‘Elephant Bird egg stories’ doesn’t quite roll off the tongue as smoothly, though.
For those of you that’ve been following me for a few months now, you’ll know that I often pass the time by telling little stories — stories which my friends have named ‘goose egg stories‘. Because of their long, belaboured, drawn-out nature with no real rhyme or reason, and no real ending. The one they obviously loved the most was about a goose egg — and thus the goose egg story was born.
So it would seem that a lot of my stories are just that: stories, or little tales of a slightly mischevious nature. I try my best to give them a beginning, middle and end but sometimes I slip and fall, breaking proverbial eggs, failing to even get past the beginning.
Anyway! You might’ve heard that the largest egg ever (and we’re talking even larger than dinosaur eggs, somehow) is coming up for sale this Sunday in England. There’s a golden quote from the organiser, Duncan Phillips: “It’s a real talking point in a room because you can ask people to guess where it comes from.”
Yeah…
I guess if you’re the kind of person that has more money than sense, you might have friends that would play a banal game of ‘guess where my egg is from’.
It’s 400 years old, and comes from the Elephant Bird — a bird that’s now extinct, because it was hunted extensively… and because it couldn’t fly. Silly evolution. They were over 3 meters tall though!
If memory serves me correctly, the only non-flying birds that have survived through to today are ostriches and penguins — one can poke your eyes out and can run almost as fast as a cheetah, and the other lives in the most inhospitable place in the world: Antarctica. Though these guys probably didn’t become extinct for lack of trying — it’s just that their eggs were so large and juicy, and would easily feed a whole family (or entire village?!)
I tricked you: this has been an educational goose egg story! Hah! At least it had a beginning, and a middle…
I must work on my endings.
pinkjellybaby
Mar 25, 2009
Oooo that would make a nice egg sandwich…
sebastian
Mar 25, 2009
… for an army.
Hannah
Mar 25, 2009
I’d like to see the easter bunny hide that
sebastian
Mar 25, 2009
You’d need a huge bunny, like… The Vicar of Dibley Huge! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Upk59UhzFlU (About 3 1/2 minutes in)
Eleni
Mar 26, 2009
Actually, there are 17 species of penguins, and while a few species do live in Antarctica, many are found in temperate climates. Penguins can even be found living as far north as the equator; the Galapagos penguin, as the name suggests, is found in the balmy Galapagos Islands.
sebastian
Mar 26, 2009
Sheesh… are you some kind of marine biology geek or something?
Just kidding!
The Galapagos Penguin — I thought the whole point of penguins surviving, even though they’re pretty useless, was because of their lack of natural predators?
Wouldn’t they get eaten by sharks and all sorts outside of the Antarctic Circle?
Hannah-Lane
Mar 26, 2009
What do you mean they have no natural preditors? I think penguins look delicious. I bet they taste like chicken. everything tastes like chicken.
and I want to have it recorded that I do know what The Vicar of Dibley is. It’s one of those random things that my Britian obsessed second-mom used to make me watch. just thought you should know that I know.
andhari
Mar 26, 2009
If easter egg is the size of that, and made of chocolates..
i seriously am in that time of the month, aren’t I ?
sebastian
Mar 26, 2009
Yes, Andhari, I think you are…
But I think they do make chocolate eggs that size… I’m sure your daddy would find you one, if you asked nicely! With a nice ribbon around it too…
My opinion of you has risen greatly, Hannah… keep it up!
Hannah
Mar 26, 2009
I loved the OJ joke at the end too.
pinginrua
Mar 26, 2009
how old is it? (the egg, i mean)
sebastian
Mar 26, 2009
400 years!