an animal shelter and put to sleep a lot of innocent, very adoptable animals. That made me MAD!!!! I also looked in at some of the "hate-mail" some of the members of this group has been getting from the PETA jerks and boy! Do they ever get vicious!!! One threatened to find the owner of that site's residence and kill him with a gun! Then that person's friend e-mailed the owner of that site and actually cheered that friend on. That friend wrote, "As soon as your life is over, which thanks to my friend should be very soon....." That's one thing you cannot say about me, I never threatened the people of the delusional fans forum with death!! I warned them when I first went into their forum that they could get sued for the kind of stuff they say, and they were the ones who attested their right of free speech. Well, I cannot argue with that!! But I feel they should at least get to know the fans they spoke of before making the kind of assumptions they did the way they did. Which is why to this day, I say they wrote nothing but BS. Someone on this forum stated that PETA is not a non-profit organization, but a business. They are in this for the money, which I think is what makes them so hypocritical!!! I did notice a lot of INXS fans switched to supporting PETA because JD Fortune did, but I think even JD would have given up all association with PETA if he read about the things they do behind the scenes!! I never liked PETA and I never will, no matter what! Even if Timmy supports them, I still will not support PETA! I don't believe in their beliefs! I'd just tell Timmy he has a right to support whomever he wants to.

They also have a list of celeb hypocrites, Olivia Newton-John is one of them because she supports PETA and also founded a cancer-research center. Cancer-research centers almost always use laboratory animals, and inflict them with cancer. The very thing PETA is supposed to be opposing! Well, I used to be against hypocrites until I found out that hypocrisy is actually a part of normal human nature. Every person is to some extent. If we weren't, we'd be perfect and no human is perfect!! I'm not blaming Olivia Newton-John, I just think maybe she didn't make the connection. Now, she'll have to stop supporting PETA!! Or else she will find out about them the hard way, when PETA jerks raid her cancer-research center and tear it to shreds to save every laboratory rat, pig or monkey in the facility.

Also the thing about eating meat. I've got to have meat!! Otherwise it ain't a meal. I was brought up that dinner is supposed to consist of meat, with a SIDE of veggies and bread. Notice I said SIDE!! Veggies are merely a side-dish to me. Not the full meal. I could never go veggie because of that. Besides, there are some veggies I will not touch! Like broccoli for example. I tried to learn to like it but it was just too disgusting!! Made me puke!! As for meat, the only meat I don't like is liver (as well as other weird things like the tongue and brains). But you're looking at a girl who loves gorging in a good rib-eye or porterhouse steak or broiled or southern-fried chicken!!! Eating dogs and cats I will admit would be criminal to me, like eating a baby. But some animals were meant to be eaten, like cows, pigs and chickens. Animals like dogs and cats eat animals like cows, pigs and chickens even in the wild!! How do the PETA jerks explain that?? And don't give me that argument that people were not meant to eat like that!! The earliest human ancestors even fed on meat once in a while. Look at modern chimps. They hunt monkeys, antelope, insects and small rodents and they are the closest living wild relatives to humans. If they weren't meant to eat meat, they wouldn't do it at all. Nature wouldn't allow it. Shoot! Even nowadays there are deer and antelope eating meat!! Duikers (a type of antelope) have been known to eat birds, lizards and mice. And in the Scottish coasts, European red deer have been known to eat sea birds. Their primary target seems to be Manx shearwaters, which are small petrels. The deer eat off the heads for the nutrients in the birds' brains. So no animal is meant to be strictly vegetarian!!

If you ask me, PETA is fighting a losing battle. One way or another.

Surgery!

Well, I don't know if this is all true or not, but according to a friend, someone on inxs.com said Tim Farriss will again be having surgery on his leg. I hope it's true!! If it is, then GREAT!!!! I am so glad he is finally taking care of that now. My prayers are with him, along with hugs, kisses and well-wishes!! The surgery is actually the easy part, the therapy is what is difficult. My ma had that same surgery a couple of months ago, and she is now going through therapy to re-learn how to walk. But Timmy is a strong man, I know he is! He will recover very soon. My prayers will remain with him in hopes he can swiftly recover.

