Here’s a happy accident. Yesterday, when I was over at the park taking pictures, I dropped into the conservatory. Coming from the very cold dry outside to the warm humid interior resulted in a foggy lens. I didn’t notice it when I took this shot. I sort of like it.
Took a walk around the park by the house today just to get some fresh air and see if anything jumped out at me as a photographic subject. Caught a few that you can see by clicking the link to my Flickr gallery.
Just finished updating to the latest version of Wordpress. Once again, it was incredibly easy!
Yesterday we spent our time concentrating on our friends and family. Today’s let’s turn our view to the stars. Saturn from the Cassini-Huygens probe.
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The Grinch desk is officially closed for 2005.
I don’t quite know what to make of it. Just go watch it.
The top 40 photos as chosen by the Reuters news agency from those they’ve published in 2005. Fantastic images from a very interesting year.
The Earth Calendar is a resource that brings together information on observed holidays around the world. For instance, did you know that today (December 23rd) is:
| Feast of the Radishes (Oaxaca only) | Mexico |
| Queen’s Birthday | Sweden |
| Tenno Tanjobi / Emperor’s Birthday | Japan |
Using this information, you can find at least one reason to celebrate every day of the year.
I actually do like the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Here’s a link to my Pandora station.
Christmas Bells, Carousels & Time by Trans-Siberian Orchestra (Holiday) - Discover Music - Pandora
Over at Lifehacker, someone asked the question - Is a blog a suitable vehicle for sharing information about a serious illness or death in the family? I don’t know what others think but I was glad that I had this outlet when my sister passed away a few months ago. The news came suddenly and a fast trip to England was necessary. We were separated from the rest of our family by an ocean and 5 time zones.
Keeping people up to date was a way for me to channel some of my grief and I heard from a number of relatives, friends and strangers who appreciated the updates and left comforting comments. This blog doesn’t really have a theme but quite a few of my posts have dealt with personal matters. Posting is sometimes hard, especially when the subject is difficult, but in general I find the experience of committing my thoughts to the web to be cathartic.
Over at Fark there’s an interesting thread if you’re looking for a last minute holiday recipe. Some are legitimate and others are, well, not. By far, my favorite was submitted by a submitter named “Danger Mouse”.
2 dysfunctional parents
3 screaming children
5 bottles of wine
1 bottle Jim Beam
4 percocets
add a dash of in-laws
slowly mix with sexy neighbor with roid rage husband.
Serve in a small apartment.
| Greed: | Medium |
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| Gluttony: | Medium |
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| Wrath: | Medium |
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| Sloth: | Very High |
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| Envy: | Very Low |
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| Lust: | Medium |
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| Pride: | Very Low |
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Take the Seven Deadly Sins Quiz
Got about 3/4 of the Christmas shopping done today. A quick outing first thing tomorrow and I’m officially done!
As usual, I saw the look of quiet desperation in most faces. It’s common in the last few days before the big one and it reconfirms my jaundiced view of this whole retail driven frenzy.
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The super talented, super strange Goons over at Something Awful put out the call for photoshopped images from the Matrix movies with a seasonal theme. The results were mashed into a little movie that is a joy to behold.
The link to directly download the movie, grab the torrent and take a look at the submitted images is here.[newline]
[image:514:l]You might also want to check out their take on The Lord Of The Rings from this time last year.[newline]
[image:512:r]When I think of musical genres that drive me crazy, two come to mind. Christmas and Disco. So what could be worse than combining both hideous monsters? How about having a duck do vocals?
Irwin the Disco Duck really knows how to get a Christmas party started. [newline]
[image:511:l]Years ago, some advertising firm was hired by a group of farmers who wanted to raise the public awareness of their crop. The California Raisins were born. Claymation commericals followed until the masses got so sick of them that the campaign fizzled out. Unfortunately, this didn’t happen before we were subjected to the Raisins and their take on Christmas.
Nothing says Happy Holidays like a bunch of wrinkled, dried grapes.
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Following in the steps of Alvin and the Chipmunks, many other animals attempted to cash in on their success. While Sidney the Sloth and Seymour the Squirrel never got their careers off the ground, Woody the Woodchuck at least got some airplay by releasing this collection.
You can actually bid on this classic.
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Star Wars Christmas album? What was George Lucas thinking? How do I wring a few more bucks out of this franchise?
If you’re really feeling daring, you can read a review and actually listen to this abomination here.
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Not everyone finds Santa the kind friendly fellow that people would have us believe. A collection of pictures of children having a near Santa experience.
Click pic to email me
www.flickr.com
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