It's Truly Amazing

to see what marvels a simple Deer Fence will provide!

'Ow D'ya Sigh Thaht?

For our many observers/lurkers in the U.K. . .



we offer this marvelous site from the British Library regarding regional dialects:

http://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/sounds/index.html

You're welcome.

Do We Have -

any friends of Dartmouth out there?

If so, you may recall this image.



Dartmouth used to be a college. I believe it is now a university.

It's mostly covered with snow.

Today's pic is due a HT to althouse.blogspot.com

(click on the image; it's a big'un. Suitable for computer wallpaper.

On The Other Hand. . .

There is always the (almost) infinite array of decorative materials used to differentiate subdivision houses one from another. ("Mine is a graystone house 3 down from the corner.")("On the right.")



Oh, well.

(Tip of the Hat as noted below.)

Logotype is what we call "logo"

For instance:



HT: www.archidose.blogspot.com/

I Am Currently Interested

in this macro stuff. Here's an intimate view of corn:



and then, who says that stair railings cannot be interestingly designed?



(please note that neither of these beauties is of my taking.)

Coit Tower

It was truly a sparkling day in San Francisco after the storm had cleansed the air to a sparkling transparency.

Cold Storm Coming Tonight,

but, in the meantime, the roses out front are really beautiful!



Bring on the weather!

In The Central States

It's been a very long winter.



The picture is from Madison WI this morning.

Meanwhile, of course, we've had a very dry winter in California.

Sigh.

Up, Up, And Away. . .

Except that this is a blimp, not a balloon. (It can steer itself where it wants to go.)



Oh, well. I was impressed with the picture.

Aquatic Appetizers

Again, from Nina Camic's trips, this one to SouthWestern France.



Beautiful! But I'm glad that they're appetizers. There doesn't appear to be enough to satisfy my total appetite!
The oysters look great, of course.
The snails (I think) on the left also look tasty, but they're not very aquatic. And, behind them, the little things in the black shells may be more trouble than they're worth.

Those crawdads in the center are very attractive! There's not much meat inside, I fear. And, I speak from experience.

On the right, the shell full of minnows may be worthwhile, if they're salted a bit.

The question is. . . what's hiding behind the centerpiece? Enough to satisfy my stomach? Nina doesn't say, more's the shame.

Anyway, it's a great picture.

Look! Up There. Beyond The Tiles. . .

It's going to be a sunny day!

(I think I got this from www.pbase.com/)

On The Other Hand. . .

There is always the bread!



(What is that smell?)

HT: ninacamic.com/

Testing Flickr Blog Ability

PALAU, originally uploaded by BoazImages.

This is a snapshot of a few of the rock islands of Palau, in the Western Pacific.

(HT Boasimages)

Be Green (Damnit!)

John Travolta is urging all fans and supporters to do their bit to conserve energy, and save the planet.

Above is pictured John's house, with parking for 20 SUV's on the right, and 2 Jets (one large, the other a bit smaller) on the left.

"Do what I say; not what I do."

Our New House Pet

We've always had an inside-outside pet, our Cat Named Morris.

Now, please meet the new outside-inside pet, our Lizard Named Gecko:




(Petting is not encouraged.)

Google Maps Humor (Humour?)

Try maps from Cambridge, Massachusetts to Cambridge, England. Look carefully at step 12 at:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&hl=en&saddr=harvard,+cambridge,+massachusetts&daddr=Kings+College,+Cambridge,+England&layer=&sll=46.92429,-34.644657&sspn=33.339459,74.003906&ie=UTF8&z=4&ll=47.279229,-34.628906&spn=33.127644,74.003906&om=1

HT Google Blogoscoped

Words To Remember ( I )

"That makes about as much sense as screen doors on a submarine."

Inside . . .

. . .is where orchids thrive, at least in temperate climes.

And these guys are thriving well!

(click images to enlarge)

Ah, To Be A Student Again

I kind of like that.

Just Because I'm Hungry For Dessert . . .

Vernal (semi) Equinox

Wednesday is the Vernal Equinox this year. Daylight and Nightlight are the same.

More or less.

