respublica

Favorite photos of 2005

I mentioned yesterday that I hoped to find the time to put up some photos I took and posted to this site during the past year and I am finding out it isn't all that easy to do.  Looking back through the months and categories so many pictures make me go awwwwww, I remember that.  In any event I just changed my website pricing plan to a higher level so that I can utilize more bandwith in order to add more photos and accomodate the increasing number of visitors to this site (a very good thing.)  The photos will take a while to post so I will add them periodically today and tomorrow.  Check back occasionally to see how things develop. 

Back in February our next door neighbors had their enormous maple tree trimmed and one of the workers got way up there with no visible means of solid support.

In September our daughter went to Costa Rica as part of her job and came back with terrific photographs.  Here is one of my favorites, little porks waiting to eat.

Also in September our nephew, Brad, moved into his dorm to begin his freshman year at the St. Louis College of Pharmacy.  He had help from an upperclassman.  heh

Not to be outdone, Brad's sister Stephanie, began the loooong walk down her hallway as she began her senior year at St. Louis University.

Gotta be the "Bean"

Rich Miller has a great photo on his Capitol Fax blog dated December 29 (I am unable to link the specific post).  It has to be Chicago's Millenium Park Bean sculpture with a nighttime view.  I'm jealous of this shot.

It sort of reminds of this picture our daughter and son in law took back in September when they visited the Bean.

Lots of talk little sense to be made

Update thanks to two comments from the reporter for this linked story, Cathleen Falsani.  The quotes I used were actually said by two others so I am fixing my mistake.  I apologize, no excuse.

The Chicago Sun-Times Cathleen Falsani presents a list of some of the year's more intriguing things said about God and faith this year.  I leave it to the reader to make sense of such a mish mash of quotes that co-mingle religion with secular and new age and contemporary liberal thought.  Maybe this weekend I'll try my hand at a list of top religion stories for 2005.

"Just keep smilin' and breathin', lady, just keep smilin' and breathin'."  Russell Simmons, hip hop artist

"We're just this little ball of people floating near the edge of what we call the Milky Way galaxy, and there ought to be enough power to light this little ball up with peace."   Director David Lynch

Best photos of 2005

Photography is one of my favorite things and although I am no expert, I love seeing great pictures.  Sometime tomorrow I hope to put up some of my own personal favorite photos taken this past year  but for now, here is a glimpse of some of the rest out there on the web.

From Sports Illustrated the best of their sport photos

Time's best photos of 2005

Like Montana?  The best from Billings

From Flickr readers send in their best photo of the year

National Geographic's best science photos of 2005

Best of photojournalism's award winners for 2005

"At the direction of the council..."

Hank Sinda, the Collinsville city manager, will not have his contract renewed when it expires in May.  According to Mayor Stan Schaeffer, "At the direction of the council, I advised the city manager of the indication that the majority support for the renewel of his contract was not present."

On a personal level, this is the saddest news I have heard in a long time.  For years the main complaint by residents of Collinsville was how stagnated the city was while all around neighboring cities were building and growing and bringing in new business.  Now, under Hank's administrative experience new things are happening, economic development is spiking and most city departments have been upgraded and services rendered efficiently and quickly.

Reactions from people involved in working with Hank Sinda on boards and commissions range from "Oh, this is just terrible" to "I just can't believe it" to "this is a black day for Collinsville." City managers are often controversial, but there doesn't seem to be too much evidence that Hank was, just the opposite, most of those who worked with him respected his talents.  "The best city manager we have ever had."

I guess we get what we deserve.  I would guess Hank won't be hanging around until May.  Hopefully there will be letters and emails and phone calls made in response to this decision. 

But is it an LED light?

Heh!  There's tech geeks and there's food geeks and then there's both.  heh.

Congratulations are in order

Vodkapundit is a new father who posted a photo of his new son, Preston Davis Green.   And while on the subject of Vodkapundit, I have been meaning to link a photo he put up on his site Christmas day.  One of the most gorgeous digital photos I have seen in a some time. 

Who's in?

The Collinsville public library, always on the cutting edge of what's new and popular-the director has a blog!- recently...yesterday...offered an afternoon of open poker play in the community room.  I happened to be in the library yesterday and saw the flyer advertising Texas Hold em card game from 2-5 December 27.  Whoa!  I debated about hanging around to see how many showed up to play and then debated whether or not to sit in for a bit myself.  Prizes were offered.  heh.  No, I didn't do it.  I bet Texas Hold em will begin to replace the wildly popular Trivia Nights around here as fun and fund raising.  If the library is doing it, can the American Legion be far behind?  Good bye bingo, hello poker.

2005 predictions revisited

Paul Harris of KMOX radio in St. Louis had Gene Emery on his show yesterday.  Each year Emery saves the New Year predictions published by tabloid papers (and others) and when the year ends, he digs them out to see how they fared.  Emery is a reporter for the Providence Journal and a columnist at the Skeptical Inquirer.

He listed some of his favorite predictions including one which forecast that terrorists would sabotage robotic vacuum cleaners causing them to turn on their owners.   

For foodies, he related a prediction that an Ohio furniture manufacturer would develop edible furniture for couch potatoes. 

You can listen to the entire interview here.

Dueling headlines

Paul at Wizbang has an excellent rundown on how headline writers looked at the economy via the Christmas shopping season.  Well done.