Avreste mai pensato che dentro Roma potesse esistere un luogo del genere'

Have you ever thought to find a place like this in Rome?

I like big boats and I cannot lie...

We spent the day with my daughter and her boyfriend in Port Townsend Washington which is where I got to see this beauty.

MV Kennewick is a Kwa-di Tabil-class ferry operated by Washington State Ferries. She entered service on the Port Townsend–Coupeville ferry route on February 14, 2012.

Sure, it's nice to spend time with family but seeing a big ship makes it even better, at least for me!

A small series of photos that I took while driving down the road in Mexico.

In Puerto Chiapas Mexico we signed up to take a tour outside of the port area. We went to a place called Miguel Aleman

GOOGLE MAP COORDINATES:

14.558926371866079, -92.21688314383077

right down on the border of Mexico and Guatemala. Miguel Aleman is a company town but the people who live there own the company. Their main revenue stream comes from growing and packaging bananas for export.

Well, when we went to get on the tour van the driver stopped me and told me to stand back. I wasn't sure why at the time but I'm glad he did. Once everyone was in the van he opened up the passenger side and asked me to sit there. He gave me a front row seat and I let him know I appreciated it.

The next few photos are all taken as we drove to Miguel Aleman. They may be a little blurry because I was shooting through the windshield. There might also be some blur on the bottom of the photo because he had his dash full of papers and I was getting a bit of a reflection off them. I didn't want to move them, might have messed up his filing system!

"All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up."

Norma Desmond, played by Gloria Swanson, in the film Sunset Boulevard, directed by Billy Wilder (1950).

Just a shot of Tater Tot, gives you an idea of what a Heinz 57 sort of mix she is.

You can kind of see that she's got a natural Mohawk, hair on the top of her head is silky smooth, a wiry coat with fuzzy tufts that stick out in various place.

Hey, it's the coat she was born to wear!

We got the opportunity to see a LOT of tugs on this trip!

According to Marine Traffic theVB ALMERIA (IMO: 9319363) is a Fire Fighting Vessel.

www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/shipid:165872/...

According to Vessel Finder the VB ALMERIA (IMO 9319363, MMSI 224215290) is a Tug built in 2007 (18 years old) and currently sailing under the flag of Spain.

www.vesselfinder.com/vessels/details/9319363

I'm not sure which description is right but I am sure she's a pretty good looking lady and I'm glad I got an opportunity to get a shot of her!

Home to Rick's Café and some pretty nasty weather!

One of the stops on our Transatlantic cruise was to be in Casablanca, Morocco but alas, Mother Nature didn't see it that way. We made it into the port and alongside the dock but the water was too rough and after snapping a mooring line the Captain decided that Casablanca was off the table so back out to sea we went.

Talked to several other passengers who had been here before and suffered the same fate. So no shots of Rick's or much else!

This was a good trip in that I really stepped up and out when it came to taking control of my camera. The majority of the shots I got were done in manual (M) and I'm trying to keep any editing down to just a crop or two. This shot for example is SOOC other than a small crop to lose some extra water at the bottom. Yeah, the weather really was like this!

This is a real photograph taken with a real camera, and not created by AI.

What else are you going to do on a floating gin joint in the middle of the ocean?

Every night in the ship's Atrium there was a dance band playing for everyone's enjoyment. They played a lot of danceable tunes and people took full advantage of it. Myself, I took advantage of the crowd to work on my camera holding technique.

This was a good trip in that I really stepped up and out when it came to taking control of my camera. The majority of the shots I got were done in manual (M) and I'm trying to keep any editing down to just a crop or two. This shot was done in auto, I was still struggling a bit with inside shots. I did have to clone out a light that was pretty distracting (to me) but the B/W came from the camera JPG.

This is a real photograph taken with a real camera, and not created by AI.

The people of Panama were out in the streets...

If you saw the picture previous to this you'll understand, if not then let me explain.

It seems that there has been an influx of "invaders" into Panama and the indigenous folks don't like it. I'd like to point out that the term "invaders" was used by our tour guide and didn't come from me.

Most of the "invaders" come from Asia bringing their wealth and flaunting it, pushing the Panamanian people out to the fringes. Now, the government likes this influx of Asia dollars so they tend to dismiss any grievances the Panamanians have and basically say "Nuts to you"!

