Ernie (Not Bert)

Oodles Of Doodles CCCXXXIX

2008-05-16T19:28:00.004-05:00

When I first spotted the doodle above, I thought perhaps it had sprung from the pen of Dr. Seuss. Just look at those fish! But I sorta doubt that Dr. Seuss would have been doing doodles for RCA in 1958. The back of the album is no help in the matter, I'm afraid. Sometimes a doodle is bound to remain a mystery forever. This art springs from the back of The Trembling Of A Leaf And The Sounds Of The Sea by Ray Hartley, Piano, with David Terry And His Orchestra (RCA Victor LSP-1659, 1958). Whoever the artist is, he came up with a doodle that matches the title of the album. Not very many doodles have anything to do with the LP they decorate. Now, just step back and imagine those fish in red and blue, and one and two...

Not Flying In Circles

2008-05-16T18:08:00.000-05:00

Several weeks ago, I went to Airfest 2008 at Macdill Air Force Base. I've been reticent in posting any pictures from that event, but I stumbled across one today that I thought was worth sharing. The photo above shows a WWII B-25 bomber flying by, in what must have been a common sight on the back in the day, but it's not something you see much of anymore. What makes this photo a little unique and worth sharing is the fact that the prop on the right side of the plane (to your left) is not blurry. It's in as good a focus as the rest of the picture. Look close and you'll see that the left prop is blurred by it's motion (the blade tips are moving at close to the speed of sound). What's going on here? Well, as the pilot made this particular pass, the RH engine was shut off. If you look really, really close, you can also see that the blades on the prop have been feathered so that they point into the oncoming air. This lowers the wind resistance and keeps the engine from being forced to turn over. I always figured the plane would be impossible to control with an engine on only one side, but I guess I was wrong. Learn something new every day. Check the photo below for the same plane on a different pass, and you can see that the prop is again in motion after he restarted that engine.

The Results Are In

2008-05-14T18:27:00.003-05:00

Big congratulations go out to Christine Desiree and her sculpture Pulse for taking second place in the public voting during Sarasota Season Of Sculpture 4! The voting took place online in Arts And Culture magazine, and the results were announced at a swanky outdoor soiree last Tuesday evening. Christine was given a copy of the above picture, printed out on fancy canvas so that it looked like a million bucks. Unbeknownst to me until the presentation, they used one of my pictures on the award! So not only did I help to fabricate the piece for Christine, I got one of my pictures on the award (and in the official program!)! The organizers of SSoS4 were nice enough to give me a copy of the award as well, which I intend to have framed and hung on the wall at work to show off to visitors. It's pretty cool to be involved in something like this, a guy could get used to it. Many thanks to Toby Thompson for sending me the electronic version of the picture you see above. He's the fellow that did the awesome layout work on the award, as well as the program. (He sent me at least one more little something that I hope to share with you sometime soon.) Double big thanks to Christine (and Brian) for letting me be a part of your art. Oh, and Jill, for keeping me in the loop and plenty of nagging about sending over the pictures.

Oodles Of Doodles CCCXXXVIII

2008-05-14T18:01:00.004-05:00

What doodle have I got for you tonight? How about another great picture by the great Mozelle Thompson? The style is almost unmistakable at this point, I've seen so many of them. As soon as I picked this LP up and turned it over, I knew who it was. The LP in question is The Voices Of Walter Schumann-When We Were Young (RCA Victor LPM-1477, 1959). This doodle takes up over 2/3 of the back cover, so the graphic designers at RCA knew what they had on their hands. Art like this can't be confined to some out-of-the-way corner of a back cover. I recently got a comment from a grand-nephew of Mr. Thompson's, but I'm afraid he didn't know much more about him than I do. Someday we'll get the right visitor around here, and they'll spill the beans on the story behind this great illustrator. I think Mozelle is now the most frequently blogged doodle artist around these parts. Follow these links for all the other times he's been displayed around these parts. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and one maybe.

