Old post and a trip to Reykjavik

I just edited a really, really old post. Most of my readers haven't gone through much of my archives so I don't know what made me to do that. Speaking of old posts.. in June I had mentioned getting some concert footage posted of the Nátturá concert with Sigur Rós and Björk
but YouTube warns about posting stuff like that so I don't know- maybe I'll play it safe and just show some photos I took of the webcast instead.

The venue: Botanical Garden on Laugavegur
Sigur Rós. Lead vocalist Jón Thor Birgisson

The guys in white are members of a marching band

Makes for an eerie, interesting sound

Björk at right joins Sigur Rós
Björk caught in a cross fade

I took so many pictures of Björk but she was always a blur of motion, or she had her eyes closed and mouth wide open. She might approve of this one.
Sigur Rós means Victory Rose in Icelandic.

Takk!

Like moths to a flame

Here they come.. no not the waves, the contestants for the annual Darwin awards. This year the contestants are entering the competition from Galveston Texas.

"Onlookers pose for pictures as waves generated by Hurricane Ike crash against the sea wall in Galveston, Texas. The main body of the storm, now rated as Category2 with winds above 100 mph, was expected to hit Galveston late today.
September 12, 2008"
Photo courtesy of Los Angeles Times. Photographer Larry W. Smith/EPA


"Steve Owen, right, and his son Austin, 13, are swamped by a wave from Hurricane Ike while standing on the sea wall in Galveston, Texas." September 12, 2008
Photograph: L.M. Otero / Associated Press. Los Angeles Times

The hawklette has arrived

Very tired after her trip from the aviary to the vet and home. She is perching up high in her cage and napping. You can read her point of view on the day on her blog.

Misc. from the day

Hey look at this cool sculpture I discovered.

It happens to be the spare tire on my trailer! :D
Vegetable overload for dinner with steamed broccoli, zucchini a la mom's recipe, and portion of fresh egg noodle pasta. So healthy!-- don't worry there is ice cream in the house.
In bird news: this little kook was all over me again today. I was able to hold her upside down in my palm, then on her side while she continued to nibble on the bird necklace I wear. She did not want to go back to her cage when I offered, so I had her and the V together taking turns petting them. I don't know how to articulate this, but I always feel so fortunate when animals choose to come to me or stay with me.

calcium carbonate

The stormy day

We got lots of rain today. Here are two birds taking shelter in the redbud tree outside my kitchen window. One bird is at the top middle of the frame and had the better shelter. The lower bird flew off after enduring large droplets of water running off the leaves when the wind blew.
The storm passed and left us with pretty cloud formations and nice colors in the sunset.

My green hawklette

Would you do this?

I would do this. A thin layer of polar fleece under a dry suit should do the trick, don't you think?



From the last issue of Iceland Review 46.02 2008

A glass of champagna?

Dinner by candlelight this evening, courtesy of my power company. For some reason the experience made me think of the Saturday Night Live skit, The Continental. Watch it if you have a few minutes Christopher Walken is great.

Christopher Walken - The Continental @ Yahoo! Video

So long

How long?
I am embarrassed to admit that I had to go back to my book to remember how to make the stitch.

I am crocheting this with a Tunisian Purl and Tunisian Simple stitches. I decided to vary the simple stitch with the purl due to the way the simple stitch curls. The simple stitch looks really nice and it is faster (for me) to make but I didn't like the way it rolled up. I started this project to practice so that I could make a baby blanket. Maybe I've practiced enough?

Sunday, August 31st. Goodbye.

My greenwing macaw friend went home to his new family today. I was really lucky that I was at the aviary early enough this afternoon to be able to pet him and say goodbye. His new family is really nice and I think he will be just fine joining their flock at home. As he was being carried to the door he was looking back at us with his head feathers all ruffled up as baby macaws are so good at doing, and that was my last goodbye look at him.

Making toys and drawings

Yesterday I made two new toys for you-know-who. I hope they are lovingly chewed up and enjoyed to the last thread and splinter. As I was making the toys I was thinking of my big greenwing macaw friend and the large toys I would make for him if he were mine . He would need lots of very large blocks of untreated lumber to chew, and the cotton ropes would have to be a larger diameter too. I hope he does well in his new home. His personality is so laid back I'd hate to see that change.

This drawing is coming along. I don't work on it every day, and when I do I place some tracing paper over the top and draw on it first to get into the groove, so to speak. Sometimes going away from a piece causes one to loose the fluid feeling that happens when in the middle of work. Starting up again after even a short break can be awkward and can look really different than what has already been drawn.
At least this is what happens to me sometimes on these kinds of drawings. Even though this is a free form drawing I would like for my hand to feel the same when returning to work. If you ski, skate, or ride a motorcycle think of the feeling of making a smooth, fluid, series of 'S' turns where the movement happens without you having to think too much about the input. The effortless fluid feel is what I am referring to. Does this analogy make sense?

A few nights ago

We finally got a good soaking rain a few nights ago.
Do you see a cat's paw in the picture? That is my assistant who stops and looks at the same things I stop and look at.