Elysian Fields and Zoë

  

Last summer we received a delightful visit from Dani and Lou’s niece and nephew: Olivia and Sandy. They brought over their p-jays, their homework and a critter named Hedgey. We played board games, read stories, watched “The Nightmare Before Christmas”, “Lemony Snicket’s: A Series of Unfortunate Events”, and read stories from fabulous kids books. Fair- the best of all was hanging out with Zoë. Zoë doesn’t say much, doesn’t do much and doesn’t make much of anything either. Zoë’s charm is her patience and resolution. Plus, Zoë likes children for more than their chewy little chubby digits. Zoë serves up a lot of attention for all who stop and pay her visits. All she asks for in return is some food and a bath. Having received her gold obol Zoë then settles into amusing her adoring guests. The best of guests are invited to play with Zoë in her Elysian Fields.

  

Olivia, Sandy and Hedgey were such guests on that particular summer day. You may think that it was Olivia and Sandy who had the best of times watching Zoë crawl about, munch about and sneak about; in fact it was Hedgey who had the most fun of all. Hedgey, being of small stature and stuffed with fluff got to ride about on Zoë’s carapace. Fun, fun, fun! Watch Hedgey do this… watch Hedgey fall off like this… watch Hedgey hug like this… etc, etc. Hedgey was all over the place. Zoë meanwhile partook of the yummies in the Fields- dandelions, crab grass and clover. Zoë and Hedgey were hounded by the junior paparazzi bunch with flashes and shutters going “phush” and “click”. It was the green carpet of their halcyon days for Zoë and Hedgey.

  

Pictures of Zoë and Hedgey were included in Olivia’s homework. She told the story of Hedgey’s adventures in Zoë’s Elysian Fields. Hedgey’s journal of adventures now included a visit to Salazar Manor- the best kids' show on earth.

Displacement and the Shivers

This is one of my favorites...

Please be patient as this little movie loads. It's a 7.4 Mbs QuickTime Movie.

Nancy the Brave and Peanut the Wise

  

  

Nancy the Brave, or simply Nancy (a.k.a Nancy Curlwalker) and Peanut the Wise, or simply Peanut (a.k.a. Chubby Budgie Peanut) were Luis' first birds. They were a gift from a school mate of Luis' when he was in art school. Brenda needed to find a home for Nancy and Peanut after her cat had gotten to one of their cage mates. Luis accepted the critters with much joy. They lived with Luis and Fritz at Lehndorff 924 in Calgary in a two bedroom apartment on the eleventh floor. Nancy was the bravest little bird. She loved landing on Luis' curly hair and tactfully manage the terrain as would an astronaut on an alien planet. Peanut loved reading. He was very fat! So fat in fact that he could hardly lift himself off the floor when he should happen to fall upon it. He wasn't as comfortable around people as Nancy was but when his joie-de-millet had him grounded he would resign to stepping up and being helped up on to his perch.

Nancy died at the age of 8 of cancer. Peanut died of old age at 11.

Salazar Manor - Uh-hum, Kiwi's House

Hot dog! Do I have a treat for you. Luis just finished stitching an interactive panorama for me. Guess what it's of? No, not the Grande Canyon. Try: Salazar Manor. Yup- I have posted a panorama of our, uh-hum, my house. It's so cool it's better than bottle caps. You can view the Kiwi pleasure dome out in Millwoods in full 360 degrees. You can even see where Maguey used to live (she moved a while ago although she still visits Isidro's mom Reina and his sister Keren). Isn't it fabulous???

To make it work click on the movie window that opens up below, hold and then drag left and right. You can even zoom in to see detail (like the No Parking Sign) by clicking on the "minus" and "plus" buttons on the movie window. My room is right above the garage.

If you can't see the movie you may need the QUICKTIME plug-in found at the APPLE site: Download it Here fo MAC and Download it Here for Windows.

Hope you enjoy my little panorama.

Step-up!

"Kiwi-Kiwi!"

Ta-dumm! And now for a truly wicked experience. This is me saying my name.

Click on this link: "Kiwi-Kiwi!"

