Birds
“In dreams begin responsibility, huh?” says Admin. “And while we’re on the subject of poetry, did we ever figure out who wrote that bowmen thing?”
“This one?” says Spence. “‘We are all bowmen in this place.
The pattern of the birds against the sky
Our arrows overprint and then they die.
But it is also common to our race
That when the birds fall down we weep.
Reason’s a thing we dimly see in sleep.'”
“Yeah, that one,” says Admin.
They’re talking about birds. Birds aren’t my favorite. Ever notice the mean look in their eyes? Would I feel mean if I could soar around in the big blue sky?
“Nope,” says Spence. “But mystery’s our thing, right?”
(Digital wackiness still happening – thanks for being patient, everybody.)
This entry was posted on Friday, March 26th, 2010 at 9:05 am and is filed under Chet The Dog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
4:34 am on March 26th, 2010
Melanie – Admin says we have to dig deeper.
4:37 am on March 26th, 2010
Well, it's quoted by Rebecca West in her spy thriller The Birds Fall Down, but I don't have the book so can't go further at the moment.
Melanie, you're funny!
5:09 am on March 26th, 2010
Conway Power, Guide to a Disturbed Planet (??)
5:13 am on March 26th, 2010
But, says Admin, who was Conway Power? He and Spence looked into this sometime back, found zip.
5:36 am on March 26th, 2010
Maybe!… Conway Power is just a pen name… snort!… It’s been known to happen…grunt!
5:37 am on March 26th, 2010
Further research is required. However, first I have to grade essays.
5:56 am on March 26th, 2010
Let Rio grade the essays, B. Stover. You're so good at research.
6:07 am on March 26th, 2010
..SNORT!!
6:07 am on March 26th, 2010
Hey all! The videos are up!
6:11 am on March 26th, 2010
Further . . . "The poem by Conway Power (a pseudonym of Rebecca West) . . .
will continue further research. . .
6:18 am on March 26th, 2010
Okay so Rebecca West is the pen name of Cicely Isabel Fairfield and the book from whence the poem by Conway Power comes from is "When The Birds Fall Down" written in 1966. "Spy thriller based on the deeds of the historical double agent Yevno Azef" (that's from Wikipedia)
So I looked him up to see if he ever worked in a circus (just in case there's a tie in with Peanut), but though he was a double agent, he did not work in a circus.
Though maybe Peanut is the double agent?
6:21 am on March 26th, 2010
Wow!… very impressive work Melanie!… snort!… or should I say, Agent Melanie!…wheeze!…you are beating Stover all over the board today!
6:56 am on March 26th, 2010
Excellent detective work Melanie!
7:00 am on March 26th, 2010
Birds!….We had a bird once….heh!… He was a cockatiel named Tyler….snort!… That bird would eat with us….sniff!…he loved chili – had it all over his beak and face by the time he was done…heh!…Tyler was always out of his cage because someone felt sorry for him and made little nests for him to sit in around the house… wheeze!… because he had a terrible habit of falling off his perch… dumb bird!
7:02 am on March 26th, 2010
It is fun to goof off, but it is also fun to learn new things. The only poet I ever read is Robert Service–just kidding B. Stover and Melanie.
If I ever need to hire an attorney, I am hiring Abbie. She was hard at work on my twinkie and poor memory defense yesterday. I appreciate it Abbie.
If a dog murders a roadrunner, I wonder if it is a forgiveable offense. I didn't do it!! Mom had a Siberian that once did. That's the girls for ya.
Chet: Never watch the movie "The Birds"
7:26 am on March 26th, 2010
Wow, a Siberian that caught a roadrunner. Awesome.
The Pack is not good at catching birds. Barking at birds, chasing birds, but not catching them.
Patsy and I once won the worst duo to ever play catch with dog treats. Not kidding!
I would throw them and she would watch them until they bounced on her nose. then she would eat them off the ground.
She's getting better now. She'll take them out of my hand.
We won a dog angel dog tag. The judges figured she needed it.
