What Is A Balloon Glow?

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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

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

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

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

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.

I Can See My House From Here

For those of you that might be curious, here is a view of the hotel I stayed at while in Chicago, as seen from the top of the Sears Tower. Look close near the exact center of the picture, and you can see the words Congress Hotel in reverse. They display out towards Michigan Avenue, so you're looking at the back of them here. Just to the right of the top of the red CNA building is Buckingham Fountain, which was not in operation while I was there. Top of the picture is Lake Michigan. It wasn't frozen over, but there was ice in the water in some spots. The road you see going left to right through Grant Park is Lakeshore Drive, aka US 41. I could not have asked for a hotel located in a better spot, let me tell you!

Always Use Your Spell-Check

Just a warning to those of you in charge of anything that's going to be seen by the public. What you see above is a sign on the observation deck at the Sears Tower (on floor 103). Note that #7 is Buckingham Founntain. My hotel is also visible in the picture, and when I walked over to the fountain from the hotel, it wasn't spelled founntain. (It also wasn't on, but that's another story...) That's the sort of thing that annoys me. I paid about $13 to ride the elevator to the top, so they have plenty of money available to make a corrected sign. Someone should write a letter. I just hope there aren't any typos in this post...

That Calder

When day two of my Chicago stay turned out to have nice weather, I decided to get out and shoot after work. I left my hotel with directions to the Sears Tower and figured I'd see plenty along the way. Guess what? I was right. I stumbled onto both a large Calder sculpture, and a peace protest that was to follow me around the rest of the evening. I think the protest was in the gathering stage when I stumbled across it (Turns out it was the 5th anniversary of the war in Iraq). They were gathering in front of this large Alexander Calder sculpture called Flamingo. I didn't remember it at the time, but I recently noticed it in the background of a shot in Ferris Bueller's Day Off. I guess I should have watched that again before I travelled to Chicago. To my eyes, this sculpture is very much influenced by the Picaso just a few blocks away, which, by the way, was where I ran into the peace protesters next.

That Picasso

I know it's taking forever for me to share my Chicago pictures, but I'm hoping you'll find it worth the wait. Here's another great landmark I spotted while I was in the windy city. This large statue is an untitled work by the great Picasso. I remember seeing this statue in The Blues Brothers, and I'd always wanted to see it for myself. On the taxi ride in from the airport, I made the driver take me past it so I could make sure I saw it during my stay. Turned out I walked by it twice more during my trip, so I was able to get a picture or two. It's in a dark canyon between some pretty tall buildings, so I don't know how often, if ever, it gets direct sunlight. So that's why it's only about half illuminated in this shot. But at least I got a shot.

Not The Best View Of Chicago

I spent most of my time in Chicago at McCormick Place, a giant convention center that takes up hundreds of acres alongside Lake Michigan just south of Chicago. At the end of my second day there, I walked to the far end of the complex to see what I could see, and got my first view of the Chicago skyline. It's not the greatest view in the world, and certainly not the money shot, but you get the idea. To the left is the Sears Tower, tallest building in this hemisphere. Towards the right is the John Hancock Building, second tallest building in Chicago. In between you can spot Soldier Field (which is obscuring the view of my hotel), The Art Institute Of Chicago, and of course, a marina that's empty for some reason in March. Sharp eyes will be able to pick out dozens of other landmarks, but I'll leave that as an exercise to the reader. (There's a really good panorama at the Chicago Wikipedia entry if you want to know what's what. Go check it out.)

Here There Be Lions

I've brought you pictures of lions before, but nothing as big as these guys. The fact that they are stone and guard the entrance to The Art Institute Of Chicago doesn't enter into it at all. A little internet research reveals that these two lions were created the same year as the hotel I stayed at while in Chicago, 1893. They stand at the edge of Michigan Avenue, one to the north of the museum, and one the the south. The northernmost lion is above and below, and is called "On The Prowl". The southern lion, at right in the bottom picture, is called "Stands In An Attitude Of Defiance" I'm not sure what all that means, but they sure do look cool. I've got some daytime shots of these guys I hope to share with you later, but these nighttime shots from my first evening in Chicago sure are neat. Tough to tell in these pics, but the lions are actually bright green. Oh, the artist for these fellows was Edward Kerneys.

