(“Rînd de Hore” by Taraf de Haïdouks, from Latcho Drom, 2003.)

And that's a wrap for Year 5. Tomorrow we'll start Year 6!

To set the festive mood, above is one of the many super-energizing scenes from one of our favorite films of all time, the “docu-musical” Latcho Drom by Tony Gatlif. It's sure to bring everyone here on Pruned HQ and hopefully elsewhere up dancing on their feet, gliding a few inches above the floor, with limbs and shoulders frenetically jerked about by cosmic marionette strings. No one can resist its infectious pulse.

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Meanwhile, as per tradition, we purchased our anniversary architectural notecard from Andrew Zega & Bernd H. Adams. Going through the choices this year, we were ecstatic to find out that some of the extant and nonextant follies of the Désert de Retz were added to the catalog last year. Rendered so beautifully in watercolor and in such small dimensions, they look so ridiculously precious.

We ended up getting the Pyramid, the pyramid used for serving glaciers.