Hero or Dick - S3., Ep. 9 - Blackbirds

Thanks, Dear Listener, for tuning into another episode of Hero or Dick!

They recognize faces, hold grudges, mourn their dead, and might be smarter than your neighbor. From royal ravens and ghostly folklore to punk-ass grackles and poetry's darkest mascots, blackbirds have haunted myth and mind for centuries. In this episode, Kate and KJ dive into bird brains, badass behavior, and why these beady-eyed legends might just be heroes—despite the occasional dick move.

~ Kate & KJ

Transcript

Podcast Introduction

Speaker 1 0:01

greetings and salutations. Is this a test?

Speaker 2 0:04

I think this is the real thing oh okay, all right, I'm pretty sure it's going. Yeah, it looks like it's recording.

Speaker 1 0:08

Welcome to hero, or dick episode nine of season three thousand well three, three. You know you're getting. You guys, the, you, you fans, all two of you that listen. Um, no, I bet you we have 19, 19, I think we have 19 people that listen. We have people that actually listen and download this oh well, thank you people appreciate that.

Speaker 1 0:32

Yeah, but they're going to get a raw deal now because the best podcast just happened before this podcast we're talking about peewee herman, yes, and so I suggest anybody, suggest anybody who has HBO Max or whatever they're calling it these days.

Speaker 2 0:50

There's a documentary about Paul Rubens on there.

Speaker 1 0:53

Paul Ruben is Pee Wee Herman, by the way.

Speaker 2 0:55

It is yeah, I think Does everyone know that.

Speaker 1 0:58

I don't think so, I don't know.

Speaker 2 1:00

Maybe not. There is a great documentary on about him, though, and he is such a cool guy, yeah, who got a raw deal.

Speaker 1 1:09

Right, he went to too many ditty parties, just kidding.

Speaker 2 1:14

Ditty wishes.

Speaker 1 1:15

He's that fella's.

Speaker 2 1:18

He's in some trouble.

Speaker 1 1:19

He's a bit of trouble. I was listening to the 2020. You ever hear that it's a news program, but anyhow, they have a thing going right now, like every week or day, I don't know what it is. They're following the trial and I was listening to the stuff up to the trial. Yeah, there's some stuff going on there.

Speaker 2 1:36

There is yeah, I think he is, and I don't know Everybody's innocent until proven guilty. And I know nothing about him not not much about him but I would surmise that he is a person with a lot of money who can buy whatever he wants, and sometimes he wants to buy freaky ass sex, and so people sell it to him.

Speaker 1 2:02

Yeah, and sometimes he makes his significant other perform acts on other individuals, sometimes young people, and tapes it and sometimes beats the living shit out of people in the video. Right and so the question is.

Speaker 2 2:18

Is it consensual? I don't think so. I think she was bullied into it and threatened into it. But some of the participants, let's say I think it was consensual and I think they got reimbursed for it.

Speaker 1 2:32

He did have punch at the parties Like a special punch that he would serve. It was Cosby punch, jesus. That's terrible, but today we're talking about something a little more wholesome.

Speaker 2 2:47

Okay.

Speaker 1 2:48

Don't you think?

Speaker 2 2:49

Yeah, I do think that, but pretty much anything is more wholesome than that Blackbirds. Yeah, blackbirds, which can include crows and ravens and the traditional blackbird.

Speaker 1 3:00

It can. Kate likes to go the extra mile.

Speaker 2 3:02

Well, you know, blackbirds are blackbirds. And then you also have crows and ravens. I can't say the Latin names for them, can you?

Speaker 1 3:13

I don't. No, I can't.

Speaker 2 3:15

Well, look them up, they all have Latin names.

Speaker 1 3:17

I know the one. In North America, blackbirds are primarily members of the. I can't say it, kate.

Speaker 2 3:25

Is it?

Speaker 1 3:26

I-C-T-E-R-I-D-A-E family. Wow, in Europe and Asia, the Eurasian blackbird. I can get this one. It's called Turdus marula. Turdus Turdus, it's a thrush A thrush yes, Now how many and then the crows and ravens are Corvus. Yes.

Speaker 2 3:43

They're either Corvus really long name that stands for short beak and crows, or ravens are Corvus. I'm sorry Corvus Corax, which sounds like a Dr Seuss name, but it ain't.

