Edi神’s Top 10 for 2008

Edi神’s top ten reasons why 2008 was a good one for everything that didn't stick to the ordinary.

1. Barack Obama

Politician
Claim to fame: The first African-American President-elect of the United States.
Headline hunter: High

This is the year of Barack Obama. The first African-American President-elect of the United States, Obama has emerged as a symbol of change for a country that's being weighed down by a costly war in Iraq and Afghanistan and a crippling financial crisis.

The defining moment of Obama's global stature as a politician came much before his landslide victory in the November 4 election. During a campaign tour that took him to Europe and the Middle East, he addressed a 200,000-strong gathering in Berlin at the Victory Column in Tiergarten on July 24, 2008 – no American politician has ever had an audience of this proportion, such is the buzz that the man generates today.

2. Seth Rogen

Actor
Claim to fame: Hollywood's brightest comedian
Headline hunter: High

Seth Rogen is today a hot contender for 'the funniest man in Hollywood' and he's achieved all this by just being himself. In the last 15 odd months, the 26 year-old has either scripted or acted or done both in some of Hollywood's biggest hits – Superbad, Knocked Up, Pineapple Express, Drillbit Taylor.

There's more coming – Rogen's now producing and starring in the screen adaptation of the comic book The Green Hornet. It's no wonder he's made it to our list of 2008's most talked about people.

3. Usain Bolt

Athlete
Claim to fame: The world's fastest man
Headline hunter: High

At 1.96metres, Usain Bolt is too tall to be a sprinter. Yet, the Jamaican, who was virtually unknown even six months ago, left Beijing achieving rock star status.

Bolt now holds the Olympic and world records for 100 metres (9.69 seconds), the 200 metres (19.30) and the 4x100m relay (37.10). He is the first man to win all three events including the 4x100m relay at a single Olympics since Carl Lewis in 1984, and the first man in history to set world records in all three at a single Olympics.

4. The Joker

Anarchist
Claim to fame: He gave us a better class of criminal
Headline hunter: High

Granted, Heath Ledger's untimely death set the hype machinery rolling, but The Dark Knight outlived all the hype and ran away with the box office crown of 2008. And at the centre of it all was Ledger's portrayal of the Joker – a character so twisted and anarchic, that he reduced a terrific Christian Bale's Batman to a sideshow. Ledger carved out an iconic character; he gave Hollywood a better class of criminal. Too bad we'll never see him again.

5. Aravind Adiga

Writer
Claim to fame: Winner of the Man Booker Prize
Headline hunter: Moderate

So you write this really edgy debut novel, a novel that stuns the reader with the injustices prevalent in Indian society, that lays bare India's binary nature – the 'Light' and 'Darkness' – a book that goes on to win the Man Booker Prize, and you hope not to draw criticism from your fellow countrymen in India? That's the story of Aravind Adiga, the 34-year-old resident of Mumbai, who struck gold with his debut novel, The White Tiger.

Adiga, who has in the past worked with The Financial Times and Time magazine, lives in Mumbai defends his work saying that his depiction of modern India in the book was more like a 'self-examination'. "A lot of poorer Indians are left confused and perplexed by the new India that is being formed around them," Adiga said in a recent interview.

6. Chevrolet Volt

Battery-powered concept car
Claim to fame: Electrifying future transport
Headline hunter: High

This car will offer Americans a chance to redeem themselves – a chance to atone for all those years spent driving those big, petrol-guzzling, exhaust-spewing trucks.

If everything goes according to plan in 2010, the battery-powered Volt will run up to 64km – a distance that covers more than the daily commute of 75 per cent of drivers without using a single drop of petrol. And it doesn't look like an electric car, which is to say, it doesn't look like a golf buggy. To give you an idea of how influential the Volt is, know this: every other big car manufacturer is now working hard on similar projects.

7. Duffy

Singer
Claim to fame: Think Amy Winehouse without the bad press.
Headline hunter: High

Aime Anne Duffy's rise coincided with the fall of Amy Winehouse, who, despite winning seven Grammy awards for her knockout Back to Black album has looked like a car crash the whole year. Duffy's Rockferry, released in March this year, debuted at number one on the UK album charts and sold more than 3.4 million copies worldwide.

Wide-eyed, fresh-faced and with none of the drug problems that Winehouse has been dealing with, Duffy's had a remarkable 2008 and is now busy writing songs for her next album.

8. Robert Downey Jr.

Actor
Claim to fame: Giving the superhero a soul.
Headline hunter: Moderate

How do you prevent a character like Iron Man from falling into that same celluloid abyss that claimed superheroes like the Daredevil, Blade or Spawn? Luckily for Marvel, they got it right with the casting – Robert Downey Jr. dug deep into his once-debauched personal life to make Tony Stark a character most blokes could relate to. He followed it up with a ripper of a role in Tropic Thunder. For sheer versatility in 2008, Downey makes the cut.

9. Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak

CEO, Mubadala Development
Chairman, Manchester City F.C.
Claim to fame: Putting Abu Dhabi on the world sporting map. Headline hunter: High

At 32, Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak is a vital cog in the machine that's transforming Abu Dhabi into a key tourism and business hub in the region. He was instrumental in bringing Formula One and the FIFA Club World Cup to Abu Dhabi in 2009 and is today the chairman of Manchester City after a group of investors from Abu Dhabi bought out the Premiership club. He is the CEO of a company that owns shares in Ferrari, AMD and the Carlyle Group.

10. Rafael Nadal

Tennis professional
Claim to fame: Usurped the once-invincible Roger Federer from the No. 1 ranking.
Headline hunter: High

Nadal did the unthinkable this year – he beat Federer in an epic final at Wimbledon just months after thrashing him at Roland Garros in the French Open final. He ended Federer's record 237-weeks at the top spot in men's ranking in August and then went on to win the gold medal in the single's final at Beijing Olympics. The 22 year-old with the rippling muscles and the pirate pants has defied doubters who questioned his ability outside clay courts. Though fatigue forced him out of the season-ending Master's Open, it's going to take some doing to topple him from his high-chair now.

Off to the White Continent...

From--Home Base (for a few more minutes): Kim writes: Well, folks, this is it. Kenn and I are on our way out the door, onto a plane, and off on the adventure of a lifetime--ANTARCTICA! I got two words for ya ~
BABY PENGUINS! woooo--hoooo!!!!

We'll make every attempt to stay in touch during the trip, but just in case we can't, my techno-savvy husband has some surprises lined up for readers of this blog that you will not want to miss--so keep checking in!

Here's a link to our trip itinerary, so you can at least "follow along" if you'd like.
http://ventbird.com/system/tour_departure/legacy_itinerary/904/509AN.pdf

And here's a link the the trip writeup from the Victor Emanuel Nature Tours website to give you an idea of what this trip will be like:
http://ventbird.com/birding-tour/2009/01/05/antarctica-south-georgia-the-falklands

We wish you all the happiest, healthiest, birdiest New Year, and look forward to sharing it with you!

I am soooo excited! I can't wait to tell you all about it!

Wish us luck---and a buoyant boat!

~Kim

Palestinian consulate

Palestinian consulate, how can a consulate exist for an entity that isn’t a country?!

Only in the Arab world!

So again, as always, the various factions that make up the Palestinian fiasco cant back one single leader, you have crazy yahoos doing what they want in Gaza, as the actual president (and I use the term lightly) Abbas is against what they are doing... but has no control over them...

I don’t see why this is such a huge issue. You have a "group" not a government, and not a country, attacking a country. Like it or not, Israel IS a country, and has been for 50 some odd years.

And when that country attacked back, it’s bad?

The west bank should attack Gaza, take it over, cleanse it of crazy people, and the give up the dream of having Jerusalem for the next 100 or so years.

The west bank can be Palestine. Simple, maybe one day Israel won’t exist, that land has been MANY countries over the last 2000 years.

For now, wouldn’t having a real country, under one government, be better than what’s going on?

And I’m sick and tired of hearing about this. Palestinians aren’t any more special the Iraqis, or people in Zimbabwe. The world has a thousand and one issues, I’m tired of reading, seeing, and being asked to donate to their case.

In fact, I now want to donate to the Israeli army. No, I’m not kidding.

Also, Malaysia isn’t a democracy; the right to assemble without police permission is not allowed. Those demonstrators in front of the US embassy should have been arrested and sent to Gaza, since they like it so much.

Phil Collins’ fault that Stevie G saw red

As a life-time admirer I have been watching the Steven Gerrard arrest closely. I know his favourite album is Phil Collins’ greatest hits and that he is a massive fan. As it happens the fracas was reportedly started when the DJ refused to play Phil Collins, at which point Stevie G attacked him. What kind of music inspires this kind of violence? Most think of Marilyn Manson and the like, but here it is revealed. Phil Collins clearly inspires hatred and rage. The clues are all there, the skinhead, the hard, flinty stare. Well Phil, on behalf of music and peace fans everywhere please remember that when there’s dark music around it will never is another day for you and me in paradise!

Hamas drew First Blood

Israeli jets attacked the Gaza Strip for a fourth day, with raids on a number of Hamas government buildings.

All pro-arab newspaper said about the 300 plus Palestinians have died since Saturday but none of these newspaper mention about the four Israelis killed by rockets from Gaza.

The Arab people are crying loudly now, condemning Israel for bullying them. They seem to forget that they are the one who drew first blood. Is like jumping into the cage of a lion and blame the lion for the attack.

Israel's right to defend itself from militant rocket attacks and some said they retaliation is excessive but I strongly agreed that they need to totally destroy Hamas. In the same way, Israel is also helping Hamas’s soldier to die a hero. Don’t they want to get there first before it run out of virgins?

An emergency summit of Arab League foreign ministers is scheduled but they are more interested in discussing their economy woes than Gaza disobedient. This is what they call Brothers, LOL!

Egypt and Jordan still hold on to their respective peace and industrial (QIZ) agreements with Israel because they are smart enough to know the real culprit is Hamas as Hamas draw first blood.

There are protests everywhere in Egypt, UAE, Malaysia and even on the blogsphere but all of these protesters only talk, talk and talk only. If they really want to help these Palestine (their so called brothers), those protestors shall sell everything they have and go to Gaza to help out.

Action speaks louder than words… BROTHERS!

Israel to invade Gaza?

Israeli warplanes pounded the Hamas for a third consecutive day on Monday and prepared for a possible invasion after killing at least 307 Palestinians in the air raids.

Israel, which stepped up the air strikes after dark on Sunday, said it launched the campaign on Saturday in response to almost daily rocket and mortar fire that intensified after the Hamas group ended a six-month ceasefire a week ago.

The only way to stop this war is by invading Hamas rule Gaza areas because these barbaric Hamas can never sit down and talk. They all like to die as martyr and Israel is giving them the chance. All Palestinian must kiss Israel flag as a sign of thank you.

Extreme Bird Feeding

From Oak Harbor, Ohio, Kim writes: While the weather here in northwest Ohio the last few days has been downright balmy, we suffered through a stretch of incredibly brutal weather for several days. Temps at or near zero, 25+ mile per hour winds, and everything was coated with a thick layer of ice. It was really hard to force ourselves to even go outside. Several Christmas Bird Counts scheduled for last weekend were canceled. You KNOW it's rough outside when birders decide not to do CBCs.

As a result of the weather, I spent a great deal of time last weekend keeping the feeders filled at the Observatory. Turns out, that can be interpreted in a couple of ways, depending upon your perspective. What I meant by "filled feeders" was this....

A human's idea of "bird food"...

And, here's what "filled feeders" means from a different perspective...

Oh yeah! Look at all that bird food...

This immature Red-tailed Hawk must be really desperate. It was haunting the feeders all weekend, making pass after unsuccessful pass at the starlings and Mourning Doves at the feeders. The poor thing finally took a break on top of one of the feeders. What a contrast in style from the accipiters that often stalk the birds at our feeders. When a Cooper's or Sharp-shinned Hawk makes a pass it is with such swift precision as if to almost seem like it happened in your imagination. A feathered arrow, swift and true. But, this poor Red-tail was more like a lawn jart (remember those?!) and it came flopping in like a sumo wrestler arriving at a tea party.

Here's a closer look at this magnificent animal.

Note the brown tail that helps to identify it as a young bird.

Here in northwest Ohio we see Red-tailed Hawks on a daily basis, and we sometimes get a little jaded. "Oh, that's just another red-tail," you'll often hear people say. But, encounters like this one, up close and personal, remind us of just how blessed we are to have these creatures in our world.

I feel really bad for the bird. I know that it's hungry. And I know that the mortality rate in young raptors is high. If I can find some road kill, I'll scrape it up and toss it out near the Observatory and hope that the bird finds it. I've done this kind of thing before with great success.

Believe it or not, I once convinced a friend to help me lift and load the carcass of an eight-point buck that I found lying in a field (it had been struck by a car) into the back of his pickup truck. We hauled it to my house and dragged it out into the field about 300 yards from the house. This was late fall / early winter, and 300 yards seemed like plenty of cushion between the house and the large dead rotting thing.

The first birds to discover the prize were 13 American Crows, and I had an absolute blast watching these amazing birds feeding on the carcass. The hierarchy was immediately evident. The entire group would come in and roost in a large dead elm tree about 20 yards from the deer. After much calling and jostling, a small number of the birds (usually just 3) would come to the buffet to feed while the others kept watch. Once the first group was finished, they would return to the elm tree while another group came to dine, and so on, until all the birds had had a chance to feed. It was great fun observing the group dynamics of these incredibly intelligent birds.

Next to dine at the Road Kill Cafe was an immature Bald Eagle. He approached with extreme caution, using the crows' trusty dead elm as an observation deck to get the lo-down of the situation before finally deciding it was worth it and getting down to business. Eventually an adult eagle arrived and the youngster was driven out of the area.

Here's a terrible photo of the adult Bald Eagle that visited the carcass.

(Now, be kind about the quality of this photo! This was pre-digiscoping revolution!)

Early spring arrived, and with it, the Turkey Vultures. It was icky and gross, but at the same time, strangely captivating to watch them stick their heads way up inside the remains of the deer and get the goodies that were out of reach for the feather-headed feeders. That naked red head may be short on looks, but it sure comes in handy for extreme feeding conditions like a dead rotting deer carcass!

Okay, I know these photos are getting progressively worse, but if you squint your eyes, tip you head to the left, and now close your right eye part way, you can see that the fourth dark blurry lump from the left is a dead rotting deer carcass being visited by hungry Turkey Vultures!

Now, as I mentioned earlier, my friend and I drug the carcass about 300 yards away from my house. That was great during the winter, but then suddenly it was July. P--and might I add--U! If you decide to try out my extreme bird feeding method, please make sure that you select the location and distance of your feeding "station" with the thought that it might very well persist until those steamy 80+ degree days! You (and your neighbors) will be thankful for the consideration.

Stupid Hamas

Israel attacked dozens of security compounds and weapons storage facilities throughout the Gaza Strip yesterday, killing at least 210 Palestinians, including women and children, and wounding more than 700 others in the bloodiest single day for Palestinians in more than two decades of conflict.

More than 80 Israeli planes and combat helicopters pounded Hamas security installations in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli military was claiming retaliation for rockets fire by militants.

I have only one word for this Hamas supporter…

STUPID!

Israel has countless times warned them not to fire rocket to Israel territories but this Hamas never listen.

Its like a little kid (Hamas) keeps slapping a Giant (Israel). Then Giant don’t feel any pain but tell the little kid to stop.

The little kid thought he is very macho and keep slapping the giant.

When the giant smack him back, he cried loudly and said the giant bully him.

Stupid!

Hamas Vs Israel, only Palestinians people suffers…

Holiday Gift Guide: Binoculars the day after

Second sight: binoculars from your past might be able to see into the future.

From Oak Harbor, Ohio, Kenn writes: Holiday gift-giving this year may have been less splendiferous than usual, but it’s a safe bet that some birders received high-quality binoculars. Maybe these were gifts from partners or parents or friends, or some birders may have decided to splurge on gifts for themselves. One way or another, right now some birders will be looking at birds through brand-new lenses.

Kim and I have some important advice for you. It’s not about what kind of binoculars you should have bought; we have our favorites, of course, but there are many great optics available today. No, this is advice about what to do AFTER you’ve tried out your new binoculars, gotten used to them, fallen in love with them. At that point, ask yourself: What are you going to do with your old binoculars?

That’s assuming that you had old ones. If these are your first, congratulations! Just file this advice away for future reference. But if your new optics represent an upgrade, then they’re replacing old ones that served you to some extent. If your old bins were just awful, you should throw them away. But if they’re in good shape, those old optics could be a tremendous help to someone who has no binoculars at all.

Maybe you know some local nature center with a limited budget that could really use "loaner" binoculars for field trips. Or a camp or a school where the nature programs would benefit from having optics available. But if not, there’s an organization that can help deliver used optics directly to the people who need them most.

The Birders' Exchange is an ingenious program that gathers used (but still useful) binoculars, telescopes, and other items of field equipment and delivers them to people who can least afford them but who can make the best use of them: biologists, naturalist guides, park rangers, students, and others in the developing countries of Latin America. Deserving individuals in no fewer than 29 countries have already received the benefit of such donations. It’s safe to say that the program is making such workers more effective throughout the American tropics, thus contributing to education and research and bird conservation in a huge way.

The Birders' Exchange was started in 1990 by the Manomet Bird Observatory (now Manomet Center for Conservation Science) and is now administered by the American Birding Association. Sharp birder and all-around wonderful person Betty Petersen has managed the program for years and has made it into a terrific success. She and her colleagues run a very economical and efficient operation, and they don’t have time to deal with repairs or replacement parts -- so we shouldn’t ever send them junk. But if you’ve got some good-quality used optics to donate, go to their website and check it out. Your old favorite bins could have a second life looking at tropical birds and helping to make a difference.

Happy Holidays from Kenn & Kim

From "Home for the Holidays", Kenn & Kim write: Please accept some of our favorite nature photos as our gift to you this holiday season.

Blue-footed Booby feet




Clay-colored Sparrow




Sharp-shinned Hawk





Cardinal Flower




A tiny seed that looks like a ballerina




Connecticut Warbler

A lovely American Goldfinch nest

Pied-billed Grebe

Blackburnian Warbler

Blue Cohosh

IO Moth

Cape May Warbler

Wishing you peace and joy this holiday season ~ and always,

Kenn & Kim

World Class Players in Sabah

First, let me just say the SUPER SERIES FINAL 2008 was a roaring success, not only because it was held in my home state of Sabah, the badminton was superb; a true showcase of terrific skills of power, speed and finesse.

The crowd of 5000 was fantastic because they supported and cheered for both sides. That helped bring out the best from the players.

This time because I finally wised up to the perks of staying in the official hotel, I had opportunities to meet and find out more about the players world.

Thomas Laybourn
Over breakfast, I asked him why Danes take so long to 'mature' and what his training schedule's like. He said except for Peter Gade and Tine Rasmussen who are both paid rather well by their clubs, other Danes have to have a day job.

Lay has his own business so he has flexibility with his badminton. Because of that, the Danes don't train fulltime like Asian players. He trains 4 hours a day; 2 before 'day job' and 2 after. Unlike Asians who probably put in 8 hours per day all in. Because skills take a threshold period to master, that's why Danes seem to take double the time.

Thus what takes at least 3 years for Asian players to show, it will take Danes 6 years, since they train at half the intensity. Thus Danes will 'mature' as champion material after the age of 25. But it also means they can last longer since they punish their body less over time. That’s why PG's equivalent age to an Asian player is probably 27 although he's 32.

Candra Wijaya
In the shuttle bus, he surprised me by thanking me for supporting him and Tony during their matches. I was so relentlessly vocal in cheering them after they lost their G1 to Hendra Setiawan & Makis Kido in a flash. Maybe that's why he could match the cheering voice to the speaking voice but wow, he's got good hearing sense. He said it helps fire them up when they have support from the crowd even if it's a lone voice.

Candra's a very busy man. He has his own business and also he's involved in the Japan league. He said there are hundreds of badminton clubs in Japan and for the league, there's no prize money for the champion but prestige and pride. I asked him about his fitness regime and that's when he sounded sheepish. Well, Candra works out once or twice in the gym for an hour or so,when he has the time. This means he probably doesn’t.

Datuk Lee Chong Wei
Queuing for the fried noodle, I mentioned that he should dump his habit of getting sidetracked by poor line calls. Line judges get so mesmerized by his badminton, they sometimes forget they have a job to do on the court that's why his matches usually have some line call problems, I suggested. He laughed at the rationale which is good because it'll help him remember. He has enough insurance for 2 or 3 poor calls if he stays focused but none if he wastes time and energy on this distraction.

I spoke to coach Teh on this for double effect. Chong Wei only needs to correct 1 or 2 of his non-badminton aspects and he will be unbeatable. All these problems are within his control so it's easy to solve. There is another aspect which I will not mention here which LCW rectified and I was amazed how that little change can make such a big difference in his matches against Taufik and Peter Gade.(Please note I'm not trying to claim credit here)

Saina Nehwal
Saina's so articulate she should be the spokesperson for badminton players. I mentioned that she came across faster and more powerful compared to when I first saw her play. How did she do it?

'Well, first I lost weight by working out in the gym. I do a lot of running because Women Single is a lot of running. ‘Losing weight means energy is fully used for badminton and none wasted lugging excess luggage around. Something for Chin Eei Hui to think about?
No wonder I thought she has also grown taller. Not only that, with each tournament, she surprises with distinct progress. She said her coach would work with her on her weakness revealed in each tournament so that it's fixed before the next one.

Saina's gonna be the most dangerous Women Single because her opponents won't know what else she has packed until they meet her in court.

Ice, Ice, Baby

From Port Clinton, Ohio, Kenn writes: We braved the intense cold and the ice-covered roads last night to go to band practice, and then the weather socked us anyway: Sully, our lead guitar player, was called away for an emergency having to do with pipes freezing and bursting. The rest of the band spent a while working out chord progressions of new material anyway before calling it a night.

At some point, messing around, I started playing the famous bassline from the hit "Under Pressure" by David Bowie and Queen -- the same bassline that was lifted, essentially note for note, by Vanilla Ice for his hit single rap classic "Ice Ice Baby." Kim had performed this song a couple of times with her old band, Four Thorn Rose, not as a planned part of the show but to fill in time while someone changed a broken guitar string. Sure enough, as soon as I started playing the bassline, Kim jumped in with the lyric, delivering it with tons of rapper attitude: Will it ever stop, yo -- I don’t know ... Deadly, when I play a dope melody, anything less than the best is a felony ... Girls were hot wearin' less than bikinis, Rockman lovers drivin' Lamborghinis ... ice, ice, baby ... On and on, a rap anthem, all the more authentically gangsta-ish because it’s based on a stolen bassline. Fletch jumped in on drums, and the handful of other people hanging around at Mango Mama’s watched in awe as Kim rapped out this long long song without missing a beat.

We can’t help thinking about ice right now. It has been wickedly cold the last few days; on Sunday, when we had expected to do the Fremont Christmas Bird Count, the temperature went down to 4 Fahrenheit with wind chills of 25 below zero. The ice storm that we had Friday morning -- the last time the temp was barely above freezing -- coated everything with thick ice that’s still there. In a separate post, we’ll talk about how the birds are faring in this weather. But for anyone who keeps bird feeders, this is the weather in which the birds need help the most. They can find food under snow, but when ice locks things up, the birds can be in serious trouble.

After all this cold weather, we’re looking forward to going away -- to Antarctica! I know from previous experience that the weather is surprisingly mild at this season. We travel by ship along the coastline, and the temperature rarely gets much below freezing. It would be different, it would be unimaginably cold, if we went to the Antarctic interior, but we wouldn’t be seeing birds there. So we’ll explore the islands and the coast, and we’ll see lots of ice, but we won’t encounter the kind of intense cold that has hit the American Midwest the last few days.

Coronation Island, in the South Orkney Islands, off the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula. Kenn took this photo on his third Antarctic trip in 1992.

她陰魂不息 云頂某某酒店

在某一個星期六， 我与好友曉佩， 嘉倩到云頂去遊玩。因為我們坐晚上的最後一班車到某高山游勝地，
所以到了那兒大概有九點多了。 我們三人都住在酒店里的同一間房， 收拾好行李後，
大家便坐在一起談天說地。 忽然間談到鬼節， 在我們三人之中只有我是個膽小鬼。 越談越刺激，
談到夜晚十一時四十五分。 嘉倩因為很餓便說要下去買東西吃， 留下我一個人。
我為了要面子便硬著頭皮答應了， 因為只剩下我一個人， 所以我只好讀故事書， 當我讀得津津有味時，
突然有人敲門， 我便跑去開門， 有位少女拿著一包東西說："妳的朋友叫我把食物拿給妳。"
過後她便走了， 我好奇為什麼嘉倩与曉佩自己不拿上來呢？ 我把食物放在飯桌上。我想了又想，
又有人敲門， 我一開門， 我便嚇了一跳， 因為嘉倩和曉佩都拿著一包新鮮的熱狗，
我便好奇地問到："剛才妳們不是叫人拿食物上來給我嗎了？" 曉佩說："沒有呀！"，
於是我便指著桌上那包食物說："剛才有位少女交給我一包東西， 她說是妳們托她交給我的。"
我們三人的眼神立刻注視在桌上那包東西。 不一會兒， 那包東西不翼而飛了。
嘉倩与曉佩說只是心理作用， 可是， 我的确收到那包東西啊！
大家吃飽後， 便繼續談天， 一陣陣冷風迎面吹來， 曉佩立刻走向窗口要把玻璃窗關上，
怎知， 玻璃窗早已被關上了。 這時候隱隱約約看見一件衣服挂在樹上， 由於曉佩不迷信，
所以不加以理會， 談到兩點， 我覺得很累便入眠了。
第二天， 我們很早便起床， 梳洗一番後便去吃早餐， 然後到處遊玩。 大家玩得很高興，
到傍晚七點許， 我們才依依不捨地回房休息， 我們回到房里， 便輪流沖涼。 當輪到嘉倩沖涼時，
有人敲門。 於是， 嘉倩便去開門。 一開門， 有一陣陣寒風吹了進來， 她以為有人玩她， 便不加以理會，
繼續沖涼， 當手觸摸到浴缸的水時， 發覺暖水變成了冷水， 又傳來一陣陣的哭泣聲，
嘉倩被嚇得手忙腳亂地穿上衣服便跑去浴室， 誰料到， 門自動地開了。
嘉倩邊跑邊喊："鬼...鬼...鬼...啊！" 曉佩和我被嘉倩這麼一喊， 頓時嚇呆了。
隆...隆...隆...外面下起大雨。 我們非常害怕， 便一起去關窗。 當時，
我們看見一位少女吊在樹上而且還對著我們微微笑， 我們被嚇得魂不附体， 拔腿就跑去房門，
當走到樓梯時， 一位老工人見我們如此慌張便問我們甚麼事， 我們一五一十地告訴他，
他聽了後臉色變了， 然後誥訴我們："以前有一位少女住在妳們現在所住的房間，
因為被男友拋棄才會在那樹上吊頸死掉， 她的魂一直得不到安息！
我們聽了， 立刻要求老板換房， 經過這次的經驗後， 我們不敢再住那間酒店了。

Seriously Buzzed

From Home Base, Kim Writes: I know that in the dead of winter in Ohio the last thing you'd think I'd be thinking about are hummingbirds. But yesterday, while looking through my collection of bad fuzzy videos, I found one that I thought I had lost.

You can't imagine how happy I was to find this, in spite of its entry into the bad fuzzy video vault. I know the video is tiny on the screen (if anyone has suggestions on how I can make this work more effectively, please share!) it's sort of out of focus, and in general, kind of crappy, but please take a look at it anyway. I hope that as fellow birders you'll understand how blessed I felt as I witnessed this tiny creature growing, learning, and ultimately striking out on "his" own.

Buzzed on sugar water delivered by his Mama, who took advantage of the feeder in our yard, "Junior" tests his wings. He would sit quietly for long periods, but, as soon as Mama brought him some sugar, he would become very animated, moving about the nest, and testing his tiny wings in the most adorable way.

Just to clarify: I don't actually know if the bird in the video was a male or female. With youngsters of the small "gorgetted" hummingbirds (of which there are 8 species in North America), sex cannot be reliably determined without having the bird in the hand. At that point, it comes down to things like: the shape of the outer primaries, width and shape of the rectrices (tail feathers) and the shade of white coloration in the throat. All that aside, the first day that we discovered our little treasure, I dubbed him Junior. I know, I know,---kinda lame and unoriginal, but it was the first thing that came to mind as I watched him that first day, and it just sort of stuck.

Since I first became fascinated with birds, one thing I always hoped for was to find an active hummingbird nest. Here in the east, we have only one breeding species of hummer, but it's a good one! Ruby-throated Hummingbirds are real charmers. Loads of attitude and charisma make up for their diminutive size and the lack of hummingbird diversity in our part of the world.

When Kenn and I got married and moved into our first home, it didn't seem likely that there would be many birds nesting in our yard, let alone a hummer. We were in the country, but surrounded on all sides by the monoculture of farm fields: Mostly corn, wheat, and soy beans. Our yard had a few mature trees, mostly Maples and Pines, but not much else to recommend to the discerning bird looking for a place to raise young. But, we hung our feeders with hope and the bird gods delivered.

We noticed hummers coming to visit our feeder and were thrilled. But, to be honest, we never even thought of looking for a nest. One afternoon we were out in the backyard when a hummingbird buzzed past and into one of the pines. We stood in utter astonishment as she began to work on what appeared to be the makings of a nest! Kenn dashed for the scope and we spent the next 4 hours watching this industrious little fairy as she labored to create her haven.

And here it is! What an amazing example of miniature architecture. From the day we discovered it, it took her 6 days to construct this masterpiece and lay 2 eggs.

The list of building materials sounds more like a spell from a Harry Potter book than nest material: Spider's silk and thistle down. A bit of lichen all around. Weave a cup and make a wish. Fairies fill this tiny dish....

After watching for many hours, I finally surrendered to the call of duty and went into the house to get some work done. About a half an hour later, Kenn comes rushing into the house with this dazed look on his face and says, "You've got to come out here and see this."

Back outside, and in the front yard this time, and, you'll never believe this....ANOTHER HUMMINGBIRD NEST. Less than 30 yards from the one being constructed in the backyard, our little overachiever had herself another nest, (Yes, it was the same female hummer!) and this one was filled to capacity with two stubby-billed little imps. I am not afraid to admit that I cried. It was just so spectacularly magical to have not one, but TWO hummingbird nests in our tiny, postage stamp yard, and to discover them on the same day! The realization that this tiny bird would be actively building one nest, while raising two demanding "kids" at the same time was just emotional overload for me.

After studying her behavior very closely, and getting her timing on and off the nest worked out, I waited until she had left the nest to forage, and I snuck in and took this photo. I stood on the tippy top of our ladder, and still had to hold the camera up as far as I could reach, try to aim as best I could, and then hope that I had gotten something....

Aren't they beautiful? They look so big on the screen, but in life they were so tiny: about the size of your average kidney bean.

All this intense hummingbird action filled our life with high drama! On the very first day, we watched in horror as Junior's sibling decided that "he" was ready to face the big bad world, and launched himself out of the nest. Calling it a launch is perhaps a bit generous, and he didn't make it far before crash landing into a big clump of thistles. We rushed to his rescue, and after holding him for a few minutes to make sure that he was intact, he buzzed out of Kenn's hands and up into our Mulberry tree.

Check out that stubby bill. I was shocked at how rapidly their bills grew as we watched them visit our feeders.

Once he was safely in the Mulberry, he began calling, and Mama came to the rescue, feeding him for the rest of the afternoon before he disappeared. He returned the next day to visit the our feeder, and returned every day for about two weeks, eventually joined by Junior after he too made his brave exit from the nest.

I have a banding permit, and I would have banded him, but my gear was at the Observatory, and I didn't want to hold him long enough to go get it. Hummingbird bands are, of course, very tiny, and made of incredibly light weight aluminum, pressed into sheets, and stamped with the band number. The material is so thin that we cut them out with scissors.

Here's one compared to a Great Horned Owl band.

I have had close encounters with thousands of birds at the Observatory's songbird banding station. I have banded dozens of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, and my fascination with these tiny dynamos increases with each individual whose life I "touch" for a few moments. But, I will never forget this little feathered family and they way that they touched us for a few magical weeks.

Bird Photo Quiz Quiz

From Birding Central, Kenn writes: Back when "publishing" always involved ink and paper, a Photo Quiz was popular in various bird magazines. A challenging photo (or two or three) would be presented in one issue of the magazine, with the answer(s) to be revealed in the next issue. Birders would study the photos and their field guides, discuss the quiz with their pals, then wait a month or two or three for the next issue to see if they’d gotten the answer right.

Today, in the age of online publishing, photo quizzes are legion. There are literally dozens of "mystery bird" photos posted every week on websites and blogs. Followers of these quizzes wait only days for the answers, not weeks or months. Other things have changed as well: birders researching a tricky photo today are more likely to look for pictures on the internet, and a fair percentage of those online photos will be misidentified or mislabelled. And when the online quiz posts its answer, there’s a chance that the answer will be wrong. So there’s a new kind of edgy challenge to the game.

Quizzes in print have a longer history. In the 1970s (when I was a rabid kid birder) we got our photo-quiz fix by looking at British Birds, a fine monthly that was then publishing more on identification than all the North American periodicals put together. A few of us crazed American and Canadian birders pored over every issue of British Birds, tried to work out the photo quiz, and then eagerly read the detailed answer to the previous month’s quiz. It was such an educational feature that we wondered why North American bird journals didn’t follow suit. But not until 1980 did Birding, the magazine of the American Birding Association, begin to run a regular photo quiz feature (a feature that continues today, by the way). I have warm feelings about the Birding photo quiz because I was in charge of it, writing the answers for almost every issue, for ten years, starting in the mid-1980s. But that wasn’t my first experience with writing photo quiz answers.

We’re not going to add one more online mystery photo to this week’s crop. Instead, we have a different kind of challenge, one that will test your knowledge of photography, publications, and the history of the birding community.

Here’s the question: What was the first publication in North America to run a regular bird photo identification quiz?

If you think you know the answer, or if you want to guess, send us a comment. If no one gets it, we’ll post the answer in a week. (Of course, a week from now is the 24th, and the guys will all be out doing their last-minute Christmas shopping, but ... ) The answer is sort of surprising. To entice you to enter, we’ll offer a prize (perhaps an autographed copy of a rare historical birding publication!).

The CBC Shuffle

From Oak Harbor, Ohio, Kim writes: We had a great time on the Toledo CBC, which is run by the Toledo Naturalists' Association, a group that can make any experience fun.

Case in point... Check this out. I know it's kind of dark, but just look at my CBC Comrades as they seek to rid themselves of a "sticky" situation that we found ourselves in after we took a wrong turn down a VERY muddy road.

Don't they look like some strange species dancing on a lek? * Note - There are a few females in the video, but they seem pretty unaffected by the displaying males.

Hey Kenn, maybe next year we could do a CBC in, ohhh..I don't know...Key Largo?!

I'll be CBC-ing you ...

From under a pile of blankets, Kenn writes: Okay, picture this. It's Sunday morning -- yesterday morning, and we're out before it's fully daylight, standing in the soggy weeds along the edge of a soggy woods. The temperature is above freezing, but the only way we know that is because the wind-driven precipitation hitting our faces is rain, not ice. And my thoughts are running something like this:

- According to a US Fish & Wildlife Service survey in 2006, there are approximately 81,400,000 bird watchers in the United States.

- If that's true, then last year, there were 81,353,380 bird watchers in the United States who did not take part in the Christmas Bird Count (CBC). But last year set a new high record for participation!

Standing there in the freezing wet night and thinking about it, I'm reminded of the late lamented Rick Blom, who might have commented that "no one does this, and if you try it, you'll understand why." Still, we are out there doing it. Kim and I were out all day yesterday on the Toledo CBC, and we actually had a great time and saw a lot of birds, but I'm pondering two rhetorical questions:

1. If we must have a Christmas Bird Count, why couldn't Jesus have had the decency to be born at a warmer time of year?

2. Given the evident popularity of birding, why doesn't the CBC draw more participants than it does?

Those are, as I said, rhetorical questions, though I'd love to hear from anyone who has an answer. But I'm trying to formulate a more serious question about how bloggers relate to the reality of the birding community and how the CBC relates to both. That question isn't in coherent form yet, so please check back for it when you can.

From Geneva to Beirut on a peace-building mission

I started a two-nation journey with a peace-building workshop in Geneva, organised by news agency InfoSud and journalism network Media21. Geneva served as an appropriate destination as it is home to approximately 200 international organisations. It is where decision makers, diplomats, mediators and warring parties meet.One of the most prominent international organisations in Geneva is the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), part of International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. The organisation's logo is such a powerful symbol of neutrality that it has been abused by governments to serve their own interests. The Red Cross recently came under pressure to adopt a third symbol and opted for the red diamond.At the Red Cross museum in Geneva, the first exhibit that greets visitors are passages from the holy books of major religions, including Islam, Christianity, Judaism and Hinduism among others, that speak of human rights. The museum has a fascinating collection of exhibits, including the First Geneva Convention.I also visited the United Nations Office at Geneva. The building, called Palais des Nations (Palace of Nations), was the headquarters of the League of Nations between 1929 and 1938 and became the UN office in Geneva in the 1950s. Switzerland did not become a member of the United Nations until 2002 as part of its policy of neutrality. The joining made the country the 190th member state.The next leg of the journey was to Beirut, part of a field trip to see the aftermath of war. Lebanon saw a brutal month-long war with Israel in the south during the summer of 2006. I arrived at the height of political tension in the city, much of which escalated after the war. Here you can see graffiti on a wall reading "[Rafiq] Hariri only", in an area that is considered a stronghold of the March 14 movement led by Sa'ad Hariri, Rafiq's political heir.Areas of Beirut that would usually be crowded with tourists from the Gulf and around the world were silent, with little business or activity. Restaurateurs in the downtown area said business had not been so bad in years, blaming the political deadlock and the long-held protest by the opposition. In the capital, I met the Swiss ambassador to Lebanon, a political analyst and former finance minister Georges Corm, who gave me their take on the war with Israel and the political situation there.I also met Hezbollah officials who took me on a tour of the Dahiyah, the southern suburbs of Beirut, which saw heavy bombing by Israel during the war. Rebuilding has started and is being spearheaded by a new company called Promise, with the slogan: To build the Dahiyah better than it was. The company is controlled by Hezbollah and officials say funding for the rebuilding has come from various Gulf and Arab countries.The next stop was Tyre in south Lebanon. I stayed in Old Tyre, which has changed hands a number of times. The Mediterranean port city is perhaps best known as an ancient Phoenician city. Tyre has a fascinating history. Few buildings in the area we stayed in were built later than the 1800s or 1900s, and many were much older.Roman ruins in Tyre. The city has changed hands between Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, the Crusaders and Ottomans. It is not uncommon to find local fishermen illegally selling ancient coins and relics to tourists. The city today is home to Christians and Shiite Muslims, with mosques and ancient churches a few steps away from each others.Political symbols were all over Tyre, as they are in Beirut. But most of Tyre's Christians are supporters of the Free Patriotic Movement led by Michelle Aoun, and the Shiites are supporters of Aoun's allies Amal and Hezbollah, led by Nabih Berri and Hassan Nasrallah respectively. Political souvenirs, like this one of Nasrallah, are popular among tourists, workers of international organisations and the soldiers serving in Lebanon under the United Nations, shopkeepers say.The yellow building next to the lighthouse is where we stayed, Al Fanar hotel. It is a family-owned business for many generations. The owner's wife told me that every floor has its own history. The basement served as stables during the Crusades, which has been turned into a tiny nightclub. The ground floor was built in the early Ottoman period and the first floor in the last century.Dalia Farran, spokesperson of the United Nations Mine Action Coordination Centre (UNMACC), explains the damage caused by the mines and cluster bombs Israel had used in Lebanon. Once demining operations were almost over, the region came under attack again by Israel in 2006, when approximately one million cluster munitions were dropped. Dalia said the failure rate observed on the cluster sub-munitions during the war proved to be higher than average.On display is a map that Israel has provided to the United Nations, apparently indicating the areas in which the bombs were dropped. The UNMACC says they are of no use to them since the drawings are very vague. What the UN has persistently asked for, says Dalia Farran, is data showing the coordinates of each drop. Israel says it has fulfilled its obligation by handing over this drawings. Next stop was the office of Handicap International. The organisation is one of a few that is engaged in cluster sub-munitions demining activity in south Lebanon. Other organisations have lost a few members of clearance teams. Handicap International has not lost any. The organisation coordinates with village mukhtars (or leaders) to inform about and attempt to clear bomblets, if found and sends in teams to search and clear. Clearance teams search the reported areas with special detectors and slowly start to uncover the bomblet before either removing it or destroying it in a control explosion.Many of the cluster sub-munitions were dropped in residential areas and farms in the hilly south of Lebanon, where the ribbons on some munitions would get stuck in tree branches and make them harder to spot. A lot of residents or the area and families rely on farming to make a living, which was disrupted for some. And it was time for us to leave Al Fanar hotel, which is popular with members of international organisations that live in Tyre. It is business as usual when I bid adieu.