THE HORROR, THE HORROR

 

CRITTERS

 

Memorable quote from a doc about wild England: "no one stands their ground like a nuthatch" referring to their obstinacy at the feeder. I don't disagree but I would say the same applies to chickadees-they have some major cojones and are fearless.

Britspeak for bird feeder: bird table

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An English Robin closeup-look at the cross-hatching!

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Eye color in owls denote when they hunt:

Dark brown/black-Night-Barn owl.

 Orange-Low Light dusk/dawn-Eurasian Eagle Owl.

Jim Shane

 Yellow-daylight-Snowy owl.

Rachel Bilodeau

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A harbor seal, well insulated against the cold sea.

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Oyster catchers-sharp dressers indeed: red eyes, beak and legs with a lovely tuxedo body.

Jill Pakenham

 

 

CATSHARKS!!!

No, not cousins of Catzilla, these are bottom feeders and comprise the largest family of sharks with 160 species. Their name refers to their catlike eyes. They are generally small-12-39" long, found around seabeds in temperate and tropical seas worldwide, and are not harmful to humans. Because they are bottom feeders, their markings represent camouflage seen from above depending on their environment to help avoid predators. Some examples:

Blackmouth catshark

Chain catshark-they are biofluorescent thought to be a means of communication

Coral catshark

Small spotted catshark

Mandarin catshark

 

FIRST MAJOR FROST

 29° this morning with the first ground frost.

The grass under the trees are shielded from the frost settling hence the darker green circle.

MO' MOVIES: "HAPPY GO LUCKY"

 

2008 written and directed by Mike Leigh. Many of Leigh's films are gritty, grim depictions of working class life in Britain. While well-written and well acted, they can be a bit of a bummer. I started watching this film half-holding my breath wondering if and when, after all the cheerfulness, the other shoe was going to drop. I was pleasantly surprised to find that this is one of the lightest films made by Leigh. Starring Sally Hawkins as the lead named Poppy (a nice pun), who is the embodiment of the title to the point where, in reality if you had to work with someone like this, she would be quite annoying as well as endearing. That's part of the mastery of writing here-we've seen plenty of situations similarly presented with predictable and negative outcomes-Leigh plays with this and flips the tables of expectations on us. There are some v serious scenes and events interwoven adding a tad of vinegar to temper this sweet confection. Fold in the realization that a mainstay of Leigh's films is improvisation by the actors, you begin to grasp just how good this film is. There are some intense moments (and extraordinary acting) that reveal that underneath Poppy's sunny disposition and outlook, lies real strength and true courage, namely her nighttime encounter with a homeless man. There's quite a bit of subtlety in the acting, writing and direction-sometimes just a look that adds depth to a character. A very enjoyable film.

SUNDAY NIGHT MUSIC: CHUCK BERRY "ALMOST GROWN"

 

From 1959-not as well-known as his other songs, this is curious one: odd chorus structure, Berry is restrained with his guitar letting side man Johnnie Johnson piano shine. Thematically curious as well-the narrator is defending himself against society's nagging about young people. I am an  upstanding young man, he proclaims. Yet, there is a bit of wistfulness about his good-guy past. And now, "almost grown" -married, with a job, got a car, settled down-"now, I really have a ball" seems both lascivious and sarcastic. 

Fun fact: the chorus is sung by Harvey and The New Moonglows including a 20 year old Marvin Gaye.

(Wow wow) You know I'm almost grown (wow wow)
Yeah 'n' I'm doin' all right in school
They ain't said I broke no rule
I ain't never been in Dutch
I don't browse around too much

Don't bother me, leave me alone
Anyway I'm almost grown

I don't run around with no mob
Got myself a little job
I'm gonna buy me a little car
Drive my girl in the park

Don't bother just leave us alone
Anyway we're almost grown

Got my eye on a little girl
Ah, she's really out of this world
When I take her to the dance
She's got to talk about romance

Don't bother just leave us alone
Anyway we're almost grown

You know I'm still livin' in town
But I done married and settled down
Now I really have a ball
So I don't browse around at all

Don't bother just leave us alone
Anyway we're almost grown

FIVE SECOND STORIES

We're beginning our gloomy time of year. There are days where you can name the time of a singular event of sunshine. You tell your spouse "yeah, the sun came out around 2pm for 10 minutes". One such occasion last week:

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I re-watched this the other day and it brought back memories of my youth when me and the lads would go to the movies together either at the Odeon in Frandor or LCC. We would go have drinks and a bite, burn one in the car or parking ramp and arrive in good humor. I think most of us had read the book and the movie had only been out for a couple of years. It appealed to our sensibilities of satire, irony, surrealism with a tasty double-bonus: the lovely bare breasts of Valerie Perrine. Such nudity was not commonplace in those days (1973) and there was no online porn-it was available for most only in magazine form.

