This fish story isn't about wildlife. The Japanese Koi (Carp) is a domesticated creature. Not only that, it is a mutated critter, too.
Carp used to be a dark-colored fish, real dark brown or black. People way back in the 5th Century were raising them for food in China.
Sure enough, one day someone noticed every now and then a carp would show up with some different colors. So, they start doing selective breeding, just fish among fish, I mean. The guy probably watched.
Next thing you know, everybody wants to get in on the act and create designer fish. This was way before TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES were even a twinkle in some person's eyes.
It was in the early 20th Century the rest of the world found out about these designer fish when some folks from Nigata, Japan showed their brightly-colored fish off at a Tokyo Exhibit. Well, folks around the world shell out big bucks for fish formerly known as carp, only now, they're called Japanese Koi. People build ponds for them, mutated fish, and all they do is look at them. They don't even eat them anymore and if you got caught with your fishing pole around somebody's Koi pond, you'd probably get arrested even if you had a fishing license. Dang !
Joke about it, as I may, raising Japanese Koi is serious business. When I researched this critter I found out the regular, old fashioned Carp is a Cyprinus carpio.
And the carp from Prussia, called a Carassius gibelio got selective breeding giving the world goldfish.
But, if you try and figure out what the scientists call the different Japanese Koi for a Latin name, you're in for a full day's work. Then, you'd be getting into DNA and who done what so, I said the heck with that and decided I'd go check to see how much these critters are really worth.
Well, you can find pages and pages of reputable (I think) online dealers trying to get your credit card number. And that was enough to change my mind.
It's not like I was trying to order some French perfume or anything. So, I slammed the laptop shut and took a break.
Not to leave my readers hanging, I went back to see what else I could find that might interest you. Look what I found. There's a lot of free stuff, like articles to read but, if you really want to become an authority, you can enroll in a Ten Week Course at the KOI FISH SCHOOL . Yup.
Now, they've got me wondering. Like, if I was sure they'd put "Japanese Koi a fish formerly known as Carp" on my diploma, I could go for that ! Wouldn't you ?
Visit my Homepage for THE PHOTO OF THE DAY
This owl is behind bars. His crime? Maybe being cute, unusual or rare. Human nature got him behind bars. Wildlife in a cage. For sure, he got a life sentence. He's in a zoo, not some rehabilitation facility. Location: Somewhere in Okinawa, Japan. Photos taken MAR 13, 2011.
Here is a pretty Peacock. This critter has more room to move around. That's probably because of human nature, too. We want to be able to see all those brilliant colors and designs when the feathers are spread.
This bird, in captivity, needs lots more room than that little owl. Throw plenty of flourescent lights on the peacock and put windows all around the sides of the cage. Now, humans can run and encircle the captive bird, bang on the windowpanes, press their noses to the glass and gawk at some genuine wildlife.
It dawned on me as I was developing these photos, the disasters in Japan, earthquakes and tsunami are captivating audiences, as well. It's human nature. People like to gawk at disasters, too.
Here are a couple of birds stuck in another cage surrounded by glass for people to gawk through.
Imagine one of them saying to the other, "Is he still gawking at us"?
"Maybe if we gawk back at him he'll leave us alone".
The devastation, in Japan, from the earthquakes and tsunami is horrible. It's hundreds of miles away.
Now that I know friends and family closer to the disaster are alive and safe, I don't want to look anymore.
I don't want to blog about it, either. I hope the worst is over but, it may not be. There may be more devastation waiting for those poor people. Readers keep asking me what they can do to help.
My reply is: Wait and let the emergency response folks sort things out. You have to wait.
Yesterday I got mail from my trusty friend, Rusty as he was departing Narita Airport in Japan. He said the departure line at his terminal was 1,000 meters long.
People need to be evacuated from some areas. Rescue personnel, firefighters, divers, search dogs, doctors, police, nurses and engineers from 50 other countries are trying to get into Japan and offer support.
What Japan doesn't need, I can tell you. They don't need Uncle Bill cleaning out his yard sale collection to send over as a charitable donation. They don't need some major pharmaceutical company to write off a big donation of drugs with an expiration date of next month. And they don't need anymore news reporters, cameramen, travel writers or anybody else going after the big story.
No more gawkers.
We need to let those on the scene do their work without clogging up their transportation and logistical systems. They will ask for help where and when it is needed.
It is human nature to show sympathy and want to help those in distress, I know. I want to help, too.
We just have to be patient if we really want to help. Wait.
There are always a small percentage of people who rub their hands together with glee when these tragedies happen. The scammers, we'll call them. Be aware before making any type of donation.
Know, for certain, that any contribution you make, material or money, is actually benefiting those in need.
It's nice to think that charities, churches, governments and individuals all pull together for the common good when Mother Nature does these things.
Is Mother Nature really a female or a dude in disguise ?
Here is something I dug up as a result of folks asking me where they can make donations.
I won't recommend any particular organization over another.
I just think you should be familiar with anyone you decide to send support to.
While you're waiting for the earthquakes and tsunamis to to fade into history, until natural disaster strikes again, there's something you could do for me.
