Around and around and again

Watching pigeons have a nervous breakdown's funnier than I expected.

Not funny for the flock of 30 or so birds, of course.

Yesterday a Cooper's hawk nailed a pigeon in our backyard. But the hawk couldn't figure out how to get out of the fenced-in space, so it stood on the victim for 30 minutes or so, eventually carrying it about 15 feet from a bench to beneath the honeysuckle arbor. Shortly thereafter, it abandoned its potential lunch. Linda took the deceased across the street and let it tumble down the riverbank until a rock blocked it.

This morning there wasn't a bird in sight in the neighborhood. Even the scrub jays took off, leading us to suspect the hawk was still here.

Noon-ish, the flock started making high-level passes around the house,  shadows flickering across the hillside. They circled and circled and circled, alternately clockwise and widdershins. It was almost 4 p.m. before they dropped into the backyard for the seed I put out at noon.

First though, the sparrows returned to the bush out front, then to the hanging feeders in back. They had a pleasant meal, not having to navigate around or under pigeons.

I wish nature wasn't "red in tooth and claw," but it is what it is. Minus one pigeon.

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Rude raspberry sound

Changed my Facebook password anyway. So there.

Vescere bracis meis.

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Facebook, beware

At 9:42 a.m. today, my flip-phone, a number I never give out, received a text message from 326-65 saying, "806838 is your Facebook password reset code."

No, it's not.

Dear scammer: Would thou wert clean enough to spit upon, as Timon of Athens desired of his enemies.

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A DirecTV screen to scream for ... or at

DirecTV changed its on-screen interface yesterday.

It sure is pretty, but the fancy new "info" and "channel change" displays cover up a third of the picture on the TV screen. The "exit" button is ssslllooowww.

Now, anything I want to do takes two or three more button-pushes than the old way. The actions I use regularly are at the bottom of extensive lists.

It puts info about the show that's first on the recorded list in a blue-framed box that takes up a third of the screen. Info I don't need at that moment. The previous way showed six or eight more titles.

Finding what's set to be recorded is a mystery.

The channel logos added to the guide's grid are colorful, though. And the shading to show which shows are in progress: stunning.

Summing up: I hate it.

Plus, last month's bill was up $10. Gotta pay for the beautiful, I guess.

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I'm done with winter. Thirty minutes of shoveling this morning to rearrange 4 inches (measured via ruler) of overnight snow covering the back yard was misery.

Snow/ice crept in the pockets of my hoodie.

It's been snowing steadily for the last three hours, plopping a new stratum on the front walkway and driveway, which I do not have the strength to tackle, yet.

What's it take to cancel winter? I did my best.

Bought a 40-pound bag of ice melt, the smallest size Lowe's had.

Bought a plastic yellow/orange snow shovel to replace a metal shovel so old that the front corners curl up.

Damn, I gotta figure out how to afford to move to Hawaii.

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Here we go again

Female writers of movies proclaim that "Black Panther" is a game changer. Uh, no.

"Wonder Woman" was proclaimed a game changer. Un, no.

"Panther" raked in a pile of dough bigger than Africa, but producers and financiers do not gamble on "game changers."

The title character's male, you probably noticed.

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Distressing sidelight: A news story reported this week that mentally fragile Stan Lee, 95, is surrounded by vultures who are burning through the $10 million he got for "Panther" at rocket speed. He'll be penniless in days.

His wife of upteen years died recently, sending him into a tailspin.

I'd proclaim this sad, but that word's been ruined.

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Brutality, all around

Our phone answering machine received two scam calls the afternoon of March 12. The first claimed that Ms. A.M.'s Social Security number was being suspended because of suspicious activity in "the state of Texas." Call back or else.

The second warned there was a Social Security lawsuit against it. Call back or else.

And on the same day, KOLO-TV's web site had a report that Reno-area people got calls the same day from the utility company threatening to turn off the electricity if they didn't pay immediately. 

The next day, a computer identifying itself as "Account services" called around 4 times, leaving no message with Ms. A.M.

Nevada should institute the old-fashioned Stocks on the Courthouse Steps punishment that offers raw eggs and rotten fruit to throw at the convicted criminal, because scammers rarely spend time in prison. Do it often enough and it won't be cruel or unusual.

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Hep cat

"Black Panther" is better than I expected.

It has many of the same flaws that all comic-book adaptations (pardon me, graphic novel?) suffer.

It's too long and too enamored of J. Bond.

But the casino sequence in a knockoff of a set from "Skyfall" is a hoot. My memory screamed "what is that?" until I searched online. Got me.

For the 12:30 p.m. show, there were a total of 8 people in the audience. I missed the emotional  dynamic of a full theater.

On the other hand, I put my aching ankle up on the seat back in front of me.

I hate it when people do that.

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