Even hungrier Hippos
With relatives in town a couple of weeks ago, it seemed only natural to check out Taronga Zoo. Even if it is in the middle of rebuilding that never seems to cease, leading to most paths going nowhere. That wasn’t going to keep me from the Hippos, naturally.
The good, the bad and the Hippo.
More Hippo news than I would have thought possible. Although half of it is due to Kate (tip o’ the hat) and the excellent Zooborns Web site:
Baby Hippo Hits the Pool: This little hippo, pictured at just one week old, was born at Zoo Antwerp in Belgium on May 22nd.
That’s just too cute for words. Although the scale should give you some idea as to Hippo weights. As the article notes, a baby Hippo can weigh up to 45kgs. At birth.
Ladies (especially those who have given birth) you can breathe in now, and try not to think about delivering that.
That’s the good part. Then the bad part, although at least it’s not actual Hippos. Wandering through a Big W recently, I spotted the king of all Hippo related amusements. The one. The only.
Hungry Hungry Hippos.
But this didn’t look like any Hungry Hippos I’d seen before. They’d… gasp!… redone the box artwork. I’m still kind of split. My first reaction was to try to set fire to the store for housing such an abomination, but luckily I was fresh out of matches. It’s slowly growing on me… a bit. But I’d still prefer the classic box artwork. Maybe you’ve got to be young to appreciate it?
This terrible pain in all the diodes down my left hand side…
On the one hand: There’s some great things about being a parent. Like when your kids look up at you, smile, and spontaneously hug you, just because they love you.
On the other hand: There’s some hard things about being a parent. Like last night, when our two eldest children had alternating nightmares until 3am. Which left me with about three hours sleep, total.
Still, I think the good easily outweighs the bad…
On the one hand: There’s some great things about being a freelance journalist. Like being able to take the day off (as I did today) and take the kids to Taronga Zoo for six hours. Perhaps not the brightest move after three hours sleep, but the kids had fun, and I got to watch a Pygmy Hippo chew grass. I like Hippos, in case you hadn’t noticed.
On the other hand: The work still has to be done, and editors don’t accept waffle about Pygmy Hippos in the excuse column. Consequently, I’m sitting here quite late at night, frantically catching up on work, and still not sleeping…
This is a tougher one to judge. I wonder at what point sleep deprivation induces hallucinations that write the features for you?
