It's the 29th day of 7th month. We're in our prime!
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I'm the victim of a leak. I have no idea who the leaker was. But it's not worth appointing a special counsel or turning the matter over to an inspector general. It is what it is. I just feel like my personal Earth-shattering major announcement bubble has been deflated. No chance for a twenty-trumpet fanfare now. But most of you have been unaware that I've released my first YouTube video. Until now. I owe a special thank-you to the cameraman who was recruited to join my seagull news channel that never got of the ground. It turned out he also is a highly-skilled video editor, and I hired him back to help produce my first video.
I'm glad you like it. Of course you do. This week's Fun Fact Friday breaks the chain of episodes on the topic of gull wing designs. That's because I have received a timely question from J.B. of Bandon, Oregon, who asks, "Geo, please tell me what these transparent oval things are that recently washed ashore near Face Rock. There are thousands of them. Some have a flap of blue. Others are totally clear. They are small and flat, and they are starting to smell bad. I was afraid to touch them.
Wouldn't it be a thrill to have Geo answer your question in a Fun Fact Friday blog post?
All you have to do is click Comment at the top of this page and submit your question. Don't forget to say, "Please."
Note:
One of these days, there will be a new topic for a Fun Fact Friday episode, and Geo might even lower his standards and pick your question as that topic. So keep trying. Just click the Comments link at the top of this page and submit your question. As always, remember to say, "Please."
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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). I am so out of the loop when it comes to this iconic pop culture stuff. Take movies, for example. I can't sit still long enough to even watch half of a trailer. I did have a part-time janitorial job in my youth at a local cinema. They'd let me come in and clean up after a matinée, and I got to keep all the popcorn and Milk Duds I could pick up. I quit after I learned that chewing gum gets stuck in my gullet. Yesterday's post might have generated the most feedback I've ever received. It was almost as if Marty McFly himself showed up at the South Jetty Beach and signed autographs. I guess a lot of you are fans of the Back to the Future trilogy. Or you have a thing about crazy, tricked-out cars.
Click the image of the movie poster to hear today's musical link, "Tin Man," the 1974 hit by America.
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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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