March of the Empire Penguins

I watched on cable the other night the march of the Empire Penguins. If you've never seen it, you really should. They're incredible. How they live and survive the way they do is just unbelieveable. I know I couldn't do it.

French filmmaker Luc Jacquet created a movie about their exploits in "The March of the Penguins." I have get out there and see it. It's a nature documentary, but its also a love story. Morgan Freeman narrates the movie.

They endure such extremes. They breed during the Antarctic winter and during the four months of darkness they don't eat food or drink water and they continuously march in a tightly packed circle while balancing either and egg or a chick on their feet so that they don't come in contact with the ice. Now I'm talking about a whole lot of penguins all pressed together to keep warm doing a slow march for four months straight!!! I know I couldn't do that. I don't even think that monks have that much discipline, nor any humans that I know for that matter. Imagine slowly walking around in a circle with a hundred friends on top of the ice in darkness for four months while balancing your baby on your feet... now that's a weird picture.

And before they even did this ritual they had to make an insanely long journey across a frozen tundra in Antarctica. The walk that journey single file and they are very determined to get there (I guess they would have to be, otherwise they would just stay home). Their whole goal for doing this is to create life, but they have to defy death every single step of the way... besides starvation, exhaustion, cold, snow storms, they also have predators waiting for them... hungry seals and birds. Something mighty powerful must be in their brains to make them do all that.

The slowly walking while huddling would finally end when the sun returned. When the baby would emerge from underneath their bottom they could still secrete a "milk" nourishment for the baby from their oesophagus. Simply amazing. Genetics... who comes up with these things...

I wouldn't want to be an Empire Penguin... but seriously if you haven't seen that movie you really should... it at leasts makes you realize what a decent life humans have...

Ransom Myers overfishing crusader died

March 30, 2007
Ransom Myers, a former government scientist who sought to warn that overfishing would lead to collapse of Atlantic cod populations and later discovered that 90 percent of the world's bluefin tuna and other large predatory fish had disappeared, has died, he was 54.
He was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor in November and spent his final months in the hospital able to speak only a few words. He died Tuesday in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Myers was a gifted mathematician and biologist who shook up the insular world of fisheries science with blunt statements about how various species of sharks, turtles and fish were headed toward extinction if industrial fishing did not retreat from excessive hunting.
"Humans have always been very good at killing big animals," Myers said. "Ten thousand years ago, with just some pointed sticks, humans managed to wipe out the woolly mammoth, saber tooth tigers, mastodons and giant vampire bats. The same could happen in the oceans."
Such pronouncements didn't spring from pre-conceived ideology but rather from patterns he discerned from fishing records, scientific surveys and other data he collected.
Myers plain-spoken style got him into trouble in the 1990s, when he condemned the Canadian government's handling of Atlantic cod fishery even though he worked for Canada's Department of Fisheries and Oceans.

Larry Birkhead's the Daddy !

I am so happy for Larry Birkhead that they finally revealed that he's the daddy of Anna Nicole's baby girl. He'd been fighting for custody before Anna Nicole's death and was probably the only sincere person who was in her life and maybe she couldn't handle that because he wanted her to get clean and she was in denial. Howard Stern, the control freak, is finally getting his, how sad for Larry Birkhead that it took this long. Hopefully Howard Stern sticks to what he said that he won't fight for custody. What a lot of drama for a woman that married a rich old man and took advantage of him... but she was also a sweet confused person, who was surrounded by selfish people (I guess what goes around comes around).

Congratulations Larry Birkhead !

Excellent Signage

Excellent Signage!!

Gynecologist's Office:
"Dr. Bailey, at your cervix."

In a Podiatrist's office:
"Time wounds all heels."

On a Septic Tank Truck in Oregon :
"Yesterday's Meals on Wheels"

At a Proctologist's door:
"To expedite your visit please back in."

On a Plumber's truck:
"Don't sleep with a drip. Call your plumber."

At a Tire Shop in Milwaukee :
"Invite us to your next blowout."

At a Towing company:
"We don't charge an arm and a leg. We want tows."

On an Electrician's truck:
"Let us remove your shorts."

On a Maternity Room door:
"Push. Push. Push."

At an Optometrist's Office
"If you don't see what you're looking for, you've come to the right place."

On a Taxidermist's window:
"We really know our stuff."

On a Fence:
"Salesmen welcome! Dog food is expensive."

At a Car Dealership:
"The best way to get back on your feet -- miss a car payment."

Outside a Muffler Shop:
"No appointment necessary. We hear you coming."

In a Veterinarian's waiting room:
"Be back in 5 minutes. Sit! Stay!"

At the Electric Company:
"We would be delighted if you send in your payment.
However, if you don't, you will be."

In a Restaurant window:
"Don't stand there and be hungry, Come on in and get fed up."

In the front yard of a Funeral Home:
"Drive carefully. We'll wait."

At a Propane Filling Station,
"Thank heaven for little grills."

And don't forget the sign at a Chicago Radiator Shop:
"Best place in town to take a leak."