The people don't have many other options other to protest and according to our tour guide they protest quite regularly. We happened to come across one of these protests and I managed to fire off a quick shot before we were whisked away. If you're interested in learning a bit more:

newsroompanama.com/2025/02/15/suntracs-confirms-the-closu...

deepnewz.com/panama/panama-raids-suntracs-offices-issues-...

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SUNTRACS

Now when I think of protests this is what I think of. A collective of people united behind a common grievance using their voices to peacefully express their displeasure with the current situation. Totally different from the "protests" we have been seeing here in the US.

What we see here in the US seems to come closer to anarchy than protest. Violence is the norm and the only cohesion between the people seems to be the desire to cause chaos and sow discord. Uhh......I need to climb down off my soapbox now, I'm starting to stray away from my shot....

I'm guessing there's a LOT of veterans living in Quail Creek!

On our way up to Madera Canyon we stopped at the Quail Creek Veterans Park. Full disclosure, Quail Creek is a Robson Resort 55+ community but the park is open to everyone.

We didn't stop because it was a veteran's park, we stopped because we'd been driving for a half hour or so, Niccy is a lady, and she'd just polished off her Starbucks and needed to spend a penny.

I have to say I was really impressed with this park. They had some really clean facilities, pickleball courts. a dog run area (big and small dogs), picnic area, and a playground. The grounds were really well kept and to top it off they had this signage to let you know that this was definitely a veteran's park! Good job on this park Quail Creek and the town of Sahuarita.

Had to do a bit of work on this shot to make it presentable to me. The sky is a replacement since the original was that dull flat summer sky we tend to get in Arizona. There were some yellow bollards in front of the sign that I cloned out, if you're a pixel peeper you'll probably see exactly where, along with a couple of rooftops.

The one thing I didn't do was bump up the saturation. I'm not a fan of oversaturation, it's got a place in the photography world but this definitely didn't need it, in fact I dropped it down a bit!

All in all a really nice stop at a really nice park. If you're a fan of pretty parks and you're in the area I'd recommend you stop for a moment and check it out.

Your time is up, move on so the next one can take your place.

A shot of the Vega Scorpio:

www.flickr.com/photos/nyalr/53554294950/in/dateposted-pub... getting ready to move out while the Barbados II gets ready to give her a hand.

PS:

For those in the Show Your EXIF group you should note that the actual lens used is a Tamron AF 18-200mm F/3.5-6.3 Di-II VC All-in-One Zoom for Canon APS-C Digital SLR. For some crazy reason it always shows up as a Canon TS-E 90mm f/2.8, a lens I've never owned or used!

You'll do anything to get your fix, even shooting from inside of the back of a Honda CR-V!

Well, it finally happened. Mother Nature decided to grace us with a proper monsoon storm last night. I'm talking sheets of rain, howling winds, and a lot of lightning.

Niccy came home from work and I asked her what the sky looked like on her drive home. She said there had been a good storm at her work but nothing spectacular in the neighborhood and she was going to go and have a shower. I'd just finished watching the local weather forecast and saw she was right so I figured it was another bust night.

Right about then my lightning app went off which means there were strikes within 10 miles so I decided to go out and have a look for myself. I walked out, looked at the sky to the North, walked back in, told her I was heading out and took off for my shooting spot. Nothing in the neighborhood my ass!

Got tripod set up, grabbed the camera and the sky opened up on me. Like I said above there was howling wind, sheets of rain, and lightning all around. I sat in the car, waiting for the storm to blow over. After about 15 minutes the major part of the storm had passed but it was still raining so I decided to go to my second spot which was under cover, figured I might get something from there.

Got to my second spot and the clouds opened up again! Waited in the car for about 20 minutes then decided that I wasn't getting anything but wet if I went out so I headed home.

Got home and the rain decided to slow down to a drizzle so I headed out again to my original spot. I figured that the drizzle would quit soon and I might get something yet.

The drizzle never stopped and neither did the lightning so I climbed in the back of the CR-V, opened up the hatch, set up my gear, and fired away. This is the end result.

This is a combination of 3 shots that I got. The storm intensity had decreased and along with it the lightning, hence the reason for combining the 3 shots. Tonight is supposed to be a good night so maybe we'll get lucky and get a few more!

