Song Challenge! - Part 90

Subject: SONG CHALLENGE! - Part 90
From: Áine
Date: 01 Oct 02 - 12:22 PM

Well Challenge!rs, we're closing in on the big 100 . . . Hopefully, the next 10 Challenge!s will be as good as this one (hehehe). This idea comes from our own Gentle Genie, so if it tickles your funny bone and/or your creative consciousness, point your quill in her general direction *BG* So, sharpen those crayons and roll out the Charmin', 'cuz here we go:

How Big Is That Emu In My Window? -- (HAMBURG, Germany) - An escaped emu caused confusion in Hamburg after a woman called police to report what she thought was a bare-chested man with two big white dots on his forehead staring into her window, police said on Friday.

The large, flightless, Australian bird resembling an ostrich has been on the run from a local zoo since Thursday. "The woman heard someone tapping at the window at night and when she looked out she saw a head with two big eyes and a bare chest," a Hamburg police spokesman said.

Officers said they knew there was an emu on the run and put two and two together after they found no one suspicious.

"We're still looking for either a naked man with huge eyes or an emu," the spokesman added. The bird has escaped twice in two weeks. Last week it ran away and frightened a horse, but was eventually captured.


Go For It, Challenge!rs!!

-- Áine

Subject: RE: SONG CHALLENGE! - Part 90
From: Wolfgang
Date: 01 Oct 02 - 01:10 PM

Just an aside remark: That's at least the fourth story from Germany for a song challenge. Without exception, I never had read the story before in our newspapers. One time, the story was a complete invention, one time it was partially true, the other two times I found not the slightest indication it had happened at all.

It makes me wonder about the North American press and its scrutiny. This time as well I guess the story is an invention without any factual basis.

Don't let this disturb you. We all know (folk) songs don't need a factual basis.

Wolfgang

Subject: RE: SONG CHALLENGE! - Part 90
From: MMario
Date: 01 Oct 02 - 01:15 PM

It makes me wonder about the North American press and its scrutiny.

gosh- wolfgang - The Germans printed it first, though; that makes me wonder about German press and its scutiny.

Subject: RE: SONG CHALLENGE! - Part 90
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 01 Oct 02 - 01:22 PM

Well, that story was put out by Reuters, dated August 23rd - I checked with Google. That doesn't guarantee it's true, but Reuters has a reputation for reliability to maintain, and it can't afford to take too many risks with that.

Subject: RE: SONG CHALLENGE! - Part 90
From: Jeri
Date: 01 Oct 02 - 03:33 PM

Zeus became a father in the guise of a swan
Ain't it so, boys and girls, ain't it so
You gotta watch them big birds 'cause one might be a man
Ain't it so, boys and girls, ain't it so

And in far Germany lived a woman with poor sight
Ain't it so, boys and girls, ain't it so
Who heard a tapping at her window one dark and fuzzy night
Ain't it so, boys and girls, ain't it so

It was a great big man with a couple of great big eyes
Ain't it so, boys and girls, ain't it so
And all night long the feathers flew, you know I tell no lies
Ain't it so, boys and girls, ain't it so

Now she read the morning paper, and much to her surprise
Ain't it so, boys and girls, ain't it so
It said her boyfriend was a great big bird with great big birdie eyes
Ain't it so, boys and girls, ain't it so

Oh a bird in the bush is much better than in the zoo
Ain't it so, boys and girls, ain't it so
But somehow, this flightless bird, from the coop he flew
Ain't it so, boys and girls, ain't it so

And she pines for her lost lover, who left her in the lurch
Ain't it so, boys and girls, ain't it so
One twin's in the cradle and one is on the perch
Ain't it so, boys and girls, ain't it so

There may not have ever been a man or Austrailian emu
Ain't it so, boys and girls, ain't it so
But it makes a helluva story, so who cares if it is true
Ain't it so, boys and girls, ain't it so

Subject: RE: SONG CHALLENGE! - Part 90
From: MMario
Date: 01 Oct 02 - 03:35 PM

a bird in the bush? *choke*

BRAVA!

