Primacy

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Kristen and @maddieziegler: image via sia @Sia, 9 February 2015

 Kristen Wiig and @maddieziegler giving TOTAL BOSSNESS: image via sia @Sia, 8 February 2015

Kristen Wiig and Maddie Ziegler perform with Sia at the Grammys: photo by Frank Micelotta/REX via the Guardian, 9 February 2015

Mystery of Baboon Apathy -- Have the Grammys Done It?

Zoologists are puzzled by the strange behaviour of hamadryas baboons at the Emmen zoo in in the Netherlands. Usually, they are very active and spread over the whole playing area. But this week they appear to have been struck by mass apathy, sitting still, huddled together in fear and hardly eating: photo by Vincent Jannink/AFP via The Guardian, 2 August 2013

Spooked baboons baffle Dutch zoo in Emmen: BBC News Europe, 2 August 2013

Staff at a zoo in the Netherlands say they are baffled by their baboons, who have spent days sitting still, huddled together in fear and hardly eating.

The behaviour started on Monday evening, and only now are the 112 baboons becoming their normal, active selves again, said a biologist at Emmen Zoo.

The zoo still has no idea what spooked the hamadryas baboons, but it is a good sign that some are now eating apples, biologist Wijbren Landman said.

The zoo last saw such hysteria in 2007.

"What frightened them? We don't know, it's a mystery. There have been many suggestions -- an earthquake, escaped snakes, aliens, thunder," Mr Landman told BBC News.

"The other animals here are OK -- they have lemurs, elephants and kangaroos as neighbours, and they show no sign of panic."

The baboons took to the trees in fear... and stayed there: photo by Emmen Zoo via BBC News Europe, 2 August 2013 

Emmen lies in the north-eastern Netherlands, near the German border.

Mr Landman said he had consulted a French baboon expert who had witnessed such baboon hysteria in the wild, triggered by awareness of a predator. But the French expert said such hysteria had not lasted as long as in the Emmen case.

"The first deviation we saw was on Monday evening," Mr Landman said.

We were going to bring them to the night enclosure -- it normally takes a minute for all 112 to enter, but it took more than an hour to get them all inside. Then the next morning it was a problem to get them out, and then they were immediately sitting in the trees and on the rocks doing nothing at all."

He said some males in the hierarchy must have got frightened for some reason, and the rest of the baboons followed their lead.

According to Mr Landman, it is unlikely they would have been spooked by a fox, as the zoo is in the city centre, and they are used to seeing herons flying low over their enclosure, so a bird of prey is also an unlikely cause.

The Emmen baboons had similar scares in 1994, 1997 and 2007 and some would have experienced the previous hysteria, as hamadryas baboons can reach the age of 30, Mr Landman said.

Hamadryas Baboons in Awash National Park, Ethiopia: photo by BBC NHU/Matt Pines via The Guardian, 18 July 2012

 Hamadryas Baboons (Papio hamadryas), Madrid Zoo: photo by Manuel González Olaechea y Franco, 2007



Hamadryas Baboons (Papio hamadryas), Brooklyn Prospect Park Zoo: photo by Wally Gobetz, 28 April 2007



 Hamadryas Baboons (Papio hamadryas): photo by davidbuttle, 16 October 2011

Hamadryas Baboons (Papio hamadryas): photo by davidbuttle, 16 October 2011

 Hamadryas Baboons (Papio hamadryas): photo by davidbuttle, 16 October 2011

 Hamadryas Baboon (Papio hamadryas): photo by davidbuttle, 16 October 2011

 Hamadryas Baboons (Papio hamadryas), Singapore Zoo: photo by Li3, 18 January 2010

Hamadryas Baboon (Papio hamadryas), male, Singapore Zoo: photo by Li3, 18 January 2010

 Hamadryas Baboons (Papio hamadryas), Antwerp Zoo: photo by Truus and Zoo, 27 March 2010

Pink ladies, fright wigs and butt cheeks

Sia, Rihanna and Madonna shocked and awed at the 2015 Grammy awards: photo: Guardian composite, 8 February 2015

Grammys 2015: Madonna's bum eclipses Rihanna's 'toilet doll' dress on red carpet: Madonna’s bottom-scrunchie affair was the standout outfit on a night of fashion extremes which saw Sia channel Cousin It and Rihanna cover up: Brigid Delaney, The Guardian, 8 February 2015

There were a lot of standout outfits at the Grammys this year, but Madonna’s bottom-scrunchie affair may safely be described as the most gasp-worthy.

The elasticised band clutched the southern side of her butt cheeks, pushing them up and out and emphasising their Pilates peachiness.

