..... the thunder is rolling here on my damp little patch of Tennessee and a gentle rain is currently falling..... earlier this morning there was wind, stinging rain, and clouds that seemed to swing in low and touch the tops of the trees.... but now there is just a slow, cleansing rain and a faraway thunder as the clouds climb the mountains to the east...
.... most storms arrive from the southwest, cross over us here in the valley, and then are crushed against the cold mountains to the east..... today's showers were no different... more may follow later tonight, of course, but for now, there is a dripping, trickling peacefulness...... that infamous calm between the storms that we've all heard so much about in fable and lore, I guess...... but here - right now - it is real.....
..... pan-seared Caesar shrimp, Thai garlic & ginger rice, and a salad will soon be prepared in the kitchen..... I'm stoked.....
..... other than that, there isn't much going on this lazy afternoon...... although, I did experience a strange kind of angst today whilst seated during a heated game of Scrabble with The Missus.... and it disturbed me a bit......
..... it is odd, actually, the realization of angst.... see, a few weeks back, I put up a birdfeeder on the front porch.... and after seeing what a wonderful success it was, I quickly purchased another for the back yard.... and since placing them both, I have been very vigilant at ensuring that there is always fresh food, they are always well-stocked, and that they are clean..... and I have taken an even greater pleasure in whipping out my 'Audubon's Field Guide to The Southeast' every time a new species arrives on one of the feeders for a snack..... to date, well, I've personally witnessed 14 different species......
..... but here is the problem...... I am overrun with titmice.... those little bastards are everywhere..... and while I do have the occasional cardinal, nuthatch, red-winged blackbird, chickadee, vireo, woodpecker, sparrow, finch, and dark-eyed junco, the damnable titmice are a continuous swirl of feathers and pointy-heads......
.... today, a woodpecker nearly missed meeting His Maker as he munched on sunflower seeds..... it was Bob's fault, actually.... evil cat that he is...... that poor woodpecker was spared by less than an inch as Bob crept around the base of a poplar tree and attacked...... I was horrified..... I saw what was going on and stood up from the Scrabble table to warn the lucky woodpecker just as the action intensified...... luckily, all of my wildlife was still alive as I walked out onto the porch to chastise Bob.....
..... and that's when it happened..... and I'm still kind of disappointed in myself.....
.... I looked down at Bob, wagged my finger at him, and said, "Bob!.... Dammit!..... do NOT eat the woodpeckers, vireos, juncos, cardinals, chickadees, blackbirds, sparrows, finches, or nuthatches!!.... we value our diversity here, hammerhead!.... eat a fucking titmouse, boy, there are millions of them..... eat all you want, thin'em out, gorge yourself.... but leave the odd ones, boy, they are for looking at, not eating.... "
.... all I got was a feeble, meek "meow" in return..... you really can't reason logically with a cat anyway, but I just had to say my peace.....
..... and once I returned to the Scrabble table, what I had just done hit me hard right between the eyes..... and I was shocked with myself........ for somewhere, deep, deep in my soul, I had made a moral decision that it was alright for Bob to eat titmice simply because there were more of them around....... I couldn't believe that I had actually said what I had...... in essence, "dine on the plentiful, Bob, not the exotic.." ..... and instead of insisting that he not eat ANY bird, I forsook the innocent, ever-flitting titmouse..... casting their species into the Pit of Free-Range Cat Food for my own selfish reasons......
.... I suspect that I am just an evil person..... that somehow my innate Human Nature has joined up with The Understanding Of Cats, and that I just cut my proverbial losses and bowed to the inevitable urge that a cat has to hunt....... but I am still quite shocked by how my mind immediately leapt..... should not my love of nature also reach out to the titmouse community?..... should I be an equal protector, defender, and nature-lover?...... or am I just a realist......
.... I figure I should just shoot Bob and be done with it, quite frankly..... this kind of internal angst over a damn titmouse is just uncalled for.....
Shoot Bob? Man... I tell you, you'll be anything but done with it. Heheh..
Bullshitted by That 1 Guy on March 15, 2008 04:56 PMIt could be worse. You could have pigeons.
Praying for your soul, you monster!
:o)
Bullshitted by Joan of Argghh! on March 15, 2008 05:05 PMBut if you shot Bob, you'd be shooting the unique, not the merely common. Mebbe it's all right as long as you don't indulge in a BLT- Bob, Lettuce, and Tomato sandwich...
Nah, I'd just let the cat eat what he wants and not worry about it. He's just pruning the slow, stupid, and/or gluttonous ones from the flock and improving the species. He's doing them a favour in the long run.
Bullshitted by G on March 15, 2008 06:17 PMBob is doing what he's supposed to be doing in the natural order of things.
You, sir, need to get that angst under control and stop taking it out on the poor cats!
Yeah, leave Bob alone. He's just doin' cat stuff that a cat is supposed to do, else he wouldn't be a respectable cat.
