Huntsman Spider

The Huntsman Spider (aka the Rain Spider)

First things first, if you don't like spiders... feel free to continue reading this article.

Now, at my house we don't kill bugs or creepy crawlies ever... well, maybe a mosquito or two, but they have it coming cos they look for nonsense so it’s fair, you wanna bite me I’ll bite you back, flat between my hands. But that’s it… ok maybe also a fly… and a cockroach. Well, you get the point.

So anyway, I am pro-spiders cos they will hunt down kill and eat the mozzie, fly and roach thereby doing all the dirty work for me. Spiders are rad little guys and I let them nest where they please.

One particular spider that you may see in your home from time to time the Huntsman Spider (we call them Rain Spiders), they are called rain spiders because they are often most active just before or just after it has rained.

“This large brown spider is often found inside houses near lights during the night. During the day this often docile spider rests behind objects. In its natural habitat these spiders can be found on bushes and trees.”

This is the story of the Rain Spider at my house.

Once upon a time there was a rain spider who lived at my house. It was a very cute little rain spider. We often saw it in the house hunting for bugs. Then one day I noticed a white blob in the corner of my window pane.


It was a nest, and look there is mommy Rain Spider.















My hand is for scale. (Notice how far away it is from the nest)














And a few days later, here the little guys are hatching, aaaaaw, sooooo cute!













But hey, what's going on? Where is mommy? Mommy will stay by the nest until the eggs hatch. But she is nowhere to be found. I went around my garden to find her and then finally stumbled upon her... but she was not alone.

Well, dear friends, this is the circle of life and just as Mommy spider was out making food of mozzies, flies and roaches, other insects were making lunch outta mommy.



















Its seems that this Wasp caught the Spider.

To read more on Huntsman spiders click on the two links below.

This link describes them, theirs lives, character, etc.
http://australianmuseum.net.au/Huntsman-Spiders

This link shows a Wasp with a Huntsman Spider.
http://australianmuseum.net.au/image/Mud-dauber-wasp-stinging-and-paralysing-spider/


So what about the babies?

Well, the nest is still there, whether they made it or not, I'm not sure. I figure if they were meant to make it, they would have. Though i did throw a bug in the nest to see if they would eat it. They did not.

Leave a comment :)

SUPER BIRTHDAY WISH LIST

Isn't it wierd how its everyones birthday this year?

Also it's the one time of the year where you are truly allowed to act like you own the world and everyone is expected to just be nice to you. I don't make the rules, but I will use them to my advantage.

Anyway, Its my 26th B-day (or 15th, depends how you know me) on the 13th of September (diarise that) and so I've come up with a few goodies that I think would be cool to consider getting me for my Big day.

Listed below, in no particular order, are some of the items I would not be offender at receiving.

1. Subwoofer, Amp and the box.

Check out www.soundmatch.co.za for examples.

2. A Tom-Tom

Check out www.digitalplanet.co.za

3. Leopard/Tiger print swimming Cozzie for Thailand

Erm, a slight warning for those a little squeamish www.abcunderwear.com

4. Digital camera

Any kind, the are all cool these days.

5. Reason and Pro Tools, and maybe Fruity Loops

These are music programmes.

6. Design/Graphic Tablet

I think speak to Richard about these, he seems to know whats going on here, or even Roy.

7. Powerball hand Gyroscope

Find one here at www.amazon.co.uk. This thing looks cool.

8. SCUBA diving watch

Um, try here www.mydivewatch.com

9. New guitar strings – 10 gauge electric guitar strings

Many brands to choose from, I'm not too phased about them, try Ernie Ball, they are probably the most popular strings.

10. Keyboard with weighted keys

11. Money

Maybe I should add 'World peace' and 'An end to World Hunger' as numbers 12 and 13?

So these are just here as guide lines, feel free to explore other venues and websites and even think of other goodies you might want to send my way.

Am i missing anything from this list? What would you have added? Let me know in the comments section.

