Happy 4th of July!

Ella Grace and I hope you have a fun and safe 4th of July!

Traveling in Dubai UAE, part 5

As Westerners who traveled in Dubai in May of 2005, my husband and I found out a few details of travel there which I'll share here in part 5:

It's hot! True, it's dry heat, but it blows over you like air from a furnace. You will enjoy the cool malls, buses, and restaurants. Take your swimsuit for the hotel pool. Swimming in the gulf is allowed, but restricted. Tourists can use only small parts of the public beaches. If you really want to swim in the gulf, stay in a hotel on the gulf that will have a private beach access. Otherwise, use the pool. Most hotel pools have a bar. It's a good way to spend a hot afternoon. It's just as hot at midnight though.

How you dress is really up to you. I chose to wear pants and shirts, not shorts or sleeveless or halters or very fitted tops. I saw a few foreign women dressed in fitted tops, but none of the local women dress in that way. Take a cover-up to wear over your swimsuit when walking through the hotel to the pool. If you leave Dubai for another emirate, you may find much stricter clothing requirements.

A typical souvenir is the shisha. These water pipes or hookahs (or bongs) are used to smoke fragrant steam. There are shisha bars everywhere. People lie about on sofas with the shisha on a low table between them. Each person has his/her own mouthpiece, but they share the shisha-produced steam. It's a social occasion

Textiles in Dubai were marvelous. The street markets were arrayed with lovely textiles hanging overhead across the alleyways. These colorful markets are a bargain.

If you can afford it, the best souvenir is a rug or carpet. They are amazingly beautiful. If you think you may fall in love with the carpets while you're in Dubai, take the measurements for the area from home with you. The rug merchants will ship to you anywhere in the world. We found carpet stores in every mall. Perhaps there were carpets in the street markets, but we didn't notice them there.

Other souvenirs include coffee urns, dates, nuts, models of Bur el Arab.

This post is linked to this previous post on Dubai.

Aussie's Illness

I copied this from Aussie's blog into my blog:

Right after my trip to the CapeSoft World Tour event in Las Vegas, I developed a case of Shingles.

Oh boy, you do not want to experience this. Luckily my case was not as bad as it could have been. I did visit a doctor in time (must be within 48 hours of the appearance of the rash) to be prescribed the anti-viral tablets. The outbreak appeared just a week before we were to take a road trip to Nashville with friends. I managed to endure the trip by taking pain killers. Not much could be done about the rash. It just has to take its course.

My friends were great, and they managed to endure my suffering by imbibing in alcoholic beverages. Thanks go to Candace, Bill, Sandra, Skip and Sharon for your support.

If you are round-about the age of 60, and had chicken-pox as a child, then you would be well advised to see you doctor about having the newly available vaccine for us oldies. The USA FDA approved its use just last year.

Here I sit, three weeks on, and beginning to feel great again.

Traveling in Dubai UAE, part 4

As Westerners who traveled in Dubai in May of 2005, my husband and I found out a few details of travel there that I'll share here in part 4:

Take a tour on a bus. It's informative, air-conditioned, and reasonably-priced. It's the best way to see the city. The tours start at Wafi City early in the morning and run all day. We took two tours. One went out-of-town to the area which is in development because we wanted to see Bur al-Arab. We did stop in front of the hotel long enough to take a photo. The tours of the hotel were $65 per person to enter the lobby when we were there. We passed, but it probably would have been a very interesting experience. That tour also took us past the indoor ski area and the underwater hotel, both of which are finished now, I believe. We got off that tour bus at the Mercato shopping mall at Jumeirah Beach area where we ate lunch and took a taxi back to our hotel from there.

The other tour we took was in town. It stopped at the museum and also at the gold and spice souks, all of which are must-see experiences. Do not leave Dubai without visiting those three locations. The bus tour for this is hop-on, hop-off so you can spend as much time as you like. About the gold: it is all 18c or purer. It appears orangey because of the high gold content. Take your camera with you and take lots of photos. The gold is near market-value/ounce which means the craftsmanship is free. From the gold souk we walked through a series of alleys to the spice souk. In the gold souk there is no hard sell. You may browse as long as you want without anyone saying anything to do. However, in the spice souk, it's a different story. Everyone will try to sell you something and the spices, dates and nuts are all so beautiful! If you don't want to buy anything, tell them you are going back to Australia. They know the importation laws of every country and understand that it's very difficult to enter Australia with their goods. We bought pastacios and dates, also saffron.

