More pregnancy news: Hayden P.

Just reported on the pregnancy of Princess Charlene of Monaco.  Other word has it that Hayden Panettiere is now in that same state, pregnant with big boyfriend Wladimir Klitschko's baby.

Hayden Panettiere, 24, and boxer fiance Wladimir Klitschko 'expecting their first child together'

This is, of course, another way of confirming that she and Wlad, despite the notable size difference, are capable of "doing it", as she commented in this interview on Ellen. 

So I guess everything works as designed.

They did it! They did it!

I've been watching and occasionally commenting upon the pregnancy status of Princess Charlene of Monaco, the former South African swimmer named Charlene Wittstock.  As you may recall (and if you don't I'll tell you) the circumstances surrounding their marriage were somewhat unusual, as it appeared that the pending princess wanted to get out of the marriage and out of Monaco just before walking down the aisle, when news came out that Prince Albert might have been the father of three illegitimate kids, rather than the two confirmed ones. There were reports that she was strongly encouraged to remain and go through with it, though recently she has stated in an interview that was all hogwash and she just had a basic case of the nerves.  Even so,  she didn't look very happy at the actual wedding, and she wasn't exactly accepted as the putative First Lady of Monaco for awhile (a lot of the Monacans appear to prefer Caroline), but more recently she seems to have fit in better, and even looked fairly happy in the company of Albert. (Like here.)

Though she is rarely captured in casual dress, she can take chances and be pretty striking in them, such as here.

Getting back to the news of the day, it appears that the Prince has shot and scored.  Oh, that was tasteless.  But still, somebody had to be thinking the same thing.


Monaco's Prince Albert II and Princess Charlene expecting baby

"Monaco's Prince Albert II and his South African wife Princess Charlene have announced they are expecting their first child.

In a short statement, the couple - who married in July 2011 - expressed their "immense joy" at the news.

The statement said the birth was expected before the end of the year, but gave no further details."

The Daily Mail's take

It's the French

With her archest rival Serena Williams gone early in the French Open, will Maria Sharapova (seeded 7th) have enough skill and stamina to go the distance in the clay classic? The French tourney, more than other, results in upsets by clay court specialists that rarely win the other majors on the faster surfaces.  Sharapova proved she could win here by doing so.  So, though I'd like to see Maria get  another major, I don't think she's going to this year. 

My dark horse pick is:  Simona Halep. 

Ever since she had her physique-trimming surgery (see below), Halep has been steadily moving up  in the rankings, and she hasn't stopped yet.  She's seeded fourth at Roland Garros.

The smart pick:  Kvitova
The wouldn't-it-be-great pick:  Ivanovic (i.e. a comeback).

I would have picked Radwanska, but she just went out. She's turning into my latest Wozniacki, i.e., often picked, never wins.  Still, I think her game is better suited to grass.

Regarding Halep: if she does make the final, look for several reports on her decision to have breast reduction surgery to be a better player, the apparent fact that it worked, and discussions on the "ethics" of that. Not to mention the damage it did to tennis voyeurism.

French Open, Women's Singles Draw

Regarding the men, I don't really care as much, partly because of Nadal's amazing and status-quo dominance here. But Djokovic is clearly playing well enough to win here this year, too.

The very very very scary caterpillar

This particular caterpillar seems to be emulating Kaa, the snake from Kipling's (and Disney's) "The Jungle Book".

Caterpillar looks like snake to scare predators

Global assault on science continues

Word from Down Under:  the Australian government is making big cuts to their science programs, which are administered under the Commonwealth Science and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO).  While CSIRO has many different sectors, one in particular is their research on climate and ecosystem change.

CSIRO closes sites and cuts research as a result of budget

The federal government cut CSIRO’s funding by $111 million over four years, which will result in 500 job cuts dddt the nation’s peak scientific organisation.

...

The directions statement, marked commercial-in-confidence, says as research and development in unconventional gas – such as coal seam and shale gas – has the potential to ‘‘create significant value for our nation’’ CSIRO will increase research in the area. It will also implement its new mining strategy focusing on activities ‘‘that help to significantly enhance the productivity of this vital sector’’.

