August 14, 2008

More Photobloging From Bermuda

Water's so calm, even the dogs enjoy the warm, relaxation of a float in the bay!

Friends and family in the bright Bermuda sun!

The architecture can be stunning in both its color and its simplicity!

Natal Plum Bush in full bloom.  These fruits are tasty and plentiful all over the island.

The island not only has vibrant and exciting colors, but also subtle color changes, but none-the-less exciting for that.

Posted at 09:37 AM | Comments (11) | Add Comment
Post contains 75 words, total size 1 kb.

August 13, 2008

Early Shots From Bermuda

Who be these strange folk visitin' my island?

Up and down several hills, around a couple of hairpin curves and watching for traffic that seems determined to drive on the wrong side of the road and we get to this charming little bay:

Colors run riot in Bermuda!

Even the houses are colorful.  Notice too the channels on the roof.  Bermuda has no fresh water, everyone collects rain from the roof for giant cisterns.  And of course desalinization.

More later!

YeeeeHaaaa!!!  Instalanche!  Thanks Glenn!

Posted at 04:42 PM | Comments (10) | Add Comment
Post contains 88 words, total size 1 kb.

June 08, 2008

Photos of Paris

My friend Michael Balter (a lefty, but I like him anyway) has some beautiful shots of Paris up.  Go see A Cloudy Sunday In Paris

Posted at 03:45 PM | Comments (9) | Add Comment
Post contains 28 words, total size 1 kb.

January 07, 2008

Let There Be Light

Posted at 06:45 AM | Comments (16) | Add Comment
Post contains 4 words, total size 1 kb.

August 21, 2007

She May Have Been A Pet, But ...


diamond copy.jpg
Diamond is her name, for the diamond shaped flash on her forehead. She was "my cat" in a round about way of speaking, for after all, cats own their people, not the other way around. My bride of almost 10 years got Diamond and her litter-mate Emerald in the early part of 1990. Norma loves cats, cat paraphernalia, pins, posters, stuffed toys, socks and vests with cats embroidered on them, et cetera, et cetera and et cetera!

Before we got married, I tried real hard to make friends with Diamond, tried, and failed because I forgot the first lesson of having a cat... the CAT determines the relationship, not the lowly human. Accepting that the cat was in charge, I gave up. One day, while putting food out for the cats, I walked by the refrigerator and noted a small icebox magnet that read "He said it was him or the cats! Gee, I miss him sometimes."

Norma and I got married, went on a glorious honeymoon and came home. We had earlier decided to let my daughter live in my house and I would move to Norma's house. On the first night home, I awoke about 1:30 AM with my feet wet. Diamond had peed on the bottom of the bed, on my side. Changed the bed coverings, put the comforter aside to have it cleaned and determined to ignore the greeting of this infuriating cat. Two nights later she did it again. Norma said as we got dressed for work the next morning - "We'll talk about this this evening." I said "No, now is the time." But the lady demurred and said this evening was soon enough.

All day long I worried about being "kicked out" 'cause I knew how much She liked those cats. That night, Norma looked at me and said "If you want, we can find a new home for Diamond." No way was I going to do that, not me, not no way, not no how! And I said so. And an uneasy truce ensued for the next 18 months. Diamond would meow at my feet or jump up on the couch beside me, I'd reach over to pet her and she'd scoot away. Each time, all the time.

One evening, while watching T.V. with Norma, Diamond jumped up on the couch and I absentmindedly reached over to pet her fully expecting her to scoot and, surprise, surprise she didn't. I petted her till she was done, then she walked away, purring, tail straight up in the air. She had conquered me fair and square.

A month later, I awoke with a start to find Diamond asleep on the bed beside my pillow, I reached over to pet her and she meow'ed loudly but didn't move. Over the next several years the routine became well established. As soon as I was in bed, up came Diamond. Until about a year ago when we got even closer.

Our main computer is in a cabinet in the breakfast room, and I would sit there doing notes, posting things on the blog, as I would sit there, Diamond would sometimes saunter by and give me the once over, but this time, she jumped up in my lap and demanded in that loud, harsh meow of hers to be petted. I complied because I knew who the boss was.

