On the longtail boat to Koh Yao Noi

Just a one and a half hour ride on a longtail boat from the busy tourist island of Phuket lies Koh Yao Noi, a small island where developers have not yet started their abuse of beachfronts. Rolien, a good friend of mine who lives on Phuket, and I just spend three days there. Three days of doing nothing more than being on Koh Yao Noi. Rooms with views over Pha Nga Bay offer the only activity necessary, looking at it.

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We took our motorbikes to the island

Happy Thanksgiving from Sebastian!

My mama is sooooo boring. All these pictures. *yawn* Whats a baby to do?

Today I am thankful for:
~ My wonderful loving husband and sweet healthy baby (whose hair is red we’ve decided. When he was first born we thought it was a dark blonde but now it looks more like light auburn)
~ Our family, friends and critters
~ Our funky old home

This was taken the weekend that I found out I was knocked up. Snow in Georgia? Amazing! I hope we get snow again soon.

~ My husband and I both being employed
~ Tylenol Cold and Sinus medicine-I’ve been battling this yucky cold for a few days now and it is the only thing that seems to help
~ Being able to wear socks and shoes again. When I was all swollen from the pre-e, I couldn’t even wear flip flops anymore. See?

~ Being treated successfully for the pre-e. My blood pressure was normal at my OB visit day before yesterday and I don’t have to take the blood pressure pills anymore. Hooray!
~ Not getting thrown up on or peed on today

Because of my cold and Chris’s cough, we’re not going to anyone’s house for Thanksgiving. My mom is going to drop off plates of turkey and dressing to us later though and we’ll eat in the dining room and have a mini Thanksgiving.

Hope everyone has a happy and full Thanksgiving!

[via]

Aleksey Igudesman und Sebastian Gürtler führten zusammen mit dem österreichischen Jugendorchester diese Aufführung auf, in der der Dirigent per Fernbedienung kontrolliert wird.

Für die Musiker sind da teilweise ziemliche Brocken dabei. Wer mal versucht hat, live einen Ton rückwärts zu spielen, wird das bestätigen können

La  MACRAME’ PRODUCTION comunica che il video DIAMOCI UNA MOSSA, in gara per la II edizione del Concorso organizzato dall’Ufficio Sport del Comune di Sesto Fiorentino in collaborazione con Decathlon, sull’importanza dello sport è arrivato secondo. Sabato 28 novembre presso il Polo Scientifico di Sesto si terrà la premiazione. Gli interpreti del cortometraggio sono Sebastian Fabrizio Gravanti e Alessia Pacini. Il Soggetto e la regia sono di Sebastian Fabrizio Gravanti, Michele Arena e Luisa Circelli… Congratulazioni ragazzi, la creatività e l’estro campigiano sono sempre in primo piano.

Holiday Hours

Black Friday 9:00am – 9:00pm

Monday – Saturday 10:00pm – 7:00pm

Sunday 12:00pm – 5:00pm

Got our Wubbanub and love it:

Hace un poquito más de un año que conocí este grupo de mujeres internacionales, no lo imaginé siquiera, aquella vez cuando acepté hacerme cargo de su sitio web, en el almuerzo de Navidad de 2008, que terminaría siendo parte del comité y fuertemente activa en todo este movimiento.

Es una actividad que me ha llegado a apasionar! E increible me parece aún el echo de que también estoy a cargo de la revista mensual! Tengo en mis manos su base de datos, tengo el poder!

No es que haya tenido que pelearme por ocupar todos estos puestos, al contrario, no habían muchos voluntarios, ya que todo el trabajo es ad honorem. Pero aún así, puedo decir, sí trabajo.

Mañana celebraremos un almuerzo de Navidad más, mi segundo en este grupo. La diferencia es que esta vez conoceré a todo mundo y me sentiré como en casa. Hace un año Sebastian estaba conmigo, compartiendo el almuerzo, esta vez iré sola, bueno, con amigas. Esta vez estaré ocupada, tendré que sacar muchas fotos para la revista, pasar formularios para ser socias a las nuevas personas que asistan, tendré que repartir las tarjetas de socio a quien sea que no haya dado aún.

Sí, será un almuerzo muy diferente al del año pasado! Y posiblemente, el próximo, ya no esté…

Así como mi vida ha dado otra vez un giro de 180°, la vida de mis niños ha cambiado tanto en tan pocos meses.

