thestickman's Blog
A lack of natural predators has allowed the species armadillo to expand its range northward into the United States. As far east as South Carolina and Florida, west to Colorado and as far north as Nebraska they have expanded their range from their original South American origins. They may eventually expand their range as far to the east as the state of Ohio. Lacking sufficient body fat to endure longer periods without food, the colder winters will likely stop this expansion here. Armadillo Close-up It was during the Great Depression in the United States and President Herbert Hoover’s campaign promise of ‘a chicken in every pot’ was failing that caused the poorer people of the U.S. to eat armadillos, hence the tongue-in-cheek name “Hoover Hog.” Early German settlers to Texas even before this, called these strange looking little armored creatures “Panzerschwein” (armored pig) which they do resemble. The name “armadillo” comes from the Spanish word for “little armored one.” All the species of armadillo are native to the Americas and are found inhabiting varied environments. Prolific diggers and burrowers and generally fond of water and near ponds and river, they are insect eaters while one species feeds nearly exclusively upon ants, like their cousin the anteater. Armadillos will sink in water unless they inhale deeply and hold a breathe of air, thus allowing them to ford small streams and ponds. Many species of armadillos will also eat plants and the flesh of carrion that they encounter. The Giant Armadillo can cause quite a bit of agricultural damage if they get into a farmer’s crop fields. Because their main food is insects and soft plants, their teeth are not complicated, lacking the harder enamel like coating like other animals. Armadillos have lost all but their molar (grinding) teeth, which are peg-shaped and suited for grinding the simple foods they find. My Little Armadillo Friend Their sizes range considerably, from the diminutive Pink Fairy Armadillo, which is 12-15cm (4-5 in) long, to the Giant Armadillo that can attain a length of 5-ft (1.5m) and weigh around 130lb! Armadillos belong to a suborder of species related to the anteater and the sloth. They are the only surviving family of the order Cingulata, an extinct line of larger armored mammals from the fossil record. A Pet Armadillo? I can’t say as though I have ever heard of armadillos being kept as pets, but this seems to show that it can be done. In a climate or locality where there are a plentiful supply of bugs, worms and other insects most of the year and laws not forbidding it, I could see where this might work. I find myself wondering though, since armadillos are edible, if there is any place where they are still regularly eaten. I have read that canned cat food is an acceptable food for an armadillo to maintain health but this should be supplemented with real fruits, plant matter and insects (grubs, worms, mealworms, grasshoppers/crickets, etc.) Licensing may be required for ownership of an armadillo, so check with authorities if you plan to keep or ‘rescue’ one from the wild. Keeping a wild armadillo is illegal in most places, so this is not to be encouraged. An orphaned or injured armadillo should be turned over to an animal rescue organization and let them care for it. Not Very Cuddly, Are they? Its just not a face or body that invokes feelings of love and wanting to hold and cuddle with, huh? But they are interesting to watch. I have only seen a few armadillos in the wild, along the roadways in Missouri, USA. They have a particular defense mechanism that is actually more injurious than helpful for them. When started, they jump straight up to about the height of a car bumper! This accounts for so many ‘incidents’ involving road kill armadillos. All armadillos have poor vision anyway, and this defense was more for defending against predator mammals, not vehicles. A car or other vehicle passing over a live armadillo actually causes it to ‘jump up’ in surprise and meet its demise. There are even occurrences of vehicular damage & crashes due to having ran over them (both live and dead ones still on the highway,) for their bodies can actually cause a fast moving vehicle’s tire to lift from the road briefly with disastrous results to immediately follow. Rock Cavy and Armadillo I found this image of a zoo that was keeping a Rock Cavy and an Armadillo together in the same enclosure. The Cavy kept pouncing upon the armadillo in play, causing it to retreat into its familiar protective ball. The second time happened, the armadillo accidentally trapped the Cavy’s paw, doubtlessly causing pain and injuring it. The source of this image cited that both animals were removed from the enclosure for care and hopefully they will not be so housed together again in the future. An Amazing Lizard, a Thorny Devil Here is another one of those amazing and highly coveted reptiles from Australia. I’m not sure what type of reptile this is, -I do not think that ‘armadillo lizard’ is its actual name. It might be what is known as a “Thorny Devil” lizard. Australia has some of the most amazing reptiles, like Bearded Dragons which (as nearly all reptiles and mammals in Australian) are protected under CITES legislation. All ‘beardies’ for sale today are descended from specimens legally exported backing the 1980s, I am told. They Are Somewhat Ugly I keep finding references to armadillos ‘…doing well in captivity’ and that they ‘…can adjust easily to the presence of humans’ which leads me to believe that they are in fact regularly kept as pets, possibly in Mexico at least. It’s just too bad that they look like little scary monsters. Replica Skull, Giant Armadillo Specie This is a replica cast skull of glyptodon, and extinct predecessor to the modern day armadillo. This large Pleistocene mammal looked like a giant tortoise. There is a company called “Skullduggery” that makes replica dinosaur skulls (of a manageable size) for sale, perhaps this is one of their creations. I remember seeing a T-Rex skull at a shop in the Walden Galleria, Cheektowaga (Buffalo,) N.Y. that I wanted at one time. The skull was maybe 2-feet long and 1 ½ feet high. A fairly large item for a desktop curio but still, highly interesting focal piece for nerdy display case don’t you think? Armadillo Inkwell -It’s a week before Christmas as I write this so there is still time for gift buying (hint hint.) I would like this classy inkwell. Not at all useful in this age of disposable pens and e-mail/voicemail/texting but it’s shiny, heavy and ornate. This could be a nice shiny antique-looking trophy for the mantel, desk or bookshelf. I very much like it.
I love my coffee. But I am not picky; -it could be made from fresh-ground beans procured from the local Starbuck’s, Tim Horton’s or, -my favorite coffee retreat in the city, -Second Cup (a Canadian indulgence.) Or, it can be the most affordable instant right off the shelf supermarket variety. You know, -like the one with the picture of TV personality/Home Renovator extraordinaire Mike Holmes on the label? Return for Deposit Disposable Cups? Here in Canada they are considering making the paper take-out cups that they serve coffee, ‘deposit’ cups! A proposed (and I believe, laughable) proposal to make disposable coffee cups returnable for a nickel, to reduce the garbage in landfills… Follow the logic here… what do the coffee shops DO with the used coffee cup? Re-use? I hope not. Recycle? We could hope. Send it to a …landfill? Hey wait. Don’t they do that anyway? Okay, -the universe has stopped expanding and has collided with that hereto-unseen ‘black matter’ out there, and is beginning to acquiesce again. –The ‘Big Crunch’ (the anti-‘Big Bang’) is coming! While ‘deposit’ on soda and beer bottle and cans has been a good thing, back in the 1980 in New York State under the Governance of Mario Cuomo, we accepted a five-cent deposit fee on cans and formerly non-deposit bottles. The new law was sometimes euphemistically referred to as the ‘Cuomo Garbage Law’ and redemption takes place in groceries stores. Cans and non-deposit bottles account for something like 2-3% of the waste found alongside the State’s highways, while soiled baby diapers and McDonald’s wrappers comprised 5-10% of the roadside waste. –Where is the deposit on those things, I ask you? But I’m wired on coffee right now, so let’s stick to that. Weasel Coffee? It had gotten me to thinking, -what ever happened to that weirdness of a few short years ago, that specialty coffee made from green coffee beans that pass through the intestinal tract of weasels? Or Civet cats? -Some kind of marmot mammal creature. What was that called, ”Kopi Luwak” coffee? Do you remember this? “Weasel Coffee?” For when just plain ol’ regular French Roast won’t do, there is that $300.00 per pound stimulant (although I think the price has probably doubled since then.) I bet a cup of that would wake you up in the morning. Those that drank this crap actually said that it has a particular ‘poopie’ smell to it. Oh yeah that would bring me back for seconds. Mammalian feces, -or that of any other variety of life form for that matter, is not what I want to taste or smell in my steamy hot beverage of choice at 6-AM in the morning thank you very much. A good natural and preferable organic coffee would be better any day. Organic coffee would be better for the environment as organic means no chemicals were used in the growing or for protection against pests. Some of the best organic coffees are grown in the mountainous regions of Africa, in volcanic ash soils so they have the virtues of being richer, full of anti-oxidants and have higher levels of caffeine. –Bonus! Maybe instead of needing two or three cups to start your day, just one will give the boost that lasts for hours. This might make up for any slightly higher cost at the point of sale, that you would need to drink less of it for the same amount of buzz. How Do They Do that?Those Nuclear powered particle accelerator espresso machines or whatever, that sneeze live steam into the cup to make heady foam. Not really appealing for me. I like just plain black coffee, double-sweet. Wow… Weasel Coffee. I would be loath to knowingly drink anything that I think a rodent pooped on or worse, was excreted by the same. That’s just gross! I used to own a ferret, they don’t NEED to have green coffee beans in their already hyper-wired systems not to even mention that it would be cruel and inhumane to allow or force-feed coffee beans to them. This passing through the digestive tract of small mammals is supposed to impart some quintessential fermentation to the indigestible coffee bean, which are gathered, washed, roasted and sold to coffee lovers of the highest standing. I mean, -how would one ask for that? A Café Civet Poopachino? Okay, -gag me ‘til I puke!