The bottom scrunchie –- in case it didn’t make enough of an impact –- was matched with fishnet stockings, thigh-high leather boots with silver spiked heels, and biceps-high black gloves.

It was a look that said “German beer wench crossed with Weimar Republic cabaret crooner”. It also said “matador crossed with Mad Max” and “I’m 56, what of it?”

While Madonna was all flash and dash, performers such as Sia and Rihanna went the other way, covering up and over themselves with wigs and acres of fabric.

Sia channelled Cousin It in a fluffy white triangular wig reminiscent of roofing insulation remnants. Only her mouth –- wearing a fetching bright, red lipstick -– and nose remained visible.

She was accompanied (or “supported” as some websites had it) by child doppelganger Dance Moms’ Maddie Ziegler.

Then there was Rihanna. Her pink Giambattista Valli creation was a gorgeous, vivid colour but its high waist and full skirt resembled the "toilet dolls" sometimes sold, in days of yore, at regional craft markets.

Bare your bum, cover your body and face entirely – it was a night of glorious extremes at the Grammys.

We are real, these are our real faces

Japanese Macaques (Macaca fuscata), Jigokudani hot spring, Nagano, Japan: photo by Yosemite, 2005

A Japanese snow monkey relaxes in a hot spring in the Jigokudani valley in northern Nagano Prefecture in Japan. The macaques descend from the forests to the warm waters of the hot springs in the mornings, and return to the security of the forests in the evenings: photo by Nick Ut/AP, 11 February 2012

Japanese Macaques (Macaca fuscata), Jigokudani Onsen, Yamanouchi, Nagano Prefecture, Japan: photo by Fg2, 25 February 2006

Japanese Macaques (Macaca fuscata) (Nihon zaru) soak in a hot spring (onsen), Jigokudani Yaen Koen (Snow Monkey Park), Yamanouchi town, Nagano, Japan: photo by edamame note, January 2010



Japanese Macaques (Macaca fuscata) (Nihon zaru) soak in a hot spring (onsen), Jigokudani Yaen Koen (Snow Monkey Park), Yamanouchi town, Nagano, Japan: photo by edamame note, January 2010

#Japanese #Macaque (#SnowMonkey) is the northernmost-living nonhuman primate, found at Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu: image via TravelExpo @TravelEXpo, 29 November 2014

Nature amazes: #Japanese #macaque thinks about taking dip in hot spring at Jigokudani Wild MonkeyPark, Nagano Woods: image via The Earth @myearthfriend, 31 January 2015

I Am Cousin It. This Is Not My Real Face. Be Afraid.

I am #Sia #GRAMMYs: image via Lisa Chang @MSLisaChang, 9 February 2015

Yeah, let's be clear, I'll trust no one You did not break me I'm still fighting for peace #ElasticHeart #Sia: image via Vanessa Aguilar @vanelli, 4 February 2015

This might be my real face

Oooh, this is why she never shows her face.. #Sia: image via Allysha Petkovic @AllyshaPetko, 6 February 2015

Sia #Sia Showing face or not, hit songwriter Sia heads to centre stage at Grammys as ... 623: image via Mary Smith @smitharyy, 8 February 2015

I am Cousin It and whoever's face it is, this is an Epic epic honor

Wigging out! @Sia and @maddieziegler have arrived at the #GRAMMYS #sia: image via Daily Front Row @DailyFrontRow, 8 February 2015

#Sia on the #GrammysRedCarpet. Fashion??? @Sia @alschaben: image via Cindy Hively @cindyhively, 8 February 2015 Los Angeles, CA

In person, this is even more bizarre. #GRAMMYS #Sia: image via Matthew Belloni @THRMattBelloni, 8 February 2015

This is what I do every time I'm in Anthropologie, too. #GRAMMYS #Sia: image via Matthew Murphy @MurphyMade, 8 February 2015

There's an SM58 back there. We swear. #GRAMMYS #Sia: image via Shure Incorporated @shureinc, 8 February 2015

 #Sia Sia Sia Wore A Massive Wig To The 2015 Grammys, Bow Down 566: image via Mary Smith @smitharyy, 9 February 2015

Pretty Flamingoes

Mating ritual of the James's Flamingo (Phoenicopterus jamesi); also known as the Puna Flamingo, it breeds on the high Andean plateaus of Peru, Chile, Bolivia and Argentina: photo by Pedro Szekely, 19 August 2007

 

Flamingoes in Laguna Colorada, Ayuni, Bolivia: photo by Carlos Adampol Galindo, 23 February 2008

 

