Blicket detected … identified … acquired

We found a bird!

Nick, my dad and I were walking along the skybridge to the Westin Bonaventure, and just before we came to the World Trade Center, we encountered a cute little parakeet. She wasn’t really doing anything. At first we thought she might be a wild bird, but she didn’t move when I snuck up to take a picture, and she walked up to nick’s hand when he stretched it towards her. She was very obviously tame, but also frightened and confused. She would come towards us but not let us pick her up; we figured she had accidentally escaped from her apartment or had been set free.

Whatever the case, we thought it best to take action. Nick took off his undershirt and gently wrapped her up in it. We carried her back to the apartment very carefully—it must have looked ridiculous, and then we left her in the bathroom while we went to go get a cage and some birdseed. She’s still here; we’ve put up flyers and an ad on craigslist, so we’ll see what happens. She isn’t terribly friendly just yet, although she’ll let you pet her chest. She also makes noise whenever she hears the sound that Smash Bros plays when you pick up an item, with is just ADORABLE. She can join in with our video games.

Here are some bird pixxx:

We haven’t come up with a name we’re satisfied with for her yet. So far, candidates are:

Amelia
Andrew
Barbie
Cork?

We need some more name suggestions so come up with ’em and tell us. 

 

Shearwater

On the 20th, I went to see the band Shearwater, and I just wanted to let everyone who cares know that the concert was really awesome.

We saw them play at the Troubadour, which is a tiny venue in West Hollywood (incidentally, WeHo, or “BoysTown,” has a gay population of 41%!). I love small shows—they give the band an opportunity to develop a more personal rapport with the crowd. This was no exception. Since Shearwater was the opening act, the crowd was maybe 150 to 200 people, if that. We were right up front. The only people actually in front of us were two annoying oddballs who sat down, backs up against the stage, for Shearwater’s set. We almost stepped on them; it would not have been a bad thing.

There were five members on stage. Jonathan Meiburg is the lead singer (he is a birder, hence the name Shearwater. He also attends UT, which is awesome (hook ’em horns!!)). He has a great voice, and sings with much consternation, and plays keyboards, guitar and banjo with much aplomb. The bearded bass guitarist/guitarist/keyboardist, whose name escapes me at the moment, was also great, as was the double-bassist/bassist Kimberly. Thor, the drummer, also played a glockenspiel, a hammer dulcimer, and a clarinet, but his drumming was one of the elements that really made the evening for me. It was very immediate and solidified the music excellently. I found it ironic that Thor was playing a hammer dulcimer, by the way. The fifth member played the trumpet mainly, plus a few other instruments.

Their set was excellent. They played all of their songs that I wanted to hear. Literally, every single one. They were also selling advance copies of their forthcoming album Rook, which I had been greatly looking forward to. The best thing, though, was that since this is a small concert, they were available after to show, and we chatted briefly and got them to sign the copies of our CDs. Awesome evening!

Go here to download a free mp3 of the lead single from their new album. The song is entitled Rooks.