FIVE SECOND STORIES

5/27-sunny and in the lo-70's-the Siberian Iris are in bloom. My neighbor across the street helped identify my mystery shrub I recently wrote about (he has an app on his phone)-it's a viburnum called the Japanese Snowball:

Bad news-Johnnie next door reported that he saw 5 little chucks around the shed. Sho-nuff, 4 out of 5 plus their Mama were out grazing. The coyote piss arrives on 5/30. So, my theory now is that Mama did what her Mama did-give birth, then when they can travel, bring them overland to their homestead where they will stay for 2-3 months before venturing out on their own. Mama (with 4 teats) and one of her brood:

A sparrow, Mama, Nutkin and Freddie having a bite together at the Diner:

One of the Buns was eyeing the Coneflowers. Hmm, I wonder why they are protected-could be they are so tasty, they're not meant for everyone...except me!

Bud relaxing in some dappled sunshine:

Later, back to back to C by the heater-he loves positioning his body as close as he can to us:

 ꩜

Finally, I saw a butterfly. Like last year, it was a Red Admiral although the first sighting then was in mid-April. It's been a weird, cold Spring so maybe their timetable was altered or is this a straggler? They are small, maybe a couple of inches across and I just caught a glimpse as it was flying ahead of me and took a hard right to go over the roof.

Part of the shed door was covered with tiny crawlers that to my eye look like spider hatchlings:
 

I was weeding around the pool and came across a frog who had found himself a nice home in the folds of the shrink wrap. I opened it up and he came right out-pehaps he was feeling trapped. He is a Cope's Grey Tree Frog and a regular resident especially near the pool.

Mr. Finch high in the dead pine tree top:

This year's occupant in Father Birch's maternity penthouse is M/M Starling. I found a lot of bird poo at the base of the tree but didn't make the connection til I was taking a break and watched as Mrs. S was tossing debris out of the opening. Made me think that the eggs have hatched and she was doing some nest cleaning. I saw her fly out to the little Birch where she perched and belted out a tune like Aretha Franklin with her head back and mouth open:

Her yellow beak clinched identification-female Starlings have them during mating season due to hormones changes. Both male and female loose their iconic white dots (or star constellations) in the Spring and both sexes are an iridescent black. They (and Red Wings) have a reputation for aggressive behavior and bullying around feeders. So, we may end up with Avian kerfuffles at the Diner. Stay tuned!

5/30-first day of planting and I concentrated on the deck garden on a warmish and sunny day. The Siberian Iris:

Mama and her chuckettes were out grazing. I found that she shares her Mama's fondness for snow-on-the-mountain as a section by the garage had been decapitated. The Buns gathered:
 

As usual, Big Bun sits under his favorite honeysuckle while the other two hang out in the general vicinity. Tis a mystery-my research says that Buns are solitary except during mating where fighting over the ladies and territory take place. And yet, this group stay together. My theory is the smaller two are yearlings who I have seen out together and Big Bun is their Dad. We'll see how long this lasts.

Freddie, invoking Hamlet's famous line:

 ꩜

Buddy tales:

Our dear predator: the other morning when I got up, I found in the usual spot next to the china cabinet, the corpse of a mole. No blood, no organs, just this small mammal lying belly up. I thought well, Buddy probably heard Johnnie and hollering about this season's increase of mole activity and decided to help. I told Johnnie about it and he laughed and said good boy!

Two days later, Buddy deposited an eviscerated bunny under my desk. Gawd. I expressed my displeasure to him and he just sat and cleaned one of his paws. So, not wanting to deprive him of his basket in the closet, I am moving the chair all the way in under the desk and see if this will deter him from leaving anything new there. 

It was a fresh can evening and C was dishing up the shreds with scallops. I had come into the kitchen and decided to top off his kibble with one hand while holding an empty wine box in the other. Bud nuzzled that hand and I said sorry pal, you're not old enough for this. C asked when he will be old enough and I replied never, I don't give alcohol to our cat unlike some guys who give beer to their dogs. Tough love from Dad.