In the alleys between those two souks are the vendors. Here are the real bargains in Dubai. The street market is the place to look for souvenirs and bargain to your heart's content. The vendors will practically give their wares away to you. The men in the market love to bargain with the women. A handy hint is to have a little cheat sheet with currency conversions on it. With this we could quickly convert the Dubai dirham to US currency. Once a vendor sees this little tool, he'll start converting for you. They are very wily with currency exchange. No one will try to cheat you. In fact, they'll help you figure it all out.

None of the people working anywhere are Emiratees. Some are from the Middle East, most are Asian.

This post links to this previous post.

Happy Springtime

Ella Grace and I would like to wish you a very happy spring from the Hill Country of Texas!

Quote of the Day

From Judd Apatow, writer of 40-Year Old Virgin and Knocked Up, his new film which is coming this summer:

College is the reward for surviving high school. Most people have great fun stories from college and nightmare stories from high school.

So true, so true...

Something New to Crowe About

While I know Rusty's not everybody's bottle of beer, he sure suits me. His name on the marquee assures I'll be there. I have seen his entire filmography and even though some of the films were weak, his performance never let me down.

So, here's the news: Russell Crowe is signed to play the "noble" Sheriff of Nottingham in a remake of Robin Hood.
He will take the lead role in Nottingham, a twist on the usual tale featuring the lawman as the hero working for a corrupt king. Crowe's "noble and brave" character will investigate a murder in which outlaw Robin Hood is the main suspect. The film will also feature a love triangle between the Sheriff, Robin Hood and Maid Marion. It's scheduled for release in 2009.

For now, Russell has finished 3 films. Two of the films, American Gangster and 3:10 to Yuma, have fall 2007 release dates. The third film Tenderness is finished but no release date has been announced.

Traveling in Dubai UAE, part 3

As Westerners who traveled in Dubai in May of 2005, my husband and I found out a few details of travel there that I'll share here in part 3:

Dining in Dubai:

Lunch away from the hotel will probably be at a mall or from a street vendor. There are a few other options: Walk inside a tall office building or apartment building and look around the lobby. Often there will be a little restaurant tucked away. These are very good value for money as they're where the locals eat. In an office building lobby, we found a small Asian restaurant where we ordered "hot rocks chicken" on a chance. We liked the service, the cleanliness, the food, and the pricing so much that we came back twice to eat there. The last time we were there, they treated us like regulars!

In the malls there is the standard food court like you see all over the world. The malls are not non-smoking and the food courts can be very smoky as the young Emiratee men love to sit, talk, smoke, and text message in the food halls. There is always a table of men hanging out in every coffee area or food area. By the way, the coffee is delicious.

If you want to have a meal at an exclusive or expensive restaurant, book ahead. Or try to be there for late lunch instead of dinner. We ate a late lunch at Asha's (pictured) with no booking because we wanted to have the experience and it was completely booked every night we were there. I have read both good and poor reviews of Asha's online, but our experience there was wonderful. The sampler platter at Asha's was recommended by the server and it was extraordinary. There is a full bar and a wine list. Asha's is at The Pyramids in Wafi City which is the same mall where you catch the tour buses.

This post links to this previous post.

A Little Time Away

I've been away from my computer, visiting my granddaughter. We went to the park everyday and took long walks too. Such a delightful little girl!

Traveling in Dubai UAE, part 2

As Westerners who traveled in Dubai in May of 2005, my husband and I found out a few details of travel there that I'll share here in part 2:

Lodging in Dubai:

If you are staying at the Burj al Arab in Dubai, then none of the following applies to you. However, if your pocketbook will stretch only to a more conventional stay, here's the best advice I have to offer:

Pick your hotel very carefully. Stay in the 5-star hotels only. To read the rating of a Dubai hotel, take off a star from the rating system you are accustomed to in the West. It doesn't really matter where the hotel is located in terms of whether it's in the city or near the airport or which side of the water. What does matter is the amenities at the hotel. You will spend a lot of time there. Choose your hotel for the room size, the restaurants available at the hotel, the club and bar facilities, and swimming pool and other outdoor facilities. Dubai has no "night-life" in the terms that Westerners are accustomed. There are clubs and bars where you can drink and dance and smooze; all of these are located in hotels. The hotels are spread out across the city so a bar crawl is not a real possibility. Therefore, if night-life is your bag, it's going to be happening most likely at the hotel where you are staying. Likewise, most of your breakfasts and dinner meals will be eaten at your hotel. Check-in at the hotel can be hectic with lots of waiting around for a room. Evidently, hotel service help is difficult to keep. The desk will apologize but it won't get any better during your stay than it was at the start.

