It’s so cold here in Toronto that we’re seeing very strange visitors to our feeder.
A mallard duck, probably from the park nearby, has visited us twice this week. People usually feed the birds at a small lagoon that is kept ice-free but, with the bitter cold, pickings are probably thin forcing the ducks and geese to search for snacks. He’s the biggest bird we’ve had here so far.
click the images to enlarge
A friend of mine, Mike Blake, has 2 sons who we’ve known since they were young pups. The younger one, Chris, plays football for McMaster and Mike sent us a picture this week. Just for a laugh, let’s see how he’s grown. The picture here was taken at our old cottage in 1991. Sorry for the quality, I’ve got to get a scanner. If you click on the picture, you’ll see what Chris looks like today (he’s the one in the middle).
click the image to enlarge
Maggie doing what she does so very well. Nothing.
After Bush announced ambitious plans for manned space missions to the Moon and Mars, the other shoe dropped when NASA confirmed that no further maintenance missions are planned for the Hubble Space telescope. This move virtually assures that the Hubble will die in a few years.
What has the HST done for us, you ask? Nothing much:
Gave us the age of the Universe
Provided proof of black holes
Gave first views of star birth
Showed how stars die
Caught spectacular views of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9’s collision with Jupiter
Confirmed that quasars are galactic nuclei powered by black holes
Gathered evidence that the expansion of the Universe is accelerating
All for a fraction of the cost of a manned mission.
It’s 8pm on Sunday night and I’m just starting to watch part 2 of “Angels In America”. This superb HBO miniseries is probably the finest thing I’ve seen on TV since the first year of “The West Wing”. Equal parts of sadness, humor and hope with incredible performances and brilliant direction by Mike Nichols.
Check out HBO’s site. Do yourself a favor, watch it if you can.
A while ago I gave you a link to an animation of the Mars Spirit Rover mission. Well, they’ve now added music. It’s a tad cheesey but still looks and sounds pretty good. Find it here. Requires Quick Time.
click for a larger view
Meet Patrick. A seven month old male joins Maxine and Alex in Wasaga Beach. He’s a charmer who likes to play and is always open to a warm lap or bed.
By the way, the black smudge on the bottom right is Alex.
A new year is upon us. Another chance to get it right. Or if we’re good, another year to keep doing it right. A time to make resolutions - most of which we won’t keep or are so unspecific as to be unmeasurable.
Did I make a difference? Probably, but I can’t put my finger on anything right at this moment. Did I cause harm? I don’t think so, not intentionally at least.
I started this Blog back in January and I’ve had a lot of fun with it. A few people have taken the time to read it and for that I am eternally grateful. I tumbled on to Whole Wheat Radio and have conversed with some great people and had a chance to hear some wonderful radio.
My wife still tolerates me. My employer hasn’t changed the locks on me. My mother still thinks I’m ok and I hope I was able to offer some comfort when she lost her brother and her long-time companion, both in December. The local bar got too much of my money but a lot of fantastic people hang out there so I guess it was a fair trade.
The world is still standing, still shaky but still spinning. Too many people continue to die for reasons that make no sense to me. The terrorists haven’t quite won yet though the sense of paranoia fostered by our friends to the south is causing me to worry about the freedoms that we all take for granted.
Mad Cow disease is back in the news. SARS seems to be making a comeback. It’s too damm warm for the first day in January.
Ah, the heck with it. I wish everyone out there the Happiest of New Years and let’s all remember to commit a random act of kindness every day.
Peace to you all.
Click pic to email me
www.flickr.com
|
