The Man Under the Mango Tree: September 2008

Sunday, September 28, 2008

GREEN KINGDOM 101 - Heliotrope

HELIOTROPE

In Greek,

this means

"turning toward the sun."

And true

to its

name,

the beautiful,

sweet-scented

heliotrope blossom

always turns

toward the sun.

Odd Facts About Animals - Horseshoe Crab

HORSESHOE CRAB

The

horseshoe

crab

the

only

animal

that

chew

its

food

with

its

legs.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Odd Facts About Animals - Hummingbird

HUMMINGBIRD

The hummingbird is the only bird that can fly backwards.

Like a helicopter, it is also able to fly up and down,

and it can hover in midair.

GREEN KINGDOM 101 - Pickerelweed

PICKERELWEED

Cluster

Detail

Pickerelweed is an aquatic plant which grows three to four feet tall. Usually, you only see one or two feet, because the rest is underwater.Pickerelweed leaves are large and heart-shaped, growing up to 10 inches long. They have a long petiole (leaf stem).Pickerelweed grows in shallow freshwater, such as marshes, pond edges, lakes, and streamsides.This plant is most often recognized by its beautiful flowers. Pickerelweed has large spikes with clusters of violet-blue flowers. Each flower is small, less than half an inch wide. It has two small yellow spots on one petal.The nectar of Pickerelweed flowers attracts many insects, including bees and butterflies.Pickerelweed has long light green stems which stretch down under the water to an underground stem called a rhizome. Rhizomes grow in the muddy bottom and spread with roots to send up more Pickerelweed stems to the surface.

Monday, September 22, 2008

Odd Facts About Animals: Dolphins

DOLPHINS

Dolphins

sleep

with

one

eye

open

all

times.

Sunday, September 21, 2008

GREEN KINGDOM 101 - Salsify

SALSIFY

Salsify (tragopogon porrifolius) is a vegetable whose root and leaves can be used for cooking purposes. It is also known as white salsify, goatsbeard, vegetable oyster, and the oyster plant. The latter two names reflect the root's taste, which when cooked, resembles an oyster. Salsify is a member of the sunflower family and its varieties are named French Blue Flowered and the Mammoth Sandwich Island. It is cultivated in Central and Southern Europe, the United States, and in Asia (Taiwan), and is said to have originated in the Mediterranean. Its root is similar in appearance to a thin parsnip. Additionally, it is long in length and is cream or white in color. From the top of the salsify, green, grass-like shoots emerge. These leaves are edible and can be used in salads, for example. Salsify is a hearty plant that requires approximately 150 days to grow. However, it can be left in the ground during the winter months and will still flourish. When cultivated for a few years, salsify will also produce stalks that bear purple flowers.

Link: http://www.essortment.com/all/whatissalsify_rgps.htm

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Flutter-by is an 'Anagram' for Butterfly

Zebra Longwing Butterfly

The Zebra Longwing butterfly is a small, bad-tasting butterfly whose wing camouflage makes it hard to catch. Its yellow stripes make it hard to tell if the butterfly is coming or going. This flying insect lives in tropical areas of southern North America, the West Indies, Central America, and northern South America.

UNUSUAL HOME - Elephant House

Lucy the Elephant: Margate, New Jersey

Built by James Lafferty.
This is an 8-room house built of wood and
coated with tin.
This 90-ton house is shaped like an elephant.
Completed in 1881.

Link: http://adventure.howstuffworks.com/roadside-architectural-wonders7.htm

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

BIRD-WATCHING 101

Chaffinch
(Fringilla coelebs)

The Chaffinch is undoubtedly one of the most widespread and familiar birds, occupying most woodland, parkland, farmland and urban habitats across Britain & Ireland. It is this use of many habitats, coupled with its varied diet, that has made the Chaffinch such a successful species.

Description:

The plumage of the Chaffinch is unmistakable and this species is extremely unlikely to be confused with any other species, except possibly Brambling. During winter, the male Chaffinch has a red-buff head and nape, a buff-chestnut back, olive-green rump and pink-red cheeks, throat and chest. The belly is a creamy-white. Towards the end of the winter, the tips of the feather become worn away, revealing the stronger tones of the breeding plumage lurking below. As a result of this abrasion the slate-blue crown and nape become exposed, as does the chestnut back. In flight, the two white wing bars can be seen.

