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| VacaChat News | Vriends News | Zorro's Corner | Recommended Watching | Fun Stuff | Newsletter Archives | Vaca Shopping |
December 28, 2014
More graphics and buttons, courtesy of VacaDude, coming soon!
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| Broadcast Schedule |
Channel Links |
Important News |
| Broadcast Schedule |
| Today!!! Sunday, December 28, 2014 |
| 3 PM PST/6 PM PST |
| No Story Writing We'll write again on January 4 |
| 6 PM PST/9 PM EST |
| No VacaChat Broadcast.
The chat room will be open at 6:00 PST (9:00 EST—8:00 CST). |
| Upcoming!!! Sunday, January 4, 2014 |
| 3 PM PST/6 PM PST |
| Story Writing Please join us to write the story. |
| 6 PM PST/9 PM EST |
| VacaChat Broadcast.
Join us to hear all of TheDude's hilarity as well as Zorro reading the story. |
| Channel Links |
| Channel Links |
| The pop-out chat link still uses the old style chat.
If you do not like the changes Ustream has made to chat, use the pop-out
link. The easiest way to do this is to open the pop-out chat in a browser window. Log in. (Type a period in the chat line—hit enter. This will open the login screen.) Size this chat window to equal about 1/3 of your desktop space. Then open a new window or tab (Ctrl-T or Ctrl-N in most browsers) and use it to open the pop-out video. If you opened a new tab, you can then click on the tab and drag it to an open space on your desktop. Size it to about 2/3 of your desktop space beside the chat. Now you have both open and can refresh one without disturbing the other. You can resize either without resizing the other. I hope this helps. |
| VacaChannel |
| http://www.ustream.tv/channel/vacadude |
| Pop-Out |
| If you want to view the chat or video in pop-out screens, use the links below. Some find that this places less stress on their computer and/or its memory. |
| Video: http://www.ustream.tv/channel-popup/vacadude |
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| If you use the pop-out links, it is recommended that you open two browser windows. That way, if one needs to be refreshed, the other is not affected. |
| Important News |
| VacaChat Broadcast Changes |
| Changes in the upcoming broadcast may be necessary. Check back to this site for more information later in the week. If changes are necessary, a "Breaking News" email will be sent, as well. |
| Vacadude, Zorro and friends recorded a Christmas Eve
broadcast of poetry readings. You can view it here: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/56871028 |
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Chatter News |
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| A Note from the Dude | Chatter News |
Prayer Requests |
Vaca Blog |
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| Hello Vriends, | ||
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A very Merry Christmas to all (or other holidays as per your
preference)! I hope everyone is having a lovely few days here at
the end of the year. We don't have snow here (almost NEVER), but
it certainly has been cold. Well, cold for California standards,
which means freezing. We may need to wrap the orange tree in the
next couple of days.