 ꩜

Hodgepodge of curiosities:

If you watched the initial season of True Detective, you'll recognize this memorable theme song Far From Any Road by The Handsome Family 2003: 

From the dusty mesa
Her looming shadow grows
Hidden in the branches of the poison creosote
She twines her spines up slowly
Towards the boiling sun
And when I touched her skin
My fingers ran with blood

 

In the hushing dusk under a swollen silver moon
I came walking with the wind to watch the cactus bloom
And strange hands halted me, the looming shadows danced
I fell down to the thorny brush and felt the trembling hands

 

When the last light warms the rocks
And the rattlesnakes unfold
Mountain cats will come to drag away your bones

 

And rise with me forever
Across the silent sand
And the stars will be your eyes
And the wind will be my hands

 

Songwriters: Brett Sparks / Rennie S Sparks

 

The lyric about going into the desert at night to watch a cactus bloom has always intrigued me. It is not metaphorical, the singer is talking about the Night Blooming Cereus:

Tucson Botanical Garden

From Wiki: Night-blooming cereus is the common name referring to many flowering ceroid cacti that bloom at night. The flowers are short lived, and some of these species, such as Selenicereus grandiflorus, bloom only once a year, for a single night, though most put out multiple flowers over several weeks, each of which opens for only a single night. 

Fun facts about countries:

Argentina shrinks:  this South American country, which was ruled by a military dictatorship for 7 years following 3 years of unrest, has the highest per capita of psychologists in the world. The culture considers it quite acceptable to seek therapy. I would think so after all the years of abuse they suffered during the "dirty war" where 20,000-30,000 citizens were "disappeared" by the state.

The Great Emu War in Australia-during the 1930's depression, farmers were also enduring an influx of the Emu population who were destroying their crops. Emus are large, flightless birds who often stand 6 feet tall!

The government's solution was to send soldiers armed with machine guns to cull the herd. They failed. It took many bullets just to take down one bird and the Emu were good at evasion and regrouping tactics. The only solution was to increase fencing which, during a depression, many could not afford. Only over time, were farmers able to protect their lands.

China's dictatorship messing with people's time: with its size, China would normally have 4 time zones. Thanks to their rulers, there is only one-set to Beijing time. Naturally, folks push back against such egregious overreach by authorities and in some parts of the country there is Official Time and Local time which the citizens keep amongst themselves.  

Cyprus Cat Nation: cat's rule in this country with 1.5 million cats to 1.25 million humans. They have a very long relationship with felines so this is not surprising. In my May 8 post, I featured an article about a 9,500 year old grave containing a human and a cat. It is considered the oldest concrete example of our relationship with felines.

Bookish Estonia: a 2018 survey found that the nation has the highest per capita of book ownership in the world. Each household averaged 218 books with 35% of the households owning 350 or more.

Ghana's Fantasy Coffins: In the African nation of Ghana, particularly among the Ga people, "proverb boxes" or "abeduu adekai are custom-designed, figurative coffins that reflect the deceased's life, personality, profession or aspirations. These coffins are a unique and culturally significant tradition, often shaped like objects or animals that hold special meaning for the individual. Some examples:

 

The car maker Hyundai's logo can be seen as a stylization of  the letter H as well as two people shaking hands-a symbol of trust.

Another crazy health fad: In the 1920s, French surgeon Serge Voronoff gained notoriety for a controversial practice called "monkey gland grafting." This involved transplanting monkey testicle tissue onto the testicles of men, ostensibly for anti-aging and sexual rejuvenation. While some men underwent the procedure, it was later proven ineffective and largely ridiculed by the medical community.

Anton's Syndrome: also known as visual anosognosia, is a neurological condition where individuals with bilateral blindness due to damage in the occipital cortex of the brain are unaware of their vision loss and may deny it. They may claim they can see, describe things they cannot see, and behave as if they have normal vision, even when they are clearly bumping into objects or not reacting to visual stimuli.

