Dec 30, 2008

Jack Vettriano night in the City

planets are something of a luxury commodity you see ..." He paused and looked at Arthur. "You know we built planets do you?" he asked solemnly. "Well yes," said Arthur, "I'd sort of gathered ..." "Fascinating trade," said the old man, and a wistful look came into his eyes, "doing the coastlines was always my favourite. Used to have endless fun doing the down into the crater. "Is that robot yours?" he said. "No," came a thin metallic voice from the crater, "I'm mine." "If you'd call it a robot," muttered Arthur. "It's more a sort of electronic sulking machine." "Bring it," said the old man. Arthur was quite surprised to hear a note of decision suddenly present little bits in fjords ... so anyway," he said trying to find his thread again, "the recession came and we decided it would save us a lot of bother if we just slept through it. So we programmed the to revive us when it was all over." The man stifled a very slight yawn and continued. "The were index linked to the Galactic stock market prices you see, so that we'd all be revived when everybody else had rebuilt the economy enough to afford our rather expensive services." Arthur, a regular Guardian reader, was deeply shocked at this. "That's a pretty unpleasant way to behave isn't it?" "Is it?" asked the old man mildly. "I'm sorry, I'm a bit out of touch." He pointed

Dec 29, 2008

Lorrain Landscape with Ascanius Shooting the Stag of Sylvia

freelancer, you have the opportunity to design your own workspace. Sure, you’re limited by space and budget, but there are some basic things you can do to make your workspace more joyful. For example, you can:
* Install some nicemuch more pleasant.Find a schedule that works for you
Some people work better doing all of their boring, mundane tasks at the same time. If that’s you, pick one day a week, perhaps, to do all of your most inane tasks.
If you’re like me, though, you can’t stand the thought of a single day full of joyless tasks. I prefer to identify those tasks and spread them out through my day and week. That way, I’ve only ever got to deal with one of these track lighting, or get a stylish lamp for your desk. * Invest the money in a high-quality office chair. * Add some decoration to your desk, whether it’s pictures of your family or your favorite piece of pottery. * Pick up a small surround-sound system for your MP3 player and install it in your office.These are things that people who work in cubicles can’t do. These relatively minor changes to your workspace can make your work time

Dec 28, 2008

Chase Venice View of the Navy Arsenal

The results were part of the ongoing Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults Study (CARDIA), which is being carried out at four cities nationally.
This report focused on nearly 500 patients at the Chicago CARDIA site.
Participants were black and white men and women aged 35-47 years, measured initially in 2000-2001 and followed up in 2005-2006.
However, the wrist band is less disruptive to normal sleep than sleeping in a sleep lab, because there is no "first-night" effect -- the disruption of the normal sleep structure of a subject that is often seen with more intrusive testing.
The amount of calcium in the coronary arteries was measured by CT scanning of the heart.
Linking Zzz's and Heart Sleep was measured by a wrist band recording wrist movement on an initial Wednesday through Saturday night period.This wrist recorder is a very good measurement of time spent asleep -- nearly as good as sleep measured in a sophisticated sleep laboratory.

Dec 25, 2008

Bouts Ecce agnus Dei

which winked away quietly to itself. It nestled in the darkness inside a leather satchel which Ford Prefect wore habitually round his neck. The contents of Ford Prefect's satchel were quite interesting in fact and would have made any Earth physicist's eyes pop out of his head, which is why he always concealed them by keeping a couple of dog-eared scripts for plays he pretended he was auditioning for stuffed in the top. Besides the Sub-Etha Sens-O-Matic and the Minor - The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy. The reason why it was published in the form of a micro sub meson electronic component is that if it were printed in normal book form, an interstellar hitch hiker would require several inconveniently large buildings to carry it around in. Beneath that in Ford Prefect's satchel were a few biros, a notepad, and a largish bath towel from Marks and Spencer. The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy has a few things to say on the subject of towels.scripts he had an Electronic Thumb - a short squat black rod, smooth and matt with a couple of flat switches and dials at one end; he also had a device which looked rather like a largish electronic calculator. This had about a hundred tiny flat press buttons and a screen about four inches square on which any one of a million "pages" could be summoned at a moment's notice. It looked insanely complicated, and this was one of the reasons why the snug plastic cover it fitted into had the words Don't Panic printed on it in large friendly letters. The other reason was that this device was in fact that most remarkable of all books ever to come out of the great publishing corporations of Ursa

