FIVE SECOND STORIES

In the Neighborhood: 

3/13-Morning deer: we haven't seen them in a while. Today, it looks like the Mom with triplets with Ms. Independent joining them in the field behind Benny's:

Later, snow flurries:

Young Nutkin with its back to the wind:

3/14-Spring reunion at The Diner, which was hopping with business as folks were fueling up before the windstorm really wound-up. M/M Redbird, Juncos, M/M Purple Finches and Lil' Woody all stopped by. Mom Nutkin at the Bird Bath:

Hanging out with The Gnomes and the Daylily sprouts:

Big Blue has returned! We didn't see him during the coldest and snowiest part of the season. 

I heard him call and I went out on the deck and tossed some peanuts for him. He was appreciative, flying back and forth rapidly as to not miss out. He was lucky, the squirrelies were elsewhere.

What we missed out on: Vid showing conditions in Marquette, MI during blizzard: 

When I was out marketing, the #1 topic of small talk was "thank goodness we don't have 3-4 feet of snow!"

Crazy vid from Oshkosh, WI-you think you have problems?:

 

3/15-today was Squirrelly reunion day at the Diner with LG, a Big Tail, a Short Tail, the Nutkin family and a chipper attending. Later, the Avians returned with Big Woody, Big Blue and Mr. Redbird and Senor Junco stopping by:

 

3/16-Crazy weather day. There had been more rain overnight but the morning was sunny:

Big Woody was at the Diner: 

The temps began to drop and the afternoon was marked with periods of snow showers, then sun, repeat.

The snow was graupel or ice pellets: 

Swirling winds made pattern on back deck:
 

Robins were in the Back 40, hoping to find some food under the leaves in the wet areas:

Their plight reminded C of a 16th Century English nursery rhyme The North Wind Doth Blow:

The North wind doth blow,
And we shall have snow,
And what will poor robin do then, poor thing?
He'll sit in a barn, and keep himself warm,
And hide his head under his wing, poor thing! 

3/17-Happy St. Patrick's Day. The low last night was 17° yikes! 

Hodgepodge for $800:

The term for when you walk into a room and forget why you are there: "event boundary".

I saw a casino ad that boasted "it's relaxing!" I dunno, I've never considered losing money a relaxing activity. 

George Washington died with around 600 million dollars in today's money of net worth. Most of it was the result of massive land holdings.

November, 2025-St. Charles County, Missouri Circuit Judge Matthew E.P. Thornhill agreed to resign following a disciplinary investigation for wearing an Elvis Presley wig and aviator sunglasses on the bench, playing Elvis music in court, and making inappropriate personal remarks. He was disciplined for failing to maintain courtroom decorum. 

A single sperm cell contains 37.5 gigabytes worth of information.

 

It is estimated that New York City is home to around 800 languages, making it the most linguistically diverse city in the world.

George Steinmetz

Shabani, a western lowland silverback gorilla residing at the Higashiyama Zoo and Botanical Gardens in Nagoya, Japan, is widely considered the most handsome gorilla. 

He became an internet sensation with many young female human proclaiming having a crush on him. This became a problem for the zoo with legions of females visiting and yelling his name reminding many of the reaction to the Beatles. The zoo had to put up signs asking visitors to stop yelling at him, explaining that it "made him feel uncomfortable".

 

Now, just how did the zookeepers figure this out? By observation or did Shabani confess this over some beers with his keepers?

 

The origin of Mt. Dew:

Ad from the 60's

• Creators: In the 1940's, brothers Barney and Ally Hartman developed the formula for their own use, struggling to find a good mixer for whiskey in Tennessee.
• Original Concept: It was a lemon-lime soda, similar to 7Up, meant to pair with liquor, not a caffeinated energy drink.
• The Name:
  "Mountain Dew" was old Irish and Scottish slang for high-quality moonshine or whiskey.
Marketing: Early bottles featured "Willy the Hillbilly" with the slogan "It'll tickle yore innards".
Rebranding: In the 1960s, the Tip Corporation acquired the brand, shifting the recipe toward the orange-flavored, bright yellow-green soda sold today.
Ownership: Pepsi-Cola acquired the company in 1964, after which it was sold nationwide. 

As someone who is childless, I had never heard of a Body Composition Chamber aka Pea Pod:

An infant is placed in the chamber to accurately measure body fat percentage and fat-free mass using air displacement technology. This safe, non-invasive assessment tracks nutritional status, growth, and risks of metabolic diseases. The procedure is fast (90 seconds), safe, and non-invasive, taking place soon after birth. It was developed in the early 2000s.

Yikes! Round-Up Candy cigarettes!

Primarily popular from the 1920s to 1990s, they consist of chalky sugar sticks and were known for having retro-style packaging that mimics real cigarette packs. I do not remember this brand but I do remember candy cigs.

