The cubs at 1 month

Melati is being a terrific mum to her two new cubs. They spend almost all their time together.

Almost.
























Then a brave little creature wandered off by itself.


Is this true love?



Handsome dad got up for a quick feed.

Sorry for the white sheen over some of the pictures. These are reflections of people's clothes on the glass. Given the understandable crush of people wanting to see and photograph the special babies, finding a suitable gap is very difficult.

Salt on our Skin

Along with Guy and The Velocity of Gary, possibly one of the sexiest films ever made.

Wildlife Heritage Foundation

Thursday was the first of four open days at the Big Cat Sanctuary. When I arrived there were already thousands of cars parked on an immense site of several acres. After parking, I walked towards the entrance, only to hear the mad shouting of my name as my friends arrived independently just nearby.

 It was a very hot day, so the chances of seeing cats was increased. And we were not disappointed. The spotty male jaguar was in total relax mode.



The black female jaguar, Athena, only appeared for food, and was in a very grumpy mood. She is NOT yawning.



I don't think the male snow leopared, Yarko, took kindly to being confused with his mate after their enclosures were swapped.



The clouded leopard put in an appearance.



As he strode by, he displayed his coat patterns beautifully.



Then he decided to pee for us. Or was it she?



Star of the day, though, was the jungle cat, Jack. Looking just like a largish house cat, he posed and paced, apparently hoping for a little snack if he was on his best behaviour.

The Red Sneakers

Rip-off of the classic Moira Shearer film The Red Shoes?

Brand New Baby Tigers

Melati and JaeJae were allowed back together after their previous three cubs grew up and went to new homes. They immediately rekindled their love, and the result is two new cubs, born on 27th June. On the videos from CubCam on the ZSL London Zoo website, JaeJae has obviously been allowed access to his offspring this time round. But Melati was a very cautious mother last time, and no one expected the cubs to make their public debut any time soon.

So when I finally managed to be free to go to the zoo on a day when it wasn't threatening to rain, as they were only 18 days old, I had no expectation of seeing them.

Imagine my surprise and delight when I found it was the second day they have been taken outside by their loving mum. Of course, she made her family at home in a dark corner of the enclosure, where the trunks of small trees and the leaves of bushes made them difficult to see. But we cub junkies just wait around till we get the sightings and the photos we crave. Therefore here we have Melati feeding her two tiny darlings:


One brave little soul is already wandering away from mum in this strange new world, safe among the long grass nearby:

Nunzio's Second Cousin

Amazing how many obscure films we managed to get hold of back in the days of V-Mania!

The Newton Boys

Remember the erect Vincent beside the erect derrick? Ah, yes!

Naked Tango

How sexy can a man be with so many clothes on?

Mystic Pizza

Here's the Vincent we all fell in love with.

Mr Wonderful

Another example of someone making the wrong choice of man.

Wrong and right reasons to be known

When I put the Victoria Wood sketch Two Soups, starring Julie Walters, on my YouTube site it was the only place it appeared. Even though last time I looked there was one more, it continued to be my most viewed and commented-on post.

But when I got home on Wednesday and checked my emails, I was surprised and shocked to see a new batch of comments with messages like "Victoria Wood RIP".

But so it was. A true comic genius was gone at just 62. I'd rather my YT remain unknown and she still be alive.

I'm quite chuffed to have been on the radio twice today, though, in a programme on BBC Radio 4 called iPM. I was interviewed a couple of weeks ago by one of my favourite news presenters, Eddie Mair. I had responded to an item about a young woman of 30 who didn't want children, but couldn't get sterilised. I was sterilised 40 years ago at the age of 23, and I was amazed to find that all these years later women were still being treated like idiots who don't know their own minds.

I was taken to Broadcasting House and back in a Prius taxi, and was delighted to find that Eddie is every bit as charming and professional as he sounds.

