low BAI picture

   This is an artists conception of some possible effects of low BAI (Bird Amusement Index) in a budgie:

BAI PSA

     It's time to talk about something serious: the difficulties in finding objects with a sufficient BAI.

     The BAI, or Bird Amusement Index of any object is not going to be immediately obvious. a colorful mirror with beads that slide back and forth, or a plastic ladder may look perfect to you, but do nothing for your bird. Said bird may instead be endlessly amused by chewing on the earpieces of your glasses instead, or by a colorful piece of cloth. Cat balls with jingle bells in them may actually infuriate your bird to the point of violence

     In the interest of Human/Avian harmony and play, I have included a chart detailing some of my observations. I hope it is of some help to you, and that you can offer up some solutions of your own to this nationwide problem

     Please help us make the BAI problem a thing of the past for a brighter tomorrow for man and bird

State of the Blog Address

     So it's the end of the first month I have been blogging; Based upon what has been viewed the most, it looks like what is important to my readership is Cute Parakeets and my parents taste in movies.

     I'm glad to know that you are finding my stories fun and entertaining. I look forward to hearing from more of you next month(when Hopefully it will be COOLER)

10 Lives on the Edge - NSFW

This is all about George Carlin.  He's my comedy drug.  We sort of need it as this row rolls out!

WARNING: NOT SAFE FOR WORK!

1. John Stewart interviews George Carlin on being Church Approved, Drugs, and Marijuana.
2. George Carlin on Arrogance of Mankind.
3. George Carlin's Interview on The View.
4. George Carlin on The Self Esteem Movement.
5. Dennis Miller Interviews George Carlin on his book Brain Droppings.
6. George Carlin's Interview on the Chris Rock Show.
7. George Carlin on Dealing with BS.
8. George Carlin on the Things You Never See.
9. George Carlin on UFO Aliens.

And, a nod towards Primordial Badger's favorite:
10. The 7 Deadly Words.

BTW, this is not in any particular order.  This is George Carlin.  What's relevant and good is different from issue to issue and daily news.

Asking the Tough Questions

     So I had a Discussion with Sam (she calls it a row) about questions I should have asked my parents when interviewing them for an upcoming podcast. She felt I missed some golden opportunities.

     Basically I asked them what their Five top movies were, why each of them stood out. I asked my Mom her favorite musical, my Dad his favorite western. I asked them what they thought of remakes of classic movies, and what movies released in about the last five years they considered memorable.

    I'd like to know what questions my audience would like asked, so I can get the answers you are looking for in a podcast. let's hear from you what you consider important!

But I've Learned so Much...

     So my wife is teaching me the ways of cross-posting things on the net (I thought Cross-posting was related to flaming, in that it was done while very angry) and she shows me her Amazon review Page, which I'm led to off of her Blog post, which comes off a link in comments in one of my posts here. I simultaneously feel like I followed the white rabbit and like I took off for Bespin before completing the training. And now I've destroyed everything they fought for...

     On another note, I'm astonished at IMDB's search for the The Empire Strikes Back, and what comes up... I guess people really Forget the classics, huh? The Empire's New Groove???

Feedback!

a few days into the Blog, we have actually had someone not Sam or myself comment a post! keep them coming, we'd love to hear from you!

Pyrrhura Molinae Insanus

     I don't know if you're aware of this, Josephine, but African parrots, in their native home of the Congo, they speak only French.

You're lucky to get four words out of them in English, but if you were to walk through the jungle, you'd hear them speaking the most elaborate French. Those parrots talk about everything. Politics, movies, fashion. Everything but religion- Ed Bloom, From Big Fish

My Crazy Bird.

     I was brushing my teeth yesterday, started gargling, and from the bird I hear:

" Gar-gr-gr-gr-rg-rg" right along with me

     Of all the sounds I make on a daily basis, he picked that one to be amused by.

