Cool Baby Photo Shoot images

Piper's First Christmas

Image by javcon117
I had a wonderful photo shoot with the Daley family on November 10, 2012.

This is the newest addition to the Daley Family, Miss Piper. Isn't she adorable?

Background/Texture: Thanks, Pareeerica!
www.flickr.com/photos/pareeerica/4194465836/in/set-721576...

Nana's Girl

Image by javcon117
Courtesy of Hurricane Sandy! Because of the Hurricane my work was closed for 3 days. I had a little extra time and was finally able to have a nice photo shoot with my granddaughter, Amari. Isn't she cute as a button? Love Her!

Amari Elizabeth - 10-29-12

Image by javcon117
My beautiful granddaughter, Amari Elizabeth. Thanks to Hurricane Sandy, Nana had a little extra time on her hands. Because of the weather my work closed for three days. This gave me some much needed time to have a photo shoot with Miss Amari. Love Her!

He's not heavy, he's my baby!

Image by pixieclipx
I love him so much, no matter that he is 13 or weighs almost 150, he's not heavy, he's my baby!

Photo by Zack Levine

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Cool Professional Baby Pictures images

a family

Image by maureen_sill
when i am in langa and taking a picture of the sky, people walk across the street and from half a block away
to come over to me and ask me about the camera i am holding in my hands
they say, what are you doing, red? red-head, head of red, what are you doing with that nice machine you have?
i say, i am taking a picture of the sky
then they look up and say, what for
and i start to feel silly because it is impossible for me to explain sky project to anyone i love
without feeling contrived or inaccurate
let alone a stranger, let alone a stranger who lives in a place like this
how could i ever articulate, especially to those who do not speak english
and then they either smile, or look at me weird, and then walk away and say, have a nice day lady
or, "will you take a picture of me?"
which i have conflicted feelings about but i do anyway, because they asked me to
and then when they are done posing i take two or three more, because those are the real photos
that i will send them, along with the ones of them smiling into the camera
in front of a fence, in front of a shack
and then i write down their address
and then i take a picture of their address
so i know who to send the prints i will make to
so they can have a picture of themselves
or so they can have a picture of their children, or their babies
the woman in this picture told me she did not have a picture of her baby boy
it is not my place to introduce technology into their lives
is it my place to with-hold technology from their lives?
if someone says, please take a photo of my baby, i do not have one
who am i to say no, who am i to say yes?
so i just do what it seems like people want
i don't know
i feel like a fucking jerk for taking their picture
is this person beautiful to me because of how much i love people
is that the truth
is it even close?
when i showed a photo of his face to her on the camera she looked at me
like i had given her something so important
she didn't say any words, she just stared into the screen for a long time and said, "oh..."
and put her hand on my hand, holding the machine in front of us
and she wrote her address in my journal in print handwriting that looked like a fifth grader's
and nelisa and i walked her to her street, i watched her go inside of a tiny house with an aluminum roof
nelisa said, that woman used to come to mama's clinics on wednesday
i said, why doesn't she anymore
she said, her brother used to come with her but he died and now she doesn't want to come without him, i think
i said, "oh"
nelisa said, are you really going to mail her a picture, except she pronounced it, "pick-tchahhh?"
i said, yeah, i'm going to send her every single one i took in different sizes
she said, that's good of you
i said, maybe, but it's definitely bad of me to worry that... something might happen before she gets them
she said, you mean, like, she would expire before she got your pick-tchahhs?
i said, yeah, but not that she wouldn't get the pictures, but that she would die
she said, yeah and i cried a little, like a professional american youth
you said why are you crying
i said, impossible to say
you said, can you try
i said, okay. i am crying because no one ever knows it when someone else thinks they are perfect
you said, you are crying because no one ever thinks that they are perfect
i said, no, because no one ever knows when someone else thinks they are good, they can never really know, because i think deep down people do not love truly themselves they only love other people, and even then, it is probably only sort of
you said, i'm sorry and then i said, i'm sorry
and then i felt extremely bad for burdening a twelve year old, and i felt so guilty that i wanted to pass out
i forget that you are twelve and not twenty sometimes, i said, i'm sorry i said that to you just now
but then you said, it's okay, don't worry about it, do you want to go home
i said, you are twelve and perfect
you said, estoy perfecta! and i laughed a little
i said, when i get the chance the first thing i am doing is making prints and sending them to her
you said something that sounded rehearsed, about god taking care of lost people
about god seeing lost people from heaven, and secretly guiding them into his light
and having a secret plan for them, and making them kings and queens in His Great Kingdom of Heaven
i don't know if you were talking about that lady or about me
and i don't believe in that, in what you said,
but what i do believe in is the kindness in you, because when you said that
you meant well, and you meant to comfort me
and that is my version of something higher

Sitting (squatting) for a Nadia Strid portrait

Image by St. Mary's Episcopal Cathedral - Memphis
Their first official Sunday at St. Mary's Episcopal Cathedral, Memphis.
Photo by Gary Bridgman(borrowing Nadia Strid's setup)

Nadia has been photographing St. Mary's (and the rest of Memphis) since the early 1940's. She was the first female professional photographer to operate a studio in Memphis.

Nadia Price Strid, in her own words
"It was probably late in 1939 when I started as an apprentice with Avery N. Stratton, an outstanding photographer in Memphis, learning retouching and dark room work. A year later, he paid me .00 a week for 6-8hr. days. It was nearly a year after that when he moved to a new location where he had built a studio to his specifications. A lovely place on newly extended Union Ave. (it is now the Junior League House). It was early December when we moved his mid-town studio and had an opening reception on Sunday December 7, 1941. Then about 4 P. M. someone told us of hearing on the radio (before television} about the bombing of Pearle Harbor! I wanted to do what I could. So I left Avery Stratton's Studio to go to drafting school and later worked for U.S. Engineers. At that time, they were doing war work. I stayed with them for 13 months. After war work had played out, I went to work for Fisher Air Craft who was making parts for the B25s. I was the plant photographer, which not only included photographs in the plant but IDs and finger printing.
Things were slowing down and I decided to take a summer camp job. I applied to one of the top summer girl's camps in Wisconsin. The director had just lost her diving instructor and wanted to know if I could teach diving. I had worked on the one-meter board but not the 3-meter. Thought I would try. I did not know I was following the Olympic diving champion, Janie Faunce Manskie. Needless to say, her students were better than I was, but not old enough to teach. A difficult year, but I did go back the next year as the photographer. That summer the war ended. Everyone was rationed on film and paper (plus many other things). I was to put out a catalog with only 2 boxes of24 sheets each of 4/5 film and one box of 100 sheets of 8/1 0 paper. The catalog did have 46 different new photographs. Probably the most difficult assignment I had in all my professional years.
I do remember another difficult assignment when Newburger Cotton Co. called and wanted photographs of their warehouse in action for their prospectus. It was after the season and the warehouse was empty! There was one bale of cotton. I kept putting it in the foreground and shooting around it. Some how it worked and they were pleased.
I once had to do the same thing with people in a church. No one was there except my assistant and the priest. I shot his back at the communion rail to get a good altar view of the priest-giving communion.
The fall after my first year at Camp Nagawicka in Wisconsin, I visited my sister and her husband who was stationed in Louisiana. He was to be sent overseas and said he was going over to drop the last bomb. He could have, I still do not know. However, in the mean time, Billy and I were driving their loaded red conversable back to Memphis and approached a huge cloud of smoke burning leaves late in the afternoon on a beautiful October day. The car was so heavy that it held it's position in the road, but suddenly I knew we'd been hit. When I saw the grill of a truck facing us. 'Billy this is it!' I didn't know how we'd come out of that alive. The man who hit us was passing the truckload of cotton pickers and being blinded by smoke took our left light, which later identified him. Billy and I both went through our windshields (they were divided at that day and time and not shatter proof). There was just 4" between my seat and the wheel.
I had been a counselor for Camp Woodhaven at Montgomery Bell State Park NW Tennessee the summer before. In 1946, the National Girl Scouts were starting a new program working with seniors as Program Aids, as assistant counselors. They needed a counselor for the group. I did not think I qualified but they wanted to try it, as I loved working with girls that age. Caroline and I had already started our Business and were contracting summer camps for business, which generally meant a week at a time. We had joined the American Camping Association, which is where we made our contacts. I would need to be in Hardy, Arkansas for two or three days while I was supposed to be on the job for Woodhaven. I did take photographs for the Girl Scouts and YWCA in Hardy plus Woodhaven and tried to be a counselor at the same time. The photographs were great but I do not know how good a counselor I was. They were still using the program the last I heard.

