Cheeseheads and Terrible Towels

Here we are Monday morning consoling poor Tony after his Steelers put up a good fight. 

 And cheering Nathan on for his Cheesehead victory!

  Was great to see a superbowl that was up in the air till the last minute.  Kept you guessing :) 

Most of all though we enjoyed spending time with our brothers and sisters!

Artist Pick of the Week

Some of you may have seen him featured on Yahoo this week but this is an amazing artist/photographer.  His name is Liu Bolin he is Chinese and paints himself, along with the help of others of course, to match the surroundings he is photographing....It is like "Where's Waldo" for grown-ups.  Check it out!  I'll admit the one in front of the bulldozer took me a long time to find.



Interesting News

I always find it amazing to see what new things we discover animals are capable of.  Came across the article below today.  What unbelievable creations Jehovah has made! 

 

From Pat-Downs to Rat-Downs? Scientists Suggest Mice for Airport Security

Feb 3, 2011 – 2:20 PM

http://www.aolnews.com/2011/02/03/scientists-suggest-using-explosives-sniffing-mice-for-airport-se/

Ben Muessig Contributor

When you go to the airport, do you feel comfortable getting an enhanced pat-down? What about an enhanced rat-down?

Israeli scientists say they have found a way to harness the power of mice to bolster airport security.

Brothers Eran and Alon Lumbroso have constructed an explosive detector that looks like a standard airport metal detector or full-body scanner -- only it's filled with mice, according to New Scientist.

Robert F. Bukaty, AP

You don't want mice in your house -- but in your airport they could be a lifesaver. An Israeli company has created a device that uses trained mice to detect explosive residues.

The mouse trap contains three canisters, each filled with eight specially trained mice capable of picking up faint traces of explosive residues. When passengers tainted with possible explosive chemicals walk through the arch, the mice reportedly flee to a secondary compartment, setting off an alarm.

"It's as if they're smelling a cat and escaping," said Eran, one of the co-founders of BioExplorers -- the company that manufactures the device. "We detect the escape."

In a demo at a Tel Aviv shopping mall last year, the mouse-powered bomb detector accurately identified 22 test subjects carrying fake explosives, according to The Daily Telegraph.

BioExplorers says mice are more effective bomb-sniffers than dogs because they don't require constant human interaction, and they actually have more scent receptor genes than canines.

Privacy advocates might find the device less invasive than full-body scanners, but it isn't without its potential downsides -- someone has to clean the cages.

Fell Asleep in El Paso Woke Up in the Arctic

Although our weather pales in comparison to the amount of weather experienced by all you up North, even South in poor Dallas, we are none-the-less shocked by our recent weather.  Head on over to my Mum's for some lovely pics. www.floursandfleurs.wordpress.com  It's frozen outside and with that comes lack of water and lack of electricity.  (Not sure exactly how that works but apparently that is what happens here in El Paso)  UTEP has shut down as well.  Which means work i cancelled this evening!  I lived in the freezing cold of the North all my life and can say that work was never ever cancelled due to weather.  Then I move here, we get 1 inch and -10 windchill and bam!  Day off!  I LOVE IT!!!!!  In all honesty though no one down here has snow plows, salt, or portable heaters.  So hope you are all staying warm and cozying up with some hot cocoa in front of a fire place.

Cranberries

I've been on a bit of an Irish kick lately.  Think part of it is we've actually had a bit of cloud cover lately.  Mind you El Paso cloud cover consists of 90% Sun and a few cloudy moments throughout the day.  But with the wind starting to pick up again something about it reminds me of the lovely melancholy weather of Ireland.  Enjoy!