wren and pigeon and snow geese

So, we had an unusual visitor to the birdfeeder a few days ago (Friday morning I think): a little bird that I think was a wren, out on the deck beneath the table, doing a little clean-up on fallen sunflower seed fragments. Certainly not a finch, nor a chickadee (no cap) nor junco (no hood), nor hummingbird (small, but not that small). Rolly-polly body and long straight cocked tail. Don't know if it'll prove a new regular (like the little woodpecker who's showing up recently in the tree from which the suet-feeder hangs) or just passing through.

Speaking of passing through, once in a long while we see a hawk nearby, eying the feeder (or, as Janice calls it, 'checking out the buffet'). Recently one must have availed itself of an opportunity, because there were pigeon feathers on the ground beneath the feeder, and some more under the nearest tree. Think a hawk must have swooped down on an unfortunate pigeon (who can't use the finch-feeder but enjoy the ground-bird seed I toss over the rail for the ground birds below). Easy to forget that 'hawk' and 'dove' mean a lot more than loose descriptions of politicians.

But, not to end on a downer note, a few weeks ago Janice spotted and shared with me an unusual and striking sight: snow geese! Sometimes geese land in the grassy field between us and the elementary school. Sometimes a lot of geese. This was one of those occasions: maybe a hundred geese scattered about feeding on grass and enjoying themselves, among whom were three with strikingly different coloration. At first she thought they were seagulls (gulls can get pretty big in these parts), but the binoculars proved otherwise. We watched them for quite a while thr. the monocular and binoculars, and it was clear that the other ('Canadian') geese accepted them as among their own: sometimes they wd mingle and sometimes gather together among the larger flock.

--John R.

Tolkien Computer Art

So, I'm on deadline. Hence though I have a number of thing I've been wanting to write up and post about, they'll have to wait until I get done what I have to get done. In the meantime, expect some shorter, lighter pieces.

One such is that I recently picked up the January issue (#91) of IMAGINE FX (subtitled FANTASY AND SCI-FI DIGITAL ART). This is entirely outside my field of expertise and wd normally be outside my field of interest as well, but this issue's theme is illustrating Tolkien's work through digital art.

In addition to the cover art of Gollum and Bilbo (by Woonyoung Jung, an artist I'm not familiar with) there's  (1) an accompanying article about lighting such a scene,  (2) a review-article on Howe and Lee's work for the films (esp. the new film) -- good, but I already knew much of this from other sources, like the recent Weta Workshop book,  (3) a heavily illustrated article about Ilya Nazarov's work for one of the computer games (LORD OF THE RINGS: WAR IN THE NORTH),  (4) a piece by Donato Giancola (whose work I do know, having been impressed by his pieces for the ME:TW collectable card game) showing the steps by which he created a picture of JRRT at work in his study (he gets points for producing an image that Dr. Blackwelder wd be glad to add to his portraiture portfolio; his Tolkien is younger than in the familiar post-LotR photos),  (5) a piece by one Noah Bradley analyzing his sweeping landscape of The White City (Minas Tirith),  (6) a portrait of a Tolkienian elf by Corrado Vanelli,   there's (7) Nacho Molina's wonderful picture of Eowyn and the Witch-King and his step-by-step reconstruction of how he made the image.

Molina's Eowyn, an impressive addition to the already crowded gallery of illustrations of this favorite scene, get my nod for the best piece in the magazine. His Eowyn is both fully clothed and sensibly armored, two basics a surprising number of artists who illustrate the scene fall down on. I hope this image gets wider circulation than just this issue of this magazine; it's more deserving of becoming a poster than many I've seen.

Here's a link to the image (in somewhat sharper focus than the version appearing in the magazine):

http://www.art-spire.com/en/illustration/nacho-molina-eowyn-vs-the-witch-king/

--John R.
current reading: LORD HALIFAX'S GHOST BOOK [1936], with an egregious introduction by Colin Wilson.

