Happy Heart Day

HAPPY VALENTINES EVERYBODY===

A PUPPY has been born in Japan with a large, clear, love-heart-shaped pattern in his coat. The Chihuahua was born in May as one of a litter to a breeder.


Shop owner Emiko Sakurada said it was the first time a puppy with the marks had been born out of a thousand she had bred .


She had no plans to sell the puppy, which has been named 'Heart-kun'.


The long-coated male Chihuahua puppy was born in Odate, northern Japan


Happy Valentines Day... TOO PRECIOUS NOT TO SHARE ===

Note: Received this today for Valentine's & it is too precious not to share...know though the puppy is grown up now & I hear the owner keeps a Blog going with photo updates too--Enjoy!!(but watch out, if you go to look for the owner & her Blog - it may all be in Japanese?!)

Buy One Give One

What is OLPC?

The mission of this non-profit association (One Laptop Per Child) is to develop a low-cost laptop - the "$100 Laptop" - a technology that could revolutionize how we educate the world's children. Their goal is to provide children around the world with new opportunities to explore, experiment, and express themselves.

The first notebook model, the OLPC XO, has started to be rolled out to the first third-world countries in November last year. In the US and Canada, the first OLPC laptops could be ordered via XO Giving until December 31, 2007. You can have a look at Sugar, the machine's user interface...on You Tube (see the links below)

OLPC Sugar video 1 - synthLab demo hosted on YouTube
OLPC Sugar video 2 - mini Tam Tam demo hosted on YouTube
OLPC Sugar video 3 - social features demo hosted on YouTube
OLPC Sugar video 4 - interface emulation demo hosted on YouTube

Webpage: http://www.olpc.com/
Orders: xogiving.org - Buy your own OLPC XO laptop (& give one - Buy One Give One! And it looks like you can still place orders on this webpage, but the price to pay using Pay Pal shows up costing $200 for one laptop to be donated - maybe back in 2007 they were $100? must read more...)

Note: Hits Australia soon first & then sometime 2008 is suppose to hit the USA too!

Hungry Planet, What the World Eats

Food Expenditures from around the World...

Italy: The Manzo family of Sicily
Food expenditure for one week: 214.36 Euros or $260.11
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Germany: The Melander family of Bargteheide
Food expenditure for one week: 375.39 Euros or $500.07
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United States: The Revis family of North Carolina
Food expenditure for one week $341.98
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Mexico: The Casales family of Cuerna Vaca
Food expenditure for one week: 1,862.78 Mexican Pesos or $189.09
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Poland: The Sobczynscy family of Konstancin-Jeziorna
Food expenditure for one week: 582.48 Zlotys or $151.27
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Egypt: The Ahmed family of Cairo
Food expenditure for one week: 387.85 Egyptian Pounds or $68.53
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Ecuador: The Ayme family of Tingo
Food expenditure for one week: $31.55
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Bhutan: The Namgay family of Shingkhey Village
Food expenditure for one week: 224.93 ngultrum or $5.03
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Chad: The Aboubakar family of Breidjing Camp
Food expenditure for one week: 685 CFA Francs or $1.23
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Note: this came as an e-mail forward, do not know where it originally came from, but if I find out will post as soon as I do...

Here then are the Credits for the Photos & the Book:

Hungry Planet
What the World Eats
by Peter Menzel, Faith D'Aluisio
http://www.tenspeed.com/store/index.php?main_page=pubs_product_book_jph1_info&cPath=4_103&products_id=2105

What the World Eats, Part I
What's on family dinner tables in fifteen different homes around the globe?
Photographs by Peter Menzel from the book "Hungry Planet"
http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1626519_1373675,00.html

Happy Mardi Gras!!

Happy Mardi Gras!!
(aka Fat Tuesday!!)

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The History of Mardi Gras
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A French term meaning Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras arouses from the custom of parading a fat ox through the streets of Paris on Shrove Tuesday. Mardi Gras is always 47 days before Easter Sunday.

Mardi Gras came to New Orleans through its French heritage in 1699. Early explorers celebrated this French Holiday on the banks of the Mississippi River. Masked balls and street masking took place in colonial New Orleans, but it was not until 1857 that the street pageants began to assume their present day shape. That year, the Mystic Krewe of Comus held the first night parade and Rex held the first daytime parade. Throughout the years, Orleanians have added to the celebrating by establising krewes (organizations) which host parades and balls. The ranking structure of a Mardi Gras Krewe is a parody of royalty: King, Queen, Dukes, Knights, and Captains. Most Krewe's get their names from Greek, Roman or Egyptian Mythology. Some examples of Krewe names are Pegasus, Atlas, Hermes, Orpheus, and Zulu.

The official colors for Mardi Gras are purple, green, and gold. These colors were chosen in 1872 by the King of Carnival, Rex. He chose these colors to stand for the following: Purple - Justice, Green - Faith, Gold - Power.

During Carnival Season thousands of King Cakes are consumed. The original King Cake contained a small concealed bean inside. A tiny plastic novelty baby has replaced the bean. When a King Cake is cut, the person who finds the baby is obligated to provide the King Cake at the next festive occasion.

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Note: borrowed this little history from a flyer picked up at Copeland's Famous New Orleans Restaurant & Bar - in Lafayette, LA while visiting (eating catfish) for the Mardi Gras this year...

And borrowed "fat cow" drawings from http://www.carnavaldeparis.org/

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