Big Wendy, Super Whippet
Let me introduce you to Wendy the Schwarzenegger of all dogs. It just so happens that she is a Whippet, a 27-kilogram-rippling-mass-of-muscle whippet (forget the six-pack stomach, Wendy has a 24-pack)!
Surprisingly, Wendy is steroid-free. The reason for her appearance is a rare gene mutation which has made her ‘myostatin deficient‘ and essentially ‘double-muscled’. Being super-buffed is not without its downside however as unfortunately, the mutation has condemned Wendy to a short life.
Name that Pup!
Not letting any cat out of the bag (whippets love chasing cats by the way) but what do you think the puppy in the pic would most suit? Bear in mind that fully grown she will be extremely skinny (see previous post pic.), far removed from the plump little ball of fur she is at the moment. Here are the top five…The Whippet made me do it
I’ve always been a cat guy. For a few legitimate reasons too mind you, among them being…
- Dogs smell
- I never grew up with a dog… because they were, well, smelly.
- I was bitten by a dog at primary school.
- I had an unpleasant experience with a friend’s over-friendly dog.
- I’ve stepped in more than my fair share of poop in my lifetime.
- Dogs sniff you in the most awkward of areas, at the most embarrassing time (have you ever noticed that dog owners usually laugh when their dog is humiliating you?).
- I was almost mauled by my friend’s guard-dog (slight exaggeration).
- I was bitten by the in-laws dog (Staffordshire Bull Terrier) and had to have a week off work.
- I’ve watched a few episodes of “It’s me or the dog”.
- My son almost got mauled recently by a giant Alsatian (while fetching his basketball from the in-laws’ neighbours yard).
- Did I mention dogs smell?
If only dogs didn’t smell…
Dreams have a funny way of coming true. I have been researching breeds like mad over the last week, devouring a stack of dog books from the library, been taking various online ‘perfect dog for me’ tests and have discovered that there is actually a breed that blows away all my preconceived ideas, and arguments casued by past unfortunate dog events…
Introducing the Whippet. Get this (and I quote)…
“Whippets are virtually odour-free.”
The ironic thing is that both Paisley Jade and I have always liked the look of Whippets, and the more I read, the more I realise how incredible and how awesome these little hounds are… Almost too good to be true in fact.
I can feel myself turning to the darkside (and becoming a dog-lover). Mum, Dad… keep breathing.
Tomb of the Seven Sleepers
I came across an extremely interesting account while researching the city of Ephesus last week. The legend goes like this…
Around 250AD, when Christians were being fiercely persecuted, seven young men refusing to recant their faith, gave their worldly goods to the poor and retreated to a mountain cave to pray (and await capture, followed by execution I presume), where they fell asleep. The emperor, seeing that their attitude towards Christ had not improved, ordered the mouth of the cave to be sealed, and effectively sealed their fate.
Two centuries passed and the landowner decided to re-open the cave, thinking to use it as a cattle pen. He did so, and to his astonishment, found seven men sleeping inside. They awoke and believed they had only slept one day. They wandered into the city of Ephesus, and were utterly bewildered at the many churches and the freedom of worship for Christians. The Sleepers later died naturally (and this time permanently) and were buried in the cave in which they had slept.
The ‘Cave of the Seven Sleepers’ became a major place of pilgrimage from the 5th to 15th centuries, and as often happened with venerated sites, a church was built above the seven original tombs. The site was excavated in 1927, and brought to light many hundreds of graves which were dated to the 5th and 6th centuries. Inscriptions dedicated to the Seven Sleepers were found on the walls of the church and in the graves.
And so ends my history lesson for today.
The story reminds me of the Templar Knight in Indiana Jones 3. The Last Crusade was a fictional story… The Seven Sleepers possibly isn’t. Although seemingly impossible, early Christian documents are strewn with this legend (a similar story even appears in the Quaran), and may I remind you, that stranger things than this have been known to have happened…
Then Jesus shouted out again, and he released his spirit. At that moment the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, rocks split apart, and tombs opened. The bodies of many godly men and women who had died were raised from the dead. They left the cemetery after Jesus’ resurrection, went into the holy city of Jerusalem, and appeared to many people. Matthew 27:50-53 Holy Bible (NLT)
Once again, the truth is quite possibly stranger than fiction.
The Seven Sleepers at Wikipedia here.
Croc-swallowing monster exists!
At last, tangible proof has surfaced that giant snakes do exist (at least they did, once). A snake so huge it could swallow a crocodile in one gulp.
Remains from no less than eight giant snakes have been unearthed in a coal mine in Colombia. Aptly named ‘Titanoboa‘, researchers estimate (from the size of its vertebrae) that it was 15 metres long, a metre wide and weighed well over a tonne.
To put the size of this monster in perspective… The giant snake from the cheesy B-grade horror flick ‘Anaconda’ was 40-foot long. Titanoboa is 5 foot longer!
Are Titanoboas slithering around South Africa today? Researchers estimate the snakes lived over 60-million years ago. Meh. I have more faith that Elvis is alive (and is presently finishing a Sudoku puzzle on Mars) than in inconclusive dating methods. But I digress. Truth of the matter is that in recent history there have been , and still are, numerous eyewitness accounts of gargantuan snakes.
For me, I like to believe they are still around… at least from a distance.
Click here to read another post on giant snakes which you’ll find extremely interesting (if not unsettling).
Flower Killing 101
Flower killing 101
1. Pick flower, thus condemning it to slow death.
2. Present dying flower to someone special.
3. Someone special places flower in water, displaying its slow death for all to see, in similar fashion to roman crucifixion.
4. Flower, once dead, is discarded and forgotten.
Shops exist specifically for the purpose of trafficking dying flowers for human pleasure.
On February 14th each year, flower traffickers worldwide take advantage of sadistic tradition by doubling price of dying flowers.
Humans, are now so de-sensitised and depraved that the practise of flower giving (torture, display and death) is seen as an expression of love. Marriage, mankind’s ultimate ceremony of love, is celebrated with women holding clusters of dying flowers, and men displaying them proudly pinned to their chests.