Had a nice little soaker come through last night.

The storm last night finally brought us a decent amount of rain, at least here at the house. Plenty of lightning but up in the clouds for the most part.

We've got a new Ramada at the upper pool and luckily enough that's where the majority of the lightning was showing up. Can be hard to shoot from since the wind was blowing the rain in under the cover but I didn't get too soaked!

This was shot @ f/6.3 with 25 seconds and ISO 100 at 18mm.

Something to contrast my shot of the Three Caballleros!

www.flickr.com/photos/nyalr/54367445984/in/dateposted-pub...

Taking a flight brings out the gambler in you. You're betting that the flight is on time, you're betting on the captain to get you to your destination, and you're betting on your luggage arriving at the same time as you do. Now if all these bets pay off you'll make it to your destination on time with your luggage in hand.

From what I've seen the house has an edge when it comes to your luggage since they hire the luggage handlers. Hopefully they hire people who actually care about you getting your dainties in a timely manner and are not just there for a paycheck. In this instance I'm wondering whether or not I made a sucker bet!

I was hoping it would be something but it wound up being nothing!

Had some clouds that were building up in the South last night that I thought had some potential so I loaded up and headed out. Watched clouds drift by from 6 PM till a little after 8 PM and this is all I got. It was a tease, just enough to keep me hanging on for a little bit longer.....I'm hoping this isn't the monsoons going out with a whimper!

Apologies to Otis Redding!

As we came back into San Diego we sailed past the Submarine Base located at Naval Base Point Loma.

The six installations that make up Naval Base Point Loma are the Naval Submarine Base; Naval Mine and Anti-submarine Warfare Command; Commander Third Fleet Headquarters complex; Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command Headquarters; SPAWAR Systems Center and Fleet Intelligence Training Command Pacific, forming a highly technical hub of naval activity. Kind of sounds like the Navy's answer to Silicon Valley!

mybaseguide.com/installation/nb-point-loma/community/nava...

This was shot at 7:12 AM and the early morning light was just beautiful!

Niccy and I just got back from a transatlantic cruise so I've finally got some shots to post!

The M/S Queen Anne (IMO 9839399) at dock in Cadiz Spain. The M/S Queen Anne is a Pinnacle-class cruise ship operated by Cunard Line, named after Anne, of the Kingdom of Great Britain, who reigned from 1707–1714. She is currently the second largest ship in Cunard's fleet, after RMS Queen Mary 2. She sailed from her homeport of Southampton on 3 May 2024 for her maiden voyage, calling at A Coruña and Lisbon. She can carry up to 2,996 passengers.

She's a good looking lady and I'm glad that I got a glimpse of her!

Where the sky is blue, the pool is open, and the snow is only temporary!

Another shot from our "snowstorm" on the 2nd of March. The pool and hot tub is definitely open and warm, the snow is only on the roof!

Yeah, we do get a bit warm in the summer but for the rest of the year it's not a bad place to live. If you want to ski in the winter you could head up to Mt. Lemmon:

www.skithelemmon.com/

or up north to Flagstaff:

www.snowbowl.ski/

Or just enjoy the great weather the rest of the year!

I should've planned this out better and got the whole pool in the shot but that's the way I roll!

Niccy and I just got back from a transatlantic cruise so I've finally got some shots to post!

This "whale" belongs to the Spanish Navy and was spotted in Cartegena, Spain. It was early morning and they were headed out of port. Caught me totally off guard without my camera in hand so I grabbed it and fired off a couple of quick shots.

The reason I call her a "whale" is because of an old Navy friend of mine. He was stationed at a tiny base on a remote island outside of the United States in the East China Sea. If you were to ask him what he did there he'd tell you that it was a "research" facility and they were logging all the "whales" that passed through the area.

Had to do a weird crop on this, had a lot of blank space on the left that didn't add anything. Guess that's what happens when you're not prepared!

PS:

For those in the Show Your EXIF group (and anyone else with a technical curiousity) you should note that the actual lens used is a Tamron AF 18-200mm F/3.5-6.3 Di-II VC All-in-One Zoom for Canon APS-C Digital SLR. For some crazy reason it always shows up as a Canon TS-E 90mm f/2.8, a lens I've never owned or used. One thing I've noticed is this lens has a lot of vignette to it at a distance, not a bad thing when you're shooting lightning at night!

