Thursday, April 30, 2009

Sci-bono!

So, for some time, Athena, Duncan and I have been trying to organise between the three of us to go on a photographic expedition. After a half-baked attempt (my sisters fault...), we finally organised between ourselves and went on one on Freedom day (public holidays are more conducive to expeditions...you find you have the time...). So we went to Newtown, and discovered the 'Sci-bono', only the most amazingly fun museum in all of Johannesburg! It's a science museum that comprises loads of fun experimental exhibits for kids to engage with. It's SO much fun! Check out our pics!

Outside the Sci-bono! The unassuming building that houses hours of fun!

Expressionism has never been this easy!

Part Luke, part Duncan...Oh the horror!


It's her only chance to be tall. In her words, 'I look like a model!' Well, sorta... ;)

I have clones! Thousands of them!

This puzzle took us, three adults, about half an hour to finish! Does it reflect on us, or the difficulty of the puzzle?

Entrance to the banking quarter...apparently it's illegal to take photos there, but nobody told us that...

Apparently this was used as a promo thing for the upcoming 2010 world cup...or something...

Sk8r boi! Not... There were skaters all over outside the public library. They warranted a photo.

The Johannesburg Library. I didn't actually know it existed until that day...I kinda figured we had one, somewhere, but I had yet to see the thing.

Oggling the city from the 50th floor of the Carlton Centre. It really is amazing!

The view to the east. My house is out there somewhere...

It's amazing, but evident, that Johannesburg is the worlds largest man-made forest.

Sunset over Jozi (Johannesburg's nickname for all you non-South Africans).

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Chirrup-chirrup

Working in the biology building, one tends to become accustomed to certain things, and indeed, find things that many would be surprised or horrified by, merely notable. As a good example, today Helen told me about how her and Ingrid were walking down the corridor and saw a guinea-pig-sized rat (or so they claim) scuttle into the girls bathroom. Now, for many, this would result in untold intestinal horrors and a great deal of constipation for fear of running into the bathrooms new resident. But not here! The woman of our building will continue to frequent the facilities, unfazed.

Another resident of our building (possibly only our corridor) is a black house-cricket. He's been here for some time and everyone has seen him wandering up and down the hall. We don't pay him much mind nor do we particularly hold him in poor regard. He's just our cricket.

He has frequently come to hang out in our lab, as we often leave the door wide open. He simply saunters in and usually gets met by one of us with a broom, gently showing him the way out. He only once managed to get in and hide behind the fridge, but it was a short-lived stay. I'm not sure why, but he figured the real estate we had on offer was not to his liking.

We hadn't heard or seen him in a very long time and I assumed he had come to the end of his rope and kicked the bucket, until today. I was walking off to the main office to collect some test papers that need marking and as I passed my supervisors office, I heard him. Our little cricket had set up shop in his office and was chirruping like there was no tomorrow! He was really belting forth! It was so funny!

Chuckling to myself, I headed off to the office and collected the papers. On my return, I passed his office again and discovered that someone had come to see him. The really funny part was that I couldn't hear either people over the cricket! He was really going nuts in there! I have yet to find out what my supervisor thinks of his new bunk-mate, but I get the feeling that the halls will smell of insecticide in the near future...