Stuffed birds on the road

I have seen a lot of standard stuff in people's cars propped up against the windows or on the rear shelf tray.
Kids, pets, cuddly toys, cushions that say 'I love my car'. The works. We've all seen 'em.
Yesterday I was driving behind a Skoda Fabia. I looked remodelled, with some chromed edges stuck on. It was also sporting a bat shaped sticker where the car brand logo should have been and I could distinguish the words 'Chiropoda" on the left. That's Latin for bat. Nothing odd there. A bat lover.
Or some geek thinking he's driving around in his batmobile.
But then I could see what was IN the car. And I had to look twice. No bobbing heads, no umbrella's, no panama hat.
I could see.... three stuffed crows.
Yes. I thought no one would believe me if I said so, so I took a snap with my phone. And I took the liberty of enlarging and tracing the silhouette of one bird (click picture for bigger res).
Now how cool/weird/normal/sad/goofy* is that?

*scrap accordingly

It puts a whole new perspective on someone saying they always drive around with a couple of birds in the back...

Vroom!

In The Bourne Identity, amnesiac Matt Damon escapes from mysterious tormentors with penniless Franka Potente and her vintage Mini Cooper. (That's the same tiny car that, in its current incarnation, Michael Caine drives in Austin Powers in Goldmember).

"It was the kind of car that her character, a gypsy, could have," says producer Frank Marshall. "It's got to be at least 20 to 25 years since that model was made. So it was an old car but it was also a hip car.

"When I was younger, it was a very cool car to have," he adds. "It was my fantasy to drive one of those across Europe, from ski resort to ski resort."

Marshall explains that the car seemed like an everyday car that would be found in Europe, where Identity is set. The Bourne character "does not have the Aston Martin that M would have given James Bond. He had to use his brains to get out of there. I mean, this is the only time you've seen a character take out a map before he went on one of these chases. And that's why he says to her, 'You take good care of this car?' "

The other thing that the Mini has going for it is that it is an outrageously small car, perfect for getting out of a tight spot or speeding through European alleyways and down some steep concrete stairs. In effect, it's perfect for a high-speed chase in a spy thriller.

After all, this was the car of choice in the classic spy movies of the '60s and '70s. (One of them, 1969's The Italian Job, starring Caine, remade with the new model Mini Cooper.)

But while Minis might be hardy, they cannot really take the torture that Bourne dispenses while determining his identity.

"We found five Mini Coopers to make the film," Marshall says. "We have one left."

by Andy Seiler USA Today

I'm no hero

Mouser gave ma a big scare today. Kitty was gobbling up some food I'd given it. I thought it was sneezing a few times, I wasn't looking. The strange noise persisted. Then I got up to have a look. It was looking at me with watery eyes. It looked like Cat tried to cough up a mouse, but it didn't happen. He was choking on something. He was breathing fairly rapidly, but breathing none the less. Only thing I could think of was do a quick google for 'clearing cat airway". Didn't find anything. Tried to do a kind of Heimlich manoeuvre by pressing on the lower area of the ribs on both sides a few short hits after another. Maybe some short bursts of air could dislodge the something that was causing Kitty distress. Nothing happened, but Mouser didn't run away. It jumped in front of the window to go outside and looked at me. So I let him out. I was kinda feeling guilty I could do nothing for the poor beast. But after half an hour Mouser was back. Right as rain. I don't know what happened. Cat seems fine now. Nothing weird going on. Did find a page on howstuffworks on how to save a choking cat. But if he would really go all strange on me, I'd take Velvet Claws to the vet without hesitation.

Rolled into one

Just something completely random today.
Star Trek meets Monty Python

Easy peasy

Date, compare, discuss. Easy peasy lemon squeezy. And there was another similar question about statuettes.
All those nightmares, all those worries. What for?
So I know if I get stalked in my dreams again by historic artefacts, I will most certainly NOT be quizzed about them.

-holds breath-

How's that for anecdotal superstitious mumbo jumbo?
My sceptic mind does not give in to silly little fantasies. I wonder how many students fail exams because of those kinds of 'educated guesses'. Could that be ranked among some superstitious beliefs held by many athletes? Professional tennis players are famed for being very superstitious. To read up on some: try this article for some bullshit anecdotal evidence. Apparently it is called inductive reasoning.

These modern birds...

I'm playing the part of peeping tom in the garden. Got my camera at the ready. Snapping everything that moves. Well, can sit still for a moment so I can focus. I'm shooting with 210 mm so the focus depth has no room at all for getting it nearly right. But these modern birds... What a cheeky stare it just gave me. And it's got a cheeky call too. It kinda sounds like 'Tchurr..urr..urr'. Currently it is running amok on the blossoms of our neighbour's walnut tree.
It gave me the plain willies when I enlarged the picture and took a good look at the blue tit. Does it know something I don't?

