Whales have been in the ocean longer than humans have walked the earth

Humpback whale breaching photograph from National Geographic

It is thought that the ancestors of today's whales first became fully aquatic about 45 million years ago.

That is at least 40 million years earlier than our most readily recognizable ancestors and so far ahead of the creation of Japanese society that the Government of Japan should be ashamed of its pretence that the state-sponsored annual whale kills are anything but commercial slaughter.

A Sunday chuckle

• Sometimes a passing quote hits the giggle spot because its accidence is so right.
  This one is from the syndicated "Ginger Meggs" comic strip.
  
  A penny saved...........is a government oversight!

• Overheard at the pub: The way Malcolm Turnbull's been acting this week it looks like he's suffering from Rudd Rage.

"Moggy Musings" [Archived material from Boy the Wonder Cat]

A Happy Christmas musing:

Boy the Wonder Cat, Veroncia Lake his canine friend, Roo's bathroom cat and Clarrie's faithful hound, wish every pet and owner on the NSW North Coast a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Please remember to arrange proper care for your animals if you are holidaying between now and March 2009.

A get well soon musing:

This is a big hello to Dana, the 9 year-old Kelpie cross who was badly savaged by a grey pit bull at Red Rock in November 2008.

After emergency surgery and vet care that ran to over $3,000, Dana is still far from well as I put paw to keyboard.

A mixed mutt musing:

The Daily Examiner told everyone that (according to veterinary records) Labradors are the most common doggie pet in New South Wales, followed by Staffies, Jack Russells and Maltese Terriers.

My little canine friend Veronica Lake thinks that in the Northern Rivers things might be a little different, because she reckons that Yamba is the Home of the Little White Dog as there are so many small, white crossbreed dogs there.

I ask - where are the media releases about cats!?

A huge thankyou musing:

It was great to hear that 70-odd locals, tourists, National Park rangers and other government employees labored so hard at Anthony's Beach in north-west Tasmania to save a maternal pod of of pilot whales and managed to return 11 mums and bubs back to deep water and the open ocean.

Hope someone is giving you all free beer for that mammoth effort!

A keep an eye open musing:

This time of year fledgling birds are sometimes blown out of the nest before they are ready to fly. If something is moving in the flower bed or vegie patch, have a quick look to see if it is a grounded baby.

W.I.R.E.S (Northern Rivers) will take these babies so give them a call on: (02) 6628.1898

A US presidential musing:

Dogs of the world are rejoicing because a card-carrying Democrat puppy will enter the White House with the inauguration of Barack Obama on 20 January 2008.

But I'm a bit miffed. If Obama is truly going to be a president for all as he said in his acceptance speech, felines of the world join with me and demand that he give equal house space to a kitteh!

Here's my pick of a Cute kitten candidate for prime Washington residence

The New Economics

XKCD does the new economics

Zaishu art in Yamba

Photograph from the Bondville blog

Zaishu stool creations of Matthew Butler and Helen Puton, from Yamba at the mouth of the Clarence River.

Matt and Helen have their own website and can be contacted here.

B@stard Watch: old democrats neve die - they create a political blog!

It was sad to see the last of the Australian Democrats go from federal parliament in June, but they haven't gone too far from the public eye it seems.
This month the Demos created a blog called fittingly enough - B#stard Watch.
With the motto "B^stards never sleep and neither do we".
I wish them luck and hope that their new venture lives up to party expectations.
The new blog ran an Australia Day poll which gave Kevin Rudd a serve for not supporting gay marriage because he's a prudish b*stard.
In another post Peter Garret got it in the neck for being a whaling son without a father and for caving in to Gunns, while Mal Turnbull was done down for being an emissions trading foundling left on the steps of the local convent.
At this point I beg forgiveness for the convoluted phraseology, but there are only so many ways one can avoid the Internet filters when trying to type bastard person of uncertain parentage.

Artist’s public toilet has pride of place in small NZ town

“It is only a toilet but it should show that even small things
can bring beauty into our lives.” *1

Kawakawa (pop. 1,300), which some describe as an inconspicuous backwater New Zealand town, has a long main street, a butcher, a cafe, a supermarket and a pub. It also has a public toilet in the middle of its main street created by Viennese-born artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser.

Hundertwasser’s public toilet stands in Gillies Street amid the usual shops and businesses found in a small town. It gives visitors an opportunity to relieve themselves in typical Hundertwasser ambiance. The floor’s tiles are uneven, the walls are warped and the windows are made of different colored bottles set into cement. Its columns are playfully colorful while the roof is overgrown with grass. Read the Jakarta Globe's full report here.

To Hundertwasser, a toilet is very special because you meditate in a toilet. Like a church. "The similarity is not so far fetched."

More photos of Hundertwasser's work, taken by NZer Phil, are here.

Pic - Christiane Oelrich, Deutsche Presse-Agentur (DPA) Germany

*1 Norma, Hundertwasser’s neighbour and close friend