Category: Gus

Wednesday: Hili dialogue

February 28, 2018 • 6:30 am

It’s the last day of February: Wednesday, the 28th. And that means I have my bi-annual tooth cleaning this morning, so posting will be light. It’s National Souffle Day, and there’s a snowball’s chance in hell I’ll have one (I can’t remember ever eating one in the U.S., though I do in France). It’s also Rare Disease Day.

Grania reports a rare snow in Cork:

And, as Joyce wrote in The Dead, “Snow is general all over Ireland”:

But snow or no snow, Matthew is still on the picket line, striking for better pensions.

Reader Jeremy called my attention to the fact that today is the 20th anniversary of the publication of Andrew Wakefield’s fraudulent paper about MMR and autism. Here’s a BBC Radio 4 programme that discusses the paper  and what  happened over the last twenty years.

On February 28, 1525, the conquistador Hernán Cortés had the last Aztec king, Cuauhtémoc, executed. On this day in 1784, John Wesley chartered the Methodist church. And in Germany in 1933, only one day after the Reichstag Fire, Hindenburg, on Hitler’s advice, issued the Reichstag Fire Decree, removing many of Germans’ civil liberties.

On this day in 1939, according to Wikipedia, there was a big kerfuffle in lexicography:  “The erroneous word ‘dord’ was discovered in the Webster’s New International Dictionary, Second Edition, prompting an investigation. Here’s the entry; the link explain how it got into the dictionary.

This is apparently a big deal, though I don’t know why.

On this day in 1953, Watson and Crick trumpeted to their friends that they’d determined the structure of DNA; the “secret of life.” The formal announcement was on April 25 after the paper was published in the April 2 issue of Nature. On February 28, 1983, the final episode of M*A*S*H was aired; its 106 million viewer is still a record for number of people watching a season finale. On this day in 1993, the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and firearms raided the Branch Davidian Church and compound in Waco Texas, with a warrant to arrest leader David Koresh. 4 ATF agents and 6 Davidians were killed, beginning a 51-day standoff that ended with a disasterous fire.

Notables born on this day include Linus Pauling (1901, who got the structure of DNA wrong), Bugsy Siegel (1906), Zero Mostel (1915), John Fahey (1939), Brian Jones (1942), Bernadette Peters (1948), and Paul Krugman (1953). Those who died on February 28 were few; they include Henry James (1916), Henry Luce (1967), and Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. (2007). As I write these death dates every day, and watch the birth years of the expired move ever closer to mine, it summons the Black Dog.

Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, the animals are kvetching again:

Hili: If he doesn’t wash this car it will be embarrassing to go out into the garden.
Cyrus: Yes, this dirty car is lowering our status.
In Polish:

Up in Winnipeg, Gus got his very first taste of ice cream! Here’s a video made by staff Taskin:

Here is Qbit, the cat of an old college pal (Stash Krod), trying to get some learnings:

From Matthew, a young panda tenaciously holds onto its ball:

A tick recursion:

A feline jack-in-the-box:

Cat-raven encounter:

https://twitter.com/DAILYKlTTEN/status/967888743079215105

From Grania: A baby bat and its toy:

A guardian Sphynx. This creeps me out. Look how it’s sitting!

https://twitter.com/CUTEFUNNYANIMAL/status/968437491169677312

IF ONLY . . .

https://twitter.com/EmrgencyKittens/status/968572733167685635

Finally, here’s your word for the day:

I’m not quite sure that all readers understand why posts have lately ended with a black dog, so they’re sending me pictures of black dogs to use!! Well, so be it. Here’s a black dog sent by reader Lucia:

Here 2 pics of my colleague’s black labrador, Kero. You always add a black dog at the end of Hilli dialogues, and I think Kero is perfect for WEIT.  He is very kind, living a happy life in Managua, enjoying time with his friend Lola the cat and Victor the hamster.

