#australian grasshopper

[drhoz]

#2053 - Coryphistes sp. - Bark-mimicking Grasshopper

A genus of at least three species of crypyic Short-horned Grasshoppers, endemic to Australia. Reasonably common, although I dont seem to have discussed them before, to my surprise. Admittedly, there's not much to say about them.

[onenicebugperday]

Matchstick grasshopper, Warramaba grandis, Morabidae

Found in Australia

Photos by warramaba

[oorionjeann]

Hedge Grasshopper (Valanga irregularis), oil pastel on A5 cardstock.

These dudes are the biggest grasshoppers in Australia! I used to keep one as a pet, a male I named Midori-- he was a bright green when I caught him as a nymph, hence the name, but as he matured he became shades of yellow and ochre. I used his likeness for this drawing :)

[i-identify-tanks-in-posts]

So apparently this was a real design. Amazing.

Grasshopper, Australian light tank concept, 1944

It's what it says on the tin. It's a helicopter tank that Australia came up with after seeing the early Sikorskies.

100% confidence

[ningauinerd]

Time to infodump about the animals I'm supposedly a nerd about.

All pictures in this post are N. yvonneae, the southern ningaui (Image credit: Owen Lishmund)

The ningauis (in the genus Ningaui, if you can believe it) are a group of tiny dasyurid marsupials native to the arid and semi-arid regions of Australia. Smaller than their close dunnart relatives (very close, as I will explain later), and with broader hindfeet, ningauis were first documented by western science relatively recently by Australian mammal standards. Although some specimens had been collected previously, being haphazardly assigned to planigales (another genus of miniscule dasyurids), it wasn't until 1975 that the genus Ningaui was erected and its first two species were described - N. ridei, the Wongai ningaui, and N. timealeyi, the Pilbara ningaui. A third species, the southern ningaui (N. yvonneae), was named in 1983.

Oh, and in case you were wondering where the name "ningaui" comes from, it refers to tiny beings from Aboriginal mythology that come out at night, are covered in hair, have notably short feet and eat their food raw. Most of these traits are also shared by these little marsupials, hence why palaeontologist Mike Archer (the original author of the genus) found it to be a fitting name for them!

(Image credit: glandarius)

Ningauis are small - really small, some of the smallest land mammals in fact. With the tiniest individuals being only 5 cm long, not including the tail, they are about the same length as Australia's smallest native mammal, the long-tailed planigale. However, ningauis are significantly chunkier and therefore usually weigh a couple more grams, meaning planigales win in regards to all-around tininess. The very largest ningauis still only reach about 8 cm in length and 14 grams in weight.

What they lack in size they make up for in ferocity however, as they follow the typical dasyurid trend of becoming increasingly savage the smaller they get. Tasmanian devils, despite their reputation, are actually quite relaxed when handled - on the other end of the spectrum, ningauis, which are around a thousand times smaller than a devil, will try to murder you, your family and everyone you hold dear if they find themselves captured. But, despite their best efforts to chew the fingers off of every field mammalogist in inland Australia, they aren't very strong.

remorseless beasts (Image credit: Tina Gillespie & Miss.chelle.13)

These ferocious predators feed on a variety of different prey items, the majority of which are small invertebrates - in the case of the Wongai ningaui, they prefer prey that is less than a centimetre long. However, they will also go after larger prey, having epic duels with grasshoppers, spiders, centipedes and even small skinks which they subdue with a crushing bite to the back of the head. Unlike their dunnart relatives, the shorter, broader feet of ningauis allows them to climb into shrubs and grass clumps.

All ningaui species are extremely similar to one another, so much so that the Wongai ningaui and southern ningaui are almost externally indistinguishable and the Pilbara ningaui can only be told apart by looking at its foot pads, teat number and skull. However, they can usually be distinguished by distribution. The Pilbara ningaui is the most range restricted, being endemic to the central and western Pilbara region of western Australia. The southern ningaui occurs in three disjunct populations across the southern semi-arid zone, whilst the Wongai ningaui is distributed widely across much of the interior. All species show a strong preference for environments dominated by spinifex grass (Triodia), which they use as shelter.

A ningaui takes shelter amongst the spinifex (Image credit: Euan Moore)

In regards to how they are related to other dasyurids, ningauis fall in the tribe Sminthopsini together with the kultarr (Antechinomys laniger, another species I really need to cover sometime) and many species of dunnart (Sminthopsis). However, recent phylogenetic studies have consistently recovered both Antechinomys and Ningaui as being within the Sminthopsis lineage, meaning that both ningauis and the kultarr are, in essence, just weird dunnarts. With Sminthopsis as we currently understand it being highly paraphyletic, a revision of the genus is needed.

