tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4905080602885676490.post8299581528285049146..comments2024-03-27T20:34:09.464+01:00Comments on zmkc: A Quiet Strollzmkchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08972549292961948240noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4905080602885676490.post-58415446314044522532010-11-01T03:15:35.049+01:002010-11-01T03:15:35.049+01:00Thanks for that link, Umbagollah, and for the joke...Thanks for that link, Umbagollah, and for the joke, M-H, (unlike the tea, it was strained, but still cleverer than anything I could ever muster, esprit d'escalier or de l'escalier, whichever it is, being my speciality. In the photograph, he looks like one of Thomas Hardy's less blessed characters.<br />I think that black cat is trying to tell you he loves you, Kevinzmkchttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08972549292961948240noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4905080602885676490.post-54309174464410576462010-10-31T16:22:30.510+01:002010-10-31T16:22:30.510+01:00That's rather wonderful, thank you.
The crows...That's rather wonderful, thank you.<br /><br />The crows remind me most of the black cat that lives two door down. He "sings" like that on my garden fence about 2am.Kevin Musgrovehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14472110857057175327noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4905080602885676490.post-35938106773979887402010-10-31T06:33:59.673+01:002010-10-31T06:33:59.673+01:00I thought of that poem too. Never has bird noise b...I thought of that poem too. Never has bird noise been more accurately onomatopoiaised. <br /><br />There's a copy here: http://www.vaiaata.com/soundfiles/sf_magpies.htmlUmbagollahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14556344092820711893noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4905080602885676490.post-38784585991172453402010-10-31T02:32:23.926+02:002010-10-31T02:32:23.926+02:00I've tried to find a copy online, but of cours...I've tried to find a copy online, but of course (quite rightly) it can't be legally reproduced. I did find this <a href="http://christchurchcitylibraries.com/Literature/People/G/Glover_Denis/" rel="nofollow">wonderful picture of Glover.</a> He was famously curmudgeonly, and the following is my favourite Glover story. Until the 80s there was an overnight train between Wellington and Auckland (two, even, in the 50s and 60s). At a dreadfully early hour these trains would pull into Mercer, where until the late 50s there was a 'tearooms' that provided the first chance for 'refreshments' since Taumaranui the night before. Railway tea was famously stewed and black, and Glover is reputed to have spat out a mouthful and declared "This squalid tea of Mercer is not strained!" He'd had all of a (probably sleepless) night to come up with it, of course, and it's probably apocryphal, but I like it.M-Hhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18409916623998907121noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4905080602885676490.post-70640505349407975572010-10-30T04:44:27.137+02:002010-10-30T04:44:27.137+02:00Gaw - how clever of you, I do sound exactly like J...Gaw - how clever of you, I do sound exactly like Johnnie Morris, I wonder how you knew<br />Nurse - what about the poor old Torresian crow?<br />Whispering - I wonder if you are old enough to remember Bellbird the series: I was sad the other day when my brother told me the ABC had wiped every copy of every programme, so that they could reuse the videotape<br />Worm - I suppose, like humans, some magpies are less cheerful than others?<br />M-H - I'm going to try to find that poem - it's not a bad approximation of the magpie gurgle, is it, that Quardle oodle ardle wardle doodle?zmkchttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08972549292961948240noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4905080602885676490.post-71717301855211132732010-10-29T03:50:31.271+02:002010-10-29T03:50:31.271+02:00There is a New Zealand poem by Dennis Glover calle...There is a New Zealand poem by Dennis Glover called ""Quardle oodle ardle wardle doodle" which is the story of the carving of a family farm from the bush and its eventual return to wilderness. The last line of each stanza is "...and "Quardle oodle ardle wardle doodle, the magpies said." Apparently the magpies in NZ are in fact not native, but are introduced Australian magpies. Something new I learned today, thanks to you and Google.M-Hhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18409916623998907121noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4905080602885676490.post-52477970980455315892010-10-28T17:35:47.503+02:002010-10-28T17:35:47.503+02:00I loved the magpies when I lived in australia, but...I loved the magpies when I lived in australia, but I have to say that I always found their little warbles rather melancholy. I have a very strong memory of australia that involves waking up on sunday mornings and lying in bed looking at my pillow whilst through the open window drifts the sound of front lawns being mowed and magpies warbling.wormhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02802335627720182532noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4905080602885676490.post-317323749170013752010-10-28T13:28:47.385+02:002010-10-28T13:28:47.385+02:00What a lovely post. Sparrow noise indeed, LOL.
A...What a lovely post. Sparrow noise indeed, LOL. <br /><br />All you need to compete this is the Gang gang! Oh, and don't get my husband started on the bellbirds! Pretty for a while, but boy they can become incessant.<br /><br />Each year we go to Thredbo after Xmas, and one of the most common sounds above the treeline is the Crows. What is it with them? How can they can sound so creepy and plaintive at the same time?<br /><br />But, so glad you ended with the Magpie...what a delight they are.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4905080602885676490.post-15115330922557879742010-10-28T11:09:49.350+02:002010-10-28T11:09:49.350+02:00Kookaburras and magpies - I love 'emKookaburras and magpies - I love 'emAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4905080602885676490.post-84339655105222233282010-10-28T08:42:37.893+02:002010-10-28T08:42:37.893+02:00What a performance! Thanks - I read it in my head ...What a performance! Thanks - I read it in my head with a Johnny Morris voice.<br /><br />I saw a flock of lime green parakeets on Hampstead Heath last winter. The sight was so striking I've forgotten what they sounded like.Gareth Williamshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05058241057385364459noreply@blogger.com