Friday, January 02, 2015

Get All Teary-Eyed Every Time I Hear Taylor Swift Sing "Love Story"

Oh, so Taylor Swift performed in Sacramento in 2011! Saw other concerts like Black-Eyed Peas in this time frame, but missed this one.

"Love Story" is closer to pop music perfection than any song in the last thirty years.

"Unbroken"



Saw this last night. Liked it! I had been worried a bit because I saw a review headline that suggested it was dull. It's not dull: the film's material is naturally slow-moving in many places, so maybe to inveterate action addicts it's dull, but everyone else will do just fine.

Revenge of the Gym Equipment

Harry Reid had more to worry about than the GOP:
Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid was discharged from a Las Vegas hospital Friday, after sustaining some nasty injuries during his home exercise routine.

...Reid broke several ribs and bones in his face when a piece of exercise equipment broke and he fell.

Adam Jentleson, the senator's communications director, told the Associated Press that the accident occurred when an elastic exercise band broke and hit Reid in the face, causing him to fall. As the senator fell, Jentleson said, Reid struck part of the equipment and broke several bones near his right eye. Reid then hit the floor and broke his ribs.

...Reid's security detail first brought him to St. Rose Dominican Hospital in Henderson, a Las Vegas suburb, after the accident occurred New Year's Day. He was transferred to the University Medical Center in Las Vegas for further testing and was admitted "as a precaution," the senator's office said.

Eric Schultz, a White House spokesman, said President Obama telephoned Reid while vacationing in Hawaii to wish the senator a "full and speedy recovery."

Thursday, January 01, 2015

They Do Have A Front Door

So I see this fellow on a Genie Lift using a sledgehammer to pound a hole through a concrete wall. I say "you could go around the building and come in through the front door." Turns out he's putting in an exhaust fan for a new waxing salon.

Disappearing Act On New Year's Day

I've never seen so many pigeons at bird feeding this morning, yet now I can't see one for miles. I wonder if the enormous hawk in my tree knows where they all went?

[UPDATE: When I opened my back door early New Year's Day afternoon I startled the hawk. The hawk was actually on the ground, between the birch tree and the back fence. At first, partially-obscured by vegetation, I thought the bird was some kind of grouse. The small space of the back yard is hemmed in by hedges and trees and is unsuitable for the entry or presence of large birds. It had never occurred to me a hawk, even a small hawk, would ever attempt landing on the ground there. Something there the bird must like. A ring of rushes there forms a blind that could partially obscure a predator's presence. Handy information for a predator that stalks. The bird hopped on the fence and eventually flew up into the tree.

This morning, two cats were about, one inside and another just outside the yard. Attract the pigeons, and inevitably, predators appear....]