gaiverruksia

NIGHT CATS 4 "What the hell?"

THEY PAY ME FOR GETTING STUFF DONE "We're getting new desks at the office, could you receive them?" "Okay." // "There's a reporter coming here to write a story, you'd need to guide him." "Okay." // "Could you show the new trainee how the badge machine works?" "Okay!" // "The nature school teacher is ill so you have to teach at the nature school today." "O-okay." // "Could you do a talk at the wild boar feeding over the weekend?" "Okay!" // "A daycare group sent us a question about swimming snakes. Can you write them a response?" "Okay!" // "There's a group that needs a guide RIGHT NOW!" "Okay!" // "The frogs and the gecko at the nature school should be fed, would you have the time?" "Okay." // "All this needs to be written down in the customer register." "Okay..." // "Could you write the talks for the Easter programme?" "Okay!" // "What was your job at the zoo again?" ""The goose person"."

MORE THINGS THEY PAY ME FOR DOING "And your job at the zoo was...?" "The goose person. And this all is actually the goose job."

"This is my blog update number 404. That is all for today."

NO GOOD DEED GOES UNPUNISHED "But I'm -- just -- trying to -- help! @#&$!"

Star Wars created by George Lucas

IN THE NAME OF STYX! "I participated a larp where the theme was Greek gods. I was playing Hermes, the messenger of gods ...who is also a thief, gambler and a general trouble-maker." // "Now you screwed up, Hermes. As a punishment, I will confiscate your sandals!" "But Apolloo-oon! I haven't done anything! It's so unfaaa-aare!" "The sandals, Hermes!" "Oh thank you, these winged sandals are really uncomfortable!"

JUST CROSSING SOME FENCES "Hey you... That fence is there for a reason..." // "...protecting the plantings. So please don't cross the fences." // "Come, let's go the other way, it's not okay to go this way after all." // "...like you didn't know very well that you should't cross the fence!" // "And do ignore me." // "After all, I'm just a voice in the air. Not a living person with feelings. Or maybe you're just so embarrassed that you can't talk to me. At least that's what I'm hoping for."

THOSE GOOSE PEOPLE ARE CRAZY! "That male goose at the grill place is sure a difficult one..." "Yeah, you have to be watching him all the time." "He's constantly attacking people." // "Hey I can't find the grill goose anywhere!" "What?!" "I hope nothing's happened to him!" "Oh no!" // "Grilley?" "Is everything okay, buddy?" "Where are you, grill goose?" "Where could he be?" // "Hey, here he is!" "Quack quack!" "Oh good, you found him!" "He's all right!" "Don't scare us like that, GG!"

THE SAME JOKE FOR THE THIRD TIME "So a goose person?" "I'm looking forward to see what they'll write in my reference."

I DIDN'T REALLY GO SHAKE HANDS "Do you still want to watch the camels? Well let's watch the camels. We're in no hurry." // "Congratulations, you have an outstanding attitude for a visit to the zoo!"

ALL THE THINGS I AM/AM NOT Star Trek created by Gene Roddenberry

A MAP Kaverini pääsi ylioppilaaksi, ja koska hän pitää roolipelaamisesta ja on monta kertaa pyytänyt minua tekemään uuden roolipelin syysleirin pelin jälkeen , tein hänelle lahjaksi oman pelin. Ja koska karttojen piirtäminen on hauskaa, aloitin piirtämällä pelimaailman kartan. A friend of mine graduated from high school, and since she likes role playing games and has several times asked me to make a new game after the one we played on autumn camp , I made her a game as a present. And bacause drawing maps is fun I started by drawing a map of the game world.

ANOTHER MAP Tämä kartta esittää leirisaartamme Bengtsåria. Kartta on käytännössä täysin käyttökelpoinen kuvaamaan saaren tärkeimpiä kohteita. Piirsin tämän kauan sitten, loppukesästä 2013, ja haluaisin piirtää uuden - ensinnäkin siksi, että muutamat asiat saarella ovat muuttuneet, eikä tämä kartta ole enää aivan ajan tasalla, ja toisekseen, koska uskon, että osaisin nykyään piirtää paremman (vaikka ei tämäkään mielestäni huono ole). Jos piirrän jossain vaiheessa uuden Benkun kartan, laitan sen tännekin näkyville. This is a map of our camping island Bangtsår. This map is practically useful as it portrays all the important locations on the island. I drew this one a long time ago, back in late summer 2013, and I'd like to draw a new one - first off, because some things on the island have changed and the map is thus not up-to-date, and secondly because I think I could draw a better one nowadays (though I don't find this one to be bad either). If I do draw a new map of Bengtsår at some point I'll post it here too.

YOUR ANIMAL COMPANION IN YOUR NEXT ROLE PLAYING GAME "You'll get a cuteness bonus for all your rolls!" Elikkä random söpö kissa (tai "en vieläkään osaa piirtää silmiä katsomaan samaan suuntaan"). Or a random cute cat (or "I still can't draw eyes looking at the same direction").

CLOCKWORK STRIKE GUARD "Strange worlds called me again, this time in a game called Clockwork Strike Guard. The story was set in steampunk Siberia in 1799. My character was police chief's 19-year-old daughter Esfir Timurevich who worked as the assistant police. Esfir likes throwing drunk idiots to jail." "What you're doing is not illegal but it SHOULD BE!" Thanks to my mom, Snowhorse, Julia and Romeo as well as co-players for lending me props. "Don't take that bottle of vodka away! You're gonna need it!" "We're going to celebrate!" // "Hey Bogdan! Come here!" "Hibs!" "The police chief's daughter is here!" // "Will you - hibs! - marry me? You are - hic! - so beautiful..." // "...and so sexy with a gun and - hibs! - handcuffs!" "Yuck!" // CLONK! // "Yeah, I've been a bad boy..." // "...you have to - hibs! - have me handcuffed and spank me! Hic!" Kiitos pelinjärjestäjille ja peliseuralle! Thanks to game masters and co-players!

ASK ME ANYTHING "...and if you have something to ask, you can ask us camp instructors anything." // "What's your credit card number?" "How old are you?" "Where do you live?" "What's your phone number?"

"(Camp kid says something especially stupid.)" "Hey camp instructor, gimme a hand, will you?" // Triple facepalm (https://fi.pinterest.com/pin/101471797829537270/)

A STRAIGHT LINE "What kind of a line do you want these camp kids to make?" "A line so straight one bullet is enough."

FOREST Pikainen metsäpiirros. (Pakko myöntää, että sain innoitukseni työpaikan vessan seinämaalauksista.) A quick drawing of a forest. (Gotta admit I was inspired by the paintings in the toilets of my work place.)

A NERD IS A NERD, EVEN ON A BIKE Miksi minä aina päädyn piirtämään polkupyöriä, vaikka niiden piirtäminen on kamalaa? Why do I always end up drawing bikes even though I hate drawing them? Romeo and I biked to Hangö for midsummer. It was a 130 km journey. We were taking about nerdy stuff all the way. Pisteet niille, jotka tunnistavat kaikki sitaatit! Points to those who know all these quotes!

SLEEPING THE MIDSUMMER NIGHT ON A CLIFF Pros: nice for a change, fresh air, beautiful view, birds // Cons: strong wind // Really bad cons: if it starts to rain you're a long way from shelter

(18-month-old kid of a camp friend) "Flower!" // "That's not a flower, it's Kati." "He can call me flower if he wants to." Tämä ihan oikeasti tapahtui This actually happened Bambi by Disney

THE CART

POSTING WITH DINOSAURS ...eli taas muutamia kirjekuorikoristuksia. ...or some new envelope decorations.

