Disneyland - The Washer Player

We were in Disneyland last week. There was live music in different parts of the park and on the second day we were there, there was a group of musicians playing country style music. They invited the kids watching them to participate in the music playing and Duncan was given a washer to play.

Duncan's the kid on second right, wearing red jacket and white hat. Denice was not brave enough to join the merry music making.

An Evening in Morro Bay

Last week, we spent two nights in Nipomo at my in-laws' en route to Disneyland. We had a couple of friends from Malaysia with us. We didn't do much on the evening we arrived except find a restaurant where we could eat dinner.

The next day, however, we brought them to Pismo Beach, San Luis Obispo and ended the day with a quick visit to Morro Bay.

I am pleasantly surprised at how well these pictures turned out. It was already getting dark and I took these pictures without using the flash on my camera.

The picture above is of Morro Rock, the remains of a dormant volcano.



Fishing boats and yachts moored on the bay.

I used the flash on my camera to take this picture of Duncan. Look at how dark the background looks.

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Orang Utan trying to spear a fish

Is this one smart orang utan or what? He is hanging precariously on a branch and trying to spear a fish swimming in the water! Wow! I did not know that orang utans have learnt to use a tool to hunt for their food!!

Painting of men playing cards in underwear fetches £ 4.1 mil

BEIJING (Reuters) - A Beijing auction raised a record 57.12 million yuan (4.1million pounds) for a mainland Chinese oil painting of men playing cards in their underwear, state media said on Tuesday.

"The Breeding Ground No.1", from the contemporary painter Liu Xiaodong's Three Gorges Series, was bought by a private buyer at the China Guardian 2008 Spring Auction, Xinhua news agency said.

The painting, 2.6 metres (eight and a half feet) high and 10 metres wide, was drawn in the Three Gorges area from 2005 to 2006, depicting 11 men in their underwear playing cards.

"I painted the Three Gorges three times. Every time was a personal improvement for me," said Liu, 45, a China Central Academy of Fine Arts graduate.

Would you pay £4.1 million for a painting of men playing cards in their underwear?! I don't think I would!

I have been searching the internet for a picture of this painting but have had no success. Probably you won't see it because it would result in reproductions! Not good for the buyer, eh!

Speech Therapy Sessions

Last Tuesday and Wednesday I took Duncan for the first two sessions of his speech therapy.

I picked him up at his school about twenty minutes before the speech therapy session started. We left Denice at the school and picked her up after Duncan had finished with his speech therapy.

"Where are we going, Mommy?"

"You're going to a special class, Duncan. You are going to learn how to say "truck" properly. Say "truck"."

"Fuck!"

"Truck."

"Fuck!"

"Truck."

"Fuck!"

Sigh. The kid sure needs some help with his speech patterns!

At the speech class, I heard the therapist ask Duncan to repeat some sounds.

"Kuh, kuh, kuh"

"Tuh, tuh, tuh," repeated Duncan.

"Cake. Cake. Cake."

"Take. Take. Take." repeated Duncan.

"Feel my throat," said the therapist. "See, the sounds come from deep in my throat. Say Krrrrr. Krrrrr. Krrrr."

"Trrrr. Trrrr. Trrr." repeated the boy.

Yup, he does need some help!

Egg Thief Update

Yesterday the goose egg thief had a little "incident". As usual, the thief and his accomplice set out on their raiding mission. The accomplice who should have known better did not warn the young thief to check to see if the mother goose was in before attempting to crawl into the nest.

The said nest was located in an old dog house. The little thief, in his eagerness to raid the nest, crawled into the dog house but instead of joyfully reaching for eggs he had a nasty shock. Mother goose was sitting on the nest, and bit the thief on his shoulder resulting in the thief crying in pain and humiliation!

During his bath time, Mommy saw the red and sore looking spot on the thief's shoulder. "It does not hurt, no more, Mommy."

"Next time, make sure you check to see if there is a goose in the dog house before you crawl in!"

"Yes, mommy."

Derek Paravicini The Musical Genius

Have you heard of twenty-eight-year-old Derek Paravicini? I first heard of this amazing man on CBS' 60 Minutes program.

Derek is blind, and severely disabled. He can't tell his left hand from his right hand, doesn't know how to dress himself but when he plays the piano you will most certainly be astonished. His talent is so amazing and Lesley Stahl who interviewed Derek on the 60 Minutes program calls him a living iPod. Derek remembers and is able to play every song he has heard on the piano. He effortlessly plays the melody of any song with his left hand on the piano.

His talent is such that it makes you cry just to watch him play considering he has the intelligence of a three-year-old. He is what is called a savant, someone with one exceptional skill that is out of keeping with the rest of his other skills.

Here's the first of five clips called Derek Paravicini The Musical Genius. This documentary was made in 2006 when Derek was 26-years-old. Watch it and be amazed by his talent.

Egg Thief

Every day, Duncan and his Dad would raid the geese's nests and steal their eggs. This activity is Duncan's daily highlight. He loves the excitement of angering the geese and stealing their eggs right under their noses or should I say, beaks?

The egg thief in action. He has broken a few eggs in his haste to get away from the angry geese, and also due to his own clumsiness.

A pair of angry geese, honking and hissing at the humans who dared steal their eggs!

Doug has 18 eggs in a covered bucket that he is making into salted eggs. He found a recipe on how to do it, and he says it'll take about three months to get firm salted eggs.

Yesterday, I shared about the geese laying their eggs in our yard with some church ladies, and everyone wanted me to bring some for them at our next meeting. They enjoyed my recounting the story of Duncan stealing the geese's eggs.

Would you like some goose eggs?

Mid LifeCrisis - Solved

When I was married 25 years, I took a look at my wife one day and said, "Honey, 25 years ago we had a cheap apartment, a cheap car, slept on a sofa bed and watched a 10-inch black and white TV, but I got to sleep every night with a hot 25-year-old blonde.

"Now we have a nice house, nice car, big bed and plasma screen TV, but I'm sleeping with a 50-year-old woman. It seems to me that you are not holding up your side of things."

My wife is a very reasonable woman.

She told me to go out and find a hot 25-year-old blonde, and she would make sure that I would once again be living in a cheap apartment, driving a cheap car, sleeping on a sofa bed and watching a 10-inch black and white TV."

Aren't older women great? They really know how to solve your mid life crisis.