1. Morning.2. Hi. Chilly out.3. I don’t care if it’s chilly. Don’t come in here. I got claws!4. Is this Boris’s bridge that’s going to Ireland?5. Chas and Dave song comes to mind.6. Moooooooooooooo.7. And they called it “Puppy Love”.8. Southern Falls, New Zealand.9. Yummy.10. A bit of sunbathing here.11. See these teeth? They could do you damage.12. So could mine…when I grow up.13. Quack quack.14. Don’t eat me. I’m very small and wouldn’t provide much sustenance. Besides, I’m cute.15. No, don’t run away. I don’t smell that bad all the time. Just when someone wants to eat me.16. My mum’s hands are almost as big as I am.17. Bottle time for a baby chinchilla.18. Hold on tight or you’ll get lost.19. Bedtime for sleepy puppies.20. I don’t suppose anyone has a comb?
On the face of it, one might not guess that it has been 50 million years since pinnipeds (seals et al.) evolutionarily split from other caniforms (dogs, etc.) during the Eocene. pic.twitter.com/KmsvEshw6G
New Zealand seems to be superior to Australia in most ways……pretty scenery, lofty mountains, and the absence of deadly varmints who will bite you or eat you (think Salt Water Crocs here.) And yet Australia seems to get more media attention, much of it favorable. Interesting but counter-intuitive!
O.T….but more or less relevant to the matter…..AND a pet peeve:
I had assumed that unlike the dictatorial tyrannical authoritarian monarchical government of Australia which has (AND enforces) a law that requires people to vote in elections or they suffer judicial penalties (a law which would cause riots and revolution in the USA……just sayin,) I had assumed that New Zealand might be more tolerant than Australia of the fundamental human right to tell the government, by refusing to vote, to go straight to hell. Not so! Here is the voting law in New Zealand (according to Wiki):
“All persons who meet the requirements for voting must by law register on the electoral roll, even if they do not intend to vote. Although eligible voters must be enrolled, voting in New Zealand elections is not compulsory.”
Then they publish this self-serving gibberish:
“Having the printed electoral rolls available for the public to view is a part of the open democratic process of New Zealand”. This is notwithstanding the fact that the roll “can be abused especially by marketing companies who use the electoral roll to send registered voters unsolicited advertising mail.”
So New Zealand basically had the right idea about compulsory voting, and then they mostly screwed it up anyway. 😉
First again – and it’s gone 7:30 already (at my end). Munguinites turning into Sunday morning slugabeds? Looked at SS more than an hour ago and no comments yet posted, so I thought I’d leave it and let someone else have today’s ‘life-affirming’ distinction.
Extension now expired. No 3 struck me as a potential politician. Already has prerequisite stand-by – the ‘get-out claws’. And the cow-lick clip was very touching. In more ways than one. Remember calves doing that in my crofting childhood but not full-grown beasts. Yes, definitely life-affirming – aided by morning kick-start of coffee and Karelia.
John…….I thought I got in first with my brief comment on the beauty of New Zealand and my jeremiad on Australian election law. (I distinctly remember it being more or less life-affirming.) 😉
Well done, Danny. You beat me to it by a few minutes while I was writing my valedictory self-congratulations.
On New Zealand, I can confirm your impressions – beautiful country, friendly and hospitable natives, great in every respect. We were there for Rugby World Cup in 2011 (still seems like last week) and discovering the country soon took over from attending rugby matches for which we had tickets but no vested interest in the outcome. Part of the RWC ‘package’ that means you end up with tickets for other games as well as those you do want to see.
Only one dissatisfaction: I kept wondering why my ‘double’ whiskies were disappearing so quickly with no apparent effect. I then discovered that the standard measure is only 15 ml! My doubles were equivalent to the standard 30 ml singles in Dubai (then home base). This Puritanism extends to a ‘no double-doubles’ rule so I had to buy two separate ‘doubles’ and then add the extra one to the other glass.
Not too much of a hardship really, compared to all NZ’s wonderful plus points.
John…….HOW many times I have written a carefully crated response to a posting , and as soon as I posted mine, discovered that someone else had already made and posted theirs…..LOL.
Glad to have my general impression of New Zealand confirmed by someone who’s been there and actually knows what he’s talking about. I love your story about the alcoholic drink restriction. From my libertarian political perspective, I suppose I’ll consign that to one more example of puritanical restrictions on individual human rights in service of the presumed public good. The same impulse apparently that drives the Australians to impose civic virtue on their citizens by putting them in prison if they don’t vote. 😉
BTW, something similar in principle to the New Zealand alcohol law happened in New York City, when the Mayor….Michael Bloomberg…….decided that people were getting too fat, and issued an edict that food and drink establishments in the city could no longer serve sugary soft drinks in containers exceeding 16 fl oz. This caused an unholy uproar (as it should have,) and was batted down in the courts. Bloomberg’s trademarked nanny state liberalism run amok IMHO……in a city ruled by “limousine liberals” who are constantly fretting about the public good, and human rights be damned!
