1 Morning all. What’s up?2. Don’t you wish you were here?3. This is my cat. ..well, kitten really.4. I’m a Gilbert’s Potoroo, for your information. I bet none of you lot knew that, cept maybe for Kangaroo, Munguin and Quokka (who definitely knows it). I’m VERY rare…a bit like Munguin.5. Munguin says he wants his garden to look like this. Munguin would!6. Far too many cat like creatures about here. That’s what I say.7. What? It’s not only Giraffes that have long necks you know. Can you imagine what it’s like if I get a sore throat? Eh? You’d never thought about that, had you?8. Look into my eyes…9. Oi, do I take pictures of you eating your dinner and send them to Munguin’s worldwide publishing? Give a cat some peace will ya?10. Montana.11. I’ll be with you shortly. Don’t you know it’s rude to stare?12. Lomé, Togo.13. What was that bird saying about my neck?14. Hold on tight.15. If I hear Munguin talking about cuisses de grenouille, I’ll be very upset.16. This is my dog… and this is my bird!17. Peanut, a golden cheeked gibbon.18. You’ll have to do better than that if you want to separate the sheep from the goats.19. I bet old Liz doesn’t have as nice a throne as this.20. You want a drink? Well come back next week and we’ll see if there’s any left.
Loved the owl and the fox and the cat with the squirrel.
Something different this week.
The Atacama desert is home to the darkest and cleanest skies in the world. A view to the night sky rewards with uncountable numbers of stars and fantastic nebulas in one of the most quiet a empty places on earth. Not a single noise distracts from the grand show the night sky has to offer.
The environment is harsh though. Filmed in freezing temperatures, altitudes up to 5000m/16000ft, salt lakes and icy slopes, the Atacama is not friendly to life and equipment. Though it provides without doubt for epic and vast vistas of one of the greatest landscapes on earth.
It’s true that I myself have encountered a few dangerously hot Chilleans in my travels, PP. So much so that Pinochet booted them out for being too inflammatory.
Funny how those appalling right-wing authoritarian types seem to enjoy each other’s company. Thatcher & Pinochet; Hitler & Mussolini; Hairstyle 1 in Washington – or Mar a Lago – and Hairstyle 2 in Pyongyang; or Putin, or Duterte, or Erdoğan, or Muhammad bin Salman…
… Orbán, Kaczyński and his Law and Order Party stooges in Poland (who are copying Putin’s anti-gay playbook, incidentally; pink triangles, anyone?), Lukashenko in Belarus…
“Hello human. Nice to see you again. Can you help me push this log out of the way seeing as you’re bigger than me. I’m hungry and there’s some good food under there?
A very successful reaffirmation of life today, Tris, particularly pic. 8. How can anyone who’s not got something seriously awry with their personality not fall in love with such a soulful-eyed young one?
I am convinced that orangutans are much nicer than humans, on the whole.
What a smashing selection of pictures today, they were all a joy! Golden cheeked gibbons are funny ones. They are born fully golden to blend in with mum, then they turn black to match dad (except guess what bit of his face remains golden!), then the girls on reaching maturity turn golden again apart from a black cap! They are form SE Asia but are threatened.
I wonder where the beach is? I thought Barra maybe? I’d love to be at the seaside but since I’m in a central belt, I’m going nowhere! Brilliant photos all- really set up my day.
PP…..I see that your suggestion of Barra is “Outer Hebrides, Scotland.” That would confirm a vague recollection of a picture I saw somewhere of a beach that looked like Hawaii but was in fact Scotland. Beautiful!
That older dog is so beautifully groomed, PP! It must take hours. Looks wonderful, but I can just imagine those long, silky hairs going all over my precious antique furniture and plush upholstery [As if! You don’t run to anything better than heavily discounted pleather-Ed.] and up my delicate retroussé nose [You wish!-Ed.].
Alas, as a person who is unable to do such things as walkies, shudders delicately at the thought of picking up canine products of digestion in a plastic-enshrouded paw [You mean is likely to puke-Ed.], and is fundamentally unreliable in all sorts of ways [Honesty at last! How novel. Keep it up-Ed.], it would be cruel and unusual punishment for me to be put in charge of a dog. Cruel and unusual punishment for the dog, that is; it is important to be clear on this point, I feel.
I do believe my mind is wandering a bit, probably because of all this life-reaffirmation and soppiness going about, for which I shall blame Tris. No justice, no peace, or something with broad shoulders like our preciousss, preciousss Union™. As I was just saying.