En cuestiones de ir al baño, Sebastian ya no tiene accidentes. Desde Agosto él va corriendo a sentarse a su basín cuando sea que lo necesita. Su costumbre es llevar un juguete y un libro en las manos, o cuando está viendo algún video, acerca su basín cerca de la pantalla, y continúa disfrutando del video mientras su cuerpo trabaja.

Jan Thomas cumplió 4 años hace una semana. De repente un día se me ocurrió que quería celebrarlo a lo grande, y me puse a preparar una fiesta, invité a muchos de sus amiguitos y no tan amiguitos. Al final resultó un bullicio con tanto niño suelto dentro de la casa. No pudimos salir al patio porque llovió, cosa que más o menos aguó la fiesta. La música no tenía suficiente volumen, así que no había forma de que bailen. Les dejamos gritar a su antojo.

Le preparé por supuesto la torta de chocolate de todos los años, aunque compré una extra, por si algo salía mal, como el año pasado. Esta vez la torta extra estuvo demás.

También preparé pizza, salió tan buena que todo el mundo se fue suspirando por más! Apenas logré salvar una para nosotros.

En fin, lo único que puedo decir de la fiesta es que no la volveré a repetir en muchos años.

Oooh, någonting Sebastian önskat sig länge nu; en ljussabel från StarWars.
En stor dessutom, som blinkar och låter.

Bakugan är det nya svarta. Eller de nya Gormitisarna.
Tydligen är det något av det häftigaste du kan leka med. Ju större, eller fler Bakugan-bollar man har, desto bättre är det enligt Sebastian som vill ha allt med Bakugan som Tomten kan hitta.

En målarlåda skulle passa Sebastian fint.

Gärna en med alla möjliga sorters innehåll, som här; vattenfärger, kritor, tuschpennor, färgpennor.

Men även de fina Whiteboardpennorna från IKEA att skriva med på sitt staffli i sitt rum.

Strip Steve (myspace) is a dude from France whose sound I’ve been obsessed with for some time now. Happily, he’s still going and making that sound. He’s thrown together a little mix of tracks which I believe will show up on an EP some day soon. (EDIT: the EP is out, it’s called Delta Disco.)

Track: Strip Steve – Minimix (listen).

PS. Has anyone heard that untitled SebastiAn set rip that’s floating around? Reminds me of the Justice’s ‘Planisphere’ which popped up a while ago now.

Puuuuuha, Mikkel har tømmermænd .. Jeg var jo ude og svinge skinkerne med den altid skønne Katrine i går, og det gik ikke still for sig .. Shots har aldrig været mit speciale, men indtaget det blev de . Danset blev der også, de spillede nemlig min yndlingssang (Lady Gaga – Bad Romance) to gange! Nu ligger jeg bare i sengen med store øjne, stort hovede og drikker cherry coke .. Mmmhm, livet er godt ..

Men konkurrencen om de lækre Sebastian Hydre produkter fra Sebastian Proffesional er nemlig slut!

Sebastian Hydre by Sebastian Proffesional

Vinderen blev Sanne med kommentaren:

En eftermiddag er ikke nok Så vores dag er nok lidt på et drømmeplan men ikke mindre fantastisk af den grund.
Manhattan, New York…….. vi starter morgenen med en lille gåtur i central park, kigger på de små egern der hopper rundt og folk der er ude og løbe deres morgentur. Så hopper vi på en subway til Soho. vi spiser morgenmad på Balthazar (måske en fantastisk Buckwheat crepe med Ham og Gruyere) Hvorefter vi går rundt i Soho i kigger lækre butikker og små Gallerier. Især Et galleri med fantastiske modefortografier af forskellige topmodeller falder vi helt i svimer over. vi spiser italiensk frokost på cipriani, hvor vi sidder ude foran og kigger på folk der går forbi.
Endnu en Subway tur fører os til stedet: SAKS, Nærmere betegnet deres gigantiske skoafdeling! vi bruger timevis på louboutin’s, choo’s, Blahniks’s og alle de andre guddommelige stilletter.
Vi er nu ret trætte og må tilbage til vores hotel (nævnte jeg vi bor på Hudson Hotel?) lige overfor hotellet henter vi skøn aftensmad med hjem på hotellet fra whole foods supermarkedet lige overfor. alverdens lækkert mad som take away. vi spiser på værelset mens der kører nogle super-amerikanske realityshows på tv. Vi sidder og kigger på alle vores fine nye køb, og beslutter hvad vi skal have på. (jeg hopper i mine nye tårnhøje louboutin stilletter som jeg i denne her drømmeverden sagtens kan gå i hele natten ) Vi tager afsted til vores forestilling på broadway, og efter et par timer, er vi klar til at rykke ud i New Yorks natteliv og feste lige til den lyse morgen