Dreams

Another bad night. I'm eager to get this Mesopotamian Art exam out of the way. This time some Assyrian relief carvings had it in for me.

Infamy, infamy, they've all got it in for me

Luckily my dream didn't have a dwarf in it.

Cat NOT stuck up a tree

Mouser darted to the back of the garden. I couldn't quite see what it was after, some bushes obscured the view. But then the hunted party climbed up a tree. Velvet claws failed to follow. Think it's a question of weight ratio vs. twig bendability. Kitty kept miaowing at the base of the hazel. I went down to have a look. It was a Sciurus vulgaris. It's the first I've seen of them this spring.
Poor thing scared out of its wits. I took a snap and went back indoors. Cat was lurking about, but lost interest. Squirrel didn't come down for another two hours. If it had had pants they would have been soiled.
I'll try and get a better picture some time soon.

He's been taken up!

No one can make this up. Really. I expect every blogger is having a field day with this news item. He's been taken up! I know where he is. Well, he's in heaven, isn't he? They do say priests are in some ways closer to God...
How can he tend to the needs of his parishioners suspended in mid air? Is this a dog collar wearing version of Steve Fosset? Well, I can guess where it all went pear shaped;

"In addition to being an experienced sky diver he also had a floatable seat and a parachute with him."

i am about to spot the flaw in the plan here: It didn't say if he was a good swimmer though...
You know what he forgot to take with him? His bible of course. If he really believed in the power of prayer he wouldn't have felt the need for a parachute either.
I think this was just God's way to tell him to stop clowning around. I can just hear Him say:

"If I wanted you to fly I would have given you wings and not party balloons"

Tight corners

Cats do not fit in tight corners. Mice however... Velvet Claws brought me a specimen when I was soaking up some sun today. And let it go to play a bit. And then... Mouser couldn't reach. The mouse hid behind one of the wheels of a container. I think kitty got bored after half an hour. That or the sun got too hot on its black fur.

Firefox

Latest version of Firefox prone to bugs...


Look at Mouser just there. Sweet or what? It's been sleeping off its nightly escapades. Kitty had brought me a fine specimen of Microtus agrestis and just left it in front of the kitchen door. There was quite a ruchus in the middle of the night. When I turned on the lights to see what all the hissing and moaning was about, it turned out that two cats were fighting over the lifeless rodent. How very efficient.
Mouser was out hunting all night and come back in the morning riddled with ticks. One of them was nearly too big to remove with the special tick tweezers.

Caption Competition

These spring to mind:


"Sorry, I didn't have time to shave this morning"

"Well he did ask if I wanted something extra for the weekend"

"This is not what I had in mind when I asked for a parting in the middle"

"Global squeeze puts old-time skill of sheep-shaving back in demand"


Poor thing has been running around like that for two days now. I think my neighbour has gone completely bonkers.
How goofy must you be to shear a sheep like that? I bet he's got not a clue in the world how to wrestle one to the ground and shave it the proper way.

Medieval Purple Haze

The Medieval Mind. Very classy intro. Made by RKCR/Y&R

"The four-part series, co-produced by The Open University, will explore the mindset and lifestyle of medieval citizens and will reveal what motivated people who lived between 800AD and 1400AD and what beliefs we share with our ancestors."

Alas it is non-streamable if you live outside Blighty. But I'll find a way round that.
There is a medieval quiz on the BBC site. I you do poorly they lob a Chaucer quote at you:

"One ear it heard, at the other out it went."

If you get an acceptable amount of questions correctly you get Abelard:

"The first key to wisdom is defined, of course, as assiduous and frequent questioning"

Facebook cliques

I was just browsing the Entertainment 'n Arts selection with more than 5,000 members.
Some of these groups on Facebook... Honestly.


-All You Need Is Love, But A Chanel Bag Is A Glorious Substitute
-If Gay Marriage is Good Enough for Dumbledore, it's Good Enough for America
-Keep Political Correctness Out of Sesame Street

*rolls eyes*


The winner for the most surreal group name is...