Dec 23, 2008

Gockel Fun in the Sun II

believing that a genuine NSA agent had made a deal with him to erase him from every government record and to allow him to live hereafter as a ghost in the machinery of America; because he intended to live like a ghost anyway, he might actually escape all official notice entirely by his own efforts.Authorities investigating the kidnapping of Aelfric Manheim would probably stall out when they traced the blimp back to Trotter in Malibu. They would have no way of discovering what new identity he had assumed, what his new appearance might be, or where he had gone.[539] If someday, against all odds, they caught up with Trotter, he would have no collaborator’s name to give them mask any sounds he made, and silence remained essential.The vent pipe that he sought stood where the blueprints had shown it, less than eighteen inches down the south slope from the peak of the roof.Feeling like a gremlin engaged in naughty work,except that of Robin Goodfellow, secret agent extraordinaire.Still straddling the ridge line, Corky took two cautious steps forward. His boots had been made for true winter conditions, for snow and treacherous ice. Mere rain-slicked slate tiles should be easily negotiated.Nevertheless, a slip now would be disastrous even if he avoided or survived a fall. With the estate guards in rooms directly under him, the rain would do little to would have liked to murmur

Dec 21, 2008

Machado Ladies and Gentlemen II

Usually when you stepped into the Sachatone living room, you were greeted by a rude symphony of sighs, grunts, groans, squeals, squeaks, hisses, and cries of pleasure, by whispered and growled obscenities, and by a rhythmic rush of heavytrick in which Janelle was vigorously engaged involved her legendary flexibility, for which perhaps she alone among all humanity carried the necessary gene.Referring to his gal’s costars in the upper-right-hand video, Mick said, “Those four guys love her. See that? Every one of those guys just loves her. Men loved Janelle. She was truly groovy.” breathing in one degree of urgency or another. With eyes closed, you could almost believe that you were in a riotously inhabited jungle, albeit a jungle in which all the tropical species were simultaneously copulating.[438] This afternoon, sound accompanied none of the four porn films. Mick had muted all of them.“Janelle was so special,” Mick said tenderly, nodding toward the video wall, referring to his lost girlfriend. “One cool swingin’ chick.”Although his Bart Simpson pajamas might seem frivolous, Mick dwelt in a somber memorial mood. All four screens featured classics from Janelle’s extensive filmography.Pointing to the upper-right-hand screen in the four-screen stack, Mick said, “That thing she’s doing right there, no one—no one—ever did that in film before or since.”“I doubt anyone else could,” Corky said, because the eye-popping

Dali The Birth of Liquid Desires

No one answered the bell at the Fitzmartin place. Maybe he was Christmas shopping. Maybe he was too busy to come to the door because he was wrapping a hate gift in a black box for Channing Manheim.The neighbor told a different story: count. Five blocks farther, a truck had broadsided a paneled van.He drove with caution that grew into an inhibiting wariness. He couldn’t help thinking that if he had been run down and killed in traffic once, he might die again on another street. This time, maybe he would not get up again from death.En route, Hazard worked the phone, tracking down thejavascript:void(0) name of the professor, at yet another institution, who had organized the one-day seminar on publicity and self-promotion.[434] Taking neither hand off the wheel, Ethan glanced at his watch. The day was draining away faster than rain into storm culverts.He had to be back at Palazzo Rospo before 5:00. Fric could not be left alone in the great house, especially not on this strange day.Fitzmartin had been rushed to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center on Monday morning. He wasn’t sure why.When Hazard called Cedars-Sinai, he found that patient privacy was more important to the hospital than were police relations.Under a sky as bruised as the battered body of a boxer, Ethan drove back toward the city. The wind fought with trees, and sometimes trees lost, dropping branches into the streets, hampering traffic.The traffic matched the turbulence of the heavens. At one intersection, car had punched car, and both had gone down for the