Subject: RE: SONG CHALLENGE! - Part 90
From: GUEST,Amos
Date: 01 Oct 02 - 03:48 PM

TEEEEriffic, Jerry!! LOL!!

A

Subject: RE: SONG CHALLENGE! - Part 90
From: GUEST,Amos
Date: 01 Oct 02 - 04:18 PM

Spinster's Love Song to the Emu

Tune: Looking For Love in All the Wrong Places

I've spent a lifetime looking for you
Loved lots of feather-brains, never true
Playing a fools' game, hoping to win
Telling those sweet lies and losing again.

I was looking for love in all the wrong places
Looking for love in the wrong kinda faces
Searching your eyes, looking for traces
Of what.. I'm dreaming of...
Hopin' to find an ostrich-like lover
God bless the day I discovered
You in the night,, lookin' for love

When I was alone,late in the night
Left up the window shade, hoping for someone right…
Don't know where it started or where it might end
Attracting any species at all, lookin' for a friend

I was looking for love in all the wrong places
Looking for love in the wrong kinda faces
Searching your eyes, looking for traces
Of what.. I'm dreaming of...
Hopin' to find an ostrich-like lover
God bless the day I discovered
You in the night,, lookin' for love

You came a'knocking at my heart's door..
You're everything I've been looking for..
Finally a birdbrain who'll at least be true
I've found my love in my own Emu!

No more looking for love among the wrong races,
Found love in that googly-eye face, oh
Dinner-plate eyes, legs like a race horse
That's what I'm dreaming of...
Now that I found an ostrichoid lover
I bless the day I discovered
My Emu, lookin' for love

…In humanoid races
Looking for love in too many faces
Googly eyes, how my heart races
No-one is gonna believe it's true!...
Now that I found a feather-brained lover
Knowin' for sure he won't blow my cover
That big Emu, he was lookin' for love!

Subject: RE: SONG CHALLENGE! - Part 90
From: Áine
Date: 01 Oct 02 - 05:33 PM

Two fan-tail-tastic entries to start things off!! Here goes the Silver B.L.O.B. slingin' --

To Jeri for this oh-so-appropos bit of the bird:

Oh a bird in the bush is much better than in the zoo
Ain't it so, boys and girls, ain't it so
But somehow, this flightless bird, from the coop he flew
Ain't it so, boys and girls, ain't it so

And to Amos, who's always stuck his hand out the windows of moving vehicles (and to great success, I'm sure) -- for this moving mite of myopic mirth:

You came a'knocking at my heart's door..
You're everything I've been looking for..
Finally a birdbrain who'll at least be true
I've found my love in my own Emu!

Yee-haw!! -- Keep it going, Challenge!rs!!

-- Áine

Subject: RE: SONG CHALLENGE! - Part 90
From: Clifton53
Date: 01 Oct 02 - 08:37 PM

Helga And The Emu Man
(Tweeter and the Monkey Man)

Helga saw the Emu Man one dark friday night,
His long neck and eyes gave her one goodly fright,
He gaped into her window as she washed up her hands,
She felt mortal fear ripplin' up right through her glands,
" Good Lord" she cried in horror as she stood by the sink,
"I ain't smokin' nothin' funny and I ain't had a drink",
" I know that I saw someone peepin' right in my house"
She called the cops in quickly, " Let them deal with this louse",

(Chorus)

    And the Emu Man,
    Slid into the woods,
    " They can chase me 'til they're tired
      It won't due no bloody good"


Now the men of Hamburg's finest never liked the Emu Man
He swore they'd never take him anytime he ran,
" I scared the heck out of that horse last week, no amateurish trick"
"Next time they take a shot at me they'd better be quick"
The coppers showed up soon and took Helga's statement there,
" He had two white and shinin' eyes, and his chest it was bare"
" He tapped right on my window, damn near scared me half to death"
"I ain't seen nothin' like that since I quit snortin' meth"


    And the Emu Man,
    Forty miles ahead,
    " They can chase me 'til they're tired,
       They can chase me 'til they're dead.


