BOSTON

17 September, 2012 - Boston is great! It's like going to Europe without leaving the country and the people are really friendly and so nice! And like Paris, it's not very handicapped friendly. True, most of the corners have ramps, but to get to the stores and restaurants, you either have to climb stairs or descend stairs.

We made our plane reservation through a travel agent. We will never do that again. We've used them before and it seems no matter where you're going, they always book you on a flight with at least one stop, even though there are many non-stop flights available. You may recall we had to go to Dallas, Texas in order to get to Paris, France. This time it was Fort Lauderdale to Atlanta, Atlanta to Boston. The airline, AirTran, wasn't bad, but their $20 per bag charge is ridiculous. And they don't tell you about that until you've already made your reservation! That was with one bag each. If we had had two, it would have been $45. Three would have been $90. Four = $200! Now I understand why people board with two or three bags, even though it's supposed to be prohibited. It still bothers me that they think they have the right to take more overhead storage than allotted, but I do understand why they do it.

We arrived in Boston around 17h00 on Monday. Caught a cab to the Commonwealth Court Guest House in the Back Bay area of Boston. The ride took only about fifteen minutes. We knew nothing about the guest house and had kind of taken it as a last resort. As luck would have it, it was a very nice place, though our studio was rather small, in an excellent location. I had Googled it and found on Street View, that only a block away was Newbury Street which was teeming with restaurants. Our first Boston dinner was at Kashmir and it was very good.  The buildings you see in the photo are typical of the Back Bay area.

18 September, 2012 - On Tuesday, we discovered we were only about three blocks from a large shopping mall located in the Prudential Center, so we walked down and had a walk around the place. The stores seemed to be mostly high-end places. We've quickly found out that everything in Boston is a bit more expensive than we're used to in Fort Lauderdale. Robb, as usual, was suffering from hunger pains, so we walked to a restaurant named Cafeteria for lunch. Robb had a chicken club sandwich which was so large that even he couldn't eat the whole thing. I had a "side order" of Parmesan Fries, half of which I brought back to the studio for later consumption (which never did happen). Our second dinner in Boston was at a great French restaurant...La Voile. The chef and most of the staff are French. We both had Le magret (roasted duck breast) and were happy to find that the serving size was considerably less than the American Huge we're used to getting.

19 September, 2012 - Wednesday started with lunch at Charley's Saloon.  The we caught a taxi to the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.  We were surprised to find how close it was to the guest house.   Five or six years ago, I would have been able to walk to it.  It's a huge, beautiful place, but not the easiest to find your way around.  We did manage to see a lot of it, but we did not see even half of what they had to offer.  When we decided to leave, we simply sat outside and waited for a taxi to show up looking for a fare.  We only waited about five minutes.  Tonight's dinner was at Charley's Saloon, because we had been told they make the best New England Clam Chowder in the world.  It is served in a bread bowl that, in it's self was quite edible.  They were right!  It was easily the best we've ever had.


20 September, 2012 - We started by walking down to the Prudential Center.  Then we made our way down to the Boston Public Library, a huge place.  I waited by the entrance while Robb wandered around having a look at the place.  In the time I was sitting there, people just came coming in and out.  More people entered while I was there then we usually see in a week at the Fort Lauderdale library.  It was simply astonishing.  Afterward, we walked down to have a look at the Copley Subway Station.  We watched as several trains came and left. Each one was standing room only!  Then we made our way over to Trinity Church.  We were a bit put off when they wanted to charge us to go in a have a look around.

Dinner tonight was special, and the real reason we are in Boston!  We got to meet with 'Blocked' and her husband at Kashmir.  They were both really charming people and we're so glad we got to meet them in person.  We had a great meal and a lot of great conversation.  After dinner, we all went back to our tiny room and chatted a little longer.

Registering to vote just got easier. With this little widget, you can fill out a registration form, print it off and mail it in ... or, if you're lucky enough to be in a state where you can register online, it will take you directly to your Secretary of State's website. Do it now! And share it with family and friends. Remember, as Rep. John Lewis said, voting is "the most powerful, nonviolent tool we have to create a more perfect union." It would be great if those of you with larger followings would reproduce this on your journals!!   REGISTER TO VOTE

Dumb Law of the Week: In Omaha, Nebraska, it is illegal for a child to burp during a church service, his or her parents may be arrested.

À la prochaine, mes amis.

