The Adventure of Peeps: Next Part

Posted on 02/14/2010 by chick

Of course, an animal can’t be naked in the same way as people, since they typically don’t wear clothes (excepting the toads, which are considered peculiar by the other animals). What Peeps meant was that Old King Fisher didn’t have any fur. There was not a hair on him, but he looked like he ought to have fur, and he was as wrinkly as an old prune. The longer she looked at him, the more repulsed she became. The toad observed her expression of revulsion and immediately tried to make her look away. The poor little toad knew something that she did not. Old King Fisher, sensitive about his lack of fur, did not tolerate staring. Peeps was so entranced by the king’s ugliness that she didn’t notice the toad speaking to her, or pulling her fur, or hitting her in the side.

When all else failed, the toad grabbed Peeps’s tail with both hands and yanked it as hard as he could.

“Youch!” shrieked Peeps, jumping off the ground in shock and pain. She turned midair and landed with a hiss, ready to smash the toad into the mud.

“My lady,” squeaked the toad, who had fallen on his backside. He cringed away from her, barely daring to peek at her with one eye, but his other eye popped open in surprise as he realized that the party had stopped and everyone was looking at him. “My lady, I did not wish to cause you any pain, or indeed a scene. It’s simply that . . .”

He was interrupted by a high-pitched voice. “What is this thing at my party?” whined the old king, pointing a skeletal paw in Peeps’s direction. “I do not recall inviting it.” The crowd of animals parted so that Peeps and the toad now had an unobstructed view of the king, and he of they.

“Your Majesty,” said the toad, trying to regain his composure. “I am so pleased to see you well.” The toad flipped himself onto his feet and promptly threw himself on his belly to grovel.

“Why is it here?” croaked the king, rising from his cushion and limping toward the pair. He appeared ghostlike in the pale firefly light. Rolls of his old, dry skin swayed from side to side as he walked. Even the insects overhead stopped buzzing as everyone watched. The only sounds were the king’s rasping breath and the scrape of his claws on the ground.

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Click Click

Posted on 02/13/2010 by chick

Dear Marshall,

You haven’t spoken any real words yet, but you babble all the time, saying things like, “Ogda dadadadabababamama dogda.” You also make a clicking noise with your tongue. Your father and I thought it was so cute that we started clicking back at you, and you loved it. Now your face lights up every time we “talk” to you with clicks. It’s as if you know the click is yours and that we are imitating you, rather than the other way around (you babbling in imitation of us). Click click, Little One.

Love,

Mom

P.S. That’s quite enough raspberrying, though. You sound like the Bog of Eternal Stench, and your diaper smells like it! 😉

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Silly Chile

Posted on 02/12/2010 by chick

There is  a funny story in the news today. The Chilean mint misspelled the name of their country on a 2008 coin design. I don’t know which is worse, the misspelling or that no one noticed it until late 2009!

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That’s Gourd-geous!

Posted on 02/09/2010 by chick

African2

Today’s ocarina has five holes and plays the same way as the last one, but it is completely different in shape and material. This ocarina, if it can indeed be called an ocarina, is an interesting hybrid of wood and gourd. It came with a taped-on piece of paper that said, “Made in Madagascar.” No, it wasn’t a sticker. It was a hand-cut piece of paper stuck on with tape. Sadly, that must have been someone’s job. I hope they got paid a living wage for it.

I’m feeling rather pathetic at the moment, because I’m not 100% sure where Madagascar is, and though I know there’s an animated movie by the same name, that’s about all I know. For the record, I have a feeling that it’s an African island. I am now going to look it up on the principle that ignorance is acceptable only until you realize your ignorance, at which point you are obligated to eliminate it.

The writers of Wikipedia also think it’s an African island. Whew! Interesting points from the Wikipedia article: Madagascar is an island nation located off the southeast coast of Africa. The main island, also called Madagascar, is the fourth largest island in the world, but is sometimes called “The Eighth Continent” by ecologists because of it has so many unique flora and fauna, including some awesome baobobs and lemurs. Madagascar is the world’s leading producer of vanilla.

Gourdy instruments were not on the list of major exports from Madagascar, but the Wikipedia article about ocarinas states that there is an ocarina-like instrument from Africa which they refer to as an “African globe flute.” Maybe that’s what this is, but I couldn’t find any other references to such a thing. When it comes to Wikipedia, the big stuff is usually right, but the small stuff is questionable. In any event, I like my cute little African “ocarina.” It has good tuning and a pleasant, woody tone, which you can hear here: gourdy ocarinaGourdy Ocarina.

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Prejudices

Posted on 02/08/2010 by chick

I had hoped to post about another one of my ocarinas today, but I ran out of time. Getting a decent amount of sleep is more important than taking a picture of an ocarina, don’t you think? But I did want to post today, so here’s something that popped into my mind earlier.

After rereading my post about gay marriage, I wonder if I came off sounding holier-than-thou. I said to my readers, “Examine your prejudices.” Did I imply in any way that I had no prejudices of my own? I do have prejudices, of course. Who doesn’t? And that, I think, will be the subject of another post soon.

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Other Fish in the Sea

Posted on 02/06/2010 by chick

I promised you another fish-shaped ocarina. Here it is!

Front

Fish2F

Back

Fish2B

This is a 5-hole ichthyocarina. The previous ocarina, though also fish-shaped, was very different. It was painted in a folk-art design and had six holes. This one is painted realistically, though I’m not sure what type of tropical fish it’s supposed to be (if you know, please share!). The 5-hole design is great. It plays exactly the same way as the 4-hole, but uncovering the hole on the back gives you an additional note, so this ocarina’s range is actually greater than an octave. While almost certainly mass-produced, the instrument has good tuning and a nice, loud tone.

I do have a couple of other sea creature ocarinas, but I’m going to save them for later. The next ocarina will be something completely different.

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“You Always Do That!”

Posted on 02/06/2010 by chick

I think that “you always do that!” is one of the unkindest things you can say to a significant other. First, it’s an exaggeration. Though that person may engage in the offending behavior quite often, and certainly more often than you like, it’s improbable that they always do it. No one’s that consistent. Second, it’s an underhanded attack for which there’s little defense but to say, “No I don’t,” which just doesn’t cut it in the thick of the fray. It’s almost impossible to remember instances of when you didn’t do something.  Even if you do hit upon one and mention it, the discussion then heads downhill as the two of you rehash old events and the real issue falls by the wayside, unresolved. Third, if a person behaves a certain way often enough that you notice it, there’s a good chance that it’s more than mere habit. It may simply be part of their personality, in which case asking them to behave differently is like asking them to be someone else. Do you really want them to?

I cringe every time the words “You always do that!” are spoken. Whether uttered by me or by someone else, it’s a nasty little phrase that lingers in the mind long after the sounds of the words fade. So let’s all try to find another way to voice our complaints, one that’s fair, that can be discussed rationally, and that has the potential to lead to a resolution.

P.S. As my Faithful Reader pointed out in a nice way, this post is missing some info. “You always do that!” is only bad if it’s meant in a negative way. Specifically, I was concerned about its use as a complaint during an argument.

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Strange Food

Posted on 02/05/2010 by chick

I tried a strange recipe last weekend. It was a rice pudding that contained eggs and pineapple juice in place of milk, and black rice instead of white. The finished product was a deep shade of purplish blue and it tasted like . . . wait for it . . . Boo Berry cereal!

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Fish Tail Tale

Posted on 02/04/2010 by chick

I promised you a look at my smallest ocarina. Here it is.

Front

FishF

Back

FishB

This is a 6-hole, fish-shaped ocarina (an ichthyocarina, if you will). It appears to be made out of painted terra cotta. Like most of my smaller ocarinas, it came with a cord that allows you to wear it around your neck, which is very handy for the ocarina player on the go.

This ocarina plays differently from the Raindrop. Because it’s smaller, the pitch is higher. Because it has has six holes, rather than four, it is played using different finger patterns. In any ocarina, covering all of the finger holes gives you the lowest note that the instrument can play. Leaving all of the finger holes open gives you the highest note. On a four-hole ocarina, the highest note is a full octave from the lowest. This 6-hole ocarina is one note shy of an octave. Isn’t that strange? It has more holes but fewer notes. It is consequently not my favorite ocarina design, but the fishy is very well-painted and I think it’s cute as all Heck.

Every year my mom gives me at least one ocarina for Christmas. Many of them are animal-shaped and require you to blow through the . . . ahem . . . rear of the animal. I sometimes wonder if mom buys them for that reason. She probably thinks it’s funny.

It is funny!

And yes, this is one of those . . . ahem . . . backward instruments, but that big hole visible on the fish’s tail is not where you blow. It’s where the air is released from the instrument. The air has to go somewhere, right? So that hole must be left open at all times. The mouth hole is actually at the very tip of the tail and it cannot be seen in either picture.

This is not the only ichthyocarina in my collection. Perhaps I will show you another one tomorrow.

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Musical Goals: Part IV

Posted on 02/04/2010 by chick

What, you thought I was done with my musical goals? Sorry, no. I’ve got more.

I want to write songs.

Perhaps I should rephrase that. You see, I write songs all the time. I make up little ditties to sing to Marshall. I improvise tunes on the piano. I write down catchy titles and bits of verses in notebooks. I just don’t finish them. So let me try again.

I want to write complete songs and record them in some way.

Notice that I didn’t say, “I want to write great songs and become famous,” because “great” is subjective and “famous” is way outside my sphere of control. I just want to accomplish something creative. That’s all.

So that’s what I want, but how do I make it a reality? What is a reasonable goal to set? Should I just try to do one song or should I try to do several? Should I set a deadline?

I still have more thinking to do.

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