If you have the time, read Wikipedia on the subject and, if you understand what it says, congratulate yourself heartily.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vernal_equinox

Nostalgia

$15 haircuts still exist!

(But, you have to search to find them.)

photo by rickleephoto in Charleston WV

Stop The War?

A lot of outdoor assemblies across the Nation this weekend; not all in honor of St. Patrick.

The fellow above was spotted in New York City. He is obviously in favor of, um, wait, that'll be. . .

Go Bears!

Job Opportunities Abound:

The University of California at Berkeley is looking to hire its first Vice Chancellor for Equity and Inclusion, and I think it's about darn time. I'm heartened to know that with this renewed focus on recruiting students and faculty from underrepresented groups, Berkeley's agents will soon be scouring Iowa for devout homeschooled virgin boys. Young men returning from service in Iraq, likewise, may find a warmer reception than they would have received in years past. And no doubt many young parents, as well as retired executives, will soon be submitting their applications to the more equitable and inclusive Cal-Berkeley. Observant pro-war Jews, aspiring Christian filmmakers, chaste young pro-life activists — all are welcome under Berkeley's big tent, right?

HT: tonywoodlief.com/

Taiko Time!

Just a little excitement to get the juices boiling.

Bang!

50 Years Ago!

Elvis Presley & Frank Sinatra - duet
Uploaded by beautifulcynic

And it seems like just yesterday.

One Clothed, One Unclothed

Two bodies, hands clapsed behind their heads, both relaxing while absorbing the Springtime Rays of Sunshine.

3.141592653589793 . . .

Wednesday is Pi Day! 3/14

You may celebrate at 1:59 if you chose.

Doesn't He Look Happy?

That's my grandpa.

Born 1872, in January.

In Canada.

I just found this picture.

Two Countries

I found this somewhat interesting. From the same location, at the same time, with the same camera, held by the same photographer, we look at two European nations.

That's Italy up above.

And Switzerland below.




And, just to the side. . .(ta da!) Matterhorn!





HT: ninacamic.blogspot.com/

(I stood on a hill once, and saw Fremont and Milpitas at the same time. But, I didn't take photographs.)

Lucianne Says . . .

"If you just stay asleep long enough,
someone else will change all the clocks."

Happy Daylight Savings Time!

Tax $$$ Working

About to open, two years late, at the corner of 7th and Mission in the City Across The Bay, is the new Federal Office Building (and Court House) representing the very latest in "green" building thinking. Read one commentator's summary from a blog on www.plnewsforum.com:

THE LATEST CRAZE in architecture, after fizzled experiments in Modernism, Post Modernism, Brutalism, Deconstructionism, and Post-Brutal-Deconstructed-Neo-Modernism, is a genuflection to environmentalism called “Green Building” or “Sustainable Architecture.” For the most part, building “Green” means cloaking an intrinsically inefficient high rise building in an ecological hair shirt that makes owners feel good and tenants feel miserable.

The latest example of Green Building has risen in San Francisco, where the city by the Bay has ripped apart one of the grittier parts of its foggy utopia to construct what is surely the most ridiculous building of our still young century: the poetically-named Federal Building.

A unique combination of crackpot environmentalism and elaborate ugliness, the Federal Building will finally opens its doors (or flaps, or airlocks, or orifices, or something) later this month and it will boast a number of odd design “features.” For instance, the Federal Building is an office tower tall enough to disrupt the city’s skyline, yet its elevators only stop on every third floor--the better to conserve energy.

And after trudging up and down the stairs on a blazing summer afternoon the unfortunate tenants soak in their own sweat because the building has no air conditioning . . . again to save energy.

With any luck, the Mayne event in San Francisco will be so notoriously bad that it will do for enviro-fundamentalism what the Tweed Courthouse did for corrupt government . . . that is, give it unmistakable form that provokes corrective action.

Sounds like Algore might like it. Sounds like a disaster. I shall drive by when I'm once-again mobile.

Cameron Hughes Wines

You're going to have to read this carefully, and belong to Costco if you want the lowest prices.

I don't belong to Costco, since they haven't invited me, so I order by FedEx, which adds about $3/bottle, but the service is fast since the winery is on Bryant Street in San Francisco.