[epitheterasedaskblog]

(Hey everyone i wanna say is what kind of insect is your favourite?)

Epithet, well my favourite insect is me😈 but🤨 my true favourite is mosquito :3

Giovanni: Oh, hercules beetles are my personal favorite—They look so badass!

Rick: I too like those types of bugs! (he also likes hercules beetles)

Molly: I don't really have a favorite, but I do like ladybugs. They're pretty!

Sylvester: Crickets.

Mera: I honestly could care about insects. They're just annoying pests.

Indus: Ants! They protect and feed their queen like I do with Lady Mera. Those small little things have plenty of honor! Though they are a pain to get rid of when they appear out of nowhere...

Trixie: Thorn beetles!

Naven: I don't do well with insects, so, I'll have to pass on this one...sorry..

Phoenicia: Rose maple moths!

Lorelai: Dragonflies...

Howie: Bees.

Percy: Dung beetles.

Ramsey: Gotta go with the good ol' Brazilian treehopper.

Zora: The assassin bug.

Arnold: Green Milkweed Locusts.

Bugsy: I'll have to go with Goliath Beetles.

Howdy Mornin': Cockroaches!

Yoomtah: Rose maple moths! Those things are just the cutest!

Stink: Stink bugs! (obviously...)

Car Crash: Hummingbird Hawk-moth!

Flamethrower: Fire ants!

Crusher: Rhinoceros Beetle.

Spike: The Australian Walking Stick! Those things are sick as fuck!

Dark-Star: Grasshoppers!

Ben: I like ladybugs, they look so friendly and nice.

Martin: Oh, oh! My favorite ones are thos--

Everyone:

GET OUT!!

[cyberphuck]

top 5 breed of dog

top 5 final fantasy characters

top 5 stims (e.g. flappy hands, tapping, rocking)

*cracks knuckles* alright motherfuckers let's do this Top 5 Dog Breeds 5. Australian Shepherd. This is not a dog *I* would want to own, but they're super underrated, just as smart as Border Collies and just as energetic but with a cheerful energy instead of a "Finnish Soldier on Meth" one. Plus the lil butt. 4. Boxer. These dogs are pretty much just a bundle of Weird Dog Disorders and they aren't brilliant but they're SO fukken goofy and I love it. Boxers love a good time. 3. French Bulldog. I liked these before they were trendy, okay, but even though I love their lil ears and their bug eyes and the way they wail when they throw a tantrum, I probably wouldn't own one-- the breeding practices are cruel especially now that they're popular. Still, adorable little bug-eyed divas. 2. Any hound breed, honestly, but Coon Hounds. YOOOOOOOOOOH! YOOOOOOOOOOOOOH! YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!! (one time a neighbor came over to check on my hound Travis because she thought "he might be injured or trapped somewhere" and I was like no he's just like that) 1. Pit Bull. Obvious choice, Velvet House Hippos are sweet, smart, loyal, cuddly, and loving. They're genuinely delighted to see you. They smile all the time. They've still got a good dose of derpiness and goofosity going on, too. I would totally own another Pibble, or five, or ten. Top 5 Final Fantasy Characters 5. Golbez/Theodore Harvey. Were you unsatisfied with how twinky and emo and pale the protagonist of Final Fantasy IV was? Meet his Better In Every Way older brother. 4. Tossup between Sephiroth and Zack Fair. Both of them were trying so hard to do the right thing, following orders, supporting and protecting their friends, and they were both done so dirty by Shinra. Also Sephiroth has schizophrenia. 3. Delita Heiral. Not a villain, not even the antagonist. Just a dead man walking, so focused on endgame that he doesn't care about all the blood he's wading through to get to it. 2. Isilud Tengille. The boy, the myth, the legend. Indoor Grasshopper, indoctrinated church kid, chapter three miniboss, he's in three scenes and there's a fantastic sprite animation of his dad slapping him across the face so hard that he falls to his knees. Delicious. 1. KAIN MOTHERFUCKING HIGHWIND. No FF character is more iconic, none more emo, none more perfect. Just his silhouette, the shape of his helmet, the spear, THOSE LEGS are instantly recognizable. He's on your side and then he's not but now he is and now he's not again just kidding now he is haha kidding again he's not now. At the end of FF4 he takes off his helmet and WHOOPS HE'S A TOTAL HOTTIE. His unrequited love for his best friend's girlfriend is so powerful that he breaks into two people so one of them can kidnap the girl and the other can fuck his best friend's son. In later adaptations, he's given an ovary-exploding sexy baritone voice by Liam O'brien. Don't let anyone tell you Kain is toxic or weird or creepy or inferior to whatever FFXIV character that is blatantly ripping him off: Kain Highwind is THE Final Fantasy character, period. Top 5 stims, if you're still here after I had a Kain Rant 5. Rotating the foot. Sometimes both feet, but just one is great. 4. Finger to thumb taps, rubs, and picks. Classic. 3. Joint cracking. Comes with added benefit of Noises. 2. Singing/echolalia. Just good in the mouth, also the dogs like it. 1. Playin' with textures, especially little ones. Bite off a fingernail, roll it against my thumb for a while. Paradise.

