Count me among the almonds

Happy Birthday to Mary Anning, the “Mother of Paleontology!” Born on this day in 1799, she hailed from Lyme Regis on the coast of Dorset, England, and grew up collecting fossils. At age 13, she unearthed a skeleton of a giant marine reptile, one of the first ichthyosaurs. In her late twenties, she discovered Dimorphodon, the first pterosaur found outside continental Europe, on the beach cliffs at Lyme Regis. At the time, headlines celebrated Anning and her “flying dragon.” Her discovery proved that these flying reptiles were varied and had a wide range.

Happy 100th Birthday David Attenborough [b: 8th May 1926]

It seems to me that the natural world is the greatest source of excitement; the greatest source of visual beauty; the greatest source of intellectual interest. It is the greatest source of so much in life that makes life worth living.

- This kid’s gotta get his ego in check. - It’s his tone. Right?

#anz12kparty

Kubelik: Some people take, some people get took. And they know they're getting took and there's nothing they can do about it.

C. C. Baxter (Jack Lemmon), aka Buddy Boy, is one of those people who gets took. He works in a huge office building as an insurance clerk, his head stuffed with numbers and statistics. Baxter often works late, not out of dedication to his job but because, despite living alone, his apartment is rarely empty. His key gets passed around the office, his apartment serving as a discreet place for married men to take their girlfriends. In return, Baxter's superiors recommend him for promotions. When he agrees to lend the key to Mr Sheldrake (Fred MacMurray), director of personnel, Baxter finds himself quickly ascending the corporate ladder. Meanwhile he harbours a crush on Miss Kubelik (Shirley MacLaine), an elevator operator at the office. Little does he know she’s already been to his apartment…

It's safe to say The Apartment is my favourite film of all time. My band's debut album, The Way It Crumbles, was named after a quote from the film. I rewatched it today to celebrate my 40th birthday and it made me smile, laugh and blub as much as ever! It's a beautiful film about loneliness, human connection, and the importance of growing a spine and doing the right thing—or, as Baxter's neighbour Dr Dreyfuss (Jack Kruschen) puts it, being a mensch.

i am not being metaphorical, i work in a garden center, stop buying plants 'to bring in the bees and butterflies' and then immediately poisoning every caterpillar that dares to consume a single leaf

Trollvinter (1957)