Just remember, Carnival has the FUN ships, Holland America has the Old People's ships!

Since Carnival Corp. is the parent company of Holland America I figured I'd give them a little publicity. From the Carnival Website:

There just isn’t enough vacation time to do everything, so we go for the widest variety, make the most of the moments... and above all, try to have the most fun whenever possible. All of you with the heads nodding, hands raised, folks who just stood up and cheered at the office — you’re Carnival Panorama’s people!

Now my reason for posting this isn't altruistic at all. I figure that if people see how much FUN they can have with Carnival they'll stay away from Holland America, which definitely isn't a FUN ship but is definitely a CRUISE SHIP, just the way we like it!

PS: Ignore the junker off to the right, she'll be shown in her full glory in another shot!

Tied up at the Grenada Port Authority Cruise Ship Terminal

BRITANNIA (IMO: 9614036) is a Passenger Ship that was built in 2015 (8 years ago) and is sailing under the flag of United Kingdom.

Her carrying capacity is 143730 Gross Tonnage and her current draught is reported to be 8.5 meters. Her length overall (LOA) is 329 meters and her width is 45 meters.

She has a capacity of 3,647 passengers and 1,398 crew members.

PS:

For those in the Show Your EXIF group you should note that the actual lens used is a Tamron AF 18-200mm F/3.5-6.3 Di-II VC All-in-One Zoom for Canon APS-C Digital SLR. For some crazy reason it always shows up as a Canon TS-E 90mm f/2.8, a lens I've never owned or used!

I'm kicking myself for not paying attention!

The storm that blew in last night came from the Southeast and was a real slow mover. Moving slow is a benefit for me since it gives me time to figure out where the next strike might be but it's bad for the folks who are underneath it and getting all the downpour.

I was watching the progress and noticed that it was hitting in the same general area so I took a chance with a little bit of zoom, trying to get a little closer to the action. What I should have done was check my camera settings before I started firing away. Had I done that I would have noticed that my ISO was set to AUTO instead of the 100 I've been using. I really love this little camera but the sensor leaves something to be desired, especially in a dark situation. The AUTO decided that 800 was the appropriate setting so I wound up with a very noisy shot! I tried a little denoise in post but if you push it to far things start to look pretty fake and this bolt wasn't fake!

This was shot towards the Southeast, the community in the foreground is where I live. I would like to have included more but had I dropped the camera down I would have had lights from the cars going by and I wanted to avoid that.

This was shot @ f/13 with 16 seconds, Auto ISO and 32mm zoom. Yeah, I just turned the Auto off and set the ISO manually. Not planning on making that mistake again!

Talk about light up your life!

Another shot from the storm that blew in on 3 August 2024. The action really was hot and heavy with bolts popping up all over!

This is a SOOC shot other than a small crop in GIMP to lose some extraneous bits on the side and bottom.

This was shot @ f/10 and ISO 100 with 30 seconds on the clock.

PS:

For those in the Show Your EXIF group you should note that the actual lens used is a Tamron AF 18-200mm F/3.5-6.3 Di-II VC All-in-One Zoom for Canon APS-C Digital SLR. For some crazy reason it always shows up as a Canon TS-E 90mm f/2.8, a lens I've never owned or used!

It's a crap shoot when you're shooting lightning and sometimes you wind up on the edge.

The storm that blew through last night (30 July) was a real nice one. Came from the East, headed West, and stayed South of the city so no rain for us but plenty of show!

Started out real slow but once it decided to kick in it certainly had some flair to it. Bolts were hitting regularly, some brighter than others. The only bad thing was that i started to smell smoke, hopefully it was just a bush getting vaporized and not a fire.

I'm sure everyone who shoots lightning has had what would be a great shot if the bolt (or bolts) weren't right on the edge of the frame. That's what happened with these two, my fault because of the zoom. I decided to try aligning the two to fill the frame and if I say so myself it's not too bad.

This is a combination of 2 shots, both @ f/8 with 35 combined seconds on the clock, ISO 100 and 32mm zoom. The bolts seemed to linger right over the prison so I took a chance with the zoom and it payed off.

