Image, photo, or graphic
Oct 30
This is the least Halloweeny year I’ve had in recent memories: having attended only one party that featured pumpkin carving but having not visited a single ‘haunted’ house and having only watched very few horror movies. Still, my affection for Halloween runs deep and so I’m posting this a day early in celebration of the …
Sep 29
“And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything … Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything.” ~ Donald Trump
Aug 31
Today’s trolling of my photos surfaced this image of Bear Cave in Derry Township Pennsylvania taken on July 2, 2016. Bear Cave is a, ‘wild cave’ which is to say: it is wholly natural with no human development such as paved walk ways, railings or lighting. The photo was taken near the entrance of the …
Jul 27
Combing through photos and I came across this, from a July 3rd, 2010 fair game. The strangest things amuse me.
May 31
The last couple of years, life has had some sad hardships which I will not recount here. Travel has not been a priority. In fact: I’ve struggled to find the usual enthusiasm for something that is normally such a passion. I’m confident I’ll find heart for it again. But for now, I have my photos …
Mar 31
The 15th episode, ‘Kung Fu’ from season 3 entitled, ‘The Forbidden Kingdom’ first aired January 18, 1975. The episode is a prequel of sorts, showing the Shaolin priest Kwai Chang Caine’s efforts to escape from China as the Emperor’s troops persue him in revenge for the killing of the Emperor’s nephew. Although this is ostensibly …
Jan 21
I saw this posted on Facebook: “Homeless Servicemen Should Come Before Any Refugee”. This is an example of a The False Dilemma Fallacy. A False Dilemma Fallacy is defined as: This common fallacy misleads by presenting complex issues in terms of two inherently opposed sides. Instead of acknowledging that most (if not all) issues can …
Dec 31
I’ve been fighting a flu here at year’s end. So this last post of 2023 is a quickie. 2023 was a, ‘challenging’ year (to put it mildly). And the sallow, grey, late fall and winter light has been draining. I took this photo at a local fair, July 3, 2010. I chose this image, not …
Nov 30
Had a decent October and November. I shouldn’t feel pressed for things to say, but here at the end of the month I’m feeling the (self-imposed) deadline crunch manifesting as low enthusiasm. But for just such occasions: I have a digital note I use to keep track of blog ideas. But many of these ideas …
Sep 28
I found myself rewatching Close Encounters of the Third Kind this week. It’s been a while since I last saw it. Like many, I thought of the movie as slow paced but on rewatching it I was reminded how truly brilliant it is. The movie falls at an interesting intersection of movie making from the …
Jul 18
I saw Mister Silverado on the road a number of days ago. Full disclosure: I didn’t actually see the driver, but I’m highy confident it was indeed a, ‘Mister’. The window sticker, ‘TAXATION IS THEFT‘ is what made the encounter noteworthy. There are some trivial times in one’s life that a person fantasizes about having …
Jun 29
It has been many years (measured in decades) since I first became aware of the concept of ‘Homunculus’. The concept of Homunculus apparently was first documented in the late 1400s. The rough Latin translation is, ‘Little Person’. From a quick bit of reading, one can learn that Homunculus were historically thought of as an artificial …
May 30
This photo was taken on December 30, 2021 on Tanzania’s Kilimanjaro. These crude public toilets sit at campsites. They are nothing more than ‘long drop’ pits surrounded by crude wooden structures. – There are no commodes. One places their feet on either side of a hole and squat. Not surprisingly: not everyone who uses them …
Mar 26
March’s perfunctory post is again from December 25, 2021. (On our Tanzania trip, we shot over 9,800+ photos and videos, so I can go to this source for a long time when I’m feeling short on posting enthusiasm.) Lake Natron is a remote, surreal landscape. The lake is hyper saline and super alkaline with temperatures …
Jan 30
This being another challenging month, I’m just sharing a photo from January 7, 2022 taken in Tanzania’s Tarangire National Park. But I thought, for a change of pace I’d share the raw, uncolor corrected image compared to post color correction and sharpening. All color correction was done in Adobe Lightroom and the sharpening was done …
Dec 26
The last month has been chaos and trouble and I won’t relate it here. But in spite of some serious mental exhaustion, I’ll fulfill my monthly posting duties and leave this year with a fond recollection of where I was last year in December.