Obnoxious Rainbow

The other day, Robb suddenly exclaimed, "Look at that beautiful rainbow!" I jumped up and looked out the window, but I couldn't see it from the room I was in, so I rushed out onto the balcon. Looking to the right, I could barely make it out. To the left, I couldn't see it at all. I went back inside and into the bedroom. From the window in the bedroom, I got a great view of it. Since I always have my phone with me, I took a couple of pictures through the dirty window. The picture I've included here was the best of the bunch.

We went back to the Rainbow Palace for dinner on Saturday evening. We went specifically for the Crispy Duck Grand Marnier. We were not disappointed. We were, however, disappointed by the group of four drunks (they weren't this quiet before and after the video) who had no idea just how obnoxious they were. They were already drunk when they moved to the dining room, but continued to drink while there.

Pregnant bride has baby at wedding

Study questions how much better is organic food?

Thermal imaging camera scans for drunks

Three cups of coffee per day might prevent Alzheimer's in older adults

Science Has Discovered the 'Pigtail' Molecular Cloud and it is Beautiful

Dumb Law of the Week: In Minnesota, it is illegal to tease skunks.

À la prochaine, mes amis.

Boston Palace

After quite a bit of searching, we think we have a place reserved in Boston. We tried several, only to be told,"it's available" and then, a few minutes later, "it's not available" many times. One guy indicated we had chosen the 'busiest' time of the year because it's back-to-school time. I'm not sure what he meant by that unless he was saying that college students are taking all the available places, which doesn't make whole lot of sense. For what we're paying for a room for ONE WEEK in Boston, we could have rented a one-bedroom apartment for a month in Paris. Whatever, according to Google maps street view. it's a nice area with a lot of restaurants and cafes just around the corner.

Thursday night, we had dinner at the Rainbow Palace, an upscale Chinese restaurant a few blocks from us. It has been there longer than we've been in this apartment, but we have never eaten there until now. It's really nicely appointed and the waiters all wear tuxedos. We started with a very crispy egg roll, then we both had the Snapper Special with lots of vegetables in a delicious Szechuan Sauce. Wine was a nice sauvignon blanc. Parting from our usual routine, we both had dessert. I had a fantastic raspberry crumble, and Robb had a chocolate mousse pie-like thing. They were both good. While we were eating, we overheard one of the waiters mention to another customer, Grand Marnier Duck. Our mouths were watering so we must return to try that.

This has to be the most stupid thing I've seen in many years: FliZ Is Newest and Most Ridiculous Sensation in Bicycling

Brazilian boy with no feet to train at Barcelona

How one biotech plans to cure blindness using light

Tiny Mechanical Scale Weighs Molecules One at a Time

Two dead stars provide low-tech way to test Einstein

Dumb Law of the Week: In Massachusetts, it is illegal for mourners at a wake to eat more than three sandwiches.

À la prochaine, mes amis.

Stormy Weather

Robb and I are making reservations for a one week trip to Boston where we hope to meet [blocked] and her husband. They live in England and are visiting Boston in September. Making these reservations brings up the fact that it's a hell of a lot less expensive to spend a month in Europe than a week in a US city, even with the money exchange rate what it is now. Robb has never been there and I've only been once. It was a long time ago when I was in the Army. I was stationed at a fort about ten miles from Boston and a few of us went down one night to go to White Castle for burgers. That was my one and only visit.

Monday was a strange day in Florida. We had alternating periods of sunshine, clouds, wind, rain, lightening and thunder throughout the day. Even though Isaac is many miles to the north and west of us, we will most likely be affected by it for several more days.

Big doins at the condo. We got a new fence around the pool. It's much nicer than the chain-link fence we had before. The only thing is that it is a bit higher than the old fence, which is a problem when you see someone and want to stop and chat by leaning on the fence. With the old fence, you could end up with some nasty gashes on your arms. The new fence is too high to lean on while chatting.

New eco-friendly way to clean up oil spills uses ingredients from chocolate, ice cream & peanut butter

Could penny-sized ‘microthrusters’ propel satellites?

Could regular brushing prevent Dementia?

Scientists Turn Adult Red Blood Cells Into Embryonic Stem Cells

Big burn theory: Why humans spontaneously combust

Taiwan minister says men should sit down to urinate

Dumb Law of the Week: In Louisana, it is illegal to rob a bank and then shoot at the bank teller with a water pistol.