Related vid- 1 Hour of Curiosities- nice to dip into now and again.

 

QR codes: created in 1994 by Mashahiro Haro of the Japanese global automotive components manufacturer Denso to track parts.

The three boxes in the corners are not part of the data-they are positioning markers so that the QR will be read correctly.

 

Weird food dish: porcupine meatballs

This turned up in a vid featuring foods from the 70's that aren't made anymore and are (sniff) forgotten. I can see why, especially with this disgusting looking dish. Originally from the Great Depression, I have the great fortune of never having been served this. In part because of my Dad's aversion to rice after awful experiences with maggoty rice during the war. On the other hand, C was familiar with it although it was more Girl Scout camping fare than something eaten at home.

 

Fun vids:

Creative folk:

Interesting vid that explores theories as to why there is no record of ancient humans. Anatomically modern humans have been around for roughly 300,000 years yet there is this gap until 50-65,000 ago when our species experienced a great leap forward, creating advanced tools and art for example. Some say it took that long for our brains to evolve. Randall Carlson proposes other ideas.

It should be noted that Mr. Carlson is viewed by the some in the public and science as a renegade scholar. I have posted similar views on the Why Files vids.

  

꩜

FUBARland:

We're at the stage in the budding dictatorship where the daily recap is one funny event and one grim one:

 

Poor Roach, when people, institutions and countries not only won't do as he demands and push back against his bullying, he caves, especially when it comes to tariffs. The pundits created a new nickname for him: TACO (Trump Always Chickens Out). This has caused him to suffer, oh so so much, at least according to his bizarre statements in a recent court filing where he was pleading, begging your honor, for a sympathetic ruling in his favor. After all, he is losing and losing and losing in court and it's just so sad and unfair. To him.

 

In honor of this, I'm adding to the nickname: poor, poor baby is a TACOsnowflake.

This week's Walking Piece of Shit award goes to Republican Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa:

Eric Lee

From the NYT:

Ms. Ernst was fielding questions about cuts to Medicaid that were included in the domestic policy bill working its way through Congress, when someone in the audience yelled out that the effect would be that “people are going to die.”

“Well, we all are going to die,” Ms. Ernst responded, drawing jeers from the crowd.

Ms. Ernst appeared taken aback by the negative response.

“For heaven’s sakes, folks,” she said.

Democrats moved quickly to call attention to the comment from Ms. Ernst, a second-term lawmaker who is up for re-election next year. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee circulated a video clip of the moment, calling Ms. Ernst’s remark “stunningly callous”...

Yet another example that the Dems should keep in their bag of bitch slaps, every time one of these idiots open their mouths, to remind them and their constituents just what they are.

Every time Dems, and not just a few select stars like AOC and Bernie-EVERY DEM in Congress needs to bitchslap these bastards, relentlessly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FIVE SECOND STORIES

5/21-5/22-finally received some good rain. My gauge read 1.5" and it was a slow soaker. Chilly and damp out, though-Irish weather. It did not deter a wet Lil' Woody who found Diner empty and had a leisurely bite:

By the afternoon, the rain had stopped. Big Blue stopped by for a sip at the bath:
 

5/23-we tossed out a peanut butter jar and one of the young squirrels checked it out. Who knows if he had ever encountered these jars before but he wasn't shy about partaking:

He withdrew briefly to lick his whiskers before having another go: 

5/24-another morning in the 30's but at least later on the sun came out:

Out front the Dutch iris have finished with the Siberian's beginning to show bud. The allium's have center stage:
 

DHS was in zen mode by the Chipper's front door (under the deck):

Meanwhile, an unpleasant sight:
 

I'M BAAACCCCKKKK, bitch!

