Day 73

The boys have to make quite a few speeches at school each year, which although I am traumatized by pain for them (especially for my quiet and shy one), I applaud the school as it helps breaks the cycle of being terrified of public speaking.  Maybe our children's generation will stand up and speak loudly and proudly at school speeches, in offices, in the board room, at weddings, at leaving drinks, unlike many of us crippled with anxiety at the thought of it.
Will's most recent one is a presentation about "Things That They Value".  It's assessment time, so I'm bleeting on my normal "go the extra effort on this one matey", and sure enough his initial list included "family, friends, Nintendo DS, lego, trumpet, hockey, umm, friends, sleepovers....".  So I'm like "great start bud, but what is the deeper stuff that you really care about, and maybe want to change?".

And my son would like to bring back extinct animals, like, you know, the dodo.....

So in respect to my son's wishes, lets find out a little more about the dodo?

The dodo (Raphus cucullatus) was a flightless bird endemic to the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius. Related to pigeons and doves, it stood about a meter (3.3 feet) tall, weighing about 20 kilograms, living on fruit, and nesting on the ground.
The dodo has been extinct since the mid-to-late 17th century. It is commonly used as the archetype of an extinct species because its extinction occurred during recorded human history and was directly attributable to human activity. When humans first arrived on Mauritius, they brought with them other animals that had not existed on the island before, including dogs, pigs, cats, rats, and Crab-eating Macaques, which plundered the dodo nests, while humans destroyed the forests where the birds made their homes.  In June 2007, adventurers exploring a cave in Mauritius discovered the most complete and well-preserved dodo skeleton ever.

And he also wants to stop crime and find a cure for sickness.  I chose the easy one right!