Boom & Bust

Though the housing market here has gotten a bit shaky of late, in Antarctica an open house in a good neighborhood can still draw a good crowd .

In the news: Ovine Diplomacy

In a stunning diplomatic coup, the sheep have established formal relations with the Vatican for the first time. A private settlement on their copyright infringement suit over use of the phrase "Lamb of God" was reached last month, paving the way for normal diplomatic contacts. Terms of the settlement have not been released, but are presumed to include a large cash payment and grazing rights. Here, the first embassy arrives at the Holy See and is then greeted by the papal representative.

For those of you who've wondered...

what the abominable snowman looks like in the southern hemisphere:

Ho-Hum

Yet another slow Monday morning at the office...

Fab 5 Eat Your Heart Out!

Assiduous readers of the comments on Kel's blog will know that DG wants to redo his bathroom. I think that's a fine thing. The problem is, he keeps rejecting my decorating ideas.
Too much tile maybe???

Living Will

A couple of days ago, DG forwarded this to me, and I immediately sent it off to Kel. It struck me that I should perhaps share it with a wider audience.

Last night my daughter and I were sitting in the den and I said to her, "I never want to live in a vegetative state, dependent on some machine and fluids from a bottle to keep me alive. That would be no quality of life at all, If that ever happens, just pull the plug."

So she got up, unplugged the computer, and threw out my wine.

She's such a bitch.

Here they come again!

Travel always hated this time of year back home. It's the beginning of tourist season. All these strange creatures tramping through the front yard...

Out with the old...

It was quite a year. The conquest of Scotland. The first World Domination Summit. But there were the rough times, too. Like when the BBC outed our surveillance chief for the Far East.

Mysterious mammal caught on film

By Rebecca Morelle
Science reporter, BBC News
Monday, 10 December 2007, 00:36 GMT

An "extraordinary" desert creature has been caught on camera for what scientists believe is the first time. The long-eared jerboa, a tiny nocturnal mammal that is dwarfed by its enormous ears, can be found in deserts in Mongolia and China...

Why it can sometimes be difficult...

to decorate for Christmas around here.

Official Christmas Card

For years, some people have been sending us Christmas cards that feature a photo of their children. I guess the petit-bourgeois peer pressure finally caught up with us. So, this year, from our family to yours:

A Merry Christmas and
A Happy and Prosperous New Year

For those of you interested in a close up view:

As some of you know, they all have names, and so, in the spirit of the season and in alphabetical order, with nonpenguins mostly noted in parentheses...
On Achilles, Adelaide, Admiral, Albert, Alexander, Alfred, Anastasia, Antoinette, & Ariadne (puffin)! On Baby, Basil, Beauregard, Bismarck (puffin), Bob, Boomer, Boris, Bullwinkle, Butch, & Butterball! On Caesar, Charlie, Chilly Lilly, Clifford, Conrad, Coronado, & Cuddles! On Daisy (sheep), Dale, Daniel, Daphne, Diana, Duncan, Edgar, Edith, Edmund (dodo), Edward, Electa, Emily, & Eugene! On Ferdinand, Fluffy, Francesco, Fred, Gilbert, Godwin, Goldie, Hector, Henry Acland, Herbert, & Humphrey! On Ignatius, Jasper, Jeeves, Jeppesen, Joel, Lambie, Lanfranc (platypus), Leander, Leopold, Little Bob, Liz (puffin), Llewellyn, Loop-O, Lorelei (loon), Louis, & Lucius! On Mac, Manfred, Marguerite (sheep), Maria Theresa, Mario, Martha, Max (sheep), Mike, Napoleon, Natasha, Nathan, & Normal(e)! On Orlando, Oswald, Otto, Pancratius, Percy, Perfect, Philippe, Precious, & Prunella! On Ralph (hedgehog), Richard, Rocky, Rodney (wombat), Rosebud (puffin), Rupert, Schwartz, Sidney (sheep), Squeek, & Stan! On Tarsicius, Terry, Thaddeus, Theodore, Thurston, Tom, Tweety, Twinkle, Valeria, Victoria (puffin), Wilbur, Woolsey (sheep), & Zeno! And a Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

He knows if you've been naughty!