I've been spending the last couple of days organizing, filing, and cleaning up. It's kind of a end-of-the-year tradition for me. That, and making goals for the coming year. All I can say is, I sure hope it is better than 2014. This year has been kind of rough--I'll be glad to bid it adieu. Christmas here was pretty relaxing. Gift-giving was scaled back a bit, so we focused more on just relaxing together. One of the gifts I got Mary was a honey-do list, but presented in a tesseract (an extension of a cube into the 4th dimension). Hey, it's what you get when you minored in math and you want to come up with a unique gift box! The list is some tasks and things that I am promising to do for Mary, and they have little completion dates on them that can be checked-off. So we got some movies, one sister-in-law got me a cool pillow, another got me a wallet. Mary got me a great hat and vest for photography--lots of pockets for holding lenses, lens caps, SD cards, etc. It is the kind of thing that is going to come in really handy for doing nature photography and stuff. And of course, I got the magazine subscriptions from you all--again, I thank you for that! The gift that keeps on giving throughout the year--the gift of knowledge! What with the honey-do list, and some other crafts projects I have coming up, I spent yesterday working in the garage cleaning up my workbench area. It was still a bit of a mess from the coffee table and crafts table projects. I also need to have room to set up for more resin casting soon! Well, speaking of which--I have some drill bits soaking in something that is supposed to get rid of a lot of the rust that they accumulated, so I think I had better get out to the garage. Have a very safe and Happy New Year, and I'll see you all next weekend! |
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| Cheers, VacaDude | ||
| Chatter News |
| Jes63 | Jes's new furbaby has arrived. We'd like to introduce Miss Bailey, a very timid 4½ year old. She normally has more fur but she was shaved down and her beard cut off before they sent her to Jes. You won't recognize her once her fur grows back in. | ||
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| Sharoot | Sharoot's featured pictures can be found
at the end of each newsletter, under Photos of the
Week. She says that since they are located at the end, then "Sharoot's
the Caboose!" Today Sharoot shares a special bird that she's pretty proud of. |
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| Ann Savage | Ann earned two first-place awards at the San Diego
Press Club Excellence in Journalism awards ceremony Oct. 28, 2014! http://ramonajournal.com/journal-writers-win-at-press-club-awards-ceremony-p6406-1.htm |
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| ChatterChopz | CC's had a wild and crazy week. She expected her Aunt Sewla (aka Tia Marfa) to visit. Well, when Marfa showed up yesterday, she had CC's Aunt Colleen with her as well. CC gets to stay at the hotel with them. She gets to swim and they're gonna get a pedicure and see a movie and go out to eat and … and … and … well, you get the picture. | ||
| Elsalynda | Elsalynda's latest column entitled Nature In the
City: Thanksgiving Grace in Waltham, is available online here: http://waltham.wickedlocal.com/article/20141209/NEWS/141207720 Make sure you check out the photo accompanying the article!!! Elsa also tells us that she has had a poem selected for publication. She says she is very excited to be a part of this book and feels like a poet in good company, with known authors. Her poem on Great Horned Owls has a page with a beautiful photo opposite. Her writing group helped her with this piece. The book should be out in early 2015—it is now in the proof stage. |
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| We'd love to include more news of VacaChatters. If you have something you'd like to share (something about you or your family) or if you know of exciting news about another chatter that they're just too shy to share, please send it to us! (We won’t run it without that chatter’s permission, however.) | |||
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| VacaDude's Brother-in-law, Duke |
I would ask for prayers and well-wishes for my brother-in-law Richard
"Duke" Paiz, who suffered a stroke last week, and is currently in the
hospital in Roseville, CA. He was nearly gone on Friday, but seems to
have rallied on Saturday. Duke married my oldest sister Beverly in the late 1950s. Because my parents were at an advanced age when they had me (Mom was 41, dad was 46), and my dad had a massive heart attack when I was three, they made arrangements with Bebe and Duke that they would raise me until I was 18. So Duke was only a couple of heartbeats away from being my dad. As it was, we were very close, and I did a lot of camping and road trips with them. They never did have children of their own. |
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| KSBorn | KSBorn was in regression for lymphoma and breast cancer. It has since returned and she's going for Chemo now. She and her doctors are attacking it vigorously and she needs our prayers. She needs our prayers for healing, for the Lord to guide her doctors, and for the peace and strength as she undergoes the treatment. | ||
| VacaDude and his cousin, Kevin | UPDATE: WONDERFUL NEWS!!!!! "Our family got some news this last week from my cousin Kevin, and it was wonderful: the latest tests show that he is in full remission!! So I'd like to thank you all for your thoughts and prayers; it meant a lot to me and to Kevin. If you could extend a few of those prayers to his mother Irene, I would really appreciate it. In a cruel twist of fate, Kevin's mom was diagnosed with lymphoma--very similar to Kevin's--that was located in her abdomen. Last I heard, she was responding well to the chemo. Apparently it made for some lively chemo treatment sessions--mother and son in together! They have always been a fun family, and I really hope Irene pulls through as well." | ||
| TheDaddyBird, | TheDaddyBird is also facing hip replacement real soon. We finally got the referral to the orhopedic surgeon who takes our insurance. He sees him this week and then we wait for the date to be set. It'll happen after the first of the year. | ||
| Marilyn Crabb | We received this message this week from a long-time
Molly watcher: I don't join the online chats but I read the newsletter and was a Molly watcher from the beginning. Last week, I was diagnosed with stage 2B (or greater) breast cancer and am undergoing lots of further tests and will begin chemotherapy on Tuesday. Please add me to the prayer list. UPDATE: Thank you for your prayers. I'm doing really well after my first chemotherapy treatment. One week down - nineteen to go. Then surgery and radiation. I have more tests scheduled to see if the cancer has spread beyond my armpit but so far it does not look like it has. My screen name was/is MarilynLA on UStream. (Marilyn from Los Angeles) |
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| Littleguys | UPDATE:
The latest news from Littleguys:
Have now
finished one week, as in five days, of radiation treatment.
