A week old batch of bird pictures | Podcast recommendation

 Last week, my mother and I were watching a movie when I happened to look outside. I keep seeing things hopping around on the wall as well as flying into the tree immediately outside our lanai. It was extremely distracting because whatever was moving into the tree, kept going back and forth between the branches and other places. 

It wasn't until I actually turned and focused on what was going on (as if to "turn and face the strange"), when I saw a couple of birds flying between a few spots out back. They either went from tree to tree, or hopped along the wall. Unfortunately, I couldn't get quality pictures, as I was fighting the lanai screen. I was, however, using my Canon Rebel T7i with telephoto lens (as per usual). 

The screen is why the photos look weird. I wasn't about to go fully outside and scare the chirpies away. I just couldn't get a good opportunity to have a photo of them in the tree closest to me, sadly enough.

Photos sharpened and cleaned up a bit in Photoshop. Yes, that's also a flowering tree. My mother doesn't know if it's a magnolia or gardenia, but it honestly doesn't smell like a typical gardenia (there's no strong fragrance), so it must be a magnolia.

I have.. what could be explained in an episode... as a "step-friend". Of sorts.

Huh?

My friend Shawn recommended his cousin Bailey's podcast to me. 

Thus, upon listening to a few episodes already, there is a term Bailey uses to describe friends of friends: Step-Friends. 

Without going into her wildly outrageous explanation (because you'll have to listen to it yourself), a step-friend is basically a friend of a friend that you're not completely friends with yourself. You're in the the circle of trust for your main friend, but you're not besties with your friend's besties. You are kind of in the same orbit, but you're not doing things together. Unless you make it a point to become friends yourself. 

It's hard for me to fully put it all into words because Bailey tried her might to explain it to Devin. It's wild, the way she went on and he was like "Wait. What???". 

Shawn has told me a lot about Bailey over the years, so I feel like I know some good about her (positive). When Shawn mentioned the new podcast, I put it in my playlist so I could get to it when I could.

Now that I'm listening to it, it's truly not disappointing and it's very generational (my and Shawn's generation, basically). I am totally finding myself nodding along with the conversations and feel that every exuberant point the two hosts have, I know both sides and can't say who said it best or who is a victor in the lightning round of question and answers. I've been in both places and can argue a third point a view, very quickly.

Okay... so what the podcast is called, and why should you care?

The name is "Overthinkers with Bailey and Devin".

They don't have an immense social network right now, so the only platforms they are on are Instagram, Spotify and Apple Podcasts. 

You should care because they are a pair of people who are really fun to listen to. They just seem to get along so well as they ramble on about things, while trying hard to not have squirrel moments (there are a lot of squirrel moments sometimes). The amount of crazy they come up with is particularly awesome. It's so left field that you want to just yell at your podcatcher and tell them you hear the voices too. You know full well what those Mandela Effects are or that Walgreens stores really are on every corner. Trying to put all The Conjuring movies in order on how they should be viewed, is the equivalent to all the Marvel movies. There are too many in the MCU to keep a straight face, but at least with the Warren films, the list is significantly shorter.

Shh.. don't give the kids any ideas... they'd lose their shit if they had to move the MCU films around... make the movies make the best sense in order of how to be seen, not when they came out. 

I honestly feel like this is one of those podcasts that have a very basic outline of what they want to talk about, but then dive into spider webs of other side quests. Hence the title of "Over thinkers": They start on one topic, discuss it briefly, something is triggered to get them into another topic and all of a sudden they forgot what they originally were talking about. Mainly because they wanted to discuss their side so badly, the focus was lost. But in a good way. 

Bailey had said something to Devin, of which I forget right now, but I texted Shawn what I was hearing. I don't have the text in front of me, but what I had said was I'm on whatever the episode was, and Bailey was on some tangent of whatever the topic was. I said "girl, we've all been there. You're not the only one. I feel you on that. It's all of us". Shawn laughed because he understood the reference and what I was saying. Again, it's a generational thing that meets every day life now. There are things Devin says that I'm totally like "yup!!!!!!" and there are things Bailey says that I'm like "oh geez.. nope. But maybe in another life". Can be reversed too. 

