A day in Singapore

We spent one day there to minimise our jet lag when we arrived in Spain. It wasn’t too hot and humid fortunately. There isn’t a lot to do there apart from look at shops.

At one shopping complex on Orchard Road there were two large aquariums full of tropical fish and some small sharks. In the first one we observed strange behavior in two little, yellow fish and a lone shark. The two fish were swimming together being pursued by the shark who would occasionally open its mouth a little wider. We watched this for several minutes. After lunch, hours later we happened to come past this aquarium again. They were still at it. We concluded that they must be really bored and this was a way for the three fish to relieve that boredom through a mock pursuit. We dubbed this, the TFE: TriFish Entourage. TFE = another term for bored


TFE*, drawing enlarged
pencil

While walking along the waterfront precinct we came across a laneway which had three giant, white, plastic (?), phallic objects. Definitely a WTF moment. Walking around to the back of them didn’t make it any clearer.



We’d never seen anything like this before. Walking along further we came across some more. I noticed a small white streamer blowing in the breeze from of the rear, eyeball socket holes. Aha, it’s a from of climate control ... in an uncontained – save for the roof – outdoor space. They didn’t feel like they were doing anything in terms of comfort levels. Perhaps it would be more obvious in warmer weather. What a disgusting waste of energy. The shape was amusing at least.

At Barajas airport in Madrid we saw similar vents but their housing wasn’t phallic and they were inside the building.

We checked out the world’s first – and possibly at this point, only – night zoo. The Night Safari zoo opens at 7:30, which is when the sun virtually always sets in Singapore. It closes at midnight. It features an assortment of mammalian nocturnal animals, and at least one reptile (a large python). There are several types of wildcat including tigers and leopards, lots of possum-like things such as bush babies, fruit bats, various hoofed animals, rhinos and tapirs.

No flash photography allowed. Might as well not bother bringing a camera you say. No, because there are some funky animal light sculptures outside the zoo that made suitable subjects after our visit.



Unfortunately there are no postcards of the animals, or any merchandise featuring photographs of them. This was surprising given that there are enough on their website and brochure.

I recommend forking out a little extra for the tram ride tour, as it will take you around most of the zoo fairly quickly. It stops at one place for you to get out and explore on foot. You get to come face to face with fruit bats. You’re in their enclosure and at times you may need/want to duck as they fly over you. They have a flying squirrel but it didn’t oblige us with a flight that night. It was content to sit in the shadowy fork of a tree and peer down at us.

There are three, count ‘em, that’s 3 otter exhibits plus they’re also in the Creatures of the Night show. They provide what has to be the world’s cutest demonstration of how easy it is to recycle. Towards the end of the show after a couple of raccoons raid a rubbish bin they put out 3 recycling bins. One for paper, one for metal and one for plastic. The contents of the raccoon bin are scattered on the ground. Two otters scurry out and start putting things in the recycling bin.


Recycling Otter, drawing enlarged
pencil

The metal recycling otter was reluctant to let go of his/her one tin, repeatedly chewing at it, and popping it in the bin only to half hop into the bin to retrieve it and chew on it some more.


Recycling Tin Otter, drawing enlarged
pencil

Finally a third otter, Pedro I believe, comes out to put away the plastic.

Website for the day
Official Night Safari Site


* I guess I should mention that these are my pencil sketches, drawn from memory. I've got one more from Madrid, and a pen sketch for Barcelona.

Cool Websites to keep you busy

Mouse update:
We still have a pest problem. The little buggers are out on the shop floor, during the day, while there are customers around. It took a customer to bring it to my attention. Seconds after he mentioned it I saw a small dark shape flitting along the floor. He said he’d seen them amongst the plush toys, where at first he thought they were native critters then realized they weren’t. I went over to the area and he pointed out one especially cheeky mouse crawling about the t-shirts. It slipped down the neck of one so we caught it there. I took it to the counter area and put it into a small bag. It peed on the shirt. I excused myself to the customer while I dispatched the mouse by thwacking it against a ceramic incense burner. Thank goodness the customer was cool about it all. Seemed as amused by it as I was.


