It never ceases to amaze me what one can find on the web. Did you know the origins of this idiom/expression? It was a poem written in 1957 by Stevie Smith. It’s called Not waving but Drowning.
Whilst playing farm yard animals with my daughter a few weeks back, she asked me if I wanted a glass of milk. Naturally keen to demonstrate a positive attitude towards all things wholesome and healthy I replied ‘yes please!’ She proceeded to squeeze the soft toy’s tummy over an empty cup. I decided to take it one step further in this cartoon and add the shake.
And a few facts about Mr Alexander Graham Bell you may not be familiar with:
- Alexander Bell was born Scotland 1847. At the age of ten he asked his father to give him a middle name (like his brothers). On his 11th birthday he had a birthday ceremony and was given the middle name of Graham (chosen in honour of a family friend called Alexander Graham).
- He was a founding member of the National Geographic Society
- Before inventing the telephone, his career was following his father’s footsteps as a teacher of the deaf
- Ironically, Bell never had a telephone in his study
- Bell died in 1922 and at the end of his funeral service, all the telephones in North America were silenced in remembrance of the great man.
Did you know that the humble honey mushroom is the largest living (single) organism (by area) on earth, covering about 2,300 acres (that’s 1665 football fields!) in the Malheur National Forest, Oregon? Not only is its size impressive, but its age too. Scientists estimate it to be anything between 2,400 and 8,600 years old. Makes annual birthday cakes celebration a potential fire hazard!
I’ve always loved the bowerbird, not only striking in plumage (regent bowerbird) but incredibly artistic. They are the DaVinci’s of the bird world with beautifully composed bower object layout, attention to colour variation (even if limited to a palette of blue or white typically) and shape. Here are just a few images I found on the web.
- He sells sea shells by the sea-shore
- This restaurant is only for two
- Big night out on the milk and straws
- 5 star accommodation
PS. I can feel a Friday freebie coming up. What a great way to kick start the weekend.
And my thanks go out to Crubin from The Write Transition at www.carrierubin.com, who submitted her cartoon caption on the Submit a joke page. If you’re interested in the journey of a healthcare professional to writer, visit her website for a humorous and intellectually stimulating roller coaster ride.
It’s the beginning of a new week. Why not set a challenge for yourself?
Yes, I’m leading you somewhere, I wonder where. Possibly somewhere you don’t want to go. Are you still reading? Well maybe I’ve got you hooked. Are you ready for it?
Why not challenge yourself to coming up with a cartoon caption for the March cartoon caption competition? Enter here.
It is commonly said that kangaroos can’t walk (or hop in their case) backwards. Further to this, it also has led to the story that this was why the kangaroo and emu (who also has been accused with the inability to walk backwards) were chosen to represent the emblems for Australia’s coat of arms. The story continues, with the initial 1908 writing on the coat of arms being ‘Advance Australia’. It is rumoured that this was the reason for choosing a kangaroo and emu – they were symbolic of our nation moving forwards, due to their inability to move backwards.
Well, I’ll let you determine the truth of both stories. For my bit of tinsey, winsey, highly scientific research into the area of ‘can kangaroos and emus walk backwards’ I set my daughters onto the task. They recently visited the zoo and diligently interviewed (more like an interrogation) the zoo keepers on their real life sightings. The conclusion was that kangaroos can’t move backwards, but emus can.
Ever heard of the ‘Snake charmer song’? I hadn’t heard it’s name, but when I played the melody, I remembered it from old black and white movies gone by. Wiki gives you a brief history of the song and let’s you play it too. Warning: You might end up like me, and find yourself annoyingly humming the melody over and over again in your head for the next few hours, so click here if you dare.
Well really, you can hardly blame Ed Elephant for researching on the web how best to plan an escape from prison.
A quick Google will inform you that not only is dynamite made from peanuts, but the inventor of this explosive was Alfred Nobel who applied for a patent in 1866 (I love old documents so had to add the link). He made his wealth from this invention, amongst various other inventions totalling an astonishing 355. On his death, he died extremely wealthy and this enabled him to set up the Nobel Peace prize (must be a way of offsetting the bad name one could get from creating something that can be both useful or extremely destructive when in the wrong hands). For a basic chemistry lesson on the derivation from peanut to dynamite, check out this link.