Subject: Re: Spider House
Jess Anderson
> <http://auntieruth.livejournal.com/100436.html>
Cute.
> The basement is full of spiders. I haven't figured out what
> they're hunting down there, but hopefully a bug bomb will
> prevent me from ever finding out.
Broadcasting insecticides is an environmental crime. They're
just surviving however they can. If you have mice, get a cat.
If you have spiders, get centipedes. Or a vacuum cleaner.
--
[] Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and
[] arrows of outrageous fortune, or to pull out your
[] submachinegun and blow them away -- that is the question.
[] -- Uncle Albert Stolwyczinki
--
[] Copyright 2008 Jess Anderson [] ande...@wisc.edu
[] www.jessanderson.org [] jesse-anderson.blogspot.com
[] www.flickr.com/photos/jess_anderson/
[] Soc.Motss FAQ: www.soc-motss.org/doc/faq/faq_intro.html
David W. Fenton
news:L8adnWYfNMEmUAnV...@supernews.com:
> If you have spiders, get centipedes.
What if you have centipedes?
--
David W. Fenton http://www.dfenton.com/
usenet at dfenton dot com http://www.dfenton.com/DFA/
ailuropoda melanoleuca torontonensis
mused on chemical bug-killers, and jess recoiled in horror
> > If you have spiders, get centipedes.
> What if you have centipedes?
hush, little baby, don't you say a word
mama's gonna buy you a mockingbird
and if that mocking bird don't sing
mama's gonna buy you a diamond ring
and if that diamond ring goes brass
mama's gonna buy you a looking glass
and if that looking glass gets broke
mama's gonna buy you a billy goat....
and where will it all end? STOP THE INSANITY!!
(though I spoze the problems and solutions could turn out to be
cyclic, cf there's a hole in my bucket.
<><><><><>
that said, as my glaswegian mama would say, spiders are the sign of a
dry house.
ailuropoda melanoleuca torontonensis
back in the eastern timezone after three weeks of being ailuropoda
melanoleuca cantuarensis
Frank McQuarry
> Jess Anderson <ande...@wisc.edu> wrote in
> news:L8adnWYfNMEmUAnV...@supernews.com:
>
>> If you have spiders, get centipedes.
>
> What if you have centipedes?
>
I'd rather have spiders.
Robert S. Coren
ailuropoda melanoleuca torontonensis <chris....@utoronto.ca> wrote:
>knarf has lots of spiders in the basement of the new knarfitorium. He
>mused on chemical bug-killers, and jess recoiled in horror
>> > If you have spiders, get centipedes.
>> [david]
>> What if you have centipedes?
>
>hush, little baby, don't you say a word
>mama's gonna buy you a mockingbird
>and if that mocking bird don't sing
>mama's gonna buy you a diamond ring
Or, perhaps a little more apropos:
I know an old lady who swallowed a fly.
I don't know why she swallowed a fly;
Perhaps she'll die.
I know an old lady who swallowed a spider
That wriggled and jiggled and tickled inside her.
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly;
I don't know why she swallowed the fly;
Perhaps she'll die.
I know an old lady who swallowed a cat.
Now, fancy that, to swallow a cat!
She swallowed the cat to catch the spider
That wriggled and jiggled and tickled inside her...
And so (very much) on.
--
---Robert Coren (co...@panix.com)------------------------------------
Baba ganoosh ganache Ganesh!
Baba ganoosh ganache!
--culinary cheer for the elephant god
Frank R.A.J. Maloney
Some species of centipedes are poisonous and have a painful bite that
can cause an allergic reaction like bee stings in adult humans as well
as being hazardous to small children.
There is such a critter as a house centipede, which is not only harmless
to humans but beneficial. All centipedes are predators, btw.
In my part of the world, centipedes tend to keep to themselves and we
don't have hazardous spiders like the black widow or the brown recluse.
I'm always after L not to kill any spider he sees indoors or outdoors.
Spiders are our friends.
--
Frank in Seattle
____
Frank Richard Aloysius Jude Maloney
"Millennium hand and shrimp."
David Horne, _the_ chancellor (*)
[]
> that said, as my glaswegian mama would say, spiders are the sign of a
> dry house.
That is really funny. I suspect one reason I don't have an aversion to
house spiders is that as a child I remember my scottish Grandmother
would refer to a spider that appeared in her house as Hector. The
anthropomorphism made me unafraid of the spider, though as a kid I
hadn't considered that it may well be a different spider each time...
But my grandmother _hated_ houses that smelled of damp- I wonder if
there's a connection?
My mum was absolutely terrified by wasps, and that phobia certainly got
passed on to me.
--
(*) of the royal duchy of city south and deansgate -www.davidhorne.net
(email address on website) "If people think God is interesting, the
onus is on them to show that there is anything there to talk about.
Otherwise they should just shut up about it." -Richard Dawkins
Blunt and Opaque
>ailuropoda melanoleuca torontonensis <chris....@utoronto.ca> wrote:
>> that said, as my glaswegian mama would say, spiders are the sign of a
>> dry house.
>That is really funny. I suspect one reason I don't have an aversion to
>house spiders is that as a child I remember my scottish Grandmother
>would refer to a spider that appeared in her house as Hector. The
>anthropomorphism made me unafraid of the spider, though as a kid I
>hadn't considered that it may well be a different spider each time...
I never thought to name them!
On the whole, I'm rather fond of house spiders. They keep down the
other vermin, and have that whole cycle-of-life thing going on. But
whichever spider it is that keeps biting me is about to have a
come-to-vacuum-cleaner moment. Grr. Argh.
--
Piglet, ow
Frank McQuarry
> Frank McQuarry wrote:
>> David W. Fenton wrote:
>>> Jess Anderson <ande...@wisc.edu> wrote in
>>> news:L8adnWYfNMEmUAnV...@supernews.com:
>>>> If you have spiders, get centipedes.