Children say the funniest things and it is their honesty that tugs upon your heart strings to firmly. This is from an actual event that occurred just this week. Junior-K Class Our child attends a Junior-Kindergarten class in the mornings, from 9-AM until 11:30-AM. I walk him to and from school daily, and these past few weeks they have been taking ice skating classes at a nearby athletic rink. After morning attendance, singing the Canadian Anthem & the obligatory morning announcements, we make the 15-minute walk to the area. I have been volunteering to assist with this extracurricular activity, walking with them and being the crossing guard, and at the rink I help carry the equipment inside. I also help the children from my son’s class get their skates and helmets on andwalk them out to the ice rink. At the end of the almost 45-minutes of skating time, we have to change back into school clothes and make the trek back to the school, take attendance again and the children are given snack time. The teacher provides a snack for the children and then prepares them to go home. After that, she prepares her classroom for the afternoon pre-K students, which begins at 1-PM. Usually this daily snack is just small finger foods like cheese chunks, crackers and apple that requires paper plates. But Tuesdays are special because of the skating class; they get a Rice Krispys Marshmallow Bar or a (peanut-free) granola-type snack bar. This is like a candy treat for them, quick sugar, convenience and very delicious. As a volunteer for this Tuesday event, I am present for this snack before they go-home as I am waiting to take our son home anyway. I usually just linger outside the classroom and sit upon the stairs while the children have their snack in the classroom. If I sit in the classroom, I seem to be distraction to their routine for the children want to come up and talk to me, climb on me and etc. They should be concentrating upon eating their snack, cleaning up the table and having a quick story-time before getting dressed to go home. This last Tuesday the floors and stairs outside of the classroom were clearly stained with dried road salt from the icy conditions of late, so I opted to sit in the classroom instead of on the dusty salt-covered stairway outside of the classroom. Lets the Negotiations Begin! As usual, there is always at least one child that finishes their Rice Krispys Marshmallow Bar early and asks for a second one. The teacher says no, and very politely lists several reasons why. This one child kept reasoning with the teacher, plying different tactics in an effort to be awarded that desired second helping. Part of the conversation went like this;
I started to giggle at the nefarious reasoning of this child. From across the room, a smiling glance in my direction from the teacher sealed the deal and I burst into riotous laughter and had to run out of the classroom, trying to regain my composure. That child is going to be a master manipulator someday; I foresee a future in contract negotiations for him!
Better ways to remember lengthy lists of items or tasks to be performed are reconciled to a user-friendly ‘acronym’ which is a memorable word comprised of the first letter of each word. Or, another method is to use a ‘mnemonic’ which is a memorable sentencing that contains the correct order of items or tasks.
Names of The Great Lakes We probably all remember some useful acronyms from our school years, useful for remembering groups names of proper nouns. One of easiest and most useful is for remembering the names of the five Great Lakes that border between the U.S. and Canada. The names of The Great Lakes are of course “Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie and Superior” and the acronym is of course, H.O.M.E.S. The above is a good example of an acronym. A “mnemonic” is also especially helpful for lengthy lists or tasks that need to be remember in a correct order. Remembering the classification order from Biology was pretty difficult (Kingdon, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species) but a mnemonic makes it easy. Just think “King Phillip Can Only Find His Green Shoes” and you just nailed it! The classification for human beings adds another mnemonic; “Antropology Can Make People Hate Helping (the) Sick” for “Anamalia, Cordata, Mamalis, Primate, Hominidae, Homo Sapiens.”
