here be dragons

[miriam_e]

Had a visit from a water dragon.
I've seen them down at the creek but never around the house. There are bearded dragons around the house, though I haven't seen them at the back door like this water dragon. Noting its bright red chest I wonder if it might be mating season. This was one was about a meter long, maybe more... a bit hard to judge with that long tail.
(I've resized and cropped the pics so they hopefully don't mess too much with your view or your download time. And I've stuck them behind the link.)

Cute, huh?



This last one is a bit foggy because I shot it through my kitchen window and I rarely clean them. The tree is less than a meter from the window and I had the camera almost up to the glass. So the dragon was in arm's reach.

Comments

[dorjejaguar.livejournal.com]

Lovely. :)

[soul-searcher-4.livejournal.com]

aww so cuute! it's amazing they were so close! so sweet. =]

[cranky--crocus.livejournal.com]

Awwr. It's precious.

-K.

[sharpblonde.livejournal.com]

That thing is freaking awesome. Its face is very close to how I always imagine sentient bipedal reptials in sci-fi/fantasy.

On another note, is this http://www.ato.gov.au/individuals/content.asp?doc=/content/12333.htm really reflective of the taxes you pay? I'm doing a project for school about the advantages and disadvantages of possibly opening a business there and taxation is one of the issues I have to look into. That is insane if that is reflective unless you get huge refund checks too, in which case it seems to me they are just making the math more complicated.

[miriam-e.livejournal.com]

They certainly are nice-looking lizards.

[miriam-e.livejournal.com]

Yeah. When I left to come up to town for my Dad's birthday there was another one (possibly the same as in these pics) hanging around the back door. The dogs ran straight past it, not even seeing it. I could see the dragon was a bit freaked, butstayed still. It seemed a little more relaxed when I walked past. The odd thing is it stayed and watched even when I walked back again to get something else from the house, which involved walking towards it for some of the way. It must have been quite worried, but I turned my head away so it would think I didn't see it. I watched it by turning my eyes while my head was pointed in the wrong direction. Most animals don't seem to notice the direction eyes point. They watch the head as a whole.

[miriam-e.livejournal.com]

Odd, isn't it, how we humans can feel so good about other animals. I think that is one of our best features, and one that is most likely to save us in the long run.

By the way, sorry I still haven't sent the instructions on using Puppy Linux with videos.

If you switch the computer on with the Puppy CD in the drive your machine should start running Puppy. It won't write anything to the hard drive unless you specifically tell it to, so when you switch off after using Puppy and reboot into Microsoft Windows there is not trace left of Puppy left behind. My point is it is safe to run. Once Puppy has loaded you can take the CD out and put other CDs or DVDs into the drive because Puppy now sits in volatile RAM (which is why it disappears when you switch it off).

The key to using Puppy's video playing software is the "drives" icon. Click on it and Puppy sees what drives are attached to your computer. After a little while it will display a list of them. Find the CD/DVD drive in the list and click on its icon. Puppy will now connect (or "mount") it, and you can click the new little filing cabinets window next to it to look at what files are in the CD/DVD. Now you can click any of the files and it should simply play. If it doesn't immediately play then drag the icon of the video file you want to play and drop it onto the "play" icon on the desktop. Ta-da!

[miriam-e.livejournal.com]

Yes, intelligence is definitely an an arms race. Large brains and large eyes certainly have an effect on us.

I'm so poor I generally don't end up paying taxes in the end. I pay about a 10th of my income as tax even though I'm below the taxable threshold, so that at the end of the year if I've had any well paid work (I live in hope) then I don't have to cough up extra money. Usually I just get a big refund cheque back each year. I don't mind paying taxes (so long as they use it properly) and it is a way of saving money.

This year might be a bit different because I'm hoping to start an energy efficiency business with my sister. If we start earning good money then I'll be paying far more in taxes. However start-up companies attract some significant tax concessions so we might be able to still survive the first couple of years.

The tax rate looks pretty high in Australia, but it isn't really. It is pretty unrealistic because some of the richest pay almost no tax because of the the tax concessions and refunds (I can't think of the proper word). In the end most of the tax burden falls on the low income workers, which is a bummer, but seems to be the case in most countries... except some places with, unsurprisingly, the highest standard of living in the world (e.g. Sweden).

Very few people pay the face-value tax. It is difficult to work out a fair tax system though. Most of the tax rebates are an attempt to make the system more sensible, though with each layer of adjustments the system becomes more unwieldy. Our tax system seriously needs reworking, though I don't envy anyone the job.

[cranky--crocus.livejournal.com]

I like to go with the "All my relations" view of Native American spirituality. I think it is one of our best features, yes.

I've got it working fine, thank you! I put in the bootable CDs and instead copied the material into a folder on my desktop and it allows me to play anything with the programs that I already have. I have been LOVING Daria! I don't get much time to watch, but I'm into the second season. Thank you so much! I am excited to continue watching.

-Kiwi

[miriam-e.livejournal.com]

Absolutely! Just genetically speaking, we are all brothers and sisters. I just heard a talk a couple of days ago about how even lowly yeast have many genes in common with us. Researchers have been exploiting that, trying to understand, and find solutions to, cancer and other problems that afflict us. When you get to animals, and especially other vertebrates then it is hard not to notice that we all have the same basic design, and when you look at the placental mammals it is inescapable. They are us. We are so much the same flesh.

I am so glad you have been able to view the videos, and I'm delighted that you found your own way to do it. Muddling around on the computer is the very best way to learn this stuff I find.

Yes. Daria is wonderful. My favorite episode is "Write Where it Hurts" -- the final episode of season 2. I do hope they put out a DVD with all the episodes on it one day. I'll be first in line to buy it. Some of those downloaded recordings are pretty crappy quality because they've been captured from TV broadcasts. Some episodes are available on DVD and videotape already, but some prude has seen fit to censor some of them, making it difficult to comprehend some story points.

[cranky--crocus.livejournal.com]

I'll make sure to pay close attention to that episode. =). I'm not there yet.

I have another friend who is apparently completely obsessed with the show and was thrilled to find that you gave me copies. We have spent some time watching a few episodes together.

It's making me seriously consider purchasing a pair of kick-arse combat boots to wear with my skirts... (I may just do it, too. I'll see if I can find a cheap pair around or someone who doesn't want theirs anymore.)

Thank you!

K

[miriam-e.livejournal.com]

Also "Is it Fall Yet?" is a nice one to watch. It actually fits between the end of season 4 and season 5. Don't bother buying this episode -- they cut some of the best parts out.

I wear Blundstones. Don't know if you have them in USA. I think many people use them as riding boots. They are ankle-high, elastic-sided, and incredibly comfortable. I hate having to lace boots (or shoes) up... call me lazy. :)

[cranky--crocus.livejournal.com]

I have a few types of shoes. I can slip into my Van-type-things and moccasins. I like lacing up my chucks. I don't mind lacing up shoes--especially boots.

Hmm. I'm tired. I should head off to CVS now so I won't have to do it later.

[miriam-e.livejournal.com]

I should have mentioned that http://www.outpost-daria.com is full of cool Daria stuff, including an unbelievable amount of fan-fiction, some of which is excellent and some ummm... not so good.

As for almost any TV show http://epguides.com is a terrific resource, especially when you choose the "Printable Episode Guide" link on that page.

[cranky--crocus.livejournal.com]

Thank you. They have been bookmarked. =).

K