The locale remains the same as #7’s, and this post also co-stars purple flags and WA-endemic (I think) “daisies”.
The focus is closer.
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This little interruption to the current “Darling Range flora” series comes to you via the trigger plants having accidentally made me think fondly of the most celebrated theme ever written for a “Western”.
The relevant film was a so-called “spaghetti western”.
Almost certainly, you have heard its theme, but you have probably not heard what John Zorn did to it in 1987.
To put it mildly, the highly creative Mr Zorn greatly admired Ennio Morricone’s “original”, but he was not the least intimidated by it!
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The featured image’s flower heads and the musical bonus have no overt, particular connection.
Both, however, are uncommonly beautiful, exquisitely proportioned, and will reward your close attention.
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“Our” world is so oversaturated with sensationalism, misrepresentation, haranguing, intolerance, name-calling, “cancelling”, “virtue signalling” and the “100% this versus 100% that” school of argumentation.
It has become an increasingly rare pleasure to read a measured and sensible newspaper article, devoted to a highly contentious topic.
The relevant piece was published this week in the Australian edition of The Guardian.
Fully cognisant of cats’ devastating impact on Australian wildlife, it addresses this question:
can we have cats (as pets) in a sustainable and ethical way?
You may be surprised to know that the answer is yes, albeit yes, if…
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If you are a Pelican Yoga regular, you have already seen Barbara Cartland’s and Barbie’s avian avatars. (in #10 of the “quirky moments” series)
This post’s “punkish” cub is a member of Africa’s most oft-misrepresented mammal species.
His kind are very much smarter and much more “social” than most humans realise.
Contrary to common human belief, spotted hyenas are primarily predators rather than scavengers.
Lions are much more likely to “steal” from hyenas than vice versa, and spotted hyenas are much the more efficient hunters.
Over the last several thousand years hyenas have had rotten “press”, but they are not rotters.
Nonetheless, the young hero of this post’s appearance and demeanour were decidedly “Rottenesque”.
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Members of the kingfisher family are typically very confident; these predatory birds are not much preyed-upon.
Fish are not invariably their primary prey, and not all kingfishers live near rivers or lakes.
Pictured is the most ubiquitous of Asia’s kingfishers, Halcyon smyrnensis – the white-throated kingfisher.
By itself, this perky individual’s demeanour was almost enough to qualify it for inclusion in this series…
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Presumably, the living lizard had no sense of the pictured circumstance’s synchronicity, let alone any awareness that a human passer-by might find it quirky or amusing.
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Technically, the country in which Alice Springs sits really is a desert environment.
It is, however, far from barren.
Central Australia is beautifully vegetated – botanically “rich”, not “poor”.
Trees and flowers are not its only beautiful plants.
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This post’s photo is far-from-perfect.
Nonetheless, I think/hope it conveys a sense of just how fleet-and-flurrying (and splashy) is the to-and-fro of zebra finches at a drinking/bathing “station”.
In arid regions such “stations” can themselves appear and vanish, very rapidly.
The pictured pool sat at the base of the eastern wall of Jessie Gap on 14 June 2023. (photo is copyright Doug Spencer. Jessie Gap is a short drive from Alice Springs)
Musically, I agree with the listener who suggested that if J.S. Bach had heard Chris Thile play, there’d be a set of Bach mandolin suites.
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The Curdimurka rail siding – near Lake Eyre South in the SA outback – saw its first train in 1888.
The last one went through in 1980, nearly three decades after the pictured water tank and gigantic water softener lost their raison d’être, when diesel electrics replaced steam locomotives in 1951.
This “big softie” was erected in 1943-44, so its working life was very brief.
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