Nature etc. etc. photography: plnats and other things that sprout

The twin to Nature etc. etc., for your photographs, though no one will squawk if you have something to say.

You know it's not very cherry it's an oldy but a goody. As a callow youth these songs fired my imagination for California.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FS7SUFz36lg&feature=related
Corny I know but there it is
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKKP_cZuk54&feature=related
A wahwahwah wah wah wah wah wah, a wah wah wah wah wah wah wah waaah
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_FSicQWimU&feature=related
Shutemdown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPOqvkmSAU8&feature=related
And last but not least Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDbON8udTPo&feature=related

God only knows what I'd do w/out you, Por-Man.

>2 absurdeist:. Even with my reading glasses on, Henri, I can't make out the beach, the wave, or the possible hawk.

Porius, you are aware that 409 was the b-side of Surfin' Safari, right? The Beach Boys, more so than Jan and Dean and the other surf music bands were the group that prepared US all for this group and most especially this song. The return of REAL rock and roll. You can't imagine how someone who grew up to this, or this, or this and this felt in the days when sh*t such as this was topping the charts. People were starving for the good stuff and the Beach Boys were about all there was for a while.

Where's Dion DiMucci among your thises, Gene?

All I remember about Dion was the Belmonts were out stealing hubcaps. Actually, Dion and the Belmonts were okay. I couldn't list everyone. I think next would have been some of this or this. However, I did like this. So many cultural touchstones in this clip.

I was more in the southern rockabilly, boogie tradition and the early R n' B tradition than the northeast. Of course much of the tradition Dion and The Belmoints come out of is absolutely first rate stuff, the Penguins, the Robins, The Turbans, The Five Satins, all the doo-wopers, a genre of which Dion and the Belmonts were but a pale imitation (pun intended). Of course there was stuff like this, too. By 1963 pop was so over produced it had lost touch with the music. It took the Beach Boys and the Beatles to bring it all back. For those too young to understand the Beatles phenomenon, you just had to be there. It was the parting of the Red Sea.

I've never had such a hard time getting my links right. Sheesh!

The "Belmonts" because of Belmont Avenue in the Bronx, the Little Italy where I buy my olive oil nowadays. Frankie Lymon, in those doo-wop days, was a Brooklyn boy. Bo Diddley, I saw in a local fund-raiser up here, maybe fifty people in a meadow at the end of summer. and then he went and died.

But yeah, on the heels of Pat Boone, the Beatles were a revelation. I didn't actually appreciate the Beach Boys till years later; I think it was an East Coast-West Coast thing with me. Now, of course, I am far more ecumenical.

'Rique... what happened to your pics?

I envy your ecumenism. I'm pretty stuck. Speaking of being stuck, and having provided a partial education in where today came from, I also wanted to make another point. At the same time this was number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 this was number 1. We were pretty ecumenical in them days, too.

I'll bet you don't get that much these days. It was quite common then.

While searching for that last one I came across this somewhat more appropriate to the thread in general. Anyone out there remember Big John and Sparkie?

A political note: Perry Como lived, at the time, in a tony section of Port Washington (Long Island) called Sands Point, and he was outspoken against the powers-that-were in that pricey enclave when they barred Sid Caesar from buying a house there. So I have a soft spot for the guy.

10> I can see them. Are you saying you can't? WHO TOOK MY PICS?!

I can't see them.

Damn. Weird. I'll repost asap then.

In place of your photos it says: 'these photos have been moved or deleted.' Did someone else do it? The imp of the perverse? The imps of Comedy, as Meredith might put it?

You know what -- I moved them to a different album just after I posted them last night, which gave them a new url. I bet that's what did it.

Heigh-ho.

I can see you! Sorta... ;-)

I love 'Solitude' I see them all the time making lazy circles over our neighborhood and one was screeching this morning while we were cleaning patio furniture on the driveway. Da Mama and I saw another Baldie over the house on Friday, but of course my phone was in the car. *sigh*

They're heere!



ETA a good friend pointed out a faux pas... ♥

What a photo! I don't use exclamation points often. That's a showstopper TC.