The doctor called and flagged a train to get us to Memphis. When we boarded the crowded train, I remember swinging from seat to seat and someone remarked, 'Oh, my aching back' and I replied 'and it's really aching'.
With a scarred face, I knew finding a job would not be easy. I asked Mr. Stratton if he still needed someone in the darkroom. He gave me a nice raise. The following summer was the year I was the photographer for Camp Nagawicka. That fall Caroline Jenkins, a classmate of my sister's, also my instructor in Lifesaving and I decided to combine equipment, her movie lights, and my graduation present, the 21/4x31/4 Anniversary Speed Graphic and take children's photographs. With out a studio, we would go into the homes.
When Caroline and I were planning the business, Helen Geohegan was there but not interested as she was working for a clothing store, but did give us her support. It was Halloween night and we had just taken a photograph of the costumed neighborhood children. All the parents wanted a copy. Caroline was great with children. In fact, she could make anyone laugh. We sat up 'til 4AM making our plans. We named our business 'Photography by NADIA' and set up a dark room in the basement of my folk’s apartment on Union Ave. in Memphis. We started by taking babies in the homes, which the mothers loved. Our motto was 'Let Us Come To You'.

Caroline was working for the local Girl Scouts and had talked me into being a leader for a Mariner Troop. Our troop traveled and did more extensive camping than any other troop in the country. At one point, we had 13 straight camping weekends and I soon burned out. Most of the girls made their money by baby-sitting.
I had been a counselor for Camp Woodhaven at Montgomery Bell State Park NW Tennessee the summer before. In 1946, the National Girl Scouts were starting a new program working with seniors as Program Aids, as assistant counselors. They needed a counselor for the group. I did not think I qualified but they wanted to try it, as I loved working with girls that age. Caroline and I had already started our Business and were contracting summer camps for business, which generally meant a week at a time. We had joined the American Camping Association, which is where we made our contacts. I would need to be in Hardy, Arkansas for two or three days while I was supposed to be on the job for Woodhaven. I did take photographs for the Girl Scouts and YWCA in Hardy plus Woodhaven and tried to be a counselor at the same time. The photographs were great but I do not know how good a counselor I was. They were still using the program the last I heard.

To get started in business, we needed money. As it was near Christmas, a man told me about Department Stores needing something different and attractive to sell for gifts. She had been selling hand painted scarves and ties, but was getting married and would not be doing it any more, would I like to continue? It was the answer to a prayer. We made 0.00 enough to get us started with dark room supplies and film. We needed a larger darkroom enlarger than the one I had. It was not easy borrowing from the bank without credit, but somehow we managed. After we paid it off, I kept borrowing, put the money aside, paid the interest, and gradually borrowed more until I built up a fair credit.

It was one 5th of July 1959 when I returned home and Billy, my sister, asked me what happened to me on the 4th at 6:00AM? I quickly replied that I was in bed at that hour, and then I remembered that a few of the counselors at Camp Monterey where I was taking photographs, were going horse back riding early and did I want to join them? We went to an open field and just let the horses run. There was a big stump in the way of my mount, which we both saw at the same time. He went one way and I the other and off! Holding onto his reins, I saw a big hoof coming down just in time to turn. His hoof caught my hair. I nervously remounted and joined the group. I ask Billy why she asked. She said my riding picture that Mother had painted with a red riding habit, had fallen off the wall It was a good portrait, but always embarrassed me as only the hunt master wears the red. The time of the falling was the same time I had fallen, as East Tennessee was on daylight savings time. Twenty years later, that same portrait fell off the wall on July 4th! My first husband, Bill Bates, and I were living north of Quitman at the time.

It must have been May of 1959 when Les Passes Hospital was to be dedicated. I had taken photographs of all the living and copies of the past deceased presidents to be hung in one of the corridors. When I knew they were to be hung on a concrete block wall, I had called the archbishop to find out what size nails were needed. I was prepared but a little late as the janitor was leaving and gave me af1imsy hammer to use. Not my job, but if they were to be hung, I guess it was up to me. The two women from Les Passé didn’t know anything about a hammer. The first nail I tried to hammer in between the concrete blocks bounced off the opposite wall. The nails kept bending and bouncing. I told the women to stand back before someone got hit. The contractor had not honored the architect’s wishes. It was a difficult job. About the third picture we were hanging, the nail bounced into my left EYE. "As deep as it could go with out going through" to quote the doctor later. As there was no pain, I told the women what I thought had happened, one laughed and the other nearly fainted. I decided not to tell anyone else. We did finish the job. I drove back to the studio, still wondering. The next day was Sunday. As I sang in the choir, I closed my right eye to see if the left was OK. That afternoon was the hospital dedication I As I stood in the sun, my eye began to throb. Maybe I had a bit of a headache, I don't remember, but when I met my mend, Alice Crocket to go to an afternoon musical she ask me what I had done to my eye, and I ask why she asked? She said my eye was all blood shot. I put on dark glasses and when we reached the home of a mend whose party we were going to, she made me call my ophthalmologist. The same one that had stitched up the same eye fourteen years before. He told me to come in first thing in the morning. I did not tell Mother or my sister, as they were Christian Scientists. Papa drove me to the doctor. It was about 11:00 AM before he could see me. About four doctors and attendants were standing over me burning out infection. I was supposed to look at one spot on the wall with doctors moving back and forth between the spot and me. God helped me and they did a superb job. Two more hours and the insurance would not have covered it. That was my dominant eye and they burned out all the infection. I later learned that my odds were about a million to one of seeing again! Several months later I met a meant and ask him if he minded if I asked what happened to him since he was wearing a glass eye. He replied that he struck a nail in his eye. The goose bumps ran up and down my spine!

One month and a day later thrombosis appeared! A blood clot behind the retina. It was dissolved and in due time disappeared. God has been good to this child of his. He is making me realize that the greatest vision is understanding and love. The love of our neighbors.

Another assignment I remember, where Caroline and I were covering a wedding. in Hernando, Mississippi (I believe). The home was an old one remodeled. The dogtrot had been enclosed. The groom was running late as he was flying in from New York and his plane was late. Folks seemed a little tense. I was taking a group shot, when I climbed on an antique chair, after taking my shoes off when I heard a thunderous crack. I disappeared. I just knew I had ruined that old chair! With the weight of so many folks, the floor caved in. They finally found me and the show went on. They all had a good laugh about me.

Driving home on the 5th of July from Camp Monterey after a week of taking photographs of all the camp activities, I came over a hill in middle Tennessee, and realized the car in front of me was stopped or slowed down. I saw the funeral line coming in the opposite direction. It was probably 1959, and I was in my Plymouth. It was a beautiful sunny day, but the car that had been far behind me, ran me down when he came over the hill. He was going to fast to stop. He swung to the right; hit a mailbox on the right, with through his rear into my rear, and my car into the cousins of the funeral line. I had cameras thrown across the highway. I was jolted, I had a whiplash and badly shaken but O.K. I picked up the cameras and started taking photographs, but I never had to show them. They knew I had them. My car was so old that the cameras were worth more than the car. They did give me more than the car was worth. I guess they were glad I didn't have large medical bills. I waited almost the eleven months and 29 days according to Tennessee law. I bought another second hand vehicle, which turned out to be a "lemon" God has really taken care of this chick through the years.

One of the nicest rewards in photography is the people we meet. The knew young and rich were always reaching for something they did not have, never satisfied with life and grabbing for more of what ever. Hard to satisfy and hard to photograph. I guess they did not know how to relax. On the other hand the leaders, presidents, CEOs were generally, for the most part agreeable, good natured, happy, satisfied, inspirational and generally offering some good advice which made them much easier to photograph. And then one I was always glad to have met.

One of these people was Eva Jessey who directed Porgy and Bess. She was in Memphis for a performance at our Little Theater. A mutual men and reporter from New Orleans was in town and brought her by the studio. I took her photograph. It was a real pleasure. My husband, Bill Bates, and I took her to dinner. But in the seventies finding a restaurant was not easy. I called a place where Bill and I ate a good bit and they put us in a luncheon room where there were only a few people which was fine with us as we could visit better."

Nadia Strid
June 2000

Best State South of South Carolina Competition - Maps From Welcome Station

Image by Joe Plocki (turbojoe)
The next category in the best state south of South Carolina Competition is free road maps issued at the welcome center.

Here are pictured the actual maps I received at each welcome center.

You'll note that the Georgia map is mostly obnoxiously green, and has an orange and pink peach on it. (While this, too, might imply some sort of Peach State thing, we've already marked that against Georgia in the Welcome Sign category of the competition). It also has pictures of babies on it - uh oh! Anyone that has to resort to pictures of babies to draw attention is obviously hiding something. Tsk, tsk.