Isn't that cool??? Try teaching that to a stupido cat- ha!

Hiatus Finitus

I am back! That was a long break. Did you miss me? Oh, how I missed all this silly willy BLOGGER world.

I have some new surprises in store for you. Luis recently acquired some web space and has the opportunity to post some media files for me. This includes the sound file on my PROFILE
page of me saying, "Step up!". That's so awesome. I have more sound clips and some movies and panos and lots of other coolio stuff baby! I can't wait to share them with you. Visit this week for more as I return from my vacation.

World Turtle Day

Today is World Turtle Day. World Turtle Day began on May 23, 2000. It was initiated by the American Tortoise Rescue out of Malibu, California. They do all sorts of good things to aid the rescuing of displaced and unwanted tortoises and turtles in the U.S.A. My feathered hat goes off to all the good folks at the American Tortoise Rescue and to the kind and generous people everywhere who help all kinds of critters in need. You guys rock!

To celebrate this beautiful day I would like to introduce to everyone Zoë. Zoë is a Red Footed Tortoise. She was a wedding present from Dani to Luis. She has been living here since July of 2003- Just a few months before I appeared on the scene. I will go into more about Zoë later in another entry but for now here are some pictures of Zoë:

  

And of course it would not be World Turtle Day without some pictures of Texas:

  

Learn more about World Turlte Day by clicking on these links:

American Tortoise Rescue
The Humane Society of the U.S.A.

Quaker Craft: Poop on Tops

Dani invited Louie and I to her work this evening. She has been busy trying to catch up on all the work that has been piling up on her desk at Craft Line Counter Tops. I got to go because Louie can't live without me.

Dani put us quick to work. Louie got the easy job of filing away paperwork for Dani. Meanwhile I got the real tough job of shredding sensitive company documents. Fortunately, when you are a de bonne aire and handsome Quaker like moi you get the job done righ and speedy fast. I was done in, I'd say under twenty. It would have taken the average canary several hours (just to show you how quick I really am). Then I hung about the place. I got bored fast. I squawked and flew about the office a bit. Oh, and I made stinkies partout! First on Louie's shoulder, then on the carpet, then on the desk, then on a file folder, finally on Louie's pants. Well it's all his fault really. He let me bite into his Big Mac after all. Man that stuff is yummy but sure gives me the yuckies.

Dani is a hard worker. Louie is lucky to have a hard working momma at his side. I think she is a good chick. Although I enjoy chomping on her, my feathered hat goes off to her. This is for you Dani:

Lang Loy, Jo San!

Lang Loy, Jo San!

Good morning to all the lang loys at Bulwark Protective Apparel. Luis says that I have some friends reading my stories at work and these pictures are all for you. Thank you for stopping by and do write me a note if you have a moment.

“Kiwi, Kiwi..”

  
  

Kamikaze Cockatiel

Kamikaze (`kâmu'kâzee) :
[n] (Japanese) a fighter plane used for suicide missions by Japanese pilots in World War II
[n] (Japanese) a pilot trained and willing to cause a suicidal crash

Cockatiel (kŏk'ə-tēl'):
[n] A small crested Australian parrot (Nymphicus hollandicus) having gray and yellow plumage.
[Dutch: kaketielje (little cockatoo), ultimately from Malay: kakatua, cockatoo.]

--------------------------------------*--------------------------------------

"Twack!"

That's what Randal heard at his window one evening in October of 2004. He was hard at work preparing a presentaion for a client when from off to the side came a sharp crunching sound. I guess it sounded like a cross between a woopie cushion and a bag of popcorn going crunch. Jumping out of his skin, Randal rushed over to the window to discover a small grey bird sitting there looking straight at him. It doesn't take much to move a sensitive nature lover like Randal to reach out and pull the cold critter in from the cold. He must have been real thirsty because the following day EPCOR (the utilities company) called Randal to ask if he had burst a water line. No sooner had he dropped the receiver that a detective knocked at his door and plainly asked Randal if he were operating a hydroponics grow-op. Randal responded plainly in return saying, "No, I had a very thirsty visitor drop in unexpectedly yesterday."