7:50 am on March 26th, 2010
Tell Patsy that I can't catch dog treats either. Patsy and I know that it is us really intelligent dogs that know we are going to get the treats anyway, without having to look like dummies trying to catch them.
8:08 am on March 26th, 2010
Sniff!… I don’t catch or chase either!… snort!…. I like to sit or lay…. grunt!
9:30 am on March 26th, 2010
Chet! I have to look so much up to be a member of this community. I only found the quote from a poem by Rebecca West in an on-line book called “On Forgiveness: How Can We Forgive the Unforgivable?”
It’s about hunters.
Cool poem. I know you don’t like birds, Chet, neither does the pack, but it is cool poem.
9:30 am on March 26th, 2010
Hee, Hee, I beat B.Stover!
8:31 am on March 26th, 2010
Mom had me running around doing errands this morning. I couldn't wait to come here – and what do I find? Good research from Melanie, but then all this talk about birds. Like Alice's friend, George the Bird, who we saw here 2 days ago. He looks mean and has a big sharp beak – I don't like to look at him!
8:37 am on March 26th, 2010
George!…. snort!… I couldn’t remember that big birds name the other night when he was singing that stupid song!… wheeze! …. What kind of bird is that thing?… grunt!
10:03 am on March 26th, 2010
TGIF!…. I’m having Hot Wing and lots of Beer tonight!… snort!… Does that count as ‘bird talk’?…heh.
11:19 am on March 26th, 2010
Rio, just what happened to that cockatiel named named Tyler?
You're having hot wings???
Hmmmm.
11:30 am on March 26th, 2010
Tyler!… the cockatiel…. Snort!… well, we don’t know if it was all the bad food he liked to eat, or just old age…wheeze!… But one day we came home and found him in his cage. He was clenching his perch… grunt!… but when he saw us, he let go and dropped dead….snort!… Just like that!…wheeze!
true story.
11:35 am on March 26th, 2010
Rio, If I remember correctly (and memory is not my best quality), George is a ring-neck pheasant. Very tasty like a chicken, but more dark meat. I haven't had any more "run-ins" with the flock, but not cause I haven't been trying. Don't over do it on the beer and wings -you know how you are going to feel tomorrow morning.
11:44 am on March 26th, 2010
Magpie!…Ring Neck is an unfortunate name for a bird….heh!..
11:47 am on March 26th, 2010
Here was my once-in-a-lifetime bird lick. Mom was babysitting a parakeet that had his wings clipped so he couldn't fly. She put the birdcage on the coffee table and went in another room. I opened the door with my pointy snoot and teeth and the bird hopped out on the floor. I stepped on his tail so he couldn't get away and gave him a great big slurp! Stupid bird made a fuss so Mom came running.
11:56 am on March 26th, 2010
You guys and your bird stories are so funny! Excellent job Melanie!
Rebecca West used the poem as an epigraph in her novel The Birds Fall Down and cited Conway Power, Guide to a Disturbed Planet as the source. One assumes that Richard Holloway (On Forgiveness) and Rodney H. Pain (Beatrix…bio of his mother) found the poem there. Spence, Admin and PA: Did you find it there? I really like the poem…the contradictory nature of the human species. I especailly like the last line.
Leonard Nimoy is 79 today.
12:14 pm on March 26th, 2010
Spock!… wow!… snort!… He has done what he always told everyone else to do… wheeze!
Live Long and Prosper…
12:15 pm on March 26th, 2010
Rio, Sorry, it is Ring-necked, meaning it has a ring of feathers around its neck. Although I do like your meaning better,hee hee. Did you get a lot of snow the other day where you are in the Wild West? Mag-Pie
12:31 pm on March 26th, 2010
Snow!… Yup! We got dumped on….snort!… and we are supposed to get dumped on again tonight sometime….grump!… It better wait till after the hot wings and beer!… dammit!
12:31 pm on March 26th, 2010
The "real" Star Trek! Leonard Nimoy has a small part on Fringe and next Thursday the season continues.
