On Mastodon, Geoge Takei linked to a story about a Jeopardy answer (that is, question), that got the “real name” of Sideshow Bob wrong. Sideshow Bob, as any longtime fan of The Simpsons (now in its 800th season) knows, is the murderous sidekick of Krusty the Clown.
The incorrect question as it appeared on the show:
The inspiration for the character’s name, from the writers of the episode that revealed his real name:
All well and good so far. Jeopardy put in some u’s instead of o’s. But the site (comicsands.com, which is part of Takei’s media holdings) then went on to include this:
Good ol’ Krust the Clown1Takei got repeatedly dunked on Masotdon for this, in case you were wondering. I’ve used screenshots because the typo will likely be fixed in the future. The internet never forgets..
Anyway, this is a long way to go to point out a minor typo, but I gotta get the post count here up. Also, Krust the Clown just sounds funny.
These shots were taken on the first day of spring. The weather was sunny and pleasantly warm, so I grabbed my camera and went to Lower Hume Park. Lo, there was a heron out fishing in the Brunette River, and a few other birds about.
Great blue heron up close, watching for fishiesThe heron about to grab a snackA humble dandelion, looking slightly more dramatic in the bright sunlightFemale mallard sunning on a dry section of the riverA robin listens in the courtyard of my condo complexStill listening…Striking a pose
Spring is starting out strong this year, as it is coinciding with the last bit of the unusually warm weather we’ve had over the last few days. It’ll be back to seasonal or seasonal-ish after that.
For now, though, it is pleasant and sunny and things are getting greener (in a good way).
I try to avoid ordering from Amazon at all now, but occasionally they really seem to be the only option for certain items. When I order, it pleads with me to resubscribe to Amazon Prime by interrupting any purchase with this screen:
The part I need to click to continue with my order is that blue text toward the bottom left (I have made it considerably larger here for legibility):
After this, the observant shopper might notice the total price seems higher than it should be. That’s because if you’ve added enough to your cart to qualify for free shipping ($35 or more), Amazon will still select paid shipping for you, so you can save two entire days time in getting your items1Which is not guaranteed, of course. After selecting the “No, I prefer free and waiting an entire 48 hours longer” option, it will finally let you process the transaction.
I would not object to federal legislation that:
Banned this screen altogether
Or forced Amazon (or any offending company) to make the “No thanks, SKIP” option the top and largest thing on the page. The page would look like this:
Anyway, Amazon is a bad company and every executive that is part of it should feel bad. I also feel bad. I’ll buy something local and artisanal next time to compensate.
Also, this was the last run of Winter 2023-24, as tomorrow is the first day of spring, woo.
I got out early and the run was much better, as 12-14C is only slightly warmer than normal for this time of year, so my body wasn’t having to adjust to weird, summer-like temperatures. I was still able to comfortably wear just a t-shirt and shorts, though.
I got off to a good start, then managed to keep pace for the second km, then flagged a bit in the middle, picking up again for a solid finish and one of my best overall times in a while at 5:42/km. My BPM was also a nice 151. I admit I did feel like I was pushing in terms of my current stamina level, but this is good, because it should help me to improve my overall fitness, as long as my knees don’t suddenly explode (they have been fine so far this year).
But the real nice part was the lack of crowds. Mid-morning on a Monday and I only saw a few people walking and some others jogging (more the latter). It was nice to have the space again. The sunny weather was a bonus.
As for my SPIbelt1The official name is Small Personal Items Belt, hence the whole SPI thing, the elastic is all but shot now and the belt, even when I have the phone nuzzled into the small of my back, no longer holds securely, so it’s time to get a new one. I realize, looking back, that I’ve had this since I got an iPhone 6 back in 2014, so it’s not like I didn’t get good mileage out of it. I guess I’m just cheap. But now I must overcome my cheapness, because having my phone bobble around while running is not desirable. I could skip the phone and load music onto my watch, but I’ve never been fond of the limits there, either.
But overall, a good run to start the week. Wednesday is looking cloudy and slightly cooler, so should be fine. We will see.
