Alarm Clocks, Cuckoo Clocks and Time in General

This is a photo found on the website of The White Swan Guest House (Á Hvíta Svaninum) in Reykjavik, Iceland. I thought it was hilarious but then what are vacations for?!?!

Á Hvíta Svaninum ræður þú ferðinni, það er ekki okkar að setja þér tímamörk.

I’m not fond of alarm clocks and I've encountered people with the same issue. The one I have (that works) is a wind up clock. The racket from that thing was so bad once that I put it in the next room! I was trying to sleep but the noise was keeping me awake. There have been other times where the alarm would ring and the thought of taking a hammer to it came to mind. Good thing there wasn’t one handy because I would have put the alarm clock out of its misery. There have been other times when I’ve awakened and spent the next hour or so looking back at the clock unable to return to sleep. Back in the early 1980s (my mother was still alive at the time) a friend stayed over for the night and slept in the spare room downstairs. That room had a fully functioning cuckoo clock on the wall in the corner near the couch that opened up for sleeping. When my friend was comfortable and had fallen off to sleep, this clock rang. Midnight was something awful for her. It didn’t bother me because I slept through all that noise but then I didn’t share my bedroom with the clock either! Now I sleep with out a clock and just get up when I’m awake but that might change once I’m back to work. The electric alarm clock with radio that I have is broken. It didn’t last too long after I had bought it. I only lasted six months or so as opposed to the old one that lasted for years and is probably still working at a friend’s place in London.

Invisible technology one step closer

Physics and science in general has long been of interest to me since public school days. Today I received news that Dr. Sébastien Guenneau with Dr Frédéric Zolla and Professor André Nicolet from the University of Marseille in France have proven, using a computer generated model, that objects can appear invisible. It looks like that Klingon technology from the original Star Trek series (remember "cloaking') is one step closer to reality. Read the article at the link below for more information. There will be more in the sciences field from time to time.

An article at http://www.physorg.com/news97945163.html reveals that scientists are one more step closer to realising invisible technology [from "Science and technology news" PhysOrg.com]. A unique computer model designed by a mathematician at the University of Liverpool has shown that it is possible to make objects, such as aeroplanes and submarines, appear invisible at close range.

Nesting Swans

There is a nesting pair of mute swans at Lost Lagoon in Vancouver's Stanley Park. Here is a series of three photos taken of them earlier in April. I hope to have more photos later once the young are on the scene. Enjoy these for now!

Turtles, did anyone say turtles???

Did any one say turtles??? Well, its not often that I've seen turtles and certainly not three of them sunning themselves on a rock in this case at Lost Lagoon in Vancouver's Stanley Park this past Sunday. Here are a few shots including a close-up of two of them after the one in the middle decided to vacate and return to the water. Enjoy!

The Bald Eagle

This blog takes its name from the Latin name of the Bald Eagle and as luck would have it, I saw one while walking the seawall on Sunday. The bird was sitting high atop a tree over looking the bay. The view must have been great from there. At first I thought it might be an owl but then I was thinking, what would an owl be doing out in the daytime. Then the bird looked down and I saw the yellow beak and the white head. That said it all. I looked the bird up in my bird guide when I got home to find that this was probably a young eagle in its first year. It was the colouring of the plumage that had me fooled at first until the head was seen. So, you never know what you might see while walking the seawall or hiking through the park.

Spring Colour Everywhere

Sunday afternoon was so warm and sunny that I decided to go into Vancouver to enjoy the weather. A lot of other people were out with the same idea as you can see by the crowd at the main beach at English Bay. As people entered the beach area from the street they were greated by a colourful planting of tulips complete with an underplanting of forget-me-nots. The photo below gives you an idea of the colourful display. And yes, those are fan palms in the planters! The temperatures were very summer-like and worth getting out to experience.

Below is a close-up shot of the colour. I hope it helps perk up your day.

Scotch broom is also in bloom everywhere. It starts blooming about two weeks earlier than in London in southwestern Ontario. A member of the legume family it makes an excellent nitrogen fixer in your garden. The scent from the blooms carries far when the plant is in flower.

Not everyone looks up but this is the rock face on the western end of Stanley Park facing English Bay. I am standing on the seawall. The photo below shows a couple of crows flying overhead. When the weather and the wind is co-operating, you might even see eagles soaring overhead.

The fresh green growth is really shooting out on the larch trees since I was last in the park two weeks ago as can be seen in the image below.

There is a never ending show of colour it seems when viewing the display from the rhododendrons as can be seen in the last two photos.

Hopefully you have enjoyed the colourful floral display. If you live in the Vancouver area, perhaps you might consider coming out to see the colour while it lasts.

the Western Honey Bee or Apis mellifera

This image of the Carnica bee on Soldago was taken by Frank Mikley, 2006-06-09.

This image of Bees-wings is from PD Photo.org.

Photo, Honeybee landing on Milkthistle, was taken by Fir0002. All images are from the Wikipedia Commons under the GNU Free Documentation License. See these and other photos plus details on the Western honey bee or European honey bee [Apis mellifera] at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_honey_bee

I will soon post about the Colony Collapse Disorder [CCD] affecting the honey bee currently. The microsporidium parasite called Nosema ceranae is one of many potential causes of the die off and collapse of the bee hives in North America, Europe and elsewhere. Meantime, this small sampling of photos will give those that have never seen this bee up close, or that may be affected by an allergic reaction should they be stung by them, a chance to see the honey bee at a safe distance. More information and news coming soon.