Our Buddy meme, ripping off Wood TV's weather slogan in GR:

 

FUBARland:

Fun vid from the Canadian Resistance Army: Not Your 51st State!

It has been revealed that in February, military analysts warned the regime about the consequences of bombing Iran and killing its leaders: they will blockade the Strait of Hormuz and have the world by the short-hairs over the exportation of oil.

See what happens when you have a regime that ignores scientific, historical, ethical and moral facts as well as the rules the rest of us follow?

"Ayup" sez Scruffy the janitor from Futurama.

"The Ballad of Stephen Miller"

"On the Road to Tehran"

A Country lament: "He Lied to Us"

Yeah, folks from Appalachia, who have known what it's like to be screwed by rich, powerful men, must be feeling poorly to have it happen to them again.

MAGA core values: WWF 80's star "Ravishing" Rick Rude's schtick had a made-up feud with fellow combatant Jake "The Snake" Roberts. He dissed Robert's wife Cheryl in the ring and had her image airbrushed on his crotch:

Classy! Trailer trashy and I neva heard of him.

With WWF in mind:

A little-known WWF feline star, Sir Buddylicious demonstrating his famed "death hug" on his nip toy:

Take that you darned varmint!

Taking a break after a strenuous workout:

 

 

 

FUBARland

"For nothing can seem foul to those that win"

-Shakespeare Henry IV, Part 1, Act 5, Scene 1

 

Kviv, Ukraine

Reuters

Gaza, Palestine 

Hatem Moussa

Tehran, Iran

Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu

 

WINTER'S COME AND GONE

 An old favorite from Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings 1998:

 

Oh little red bird
Come to my window sill
Been so lonesome
Shaking that morning chill

 Oh little red bird
Open your mouth and say
Been so lonesome
Just about flown away

 

So long now I've been out
In the rain and snow
But winter's come and gone
A little bird told me so

 

Oh little blue bird
Pearly feather breast
Five cold nickels' all I got left
Oh little blue bird
What am I gonna do
Five cold nickels
Ain't gonna see me through

 

So long now I've been out
In the rain and snow
But winter's come and gone
A little bird told me so

 

Oh little black bird
On my wire line
Dark as trouble
In this heart of mine
Poor little black bird
Sings a worried song
Dark as trouble
'Til winter's come and gone

 

So long now I've been out
In the rain and snow
But winter's come and gone
A little bird told me so

 

So long now I've been out
In the rain and snow
But winter's come and gone
A little bird told me so

 

 

 

FIVE SECOND STORIES

In the Neighborhood:

3/4-A pleasant day, sunny in the mid-50's:

Things have dried a bit so Bud is enjoying his early Spring outpost:
 

3/5-rain!

That evening, the black silhouette of the shed roof and a glowy grey sky:
 

Buddy enjoys putting himself in a rather precarious position on Mum's quilt and legs when we are watching the tube-he seems to love the balancing act of staying on without sliding off-some sort of macho feline behavior.

Mr. Redbird waiting at the Diner:

3/7: a nice afternoon with temps pushing 60° with a bit of dampness in the air after all the rain. I spotted LG at the Diner so I thought I would go out on the deck, greet him and toss out some peanuts. He saw me and immediately hopped towards me. I congratulated him on surviving Winter and wished him a happy Spring as I tossed the nuts.

3/8-crocus in full bloom:

 A distant colony that the squirrelies planted over by the shed:

Our resident chipper has awakened and is up:

3/9-gorgeous early Spring day with temps pushing 70°-grass is starting to green up and the lilacs are showing leaf bud:

 

3/10-overcast with storms coming in the evening and overnight. The Diner was busy as critters were fueling up. The nutkins were out and about and as usual, fighting with the big squirrels. Mom Nutkin with her russet back and tail:

Her children from last year, grown and independent but still visiting the Diner:

One of the siblings, what a cutie! 

Big storms woke me around 1.30 am. I got up around 2 am to check on everything. Bud, who was in his basket when I went to bed wasn't there. Worried, I looked for him. He was lounging on the South facing front porch, which due to the rain coming in from the North and the great overhang, kept it dry. Securitycat was keeping an eye on things-good lad! I got up around 8.30 am and saw that we had a pond in the Back 40 which often happens this time of year:

My rain gauge showed 1.33" so I am thinking the pond is partly due to me sumping out the water from the pool Winter cover. I directed the water to flow along this line of honeysuckles to give them a good drink. January and February were both below average normal.

~ 

Radar showing a classic hook echo of the Three Rivers tornado on 3/6:

3/10-A burst of rainfall with a ton of hail hit Grand Rapids creating this surreal scene of icy flooding in the streets:

  

3/10- A EF-3 tornado hits Kankakee IL with gorilla hail:

 

It's odd to be seeing such intense storms this early and this far North. Look what happened in Three Rivers. Is this going to be the new normal?

