Friday, March 13, 2015

Good timing, aerobatics, hyperbole, little pig

The corpse plant has conveniently waited until the weekend to unfurl its stinky flower after all. Hurrah! It's expected to be fully unfurled by morning, although apparently it already smells (like rotting flesh, hence its common name. Its proper name is Amorphophallus Titanum, which means 'giant misshapen phallus'!). I wonder if there will be a long queue to get into the glasshouse to see/smell it like the last time it bloomed? I hope not because I'm very impatient, but I also think it's pretty ace that so many people turn up to see a rare flower. 

The Australian Grand Prix is on this weekend. Today as part of the entertainment for those trackside, a fighter jet performed spectacular aerobatics over the circuit. We could see it and hear it from our office windows.  It was LOUD. At times it seemed as if we were higher up on the 38th floor than the jet was at the lowest point of its routine. 

You know that feeling when you read an article that perfectly expresses an opinion or feeling that you share, but haven't been able to properly articulate? How good is that? It happened to me today when I read this article about the hyperbolic language of the internet. Made me want to punch the air and yell, "Yeah!". 
Only the most bombastic and hyperbolic descriptions will now do, even if they are in jest, and it's a direct consequence of the internet, which has turned discourse's volume up so high that only the most caustic or reverential reviews will cut through the noise. Only extremes of feeling are worthy of your finite consideration, everything else is scrollable.
I love these gorgeous photos of kids and animals by Russian photographer Elena Kaneeva. I love the first one with the wee calf, number 12 with the hairy little pig and number 13 - the child's expression really makes it. I love the autumnal light in some of these shots. 



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