Mary (Alphawoman), one of our fellow journalers, just took a vacation.... to Cancun..... during Wilma!
If you haven't read her amazing story, then click here to start at the beginning. Be prepared to spend a while. Once you start you WILL want to know how it ends!
Teresa over at Oh My Word had a great idea:
Starting Friday night through Monday night visit as many J-land journals as you can, and leave a comment and a link to your journal as a treat. The more "houses" you visit the more trick or treaters you'll get.
Please call your entry "TRICK OR TREAT THU J-LAND". If you come to a journal that does not have this entry title, consider it a door you knocked on and no one answered! Decorate your journal for Halloween, perhaps a picture of your front door or whatever grabs your holiday spirit. Leave links to your journals where ever you can. Stop at the same journal only once!
Start 7pm Friday and end 9pm Monday...whatever your time zone. Report back here next week to let us know how many trick or treaters you had.
So, here is my 'Trick or Treat' Entry! And I'll be going around J-land looking for others... Oh, I hope you guys all bought the little miniture candy bars and none of that lame candy... otherwise Mohan and I might have to 'trick' you ... bwahahahahaha!
The picture I used for my 'tag' is one of the cubs I raised while on the road. Around this time of the year we would get pumpkins for the tigers to play with. They loved rolling them around, sharpening their claws on them, and eventually we would have to clean out the pieces left over. What a mess that could be... have you SEEN the inside of a pumpkin???
Because of our little surprise last week, the entry I had been working on got pushed back. Good News is since I already had it prepared in my test journal all I had to do to make this entry was add this little blurb and copy it over here. <g>
A couple of months ago the zoo got a colony of meerkats. Upon arrival it became apparent that two of the females were pregnant. Very good news! Into quarantine they went, and soon the colony was moved into there brand new exhibit.
Not long after being moved over to the exhibit it was noticed that both females were looking quite svelte. Hmmmmmm....... We were told that the babies were down in the burrows and that we probably wouldn't get a baby sighting for a few weeks.
A week ago Geoff called me at work and said that a baby had been spotted (note: this would now be -2- weeks ago now <g>). As soon as I could get out of work, I grabbed my trusty camera and sped over to the zoo to set myself down and practice some patience and hope that I would be lucky enough to get a glimpse of a baby meerkat.
I now have a lot of pictures of adult meerkats both from the week they were put into their exhibit originally, and from this little expedition. This picture is a favorite. I just love how the three of them lined up. But I wanted a baby picture... Darn It!
The little guys (and gals) spent quite a bit of time chasing each other around and basically being playful, active meerkats... but no babies...
Finally, as I was about to give up, every meerkat in the exhibit disappeared down into what appears to be the main burrow entrance. Hmmmmmmm...... after a few minutes one little meerkat came out and took up a post to the right of the burrow. A few seconds later he was joined by a second meerkat to the left and a little in front. Before long two more meerkats came out and with eyes to the sky took their posts. Moving slowly I positioned myself for what I had figured out was coming. Soon five little noses showed in the entrance of the burrow. They came out cautiously. Whoo Hoo! Iwas going to get my pictures.
They eventually played for several minutes just outside of the burrow entrance. Spreading out they spent their time exploring, digging and sniffing, but never venturing very far from the safety of the door to their house. I got several pictures before a cleaning person slammed the door to the building that is the back wall to their exhibit. At the sharp noise all of the meerkats disappeared in the blink of an eye, the adults making the peculiar 'warning' noise that they make. Although eventually some of the adults did return to the surface, none of the babies joined them.
I plan to try to get more pictures as they grow and become more adventurous... and Geoff told me today that they think another of the females may become a Mommy soon!
We interrupt the regularly scheduled entries to this journal to bring up a disturbing fact according to this AOL News story:
MIAMI (Oct. 22) - Tropical Storm Alpha formed Saturday in the Caribbean, setting the record for the most named storms in an Atlantic hurricane season and marking the first time forecasters had to turn to the Greek alphabet for names.
