Mild onionism
An article from the New York Times about the Mayor of London trying to eliminate the Trafalgar Square pigeons.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/20/world/20pigeons.html
It has that amusingly deadpan style one normally associates with the Onion.
Choice phrases:
'because of what the mayor's office calls rogue feeding by a radical splinter group that has sneakily been providing food some afternoons, the mayor is canceling even that program [by which a 'pigeon advocacy group' fed the pigeons once and only once per day].'
'In truth, London's policy is part of an anti-pigeon trend in cities around the world, said Colin Jerolmack, who is working on a doctoral thesis about pigeon-human interaction in urban areas'
At one of the regulation feedings: 'The pigeons massed ominously and with intent.'
Birds are scary. This morning I was shocked when a duckling (an end-of-season duckling that was more like a small duck) tried to jump into our punt in order to reach my hand, which was holding, of all things, a glass of red wine (the duck looked too young to be alcoholic . . .). There was also an immense swan that followed us suspiciously along the bank looking angry.
While on the subject of the Onion, this week offered a superb short article entitled 'Mad Lit Professor Puts Finishing Touches on Bloomsday Device' (http://www.theonion.com/content/node/49429), which I think is far too close to reality with regard to the Joycean faithful, who are, in fact, insane. (Though it's undoubtedly a bad sign for me that I get the jokes in the article.)
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/20/world/20pigeons.html
It has that amusingly deadpan style one normally associates with the Onion.
Choice phrases:
'because of what the mayor's office calls rogue feeding by a radical splinter group that has sneakily been providing food some afternoons, the mayor is canceling even that program [by which a 'pigeon advocacy group' fed the pigeons once and only once per day].'
'In truth, London's policy is part of an anti-pigeon trend in cities around the world, said Colin Jerolmack, who is working on a doctoral thesis about pigeon-human interaction in urban areas'
At one of the regulation feedings: 'The pigeons massed ominously and with intent.'
Birds are scary. This morning I was shocked when a duckling (an end-of-season duckling that was more like a small duck) tried to jump into our punt in order to reach my hand, which was holding, of all things, a glass of red wine (the duck looked too young to be alcoholic . . .). There was also an immense swan that followed us suspiciously along the bank looking angry.
While on the subject of the Onion, this week offered a superb short article entitled 'Mad Lit Professor Puts Finishing Touches on Bloomsday Device' (http://www.theonion.com/content/node/49429), which I think is far too close to reality with regard to the Joycean faithful, who are, in fact, insane. (Though it's undoubtedly a bad sign for me that I get the jokes in the article.)