Aug 30
Taken at a Massai Boma in Oldupai Emanyata, Tanzania on January 12 2022. With another villager’s help, this man started a fire with friction in less than a minute. A humbling exposure to another culture, another way of life.
May 27
There is something seriously broken about the United States. It goes deep to the bone. A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed. ~ Second Amendment to the United States Constitution There are various readings of …
Apr 28
Got nothing witty to say here. The picture says it all: just another remarkable example of Amazon packaging failure.
Mar 31
Given current affairs, especially with Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, I’ve seen this quote circulating a lot: There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they can seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall. Think of it–always.” ~ Mahatma Gandhi Sadly, it simply isn’t true. Two quick examples of long lived tyrant …
Mar 28
There are so many serious concerns in the world. Right now, with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, I feel we’re probably as close to the brink of World War III as we have been since the cold war. Maybe closer. But as is often the case, the more serious the issue, the more depleting it …
Feb 28
Let’s talk about Amazon’s upcoming series, ‘The Rings of Power’. Recently, we’ve learned more based on a released teaser trailer and a vanity fair promo puff piece. Naturally, I won’t spoil anything if you aren’t versed in the subject. Short Summary Don’t have time to read my ramblings? Understood. Here is my quick take: It …
Jan 31
Amazon is a huge company that puts in an amazing amount of effort and intelligence to make for great online shopping experiences. But the capricious nature of Amazon’s packing frequently amazes me. A recent case in point: one order of coffee (about $20 value) and an order of two external hard drives (about $500 value). …
Dec 16
This month’s Pressed for Time Post™ ®© leads us to a screen shot from Season 2, Episode 19 (44th overall episode), “The Liberation of Marcia Brady“. In this episode, Marcia is interviewed by a TV reporter on her thoughts on women’s liberation. When she gets home, her family gathers around to see her on TV. …
Nov 29
Went back in the photo vault to April 2004 for this one. This floor heater and sign were spotted in a West Virginia campground bathhouse. The bathhouse burned down some years later. Coincidence?
Sep 18
Security Theater amuses and frustrates me. Today’s random photo from the vault was taken at Bangalore Palace, October 31, 2015. Here is a simultaneously funny and scary example of Security Theater: an unattended rifle, leaning, rather precariously against a shrub. I watched for some time: no sign of the guard. What could possibly go wrong? …
Aug 24
When writing a post title, I try to think of something witty, or at least punny while also being succinct. Alas, I couldn’t think of how to encapsulate this post with anything pithy. Maybe, my difficulty stems from the fact that I’m writing this with an insomniac brain starting at 3:30am. But I’m going to …
Jul 29
Spotted in the parking lot of a local store: I especially like the extra special logical incongruity of the ‘Pro Gun’ pistol barrel pointing at the ‘Pro Life’ heart. The woman who (apparently) owned the vehicle was about mid-30s. White. She had a huge bag of dog food that I helped her heave into the …
Jun 28
Facebook, like most social media, has been a disappointment to me and I’ve taken to staying clear of it. But recently, after more than a half year’s absence, I did have an occasion to login and wish a friend well on a project. Naturally, I got sucked in… It wasn’t long before I came across …
Mar 31
I spent a good deal of timing writing posts to the Friends and Family section of the site this month, and so: all I have time or energy for here is a quick and lazy sharing of a nearly random photo from my collection. This is a merchant on the streets of Mandawa, India taken …
Feb 28
Some text spam makes you feel like you’re missing out. I’ve never been ‘gleamed” before. It sounds so dirty and erotic. But it is nice to know that three strangers (Lippke, “I” and Layla) can surely sense that this link could gleam my evening. And it’s cute that they have a pet name for me, …
Jan 31