Zelazny's dwarves

So, while skimming through another of the books that's made its way onto the 'out' pile, I came across an unexpected Tolkienian usage I thought worth recording here.

The book in question is CREATURES OF LIGHT AND DARKNESS, by Roger Zelazny [1969], which I finally got around to reading about a year and a half ago. I've had this copy since 1995, the main reason I've kept it till now being it was a gift from Dave Sutherland, the late AND great TSR mapper (cf. I6. Ravenloft), early D and D artist (one of the three responsible for the original MM, PH, and DMG), and memory repository of many a story from TSR's early days (he having been Employee #6).

While I'd rank Zelazny second only to Ray Bradbury as his century's premier science fiction writer, I wd have said he showed no influence from Tolkien whatsoever, either in his fantasy (Amber, Jack of Shadows) or in his science fiction -- so much so that I was puzzled by a tribute to Zelazny one artist put in her art for a MIDDLE-EARTH: THE WIZARDS ccg card.

 And yet there it is, a throwaway reference in a passing line as a character walks through a crowd of weird beings, tentacular and otherwise: ". . . she pushes past a horde of pimply green dwarves, turns up an alleyway . . ." (p. 91, paragraph six in the chapter "Wrath of the Red Lady").

'Elves' he might have gotten from old tradition (or from Dunsany, who influenced everyone who came after), but 'Dwarves' is Tolkien's own invention. 

So, Zelazny knew his Tolkien, well enough to pick up a coinage from his work. Who knew?

--John R.

current reading: THE DEVIL WIVES OF LI FONG by E. Hoffmann Price [1979]

Channeling Their Inner Nixon

So, here's a story that made my head spin: turns out the NRA (national rifle association) has an enemies' list. Just like the one Richard Nixon had during Watergate. Those on it range from organizations like the AARP and YWCA to individuals like Michael Moore (no surprise there) and Dick Van Dyke. Not to mention some churches, like the Methodists and Episcopals and Evangelical Lutherans and Catholics and the Mennonites.

Seriously, the NRA considers Mennonites a threat?*

Or Peter Bonerz (Jerry the Dentist from the Bob Newhart show)? Pam Dawber (Mindy from Mork and Mindy)? Barry Manilow?

Sean Connery I can see (the man only shoots people in the movies), but Art Garfunkel? Jimmy Carter? Hallmark? Sara Lee?

Weird.

Here's the link.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2013/02/good_lord_is_this_awesome.php


*clearly, we Presbyterians are doing something wrong if we're not on such a list. Let's hope our omission was just an oversight.


UPDATE, Monday February 11th
--A piece in today's Huffington Post reports that the NRA has pulled the 494-member 'enemies' list' from their website. Here's the link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/11/nra-anti-gun-list-missing_n_2663766.html?utm_hp_ref=politics

Mr. Niko's Last Day (W.2/6-13)

Seven cats only on this, Mr.Niko's last day with us. Just since last week we've seen Stig adopted to a home all his own, newcomer Aura and little Tayla adopted together (horray for both, esp. sweet little Tayla), Atlanta head up to Woodinville to be reunited with mother Georgia (and hopefully soon to be adopted together), and Minniehaha arrive and almost immediately depart, so that most of us never got the chance to see her (way to go, Minnie). 

The seven are EDNA JANE, LEMURA, Mr. NIKO, new cat KATNISS, (a calico tabby, orange and grey), next-newest GENESIS (black and orange, a calico without the white), PASCALE, and STACHE.

A quiet day with no walks (at one point Stache was by the door so I put the leash on her, but she was no sooner out than wanted back in again). Everyone came out except Mr. Niko, who reigned supreme in his cage. Edna came out on her own, and later moved herself from the cat-stand near the door to the one on the bench (her new favorite spot), walking past a mellow Stache to get there. She came out at noon with considerable reluctance (with me lifting the whole thing, carrying it to her cube, and upending it before she'd get out). And she wanted to come back out again after that and was much displeased with me for not letting her.

Lemura and Stache between them seem the current bosses; luckily each is a fairly relaxed and benign despot, mostly interested in snoozing. They found spots they liked (on or under cat-stands near the door), from which they napped and enjoyed being petted, with the occasional treat and string game to liven up the morning.  

I enjoyed making the acquaintance of Genesis and young Katniss both of whom have literary names. I put Katniss atop cat-stand #2, from which she made her own way to the cage-tops via the cabinet, which pleased her mightily. She stayed up there most of the morning, till she decided she needed to come down and prowl about. Meanwhile Genesis, our current senior cat, proved to be v. vocal -- she definitely lets you know when she likes how you're petting her. 

Pascale, our resident hider, I placed among the blankets in the cabinet's top shelf, which she seemed to enjoy.

And of course Mr. Niko was In Residence for a string of visitors to see Mr. Niko: Bonnie (with whom I had a nice chat catching up on Mr. Brothers), 'Tim' (a.k.a. Niko's Favorite Person), and Cher. I brought in some high-quality cat treats my own cats had declared Most Excellent treats and gave him some as a going-away treat; he didn't know yet about the going-away part but was pleased to accept the treats. Also played some with the string game, and let me pet him a bit. 

We had few visitors, and those just browsers outside the glass. This was just the opposite of last week, when there was a flood of people, many of whom wanted to chat. Between that and the fewer cats, finished up earlier than usual.

Health concerns: Jane only gave one little sneeze and there was a little residue of a sneeze on the back wall of her cage, but otherwise she seemed fine. She certainly looks healthy, and acted as if she felt well, so maybe we've been lucky this time on the cat-colds. 

   One of the cats had missed her little box; forgot to make a note which but think it was Stache.

   Lemura needed some clean up, which I provided, to her dismay. Took it better than last time, though, so maybe she'll get used to it as a routine she puts up with.

Here's hoping the chance is good for Mr. Niko, that he soon settles in to the new place, and that he doesn't fall into the only-safe-inside-cube routine again. I'll miss him; while he was trouble to deal with, when in a good mood he was a most charming fellow.

--John R.

The Beatles' 'RAIN'

So, Saturday we went with friends (Stan, Anne, Sigf.) to see a Beatles tribute band, RAIN, perform at the Moore Theatre downtown.

It was great.

I had my doubts; tribute bands are not really my thing. I'd rather see the real thing* (as in the two times I've seen McCartney perform live) or stay home and enjoy the original recordings (it's rare a day goes by without my playing music, and Beatles records figure prominently into that). But I was born about a decade too late to have ever had a chance to see the real thing here, so it was this or nothing. And they put on quite a show: a note-by-note, gesture-by-gesture re-enactment of the Ed Sullivan show performance, the Shea Stadium show, et al.

I'd thought, from something I'd seen online, that several different people wd be playing each Beatle.** I was wrong about that: it was the same four performers throughout, taking breaks to change clothes and looks as they moved through the various eras of the group's history (British invasion, Rubber Soul/Revolver, Sgt Pepper, post-Pepper, Abbey Road). The guy playing Paul I thought did the best: he really nailed the look and feel of early Paul (and, oddly enough, his bass was the dominant instrument in much of the early part of the show) and did a pretty good job of later Paul as well. By contrast, early John was pretty stiff, but he really came into his own later on: he really looked a lot like late John. Whereas the guy playing George really didn't look much like George whatever they did, but did really get into playing the 'Abbey Road' gravedigger George near the end. Ringo didn't get much of a chance to be Ringo (it's easy to forget now that he was the most popular member of the group), but don't see how they really cd have avoided that, given their approach.

One place where they departed from films of actual performances was in their unplugged session, where Paul, George, and John sat down in a row with guitars and did Blackbird and several others I've now forgotten. It was v. effective, and a good projection of something the Beatles might well have done, had they continued touring and performing live on a regular basis after the mid-point in their career (Paul famously did just such a set that included several Beatles songs in his 1976 'Wings Over America' tour).