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Cold, rainy late afternoon, I was on the couch listening to music while C was in her office doing yoga. Buddy came and hung out with me. First, a good session of scritches and belly rubs, then he settled down next me, making sure some part of his body was in contact with mine. Such a nice boy!

In the Washington Post, there was a snippet concerning a woman, discussing her loneliness after losing her beloved cat with her provider, is written a prescription for a new cat. Both C and I can attest to having a cat increases our wellness.

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Heilung is an experimental folk music band with members from Denmark, Norway and Germany. Their music is based on texts and runic inscriptions from Germanic peoples of the Iron and Viking ages. Heilung (healing in English) describe their music as "amplified history from early medieval northern Europe". I may not particularly dig the sound but man, they get points for their unique dress. I think checking out fellow concertgoers would be half the entertainment. To each his own. Personally, much more interesting than...

Kevin Mazur

But then, say 3,000 years from now, some group might revive her ancient kind of sound and look.

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Fun article about portraits made out of seeds. Original images are AVIF which are not accepted by Blogger. Man, just thinking about the amount of patience needed to create one of these pieces makes me tired! Tis why I never liked jigsaw puzzles-no patience.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/oct/20/crop-art-seed-portraits-minnesota-state-fair 

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Surreal ad from Mail Chimp-how did they do this? Reminds me a bit of scenes from Dante's Inferno or something by Bosch, only the people would be nekkid.

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Country manners

Growing up, the valued behavior of neighbors were: friendly but minding their own business and be there when needed. One of the things we appreciate about our neighborhood now is that most follow this idea as well. 

There were not a lot of homes close by my parent's house. Four on the South side of the gravel road and one across from our neighbor to our West. A wealthy Lansing attorney lived there with his wife, Jean, who had a dog kennel and raised several varieties of spaniels. She also owned Pierre, a big white horse who once backed my Mom against the side of the house for a kiss and stepped on one of her big toes. Its nail was never the same. 

One year, there was a  Summer drought that extended into early Fall. On a high wind day, the neighbor to our West sent one of their kids to burn newspapers in their burn barrel which sat near the edge of a field. The wind caught the embers which flew into the field and ignited the grass. Before you knew it, the fire had jumped a tree-lined embankment between the properties and set our field ablaze. My Dad and I were out with shovels trying to tamp the fire. Luckily, whatever had grown that season had already been harvested so what remained was mainly stubble. We had just started work when Jean arrived, shovel in hand, having seen the smoke from her house. Together, we stopped the fire about halfway to our woods. We stayed a while to make sure the fire was not going to revive. My Mom, who had been cooking supper, came out to see how things were going and met us as we were coming in from the field. She hollered a greeting and thanks to Jean, who was striding back to her house and waved back.

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Seen while out and about: 

The beloved "Sparty" statue on the MSU campus is located at the top of a "Y" intersection. I was driving in to pick C up and I was approaching the right hand portion of the Y. It is a two-laned road and at the intersection, a car coming towards me had stopped mid-turn. Why? To take pics of Sparty on an Iphone, undoubtedly for an Instagram posting. As I made a left turn, I saw that being the rush hour, 23 vehicles where backed up over the bridge and up a hill behind this person. I just shook my head at this kind of entitled thoughtlessness that seems to occur more and more in our culture. These are the people who, for the "perfect" Instagram shot, fall off cliffs, get gored by buffalo and eaten by grizzly bears. Oi vey.

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Painting by Arthur John Trevor Briscoe

Two more rats have jumped ship: lawyers Sid Powell and Kenny Chesebro came to their senses and chose personal freedom over continuing their support of the Roach and going down with his ship earning years of imprisonment. Yep, they plead guilty with no jail time, multi-year probation with minimal damage restitution in exchange for their testimony against Roach. In the end perhaps, all that will be left will be Roach with a few true believer servants to face the rising waters.

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Vintage commercial from 1985 for a cleaning product called Tough Act. They rip off the bald guy Mr. Clean, replacing him with a Tougher version. Yeah, he can really kick some ass on your filth (hilariously while destroying your doors and cabinetry) with the tagline: We know how to take care of scum. The actor was Robert Tessier, stuntman and actor who specialized in heavy, menacing roles.

