Is it 2012 already?!

 Seriously, with all the wacky Mother Nature gone wild stuff that's started off 2010, you'd think maybe the Mayans were 2 years off their "end of the world" date!

Ever seen an Easter Egg sticking out of a foot?

Voilà!

doesn't look like a foot? allow me:

Discombobulate

This is fun!

I'll have to remember to keep an eye out for this soundtrack when prices go down. Why is it that there are never special deals on soundtracks but yes on most other music? Why is it that the soundtracks on cd usually cost more than the movie itself on dvd?! Used to be I'd buy a couple of soundtracks per year, haven't bought one in ages... :o(

Oscars coming up soon!!! ;o)

Fishy Fridays ep.10

Welcome! Bienvenus! Wilkommen! Bienvenidos! Benvinguts! Benvenutti!

Time to really kick off Fishy Fridays 2010 edition by diving back into the Liège Aquarium! Remember, before Christmas we had just started off with the tropical section, so these are all fish from warm coastal zones, frequently reefs or mangroves. Don't forget to click on photos for a larger view (sorry if blurry, damn fish won't stop swimming even for a second!) and clicking on a fish's name will send you to its Fishbase page where you can find lots more info (namely distribution, diet, predators, reproductive habits, endangered status, size etc.), which I highly recommend since I was a bit busy this weekend and there were way too many fish involved for me to go too much in detail (also why this post is late, that and I need to remember to start writing these before the Friday, lol!).

Our special guests today include:

• someone who makes the Wicked Witch of the West seem pale by comparison
• a fish that will remind some readers of a certain Disney-friendly canine
• one of the most toxic fish in the world... who is nevertheless regularly consumed by humans... of the highly affluent variety
• and more! (it's a big tank, lol!)

that much left?!

I came across this little map thingy and thought I might try it out, see if I like it for when I start up that "travel blog" I mentioned in my New Year's Resolutions. So, I know I've travelled a lot, but these type of maps make it seem both like more and less than I've actually seen! More because I'm one of those people who doesn't like "counting countries" (although I've done it) and thinks you can't really say you've visited a country if you've only seen a city or two (which is why China isn't in red, I've only been to Hong Kong). And less because I tend to repeat visits... some of these places I've been to several times (and would love to go back).

One thing's for sure, I need to get myself to South America and Africa! :p

And HEY!!! where's Antarctica on this map? I can't forget those trips!!!


visited 30 states (13.3%)
Create your own visited map of The World

and looks like I've still got quite a bit of the US to cover as well...


visited 24 states (48%)
Create your own visited map of The United States

Hmm... time to plan another trip? ;o)
I wish....

Monthly Reading: January'10

Oh dear, I've gone and done it again! Kept putting off writing about these books... and now it's a month later and oops! Plus for some reason it feels like I read so many in January (and some rather quickly), it won't be easy recreating the sensations when I read them each... damn! Here goes...

Lucky Penguin

So, have you heard the one about the penguin and the orcas? ;o)

I got one version of this video in an e-mail forward (thx dad!), and have since found a couple others on youtube (changes in music, this one has goofy penguin subtitles). Check it out:

Fishy Fridays ep. 9

We're baaaaaaack!!! :o)

I had wanted to put out a much more complete post to re-boot Fishy Fridays for 2010, but my body apparently had other plans (nasty cold!), so I'm just going to dip my toes in the shallow end with an addition to my favourite post so far (Fishy Fridays ep. 3), the one on dogfish! You remember, those small benthic sharks (also known as catfish for the smaller variety)? Here, this guy:

Well, shortly before I left Liège my roommate at the dorm followed me on a guided tour of the Aquarium, and it so happened that her camera could do video (the one drawback of my DSLR, no vids!). So I took her 'round back to see "behind the scenes" a bit, and we came across a tank with Dogfish eggs in it:

Do you remember my telling you these little critters spend 9 months in their eggs? (if not, click on that link up there to ep.3) And that at the very end you can actually make out the little shark through the egg sack by transparency?

Maybe I forgot to mention you can also see them "swimming" in there too... ;o)

Movie Magic: Coming Soon to an Ocean near you!

 On Earth Day 2010 (so I think that's April 22nd), DisneyNature (movies) brings you...

At least that's what they make it sound like... not much! Sounds like just another Disney production with cute animals and lots of action scenes... NOT!!!

Here's the real deal: Océans  

"one day, a child who discovered the sea asked me "the Ocean, what is the Ocean?""

From Jacques Perrin, the man behind Microcosmos and Le Peuple Migrateur (Winged Migration), an Ode to the seas. How I wish I had a trip planned to the other side of the Pyrenees so I could see it already! Will just have to wait 'till it pops up on Spanish screens, eventually...

Monthly Movies: January'10

A philosopher in Roman Egypt. A famous woman pilot. A father trying to reconnect with his children spread across the country. A couple looking for the perfect place to raise a family. An inspirational rugby match. Mastering the art of French cuisine. A movie director going through an existential crisis. The original (and most famous) sleuth.

Lots of movies (I can't believe last week I actually went 3 nights in a row!) and lots of diversity in the subjects! But I can tell I'm no longer in Liège: almost no non-US/UK movies (except for one, and that was filmed in English), sigh! Oh well, at least we're entering my favourite part of the year: that of excellent films hitting the screens in such abundance that it's almost Solomonic having to choose between them because you know you can't possibly catch them all (but I'm doing my best, lol!)