Author Archives: d4vid

Excellent

Strange things are afoot at the Circular Quay. (Note:  although “kwey” is an accepted pronunciation, the preferred pronunciation is “key”.  Just in case my dad wants to make a big deal about this from beyond the grave.)

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Variegated

I forget, is this how you frame giraffes?Or is this preferable?I enjoyed this Imagineer-worthy theming in Southeastern Asia area of the zoo.Goddamn langur monkeys.  Just as obnoxiously loud as they were at the San Diego Zoo!A meerkat.The apes were all … Continue reading

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Catnip

Few things in the world will draw my attention like a locked passageway overgrown with plants.

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Little

A pygmy hippo!  A 小河马 (xiǎo hémǎ or “little river horse”)!

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Billed

And the worst wildlife photography you’ve ever seen continues!  This blur is a platypus.  Just take my word for it.

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Tornado

Warner Bros. cartoons have misinformed me yet again.  Looks like the tasmanian devil was yet another indigenous Australian species to be adversely affected by the invasive dingos, displaced (like the now-extinct tasmanian tiger) off shore to the island of Tasmania.

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Aviary

This aviary was colorful and beautiful and calm.  (The exact opposite of being penned in with bats.)Great, parrot.  Don’t get cocky.These Red Junglefowl are the ancestors of all modern domestic chickens.I never realized cassowary were quite so beautiful.I like this … Continue reading

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Clump

Wait a sec.  蓝山丛林游览 (lán shān cónglín yóulǎn) means “Blue Mountain Jungle Tour”.  The word for “jungle”  丛林 (cónglín) literally means “clump forest”!

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Fittest

Having established that Australia already looks a lot like San Diego, I appreciated this robotic T-Rex roaring with Sydney visible in the background.

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Unsavoury

What better way to celebrate my time in Australia than having the zoo ruin koala bears for me? My fault for visiting in spring, I suppose, but the mature male seemed disconcertingly, um, rapey.Not anthropomorphize but all the other koalas … Continue reading

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Leela

Took the ferry across to Tarongo Zoo Sydney.  (Tried—and failed—not to think of Turanga Leela every time I heard the name spoken in a thick Australian accent.) I thought this logo was pretty cool.

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Excelsior

Stan Lee, who knew that with great power comes great responsibility.  May his memory be for a blessing.

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Remembrance

In America, we think of World War II as the “big” war.  The war the biggest impact.  The war that shapes our self-perception as a nation.  For France and Britain and the British Commonwealth countries like Canada, New Zealand, and … Continue reading

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Chuppah

The main event!  The reason I’m here in Australia!  The wedding of my friend Evan from back at ODW on the beach at Watsons Bay. (named by Europeans after the British sailor Robert Watson who beached his ships here, but … Continue reading

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Loyalty

Checked out of the Mercure Alice Springs, flew to Sydney, and checked in to the Sofitel Sydney Wentworth.  Mercure, like in Oxford or Xi’an.  Sofitel, like in Redwood City or Wellington or Chengdu.

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