Chicago's Leading Lady

It's hard for me to believe that I was in Chicago two weeks ago. So much has happened in the interim that it seems decades ago. However, I was able to take some time to myself and get out with my camera while I was there, so I have some digital memories that should last for a good long while. This lovely lady is one of the things I saw that intrigued me. She was planted in the median of Congress Avenue right next to my hotel. You could see hundreds of little bulbs just starting to peek out of the ground, so I'm sure that by now this statue is surrounded by greenery. I think this was part of an exhibition of pieces made from recycled auto parts, but I'm not sure. Let me do a little research. Well, the exhibit I'm thinking of was called Artists + Automobiles and was on display in 2006. So I've no idea what this piece might be from.

UPDATE: Someone found out who this lovely lady is for me. Her name is Magdalene or Magdaline, depending on where you look, and she is sculpted by Dessa Kirk. Turns out that she is the same artist who did the Artists + Automobiles pieces I saw, but I think those are a different exhibit.

The Whole Arc, Such As It Is

I happened to catch this odd rainbow this afternoon at my parents house. I don't know if you can tell just how odd it is by looking at the picture. See how low it is to the ground? This was created by an oncoming rainstorm at around 4:30 in the afternoon, more than three hours before sunset. That made the sun quite high in the sky, and this the rainbow was low to the ground. You don't see these very often, and this one only lasted about 5 minutes. I figure I'm pretty lucky to have seen it, and even more so to have photographed it.

Whoops, Missed It

While I was out sick, I missed the three year anniversary of the blog. Seems like it's been a lot longer than three years, but the 21st of March is three years to the day. Well, not exactly to the day, since there's at least one leap year in there, but I suppose we can overlook that. If you want to see what you missed way back then, you can click here, scroll down to the bottom of the page, and start reading your way up. It's not as exciting as I might have hoped, but it's grown into a nice little diversion for me. I've gathered a few regulars over the years, and quite a few folks who stop by almost frequently. I appreciate all of your support, and here's to another three years! 526K visitors is pretty successful if you ask me.

The End

Here's your picture for today and tomorrow, the very end of March. This is also the end of the picture book from 2007, which as you can see has spilled 3 months into 2008. I shot this furry fellow at Ft. Desoto some time back. He was hanging out near the picnic tables hoping for a handout. I didn't give him anything he wanted, so he beat a hasty retreat not long after I took this shot.

The Missing Week In March

I know it's Saturday already, and posting the calendar page at the end of the week doesn't really do you much good. But give me a little break here, I've been sick. At least you get a great picture. This is a heritage flight at one of the airshows I went to back in 2006, I think. They roll out a vintage WWII fighter plane and fly it alongside current US military fighter jets. It's terribly impressive, and shows you how far we've come in so little time. This reminds me that airshow season is coming up, and I need to start keeping my eyes open for MacDill Airfest and Sun-N-Fun.

Why Fly When You Can Drive?

When I was in Chicago, I realized that Lakeshore Drive, right on Lake Michigan, is US 41. That runs right by me here in Florida, and it was right by my hotel in Illinois. I could have avoided all that flying and just driven there. Silly me.

Hello World

Hi. I'm back. When last I posted anything on here, I was in Chicago at a trade show. As that event wound down, I started to get a little sick. I was coughing a bit on Thursday before I got on my flight home, but nothing too bad. A disastrous flight out of Midway got me to Atlanta ten minutes too late to catch a connecting flight Thursday night. Luckily I was able to get in touch with friends in Atlanta and stayed at their house for 24 hours before I could get a guaranteed seat on a flight back to Florida. The longer I stayed in Atlanta, the worse I felt. But I thought that if I could just get home and sleep in my own bed, I'd be OK. I finally got home a little before Midnight Friday. I spent all day Saturday in bed and never got any better. Sunday I called the ambulance and spent Sunday night in ICU. Turns out I had the flu. If that's the flu, then I don't think I've ever had the flu before. On top of that, I had what they call diabetic ketoacidosis. That means that my body was breaking down fat to use as energy to fight the infection, but once the fat turned into sugar, I didn't have any insulin in my body for the cells to utilize it. So even though I wasn't eating anything, by the time they got me to the hospital, my normal sugar level of 120 had turned to 771. My meter wouldn't even read that much, it just kept coming back saying HI. So, suffice it to say I was in a bad way. I got out of the hospital Tuesday afternoon and I've been recovering at home ever since. I left the house for the first time Friday to go get some little bit of food, and I might do the same thing today. Today is the first day I've felt like I could sit at the computer and type for a while. So that's why I'm sharing my story with you now. I've spoken to some of you in the past week, and I thank you for your concern. I'm sure that the rest of you might be wondering, and now you know, but at least I'm on the road back to well-ville. One cough at a time. Excuse me a minute, I have to go hack up the rest of this lung...