Speaker 1 4:01

So there are well. They've been around millions of years. Yeah, of course they date back to the Miocene epoch. I don't know what that is, but it sounds like it was a really long time ago.

Speaker 2 4:13

It does sound like a long time ago. I thought you were going to say there was like a hieroglyphic on it.

Speaker 1 4:20

There probably is, I bet there is. I bet you the UFOs probably, you know when they built the periods Maybe crows came through Speaking of periods.

Speaker 2 4:31

Maybe the crows are UFOs, we don't know.

Speaker 1 4:35

Stop it Conspiracy theory. We're living in a multiverse.

Speaker 2 4:39

A multiverse.

Speaker 1 4:40

The Google quantum computer you know they developed that can solve things that would take a septillion years. Now it solves in like 10 minutes huh like.

Understanding Blackbirds

Speaker 2 4:49

What kind of question do you ask it?

Speaker 1 4:51

what do you want to ask now? It was like some of the most complex math problems, but because of, because of, uh, this computer. Um, they're thinking that we live in a multiverse because this computer is able to find information from other. I'm probably using the wrong words dimensions, or something.

Speaker 2 5:10

Or other sources beyond our capacity. Oh, that's interesting.

Speaker 1 5:16

It is.

Speaker 2 5:17

Okay, it has nothing to do with crows, really no. Or ravens.

Speaker 1 5:20

How do you think the podcast is doing in one of the other multiverses? Probably great, probably. They're not talking about blackbirds, they should be though they're talking about peewee hermits. Because there are several species here in our lovely North America. I'm going to rattle off a few of them. Are you ready?

Speaker 2 5:36

Okay, I'm ready.

Speaker 1 5:37

Siminids what is that? Siminids? Sibilins, sibilis, whatever? Simulants what is that? Simulants? Sibilants, sibilants, whatever? Red-winged blackbird, yeah, the rusty blackbird, oh, brewer's blackbird, I like it. The tricolored blackbird, the yellow-shouldered blackbird, it's endangered. Oh, I think that one's in California. The shiny cowbird.

Speaker 2 6:01

I love shiny.

Speaker 1 6:02

The brown-headed cowbird he's not shiny the great-tailed grackle, the boat-tailed grackle and the common grackle, those common grackles, by the way grackles are one of the most intelligent. Grackles are yes and they can mimic other birds and other environmental sounds, as can your friend the shiny and brown-headed cowbirds.

Speaker 2 6:25

I think blackbirds in general can mimic. They all kind of mimic not only other animal sounds but human voices. I mean, they're not talking like a you know. Yeah what's up man. What would that be? A parrot, I guess, guess. Or a macaw?

Speaker 1 6:45

oh yeah, you see those crazy birds on those. Uh, you know I'm on that. That thing the kids use to instagram, oh, and, like you got to get on there, kate, and we need to have a page on there because people actually but, um we should have a page because I'm doing okay with the book. Crap on there oh god yeah making videos it's going. It actually finally got released for global distribution, so that means it went through the approval process and it will be available and whatever.

Speaker 2 7:11

And what's the name of that?

Speaker 1 7:12

Devotion, that's D-E-V-O-T-I-O-N Devotion.

Speaker 2 7:16

Devotion, or, as I like to call it, shorten it, devo.

Speaker 1 7:20

It should be shortened because it's 10 very short stories and it's 10 very short stories.

Speaker 2 7:24

That is short stories. I like that. I think there's a couple birds in there. Uh-oh, I didn't think of one offhand, anyway.

Speaker 1 7:32

So actually there's 26 species referred to as blackbirds in the Americas, 30 worldwide, so that's mine. They live three to five years, the oldest.

Speaker 2 7:41

Okay, and I did read that and I thought that doesn't seem quite long enough, because then I read that they can live up to 10 to 15 years.

Speaker 1 7:53

So it depends on the source Three to 15. That sounds good.

Speaker 2 7:59

Three to 15, that's a big span. They are monogamous, they find a partner, they stick with them and they are omnivores.

Speaker 1 8:11

What does that mean, Kate?

Speaker 2 8:12

That means they eat insects, worms, along with fruits and berries and anything a human will throw out.

Speaker 1 8:18

Yeah, that's right. They alter their diet based on what's available. They adapt.