"Was it a parrot," asked the officer.
"I don't know," said Randal. "I think it looks more like a little grey fairy." The officer gave Randal a quizzical look as if to say, "maybe it's the Easter bunny, my good sir," and then politely excused himself and wished Randal all the best luck now that he had been chosen by the Grovenor Communitiy Fairies. But what for???

Randal gave Luis a call and asked for his opinion on the critter. Giving a short description that sounded like this: small bird, grey, with orange-red cheeks, small feet, and sounding much like a cell phone. As you can imagine Luis pulled the receiver from his ear glared at it quizzically as if to say, "maybe it's Graham Bell, my good sir." But of course he didn't say that. Instead he replied, "sounds like you have made friends with a cockatiel."

"Oh," Randal replied. "So is that a parrot of some kind."
"Well," Luis said. "It's more like an Australian good luck fairy."
"I knew it!"
"Are you going to keep it?"
"Yes," said Randal. "I think it's a good luck charm and he chose me so I'll keep it. I need to think of a name first. Can I come by Tiffany's and pick up some food?"
"Sure. I'll be there tomorrow,' Luis assured him.

  

Sure enough- Randal fell in love with the critter and the man from down under was well in control of Randal's large office environment where he lived. He roamed about the place flying freely and chatting up a storm. Luis went to visit and guess what? Hot dog! The dude sounded just like a cell phone. He was so good in fact, that Randal would sometimes be fooled. He'd hear the ring tone and off shot Randal to his coat pocket, flipped open the receiver, said hello, only to hear the phone line echo back - BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP! Ha! That's funny.

Randal gave the dude a Fairy name: Clarity. Fine, then.

Clarity lived at Randal's for about six months. Then one day Luis got a call:

"Luis, I need to find a home for Clarity. I love the bird but he is not good for business. My new intern thinks that having poop all over the office looks bad. I agree and would like to maybe sell him and find him a good home. Know anybody who might want a cockatiel?"

Luis jumped at the chance to take in another bird. Of course he wasn't going to pay for a rescued bird. Randal was a little disappointed about giving him away but Luis managed to talk him into handing Clarity over for free. Dani accompanied Luis to Randal's the night of the pick-up. Clarity was hard to catch. Even though Clarity is tame enough for sitting on your finger and shoulder he has a deadly fear of hands reaching out to grab him. He's not too fast for Luis and a towel though, I can assure you of that. Into a box he went.

On the drive home Dani insisted on changing his name. She didn't approve of Clarity and Luis was o.k. with renaming the little Aussie. "How about Clarence," Dani asked. "From that Beastie Boys song - Shake Your Rump."

"That's perfect. I don't mind that at all."

So, there you have it. Clarence came home to join us here at Salazar Manor. He talks plenty. He is the easiest going little dude and the biggest suck for atttention. His favorite things to do are sit on your shoulder and beg for attention, stare off wistfully out windows, and say "pretty bird" to his own reflection. He is a big fan of Henry Miller's portrait. Luis is certain that Clarence flings poop down at him from atop the bookshelves. Sometimes stuff will fall off onto Luis' desk and when Luis looks up there is Clarence looking down as if to say, "did you get my message, or what?" Then he swoops down and lands on Luis' other shoulder and nibbles at his ear.

Crazy bird.

Randal has a web site. Visit Randal at:
http://www.visionimages.ca

Survival of the Fittest: Not Again! Woe is POLAROID.

Here are some portraits of me and some of my friends taken with the marvel: POLAROID SX-70 Alpha 1 SE:

  
  

My favorite portraits of me have been taken with Luis' Polaroid instant cameras. He's got a nice collection of fold-down Polaroid SX-70s. I think he has 30 models, in fact. Not everyone here is as crazy about stuff as Luis is. He's crazy about a ton of stuff. Anyway, Polaroid fans all over the place were saddened by Polaroid's decision to discontinue the manufacturing of their legendary SX-70 Time-Zero film. The last run of this film was made in December of 2005. Any stock now on shelves or at suppliers will probably be the last we'll ever see of it. Sad to think that after over twenty years of supplying some of the world’s most innovative products Polaroid Corp. filed for voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy on October 12, 2001. The company came out of bankruptcy in 2002 and in April of 2005 Petters Group Worldwide purchased the last of the failing Polaroid Corporation.

