Friday Random Things

Another odd thought while driving home: isn't the human brain amazing? I can hear just the first few seconds of a song on the radio and identify it instantly (Lola, by the Kinks; it was a live version!). I can do this for hundreds of songs. The reverse also holds: I can hear the beginning of a song and know I don't know it. It's not infallible, but still, it impressed me. It's something I can do without knowing how, like if I'm walking and see a pebble up ahead, and I know which foot I'll be able to kick it with when I get to it. If you gave me the math problem of how long my stride is, and how far away the pebble is, and which foot I start on, it would still take me a while to figure it out, but in live action, I do it without knowing how. Weird.

It was kind of strange that something I do all the time struck me so, but then I can be watching a hockey game and suddenly have this revelation: everything they're doing, they're doing on skates! I mean, I know, duh, but perhaps because I'm so uncoordinated myself, sometimes it just hits me how amazing that is.

At least, it can be impressive. If you're the Bruins lately, not so much. In their last four games, they are 0-4. Oh and four. Oh as in "oh, my stars" and four as in "for the love of pete". Their defense isn't actually that bad, but their offense seems to be missing. Five goals in four games is far from enough. And the injury bug is striking earlier this season:

• First Manny Fernandez, the big, expensive, "he'll be great when he gets his game going, no really" goalie tweaks a knee
  
• then poor Bergeron
  
• Andrew Ference with a mysterious "upper core injury" (they used to save that mystery talk for the playoffs, but now it's year-round)
• Shawn Thornton broke his foot
  
• Bobby Allen hurt his arm
• and last night, Aaron Ward took an elbow to the head, and has a concussion too (sounds like not as serious as Bergeron's, but he certainly was down-and-out on the ice for a couple of minutes, which was scary)
  

It's just so much more fun to watch when there's hope, and there was earlier on, but we're sliding downhill a bit. At the end of the game last night, I was pretty sure they weren't going to pull it off, just because they were playing like they didn't think they were going to pull it off. When they lose faith in themselves ... when they get 1:58 of a two-man advantage and not only don't score, but barely outshoot the other team ... well, I hope they pull themselves together, is all I'm saying. Otherwise, tomorrow night, I'll be reading with the game on, instead of "watching" the game.

But all is not depressing! For instance, the cats get cuter and cuter:


I mean, don't they? Really?


And here's the final thought for tonight. I passed this house this morning, and since I was stopped for a traffic light, I snapped a quick picture. While I'm sure the burlap-covered objects are bushes or something like, I can't help thinking that they look like petrified gnomes that someone is trying to disguise.


Or is that just me?

Elves, maybe? Dwarfs?