Jeg er jo simpelthen en sucker for New York og SATC, så Sanne har simpelthen ramt så rigtigt som nogen kan gør . Udover det vil jeg da gerne have lov til at sige tak til alle jer der har deltaget . Det var super lækkert at se at det var så mange der var friske på en lille hyggelig blog-konkurrence .. Jeg syntes alle tingene der blev skrevet lød rigtigt spændende, og i er godt nok nogle opfindsomme tøser der sidder derude!

Nu er det cherry coke og søvn!

The White Pelican

 The magnificent White Pelicans on the Indian River.

By the way, we discovered some beautiful music at the Holmes Beach Art Fair on Sunday and we’ve been wearing out the CDs. Patchouli is the folk duo of Julie Patchouli and guitarist Bruce Hecksel. check them out at www.patchouli.net. You think that’s her real name?

Eric and Alan were 20th century staples.  Does this old school smoosh work in the 21st?

Thanks to Charlotte Vera for suggesting Alaric as Name of the Day.

Alaric is Goth.  Not the dark eyeliner, Siouxie Sioux Goth.  Nope, we’re talking the havoc-making, Rome-sacking Visigoths.

Alaric I ruled the Visigoths early in the fifth century, establishing a new royal line and invading the Eternal City in 410.  He was a big deal back then, and you’ll find references to him in art and literature through the ages.

Alaric II came along a few decades later, in 485.  In between the two Alarics,  Gesalec, Sigarec, Wallia and Thorismund held the throne, among others.  Your average Visigoth monarch’s moniker would not wear terribly well circa 2009.

But Alaric is the exception.  He sounds like a three-syllable combo platter made up of Eric and Alan, but he’s actually from the Germanic elements ala - all and ric – ruler, or something like “king of all.”  It’s a fitting name for the founder of a dynasty.

Besides the Visigoths, there was a legendary king of Sweden called Alrek 0r Alrekr, and often Anglicized as Alaric.

While Alaric has never appeared in the US Top 1000, you’ll find Alaric in the census records.  The Latin form of the name – Alaricus – pops up in medieval records, too, suggesting that he’s been in occasional use for generations.

But most modern parents probably discover Alaric in the pages of a book.  If not history, then fiction:

• Katherine Kountz used Alaric for a character in her long-running Deryni fantasy series – he’s a duke, and a good egg;
• Stephen King used it for Roland’s grandfather in his Dark Towers series;
• One of Anthony Trollope’s Three Clerks was Alaric Tudor;
• PG Wodehouse, best known for his Jeeves & Wooster series, also wrote about the inhabitants of Blandings Castle.  The elderly, grouchy Duke of Dunstable is a frequent visitor – and wears the name Alaric.

The British Navy used Alaric for a submarine late in World War II, and at least one Alaric has served the US military with distinction – back during the Civil War, Union Army officer Alaric Chapin was awarded the medal of honor.

It’s difficult to decide if Alaric is over the top in 2009.  Gavin and Tristan are Top 100 picks.  Boys answer to Sebastian and Julian.  Romeo ranked #466 and Orlando #419.

Perhaps the best way to describe Alaric is from the title of one of my favorite user-created lists at Nameberry:  My Braver Alter-Ego Would Totally Use These.  The list groups Alaric with other gems like Horatio, Junia and Crispin – quirky and stylish, but just a bit less accessible than almost mainstream choices like Asher.

Alaric offers a few nicknames – Al, Rick and Aric are the obvious three.  If those don’t thrill you, proceed with caution.  While more and more parents use – and prefer that others use – their child’s full name, there’s no guarantee what will happen when your son hits middle school.  Or tuck Alaric in the middle spot, where he’d be a good substitute for Alexander.

Then again, what kid wouldn’t be delighted to learn that he was named after a barbarian king?

