Fossas are Madagascar’s largest endemic predators. And since Madagascar is some random island that’s mostly famous for having the world’s loudest cockroaches, of course fossas are just twenty pound weasels. But they’re also the most depraved sexual libertines to walk the earth since David Bowie got married. Basically a lady just goes up in a tree, and lots of guys come around and start screaming and screamingandattacking each other until the lady decides that one of the guys is the best screamer and the most skilled bitch-slapper, and then they just go at it like crazy up in the tree, and did I mention that the male’s penis is fucking BARBED? Because you can’t be worried about slipping out when you’re worried about slipping out of a tree. And when they’re done the female just goes ahead and mates with all the other screaming guys who are waiting their turns down below, for up to FORTY HOURS STRAIGHT. Maybe it’s my prudish Puritan morals, but god damn fossas, leave some slutty for the rest of us.
Just thought I’d share this neat example of pleochroism. It’s a sapphire crystal from Madagascar which I just recently noticed is considerably greener when viewed edge-on. This isn’t unusual with corundum (and quite a few other gemstones for that matter), but the color difference here seemed striking enough to make a little post about it. #sapphire #crystal #pleochroism #geology #rockhound #fossicking #gems #gemstone #dichroic #corundum #gemrough #mineralspecimen #madagascar https://www.instagram.com/p/Bv64WQ-AfK_/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=joh4proeorv
Join me for tomorrow’s live sale, and enter to win this beautiful rainbow Labradorite palm stone! I love the soft yet dynamic rainbow palette of this large, flat disc-shaped stone. Enter to win this pretty stone by following @phenomenalgems on Instagram, liking this post, and tagging two friends below, it’s just that easy! Tag as many people as you like (two names per entry), and make sure to watch the first live show to see if your name is drawn. Make sure you have IG notifications turned on to be notified when we go live—we will be featuring a beautiful selection of raw and polished minerals from around the world. Join me @phenomenalgems on Instagram later today at 7 pm mst to watch Table 1, and see upcoming posts to enter the giveaway for Table 2! #labradorite #rainbow #labradoritelove #freecrystal #crystalgiveaway #polishedcrystal #minerals #mineralspecimen #madagascar #crystallivesale #crystallive #phenomenalgems #etsycrystals https://www.instagram.com/p/CMJhvnPnmhS/?igshid=1obrhftyy0c2r
Album by Henri Letrillard: 68 original photographs & 19 watercolours, signed with initials or full name. Oblong 4to. 1895 -1902.
A well-executed album compiled and drawn by Henri Letrillard, a French officer serving in Madagascar, transformed by the 19 watercolours in his hand, which are made with wit and vigour and vividly illuminate the domestic life of the military administration of the island. The years 1896 to 1904 saw a series of insurrections led against the French military and other foreign influences. The French, using their experience in Indo-China used the counter-insurgency “oil-spot” principle, where secure bases were established, from which a ring of stability would spread. Letrillard appears to have served in two such settlements, Madirovalo and Namorako, both some way inland from the north-west coast. Both Madirovalo and Namorako had defended bases, with lookout towers, surrounded by wooden ramparts and drawbridges. These stockades are shown several times in his watercolours but not in the photographs, nor in any other photographs we have seen before of Madagascar. The photographs capture scenes of daily life showing both settlers and natives, views of Diego Suarez, Vohemar, Nossi Bè [sic], Antananarivo and Mahajunga (sometimes spelt here Majunga), and one photograph of Djibouti. One large photograph is of a firing squad “le peloton d’éxecution” at Majunga: the victim is not in the frame, but the event is well attended by onlookers. The caption records the officer in charge of the firing squad was later killed by the enemy in Lampasika. The album concludes with numerous shots of French soldiers at camp including an exceptional photograph of soldiers on a hunting trip, posing very theatrically in front of their tent.
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