The previous record of 21 named storms had stood since 1933. Alpha was the 22nd to reach tropical storm strength this year, and the season doesn't end until Nov. 30.
Since 1995, the Atlantic has been in a period of higher hurricane activity, a cycle expected to last at least another 10 years.
Wilma was the last on the list of 21 storm names for 2005; the letters q, u, x, y and z are skipped. The Greek alphabet provides a continuation of that list but had never been used in six decades of regularly naming Atlantic storms.
We have now had to start naming new storms after letters of the Greek alphabet!
O. K., obviously they thought it was a possibility that it would happen, or they wouldn't have had a contingency plan in place.... But for Cripes Sake!! Enough already! <LOL>
According to the article that I took the above excerpts from, we are seeing weather conditions much like we had in the 50's and 60's. This is a normal cycle, and this too shall pass! <g> To read the complete article, and see why we are having our current weather cycle, click here. Another interesting link, given to us earlier this week by the Blogfather over at By The Way, is from NASA and gives us a look at all of the storms from the 2005 season --in 2 minutes-- it doesn't include Storm Alpha yet, so soon it will take longer <sigh>. Still, click here, it is cool to look at!
Although hurricane Wilma will probably be making landfall to the south of us, today is a day of making sure everything is ready for her coming. We will possibly be seeing tropical storm force winds, and this means that any of the critters that are outside need to be given some thought. Today at the zoo, G and his fellow keepers will be deciding who needs to go where overnight, and they will watch the radars/weather reports closely to be sure their charges are safe. I will be moving Boo into his stall for protection. I normally prefer my horses to be outside, but Boo's pasture has the possibility of parts of the three different barns that surround his pasture flying thru the air. He dislikes being kept in, so I will probably do my normal Sunday routine, then return later tonight around 8 or 9 and move him inside for the rest of the night and until I am sure Wilma has passed.
We still have 38 days left in this hurricane season.... Beta anyone???
Couldn't leave you without a cute animal picture <g>This was taken last week at the zoo. He looks like he's been thru a hurricaine!
Well, the nomination ballots are in and the votes tabulated... Go HERE to see who is up as finalists for each of the categories!!
In personal news, I was a little surprised to find myself nominated. Yes, Adventures of an Eclectic Mind is nominated in one of the VIVI categories..... Best Pets Journal!
What are you still doing here???? Click and get over to the Official VIVI Awards site. Go!... Now!..... Congratulate the Journalers you already know, and explore the ones you don't!
Oh, and if you haven't taken a look at our latest surprise at the zoo scroll down and take a look. He's adorable if I do say so myself!
Remember when I was explaining that the reason I was getting a new camera was to take pictures of our new arrival coming in November??? Well, babies come when babies come and Little Man decided that he didn't want to wait till November. Maybe he just didn't want to miss out on Trick or Treating!
The official press release is here, once on the site, click on the link that says "Learn more about the Baby Elephant, Click here". That will open up a Word document and give you the official press release. The short story is that Elly wasn't showing signs of labor when they checked her late on Sunday, but upon arrival on Monday morning they had a little surprise! It was a big surprise for G since he was supposedly starting his vacation on Monday. Instead of a relaxing vacation he has been spending anywhere from 12 to 20 hours at the zoo.
The little guy is just adorable. The 'rope' you see in the picture is so the keepers could keep a hold of him while he wandered around. This gave him the freedom to explore at will and still be kept out of any potential trouble. For the first 48 hours of his life someone had a hold of that rope at all times. See, since he was a surprise and early, he was small enough he could just walk right thru the bars that hold the rest of his extended family just fine! The baby proofing was rushed thru and he is now able to roam at will and stay on HIS side of the bars.
Now, let me give you a little logistics problem. Three elephant guys, 24 hours in a day, and there needs to be a minimum of two guys when they deal with Mommy or Baby. These guys are heroes in my book and doing a great job... on power naps <LOL>.......
Without further ado, I give you our newest addition.