Speaker 2 8:23

They also eat other things. A lot of birds do, yeah, and you know that's kind of a dickish move. It is a real dickish move. But if you've ever seen the family guy, uh, the seagulls, when they're talking about kfc and they're like, oh that's just delicious, dude.

Speaker 1 8:43

That's your what. What's the bird? It's one of the blackbirds, I think that actually takes over a nest, drops an egg in there. Is it a grinkle? Maybe? It drops its egg in there and leaves it in there and the other bird raves as the bird. And the bird grows up like really big compared to all the other birds.

Speaker 2 9:03

Birds, don't beg.

Speaker 1 9:04

It takes up the resources.

Speaker 2 9:07

Well, you know what. We're going to talk about them later.

Speaker 1 9:09

I can't wait. We can talk about them now.

Speaker 2 9:11

Oh, Blue Jay.

Speaker 1 9:13

They are noisy, they're tattletales, they do mimic everybody, they steal stuff.

Speaker 2 9:19

And they are bullies. They're kind of cool, though they're beautiful. Yeah, that's how they get away with it. So if you want to make friends with a crow, what would you do?

Speaker 1 9:30

Give it a shiny thing.

Speaker 2 9:32

Yes, they like shiny things because they are clever and curious and self-aware, and they also recognize faces that they like and that they don't like. So you need to find a pair of crows, at least a pair. Offer them food at the same time of the day or night and be mindful. Don't be, you know, be me day or night and be mindful. Don't be, you know, be mellow towards it.

Speaker 1 10:02

Oh okay, don't be like here crow no you're like hey crow yeah, what's up man.

Speaker 2 10:06

Yeah, you got to be mindful.

Speaker 1 10:07

You want this shiny nickel. How's it going, man? Yeah, dude, have some crackers.

Speaker 2 10:10

Have this cracker. I'll let the birds come to you and they will, but they have to learn to trust you.

Speaker 1 10:19

My notes are not jiving with yours.

Speaker 2 10:21

What do you say about you? Don't want to be friends with a crow, no, I really do, but the whole monogamous thing. Oh, you think they sleep around.

Speaker 1 10:29

They do. The red-winged blackbirds and the grackles are polygamous, the one male mates with multiple females. They're polygonous the one male mates with multiple females. And then the Eurasian blackbird may form seasonal bear bonds, so it has a summer romance. But I think most of them are monogamous, you know.

Speaker 2 10:48

And I just wrote down blackbirds. I didn't write down what kind. So maybe it's only certain kinds are monogamous. Maybe the other ones?

Speaker 1 10:57

are over a bug. Maybe it's the ones in Utah. I think most of Utah, utah no offense to anyone in Utah, because if I was in Utah and grew up in that situation, I may want five you know, I think one is being a good thing, but if it works for somebody, cool. Right.

Speaker 2 11:18

You know, if you had seven wives, say, and you went and stayed with one of them a night, it's like the other six nights they kind of got the day off right.

Speaker 1 11:28

It might be better for the women.

Speaker 2 11:29

It might be, I wouldn't want to all live in the same house. Oh my God, I don't know. No way that's a lot of kids together too, mm-hmm. So I'm going to tell you about some Blackbirds in song. What first comes to your mind?

Speaker 1 11:44

Blackbird by the Beatles.

Speaker 2 11:45

Yeah, yeah, leonard McCartney, representing civil rights, blackbird singing in the dead of the night.

Speaker 1 11:51

Mm-hmm Mm-hmm Classic.

Speaker 2 11:53

How about Rain King by Counting Crows?

Speaker 1 11:56

Oh, that's a great song.

Speaker 2 11:57

And Counting Crows.

Speaker 1 11:59

Yes, what about Blackbird Chain by Beck?

Speaker 2 12:04

Oh, I don't know that one.

Speaker 1 12:05

Well, now you do. Bye-bye, Blackbird.

Speaker 2 12:07

Bye-bye the Raven by Alan Parsons Project. I don't know that song. I don't either, but I believe it. I do too. How about Cat Stevens, also known as Y know that song?

Speaker 1 12:16

I don't either, but I believe it, I do too how?

Speaker 2 12:17

about uh? Beyonce had one. How about uh cat stevens, also known as yusuf has? Morning has broken like the first morning. Blackbird has spoken, like the first bird heavens to murkertroid. That's a mouthful and then let's go very old school go 4 and 20 blackbirds baked in a pie yeah. Yeah, yeah, sing a song six times.

