False Honey Ant - Prenolepis imparis

Let's briefly revisit these mismatched individuals and be reminded of the warmer days of spring and nuptial flights. Though of different sizes and forms, the Ants in these pictures are the same specie, but are simply designed for different purposes. All the smaller winged male Ants here must do is secure a female and successfully form a mating pair with her. After that, his job is done and that'll be the end of him. At least he gets to enjoy the sun and breeze as he does so, as other species of Ants may have to venture underground to find a mate. Those that do are heavily scrutinized by queen's workers, and should he be deemed unfit, he will be carved apart and converted into food for the colony. If he's lucky, it will just be the wings that are eaten (first). Meanwhile, the swollen female has a long life ahead of her, especially when she finds a suitable colony location deep within the ground.

When the queen is ready, she will have shed her wings and shall foster a wonderful home teeming with loyal subjects and defenders by suppling an egg output thanks to the male's contribution. With a fill of resources inside her abdomen, she has all the energy she needs to facilitate a nest and the first batch of workers. Do not be confused however, she is full of fat reserves, not honey (unlike true Honeypot Ants such as Myrmecocystus spp.), hence the name "False Honey Ant". As the fat reserves begin to dwindle, however, sclerotization of exoskeleton progresses, as can be seen in the winged queen in Picture 9. As such, these young queens have time, but not unlimited time to find a home. I hope to see the nuptial flight this year if I can, but the emergence can be somewhat unpredictable. What is predictable however, is that this Ant will likely emerge earlier than other species as they are more tolerant of colder temperatures. They are so tolerant in fact, that they may even forage during winter, provided it isn't too cold and snow doesn't impede their locomotion.

Pictures were taken on April 8 and 10, 2021 with a Google Pixel 4.

REBECCA FERGUSON - DUNE Q&A at TIFF 2021

Life advice via TIFF

Toronto has an in arena DJ

And this man is A. VIBE.

Just discovered this podcast with Dan that was made during the pandemic. Lots of background stories that I enjoyed.

Some of my personal favorites

Part 2

Mahershala Ali’s Best Looks

Part 1

1. At the 2021 Deadline Contenders Film

2. Wearing Dzojchen at the season 3 premiere of ‘True Detective’ in 2019

3. Wearing Etro at the 2019 Golden Globe Awards

4. Wearing Etro at the premiere of ‘Green Book’ in 2018

5. Wearing Yumi Katsura at the 2018 Oscars

6. At the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival

7. Wearing Ermenegildo Zegna at the 2019 Emmys

(source)

FUJI MY BELOVED!!!!!!

2021/12/1

since it's the offseason now: last week I had a moment and made playlists of all of the blue jays MLB highlight videos for 2022, 2021 and 2020. i love the highlights and i wanted to have them all in one place, so i thought i'd share the links here in case anyone else wants that too

2022 highlights

2021 highlights

2020 highlights

Villa Bee Fly - Villa sp.

Neighborhood flowers like these are the perfect place to find pollinating insects such as Bees and snap a few pictures of them. Imagine my surprise to find this imposter darting around and surveying the flowers, and poking around for nectar using its proboscis. Although it's a small proboscis, rest assured that it is indeed a proboscis built for sipping, not a labellum (spongy mouthpart) for soaking. With how it buzzes around, stays near flowers and flashes its striped body, it's a convincing Bee mimic (if somewhat lacking in the fuzz department). As for what specie it is, I can only make an educated guess by comparing it with similar images and other Villa species. While searching for the identification, I was surprised to learn that this specie of Bee Fly is one of the more "plain" ones within the Villa genus. The breadth of biodiversity within this genus is staggering, with many species sporting colors yellow, red, gold and black, in most cases in the form of hairs, further lending authenticity to be mistaken as a Bee. This Fly isn't so grandiose as the others, and as such many that resemble it aren't conclusively identified. My best guess here would be V. arenicola due to its overall appearance, the pronounced wing venation and the presence of 2 white plumage spots at the very tip of the abdomen.

Like Bees and the other Bee Flies, it may not be a surprise to find individuals like this one rummaging on flowers, but it might surprise you learn that these Flies are also associated with sand. Specially, female Villa Flies due to their method of egg dispersal. To be specific, the larvae of these insects are endoparasites, meaning that they live inside a host and feed off of them. So what does sand have to do it? When ready, the female Fly finds a hole in a location filled with potential hosts for her eggs and begins to gather sand and other suitable fillings to place in the hole. She even has a "sand pouch" to stock up when a resource is found. When the hole is ready, the mother Fly flicks (using her abdomen) her eggs into the hole one at a time; the coating of dusts and sand allows the eggs to clump without sticking together. When the eggs hatch, the larvae find suite soft-bodied hosts to infest such as younger forms of Lepidopterans and Darkling Beetles. They will grow and develop within those hosts! They are even prepared for when their host pupates (and they are still inside): the Fly's own pupa is lined with spikes, allowing it to pierce the host's pupa and emerge as an adult Fly through it. Remember, the pupa is not a still object, but rather a living thing that moves only when it has the energy to do so. Considering they're learning as they go along, these Flies are very resourceful!

Pictures were taken on July 15, 2021 with a Google Pixel 4.

Rebecca Ferguson at Toronto International Film Festival | September 11, 2021

Walk On Your Wild Side Day

The world often tells us that we need to live according to some form of social contract, that the rules are there to keep everyone safe, and that any variance from the norm is deviance. Throughout the entirety of history, it has been those that rode high on the wave of innovation, uniqueness, and creativity that have left the most lasting legacies. Walk On Your Wild Side Day is a call to your inner champion, the part of you that sees the world as no one else can. Who will you be on Walk On Your Wild Side Day? And who will you be the day after?

History Of Walk On Your Wild Side Day History is full of those who have utterly changed the world by refusing to be constrained by ‘should be’s’ and ‘nice girls don’t’. Instead, they have turned their eyes to the sun and gathered their most creative and inspired souls and charged into the world, only to leave it completely changed in their wake.

Thomas and Ruth Roy are credited with being the creators of this celebration, the couple who are in charge of Wellcat.com. It was created in recognition that ‘what other people will think’ is the stupidest reason not to do something, and rather denotes a lack of courage.

You only have one life to live, and even if you believe in reincarnation there is absolutely no reason not to live each and every one of your lives to their absolute fullest. Your dreams are something worth pursuing, your ideas worth discussing, you never know what crazy idea you have is going to change your life or the world.

Walk On Your Wild Side Day is also a chance to change the life of someone else. By living your life out loud, unafraid of the opinions of others, you may inspire someone who was feeling lost and encourage them to join you on your campaign of uniqueness.

How To Celebrate Walk On Your Wild Side Day Celebrating Walk On Your Wild Side Day is as simple as letting your freak flag fly. Maybe you want to dress in garish colors or wear outfits that are decidedly outside the norm. Are you a medieval reenactor or a Steampunk fan? Splash up the world by wearing your outfits. Do you hold unconventional opinions? Don’t hold them in reserve today, tell people what you think! Even if it’s just on Walk On Your Wild Side Day, you should do something to venerate it that scares you to death.

Source

Rebecca Ferguson | 'Dune' Premiere | Toronto Film Festival in Toronto, Canada | 2021

The Cybertronic Spree, live at Lee's Palace in Toronto, November 2021

Auston Matthews first of many goals in these playoff that's right first of many

And of course Mitch got the primary assist its a tale as old as time.

Captain Johnny T got in assist as well 🥰