But in low emissions energy technologies the statement says: ‘‘To adjust to the more difficult operating environment, we will stop our geothermal work and reduce other activities, especially in CO2 capture and efficient energy management.’’

Nothing about nuclear energy.  Nothing.

Watching Cheryl Cole at Cannes, Part 2

Now, after all the red carpet stuff, it turns out that dream girl Cheryl has a new guy!  And he's great looking, young, and French.  Good for her, because I can't compete with that. She and he went on a date or two at Cannes, which is why this is part of the "Watching Cheryl Cole at Cannes" theme.

His name is Versini, not Vizzini. (If you get that reference, I LIKE YOU!)


The Loving Kind: Cheryl Cole 'really happy with handsome French lover' after enjoying string of secret dates

He's in this picture with Cheryl and an unidentified blonde woman.

If you looked at that picture and the word "threesome" entered your thoughts, however fleetingly, I LIKE YOU!

Watching Cheryl Cole at Cannes, Part 1

Cheryl wears a great dress.  Much more to come!

R H-W is single again

Victoria's Secret (and other things) supermodel Rosie Huntington-Whitely recently broke up with her action actor boyfriend Jason Statham, who she had been with for an extended run.  After a suitable waiting period (I'll bet two weeks is sufficient), I'll bet her cell phone is ringing non-stop with date hopefuls.

Jason flies out as Rosie flies in... to pose by her selfie as friend confirms 'they split two weeks ago'

Now, R H-W is not exactly my cup of tea, female-wise (despite the fact that she's British and a top lingerie model), but nonetheless she's striking and willowy.  

An example;  and another one.

No, I don't have her number.  Good luck!

Lighthouse of the Week, May 25 - 31, 2014: Fastnet

One of the most picturesque and amazing lighthouses anywhere in the world, Fastnet Lighthouse is perched on Fastnet Rock, which is the most southerly point/place in Ireland.  There are likely thousands of pictures of this one, so choosing a couple of outstanding ones is tough - but I'll try.

A couple more:

Fastnet Lighthouse 1

Fastnet Lighthouse 2



History of the Fastnet Lighthouse

If you're thinking that you heard the name "Fastnet" before but didn't connect it with the lighthouse, it might have been because of the 1979 disaster in the race of the same name, when huge seas and high winds endangered a lot of boats and capsize or sank 25 of them out of the field of 306.

Expect this strategy

With record global temperatures in 2014 due to the oncoming El Nino, climate change deniers (OK, "skeptics" will tout the low number of Atlantic hurricanes as proof against global warming.


NOAA predicts near-normal or below-normal 2014 Atlantic hurricane season


But we'll be ready for them, won't we?

Will this actually work?

I read this interesting and surprising article on Friday.  Seems a Maryland firm (that I hadn't heard of before) is going to try constructing a massive energy-generating turbo tower, literally, that supposedly can do the work of 100,000 wind turbines and generate as much power as is currently generated by Hoover Dam, which is good because when Lake Mead, the lake behind Hoover Dam, dries up and drains out, which is currently what is happening to most of the big reservoir lakes in the Desiccated Southwest.

Oh, the tower is going to be a half-mile high.  It generates power by pumping water to the top, spraying the water out, and letting this humid air mass descend and accelerate, and the fast flowing air at the bottom spins the turbines to generate power.  Some of that power is used to pump the water to the top to keep the process going.

Seriously.

Will it work?  I'll believe it when I see those turbines spinning.

Oh - it'll cost $1.5 billion dollars.

GULP.

There's no such thing as a free lunch, but this could, if it's for real, provide a much needed alternative to rows upon rows upon rows of wind turbines.

If you don't mind having a half-mile high tower in your backyard.

A tower of power: Bizarre half-mile-high structure could produce as much electricity as 100,000 wind turbines

One more sonnet for May

a space out of time


The simple immediacy of now, where there
is nothing in the past to trouble minds
and passions, nothing of the future care
that could concern our normalcy -- love binds
our motivations to the biased dawn
in which all things are new and hope-
fully unplanned. Just as each brood of spawn
must journey to the ocean on the slope
of unmapped streams, we shall discover deep
unfathomed boundless oceans which provide
the only ways we can mature, to leap
the perils of the upstream notes that guide
unerring to the springs of flowing youth
where you and I encounter naked truth.