For as much as they're oversharing and overthinking the topic at hand, it makes the listener overthink the topic as well. We've all been in that situation and we all know what it feels like. These two humans together, having an honest conversation, feels like you're a fly on the wall of a very interesting friendship and you're really not supposed to be eavesdropping, but you are. And it's hella funny. 

Go check out "Overthinkers with Bailey and Devin" on  Instagram, Spotify and Apple Podcasts. . You won't be disappointed. 

Cheers;

See also

• "Turn and face the strange" reference is a lyrical quote from David Bowie's 1971 song, "Changes", from the album, Hunky Dory. 

"It was this monsterous energy that was used to ink the book"

 Actually, it wasn't, but I've got the title track from Twiztid's 2003 album, "The Green Book" as my current ear worm. It's either this or the theme songs to both "Welcome Back, Kotter" and "WKRP in Cincinatti" rotating in my head. I can't help it; I was listening to some compilation disc the other day and it was filled with all pre-1985 television show themes. Then "The Green Book" popped in my head and I'm like, "Well, three ring musical chair circus!". Haha. 

Outside of the tones in my head, we were shopping yesterday and went down the cola aisle. Apparently. it's still Passover. Kosher (yellow cap) Coke is still being hawked on the top shelf.

I took a close up of the sugar content, as regular Coca-Cola contains high fructose corn syrup, while the other contains cane sugar. The latter is also known as "Mexican Coke" (stop guttering) because (closer to the US) countries sell Coca-Cola with no corn syrup, but with cane or regular sugar. Notice the grams of sugar in all the photos though.. some things change, others don't. 

Also, the Diet and Zero Sugar versions still contain Aspartame, oddly enough. It makes wonder how "Kosher for Passover" the drink really is, but according to Dr. Google, as the (fake) sugar has molecular changes in processing, it's considered "generally kosher" (I guess "kosher adjacent"). So the ones abiding by strict laws won't go to hell while drinking their sody and shmearing their charoset on their matzah. 

While we were out, we went to a store that happened to masquerade as one of those bins stores that sell Amazon returns. We happened to hit it on a good enough day when the price was low, but the items were mainly holiday themed (Halloween and Christmas). It was strange, but I actually found something. 

I picked up two packages of a "Sloth Ice Cube Tray, 2.2" Large Silicone Mold for Cocktails" (the Amazon link is here because I left the sticker on one of the pictures). The store seemed to have a few of these in the bins.

I actually got eight made, since they froze up rather quickly. They're cute and I'm using four in my water cup for work. The other four went into a water cup for the gym. They're pretty solid when they're done.

The pictures don't do them justice, but I think it's also the water I'm using. Someone once said, depending on how you filter your water, the more clear the ice cube, the cleaner the water was. I honestly can't confirm that theory, so I'll leave it at that. 

If I were an alcohol drinker, these would totally be a hit among my drinking friends, but I haven't had an adult beverage in quite a few years. Some of my friends gave it up as well. Therefore, the sloth will be used as a conversation starter in water or soda, and I'm sure people would think these are just as cool. 

Even though I picked up the packs for less than the $9.99 Amazon is selling it for, it's worth it because it's different. If there were other animals at this store, I probably would have purchased them too. It doesn't have to be for the hard stuff, you can serve ice in anything you want cold. Just because this mold is made for a bigger glass (for cocktails and such), doesn't mean you still can't use it in water or juice. It would actually be interesting if other freezable type liquids were put in this and it melted in something else (like if a fruit punch were made for a party and the sloth ice was various fruit juices to melt into the punch). That totally would be a fun party trick. 😆

That's about it for now; I wanted to give a quick update as to what I've been seeing and doing the past few days / since my last update. Work has been quiet but long on the days I've done the adult thing. Local schools are getting out in about 33 days, give or take, so summer season is getting closer upon us. Snowbirds left this week and there are still some trickling out. Pretty soon major traffic delays will be a thing of the past for a few months, and we'll see more rain in the future. Nor that we want any storms, mind you, but we're coming up on those wonder weeks and hopefully it won't be so bad.

