i'm disturbed. thoroughly disturbed by something i have just discovered. i was innocently flipping through the saturday magazine of the independent when i saw an ad for the "mega sonic scatter cat," which repels nuisance animals using a sonic or ultra sonic frequency. it had a trigger action that targets animals over 20 metres away.
and all this for just 19.99 plus 2.99 shipping and handling.
so i went on the internet to check this company out and discovered a website called deter-a-cat. not only do they sell the mega sonic scatter cat, but they also sell a device that senses cats and shoots out sprays of water. the worst has to be the cat repellent spikes, which are designed to deliver maximum discomfort, but minimum harm. not only is it a family of five that runs this company, but they also will send you a free chocolate bar if they don't respond to your query within 2 hours.
i'm shocked and appalled and glad that dougie is safe and sound in rural quebec with only her fellow wildlife to contend with.
2.13.2007
origin of penguins
i was informed today by my welsh friend rich that the word penguin is actually welsh. i had to do some investigating on wikipedia:
Penguin is thought by some to derive from the Welsh words pen (head) and gwyn (white), applied to the Great Auk, which had a conspicuous white patch between the bill and the eye (although its head was black), or from an island off Newfoundland known as "White Head" due to a large white rock. This may be, however, a false etymology created by Dr. John Dee in his book on Prince Madoc of Wales, supposedly one of the discoverers of America. By this Dee hoped to cement Queen Elizabeth I's claim, as a Tudor, to the New World. Penguins live nowhere near Newfoundland, nor do they generally have white heads, but they do look remarkably like Great Auks in general shape.
According to another theory, the original name was pen-wing, with reference to the rudimentary wings of both Great Auks and penguins. A third theory is that penguin comes from the Latin pinguis (fat). This has added credibility because in two other Germanic languages, Dutch 'pinguïn' and German, 'Pinguin' both have the 'i' vowel too. While it has been replaced by an 'e' in the English spelling, it can still be heard. By simply looking at the word's pronunciation and comparing that to the Dutch and German words, one could assume a common Latin root - after the first Germanic sound shift (500-200 BC) that makes a PIE 'p' into a 'f'. However, a Welsh 'i' is often sound-shifted to an 'e' in the English language, so a Welsh origin cannot be dismissed.
Penguin is thought by some to derive from the Welsh words pen (head) and gwyn (white), applied to the Great Auk, which had a conspicuous white patch between the bill and the eye (although its head was black), or from an island off Newfoundland known as "White Head" due to a large white rock. This may be, however, a false etymology created by Dr. John Dee in his book on Prince Madoc of Wales, supposedly one of the discoverers of America. By this Dee hoped to cement Queen Elizabeth I's claim, as a Tudor, to the New World. Penguins live nowhere near Newfoundland, nor do they generally have white heads, but they do look remarkably like Great Auks in general shape.
According to another theory, the original name was pen-wing, with reference to the rudimentary wings of both Great Auks and penguins. A third theory is that penguin comes from the Latin pinguis (fat). This has added credibility because in two other Germanic languages, Dutch 'pinguïn' and German, 'Pinguin' both have the 'i' vowel too. While it has been replaced by an 'e' in the English spelling, it can still be heard. By simply looking at the word's pronunciation and comparing that to the Dutch and German words, one could assume a common Latin root - after the first Germanic sound shift (500-200 BC) that makes a PIE 'p' into a 'f'. However, a Welsh 'i' is often sound-shifted to an 'e' in the English language, so a Welsh origin cannot be dismissed.
neglect
i know, neglect if i ever saw it. it's been almost a week since my last post and you must think i've been buried in snow, but no such luck. yes there was snow, but not much of it.
i spent the weekend in cov and most of it slightly covered in paint - celtic forest 2 to be precise - as i was painting davoud's bedroom. the grand renovation has begun, the dust has started to kick up, and i keep finding piles of *stuff* everywhere.
a bit of relaxing was in order yesterday as i took a day in lieu in case painting took a bit longer than expected.
not too much on this week, plan to spend the night in tonight after i meet rich for a coffee after work, going to see a digital screening of casablanca tomorrow night in honour of v-day, and the private view for the new exhibition at the gallery is on thursday night. i lied...there is quite a bit on this week.
i spent the weekend in cov and most of it slightly covered in paint - celtic forest 2 to be precise - as i was painting davoud's bedroom. the grand renovation has begun, the dust has started to kick up, and i keep finding piles of *stuff* everywhere.
a bit of relaxing was in order yesterday as i took a day in lieu in case painting took a bit longer than expected.
not too much on this week, plan to spend the night in tonight after i meet rich for a coffee after work, going to see a digital screening of casablanca tomorrow night in honour of v-day, and the private view for the new exhibition at the gallery is on thursday night. i lied...there is quite a bit on this week.