Here's Santa Bird getting ready for his annual jaunt. Being from the south pole, he needs a map to find his way up here. May you all find your stockings stuffed with herring and krill!

Happy Holiday Hamster House - part 2

We continue out tour with the grand foyer. Note the handsomely upholstered chairs. Lay-Z-Boys. Yep! "designer middle-aged male" look strikes again!
Just off the foyer is the grand staircase. OK, so I did do animal lights here, but they're penguins; hardly over-the-top in this house. They're new this year.
Panorama from the foyer.
Since we are on the verge of Christmas Eve, the official holiday "from our house to your house" posting will be forthcoming. We will then extend our holiday celebrations into the 12 days with, most likely, displays of robotic penguin choreography. Stay tuned! (Besides, what else do you have to do? It's Christmas.) ;-)

And a little further down the road...

Planning to drop in over the holidays?

Here's how you can tell you're getting close to our house from the road.

Because you were all such good little HamsterFans...

I have arranged for the Imperial Hamster All-Penguin Despotic Holiday Chorus to serenade you with a song of the season. My beneficence knows no limit. (And don't y'all forget it!)

Happy Holiday Hamster House - part 1 of many

For the first time in many years, The Imperial Rodentine Consort and Ourself will be in residence at the palace for the holidays. This, of course, means decoration! And in a manner suitable to a global despot. (At this point, We must inform Meritt that she will be disappointed to learn that no icy pudenda are planned.) We must admit, We did adopt a "less is more" approach this year. Though We did get like a 7-8' tree, losing count of the number of lights that went on and put virtually every ornament we had on it, other elements were a bit more restrained. No lighted swags above doors/windows sporting bows, ornaments, and strings of lighted bunnies, teddy-bears, or cows. We did get some new musical, animated penguin objets d'art on a holiday theme (video forthcoming) - but everybody does that. We put up lights, including lights in the back yard, which is, of course where we can see them. I believe TR/DG will be posting pics of those. Anyway, let's start the tour, shall we?

First we have the The Imperial Banqueting Hall. Note the restrained yet elegant swags above the door and bookcase.
As the centerpiece on the table - and likely much to Kel's delight - is a rosemary plant, cleverly imitating a small Christmas tree. I even had tiny little ornaments to put on it. We'd love to claim cleverness in this regard, but Fresh Market had them.
Out the window, you may notice the lights in the back yard. They're strung along the fence and through two small trees across the width of the yard. Note also the "good ol' fashioned" large colored lights - the kind of lights we used in my youth and that God Himself continues to use (I'm certain of it; I studied theology, remember!) The twinkly little lights are in the front yard, so as to conform to prevailing, though less than perfect, social mores in exterior Christmas lights.Next we come to the Living Room and, of course, the pièce de la résistance, the tree. (But first, however, you may wish to pause and admire the oxblood-red Italian leather couch. Not like We're showing off or anything. Bragging is beneath The Hamster. I'm just pointing out items of interest. And yes, both ends recline. Hamster may have impeccable taste, but Hamster is also middle-aged and likes his comforts.) Aforementioned pièce....
Lastly, we come to a detail mentioned in a comment on Squirrel. One of my favorite ornaments: a tiny little shiny sparkling acorn that usually goes close to the very top of the tree. For you, Squirrel...

Monarchical Holiday Pastimes

"One of the things I like to do is create these little spheres of light in my hand and then juggle them as they float in mid-air. It's just so festive! Oh... sorry! You probably can't do that, can you? Heh, heh, heh..."

What some people do for their kids..

So, is this the line for Hanna Montana tickets?

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

Ooooooo!!! I just LOVE Christmas!
What did y'all get me this year???

A Study in Visual Acuity

Ya think SOMEONE would have noticed that they should have perhaps put a different colored top on this model, one that wouldn't blend in with the cords hanging from her cute little pengy-hat. The cords with the cute little fluffy white tufts on the ends. Unless warm, comfy, knitted holiday pasties have suddenly become all the rage in Canada this season... "in adult and kid sizes." Hello people! Use your eyes!

See: http://www.deluxknitwear.com/novelty_knits/novelty_knits.html