Speaker 1 12:37

But don't forget Fleetwood Mac. They had blackbird.

Speaker 2 12:40

Do they have blackbird too?

Speaker 1 12:41

Yeah, from 1970. Okay, wait, what are you jumping into there?

Speaker 2 12:50

I have. I'm done with songs. Do you have any more songs?

Speaker 1 12:55

No, I've got some nesting facts.

Speaker 2 12:57

Okay, let's hear them.

Speaker 1 12:58

But now I feel bad because I feel like I should have got those in sooner.

Speaker 2 13:01

The nesting facts? Yeah, no.

Speaker 1 13:03

Okay, it's a perfect time for it, because I have some cultural impact things too.

Speaker 2 13:07

All right, literature I have some literature, okay, so let's do the nesting goes along with the other thing With the sleeping.

Speaker 1 13:17

Yeah, with the sleeping around With the sleeping around. You know, this is obvious stuff Shrubs reeds, trees, even urban areas, you know.

Speaker 2 13:26

I mean where else?

Speaker 1 13:27

Where else are you going to do it? Yeah, they go, they got it.

Speaker 2 13:30

They use what they got.

Speaker 1 13:31

Twigs, grasses, mud, animal hair, plastic strips and other objects that they find animal hair, plastic strips and other objects that they find. Incubation typically lasts 11 to 14 days, and the young stay in the nest for 10 to 19 days. After hatching, the female usually builds the nest and incubates the eggs and provides most of the care. Isn't that weird? It's the way of nature, it's like. Do you think birds will evolve when they're like? I don't want to stay home and build a nest and take birds.

Speaker 2 14:02

You stay home. You know what I mean. I want to go out on tea, maybe. If anybody can do it, the blackbirds can.

Speaker 1 14:09

They could the males. They do help feed the chicks and they defend the territory. It's pretty stereotypical.

Speaker 2 14:17

That's nature, yeah, whatever.

Speaker 1 14:20

So are we fighting nature.

Speaker 2 14:22

Hmm, that's pretty deep.

Speaker 1 14:26

Let's think about that. I don't know. I think I'd like to stay home and feed the chicks.

Speaker 2 14:30

You think, you think staying home is easy until you do it. Yeah.

Speaker 1 14:33

I did it for a while, but I only had one chick, it was a boy chick. The boy, chick Julian. I stayed at home with him for a while. That was fun it was, but it was very difficult because I went from a swinging single to a stay-at-home dad. Stay-at-home dad. Holy, that'll clip your wings pretty quick. So, to speak.

Speaker 2 14:56

So the Tower of London, they love the ravens.

Speaker 1 14:58

You've seen that.

Speaker 2 14:59

Because yes.

Speaker 1 15:00

You've been there.

Speaker 2 15:02

They're the protectors and actually they got really sick. But the myth is that there has to be a raven at the tower or the rain falls, and I don't mean R-A-I-N oh boy. I mean the royalty, so even sickly. So there was a couple in the cages and they were all sick.

Speaker 2 15:24

Oh, geez yeah, because they got some bird flu and hopefully they brought them back. Now they're. They're healthy and whatever. But uh, that's interesting, other cultures have different ways of looking at them. The Swedish say that the ravens are said to be ghosts of murdered people. I like that. I like it a lot. That's a story right there. That's a movie, that's a series Like the birds? No, not at all. Did you ever watch the birds? Yes, it is terrifying, but if you really look close, those birds are so lame.

Speaker 1 16:00

Oh, it's bad.

Speaker 2 16:01

Yeah, but back then, but for the time.

Speaker 1 16:04

Someone needs to remake that.

Speaker 2 16:05

Oh, with AI.

Speaker 1 16:09

So that's in Sweden. What about the Celts?

Speaker 2 16:11

The Celts, the Irish, the Welsh.

Speaker 1 16:13

They thought that the similar thing there. They thought that, the similar thing there. They thought they were spiritual messengers from the other world.

Speaker 2 16:19

Oh, I like that.

Speaker 1 16:21

And here's the thing If that computer is tapping into other multiverse, are they tapping into, like you know, ghost world? Is there a ghost world? Is there a ghost world? I'm fucking telling you yeah. Native Americans Kate. They considered them sacred symbols tied to the sun and harvest.