2.07.2007
snow *on* baby!
i woke up yesterday to a small dusting of snow in liverpool, but thanks to whatever weather phenomenon seems to work its wonder on the wirral there was more snow in port sunlight when i arrived at work. i cannot convey how ecstatic i was to *hear* snow under my feet and anyone who saw me walking down the street must have thought me a complete idiot for looking so happy.
the famous weather forecasters at the bbc are calling for *big* snow thursday, possibly friday, and saturday. game on. i'll be out there in the proper gear laughing at those with no warm coats, toques, scarves or mittens that think they can take the cold and the proceed to complain about it. i'll be shaking my head at those clever drivers who *boil a kettle* and then proceed to pour hot water all over their frozen windscreen.
i can't claim to be an expert on british counties, history or even the sequence of prime ministers, but at least i can handle a bit of snow.
the famous weather forecasters at the bbc are calling for *big* snow thursday, possibly friday, and saturday. game on. i'll be out there in the proper gear laughing at those with no warm coats, toques, scarves or mittens that think they can take the cold and the proceed to complain about it. i'll be shaking my head at those clever drivers who *boil a kettle* and then proceed to pour hot water all over their frozen windscreen.
i can't claim to be an expert on british counties, history or even the sequence of prime ministers, but at least i can handle a bit of snow.
2.05.2007
back at it
how thrilled was i to leave the house on saturday *and* for it to be so beautifully sunny and warm! davoud and i even ate our lunch outside it was so lovely. but then, as soon as we hit the M53 to bring us to livepool through the wirral the densest and most bizarre fog descended. it was the most drastic change in weather i've ever experienced. the world was literally cut in two. the temperature dropped dramatically and i think we both thought the apocalypse was coming.
i remainded fairly couch bound on saturday after getting some pizza from the pizza parlour with val and davoud, but did venture out of the house on sunday for some lunch, errands and a movie. we went to see babel, which has to be said is the most depressing and just plain bad movie i've seen in a while. don't understand the oscar nods for this one bit!
it's going to be a long day back. i was at work for 7:30 am this morning and have to give a talk at a local guild at 8:00 pm. just lunched with barbara and dorothy - part of the extended family - and caught up on some news and heard some stories about my grandparents, which always makes me happy.
well, back to playing catch up.
i remainded fairly couch bound on saturday after getting some pizza from the pizza parlour with val and davoud, but did venture out of the house on sunday for some lunch, errands and a movie. we went to see babel, which has to be said is the most depressing and just plain bad movie i've seen in a while. don't understand the oscar nods for this one bit!
it's going to be a long day back. i was at work for 7:30 am this morning and have to give a talk at a local guild at 8:00 pm. just lunched with barbara and dorothy - part of the extended family - and caught up on some news and heard some stories about my grandparents, which always makes me happy.
well, back to playing catch up.
2.01.2007
i almost held it together
as long as i'm not in an emotionally fragile state to begin with, i don't generally cry at movies and television because even though they echo what might happen in real life they are just characters after all. there are the times that you watch documentaries and stories based on real life...and that's what i did this afternoon.
i was going to watch hotel rwanda yesterday, but decided to go with more light hearted films. i did watch it this afternoon and i made it all the way through, but broke into tears at the end of it. the story is so horrifying because its true and i knew if i started to get upset half way through i wouldn't be able to finish it, but i wanted to.
