Ben McKenzie: the Man in the Lab Coat

For me, carnivorous plants fall into the same category as dinosaurs, muppets and the concept of Doctor Who – if you don’t find them wondrous, I’m not sure I can trust you. I hadn’t thought about carnivorous plants recently, what with my brain full of the , but the redoubtable Paul Riddell, ex-writer and essayist and creator of the fondly missed Esoteric Science Resource Centre, has finally opened a web site for his business devoted to these little beasties: the Texas Triffid Ranch, a nursery for “carnivorous, prehistoric, and otherwise exotic plants”.

Besides which, Daffodil Day – a fund-raiser for the excellent Cancer Council (which as a kid I always called the “Anti-Cancer Council“, which is either an organisation who like to make it clear they’re not in favour of cancer, or a rival group who oppose the altruistic deeds of the real one) is coming soon. Every year on Daffodil Day the city fills with tiny, Triffid-like flowers, their bell-shaped mouths leering at me from every corner, watching, waiting… I can’t help but imagine that the plants will soon eat us all. Read the rest of this entry »