Penguins
Well, penguin tetras, anyway. Actually, to be precise, they are long-finned penguin tetras; apparently their dorsal fin will eventually stream past their tails. I’ll wait and see. We got them about two weeks ago (mm, slack me); they transferred into the main tank yesterday. I think my tank is now officially Full. It certainly looks it, particularly with my two Monster Angels. And the Colombians are no dwarves, either.
We also got some plant called Red Pogo. It is red – the old bits, anyway; new growth is green. I know this because it seems to be growing well, in the two weeks we’ve had it. And it’s sent out lots of roots.
And the lily-pad plant is still going berko. Lots of bits actually outside of the tank. Have I mentioned that? It flowers, when outside of the tank.
Carnivores
I looked in my fish tank this morning, before I went to work (erk; first day back) – this is not something I always do. Anyway, I noticed the biggest silver angel seemed to have something in its mouth, and was busy trying to swallow it. I thought it was a bit of plant. Turns out, after I looked at it again from a different angle, that it was the tail of a tetra. I knew it was a tetra because there was a little bit of red poking out of its mouth, and then the tail flukes sticking out. Cannibal! Carnivore! I know angels prey on tetras in the wild, but it doesn’t mean I have to feel good about it. 😦
The tank does look very nice, though; the lily plant is taking over one side of the tank again, so I will have to hack it on the weekend. There are still a lot of tetras mooching around, too.
Deathstalker saga has stalked itself out
I am finally completely finished with the Deathstalker series… except for Deathstalker Prelude, but that doesn’t count, since it’s not about a Deathstalker, it’s just set in the same universe. I am very glad I have read them all – very worthwhile in the end, and I must say not quite as dark as I had been expecting. It’s certainly not Eddings, but there is definitely more horrid scifi in the world than Green. I really liked the Owen character, and thought he developed quite well, although once again the repetition of words and phrases did get a little tiring. I guess that’s the danger of a series that’s about 7 books long. I forgive him.
Pruning
Yes folks, it is winter, and we all know what that means… it’s Rose Mutilation Time! (Hurrah.) Not that we ought to be feeling too sorry for said roses, though, since they do have very nasty thorns and they do know how to use them to great effect (yes, I own gardening gloves; what’s your point?). Anyway, my roses are but faded shadows of their former selves, which ought to see them go nuts in about three months’ time, with any luck. Worked like that last year, at any rate, although I guess Mum was here for it then, and she’s probably a bit more ruthless than I am when it comes to snipping. I have tried my hardest this time, and I think there are few places where Mum would tsk me.
Now all I have to do is remember to fertilise them.
Bookcrossing… yay!!!
How cool is this!! Excuse my excitement, but one of the books I released yesterday has been registered as found!! Yippee!! I would guess that the others have been found too, just not registered.
I hope that I may add “not yet” into that last clause and it proves true.
Anyway, I am excited to bursting that Aeneid has been found, and the person who found it said they would read and release it!
Yay. How exciting.
Bookcrossing
I haven’t released any books for a very long time, but I did today – four! The joys of public transport. I do hope they get picked up by people who appreciate them. I also hope it encourages me to do it with more books… since I hang on to them rather selfishly most of the time.
Dead fishie
Well, it’s a bit sad, but somehow I feel the grinding wheels of inevitability have just turned once more. The runt angel fish died yesterday – spent most of the day moping near one the filters, and ended up against it with nary a fin movement. I don’t know whether he got picked on to death or what, but he is gone. Sigh.
On the up side, ten days of neglect don’t seem to have harmed the tank in the slightest. The plants all look good and there were no deaths (that we can see). The fish were awfully happy to be fed when we got home though.
Robert Plant…
… and the Strange Sensations; I finally got around to listening to their album, Mighty Rearranger, yesterday. It’s not bad. The different songs are moderately eclectic, which is nice…
Some of the lyrics are derivative. Well, OK, I’ve found two examples. And for a little while I was a bit concerned that saying that was sacrilegeous… until I remembered that for starters I’m only assuming that it was Robert Plant who wrote the lyrics, and for a second, this is the man who wrote numerous songs with strong references to Lord of the Rings, which I heartily approved. The lyrics? One song talks about “The Father, Son and Holy Ghost” doing something near the coast (American Pie, of course); another has something about “your love light” – leaving it on or something (Blues Brothers 2000).
Overall, I like it.
Wolfmother
Another band I am obsessing over a bit at the moment, which is a bit trying given they only have an EP out at the moment, with four songs on it. Their website promises an album soon, though, which is exciting. They’re Australian, which is brilliant… but I think I am drawn to them because they really sound like Led Zeppelin. Strong guitar and keyboard bits, compelling vocalist… I don’t know how to describe it, I’m no muso (that’s why I play bass), but “Dimension” is just fantastic, and “White Unicorn” is that kind of eclectic weird-out possibly heading for psychedelic stuff that shows LZ’s range as well.
Ok… enough on that… they’re just COOL.
J plays with camera
So this is J playing with his new camera. He did this when he first got it, too, and had some excellent opportunities with angels and even Fido posing for him, but because he wasn’t using a tripod the pics apparently weren’t that good.
I think the fish got annoyed with him and decided to move a lot just as he pressed the button, in this one.
I pruned today. A lot. There is now actually light on the right-hand side; that’s an amzing thing.
Randomly Yours, Alex 