A To Z Challenge: Zoology And Zebras

Zoology, a branch of biology, is the study of animals. It is a wide-reaching field and includes--but is not limited to--biochemistry, biological systematics, ecology, embryology, ethology, evolution, genetics, molecular biology, morphology, and physiology.

Looking up a recent development involving animals and zoology was a strange experience. Almost all the articles I found were depressing pieces about animal abuse or some other horrible cruelty (and I found out I'm apparently not human, since I don't have any special attachment to cute pictures), so I hope you won't mind if I repeat what I did last year and this year for Lepidopterology: Post images. Because it's the last day of the A to Z Challenge (so okay, partly because I'm worn out), it doesn't wear at one's faith in humanity, and who doesn't like good pictures? (Even if they're not really "cute".)

I sort of lied. Kittens and puppies don't affect me, but I would
vote for Frogmouths as one of the cutest animals in the world. Seriously.
Image via Wikimedia Commons.

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Sources:
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/zoology
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/657959/zoology

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What is your favorite animal? Or do you just like a certain category of animal, like birds or reptiles or insects?


-----The Golden Eagle

The Traveling Smoothie Tag!

Okay, a little slow to do this one, but better late than never, right?

Mercy Vaughn at Not At All Stupid tagged me (thank you, Mercy!) and here are the rules for this Traveling Smoothie Tag:

1. Put an uncolored copy of the smoothie into the post (for video bloggers, print it out or insert it into your video).

2. Color in another copy of the smoothie. Be creative and color the smoothie, straw, and background, if you wish.

3. Insert your colored smoothie in your post/ video/ webpage. If you wish, you may include the location of the smoothie. Be as general or specific as you wish.

4. Name five blogging/ video blogging/ DeviantArt friends who will then have to fill out the smoothie, too. Also remember to link to them, because linking to people makes sad people happy.

This has to be one of the more interesting tags I've done. :)

But I'm going to have to break the rules a bit. While Mercy printed hers out (view her awesome smoothie and description HERE) the printer's out of ink, the scanner doesn't work with the computer that's connected to the Internet, and I don't vlog. Hence, I decided to go digital.

Ta-da! My Sumopaint-enhanced smoothie:

The smoothie for those days when life needs a bit more bright blue drink in a glass decorated with purple and silver flowers, and a slight drop-shadow.

About the drop-shadow: I spent way too much time fooling around with Sumopaint's layers and effects and whatnot. It is one of the best image editors I've found (though Flame Painter is still unrivaled when it comes to playing around with color), with hundreds of options. Have I mentioned it's free, too?

Now, for the people I tag (not to say they're sad people, but because I think it will be fun to see what they'll come up with):

Memzie at The Last Memzie
Madeline Bartos
Emily Rose at Mist of the Blossom Rain

(And I'm cheating here and listing only three. If you want to make up the fourth and fifth, go ahead . . .)

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What kind of smoothie/drink are you in the mood for right now?

Also, I'm a featured blogger over at Ali Cross's blog! Hope you'll stop by.

-----The Golden Eagle

Fabuloso Awards

I have been awarded twice in the last week!


The first award comes from Jules at Trying to Get Over the Rainbow.

Isn't it just wonderfully cute? I think it is! (My favorite has to be the robot or the daisy.) Thank you so much, Jules! :D

The second award comes from Talei at Musings of An Aspiring Scribe.

How sweet! Thanks for awarding me, Talei!

Now, for the people I award.

For the "Strangely Irresistable" Award:

Hannah Kincade
Deepali
Len

And for the "Happy 101" Award:

Deni Krueger
Jen Chandler
Sharon K. Mayhew

And because I decided that this image was too pretty to pass up:

Image by Denis Collette...!!! via Flickr

-----The Golden Eagle

Theremin

This is a theremin:

And this is Theremin with a theremin:

Can you believe this guy spied on us for the Soviet Union?

Watch the full episode. See more History Detectives.

Watch the video. (If it doesn't load, click the link that says "full episode" and then go to "Chapter 4 of 4: Theremin".) Or if you don't have time, I'll give you gist of it. Leon Theremin, a Russian inventor, invented the Theremin, and is widely credited for the beginning of electronic music. However, while he befriended RCA and other companies who wanted to buy the rights to his inventions, he also spied on company practices for the Russians. He reported what he saw back to his home country, and later, invented "The Thing", an espionage device that needed no battery, and could transmit everything the Americans said through the passive device.

Pretty sneaky, huh?

-----The Golden Eagle