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recent
This was a few months ago in Karlskrona. I had waited a long time for the swanlings to hatch, and then one day I came across these guys. As I recall, the mother was quite accommodating. She only threatened to attack my once, and that was after I had gotten extremely close to the little ones.
The birds are still at Tomoe's parents in Nagoya, but they will be home soon. Tomorrow we leave to pick them up (along with my bike which is taking up space in their yard). I bet you can't wait for more bird photos.
Speaking of birds, the other day Tomoe and I were walking around the neighborhood and we came across an exotic pet pet-shop. There are, in fact, two exotic pet shops within walking distance. One specializes in lizards, turtles, frogs, spiders, and everything creepy crawly. They have some enormous lizards and a huge turtle. Many of them are tame enough to pet.
The other shop we came across yesterday is really exotic. So exotic it's sad. It is crammed full with various monkeys and other strange jungle animals. What was really interesting (and sad) though is their collection of birds. There were toucans, hornbills (interestingly I heard many hornbills in the jungle in Malaysia, but never saw one until I got back to Tokyo), owls, woodpeckers, and all manner of parrots.
I am torn though. On the one hand, they are all kept in tiny cages and I can't be sure, but I doubt that they are bred in captivity, which means that they have been kidnapped right out of their home and now live in a tiny cage in a crowded pet-shop. (Awii and Klee were both hatched and spent their first month in a great shop in Shibuya which took excellent care of them -similar to that one would give a human child.)
On the other hand (remember... I'm torn), it was fascinating to visit the shop, and I'm sure we will visit again. All the birds were extremely tame. As we walk by the hornbill cages, they all jump right up to the front of the cage where they press their head up to the bars begging to be scratched. The same goes for the toucan and most of the parrots. The woodpecker has a long sticky tounge it used to check us out. It's an interesting feeling having the webbing between your fingers licked by a sticky tounge woodpecker. The owl... that was amazing. it is just a big puff of feathers. In order to scratch his head (the raw meat in his food dish caused us to hesitate a bit) your fingers sink two inches into the puff before hitting skull. Then he just closes his eyes and enjoys.
The monkeys didn't seem to anxious to be scratched, but they were very interested in whatever we might be carrying. I don't know how anyone can look at them, the curious looks on their faces as they stare back, and not see their brains working... how can anyone think that only humans have thoughts and feelings?
Since being back in Tokyo, one thing I am enjoying once again is Barakan Beat Sunday nights on InterFM. For the past few days I have not been able to stop listening to Madeleine Peyroux, who Peter talked a bit about last weekend. I know, I know, she has been around forever... My only excuse is that I don't listen to the radio often. I have even seen her CD in the stores, but for some reason never listened to it. Boy was I missing out!
Anyway, I wish I could remember everything Barakan said about her... something about how when she became famous a few years ago the attention overwhelmed her and so she just disappeared. I think she was found later as a street musician in Paris or something. Now that her second CD is out, she is getting a lot of attention again and so has once again disappeared? Sure, I could do a search on google to find out the story, but...
While in Sweden I bumped into a big fan of another musician I have loved for several years now. Since Lisa Ekdahl herself is Swedish but her international albums are in English, I had never heard any of her Swedish music, nor heard the "story" behind her until my friend told me. Her Swedish style is very folky, and much different than her English, which was when she began getting into Jazz. Both are great, even if you don't understand any Swedish (I can only understand a little of it unless I look at the lyrics. There is an explanation of some of the songs here though) I have even more appreciation for her now.
If you have never heard her, I urge you now to drop what you are doing and visit her website. Click on the "Audio Video" link and watch the videos. "Daybreak" is great, "Now or Never" is awesome. "Vem Vet" is an example of her Swedish work. Hearing how Swedish sounds when she sings makes me wish I had tried harder to learn it.
swanlings are officially called cygnets
I *heart* Madeleine Peyroux. In fact, I have tickets to see her at Constitution Hall (here in D.C.) in September. Aren't you jealous??
Kevin, this photos and the photos of the mistery plants are so good... Realy! I havn´t read all the text and comments but it sure looks like some plant from the cucumber family like somkind of squach...what about asking your neighbour ;O)
don't go back to pet shops. why tempt yourself? if you buy one of these animals you are encouraging the trade. god knows how many animals died en route to the pet shop or how many will die when bought & taken home by someone without the knowledge or resources to care for them. you have two pet birds already that is more than enough. consumerism includes consumption of exotic animals.
Ah, they're not ugly, they're shining silver...! So, so beautiful,,,
recent galleries
