Image for 4-4-2011 - Alien Among Us

I've been looking at some of my old sculptures lately. I did a bunch of weird, tiny heads in sculpey many years ago, I've shown a few of them on this blog. Here's another one, a classic bug-eyed alien straight out of the Cantina scene from "Star Wars" (at least that's what I was hoping for at the time). I think he needs some new friends.

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Image for 4-3-2011 - In Full Training Mode

I got out today and hiked seven miles with the pack on in a great state park nearby called "First Landing State Park"; locals call it by it's old name, "Seashore State Park". I usually park behind a shopping center and take this multi-use trail into the park. The weather was perfect for hiking, sunny and not too warm. It felt good to walk among the trees. The paths through the park are all dirt trails, easy on the knees. Hiking with some weight on my back is working a lots of muscle groups that normally don't get hit. It's good. I can feel them getting stronger. I'll be ready for the big hike later this month in Scotland!

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Image for 4-2-2011 - More Hockey!

More photos from the hockey game last night. The first image is of the ceiling of Scope, the Norfolk civic arena where the game was held. I love Scope. It was designed by the Italian architect, Pier Luigi Nervi in the early 1970s and still today feels futuristic and daring. It also makes me feel like I am in the belly of a Cyclon battlestar, but that's another story. I've been to many great concerts in that crazy hall, including David Bowie, James Brown and Elton John. I graduated from high school and community college in there too. Sometimes small-minded people bring up the idea of tearing it down and building something larger. Norfolk excels in obliterating it's past by destroying any cool old buildings and the culture and identity those buildings held, but that's a post for another time.

During the game I looked down in front and saw this little infant being held up against the protective glass (or is it plexi-glass?). I thought for sure that baby would start screaming in terror when the players slammed up against the glass, but he or she seemed locked in fascination. There were a lot of children at the game and the crowd was laid back, not much swearing, a real family atmosphere. I'm not much of a hockey fan, but I love to catch a game in the Scope.

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Zamboni Time!

At a Norfolk Admirals game. They are losing 2 to 0 --Sent from my Virgin Mobile!
Tag:"From the road.", "Virgin Mobile"
Location: lat=36.855, lng=-76.286
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image for 3-31-2011 - Fancy a pint lad?

Got some Scottish pounds for an upcoming trip. I always like to hit the ground with some of the local currency in my pocket. In the olden times, I would order my American Express traveler's cheques, but in these modern days, it is easy enough to use a credit card nearly anywhere. Also, last time tried to use traveler's cheques overseas, no one wanted them because of counterfeit concerns. I always envy the design of foreign money, the smart details like varying the size (small to large per denomination amount) and the use of color.

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Image for 3-30-11 - Lush

I got Janet some flowers for our anniversary last week and they are still alive, thriving in fact. I took this shot without a flash, so it has a warm quality due to the lamp light's color temperature. Some natural beauty on a cold, wet evening.

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Image for 3-29-11 - What's Out of Place?

One of these stickers doesn't belong. Can you guess which one? I met my buddy Casey for a pint after work at Sarah's Irish Pub. A section of the bar is covered in sassy, jokey bumper stickers all generally themed around drinking, bad attitudes, the battle of the sexes and other silliness. Today I spied one new sticker that spoiled the good humor of the collection for me. Yep, it's the Obama as the Joker sticker. I consider Sarah's to be a refugee and one of the things I need a break from is politics, especially the hateful, ignorant kind. This sticker perfectly illustrates what depresses me about the current tone of political dialogue (or lack there of) in this country. It is also a dishonest image as it aims is to bluntly paint our President as a villain and label him something he is not. I have no problem criticizing this President or any President, which is not what this image does. What it is is disingenuous, mean-spirited and worst of all not funny. Exactly what need a lot less of in the world right now.

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Image for 3-28-11 - Lucky shot

Heading south over the Delaware Mem. Bridge.
I took this with the phone-cam. Truth be told, I did take two pictures and this was the better of the two. I like the soft quality of the image and the colors are more vivid then I'd expect from a little, cheap-o camera phone.

