No, No, No

For those of you keeping track at home, this is a Toyota, not a Chevy. That plate must be from their old car. Or maybe they lost a bet with a faster car, I don't know. Yeah, that's it. Chevys 1, Toyotas 0.

Presto Chango

Would you believe that these are two flowers on the same tree? Yep, they are. When they first open up, they start out the red color you see above, but as the fully open, they turn in to the yellow blossom you see below. I have no idea what sort of evolutionary advantage this may have given to the tree, or perhaps God just thought it was a neat idea. Wait, I'm wrong. I looked these up, and this is called a Beach Hibiscus. When they first open, they start out yellow, and then go red as they begin to curl up and die. Now that I think about it, that seems right. The ground below one of these trees is covered in curled up red blossoms. Sorry if I misled you there.

Ah, Memories

When I was a little kid, my grandmother had these flowers planted behind her house. When I'd stay over there, I'd play with them, thinking they were some kind of grapes. I knew better than that, obviously, because I never ate any of them, and besides, they were hollow. It wasn't until much later that I realized these were actually the flowers of whatever sort of plant this is. I think it may be a type of kalanchoe, but I'm not at all certain of that. I know that it propagates very easily from a leaf. In fact, if you look at the somewhat out-of-focus leaf in the shot below, you can see the notches in the circumference. If you pulled that leaf off and put it in the right place (which is basically anywhere it can get even a little light), each of those notches will produce a new plant. Pretty cool survival trait.

I shot these on Longboat Key a few years ago, If I remember correctly. You don't see these things too often. I think people are afraid to plant them in their garden because they take over with their quick propagation.

B1 Before

Back in 2006, I had the opportunity to go to the Daytona 500. I wasn't too excited by the loud and fast cars going round and round, but they did have a flyover by a B1 bomber the day before the big race and I was there. Unlike the other flyovers I've seen by this plane, this time it was actually staying there, and I could see it at the airport next door if I climbed to the top of the grandstands. And sure enough, that's what I did. I stayed up there until the thing took off, and got some half-decent shots. Having watched it for an hour before hand, the actual fly-over at the start of the race was a little bit anti-climatic. If you don't have a sense of how large this plane is, look just behind the forward landing gear in the picture above. You can see a crew member sitting on the ladder leading up into the plane.

Love Of Money

Perhaps it's just my warped sense of humor, but I think it's somehow appropriate that Wall Street dead ends into a church. I kid you not.

Hoppy Easter!!!

Took me some doing, but I found a picture I took of a rabbit. Here he is, just searching for a little something to eat. I spotted this guy on the wild savanna inside the Cleveland MetroParks Zoo last year. He was surrounded by zebras and giraffes, and some weird vultures, too. But I think if any of those other creatures had been very close, this bunny rabbit wouldn't have been out in the open like he is. Have a Happy Easter Sunday, and I hope you're enjoying the burst of posts today and all this week.

Live At The Cleveland Zoo-Chipmunks

Last June, I spent a day at the Cleveland MetroParks Zoo, and then in July I shared pictures of many of the animals with you. But there were some I missed for whatever reason, so I'm back to those guys. One of the critters on unintentional display at the zoo is the chipmunk. Much like squirrels here in Florida, chipmunks are every where up there. However, they are much more skittish. I think these shots are of two different animals, but I managed to get pictures of them only because there was something keeping them from getting away and hiding when they saw me approaching. One of the them jumped two feet in the air to get on top of a wall and scurry away when he thought I was too close. Not bad for something that's under six inches long, not counting the tail. Anyhow, I really thought these rats with racing stripes were cool. I wish we had them in Florida. But then I wish we had lots of things in Florida. All we get are eagles and alligators and snakes and such. Nothing really cool.

James A. Garfield

I think I mentioned that I visited Lakeview Cemetery in Cleveland, and their Garfield Monument last year. Well, I meant to share some more pictures then, but all I ever showed you were the actual coffins in the base of the monument housing the remains of Garfield and his wife. These shots highlight the statue of the 20th president that occupies the center of the round building. I shot from all around, including down onto his head and up to his shadow near the domed ceiling. I have to say that I was more impressed by this spot than I thought I would be. And I was doubly impressed when I discovered I could venture out onto the roof!

