Turtles Breath through their Bums

You know after 400 years
even the smell of methane can feel normal

I recently discovered from a video clip posted by a friend on Facebook that some turtles have the amazing ability to breath through their bums.

Wow!

What a talent and a curse at the same time.

Old and proud of it!

Imagine a life of having to inhale your own smell so as to be able to survive! Not only that but then realize that some turtles are amongst the longest living oldest creatures on the planet. Some living up to 400 years plus.

Four hundred years of breathing methane like air - probably explains the facial features of turtles and why they look like wrinkly old men without hair.

The next thing I have to do is investigate how politicians breathe. Pretty sure there's a bit of annal snorting going on there as well.

Perhaps there is a connection between long life and breathing through your ass. Scary as know I'm thinking of a couple of politicians who could live forever.

Whats in a Band Name: Quite a bit Perhaps

This line of thought  was kicked into gear by the band name Three Dog Night which suddenly appeared on my iGoogle page in the Useless Knowledge Box with the comment that the name came from an old Eskimo Concept of a night so cold you had to bed down with three husky dogs to keep warm. Try to verify this I came upon a website that claimed Three Dog Night was - "Inspired by an Australian Aboriginal custom of sleeping with a dog for warmth on a cold night - a three dog night would be very cold, plus the band had 3 lead singers." - perhaps but the band was American and I think the Eskimo line of reporting appears more accurate.


A few others that may amuse are:

AC/DC - (1)  It is said that one of the band member saw it on an appliance and thought it had something to do with power. (It does mean "alternating current / direct current".)  The band used it not realizing it was also slang for a bisexual- the band claims NOT to be bisexual.  
(2)  In the vogue of other anti-everything bands it stands for Against Christ/Devil's Children.


THE BEATLES - (1) original member Stuart Sutcliffe came up with THE BEETLES , as a play on Buddy Holly's group THE CRICKETS who they loved. They were using the name THE QUARRYMEN and sometimes THE SILVER BEETLES - later it became THE BEATLES emphasizing the BEAT aspect of music (and poetry?). (2)  Lennon lists the influence of the film "The Wild One", which featured a motorcycle gang called the Beetles (unconfirmed). John Lennon is generally credited with combining Beetles and Beat to come up with THE BEATLES spelling. Lennon was also fond of saying he had a vision as a child of a flaming pie in the sky that said "You are Beatles with an "A"


THE BEE GEES - the 60's soft-rockers now best known for disco. "Saturday Night Fever" - some say the BG comes from "Brothers Gibb" since they were brothers named Gibb... however an article on the group suggests that they used the names of 2 friends that helped them get started: Bill Goode and a DJ named Bill Gates... I'll go with the first version.


LED ZEPPELIN - Jimmy Page was drinking with Moon and Entwhistle, who were bitching about their band mates Daltrey and Townshend. They joked about the two of them starting a band with Jimmy, and one of them said "Yeah, that will go over like a lead balloon". When Jimmy formed his own band, he remembered this and thought "Lead Zeppelin" would be good, both from that conversation and the heavy/light contradiction similar to the band named IRON BUTTERFLY. They decided to drop the "a" so Americans wouldn't mispronounce it.


Source ROCK BANDS - Name Origins

See how many Band names you can find in the picture 

If you want to see the answers go to image link on Flickr.


Some of the name stories are quite interesting if a little hard to verify.

Australia Day Hot hot hot

GeoTagged, [S33.75260, W150.74905]

Today the great national day came with one of the hottest days this summer. I tried hard to do the BBQ, snags and flags thing but could only manage a few hours. To get out of the heat the wife and I headed for the club for a few cool hours of refuge. The club too soon got busy as people arrived for the Australia Day Raffles so we soon headed back to the BBQ.

Generally Australia Day has ended up being a good day off. The usual debates about the Republic, changing the flag and removing the English monarchy were had but I do not see these things happening or changing in the near future. It will take quite a few more years of inducting new citizens who definitely do not look Anglo, European or even white for change to happen. The call for relevance and a departure from anachronism and it's symbols will outnumber the closed minds that keep us looking foolish. I welcome the day - a true Australia Day.

Australia Day: Too Patriotic

Read a blog on the ABC Drum website today which echoes many thoughts I myself have had about the countries national day and how dangerously patriotic the whole thing has become. 


Following is a quote from the post by Michael Brull which shows perhaps what is meant by too patriotic:

"When I was in Surfer’s Paradise last year around Australia Day, I saw stores selling t-shirts saying things like those who don’t love Australia should leave it. I saw several Australians with blonde hair and tans wearing these shirts. I’m sure there are right-thinking Australians who would emphatically agree with the sentiment."


I do not think we should scrap the concept of a national day but I do agree it should take a more positive and inclusive tone. Australia is so much more than its Anglo Heritage and this is what should be reflected in our national day. It should also be a round a truly national event like federation (the day on which Australia actually existed for the first time).


Brull also quotes Tolstoy as follows and it is an illuminating quote though some may call you an anarchist if you take it seriously.

"The feeling of patriotism is an unnatural, irrational, and harmful feeling, and a cause of a great part of the ills from which mankind is suffering, and ... this feeling... should not be cultivated, as is now being done, but should, on the contrary, be suppressed and eradicated by all means available to rational men...

Patriotism as a feeling is bad and harmful, and as a doctrine is stupid. For it is clear that if each people and each State considers itself the best of peoples and States, they all live in a gross and harmful delusion."
from Patriotism and Government by Leo Tolstoy


In any event as the day draws near its probably good to have a good think about why we have a day off and perhaps not get to upset if not everybody is having a BBQ and waving flags, or posturing about what a great country this is - actions make thing great.