Wondering if the upset tummy is a side effect or coming down
with something. See the oncologist once each week during the
radiation so did tell him about it.
Do
you or anyone in your family sew? Simple project?
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| Caboval | Caboval is in need of our prayers for her dog, Joey. You can read more about Joey and his struggles here: http://gfwd.at/1n8NU0h. | ||
| LATEST UPDATE on Joey! Caboval writes: “Oh Joey isn't doing good and I'm so worried. He made it through cancer and is in remission and survived liver failure but something has happened to his leg. He had X-rays and there's no break but it looked like his neck had a pinched nerve. So, I'm doing cold laser therapy and no improvement. I'm doing chiropractor sessions, no improvement. Then on Friday he had acupuncture and now Joey can't walk at all on his leg and it's now been 4 weeks and no improvement. I had a prayer group for him on Facebook. I think the acupuncture somehow has hit nerves in his leg and he can't walk at all. I don't have any hope that he will be able to walk again and I'm at the point I may have to make a decision this coming week. I'm heartbroken and I'm praying for a miracle. I'm devastated and he is only 6 years old. I wish I had better news. Can you say a prayer for him?” | |||
| Elsalynda | We got this message from elsa last week: Hi all, Thanks for all your prayers. This computer is so hard to type on. I dislike it but will have to use it for now. I saw the MGH sleep specialist today for consult and got some scary news. My apnea is severe and REM behavior disorder is rare and correlated with parkinson's disease. There is not much treatment available for the REM but I will try what there is. Please pray for me again. I am worried. Your elsalynda |
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| GentleDoe | We've had no new updates from GentleDoe in a while. If anyone has any new news on her, please let us know. | ||
| Shari in Memphis | Has anyone gotten any updates from Shari? | ||
| Thank you for your prayers and good thoughts for owl our wonderful VacaFamily members! If you have any prayer requests, updates or news of answered prayers, please let us know. Email us with the information so it can be included in the next newsletter. | |||
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Check out VacaDude's blog! Don't forget to send VacaDude your comments to let him know how much you appreciate him, his time & his talent! |
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| http://vacadude.wordpress.com/ |
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| A
Message from Zorro |
StoryTime News |
StoryTime Archives |
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| Recipe of the Week |
| A Message from Zorro |
| Hello there, Everbuddy! | ||
|
It is Zorro here, and I want to
wish you all a Merry Christmas! It was fun doing the
PoetryTime on Christmas eve, even if Patrick did kind of
hog my spotlight part of the time. I hope you all got a
chance to watch the recording.