James's Flamingos at Laguna Colorada in Bolivia: photo by Valdiney Pimenta, c. 20 August 2007
 

Phoenocopterus jamesi (James's Flamingoes, aka Puna Flamingoes) on Laguna Colorada, Bolivia: photo by Sarah and Iain, 12 December 2006

Phoenocopterus jamesi (James's Flamingoes, aka Puna Flamingoes) on Laguna Colorada, Bolivia: photo by Sarah and Iain, 12 December 2006

Phoenocopterus jamesi (James's Flamingoes, aka Puna Flamingoes) on Laguna Colorada, Bolivia: photo by Sarah and Iain, 12 December 2006

Clouds of salt stirred by the harsh afternoon wind on Laguna Colorada, Bolivia: photo by rackyross, 11 January 2011



American Flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber), National Zoo, Washington, D.C.: photo by Stevehdc, 2007

Lesser flamingos (Phenicopterus minor), Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania: photo by Charles J. Sharp, 2004

Lesser flamingos (Phenicopterus minor), Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania: photo by Charles J. Sharp, 2004

 

Flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber), Lisbon Zoo: photo by Alfonsopazpoto, 14 July 2005

 

Untitled (Warsaw, Masovian, Poland): photo by Dorota Marta (Sex Crime 1984), 13 July 2013

Untitled (Warsaw, Masovian, Poland): photo by Dorota Marta (Sex Crime 1984), 29 April 2013

Partying with Pink Ladies Everywhere

London, UK. Guests arrive at a Conservative party fundraising event at the Grosvenor House hotel in Mayfair. They paid £1,500 a head to feast on a starter of smoked salmon with horseradish; a main course of confit of lamb neck with celeriac and a haggis sauce; and to finish, panacotta with rhubarb and mint oil: photo by Frantzesco Kangaris/for the Guardian, 9 February 2015

MT @Breaking3zero #swiss leaks #HSBC may have worked with arms dealers & diamond merchants and some dictators: image via Chitra Subramaniam @chitraSD, 8 February 2015

"We could be heroes" #Swiss leaks: image via Héctor Juanatey @héctorjuanatey, 8 February 2015

Interactive map showing how much money #HSBChas helped tax dodgers hide around the world: image via gmapsmania @gmapsmania, 9 February 2015

Not sure about this new #HSBC advert: image via James Martin @Pundamentalism, 9 February 2015

Rihanna: the Most Fabric on One Human award. One question – how much does this amount of frou frou weigh? Ri-Ri is up for the challenge of finding out. Her pink wedding-cake dress makes us happy: photo by Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic via The Guardian, 9 February 2015

Sia performs on stage at the Palais Theatre in February 2011 in Melbourne, Australia: photo by Graham Denholm via The Guardian, 7 July 2014

No wonder the pink ladies could afford to sponsor that girls education they were evading tax #bbcpanorama #HSBCLeaks: image via Scott Holmes @scottlovesstuff, 9 February 2015

Lord Green to BBC's Richard Bilton: "I'm not prepared to make any comments on #HSBC''s business past or present": image via Ian Fraser @IanFraser, 9 February 2015

@EtonOldBoys I see Cameron is desperately trying to defend Lord Green #bbcpanorama: image via Noel McGivern @Good_Beard, 9 February 2015

Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga at the Grammys: photo by Jason Merritt via the Guardian, 9 February 2015

Cheek-a-boo! Madonna at the Grammys: photo by Jason Merritt via the Guardian, 9 February 2015

Madonna … Making an entrance at the Grammys: photo by Kevin Mazur/WireImage via the Guardian, 9 February 2015

I Am Cousin It. Total Bossness. Goodnight.

Notoriously face-shy Sia arrives at the Grammys with Maddie Ziegler: photo by Jordan Strauss/AP via the Guardian, 9 February 2015

Sia (right) appears with her stand-in, dancer Maddie Ziegler: photo by Jeff Vespa/WireImage via the Guardian, 9 February 2015

Epic epic honor. Kristen Wiig and  Bossing it up on the red carpet with my sister in arms @maddieziegler: image via sia @Sia, 8 February 2015

 "He purposely erased a lot of his own humanity” #LastDay #Warhol @tateliverpool (booking rec.): image via The Double Negative @TheDbleNgtve, 8 February 2015

Another face with trademark hair: photo by Nancy R Schiff via The Guardian, 9 February 2015

Sia: as unidentifiable as a unicorn bum. Sia and New York City's Gay Men's Chorus pose backstage during Logo TV's 'Trailblazers' at the Cathedral of St John the Divine in June 2014: photo by Andrew H. Walker via The Guardian, 7 July 2014