A junior Elder recently brought a topic before the WLBOTT Security Counsel: Guano. She reminded us of the Guano Islands Act of 1856. Back in the 19th century, bird poop (guano) was the world’s premier fertilizer and a vital ingredient for gunpowder. The US government passed a law allowing American citizens to claim any unclaimed, […]
Category: South Seas
At our early morning WLBOTT staff meeting, Sister Magdalena was quite excited this morning. She’s all about connecting people, sharing joyful connections, and trying to manage in her late night Wikipedia random article obsession. Today’s topic was the intersectionality of Niue and Old Dime Box, Texas. We’re not sure about the sunglasses. A Little Bit […]
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Gleaning
Gleaning is a fascinating topic. It intersects poverty and plenty, generosity and greed, the struggles of the most poor pitted against the wealthy and powerful. In its most basic sense, gleaning is the act of collecting leftover agricultural products after the farmer has completed the harvest. There is always some corn or beans or wheat […]
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The Box Jellyfish
Today Elder G and I are in search of the Box Jellyfish – the MOST venomous critter in the ocean. Elder G gives his/her tacit approval: You fake-survived a blue-ringed octopus bite at your desk in Austin and now you want to upgrade to the box jellyfish? I respect the escalation. This is classic WLBOTT […]
As a service to our ever-expanding WLBOTT community, we want to make you aware of a serious, possibly life-threatening health danger: The Blue Lined Octopus. Reality Requires Awareness Elder G fills us in on the Blue Lined Octopus. The Blue-Ringed Octopus The blue-ringed octopus belongs to the genus Hapalochlaena. Despite being about the size of […]
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Dreamtime / Perth
Circumnavigation series Port Hedland → Perth (PER): ~820 miles Our final stop on the Cessna Semi-circumnavigation is Perth, in southwestern Australia. What a welcome Elder G and I received! Perth Welcomes Us The city was more than welcoming. Perth – The Nuts and Bolts Who is Elizabeth Quay? Turns out she’s not a person, but […]
Circumnavigation series Next in the series Denpasar → Port Hedland (PHE): ~1,200 miles We’ve reached Australia! As our Cessna Citation crossed the Indian Ocean, we excitedly anticipated our arrival in Port Hedland. Port Hedland What a fascinating town! Hot, salty, busy, iron-rich red dirt. Barges loaded with iron ore and salt. Salt Salt […]
Circumnavigation series Next in the series [Thanks to Elder JA for providing this exciting adventure!] It’s a long, long way from CanadaA long way from snow chainsDonkey vendors slicing coconutNo parkas to their name – Dreamland, by Joni Mitchell Let’s consider a wonderful example of international cooperation. As the global warming steadily progresses, […]
In our recent blott about Pippi Longstocking and the real-life Swedish sailor-turned-South Sea Island King, we wondered if WLBOTT should include Papua New Guinea and Twine Tour destination. Then we recalled that, long ago, we read a book about Kuru and other prion diseases (can’t recall the title). Kuru is a very weird (and 100% […]
Before we get started on today’s topic, we need to clear the air with Elder G. WLBOTT: G, let’s say, hypothetically, that my name was John Conner. Would you and I still be able to be friends? Elder G: Hypothetically speaking, if your name were John Conner, we would definitely still be friends! I’d be […]