I miss Lizard

When I decided to move over here to Canada I knew I had to get rid of all my large possessions.

One of the said possessions was alive. It was a bearded dragon that I never named, but none the less was very fond of. To me he became known as 'The Lizard'.

I got my first bearded dragon a few years ago from a local pet store. A good friend of mine also purchased one at the same time and over time it turned out that they happened to be 'sexually compatible'.

In a very irresponsible manor we decided to let them breed without really reading up on the subject. I very quickly realised how irresponsible this was so I quickly got up to speed reading every internet site that I could find on the subject.

After I realised that my friend's lizard was pregnant I separated the lizards and began to set up ready for the egg laying.

In a sad twist of fate, whilst I was away one very hot weekend, my lizard died. I never found the real reason but I think he may have overheated as I had positioned his tank very close to a window. I have never forgiven myself.

I made sure that I would be extra caring from then on in and meticulously arranged the correct conditions for the egg laying and hatching.

One day 'Stitch' the female lizard dug a hole in the mud box that I had made for her and after many hours she finished laying her 13 eggs.

I transfered these eggs to their incubator and kept a close eye on them.

Only 4 eggs survived the incubating process, gladly all 4 eggs hatched problem free. They were very cute and very scared. It was only the fact that these little critters were so tired from birth that I was able to catch them and put them in their tank.

This picture (taken on my cell phone) shows just how cute they were.



I reared them until ready and then sold two.

The two remaining became my nameless pets. I cared for them as best I could and they grew up very calm, friendly and pretty. Eventually I sold the one that turned out to be female, as the male/female, brother/sister thing isn't the best situation, even in the lizard world!

On receiving news that my one year Via for Canada was good to go, the poor lizard had to leave my possession, I put an ad on the net. I received a few positive replies instantly.

One of the replies was from a fascinating lady called Catherine.

I spoke various times over the course of about a month with Catherine and we arranged the rehousing of the lizard.

Sorry to go off on a tangent, but I have to give you a rough outline of this wonderful lady. Every time I spoke to her we ended up chatting for at least an hour. Catherine was just over 70 and had been trravelling around the world for most her life. She had lived with nomads, been a background artist in Westerns and done many things but working with horses had been her main skill. She was now retired and my lizard was heading off with her for a beautiful relaxing life in Spain.

So off went my lizard with Catherine and I vowed to keep in contact but have not done that really so far. I will be calling her in the next few days and will hopefully update you when I get through to her.





Like the title says... I miss Lizard.

If you are interested in the basics of owning one of these wonderful creatures, and the care involved then read my Helium article here.

Quit your Jibber Jabber

After reading the first few lines of Bush's recent meme post 'My Desktop' waves of nostalgia for the 80's came spilling back into my head.

I am an 80's child thrown into this world back in '81 I grew up lapping up American television and believing that America really was the place of Dreams.

Of course I was aware that the good old US of A had it's problems but gladly a certain group of Soldiers of Fortune were there to make sure that it was all flattened out.. oh and most importantly under strict orders (and funding) of Charles Hestons mob no one ever died.

The A-team, as cheesy and completely unrealistic as it was, was a real fun part of my youth. I think I used to watch it on ITV on a Saturday early evening and BA was truely a man to look up to, even though he only stands 5'10 (surprising, I know!).

A while ago I heard that there may be plans for a big screen version of this old Tv classic. This could possibly be the biggest movie mistake ever, or it could turn out to be one of the most entertaining films in many years. None the less I have been figuring out my Dream A Team for a while now and my current line up is as the photo above shows:

Hannibal - Jack Nicolson
Howling Mad Murdoch - Jim Carey (Almost certainly the ONLY choice!)
Face Man - Jude Law
BA Baracus - Michael Clark Duncan

Jack Nicolson is in my opinion an acting god. In recent films such as About Scmidt and The Departed he has shown his accute attention to making himself somebody else is still in tact and I still think he has more than 'what it takes' to pull off the subtle blend of comedic lines and authoritative father figurism needed for a modern Hannibal.

Jim Carey pigeon holed himself in early performances as a madcap clown but recent offerings have shown his solid serious side. Blend these two where needed and Murdoch is almost unchanged from his original form.

Jude Law can be hit or miss. He is a good actor but has made some medicore decisions in his time. However he is smooth when needed and carries the looks to pull off 'the ladies' man persona needed for the role. I say 'Give him the job'.

BA is the hardest one to replace. Two faces come to mind and the one I did not choose is Ving Rhames because he is the popular choice. I believe Michael Clark Duncan on the other hand has shown he can be mean and sensitive and he certainly carries the huge huge presence needed to attempt to follow in Mt T's shadow.

For a while I have thought that only Mr T could play BA but I understand the need to move on. And also if you watch this video below you will see that he is much more adept at singing and should be pursuing a singing and dance career.




So who do you think should make up the new A-Team?

Further reading on the movie news: http://www.ateamshrine.co.uk/movie.php