Brunette River, post-run. Some more green, and it isn’t just moss!
Run 858
Average pace: 5:42/km
Training status: Overreaching
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW, short loop)
Start: 10:39 a.m.
Distance: 5:03 km
Time: 28:42
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 12-14C
Humidity: 67-63%
Wind: light
BPM: 151
Weight: 169.5
Total distance to date: 6175 km
Devices: Garmin Forerunner 255 Music, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation)
Shoes: HOKA Speedgoat 5 (315/581/896 km)
View from Cariboo Dam, pre-run. 19C and sunny. Very weird!
Today was a weird run day:
I don’t normally run on weekends
I don’t normally run in the afternoon
The temperature was 19C, which is something that would happen more commonly in June than in March
For all of the above reasons, the trail was fairly packed full of people
The reason for running today is I missed Friday’s run due to birding and wanted to keep to my usual three-times-a-week cadence, so today was the day to go. I put in over 24,000 steps yesterday while birding and ran on Thursday, so I was starting to push a bit on the ol’ exercise. Sure enough, my training status went from Productive after the run to Overreaching for the walk around the rest of the lake. Whoopsie.
The run started much the same as last time, which an opening pace of 5:36/km, but after that my body began to soak in that 19 degrees and the rest of the way felt a lot harder. My times began edging closer to the six-minute mark, but I found enough reserve to bring my pace in the final km down again to 5:45/km, giving me a respectable 5:50/km overall average. I was definitely feeling more winded than usual at the end.
I also silently cursed two cyclists, who studied a map of the lake loop for some time before deciding they decided to just ignore it and ride around the lake anyway. I told them as they rode by me that bikes weren’t allowed on the trail, but they were wearing their WE CAN’T HEAR YOU LALALA faces and kept going. They were among the million or so people on the trail, though the only ones I encountered on bikes.
And really, even though it felt nice to run in the warm sun again after so many cold morning runs, I would take the cold and attendant solitude of running on a weekday morning over what I experienced today–just without the rain, thanks!
Monday is looking like another unusually warm day, with a forecast high of 20C, but I’ll run in the morning when it will be a more civilized 12-14C.
Overall, this was an odd run, with the combination of the crowds and the surreal weather proving a bit much both mentally and physically. I didn’t encounter any real issues, though I felt what might have been a ghost of a stitch as I neared the 4K mark, but it ultimately didn’t amount to anything.
The skunk cabbage is starting to bloom, but is still pre-stinky.
Stats:
Run 857
Average pace: 5:50/km
Training status: Overreaching
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW
Start: 2:04 p.m.
Distance: 5:03 km
Time: 29:21
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 19ºC
Humidity: 48-46%
Wind: light
BPM: 152
Weight: 170.0
Total distance to date: 6170 km
Devices: Garmin Forerunner 255 Music, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation)
Shoes: HOKA Speedgoat 5 (310/573/883 km)
Taking advantage of the switch to Daylight Saving Time, we hit four spots today and I ended with over 24,000 steps and am now tired.
First up: Reifel, where even a breeze in the morning didn’t feel too chilly, as the temperature rose fairly quickly. While we did not see owls or the legendary mallard/pintail hybrid, we did get our best shots ever of the night heron, sleeping as always. This is not to say the shots were great, but they were the best we’ve taken! Or the best I’ve taken, at least.
We noticed perhaps a few more shovellers than usual and came to realize that there were dozens of them everywhere, including spots we never usually see them, because there were so many they were crowding themselves out of the usual spots. It had me wondering if their huge numbers and omnipresence may have pushed other waterfowl out. We saw a single wood duck, for example, and normally their numbers are decently represented at Reifel.
We took a bit of a haphazard route through the sanctuary, as there were quite a few more people than you might expect for a Friday, including a tour group from exotic Washington state! This meant we probably missed a few little bits here and there, but we got our shots and had more to do!