Dec 19, 2008

Thomas Kinkade London painting

With a start, Ethan thought that he saw Fric on the sidewalk, wandering alone among strangers. A closer look proved that the boy was younger than the Manheim heir, trailing behind his parents.[409] This had not been the first false Fric of yours, get it fixed. Anything else you’re sorry for, you shouldn’t be.”“Lunch and a few mamouls didn’t pay you for this much trouble.”“It wasn’t you turned my world upside down. Some guy gives me a set of dream bells out of a nightmare, then disappears into a mirror, I tend to get shook up without your help.”Hazard reached under his jacket with both hands, tugging on his cotton sweater, and Ethan said, “You bulked up since yesterday?”“Yeah. Had me a breakfast of Kevlar.”“Never knew you to wear protection.”that he had seen and reacted to since leaving the hospital. His nerves had been rubbed raw by too much weird experience.“What about Blonde in the Pond?” Ethan asked. “Did you get your lab report this morning?”“Didn’t check. If I’ve got the true goods on my city councilman, it’ll just make me squirmy, having to leave him walking around full of himself, the way he is, like he’s the Lord by election, which is even more infuriating when you think how many ballot boxes his thugs stuffed for him. I’ll call the lab tomorrow, the day after, whenever it is we settle the situation we’re in.”“Sorry about this,” Ethan said.“If you’re sorry for that nose

Dec 16, 2008

Michelangelo Buonarroti The Creation of Adam painting

burned steadily when a conversation was being conducted.Having entered the telephone program, Ethan edited the controls to make Line 23, Fric’s line, henceforth accessible to his apartment phones. It would also ring here using Fric’s personal tone.With this task completed, he perused the day’s phone log.Every received on his Cellnot included in these records.He snatched up the phone to check his voice mail. The call had been from the hospital, informing him of Dunny’s death.When Ethan cleared his name and typed Aelfric’s, the reported that the boy had received no calls at any time on this date, Monday, December 21.According to Fric, the breather had phoned twice. And at least once, the boy had tracked him back with *69. All three occurrences should have been noted.incoming call to Palazzo Rospo and all outgoing calls as well were automatically logged—although not voice recorded. Note was made of the time that each connection had been effected and of the duration of each conversation.For every outgoing call, the phone number was also log. Incoming caller numbers were noted as well, except in those instances when they had Caller ID blocking to protect their privacy.He entered his name and saw that he had received only one call while he’d been out of the house. The calls he’d made and

Dec 12, 2008

Vincent van Gogh Still Life with Iris painting

Whether the man who had killed Ray “the Nerd” Rolf had also [201] been an actor on the brink of superstardom, no one knew for .In every version of the story viewed with credibility among the gossips, the killer himself had been killed by a police officer. The cop had been passing by in the street at the right moment, by sheer happenstance, or he had lived in Rolf’s building, or he’d come there to visit his girlfriend or his mother.Whatever had occurred here this evening, Corky was reasonably confident that it would not compromise his plans or cause the police to turn a gimlet eye on him. He had kept his association with Reynerd secret from everyone he knew.certain. The murderer’s name remained unknown, unmangled.Indisputably, the killer himself had been gunned down. His body lay on the lawn in front of Rolf’s apartment house.Two pairs of binoculars circulated among the onlookers. Corky borrowed one pair to study Rolf’s apparent executioner.In the darkness and the rain, even with magnification, he was unable to discern any identifying details of the corpse sprawled on the grass.Crime-scene investigators, busy with scientific instruments and cameras, crouched alongside the cadaver. In black raincoats draped like folded wings, they had the posture and the intensity of crows pecking at carrion

