Department 56 North Pole Village Penguin Visitor Center

For over a decade my brother has had a growing collection of building and accessories in Department 56's North Pole Series. Every Christmas he gets a new building. This year we got him the Penguin Visitor Center. I never expected or even wanted penguins to be in his village until I heard about this building. The main thing is that penguins do not naturally live in the Northern Hemisphere it really bugs me to see Christmas decorations even suggest that they do or even represent them with polar bears. So, why do I think this is okay?

First off, of course, the village is fictional. The real thing, though, is that it is rooted in truth that penguins do not live at the North Pole because it presents them as visitors. Sure, it makes them antropomorphic tourists, but that is a line I am okay with, as long as it is not trying to continue the lie too many believe about penguins living in the same place as polar bears. Besides they are still so cute.

Holiday Airfare Deals from my Friend in Paradise!

This is a sponsored guest post written by Ali Kendall on behalf of airfare-now.com. Post powered by Sponzai.

Just wanted to send a quick "shout-out" across the Pacific to my friend Ali in sunny Honolulu, Hawaii!

Ali runs the airfare-now.com website with all kinds of tips, coupons, strategies, etc. for findng holiday airfare deals. Now airfare comparison travel sites have come a long way in the past few years but there are still literally thousands of them to choose from. So here's a big aloha and mahalo to Ali for keeping it simple on a pretty nifty little travel website!

 

Television Shows With Penguins: Merry Madagascar

Merry Madagascar is a new holiday special that premiered last night on NBC and then was released on DVD today (I think it is only available at Wal-Mart currently). The 30 minutes special (little less as there are commercials) with the characters from Madagascar. It is set between the story line of Madagascar 2 and The Penguins of Madagascar series that is on Nickelodeon, as the animals including the penguins are still in Madagascar.

Overall it is a pretty entertaining plot. King Julian is in it, but he is not as annoying as in The Penguins of Madagascar series. The penguins are somewhat minor characters more like in the movies than the show, but they are still part of the main characters. In the episode the penguins end up serving in place of the reindeer as the animals deliver the presents for Santa after he crash lands in Madagascar and loses his memory. Julian is left behind and tries to create a holiday that honors him and is all about him getting presents, but he then learns that it is not any fun if you do not give as well as receive.

Whisky to be Salvaged from Antarctica

Part of the items that were left behind by Shackleton during his Nimrod expedition in 1909 was some whiskey. The whiskey is an old brand of McKinlay and Co whiskey that is rare and extinct. The whiskey is to be recovered by a team of New Zealanders for the Whyte and Mackay company that owns McKinlay and Co. They want the whiskey to have samples for an experiment. They want to try to replicate the whiskey. The crates of the whiskey was discovered back in January 2006 under the floorboards of the Cape Royd's hut, but the could not be retrieved because they were too deep in the ice.

Source: NZ team to drill for whisky in Antarctica

Japan's New Icebreaker and Plans for the Old One

Earlier this week Japan's newest icebreaker left Japan for Antarctica. The ship is stopping in Australia where most of the observation team will board it before it heads to Antarctica. It is expected to reach Japan's Showa Base around mid-December. The new ship is Japan's fourth icebreaker. It named Shirase, which is the same name the third one had. The third one has been taken out of active use and plans are in place to turn it into a tourist attraction that teaches about the environment and climate change.

Source: New icebreaker begins voyage to Antarctica

Illegal Fishing Activity in Antarctica

Recently a gillnet was found in the Southern Ocean, which surrounds Antarctica, by the Australian authorities in the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources protected area. The gillnet was set to capture Antarctic toothfish and had 29 tonnes of the fish in it. Since 2004 the use of such nets has been illegal in the area in part due to the Antarctic toothfish being a threatened species. Read more about this news in this article.

Rare Whale Species Spotted Near Antarctica

Here is an interesting article about a rare whale species being spotted earlier this year near Antarctica. Very little is known about the Armoux's beaked whales. They are rarely spotted and even rarer is to see them in large groups, but they were spotted twice in groups of 60 and 25 about a month apart in May and June of 2009.

Television Shows With Penguins: "Now with Feathers!/A Frill a Minute" episode of Dinosaur Train

Dinosaur Train is a great new PBS show. The "Now with Feathers!" part of the episode is about why Velociraptors have feathers, but cannot fly. As part of the educational segment after that part of the episode, animals with feathers that cannot fly are named including the penguin.

Movies with Penguins: The Pebble and the Penguin

The Pebble and the Penguin is sort of an educational animated movie with an Adelie Penguin named Hubie as the star. It is not a horrible movie, but the whole musical aspect seems too forced and really detracts from not only the educational value, but the entertainment value. I was quite disappointed in the movie, as it not only was not all the educational with the whole plot of the penguin being able to escape capture from a zoo ship and then making the journey back to Antarctica successful being a major stretch of reality, but it was not even that entertaining.

I do not mind penguin movies that are not realistic, as I do love the penguins in the Madagascar movies and Mary Poppins, but then it has to be a fun movie to watch. I will be honest that I did not even pay much attention to it after the first half, as it was rather boring. Also, disappointing was I ended up with the plain DVD with no special features. That is what Netflix mails out, but there is a Family Fun version that has two featurettes and 8 games that might be more enjoyable, however the special features cannot make up for the boring movie entirely.

Chinese and Taiwanese to Work Together in Antarctica

Here is an interesting article about the Chinese and Taiwanese working together in Antarctica. Collaboration between countries happens a lot in Antarctic research along with the sharing of bases and such, but it certainly is unique to hear about two such rival countries (well, actually China still sort thinks Taiwan is part of their country) working together in the Antarctic. The working together is mainly having 3 Taiwanese biologists on the latest Chinese mission to the Antarctic. More on the 26th Chinese expedition in this article.