À la prochaine, mes amis.

Voting Dinner

We totally missed Early Voting (it only lasted a week), but we did vote on the actual Election Day. Although, that's a bit of a misnomer because it wasn't really an election, it was just a primary. I didn't know that when I suggested to Robb that we get over there and cast our ballots. Our voting place is only three blocks from the apartment and in past years, we have walked, but I wasn't up to walking this year, between the heat and my breathing. The only thing they asked to see was our drivers license. I wonder what would have happened if we hadn't had them? Not only was it a primary, but because I'm registered as an Independant, I could only vote in the bi-partisan section. So I only got to vote for various judges and a couple of school board members. Robb got all the good stuff, Wilton Manors mayor, state representatives and senators, local commissioners and such. Hopefully, I'll get my chance in November.

Thursday evening, we had dinner again at Cafe Seville. It was so nice. The restaurant wasn't full but there was a fair crowd and they were nicely quiet. I had the Veal Segovia and Robb had the Lamb Shank with a house salad which was huge. It was interesting that several of the diners spent a lot of time on theirsmartphones or tablets.

Dolphins captured on underwater camera

Ancient humans may not have interbred with Neanderthals, after all

Star ’scream’ detected as it is devoured by black hole 

Creating 150 MPH Hurricanes in a Giant Aquarium in Florida

Do photos show the lost pyramids of Egypt?

We Were Totally Wrong About the Sun’s Shape Until Yesterday

Dumb Law of the Week: In Kentucky, by law, anyone who has been drinking is "sober" until he or she "cannot hold onto the ground."

À la prochaine, mes amis.

Internet Olympics

I've been having a lot of bad luck ordering things on the internet lately. I ordered batteries for our parking lot gate remote control. It took forever to get here. I finally bought a tablet because the price was really great. Unfortunately, the tablet (called an iBridge) was not even worth that price. I sent it back. I ordered eight pairs of shorts from JCPenney because they showed them to be nice and slim fitting. They were just more ghetto style shorts. I took them back to the store. I hope this trend is going to come to a screeching halt immediately.

The Olympics are over. For the most part, it was enjoyable, but there were many times when I turned off the TV and occupied myself elsewhere. There were far too many women's events. Sorry ladies, things like ribbon twirling, women boxing, women wrestling and dancing with balls are just not in my interest zone! Watching the Olympic telecasts has reinforced my reason for not watching TV on a regular basis. There are way too many commercials. The commercials are absolutely geared to the lowest possible common denominator. I've never seen so much stupidity. Oddly enough, the internet, which is usually an excellent source of information and videos, was horrendous during the Olympics. There was a lot of information, but very few videos.

Quantum teleportation achieved as Chinese researchers send data across a lake

Are Three Nuns and a Priest the Keys to Immunity?

The "penis snake" is an amphibian!

The algorithm that runs the world

Sweeping up the mystery of cosmic dust

Meet India’s million dollar scientist

Dumb Law of the Week: In Iowa, it is illegal for kisses to last more than five minutes.

À la prochaine, mes amis.

Mars Voting

Early Voting began in Florida on Saturday. I was going to wait until Monday to vote, but I somehow never got around to it. Perhaps Robb and I will go on Tuesday.

I stayed up late Sunday night to watch the Mars rover, Curiosity land and send back its first pictues. Well, it wasn't really late for me since I usually don't go to bed before 02h00. The Mars pictures weren't as good as I was hoping for and I was kind of surprised that NASA didn't do better with that.

The cancer stem cell discovery which sheds light on regrowth 

Fourteen year old creates a way to generate electricity from raindrops

Impressionist Painter Edgar Degas Takes a Stroll in Paris, 1915

Researchers Build First Complete Computer Model of an Entire Organism

Most distant black hole 'heard' munching star

Dumb Law of the Week: In Indiana, it is illegal to bathe during the winter.

À la prochaine, mes amis.

Trip Olympics

It took a couple of weeks for me to face reality and make a very tough decision. Our trip to Europe is not going to happen. I had hoped that by going back on the steroids, I would gain the strength necessary to make the trip without worry about being hospitalized again, but evidently, that's not going to happen. The steroids are not having the efect I was desperately hoping to feel.

Except for the first 75 percent of the opening ceremonies, and all the damned commercials, we have been enjoying the Olympics. I don't understand why some of the "sports" are part of it, but what the hell, they're mostly the ones I don't watch anyway. I really like the rowing and, of course, the gymnastics. I'm glad to see the Americans doing so well, as are the French.

