My marketing experts were so inspired by yesterday's post that they immediately whipped up a new bumper sticker. I'm not exactly sure how it will fit in with my Golden Geo Gear web store, or if anyone will understand the reference. But obscure references have never stopped me in the past.
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But I remained curious as to what all the excitement was about. It turned out to be a peculiarly human celebration called a wedding, celebrating the union of two particular humans. In this case the wedding had its own name—the "Brash Wedding," which I learned was a contraction made by combining the names of the particular humans who were just married—Brian and Ashley. Having established these ancillary facts, I concluded my investigation and resumed eating. I would have wished these Brian and Ashley persons all the best, but I was taught never to squawk with my mouthful.
It's the 29th day of 7th month. We're in our prime!
And my webbed editor says I over-hyphenate. So proud am I of my ornithological heritage, I have been inspired to compose a poem, which I've transformed into a talking blues, because I have been ordered never to get caught singing again. I think it's a bit catchy nonetheless. That's why I'm including the lyrics. In case you catch yourself wanting to sing along. Of course, as a human you may feel a little silly singing "I'm a seagull." And the more sensitive among you may gasp and suddenly stop singing, because you're afraid you might be committing cultural appropriation. Fear not. I'm a seagull. We practice cultural appropriation and any other kind of appropriation every chance we get. So it won't hurt my feelings if you sing along. It won't hurt my ears, either, because I don't have any. ![]()
I need to have a little palaver with my peeps in the merchandising department. What started as a project to generate potential Golden Geo merch for a possible future online store has suddenly veered off the rails. How do these new bumper sticker and produce sticker designs do anything to promote my blog and my internet celebrity status? Is this somebody's idea of a meme? I'm not even a good spokes-gull for celery. If I'm desperate I will eat it, but only if it's stuffed with peanut butter. Even then, the peanut butter sticks to my beak, so when I go to squawk I can only squeak. And that stringy stuff gets tangled up in my gullet and makes me gag. Ugh! I think I'm being punked. ![]()
It would be presumptuous of me to speak for all seagulls. So of course I will do just that. We seagulls salute human Americans on your Independence Day. But we'd like to point out that we seagulls declared our own independence—from the rest of the animal kingdom—some 30 million years ago. So every day is like Independence Day to us. Let's see how much you know about your Independence Day. Which of the following phrases or sentences begins your Declaration of Independence? I won't keep you in suspense...this time.
Either you were able to read the fine print, or you clicked or tapped on the photo of the Declaration to enlarge it, or you knew the correct answer, or you randomly guessed #2. By whatever means you selected #2, you arrived at the correct answer. I hope you were among those who were already familiar with the words of your Declaration and the history and timeless principles behind them. But it is a good day to reacquaint yourself with what the 4th of July is really about. Incidentally, the Declaration was actually agreed upon by the Founders on July 2, 1776, but not announced publicly until July 4. And the final signatures were added by August 8. Look in my blog archives for Fun Fact Friday #7. You'll find a feature on one of the 56 signers, who signed his name Geo Taylor. I kid you not. Finally, my own little town of Bandon, Oregon celebrates Independence Day with a parade; a farmers and artisans market with live music and face painting; a family fun day in City Park with barbecue, a bounce house, and more live music; the Port of Bandon's fourth annual Cardboard Boat Regatta; Circles in the Sand beach labyrinths below Face Rock Viewpoint; apple pie and ice cream; fire dancers and fireworks by the waterfront; and the monthly Alive After Five art and wine walk. And I'll be busy all day as Park Host at South Jetty Beach. So please count me in for your leftovers. Does anyone here actually turn a physical calendar page anymore? Swipe to the left and it's July. In Canada, the first of July is—can you believe this?—Canada Day! Eh? It's a national holiday that marks the date in 1867 on which the British colonies of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Canada officially joined to form the Dominion of Canada. In 1903 on July 1, the first Tour de France cycling race got underway. The course covered over 1,500 miles, from Paris to Lyon, to Marseille, to Toulouse, to Bordeaux, to Nantes, and back to Paris. Nineteen days later, the winning racer, Maurice Garin, finished nearly three hours before the second-place cyclist. He took his prize money, bought a gas station, and worked there the rest of his life.
It was a period of optimism and futuristic imagination, and 25 years later it inspired a popular song by Steely Dan co-founder Donald Fagen (musical link).
Happy July Fools Day! That's right.
Summer begins today in the Northern Hemisphere. This is the day that the sun appears to be directly overhead along the Tropic of Cancer. For those north of that line, there is more daylight on or near the summer solstice than at any other time of the year. Meanwhile, south of the Tropic of Capricorn, winter begins today, on that hemisphere's shortest day of the year. The earth's 23.5 degree tilt is responsible for this phenomenon. Some locales in the far north see virtually round-the-clock daylight on the summer solstice. Anchorage, Alaska, for example, sees 22 hours of daylight and celebrates with a huge downtown festival, which will happen this Saturday, June 23rd. In Fairbanks, Alaska, there is so much sunshine that they will partake in America's national pastime around the clock. It's the 113th annual Midnight Sun baseball game, and everyone from kids to college athletes will compete. St. Petersburg, Russia, the world's largest far northern city, enjoys 19 hours of daylight today, celebrating with its annual White Nights Festival. At 5,000-year-old Stonehenge, in the United Kingdom, thousands gather to witness the once-a-year event of the sun rising right through the center of the ancient stone monument. Here in Bandon, Oregon, we expect to have about 15 hours and 23 minutes between sunrise and sunset, with around 16 hours and 35 minutes of daylight altogether, from first light to last light. It will be the longest day of the year. But our earliest sunrise actually occurred a week ago, and our latest sunset will take place five days from now. Our most beautiful sunset? It's every night... Let's look back to the Twentieth Century for a couple of major May 27 events.