The next time you visit a zoo ask them if they can figure out a way to make virtual critters for everybody to gawk at. Then, they could turn all the wildlife loose.
Wildlife, I bet, if you leave them in their natural environment (where they belong), they know more about earthquakes and tsunamis than those Seismology folks. Hah !
RELATED POST: EARTHQUAKE AND TSUNAMI FAR FROM OKINAWA, JAPAN
These signs may be seen in just about any store in Japan that has an escalator. Call this a drive by shooting. RyukyuMike has been banned from taking photos with a real camera in this store so, the only option I had the other day was do like everybody else; don't ask and just shoot with my cell phone camera.
The silly sign isn't at the bottom or the top of the escalator. That would have made it easy to snap a photo.
What I had to do was send the wife up ahead of me. Then, jump on the escalator , whip out my cell phone, crouch down and make sure it was in the Photo Mode, try not to loose my balance and get the cheap camera to focus on a moving target.
Well, the danged steps on that contraption move too fast for a gentleman of my age and the stupid camera wouldn't focus fast enough. So, it took me several attempts, going up and down the escalator.
The wife wouldn't go along with my plan after the first unsuccessful attempt. Women get embarrassed, I guess, when men do stupid things.
So, I told her to just keep all the salespeople busy so they wouldn't notice me riding up and down the escalator half a dozen times. She could cause a distraction on the second floor like, pretend she had a few thousand dollars to spend on underwear and jewelry. That'd cause a distraction. I've done it before.
After several attempts, these drive by shooting-looking photos for this week's Sunday Silly Sign are going to have to do the trick. I deleted 10 or so worse ones than these.
One time, I was squatting on the stairs, riding on the down side and figured the camera might focus and snap the photo quicker with the flash turned on. The silly sign was near the bottom third of the ride. I was concentrating on my shooting and not paying attention to how close it was to the first floor.
You know what happens when you get to the end of the ride and forget to step off ?
The thing throws you off and you land sprawled out on the floor.
People were looking at me like I was crazy. Hah !
In case you haven't figured the sign out, yet, it warns people not to hang over the handrails while riding the thing. That's so you don't bonk your head on something like the ceiling of the second floor.
Probably, after they saw what happened to me, they should make a sign warning people to be careful while using their cell phones on the escalators. The thing could throw you off going up or down, if you're not paying attention, I bet. Maybe, I'll just take the stairs next time.
Check here for updates on the 2011 JAPANESE EARTHQUAKE AND TSUNAMI
Visit my Homepage for THE PHOTO OF THE DAY
If you like flowers, you'll love what's going on up in the Village of Higashi-son in northern Okinawa, Japan.
How about 50,000 or more of these Azalea flowers covering the hillsides?
There's a footbridge named "Azalea Bridge" crossing between two hills covered with Azaleas.
A good pair of walking shoes and a jacket would be what to wear. It can get windy and a little chilly.
It was windy the day I took these photos and the petals of the flowers were getting blown off.
So, instead of shooting pretty flowers, I found this alien and got a girl to hold it still for me.
She signed a release form for me so I could publish the photo.
Then, I got her email address on the form so, I could send her the picture.
I sat at a table in her food tent and ordered some pizza. Then, along comes this woman who happens to be the pretty gal's mother.
She's wondering "What's that old foreigner doing" and "Why is my daughter giggling and looking at his camera"? I can read the frown on her face. The daughter says, "Look Mom. He took my picture".
Groan. Why didn't I just shoot the azaleas blowing in the wind and get the heck off the mountain ?
Think quick. Think Quick. Think quick. Think of something to make the older gal smile. Think! Quick!
So, I say "Huh, you don't look old enough to be her mother. You're her older sister, right?"
Well, that got her to crack a smile and she says she's the gal's mother.
While I'm still in Quick Thinking Mode, I look back and forth at both of them and say "Well, now I see where your daughter got those pretty eyes." Hah!
It worked like a charm but, just to be on the safe side, I ordered another pizza. Don't ask why.
Anyone planning to visit the Higashi-Son Azalea Festival needs to get up there soon. It ends on March 21, 2011.
Here's a photo of what Okinawa, Japan looked like after the last earthquake I reported on in February 2010 and this is pretty much what I expect it to look like tomorrow, except, it may not be so sunny.
There's a flood of emails coming in and I appreciate everyone's concern. This is the quickest way for me to reply. Please pass this on to anyone who may be worried.
Okinawa island is hours away, by plane, from where all the damage has been done.
If you hear anything about Taiwan getting hit, I'm closer to that island than I am to mainland Japan.
So far, the worst of the tsunami has passed. It was something like 20 centimeters (8 inches) from what I've gathered. Please don't worry about me. I can handle worse things than that. I'm a married man !
I have found that the GOOGLE CRISIS RESPONSE seems to be the best place to go for maps, locations and accurate updates.
The folks up in Sendai are the ones we all need to be concerned about and I hope everyone helps them make a speedy recovery.
You may also like: MY POST CONCERNING HOW YOU CAN HELP
Visit my Homepage for the PHOTO OF THE DAY
