#australian stuff

[us-the-voices-and-more-voices-2]

[IMAGE ID: a large fonted poster that says in big bold letters "now more than ever" along the bottom it reads "national reconciliation week 2024 27 May to 3 June #NRW2024 reconciliation.org.au" END ID:]

oh wait it's transparent GUYS it's fine if you use light mode. but if you use anything but light mode you might need to just look at it a bit

happy reconciliation week!

for actually a really cool and awesome education program!

this is super cool!

actually everyone check this one out! ^^^

^^^^^ THIS EVERY MUTUAL READ ^^^^^

THIS LITERALLY NO JOKE! PLEASE DO I AM PUTTING THIS ON THE PINNED POST this is the best introduction to First Nations stuff I've seen for people who aren't Australian PLEASE LOOK AT IT EVEN IF BRIEFLY PLEASEEEE

I will be trying to post stuff every day this week but I will probably forget :( I'm never consistent but please guys have a look at this stuff!!!!!!

[identitty-dickruption]

the c word is my friend. she’s like a cunt to me

[whereimnotme]

Went looking for a documentary about *one specific thing* and ended up binge watching Four Corners all day today. Bit of an odd thing to find oneself doing but I do not control the hyperfixation.

Anyway -- ran into these two episodes from 2021 that I thought might be interesting to the broader internet.

Enjoy this deep dive into the history, impact and complicity of Fox News. I've been informed it's not geolocked on the ABC website but let me know if that's a lie.

[oingomyboingos]

shoutout to the nightbloggers all my homies love nightbloggers

[ningauinerd]

you’re not a true dasyuromorph disciple until you have a wild quoll walk up to you and sniff your phone

[sophfandoms53]

Hazbin memes/spoilers bc these episodes were NUTS???

LOST my mind and then the AUDACITY to end on a cliffhanger after Charlie collapsed on her knees in despair about Vaggie🤚😭

[thefandomenchantress]

So I watched Hazbin Hotel, (or at least the episodes out so far). And I wasn’t that attached to Vox in the pilot because he was only there for two seconds but he’s now my favorite. I can’t help it he’s so pathetic.

Also I love whenever the animators have him make this face:

Why does he look like a cat??? I noticed the soundwave on his hat looks kinda like cat ears and now I can’t unsee it. How am I supposed to take him seriously when he wears that hat and is constantly making a :3 face? /lh

[chanrizard]

W KOREA Behind the Scenes | Bang Chan

[hometoursandotherstuff]

Someone commented: "You think those are bad on their own, wait until the drop bears start throwing them at you!"

[ef-1]

yeah same

[dozydawn]

WIM Arianne Caoili (1986-2020)

[us-the-voices-and-more-voices-2]

happy reconciliation day for the aboriginal Australians!!!

one of these days the gov't will do like anything else and be better.

but it's not there yet, either way happy reconciliation day!!!!!!!!

[identitty-dickruption]

American-style diners were introduced to Australia by Greek immigrants the world is such a wild place

[blognam333z]

NoP A: H-Human?! (screams internally: is it going to eat me?!?)

H: Huh? (mind: Aaawww! So fluffy and small!)

A: Human, they are intimidated by you.

H: What I didn’t do anything?

A: That’s the point, though true, it’s similar to having fear or anxiety against death. You see these species are… herbivores, they are prey to creatures who are carnivores. They’re traumatized through out their evolutionary stages and history. That many aren’t open to be… bonded with a potential threat, even in the slightest- human wait!

H: *hugs the NoP Alien*

NoP A: EEEPP!! (panicking: ITS GOING TO EAT ME!!)

H: *carries them like a baby* I just met you for 5 seconds, if anything happens to you, I will kill everything that hurt you, your family, your people and friends, then I’ll end myself!

NoP A: … WHAT!?!!? (confused mess: *windows blue screen*)

H: I think I broke her…

A: *SIGH* that’s fine, j-just put her back to her quarters… Humans, your people have a strange fondness to befriend almost everything! Even something you haven’t met before!!

H: What can I say? She looks like a baby sheep, the wool is just so soft. I won’t dare imagine her getting hurt!

A: UGH!!!

NoP A: (overheard: “Humans… befriend almost everything”, W-What?! Does that mean th-that it likes me?!)