We had a nice Christmas here, although I am getting worried about the Dude. He put out some yummy bread on Christmas morning, and I said this is delicious--what is it? You know what he said? He said it was stolen! Wow--I know things have been a bit tight lately...maybe I should have gone easy on his credit card for all those lab experiments... But I had no idea he has had to resort to stealing food! I guess we... wait a minute... the Dude is calling me over... Okay, it seems I misunderstood. The bread we were eating wasn't stolen, it was Stollen! Apparently that is a German holiday bread. Anyway, how am I supposed to know--I'm just a mouse from San Marcos! But anyway, it was quite yummy! Anyway, I'm going to be helping the Dude out in the workshop today, so that should be fun. It seems we have way too much scrap wood in the bins, so we need to make some things out of it. I'm thinking a sled. But then, given that it never snows here, that might not be very practical. Maybe a skateboard would be better. Maybe a steam-powered skateboard! Yeah, that's the ticket!! Now I wonder if he has a spare boiler lying around anywhere... Time to go get busy! Hope to see you next Sunday, and Happy New Year, Everbuddy! |
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| Yours Most Whiskerly, Zorro |
| StoryTime News |
| Next StoryTime | Sunday, January 4 3:00 PM PST/6:00 PM EST |
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| Title | TBA | ||
| Invitation | We need story writers! Please consider dropping in and checking out the fun we have writing the stories. Honestly, it's not at all difficult to join in and you'll surely be glad you did. | ||
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If anyone wants to request a recipe or a recipe category, just email me.
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Jicama Orange Salad |
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| Ingredients | |||
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½ cup thinly sliced red onion Chopped fresh cilantro or parsley, for garnish |
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| Directions | |||
| Place onion in a sieve and rinse under hot water for 1 minute; drain and pat dry on paper towels. Transfer to a large serving bowl. Stir in remaining ingredients and toss until well combined. Sprinkle with cilantro or parsley, if desired. Makes 3-½ cups | |||
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Grilled Bass with Strawberry Salsa |
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4 4- 5-ounce fresh or frozen sea bass or halibut steaks, 1 inch thick
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| Directions: | |||
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Thaw
fish, if frozen. Rinse fish; pat dry with paper towels. Finely shred
lime peel. Peel, section, and chop lime; set aside. In a small bowl
combine lime peel, the ¼ teaspoon salt, and the cayenne pepper. Sprinkle
evenly over both sides of each fish steak; rub in with your fingers.
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| Owl Cams |
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Other Nature Cams | Video Picks of the Week | Inspiration | ||||||
| Other Bird Cams |
| Owl Cams |
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| Puffins | |||||
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Shetland Islands Puffins | http://www.shetland.org/puffincam/ | |||
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Sea Island, Maine |
http://explore.org/live-cams/player/puffin-burrow-cam | |||
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Sea Island, Maine |
http://explore.org/live-cams/player/puffin-loafing-ledge-cam These pages also contain links to numerous other nature cams. |
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| Eagles | |||||
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Black Eagle |
http://www.africam.com/wildlife/black_eagle_webcam | |||
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Decorah Eagles |
http://www.ustream.tv/decoraheagles | |||
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Berry College Eagle Cam |
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/berry-eagle-cam | |||
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http://www.pixcontroller.com/eagles/index.htm | ||||
| Peregrine Falcons | |||||
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PA Falcon Cam |
http://www.pacast.com/players/falcon.asp | |||
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Commerce Tower Peregrines |
http://mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/wildlife-cameras/peregrine-falcon-web-camera Cam not live now but should be returning soon. |
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Pitt Peregrine Falcon |
http://www.aviary.org/PF-NestCam1 | |||
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Gulf Tower Peregrine Falcon |
http://www.aviary.org/PF-NestCam2 | |||
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Emily
Falcon Cam |
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/emily-falcon-cam | |||
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RFalconCam |
http://rfalconcam.com/rfc-main/ | |||
| Talking Birds | |||||
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Watch the Birdie |
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/Watch-the-Birdie | |||