Links for your entertainment
In addition to the links on the right, I have found the following amusing:

Pop the bubbles, pretty colours, pop all of one colour, clear the screen of bubbles.
Addictive online, Shockwave game

Silly reviews of sex toys
Sarcastic Sex Toy Blog

Something was definitely Lost in Translation
http://www.engrish.com

This one is already in the list however this link takes you to my published review on the site
Four Word Film Review

Comprehensive Melbourne weather updates. Not exactly fun but interesting. Found it when I was calibrating the barometer I bought my dad for Christmas. Updated every 15 minutes.
Caulfield South Weather Station

It should be a pleasure to read whether or not you’re in the Goth scene
Gothic Charm School

Featuring one of my favourite skits, the aliens and the telephone. Still hilarious so many years later :)
Sesame Street: 25 Of My Favorite Memories - Progressive Boink

Rather funny short film about Emos. Don't know what an Emo is? You will after watching this!
I must be Emo - The film

A series of 5, hilarious Flash film episodes. It's about a drunk who, through his beer goggles, thinks he's a superhero.
The Bottle


A clue as to why I won’t be blogging for the next 3 weeks**:
Quiero cambiar esto en euros.



* Churros! Sampled some at Hairy Canary in the city and oooh boy [drools]
**Instead of the usual nothing to blog / can’t be bothered blogging

Now with more back slashes!

Listening to: ‘Peek-a-Boo’ by Siouxsie and the Banshees

This blog turned one year old back in November. Please wish it a belated Happy 1st Birthday. Here’s a couple of pics to mark the occasion. They are of the coconut shells mentioned in my first blog post.


Ludo



Astro Boy

Dark and Moody

Took a few shots pre-Golgotha, Australia Day Eve. Here's a couple of them

Mouscapade

I discovered late in the afternoon that one of my secret Lindt balls at work had been nibbled into and hollowed out.

At about half past eight this evening I was in the back room and saw a small movement near the toaster. When I looked closely I saw a small dark shape under the toaster. I lifted the toaster up and there it was just sitting there, a nonchalant, mousy brown mouse. I said to it quite loudly
"I can see you! Yes I can. I see you there."
... And it just sat there

Later on I was putting stuff away at the end of the night and it was still under the toaster. Its tail was hanging below the shelf against the wall. The wall mounted shelf is on brackets with about a 1cm or so gap between the edge of it and the wall. I knew it wouldn't be able to go anywhere or bite me if I were to get its tail. So I held it there, pressing its tail against the wall

My coworker was scared of it so we got my brother - who was there to come home with me - to bring me a plastic bag. We moved the toaster away. The mouse squeaked quietly and tried to move but of course it couldn't. I put my hand in the bag and did the dog poo treatment to the mouse - capturing it in the bag, turning the bag inside out, closing it shut. Then I did what my dad did to a mouse years ago*. I took that bagged mouse and gave it a solid whack against a hard object, killing it in one strike. I gave it a couple more just to be sure.

I left a note for my manager saying 'I caught and killed a mouse! It's in the bag in the bin.'


*We had left a wok of cooking oil to cool overnight. In the morning there was a small, sorry looking, oil soaked mouse struggling to get out, running up the side of the wok but slipping back in again. He poured the oily mouse into a plastic bag and gave it a hard whack against concrete step. Dead on the first strike.

Gotheoke

Went to my second Kareoke night at Carmilla's last night. I checked out the song list. I am the Walrus by the Beatles jumped out at me. I wasn't particularly inebriated. I hadn't turned up, then checked out the song list with the intention of singing. However, on a whim, after seeing how much fun others were having, I thought I'd give it a whirl. Live a little. Try something new. The crowd seemed cool with whatever was being sung as long as you looked like you were having fun. I figured this song might go down well with the crowd.

Waiting for my turn to go on, I cheered on M who sung some 'Mode - of course :)

Had to go to the loo. Felt I should do that since wetting myself on stage was not an option :P

Got up to sing. A mixture of nerves and being new to wearing a corset (second outing) left me short of breath. Had to consciously try and relax my breathing. Found I couldn't hear myself so sung a little lower.

Then, towards the end of the verse before the chorus, the video screen temporarily stopped working! Arrgh. It came back on a couple of lines later. After the first chorus it went again. I waited for the next chorus, looking frantically about for the Kareoke dude. Meanwhile I'm wondering where the fuck is the dude, indicating to the crowd the screen isn't working. Screen came back on somewhere into the second verse for a few lines. Then went off again for the rest of the song. All that was on the screen was the word 'video' which, for the hell of it, I sang a few times! I got a guy checking out the lists to sing some of the manical laughing at the end for me.