Stunning Recovery for First Child to Get Stem Cell Trachea

Researchers develop femtosecond laser that can diagnose, blast cancerous tumors

Security researchers find new wafer-thin ATM card skimmers in use

Human Stem Cells Found to Restore Memory

The Brain-Bending Building of Krzywy Domek

Monster white sturgeon weighing 1,100 pounds caught in Canada

DUPED - "PISS POOR story not true!!"

A guy dies and goes to heaven. His tour guide starts to show him around the whole place; the tennis courts, the main lobby , when they come upon a room full of clocks.

Some are going fast, some slow and some normal. 

"What's with all the clocks?" the guy asks his tour guide. 

"Each clock is for each person on earth. Every time they tell a lie, their clock goes faster," he said. 

Well that makes sense the guy thought to himself. 

Just then he noticed a clock on the ceiling going tremendously fast , and much faster than all the others. 

"What's that?" the guy asked, pointing to the ceiling. 

"Oh, that's George W Bush's clock. We use it as a fan."

Dumb Law of the Week: In Illinois, it is illegal for anyone to give lighted cigars to dogs, cats, and other domesticated animal kept as pets.

À la prochaine, mes amis.

Voter Urine

I got my new Voter ID in the mail the other day, so I guess I'm not going to be purged. Their accompanying letter indicated that it's permanent. Then on Wednesday, I went to the DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles) License Division and got my new Driver's License. Again, I was very impressed with theìr efficiency and how really nice they were. No one had that "clerk" attitude; you know, the one where you're lucky they would take a minute of their time to do their job? As usual, the picture is terrible (brace yourselves) but no one ever sees it anyway (except you guys). It's good until 2020, if I'm still here.

When I picked up my glasses last week, they had forgotten to put in the Transition Lenses. Transition Lenses are the ones that turn dark when you go out into the sun. I went back on Saturday and waited while they put them in. The only problem with Transition Lenses, is when you get into your car, the lenses quickly revert to clear. It kind of destroys the whole purpose.

Le Tour de France is over. The last day was all I could have hoped for and more. For the first time, A brit won the Tour and a Brit was second. Icing on the cake was that the final stage was won by another Brit, Mark Cavendish, who has been called the fastest man in the world (the biking world, of course), and he certainly lived up to his title. To make the day really perfect, the TV shots of Paris were simply spectacular. If you missed it, you should look for it on You Tube. You won't be sorry.

Rare Film: Claude Monet at Work 

FDA approves first preventative HIV drug 

Spider-Man is Real—And He is French!

How artificial intelligence will shape our lives

Netherlands: Catholic Church ‘castrated boys as gay cures and punishments’ 

They used to use urine to tan animal skins, so families used to all pee in a pot. And then once it was full it was taken and sold to the tannery... if you had to do this to survive you were "Piss Poor". But worse than that were the really poor folk who couldn't even afford to buy a pot...They "didn't have a pot to piss in" and were the lowest of the low.

Dumb Law of the Week: In Quitman, Georgia it is illegal for a chicken to cross the road.

À la prochaine, mes amis.

Strange Lenses

It's strange how, as you get older, things that never used to even phase you become major annoyances.  It's a trend with which I'm not at all happy, but I'm finding it difficult to reverse it.  Maybe it's the accumulation of crap over the years.  It builds up and builds up, until it finally reaches your tolerance level, and sub-consciously, you say, "Enough is enough!"  Still, it's not something about which I'm happy and I would like to get back to the days when I just let it (supposedly) roll off my shoulders.

I got my new glasses on Friday.  The lenses are new,, but I just had them put into the old frame because I really like it and I couldn't see paying for a new one which would have been basically the same.  The new lenses are strange.  If I look to either side, things get very distorted.  I was pre-warned that that would be the case, so I was kind of expecting it, but it's still difficult to get used to.  The main thing is that now, when I watch Le Tour de France, I can actually see everything!  I didn't realize how much I had been missing until now.