     He's a quiet bird (Generally) when I am near, although he can set up a pretty good bellow when he hears me in the house and wants my attention. ("COME HERE RIGHT NOW!"). he likes to get up on my shoulder and speak quietly into my ear. He has also learned that if he jumps down onto my keyboard he can make the screen do interesting things. The space bar is a particular favorite landing spot

I love my bird, and he's a nut

The Parent Movie Trap

     So, Sam and I often ask ourselves, when we are watching a movie we enjoy: Parent movie, or not a parent movie. is this a film which I can take to my aged parents, and they will enjoy without it offending their sensibilities or horrifying them in any way shape or form?

     Take Transformers, for instance. to me, there was a clear line delineating Autobot and Decepticon, good and evil. My mom saw 30 foot metal monsters, live, in her living room. Needless to say, I skipped ROTF and DOTM with them. Iron Man was borderline, I think Mom may not have always quite gotten that there was a man in the suit

     On the other hand, Captain America: the First Avenger, was excellent for my Progenitors. it held their attention, they felt for the characters, there was nothing in there to offend them overly. This is in spite of the fact that my father fought in WWII, or maybe even because of it.

My mom has three criteria for a good movie: Singing, Dancing, and a Happy Ending

Technically Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street and Cannibal! the Musical fit that, and I would never show those to my parents

     I guess my point is all about knowing your audience and not showing someone a movie that's going to hurt them on some level. Movies are for fun, not for hurting Mom and Dad

To Netflix or Not to Netflix

     I'm driving myself crazy over this.  I love video streaming.  But I also love free stuff.  Netflix is not free.  And, yes, at only $8.00 for a month it seems like a good value.  But. . . not sure how long it's going to take me to watch all the movies on my to-watch list.  And, really, do I want to get back into having a 'must watch' mentality?  I like being able to turn the computer off mid-show and go to bed, clean the grout from the tub, play with the birds.  (Okay, truth, only one of those things usually happens.)
     On the flip side I do have a list of movies I want to see.  Greedy me with my guilty pleasures in different languages, space aliens and health documentaries.  I love that stuff!  And, really, unless I want to shell out $20 plus per movie Netflix is the best way to go.
     But . . . it is Netflix.  And I really hate their comments system.  And their rating system doesn't thrill me either.  *Sigh*  And it costs.  It's not free like Hulu.  What does Hulu have that Netflix doesn't have?  Lifetime movies.  And Hulu's free.  But I have this list, see. . . 

Goodwill Fail

You know a product is bad when 3 different people see you carrying it - and stop you to tell you it's not worth the cost.  Not even when it's at Goodwill at a third of the price on the store shelves.  Not even when Goodwill has their sticker price at half off.  "Not even for the batteries."  One woman said.

Because it seemed like the only thing to do, I lied to each woman and told them it was for an art project.  That is actually my answer to everything lately: 'It's for an art project.'  People get this look on their face - as if the ideas in their brain as to what the item is going to be used for are too alien now.  And they try to go from there, but just can't.  'It's for an art project.' I say.  They say, "Oh!  Of course!"  Their faces say, 'One of those people' and simultaneously, 'What the hell would you use that in a project for?', and 'Oh, how cool!'.

The item wasn't for an art project.  I was going to use the Ziploc Handi Vac to keep my food fresh.  Got home, tried it out.  It did what it advertised: suck air out of the bag.  End of story.  Only, now, it's for an art project.  

Pun-Ception

     I'm a huge fan of Puns and wordplay. I can't help it, my mind makes those connections, and they amuse me. It's just how I'm wired. It's said that the pun is the lowest form of humor, but Shakespeare used a lot of them, and he's still a little famous.

     Anyway, I'm straying off the subject a little. I love puns, my wife and collaborator is not such a big fan of them. but I come up with stuff so often (she: can we go the good will this afternoon?" I: so you can go good will hunting?") that I find that she is actually anticipating my puns before I say them. I am forcing her to defensively think of puns so as to be prepared for when they hit.

