(1) A Colorful Countdown to Christmas: A collection of Advent calendar cards sparks up Germany’s holiday season

(2) The Secret World of Arrietty by Studio Ghibli

Playmobil on Flickr

(3) Ship off the coast of France

(3a) Modernized castle

(4) FedEx Ad: Enchanted Forest

(5) Quotes

The British Foreign Office characterized “Salazar the man” as having the shrewdness and parsimonious habits of the peasant; the native caution of the village dweller who mistrusts the prattle of the marketplace and the motives of others; and the cold detached outlook of the scholastic churchman who has been taught to appraise the puppet show of human endeavor sub specie aeternitatis.

– Lisbon: War in the Shadows of the City of Light, 1939-1945 by Neill Lochery