  

If you would like to read more, the internet is full of Polaroid information. Here are some excellent Polaroid art websites and info pages if you are curious:

Copy and paste the following links into your favorite broswer:
On Polaroid art:
http://svr84.ehostpros.com/~plrds84/index1.htm
http://www.melaniestephens.com/artgalltwo.htm
http://svr84.ehostpros.com/~plrds84/plrdpsp7.htm
http://www.leibo.net/polaroid/index.html
http://www.polarama.com/
http://p3designwork.com/pages/polaroid/polaroid_photography_main.html
http://www.melaniestephens.com/ag1aspentreeor.htm
http://www.robertmcclintock.com/polaroid-people.html
http://www.pola-art.de/Gallery/gallery.htm
http://www.flickr.com/groups/polaroid_/discuss/
http://www.aurelehardouin.com/
http://www.polaroidsfromtheroad.com/
http://1peuflou.site.voila.fr/
http://www.michaeldavidandre.com/

On Polaroid bankruptcy:
http://www-tech.mit.edu/V121/N53/53pol.53n.html
http://www.planetpapers.com/Assets/4467.php
http://www.scripophily.net/polcor.html

Slower than Texas in December

Cheers to the newest member of the Salazar Manor family! This is Texas - the Eastern Box Tortoise. Texas is much more than the largest state in the union. Texas is also the smallest critter at your favorite friendly neighbourhood petting zoo.

Luis and Dani found Texas in Calgary, Alberta while on vacation. They were visiting Kelly Issac who was on vacation from Japan. Well, she originates from Calgary but has been teaching English in Japan for, what, five years now. "GO!" That's Japanese for five.

Now, Texas doesn't "go" very fast. The dude's slower than mollasses in December, in fact. The only time he moves faster than mollasses in December is when he is out hunting worms. Then he is faster than worms and faster than mollasses in December.

Texas was snoozing at Pices Pet Emporium in Calgary when Luis woke him up. He sure is tiny - less than two inches long! He is so small that the pet store attendant couldn't even find him in his vivarium when Luis asked to see him. He was buried deep in the pet moss and was slumbering like an old lion on the plains.

Texas was born on October 13, 2005. Luis bought the dude on December 28, 2005 with a fist full of dollars he got for Christmas. He lives in his own pad in Luis and Dani's livingroom. He is a voracious eater and will eat just about anything that smells like food or wiggles like a worm.

When fully grown, Texas will have a brightly colored carapace, bright red eyes and a high domed shell. He will be around seven inches long and live to be anywhere between 50 - 100 years old. That's crazy! More on little Texas later.

Sqawk!

A Feathered Charm: A Brief Autobiography - Part II, by Kiwi Salazar

Luis had visited Gary Denolf several times in the Spring of 2004. Luis was looking to get part-time work at "Tiffany's on Whyte" so that he could work with birds. Gary had not committed the first two times but on the third time, in May, Gary announced that he was going away on vacation and was going to need some extra help while he was away. Luis was delighted.

Gary showed him around the shop. This and that, and that and this... The shop is a bohemian dreamland. "Tiffany's" carries the widest selection of colorful, eccentric stuff in town- everything from antique jewelry, to vintage signs and movie paraphernalia, to neon signs, to furniture, and whatever else fits through the front or back doors. Folks are always enchanted when they walk into "Tiffany's". Then they hear all the whistling and chirpping that goes on in the back and they fall in love with what "Tiffany's" is really all about: birds. This is precisely what happened to Luis.

Luis was introduced to the lovely Dorina- Gary's loyal employee and the hardest working lady in town. Dorina was busy- hard at work dusting and putting things in order as the shop had only up until recently been opened on the beautiful Whyte Avenue. Dorina deserved all the credit for getting us all in tip-top shape. Luis couldn't wait to get to work.