Tuesday: Hili dialogue

February 27, 2018 • 6:30 am

First things first:  I saw a raccoon and a bunny on my way to work today, but they moved too fast for me to photograph (you’ll have to take my word for it). Plus it was too dark, but no so dark I couldn’t make out procyonids and lagomorphs.

Good morning on Tuesday, the cruelest day, February 27, 2018. It’s National Kahlúa Day, brought to you by Big Liqueur. (I am informed that “The word Kah-lúa means ‘Heart of the Veracruz people’”.) It’s also International Polar Bear Day! In honor of last Sunday’s Pancake Day, IHOP (the old “International House of Pancakes”) is giving away a free short stack of flapjacks today, worth $5.79. The offer is good from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Weigh in below if you’ll take advantage of this.

Here’s a bear and its offspring:

Vera Salnitskaya / The Siberian Times

On this day in 1860, Abraham Lincoln made a speech at Cooper Union in New York City, decrying the extension of slavery to the western territories, that helped get him elected to the Presidency.  A few years back I gave a talk on that very same stage, and had a keen sense of what happened there. On this day in 1870, the current flag of Japan was adopted, used initially as a national flag for merchant vessels.

On February 27, 1900, the British Labour Party was founded. On this day in 1933, the infamous “Reichstag fire” occurred, with Germany’s parliament building going up in flames. Although a Dutch Communist claimed responsibility, the Nazis might have done it, for they used the fire as an excuse to go after the Communists.  On February 27, 1940, Carbon-14 was discovered by Martin Kamen and Sam Ruben. Finally, on this day in 1964, the Italian government appealed for help to keep the Leaning Tower of Pisa from falling over. The tower was stabilized in 2008 and we’re told it will be stable for 200 years.

Notables born on February 27 include Ellen Terry (1847), Bertha Pappenheim (1859; she was the famous “Anna O.” of Freud’s case histories, and of course was not cured), Joseph Grinnell (1877), Hugo Black (1886), John Steinbeck (1902), Lawrence Durrell (1912), Joanne Woodward (1930), Elizabeth Taylor (1932), Ralph Nader (1934), Alan Guth (1947) and Chelsea “It’s My Turn Next” Clinton (1980). Those who expired on this day were Louis Vuitton (1892), Harry “Breaker” Morant (1902; executed), Ivan Pavlov (1936, yes the dog-and-bell Pavlov), Frankie Lymon (1968, drug overdose), Konrad Lorenz (1989), S. I. Hayakawa (1992), Spike Milligan (2002), Fred “Mr.” Rogers (2003), William F. Buckley, Jr. (2008), and Van Cliburn (2013).

Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, Hili has been absorbing Socrates:

Hili: The more I think the less I understand.
A: This might mean that you are getting wiser.
In Polish:
Hili: Im dłużej myślę, tym mniej rozumiem.
Ja: To może oznaczać, że jesteś coraz mądrzejsza.

Up in Winnipeg, Gus tasted his first melon! As staff Taskin writes, “Note to self: Do not leave cantaloupe sitting on the kitchen table.”

I think a lot of cats like cantaloupe, but I’m not sure why. The Feline Nutrition Foundation argues that volatile compounds derived from amino acids make cantaloupe smell like meat to a cat, but I doubt that this has been rigorously tested.

Matthew is on strike at Manchester University (many UK University faculty are on strike against government changes in their pensions), and emitted this tweet of himself walking the picket line  It’s extremely cold out there, but politics is politics! He adds this:

In front of what I think is the biggest double helix in the world, which I put there. The other side of the building features a double helix with the period sequence [a gene involved in biological rhythms] on it (many colleagues study biological rhythms).

It appears to be lonely as well as cold on the picket line!

