using only a sharpened fish in its mouth, the extensively trained gull is encouraged to fly in and around the cloud, pitching and diving – all the time alert (with one ear cocked) to the calls & whistles of the artist / gullherd standing on the ground below.
with each “come-bye” and “away” and “home, boy, home” the cloud is neatly etched and moulded into a giant flower or the head of a lion or some other whimsy.-- po, Apr 28 2003 I miss this programme. http://www.ukgamesh...ne_man_and_his_dog/ [po, Oct 05 2004, last modified Oct 17 2004] If I'm feeling grumpy will they turn "clouds - that - already - look - like - something" into "clouds - that - look - nothing"?-- phoenix, Apr 28 2003 no, they would make a big smiley face for you!-- po, Apr 28 2003 Considering the distance the calls and whistles must travel, and the relatively superior eyesight of most birds, it might work better if the gullherd's cues were visual.-- beauxeault, Apr 28 2003 Clouds usually start upwards of 500' or so, and on sunny days with the big white puffy photogenic clouds, they're much higher - just how sharp are your gull's ears? Easier to hire a chap/ette with Photoshop.-- DrCurry, Apr 28 2003 their herring is really sharp.-- po, Apr 28 2003 Urgh.
I got some great picture books for my son that feature wonderfully whimsical cloud animals in the skies (by illustrator Mark Buehner). I once even considered building a web site for people to post pictures of clouds that looked like real animals. But I decided there would be no way to separate out the Photoshopped fakes.-- DrCurry, Apr 28 2003 This would make a great storyline for an animated short film. The old man is blind but can still steer his seagull to create delicate, ethereal sculptures for pennies. He is befriended by a young lad whose mother is carrying the boy's hoped-for little sister. One day a hawk chases away the gull and the man, not knowing the cause, feels abandoned.
Then suddenly it's that time for the mother, and the three of them are on a small boat heading towards the mainland when thick fog and engine trouble halt their progress. Their frantic use of the foghorn is answered by an unexpected visitor, the seagull. With the bird's help, the old man cuts a portal through the fog, the boy gets the engine going, and the film ends in a hospital room with the mother, man, boy and gull admiring the new, baby girl.
At least it seemed great when I awoke at 3 A.M.-- FarmerJohn, Apr 29 2003 I like it, [FJ]. The "gull" of your dreams.-- jurist, Apr 29 2003 Johnathan Lifesavingston Seagul.-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Apr 29 2003 ............................. ..........I>................ ........./ \........I>....... ......../***\...../**\....... .......I******\...I****\...... ...<---\_____\_\____\-> ......\____________/.. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^-- k_sra, Apr 29 2003 :)-- po, Apr 29 2003 The Old Man and the Seagull.-- RayfordSteele, Apr 29 2003 random, halfbakery