Quarantine entry #92 - June 21

Obligatory disclaimer: real life sucks, though sometimes it is okay, or at least – too early to tell. I myself am not particularly pleasant, especially on a regular basis, so when some day goes bad, it is my fault too, as well as somebody else’s. What next?

Today, let us talk herons, since these birds have regularly been mentioned in regards to the other wading birds. Ergo, where are we in regards to them?

The herons are a sister group to ibises and spoonbills. Neither storks nor cranes are related to them at all. In professional terms, the term ‘heron’ also covers egrets and bitterns; on average, an ‘egret’ and a ‘bittern’ are smaller than a ‘heron’ is; also, an ‘egret’ is usually colored white at least some of the time, (especially during the mating period), while a ‘bittern’ is cryptically-colored, it is a shy, retiring, nocturnal bird. Pause.

…Yes, the word ‘night’ might remind some people of the night herons. Unlike bitterns, night herons usually have stocker bills, are colored less cryptically and more contrastingly, and nest on trees, rather on than on the ground, as the bitterns do.

…The bitterns have also several distinct traits that the other herons just do not. First, they are some of the smallest of the herons, as they have such birds as the least bittern and the little bittern among their numbers. By contrast, the ‘true herons’ are some of the biggest – just look at the great blue heron of North America and the grey heron of the Eurasia and the goliath heron of Africa.

Second, the bitterns have the cryptic pattern on the plumage that lets them blend into the rushes and similar plants during the day, and, moreover, at least some bitterns can stretch themselves up and out vertically, becoming even more plant-like in shape – how that for disguise?

And on the other hand, bitterns have amazingly loud voices, as loud as those of bulls, which resonate loudly over the shallow bodies of water where these birds usually dwell. (Bigger species of herons venture into deeper waters, FYI). In this way, the bitterns communicate, rather than try to scare away the predators.

Other types of herons are more visual, especially the egrets, whose plumage, especially during the mating season, becomes extravagant, and those birds often participate in ritualistic dancing and courtship with each other. That said, most herons, (including the egrets, but not the bitterns), while social and colonial, are monogamous – one male & one female and they raise their chicks together.

…As it was said before, herons usually nest on trees, with some exceptions, (such as the bitterns), while the cranes do not. As such, the cranes’ feet are far less adapted to roosting in trees, but on the other hand? Cranes are more social birds than herons and fly in flocks together much more often than the herons do. They are somewhat more tolerant of each other than the herons are, they often live further away from water than the herons and their immediate relatives do, and the crane family is much less numerous than that of the herons – for example, there are just two species of cranes in North America, while the herons, (including the egrets and the bitterns, true, but still), number at least a dozen species. How that for ecological and evolutionary differences?

…Well, this is it for now, though. See you all soon!

Quarantine entry #70 - May 30

Obligatory disclaimer: real life sucks, so I am not certain how regular I will be able to update my blog in the next couple of days. Now, where were we?

Ah, yes, storks. I am quite aware that they rhyme with ‘dorks’, so, a warning – we will be talking about the actual birds. We have mentioned them already, especially when we have talked about ibises, spoonbills, and herons – how initially storks were considered related to those birds, but now they consist of their own order, more closely related to the pelicans instead.

How are the storks different from the other three avian groups, again? The storks’ beaks are long and thick, with the herons’ being thinner and sharper (looking), the ibises’ beaks are usually curved downwards, and the spoonbills’… do we even need to go there? In addition, the storks are larger than the herons and ibises, proportionally, at least. What is next?

There are six genera of existing storks, (there are quite a few discoveries of fossil/extinct stork species), and many species of storks. The most iconic storks in Europe/Eurasia are the common white stork (Ciconia ciconia), and its’ counterpart, the black stork, (Ciconia niger). Unlike the swans, where a black swan is a symbol, the black stork is not anywhere as popular; for a while, it was considered to be endangered, but not anymore, (unlike, say, their cousin the oriental stork Ciconia boyciana… previously considered to be a subspecies of the previously mentioned white stork).