Acronyms that Became Common Words SCUBA, Although now considered to be a word of its own right, the acronym “Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus” is what this acronym originally stood for. The idea of an atmospheric rebreather was developed by Alexander Lodygin but it was the open-circuit units developed jointly by Emile Gagnan and Jacque-Yves Cousteau that brought this device to commercial success. “S.C.U.B.A.” was the term that the military gave to this device when it was being used by U.S. combat ‘frogmen’ for underwater warfare during the Second World War. It takes government oversight on a project or product to produce a suitably complicated name, eh?
LASER is another acronym that became a word of its own standing. Originally the acronym “L.A.S.E.R.” meant “Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation.” –This one definitely sounds like a government project to me. JEEP: Originally, the military vehicle with the designation “G.P.” (General Purpose) was given, but shortened to the phonetisized and easier to say/easier to remember “Jeep.” While not really an acronym, it was born of one. SNAFU: Yet another military expression which allegedly stood for “Situation Normal, All (****’d) Up” Okaaaay… And it is true even to this very day. BYOB: Bring Your Own Beer. I think everyone has heard of this one but we needed to lighten the mood a bit. Music Related Acronyms Musical notation upon a 5-lined horizontal staff entails where notes are written is generally called “sheet music.” Being able to read the notes on the line is a start; the notes which are “E-G-B-D-F” are memorable with the short verse “Every Good Boy Does Fine.” Tuning a 6-string guitar is fairly easy and knowing the open-plucked notes of “E-A-D-G-B-E” is memorable if you believe that “Elephants And Donkeys Grow Big Ears.”
IKEA One often hears that “IKEA” is Swedish for “common sense.” This comes from an old television commercial and it is not what this acronym really means. This Swedish home furnishing retail store chain derives it name from the first /last initials of its founder, and the initials of the farm and village where he grew up. The founder’s name is “Ingnar Kamprad and the farm is Elmtaryd (now spelled “Älmtaryd”) and the village is Agunnaryd. Mr. Kamprad is according to Forbes Magazine the wealthiest name in Europe, worth over US$22 Billion Dollars. This also makes him the 5th wealthiest person in the world accordingly to sources. The retain chain IKEA offers affordable, simple and innovative home furnishings. Their company mantra is one of frugality and enthusiasm. Hmm, -it really does sound like common sense to me.
We all know that one. In the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey, a malfunctioning sentient computer that operated the deep space craft DISCOVERY begins to malfunction and one by one, kills the occupant astronauts through a series of ‘accidents.’ This psychotic and malfunctioning computer’s name was “H.A.L.” Arthur C. Clarke supposedly created a genuine meaning for the name but the letters “H-A-L” are just one letter different from the sequence “I-B-M.” It has always been rumored that this was the intention. Whenever my computer ‘freezes’ and nothing responds anymore, I have been known to scream “Open the pod door, HAL” in the general direction of the computer screen or, “IBM!” Yes, -I Blame Microsoft!”.
And I’m sure there are dozens more. Mnemonics From the World of LINUX I despise Microsoft and what it stands for and have been slowly moving towards any and all ‘open source’ alternatives. Anything non-M$, I say. Linux operating systems have caught my attention and I dabble with different distros from time to time. It is not that Linux Operating Systems never ‘hangs’ or ‘freezes’ (it can happen) but when it does a mnemonic comes to mind that involves a series of ordered hotkeys used in combination with the “SysRq” key (the key above your computer’s “insert” key.) can save your system. The Mnemonic is: Raising Elephants Is So Utterly Boring or the more obligatory; Reboot Even If System Utterly Broken The purpose here is to recover from a ‘lock’ or ‘frozen’ state, a ‘reboot’ of the computer in an ordered fashion so that it does not corrupt the file system. This mnemonic to the user tells the series of sequential hotkey-commands to be carried out in this order to repair the system. Alt + SysRq + R – takes the keyboard out of raw mode. What is the “SysRq” key for, anyway? Most people never get to use this one. “SysRq” stands for “System request” is an invocation for a special BIOS routine that was designed to not interfere with any resident/running software. Unlike most other computer keys when pressed, “SysRq” input is not stored in the keyboard buffer when pressed and released. A ‘do no harm’ key was the intent. In the Linux “R.E.I.S.U.B” invocation, one CAN swap the order of “disk synchronization” (Alt + SysRq + S) with the previous one “kill all processes” (Alt + SysRq + I) with no ill effects. Either way this recovery from a frozen state using these hotkey combinations should be carried out