A Little Design Project

I'm in the habit of folding the paper covers of disposable chopsticks into improvised chopstick rests.  Until last week, this was the standard model:

Which was adequate if you were careful, but it was not very efficient;  as the top was level and there were no guards at the ends, the chopsticks would often roll off the sides and end up on the table.

So last week, I experimented a little and came up with this new design:

What it lacks in beautiful simplicity, it more than makes up for in effective function.  The raised ends keep the chopsticks securely centered.  And I should be able to do something to make those supporting cross members less clumsy.  That will be my objective the next time I dine at a Chinese/Japanese/Korean/Thai restaurant.

Urban Cave Art

Apparently, during the Upper Paleolithic period the Greater Los Angeles area was home to a species of mastodon with very short legs.  The suddenness of its extinction is attributed to predation by early humans.  Very probably, the unusually short legs prevented the creatures from effecting an efficient escape as hunters closed in.

Pigeons At The Movies

Today I finally went to see The Avengers at the AMC 20 multiplex in Norwalk, with friends Scott and Andrea.  We had planned originally to go a couple of weeks before, but personal circumstances had kept us from going together until now.  Anyway, the movie turned out to be well worth the wait and we enjoyed ourselves immensely... however, that is not the point of today's entry.

This is.

As we left the theater we noticed a pair of pigeons had set up housekeeping in a trash receptacle just outside the doors.  They must have just built the nest while we were inside watching the show, since I'm quite certain we would have seen it on the way in if it had been there earlier.

I'm not overly fond of pigeons myself -- for one thing, I think there are way too many in Los Angeles leaving way too many messes on people's balconies -- but I have to say this was pretty adorable.  And strictly in terms of opportunistic (I don't mean that in a bad way), ad hoc architectural design it's an admirable job;  that depression looks the perfect size and shape to fit a nest in (at first I wondered how the birds managed to plug the hole, but now I realize the top part must be an ashtray).

 
I'm sorry to say though, that I don't foresee a particularly happy outcome for this avian attempt at urban domesticity.  Once the theater staff became aware of the situation they would probably be obliged to clear the premises of unauthorized squatters forthwith, for hygienic reasons.  Also, once curious humans started milling in for a closer look, Mr. Pigeon might well attempt to keep them away from Mrs. Pigeon by forcible means, which would necessitate an equally forcible response to keep theater patrons safe from the wrath of the pigeon.  I hope the lovebirds will give up and relocate voluntarily before such a fate befalls them -- they can always lay more eggs somewhere else.

A Rude Interlude

Impudent Tree

Impudent Cloud

Impudent Person

Eye In The Sky

A pretty complete-looking eye, too.  Even has the thin but crucial shadow below the eyelid.

Related Post:  Looker;  I've Got More Eyes Than You;  Amusing - Or Alarming?;  Rainy Day

Pseudo-Mimicry

(OR SHOULD THAT BE 'QUASI-MIMICRY'?  OR 'FAUX-MIMICRY'?  ANYWAY...)

One of my favorite insects (this one was residing in Japan a few years ago).

And a faux-insect from the other day (right outside my office here in Downey, California).

It should be noted here that I almost stepped on that second object while out walking, and it was only in the last instant I noticed it and turned my foot to avoid smashing it flat.  Only then did I realize it was not a bug, but a piece of plant detritus.  One might say it 'survived' because of its accidental resemblance to a living creature.

Which reminded me of a wonderful bit of satirical speculation from Charles Fort, the American iconoclast who spent decades of his life uncovering strange and odd events that were reported, then quickly forgotten because they were absurd and unexplainable.  In regard to the evolution of leaf insects, Fort first presented the conventional evolutionary hypothesis that once upon a time some species of insects came into being that accidentally somewhat resembled leaves;  that they were more likely to escape being eaten by birds because of this accidental mimicry, and so surviving disproportionately, passed on their resemblance to their offspring.  And of those offspring, the ones that most resembled leaves survived to pass on their greater resemblance, and so on.

He then imagined that creatures from some other world who happened to visit Earth after the extinction of humanity, upon seeing paintings in art galleries, might well suppose that once upon a time some canvases that were randomly daubed on with paint appeared.  That, of those canvases, the ones that just happened to resemble real objects were protected, and so on until paintings that exactly resembled people and objects came into being, all without conscious intention by painters.

An intriguing piece of thoughtful humor -- but of course, Fort lived and worked before the flowering of Abstract Expressionism in the mid-20 century.  Abstract paintings do not depend on protective camouflage to survive.

Kermit The Frog Hears The Voice Of Evil

Perhaps it's whispering "Pork is delicious!".

'Love Hurts'

Sometimes true, like many another cliché.

I've Got Too Many Heads

And it can really be a drag, because they've all got minds of their own. I wish I could just carry around one head, like a normal person...

Right Now

I'm going through one of those "I wish I weren't so ___..." funks.  This one rather fits the mood.