Fast Food Restaurants fundraising for Mitt Romney and other Republicans:
Chick-fil-a  (Also donated to anti-gay groups), Hardee's, McDonald's, Outback Steakhouse, PapaJohn's, Waffle House, White Castle

Natural Alzheimer’s Protection  

Breakthrough molecule makes your teeth ‘cavity-proof’  

It's not lunacy: Not-a-planet Pluto boasts 5 moons  

What Really Happens When You Get Sucked Out of an Airlock  

Japanese group transmits electricity through 4-inch concrete block, could power cars on roads  

Dumb Law of the Week:  In Florida, Women may be fined for falling asleep under a hair dryer, as can the salon owner.

À la prochaine, mes amis.

Designer Rides

After depositing my Humana check, I walked down the block to Chic Optique to check their prices for the glasses I need to get. They are in a gay shopping center, so I expected their prices to be higher than elsewhere, but I was surprised to learn that it wasn't all that much more. While checking the various frame styles, I was struck by the fact that I could not distinguish the difference between "designer" glasses and the 'generic' kinds. Also, once I started thinking about it, I'm positive that Versace, Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, et al, did not sit around their mansions one day and think, "Wow, I should put out a line of frames for glasses." You can bet some frame manufacturer got the brilliant idea to use 'designer' names for the soul purpose of extracting large sums from their customers.

We've been thoroughly enjoying the 2012 Tour de France. We're not as interested in the actual race as we are the shots of the beautiful French countryside. If you've never been to Europe, I recommend watching the race for the fantastic shots of the European countryside. I know it's Le Tour de France, but so far they have ridden in at least three countries including Belgium, Switzerland and France. One thing that really bothers me though: I simply cannot believe the utter stupidity of some of the Tour de France spectators who run out onto the road in front of the riders!! Or the ones who crowd the road or try to run alongside the riders. What the hell are they thinking? The Tour security people need to take action before one or more of the riders is seriously injured by one of these jerks!

They're so far ahead of the US! Europride

   

Congress to rule pizza sauce is a vegetable 

  

Scientists reach “holy grail” of tissue engineering 

  

Spain leads quest to the sun

   

New mind-reading technique could help the paralyzed speak

   

Buy an entire Tuscan village on eBay for €2.500.000

Dumb Law of the Week: In Columbus, Georgia it is illegal to sit on one's porch in an indecent position.

À la prochaine, mes amis

Snail Mail

On Monday, Robb got a first-hand lesson on why sending stuff through the post office is called "snail mail". Last September, he sent a check to his bank in Paris. Afterwards, he realized it had insufficient postage (thanks to another rate hike in postage). It was returned on Monday. Will someone please explain 1-why it even left the country in the first place and 2-why didn't the French Poste just deliver it instead of waiting nine months to return it? Snail mail indeed!!!

BJs is a wholesale club where you can purchase a variety of things in huge quantities for a very low price. If you're a single person, you don't have to buy huge quantities, you can buy smaller amounts and still pay a lower price than you would at, say, your local supermarket. Of course, unless you receive an invitation to check it out, you must first purchase a "membership", yes, I deliberately covered the picture (you can thank me later).  You pay a price, somewhere around forty or fifty dollars, for the privilege of shopping at BJs. But our experience has been that we usually save more than that every time we shop there, so we think it's well worth the cost. On cava alone, we save about $40 per month. BJs sends a booklket of savings coupons each month. In this month's booklet, there was a coupon for Magnum White. We paid less than twice as much and got three times as much. Not to mention, we now know where to go to get our supply of Magnum White without having to special order at a higher price from our local Publix market.

Has anyone seen the Exxon/Mobil commercial about how they raised the test scores for math and science in six cities in the US? Want to know how they did it? They cheated! The teachers actually changed the answers so that the students would pass the tests with better grades. Of course, I'm not saying you can't trust one of the major oil companies in the world.

Paris Pride 2012 Pics

Mysterious Fairy Circles Are 'Alive' 

AIR.U to connect universities with “Super Wi-Fi”

Statue of Liberty at Musée d'Orsay, Paris

The ‘city of tomorrow’ is here (and it’s in Canada)

Dumb Law of the Week: In Connecticut: You can be stopped by the police for biking over 65 miles per hour.

À la prochaine, mes amis.

Input Change

So finally, after three service calls, of which we only had to pay for one, the AC is (hopefully) fixed. Bob, the AC guy, cleaned out the runoff line and installed an input line so we can add a cup of bleach every month or so. We had that before and I'm pretty sure the lack of it was the major cause of our current problem. I guess in a month or so, we'll see if I was right.