Yeah, that orange stuff on the apartment porches...cayenne pepper, which isn't working too well. Now, this is not MamaChuck. We think it is one of her offspring from last season and she has returned to the old homestead of her childhood...probably because she is preggers! Oh gawd. She immediately began to chow down on the coneflowers so I went out and installed cloches to protect them. My neighbor across the street said he had luck with coyote urine so I researched who had the best, curiously it was from Lenon's Lures, which I mentioned in the May 19th post. This was a company first wife's paternal grandfather began over 100 years ago and still carries his name. 

It was a busy afternoon at the Diner. LG's coat is beginning to fill in after his molt:

The Jays were out so I tossed some peanuts for them as well. Big Blue and LG hanging out and enjoying their treats:
 

The chuckette and Nutkin doing some grazin':

DHS kept his eye on things from one of his favorite outposts with excellent line of sight on the Diner:

He came in later to hang out with dear old Dad:

꩜

Nice digital billboard-unable to determine if this image is photoshopped or not-Oreo was experimenting with 3D billboards:

Fake (but funny) meat department product that appeared on Instagram in 2024:

Annie's brand mac n' cheese:

 with a fun activity for the kids on the back:

C and I both thought there was a problem with the illustration: to us it looks like the bunny is talking out of one side of his mouth. For the glue instructions-it's not to the tips of of the clothespin but on the long side of the pin. Odd.

꩜

Seen while out and about: last year in the NE cloverleaf section of the 496/Creyts Rd. intersection, someone planted a good-sized plot of sunflowers. The stalks were mowed down this Spring. On this day as I was on the exit ramp, I looked over and saw a couple of Sandhill Cranes enjoying some sunflower seeds that were buried in the field debris.

 ꩜

Uncle Jeff hollers:

While running errands, I came across a segment on NPR concerning a troubling trend with younguns who, because of Tik Tok, Instagram and a lesser extent Zooming, have become obsessed with their faces. In some cases, they "see" imperfections that aren't there. One Mom got out a mirror to prove to show her daughter that there was not a problem. 

This seems to be a continuation of American neurosis and obsession with perfection, an unhealthy attitude that invariably sets a person up for failure. 

Returning to facial perfection: I've noticed that in my YT feed or the newspapers I read, the latest wave of ads are cures for that dreaded condition-bags under the eyes. Curiously, these ads tend to be aimed at men. Evidently, this is the newest craze among certain populations. I would suggest that the influencer might be a 78 year old man who daily smears bizarrely orange fake tan makeup and his defense secretary who had a make-up studio installed next to his office at the Pentagon. 

Another product I hadn't seen before: LED face masks. Allegedly they can offer noticeable benefits for conditions like acne, fine lines, and uneven skin tone. There are versions for toning up neck and top of breasts. The example below retails for $799.99:

 Another version with a peek at the inside:

Nena Farrell

Stranger still is the LED mask origin story:

LED masks, a form of (LED) light therapy, have been around for over 30 years. NASA first began using LED light therapy in the 1980s to stimulate plant growth, and later discovered its benefits for wound healing. The technology has since been adapted for cosmetic purposes, including targeting sun damage, hyperpigmentation, scarring, wrinkles, and acne.

I'm sure these masks are helpful but they creep me out due to a number of slasher movies featuring psychopathic murderers wearing masks such as:

 ꩜

Groaners: 

What is green and stays out of night? 

Paddy O' Furniture

What did one flag say to the other flag?

Nothing, he just waved. 

 ꩜

I was watching a British detective show and an older gent made this comment about a young woman to her father:

She has a smile like a sunburst. 

 ꩜

Curiosity: before the alarm clock there were the Knocker-upper-people who used poles or pea shooters to tap on upper story windows to wake 19th C folk. Probably very helpful as the Industrial Revolution took hold and people had to be to work at a certain hour rather than the sunrise-sunset agrarian shift.

 ꩜

I had not come across English artist Damien Hirst's (b.1965) Butterfly series. 

2007 Cathedral Print, St. Peters, limited edition silkscreen

 

2009 series Sanctum, limited edition etchings.