A MEMORY FROM ST ANDREWS "Hey, that Finnish exchange student has put a new painting in her door." "Oh, so she has." // "It is nice that she puts her paintings where others can see them." "Indeed it is." // "Her paintings of animals a very pretty." "This owl is my favorite so far." // "Do you think she'll have something new next week?" "I hope so." // "She's really talented." "She is!" "Please stop praising me, I'm embarrassed!" Puheena ollut pöllömaalaus: The owl painting in question:

THE GREAT ANT-VENTURE

MONTH OF THE LOST BEGINS "Hey guys! Look! I built a TIME MACHINE! Ta-dah!" // "Okay, I admit. It looks like a pile of paper. Because it IS a pile of paper." // "But it is ALSO a time machine. Because I say so. And because in comics, EVERYTHING is possible." // "And with this time machine we're going to see animals that have gone extinct. Throughout August! One for every day..." // "...and one for every letter of the alphabet. You know how this goes." // "Come on, then! First of the lost is waiting..." Okei, tällä kertaa jätin ääkköset suosiolla pois. Tai ovat ne mukana, mutta ne ovat bonuslukuja. Okay, this time I willingly left out the Finnish weirdos Å, Ä and Ö. Or they are there but as bonus chapters.

MONTH OF THE LOST: A ARCHAEOPTERYX Kuoli sukupuuttoon 150 miljoonaa vuotta sitten Went extinct 150 million years ago Suunnilleen variksen kokoista Archaeopteryxia sanotaan myös liskolinnuksi. Se oli liskojen ja lintujen välimuoto, jolla oli höyhenpeite ja siivet kuten linnuilla, mutta myös hampaat suussaan sekä kynnet eturaajoissaan. Archaeopteryxin lentotaidosta ei ole varmuutta. Ilmeisesti se osasi lentää, muttei kovin hyvin. Archaeopteryx was approximately the same size as crow and it is also called the lizard-bird. It had bird-like features like feathers and wings but also lizard-like teeth in its mouth and claws in its front limbs. The fluing skills of the Archaeoptery are unknown. Apparently it could fly but not very well.

MONTH OF THE LOST: B BRACHIOSAURUS Kuoli sukupuuttoon 153 miljoonaa vuotta sitten Went extinct 153 million years ago Brachiosaurus on yksi suurimmista koskaan eläneistä maaeläimistä. Se saattoi kasvaa 26 metrin pituiseksi ja 15 metriä korkeaksi. Tämä jättiläinen söi kuitenkin vain kasveja: saniaispuita, havuja, neidonhiuspuun lehtiä, käpypalmuja... Mutta ei ruohoa. Ruohokasvit nimittäin kehittyivät vasta 145 miljoonaa vuotta sitten, eli brachiosaurusten jo kuoltua sukupuuttoon. Brachiosaurus is one of the largest animals ever to live on land. It could grow to be 26 meters long and 15 meters tall. This giant was a herbivore: it ate tree ferns, conifers, maidenhair tree leaves, cycadales… But not grass. Grasses evolved only 145 million years ago, after Brachiosaurs died out.

MONTH OF THE LOST: C CARBONEMYS Kuoli sukupuuttoon 58 miljoonaa vuotta sitten Went extinct 58 million years ago Carbonemyksen kuori saattoi olla 1,75 metriä pitkä, joten kyseessä on yksi maailmanhistorian suurimmista kilpikonnista. Kilpikonnien evoluutio on hämärän peitossa, eikä olla varoja, mitkä matelijat ovat niille läheisintä sukua. Vanhimmalla tunnetulla kilpikonnalla, 220 miljoonaa vuotta sitten eläneellä Odontochelyksellä oli kilpi vain vatsapuolella. Selkäkilpi siis kehittyi vasta vatsakilven jälkeen. The shell of Carbonemys could be 1.75 meters long so it was one of the largest tortoises in the history. The history of turtles is a mystery and it is also unknown which reptiles are their closest relatives. The oldest known turtle, Odontochelys, that lived 220 million years ago, only had ventral shell. Therefore, the dorsal shell of the turtles only evolved after the ventral shell.

MONTH OF THE LOST: C DIMETRODON Kuoli sukupuuttoon 256 miljoonaa vuotta sitten Went extinct 256 million years ago Dimetrodonin nimi tarkoittaa ”eripituisia hampaita”. Tämä otus oli ensimmäisiä eläimiä, jolla oli erimittaisia hampaita, mikä helpotti erilaisten saaliseläinten pyydystämistä ja syömistä. Tällä liskolla oli tunnusomainen selkäpurje, jota se mahdollisesti käytti ruumiinlämmön säätelyyn. Dimetrodon ei ollut dinosaurus, vaan eli ennen dinosaurusten valtakautta ja on lähempää sukua nisäkkäille. The name Dimetrodon means ”two measures of teeth”. This animal was one of the first ones to have teeth of different lengths which made catching and eating different prey animals easier. This lizard had a distinctive neural spine sail which was possibly used for regulating body temperature. Dimetrodon was not a dinosaur but lived before their reign and is more closely related to mammals.

MONTH OF THE LOST: E EOHIPPUS Katosi 45 miljoonaa vuotta sitten Went extinct 45 million years ago Eohippus on nykyisten hevosten esimuoto, suunnilleen labradorinnoutajan kokoinen otus, joka ei muistuttanut hevosta kovinkaan paljon. Sillä oli etujaloissaan kolme ja takajaloissaan neljä varvasta. Aikojen kuluessa varpaiden määrä väheni, ja nykyisillä hevoseläimillä, jotka ovat paljon esi-isiään kookkaampia, on vain yksi varvas – kavio – kussakin jalassaan. Eohippus is the ancestor of modern horses, a creature of approximately the size of a Labrador retriever, and it didn’t resemble horses very much. It had three toes in its front legs and four in its hind legs. Over time the number of toes decreased and modern equines, that are much larger than their ancestors, only have one toe – the hoof – in each leg.

MONTH OF THE LOST: F FALKLANDINKETTU – FALKLAND ISLANDS WOLF Kuoli sukupuuttoon 1876 Went extinct 1876 Falklandinkettu eli vain Falklandinsaarilla Etelä-Amerikan eteläkärjen lähellä. Sitä metsästettiin turkin takia ja paikallisten lampaiden suojelemiseksi, kunnes se kuoli sukupuuttoon vuonna 1876. Falklandinkettu tunnetaan lähinnä Charles Darwinin kuvausten perusteella, joskin laji oli harvinainen jo hänen tutustuessaan siihen vuonna 1833. The Falkland Islands wolf only lived on the Falkland Islands near the southern point of South America. It was hunted for its fur and the protect the locals’ sheep until it went extinct in 1876. The Falkland Islands wolf is mainly known from descriptions written by Charles Darwin, though the species was already endangered when he got to know it in 1833.

MONTH OF THE LOST: G GRIIPPIKORENNOT - GRIFFINFLIES Kuoli sukupuuttoon 282 miljoonaa vuotta sitten Went extinct 282 million years ago Griippikorennot ovat suurimmat koskaan eläneet sudenkorennot. Niiden siivenkärkiväli saattoi olla jopa yli 70 cm. Valtavan koon mahdollisti kivihiilikauden happipitoisempi ilmakehä. Muutoin griippikorennot muistuttivat hyvin paljon nykyisiä sudenkorentoja. Ainoastaan niiden lisääntymiselimet olivat takaruumiin kärjessä, kun taas sudenkorennoilla ne ovat takaruumiin tyvessä. Griffinflies are the largest dragonflies ever to have lived. Their wingspan could be more than 70 cm. The huge size was made possible by the oxygen-rich atmosphere of the Carboniferous period. Other than their size, griffinflies very much resemble modern dragonflies. One of the few differences is that their genitals are in end of the abdomen whereas in dragonflies they are close to the thorax.

MONTH OF THE LOST: H HELICOPRION Kuoli sukupuuttoon 290 miljoonaa vuotta sitten Went extinct 290 million years ago Helicoprion oli haita muistuttava kala, jolla oli hyvin kummallinen, kierteinen ja hampaiden peittämä alaleuka. Helicoprionista ei tiedetä juurikaan muuta, sillä se oli rustokala. Tämä tarkoittaa sitä, ettei sillä ollut luita, vaan sen tukiranka muodostui rustosta, joka fossiloituu äärimmäisen harvoin. Oli miten oli, kyseessä on erittäin omituisen näköinen eväkäs! Helicoprion was a shark-like fish with a very peculiar, corkscrew-shaped tooth-whorl lower jaw. That is pretty much the only thing known about Helicoprion because it was a cartilaginous fish. This means that it didn’t have bones but its skeleton was made of cartilage that fossilized extremely rarely. Nevertheless, this fish looked most odd indeed!

