General Motors Downsizes

Sorry. It's a slow Friday.

Proud Of His Work!

Fredric Baur, who invented the Pringle and the iconic Can, died last month in Cincinnati at age 89. He was buried, at his request, in a Pringle Can. Mr. Baur invented the Pringle while at Proctor & Gamble, who introduced the product in 1973.

To answer your unasked question, not it was not a coffin shaped like a Pringle Can. He was cremated, and his ashes were interred in a standard can.

A Visitor On Our Roof

(Click to enlarge.)
It's the bushy-tailed fellow on the right, not the ever-vigilant huron on the left, who was visiting.

That's Not Fun! I Don't Like This One.

A TACA (El Salvador) A320 ran off the runway in the rain today.
In Tegucigalpa Honduras.
Here's a cockpit view of a typical landing at TGU...it's not easy.

(Caution! The video is 4:00 min. Mine burped while downloading so I let it do its thing and then hit "replay.")
This is why I respect pilots so much.

Not Red Eye

What would you call this? Blue eye, or maybe silver eye?
(There may be an interesting scientific reason about a dog's eye's reaction to a flash of light lurking in here somewhere. Who knows?)

Home-Made Pizza

With pesto sauce, mushrooms, and mozzarella cheese.

Harvey Korman Died Today

R.I.P.

Change Of Pace

Just a cat in the window.

In downtown Marrakech, Morocco.

What Is It With This Guy?

I'm trying to be very careful, since I may not have a dog in this race. However, here is a quote from Mr. Obama's Memorial Day speech in Las Cruces, NM today -
On this Memorial Day, as our nation honors its unbroken line of fallen heroes -- and I see many of them in the audience here today -- our sense of patriotism is particularly strong.
Are they rising from the dead, or what?
(Just asking)

Bathtime For Morris

It doesn't happen very often, but when it does, the cat seems a bit bewildered, but cute.

It Seems Like Forever...

but, there has been some progress on the Eastern side of the Bay Bridge.

To remind our readers out of area, the earthquake was in 1989. That's 19 years ago.
Completion is anticipated by 2013. That's 24 years to construct the Eastern spans.
(The original bridge took 3 years to build...1933-1936.)
We all love our bureaucracy, don't we? Or, perhaps, we all were much smarter 75 years ago.
Either way, I'm embarrassed.

Moment Of Silence

Today, in Beijing (Peking)

Because of this awful devastation.

The army is on scene.

(First time I've ever felt good about the Chinese army, FWIW.)
God Bless.

Sloping

This is only for fun:





Two great photos of subjects that (appear to) slope down, from left to right.

Thanks for watching.

We Are Saved! (Materially, anyway)

Fog is rolling in.

Just in time for the Bay To Breakers tomorrow a.m.

Hot Days Are Dog Days

But the winds have shifted to the West, and there's some fog out there, I hope.

These Guys Aren't Endangered

They're just bored.

Too much time spent watching "American Idol" on TV, I guess.

West Virginia

Isn't this fun?



(no further comment)

Where Is...

Drawbridge, California?

Hint: It's close!

Mothers Day 2008

Political Humor

10 May 2008 18:00 GMT

That's tomorrow, Saturday, at 11 a.m. Pacific.
Pangea Day lies somewhere in importance between Earthworm Day and Dr. Spock's Birthday anniversary. (That's just an opinion.)
Go to YouTube and search for "Pangea Day." You will get many, many hits.

So, make a movie, sing a song, whatever.

JUST DON'T FORGET!

"How To Wrap 5 Eggs"

That's the name of a book I received after college. I think that we may still have it around somewhere (EBay is selling it for $300!) It's all about the charming interpretations that the Japanese use in packaging.

I thought of the book when I saw Mieko packing up some berries as a gift.

We All Have The Problem

but this $100 answer from "Sharper Image" may, thankfully, not be the solution!

God Bless The USA!

This from our friends across the Pond, where you must pay the government for the privilege of owning and using a television set.