Thank you for your time.

[ilovescaredysquirrel2]

5 underrated movies I recently watched that I think are amazing and deserve better

Maya the Bee (2014) I watched this recently for the first time and it's incredible! I'm saying this as a hardcore DreamWorks fan that THIS IS BETTER THAN THE DREAMWORKS BEE MOVIE! The bee movie is more for adults, only good to make fun of and laugh at the memes, meanwhile Maya the Bee actually has a good story for the whole family. I especially recommend this movie to kids! I loved how refreshing it was to see a guy friend actually be protective of the main protagonist and not in a love interest way. Maya and Willy actually work together really well. I also loved the minor characters too, and that grasshopper, Flip, was ICONIC! (Btw the movie is not the one with the d*** on the rock, the d*** drawn on the rock was from the tv show so if you watch the movie don't go looking for the d***)

Around the World in 80 Days (2021) This is the animated kids version of the story with animals, they also credited the book it was based off of, but please don't get it confused with the live action version. You won't be disappointed in the animated version at all! It's incredible and it's so funny! Phileas frog is literally so hilarious, and Passepartout is an adorable and funny monkey, and he's very determined too! You'll also love Princess Ayuda, she's voiced by Katie Griffin! (The voice of Ruby from Max & Ruby btw). The movie is actually genius and don't let the fact that it's made by a small Belgian-French company, turn you away from it. Just because something's not by Disney or DreamWorks, doesn't mean it can't be a masterpiece!

Daisy Quokka, World's Scariest Animal (2020) As I said before, just because something is made by a smaller company doesn't mean it doesn't have the same potential (or in some cases, more potential) than a bigger company like Disney. This adorable movie is about a very optimistic quokka girl, trying her best to compete in the "world's scariest animal" contest, with help from an alligator. The humor is incredible, andthe voice acting is amazing, The movie is also well paced and not too boring for younger kids that might watch it. I 100% recommend this for all ages (well, 6 and up at least) and it's a great movie for the whole family! It's made by an Australian company that I never heard of, but like I said, give the smaller company a chance. Animation is getting so much better nowadays and so are the stories! Trust me, you won't regret it!

Manou the Swift (2019) Okay, the animation isn't groundbreaking or anything, but the movie is still pretty great. It has a good message about acceptance and everything but I wouldn't call it exceptional. It's just a good movie, I think it deserves SOME recognition though. Kate Winslet (voice of Rita from Flushed Away) was in it, and she voiced a really loving seagull mother. One thing I actually loved about this movie was that the brother was 100% on Manou's side, instead of being jealous of him like a lot of movies. I know it's unrealistic, but it's nice when they show 0 sibling rivalry once in a while. I loved when he samed Manou from the rats (LOL Spoliers). This is a German-Chinese movie, dubbed in English and no one has ever heard of it. It's 88 minutes long and just give it a try if you're bored.

Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken (2023) This is the only big-company made movie I put on the list because IT DESERVES ALL THE HYPE! This is an amazing DreamWorks movie, their newest one, and I'm still furious about Elemental making more money than it. Ruby Gillman deserved to win, 100%! All the crummy stereotypes I was worried about, it did the opposite! Like, it was WAY BETTER than I thought, it deserved so much better! I was worried about it being the cheesy coming-of-age story with the awkward girl vs the popular chick, but it's NOT like that at all and I regret not being able to see it in theaters. I think a good comparison of this movie is Turning Red, and it tackled a lot of things better than Turning Red (The generational trauma, conflict with mother..ect) and didn't show too much of the teen drama with her crushes and stuff. Ruby's love interest, Connor, is actually a really sweet guy and kind of a nerd like her. Unlike Mei, Ruby actually has a reason to like Connor and isn't just simping for the "cute guy" all the time. DreamWorks has been known as making movies similar to Disney to kind of "make fun of them" but in this, they actually did the movie way better. You can watch this movie online in 4k now so I recommend you go and do that!