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Out and about 10/21

Chipper with green acorn. Rain gauge shows yesterday's total

My birch and Benny's maple

The yin yang trees behind us

Tree by the solar array

I drove to Grand Ledge to visit the Ledges park. It was closed due to still uncleared downed trees from the August storm. I've noticed this year that folks are really into the lawn decorations. Lots of 10' skeletons, cemeteries, white sheeted ghosts dangling from trees. This caught my attention. Simply a witches coven-'Double double toil and trouble/Fire burn and cauldron bubble'.

 

BUDDY'S WARMING HUT

 

After Mr. Raccoon ended our portal training with Bud, we've been concerned about him being out in the cold all night. Sure, that's why he has fur but we don't know how healthy it is for him. So Mom bought him a warming hut and Dad built and painted a pallet for it to sit on. While the garage porch has a big overhang, it does get rainwater on the cement depending on the direction of the wind. The major problem as with the portal, has been Bud's dislike of any kind of flap where he might have to use his head or paw to open. The poor lad had some kind of trauma in his youth with his head so he has not really investigated the hut. So, we are embarking on some training with treat rewards. What would solve all this is if he would just stay inside overnight. I've noticed that during these past wet and chilly days, he would request going out but once I opened the slider and he got a taste of the cold air, he would decide not to go out. Perhaps once it gets colder, he'll realize that a comfy blanket on the loveseat in a warm house is more desirable than freezing his tail under an evergreen.

MO' MOVIES: STRANGER THAN FICTION

 

If you enjoyed Charlie Kaufman's "Being John Malkovich", and "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind", consider checking out this film from 2006. A IRS auditor finds himself accompanied by a narrator that only he can hear. This guy is one part math savant (can do huge multiplications in his head) and one part OCD with numbers (counts how many times he brushes horizontally, then vertically) with dash of autism spectrum (cluelessly awkward in social situations) where routine is king.

Will Ferrell stars as the IRS agent, Maggie Gyllenhaal as a baker he audits, Emma Thompson is an author with writer's block with Queen Latifah as her assistant,  Dustin Hoffman (hello, Rain Man!) is a professor and Tom Hulce (Amadeus!) has a bit as a IRS supervisor/HR and Linda Hunt (Year of Living Dangerously) plays a shrink.

Strange, surreal, hilarious, poignant, biting social satire-you gotta pay attention because there's all sorts of bits going on. One of the more complex films I have seen in sometime but for me and C, ultimately quite enjoyable.

 

RUTH

The mother of a close friend was regarded by many in her family as a bit eccentric. In her later years, what gave her the most joy in her life were the birds at her feeder. In reality though, it was a coping strategy for the many years of marriage to a overbearing, controlling husband whose ego and meanness had few boundaries. He loved being referred to by his first initials, JR, an affectation borrowed from the main character of the hit TV series “Dallas”. She had borne him 3 sons and 2 daughters and watched in dismay his influence on them, especially the boys. Nevertheless, she loved them all and the children they produced.

She had simple tastes and ambitions which unfortunately became translated by her husband to the world that she was “simple”. As for her love of birds, he would gleefully point out that they had something in common: they were both birdbrained. She learned to be generally quiet in his presence as to not to provoke such derisive comments and as years went on, retreated, once all the household chores that were assigned to her were completed, into the world of her wild friends.

In the end, she outlived him and here lies the tragedy: she was so used to her coping strategy that she could not get out of it-a combination of habit and dementia. She retreated further to the point of spending her days in a comfy chair, gazing out a picture window at her beloved winged angels.

RIGHT ON, POPE FRANCIS!

 

Two weeks ago, Pope Francis issued a Apostolic Exhortation: Laudate Deum-To All People Of Good Will On The Climate Crisis. In extraordinary direct and tough language, he doesn't pull his punches as he takes the planet's political and business leaders to task for their languid, if any, response to our climate problems. He wrote: “I have realized that our responses have not been adequate, while the world in which we live is collapsing and may be nearing the breaking point” and “we must move beyond the mentality of appearing to be concerned but not having the courage needed to produce substantial changes”.

Good on him! Why have the power and influence of being the leader of one of the world's largest Churches (and still relevant in the 21st C) and not use it? The entire planet is in peril and he correctly observes in his twin mantras: “Everything is connected” and “No one is saved alone”.

We'll see. Considering the greed and corruption in the ruling classes, nothing will change until people start dropping by the millions and the survivors threaten revolt if these bastards don't do anything. It probably will be too late for huge swaths of the population. 