Walking around the hall today, I made an unhappy discovery. Not only have I gotten older...I've also gotten grouchy, cynical and very negative. I am going to work on reversing that trend! Once, many years ago, a friend said to me, "I don't know anyone who doesn't like you!" I wonder what she would say if she knew me now?

Gay Conservative Group Endorses Romney....GOProud, the group that represents gay conservatives and their allies, announced its endorsement of Mitt Romeny for president, saying that, “The truth is that gay people are living in the disastrous failed Obama economy too.” And here I was believing that gay people were among the brightest. I don't care what you may think of Presixdent Obama, there's just no way an intelligent gay person can even think of voting for Mitt Romney or any other Republican given their current attitude toward the GLBT community.

Boy, does France need THIS!!! AI can resolve customer complaints 

Start-up teaches foreign languages, translates the Web

Light up seesaw

Make way for renewable energy’s Blade Runner

T-Rex breaches U.S. borders

Phase change memory breakthrough could lead to gigahertz-plus data transfers, make SSDs seem pokey

10-year-old cracks science puzzle and co-authors paper

Dumb Law of the Week: In California: Community leaders passed an ordinance that makes it illegal for anyone to try and stop a child from playfully jumping over puddles of water.

À la prochaine, mes amis

Shingle Eyes

I was checking places on the internet last week when I noticed that the new Bier Garden on Wilton Drive has a two-for-one special on Tuesdays. We got there shortly after 21h00 and found the place nearly empty. There weren't many tables inside, but we found one that wasn't too close to the five blaring TVs showing various sports. The waiter brought us a menu which we could barely see because there were no lights in the section in which we were sitting. But it didn't really matter because the waiter came back and told us the kitchen was already closed. We decided we would go to Cafe Seville. We were met by the owner who told us the kitchen was already closed. We came home and ordered a pizza from Domino's. Apparently, they weren';t very busy either because the guy showed up in less than twenty minutes. The pizza was one of the best we've ever gotten from Domino's.

A new development in the Shingles Saga: I have flunked my driver license eye test! I believe I mentioned that the shingles was affecting the area around my eye. Well, apparently, it is also affecting my vision. Now, I have to go to an eye doctor, have my eyes examined and get the doctor to complete a form the Bureau of Licenses gave me that indicates that my vision is correctable. So today or tomorrow, I will go to Sears in the Broward Mall where my neighbor Dave is the Optometrist. UPDATE: I saw Doctor Dave today, and he told me my eyes aren't anywhere near as bad as I thought they were. On top of that, the shingles aren't causing any problems at all

Saturday night, we had my birthday dinner at Cafe Seville. Robb had a veal dish and I had yellowtail snapper. It was almost finished before I became accustomed to the taste. It wasn't bad, just not something I was expecting, or used to eating. On their online menu page, the showed they had a spanish cava, but the waiter told us they had changed the menu since then and we drank an Italian sparkling wine. As we usually do, we ended up with a conversation with the waitress, whose husband was born and raised in France. He, too, joined us and the four of us talked for quite a while.

Could aliens have created life on Earth?

A Star System 12.9 Billion Light Years Away is the New Most Distant Galaxy

Landmark microbiome study surprises and redefines health

European Extremely Large Telescope 

Austria’s UNESCO heritage Hallstatt village in the south of China

Vodafone creates a signal-boosting, solar-charging umbrella to juice your cellphone 

A sugar fuel cell to power prosthetics 

Dumb Law of the Week: In Arkansas: A man can legally beat his wife, but no more than once a month. !

À la prochaine, mes amis.

Video Advertising

I'm sure I've mentioned here several times that I don't watch TV because of all the commercials, and because my hearing isn't so good and I need to turn the sound too high. Two channels I do watch are MSNBC and CNN because, although it's possible to find them online, they're usually just segments and not the full show. I watch everything else on my PC at either Project Free TV, or TV Links. My PC has a 22-inch screen which is a nice size for watching shows and movies. But one day it hit me....why don't I just hook up my laptop to the TV and watch that way? It's not involved and only requires an HDMI cable. So that's what I've been doing for the past week or so. The other night, we again watched "Midnight In Paris", the fantastic Woody Allen movie with probably the best shots of Paris I've ever seen in a movie.

I want to thank the people of Wisconsin for once again proving me correct when I wrote: There cannot possibly be a dumber animal on the face of the earth than a Republican!