As you may have deduced from the fact that I write the “Random Art Piece of the Week” feature, I like art. In fact, I am an art history minor. So yeah, you’d be right.
This week I’ve decided to do a 180, and not talk about sports. Except for that.
Instead, I’m going to introduce you to some of my favorite people. Art history, for about fifteen or sixteen hundred years, is all about Christianity. Because the church had the money, they were the ones commissioning the art. And what did they want art about? Not kittens, that’s for sure.
They wanted art about religion. In turn, this led to many a painting of a dead or dying Jesus, and quite a collection of paintings of saints. I have a few I’m quite fond of, despite my Jewish roots. I’d like for you to meet them.

1) Meet Saint Lawrence, or as I like to call him, St. Larry.

If you want to talk about tough ass motherfuckers, Larry is your boy.
Why?
Well, in this painting (The Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence, Titian), St. Larry is actually being barbecued alive.
The story of Saint Lawrence is your usual “Christian in the time of Roman paganism” story, until you get to his actual martyrdom. The man who ordered Lawrence’s death was so mad at him that he condemned Lawrence to a slow death- calling for him to be roasted alive by a slow fire.
But would that stop Larry? No it wouldn’t. Larry “burnt with so much love for God” that he barely felt the flames. In fact, he was so happy to be joining the recently martyred Pope that he even joked as he was roasted. “Turn me over” he said. “I’m done on this side!” You think I’m kidding? I’m not. Just before his death he supposedly said “It’s cooked enough now”.
And that is why he is one of my favorite people.

2) Now it’s time to say hi to George.

Hi Georgie!
Isn’t he adorable? At the very least, Donatello’s Saint George sculpture is the most precious little saint ever.
Don’t disagree. Just don’t. Saint Georgie is my boy.

Saint George is quite a badass, although in terms of toughness, I’m going to have to let Larry get the win here. Barbecued alive, folks.
In common mythology, St. George is known for slaying a dragon.
Slaying a dragon! Bad. Ass.

A dragon made its nest on top of the spring that served as the water supply for a town. In order to get water, the townsfolk had to distract the dragon by giving it food- a sheep, or if no sheep were available (yeah, I don’t know either) a young maiden. The young maiden was chosen through the extremely fair method of drawing lots.
UNFORTUNATELY, one day the young maiden who was chosen in an extremely fair manner was the Princess. Obviously, nobody wants to have their daughter eaten for a snack, and so the king took his time asking for mercy for his daughter.
I’m sure the townspeople were like “Dude. Our daughters have been eaten too. Don’t be a jerk. We don’t want our daughters eaten. STFU”
And so princess was sent off to become human trail mix. Just as she was about to be gobbled up, who should show up, but our boy Georgie!
Georgie, who was a soldier in the Diocletian’s army, caught wind of what was going on, and slew the dragon.
Pretty awesome.

Not so awesome? Diocletian issued an edict declaring that all Christian soldiers were to be given as a sacrifice for a pagan god. When George came forward and refused to renounce his Christianity, he was tortured and summarily decapitated.

3) One year, I was stalked by the name Sebastian.
Every book, magazine, movie I read or saw had some character or crew member named Sebastian. It was everywhere. Then I went to Venice, and discovered that there was a church dedicated to Saint Sebastian. It’s Venice, so there’s a church dedicated to everybody and Jesus’ mother, but still. SEBASTIAN! So I made a pilgrimage.
My love for Saint Sebastian therefore, has almost nothing to do with the saint himself, so here are some funny Saint Sebastian facts.

Have you seen “Made of Honor”? Well unfortunately, I have. (IT HAD KEVIN MCKIDD AND MY FRIEND MADE ME GO. DON’T JUDGE ME) In the very beginning, Michelle Monaghan is working on a painting in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Who is the painting of? None other than our boy Sebastian!

How can you tell?
Sebastian is usually depicted chained to or propped against a column and stuck full of arrows. That’s pretty much a giveaway.

Saint Sebastian healed a blind woman, and, convinced by this miracle, several dozen people converted. Diocletian condemned him to death for these transgressions, and ordered Sebastian to be shot to death. Because this was 288 A.D. shot to death meant death by arrow.

Sebastian was shot full of arrows, but miraculously didn’t die. The woman who was going to burying him realized he was alive, and nursed him back to health. When he was healed, he cured a young girl of being mute, and went on to harass Diocletian as he passed in a procession.
Diocletian wasn’t too pleased at being heckled by a supposedly dead guy, and ordered him beaten to death.