Oodles Of Doodles CCCXXXVII

2008-05-13T19:05:00.002-05:00

I figured since my last doodle featured a microphone, I may as well follow it up with another doodle featuring a microphone. This one is a little more elaborate, offering a glimpse inside a recording studio, perhaps the very studio in which this record was recorded. And what record would that be? Why, it's George Siravo And His Orchestra-Swingin' Stereo In Studio A (RCA Victor LSP-1970, 1959). If you're curious as to what the vinyl inside the sleeve sounds like, you can download a copy of the mono version of this LP, entitled Swingin' Hi-Fi In Studio A, over at The Vinyl Lounge Hut. Enjoy!

Oodles Of Doodles CCCXXXVI

2008-05-13T17:54:00.003-05:00

Short and simple. Well, actually quite long, but you get the idea. This microphone comes from the back of The Mills Brothers-Singin' And Swingin' (Decca DL 8209). I really should listen to this one, it looks like it could be quite good. But it's pretty beat, so I don't know if listening to it would be a very rewarding experience.

Oodles Of Doodles CCCXXXV

2008-05-12T19:36:00.003-05:00

I'm doing my best to get on a roll here and throw up a bunch of doodles while I'm in the mood. I think finding this one is the reason why I got in the mood to post some of these again. Isn't this just a great little piece of art? These happy drummers hail from the flipside of Steel Drums (HiFi R817, 1959), credited on the label as 'Live Recording of Native Steel Drum Group'. I can't say much for their record keeping or cultural sensitivity, but at least they gave us a great doodle. And if you look close, you'll see the name of a great doodle artist at the base of the palm tree at far right. F. (Frank) Page is a name that has popped up here many times (1, 2, 3), and it always brings a great doodle with it. I think this is the first time it's shown up on this label, previously showing up on Capitol and Dot. Oh, the sun below is actually from up above the scene below, but I wanted you to see the funky drummers first. Sorry if I confused anybody.

Curious little side note for anyone who cares. This LP is marked with a red rubber stamp on the back that states: "Specially recorded in Trinidad for AREYTO Record Shops", and the right side of the stamp is some sort of Aztec or Mayan-looking mask. Does that mean anything to anybody?

Oodles Of Doodles CCCXXXIV

2008-05-11T20:17:00.007-05:00

As the boys from Led Zeppelin said, It's been a long time. But I'm back with a new doodle or three, my first since February. Just because I haven't been posting them doesn't mean I haven't been collecting them though. There are dozens and dozens of records around here that have great doodles, and I want to share them all with you eventually. Good things take time. The three doodles here for you today are all from the back of Les Baxter-Baxter's Best (Capitol T1388), a collection of tracks from the Godfather of exotica. Looks like I previously featured a doodle from a Les Baxter LP here. I've posted so many of these things now that I have a hard time remembering what I have and haven't posted. I've got to use the search feature to see what I've already done.

Eddy Arnold, RIP

2008-05-08T19:18:00.002-05:00

Countrypolitan crooner extraordinaire Eddy Arnold passed away this morning at the ripe old age of 89. While I can't say he's a blog favorite, there are plenty of his records down in the archives. And if you're looking for some small tribute to him, I've shared out a couple of Christmas items from him around here. The first is a USAF promo from sometime in the late 60s or early 70s. He also turns up on a US Navy promo from sometime a little later. I hope you enjoy these little tastes from a great artist.

The Big Time

2008-05-08T07:00:00.001-05:00

Those of you who visit regularly may remember the sculpture above, entitled Pulse, and you might remember my involvement in getting it manufactured. Well, they finally issued a program for the show, featuring photographs of all the artworks and bios of the artists, and guess what? They used one of my pictures instead of a shot by the official photographer! How cool is that? I didn't know they were going to use it, or I may have worked on it a little harder. Like move those little signs you see in the picture that warn people not to climb on the structure, or maybe try to get a better sunset in the background. But it's still a great picture.

If you look close at the scan above of the back of the picture, you can see my photography credit on the right side. Pretty cool, eh? (It's hard to read unless you click on the picture and make it bigger, so be sure you do that.)

PS-See along the bottom of that scan where it says something about "For Purchase Information..."? You can buy this sculpture if you like. They are asking $180K, but I bet you could get it for $175K if you asked nice. Shipping and handling not included.

And I Quote

2008-04-29T20:06:00.002-05:00

From Roger Ebert's review of Harold And Kumar Go To White Castle, "The only hamburger worth that much trouble when you're clean and sober is at Steak 'n Shake." I couldn't agree more. I knew I bought all those books for a reason.