In North America, the best known and the only stork is the wood stork Mycteria americana instead. Its’ cousins are found in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia instead.

…So is the marabou stork, but it is a close relative of the adjutant storks instead, (there are two species of them, the lesser and the greater). This trio of storks, (aka the genus Leptoptilos), may be some of the most terrestrial storks, the largest and the most aggressive; the marabou, in particular, is known for being a scavenger about on par with Africa’s vultures; like them, it eats carrion, and armed with its’ formidable beak, it isn’t shy from confronting them either. The adjutant storks are less formidable than the marabou is, and the lesser adjutant in particular is found more in wetlands than in savannahs, but they all look more like each other than like the other storks.

This brings us to ‘Storks’ the 2016 film, which founded on the old ‘storks bring babies’ premise. Hans Christian Anderson, who has also written ‘The Little Mermaid’, on whom the Disney classic was based, cough, has even written a short fairy tale about a white stork family. Why white? Because they are the most social European stork species; the aforementioned black storks, for example, actually shy away from humans, and are not anywhere as social even of each other as the white storks or the marabous are.

…The Andersen’s fairy tale, in particular, is a much more cut-and-dry type of tale than ‘The Little Mermaid’ had been; but there are folklore elements – both of storks bringing babies to humans and of storks have human-like societies with leaders and courts, where they execute their disloyal spouses or the weaker storks that cannot fly south for winter, for example. Both concepts are folklore, they were generated by generations of people who had lived along the white storks, and who have given them human-like characteristics, even though this bird isn’t too human-like in appearance. Ah well, familiarity breeds… well, contempt, yes, but also comfort and acceptance. The white stork is not the only bird to benefit from this situation – the painted stork of India and the sacred ibis of Egypt are more cases of such turnout of events – and the birds have benefitted from that familiarity, it seems… Ah well, such are the oddities of human/animal interaction!...

…Also, for now, this is it. See you all soon!

Quarantine entry #49 - May 9

Obligatory disclaimer: real life sucks, but sometimes you can get a handle on it all the same, especially if your family is a root of one your problems, I reckon. If it is not… just look at the Ahmed Arbery case – I tend to stay away from such discussions, but I have to admit that his life took the worst turn ever, and he died.

…I do not know if A.A. was as great, good, and everything that the mass media claims that he is, etc., etc. However, I have to admit that secondly, giving this case a racial angle is the last thing that the States need right now, what with the COVID-19 lockdown-charged atmosphere and all, (cough elections-2020 cough), and firstly? Not only A.A. probably didn’t deserve to die, but also the way that cops and the legal system have handled this case? It was bad and now it will get worse… and it will make the COVID-19 lockdown-charged atmosphere even worse. (Cough elections-2020 cough). Anything else?

Aside from the fact that I am beginning to have a strong dislike for Doug Ford, the premier of the province of Ontario for Canada-related reasons? I wanted to talk about the ibex today. Contrary to how its’ name sounds, this is no bird relative of the ibis that we’ve discussed last month, but rather a common name for several Old World mountain goats. Pause.

Now, in North America, the name mountain goat is reserved for the Rocky Mountain goat, aka Oreamnos americanus. This is a mammal with noticeably white fur, and sharp, but short and thin black horns. While it does belong in the general subfamily of the wild sheep and goats, it has its’ own genus and as such it stands apart from the rest of the Caprinae subfamily’s members. The ibexes look very different from it.

To wit: their fur is shorter, and it is usually isn’t white, because while the ibex species do live in the mountains, they are usually aren’t found as high as the Rocky Mountain goat dwells, not to mention that while some of those species are Eurasian, the others are found in North and East Africa instead – a continent not very much known for its’ snows, not even in winter. Yes, some African mountain ranges do have snow, but the ibexes actually usually are not found there – they like heat better than cold, it seems. The markhor of Asia is a cold-adapted mountain mammal, but it is one Eurasian mountain goat that is not usually called an ibex. Why? Possibly because of its’ horns – the markhor’s horns are shaped like corkscrews, (not unlike the horns of some of the antelope species, but the markhor is only distantly related to them), while the ibexes’ horns are recurved as the scimitar blades are, with transverse ridges at the front end. The wild goat proper – one of the ancestors of the domestic goat – usually is not called an ibex, even though it has the appropriate horns – but it has subspecies, which are called… the bezoar ibex and the Sindh ibex, and that is the reason why we need scientific names – to make sense of the non-scientific ones.

