Summer in Prague

[NOTE: You can click on any of these images for a larger version of the photograph.]

Over the past week the weather's often been cool and rainy even though summer solstice was just a few days ago. But the days are long, the light is beautiful, and Petrin hill is still here for me to climb. On warm days I stop to sit on a bench and look down over the city:
I still take pictures of wildflowers on the hill -- this is a field scabious (Knautia arvensis):
But the full summer foliage makes it hard to take pictures of local birds. I did manage to capture this magpie on the gutter of the roof next door:
Among the sights on Petrin that I haven't posted pictures of yet is this tiny hutlike chapel:
And because of the rain, there are now lots of land snails on Petrin, making their slow steady progress:

Fashion Sense Comments on Mad Mel

In announcing that he's going to divorce his wife and that his girlfriend is pregnant, Mel Gibson has shown himself to be a hypocrite. Previously, he's shown himself to be a bigot. Here at Fashion Sense we just couldn't resist commenting on Mad Mel. [Click on the image for a larger version of this cartoon. The text reads: 'I'm under a lot of stress, so I'm doing yoga to try to relax, but my cat saw a picture of Mel Gibson and his pregnant girlfriend, and he was, like, Why is Mel Gibson divorcing his wife to be with Oksana? I thought he was supposed to be Catholic? and I said, "He claims to be," and the cat was, like, But I thought Catholics didn't believe in divorcing somebody you have seven kids with to be with somebody younger and hotter, and I said, "I guess Mel belongs to a very special Catholic group," and my cat was, like, So was the passion in The Passion of the Christ about the crucifixion or something else? and I said, "It's the passion of the Mel that's about something else," and the cat was, like, So now he's going to have eight kids? and I said, "Yeah, I guess he actually called himself the Octo-Mel on Leno last week," and the cat was, like, Look at this picture of his new girlfriend -- doesn’t she look a little like Nadya Suleman? and I said, "So what's your point?" and the cat was, like, It makes me wonder if the Octo-Mel craves the Octo-Mom , and I said, "I'm not crazy about Nadya, but she's less of a hypocrite than he is," and my cat was, like, Nor has she gone on any anti-Semitic rants while intoxicated, and I said, "That's another point in her favor. Just FYI, there's going to be a new musical called The Octo-Mom and an Octo-Mom reality show," and my cat was, like, The words reality and Octo-Mom don't seem to go together, and I said, "I guess we have to try to be tolerant of Nadya... and of Mel," and my cat was, like, Why? Mel isn't very tolerant, and I said, "Because tolerance is important, and besides Mel as Mad Max has shown us what the world could be like when we reach peak oil if people are cruel and intolerant," and my cat was, like, Now I'm the one that's feeling stressed. Do you know anything about yoga for cats? ']

Fashion Sense Says Lack of Health Insurance Not Oprah Is the Cause of Health Worries

Oprah is being criticized for her willingness to discuss alternative medicine, but the biggest threat to the health of citizens of the United States is our lack of decent health insurance coverage. [Click on the image for a larger version of this cartoon. The text reads: 'My sister called me and the first thing she said was, "Did you hear that Newsweek has exposed Oprah's fraudulent healthcare advice?" and I said, "Yes, and I also heard that Forbes says Angelina Jolie is now the world's most powerful celebrity, but I don't believe everything I read," and she said, "If people get more cautious about alternative medicine, it could have a bad effect on your leech therapy business," and I said, "As it turns out, I've decided to give up my leech therapy business and do some part-time petsitting instead," and she said, "But you have to care about the fact that people do what Oprah tells them to do, and these untested natural treatments can have bad side effects," and I said, "That's one part truth to a million parts propaganda," and she said, "That sounds like a toxic homeopathic remedy," and I said, "People certainly have to exercise caution, but the real cause of health care problems in the U.S. is lack of a real health care system," and she said, "But aren't you disturbed by what Oprah is doing?" and I said, "I found Suzanne Somers' description of injecting hormones into her lady parts far more disturbing," and my sister thought for a minute and said, "I guess I'll have to agree with you on that one."']