Everyone remembers how the Emu got away
And he still makes appearances 'til this very day,
And Helga's left to wonder just what the hell she saw,
The night she saw the Emu Man, the night she called the law,
And down in Hamburg City they still talk about the tail
Of when they chased the Emu Man, tried to throw the bird in jail
And sometimes I sit and wonder, why I'm his biggest fan,
The legendary peeper called The Emu Man.

    And the Emu Man,
    A famous rogue today,
    " I'll live to run again boys, live to run another day"

   Clifton
      

Subject: RE: SONG CHALLENGE! - Part 90
From: Genie
Date: 02 Oct 02 - 04:24 AM

Looks like you folks are off to a flying (running?) start, whether the tale is based in reality or fantasy! C'mon, let's hear some more!

Genie

Subject: RE: SONG CHALLENGE! - Part 90
From: Áine
Date: 02 Oct 02 - 06:18 AM

Hi Clifton53!! Great to see you in these parts ;-) I see that I have another Silver B.L.O.B. to sling out there:

To Clifton53 for this fit of feathered frenzy:

Helga saw the Emu Man one dark friday night,
His long neck and eyes gave her one goodly fright,
He gaped into her window as she washed up her hands,
She felt mortal fear ripplin' up right through her glands,
" Good Lord" she cried in horror as she stood by the sink,
"I ain't smokin' nothin' funny and I ain't had a drink",
" I know that I saw someone peepin' right in my house"
She called the cops in quickly, " Let them deal with this louse",


('mortal fear ripplin' up right through her glands')??? Whew, Clifton, you're getting in the Halloween spirit early, aren't ya? *BG* Love it!

-- Áine

Subject: RE: SONG CHALLENGE! - Part 90
From: Aidan Crossey
Date: 02 Oct 02 - 07:21 AM

THE PEELER AND THE EMU
(A skit on The Peeler And The Goat)

Oh, the Hamburg peeler went one night
On duty and patrolling
He spied an emu upon the road
And took him for a-strolling

Bayonet fixed, he sallied forth
And he caught him by the thrapple
There swore out a mighty oath
And the pair began to grapple

"Have mercy, sir" the emu cried
"And let me tell my story
I am no rogue, no ribbon man
No croppy, Whig, or Tory

I'm innocent of any crime,
Of petty or high treason
For my tribe is active at this time
It is the mating season."

"Do not complain," the peeler said
"But give your tongue a bridle
You're absent from your feath'ry nest
Disorderly, and idle

Your wide-eyed lies will not prevail
Nor your sublime oration
For you have trespassed far from home
On your own information"

"No laws of man have I transgressed
By deed or combination
It's true I strayed far from my nest,
My home, my habitation

Sad Hamburg is my dwelling place
Though born in far Australia
Where emus ever find a mate
Both male-ya and female-ya

And I bein' blighted with a need
To fertilise a hen-o
Have gone in search of my own kind
And fled my prison pen-o

But female hens of my own breed
Are few and far between-o.
In Hamburg, Munich and Cologne
Such beasts are rarely seen-o"

"I wager, sir, that you are drunk
On whiskey, rum, and brandy
Or you wouldn't have such gallant spunk
To be so bold and manly"

"You readily would let me pass
If I had money handy
I'd trate you to the parting glass
Its then I'd be the dandy"

"Oh give me peace" the peeler said
"And do not be a-bribin'
For I've had enough of your oul' jaw,
And lengthy diatribin'"

And so, with that, he hit the bird
A blow with his oul' truncheon
He plucked and stuffed and baked and carved
And ate it for his luncheon