As I was told, nobody is allowed to talk about the band's and their family's medical problems. I don't know who it was that reported Tim having surgery soon, but if it's true that .com has that rule now, I wonder how it was this person got away with mentioning it? Unless it was said by one of the site's favorite posters? I think sometimes the .com owners could really learn from Pluba. The owner of that forum is not a breeder, but it is a breeder's site. He has a manifesto that he goes by and when someone breaks it, they get banned. Yet it is a fair manifesto for all. He doesn't have any "favorite" members that can get away with just anything at all. Though one person who calls herself "radical", keeps getting banned and coming back and hardly anyone likes her, LOL!! I think she's a bit strange, but I gotta say though, I admire her grit and guts!!!!

Ya know I bet if I went back to inxs.com I'd find everyone there would hate my guts!!! hehe! Well, like I said I lost a lot of acquaintences when I announced that I don't like Kirk, and today I found out someone I used to think wanted to be friends with me actually does not want to anymore! Well, she was a Bittertears supporter! I think I saw this coming a long time ago. I lost a lot of acquaintences when her friends found out I didn't like her either. hehe!! Let's face it, I never got along good with people. Nothing can change that. I always got along better with animals, they are my real best friends. But animals don't judge you by your opinions or who you like or what you like. If you love them, they love you back. Few people have the capacity to do that. For example, I've heard this over and over, people say a person has a right to their own opinion. But how many people say that and actually mean it? So far, myself and only a handful of other people have, that I personally know of. Those people you can actually count on the fingers of one hand! That's why I put that little quote under my blog title now. And my grandma always said that if you make at least one good friend in your life, you are doing very well. I actually have several real good friends that aren't animals. hehe!! But most of them I'd known for many years. Some of them helped me temporarily get over my dislike for people.

Oh yes! As for Kirk, I got one more comment to throw into the "no" bucket. Someone who posted yesterday said that comment made on here was not by Kirk as his grammer is far better than what was posted in that comment. So that's 4 "no"s, 0 "yes"s. I left the comment up anyway, maybe someone else has something to add? Personally, I don't believe Kirk's grammar is better, but I would imagine he would not make as many typos as that individual made. Kirk seems to write in short-hand when I look at his diary. I never wrote to the man at all. I don't even have him in my MySpace friends, even though I know he has a MySpace. I never asked him to become one of my friends! I was never interested in adding him because by the time I found out he had his own MySpace page, I'd already made up my mind that I didn't like him at all!! I'm still not interested in adding him. Like I said before, I still believe the main reason he snuffed me was because he doesn't like fat people. I like Kirk's fans, I have a MySpace buddy who is a huge fan of his, and I still think his daughter is a beautiful young lady, but Kirk himself if he thinks what I think he thinks, he's not worth it anymore. But if it's any consolation to INXS, Kirk is the only band member I don't like. The rest of them, I adore!!! Especially Tim, and he still has my sincerest prayers with him as he goes in to surgery! If inxs.com doesn't like me talking about Timmy's medical problems, I am sorry, but if the man is going to be operated on, I'm going to want to send him well-wishes!! Anyone know where I can send flowers?? Does 1-800-flowers deliver to Australia?? I'm also going to want to know how he is doing.

Ah well, I wouldn't worry! He'll be back up and on his feet in no time flat!!

Edited to delete a certain comment that was so bad I even offended myself!! I've NEVER told another human being to "drop dead" and I hope I never do again! No matter how much I dislike someone, it was a comment so beneath me!

Hmmm... Interesting

Well, I was told to look up a few things at dictionary.com by one of the posters on this site. Usually, I save that site from when I am writing and I need to look up a word. But anyway, I took the person's advice and looked up the 3 words, lover, ignorant and racist. hehe! I must say looking at all the descriptions, I found out some things I think even she didn't know or understand.

First of all, the word "lover", she said if I didn't sleep with this guy, he wasn't my lover. HA!! Young lady, now you must be kidding there, right?? Look at the definition I found for "lover"...

