JabberWocky!

I saw an article on the news a few days ago about a zoo located in Gaza City. I was sitting on one side of the room working on the computer and looked over my shoulder to see that the zoo had gotten two new zebras and the children were having a fun time looking at them.

It wasn’t until I actually started listening to the words that I realized that these zebras were not zebras at all but they were in fact donkeys that had been painted by a professional painter made to Look like zebras!

Now I do not know if the children that were viewing them Knew they were zebra donkeys or not but from across the room, Until I actually listened and heard they were Not zebras, they looked pretty convincing to Me and I have seen a few real zebras in my day!

It was very ingenious if you think about it, but in fact the story behind it was a sad one!

It seems that they the zoo did in fact have two zebras in the zoo until they were neglected and died of hunger earlier this year during the Hamas War in Gaza City. When the zookeepers tried to replace the zebras they found that it was just too expensive and came up with the idea that if they bought two cheaper donkeys instead, they could be made to Look like zebras!

I suppose sometimes you just have to make do with what you have!

The zoo also has a few other animals by the way, an aging tigress, a camel and a few monkeys, birds, rabbits and cats. Not quite the type of zoo that I have ever seen, but the children seemed to be happy with what they had.

Donkey Zebras

That’s all for me today and I hope to see you all back again soon for some more good old fashioned…

One of the methods of ridding yourself of a phobia, according to the professionals, is to confront your fear and then magically it will probably go away.

Speaking as a person that does have a couple of phobias I have never been able to do this, what can I say? I am weak! I am afraid! In fact, I think I have a phobia about trying to cure my phobias! I don’t quite know what they call a phobia about curing your phobias but I do know the name of one of my personal phobias and that is…Acrophobia! Yes! I have a terrible fear of heights!

So I was reading about the tallest building in the United States today, The Sears Tower, soon to be renamed to Willis Tower, and how they now have “The Ledge”, or I suppose, The Ledges, which are glass balconies that are suspended 1,353 feet in the air and jut out four feet from the building’s 103rd floor Skydeck!! They consist of transparent walls, floor and ceiling leave visitors with the impression they’re floating over the city!!! I Don’t Think So!!! I don’t even like being IN the Sears Tower, much less 4 feet from it in the middle of the air!

I don’t know about any other acrophobics, but I do know about this one, and I for one, will Not be trying to confront my fear of heights by stepping out onto “The Ledge” to see if I can overcome my fear of heights! In fact, just seeing a photo of one today gave me heart palpitations!

But for those of you that do want to confront your fears OR for those Evil Knievels of the World that love thrills and danger all I can say is:

The First Step is the Hardest!

That’s all for me today as I am going to lie down now and try to get these palpation’s stopped! But I hope to see all of you back again soon for more…

As everyone is quite aware of that knows me personally and professionally, you know that I am more than a little remiss in the last few months about my favorite Jabberwocky!…but sometimes I get Extremely Lucky and happen upon something or someone that I think is extremely note worthy and it takes me No Time At All to bring it to everyone’s attention!

Such is the case today! “Wreck” is a friend of mine. “Wreckfish”, is what she is more commonly known by, and I have to say that I have had the privilege to know her for right around 4 months…give or take a day or two!

Through the last four months we have gotten to know each other quite well and oddly enough we are quite the same…although we could not be more different!

We seem to understand each other in some strange, weird way! To her…I am a somewhat odd character and recently she told me that as far as me being crazy…the jury is still out on that one and to me, she is much the same…an odd character that somehow I can relate to!!!

Be that as it May!!! Wreck and I both have our own things that make us tick and for Wreck it is Photography! I have seen Many of her photographs in the past few months and I have to say I think she is more than excellent at what she does!!

Wreck hails from South Africa, so most of her photographs hail from there also. She is not a “still life” photographer but rather a “life artist”.

She has photos of everything from a South African Gentleman carrying an umbrella to being in a helicopter looking down at the dolphins in the ocean.

About the best thing I can say about “Wreck” is…she is real…not only in her life and how she lives but in her photographs.

This is why I have added her to my blogroll, so you can not only get to know the woman but the photographs as well!

For those of you that know me…take my word for it…HDW, Matt, Mark, Plank, Krista, Jan and S.D. from the U.K. grab this link as it is going to be Well Worth Your While!!!

For everyone else…don’t miss this link either, but if you do…Wreckfish is going to be around on this blogroll so you can always pick it up here!

This one’s for you Wreck…You definitely deserve it!!

Wreckfish…The Ninja Worrier

That’s all for me today guys!! Hope to see you back again soon for more…

In 2011 it is expected that the New 7 Wonders of Nature will be announced. There is a 3 year contest in progress in which more than 250 sites are in the running for the 7 “prizes” and I must say it is certainly going to be a hard contest to judge as each and every one of the contenders are magnificent in their own right.

Personally I think it was a hard contest to get the list down to just 250 sites considering what Mother Nature has blessed us with in terms of her beauty but it has been done even though I don’t know how!

Below is a link to a slide show of 21 of the 250 contenders that have proven to be among the favorites.

Starting with the Great Barrier Reef along the coast of Queensland, Australia and ending with The Grand Canyon, a mile-deep canyon that has been carved by the Colorado River this slide show is definitely worth the time it takes to view it! Why don’t you check it out and see if you don’t agree with me!

The New Natural Wonders of the World

That’s all for me today, hope to see all of you back here again soon for some more…

St. Patrick’s Day Facts & More!

