Back to Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, apparently in a bad part of the swamp.  This angry-looking guy is clearly a grizzled veteran, as something unfriendly has hacked his tail down to the stump recently (look closely and you can see the stub where it's just starting to grow back).  However it happened, it doesn't look like he's eager to have it happen again, because he's doing his best to warn me off by flashing his wattle at me.  "Get off my lawn!"

Florida is crawling with brown and green anoles; on Sanibel I can barely take a step without seeing one darting off for cover out of the corner of my eye.  Good thing they move so fast, too, because I'd hate to have to look for them.  They are very skilled at color-change camouflage.

   ‘Guacamole’, introduced in 1994 and Hosta of the Year in 2002 is probably his best known cultivar and is probably in your garden.

  ‘Orange Marmalade’ PP#16,742 is his first patented hosta and destined for a wide distribution.  ‘Corkscrew’, ‘Ginsu Knife,’ ‘Baby Blue Eyes,’ ‘Coconut Custard,’ ‘Cracker Crumbs,’ ‘Barbara May’ and ‘One Man’s Treasure’ are some of his other introductions.

   Bob has been very active in the American Hosta Society, serving as editor of the Hosta Journal, the principle publication of the American Hosta Society, (1988-1990) and Vice-President for the Genus Hosta,

(1998-2001). He was the recipient of the 2003 Alex J. Summers Distinguished Merit Award.

   Bob is a nationally known lecturer on the subject of hostas and author of many articles on hostas. He has edited the “Green Hill Gossip” for the past 13 years and the “Gossip Jr.”, a twice yearly subscription newsletter since 2004. When the hostas are up and glowing in the garden you may find him on the road, bringing hostas and hosta stories to a town near you.

   For questions, contact Judi Pohorsky at (319) 396-6116.

This is from my other favorite place in Florida.  No, not Walt Disney World, though I suppose that's a halfway-decent guess.  This green heron shot was taken at Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary in Naples, an Audubon-sponsored refuge set in a broad cypress stand near the Everglades.  These guys are real characters, though fairly difficult to spot except on the semi-rare occasions that they're right out in the open like this one.  By the way, despite what you may think from looking at the photo, green herons do indeed look green. Their green plumage, however, is iridescent, so the degree of greenness depends on the angle of the light; the sun was apparently bouncing off this guy in a "blue" direction when I took the photo.

Green herons, like most herons and egrets, feed by fishing from above the surface. Some of the longer-legged species hunt for food while wading in the shallows, while guys like this one fish from a perch just above water.  They generally stand stock-still, poised hanging just over the water's surface, until something edible swims by (at which point the bird's head moves faster than Mach 1 to spear the little wiggly thing).  Florida's Gulf Coast is also host to a very stark exception to this heron/egret "barely move until something swims by and then bang!" rule of feeding, and I'll post photos of that species at a later date.

La stupidità umana non ha limiti, ed è vero. In vendita su stupid.com, è presente un orrendo cavatappi impiantato in una statuetta di Bill Clinton. Sempre a quell'indirizzo sono in vendita altri oggetti, tutti con la caratteristica di essere inutili e con un rapporto qualità/prezzo veramente basso. Si passa dal cono rotante per gelato (che non batte certo il record d'igiene) al portafoglio realizzato con scotch (peccato che costa circa 7 volte di più di un rotolo di nastro adesivo), passando per l'arrotola spaghetti automatico (anche qui, di igiene, non ne parliamo) e per l'immancabile (si fa per dire) auricolare per cellulari a forma di cornetta del telefono.

Se regalate uno di questi gadget alla vostra fidanzata, poi non lamentatevi con me se vi lascia. Perchè in questo caso avrebbe sicuramente ragione. ;-)

watermeloncorp

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Mobile post sent by simplify3 using Utterz.  Replies. ]]> http://winefeeds.wordpress.com/?p=100 Fri, 01 Aug 2008 21:47:38 +0000 Geoff Bilbrough http://winefeeds.ca.wordpress.com/2008/08/01/quality-corkscrews-from-laguiole/

 If you're looking for the paraphernalia of wine this is the place to go www.wineware.co.uk. They have glasses, racks, fridges, corkscrews and decanters of every shape and size. Personally, I'm hoping Santa puts one of these Chateau Laguiole corkscrews in my Christmas stocking this year.

I've lately been watching a classic anime series (in between, after, and a bit during study...) called 'Hajime no Ippo'. It's about a young boy that's quite obviously on steroids going from a shy little Japanese 'kid' (.. like for most anime I use that term loosely, the age never seems right...) to a shy little Japanese boy beating the crap out of everyone all over the world, all thanks to Boxing! (anyways, it's a great show and I would be watching it right now if I didn't use up the download quota...)

so anyways, this show has inspired me to do an entry on boxing.