1. a person who is in love with another.
2. a person who has a sexual or romantic relationship with another.
3. a person with whom one conducts an extramarital sexual affair.
4. a person who has a strong enjoyment or liking for something, as specified: a lover of music.
5. a person who loves, esp. a person who has or shows a warm and general affectionate regard for others: a lover of mankind.

OK, I'd like to know where it says, or even implies, that a lover is someone you have to sleep with or you're not lovers? We were in love, we were romantic, we even vehemently enjoyed each other. I don't think there is a set standard for love that says you have to go to bed with the other person. We dated for a year, or close if I remember correctly. After I got used to him, we held hands at the movies, and he would whisper sweet nothings at me. But we never kissed or slept together. Well, he kissed me!!!! He understood though that I am shy about giving kisses myself.

And here is the definition for Racist......

1. a belief or doctrine that inherent differences among the various human races determine cultural or individual achievement, usually involving the idea that one's own race is superior and has the right to rule others.
2. a policy, system of government, etc., based upon or fostering such a doctrine; discrimination.
3. hatred or intolerance of another race or other races.

My own opinion on Obama more closely fits the definition in bold. Don't worry, I meant to not highlight "discrimination" as I don't dislike Obama because he is of African descent. The person who made the comments obviously has not been reading my posts carefully enough. I've been told I am very contemplative in my writing, maybe too much so for some simple minds. Not making fun here, just saying maybe I need to write in a more simplistic manner on these blogs. But this is the same thing as Ty playing the race card on Rockstar when he was eliminated. I think some people tend to overplay the race card as well. I could play it myself and say this person dislikes me probably because she thinks I'm white, or because I am only half white, but I am not like that!! That's not my style at all. Besides, I really couldn't care less if she likes me or not!!! I have friends that I trust and who understand me, that's good enough for me.

Now for the definition of "ignorance", this is what I found....

1. the state or fact of being ignorant; lack of knowledge, learning, information, etc.
2. The condition of being uneducated, unaware, or uninformed.
3. the lack of knowledge or education
4. The condition of being ignorant; the want of knowledge in general, or in relation to a particular subject; the state of being uneducated or uninformed.
5. (Theol.) A willful neglect or refusal to acquire knowledge which one may acquire and it is his duty to have. --Book of Common Prayer.

Wow! I had to go down quite a bit on that page to gather all these as they were scattered everywhere. I found all that. And, I also found this definition:

Ignorance is bliss
Not knowing something is often more comfortable than knowing it.
Note: This proverb resembles “What you don't know cannot hurt you.” It figures in a passage from “On a Distant Prospect of Eton College,” by the eighteenth-century English poet Thomas Gray: “Where ignorance is bliss, / ‘Tis folly to be wise.’”

Perhaps this is the way I like it. Not knowing what lies ahead would be better and less stressful on me than knowing. I give my opinion on these blogs, people can accept it or reject it, I don't care. It's their choice, not mine.

Well, just thought y'all would be interested in knowing what I found in relation to what was said. ;)

Dinosaurs That Survived

Well, I've heard lots of stories about how all dinosaurs died off 65 million years ago. It's true, the dinosaurs did die off. All except one group. The Dromaeosaurs, known as "raptors". I truly believe they survived the cataclysmic event that wiped out other dinosaurs. It has now been found that they had feathers, like modern birds. Thus they could have kept warm if it snowed in their world. Check out this article about them on Wikipedia. They could have become the so-called "Terror-birds" of the early Tertiary. Some early forms even had tail stubs that are much longer than they are in today's birds. They had to have come from the raptors of the Mesozoic. It's been said that Dromaeosaurs were so smart compared to other dinosaurs, that if they had survived, they may have even become what we are today. The dominant creatures of the Earth. I don't know about that personally, but I look at the raptors and what people have discovered they really were like, and I look at the Terror-birds, and I see the two have so much in common with each other. Terror-birds even have relatives around today. They are called seriemas, and they sort of resemble a miniature-version of the crane. But unlike cranes, you can even see they have the sickle-shaped claw on the foot that was found in all dromaeosaurs, it is likely the terror-birds had that feature too.