MONTH OF THE LOST: I ICHTHYOSAURUS Kuoli sukupuuttoon 90 miljoonaa vuotta sitten Went extinct 90 million years ago Ichthyosaurukset, ”kalaliskot”, olivat mitä parhaiten merielämään sopeutuneita matelijoita (huom! Eivät dinosauruksia). Niillä oli virtaviivainen, kalamainen ruumis ja suuret silmät – eräällä lajilla silmien läpimitta oli jopa 45 cm. Tämä viittaa siihen, että ichthyosauruksilla oli hyvä näkö, ja että ne olisivat mahdollisesti sukeltaneet hyvin syvälle. Ne hengittivt kuitenkin ilmaa ja joutuivat palaamaan aina pintaan hengittämään. Ichthyosaurs, ”fish lizards”, were reptiles extremely well adapted to aquatic life (note! They were not dinosaurs). They had a sleek, fish-like body and large eyes – one species’ had eyes with the diameter of 45 cm. This indicates that Ichthyosaurs had very good sense of vision and that they possibly dived very deep. The breathed air, however, and always had to came to breathe on the surface.

MONTH OF THE LOST: J JAAVANTIIKERI – JAVAN TIGER Kuoli sukupuuttoon 1979 Went extinct 1979 Jaavantiikeri oli yksi tiikerin pienikokoisemmista alalajeista, ja sitä tavattiin Jaavan saarella. Jaavantiikereitä metsästettiin vielä 1930-luvulla 9000 yksilöä vuodessa. Leviävän asutuksen takia tiikerit joutuivat siirtymään ihmisten tieltä, mutta niitä metsästettiin ja myrkytettiin edelleen. Jaavantiikeri on hyvä esimerkki lajista, joka on kuollut yksiselitteisesti ihmisen toiminnan, metsästyksen ja elinalueiden menettämisen takia. The Javan tiger was one of the smaller tiger subspecies. It lived on the island of Java. In the 1930’s approximately 9000 Javan tigers were killed every year. Due to spreading human settlements the tigers had to evacuate to other areas but they were still poisoned and hunted by humans. The Javan tiger is a good example of a species that has gone extinct solely due to human actions, hunting and habitat losses.

MONTH OF THE LOST: K KVAGGA – QUAGGA Kuoli sukupuuttoon 1883 Went extinct 1883 Kvagga oli harvaraitainen ja ruskehtava seepra. Se kuoli sukupuuttoon uudisasukkaiden metsästyksen tuloksena. Vaikka eläintarhoissa olikin joitakin kvaggoja, niitä ei saatu lisääntymään villin kannan heiketessä. Maailman viimeinen kvagga kuoli Amsterdamin eläintarhassa vuonna 1883. Etelä-Afrikassa jalostetaan ”uusia kvaggoja” risteyttämällä niitä eniten muistuttavia seeproja keskenään. Nämä rau-kvaggoiksi kutsutut eläimet eivät ulkonäöstään huolimatta tule koskaan olemaan sama laji kuin alkuperäinen kvagga. Quagga was a zebra with only a few stripes and a brown-ish coat. It went extinct due to hunting by pioneers. Even though there were quaggas in zoos they didn’t reproduce when the wild population became endangered. The last quagga in the world died in Amsterdam zoo in 1883. There is a prject in South Africa breeding ”new quaggas” by breeding quagga-like zebras. These animals, known as ”Rau quaggas” will never be the same species as the original quagga, no matter what they look like.

MONTH OF THE LOST: L LIOPLEURODON Kuoli sukupuuttoon 155 miljoonaa vuotta sitten Went extinct 155 million years ago Mahdollisesti jopa 25 metriä pitkäksi kasvanut liopleurodon oli kaikkien aikojen suurin meripeto. Valtavan kokonsa ja täydelliseti merielämään sopeutuneen ruumiinmuotonsa takia tämä matelija ei voinut nousta maalle munimaan. Sen takia se synnytti luultavasti eläviä poikasia. Liopleurodon haistoi mahdollisesti veden allakin, jolloin se pystyi seuraamaan saaliseläimiä hajun perusteella. Liopleurodon was the largest aquatic predator of all times as it may have grown to be 25 meters long. Because of its huge size and body structure so well adapted to life in water it couldn’t lay its eggs on the ground. Therefore it probably gave birth to live young. Liopleurodon may have been able to smell underwater and hence follow its pray based on their smell.

MONTH OF THE LOST: M MEGALOCEROS Kuoli sukupuuttoon 9500 vuotta sitten Went extinct 9500 years ago Megaloceroksella oli suuremmat sarvet kuin millään muulla sorkkaeläimellä koskaan. Sarvien kärkiväli oli jopa 3,5 metriä, ja urokset kasvattivat tällaiset sarvet uudestaan joka vuosi, mikä on vienyt valtavasti energiaa ja ravintoa. Megaloceroksen sukupuuttoon kuolemisen syytä ei tiedetä. Lajin läheisin nykyään elävä sukulainen on täpläkauris. Megaloceros had larger antlers than any other hoofed mammal ever. Its antlers were up to 3.5 meters wide. The males grew a new pair every single year which of course took enormous amounts of energy and resources. The cause for Megaloceros’ extinction is unknown. Its closest living relative is fallow deer.

MONTH OF THE LOST: N NORSULINNUT – ELEPHANT BIRDS Kuoli sukupuuttoon 1650-luvulla Went extinct in the 1650’s Norsulinnut olivat historiallisen ajan suurimpia lintuja, jopa yli kolme metriä korkeita lentokyvyttömiä eläimiä. Niiden munat saattoivat olla tilavuudeltaan kahdeksan litraa. Nämä jättilinnut elivät Madagaskarin saarella ja söivät kasveja. Yleisesti on luultu, että ne olisivat kuolleet sukupuuttoon ihmisten ja metsästyksen takia, mutta tästä ei ole varmuutta, vaan sukupuutto on voinut johtua muistakin syistä. Elephant birds were the largest birds of historical times. The were more than three meters tall and flightless. Their eggs could be over eight liters in volume. These giant birds lived on the island of Madagascar and they were herbivorous. It has been commonly thought that they went extinct due to human actions and hunting but this is not sure. Their extinction may have been caused by other factors as well.

MONTH OF THE LOST: O OIKOSARVISET - ORTHOCONES Kuoli sukupuuttoon 270 miljoonaa vuotta sitten Went extinct 270 million years ago Oikosarviset olivat mustekalojen ja helmiveneiden sukulaisia, nilviäisiä, jotka elivät kovan, suoran kuoren sisällä. Pienimmät olivat vain muutaman millimetrin pituisia, suurimmat jopa kymmenen metriä pitkiä. Kuori jakaantui useaan osaan, joista uloimmassa itse eläin asui – se oli siis varsin pieni kuoren kokoon nähden. Muissa osioissa oli vettä ja ilmaa, joita täyttämällä ja tyhjentämällä oikosarviset saattoi liikkua vedessä ylös ja alas. Orthocones were related to octopuses and nautiloides. They were molluscs that lived inside a rd, straight shell. The smallest ones were only a couple of millimeters in length, the largest up to ten meters long. The shell was divided into several sections, and the animal lived in the outermost one – the animal itself was therefore quite small compared to the shell. There was water and air in the other sections, and by filling and emptying them Orthocones could move up and down in water.

