A Hound's Eye View

(Sorry about the photos not being behind a cut)

I plan to create another Live Journal account that our tour group can use to blog during our Israel trip. In prperation for that, I am experimenting with posting photos here.

The first photo is from my Photo Bucket account. Its Frank Holder appearing as Bo Peep during an 11 o'clock service a couple of years back.



The second photo, loaded directly from my hard drive, is of the cast of The Passion


Hopefully both will show up.

Before I start, let’s cover the important news first. Mom’s surgery was a complete success. Early test results indicate that we caught the cancer before it had a chance to spread (we will know more on Tuesday) and Mom is recovering very rapidly. I have been down this road enough times before to know the this kind of outcome is not always the way things work out (its been 27 years, but I still remember the exact moment when the surgeon told me that my Dad had no real chance of surviving his cancer), so we are in full celebration mode here.

The fact that today’s news was good had already made this a good day, but Mom's hospital managed to put a cherry on top of it. Here's what happened:

Just after Mom’s surgeon gave me the good news, I stepped outside the waiting room and began calling a long list of people who had asked Mom to update them when her surgery was complete. I made these calls from the hallway, near the desk of a nurse who I had gotten to know while we were waiting during the surgery. Apparently, she could hear me pretty clearly as I talked on the phone.

So there I am, calling down the list, when one of the calls took a strange turn. I was talking to a friend of my Mom’s whom I have literally never met and I know nothing about, when the following exchange took place:

Me: “So anyway, that’s the news. Mom is doing well. Do you have any questions?”
Mom’s friend: “Yes. How’s your cat?”
Me: (blink, blink). “Excuse me?”
Mom’s friend: “How’s your cat?”
Me: "Did you just ask about my cat?
Mom’s friend: "Yes."
Me (wondering when I boarded the good ship Non-sequitur): “Ummmm, the cat's fine.”
Mom’s Friend: That’s great. Tell your Mom I love her.
Me (still a bit befuddled): Uh, yes, sure. I’ll do that

After pondering for a moment about what a strange phone call that had been, I proceeded to call the rest of the names on my list. Once I completed the list, I started to head back to the waiting room to rejoin Mandy. As I passed by the nurse’s desk, she called out to me:

Nurse: Oh Mr Lancaster!
Me: Yes
Nurse: I need a bit more information on your mother. Can you answer a few questions?
Me: Sure..What do you need to know?
Nurse: How’s your cat?

At this point the nurse burst out laughing. It took about a minute before she regained her composure.

Nurse: “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to ease drop, but you should have seen the look on your face when you when you said “Did you just ask about my cat?”… (Still more laughter, this time from both of us)

More laughter and kidding followed before she finally added: “Anyway, I’m glad to hear your mother is doing well. Let me know if there is anything I can do for you”

It was a little thing, but wonderful. On a day that could have been very challenging indeed, someone took the time to not only celebrate good news with me, but to laugh with me. It’s another moment that I will remember for a very long time.

No one knows where it came from. Its just sitting there on a table in the breakroom, untouched exept for the slice someone cut and patially slid out to reveal that the cake's chocolate interior. The slice was left slightly pulled out of the cake, as if to say "you can look, but you can not eat".

There is just something about it. Its a big, round, tall, foreboding cake. It has bright white hard royal icing that produces a strange "clack" when you tap it with a fork. Its just so unusual, so big, so hard. Its the sort of cake you might submit for Rod Sterling's approval.

And its been sitting in the Software Engineering breakroom, tapped but otherwise untouched, for over 2 hours now. Most foods left there are consumed within minutes of their arrival, but this cake has been successful in staring down all those who would partake of it. And so it sits, uneaten and untrusted.

I wonder if it will still be there tomorrow.

"Working with a baby had it's problems - but then I tried directing chickens"

Jim Henson, from "The Making of Labyrinth"

Being an amusement park geek, I've always been tempted by the idea of renting out an amusement park for an evening for just me and my friends. Granted, the costs are a tad prohibitive, but I can dream. However it seems I haven't been dreaming big enough. Why rent out a park, when you can rent a whole country?!