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Disco |
https://www.youtube.com/user/MsJumpinJude/videos | |||
| Other Birds | |||||
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California Condor San Diego Zoo Safari Park San Diego, California |
http://zoo.sandiegozoo.org/cams/condor-cam | |||
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KC Zoo Penguin Cam |
http://www.kansascityzoo.org/penguincam |
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Whidbey Island Back Porch other assorted birds |
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/katersch | |||
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Hellgate Ospreys |
http://cams.allaboutbirds.org/channel/27/Hellgate_Ospreys/ | |||
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Ostrich Chicks |
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http://www.ustream.tv/channel/ostrich-egg-cam-live | ||
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Streaming Bird Cams |
http://www.beakspeak.com/ | |||
| Other Nature Cams |
| Pandas | |||||
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San Diego Zoo Pandas |
www.sandiegozoo.org (click
on live cams)
or
http://www.ustream.tv/sandiegozoo. Zoo's
blogs: http://blognew.sandiegozoo.org/category/animals-and-plants/giant-pandas/ |
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Twin Pandas at |
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Giant Panda Cam |
http://nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/webcams/giant-panda.cfm | |||
| Bears | |||||
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Kansas City Polar Bears |
http://www.kctv5.com/category/244581/nikita-berlin-polar-bear-cam | |||
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Brown Bears and Salmon |
http://explore.org/#!/live-cams/player/brown-bear-salmon-cam-brooks-falls (lots of other cams at this site, as well) |
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Black Bears |
http://www.bear.org/website/live-cameras/live-cameras/holly-bears-den-cam-live.html | |||
| Other Animal and Nature Sites | |||||
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Golden Paw-Prints Classic Golden Retrievers Oshkosh, Wisconsin |
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/golden-retriever-puppy-cam All the pups have gone to their forever homes. Camera is shut down until the next litter is born. |
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San Diego Zoo and Safari Park |
http://animals.sandiegozoo.org/ | |||
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The Pet Collective |
http://www.thepetcollective.tv/livestreams/ | |||
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Critter Chat Cams |
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Friends of Felines Rescue
Center |
www.ustream.tv/ffrc | |||
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Little House |
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CC's Page of Links (scheduled for updating) |
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| Other Sites of Interest | |||||
 Secrets
of the Snowy Owl |
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| http://goo.gl/P0trt0 | |||||
| Meet Zeus | |||||
| http://kittensdaily.com/meet-zeus-blind-owl-gorgeous-eyes/ | |||||
| Some Interesting Information About Someone We All Know Well | |||||
| http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1511369/ | |||||
| International Space Station Links | |||||
| During a recent
broadcast the Dude talked about the websites where one can view the
spacestation and the view that the astronauts have. Here are the links: This one has the map, but no chat. http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/HDEV/ This site has a chat room. http://www.ustream.tv/channel/iss-hdev-payload |
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| A Swimming Owl | |||||
| This came to us
from windbeneathwing. Swimming owl caught on video http://www.foxnews.com/science/2014/12/05/swimming-owl-caught-on-video/ |
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| Video Picks of the Week |
American Trilogy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=fmWa1gKrp6Q
Cat Questions About Christmas
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wrds7uujoAo&feature=em-uploademail
Incredible Animal Photography
https://www.youtube.com/embed/fdSVp9GFeS4
Holiday Traditions
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJAxRVeKnTE
The Intelevator
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Un_oHaf798
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0NXFUSYZxc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43ZW426qCJ4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3qEHt9mj4g
Battle at Kruger
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LU8DDYz68kM#t=472
| Inspiration or Things to Make You Think |
Russia's Inflatable Army
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Kb6UjqrmfWk
Russian Beryozka Dance
The Beryozka is a Russian ensemble of dances that originated in 1948.
There are a total of 100 members in the ensemble.
The dances are based on traditional folk melodies, which are then accompanied by chorus singing.
The Beryozka reflects heavily upon Russian culture.
Their
concerts have been performed in over 50 different countries from all around the
world.