Speaker 2 16:38

They respected them.

Speaker 1 16:39

Yep, they respected everything. Because they respected everything Except Except Whitey, because we came in there. Can't say that Just handed out blankets filled with the measles, measles, jesus.

Speaker 2 16:51

With your blanket.

Speaker 1 16:52

Yeah, but there was. You know, I got to stop being like that because I'm sure there was stuff on both sides. I don't know the story I wasn't there but I do know that we fight dirty.

Cultural Significance of Ravens

Speaker 2 17:04

Yeah, oh no. I think it's safe for you to say that, yeah, we totally took advantage of them.

Speaker 1 17:13

We do that a lot, all in the name of freedom and spray tan.

Speaker 2 17:18

It's not. Let me tell you about Irish and Welsh people, because the Irish people think that the raven is foretelling of doom. So if you see a raven, look out. The Welsh say death and resurrection.

Speaker 1 17:36

There's too many things associated with death and ghostly stuff here, Kate.

Speaker 2 17:41

Now Hindus say, they bring info. Oh, they're bringing info.

Speaker 1 17:47

Yeah, from the dead and omens, holy shit.

Speaker 2 17:51

And I liked this one. The Aborigines think that they are ancestral resurrections and they're tricksters.

Speaker 1 18:01

Oh, I like that too.

Speaker 2 18:04

And there is a three-legged crow in East Asian mythology, which I know nothing about, but in Chinese-slash-Japan and Asian culture there's a three-legged crow.

Speaker 1 18:19

You gotta like that.

Speaker 2 18:20

Sure, I would like that.

Speaker 1 18:24

What else you got as far as cultural impact?

Speaker 2 18:27

Cultural. How about books and movies?

Speaker 1 18:31

Okay.

Speaker 2 18:33

I started out with. That's so Raven.

Speaker 1 18:37

There you go. What about? Well, we talked about the Birds.

Speaker 2 18:41

The Birds, the Raven, the Crow, oh the Crow yeah, what was that guy's name? Brandon Lee.

Speaker 1 18:49

Did he die during that? He did, he did. He shouldn't have been talking about Crow.

Speaker 2 18:53

His Bruce Lee son. Yeah, yeah, that's a great movie too. The Raven Sleeping talking about his grisly son yeah, yeah, that's a great movie too. Uh, the ray of the sleeping beauty was she? Yeah, and sleeping beauty, um, the mal of maleficent. Her buddy is a raven oh, yeah, yeah, okay oh diablo. I think there's a diablo, something like that's a wonderful, a wonderful life.

Speaker 1 19:17

There's a crow in there, a raven. They keep him in the office, oh yeah, and when Uncle Billy's freaking out, the bird crawls up on his shoulder. What's up with Uncle Billy, or Uncle Billy? Uncle Billy really stole the money.

Speaker 2 19:29

Come on, would Uncle Billy do that? No, he's a drunk, but he's not a thief.

Speaker 1 19:33

A A little forgetful how much you got for movies.

Speaker 2 19:37

How about Game of Thrones too? Never saw it. That is it what.

Speaker 1 19:41

I've never seen it.

Speaker 2 19:43

I'm going to have to make a citizen's arrest on you right now, is it?

Speaker 1 19:46

really that good though? Yeah, it is. Here's what I want to tell you, Okay.

Speaker 2 19:51

I did not. That is not my genre.

Speaker 1 19:53

Oh good, because it's not remotely close to me, it's not at all my genre and Cassidy, thank you.

Speaker 2 19:59

Cassidy said you really need to see this and I'm like, eh, not my thing. You know, I saw the books. I don't even want to read them. They're too involved. You know, it's not my thing. She's like I think you need to see this. So, on her suggestion, I watched it and became totally addicted to it. The writing, the what do you look at it? The writing the um, the costumes, the people in it.

Speaker 1 20:29

Do they all have accents?

Speaker 2 20:31

No.

Speaker 1 20:31

Okay, good.

Speaker 2 20:32

And it is like, uh, a fantasy dream come true.

Speaker 1 20:38

okay, I'm saying watch ah, maybe I'll try it try it and see, I have to change it up because I just keep watching seinfeld. Right, you need to.