There is a Western-style grocery store which is a godsend. After checking into your hotel, catch a cab for Carrefour supermarket. Get lots of bottled water and drinks, mixers and snacks, cheese, etc. for the little frig in the hotel room. Be sure to buy some plastic ware. There is a cab queue outside Carrefour so it's easy to get back to your hotel. There is another popular supermarket called Spinney's, but since we only went to Carrefour, I don't know what the Spinney's experience is like. There are more Spinneys around than Carrefours. We saw another Carrefour in a mall, but I don't remember which one. To get to any location in Dubai, jump in the car and give the name like "Carrefours" or "Spinney's" and the cabbie will drive you straight to the nearest one.

The hotels rock until after midnight so if your room is near the bars or clubs, expect to hear the racket or join in the fun!

This post links to this previous post.

It's a Girl!

Crown Princess Mary of Denmark has given birth to a baby girl. Both baby and mother are doing well. The Crown Prince was in attendance at the birth. When asked how Mary reacted when she understood it was a girl, he said, "Like a mother to a newborn, with motherly love." Here's the official announcement on the Crown Prince Couple's website.

The above photo is Frederick and Mary walking Christian the day before her delivery.

Danish Royal Watchers blog has a photo series of Mary from announcement of her pregnancy to birth.

Biggio Gets Career Third Grand Slam

Against the Milwaukee Brewers, Houston Astro old-timer Craig Biggio hit his first grand slam in 13 years with one out in the ninth and the score tied 2-2. The Astros 6-5 win over the Brew Crew last night extended their winning streak to five. It was Biggio's first grand slam since July 24, 1994, against Pittsburgh. His other came in 1989. The Astros are now 6-1 on the road to start the season.

I Love My iPod!

Me: This iPod has changed my life!

Aussie: This iPod has changed my wife!

Traveling in Dubai UAE, part 1

As Westerners who traveled in Dubai in May of 2005, my husband and I found out a few details of travel there that I'll share here in part 1:

Dubai International Airport

Before you leave the airport, be sure to stop by Duty Free for your alcohol. It's very reasonably priced and the selection is excellent.

When you walk into the arrivals' hall, you will be shocked. It's bigger than a football field, and it is filled to capacity with people in queues waiting to be processed. Aussie went looking for a shorter line and thankfully found that business class passengers had a special line which was very short and very efficient. Look for that line. Even if you are not a business class passenger, if you line up near that line, you could get called over to it after the business class passengers are cleared.

In October 2005 we went through Dubai Airport a second time. This time we were connecting from London to Cairo through Dubai. We had about 12 hours in Dubai to wait for our connecting flight. We checked in at the airport in-transit hotel which is in the international terminal, had a shower, and a good sleep. We got a wake up call for 2 hours before the flight, ate a good meal at the restaurant, stopped by Duty Free for alcohol, and then went to our gate. If you have a long stopover in Dubai, I highly recommend this. You must take your change of clothes in your carry-on bag because you do not have access to your luggage while in transit.

This post links to this previous post.

Filmspotting Does Noir!

Even though I've talked about my favorite podcast in this blog in another post, I'm making another pitch here in light of filmspotting starting a film noir marathon on May 18. Adam and Sam will discuss the following films:

• Double Indemnity (1944)
• The Killers (1946)
• Out of the Past (1947)
• Gun Crazy (1949)
• The Asphalt Jungle (1950)
• Kiss Me Deadly (1955)

There is a lot interest on the filmspotting boards for this marathon. If you have any interest in gaining some background in this excellent film genre, join us all at http://filmspotting.net/

Traveling in Dubai UAE

In May 2005, Aussie and I toured Dubai UAE. We had a wonderful experience and learned much about the city, the people, and being a tourist in the Emirates. My intention was to post a mini travel guide for Dubai, but as I was writing it, I realized that it was too long to post as one article. So I'm going to split it among several posts all entitled Traveling in Dubai UAE with part 1 etc affixed to the title. The information comes only from our personal experience, not a guide book or internet listing. There is a lot of advice on-line; I'm adding to that which is already available. Look for part 1 which will be about the airport soon. I also plan to post about our experiences in Cairo and in the English countryside in other sets of posts later in the spring.