…Yes, the bezoar brings us to the first book and movie of the ‘Harry Potter’ franchise – in the very first ‘Harry meets Snape’ meeting, Snape asked Harry as to where he can find the bezoar and what it is. The bezoar is a magical (fictional) stone that is supposed to heal its owner from any snake’s venom, and the wild goat that is usually associated with it is the aforementioned markhor, which is supposed to be a designated snake-slayer and –eater, which is certainly a fairy tale hocus…which makes it an appropriate member of the HP-universe, I suppose. If we ever get another Harry Potter- okay, a Newt Scamander movie, maybe we’ll get to see a markhor there – it is certainly bizarre- and magical-looking with its’ horns. Anything else?

Just that the markhor may have been one of the ancestors of the domestic Angora goat, (which gives us as the mohair wool) on one hand, and on the other? People may have already seen the markhor – as the snow leopard hunted it on David Attenborough’s ‘Planet Earth’ way back in the early 2000s – but we digress. A markhor is not an ibex, apparently, and that is that.

…Moreover, for now, this is it. See you all soon!

Quarantine entry #34 - April 24

Obligatory disclaimer: real life still sucks, but at least I have seen a chipmunk. A wild one, so yay! I can now die happy. Not, because the world is still out of balance, the dateline for ending the lockdown/quarantine/etc. in May seems to be going nowhere, and now, Ford’s – that the Ontario premier we’re talk about – mother in law is sick. I do not like him, but, still, I will not deny it either – this got to smart! What next?

Well, after the urial fiasco, I wanted to talk about something else, and decided upon the vulture. No, I am not talking about the Marvel villain, though MCU’s take on him in ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’ was quite interesting, and if anyone remembers the ‘Morbius’ trailer, clearly, he is not done with anything or anyone yet. That said, with the COVID-19 lockdown still in action, it will be quite a while since we will see anything of ‘Morbius’ the movie, so let us not and say that we did.

As for the real-life birds… what about them? The term ‘vulture’ applies to scavenging birds of two, or even three, families, as the ‘New World’ vultures, (such as the condors and the king vulture), aren’t really related to the ‘Old World’ vultures, (such as the lammergeyer and the cinereous vulture). The two vulture groups don’t even look very similar to each other – just compare a New World vulture, (say, the black vulture), to an Old World vulture, (for example, the white-backed). The two birds do not really look anything alike; their similarities are more in behavior, but-!

But, firstly, the two groups of aerial scavengers differ in that the New World vultures have a very developed sense of smell, (a rarity amongst the modern birds), while the Old World vultures hunt… well, scavenge, through the sense of sight alone. (Just look at the YouTube video on the Inside Edition channel, where a turkey vulture is circling above NYC – that’s a bird that is a) on a mission and b), guided both by sight and smell. I have seen turkey vultures live in Canada, (albeit southern Canada, but still), and, yes, they are a gruesome sight, much less comely than a chipmunk is, but we digress.

The thing is, that secondly, Old World vultures don’t look identical either; some of them, like the abovementioned lammergeyer (aka the bearded vulture), or the so-called Egyptian vulture, look very different from the rest of them, which is why the Old World vultures are sometimes classified in two families, or at least – two subfamilies, one with the lammergeyer, the Egyptian vulture, and the palm-nut vulture, and the second with the rest of the Old World vulture birds. Both subfamilies belong to the Accipitridae family, which makes them a part of the Accipitriformes order, which contains not just the vultures, but also the various hawks, kites, buzzards and eagles. (It is a tangled mess). Pause.

