The Sunshine, Daisies, and Lollipops Happy Stuff Thread

[The New California Republic]

Aye I saw that on the BBC News. If it was a bit wider, thicker, and painted gloss black then it'd be the start of a mission to Jupiter.

19 years late but hey ...

Sci fi always tends to be a little bit off with the exact year. Still waiting for my hoverboard as predicted in Back to the Future Part II. It's 5 years late at this point.

[Adamede]

I was completely distracted by this part.

“We fly pretty low for these surveys so we can identify the gender of the sheep,

Maybe I don't know much about sheep, in fact I'm certain that's the case, but the notion of flying low enough that you can tell what gender a sheep is sounds... well, LOW.

Close enough to see the shape of the horns at least.

[Northwest Slobovia]

I was completely distracted by this part.

“We fly pretty low for these surveys so we can identify the gender of the sheep,

Maybe I don't know much about sheep, in fact I'm certain that's the case, but the notion of flying low enough that you can tell what gender a sheep is sounds... well, LOW.

Well, the easy way involves flying above them with binoculars: bighorn rams give the species its name. The hard way involves flying below them, and I don't want to think about that.

[Uiiop]

I was completely distracted by this part.

“We fly pretty low for these surveys so we can identify the gender of the sheep,

Maybe I don't know much about sheep, in fact I'm certain that's the case, but the notion of flying low enough that you can tell what gender a sheep is sounds... well, LOW.

They have mind readers!!!

[San Lumen]

https://www.majesticanimals.net/ancient ... 7UNMKHW5Gc

The New Guinea singing dog has been resurfaced after 50 years. It was thought to be extinct in the wild.

[The Blaatschapen]

I was completely distracted by this part.

“We fly pretty low for these surveys so we can identify the gender of the sheep,

Maybe I don't know much about sheep, in fact I'm certain that's the case, but the notion of flying low enough that you can tell what gender a sheep is sounds... well, LOW.

I am unaware of gender as a social construct in sheep. Wouldn't they be counting their sex?

Also, I remember that monolith, it gave me the ability to speak human language.

[San Lumen]

https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/thermal ... n-england/

In World First, Recycling Plant Uses Special Kiln to Make Disposing of Asbestos Safe For Future Generations

For those who don't know asbestos is a mineral that was used in construction and as fireproofing for decades before it was known it could cause lung cancer and other serious health problems so this is a very big deal.

[San Lumen]

https://www.majesticanimals.net/this-ba ... 80VirnMOnc

A baby orca was stranded and crying for hours in British Columbia until a group of strangers saved him.

[Sanghyeok]

https://www.npr.org/2020/11/25/93889376 ... ducts-free

Scotland became the first region to offer free period products for all.

[San Lumen]

https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/frankie ... oto-essay/

Frankie the Adventure Goat’ Has Traveled Over 60,000 Miles Across America in Epic Road Trip

[Vallermoore]

Happy Thanksgiving Everybody!

[San Lumen]

https://www.homesluxury.net/extinct-leo ... 8cJAIAAZwY

The Formosan clouded leopard has been rediscovered in Taiwan after being declared extinct in 2003.

[Ethel mermania]

I was completely distracted by this part.



Maybe I don't know much about sheep, in fact I'm certain that's the case, but the notion of flying low enough that you can tell what gender a sheep is sounds... well, LOW.

I am unaware of gender as a social construct in sheep. Wouldn't they be counting their sex?

Also, I remember that monolith, it gave me the ability to speak human language.

Go make it apologize.

[San Lumen]

https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2020/11/25 ... 606319899/

A deer stole a hunters gun in the Czech Republic and fled into the woods.

[Adamede]

https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2020/11/25/Deer-steals-hunters-gun-flees-into-woods/3701606319899/

A deer stole a hunters gun in the Czech Republic and fled into the woods.

From the sounds of it the hunter wasn’t going after the deer but had some bad luck.

Regardless got an armed fugitive on the run now.

[San Lumen]

https://www.lonelyplanet.com/articles/r ... XHb3GbhvFI

Train company Rocky Mountaineer has announced its plans to introduce a new Colorado to Utah route to its luxury train journeys in 2021.

The "Rockies to the Red Rocks" route will be a two-day rail journey between Denver and Moab, with an overnight stay in Glenwood Springs.

[Eight Hippopotamuses]

https://www.npr.org/2020/11/25/938893768/scotland-becomes-first-country-to-make-period-products-free

Scotland became the first region to offer free period products for all.

If more than half the population doesn't need the thing (men, girls under the age of puberty, women with menopause), then it isn't "for all".

[Lost Memories]

I could make some comments on your politically correct reactions, historical baggage, and consumerism, but I'll refrain. Not the right place.

Humor is pretty subjective anyway, and black comedy is pretty niche, but it was funny, so I shared it, not much more of it. Someone who is not you may have a laugh at it, just move on.

[Thepeopl]

https://www.npr.org/2020/11/25/938893768/scotland-becomes-first-country-to-make-period-products-free

Scotland became the first region to offer free period products for all.

If more than half the population doesn't need the thing (men, girls under the age of puberty, women with menopause), then it isn't "for all".

Well, it is if they are allowed to pick it up.... I know many sanitary pads have been used as padding under bad shoulder straps of heavy backpacks.

[Ethel mermania]

I could make some comments on your politically correct reactions, historical baggage, and consumerism, but I'll refrain. Not the right place.

Humor is pretty subjective anyway, and black comedy is pretty niche, but it was funny, so I shared it, not much more of it. Someone who is not you may have a laugh at it, just move on.

The first thing a smart person does when they realize they are in a hole is to stop digging.

But you are right, neither the time or place, shame you didn't think of that before the first one.

[Ethel mermania]

More free hot tuna this evening
The 27th quarantine concert.

