'I shall be very happy to call the fourth year after you,' the surprised Jade Emperor explained.
Just then a kind dragon swooped down to take fifth place.
'Why didn’t you win the race, as you can fly as well as swim?' the Jade Emperor asked.
'I was held up because some people and animals needed water to drink. I needed to
make some rain,' the dragon explained. 'Then when I was nearly here I saw a poor
little rabbit on a log in the water and I blew a puff of wind so that the log would
float to the river bank.'
'Well that was very kind of you and now you are here you will have the fifth year of
the zodiac named after you.'
The next thing the Jade Emperor heard was the sound of the horse’s hooves. Just as
he was thinking the horse would be the next animal to arrive, a sneaky snake wriggled
out from around one of the horse’s hooves. The horse was so surprised that he jumped
backwards giving the snake a chance to take the sixth place in the race. The poor
horse had to be satisfied with seventh place.
Not long afterwards a raft arrived carrying the goat, the monkey and the rooster.
They explained to the Emperor how they had shared the raft that the rooster had
found. The goat and monkey had cleared weeds and pushed the raft to the shore.
The Emperor was very pleased that the animals had worked together. He said the
goat would be the eighth zodiac animal, the monkey the ninth and the rooster the tenth.
The next animal to finish was the dog.
'Why are you so late when you are one of the best swimmers?' asked the Jade Emperor.
'The water in the river was so clean that I had to have a bath on the way,' explained the dog.
His reward was to have the eleventh year named after him.
Now there was one place left in the zodiac and the Emperor wondered when the last
winner would come. He had nearly given up when he heard a grunt from the boar.
'You took a long time to cross the river,' said the Emperor to the boar.
'I was hungry and stopped to eat,' explained the boar. 'After the
meal I felt so tired that I fell asleep.'
'You have still done well,' said the Jade Emperor. 'The last year
of the zodiac will be named after you.'
As for the cat who had been pushed into the water by the rat, he finally crawled
out of the water but was too late to have a year named after him. He felt very
cross with the rat and since then cats have never been friends with rats.
From that day to this the Chinese Zodiac has followed this cycle of years named
after these twelve animals.
29. January 2011 04:58
by Rene Pallesen
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The other day Kim and I went for a walk down to the local park with Aiden.
It was a good opportunity for us to give him a ride on one of the swings as they have some bucket seats that makes it impossible for him to fall out (he is still not able to quite sit by himself yet).
He absolutely loved the experience and wasn't scared at all (we will make a real boy out of him in no time).
He is now seven and a half months and is learning how to control his parents and he is starting to know what he wants and don't want...ie doesn't want to sleep if he is in a playful mood.
28. January 2011 01:26
by Rene Pallesen
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Over the weekend I had a play with creating a more interesting profile photo for my Facebook profile. The idea was to use photoshop to create something a bit out of the ordinary (and a bit spooky).
Anyway here it is...and you can either love it or hate it!
For those interested in the details...it is 3 composite photos (Face, left eye and mouth). I could have done it with two composites, but I wasn't happy with the mouth. It was originally shot on a red background but I desaturated the background and darkened it a bit because I though this looks better. It has also been ultra sharpened to add some effect.
27. January 2011 09:43
by Rene Pallesen
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This Tuesday Kim and I went to the Opera to see Madame butterfly with one on Kims friends. I have already seen Madame butterfly some years ago so this was a bit of a repeat for me.
It was the same stage setup as last time, most of the cast were the same as well, but despite that it was an really good experience. It is a good story despite the tragic ending...and yes the american sailor is both a dog and a coward.
Kim was sitting next to me crying for much of the performance...so sad!!!
31. December 2010 10:43
by Rene Pallesen
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When we arrived to New Caledonia we started to find a good place/party to celebrate New Years eve.
As far as we could tell it sounded like the hotel we were staying at was the place to be, but when we tried to book we were told that it was fully booked and that we were number twenty-six on the waiting list. Fortunately we received confirmation a couple of days later that we now had a confirmed booking at the party.
On new years eve we were greeted by musicians playing local music and girls putting a Lei around our necks. Kim and I was going to bring Aiden along to the party (fortunately there was other kids there as well).
Aiden wasn't sure what to think of the Lei...I think he would prefer not to have one as it tickled.
There was about 3-400 guests at the party and the food was absolutely fantastic. It was a buffet of 25-30 dishes of mainly seafood ranging from fresh oysters (still moving in their shell), lobster salads, sushi to fresh Sashimi cut straight from a massive tuna.
This was followed by entertainment from dancers and musicians.
After the entertainment the dance floor was open and pretty much everyone (including Kim and I) was dancing. Aiden got his first dance with mummy (all the other guest were laughing).
At midnight everyone celebrated the new year with a toast.
After midnight we headed up to our hotel room to see if there was any fireworks (there was a little so Aiden got to experience his first fireworks).
