Nature is Awesome

It really is. Sometimes I think we can forget about how much nature has to offer because we really lead such unnatural lives. You don't see computers growing on trees now do you?

But seriously, the reason I say this is because we watched Life Story with Mr Attenborough today and the subject matter was finding a mate. Now, we have developed language and presents and all that stuff to please each other but animal mating rituals really show the power of evolution. Animals will dance, make and fight to prove themselves to be the guy to have offspring with.

One of our favourites was the Japanese blowfish. First off - look how happy the little sod is.

I would say he is probably no bigger than your forearm. What they do to attract a mate is make this very intricate and accurate design which I would safely say could be described as art. He does it by flapping his fins and tails to make peaks and troughs and an arena full of soft sand. If a lady comes along and likes the look of it - he bites her on the cheek and knocks her up. Classy. If you just look at it though, this is pretty symmetrical and its not like he has thumbs to use a protractor or anything. This is one of the things that blows my mind about nature that somehow, these animals decided to choose their partner depending on how good they were at making art.

Don't choose to be an insect or arachnid by the way. There appears to be a trend that the female of the species is a bit moody.. Will make you dance or compete for their affections.. And then they'll eat you anyway. Because you made them tired and need energy. Sucks.

Another thing which is awesome - snowflakes. And I bring this up because I recently say some on 9Gag under a high powered microscope so you can see the patterns that they make. It is crazy how they are made by literally just getting cold. And it freezes to make this perfect shape which is apparently never to be created again. I personally find it hard to believe that every snowflake has a completely unique composition, on an atomic level yes it is probably true. To the naked eye or even a microscope I think you could make an argument that they are pretty much the same.. Especially when you see how much snow other countries get that their houses are buried - how many must it take? Literally billions? That are all unique? Blows my mind.

Also watched Watchdog today. I find the Rogue Traders section so funny because they know they've been caught. And it is the most awkward situation that they have probably ever been in, and they know it'll be on television. And they know that the game is up and they are in some serious trouble.

They also had another report about the failings of BT Openreach.. And.. I must say I do agree that they aren't the best. I have heard numerous horror stories of the tribulations caused by them - some of the people on the show today were without a phone or internet for a year before anything was done! Not only would that be hard because technology is such a large part of our culture now but it is now also your right to have access to both these things. I also don't understand how Openreach is allowed to be in charge of such a large network.. It's not that their not capable because it is clearly in place, by them. But because they are the only people that do it on such a large scale - doesn't that mean they have monopolised the sector? Usually the ban hammer would come down on stuff like these telling them to sell parts of to other companies. If they carry on like this they'll be told to step aside anyway!

Day 506
So. It is that time of year again. Christmas. The shops are glitzed up and stocked up. Towns and shopping centres are wearing the festive garbs. Some people are happy, others are Grinching it all around. How is your Christmas shopping going? I am quite proud of myself to say that I am actually nearly done already. For me that is a miracle, but then again this is the first Christmas that I have had a proper wage to get presents on. I used to stagger it from the Summer before but now it is not so much of a worry - it's really quite nice.

And I've just seen that Lee Evans is retiring. Dang. Blog you later.