So when it is said that all the dinosaurs died-off and no new species emerged, that is BS. It is obvious that the raptors survived the extinction of the dinosaurs. They may not look like they used to, but they survived! And terror-birds were the top predators of their day, that is until the emergence of the first "proto-felines" emerged, which were not true felines. They were saber-toothed "cats" (family: Maschairodontidae). They actually branched off from the hyena family in the earliest days 5 million years ago. If you look at them closely, you will even see they resemble today's hyenas, in that their rear end is slightly lower than their front end. True felines have level backs.

I still favor lemurs. Lemurs have actually been around since the very last days of the dinosaurs. They were not the lemurs we know from Madagascar, but they were lemurs. One of the first was Adapis from Europe. Then there was the Omomyids of Europe, Asia and North America. They most likely resembled today's tree shrews, which were once thought to be primates, but now put in a class of their own.

Ya know, it's too bad at that that dinosaurs went extinct!! I am not as fascinated by today's mammal predators. It might have been kinda fun to see raptors at work capturing their prey.

Future

I've made quite a few posts about dinosaurs, now I want to post about some of my favorite animals of the future. Yes, I do have some faves, even though most of them are my own ideas. These are the animals I do sculputres of. Currently, I am working on a giant relative of today's armadillos. I call it Dasyventris. It is a true relative of today's armadillos, but it is about 20 feet long, with specialized armor, coated with short, stubby spikes all down the back and sides, 5 long, sharp horns on it's head and 4 long, sharp spikes on the end of it's tail to swat at predators. Not only do these provide the armadillo with protection, they also have huge claws on the forefeet to also swat at predators should one manage to flip Dasyventris on it's back, exposing the soft, furry underside. The main predator of Dasyventris is Deinognathus. Deinognathus is a giant, predatory relative of today's deer and antelope. They get up to 25 feet tall and stand on 2 legs. The forelegs are greatly reduced, and are built like a bear's paws, with huge, sharp claws. The hind legs are long, and they don't have feet, they have hooves, like a cow, built for short persuits of their prey. The head is huge and looks like that of a camel, with a bigger mouth and sharp teeth. The tail is long and thick, counterbalancing the huge head. And today felines prey on deer and antelope!! LOL! They'd be in for a big surprise if they tried to attack this animal! I actually have several stories where some large feline attacks one of these deer-like predators and gets a surprise when the "prey" bites them back!

Another favorite is actually a critter that I found in another book about future evolution. I call it Ophiuchus. It's a tiny squirrel. Where it lives there are many species of birds and bats that will feed on these squirrels. In turn, the circle of life continues, and there is a variety of snake that will prey on the birds and bats that feed on the squirrel. Ophiuchus has developed an interesting way of defending it's self. The tail has markings on the end that resembles the head of this bird and bat-eating snake. When a bird or bat attacks it, the squirrel will duck under a branch and move it's tail akin to how the hunting snake would move it's head. Ophiuchus even hisses when necessary, further mocking the hunting snake. Here is a pic I made of the squirrel in 2004:

This is the animal at work.

Of course anyone who knows me knows my favorite animals are lemurs. Yes, I've even thought of a place for them in the future World. There are some of course who inhabit the trees, as all lemurs should. But I've also thought up one who has taken to the seas and oceans. I call it Oreolemur. They are related to today's bushbabies. Even today, there are prosimians that are very good swimmers, and one variety that even feeds on water reeds. Oreolemur goes a step further and feeds on fish, squid and crabs. They swim very well propelling themselves like modern sea lions, and catch fish and squid in "mid-flight". Their swimming habits are very un-primate-like. Unlike other primates when they swim, Oreolemur does not use their arms to stroke. But rather they use their huge, flat, fully-webbed feet. The arms and tail are used to steer the animal on a dime. They are so fast in the water, they can even leap directly out of the waves and onto the rocky cliffs that make up their land-based roosts. The reason they are so fast is sharks and giant sea-genets take these lemurs in the water. Yes, even the future will have sharks! They were here before us and they will be here when we are gone! Anyway, here's some drawings I did of Oreolemur in 2005.

Here's one resting on the cliffs.

This one caught a fish.

These are some of my favorite animals. My Metazoic site goes into detail about the lifestyle of these animals.