On Memorial Day weekend, as part of the Harbor Festival in Kitsap County, Washington, the city of Port Orchard hosts its annual "World Famous" Seagull Calling Contest. A few dozen spectators gather each year at Waterfront Park along Sinclair Inlet to watch children and occasional dogs and adults who attempt to coax seagulls onshore with reasonable and unreasonable facsimiles of seagull squeaks and squawks or with fistfuls of breadcrumbs and such.
Apparently someone enjoys this event, because today's Seagull Calling Contest is the 30th annual, which means the very first one happened before I was born, and they haven't given up on it yet. I've personally been waiting every year to get a call from someone in Port Orchard, but I've yet to hear from anyone. Unless it was that weird anonymous screeching voice mail message I got a few weeks ago. Here in Bandon, Oregon, I suppose we just experienced our own version of seagull calling, earlier today. There was a nice-looking couple who drove into the South Jetty Beach parking lot a short time ago. They rolled down their windows and beckoned to all the assembled gulls, and we all flew, hopped, or waddled closer, anticipating popcorn, crackers, French fries, maybe even chicken nuggets. This nice-looking couple in their shiny new SUV rolled down their windows and tossed out generous handfuls of...… BIRDSEED!?!? Can you imagine the hurt, the frustration, the disappointment, the outright shock and dismay we felt? I think some of the contestants at Port Orchard even throw chocolates to lure the seagulls there. They at least know better than to toss birdseed at seagulls. There's a home video below from several years ago that captures some of flavor of this event. You really don't need to watch more than a minute or two to get the idea. The large bird-like costumed human in the video goes by the name Seemore Seagull. This festival also features a Seagull Wings Cook-off competition, where contestants don't really cook the wings of seagulls. And there's something they call the Seagull Splat 5K Run/Walk, where you're advise to avoid the seagull splat along the way. Does this sound like fun to you? It's happening today and tomorrow in Port Orchard, across the way from Bremerton, about 50 miles west of Seattle by ferry (as a seagull flies, you'd have to add a few more miles). It's time for a balancing act word puzzle. Unscramble these words, and you'll know the topic of tomorrow's episode of Fun Fact Friday. Come back tomorrow for the solution to today's puzzle.
And if you happen to be in the Seattle area this weekend, head across Puget Sound for Port Orchard's 30th Annual Seagull Calling Festival. More about that coming up in Saturday's balancing act post.
Yesterday marked six months of balancing act blogging. Who knows if I'll be around for another six months. I am a seagull after all. I have a short attention span and a lifespan to match. Therefore, even though the following was prepared in advance for 4/20/2019, I'm turning it loose on 5/20/2018. We can all pretend we set our clocks ahead eleven months. Time to clear the cache, anyway. The mind can lead you to some funny places. I overheard some folks talking about how it's 4-20 today, and all I could think of was an old nursery rhyme, which, according to snopes.com, began as a coded message used by pirates to enlist new crew members. I'm not buying it.
To add insult to injury, a number of humans have purposefully chosen the name Four and Twenty Blackbirds for their commercial endeavors—some of them are even successful. For example, a couple of sisters have opened a handful of popular bakeries in Brooklyn, New York that specialize in—you guessed it—pies. They ship pies nationwide. I hope they have the decency to leave the birds behind. There's also a Four and Twenty Blackbirds Bakery in Ashland, Oregon. And a diner named Four and Twenty Blackbirds in Santa Fe, New Mexico. A gourmet food truck operates on the streets of Hood River, Oregon under the same name. But another traveling canteen bearing that name has closed up shop and no longer peddles poutine and grilled cheese sandwiches in downtown Nashville, Tennessee. In Windsor, Colorado, there's an artsy Four and Twenty gift shop. At Four & Twenty Blackbirds in Manhattan, Kansas, specialty goods such as home furnishings, jewelry, and toys are what you'll find. Twenty-Four Blackbirds Chocolates in Santa Barbara, California sells single-origin, handmade artisan bars, caramels, and truffles online and in its retail shop. Guilford, Connecticut is home to 4 & Twenty Blackbirds Bakeshop. Halfway around the world, Four and Twenty Café and Pantry serves breakfast all day in the Chelsea Village area of Wynberg, Cape Town, South Africa.
I say shame on all of these humans for their anti-blackbird prejudice. I will look the other way if they all get stoned today.
By the way, I've got the munchies. What've you got for me?
Click the image of the movie poster to hear today's musical link, "Tin Man," the 1974 hit by America.
I'm sure you know that May 5 is Cinco de Mayo. How could you miss that? Did you also know that Cinco de Mayo commemorates the outnumbered Mexican Army's 1862 victory over the previously invincible French in the Battle of Puebla? Some historians think this battle was a turning point that helped prevent the French from spreading their influence throughout the Western Hemisphere. Sacré Dieu! Today, Cinco de Mayo is a minor, mainly regional holiday in Mexico. But, thanks to its promotion by Big Beer, Cinco de Mayo has taken on a life of its own throughout the U.S.
Today is National Two Different Colored Shoes Day®. In case you think this event is something I made up, just so I'd have something to blog about today, may I point out that NTDCSD has a formally registered name and an official Facebook page, with a grand total of 20 followers so far. That's bound to double after my post hits the web today.
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Meet the AuthorHi. I'm Geo the Seagull.
I'm the distinguished Park Host on South Jetty Beach at Bandon, Oregon, USA. I'm a firm believer in First Principles: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Your Lunch. Archives
August 2018
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