Orang Utan trying to spear a fish

Is this one smart orang utan or what? He is hanging precariously on a branch and trying to spear a fish swimming in the water! Wow! I did not know that orang utans have learnt to use a tool to hunt for their food!!

Painting of men playing cards in underwear fetches £ 4.1 mil

BEIJING (Reuters) - A Beijing auction raised a record 57.12 million yuan (4.1million pounds) for a mainland Chinese oil painting of men playing cards in their underwear, state media said on Tuesday.

"The Breeding Ground No.1", from the contemporary painter Liu Xiaodong's Three Gorges Series, was bought by a private buyer at the China Guardian 2008 Spring Auction, Xinhua news agency said.

The painting, 2.6 metres (eight and a half feet) high and 10 metres wide, was drawn in the Three Gorges area from 2005 to 2006, depicting 11 men in their underwear playing cards.

"I painted the Three Gorges three times. Every time was a personal improvement for me," said Liu, 45, a China Central Academy of Fine Arts graduate.

Would you pay £4.1 million for a painting of men playing cards in their underwear?! I don't think I would!

I have been searching the internet for a picture of this painting but have had no success. Probably you won't see it because it would result in reproductions! Not good for the buyer, eh!

Derek Paravicini The Musical Genius

Have you heard of twenty-eight-year-old Derek Paravicini? I first heard of this amazing man on CBS' 60 Minutes program.

Derek is blind, and severely disabled. He can't tell his left hand from his right hand, doesn't know how to dress himself but when he plays the piano you will most certainly be astonished. His talent is so amazing and Lesley Stahl who interviewed Derek on the 60 Minutes program calls him a living iPod. Derek remembers and is able to play every song he has heard on the piano. He effortlessly plays the melody of any song with his left hand on the piano.

His talent is such that it makes you cry just to watch him play considering he has the intelligence of a three-year-old. He is what is called a savant, someone with one exceptional skill that is out of keeping with the rest of his other skills.

Here's the first of five clips called Derek Paravicini The Musical Genius. This documentary was made in 2006 when Derek was 26-years-old. Watch it and be amazed by his talent.

Mid LifeCrisis - Solved

When I was married 25 years, I took a look at my wife one day and said, "Honey, 25 years ago we had a cheap apartment, a cheap car, slept on a sofa bed and watched a 10-inch black and white TV, but I got to sleep every night with a hot 25-year-old blonde.

"Now we have a nice house, nice car, big bed and plasma screen TV, but I'm sleeping with a 50-year-old woman. It seems to me that you are not holding up your side of things."

My wife is a very reasonable woman.

She told me to go out and find a hot 25-year-old blonde, and she would make sure that I would once again be living in a cheap apartment, driving a cheap car, sleeping on a sofa bed and watching a 10-inch black and white TV."

Aren't older women great? They really know how to solve your mid life crisis.

African Violets

I love African Violets but I have not had much success with them. I don't know how many pots I have killed and the two surviving ones look miserable. They have not flowered in the last few years. I continue to keep them on my kitchen window sill because they are still alive!


Do they look pitiful or what?! You think they look like that because I never fertilize them? Could be, eh. Haha.

A few weeks ago, I saw several pots of African Violets at the local supermarket. I wanted to get more than one pot, but resisted, and brought one pot home instead. So far they are still alive! I was afraid that the moment I brought it into the house it will die on me!


This is a pretty color. There were several colors to choose from, and after picking up and putting down a few, I finally decided on this one. I think I should start fertilizing it every couple of weeks or so, so they will bloom constantly. If it doesn't die on me before it has a chance to re-bloom, that is!

Any tips on keeping African Violets healthy, anyone?