Chicago Reflections

From exactly four years ago, when we spent a couple days in Chicago with Ryan after his graduation from Navy Boot Camp.

Downtown Chicago Reflections - 2007



Downtown Chicago Reflections - 2007



Downtown Chicago Reflections - 2007

Frog Blog II

The first photo is just another view of the frog in my first frog blog post. It is a good illustration of the ton of difference in the look of water & reflections that can be made by changing the angle just a little bit. The second photo is another frog I saw along our walk.

Frog - Cincinnati Nature Center, Milford



Frog - Cincinnati Nature Center, Milford

Cincinnati Geometry

Took these on the way and at the Red's game a couple weeks back. I like clear, dark blue skies.

Great American Tower - Cincinnati




Great American Ball Park - Cincinnati

"Car"cass V - Remnants On The Cutting Room Floor

Yes, it was a banner weekend for the "Car"cass brand...

This first remnant may be the remains of something that happened while we were out of town. It was less than 100 yds up the street from Carcass IV, at the intersection with Gulf Rd. Which coincidentally was the same location as Carcass I and the same location as "It Came from the Deep" on 2:48AM's blog. Which goes to show that they probably drive/sail boats and watercraft as bad as they do cars here.

Carcass Va - Kuwait




Bus stops may not be the best place to hang around. It was seeing a truck wipe out a bus stop on the 30 here a couple months ago that was an impetus for my "Car"cass series. Then again, Gulf Rd probably isn't the best place to hang around, as this was just 200 yds or so down toward Marina Mall from the three others.

Carcass Vb - Kuwait

"Car"cass IV - P is for Perpetrator

I can't believe I didn't see or hear this one at the time. I can literally spit on the "victim" out our living room window. A friend pointed it out to me sitting in a parking lot near our apartment Saturday morning and the carcass was still there for the mug shot in the evening. From the intersection where he took the turn, the perp had less than 100 yds to build up to the speed to do this.

Carcass IV, The Perp - Kuwait




The Victim - Kuwait

"Car"cass III - Dawn of the Dead

I saw this wreck on Gulf Rd right after it happened Wednesday night during my evening walk. A black sedan took out this palm tree. The car must have been totally airborne when it hit, none of the little bushes hedging the median were damaged and there are no tire marks on the grass. So I woke up early the next morning and scurried down there right after sunrise...and the car was gone! Only some broken bits remained.

Carcass III - Kuwait

Frog Blog

During my visit back to Cincinnati, Shelby and I took a few hours one morning and visited the Cincinnati Nature Center (Rowe Woods) right down the road from us. Here is one of many good photos I got of a frog we saw on the Edge Trail (warning PDF). I got down on my belly on the boardwalk over a section of pond to get a lot of the shots.

Frog - Cincinnati Nature Center, Milford

Abstract

Haven't done one of these in a while...took this over the weekend and just messed with it in photoshop...I was too lazy to go out this weekend and take photos of some of the truly awesome carcasses I saw.

Stars, Bubbles, Drops ...

First Political Rant of the Season

As the political season ramps up, it is easier and easier to get me ranting...

It suddenly struck me from 5000 miles away how f(*&^d up everyone is back there...

I'm hearing corporations are people.

I'm left wondering if corporations are people, can they marry?
Apparently they can...but only other corporations, and multiple times at that!

Somehow everything in the U.S. seems stacked in the corporations' favor these days.

Gays still can't marry in most states, and I believe polygamy is outlawed in all 50 states...

Somehow I'm thinking that when the corporations get married they don't pay any more taxes (if they pay any to begin with) due to the marriage penalty...

The United States needs to re-establish The Rule of Law at home before it pushes such ideals abroad...anything else is hypocrisy...but that would begin a whole other rant.

...can corporations go to jail?

or better yet, get the death penalty?
(rare for the big guys but apparently they can, Lehman Bros must have been a minority whose public defender wasn't up to the job while AIG, Goldman Sachs, BoA and Citibank are all lily white with high priced lawyers, looks like maybe a fine here or there for them, but no hard time, much less the ultimate penalty)

It Is Nice To Feel Loved...

I thought of these after the S&P downgrade of U.S.A.'s credit rating.
Seen along my travels...