Top O' The World

My adventures in Chicago took a turn for the better today when the heavens cleared and the sun came out. I got out of my convention a few minutes early, caught a train right in rush hour (Thankfully I was going against the grain, which meant the train I was on was relatively empty, but I had to wait 45 minuted for it to come...), dropped my bag off at the hotel and headed out on foot with my trusty camera. The shot above is from the 103rd floor Skydeck at the top of the Sears Tower, the tallest building in this hemisphere. I was afraid I wasn't going to make it up there during my trip, not because I didn't think I'd get the free time, but because they close at 8 pm. But I got there well before that, even on foot and after joining a peace rally for a few minutes. I spent the rest of the day, and a big chunk of the night, exploring my way across town, moving from landmark to landmark on my quest for a decent picture. I'll share plenty of them when I get home, but for now, I gotta get some sleep.

Chicago Is Cold. And Foggy

Yes, I'm in Chicago. I just now figured out how to connect to the internet, but I'm on my way out the door, so I don't have time to post much. Got an hour or two last night to go shoot, but it was foggy and dark. Still got some good shots of Cloud Gate, which was one of my goals. It's got to be the coolest thing ever in the whole history of the world.

Bumped!

Yep, I got bumped. Now I'm waiting on a flight 2-1/2 hours later. I'll get to Chicago an hour later than I expected, since I'm making up some time during a layover in Charlotte. But now I have a free round-trip ticket on US Airways. Hooray! Now, where to go... France? Probably not. London? I doubt if they fly overseas. Hawaii? All signs point to no. Phoenix? Maybe. We'll have to wait and see. Work paid for the ticket, so that freebie may be theirs. We'll see.

On The Road

Look at me, I'm sitting in the airport using the SRQ free wireless service! I'm too cool! I'm actually hoping to get bumped to a slightly later flight and get a free round-trip ticket somewhere. How cool would that be? Well, depends on how late I get to Chicago, I guess. But I could deal with a free ticket.

Sweet Home Chicago

A couple of hours from now, I'm going to get on a big plane and fly to Chicago (via Charlotte, NC). I'm flying up there for a couple of days to attend a trade show, so I don't know how much time I'll have to get out and about and shoot, but I'm hoping. It's about 82 here now, and it's below 40 up there. Talk about a shock to the system! I'm staying in a hotel that was built in 1893, so I'm hoping that in itself should provide some nice photo ops. It's right by Grant Park, overlooking Buckingham Fountain, so if the weather allows, it's not a far trip to get some good pics. If I have internet, I'll try to get something posted up while I'm there, but I'm not counting on it. Stay tuned for the end of the week and hopefully I'll have something good to show you all. Wish me luck!

The Week With St. Patrick's Day

Gettin' towards the end of the month here, but that doesn't mean we're gettin' towards the end of the pictures. These things just seem to go on forever. This week you get a close-up shot of a barred owl. I shot this guy at an Earth Day celebration at Oscar Scherer State Park just a little south of where I live. Every year they trot out all sorts of displays and animals, and it's always a show worth seeing.

Babysitting

I visited my local bald eagle nest today, and got to see the young'uns. Look close and you can see two juveniles on a branch to the right above the nest. I don't know where the other parent was at the time, but I assume she was off getting some take-out or something. I don't know if these guys are flying yet, but I sort of doubt it. Shouldn't be long, though.

A Demilio I Don't Have

Sometimes you have to look closely to see what's right there in front of you. I spotted this LP recently and didn't think much of it until I took a closer look. And sure enough, right there in plain sight was another Demilio cover, one that I didn't have! Unfortunately, I still don't have it, but at least I have a small picture of it. The record you're looking at above is Stanley Black And His Orchestra-Red Velvet (London LL 1592), but the Demilio cover I've blown up for you below is on Stanley Black And His Orchestra-Festival In Costa Rica (I can't read the catalog number, sorry). If you can't wait for me to find this fifty year old album, you can visit this website that has a picture of the UK version of the LP on Decca. He's also got two or three others that I've never seen, so I have my work cut out for me.

(I've got still more minor Demilio treats for you this week, so come back soon!)