slowly, allowing the system to complete each step fully before advancing to the next required step. Utterly boring indeed …unless your Linux system is ’froze’ or otherwise non-responsive. At any rate believe me it still beats pressing the WinKey or WINDOWS key (located next to either “Alt” key on most modern keyboards) plus another ‘hotkey’ waiting for some worthless shortcut or event to occur. I loathe the WinKey addition that M$ has forced upon keyboard manufacturers since their creation of Windows_95. Most of the time I would accidentally tap the WinKey and totally mess-up whatever it was I was working on, often losing the document completely. I removed both of my WinKeys and busted their respective ‘tails’ off so that they cannot ‘touch’ the dip switch beneath them, and using adhesive glue, reinserted them solid to the keyboard chassis. They are both non-functioning decorative-only keys now and I love it that way! Back to the Linux acronym primer, a shorter alternative to “R.E.I.S.U.B.” can be done using just two triads of hotkeys; the “Alt+SysRq+R” and allow the function to take the keyboard out of run-mode, followed by “Ctrl+Alt+Del.” This method actually may take longer to perform, and not all Linux systems support this shortened 2-part sequence so it is probably good to know both methods. But in fairness to Microsoft, they are trying to improve their operating system and software and it is widely believed that latter this summer they will throw massive efforts into writing yet another Service Pack solution for that pesky Y2K bug that they have heard rumors about. I hope you have enjoyed this short missive on acronyms and mnemonics as much as I have enjoyed educating you lower life forms. My linear designation is Trained Heavily for Exploitation, Seriously Transformed Individual Calibrated for Killing, Mayhem and Actuarial Nullification but you may simply call me “thestickman.”
The common variety belongs to the family “Rosaceae”, this flavorful fruit that is the basis of so many delightful desserts, preserves, toppings and confections. The sweet delectable strawberry is the very essence of summer! Flower of the Field; Fruit of the (very near) Future
The common strawberry as we know it today was an accidentally crossbreed from a variety taken from an eastern North American variety regarded for its flavor, and a Chilean variety noted for its much larger size. Such Beauty, Such Taste!
Strawberries are actually a ‘false fruit’ meaning that they are not the swollen ovaries of the plant (which is by definition, “fruit”) but are instead, the peg at the bottom of a bowl-shaped structure called the “hypanthium” that holds the ovaries. If you are Allergic: I’m sorry! Everyone Else: OMG Yum!
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (“FAO”) reports that the United States was the top producer of strawberries worldwide in the 2005 , with the nation of Spain holding second place. Unlike many other fruits, strawberries do not continue to ripen once they have been picked. So, if picking your own, select only the ripe ones. Any strawberry with green or white should be left to continue ripening on the vine. Size Matters Not!Strawberries from the same field will taste the same, despite any differences in size. Once they are red, they are ripe and the flavor is the same no matter what size of the berry. Strawberries can be consumed fresh, made into preserves (jams and jellies), dried, frozen, etc. They are often a favorite when used in ice cream, cereal bars, milkshakes and yogurts. Allegedly, strawberries (I assume when eaten raw?) are said to whiten teeth. I can’t say as though I believe that, but sure! –Why not? Well Where’s The Fun In That?
Most strawberries produced are ‘self-fertilizing.’ They require no action to produce the quintessential fruit. But the pollination activities of bees have been proven to produce both larger and more uniformly shaped strawberries. A commercial strawberry producer would then be wise to place a few honeybee beehives near their strawberry fields. This would not only serve to aid for the better strawberry, but it would make for some amazing bee honey and perhaps aid the honeybees themselves, as there has been a mysterious decline in honeybee populations in recent years. But that is for another story… Excellent for Desserts
(Excuse while I wipe the drool from my chin) Okay this has got to be like the most delicious thing on the planet right here! I would love to start my day with something like this (and it would be a great evening snack as well!)
I have never had this before but it looks really good. Pieplant (rhubarb) and strawberries make an excellent dessert when gently stewed together, with some sugar to taste. A sort of thick compote. My grandmother used to make that (suddenly, I’m feeling a bit homesick again…) Weird Faces in your Fruits
I would be somewhat loath to eat a strawberry that looked like an old man’s face what with its gnarled nose and chin. But it is rather funny to look at, eh? It is like some old hay-field farmer from the country.
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