No offense but things are definitely different in the Golden State!

Niccy and I were walking down the Liberty Station Esplanade in San Diego when we came across this scene.

There's a place right on the water where you can rent a paddleboard for you and your dog to go out on. It seemed to be pretty popular but I didn't get to talk with any of the fur kids to ask them whether or net they enjoyed it! Nice to see that all the dogs had PFDs.

Niccy and I packed up the family (Tater Tot and Mushi-Mushi) and headed out on our first adventure!

We took the RV on a short shakedown cruise over to San Diego, specifically Point Loma Naval Base.

There's a nice camping spot on the base, right on the water. No electric, no water, but since we're self contained it wasn't a problem We spent a couple of days doing absolutely nothing except watching the world pass us by. Exactly the kind of experience we were looking for.

Straight as an arrow (or a plane)!

I'm pretty sure this is a plane and not one of the Border Patrol helicopters that were flying that night. No natural lightning, but a nice leading line into the shot!

IJZERBORG (IMO: 9456733) is a General Cargo that was built in 2010 (13 years ago) and is sailing under the flag of Netherlands.

Her carrying capacity is 12032 t DWT and her current draught is reported to be 6.1 meters. Her length overall (LOA) is 142.95 meters and her width is 18.9 meters.

Thanks to www.marinetraffic.com

for the above verbiage!

As we were walking down on the beach in Bonaire I saw the IJZERBORG at the dock, making me think of a dog on a long leash. I don't know but it seems to me that the bow line really isn't doing a lot, maybe Alex's Time Flying By can enlighten us a bit more?

Now that I take a second look that's actually a pier for a cruise ship, not a dock for loading and unloading. Maybe there's a fueler on the other side of her, giving her some go juice. I wonder if they offer to wash the windows as well?

The Caribbean sun really isn't a friend to photographers, the light is a lot like it is here in Arizona in the summer. Had I been thinking I would have used the Sunny 16 rule but when you're out and exploring there's no time to think!

A Quickie All-in-one Moleskine Diary/Sketchbook in Leather Cover

The day I decided to use the Moleskine 18 months weekly diary from July I knew I would have problem pulling out what I need from my bag. It has the same size and look as the Moleskine sketch book I'm using. Knowing that I will be using both quite often in this coming half year starting from my trip to Tokyo next week, I did something drastic in 30 minutes.

First I ruined the back of these 2 notebooks by putting 4 snaps on them so that they can stick together yet removable if I want to. Note that the two notebooks are snapped together so that the top of one is aligned with the bottom of the other. There is a good enough space in between because of the height of the snaps, so it works well to put a pen holder there. I just punched and set two eyelets to hold the broad elastic band together, then a metal wire is passed through the two eyelets to make a ring which helps to keep the elastic band in place on the spines, again this is removable if I don't need a pen holder.

Assembling it is easy, just put the pen holder in between the back of these two notebooks, snap the notebooks together and there you go. At this stage leather freak like me couldn't stop but made a cover for this so that the metal ring of the pen holder is concealed and I have the look I want.

Finally, to distinguish which side is which notebook, I stamped on the leather cover "Time" for the diary side and "Note" for the sketchbook side. Whenever I feel like using the other side, I flip the notebook vertically. The original Moleskine elastic bands can be used to enclose the leather cover but I like a clean look so most of the time they are enclosing the pages only.

You are probably wondering why there are some flying pigs on one of the Moleskines, that's a gift sketchbook from Steve Light. What's that pen you asked? Pilot 1979 Murex fountain pen, also a gift from a good friend Kelly.

More on Scription blog: scription.typepad.com/blog/2010/07/a-quickie-allinone-mol...

That's right, even ol' St. NIck has to take on a side gig to get by today!

On our first night in Williams we were out for a walk when we saw the train coming into town. We went to the station with the hopes of getting some sort of shot and this is one that I got.

Evidently during the Winter months they have a special run they call the "Polar Express", named after the childrens book. It's a trip to the "North Pole" that gives kids a chance to meet Santa and experience the magic of Christmas. I believe that there's also a reading of the story as the train chugs toward it's destination.

According to Niccy (who was inside our car and listened to what the tour guide had to say) they make 2 runs a day through the season which starts in mid November and runs through the end of December. The average passenger load for each trip is 1000 souls so if you do the math you'll see it's a pretty profitable operation!