>>>
>>> What if you have centipedes?
>>>
>>
>> I'd rather have spiders.
>
> Some species of centipedes are poisonous and have a painful bite that
> can cause an allergic reaction like bee stings in adult humans as well
> as being hazardous to small children.
>
> There is such a critter as a house centipede, which is not only harmless
> to humans but beneficial. All centipedes are predators, btw.
>
> In my part of the world, centipedes tend to keep to themselves and we
> don't have hazardous spiders like the black widow or the brown recluse.
> I'm always after L not to kill any spider he sees indoors or outdoors.
> Spiders are our friends.
>
Millions of years ago, there were centipedes over 6 feet long. Now
that's creepy.
Blunt and Opaque
>Millions of years ago, there were centipedes over 6 feet long. Now
>that's creepy.
*runs screaming into the night*
--
Piglet
Frank R.A.J. Maloney
Your natural aversion to such things has no doubt led you to a slight
exaggeration. The ancient Euphorberia grew to 1 m/39 inches long. But it
lived during the Carboniferous, as much as some 325 million years ago.
The Amazonian giant centipede is the largest living species at 30 cm/12
inches in length. It can catch bats in midflight and also preys on
rodents and spiders including the huge Goliath birdeater tanantula
(considered a delicacy by humans in the Andes).
The giant Galapagos centipede is known to reach 20 cm/8 inches, despite
rumors that is much longer.
Frank McQuarry
*runs screaming with Piglet into the night*
Ann Burlingham
> d4g...@yahoo.co.uk (David Horne, _the_ chancellor (*)), in article <1il3yrb.1oaie0219lm61wN%d4g...@yahoo.co.uk>, dixit:
> >ailuropoda melanoleuca torontonensis <chris....@utoronto.ca> wrote:
> >> that said, as my glaswegian mama would say, spiders are the sign of a
> >> dry house.
>
> >That is really funny. I suspect one reason I don't have an aversion to
> >house spiders is that as a child I remember my scottish Grandmother
> >would refer to a spider that appeared in her house as Hector. The
> >anthropomorphism made me unafraid of the spider, though as a kid I
> >hadn't considered that it may well be a different spider each time...
>
> I never thought to name them!
Arachne!
--
What use was it having all that money if you could never sit still
or just watch your cattle eating grass?
- Alexander McCall Smith, _The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency_
Ann Burlingham
> Frank McQuarry wrote:
> > Millions of years ago, there were centipedes over 6 feet long. Now
> > that's creepy.
>
> Your natural aversion to such things has no doubt led you to a slight
> exaggeration. The ancient Euphorberia grew to 1 m/39 inches long. But
> it lived during the Carboniferous, as much as some 325 million years
> ago.
Yeah, yeah, but how many feet?
Frank R.A.J. Maloney
> "Frank R.A.J. Maloney" <fr...@blarg.net> writes:
>> Frank McQuarry wrote:
>
>>> Millions of years ago, there were centipedes over 6 feet long. Now
>>> that's creepy.
>> Your natural aversion to such things has no doubt led you to a slight
>> exaggeration. The ancient Euphorberia grew to 1 m/39 inches long. But
>> it lived during the Carboniferous, as much as some 325 million years
>> ago.
>
> Yeah, yeah, but how many feet?
>
3.25 feet. Or are you referring to its legs? Strictly speaking I don't
think we can say it has feet per se as in most centipedes each leg ends
in a single claw so they are running on tippytoe, or en pointe. Among
living species the number of legs varies from 15 to 150, but I've never
seen a fossil of the Euphorberia to know how many legs it had.
The house centipede, btw, does have a long, flat foot, enabling it to
run faster than most other species.
Also, some centipedes have the ability to shed a few legs to distract a
would-be predator. The legs grow back with the next shedding.
ailuropoda melanoleuca torontonensis
> >. The ancient Euphorberia grew to 1 m/39 inches long. But
> > it lived during the Carboniferous, as much as some 325 million years
> > ago.
> Yeah, yeah, but how many feet?
oh these quaint antiquated measuring systems you use south of the
border.
39 inches = 3.25 feet
all you have to do is divide by 12, though it WOULD be a lot simpler
if you just went metric
manly back in trawna panda
Frank R.A.J. Maloney
Yes, but can *you* tell us how many furlongs are in a fortnight?
Michael Palmer
Maloney" <fr...@blarg.net> wrote:
>ailuropoda melanoleuca torontonensis wrote:
>>>> [frajm]
>>>> . The ancient Euphorberia grew to 1 m/39 inches long. But
>>>> it lived during the Carboniferous, as much as some 325 million years
>>>> ago.
>>> [ A nnB]
>>> Yeah, yeah, but how many feet?
>>
>> oh these quaint antiquated measuring systems you use south of the
>> border.
>>
>> 39 inches = 3.25 feet
>>
>> all you have to do is divide by 12, though it WOULD be a lot simpler
>> if you just went metric
>
>Yes, but can *you* tell us how many furlongs are in a fortnight?
Would that be according to Milanese or Burgundian reckoning, and
before or after 1452?
--
Michael Palmer
Claremont, California
mpa...@panix.com
Dennis Lewis
>
>... The giant Galapagos centipede is known to reach 20 cm/8 inches, despite
>rumors that its much longer.
Oh, if there's *any* group qualified to testify on the fallacy of
those types of rumors, we're it. (The men, anyway.)
ailuropoda melanoleuca torontonensis
> >>> . The ancient Euphorberia grew to 1 m/39 inches long. But
> >>> it lived during the Carboniferous, as much as some 325 million years
> >>> ago.
> >> [ A nnB]
> >> Yeah, yeah, but how many feet?
> > oh these quaint antiquated measuring systems you use south of the
> > border.
> > 39 inches = 3.25 feet
> > all you have to do is divide by 12, though it WOULD be a lot simpler
> > if you just went metric
> Yes, but can *you* tell us how many furlongs are in a fortnight?
that depends on how fast you're going
manly panda
who spent the last fortnight in Canterbury, many many furlongs from
Trawna
Dennis Lewis
>
>... On the whole, I'm rather fond of house spiders. They keep down the
>other vermin ...
That's my philosophy. That's why I don't disturb their little webs in
obscure corners.
spiders ARE PREFERABLE TO roaches
snakes* ARE PREFERABLE TO mice
* in bushes OUTSIDE the house, of course
Speaking of snakes ... last weekend at the Pride festival one guy was
walking around with what appeared to be his pet snake (length over
four feet, at least) around his neck. (I hope it was his pet snake. I
hope he didn't just see it lying along the sidewalk and think, "oooo
pretty!")
Surprisingly, that guy didn't try to make a pass at me. ("Another
eHarmony success story!") I know, I know; I must be losing it. Five
years ago that type of guy would have made a beeline straight for me.
My photos from the Pride parade:
<http://www.flickr.com/photos/dsl77/sets/72157606460293207/>
Mike McKinley
news:1il3yrb.1oaie0219lm61wN%d4g...@yahoo.co.uk...
> ailuropoda melanoleuca torontonensis <chris....@utoronto.ca> wrote:
>> that said, as my glaswegian mama would say, spiders are the sign of a
>> dry house.
> That is really funny. I suspect one reason I don't have an aversion to
> house spiders is that as a child I remember my scottish Grandmother
> would refer to a spider that appeared in her house as Hector. The
> anthropomorphism made me unafraid of the spider, though as a kid I
> hadn't considered that it may well be a different spider each time...
> But my grandmother _hated_ houses that smelled of damp- I wonder if
> there's a connection?
> My mum was absolutely terrified by wasps, and that phobia certainly got
> passed on to me.
We have mud dauber wasps. I hate yellow jackets.
Frank R.A.J. Maloney
I'd prefer yellow jackets would not come to our barbecues, but I don't
hold any animosity for them. They're just looking for meat to feed their
babies after all.
Then there are the hornets, which don't like barbecue but rather live
insects and good for them, I say. True hornets, which are old-world
insects and of which only one species, accidentally introduced long ago,
is found in the U.S. (Eastern half mainly), true hornets, I say, belong
to the genus Vespa. As a long-time admirer of Vespa motor scooters, this
tickles me no end.
As for mud daubers, I used to be quite charmed when I'd be out at our
gardens watering and weeding and being joined repeatedly by the little
darlings rolling up pills of mud and flying off to their latest home
improvement projects. My little helper and such a hard worker.
Paper wasps are fascinating, too, although a friend whose parents were
over from Ireland and we were all sitting outside on lovely Sunday
afternoon when a paper nest no one had ever noticed before under the
eaves of the house proved to be occupied. George's father got stung once
and started swelling up. Fortunately a quick trip to the drug store for
some Benadryl fixed him right up.
ailuropoda melanoleuca torontonensis
thanks. but where are the pix of YOU-YOU-YOU??
in the "unintentionally artsy" shot about three or four from the end,
featuring two barechested young men, one with beads, the other with a
rainbow flag sarong- my but that's an interesting crotch bulge under
the sarong.
manly panda
unpacking and getting into life in this timezone on the simcoe day
holiday
Mike McKinley
message
news:f00f845e-156e-4830...@x41g2000hsb.googlegroups.com...
My! So much aesthetic blur.
Reminds me of the cinematic lens flare popularity of the late 1970-80's.
Hated it!
Jed Davis
> My! So much aesthetic blur.
> Reminds me of the cinematic lens flare popularity of the late 1970-80's.
> Hated it!
"Bad photography is indistinguishable from art", I always say.
Well, sometimes.
--
(let ((C call-with-current-continuation)) (apply (lambda (x y) (x y)) (map
((lambda (r) ((C C) (lambda (s) (r (lambda l (apply (s s) l)))))) (lambda
(f) (lambda (l) (if (null? l) C (lambda (k) (display (car l)) ((f (cdr l))
(C k))))))) '((#\J #\d #\D #\v #\s) (#\e #\space #\a #\i #\newline)))))
Ann Burlingham
> > > [frajm]
> > >. The ancient Euphorberia grew to 1 m/39 inches long. But
> > > it lived during the Carboniferous, as much as some 325 million years
> > > ago.
> > [ A nnB]
> > Yeah, yeah, but how many feet?
>
> oh these quaint antiquated measuring systems you use south of the
> border.
>
> 39 inches = 3.25 feet
3.25 hardly counts as "centi-" anything, to my mind.
ailuropoda melanoleuca torontonensis
> > > > [frajm]
> > > >. The ancient Euphorberia grew to 1 m/39 inches long. But
> > > > it lived during the Carboniferous, as much as some 325 million years
> > > > ago.
> > > [ A nnB]
> > > Yeah, yeah, but how many feet?
> > oh these quaint antiquated measuring systems you use south of the
> > border.
> > 39 inches = 3.25 feet
> 3.25 hardly counts as "centi-" anything, to my mind.
well it's one hundred centimetres, if that's any help.
which reminds me of an ancient joke that yr panda literally first
heard in his primary schoolyard:
Q: What goes ninetynine-bonk, ninetynine-bonk?
A: A centipede with a wooden leg
ailuropoda melanoleuca torontonensis
hey, I told you it was a juvenile joke
Jess Anderson
=====
Frank Maloney:
> There is such a critter as a house centipede, which is not
> only harmless to humans but beneficial.
I learned that fact only about a year ago. Now I shoo them away
instead of killing them.
> In my part of the world, centipedes tend to keep to themselves
> and we don't have hazardous spiders like the black widow or the
> brown recluse. I'm always after L not to kill any spider he
> sees indoors or outdoors. Spiders are our friends.