Subject: RE: SONG CHALLENGE! - Part 90
From: Áine
Date: 02 Oct 02 - 03:54 PM

Oh derrymacash, a chara, what a brilliant gob -- uh, I mean job -- of an extrapollated ending!! Here's a Golden B.L.O.B. for these two mirth-making verses:

"Oh give me peace" the peeler said
"And do not be a-bribin'
For I've had enough of your oul' jaw,
And lengthy diatribin'"

And so, with that, he hit the bird
A blow with his oul' truncheon
He plucked and stuffed and baked and carved
And ate it for his luncheon

Fan-tail-tastic, a mhic!

-- Áine

Subject: RE: SONG CHALLENGE! - Part 90
From: Áine
Date: 03 Oct 02 - 01:26 PM

Just bumping this up to the top, so it doesn't fall off the '1 day' Mudcat radar . . . ;-)

-- Áine

Subject: RE: SONG CHALLENGE! - Part 90
From: MMario
Date: 03 Oct 02 - 01:49 PM

The Hamburg Bird-ler?

My eyes have seen the coming of the strangest peeping tom
He was trampling down my gardens, and a-digging up my lawn
He tapped upon the window pane, then disappeared at dawn
I hope that he stays gone!

Mein Gott, I thought I was delirious!
Mein Gott, it really was mysterious;
Was it a bird? ( I have my doubts) or a naked man about?
I'm gonna call the cops!

They say it was an emu, and that I am seeing things
I can tell a naked chest from a feathered pair of wings!
And I'd surely spot a beak - when not distracted by other things
I hope that he stays gone!

chorus

I could feel his eyes upon me as he pressed against the pane
I think that I may ask him in if he should come again
Perhaps I should buy birdseed if the truth is what they claim?
I can't believe he's gone!

Subject: RE: SONG CHALLENGE! - Part 90
From: Genie
Date: 03 Oct 02 - 02:29 PM

LOL, Amos! Derry! all of you!

Subject: RE: SONG CHALLENGE! - Part 90
From: GUEST,Sonja
Date: 03 Oct 02 - 02:31 PM

Well, here's my totally politically incorrect tail tale, guaranteed to raise the feathers of the Religious Right! (And NOW, too, no doubt!)
Sonja

Emu Bird Thrill
(Or the Old Maid's Excellent Fantasy Adventure)
Parody lyrics by Sonja W. Oates
Tune: Mockingbird Hill

When the moon Monday evenin crept over the hill
And kissed my old bod' there by my window sill,
How my heart filled with rapture when I saw the sil-
Houette of that man with his Emu Bird build!

    "Ooh-la-la! Pitter-te-hee-hee!"  It gave me a thrill
    To look out of my window at that Emu Bird's Build.
    "Ooh-la-la! Pitter-te-hee-hee!" There's a piece for me still!
    I'd welcome bein' deflowered in an Emu Bird Thrill.

He'd a three-foot long neck and big eyes that could kill
And I drooled at the thought of his takin' my will!
Then I tumbled down backwards-- a nasty ol' spill! --
In my home at the thought of that Emu Bird's build.

    "Ooh-la-la! Pitter-te-hee-hee!"  It gave me a thrill
    To look out of my window at that Emu Bird's Build.
    "Ooh-la-la! Pitter-te-hee-hee!" There's a piece for me still!
    I'd welcome bein' deflowered in an Emu Bird Thrill.

Now, it's late in my years, never needed "the pill,"
And I'd not leave this life while I've 'everything'  still.
Picture me in the thighs of that cock with the quills
Doin' wrong in the moonlight, 'cause he fills the bill!

    "Ooh-la-la! Pitter-te-hee-hee!"  It gave me a thrill
    To look out of my window at that Emu Bird's Build.
    "Ooh-la-la! Pitter-te-hee-hee!" There's a piece for me still!
    I'd welcome bein' deflowered in an Emu Bird Thrill.

