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Pictures of the tree
Dec. 19th, 2007 06:52 pmPictures of our marine-life themed Christmas/Solstice tree! Click the picture ( behind the cut to go to a couple of pages of pictures: )
The National Aquarium had a members-only evening this evening, so we went. Extra guides/docents/educators around, prize drawings, whatnot. We went up and visited my favorite Potamotrygons, of course, and watched the puffins for a bit. The Pacific giant octopus was asleep in a corner, as usual. If you want to see him unscrew a jar lid, you're going to have to watch the video on their web site, 'cause he's certainly never doing anything that interesting during visiting hours. We also saw the stonefish for the first time - I mean, he's been there all along, in plain sight, but this is the first time we've ever penetrated his disguise, which is EXCELLENT - he really does look just like the stone he's next to, unless he happens to blink his eyes! There was also a little yellow-spotted ray in the same tank, and I may have to make a couple of those.
But mostly, what we did was hang around the "Wings in Water" stingray area and pester the help with questions. The three-legged loggerhead turtle's name is Calypso, and she is smart enough to follow the divers around trying to beg for extra food - which is more than the stingrays or sharks do. One of her favorite treats is brussels sprouts. The rays ignore the brussels sprouts, of course. But, the - keeper? - reports that when Calypso doesn't finish her lettuce, and it sinks to the floor, the cownose rays try desperately to eat it, and of course their mouths are not equipped with proper teeth for picking up lettuce, let alone chewing on it, and so staff has a bit of a laugh watching them try.
The zebra shark's name is Zoe, and she is cool-looking; her tail is very long and flexible. While juvie zebra sharks have stripes, as they mature, the stripes turn to speckles, which of course made us wonder about an underwater Case of the Speckled Band, which that tail could totally do.
And the butterfly ray's name is Thumper.
No, I am not making that up.
Picked up a few more ornaments at the gift shop. Got a free door prize just for showing up - a drinking glass with the aquarium logo is what![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
squirrel_magnet picked out, and I got a plush clownfish beanbag - and then also managed to snag one of the museum logo water bottles later on.
Thumper.
But mostly, what we did was hang around the "Wings in Water" stingray area and pester the help with questions. The three-legged loggerhead turtle's name is Calypso, and she is smart enough to follow the divers around trying to beg for extra food - which is more than the stingrays or sharks do. One of her favorite treats is brussels sprouts. The rays ignore the brussels sprouts, of course. But, the - keeper? - reports that when Calypso doesn't finish her lettuce, and it sinks to the floor, the cownose rays try desperately to eat it, and of course their mouths are not equipped with proper teeth for picking up lettuce, let alone chewing on it, and so staff has a bit of a laugh watching them try.
The zebra shark's name is Zoe, and she is cool-looking; her tail is very long and flexible. While juvie zebra sharks have stripes, as they mature, the stripes turn to speckles, which of course made us wonder about an underwater Case of the Speckled Band, which that tail could totally do.
And the butterfly ray's name is Thumper.
No, I am not making that up.
Picked up a few more ornaments at the gift shop. Got a free door prize just for showing up - a drinking glass with the aquarium logo is what
squirrel_magnet picked out, and I got a plush clownfish beanbag - and then also managed to snag one of the museum logo water bottles later on.Thumper.
So, Cindy got here yesterday evening, with her cats, and they are settled into our basement. She's got 4 job interviews already set up for the next couple of weeks, so I'm confident that she'll find a job and her own apartment quickly. Which is good, because there's already stuff turning up not-where-I-left-it, which would be likely to drive me to outright anger after too long. (As in, dish soap. Have to hunt all over kitchen counter for dish soap - not returned to the spot it was initially picked up at. Coffee mugs getting hung up backward. Cans of stuff on the bottle shelf of the fridge and vice versa. Little things that add up to stress.)