Then, about a month ago things started to change. Diamond didn't come up to the bedroom anymore, prefering to sleep on the arm of the leather couch. Finally, noticing a decrease in weight and energy, I took her to the vet. Renal failure was the diagnosis and he prescribed medications and a special renal diet. Diamond didn't get better though, this morning she was more listless than usual and I knew it was time.

I took her back to the vet, my heart breaking and informed him of what I wanted done what I knew had to be done though I hated doing it. Diamond breathed her last with me beside her, petting her and I know that she knew that I would be with her to the end. Goodbye girl, you will be missed a lot. Time will heal the pain, and I'll treasure every memory of the last 9 years with you.

Posted at 03:11 PM | Comments (10) | Add Comment
Post contains 724 words, total size 4 kb.

July 28, 2007

More On Scott Thomas - The Intrepid GM Grabs His Magnifying Glass And His Calabash Pipe, Puts On His Deerstalker Cap and Solves The Case.


I've been following the Scott Thomas Beauchamp (or is that Beauchump?) story since the "story" broke in The New Republic. Via the incomparable and magnificent LARWYN, I've been able to keep up with all the key players enjoying the discomfiture of TNR as they backtrack, waffle and crawdad (if you don't know what crawdad means, you haven't been to the South very often have you?). One of the more serious investigators has been Ace, a fellow Munuvian and an all around great blogger. But I digress. Ace has been following the machinations of TNR closely as has Dan Riehl (Faux TNR masthead courtesy of Dan) and as I noted, both have been doing an absolutely outstanding job.

One of the posts I read (I'm too tired to track it down now after slogging through a days worth of progress notes, and billings) noted finding the blog of said Scott Thomas (Beauchamp) that he wrote while in the Army stationed in Germany. And one of Scotts posts had a photograph which I reproduce for you here:


along with the caption:

Train ride to Wurzberg: 11 Euro
Two Steins of Beer: 12 Euro
Having a girlfriend that embodies racial perfection: priceless
Now, I suspect that you, like me, have a whole bunch of blogs that we enjoy, even if we get to them only once in a while. Such are my friends at Misunderestimated Germans, and I recognized that photo. It is a photo of Claudia Heym who, along with Michael Meyn and Jürgen Krafzik write Misunderestimated Germans. At least, I was pretty sure it was so I wrote Michael with whom I've enjoyed exchanging comments and emails from time to time. Sure enough, it was indeed a photo of Claudia (and somewhere I heard taken around 2002) and, from their website here is their banner (reduced in size);


Let me repeat Scott Thomas' caption: "Train ride to Wurzberg: 11 Euro - Two Steins of Beer: 12 Euro - Having a girlfriend that embodies racial perfection: priceless" and you can tell that the implication is that Claudia is Scott Thomas' girlfriend. Nicht wahr? Ahhh, but I know that in 2002 Scott wasn't in Germany when that photo was taken, and that Claudia and Jürgen are very good friends and I suspect, though I cannot know as yet, that Jürgen would be very surprised to know that Scott's girlfriend is an embodiement of "racial perfection."

Not only is that a shameful and crass statement, especially given the country that is hosting Thomas, but he didnt' even know the young lady as far as I can tell. Perhaps Mr. Scott Thomas Beauchamp is not only a fabulist, but a cultural/ethnic bigot as well.

More and more, it's looking like Mr. Scott Thomas Beauchamp has done for The New Republic what typhoid did for Mary, or what Steven Glass did for...... get my drift?

UPDATE: Damn, this is fun. Or, as Sherlock Holmes has said:

when one has eliminated the impossible, whatever is left must be the truth, no matter how unlikely it may seem."
Dan Riehl has MORE on this story... yeppers, damn fun!

UPDATE 2: John Tabin at The American Spectator has more (including a link to this article. (H/T to Michael Meyn at Misunderestimated Germans)

Posted at 01:55 PM | Comments (18) | Add Comment
Post contains 566 words, total size 5 kb.

June 12, 2007

My Uncle Jimmy


The really elderly handsome gentleman to the left (no, no, the one with the glasses) is one of my heroes. His name is James Melbert and he is my beloved Uncle. Now, one thing you absolutely must know about Uncle Jimmy is that he is a liberal Democrat (hence, his picture is on the left of course) but other than that one serious flaw, he is a really good fellow and the last surviving member of my Mom's family. Fortunately for Uncle Jimmy, he is married to a marvelous woman by the name of LaVerne who is conservative.

Uncle Jimmy is the father of two terrific cousins, Bruce and Kay whom I also love dearly. Kay sent me an e-mail not too long ago letting me know that Uncle Jimmy is about to have a repair to the mitral valve of his heart. Now, Uncle Jimmy is a member of the "Greatest Generation" so you know he is no spring chicken, but despite that, when you talk to him, you'd think he is much closer to my young age (and no, I'm not going to tell you how old that is.) At any rate, some of my fondest memories are of the times I spent with the James Melbert family, first in Lake Jackson, Texas, then Angleton, Texas and most recently in Houston, Texas.

Mom, Jimmy and his family, our family were all tied together by the patriarch of our family N.H. Melbert, D.D. preacher-man extraordinaire and probably the finest man I've ever known. But, I digress.

Jimmy enlisted in the army and was in the european theater in WWII. He was a chemist for Dow Chemical Company until his retirement and has a number of patents under his name when he worked for Dow (now, there is this story that Uncle Jimmy once brewed beer in the basement of the Parsonage and the bottles exploded just as my grandmother was entertaining a bunch of ladies from the church. This was back in the late 20s to mid 30's so you know how well that went over - Uncle Jimmy, now you can come clean... did that really happen?).

One ultra-memorable summer in the late 50's I spent a couple of weeks with my grandparents in New Orleans and was invited to spend the rest of the summer at Uncle Jimmy's and Aunt LaVerns'. Wow, what a summer that was. There was a popcorn machine to make fresh popcorn when we watched T.V. and this really big garden spider that lived under the eaves out in the back yard. I remember Bruce and I making up little plays and acting them out with Jimmy, LaVerne and Kay playing the audience. Glorius, absolutely Glorius.

In 1998, my beloved mother became seriously ill and rapidly declined, both physically and mentally and passed away that November. I miss her quiet love and strong personality to this day, but though I told her many many times how much I loved her towards the end (and, indeed all the years I knew her), I've never been sure that she heard or processed it. I'll not make that mistake again. So, the purpose of this blog entry is simple, Uncle Jimmy, Aunt Laverne

I Love You!

There, got that? I thought so!

Posted at 11:50 AM | Comments (9) | Add Comment
Post contains 548 words, total size 3 kb.

May 13, 2007

Nature Shots

Stick me out in the boondocks with a camera and I'll find SOMETHING to shoot! Enjoy!

Who would have thought that a lowly prickly pear cactus could have such lovely flowers.

more...

Posted at 11:45 PM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
Post contains 83 words, total size 1 kb.

November 28, 2006

From Whence Came This Photo Fragment?

OK guys and gals, this bit of photo is from one of my many. This one comes from a rainforrest and it has been enlarged but only slightly. The first to guess this one gets an email from Woody extolling their virtues top and bottom, left and right and all your good qualities in between.

rainforrest.png

Posted at 01:28 PM | Comments (15) | Add Comment
Post contains 61 words, total size 1 kb.

November 27, 2006

And The Answer Is


portion.jpgThis is a portion of a photograph that was reproduced on this blog some 17 months or so ago. It can be found overleaf on the February 25, 2005 entry on photobloging. It is part of tree bark found in this photograph:

Faery umbrella.jpg

I guess Woody gets to keep his Richard Simmons Tape

Posted at 11:06 AM | Comments (13) | Add Comment
Post contains 56 words, total size 1 kb.

