The Fire Ant Gazette - A Midland, Texas Blog

Random Thursday
Category: Random Thursday...
Posted Thursday, August 10, 2006 at 06:37 AM [GMT-6]

I saw a quail sitting in the top of a mesquite yesterday during my bike ride. I don't believe I've ever seen a quail in a tree (or a bush, for those of you familiar with west Texas mesquite). I envisioned him sitting on the top of that bush, looking at the horizon, and yelling "I'm king of the world!"

Come to think of it, DeCaprio looks a little like a quail.

If you're considering switching to a polyphasic sleep cycle -- and, really, who isn't? -- you'd be well advised to heed this guy's advice. I'm a big believer in polyphasic sleep, although I've found it works best if I add it to my regular monophasic sleep cycle.

Here's a music video assembled from 16,000 digital photos. (You guys couldn't figure out how to work the video feature on your digicam either, huh?) The artist, Yunyu, blogs about her experience in learning to be a human version of Gumby. I'm so impressed that I'm considering copying her bloody dead raven look for the Gazette's new layout, although that might throw our tagline contest into a funk.

Actually, Yunyu's character in the music video reminded me a bit of The Grudge, one of the scariest movies I've ever seen. I'm creeping myself out just writing about it.

From the Damned with Faint Praise in Dance Class phrasebook: "Nice recovery." Uttered by the instructor.

Say, did I mention that we bought a new camcorder last weekend? Yep, one more piece of hardware and associated software that I don't have the time to master. We didn't jump in with both feet, however, electing to stay in the shallow end (a good name for a blog, by the way) and going for a lower end Canon DVCam, the Elura 100. And even though it's a relatively inexpensive recorder, I'm quite taken with its small size and plethora of features (like taking widescreen -- 16:9 -- video). Anyway, the main reason we got it is to capture new dance steps at our lessons, since we have a hard time remembering some of them by the time we get home. I may have to try my hand at uploading a YouTube video just so I can be like the cool kids.

Don't forget to leave your suggestion for the Gazette's new tagline.

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Comments

I have seen lots of quail in bushes and on fences. Of course we do live in the "country". I believe they are actually the lookout birds. It happens a lot when you flush a covey and they start regrouping. One (probably the dominant buck) will get to a higher perch and call the others together.
I sound like Burr, huh! Maybe I better call Sibley.

Posted by: Robert at August 10, 2006 08:15 AM

Robert, thanks for the education...I guess I'm too much of a city boy to know these things. I didn't even know that a male (I assume) quail was referred to as a buck. Sort of gives the silly things an inflated sense of importance, doesn't it?

I'm sure that Burr appreciates the help. ;-)

[For you non-Midlanders, the reference is to Burr Williams, director of the Sibley Nature Center and acknowledged expert in everything there is to know about the ecosystems of the Llano Estacado.]

Posted by: Eric at August 10, 2006 09:37 AM

At our country farm house, we had an old-fashioned hitching rail (but no horses) about 20 feet from our bedroom window. One year a large blue established his territory from there, and perched on the rail every morning to announce the sunrise ... just like a rooster. Eventually he used it as a courting rail too, where he and his intended would skitter back and forth playing quail tag.

I rather liked waking to the sounds of quail calls in the cool of the morning. Now I hear seagulls calling and chasing after the fishing boats. It's a funny old life!

Posted by: Deborah at August 10, 2006 02:08 PM

I think I'd rather listen to the quail than the seagulls, but that's just me.

Say, aren't you a bit behind in your posting schedule? ;-)

Posted by: Eric at August 10, 2006 02:35 PM

I am. I got high centered for some reason and can't find my way off. Maybe this weekend ...

Posted by: Deborah at August 10, 2006 02:48 PM

I feel your pain. The wheels are turning, the odometer's spinning...but the scenery isn't changing.

Sometimes, you need to just rock the car a bit, until a wheel grabs some dirt. ;-)

Posted by: Eric at August 10, 2006 02:57 PM

"Nice recovery." Uttered by the instructor.

Any landing you can walk away from...

Posted by: Foo at August 11, 2006 03:46 PM

Would that we were dealing with something as minor as aircraft landing.

Posted by: Eric at August 12, 2006 12:32 PM

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