I am the Walrus is a great song for Kareoke purposes. You can sing every word of it sober and impress the crowd with how well you handle what constitutes a Surrealist Rap. Or you can sing it drunk/tipsy and slur your way through and yet still be entertaining because Mr Lennon was on an acid trip when he co-wrote it. Yet even if I were to sing it for you right now - or even to myself - completely sober and sitting here not on stage, I would still have trouble remembering the words. Some of it is quite tongue twisting, there isn't any logic in it. It's the kind of song you can only sing if you've been practising, or have the original vocals to sing along with, OR have the words in front of you. After my performance I told the dude off. 'That was my first time and the screen wasn't working!' He gave the mike back to me 'What are we paying you for? ;)' He later apologised to me.

The next time could only be better than this right? Actually it wasn't that bad. I recommended it to others who had never done it. I'd do it again. I just couldn't do it again last night, afraid that the screen would stuff up. At least I can blame the dude for fucking it up :P A few people told me afterwards that I did alright :D

For those of you at home wanting to belt it out here are the words :)


I am the Walrus, The Beatles

I am he as you are he as you are me
and we are all together
See how they run like pigs from a gun
see how they fly
I'm crying
Sitting on a cornflake
Waiting for the van to come
Corporation T-shirt, stupid bloody Tuesday
Man you've been a naughty boy
you let your face grow long

I am the eggman
they are the eggmen
I am the walrus
Goo goo g' joob

Mr. city policeman sitting
pretty little policemen in a row
See how they fly like Lucy in the sky
See how they run
I'm crying
I'm crying, I'm crying
Yellow matter custard
Dripping from a dead dog's eye
Crabalocker fishwife
Pornographic priestess
Boy, you've been a naughty girl
you let your knickers down

I am the eggman
They are the eggmen
I am the walrus
Goo goo g' joob

Sitting in an English garden
waiting for the sun
If the sun don't come you get a tan
from standing in the English rain

I am the eggman
They are the eggmen
I am the walrus
Goo goo g' joob

Expert, texpert choking smokers
don't you think the joker laughs at you
See how they smile like pigs in a sty
See how they snide
I'm crying
Semolina pilchard
climbing up the Eiffel tower
Elementary penguin singing Hare Krishna
Man, you should have seen them kicking
Edgar Allan Poe

I am the eggman
They are the eggmen
I am the walrus
Goo goo g' joob
Goo goo g' joob
Goo goo g' goo
goo goo g' joob goo
juba juba juba
juba juba juba
juba juba juba juba
juba juba

Proof…

…that clothing sizing happens within years not a life time.
You’ve heard about how clothing manufacturers adjust the sizing to (flatter our egos) account for the increase in size of the average person. These labels are off the same style of basic jean but bought years apart. The second one is too saggy now, due to it being stretch denim - it stretched right out of size. I had to buy an 8 this time around.

Old size 12, for waist 65cm, hip 90cm


New size 12, for waist 73cm, hip 98cm

Channeling Edward Scissorhands

It often feels that way when clipping and snipping at this ongoing project of mine. That's a good feeling, readers :) It's a kitten. The ears are taking a while to grow in. Over a year old now.

Engrish for your feel good

Mirror Mat is a sheet of pre-cut, mirror, mosaic-sized tiles with self-adhesive backing. If you choose to become a proud crafter of Mirror Mat be aware that:
‘It is made by the small parts, so please be cautious to small children’.
Possibly the only product made entirely by deviant*, Oompa Loompa prosthetic, factory workers. Or a great insult to the product’s Chinese factory workers’ size and skills [mock earnest nod]
One of the reasons you should buy this product is because:
‘It is a funky sticky!’

Relaxation Balls are a pair of hollow metal balls with two toned, internal chimes. They massage your hands and aid relaxation. An example of traditional Chinese therapy,
‘When the Healthy Ball came out it was used to improve physical conditions and mould temperament, and was popular among the people market.’
It was a failure with the marine mammal and farmyard animal markets due to a lack of hands in the targeted demographic.


*Hence the need for caution. Normal Oompa Loompas are entirely trustworthy…more so if they have their bodies with them.


In other news...

Danced to 'Question of Time' at Golgotha on Monday. That song rocks on the dancefloor! Wore a set of batwings I made especially for the night. Could feel them jiggling about on my back as I bouncily danced :)


Pic care of M.