Of course, two hours or so isn't nearly enough to do all the Beatles' hits (So little time, so much music). Among the songs they didn't find time for were "Ticket to Ride", "Norwegian Wood", "Nowhere Man", "Lady Madonna", "Something" and, oddly enough, "Rain" itself (this last was broadcast over the loudspeakers at the end as we filed out). They did include one post-Beatles song: Give Peace a Chance, which set me to wondering and thinking what song they might add by each of the others to indicate their post-Beatles career,*** but turned out that one John song was it.

Of course, you have to accept some suspension of disbelief for a show like this to work. I suppose it'd be asking too much to have a left-handed bass player play Paul, but it was jarring to hear they perform "Please Please Me" with no-one playing the harmonica (it was either played backstage by a music ninja or played as a recording). And the great three-person dueling guitar solos of "The End" were all played by 'George' (no easy way for 'Paul' to swap out his bass, for one thing).

In the end, I enjoyed it thoroughly, and found it oddly moving. I'd gladly go see this, or a similar show, again. Though I do wish I cd hear "Hey Jude" actually performed by the band on stage, rather than turned into a sing-along. McCartney himself does this, but it's still annoying. I've never attended a ballet, but I'm pretty sure they don't have a point in the show when they encourage the audience to rise and twirl in place. As that, so this.

As for the song "Rain" itself, it's an old favorite of mine, both for the message (take what comes, enjoy!) and the music. It's on the Beatles' next-to-last album, THE BEATLES AGAIN, a compilation long out of print but full of good music, some of it from the HARD DAYS NIGHT period ("Can't Buy Me Love", "Should Have Known Better"), some mid-period ("Lady Madonna", "Revolution", "Hey Jude" itself), some late, like the underappreciated gem "Don't Let Me Down" (from the LET IT BE sessions) and "The Ballad of John and Yoko" (the last song the Beatles recorded; only John and Paul showed up, recording all the parts between them).

Good music. Good show. Recommended.

--John R.





*groups I have been lucky enough to see include Captain and Tennille, Little River Band, Leon Russell, McCartney, Clapton, Paul Simon, Alan Parsons Project, Tears for Fears, Heart, Three Dog Night (only they were down to Two Dog Night by then), Blood, Sweat, and Tears, et al.

**(I now think there are three or four such groups touring at any given time, but that each is a coherent, cohesive unit)

***the ones I picked were "My Sweet Lord" (George), "It Don't Come Easy" (Ringo), and probably "Maybe I'm Amazed" (Paul), all from 1970/71.

The Cat Report (W.1/30-13)

With the adoption of the Sisters (sounds like Lilly and Lou have found a great home) and addition of ATLANTA, GENESIS, and (as of about 10.30 this morning) little AURA, we how have a full house: ten cats in ten cages.

Started the morning with some walks. Atlanta is a very vocal floor-roller who loves nothing more than to roll over and over on a smooth concrete floor (reminded me of Jazz -- or was it Kaia?--except that Atlanta is svelte compared with them). Her vocalizing alarmed the little birds behind the door by the coke machine, and all the twittering from behind that door interested her. Little Tayla was also vocal on her short walk but did a good job with the actual walking. Stache disliked the collar but did some exploring outside the room, especially in the rest room. Have to be careful with all three that they don't dive under the aisles. We had some potential excitement in that PetsMart had an escaped bird (one of their little finches) who was flying about. It landed not far from one of the cats (Stache I think it was), who luckily just watched with interest but didn't go dashing after it. 

((Later I saw it perched atop an aisle trying to peck open a bag of birdseed; they still hadn't caught it by the time I left, though they had a cage with seed in it all set up as a lure.))

