M.I.A. – Monkey In Action

Posted August 9, 2007 by mondaymorningmutiny
Categories: Nothing in particular, Photos

Never let a monkey do a man’s job..
Seriously, monkey’s are not renowned for their punctual preparation of of reports, or punctual anything for that matter.

When was the last time you saw a monkey wearing a watch?
(Although an internet search could almost certainly change that)

For the first part of my travels, he was a travelling companion – a daring escape from his institutionalised office life, inspired by a longing for his homeland, at exactly the same time I departed, brought us together for a few brief but enjoyable months.

Once institutionalised, it can be hard to break free and the familiar and secure confines of an office desk drawer proved to be an irresistible draw and the easier option for Monkey Mansergh, once his curiosity had been sated.

He is now presumably well settled, back working the 9 – 5. Although his office duties are minimal, he has still not found the time to send me the account of his adventure for publishing here.

Perhaps he needs more typewriters?

I have heard that for good quality writing, monkeys need many, many typewriters. One million is the figure I have been quoted.

Or was that a million monkeys? Maybe both?
I’m not sure..

In any case, in the absence of an accompanying report, here are the photos of Monkey Mansergh, Missing in Action:

Monkey does some research and looks longingly at what might be:

Monkey does some reaserch and looks longingly at what might be

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Whole world of updates..

Posted August 9, 2007 by mondaymorningmutiny
Categories: Nothing in particular

Once again, it has been a while since this site has been updated.

However,  one upside of having to reorganise some flight arrangements due to a cock up by the airlines is that I have had time to update photos and also spend the day today writing feverishly to get my blog up to date..

 6 new photos galleries are about to appear, along with 6 posts!

Looking at the stats for this page, I noticed that yesterday somebody stumbled upon here by searching for pictures of armadillo penises! Did it disappoint?! Let me know..

Starting the journey north (and more misadventures in Rio).

Posted July 7, 2007 by mondaymorningmutiny
Categories: Brazil, Photos

I left Sao Paulo and another enjoyable time with my Brazilian friends in Limeira followed, spent socialising and route planning.
Themed parties are popular here and another coincided with my visit. This time the theme was `Hillbillies´ or whatever the Brazilian equivalent is: think straw hats, chequered flannel shirts, blacked out teeth, straw in mouth, pigtails for the ladies and braces.

A novel feature was a jail in which a hillbilly reveller could be incarcerated by another for 15 minutes for a small fee. For the same small fee, the prisoner could buy their release, without knowing who was responsible. This information cost a little more.

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Leaving Argentina, back on the road and back in Brazil

Posted July 5, 2007 by mondaymorningmutiny
Categories: Argentina, Brazil, Link

It took longer than expected to settle back into the travelling lifestyle (move to a new place, find a place to stay, explore, meet people, pack, rinse and repeat) after my immensely enjoyable extended stay in Buenos Aires.

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It´s about time too.

Posted July 3, 2007 by mondaymorningmutiny
Categories: Argentina, Brazil, Photos

It´s been quite a while since anything new has appeared here.

There is a lot to write about, several thousand kilometers worth. The wall of writer´s block has been smashed to pieces by a sledgehammer of inspiration and the great, empty chasm of blog between Buenos Aires and my current location of Salvador in the north east of Brazil will soon be plugged by a bridge of words, linking the two together. All these stupid analogies add up to mean that there will be more coming soon.

In the meantime, here is a new photo gallery of random pictures taken in Buenos Aires:

New Buenos Aires photo gallery here!

A couple of samples at the bottom of the post.

Lots of new photos to come – the problem is finding a net cafe with decent computers or connection to upload them all, ideally in less time than the opening hours of the cafe!

This picture is presented in response to the comment that I was taking too many pictures of dogs:

meow 

This one I just thought was cool, it looks like it could be an album cover:

PUNK NOT DEAD

Buenos Aires After Dark

Posted June 5, 2007 by mondaymorningmutiny
Categories: Argentina, Monday morning, Photos

Another photo gallery of late night strolls; Sunday night rolling into Monday morning:

Buenos Aires After Dark Photos Gallery

La Luna

I clearly have too much hands on my time:

Too much hands on my time

Fish have feelings too..

Posted June 5, 2007 by mondaymorningmutiny
Categories: Argentina, Monday morning, Photos

Many people assume that fish don´t have feelings.

Try telling that to this poor fish who was so sad when we left that it started to cry. Taken at the Japanese Gardens in Palermo, Buenos Aires:

Sad Fish

Other photos of the Zen and flow (but mostly of other Koi) on this overcast day just before sunset can be found here:

Japanese Garden Photos

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The internet is great, as are armadillos.

Posted May 28, 2007 by mondaymorningmutiny
Categories: Monday morning, Nothing in particular

On May 21st, 2007 at 15:46, an informative Adam, Turnpike, wrote in response to the post, Camo´d Amarillo Armadillo Caught on Camera!

Are you sure that he is not Michelle? Either that or Mike is being rather shy. Alternatively he’s had a very nasty accident -)

Apparently the penis of the South American nine banded armadillo is supposed to be very conspicuous and stretches to two thirds of its body length in order to “insinuate it under the female’s shell”. I refer you to the paper “Axial Orthogonal Fiber Reinforcement in the Penis of the Nine-Banded Armadillo”.

The paper exists!

I had assumed it was a joke, like the flying fish story.. However, it appears that the male South American nine banded armadillo really is particularly well suited to the associated “mechanical regime” as it is phrased (clearly wasting no time on romantic language there).

The internet is great!

The paper is HERE.

Monday Morning Mosey!

Posted May 28, 2007 by mondaymorningmutiny
Categories: Argentina, Monday morning

Technically more pace than a mosey, I suppose. It was cold out.

Just arrived back from a brisk 36 block walk on this crisp sunny Monday morning here in Buenos Aires. The temperature is currently somewhere between -3 and 16°C, according to the folks at BBC weather – nearer the low end at the moment but gaining momentum as the day goes on.

On an almost unrelated note, Monday Morning Monkey is coming soon!

(David, if you are reading this – you will be pleased to hear that you will soon be reunited with your long lost friend. I´m sure you both have much to talk about ; )

But right now, it´s time for bed..

La Recoleta Cemetery – final resting place of the Buenos Aires elite

Posted May 22, 2007 by mondaymorningmutiny
Categories: Argentina, Photos

The sky was clear, the air crisp and still.
Conditions were good.

Armed with a new camera and freshly charged batteries, I set off to La Recoleta Cemetery yesterday afternoon to test it out.

Many influential, wealthy and important Argentinians are buried here – mostly presidents, military figures, scientists and opulent families – several names seemed familiar, later recognised as street names from the city and across the country.

The cemetery is best known to the outside world for being home to Eva Perón´s tomb and for it´s overtly lavish and diverse architectural styles – from walking through the Greek column fronted, neo classical gates – to the narrow streets filled with heavily adorned art nouveau, art deco and modernist mausoleums, all lined in terraces.

There was also an unusually large number of cats here.
They nonchalantly strolled about the place – sometimes playing and prowling amongst the graves, and often (as cats do best), sleeping lazily in the sun.
The cats, along with the tens of thousands buried here over several city blocks in area, are the residents here.

I had a limited number of photos at my disposal due to an almost full memory card, so had to be selective with the shots (otherwise there would be more cat photos).

If anybody has any tips about cameras or photography in general and is itching to tell someone else, get in touch..

Click here for La Recoleta Cemetery photo gallery or see below for a few images.

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