~★~♥~♥~★~ El Morno! ♥~★~★~♥ ~
November 7th, 2013

★~ Today’s Quote:  “When we destroy something created by man, we call it vandalism. When we destroy something created by nature, we call it progress.” — Ed Begley, Jr.,

★~ National Men Make Dinner Day:

This is a rather tongue in cheek holiday that recognizes a lot of men are great family cooks and encourages those that aren’t to give it a try by whipping up a family meal.

★~ Bittersweet Chocolate Day:

Make a bittersweet chocolate cake with almonds or indulge in your favorite bittersweet chocolate bar: Sjaks, Green & Black, Valor, Ghirardelli, Alter Eco, Hershey’s.

★~ Today in History:

♥~1876 – The cigarette manufacturing machine was patented by Albert H. Hook of New York City.

♥~ 1893 –  Colorado citizens passed a constitutional amendment to give the state’s women the right to vote.  That made Colorado the first state to approve women’s suffrage through a popular election.

♥~ 1916 – Jeannette Rankin of Montana became the first woman elected to Congress.

♥~ 1933 – Pennsylvania’s Blue Laws meant that lots of things couldn’t be done on Sunday. Shopping was one. Drinking was another. Sports was yet another. But that changed today when votes were casted and counted  in the Keystone State eliminated sports from the forbidden activities. Fans in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia rejoiced!

♥~ 1965 – Poppin’ Fresh, the Pillsbury Dough Boy was introduced — in a Pillsbury Crescent Rolls commercial.

♥~ 1987 – Bruce Springsteen’s Tunnel of Love was the #1 album in the U.S.

★~Born Today:

[youtube]http://youtu.be/bcrEqIpi6sg[/youtube]

♥~ 1867 – Madame Curie: A Polish physicist and chemist who discovered two radioactive elements: radium and polonium, and was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize

♥~ 1942 – Johnny Rivers (John Ramistella) singer: Poor Side of Town, Memphis, Secret Agent Man, Slow Dancin’, Baby I Need Your Lovin’

♥~ 1943 – Joni Mitchell (Roberta Anderson) songwriter: Willy, Big Yellow Taxi, Woodstock; singer: Help Me, Free Man in Paris, Both Sides Now. Celebrating Joni Mitchell’s 70th birthday. 

♥~  Mark Philippoussis tennis [Australia]: set world record for the fastest serve [March 7, 1997] when he served a 142.3 mph ace.

★~ Good to Know: The ancient ‘Godzilla’ platypus

Imagine this guy, only much, much bigger. (REUTERS)

♥~ It was as big as a dog: Like its duck-billed, modern-day descendent, Obdurodon tharalkooschild made its home in the temperate rivers of northern Australia. But while today’s platypus is about the size of your average house cat, this ancient variety, which existed between 5 to 15 million years ago, was much bigger: At about three feet long, it was approximately the size of a bulldog.

“It pretty well blew our minds,” said Professor Mike Archer, a researcher from the University of New South Wales. “It looks like a modern platypus on steroids — we’ll have to call it platypus Godzilla.”

♥~ It was discovered from a single tooth:  Several years ago, researchers discovered a molar embedded in some limestone recovered from northwest Queensland. Rebecca Pian, a Ph.D. student at Columbia University in New York, noted that it had the signature characteristics of a modern platypus’ tooth, but with a few key differences.

“I said, ‘Wait a second, not only is it quite big, it’s quite different as well,'” Pian told National Geographic. The main difference was a unique set of bumps and ridges never before seen. From there, scientists extrapolated the creature’s size, discovering that this platypus was much bigger than any living today.

♥~ It had a taste for flesh: Today’s platypuses subsist on insects and invertebrates. The Godzilla version, with its gnashing teeth, crunched down on animals like turtles and frogs. ”

It would have been one of the biggest animals by far in those ancient waterways,” said Archer. “Only crocodiles would have been bigger.”

♥~ It may have been venomous:  Although platypuses look like a friendly bunch, they are one of the only mammals that can make their own venom; the spurs on their hind legs are linked to poisonous glands that males use to defend their territory. It’s unclear if the ancient variety had a similar adaptation, but researchers see no reason why it didn’t.

“We already know that the modern platypus has venom on the spurs of the hind leg that can be incredibly painful, that can stop a grown man in his tracks for hours,” said Archer. “If you scale that up to perhaps two to three times the amount of venom in an animal much larger than that, you suddenly start thinking about this animal as a predator.”

♥~  Today’s platypus, reacts like this when tickled.

[youtube]http://youtu.be/a6QHzIJO5a8[/youtube]

#

I’m thinking of asking our Aussie to send us a Platypus from Australia. One lives in a pond not to far from her house. I would let it have the upstairs bathtub that we rarely use and in the summer it could swim in the kiddie pools in the yard. Cole suggested since the males are venomous we should make sure she sends us a female. Seems like a good idea. Aren’t they cute??

The rain stopped and it looks like the sun has come out to shine on our golden leaves making us ohh and aww with delight.  I’m off for a pedi and to stock the fridge. Perhaps a slight exaggeration, but at the very least I’ll buy something for dinner. I don’t want to overload the fridge, after all we will need room for Thanksgiving  preparations and left-overs. I like to plan ahead.

Wishing you a terrific Thursday!

Odd Loves Company!