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Happy New Year!

Thank You Very Much Mr. Scrooge

Automatons from the Scrooge Movie of 1951

I love  the movie Scrooge (1951) A Christmas Carol with Alastair Sim.  Watching it is a Christmas tradition for me. This year I watched a colorized version. It was great. The colors were not overdone, just enough to give some more detail to the movie. I cut out the brief scene at the beginning of the movie showing Tiny Tim looking into a store window. The automatons seem magical to me.

Tiny Husky Puppy Learning To Howl

Enjoy!

Little Spinning Angels

Here's a wonderful poem from Teres a Evangeline's site.  Link:   Teresa Evangeline "Childish Things" When they light the candles a little propeller turns the angels around and around. They are of gold, of thin metal, with a trumpet held in front of each mouth, And a sound that comes when a tiny chain drags across a silvery chime. Flecks of light dance on the ceiling from figures that gleam as they pass the flame. That sight, that sound, that warm candle shine through the years. You look out the window: What are you doing with the years that shine around and around when the angels come? ~ William Stafford Yesterday after reading this poem I went out and bought a new candle angel set.  I found the last set!  I was hoping to get a larger version but this one will be fine. I cold not get a clear 

Wonderful Creatures

Here's a nature video I think you'll enjoy.  It begins soaring through the clouds then down towards an island.  That's when the action begins! (I thought I posted this before but I could not find it on my list of past posts.  I lost the source of the video.) If you like you can enlarge it and turn up the volume.

Beautiful Nature Video

While I worked on changing the design of my blog I came across this post from 9/10/12. I just had to post it again. It starts a bit slowly. I'm still moved by the beauty of these creatures. If you can get the clarity I'd enlarge it to full screen and turn the music up if you like. Here's the post: The video is so good that it looks 3D to me. Enjoy! From the blog: WEB SUL BLOG

Moondance

Do you remember this song by Van Morrison from the 70's? I heard it again today and  It still excites me! Well, it's a marvelous night for a moondance With the stars up above in your eyes A fantabulous night to make romance Neath the cover of October skies And all the leaves on the trees are falling To the sound of the breezes that blow And I'm trying to please to the calling Of your heart-strings that play soft and low And all the nights magic seems to whisper and hush And all the soft moonlight seems to shine in your blush Chorus: Can I just have one a more moondance with you, my love Can I just make some more romance with a-you, my love Well, I wanna make love to you tonight I can't wait 'til the morning has come And I know that the time is just right And straight into my arms you will run And when you come my heart will be waiting To make sure that you're never alone There and then all my dreams w

The Legend of La Befana

Last night Lynette and I went to the Sons of Italy Christmas Party.  It was a great time with delicious food and friendly people. There was what they called a "Thieves Christmas". Wrapped gifts were exchanged at random with the chance to take someone else's gift.  We brought a bottle of Frangelico hazelnut flavoured liqueur and received an hourglass. I learned about the Italian holiday called La Befana. "In Italian folklore, Befana is an old woman who delivers gifts to children throughout Italy on Epiphany Eve (the night of January 5) in a similar way to Saint Nicholas or Santa Claus. ..." This video explains the tradition:

Try Something New for Thirty Days

I tried this and it works for me. I found the plan on the TED website. The link is on the list at the bottom of my blog along with other links I find interesting. The video link:   Matt Cutts- Try something new for 30 days The blog link:  TED- Ideas worth spreading

York's Passing

Last night my daughter and son-in-law's dog York passed away.  It was the same as the death of a close friend. Thankfully during the last few months he was doing well and did not suffer.  He died on the way to the veterinarian in my son-in-law's car.  At least he did not die alone. We'll miss him.

More Snow

Yesterday a "Good Samaritan" cleared my driveway and was gone before I could thank him.  Today it snowed again. Snow sure is beautiful especially when you have nowhere to go. I took these photos from an upstairs bedroom.

A Good Samaritan on a Snow Plow

This morning I was tempted to call someone to clear my driveway but decided to wait.  The forecast called for above freezing temperatures and rain. I heard the sound of an engine.  When I looked outside my window I saw a man plowing the snow from my driveway. Before I could go outside to thank him, he was gone!   Good Samaritan:  Someone who helps people without wanting or expecting any payment in return. This made my day!