I found the ensemble dance to be absolutely incredible, especially how
well-choreographed the performance was.
The traditional Russian dances seen here are known as "The Chain" and "The Birch Tree".
I hope you
enjoy the beauty and art of the Beryozka as much as I did!
(They've got to be on wheels, right?)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aosUHfbdnn4
Flash Mob at the Air
and Space Museum
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIoSga7tZPg
Lost History - Mona Lisa
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-QVhkmjxZo
Catching Kayla
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpA-FsKLA6A
Göbekli Tepe
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5ezUKqkJUQ
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Fun Animations and Pictures |
Photos of the Week |
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Zorro's Word of the Week | ||||||
| Just for the Fun of It |
Kyle's Jokes of the Week |
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http://www.freshstitches.com/holidaypenguin/
http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/wide-eyed-owl-cupcakes
| Fun Animations and Pictures |
Me and My Shadow
Quick!! Get the Label!!
Two Really Quick Ones
Kung Fu Master II
| Photos of the Week |
From the Dude
My entry for the spaceship design contest
Sharoot's Caboose
Sharoot shares,
"My daughter in law gave me my first painting lesson, and it even looks like a chickadee!
I'm now spending time with my precious grands.
My DH and I stopped in to see two clubs on our way north.
We had a lovely visit and had some owlsome Italian food at a little place near where she lives.
Happy new year to all!"
| Kyle's well known among his friends for his "triple
groaner" riddles and jokes. Now he shares them with VacaFamily. Enjoy! |
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| What do librarians use for bait when fishing? Bookworms |
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| Why did the ballerina get a tu-tu? Because the one-one was too small and the three-three was too big. |
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| What kind of bug hates Christmas? A humbug |
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| An eight-year-old informed his parents that part of his tooth had come out. They checked and, sure enough, a piece had broken off. Trying to lighten the moment, his father asked his wife, the paralegal, "What do you suppose the tooth fairy gives for half a tooth?" "Nothing," she replied. "She wants the tooth, the whole tooth and nothing but the tooth." | ||
| How do you kill a salad? You go for the carrot-id artery. |
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| Zorro's Word of the Week |
PUSILLANIMOUS
Pronunciation: \pyoo-suh-LAN-uh-mus\
adjective
Definition of PUSILLANIMOUS
lacking courage and resolution : marked by contemptible timidity
EXAMPLES
The senator resorted to mudslinging, calling his opponent
"a pusillanimous pawn of special interest groups."
"Here's the pusillanimous and unprincipled attitude of the RUSU [Reading
University Student Union]
and its sad ilk, offered in their own words: modern university students should not do anything
to give offense, and if anyone claims offense, they should stop whatever they are doing immediately."
— From a blog post by Ken White at Popehat.com, October 23, 2013
DID YOU KNOW?
Do you know someone who has a small, weak spirit, someone whose reserve of inner
strength is
too small to draw from in times of danger and adversity? If so, you'll find "pusillanimous"
to be the perfect descriptor for that person. The Latin roots of this derisive adjective are "pusillus,"
meaning "very small" (and related to "pusus," meaning "boy") and "animus," which means "spirit"
and is the ancestor to many words in our language, including "animal" and "animate."
"Pusillanimous" first appeared in English in the 16th century, but it gained prominence in the 1970s
when Vice President Spiro Agnew famously accused his
ideological rivals of "pusillanimous pussyfooting."
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VacaShopping for Valentine's Day
Valentine's Day will be here sooner than you want to think! Wouldn't your loved one
cherish a VacaDude gift?
VacaDude’s creations are sure to be treasured gifts for those special people in your lives.
Check them all out at VacaDude's CafePress store! Support our beloved
artist/broadcaster/friend!
http://www.cafepress.com/vacadude
MollyTheOwlBooks
Eric has discontinued the sales of all his books and merchandise.
of that and want one, let DotRot know
and she'll do what she can to make it available to you.