When I got the tweet above this morning, Matthew was alone, but now others have arrived:

Here’s a nasty creature found by Matthew:

A fish with six eyes—no kidding!:

The cacheing ability of acorn woodpeckers (I think I’ve posted a video of this a while back):

For those of you who haven’t seen the inside of a penguin’s mouth, you’re welcome:

From Grania: a very smart parrot who gets Alexa to do his bidding:

https://twitter.com/CUTEFUNNYANIMAL/status/967853043764072448

A dancing white stoat, which I believe is an ermine:

From Grania: Do you know what these are?

https://twitter.com/Mr_DrinksOnMe/status/967656407473438721

Here’s the answer:

A genuine cat scan:

https://twitter.com/EmrgencyKittens/status/968361367282634754

And an injured squirrel in a cast:

https://twitter.com/BoringEnormous/status/968240615631851520

We have a guest Black Dog today: reader James’s beloved dog Bear, named after the Grateful Dead singer:

Thursday: Hili dialogue

February 22, 2018 • 7:00 am

Good morning: it’s Thursday, February 22, 2018, National Sticky Buns Day. That means you have to sit in molasses! It’s also the Christian Feast Day of Eric Liddell, whom you might remember from the movie “Chariots of Fire.” Liddell, who became a missionary after college, died on this day in 1945 in a Japanese prison camp in China, malnourished and afflicted with a brain tumor. By all accounts, he was a metaphorical saint, even if he was religious. Remember that he wouldn’t run the 100 m race in the 1924 Olympics because it was on the Lord’s Day (Sunday)? But he won gold in the 400 m race on another day. Here’s that win:

On February 21, 1632, Galileo’s heliocentric book, Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, was published. He got in trouble with the Church for that, but of course it had absolutely nothing to do with religion—just ask Ronald Numbers. On this day in 1856, the Republican Party had its first national convention in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. How it’s changed since then! On February 21, 1889, President Grover Cleveland signed a bill that admitted four states to the Union: North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, and Washington.  In 1924, “Silent” Cal Coolidge became the first U.S. President to broadcast a radio address from the White House.  On this day in 1980, in the Lake Placid Winter Olympics, the underdog U.S. ice hockey team defeated the Soviet Union 4-3, a feat called the “Miracle on Ice.” I remember watching it live. The rivalry was keen; as they say: “Sports is war without weapons.”

Here are the game’s highlights:

On this day in 1997, British scientists announced the cloning of the sheep Dolly. Finally, exactly seven years ago today, New Zealand’s second deadliest earthquake struck Christchurch, killing 185 people.

Notables born on this day include George Washington (1732), Arthur Schopenhauer (1788), Robert Baden-Powell and Heinrich Hertz (both 1857), Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892), Edward Gorey (1925), Ted Kennedy (1932), Steve Irwin (1962, killed by a stingray in 2006), and Drew Barrymore (1975). Those who died on February 22 include Stefan Zweig (1942), the “White Rose” trio of Christoph Probst, Hans Scholl, and Sophie Scholl (1943, beheaded by the Nazis), Felix Frankfurter (1965), Andy Warhol (1987) and Chuck Jones (2002).

Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, Hili and Cyrus are inadvertently making trouble. Malgorzata explains:

Well, it was an “animal blockade”: one (Cyrus) is barring Andrzej’s access to the desk chair, and the other (Hili) is occupying the chair. Cyrus can be bribed (by a pat) so he will go away, but Hili just couldn’t believe her ears – she has no intention to vacate the chair. I hope you can see one Andrzej’s leg in the picture – he is trying to gain access to his computer.

A: May I sit down at my computer?
Cyrus: Pat me and then I’ll go on the sofa.
Hili: What did you say?
In Polish:
Ja: Czy mogę usiąść przy moim komputerze?
Cyrus: Pogłaszcz mnie, a potem pójdę na sofę.
Hili: Co mówiłeś?
Yesterday was Gusiversary: four years to the day when the young cat (estimated at 10 months old) was brought home from the vet after his frostbitten ears had been trimmed. His staff and he celebrated the day with porkchops and wine (as did I). Here’s Gus at the celebration, eyes fixed on the chop.

