Happy 75th Birthday George Romero - 2/4/15 - Image-a-day

Seventy-five years ago today, George A. Romero, father of modern zombie culture, was born in New York City according to IMDB. I love his first three zombie movies, "Night of the Living Dead", "Dawn of the Dead' and "Day of the Dead" and the crazy, post-apocalyptic world he created. It's been strange to witness how his gruesome tales have gone from an underground, fringe genre to a mainstream phenomena, with shows like "The Walking Dead" serving up much more ultra-violent splatter on television no less. I have often leaned on being a zombie for Halloween. Here is my wife and myself from a few years ago as some tourist zombies. It's an easy costume to assemble, some old clothes and a bit of greenish gray make-up and some dried blood and you're off to the mall. I'll always be a "slow-zombie" fan.

Happy Birthday George!

OK HW

Trash Truck Time Machine - 2/3/15 - Image-a-day

On the drive into work this morning, I past this graffiti-covered trash truck and was instantly back in the 1980s. Trash Truck Time Machine baby!

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Raiders of the Lost Burrito - 2/2/15 - Image-a-day

Did I visit a museum today? No, I went to lunch at a Mexican restaurant that was recently renovated and tricked out with an extra helping of Mayan and Aztec inspired art. The scenic design was so elaborate that it was like walking onto the set of a Indiana Jones knock-off. "Indy, the monkey died, don't eat that burrito!" Someone put a lot of effort into all the wonderfully detailed sculptures and wall paintings. I hope they had as much fun making it as I did looking at it.

OK HW

Don't Fear the Reaper - 2/1/15 - Image-a-day

Today's image came from yesterday's long hike. It's an outdoor sculpture of a skeleton in the yard of a house along the Cape Henry Path in Virginia Beach. It's a larger-than-life metal rendering and I always see it as a Grim Reaper. A reminder of how brief and fragile this sweet life is. Hiking is a sensual act for me, something that connects me to the world and makes me feel alive. The samurai had a bushido saying, "That it is good to fresh one's mind every morning with death". That sounds morbid, but what it means is to not take life for granted. Today was a good day. I walked on the beach with my wife, worked on some art and ate a fine meal. I hope your day was lived as well.

OK HW

Nature's Catherdal - 1/31/2015 - Image-a-day

I've been behind in my hiking/walking/running miles this month. My goal this year is eight hundred miles, so I need to average about sixty-seven miles a month. Today I got out for a big hike, thirteen miles, which brought my total for the month to fifty-seven miles, so ten miles behind.

It was a cold, crisp day, perfect for a long hike, so I started from my house in Chick's Beach and headed to the Virginia Beach oceanfront via First Landing State Park. I took the "Long Creek Trail" which runs the length of the park, much of it along the water. One of my favorite sections wanders through a stand of Spanish Moss covered trees. There is a scared atmosphere to this area. The grey, shroud-like moss gently moving with the breeze suggests a living cathedral. I wonder if the native American Indians who lived here before the Europeans came, considered it holy ground?

OK HW

Bulls' Eye - 1/30/15 - Image-a-day

I was very happy to find real, steel-tip dart boards in Pleasure House Brewing tonight. Too bad I didn't have my darts with me, but next I will. The electronic boards have become the standard these days I think mostly because they require quarters to use, but the steel-tip boards are the one and only true dart game in my book.

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