Grab your red and blue glasses

I sincerely hope that you have your red-blue anaglyph 3-D glasses handy, because I just found this GREAT collection of Mars 3-D images.  The problem is, the image that I saw on Twitter that led me to this site isn't in the collection.  Still, many of these images are new to me and pretty amazing to look at.  There are so many here that it's hard to pick a favorite, but the one entitled "Martian Landscape With Rock Rows and Mount Sharp" is way up there.  Very inpressive geology.

To see the image larger, just click on the small version and put on your 3-D glasses.

If you've still got those glasses, you can also click here to see the lovely Ksenia in 3-D (and minimal lingerie).  Very impressive physiology.

Wozniacki single again

It might still be too raw to ask out the delightful and delectable tennis player Caroline Wozniacki for a date, because she and golfer Rory McIlroy just had a hard break.  Seems McIlroy called it off, publically, just a few days after the wedding invitations were sent out.

Ouch.

Caroline Wozniacki takes Twitter dig Rory McIlroy after 'totally unexpected break-up' 

The article linked above says that she might not play in the French Open, but this article says that she will.

Maybe she'll have more time now to sell her underwear line - and hopefully find a new guy. 

Hot single world class tennis player seeks partner for revenge doubles

April was the hottest ever (NOAA)

We might not officially be in an El Niño climate state yet, but we're close.  And while we're waiting, according to the esteemed National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the U.S.A., April 2014, globally, was the hottest ever.  

Global analysis - April 2014

" The combined average temperature over global land and ocean surfaces for April 2014 tied with 2010 as the highest on record for the month, at 0.77°C (1.39°F) above the 20^th century average of 13.7°C (56.7°F). "

So I'm thinking that even if the El Niño ends up being a normal-sized one (as some are now forecasting), not a super-sized one (as some had previously forecast), any extra heat it contributes will be added to what is already shaping up to be a near-record or record year.  So that, I would think, would insure a true hottest year ever.  And we need that to happen (more on that later).  Meanwhile, California and the desert Southwest needs El Niño for the rain and snow that is desperately needed.

Lighthouse of the Week, May 18-24, 2014: Cap de la Tête au Chien (Cape Dogs)

A lighthouse named Cape Dogs (sounds better in French, Cap de la Tête au Chien) might not sound like a pretty place, but it sure is one.   This lighthouse is on an island in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Canada.

From LighthouseFriends.com:  Cap de la Tête au Chien (Cape Dogs) Lighthouse

Not a lot of pictures of this one to choose from, so here are two.

A new movie 'Macbeth'

Just found out that there's going to be a new movie version of Shakespeare's Macbeth, with the star power of Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard in the lead roles of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth.

OK, Marion's great, but she's going to really have to give it her all to surpass Francesca Annis, particularly the "Out, out, damned spot" scene that Francesca performed in her glorious natural state (i.e., nude).

Here's the scene (with the added attraction of Portuguese subtitles):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4X8IgWWKpVw

Could have told him that a long time ago

The head of FIFA has admitted that trying to have a World Cup (soccer) in Qatar in the heat of their summer, which is way hot, is a mistake and they'll have to play in the winter.

FIFA’s Sepp Blatter says awarding 2022 World Cup to Qatar was ‘a mistake’ 

“The Qatar technical report indicated clearly that it is too hot in summer, but the executive committee with quite a big majority decided all the same that the tournament would be in Qatar,” he added.

Asked whether the World Cup was likely to be held in the European winter, the 78-year-old replied: “It’s probable, yes. In fact, it’s more than probable.”

 I don't see that as a problem.  The pro leagues will just have to schedule around it, and maybe use their benches a little bit more whilst their stars are pursuing world domination.

After all, they only have eight years to work out a schedule.

Take the pressure off

It turns out that fish oil might not be such a great thing after all for humans.  Not that it's bad, just that it isn't anything special.

Does that mean we can throttle back on the menhaden fishing?