And a video of him playing with his food before eating it (apparently he always does this):

A tweet from Grania, showing once again that medieval artists couldn’t draw cats:

A lovely cat aphorism:

Periscope up!

https://twitter.com/landpsychology/status/965854937883308032

This cat likes water instead of snow:

https://twitter.com/tbhjuststop/status/965851075231305728

I’m always puzzled about how cats can find balls under cups:

https://twitter.com/Words_Posts/status/965852483401715712

Okay, I hope you understand the next two tweets:

From Matthew, a greedy moggie:

https://twitter.com/pepperfetiish/status/965867340331073537

A spiritual moggie:

https://twitter.com/kraen0044/status/966352886207688705

Also from Matthew, showing that raccoons’ status as Honorary Cats™ goes only so far (watch the video):

Finally, Matthew has crabs:

 

Wednesday: Hili dialogue

February 21, 2018 • 6:30 am

Good morning on a wettish Wednesday, February 21, 2018. It’s Pancake Day, even though it’s not Shrove Tuesday, the traditional day to honor Our Lord by eating flapjacks. (Shrove Tuesday was eight days ago.) It’s also International Mother Language Day, a UNESCO holiday honoring multilingualism.

On February 21, 1613, the Romanov dynasty of Imperial Russia kicked off when Mikhail I was elected Tsar by the national assembly. In 1804, the world’s first self-propelled steam locomotive chugged out of the Pen-y-Darren Ironworks in Wales. On this day in 1848, Marx and Engels published The Communist Manifesto. Exactly 30 years later, the first telephone directory was published in New Haven, Connecticut. On this day in 1885, the newly built Washington Monument (555 feet high) was dedicated.  And in France, the Battle of Verdun began on February 21, 1916. It lasted ten months and the number of casualties could have been as high as a million.

It’s a sad day for biologists, for on this day in 1918, the very last Carolina parakeet (Conuropsis carolinensis) died in captivity at the Cincinnati Zoo.  The species was once widespread east of the Rockies, and represented the only indigenous American parrot in the region. That makes today the 100th anniversary of the species’ demise. The last bird had occupied the same cage earlier used by Martha, the very last passenger pigeon. The last parakeet’s name was Incas; his mate, Lady Jane, had expired a year earlier. Here’s a picture of a mounted specimen from Chicago’s Field Museum.

 

The “peace symbol” or “CND symbol” (Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament), was created on this day in 1958 by Gerald Holton working for the Direction Action Committee and protesting against the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment. Surely you know what it looks like, right? I used to wear one around my neck (on a leather thong) in the Sixties.

On this day in 1965, Malcolm X was assassinated at the Audubon Ballroom in New York City. And exactly a decade later, Attorney General John Mitchell and White House aides H. R. Haldeman and John Erlichman were sentenced to prison for their roles in the Watergate affair.

Notables born on this day include Rebecca Nurse (1621, hanged in Salem as a witch in 1692), John Henry Newman (1801),  Anaïs Nin (1903), W. H. Auden (1907), John Rawls (1921), Sam Peckinpah (1925), Kelsey Grammer (1955), David Foster Wallace (1962), Charlotte Church (1986) and Ellen Page (1987). Those who expired on this day, besides Incas (see above) include Baruch Spinoza (1677), Frederick Banning (1941), Eric “Muscular Christian” Liddell (1945), Malcolm X (1965; see above), Howard Florey (1968), Tim Horton (1974; his donuts remain with us), and Mikhail Sholokov (1984).

Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, Hili wonders what time it is. To be sure I understood this, I asked Malgorzata, who replied, “For Hili the time is always right (to get something scrumptious). There is no other reason to know what time it is.”

Cyrus: What’s the time?
Hili: The right one.
In Polish:
Cyrus: Która godzina?
Hili: Właściwa.

And. . . . it’s Gusiversary! Gus is (roughly) 4 today, and here’s his story from staff Taskin:

Our previous cat, the all black Spook, had died in November and we decided we would not get another cat for a while. However, I have friends who work at a rural vet clinic and they often get stray cats coming in. The winter of 2014 was exceptionally cold, and a white cat was brought into the clinic after getting caught in a trap someone had set and not checked. He had pretty bad frostbite and was lucky to lose only his ears and skin on his paws. After fixing him up, my friends decided that since I had an all black cat before, I now needed an all white cat. They posted a picture of him on my Facebook page and several seconds later, I was adopting a new cat and naming him Gus!

