03/09/2004

Liar's Test

How can you tell when President Bush is lying?
His lips are moving.

You Don't Have to be Smart to be Mean


Finch and Feeders.

Case in point. I bought a cheap ass bird feeder the other day for the finches. Now finches are in need of a little TLC. They are those tiny song birds about 2 inches tall and, due to all the development and in particular the neighborhood cats, they are disappearing at an alarming rate. So a while ago I bought them a bird sock. They love it. The problem is the bigger birds love it too, gobble the seeds and in the process, drill out the holes. So I bought this cheap ass tube. It's clear plastic with four feeder posts. You can easily see the seed through the tube but the only way to get at it is via the slits made exclusively for finches. I envision a day when only the tiny song birds will dine at the tube. Of course they all hate it and have, for the most part, been ignoring the damn thing. The bag is much more bird-friendly. It's made of soft, perforated material they can easily cling to and nibble to their hearts content. And sometimes I think they riding the bag in the windjust for the fun of it. Anyway, I am slowly weaning them off of it. I only fill it a little bit and letting it hang empty for a while everything it gets empty. The result is that gradually the finches are using the new feeder and the larger birds are going elsewhere.

But not the dummy. This afternoon, two finches were eating from the new tube and one big guy. One big, dumb guy. He was pecking at the clear plastic and couldn't figure out for the life of him why he wasn't getting what what he so clearly saw right in front of him. He's like George Bush. Bush's words and actions don't match either, they don't even make any sense. Anyway, sorry for the slip into politics. Where was I? Oh yes. Birds. The other day the dummy noticed that the finches were getting seed, so he reached over, pecked them away then went back to the pecking at the outside of the tube. Dumb and mean. Like Bush.

01/09/2004

GOBs

SICK and TIRED of government "by the GOBs, for the GOBs? Me too. Here's a good rant on subject. GOBs, of course being the "Good Old Boys". If they make it through this upcoming election, we have only ourselves to blame.

28/08/2004

Polling Place Locater

Don't know where you're supposed to go to vote? Use this handy polling place locater. Click here or the JUST VOTE icon below. This site has everything, maps, sample ballots. You can even check on the status of your voter's registeration card. During the last election, I wasn't allowed to vote. They claimed I wasn't registered, which was bullshit because I was.


POLLING PLACE LOCATER

26/08/2004

Crow's Breath

This morning it was cold enough to see a crow's breath. I've never noticed a crow's breath before. I've never noticed any bird's breath before. It was a cool way to start the day.

The crows are here a lot. They're intelligent. They can make and use tools. They're social. They can learn words. Perhaps I can strike up an acquaintance with one; share some small talk now and then. I'm not a full on birdwatcher but the crows are here anyway so what the heck? It's not a formal project but perhaps the birds and I will have a little fun. It's a chance that it's always the same crow on roof broadcasting the morning news so I'll start with her.

Also, speaking of birds.... Plonk and his girlfriend were here this morning for breakfast, so she's okay after all.

"It was the saying of Bion, that though boys throw stones at frogs in sport, yet the frogs do not die in sport but in earnest." --Plutarch

19/08/2004

Birds in the Bush

It's the down side of being a small world. Things get around and even though deserts aren't mosquitoes friendly places, the West Nile virus has finally gotten around to Nevada.

No mosquitoes, please.

The advance of the virus is tracked by the trail of dead birds left in its wake but, as usual, anything other than human is suffering gets little press. The Reno Gazette-Journel did publish a good article on the subject though. It's definitely worth a read. I sure hope Plonk will be okay. At least he's been around lately. I haven't seen his girlfriend though so I'm worried about her. I'm worried about them all... the roudy, morning bunch of crows, the tiny finches, sparrows, and big, lovely magpies. They are all at risk, and perhaps the crows in particular. And I've been complaining about them. How quickly things can change. Sad. Very sad.

Plonk (L) and his girlfriend.