Author Archives: Michael

Great Chicken Scenes #5: ‘Five Element Ninjas’ (1982)

Posted on August 9, 2012 by Michael

In this short extract from Chang Cheh’s magnificent martial arts comic-strip Five Element Ninjas (1982), Shao Tien-hao (Tien-chi Cheng), the only survivor of a ninja massacre that wiped out his entire clan, is introduced to his future comrades-in-arms and is … Continue reading →

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The World as a Chicken

Posted on July 19, 2012 by Michael

A few years ago, Japanese artist Kentaro Nagai rearranged the various continents to make up the twelve creatures of the Chinese zodiac. Naturally, a chicken was among them. And here are the rest.  (Hat tip: Anne Billson)

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Great Chicken Scenes #4: ‘Withnail & I’ (1986)

Posted on July 17, 2012 by Michael

Possibly the finest and certainly the funniest chicken scene in the whole of British cinema history, this is what happens when Withnail (Richard E. Grant) and Marwood (Paul McGann) take up the local farmer’s offer to supply the core ingredient … Continue reading →

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Colour coding (corrected)

Posted on July 13, 2012 by Michael

OK, so yesterday’s supposedly educated guesswork actually turned out to be far less accurate than our rather more blatant guesswork from before.  And I hold my own hands up to this, since my wife Jane stuck to the previous guesswork … Continue reading →

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Colour coding

Posted on July 12, 2012 by Michael

After Monday’s blatant guesswork, the chickens’ egg production over Tuesday and Wednesday has enabled us to draw some hopefully firmer conclusions about who’s laying what.  [UPDATE: Much of this turned out to be wildly inaccurate – see the corrected version … Continue reading →

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Great Chicken Scenes #3: ‘City of God’ (2002)

Posted on July 10, 2012 by Michael

What with all the excitement over Sunday’s discovery of the chickens’ psychic powers, I completely forgot to upload the regular weekly Great Chicken Scene.  But better late than never, as this is the show-stopping chase that opens Fernando Meirelles and Kátia … Continue reading →

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Make that 300%

Posted on July 9, 2012 by Michael

Following this morning’s two eggs, this evening brought two more – so today’s total is two medium brown, one pale brown and slightly speckly, and one closer to white. This was wholly unexpected, because Ida isn’t technically ready yet (she’s … Continue reading →

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Production up 100%

Posted on July 9, 2012 by Michael

I’ve just popped down to the hen house to check on the egg production situation, and found two nestling side by side – and one of them was so fresh it was still warm. Since there weren’t any there three … Continue reading →

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Psychic chickens!

Posted on July 8, 2012 by Michael

During the 2010 World Cup, a British-born, German-based octopus named Paul made the headlines for his unerringly accurate forecasts of the results of key football matches. Sadly, Paul passed away shortly afterwards, exhausted by all that psychic energy, but this … Continue reading →

Posted in Philosophical Debates, Video | 2 Comments

Cluck!

Posted on July 7, 2012 by Michael

The postman has just been, delivering a replacement copy of Jon-Stephen Fink and Mieke van der Linden’s fine book Cluck! The True Story of Chickens in the Cinema, a work of scholarship published 31 years ago that clearly remains the … Continue reading →

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