Monday, July 17, 2017

Miss Cellania's Links

The Librarian Who Took On Al-Qaeda. He never thought his jobs would require smuggling skills.

Every bride and groom who hires a DJ has a song or two, or more, or an artist, or an entire genre that they ask specifically not to be played. Those songs have been compiled in a new list, and the ones that rose to the top are perfectly understandable.

Mary Poppins Returns Looks Like Nostalgic Delight. The sequel comes out in 2018, 54 years after Mary Poppins.

The Role of Cats and Dogs in Victorian Cases of Spousal Abuse. Three cases where a heroic pet saved the day. (via Strange Company)

Ted Cruz's Democratic challenger is a small-dollars fundraising monster who won't take PAC money. Beto O’Rourke could use your help. (via Boing Boing)

A Data-Based Guide to Dealing with Lines at Disneyland. Consult the charts and makes your plans accordingly.

In Sync We Trust: Pop Music's History of Lip-Syncing (and Lying About It). Singers can get away with it, if the show is good enough. (via Metafilter)

The Trump Administration Is Quietly Cutting Funding For Teen Pregnancy Prevention Programs.

The secret life of urban crows. They are clever, adaptive, and won't forget who you are.

Where Do Seedless Watermelons Come From? From two parents, one of which is a genetic wonder.

3 comments:

Lilylou said...

Loved the crow article! I've read a version of that research project in the past, which encouraged me to see if I could form a relationship with some of the crows in my rural neighborhood. Most mornings I take a small baggie of cat kibble with me on my morning jaunts across the local greenscape and when I hear the crows calling to each other, I start shaking the baggie and making it rustle.

Before long, one or two crows have come to check me out and then I strew a small amount of the kibble behind me on the paved path. They immediately swoop down and gobble it up. When they want more, one crow will circle ahead of me (almost like it's signaling their wish) and I'll drop a few more kibbles on the path. Before I run out of kibble, I may have 15-20 crows following me as I walk.

Eventually I run out of the kibble, so I make a big show of putting the baggie in my pocket and waving my hands in the air to signify that I'm out of kibble, saying "no more, no more, all gone, all gone", putting my hands in my pockets and walking on.

They're hopeful still, so they'll continue to follow me but eventually get the idea and fly off to do their own business. I have a friend who walks with me part of the way and he's always telling me about the movie The Birds, sure I'm going to get ganged up on at some point. But I'm pretty trusting. I've done this in a couple of different places that I've lived and enjoy the relationships I've developed with these smart, beautiful birds.

Kit Ketcham

newton said...

It was early in the morning and I was sleepy, which is why I thought the headline said "The secret life of urban cows," which I found intriguing.

Barbwire said...

I discovered that crows come from all directions every morning to a street just south of where I live. They gather in different trees and seem to have a convocation of some kind. It lasts only about 5 minutes, then they all take off in different directions. I would love to know why they do this.