Sun-N-Fun 2007-Part 4

I guess I really should start at the beginning. The first event I went to this year for Sun-N-Fun was the Splash-In, a gathering of sea planes on Lake Parker north of Lakeland. There were maybe two dozen planes out there, taking their turns flying in and out, or just sitting on shore giving people a chance to see these unique planes in their native environment. These planes came in all shapes and sizes, from closed to open cockpits, from full-size to ultralight, simple to complex. Some of them turned out to be just regular planes fitted with pontoons, but most of them were designed from the wingtips in for service in the water.

After leaving the Splash-In, I had lunch at Steak N Shake (big surprise!). And it turns out that the restaurant was right under the approach path of some of the bigger planes that were landing on the lake. For half an hour we were getting buzzed by all manner of craft, much to the confusion of pretty much everyone in the restaurant but me.

Sun-N-Fun 2007-Part 3

What better way to welcome visitors to an airshow than with a giant sky-written smiley face!

Sun-N-Fun 2007-Part 2

OK, it's time for me to start putting up some of the pictures I shot during my three days at the Sun-N-Fun Fly-In in Lakeland, Florida, this past weekend. I took thousands and thousands of pictures, and maybe got ten good ones. Well, OK, more than that, but I have to shoot a lot of pictures in order to get some that I like. One of the special presentations this year was a flyover by a B1 bomber. This guy made two passes on Friday, then disappeared. I guess there were some insurgents in Afghanistan or something that needed his attention. I snapped this just after he poured the fuel to the afterburners, so you get a little bit of flame coming out of the engines there behind the plane.

Note-I didn't number my first post of pictures from this airshow, but you can find it here.

Alaska (8/50)

I haven't brought you any new license plates in a long time, mostly because I've been distracted by other stuff. But when I spotted this one at the air show this weekend, I knew I had to get it up here. You don't see too many Alaska plates here in Florida. You do see a few though, quite a few more than you see from Hawaii, actually. This is the first one I've seen with this design, though. Most of them have a dog sled race running up the middle. Note that this one is actually current. I can't imagine someone driving down from Alaska for an airshow, but stranger things have happened.

Previous plates: Connecticut, New York, Maine, Hawaii, Washington, Ohio, Wisconsin.

April Drags On

The weeks just keep coming in April. This week's picture features a great night shot of a bridge over the Cuyahoga River in Downtown Cleveland, Ohio. I wasn't sure if this shot was going to come out or not, because I was shooting it handheld and there wasn't a lot of light. But I think it came out pretty well.

AirFest 2007-Part Twenty Two

Part of the routine that the Blue Angels put on is flying past each other at extremely high speeds. They always cross near show center, but looking through the camera lens, it's tough to know when to press the shutter button to catch both planes in the same frame. I don't know how many times they did this maneuver exactly, but I caught it four times.

AirFest 2007-Part Twenty One

When I got home from the Sun-N-Fun airshow yesterday, I saw the news that one of the Blue Angels had crashed while at an airshow in SC, killing the pilot. I shot the Blue Angels at the MacDill Airfest last month, but never got the chance to post the pictures for you. Here are some of those pictures in memory of that pilot.

Burned Out

OK, I'm back from three days at the Sun-N-Fun Fly-In up in Lakeland, Florida. I don't think I'll ever got to an airshow three days in a row ever again. I am worn out! I ache from the top of my sunburned head to the bottom of my worn-out feet. I tried to keep the sun block on, but I guess I didn't do a good enough job. And much of the area at the airshow isn't paved, so I spent my time on bare grass and occasional spots of bare dirt. So there was lots of dust in the air, and that tended to stick to the sun block. I was almost muddy by the time I got back to the car each day. And being on your feet for 10 hours isn't easy either. But enough complaining. Did I get some good pictures? You bet! Every day they had a bunch of warbirds fly by. Every day they would set off explosions on the ground to simulate bombing runs by those warbirds. And every day I would miss the explosion because I was focused on the plane. Until the last day. I guess there is an advantage to going so many days in a row.