Gus was estimated to have been about ten months old when he was rescued.

Here’s Taskin’s video of the lad, called “The mind of a cat”, with original music by the staff:

Here’s his staff’s favorite picture of Gus:

And a happy Gus from yesterday:

A tweet from  Heather Hastie: Are these kittens imitating rabbit hops, or just pouncing?

https://twitter.com/Elverojaguar/status/961778641796583424

From Grania: Leapfrog the cat! I’m not sure I believe the explanation.

What beautiful markings!

https://twitter.com/CuteBabyAnimals/status/961876704150065152

Cat hockey!

From Matthew:

https://twitter.com/CatsDaiIy/status/961662351903739904

A true science geek picks a nit about a movie:

And a science tweet:

https://twitter.com/D_M_Sharples/status/961240918991998981

Finally, Aussie frogs are on the move:

 

Thursday: Hili dialogue

February 15, 2018 • 6:29 am

It’s now Thursday, February 15, 2018, and National Gumdrop Day. I like only the fruit-flavored ones, and abhor the “spicy” ones. And on Vanatu it’s John Frum Day, honoring the Cargo Cult figure who, sadly, has never returned to the islands.

The death toll in the Florida school shooting remains at 17 but could rise; and the accused killer, a former student expelled for bringing knives to school, is in custody. This tweet from Grania shows the sad history of Trump and his cronies in bed with the gun lobby:

Here’s the New York Times’s graphic, divided by months, of school shootings in the U.S. over the past four years. Light dots are the injured, dark ones the dead (click to enlarge):

 

On this day in 1898, the battleship USS Maine exploded and sank in Havana Harbor, Cuba, killing 274 people and precipitating the Spanish-American War.  On February 15, 1923, Greece became the last country in Europe to adopt the Gregorian calendar.  And February 15, 1925, in the famous serum run to Nome (Alaska) a group of dogsled mushers brought a second batch of diphtheria toxin to that afflicted city, covering 674 miles (1085 km) in only five and a half days and staving off an epidemic.  The 20 mushers and 100 dogs who brought the serum—the only way to get to Nome in those pre-bushplane days—were heroes. (Read the link!)  On this day in 1942, Singapore surrendered to the Japanese, with 80,000 Indian, UK, and Australians soldiers becoming prisoners of war. In 1965, the flag of Canada was changed on this day from the “Red Ensign” to the Maple Leaf Banner, and that’s why today is “National Canada Flag Day”. Here are the old and new flags (I definitely like the new one better, and it doesn’t contain the Union Jack):

On this day in 1992, Serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer was sentenced to life in prison. Two years later he was beaten to death by a fellow inmate.  Finally, on this day in 2001, the first draft of the human genome was published in Nature (as I recall, Ventner’s team published in Science at the same time, but I can’t be arsed to look it up).

Notables born on this day include Galileo Galilei (1564), Susan B. Anthony (1820), Ernest Shackleton (1874), Art Spiegelman (1948), and Matt Groening (1954). Those who died on February 15 include Nat King Cole (1965), Ethel Merman (1984), and Richard Feynman (1988).

Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, Hili is up to cat mischief:

Hili: Which dust cloth shall I throw down first?
A: None of them.
Hili: You must be joking.
In Polish:
Hili: Którą ścierkę zrzucić najpierw?
Ja: Żadną.
Hili: Chyba żartujesz.

 

Up in Winnipeg, Gus got a special treat yesterday. Staff Taskin reports:

Gus got some shrimp treats for his special Valentine present. They are his favourites!

Reader Barry found a cat who doesn’t want anyone to touch its Valentine candy:

https://twitter.com/marienassar_/status/963633681138176000

From Grania: a cat sets a jailed d*g free:

A funny zoo sign. Is that a llama?