From 2024, Kaleidoscopes, limited edition Diasec-mounted Giclée prints on aluminium composite panel:

Harlequin:

 Chameleon:

 

Unique critters from New Guinea:

A very dangerous bird: The Cassowary and you need to wary of these guys. Native to New Guinea and NE Australia, they are smaller only to Ostrich and Emu. Their heads have unusually brilliant colors:

 

Their toes are their main weapon. The inner or second of the three toes is fitted with a long, straight, murderous nail which can sever an arm or eviscerate an abdomen with ease. They continuely hold the yearly record for Avian-caused human deaths. Generally, they are said to be shy and solitary but like most species, can get aggressive protecting their territory or young.

 ꩜

A Bird of Paradise from Western New Guinea: The Magnificent Riflebird:

 All black plumage with blue iridescent ascot-sharp dresser! 

 ꩜

Tree Kangaroos-live in tropical rain forests in New Guinea and are marsupials adapted for arboreal locomotion.

 

 ꩜

The Malabar Whistling Thrush-another native to New Guinea. I was watching a vid about the unique animals in this part of the world, I kept hearing this guy-very distinct in the jungle.

 ꩜

 Carnivorous Pitcher Plants:

 ꩜

Iron Age Celtic Goldsmithing:

The Snettisham Great Torc. Part of the Snettisham burial  hoard found in Norfolk, England. Celtic, gold alloy, 150-50 BCE. Diameter 56 cm (22 in). (British Museum, London)

Rainbow Cups

Found in Bavaria, made 50-25 BCE with triskelion-Celtic symbol of interconnectedness between the 3 realms of the universe: earth, water, air and the cycles of life, death and rebirth.

 

From Wiki: Rainbow cup is a term for Celtic gold and silver coins found in areas once dominated by the La Tène culture  (c. 5th century BCE - 1st century BCE in central Europe). They are curved like a bowl and marked with various symbols and patterns.

The coins were often found in ploughed fields after heavy rainfall, leading to the folk belief that they could be found where a rainbow touched the earth. They were thought to bring luck and had many different effects ascribed to them. 

There is not general agreement among researchers concerning their use-many feel that they served as gifts rather than currency.

 ꩜

Fun vids:

The Sunfish

 Fireflies-a long exposure of these wonderful beetles aka Sparkle butts:

 Fer Gregory

 

Sadly, as with many things on our planet, life is getting harder for them. Habitat loss, use of pesticides on lawns (so folks can have the perfect lawn) and increased use of artificial lighting by apes all contribute to decreased numbers. The lighting issue is especially problematic: fireflies use bioluminescence (their flashing lights) to communicate, particularly for mating. Artificial light can disrupt these flash patterns, making it difficult for them to find mates and reproduce. Talk about sending out the wrong signals to a girl!

I still seem them in the neighborhood but not as much as even 10 years ago.

꩜

Another associated concern: other than the white butterflies I saw in mid-April, I have yet to see another species in my yard.

꩜

Time lapse of starling murmuration and sheep moving in pasture:

 Cool clouds in Chile:

Mating call of a male Australian Bustard that sounds like a lion's roar:

Crows are very intelligent-in this vid, see the Crow anticipate an outcome-often the one thing credited to ape that sets them apart from other critters:

When I saw the section where Crows who took vengeance on a man in India, it reminded me of the crappy spaghetti western God Forgives, I Don't, the first film Terence Hill and Bud Spencer made together culminating with the They Call Me Trinity series.

Nature's oddities: 

A Feather Star: a Crinoid that is an echinoderm related to starfish, brittle stars, sea urchins and sea cucumbers.

Frank Lloyd Wright house in Pleasantville, NY, one that I was unfamiliar with:

Massive duck herded into rice fields for insect buffet!

 I can't resist: rollin', rollin', rollin' keep them duckies rollin'...

 

When camera shutter speed synchs with speed of helicopter blades:

The fussy Wasabi plant, the most difficult plant to cultivate in the world: