November

Whoops! I forogt to post this calendar page back at the first of the month. This is the blossom of the Coral Bean plant, which most of the year is a scrawny, ugly, thorny, downright lousy excuse for a bush. But when it blooms, WOW!

Tripping The Light Fantastic

No, these aren't milk flavored jellyfish. This is the reflection of the moon in the bay. I liked the way it looked, so I tried to shoot it. This isn't exactly what I saw, but it looks pretty neat.

Another Day, Another Sunset

I shot this on my way home tonight. I don't think it looked this interesting in person, but I shot it through a pretty long telephoto lens, so I was able to get in there where I had nothing but color. I'm starting to experiment with the higher ISO settings on my new camera, so I can get sharper pictures in lower light with higher shutter speeds. All of my previous cameras added too much noise to the image, making it unacceptable, but this Digital Rebel XT seems to do a great job at the higher ISO settings.

From Deep In Tropical Bradenton

I brought you a picture of one of these parrots last week, but this weekend I came across whole flocks of them getting drunk on fermented fruit. I think these may be a different species, since they have dark faces instead of grey. Just a couple of minutes after I took this shot, they all took off and flew away, probably over 100 of them. It was a pretty impressive sight. It was all the more impressive because it was right in front of the yacht basin downtown instead of some jungle-like setting.

A Ray (Not Sunshine)

I forgot to show you guys this sting ray I saw on Saturday. I shot this from the Rod N Reel Pier out at the northern tip of Anna Maria Island. I suppose a fisherman would say it was at Bean point, but I'm a land lubber. He was maybe two and a half or three feet wide, and almost 6 feet long with that pointy tail. I happened to have a polarizing filter on my lens when he swam by, so that helped me get the shot without a lot of glare off the water.

Oodles of Doodles CLVIII

Here are a few exotic musical instrument doodles for you from the flipside of Dancers Of Bali-Gamelan Orchestra From The Village Of Pliatan, Bail, Indonesia, Under The Direction of Anak Agung Gde Mandera, by arrangement with the Cultural Department of the Republic Of Indonesia (Columbia Masterworks ML 4618). Boy, is that a mouthful. The first instrument you see above is called a reyong. In order below are a gong, an angklung, a gangsa and some cymbals. Pretty exotic stuff for around here. I'm used to guitars and drums, with the occasional organ.

This Week In November

This week's calendar page is a rose from my Mom's garden. It's a little tiny tea rose, but I've got my lens right down in there so it looks really big.

DVD (Not MTM)

Since I just brought you an LP with Mary Tyler Moore on the cover, I figured it fitting that I bring you an LP with her TV hubby on the cover. Important difference here is that Dick Van Dyke actually sings on his LP. This is Songs I Like By Dick Van Dyke With The Ray Charles Singers And Enoch Light And His Orchestra (Command RS 33-860, 1963). Those who thought that the only singing done by Mr. Van Dyke was from Disney movies will be happy to know that he doesn't sing any Disney songs on this release. It's all standards, many from theater and Tin Pan Alley. As far as I know, this was the only personality release on the Command label. I guess things didn't work out between Dick and Enoch.

MTM (Not DVD)

I've probably picked this record up a hundred times, but never bought it. Something about it was drawing my attention, but I could never put my finger on it. I'd be flipping through a stack of 100 LPs, and this one would make me stop every time. I finally ran across a comment on a discography, and it solved the puzzle for me. The cover model is Mary Tyler Moore! Hard to believe, but true. There are more LPs out there with her on them, but this is my favorite, or at least the only one I have stumbled across since I found out it was her. Not that it matters one whit, but this cover is from Gordon Fleming-Gigi (Golden Tone Hi-Fidelity C 4035).

Oodles of Doodles CLVII

This doodle seems a little more international than most, and I'm not sure why. It's from Roger Williams-Waltzes In Stereo (Kapp KS-3000), which doesn't imply anything international. Perhaps they had the doodle from some other project, and just snuck it in there for kicks. Doodles are a hard thing to explain sometimes.

Vulture Culture

Halloween is over, but here's something a little spooky for you anyway. I came across this branch loaded down with turkey vultures out at Myakka River State Park today. There are dozens and dozens of vultures that hang around out there, I have no idea why. If you look close, one of these guys has some red on his head, which makes him a different kind of vulture, I think. But I'm not sure...