I’m always amazed by people’s creativity when it comes to artistic expression. Also surprising is how popular fruit and vegetables have become as a palette for food art, one of the more unusual art forms. Leslie sent these dozen images that illustrate my point:

Mike sent this with his apologies in advance…

A guy named Joe, traveling through Mexico on vacation, looses his wallet and all identification. Cutting his trip short, he attempts to make his way home but is stopped by a U.S.Customs Agent at the border.

“May I see your identification, please?” asks the agent.

“I’m sorry, but I lost my wallet,” replies Joe.

“Sure buddy, I hear that every day.No ID, no entry.”

“But I can prove I’m an American! I have a picture of Ronald Reagan tattooed on one butt cheek and George Bush on the other.”

“This I gotta see,” replies the agent.

With that, Joe drops his pants and shows the agent.

“By golly, you’re right! Have a safe trip back to Boston.”

“Thanks!” says Joe. “But how did you know I was from Boston?”

The agent replies, “I recognized Ted Kennedy in the middle”.

(Ouch!)

Well, it’s the last Friday of the month, time for a wrap-up of newsy things I never got around to posting…

Google is giving Microsoft headaches. For $50, they’ll give corporate users access to a suite of business applications that matches Microsoft’s Office. I’ve talked about Google’s Internet-based applications before and this is a big challenge to Bill Gates. He managed to hold off Netscape’s challenge to Internet Explorer, but Google has a lot more money and this is a much bigger deal, so the outcome of this battle is not so predictable…

The Net recently endured a massive DOS (denial of service) attack. There are 13 servers, called root servers, that are vital to all Net operations. In short, they digitize URL addresses. They were hit, all at once, by millions of requests for service; previously programmed via viruses into computers all over the world by unknown hackers to “hit” at a designated time with the obvious intent to close down the Internet. Operators were barely able to hang on; it’s generally agreed that no other service could have withstood such an attack. No one has claimed credit for the attack but many suspect China which hates the Net because it can’t control it…

Subatomic particles react with others at great distances compared to their size and no one knows how or why. So IBM is leveraging the phenomenon by creating a “grab free” message system. They’ve developed an encryption method that uses the photons (light particles) in fiber-optic cable. When a nefarious hacker attempts to intercept, or “grab”, a message, the photons that are displaced effectively “know” it and cause a complete message disconnect. The “grabber” gets nothing and the originator knows to send the message by another means…

Illegal software recently cost U.S. businesses $2 million in settlements. The Business Software Alliance (BSA) recently collected that much with just two months of effort. They relied on whistle-blowers and Internet sleuthing. Publicity about BSA’s effort has made believers of many IT managers who’ve decided that software copyright violations don’t save money in the long run. Worse, it’s embarrassing to have to explain to management why they were breaking the law…

Adobe is launching its full package in native Intel Mac. That’s Photoshop, InDesign and other tools in the CS3 package. Written for Intel Macs, they will be much faster than the current package which emulates the PC version. This comes just in time to benefit from the Mac OSX Leopard launch…

Music publishers aren’t buying Steve Jobs’ call to drop DRM (copy protection).  “Just because a lot of legacy music is out there without copy protection is no reason we should forego revenue on our new stuff…” And China doesn’t enforce intellectual property protection laws so any new music in demand is readily available from there soon after initial publication…

Isn’t the renovation project finished yet, you ask?

Well, almost. It’s coming along but there have been a few bumps in the road. These, I’m told by those who’ve trod the renovation road before me, are to be expected, so we’re not pulling our hair out. And yes,  we can see the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel.

The painting took a little longer than expected due to some “issues” I won’t go into here but it’s nearly finished and is looking very nice. Our tile installer finished laying the marble Wednesday and will seal it next week when it will be “off limits” for 5-6 days. It looks wonderful.  And the faux artists completed the ceiling work and will return in April to faux the entry pillars.

The electrician has been installing the art lights in our hallways so we now have light when we get home in the evenings (navigating the hallways with a flashlight was getting old!) We’ll be selecting a new ceiling fan for the family room. And I believe the new chandeliers are ready to be hung…

The wood floors in our kitchen and breakfast nook will be refinished next week as will some of the wood trim on our stairway. So the kitchen will be off limits for a week or so…

The carpets should arrive in a few weeks, so we’ll have a brief reprieve from workers in our home until its installation. We’re actually looking forward to it! They’re all great guys, mind you, but we need a break, a little private time. And our cats will welcome the freedom to roam the house instead of living in the laundry room during the work week.

All in all, things have moved rather smoothly owing to a great general contractor who handles the bumps for me. He’s selected good sub-contractors, mostly people he’s worked with for years and whom he trusts will deliver the quality he expects. We’ll certainly use him for the next phases of our home renovation (after we recover from this one!)  