12:32 pm on March 26th, 2010
Rio is going to freak out again.
12:37 pm on March 26th, 2010
Yikes!….Stover!… Maybe it’s because we are both fans of Fringe!… weird!
12:39 pm on March 26th, 2010
I love Fringe! I even researched and found the decoded glyphs so that I could "read" the signs between breaks. Fun.
12:54 pm on March 26th, 2010
Snort!… a true Fanatic! …wheeze!… I must confess that I have missed so much, I will be a little lost if I get to watch it next week… grunt!
1:16 pm on March 26th, 2010
Mollypop, Your bird story sounds a lot like some of mine–if you could come over for a play date, I could show you how to stalk the big game. You and I could be fierce together. Wags, Maggie
1:20 pm on March 26th, 2010
You can watch full episodes of Fringe here (only brief commercials):
http://www.fox.com/fod/play.php?sh=fringe
2:53 pm on March 26th, 2010
Chet: It's all a mystery to me. Dogs thinking about birds. The birds aren't safe, I know that.
3:12 pm on March 26th, 2010
MagPie! What kind of big game do you stalk?
3:37 pm on March 26th, 2010
Just noticed: Romeo (on Chet's Friends tab) is doing a little quilt testing.
3:45 pm on March 26th, 2010
People generally think that it is domestic cats that are the big danger to birds. Dawson, dogs do think about birds. My dear friend, Molly, would pick up her bowl of kibble, carry it out the doggy door, and set it down where the birds would be sure to find it. Molly would then go hide and wait for the birds to show up. Ambush!! Molly's mom put a stop to this by getting her a dog dish that she couldn't pick up and carry around. Female Siberians are great hunters of small game. Me, I can't be bothered. Bird feathers, yuk. I just like to chase them.
4:02 pm on March 26th, 2010
Ugh! Birds! Chet, I agree. We have pet birds, 2 of them. One is dark blue and one is light blue, I've been told. All they do is chirp to each other and eat like pigs! They make me so angry! Grrr! And, once, I caught that stupid dark blue one in my mouth when it was flying too low, taunting me. But it pecked at me with that sharp beak of his and he got away! Grrrr! They are troublemakers and, to be honest, might taste a little like chicken….
4:17 pm on March 26th, 2010
Mollypop, Well, I guess big is a relative thing. I was thinking chickens as compared to a parakeet. We could use the same technique – release, step on tail, lick, and then seen how it progresses from there.
4:25 pm on March 26th, 2010
In honor of poetry but not of birds:
Snoring sounds, as the
Newfoundland dogs dream, over
take me. Time for bed.
Night all!
4:49 pm on March 26th, 2010
MagPie – I don't know about those chickens. How sharp are their beaks?
4:58 pm on March 26th, 2010
Icky!
Licking bird feathers!
Siberian Husky: Chet thinks a fair amount about birds too. The 3 cats in this house looove birds. There is an electric pole/raven perch just outside the house that makes their teeth chatter when occupied.
5:13 pm on March 26th, 2010
Buuuurrrrrp!… oh that felt good!…The birds I ate tonight were mighty tasty!…. slurp!… gawd I had fun tonight!… snort!… my friends are so damn funny!… heh!… Are we still on Birds for Petes sake?….
Yevno Azef!…Maybe someone should think about why Spence is so interested in knowing who wrote that poem in the first place….grunt!… That Intel from Melanie lead down an interesting trail….wheeze!… Not one I could follow, but I did grasp the fact of a historical double agent involved….urp!… and that is very interesting…. Grump!.. I did not have time to look that guy up today…. Burrrp!… Did anyone else?
5:26 pm on March 26th, 2010
Mollypop, Well, they do have sharp beaks, but no teeth, so we have the advantage. Sometimes I stick my soft little nose thru their fence, just to say hi, very friendly like, and they come up, stare at me with those beady little eyes, and then wham! they peck me. I've never actually yelped, but it does hurt just a tiny, tiny bit. So far, I haven't "dispatched" one, just engaged in a little run, pounce and hold game. Quite fun – for me at least.