Speaker 2 20:48

I gotta change, break away, yeah or, and I can remember being so addicted to it. I came into it late, but there was still one season left. I think that wasn't out and then waiting for it. Waiting for it was like being a kid waiting for a TV show. No, kidding. Yeah, all right, I was totally addicted to it and I started to watch it again, just because now I know what's going to happen and also I love Pedro Pascal. Wait, it's still going on. No.

Speaker 1 21:15

Oh.

Speaker 2 21:16

No, all right, but I started watching it again just to I got you Okay, and I will say, though, that the last season was very dark, not in, you know, being ominous, but like, turn the lights up, I can't see anything.

Speaker 1 21:31

That's something going on right now.

Speaker 2 21:32

So that was hard, but that's the last season. Okay, you don't have to even watch it if you don't want to.

Speaker 1 21:37

That was on HBO or something.

Speaker 2 21:38

I believe it was HBO.

Speaker 1 21:39

You and all your fancy channels.

Speaker 2 21:41

I get them from.

Speaker 1 21:42

Cassidy, oh, okay.

Speaker 2 21:44

Alright, so.

Speaker 1 21:45

Books, literature, Wallace Stevens' 13 Ways of Looking at a Blackbird, which explored perception and reality.

Speaker 2 21:55

Was it written by a computer?

Speaker 1 21:58

That's my Twilight's own thing. Well, you got stuff there. Go, go ahead. You got the most famous one, probably oh yeah, never more that is a great.

Speaker 2 22:12

That is great, though, isn't it?

Speaker 1 22:15

it appeals to when you're a kid all the way to your adult.

Speaker 2 22:18

It's just a good, scary, spooky little thing and so I'm just thinking of so many versions of it like A Christmas Carol. You know, you got the Muppets, you got. Traditional you got and I was my favorite version of the Simpsons. I do a great version of it.

Speaker 1 22:35

You know I still haven't watched that show much. The Simpsons Do you have a TV? I told you I watched Seinfeld. Ts Elliott and Margaret Atwood also use them.

Speaker 2 22:47

A lot of writers use them.

Speaker 1 22:48

I use birds too.

Speaker 2 22:49

Well, and ravens, Like we said, they're so ominous and mysterious and they kind of got that ghostly death thing around them.

Speaker 1 22:59

So it's easy.

Speaker 2 22:59

So what else you got for?

Speaker 1 23:01

cultural stuff, death thing around them, so it's easy. So what else you got for cultural stuff?

Making Friends with Crows

Speaker 2 23:06

Well, I just wanted to mention that somewhere I read that they can fly upside down. It's true, I haven't seen it, I haven't seen a video of it, but they can fly upside down.

Speaker 1 23:20

Can't all birds do that? I don't know they need to, can they? I don't know.

Speaker 2 23:24

Think about it.

Speaker 1 23:25

Hey, if anybody knows, you can email us At Hero or Dick 2023 at Gmail Dot com. Yep, that's where we get most of our Info. Fan mail Damn it, I burped on the air again. Brooke.

Speaker 2 23:40

Damn it, I burped on the air again, brooke, I'm sorry, we would have never known if you didn't say it though.

Speaker 1 23:44

I know, but she'll know she can tell by that pause and the little whoop. Anyhow, good old blackbirds. They obviously control insect population, they disperse seeds and they're also used, as you know, kind of like frogs and whatnot an indication of the health of the environment. So if the blackbirds are doing good, the environment's doing good. Okay, so maybe where that yellow-winged bird is endangered, things might not be so good.

Speaker 2 24:14

Is it in the fires of California? I don't know.

Speaker 1 24:17

Maybe it's in Smogville.

Speaker 2 24:19

Yeah, I don't know.

Speaker 1 24:22

Not sure, I think our blackbirds are doing good.

Speaker 2 24:25

I see them frequently, ravens.

Speaker 1 24:27

Oh, tell me your favorite thing that you learned about what they call a group of.

Speaker 2 24:32

Oh, isn't that the best? Okay, and I did find there was more than he's talking about. A flock of ravens is called a murder.

Speaker 1 24:45

Yeah, she was so happy when she found that out. She had to let me know, because Kate has a dark side.

Speaker 2 24:50

It did text it to you, didn't it? I like that.

Speaker 1 24:54

I do too.

Speaker 2 24:55

Because I don't know who thought it up.

Speaker 1 24:57

I just felt bad that you didn't know that.

Speaker 2 24:59

Well, I did know it.