That's a bit troubling, no?

Cinco de Mayo?

Pshaw! Tomorrow, 5/5, is always Boys' Day! (Even if the Government over there now tries to call it Children's Day.)

So, get to it and fly your Carp Flags!

Useless! (except, perhaps, for Scrabble)

This whizbang has a name. It's a "pilcrow" according to Michael Quinion, who studies this stuff.

And, it's not a backwards "P"; it's a "C" with two verticals attached. Goes back to the Latin.

And look at how many different ways it can be rendered:

Okay, now back to breakfast...

The New Mayor of London

We expect that Boris will prove a bit better than Red Ken.

(But, our fingers are crossed.)

Definitely Spring

The first strawberry crop of 2008 is in, and what a crop it is. Friends and neighbors have enjoyed, and more are invited. There's no way we can eat all these guys.
And, yes. They are very sweet!

Green Thumbs . . .

(Click to enlarge.)

. . . are very useful when decorating the exterior of one's manse with nature's blessings.

(This Spring, so far, has been amazing. And, you should see the prolific strawberry plants out back!)

Travertine!

The Getty Center, Los Angeles, California

The stone facade is perfectly colored, sympathetically faceted, and thrives in the air and the sun of Southern California. It is simply magnificent.

(The wall section shown above is about 20 ft. high by 24 ft. wide. The stones are 30x30 inches.)

Architect: Richard Meier

She's Someone's Mother

(That's a bug, not a mother, above!)

And she is the attractive lady with whom I sequentially share a bath mat.
And she's been humming this song all afternoon!

Just Thinking...

"In 1491, not one person in Italy had ever seen a tomato, nor was there a single potato in Ireland, a chili pepper in all of Asia, or a kernel of corn in Africa. In turn, no living American had ever ridden a horse, milked a cow, or eaten a bowl of rice."

Contemplation time, I guess.

Insane!

Consider the costs: bookkeeping, coding, computer time, printing, mailing.

Then, receiving, opening, endorsing, driving, depositing, noting.

BUT, the books are balanced!

Sheesh. There's something wrong here.

Happy Birthday, May Kikuchi!

Same Time Next Year

After Fuji-san (see below),

please now contemplate the Lone Rose.



Nice, isn't it? This is to the right of the front door, not twenty feet from where I type.

Oh, My Gosh!

Volcano Lancing! All in the spirit of beer. Watch it and weep.

It Was Truly A Musical Day On The Lawn

"Mine eyes have seen the glory..."



(There goes the separation of God and State!)

A Prayer With PB XVI

This morning on the South Lawn of the White House.



Really rather well done.

This Is Fun!

What you do, is to go here, and input your birthdate. Then, see what the popular song was on that date.

Mine, as you can see at the top, was "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes." Nice song, and I almost remember it.

Only In Japan

Maybe this is why you never see an old, dented car on the roads of Japan:

Paint!

This is in honor of the Bay Area's First Real Day of Summer. (75F)

(Please ignore the wires.)
It's summertime, and the fish are jumpin'!

Pangeaday May Be A Crock...

but there are compensations. This, for instance, is delightful:



Vive La France!

Here's some reciprocity (although I think Ingrid Bergman couldn't carry a tune:)



Vive Rick's Cafe Americaine!

(P.S. For more of Ingrid:(cut and paste))

http://youtube.com/watch?v=nNMTZMncvQ4

All Praise The Internet!

HiltonHouse is now blessed with four soft-boiled-egg cups, one egg topper, and four egg spoons. How long would it have taken, and how much gas would it have taken, for me to search throughout the Bay Area to find these things? Instead, I spent about 30 minutes on the Internet and received them all from three different locations.

Bring back soft-boiled eggs!

UPDATE! TempDisplaced informs that soft-boiled-egg cups proliferate, among the snow flakes, all over the U.K. My,my.

Brother Paul's Memorial

Nice gathering. About 40 people, including 6 from the Consulate. It's been one year.

'Nuff said. I'm sad.