Tiffany & The Dead

During my trip to Cleveland last year, I visited Lakeview Cemetery. I find myself going to cemeteries fairly often, and I'm not sure why. I don't get a whole lot of good pictures there, but they are neat to wander through. This particular cemetery features a tomb and monument to President James Garfield that I shared a bit of with you before, and a small chapel that I want to share with you now. Known as the Wade Memorial Chapel, it was dedicated in 1901. What separates this from other chapels in other cemeteries is the interior that was decorated by Louis Comfort Tiffany. That's right, Tiffany. Each wall is covered in beautiful tile murals, the pews are decorated with tile medallions, the alter is distinguished by intricate fretwork and the wall opposite the entrance is a huge stained glass window. You can see one of the walls in the shot above, and details of the stained glass window in the two shots below. The bottom picture shows the chapel itself from across the small lake on which it is located. If you get the chance, this place is worth a few minutes of your time. Oh, and there is an attendant on duty to tell you all these things.

Don't Sleep In The Subway

When I was in NYC last fall around September 11th, I took the subway just about everywhere that I didn't walk. I'll admit that I was nervous about it at first, but after riding the commuter rails in Las Vegas, Atlanta, Charlotte, Chicago and Cleveland, it wasn't all that bad. I even got a car all to myself one morning (I think it was early Saturday, go figure...), so I was able to take a quick picture. I think it was only empty for a single stop. I was too self-conscious to take any pictures in a car when there was anybody else in there. They must clean these things at night, because this car looks spotless. They can't stay that clean after a long day of service.

Upskirt

Here's something you may not know. When you visit the Statue Of Liberty, you can go into the museum located in the base of the structure, and climb to the top of it. The top of the base, that is, not the top of the statue. And the day I went, you actually had to climb. The elevator was out, so I walked up a dozen or more flights of stairs. At the top, there's a ranger, and he explains that you can no longer climb into the bowels of liberty, so to speak, but there are four spots on the floor where you can stand and look through glass panels, up the skirt of Lady Liberty. So these four shots are what you see if you stand in those four spots. You can see the ladder that leads up to the crown. You can see the iron structure that was designed by the same fellow who did the Eiffel Tower. You can see the copper skin that's held in place by hundreds of iron straps, each intricately shaped to match the copper, not the other way around. (Well, they used to be iron. After the restoration in the 1980's spearheaded by Lee Iaccoca, most of the original iron bars were replaced one at a time by stainless steel replicas.) Anyhow, I thought it was pretty fantastic. She is as pretty on the inside as on the outside, and what woman doesn't want to be the same way?

Red Bead-N-Rice

There are so many little things wrong with this sign, I just don't know where to begin. Pretty sure this is where I ate at last year's Tropical Heatwave, too. I don't remember it being all that good, I'm afraid. So much potential, though. The thought of a smoked tomato is making me hungry as I type this, and I don't even smoke! But smoked wing? That sounds like the reason they canceled that one plane at the airshow.

Merry Christmas, It's April

Quite often, I take pictures with the intent of using them for something later. And almost as often, I forget all about it when the time comes. In this case, I spotted the message above chiseled into a sidewalk in Ybor City (the entertainment district of Tampa, FL) while I was attending Tropical Heatwave in 2008. I intended to share it with you at some point during the Christmas festivities last year, but it slipped my mind and I never did. But I remembered it today, and here it is, four months too late for last year and eight months too early for this year. But this might help me to remember that Tropical Heatwave is coming up again this year sometime next month. I wonder who's playing this year?

Another Demilio Sighting

Some months ago (OK, over a year), I scanned this LP cover because it features a couple of different Demilio covers. Just pictures of other covers, actually, but they are still recognizable as Demilio's, so I wanted to bring them to every one's attention. The LP you're looking at here is Edmundo Ros And His Orchestra-Standards...In The Latin Manner (London LL 1466). The two LPs you see on that ladies lap (and which appear to be pretty close to hitting the floor) are Ros Album Of Sambas and Latin Melodies, both also by Edmundo Ros. I don't think I've shown you either of these exact records before, but I did share the same picture that's on one of them. I've brought you at least one other cover that features pictures of other Demilio albums, but it only featured one Demilio among the LPs spread out on the floor.

The cover above is actually from the Ros LP Sambas!, but it's the same Demilio art as Ros Album Of Sambas. When you've got art this cool, why use it only once? I'll have to see if I can dig up that Latin Melodies cover.

(If you have no idea who I'm talking about when I speak of this Demilio, then search my humble blog and you'll find out what little I know of him. You'll get to see some pretty great artwork, too!)