Just for comparison, here are the original lyrics:
Mockingbird Hill

When the sun in the morning creeps over the hill
And kisses the roses 'round my window sill,
How my heart fills with rapture when I hear the trill
Of the birds in the treetops on Mockingbird Hill!

Chorus:
"Tra-la-la, twittle-de-dee-dee,"  It gives me a thrill
To wake up in the morning to the Mockingbird's trill!
"Tra-la-la, twittle-de-dee-dee,"  There's peace and good will
You're welcome as the flowers on Mockingbird Hill.

Got a three-cornered plow and an acre to till
And a mule that I bought for a ten-dollar bill.
There's a tumble-down shack and a rusty ol' mill,
But it's my home, sweet, home up on Mockingbird Hill.

When it's late in the evening I climb up my Hill
And survey all my kingdom while everything's still,
Only me and the sky and an old whip-poor-will
Singin' songs in the twilight on Mockingbird Hill.

spelling fixed & chorus inserted by mudelf ;-)

Subject: RE: SONG CHALLENGE! - Part 90
From: MMario
Date: 03 Oct 02 - 02:35 PM

Marvelous Sonja!

Subject: RE: SONG CHALLENGE! - Part 90
From: GUEST,Sonja
Date: 03 Oct 02 - 02:35 PM

Oops! That should be "...Old Maid's Excellent ...". And, of course, I should have re-posted the chorus at the end.

Subject: RE: SONG CHALLENGE! - Part 90
From: GUEST,Sonja
Date: 03 Oct 02 - 07:25 PM

Thanks, MM.

Looks like a clone fixed the "old maid" and added the last chorus to my song -- but accidentally added the first verse again just before it. Would the same helpful clone mind cutting the second post of verse number one? Thanks!

SWO

Subject: RE: SONG CHALLENGE! - Part 90
From: Genie
Date: 04 Oct 02 - 10:20 PM

C'mon, folks, let's have a few more of these poetic gems!

Genie

Subject: RE: SONG CHALLENGE! - Part 90
From: GUEST
Date: 06 Oct 02 - 02:37 PM

refresh

Subject: RE: SONG CHALLENGE! - Part 90
From: Amos
Date: 06 Oct 02 - 11:43 PM

Nice work, Sonia!

Nice to see such fresh genious pouring into the Song Challenges.,

The baton moves on!


A

Subject: RE: SONG CHALLENGE! - Part 90
From: Áine
Date: 07 Oct 02 - 01:10 PM

Two more goodies for our basket of birdseed!! Well done, and here are your Silver B.L.O.B.s:

To MMario for this tidbit of ticklesomeness:

They say it was an emu, and that I am seeing things
I can tell a naked chest from a feathered pair of wings!
And I'd surely spot a beak - when not distracted by other things
I hope that he stays gone!

And to Sonja, for this twittering tease of a chorus (love it!!):

"Ooh-la-la! Pitter-te-hee-hee!" It gave me a thrill
To look out of my window at that Emu Bird's Build.
"Ooh-la-la! Pitter-te-hee-hee!" There's a piece for me still!
I'd welcome bein' deflowered in an Emu Bird Thrill.

Ooh-la-la, indeed! ;-)

-- Áine

Subject: RE: SONG CHALLENGE! - Part 90
From: Deda
Date: 07 Oct 02 - 09:34 PM

The guy who escaped from the zoo

(Tune = The daring young man on the flying trapeze)

When he knocked at my window I saw with surprise
A grief-stricken face with astonishing eyes
I hoped 'twas a peeper but the cops put me wise
He was only a bird from the zoo
Now the bird that alarmed me was flightless
With wings that do nothing but flap
But since I am very near sightless
I thought him a good-looking chap

CHO:
He runs through the town with the greatest of speed
On the longest of legs, which are multiple-kneed
But he isn't quite bright, so he's easily treed
The guy who escaped from the zoo.