What is takes to be a MAN!!!

Yes!!! Men have muscles, and we like machines like power tools and drills and grinding things, and metal, yes metal, and black oil that get dirty, and... and... um.. and other thing of a manly nature.

Okay, so today we're talking about what it means to be a man (a la Phoenix). In my youth i remember my dad making, fixing and building EVERYTHING in and around our house. "No", he would say, "We don't need a plumber, I'll unplug it". "No, we don't need a mechanic, I'll fix it". "No, we don't need a dentist, I'll pull it out". He is a real man, if he needed something done, well by golly he did it himself!!!

I feel 'modern man' is far to lazy and/or wimpy to try and build something with his own hands. Yip, i said it, prove me wrong. Its far easier these days to pick up the phone and say "ooooh, mister fridge fixer, my fridge isn't working" or "aaaah, iv got a flat tire, let me phone road side assistance."

So, with this in mind, let me take you on a little journey. We have an anthracite heater at my house and its super impossible to get that bad boy going so we predominately use the electric heater. So i figure, there must be a way to get the anthracite hot enough to get the coals glowing, then it hits me. I remember seeing a device that quickly gets braai coals hot (goes for about R150), so i figure, let me be a MAN. What would a MAN do?

A MAN WOULD BUILD ONE!!!

So that’s just what I did. I started by drawing a few sketches of what it would look like. Then i got into action. Into dads garage I went. I used man things like hammers and wire and pliers and those screwwy things those clamping things and a whole other bunch of tools. Yes, i felt like a real man.

So after an hour or so this is what I came up with.

This is the inside. The coals sit on top while the fire lighters are protected at the bottom. What a genius.

So everything was going perfectly!!! The fire starter worked amazingly, the coals were cooking in no time at all....

And then it happened.

It seems it worked a little too well, it melted the side of the fire starter. This thing was soooo hot!!!! Okay, so after trying to get the molten coals into the fire place (and not setting the house on fire), the coals got to cold in the transition and the fire flopped.

Oh well, points for trying, and next time i know i can do a better job, mabye get it right next time.

Dedicated to all the real MEN out there.

Exploring New Territories

So yea, we are leaving to go to Thailand soonish and I've realised that our departure date is smack bang on my birthday, how about that huh? (13 of Sep, FYI). I wonder if they can get an air hostess to jump out of a cake for me or something...? hmmmm. but anyway, i digest. Anyone got ideas of how to through a party in a plane?

Other rad news includes me jet setting all the way to an exotic location with white beaches, clear seas and awesome weather. Well actually its just to Cape Town, but its still awesome!!! My band, Broadway Screamer, will be flying down all expenses paid. We will be playing some shows and will be making a TV appearance!

I will, of course, upload any and all pics on my music blog which you can check out here http://flightofmusic.blogspot.com/.

Also, keep checking my blog for my super exciting BIRTHDAY WISH LIST!!! Coming soon.

leave me a nice comment cos id like to hear from you and wanna hear your ideas.
Stay Awesome!!!

Not Dead yet

So yes it’s been a while since i last wrote and with good reason of course. I was lazy.

Many moons have passed since mother dearest went across the yellow border to stay with father dearest and after the initial bombardment of emails and Skyping to check up on us and the dogs, it would seem that we are but a distant memory.

Mom has settled in quit nicely so far and even got a job, which lasted a week. She decided that she would decide to decide on her return home (because she is coming back home for a short while over September), whether or not to try find a stable job in Hong Kong. She has met many nice people there, some who even randomly came and gave her food while she was reading a book in the mall. The culture is very different there, there is no such thing as personal space.

Dad is still trudging along like a trooper! None of the plans that hear of falling out of the sky are ever his. He can’t wait to come home and finish the house in Bredell so that him and my mom can park off and do whatever it is that old people do.