MONTH OF THE LOST: P PANSSARIHAIT - PLACODERMS Kuolivat sukupuuttoon 359 miljoonaa vuotta sitten Went extinct 359 million years ago Panssarihait olivat ensimmäisiä leuallisia kaloja. Leukojen kehittymisen jälkeen kaloista tuli nopeasti merten valtiaita. Panssarihaiden eturuumis oli uskomattoman hyvin panssaroitu uhkia vastaan – jopa silmämunat olivat luutuneet! Ruumiin takaosa oli puolestaan varsin suojaton. Placoderms were the first fish with jaws. After jaws developed, fish quickly became the rulers of the seas. The front part of a Placoderm’s body was extremely well armored against threats – even the eyeballs were bony! The back of the body was, however, quite unprotected.

MONTH OF THE LOST: Q QUETZALCOATLUS Kuoli sukupuuttoon 65 miljoonaa vuotta sitten Went extinct 65 million years ago Asteekkien mytologian sulkakäärmeen mukaan nimetty quetzalcoatlus on suurin koskaan elänyt lentävä eläin. Tämän lentoliskon siivenkärkiväli saattoi olle yli 15 metriä. Kävellessään sillä oli korkeutta yli kolme metriä. Kokoonsa nähden se oli kuitenkin kevyt, kuten muutkin lentävät eläimet, ja painoi mahdollisesti vain satakunta kiloa. Lentoliskot – jotka siis eivät olleet dinosauruksia – kuolivat dinosauruksetkin hävittäneessä sukupuuttoaallossa noin 65 miljoonaa vuotta sitten. Quetzalcoatlus was named after the winged snake in Aztec mythology and the largest flying animal in history. This pterosaus may have had the wingspan of more than 15 meters and when it walked it was more than three meters tall. Compared to its size it was quite light like other flying animals, weighting possibly only around one hundred kilograms. Pterosaurs – that were not dinosaurs – died out 65 million years ago in the same mass extinction with dinosaurs.

MONTH OF THE LOST: R RÉUNIONINKOTTARAINEN – RÉUNION STARLING Kuoli sukupuuttoon 1850-luvulla Went extinct in the 1850’s Réunioninkottarainen oli mustavalkoinen lintu, joka eli Intian valtameren Réunionin saarella. Sen sukupuuton tarkkaa syytä ei tiedetä, mutta mahdollisia syyllisiä ovat ihmisen mukanaan tuomat lajit, kuten sen kanssa kilpailleet toiset linnut ja munia ja poikasia syövät rotat. Ihmisen levittämät vieraslajit, kuten rotat ja kissat, ovatkin syynä lukemattomien pienillä saarilla esiintyneiden lintulajien sukupuuttoon. Réunion starling, also known as hoopoe starling, was a black-and-white bird that lived on the island of Réunion in the Indian Ocean. The cause of its extinction is unknown but possibly the cause were new species brought by humans, like other birds competing with the Réunion starling or rats that ate their eggs and chicks. Species introduced by humans, such as rats and cats, are the reason for the extinction of countless bird species on small islands.

MONTH OF THE LOST: S STELLERINMERILEHMÄ – STELLER’S SEA COW Kuoli sukupuuttoon 1768 Went extinct 1768 Jopa kymmenmetriseksi kasvaneen stellerinmerilehmän löysi saksalainen luonnontieteilija Georg Wilhelm Steller vuonna 1741. Laji kuoli sukupuuttoon vuonna 1768 eli vain 27 vuotta löytymisensä jälkeen. Syynä sukupuuttoon oli todennäköisesti tämän uteliaan ja hidasliikkeiden eläimen järjetön metsästys. Toinen kahdesta tunnetusta kokonaisesta stellerinmerilehmän luurangosta on Helsingin Luonnontieteellisessä museossa. Steller’s sea cow grew to be up to ten meters long. It was found by German scientist Georg Wilhelm Steller in 1741, and it went extinct in 1768, only 27 years after it was found. The reason for its extinction was probably the mindless hunting for this curious and slow-moving animal. One of the two known whole skeletons of Steller’s sea cow is kept at the Natural History Museum of Helsinki.

MONTH OF THE LOST: T TRILOBIITIT - TRILOBITES Kuoli sukupuuttoon 253 miljoonaa vuotta sitten Went extinct 253 million years ago Trilobiitteja tunnetaan vajaa 20 000 lajia, muutaman millimetrin mittaisista yli 70 cm pitkiin. Eri lajeilla oli erilaisia piikkejä ja ulokkeita, ja monet olivat niin yleisiä tiettyinä aikoina, että trilobiittien fossiilien perusteella voidaan päätellä muiden samasta kerrostumasta löytyneiden fossiilien ikä. Trilobiitit olivat myös ensimmäisiä eläimiä, joille kehittyi silmät. There are almost 20 000 known species of Trilobites, the smallest ones being only a couple of millimeters long and the largest up to 70 cm long. Different species had different sorts of spikes appendages, and some were so common at certain times that their fossils can be used to time other fossils in the same stratum. Trilobites were the first animals to have eyes.

MONTH OF THE LOST: U UTAHRAPTOR Kuoli sukupuuttoon 121 miljoonaa vuotta sitten Went extinct 121 million years ago Utahraptor oli raptoreista suurin, jopa kuusi metriä pitkä, ja täten paljon suurempi kuin tunnetumpi sukulaisensa Velociraptor. Utahraptorilla oli takajaloissaan vaaralliset sirppimäiset kynnet, joilla se ilmeisesti tappoi suurempia kasvinsyöjädinosauruksia ravinnokseen. Utahraptorilla oli mahdollisesti höyhenpeite, kuten todennäköisesti lähisukulaisillaankin, vaikkei tästä olekaan löydetty fossiilitodisteita. Utahraptor was the largest raptor, up to six meters long, and hence much larger than its better-known relative, Velociraptor. Utahraptor had dangerous, sickle-like claws in its hind legs which it apparently used to kill its pray, larger herbivorous dinosaurs. Utahraptor may have had feathers, like its close relatives also likely did, but there is no fossil evidence for this.

MONTH OF THE LOST: V VILLAMAMMUTTI – WOOLLY MAMMOTH Kuoli sukupuuttoon 10 000 vuotta sitten Went extinct 10 000 years ago Villamammutti on viimeisimmän jääkauden ikoninen tunnuslaji. Tämä kylmiin oloihin sopeutunut karvainen norsu eli laajoilla alueilla pohjoisella pallonpuoliskolla ja katosi jääkauden loppuvaiheilla yhdessä useiden muiden suurten pohjolan nisäkkäiden kanssa. Wrangelinsaarella saattoi elää pienempiä mammutteja vielä nelisen tuhatta vuotta sitten. Woolly mammoth is the most iconic species of the latest ice age. This hairy elephant, adapted to cold environments, lived around the northern hemisphere and went extinct around the end of the ice age along with many other large mammals of the north. There may still have been smaller mammoths living on the Wrangel Island around four thousand years ago.

MONTH OF THE LOST: W WAIMANU Kuoli sukupuuttoon 58 miljoonaa vuotta sitten Went extinct 58 million years ago Waimanu oli varhainen pingviininsukuinen lintu, joka eli pian dinosaurusten joukkotuhon jälkeen. Se oli lentokyvytön ja ilmeisesti sopeutunut liikkumaan veden alla siipiensä avulla nykyisten pingviinien tavoin. Nimi waimanu on maorin kieltä, koska lajin fossiileita on löydetty Uudesta-Seelannista, ja se tarkoittaa vesilintua. Waimanu was an early bird species related to penguins. It lived soon after the mass extinction of dinosaurs. It couldn’t fly and it was apparently adapted to move underwater using its wings like modern penguins. Its name, Waimanu, means water bird in the Maori language because its fossils have been found from New Zealand.