~

#cutebuddypics:

C had replenished Buddy's nip toy and gave it to him on the Caucasian rug. Now, he will go over to the rug and gets frisky whether more nip has been added or not. Contact buzz!

 Sometimes, it's the real thing:

He loves to defy gravity while lounging with C while practically falling off. Check out his paw on the table:

Another example of his politeness: we had been hanging out together on the couch when I got up to get some food. I nuked up something and fed him as well. I returned with a bowl and a plate and put them on the table. He followed but upon jumping on the couch, immediately hung a right and settled in, about arm's length away in front of the heater, giving me some space to eat.  

~ 

I was walking to the checkouts at Meijer when I spotted this in a display:

Just the thing for someone you don't know much or a relative you are obliged to gift! You can help out Aunt Bobbie over the holidays and get her hub, who has a problem, one of these so he will spend less that week on his gambling fix. Yikes!

~

Hodgepodge for $400:

Demon face on plant pareidolia:

Skeleton of a stingray:

Cave of Hands (Cueva de las Manos) Santa Cruz, Argentina:

In a series of caves, dwellers decorated the walls over many centuries. These hand paintings are associated with work from 5000 BC to 1300 BC. 

 

In his 1790 will, Benjamin Franklin bequeathed £1,000 each to Boston and Philadelphia (roughly $4,000 total) to be held in trust for 200 years

. He instructed that the funds accrue interest for two centuries, with a portion used for loans to young tradesmen after 100 years. By 1990, the trusts grew to over $6.5 million, funding scholarships and civic projects.

~ 

So many vids these days seem to use AI for narration. But, in many cases, how much language data given the system seems to be inadequate. For example, NATO was pronounced as "gnato" as in those tiresome tiny insects.

~ 

I came across this nice metaphor for living with the existence of nuclear weapons: a loaded gun pressed to the temple of every human being on the planet. 

~ 

I am older than Google! 

~ 

With our health care leaders being complete quacks, it brings to mind an old Mark Twain quote (thanks C): 

 "Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint."

Not to mention the plethora of quacky influencer ads on YT such as the olive oil swilling promoter (with his own product, of course).

~ 

There was an article in The New Yorker concerning Shere Hite who caused a cultural explosion with her study of female sexuality during the Reagan years. The upshot of the story is a warning: those of you who took Ms. Hite's words to heart, learned from them and implemented them into your life-you are under threat from this current adminstration's uber trad macho manosphere complete with conservative, Christian religious zealotry: love, Honor and OBEY, BITCH!

~ 

The first coast-to-coast automobile trip in the US was completed in 1903 by Dr. Horatio Nelson Jackson, Sewall K Crocker and their dog, Bud. They drove a 2-cylinder, 20-hp Winton touring car from San Francisco to New York City in 63 days, navigating with few, if any, proper roads, maps, or gas stations.

~ 

Fun vids: 

Mad ads: this curious one from Amazon promoting the "all new Alexa+". Here, Alexa serves as an alarm clock in the persona of a female Don Rickles for a woman. Evidently, she is a serial slap the alarm, go back to sleep kinda gal. Alexa roasts her repetitively, covering a wide range of topics and won't shut the fuck up until sleeping beauty is outta bed. 

What I found odd and perhaps documenting the issues of Gen Z these days, is that this is a grown woman. Perhaps as a teen or college kid she had major attendance problems. Great news for fellow travelers whose boss has given warnings- Alexa + to the rescue! Makes sense especially if they have major college debt to pay off. 

1177 BCE marks the beginning of the collapse of civilizations across the Middle East. The standard story has been it was the mysterious Sea Peoples. But who were they?

 FUBARland:

Just like those darn Iranians!

Donnie Demento, Whiskey Pete and Vlad Miller can't figure out why the Iranians won't do as they are told. Well, let's strip identities out of this and tell the tale in broad terms-from the standpoint of the new Iranian leader:

You and your family were attacked by foreigners. You're hurt and they killed your father. A school was bombed and many children were killed. You have fought back yet these foreigners are demanding that you surrender. They threaten to come and stomp around in your backyard. Hell no! you say and continue to fight back. This really has a biblical feel to it. 

And as usual, folks from the West just don't understand the deep feelings of people in the Middle East-they have very long memories when they feel dissed. Hell, they are still pissed off about the Crusades! And having their ancient lands carved up by the oil hungry West after WW1. And being removed from your ancient homeland by the British to make make way for a Jewish nation. And being invaded because the Americans, in their post-9/11 fervor, were itching to do some nation building. 

How did this all work out? 

Meanwhile...

With all that is going on, what is the Roach prioritizing? Footwear for his male cabinet members. Yep, Dear Leader gifted them with crappy Florsheim $145 shoes, a style he adores. Of course did he have staff get their sizes? Naw, the stable genius guessed. Now, the poor bastards gotta wear them, being too afraid not to. For some like Marco Rubio, they're clown shoes:

How fitting. 

You can't make this shit up!