I got a glimpse of this fellow who was a tour guide on one of the other cars (not ours). I don't know for sure but just by looking at him I can guess what part he plays on the "Polar Express".

If you've got kids (grandkids, nieces, nephews, etc) and you're interested:

www.thetrain.com/events/polar-express/

This photo is specifically for Jim Frazier since I know he's a train guy!

If you looked at my previous shot and read the description you know I was parked alongside the Southern Pacific train tracks when I got it. As I also said before there were several really large bolts that dropped that I didn\'t get and this shot is why I didn\'t!

It seems that an SP freight train was headed towards Tucson and decided to take the very tracks I was parked next to. This train was loaded with double stacked Conex boxes, probably empty and headed for Long Beach port. Once the train started passing by (at a good clip) any storm lightning shots were effectively blocked from my view. I did see 3 or 4 very large flashes but there was no way I was going to capture them, Southern Pacific made sure of that so instead I present you with this SP version of lightning!

BTW, this is SOOC, no editing needed or wanted,

This is a REAL photograph, taken with a REAL camera. It\'s not a Computer Rendered Artificial Photo

I'm sure they do a good job but I don't think the trip they make is really "epic", at least not in my book.

We were back on the ship waiting to sail away and I was out on the deck when I saw this little fellow coming in. Evidently they run a service between the mainland and Klein Bonaire, an uninhabited island. Evidently what they do is run folks out to the island so that they can do a bit of snorkeling or just hang out on the beach there.

Neither of those things are on our bucket list so we didn't partake but if you're ever in Bonaire and you're looking for a place to hang out while looking at fish and sunning on the beach you should look them up:

www.watertaxikleinbonaire.com/

Niccy and I just got back from a transatlantic cruise so I've finally got some shots to post!

Late at night the pool area on the Lido deck is one of my favorite places to roam on the ship. I think it's because of the subdued lighting and the quietness. None of the hustle-bustle, just the sounds of the water sloshing in the pool and the bubbling of the hot tubs. A kind of peacefulness that most of the guests seem to not to notice.

Onboard the HAL Niew Amsterdam, transatlantic from Rome to Fort Lauderdale, Nov/Dec 2024.

Tied up at the Curacao Cruise Ship Terminal

BRITANNIA (IMO: 9614036) is a Passenger Ship that was built in 2015 (8 years ago) and is sailing under the flag of United Kingdom.

Her carrying capacity is 143730 Gross Tonnage and her current draught is reported to be 8.5 meters. Her length overall (LOA) is 329 meters and her width is 45 meters.

She has a capacity of 3,647 passengers and 1,398 crew members.

For those in the Show Your EXIF group you should note that the actual lens used is a Tamron AF 18-200mm F/3.5-6.3 Di-II VC All-in-One Zoom for Canon APS-C Digital SLR. It's a well known issue and for some crazy reason it always shows up as a Canon TS-E 90mm f/2.8, a lens I've never owned or used!

I imagine things got pretty heated up!

The storm that blew through last night (30 July) was a real nice one. Came from the East, headed West, and stayed South of the city so no rain for us but plenty of show!

Started out real slow but once it decided to kick in it certainly had some flair to it. Bolts were hitting regularly, some brighter than others. The only bad thing was that i started to smell smoke, hopefully it was just a bush getting vaporized and not a fire.

This is a combination of 2 shots, both @ f/8 with 36 combined seconds on the clock, ISO 100 and 44mm zoom. The bolts seemed to linger right over the prison so I took a chance with the zoom and it payed off.

Apologies to The Piano Man Billy Joel

The song "Piano Man" is the first thing that popped into my head when I saw this gentleman sitting at the Lido Bar on the Zaandam.

The way he was looking at his drink, like a man would look at his lover, slowly stirring it in anticipation of the joy it would bring him was a story unto itself.

Now I don't think this was a gin and tonic but I don't think I've ever heard any songs about making love to a Bloody Mary!

This was the first time I saw The Who, one of two times I saw them with Keith Moon, and a delight! I was left wanting to go home and practice... not that I have the faintest idea how I got back to the Sonoma State dorms that night... or how I got to the show in the first place. One of the best things I did in the first 1/3 of 1976.

