*I've adopted two rats from the store; Rizzo which I've fallen for and grown attatched to and Lieby (short for Liebgott, very Art Spiegelman) and they're now staying with university gang member, Guy, until I'll have a place of my own to keep.
I've spoilt them rotten; they've got top food, dog food, mineral and vitamin stone, fresh fruits and vegetables (courtsy of Guy) and a granola honey stick.
The move was a little rough on poor Lieby but he's doing great now and Rizzo's his good old curious, energetic self ^_^
Here are piccies:
Rats on me (this is Rizzo)
Don't look at my face like that's how I usually am; I've had very little sleep that night....
Guy, the keeper of rats
The cage
And the travel ball they've got too
Rizzo (front) and Lieby (back) exploring
Lieby!!
And just because he's (still) a handsome devil, here's Jack again
* Test season's looming by and I'm in denial ^_^ before the horror comes down on me like god's wrath, there's a three-day trip from invert lab to cut some more into cramming time. Fun fun.
* Sam-Sam is a year old today!! For his birhtday he got a mouse jumpy toy and a bag of nip-treats which Scarlett eats mostly and he probably avoids after a strange experience; he ate a few and found himself on the kitchen cupboard, something none of us imagined his plump body could achieve....
Anyways, here's a video featuring Sam and Scarlett in which Sam shows his two favorite nasty tricks to win a fight; sitting on Scarlett and biting her...well, you'll see...
1. A cocktail parakeet on my shoulder, playing with my earring and putting its tiny face into my curls' loops. 2. Fluffing up a bunny and having a child-costumer come up to me asking if they can hold it and to quickly and sternly answer "No". 3. Doing the same to an annoying screeching teenager girl, who has been running around the store aimlessly babbeling nonsense and responding to animals' natural behavior like only stupid teenaged girls can react when they think being disgusted and amused by whatever looks odd to them is the right and feminine thing to do, and is now standing by the bunny pen with a large sign on it saying 'Do Not Touch the Animals' asking if she can pet the bunny. 4. Fondling a rat who, after a long while of sniffing around my hands and shirt, curls up in my palms and goes to sleep.
Did I tell you I love my job yet?
The hyena project relaxed a bit and now the toy stage is in full force. The bones experiment is done and next week'll be time for the ice lolly test. I enjoyed making the ice lolly (take a small plastic tub, fill it with cut up chicken, sardines, canalopes and dates, fill it with water and put it in the freezer) but I did not enjoy putting it in the freezer. I found a dead sheep there, waiting for consuming; not a pretty sight on the end of a long bunker-like refrigerator, opening a giant bunker-like door and once the clouds of frost dissappear to see the sheep's legs sticking out in odd directions @_@
Anyways! Here are some kitty pictures:
Muh?
You again? What do you want?
The biggest toy bone (the one he did not yet consume, BTW) was also a key interest to the fluffers when I let them sniff it around. Scarlett was the most intersted:
She was trying to get under it for some strange reason...
Sam joined in
But gave up when Scarlett started showing too much interest. He's a gentleman like that; he'll give her whatever she's interested in even if he's playing with it. The only thing he'll take from her is the food bowl come gushy food time...
Hopefull much, ne?
She tried biting it from every direction She even managed to drag it for a few centimeters...
Today I was in the zoology garden doing the last round of the bones test and here are pictures!!
This is the predator's compound's yard. Mostly the wolves are in it but the hyena gets to go there once in a while
This is the hyena in one part of his cage. The other part is of equal size on the other side of the wall.
Shiran, who came up with me onto the roof of the wolves & heyna side of the compound, looking glum. I had to take someone up there with me due to security orders...
More of the hyena
Standing in his water pool, he likes sitting there, scratching himself or drinking the water while cooling on them.
Bones round I. Note the big yellowish bone is the same one Scarlett tried having a go at. Note the changes a hyena can do...
And that's it for today, I'll bring pictures of the ice lolly round as well ^_^
* Tomorrow's invert lab is about flat worms, hooraah!