19 Daisies

2008-04-28T19:13:00.004-05:00

Support Your Local Eagle

2008-04-21T19:35:00.001-05:00

As part of the Earth Day festivities at Oscar Scherer State Park last Sunday, they brought out this bald eagle. He's a permanent resident of a local sanctuary, and they bring him out to show the majesty of these beautiful birds. You see them on the backs of quarters, and maybe in the opening animation on The Colbert Report, but how often do you get to see these guys up close? Never, that's how often. Well, maybe not never, but rarely. And Sunday was your chance. They really are magnificent. No wonder they selected the bald eagle as our national bird. They're much more exciting than some dumb old turkey.

Unprocessed Thanksgiving Dinner

2008-04-21T19:27:00.001-05:00

For only the second time ever, I saw a wild turkey on Sunday. The first time was quite a few years ago when I was first starting to get interested in digital photography. A buddy and I took my new 1 megapixel camera out on a small road trip, and one of our stops was a dirt road that ran up into the Green Swamp a short ways. Off on the side of the dirt road, I spotted a turkey and got a single shot that's only slightly worse than this one. But I knew that great things were coming if I only practiced with that camera. And that brings us to yesterday and my second turkey. This gobbler was on a trail at Oscar Scherer park. I spotted him as soon as I came around a corner. I thought at first it was a single sand hill crane, but I watched him for a second and figured out what it really was. I slowly started trying to get closer for a better shot, but a couple of other hikers walked past me and straight towards the bird, causing him to run off into the bushes. I would have liked to gotten a better picture, but there's always next time. Even if it takes 6 more years...

What Is A Balloon Glow?

2008-04-21T19:14:00.001-05:00

Gather 'round kiddies, and let Ole Ern tell you about the balloon glow. It was about a week and a half ago when I was at the Sun-N-Fun Fly-in, and I came across a few of these hot air balloons, all filled up with hot air, as is their way. But nobody was going anywhere because they were tightly tied to the rear bumpers of large pickup trucks. Every so often as the hot air in the balloon turned to lukewarm air, the operator would pull a handle overhead and release a generous helping of flammable gas into the balloon. At about the same time, he would flick a lit match up over his head, igniting the flammable gas and creating a giant fireball. As it got darker, these fireballs would light up the inside of the balloons, creating the glow I spoke of earlier. Now you know. It's hard to tell, but the balloon all the way on the left would be glowing if it weren't made of a dark fabric. I don't know why they included such a dark colored balloon in their glow. I guess they didn't want to exclude anyone...

A Thistle Among Flowers

2008-04-21T18:12:00.001-05:00

Sometimes you've got to zoom in as far as you can go to get right to the heart of the matter. I found this thistle blossom on the side of a runway at the airshow last week. Even though there were hot-air balloons taking off over my head, I had to get down on my hands and knees to shoot the flower at my feet. Beauty is where you find it.

Home Sweet Hole

2008-04-21T16:57:00.000-05:00

People say that a turtle's home is his shell, but that's not entirely true. And technically, this isn't a turtle, but a tortoise. A gopher tortoise to be exact, and he lives in a hole in the ground. I stumbled (almost literally) across this guy on Sunday while at an Earth Day celebration. I thought he was a stuffed display at first, but then he slid a few inches into his hole as I got closer, so I knew he was the real thing. These guys used to live all over the place here in Florida, but habitat loss has decimated their population, and they are now protected. We used to play with them as kids, but I suspect that's against the law now.

A Wing And A Prayer

2008-04-21T08:20:00.001-05:00

I didn't download the pictures I took on Saturday until Sunday night, and I didn't look at most of them until today. So I didn't know that I had this great pelican picture until just a few minutes ago. I shot this guy near the New Pass Bridge at the south end of Longboat Key. As you can see, the water is starting to get that great shade of green again. I need to get out and take more pictures!

Airborne

2008-04-19T09:16:00.001-05:00

The morning that I went to the airshow early to see the hot air balloons go up, I spotted these sandhill cranes flying in. I've always wanted to shoot these guys in the air, but never had the luck of catching them when I had a camera around my neck. These guys happened to be in the right place at the right time, and so was I. You can tell that they are cranes by the way their necks stick out while flying. Most other birds with long necks tend to fold their neck up. Lots of other pictures of sandhill cranes here on the blog, so go have a look.