We have both black widow and brown recluse in Wisconsin.
Black widow venom is very similar to rattlesnake venom and can
be lethal to humans.
Recluse bites (I had one about ten years ago) cause an ulcer
that heals very slowly or (rarely) never, but a worse threat is
a blood parasite they may carry and transmit to the bite victim.
=====
Dennis Lewis:
> Speaking of snakes ... [guy with snake]
> Surprisingly, that guy didn't try to make a pass at me. [] I
> must be losing it. Five years ago that type of guy would have
> made a beeline straight for me.
You're no longer a boy constrictor?
=====
Dennis Lewis:
> I'd drop my loaf of Sara Lee in an instant if there was a
> Bimbo on the bread rack.
Instant quotes file entry.
=====
Mike McKinley:
> We have mud dauber wasps. I hate yellow jackets.
A few weeks ago I was pulling weeds when a yellow jacket got
inside my glove and stung me several times before I could yank
the glove off. There was no swelling and I could barely see the
wounds, but the stings itched like crazy for over a week.
--
[] Reality is the leading cause of stress for those in touch
[] with it.
[] -- Jack Wagner
--
[] Copyright 2008 Jess Anderson [] ande...@wisc.edu
[] www.jessanderson.org [] jesse-anderson.blogspot.com
[] www.flickr.com/photos/jess_anderson/
[] Soc.Motss FAQ: www.soc-motss.org/doc/faq/faq_intro.html
Frank R.A.J. Maloney
> [Cited: Frank Maloney, Dennis Lewis, Mike McKinley]
>
> =====
>
> Frank Maloney:
>
> > There is such a critter as a house centipede, which is not
> > only harmless to humans but beneficial.
>
> I learned that fact only about a year ago. Now I shoo them away
> instead of killing them.
>
> > In my part of the world, centipedes tend to keep to themselves
> > and we don't have hazardous spiders like the black widow or the
> > brown recluse. I'm always after L not to kill any spider he
> > sees indoors or outdoors. Spiders are our friends.
>
> We have both black widow and brown recluse in Wisconsin.
>
> Black widow venom is very similar to rattlesnake venom and can
> be lethal to humans.
>
> Recluse bites (I had one about ten years ago) cause an ulcer
> that heals very slowly or (rarely) never, but a worse threat is
> a blood parasite they may carry and transmit to the bite victim.
[deletions]
I once got a bite, probably from a hobo spider, which produces similar
symptoms to the brown recluse, whilst on a visit east of the mountains.
It is found in the Pacific Northwest since being accidentally introduced
from Europe. My foot swelled up to the point I couldn't wear my boots
and had to shuffle around in go-aheads (thread tie?). Then the two
visible fang bites ulcerated, taking weeks and weeks to heal. Even today
15 years later I have a dark spot on the top of my foot where the bite
occurred.
I hadn't heard about the parasite. Those little buggers need to be taken
seriously, obviously.
You compare the black widow venom to that of the rattlesnake. I am also
pleased to report that there are no rattlesnakes or other venomous
snakes native to Western Washington. However, there some truly big
rattlers east of the Cascades, with many of which I have had encounters
over the years.
Once I was walking up a tall, large hill on a friend's ranch near
Wenatchee. The lower slopes were grass and shrub but the hill was
crowned by a piny woods. Walking through those woods along a natural
trail, I suddenly found myself standing several behind where I had been
and no memory of jumping backwards. Only after a moment's confusion was
I able to take in the sight of a massive rattler coiled in the trail in
front of me. Good old instincts heard the rattle before my conscious
mind could process the information and took the appropriate action or at
least that's my interpretation. I beat a quick retreat downslope and
only caught my breath and calmed my pulse when I was safely inside the
ranch house.
That weekend I saw or heard no less than seven different rattlesnakes in
various parts of the canyon where Roy's ranch was and the neighboring,
uninhabited canyon.
Frank R.A.J. Maloney
[deletions]
>
> Once I was walking up a tall, large hill on a friend's ranch near
> Wenatchee. The lower slopes were grass and shrub but the hill was
> crowned by a piny woods. Walking through those woods along a natural
> trail, I suddenly found myself standing several behind where I had been
> and no memory of jumping backwards.
I meant to type: "I suddenly found myself standing several *feet* behind
where I had been and no memory of jumping backwards."
[deletion]
Dennis Lewis
>
> My! So much aesthetic blur.
> Reminds me of the cinematic lens flare popularity of the late 1970-80's.
>Hated it!
You should see the ones I didn't post.
After standing on a sidewalk for three hours, I vowed that I was going
to have enough photos to post in a Flikr album even if I had to claim
I was going for the Salvador Dali look.
The parade was supposed to leave its origination point at 7 and follow
a route that, even if you were in rush hour traffic and hit all the
red lights, would only take 10-12 minutes to cover. So as the sun
began to slip behind the horizon, I began to wonder, "OK, which drag
queen is holding things up until she can put on her false eyelashes"
while also considering that it might morph into the Pride Thanksgiving
Day Parade.
Finally police motorcycles arrived to block nearby intersections and
in the distance I could see the flashing lights of the lead police car
escorting the parade. But you know that scene in "Mr. Bean's Holiday"
where Mr. Bean is hitchhiking and he sees a scooter come across the
horizon of an otherwise deserted straight stretch of road ... and Mr.
Bean watches as the scooter approaches ... and watches ... and
watches. Well, it was like that. OK, I thought, probably won't miss
any good shots waiting for the camera to focus. Think again -- as soon
as the parade reached my vantage point, it was like the conveyor belt
scene in the "I Love Lucy" episode in which Lucy and Ethel get a job
boxing chocolates. ("Speed 'er up!")
Ann Burlingham
> > Yeah, yeah, but how many feet?
> 3.25 feet. Or are you referring to its legs?
legs, of course.
Dennis Lewis
>
>... but where are the pix of YOU-YOU-YOU??
Aren't you sweet? I guess I could have held the camera at arms length
and pointed it in the general direction of my face. Or enlisted the
assistance of the passer-by least likely to take my camera and run.
Speaking of passers-by, an Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera was parked nearby
with an older (I say "older" -- he may actually be three or four years
younger than me) man sitting behind the wheel. A twink approaches on
the sidewalk, passes by the car (and me), then notices the guy sitting
in the car. The twink makes (literally) a circle, goes back to the
car, the guy rolls down his window, they have a brief exchange, the
twink goes on his way and the guy rolls his window back up.
I have no idea what transpired, but as the twink walked by I thought,
"Hell, I might be interested in what you're proposing." But I guess
all the rent boys know that the real money lies with drivers of
Cutlass Cieras.
Anyway, a few minutes later *a different twink* who had been reclining
in the front passenger seat suddenly popped up inside the Ciera. So
possibly the exchange was similar to a John Cleese "Monty Python"
sketch ("Albatross! Albatross!") -- "Twink?" "No thanks; got one."
>in the "unintentionally artsy" shot about three or four from the end,
>featuring two barechested young men, one with beads, the other with a
>rainbow flag sarong- my but that's an interesting crotch bulge under
>the sarong. ...
Really? I hadn't noticed.
<http://www.flickr.com/photos/dsl77/2717672621/>
By George, now that you mention it ...
My focus had been on trying to remember whether these pants had really
been riding that low --
<http://www.flickr.com/photos/dsl77/2717672637/>
(Damn that slow shutter speed in low light!)
Rod Williams
> >> My photos from the Pride parade:
> >> <http://www.flickr.com/photos/dsl77/sets/72157606460293207/>
Mike McKinley:
> My! So much aesthetic blur.
> Reminds me of the cinematic lens flare popularity of the late 1970-80's.
> Hated it!
Don't you have that nifty shaky-hands feature on your faaabulous
Panasonic Lumix? *My* pix are all razor-sharp...
Mike McKinley
news:d9c6862b-a6fd-4311...@u6g2000prc.googlegroups.com...
I remember when _NYPD Blue_ showed up and all that shaking camera
movement and off-center shot comps.
That's when I decided to return to my first love, the theatre.
Ellen Evans
The early years of Homicide were *much* worse.
--
--
Ellen Evans If my life wasn't funny, it would
je...@panix.com just be true, and that's unacceptable.
Carrie Fisher
Ruth Lawrence
"Frank R.A.J. Maloney" <fr...@blarg.net> wrote
<snip>
>
> Also, some centipedes have the ability to shed a few legs to distract a
> would-be predator. The legs grow back with the next shedding.
Eeew!
Ruth, retiring to the back yard
Dennis Lewis
>
>Don't you have that nifty shaky-hands feature on your faaabulous
>Panasonic Lumix? *My* pix are all razor-sharp...
Oh darling! There's a feature that'll keep the picture in focus even
as one snaps the shutter while pivoting to follow a moving float?
(How queer!)
Merrick Baldelli
Ruth... given that we're outnumbered by bugs more than a
1,000 to one, I wouldn't think the backyard would be the place you'd
want to retire to. More like some hermetically sealed bio dome.
*grinning*
--
-=-=-/ )=*=-='=-.-'-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
_( (_ , '_ * . Merrick Baldelli
(((\ \> /_1 `
(\\\\ \_/ /
-=-\ /-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
\ _/ Who are these folks and why have they
/ / stopped taking their medication?
- Captain Infinity
Frank R.A.J. Maloney
> On Fri, 8 Aug 2008 12:04:36 +1000, "Ruth Lawrence"
> <curly...@optusnet.com.au> wrote:
>
>> "Frank R.A.J. Maloney" <fr...@blarg.net> wrote
>>
>> <snip>
>>
>>> Also, some centipedes have the ability to shed a few legs to distract a
>>> would-be predator. The legs grow back with the next shedding.
>> Eeew!
>>
>> Ruth, retiring to the back yard
>
> Ruth... given that we're outnumbered by bugs more than a
> 1,000 to one, I wouldn't think the backyard would be the place you'd
> want to retire to. More like some hermetically sealed bio dome.
> *grinning*
>
As it happens, I just this morning caught a story on the local morning
news show about a researcher here in Seattle who is using scorpion venom
to "paint" cancerous cells.
http://www.komonews.com/news/health/26359989.html
For some reason, as part of the story KOMO-TV included a clip of a
scorpion duking it out with a centipede. Looked like a stand-off. Who
here lives in scorpion country; not I, but I certainly in the past had
days and weeks when I had to begin every morning knocking out my boots
to get rid of any overnight tenants.
Merrick Baldelli
<fr...@blarg.net> wrote:
>As it happens, I just this morning caught a story on the local morning
>news show about a researcher here in Seattle who is using scorpion venom
>to "paint" cancerous cells.
>
>http://www.komonews.com/news/health/26359989.html
>
>For some reason, as part of the story KOMO-TV included a clip of a
>scorpion duking it out with a centipede. Looked like a stand-off. Who
>here lives in scorpion country; not I, but I certainly in the past had
>days and weeks when I had to begin every morning knocking out my boots
>to get rid of any overnight tenants.
Intriguing. I used to live in Scorpion country (El Paso/White
Sands). Didn't have too much of a problem with Scorpions when I was
out in the desert, but it's always prudent to shake out one's shoes
and/or clothes lying about to ensure there's no new tenants taking up
residence.
I reacquainted myself to the habit when I moved to the south
and the problem of the are (Brown Recluses) were quite common.
Mike McKinley
news:R--dnSl6BZJyXgDV...@posted.isomediainc...
