Six Degrees Game (Climate Change)

Thanks to Blog Action Day, the topic of today's amusement has been decided. However, it is a vast and every so occupied amusement, at least for some, that there is difficulty in pin-pointing specifics.

Of course, we could always turn to Google for the answers. Google is, as we all know, one of the all powerful beings on this planet. Give it a question and it shall answer. Now, the problem with asking Google is it doesn't always tell you whats best. This all doesn't really matter, as I've my own personal amusement from this.

I believe it is called "Six Degrees" and all one must do to play is mentally take any object, creature or even yourself and place them on what you consider a typical summer day. From here, you give that object, creature, person or whatever one item and place it near. When this is done for demonstrative purposes, the common theme is a little kid holding an ice cream cone. You can, of course, take a much larger view. I prefer the though ot mosquitoes in stagnant water which is near a sapling. From here, we take what we commonly think of a summer day, as I said before, and slowly start making it hotter.

Now, its a race of "Who dies first?" Does the water evaporate before the sapling shrivels? Do the little mosquito larva have enough time to become full mosquitoes? One might be wondering why anyone would care about the mosquitoes but one must also remember that the same water is used by the sapling. Still having trouble with the mosquitoes? Okay, lets try a frog. How about a turtle? Or maybe you would rather see this as a koi pond and look beyond the water. How hot before the sapling catches fire with almost no incentive to? How hot before the grass dies? I have seen grass die and trees wither after freshly sprouting at a nice 97 degrees Fahrenheit and that is a typical summer day, for me.

Now, I'm only offering this little "game" for you to play but at the same time I ask you. How soon before these things start effecting you? At what point does the dying tree across the street become "your problem"?

Minus all the bush beating, I do honestly enjoy the "Six Degrees Game" and have played it on more then one occasion. Its great for long and/or painful road trips, doctor visits and dealing with relatives.

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Spiders Are Not Evil

An insectoid that gets more crap then any other that is not directly considered a pest. Actually, these arachnids get rid of said pests and yet are thought of as more of a home invader while most are relatively harmless to humans.

While I say "relatively" I mean to that of a full grown adult who has enough sense to not touch eight legged things that have red hour glasses on their backs. For an infant, yes, any poisonous spider will be a threat. However, spiders in general are not a threat to anyone in at least a suburban area with a moderate standard of cleanliness.

Indeed there are some "nasty ones" in my area, alone. These "big meanies", off the top of my head, are the black widow, the brown recluse and the banana spider. Two of which try to avoid contact with humans and dislike anything larger then itself (The brown recluse and black widow) while the third is usually more fond of running. Out of the three only one is technically lethal.

The problem, at least in my area, with spiders is when they get big. Anything that is smaller then the tip of your thumb will, most of the time, run away in fear. Once in awhile one of these will have made itself one of the lucky few to get to the point of "mean and scary". At this point, even I can no longer play activist. Those monster things need to die!

Again, a problem comes with this as some people think all big spiders are "bad". This is not true! For example, the very common wolf spider is one of the most timid to human animals in my area. While these get very big very fast you have a greater chance of a rodent of the same size biting you instead. That, and the things aren't really poisonous. Basically, if the things actually bite you, it'll just hurt like a summa bish. Pets should avoid the females but otherwise its "cool".

Now, these are all assumed in my personal area of Melbourne Florida with personal experience from myself. If you live somewhere less populated or in the outback for example, I'd avoid anything with eight legs there. My reason for that would be not knowing about the creatures of that area. What I wouldn't do, regardless, is kill them unless I had to. Spiders, even in the outback and other gnarly locations, help kill the big nasty bugs that are actually aggressive toward humans. Then again, some spiders eat other spiders

The main gist of this post is "Spiders are not evil". They are just naturally creepy and/or ugly looking which causes an irrational fear response in a lot of people. Most of which do not even have the actual phobia of spiders but rather are just ignorant of them. I am a bit curious if I made anyone's skin crawl though. Please, wont you share?

Beware when bug hunting as spiders are attracted as well.

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Circles are Sexy!

Once everyone reaches an age we start to over look simple things. Simple things like basic shapes and colors. I for one, try my best to see those things first. No, its not a clock that keeps time it is a rather large circle that happens to have a clock inside it.

