September 10, 2011

Random Soapbox for Saturday 9/10/11

I don't mean to go off on a rant here, but ...

... how did this apartment suddenly become its own eco-system centered around the fly?

Thanks to a poorly fitted oversized air conditioner in a bay window, there's been a hole allowing flies to gain entry for the last few weeks -- perhaps drawn in by the litter box near the window. Now the cats treat them as play things (some having more success than others -- there's something comical about watching a chubby cat barely bat at a bug flying by), and I've discovered that I've unwittingly starved a few by "trapping" them in the space between the screen and the window when I close it at night. (And since I feed the cats in addition to accidentally slaying flies, I think that keeps me at the top of this food chain.)

I've just discovered the newest link in this bio-system -- a spider who has taken up residence in the corner of the AC unit (right next to the aforementioned hole), having figured out that placing its web there is akin to living next to the old barrel in which metaphoric fish are shot.

With fall arriving any day now -- the AC unit will come out, the hole will get closed, the flies will die off (even those in hiding only have a life span of about 45 days or so -- although that does assume that the flies aren't getting all frisky up in here) and I'll gently suggest to the spider that there are undoubtedly pigs to save somewhere.

[Of note -- this plan will change drastically if I suddenly develop the urge to regurgitate enzymes on my food to aid in the digestive process ...]

THE FLY LIFE SPAN -- SHORTENED WHEN IT SMELLS FOOD?:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/02/070201-fly-smelling.html

JEFF GOLDBLUM IS ... THE FLY:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DFkF4TYVQQ

THERE's ALSO A 7 MIN VIDEO OF THIS CONCEPT (I'LL SPARE YOU THAT ONE):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGUdvF0PqC0&feature=related

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