 

 

 

 

FIVE SECOND STORIES

 An actor received a note from a lady who had recently watched one of his films made years before. In the dialogue, a missing sock was mentioned. This, the lady wrote, reminded her that she had laundry that needed to be put in the dryer and she was writing to thank him.

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Dude, can I eat my effin' peanut in peace? 

DHS having a word with Freddie.

 

 

 

They like to change things up.

I was working in my office when I first saw the Turkey Bros under Mrs. Krabappel. Curiously, they were going clockwise around the house heading back to the woods. Usually, it is counter-clockwise.

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The last of this season's tomatoes with Chester photo-bombing.

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Seen while out and about:

When your kids graduate from "Baby On Board".

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I've been a fan of Sherlock Holmes for some time. My favorite actor playing Holmes is the British actor Jeremy Brett who starred in the Granada TV series 1984-94 and is considered the definitive Holmes of his era. Brett was interested in playing the character as faithful to the Doyle version as possible. In the new series 2010-17 with Benedict Cumberbatch as Holmes, was more modern with the character describing himself as a "high functioning sociopath'.

Fun fact: Brett was considered for the James Bond role of 007 after Sean Connery bailed in 1968. Brett turned it down, worried it would hurt his career and the role went to George Lazenby who made only one, rather forgettable Bond film.

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Panther Chameleon

A truly unique and unusual reptile. We were watching an Attenborough show about them and it was brought up that an ancient belief thought they were made by the devil, put together with spare parts of many animals: the tail of a monkey, the skin of a crocodile, the tongue of a toad, the horns of a rhinoceros and the eyes of a who knows what?!

This show had dreadful closed captioning: throughout the entire doc, chameleons was translated as comedians dozens of time resulting in sometimes hilarious, sometimes v bad sentences.

When I was a kid, I loved this hilarious Looney Tunes short:

 

 

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The Jurassic Coast

A 95-mile long stretch of coastline in southern England, situated within the counties of Dorset and Devon. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site recognised for its outstanding rocks, fossils and landforms.

The Jurassic coast came to prominence due to Mary Anning (21 May 1799 – 9 March 1847). She was an English fossil collector, dealer and palaeontologist who became known around the world for the discoveries she made in Jurassic marine fossil beds in the cliffs along the English Channel. Anning's findings contributed to changes in scientific thinking about prehistoric life and the history of the Earth. 

One distinctive fossil from the Coast are Ammonites, a cephalopod and ancestor of current day chambered nautilus.

 

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We were watching another Attenborough doc about the earliest ancestors of birds. They were reptiles who evolved in order to increase their ability to eat flying insects. The first one had extra flaps of skin on both sides of their bodies which let them glide in the air like flying squirrels. Eventually, these flaps became attached to arm-like extensions which could be moved up and down allowing them to fly and navigate through a forest. Ultimately, these flaps turned into feathers.

These critters came in all sizes. The biggest was a pterosaur called Quetzalcoatlus whose wingspan reached 40 feet! By comparison:

Yikes!

Once again with a Attenborough doc, there were terrible CC. One gem: "but this pterosaur wasn't just eating incense". Uhh that was supposed to be "insects". Another was if the critters were making some sound, the captioners would post "thank you". LOL WTF!

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Another doc concerned fireflies. They mentioned "talking to fireflies" something I had never heard of. C said some colleagues at school had talked about it using flashlights. I laughingly joked that there could be some pretty upset female fireflies who thought they were communicating with a potential mate only to find it some damn ape! More on talking to the bugs:

https://www.amnh.org/explore/ology/zoology/talking-to-fireflies

 
 

MR JUNCO!

 

While the robin is considered the harbinger of Spring here in South Central MI, the junco can be considered our harbinger of Winter. Juncos mate in Northern MI and Canada and like many birds, migrate South for the Winter. For the Juncos, Lansing is their South. Welcome back!

ANNULAR SOLAR ECLIPSE

 

Kenneth Grimm

Time lapse of eclipse over Texas

Yesterday, October 14, parts of the American West and Southwest were treated to an annular solar eclipse. An annular solar eclipse happens when the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth, but when it is at or near its farthest point from Earth. Because the Moon is farther away from Earth, it appears smaller than the Sun and does not completely cover the Sun. This creates what is referred to as "the ring of fire".