November 20, 2006

What Is This?


portion.jpgThis is a portion of a photograph that was reproduced on this blog some 17 months or so ago. Can you tell me from whence it came? Woody has selected a prize (most likely a Video of "Sweating to the Oldies" (insert very big grin here) and you can pay NOT to have the prize delivered if you guess correctly.

Have fun.

Posted at 12:49 AM | Comments (26) | Add Comment
Post contains 65 words, total size 1 kb.

October 10, 2005

Colorado Blogging

I'm recovering from a week in Colorado, though it took me a full 48 hours to warm up again. We were 9600 feet up in a cabin overlooking a beautiful valley about an hour and a half's drive from Ft. Collins.

The winding highway to the mountains showed vistas not to be believed.

colorado 005.jpg

The cabin we stayed in while we hammered out programs for the drug and alcohol dependent adolescents we work with was absolutely georgeous and thanks to our host, Greg, for putting us up while we worked. His cabin, as stated is stupendous.

colorado 224.jpg


The second morning there, I and a co-worker walked down the road a bit, surely not more than 50 yards and came across a mule deer foraging. more...

Posted at 01:05 PM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
Post contains 328 words, total size 3 kb.

October 07, 2005

HOME FROM THE HILLS

As Woody noted, I'm back from my sojourn to the mountains of Colorado. Beautiful, Cold and High is all I can say. We stayed in a Cabin at 9950 feet above sea level and worked on treatment programs for adolescents with substance abuse problems but some time was left for photographs. Here are a few, more later this afternoon. Woody, you did a great job and I appreciate it. Consider your salary to be quadrupled effective yesterday.

colorado 080.jpg

colorado 209.jpg

colorado snow.jpg

Posted at 01:50 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
Post contains 81 words, total size 1 kb.

August 05, 2005

Guess The Location - Photo-blogging For Fun

One of the joys of travel is the ability to bring back photographic memories of places you have been, things you have seen and people you have met. By and large, people all over the world are good people, in spite of the relatively small number of creepoids (Yes Terrorists, I AM referring to you!). Below are four photos taken from various travels. Use your imagination and your knowledge of the world to see if you can guess where these were taken. At the end of the last of the 4 pictures is a link that says "continue reading." Click on that and you will be able to check your answers.

This is the first one:

Number 1.jpg

This is the second one:

Number 2.jpg

This is the third, one more after this: Number 3.jpg

This is the last:

Number 4.jpg more...

Posted at 03:00 AM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
Post contains 313 words, total size 2 kb.

May 23, 2005

Jamaica Blogging

Wow, what a great vacation, seeing part of the world I've only glimpsed through history books and movies. Jamaica was everything it could be, beautiful scenery, gracious and kind people, and some of the most breathtaking flowers I've ever seen. Herewith, a sample. After two days at sea, relaxing, dining with good company, spending quality time with the bride, a few drinks and a little gambling (I won 5 nights out of seven, mostly at blackjack, some at roulette) we had landfall at Ocho Rios, Jamaica. Nearby is Runaway Bay, the place where runaway slaves often fled their oppressive masters and took boat to other shores. We opted for a bamboo raft ride down one of the many rivers rather than attempt climbing Dunn's River Falls with a bad knee. Dunn's River Falls is perhaps the most visited spot by tourists in Jamaica. Our river guide and "Captain," Claude Johnstone built his own raft and rafts down the river eight or nine times a week in a good week. From this and tips, he supports his family of five. Claude is in his mid forties, but looks to be in his early thirties and during the entire trip downriver gave a terrific running commentary on the flora and fauna of the river as well as history of Jamaica. Here is Claude poling down the river:


PICT0013.JPG



Music was being played everywhere, reggae, pop, even country and western with a reggae flavor. These gents had a wonderful sound, even though they didn't look like they were enjoying playing. Yet, with the sounds they were making, they obviously put heart and soul into it.
the Band.JPG

more...

Posted at 01:54 PM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
Post contains 397 words, total size 3 kb.

<< Page 1 of 2 >>
163kb generated in 0.2016 seconds; 35 queries returned 221 records.
Powered by Minx 1.1.4-pink.