* I gave the nuts at cat_macros a gathering of the best Sam and Scarlett pics and this is what they came up with:
* Finished reading Salmon of Doubt and here's the Goodreads review:
It's a great shame that not only did we lose Douglas Adams as a writer, lecturer, protector of endangered species and funny man in general, but also that The Salmon of Doubt was never completed.
This book is a gathering of Adams' interviews, half-made ideas, small stories, lectures, articles and three chapters from his to-be new Drik Gently book. His writing is, as usual, timeless and wonderful, a treasurechest of wit and enlightening little remarks about the world humans in it and the techn...more It's a great shame that not only did we lose Douglas Adams as a writer, lecturer, protector of endangered species and funny man in general, but also that The Salmon of Doubt was never completed.
This book is a gathering of Adams' interviews, half-made ideas, small stories, lectures, articles and three chapters from his to-be new Drik Gently book. His writing is, as usual, timeless and wonderful, a treasurechest of wit and enlightening little remarks about the world humans in it and the technology we create.
It's a wonderful book and I highly recommend it.
Next up: A Historical Achievement and its Evolution by the Ben Guriun institution of Israeli studies. The name alone is a mis-use of the term 'evolution' but I'm being a petty nerd saying that.
* And speaking of Goodreads, I've just discovered I can manually type in all the too-local-to-be-on-Amazon books!! That's great, now I can type in all the holocaustic stuff.
Sam loves getting under mobile objects and slither around on his belly, at top speed, towards things (mostly people, Scarlett and table legs). This saturday he did it with their new cat tent, usually he does it with his beloved paper bag.
Scarlett and the tend. Whenever Sam's having a good time in the tent, she'l get in it and kick him out. She does that with his bowl, too, and with any toy he's playing with. His revenge - come gushi-food time he'll nudge her away from her plate to pig it out (often before he finished his share!)
The lovely fluffers
Sam and his bowl. As you can see, he grew into it a little, the little fluff and blubber lump that he is >.<
The glass gives a good view to smeared-curled paws!
Do any of you long-haired cat owners see these on your cats; curly areas in the middle of the smooth fur? Sam's got these in the fur on the sides of his belly and on the rear of his thighs and they reappear again after we comb him (we do this every day)
Snuggled up
Very pleased with his bowl and with existance in general
Finished reading Darwin's The Expression of the Emotion in Humans and Animals, here's the Goodreads review:
This book is more a historical document than a scientific paper, by today's requirements for scientific documents. Darwing collects here his notes on the expressions of humans with a single chapter about animals and some referrences to monkeys, so the title is highly misleading (it annoyed me, anyways).
Despite that, this work is at the root of understanding both human and animal behavior and the three principles of expression are now evidently the base of every modern theory on animal and h...more This book is more a historical document than a scientific paper, by today's requirements for scientific documents. Darwing collects here his notes on the expressions of humans with a single chapter about animals and some referrences to monkeys, so the title is highly misleading (it annoyed me, anyways).
Despite that, this work is at the root of understanding both human and animal behavior and the three principles of expression are now evidently the base of every modern theory on animal and human behavior and that, in itself, gives this book a historical value.
Darwing depicts his notes on his own children, on various and un-measured sightings of human and animal beahvior (like "I once saw a girl doing ___ " or "my neighbour's dog once ___ ") which nower days would be completely unfit for scientific research. Those were the days, though, and for anyone interested or amused by the development of scientific thinking and research this book is an enjoyable gem.
Another historical value this book has is in the fact that, in order to investigate human expression in human societies relatively unexposed and influenced by Eurpoean man, Darwin had a small army of informants at remote Biritsh colonies investigating and reporting of their experiences with the local natives. These informants were judges, policemen, missionaries and wives of various officials. With these times long gone (thankfully), it's a reminder and a documentation of the spirits of the time and the way these far-away cultures, still unchanged at the time, behaved.