Anyway, tell me what you think, write in the comments if you seen any of these movies, and if you know fun facts about them ^u^ I forgot to say a fun fact that the Maya the Bee book was written in 1912! Like, Maya the bee existed in the Victorian era? What? 0_o So crazy, huh? It's ancient!

[rattyexplores]

The Giant Grasshopper

A native species here, fits the stereotype of Australia having huge bugs. Unlike other Australian insects however, these grasshoppers are harmless.

Valanga irregularis

11/05/22

[drhoz]

The Great ACT-NSW-NZ Trip, 2023-2024 - Cooma

After leaving the Australian Capital Territory we drove south in to Cooma in New South Wales, where some friends of ours live. Cooma is a small town with mountain ranges on all sides - the Snowy Mountains particularly - which makes the town unusually dry for that part of Australia. It was also the base of operations in the 1950s when the Snowy River Hydroelectric Sceme was being built. As well as all the mountains around, parts of the town itself are pretty damn steep- Nannygoat HIll, and the valley slopes behind my friends place, for example.

Cooma was also the only route out of the bushfire zones to the south and on the coast to the east, during the Black Summer of 2019-2020, when so much of SE Australia was on fire the smoke went around the world twice. Specifically, both evacuation routes went through a single roundabout in Cooma. The monumental traffic jam didn't help much.

Cooma, too, was under threat, so the local authorities did what they could to prepare, which included refilling some very large disused water tanks at the top of the valley in the last picture. Unfortunately there was a reason the tanks were unused, since they soon collapsed from the weight. Householders down the slope were *quite unimpressed* when having prepared for fire, they instead had their homes wrecked by flood.

Species-wise, a remarkable variety of ants - 8 different species on one small tree, for example. Most will earn their own entries, but see below for species I've covered before.

[onenicebugperday]

Australian common garden katydid, Caedicia simplex, Tettigoniidae

Although normally green, erythrism (a condition causing excessive production of red pigments) is not incredibly uncommon in this species or in grasshoppers and katydids in general.

Photos 1-2 by coffey09, 3 by lisa_bennett, 4 by william-harland, 5 by helenmacky, 6 by ssw-burlg, 7-8 by flossiepip, and 9 (normal coloration) by dougalt

[learnthisphrase]

Best books of 2023

The best books I read in 2023

Knock Knock, Open Wide by Neil Sharpson (Tor Nightfire, 2023)

Imagine Tana French writing a folklore-infused horror novel, and you have Knock Knock, Open Wide. The always-thrilling plot takes in a life-changing accident, a love affair, and a sinister TV series; the storylines overlap and entwine perfectly, and there’s a lot of beautifully crafted character work. It’s a dark and eerie book, but full of life and love, too.

Black Mountain by Simon Bestwick (Independent Legions, 2021)

A mixed-media horror novel disguised as non-fiction about the many strange incidents surrounding a cursed/haunted mountain. Unputdownable and genuinely unnerving at points – I had the time of my life reading this. I’m amazed it isn’t better-known among horror fans!

The Last Language by Jennifer duBois (Milkweed Editions, 2023)

A riveting, disturbing book about a language therapist’s relationship with the autistic man she’s helping to ‘speak’ using the controversial method of facilitated communication. I read it in one fevered session, completely in the grip of the dizzying, queasy moral maze duBois creates.

Hydra by Adriane Howell (Transit Lounge, 2022)

Just when you think the ‘unhinged woman’ trend has had its day, this excellent Australian debut offers a fresh spin on the whole idea. Anja’s dry, idiosyncratic voice rings out from the page, and the plot is never far away from intimations of something dark and weird. Read if you love Ottessa Moshfegh and Tár.

My Death by Lisa Tuttle (2004, reissued by NYRB Classics 2023)

A perfect novella about a widowed writer who becomes obsessed with her latest project, a biography of a little-known artist’s muse. Astonishingly clever, convincing and absorbing, it’s a revelation and turned me into an instant fan of Tuttle’s writing.

