Monthly Archives: February 2009

Laughing Dogs

Once in a while a friend sends a photo that amazes me. Dave was practicing with his new camera, and managed to capture this cool image of googly-eyed puppies going crazy in the Wisconsin snow.

Maybe dogs do have emotions!

Dave, I’d say this picture proves that some pet-owners do look just like their pets! :)

Posted in Contributed, Old Friends, Wisconsin | 7 Comments

Horsie Day at Reinstein Ranch

thedude accompanied horsie-girl Kelly to her favorite weekend getaway. She had a great time with Tilly in spite of the muddy conditions, and thedude went a little nuts with his camera.

The top of the tallest cactus I've ever seen!
Kelly and a muddy Tilly in the pasture. That's a little bit better!
Allice Cool tractor.
More cool old farm implements. I've never seen this before.
Thought for the day. Wasn't sure I'd use this shot, but what the hay...
Proof that you can make a photo out of anything. More proof - if you need it.

Posted in Bay Area, Family | 3 Comments

Indein and Five-Day Market

It’s day 11 of our trip now. We left our room at the Inle Princess and floated to this huge market where we did a bit of shopping and a lot of people-watching.

On the way to Indein. Another spectacular day!
The view up river. A common site.
A cute kid at the market. We bought an eyeglass case from this man. Bong for a cigarette.
Relaxing on the balcony. Pa-O woman and child.

Posted in Burma 2008 | Leave a comment

More Shots from Inle Lake

Balancing act while rowing Handsome fisherman
Haversting mud for use in the floating fields Inle Lake fisherman

Posted in Burma 2008 | Leave a comment

UNIX Time Milestone

Were you there? Did you feel it? Did your Geekometer spike at 11? Mine did.

epoch

From Wikipedia:

On Friday, February 13, 2009 at exactly 23:31:30 (UTC), Unix time will equal ’1234567890′. Parties and other celebrations are planned around the world among various technical subcultures, to celebrate 1234567890 day.

Find a party in your neighborhood.

We’ll be opening a special chardonnay after work. Happy 1234567890 day!

Posted in Computing, Holidays | Leave a comment

Burmese Blacksmiths

After the silk-weaving, we moved on to another labor-intensive activity – turning leaf springs into knife blades.

Teamwork

We’ve seen this sort of work before, but the way this team of men worked the hot steel was something to see. Here are a couple of videos.

Get the Flash Player to see this movie.

Get the Flash Player to see this movie.

Posted in Burma 2008, Video | 3 Comments

Lotus Silk

This has to be one of the most labor-intensive jobs we saw while in Burma.

Raw material - the stems of lotus plants.

We saw a lot of meticulous work being performed by Burmese women, but these women had less to show for a full day’s work than most – a few yards of colored lotus silk thread.

This woman cut through the stems and skillfully extracted a few inches of fibers. Spooling the lotus silk thread.
Combining the colored thread one at a time. Dyeing the silk.

Posted in Burma 2008 | Leave a comment

Xenophon Featured on Local News

Xenophon Therapeutic Riding was featured on a local news channel last night. This is the organization Kelly has been working with for a few years. They do wonderful work with children and horses. Watch the video now!

Posted in Bay Area, Family, New Friends | 2 Comments

Walk on the Wild Side

I enjoyed last weekend’s bug trek so much that we decided to do it again today. This time we brought along a few of our favorite people and, of course, my camera.

We found our ladybug friends again, but in smaller numbers. This time they had begun to swarm – behavior we didn’t see last weekend. They might be looking for moisture. They may need a little extra luck this year, as California is in the midst of what is shaping up to be the the worst drought on record. We didn’t let this news dampen our spirits though, and thoroughly enjoyed our hike. Hey, I think we should do this every week!

Sophie catches the light. Kelly, Sophie and the rest of the gang.

Posted in Bay Area, New Friends | 5 Comments

More from the Village on the Lake

Everyone in this quiet village on Inle Lake seemed so friendly. I wish we could have stayed longer!

Flying a kite. Village family
Travel by boat or swim. Lake homes.

Posted in Burma 2008 | Leave a comment