Sorry to disappoint, but I am not going to post about Miss P, the beagle.  I will admit that she is cute.  But we try to avoid cute cuddly animal pictures here at Hati and Skoll.  Also, I am not going to post about Bostonians jumping off roofs and out of windows into the snow.  I went this morning into the belly of beast – straight into downtown Boston.  By the time I found a place to park, I fully understood the frustration of these snow jumpers.

I have however, been carefully studying all the carnival photographs from around the world.  My favorite is a snap of my friend, and reader, Mary from the Dominican Republic with a rather scary looking character.  But from a more public venue I have settled upon (Best in Show) a beautiful and very blue image – cool blue –  by  Vanderlei’ Almeida for the AFP showing Samba dancers at the annual carnival parade in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.  But dig in to all the images yourself.  It is a colorful wayl to escape winter – images from Rio, New Orleans, and of course, from Venice.

Carnival for photographers is a wonderful mix.  You’ve got colors.  You’ve got strange and wonderful forms that ultimately test the bounds between reality and fantasy.  What more could you ask for?