Next was the feeders at the Richmond Nature House. The area here was dominated by juncos and to a lesser extent, chickadees. Two squirrels showed up, but neither was quite as dedicated as others we’ve seen when it came to tackling the feeders. The smaller squirrel established a peace treaty with a pair of mallards that arrived (which in itself is unusual). No fancy woodpeckers or jays, though.
We moved onto Iona Beach, where the tide was so far out (how far was it?) we were able to walk the shoreline without getting our feet soaked. Birds were in lesser supply here, though we did see crows, gulls and some others. No yellow-headed blackbirds, alas. I also shot at least eight different boats and ships, which I think is a personal record and will inevitably lead to my first aquatic vehicle gallery, which I may call Holy Ship! With the sun out, we were still able to get plenty of nice scenery shots.
But wait, there’s more! Nic’s phone died while giving us directions from Iona Beach to Piper spit, and it did so while we were on a route we’d never taken before. We switched to my phone and the last update had switched from the sassy Australian voice I know and love to some weird American accent that sounded like, I don’t know, about four regional accents all smushed together. Yuck. I switched back to the Aussie, and we got to Piper spit just in time to wait for the long, long train to go by so we could park.
Songbirds were a bit scarce here, though blackbirds were well-represented. There was also a single pigeon representing all of pigeondom. And also a single seagull. Maybe some bird species were out of town at a convention.
There were again more people than usual here, probably because of the unusually pleasant weather, and several were feeding the waterfowl. Since these people were often at opposite ends of the pier, this had the effect of causing dozens of ducks to move en masse from one end to the other, then back again. They earned their seed today.
And the buffleheads were back! Buffleheads are adorable, as determined by science.
There was some goose drama, but they were reasonably calm today. Maybe it’s because it’s early in mating season, and they need to behave. Behave, relative to being a Canada goose, that is.
By the end I was on my third battery (they are getting old) and I was having intermittent issues with focusing/shutter activation, but I only missed a few shots and no error messages. More importantly, I got some rather nice shots to boot.
Overall, despite a bumpy start1Private joke. You had to be there., it was a good day for birding.
Today was the latest start to a run in a long time–2:21 p.m.! But I had a reason for this: I was tired of running in the cold. Spring is still officially five days away, but I’m ready now. With a high forecast to be 12C today, I decided to wait and lo, it was indeed 12C and mostly sunny when I went for my run. I wore a single layer! Crazy.
The sun felt nice. Did I have more energy? Maybe a little. Maybe I was just pleased to not be in the cold, with pouring rain. I started out strong, kept going, flagged a bit midway, then kept going again, pushing gently and finishing with a solid 5:44/km. BPM was up there at 157, but still well below what would make me uncomfortable.
Conditions were pleasant. I did a short loop and on the way back to the start, a mild breeze was blowing–and it felt nice, instead of chilling me to my core. Humidity was lower, but not enough to cause DMS1Dry Mouth Syndrome. Overall, it felt good to be out and to be running.
Birding is taking the place of my usual Friday run, but I do plan on going out on Saturday (yes, the weekend). The high temperature is currently forecast to be a whacky 20C, which is not only twice the average high, but would break the previous record by a hefty 5 degrees. I haven’t decided when I will run on Saturday, but 20C might actually feel a bit shocking to my body in mid-March. We’ll see.
Brunette River, post-run. A little more green.
Run 856
Average pace: 5:44/km
Training status: Productive
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW, short loop)
Start: 2:21 p.m.
Distance: 5:04 km
Time: 28:51
Weather: Sunny, with some high cloud
Temp: 12ºC
Humidity: 58-56%
Wind: light
BPM: 157
Weight: 169.8
Total distance to date: 6170 km
Devices: Garmin Forerunner 255 Music, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation)
Shoes: HOKA Speedgoat 5 (305/560/865 km)
…walk into a bar. Actually, they’d probably fly in.
I went to Sapperton Landing this afternoon and shot some scenery and birds and scenery with birds. It’s getting late as I type this, so full gallery soon (for real, I swear), but here’s one each of the above-mentioned birds.
Robin resting before the bug hunt resumesSong sparrow doing its thingA crow contemplating its next move (it was very intrigued by the sign)
