Goodbye two thousand ten, Welcome twenty eleven

To all blogfriends: Happy New Year.

Goodbye two thousand ten, Welcome twenty eleven

To all blogfriends: Happy New Year.

Royal Damage - Trailer

Penny-a-Ride
New Year's partiers in Chicago will be able to ride the trains and buses tonight for just one penny... but the catch is that they will have to clean up their own puke.



Maine Asks Out
The state of Maine is asking to be exempted from a key part of Obamacare... the part that doesn't give you free coverage when you freeze to death.



Ivy League Charity Push
Two Yale professors and one from Cornell are starting a movement calling on all "rich" people to donate more money to charity. In other words, they're raising tuition prices at Yale and Cornell.



Estate Tax Deadline
When the new year begins, the estate tax goes from 0% to a whopping 35% for multi-millionaires. Which means Paris Hilton's dogs have until midnight to maul her to death.



UConn Streak Ends
The UConn women's basketball team had its winning streak broken at 90 games last night after losing to Stanford. UConn falls 10 wins short of a 100-game streak and 1,000 wins shy of getting anyone to care about women's basketball.





December 31st


1225: The Ly Dynasty of Vietnam ends after 216 years after the death of Ly Chieu Hoang and a visit from Rambo.

1862: Abraham Lincoln signs an act that admits West Virginia to the Union, thus finally giving toothless Americans equal citizenship rights.

1951: The Marshall Plan expires after American taxpayers can no longer support helping people who wear Capezios.

The year 2010 on my blog - a photo-cavalcade

Twenty-eleven is getting closer and it is time to make another photo cavalcade. This year I have not picked one photo for each month, but rather chosen 15 pictures that I feel represent my experiences this year and also the state of my photography. I hope you will enjoy them - just click on the fireworks above, or here, and then start the slide show rolling.

Godt Nytt År! - Happy New Year!

I tried, I really did....

To put up a garland around the interior arch in my entrance hall. We hung the exterior garland early in December and it was not easy. Next year I will hang a thicker garland on the exterior arch, even though this was the deluxe garland. Perhaps a different source will help.



If you will remember, I was inspired by this beautiful photograph of an interior front door arch hung with thick amazing garland . I bought all the piece parts of the garland and got ready to hang it - with the help of my mechanical engineer - my husband. He took one look at what we were attempting to hang and said there would be too many nail holes in the woodwork, and I had to agree - so no hanging the garland inside the front door. Sigh...

Instead I took all of the parts and reworked my mantel, which had dried up anyway. I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and have a Happy New Year! See you in 2011.

Some Christmas 2010 memories from my humble abode....

No Plowing
It turns out unionized sanitation workers deliberately didn't plow the city's streets in order to protest some layoffs. The only people in New York avoiding work more are playing for the New York Giants defense.



Medicare Explosion
Starting this Saturday, a new baby boomer will become eligible for Medicare every eight seconds... so every time a bell rings, you can be sure that a creepy guy with a combover is getting his Viagra.



Favre Fined
The NFL has fined Brett Favre $50,000 for not cooperating with its investigation of him for sexual harassment... and $100,000 for wearing crocs in public.



Jacko Defense
Defense lawyers for Dr. Conrad Murray will claim that Michael Jackson deliberately killed himself... not with drugs, but by doing the video for "Smooth Criminal."



Mass Mistake
The state of Massachusetts has announced strict new emissions limits. But state residents are sure to break those limits as millions of them get in their cars to drive the Hell out of Massachusetts.




December 30th


1066: A Muslim mob storms the royal palace in Granada, crucifies Jewish vizier Joseph ibn Naghrela and massacres most of the Jewish population of the city. Leftist scholars are still trying to figure out how peaceful Muslims got so angry about Israel almost 900 years before it was even founded.


1916: The last coronation in Hungary is performed for King Charles IV and Queen Zita. After them, all Hungarian kings and queens got their crowns in the mail.


1993: Israel and the Vatican establish diplomatic relations and form a pact to make everyone in the world feel guilty.

Tronkooo kestos Barnaaaahh

Los comerciantes de Barcelona serán multados si encargan graffiti para su persiana - La Vanguardia

It is now illegal in Barcelona to contract any kind of graffiti work for the outside part of your business (walls, gates, doors etc). This is under a so called socialist/liberal government.

[via]

Next: A Primer on Urban Painting

http://www.babelgum.com/channels/1/clips/6002700

"Next: A PRIMER ON URBAN PAINTING is a documentary exploration of graffiti-based visual art as a world culture. The filmmaker profiles the art form in nine countries including USA, Canada, France, Holland, Germany, England, Spain, Japan and Brazil. A combination of verite moments and interviews with painters, "writers", designers, documentarians and other participants within the subculture, the film conveys the dynamism and creative brilliance of this important emerging artistic movement."

[Via]

Blizzard Effects
Experts say the blizzard of 2010 will end up costing the airlines $150 million. In a related story, the new fee to check a second bag on US flights will now be $150 million.



