The Butter Rum Cartoon

Thursday, August 6, 2026

FEEDING THE BIRDS

I had never seen this little bird, until we got a bird feeder for our front porch. It's an Indigo Bunting, smaller than a canary, and beautiful. It's not the kind you would notice in a tree, but they visit our feeder, to our delight, as do many species of birds I had never seen before. It's fun to see which birds are sociable and which birds are not, and to study avian hierarchy.

The first bird feeder we tried killed a bird! It had holes the birds could stick their heads into to get at the food, but I came out one morning to see a dead bird hanging from a hole. The poor thing stuck its head in but couldn't get it out, and died a terrible death.

Then we got THIS ONE which has never disappointed us, or the birds. It's squirrel proof; an adult squirrel's weight will shut the feeder; and it's easy to fill. We've had ours a long time.

THE DANISH POET

Especially those who, like me, are Scandinavian, and who fought with their spouse over the three volumes while reading Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset, would thoroughly enjoy "The Danish Poet." And now this 15 minute 2006 short film is on YouTube!

It was written, directed and animated by Torill Kove and narrated by Liv Ullmann. It's won both the Academy Award and Genie Award for best animated short film.

I love its jazzy soundtrack, too, which contains subtle vocals by Sienna Dahlen. Soon after first seeing "The Danish Poet," I managed to find and write to Sienna Dahlen in Canada, and bought three of her CDs from her directly. My favorite song on them is "Ambrosia," which I liked well enough to post online with a video of downtown New York City. If you check it out at Ambrosia, see the comments beneath it.

Be sure not to miss "The Danish Poet," and I've made it very easy for you: Just click on the title. You'll love it even if you're not Scandinavian or have never read Kristin Lavransdatter.

Wednesday, August 5, 2026

MEN ON A BIG WHEEL

It was easy to find a Big Wheel tricycle around 1970. They were popular and everywhere. It's weight limit was 70 lbs. and it was made for ages 3 to 8. That didn't stop my brother Paul and me, who were grown adults.

We chose the grass hill in Forest Park in Everett WA for our really testing the limits of this Marx toy. We sat our big heavy bodies down on the tricycles at the big hill's crest, and nothing broke. So we pushed off, holding our legs and feet up, and had a wonderful ride all the way down the hill! It was fast and exciting, and when we got to the bottom we turned around and carried our trikes back up the hill and did it again, and again. These "toys" held up, and we had a great time. They didn't last forever, but long enough to dream.

Our dream was somehow to talk the powers-that-be to temporarily close some long, winding, paved road going up the Cascade foothills, so crazy men could have a serious race on Big Wheel tricycles. We would not be kidding. It could be a commercial for Marx. It could begin showing us tough-looking men with determined expressions, putting on helmets and boots and gloves on the mountain road with its guardrails and view, then sitting down side-by-side on Big Wheel tricycles. A strong voice would say: "Big Wheel, by Marx. The weight limit is seventy pounds. Recommended age of driver from three to eight. But that doesn't mean they're not tough." And then will come the hair-raising film of us all coasting down the road, with near-accidents, sliding, running into the ditch, etc. The grassy Forest Park hill was a blast, but a mountain road would be awesome!

But finally our trikes bit the dust before making the commercial a reality. Too bad. I would have won.