Playing the Angel

Listening to: ‘Precious’ by Depeche Mode

The above luscious song is on high rotation. I won the album at the ‘Playing the Angel’ launch night @ Dream on Friday. Love it and ‘Suffer Well’. Every time I listen to those two I bliss out :) The synth and vocal arrangements remind me of ‘Violator’, which is one of my favourite DM albums. Now own 7 out of 11.



‘T was the best night I’ve had at Dream since the last pirate night. Great music, new atmospheric lighting/effects set up on the dance floor area, fine company…[happy sigh] Could have requested any DM song I wanted but I went blank. The next morning it popped into my head: ‘Question of Time’. Such a good track for dancing to. I’m surprised it isn’t played often. Not sure I’ve danced to it at a club before actually. Wish I’d put some thought into it during the week! It would have been the first time I requested something at Dream.


In other news…
Woke up and my first thought was that I missed M. He’s away in Sydney right now.

My day was ho hum: hanging up the family wash, hand washing my long gloves and red bustier from Friday, calling up my clients, going through some magazines and books my brother got from a dumpster the other day, pottering about on the computer for my business stuff. Then they arrived.

It’s our 3 month anniversary. M is so lovely and thoughtful. He had flowers sent to my house.

Up

Listening to: the washing machine

Revisited an old haunt of mine over the weekend.

It was recommended online by Viscera, from Dream, in response to a ‘I’d love to dance to…’ thread on the forum little over a month ago. In person she went on to say it was the only place where she danced and that the atmosphere was relaxed. Others online described a ‘cheese level’, as in; there is a level full of cheesy music. Cheese Gromit!

In some ways DV8 is just as I remembered it; virtually the same floor layout*, semi-festy loos, bogan element, on the first level music played so loud you worry about the long terms affects on your hearing, the occasional person wearing ear plugs…

We got there after 11 to discover the Cheese Level wasn’t going to open until 1. ‘Let’s wait,’ I said ‘It’s what we came for’.
My bourbon and coke tasted soapy so I sucked it down quickly rather than nursed it.

The 1st level has evolved into a metal/heavy-shit level. They used to play stuff like, The Offspring, Green Day, Soundgarden, Nirvana and Weezer. Not my favourite bands but I’ve bopped along to some of that sort of thing. I was certainly not expecting to hear the same stuff years later. While I liked a few of the tracks played the rest left me wanting to burrow into M’s shoulder/neck/arm pit (!) to escape it, feeling like my ears would start bleeding any moment. What a relief when they cracked open the Cheese.

It was as our friendly DJ described it. One of my measures of a good night out is dancing until you’re sweaty. I can’t vouch for M’s sister who also came along – and appeared to enjoy herself – but that’s exactly what we did.

*How much can it change?’ you ask. Quite significantly if you go by the old DJ booth @ Dream. It used to be in a little alcove above the lowel level dance floor. Now that overall space is a stage and the main dance floor is upstairs.
**Hehe, adding the word ‘original’ made me mentally cue ‘Original Sin’ by INXS :P

Lady Meerkat

Listening to 'Confused' Instrumental, by New Order

As myself ;) :P

Cut the cord

Listening to 'Leave in Silence', by Depeche Mode

Over a month ago I came to make peace with myself. I had been thinking about something for a few months. Finally I cut the cord. I acknowledged I was not going to ever be employed as a designer, despite my talents. It's been too long since I graduated, I don't know anyone etc... I realized I would do best to pursue my freelance visual merchandising career.

So I turfed most of my design mags that I'd been hoarding. There was about a shelf/box full. My father, as always lacking in perception or basic observation skills,
"Oh you're tidying up a bit."
Completely unquestioning as to why I'd be getting rid of just design magazines, which were originally around $15 each...

Have been meaning to mention this in my blog because it irked me that all he saw was the getting rid of stuff. He didn't see that I had let go of a dream and woken up to reality.

She's got the Look

Listening to 'I’m on my Way', by The Proclaimers

‘Walking like a man, hitting like a hammer
She's a juvenile scam, never was a quitter
Tasty like a raindrop she's got the look’

Sometime ago a friend said this is such a silly song, quoting the above lyrics, asking 'What does that mean?'

I provided an interpretation of it that went something like this:
A swaggering transvestite, with fighting skills
She's a young con artist, who won't leave you alone
Thirst quenching but leaving you wanting more, she's got the look

Clear as mud?