I like this photo, even if it's not quite in the Zone system... not enough contrast and so much crud in the background I just painted it out with the darkest shadow I could find, then dialed up the contrast. That's Rock 'n' Roll. I did post the low-contrast print I got at the time in some sort of photo show at Sonoma State, and someone did leave a note on it asking for a copy. My life was too scattered to follow up, sorry. Maybe you can download this. Drop me a line if you admired this in the more Southerly of the original 2 buildings at Sonoma State...

As I said before, sunset dinner cruises seem to be the thing to do in San Diego.

As always, hospitality, fine dining and creative beverage service are on the fore deck of a cruise aboard the newly named “Admiral Hornblower.” However, playing a supporting role is a bevy of innovative technologies and must-have services demanded by a sophisticated and connected contemporary clientele: back lit fiber optic infused bars, Wi-Fi throughout the ship, our hip ‘boutique hotel’ style Captains Lounge and Pilot House view. Add to that three spacious, climate-controlled salons, expansive open-air sun decks offering sweeping panoramic San Diego vistas, three full-service bars, two dance floors and seating for up to 420 guests and the sum is pure memory making at sea.

www.cityexperiences.com/san-diego/city-cruises/our-fleet/...

This sure came out with some funky colors and I'm not sure why. I was using the Sunny 16 rule and the time shows as being 4:36 PM. The sun wasn't setting quite yet so I thought there was enough light but maybe not. Could also have something to do with the focal length on this lens but I just don't know.

I'm guessing they went to publik skool?

Not much to say, I'll let the sign speak for itself. BTW, I'm not bashing school teachers or their curriculum, I understand that they have to work with what they get.

Spotted this on the way into Baker City, Oregon.

Since the monsoons (and the lightning) have taken a hiatus I present for your enjoyment a nice shot that I captured aboard the HAL Zaandam!

Seafaring and knots go together like peanut butter and jelly. Some of the old sailors got pretty good at knot tying, no surprise since they were out to sea with not much elst to do but practice! Bowline, Stevedore, Marlinspike, Anchor, the list goes on and on.

No idea why this rope was here since we were out to sea and there was nothing attached to the side!

Budapest, Danube

It's a simple thing to do, just turn around!

Saw this young lady taking a shot of the setting sun and it reminded me of another shot I got:

www.flickr.com/photos/nyalr/52519570950/in/photolist-2o5S...

I'd give her the same advice I would've given this other fellow which is turn around and look behind you. There's a plethora of light and color in the setting sun and it's all shooting right past you, reflecting on the scenery behind. Now if you want a shot of a bright blazing star that's disappearing over the horizon then carry on. It's not going to be a shot that reminds you of a great time had in a foreign land, it will remind you that staring into the sun really isn't the best idea!

Niccy and I just got back from a transatlantic cruise so I've finally got some shots to post!

RHAPSODY (IMO: 9104835) is a Ro-Ro/Passenger Ship and is sailing under the flag of Italy. Her length overall (LOA) is 172 meters and her width is 30.4 meters.

MS Rhapsody, is an Italian cruiseferry operated by Grandi Navi Veloci. She was built at Chantiers de l'Atlantique in Saint-Nazaire, France for the French ferry operator SNCM as Napoleon Bonaparte.[1] In 1996, she was put on the Marseille–Corsica route,[1] replacing the old ferry Napoleon which was moved to the Marseille–Algeria–Tunisia route. On October 27, 2012, the ship broke its moorings in the port of Marseille due to strong winds, violently struck the dock, and sunk in the harbour.[2] Due to its financial difficulties, SNCM was unable to repair the ferry, and sold it to the Italian shipowner MSC in 2014.[3] Refloated, the ship was renamed Rhapsody and transferred to Grandi Navi Veloci to sail first between Italy and Albania, and then from 2017 on the Genoa-Porto Torres route.[1]

I had no idea this was a thing, especially along a main street!

Came across this sign and had to get a quick snap. Didn't know this was a problem but I suppose they might be talking to the customers of the shebeen right down the street?

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shebeen

I suppose it could be referencing those folks who imbibed a little holy spirit while headed to St. Johns Cathederal which was close by?

