This will be my last post of 2005. Here's wishing you a mammoth 2006.

Suburban LA night vista.

'For your furred and unfurred primate needs, come to Crazy Eddie's House of Primates! We have a full range of primates, largest selection in LA! If it's got thumbs, it's at House of Primates! All braincase volumes! We will NOT be undersold! Tell 'em Eddie sent ya!'

Sonny 'Stripes' MacGavin had a right hook that made him both feared and admired on the heavyweight zebra boxing circuit.

Christmas lights in the sky, courtesy of a passing plane (or sleigh?) and a long exposure.

There's ridiculous. There's ludicrous. And then there's this. Merry Christmas.

A few degrees of tilt and this would have been a really good shot. Close enough that I feel compelled to post it anyway.

Keeping with the season, a bit of faux England in California.

Tree tripping. Like tree hugging, but without the sap in your hair.

Oh Great Pendulous Golden Ball, for why art thou so shiny and round?

After a hard day of merry making, the Head Elf liked nothing more than to come home and meditate on the yuletide spirit. Preferably with three fingers of Jim Beam at hand.

A little fall detail from the Descanso gardens.

Hanging ornaments on the tree as it plunged earthward wasn't easy, but Monique was a seasoned pro when it came to free-fall Christmas decoration.

So I just got a new camera, a Konica Minolta A200. I haven't had a chance to put it through its paces yet, but here's a shot I snapped in the living room. My first ever processed from RAW! *sniff* This is a beautiful day.

She's waiting for Prince Charming to wake her with a kiss. But in LA, she might be waiting a while.

I'll be in transit for most of today, probably with about as much leg room as this thing has.

Impassioned lovers wrestle as one / Lonely man cries for love and has none

Planned obsolescence is often framed as a buyer's problem, but what about the technology product itself? The psychological trauma of knowing you're obsolete before the ink on your manual is dry cannot be overestimated. Technology is often out of work and on the streets bare months after manufacture. Shelters and recycling programs are already over-taxed: the solution to this problem lies somewhere else. But where?

Mr. Fruity says, "An apple a day keeps the doctor away!" But when I plucked out his left eye and took a big, juicy bite, he started screaming. Sorry, Mr. Fruity, no doctors here!

Norway has a lockdown on ultra-large-format Rorschach test production. From my trip in 2003.

Stephen had no great business acumen, but the store was successful all the same. The secret was in his understanding that the world is full of needful things, and that matching them with their fated owners could be profitable indeed.

Obey

When the Thought Police are no longer sufficient to crush dissent against your oppressive regime... call in the Trust Police (I think there's a provision for this in the Patriot Act).

Steph watches the snow.

Broken mirror in the stall: who's the fairest church of all?

Unemployment rates for televisions in Italy have reached record highs due to a soft economy and rising home PC penetration.