Entire fish oil industry may be based on a flawed study

The gist of this is, supposedly Eskimos had healthy hearts despite mostly existing on saturated fats and fish, but now it turns out that the Eskimos don't have healthier hearts than most of the rest of the people in the world.

So lay off the fish oil.  And don't eat much tuna either, it has too much mercury.  Stick to the salmon, the shrimp, and the tilapia.

Debby Ryan is 21 and white blond

Disney's cute and curvy starlet Debby Ryan has done what a lot of other Disney stars have done when they come of age - started to distance herself from her Disney squeaky, very clean persona.  Whether she can do it all the way remains to be seen, but the first step is changing your hair color.

Debby Ryan dyes her hair platinum blond


I kinda like it.  I doubt she'll do the full Miley, but I expect to see more adult themes in her personal remake.

Pre-blond, another thing she did to show she is soon-to-exit the Disney milieu was this just-slightly-sexy appearance at the MTV Movie Awards:

Rubio was for acting on climate change, before he didn't understand it

From Ruth Marcus of the Washington Post, commenting on Marco Rubio's pronouncements on climate change:

But if Rubio doesn’t believe the scientists, perhaps he might believe . . . himself. As the Miami Herald recounted, “As the leader of the Florida House in 2008, Rubio presided over a unanimous vote in favor of directing the state Department of Environmental Protection to develop ground rules for companies to limit their carbon emissions.” The following year, Rubio described a cap-and-trade system as “inevitable” and pronounced himself “in favor of giving the Department of Environmental Protection a mandate that they go out and design a cap-and-trade or a carbon tax program.”

According to the Herald, Rubio “hired a leading climate change expert” — eek, a scientist! — “from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to advise lawmakers.”

Rubio claimed the following year that he was actually engineering a plan to stop cap-and-trade, but that was hardly a credible explanation for a convenient flip-flop as he ran in the Republican primary against then-Gov. Charlie Crist, a cap-and-trade advocate.

Since then, Rubio has moved from disclaiming scientific expertise to deriding it. “I’m not a scientist. I’m not qualified to make that decision,” Rubio told the Herald in December 2009 when asked whether climate change was the result of human activity. Climate change, by the way, isn’t the only issue on which Rubio punted to scientists: When GQ asked in 2012 how old the Earth is, Rubio demurred, “I’m not a scientist, man.”

GOT THAT RIGHT, MARCO!!

3rd of 3 in May sonnet series

Contemplation of emptiness 3

There is a difference in our size; while I
am not a giant man, you are petite,
though certainly not innocent - your eye
and walk and curves and talk are sweet
yet underlain by knowing what you know --
that men desire you, that I do vote
as one of them, and with a chance to show
my weakness in overt display, my coat
of covert armor would be shed, as you
would there perceive the pith of my
devotion, dedicated to your view
and to your knowledge of my aim. I try
to quell this ardor, yet I wish my rise
could fill the dainty cup between your thighs.

2nd of 3 in May sonnet series

Contemplation of emptiness 2

The potency of your proximity
is tangible, though you are unaware
of how I am infected; how I see
your confidence and how my hidden stare
caresses your intensity, conceiv-
ing your abilities and your proclivities
(which might not match with mine) as I take leave
from any basic similarities
to reasonable thought. But this is what
you make me think of - depth and length and heat,
the loss of all restraint, a simple but
complex interdependency with sweet
and soft and tender notes, the dripping wine
that I would take and drink while you were mine.

1st of 3 in May sonnet series

Contemplation of Emptiness 1

A wish, a dream, a fantasy that will
not ever come to be -- just as white ships
would pass hard shores without the needed skill
to land upon them, my own yearning lips
shall never meet with yours, nor sip the tastes
of your excitement rising as the might
of nude romantic night invokes the hastes
of heedlessness. For that is what the sight
within my thought envisions -- openness
and wantonness, our hungers, flesh, and needs
aligned and then entwined as I express
a pure emphatic nature that concedes
my certitude, the singular extent
that binds my body with your full assent.