Female Chaffinches and immatures are less strikingly coloured, with an overall drab brown-grey-green appearance to the back and head and a buff off-white belly and chest. Again the two white wings bars can be seen in flight. Chaffinches are about the size of a House Sparrow but have a thinner more elongated shape, with a longer tail. There are a number of calls made either in flight or when perched, notably a strong, clear ‘pink’, but it is the song that is most characteristic and no doubt familiar to Garden BirdWatchers across Britain. The song is loud and bright in presentation, characteristic (though with regional dialects) and repeated often from a prominent perch.

Link: http://www.bto.org/gbw/Species/BIRDS_CHAFF.htm

"The bird-watcher's life is an endless succession of surprises."

W.H. Hudson -- The Book of a Naturalist.

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Flutter-by is an 'Anagram' for Butterfly - II

PEACOCK BUTTERFLY

The peacock butterfly (Inachis io) is a common butterfly from temperate parts of Europe (including Britain) and Asia. This butterfly makes a hissing sound when it is alarmed (usually upon seeing a bird); it makes the sound by rubbing its wings together. The wings are brownish-purple with a bright eyespot on each wing (the wings look a bit like an owl's face). The undersides of the wings are mottled grayish-brown. The larval host plant is the stinging nettle; the caterpillar is black with spines. Classification: Family Nymphalidae (brush-footed butterflies), genus Inachis, species I. io.

PALINDROMES

Palindromes are words or group of words which can be spelled the same backwards or forwards. The following are two examples of palindromes:

'Able was I ere I saw Elba'

--Jokingly attributed to Napoleon Bonaparte

'Madam, I'm Adam'

--Adam's refuted greeting to Eve in the Garden of Eden!

Best Palindromes

Don't nod

Dogma: I am God

Never odd or even

Too bad – I hid a boot

Rats live on no evil star

No trace; not one carton

Was it Eliot's toilet I saw?

Murder for a jar of red rum

May a moody baby doom a yam?

Go hang a salami; I'm a lasagna hog!

Satan, oscillate my metallic sonatas!

A Toyota! Race fast... safe car: a Toyota

Straw? No, too stupid a fad; I put soot on warts

Are we not drawn onward, we few, drawn onward to new era?

Doc Note: I dissent. A fast never prevents a fatness. I diet on cod

No, it never propagates if I set a gap or prevention

Anne, I vote more cars race Rome to Vienna

Sums are not set as a test on Erasmus

Kay, a red nude, peeped under a yak

Some men interpret nine memos

Campus Motto: Bottoms up, Mac

Go deliver a dare, vile dog!

Madam, in Eden I'm Adam

Oozy rat in a sanitary zoo

Ah, Satan sees Natasha

Lisa Bonet ate no basil

Do geese see God?

God saw I was dog

Dennis sinned

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Flutter-by is an 'Anagram' for Butterfly

Queen Alexandra's Birdwing Butterfly

Ornitoptera alexandrae

Female Queen Alexandra's Birdwing butterfly

Male Queen Alexandra's Birdwing butterfly

Queen Alexandra's Birdwing is the biggest butterfly in the world, with a wingspan up to 1 ft (30 cm) wide. This rare, tropical butterfly is from a lowland coastal rainforest in New Guinea. This huge butterfly is on the US Endangered Species List. Its rainforest habitat is being reduced as oil palm plantations are created.

This enormous butterfly was named by Alfred S. Meek (in 1907) to honor Queen Alexandra (1844-1925), the Danish wife of King Edward VII of England (1841-1910).

Alzheimer's Disease

Dr. Manny's Health Quiz

Test Your Knowledge about Alzheimer's Disease

CLICK here

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

BINAGONG DIKSIYONARYONG TAGALOG

A
Abuloy --- bayad sa nahigop na kape at nanguyang biskwit sa nilamayang sakla.
Akala ---- alam na alam daw.
Aginaldo - inaasahan na makukuha sa araw ng Pasko na mas okay sana kung pera na lang.
Ama ------ pamilyadong gustong maging binata

B
Bakasyon - sandaliang pahinga sa trabahong hingal lang ang pahinga.
Bakit ---- tanong na laging mahirap masagot.
Bakya ---- tsinelas na may takong.
Baga ----- lutuan ng mga hindi makabili ng microwave.
Bagoong -- masarap na ulam ng mga walang maiulam.
Baldado -- hindi mamamatay-matay na mukhang hindi na mabubuhay.
Bale ----- suweldong inutang.
Binata ------ lalaking gustong maging ama
Biyenan ------ anay ng tahanan

K
Kaaway --- ikli ng 'kaibigan na Inayawan.'
Kababata - dating gelpren na may ibang boypren.
Kabag ---- dighay at utot na naghalo sa tiyan.
Kabayo --- hayop na sinasakyan Ng kalesa.
Kabit ------ asawang nakatira sa iba
Kalbo ---- gupit ng buhok na korteng itlog.

