Why do birds suddenly appear ...?

Everybody learn LisP or I will stand beneath your bedroom window and sing karaoke all night -- starting with The Carpenters Greatest Hits, then ABBA.

The 19th century inventor of the brass and steel cog clockwork hand-cranked general-purpose low-speed programmable digital computer (don't laugh, the fucking thing finally works, once a year they crank out error-free printer-ready trig tables at London's Museum of Science), Babbage, had an obsessive hatred of London's hurdy-gurdy organ grinders. Whenever he saw (or heard) one, he would find a cop and sic him on the poor street musician and his little monkey.

As his reward, London's organ grinders began ending their night shifts under Babbage's bedroom window and conducting a free concert just for him.

I'm not making this up.