Grey Butcher Bird

 

This Grey Butcher Bird may be the very one that was swooping me yesterday. Today he is visiting the bird bath I provided.

Swooping Season.

Around here it is spring. The local black and white birds - magpies, butcher birds and magpie larks - are intent on protecting their eggs and nestlings. They swoop individuals whom they dislike. They can rip ears and they have blinded people. I have seen a magpie chase a motorcyclist but it could not keep up at 50 km/hr. 

They have a particular dislike of cyclists. Wizzing around on my electric bicycle I have found 3 spots near my home where butcher birds attack. Like many cyclists I have modified my helmet with cable ties to protect my ears; I wear safety glasses to protect my eyes.

Double Feature

 

In order to entice the crowds back to the cinemas, one theatre is offering double features of "James Bond 007" at the usual price. 

Seeing these movies from the 70s at the cinema was a real treat. I really enjoyed it despite the air conditioning failing. I was offered my money back but since their business is struggling with pandemic restrictions I declined.

In the 70s I would ride my bicycle to the other side of town to see cheap double features of war movies and westerns.

Now if they would only do -
Back to the Future I & II
A Fistfull of Dollars / For a Few Dollars More
Funny Girl / What's Up, Doc?
The Graduate / Midnight Cowboy
The Time Machine (1960) / The Planet of the Apes (1968)
Doctor Zhivago (A double feature by itself)
Lawrence of Arabia (A double feature by itself)
Breakfast at Tiffany's / Sabrina
Ben Hur / Quo Vadis
Logan's Run / Silent Running
...

My main complaint about the internet streaming services is I cannot find the old movies I want to see.

Change of Guard

I divided a native bee hive into two hives on the weekend.

The stingless bees flying around my face can be distracting. So I wore a headnet. I had bought the net for outback travelling. But there was a problem - the net is impregnated with an insecticide which made the bees fly erratically and, I presume, die. I need a different net.

When I opened the hive I found that the hive of Tetragonula carbonaria bees had been replaced by Tetragonula hockingsi. The different species look identical to the naked eye. But carbonaria arrange their nests as a spiral and hockingsi nests are more higgledy piggledy. 

Another example of environmental change - hockingsi prefer higher temperatures and used to live to the North of Brisbane.

A photo from a few years ago showing a spiral Tetragonula carbonaria nest.

Work with meaning

I know a young woman working in marketing for a credit card company - she hates the job. She knows it is a rip off to the merchants and it is doing nothing meaningful.

In the Brisbane apartment boom it was soul destroying to work for developers. They wanted the cheapest build possible for a sale - they did not care what would give the least maintenance, say, or an effective fire alarm system. 

In dealing with solar panel installation companies, I am meeting people whose aim is to save the planet. They are enthusiastic for their work - it is refreshing.

A year in movies

 

 

1 Jan    New Year's Day        About A Boy

12 Jan    HAL 9000 B'day      2001: A Space Odyssey

26 Jan    Australia Day         The Castle

27 Jan    Mozart B'day          Amadeus

 2 Feb    Groundhog Day      Groundhog Day

14 Feb   Valentine's Day       Strictly Ballroom / Down with Love

15 Mar   Ides of March         Gladiator

19 Mar   Bruce Willis Day      Fifth Element

25 Apr   ANZAC Day             Gallipoli

            Easter Sunday         Life of Brian

 4 May   Star Wars Day         Star Wars

 7 May   Tchaikovsky B'day    Anna Karenina

19 May  Beloved's B'day        Breakfast at Tiffanys

25 May  Towel Day               Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

 3 Jun   Son B'day                Kingdom of Heaven

 6 Jun   D-Day                     Saving Private Ryan

21 Jun  Winter Solstice         Dark City

22 Jul   My B'day                 Casablanca

21 Aug  Son B'day                A.I.

11 Sep   Disaster Day           Troy

19 Sep  Talk like a Pirate Day  Pirates of the Caribbean

31 Oct   Halloween                Sleepy Hollow

 5 Nov   Guy Fawkes Day       V for Vendetta

11 Nov  Remembrance Day    All Quiet at the Western Front

19 Nov                                 Blade Runner

25 Nov  Son B'day                 Napoleon Dynamite

21 Dec  Summer Solstice        Lawrence of Arabia

24 Dec  Xmas Eve                  Die Hard

25 Dec  Xmas                        Love Actually

31 Dec  New Year's Eve          Passengers

Strawberries in tubs

 

Growing strawberries off the ground keeps them out of the dirt, and away from pests.