Leprechaun Webcam!

That’s all for me today I’m off to do a little St. Paddy’s Day celebrating! I hope each and every one of you enjoy St. Patrick’s Day and don’t forget to Kiss the Blarney Stone, catch a Leprechaun And Find Your pot of Gold at the end of the rainbow, but more than that, I hope to see you all back here again soon for some more good old fashioned!!!

We’ve probably all heard of a city by the sea and indeed it has probably been the dream for many of us to live in one of these beautiful little cities and absorb the atmosphere that they have to offer but how many of us has ever given thought to living in a city On the sea?

As many of you probably know Dubai is in the midst of building Island Cities even as we speak. With these self sufficient cities we will never have to worry about running out of room on land to build on.

Now on the drawing board, so to speak, there is an architectural concept of a “Lilypad” floating city that takes advantages of today’s “green” technologies. Power would be generated from the sun, wind and water and the “Lilypad” would produce zero emissions from it’s residents.

The “Lilypad” is not under construction now or even planned to be under construction anytime soon, but it has been said that since Dubai has its “Island Cities”, real estate just many start branching out into the oceans as soon as the next decade!

“Lilypad” Floating City

That’s all for me today, hope to see you back here again soon for some more…

It seems as though there are a couple of eRumors going around recently about boycotting McDonald’s and Burger King because they are buying beef from foreign sources.

One of the eRumors states that these companies are buying beef from South America but McDonald’s and Burger King are vehemently denying this stating that they are Not purchasing beef from South America but rather they are conducting a small experiment using less than 1% of their beef and purchasing Lean beef from Australia and New Zealand and furthermore this is nothing new as it has been going on for years and they are not suppose to be the only ones buying foreign beef as most major fast food restaurants such as Taco Bell, Wendy’s and Carl’s Jr. are also using up to 50% imported beef in their restaurants.

One of the eRumors states that McDonald’s has claimed that there is a shortage of beef in the United States and that is why they are purchasing beef from other countries but McDonald’s denies saying this, McDonald’s states that what it said was: that there is a shortage of LEAN beef in the United States.

McDonald’s is the largest buyer of beef in the United States per year with Burger King coming in second and of course any beef purchased and/or served is 100% USDA-approved and inspected.

That’s about it for me today, hope you have a good one and see you back soon for some more good old fashioned…

A friend of mine sent me a link a few days ago that I absolutely must share with you.

It is a video about a 12 year old little girl…but not just Any 12 year old little girl, (I realize that all 12 year old little girls and boys are very special), no, this little girl is one of the most talented artists that I have ever seen. Actually she is now 15 as the video is a few years old but the artwork you will see is from when she was 12 and before.

She is a self taught artist that claims her inspiration comes from Above, which is a strange statement considering that her mother was an atheist, and while much of her art is on the spiritual side there is much that is not.

If you are an art lover…and even if you are not, this video is well worth the time it will take to watch it I promise you!

Spiritual Young Artist

And if her amazing art weren’t enough, a few months ago she decided that she was going to learn the piano and now she is beginning to compose her own music!

Well, that’s it for me today and in fact this week, I hope you enjoy the video and your week-end of course and see you back here again soon for some more good old fashioned…

Well it’s that time of year again, the time that many wait for all year. It’s time to find out if winter will be over soon or if we will have another 6 weeks of winter?

Today is Groundhog Day and I want to wish each and every one of you a very Happy Groundhog Day!!

For any of you out there that doesn’t know what Groundhog Day is then I will tell you.

Every year in the United States and Canada on February 2nd many people gather in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania and anxiously await to see if Punxsutawney Phil, the resident groundhog, is going to see fit to make an appearance from where he has been hibernating all winter. When he does pop his cute little head out then they check very carefully to see if he sees his shadow.

If he does see his shadow then that means that there will be 6 more weeks of winter and he will generally turn around and go burrow again for another 6 weeks but if he Doesn’t see his shadow then that means that winter is almost over and it will be an early spring this year!!

As you can see it’s all done very scientifically and that’s what I personally like to see, I like to know for sure if winter is over or if it’s not!!

Here is a link giving you some idea of the festivities each year on this day in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania!

Groundhog Day 2005 Celebration

That’s all for me today as I’m off to get my Groundhog Day outfit ready and hopefully when I’m back again next time I will know for sure that winter is over and an early spring is on the way! See you back again soon for some more good old fashioned…

Translated the title of this post is:

Happy Birthday Queen Beatrix!

For those of you that don’t know, I live in The Netherlands and Queen Beatrix is the reining Queen of our country. Today is her 71st birthday and there have been many rumors going around that Queen Beatrix is going to step down today and hand the reins over to her son and heir Prince Willem-Alexander.

If this should happen to be true then Prince Willem-Alexander would be the first King that The Netherlands has had since King William III stepped down in 1890, 119 years ago.

Since that time The Netherlands has been ruled by Queens and when Prince Willem-Alexander becomes King, whenever that might be, and steps down the rule of The Netherlands will again revert back to a Queen as all three of his children are daughters.

But enough about speculation of what this day will bring and the history of The Netherlands as this post is to congratulate Queen Beatrix on her 71st birthday and wishing her many happy returns!

So to honor you and your birthday Queen Beatrix here’s a little Happy Birthday song for you…Dutch style of course!!

Lang Zal Ze Leven

That’s all for me today and hope to see you back again soon for more…