Fursday Thursday - Who says I need a kindle?

This may have been made as art-car but I really think, that for our next rally (at least) we must have a car that is a tank, made of books. This is not as ridiculuos as it sounds because:
a) we'd have so much reading material we wouldn't need a kindle
b) it's a good talking point, we'd never be lost for a conversation
c) no one messes with a tank, except maybe rebels, this may be a flaw in an otherwise wickedly good plan. Maybe if we flew a white flag? Or play classical music as we went?
I love Connie, and she is going to be the best wheels in the world for the Put Foot but I can't help thinking that a rally in a tank made of books is just something one must do...

What's even cooler about this original book tank is that it's designed Argentinian art-car maker Raul Lemesoff and he drives around Argentina giving books for free to anyone that asks for them. People stopped by him on the road can just pull out books as they chose. His aim “to contribute to peace and understanding of people [through literacy]” - how cool is that!
For more on him and this go to the MAKE magazine website from whence this info comes.

The true size of Africa

Click on the piccie for a closer look..

True Size of Africa - Kai Krause

Mammal Monday - Fun Anyone?

Passed on to me by Gen on a glum Monday I couldn't resist sharing this little gem of a video. Oh to have this much fun and not fear sand in your orifices. If only we could all be elephant calves...

A quick exploration of wiki has taught me rather a lot about the awesomeness that is this week's featured mammal the elephant. Apparently, they are the only other species on the planet other than Homo sapiens and Neanderthals that have a death ritual and will bury their dead in shallow graves and with leaves. Even guarding the bodies for a day or two afterwards. There also seem to be all sorts of documented cases of elephants staying beside dying family members and trying to keep them alive, while babies appear to "weep" over dead mothers.

Another interesting thing is that elephants must learn behavior as they grow up, rather than it all being instinct. It seems that a way of measuring how much a creature will have to learn as it grows up is by measuring brain size at birth to adult brain size. The majority of mammals are born with brains 90% the size they will be as adults. Human babies on the other hand have brains 28% the size of an adults and elephants come in second at 35%, so elephants have the highest amount of learning to do as they grow, after humans. Isn't that crazy!

Hopefully, if I am wrong cousin Diane who works with elephants will correct me here (nicely of course). And you can learn more about elephant cognition here. After the rally I really am going to make good on the long-promised blog, "shit I googled today" but maybe it'll have to be "shit I wikied today" instead!

And finally, I must end with this picture because us Londoners have had lovely warm weather and thus we have celebrated the only way we know how...

Piccie from the Mailonline

Fun Fact Friday – Malawi's Flag

Malawi is definitely the country I’m most looking forward to visiting whilst we are putting foot – I’ve always wanted to go and it looks simply amazing. And just when you think things can’t get any more awesome now we also get to have an (almost) full moon party whilst we are there!! Lumo on!

I always thought that this was the Malawian flag:

But it turns out that in 2010 it changed to this one (amidst much public outcry):

Not a huge change, but apparently at independence in 1964 when the flag was introduced the rising sun represented the dawn of freedom and hope for Africa – then in 2010 they decided to remove the red rising sun and replace it with a full white sun in the centre to symbolise Malawi's economic progress. What would we do without Wikipedia. 

Fursday Thursday - It's what's inside that counts

We're going to be in the car alot. Indeed, just getting from Checkpoint A to Checkpoint B sees us covering 1700kms which is at least 17 hours based on a speed, which in Africa, is probably unlikely and it'll be more like 30 hours. With this in mind then, our Fursdays shouldn't have been so much about the exterior of the car, but the interior instead. I know Robs wasn't happy with covering Connie in fur but perhaps she wouldn't mind a kitty steering wheel?

Or perhaps we should be trying to fit in with our surroundings more. Zebra anyone?

Although I can't deny that I am hugely drawn to this. Is it the colour, is it the fabric, is it the ludicrousness of it? Perhaps it's the way all those three combine to give you the wonder that is:

It's probably sweat inducing and itchy as anything but you've got to suffer for that sort of glory!

These are but a few of the awesome interiors that oddee has found. For the full selection, and I'd say it's worth a little two minute break, click here.

Top ten Tuesday: Car-tertainment

There shall be no I-spy in the car so I’ve compiled a list of ten other options to keep us entertained during the long driving days of the Put Foot Rally. 

1.  Twilight audiobooks. Yes.
2. Learning a language cd’s – there have been debates over which language, but we could very well return from the put foot rally fluent in German. Drei Gin Tonics bitte.
3. Caraoke – Karaoke’s more mobile cousin. And yes, we will be compiling a video of this for your viewing pleasure.
4. The “what would your last meal be” game – we played the 3-course version of this on a garden-route road trip and there’s definitely room to expand.
5. The top 25 road-trip compilation tape – coming soon to a Tuesday near you.
6. I have heard of something called Car Cricket. I am still unclear of the rules but I think it's probably worth learning. It's probably the only cricket I will understand. 
7. Our very own desert island discs - if we were on a desert island what item  [technological, book, CD, DVD, as many options as we can think of] would you take.



The Daily Mail online (of course).

8. I say famous persons' name. You say another famous person's name whose first name starts with the first letter of the surname of the person I just said ie.Patrick Stewart; Sarah Jessica Parker. etc. Usually a drinking game but it involves much shouting so I think we'll enjoy it even without a sippie.
9. The association game. Bizarrely entertaining when you get going.
10. Mooning? Perhaps we shall hope that this is the entertainment that comes from elsewhere.

Mammal Monday: Bush BABY!

Given that this blog is being written at night, and just before, for many of you, it won't be Monday anymore I thought I'd chose a mammal that you almost only see at night. And they are pretty cool little guys with their big eyes, long tails and little hands. Also, if you watch enough videos on youtube of people petting them and them loving it you can't help but want one for yourself. Proper name, galagos.

Now watch this hilarious video. The baboon is bizarrely kind for what I've convententinaly thought of as  unkind animals. And the reporter is pretty awesome too. And just look at the bush baby's giant eyes!