books? - i thought he was an actor?

Oh, My Dear! He was the first great love of my life. He wrote two books and I have about 7 others written about him. An actor? That's like saying Shakespeare was a writer or that Beethoven wrote music...*sigh* But, that is where I learnt about luvvies (though they were not called that when they were written)

I never knew that. I did sort of grow up with the teatre though. Wrote, produced and danced in my own ballet - the little mermaid.

I AM impressed! Bet you were just as cute as the proverbial button, too *grin*

Gave it up when I was sixteen - back injury. gotta sweet photo somewhere I'll dig it out.

I read somewhere that "khaki" was British Army slang for, ahem I'll be polite, crap. It got the name when when the Army stopped wearing their famous red coats and the new uniforms where this beige sort of color. The soldiers thought the color was like that of crap.

Kaka is babytalk for it over here... think it was a contribution of another language other than English, though.

Probably, the word was borrowed from another language. I think the khaki uniforms were first issued by the British Army to soldiers in India.

Indeed! I just looked it up and it is Hindi for "dust-colored" in my Webester's Collegiate Dictionary.

olive drab is the perfect color of baby stuff. and that's what we wear all over....khaki is tan over here and rather a nice color when compared to olive drab *smile*

Got that right, wolfie. On all counts, actually. I uderstand the wisdom of making uniforms the color of dirt in the locality - especially in a very dry area. However, wonder why they thought you'd get "baby stuff" all over you in the military - who uses olive drab more than any other color, I think!

I guess i really started something here!! *grin*

Just a little off-topic conversation to entertain us until the next dinosaur makes the newspaper and some kind soul posts it in here *grin*

actually, the bdu (battle dress uniform) is effective in camoflauge. there are also desert uniforms that are various shades of khaki.

OK here's the latest dinosaur dropping courtesy of The Times newspaper. One of the world's most important dinosaur skeletons has bee offered for sale over the internet for �15 million in a move that has appalled archeologists who fear historic specimens are being lost to private collectors. Alan Detrich and American fossil dealer, spent 2 half months digging up a 41 foot long 16 geet high tyrannosaurus rex with his brother, and is keeping it in his store house at Bend Point, Kansas. He claims to be close to selling what he says is the finest male tyrannosaurus in the world to a private buyer. Dietrich found the skeleton in south Dakota.'We found it in clay and sand which is why it is so well preserved' he said. 'We haven't cleaned it up yet becuase we figure the new owner can make money out of getting poeple to pay to see it being cleaned and prepared.' Paleontologists blame films and documentaries such as Jurassic park and the BBCs Walking with Dinosaurs for boosting the market in fossils. Many specimens for sale come from the American West where large numbers of fossils are found. However, fossils from britain's premier dinosaur site on the Isle of Wight have disappeared from digs in the past few months while paleontologists were still working on the sites. Scientists are calling for tighter controls, and want the law which at present covers man-made archeological objects to be extended to the collection of fossils.

Thanks, Maggie. Think that is the one we were discussing should belong to all mankind rather than some odd collector with more money than social conscience. There must be a huge black market in such finds - something I cannot imagine! Check Geo 2 for an interesting picture of Geologist David from his college days.

went and saw. how brave or crazy it must be to live near the vent (wrong topic but....)

That is what we say when other volcanoes are erupting...then people look at us and shake their heads.... But, ours is so well-mannered...so far...