St. Johns Cathedral is actually in the shape of the cross:

Google Maps View

www.google.com/maps/place/Saint+John's+Cathedral/@17.1227...

BTW, I only know Shebeen from Niccy talking about them in South Africa. Definitely not a place I would b allowed to frequent.

My cholesterol went up just looking at that mountain of fries.

One thing the Pima County fair in Tucson is certainly known for is coming up with some pretty outrageous food items. A grilled turkey leg wrapped in bacon, deep fried candy bars, and this monstrosity, Megafries. Pretty much an entire fryer basket stuffed with fries (chips), cooked up crispy and dumped on a plate.

We didn't stick around to watch this fellow devour this mountain of curled potatoes, my heart couldn't take it.

It looks like he was documenting his gastronomic undertaking, maybe to impress his Facebook friends back at the Boca Del Vista Retirement Community and RV Park?

What else would you you expect from a "Floating Gin Joint"!

As we left Cabo San Lucas the bartenders set up an impromptu Margarita mixing station on the back deck. Another one of those things that they don't normally do on Holland America.

I don't know if it was the thought of a cool tropical drink to celebrate Mexico or the 25% off price sign but people flocked to the station. Hopefully they read the fine print that talked about the 18% gratuity!

Either way they were quite busy and it was certainly a good training experience for the apprentice!

The party didn't go on forever though, the weather was changing and not for the best.

Can you tell our vet works with horses as well as dogs and cats?

Had to take Miss Tiffany into the vet today for her annual tooth cleaning. I say tooth because she's only got a few left, the folks she lived with before didn't take the best care of her I suppose.

Anyhow, our vet is out in the country and this sign is at the end of the driveway, right before you pull out on the road. Stopping before you pull out is not a bad idea but the road they're located on is definitely not an interstate freeway! If you're a map person you can look here and see, you might come across an occasional tractor or two but that's about it!

www.google.com/maps/place/Marana+Veterinary+Clinic/@32.45...

I happened to have my camera with me, wanted to try out the new lens and thought I might get a horse shot or two at the clinic. Unfortunately the horses were nowhere to be seen so this is what I got! I do like that you can get the blurry background real easy with it. We'll see what she can really do in March when I'll have the chance to get some ship shots!

Must be a planned execution out at the prison tonight, I see they're testing out the electric chair!

Had a great storm pass by last Friday night with bolts aplenty! It was about 9:45 PM when I heard the first rumble. Looked on my lightning app and nothing spectacular was showing up so I figured it was a one off. Boy, was I wrong!

Something said to go out and take a look so that's what I did. Once I got outside I saw the sky was flashing to the North, South, and West so I ran in to grab my camera and let Niccy know I was headed out. She was stone asleep so I headed out to my usual spot, hoping for a couple of shots. That was close to 10 PM and I didn't pack it in until it started raining just after Midnight!

This is a composite of two shots but other than a crop in GIMP and the eradication of a couple of blatant hotspots are the only touchups!

There were bolts everywhere, hard to pick a direction to shoot. I was lucky enough to catch a few which I'll be posting shortly.

PS:

For those in the Show Your EXIF group you should note that the actual lens used is a Tamron AF 18-200mm F/3.5-6.3 Di-II VC All-in-One Zoom for Canon APS-C Digital SLR. For some crazy reason it always shows up as a Canon TS-E 90mm f/2.8, a lens I've never owned or used!

I'll leave it to you, the viewer to decide.

What is a wall? The most common answer is:

A wall is a vertical structure, often made of materials like brick or stone, that divides or surrounds an area, providing shelter, security, or support. It can also refer to something that acts as a barrier or defense".

This is the side of a ship so does it meet the definition above? It's definitely a vertical structure that divides or surround an area. It does provide shelter, security, and support and definitely acts as a barrier or defense between the people onboard and the sea.

Now it's not made of brick or stone but the description says "often made of" which doesn't absolutely define the construction materials a wall is made of, it just gives a partial list of materials that you COULD use. Steel is definitely a construction material, used every day in buildings around the world for walls, decks, and structural support.

I believe that if you're willing to think outside the box and look at the facts I've presented you'll come to the conclusion (as I have) that yes, this is a wall and deserves all the accolades, awards, and praise given to any common wall. I know where I stand but I'll leave it to you, the viewer to decide.