Fun In The Sun 2006

Hey gang! Sorry I've been quiet of late. I've been getting ready for a really long weekend of shooting at the 2007 Sun N' Fun up in Lakeland. I spent six or seven hours out there today, and I've got two more long days to go. There's a possible calendar sale in this, so I'm working extra hard to make sure I get a whole bevy of good shots. I spent a day and a half there last year, and put together the collage above from my favorite shots. It never got used for anything, so I never got around to the final tweaks on it, but it's pretty good. The full-size picture would be printed out about 9" high and almost three feet long, so there would be lots of detail there that you just aren't getting on this little version. Stay tuned and I'll start getting the pictures up from this year real soon. Come to think of it, I never finished posting the pictures from the last airshow I went to... I'm so lazy sometimes...

The Middle Of April

Another week, another calendar page. And this week, we travel to France for a glorious shot of the Eiffel Tower. OK, so maybe I didn't go all the way to France for this shot, but I did have to go all the way to Las Vegas, which is really far from home. Anyhow, I like it. It conveys the height of this magnificent structure. Later in my trip, I had a chance to take a ride up to the top, and it's beautiful up there.

Oodles Of Doodles CCXXX

Here's a pretty rare doodle from the Mercury label. Look close and you should be able to pick out quite a few characters here from popular children's tales. There's Pinocchio, Davy Crockett, the Big Bad Wolf, Jack & his beanstalk, Robin Hood and a few others. None of those characters appear on this record, though. The record is Tell Tale Heart by Edgar Allen Poe & Legend Of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving (Mercury SLP 114). There's no artist credited here, but the cover promises that each story is "dramatically enacted, accompanied by a 40 piece orchestra." Other than these doodles, the back of the record features little shots of all the other records in the series. The one I wish I had was the very last one listed, featuring Flight Of Friendship 7 & The Astronaut. You can grab pictures of some of the other records in the series, as well as some MP3 files here.

Oodles Of Doodles CCXXIX

And now, eight, count' em, eight doodles from the back of Bob & Ray On A Platter (RCA Victor LPM-2131, 1960). This record was in rough shape, but when I flipped it over and saw all these great doodles, I knew I had to get it. You get a little bit of everything here: An organ, a singer, people on the street, weather-girl, sports-guy, a DJ, a sax player, psychoanalysis, bank robber, another sportscaster and some cowboys. I can't think of any other comedy stereotypes that may be omitted from this lineup. OK, maybe a few, but not many. I'm afraid I don't know as much about Bob & Ray as I should, and I'm not sure this record will even play, but I hope to try and give it a listen soon. I hope it's as good as the doodles it spawned.

Oodles Of Doodles CCXXVIII

Since I've been posting doodles, I've stumbled across a couple of artists who show up time and again. Here is a doodle from one of those, the mysterious RR. I didn't even notice the initials until I had scanned the image in, and was tweaking it around for blogging. But there they are, big as day. I can't even remember how many doodles I've already posted by this fellow, but I'll try to link to a few of them (1, 2, 3, 4). Just for the record (ha-ha, get it, record?) this is from The Billy Graham Crusade Choir Sings For You (RCA Victor LSP-2499, 1962). Nice little church building there, with some rather interesting checkerboard accents.

Oodles Of Doodles CCXXVII

Once again, I'm struggling to bring you a doodle that isn't on the RCA label. This one comes from the religious label, Word, which was (is?) based in Waco, Texas. What you're looking at is a sketch of the Opera House at the Seattle World's Fair from the back of Claiborne Brothers Quartette At The World's Fair (Word WST-8120-LP, 1962). You may not have known it, but that's where Seattle got their Space Needle from. See, you can learn something from a humble doodle. Also of note, look close and you'll see the initials CS in there at the lower right. No clue on who that might be, but we'll keep an eye out for those initials.

Oodles Of Doodles CCXXVI

Continuing on with this onslaught of cool doodles, here's a poolside scene of Vegas in the early sixties. What could be cooler than a swimming pool in the desert? This inviting scene is from Tony Martin At The Desert Inn (RCA Victor LSP-2146, 1960). And if that wasn't enough for you, we go from poolside to a "Ringside Table" for the tag on the front.

Oodles Of Doodles CCXXV

I figured you needed another good solid dose of doodle tonight, so here's a little lady I thought was quite nice. She hails from the reverse of Big Hits By Prado (RCA Victor LSP-2104, 1960). Prado is, of course, Perez Prado, who I'm sure you know all about. I had a tough time removing this doodle from the background, so if it looks a little rough around the edges, that's why. But I think I did a pretty good job. I've learned a lot about how to work with these doodles over the past couple of years. Some days I stop and realize how far I've come. Other days I worry about how far I have to go. This record also features a little tag on the front that says "New Arrangements", which I take to mean that these are all re-recordings of his big hits. (And just for the record, this is post #1400 here on the old blog.)

