Tag: NetFlix

The nose of the dog!

More on a recent post from The Dodo.

We watched recently a documentary on Netflix about the special attributes of our pets. It was very good but one thing that we learnt was that dogs have on the tips of their snouts an area that can pick up warmth. Because when dogs are tiny puppies and still blind they find their mothers’ teats by homing in on the warmth of the mother’s body.

Many people are aware of the scenting ability of the dog. To quote: “While humans have about five million olfactory receptors in their noses, dogs are said to have around 300 million.”

(Read that article that I linked above for it is very good.)

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Senior Dog Patiently Waits For Boops In The Same Place Day After Day

“It’s her favorite spot.”

By Candace Powell

Published on the 6th June, 2022.

One of Hime’s favorite pastimes is a simple one: sit near a nature path and patiently wait for nose boops. The 13-year-old Siberian husky figured out long ago that, eventually, she’ll get what she came for.

“She likes that spot so she can watch the world go by,” David Nagadhana, Hime’s dad, told The Dodo. “But she has other strategies.”

Hime, who was adopted as a puppy, hitches a ride in Nagadhana’s bike trailer to get to the best petting spots.

“I cycle her because of her arthritis,” Nagadhana said. “Gentle in her old age, [Hime] looks for affection anywhere she can find it.”

The husky’s place of choice is by the Thames in Richmond, England, but Nagadhana takes her wherever she seems happiest.

“She loves finding new and interesting and exciting locations so that she may proceed to nap in them,” Nagadhana said. “She finds it relaxing enough to nod off on occasion.”

Nagadhana and Hime do everything together, and it won’t stop anytime soon.

“She was there for me when life ground to a halt during the pandemic,” Nagadhana said. “I’ll be there for her until the end. Raising dogs is like a rainbow. Puppies are the joy at one end, old dogs are the treasure at the other.”

Needless to say, Hime gets endless boops from her favorite person: Dad.

(All photographs by DAVID NAGADHANA.)

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One turns to the American Kennel Club for information about the breed, as in the Siberian Husky, and this is what is found:

Siberian Husky, a thickly coated, compact sled dog of medium size and great endurance, was developed to work in packs, pulling light loads at moderate speeds over vast frozen expanses. Sibes are friendly, fastidious, and dignified. The graceful, medium-sized Siberian Husky’s almond-shaped eyes can be either brown or blue ‘and sometimes one of each’, and convey a keen but amiable and even mischievous expression. Quick and nimble-footed, Siberians are known for their powerful but seemingly effortless gait. Tipping the scales at no more than 60 pounds, they are noticeably smaller and lighter than their burly cousin, the Alaskan Malamute. As born pack dogs, they enjoy family life and get on well with other dogs. The Sibe’s innate friendliness render them indifferent watchdogs. These are energetic dogs who can’t resist chasing small animals, so secure running room is a must. An attractive feature of the breed: Sibes are naturally clean, with little doggy odor.

There!

The world of fungi.

A stark contrast to where I was a week ago.

A good friend of mine, Peter McCarthy, back in the UK, said that he had recently gone on to a supplement called Lion’s Mane. It is a supplement for keeping the cognition working and maintaining good brain function. Peter also mentioned a film called Fantastic Fungi that was available on Netflix.

At home we have Netflix and we watched the film. It was incredible, almost beyond words.

If you want to watch the official trailer then here it is:

The film is about the power of Mycelium. Here is an extract from Fungi Perfecti:

The activities of mycelium help heal and steer ecosystems on their evolutionary path, acting as a recycling mechanism to nourish other members of the ecological communities. By cycling nutrients through the food chain, mycelial networks benefit the soil and allow surrounding networks of plants and animals to survive and thrive. 

Increasingly known as the “wood wide web”, mycelium can be found underfoot with nearly every footstep on a lawn, field, or forest floor. It has been concluded that as much as 90% of land plants are in a mutually beneficial relationship with mycelial networks. Without fungi – without mycelium – all ecosystems would fail.

Mycelium and mycological applications have enormous potential to benefit the health of both people and planet. We are committed to continuing our research efforts to find new and innovative ways to build bridges between mycological applications to both human and planetary health.

We can think of it in a way of finding the mother tree.

The film speaks of protecting the old-growth forest trees. So if you have old-growth trees nearby, do everything in your power to protect them.

Here is a report including a video on Suzanne Simard’s New Book.

Forest researcher and university professor Dr. Suzanne Simard has spent years studying trees. Her research led to the discovery that the forest’s plants and trees have an underground communication system, with trees and fungi cooperating. Her Ted talk brought her work to a larger audience, while her 200 articles in peer-reviewed journals shared her research findings with the larger science community. Now, she is releasing her first book Finding the Mother Tree, published by Penguin Random House.

‘This is not a book about how we can save the trees. This is a book about how the trees might save us’.

The Future of Video Stores

Economics in the real world!

Tim Clodfelter of the local Winston-Salem Journal wrote a very interesting piece on the future of brick-and-mortar

Tim Clodfelter

video stores and video rental places such as NetFlix and Red Hat.

I happened to be quoted in the article as an economist (the comment about “reducing the average cost every time we watch a purchased video” was supposed to be a joke!), but actually met up with Tim in my role as mom and pseudo-agent!  Let me explain.

My 15-year-old daughter was standing in a very long line of young ladies waiting to audition for the Coen Brother’s remake of True Grit. Tim was there to get the story on the open casting.  I asked him over hoping he would talk to my daughter.  He and I got to talking instead; he found out that I was an economics teacher, and pulled out his notes on the Video Store story.  He ended up talking to me and several other parents in line, all of whom had a different approach to viewing movies.  The resulting article follows with permission to publish on Learning from Dogs.

By Sherry Jarrell

Read the Video Store story