5:28 pm on March 26th, 2010
Looked but did not find.
5:41 pm on March 26th, 2010
Snort!…The way I see it is ole memory deficient Spence, or maybe even that charming Mr. Abrahams is doing some research for a book he is working on… snort…. And had the idea to use us as cheap labor for research… Brilliant!…I would do the same in his place… heh!…So many scams I miss out on….snort!… They are all right in front of me and I miss them every time… grunt!… The whole Bed Bug Detective Agency has been the best one yet!…. but!… I digress… where was I???
Anyways!… This seems somewhat important to him and Admin, or maybe just interesting….snort!… but writers probably don’t have time to go off researching well hidden minutia about poets with two pen names for no reason ….burp!… He’s going to use this in a story, the whole double agent thing!… Cool for us!… gruff!…And he wants to have all his facts in front of him… grunt! wheeze!… thanks to Melanie, he now does.
6:11 pm on March 26th, 2010
Siber-H!… Siberian-Molly sounds like a very smart girl… wow!… Did she ever catch any birds this way?….snort!… Sounds like the Siber-Girls’s have it going on upstairs, if you know what I mean!…wheeze!
Heh!… This brings to mind a chicken story (for some reason)… snuff!… My friends would trap chickens in a box by putting down corn in a trail on the ground that lead underneath a box propped up on one end by a stick….snort!… The stick had a string attached to it… heh!… Once the chicken ate all the corn and finally ended up under the box, they would pull the string. Out came the stick and down came the box… Snicker!…
Oh!… The baaawwwwkkking and a squaaaackkking that would happen… wheeze!.. We had one chicken named, Ethel, we loved her, she was sooo old… heh!… We pulled this trick on her and realized it almost put her into cardiac arrest….sniff!… So we didn’t do it to her anymore…gruff!…Just the young ones from then on….heh!
6:35 pm on March 26th, 2010
Hey Rio, Maybe you could teach me and Mollypop that box/stick/string trick! How were the wings and beer? Good night, Gracie and everyone! Mags
7:34 pm on March 26th, 2010
Siber-H!….Loan me your soap box!…. Geeze!… For days now our cable ‘On-Freakin-Demand’ which we pay dearly for has not been working.. snort!… No one else around here will pick up the damn phone and call… grunt!.. So I did tonight!…crapola!… Some guy from India says “wee will git right on it”…grrrr!…then, ”if eet’s not fixed by Sunday, please call again”.. Bull-freakin’-shit!…I pay a ton of money every stinkin’ month to that freakin’ monopoly!…Rage!… I hate them with a passion!… I really do….wheeze!…We have sparse options out here in the Wild Wild West…sonofabitch… pissed me off to no end.
And a happy good night to all of you!… snorkel!
…chicken litter on my mind too (for some reason)…damn!
8:00 pm on March 26th, 2010
Gosh, y'all are going to bed and I just got up. Came home from work and fell asleep at 8 and just woke up. I am in trouble now. Maybe I will just go back to bed.
Lots of bird talk.
I just read a book about a parrot who could talk. (Alex & Me by Irene M. Pepperberg) It was fascinating. You can even search for Alex the parrot on youtube and watch him. But the book made me cry because although parrots usually live for many years Alex only made it to 31.
I liked the poem by Rebecca West too.
Does anybody else read the Dortmunder books by Donald Westlake? The idea of Spence using us for reference (except for some of you like B. Stover, Dawson and Melanie) makes me think of the regulars at the Amsterdam Bar in the Dortmunder books. Dawson you know what I am talking about. On the other hand maybe I am not giving us enough credit. I wonder what Chet thinks about this idea?
~staff
2:16 pm on July 4th, 2013
I am now not certain where you are getting your info, but
great topic. I must spend a while learning much more or understanding more.
Thank you for wonderful information I was searching for this
information for my mission.
5:06 am on August 7th, 2013
I know this website offers quality based content and other material, is there any other web site which offers such stuff in quality?