Capture

Listening to ‘The Riddle’ by Nik Kershaw

After work on Sunday, in preparation for night out at a film shoot I got changed in a toilet cubicle in Melbourne Central. I had just hoisted up my panty hose under my dress and slip when I noticed on the floor in the cubicle beside me, a pair of stumpy-fingered hands. They moved closer along the floor, some orange striped sneakers came into view, followed by a young, Mediterranean man’s face! Eep! I was too surprised to say anything, though I felt oddly calm about it all. As soon as his eyes met mine he disappeared and I couldn’t be buggered pursuing him. Creepy. Not sure if this is something I should report and to whom.

Met up with my man for dinner, then we went on to our goth friend’s film shoot. We were helping out by being part of the crowd for a club scene along with a good number of others from our online/offline goth community. Some of us obliged the camera by dancing. We danced a bit, had a few drinks, and candidly provided some goth couple cuteness for the camera. Awww ;)


In other news…
Was planning on photographing the windows I installed last week. This is best done in the morning. At this time the building across the street has diffused light on it, making its reflection easier to eliminate using my polariser. It's also before the sun creates shadows from the tree in front of the store. Which is before 10 am usually. Unfortunately today is a dull, overcast day. Will set my alarm again for Friday, hoping the light will be better.

The Lion King

Saw the stage show production tonight - bloody brilliant! Amazing what can be achieved with theatre know how. Had to stop myself trying to figure out how they did a few bits and just sit back in awe. Excellent exploration of puppetry and the possibilities of the human form integrating with a puppet. Beautifully stylised animals and characters, except for the meerkat dammit!

Not happy with the meerkat. The puppeteer was green and it diverted attention away from the bold orange puppet. It made them seem like 2 separate entities. I thought perhaps it would be because there would be a predominance of green background following the first scene with this character. When there was more green on stage it still didn’t work for me. It also looked more like the animated version. I was never keen on his look, despite raising common awareness of the existence of the charismatic critter.

There are still elements of the animated film in terms of Disneyness (?). They are the parts that slightly grate. However it's so much more than that.

When the music reached a crescendo, lighting, staging, sets, costumes and puppets worked together so beautifully, I felt goosebumps several times. Wonderful. The opening scene, the stampeding wildebeest valley scene, and father's voice from the stars scene were my favourites.

Un/Endorsements

Listening to: ‘Spinning the Wheel’ by George Michael

Tried Heinz ‘Very Special’ vegetable with barley canned soup for lunch. It isn’t anywhere near special let alone very special unless by special you mean ‘special’. In other words it’s crap. You may well be better off drinking rinse water from your dinner dishes, with perhaps a little salt added for extra ‘flavour’.

Part of my routine before work is to duck into Coles and buy something cheap, light, fresh, and healthy for my lunch. The winners are:
O Safcol tuna with lemon and pepper, on 2 sesame seed rolls with finely sliced celery
O Velish soups, pumpkin and sweet potato varieties, with a roll
O Bag of Coles, home brand Greek salad. Oh how I love Greek salad! This bag has everything you need. Cut open the main bag. Snip open the little bags of fetta, sliced up olives, dressing. Empty them into the main bag. Hold it closed and shake it about thoroughly. Tip onto a dinner plate and you’ve got a lovely, meal sized, stack of salad.


In other news…
...My drought has broken. [twinkle in her eye, small smile on her face] Lady Meerkat is no longer on the shelf...

...Have cranked up the preparations for my 30th birthday pirate party. This is the first party I’ve ever had for myself. Growing up we didn’t have birthday parties. I’m not sure why. I guess I didn’t have enough friends. As a child I didn’t get invited to any parties either. Sad, I know :P

I composed the invite in Illustrator, digitally cut out a pic of my favourite pirate (JD as Sparrow :D) in Photoshop, stuffed up the fold lines’ relationship with the text [shrug]. I hadn’t put enough thought into where they’d go you see. Duzzen madda it’s a party invite not a brochure! Made envelopes especially for the invites. Sealed then up with sealing wax, pressing a little button (I have an extensive collection) with a ship on it, into the hot wax. Am glad we don’t usually have to seal envelopes this way anymore. Goes from solid to drippy fizzling, then back to brittle solid very quickly.

My sister has taken it upon herself to help out which is great. In return she gets to invite her friends along, all of whom enjoy dressing up for themed parties. She has gone surfing the net for activities and ways to dress our house. She enjoys cooking and hosting parties. ‘T will be piratey fun. Have just started a picture for one of the party games. It’s only a modified tracing from a book rather than an original work of art. The idea behind it is completely mine. It should be a hoot!

