Month: April 2014

April 29, 2014

Solbit Sees Thunder Spirits

*New reader? Get oriented below.

Dear Nicalai,

I have to tell you about our wonderful day with Jamie, Wuna, and Reina, friends of Nona and Papa.  They took us to the Art Gallery of New South Wales in downtown Sydney. I actually had a great time at the museum.  No kidding.

Jamie is the dad.  Wuna is the mom, and Reina, 11 years old, is their daughter, and they all like art.  Me, too!  I really liked being with them, especially Reina.  She’s smart and already knows a lot about art.  She couldn’t wait to get to the art gallery.  She showed us the Asian Art first, but we saw other art too.  That’s when I saw “The Thunder Spirits.”  That’s the name of an aboriginal painting that I especially liked.

DSC04092

The Thunder Spirits (Birimbira) by Munggurrawuy Yunupingu

After walking through several rooms in the gallery, Papa and Wuna took a rest.  You can do that in a museum.  Nona calls it “pacing yourself.”  You just rest when you need to and then move on.

DSC04106jvwuna

Papa & Wuna taking a rest at the Art Gallery of New South Wales

We all said, “Wow!” when we turned a corner and saw this impressionist painting of a woman named Margaret.  See how the artist left out a lot of details and just used big bold paint strokes, but my eyes somehow fill in the details anyway.  Amazing!

IMG_0592

Margaret Olley by Ben Quilty

Nona had to have a photo of that one, and, first, she asked the museum guard if it was ok to take a photo.  She said, “OK, just no flash, please.”

Hey, I know you like art, so let me know if you liked any of these pictures of art.

 I’m your friend.

Love,

Solbit

April 2014

  • You may be asking yourself, “Who is Solbit?” Solbit is a fictional character, but she is a real plastic dinosaur, sent to us unsolicited in a package we ordered from Photojojo. So, she’s a plastic jurassic. Solbit is short for the four names given her by our grandchildren: Sparkle, Orangie, Lulu, Breakit. We tend to use her given names for when she’s been naughty. Thank you for visiting Tales of a Plastic Jurassic. Solbit likes company and hopes you’ll come back.
  • You can learn more about Solbit at her About page and in the earlier posts, “Solbit: How I Got My Name” and “Solbit: How I Got to Travel.”

 

April 26, 2014

Solbit Sees a Strange Seashell in Sydney

*New reader? Get oriented below.

Dear Nicalai,

Hi.  We’re still in Sydney.  We had been wondering all around the MCA (Museum of Contemporary Art), when my traveling companions — Nona and Papa — and I decided to go to the café there and dine on the outdoor terrace.  (Well, you know what I mean.  They were eating lunch, and I was with them.  A Plastic Jurassic doesn’t need lunch, but she does need the company that comes with lunch. I love company, don’t you?)  Ooops. I’m rambling away from my topic, the strange building.

Nona & Papa stopped eating and said, “Hey, Solbit, let’s put you on one of these tall tables so you can see the view.”   Imagine my surprise when I took in this view:

 

DSC04302SsOpHse

 

“Hey, what’s that I asked?”  Nona answered, “Solbit, that’s the Sydney Opera House.”  I looked again and said, “No way, Momma! That’s no house.  That’s some gigantic colony of mollusks, a pile of seashells.  I know my mollusks, but I haven’t seen one that shape or that large. What is it really?”

Papa answered me, “No really, Solbit, Nona’s right.  It is not a giant mollusk colony, not a pile of seashells.  It really is a house, a big house, where people in Sydney go to the opera, to musicals, and to plays.”

As we spoke, my eyes focused better, and I could see that, indeed, that strange thing was a building and not an animal.” Here’s another picture.

 

DSC04304SOpHse

 

Nicalai, you’ve got to get your parents to bring you here to Sydney to see this opera house.  Amazing!

Sorry,  I’ve gotta go.  Nona and Papa are taking me to a place called Botany Bay. Of course, they’re walking all the way, so we have to go now.  I’m your friend.

