Amazing Amusing Animals to brighten your day . . .

Some recent saves to my computer. Enjoy your weekend.
via pixdaus

Google Reader enables easy translation . . .

This is a screen shot from my computer. I was so happy when I read about a new feature on my Google Reader today. I subscribe to several feeds in foreign languages and can never understand what the blog authors are saying. I just try to "picture read" which is not always accurate.

You can enlarge the photo above and/or go to this link to read all about it. This is so wonderful. Now my readers in other countries who subscribe to my feeds can read my posts in their native language. It is win, win all around the globe. Hooray!

Rare 1612 Champlain Map of Canada sells for $232,101 . . .

Photo: Sotheby's...can be enlarged.
LONDON.- On November 13, 2008 Sotheby’s London auctioned a large, finely-engraved antiquarian map of the northeast part of America, drawn by “The Father of New France”, Samuel de Champlain (est. £30,000-40,000). Champlain’s very rare map of 1612 is considered the most important single map in the history of Canada, and can be regarded as a foundation document for Canada. This map sold for £157,250 GBP which is approximately $232,101. in US dollars.

The map was the highlight of Sotheby’s sale of Natural History, Travel, Atlases and Maps. It was drawn from Champlain's personal observations in over twenty voyages to Canada and New England. It is also the first printed map to allude to the St. Lawrence River and Great Lakes system based on factual (rather than hearsay or imaginary) evidence.

Champlain has been described as “The driving force behind the initial success of French attempts at gaining a foothold in America”. The map accompanied the publication of Les Voyages du Sieur de Champlain, which included large-scale plans for potential harbours, with an important description and promotional account of Canada.

Take care of your antiques and they will take care of you.

Wishing You an Old-Fashioned Thanksgiving . . .

Norman Rockwell "Freedom from Want" Saturday Evening Post cover March 6, 1943

Money and Checking Quote | Federal Reserve . . .

What's wrong with this picture?

rare George Washington miniature portrait acquired by Yale for $303,000 . . .

November 26, 1789 ~ (219 years ago today)
George Washington proclaimed "day of Thanksgiving"

Photo: Courtesy Skinner Inc., Boston.

NEW HAVEN, CT.- The Yale University Art Gallery announces the acquisition of Robert Field's portrait miniature of George Washington. Price paid: $303,000. What makes this miniature rare is its personal meaning to our first president's family. It was commissioned by Martha Washington in 1800 to commemorate her husband's life and to ease her family's grief. The 2-3/4" x 2-1/4" watercolor-on-ivory portrait is housed in its original locket; inset on the reverse over a woven lock of Washington's hair is a rose-gold "GW" cipher. Hair, which survives time and decay, was often incorporated into keepsakes of love and loss. Martha Washington gave this miniature to her step-granddaughter, Sarah "Sally" Stuart, and it has been passed down through the family since its completion in 1801.

Field's portrait of George Washington joins an extraordinary miniature of Martha Washington already in the Yale University Art Gallery's collection. Both were painted at her request by Field in 1801 as part of the same commission. The artist's informal portrait of Martha portrays her as a mourning widow, signified by the black ribbon on her cap. The miniature's locket has a decorative reverse adorned with sixty-seven pearls, George Washington's age at the time of his death. Martha Washington originally gave this miniature to her great-granddaughter, Frances Parke Lewis (Mrs. E. G. H. Butler). It was acquired by Yale in 1947.

Intended to be cherished by family members, these expressive keepsakes allow us to glimpse George and Martha Washington as a private couple rather than as public icons. The reunited pair will be introduced to the public in the Gallery's traveling exhibition "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness: American Art from the Yale University Art Gallery", on view at the Seattle Art Museum from February 26-May 24, 2009.

Portrait History: Robert Field (ca. 1769-1819) produced eight miniatures at Martha's request in 1800 to commemorate the revered President on the one-year anniversary of his death. Six of them, given to friends, showed him in civilian dress. Only two miniatures, given to family, showed Washington in full military uniform; one of these is the recent Yale acquisition.