Big hope. Haha.

Stay cool, stay buzzed, keep singing along with the voices in your head.

Cheers;

See Also:

• "Welcome Back, Kotter" theme song (via Amazon) (John Sebastian's original song, track 06)
• "WKRP in Cincinatti" theme song is hard to pinpoint on Amazon. It's originally sung by Steve Carlisle, but there's nothing to link to on the AtoZ site except covers, sadly enough. Some of them are poorly done, others are just okay. 

The bird knows the word?

It's still cool enough in southern Florida, that the windows are open. I think we've had one day where the air conditioning was turned on. Summer is fast approaching, however, as the rain has been threatening lately and we've had some small storms. On top of the snowbirds packing up their apartments and talking about leaving in another week or two. Certainly by the end of the month, there will (hopefully) be less traffic and the plates on the cars go back to being from The Sunshine State instead of all over the States. 

While I was doing some computer work this afternoon, I kept hearing the "coo" "coo" of a mourning dove, somewhere outside my window. It was either taking a walk on the door path or it was hanging in the gutter of my upstairs neighbor's front door. Either way, it was super close and wanted to hang out. 

When I looked outside my window, sure enough, it was in the gutter above me, just hanging out. I was surprised the dove didn't have a friend with it, as they usually chill in pairs. The only thing I can think of, is maybe the friend went to get a snack or a new movie, because it was only this one for about half an hour. 

The second I went to get my camera (because I wanted to take a video), the bird moved to the opposite gutter, which is my immediate downstairs neighbor. More opportunity for me, as then I wouldn't be at a weird angle to take some photos. The mourning dove is in a better light, so to speak, as where he was above my head, he was in a shadow.

Photos and video were taken with a Canon EOS Rebel T7i digital camera, 75-300m zoom lens and no major editing involved, except my name. Photos edited in Photoshop and video edited in Pinnacle. 

I didn't want to do any type of manipulation because I felt that it wasn't really warranted. I could have sharpened up the pictures or had a little more time to focus when taking them, but I also had a few things going on in the house, as evident by the background noise in the video. Don't mind the plane that roars over head; can't help when that happens. Although, my mother thought it was my neighbor's crappy pickup truck. 😲 Haha. 

I feel like you can always tell when a telephoto zoom and it being a complete zoom when a small halo is around the subject. I am by no means a professional, but there are some things I've noticed with photos, based solely on how I've mismanaged my own stills. You see bad in one and it kind of leaps to others.

However, it amazes me when I see full blown posters for sale (we're talking 18x24 and larger) of celebrities and the picture was taken with a telephoto because there's a sharpening around the edges that seems abnormal. Why enlarge the photo to a size where it could be extremely noticeable? For example, I was in a store one day (last summer) and they were selling a 24x36 (movie poster size) of some musician. It looked awful up close and in a frame. I forget who the artist was, but I think the store was selling the artwork for over $100. If I were a fan, I would not want to spend that much on that poster because the white halo thing was too obvious. I don't know how else to explain it, but I know it happens when you use an extreme zoom on anything and then you end up printing it. It's some sort of sharpening focus effect. 

Which is why on my photos, I know it exists and I know I need to learn to take better pictures. Even manipulate them more so you can't tell it was a zoom. Soften the edges and not make them so harsh, but at the same time, don't make them seem fake. This dove I was trying to take photos of, was one of those instances where I was shooting through my window and since I was at a height disadvantage, I had to do what was needed to get some form of clear shots. 

Things happen. I'm happy with some of them, including the video, because you can see how the bird just hung out and wanted to have a conversation with anyone who would listen. Maybe next time his friend will come back and within reason. 

Until then, keep your head out of the clouds so you don't get hit by any flying aluminum.