Inspired by "Game of Thrones"

This little graphic I made was inspired by "Game of Thrones", which is about a world in which the seasons and climate are finally shifting after an apparent years-long warm spell.  Thus, the catch phrase that appeared frequently in the promos was "Winter Is Coming".

Well, here on Earth (rather than Westeros), we may be waiting for the appearance of an El Niño event this summer, which could also influence the next North American winter, but in a warm way.  But we who are knowledgeable about climate and climate change know that the Earth's baseline temperature has been rising, and a decent El Niño event will raise global temperatures, as has happened for previous El Niño events.   The 1997-1998  El Niño was so big, in fact, that its peak temperatures were what the warming Earth was expected to get to 10 years later.   That is one of the reasons the skeptics/deniers that don't know and don't want to know what is really happening with Earth's climate make the specious claim that there hasn't been any warming for the past 15 years or so.

Well, the increasing greenhouse gases are putting the heat somewhere, and that somewhere is very, very, very likely the ocean.  And apparently one of the main ways that the oceans give up this increase in heat back to the atmosphere is via the agency of an El Niño event.  

So with the next event reaching a 65% probability or so, due primarily to a surfacing giant mass of overheated Pacific Ocean water (see below), I decided it was safe to say that we have something to look forward to.  As shown below.  The diagram shows the warm water coming to the surface.  If the air over the ocean starts warming and getting moister from the evaporation, then we will indeed have to say hello to the latest El Niño.  And this could actually be good for California and the desert Southwest, as the storminess associated with "The Kid" interannually variable weather event should bring more rain and snow to the areas that need it, areas that need reservoirs filled and river levels raised, areas that need irrigation water and increased snowpack and lots of other important water resources restored toward an at least minimally normal level.

Feel free to send this around and spread the word. 

Curtis Stone and Lindsay Price update

As I very recently posted about, actress Lindsay Price is pregnant with her second child, fathered by chef husband Curtis Stone.  The Daily Mail had a couple of articles with paparazzi pics of the pregnant parents.


Baby on board! Celebrity chef Curtis Stone's pregnant wife Lindsay Price shows off her bump for the first time as they take their son Hudson to the park


Bloomin' lovely! Celebrity chef Curtis Stone's pregnant wife Lindsay Price looks stunning as they take their son Hudson out for a special dinner

Lauren Parsekian Paul and Aaron Paul update

I will rarely resist the opportunity to post a link to an article that has pictures of the lovely Lauren Parsekian Paul and the guy that gave her the last name, actor husband Aaron.  So since I have that opportunity here, I'll take it.


'Marriage is the greatest thing': Breaking Bad's Aaron Paul joins stunning wife Lauren Parsekian at charity gala... as he opens up on wedded bliss

She is massively cute. Great smile.  Lucky Aaron.

Portrait of hockey player, his hot dancer girlfriend, and a dog

As I reported earlier this month on this esteemed blog, Washington Capitals hockey player Brooks Laich and extraordinarily hot dancer/actress Julianne Hough are still very much together.  (I should also point out that Julianne has her heart in the right place, as she appeared along with Lauren Parsekian Paul and Molly Thompson at the Open Hearts Foundation ball, where they were honored for the Kind campaign that Julianne is part of now with the Kind Camp.)

But enough of that.  Brooks and Julianne are apparently quite comfortable in their relationship and don't mind making a public presentation of it.  This picture is just quite charming.  Plus, they've got that Elisha Cuthbert - Dion Phaneuf size difference thing going on.

As noted in related articles, Brooks will sadly have to say goodbye to his lady love when she heads out on the Move Live tour with bro pro Derek, who is about to wrap this season of DWTS in the finals next Monday.

Brooks will just have to practice and try to make sure his groin injury doesn't come back., 

Lighthouse of the Week, May 11-17, 2014

I found this week's lighthouse by trying a little Google image search.  I decided that I would post about the first named lighthouse I found when I searched on the phrase "purple lighthouse".   The first several images that were found were artworks, and there were a couple of unnamed ones.  The first one with a name that I found -- which happened to be totally unrelated to anything having to do with purple -- was the stunning North Head Lighthouse in Washington State.

