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Calf fitted with prosthetic hind legs
A calf with only two legs would normally be sent straight to the slaughterhouse, but veterinarians in the United States have given a new lease on life to an unfortunate yearling.Meadow, an 11-month-old Black Angus has been fitted with a pair of prosthetic limbs after losing her back hooves to severe frostbite.
A 15-member team of doctors and students from Colorado State University carried out the surgery and rehabilitation to give Meadow a chance to walk again.
The prosthetic limbs have allowed Meadow to stand on her own two hooves again.Treated like a pet, the Dickinson family were happy to pay thousands for the procedure.Luke Burton pats Meadow as she adjusts to the new limbs.Tasmanian cow Theresa was fitted with one leg in 2007.Maulee, a border collie was fitted with a prosthetic paw after losing his leg.A prosthetic flipper helped this shy amputee tortoise to come out of his shell.
I wish I was working in a field that helped animals. I'd fail the subjects required to get the right qualifications, though. Sciences and stuff, yuck.
Listening to Crest by Tortoise #music #musicmonday #mp3 #posterous
Crest by Tortoise
About Tortoise: http://www.last.fm/music/Tortoise
Turtles All The Way Down
This anecdote has been told by many people, but it's most symbolic version comes from Stephen Hawking's 1988 book 'The Brief History of Time' which starts
A well-known scientist (some say it was Bertrand Russell) once gave a public lecture on astronomy. He described how the earth orbits around the sun and how the sun, in turn, orbits around the center of a vast collection of stars called our galaxy. At the end of the lecture, a little old lady at the back of the room got up and said: "What you have told us is rubbish. The world is really a flat plate supported on the back of a giant tortoise." The scientist gave a superior smile before replying, "What is the tortoise standing on?" "You're very clever, young man, very clever", said the old lady. "But it's turtles all the way down!"
Brilliant.
Tortoise survives life at speed | BBC NEWS
It is thought 'Freeway' might be a recent immigrant to the UK
A tortoise with a taste for life in the fast lane has been rescued after he was found wandering across a slip road off the M25 in Surrey.
He was plucked to safety by John Formby, who pulled over on the hard shoulder after spotting him on the M23 slip road at junction seven of the M25.
The site manager from Worthing, West Sussex said he at first thought it was debris, but then spotted a head.
Vets discovered he was micro-chipped in the USA, and have named him Freeway.
Mr Formby, 43, recalled how he feared the tortoise could cause an accident with people trying to avoid it.
He's very lucky to have survived. It would be the icing on the cake if we could reunite him with his owners
Billy Elliott, Worthing and District Animal Rescue Service"So I pulled over, put my hazard lights on and ran 400 yards down the hard shoulder," he said.
"Some other cars were coming up and a couple went round the tortoise. Two cars and a van drove straight over it, straddling it, but it didn't go back into its shell.
"By the time I'd run back, it had got into the slow lane. I ran out picked it up and put it into the foot well of my car."
He then stopped off at a supermarket to buy it some tomatoes and lettuce before dropping it into Grove Lodge Veterinary Hospital in Worthing on Wednesday afternoon.
Billy Elliott, of Worthing and District Animal Rescue Service, said the tortoise was very friendly and in good condition.
"He must be someone's pet and the family have relocated from abroad and brought him with them.
"He's very lucky to have survived. It would be the icing on the cake if we could reunite him with his owners."
via news.bbc.co.uk
TORTOISE - Prepare Your Coffin (Official Video)
via youtube.com
This is great music to play if you're driving somewhere on the open road this weekend, however, this track has an unfortunate title so if you are, do drive safely. Tortoise are a Chicago quintet that formed in the nineties and "Prepare Your Coffin" is from their latest album, "Beacons Of Ancestorship", released 2 days ago. For more info they have a fairly comprehensive MySpace page here: http://www.myspace.com/tortoise
TORTOISE - CORNPONE BRUNCH (1994)
1994, y'all! My biggest purchase year and the theme of this week's look back:
In '95 I had moved to Chicago and into the middle of what was quickly becoming the new "cool" genre for the underground, the post-rock movement. Sure, it's a bullshit but for lack of a better term it's used to describe an anti-rock sound built on textures and ambiance in lieu of the proper pop song structures of chords and riffs. Post-rock had been around a short while beginning with Talk Talk's albums Spirit Of Eden (1988) and Laughing Stock (1991) as the first examples while Slint's Spiderland (1991) being the starter pistol. Eventually the genre found a home in Chicago because of the splintering efforts of post-rock superstars Tortoise.
Initially formed in 1990 between Douglas McComb (Eleventh Dream Day) and John Herndon (Poster Children) the group later filled with Bundy K. Brown and John McEntire (both of Bastro, Gastr Del Sol), and Dan Bitney. McEntire gained a reputation as the face of the group for his role as their studio engineer although in reality the music is a democratic effort. Their initial sound was composed primarily of two basses and three varying forms of percussion to produce the ambient, instrumental jazz-as-rock sound of the self-titled debut in '94. Two years later their second album Millions Now Living Will Never Die and it's 20 min. kickoff track Djed would make them underground heroes and creators of an influential sound would affect the rest of the decade and beyond.
Additionally the members of Tortoise would go on to spread themselves across a number of other groups that included The Sea & Cake, Isotope 217, 5ive Style, Bumps, The For Carnation, Brokeback, Seam, The Red Krayola and various session work on albums. On top of this was McEntire's engineering work at his own Soma Electronic Music Studios where he oversaw albums by Stereolab, Smog, Teenage Fanclub, and Bright Eyes, among others. Holy crap! You couldn't move in Chicago, let alone rock and roll in general, without bumping into these guys. (And I often did, seeing every member browsing at Reckless Records at some point or another)
Tortoise are still recording and are gearing up for the release of their sixth album Beacons Of Ancestorship. It's been a five year absence since their last effort and based on the couple tracks I've been able to hear (available on their site) I'm anxious to hear the more aggressive approach they're taking. The album releases June 23 from Thrill Jockey, their home since the beginning.
Beacons Of Ancestorship, June 23rd, Thrill Jockey Records
Cornpone Brunch is the final track from their album debut and I suggest listening to it loud with your headphones on. There's a lot more going on underneath than what you may think, which in itself is a proper metaphor for the members of Tortoise in general. It's a far cry from what we hearing on the radio in '94 and that was a very good thing.
Cornpone Brunch by Tortoise
For more info:
Tortoise: http://www.trts.com/splash.html
Soma Electronic Music Studios: http://www.somastudios.com/
