Cleo and Breezy

From a few days ago at Beaver Lake, Breezy (Saluki) and Cleo (Borzoi)...  Gorgeous dogs standing still, impressive in flight...

Beatles Cover

This is one of the strangest covers of a Beatles tune I've ever seen...



As someone else points out, I'm not sure if I'm creeped out more by the puppets or their handlers...

Porch Birding, Fallout-Style

i'm still in wonder over what just happened. minding my own business, i watched something i'd never seen in my forest backyard before: dozens of warblers (mostly townsend's first-winters (according to Sibley), though a few adults were mixed in), maybe 50-60 black-cap, chestnut-back chickadees, and red-breasted nuthatches, three anna's hummers, and more than a dozen ruby-crowned kinglets, all feeding together on a very few trees just off my porch. all of them were in a frenzy, rarely staying in one spot more than 1-2 seconds; you can imagine how many photos were taken of empty branches and blurred wings. it wasn't a pretty sight.

things were so hectic for a moment that, while i was shooting, i had a nuthatch land on the lip of my lens cap and stay there for about 20 seconds, apparently watching itself in the camera lens.  a few minutes later, a warbler landed just two feet away from me on the porch rail next to the suet feeder; we stared at each other, neither moving, for about 15 seconds before he decided i was too close...

also seen:  juncos, bushtits, and a few steller's jays in the deciduous trees outside the chaos.  i thought there might have been a mountain chickadee in that mix, but my photographs don't show one.  i was probably fooled by nuthatches in halloween costume...

according to the timestamps on the photos, the whole event lasted about 425 megabytes of pixels (about 17 minutes)...

and, like that, they were gone...

Beaver Lake Park, recently

our first contestants are Callie, a Rat Terrier, and playing together at a full gallop, Ace (Airedale) and Patches (Aussie Shepherd)...



the final two are Snoopy #1 (there were two beagles named "Snoopy" at the park within 30 minutes of each other) and Hailey (English Pointer), both rendered in black and white...

Latest Posters

The newest posters available are here: #71 (Weight Gain), 72 (Health Club), 73 (Proportional), and 74 (Truth)...

These images, as well as all of the preceding Quotes, are for sale as physical art you can put on your office or home walls. Our example here is available in 12x18" and 20x30" posters. Feel free to email me if you'd like to own this piece of American Pie(ty). Be the first on your block to be the first on your block.

All rights reserved, © caren park, http://RealistAtLarge.blogspot.com.

Martin Gardner, 95

Another high-value birth anniversary today: Martin Gardner, who introduced me to mathematics through Scientific American lo these many decades ago, turns 95 today...

A Cambridge interview is here, and a CSICOP interview

Have a happy, Martin, and many more!

Happy Birth Anniversary, Ursula

One of the more fascinating fiction writers of our time is celebrating her 80th birth anniversary today... Among the first books I read while I was in college (for the first time), "the Lathe of Heaven" and "the Left Hand of Darkness" were fantastic and thought-provoking to me...

Her website is www.ursulakleguin.com. Pay a visit, say "hi" ...

more links:
http://blog.bookviewcafe.com/?s=ursula+birthday

http://www.sfwa.org/2009/10/happy-birthday-ursula-k-le-guin/

Pixar Parody

one of the best pixar parodies i've seen...



i don't think i'll ever watch a pixar film again without thinking of this video...

2009: Final Thoughts

It's clear to me, travel is a way of life, a necessity for clear mental health, a path to learning, an opening to locating new friends and extended family.

Among the things I missed while traveling:

• the taco bus near Hillman City
• American friends and family

Among the things I miss about the summer of 2006:

• Madame Simone - such a wonderful person, alive and vital in her 80s
• Madame Bernadette - a home-body who enjoyed living vicariously through my daily adventures
• the friendliness of almost everyone I met
• history around every turn
• beautiful and ever-changing countrysides
• European friends who made the visit a marvelous adventure
• generic chocolate that is so much better than name brands here in the states
• meeting new friends, investing a bit of face time with old friends
• Els and Georges of Lepelstraat, and their kind hospitality over the years
• The Boyz, Ambrose and Les, who allowed me to indulge in this fantasy summer in their French paradise...
  

I don't understand why it took me so long to post this finale...  It's probably because I'd rather be there than here;  I must not be ready to believe I've returned to the states yet, even though it has been over three years now.


All I can say is Thank You all for the experience.

2009.1011, Beaver Lake Park: JJ, Patches, and Toby

JJ (Jack Russell + Rat Terrier),

Patches (Australian Shepherd),
and Toby (Italian Greyhound) ...

Lots of fun here with gorgeous personalities...

2009.1011, Beaver Lake Park: Beauregard

Beauregard, a fairly large and very obedient (knows some American Sign Language!) Poodle...

the Power of a Great Story

keeping you riveted right to the end! :)

2009.1009, Beaver Lake Park, Part 2

From top to bottom here, we have Beauregard (Poodle), Joey (Boxer), Naomi and Sumire (Australian Shepherds), and Claire (Pembroke Welsh Corgi)...

Yes, other canines cavort and frolic at Beaver Lake besides Hailey :)

2009.1009, Beaver Lake Park: Hailey

More of the talented Hailey, English Pointer. You'd think she lived here :)

Truth in Advertising, Australian-Style

This is a real school answering machine. Apparently, staff was a little annoyed... :)

2009.1007, Beaver Lake Park: Cody

Quickly becoming a crowd pleaser, Cody (Pembroke Welsh Corgi) is not camera-shy...

Her human says she's 90% fur, 10% dog... :)

2009.1007, Beaver Lake Park: Chloe and Hailey

A newcomer, Chloe (Labradoodle), attempting to chow down on a log almost as tall as she is, and one of my favourites, Hailey (English Pointer), still learning how her legs work...

Fun Exercise

Is there a place in Sammamish something like this could be constructed? I'd hate to think I would have to go to Sweden to get my exercise... :)

New Cuyama Signage

Gotta love literal-minded individuals who still remember their elementary school math lessons...

It all adds up, too!

2009.1006, Beaver Lake, Part 2

Joining Hailey in today's portraits were Cosmo (sp Husky), Toby (Springer Spaniel), Stanley (Black and Tan Coondog + Lab), Beau (Dachshund), and an unnamed but gorgeous little Shetland Sheepdog...

2009.1006, Beaver Lake, Part 1: Hailey

The energetic English Pointer is still showing off dazzling moves with gangly limbs that seem akimbo even at total rest...

Chess Puzzle for the Day

it's been quite some time since i've displayed a chess puzzle; i guess i've been a bit busy with other endeavours.

this is a cute one i ran into this morning. white to play, mate in 2.
i hope you enjoy its little barbs... :)

2009.1006, Beaver Lake, Part 3: Pechos, Callie, Ruby, Toby

Pechos, an Australian Shepherd, is quite the terror with tennis balls...


Callie and Ruby are regulars; I usually photograph them enjoying the company of much larger prey (usually Bernese Mountain Dogs). Here, they are speaking to each other...


Toby jumps in anticipation of a ball thrown...

2009.1006, Beaver Lake, Part 2: Hailey and Bailey

Hailey is quickly becoming a regular here at Sooper Sekrit Intergalactic Headquarters... She loves watching (and chasing) birdies, and skews her head dramatically when someone says "You want to play with Jackson?"



Bailey, here, is a soft and cuddly Siberian Husky tired from her walk. Arthritis affects her gait, but not her spirit...