We're just a few dinosaurs short of a full tank By DAVE BARRY If you've been to a gas station lately, you have no doubt been shocked by the prices -- $1.67, $1.78, even $1.92. And that's just for Hostess Twinkies. Gas prices are even worse! Americans are ticked off about this and with good reason, our rights are being violated! The First Amendment clearly states: "In addition to freedom of speech, Americans shall always have low gasoline prices, so they can drive around in 'sport utility' vehicles the size of minor planets." And don't let any so-called "economists" try to tell you that foreigners pay more for gas than we do. Foreigners use metric gasoline which is sold in foreign units called "kilometers," plus they are paying for it with foreign currencies such as the "franc," the "lira" and the "doubloon." So in fact, there is no mathematical way to tell WHAT they are paying! But here in the US we are definitely getting messed over and the question is, what are we going to do about it? Step one, of course, is to file a class-action lawsuit against the cigarette companies. They have nothing to do with gasoline, but juries really hate them, so we'd probably win several hundred billion dollars. But that is a short-term answer. To truly solve this problem, we must understand how the oil business works. Like most Americans, you probably think that gasoline comes from the pump at the gas station. Ha ha! What an idiot. In fact, the gasoline comes from tanks located UNDER the gas station. These tanks are connected to underground pipelines which carry large oil tankers filled with oil from the Middle East. But how did the oil get in the Middle East in the first place? To answer that question, we must go back millions of years to an era that geologists call the Voracious Period, when giant dinosaurs roamed the Earth eating everything that stood in their path, except for broccoli which they hated. And then, one fateful day (Oct. 8), a runaway asteroid, believed by scientists to be nearly twice the diameter of the late Orson Welles, slammed into the Earth and killed the dinosaurs, who by sheer bad luck all happened to be standing right where it landed. The massive impact turned the dinosaurs, via a process called photosynthesis, into oil. This oil was then gradually covered with a layer of sand, which in turn was gradually covered by a layer of people who hate each other and thus the Middle East was formed. For many years, the Middle East was content to supply the United States with as much oil as we wanted at fair constitutional prices. But then the major oil-producing nations -- Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait and Texas -- got all snotty and formed an organization called OPEC, which stands for "North Atlantic Treaty Organization." In the 1970s, OPEC decided to raise prices, and soon the United States was caught up in a serious crisis -- The Disco Era. It was horrible. You couldn't go to a bar or wedding reception without being ordered onto the dance floor to learn "The Hustle." At the same time, we also had an oil crisis which was caused by the fact that every motorist in the United States was determined to keep his or her automobile gas tank completely filled at all times. As soon as your gas gauge dropped from full to fifteen-sixteenths, you'd rush to a gas station and get in a huge line with hundreds of other motorists who also had nearly full tanks. Also a lot of people, including me, saved on heating oil by buying kerosene space heaters which enabled us to transform a cold, dank room into a cold, dank room filled with kerosene fumes. Buying gas and dancing "The Hustle" with people who smelled like kerosene -- that was the seventies. So anyway, the oil crisis finally ended and over time we got rid of our Volkswagen Rabbits and replaced them with Chevrolet Suburbans boasting the same fuel economy as the World Trade Center. Now, once again, we find ourselves facing rising gas prices and the question is this time, are we going to learn from the past? Are we finally going to get serious about energy conservation? Of course not! We have the brains of mealworms! So we need to get more oil somehow. As far as I can figure, there's only one practical way to do this. That's right, we need to clone more dinosaurs. We have the technology, as was shown in two blockbuster scientific movies, "Jurassic Park" and "Jurassic Park Returns with Exactly the Same Plot." Once we have the dinosaurs, all we need is an asteroid, or, if he is available, Marlon Brando. If this plan makes sense to you, double your medication dosage, then write to your congressperson. Do it now! That way you'll be busy when I siphon your tank.

During the Voracious Period the broccoli plants were the size of oak trees and you should have seen those cabbages. Why do Americans think it their undisputable right to have access to cheap gasoline?

Cheryl, it is a complex problem. The US produces a great deal of oil. Alalska alone could supply us pretty well, but we cannot use it in the US - all of it is marked for export to Japan. (Don't ask!!). You don't think it is manipulated like DeBeers manipulates the prices of diamonds? Sooner or later we are gonna have to give up being greedy and share what we have - or use our own. America has rich natural resources. That is why. it is here and cartels are getting rich over selling cars which burn huge amounts of the stuff when they have already built the engines which would put them out of business. Power and Control. Don't blame the American tax-payers so quickly. It is a very difficult and tortuous situation. I'd be interested in hearing your suggestions on how to rememdy this problem.

Maybe it's just a crazy theory, but could it be that George W's dad called on his Gulf War cronies to jack up the prices while his son runs for election? Bush can't win in a sparkling economy.

Anything is possible, including your idea. It did not occur to me...but it certainly is plausible...scary!

Just a crazy idea. But who knows?

Indeed! Crazier things than that have happened. All's fair in love, war, and politics, I hear...!

John agrees that with such high stakes, anything goes; nothing is outside of the realm of possibility.

