I recently heard on the radio an interview with a very pleasant-sounding chap, Andrew Blechman, who has written a book in defense of pigeons. Now pigeons are in need of all the anti-defamation they can get, what with all the brutish, willfully ignorant folk out there who are convinced that they spread disease, in complete contradiction of all evidence. Have you ever actually heard of a specific person who's caught a disease from a pigeon? I didn't think so. Even pigeon keepers never worry about it.

Anyway, I'm sure the books contents will be familiar to most people who have ever had much conversation with me. "More breeds than of dogs; uncanny homing abilities; remarkable long-distance races; champions selling for ridiculous sums; pigeons decorated war heroes." I wonder whether the author found out about the pigeon vendettas among Italian thief-pouter flyers. You've heard it all before. I certainly wish the author well, but it's always a little galling to be reminded how little expertise in a subject has to do with publishing a book on it. I could have written this book; Steve Bodio did write this book, quite some time ago. Sigh. So ist die Lauf der Welt.

I've added GOAT-A High Country News Blog to the sidebar. High Country News is a very fine source for updates of the state, whether laudable or deplorable, of the Rocky Mountain West. (Hat tip: Chas, of course.)