Chocolate dragon, part of the Midnight Buffet. 

Another sunset shot. 

Two folks with one of the nicest seats on the boat. 

Sunset on the cruise. 

Here's a picture from the tail end of the cruise my wife and I just took. The ice sculptures were amazing, although the announcer did have to remind some of the brats on board not to get too close to the nice man swinging big damned blades around a chunk of ice. Sheesh. Some people's children. 

I have the smartest dog on the planet. I'm going to have to watch her carefully, or she's going to rule all humanity. She likes to play tug, so first she gets a stick from the yard.

She shoves the stick through the fence. 

And then she plays tug with the dog next door. 

We're still celebrating International Eat An Animal For PETA Day in my household. If enough people celebrate the holiday, maybe the PETArds will stop comparing the American poultry industry unfavorably to the Holocaust. 

Happy ending to a happy day, part two. Even with my pathetic attempt at keeping them properly, Cusano Corojo cigars are damn tasty. 

I have discovered that International Eat An Animal For PETA Day is actually March 15. I hereby humbly apologize to all 3 of my readers for this misinformation. To make amends, I shall publish a picture a day until then of tasty animals ready for devouring. Hell, I might even publish two pictures on the 15th, one of my steak, one of my little black dog eating her steak. Suck it, PETArds. 

International Eat an Animal For PETA Day celebrations continue. Much as I love dogs, cats, birds, fish, and various other animals, my contempt for PETA knows no bounds. 

It's International Eat an Animal For PETA Day. The carnage begins. 

Behold the beauty of a Fuji E550 with the colors set to Chrome! On a cloudy day, no less. 

Here's a picture from my new camera, a Fuji E550. 12MP Fine, 123mm equiv. zoom, 1/450s, f/4.5, ISO 80. Cropped an ugly shadow out of the top, and sharpened it, since the 12MP Fine mode is interpolated, and therefore almost always a bit soft. Let's not forget, of course, how splendid a subject I have to work with. 

Speaking of incredible cuteness, how's this? 

Can you feel the incredible cuteness just radiating from your computer screen? Overwhelming, isn't it? 

Little black dog with a cold tushie. Taken Christmas Eve, 2004. A good flash certainly helps, preferably one with a swivel head, for bounce flash and reflected light. Here, the flash is of course trained directly at the subject. 

On the way to the dog park, proof that there are still sane people in Cincinnati. 

One proud graduate of obedience school. Have I mentioned the incredible intelligence of little black dogs?