Dec 10, 2008

Theodore Robinson The Red Gown painting

Thanks for picking up the check,” Hazard said. “Now I can say Chan the Man took me to lunch. Though I think these mamouls are going to turn out to be the most expensive cookies I ever ate.”“This was just lunch. No obligations. Like I said, if you close.”“That’s what I heard. In a potato-chip bag, places like that, where he can reach for it, and you don’t realize what he’s doing.”Hazard stared at him, saying nothing.“Maybe it’s a nine-millimeter Glock,” Ethan added.“He have a nuclear weapon, too?”“Not that I know of.”“Probably keeps the nuke in a box of Cheez-Its.”“Just take a bagful of mamouls, and you can handle anything.”can’t, you can’t. Reynerd’s my problem, not yours.”“Yeah, but you’ve got me intrigued now. You’re a better flirt than the waitress.”Midst a clutter of darker emotions, Ethan found a genuine smile.A sudden change in the direction of the wind threw shatters of rain against the big windows.Beyond the hard-washed glass, pedestrians and passing traffic appeared to melt into ruin as though subjected to an Armageddon of flameless heat, a holocaust of caustic acid.Ethan said, “If he’s carrying a potato-chip bag, corn chips, anything like that, there might be more than snack food in it.”“This the paranoid part? You said he keeps his piece

Dec 7, 2008

Sung Kim Night Stroll painting

strong place and walking openly into the arms of death. At least, that is how I see it.'Frodo caught something new and strange in Boromir's glance, and he looked hard at him. Plainly Boromir's thought was different from his final words. It would be folly to throw away: what? The Ring of Power? He had said something like this at meal that was baked a light brown on the outside, and inside was the colour of cream. Gimli took up one of the cakes and looked at it with a doubtful eye.`Cram,' he said under his breath, as he broke off a crisp corner and nibbled at it. His expression quickly changed, and he ate all the rest of the cake with relish.`No more, no more!' cried the Elves laughing. `You have eaten enough already for a long day's march.'`I thought it was only a kind of cram, such as the Dale-men make for journeys in the wild,' said the Dwarf.`So it is,' they answered. `But we call it lembas or waybread, and it is more strengthening than any food the Council, but then he had accepted the correction of Elrond. Frodo looked at Aragorn, but he seemed deep in his own thought and made no sign that he had heeded Boromir's words. And so their debate ended. Merry and Pippin were already asleep, and Sam was nodding. The night was growing old.In the morning, as they were beginning to pack their slender goods, Elves that could speak their tongue came to them and brought them many gifts of food and clothing for the journey. The food was mostly in the form of very thin cakes, made of a

Dec 4, 2008

Thomas Gainsborough The Blue Boy painting

once knew every spell in all the tongues of Elves or Men or Orcs that was ever used for such a purpose. I can still remember ten score of them without searching in my mind. But only a few trials, I think, will be needed; and I shall not have to call on Gimli for words of the secret dwarf-tongue that they teach to none. The opening : that seems certain.'He stepped up to the rock again, and lightly touched with his staff the silver star in the middle beneath the sign of the rock with his staff. Open, open! he shouted, and followed it with the same command in every language that Michelangelo Buonarroti The Creation of Adam painting
been spoken in the West of Middle-earth. Then he threw his staff on the ground, and sat down in silence.At that moment from far off the wind bore to their listening ears the howling of wolves. Bill the
anvil.Annon edhellen, edro hi ammen!Fennas nogothrim, lasto beth lammen!he said in a commanding voice. The silver lines faded, but the blank grey stone did not stir.Many times he repeated these words in different order, or varied them. Then he tried other spells. one after another, speaking now faster and louder, now soft and slow. Then he spoke many single words of Elvish speech. Nothing happened. The cliff towered into the night, the countless stars were kindled, the wind blew cold, and the doors stood fast.Again Gandalf approached the wall, and lifting up his arms he spoke in tones of command and rising wrath. Edro, edro! he cried, and struck the