Not The Cadillac Ranch

2008-04-16T18:07:00.001-05:00

Here's a posting I've been meaning to bring you for a while, but I've been a little preoccupied lately. On my way to Lakeland recently for the airshow, I finally remembered that I wanted to stop and take some pictures of a little roadside attraction called Airstream Ranch. And I just happened to stop in the middle of a press conference they were holding. So I just pretended that I belonged and walked out into the field where these 8 Airstream trailers are planted. Turns out that they were put there in January as a promotion for a camper salesman who's got a dealership at the next exit along the interstate. (That's interstate 4 near Dover, Florida, that you see running along behind the trailers.) Not long after the trailers were put in, the dealership was informed that the property under the trailers was not zoned for advertising. The dealership claimed it wasn't advertising, as there was no sign anywhere on the trailers or the property, and thus it was art. The county balked and gave a deadline to have the trailers out. That deadline happened to be a couple of days after I stopped by, and I haven't heard what happened. I guess I need to go look up the outcome. To me, it is art, much like the original Cadillac Ranch, or the sculpture in Sarasota called Dance.

Thunderbirds Are Go!

2008-04-12T19:28:00.001-05:00

I just got home from two days at the Sun N Fun Fly-In up in Lakeland. It's the second largest airshow in the world, and it is BIG. But the big draw for me this year was the USAF Thunderbirds. I shot them twice, and I think I got some really nice pictures. The shot above is from the Friday show, which was technically a practice, but they went through their whole show flawlessly, so they obviously didn't need the practice. I'm too tired to post much now, but I wanted to go ahead and get this teaser up. Lots more to come! Oh, and any of you who are fairly close to Lakeland, they are performing again tomorrow (Sunday). It's worth your time and effort to go see these guys. Trust me.

Not The Top Of The World, But Close

2008-04-07T19:27:00.002-05:00

You've seen a shot I took from the top of the Sears Tower, but you haven't seen any of the pictures I took from the top of the John Hancock Building. I managed to get to the top of that one a couple of hours after sunset, and it's quite the different view at night. The Hancock building is near the northern end of all the skyscrapers in Chicago, so the money shot is looking back south, with the lakefront being to the left, and the loop district being towards the right. Standing above everything on the right is Sears Tower. The big North-South road you see near the left center of the picture is Michigan Avenue. Somewhere a couple of miles south on that road is my hotel. It was a long walk, but well worth the trip.

Hmmm, I thought the Hancock building was the second tallest in Chicago, but it looks like I'm wrong. The second tallest is the Aon Center, which I think you can see above just left of center. If I had known that, I would have tried to get to the top of it, too. Oh, well. Wait, I guess it depends on if you count the antennas or not. With the antennas, John Hancock is still second tallest. I tell you what, just nevermind. They're all tall buildings. I live on the second floor, and that's high enough for me!

Ye Olde Water Tower

2008-04-07T19:14:00.001-05:00

Continuing on with more pictures from my trip to Chicago, I bring you the Chicago Water Tower. I believe this was one of the few structures in Chicago to survive the great fire of 1871. It's an interesting building, stuck in the middle of other buildings that look nothing like it, yet mirroring the appearance of the pumping station across the street. If I hadn't known it was a water tower, I'd have guessed it was an old church, or maybe some eccentric's castle.

That Miro

2008-04-06T20:52:00.002-05:00

Here's something I shot in Chicago without having any idea what it was. I took this in the near-darkness, so it's not the best picture ever, but it turns out to be the only shot I took of it. Well, one of two, but they're both about the same. This is by Joan Miro and is called Chicago. Or maybe it's called The Sun, The Moon And One Star. Hard to tell. Anyhow, it's due south of the Picasso I shared earlier (Literally on the other side of the street), but I didn't know what it was, I just shot everything that looked artsy.

Under The Loop

2008-04-06T20:30:00.001-05:00

I tried to get a decent picture of the streets that run under the El in the Loop in downtown Chicago. None of them came out. It's too dark under there, and I didn't want to stop in the middle of traffic to shoot. But I did get this shot looking down into the theater district from under The Loop. I think you get the idea.