Oodles Of Doodles CCXXIV

Dig it! Here's a great doodle that neatly splits itself in half. I found this on the back side of Belmonte And His Orchestra-Rumba For Moderns (RCA Victor LSP-1663, 1958). Isn't that a great title to go with a great doodle? I'm almost afraid to listen to this one. How can the music compare to the expectations in my head of what rumba for moderns must sound like. Anyhow, the doodle is split on the back of the record much like you see it here. Across the middle are the tracklisting and the liner notes instead of my witty commentary.

Oodles Of Doodles CCXXIII

I've been stuck on doodles from RCA for a while, so I hunted high and low tonight for one on a different label. I finally dug up this one on the rather obscure Mainstream imprint. This is from the flipside of John Barry-King Rat (Mainstream 56061, 1965), soundtrack to the movie of the same name. I don't know much about it, I just liked the doodle. There are some other doodles on the front, as well as some color images, and the signature Kingman. Appropriate name for an artist working on a picture called King Rat, don't ya think? Anyhow, hope you enjoy this one.

Pinky

Before I left the shop tonight, one of the guys on his way home called me and told me there were three flamingos in a pond near his house. I asked if they were really flamingos, or maybe roseate spoonbills, which I had seen there before. He wasn't sure, so when I left work, I had to drive by there. Sure enough, there were two spoonbills out on the far side of the pond. I grabbed the camera and started walking. It had rained all day, and was still drizzling, the ground was pretty soggy. About halfway around the pond, the two birds got spooked by something and took off. For whatever reason, they headed towards me, and that's when I got the shot above. I only wish it could have been a bright and sunny day, but in this case, I'm going to be happy with what I got.

Oodles Of Doodles CCXXII

A third doodle today? Something must be up. Well, maybe, maybe not. I'm just in that mood, I guess. I'm posting these things during the commercials of CSI, which they are nice enough to show three times in a row on Spike. I can't get much of anything else done. But that's neither here nor there. What is here is the back of a double set of 45s called This Is Glenn Miller And His Orchestra (RCA Victor EPBT 3002). I think I've seen this on other 45 RPM sets, but I haven't looked too hard. I thought the text here was a little interesting, so I left that in for you. It talks about what a great format this is, how it's hi quality sound, and how it never wears out. What it doesn't tell you is that when I bought it, both records were missing. It contained a single from Elvis, and a single from Ray Charles. Neither one sounded anything like Glenn Miller.

Oodles Of Doodles CCXXI

What? A second doodle? In the same day? What's up with that? Well, I just felt like sharing, that's all. These beautiful ladies come from the flipside of a 7" EP, Frankie Carle And His Beautiful Dolls (RCA Victor EPA-4147, 1958). I'm pretty sure I have the LP counterpart to this EP, and I don't remember there being a doodle on the back of it. I'd have to find it to be sure, but surely I would have noticed a groovy doodle like this.

Oodles Of Doodles CCXX

Here's a lovely fluid doodle of two folks dancing a waltz. How do I know they are waltzing? Well, the LP this hails from is The Melachrino Orchestra Conducted By George Melachrino-Strauss Waltzes (RCA Victor LSP-1757, 1958). And that's all well and good, but the important thing here is the signature on the doodle. Myelle Thompson, or something like that. We've seen this artist several times before. Still no info on her, though. Someday, someone will stumble across this blog and will be able to tell us all about her, I hope. So stay tuned!

The Second Week Of April

This week features a great calendar picture for you. This extreme close-up is of a cara-cara, a raptor that lives in South Florida, but is rarely seen. I caught up with this guy at the Audubon Raptor Center near Maitland, Florida. He's an impressive fellow, but you needn't be afraid. They mostly stick to dead animals, much like vultures and buzzards.

Scratch An Itch

Sometimes, getting to that itchy spot isn't so easy. But this great blue heron didn't seem to be phased by the great lengths he had to go to in order to reach the right spot.

What's Up, Doc?

I don't know what it is down here. A couple of weeks ago, I showed you a piece of 'art' that looks like Stewie Griffin, and now I find one that looks like Dr. Zoidberg from Futurama. There's a theme here. I'd better not see a Lisa Simpson anytime soon.