> Who here lives in scorpion country; not I, but I certainly in the past had
> days and weeks when I had to begin every morning knocking out my boots to
> get rid of any overnight tenants.
When I lived in my little mahagony cabaña on the Caribbean Coast of
Belize, I had no furniture for the longest time. Thus, my computer and
mouse were on the floor. One day I reached for my mouse and a huge, black
scorpion was snuggled up all comfy around it.
See
http://www.afpmb.org/pubs/living_hazards/363-Animals-Scorpions-Black%20Scorpion.jpg
Actually, though, the smaller yellow-brown ones in Texas are much more
venomous, but the Belizean ones are scarylicious!
David Horne, _the_ chancellor (*)
Here in the deep jungle of Manchester city centre, I get freaked out if
I see a small fruit fly every other week!
--
(*) of the royal duchy of city south and deansgate -www.davidhorne.net
(email address on website) "If people think God is interesting, the
onus is on them to show that there is anything there to talk about.
Otherwise they should just shut up about it." -Richard Dawkins
Mike McKinley
> Here in the deep jungle of Manchester city centre, I get freaked out if
> I see a small fruit fly every other week!
We had a dancer from Iceland come to Ballet Austin and I took him to see
the sights. I took him to Lake Travis and he was absolutely terrified. He
wouldn't swim or even sit on the towel -- he was afraid of bugs.
He did a lot better when I took him to a bar that overlooked the lake.
David Horne, _the_ chancellor (*)
> "David Horne, _the_ chancellor (*)" <d4g...@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
> news:1ill06v.fybxn21856uuoN%d4g...@yahoo.co.uk...
> > Here in the deep jungle of Manchester city centre, I get freaked out if
> > I see a small fruit fly every other week!
>
> We had a dancer from Iceland come to Ballet Austin and I took him to see
> the sights. I took him to Lake Travis and he was absolutely terrified. He
> wouldn't swim or even sit on the towel -- he was afraid of bugs.
I don't know about Iceland, but Scotland _certainly_ has its share of
bugs (midges) but they're very small. It's the big ones that usually
freak us out...
ailuropoda melanoleuca torontonensis
> > > Here in the deep jungle of Manchester city centre, I get freaked out if
> > > I see a small fruit fly every other week!
> > We had a dancer from Iceland come to Ballet Austin and I took him to see
> > the sights. I took him to Lake Travis and he was absolutely terrified. He
> > wouldn't swim or even sit on the towel -- he was afraid of bugs.
> I don't know about Iceland, but Scotland _certainly_ has its share of
> bugs (midges) but they're very small. It's the big ones that usually
> freak us out...
how large are Mancunian fruit flies that freak you then? here in
Trawna they're about 2mm long, but maybe our hard frosts every winter
keep the big 'uns away.
ailuropoda melanoleuca torontonensis
who at one point (when I was taking BIOB05Y, the genetics part) used
to be able to sex fruit flies, though it's a skill that needs a
magnifying lens and a fly that isn't moving very fast. the dim memory
says that one kind has a pointy butt-end which is stripy all the way
to the end, the other is a rounded bum with stripes that don't go all
teh way to the extreme -- but this is 30yr old memory and may well be
unreliable
Frank R.A.J. Maloney
> Mike McKinley <mp...@mail.utexas.edu> wrote:
>
>> "Frank R.A.J. Maloney" <fr...@blarg.net> wrote in message
>> news:R--dnSl6BZJyXgDV...@posted.isomediainc...
>>> Who here lives in scorpion country; not I, but I certainly in the past had
>>> days and weeks when I had to begin every morning knocking out my boots to
>>> get rid of any overnight tenants.
>> When I lived in my little mahagony cabaña on the Caribbean Coast of
>> Belize, I had no furniture for the longest time. Thus, my computer and
>> mouse were on the floor. One day I reached for my mouse and a huge, black
>> scorpion was snuggled up all comfy around it.
>> See
>>
> http://www.afpmb.org/pubs/living_hazards/363-Animals-Scorpions-Black%20S
> corpion.jpg
>> Actually, though, the smaller yellow-brown ones in Texas are much more
>> venomous, but the Belizean ones are scarylicious!
>
> Here in the deep jungle of Manchester city centre, I get freaked out if
> I see a small fruit fly every other week!
>
No cockroaches in Manchester? They're the insects that upset me. They
and silverfish.
Our annual fruit fly season is just starting here in Boulevard Park
along the invasion of the tiniest ants I've ever known, but not Biblically.
Frank R.A.J. Maloney
I've always heard that among U.S. scorpions it was the smallest species
that was most toxic. Whether that's actually the case I would pleased
never to find out for myself.
I have one friend who kept scorpions as "pets". He also had a perfectly
gentlemanly tarantula. I had no qualms about handling the big spider,
but I kept Jung and Freud, the two scorpions, in their tank. Jung
eventually ate Freud.
Mike McKinley
> but I kept Jung and Freud, the two scorpions, in their tank. Jung
> eventually ate Freud.
DAAAAAAAAAAARLING. The funniest thing is that Alfonso is terrified by
our giant flying roaches or palmetto bugs (Hi Janky Panky and Simmy
Swimmy!). I mean, for chrissakes, he's a native of Mazatlan and they got
some big girl bugs down there.
Blunt and Opaque
> DAAAAAAAAAAARLING. The funniest thing is that Alfonso is terrified by
>our giant flying roaches or palmetto bugs (Hi Janky Panky and Simmy
>Swimmy!). I mean, for chrissakes, he's a native of Mazatlan and they got
>some big girl bugs down there.
I have a friend up here who was *freaking out* about big water bugs.
But she used to live in NOLA, for heaven's sake! I say nothing. I do
not taunt, neither with our palmetto bugs nor with our roach festival.
--
Piglet
David Horne, _the_ chancellor (*)
> > > > [the chancellor]
> > > > Here in the deep jungle of Manchester city centre, I get freaked out if
> > > > I see a small fruit fly every other week!
