while i was in spain, i decided to make a time-lapse video of the (apparent) movement of a star-constellation in the night sky.

unfortunately i couldn’t include the northern star this time, showing that all the stars seem to rotate around it. i think i’ll do this in another video sometime.
given the preconditions (location and timeframe), the big dipper (ursa major, grosser wagen) [wikipedia: de en] was the perfect motive.

the movement of the big dipper in the night sky

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i can’t believe all the places he went to!
even jellyfish lake in palau!!

for more information, visit www.wherethehellismatt.com

yesterday, we had to put our dog scully to sleep.
it was hard making that decision, but in the end, it was the only choice.

and though she is now gone, lots of precious memories remain:

like picking her up as the cutest puppy ever in kufstein.
and attending pet obedience school.
and her cuddling with the bunny, even licking/cleaning its head.
and our family+dog holiday in normandy / france.
and placing that huge bone under the christmas tree for her.
and her stealing the chocolate goodies off the tree after she was done with the bone.
and her first “almost-fatal” encounter with anton’s hamster.
and her going wild when seeing a cat, but at the last moment turning nice when she recognizes tiger (tom & sandra’s cat).
and splinting her leg when she broke it (she didn’t even wince, because she knew we were helping her).
and her late “you either walk me where i want to go, or i’ll go on a strike, lay down and just won’t move at all”-strategy.

we all miss her already.
and it’s going to take some time until we won’t expect her showing up whenever there is a rustling noise from a candy wrapping.

 

[lyrics quote of the moment]
these days everyone cries “say uncle”
i retrieve the memories quickly as i can
add them to the portrait we all draw in our minds
your body gone, we shall keep the man
vienna teng – say uncle
 

[view photos: rest in peace, scully]

just a few days ago, friends of the family told me that there was a strange-sounding toad in their “swimming pond” (swimming pool & pond, all at once): “it sounds very much like a cricket.”

it turned out to be a european green toad (bufo viridis; wechselkröte), an endangered species of toad (bufonidae), whose “warbling” callings are often confused with cricket sounds (see video).
anyway – last night, i drove over to their place to check it out myself – and i spent more than an hour at their pond, watching and listening how two males competed.

the most amazing experience:
whenever i startled them (unintentionally), they were silent for several minutes. BUT when i played back the video recordings of their warbling from a few minutes before, they immediately joined in and competed with my camera.

to see the video and some photos, please continue reading.
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a couple of bats (details will be posted) have successfully made their way to my place again. :grin:

they had been hibernating in people’s woodpiles, until they were disturbed (and luckily they were noticed before they were tossed into the fire with the logs, unlike nobody-knows-how-many others).

they’re quite active little fellows – and so, during every feed, some of them decide to take off and fly some laps in the living room :-)
for a short video-clip, please continue reading.
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i recently discovered youtube.com – a free internet service that allows easy sharing of videos.
what they do is convert uploaded videos into flash movies, which (almost?) everybody can watch.

have a look at this, for instance:

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