The kedis of Turkey:

From Matthew, a distressing case of cervid appropriation. This must be an elk (Cervus canadensis) rather than the Scottish red deer (Cervus elpaphus), though they’ve been considered members of the same species.

The collateral damage of winter:

You call that a paw? Now THIS is a paw!

Finally, one from reader Blue, showing a well trained moggie:

https://twitter.com/StefanodocSM/status/963671231005384706

Tuesday: Hili dialogue (and Leon monologue)

February 13, 2018 • 6:30 am

The snow has abated here, at least for a while, and while it’s clear on this Fat Tuesday, February 13, 2018, it’s still cold: 11° F (-12° C). It’s also National Italian Food Day, and World Radio Day, celebrating the powers of wireless (not computers!) Remember that tomorrow is Valentine’s Day, and if you haven’t got swag for your significant other, get on the stick!

Posting may be light today as I have stuff to do. Like Maru, I do my best.

On February 13, 1542, yet another one of Henry VIII’s wives was executed, in this case Catherine Howard (wife #5). She was beheaded for “adultery” at only 21.  On this day in 1633, Galileo arrived in Rome for his trial before the Inquisition. He was found guilty of heresy, forced to recant, and spent the last nine years of his life under house arrest. (Of course, as all accommodationists tell us, this had nothing to do with religion.)  In 1689, William and Mary were designated as co-rulers of England (have there been co-rulers since?), and gave their names to my beloved alma mater. On this day in 1935, Bruno Hauptmann was found guilty of the kidnapping of the “Lindbergh baby” (Charles’s Lindbergh’s son) two years before. It’s not clear that he was guilty, but he was electrocuted. On this day in 1955, Israel obtained four of the seven Dead Sea scrolls.  In 1961, a supposedly 500,000-year-old rock or concretion was found near Olancha, California, containing a modern spark plug. This “Coso artifact” was of course touted by creationists, but has since had a more prosaic explanation.  On this day in 1990, an agreement was made for the reunification of Germany.  Finally, exactly one year ago today, Kim Jong-nam was murdered in Kuala Lumpur International Airport, almost surely by the agents of his half-brother, DPRK leader Kim Jong-un.

Notables born on this day include Thomas Robert Malthus (1766), Lord Randolph Churchill (1849; Winston’s dad), Grant Wood (1891), William Shockley (1910), Chuck Yeager (1923; still with us at 95), Elaine Pagels (1943), Jerry Springer (1944), Marian Stamp Dawkins (1945), and Mena Suvari (1979). Those who died on February 13 include Catherine Howard (1542; see above), Benvenuto Cellini (1571), Cotton Mather (1728), Richard Wagner (1883), Waylon Jennings (2002), and, two years ago, Antonin Scalia.

Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, Hili is pining for Spring:

Hili: All this will be green again.
A: We have to wait a bit more.
Hili: I will sleep through part of this waiting.
In Polish:
Hili: To wszystko będzie znowu zielone.
Ja: Jeszcze trochę musimy poczekać.
Hili: Część tego czekania prześpię.

In nearby Wloclawek, Leon finally got his cat treats sent by Hiroko (Leon’s staff at last visited Andrzej and Malgorzata). Leon loved them!

Leon: Do you still insist that I’m a poor eater? Hiroko Kubota and Jerry Coyne know what I like BEST!
And up in Winnipeg, the difficult task continues of making a photographic thermometer based on Gus’s nose color. It gets pinker when it’s cold, and my theory (which is mine) is that one could determine the outside temperature by making a color scale of Gus’s nose and matching it to the scale when he comes inside. His staff Taskin, long hectored by me to do this, reports:

Gus went out this morning, I was very surprised because it is quite cold, -25C. I took outside and inside pictures but I’m not sure if the difference in pinkness is really apparent. He doesn’t sit still for such photos…

Outside:

Inside:

A pun tweet found by Grania:

From Matthew: Earthworms mating. He noted that

“There are no indigenous Canadian earthworms. Think glaciers. 15,000 years ago it was all ice and rock. How long does it take worms to migrate from the unglaciated south? So how does indigenous soil ecology work? Very good question. No one really knows – I’ve asked soil experts. Worms you get in Canada are Brit imports in general.”