Someone Doesn't Like NATO - Split, Croatia



Someone Didn't Like Bush II - Sofia, Bulgaria

Patterns and Abstract

I like patterns and photos of the details of stuff such that you really can't tell much about the subject...like a blind man touching an elephant's tusk.

National Palace of Culture (NDK)Национален дворец на културата - Sofia, Bulgaria

Where I Was....

August 2007....

Beehives Near Lukomir, Bosnia



August 2008....

Water Frozen in Time - Sofia, Bulgaria

"Car"cass II - The Cremation

I saw this carcass today in a parking lot off Gulf Road near the Kuwait Towers. I'm thinking it was probably there for a couple days, the smell wasn't so bad.


Carcass II - KuwaitPhoto From The "Good Side"




Carcass II - KuwaitThe Not So Good Side




Carcass II - KuwaitWith No Make-Up




Carcass II - KuwaitFace It, You're a Wreck

Iconic Kuwait

When you see images of Kuwait, the Kuwait Towers are almost always included. They are only about 5 miles down the road from us but we took a little time and went up there today. Otherwise we'd probably "get to it someday" and still never have been when it is time to leave for good. It cost 2KD (about $7.20) to take an elevator to the top ball of the tower with two balls. The lower ball houses a restaurant and cafe, the upper ball houses a 2-level viewing platform and a gift and snack shop. The windows weren't very clean, but with the dust the way it is around here, I didn't find that very surprising.


Kuwait Towers - Kuwait City




Kuwait Towers - Kuwait City




Kuwait Towers - Kuwait City




Kuwait Towers - Kuwait City




Water Park @ Kuwait Towers - Kuwait City




You Can See! - Kuwait City

A Few More

These photos are from my visit to the Jewish Cemetery just before I left in 2009. I didn't have my computer at the time so at first I didn't post photos, but later I tried using what I had to work with on a laptop.


Jewish Cemetery - Sarajevo




Jewish Cemetery - Sarajevo




Jewish Cemetery - Sarajevo



Jewish Cemetery - Sarajevo

Jewish Cemetery, Sarajevo

Jevrejsko Groblje u Sarajevu
I don't know what made me think of these photos today...these were taken during our visit with Shelby in May.

According to the sign, the Jewish Cemetery in Sarajevo is the second largest in Europe. Only the Jewish Cemetery in Prague is larger. The Sarajevo cemetery dates to 1630. It was home to snipers preying on the residents of Sarajevo during the siege in the 1990's and was heavily mined. The cemetery is de-mined now, but much of it remains overgrown. Many of the headstones exhibit the wear and tear only a bullet can provide.


Headstone- Jewish Cemetery, Sarajevo



Overlooking Sarajevo- Jewish Cemetery



Birch Tree - Jewish Cemetery, Sarajevo



Restored Headstones- Jewish Cemetery, Sarajevo

"Car"cass

The wrecks around here are impressive in their destructive power. Friday and Saturday mornings especially, you can see "carcasses" as I call them, on the sides of the highways. Remnants of the high-speed shenanigans gone wrong the night before. I decided that I would take on the making of documentary photos of the destroyed autos as one of my projects while I'm here.

My first "car"cass shot is from an accident a hundred yards or so up the street from our apartment.

Toyota Corolla, RIP - Kuwait

Behind McDonalds

I took this photo back in March....we haven't seen many, if any, days as dust free since then...today was probably the closest. This sculpture, or whatever it is, is behind the McDonalds on Arabian Gulf Rd. I'm hoping to soon get and post a photo that is more typical of this time of year. The afternoon sun low in the sky with the dust and haze and the city sky line...

Doves - Kuwait

English Muffins

One thing you can't get here, but would be legal if you could (unlike alcohol, and pork) is English muffins. We've had family successfully mail us some packages during the cooler portion of the year, but the packages certainly wouldn't survive the current temperatures. So a few weeks back I started looking into making my own and found a promising recipe at Allrecipes.com. (I highly recommend the site, anything with 4+ stars has been very good)

Yesterday I tried the recipe out for Elesa's discriminating English muffin palate. She liked them...they aren't perfect, some don't seem to have the bigger "nooks & crannies". I'm sure that most of that is due to technique, which I'm hoping will get better with practice.


Homemade English Muffins

The Bench

Near the top of our apartment building's stairwell is a bench...maybe as a resting place for those of us that do the stairs for exercise?


The Bench