Appreciation society for the random Singh in Eastenders



This one is runner-up:

Eddie Izzard Pokes Badgers With Spoons



And I might just join this one:

Sooty and Sweep appreciation society

Armchair General

Lucrezia Borgia buys tinned cat food

Mouser has been amassing an impressive array of rodents roaming the garden. It's left tons of them for us to see. I haven't been feeding kitty anything for a couple of days now, a spot of fasting indoors will do that velvety clawed beast a world of good. But suspension of rations means a killing spree. Which means a higher risk of worms gestating in his inner works. Last time I gave him the Drontal mashed up in some left over paté. A day later he was experiencing a spell of the old Montezuma's revenge. So I nipped down to the shops just now, and bought a small tin of cat food. Mouser is very picky when it comes to munchies. Alas grinding up some pills and serving them disguised as freshly slain mice is just not going to happen any time soon.
So I opened the little container, that drew the rascal into the kitchen, I kneaded the pulverized pill in the chicken & liver guck and served it while little Velvet Claws was making quite a ruchus to see what I was doing.
It gobbled it up as soon as it got in pig out-distance. But it did not devour all of it, I think it got tho the point where it started tasting very foul to a cat. I have to admit I felt a little like Lucrezia Borgia. But then again, it's kind of my way of revenge for Mouser vomiting on the carpet earlier today.

A scolding from The Past

I've had a horrible night. Haven't slept very well.
Currently I am studying for my exam on Mesopotamian Art. There are a lot of different periods, each of them have significant traits. Just like you would for instance tell a Renaissance and a Baroque painting apart based on differences in subject, style, etc. there are ways of distinguishing between e.g. Old Akkadian dynasty and Neo-Sumerian periods. So I'm immersing myself in architecture, pottery, relief carvings, sculpture,... the works.
Yesterday I was delving deeper into sculpture dating from the Neolithicum to the Ur III period. And guess what? Some statuettes ended up in my dream. They were telling me I kept putting them in the Uruk period, when clearly they were Early Dynastic. So I promised them I'd take another look at them today. When I said I didn't know they were from Tell Asmar because they hadn't told me, they reacted as if they were insulted to no end. "Ignorance is no excuse. You could come see us in the museum."
How's that for a warning from the past? It was horrible, I didn't sleep a wink. The little figurines scare the hell out of me. What with those big, inlaid eyes. Just staring.
Archaeologists have thought these objects served the purpose of depicting the eternity of the presence of the 'adorant' in the temple with their perpetual prayers for the god. Their gaze fixed on the deity, hands folded across the chest. Men usually are bear-torsoed, with a woolly frock. Woman have a sort of cape, draped across their body but always leaving the right shoulder uncovered (except the early statuette found in the Diyala river from the Uruk period whose upper bodies are left uncovered).
And another thing. What the statuettes clearly didn't know is that they are no longer on display at the museum. It has been almost five years now since it was plundered. I am talking about the Iraq Museum in Bagdad. Over on Derek Fincham's blog Illicit Cultural Property, you get a very good idea how bad it was and still is if you select all articles tagged 'Iraq'. He has some excellent links to articles, papers, research and world wide policy.
I still hope I shall be able to visit the Museum when it is reopened. Let me rephrase that. IF it is reopened. But I cannot say I will have the opportunity in my lifetime as the situation look very bleak right now. I know this does all sound very pessimistic, but it is a tragedy for all humankind to lose its heritage. All I can do now is see the collection online as it once was. The Oriental Institute in Chicago has an extensive database on the Lost Treasures of Iraq. If you go to the official Iraq Museum page you can see it is as empty as all display cases are now.

And what on earth has happened to the Bagdad Museum Project? Where is John Simmons and the alleged 15 million $ in aid he received from a so-called private company? baghdadmuseum.org is available as a domain name. Any takers?

Anyway, I did keep my promise to the statuettes, where ever they may be. I hope I sleep better tonight.

Choice

Do I really HAVE to choose?
Every time I want to get started on something, Mouser wants to sit on my lap too.
Mr Frisky here looks up at me as if it is saying "Choose wisely Young Skywalker".
And puts paw on keyboard during a skype session.

"This lap ain't big enough for the both of us."

SPOILER ALERT: the computer looses out in the end.

Just saying...

iWish

I always feel uncomfortable when someone asks me what I would like for my birthday. Modesty always makes me say 'a kiss' or 'don't spend your money on me' or something equally nauseating. But now I've sussed it out. I'm a few years behind. But I did it. I've made a wish list for my iTunes account. Well, it's an iMix. So if someone wants to buy me some songs as a prezzie, I just give them the url and Bob's your uncle. They can decide how much music they want to lavish on me. I'm not sure if someone gives you a song as a gift if it disappears from your iMix. I don't think so, I'll have to look on the iTunes FAQ page.
And I'll have to update my Amazon Wish List when I've got some time. I'm looking forward to that. It'll be my own treat when I've finished with these exams and the paper I'm working on.

Oh wait. Dr Livingstone banned me from buying more books. I don't think our insurance will stand for it. What with all that paper indoors nowadays. And we're running out of space to put all my books. I suppose I could get rid of a few. Those old moldy ones about photography from the 60's. Or should I? Could become quite collectable in thirty years time or so. But technically receiving books is not the same as buying books. So I suppose I'm in the clear on this one.