Candle Garden

I got the old bird bath repaired, in a half-assed sort of way. It does hold water now. Interestingly, it looks to me like I have more birds in the back yard than usual, even though no-one is currently using the bath. I wonder if that standardized "bird bath" shape is something birds see enough to have happy associations with?

*****

The Starlings are taking turns in the bird bath. One bird at a time gets in and splashes, and the others keep watch from the tree. The submissive birds get their turns cut short (a dominant bird flutters down and lands on the brim of the bowl to show that it's his turn now), but everyone does get a turn, and the submissive ones' don't seem that much shorter.

*****

I've discovered that if I'm logged into my bank app, then my card gets declined. Were I smarter, that would tell me something about potential avenues of attack that the bank fears. Or perhaps that only one routine at a time can perform an action to the account, and that the mobile app probably didn't exist when the back-end was written.

*****

Disasteroid! For the past five or six years, I've held the conviction that I will die in September*. This dovetails nicely with that.

* If nothing else, an appropriate month for a Cubs fan.

*****

Florida man steals car, kills dog, chases man with ax, found naked in chicken coop. Ah, Florida...

D-Day

It's been three quarters of a century since D-Day. That seems hard to believe. I've known so many men who took part in that, even an ex-boss who parachuted into battle with the 101st, all of them gone now.

*****

POTUS gave a mighty speech:

"The G.I's who boarded the landing craft that morning knew that they carried on their shoulders not just the pack of a soldier, but the fate of the world."

Google Doodle

Has anyone looked closely at the Google doodle? It's got a lot of humans playing soccer, but also some furry characters. At upper left, there's a Koala in a scarf, at upper right, some strange little bird with an enormous tail and anthro legs striding self-confidently along, and, best of all, at lower right a bunny and a human are sitting together, possibly eating lunch, while behind them a Japanese fan dancer pops up from behind cover, arms over her head like "Surprise!". One wonders if she's a ninja assassin in disguise, about to dramatically decapitate the two with her razor-edged fans.

Ettie!

OH MY GOD!!!

That is a SWEETHEART of a mascot!!





I think the Age of Shitty Postmodern Mascots is officially ended :D

What a Massacre!

French coach looks dour.

French women all seem taller than the Koreans.

Koreans have decided not to go halfsies with the Tubby Tyrant's team this time.

The French have roosters on their jerseys, instead of hens. Hens would be better, IMHO. Actually, they should have Ettie.

I find myself cheering on the French, as I imagine Ettie playing on their team.

9' France 1-0. It's pretty obvious already how this is going to turn out.

27' I do not like the idea of stopping games for review to begin with, and like it still less when it produces bad results. That was such a monster kick, too!

34' France is pretty much suppressing Korea. France 2-0.

45' Only two minutes of stoppage time. They wasted at least three minutes on that review.

45 +2' Korean goalie might as well have been a cardboard cutout on that last goal. I wonder if she thought the half was already over?

France up by 3 at the half. Should be 4. French coach still looks dour.

62' Koreans manage a shot (barely) on goal. French goalie casually catches it. That's pretty well the high point of the game for the Koreans so far. If I were the Korean coach, I'd be resting my good guys for Nigeria at this point. This is a massacre.

69' Poor Korean coach is clapping and acting enthusiastic to keep his team pumped.

71' Korean goalie is hurt :( Not badly, it seems.

76' For Pete's sake, Korea... That was just sad. *I* could kick on goal from that range.

79' French player is double then triple-teamed by the Koreans in the corner. She comes out on top.

82' French coach manages a neutral expression.

84' 4-0 France.

90+3 French coach manages a slight smile. 4-0 France final. It wasn't nearly as close as that makes it sound. It could have been 8-0 if they'd pushed in the second half like they did the first.