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Location: lat=39.558, lng=-75.653

At the Rochester Market

A fish stall at the Farmer`s Market. --Sent from my Virgin Mobile!
Tag:"From the road.", "Virgin Mobile"
Location: lat=43.155, lng=-77.606
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Image for 3-26-11 - Happy Birthday Bernie!

Happy birthday Bernie! My Mum-in-law will be 90 come next week, so we are up in sunny Rochester, NY to celebrate! I love Bernie, she is a great, fun lady and former Marine in WW II. Here she is enjoying a cupcake just before kicking our butts in dummy Euchure.

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On the Road Again!

Driving north on highway 15; heading for Rochester --Sent from my Virgin Mobile!
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Location: lat=41.34, lng=-77.092
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Image for 3/24/11 - More Empty Coal Ships

Lately there has been a constant collection of empty coal ships waiting to get into port, sometimes as many as fifteen. I wonder what the crews do while they have to wait. Janet and I took a walk on Christmas Eve and saw the ships and I envisioned that the crew would have some tiny, artificial tree with make-shift ornaments and maybe a little egg nod. If they were lucky, the old, chubby cook would dress up as Santa and hand out a few candy bars as gifts. I bet they are mostly just bored watching TV.

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Image for 3/23/11 - Glad to see ya!

I love those attractor balloon people things. They need to develop some artificial intelligence and overthrow their human masters. Of course all we'd have to do to defeat them is turn-off their fans.

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Image for 3/22/11 - The Grid

Guess what this is? It is a tile bathroom floor from the building I work in. Reminded me of the first video game graphics, 8-bit style.

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Ten Years Ago Today...

Janet and I took that walk. We were married on a beach in Freeport, Bahamas. It was a very casual ceremony with just a few close friends. 

I think of that day often, how we chose each other. It's been the best ten years of my life.

I wish the same good love and happiness for all my friends.















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Image for 3/20/11 - The Hiking Report

I upped my hiking goal for 2011 from 650 to 700 miles. So far, I am keeping up with the extra miles. Today I did a six mile hike with my backpack on (about 17 pounds in the pack). I have a big hike coming up in May and will have to carry the pack, so training time. It felt good to get the carry the weight, could feel different muscle groups getting some heat. We'll see how I'm feeling in the morning. I've hit 166 miles for the year thus far, only 534 to go.

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Image for 3/19/11 - Spring Forward!

Ah. spring is in the air. I did a seven mile hike today and the weather was perfect. Sunny and about sixty-two degrees. I felt pretty good, even did a bit of jogging. I love Saturdays.

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Image for 3/18/11 - Fire Good!

We had our first fire for the year in the chimenea tonight. Nothing like a Friday night fire on the patio to kick-off the weekend. It was very warm today, eighty degrees, about twenty above normal for this time of year. Everyone has spring fever.

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Image for 3/17/11 - Happy St. Patty's Day!

On my way home from work, I had stop  off for one pint at my favorite watering hole, "Sarah's Irish Pub" in Phoebus (Hampton), Va. Sarah's is run by Trish (to the left) and Frank, too of the happiest people I know. They throw a legendary St. Patty's Day party every year complete with green beer, corned beef and cabbage, live music and, of course, a leprechaun (pictured below). The place was packed out by the time I stopped in and I was lucky to score a Guinness and find a rail to lean against. The band started off with a cover of The Beatles, "Back in the USSR". Must of been an inside joke. The crowd didn't seem to mind.

I got to admit that I've only become a fan of St. Patty's Day since I lived in Ireland. Now it makes some sense to me; helps me to reconnect with those years I spent wandering the green and rocky hills of the Burren in the west. It also helps that green is my favorite color.

Sláinte Gaelach!

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Image for 3/16/11 - Sidewalk Hieroglyphics...

I did a quick two mile hike after work tonight. My usual roundtrip from the house up to Shore Drive. I was walking along feeling bored with all I saw. The uninspired, soulless colonial ranch and vinyl sided duplexes that dominate my neighborhood were not providing the kind of photo opportunities I was hoping for then I looked down and saw these markings on the sidewalk. Some kind of utility tags. I see abstract art, abstract tags, subterranean hints of another world.

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Image for 3/15/11 - Red Skies in Morning...