Protesters Knock 'Cents' Into Oil Company TORONTO (Reuters) - The annual meeting of Canada's biggest oil company, Imperial Oil Ltd., was disrupted briefly when protesters showered shareholders and directors with pennies. ``Outrageous! Esso penny pinches while Torontonians choke!'' yelled one person protesting the high sulfur content of Imperial's gasoline, marketed under the Esso brand. Exxon Mobil Corp. of Irving, Tex., owns 69.6 percent of Imperial. Imperial and several other Canadian oil companies have warned the Canadian government that implementing new, lower sulfur, regulations for gasoline would result in higher gas prices. Gasoline sold in Canada now has some of the highest sulfur levels among industrialized countries and Esso gas has the highest levels of sulfur in Canada, according to figures supplied to the government by Imperial. ``Come on Imperial can't afford to spend a penny a liter to clean up the gasoline, reduce smog and protect our children from asthma? Nonsense!'' three protesters shouted Thursday. Imperial Oil maintains it meets current government standards and is working to meet new requirements for cleaner gasoline by 2004, a year ahead of schedule. Lobby group Friend of the Earth said sulfur particles spewed from cars are the most health-damaging component of smog. The lobby group is calling for a boycott of Esso gasoline in the heart of summer driving season between Earth Day, April 22, and Labor Day. Sulfur in gasoline causes increased emissions of sulfur dioxide and sulfates particles from cars which can contribute to asthma, chronic heart or lung disease, said Trevor Hancock, chair of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, in a statement. The protesters were escorted out of the meeting without further incident. ``Well, for long time attenders, that was a change of pace,'' said Imperial Oil chairman Bob Peterson.

Excuse me while I atempt to get my virtual foot out of my virtual mouth. I do take your point Marcia that American tax-payers have been and are continuing to be manipulated by businessmen and politicians. It's like Eisenhower said in his farewell speech as president, "Beware of the military-industrial complex." I also know something of advertising and marketing. The American consumer is courted by the safety factor in driving an SUV. Yes, you are statisically and realistically safer in a larger vehicle than a small one. That is an important point, and it well used on consumers. Mass transit and rail travel were eviscerated in the US from circa 1946 through 1960 by the automobile industry. What was good for General Motors was good for America. GM wanted the interstate system and they got. The ruse which Congress used was National Security. The roads were there for use by the Army in case of national emergency. The laws were passed, the land appropriated. The dream of two cars in every garage. The most famous of the mass transit scandals was the Red Car Scandal in Los Angeles. It's hard to believe but Los Angeles once had the most enviable mass transit system in America. The trolleys went everywhere, and the ran every 8 to 10 minutes. So this is the lifestyle of enormous petroleum consumption to which Americans have been conditioned by many factors. About the assertion that George W's daddy might have his cronies in the oil business pulling strings to affect the presidential election -- scary stuff. It is, however, plausible. The elder Bush was once the head of the CIA.

Excellent points, Cheryl! (You did not have your foot in your mouth - you were provoking discourse!) As a non-driver (yup, there are still some of us out here) and on a finite island with everything fuel brought in by ship, we are very aware of the crippling effects of things we cannot control - such as strikes by longshoremen and such - and that we are at the mercy of the big boys when it comes to petroleum prices. We can hardly drive to the next state or the next island, for that matter for better prices. I would put nothing beyond the rich and powerful. Thanks for that well-considered post, dear!

You don't drive, wow! I never knew that. I guess it's easy to get around on a small island with a bike or a bus. One of my room mates at Quail Creek, Dora, walks or takes the bus everywhere. She got a job at Dell, which is real close by the house. Dora cleans the pool, mows the lawn, cleans the bath rooms, and vacuums the carpets. She was just out by the pool cleaning the bbq grills and the tarp. We like having Dora around here!

You did not read my discourse with Alexander in Cultures on the subject?! He suggested it was because I had so many admirers circling for the honor of driving me places...but not the case, necessarily and not the reason, in this case. Dora sounds Heaven-sent. Be sure you tell her how nice she is making the place...(not too much or she'll ask for a raise, but...)

i can't imagine life without my car. why do you think i drive to all my classes? (and to think i used to be afraid to go anywhere of distance)....

You've gotta have a car in Austin, but I can see where it wouldn't be that desireable on a small island.

Guess I'd better avoid Austin...or get me a chauffeur...

Actually, there's a pretty good bus system here. It just takes longer to get places. I've enjoyed the bus rides I've taken around town, just not the waits at the bus stops. And there are some good bike trails.

...I had thought to visit, sometime. Perhaps I should bring my own driver.