Bloomberg (who has a net worth over 50 BILLION Dollars) spent nearly 500 MILLION Dollars seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, and I’m happy to report that the voters in the states told this despicable man to go take a hike. (There’s also the fact that Bloomberg probably has more non-disclosure agreements with women than Trumpy does. 😉 )
Danny: I note that Bloomberg spent $500 million on his campaign that never got off the ground. Given that there are around 330 million people in the USA, he could have given every adult and every child and quite a few of their dogs, a million dollars each.
I suspect that would have boosted the economy big time, and bought a few votes along the way!
Tris……you may have seen that widely reported on the internet. I know it appeared on an MSNBC TV newscast here too. Then someone noticed that for example, 330 million dollars divided among 330 million people is ONE dollar per person, not one MILLION dollars per person. 😉
Some years ago I was working in the NHS. Some bean-counter or other decided that too much money was being spent on stationery, so “Purchasing” sent round a memo to every department telling them to cut back. Now if that isn’t funny enough in itself, the memo informed everyone that in future and for an indefinite period stationery orders would be adjusted and that only half of what was ordered would be fulfilled. Yep, you guessed it…everyone just doubled their order. I kid you not.
Tris……And I’m the guy who failed to make out the bridge in the forest (4.) I must have looked at it for 15 minutes before I clearly made it out……and not before I asked for help and Douglas responded. 🙂
Well, you might be on to something. Perhaps a floating road could be made to work? You’d have to deal with tides and storms and suchlike, but these would be minor issues when compared to nuclear waste, other munitions and considerable depths. Ships sail across that sea without a problem, so? Just link them all together and you have a “flidge” – new word, fl =floating. idge = last few letters of bridge.
Douglas……Thanks. After more careful examination, I now see it. (Tris had made a comment about a bridge of course, but I still couldn’t see it at first.) Without the advantage of depth perception in the picture, I simply could NOT see the bridge. The problem was that the right rail of the bridge seemed to blend in with the left rail, and with what seemed like one single raised wooden structure, I did not make out the pathway. And the low area being bridged was not clear to me either. I feel like a fool. Please don’t tell anyone. 😉
And the information on the floating road was interesting too…..LOL.
oh there are some marvellous pictures today. I particularly liked Wolverine in picture 4, the bunnies in picture 5 and the real cutie in pic 7 (the puppy wasn’t bad either!) I’ve never seen a baby chinchilla before – awww. Unfortunately the only way I’ve seen an adult chinchilla is in a, gulp, coat. Sad face.
I really hope that young man washes his hair. I’ve not sure cow slavers is a “look”
Oh also loved the gorilla and the baby orang with, as it should be, their mum.
I always thought a coo’s lick was a curly bit at the front that didn’t sit right. Must reflect the different licking preferences of coos across the country 🙂
Alex: I hope someone gives him a spade and tells him to get digging. It will keep the obnoxious git out of our business for a while… and possibly forever (given the munitions)
Lots of cuteness competition today but I particularly liked the baby skunk. didn’t Disney have a cartoon skunk, Pepe Le Pew? I always thought that the skunks must have their philosopher like Descartes – “I stink, therefore I am”.
can I go off topic please. Mark Frankland is looking for folk to nominate his foodbank for funding from the council and for retweets/reshares. You don’t even have to live in D&G but you do need to register.
MUNGUIN'S NEW REPUBLIC 
I don’t know what that is in the forest (4.)
Southern Falls is pretty (8.)
A few words about New Zealand come to mind:
New Zealand seems to be superior to Australia in most ways……pretty scenery, lofty mountains, and the absence of deadly varmints who will bite you or eat you (think Salt Water Crocs here.) And yet Australia seems to get more media attention, much of it favorable. Interesting but counter-intuitive!
O.T….but more or less relevant to the matter…..AND a pet peeve:
I had assumed that unlike the dictatorial tyrannical authoritarian monarchical government of Australia which has (AND enforces) a law that requires people to vote in elections or they suffer judicial penalties (a law which would cause riots and revolution in the USA……just sayin,) I had assumed that New Zealand might be more tolerant than Australia of the fundamental human right to tell the government, by refusing to vote, to go straight to hell. Not so! Here is the voting law in New Zealand (according to Wiki):
“All persons who meet the requirements for voting must by law register on the electoral roll, even if they do not intend to vote. Although eligible voters must be enrolled, voting in New Zealand elections is not compulsory.”
Then they publish this self-serving gibberish:
“Having the printed electoral rolls available for the public to view is a part of the open democratic process of New Zealand”. This is notwithstanding the fact that the roll “can be abused especially by marketing companies who use the electoral roll to send registered voters unsolicited advertising mail.”
So New Zealand basically had the right idea about compulsory voting, and then they mostly screwed it up anyway. 😉
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The comparison berween New Zealand and Australia reminds me of two Counties on an island in the North Atlantic. 😀
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Grumpy: I know. The last time I went to England, everything was trying to bite me! 🙂
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All you need to do is. Have your name ruled off the register then just destroy your vote if you don’t like any of them.
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Jack: Is that what people do?
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LOL. It sounds like something left over from British rule!
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First again – and it’s gone 7:30 already (at my end). Munguinites turning into Sunday morning slugabeds? Looked at SS more than an hour ago and no comments yet posted, so I thought I’d leave it and let someone else have today’s ‘life-affirming’ distinction.
Extension now expired. No 3 struck me as a potential politician. Already has prerequisite stand-by – the ‘get-out claws’. And the cow-lick clip was very touching. In more ways than one. Remember calves doing that in my crofting childhood but not full-grown beasts. Yes, definitely life-affirming – aided by morning kick-start of coffee and Karelia.
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John…….I thought I got in first with my brief comment on the beauty of New Zealand and my jeremiad on Australian election law. (I distinctly remember it being more or less life-affirming.) 😉
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Now lads…. no fighting!
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What a lazy lot they are, John!
Why, Munguin was up at about at 3 am. That, of course, was due to him not having gone to bed.
Champagne lifestyle of the rich and famous, huh?
The cow was awesome.
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Well done, Danny. You beat me to it by a few minutes while I was writing my valedictory self-congratulations.
On New Zealand, I can confirm your impressions – beautiful country, friendly and hospitable natives, great in every respect. We were there for Rugby World Cup in 2011 (still seems like last week) and discovering the country soon took over from attending rugby matches for which we had tickets but no vested interest in the outcome. Part of the RWC ‘package’ that means you end up with tickets for other games as well as those you do want to see.
Only one dissatisfaction: I kept wondering why my ‘double’ whiskies were disappearing so quickly with no apparent effect. I then discovered that the standard measure is only 15 ml! My doubles were equivalent to the standard 30 ml singles in Dubai (then home base). This Puritanism extends to a ‘no double-doubles’ rule so I had to buy two separate ‘doubles’ and then add the extra one to the other glass.
Not too much of a hardship really, compared to all NZ’s wonderful plus points.
LikeLiked by 2 people
John…….HOW many times I have written a carefully crated response to a posting , and as soon as I posted mine, discovered that someone else had already made and posted theirs…..LOL.
Glad to have my general impression of New Zealand confirmed by someone who’s been there and actually knows what he’s talking about. I love your story about the alcoholic drink restriction. From my libertarian political perspective, I suppose I’ll consign that to one more example of puritanical restrictions on individual human rights in service of the presumed public good. The same impulse apparently that drives the Australians to impose civic virtue on their citizens by putting them in prison if they don’t vote. 😉
BTW, something similar in principle to the New Zealand alcohol law happened in New York City, when the Mayor….Michael Bloomberg…….decided that people were getting too fat, and issued an edict that food and drink establishments in the city could no longer serve sugary soft drinks in containers exceeding 16 fl oz. This caused an unholy uproar (as it should have,) and was batted down in the courts. Bloomberg’s trademarked nanny state liberalism run amok IMHO……in a city ruled by “limousine liberals” who are constantly fretting about the public good, and human rights be damned!
Bloomberg (who has a net worth over 50 BILLION Dollars) spent nearly 500 MILLION Dollars seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, and I’m happy to report that the voters in the states told this despicable man to go take a hike. (There’s also the fact that Bloomberg probably has more non-disclosure agreements with women than Trumpy does. 😉 )
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugary_drinks_portion_cap_rule
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Danny: I note that Bloomberg spent $500 million on his campaign that never got off the ground. Given that there are around 330 million people in the USA, he could have given every adult and every child and quite a few of their dogs, a million dollars each.
I suspect that would have boosted the economy big time, and bought a few votes along the way!
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Tris……you may have seen that widely reported on the internet. I know it appeared on an MSNBC TV newscast here too. Then someone noticed that for example, 330 million dollars divided among 330 million people is ONE dollar per person, not one MILLION dollars per person. 😉
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LOL… I’m a dufus!
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One of the top NBC news people had the internet item on his evening newscast. I didn’t give it a second thought, until the correction came later……LOL.
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Well, that’s some consolation, at least, Danny!
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Oh dear, John. That does seem a rather pointless rule.
Ah, Mr Barman. Can I have a double whisky, please?
No, sir, sorry. That against the law.
Ok. Can I have two single whiskies please?
Well, certainly, sir.
All it does is make another glass dirty!
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Tris……that same pointless exercise was exactly the technique that was required for New Yorkers to get around Mayor Bloomberg’s soft drink law. 🙂
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Some years ago I was working in the NHS. Some bean-counter or other decided that too much money was being spent on stationery, so “Purchasing” sent round a memo to every department telling them to cut back. Now if that isn’t funny enough in itself, the memo informed everyone that in future and for an indefinite period stationery orders would be adjusted and that only half of what was ordered would be fulfilled. Yep, you guessed it…everyone just doubled their order. I kid you not.
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Duh, Jake!!!!
(Says the bloke who managed to mix $1 with a million of them)
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Tris……And I’m the guy who failed to make out the bridge in the forest (4.) I must have looked at it for 15 minutes before I clearly made it out……and not before I asked for help and Douglas responded. 🙂
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LOL. You probably need to see an optician, Danny!
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I’d say so!…..LOL.
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🙂
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Jake……LOL…….Nice that it can be so easy to get around the mindless dictates of the bean-counters. 🙂
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Danny,
“I don’t know what that is in the forest (4.)”
Well, you might be on to something. Perhaps a floating road could be made to work? You’d have to deal with tides and storms and suchlike, but these would be minor issues when compared to nuclear waste, other munitions and considerable depths. Ships sail across that sea without a problem, so? Just link them all together and you have a “flidge” – new word, fl =floating. idge = last few letters of bridge.
You may have invented an entirely new technology!
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Danny, if you are interested:
https://www.coastal-management.eu/measure/example-floating-roads-hedel-nl
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Douglas……Thanks. After more careful examination, I now see it. (Tris had made a comment about a bridge of course, but I still couldn’t see it at first.) Without the advantage of depth perception in the picture, I simply could NOT see the bridge. The problem was that the right rail of the bridge seemed to blend in with the left rail, and with what seemed like one single raised wooden structure, I did not make out the pathway. And the low area being bridged was not clear to me either. I feel like a fool. Please don’t tell anyone. 😉
And the information on the floating road was interesting too…..LOL.
LikeLiked by 2 people
oh there are some marvellous pictures today. I particularly liked Wolverine in picture 4, the bunnies in picture 5 and the real cutie in pic 7 (the puppy wasn’t bad either!) I’ve never seen a baby chinchilla before – awww. Unfortunately the only way I’ve seen an adult chinchilla is in a, gulp, coat. Sad face.
I really hope that young man washes his hair. I’ve not sure cow slavers is a “look”
Oh also loved the gorilla and the baby orang with, as it should be, their mum.
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PP…..I was thinking that about the cow too. 🙂
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the young man needs to learn what the term “zoonotic” means!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cowpox
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PP……That’s really very interesting history. 🙂
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PP: Goodness. I’d never heard that word!
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“I particularly liked Wolverine in picture 4,”
I can’t count. THREE, picture 3.
My penance is this
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PP: LOL. After I went and put number on the pics for you!
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PP, your comment reminded me that when I was a kid (looooooong ago) if your hair stuck up at the back my Mum would say, “You’ve got a coo’s lick.”
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I always thought a coo’s lick was a curly bit at the front that didn’t sit right. Must reflect the different licking preferences of coos across the country 🙂
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No two coos are exactly the same, PP!
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Ah good. Plenty of satisfaction there.
Munguin might even give me a bonus.
No?
Oh well…
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Isn’t it Alister’s tunnel now?
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Alex: I hope someone gives him a spade and tells him to get digging. It will keep the obnoxious git out of our business for a while… and possibly forever (given the munitions)
Boom!
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Lots of cuteness competition today but I particularly liked the baby skunk. didn’t Disney have a cartoon skunk, Pepe Le Pew? I always thought that the skunks must have their philosopher like Descartes – “I stink, therefore I am”.
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Andi: 🙂
Je pue; donc je suis.
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I found this on Twitter and thought it was pretty cute.
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Soooooo cute.
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can I go off topic please. Mark Frankland is looking for folk to nominate his foodbank for funding from the council and for retweets/reshares. You don’t even have to live in D&G but you do need to register.
https://marksimonfrankland.blogspot.com/2020/03/first-base-needs-your-vote-to-help.html
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On it.
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