These, I suppose, are official symbols of the Olympics, reinterpreted for the ignorant:

An “infernal cat machine” (watch the video):

Watch this lovely video about a sickly kitten rescued by a husky. Now they’re BFFs:

Matthew called this one “Rhino in the snow,” which reminds me of the Doors song “Riders on the Storm”:

And this one from Official Website Physicist™ Sean Carroll, who retweeted it with the caption, “This seems like magic, but it’s just Fourier transforms (expressing a function as a sum of periodic functions). Which are a kind of magic, I admit.”

 

Monday: Hili dialogue

February 5, 2018 • 6:30 am

Good morning on another frigid and snowy day: Monday, February 5, 2018. The temperature in Chicago is -2° F (-19° C), and I froze my ears walking to work. It’s World Nutella Day, and despite the fact that the stuff is universally loved, I tried it for the first time last year and didn’t like it. In the U.S. it’s National Weatherpersons Day (why couldn’t they call it “National Meterologists Day”?).

In sports news (a rarity here), every American knows that, against all odds, the Philadelphia Eagles beat the New England Patriots in the Superbowl; the score was 41-33. I even watched a bit of it. And so we’ll sign off at the sports desk until next year.

Not much happened on this day in history. On February 5, 1852, the Hermitage Museum opened in St. Petersburg, Russia. I spent two days visiting it a few years ago, and it’s the best art museum I’ve ever seen, as it’s in a royal palace.  On this day in 1885, King Leopold II of Belgium established the Congo as a “personal possession”—a corporate entity that he controlled.  On this day in 1909, Belgian chemist Leo Baekeland announced his creation of the world’s first artificial plastic: Bakelite. (I had a Bakelite clarinet when I played in my junior high school band.) Exactly a decade later, the film and entertainment studio United Artists (still going) was founded by Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, and D. W. Griffith. On February 5, 1939, Franco became the “Caudillo”—the leader of Spain who served—if that’s the right word—until his death in 1975, and the big news is that he’s still dead. Finally, on this day in 1988, Manuel Noriega was indicted on drug smuggling and money laundering charges. He was jailed in the U.S. in 1992, then extradited to France in 2010, and then to Panama in 2012, where he died in prison in May of last year.

Notables born on February 5 include Robert Peel (1788), the conjoined twins Daisy and Violet Hilton (1908), Red Buttons (1919), Hank Aaron (1934), Al Kooper (1944), Charlotte Rampling (1946) and Jennifer Jason Leigh (1962). Here’s a live performance of my favorite song by Al Kooper (the original by Blood, Sweat & Tears is here).

Those who expired on this day include Thomas Carlyle (1881), Marianne Moore (1972), and Wassily Leontief (1999).

Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, Hili made a pun.

A: What are you doing there?
Hili: I’m working behind the screens.
In Polish:
Ja: Co tam robisz?
Hili: Pracuję za ekranem.

In Winnipeg, Gus’s staff watched the great Turkish cat documentary Kedi, and Gus joined in. If you like cats, or Turkey, watch it! The staff report (with photos):

I finally got to watch Kedi! Gus found it riveting, but he didn’t care for the fight scenes. He leapt on to the railing after the first meow and tried to find the cat. Later, he settled onto the harpsichord bench and stared intently at the screen for the duration. The only other times he has been interested in the television is when there were birds.

Here’s a d*g + cat tweet found by Grania:

https://twitter.com/TheFarSide_ish/status/959971784899510272

And another, which is the best biology tweet of the decade. It shows how science can solve a long-unanswered philosphical conundrum:

Grania also sent an owl:

https://twitter.com/planetepics/status/960136042681655296

Two tweets sent by reader Gethyn (half of the staff of Theo, the espresso-drinking cat):

And two tweets found by Dr. Cobb. Look at that lizard scuttle for blueberries!

And this is surprising—and sad: