Random Saturday Thoughts
1. Why is it that the mockingbird, which is capable of imitating the calls of other melodius birds (the cardinal and the chickadee, to name two that I can reliably identify), has, as its own call, a sound that is reminiscent of nothing so much as a squeaky garden-gate hinge? (Tim Powers once noted that their call sounds like they are saying "cheeseburger, cheeseburger", and cadence-wise, this is also true.) The inescapable conclusion is that they want it that way. I suppose that's not impossible. David Attenborough (my hero) tells of a Bird of Paradise that is imitative, some of which live close enough to civilization that they have incorporated into their repetoire things like car-alarms, and chainsaws. (I've heard the audio; it's uncanny. A very tiny bird, emitting the unmistakable sound of a chainsaw.) So I guess that mockingbirds might imitate squeaky hinges on purpose. Who knows?
2. It is Wolf Spider Season. Baby wolf-spiders keep turning up in unexpected places, like the end table, or the kitchen counter. Unaccountably, I find baby wolf-spiders kind of cute. Lucky thing, because in the old offices that Sardis used to occupy, back in the day, they particularly favored the windowsills above my desk, in the spring. They're odd-looking spiders -- their legs are very short in relation to their bodies -- and to the best of my knowledge, they don't spin webs. (They just scuttle around stalking their prey; they jump, which is another reason I ought to detest them.) Apparently somewhere deep in my brain, they fall on the correct side of the insect/crustacean divide. (Insects = loathsome; crustaceans = cute; also, delicious.) This doubly makes no sense, because when you get right down to it, wolf-spiders basically look like scorpions without the tails. And I loathe scorpions as I loathe no other arthropods, except for earwigs. Often, I don't really understand my brain.
3. Why have they not released "Baa, Baa, Black Sheep" the series on DVD? Why? I caught the 93-minute pilot as a movie on the History Channel today. Gosh, I loved that show. "Oooh, Corsairs!" I said, as my dormant inner WWII Aircraft Geek was reawakened. *sigh*
ETA: SQUEE! They have! The first ten eps! *runs to Amazon*
ETA.2: Also? 4. Bought an indoor/outdoor thermometer at Radio Shack, in part because I had store credit I had to use up. Got it home only to find that to install batteries in the outdoor unit, it requires THE WORLD'S TINIEST PHILIPS' HEAD SCREWDRIVER. V. annoyed. The packaging couldn't say this along with advising it wanted two AA batteries? Where am I going to get a Philips' Head screwdriver that tiny? Grrr.
2. It is Wolf Spider Season. Baby wolf-spiders keep turning up in unexpected places, like the end table, or the kitchen counter. Unaccountably, I find baby wolf-spiders kind of cute. Lucky thing, because in the old offices that Sardis used to occupy, back in the day, they particularly favored the windowsills above my desk, in the spring. They're odd-looking spiders -- their legs are very short in relation to their bodies -- and to the best of my knowledge, they don't spin webs. (They just scuttle around stalking their prey; they jump, which is another reason I ought to detest them.) Apparently somewhere deep in my brain, they fall on the correct side of the insect/crustacean divide. (Insects = loathsome; crustaceans = cute; also, delicious.) This doubly makes no sense, because when you get right down to it, wolf-spiders basically look like scorpions without the tails. And I loathe scorpions as I loathe no other arthropods, except for earwigs. Often, I don't really understand my brain.
3. Why have they not released "Baa, Baa, Black Sheep" the series on DVD? Why? I caught the 93-minute pilot as a movie on the History Channel today. Gosh, I loved that show. "Oooh, Corsairs!" I said, as my dormant inner WWII Aircraft Geek was reawakened. *sigh*
ETA: SQUEE! They have! The first ten eps! *runs to Amazon*
ETA.2: Also? 4. Bought an indoor/outdoor thermometer at Radio Shack, in part because I had store credit I had to use up. Got it home only to find that to install batteries in the outdoor unit, it requires THE WORLD'S TINIEST PHILIPS' HEAD SCREWDRIVER. V. annoyed. The packaging couldn't say this along with advising it wanted two AA batteries? Where am I going to get a Philips' Head screwdriver that tiny? Grrr.