To be honest I have never considered boxing a martial art. Boxing is a sport: it has rules, it has boundaries, and therefore it has limits. Martial arts to me is something that you can use anytime, anywhere, against anyone (given you had some essential gear e.g. weapons). This conflicts with boxing firstly because these guys don't use their legs to fight. The biggest problem here is the lack of defense: boxers have a very high center of gravity, this keeps them light on their feet and easier to shift their weight around; the trade off is it's much easier to impair their movement and damage the lower limbs (as well as groin shots), which is a fatal flaw on the streets. The second problem is they only have 2 weapons: their left fist and their right fist. So you've lost flexibility in your fighting, as oppose to those who train with kicks, knees, elbows, headbutts, grapples, palm strikes, throws, shoulder strikes....... and so on.

The cognitive state from doing boxing is also very different: due to the fact there are really only 2 hazards you have to worry about (left and right fist) this is where your concentration goes when you defend, and with the rules in the ring you don't have to worry about the other guy doing anything tricky either. One example I always think of is weaving. Even though it's used in other martial arts as well, there is no sense of danger in the boxing ring of someone kneeing you in the face, so the movements are more dramatic and lower. And I'm not sure how often this is used or is McKoy the only one to use it, but the "corkscrew" punch is another technique I find to be protected by the rules of no grappling and limb breaking. The corkscrew is THE example of an over extended and self-exposing move, to the point I personally think out weights the power of the punch.

[And no, I did not base all of this simply on a cartoon show... well maybe a bit on the corkscrew, but wiki'ed it and it was there so it's fine by me]

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when you think you're all alone in this world.....

*taken at "yuen's market", sunnybank, QLD*

One way to remove a cork. I found it here, thanks girl in the green dress <link> but there is a long trail back to the designer.

From personal experience, these bus drivers speed like devils even when the bus keeps swerving left and right, and you know they don't have absolute control. It was only a matter of time and luck which determines which bus would crash and how many would be killed. With the simple lax attitude of the relevant authorities, its no surprise that incidents such as this will continue.

Travel

There are several coaches which travel there.

Hotel

After that, you have to think of which hotel to stay at, recommended one is First World Hotel:

As you can see, it is promoting itself through the 'lively colors', handpicked by dunno-who. Why is it recommended? Because its the cheapest, and it has all the necessary facilities you need when you are at the peak of a highland.

Money

You need lots of it. Don't be surprised that a no-frills bottle of water costs you RM$2, and thats about all that you can get in Genting which costs less then RM$4. Yup, that candy floss, bubble gum... etc are all ^^.

Fun

Outdoor Theme Park.

If you are in for 2 days 1 night, great you are on the right track. For those thinking of spending few more bucks for the stay, good luck!

Thats all you get for fun in Genting, the repeated rides (queue first) of the few working machines. P.S. Corkscrew is always under maintenace, beware ;)

For years, every bar knife I met had basically the same design, and basically the same drawback: if you put the corkscrew too far into the cork, you couldn't get the fulcrum notch onto the bottle's rim; and if you didn't put it far enough in, you could break the cork.

Then, about 3 years ago, I bought something at the liquor store that had a free bar knife attached.  It closely resembles the ones in the picture, and features that little knobby thing sticking out of the metal lever.  When you push that knob, a second fulcrum notch comes out of the lever, about half way down its length.  That makes the cork extraction a two stage affair, which eliminates the challenges of the old design.  Here's a video of a very serious, grey-haired, left-handed man showing how it works.

Is this innovation as important as electricity or radio?  Perhaps not, but it makes me happy.

They also offer TSA travel packs that (when combined with a Flybag) we would recommend you take on your next trip with you.

See commercial below and link to their blog in our blogroll!

This is the only covenant we need:

We, the constituent members of the Anglican Communion, bound together by the Grace of Jesus Christ working together in common mission, do solemnly and gratefully covenant to:

Reaffirm our bonds of affection, and it is by the Grace and Love of God that we have been brought out of the bondage of colonialism into a family of worshipping communities.

Give thanks that at the banquet of heaven and the Wedding Feast of the Lamb, the Lord will see fit to put us in charge of the cocktail hour.

Humble ourselves and be servants of the community, especially those called to Holy Orders of Deacon, Priest, or Bishop, for Jesus Christ humbled himself and took the form of a slave

Renounce any violence done in the name of God as anathema.

Recognize the faithfulness of each other's walk with Christ in times of dispute

and above all, to love one another as God has loved us...unconditionally.