If you belong to Costco, just subscibe to the internet email and see what's on the way. Please note that once a "Lot" is sold out, that's it. No more. Gone, fini, pau.

You can Google CHW, or the title above, to learn what this guy does. Boiled (bad word) down, he buys leftover quality wines, mostly in California, but also Australia and Chile, blends them to his taste, bottles them incommunicado and ships them off to Costco.

Think premium "Two Buck Chuck."

I have tried a Zin and a Meritage so far, and I am very pleased. Good hearty, bold reds. Not a whole lot of subtlety, but that's what I like. Lots of fruit, lingering finish. My kind of red wine. Very good prices.

Heartily recommended.

Different Camera

What do you think?



I think not bad, so far.

Mt. Diablo (aka Mont St. Georges)

We had a bit of a chill here last night.



But you have to admit that this is a killer view from the kitchen table!

Shift Happens

I question some of these 'facts', but the presentation is interesting anyway.

(Music from Last of the Mohicans; length is about 6 minutes.)

This Is Saddening

Berlin, February 2007



There are some very sick people around us.

(Yes, I know that the swastika is backwards. Thanks.)

Guam USA

Admittedly it's a hotel commercial, with Chinese voiceover, but there are some great shots of our favorite island.

(Check out that golf shot across the ocean at about 3:00 minutes in!)

Happy Birthday, Mr. President!

22 FEBRUARY

Actually, President Washington was born in Virginia on 11 February, under the Julian calendar. (11 February is a rather felicitous date, by the way.) Twenty years later, the Western world adopted the Gregorian calendar, the better to approximate the sun's cycles, and 11 Feb became 22 Feb.

And, therefore, . . . oh, never mind. If you're interested, you can Google it.

Celebrate!

Great Orators Of The Democratic Party

"One man with courage makes a majority."--attributed to Andrew Jackson

"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."--Franklin D. Roosevelt

"The buck stops here."--Harry S. Truman

"Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country."--John F. Kennedy

"If we cannot protect the nation's supply of peanut butter, one must ask how prepared we are for a terrorist attack on our nation's food supply."--Rep. Bart Stupack of Michigan

(HT: Opinion Jounal BOTW 2/20/07)

Don't worry; I'll slam the Republicans soon. :-)

Help Desk

This was new to me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRjVeRbhtRU

Enjoy!

Listen Up, NonBelievers!

I told you all, when you were young, that there was once a song titled "The Eggplant That Ate Chicago", and that it used to be one of my favs. Well, finally, here's the proof:



(Yes, that's an old 45 rpm)

Correct again. Hah!

Spare Your Ankle, PLEASE!

This picture really sent a shiver through me. It hurts just to observe the slip and fall.

14 February 2007

TO ONE AND ALL . . .

Go BEARS!

Sure it isn't the Rose Bowl, but it is against USC, and it's a Hail Mary!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNeNlyva9Io

Happy Birthday, Mr. President

Sinews Of The City

Enough of bones! Streets (and rails) are what hold The City together.

Bones & Things. Exposed!

Well, finally, here it is. The inside view of my left ankle after the Jan. 15th fracture, then reduction, operation, insertion, and sew up. The new hardware looks rather handsome, don't you agree?

The doctors seem quite pleased.

I don't quite feel that way. In a cast for 5 - 6 more weeks. Sigh.

Pastries A Bit Too Sweet For You?

Well, then, let's all get together and make some fresh guacamole!

Colts 29 Bears 17

Just bury your sorrows in these delicious bons bons. (Sigh.)

If You're Feeling Blue. . .

Madison WI earlier today.

1F, windchill -20F.

Enjoy your weekend!

SuperBowl XLI

I'm sitting here in my cast, immobilized, bored to tears, and Dear Daughter says "Update your blog!"

So with the weekend coming up, I thought you might enjoy seeing how Guam USA is celebrating the SuperBowl next Sunday.

The Game starts around brunch time Monday out there, everyone hangs out in the tourist hotels and island bars watching big-screen TV so, mostly, it's an unofficial, non-productive, but fun day for our beloved island territory.

Just click on: Pacific Daily News - www.guampdn.com - Hagatna, GU

Enjoy! (Go Bears!)