MONTH OF THE LOST: X XIPHACTINUS Kuoli sukupuuttoon 65 miljoonaa vuotta sitten Went extinct 65 million years ago Xiphactinuksella (jonka nimi tarkoittaa ”nopeaa miekkakalaa”) oli alaleuassaan erikoisrakenteinen nivel, jonka ansiosta kala saattoi avata suunsa todella suureksi. Näin se pystyi syömään kokonaisena huomattavan suuria saaliita. Eräässä noin viisimetrisen Xiphactinuksen fossiilissa näkyy sen kokonaisena nielaisema kaksimetrinen kala. On luultavaa, että fossiilin Xiphactinus kuoli ruoansulatusvaikeuksiin tämän aterian jälkeen. Xiphactinus (whose name means ”quick swordfish”) had a special joint in its lower jaw that allowed it to open its mouth really big. Therefore it could eat considerably large prey animals whole. In one fossil of a 5-meter-long Xiphactinus one can see a two-meter-long fish it has swallowed whole. It is probable that the Xiphactinus in question died because of digestion problems.

MONTH OF THE LOST: Y YI QI Kuoli sukupuuttoon 160 miljoonaa vuotta sitten Went extinct 160 million years ago Yi qi, jonka nimi tarkoittaa kiinaksi ”outoa siipeä”, oli Yi -suvun ainoa laji. Se muistutti lintuja ja sillä oli höyhenet, mutta sen siivissä oli nahkaiset lenninräpylät kuten lepakoilla. Yi qi on ainoa tämänkaltainen tunnettu lintu, joten evolutiivisessa mielessä tämä kehityssuunta ei selvästikään ollut kovin toimiva. Yi qi, whose name in Chinese means ”weird wing”, was the only species in the genus Yi. It resembled birds and it had feathers but it also had leather wings like bats. Yi qi is the only known bird to have wings like this so evolutionarily thinking this type on a creature was clearly not a very functional one.

MONTH OF THE LOST: Z ZYGORHIZA Kuoli sukupuuttoon 37 miljoonaa vuotta sitten Went extinct 37 million years ago Zygorhiza oli alkukantainen valas. Sillä oli ilmeisesti surkastuneet takajalat, eivätkä sen eturaajat olleet vielä kehittyneet samanlaisiksi eväiksi kuin nykyisillä valailla. Ulkonäöstään huolimatta valaat eivät ole sukua hylkeille tai sireenieläimille, vaan ne ovat kehittyneet sorkkaeläimistä. Niiden lähmpiä eläviä sukulaisia ovat virtahevot. Zygorhiza was a primitive whale. It apparently had abortive hind legs and its front limbs were not yet developed into the same kind of fins as in modern whales. Despite of their appearance whales are not related to seals or sirenians but they have evolved from hoofed mammals. Their closest living relatives are hippos.

MONTH OF THE LOST: Å Å: KADONNEET JA LÖYDETYT – LOST AND FOUND Latimeria: luultiin kuolleen sukupuuttoon 65 miljoonaa vuotta sitten, elävä yksilö löydettiin 1938 Coelacanth: was thought to have gone extinct 65 million years ago, a living individual was found in 1938 Latimeria on varsieväkala, eräänlainen maalla elävien selkärankaisten esimuoto. Se tunnettiin miljoonien vuosien ikäisistä fossiileista. Tutkijoiden hämmästys oli suuri, kun elävä latimeria löydettiin Intian valtamerestä vuonna 1938. Nykyään latimeria luokitellaan äärimmäisen uhanalaiseksi. Muutamia muitakin lajeja on siirretty vuosien varrella takaisin elävien kirjoihin. Esimerkiksi harjaskekon luultiin kadonneen, mutta vuonna 1994 löydettiin eläviä yksilöitä Uudesta-Kaledoniasta. Laji on luokiteltu vaarantuneeksi, joten sen suojelu on tarpeen, jottei laji katoa lopullisesti. Coelacanth is a lobe-finned fish, sort of an ancestor to land-dwelling vertebrates. It was known from millions of years old fossils. Scientists were greatly surprised when a living individual was found from Indian Ocean in 1938. Nowadays Coelacanths are considered to be critically endangered. There are other species, too, that have been transferred back to the books of living over the years. For example, crested gecko was thought to be extinct until live individuals were found from New Caledonia in 1994. Crested gecko is considered to be a vulnerable species, and conservation actions are needed to prevent the species from dying out for good.

MONTH OF THE LOST: Ä Ä: VIELÄ ON MAHDOLLISUUS – THERE’S STILL A CHANCE Milu eli davidinhirvi: katosi luonnosta 1939 Pere David’s deer or milu: extinct in the wild since 1939 Milu on erikoinen hirvieläin, joka näyttää aasin, poron ja hattunaulakon risteytykseltä. Laji eli Kiinassa, mistä se katosi tulvien ja metsästyksen takia sukupuuttoon vuonna 1939. Onneksi muutamia yksilöitä eli eurooppalaisissa eläintarhoissa. Lajia alettiin kasvattaa tarhaoloissa, ja nykyään maailmassa on noin 2000 milua. Tällä hetkellä laji luokitellaan luonnosta hävinneeksi, mutta kenties kerran tämä eläin palaa taas luonossa elävien kirjoihin. Père David’s deer is a peculiar deer species that looks like a mix of donkey, reindeer and hat rack. It lived in China until it died out in 1939 due to floods and hunting. Luckily, there were some individuals in zoos in Europe. The zoos started to breed the deer, and now there are approximately 2000 Père David’s deer in the world. At the moment, the species is considered to be extinct in the wild but maybe one day it can be returned to live in its natural habitat.

MONTH OF THE LOST: Ö Ö: TAKAISIN LUONTOON – BACK TO THE WILD Mongolianvillihevonen: katosi luonnosta 1968, palautettiin 1992 Visentti: katosi luonnosta 1921, palautettiin 1952 Kaliforniankondori: katosi luonnosta 1987, palautettiin 1991 Mongolian wild horse: went extinct in the wild in 1968, reintroduced in 1992 Wisent or European bison: went extinct in the wild in 1921, reintroduced in 1952 Californian condor: went extinct in the wild in 1987, reintroduced in 1991 Mongolianvillihevonen, visentti ja kaliforniankondori olisivat kuolleet sukupuuttoon ilman tarhausta, ahkeraa suojelutyötä ja luontoonpalautusohjelmia. Mongolianvillihevosia ja visenttejä oli eläintarhoissa jo lajien kuollessa sukupuuttoon luonnosta, ja tarhojen yhteistyön ansiosta kanta saatiin kasvuun, ja nykyään lajit on palautettu luontoon. Kaliforniankondori taas oli äärimmäisen uhanalainen salaetsästyksen ja ympäristömyrkkyjen takia. Vuonna 1987 viimeiset 22 luonnonvaraista lintua otettiin kiinni, jotta eläimiä voitaisiin kasvattaa tarhaoloissa. Nyt kaliforniankondoreitakin näkee taas luonnossa. Moni muukin laji, kuten mustajalkahilleri, valkobeisa ja havajinhanhi on kadonnut luonnosta, mutta laji on saatu pelastetettua eläintarhoissa ja palautettua luonnollisille elinpaikoilleen, minne nämä eläimet ilman muuta kuuluvatkin. The Mongolian wild horse, wisent and the Californian condor would have died out without zoos, hard conservation efforts and reintroduction to the wild. There were Mongolian wild horses and wisents in zoos already before the wild populations went extinct. Thanks to cooperation between zoos the captive population grew and now there species have been reintroduced to the wild. The Californian condor, on the other hand, was critically endangered due to poaching and pollution. In 1987 the last 22 birds were captured so that they could be breed in captivity. Nowadays the Californian condor, too, lives in the wild again. Many other species, like black-footed ferret, Arabian oryx and Hawaiian goose have gone extinct from the wild but have been saved in zoos and are now returned to their natural habitats where these animals of course belong to.

THE END OF MONTH OF THE LOST "Animal species go extinct every day." // "Now more often than they naturally would, and faster and faster. Due to human actions animals lose their habitats, suffer from poisons and are hunted for." // "But we can still do something about it. We can favor responsively produced products, consume less... donate money to organisations who help endangered species in their natural habitats and fight poaching... We can find out about things." // "About all the great species that are and have been." // "Every single species is going to go extinct one day. It is inevitable." // "But we can act in a way that prevents it from happening too soon to too many. And everyone can help." Haluatko auttaa uhanalaisia eläimiä? Osta jokin Kadonneiden kuukauden alkuperäisistä maalauksista haluamallasi summalla. Lahjoitan kaikki saamani rahat Wild Cats Conservation Alliancelle amurintiikerin ja amurinleopardin suojeluun. Do you want to help endangered animals? Buy one of the original paintings from Month of the Lost and pay what you want for it. I'll donate all that money to Wild Cats Conservation Alliance that conserves Amur tigers and Amur Leopards. Huom! Jos joskus saat tilaisuuden silittää leijonaa tai apinaa maksusta, älä tee niin. Nämä eläimet on otettu pentuina emoiltaan, ja isoja kissoja usein huumataan, jotta ne pysyvät rauhallisina. Aikuisiksi kasvettuaan eläimet tapetaan tai hylätään. Villieläinten paijailu ei ole luonnonsuojelua vaan rikos tai vähintään kovasti epäeettistä. Älä siis tue tällaista toimintaa vaan ilmoita siitä viranomaisille. (Itse halailen leijonaa ja keisaritamariinia viimeisessä kuvassa, koska tämä on sarjakuva, eivätkä kuvan eläimet siis kärsi siitä.) Note! If you ever get the chance to pet a lion or a monkey for some change, please don't do it. These animals have been taken from their mothers as cubs, and big cats are often drugged to keep them calm. When these animals grow up they are killed or abandoned. Petting wild animals is not conservation but a crime or at least highly unethical. So please don't support this kind of action but inform the authorities. (In the last panel I hug a lion and an emperor tamarin because this is a comic and hence the animals in the drawing don't suffer from it.)

MUSK FROYOTE Törmäsin hiljattain hauskaan piirustushaasteeseen. Siinä arvotaan kolme satunnaista eläintä, joiden piirteitä yhdistelemällä luodaan uusi otus. Saamani eläimet olivat kojootti, sammakko ja myskikauris. Ja tällainen olento siitä sitten tuli. Recently I found a fun drawing challenge. First you generate three random animals, and then combine their features into a new creature. The animals I got were coyote, frog and musk deer. And this is how it turned out.

FAIRY TALE ADVENTURE ILLUSTRATION Kirjaston skannerin kanssa kokemani takaiskun takia ette saa tänään sarjakuvaa, vaikka tarkoitus oli. Siispä arkistojen kätköistä tilaustyönä tekemäni kuvituskuva viime keväältä. Tämä liittyi johonkin Luonto-Liiton satuseikkailujuttuun, jossa seikkailee pieni papukaija ja "Robin Hood -tyylinen" kettu. Due to a setback I had with the library's scanner you won't get comics today even though I so intended. So you'll get this commissioned illustration from last spring. This was about some Nature League's fairy tale adventure featuring a small parrot and a "Robin Hood like" fox.

RETURN OF THE GOOSE PERSON "It's so nice to be a zoo guide again after being the goose person." // "That goose has clearly hurt its leg!" // "Do I really have to take it to the wildlife hospital now? How would I even transport it? It won't stay in the back of my bike!" // "But I can't call myself the goose person if I don't at least try!" // "Could I have a cardboard box, please?" "Sure!" // "Can you help me to catch a wounded goose?" "Uhh... okay." "Thanks for helping. I will take the goose to the wildlife hospital at the zoo." "Good to know." // "Hi again!" "What is it now? And why are you not in the zoo uniform?" // "Unfortunately the goose's leg was broken and it had no hope of getting better and becoming a wild goose again so it had to be put down. But it's better this way - no predator would have taken it from the concrete jungle."

TRASH BIN JACKDAW Tapahtui samana päivänä kuin edellisen sarjakuvan hanhioperaatio. This happened on the same day as the goose operation in the previous comic. "I've got other things to do than save birds!" "That's what you think..."

THE TRAIL DRIVER, AT LEAST ALMOST Hiljattain siivotessani löysin kaapista Zane Greyn lännenromaanin Aavikon ratsastaja. Sen sivuilta oli jännittäviä piirroksia. Koska minulla ei ole aavistustakaan, miten tämä kirja on minulle päätynyt, en tiedä, kenen taidetta nämä piirrokset ovat. Mielestani ne olivat niin mainioita - varsinkin tuo painonnostaja - että ne ansaitsevat hieman julkisuutta. Nostan siis stetsoniani tälle tuntemattomalle taiteilijalle! Recently, when I was cleaning up, I found a copy of Zane Grey's western novel The Trail Driver from my closet. There were some interesting drawings on the pages. Since I have no idea how this book has ended up to me I don't know who has made these drawings. However, I found them so brilliant - especially that weightlifter - that they deserve some fave. So I'll take my Stetson off for this unknown artist! Myös hieno Winchester-kivääri: Also a fine Winchester rifle:

Tämänkertainen päivitys on fanitaidetta. Mistä toi on? on Aamuset-kaupunkimedian strippisarjakuva (jota tekevät serkkuni ja hänen vaimonsa), jonka ideana on se, että jokaisessa stripissä esiintyy lainaus jostakin suomalaisesta laulusta. Mistä toi on? löytyy mm. täältä ja täältä . (This one doesn't translate very well for cultural reasons. The strip is fan art of a Finnish comic called Mistä toi on? ("Where's that from?) where in every strip there's a quote from some Finnish song.)

HOW DID IT COME TO THIS? Zoo - fun happening today! "Kati, could you help me get dressed in this bee costume?" "Sure." // "Heh. It's like you're going to the battle of Helm's Deep and totally losing." // "..." // "I didn't understand a word of what you just said." "...never mind." // Where is the horse and the rider? Where is the horn that was blowing? They have passed like rain on the mountains, like wind in the meadow. The days have gone down in the West, behind the hills, into Shadow... The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien Finnish translation by Kersti Juva

BOO! "Boo! Boo!" "Boo!" "Booboo!" // "Boobooboo!" // "Boo." // "Boo. Boo. Boobooboo." // "Would you find it nice if I just came and yelled boo at you?" "...no." // "Well how about not yelling at the peacocks either, then?" "Okay."

FLY

PECCARYLIGER Hiljakkoin piirsin uuden eläimen, myskikommakon , yhdistelemällä kolmen satunnaisen eläimen piirteitä. Tämä oli sen verran hauskaa taiteulua, että päätin tehdä saman uudelleen, ja haastoin myös Lumihevosen mukaan. Päätimme arpoa kolme eläintä, piirtää kumpikin niistä omat tulkintamme ja vertailla jälkikäteen, kuinka samanlaisia tai erilaisia otuksistamme tuli. Kolme eläintämme olivat pekari, tiikeri ja leijona. Lumihevosen pekarileikeri löytyy täältä . Recently I drew a new animal, the musk froyote , by combining the traits of three randomly picked animals. This was so much fun that I wanted to do it again and asked Snowhorse to join the challenge. We decided to randomly pick three animals, draw our own animals and afterwards compare them to see how similar they are. Our three animals were peccary, tiger and lion. You can see Snowhorse's peccaryliger here . Tämä haaste oli muuten paljon tylsempi kuin aikaisempi, lähinnä siksi, että tiikeri ja leijona ovat niin samanlaisia eläimiä. Ne on kyllä helppo erottaa toisistaan, mutta vain värityksen ja urosleijonan harjan perusteella. Muodoltaan ne ovat äärimmäisen samanlaisia, minkä takia tähän otukseen oli vaikea ottaa näiltä isoilta kissoilta juuri muita piirteitä kuin ne, jotka erottavat ne toisitaan... Lopullisesta otuksesta tuli kuitenkin aika söpö. This challenge was much less fun than the previous one, mostly because tiger and lion are so similar animals. Their differences are easy to spot of course but they are basically limited to color and male lion's mane. Shape-wise they are extremely much alike so I couldn't really take anything from these big cats to the creature than what separates them... The mixed-creature is still pretty cute.

