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February 28, 2010
16:43
That colorful building
» ‎ talfryn.net

My sis had a visiting friend over the weekend, and my family invited her to join us for dinner at Clarke Quay. We passed by the river cruise ticketing box, and Mom thought that it would be rather exciting to take a river taxi down the Singapore River, and so we did, on the DUCK and HiPPO hybrid powered eco-friendly electric boat. There was a friendly tour guide who pointed out the sights as we went along.

When the then-Hill Street Police Station, now MICA Building came into view, the commentator introduced “that colourful building… which is now called the MICA Buildling. MICA stands for the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts”.

And what do they do?

He had but a one-liner to share with the Japanese, Taiwanese and us pretend-tourists on board: “They’re the ones responsible for censorship in Singapore”.

And there you have it.

I’m not sure if I was the only one who appreciated his style of humour.
February 19, 2010
6:35
The butterfly of freedom
» ‎ talfryn.net

From Edward Monkton:
February 15, 2010
20:14
Trivial lessons
» ‎ talfryn.net

Today I did something on a public light bus that probably made the observer-passengers and the driver think, “she’s so stupid”. But inside me, I was laughing. I was happy, for I had learnt something.
February 14, 2010
16:11
CNY in fog
» ‎ talfryn.net

View from my window this morning:

Quite typical up here.

It’s a mild winter – feeling like the upper 10s instead of a 11°C, yet the locals are all wrapped up like they’re training for an Arctic expedition. Something that amuses me greatly, every time.

* * * * *

“唔准哭,” he tells me. But how can I not? ‘Tis a sad, sad thing, for it’s beyond the point of no return, and everyone’s given up. So many have even left. I wonder if we’d still return every February… we were so close to not returning this round, for what’s the point, when we know that reunions are no longer possible?

People, even those you think are thought were closest to you, can be cruel. Even to you.

點解要搞成噉…?

Such a mess.
February 12, 2010
16:38
The great snake stink
» ‎ talfryn.net

My hands smell a combination of rotting flesh and latex gloves, hours after exhuming a sludge of a month-long-buried Oriental whip snake to pick out its skeleton: its skull pieces, much of the vertebrae, and some ribs have been retrieved with some assistance from a colleague (she had previous experience in sorting caterpillar frass, which is arguably an even tougher task), who suffered the odour and the mozzie bites with me. I didn’t expect the bones to be this tiny. When I first fingered through the muck of soil, I thought the remnants of the snake had totally disappeared. It was only after washing the contents through a three-dish sieve set with a bucketful of water that there appeared to be the first inkling of anything bone-like.

Tried cleaning the pieces as well as I could, and laid them out to dry in my bathroom. Assembling them like one would an airplane model would be too impossible a task so I’ll be contented to just leave it at that!

The whole exercise was one great lesson in snake anatomy. Photos to come when I have the time.

Leaving for Hong Kong tomorrow, for the Chinese New Year. Packing, among other things, is always a pain.
February 11, 2010
18:11
On vanity III: Judging
» ‎ talfryn.net

Man is always inclined to regard the small circle in which he lives as the center of the world and to make his particular, private life the standard of the universe. But he must give up this vain pretense, this petty provincial way of thinking and judging.

~ Montaigne, The Complete Essays (1587-88)
February 10, 2010
15:14
Moths: before and after
» ‎ talfryn.net

Just a collection of what I’ve managed to rear in recent times:

Pericallia ricini (Family Arctiidae / tiger moths):

Eggs
2nd instar larvae
4th instar larva
Adult
Metanastria hyrtaca (Family Lasiocampidae / lappet moths):

Early instars
Later instars
Adult
Adult
Perina nuda (Family Lymantriidae / tussock moths):

Pre-pupal stage
Pupa
Newly-eclosed adult male
Adult male
Enpinanga borneensis (Family Sphingidae / hawk or Sphinx moths):

Final instar, pre-pupal stage
Adult which unfortunately eclosed
while I was out of the country
Adult
Adult
Carea ?varipes (Family Nolidae / nolid moths):

Final instar… ‘melon head’ caterpillar!
Adult
February 08, 2010
15:38
The mantid Diego II
» ‎ talfryn.net

Driven by curiosity and the urge to test the hypothesis that the smaller, similarly brown-mottled but black forlegged mantid was indeed the male of Diego’s species (ok, driven by the sheer excitement of having little Diegos to complete the whole cycle as well), we found and collected one of these, and in a social entomological experiment, chucked them together after ensuring that they were both well-fed and would highly unlikely bite each other’s heads off in the notorious cannibalistic manner of mating mantids. Diego was nearly two weeks into adulthood, and her sexual organs should have matured.

The first time we placed them together, yesterday, Diego would get ‘freaked out’ and dart away whenever the male approached, although the male was showing no signs of being consciously attracted to her. Not being able to observe them throughout the night, I separated them and vowed to try again this evening.

So I did… after Diego had consumed a grasshopper her size in the afternoon.

Both their antennae twitched continuously. Diego turned her head to look at the male, then faced front again, as if paying him no attention. Then the male sprung, and landed on her back to front. He about turned, then turned again. Wrong direction. He then got off… and they paid no need to each other. I removed him.

Tried again a second time a few moments later. This round, he pounced, re-orientated himself, and tried to connect. Success – after about 18 seconds. She stayed still throughout the entire process.

They were at it for 22 minutes, before he dismounted and flew off.

Now I can’t wait to see if she lays a fertilised ootheca!
February 07, 2010
10:15
Upper Seletar
» ‎ talfryn.net

With long and graspy legs, nasty jaw-like mandibles and modified appendages through which they inject their prey with venom, these house centipedes look like the epitome of all that’s evil and dangerous in the wilderness at night.

Yet they do no more harm to humans than the average spider – if they do bite at all. Most just scuttle off into the undergrowth at the slightest hint of disturbance. One individual was most cooperative as we four photographers manoeuvred into position around it. It was so still that one of us made a remark along the lines of, “It wouldn’t be surprising if it was actually already dead and suddenly just dropped to the ground!”

Such close encounters are rare; and we made the most of this opportunity to capture whatever we could of this ‘pede as the clocks tick-tocked closer towards midnight.

More photos from the night here.
February 03, 2010
10:05
Riders
» ‎ talfryn.net

The surest thing there is is we are riders,
And though none too successful at it, guiders,
Through everything presented, land and tide
And now the very air, of what we ride.

What is this talked-of mystery of birth
But being mounted bareback on the earth?
We can just see the infant up astride,
His small fist buried in the bushy hide.

There is our wildest mount–a headless horse.
But though it runs unbridled off its course,
And all our blandishments would seem defied,
We have ideas yet that we haven’t tried.

~ Robert Frost

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QuGee Updates » talfryn.net » February 2010

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talfryn.net (10 unread)

That colorful building

The butterfly of freedom

Trivial lessons

CNY in fog

The great snake stink

On vanity III: Judging

Moths: before and after

The mantid Diego II

Upper Seletar

Riders