Merry Christmas

De By Star Filmes

"On the Christmas Eve of 1914, in the Western Front in France in World War I, the Scottish, the German and the French troops have a moment of truce and share moments of peace and friendship. When the soprano Anna Sorensen succeeds in convincing the Prussian Prince to join her tenor husband Nikolaus Sprink to sing for the German high command, Sprink brings her to the front to sing for his comrades in the trench. The Scottish Lieutenant Gordon and the French Lieutenant Audebert have an informal and unauthorized meeting with the German Lieutenant Horstmayer and negotiate a truce for that night, and the priest Palmer celebrates a mass for the soldiers. When their superiors become aware of the event, they have to pay for the consequence of their acts." (Written by Claudio Carvalho)

Kids and Pets

Neela by Alice

Why do kids love pets so much? Sometimes children can be lousy caretakers, forget to take them for a walk, bathe and feed their cats and dogs, even though they never spare cuddles. But kids and pets are always a great inspiration for photos.

Rocky as a puppy

Tabebuia heptaphylla

This "Tabebuia heptaphylla" (ipe-roxo) suddenly blossomed, in front of our neighbour's house. A few days after my daughter took this picture, the tree was completely removed. I don't know why they did it, but we'll miss these gorgeous flowers.

Bee and Birds

Photo by Alice

Aren't they lovely? Since the feeder is full, they keep coming to the garden. Birds and bees drink 500ml of nectar everyday. At 6:00pm, we take the feeder out, not to encourage night visitors.

Elaine Morgan and Science

I don't know if Elaine Morgan is right, but the octogenarian scientist is funny, shrewd and an accomplished show-woman. At the end of her presentation she gives Richard Dawkins a hard time. But, afterall, he deserved it. And I thank professor Philip Conrad Scott having introduced me to this lovely lady from science.

Ecce Homo - Behold the Man!

Anonymous (1490)
Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga (Lisboa, Portugal)

"Then therefore, Pilate took Jesus, and scourged him. And the soldiers platting a crown of thorns, put it upon his head; and they put on him a purple garment. And they came to him, and said: "Hail, king of the Jews"; and they gave him blows. Pilate therefore went forth again, and saith to them: "Behold, I bring him forth unto you, that you may know that I find no cause in him." (Jesus therefore came forth, bearing the crown of thorns and the purple garment.) And he saith to them: "Behold the Man." When the chief priests, therefore, and the servants, had seen him, they cried out, saying: "Crucify him, crucify him." (Gospel According to St. John 19:1-6a, DRB)

(from the blog Deus Vult)

Coffee for the Heart

Coffee drinkers who've been upping their java consumption in light of reports about coffee's various health benefits can rest easy (if all that caffeine lets you rest at all): Coffee drinking isn't associated with a greater risk of heart arrhythmia. In fact, contrary to popular belief, a new study finds that people who drink four or more cups of coffee daily were actually 18% less likely to be admitted to the hospital for a heart-rhythm disturbance than coffee abstainers. Researchers confessed to being surprised by the results, because patients sometimes report forceful heartbeats or palpitations after drinking coffee. If you have trouble tolerating caffeine or coffee, the scientists added, their study shouldn't change the advice to avoid both, nor should you take up the habit in hopes of preventing arrhythmias. But moderate coffee drinkers should take comfort in the results. Sorry, tea lovers, the seven-year study of 130,054 men and women found no similar benefit for tea drinking. - American Heart Association

Read the full report

Aging with Grace

Written by David A. Snowdon, the book "Aging with Grace" is highly recommended. It can be bought at Amazon.com.

De A Sorrir

"Since 1986, the author, an epidemiologist, has directed a research project dubbed the Nun Study. According to Snowdon, who previously studied Seventh-Day Adventists, religious group members make ideal subjects because of their similar and somewhat insular lives. Specifically, he has been tracking the lives of 678 elderly nuns who are members of the School Sisters of Notre Dame, to assess the effects of aging. Snowdon describes in detail a pilot study he conducted with the sisters in Mankato, Wis., on the link between level of education and disabilities related to aging. This initial research convinced him to expand his base to other convents and to focus primarily on Alzheimer's disease. The participants, ranging in age from 75 to 104, agreed to provide access to their medical and personal histories and, after death, to donate their brain tissue to the project. What distinguishes this study is Snowdon's decision not to maintain the usual "objective" distance from his subjects but rather to become emotionally involved with them. His commitment to treat them with "care and respect" is readily apparent in the many warm and sympathetic anecdotes and his expression of deeply felt grief when any of the sisters becomes incapacitated by Alzheimer's or dies. Among the project's findings is a clear correlation between a low rate of Alzheimer's and high linguistic ability. Snowdon has also found a positive relationship between the consumption of certain antioxidants (e.g., lycopene, found in pink grapefruit, tomatoes and watermelon), an exercise program and an optimistic outlook and aging successfully. Although the study is still under way, readers will certainly appreciate the early insights to be gleaned from Snowdon's human- (rather than statistic-) centered and compassionate story." (Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.)

Tea for three

watercolor from Patsy Seeley

"Tea - a drink which relieves thirst and dissipates sorrow"

"Take some more tea," the March Hare said to Alice, very earnestly.
"I've had nothing yet", Alice replied, in an offended tone, "So I can't take more."
"You mean you can't take less," said the Hatter: "It's very easy to take more than nothing."

(Lewis Carroll)

quotations from The Etiquette of an English Tea, by Beryl Peters

Hawk alert

Lately, this lovely hawk has visited our neighborhood . From dawn to dust it can be seen and heard. We hope our birds are safe. They have an attentive guard dog. He barks and bites.

Drink Tall Horse

The label is cute, but the best about Tall Horse is the flavor: light, gentle and fresh. I'm not a wine conoisseur and one glass is enough to knock me out. But the south-african Tall Horse has a good price and a sweet taste. It's worthwile and praised by people who knows best:

"This is a lovely wine. It has a sweet and simple flavor that went incredibly well with the fish we prepared for dinner last night. There also wasn't that unpleasant aftertaste that has accompanied most of the white wines I've tried in my life. I'm pleasantly surprised with how much I like this wine and hope to find more cheap whites that please me as much. I'm not ready to jump on the white wine band wagon just yet though; I think I just got lucky picking out the bottle. Who can go wrong with those herbaceous grassland aromas?" (Wine for the Cheap)

"The labels also create interest with their name and the illustration. The simple drawing is obviously a giraffe but the wines are called "Tall Horse." There is a story behind this that dates back to the early 1800's and a gift of a giraffe from the Sultan of Egypt to the King of France that the French called a tall horse. A good story and a great label design can go a long way towards selling more product and Tall Horse Wine is a great example of that." (Lightning Labels)