Someone seriously needs to do something about the amount of commercials appearing in videos on the internet. If you confront the maker of the video, they deny it's their doing. If you confront Google or You Tube (one and the same) they claim it's the person who made the video. Whoever it is NEEDS to STOP NOW!!!!!

Saturday was an eventful day for us. First, the brand new A/C decided to go south around 20h00. Thankfully, it was relatively cool, so with the ceiling fans going, we slept okay. I called the A/C guy first thing on Sunday. Then, I was channel surfing and I came across a Haitian channel broadcasting in French (channel 578) which was showing a concert by one of our favorite French singers, Francis Cabrel. Sadly, we only got to see him perform two songs, but that was more than we ever expected to see in South Florida.

Bob, the A/C guy called first thing Monday morning and showed up around noon.  The problem turned out to be a plug that automatically turns off the air conditioner when the water backs up, thus preventing your place from being flooded.  He showed us how to take care of it ourselves and didn't charge us for the visit.

If You Kill Someone, Don’t Google How to Do It First

Plants may be able to 'hear' others 

Poppies make more than opium

It exists! A bed that makes itself

Dumb Law of the Week: In California, it is illegal to use underwear as rags!

À la prochaine, mes amis.

C'est Possible

We're trying to get our trip going in spite of the problems we've lately encountered. In addition to apartment prices rising unbelievably high, we've never had so much trouble putting a trip together. The latest blow came when the owner of the apartment we wanted to rent in Paris, informed us that it wouldn't be available for the time we had chosen. The good news is that there are beaucoup apartments available in France. We may have to pay a little more than we wanted, but it still seems do-able.

I wish those people who "LOVE" black and white pictures could actually live in a black and white world. I don't think it would take very long for them to beg for color.

Why Some Cancers Come Back 

Hubble reveals unavoidable collision between our galaxy and Andromeda

Animal aviators: Unusual creatures take to the skies 

In Tanzania people get paid for safe sex

Coming soon: a vaccine to end all allergies 

Dumb Law of the Week: In Vermont, it is illegal to publically deny the existance of god! (So much for separation of church and state!)

À la prochaine, mes amis.

Eurovision Trip

 Robb and I watched the live Grand Finals of the European Song Contest  which is held every year around this time.  Every European country (and Isreal for some reason) has an entry.  Most of them are nothing outstanding, but a few are truly unique.  This year, I selected Russia , Sweden and Albania as my choices for the top prize.  The actual winners were Sweden, Russia and Serbia.  Because Sweden won this year, next year's competition will be held in Stockhom.  The one outstanding thing, in my opinion, is that the French singer sang in English as well as French, and the French presenter spoke English.  I can't remember that ever happening before.  Maybe it's the new President.  If you've never seen the competition, I do recommend you watch at least once.  You can see it live at the website listed above. You can also see this (and previous) year's performances there and on You Tube.

Our trip is falling apart because of the inability of Robb's French bank (BNP Paribas) to realize this is 2012 not 1912, and a check that seems to have gotten lost in the mail somewhere between Fort Lauderdale and Paris.  The bank insists Robb send everything through snail mail.  It has already cost us the aprtment in Montpellier.

Scientific Proof That Everyone Lies

Evening star goes black in rare celestial event
  

The Sound of Color
  

Startup uses neuroscience to pick which ads work

Dumb Law of the Week: In Florida, it is illegal to immitate animals!

À la prochaine, mes amis

The Manor

Friday night (again), we decided to hop over to a local pub, The Manor on Wilton Drive. I had no sooner parked, than we saw a place with flashing lights off to our right. We went over to have a look and it was a Latino AIDS benefit of some sort. We bought our tickets and went inside. There were very few people there, mostly males. The only thing they had to drink was Stolichnaya with assorted mixers. We each had one with tonic, and wandered around for awhile. Then we went outside and struck up a conversation with the DJ, Jared Michaels. He was really a super nice guy and we had quite a chat. He also showed us how his DJ mixer worked. Very interesting. We finished our drinks and made our way over to the Manor. The crowd was just starting to arrive and by the time we left (around 02h30) the place was humming.

Video of a woman vacuuming her cat

Egyptians debate 'traumatizing tradition' of female circumcision

Beaming solar power back to earth

The Benefits of Being Bilingual

Researchers Prove Tin Foil Hats Boost Receptivity To Government Signals

Dumb Law of the Week: In Chicago, it is illegal to take a French poodle to the opera!

À la prochaine, mes amis.