The New World vultures, on the other hand, belong to the Cathartidae family, which is a part of an entirely different avian order. There is no clear idea as to which birds are more closely related to the New World vultures – the other birds of prey, or the storks, of which we have talked about in the past. (Animal taxonomy is a dense mess). Some scientists do think that the New World vultures are more related to the other birds of prey, but that still isn’t settled; what is certain, is that many vultures are endangered and should be protected, because if they die-out, it’ll be bad. Anything else?

Sadly, nothing much; nothing is good on YouTube anyhow, and the TV is out of my reach for the moment. For better or for worse, life keeps on happening, and when it stops, there is always the vulture to send you on your way.

…Well, this was morbid. Also, this is it for now. See you all soon!

Quarantine entry #28 - April 18

Obligatory disclaimer: I hate my life. It sucks. It is getting out of my control and I cannot do anything about it – all because somewhere in China a wrong person ate a wrong bat, or scaly anteater, or something. Real life sucks and no mistake. No escape either, especially from the legal side of things. What next?

What can’t be cured, must be endured, I suppose, though it a thin enough consolation once you are on a pointy end of things. Real life sucks, again, and COVID-19 is only making it worse – but we were trying to move on. Where to?

To the pelicans, I suppose. They were mentioned a while back, when we were discussing ibises, so let us recap. The ibises are a subfamily in the ibis-spoonbill family, making them close relatives. The herons belong to a different family, but to the same order, and the storks belong to a different order altogether. Pause. So where the pelicans come in?

In the past times – including the late 20^th century – pelicans were grouped into the same order as the cormorants, gannets, anhingas, frigatebirds and tropicbirds belong to, (among others). Now, though, the tropicbirds have their own order, while the pelicans were proven to be more closely related to herons, ibises and spoonbills on one hand, and to the hammerkop and the shoebill stork on the other. Pause.

Out of all this motley crew, the pelican is the odd one out, with its’ short legs and neck, and a massive beak, complete with a pouch that enables pelican to catch big fish and other prey – I believe that it was on David Attenborough’s ‘Life’ series, (the bird-based episode, most likely), when we saw pelicans prey on chicks of gannets rather than fish. They may look goofy, but, apparently, they owe their body shape to air sacks beneath the skin, and otherwise, they are leaner than how they look. Pause. ‘Planet Dinosaur’ used to talk how carnivorous dinosaurs, (including bird ancestors), developed air sacks to be lighter and faster than their prey. Hah.

…The shoebill stork looks vaguely like a pelican, but it has no pouch in its bill, it is just big and wide and heavy; physical similarities are superficial, though it does look like a modern dinosaur. The hammerkop, on the other hand, looks like some sort of a heron or a stork instead. It builds big nests in its’ African homeland, but, again, it does not look like a pelican at all. It and the shoebill stork are more closely related to each other than to the pelicans, after all. What next?

Speaking of appearances, there is also the pelican’s appearance in the Christian mythos; to wit, that a pelican nourishes its hungry chicks with its’ own blood. I believe that even Shakespeare mentioned it, in ‘King Lear’ or something. Leaving aside the entire issue of realism, there’s also the fact that it is depicted nothing like a pelican – more like a generic bird with a long neck and a short sharp beak with which it tears its breast so that its’ young would feed on its blood. Christian religion is weird sometimes, and this heraldic pelican looks nothing like the real pelican, again. I am surprised that it did not surface in Westeros or some similar place, eh?

…Getting back to real life, the pelican- or gulper eels deserve an honorary mention. See, these deep-water fish have extendable mouths that form a pouch similar to the one formed in the pelican’s bill for pretty much the same goal – to swallow bigger prey. Whereas the pelican birds are known well enough, the gulper eels – not so much, so let us put them aside, for now. Anything else?

…Sadly, no. Rather, this is it for the pelicans and co. Their relationship with the wading birds that are not storks has not been defined yet, and they are more formidable than how they look. Ah well, appearances are deceptive and all that. For now, though, this is it. See you all soon!