Welcome to the World Little Man!
For the 'official pictures' that were released to the press, click here. More of my pictures are to follow. I have found a new favorite subject! I actually had several other pictures in mind for this week, but due to our little 'surprise', I haven't had a lot of time. Hopefully I will get them in over the weekend. Just to wet your appetite I'm going to give you two words... Baby... and Meerkat <g> So, stay tuned for more fun and games!
Time for John's Weekend Assignment.... let's see what he has for us this week....
Weekend Assignment #81: Share one of your favorite science fiction movies. Note that this doesn't have to be the "best" science fiction film ever, or the most popular, or the most significant; it doesn't even have to be a good science fiction film. It just should be a science fiction film you enjoy watching over and over again -- the kind that always sucks you into the couch whenever it's on TV.
Oh, this is too cruel! I am supposed to pick ONE science fiction picture???? Oh, the inhumanity, the cruelty.... the... IMPOSSIBILITY!
A quick scan of our DVD/VCR collections shows you an eclectic mix. I have a lot of Disney/Pixar stuff, Both Shreks, Shark's Tale, The Incredibles, etc. Hey, I like animation! G has a lot of war movies and a pretty good collection of John Wayne. I have a few chick flicks. But, the majority is Scifi/Fantasy!
Just a quick look down the rack (of just the DVDs <g>) gives you everything from Clash of the Titans, to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, to Titan AE. We have... hmmmm.... let's see... All of the Star Wars currently available (and holding our breath for III, which will be out on Nov 1 <g>), both Spiderman's, The Incredibles, Total Recall, Hellboy, Big Fish, Apollo13, Both X-men, Robots, Constantine, both Tomb Raiders, VanHelsing, Sky Captain and The World of Tomorrow, all the Star Trek Movies, ditto on all the Matrix stuff (including the Animatrix <LOL>), the Highlander movies, both of the Mummy movies, all of the James Bond stuff..... the list just goes on!
So, how am I supposed to pick just one?? <sigh> Fine, O.K... I'll pick...........
Highlander... The first one! And mostly because I love the character Sean Connery plays <LOL> and, since some people consider that a fantasy rather than a Sci/fi movie, I'll give you a straight Sci/fi pick.... Independence Day. That movie was just plain fun!
Extra Credit: Who is the coolest science fiction character ever? Note that this character doesn't have to be in the film you've selected asyour favorite -- consider the entire genre.
As for Extra credit..... Angelina Jolie IS the Tomb Raider! O.K.... these films weren't High Drama, or heck even well acted..... But, they were FUN!
Hmmm.... I'm off to go and watch a movie... probably a scifi/fantasy one!
This week's photo shoot from Krissy at Sometimes I Think is:
Category: Anything Autumn
Hmmmm.... well in most parts of the country there is a definite feel to Autumn... the leaves are turning... it is getting cooler.... Here, it is... different. Not bad, just different. We don't get much of a 'change of season' in Florida. There are no pretty leaves or cool weather. Here, we are watching for the last hurricane/tropical storms of the season and enjoying the nice days in between. So, finding something that said Autumn seemed like a lost cause unless I wanted to dig thru old pictures of when we were traveling. I thought about not doing this challenge at all until.....
Coming home from the place where I board my horse I looked off to the side of the road, and realized that there is something here that says Autumn to the locals.
Last Autumn, our first since moving here, I kept seeing the strangest things in the fields. The farmers were making long 'humps' and covering them with black plastic and running lots of sprinklers on them. And there were lots and lots and lots of these fields all covered in 'humps' and black plastic. At first I couldn't figure out what they were, until finally I had a Duh! moment.
I live near the "Strawberry Capital" of the world and all of those fields were full of... strawberry plants! Come Spring they even have a huge "Strawberry Festival" here that attracts quite the crowds.
So, here is my picture of Autumn:
Click here if you would like to join us and play the Photo Scavenger Hunt!