He gazed at my window so sad and forlorn
A heartbroken fellow, so I would have sworn
Alone in this wide world to wander and mourn
With a nose that looked more like a horn
(CHO)

Subject: RE: SONG CHALLENGE! - Part 90
From: Amos
Date: 07 Oct 02 - 10:11 PM

LOL, sis!! Great doggerel!! :>)

Love,

A

Subject: RE: SONG CHALLENGE! - Part 90
From: Deda
Date: 07 Oct 02 - 10:20 PM

Thanks bro. It's a little short, I guess -- but then, when somebody told Lincoln that his legs were too long, he said they were just long enough to reach the ground.

Clear as mud, but it covers the ground.

Love, Deda

Subject: RE: SONG CHALLENGE! - Part 90
From: Genie
Date: 08 Oct 02 - 03:24 AM

Love it, Deda!

Subject: RE: SONG CHALLENGE! - Part 90
From: Áine
Date: 08 Oct 02 - 09:58 AM

Brava, Deda!! Here's a Silver B.L.O.B. for your well-turned chorus:

He runs through the town with the greatest of speed
On the longest of legs, which are multiple-kneed
But he isn't quite bright, so he's easily treed
The guy who escaped from the zoo.

'multiple-kneed' -- Fantastic!! ;-)

All the best, Áine

Subject: RE: SONG CHALLENGE! - Part 90
From: MMario
Date: 08 Oct 02 - 10:09 AM

Excellent! Very singable, - and with the choruses, not all that short...

Subject: RE: SONG CHALLENGE! - Part 90
From: Genie
Date: 09 Oct 02 - 12:54 PM

Hadda hatch just one more.

Great Emu Bird
By Genie
Tune: Great Speckled Bird (same tune as "Wild Side Of Life" and "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels")

Oh, what lecherous thoughts she was thinking
When she first spied that Great Emu Bird;
He reminded her of her late husband,
Though at first thought, the tale seems absurd.
It was late on a clear cloudless evening,
With the full moon so bright overhead,
That the Great Emu Bird at her window
Scared the Hausfrau right out of her bed.

All she saw when she first heard the tapping
Was a huge eye that peered through the pane
And a neck that was, frankly, unglaublich!
She found herself feeling quite faint.
Reluctant to lower her standard,
She watched ev'ry move that he made.
She tried not to find fault with his oddness,
Thinking, "Gottsurely makes no mistakes."

As she crept near, with great apprehension,
The prowler ran off in the night
With the speed of a souped-up new Porsche,
As she trembed (with mixed hope and fright).
So she called to report the intruder,
And they soon solved the puzzle, they thought.
For an emu they called "Eric Vogel"
Was abroad and refused to be caught.

He'd been stretching his legs for the journey.
He had 'flown' from that old Hamburg Zoo.
When the keepers had missed him kommt Morgen,
They said, "Ach!  Was ist einVogelmann to do?"
From the pen he so fiercely detested
He had broken out zweimal before.
He would rise and be gone in a moment,
Then he'd frighten a Fraulein or horse.

"Das Polizist detective assured me
That no prowler was found near mein Haus,
And he's sure that das Jaeger had feathers
And was prob'ly just hunting ein maus.
Still,  late in das Abend, I still wonder,
Reflecting on the sight I did see,
Could that "neck" have belonged to an emu
Or was someone just glad to see me?

Glossary:
Hausfrau = housewife
unglaublich = incredible
Gott = God
Vogel = bird
Vogelmann = birdman
kommt Morgen = come(s) morning
zweimal = twice
Haus = house
Maus = mouse
Jaeger = hunter
Abend = evening

blue clickie thang fixed by mudelf ;-)

Subject: RE: SONG CHALLENGE! - Part 90
From: Amos
Date: 09 Oct 02 - 01:16 PM

LOL, Genie!! Das ist vunderbar!