Love,

Solbit

April 2014

  • You may be asking yourself, “Who is Solbit?” Solbit is a fictional character, but she is a real plastic dinosaur, sent to us unsolicited in a package we ordered from Photojojo. So, she’s a plastic jurassic. Solbit is short for the four names given her by our grandchildren: Sparkle, Orangie, Lulu, Breakit. We tend to use her given names for when she’s been naughty. Thank you for visiting Tales of a Plastic Jurassic. Solbit likes company and hopes you’ll come back.
  • You can learn more about Solbit at her About page and in the earlier posts, “Solbit: How I Got My Name” and “Solbit: How I Got to Travel.”

 

April 21, 2014

Solbit Sees Strange Wildlife in Australia

*New reader? Get oriented below.

Dear Nicalai,

What are the two animals that cannot walk backward? I’ll give  you a hint:  both are in Australia, where we are now!  Give up?  Read on and I’ll give you the answer later.

Nona and Papa spoke in hushed whispers.  I thought, “What’s this about?”  Don’t you always wonder what your mom and dad are up to when you catch them whispering?  Right.  I knew something was up, and they didn’t want me to know.

I yelled from my zippered purse pocket, “Hey, I hear you whispering.  Get me out of here, and tell me what’s the secret.”

Nona pulled me out of her purse.  Papa said, “OK, Solbit, you caught us.”  I said, “Ah, ha!”  Nona replied, “Yes, Solbit, we were only trying not to wake you while we planned a trip with our friends, Gretchen and Phil, to see some strange animals. We didn’t want you to worry that these strange animals might eat you.”

“Yikes! Eat me! No way I’m going with you to see strange animals that might eat me,” I told them.  Then Nona and Papa laughed. “We’re just kidding, but we do have a trip planned for you.  We wanted to surprise you though, but you’ve caught us.”  “Hey, what are we going to see?” I asked.

Of course they told me, but I’m just going to show you what we saw at East Coast Natureworld with our friends on the island of Tasmania.  Are you ready to see some unusual animals?  Here goes!  First I’m going to show you an Emu.

DSC03730 emu

How about that!  An Emu is a flightless, big bird.  Now I’m going to show you this Emu’s friend; it followed this Emu everywhere.  Here’s a wombat.

DSC03729 Emu&Wombat

This wombat was friendly and asked Papa to please scratch his nose, and Papa did.

DSC03735 PetWombat

Well, we were in Tasmania, and, when in Tasmania, you must see a Tasmanian devil.

East Coast Natureworld East Coast Natureworld - Tasmanian devil

We saw this one having lunch on a piece of wallaby.  What’s a wallaby?  It looks like a small kangaroo. Here’s a picture of one.

DSC03654 wallaby

OK?  It’s sad that they eat wallabies, but we can’t pretend it doesn’t happen.  Oh, here’s the answer to the question, “What two animals cannot walk backward?”  Emu and Kangaroo.  That’s why they’re on the Coat of Arms of Australia, because they can only go forward!

Now, when we left Tasmania last week, I figured we’d seen it all, when it comes to strange animals, but, no, I have one more strange animal to tell you about.  Our AirBnB host, Scott, took us for a walk in the bush (Australian for woods or forest) this afternoon.  Here I am entering the bush.

DSC04237 SonSign

Nona, Papa, and I thought we were just going for a regular walk.  We got deeper into the bush near Wolli Creek.  That’s when Nona said, “I think I hear a lot of birds.  No, not birds, must be a bunch of frogs.”  Just then Scott brought us around a corner, and we had a clear look at the gum trees.  A bunch of stuff hung from the branches, and that stuff was making the noises.  I asked Scott, “Hey, what are all those black and red bags hanging from the trees?”

DSC04223 TreeBags

He smiled and said, “Surprise! These are Gray Headed Flying Foxes the largest bats in Australia; you might call them fruit bats.  In fact, they look a bit like Batman, don’t you think?”

Wolli Creek - Grey-headed flying fox colony

Actually, I do. Real cute.

Wolli Creek - Grey-headed flying fox colony

When we got home, Nona googled these bats or flying foxes that live here in Sydney.  A website said that in 2012 a count of the bats was done, and they numbered more than 20,000 here.  Wow! These bats are big! They like to eat flowers and nectar, so I’m safe here. As they say in Australia, “No worries.”  See ya, mates.

I’m your friend.

