things I didn't know about butterflies
Jul. 4th, 2010 09:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
amelia_petkovaThis weekend I was walking with my parents on one of the stony beaches along Lake Ontario. I'm looking down for interesting stones as we go along and suddenly see two large yellow butterflies just sitting there! They're hanging out, flapping their wings a little, and we're trying to figure out if they might be hurt. We end up taking a couple photos and moving on.
On the way back, we get to the same spot and now see at least six of that kind of butterfly fluttering around! We had no clue what was going on but a woman who studies butterflies as a hobby clued us in. She said that the butterflies are actually eating salt minerals from the soil and when they do this, it's called "puddling." (At first I thought she said "cuddling" and was greatly amused until I realized the correct word. I still prefer my version.) She also said that sometimes you can attract butterflies if you pour soapy water into a spot in your garden. The butterflies we saw that day were some kind of swallowtail but I forget which variety.
I also finally saw The Princess and the Frog. It was a nice movie, though I had a few minor problems with the plot. At the masquerade ball, Tiana finds out that she's been outbid for the building she wants for her restaurant. The owners of the building never say who outbid her and the matter's never mentioned again; she just hands over all the money needed at the end and that's that. I wanted it to be Dr. Facilier to have been the person who outbid her but as far as we know, he's never met Tiana before she turns into a frog. (He does turn up in the diner where she works, but they don't interact at all.)
For a while, Mom and I were confused about Dr. Facilier's motivation for messing with Naveen and Lawrence. Was he doing it just to be evil? Is he really that angry over Lawrence calling him a charlatan (but that's still after he lures Naveen into the alley). Where's his motivation?! Later on we find out he wants to be rich, have people respect/fear him, and rule over New Orleans. That made a lot of sense and we do see him glaring at rich "Big Daddy" La Bouff a couple scenes beforehand, but at the time that one bit wasn't enough to tell me why he was doing what he did.
I also turned out to be genre savvy in a few spots. (Admittedly, as this is a Disney film, it isn't always that hard.)
--[scene: Tiana's singing about her restaurant and her mother wants to know how long she's going to put off love]
Me: Subtext: give me grandchildren.
[a few moments later]
Tiana's Mother: I want some grandkids.
-- [scene: beginning of the Masquerade Ball]
Me: That's some hoopskirt that Lottie's wearing. Wouldn't it be fun if it flipped up over her head?
[a few minutes later, the frogs jump down the back of Lottie's dress and this happens]
On the way back, we get to the same spot and now see at least six of that kind of butterfly fluttering around! We had no clue what was going on but a woman who studies butterflies as a hobby clued us in. She said that the butterflies are actually eating salt minerals from the soil and when they do this, it's called "puddling." (At first I thought she said "cuddling" and was greatly amused until I realized the correct word. I still prefer my version.) She also said that sometimes you can attract butterflies if you pour soapy water into a spot in your garden. The butterflies we saw that day were some kind of swallowtail but I forget which variety.
I also finally saw The Princess and the Frog. It was a nice movie, though I had a few minor problems with the plot. At the masquerade ball, Tiana finds out that she's been outbid for the building she wants for her restaurant. The owners of the building never say who outbid her and the matter's never mentioned again; she just hands over all the money needed at the end and that's that. I wanted it to be Dr. Facilier to have been the person who outbid her but as far as we know, he's never met Tiana before she turns into a frog. (He does turn up in the diner where she works, but they don't interact at all.)
For a while, Mom and I were confused about Dr. Facilier's motivation for messing with Naveen and Lawrence. Was he doing it just to be evil? Is he really that angry over Lawrence calling him a charlatan (but that's still after he lures Naveen into the alley). Where's his motivation?! Later on we find out he wants to be rich, have people respect/fear him, and rule over New Orleans. That made a lot of sense and we do see him glaring at rich "Big Daddy" La Bouff a couple scenes beforehand, but at the time that one bit wasn't enough to tell me why he was doing what he did.
I also turned out to be genre savvy in a few spots. (Admittedly, as this is a Disney film, it isn't always that hard.)
--[scene: Tiana's singing about her restaurant and her mother wants to know how long she's going to put off love]
Me: Subtext: give me grandchildren.
[a few moments later]
Tiana's Mother: I want some grandkids.
-- [scene: beginning of the Masquerade Ball]
Me: That's some hoopskirt that Lottie's wearing. Wouldn't it be fun if it flipped up over her head?
[a few minutes later, the frogs jump down the back of Lottie's dress and this happens]