Once the walks were over, the cats divided themselves into The Ins and The Outs. The Outs were Atlanta, little Tayla, Stig, Stache, little Aura, and (surprisingly) Jane; the Ins were Genesis, Pascale (who was not only in but buried beneath and behind her blankets), Lemura, and of course Mr. Niko. 

EDNA JANE, the most beautiful of all our cats, came out on her own when I moved the short cat-stand she likes near; stayed atop it for a good while, then later walked along the bench and made her way into the lower level inside the small stand on the bench. There she settled down peaceably until well after noon; when it was time to go inside I lifted the whole thing up and tilted her into her cube.

GENESIS, our new dark calico, I thought wanted some quiet time and to be left alone; only discovered late in the morning that she actually wanted attention and was just waiting for it to be offered on her own terms, without having to come out of her cage. I'll need to do better with her next time and give her lots of petting and making much of. Feel sorry for her as a survivor kitty whose owner passed away. Has an unusual mew -- almost a mew-bark.

LEMURA stayed in until lifted out, then stayed out (atop cat-stand #1) until much later put back in. She was pretty passive overall today; friendly enough but unmotivated.  I'll have to see if I can't get her involved in a game next time.

PASCALE stayed in all morning, rather than come out and explore as she's been doing. Maybe the full room has caused her to withdraw a bit? Sweet but still not trusting. 

MR. NIKO was in a good mood: not at all interested in coming out but welcoming attention (petting, head-butt, game) within his little domain. 

STACHE was her usual relaxed, agreeable self. She came out, she ignored other cats' hissing (whether Atlanta or Jane), she found a spot she liked (top of cat-stand #2), she stayed there. Mellow, welcoming attention from visitors, and just plain chilling out. Probably the most mellow of all our current crop of cats. 

Mr. STIG was easygoing and quiet as usual. I put him up high, which he loved, settling down in the box far away from the other cats. 

ATLANTA is a beautiful cat with a strong personality; think she may well dominate the room. Her philosophy is simple: purr for the people, hiss at the other cats. Loves attention and demands it. Very friendly with visitors -- particularly with one couple that she really bonded with (rubbing legs, purring, following them around); when they left without her she was so upset she hissed at everybody for several minutes. Poor Atlanta -- v. jealous of any attention to other cats; several times I saw her purr when I petted her and then hiss when I petted someone else. 

Little TAYLA loves the steps and enjoyed going up and down. She was out and about, exploring the whole time and amusing hersel, until she eventually went into Stache's cube. Stache was okay with that, even with the two of them in there with the door closed at one point. Not fond of being cuddled or held, but loves games and okay with being petted. Friendly but independent. Note: she loves the string game but kept trying to eat the string she was playing with.

Little AURA the newcomer got hissed at by Atlanta (who took a dislike to her) and decided the best response would be to go hide back in the corner by the laundry hamper. Whenever she tried to come out, she got hissed at again, so eventually decided to say there. I'll try to make some one-on-one time with her next week.

--LOTS of visitors, including a fellow volunteer from the adoption room in Renton's The Landing (nice to meet). Most just wanted to pet cats; a few insisted on sharing stories about how their cats died (which made me glad those weren't seeking to adopt). Eventually had to stop inviting folks in so I cd finish up the cages.

--The string game was popular (Tayla, Stache, Pascale, Jane, Atlanta), as was the 'bug' Cher had provided (Mr. Niko). I'll had to see about getting one of those for my cats at home.

--health concerns: none, really, other than ongoing worry re. Lemura's growing passivity. Atlanta had spilled her water-dish, but that was probably just accident (new cube, new place). 

And that's about it for another Wednesday.

--JOhn R.

UPDATE (2/3-13)

And, in the delay before I got this written up and then posted, Mr. STIG got adopted (2/2/) and both little AURA AND little TAYLA together. It turns out ATLANTA came to the shelter along with her mother, GEORGIA, who's currently up at Woodinville, and they've decided to re-unite them. Not clear yet whether they'll be together at the Tukwila room or the Woodinville one, but sounds like a great development for them both.