Other than that, things are quiet. Rode over to CCBC Essex this morning to help the Balto. Symphonic Band librarian put music in folders for Tuesday's 1st rehearsal of the season. I'll always volunteer for stuff that I can do sitting down in air conditioned comfort; by volunteering for it *rapidly* and before even being asked, I get all kinds of good karma that helps make up for the fact that I'm a fairly mediocre musician. On the ride over there, saw a serious accident on the other side of the highway - rental truck, the 24-foot moving van kind, turned over completely on its side, the driver's side, on the roadway (not on a shoulder or the landscaping past the shoulder). There were ambulances there, but they weren't in any hurry; I suspect that's one of the Labor Day weekend statistics. First of the month, beginning of the school year - lots of people who aren't that experienced in driving are renting large vehicles and taking them out on the highways. Of course, my Biker Skum friends up in Boston are undoubtedly seeing even more of that than I am; I remember what September 1 was like in Boston, with the entire damn city playing Musical U-Hauls. Well, anyway, it was lovely riding weather. And the bike got 65 mpg this tank of gas - not the astonishing 75 mpg of one tank earlier this year - still don't know how that happened - but nonetheless lots better than the 50 mpg or so that one normally expects from this size engine.
I am working on another, more elaborate, P. motoro stingray. Which will be for me. Speaking of stingrays, if some of you are insane enough to actually WANT one, don't forget that I need your address; there's an email link over there on the right-hand side of my journal. (Hey,beckerbuns claims to actually LIKE hers!) Your stingray will be chosen at random, most probably polka-dot or blue-spotted ribbontail, since that's what I'm making mostly.
Other than that, things are quiet. Rode over to CCBC Essex this morning to help the Balto. Symphonic Band librarian put music in folders for Tuesday's 1st rehearsal of the season. I'll always volunteer for stuff that I can do sitting down in air conditioned comfort; by volunteering for it *rapidly* and before even being asked, I get all kinds of good karma that helps make up for the fact that I'm a fairly mediocre musician. On the ride over there, saw a serious accident on the other side of the highway - rental truck, the 24-foot moving van kind, turned over completely on its side, the driver's side, on the roadway (not on a shoulder or the landscaping past the shoulder). There were ambulances there, but they weren't in any hurry; I suspect that's one of the Labor Day weekend statistics. First of the month, beginning of the school year - lots of people who aren't that experienced in driving are renting large vehicles and taking them out on the highways. Of course, my Biker Skum friends up in Boston are undoubtedly seeing even more of that than I am; I remember what September 1 was like in Boston, with the entire damn city playing Musical U-Hauls. Well, anyway, it was lovely riding weather. And the bike got 65 mpg this tank of gas - not the astonishing 75 mpg of one tank earlier this year - still don't know how that happened - but nonetheless lots better than the 50 mpg or so that one normally expects from this size engine.
I am working on another, more elaborate, P. motoro stingray. Which will be for me. Speaking of stingrays, if some of you are insane enough to actually WANT one, don't forget that I need your address; there's an email link over there on the right-hand side of my journal. (Hey,
beckerbuns claims to actually LIKE hers!) Your stingray will be chosen at random, most probably polka-dot or blue-spotted ribbontail, since that's what I'm making mostly.Don't go back in the water just yet...
Aug. 29th, 2007 08:44 pm( Yet another stingray! )
This one is an ocellated, or ocellate, river ray, Potamotrygon motoro - it has several other common names besides ocellated, which word refers to the two-tone spots with the darker rim and paler center. Because of the many common names, it's easier to just refer to it as a Motoro stingray. It's another one of the freshwater ones from the Amazon (hence the Potamo- in its genus), and the National Aquarium has one, which is larger than average, about a foot and a half across.
Here's a really nice page from someone who has a pet Motoro:
http://www.dcpaleo.org/Leisure/Animals/FishesStingray.html
This one is an ocellated, or ocellate, river ray, Potamotrygon motoro - it has several other common names besides ocellated, which word refers to the two-tone spots with the darker rim and paler center. Because of the many common names, it's easier to just refer to it as a Motoro stingray. It's another one of the freshwater ones from the Amazon (hence the Potamo- in its genus), and the National Aquarium has one, which is larger than average, about a foot and a half across.
Here's a really nice page from someone who has a pet Motoro:
http://www.dcpaleo.org/Leisure/Animals/FishesStingray.html
yet more stingrays
Aug. 16th, 2007 10:24 pmOkay, here are another two:
( wide pix that would break your friends page )
( wide pix that would break your friends page )
More stingray ornaments
Aug. 11th, 2007 12:57 amThe madness continues:
( More needlepoint stingray ornaments )
There are more rays, and there will be more ornaments. C&V are definitely getting a couple; the rest of you had better beware, lest you receive one also. If you don't want me to inflict you with, say, a chartreuse ray with bright blue spots*, you'll have to write a pretty convincing argument.