A

Subject: RE: SONG CHALLENGE! - Part 90
From: Genie
Date: 09 Oct 02 - 01:18 PM

Looks like that clicky should've worked. Dunno why it didn't. (Same method I've used in the past, and the HTML code looks right.)

from mudelf ;-) -- your left 'greater than' symbol was not in the proper html format, Genie, and you had not closed the 'a href' command properly. No big problem to fix it though, glad to do it.

Subject: RE: SONG CHALLENGE! - Part 90
From: Genie
Date: 10 Oct 02 - 12:37 AM

Thanks, mudself. FWIW, folks (since I have several titles undescored and not all are blickies), if you click on the title "The Great Speckled Bird" it'll take you to the lyrics in the DT.

Genie

BTW, Amos, glad you liked das Lied.

Subject: RE: SONG CHALLENGE! - Part 90
From: Áine
Date: 10 Oct 02 - 08:41 AM

Ach du lieber, mein fraulein!! Here's your Silver B.L.O.B., dear Genie-of-the-many-tongues (oh behave, Amos!) for:

"Das Polizist detective assured me
That no prowler was found near mein Haus,
And he's sure that das Jaeger had feathers
And was prob'ly just hunting ein maus.
Still, late in das Abend, I still wonder,
Reflecting on the sight I did see,
Could that "neck" have belonged to an emu
Or was someone just glad to see me?

Love it!!

-- Áine

Subject: RE: SONG CHALLENGE! - Part 90
From: Genie
Date: 10 Oct 02 - 11:26 PM

Danke, mein liebe SchŠtzele!

Genie

Subject: RE: SONG CHALLENGE! - Part 90
From: Amos
Date: 11 Oct 02 - 12:31 AM

I knew our naughty intuitions were grounded in "hard" science. Winess the following from the current online edition of the New Scientist:

Strange but true tales from the world of science 
First published in New Scientist print edition,
 
2002 Ig Nobel Prizes
 
FEEDBACK'S favourite prizes - the Ig Nobels - were handed out last week at Harvard University. Sponsored by the humourous magazine the Annals of Improbable Research, the prizes honour achievements that "cannot or should not be reproduced". This year's crop was a rich one.
...

Research on a rather different type of interspecies behaviour earned Norma Bubier, Charles Paxton, Phil Bowers, and Charles Deeming the Ig Nobel in Biology. Four years ago they published a seminal paper in British Poultry Science: "Courtship behaviour of ostriches toward humans under farming conditions in Britain" (vol 39, p 477). They discovered that ostriches hand-reared by farm workers tended to identify with humans rather than with other birds. This had consequences during the mating season that didn't help produce more ostriches.


Regards,

A

Subject: RE: SONG CHALLENGE! - Part 90
From: Genie
Date: 11 Oct 02 - 08:32 AM

I think Konrad Lorenz discovered that phenomenon with his ducklings decades ago. Like ducky, like ostrich -- like emu?

Genie
¤;-)

Subject: RE: SONG CHALLENGE! - Part 90
From: Amos
Date: 11 Oct 02 - 08:43 AM

I don't recall the implied courting gestures in Lorenz -- maybe that's why the committee gave the ostrich study an Ignoble?

A

Subject: RE: SONG CHALLENGE! - Part 90
From: Genie
Date: 11 Oct 02 - 03:59 PM

Seems to me I recall reading that birds that got imprinted on humans often initiated courtship behaviors toward humans as well. It caused problems for folks trying to raise new generations of birds, because it interfered with their attraction to their own species. Of course, a duck would have a harder time with the follow-through than an ostrich would.

Maybe someone who's been following this literature more currently than I have can enlighten us.

Genie

Subject: RE: SONG CHALLENGE! - Part 90
From: mousethief
Date: 11 Oct 02 - 11:53 PM

Maybe this is the origin of the Leda-and-the-swan myth?

