New Stimulus
In the face of even weaker economy, President Obama is being urged to do something dramatic to turn things around. The White House is reportedly willing, but isn't sure it can get away with killing Joe Biden.



Dundee Back
"Crocodile Dundee" actor Paul Hogan will be allowed to leave Australia after running into a tax problem in his native country. He will return to the U.S., where he has no tax problems because he hasn't worked here in 20 years.



Earl Effect
Hurricane Earl has left hundreds of people in North Carolina without power... which means they are the only people in the world lucky enough not to have to listen to news anchors shouting about Hurricane Earl.



Clooney Regrets
Actor George Clooney says the biggest failure of his life has been his inability to stop the war in Darfur. But despite the thousands killed in that war, it's obvious his biggest failure is really his one season on the "Facts of Life."



Hillary's Plea
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says both Palestinians and Israelis need to make concessions for peace. In other words, she wants the Israelis to stop defending themselves and the Palestinians to start being a little quieter when they kill Jews so nobody notices.






September 3rd


1802: William Wordsworth composes the sonnet Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802… and wins the award for “Laziest Title Ever.”


1803: English scientist John Dalton begins using symbols to represent the atoms of different elements… but the bigger kids still beat him up at recess.


1976: The Viking 2 spacecraft lands on Mars in hopes of safely riding out the impending Carter presidency.

It's Working Thursday

Perhaps not everyone would find glamour and grace in using a street sweeping machine.






But then, not everyone sweeps a castle.

Men at Work appears on Thursdays.

The Versatility of Grasscloth

right, interior design by Whitehaven

On a summer wallpaper shopping trip for a client we were amazed at the number of grasscloth papers currently available. Grasscloth wallpaper comes in many different patterns, colors, and textures. It's a great way to hide blemishes on old walls, and looks good in many different interior styles. In the Whitehaven designed room at right and below, the juxtaposition of the grasscloth and the high gloss orange paint is a winning combination, providing textural and visual interest.


image and interior design by Whitehaven



image via decor pad


image via dwelement


image via Odi et Amo blog, interior design by Elizabeth Dinkel



image via Odi et Amo blog, interior design by Ruthie Sommers


image via Odi et Amo, interiors by Waterleaf
Interiors


image via paint your space


image via country living



image via Cote de Texas


image via House Beautiful


image via home-decor-design

Discovery Siege
After a siege that lasted hours at the Discovery Channel's headquarters, police shot and killed a radical environmentalist who said he was angry about network's programming. The channel's security guards could have killed him right away, but Discovery executives wanted to make sure he wasn't a Nielsen family.



Awakenings
The Discovery Channel gunman says he experienced an "awakening" after seeing Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth... which is weird, because the movie put everyone else to sleep.



Lawyer Love
The city of Vernon, CA offers the same sweet pension deals to its city attorneys that it gives to police and firefighters. People in Vernon are responding by shooting and burning lawyers.



Big Find
Archaeologists in Jordan have unearthed a 3,000-year-old Iron Age idolatrous temple. Al Qaeda terrorists are scheduled to destroy it this Saturday.



Illegals Fall
The number of illegal immigrants in America is down for the first time in two decades... mostly because Lou Dobbs has started eating them.





September 2nd


1666: The Great Fire of London breaks out and burns for three days. Most victims are still trying to fill out their insurance paperwork.


1859: A solar super storm affects electrical telegraph service, and knocks out iPhones for 151 years.


1970: NASA announces the cancellation of two Apollo missions to the Moon. Ticket holders for the scrubbed launches are offered a full refund and a year’s supply of Tang.

A Meeting on the Street Called Steep

Text message:

WE R WALKING UP STEEP HL MEET U IN FRONT OF CATHEDRAL

There is a reason that the street is called Steep Hill.




As we ourselves found the cathedral square, we also found Stewart and Julie--Imac and Mrs. Imac--just reaching the top of Steep Hill.  When Stewart had  heard we were coming to England, he said "If you come to Lincolnshire, let me know." What better reason to visit Lincoln! Hubby took this picture for us on the cathedral steps.

We spent the afternoon visiting the cathedral--it needs an afternoon at minimum, and will get two or three posts here coming up soon. Tea in the catedral's lunch shop, in and out and round about the cathedral. It was definitely dueling cameras and taking pictures of each other taking pictures.






We later went back down Steep Hill to find a great pub meal.

..and a bit of a further wander about the town before Stewart and Julie had to catch their bus home.

Thank you Stewart and Julie for a lovely afternoon. You were most gracious guides for these wandering tourists. Hope we didn't wear you out.   

Stewart is Imac of Photos from the Mind's Eye.

Julie blogs, too, but I still don't have her URL.

The autumn is getting closer

I found this one a couple of days ago. No doubt about it - the Norwegian autumn is getting closer.

Autumn and Winter are coming closer

This morning on my way to the annual dental control I became aware of the first Autumn sign in Oslo.
In the Queen´s Park in the Royal Garden the first yellow leaves could be seen up in the beautiful green trees given the award "Green Park of the year 2006"
The flowerbeds are still beautiful, and the colors have been changed to fit the season, both in the Queen´s Park (that are still open for the public) and at the June 7th square in front of the Foreign Department.
A more significant warning that we soon are entering Winter season, could be found outside the Oslo2011 pavilion.
The first tickets for the FIS Nordic World Ski Championship events from February 23rd to March 6th were out for sale with signature from the Norwegian Ski Jumper and world record holder by jumping 239 meters on March 20th in Planica. 2005, Bjørn Einar Romøren.

And I who thought a ticket was a ticket.