But since you seem to think that you can reason with Bob, then maybe you could teach him to hunt critters that are easier to catch because they don't have wings. Like, chipmunks, ground squirrels, skinks, lizards, snakes. Had a ferocious cat once that would drag in a snake about once a week and present it at the door, so proud of his prowess in the wild jungle of the back woods.
don't worry about it..hell, even Mother nature thins the herd and maybe that is ole Bob's function..to thin the flock of titmouses..of course if I saw him under my bird feeders I would be thinning the pride of cats..
Bullshitted by GUYK on March 16, 2008 02:51 PMBob? You named a cat Bob? No wonder he wants to kill.
Bullshitted by james old guy on March 17, 2008 10:50 AMIn 1978, with about 2 or 3 years of learning how to play guitar, I bought a Gibson Les Paul Deluxe and a Lab Series L-5 amp with stereo capabilities and twin 12" speakers that allowed two guitars to be played at once with each guitar having it's own personality come from the amp with crystal clarity. In 1980, I sold both to finance my first wedding set. I've been kicking my own ass daily as a result. Well, after 29 years, although the ass kicking continues at greatly reduced occurances, I have a replacement Paul that makes me smile and be happy to be alive whenever I take it out of it's case.
I've been searching Ebay for a Les Paul. Although I found quite a few of them and bid/lost on about six, here at our one and only music store in a small town in Washington State, the axe of my dreams appeared on a peg on the wall. I knew it as soon as I laid my Gibson hungry eyes on it's beauty.
It's a faded cherry sunburst, just like my 78. It also has a quilted Maple top and shines like the Sun. The owners had just attended the NAMM show in Southern Cali., and told me they had found quite a few models they were getting in and to be patient. I'm glad I listened and was curious for once in my life. What was on that wall was a Gibson/Ephiphone Les Paul Ultra II, just released it January of this year. The one I puchased was the first of it's kind in town. What a sweet combination of wood and new, innovative electronics. I need to upload some pics of it for you people out there who can truly appreciate just what a awesome instrument Gibson had made. Well, it's reall Epi, but Gibson techs lend their expertice to these guitars. I truly can't play this guitar enough during the day.
It starts out at the headstock with slightly larger Grover tuners for easier use when tuning. The neck is Rosewood with a Satin-Matte finish on the back to keep your hand from sticking to the finish and allows faster hand speed for chord changes. The body is chambered to make it 5.5 lbs lighter and give it more open area for the accoustic tones allowed (more on that in a sec.). It has two Alnico humbuckers that give that rich/smooth tone that only Les Pauls can replicate. Each of the four knobs on the front of the body run a seperate pick up and a master gain. Here's the kicker. Hidden, where the 23rd fret would be, is a Nanomag pickup designed to give you the option of making this seemingly solid body electric sound like an accoustic. Shadow Corp from Germany designed this little pickup just for the Ultra II. On the back electronics cover, is three little knobs that allow one to adjust the bass, treble, and gain for the Nanomag. Just a flip of the three-way metal switch, and you can play an accoustic through an electric guitar. Nancy Wilson (One of my fantasies for life) from Heart was chosen to play and review this guitar. She, along with me, has nothing but good to say about it. I have to agree in the extreme. With the gold hardware, it is one pretty guitar that plays like a dream. It has two 1/4" cord plug in the back so you can hook it up to an accoustic amp as well as an electric and enjoy almost unlimited sound changes with the flip of a switch and the turn of a knob.
After reading about six reviews, five of those six had some trouble with the craftsmanship of it's build. Such as, the hardware was painted totally and had bare spots, or the body had a crack in it because whoever built it didn't drill a starter hole for the pick-guard and the body cracked when they tightened down on the screw for the guard. After countless searches of my model for blems or cracks, I'm happy to say whoever built mine had pride enough to do it right. I don't have one even tiny blem on my axe. It's built to perfection as far as my discernable eye can see. Once again, I'm dancing a jig for the sole purpose of being able to be a proud owner of this new and innovative guitar. I just can't say enough, although you people are probably tired of my enthusiasum, so I'll stop now.
I'll try to get some pics up here to show you this guitar. Once you see it, I'm sure most of you will agree that for $699, this guitar is one of a kind. If anyone else either owns one or has at least played one, please write and let me know if you're as happy with it as I am.
We lost power for six hours last night. Has wind about 60 miles an hour, trees and limbs down everywhere.
Bullshitted by Catfish on March 17, 2008 03:41 PMA titmouse has no tits, nor is it a mouse. Discuss.
Bullshitted by Elisson on March 17, 2008 04:24 PMI've got a ton of freakin' starlings up here Missouri way. They make me crazy-all that squawking and pooping. Those and the bluejays. Here kitty,kitty,kitty! ;)
Bullshitted by Sugar Britches on March 17, 2008 07:25 PM