Year of The Pig

1. Hawaiian Pigs
2. Babirusa
3. CNE Pigs
4. Miss Piggy
5. Miss Piggy
6. Red River Hog
7. Tamworth Pigs
8. Pig Pot at the ROM
9. Pigman at the Campbell House
10. Warthogs

  People born in the Year of the Pig are said to be thoughtful, polite, reliable, courageous and ready to help others.  They can also be naive, and self-indulgent.  2019 is the Year of the Pig according to the Chinese zodiac.  To celebrate here are 10 of our favourite swine encounters. Oink Oink.

1 ) Hawaiian Pigs

Dan's Green House is located in the town of Lahaina, on the island of Maui, in Hawaii.  They have exotic plants and rare birds as well as mini pigs.  We got a chance to spend some time with these two little guys.  Aren't they just the cutest?

2)  Babirusa

Speaking of cute, we are sorry but babirusa are just the opposite.  They have long legs, weird curvy tusks and look like all of their hair just fell out.  They are only found on a few islands in Indonesia and are unforgettable.  We saw this pair at the Toronto Zoo.

3)  CNE Pigs

When the Canadian National Exhibition comes to Toronto at the end of each summer so does "The Farm".  You can experience the sights and smells of livestock.  There are always lots of pigs and usually one big sow who spends her day constantly feeding her litter of piglets.

4)  Miss Piggy

In Queens, New York the Museum of the Moving Image has a Jim Henson Exhibition.  Miss Piggy is one of our favourite Muppets and favourite pigs.  Here she is in her wedding gown ready for her big day.

5)  Miss Piggy

This Miss Piggy is a crashed freight plane.  It can be found in Churchill, Manitoba still sitting where it crashed in 1979.  Miss Piggy the Muppet made her debut in 1974.  We have read that the plane is named after Miss Piggy because it was overloaded or it once carried a cargo of pigs.

 We think it should be called Miss Piggy because of its flat snout.

  By the way Miss Piggy, your engine is way over here.  Also watch out for polar bears hiding amongst the rocks and wreckage.

6)  Red River Hog

The red river hog is a colourful African pig.  We like its whiskers and red coat.  It turns out that we have a fondness for animals with red coloured fur.

7)  Tamworth Pigs

Based on our previously professed love of red furred anuimals you can see why we like Tamworth pigs.  They are one of the oldest breeds of pigs.  You can also see the curly little tail in the photo above that makes pigs even more appealing.  These pigs are from Toronto's Riverdale Farm.

8)  Pig Pot at the ROM

This pig shaped vessel was at the Royal Ontario Museum.  We imagine it could be filled with some sort of liquid which could then be poured out of the spout in the snout.  We didn't make note of what was listed as its intended purpose and often the museum uncovers artifacts whose purpose is only assumed.

9 ) Pigman at the Campbell House

We took this photo of the Campbell House Museum in Toronto.  The Campbell House was built in 1822 and was actually moved to where it sits today.  Looking at our photo later we noticed something odd.

There was a well dressed pig man on the grounds.  We hope he was there for an event or promotion at the museum. 

10 ) Warthogs

We took a trip to Africa and encountered many wild warthogs.  We watched them come and go at a waterhole in Greater Kruger in South Africa.  We also watched them mow the lawn in Zimbabwe beside the mighty Zambezi River.

Because warthogs have such short necks they usually have to kneel down on their front legs to eat grass.  In the video below, various African animals eat beside a waterhole until the warthogs come and take over.

  That is our list of favourite pigs.  We took part in some celebrations at the Scarborough Town Centre for the Chinese New Year.  You can celebrate and enjoy pigs all year long.

---

Map of Our World

Toronto Zoo , A'Zambezi Lodge , Tremisana Safari Lodge , Riverdale Farm , Dan's Green House , CNE (The Farm) , A'Zambezi River Lodge
Campbell House , Miss Piggy
Scarborough Town Centre , Museum of the Moving Image , Royal Ontario Museum
Chinese Zodiac

---

Post # 241

The Blue Whale at the ROM

Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Address:  100 Queens Park
Date: July 2017
Website: www.rom.on.ca

  Did you know the blue whale is the largest animal on earth?  It is and during August 2017 the Royal Ontario Museum is running a blue whale exhibit.  Back in 2014 there were nine blue whales that became trapped in ice and died.  Two of these whales washed up on the shores of Newfoundland.  Scientists quickly jumped at the rare opportunity to closely examine these mammals.  The exhibit at the ROM is a direct result of this work.

  A team of scientists had the difficult and smelly job of taking the whale apart in order to preserve the 80 foot long skeleton.  The exhibit included a watch from one of the scientists that will never smell clean again.  After 2 years the bones were finally ready to be on display in Toronto.

  Nothing about a blue whale is small.  It weighs 90,000 kg which is the same as 15 elephants.  Elephants are the heaviest land mammal.

  In terms of humans it would take 1200 to equal the weight of the blue whale.  That was quite a few more than the amount of people crowding the exhibit hall with us.

 
  The heart of the whale had been plastinated and was on display.  It was almost the same size as the car parked across from it.  This is the first and only blue whale heart to ever be preserved.  A human heart usually beats somewhere between 60 to 100 bpm.  A blue whale heart beats at a rate of 10 to 30 bpm even when the whale is active.

  Whales eat a small crustacean called krill and can eat up to 40 million krill per day.  Krill eat plankton.  Plankton eats some of the nutrients found in whale feces.  Plankton can also perform photosynthesis which removes carbon dioxide from the air.   This cycle makes the planet better for all of us.

  Blue whale feces, like the orange stain above is large enough to be seen from an aircraft.

 Blue whales eat krill by using the baleen in their mouths.  They do not have teeth.   A blue whale takes a giant mouthful of water.  It then pushes the water out through the baleen.  Krill is trapped inside its mouth as it can not pass through the baleen filters.  Dinner is served.

  The first whale is believed to be derived from Pakicetus (above).  The fossil above shows the Pakicetus and eventually it would evolve into the whales that we see swimming in the oceans of today.

  People used to hunt whales to make whale bone products like those pictured above.  More needs to be done to protect these endangered animals.  The blue whale at the ROM is here to help educate and amaze us.  Scientists are working hard to make sure that we do not see the last blue whale in our lifetime.  We hope to see our very first blue whale when we visit the Saguenay River in Quebec later this year.

---

This location is near Museum subway. Visit other Toronto TTC stations.

Map of Our World
Royal Ontario Museum

---

Post # 186

Chihuly

Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Address: 100 Queens Park
Date: Nov 2016 
Website:  www.chihuly.com

  We attended a Friday Night Live event at the Royal Ontario Museum.  This is where the museum stays open late and there are drinks and food and DJs while you browse the exhibits.  We were lucky enough that a special exhibit called Chihuly was running when we visited.

  The exhibit is named after Dale Chihuly who is known for his colourful glass creations.

  The first two works created by Chihuly and his team featured boats.  The first was full of giant coloured marbles and the second contained what looked like blue and purple flowers.

 

  The next huge display was like a jungle of swirling and twisted glass.

  Another piece seemed very familiar.  It consisted of glass in the shape of flowers sitting on top of a clear glass ceiling.

  The reason the colourful flowers seemed so familiar is that they reminded us of the Bellagio hotel lobby in Las Vegas (pictured above).  The ceiling there is covered with a work of art called "Fiori di Como".  It was created by none other than Dale Chihuly.

 

   Chihuly was thrown through the windshield of a car in a 1976 accident which left him injured and blind in one eye.  Since then he has relied on his team to help create these beautiful glass works of art. We paused to think that the very thing Chihuly loved to create with was what took away his vision and caused him harm.

 

  There were many coloured bowls and pieces created to look like icicles or giant spikes. 

  Some neon blue tubes looked like sparks of light.

  We made our way through a walkway covered by giant curved flowers in fall colours of yellow and orange.

 

  The last part of the exhibit showed aboriginal art and blankets.  We enjoyed the displays and marvelled at how Chihuly and his team had managed to coax glass into all manner of colours and shapes.  The Chihuly event runs at the Royal Ontario Museum until January 8, 2017.

---

This location is near Museum subway. Visit other Toronto TTC stations.

Map of Our World
Royal Ontario Museum

---

Post # 149

MUSIC - Rock Lobster

Artist: The B-52's
Song: Rock Lobster
Released: 1979
Where to listen: East Coast, Snorkeling, Aquariums & Beach Parties

    The B-52's were the first successful band to hail from Athens, Georgia.  They would be the most successful if it weren't for a band called REM.  While REM may have sold more records, The B-52's are much more fun.  This song is great for parties and summertime travel.  It would be perfect if you were at the beach with boys and bikinis and girls and surfboards.  This song also works when visiting any fishing towns in the Maritime provinces of Canada or the North-Eastern USA.  We visited a 55 tonne lobster in Shediac, New Brunswick that is sitting on a huge rock.  Now that is a rock lobster!
  This song is also great to help kids learn all the fish noises when visiting an aquarium.  The ending of the song is sort of an Old MacDonald of the sea.  Instead of moo, quack and oink it gets a little more complicated.  Let's look at some of the lyrics.

Here comes a stingray (wok ahh whuhh)  - The noises are hard enough to imitate let alone write down.  Below are two southern stingrays from the Toronto Zoo.

There goes a manta ray (aya aya ayah) - Manta Rays are the largest rays and can reach widths of up to 23 feet.  We have never seen one or heard what it sounds like.

In walked a jellyfish (uuhhh) - We have seen lots of jellyfish, but they always seem very quiet.  The picture below is of a Japanese sea nettle from the New England Aquarium.  We don't know if Japanese jellyfish sound different or not, or if this one has been in Boston long enough to pick up an accent.

There goes a dogfish (reeawr) - Dogfish are a type of small shark.

Chased by a catfish (blrroooh) - The catfish below are from Sea Life London Aquarium.  You can always tell a catfish by its whiskers.  Actually those whiskers are not hair but skin.

There goes a narwhal (eehh  eehh) - A narwhal is a whale that lives in the Arctic and has a long tusk.  We did see this one on display at the Royal Ontario Museum.

While the song Rock Lobster may not be as educational as this blog post, it is always lots of fun no matter where you are vacationing.  Oh, and remember to watch out for that piranha!

---

Map of Our World
Toronto Zoo (Stingray Bay) , New England Aquarium , Sea Life London Aquarium
Royal Ontario Museum

---

Post # 51