Inktober on täällä taas! Inktober on taiteilija Jake Parkerin keskismä piirustushaaste, jonka tarkoituksena on piirtää musteella jotakin joka päivä lokakuun ajan ja laittaa teoksensa muiden nähtäväksi. Piirrän päivittäin, mutta postaan kerran viikossa, koska en vaivaudu skannaamaan joka päivä. Käytän inspiraationani Inktoberin "virallista vinkkilistaa" ja kirjoitan joka kuvaan päivän sanan. Lisää mustetta ensi viikolla! Inktober is here again! Inktober is a drawing challenge invented by Jake Parker. The point is to draw with ink every day in October and post your drawings for others to see. I draw daily but only post once a week because I don't bother to scan daily. I use the "Inktober official prompt list" for inspiration and mark the prompt word in every drawing. More ink next week! #Inktober #Inktober2019 The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien Joker by DC Comics

SOMETIMES I WISH I WAS OLD ALREADY "Why is he cramming like that?" // "Argh!" // "Too bad I don't have the guts to nag at teenagers..." // "...but just you wait for another fifty years!" // "Now listen up you young hooligan...!"

12. Snow #Inktober #Inktober2019

AND THE KIDS SING "Bad sandwich, take a willy! Bad sandwich, take a willy!" "Now kids, you shouldn't sing songs like that!" "I'm so glad I didn't become elementary school teacher!" This fantastic song by a group of first-graders visiting the zoo.

A Tale of Redwall by Brian Jacques #Inktober #Inktober2019

SAURON'S HENCHMEN: LAUNDRY DAY "Someone used my ring. Go find it." "We leave immediately, Lord Sauron." // "Wait a second..." // "...What on Middle Earth are you wearing?" "Our spare gowns." "It's Friday." "Laundry day." // "...Leave on Monday." "Yes, Lord Sauron." The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien

The Nightmare Before Christmas by Tim Burton #Inktober #Inktober2019

FLYING SQUIRREL "Here's the flying squirrel costume for you." "Yay." // "I wonder how many meters of canvas there is in here?" // "Well, at least it's warm. Though..." // "...I'm not going to put it on just yet. I can wear it like a cape while we're indoors." // "I'm almost like a shaman wearing a wolf skin!" "Flying squirrel skin." // "Haw haw."

Viimeiset! // The last ones! # Inktober #Inktober2019

PLAYED WRONG "I guess I could have practiced using an ironing board... In kindergarten... You could play house under the stairs there... Though..." // "Hey Kati and Reeta! Come and play house with us!" "We don't have the time at the moment!" // "And we're not Reeta and Kati but ponies..." "...Goldenslipper and Yellowslipper! And right now we have to run away from the bad guys that want to throw us in jail!" // "Those were the days...!" // "I don't regret my life decisions!" Reetan nimi ei oikeasti ollut Reeta, mutta hänen poninimensä oli Keltatossu. Minä olin Kultatossu, koska minulla oli hienot kullanväriset tossut. Reeta's name was not actually Reeta but her pony name was Yellowslipper. I was Goldenslipper because I had fancy golden slippers.

TESTING, TESTING Ostin uutta vesiväripaperia Inktoberia varten. Tässä pari testiuonnosta. I bought some new watercolor paper for Inktober. Here are a couple of test sketches. Pidän tästä pienestä omakuvasta, koska siitä tulevat mieleen Quentin Blaken kuvitukset Roald Dahlin kirjoissa. I like this small self portrait because I makes me think of Quentin Blake's illustrations in Roald Dahl's novels. Vielä yksi aarnikotka. And one griffin.

MUSHROOMS, MUSHROOMS! "To find mushrooms you must see the world like a mushrooms sees it." // "You must think like a mushroom." // "You must become a mushroom." // "You must be... a mushroom..." // "I'd rather not." "Sssh! Mushrooms don't talk."

OUR FUTURE IS IN THE CHILDREN ETC ETC "This is a wisent horn. What substance do you think it is?" "Bone?" "Wood?" "Stone?" "Heart?" "Brain?" // "Bears sleep throughout the winter. Do you know why?" "Because it's cold then!" // "That is one of the reasons, yes, but not the most important one. Can you come up with others?" "'Cause it's cold in the winter!" // "Yes, cold is indeed one reason, what about the others?" // "The bear might get cold!" "Do you listen to each other at all?!" // "What was the thing that stayed in your mind the most from this tour?" "Giraffe*." "Dinosaur**." (*There are no giraffes in the zoo. **Nor dinosaurs.) Toivoisin valehtelevani, mutta tämä kaikki tapahtui tunnin sisällä. I wish I was lying but all of this happened within an hour.

THE BEST CROSSOVER EVER "...sank." "There could be sharks involved." // "You mean the Titanic didn't hit an iceberg but a shark?" "For example." // "Maybe the she ship, after it sunk, was sucked into a huge hurricane." "Like... Sharknado?" "Yeah!" // "And then the Titanic - and all its surviving passengers - have been spinning in the hurricane for a hundred years!" // "Yes, and the only way for them to live is to catch sharks flying by in the middle of the hurricane! With a fishing rod!" // "This would make such a great movie." "Totally." "I'd watch it." "Which producer shall we call?" Tiedän muuten, että pyörremyrskyn keskellä on tyyntä. Mutta se ei liene suurin ongelma tässä hurrikaanissa... By the way, I know it's still in the middle of a tornado. But I don't think it's the biggest problem with this hurricane... Jaws written by Peter Benchley, the movie directed by Steven Spielberg Titanic directed by James Cameron Sharknado directed by Anthony C. Ferrante

IT'S AS SIMPLE AS MAKING PANCAKES "...on a frying pan. Use mild heat, about the same as if you were making pancakes." // "Well, here's how I make pancakes." // Off - mild - medium - hot - really hot - hell's gridiron

TIMES CHANGE "Hi Kati, we need a substitute teacher to teach ninth graders Finnish today, can you come?" "Well... uh... okay." // "Instructions: students will work on computers, teacher has sent them questions in advance." // "Well well... This is my old school. I wonder where the computer classroom is nowadays..." // "There is no computer classroom! There are laptops and pads in all classrooms." "Oh." // "You just need to give the students the instructions, they'll know what to do." "...okay." // "When I was young there was only one computer classroom in the school... and the computers themselves were big cubes...!"

...AND MAMMOTHS STILL WALKED UPON THIS EARTH "Hey Kati, we need a substitute teacher for fifth graders for a day, can you come?" "Okay." // (Instructions) "Hmm." // "Now, you'd need to write a 200-word text about agriculture in your notebooks." // "There's good info about the topic in your science book chapter 9." // "?!?" // "Wha-wha-what are you doing?" "Searching for information." "With our phones." "Online." // "When I was in school, we had to go to the library... and BORROW A BOOK." "What's that?"

MY SPECIAL SKILLS "Hei Kati, can you come and teach PE for middle-school kids for a day?" "Well... uh... okay." // (Instructions) You can play volleyball, or you may use your own skills when planning the PE class. // "Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!" // "My skills aren't really in the sports at all..." // Character sheet: Character name: Kati Species: Human (?) Looks: Brown eyes, curly dark hair Skills: Biology +8, Literature +6, Music -2, Drawing +7, Sports -14 , Nerding +5, Teaching +4, Cooking +2 Equipment: Swiss army knife, hat, woolen socks, pen case, library card, good jacket, striped shirt // "Today, younglins...I'm going to teach you to play quidditch." Ja sitten todella opetin seiskaluokkalaiset pelaamaan huispausta. Kiitos Wiivulle ideasta! And then I actually taught 7th graders to play quidditch. Thanks to Wiivu for the idea!

I'VE STILL GOT IT "Teacherteacherteacher - hahahaha! -teacherteacherteacher!" "What's wrong?" // "I hit - hahaha - my toe. Can I - hehehehe - quit playing this game?" "No." // "Why not? Haha! Can I please go? Hihihihi! Gimme some slack - heh?" "The Oscar for best faked injury is what I'll give you." // "Please please please hehehe please?" "No." // "But did you know that your tongue is connected to your toe muscles? That means the more you talk the more your toe will hurt." // "???? Really?" "No." // "See, I know how to bullshit as well."