Luis walked over to my cage and Gary says, "This is Kiwi, a Quaker. He's a nice little bird but a bit temperamental." Ha! You would be too if you were locked up in a cage.

"Why is he so cheap," Luis asked. Ransom was set at $500.00.
"He's a secondhand bird," Gary said. "He belonged to a family but they sold him to me a few weeks ago."
"Why did they let him go?"
"They said he was saying bad words to the kids and couldn't stop him. An uncle taught him some Davey Jones talk and he has a dirty little beak."

I looked out at Luis and hissed and pecked at the cage. Who says I have a dirty beak? I'll bite him!

"Wow, he sure is mad," Luis remarked.

Lovely first impression...


During the next two months Luis would clean a lot of bird cages, sweep tons of seed husks off the floor and darn nearly get his finger pecked off by me and every locked up parrot in the shop. Ha! That's what he gets for locking us up! One day a young lady walked in with a friend. She was looking to buy a Lineolated Parrotlet. Luis had none for sale but he showed her about the place selling her all sorts of chew toys and food supplies. That's why Cliff called him "TROUBLE" - always flirting with the girls, he was. Anyway, she walked over to my cage, peered in and I said a few words to charm her a wee bit. She walked away shocked and appalled! What did I say, for Pete's sake?

"I think that bird just called me stupid," she went over and told Luis. He laughed outloud. I could hear him crisply from the other side of the store. Grrrr...
"You're lucky," he replied. "He could have called you much worse." The next time Luis came over to change my water I got him right in the Abductor Indicis - "Ow!" Served him right.

One day, out of the blue, Gary returned. Luis took him on the tour of the clutter-free "Tiffany's on Whyte". Dorina and Luis had finished cleaning the shop and it looked fantastic. Luis walked him into the aviary and strolling over to me, pulls my cage off it's hook.

"And how is Kiwi doing?"
"He's still as mad as ever," Luis replied. "He got me right here in the nook of the hand the other day. That is one grouchy little bird."
"He's not grouchy- he just needs to be let out every once in a while. Watch..." With that he opens my cage door, I walked out, climbed onto the top of the cage and said as brightly as I could, "step up!"
"Yeah," Gary said. "He's hand tamed. He loves attention. He just needs to be let out."
"What??? You mean Dorina and I have suffered that little beak for nothing? All he needed was to be let out? But you told me that he was mean."
"Did I? Must have been another bird 'cause Kiwi is a sweety. Try picking him up."
"Step up, Kiwi," Luis said and like an old friend cozing up to another friend, up I went. Like a feathered charm, Luis fell in love with me right there on the spot. I've been on his finger, on his shoulder, and in his home every since. Luis worked off my ransom (he got me for only $300.00 - staff discount) and after only six working days I got to go home to Salazar Manor.

That is how Luis and I met almost three years ago.

"Step up!"

Shower Scene from Psycho

One of Ready's favorite things to do when Luis takes a shower is to climb down from his cage and pay Luis a little visit. He walks around the corner into the bathroom. You can hear his little feet clickity-clack on the linoleum and then as he stands there looking up at the shower he gives out a little whistle as if to say, "Hellooo, I'm here now."

Luis looks out to see Ready looking up at him longingly. Luis stoops down to say hello back at which point Ready does his little intimidation dance. Imagine a little fluff ball, half naked from self-plucking, his feathers flare out and he bows his head to make himself look fearsome. His little eyes dilate and he starts to pace about, tapping his beak against the floor- adding to the drama. He gives out a loud whistle and prances over to the corner just underneath the sink. There he continues his little dance, tapping and whistling and squeaking at the top of his wee lungs.

Beware! Once out of the shower he will sometimes charge at clean toes with a headstrong mind to bite into oblivion. He has never bitten Luis' toes but Dani is sure afraid of the dude.

"Luis... Ready is out, honey. Can you please come and get him?" That's what you hear and you know that Ready has Dani cornered in the bathroom.

