James McAvoy

No shit, I am one lucky bitch! I took this photo of James McAvoy eating lunch with his wife, Anne-Marie Duff, and a friend on Santa Monica Pier, the day after the Oscars. It's kizmet, folks. After all, I could have run into Chuck Norris or Steven Segal, for God's sake... Wait a minute, I DID actually see Steven Segal the day before on Ocean Ave. in Santa Monica! No joke.

I did not bother McAvoy as he walked by me minutes earlier, but I did take covert photos. If you know me, you know how much I adore this guy. He and Larry David are the two people I dreamed of running into... and look: one down, one to go! Totally unreal that I was in the right place at the right time. I could have missed him by a minute if I hadn't decided to turn around and head back down the pier at that moment.

I am proud of myself for letting him be because I imagine that's what I'd want if I were that famous and were out to lunch with loved ones on a lazy afternoon.

I saw him, I photographed him and I am still on cloud nine! Thank you, James & Anne-Marie!

B.A. Baracus... Obama?

I've created a new superhero: B.A. Baracus Obama. I have to photoshop Barack's head on Mr. T's body to complete the transformation, but what do you think? The A-Team rises again like a phoenix from the ashes!

In 2008 a presidential candidate was chosen by the American public to represent the Democratic Party in the upcoming election. This man promptly rose to prominence from a junior position in the US Senate. Today, still wanted by the Clinton campaign for stealing Hillary's thunder, he survives as soldier of fortune. If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find him, maybe you can hire B.A. Baracus Obama!

Sorry to the Stolen Generations

Finally, after centuries of bigotry and denial, the Australian government is set to formally apologize to the indigenous people of Australia for all the pain and suffering it has caused.

Guilt runs deep in the white community Down Under, which is why it has taken this long for the government to even acknowledge that its policies have had a negative effect on Aborigines since European settlement in the late 18th century. In one over-arching example, indigenous children were forcibly removed from their families by the Australian government and taken to internment camps to Anglicize them, between 1869 and 1969. One hundred years of severed ties to family and culture resulted, which directly contributed to the poor educational and economic conditions in which most Aborigines find themselves today.

These so called "Stolen Generations" will finally be acknowledged and apologized to by new Australian PM Kevin Rudd (pictured above with Matilda House-Williams). It's log overdue, but finally the healing process can begin after being further stalled by the previous Howard Administration, which put Reconciliation on the back burner (and actually turned off the heat). Says current PM Rudd, "It's taken 41 parliaments to get here. We can be a bit slow sometimes, but we got here. When it comes to parliaments of the future, this will become part and parcel of the fabric of our celebration of Australia in all of its unity and all of its diversity" (Sydney Morning Herald).

Though modern Australian citizens were not present when James Cook first reached the eastern shores of Australia in 1770, nor are they directly responsible for "the indignity and degradation thus inflicted on a proud people and a proud culture" (Kevin Rudd, Sydney Morning Herald), they inherit the joys and the burdens of a past that made the nation what it is today. We Americans are no different. It's time for all us to own up to the past.

Sydney Sun

Driving to work this morning, I experienced what I call Sydney Sun. Sydney Sun is the sunlight quality and intensity that you can usually find, even in winter months, at the bottom of the world in Australia. It's not that the light is just bright; you can find bright sunlight practically anywhere in the world, except Northern Europe. This particular light is so clear and intense that shadows have sharp edges, colors are heightened, and the world takes on an almost violet hue. I'm convinced that the human eye is pre-disposed to seeing violet light as the most clear of the ROYGBIV scale. Amazing!

Now, why is Sydney Sun present in the Virginia sky this morning? I don't know, but I hypothesize that we might be developing a hole in the ozone layer similar to the one over Australia, of course much smaller in size. Hmm... Perhaps there is something unique about the local atmosphere today, instead? Whatever the case, Sydney Sun is beautiful.

February 3, 1979

Yes, I looked exactly like Don Rickles when I popped out.

Punxsutawney Phil

"When Chekhov saw the long winter, he saw a winter bleak and dark and bereft of hope. Yet we know that winter is just another step in the cycle of life. But standing here among the people of Punxsutawney and basking in the warmth of their hearths and hearts, I couldn't imagine a better fate than a long and lustrous winter."

- Bill Murray, Groundhog Day

Happy Groundhog Day!
February 2, 2008