Before we get down to business being silly, here is an important announcement: Eddie’s tube is out! Yay! If that doesn’t make sense, see the previous two entries.
Today’s silly stuff deals with the concept of flight, or failure to fly, or reasons not to fly.
This illustrated story of office workers saving ducklings is pretty funny, and cute as well. In fact, it comes from Cuteoverload.com . Ducklings can’t fly. They can plummet off the side of a building, and they can waddle, but they can’t fly. Fortunately, there were people around to help these particular ducklings survive the plummeting and the waddling. Let’s hope the ducklings grow up to be smarter than their mom.
First, do your pets get enough exercise? Sure, you take your dogs out for walks, but what about your cats? Have you ever thought about getting them a treadmill? Yeah, me neither.
Maybe the reason cats don’t exercise so much is because cats are existentialists. Do existentialists exercise? I doubt it. They do mope, however, and existentialist cats are particularly good mopers.
Finally, are you female? Of a certain age? At that very special “time of life”? And awake at night? Then you have insomniac sisters. Extra points if your name is Judy.
Last week, I came across three things I wanted to post on this blog. And now I find that two of them are sweeping across the Internet. So there’s no point in waiting, I guess. I also have a brief message of encouragement for those of you who land on this site looking for info about diabetic pets, but that’s at the end.
Have you seen the extremely popular YouTube video, “An Engineer’s Guide to Cats” yet? If you haven’t, you eventually will because it is all over the place. You can watch it now by clicking on this link. You’ll be glad you did, because it’s quite funny. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHXBL6bzAR4
Accompanying the video was a well-written article, which is not being passed around the Internet quite so much. I read the article in a hard copy of The New Yorker, a magazine I dearly love. It explains all about poor, trapped Nicholas, as well as discussing elevators in detail. They’re safe, they’re more complicated than you might imagine, and they generate much of their own power, kind of like a hybrid. Here’s the link: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/04/21/080421fa_fact_paumgarten?/yrail
And now we’re all caught up. I had planned on putting up a book review tomorrow and some diabetic cat success stories later on in the week, but I’ll have to revisit that schedule now. In the mean time, if you’re one of the people drifting in to check out my periodic references to diabetic pets, here’s the bumper sticker version: Yes, it can be treated, and no, it’s not hard. You can do this and you’ll be glad you did. Giving 2 shots a day to my diabetic cat, Eddie, takes about 5 minutes total, and for my trouble I have kept him alive and in very good health since Sept. 2004. More on this at the end of the week or beginning of next week.
My 87-year-old father has this Disney-esque view of the animal kingdom, where all wild animals want is to be our friends. What can I say? He’s 87. It’s a little late in the game to change his mind, and at this point, why try after failing for decades? Anyway, this Weezer video was produced by Spike Jonze, but it could have been written by Dad: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hyoszso38E
Finally, my friend Marsha had a disagreement with her otherwise delightful husband, Elliott, who accused her of making up her memory of The Banana Man. Trust me, no one could think they remembered something this absurd without having seen it. Thanks, Marsha, for digging this up and passing it along. Captain Kangaroo presents The Banana Man: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=et6Jt2YX44o
As you can tell by the name, Avienne is into birds. Big time into birds.
Unfortunately, she is in serious need of some cheering up. So in the comments section below, I have placed a whole bunch of bird-related YouTube links. Some of the birds are funny, and some swear. Maybe she can borrow one of the swearing birds and take it to the people who need to hear what Avienne herself is too polite and sensible to say.
I am failing to zip through this week’s book at the usual speed, unfortunately. Right now, I will note that several of the characters make me think of Monty Python’s Upper Class British Twit sketch, only without the humor. And that sketch is brilliant!
So, without further explanation, here is Monty Python’s Upper Class Twit of the Year sketch. Enjoy!
Twice now, Dave and I have hiked from the South Rim of the Grand Canyon down to the Colorado River, stayed 2-3 nights at Phantom Ranch, and hiked back out. It is the hardest thing I’ve ever done, and it takes me way, way, way outside my comfort zone.
This weekend, we decided to do it again in 2009.
Also this weekend, da1baldguy posted a bunch of clips on YouTube showing parts of his hike down and up — in the snow! I’ve been at the Grand Canyon when there were 8 inches of snow, and the views are astonishing. Anyway, here are clips from da1baldguy’s collection:
I just added the link for WEAA radio, which I listen to online a fair amount. WEAA is a public radio station sponsored by Morgan State University in Baltimore, which I knew nothing about prior to discovering the station. But I love the jazz they play, and they’ve broadened my horizons considerably.
For the wine and food part of this entry, see the first comment.
What does a guitarist do when left alone to goof around? And what does that goofing around sound like when he takes it on stage? Check out Tommy Emmanuel’s prelude to Mombasa.
I can’t tell you who I am in just a few words. Instead, I can share a picture of a storm moving into the Grand Canyon as we were hiking out from the bottom in May 2007. That hike was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, and one of the most gratifying.