Love,

Solbit

April 2014

  • You may be asking yourself, “Who is Solbit?” Solbit is a fictional character, but she is a real plastic dinosaur, sent to us unsolicited in a package we ordered from Photojojo. So, she’s a plastic jurassic. Solbit is short for the four names given her by our grandchildren: Sparkle, Orangie, Lulu, Breakit. We tend to use her given names for when she’s been naughty. Thank you for visiting Tales of a Plastic Jurassic. Solbit likes company and hopes you’ll come back.

 

  • You can learn more about Solbit at her About page and in the earlier posts, “Solbit: How I Got My Name” and “Solbit: How I Got to Travel.”
April 5, 2014

Solbit Finds Her Real Tasmanian Cousin

*New reader? Get oriented below.

 

Dear Nicalai,

Would you believe that I had to travel all the way from Portland, Oregon, in the U.S.A. to Sandy Bay in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia to find my long lost cousin?  I wouldn’t have believed it, either.  Hit me over the head, knock me down with a feather, sweep me out of the house with a broom, shut the door, I found my cousin here!

Our day started out well.  Our AirBnB host in Sandy Bay, Judith, greeted us at her door and took us to our lovely rented cottage in her backyard.  She had a surprise for me.  Yes, me! Here’s what she had waiting for me in the cottage:

DSC03582

Can you believe it.  Glittering Blue Bird will keep me company our whole stay here!  I had been in Tasmania only an hour, and I loved it already!

Then Nona and Papa took me out to the bookstores.  Well, you heard that story.  My good day took a turn for the worse, but, as I told you, I’m still alive!  Can you believe they let T. Rexes into bookstores these days? What’s the world coming to anyway?

Having survived my close call at Rapid Eye Bookstore, Nona and Papa said, “Solbit, we’re sorry you had such a fright.  We promise to take you to a nice place where you’ll be comfortable.” So they walked me to The Maker at the Salamanca Arts Centre.  The Maker is a really cool shop with nicely designed —artsy — things to buy.

Nona bought a little something, and, when she paid the pretty lady, Nona took me out of her purse.  Immediately the lady took in a deep breath and exclaimed, “Wait a minute, is that a Plastic Jurassic?”  Nona said, “Yes, she’s our traveling companion, Solbit.”  The nice lady said, “Don’t move.  Wait here. I have to get someone to meet you.”

So, of course, we waited.  Nona and Papa are old and retired.  I’m a plastic dinosaur. Where did we have to go in a hurry, right?  We had plenty of time to wait.

Soon, the lady returned with a plastic bag.  She read the label on the bag. It said, “Terrarium Kit.”  Inside were different types of little plants and another surprise for me.  My cousin! Yeah, her name is Citron, and she’s yellow like a lemon.  Here’s how we found her.

DSC03575 cousin

Citron took one look at me through that clear plastic and yelled, “Hey, GET ME OUTTA HERE!”  I think I had said something like that only minutes ago in the Rapid Eye Bookstore.

As soon as Citron was out, we had a wonderful reunion. We hadn’t seen each other since we’d been “minted” at the factory. I said, “Citron, you are soooo lucky to live in a beautiful shop like this one with all the cool artsy things surrounding you.”  She said, “Solbit, I have to warn you about something.  Whatever you do, don’t go to a bookstore, because there are T. Rexes there.’”  I said, “Don’t I know that, sister.  Wait ’til you hear what happened to me.”

We had a wonderful time chatting, but then it was time for us to go.  As we left, Citron said, “Please, Solbit, get someone to come to The Maker and buy me.  I want someone to get this terrarium started so I can live in a garden.”  I said, “Hey, we’d buy the kit, but we’re traveling and a terrarium just won’t work in a piece of roll-on luggage, but, guess what, my uncle and aunt from Washington, DC will be here next year this time.  I’ll tell them to buy you and take you home.  They are terrific gardeners and, girl, do they know how to cook!”

Well, a lot happened to me on my first day in Tasmania.  I hope you had a good day where you are.  Remember, I’m your friend.

