Some Miscellaneous Fun

| TravellinPenguin

Tomorrow is my birthday and I know I’m getting book vouchers for Fullers Book shop. More on that later. I also bought myself a few little books (they weren’t too dear and I love them) that I can’t wait to read. I think one should always treat oneself on their birthday.

But for today… I’ll share something else that was 1. funny and 2. hopeful.

  1.  Funny item first:

My friend Patricia and I went to the Tasmania Museum for a scientific talk on moths.  We like to go to these free events around town and this one looked fun. I really don’t get to the museum often enough.  This is what happened:

There were about 25 to 30 people who attended this talk. The first thing we learned about Dr. Catherine Byrne (the speaker) is she is a Taxonomist. She told us it has nothing to do with taxidermy or taxes. She is a scientist that identifies and catalogues various species.  She said that 75% of what’s out there in the world has not been identified. All of this really appealed to my almost Asperger’s like personality.

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Next she gave us an overview of the Satin Moth. They are very pretty. Snip20181114_9

More information on how to identify and classify. I found it really interesting.

Snip20181114_15More information identifying insects.Snip20181114_10

After the 40 minute talk we got to see some of her collection, look at the UV light in the bucket she uses to catch these little critters and then we peered through a microscope to see a very tiny little moth. Not much bigger than a couple of pinheads. It was very sparkly.

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Pretty little creatures.Snip20181114_13

She also explained how insects are named. They can be named after the person who discovered them, a celebrity, a family member, anyone. One rule exists though: There are always two words and they are both Latin words.  She told us the moth Neopalpa donaldtrumpi was named after Trump because of its ‘hairstyle’ and when they put it under the microscope it had a very tiny penis.  I thought the audience would fall off their chairs laughing. It had been such a scientific talk and when she very seriously explained the naming of the moth it really got a laugh.

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It kind of fits, doesn’t it. Well, at least the hair. We’ll leave the rest alone.

2.  Hopeful:

Today was the last day entries could be submitted into the Australian Photography magazine for Photographer of the Year.  I have never entered a competition before but they had a category for wildlife photos taken within the past year. I thought, “Why not?” Four entries had to be entered into each category so I went through my backlog of Snip20180427_2wildlife photos taken in Botswana and Namibia in March this year. I chose four and sent them in.  It would be amazing if I won or placed but whether I do or not I am very happy with these photos.

Enjoy the effort and send good thoughts.  I hope you enjoyed this little bit of fun for today. What did you do today?  Anything fun?

 

Male Lion

Botswana Lion 2

 

A Cheetahcheetah

A Caracal Caracol

A Baboon

Baboon

 

 

22 thoughts on “Some Miscellaneous Fun”

  1. Happy birthday, Pam. I was out of town last weekend – my annual meet my Sydney friend in Berrima getaway. Nice post.

    I would have LOVED that talk on Taxonomy – after all, I’m a librarian and I often worked in or related to cataloguing aspects of our work. I’m also slowly trying to catalogue our photos, and for living creatures I’ve decided on using the “family” level of the taxonomy for plants and animals as my main keyword so Banksias get categorised as Proteaceae. I put the actual name of the Bankisa eg Banksia dentata in the caption and or the little synopsis field we have.

    My retired-TMAG brother has just been up here, but I’m thinking I might organise a trip down there next Spring when there may be a small conference-seminar I could tie in with. I’d have to pay my own way so will only go if I can make it work with a little holiday.

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    1. I don’t know if the Writers Centre will be doing another festival but it would be the second year since the last one. If so, you might tie your visit in then. We must meet for a coffee or lunch if you do get down here. Yes I enjoyed the TMAG talk very much . I’m such a nerd in that I enjoy the classification process and insects of all kinds.

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  2. I do wish you a happy birthday and can’t think of a nicer way to celebrate than buying new books. May they bring you great joy, and may you have a wonderful new year.

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  3. Happy Birthday! What an interesting and unusual lecture. Myself, I have problems with insects and small animals. Love the big ones though. Wonderful photos and I keep my fingers crossed that you will win or get an honourable mentioning. Wonderful with the variety that turns up from time to time.

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  5. happy birthday! spectacular photos! i studied taxonomy while taking my geology courses… infighting over names and terminology can be quite fierce… there’s so much about the planet we don’t know and it’s disappearing so fast, it’s important, i think, to keep a sense of balance. the earth is 4.5 billion years old and will be here for another five billion years… many worse disasters have occurred in the geologic past and more will happen in the future: it’s all part of the ongoing process… sorry if this seems a bit sententious…

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  7. Happy Birthday! Quite agree that one should be spoiled on one’s BD (especially by oneself). Enjoy your new books. I liked your wildlife pics, expecially the caracal – unusual to see such a good closeup. They are handsome animals, but seldom seen in the wild. Good luck with the comp.

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