The World According to Snoop Dogg

It seems we'll have to give the last word on the Imus affair to Snoop Doggy Dog.

Here's Snoop Dogg:

"It's a completely different scenario. Rappers are not talking about no collegiate basketball girls who have made it to the next level in education and sports. We're talking about ho's that's in the 'hood that ain't doing sh--, that's trying to get a n---a for his money. These are two separate things. First of all, we ain't no old-ass white men that sit up on MSNBC going hard on black girls. We are rappers that have these songs coming from our minds and our souls that are relevant to what we feel. I will not let them mutha----as say we in the same league as him."

At the time of this interview, Snoop's arraignment on felony charges (possession of a firearm and sale or transportation of marijuana) was looming, but on Wednesday afternoon (April 11), he pleaded no contest to the charges and was sentenced to five years' probation and 800 hours of community service; a three-year prison sentence was suspended.

It all makes so much sense now!

Good Writing

Who are the best two writers on the internet? Well, I don't know. The best two I know of are Stephen Metcalf who is critic-at-large of slate.com and Dave White who is the movie critic for movies.com and sometimes at MSNBC.com. These two writers are poles apart. Metcalf is erudite and pensive and expressive. White is a voice of pop-culture. I love reading them both. They add to my day! You can find articles by Metcalf by searching at the slate.com site. Dave White's column is on the opening page of movies.com.

Snowed Out in the Windy City

Astros v Cubs, game 3, was cancelled Wednesday due to a snow-covered Wrigley Field in Chicago. The Astros had taken the first two 2 games of the 3 game series. They play in Philadelphia this weekend where the weather doesn't look much better. The Friday game will probably be played but Saturday and Sunday are in doubt due to expected rain and snow in the Philly area. At home the Astros are indifferent to the weather due to their park having a retractable roof which is especially nice in the hot Houston summers.

Coming to the Party Late

Aussie and I are finally going to know what all the talk is about! We're renting Season 1 and working our way through all the seasons of HBO's The Sopranos. Living in and out of the US, we can't keep up with series as they occur. This is our chance to get current. We also plan to catch up with 24 in the same way. It's next!

Eight Rules for Writing

From Kurt Vonnegut:

Now lend me your ears. Here is Creative Writing 101:

1. Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted.
2. Give the reader at least one character he or she can root for.
3. Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water.
4. Every sentence must do one of two things—reveal character or advance the action.
5. Start as close to the end as possible.
6. Be a sadist. No matter sweet and innocent your leading characters, make awful things happen to them—in order that the reader may see what they are made of.
7. Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia.
8. Give your readers as much information as possible as soon as possible. To heck with suspense. Readers should have such complete understanding of what is going on, where and why, that they could finish the story themselves, should cockroaches eat the last few pages.

RIP: Kurt Vonnegut

Kurt Vonnegut died today at the age of 84. He never recovered from head injuries suffered in a fall in his home in New York. He wrote the amazing Slaughterhouse Five and Cat's Cradle. His eight rules for writers are widely published. (see next post)

Vonnegut once said that of all the ways to die, he'd prefer to go out in an airplane crash on the peak of Mount Kilimanjaro. He often joked about the difficulties of old age.

"When Hemingway killed himself he put a period at the end of his life; old age is more like a semicolon," Vonnegut said in 2005.

HAPPY EASTER!

Rufus Wainwright

Rufus Wainwright is my new music interest. I found him through the documentary Leonard Cohen, I'm Your Man.

Check him out! In fact, go to slacker.com and put in his name and listen. The artists who shared his radio were Sarah McLachlan, Tori Amos, Jeff Buckley, Sheryl Crow, and more.

Slacker Online Radio

If you like to listen to music on line, try this:
http://www.slacker.com/

Put an artist in the search and the radio will play continuously from that artist's playlist plus from artists who are similar to the selected artist. It has lots more features which I haven't explored.

