Another Word on Birds; More M.O.W. Exhibits

It's a two-parter tonight!

Another Word on Birds

First off, here are two quick updates on the birds I've been posting about all week. This morning I parked my car in the usual place and started for the hated crosswalk. In my haste I blundered right past the female hummer on that same sage bush. She flew into the nearby tree and scolded me.

I apologized immediately.

"Sorry, little girl," I told her. "I didn't see you!"

At lunch time she scolded me again as she hovered next to the tree. I hadn't done anything wrong this time, though she apparently disagreed with me. That was the last time I saw her today.



But when I got back across the street after lunch, I belatedly noticed that there was a hawk on the same telephone pole our "mutant robin" hawk was on two days ago. The photo's not great - I took it from across the street. But it does show that this is clearly another Harris' Hawk, and just as clearly resembles our mystery bird. I therefore declare in favor of Sam's theory that our "round robin" was an immature (and possibly injured) Harris' Hawk.

Technorati Tags: Monday Photo Shoot, Birds, Scalzi


A Five Things Meme, Tailor-Made for the Museum of the Weird

This meme is from TJ over at Paisley Skys. The game is to post five photos of the items listed in blue below. Let's get started, shall we?

One picture of something you made

Hmm. What have I made that I haven't already shown you? That's the problem with this one. I've shown you my fake book and magazine covers, my notebooks full of novel manuscript, rock buttons from my Rockarama days, and some Shrinky Dink Christmas ornaments. My poor eye-hand coordination and other issues pretty much preclude my doing anything wonderful in terms of drawing or painting, collage or sculpture, even sewing or knitting.

I do still have a few things I've made other the years - a round Australia travel poster from eighth grade art class, a semi-cubist block print block from even longer ago, even a Route 66-themed house sign from the late 1980s. Where are these things now? The standard answer around here is "in a box somewhere"--and it drives John crazy when I go looking for such things. Not that I'd find them, anyway.

Nevertheless, I did find I few things to show you that I made:


Okay, I didn't literally operate the copier at Zudo's (later Kinko's) to produce these 15-year-old bumper stickers, but I did design the stickers, about five computers ago. They were part of the package of "goodies" sent to Project Quantum Leap members. There were four designs altogether. The other two were "I brake for holograms" and simply "Project Quantum Leap." To be honest, I've lost track of whether PQL members still get the "goodies" when they join.

Something else I made is pictured below, in one of the other four categories. Really, these things overlap quite a bit, especially here in the M.O.W.

One picture of a gift someone gave you

This is a very recent gift from Dan and Anita, parents of my godson, Jacob. It's signed by Walter Koenig and the woman he asked about "nuclear wessals" in Star Trek IV. They were both at some recent Trek-related event in Los Alamos. The woman, a Star Trek fan, apparently got her walk-on role by literally walking on to the location, according to Dan.

One picture of something strange

You folks seem to think that the Casa Blocher Museum of the Weird has endless exhibits, readily accessible for photographing. It does get a little challenging after a while, trying to show you something new. But having photographed an elongated wooden Moses, perfectly innocent metal salt shakers that would make Dr. McCoy blush (well, maybe not), and a collection of jelly glasses, I've settled on these spoons. They turned up in my mom's dresser as I was going through her effects. I suspect they're Thai (and old enough to be from "Siam"), but they're not labeled so I don't know this for sure. They're about as light as balsa, so I would think they would snap if asked to lift anything heavier than a single lettuce leaf, or a few mushroom slices. So what are they for? Where did Mom get them, and when and why? I have no idea.

John wanted me to show you a Bullwinkle token for this, or a racy button about trading card designers, one of his former professions. But let's stick with the spoons.

One picture of something with a pig (Why a pig? Why not?)

Yappa-pa! Yappa-pa! This is P-Chan, Akane Tendo's pet pig in the bizarre anime classic Ranma 1/2. Akane doesn't know it, but P-Chan is really Ryoga Hibiki, a boy who turns into a pig when doused with cold water. This is nothing unusual in the context of the show. Cold water turns Ranma turns from a boy to to girl, his father Genma from a man into a panda, Ranma's second fiancee Shampoo from a girl into a cat, and Shampoo's suitor Mousse from a young man into a duck. All this is due to these characters having fallen into various cursed springs in Jusenkyo, China, each of which is associated with a "very tragic story" of a drowned person or animal. I told you it was a bizarre show.

Aside from his inner pig, Ryoga is best known as a boy who can get lost in his own back yard and end up in China. He is Ranma's mortal enemy, originally due to a spat over bread in school, but later because Ranma accidentally caused Ryoga to fall into the Spring of the Drowned Pig. Ryoga is also one of several competitors for Akane's affections, but Akane is Ranma's #1 fiancee. Not that she likes him or anything.


One picture of something unique.


This is truly a one of a kind item, and the other thing that I personally made. This painted wooden board used to hang in front of our old house on Grannen Road in the late 1980s. John's publishing business at the time was Storyteller Productions, named after the clay storyteller figures produced by certain Pueblo artisans since the 1960s. Storyteller published a number of Beatles books. We eventually had to sell the house, but this old sign is a relic of a pretty neat time in our lives.

Hey, I'm done! And it's not even midnight! Thanks, T.J.!

I'm supposed to tag people, but I don't like to do that. If you'd like to do this meme, though, consider yourself tagged.

Oh, and speaking of Round Robins, the next Round Robin Photo Challenge is in six days! The topic, as chosen by Phinney of the journal Paragon, is "Free." Free as a bird, free ride, free lunch, free speech, free beer tomorrow, land of the free... there are a lot of ways you can go on this one! So hie thee over to the Round Robin blog, read about the topic and the Round Robin guidelines, and RSVP in the comments there if you'd like to play along. Remember, the posting date for "Free" is Wednesday, May 10th (and not a moment before!). So, Robins, get ready to set us free!

Karen


Technorati Tags: Games, Photos, memes, Round Robin Photo, personal, Museum of the Weird