Unfortunately for Sebastian, this time it worked. Because he was sentenced to death twice, Sebastian is sometimes known as “the saint who was martyred twice”. Now that’s what I call overkill.
/Bad jokes.

4) Last but not least, and because I’ve only listed male saints, is Saint Theresa.

Why do I love Saint Theresa?
Because of all these people, she has the coolest reason for being a saint.
Simply put, she orgasm-ed her way to sainthood.

Theresa secretly entered a convent at the age of 20. She experienced visions of Christ, and in her memoirs recalled a particularly vivid “vision”:

I saw in his hand a long spear of gold, and at the iron’s point there seemed to be a little fire. He appeared to me to be thrusting it at times into my heart, and to pierce my very entrails; when he drew it out, he seemed to draw them out also, and to leave me all on fire with a great love of God. The pain was so great, that it made me moan; and yet so surpassing was the sweetness of this excessive pain, that I could not wish to be rid of it…

Passion of the Christ, indeed.

Saint Theresa would be immortalized in a sculptural work by Gianlorenzo Bernini titled “The Ecstasy of Saint Theresa”. It’s quite a stunning work, and my love of Bernini no doubt influences my love of Saint Theresa.

Theresa also worked to further Christianity and teach people, but really, what’s not to love about a nun that hallucinates her way to orgasm from Jesus stabbing her with a gold spear and considers it, without irony, a religious experience?
NOTHING, that’s what.

“To true fishermen, independent and rugged living means more than any modern convenience.  A true fisherman, a real salt, if you will, they like that independence.  They like the solitude.  They like the river. They like the ocean.  It’s the thrill of the hunt.  It’s the chase.  It’s the pursuit.  Most of the real true fishermen are self-reliant people.  They fix their own equipment.  They’re electricians, they’re plumbers, they’re welders, they’re fiberglass men, and they’re carpenters.  They very much don’t want to depend on anybody else.  It’s really that rugged breed that you don’t see a lot of today.”
-Charlie Sembler, fisherman from Sebastian, Florida.

Sebastian, Florida has seen its share of “salts” like most waterfront communities in the state. There are countless stories to be heard and history to be re-visited. Now you can hear these tales of the community of Sebastian, a waterfront region that was separated from the Atlantic Ocean by a barrier island, the Indian River Lagoon. The goal for many years was to cut an inlet through the barrier island to gain access to the fisheries of the Atlantic Ocean and the abundance of fish and shellfish ripe for the picking. The creation of the Sebastian Inlet introduced a flow of saltwater into the center of the freshwater lagoon.  The brackish water allowed the Indian River to become the most species-diverse lagoon in North America.

Our seafood department has produced a video documentary about the city of Sebastian and the Indian River Lagoon. The video can be found here. Five additional videos will be produced to highlight some of Florida’s other working waterfronts in the following locations: Keys/Miami, Cortez, Tarpon Springs, Destin/Apalachicola, and Jacksonville/Mayport/St. Augustine. These videos will detail the historical development of each area’s commercial fishing industry and spotlight the fishermen who carry on the fishing legacy today.

So pull up a chair and lend an ear for a little taste of Sebastian’s history.  You might become hooked!

photos from flickr 1, 2, 3

Båda barnen önskar sig lakan och påslakan!

Sebastian som trist nog får ha “vuxenlakan” vill ha coola sängkläder för tuffa grabbar, men även tråkiga underlakan.

Exempel på detta?
Från Hemtex.

Alice önskar sig också hon fina påslakan och dra-på-lakan till spjälsängsstorlek. Även om mamman och pappan inte hittat rätt spjälsäng ännu så är det på G när som helst nu.
Fina bebislakan?

Klassiska fina rutiga från Hemtex.

Mysiga från Micki.

Sött från IKEA.

Det är lite svårt att förklara barnspel för vuxna som inte fattar ett dugg, särskillt när du är sex år gammal och inte är en fena på att förklara händelseförlopp, men så mycket har vi förstått att Sebastian önskar sig spel i julklapp.

Här några roliga förslag:

Ramlande apor.

Vem där?

MixMax.

Eller kanske något gammalt hederligt som Fia med Knuff, memory eller Fyra-i-rad?

Hot Wheels småbilar är någonting som ALLTID går hem hos Sebastian. De finns i princip alla leksaksbutiker och även stormarknader som Coop och ICA Maxi.

Det vi till 100% säkerhet vet redan är inköpt, av antingen farfar eller tomten är: