h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I have some Liatris in my yard. I wonder if it is related to the flower in the picture.

Yes, it is Liatris. I bought it in a package together with some other flowers.

Butterflies adore it.

It is really striking, Tav. Thanks for sharing it with us!

They were part of an insect-friendly collection of plants, paul.

Thanks Elektra!

You and I are on the same page about helping pollinators. Bless you.

I'm always happy to see insects in the garden. They have a hard enough time already.

A surprising variety of insects are useful in pollinating. In the Arctic, where it's too cold for bees, flies do much of the pollinating.

Yes, but what about the green balls?

Solar powered lights from IKEA. I don't think they sell this exact model anymore, but you can get similar ones.

Kermit has green balls. We should ask him.

It is biological misinformation like this that caused CBS to blur a Stephen Colbert image of a frog.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqJTctgEmEs (Apologies if this is out-of-area for anyone.)

For more information on frog habits, ask Elektra. One summer, her university work/study project involved artificial fertilisation of frog eggs and growing of tadpoles. I remember the statement, 'Come here, darling, you're going to get your girlish figure back,' and similar. (Don't ask what happened to the males. Just don't.)

Sounds interesting.

"It is biological misinformation like this..." [Dmitri]

It was not *biological* information, Dmitri.

http://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/2010/08/an-old-coat-and-a-ping-pong-ball-kermit.html

"the original Kermit from Sam and Friends was painstakingly made from a green coat discarded by Jim Henson’s mother and his eyes were each one half of a ping pong ball. It was back in 1955."

I don't know how old you, Dmitri. If had not yet been born in 1955, you are excused if you missed this information. Heck, I was seven then, and I didn't register Kermit's existence until, maybe, 1962 or 1963. Or maybe later. The first Muppet I saw on TV was Rowlf the dog, who was singing "Your feets too big," and old Fats Waller song. It would be a few year before I found out about Waller, so at this point I thought that Rowlf was incredibly clever, especially for a dog.

I am, or course. having fun with you. Did you think I knew nothing about the biology of real frogs? I grew up in a swamp, and loved the little rascals to death. which sometimes happened. You love something *too* much. I still miss those frogs, and wish they would visit my rain garden.


P.S. A male frog has two interior testes. Their color is not determined vby Jim Henson. Just thought I'd let you know tbat I know this.

If his eyes were made from two halves of a ping-pong ball:

1. They weren't green.
2. It was only one.

I believe I first saw Muppets as adult entertainment, in those variety shows. Can't remember when, but I remember TV shows from an early age, so I do remember quite a lot of the 50s.

This discussion, however, has brought back memories of a bunch of us in Greece drinking too much ouzo and waxing ribald about an English lesson we had to teach about Rupert's cat, who was very fat, and how many balls Rupert and his friend Tina had between them...

Touche. One "ball" (ping pong) and it s not green.

All in fun.

Absolutely.

Thanks for the answer to my question. I've got the idea that some of us got carried away after that. (just a little bit) It was informative though.

Did you know that frogs have their ears in their legs? If you remove all the legs, no matter how much you scream at them, they don't run away...

That reminds me of the joke about the idiot scientist and the frog. If you remove one leg, the frog jumps, though not as well. By the time you've removed the last leg, the frog if too deaf to hear you telling it to jump. Well, now I'm seeing the joke in a new light. Maybe the scientist was as idiotic as he was portrayed.

Sorry, I meant maybe the scientist was *not* as idiotic.