Airfest 2009-Ditto

One of the things I look forward to at these airshows is the performance of Ditto. Ditto is no ordinary stunt airplane. Sure, he does the same aerobatic maneuvers as many of the other planes at the show, and he leaves a smoke trail like many of the other planes, but the smoke itself is what's different. It's somehow more cohesive than whatever the other planes emit, and it comes from the wingtips, not the exhaust. So as he flies through the air, he leaves intricate patterns. And those patterns aren't static, they don't just tell you where he flew or what sort of pattern he's flying. The smoke seems to come alive, twisting and turning in the turbulence left behind by the plane. It's amazing to watch and very hard to photograph. I've had to work on all these pictures to make them a little bit presentable, but they are still only an approximation of what you would see if you were there. Often, the two smoke trails converge in two spots, then split apart into rings. Whenever Ditto spots one of these rings, he tries to fly back through it. Even though the wind was high at Airfest this year, he still managed to thread the needle quite a few times. The shots above and below show him as he approaches a ring and flies through it.


These two shots just show some of the amazing formations left behind as Ditto flies around. Try to imagine these serpentine smoke trails in motion as they twist and turn in the sky above. It's amazing!

Airfest 2009-Toys!

I know, I know, it looks like a bunch of toys on a table. But I took this shot for a reason. See that plane in the middle? That's a P-38. I've never seen a real P-38 at an airshow, and I really want to. One of my goals is to make it to a warbird airshow sometime soon and see one of those in the flesh, both on the ground and in the air. Back in high school, I wrote my senior thesis on the history of automotive tailfins, and there was a large prologue in there about how the design head of GM at the time saw a P-38 prototype during the war, and it influenced his design of postwar automobiles. Those dual tail rudders from the P-38 morphed into dual tailfins on the back of a Cadillac, and it was all uphill from there. So anyhow, that's my story behind taking this picture. I take thousands of pictures, and very few of them have stories.

Not Long Now

I've been out all day, taking pictures up at Hillsborough River State Park. I should have been here at home working on posts for the next week, but I couldn't resist. I did get some nice shots, though, so you'll be seeing some of those pictures in and amongst the 100 posts I intend to make this coming week. I counted up the shots I've made with my current camera, a Canon digital Rebel XSi that I got last May. In less than a year of shooting, I've averaged over 100 pictures a day with it! Now, there are plenty of days I don't go shooting, sometimes I won't take a single picture for a week or more. But when I go out to shoot, I shoot a lot. Like this squirrel above. I got five pictures of him in a very similar pose. Two of them showed him looking straight at the camera. I could have shown you either one of those, but I chose this one at random. It took all of those pictures to get the one I like. And that's why I take so many pictures, to get one I like. I think it's worth it. See you tomorrow!

Giving It Some Thought

So, I'm thinking about trying something challenging here at the blog. I've been neglecting it somewhat for a while now, only posting a third of what I have in past years, so I'd like to do a little something to help get back on track. I'm thinking of a marathon blogging week, beginning this Sunday. My goal is to make 100 posts between Sunday morning at 12:01 AM and Saturday Night at midnight. Not easy, but not impossible. I know I've got dozens of pictures I should have posted before, but never did, and I've got some record stuff I want to throw up, too. So I think tonight I'm going to start writing up some posts, but not publishing them until Sunday, and see how many I can get up in the next week. Back during Christmas I've posted over 50 items in a week, so 100 is a big stretch. And I'm going to try to shy away from silly novelty text-only posts. No one is going to visit the blog to see what I think of the day's news, that's for sure. Wish me luck, and I'll see you on Sunday!

Helpful Advice

Many of you have written in to Ernie (Not Bert) and asked what you can do to stop rampant train theft. I guess in some parts of the country, it's just not safe to leave your steam locomotive parked on the tracks while you duck into Wal-Mart for a few minutes, even if you bring your coal in with you. But what can you do? Well, how about the new and improved Chock-O-Matic? This little device works much like a boot for your car, only it locks up the main drive wheels of your locomotive tighter than a drum, keeping the bad guys from riding off in your steam-powered, 80,000 pound, 80 year old locomotive. Call today for more information!

Airfest 2009-Six At A Go

I've been meaning to post this shot for you since the night of Airfest, but I've been lazy. I think this is the best picture I've ever taken of the Thunderbirds, and I've shot them three times now I think. The light is pretty good (although not perfect) but the composition is awesome. All six planes in formation, with the the top one just beginning to break out and roll off towards me, letting the sun light it up so that it stands out from the others. The number six plane at the bottom is also starting to roll out of formation away from me, showing you the full paint scheme of the underside. This one may turn out to be a calendar shot, watch and see!