Re: Glorantha Digest V1 #69

From: MOBTOTRM_at_vaxc.cc.monash.edu.au
Date: Wed, 28 Dec 1994 01:07:23 +1100


G'day all,

I've only had time to lurk with the Glorantha Digest, but Martin's Galastarian poetry prompted me to briefly come out of my shell. I really enjoyed it, especially because of the scholarly footnotes. Please give us some more!



Aussie Fauna

I like to think Australia Fauna (& Flora - the ubiquitous Vegemite plant) might be found on mainland Pamaltela too, as well as on an island somewheres. The Left Hand tribes of Tarien and Jolar seem to hunt kangaroos and such like (see TotRM #11).

Tree Kangaroos are really weird, moving at almost sloth-like pace and a regular feature on the menus of the tribesfolk of Papua New Guinea, where they also exist. I have seen countless nature docos where they get pulled out of a tree and roasted, poor buggers.

Another really strange Aussie animal is the Marsupial Mole: sightless (in fact, the don't have any eyes at all) and covered in bright yellow hair, it spends it life burrowing through the desert soil, hoping, I assume, that it will by chance bump into another marsupial mole. Europeans knew nothing of them until late last century, when one was discovered by chance.

Peter Metcalfe:
>My understanding is that a long time [ago] several species of giant
>carnivorus lizards (larger than a komodo dragon) existed in
>Australia

These were gigantic goannas, and were most likely scavengers rather than predators, just like their surviving relatives. Still, having seen a 2 meter goanna swallow a t-bone from a discarded steak, I'd still keep me distance!



Trivia:
I am a Primary (Elementary) school teacher, but majored in Ancient History. My children are promised a lesson in 6th century Byzantine Hagiography at the end of the year if they good, and I have delivered on my promise with kids from grades 1 to 6. I did begin a law degree before switching to the incredibly-less-renumerative-but-immensely-more-rewarding teaching course, but soon learned I definitely did not want to be a lawyer (I also sat next to s
omeone who later became one of the worst mass murderers in Australian history, but that did not affect my decision at the time, and is in any case, irrelevant to the topic). I am currently 3/4ths of my way through a Masters of Educational Studies in Computer Technology, and am wracking my brains to think of a topic for my final project.

Cheers

MOB

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RQ Con III Down Under: January 19-21 **1996**, Bayswater, Victoria.
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