He Embouchures Aerophones by the Seashore

The egrets I'm used to, although they were impressively arrayed slough-side this morning on the bike ride in, almost as if they decided to ape the folks at the nearby beach, each laying claim to its own real estate.

It was the older guy sitting in the back of his van that got me, though. There he was, facing the bike path, the airport a bit further in the distance. In front of him, a music stand. In his hands, a trombone. You've got to practice somewhere, I guess, and no doubt the missus made him leave the house.

Perhaps the egrets thought it was some sort of call.

Got a Sec?

Not that I don't need the time to get done everything I need to accomplish before 2009 wobbles in wearing a diaper it will no doubt soil immediately when it looks around at the mess it gets born into, but it sort of bugs me to read: "The world's official timekeepers have added a 'leap second' to the last day of the year on Wednesday, to help match clocks to the Earth's slowing spin on its axis, which takes place at ever-changing rates affected by tides and other factors." First, later in the article we learn that the earth's rotation is slowing down, which just seems creepy and not just because The Day the Earth Stood Still just got remade (starring Keanu Reeves, who just seems creepy). The article states, "Among the reasons for Earth's slowing whirl on its axis are the braking action of tides, snow or the lack of it at the polar ice caps..." well, good thing we don't have to worry about those polar ice caps heating up. Let's just say it's not too soon that someone who actually believes in science will be in the White House.

But what bugs me even more is this--"The last [leap second] was added on December 31, 2005."

So that means George W. Bush has been in office two extra seconds.

Earth has some 'splaining to do.