Mega-Artichokes to Power Homes? LONDON (Reuters) - Spanish farmers are growing three-meter high artichokes for burning in special power stations to produce electricity, the Independent newspaper reported on Thursday. The genetically-modified monster vegetables, which boast seven meter roots, will be generating power for 60,000 people when operations in the northern towns of Villabilla de Burgos and Alcala de Gurrea begin in two years. The newspaper said twin power stations will burn 105,000 tonnes of the dried and pulped Cynara Cardunculs each year. Farmers were persuaded to sow the prickly plant by EU subsidies and price guarantees from the electricity generator. Burning plants for energy is not a new idea, but the biomass sector has seen a revival in recent years as environmental concerns rise. While there are already a number of biomass schemes in Europe they often struggle to compete commercially with other green energy schemes. An Irish scheme to burn cannabis as a fuel foundered last year because of it was considered too expensive compared with wind power projects.

Wow, pot powered cities.

Can you see the Chamber of Commerce ads now? Stressed? Come to PotTown and take a deep breath. Or something like that, anyway. I gather they are gonna burn industrial waste from the fiber hemp plant and not the mind-altering sort.

Burning cannabis for electricity. That doesn't seem to likely in the US. Can you hear the political debate on that one. What would the Religious Right make of that? I mean no offense to those posting who hold conservative views. It's just that it would fuel (pardon the pun) debate. Fun fact: both George Washington and Thomas Jefferson grew cannabis on their plantations. It was an ordinance in Virginia. So much acreage had to be planted in hemp. It was used for rope and sailcloth for the sailing ships of the era.

Like I said before somewhere (here?), the Hawaii Visitors Bureau could advertise that the air here is not only clean but is stress-relieving. Our public workers don't get much work done now...can you imagine the Polynesian Paralysis which would ensue downwind of the power plant?! Lest someone get the wrong idea about the industrial hemp grown by our founding fathers, it contains so little of the stuff which makes marijuana so popular, that it is not worth mentioning. That, however, would not keep the rabid right from attacking it just on the name Hemp alone. I agree!

Fossil gives clues into T. rex's behavior CHICAGO (AP) - In ''Jurassic Park,'' the terrified kids held perfectly still so a hungry celluloid Tyrannosaurus rex couldn't detect them. In reality, scientists say, they would've been lunch meat. CT-scanning of the desk-sized skull of Sue, the most complete T. rex fossil ever found, suggests the supreme carnivore in North America 65 million years ago had acute senses. Its forward-pointing eyes provided a wide field of view, and ear structures suggest it could hear well. But Sue's key advantage was smell. Its olfactory bulbs were grapefruit-sized. The skull opening for the bundle of olfactory nerves leading to the brain is wider than the spinal cord. ''The olfactory bulbs are larger than the cerebrum,'' said paleontologist Chris Brochu of the Field Museum of Natural History, the only scientist to have extensively examined the Sue fossil. The dinosaur ''smelled its way through life,'' he said. Sue's skeleton will be unveiled at the Field Museum on May 17 after nearly three years of cleaning and assembly. For now, it is off-limits to outsiders. Brochu has yet to reveal many details. At a recent paleontology meeting, he said it was unlikely that the bones, however complete, would settle key debates about the superstar of dinosaurs. Among them: T. rex's color and vocalizations, whether it was warm-blooded, hunter or scavenger, male or female. Others are more hopeful. Thomas R. Holtz, Jr. of the University of Maryland examined Sue briefly before it was auctioned in 1997, but key parts were still jacketed in protective plaster. ''The complete tail of a T. rex has not yet been described,'' he said. ''I would like to see if the furcula, or wishbone, is present.'' Peter Larson, president of the Black Hills Institute of Geological Research in Hill City, S.D., directed the fossil's excavation in 1990. He spent two years examining the bones until they were seized by federal agents in a legal dispute. He believes the Sue fossil is an older female. Among predatory birds, fish and insects, females are larger than males, he notes. Sue has a wider pelvis that would accommodate egg-laying. And, similar to crocodile anatomy, she lacks an extra bone that male crocs and smaller, presumably male T. rex skeletons both have. Reading behavior based on bones is trickier. Sue's teeth are foot-long cylinders with serrated edges. Her stomach contents included acid-etched bones of a duckbilled dinosaur. Other T. rex remains include bones from triceratops and other plentiful herbivores. A T. rex gulped everything and relied on a powerful digestive tract to process bone and horn. In the movies, T. rex is a solitary killer. But many scientists believe the real-life carnivores hunted in packs. Evidence? The Sue excavation also yielded juvenile and infant T. rexes in the same location. Long before dying, Sue suffered a broken left leg that was slow to heal. ''She couldn't have hunted on it,'' Larson said. ''I think her mate helped her.'' How did Sue die? T. rexes fought each other, probably over territory, food and mates. Embedded in Sue's ribcage is the tooth of another T. rex. The left side of the skull is smashed, with holes along her jaw. Brochu doubts it is evidence of a fatal encounter. The holes don't line up with the bite of a T. rex, he said. Larson disagrees. ''In her last fight she didn't do so well,'' he said. T. rex might have ruled North America in the late Cretaceous Period. But on the roster of the biggest and baddest dinosaurs, some formidable predators are emerging around the world. In March, scientists announced the discovery in Argentina of a yet-to-be-named meat eater that lived 100 million years ago. At 45 feet, it was 10% longer than T. rex. It had a long, narrow skull with scissor-like jaws, whereas the T. rex had nutcracker jaws. ''It probably attacked and dismembered its prey with a surgical precision,'' said Phil Currie of the Royal Tyrrell Museum in Alberta, Canada. ''T. rex was a creature of brute force.'' In 1998, researchers in central Africa found Suchomimus tenerensis. It was as large as a T. rex, but it prowled 30 million years earlier. Its pointy crocodile-like jaw sported 100 teeth. It also had 16-inch sickle claws. In Argentina, Gigantosaurus was discovered in 1995. It weighed 50% more than T. rex and was a contemporary of Suchomimus about when Africa and South America were connected. It had thin, flat teeth like daggers.

