We have come to the end of April and my dreams of getting caught up with all my tasks are the smoldering remains of my organizational dumpster fire. I’m going sun up to whenever the eyes and muscles give out as the witching hour descends and yet here I sit with 10 Halloween props in various states, gigs of images to process, blogs I follow that I still need to read and relentless task around the Intrigued HQ lot that taunt me on a daily basis. Don’t get me wrong, I’m enjoying every minute of it, especially since some of those daily hours are now spent with wind in the hair and lugs eating dirt on the trails – life is good! I need to get back to work in the Haunt Lab, so Brad is going to once again take the wheel and bring you another exciting adventure from down under. Now to crank up some Soft White Underbellies (guessing you know the band by a newer name – link here and here).
in honor of today’s post and get back to carving a 28″x28″x30″ gargoyle head.
Take it away Brad…
Sometimes being in the right place and the right time, with a camera, is the best strategy. It also helps to be where the birds are . . . just sayin’.
While on assignment in Tasmania, Jan and I were on the back end of a day travelling via motor coach. We visited Port Arthur, historically one of the most notorious penal colonies in Australia. Port Arthur was the place criminals were sent when they were too “bad” for the other penal colonies. By “criminal”, I mean someone that might have stolen a 2”x2” piece of cloth, for example, from their employer. Or maybe someone that stole a crust of bread from a baker to feed their family. Many were given the choice of death in Britain (pretty harsh sentences then) or be sent to the penal colonies in either southeastern America or Australia. Around 1840, the young United States of America said “No more criminals” to the British, so Australia became Britain’s favorite penal colony destination. Many “criminals” didn’t survive the trip to Australia. I think this is why Australians today have such a strong sense of equality, fairness and self-reliance. Sounds like something from the 1700’s in a certain startup country in North America. If we don’t learn from the past, we are doomed to repeat it.
Enough history, back to the story at hand. We had been on and off the motorcoach most of the day. On our way back from Port Arthur, we crossed a small bridge over the Denison Canal near the town of Dunalley on the island Tasmania, south of Australia. Our coach driver said, “Oh look, there’s Neil the Seal”. If you were to use your favorite search engine and enter “Neil the Seal” you would find several articles and even a profile for him. Go ahead, I’ll wait right hear while you go look. Neil is a juvenile Southern Elephant Seal (Mirounga leonina) still a couple of years away from developing their distinctive long schnoz. Southern Elephant Seals are the largest seals in the world, with males weighing up to 3,700 kilograms (or over 8,000 pounds). Neil is thought to be only five years old so he has quite a bit of growing left in his predicted 20-ish year life span.
As if that wasn’t excitement enough…hit the jump for more surprises!
Continue reading Djilyon…by Brad Marks
Life Intrigued 