Alex

Subject: RE: SONG CHALLENGE! - Part 90
From: GUEST,Sonja
Date: 12 Oct 02 - 04:34 AM

You mean it was really an emu, Alex?

Subject: RE: SONG CHALLENGE! - Part 90
From: GUEST,Nadja Chick
Date: 12 Oct 02 - 12:17 PM

IT AIN'T ME, BIRD               by  Nadja Chick

Tune --
It Ain't Me Babe   (Bob Dylan)
 

Go 'way from my window,
Leave on those long gangly legs.
I'm not the chick you want, bird,
Not the one to hatch your eggs.
I'm sure you're looking for a mate
Never weak but tall and strong.
You'd protect her and defend her
With your beak and legs so long,
Someone to sit upon your nest -- and more,

But It Ain't Me, Bird!
No, no, no, It Ain't Me, Bird!
It ain't me you're looking for, Bird!

Go fly now from the ledge, Bird,
...Er,...run across the ground.
I'm really not your type, Bird,
Ain't got no feather-down.
At first I thought you were a man
With a big, bare, hairy chest
And dark brown eagle eyes that seemed
To pierce me to my breast,
But then I saw those knees, and I cried "Fowl!
 
It Ain't Me, Bird!
No, no, no, It Ain't Me, Bird!
It ain't me you're looking for, Bird!

Go climb back into your cage, Bird,
Stop staring like you were stoned!
I'm gonna call the "fuzz," bird
If you won't leave me alone!
You may be looking for a home,
To be somebody's special pet,
But you'd tromp my flowers constantly
And eat me into debt!
Another ugly brute to feed?   No more!

It Ain't Me, Bird!
No, no, no, It Ain't Me, Bird!
It ain't me you're looking for, Bird!

Subject: RE: SONG CHALLENGE! - Part 90
From: GUEST,Nacho Chick
Date: 12 Oct 02 - 12:43 PM

Since it may not be clear that I intended the "j" in "Nadja" to be pronounced as a "j" and not a "y," I probably should've signed my name as "Nacho Chick." I like that better anyway.

NC

Subject: RE: SONG CHALLENGE! - Part 90
From: Amos
Date: 12 Oct 02 - 11:51 PM

Nacho Chick!! LOL!! Love them cheese and chips. And that take off on "It Ain't Me Babe" is beautifully done!!

A

Subject: RE: SONG CHALLENGE! - Part 90
From: GUEST,Nacho Chick
Date: 14 Oct 02 - 11:32 PM

Muchas Gracias, Amos! (Or should I say "Danke schoen?")

NC

Subject: RE: SONG CHALLENGE! - Part 90
From: Amos
Date: 14 Oct 02 - 11:37 PM

Either one, as long as it isn't late for dinner.

I think you oughta lose that guest handle and frequent these challenges more often. You're obviously a nachul for 'em. :>)

A

Subject: RE: SONG CHALLENGE! - Part 90
From: Amos
Date: 16 Oct 02 - 12:05 AM

Challengers all!

The Goddess has announced she will be visitng the other side of the Cosmos for a few days to straighten out some vexacious disharmonies amongst the polytonal harpoid of Glottus 13, out there in the Mixylodian sector, I believe. In any case she wishes me to express her affection and esteem for your talents and assures you she will return shortly to hand out all due Blobs and Chips here in our quadrant.

Carry on singing!!

A

Subject: RE: SONG CHALLENGE! - Part 90
From: Genie
Date: 16 Oct 02 - 12:22 AM

As to your second sentence, Amos, how about translating it into German so we can have a clue as to what you're talking about. (Are you saying çine has a sore throat?) *G*

Your next sentence is quite clear, and welcome news!

As for your last one, there's still time to "hear" some new Challenge! songs from Sharon A., Mousethief, McGrath, JenEllen, and any of a slew of other frivolous poets before TGG returns to serve the chips.

Genie