One More Demilio

It's been quite a while since I've brought you a new Demilio cover, one, because they're pretty hard to find, and two, because I've been too lazy to scan it in and piece it together in Photoshop. But I've got all my ducks in a row and I'm proud to present you with this new Demilio cover, my eighth, I believe. This is from Robert Farnon And His Orchestra-Flirtation Walk (London LL 1053). Last time I shared one of these covers with you, I posted all of the ones I have to date, so I'm going to point you to that other post rather than list them all again. And just for the record, I've got some more Demilio-related stuff I intend to share this week, so stay tuned.

More March

I know it's still winter for most of you folks, so here's a little picture to remind you that summer is coming. I don't remember what beach I shot this at, or when, but it's a nice picture, don't ya think?

Ladies And Gentlemen, This...Is Tom Jones!

I got to go see Tom Jones in concert last night! He was playing at the Florida Strawberry Festival in Plant City for some reason. I felt that was a little bit below his level, but I wasn't going to complain because I was able to see him for $5 in parking and $10 for fair admission. Of course I was in the free seating section that was about half a mile away from the stage. I still got a decent picture or two, one of which is above. (I was actually so far from the stage that I didn't know until I looked at my pictures this morning that the third backup singer was a guy.) But this one picture tells you all you really need to know. Those four girls standing in front of the stage are the Strawberry Queen and her court. They are wearing big puffy dresses and sashes of course, and I think satin gloves, but I can't tell for sure. The queen introduced Tom at the beginning of the show in the most stereotypical beauty queen voice you can imagine, but I think it was her real voice. And I don't think she had any idea who Tom Jones was. They're shown dancing above to Kiss, which may have been the only song they recognized. For the record, it was a great show. The man can still sing like nobody's business. He did new stuff, some hits, and plenty of stuff in-between. And yes, some women did throw their panties at the stage. No lie.

Fun With Gus

You know how much I love some good fungus, so here's a great growth I spotted today at Myakka. I have no idea what the name of it is, but I found it growing in the curve of this rotten tree. Beautiful color, don't you think?

Doe, Dough, Doh!

While on the little tram tour at Myakka, we came across these three deer hanging out near a power line. They conspired against my getting a clear picture of all three of them together without that guy wire in the way. They didn't seem to be at all concerned with our presence, only occasionally looking our way when the driver would make a clicking noise trying to get their attention. They eventually wandered away and we continued the tour.

Big Daddy Gator

I didn't see too many gators out at Myakka today. This was the biggest one, and he's probably only 9 feet or so. I'm sure he's just sitting there waiting for one of those birds to get close to his head and then BAM! Raw KFC!

Second biggest gator of the day was this fellow who was holed up in the weeds beside the boat ramp. I guess he was hoping some unsuspecting tourist would slip and fall, and that would be his big chance. If it went down that way, it didn't happen while I was watching.

Smallest gator of the day was this baby. I apologize for the quality of the shot, but I was in a moving tram and he was in a mud hole quite a ways from the road. At least you get to see the cool stripes they sport when they're young.

The Incredible Mr. Limpkin

You don't often spot any limpkin around here, but I got lucky today and found a pair of them at the Upper Myakka Lake. I followed them around for a while and even managed to get both of them into the same shot a little bit. These guys have the weirdest calls, so you know immediately if there are any around. But they are shy, so I consider myself lucky to have gotten to shoot them. Come to think of it, pretty much every time I've seen these guys it's been up at Myakka. No, wait, I found them in Lakeland once. Don't remember if I got any good pictures that time, though.


I even got one decent shot of the larger one coming in for a landing.

Fight To The Death

I went out to Myakka River State Park today to get some pictures to share with you, and as usual, the place was overrun with vultures. I don't know why they like it so much, but there are hundreds of them out there. I happened upon two of them fighting over something, and managed to get this neat shot before they took the battle elsewhere. I guess when you get so many of them in proximity to one another, there are bound to be some dust-ups. And before you ask, I don't think this was mating behavior. Maybe, but it didn't look like it.

More March

If you're the squeamish type, you might want to skip the calendar page this week. I happened across a swarm of bees right outside my condo last year, so I had to go and shoot them. I had to get pretty close to them to shoot, but I didn't get stung or even buzzed. People seem to have a fear of these insects, as evidenced by the fact that this swarm was killed in it's entirety the next day by an exterminator. I guess we didn't need any honey after all.

Stupid Cat

All cats do all day is lay around and dream up ways to bug you about dinner when you get home.