Category: Animals

Ducks Again – With Good Omens References

Time has come for another duck post, this time with references from the TV show Good Omens. It’s now been one year since it premiered on Amazon Prime. The basic summary of the show (adapted from the book of the same name written by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman) is: Armageddon is coming and angel Aziraphale (Michael Sheen) and demon Crowley (David Tennant) team up to prevent it so that they can save the Earth. What has this got to do with ducks, you ask?

Well this. Apart from it being absolutely hilarious series, it mentions ducks four times–in only six episodes.

Watch our for a spoiler ahead.

In Episode 1, we are told by God (voiced by Frances McDormand) that the best place for clandestine meetings in London is St James’s Park and the ducks there are used to being fed by secret agents.

In Episode 2, Crowley has this line of dialogue: “suspicions slide of him like…” and stops as he can’t remember what they slide like, then, later in that same episode it comes to him: “water off a duck’s back!”

I told you ducks don’t even need a lake – any puddle of water will do!

In Episode 3, Crowley and Aziraphale meet in St James’s Park, in the Victorian era (as we follow them throughout history), Aziraphale feeds the ducks and Crowley says: “Ducks have ears.”

*spoiler ahead*

And finally, in the final episode, we see Crowley (who is actually Aziraphale in Crowley’s body) get a bath of holy water and he says this: “I don’t suppose that anywhere in the nine circles of hell there’s such a thing a a rubber duck?”

*end of spoiler*

And that’s it. I just find it interesting that there are only two episodes that have no mention of a duck. Maybe the writers agree with me that ducks are indeed awesome.

Bonus

The yellow one is my pencil sharpener that I brought from work when I started homeworking. The other one I bought at Waterstones; they’ve got more of these mini model animals, I think it’s for some farm collection for children. Or something, I don’t know.

Quarantine Cat

Staying at home not only helps save lives, it also gives one an opportunity to snap some neat cat pictures. My living room faces east, so gets the morning light. Light is most essential when you have a black cat, it also shrinks the pupils in her eyes, making them greener. Normally I would be at work at this time.

Here are some pics of Pepper supervising me while I’m homeworking.

Those damn birds outside.

Wearing the ribbon with a little bell from Lindt chocolate Easter bunny.

Are you serious?

Birdy

While staying home saving lives, I took a picture of a bird chilling on a tree branch.

This tree is popular among crows and magpies. They like to sit there and make noise and it makes my cat crazy!

And so, it turns out taking photos from the window is not a stupid thing after all.

Pigeon Takeover

More pigeons!

Last Friday (3rd May), Piccadilly Gardens, an area in Manchester city centre, got evacuated due to a suspicious package. The police and bomb disposal squad were called, did their thing, the device was not viable, nothing bad happened and the culprit was arrested. So what has this got to do with pigeons?

I went out on my lunch break to see what Piccadilly Gardens looked like when it was empty. It was empty of people, but not of all living creatures, as you can see on these shots.

This wasn’t more than half an hour after the evacuation. It’s amazing how fast they took over once people were gone. But that is more of a topic for my Gloomscapes series.

You Are The Great Cat

Behold the Egyptian Deity.

You are the Great Cat, the avenger of the gods, and the judge of words, and the president of the sovereign chiefs and the governor of the holy Circle; you are indeed the Great Cat.

inscription on tomb in the valley of the kings

It’s actually my cat Pepper. But all cats think they’re gods so who’s to say she isn’t?

Please, if you’re reading this and and are looking to adopt a cat from a shelter–consider a black cat. They are the ones that are most difficult to find home for. People still have some prejudices about them (though how can you claim to be a cat lover and have prejudice about black cats, I don’t get) and also, I read somewhere that, apparently, another reason is that “they don’t photograph well so they don’t look good on Instagram.” If that is true, then… well, check out my blog.

As you can see, it is perfectly possible to take nice pics of black cats. And that was taken with just my smartphone, not a DSLR camera. You just need a lot of light. I was really lucky to get that shot, it was Saturday morning and sunlight was pouring into my bedroom and she was sitting on the window sill. It’s probably my best picture of her.

Click here for the rest of my feline photos!

The Pigeon Conferences

You see them everywhere.

You live in a city, you’re familiar with the sight of them.

Yeah, I know.

The above three photographs are from Piccadilly Gardens in Manchester.

I took this from the bus, as you can see. Somewhere in Salford.

This is the statue of Edward The Black Prince in City Square in Leeds. From my trip to Leeds.

Speaking of pigeons on statues of royalty, there is a statue of Queen Victoria in Piccadilly Gardens (which I’ve never taken a picture of) and, well, let’s just say Her Majesty would not exactly be happy.

What can you do but shrug? Pigeons gonna pigeon.

Why you lazy?

It’s the 7th day of the new year and by now, I should have posted a photograph of something to do with sky–sunrise or sunset or perhaps a moon, as I usually do at this time of year. I’m not doing that because I have no such picture; I’ve not taken up my camera this year yet. So, instead, here’s the photo of my cat Pepper, being a, well, cat.

How are you holding up in 2019?