Rent a country, you say? Yes indeed. I just found out about Liechtenstein, Europe's third smallest country. Liechtenstein's an itty bitty country (population 50,000) that sits between Switzerland and Germany. Its a pretty place, snuggled up at the base of the Alps, and by Decree of the Prince of Liechtenstein the whole country (all 60 square miles of it) is available to be rented out. Not just a building, a farm for a even a village, but the whole country! The renter is given "keys to the capital city and be offered team-building/touristy activities and attractions, such as wine-tasting, tobogganing, and full access to one of the country's royal castles" (Quote from wikipedia). But that’s not all you get, apparently the whole country really is at your disposal, all for $500 a head per day, with a minimum of 450 heads.

There is just something nifty about the concept of a country you can rent. I wonder if leadership privilages come with the lease. Could you declare war on a neighboring country, only to have to end the war when the lease on your army expires? Perhaps you could compose a new Liechtenstein national anthem (Oh Liechtenstein, Sweet Liechtenstein, the rent is due in 3 days time"). The possibilities are endless.

Peter Ellenshaw passed away yesterday.

Most of you probably never knew him by name, but you almost certainly know his work. If you ever watched the Nautilus moving silently throughly the deep in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, you have seen his work. If you have watched Mary Poppins gliding gracefully over London, you have seen it. In fact, if you have watched any Disney movie from the 50's, 60's or 70's, you have seen his work, and the most amazing thing is that most of the time you probably never knew you were looking at a painting.

Peter Ellenshaw was one of the most talented painters ever to work in the Disney studios. Peter's specialty was matte paintings. He could paint a background that looked so convincing, you would never know it wasnt the real thing. The arial shots of London in Poppins were Peter's paintings. In fact, since Mary Poppins was filmed almost entirly on a sound stange, nearly every outdoor background you see in that film is a Ellenshaw painting (he did 102 mattes for this film). The volcanic island which served as Nemo's sercret home was also a matte painting. But backgrounds weren't his only talent. He designed the Nautilus for 20,000 Leagues and also revelotionized the field of special effects with the techniques he developed for that film. In recognition of his work at Disney, he was awarded the title of Disney Legend.

In later years, he was very well known for his Winnie The Pooh paintings and other series that became very popular in giclee. Google "Ellenshaw giclee" and you will find some of the incredible artwork that he painted of the last 20 years. His paintings are rich, colorful, lively and elegant. Just looking at them makes me happy.

But above all, Peter was just a nice guy. I never met him, but everyone I know who did told me he was kind, friendly and approachable.

Rest in peace Mr Ellenshaw. Thank you for all the wonderful images you gave us. The world is a little less bright without you in it.

(If you want to learn more about Peter Ellenshaw and see an amazing painting he did for Walt Disney, follow this link: http://jimhillmedia.com/blogs/jim_hill/archive/2007/02/14/peter-ellenshaw.aspx )

Today my Mom called me on my cell phone seeking help. A friend of her's who is in very poor health is returning home from the hospital where she will be placed in home care. That is the good news.

( Unfortunately, there was also bad news.... )

After a power supply transplant, my home machine is back online and happily pulling power from its new True Power Trio 650. I am connected to the world again. Yippie!!!

Gig Hiku (3 brief poems for my fellow musicians out there)

Three-eight, eleven-eight
Damn you Andrew Lloyd Webber
Five-eight, seven-eight

The strings slowly tune
When they're done the unisons
Are anything but

An oxymoron:
"He played the accordion
With delicacy"

I don't have long to post today, since I am doing so at work. Normally I would do so at home, but thats not possible. Why?( Because apparently my computer suffers from separation anxiety... )

I have a fascination with modern ruins. I can't explain why, but I love to explore places that were built in the last 100 years and then abandoned for one reason or another. ( It’s a hard thing to describe... )