D
Dalaga --------- babaeng gustong maging ina.
Dalaginding - dalagang hindi pa nagsusuot ng bra.
Dighay ------- Utot na lumabas sa bunganga.
Dilim ---- liwanag na maitim.

G
Ginang --- asawa ni ginoo na mukha nang tsimay.
Ginoo ---- asawa ni ginang na may inaasawang iba.
Gipit ---- kalagayan ng tao na suki na ng sanglaan.

H
Ha ------- sagot ng nagbibingi-bingihan.
Halakhak - tawang bukang-buka ang ngala-ngala.
Handaan -- magdamagan na Palakihan ng tiyan.
Handog --- bigay na laging may kapalit.
Hipo ----- haplos na may malisya.
Hudas ---- tapat na manloloko.

I
Ibon ----- hayop na lumalangoy sa Hangin.
Imposible - pagtaas ng unano.
Ina -------- pamilyadang gustong maging dalaga.
Insulto --- walang hiyang biro.
Isda ------ hayop na hindi Nalulunod.
Itlog ------- pagkaing amoy utot
Ita ------- negrong Pinoy.

L
La -------- ikli ng 'lalalalala' sa kinakantang hindi maalala.
Lalawigan - syudad ng kahirapan.
Langaw ---- kulisap na bangung-bango sa amoy ng basura.

M
Ma -------- tawag sa gelpren na mukhang nanay na.
Malusog --- hitsura ng tumatabang balat.
Mama ------ tawag sa sosyal na ina.
Mano ------ kaugaliang Pinoy na nakapupudpod ng noo.... at bulsa.
Mantika --- katas ng piniritong taba.
Mayabang -------- abusadong tanga.
Maybahay -- dominanteng utusan sa bahay.

N
Nanay ---- Pundidong Ilaw ng tahanan
Nakaw ----- hiram ng walang paalam
Naku ------ ikli ng 'nanay ko, nanay na ako.'
Nitso ----- bahay ng mga patay.
Nobya ----- gelpren na laking probinsya.
Ngalngal -- iyak ng walang ipen.
Ngisi ----- tawang tulo-laway.
Ngiti ----- tawang labas ipen.

P
Paa ------- bahagi ng katawan na amoy tuta.
Paaralan -- dito itinuturo kung ano, alin o sino ang mapipiling bobo.
Panata ---- dasal na nakatataba ng tuhod.

R
Regla ----- masungit na panahon ng pagkababae.

S
Sabon ----- mabangong bagay na ipinapahid sa mabahong katawan.
Sakristan - utusan ng pari.
Sampal ---- haplos na nakatitigas ng mukha.

T
Ta -------- ikli ng 'tita' o lalaking may bra.
Tamad ----- taong hindi napapagod sa pahinga.
Tatay ----- Marupok na haligi ng tahanan

U
Utot-------- Dighay na lumabas sa puwit
Ulol -------- sobrang matalino

W
Wala ------- salitang tagalog na minana ng mga ingles.

Y
Yaya -------- alaga ng ama ng inaalagaang bata

HURRICANE IKE

'I have never seen anything like it in my life'
80 percent of homes in Cuban town damaged as Hurricane Ike slams island

A car is buried under rubble after Hurricane Ike hit Holguin, Cuba, on Monday.

NBC News and news services
updated 4:28 a.m. PT, Tues., Sept. 9, 2008

HAVANA - Hurricane Ike roared toward Cuba's densely populated capital of fragile historic buildings after forcing 1.2 million people to evacuate, killing at least four and ravaging homes elsewhere on the island nation.

Severe flooding was reported in eastern Cuba with "extensive damage" to many tourist hotels and other buildings.

About 80 per cent of the 1,000 homes in Banes Holguin — in the area where Ike made landfall on Monday — were said to be damaged or destroyed.

Read more