ONE MORNING

 

The man awoke from a dream which silently disintegrated in his mind, the shards folding and dropping into a grey mist. He turned on his back and opened his eyes, focusing on the draped windows. About 7am he thought based on how lit they are at that time of the year. The day started as most: slow rising, sitting for a minute on the edge of the bed to test his balance, then shuffling off to the bathroom. He put on his clothes and walked out to the kitchen for some coffee. Sheesh he groaned as he discovered that he hadn’t prepared any the night before so he did it then. As it brewed, he checked the time and his waking calculation had been correct. A nice day for March, he thought as he gazed out his kitchen window. His weather gauge read 53 degrees. Where is the cat? His food dish is empty. He looked outside but didn’t see him. One of his favorite squirrels was on the deck looking for peanuts and this reminded him that he was hungry too. He looked around the kitchen and found that there was no bread for toast, his normal breakfast. He made a mental note to buy some at the market. Coffee in hand, went into his study and turned on his computer. His normal routine was to check the weather then start reading the Times. Nothing of note he thought: the rich get richer while screwing the poor; insane Republicans in Washington not doing what they are being paid to do; the Russo-Ukraine War drags on; some inexplicable shooting rampage in a nearby town. As he clicked on the link to his local paper, he realized that the caffeine has been slow to kick in and the brew was strangely tasteless. As was his habit, he checked the obituaries. Never know who you might know. It’s in alpha order, last name first and a long list-normal for a Sunday. Usually he doesn’t go over to page 2 but today, for some reason, he does. About half way down the page he sees a familiar last name. Hmm he thought, perhaps a cousin. Wait! That is my name!! It can’t be!! It’s a prank, a mistake!! His heart was racing as he read the details of his life. Yep, same birth date, parents, wife. His eyes caught the death date: five days ago! His mind swirled. If I am dead, why am I still conscious? Is this some Twilight Zone episode? Or am I still dreaming? With his eyes still on the screen, he reached for the coffee cup but couldn't grip it. Annoyed, he looked over and watched in horror as his hand went right through it. He heard a noise on the street. Oh God Oh God Oh God there’s a moving van out front and

FIVE SECOND STORIES

 

Getty

Weather

10/5: The day-long rain yielded 3.6" at home. When I was out and about in the country, I saw 2 pair of Sand Hills in different fields. I wondered about our pair as we had not seen them in a while. The very next day, they were back grazing in the Farm Bureau field.

10/8: 36° this morning with light frost on the roofs. None on the grass 

10/12: Partly sunny, temps in high 50's. The last of the tomatoes:

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Critters

Mr. Big Bun

 On the way to work 10/10:

Our Sandhills and geese having breakfast together behind us at the FB field.

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The Gaylord Gladiator, a automobile I had never heard of.

In the middle 1950's, brothers Jim and Ed Gaylord whose father had an enormous fortune based on his invention of the Bobby Pin, wanted to create a lasting legacy. Their choice endeavor was to get into the ultra-luxury car business creating an American version of Rolls-Royce. By 1955, they introduced a singular prototype:

Several design features, notably the owl-eyed headlamps, were not well received so the car was retooled.

Only four vehicles including the original prototype were ever built. It is believed that only two are known to survive. Between the extreme cost of production and asking price ($200,000 today), lawsuits and anxiety, the project was abandoned. 

Such post-war dreams as this were not a one-off: in 1948, Preston Tucker produced 51 renditions of his Tucker 48 before his operations were shut down due to negative press from allegations of stock fraud. Tucker suspected that the Big 3 automakers and their friendly Michigan senator had a hand in his demise in order to quash any competition. Ahh, capitalism at its finest.

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Seen while out and about: a bumper sticker

This is evidently a nationwide campaign featuring hip cat Scooter. A variant reads: "Hip spectacles, no testicles".

Well, this is nice for humans but I think those on the receiving end would beg to differ. My dear late friend Bin would become  enraged about his snip, snarling "Those bastards took my knackers" often slipping into a Tourette's state uttering things unprintable here. Retaining ones testicles is a big thing in male feline culture.

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You know you are getting old and out of the loop when it comes to popular culture while searching YT for some mellow music and "mellow and sleazy" comes up. Well, you have to investigate. Turns out Mellow and Sleazy are a South African duo who perform in the dance/electronica genre.

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From 1992, the hilarious Stray Cats video. Fabulous hair and guitar! 

Fun quote: The drummer, Slim Jim Phantom during an interview after the band broke up confessed that his first thought was "oh God, what am I going to do with all these tattoos?"

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Bad editing: I came across a vid about Australian wombats where the on camera narrator is walking past a hill and announces that it is covered with animal feces of all kinds. I guess she felt it added some local flavor to the presentation.