So many things need, included and are based on the circle. The general idea and find of such a wonderful design is only attainable by absolute math and nature. Its a wonder that it takes complex calculations to get an actual perfect circle. So many are close that they appear perfect but only nature does it so.

Trees rings, eyeballs (which are technically spheres but something like that will get a temporary pass) and all other sorts of wonderful things. Some of man's "favorite things" are circular and curved, how can such "things" not mean that the circle is a grand gift of mathematics and natural selection?

I give you a goal! Fine me a circle, any circle and share it. Tell us where it was found, who was nearby on the date and time you found the magical π!

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Go For A Walk

That's right! Stop reading right now and take a quick walk. No need to go to far but it might be nice just to breath in the air. Its a nice feeling, walking. Just minding your own business and enjoying what is around you. Sometimes you might discover something interesting too.

Need encouragement? By a pedometer and make a game out of it. Try and break your old high score of number of steps taken. Do it all with your head held high and your back straight wearing nice comfortable sneakers.

No need to dress up for any reason either. Just put something comfortable on, provided it covers you up, and head on out. Who do you have to impress while your going for a walk?

Know what else? Take your pets! You don't need to have a dog to take the animal for a walk. I've seen plenty of people who take other animals "out". Turtles and tortoises, cats and other felines, even some of the larger rodents. Put a harness or collar on them and try a short trip to the mailbox.

Maybe you'll get to the point where you can participate in one of those walk-a-thons and help cure something! Maybe you'll just feel really good to have done something a little active. Then maybe, maybe you'll just have had a walk. No harm in going, right?

Some take walking as a full on hobby. Some add a bit of technology to their walks by adding GPS and custom made trails. Walking has to be the easiest and least costly amusement I can honestly think of, excluding sleeping.

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Bowling Ball Cannons.. or not.

A suggestion by a blog reader was to look into "bowling ball cannons" however I honestly did not find them all that amusing. The core problem was that there was a cannon and it fired, something and that was the end of the video. No creator no visible trail of the ball flying through the air, nothing. Every video was just a bunch of drunk hicks getting their kicks out of watching a cannan jump and then a spot dissapear into the distance. I don't get it.


There isn't much to these vids but I did say I would cover the thing so here it is. Sorry if you are disappointed with my views on the thing but really, not that amusing.


However I think participating actually in making and firing one of these cannons would have a lot of fun to it so this is a saving grace. Especially sense, provided you shoot the things in the desert or something of the like, they are legal to have by citizens. Some places require permits for "heavy artillery" and others do not, oddly enough, count them as actual weapons. However I could see someone pirating a mini-van with one of these things.

Here is a link to the youtube search I ran and this site has a weak how too with actual damage results.

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Tortoise...es Are Cool!

Think about it, giant and lumbering land animals that have outlived the dinosaurs while being some of the slowest and easiest to catch creatures on the planet. They exist all over the world except for extreme cold regions, as they are cold blooded, come in many many types and rang is so many sizes.

The tortoise is a creature that enjoys his "alone time". Being solitary creatures it can sometimes be difficult to find them. For an animal that is so large they are very stealthy, if not slow and still very lumbering.

Still many animals, including tortoise...es are being newly discovered each day. We all know of the Galapagose Tortoise and some of us know of local ones. Close to myself we have rather large Gopher Tortoise that does as it name implies. They dig burrows for which to lay eggs in.

Also, a lot of tortoise ...es, turtles and other slow moving reptiles are endangered due to people wanting their shells. This is troubling to anyone who has an issue with animal rights or just the rights of these large reptiles.

Holes

Dig it uh oh oh,
Dig it
Dig it uh oh oh,(oh)
Dig it uh oh oh,
Dig it
Dig it uh oh oh (oh)

Originally this blog post was actually going to be about the fun you could have while digging a random hole. That changed awfully quick once I goggled the word "hole" like I do for all of my posts* and found/remembered a song which was sorta kinda relevant to the situation. Now there shall be talks about holes as a whole and the song. Both have their own amusement but one of the two does not require you, as a person, to move from your current spot to enjoy.

