Washing the Python

I just love this picture of the little boy washing the Python. In Thailand and Malaysia where snakes are commonly kept as pets, probably to keep away venomous varieties and rats and mice ( also anything else small enough to cross it's path ) but this little boy does not seem in the least bothered by the large reptile.

photograph from Flickr

Sea Cucumbers

Oh! these are so gross, yuk..............

Sea cucumbers are echinoderms—like starfish and sea urchins. There are some 1,250 known species, and many of these animals are indeed shaped like soft-bodied cucumbers.

All sea cucumbers are ocean dwellers, though some inhabit the shallows and others live in the deep ocean. They live on or near the ocean floor—sometimes partially buried beneath it.

Sea cucumbers feed on tiny particles like algae, minute aquatic animals, or waste materials, which they gather in with 8 to 30 tube feet that look like tentacles surrounding their mouths. The animals break down these particles into even smaller pieces, which become fodder for bacteria, and thus recycle them back into the ocean ecosystem. Earthworms perform a similar function in terrestrial ecosystems.

Sea cucumbers, particularly eggs and young larvae, are prey for fish and other marine animals. They are also enjoyed by humans, especially in Asia, and some species are farmed as delicacies.
When threatened, some sea cucumbers discharge sticky threads to ensnare their enemies. Others can mutilate their own bodies as a defense mechanism. They violently contract their muscles and jettison some of their internal organs out of their anus. The missing body parts are quickly regenerated.

Sea cucumbers can breed sexually or asexually. Sexual reproduction is more typical, but the process is not very intimate. The animals release both eggs and sperm into the water and fertilization occurs when they meet. There must be many individuals in a sea cucumber population for this reproductive method to be successful. Indeed, many parts of the deep ocean host large herds of these ancient animals, grazing on the microscopic bounty of marine waters.

Silver Lady of Long Island

Argyria occurs in people who ingest or inhale silver in large quantities over a long period (several months to many years).
Since at least the early part of the 20th century, doctors have known that silver or silver compounds can cause some areas of the skin and other body tissues to irreversibly turn gray or blue-gray.

Rosemary Jacobs ( known as the Silver Lady of Long Island ), used nose drops that her Doctor prescribed that contained colloidal silver in 1953 when she was 11 years old. She has undergone dermabrasion ( removal of the upper layers of skin ) to help lighten the appearance of her complexion.  

This is how Rosemary appears today, some six decades later.

And to give you some idea of just how different the change in skin tone can be, see the photo below and compare the colour of the doctors hand as he examines an elderly man with this condition.

 

   

People who work in factories that manufacture silver can also breathe in silver or its compounds. In the past, some of these workers have become argyric. Historically, colloidal silver, a liquid suspension of microscopic silver particles, was also used as an internal medication to treat a variety of diseases before the develpoment of modern antibiotics. In the 1940s they were discontinued due to the concern about argyria and other side effects of silver products.

This post has been published in an attempt to educate and raise awareness and is not intended to cause offence.

David Rides Motorbike at His Own Wake

Is this the latest craze in Puerto Rico ? Where the men who die young, attend there own wake posing?

Last Thursday, a 22 year old Puerto Rican man was shot to death while riding on his motorcycle. The man was David Morales Colón and his wake has been making headlines in the United States. The funeral director at Marin Funeral Home in San Juan’s Hato Rey neighborhood arranged for David's remains to be displayed riding his motorbike.
In 2008, they also embalmed Angel , who was a victim of a shooting as well, and displayed his body in a standing position!

People who came in and gave respects to Mr. Colon, were shocked and surprised to see that he was not lying down in his casket, but that he was dressed in street clothes, sporting sunglasses and posed at a life-like position atop his Repsol-liveried Honda CBR600 F4. According to sources, this bike was given to him by his uncle after his untimely passing and the members of the family delivered the bike to his home for this unusual wake.

Death is something that not most of us are prepared for, but this man, has already planned for it and even asked his family to grant his wish when he dies.

Ross Sisters Potato Salad

So this is what they did for entertainment before televisions and computers were invented..........