FANTASY, REVERSED Eräillä erittäin hyvillä synttärijuhlilla aloimme jutella "käänteiskentaureista" - siis siitä, miltä näyttäisi otus, joka olisi kuin kentauri, mutta sen ihmisosat olisivat hevosen ja hevososat ihmisen. Ja se sitten johti tähän. On a really good birthday party we started to talk about "reversed centaurs" - what would a creature look like if it was like a centaur but its human parts were horse's and horse parts human's. And then it led to this. Varoitus: tissejä. (Joo, varoitus on vasta lopuksi. Miksi? Koska mielestäni piirretyistä tisseistä ei pidä provosoitua.) Trigger warning: boobs. (Yes, the warning is in the end. Why? Because I don't find drawn boobs to be anything to warn about.)

BULLDOG-MAMMOTH-PANDA Eläinyhdistelmähaasteet jatkuvat! Edellisen eläinyhdistelmän, pekarileikerin jälkimainingeissa nimimerkki Nasuhorn ehdotti Lumihevosen blogissa , että seuraavat yhdisteltävät eläimet voisivat olla panda, mammutti ja bulldoggi. Kuten ennenkin, Lumihevonen ja minä teimme omat tulkintamme aiheesta. Lumpparin eläinyhdistelmä löytyy täältä . Animal mash-up challenges continue! After the previous animal mash-up, the peccaryliger , the username Nasuhorn suggested in Snowhorse's blog that the next animals to mash up could be panda, mammoth and bulldog. Like before, Snowhorse and I made our own interpretations of this animal. Snowy's animal can be found here . Tuumasta toimeen siis! Aloitin tapani mukaan tutustumalla kuhunkin eläimeen erikseen ja etsimällä niiden piirteistä niitä, jotka halusin tuoda lopulliseen otukseen. Straight to business! I started off as usual by getting to know each animal and looking for the characteristics I wanted to take into my final creature. Sitten tein muutamia suunnitelmia yhdistellystä olennosta. Alun perin siinä oli enimmäkseen bulldoggia, ja panda ja mammutti olivat lähinnä mausteina. Prosessin aikana panda alkoi kuitenkin dominoida suunnittelua, joten otuksesta tuli lopulta enemmän panda kuin bulldoggi. After that I made some sketches for the mashed-up animal. At first it was mostly a bulldog with panda and mammoth merely spicing it up. During the process, however, the panda started to dominate my plans so in the end the creature is more panda than bulldog. Ja tällainen siitä lopulta tuli! Otuksesta tuli lopulta bulldigginpäinen, syöksyhampainen ja pitkäturkkinen panda. Milestäni aika symppis otus. Tämä oli myös huomattavasti kiinnostavampi ja hauskempi otus suunnitella kuin pekarileikeri - kiitos siis ehdottajalle tästä eläinkombosta! And this is how it turned out. In the end this creature is a bulldog-headed, tusked and long-furred panda. I find it rather sympathetic. This was also much more interesting and fun animal to create than the peccaryliger - so thanks for suggesting this animal combo! Mitä seuraavaksi? Jätä ehdotuksesi sekoitettaviksi eläimiksi (kolme eläintä) kommentteihin! Minä ja Lumihevonen teemme mieluusti lisää tulkintoja! :) What next? Leave your suggesrtion of three animals to mix in the comments! Snowhorse and I'd be happy to take this challenge again! :)

CHRISTMAS EPISODE 2019 Niille jotka tietää. For those in the know. Eli "Olisi sittenkin varmaan pitänyt kääntyä vasemmalle sen varastokomeron jälkeen". Or, "I guess I should have turned left after that storage room after all". Doctor Who by BBC Fantastic Beasts by J.K.Rowling

MERRY CHRISTMAS! A note to my non-Finnish readers: in Finnish, the word for northern lights is "revontulet" which means "fox fires". According to an old belief, the northern lights were caused by a fox that light the fires with its tail.

2019: LOOKING BACK "Another year is over, and a lot happened. Even though I was academically unemployed for quite a big part of the year I've still done many things I've been payed for." // "Here are some of those things..." // Cooking on a camp. "I hate those kids." "Same." // Teaching new camp instructors. "...talk about home sickness..." // Miscellaneous paper work. // Fighting with geese. // Fighting for geese. // Teaching at the nature school. // Leading a camp. // Feeding a kestrel. Carrying a goat around. // Presenting cockroaches. // Knitting gloves. // Teaching Finnish to middle school kids. "Today we'll be reading Asterix." // Supervising a biology exam. "These kids don't understand a thing about biology." // Teaching sports. "I'm supposed to be holding this ball which way up?" // Teaching arts. "Art!" // Walking a dog. // Making a comic. // "So that was that for the past year. Happy new decade for everyone!"

(This doesn't translate because it's about Christmas carols and how they have been forever ruined for me because of puns and stuff. The last one is Sirius Black singing "God bless thee merry hippogriffs".) Harry Potter by J.K.Rowling

LEOBARD Vanha idea, eikä edes minun alun perin, mutta tulipa nyt toteutettua. An old idea, and not even mine originally, but I finally got it done.

THE BEST DAY OF WORK "Hi Kati, can you come and teach arts for 8-graders for two hours?" "Yes!" // "Your teacher told me that today you should do some croquis drawing." // "That means that one at a time is the model and others draw a quick sketch of them. We'll be using water colors." // "I can be the first model. You have five minutes to draw me. After that we'll switch, and I'll start drawing as well." // "An hour and a half of croquis drawing with actually nice teenagers! I'm almost embarrassed that I'm getting payed for this!" Koska croquis-piiroksissa kasvospiirteet ovat kovasti toissijainen asia, piirroksistani lienee mahdotonta tunnistaa malleina olleita oppilaita, joten uskallan julkaista tuon kuvistunnin työni. Because faces are really not that important in croquis drawings I think it's impossible to recognize the students in these drawings, hence I guess I can publish them here.

FAMILY RESEMBLANCE "Every time I go somewhere with my mom this happens... (Or at least really often.)" // "You two really look alike! A mother and a daughter, right?" // "Is it the twins?" // "And she's your daughter? Well, that I could see right away!" // "So a mother and a daughter? I could have guessed!" // "...I guess we do look alike, then. Not that we could see it..." "Yeah, both of us being face blind doesn't really help." // "But I don't even draw us to look alike!" // "ALL the characters in your comics look pretty much the same." "Oh yeah right."

ZEBRA Piirsin Lumihevoselle kalenteriin kansikuvan. Teoksen toinen nimi on "Voit korjata 93% piirustusvirheistäsi dramaattisella varjostuksella". I drew a calendar cover picture for Snowhorse. The other name for this one is "You can fix 93% of your drawing mistakes with dramatic shading".

MUGS Wiivu vei minut tekemään savitöitä. Askartelin tällaiset kaksi mukia. Peurakuvan on Wiivu ystävällisesti lasittanut puolestani, kun en päässyt paikalle. Peuramukissa oli alun perin myös korva, mutta se särkyi ennen polttoa. Wiivu took me to try ceramics. I made these two mugs. Wiivu kindly colored the deer for me when I couldn't be there one time. The deer mug also had a handle but it was broken.

"This is the 500th article in the Gaiverruksia blog! Half a thousand is an important milestone. Hence there will be statistics!" // "I started this blog on October 3rd 2015. Gaiverruksia has therefore existed for 1602 days. I have updated on average every 3.2 days or 2.2 times a week." // "There are 310 comics by the name Gaiverruksia. That makes quite a few pages and panels." // "Of things other than comics most "space" goes to my "Month of" challenges. These four challenges have produced altogether 110 articles in this blog." // "The (nearly) most used category in the blog is still the "original" Scotland Edition with 95 articles." // "The other largest categories are Free time with 96 articles, Nerding with 79 articles and Art and "art" with 65 articles. Go nerds." // "My drawing style has also changed somewhat along the way. I wonder what update number 1000 will look like?"