This book is not an easy read as the english is that of Victorian times and often words that mean one thing to us mean another, when he author is concerned, and the unabridged version hold a lot of repeating and coarse writing that's not for readers who just want an easy book to stare at.
Still, it's a good book, and for historians with a love for human studies, it's a good book
Am now reading: Douglas Adams' The Salmon of Doubt
Nerdiness: How bad can it get? Pretty damn bad. You think blowing things up and making shampoo jump is the worst of it? I find this song is disturbing enough to gain a few Super Nerdiness points; The PCR Song
I love the black guy who kisses the PCR. Crazy, nutty, nutty geeks. You can find the (nerdy) lyrics here. BTW, our lab instructor told us the guy who invented the damn method had taken some 'reality enhancing substances' before thinking up the idea. The jokes amungst the professors go that the guy's an idiot who happed on the idea, made his money, and returned to his bleak life of not-very-clever semi-scientific decelerations and mindless existence. They say he wasn't the brightest crayon in the box, not the fastest horse on the track, but who cares when the guy's obviously making so many people happy (the nerds that they are...)
Tests: Animal Physiology's behind me. It was hard but it was hard for everyone which at least gives me some perspective on how I might have done. Maybe. Genetics results is back with 60%. It's not a fail but it's not a very bright score. Luckily the course isn't very heavy on the average calculations so I'll sign up for a re-take and see how it works up my average and if I'm happy with what I've got I'll not bother taking it again. I didn't have good enough time to practice for it, despite the fact that it was a very hard test that needs proper studying to so I'm not disappointed or anything and it's not a fail so I don't have to take it if I don't want to. But guess what, the Test Analysis course, the one with the professor who snarled at me whenever he's answer my questions? I got 82% in it >.< score! Not so bad at all ^_^
TV babble: I'm hooked on The Shield. One of the channels has got it on rather late at night but I don't care; the plot is addictive and the men are H-O-T!! Damn, they're hot. Don't be frightened, I'm not on the brink of another silly period of fangirling idiotism; had quite my fill with that. Still, I can bathe my eyes in the loveliness and relish the plot, ne?
Book Report: Finished The Night Watch and enjoyed every minute of it to the (almost) tiniest bit. Here's the Goodreads review:
I loved this book. Not just because it was a way-way-way better version of the two movies, but also because it was one of those rare and precious truly novelty fantasy books.
Who'd think Evil'd need a license, that Good was bound to paperwork? The powers, super creatures, spells and potions, all are explained carefully, without pompous drama or pathos sticking to human emotions, wants and conflicts.
The small tidbits of history, biology, Russian life and modern pop culture only add to the list of loveliness that makes this book and the thought behind it so unique and refreshing from all the tacky Hollywood-like 'magicians, werewolves and vampires, oh my!' fiction and movies out there.
The movies do this great plot and writing a great dishonor but they're still fun to watch.
Despite the somewhat unsurprising endings of the last of the book's stories, and the slight sense of disappointment, it's still a good book with great writing, exciting and fascinating plots and a lot of work put into it.
I highly recommend this book!
Am now reading: Charles Darwin The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animal
Kitty mayhem: I'm in the middle of test season but the cats'll have none of it. So what if I need to concentrate on my studies? So what if my folders have precious paper material in them I'll need whole, without paw prints or scratches? They want attention!!
Tell me, who can concentrate with such a thing at the corner of your eye?
"Forget the cramming; my belleh calls to thee"
Striking a pose
I'm afraid my PostIt note-maker-thingies proof too much of a temptation for the fluffies; they must have them!!
"w0t? I'm not doing anything"
"Meh, I'm bored, now that you're not squealing to make us stop"
And this is after the little monster (Sam) got himself soaking wet and leaped on my work table to sit on my notes, looked me deep in the eyes (so I'll take particular note of his existence) and buggered off leaving me with a soaking page, the ink smudged and the highligher smeared....gee, thanks, kiddo.