For my first picture posted from my new camera... I give you the Blogfather's Monday photo shoot:
Your Monday Photo Shoot: Critters!
Early fall seems like a good time to capture these guys in pictures, because they're out and about storing up for the winter:
Your Monday Photo Shoot: Catch a critter in a picture! For the purposes of this photo shoot, a "critter" is a creature that is not a pet, so no dogs or cats, but mice, squirrels, pigeons, badgers, hedgehogs, wolverines, deer, dragons, sasquatch or any other sort of ambulatory thing is acceptable (as are bugs).
I spent last Saturday at one of my favorite places... The Zoo! It was a great opportunity to try out my new camera and play with some of those really cool buttons!! I'm sure that you'll be seeing other pictures from that day in future entries, but for this photo shoot I wanted to choose a truly 'wild' animal.
I was walking along one of the paths at the zoo and out of the corner of my eye caught movement. Thinking it was probably one of the anoles or a frog, I moved closer to take a look and try out a 'close up' with the new camera. What I found was this little guy. After taking a look from a safe distance and determining by his head shape he was not venomous, I moved in to snap several pictures of him from different angles. While I was taking his picture, several more people came along and commented on him. I believe he is a black racer. They are fairly common here and help in keeping the pests down.
If you want to play along with the photo shoot, click here and check out By the Way.
I have been drooling over the digital Canon Rebel Cameras for a while. A long while! In fact, when I started drooling, they were 6.1 megapixel. The current version is 8 megapixel.
My current digital camera was a Sony Cyber Shot 2.1 megapixel, and I was was starting to find it not quite accomplishing what I wanted. I wanted something that gave me options to not only crop and still get a decent print picture, but that would also allow for more creative choices. While the Sony was a great intro into digital cameras, it was starting to leave something to be desired. My main frustration was with the dreaded 'picture lag'. This often caused me to get pictures of my subject as it headed away from me rather than the picture I actually wanted! Things that were originally a nuisance had become a major annoyance. I knew that I wanted to move up to something more sophisticated. I had used a film Rebel SLR some years ago, so I was leaning towards wanting the digital version of it as my next camera/toy/obsession. G. was even coming on board with the idea of this possibly (probably <g>) being my Christmas (Anniversary, Valentines Day, Birthday, you name it for the next year or so) present.
Enter the baby elephant.......... Wait, you say, how does a baby elephant come into this??? Well, we were discussing that the little elephant was coming soon, and I was whining (a little cheese with that whine, my dear??) that although the pictures I would take would be great for the Internet and sending to friends, I wouldn't be able to do much more than print up some uncropped 4x6's of the new little one. Luckily, this was whined/mentioned while in the company of some people who had seen some of the pictures I've taken of other animals in the past. They were also a little sad that, although I was going to be getting a better camera, I wouldn't be getting it until after the newest addition had joined us..........
Long story made shorter, G. decided that not only should I go ahead and receive said present a little early, but that I should get it immediately. This way I would have time to learn what all the little buttons are for -before- said addition arrives. (It didn't hurt that there was a special going on that allows me 18 months pay the camera off without any interest being charged!)
Meet my newest Baby
My next dilemma is this: I don't want to add too many pictures here because I know some people still have dial-up, and I already push the envelope of what is annoying for them with the amount of pics and graphics I currently use.... and yet, I'm about to be taking a whole lot more pics in the coming months... What to do? What to do? My solution is to start a separate Journal where I can put the additional pictures. That way I can say something along the lines of "See this really adorable picture of <insert animal or subject here>. Want to see more? Go here!" My original title got scratched. I was thinking Photographs & Memories of an Eclectic Mind (kind of staying with the theme <g>), but there is already a journal called Photographs & Memories out there. Now I have to come up with a name for this proposed new Journal. I've got a few ideas rolling around in my head, but I thought I would take it to the creative people here in J-land and see what you come up with. I'm really looking forward to reading your thoughts and notions on this. Meanwhile, I will keep mulling over ideas and names hoping something apt will present itself.