The Florida map is much cleaner, with more diversity in the cover photos, including at least one moderately hot chick (though she's obviously married and has a kid). It also has a cool silhouette photo against a sunset sky. And a parrot - what a riot!!! The cover color is also a much more widely accepted and professional-looking white. It makes no assumptions as to what colors you, the visitor, find appealing. The Florida map is straightforward, with no trickery to try to make you like the state better because of the map.

The obvious winner, here, again, is Florida.

On to the intangibles, and the announcement of the Best State South of South Carolina...

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Cool Baby Squirrel Pictures images

Flying squirrel

Image by ellenm1
My sister is a wildlife rehab expert, and recently got this baby flying squirrel in to care for. She has to feed him every hour. He had been kept for 4 days before they got him to her, so he is pretty thin, although they tried to feed him.

You can clearly see his webbing in this picture

Nice use of this image here:
pets.families.com/blog/what-to-do-if-you-find-an-injured-...

Squirrel eating breakfast

Image by Henna Sooq
We missed the picture of her eating out of the yoghurt container my kids left outside. But we caught her this time. Eating out of the cereal bowl they once again left outside. She loves to eat! She is a momma so she must.

Flying Squirrel Rescue

Image by climbnh2003
Hunter and his cousin were exploring an area they call the clay pit when they stumbled across two newborn flying squirrels. They brought them home fearing that they had been abandoned but upon further scouting, found the nest. We went to return them and discovered that the snag the squirrels had been living in had blown over last night in the wind storm. The mother was still in the area but the nest was a shambles. These pics are mostly of the mama squirrel and we hope that she is able to get her young to the hole in the snag in the last picture of the set.

Flying Squirrel Rescue

Image by climbnh2003
Hunter and his cousin were exploring an area they call the clay pit when they stumbled across two newborn flying squirrels. They brought them home fearing that they had been abandoned but upon further scouting, found the nest. We went to return them and discovered that the snag the squirrels had been living in had blown over last night in the wind storm. The mother was still in the area but the nest was a shambles. These pics are mostly of the mama squirrel and we hope that she is able to get her young to the hole in the snag in the last picture of the set.

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Cool Funny Baby Picture images

fact or fiction?

Image by db Photography | Demi-Brooke
how many am i supposed to do? five i think, isn't it?
if its more than that, i'll add some.

numero uno.] I love this camera, but have yet to use it. I love photography in general. This sudden fad with photography is kind of irritating, because it seems like anyone with a camera has "photography is my life goal passion dream lalala" plastered everywhere. i'm all for expressing yourself through pictures, if you're sincere. if you're doing it for a fad, getchyoself a life, foo'.

tewwww.] I love gardening, gardens, flowers, etc. Today, my mom decided i'm allowed to have a garden out my side window. i'm so excited! little gnomes and mushrooms are going to be all over it. we've already bought some herbs and flowers, and i hope to get a vine growing up a fence for the corner. oh baby oh baby oh baby, oh!

3.] I have a minor obsession with burts bees everything. i own all their hand lotions, chapsticks, and my favorite, their cuticle cream. that stuff makes me feel all close to nature, like i'm rubbing nature all over my person. not to be awkward or anything...

four.] i keep a journal, and if i don't write in it daily, i feel as if i might go insane. I have to constantly have record of what i do each day, especially when its something interesting or funny. comic strips, pictures, collages, and far too many lists are also kept in it. recently, my friend Kristin made [yes, MADE. i'll have to get a picture of it up soon] a journal, which i've been using for church notes, favorite verses, and bible study notes. i'm a journalin' looney; guard your children.

a whole hand.] I really want a pet sloth. and i don't care if they have bugs in their skin, you've got bugs in your bed. so there. stick that in your juicebox and suck it. : )



ciao, bella.


----
btw,
i really hope my computer gets fixed soon.
i miss having photoshop to layer things! oh man. (c)<copyrighted by steve

pile of love and weight of the past

Image by me and the sysop
killing time by digging into the past. these quotes crack me up and make me sad.

¶
owen found some video of a chick fucking a care bear. she had a strap on attached to it, and she put it in her ass and bounced up and down on it. you know it's a bad day when furry anal sex is turning me on.
¶
and god said let there be pubic hair. and god was pleased because all hu-mans would be miserable.
¶
i'd assume that's why no one likes me: i just likened a dreamy relationship to the plot of ms. pacman.
¶
SCENE: CHELSEA is retrieving the jug of tea from the refridgerator as MOM sits at the table and DOUG stands near the sink
CHELSEA: man, the guy at the counter was so pretty. he had hair to his chin, and his nails were painted with a chipping black. i was like, 'um, can i have a large popcorn, skittles, medium diet coke, and your baby?' that's why i had to pay that extra four dollars. :nods:
¶
i've always wanted to take [a roadtrip] by myself. i want to take pictures of powerlines. just inches from being directly in front of them, when you can see all of them in the distance. they look like they go on forever, and for some reason that's the most beautiful thing i've ever seen.
¶
after some time spent in the dark this morning around 2:00, i realized i still needed to buy a vibrator. this seems sort of backward i realize, but half an hour and three orgasms later i decided to go to the megaplex.
¶
"why does chelsea have so much anger in her?"
"i don't know, why don't you ask her?"
"cause she'd get mad."
¶
mom: "sister doesn't know regular music."
sarah: "that's because she isn't regular."
¶
i'm not sure why leaving was so hard. probably because not only am i leaving a cool apartment, but i'm also leaving jennifer. a world of funny voices, obscure movie quotes, and inside jokes all dead.

just as i started carrying the last of my things to the car, it began to storm. the moment i finished, the rain stopped. in my car, i hit the steering wheel and yelled, "fuck you!" presumably to whoever controls the weather.
¶
mom and sarah rushed out the door at 4:40. doug got out of jury duty early, and they've an 8 o'clock mavericks game to get to in dallas. mom called out "bye babe," and i was left sitting at the kitchen table under the harsh flourescents, drinking from a glass of tea mom had made and ignoring my over-cooked waffles on the saucer before me. i heard the front door lock clack, and mom returned. she placed a ten dollar bill next to my waffles and said i should call derek and see if he wants to get something to eat. she hated for me to be alone. i said weakly, ok, and again she left.

the kitchen table set-up is currently the same: glass, saucer, waffles, money. all light from outside has died, and the hallways and rooms are pitch black and quiet in the brown home.

i packed some clothes i could wear to a funeral just in case. good thinking.

gladys

Image by maureen_sill
the elderly in langa are tired
they have been through apartheid, centuries of capitalistic slavery, discrimination
drug problems, gang wars, endless violence, endless poverty, hunger, the AIDS crisis
losing their family to various tragedies
a hundred fifty funerals
they are tired, and yet they are made out of iron
and yet still, they are made out of milk and honey
walking past the park mama says, this is where white people who come to langa go
she says, they come here to take pictures of the children playing
like animals in the zoo, little black animals in the zoo
and then men come out of the shacks with knives and rob their cameras
she says, i know you like to take pictures, you wrote in the letter you sent
i said yes, but i do not take pictures here without permission, and if i do not know their name
i do not take pictures if i have not spoken to them
which in my head, i know every professional would say sacrfices a true candid
but that is a sacrifice i am willing to make in the name of consideration
she said, why do you like to take pictures
and for once in my life i articulated myself and said
"it is how i try to understand"
and she laughed and touched my hair
she said, ah, but you are such a good listener, baby
i said, only for you mama
she laughed and patted my back and said
you are very careful to be respectful, noluthando
which was funny to me because at home i am usually very abrasive
this place has turned me quiet, very quickly
there is nothing to say, when you do not understand anything
there is nothing for me to say
nothing i could possibly say
so i just offer to get the tea, do the dishes, go to the store and help nelisa with her homework
a person who does not speak or offend is obviously easy to like
but it seems impossible to love
the sky is awful gray, perfectly gray
jaz said to me, you brought the rain with you, from america, did you?
his hearty, cigar laugh, falling out of his mouth, ashes on the brick floor
yes, i say

HUMAN EVOLUTION

Image by Okinawa Soba
The above graphic should settle all arguments, both religious and scientific, as to who among us sits at the top of the evolutionary model in man's March of Progress.

This pictographic document has long been known by members of the KKK, the ARYAN BROTHERHOOD, the NAZI PARTY, and the Education and Propaganda Departments of both CHINA and JAPAN, who have been at each others throats for centuries, each claiming to be the SUPREME RACE.

Unfortunately, these barbaric tribes and nations could only agree on one thing : TO SUPPRESS THE ABOVE CHART AT ALL COSTS. Therefore, the peoples of the world were left with an incomplete picture of the Evolution of Man, which erroneously showed HOMO SAPIENS to be the crowing achievement of our evolutionary progress.

The discovery of this long-lost chart has now rendered all such arguments completely moot.