> > > [ the ballerina]
> > > We had a dancer from Iceland come to Ballet Austin and I took him
> > > to see the sights. I took him to Lake Travis and he was absolutely
> > > terrified. He
> > > wouldn't swim or even sit on the towel -- he was afraid of bugs.
> > [chancellor again]
> > I don't know about Iceland, but Scotland _certainly_ has its share of
> > bugs (midges) but they're very small. It's the big ones that usually
> > freak us out...
>
> how large are Mancunian fruit flies that freak you then?
Barely visible? I need to use more smileys!
Actually, there are some smallish flies who congregate outside the
terrace sometimes, and if I leave our bedroom door open, they have a
party around the chandelier, and after an hour or so just stick to
pieces of hanging glass- that can be a bit annoying...
David W. Fenton
> I have one friend who kept scorpions as "pets". He also had a
> perfectly gentlemanly tarantula. I had no qualms about handling
> the big spider, but I kept Jung and Freud, the two scorpions, in
> their tank. Jung eventually ate Freud.
There's a good joke in there somewhere.
--
David W. Fenton http://www.dfenton.com/
usenet at dfenton dot com http://www.dfenton.com/DFA/
Frank R.A.J. Maloney
> "Frank R.A.J. Maloney" <fr...@blarg.net> wrote in
> news:_rudnWNT6_Rwiz_V...@posted.isomediainc:
>
>> I have one friend who kept scorpions as "pets". He also had a
>> perfectly gentlemanly tarantula. I had no qualms about handling
>> the big spider, but I kept Jung and Freud, the two scorpions, in
>> their tank. Jung eventually ate Freud.
>
> There's a good joke in there somewhere.
>
That's what we thought. Freud was probably not amused, however.
Ruth Lawrence
"Merrick Baldelli" <mbal...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:sviq94h11f1hoac6g...@4ax.com...
> On Fri, 8 Aug 2008 12:04:36 +1000, "Ruth Lawrence"
> <curly...@optusnet.com.au> wrote:
>
>>
>>"Frank R.A.J. Maloney" <fr...@blarg.net> wrote
>>
>><snip>
>>
>>>
>>> Also, some centipedes have the ability to shed a few legs to distract a
>>> would-be predator. The legs grow back with the next shedding.
>>
>>Eeew!
>>
>>Ruth, retiring to the back yard
>
> Ruth... given that we're outnumbered by bugs more than a
> 1,000 to one, I wouldn't think the backyard would be the place you'd
> want to retire to. More like some hermetically sealed bio dome.
> *grinning*
Heh.
I'm over the local bugs, efen when I realise at least twelve of them are
glaring at me.
Ruth
Ann Burlingham
> I have one friend who kept scorpions as "pets". He also had a
> perfectly gentlemanly tarantula. I had no qualms about handling the
> big spider, but I kept Jung and Freud, the two scorpions, in their
> tank. Jung eventually ate Freud.
Some species eat their Jung.
Frank R.A.J. Maloney
> "Frank R.A.J. Maloney" <fr...@blarg.net> writes:
>
>> I have one friend who kept scorpions as "pets". He also had a
>> perfectly gentlemanly tarantula. I had no qualms about handling the
>> big spider, but I kept Jung and Freud, the two scorpions, in their
>> tank. Jung eventually ate Freud.
>
> Some species eat their Jung.
>
Good one, Anne.
As I was eating breakfast this week, I got to watch Al Roker snack on
scorpions-on-stick at the Beijing Night Market. He called them crunchy.
Ann Burlingham
> As I was eating breakfast this week, I got to watch Al Roker snack on
> scorpions-on-stick at the Beijing Night Market. He called them crunchy.
Kathryn ate rat on a stick in Thailand last year. Crunchy too, I think.
Frank R.A.J. Maloney
> "Frank R.A.J. Maloney" <fr...@blarg.net> writes:
>
>> As I was eating breakfast this week, I got to watch Al Roker snack on
>> scorpions-on-stick at the Beijing Night Market. He called them crunchy.
>
> Kathryn ate rat on a stick in Thailand last year. Crunchy too, I think.
>
Between the two, I'd rather eat the stick.
But in all fairness to our rodential friends, I'd chose red meat over
whatever it is that insects, arachnids, and arthropods have any day of
the week.
mp...@mail.utexas.edu
> [Cited: Frank Maloney, Dennis Lewis, Mike McKinley]
>
> =====
>
> Frank Maloney:
>
> > There is such a critter as a house centipede, which is not
> > only harmless to humans but beneficial.
>
> I learned that fact only about a year ago. Now I shoo them away
> instead of killing them.
>
> > In my part of the world, centipedes tend to keep to themselves
> > and we don't have hazardous spiders like the black widow or the
> > brown recluse. I'm always after L not to kill any spider he
> > sees indoors or outdoors. Spiders are our friends.
>
> We have both black widow and brown recluse in Wisconsin.
>
> Black widow venom is very similar to rattlesnake venom and can
> be lethal to humans.
>
> Recluse bites (I had one about ten years ago) cause an ulcer
> that heals very slowly or (rarely) never, but a worse threat is
> a blood parasite they may carry and transmit to the bite victim.
>
> =====
>
> Dennis Lewis:
>
> > Speaking of snakes ... [guy with snake]
>
> > Surprisingly, that guy didn't try to make a pass at me. [] I
> > must be losing it. Five years ago that type of guy would have
> > made a beeline straight for me.
>
> You're no longer a boy constrictor?
>
> =====
>
> Dennis Lewis:
>
> > I'd drop my loaf of Sara Lee in an instant if there was a
> > Bimbo on the bread rack.
>
> Instant quotes file entry.
>
> =====
>
> Mike McKinley:
>
> > We have mud dauber wasps. I hate yellow jackets.
