Friday, September 30, 2011

Just call me the bird whisperer!

A bit of excitement in the office this morning, a swallow made its way through a series of doors and entered the office. It flew around for several minutes, avoiding all attempts to guide it back the way it came. Eventually I was able to corner it near a window and use my jacket as a net. I took it outside and released it.

My office is attached to a large workshop building. Swallows nest and roost up near the roof. The workshop is closed up each evening and the creaking of the large roller doors alerts the swallows that its time to return. The closing of the doors is always accompanied by a squadron of returning birds, swooping between the bottom of the door and the floor. Likewise, each morning when the doors are opened, the birds will leave their roosting site and swoop out for the day.

All is not lost if the doors close before they get through. There is a gap at the corner of the door where it doesn’t quite meet the floor. Any late birds land on the ground, scurry through and fly off again.

Friday, September 02, 2011

Broken News

They’ve recently discovered that Ned Kelly had a skeleton but he kept it buried at Pentridge prison in Melbourne instead of in his closet.
DNA tests proved this – but I don’t think they’ve been able to prove he had a skull of his own. Someone else’s may have been substituted.

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/ned-kellys-remains-found-20110901-1jmqi.html

Ned could have turned to art instead of crime but there were no government art grants at the time so he couldn’t exchange a $20,000 grant for uncirculated notes to be displayed under Perspex and given a price tag of up to $25,000.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/arts/cash-artwork-sells-for-21350/story-fn9d3avm-1226126777761