What the heck does he want, really? I look down at him from my perch and shake my head. Is he jealous? I know he is afraid of the shower downpour. He obviously doesn't want up on the perch. But he just can't help himself. He is a brooding little African, dude. With the simplest gestures he says, "Hey, love me." Then, in the drop of an egg, he threatens you with the shower scene from psycho. Crazy, guy!

Sarah Polley and SpongeBob Squarepants

The day Luis brought Sarah and Ready home was a tense one, o.k.! I mean here I've been in my new home for no more than a couple of months when all of the sudden Luis and Dani walk in the door with a couple of Africans. These guys were attention getters from day one. The dude was chirping and saying things in some funny accent- whistling and squeaking like a puppy squeaky toy. The dudette was silent as a new born lamb. The only way you could tell she was even in the pet carrier was by her (yes, I'll admit it) beautiful yellow crest that shown through the slits of the pet carrier like the June savannah sun. The dude was feisty too. Boy, he abhorred being in that melmac torture chamber. He nibbled and bit at the carrier as though to divest it of all structure and essence. He sure was tenacious and vigorous - mighty like and ferocious lion facing a hyena on the Serengeti. Luis seemed tense too. Dani had that look that says, “Man, what did I just open up here?”. There was so much commotion and excitement.

First thing they did was pluck the dudette out of the carrier to clip her flight feathers. There was a horrendous flutter and squeaking clamor. It sounded like total confusion and distress. Out she came nibbling hard at the towel. Yeah, she was tamed as a chick. As tame as a warthog, I assure you. Off they came- snip, snip. Then off to the cage she went- dashing quick to the farthest end so as to save herself from those menacing stainless steel chompers. Then the dude appeared. Man alive, I have never seen a dude so naked. Must be real hot in Africa because this fellow was wearing nothing but Bermuda shorts and a yellow beret. Tacky... He looked like a mess. Luis turned him over for the one-two inspection and noted that clipping this fellow would not be necessary. Off he went onto the cage to join his girlfriend. They huddled close and stiff staring out with eyes as big as pie plates. Boy, they were shaken up. And they call me a "quaker". Hah!

Luis beamed with joy. Apprehensive joy, sure, but who wouldn’t be with new roommates such as these two? Dani had that look that says, “Man, what did I just open up here?”.

“Well, I’m happy for you,” she said- like when you think you are in for it and asked for it, you know what I mean?
“What are you going to name them,” she asked.
“Don’t know. Wait, I’ve got it. The girl’s name is Sarah.”

You’ll never guess what was on the tele just then? “Joe's So Mean to Josephine” starring Canada’s own, Sarah Polley, was on CBC. Big surprise. I’m sure Miss Polley would appreciate the tacky nature of that compliment in one of her other seven manifestations across this multi-dimensional persistance we call life. Luis is so tacky...

“O.k. (read: good one, loser). And the boy?”
“Ready,” he says. “After SpongeBob’s motto - I’m ready!”
“Why that?”
“Cause he’s ‘ready’ to bite you, of course.”

Up until that day, Ready and Sarah had belonged to a local Edmonton bird breeder. Luis had gotten wind through the grape vine that a breeder was looking to give away a couple of Meyer’s parrots for free to any takers. Luis was jumping and dancing in his pants, if you could imagine Luis ever jumping and dancing all at the same time. Actually, he was outwardly quite calm about it. The only indication of his excitement was a steadfast resolution that without hesitation he could pick the birds up that very afternoon, right after work. At the time he was working at TIFFANY’S ON WHYTE selling among other things birds and bird supplies. It was Gary, the shop owner and eccentric world traveller, that sprung the news about the Africans to Luis. Gary is acquainted with many of the local bird breeders as he has been in the business of birds and all things related since the early eighties. The breeder wanted to dump these birds with some urgency. All Gary could tell was that they were Meyer’s and free.

Well it turns out that Ready has a bit of a megalomania complex. This includes a heightened sense of territorialism, and acute need for attention and a hardy appetite for nibbling on goodies of all sorts. Not to get into details but his territorialism had caused a few sore feet (that’s putting it in “Rated: PG” terms) among some of the birds in the aviary where he was living. The breeder was quite upset about it all and wanted nothing more than to see them go back to Africa. Well, they ended up in the jungles of Millwoods and that’s as close to Africa as they will ever get. I doubt that the Kenyan government, for instance, wants Ready anywhere near its frontiers, let alone pouncing about in its populace.