[supermaks]

A series of A24 inspired Grand Prix movie posters for 2024. Melbourne. Edit by me. Og by Scott Bauer.

[ningauinerd]

I've been doing a lot of volunteer fieldwork with these guys recently so I thought I might as well do an infodump about them here.

The pygmy bluetongue skink (Tiliqua adelaidensis) is one of the most unique and unusual members of the Tiliqua genus, which includes the true bluetongues as well as the sleepy lizard/shingleback. However, the pygmy bluetongue actually lacks the blue tongue the group is named after, having a pink tongue instead! As its scientific name suggests, it is quite a range restricted species, being found only in open grasslands north of Adelaide, South Australia, as far north as Peterborough. Historically they ranged more extensively across the Adelaide Plains, as far south as Marion, but due to the destruction of suitable habitat they now occur no further south than Kapunda.

While most bluetongues are notable for their large size amongst skinks, with several species regularly exceeding 30 cm in length, the pygmy bluey lives up to its name by measuring a measly average of 9 cm long from snout to vent. This is actually still a fair size compared to the average skink, but it's miniscule by bluetongue standards. Even more notable than their size however are their habits, for they are the only species of lizard that is specialised to live exclusively in old spider burrows! The burrows of both trapdoor and wolf spiders are used, but trapdoor burrows are preferred in most instances.

Pygmy bluetongues spend the majority of their lives within these spider burrows, leaving only to defecate, seek out mates and disperse. The average length of time a lizard spends in a particular burrow is highly dependant on the individual - some are sedentary and spend many years within a single burrow, while others will move around fairly frequently. As well as places to shelter and raise their young (they have parental care, it's very cute), pygmy bluetongues also use the burrows as ambush sites, waiting at the top for suitable prey, usually a mid-sized arthropod, to stray close enough for them to quickly dart out and drag them into the depths.

but here's the ambusher

The chief natural predators of pygmy bluetongues are raptors and brown snakes, and sheltering in the burrow is the main defence against both of these threats. Their burrows are often wide enough for a brown snake to enter, but not wide enough for them to open their mouths in - this means all the brown snake usually gets by pursuing a sheltering pygmy is an angry lizard attacking its face, forcing it to retreat.

The lazy lifestyle of the burrow-stealing pygmy bluetongues is certainly unique, and also explains why they have been such an elusive species since they were first discovered by Western scientists in the 1860s. Rarely seen or collected, their habit of inhabiting spider burrows remained undiscovered for the longest time, and by the 1960s they had become so hard to find that they were believed to be extinct. That was until, in 1992, a pygmy bluetongue was found inside the stomach of a roadkill brown snake by amateur herpetologist Graham Armstrong, confirming their status as a Lazarus of the lizard world.

The historic rediscovery of the pygmy bluetongue (Image credit: Graham Armstrong)

Our previous assumptions of extinction were fortunately premature, but the pygmy bluetongue skink is in serious trouble nonetheless. While they are able to live in a variety of different grassland types, both native and exotic, the extensive modification of their entire distribution through cereal cropping and urbanisation has led to their populations becoming very small and fragmented, giving them a ranking of Endangered on the IUCN Red List. Almost all of these populations are on private land (often grazed by sheep), which makes protecting and/or studying them particularly difficult and complex.

However, when it comes to future threats to the species, climate change is easily the most worrying. As Australia becomes ever hotter and drier, their small remaining distribution is likely to become largely unsuitable, threatening the existence of the entire species. To combat this, researchers are currently investigating the viability of translocating populations further south to areas with cooler climates, providing a safeguard if they do indeed disappear from their remaining natural distribution.

But how do you study a lizard that lives exclusively in small spider holes? Well, if you want to catch them, there's only one tool for the job - the humble fishing rod. Not any special fishing rod either, just a regular rod with a poor mealworm shoddily tied to the end. David Attenborough kindly demonstrates the technique in Life in Cold Blood, although in his case the lizard was steadfast in remaining in the burrow!

the sacred tool of the mighty lizard fishermen

returned to their abode

Two additional Fun Pygmy Facts: Fun Pygmy Fact #1 - The closest living relative of the pygmy bluetongue is the sleepy lizard!

cousins!

Fun Pygmy Fact #2 - Wooden artificial burrows purpose-made for pygmy blueys have proven effective, and the lizards inhabiting them even tend to be in better body condition than those in natural burrows!