Grasshopper by Barbara Vine (Penguin, 2000)

A beautiful and eloquent coming-of-age tale dressed up as a crime novel. The plot has so many different strands that it’s difficult to describe concisely, but this is essentially a character-focused story about identity, aspiration and love. The rare book that actually made me cry.

How Can I Help You by Laura Sims (Putnam, 2023; UK ebook out in January 2024)

Explores the tense relationship between two women with secrets (some more dangerous than others) who both work at a public library. A sharp, nuanced character study that is also utterly propulsive. If you loved Death of a Bookseller, this should be next on your wishlist.

Novel with Cocaine by M. Ageyev, translated by Michael Henry Heim (Picador, 1985)

1930s cult classic about a dissolute Russian teenager, his friendships, affairs and drug addiction. Think No Longer Human, but (in my opinion) way better. It’s philosophical, funny and stuffed with remarkable descriptive writing.

Where the Dead Wait by Ally Wilkes (Titan, January 2024)

Years after an infamous failed expedition, a captain with a sullied reputation must return to the Arctic in search of his former lieutenant. Immersive and enthralling at every level, this is a blood-soaked, frostbitten treat – I’ve been describing it as The Terror meets Heart of Darkness.

The Devil’s Playground by Craig Russell (Doubleday, 2023)

An elaborately plotted historical mystery about a legendary silent horror movie. Come for the lost film and its ghosts; stay for the well-researched portrait of old Hollywood, the world-weary heroine, and the fascinating detective story.

We Were Never Friends by Margaret Bearman (Brio Books, 2020)

A woman looks back at a strange period of her youth when her family became entangled with Kyla, a hated classmate of hers. Dazzling at the sentence level – Bearman illuminates Lotti and Kyla’s world with startling colour, vividly portraying the emotional landscape of adolescence.

Honour Thy Father by Lesley Glaister (Bloomsbury, 1991)

Four elderly – yet naive – siblings live in self-imposed imprisonment amid the squalid remains of their family home. How did they end up like this? We Have Always Lived in the Castle meets Come Join Our Disease in a dark tale that perfectly balances tender nostalgia, black humour and sinister threat.

Angel by Elizabeth Taylor (Virago, 1957)

We meet Angel as an impetuous 15-year-old convinced she will become a great novelist, and follow throughout her life as she first fails upwards, then eventually loses everything. It’s a tragic story that centres on a pathetic character, yet Taylor writes with a compassion that makes it almost romantic.

The Night Ocean by Paul La Farge (Penguin, 2017)

A labyrinthine series of stories within stories inspired by H.P. Lovecraft – but you definitely don’t need to like (or have read) Lovecraft to enjoy it. Deceptively complex, it excavates the lives of its characters while maintaining a subtle sense that the whole narrative is haunted.

Looking Glass Sound by Catriona Ward (Viper, 2023)

My favourite of Ward’s books since her debut Rawblood, this is a story about murder that deals with the long shadow it casts. It’s also about writing and witchcraft, unrequited love, and the death of the author, and is unexpectedly heartbreaking.

Brainwyrms by Alison Rumfitt (Cipher Press, 2023)

This book takes the ‘trauma as horror’ trope and eats it from the inside out. It’s full of fearless writing about fetishes, transness, transphobia, dysphoria, and what – if anything – it means to be virtuous. While often disgusting (be warned), I wanted to reread it straight away.

Where Furnaces Burn by Joel Lane (2012, reissued by Influx Press 2023)

A sprawling map of linked stories; layered, moody and strange. Not the easiest book to recommend – Lane, one of my favourite writers, invariably creates very bleak worlds – but an incredibly rewarding reading experience.

Notable reread: Kiss Me First by Lottie Moggach (Picador, 2013)

A grieving, lonely young woman finds solace on an online debate forum and ends up immersed in someone else’s life. Just as fast-paced, gripping and brilliantly voice-driven as it was when I first read it a decade ago.

Honourable mentions

So many good books came out in 2023 that I have to mention a few more. The Book of Ayn by Lexi Freiman was the funniest, sharpest, most quotable novel I read this year. I loved the intriguing layers of Ben Tufnell’s The North Shore and Viola Di Grado’s poignant Blue Hunger, translated by Jamie Richards. Verity M. Holloway’s romantic, atmospheric The Others of Edenwell deserved way more attention. And this may be an unpopular opinion, but I enjoyed Elizabeth Hand’s A Haunting on the Hill more than The Haunting of Hill House.