Ready and Sarah live in Luis’ office. There, they are far from the Salazar Manor aviary and well out of the worse kind of troublem- biting other birds. Ready is still territorial although a real sucker for Luis’ attention. Sarah is true to the nature of the average Meyer’s parrot: bashful and suspicious of strangers. Ready’s problems are worse than Sarah’s. He has classical Displacement Disorder. Displacement Disorder is what sometimes happens when a “wild” critter is removed from its natural environment and forced to cope with alien beings and stressful circumstances. I’ll talk about those in another article.

Until then, “step up!”.

Dromaesaurs, Daedalus and the Andean Kings

Current palaeontological discourse is closing in on the secrets of the mysterious evolution of flight. Richard Prum, Ph.D., is one of my favorite researchers of feather evolution. His work proposes that feathers first developed on running rather than climbing dinosaurs as a way of keeping warm. Previous theories argued that gliding dinosaurs developed feathers and birds then evolved from these creatures. Most palaeontologists today classify birds as an extant group of coelurosaurs. Coelurosauria is a group of theropod dinosaurs. Characteristics to this group of dinosaurs include an extended sacrum, a distally stiffened tail and a bowed ulna. Coelurosaurs include Tyrannosaurs Rex, Velociraptor and Dromaesaurs. Advanced theropods were covered in a fluffy down comprised of papilla with tufts of unbranched filaments. Prum's theory states that developmental mechanisms within the tubular feather germ and follicle gave rise to modern feathers. Dinosaurs such as the dromaesaurs and the archaeopteryx may have been the ancestors of modern day birds. Loosely speaking that would make birds coelurosaurs and DINOSAURS to boot! Have you kissed a dinosaur lately? AARRGH!!!

Daedalus was born without feathers but was a bright mythological human being, yes sir. Credited with being the creator of images Daedalus is known for his clever inventions and artifices. Pandering to the urges of King Minos, Daedalus fell victim to the anxious fears of a lizard brained king. King Minos commissioned Daedalus to build him a meandering labyrinth to imprison his Queen's son Asterius, the Minotaur. The labyrinth was virtually inescapable but King Minos feared that Daedalus would reveal the secrets of the labyrinth to the public. To prevent the Minotaur's escape King Minos had Daedalus locked up in a tower and had all sea and land routes under tight surveillance in case Daedalus should ever escape the tower. Knowing well that escape via land and sea was futile Daedalus set out to conceive of a new route: air. Fastening feathers together with string and wax Daedalus fashioned a pair of large wings for him and his young son. Having taught his son to fly he warned the young Icarus not to fly too low in case the feathers be dampened by sea water thus causing him to fall into the sea; not to fly too high for the sun would melt the wax from the armature and cause Icarus to fall to the earth. Having flown some distance Icarus soared high to reach the heavens. The warmth of the sun melted the wax and Icarus fell into the sea. Daedalus wept bitterly lamenting his own craft and named the place where Icarus fell Icaria. Daedalus buried his son and after having reached Sicily he built a temple and hung up his wings in offering to the god Apollo.

Further on-line reading:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/
10/1018_051018_feathered_dino.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archaeopteryx
http://www.npr.org/programs/atc/features/2002/apr/mummies/
http://dml.cmnh.org/1998Dec/msg00317.html
http://www.nurseminerva.co.uk/adapt/feathers.htm
http://people.eku.edu/ritchisong/554notes1.html
http://www.yale.edu/eeb/prum/pubs.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daedalus
http://www.loggia.com/myth/daedalus.html
http://www.pantheon.org/articles/d/daedalus.html

Introducing Sarah Monster

Ta-dumm! Say hello to Sarah, folks. Sarah is my roomy here at Salazar Manor. She is a Meyer's Parrot and lives in Luis' office with her feathered beau Ready.

More on the demure Sarah later this week.

"Squawk!"