Found on a T-SHIRT in an Okinawa Souvenir Shop, the discovery of this here-to-fore unknown graphic has spurred evolutionary scientists to re-examined the DNA evidence, resulting in the surprise confirmation that the UCHINANCHU (Okinawans of Okinawa) do indeed form a new level of evolution that makes the normal Homo Sapiens seem like Neanderthals in comparison.

Scientists speculate that the upward evolutionary break from the homo sapiens came as a natural response to the negative environmental pressures of having to put up with both the US Military and Japanese occupation of their advanced Island Civilization.

While the lowly Homo Sapiens are known for being adept at inventing lots of things and making war, the more advanced UCHINANCHU life forms are known for not letting things bother them, getting along with everyone, drinking a powerful rice whiskey called Awamori, and singing and dancing he night away whenever they get the chance. They also seem to make a lot of babies in the process.

The Okinawans have invented many festivals and holidays as an excuse to indulge in these pastimes, and, as further proof of their separation from the lower forms around them, live longer, healthier, and happier lives than the CHINESE, JAPANESE, and US MILITARY they have to deal with on a daily basis.

On the other hand, the Okinawans also work a lot harder than the barbaric tribes mentioned above. And they work WAY harder than certain Officials of the US State Department who come here masquerading as so-called "Diplomats" --- especially a former director of the US State Department's Office of Japan Affairs (and former US Consul General in Okinawa) whose extremely LAZY approach to learning and understanding history is not unlike that of a corpse trying to learn what life is all about.

abcnews.go.com/International/us-diplomat-kevin-maher-repl...

In a scientific endorsement of the "ONE DROP RULE", it has also been discovered that if you can find even one drop of OKINAWAN BLOOD in your ancestral tree, your future prodigy has the best chance of making the world a better place.

Otherwise, like poor Okinawa Soba (that's me), you are doomed to a future that is controlled and directed by Homo Sapien idiots and nincompoops.

*

The above information is completely true, and is supplied as both a service and a warning to all mankind. For further information on this new evolutionary discovery, please consult my still-unwritten book, THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT OKINAWA, complied from notes I forgot to keep while under the influence of 120-Proof Awamori.

*

NOTE ON THE GRAPHIC : This "HUMAN EVOLUTION" graphic is by local artist and designer YUSATAKA HANASHIRO of the Okinawa City Tourist Bureau, and reproduced here with his permission. Tasked with coming up with a T-SHIRT and POSTER idea for the 2011 EISA FESTIVAL, he decided on a parody / spoof of the famous "March of Progress" illustration by RUDOLF ZALLINGER (1919-1995) that first appeared in the 1965 Time-Life book, Early Man.

Needless to say, it got a lot of approval from the local Okinawans, who --- after living with American and Japanese occupiers for the past 60 --- know that the funny parody is a lot closer to the truth than most people realize !

^_^

♥ THE ORIGINAL : en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_of_Progress

♥ SIMILAR 1992 PARODY ALONG THE SAME LINES : en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encino_Man

♥ EVOLUTION OF JAPANESE FOOTBALL / SOCCER : rlv.zcache.com/evolution_of_japanese_football_soccer_play...

♥ PURPOSE OF THE UCHINAA POSTER : EISA DANCERS and the ESIA FESTIVAL : en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eisa_%28dance%29

*

OTHER PARODIES OVER ON PHOTOBUCKET NOT ENDORSED BY OKINAWA SOBA : i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa133/EpicKira/evolution.png


*

*

*

RANDOM SOBA : www.flickriver.com/photos/24443965@N08/sets/

day fifty one | wicked

Image by I Are Rowell
day fifty one | wicked

Pictured here is the Grilled California Lamb Chops on baby bok choy, currants and creamy risotto.

As Barb would describe a perfect life,

good food, good wine and good company.

We started our afternoon eating dinner at the Currant American Brasserie in downtown San Diego.

Barb and I had tickets to watch Wicked and through Twitter I found out that the Currant was running a Wicked deal (no pun intended):

Free valet, 3 course meal and a free cocktail for /person.

I've been to the Currant before but never really sat down for dinner and I was in heaven after eating such a delicious dinner. The service was top notch and the food was perfect!

Barb had chile grilled prawns, the grilled california lamb chops (pictured here), and a pineapple rhubarb cobbler for dessert.

I had sweet corn soup, the grilled california lamb chops (pictured here) and a seasonal creme brulee for dessert.

We then watched Wicked which was just absolutely amazing. Everyone had wonderful voices. It really made me and Barb want to watch the Wizard of Oz again. It was funny, sad and happy - a musical that really defines how we experience life which can be seen in the personalities of different characters.

readmore »»   Read More..

Cool Baby Photo Frames images

Merry Christmas to My Flickr Friends!

Image by dok1
1. 1949 Plymouth, 2. Power Wagon 200, 3. DKO -Speed Graphic, 4. 1938 OIdsmobile, 5. Corvair in a Yard, 6. 1948 Mercury, 7. New York Central, 8. Korean Mother and Child,

9. Korean Woman, 10. Barn of Many Colors, 11. A-Frame on Wynn Road, 12. Meeting Russians at 38th Parallel, 13. 1938 Buick Century-3, 14. Schwartz Covered Bridge, 15. 1958 Edsel, 16. Korean Elder,

17. 1956 Ford Fairlane, 18. Refugees, 19. Orange-Colored Sky Over Tater Ridge, 20. Mountain View Above Seoul, 21. Korean Walker, 22. 1935 Ford Coupe-2, 23. Multnomah Falls 1937, 24. Ancient Abode,

25. Car, Cactus, Wildflowers, 26. New Ohio River Bridge, 27. Truck Retired, 28. Korean Grandmother and Baby, 29. Reflected Street Light, 30. 1951 Mercury, 31. 1948 Dodge, 32. Ancient School Bus-2,

33. 1953 Chevrolet, 34. 1939 Plymouth Panel Delivery, 35. Once a Dream Home, 36. Along the Road, 37. Home in a Hollow, 38. Words to Ponder, 39. Rusting Roadmaster, 40. Red Barn in a Hollow,

41. DKO and Korean Elder, 42. 1936 Ford, 43. Crown Imperial, 44. Wagon in a Woods, 45. Marcus Run Road, 46. This Old House Once Home and Shelter, 47. Bobo Road Red Barn, 48. 1955 Chevrolet,

49. Retired Barn, 50. 118-year-old Bridge, 51. Colorful Shed Wall, 52. 58-year-old Dodge, 53. Curtis Lane Barn, 54. 1949 Plymouth at Rest, 55. 1935 Ford Coupe, 56. Deteriorating Domicile,

57. 1957 Chevrolet in a Woods, 58. New York Central Steam, 59. Where Have All The People Gone?, 60. Hues of Red, 61. Korean Mountain Road, 62. "Historic" Structure, 63. Shadows of a Picket Fence, 64. Afternoon Rain in Chenoweth Fork Valley,

65. Deathbed of a 1953 Pontiac, 66. Livery Stable of Yesteryear, 67. Locked Door, 68. Weathered, 69. Sunday Drive in Korea, 70. Grand River, 71. 1922 Dodge, 72. Along a Backroad

Created with fd's Flickr Toys.

Dragon

Image by eclectic echoes
A dragon fly we found shortly after it expired. We found it a week or so ago and examined it closely in the microscope. It has since dried out completely and I decided to use it as a test subject for a macro studio setup I plan to use to shoot Tammy's baby booties.

The setup is a pane of glass (from a photo frame) laid on a piece of posterboard. The posterboard is taped to the wall behind th table then curved gently onto the table so it serves as a full seamless backdrop, plus its far enough away from the subject it can be out focus and lit separately. Lighting is from a household CFL in a hardware store reflector and a single Canon flash. Both are aimed at large light panels (PVC and white newsprint paper) to enlarge the lights and act as a softbox.

I need to replace the newsprint with tracing paper or a translucent fabric and replace the CFL lamp with a second flash with full manual capabilities. This was all stuff that was on hand.

PA236701

Image by nolifeik

XII-Matteo

Image by matteo.zaggia
Once I was in a mart down in Paris. I was shooting polas. I was trying to frame some subject but nothing was that good to shoot at. So while I was standing there wondering, there was this bunch of kids coming towards me. And then I thought: the greatest gift I can do to this future digital babies is let them see what emotion is watching your camera spitting out a photo with great noise of cogs. So I held my camera up and shot. They stayed mouth open in front of me while I went away smiling.

Please save the polaroid film.

Anyone who takes this photo in his hand always wants to turn it upside-down... is my point of view so hard to see?

readmore »»   Read More..

Cool Cute Baby Pictures images

Baby Boy Swinging

Image by Pink Sherbet Photography
free for use

My photos that have a creative commons license and are free for everyone to download, edit, alter and use as long as you give me, "D Sharon Pruitt" credit as the original owner of the photo. Have fun and enjoy

Sean

Image by sean cumiskey
Baby pictures I scanned in from photo-albums.

Mom, Dad & Sean

Image by sean cumiskey
Baby pictures I scanned in from photo-albums.

Sean & Grandpa

Image by sean cumiskey
Baby pictures I scanned in from photo-albums.

readmore »»   Read More..

Cool Down Syndrome Baby Pictures images

DSC_4262.JPG

Image by Rich Gibson

11/22/2004 - Monday: in Rome Roma, the Vatican, train to Florence Firenze

tags: italy



Monday Reality



Left hotel a bit late...not too bad. Tried to get on the subway but there was a line up the stairs. We were going to take a bus, but then we got a cab. 10 euros to take a cab two metro stops...I sort of think that wasn't strictly kosher...but maybe it was. it was still fun. We got to go under a tunnel that we saw yesterday during our ordeal march of being lost.



the idea was to catch the capucin crypts on the way to the vatican. But they were closed...still. so we slipped down back into the subway. We had used our single use tickets when we were turned back by the line at the Termini station, but we decided that the moral constraints were met, so we slipped through and re-used the tickets to get to the vatican. AFter all, we had gone through the gate, but we hadn't gotten on a train...



so the train left at 4:48ish, maybe 4:47...basically right on time ...



Off we rushed to the Vatican museum. We arrived at 10:00...and the english tour was at 10:30, so just enough time to get oriented and rest a bit before the ordeal by marbel floor!



We had a nice tour guide. First she showed us a sort of parchement view of the sistine chapel-two rulls of text and pictures with details of the different scenes. She would wind it down to get the next view.



This was fascinating...I am phenomenally underinformed of art and cultural matters...it is almost a cliche to say that, but egads it it true.



on the other hand, there are things we know today that were unknown 200 years ago. Amazingly...apparantly the whole forum area was under dirt until 18-something. So much dirt that only the tops of the columns were exposed. and even now much remains.



The archeologists cringe over the techniques used to clear what is now exposed. There have been several recent archeological 'campaigns' among the ruins of palatine hill that have excavated pre-roman huts. one of the write ups discussed the findings of 27 flakes of flint, indicating tool maing. So infering thngs based on bits of things found...which is the whole point of archeology.



And it made me realize that they are not done excavating Rome Roma...an odd thing to realize, since only a moment's consideration would reveal how obvious that is! There are Indian mounds that the archeologists are intentionally leaving alone for now, with the expressed plan of letting future archeologists examine them when they have better techniques.



my ears are popping...and the gps lost its lock...I then look out and realize we are going through a tunnel. ah...sense is made.



maybe...perhaps it wasn't a tunnel...I can't tell. several more episodes of pressure changes are occuring.



There are sliding head rests on the cabin walls in back of the seats. they are padded and have vertical supports so that you can lean on them to sleep without falling into the window, or onto your neighbor. they slide up and down to allow you to adjust to your preferences.



We didn't see the capucini crypt, because it was closed, and it was getting dark as we got on the train, but we are doing pretty well.



The vatican tour took two hours...and it seemed that we were moving much of the time. they have these slick radio receivors so you can hear the tour guide even if you are in the next room back.



I had a strong response to a tapestry depicting the slaughter of the chilidren by herod. One baby is being held, barely, by its mother and a soldier has a dagger to the child's heart. The baby is about to die. Other mother's are using their bodies to shield their infants. it is truly horrible.



damn! the pressure changes are really frequent, and amazingly annoying.



I downloaded a bunch of stuff from 'hex'-a friend of Jo and Schuyler's. I'm reading

how to build a reality that doesn't fall apart two days later...file:///Users/admin/wa/web/downlode.org/etext/how_to_build.html



I'm on the train...fighting sleep. I need to pee, but to do that I worry I'll have to wake the gentleman seated in front of the door to our compartment.



passing through orte...at 5:27:00---possibly even got a track point. I had a signal for a moment.



well..more than a moment, but not too long. there is crying in the hall....



The GPS showed us going 115 mph, for a bit. not just one observation. interesting. fast.



The hall of maps was cool because I realized it was, or could have been, not about art and instead was about the simple matter of managing an empire.



I enjoyed the museum, duh, and the Sistine chapel...and then we climbed the dome! I loved that! I truly loved it. We got to the top and I could see radio vatican and the quiet parts of the vatican and various 'stuff.' I don't know why, but seeing vatican radio made me happy.



We descended...heather waited while i ran about St. Peter's one more time. I went back into the catecombs...and reflected again at st. peter's grave, and the crypts of the popes. different passageway's were open from last time...you went in and out on different sides. Saturday we went through more passageways, past bits of monuments, even broken bits, supposedly the memorials for past popes there had been recovered via archeological digs and the like...little rooms, with gates, and some stones mounted on the walls.



Today I looked through a grate and down at a compartment that seemed to be set up as a small chapel. maybe a particularly holy pope was buried there.



When they embalm a pope, or remove anything from one, they send the bits to a particular church in room so the bits don't become relics.



I was struck by how clean and non-catacomb like the area was that we were allowed to tour. There were passageways that looked like they might get more 'creepy' small and twisty, but it was all clean...I guess marble does that for you.



Heather was whipped. We walked the .4 miles to cafe ruggio (is that it? The antipasto bar place by gellati millenium. it is in the Rick steve's book. We tried for it Saturday, but it was still closed, and we tried today, but closed Monday. Both faux paws (sic) could have been avoided if we had looked at the book and actually _read_ that listign first.



I have so many books and things that I don't really need...



Well Heather felt really crappy...but we ate at the little place by millenium gellati. It was great. The woman dished me up two plates. First a bowl of pasta, and then a plate with veal, mushrooms, zucchine, and peas with ham. It was in little bowls and I got to pick...heather had a panini. I was jsut positive that I was suffering eyes bigger than my head syndRome Roma, but

(and here the laptop powered down, I was writing on the train, and now it is the next day and some, 1:20 am on the 24th) I ate everything, and had a gellato after. And we went to the big 'M.' We found the M, but there was no metro...it was up another block. We metroed to the train station. Identified a train time, then grabbed our stuff at the hotel.



We spent time at the internet cafe DSC_4285.JPG, DSC_4286.JPG, DSC_4287.JPG ... They didn't support ssh! well I finally did send an email to folks via the webmail at work.



Then the train! The train was great. And we whisked into Florence Firenze. We wandered streets for a bit, then I got lock on the GPS, and knew we were .15 miles, and we wandered. I didn't remember the street name (via nazzionale, #10), but when we stumbled onto it Heather identified it. And we were a half block away.



Check in went smoothly. We fooled around, and then took to the streets. We ate at trattoria Sostanza-Troia (see p285 of Rick Steves). There were tour de france pictures on the walls, and signed photos dating back. We enjoyed it! A bottle of table wine. Tortellini with a house sauce, and then pot roast with beans. Heather had a bean salad and a salad.



Then we wandered back and bought a bottle of wine and some chocolate. Heather studied our books, and I sort of watched the Tony Gatuf movie Swing. I think it was in Italian with French subtitles. After all of that Art, and trying to read the pictures, I watched it in a different way. Paying attention to the cultural signifiers and all of that jazz. Having thoughts like 'why did he frame that shot that way? What does that use of open space say?" etc...

DSC_4209.JPG

Image by Rich Gibson

11/22/2004 - Monday: in Rome Roma, the Vatican, train to Florence Firenze

tags: italy



Monday Reality



Left hotel a bit late...not too bad. Tried to get on the subway but there was a line up the stairs. We were going to take a bus, but then we got a cab. 10 euros to take a cab two metro stops...I sort of think that wasn't strictly kosher...but maybe it was. it was still fun. We got to go under a tunnel that we saw yesterday during our ordeal march of being lost.



the idea was to catch the capucin crypts on the way to the vatican. But they were closed...still. so we slipped down back into the subway. We had used our single use tickets when we were turned back by the line at the Termini station, but we decided that the moral constraints were met, so we slipped through and re-used the tickets to get to the vatican. AFter all, we had gone through the gate, but we hadn't gotten on a train...



so the train left at 4:48ish, maybe 4:47...basically right on time ...



Off we rushed to the Vatican museum. We arrived at 10:00...and the english tour was at 10:30, so just enough time to get oriented and rest a bit before the ordeal by marbel floor!



We had a nice tour guide. First she showed us a sort of parchement view of the sistine chapel-two rulls of text and pictures with details of the different scenes. She would wind it down to get the next view.



This was fascinating...I am phenomenally underinformed of art and cultural matters...it is almost a cliche to say that, but egads it it true.



on the other hand, there are things we know today that were unknown 200 years ago. Amazingly...apparantly the whole forum area was under dirt until 18-something. So much dirt that only the tops of the columns were exposed. and even now much remains.



The archeologists cringe over the techniques used to clear what is now exposed. There have been several recent archeological 'campaigns' among the ruins of palatine hill that have excavated pre-roman huts. one of the write ups discussed the findings of 27 flakes of flint, indicating tool maing. So infering thngs based on bits of things found...which is the whole point of archeology.



And it made me realize that they are not done excavating Rome Roma...an odd thing to realize, since only a moment's consideration would reveal how obvious that is! There are Indian mounds that the archeologists are intentionally leaving alone for now, with the expressed plan of letting future archeologists examine them when they have better techniques.



my ears are popping...and the gps lost its lock...I then look out and realize we are going through a tunnel. ah...sense is made.



maybe...perhaps it wasn't a tunnel...I can't tell. several more episodes of pressure changes are occuring.



There are sliding head rests on the cabin walls in back of the seats. they are padded and have vertical supports so that you can lean on them to sleep without falling into the window, or onto your neighbor. they slide up and down to allow you to adjust to your preferences.



We didn't see the capucini crypt, because it was closed, and it was getting dark as we got on the train, but we are doing pretty well.



The vatican tour took two hours...and it seemed that we were moving much of the time. they have these slick radio receivors so you can hear the tour guide even if you are in the next room back.



I had a strong response to a tapestry depicting the slaughter of the chilidren by herod. One baby is being held, barely, by its mother and a soldier has a dagger to the child's heart. The baby is about to die. Other mother's are using their bodies to shield their infants. it is truly horrible.



damn! the pressure changes are really frequent, and amazingly annoying.



I downloaded a bunch of stuff from 'hex'-a friend of Jo and Schuyler's. I'm reading

how to build a reality that doesn't fall apart two days later...file:///Users/admin/wa/web/downlode.org/etext/how_to_build.html



I'm on the train...fighting sleep. I need to pee, but to do that I worry I'll have to wake the gentleman seated in front of the door to our compartment.



passing through orte...at 5:27:00---possibly even got a track point. I had a signal for a moment.



well..more than a moment, but not too long. there is crying in the hall....



The GPS showed us going 115 mph, for a bit. not just one observation. interesting. fast.



The hall of maps was cool because I realized it was, or could have been, not about art and instead was about the simple matter of managing an empire.



I enjoyed the museum, duh, and the Sistine chapel...and then we climbed the dome! I loved that! I truly loved it. We got to the top and I could see radio vatican and the quiet parts of the vatican and various 'stuff.' I don't know why, but seeing vatican radio made me happy.



We descended...heather waited while i ran about St. Peter's one more time. I went back into the catecombs...and reflected again at st. peter's grave, and the crypts of the popes. different passageway's were open from last time...you went in and out on different sides. Saturday we went through more passageways, past bits of monuments, even broken bits, supposedly the memorials for past popes there had been recovered via archeological digs and the like...little rooms, with gates, and some stones mounted on the walls.



Today I looked through a grate and down at a compartment that seemed to be set up as a small chapel. maybe a particularly holy pope was buried there.



When they embalm a pope, or remove anything from one, they send the bits to a particular church in room so the bits don't become relics.



I was struck by how clean and non-catacomb like the area was that we were allowed to tour. There were passageways that looked like they might get more 'creepy' small and twisty, but it was all clean...I guess marble does that for you.



Heather was whipped. We walked the .4 miles to cafe ruggio (is that it? The antipasto bar place by gellati millenium. it is in the Rick steve's book. We tried for it Saturday, but it was still closed, and we tried today, but closed Monday. Both faux paws (sic) could have been avoided if we had looked at the book and actually _read_ that listign first.



I have so many books and things that I don't really need...



Well Heather felt really crappy...but we ate at the little place by millenium gellati. It was great. The woman dished me up two plates. First a bowl of pasta, and then a plate with veal, mushrooms, zucchine, and peas with ham. It was in little bowls and I got to pick...heather had a panini. I was jsut positive that I was suffering eyes bigger than my head syndRome Roma, but

(and here the laptop powered down, I was writing on the train, and now it is the next day and some, 1:20 am on the 24th) I ate everything, and had a gellato after. And we went to the big 'M.' We found the M, but there was no metro...it was up another block. We metroed to the train station. Identified a train time, then grabbed our stuff at the hotel.



We spent time at the internet cafe DSC_4285.JPG, DSC_4286.JPG, DSC_4287.JPG ... They didn't support ssh! well I finally did send an email to folks via the webmail at work.



Then the train! The train was great. And we whisked into Florence Firenze. We wandered streets for a bit, then I got lock on the GPS, and knew we were .15 miles, and we wandered. I didn't remember the street name (via nazzionale, #10), but when we stumbled onto it Heather identified it. And we were a half block away.



Check in went smoothly. We fooled around, and then took to the streets. We ate at trattoria Sostanza-Troia (see p285 of Rick Steves). There were tour de france pictures on the walls, and signed photos dating back. We enjoyed it! A bottle of table wine. Tortellini with a house sauce, and then pot roast with beans. Heather had a bean salad and a salad.



Then we wandered back and bought a bottle of wine and some chocolate. Heather studied our books, and I sort of watched the Tony Gatuf movie Swing. I think it was in Italian with French subtitles. After all of that Art, and trying to read the pictures, I watched it in a different way. Paying attention to the cultural signifiers and all of that jazz. Having thoughts like 'why did he frame that shot that way? What does that use of open space say?" etc...

DSC_4255.JPG

Image by Rich Gibson

11/22/2004 - Monday: in Rome Roma, the Vatican, train to Florence Firenze

tags: italy



Monday Reality



Left hotel a bit late...not too bad. Tried to get on the subway but there was a line up the stairs. We were going to take a bus, but then we got a cab. 10 euros to take a cab two metro stops...I sort of think that wasn't strictly kosher...but maybe it was. it was still fun. We got to go under a tunnel that we saw yesterday during our ordeal march of being lost.



the idea was to catch the capucin crypts on the way to the vatican. But they were closed...still. so we slipped down back into the subway. We had used our single use tickets when we were turned back by the line at the Termini station, but we decided that the moral constraints were met, so we slipped through and re-used the tickets to get to the vatican. AFter all, we had gone through the gate, but we hadn't gotten on a train...



so the train left at 4:48ish, maybe 4:47...basically right on time ...



Off we rushed to the Vatican museum. We arrived at 10:00...and the english tour was at 10:30, so just enough time to get oriented and rest a bit before the ordeal by marbel floor!



We had a nice tour guide. First she showed us a sort of parchement view of the sistine chapel-two rulls of text and pictures with details of the different scenes. She would wind it down to get the next view.



This was fascinating...I am phenomenally underinformed of art and cultural matters...it is almost a cliche to say that, but egads it it true.



on the other hand, there are things we know today that were unknown 200 years ago. Amazingly...apparantly the whole forum area was under dirt until 18-something. So much dirt that only the tops of the columns were exposed. and even now much remains.



The archeologists cringe over the techniques used to clear what is now exposed. There have been several recent archeological 'campaigns' among the ruins of palatine hill that have excavated pre-roman huts. one of the write ups discussed the findings of 27 flakes of flint, indicating tool maing. So infering thngs based on bits of things found...which is the whole point of archeology.



And it made me realize that they are not done excavating Rome Roma...an odd thing to realize, since only a moment's consideration would reveal how obvious that is! There are Indian mounds that the archeologists are intentionally leaving alone for now, with the expressed plan of letting future archeologists examine them when they have better techniques.



my ears are popping...and the gps lost its lock...I then look out and realize we are going through a tunnel. ah...sense is made.



maybe...perhaps it wasn't a tunnel...I can't tell. several more episodes of pressure changes are occuring.



There are sliding head rests on the cabin walls in back of the seats. they are padded and have vertical supports so that you can lean on them to sleep without falling into the window, or onto your neighbor. they slide up and down to allow you to adjust to your preferences.



We didn't see the capucini crypt, because it was closed, and it was getting dark as we got on the train, but we are doing pretty well.



The vatican tour took two hours...and it seemed that we were moving much of the time. they have these slick radio receivors so you can hear the tour guide even if you are in the next room back.



I had a strong response to a tapestry depicting the slaughter of the chilidren by herod. One baby is being held, barely, by its mother and a soldier has a dagger to the child's heart. The baby is about to die. Other mother's are using their bodies to shield their infants. it is truly horrible.



damn! the pressure changes are really frequent, and amazingly annoying.



I downloaded a bunch of stuff from 'hex'-a friend of Jo and Schuyler's. I'm reading

how to build a reality that doesn't fall apart two days later...file:///Users/admin/wa/web/downlode.org/etext/how_to_build.html



I'm on the train...fighting sleep. I need to pee, but to do that I worry I'll have to wake the gentleman seated in front of the door to our compartment.



passing through orte...at 5:27:00---possibly even got a track point. I had a signal for a moment.



well..more than a moment, but not too long. there is crying in the hall....



The GPS showed us going 115 mph, for a bit. not just one observation. interesting. fast.



The hall of maps was cool because I realized it was, or could have been, not about art and instead was about the simple matter of managing an empire.



I enjoyed the museum, duh, and the Sistine chapel...and then we climbed the dome! I loved that! I truly loved it. We got to the top and I could see radio vatican and the quiet parts of the vatican and various 'stuff.' I don't know why, but seeing vatican radio made me happy.



We descended...heather waited while i ran about St. Peter's one more time. I went back into the catecombs...and reflected again at st. peter's grave, and the crypts of the popes. different passageway's were open from last time...you went in and out on different sides. Saturday we went through more passageways, past bits of monuments, even broken bits, supposedly the memorials for past popes there had been recovered via archeological digs and the like...little rooms, with gates, and some stones mounted on the walls.



Today I looked through a grate and down at a compartment that seemed to be set up as a small chapel. maybe a particularly holy pope was buried there.



When they embalm a pope, or remove anything from one, they send the bits to a particular church in room so the bits don't become relics.



I was struck by how clean and non-catacomb like the area was that we were allowed to tour. There were passageways that looked like they might get more 'creepy' small and twisty, but it was all clean...I guess marble does that for you.



Heather was whipped. We walked the .4 miles to cafe ruggio (is that it? The antipasto bar place by gellati millenium. it is in the Rick steve's book. We tried for it Saturday, but it was still closed, and we tried today, but closed Monday. Both faux paws (sic) could have been avoided if we had looked at the book and actually _read_ that listign first.



I have so many books and things that I don't really need...



Well Heather felt really crappy...but we ate at the little place by millenium gellati. It was great. The woman dished me up two plates. First a bowl of pasta, and then a plate with veal, mushrooms, zucchine, and peas with ham. It was in little bowls and I got to pick...heather had a panini. I was jsut positive that I was suffering eyes bigger than my head syndRome Roma, but

(and here the laptop powered down, I was writing on the train, and now it is the next day and some, 1:20 am on the 24th) I ate everything, and had a gellato after. And we went to the big 'M.' We found the M, but there was no metro...it was up another block. We metroed to the train station. Identified a train time, then grabbed our stuff at the hotel.



We spent time at the internet cafe DSC_4285.JPG, DSC_4286.JPG, DSC_4287.JPG ... They didn't support ssh! well I finally did send an email to folks via the webmail at work.



Then the train! The train was great. And we whisked into Florence Firenze. We wandered streets for a bit, then I got lock on the GPS, and knew we were .15 miles, and we wandered. I didn't remember the street name (via nazzionale, #10), but when we stumbled onto it Heather identified it. And we were a half block away.



Check in went smoothly. We fooled around, and then took to the streets. We ate at trattoria Sostanza-Troia (see p285 of Rick Steves). There were tour de france pictures on the walls, and signed photos dating back. We enjoyed it! A bottle of table wine. Tortellini with a house sauce, and then pot roast with beans. Heather had a bean salad and a salad.



Then we wandered back and bought a bottle of wine and some chocolate. Heather studied our books, and I sort of watched the Tony Gatuf movie Swing. I think it was in Italian with French subtitles. After all of that Art, and trying to read the pictures, I watched it in a different way. Paying attention to the cultural signifiers and all of that jazz. Having thoughts like 'why did he frame that shot that way? What does that use of open space say?" etc...

DSC_4254.JPG

Image by Rich Gibson

11/22/2004 - Monday: in Rome Roma, the Vatican, train to Florence Firenze

tags: italy



Monday Reality



Left hotel a bit late...not too bad. Tried to get on the subway but there was a line up the stairs. We were going to take a bus, but then we got a cab. 10 euros to take a cab two metro stops...I sort of think that wasn't strictly kosher...but maybe it was. it was still fun. We got to go under a tunnel that we saw yesterday during our ordeal march of being lost.



the idea was to catch the capucin crypts on the way to the vatican. But they were closed...still. so we slipped down back into the subway. We had used our single use tickets when we were turned back by the line at the Termini station, but we decided that the moral constraints were met, so we slipped through and re-used the tickets to get to the vatican. AFter all, we had gone through the gate, but we hadn't gotten on a train...



so the train left at 4:48ish, maybe 4:47...basically right on time ...



Off we rushed to the Vatican museum. We arrived at 10:00...and the english tour was at 10:30, so just enough time to get oriented and rest a bit before the ordeal by marbel floor!



We had a nice tour guide. First she showed us a sort of parchement view of the sistine chapel-two rulls of text and pictures with details of the different scenes. She would wind it down to get the next view.



This was fascinating...I am phenomenally underinformed of art and cultural matters...it is almost a cliche to say that, but egads it it true.



on the other hand, there are things we know today that were unknown 200 years ago. Amazingly...apparantly the whole forum area was under dirt until 18-something. So much dirt that only the tops of the columns were exposed. and even now much remains.



The archeologists cringe over the techniques used to clear what is now exposed. There have been several recent archeological 'campaigns' among the ruins of palatine hill that have excavated pre-roman huts. one of the write ups discussed the findings of 27 flakes of flint, indicating tool maing. So infering thngs based on bits of things found...which is the whole point of archeology.



And it made me realize that they are not done excavating Rome Roma...an odd thing to realize, since only a moment's consideration would reveal how obvious that is! There are Indian mounds that the archeologists are intentionally leaving alone for now, with the expressed plan of letting future archeologists examine them when they have better techniques.



my ears are popping...and the gps lost its lock...I then look out and realize we are going through a tunnel. ah...sense is made.



maybe...perhaps it wasn't a tunnel...I can't tell. several more episodes of pressure changes are occuring.



There are sliding head rests on the cabin walls in back of the seats. they are padded and have vertical supports so that you can lean on them to sleep without falling into the window, or onto your neighbor. they slide up and down to allow you to adjust to your preferences.



We didn't see the capucini crypt, because it was closed, and it was getting dark as we got on the train, but we are doing pretty well.



The vatican tour took two hours...and it seemed that we were moving much of the time. they have these slick radio receivors so you can hear the tour guide even if you are in the next room back.



I had a strong response to a tapestry depicting the slaughter of the chilidren by herod. One baby is being held, barely, by its mother and a soldier has a dagger to the child's heart. The baby is about to die. Other mother's are using their bodies to shield their infants. it is truly horrible.



damn! the pressure changes are really frequent, and amazingly annoying.



I downloaded a bunch of stuff from 'hex'-a friend of Jo and Schuyler's. I'm reading

how to build a reality that doesn't fall apart two days later...file:///Users/admin/wa/web/downlode.org/etext/how_to_build.html



I'm on the train...fighting sleep. I need to pee, but to do that I worry I'll have to wake the gentleman seated in front of the door to our compartment.



passing through orte...at 5:27:00---possibly even got a track point. I had a signal for a moment.



well..more than a moment, but not too long. there is crying in the hall....



The GPS showed us going 115 mph, for a bit. not just one observation. interesting. fast.



The hall of maps was cool because I realized it was, or could have been, not about art and instead was about the simple matter of managing an empire.



I enjoyed the museum, duh, and the Sistine chapel...and then we climbed the dome! I loved that! I truly loved it. We got to the top and I could see radio vatican and the quiet parts of the vatican and various 'stuff.' I don't know why, but seeing vatican radio made me happy.



We descended...heather waited while i ran about St. Peter's one more time. I went back into the catecombs...and reflected again at st. peter's grave, and the crypts of the popes. different passageway's were open from last time...you went in and out on different sides. Saturday we went through more passageways, past bits of monuments, even broken bits, supposedly the memorials for past popes there had been recovered via archeological digs and the like...little rooms, with gates, and some stones mounted on the walls.



Today I looked through a grate and down at a compartment that seemed to be set up as a small chapel. maybe a particularly holy pope was buried there.



When they embalm a pope, or remove anything from one, they send the bits to a particular church in room so the bits don't become relics.



I was struck by how clean and non-catacomb like the area was that we were allowed to tour. There were passageways that looked like they might get more 'creepy' small and twisty, but it was all clean...I guess marble does that for you.



Heather was whipped. We walked the .4 miles to cafe ruggio (is that it? The antipasto bar place by gellati millenium. it is in the Rick steve's book. We tried for it Saturday, but it was still closed, and we tried today, but closed Monday. Both faux paws (sic) could have been avoided if we had looked at the book and actually _read_ that listign first.