     So, this woman, my wife, who dislikes puns, is thinking of them all the time.

looks like Cobb was right. it can be done. I didn't even have to take a nap to do it, either

Separated at filming

I had an amusing thought today:

     Spider-man and Transformers may actually be the same movie.

     You have a young man, crushing on a girl who is out of his league (by society's understanding) and shirking his chores because of his identity concerns. He thinks a car will solve his problems, and the action goes from there. If Peter had gotten the money from the wrestling match and bought a yellow Camaro, the whole Spider-man movie could have gone a whole different way.

Green Goblin: I could squash you like a bug right now, but I'm offering you a choice. Join me! Imagine what we could accomplish together... what we could create. Or we could destroy! Cause the deaths of countless innocents in selfish battle again and again and again until we're both dead! Is that what you want?

Optimus Prime: At the end of this day, one shall stand, one shall fall!

cut to 30 seconds later, and the smear that is left of the Green Goblin. Optimus is  looking over it philosohically
"You left me no choice, brother"

the CGI costs would have been truly horrific though, on that version

Musings Upon Bird Chess

     the Game Of Bird Chess, as played in both wild and domestic settings is a game of infinite complexity. A lot hinges both on Height of Position, and upon How Difficult To Dislodge that position is. The winner is the one who can see the most other birds in the vicinity and who can be seen to be in the most advantageous position by those same birds

    Also, if you can visibly eat from the other birds food bowl, or bathe in their water dish it scores high

Very high

See also: Cat Chess

No Two Zen About It

     Did our first post movie hash-it-out.  Recorded it in the car while Primordial Badger was driving.  We break often to swear at other drivers and discuss geese.  Geese!  There is also a small bit where I freak over the ravens and magpie in our area hanging out together.  No, not just hanging out but working together.  *Shudders *  If ever there was a sign of imminent zombie invasion . . .

     The edits are in PB's hands.

     I think we should be recording the arguments about editing the recording.  It's War of the Roses all over again!  LOL.  

An Exhaustive List Of Westerns

An Exhaustive List Of Westerns Sammantha Will Watch. 

The Long List

The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada

The Frisco Kid

The Milagro Beanfield War

Last Of The Dogmen

Avoid The Green Ones

"Don't eat the green ones, Kent; you wouldn't like the Green ones"    

 - misquoted from "A Fish Called Wanda"

I watched Total Recall (the Schwarzenegger one) and at 1:31 in the playback, the master villain kicks over his fishtank in a fit of pique; cut to a closeup of poor dying goldfish, gasping out their last, symbolic (I assume) of the martian workers he is starving of air.
     What follows is a woefully incomplete list of media containing GFV (gratuitious fish violence)

Total Recall

A Fish Called Wanda

Finding Nemo (yes)

the Deadliest Catch

The Life Aquatic

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

Pirates of The Caribbean At Worlds End

Jingo and Pyramids by Terry Pratchett

Watchmen: Tales of the Black Freighter

Fear not, Megatron. Cybertron shall remain as you leave it.

Picked up Fall Of Cybertron Shockwave today...he has really good Light-piping. Too good I think. it's like he's staring at me...just at me

He's creeping me a little

Major Tom to Ground Control...

Yep- the software I have used many a time to record skype...failed to connect somehow. and I didn't catch it. and we talked and talked, and then I went for playback and...


Honey, it isn't there

so we will BOTH be running recordings, just to make sure from here on

One Single Plop

     We have a leak in our bathroom ceiling.  It's not the first leak Primordial Badger and I have had to deal with.  It probably won't be the last.  There's a bucket under the leak.  Right now the bucket is about half full.  PB tells me: 

     "The leak is driving me crazy.  You can never tell when it's going to plop.  You know what it makes me think of?  It makes me think of Talladega Nights with the twins.  "One single plop."  That's been in my mind.  Now it's in your mind, too."

     Gee, thanks honey.  Only, I didn't use those words.  LOL.