>
> A few weeks ago I was pulling weeds when a yellow jacket got
> inside my glove and stung me several times before I could yank
> the glove off. There was no swelling and I could barely see the
> wounds, but the stings itched like crazy for over a week.
>
> --
> [] Reality is the leading cause of stress for those in touch
> [] with it.
> [] -- Jack Wagner
> --
> [] Copyright 2008 Jess Anderson [] ander...@wisc.edu
> []www.jessanderson.org[] jesse-anderson.blogspot.com
> []www.flickr.com/photos/jess_anderson/
> [] Soc.Motss FAQ:www.soc-motss.org/doc/faq/faq_intro.html
Darling, we have Fire Ants. A horrible import from South of the
Border. Their bites leave teency boils.
mp...@mail.utexas.edu
When I lived in the Belize, there were small but adequate gaps between
the doors and the floors. I had a bazillion centipedes constantly
crawling in. My boss, who was very New Agey, told me to put up a
negative thought field around my house and the bugs wouldn't come in.
I was floored. I couldn't ever remember having put up a welcoming
thought field to centipedes. But nothing was as frightening as the
"cleaner ants." The Army Ants that rampage through the jungle and
often into your house. I always had a HORROR that they would attack
when I wasn't home and eat Lola in her cage. They are called cleaner
ants because the local creoles just leave their house when they attack
and they come back to picked-over rat skeletons, no cockroaches, etc.
One day, I saw a huge colony of regular ants hauling ass across my
wall, pupae and the Queen in tow and all, they were fleeing the
cleaner ants right on their tails. I attacked the cleaner ants with
Windex. Oh! I felt like Joan Collins in _Empire of the Ants_.
Frank McQuarry
I'd like the cleaning ants to clean out my basement for me.
mp...@mail.utexas.edu
My first night, in the part of Belize -- where I purchased land and
lived for a while, that is the Cayo District near San Ignacio --
Husband #2 and I drove a hellish day from Dangriga. It was about 12
hours on rough roads. We had showers, a great dinner (fried
breadfruit -- YUM!), I took a valium or three, hoping to soothe my
hangover and finally get a good night's sleep in the lovely B&B we
were at. Well, darlings, right before going to bed, I noticed a big
black ant or two near my luggage, but thought nothing of it. UNTIL,
at two in the morning we awoke both of us covered with ants in our
bed. Of course, Husband #2, redneck butch top that he was, jumped up
on a chair squealing. All I had was some Off Insect Spray. You
cannot imagine unless you've seen these animals in action how they eat
a path through everything they encounter. I ran and woke up our host
and he thought I was crazy (he only recently moved inland from his
island resort on Ambergris Caye), but he gave me a can of bug spray.
Husband #2, still squealing like a schoolgirl, I butchly sprayed and
killed without mercy -- leaving our room foul with bug spray. Finally
we got to sleep. The next night, I was in the living room with the
host, negotiating the purchase of my property and Husband #2 comes in
to show us something (I wanted to kill him for interrupting the to-ing
and fro-ing over the land deal) but outside, on an arbor, there was
another (or, perhaps, the same) ant colony now crawling all over the
arbor like a moving mass of tar. It made a huge impression.
Tondeleo, the Tropic Gurl
ailuropoda melanoleuca torontonensis
narrative in the middle of the night: large numbers of ants have
invaded the bedroom of Tondeleo, the Tropic Gurl, and his
Husband #2. Our Mikey has gone to the host to inquire as to the
best course of action:
> [our host] gave me a can of bug spray.
> Husband #2, still squealing like a schoolgirl, I butchly sprayed and
> killed without mercy -- leaving our room foul with bug spray. Finally
> we got to sleep. [...] The next night, I was in the living room with the
> host, negotiating the purchase of my property and Husband #2
> comes in to show us something
> Tondeleo, the Tropic Gurl
um - I'm having difficulty parsing this:
"husband #2, I butchly sprayed and killed without mercy" ... but then
husband number 2 re-appears the next night. either the bug spray only
stunned him, rather than killed him (with or without mercy), or there
was resurrection, or the ants are playing hell with the continuity.
manly easily confoozed panda
he's not dead, he's resting
(there not being any fjords of note in belize)
Frank McQuarry
Dennis Lewis
>
>mikey was posting on insect adventures in belize. We join the
>narrative in the middle of the night: large numbers of ants have
>invaded the bedroom of Tondeleo, the Tropic Gurl, and his
But evidently it wasn't the dreaded Army Ant that had crawled on top
of their bed since their bones weren't picked clean like in the
opening scene of "Piranha." I thought the scariest part of the story
was them falling asleep in a cloud of insecticide.
What a coincidence -- a lone ant is crawling across the floor in front
of my computer hutch. I hope this doesn't mean I'll wake up tonight,
staring at a legion of ants neatly lined up across my bedspread.
Which brings to mind back when I was a wee lad and one of my favorite
activities was "flying" my toy airplane from the top of the hill
behind my house in NC to the bottom. One day I encouraged an ant to
climb on the wing, thinking I would give him a thrilling airplane ride
across the lawn. I didn't realize how thrilling that could be for the
ant -- during a science course several years later I learned that ant
colonies are very clannish and don't take kindly to strangers from
another colony suddenly dropping in (so to speak).
Frank R.A.J. Maloney
When I was spending lots of time with a friend taking care of a big
property on Hood Canal, I have the thrill of watching termites boiling
put of from the ground for their mating flights and rather uncertainly
take to the air. Later that day I was walking the trails through Jay's
woods and everywhere the spider webs were loaded with fat, nutritious,
winged termites. I'm pretty sure the local bird population made out like
bandits, too. I wonder what the survival rate was.
I should add that we don't have as much of a problem with termites
eating us out of house and home as folks do in other regions of the U.S.
Not that it doesn't happen, just not as much.