Son at Texas Spur

The 3rd annual Texas Spur was held in Llano last weekend. Jeep enthusiasts from across the USA attended the three day event. This photo is son in his Jeep, attending from Midland, TX.

St. Pat's Irish Soda Bread

Here's a friend's recipe for Irish soda bread:

6 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon sugar
2 1/2 cups buttermilk
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 1/2 cups raisins

Combine first 5 ingredients in a large bowl; set
aside.

Combine buttermilk, melted butter and raisins; add to
flour mixture, stirring until moistened.

Turn dough out onto a well-floured surface. Kneed
until smooth and elastic (about 5 minutes). Place on
a greased baking sheet.

Press dough evenly into a 1 1/2-inch-thick circle.

Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour or until bread sounds
hollow when tapped. Remove to a wire rack; cool 5
minutes. Cut into wedges.

Note: I prefer to combine the buttermilk,
melted butter and raisins in a bowl first and let them
sit for a few minutes while I prepare the dry
ingredients. This gives the raisins a chance to
absorb some of the buttermilk and "plump".

I also sprinkle the top of the bread dough with a
small amount of flour before placing the dough in the
oven. This seems to keep the top crust from getting a
bit too overdone, and looks pretty besides!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

An Irish blessing from Ella Grace and me:

May God be with you and bless you,
May you see your children's children,
May you be poor in misfortune, rich in blessings.
May you know nothing but happiness
From this day forward.

Saturn as a Heavenly Easter Egg

NASA explains the image :
This delightfully detailed false color image of Saturn is a combination of three images taken in January 1998 by the Hubble Space Telescope and shows the ringed planet in reflected infrared light. Different colors indicated varying heights and compositions of cloud layers generally thought to consist of ammonia ice crystals. The eye-catching rings cast a shadow on Saturn's upper hemisphere, while the bright stripe seen within the left portion of the shadow is infrared sunlight streaming through the large gap in the rings known as the Cassini Division.

Stella at Target in OZ

Target stores in Australia made a one-time only deal with Stella McCartney to sell a line of her clothing in their stores in March. The clothing was in stores on March 12th and sold out in most stores by noon. The line included tops, a jacket, a dress, and skinny cropped pants as well as the trenchcoat pictured here. Nothing was priced over $A200. Here are a few more photos from the line. A few stores had some returns as most of the merchandise was grabbed up without benefit of fitting. Even the mannequins were beheaded and stripped. The returns are being trucked to 4 stores in Sydney where stocks sold out the fastest. Most customers were pleased with their purchases; however, a few complained that the clothing was "too big" which was explained by Target as a feature of McCartney's signature line and reflected in the Target store line. More photos of the line here.

BBC in Iraq

Hilarious...

"Internet": Will It Catch On?

News clip from 1993:

Answer to "Who Are They?"

Here's a more familiar picture of the men from the Who Are They? post. They are of course the seven Mercury astronauts looking lots better here in their shiny space suits!

In the Who Are They post from Thursday, February 22, 2007:

The seven original Mercury astronauts had participated in U.S. Air Force survival school at Stead Air Force Base in Nevada. Picture from left to right are L. Gordon Cooper, Jr., M. Scott Carpenter, John H. Glenn, Jr., Alan Shepard, Virgil I. Grissom, Walter M. Schirra, Jr., and Donald K. Slayton. Portions of their clothing had been fashioned from parachute material, and all had grown beards from their time in the wilderness. The purpose of this training was to prepare astronauts in the event of an emergency or faulty landing in a remote area.

They Shoot Pictures, Don't They

Here's a great website for film buffs like me! A description of the site taken from their About page:

As you can tell, by glancing through our website, we take film lists very seriously. It is our bread and butter. We love to compile them, we love to refer to them, and we love bringing them to you. We have databases and spreadsheets coming out of our a---s, and we are constantly on the look out for more interesting lists to add to our insanely prosperous collection. We are, I am afraid, guilty as charged. Make no mistake, referring to and utilising film lists is an extremely useful tool (otherwise, we probably wouldn't be here) that can assist in the discovery of many wonderful films and filmmakers that you may have previously not encountered. They Shoot Pictures is indeed primarily a film list resource, and, as we mention above, we make no bones about that.