I have so many books and things that I don't really need...



Well Heather felt really crappy...but we ate at the little place by millenium gellati. It was great. The woman dished me up two plates. First a bowl of pasta, and then a plate with veal, mushrooms, zucchine, and peas with ham. It was in little bowls and I got to pick...heather had a panini. I was jsut positive that I was suffering eyes bigger than my head syndRome Roma, but

(and here the laptop powered down, I was writing on the train, and now it is the next day and some, 1:20 am on the 24th) I ate everything, and had a gellato after. And we went to the big 'M.' We found the M, but there was no metro...it was up another block. We metroed to the train station. Identified a train time, then grabbed our stuff at the hotel.



We spent time at the internet cafe DSC_4285.JPG, DSC_4286.JPG, DSC_4287.JPG ... They didn't support ssh! well I finally did send an email to folks via the webmail at work.



Then the train! The train was great. And we whisked into Florence Firenze. We wandered streets for a bit, then I got lock on the GPS, and knew we were .15 miles, and we wandered. I didn't remember the street name (via nazzionale, #10), but when we stumbled onto it Heather identified it. And we were a half block away.



Check in went smoothly. We fooled around, and then took to the streets. We ate at trattoria Sostanza-Troia (see p285 of Rick Steves). There were tour de france pictures on the walls, and signed photos dating back. We enjoyed it! A bottle of table wine. Tortellini with a house sauce, and then pot roast with beans. Heather had a bean salad and a salad.



Then we wandered back and bought a bottle of wine and some chocolate. Heather studied our books, and I sort of watched the Tony Gatuf movie Swing. I think it was in Italian with French subtitles. After all of that Art, and trying to read the pictures, I watched it in a different way. Paying attention to the cultural signifiers and all of that jazz. Having thoughts like 'why did he frame that shot that way? What does that use of open space say?" etc...

DSC_4234.JPG

Image by Rich Gibson

11/22/2004 - Monday: in Rome Roma, the Vatican, train to Florence Firenze

tags: italy



Monday Reality



Left hotel a bit late...not too bad. Tried to get on the subway but there was a line up the stairs. We were going to take a bus, but then we got a cab. 10 euros to take a cab two metro stops...I sort of think that wasn't strictly kosher...but maybe it was. it was still fun. We got to go under a tunnel that we saw yesterday during our ordeal march of being lost.



the idea was to catch the capucin crypts on the way to the vatican. But they were closed...still. so we slipped down back into the subway. We had used our single use tickets when we were turned back by the line at the Termini station, but we decided that the moral constraints were met, so we slipped through and re-used the tickets to get to the vatican. AFter all, we had gone through the gate, but we hadn't gotten on a train...



so the train left at 4:48ish, maybe 4:47...basically right on time ...



Off we rushed to the Vatican museum. We arrived at 10:00...and the english tour was at 10:30, so just enough time to get oriented and rest a bit before the ordeal by marbel floor!



We had a nice tour guide. First she showed us a sort of parchement view of the sistine chapel-two rulls of text and pictures with details of the different scenes. She would wind it down to get the next view.



This was fascinating...I am phenomenally underinformed of art and cultural matters...it is almost a cliche to say that, but egads it it true.



on the other hand, there are things we know today that were unknown 200 years ago. Amazingly...apparantly the whole forum area was under dirt until 18-something. So much dirt that only the tops of the columns were exposed. and even now much remains.



The archeologists cringe over the techniques used to clear what is now exposed. There have been several recent archeological 'campaigns' among the ruins of palatine hill that have excavated pre-roman huts. one of the write ups discussed the findings of 27 flakes of flint, indicating tool maing. So infering thngs based on bits of things found...which is the whole point of archeology.



And it made me realize that they are not done excavating Rome Roma...an odd thing to realize, since only a moment's consideration would reveal how obvious that is! There are Indian mounds that the archeologists are intentionally leaving alone for now, with the expressed plan of letting future archeologists examine them when they have better techniques.



my ears are popping...and the gps lost its lock...I then look out and realize we are going through a tunnel. ah...sense is made.



maybe...perhaps it wasn't a tunnel...I can't tell. several more episodes of pressure changes are occuring.



There are sliding head rests on the cabin walls in back of the seats. they are padded and have vertical supports so that you can lean on them to sleep without falling into the window, or onto your neighbor. they slide up and down to allow you to adjust to your preferences.



We didn't see the capucini crypt, because it was closed, and it was getting dark as we got on the train, but we are doing pretty well.



The vatican tour took two hours...and it seemed that we were moving much of the time. they have these slick radio receivors so you can hear the tour guide even if you are in the next room back.



I had a strong response to a tapestry depicting the slaughter of the chilidren by herod. One baby is being held, barely, by its mother and a soldier has a dagger to the child's heart. The baby is about to die. Other mother's are using their bodies to shield their infants. it is truly horrible.



damn! the pressure changes are really frequent, and amazingly annoying.



I downloaded a bunch of stuff from 'hex'-a friend of Jo and Schuyler's. I'm reading

how to build a reality that doesn't fall apart two days later...file:///Users/admin/wa/web/downlode.org/etext/how_to_build.html



I'm on the train...fighting sleep. I need to pee, but to do that I worry I'll have to wake the gentleman seated in front of the door to our compartment.



passing through orte...at 5:27:00---possibly even got a track point. I had a signal for a moment.



well..more than a moment, but not too long. there is crying in the hall....



The GPS showed us going 115 mph, for a bit. not just one observation. interesting. fast.



The hall of maps was cool because I realized it was, or could have been, not about art and instead was about the simple matter of managing an empire.



I enjoyed the museum, duh, and the Sistine chapel...and then we climbed the dome! I loved that! I truly loved it. We got to the top and I could see radio vatican and the quiet parts of the vatican and various 'stuff.' I don't know why, but seeing vatican radio made me happy.



We descended...heather waited while i ran about St. Peter's one more time. I went back into the catecombs...and reflected again at st. peter's grave, and the crypts of the popes. different passageway's were open from last time...you went in and out on different sides. Saturday we went through more passageways, past bits of monuments, even broken bits, supposedly the memorials for past popes there had been recovered via archeological digs and the like...little rooms, with gates, and some stones mounted on the walls.



Today I looked through a grate and down at a compartment that seemed to be set up as a small chapel. maybe a particularly holy pope was buried there.



When they embalm a pope, or remove anything from one, they send the bits to a particular church in room so the bits don't become relics.



I was struck by how clean and non-catacomb like the area was that we were allowed to tour. There were passageways that looked like they might get more 'creepy' small and twisty, but it was all clean...I guess marble does that for you.



Heather was whipped. We walked the .4 miles to cafe ruggio (is that it? The antipasto bar place by gellati millenium. it is in the Rick steve's book. We tried for it Saturday, but it was still closed, and we tried today, but closed Monday. Both faux paws (sic) could have been avoided if we had looked at the book and actually _read_ that listign first.



I have so many books and things that I don't really need...



Well Heather felt really crappy...but we ate at the little place by millenium gellati. It was great. The woman dished me up two plates. First a bowl of pasta, and then a plate with veal, mushrooms, zucchine, and peas with ham. It was in little bowls and I got to pick...heather had a panini. I was jsut positive that I was suffering eyes bigger than my head syndRome Roma, but

(and here the laptop powered down, I was writing on the train, and now it is the next day and some, 1:20 am on the 24th) I ate everything, and had a gellato after. And we went to the big 'M.' We found the M, but there was no metro...it was up another block. We metroed to the train station. Identified a train time, then grabbed our stuff at the hotel.



We spent time at the internet cafe DSC_4285.JPG, DSC_4286.JPG, DSC_4287.JPG ... They didn't support ssh! well I finally did send an email to folks via the webmail at work.



Then the train! The train was great. And we whisked into Florence Firenze. We wandered streets for a bit, then I got lock on the GPS, and knew we were .15 miles, and we wandered. I didn't remember the street name (via nazzionale, #10), but when we stumbled onto it Heather identified it. And we were a half block away.



Check in went smoothly. We fooled around, and then took to the streets. We ate at trattoria Sostanza-Troia (see p285 of Rick Steves). There were tour de france pictures on the walls, and signed photos dating back. We enjoyed it! A bottle of table wine. Tortellini with a house sauce, and then pot roast with beans. Heather had a bean salad and a salad.



Then we wandered back and bought a bottle of wine and some chocolate. Heather studied our books, and I sort of watched the Tony Gatuf movie Swing. I think it was in Italian with French subtitles. After all of that Art, and trying to read the pictures, I watched it in a different way. Paying attention to the cultural signifiers and all of that jazz. Having thoughts like 'why did he frame that shot that way? What does that use of open space say?" etc...

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