Speaker 1 25:00

Oh, you did.

Speaker 2 25:01

I didn't just learn it. I've seen flo. I just felt bad that you didn't know that. Well, I did know it. Oh, you did, I didn't just learn it. Oh, I've seen flocks of crows before.

Speaker 1 25:05

You called them a murder.

Speaker 2 25:06

Well, not to their face.

Speaker 1 25:09

You don't want to piss off the crows or the blackbirds.

Speaker 2 25:11

No, no, I like them. What else you got about blackbirds?

Speaker 1 25:17

They sing during and after rainfall to reassert territory after silence or disruption. Now that's kind of neat. Hey, I don't know. There's a lot, it's you know, more little tidbits. I did want to talk a little bit Companies and branding that use Blackbird. There's a Blackbird Vineyards, oh, I bet. Blackbird Studio in Nashville, a recording studio which has been used by some of the elite artists yeah, Probably some of the people that have been at the ditty parties.

Speaker 2 25:51

I doubt it. You've been at one of those haven't you, no, no. I don't like baby oil. What did you just say? I don't like baby oil.

Speaker 1 25:59

Well, I heard, though, that there was like the inside party and the outside party, and the people outside were all having drinks, enjoying whatever, but then the inside party kind of got, and then Diddy would come and say they actually played it, Somebody recorded it. He's like everybody. Things are about to get wild, Wild out. Kids, yeah kids, you got about an hour to get out of here. If you're not out of here, welcome to adult time. It's like that's messed up.

Speaker 2 26:23

Well, to me is that messed up, or is that consensual? Then it's like all right, I'm giving you guys all fair warning. You got an hour before it gets kinky.

Speaker 1 26:32

Make sure you drink some punch before you leave.

Speaker 2 26:35

I mean he's giving them fair warning.

Speaker 1 26:38

I don't know. Blackbird Fragrance. I'm wearing it today. Can you smell it? No, I'm not wearing it. Blackbird Interactive it's a game developer. And then the SR-71 Blackbird Is it a plane? Yes, it's an iconic aircraft used by the military.

Speaker 2 26:55

I like it.

Speaker 1 26:56

So that's what I got.

Speaker 2 26:59

So I think that's all the facts that we have about blackbirds. Next comes our determination. Our blackbirds heroes or dicks.

Speaker 1 27:09

Heroes, heroes, don't care how dickish they are.

Speaker 2 27:13

I don't care if they sleep around.

Speaker 1 27:14

No, eat those babies.

Speaker 2 27:17

Smart and playful. You know they can fly upside down. They're sensitive, so when a crow dies, the other crows gather around the body and I've seen that.

Speaker 1 27:27

I've seen that that's, that is cool they're humans.

Blackbirds in Songs and Literature

Speaker 2 27:33

They're more human than the human they're better than we are they're better than oh, I agree with that. Plus, they can remember faces, and sometimes they're white.

Speaker 1 27:42

What'd you just say?

Speaker 2 27:43

Sometimes they're white albino.

Speaker 1 27:46

Oh, I like that.

Speaker 2 27:48

I couldn't find a picture, but I found A verbiage that said that. So big heroes, even if they do a couple dickish things which you know.

Speaker 1 27:57

Yeah, that seems to be our mantra.

Speaker 2 28:00

It really is.

Speaker 1 28:01

We could get a shirt that says that, oh, you know what I was thinking, what? I don't know if we should talk about it on air, but you know, I'm doing the Crooked Steeple, which is the Crooked Steeple Press, and there's a blog, there's the books, but I think we should put a page on there for this thing. Oh yeah, the podcast, totally, I think we should put a page on there for the web this thing.

Speaker 1 28:22

Oh yeah, the podcast Totally, and then people can go there and maybe we can put swag on there, we want some swag.

Speaker 2 28:27

Give us some ideas.

Speaker 1 28:29

We can do some behind the scenes. Randy here can.

Speaker 2 28:32

Oh, we could do like a beyond the podcast. Yeah.

Speaker 1 28:35

Oh, I like that too Well.

Speaker 2 28:37

first we're going to do Fast Five.

Speaker 1 28:39

Yeah, let's do it.

Speaker 2 28:41

All right, a robin.

Speaker 1 28:43

Hero.

Speaker 2 28:45

I say hero because it's the first bird you usually see.