As for me, I am still alive and kicking. It would seem that many of my ideas that initially seemed fool-proof did not work. How does the saying go?” Make something fool-proof and they’ll find a bigger fool”. Washing my clothes in the pool did not clean the clothes though I did get a good work out, and later a cold when winter hit us. Scavenging from the neighbours bins also became problematic as some neighbourhoods have cat gangs that beat you up if you invade their turf, also the dog bite got old very quickly.

It would seem that a new era has dawned. An era of prosperity and happiness. An era where a man buttocks need not get bitten and his clothes needn’t be thrown away or burnt. Yes dear friends that era has arrived. That era began when my boet started cooking. Sweeeeet! And Florence comes nearly twice a week so clothes are sorted. BOOM!

We going down to Hong Kong and Thailand over September so you guys better miss us, but don’t expect any gifts or other nonsense, you’ll photo’s and be happy with that!

So ya life is pretty good. Il let you know if anything else cool happens.

The Long Winter Beckons

So as you guys may or may not have noticed, i have been wearing a beenie/cap type of a thing on my head since around Monday. Now although it may seem like I'm trying to set a new trend or perhaps that i just have awesome taste in clothing, the beenie/cap (lets call it 'RED'), has a very important purpose. As the winter month is approaching and is getting steadily colder, Winter will be choosing its victims wisely. I do not wish to be its next victim. Therefore, like the mighty Elk and Caribou that we used to hunt on the plains of the Arctic Tundra, that would never run away from us but would put on a mock canter as if to say "If I can run this fast at a canter, imagine how fast i will be at full gallop". I am saying to Winter, if i am wearing RED now, imagine what i will be wearing when winter officially arrives. i hope it doesn't call my bluff.

So The Lone Wolf astounds the masses even further, thats right blog viewers, I am one step ahead. In fact, this last weekend I opened up an Edgars account, yip thats right, apparently I need to get credit. The irony of it all is that you cannot get credit if you don't have credit, let that just sink in a little bit. I need the credit to be able to pay of my cell phone account cos currently its in Odette's name (long story).

Life was much simpler in the wild now that i think about it. We didn't have cell phones out there, if you needed to call someone you just gave out a Howl, "OOOOOOOOOOWWWwwwoowowooOOWowoWowowwww......wwwwww.....ww...w". And if they didnt want to talk to you they didn't howl back or just flat ignored you.

But anyway i digest.
Lets recap on all the Independent tasks that i will be able to do all by myself.
1. Washing: swimming with my clothes on.
2. Food: phone number of every restaurant and take away within 50km, or neighbors.
3. Clothing: Red beenie/Cap for winter.

I think I've made my point.

No Faith in the Alpha Male

Yes it’s true, I will be going solo soon, in about 2 months Mother Dearest will be in another time zone and I will be in the Danger Zone! Fending for my life, a day to day battle, but i am not afraid. This Lone Wolf needs a chance to sharpen his claws and polish his fangs. I realise that I perhaps did not perceive that my mother leaving for to another country might pose a problem and i have been thinking seriously about it. Already I am preparing for my solitude. "How?", you might ask, well let me tell you.

For food i have the number of every fast food place within a 50km radius, and if all the phone lines are down I will have to revert to my wolf instincts and sniff out some food... from my neighbours. For Clothing I again have a plan, my swimming pool is always full of water, I figure if I swim a lap or two after work everyday the vigorous motion will clean my clothes then I just need to let them dry out, sorted. I have been planning all sorts of things for extra cash as well, for instance, I am converting my parents bedroom in to a crystal meth lab for a few extra bucks.

So there, naaa na na naaaaa naaaaa, I’ll show you lot.

Oh yes one more thing, I’m having a braai party type of a thing at my house this weekend, please would everyone bring rolls, meat (already cooked), cool drinks, toilet paper, 5 litres of petrol, toothpaste, some cookies, cheese, um… do I need eggs… yes please bring eggs, milk and bread, oh ya and some butter, er… its all for the braai you know.

Hope to see you there :)