It's Snowing!

These images are from my back door this morning. A short video:

Clover In a Succulent Flower Pot (more photos from August 2013)

 

The Power of Words

Here is a great post from the  Wanna Buy A Duck  Blog. Click the link to visit the blog.

StumbleUpon, Is It Enlightening or Inhibiting?

How it works: "StumbleUpon is a discovery engine (a form of web search engine) that finds and recommends web content to its users. Its features allow users to discover and rate Web pages, photos, and videos that are personalized to their tastes and interests using peer-sourcing and social-networking principles." (from Wikipedia)  (My highlighting )  I believe it expands  knowledge and understanding about a subject or situation. But does this limit me to my own personal situation and knowledge? Does it l imit the range and extent of my experience? I'm reluctant to use it because I don't want it to limit my ability to find brand new interests and information. It is good in that I get what I like. But does this prevent me from finding something I never knew about that I might really find interesting? It feels strange to be interacting with a non-human. I suppose that if I look elsewhere for something completely new I'll still be able to find it.

How to Hand-Feed Wild Birds in Your Backyard

My wife found this first video on YouTube about having birds eat right from your hand.  I was so excited that went out into my backyard to try it today. I turned around and came back inside. It was only 30 degrees with a strong breeze! It will have to wait for a while. This first video looks and sounds better than the second video.  But it does not have very much usable information except to let the birds become comfortable and feel safe with you. I think it's some sort of advertisement. I found this second video to be more practical. I think the most difficult part is having the patience to stay still for a long while.

My Little Garden Fairy

(c) John Mallozzi Fairy: A small (imaginary?) being of human form  that has magical powers, esp. a female one. (c) John Mallozzi The top images were created by using the online free editing program called FotoFlexor. Here is the link  FotoFlexer Home The link is in the bottom of this blog on my list of    USEFUL SITES TO TRY Then I used the standard Windows Live Photo editing to finish. These are my original photos of my daughter Laurissa when she was very young. I also used them in an earlier post.     Link to the earlier post: My Daughter the Garden Fairy (c) John Mallozzi (c) John Mallozzi

The Ouroboros

Until several years ago I never knew about the ouroboros.  I find it very strange, a bit frightening yet fascinating. I'm not into some weird cult.  I just wanted to have a look. Here are two interesting videos. In the first video the sound is very soft and the narrator has a heavy accent. In this second video the music is a bit too much but the images are good.

Tombola (Italian Bingo)

Last night at the Sons of Italy club we played a game called Tombola (Italian Bingo).  It's different from regular Bingo in that you can only win horizontally from left to right, not top to bottom or diagonally. If someone runs out of tokens to cover the numbers he can use the walnuts or almonds that are set out as a snack. Another fun difference is that each number is associated with a meaning which is called out loud. 1 = Italy 13 = Saint Anthony 22 = The madman 21 = The naked woman and so on. It's played in 5 rounds: 1. Ambo: 1st person to cover 2 numbers in a row 2. Terno: 1st person to cover 3 numbers in a row 3. Quaderno: 1st person to cover 4 numbers in a row 4. Quinto: 1st person to cover 5 numbers in a row 5. Tombola: 1st person to cover all 15 numbers on the card It's much easier than it sounds. There is an adult version and a children's version which has less racier meanings to call out. I enjoyed it!

Flu Shot

My posting has been slow this week and I think it has to be from the flu shot I had this past Tuesday. Ever since that day my energy has been low.  Yesterday I took a long two hour nap.  I usually don't take naps. That's all for this post. Enjoy the weekend.

Massimo's Farm House

Link: Massimo's photos

Massimo's Chianti Vinyard Photographs with Frames

Chianti vineyard colline del Chianti , San Gimignano November 2, 2013, Chianti vineyard -  Vigneti del Chianti Colline Senesi - San Gimignano These are two masterpieces! Here is the link for Massimo's blog: Italian view

I Love Box Turtles

Shelly is the turtle's name. It's such a great name for a turtle.  Here's a video from my friend Rian's Blog. The blog is called "Older but better...?" Here's the link: Older but better...-

An Interesting French Blog

I found this blog when I was listed as one of her Favorite Blogs.  I added her to my list. Using Google Translate: Some photos:  I love this video: Here is the link: Weekend et coup de brosse

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