YouTube fur peace ranch. Channel.

[The Chuck]

Had a lovely brisket dinner with my parents and brother!



Nothing quite like helping your sibling BBQ while gathered around appreciating the little things in life.

[Thepeopl]

Posted this in TET but it should do well here ...

At the base of a barren slot canyon in Utah’s Red Rock Country, a team that was counting bighorn sheep by helicopter spotted something odd and landed to take a closer look.

It was not a sheep.

It was a three-sided metal monolith, about 10 to 12 feet tall, planted firmly in the ground with no clear sign of where it came from or why it was there. The Utah Department of Public Safety, revealing its existence to the wider world on Monday, said the team found the “unusual object” last week in southeastern Utah, during a survey with the state wildlife agency.

“While on this mission, they spotted an unusual object and landed nearby to investigate further,” the department said in a statement. “The crew said there was no obvious indication of who might have put the monolith there.”

The object was found in a remote area that Aaron Bott, a spokesman for the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, described as rugged and very rocky, with many canyons and potential hazards. “It’s a tough place to get to on vehicle and on foot,” he said.

“We fly pretty low for these surveys so we can identify the gender of the sheep, and while we were doing this we found this strange metallic monolith out in the middle of the desert,” he said. He described the object as an “anomaly,” but added that it was “not too uncommon to find weird things that people have been doing out in the desert.”

In photos and videos taken by a team member and released by the department, the survey crew can be seen descending into the alcove toward the object. “OK, the intrepid explorers go down to investigate the alien life form,” a crew member jokes in one of the videos. “Who does this kind of stuff?”

“It’s pointed right at the only crack,” another crew member says, gesturing at a narrow slot canyon in the red rock formation. “Yeah,” the first man replies. “That is just wild.”

The helicopter pilot, Bret Hutchings, told the local news station KSL-TV that as the crew approached, “we were kind of joking around that if one of us suddenly disappears, then I guess the rest of us make a run for it.”

But Mr. Hutchings said it was probably an art installation. “I’m assuming it is, you know, some new wave artist or something, or somebody that was just a big ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ fan,” he said, referring to the Stanley Kubrick film in which a matte black slab is discovered by curious, increasingly agitated primates.

“I have to admit, that’s been about the strangest thing that I’ve come across out there in all the years of flying,” he added.

As Utah officials shared photos of the discovery, many other observers noticed the similarity, especially in one photo that shows a crew member who had clambered onto another’s shoulders to look at the monolith’s top.

On Facebook, the Utah Highway Patrol shared photos of sheep and the object, asking the public for its thoughts. “During the count they came across this (sheet of metal?), buried in the middle of nowhere … what do you think it is?” the caption said. It added emojis of an alien and a person shrugging.

Respondents had suggestions: a “resonance deflector,” “an eyesore,” “some good metal.” Some theorized, vaguely, that it was a satellite beacon. Others joked that it was a Wi-Fi router. Some said it was a leftover movie prop — Red Rock Country has served as the backdrop for “Indiana Jones,” “Star Trek” and “Mission Impossible” movies. (A spokeswoman for the Utah Film Commission said, “To our knowledge, the monolith that was found in Utah this week is not from a film production.”)

The Art Newspaper observed that the object resembled the “free-standing plank sculptures” of the Minimalist artist John McCracken, who lived in New Mexico before his death in 2011 and whose work is represented by the David Zwirner Gallery.

“The gallery is divided on this,” Mr. Zwirner said in a statement. “I believe this is definitely by John.”
He added: “Who would have known that 2020 had yet another surprise for us. Just when we thought we had seen it all. Let’s go see it.”

Lt. Nick Street, a spokesman for the Department of Public Safety said the authorities were confident that “it’s somebody’s art installation, or an attempt at that.”

He said the monolith appeared to be made of stainless steel, put together “with human-made rivets” and embedded into the rock, though how deep was a mystery.

“Somebody took the time to use some type of concrete-cutting tool or something to really dig down, almost in the exact shape of the object, and embed it really well,” he said. “It’s odd. There are roads close by, but to haul the materials to cut into the rock, and haul the metal, which is taller than 12 feet in sections — to do all that in that remote spot is definitely interesting.”

Lieutenant Street added that officials had no idea how long the monolith has been there, saying, “For all we know it’s been installed since the ’40s and ’50s.”

The authorities declined to disclose the exact location of the monolith, saying that attempts to visit it could be dangerous. “If individuals were to attempt to visit the area, there is a significant possibility they may become stranded and require rescue,” the Department of Public Safety said.

But the department indicated that the monolith was on federally managed land — Utah has millions of acres of it — saying, “It is illegal to install structures or art without authorization on federally managed public lands, no matter what planet you’re from.”

Lieutenant Street said the Bureau of Land Management would determine whether to investigate further or to remove the monolith, for instance if it is found to affect wildlife. The bureau did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

As for the team’s original mission? It was a success, said Mr. Bott, the wildlife official. “The sheep are doing well,” he said. “It’s a robust population.”

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utah_monolith

Sad, it's gone now...

[San Lumen]

https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/mom-its ... HLTwZlvoLo

Woman Meets Son She Placed For Adoption 45 Years Ago And Confirms She Made Right Decision

An absolutely beautiful story. I admit it made me cry a little bit.

[San Lumen]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... -Utah.html

A mysterious metal monolith has appeared in Romania this week after another similar structure found in the remote Utah desert was removed by an 'unknown party'.

The shiny triangular pillar was found on Batca Doamnei Hill in the city of Piatra Neamt in northern Romania last Thursday.

It was spotted a few metres away from the well-known archaeological landmark the Petrodava Dacian Fortress, an fort built by the ancient Dacian people between 82 BC and AD 106.