Category: Animals

2014 in Review

Timothy Price34 Comments

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When Najar saw the stats from the Word Press “2014 Year in Blogging” she had covered her face. The other two photos are of Spunk trying to win over Najar. That’s an “Evil Schwa” behind Najar.

Word Press gives cutesy analogies about the number of visits to people’s blog’s, like how many times the Sydney Opera House would be sold out from the number of views a blog got in 2014. But let’s get real here! The music video “Gangnam Style” had so many views it broke the counter on Youtube. My blog got 0.00001231161485 views as a percentage of Gangnam Style’s current total views. Which means the number of views my blog got in 2014 stinks, and is statistically insignificant. A more fitting analogy to make my crappy numbers look better would be that the Men’s Room at the top of the escalator at the Louvre has 12 stalls. The number of views my blog got in 2014 would have filled a Men’s Room in the Louvre 2250 times.

I find the top five blogs each year are much more interesting. In 2014, Espresso Fino was number 1. The second most viewed blog was Zipper Spider from 2011. Zipper Spider has been in the top five every year since 2011. The Beauty And The Beer was number 3 in 2014, which came as a surprise to me. But apparently a beautiful woman with a beer is the perfect combination. Number 4 was Portrait of a Young Woman, and Day of the Dead came in at number 5.

Happy New Year!

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Eagle on the Rio Grande

Timothy Price23 Comments

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I went out for a walk along the Rio Grande just before sundown. A Bald Eagle was flying home along the far bank of the river, almost out of reach of my 70-200 mm zoom lens at 200 mm. The Sandhill Cranes were flying in for the night looking like bombers in formation as they flew overhead. As I made my way back home through the bosque, a lone crow sat on top of a branch watching the last bit of pink before it faded into the gray dusk.

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The Butler

Timothy Price34 Comments

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I think this holiday season has gone to the cats. Tesla was the butler for the party at Lane’s house last night. He donned his bowtie and made sure we were well taken care of with plenty of kitty antics.

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A Furry & Feathery Merry Christmas

Timothy Price36 Comments
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Spunk helping Laurie wrap presents.

 

I photographed all the animals Christmas Eve, trying to get them to have a “Merry Christmas” look about them. The birds and Spunk were more than willing participants, Diné was okay with it as long as she didn’t have to get off the heater vent under the bed, but Rosencrantz and Guldenstern took quite a bit of coaxing. Blue, the Boa, opted out because she is getting ready to shed — she has milky-blue eyes and she’s a bit cranky — it’s best to leave a 7 foot long boa constrictor alone when she doesn’t want to be photographed.

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Beaker is still looking great after 22 years.

 

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Guildenstern thinking about making a mad dash to get away from the pesky camera.

 

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Søren was more than happy to get in some time in front of the camera.

 

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Rosencrantz was like “You bothering me boy!”

 

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Diné wouldn’t budge from the heater vent under the bed.

 

 

Spunk Watches Italian Music Videos

Timothy Price31 Comments

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Spunk has started watching Italian music videos. His current favorites are Anna Tatangelo’s “Sensi” (Feelings) — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xB6QA7snWqk, and Litfiba’s “Squalo” (Shark) — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbcYNU71JOo.

In “Squalo” there are a couple of women painted up as skeletons who dance in the darkness for a few seconds at various times throughout the video. Spunk would start pawing at the skeleton figures every time they came on screen. I wonder how he sees the figures that makes him want to touch them.

I put on another Italian music video, but Spunk lost interest soon after it began, jumped down and started playing with his toys on the floor. When I replayed “Sensi”, he bounded across the room, slid up to the computer and intently watched the video again — he seemed to be enamored by Anna.

The lyrics to “Sensi” in Italian and English are available at http://lyricstranslate.com/en/sensi-feelings.html. I did not find an English translation for “Squalo”.

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You Botherin’ Me Boy!

Timothy Price19 Comments

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I had to stop by the bank on Saturday morning — the parking lot was empty. When I stepped out to the car, a crow was standing in the parking space next to me. I took on photo of him, and then got closer for a second shot. He just stood there, kind of like Foghorn Leghorn, cocked his head sideways and gave me a “Go, I say go away boy, you bother me” look.

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