Octopus's Garden

 It's all coming together now,Ringo Starr wrote and sung Octopus's Garden and octopus have rings! It naturally follows that they also dream which has been studied with interesting results. When an octopus sleeps they change color and twitch,the color change is significant because it follows patterns of their waking color changes,for example if they see a crab (dinner) they get lighter colored and once they catch the crab they turn darker to blend in with the ocean bottom while they eat. I'm betting they do dream,why wouldn't they? We know how intelligent they are,using tools and figuring out fairly complex problems so dreaming doesn't seem beyond their pay grade. 

 

Ravenous

 Birds are amazingly smart as proven by the Anchorage,AK Costco ravens. They have a feeding system that involves stealing from the grocery carts when the shoppers are loading their supplies into their vehicles. They usually work in teams or small groups where one bird works at distraction while another bird swoops in for the score. Their preferred items are meat and fruits so my recommendation to anyone not wanting to share their groceries is to load those items first. They won't be there much longer as they leave in the spring,not to mention their numbers have been going down the last several years,just be thankful they aren't eagles.

The Frumpy Four

 Not being a McDonald's connoisseur I had no idea that their McNuggets  were actually four different shapes. Burger King used to have crown shaped chicken tenders but discontinued that shape around 2011 for a basic blob shape. Back to McNuggets...not only do they come in different shapes those shapes have names (sort of) bell,boot,ball and bow tie or bone,I have no clue if there is a reason the shapes all start with a B. The chicken mixture used to make the nuggets is rolled out into a sheet then the shapes are cut out similar to the way one would cut cookies out of cookie dough. After they're cut into shapes they are covered in batter then a thicker tempura batter is applied,they're then part fried and frozen before being distributed. Who knew?

Double Life

 We've all heard stories about people leading double lives where they have two complete families that don't know about the other one,so why should it seem so odd when our pets do the same thing? Of course if you apply that question to cats would double lives mean they have 18 lives? Just kidding about the 18 lives,but not about them having two families. People are naturally snoopy (as are cats) so when a man saw a for sale sign on his neighbors house he went on a virtual tour and much to his surprise discovered his cat lounging on a bed in one of the bedrooms. When he posted about his cat's double life other people added their own two timing cat stories. One woman took in a parcel for her neighbor and when she went to deliver it noticed pictures of her cat hanging from the neighbor's wall. Several other people added similar stories...but we all know cats are not known for their loyalty. 

 

Life's an Illusion

 The regular readers know I'm a sucker for optical illusions,both the hand drawn type and the naturally occurring. Today we have a natural unplanned one. A couple had just had their new sofa delivered after a five month wait and were excited to finally have it. They decided to take photos to share with friends and family and in one of the pictures it looks like they swapped bodies. I had to study it a bit before my eyes told me what I was really seeing. Enjoy you day/life,just in case it is an illusion. 

Good News,Bad News?

So we have seed depositorys/vaults to make sure plants can't be wiped out and now scientists are suggesting we make a similar repository in underground caverns on the moon for biological samples to protect global species in case of global catastrophe. Okay...that sounds like a good idea but if there is a global catastrophe who will be able to retrieve the samples to kick start the earth again? and would the earth even be habitable? It just seems so much easier and sensible to take care of the planet we have so we don't have to see if plan B works. 

Shades of "It"

Those of you who are not Stephen King fans will not get the reference of the title and I apologize for that. A woman who was reported missing by her boyfriend three weeks ago was found Tuesday after she was heard  calling for help from a storm drain. A rescue team was called to the scene where they managed to retrieve the woman with a ladder and harness,she was naked and had minor scrapes but otherwise in fair condition. After a couple of days of recovering she told authorities she had been swimming in a canal by her boyfriends house when she came upon a doorway which led into a tunnel that she wandered through for a long time and eventually came to the storm drain. It is still unknown what happened to her clothes,oh and did I mention this took place in Florida? 

Betty Bunny

 Who knew Cadbury was still doing the Easter commercials with different animals playing the role of the bunny? They even have a contest every year to choose the winner,which is judged by company judges. This year 12,000 animals participated in the contest with the winning entry going to an Australian White's tree frog from Florida named Betty. Betty is breaking the glass ceiling with her win,not only is she the first amphibian to win she is also the first female. Betty will be the star in 2021 clucking bunny ad,she will also receive $5,000 prize money plus Cadbury donates $15,000 to the ASPCA, Congrats Betty! 

Translating Dogese

 This AI collar is kind of like Dr. Doolittle in reverse,the collar analyzes your dog's bark (tone and pitch) with voice recognition software to determine their emotional state,happy,anxious,angry,sad or relaxed. Most pet owners recognize their pet's moods but the Petpul collar also acts as a FitBit in that it tracks activity and rest allowing for adjustment to the pet's diet to prevent obesity and to make sure they are getting enough sleep. The device works with your Smartphone and needs to be recharged nightly. The collars are water resistant and come in small for $99 or large for $108 and are available in several colors. 

Enough Already

 Just when you think that the world is on its way back to somewhat normal nature winds up and throws another hardball. After a bumper crop grain harvest in Australia a plague of mice has descended,thousands upon thousands of the rodents eating everything in their path. Not only have they ruined the grain they are also wreaking havoc inside homes where they are eating through food containers and nesting in linen closets and furniture. A single pair of mice can produce up to 500 offspring per season so there is no keeping up with them by any regular means at this point,the only hope is for heavy rains to drown them in their burrows. To think back to  the start of this pandemic I was whining about mice getting in under my kitchen sink.  

Blowin in the Wind

 Today's post is another sad tale of those who feel their entitlement overrides what anyone else wants or needs and we all know who to thank for unleashing those folks who are better than the rest of us.  A North Dakota man who had always wanted to fly the American flag once he had his own home has been doing just that for about 2 years since he bought a condo. In January he received a letter from the condo association saying the flag made too much noise and he needed to take it down or be fined $200 a day. He disregarded the letter assuming it had to be someone's idea of a joke. When the second letter came at the beginning of this month he decided it was a personal vendetta of the association's president who lives above him but he still refused to take the flag down. His decision is supported by the Freedom to Display the American Flag Act of 2005,but I have a feeling his battle is far from over. 

I Call Your Name

 People are exercising their poetic license more and more when it comes to naming their children which can be amusing for the rest of us and I suppose it probably doesn't do any permanent damage to the kids,kind of  like the boy named Sue? In this latest example a nurse who was used to calling out patient names and getting them wrong because of her southern accent called Liam thinking she had that name right but no one responded. After calling the name several times a woman stands up and asks the nurse if she means Yum? The nurses spells L-I-A-M and the woman says yes,that's Yum,short for William. Personally I've always wondered why the nickname for Mark wasn't X. (not really)

What Lion?

 Sometimes a design will reveal a phallic symbol if that's what someone is looking for and those usually have to be pointed out,though this time it is the other way around the first thing you see is not the lion on these infant pajamas but male genitals. The mom bought them on sale in a 2-pack and didn't really see what was on them until she put them on her 6 month old. Maybe the funniest part of all is that when she checked for the item online she found it had 5 star reviews and was currently out of stock.