Cheers;

See also:

• Canon Zoom Lens EF 75-300mm via Amazon
  
• Canon EOS Rebel T7i via Amazon
  
• Photoshop via Amazon
  
• Pinnacle Studio via Amazon
  

"Coming from far and wide"

For some strange reason, when I was editing the photos I'll post below, I was thinking of the 2001 Perry Farrell song, "Happy Birthday Jubilee". I don't know why the lyric "[We're] Coming from far and wide" popped in my head while making sure I had all my photos in order, but somehow it's fitting, as I'll explain in a minute.

I had originally heard "Happy Birthday Jubilee" on some compilation disc, maybe around 2004, and if you ask me what that album name is, I can't tell you. I know it's in my collection though, but I quite possibly picked it up as a freebie at Newbury Comics. It wasn't until I searched for the song lyrics today, that I found out it's off Perry's debut solo album. I always thought whatever this compilation album was, the song was created for it. I didn't realize it was pulled from something else entirely.

Also, the mere fact it took Perry 14 years in the spotlight to make his own album seems like a short time but a long time all at the same time. According to the interwebs, he had started in a band called Psi Com in the early 1980s and then became a founding member of Jane's Addiction and later Porno for Pyros. He had his hand in the creation of other bands, but I'm not familiar with those or Psi Com. I found the names online, but only know Jane's Addiction and Porno For Pyros. 

Guess it's all about how and when you grew up.

Anyway, what the point of this post is, I captured a gecko. Not as a pet, mind you, but as something that wanted to go on some adventure and not tell anyone. 

Yes, I let him go. He needed to dry off, after all.

I had drained the air conditioning pipe in the front of our house (we do this once a month to get the gunk out) and I knew something had to have been hanging out inside the pipe, because the wet vac hose went crazy as soon as I connected it to the pipe and turned it on. There was a lot of shaking happening in the hose and it wasn't until I opened the container, that a lizard came hanging off the inner tubing 

True story.

The geckos hang out in the piping and randomly get sucked into the shop vac when we clean out the drain. It's happened before, but this is the first time the lizard has been at least six inches in length.

 

All photos were taken on an iPhone 17 and edited (my name) in Photoshop. No other manipulation outside of using the flash on the camera. The sensors automatically shift focus depending on how close you're getting to the object.

He's definitely a chunker of a gecko too; fat little thing. I'm not sure what he's been eating, but he is a bit on the bigger side. Maybe whatever gross is in the drain pipe, he's been drinking. Protein for him, causing some bulk? Watch, he's an influencer among the reptilian crowd, and he's losing viewership because I made him move out of his studio. 😄

I honestly don't know why the geckos hide in that pipe, except Dr. Google says it offers "moisture, coolness, and safety from predators, particularly during hot or dry weather. The dark, damp, and often slimy environment of a condensate drain line provides an ideal, sheltered habitat for them. They may also be attracted to the humid, warm conditions of the unit's electrical components.". 

So there you go. If you believe what AI Mode now tells you, geckos search out safety and security. Much like all sentient beings do. It shows that these creatures are no different, except when they're violently torn from their hiding place by way of a vacuum suction.

Of which they always seem to be okay after jetting away and climbing on walls or disappearing into bushes. 

Either way, it's always an adventure and the hiding makes them come from far and wide; who knows how deep those drains go and how many more are in the tubes. Maybe they're performing mass raves where it ends and we're just not noticing it.

Until a shrinking ray is invented and we're invited into the depths of the underground, keep yourself safe and hydrated but don't imbibe in the sludge unless you think it's safe to ingest. 

Cheers;

No animals were harmed in the making / editing of these photos...

See also

• Jane's Addiction search on Amazon
• Porno For Pyros search on Amazon
• Perry Farrell search on Amazon
• The Shop-Vac brand we have is so old, they have an update. It looks like this maybe be the update (according to Amazon)
• iPhone 17 search on Amazon
• Photoshop search on Amazon
• The gecko search on Google re: drain pipe