Leo's Twitter Updates for 2008-04-10

• Just arrived at Cradle Mountain, Tasmania. We're off to see the devils. #

Save The Devils

When I told people I was going to Tasmania often the first thing they'd say is "oh! the Tasmanian Devil!" Taz, the Warner Brother's cartoon character, while based on the real thing, lacks some of the charm of the actual Tasmanian Devils. They're small marsupials with pointy little teeth and a howling cry that no doubt inspired a fear of the devil in the first settlers on Tasmania. These little devils are carnivorous, but don't worry, they only eat things that are already dead. They're less of a threat to us than we are to them. But the biggest threat to the Devil these days is a virulent form of cancer that's wiped out half the population in just eight years. This cancer is spread during play and mating and is always fatal. Tasmanians have mounted an effort to save the Devil at www.tassiedevil.com.au. The prints we sell at our reception Sunday from 5-7p at the Henry Jones Art Hotel in Hobart will benefit the Save the Devil program. I took these pictures at Devils@Cradle. That's Chris, non-chalantly holding a 10-month-old devil. We were warned to keep our fingers away, but they do appear pretty cuddly.

This little guy isn't mad, he's just yawning. They do that when they get nervous. Believe it or not, the Devils (even these human raised fellas) are pretty shy. More pictures from our travels around Tazzie are up at the gallery at www.xyzadventures.com/galleries, and, of course, I've posted a ton more shots on my SmugMug page. We're off to see the rain forest, then tonight it's caves.

Leo's Twitter Updates for 2008-04-09

• It's really sunny today - for the first time all week. Breaking out the polarizing filters for the boat ride to Freixenet Forest. Video soon #
• Packing for the drive to Cradle Mountain, on Tasmania's rugged west coast. #

Packing My Kit

Getting ready for today's trip by boat to the Freycinet National Forest, on Tasmania's east coast.

Leo's Twitter Updates for 2008-04-08

• My dearest daughter @abbylaporte got both bad news and good news today. (For her parents it might be the reverse.) CONGRATULATIONS Abby!!!!! #
• @drapps Thanks for making me a tweet cloud. Way cool! (Even if their server is clobbered!) http://snurl.com/23pog #
• @cnansen True. Bruce Dale who has decades as a foreign correspondent always says "make a photo." He doesn't use rifle stock zooms either. #
• Anyone have one of the original IBM XT full height hard drives? The 5 or 10 meggers? Looking for one for a photo comparing storage devices. #
• @rogermcguinn says I must never sing "Tambourine Man" again. Yessir! #
• Wow - I'm getting lots of offers of XT full height drives. Thanks! I'll message you. It's for Bruce Dale who has a swell idea for a photo. #
• He wants to show a 32GB flash card next to a comparable amount of XT HD storage. He figures three pickup trucks' worth. (He'll clone them). #
• Photo tips of the stars: close or cover one eye and squint the other to get a rough idea of how a shot will look (composition and lighting). #
• @manton Many of us got big spikes end of Feb - some in the thousands - Twitter did something with the database. #