Neddy's Palaver

On the fourteenth day of February, half way through the second month of the year, the birds of the fields begin the choosing of their mates who will help them feather their nests and raise their brood. This yearly event went not unnoticed by ancient humans who came to celebrate Saint Valentine’s Day in emulation of the ways of the birds.

The fowl of the air continue to reveal sweet mysteries of life for humans of the female gender on Valentine’s Day. The young woman who spies a robin redbreast flying o’er head on Valentine’s Day, will marry a sailor. A young woman who first sees a lowly sparrow, is prophesied to marry a pauper who will spend his life making her happy. And the fortunate young girl who spots a goldfinch on Valentine’s Day, will marry a rich man.

In a previous post I referred to the author of this old poem as anonymous, however I have recently found it connected to Elizabeth Cheney.

Overheard In An Orchard

Said the Robin to the Sparrow
“I should really like to know
Why these anxious human beings
Rush about and worry so.”

Said the Sparrow to the Robin
“Friend I think that it must be
That they have no Heavenly Father
Such as cares for you and me.”

–Elizabeth Chaney - 1859

The Podcast:
The Tonight Show Video: Boo Boo the Chicken Does Leno

The Book of “Extraordinary Chickens”
You will crack up as you watch Marian Morris arrive carrying Boo Boo and a towel to wipe Boo Boo’s chicken poop. You will laugh even harder as every time that Marian laughs, she waves around Boo Boo’s poo-poo towel in the face of the guest sitting next to her. As all are laughing so hard, none of them seems to notice, and since the Bird Flu has not yet arrived in Arkansas, I suppose it is of no consequence. However, I do wonder why everyone, including Nurse Marian, refers to Boo Boo as a “him”. Strange indeed!

DISCLAIMER: CDC warns “DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME!”

Mouth-to-Beak Resuscitation of The Arkadelphia Chicken — It’s For the Birds! And it’s for you, if you cannot get enough of Boo Boo’s unbelievable adventure. It’s a kind of Lazarus story of resurrection from the dead.

Boo Boo is a $2.37 chicken from the farm store and she fell into a pond and drowned. Marian Morris is a retired nurse who wasted no time using her skills to save Boo Boo. She described the mouth-to-beak resuscitation, “Well, you open up this little beak and it’s got this little tongue and you don’t see an airway. So, I just blew hard. It’s the first time I’ve done CPR on a beak.”

Her sister-in-law, co-owner of Boo Boo, said, “I couldn’t believe it when she put her mouth right over that chicken’s beak and started blowing into it. His eyeballs just opened up and then she would stop and they’d close and she’d do it again and his eyeballs would pop open and when Jackie came home, I says, ‘You will not believe what your sister did.’”

Jackie, the other owner, decided that Boo Boo needed to be rushed to ICU because she was still having some troubles. On Jay Leno’s show, Marian Morris described it as an Arkansas ICU—a cardboard box with a hairdryer inside. As Becky, the wife of Jackie, explained: “So, my husband put it in the box and put it out here in the sunshine and I was out here reading my bible. I just got to the part where Lazarus was raised from dead and that chicken give a squawk and jumped out of that box and sat on the side and I called my husband I said, ‘You won’t believe this chicken has come alive.’” (Thanks Martha)

Boo Boo’s Official Web Site
Linked at “basil’s blog” and “Wizbang’s” Carnival of Trackbacks.

Billy goats seem to understand that life is more interesting with variety instead of sameness.

The image, GOAT WISDOM 3, was originally uploaded by maplecs100. It is posted here from

How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck would chuck wood? Not much if he sees his shadow. Happy Groundhog Day!

Who knew that the tiny American pika is headed toward extinction? In fact, who knew that there was such a being? Reuters knew, that’s who. If no one else knew, does it matter? This little guy lives in British Columbia, so he may be safe from extinction. But then again, who knows?

Reuters reports that “Human activity and climate change may be pushing the tiny American pika toward extinction”, which probably excludes the Canadian pikas, who are still happily living and reproducing high atop the pristine peaks of the Canadian Rockies. Seems the American varmints have been moving higher and higher up the American Rockies to escape the progress of American civilization, and now that they are at the tops of the ziggurats, they find no place else to go. As Reuters explains: “They don’t have much up-slope habitat left.” Reuters does not explain why they cannot go “down-slope” on the other side. If it is something embedded into their DNA - such as the “never descend gene”, then perhaps these cute little rodents were doomed from the beginning of their existence.

And … speaking of their existence, Reuters claims they have been living in these same mountains for 40,000 years. That is quite a span of time! Perhaps now, the jig is up for these mousy Methuselahs. However, claims are being made that the pikas, are actually early detection systems for global warming, and that we need them to tell us what’s a-happening in that regard. But just how convenient a system are they for mankind, when they are camped out at the very tops of the highest mountain peaks? By the time we get up there to gather their latest message … it may be too late for us all!

pika-2, image originally uploaded by Scrambler27.
(more…)

The Barney Cam Is Up

RIP Ugly Dog
The Associated Press is reporting today “SANTA BARBARA, Calif. Nov 22, 2005 — Sam, the tiny dog whose hairless body and crooked teeth earned him a reputation as the World’s Ugliest Dog, has died. The pooch died Friday, just short of his 15th birthday, his owner said.”

In addition to “Sam’s Web Site” and “Sam and Susie’s Blog”, Sam left behind some final words of tribute to a world which had titled and crowned him and exalted him to fame: “The more I learned of humans, the more I admired dogs.”
RIP Sam, the Ugly Dog

They Do Not Run for Cover
Our national symbol, the bald eagle, is truly representative of the American people. Found only on the continent of North America, from the pre-historic days of the native peoples until today, Americans have respected the courage, fortitude and, yes, ferocity of the bald eagle as a symbol of our cultural heritage. The eagle is the only bird that flies in a storm. “American Daughter” is offering this wonderful graphic of our magficient bird to show our resolve and to support our fighting men and women in harm’s way. You may go to her site and pick up the graphic: “Don’t Cut and Run”.

Letter to Mrs. Bixby, Boston, Massachusetts
November 21, 1864
Dear Madam:
I have been shown in the files of the War Department a statement of the Adjutant-General of Massachusetts that you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle. I feel how weak and fruitless must be any words of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering to you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save. I pray that our heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom.
Yours very sincerely and respectfully,
Abraham Lincoln

Bald Eagles of the Chesapeake Bay
Linked at Michelle Malkin.

Pork Chops with Lizard, Japanese Style!
I have no idea why Japanese girls strap pork chops onto their foreheads to attract attacks from a toothy dragon, but they do. “Dragon-san is falling! Dragon-san is falling!” they scream as the dragon escapes into the audience. Poor Dragon-san never even captured a single pork chop. Here is the Google video: humans in meat hats versus lizards.

If you want to discover the insanity that is Morning Musume, here they are.