The year that was 2020 was so challenging, it apparently decided to leak into January 2021 with an encore act called, ‘violent sedition in America in the interest of overthrowing a free and fair election’. I could vent and storm on Traitorous Trump and his minions until my fingers bled onto my keyboard. But after …
Dec 31
As I’ve noted before, I’m rather a fan of yard Kitsch. (As long as its in other people’s yards, not mine and not my next door neighbors. [- It’s more of an, ‘admire from afar’ appreciation.]) So, it was with some enjoyment that I share this house. Every year, it’s good for some amusement. But …
Oct 29
We’re counting down to the election. Less than a week away now. I think there is a palpable dread in the air. My take is: even if Trump is flushed from the White House, the damage that he and his toadies have done to this country may be a fatal wound. – It will certainly …
Sep 18
I’m writing this, having just learned that Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has died. Vladimir Putin’s puppet, Trump and Moscow Mitch will steal another position on the Supreme Court. Last weekend, I had an occasion to drive across Pennsylvania. I saw Trump signs out number Biden signs at a ratio of about 100 to 1. And …
Aug 30
End of the month; actually a lot happened; more than I have time to write about; yada yada yada… So, instead, in commemoration of the vacation I’m not taking this summer because of the plague: here is a hot summer breeze blast from the past photo memory. Lake Powell: September 3rd, 2017. Oh, how I …
Jun 30
Some more sights from a neighborhood walk I did in mid April. Again: I wonder at people’s thought processes. This is a decently maintained property. (Although the garage looks a bit nicer than the house, interestingly enough.) There is an interesting combination of earnestness and humor.
May 31
In pursuit of some level of exercise, I have occasion to walk local neighborhoods. There are little, implied stories in the neighborhood yards. I’m rather found of yard kitsch. There is a story here, if only we can read it. Here is one such story: This is the front yard of a house. The lawn …
Jan 28
I started to write an entry on the state of news and the world of politics but I felt the life force draining from my body, so I’ve shelved that. Let’s just say: it’s bad and we’re all doomed and leave it at that for now. However, in a matter that somehow feels vaguely like …
Dec 30
I’m not a winter person. But this year, (so far) I’ve done better than many winters before. (I count anything after Halloween as proverbial, if not literal, ‘winter’.) My mood has been helped in large part because I’ve gotten out regularly to hike and imbibe nature in spite of the seasonal gloom. Still, I’m finishing …
Nov 30
I have 104,403 photos in my photo library catalog. That is the majority, but it isn’t all of them. Invariably, there are a few thousand floating in folders that have not yet been imported. I often ask myself, what good do all of these photographs do? What will become of all of my efforts to …
Oct 30
Taken on a recent vacation while staying at the lovely Arenal Kioro Suites & Spa. “There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and …
Aug 23
In February of this year, I visited the local Science Center and was amused by this dispenser, set out-side of the gift shop. Above the dispenser was a sign that these were ‘gems from around the world‘. Clearly, something had happened because the original signage for the dispenser was supplemented after it had gone to …
Jul 30
As part of my evening ritual to mentally wind down before sleep, I watch old TV shows. Watching an episode of Columbo, “By Dawn’s Early Light” (first airing Oct. 27, 1974), my attention was caught by this visual: This location made me think of this fellow: The reason for the connection is due to the …
Jun 28
Searching for humidifiers on Amazon one day, I came across this very philosphical description of size.
Jan 31
In my efforts to ease my mind into sleep at night, I like to watch older TV shows. I find little easter eggs in them. Some quasi-historical, most TV trivial, and some musings of my imagination. And it is from the latter, that I bring you an episode (#17) of the Brady Bunch, “Coming Out …
Dec 31
The world doesn’t need another Iceland landscape photo. At least: not another unexceptional Iceland landscape photo. But I need a blog post and am out of time and out of sorts to do more than slap up one of the photos I took this year. Ergo: I give you: “Generic, but Lovely Seascape Captured in …
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