Love,

 

Solbit

 

March 2014

 

 

*You may be asking yourself, “Who is Solbit?” Solbit is a fictional character, but she is a real plastic dinosaur, sent to us unsolicited in a package we ordered from Photojojo. So, she’s a plastic jurassic. Solbit is short for the four names given her by our grandchildren: Sparkle, Orangie, Lulu, Breakit. We tend to use her given names for when she’s been naughty. Thank you for visiting Tales of a Plastic Jurassic. Solbit likes company and hopes you’ll come back.

 

*You can learn more about Solbit at her About page and in the earlier posts, “Solbit: How I Got My Name” and “Solbit: How I Got to Travel.”

April 1, 2014

Solbit Escapes Danger in a Bookstore

*New reader? Get oriented below.

 

Dear Nicalai,

I escaped, and I’m alive! So you don’t have to worry, now, but, oh girl, I had a scary day.  Fortunately, it turned out well.

We had just arrived in Sandy Bay on the island of Tasmania in Australia.  The sky was blue.  The sun was out. Our taxi driver had been telling us about the celebrity signatures written in permanent marker on the seats of his taxi. Everything was going well.

As soon as we unpacked, Papa said, “Let’s explore Sandy Bay!” Nona agreed, “Great idea.  They have several bookstores for us to visit!”  I said, “Oh, no, not another bookstore.  Papa, you said bookstores can be dangerous things.  I’m not up for danger today.”  Papa explained, “Solbit, bookstores can be dangerous for ignorance, bigotry, and intolerance but not for people … or for a Plastic Jurassic. You’ll be fine.”

Oh, boy, does Sandy Bay have a bunch of used bookstores.  I even liked Kookaburra Books, with all its curios and antiques. However, while Nona and Papa were ooh’ing and aah’ing over used books in Rapid Eye Books, my eyes wandered around the store.  I was bored.  Then I saw them way up on a top shelf.  Holy Mackerel! I thought those were my cousins!  I yelled, “Papa, put me up there, please, and I pointed to my cousins.”  Papa, said, “Solbit, are you sure?”  “Yes,” I urged him, “please put me up there. I want to meet my Tasmanian cousins!”

Solbit asked Papa to put her on the shelf

Solbit asked Papa to put her on the shelf

There I was, right at their feet.  They were big and tall, but I could smell their breaths.  Immediately, I knew.  Meat-eaters!  Yikes! They weren’t my cousins.  They were Tyrannosaurus Rex.  I’m what they have for lunch! Fortunately, they hadn’t seen me yet.  So, I whispered to Papa, “Pssst. Papa. Get me down.”  He didn’t hear me and kept looking at a book, “Flora and Fauna of Tasmania.” He’s clueless!

Bad news. Not cousins of Solbit

Bad news. Not cousins of Solbit

 

Now, I’m shivering scared, and I think maybe the two Rexes are becoming aware that I’m only a nibble away. So, I risk being a little louder, “HEY, PAPA, GET ME OUTTA HERE NOW!!!!” I so startled Papa, that he grabbed me off the shelf and scolded me, “Solbit, shush, you can’t yell like that it a bookstore.” Whew! I was saved.

Nona came over and asked, “Hey you two, what’s all the fuss about?”  Papa told her, “Solbit’s misbehaving.  She was screaming at the top of her lungs.”  Nona gave me her you’ve-been-a-bad-girl-stare and asked me, “Solbit, what’s your story?”  I answered her, “Nona, Papa, you have no idea how dangerous a bookstore can be. Let’s make a rapid exit from Rapid Eye Books, please.”

We left and went rambling, and I’ve got to tell you about that next time. Time to go now.  I’m your friend.

Love,

Solbit

 

March 2014

*You may be asking yourself, “Who is Solbit?” Solbit is a fictional character, but she is a real plastic dinosaur, sent to us unsolicited in a package we ordered from Photojojo. So, she’s a plastic jurassic. Solbit is short for the four names given her by our grandchildren: Sparkle, Orangie, Lulu, Breakit. We tend to use her given names for when she’s been naughty. Thank you for visiting Tales of a Plastic Jurassic. Solbit likes company and hopes you’ll come back.

 

*You can learn more about Solbit at her About page and in the earlier posts, “Solbit: How I Got My Name” and “Solbit: How I Got to Travel.”