The Real Thing

Listening to: ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’ by The Beatles

I don’t claim to be a connoisseur of fine good. There are some foods I’ve tried that are just wrong and it would be obvious from their description that they are crap. Like a ‘cabonara’ pasta box, that you microwave for 2 minutes. The so called cabonara sauce was an icky, bacon flavoured paste that would seem more at home coming out of a tube of toothpaste for dogs. Or the bun from a Yupi lolly hamburger that came with the kids' magazine at work. Just wrong.

You won’t find me trying are any of the recipes from a delightful book my dad just acquired. If he dares to dish up anything from this book there will be much protesting. I’d rather eat instant noodles than anything from: ‘Classic Cooking with Coca-Cola’ (by Elizabeth Candler Graham ‘Great-great-grandaughter of…founder of Coca-Cola’, and ‘Ralph Roberts…author of over forty books’). Not all of the recipes in here use Coke. Some use Sprite and other products made by the company. Unfortunately there are no pictures so you will have your your imagination. There’s a fair amount of gelatine and layers involved. Here’s some of the culinary delights listed:
O Australian BBQ Chicken - We have a style of chook that Southern Americans are aware of - WTF?
O Pirate Steak - Arrrr… bleargh
O Forgotten Stew - Speaks for itself
O Crabmeat Supreme – It’s as bad as it sounds. Think tomato soup, Coca-cola, cheddar cheese, 2 cans of crab meat, and still more cheese.
O Coca Cola Salad
O Congealed Vegetable Salad – Oh yes, the word ‘congealed’ always get my mouth watering. A lovely mix of orange Jello, Sprite, shredded carrots, green onions and celery.


And another thing…
Have concluded that poppy seeds are one of the most pointless foodstuffs. All they do is make things look pretty. Made two tuna salad rolls for lunch. One with sesame seeds and one with poppy seeds. Not only do poppy seeds have much less flavour, but they’re messy when stuck on the outside surface of a roll. Most of them fell off onto on my plate. Oh, and they get stuck in your teeth too easily.

Mole Rats.

If there was a prize for best opening line in a Natural History journal, this one is the winner:
‘It’s a subterranean dynasty ruled by a queen who, like her subjects, looks like a four-legged penis with a tail and buck teeth’*

Here’s the animal in question, the naked mole rat:


Here’s the super cute and perky Disney version from the cartoon series Kim Possible.



In my search for mole rats on the web I came across this rather sweet piccy I just had to share with you. A mole rat in the land of juicy chocolate turnips. Awww.... I lubs it :D



That concludes my posts containing extracts from this particular issue of Nature Australia (highly recommended reading).

* Pollard, Simon D., ‘Queens of the Desert’, Nature Australia, Spring 2004, page 72

Plastic Birds

The other day I read about blogs that deal with more important things than minutae of the author’s life. Political blogs, news blogs etc. This blog isn’t about to be one of those, but the following is something that has bugged me since I read about it. I want to share it with you. I feel it’s relevant considering my recent mention of pelicans.

Regular readers of this blog will be aware of my fascination with animal skeletons. I think they’re cool. This one isn’t cool. What you're looking at is a rib cage full of plastic.


Source*

Until I read this article I thought that plastic bags were the main problem when washed into stormwater drains, only affecting local/Australian wildlife. Think again. This sad little skeleton is evidence of something bigger than that. All plastic washing into stormwater drains, and into the sea is dangerous to wildlife - particularly to birds. What’s more it can swirl around in the sea for decades, spreading around the globe, breaking up into more pieces, spreading further still.

What's the story behind the skeletons? On Lord Howe Island a flesh-footed shearwater chick is too weakened by starvation to move away from humans. Its belly is full of plastic. How did this happen? Its parents would have ingested this plastic when finding food for their chick. When they regurgitated food they also regurgitated some of the plastic. While smaller pieces may pass through, others will sit inside the stomach, taking up room. Too much accumulated plastic and there’s no room for food.

After reading this article - and before typing this up for you today - I went out to the front of my house and into the back lane behind it, to clean up every bit of plastic I could find. Not just bags, but anything plastic. It was the least I could do and I will continue to do this on a regular basis. I will make a small difference to birdies/critters out there somewhere :)


In other news...
The days are getting longer now. Hooray, past the half way mark for Winter!


*Hutton Ian, ‘Plastic Perils for Seabirds’, Nature Australia, Spring 2004, page 58