Tales of Seven

Picture of the Week

These beautiful little creatures represented one batch out of several I fostered recently. In this program, we raise kittens until they were of sufficient weight and health to adopt out. Thanks to Maddie's Adoption Center in San Francisco for all their great work in this area!

Subdued Voices

The News used to be its own Division.

  Then it was made a Subdivision under Entertainment.

     Then it was a Department run by Entertainment.

.................................................................

And then it began to raise its voice on things of low importance, report issues of substance in subdued voices, and ultimately went mute on the the very things of highest importance.

While the press remains quiet, I'm glad to see in recent months a voice of dissent arising from 2 Houses in Washington...though don't think we can ever forget the damage that was done by all the silence that preceded.

Beautiful Animation of a Cell

This is simply beautiful. Thanks, Harvard! This animation shows the inner workings of a white blood cell in a colorful and brilliant way. It's well worth viewing! Get a hint on what you're seeing here.

 

The Inner Life of a Cell, an eight-minute animation created in NewTek LightWave 3D and Adobe After Effects

How to Fix a Broken Toe - Australia Style

Queensland, Australia

I had been scrambling for over an hour on rocks in my sandals, was finally back on the sandy beach, and kicked the one remaining rock on the beach with my big toe -- hard. I looked down. Yes. Things were unquestionably 'askew'. After an hour of hiking/hobbling back to my remote cabin, I called the nearest medical facility (6 hours drive away) and was advised by a nurse to ...

Nurse: "Just pull it!"

Me: Pause. [In all earnestness] "Are you kidding or serious?"

Nurse: [With light-hearted, enthusiastic energy] "No. It's probably just dislocated. Just do it quickly. It'll be over in just a second!"

Me: [With some concern] "But what if it's broken?"

Pause...

Nurse: "Did you do it yet?"

I have to say that this and numerous experiences in Australia led me to  the wonderful perception that the Aussies are a self-sufficient, handle it, take-it-in-stride kind of people. I genuinely enjoyed their approach to the inevitable little trials, and took it to heart as I continued on to the next part of my trip, a hiking adventure....with what an x-ray ultimately revealed to be a genuinely broken toe. No worries!

Snakes and Hummers

Occheutal Beach, Cambodia

It's called the Snake house and it's a restaurant/dance club tucked away down a side road in Occheutal Beach. All around this maze-of-a-complex are enclosures with varieties of poisonous snakes. A crocodile is chained in an open pool in the lobby. Sitting quietly in tucked away corners are serious, young men talking in Russian, while dark-sounding club music pounds in the background. Parked out front is a monstrous black Hummer.

Entertaining club, or final resting place for all those James Bond movie extras and props?

(pictured below is the snake that watched me while I had a glass of wine)

MicroLoans- A Cool, Fun Way to 'Give Back'

In the spirit of 'give them a fishing pole, not the fish'.... there's now a clever, new way to give back to the world. Non-profits have recently made it possible to provide small loans (microloans) to people living in developing countries, who wish to create or expand businesses.

One great organization that supports this effort is Kiva. It not only faciliates this great cause, but ensures the system works, achieving an astounding payback rate of 97%.

And it's fun to get involved! I checked out a number of profiles, and loaned money to four different women, who are working to expand their respective Taro Farm, BBQ stand, Clothing Shop, and General Store. Cool stuff!

Photos of the Week

Cambodia, Dec 2006

This little girl had a speech impediment. Her siblings and parents made that circling motion around their ears, signaling that she was 'crazy'. But in the hour I spent at this house, she seemed  a wonderful, intelligent and curious little girl.

Nice Show

I recently found a good site, OneTrueMedia, for creation of slideshows. The staunch little site takes my 3MB photo files like a champ, and allows a really nice variety effects.

It also creates a DVD case for me, using my own photos. Very nice! 

If you do use it, be sure to upload higher resolution pictures. My Antarctica slideshow (see left bar on this site) is a bit grainy for lack of that knowledge my first time around!

(photos from my slideshow on a DVD case)

 

Where the Hell is Matt?

My second thankful post of the evening...

Matt, thanks so much for making this cool video. You dance like I feel (but not like I dance) when I visit some cool new place...

Do you realize how close you were to the edge of the cliff there in Arizona? We just wanted to warn you to be careful...

Sincerely,

Heida

(if you'd like just a little more, here are the outtakes....)

 

Twainology

Thanks, Mark Twain. You're pretty a pretty cool, insightful-with-dry-humor kind of guy....

"Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society."

"Go to Heaven for the climate, Hell for the company."

"Let's  be thankful for the fools. But for them, the rest of us could not succeed."

"There are laws to protect the freedom of the press's speech, but none that are worth anything to protect the people from the press."