Here's the Top 25 Films from their Top 100 List:

1 Citizen Kane
2 Rules of the Game, The
3 Vertigo
4 2001: A Space Odyssey
5 8½
6 Seven Samurai, The
7 Godfather, The
8 Tokyo Story
9 Searchers, The
10 Singin' in the Rain
11 Sunrise
12 Battleship Potemkin
13 Lawrence of Arabia
14 Passion of Joan of Arc, The
15 Rashomon
16 L'Atalante
17 Bicycle Thief, The
18 Godfather Part II, The
19 Raging Bull
20 Third Man, The
21 City Lights
22 Touch of Evil
23 La Dolce Vita
24 Les Enfants du Paradis
25 Casablanca

How many have you seen? I've seen only 11 out of 25. Better get some more queued up!

Happy Birthday to ME!

I woke up this morning, opened my email and found this adorable image wishing me a Happy Birthday! I'll see her in person soon as we head home to Texas this month! Seeing Ella is the best birthday gift of all!

Who Are They?

These men changed history. You know their names, even if you do not know their faces.

Watch the blog for another photo which will give the answer. What's your guess?

Happy Birthday, Ansel Adams

February 20, 1902, was the birthdate of photographer and conservationist, Ansel Adams, best known for his black and white photography of Yosemite National Park. Slate.com offered an "Ode to Ansel" in its photo section today and all his breathtaking photos can be viewed online at The Ansel Adams Gallery .

Sydney Harbour Receives Two Queens

The $1 billion grand lady of the sea, the Queen Mary 2, docked in Sydney Harbor early yesterday. Too tall to sail under the Harbour Bridge and too long to berth at the International Terminal in Circular Quay, QM2 had to dock at the Garden Island naval base. Later that evening her sister ship Queen Elizabeth 2 entered the harbour. Even though the two ships sailed together from Florida, they set different courses around the world and this was their first reunion. They saluted each other with their foghorns and thousands of Sydneysiders lined the harbour foreshore to watch fireworks in their honour. At 11pm, the QM2 began its departure on its way to Hong Kong. She leaves behind her smaller sister, with the QE2 remaining in Sydney until Thursday evening when she departs for Brisbane.

Rainy Sunset, Mullaloo WA

Anniversary of Darwin Bombing

Today is the 65th anniversary of the bombing of Darwin, a small town on Australia's Top End. On February 19, 1942 Japanese forces dropped bombs on Darwin for 40 minutes and launched a second attack 30 minutes later. At Darwin's wharf 22 workers died, and 243 people were killed during the raids. About 400 others were injured. It was the first time Australia had been attacked on home soil by an enemy. There were over 60 more bombing raids on Australia's north, lasting until November 1943. Wreaths were laid in Darwin today at the town's war memorial and at the wharf.

Dirt Music, the Film, is Coming

West Australian novelist Tim Winton's book Dirt Music is set to be screen-adapted and the next project of director Phillip Noyce. Irish actor Colin Farrell is the latest name to be linked to the film. At the Berlin Film Festival this week, it was announced Farrell would take the role of Lu Fox, earlier offered to Heath Ledger. Dirt Music is an intense love story between outcast Lu and Georgie, the unhappy partner of a prosperous fisherman. Britain's Rachel Weisz is to play Georgie.

I've read the book twice. It's full of West Australian references, of both personalities and places. While Farrell is imaginable as Lu Fox, Weisz is not the Georgie of the novel. Still, I will be first in line to see the novel on screen. It was a great read!

Happy Valentine's Day 2007!

From Us in OZ and Ella Grace in TX

Our Beach

This photo was taken at our beach on Australia Day 2007. Between the fireworks and the lightning is Comet McNaught. Click the image to see a larger view.

For full details of the photo and to see it full size, go here.

Aussie's New Website

Our new website is up and running at long last! We have a newly standardized version (above) of our Loan Manager Corporate program for sale on the site. It's very exciting for us as getting the program to a standard version and away from the current per client customization has been a dream of ours for several years. Several companies and banks in Australia and South Africa use our custom program. Now we hope to increase sales with the standardized version.

Sad Loss of Engdangered Whooping Cranes

In addition to tragic loss of human life in those recent Florida storms, the entire whooping crane population from Operation Migration was lost. Those 18 birds represented the latest flock to be led from Wisconsin to Florida by ultralight. The flight is intended to teach the cranes a new migration pattern and to save the endangered birds.