For thought-provoking plots: Service by Sarah Gilmartin and Kids Run the Show by Delphine de Vigan, translated by Alison Anderson. For pure thrills: Nicholas Binge’s mind-bending Ascension and Jinwoo Chong’s dazzling Flux. For both, and great suspense: A Flaw in the Design by Nathan Oates.

And not forgetting the brilliant 2023 books I read as review copies last year: Nina Allan’s masterpiece Conquest, Alice Slater’s ultra-compelling Death of a Bookseller, and Maria Dong’s loveable Liar, Dreamer, Thief.

[skopostheorie]

what weird petnames do you hc the count calls oscar bc i KNOW if he's calling natasha an armadillo hes calling oscar. Idk my grassy hill or something

One thing I actually stole from Natasha technically #IMSORRYWOMEN (she says "mein" for no reason) is just, random German words he hears in the news.

(These mean tissues, legislation and maternity leave respectively for any who can't be bothered to google something rq). This comes from listening to the SBS radio which I guess has a German program before the Hungarian Romanian Transylvanish broadcast. I know SBS is Australian but I assume the USA has something like it

And you're defs right about the green thing. He lists a lot of green stuff. He says little cabbage which he learned is a French thing and thinks he's so clever for saying it. Animals like grasshopper and praying mantis. Etc. Other less romantic green foods like limes and avocados. At some point he forgets they should at least be green and starts calling him Blue Cheese

He ends up getting abstract with it when he runs out of ideas. My darling D minor scale

[elspethdixon]

Nothing tops the macawque, but for consideration for second-worst I submit:

The Butcher-Mouse: Shrike/“butcher bird” and grasshopper mouse. Tiny, bloodthirsty, lethal. It howls at the moon and impales its many victims on cactus spines to dismember them and kills and eats other mice-griffins for fun. Its nesting locations are surrounded by the slowly-decaying corpses of poisonous scorpions, hung on saguaro spines like the victims of a tiny Vlad the Impaler.

The Hippo-Swan: Combination of two highly aggressive and territorial river-dwelling herbivores who both hate you.

The Australian Red Peliroo: Australian Pelican and Red Kangaroo. Two pouches for twice the price of one. Supposedly less aggressive than the Cassowaroo, but actually just less likely to try and kick you to death and more likely to try and eat you. While their pouches still contain the standard two nipples, they rarely nurse more than one offspring at a time, as the older joey will usually kill the younger one.

Terror Bird and Smilodon: Let’s just all be grateful they’re extinct.

Megaloceros and Peacock: Sexual display taken to its most extreme and ludicrous conclusion. Its tiny peacock head shouldn’t be able to support antlers that spread out every bit as wide as its enormous tail fan, and yet… Highly aggressive during mating season and likes to make godawful screaming noises at the crack of dawn.

Giant ground sloth and Therizinosaur: Pointless because these two are basically the same animal already.

Meanwhile, some Best Gryphons:

The common urban pigeon-rat, while frequently nominated for “worst gryphon” and widely considered vermin, is actually a highly intelligent, social, easily trainable animal that makes an excellent pet. Most urban populations are actually the feral descendants of domesticated pigeon-rats, and trained pigeon-rats played important roles as courier-gryphons in WWI, valuable for their homing instinct and ability to navigate both in the air and in tunnels and trenches.

Secretary Bird and Mongoose: An animal that truly lives to tread.

The Weddell Penguin: Emperor Penguin and Weddell Seal. A round, fluffy fish-eating gryphon noteworthy for both its extreme cuteness and for being the only gryphon to nest and breed on the antarctic sea ice.

Bald Eagle and Grizzy Bear: ‘Murica! Do not get between it and salmon. (National Gryphon of the United States)

The Thunderbeast/Gryphalo: Golden Eagle and bison.

And the Owl-Gryphons, a diverse family which includes

The Meowl: Barn Owl and barn cat. Cute, fluffy orange-and-white boi who will rid your barn of mice.

The Owladillo: Burrowing owl and armadillo. Most common gryphon in Texas.

The Canadian Snowy Owlynx: The fluffiest boi with the biggest paws and whitest fur.

