Weekend Diversion: This one's for the Birds!

"Everything that's realistic has some sort of ugliness in it. Even a flower is ugly when it wilts, a bird when it seeks its prey, the ocean when it becomes violent." -Sharon Tate

For those of you who miss the folksy songs of summer I so often post (but not lately), I have you covered this week. If you've never heard of the band Girlyman, consider this an easy introduction to them, as I'm happy to present you, this weekend, with their song,

Bird On The Wire.But if you're anything like I am, you may have been distracted, recently, by a far more entertaining set of birds. Yes, I refer you to the Angry Birds.

For the uninitiated, Angry Birds is a puzzle game developed by Rovio, and consists of you launching your birds to destroy the evil green pig targets. (Why are they evil? You'll have to figure that one out on your own.)

Originally for Macs and Apple iOS mobile devices only, the game can now be played -- for free -- by anyone, courtesy of google chrome. Check it out! Take a level like the one above. You are given a group of birds with different special abilities, and you are free to launch them however you choose at the targets.

While the birds are in-flight, click your mouse to activate their special ability. Once you've destroyed all the green pigs, you advance to the next level.

But of course, the goal is not simply to advance through all the levels. There are different levels of mastery for each one; can you get three stars on all of them? (And perhaps even surpass my score?)

As a bonus, on the chrome edition, there are seven extra exclusive unlockable levels! Can you find them all, and get three stars on each one?

These are challenging, but with a little practice and persistence, you can do it, too!

I have spent a good eight or nine hours playing this, and I must say, if you're going to waste your time, there are far less fun ways to do it than with this.

If you've played Angry Birds before, you know what I'm talking about, and if this is your first introduction to it, well, I apologize to everyone (and their boss) who reads this on a Monday! Have a great rest-of-your-weekend!