Quarantine entry #27 - April 17

Obligatory disclaimer: real life sucks. I have no idea when it will end and we are stuck in the lockdown, and it is snowing again. What next?

Let us switch from amphibians, such as newts, to ostriches. Why? Because I have watched one of David Attenborough’s specials – ‘big birds can’t fly’ and it is about ostriches and the other ratites, so let us begin!

First, there are actually two species of ostrich – the common ostrich with its’ subspecies, and the Somali ostrich, which differs from the common ostrich in terms of coloration. (A blue neck and head, primarily). It coexists with the common ostrich, (with one of the subspecies, anyhow), but does not hybridize with them – apparently, they are that different genetically.

…This situation is not too unique to the ostriches – other birds, physically very similar to each other, do not interbreed either, for example the white and the black storks of Europe/Eurasia. Externally, they differ only in plumage color, but nevertheless, no hybrids.

Back to the ostriches. They are ratites, aka the paleognaths, aka a group of very specialized flightless birds that are only distantly related to the rest of the birds, aka the neognaths. They are other flightless birds in the modern world, but they live on islands where no land predators are present, and they have keeled sternum bones as well. Penguins, in particular, have fairly powerful wings and they can fly, only underwater, not in air. And the ratites?

Out of this superorder of birds, ostriches are the most basal slash ancient ones, followed by the rheas, (aka the South American ostriches). These birds are the biggest existing ratites, and they got big wings. They still cannot fly – too heavy, the anatomy is all wrong – but the big wings serve to impress females, to shade chicks from the sun and so on.

Speaking of South American rheas, this continent also has the tinamous. They are important, because while they belong to the ratites, they actually can fly, just not very well, and are the local ecological counterparts of pheasants and grouse from the rest of the world. (The galloanseri birds are some of the more ancient birds, alongside the ratites, but we will talk about them some other time). As such, they got added to the ratites only recently, and even that with some caveats, I think – but more on tinamous later.

Next, we got the cassowaries and the emu of Australia and Papua New Guinea. They are more advanced than their African and South American counterparts are, and have no wings. The emu is represented by a single species; the cassowaries – by three, (the fourth had died out). The emu lives in the savannah, just as the ostriches and the rheas do, while the cassowaries prefer the jungle. Pause.

Here I take a breather from taxonomy, and point out that the cassowaries are not like the extinct dinosaurs, raptor-like claws on their feet or not. Raptors were carnivores; cassowaries are not – they feed of fruit and other plant matter, and if possible, they avoid humans, who encroach on their territory, cutting it down to clear land for their own needs; most human-cassowary conflicts are human-initiated, sadly.

Finally, the living ratites also feature the kiwi birds, which are the smallest ratites of them all. Also, unlike all the other ratites, existing and extinct, rather than have long necks & legs and short bills, they got short necks, shortish legs, and long bills, with which they prove earth for their sustenance – various invertebrates. They are nocturnal, got an attitude, (just like the rest of the ratites, actually), and number five species – the most numerous modern ratite groups.

The rest of the ratites are extinct by now; of a particular interest are the moas of New Zealand, (cousins to the South American tinamous), and the elephant birds of Madagascar, (cousins to New Zealand’s kiwi birds). The moas were the tallest of the ratites, the elephant birds – the heaviest. Both of these ratite groups died out during the historical age – the moas from the New Zealand Maoris, the elephant birds – from the natives of Madagascar and the Europeans, possibly. Unlike their mainland cousins and the kiwis, they were just too specialized and tasty to survive, it seemed. The moas, in particular, had only their drumsticks slash legs eaten and the rest was given to the dogs – literally. No wonder that the moas died out, as did the elephant birds, though in the latter’s case it was more of a habitat destruction situation instead. Anything else?

Sadly, no. The modern ratites are flourishing, more or less, but many of them are in trouble, (remember the cassowaries’ issues with humans?). ‘Big birds can’t fly’ has addressed that issue, though this film was kind of a tangled mess, featuring bits and pieces of previous BBC/Attenborough productions, but I’ve still enjoyed it. Beggars cannot be choosers – cough, Comic-Con 2020 is cancelled because of COVID-19, cough.