Lighthouse Friends (a great Web site) has the history of the North Head Lighthouse.

Here is a spectacular shot from Flickr (from Lydia2222's favorites):

As usual, here are a couple of other good ones.  This one shows the setting of the lighthouse on North Head, in Cape Disappointment State Park:

North Head Lighthouse, Cape Disappointment State Park

And this close-up is from the Lighthouse Guy:

North Head Light

This one's been photographed a LOT.  Have fun looking at some of them.

Leaving with this aerial view.

Study the woman parts too

The twitterverse was aflutter with this article from Nature magazine.  It seems that there is much less study of the genitalia of females than study of the genitalia of males.

One would think that the headlines in the various articles about this would be interesting, wouldn't one?

I think they could've done better, but here's what I found:

• Genitalia gap:  biologists prefer the penis, but why?
• Female genitalia shunned by researchers
• Why do scientists ignore female genitalia?
• Female genitalia are cool, too!
• What is it with scientists and their reluctance to study vaginas?

Here are a couple of tries I made on my own.  More creative people than me could probably do better. 

• Study the lock, not just the key
• Scientists take the boat, but won't float down the tunnel of love
• The sword is interesting, but not the sheath?
• We're all trying to get inside it, so why not study it?

Oh well, enough of that.

Cheseapeake Bay oysters may be coming back

This is good news for avid consumers of oysters -- and if the growth can be sustained, also for the water quality of the Chesapeake Bay.  I still don't exactly know how these oysters are not being affected by the diseases that drastically reduced the Bay's oyster populations, other than natural selection for disease resistance.  But perhaps that will be enough.   The Bay just needs more time, and less pressure from humankind, to get cleaner and healthier.

Survey:  Maryland oyster population makes gains

The article lead:

"Maryland’s oyster population has more than doubled since 2010 due to high oyster survival over the past few years and strong reproduction in the Chesapeake Bay, according to the state’s 2013 fall oyster survey.  The survey released by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources said the oyster population is at its highest point since this type of monitoring began in 1985."

The article also says that harvest was about 400,000 bushels.  Which makes me wonder how much faster the oysters would recover -- and there would be much bigger harvests -- if we stopped harvesting them and gave them a few years to just grow and grow and grow.

Hmm...

... is hot."

The title of this posting is the completion of the sentence which begins:

"Model Lauren Ossedryver ..."

Example A (nearly nude on a sandy beach, and looking lovely there)

Example B (lingerie)

Example C (bikini with a bottle)

Example D (BLAZIN' behind-the-scenes photoshoot video for Kandy magazine May 2014)

#2 for Lindsay Price and Curtis Stone

I have followed one of my favorite actresses, Lindsay Price, for years, even posting about when she posed nude (don't get too excited, it's just as much as you'll see in the Allure nude issue, which I'll write about soon).   She's not been acting recently, because she got hitched to Aussie chef Curtis Stone, and had a baby with him.

According to the following article, Curtis just announced that Lindsay is in the business of birthing the heirs of Curtis again.  I understand baby-making can be fun;  looks like they've been having some of that fun together.


'My beautiful wife is pregnant again': Chef Curtis Stone announces on The Queen Latifah Show his spouse Lindsay Price is having second baby

Earthrise from the Lunar Reconaissance Orbiter

This nice picture from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter puts the perspective of the fragility of our existence on Earth in stark clarity.  We really do live on a little blue marble -  all the billions of us.  And we need to take care of it a LOT better.

Earthrise!

Two very important items

First up, we are currently celebrating International Clitoris Awareness Week.  An article about this in the Huffington Post has just about the right amount of embedded puns.  I learned from this article that the delightful month of May is also International Masturbation Month, as declared by a sex shop.  According to this article, that designation has not been grasped by the U.S. Congress nor gripped by the United Nations.

Second up, obviously sex has been studied by scientists in its many different and diverse forms.  The first video provides a summary of the basics of the orgasm, and the link goes to a longer lecture on the same subject.

Great resources.  Seriously.