Speaker 1 28:49

And they're like the most fun to watch when they're going after worms, when they're bouncing on. They listen to that ground. They're so intense, you can get close to them yeah.

Speaker 2 28:56

They're like man.

Speaker 1 28:57

I want to grab this worm man.

Speaker 2 28:58

Wait, give me a break. How about a mourning, dove I'm going to say hero. You're a liar because they're dicks, shut up. They're like oh cool.

Speaker 1 29:14

Shut it yeah.

Speaker 2 29:16

And we discussed this briefly earlier. Blue jays, I say. They're the biggest dicks in the bird world. They are dicks Even though they're beautiful, and maybe that's why.

Speaker 1 29:29

Yeah, they think they can get away with it Because you look good. I remember when I used to hunt. I used to go hunting and they are tattletales. As soon as they would see me, they would announce it to the whole fucking universe that I was there, they tell the deer, they tell everybody. But that's good, they're doing their duty.

Speaker 2 29:48

Dicks, how about a cardinal though?

Speaker 1 29:50

Oh, come on now, are you kidding? Right now you love a cardinal. I don't know what's going on in my life. The last couple years I'm like an 82-year-old woman. I really cardinals.

Speaker 2 29:58

I bought like this cardinal he's wearing a sweatshirt that has a cardinal. It's from jc penny I I love it.

Speaker 1 30:05

I got it before they moved out of here, like 10 years ago, but uh, yeah, I bought a like a cardinal to put in our window at christmas. I don't know, I like cardinals and I keep saying that my wife likes them, so that I can I suck don't you love these cardinals in Brooklyn? Last week, though, we had one. You know what Bluechase though, I think are tied to the spiritual world. I was reading about that. They are.

Speaker 1 30:31

But the other day there was a cardinal just outside our window just early in the morning just singing away. It was so loud it was pretty, not like those morning doves.

Speaker 2 30:43

Okay, and the fifth one is Chickadee.

Speaker 1 30:48

They're the cutest bird in the world. They'll land on you. I love them. They're so cute.

Speaker 2 30:51

They're cute. There's no way they could be dicks.

Speaker 1 30:54

No.

Speaker 2 30:55

No.

Speaker 1 30:56

No, I love them.

Speaker 2 30:58

They're adorable.

Speaker 1 30:59

Very curious and that little.

Speaker 2 31:01

Chickadee. They got a great song. They are adorable.

Speaker 1 31:03

Very curious and that little tickety-day-day Mm-hmm.

Speaker 2 31:05

They got a great song. Yeah, they got it all going on Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, but they don't show it. They're not show-offy like the bluebirds no, or blue jade no.

Speaker 1 31:14

Yeah, well, you got more.

Speaker 2 31:16

No, that's just five. That was five of them.

Speaker 1 31:18

Before we depart, on the bird topic, yes, if anybody would like to download an app, I'm not getting kickbacks for this, but something I found a few years ago called Merlin.

Speaker 2 31:28

Bird. I have it already, I would say download that sucker. Mentioning it.

Speaker 1 31:33

Because you can be walking through the woods. You turn it on it's listening and it will tell you what kind of birds. It's amazing.

Speaker 2 31:39

It is amazing. It is amazing, yeah. And then it gives you pictures and it gives you information about the birds and whenever we were out of town, you know when you're sitting in your backyard you kind of know, yeah, but still it's nice to listen and then. But when we were out of town, we're like what is that bird? Well, let me tell you.

Speaker 1 31:58

Oh, I bet that was when you were in Georgia. Mm-hmm, it was a stork, not really, I used it when we were Pelican Pelican.

Speaker 2 32:08

There's lots of pelicans in Georgia. What do you think about them?

Speaker 1 32:13

I don't know, really I think they're heroes.

Speaker 2 32:14

I love them. Because no?

Speaker 1 32:16

they don't bring babies. That's a stork, okay.

Speaker 2 32:19

Who doesn't really bring babies either. What We'll talk after the show, but I love the pelicans because they're so prehistoric looking.

Final Verdict: Heroes or Dicks

Speaker 1 32:29

Yeah, Well they are right.

Speaker 2 32:31

I think so. Yeah, yeah, related, all right. Well, thanks for listening.

Speaker 1 32:36

Thanks everybody.

Speaker 2 32:37

Okay, bye, bye.