Lizard Logic

"How can actions speak louder than words if the pen is mightier than the sword?"

Bigger Girl bounced into the kitchen to ask this question when she got home from work.  As i tried to figure out how to respond, she said, "Well, just don't ask that at a philosopher's convention, okay?"

Since the janitor has no intention of attending a philosopher's convention, avoiding that mistake should be easy, i noted drily.  Then i pointed out the difference between long term change of the course of history versus the idea of judging a person based on track record.

"Well, yes.  Oh, and I've decided I want to major in zoology in college, and minor in drama.  That way, I can get a career training Komodo dragons to perform Shakespeare."


At my sideways look, she laughed.  "Not really, of course, but today I was able to correctly identify the uterus, ovaries, and ovarian follicles of the cow when we were doing ultrasound on it.  And I do want to major in zoology, though I don't know what I would do with it.

"Did you know that you can really tame a Komodo dragon if you spend years with it?"

No, i didn't, but i would imagine it would be possible to at least get them used to people if you are handling them from hatching.

"Exactly.  And Komodo dragons can count up to six.  If you show them up to 6 thing to eat, and then go hide the food in an enclosure, it will go in and keep looking for food until it finds all of them, up to six.  After that, it just gets confused and doesn't know what to do.  But that's pretty amazing."

Yes, i agreed, but even some primitive creatures like reptiles need to keep track of their eggs and babies, so it makes sense they have some understanding of numbers.

"Right.  And reptiles don't have the same problems in lab settings being research animals as mammals do.  I wonder why?"

Well, it would seem to me that the higher mammalian brain would need more stimulation than what you can give in a lab setting, and needs more hands on care and love and touch than reptiles do.  As long as reptiles are fed, they seem perfectly okay with whatever else is going on.


"Yes, maybe that's it, but Komodo dragons that are used to people do ask for belly scratches and rubs."


Another bit if trivia i never knew about the creatures.


"Well, I know it's Friday night, but I'm going to make sure I get to bed early tonight since Uncle P. is visiting tomorrow.  I don't want to be rude and sleep late."


Good idea.


And here i thought #2 Son had the others beat on herpetology.  She's giving him a run for the money.


Today is

Bannack Days-- Bannack, MT, US (through tomorrow; explore the territorial capital now turned ghost town and celebrate the pioneer spirit)

Canada's Parks Day

Celebration of the Horse -- Charlotte's Saddlery, Houston, TX, US (through tomorrow; in honor of the human/equine bond)

Experimental Aircraft Association Airventure -- Wittman Regional Airport, Oshkosh, WI, US (world's largest sport aviation event, through the 29th)

Feast of Damo -- Ancient Greek Calendar (keeper of secrets of philosophy; daughter of Greek sages, Pythagoras and Theano, date approximate)

Geneva Arts Fair -- Geneva, IL, US (through tomorrow)

Hemingway Birthday Celebration -- Hemingway Museum, Oak Park, IL, US

Independence Day / National Day -- Belgium(1830)

Kazanskaya -- Russia (Feast of Our Lady of Kazan)

Kidspree -- Aurora, CO, US (free outdoor festival for kids; through tomorrow)

Lakota Sun Dance -- Lakota Native Americans (festival of the sun god Wi, with offerings to Maka (mother earth) and Haokah (father sky), both aspects of Creator Tukaskanskan; through the 23rd)

Liberation Day -- Guam (1944; from Japan)

Lucaria -- Ancient Roman Calendar ("Feast of Clearings", with prayers said as land was cleared for planting)

National Day of the Cowboy -- US; celebrating the heritage, and those who still work as cowboys/cowgirls today

National Junk Food Day

National Woodie Wagon Day -- pay homage today to this great American symbol of freedom and the casual lifestyle

Prince Lot Hula Festival -- Moanalua Gardens, Hawai'i

Racial Harmony Day -- Singapore

Rath Yatra -- Puri, India (Chariot Festival, pilgrims pull huge chariots across the city)

Sapporo Summer Festival -- Odori Park, Sapporo, Japan (through Aug. 20, the park becomes a beer garden)

Schoelcher Day -- French West Indies; Martinique (Schoelcher worked for abolition)

St. Lawrence of Brindisi's Day (Patron of Brindisi, Italy)

St. Praxedes' Day (Patron of single laywomen)

Stroud International Brick and Rolling Pin Throwing Contest -- held simultaneously in the 4 cities called Stroud: Gloucestershire, England; Oklahoma, US; Ontario, Canada; and New South Wales, Australia (results are compiled internationally following the event)

Toss Away the "Could Haves" and "Should Haves" Day -- write down all the "could have" and "should have" things in your life, then toss them in the trash! Resolve from this day to live in the present, not the past.

Touch Hammer's Birthday Bargain Day -- Fairy Calendar

Tug-Of-War Tournament Day -- if you have a problem with someone today, solve it with an old fashioned tug-of-war!

Wrong Days in Wright, Minnesota -- in honor of "Wrong Way" Corrigan (through tomorrow)


Birthdays Today

Hatty Jones, 1988
Josh Hartnett, 1978
Jon Lovitz, 1957
Michael Connelly, 1956
Robin Williams, 1951
Cat Stevens, 1948
Kenneth Starr, 1946
Norman Jewison, 1926
Don Knotts, 1924
Kay Starr, 1922
Isaac Stern, 1920
Marshall McLuhan, 1911
Ernest Hemingway, 1899


Today in History

Herostratus sets fire to the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, BCE 356
A tsunami devastates the city of Alexandria, Egypt, 365
The first landing of French troops on the coast during the French invasion of the Isle of Wight, 1545
Twenty-four-year-old Scottish physician and explorer Mungo Park became the first European to see the Niger River, the third longest river in Africa, 1796
In the market square of Springfield, Missouri, Wild Bill Hickok shoots and kills Davis Tutt in what is regarded as the first true western showdown, 1865
At Adair, Iowa, Jesse James and the James-Younger Gang pull off the first successful train robbery in the American Old West, 1873
Louis Rigolly, a Frenchman, becomes the first man to break the 100 mph (161 km/h) barrier on land, driving a 15-liter Gobron-Brille in Ostend, Belgium, 1904
In Dayton, Tennessee, high school biology teacher John T. Scopes is found guilty of teaching evolution in class and fined $100, 1925
Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin become the first men to walk on the Moon, during the Apollo 11 mission, 1969
After 11 years of construction, the Aswan High Dam in Egypt is completed, 1970
The world's lowest temperature is recorded at Vostok Station, Antarctica at -82.9*C (-129*F), 1983
The fully restored USS Constitution (aka "Old Ironsides") celebrates her 200th birthday by setting sail for the first time in 116 years, 1997
NASA's Space Shuttle program ends with the landing of Space Shuttle Atlantis on mission STS-135, 2011