Still together

Even though the Washington Capitals, the NHL hockey team that Brooks Laich plays on, didn't have a great season (didn't make the playoffs), and even though Laich struggled with a nagging groin injury, he definitely had a great season off-ice, because he became and apparently still is the current man in the life of the spectacularly talented and spectacularly fine and fit dancer/actress Julianne Hough.

Because of the injuries and the uncertainty surrounding the Capitals, Brooks has a somewhat uncertain hockey future right now (but I hope he gets healthy and I hope he comes back to the Capitals).   But despite all that, overall I'd say he had a pretty good year.

Here's more on the couple.  Unfortunately for Brooksie, after the Dancing with the Stars season is over, Julianne and Derek are going on a dance tour together.  Well, it is nice to have two paychecks if they decide to make a marital connection.  (Hockey players do seem to do well in the actress/entertainer WAG department - I'm thinking of Dion Phaneuf and Elisha Cuthbert, Henrik Zetterberg and Emma Andersson, and Ryan Miller and Noureen Dewulf, and obviously Carrie Underwood and Mike Fisher).

Crazy in love: Julianne Hough can't keep her eyes off her boyfriend Brooks Laich as they hold hands on stroll with family

Does this make it official? Derek Hough and Nikki Reed fuel romance rumours as they enjoy double date with Julianne Hough and Brooks Laich

 Additional info:

Ryan Miller and Noureen Dewulf

Noureen Dewulf by herself

Very little value

There's very little value to this, but the other day I noticed that "snap" is "pans" spelled backwards.

Once you know that, you can't ever forget it.

An all-timer

Last week's rain in Pensacola (there was a lot of it) set a new record.

Florida deluge was an all-time record

"According to data from the weather station at Pensacola Regional Airport, 15.55 inches of rain -- the greatest rainfall amount from any calendar day on record—fell Tuesday. Data from the station go back to 1879."

In a word:  WOW.

Roger Pielke Jr. doesn't think this is related to global warming.

But this puts it in much better context:

Climate change and the floods

Well, here's what I say.  The more floods like this, the more they are a significant sign of climate change.

Period.

The niceness of Katie Cassidy

I've liked Katie Cassidy of Arrow for quite awhile.  Problem is, they haven't had her in a very sexy wardrobe.  And given the niceness of her roundedness combined with her slenderness, that's just not right.

Daily Mail remedies this situation with some beach paparazzi shots.  I really like that kind of thing, too.


'Fun in the sun. Duh': Katie Cassidy displays enviably toned bikini body in mismatched two-piece as she soaks up the sunshine during Miami getaway

Interestingly, in these candid shots, her slenderness dominates her up-toppedness.

Would you like that with or without the live ants?

This article was pretty interesting for listing some of the most highly rated restaurants around the world (and I'm pretty unlikely to ever have a meal at any of them).  If I'm ever near Yountville, CA, though (north of Napa), I might try to get lunch at the French Laundry.

But I think I'll pass on the number one choice, Noma in Copenhagen, where the menu features (among other choices that are probably both excellent and really strange) "sea urchin toast and beef tartar with live ants".

Eleven Madison Park named nation's top dining experience as seven US venues make world's top 50

Lighthouse of the Week, May 4-10, 2014: Point Atkinson Light, British Columbia

I went with a really scenic choice this week, and one that's even got a park around it (Lighthouse Park) in West Vancouver, British Columbia.  This picturesque light is classic, and lends itself to lots of different photographic views.

A couple of other nice ones:

By Kevin McNeal:   Point Atkinson Lighthouse Park

Point Atkinson Light, International Lighthouse Winner (Photography)

From Flickr

At twilight, by Anthony Maw


And here's a historical description of it:

Point Atkinson, BC

A sonnet for early May

"mercy's mist"

When distant memories become a brief
adjacency, the repercussions con-
jure echoes of when past decisions' grief
installed necessities that fed upon
uncertainties and fostered ever more
futilities -- both pain and pang that still
lie parallel to love and longing's store
of unrequitedness, which I know will
stay ever sweet as slights of truly stark

realities shall fade in mercy's mist.
And though I once felt wronged, lit now by spark
of recollection all my cries are missed,
replaced by gladness that I once became
the pillared candle of our passion's flame.