This post is definitely for the BIRDS.
...then again, that could be said for this entire blog...

I have finch. I got them, because the parakeets I used to have were too noisy. So I got 4 little finch birds. And two of those birds had babies. In just under a months' time, all of a sudden there were 3 babies and 2 adults in one cage, flying higgledy-piggledy in all directions, squawking up a storm, and a sort of identity crisis was happening among the birds. The babies grew so fast, that pretty soon, they were driving the parents away from the water dish and seed tray, then they'd get really hungry, and go up to the Mom or Dad finch, squawk loudly and open their beaks, begging for food from the parents they had rebuked not 5 minutes before. (Does that sound like the modern American nuclear family unit or not?)

The two other adult finch had long been in another, smaller cage. Almost too small to move around in, actually. So I decided that I would give the 5 finch in the big cage back to the pet store, and put the 2 other adult finch in the larger cage the aforementioned 5 finch used to occupy. And, these birds really enjoy their larger home. I put their smaller cage next to the large cage, opened the doors to both, and they flew right in to the large cage. Well, now they're NESTING!!! Ack!!! On a finch website, I read that small cages inhibit the birds' ability to procreate. In a larger cage, they work faster than your average copy machine. That website also said that finch will nest anywhere...in open cartons, small boxes or even empty tuna cans. Obviously these birds aren't very selective.

Well, so far, things are a LOT quieter around here, since I only have two finch instead of seven. But, with their new roomy home, the two finch ain't wasting any time. The female sits in the nest and the male is having to get used to a lot of "alone time", for she doesn't come out of the nest to play with him very often. But soon, I fear, my home will once again become saturated with all sorts of extraneous bird noises, eminating from parents and baby finch and the power struggle that ensues among them. For, as soon as one bunch is hatched, the parents want to breed again and again and again. So they distance themselves from the babies they've had, because, "hey, we've gotta propagate the species, after all".

A helpful kitchen tip from lil' ol' me: Honest, this really works: There are a lot of juices available in 64-ounce plastic bottles, mostly "cranberry" in nature; you know, Cran-Raspberry, Cran-Mango, Cran-Grape, Cran-Avocado (okay, that last one isn't being made...yet), and I always thought those cran-related juices tasted awfully STRONG. So I tried something. I took out an average-sized juice glass, and filled it about 40% full of water. The other 60%, Cran-Raspberry juice. And, there's still lots of flavor, and I think it actually tastes better that way. So you can s-t-r-e-t-c-h out your juice dollars that way. Which comes in handy if you're always having to buy finch food.

I never promised you a rose garden...but it looks like ol' Scooter Libby didn't have to beg for a pardon, either. Evidently something he did or authorized or participated in or whatever, resulted in the "outing" of a lady CIA agent, whose husband expressed grave reservations about George W. Bush's prezzidency. As we all do. And will continue to do until January 20th, 2009. (see countdown clock on the left side of this page) Hey, Bush can do whatever he wants; he's well past worrying about re-election. After he's done, he'll go back to Texas, accept kickbacks from the oil industry, and of course he'll have a Prezzential pension and lifetime Secret Service protection. Although, probably, they'll be protecting Dubya from himself more than anything. Bush pardoned "The Scooter" today. After which Mr. Libby scooted home. The question now is, who is gonna pardon Bush for getting us involved in the Iraq quagmire? Certainly not the lady CIA agent's husband...or anyone else, for that matter.

The MSNBC Scarborough thing just drags on...The former Don Imus early-morning slot (from 3am to 6am PST) continues to be manned by Joe Scarborough and his yuppieistic inmates, and boy, do they try to yuk it up. I think Scarborough is intelligent and knowledgable, but somehow all of the personalities on his show collide with, not complement each other. Which the Imus staff did with flying colors almost every day before the I-man uttered his nappy-headed remark, which Al Sharpton jumped on like a piranha in heat. So maybe I won't mention Scarborough anymore. He should stick to doing his MSNBC nightly show. I guess he's been doing a sort-of collaborative morning radio show for years...but that doesn't mean he's any good at it. I simply can't watch that MSNBC time slot anymore. There. I'm free. Free at last.

Hot, hot, hotter than hell...the (admittedly juvenile) lyrics of that song by KISS will pretty much describe the temperatures up where I used to live in North Idaho/Eastern Washington this coming weekend. Temps in the 90's and 100's by this coming weekend, according to that NWCN weathercaster I have such a hard time listening to. I remember how hot and unbearable my house would become in mid-afternoon. back when I lived up there, and I'd have to escape in search of cooler temps, and I couldn't even go back in my house 'till after midnite, or later, when things finally cooled down. Here on the O-coast? 65 degrees with light variable winds. And when I go outside on a sunny day, I think, "if I still lived up there, I'd be fryin' right now."
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I obliquely referred to the song "Rose Garden" in a section of this post. It was a hit by Lynn Anderson in the late '60s/early '70s. And, it was written by Joe South, who wrote and sang "Games People Play", "Walk A Mile In My Shoes" and others. He also wrote "Down In The Boondocks", a big hit by Billy Joe Royal in the mid-60s. My favorite version of a Joe South song? 1968's killer version of "Hush" by Deep Purple. It's great!