A newsworthy item today is the  Egyptian Peace Plan for the Hamas-Israel war . The good news is that neither side outright rejected it. The Plan. Mediation led by Qatar. Initial cease-fire of up to two weeks. Phased release of up to 50 hostages, in return for 120-150 Palestinians from Israeli prisons. Formation of a government of experts to rule Gaza and the West Bank for a transitional period to work out presidential land parliamentary elections. Watch this NBC video . Getting more air time might have been the appearance, again, of  Taylor Swift at a Chief's game .  On Christmas Day she wore a Santa hat with the number 87, that of Travis Kelce.  She came with her family:  brother, mother, father.  Travis' dad was also in the suite, as was the wife of Patrick Mahomes.  She said she'll be there for the final game of the year, which is this coming weekend.  Alas, the Raiders beat the Chiefs, 20-14. Today begins a three-day cruise series.  ...

Did you know that  our Milky Way Galaxy has a Christmas tree ?  New General Catalogue of Nebulae and Clusters of Stars (NGC) 2264 was discovered in 1784 by William Herschel, and is located 2500 light years away from Earth.  These stars are only between one and five million years old.  Some are seven times the size of our Sun, which is 4.6 billion years old.   There is a smaller cluster within NGC2264 called the Snowflake Cluster ( photo to the right ). The entire grouping is known as the Christmas Tree Cluster.  NASA compiled renderings from multiple sources, their Chandra Observatory and NSF's NOIRLab Observatory, producing an animated image with the assistance of the Two Micron All Sky Survey. We are dining well this holiday season.  Here a dinner we had at the home of a golf colleague, Tommy and his wife Gail.  4,000 square feet home with a view from Diamond Head across the whole Waialae Golf Course, where the Sony Open is held, all the wa...

This Christmas we're doing nothing.  Sort of a continuation of our recent Japan trip when we mostly did nothing.  Mind you, nothing is great.  I live in Honolulu and this is the view from my computer as I start this posting. The temperature outside is 76 F, and there is a zero chance of rain if I wanted to go out on Christmas Eve.  The temperature for the rest of the week will reach a low in the very high 60's, and highs around 78 F. But since I'm doing nothing this weekend, I'm showing Christmas photos from the past.   A year ago we were in Singapore. In 2021  the Christmas tree on my 15 Craigside floor had a rainbow backdrop. From 2020 , Medellin River in Columbia and Garden by the Bay, Singapore. In 2017  I was on VIA Rail from Vancouver to Toronto.  Saw a lot of snow. In 2016 , went to a Christmas show. In 2015 I had a  staycation at the Waikiki Sheraton , followed by an  annual Christmas dinner  at Betsy and Harvey's....