Well, then, this is it for now. See you all soon!

Quarantine entry #22 - April 12

Obligatory disclaimer: Happy Easter! Yes, real life still sucks, but Easter has nothing to do with real life, so enjoy your Easter! Or your Sunday, period. What next?

Firstly, on the topic of real life – people were telling me yesterday that while ibises and spoonbills share a family, and both of them share an order with the heron family, the storks are a separate order of birds’ altogether, and got nothing to do with the other three. Fair enough. Evolution itself is a mess, and convergent evolution only muddies things down, somewhat.

Just look at – the jellyfish. These critters, also known as the medusas, are the free-floating stage of several invertebrate groups, none of which is closely related to each other at all. Even on the layperson stage, there are ‘jellyfish’ that aren’t really jellyfish, such as the Portuguese man-o’-war, you know? And on a professional level…do not even go there! What next?

…So, yesterday, I got to watch yet another DW episode, this one being the ‘Nazi Waffen SS vs. Viet Cong”. In layperson terms – ‘Nazis vs. Communists’, and what can be said about this episode?

It was completely out of DW’s comfort zone, that is what! The final simulation, (let us start there), was really the American G.I.’s vs. the Viet Cong, and the latter have lost.

…Actually, the latter were set up to lose; in particular, in the long-range weapon comparison, the Viet Cong were given the MAT-49 firearms, which were inferior to the SS’s MP-28. Fine, but in the S2 finale, which put the U.S. against the Israeli commandoes, the Viet Cong had a cameo, and they had AKMs there instead, because of course they had! The AKM machine and submachine guns appeared in all 3 seasons of DW, and they were always superior to whatever their rival were; if they’d appeared in this episode of DW, the Viet Cong would’ve been more likely to win instead.

The rest of the weapons… it was a mixed bag – punji stakes against a flamethrower; a land mine vs. a grenade & a land mine combo; and a Mauser vs. a TT. Yes, the weapons for those two combatants were all over the place…but this is why this DW episode was rather fun to watch; but after it was aired, DW never really attempted to do something like that again, possibly until the S3 episode ‘Ivan the Terrible vs. Hernan Cortez’, but we’ll talk about that episode some other time.

So, why did the Viet Cong lose? I will not tell a lie – I have no idea, and that brings us back to the comfort zone. See, normally, after a DW episode aired, there was an online ‘aftermath’ episode, which would feature two of the show’s regular hosts, as well as a representative from both of the titular teams. For that episode, however, instead of one of the regular hosts in question, we got some other member of the DW team, who was never seen before or after this episode – and with his overall appearance of a stereotypical highwayman, it is easy to see why. So, why did he appear on that episode?

…Probably because he was the sponsor of that episode, (as well as of DW in general?). Yes, this theory smacks of conspiracy theories, but the fact is that for all of its’ positive aspects, DW had remained a flawed show, and in the end, this was why it got cancelled – it tried to play the real life version of GoT, and it backfired, with the show ending on ‘Vampires vs. Zombies’ note. Seriously, why not ‘Dragons vs. Griffins’ instead? The two face-offs are not that different from each other in terms of realism! Anything else?

Sadly no. DW is gone, and while the jellyfish are still around, and on occasion, they are wreaking havoc on our marine ecosystems, the latter is our fault. COVID-19 – I have no idea, the occasional conspiracy theory aside, but most ecological disasters are certainly our fault. Did I mention that real life sucks, Easter notwithstanding? Yeah…

Well, this is it for now – see you all soon!

Quarantine entry #21 - April 11

Obligatory disclaimer: real life sucks. Fortunately, yesterday, (aka April 10, 2020), we got the ‘Trolls 2’ movie, which offered an escape from reality… into what? Let us disassemble.

First, the disassemble part. Or the dismantling part, if you rather. As soon as the professional critics saw it, they noted the similarity to the last two ‘Avengers’ films, save that the Infinity Stones became replaced by six magical soul strings or whatever, (though still, whoever gets the all six will rule them all). That is one, for Marvel.

