MALE PENGUINS ARE BADASS

More often than not, we lose our faith in humanity because we are constantly surrounded by humans and only get to observe their interactions. We often forget about other animals, and how beautifully redeeming their patterns and mannerisms are.

Today, I'd like to focus on penguins; more particularly how little baby penguins come into the world. Male penguins are amazing. I mean, completely and utterly amazing. THEY'RE SO DEDICATED!  Now don't get me wrong, I mean, when giving birth the actual baby penguin POPS OUT OF THE MUMMA PENGUIN'S VAGINA (that still trips me out, I was formed in my mumma's stomach... I cannot get my head around that)

Little penguin: Yo man, I feel your pain. I totally came out of an egg, too!

... And yes, the miracle of birth is cool and all, but WHOA THE MALE'S ROLE IS SO HEART-WARMING. And here is why:


The penguin egg-cycle, told by Rica:


HELLO BABY PENGUIN EGG, WELCOME TO THE WORLD!
So, after the penguins mate, the mummy penguin lays their eggs on the ice before Winter... And then shit gets real. The mumma penguins abandon the daddy penguin and the egg for the following two-four months or so to go get super fat so that she has enough energy to start the process all over again. Then DADDY penguin is stuck with his little, fragile egg STORED BETWEEN HIS FEET IN -40 DEGREE (CELSIUS) WEATHER FOR THIS TIME.

If that, is not a display of TOTAL AND UTTER NATURAL BAD-ASSERY then I sure as hell don't know what is.


WINTER IS COMING
This is where the famous "penguin huddle" comes into play. All of the male penguins in the colony huddle together to face the icy weather and winds (with their little babies-to-be still nestled carefully down in-between their feet). As the daddy penguins on the outside of the group get cold, the whole row will move down wind til they are at the bottom of the group. This way, they are guaranteed a spot in the middle... Which can get SUPER toasty-- all the way up to 24 degrees!

This is freakin' beautiful... But I can imagine the daddy penguins would not be happy. During these four months, THEY DO NOT EAT AT ALL, AND PURELY SUBSIST ON THEIR ALREADY OBTAINED FAT STORES. Imagine how they would feel when the mumma penguins rock up months later just like, 'Mmm, food. Me gusta.' You'd think the dad would be like '>:(', but no. They accept their duty, like TRUE BADASSES, and get on with it.


DADDY DAYCARE
In the day time, while they are waiting for the mummy to come back (this is my favourite bit) they form little penguin DAY CARES with groups of baby penguins for ease :') And oh my god, they then formulate a milk-like substance in the back of their throat, and feed their baby penguins while they wait for their mummy to come back!




SINGING PENGUINS
FINALLY, the mummy penguin returns. Now, there are HUNDREDS of penguins in one colony (for defense purposes amongst other things). How the hell does the mummy FIND her family?
...
...
...
...
Through song.

IT'S LIKE FREAKING HAPPY FEET. Each penguin family has its own unique song it sings to find each other in a crowd of seemingly identical penguins :') That's where the hollywood-esque scene ends, though. I can imagine the reunion: the daddy penguin, half its original size, battered, and pissed off. The mummy penguins, fat, happy, and penguin-like. Oh, what a sight! The daddy penguin then gets to go out for a few days (their life isn't as awesome as the months of debauchery afforded to the mumma penguins), indulge, then jump straight back in to being a full-time dad and babysitter; the mummy and daddy taking turns going out to forage for baby food.


AND, A DEPRESSING REALITY

Do you feel all happy inside? Well... I am about to put a slight dampener on that! (I apologise, I just really cannot help myself) THOUSANDS of penguins during this huddling process are killed each year through literally FREEZING to death because of the unnatural amounts of winter rain that occur due to global warming... caused by US. HUMANS. AHHHHHH. So... When the mumma penguin comes back, super duper excited that she is going to find her family, she sings, and sings, and sings... And the song is never reciprocated. A lone tune.

And that kids, is why global warming is bad. Respect your environment, unless you want to be a penguin murderer.


And also why penguins make me so freaking happy. Ahhh. <3

It Really Shits Me: Politics make me SICK

Hello, and welcome to the second post in Rica's 'It Really Shits Me' series.

Today's topic: politics-- a most powerful word... Powerful in that it makes people fall asleep at the speed of light! But hell, I don't blame 'em. The same old droning, lying voices going on and on promising shit they will NEVER keep. Hardly worth a bloody listen, I feel you guys!


 But... Today's post goes deeper than that.





Say WUT.



Yes, the crux of what is shitting me runs deeper than this. This incident, in relation to politics, affects each and every one of the people reading this. Our fundamental rights as humans in a functioning (arguably) society. Just recently, there was a boy, eighteen years of age, a self proclaimed rapper, who is being held WITHOUT BAIL for three months on communicating a terrorist threat for posting a facebook status with lyrics labelling the white house as a "federal house of horros" or something along those lines (don't quote me, I'm not sure). The reason it was treated so seriously was because he posted it in conjunction with the recent Boston Bombings.

I recently read an article or two on the matter, and this is what is alleged:

1. There was no actual threat in the facebook status
2. In context, the lyrics were nothing more than a metaphore
3. They searched his apartment, there was no bomb making materials, and nothing indicating he was going to do any violence to any one, or any group of people

Now, my source for this was the internet, so I'm not entirely sure how true the whole shenanigan is, and I would like to know what the post said specifically. HOWEVER...  It's saying something if I can honestly say I COULD believe this to be true. AND, if this does pan out to be true, to me it just looks like a case of the Government getting butthurt that some eighteen year old kid was brave enough to post his true feeling (and probably the truth) on Facebook. It sickens me. And quite frankly, HOW DARE THEY. I know the incident took place in America, but Australia ain't so far away from its counterpart. What the hell kind of society do we live in, in which we cannot even criticise our own Government, or give our OPINION without being CARTED OFF TO JAIL. Or frowned upon. Or SHUNNED (shun the non-believer... shuuuuuuun (YEAH UNICORN POLITICS WOOOO).


