A right gude-willie-waught

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind ?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and auld lang syne ?

For auld lang syne, my dear,

for auld lang syne,

we’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet,

for auld lang syne.

And surely ye’ll be your pint-stowp !
And surely I’ll be mine !
And we’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

We twa hae run about the braes,
and pou’d the gowans fine ;
But we’ve wander’d mony a weary fit,
sin’ auld lang syne.

We twa hae paidl’d in the burn,
frae morning sun till dine;
But seas between us braid hae roar’d
sin’ auld lang syne.

And there’s a hand, my trusty fiere !
And gies a hand o’ thine !
And we’ll tak a right gude-willie-waught,
for auld lang syne.

-- Robert Burns

Manatees

I accidently found myself swimming among a school of these in the Gulf of Mexico when I was a teenager. If I remember correctly, I was both terrified and delighted.

More about manatees.

(photo by Hiroshi Sugimoto)

Holi-daze

Children's book illustration in 1920s Japan

These images are from the Kodomo no kuni picture book magazine during the 1920s and early 30s.

Andy McKee, Drifting

Music is the pleasure that the human soul encounters from counting without knowing that it is counting. -- Leibniz

Lazy-Boulders

If you've ever thought, "Aw, the heck with all of this furniture, let's just get a bunch of rocks," then, you're in luck!

A palette of spices

Tree House

Constructed during spring 2004 on an estate in Fife, Scotland, this fantasy TreeHouse has three verandas and two circular tower rooms with stain glass windows. More.

There's something about Harry

I am here to state,
I'm here to relate,
To explain
and make it plain that:
I'm just wild about Harry
and Harry's wild about me.

Las Posadas

Las Posadas, literally "The Inns", is a nine-day celebration beginning December 16 and ending December 24 which is called Noche Buena ("Holy Night"). It is a yearly tradition for many christian Latin Americans and symbolizes the trials which they believe Mary and Joseph endured before finding a place to stay and where Jesus could be born. Continues.

Sepulveda Basin Dog Park

Festivus

Frank Costanza: Many Christmases ago, I went to buy a doll for my son. I reached for the last one they had, but so did another man. As I rained blows upon him, I realized there had to be another way.

Cosmo Kramer: What happened to the doll?

Frank Costanza: It was destroyed. But out of that a new holiday was born: a Festivus for the rest of us!

Cosmo Kramer: That must've been some kind of doll.

Frank Costanza: She was.

Read on.

Real-time weather

Useful temperature map using Google Maps. Search by city name and state or zip code to find the current temperatures in your area. This picture shows the temperatures around me right now. The -4 degree reading south of Palos Verdes seems a bit off, though.

It's orange pickin' time in the Valley

At one point when we were buying our house, someone mentioned that the two orange trees on our side yard are from the original San Fernando Valley groves. It's unclear if that's true, but, these are old trees and, in fact, they're dying as are many older and weakened orange trees across the Valley. Symptoms of the disease appear to be thinning leaf cover and what looks like burnt stems and branches. A citrus expert at Cal State Northridge, told us that many of these 50-year-old orange trees are being killed off by a fungus that clogs the xylem starting from its roots and works its way upward. There appears to be no cure.

However long the trees have, we're enjoying the delicious fruit.

Jobaria Femur Bench

Take a seat on a dinosaur! The 6-foot-long thigh bone of the giant plant-eater Jobaria has been fashioned into a unique bench. Hand cast and painted from original fossil molds. $2,495.00.

Loki's ducky

Orphaned squirrel monkey Loki clings to his toy duck at Taronga Zoo in Sydney, Australia, in this Jan. 19, 2006, file photo. More.

Non-Fiction Films

A wonderul, useful list of non-fiction films by Kevin Kelly. Free on-line or other options for a fee. Either, here.

Ancient Art

Look closely at the photo to the left. Yes, those are penguins . . . drawn more than 20,000 years ago on a cave wall near Marseille, France. More.

Valley Counts

The more than 1.74 million people who live in the San Fernando Valley exceed the populations of all but the top-four cities in the United States: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Houston. More from the Census.

Vertical gardening

Patrick Blanc overgrows the vertical surfaces of buildings in the most beautiful way. What he creates is far away from any fancy horticultural show, his Vertical Garden could rather be called eco-art, or greener architecture consisting of a variety of plants trailing gently up any interior or outside wall. Imagine the Hanging Gardens of ancient Babylon but this time on modern concrete buildings. Read on.

Don't be alarmed

It's only your neighborhood cat burgler.

GRAVITY Balans Chair

Varier Furniture

Not for the faint of heart

More . . .

The Genographic Project

The fossil record fixes human origins in Africa, but little is known about the great journey that took Homo sapiens to the far reaches of the Earth. How did we, each of us, end up where we are? Why do we appear in such a wide array of different colors and features?

Such questions are even more amazing in light of genetic evidence that we are all related—descended from a common African ancestor who lived only 60,000 years ago. More.

Lovely wooden chaise

If I Can't See You, You Can't see Me

The Scary Bearded Man