Six Things, Volume 118

Cranes | Fireworks | Road Runner | Best Before | Tour | Timdle

Hello! Before we move on to the Six Things, please forgive me for offering you a small, personal, Pre-Thing.

Seven years ago I published a book, Why Do Birds Suddenly Disappear?, with crowdfunding publisher Unbound. It’s the story of my return to birdwatching after three and a half decades in the wilderness – specifically, it’s the story of 2016, the year in which I decided to try and see 200 British bird species.

Earlier this year, Unbound went bust, owing authors over £600,000. I was one of them. The company that arose in the aftermath, Boundless, promised to pay the money owed, but at the end of May they announced that this would not be possible.

I should immediately say that I was far less affected by this than some people. For me it’s infuriating and extremely disappointing, but, with sales of the book down to a trickle, not ruinous. For others – their books either more recently published or still in the process (some of them are owed thousands of pounds) – it’s profoundly upsetting, even life-changing.

Anyway, I now have two things:

– the rights to the book

– all the remaining stock

Here’s a small portion of it.

I like these piles of books. There’s something satisfying about their symmetry.

But that doesn’t mean I want to keep them.

If you’re in the mood to enable me to see my office floor before 2027, you can buy a signed (and dedicated, should you so wish) copy of Why Do Birds Suddenly Disappear?

I’m afraid that, for palaver- and expense-related reasons, I can only send to the UK. Sorry.

Some of the other affected authors also have their books available. You can find them here and here. Do consider buying some – these people have been well and truly done over, and deserve all the support they can get.

Thanks for your indulgence and patience. Now on with this week’s Things.

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Thing 1 – Cranes

Whooping cranes are quite something. Tall, gawky, whiter than white, they’re the rarest species in their family. While their global population of 540 doesn’t seem like a lot (hint: it’s not), it represents a conservation success – there were just 15 of them in the 1940s.

This short animation, the brainchild of photographer and Mike Forsberg alongside the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, uses telemetry data and innovative animation to track the migratory journey of one crane family: 2,500 miles in 37 days. Say it quickly and it doesn’t seem far, but as well as the distance, they have to contend with the apparently inexorable shrinking of suitable habitats. Quietly moving.

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Thing 2 – Fireworks

I enjoyed browsing these 19th-century Japanese firework catalogue illustrations from the Public Domain Review. That’s all.

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Thing 3 – Road Runner

I’ve posted this before, but as far as I’m concerned there’s never a bad time to reshare it.

The upshot of posting it on social media was that it reached quite a few people, some of whom shared related delights, such as this resource for physics teachers from Dan Burns, which uses examples from the cartoons to illustrate some of the fundamentals of the subject.

User Twm pointed out that Jones later added two more rules:

10: The audience’s sympathy must remain with the Coyote.

11: The Coyote is not allowed to catch or eat the Road Runner.

(A couple of people rightly questioned the use of ‘beep-beep’ in place of ‘meep-meep’. It’s to be assumed that the image above isn’t Jones’s original.)

Meanwhile, Rob Whiting reminded me of the existence of this enjoyable New Yorker article from 1990, Coyote vs Acme (it inspired the forthcoming film, which already boasts a history as chequered as that of its subjects).

Quite a few people shared their memories of episodes in which the rules were broken, and Ronan McManus went so far as to share this link to all the Road Runner episodes ever made, just in case anyone wants to check.

Finally, Bill Mudron poured cold water on proceedings with the observation that these rules aren’t quite what they appear to be.

None of which dampens my enthusiasm for the concept.

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Thing 4 – Best Before

Purveyor of loveliness, Moose Allain, posted this eternal truth on Bluesky:

He furnished it with some examples from his own experience:

The resulting thread is full of joy. Here are some of the highlights.

And one from my own brother (just as I was thinking which of several examples I might contribute to the jollity):

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Thing 5 – Tour

The Tour de France has started. This Big Think article about some aspects of its history is now eight years old, but it’s still worthwhile (although we should point out that Eddy Merckx’s record for stage wins has now been beaten by Mark Cavendish). Happily, the map it references (showing how often the race has passed through each département) has been updated to include the Tour’s full history.

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Thing 6 – Timdle

Timdle presents you with historical events. All you have to do is arrange them in the correct order. Trickier/easier than you think (depend on how tricky/easy you think it’s going to be).