On which subject, I repeat my best wishes for a speedy recovery to Wee Ginger Dug’s human, Paul Kavanagh. I was reassured to read the interview with him in The National yesterday (https://archive.vn/TsDyj) which proves he has not lost his snark [Don’t you mean “spark”? Oh well, that too, I suppose, let’s not go to war over it-Ed.]
Tris, d’you think the good Mr. Munguin might let me have a Jeroboam or two of his champagne so we can see what the effects are of mixing my pills with alcohol?
The poor wee fella fainted clean away when I read that out to him. I shall return shortly when I have revived him with a small measure of Henri IV Dudognon Heritage Cognac.
Well there are the two owners to share the grooming duties. They are lovely dogs. I agree re the poo bags but also I’m not a fan of barking and I’ve a very barky dog nearby!
I do agree about the orangutans though. Such a shame we don’t have any nearby to visit. Apparently the nearest are in Blackpool. No wonder the FM has to caution us not to travel there!
And Paul K makes a very good point in his interview. Stop moaning about the pub being shut when his mammy cannae even see him when he’s no weel.
Hope the toothache is better and if not the photos took your mind of it for a while.
Thanks, PP! The toothache is gone for the moment, but I am milking it for every last drop of sympathy I can obtain. Oops – I said the quiet part out loud again. Tchah!
Nice view of Montana. Not sure where that is. Might be in Glacier National Park.
The view of mountains from flatlands is always pretty. Views of the Rockies from the eastern prairies of Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana are pretty, as is the Sierra Nevada Range from the high desert of the western Great Basin of Nevada. There’s a route that planes fly from Kansas City to San Francisco. You leave the Colorado Rockies far behind and fly a long way over the Great Basin before you see the Sierra Nevada on the horizon with the Golden State beyond.
No pictures of that horizon view immediately clickable. People apparently only start taking pictures when they get over the mountains.
Michael Gove says there is now less of a chance of reaching a Brexit deal, and that the EU isn’t behaving as if ‘it’s serious about reaching a deal’
Why would it be serious about reaching a deal with a banana queendom that just voted to break the last deal it had with the EU?
Whilst a deal would be preferable, it knows that it wouldn’t be worth the paper it was written on. And, in any case, it has 27 members, plus the three EEA countries and Switzerland. Free trade among 31 countries and trade deals with many others.
The UQ, on the other hand, has not a lot. Still, nous pouvons encore nous attendre à des passeports bleus!
In fairness, Ed, you would have to admit that as we get colder and hungrier and more and more alone, medicines dry up, etc, there will be that warm glow every time we look at a picture of a blue passport.
C’mon, it would take a hard heart not to be overwhelmed by Brutish, I mean British, prude, I mean pride.
Picking up on the Milestones that appeared in the previous AOY, I thought about the oldest federal monuments in the United States……the boundary markers of the 1791-1792 survey that established the location in Maryland and (originally) Virginia of the District of Columbia. “Although several stones have been moved or severely damaged, thirty-six stones from the 1790s are in or near their original locations, including all fourteen in the land that was returned to Virginia in the 1846-1847 retrocession.” The Federal District (including the original portion in Virginia) was a square, 10 miles on a side…….therefore a total of 40 milestones.
I can beat that Danny. About two hundred yards from my house, there was found a milestone put there by the Cohors Ulpia Traiana Cugernorum civium Romanorum, nearly two thousand years ago.
Conan……that really is seriously awesome! It did occur to me that while 1791-1792 is old by American standards, it’s more or less yesterday by European and British standards…..not to mention Roman standards. I’m fascinated by old monuments still standing…..such as the three Eleanor Crosses that still exist in their late thirteenth century form……and where the original Charing Cross was located before it was rebuilt in its present location by the Victorians.
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MUNGUIN'S NEW REPUBLIC 
Loved the owl and the fox and the cat with the squirrel.
Something different this week.
The Atacama desert is home to the darkest and cleanest skies in the world. A view to the night sky rewards with uncountable numbers of stars and fantastic nebulas in one of the most quiet a empty places on earth. Not a single noise distracts from the grand show the night sky has to offer.
The environment is harsh though. Filmed in freezing temperatures, altitudes up to 5000m/16000ft, salt lakes and icy slopes, the Atacama is not friendly to life and equipment. Though it provides without doubt for epic and vast vistas of one of the greatest landscapes on earth.
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also
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Amazing, but I’d not like to live there.
Thank you, Marcia.
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Yes, rather chilly in that part of Chile.
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Ha ha…
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I though Chili was really hot and indeed has its own Scoville scale of hotness…
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It’s true that I myself have encountered a few dangerously hot Chilleans in my travels, PP. So much so that Pinochet booted them out for being too inflammatory.
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Mind you he had the hots for Mrs Thatcher who was as cold as the south pole.
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Funny how those appalling right-wing authoritarian types seem to enjoy each other’s company. Thatcher & Pinochet; Hitler & Mussolini; Hairstyle 1 in Washington – or Mar a Lago – and Hairstyle 2 in Pyongyang; or Putin, or Duterte, or Erdoğan, or Muhammad bin Salman…
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Oh, don;t forget another, albeit minor and inordinately unimportant member of that sect… De Pfeffel.
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… Orbán, Kaczyński and his Law and Order Party stooges in Poland (who are copying Putin’s anti-gay playbook, incidentally; pink triangles, anyone?), Lukashenko in Belarus…
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All that furriness . . . and a pudduck, too.
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Who could ask for more?
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Animals are angels.
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🙂
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I enjoyed this and thought it worth posting on SS. I’ve seen a couple of octopus in the wild and they’re amazing creatures.
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Wow. Just wow.
“Hello human. Nice to see you again. Can you help me push this log out of the way seeing as you’re bigger than me. I’m hungry and there’s some good food under there?
Thank you. That was a wee treasure.
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A very successful reaffirmation of life today, Tris, particularly pic. 8. How can anyone who’s not got something seriously awry with their personality not fall in love with such a soulful-eyed young one?
I am convinced that orangutans are much nicer than humans, on the whole.
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I’m relieved to hear it, Ed.
I’ve never known an orangutan, unfortunately, so I can only guess at how nice they are in the flesh, but it wouldn’t surprise me if you were right.
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Just because it’s SS enjoy the show
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LOvely. Thanks. Obviously, Munguin particularly enjoyed the penguins. 🙂
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What a smashing selection of pictures today, they were all a joy! Golden cheeked gibbons are funny ones. They are born fully golden to blend in with mum, then they turn black to match dad (except guess what bit of his face remains golden!), then the girls on reaching maturity turn golden again apart from a black cap! They are form SE Asia but are threatened.
I wonder where the beach is? I thought Barra maybe? I’d love to be at the seaside but since I’m in a central belt, I’m going nowhere! Brilliant photos all- really set up my day.
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PP…..I see that your suggestion of Barra is “Outer Hebrides, Scotland.” That would confirm a vague recollection of a picture I saw somewhere of a beach that looked like Hawaii but was in fact Scotland. Beautiful!
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Vatersay, I think, PP.
Fascinating color changes in these gibbons.
Have a good day.
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I imagine some folk are thinking too many cats here. So here are two brothers arguing over a sock…
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LOL…
When you have four legs, what on earth use is 1 sock!?
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That older dog is so beautifully groomed, PP! It must take hours. Looks wonderful, but I can just imagine those long, silky hairs going all over my precious antique furniture and plush upholstery [As if! You don’t run to anything better than heavily discounted pleather-Ed.] and up my delicate retroussé nose [You wish!-Ed.].
Alas, as a person who is unable to do such things as walkies, shudders delicately at the thought of picking up canine products of digestion in a plastic-enshrouded paw [You mean is likely to puke-Ed.], and is fundamentally unreliable in all sorts of ways [Honesty at last! How novel. Keep it up-Ed.], it would be cruel and unusual punishment for me to be put in charge of a dog. Cruel and unusual punishment for the dog, that is; it is important to be clear on this point, I feel.
I do believe my mind is wandering a bit, probably because of all this life-reaffirmation and soppiness going about, for which I shall blame Tris. No justice, no peace, or something with broad shoulders like our preciousss, preciousss Union™. As I was just saying.
On which subject, I repeat my best wishes for a speedy recovery to Wee Ginger Dug’s human, Paul Kavanagh. I was reassured to read the interview with him in The National yesterday (https://archive.vn/TsDyj) which proves he has not lost his snark [Don’t you mean “spark”? Oh well, that too, I suppose, let’s not go to war over it-Ed.]
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LOL… yes, quite so.
Munguin says it must be the pain killers from the tooth.
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Tris, d’you think the good Mr. Munguin might let me have a Jeroboam or two of his champagne so we can see what the effects are of mixing my pills with alcohol?
All in the interests of science, naturally.
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Dear heavens, Ed.
The poor wee fella fainted clean away when I read that out to him. I shall return shortly when I have revived him with a small measure of Henri IV Dudognon Heritage Cognac.
I think you should take that as a no.
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It’s pleasing to hear that a snort of cognac can revive him so. In the matter of recycling the empties…if I can be of any assistance, just ask
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He’ll keep you in mind, Jake! 😜
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Well there are the two owners to share the grooming duties. They are lovely dogs. I agree re the poo bags but also I’m not a fan of barking and I’ve a very barky dog nearby!
I do agree about the orangutans though. Such a shame we don’t have any nearby to visit. Apparently the nearest are in Blackpool. No wonder the FM has to caution us not to travel there!
And Paul K makes a very good point in his interview. Stop moaning about the pub being shut when his mammy cannae even see him when he’s no weel.
Hope the toothache is better and if not the photos took your mind of it for a while.
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Thanks, PP! The toothache is gone for the moment, but I am milking it for every last drop of sympathy I can obtain. Oops – I said the quiet part out loud again. Tchah!
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A visit to Tanzania.
and
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Thanks, Marcia. I bet Ed and Tatu loved them…
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Nice view of Montana. Not sure where that is. Might be in Glacier National Park.
The view of mountains from flatlands is always pretty. Views of the Rockies from the eastern prairies of Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana are pretty, as is the Sierra Nevada Range from the high desert of the western Great Basin of Nevada. There’s a route that planes fly from Kansas City to San Francisco. You leave the Colorado Rockies far behind and fly a long way over the Great Basin before you see the Sierra Nevada on the horizon with the Golden State beyond.
No pictures of that horizon view immediately clickable. People apparently only start taking pictures when they get over the mountains.
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Some wondrously beautiful places in the USA, Danny.
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Hmmm Off topic, but G O V E:
Michael Gove says there is now less of a chance of reaching a Brexit deal, and that the EU isn’t behaving as if ‘it’s serious about reaching a deal’
Why would it be serious about reaching a deal with a banana queendom that just voted to break the last deal it had with the EU?
Whilst a deal would be preferable, it knows that it wouldn’t be worth the paper it was written on. And, in any case, it has 27 members, plus the three EEA countries and Switzerland. Free trade among 31 countries and trade deals with many others.
The UQ, on the other hand, has not a lot. Still, nous pouvons encore nous attendre à des passeports bleus!
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Little Englanders in all their hyped-up vaingloriousness. They need to get over Themselves, but that’s hardly news to us inhabitants of Munguinworld.
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In fairness, Ed, you would have to admit that as we get colder and hungrier and more and more alone, medicines dry up, etc, there will be that warm glow every time we look at a picture of a blue passport.
C’mon, it would take a hard heart not to be overwhelmed by Brutish, I mean British, prude, I mean pride.
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Overwhelmed indeed, Tris, as by a tsunami of sewage.
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Wow… that’#s something else.
Around 2000 years old or just shy of it, I imagine.
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Picking up on the Milestones that appeared in the previous AOY, I thought about the oldest federal monuments in the United States……the boundary markers of the 1791-1792 survey that established the location in Maryland and (originally) Virginia of the District of Columbia. “Although several stones have been moved or severely damaged, thirty-six stones from the 1790s are in or near their original locations, including all fourteen in the land that was returned to Virginia in the 1846-1847 retrocession.” The Federal District (including the original portion in Virginia) was a square, 10 miles on a side…….therefore a total of 40 milestones.
Wiki includes pictures:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boundary_markers_of_the_original_District_of_Columbia
https://boundarystones.org/
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I had no idea, Danny.
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I can beat that Danny. About two hundred yards from my house, there was found a milestone put there by the Cohors Ulpia Traiana Cugernorum civium Romanorum, nearly two thousand years ago.
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Conan, is that the one that enabled the legions to avoid the notorious Gogar roundabout when heading to the West?
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LOL. Trust you, Andi!
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When they went to do battle with the blue nosed barbarians?
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Nae blue noses in my barbarian tribe.
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No, the blue-nosed barbarians are the ones in the Audis.
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Conan……that really is seriously awesome! It did occur to me that while 1791-1792 is old by American standards, it’s more or less yesterday by European and British standards…..not to mention Roman standards. I’m fascinated by old monuments still standing…..such as the three Eleanor Crosses that still exist in their late thirteenth century form……and where the original Charing Cross was located before it was rebuilt in its present location by the Victorians.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleanor_cross
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charing_Cross
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200 yards from my front door are a line of marker stones dating from 1802.
Currently, they mark the border between the Länder of Hessen (my side of the line) and Baden-Würtemberg.
There is another march-stane some miles away in the Odenwald, erected in the time of Charlemagne.
The Germans love their borders.
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And I give you an interesting stone in a swamp in Arkansas dated 1815. (Maybe posted before.)
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That’s quite something, Danny.
I wonder what that would be worth today…
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I reckon it’s appreciated in value some. “The French hardly ever talk about it anymore.” 😉
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I dunno, Danny.
No matter where I go in France, I hear the words….
Les Etats-Unis nous ont triché!!!!
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LOL……I guess the French have figured it out.
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