It was a rosy dawn, fire across the eastern sky. Daylight savings makes it much easier for me to enjoy the rising sun. True to the saying, "Red skies in morning, sailor take warning", we did have some mildly bad weather today, just a little rain. The ships out in the bay are empty coal freighters waiting to coming into the marine terminals for a load. I'd prefer to see wind turbines or wave turbines instead.

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Image for 3/14/11 - Mr. Lizard-Man...

Alright, I'm gonna lean on another pic from Key West today. It was a boring Monday and I felt uninspired, so better to remember being back in Key West on a hot Friday, hiking along the moat for Fort Zach Taylor and coming across this fellow. He was about three feet from nose to tail tip and looked well fed. We startled each other pretty good, but he hung around long enough for me to get one quick snap before he jumped into the green water and disappeared.

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Image for 3/13/11 - Another Key West thing...

I walked around all day today with the camera in my pocket, but never saw anything worth shooting. So I'm going to dip back into the pile of photos from the Key West trip for today's image. I took this at an interesting place called the "Pelican Poop Shoppe" that is in a great old building called the "Casa Antigua" and is purported to be Ernest Hemingway's first home in Key West. Now it's somebody else's private residence with a gift shop in the front. If you buy something in the gift shop they give you a tour of the courtyard, which is where I found this weird fellow. The courtyard was wonderful, full of tropical planets and a pool in the middle. A secluded outdoor space within a town. That's a design feature that I think needs to come back.

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Image for 3/12/11 - Goodnight Starling

Out hiking today (seven miles, thank you very much) and came across this beautiful European Starling carcass along Shore Drive. Click the image to enlarge  and better appreciate the iridescent feathers which, according to my bird book, are only seen in the spring. A dead spring bird; the edge between winter and spring; death and rebirth.

Weirdly enough, I saw a second bird cadaver half a block from this one, but it was in the shadow of a telephone pole; badly lit for a photo.

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Image for 3-11-2011 - Doodle Friday

Scanned this out of a notepad at work. I'm not much for meetings. Find that generally they are a waste of time, so the pen and mind will wander. This little sketch was inspired by an old friend, Nino. He passed on some years back after living a long and interesting life. He was happier then this doodle portrays him. I never saw him wear that kind of sweater. Weird the connections a mind will make.

Happy Friday!

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Image for 3/10/11 - Key West Tree

One of the things we enjoyed about our visit to Key West was all of the wild and interesting exotic trees and plants. I like the textures and shapes on this particular tree. I see a weird spaceman on the lower part of the truck with one good eye and one that's wandering. What can you see there?

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Image for 3/9/11 - New Friends from Germany via Key West

We stayed at a great B&B called the Andrews Inn on our Key West trip. B&Bs can be a great opportunity to meet fellow travelers. This can be a good or bad thing depending on the mood and quality of the encountered random humans. On this trip, we hit the jackpot when, over breakfast the first morning, we met Tim and Ines, a couple of nice German people on their first visit to the USA. We got to hang out a bit, worked on our sunburns at Fort Zach Taylor beach, take in a sunset at Mallory Square and share a fun dinner at the Schooner Wharf. Through the magic of Facebook, we will be able to keep in touch. You can never have enough friends.

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Image for 3/8/11 - Happy Mardi Gras

I got this mask in New Orleans many years ago. It always makes me think of Mardi Gras and the good times I've had in that funky town. If you've never been to Mardi Gras in New Orleans, then put it on your bucket list. It is the most wild, debauched spectacle that I have ever seen or been a part of.

And don't forget to yell, "Hey Mister, throw me some beads!"

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Home again, home again...

A favorite part of traveling for me is returning home. We had a great time on our trip to Key West. Time went exquisitely slowly for a change while we were having our good time. We made some new friends, ate some great food and slipped a little wine. Another successful outing.

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Oliva St shrine.

One last photo from KW. Seen near our bungalow. --Sent from my Virgin Mobile!
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Location: lat=24.555, lng=-81.803
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The Bull - For Lord Nelson

Off Duval St., The Bull bar. --Sent from my Virgin Mobile!
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Location: lat=24.555, lng=-81.803
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Janet`s drawing for Sunday

Drawn at Blue Heaven, refuge from the rain. --Sent from my Virgin Mobile!
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Location: lat=24.555, lng=-81.803
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