Among the most accomplished British-born miniaturists working in America, Field painted portraits of prominent citizens-merchants, judges, generals, and politicians-in Baltimore, Philadelphia, Washington, and Boston. In contrast to many American portrait miniaturists, who painted opaquely on small ivory disks, Field, who arrived in Baltimore in 1794, brought with him a more luminous technique for painting on a larger ivory. In this portrait, his crisp draftsmanship defines Washington's uniform. The artist's characteristically sinuous strokes transcribe the curving contours of Washington's face, with the glowing ivory support serving as highlights in the flesh tones and the vigorous sgraffito, or scraping, giving delineation to the eyelids and irises. Field posed Washington against a gray sky that brightens at right to draw our attention to the sitter's face. Washington engages the viewer with a slight but tender smile and an intimate, direct gaze.

The Yale University Art Gallery is a center for the study of American portrait miniatures. These reunited portraits of George and Martha Washington, painted as tokens of marital love and familial devotion, will be seen and studied by visitors, schoolchildren, scholars, faculty, and students for generations to come.

Mankind is No Island ~ award winning cell phone video . . .

Sydney-based film makers Jason van Genderen (director), Shane Emmett (producer), and John Roy (music composer) created an amazing short that just won $20,000 and Best Film at Tropfest NY 2008 (the world’s largest short film festival).

The best part is that it was shot on the streets of New York & Sydney, Australia with a total budget of $57.00 and captured using cell phones, nothing else!

Please remember those less fortunate than yourself this Thanksgiving.

Note: This film might load slowly...please be patient...it is SO worth watching! Warning: you will cry.

A sailmaker's Passion for the Wind ~ Chasing Windmills . . .

A portrait of a sailmaker for windmills.
Let's travel to The Netherlands together and see a wonderful and inspiring short film.


Passion for the Wind from Thomas van der Gronde on Vimeo.

Every now and then you have to repot yourself . . .

Relax and watch this delightful short film.

Flowerpots from Crictor on Vimeo.

Happiness Illustrated Quote . . .

via Loveology

Housework | Illustrated Quote . . .

"Housework is something nobody notices until you don't do it." Anonymous

Image source: Life Magazine via Google.

I get some of my best work done in my pajamas!

Babe Ruth uniform sells for $310,500 . . .

"Never let the fear of striking out get in your way." Babe Ruth

Louisville, Kentucky ~ Hunt Auctions, a sports memorabilia auction company based in Exton, Pennsylvania, and the official auction company of Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory, sold Babe Ruth's final professional road uniform Saturday, November 15, for $310,500 at the fifth annual Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory Auction.

The Brooklyn Dodgers uniform (pre-auction estimate $150,000/200,000) is from Ruth's days as a coach in 1938 and is a record auction price for a coach's uniform.

"Babe Ruth proved once again he is larger then life," says David Hunt, president of Hunt Auctions. "The prices realized today for the Ruth uniform among others are an excellent indication of the resilience of the sports memorabilia market in the face of a difficult economy."

The uniform comes from Ruth's lone season coaching with the Brooklyn Dodgers, and features a heavy gray flannel Spalding jersey and matching pants, both of which include Ruth's full name in chain stitch. The uniform shirt displays the blue Dodgers team name across the front, and Ruth's uniform number "35" on the back.

The jersey remains in completely original condition, and exhibits the light to moderate use consistent with Ruth's position as the Brooklyn Dodger's first base coach. Ruth ended his illustrious career in baseball as a coach, though his dream had always been to become a Major League manager.

A Babe Ruth photograph by Charles Conlon, circa 1927 sold for $23,000.

See how a Google Doodle is created . . .

Google doodles, the drawings that are designed on, around and through the Google logo on their home page, are the creation of 30-year-old Google Webmaster Dennis Hwang. Since Dennis began celebrating and marking worldwide events and holidays with his doodles in 2000, his work has been seen by millions and reached cult status, with fans waiting anxiously to see his next creation. There are numerous websites and blogs devoted to his work.
Doodle 4 Google