Bank Failures
It's official: more American banks failed in 2010 than any year since 1992. U.S. banks hope to do better in 2011 by finding more Asian banks to cheat off of.



Rate Increases
Major US airlines have announced they are raising their rates. This way, they can buy more blankets and pillows they'll charge $10 each to use while you're stranded and sleeping on the airport floor.



Terror Granny
An Indiana grandmother is being investigated for a possible link to terror groups. The methods she used to kill Americans include excessive cheek-pinching and asphyxiating people with mothballs.



Murder Down
Murder rates continue to drop, and are now at 25-year lows across the country... mainly because more killers are starting to outsource their murders to China.




December 29th


1170: Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, is assassinated inside Canterbury Cathedral by followers of King Henry II, and people who really thought his robes clashed with those shoes.


1813: British soldiers burn Buffalo, New York during the War of 1812. Since it was December, it looked better after the burning.


1998: Leaders of the Khmer Rouge apologize for the 1970s genocide in Cambodia, but are granted redemption when it turns out they’re pretty good players for the Philadelphia Eagles.

December 28th


1612: Galileo Galilei becomes the first astronomer to observe the planet Neptune. Neptune then has Galileo arrested for breach of privacy.

1832: John C. Calhoun becomes the first Vice President of the United States to resign… but every Vice President since Calhoun has WANTED to resign from that crappy job.

1973: The Endangered Species Act is passed by Congress… helping to protect nearly extinct useless animals, like members of Congress.

Buy this magazine before it's gone!

The December 2010 issue of World of Interiors (which has been on news stands since November) has Nancy Lancaster's yellow room on the front - or does it? I saw the issue over the weekend and thought "I don't need to buy that - I have it in several books." But then I did a double take - it looks like the original yellow room but is actually a recreation of that room. The article accompanying the photographs is very informational and if you are a Nancy Lancaster/John Fowler fan then you will want to own this issue of World of Interiors. It is still on most bookstore shelves right now. What are you waiting for - go get it!

The original Yellow Room below -


image via live like you blog

Back in Norway for New Year celebration

A lovely Christmas in Glamorgan is over, and in spite of the heavy traffic problems both in air (Heathrow) and on roads in South West England and Wales, seeing and playing with grandchildren is something to save in our hearts for the months to come.

Hedda Emilie is growing and experiences more or less the same health challenges as the two older siblings and other premature born children. She is however "stronger" at this age than the two others compared to their development.

Henrik is a nice and funny boy. Full of energy and always ready for a quarrel and fight with his older sister when they play together. He loves "male"-toys, and that is something new for us having only girls to compare a child´s development to.

Helene is almost seven and a half and reads books all the time. "Bestefar" gave her the Jostein Gaarder book Sophie´s World for Christmas.  The book is both a novel and a basic guide to philosophy. Hopefully her father will get many questions within his profession as a political philosopher, and I wait for the mails about the interpretation of different questions created based on the book. Helene´s great great grandmother´s name was also Sofie.

To the Cymru family, here busy with christmas gifts, thanks for this few days. Look forward to see you soon again. Hopefully in Norway.

Back in Norway for New Year celebration

A lovely Christmas in Glamorgan is over, and in spite of the heavy traffic problems both in air (Heathrow) and on roads in South West England and Wales, seeing and playing with grandchildren is something to save in our hearts for the months to come.

Hedda Emilie is growing and experiences more or less the same health challenges as the two older siblings and other premature born children. She is however "stronger" at this age than the two others compared to their development.

Henrik is a nice and funny boy. Full of energy and always ready for a quarrel and fight with his older sister when they play together. He loves "male"-toys, and that is something new for us having only girls to compare a child´s development to.

Helene is almost seven and a half and reads books all the time. "Bestefar" gave her the Jostein Gaarder book Sophie´s World for Christmas.  The book is both a novel and a basic guide to philosophy. Hopefully her father will get many questions within his profession as a political philosopher, and I wait for the mails about the interpretation of different questions created based on the book. Helene´s great great grandmother´s name was also Sofie.

To the Cymru family, here busy with christmas gifts, thanks for this few days. Look forward to see you soon again. Hopefully in Norway.

X is for Xanthous

"Xanthous - 1829, from Gk. xanthos "yellow," of unknown origin. Prefix form xantho- is used in many scientific words". All this according to Dictionary.com. In other words - Yellowish.

And what could be more yellowish than a rising Norwegian sun, shining through the drifting frosty haze? If you think this is a bit of a cheat, you are right, but anything to post an X and a photo. And to XXXXX with the flare in the photo.

Today's post is an entry in round SEVEN of ABC Wednesday, the meme initiated by Denise Nesbitt. For more, you can log on via the ABC site.

House of the Week

This House of the Week is located in an idyllic setting facing a duck pond and is surrounded by other beautiful houses of diverse styles. I have admired it for many years. The free standing garage located on the left (hard to see below - it's behind a tree) was added a few years ago.