Dec 3, 2008

Emile Munier paintings

kind they were, and where they dwelt. "For Sauron knows," said he, "that one of these was known to you on a time."'At this we were greatly troubled, and we gave no answer. And then his fell voice was lowered, and he would have sweetened it if he could. "As a small token only of your friendship Sauron asks this," he said: "that you should find this thief," such was his word, "and get from him, willing or no, a little ring, the least of rings, this message and what it means under its fair cloak."' "Consider well, but not too long," said he.' "The time of my thought is my own to spend," answered Dáin.' "For the present," said he, and rode into the darkness.'Heavy have the hearts of our chieftains been since that night. We needed not the that once he stole. It is but a trifle that Sauron fancies, and an earnest of your good will. Find it, and three rings that the Dwarf sires possessed of old shall be returned to you, and the realm of Moria shall be yours for ever. Find only news of the thief, whether he still lives and where, and you shall have great reward and lasting friendship from the Lord. Refuse, and things will not seem so well. Do you refuse?"'At that his breath came like the hiss of snakes, and all who stood by shuddered, but Dáin said: "I say neither yea nor nay. I must consider

Dec 2, 2008

Constable Dedham Vale Morning

neither Frodo nor Merry could make out their shapes for certain; yet something told them that there, far below, were Black Riders assembling on the Road beyond the foot of the hill.'Yes,' said Strider, whose keener sight left him in no doubt. 'The enemy is here!'Hastily they crept away and slipped down the north side of the hill to find their companions.Sam and Peregrin had not been idle. They had explored the small dell and the waited and explored the ground down here myself,' he said, hurrying off to the spring to examine the footprints.'It is just as I feared,' he said, when he came back. 'Sam and Pippin have trampled the soft ground, and the marks are spoilt or confused. Rangers have been here lately. It is they who surrounding slopes. Not far away they found a spring of clear water in the hillside, and near it footprints not more than a day or two old. In the dell itself they found recent traces of a fire, and other signs of a hasty camp. There were some fallen rocks on the edge of the dell nearest to the hill. Behind them Sam came upon a small store of firewood neatly stacked.'I wonder if old Gandalf has been here,' he said to Pippin. 'Whoever it was put this stuff here meant to come back it seems.'Strider was greatly interested in these discoveries. 'I wish I had

Venice's Grand Canal

come up the Greenway were on the move, looking for lands where they could find some peace. The Bree-folk were sympathetic, but plainly not very ready to take a large number of strangers into their little land. One of the travellers, a squint-eyed ill-favoured fellow, was foretelling that more and more people would be coming north in the near future. 'If room isn't found for them, they'll find it for themselves. They've a right to live, asked that made Frodo a little uneasy. One of the Bree-landers, who seemed to have been in the Shire several times, wanted to know where the Underhills lived and who they were related to.Suddenly Frodo noticed that a strange-looking weather-beaten man, sitting in the shadows near the wall, was also listening intently to the hobbit-talk. He had a tall tankard in front of him, and was smoking a long-stemmed pipe curiously carved. His legs were stretched out before him, showing same as other folk,' he said loudly. The local inhabitants did not look pleased at the prospect.The hobbits did not pay much attention to all this, and it did not at the moment seem to concern hobbits. Big Folk could hardly beg for lodgings in hobbit-holes. They were more interested in Sam and Pippin, who were now feeling quite at , and were chatting gaily about events in the Shire. Pippin roused a good deal of laughter with an account of the collapse of the roof of the Town Hole in Michel Delving: Will Whitfoot, the Mayor, and the fattest hobbit in the Westfarthing, had been buried in chalk, and came out like a floured dumpling. But there were several questions