“Hello. My name’s Gary, and I’m a herring addict.” The circle of gulls clapped their wings to greet Gary. “Welcome, Gary,” said the group facilitator, whose name was Glenda. “I’m sure you already know this, but admitting the problem is the first stage in managing and overcoming an addiction.” The nodding and bobbing of heads proceeded round the circle like… Read more »
I was watching a large skein of geese flying at several thousand feet last weekend. The way the sun caught them made them look like molten silver. I tried photographing them (‘cause these days, it didn’t happen if there’s no pictures) but they were too high, and in any case, the moment was lost by the time I found them… Read more »
Headline: Japanese electric toilet symbols go global “The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry says it’s aimed at making life less daunting for tourists visiting the country, especially given the rush of visitors expected for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.” Antescript: You can read in some depth about the Japanese toilets at these links. Link 1 … Read more »
Headline: Egypt zoo accused of painting donkey to look like zebra “Dad… can we go the Disney enclosure now?” Ptolemy Uppchuk was bored and wanted to go see the brightly-coloured creatures that the Syewdoh Zoo had on show in the “Disney Enclosure”. “Don’t you want to see the bears?” replied his father. “They’ve got polar, black and grizzly bears, and… Read more »
News item: Barnstaple’s pink seagull is ‘talk of the town’ This is the fourth story in the ongoing saga of the Gull family. All have been inspired by stories about gulls on the BBC’s website. Although this instalment stands on its own, you may want to read “Previously on Gullsville…” below before wading through the ordure that is Gullsville Episode… Read more »
News item: “Drunk gulls found ‘stinking of alcohol’” A couple of years ago, inspired by gull-related BBC stories, I wrote two pieces about a Mr. and Mrs. Gull. In the first one, I portrayed Mr. Gull as a beer-drinking, curry-loving, amoral, red-necked gull. In the second one, he met his demise while playing chicken with a lawnmower. A kittiwake named… Read more »
For several days around the end of March, this group (round?) of American Robins hung out in a tree just beyond our back fence. This is a phenomenon we’ve not noticed before in the 24 years we’ve lived in our house. Online searches and enquiries among friends yielded two theories. The first is that the birds move north with rising… Read more »
In my constant search for ways to supplement my income, I recently discovered worm farming. I was in a conversation with a family member out on Vancouver Island, and we got around to talking about worm hunter-gatherers, farmers and so on, and surprise—they all exist! So I used my favourite search engine to find a Dude Ranch nearby that caters… Read more »
So Punxsutawney Phil has performed his annual prognostication, and there are six more weeks of winter to go. Call me grumpy/cynical/party-pooper/whatever, but whoopdy flipping do! Who, outside of Gobbler’s Knob (a place that ranks up there with Bell End and Pratts Bottom for “need to change the name” attention) gives a rodent’s rectum about a grumpy rodent seeing his shadow… Read more »
(The story so far… Stella is a contestant in a “Miss Sea Star Canada” pageant, and during a pre-competition visit to the ladies’ room, the suckers on her very realistic starfish costume got her stuck to the wall. Guy, a security officer and her knight in shining armour, rescued her by releasing her limb by limb from her costume. By… Read more »