in august 2005 i watched the documentary shake hands with the devil and blogged the following, which i'm going to post again here. no more television or movies for me today as everything else will seem trite:
last night i watched the "shake hands with the devil" documentary about general romeo dallaire and thought back to the day at met him (and justin trudeau!) at my last conU homecoming. it still amazes me how human beings can be so inhuman. and i'm not just talking about the practitioners of genocide...i'm talking about the western world that did absolutely nothing to help (except for a few struggling peacekeepers and one determined and morally grounded canadian). after they had realised what *had* happened, no one bothered to be honest about the situation or really apologise. dallaire took so much of what happened on his own shoulders and suffered incredibly in terms of the emotional impact his experiences had on him. i only wish i could have as much guts and conviction as he does, because like many of you i'm worried that i'm all talk and no action.
maybe its just because i now have nieces and nephews and realise that yes, indeed, the world will go on once i've gone, but we've got to take care of this world. we really have to take more of a role to teach social responsibility to *everyone* (not just the youngsters) because the reality is, we cannot keep taking the stance that we can use up all we want in this world and just wait for someone to come up with a grand solution. the grand solution is individuals taking control, contributin, being aware of what's going on...the motto, if you will, of veteran's day is "never again"...i can't help but think it everytime i see such attrocities and inhuman behaviour, our planet slowly disintegrating, or life not being seen for the precious and wonderful thing it is.
i was going to watch hotel rwanda yesterday, but decided to go with more light hearted films. i did watch it this afternoon and i made it all the way through, but broke into tears at the end of it. the story is so horrifying because its true and i knew if i started to get upset half way through i wouldn't be able to finish it, but i wanted to.
in august 2005 i watched the documentary shake hands with the devil and blogged the following, which i'm going to post again here. no more television or movies for me today as everything else will seem trite:
last night i watched the "shake hands with the devil" documentary about general romeo dallaire and thought back to the day at met him (and justin trudeau!) at my last conU homecoming. it still amazes me how human beings can be so inhuman. and i'm not just talking about the practitioners of genocide...i'm talking about the western world that did absolutely nothing to help (except for a few struggling peacekeepers and one determined and morally grounded canadian). after they had realised what *had* happened, no one bothered to be honest about the situation or really apologise. dallaire took so much of what happened on his own shoulders and suffered incredibly in terms of the emotional impact his experiences had on him. i only wish i could have as much guts and conviction as he does, because like many of you i'm worried that i'm all talk and no action.
maybe its just because i now have nieces and nephews and realise that yes, indeed, the world will go on once i've gone, but we've got to take care of this world. we really have to take more of a role to teach social responsibility to *everyone* (not just the youngsters) because the reality is, we cannot keep taking the stance that we can use up all we want in this world and just wait for someone to come up with a grand solution. the grand solution is individuals taking control, contributin, being aware of what's going on...the motto, if you will, of veteran's day is "never again"...i can't help but think it everytime i see such attrocities and inhuman behaviour, our planet slowly disintegrating, or life not being seen for the precious and wonderful thing it is.
day four
today i'm actually wearing clothes i would leave the house in.
i've been dividing my movies into two categories : teenage boy ansgt and romantic comedies. and in the teenage boy angst corner we have ferris bueller's day off, igby goes down and thumbsucker. ferris is just a *classic*, but i do have to say i really enjoyed thumbsucker. made me wonder why my parents forced me to stop sucking my two fingers. it's perfectly *normal* you know!
and in the rom-com corner we've had pride and prejudice (the new one) and bridget jones: the edge of reason. i've also been taking in a lot of nigella bites and west wing, but now that the next disc in the season 4 box set is missing i'm kind of at a loss on that one.
lots of tea, but not too much, grapes, yoghurt, smoothie, pickles and i got to help make the salad last night. what a treat...
i've been dividing my movies into two categories : teenage boy ansgt and romantic comedies. and in the teenage boy angst corner we have ferris bueller's day off, igby goes down and thumbsucker. ferris is just a *classic*, but i do have to say i really enjoyed thumbsucker. made me wonder why my parents forced me to stop sucking my two fingers. it's perfectly *normal* you know!
and in the rom-com corner we've had pride and prejudice (the new one) and bridget jones: the edge of reason. i've also been taking in a lot of nigella bites and west wing, but now that the next disc in the season 4 box set is missing i'm kind of at a loss on that one.
lots of tea, but not too much, grapes, yoghurt, smoothie, pickles and i got to help make the salad last night. what a treat...
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