The song, which is from a movie based on a book with the same name of Holes, is about the experience a correctional youths had to endure. The book and movie Holes is mainly about Stanley Yelnats and his "adventure" to eventually fix his families curse. There is also some odd history wound into the story which, unless you have seen the film, would not make much sense to you if I explained anything.

Actually hole digging, however, was the original intention of this post. While I was searching the net for "info" on hole digging* I stumbled across something interesting. The story of a man and his hole. A link to the guy's "home page" can be found in my sidebar but I do suggest you remove any notions you WILL get from site and not place them on myself. His story is what I found interesting and something fun to share.

*Yes I actually do/did that and it is/was to find a link that might amuse and the attempt was very successful.

Treasure Hunting

Something that has been occupying many people sense the very beginning of the civilized world is finding treasure. Whether that be the finding of silver, gems and gold or the discovery of a single artifact. Many men and women, mostly men, have used up their lives in the pursuit of treasure. Some have found grand things and others have been doomed to failure.

Treasure hunting comes in many, many forms and skill levels. They range from the basic hobbyist with a metal-detector who finds spare pocket change to the savvy pirate looking for plunder. The former is the most common and has become a very popular way to spend one's time and money. Personally I find it odd you must spend money to find treasure, especially when there is not much about to be found.

However, there is the middle ground of treasure hunting that consists of ship diving and spelunking. Both require a skill set that is not difficult to learn and a small degree of danger and difficulty but most people can, in fact, do them. These types of treasure hunting are the most profitable but require knowledge of where, what and other variables that a majority of people do not wish to bother with.

Luck is a major playing in treasure hunting as well. Without a map or epic clues leading you to your destination you are basically flying blind, even with hits or tips. Its a matter of "Oh whats over here" and "Lets peek under this rock" which most are not a favor of. Treasure hunting favor's the lucking and the persistent. You can not go out one day and try it then give up because nothing was found. Most treasure hunters go their entire life without so much as a gold coin but it is the adventure they are looking for, not the monetary reward.


I do know that most, if not all, of us wouldn't mind finding a big chest filled with jewels but lets not get our hopes up and have fun with this hobby, shall we?

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Bug Catching

Something that is usually considered a childish or immature hobby can be hours and hours of fun while never leaving your own back yard. While some may look down on this activity it is something keeps the body and mind working together in order to accomplish a goal.

The trick with Bug Catching or "Hunting" is knowledge of what you are hunting. You don't need to know what each insect-oid or "bug" eats, how and/or when it breeds or the specific type you are looking for but only general details. Simple facts about a general type of "bug" you wish to possibly see. This usually can be found on the net, links provided in side bar, or you can by a cheap book on "bugs", "insects" or the specific you wish to find such as "Spiders". Furthermore you could trim it down to your location only to prevent unwanted confusion. Upon catching a insect-oid you should NEVER EVER pick it up with your bare hands without knowing absolutely what you are touching. The insect world can be filled with rather dangerous things that could end wrong if not handled properly.

Some would say that not everyone should go "bug" hunting for previous reason stated and its opposite but I highly disagree. There is a grand enjoyment when you discover something with your own eyes. Image waking up in the morning to go and "check your traps" and finding several little beings all waiting for your eyes. You can then, if you wish, even catalog and diagram and illustrate (great for artists looking for realistic things in the world while still remaining slightly abstract) the things you have found. Sometimes Mother Nature surprises you with something you'd never have thought the time was worth looking for.

Tools of the trade, they range from the drastically simple to the expensively complicated. The choice depends on how serious you take the hobby and how much time you are willing to invest. While the more expensive of the "gear" is the easiest to use it requires the least amount of effort in collecting specimens for whatever reasons you have and in my honest opinion it is lost to fun. Entomologists, mostly, use the "tried and true" bug catching methods that you see children use.

• The Butterfly Net
• The Glass Jar
• The Light
• The Sketch Book or Field Guide

"Bug" catching really has to be the easiest thing to start into. You do not even have to touch anything if you aren't "that type" of person. Its great for artists looking for something strange within his/her own world. Good for the scientific mind who seeks wonder or reason as to what and why. And BEST for those willing to give a simple joy the time to make them smile.

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