Minazo and His Bucket

Minazo the seal and his famous blue bucket

I admit I was slightly obsessed after coming across E.T the talented Walrus in my previous post, I also found the above photo, featuring Minazo the Southern Elephant Seal and his famous blue bucket.

At first I couldn't believe what I saw and thought this must be the result of Photoshopping but I managed to find more information - Minazo lived and performed for a decade in an aquarium near Tokyo but sadly passed away in 2005.

The below is some sort of obituary published by Japan Times on 7 October 2005.

YOKOHAMA (Kyodo) Minazo, Japan's largest seal, died this week having charmed visitors for 10 1/2 years at Enoshima Aquarium in Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture, aquarium officials said.

The 11-year-old male, 4.5-meters long and weighing about 2 tons, was the largest seal ever raised by a Japanese aquarium. The animal died Tuesday after its appetite began to rapidly weaken the day before, officials said. The cause of death was not immediately known.

Minazo was brought to Japan from Uruguay in 1995. The seal soon mastered a variety of comical feats, including a popular stunt in which he held a bucket with one flipper while sticking out his tongue.

Minazo quickly rose to stardom at the aquarium, where his three shows a day proved a hit with visitors.

The aquarium has set up a space in front of Minazo's water tank to allow visitors to leave flowers in Minazo's memory, the officials said.

I felt a mild sense of loss to have missed meeting this amazing creature by 8 years, on the other hand, I am aware that it was for human's entertainment that ultimately drove Minazo to his grave by wearing him down with frequent and demanding performances. The typical life-span of an Elephant Seal is 22 years.

RIP Minazo the bucket seal, thanks for leaving us with your wonderful images showcasing your quirky ways.

E.T the Talented Walrus

I have never seen one before but always was curious, now Walrus made it to my Top Ten loveable animal list, click PLAY and you will see why! Simply adorable and the facial expression priceless!

Thanks to Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium in Tacoma, Washington, for sharing this clip!

It's Time To Go... (Evicted!)

The saying Home is where the heart is rings true when I received my second ever eviction notice in my life. It was met with disbelief at first and when reality sunk in, my first thought was OMG I am going be homeless, following by what's going to happen to me, where am I going to live, what is going to happen to my things...

ARGH, the joy of eviction!

Living in a country where the law is pro-landlord, I assume I am not alone being caught in this unfortunate situation. No matter how long the lease is signed, the landlords of Australia have the right to kick you out at any time with any excuses that suit them, they will serve you the correct eviction notice of course but that doesn't make things any better for the tenants.

It is not like I have not been the ideal tenant - rents are paid on time, property kept clean and treating it as if my own, fixing faults on walls and cupboards out of my expanses, taking great care not to ruin the floorboard and not bothering the real estate agent unless it is absolutely necessary. Eviction is what I've got!

For someone who has never been evicted will never know what it feels to not have a place where you can call home, a home for me is a place of where you can park all your anxiety, troubles, dangerous elements of the outside world at the door and be embraced by the feeling of warmth, comfort and security once through the door.

Living in a rented property is like borrowing time and the eviction notice is like terrorist attack for you'll never know when notices like these come. Yes I have liken landlords to terrorists, in this sense, the notice shook me to the core and left me shattered, the wound is easier to disguise but the effect is almost the same.

To rub salt to the wound, Winter is when the rental listing is the lowest, thus, the worst time for flat hunting, there's not much I can do but to start packing. I hate my landlord.

La propriété, c'est le vol!