New Respect

I admit, as someone who never liked lions as a species, I was very moved by the story of Christian!! Now there was a sweetheart!! Before I saw his story, I always thought lions were brainless, mindless, unfeeling murderers! Christian proved me wrong! I guess it just goes to show you never really know what a wild animal will do. Animals can be just as unpredictable as humans, sometimes in a good way. I'm still not a huge lover of lions, but I like Christian! He's given me a new respect for lions. Watch his story for yourself.

Teenage Crush!

I was watching the movie Amadeus the other night and I saw the extra bonus disc I got with the movie. There were interviews with the creators and directors and some of the actors. I was remembering how I had an enormous crush on Tom Hulce, the man who played Mozart, when I was a teenager. A lot of other teens did in fact, I found that out much later. I saw him in this interview from 2002, and he's put on weight!! But yet, I find I still had a bit of a crush on him even now. Especially now! Since I love men who are a bit chunky.

I remember one girl from my school, named Joey, saw a pic of him as Mozart and giggled saying "What a dork!" LOL! When I heard her say that I just had to burst out laughing!!! He did look a little dorky in that movie, but I guess that was what made him so cute! Those big, boggly eyes and goofy grin to me for some reason seemed attractive. It's funny to look back and see the movie stars and such that I loved so much as a kid. He was just one. When I was 12-years old I remember I wrote to Bob Hope asking if he'd like to do a picture exchange. I didn't tell him I loved him as such, but I told him I thought he was the greatest comedian and he was kinda cute to boot! I told him I would send him a pic of me if he'd send me one of him. Silly I know, but Bob Hope graciously complied! He sent me a pic of him and I sent him my picture. He told me I was cute!! hehe! I still have the pic, it's got his autograph and everything!! Unfortunately I threw the letters away when I briefly got out of old movie stars and looked back and thought what a corny kid I was!! It wasn't until Bob Hope passed away in 2003 that I really began to miss those letters!! When ma first saw the autograph I got she thought it was from a stamp, but I never believed her. For one thing, the ends of the letters, you can see the actual pen-line as it slid off the picture.

I remember writing to like 4 more movie stars I liked and only 2 wrote back. Some may have moved from their original address, while others may not have had the time or even the desire to write back. Some people don't like their fans. Why I don't know. If I were a movie star, I would adore my fans. They would be the ones who got me where I am. Or would be. I would imagine I would treat my fans the way I treat my friends, I'd treat them like equals. But that's me, and like I said in my previous post, I'm not like other people.

Sandpipers Piping

Well, I did it. I took the dogs and walked back down to the ocean today. This time I took my camera with me. There was just one problem, there were too damn many people there today, there were not as many birds there today as there were on Friday when I went there. I knew I should have started bringing my camera with me!!!! Oh well. I got a few pics of some birds I managed to get close enough to to take some pics. I didn't see any terns today, nor did I see the dolphin gulls again. Just adult and juvenile western gulls. But I know what I saw on Friday were dolphin gulls!! The red beaks and legs gave that away! No other gull has both with the gray body and white head and mantle, with black wings and white eyes!! So I know what I saw!! I wish to GOD I had my camera with me on Friday!!

I got a few shots, not very good shots though. In order for me to get the really good close-up shots, I'd have to purchase about $2000 worth of digi-scoping equipment and I am not good enough in photography to invest that much in it!! That's the one art I have trouble with. But anyway, here is the pics I managed to take.

These were the group of little sandpipers piping in the surf.

Here's a closer view of them.

These are the curlews.

Here is an interesting pic of sea slime! hehe!

Vegas's little teeny paw on the right next to an enormous dog paw on the left.

This is a boat I caught going to Westport. You can barely see it way out there.

Well, some came out not too bad, but like I said they could have been a bit better, if I had better equipment and a better understanding of this hobby. But that's OK. Not all of us can be expert photographers. Personally, I think people like that are born, not made. I wish I could be like this one guy named Mehd H. that I met in a bird forum once. He took the most beautiful bird pics I ever seen in my life!! He had a damn good camera I bet to capture all the colors he did!! I wish I could do that but I cannot.