The Siberian Owl-Reindeer: Great Grey Owl and Reindeer. Partially domesticated and kept in large herds in Siberia and Scandinavia, the Owl-Reindeer is particularly beloved by children for its imaginary role in pulling Santa’s sleigh. (Domesticated Owl-Reindeer do pull sleighs, but can’t fly while doing so) It’s close cousin, the Owlabou, has the longest migration of any land-dwelling Gryphon.

It annoys me unreasonably when you want to ask people "what bird and what mammal would make the worst gryphon" as a fun thought exercise, and people with no joy and no imagination always interpret it as "a gryphon that sucks, is physically impossible, and would hate being alive", and - being predictable and lacking in imagination - always, always answer with "a hummingbird and a blue whale lol".

Like come on. Why do you have to suck the fun out of everything. Why not use a fraction of imagination and delightful whimsy. Imagine the combination of a mouse and a sparrow. That creature would be merciless, burtal, absolutely determined to get into your trash and has the power of both wings and hands to do its will. Or a crow and a cat - that thing is smart enough to fuck with people and not afraid to do it. Imagine the ungodly shriek of the noble fox-seagull, also determined to get into your trash.

A gryphon that is a combination of a kangaroo and a cassowary. The only proof we have of a loving god is the fact that those things do not exist. If hell is real, it's full of them. That thing can't fly, but it will run you down, it will kill you, and you will look stupid the whole entire time you're dying.

Why would the first thing that pops into your mind at the words "the worst gryphon" automatically be "a gryphon that hates being alive". Can you not picture a gryphon that fucking loves being alive, and has both the power and the will to make it everyone else's problem.

[princetfae]

its very interesting growing up as an australian with american media for many reasons, but particularly in regards to rabies

like, as a kid i didnt fully get the malcolm in the middle ep where hal buys an antique cabinet and its full of a hundred bats and theyre all freaking out and it becomes a war. cause while bats here do have some diseases its not more than any other animal, and bats just arent really considered that scary here. if a hundred bats ended up in my house it would be stressful yes but not more stressful than if it was like grasshoppers. but now rewatching it and knowing that rabies is a thing there it suddenly becomes a horror episode

same thing pretty much goes for any wild animal or stray dog or whatever. if we found a mangy and bitey stray dog we'd be pretty willing to look after it, but you shouldn't do that over there

just something ive been thinking about

[elishaysblog]

Week 9: Gaming Communities, Social Gaming and Live Streaming

What is a game? “To play a game is to attempt to achieve a specific state of affairs, using only means permitted by rules, where the rules prohibit use of more efficient in favour of less efficient means, and where the rules are accepted just because they make possible such activity. I also offer the following simpler, and, so to speak, more portable version of the above: playing a game is the voluntary attempt to overcome unnecessary obstacles.” (Suits 1978, p.41)

Game platforms: -Consoles -Distribution & Consumption - Social/communication - Streaming Gaming, primarily online gaming, has become very popular in recent years due to its ability to create a community. People are able to share their interests in the games with others all over the world just from their own devices and many different platforms. What comes with this is streaming. Many gamers are now streaming on platforms like Twitch and YouTube where they play games and viewers engage with it by commenting and getting entrainment out of watching someone play. According to Twitch statistics, in 2023, there are over 2.4 million average concurrent viewers. Streaming has also become a way people complete games, as they document it live for people to watch. Gaming has become both a sport for many and even a job allowing them to earn money through live streaming.

Some interesting information from the required reading is below.

As of 2018, Melbourne now accounts for over half of the entire Australian videogame development industry (GDAA, 2018) During 2010 opportunities and popularity around sharing videogame works were easier than obtaining employment in the industry. International Game Developers Association was a monthly social meetup that was set up in the early 2010s. It was both a social and networking event. The Arcade was then introduced which provided affordable office space for small game development teams. This again highlights the community gaming forms through events that happen all over the world and here in Melbourne. Considering starting gaming? It's never too late to join the community and share your interests with others. References: Keogh, B 2021, 'The Melbourne indie game scenes: value regimes in localized game development' (Chapter 13), Download 'The Melbourne indie game scenes: value regimes in localized game development' (Chapter 13),in P Ruffino (ed), Independent Videogames: Cultures, Networks, Techniques and Politics, Routledge, pp.209-222. Ruby, D. (2023). Twitch Statistics 2023 — (Users, Revenue & Insights). [online] Demand Sage. Available at: https://www.demandsage.com/twitch-users/

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Suits, B. (1978). The Grasshopper: Games, Life, and Utopia. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. (p.41)