*There really is such a thing. Check out some of these pictures of rays:
http://elasmodiver.com/spotted_eagle_ray.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:DSC01207.JPG
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potamotrygon
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Taeniura_lymma_060417w.jpg
Potamotrygon schroederi - flower stingray
http://www.geocities.com/david_upton_73/schoederi.html
http://web.ukonline.co.uk/aquarium/pages/spottedray.html
spotted ray - Raja montagui
motoro stingray a/k/a ocellated stingray http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/fish/motorostingray.php
Since we seem to have the new ornaments from the aquarium, plus these that I'm making, obviously this year our christmas tree theme will be marine life. We have lots of fish ornaments, and a few seashell ornaments, several mermaids, a couple of whales and dolphins, quite a few penguins, a couple of puffins, and a few turtles. If you are wondering what to get me for my birthday in october, you could get me a marine life ornament I don't have - say, a shark ornament (silver glitter?), or a cuttlefish, or if you've got little preserved real sea urchin shells or starfish, you could dip one in glue and gold glitter, and voila, an ornament! Also, for some odd reason, we only have one seahorse ornament. We could use more of those.
The above is not a shameless plea, only a note. I don't expect anyone to feel obliged to send me ornaments. On the other hand, you *should* feel warned that I'm likely to send you an ornament if I know your address. That part is real.
( More needlepoint stingray ornaments )
There are more rays, and there will be more ornaments. C&V are definitely getting a couple; the rest of you had better beware, lest you receive one also. If you don't want me to inflict you with, say, a chartreuse ray with bright blue spots*, you'll have to write a pretty convincing argument.
*There really is such a thing. Check out some of these pictures of rays:
http://elasmodiver.com/spotted_eagle_ray.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:DSC01207.JPG
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potamotrygon
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Taeniura_lymma_060417w.jpg
Potamotrygon schroederi - flower stingray
http://www.geocities.com/david_upton_73/schoederi.html
http://web.ukonline.co.uk/aquarium/pages/spottedray.html
spotted ray - Raja montagui
motoro stingray a/k/a ocellated stingray http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/fish/motorostingray.php
Since we seem to have the new ornaments from the aquarium, plus these that I'm making, obviously this year our christmas tree theme will be marine life. We have lots of fish ornaments, and a few seashell ornaments, several mermaids, a couple of whales and dolphins, quite a few penguins, a couple of puffins, and a few turtles. If you are wondering what to get me for my birthday in october, you could get me a marine life ornament I don't have - say, a shark ornament (silver glitter?), or a cuttlefish, or if you've got little preserved real sea urchin shells or starfish, you could dip one in glue and gold glitter, and voila, an ornament! Also, for some odd reason, we only have one seahorse ornament. We could use more of those.
The above is not a shameless plea, only a note. I don't expect anyone to feel obliged to send me ornaments. On the other hand, you *should* feel warned that I'm likely to send you an ornament if I know your address. That part is real.
lolnoncats and rays
Jul. 27th, 2007 05:14 pmSome assorted graphics:
( For miz_geek: )
Then, some pictures of my first two tries at polka dot stingray xmas ornaments in needlepoint:
( largish photos )
( For miz_geek: )
Then, some pictures of my first two tries at polka dot stingray xmas ornaments in needlepoint:
( largish photos )
We went to the aquarium Tuesday, and had a wonderful time. The puffins were being adorable. A slight disappointment was the giant octopus - he was taking a nap, and if his spiracles hadn't been opening and closing, we would have had to suspect a stuffed dummy. Even not moving, he was pretty cool. The little mandarinfish with really fast rippling little fins was pretty and cute at the same time. The rays and sharks are always cool, of course.
One of the rays we saw was a polka-dot ray. There's a picture of one on this website:
http://www.seapics.com/picture_gallery/rays/index.html
The picture doesn't quite do justice to how large the one we saw was, and how velvety the black part is and how startling the dots.
So, having said that, here are the christmas ornaments I bought in the gift shop:
( giant octopus and polka-dot stingray )
The dots are little crystals, and the eyes are dark crystals, too.
One of the rays we saw was a polka-dot ray. There's a picture of one on this website:
http://www.seapics.com/picture_gallery/rays/index.html
The picture doesn't quite do justice to how large the one we saw was, and how velvety the black part is and how startling the dots.
So, having said that, here are the christmas ornaments I bought in the gift shop:
( giant octopus and polka-dot stingray )
The dots are little crystals, and the eyes are dark crystals, too.