Read about Operation Migration here. For some beautiful images of the flight, look on their website or google image search for "ultralight cranes". Also the wonderful movie Fly Away Home was based on the use of an ultralight to help migrating birds, in that case orphaned Canadian geese.

Happy Australia Day 2007!

Two Hanky Link

I found this link on Clicked which is Will Femia's weblog on MSNBC. It's an 8 minute video titled 4 Generations and relates the story of giving a gift of a water buffalo to a Chinese farm family. Warning: Put your tissue box nearby before clicking.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SCOTT!

Ella Grace's First Snowfall

Remember the first time you saw snow? I hope you had your warm blanket too!

Comet McNaught Visible

On Tuesday and Wednesday nights we had perfectly clear skies and Comet McNaught was spectacular. It was clearly visible from after sunset until after 9pm. The head and tail were very distinguishable. Hundreds of people came to our beach for a good look. For tonight it looks like the clouds have returned.

Comet McNaught

The weather didn't cooperate with our comet-watching last night. We waited patiently for the sun to set then looked in the proper direction and finally through a little peephole in the cloud cover, we saw Comet McNaught. We'll try again tonight. The sky is clear tonight but the comet will supposedly be less visible. There's a great photo gallery at Spaceweather.com of the comet in different parts of the world. Our view sadly was not comparable to any of these great photos.

New Yellow Wiggle

The Wiggles, a popular Australian band which specializes in children's entertainment, has a new member. Sam Moran will replace Greg Page, the Yellow Wiggle. Page was a founding member of the group and he has been a part of the song and dance group for the last 15 years; however, he suffers from orthostatic intolerance, a disorder which stops his heart from pumping enough blood while standing or dancing (or wiggling) and has been forced to resign from the group.

Sam Moran got his start with The Wiggles hosting the Dorothy the Dinosaur Show. Recently he married Lyn Stuckey, the American who is Dorothy the Dinosaur, in a Sydney Harborside ceremony. Pictured, Sam Moran and Lyn Stuckey

Roddick Beats Federer in Warm-up to Open

The Australian Open which starts Monday just got more interesting. Andy Roddick won the Kooyong Classic Saturday afternoon, recording his first win over Roger Federer since August 2003 and proving that Federer is not invincible. Federer has not been beaten since losing in the second round of the Cincinnati Masters to Briton Andy Murray last August. Roddick will probably battle through the Aussie Open without his new coach Jimmy Connors who lost his mother this week. Federer is the top men's seed in the Open.

McGwire Passed Over for Hall of Fame

We're not here to talk about your past, Mac.

As baseball greats Cal Ripken Jr. and Tony Gwynn were voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame today, baseball cheat Mark McGwire only managed enough votes to keep him on the ballot for next year's balloting. McGwire appeared on 128 of a record 545 ballots in voting by the Baseball Writers' Association of America, raising doubts about whether he will ever get elected. Accusations of steriod use doomed McGwire's election and will likely cost Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa and Rafael Palmeiro their places in Cooperstown when their balloting comes around.

Two Break-Ups and A Wedding

And a retirement. Tennis stars do seem to have a life outside of tennis. Lindsay Davenport is retired from tennis and awaiting the birth of her first child. Martina Hingis is engaged to Czech tennis player Radek Stepanek. Justine Henin-Hardenne will probably be dropping the Hardenne from her sirname in light of the rumored break-up of her 4-year marriage. She cancelled her appearance at the Sydney International tournament as well as the Australian Open for "personal reasons". What reason other than marital could be keeping the world's number one away from the first grand slam of 2007? In a break-up of the tennis sort, Lleyton Hewitt's coach Roger Rasheed walked away from Team Hewitt last week following a reported tirade from Lleyton during and after his loss at the Adelaide International last Thursday, going down to 94th-ranked Russian Igor Kunitsyn.

On a happy note, former golf great Greg Norman and former tennis great Chris Evert had gone public with their love affair, walking around Sydney holding hands and no longer repeating the refrain "very, very good friends", but looking to all the world like the 50-something lovers they are.

Happy New Year!

Sydney Harbor Bridge alit for New Year's 2007. Locals have nicknamed the bridge, the coathanger.