Yesterday I was asked to OK the publishing of an article on the BBC's online news magazine, and agreed to forward some pictures. After the morning broadcast the article appeared, as I discovered on my way home from the shops when I bumped into the mother of a former student of mine who had already seen and read it! I don't know if it's available abroad. Here's the link to the magazine for those who can access it:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-36110671

And here's the link for the broadcast:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b077jqst

I think you'll have to copy and paste.

Now I've received a request to take part in a telephone interview tomorrow evening on Radio 5 Live. I almost feel like a celebrity!

Meanwhile my cousin's daughter has come through the third brain operation of her 40 year life. This time she has a small daughter of her own. My cousin is now in her 70s and has had to deal with death after illness after tragedy in her family. She seriously deserves some good luck. And a rest.

Men In Black

Poor Edgar.

The Investigator

I've only ever read one O Henry story - The Green Door, on which this film is based.

Lion Emergency, Tiger Doze and Ape Adoption

I knoew the new Land of the Lions exhibit was due to open at London Zoo, but I didn't read the preview invitation letter properly. The Queen opened it on Thursday, which I had read as preview day, so I went along on my free day, Friday, only to find that it was still previews.

Without having ordered a ticket, I thought I was going to be out of luck. But at the entrance I found that just giving my name as a member was enough to get me a tick on a list and entry into the new exhibit.

There was no sign of the new male, but the females, Rubi, Indi and Heidi, who've been on holiday for a couple of years or so from the place where they were born, were wandering about mainly in the area they spent so much time in as cubs. So much for increasing their space!



Then there were shouts from behind to clear the way - injured lion coming through. And there were some - what? keepers? actors? - apparently carrying in an injured lion on a blanket. Of course, it was a dummy, but a pretty realisitic one. It even appeared to breathe. They enlisted the help of some rather nervous kids and priceeded to perform wound clean-up before declaring the animal to be on the mend, and carrying him back out.




 Meanwhile, JaeJae and Melati have been reunited in the hopes of them producing a new litter of cubs. But apparently Melati, though half JaeJae's size, is seeing him off. SHe's not yet ready to commit another two years of her life to raising demanding cubs!




On the other hand, something extraordinary, and almost completely undocumented, has happened in Gorlla Kingdom. Mjukuu, who has a daughter just over a year old, has acquired a foster child. Effie, so desperate for a baby, has dumped her 3-month-old boy and Effie has taken on the care of her little stepson.

This is Mjukuu-s daughter's head peeking round mum's back:


And here's the little boy poking his head out from the other side:

Lucky little boy!

Impostor

Ah, the delicious Major Hathaway.

Baby kitties

On Friday I finally got to go to Wingham Wildlife Park in Kent to see the jaguar cubs that were born in December. There they were when I arrived, playing like...er...kittens. Needless to say, I was thrilled.

At present I have not managed to find a way to play the video I took on my iPad, but here is a still that can convey some of their cuteness:

Meanwhile, I found a beautiful 8-month-old puma girl who had been hand-raised.

All she wanted was humans. As soon as anyone walked past the apparently empty enclosure, she bounced out to see them.

And when it happened to be a keeper, inside the outer wire, she fixed all her attention on him. Later one even gave her an ear-rub.

Imaginary Crimes

Not a very good picture - it's a bit squished. But he was a lovely traditional sort of guy in this film.

Founders' Day

My school - the one where I went and where I now teach - was 300 years old last year. Every year we celebrate Founders' Day on the first Thursday in March.

The day begins with a service at a church. Then the students go home (except those with impending exams) and the staff return to school.

In the evening the school is open so that former students can visit.

This year, the new headteacher, who was obviously delighted at being associated with a school that has such a history, discovered she had five Head Boys and three Head Girls at the evening do, so she quickly photographed and tweeted  us.

I'm happy to report that the fat old bag has the excuse of being several decades older than the slimline younger versions...

Hotel Paradise

Lucky bitch.

Household Saints

Delicious though he may be at the beginning of this, anything religious just makes me irritated and annoyed.