Two is for Disney proper, or more specifically – for the ‘Frozen’ franchise. As we talked about the ‘Frozen 2’ movie last year, in this franchise, Disney did a complete reboot – ‘Frozen 2’ fully abandons most of the premises built up at the end of ‘Frozen 1’ and goes off in an entirely new direction, while completely unacknowledging this fact. What reboot? Where? There is no reboot, everything is the same!..

And as for Elsa’s sexuality? Do not go there. Disney gave its’ audiences a teaser with Elsa and Honeymaren, but nothing else. Disney does not intend to officially rock the boat for their blue-eyed blonde breadwinner, and so they leave it to the fans to hype it up – whether Elsa is gay, straight, asexual, bisexual, etc., etc. The Disney execs themselves are not talking. One of them outright claimed, “Elsa herself will tell us whom does she like”! Great, she is a swinger then! …Oh wait, she is an animated character this Disney property. Quit acting coy people and just admit that you want the best of both worlds and do not want to rock the boat at the same time!.. Where were we?

…’Trolls 2’ got nothing like that, this movie is for an even younger audience than ‘Frozen 2’ was, yet just like the ‘Frozen’ franchise, they became fully rebooted. ‘Trolls 1’ was about the titular trolls, who were captured and eaten by some ogres or whatever they were called in the universe. Princess Poppy and her sidekicks (one or several – it does not really matter here), befriended an ogre laundry maid, helped her win the ogre prince’s heart, and freed the rest of the trolls. The end.

‘Trolls 2’ acknowledges none of that; this movie is all about the titular trolls and only about trolls, as ‘Trolls 2’ delivers a politically charged message about unity and self-identity, conquering and domination, good and evil. Pause. ‘Frozen 2’ did it as well, and in a much better manner – i.e. with a good deal less songs. This brings us to number three: ‘Cats -2019’.

‘Cats-2019’ are not the worst movie that came across me; ‘Doolittle-2020’ is not anything worth being smug about. However since it was not a musical, it ended up being just an insipidly unsuccessful movie, that is all. Tony Stark should stick to engineering, and not go into medicine after all, weird accents notwithstanding. ‘Cats-2019’ on the other hand is a musical – it is loud, it is stupid, it is proud, it is overwhelming, and in a large amount – it is intolerable and unendurable. ‘Trolls 2’ went down the same path – it is a glorified musical, or a variety show, about as intense as ‘Cats-2019’ were, and not in a good way either.

…Yes, ‘Trolls-2’ are designated for a younger audience than ‘Cats-2019’ were, (at least in theory), but the delivery method is the same – musical. The end result is still the same, though given the current circumstances, ‘Trolls 2’ came out on digital rental, and not just in the movie theaters, as ‘Cats-2019’ had, so thank the Lord for small mercies. Anything else?

Hard to say; I wanted to talk about this ibis today; the ibis is a cousin to the stork and the heron, differing from them mostly in its’ bill – the heron’s is straight and thin, the stork’s is straight and thick, while the ibis’s is thin and curved down.

Also unlike storks and herons, the ibises are tropical birds: storks and herons are found in Europe, including quite far up north, whereas the ibises are not – only the glossy ibis is found in the U.S., for example, while its’ relatives, including the members of the same genus, are found in the American tropics instead. With the spoonbills, it is the same story.

…The spoonbills are the closest relatives of the ibises, they look like herons or storks, whose bills got squished into spoon-like shapes, (hence the name). They are not very numerous in the U.S. either, nor in Europe – out of six species, only one is found in the U.S., and another on – in the European part of Eurasia. Storks, and especially herons, are represented by more species there. Why is it so? Is it because of humans? Hard to tell, though trolls, and especially – ‘Trolls’ aren’t really a part of it. Ah well, that is life for you. The snow is melting, the birds and other creatures are coming back, and (human social) life may begin to return to normal in May 2020. We will just have to wait and see.

…This is it for now – see you all soon!