Without feedback (albeit harsh), the Government will continue to rot. Silencing us is NOT an option. This incident is reflective of the current legislature's steps forward towards a fucking dictatorship. {The people elect the Government. The Government serves the people.} That's the theory, right? WELL HOW ABOUT THE HIGHER UPS PUT THAT INTO PRACTICE. 

I'm sorry to young liberals and young labor party-ers, that get butthurt by this, but let's be honest: the current government is that shit your dog just did under that bush in the garden he likes so much... Oh look, he's walking over to it and eating it again... And, is it... YES! He's puking it up again!

 Really, there is not much choice. I don't know how these clowns become politicians. 

I think we should strap lie-detectors to their faces every time they face the public. Or shove a goblet of veritaserum down their gobs, that'll fix it right up.

And what about these new privacy laws and censorship laws? Ohai 1984! I'm sure those guys up in Parliament would LOVE to slap a camera in all of our houses and have 24/7 access to everything we are doing... Look, I'm deadly serious when I say we live in a century of corruption, censorship, capitalism and above all, BULLSHIT. It depresses me that the first year I get to vote for our prime minister, the two main candidates are akin to that of a trained monkeys.



Even more dangerous are those that blindly follow a particular person/party without second guessing what they even stand for. Like a brain-dead, zombified sheep... Bahhhh. I'm sick of the fakes. I'm sick of broken promises. I'm sick of this mediocre half-wit antic bullshit we as citizens have to put up with while the pollies chill in their nice houses and laugh at us all.

No. Just no.

Stop segrogating us. Stop taking away our rights. Stop treating us like shit. And KEEP YOUR DAMN WORD.

'Screw you guys, I hate highschool!'

Well, I realise since I first kicked this party off that I haven't even posted once! That's okay, though... It is in my times of immense procrastination that I guarantee you will see signs of life (such as right now).

So, I guess this is going to be a ranty-mc-rant-rant. Look, I don't know what to say except for FUUUUUUUUUUUUU- EDUCATION IN GENERAL

Yessir.

Having been at this 'law degree' thing for almost a year and a half, I've met some very interesting people (a mere handful of which that are actually doing the damn degree, those that ARE actually studying law are usually the diametric opposite). And I can't help but wonder, why are you here? What influenced YOU so greatly to tick that little box on the QTAC form directing you towards THIS.

Sometimes people say they have always wanted to do whatever it is they are doing. Sometimes people's parents have made them. Sometimes people's parents have inadvertently hammered it into their children's brains that THIS is what they SHOULD in fact, be doing! Mum and dad are always right... Right? The way I see it (this sounds bad) one day, Mum and Dad will die. Then what????

I guess what I'm trying to say is I just cannot fathom a 12 year old waking up and saying 'I WANT TO BE A LAWYER' or 'I WANT TO BE AN ECONOMIST'. Wholly shit, LITTLE TWELVE YEAR OLD KID, GET OUT WHILE YOU STILL CAN!!!

I'm by no-means saying that people should not study law, C.I., business, or any other discipline. Nor am I saying that following your parents' advice is going to be a bad thing. It's just that realistically, kids have no idea what they are getting into! It is horrendously unfair that by the age of FIFTEEN-SIXTEEN, schools are already trying to pressure kids into choosing electives to 'shape their career pathway'. It's bullshit. When I was fifteen, I was still wearing a Naruto headband and learning j-pop dances. (Oh wait, I'm 19 and I still do that. Awkward.) Grade 7 is now HIGH SCHOOL, right? Or it is implemented in two years or something... DAFUQ WERE YOU THINKING, GOVERNMENT. In a generic kid's first year at high school, they are freaked out enough about trying to fit in (just not me... I was happy listening to Black Sabbath and watching Lizzie McGuire. I don't even know, leave me alone, okay). That first year of high school shapes you so much, and you GROW UP so much! To thrust onto kids (ELEVEN YEAR OLDS) all of these adult responsibilities, and ideas... BULLLSHIIIIT. It is all interlinked.

They are making consumers out of children younger, as well. Every five year old has to have a fucking iPad, a laptop, a PHONE. ALL OF THESE TOTALLY UNNATURAL THINGS. Look at the designer fucking clothes made especially for under 12 year olds. Oh my goodness, go play in the sand pit and make mud pies and rip holes in your shirts whilst playing tiggy or something. The age kids are losing their virginity? Probably the age I was concerned about losing Pokemon battles (Oh wait, I still worry about that... God damn it, I am not a good example). Look at the rates of depression that have sky rocketed in the past ten years. Is that any surprise? Well, not to me (but then again depression is natural, and again, I will endeavor to write about this also). 

Look, if you couldn't tell, it just totally shits me. Can we not let kids be kids, and let them make up their own minds about things?

This rant could go on forever. I could talk about the impact of said things, and how it is forcing people to have unrealistic expectations of themselves. The fact that people feel obliged to live life in this approved little cycle that is the social norm-- go to school, go to uni, get a job, get married, have kids, retire, die. I could talk about how what people are studying shape the way that they feel obliged to Act. I could talk about so many things that are the result of the bullshit expectations put on us all...

But I'll save that for another day. ;)