Sometimes it seems never ending but we’re keeping our eye on the finish line. Our “house” is becoming a “home”.

Fred sent this…

Our good friend, Jerry Glance, is a bomb tech, one of those guys who is called in to locate and disarm bombs, old ordinance and, in the case of his most recent assignment, land mines. Somewhat of an expert in this specialized field, Jerry was recently recruited to supervise a team to deactivate a mine field in Samoa.

I sometimes kid Jerry about how that’s done — eyes shut tight, fingers in ears, stamping his feet as he works his way through the field — but I recognize the extreme element of risk in what he does. Not surprisingly, it’s a job I know little about; Jerry is the first person I’ve known that does it.

Anyway, Jerry sent this photo of himself (center) with a couple of other “bomb guys” relaxing after wrapping up their Samoa assignment. Wife Cheryl will be joining him today in Waikiki for a week of R&R before returning to the mainland. I can’t wait to hear how things went (I mean, uh, with the mine field.)

Nigel was kind enough to send me this brochure cover for the 1961 P1800…

“I thought you might enjoy this cover from the ‘61 P1800 brochure along with this link to some great early advertising graphics. I especially like the one showing a couple who have driven their new auto to lakeside for a little fishing. It is so typically Swedish. …

… I also thought I should clarify for your readers that the P1800 was always a Swedish automobile. But the assembly was contracted to Jensen Motors in Britain who in turn contracted the manufacture of the car’s unibody to Pressed Steel Company’s plant in Scotland.”

Thanks for the brochure, Nigel, and for the clarification. I didn’t mean to infer that the P1800 was a “British Volvo”.

In order to be considered an accomplished golfer, one must be able to accurately read the green. And to do so without getting grass stains on your pink golf trousers is, well, priceless. 

Another ‘toon from Randall Munroe…

You may have read last year about an innovatively designed, biodiesel-powered speedboat called Earthrace that was going to attempt to set an around-the-world nautical speed record of 65 days. Skipper Pete Bethune’s intent was to raise awareness of the environmental benefits—and raw power—of biodiesel fuel. In fact, one liter of fuel used for the voyage was produced from liposuctioned fat from his buttocks! 

The effort came to a sudden halt last month when, only nine days into the attempt, Earthrace crashed into a fishing boat off Guatemala, killing one fisherman and seriously injuring a second (the third member of the boat’s crew suffered only minor injuries). Bethune and his crew did everything they could to rescue the fishermen and treat their injuries while the boat limped back to shore, likely saving the lives of the two injured sailors they were able to recover. The mission, of course, was scrubbed pending the resulting investigation. Fortunately for the captain and his crew, the presiding judge ruled the incident an accident and Earthrace was free to leave after having been delayed ten days.   

For a riveting account of the accident and what’s happened since, see Bethune’s Captain’s blog .

Got this from Cecil. Don’t have to guess where he stands on the issue of global warming…

I used to occasionally hit 115 mph in my Porsche while zipping along Jackson Highway to Sunday brunch at Rancho Murietta and, back in the day, I’d top out at 63 mph on the early morning water of Comanche Lake in my bass boat.. And I once had the privilege of taking a demonstration lap with Don Aronow on the Sacramento River when he was visiting the Sacramento Yacht Club during the Bridge-to-Bridge races.  I think we hit something over 100 mph. But 202 mph in open water? Would you find that enjoyable? Could you even see straight?

Apparently the Bacardi Silver Racing Team, part of the Nauti-Marine Offshore Racing Group from Budweiser, does. Their 36-foot offshore racing cat topped 202 mph setting a world record. Below is a video of The Today Show’s Matt Lauer taking her for a spin. Would I have killed for that opportunity? C’mon! Is the Pope Catholic?

Shannon has been following the pet food recall news and sends some additional information for pet owners wondering what foods are safe and whether they should consider making food for their pets at home.

As most of you have read or heard, melamine, a chemical usually associated with the manufacture of plastic dinnerware, has been found in pet foods, in particular the ingredient wheat gluten,  imported from China by some major U.S. pet food companies.

Why melamine? Apparently, it has a high nitrogen content and, since nitrogen content in pet foods is measured to determine the food’s protein level, adding melamine to pet foods produces a higher, albeit false, protein reading.

Recently, however, UC Davis veterinary toxicologists have discovered melamine in rice gluten used in certain pet foods. Accordingly, they recommend against feeding any store-bought pet food containing wheat, corn or rice (no grains.) In addition,  pet owners making their own dog and cat food should check with their veterinarian to make sure the homemade food contains the right balance of nutrients. 

Researchers and pet monitoring agencies believe about 200 dogs and cats have died from consuming tainted pet food and over a thousand others have become sick. Veterinarians say the contaminated food causes kidney failure, vomiting and lethargy in dogs and cats. And cats, being smaller, are especially susceptible.