suicidal bunnies

These cartoons definitely make me laugh!

hope you like them too :)

They're by a guy called Andy Riley, very funny I think!

(sorry for the not so amazing quality - I took photos of them with my phone :P)

Swine flu lady

This lady came off EJ's plane from Auzzie, and then got on my plane to Nelson... It isn't easy to subtly take a photo me someone on a plane, but i tried, and like the extra freakyness the photo invokes...

Needless to say I think she must be a bit of a hypochondriac!

Geeky art

So what sort of art do you create if you are a science geek??!

Well I know of two artists who do it. First is Mike Libby who sticks watch parts onto insects.
This is a wee bit sad, as he does kill the insects to then turn them into art (and most hippies would of course say they are beautiful enough left alone - which I do agree with) but it must also be said that what he creates does look very cool indeed!!

And people may not realise but most entomologists (insect people) still spend their lives trying to find and 'collect' (kill) pretty insects anyway, so what he does isn't any worse at all!

The next artists doesn't kill animals to create his works. His name is Alastair Gibson and he used to be a Formula 1 mechanic. He uses bits of his collection of Formula 1 engine parts and carbon fibre to make very cool fish...

So shinny and pretty!

My kind of art!!!

tank update

My new fish are growing fast!
The pulchers are starting to develop the nice blue tipped long fins which is nice...

They're getting much braver too and spend most of the time cruising around the pile of rocks

And the Julies aren't hiding as much either which is good. Hopefully they'll lay eggs soon, WOOP!

The big male is still out a lot more than the female

Next step - hopefully yongans!

The overall tank is also looking a lot more mature. The algae on the rocks constantly pumps out bubbles of oxygen and the plants are looking more established.

I'm very pleased :)

Auckland trip

I'm back home now, but here are a few snippets from my trip to see Ben.
Here's the view from Ben's apartment before our night out on Saturday

It's a very cool apartment right next to the Sky Tower with views out to the Harbour Bridge too

Here's a vid I made with the view and a classic Fleetwood Mac song. Ben spent lots of the weekend thinking (and talking about) how the track would make an awesome parade song with performers dressed up as cave men... He's special!

Ben's boyfriend, Mana, sings at Sky City every week, and we went along to watch. He's really good!

Ben and Mana, awww

After Mana finished work we went and had a nosey in the casino. As a casino virgin I was amazed at how big it was, and after seeing it I think Las Vagas would be quite a cool place to visit!

I wanted to have a go, and gave myself $20 to spend. Ben suggested we play a version of roulette, which was faster than the norm as everyone uses touch screens to place their bets and the game is all automated... I was placing $2.50 bets (cause I like to live on the edge!) and wasn't doing very well, hemorrhaging my stash to a measly $2.50. But with only one bet left, I ended up getting a few lucky breaks and ended up with $37.50, WOOT! I'm such a high roller, I know...

Then I took it and ran, I think nearly doubling my money was a good place to end it! I'm glad that Ben and Mana were there though, you can see how addictive it could become - especially if you didn't have friends there to keep an eye on you!

Unfortunately no pics inside the casino or of the chips I earned - no camera's allowed :(

Thank you so much to Ben and Mana, it was a nice wee weekend break :)

On the way home I had a nice chat (on the plane) with an 84 year old called Molly. (The name of my late Nana which was nice!) She was in Auckland for the weekend for her great grandson's birthday which was quite epic at her age I think. As well as the classic old persons tales of how her husband and various other family members had died, she also tried to slip in a bit of Jesus talk, the crafty old minx! I had told her I was doing my MSc, and at one point she said "The sky is so beautiful, scientists couldn't possibly have made it" and then of course made some reference to how God did it with a finger... I did point out that actually scientists don't claim to have made the sky, they just like to study it. I then decided not to push the issue - I did have to sit next to her for another 20 mins after all, and I believe in respecting your elders, not slapping them :P

Boarding pass origami

Guess what I'm doing this weekend?!

new tank... again!

As someone very wise just reminded me, change is the only constant in the universe. It reminded me of a recent change I made - yet again I decided it was time to change my tank, basically because I missed my cichlids too much!

Here is the new tank:
back to the good old Lake Tanganyikan setup with my lovely bits of limestone!!


My plan is to get heaps of Anubias growing all over the rocks, it'll take a wee while but I'll get there!

And the fish: Back to two of my old favourites: Julidochromis marlieri

(I found a pair which were obviously paired in a fish shop, so very hopeful that I'll get them to breed this time, and soon too!)

And Neolamprologus pulcher. I've got 6 youngans, but they grow fast and will be reproducing faster than rabbits within 3 or 4 months I'm sure :D

Here are some pics of the ones I had a few years ago

This time I'm going to get round to breeding the Julies, and taking some better photos :P