HERE WE GO AGAIN The price of gasoline is going up again. The latest Lundberg Survey shows that gas prices went up by five cents over the past two weeks. Nationwide, the average price for a gallon of self-serve regular last Friday was $1.58.41. Trilby Lundberg, who publishes the survey, says the two main reasons for the higher prices are higher prices for crude oil and a new federal requirement that refineries turn out more environmentally friendly gasoline. Refineries have taken steps to produce "greener" gas by reducing sulfur content and cutting down on other pollutants in the final product. Prices dropped over the past two weeks in some states, such as California, where stricter emissions standards have already forced refiners to produce "greener" gas.

saw an interesting show on discovery today: two dinosaur experts had opposite theories concerning our beloved T. Rex. was the t. rex a scavenger or a predator. both really held up their theories with what is known about scavengers and predators today. for example, t. rex has a better sense of smell than of sight. how does this influence whether they were scavengers or predators? i don't know but they thought it was significant. most predators today have excellent eyesight as well as smell. also, the teeth played a role in their theories but i only heard the predator theory of where the teeth curved inward so for a critter to attempt escape, they'd have to (ironically) go down the t. rex's throat. of course, i'm no expert. but does t. rex being a predator or a scavenger seriously affect our whole idea of dinosaurs and rearrange the "givens" significantly? (unfortunately, i didn't see the conclusion of the show).

Did not see it. However, considering the musculature in the hind legs T-rex would almost certainly have been a preditor. Who needs legs like those to run down a dead animal?

curious. i think an animal like the t. rex could have his meal anyway he'd like it-dead or alive. *grin*

I think he was probably an opportunist as well as a predator. you are right!

Even today predators will scavenge when they can. Lions are prime examples of this. They are adept hunters, but aren't beneath driving another animal off its kill. That's one of the reasons leopards carry their kills into trees; so it won't be stolen by lions. Lions are too large to climb and leopards are the most athetic of the cats.

Indeed!

Science News - Week of June 24, 2000; Vol. 157, No. 26 Overlooked fossil spread first feathers S. Milius A new look at a fossil that had been lying in a drawer in Moscow for nearly 30 years has uncovered the oldest known feathered animal, says a team of U.S. and Russian researchers. First honors go to the 10-inch-long, lizardlike Longisquama insignis, which is not a dinosaur itself but a related ancient reptile, say Terry D. Jones of Oregon State University in Corvallis and eight colleagues. It sported six to eight pairs of long, narrow feathers on its back, the researchers argue in the June 23 Science. The creature didn't fly but may have been able to glide from tree to tree, they suggest. Longisquama dates from some 220 million years ago, at least 75 million years before Archaeopteryx, the first known bird, the researchers note. They don't claim that Longisquama gave rise to birds, explains coauthor Alan Feduccia of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. However, he says, the fossil "points toward the right time to look for the ancestors of birds." More...http://www.sciencenews.org/20000624/fob2.asp