I went out to have a smoke and there it was... you should see it full size. Gawd, I love it here!!! Hopefully, it's a wet one tonight over here as it was over Newberry Caldera on the way home from the store. Very cool light show on the drive home. No lightning at home yet, but we'll see! I'm headed back out!

Some one posted something that has expanded the frame beyond the LT specified size. I expect it's one of the photos. I've seen this problem before with long URLs. I don't want to sound too curmudgeonly, but could you please correct the problem. I don't want to be shifting the frame side to side for the rest of the time we use this thread.

Rique!!!!! put 'em back!

Thanks!

#22

Those clouds are stratocumulus mammatus.

Ah, those weird Freudian weather folks.

In the midst:



And now it's over:



Maybe more tomorrow... our forecast on the high desert is: 97-94-93-91-89-85-87 and we are under a red flag fire weather warning until late Tuesday night.

#28 - Aren't they cool, Sandy?

#30

Yes, BUT I REALLY don't think that they look like breastahses...

A front went through last night so it is sunny and significantly less humid. The butterflies (swallowtails, skippers, crescents, fritillaries-sp?, dusky-wings) are ever-ery-where.

The Robins are clucking, the catbirds are mewing and the dog-pound has taken the day off to finally, slowly prepare for that Oregon coast vacation.

Could it be that people prefer this thread, intended for photography, to the other nature thread because it has the imprimatur of the word plnats, rather than the more pedestrican plants?

Yes, indeed, less humid today. Hurrah!

All beach photos: 12-30-1986

Below: my bud, Alan, about to get barreled.


Below: Wave, about to break.


Below: Enrique, about to get barreled.


Below: Wave heading toward Carlsbad's shore.

Great stuff EF! I've lived in Ca. part-time for 25 years and have yet to put my toes on a board. I don't even go to the beach unless it is for breakfast or a walk on a stormy boardwalk, etc. etc.

Wave heading toward Carlsbad's shore. Add that to your profile pix collection, why don't you. It's stunning.

My wife's cousin caught this last night in our pond. It's a largemouth bass. Weighed about five pounds.

LOVE the Surf and Waves 'Rique!

That's one hellavu big mouth, Gene... How fun!

My sister just sent me this link to a gallery of color photographs from the Depression era US.

Outstanding, Jane!

Yes, very nice, Jane. Great, actually. The archivist, however, got Stonington, Connecticut (picture #2) wrong. It is not on the sea. It's more likely Stonington, Maine, which is.

41 - Ah well. #36-40 are all in Louisiana. In particular #39 is about 15min from my parents.

Jane, those photos are fantastic! Thank you for the link.

I saw #6 the other day on Reddit with the redditline, "Reddit in the 1940's".

Ok, Mr. Bugs-n-Bunnies had to head down to the Long Island coast to tick this beautiful SE and Western U.S. rarity. Second New England record. That is, the second time in the history of New England that one of these has showed up. Ever.

http://ctaudubon.blogspot.com/

I saw more New Yorkers down there, than at a Simon & Garfunkel concert.

Nice bird!

My cat Chizzy and I received a copy of The Same River Twice this morning, all the way from Taiwan. The book has been signed by some people I think we are all acquainted with.



So exciting!!! :)

Aw, that made my evening, Muse! Thanks for taking the time. Happy reading.

lovely!

Awww, Chizzy looks like my Tigger! Can't wait to get it next!

Oregon's High Desert

Fabulous! Take that Freeque!

Don'tcha just love it! :-p Mr. Dicktatur!

Yeah but look how green it is (and pastoral and pretty), and you twos call that a (huh?) a desert? Deserts are drab and ugly.

Where's the sand dunes? Where's the scorpions? The cactus? The rattlesnakes? The abandoned buses sans wheels? The centipedes? The Joshua trees? Tarantulas? Alkali flats? Dust devils? The Death Valley and Palm Springs?

I'll tell you where: in California (yeah!) that's where. Where people pump their own gas. Oregon. Phooey, as my grandpappy would say. Even your volcanoes aren't real volcanoes, filled with water as in Crater Lake. Give me a break.

Don't you worry, we have plenty of rattlers and scorpions oh, Venerable One, and at least our High Desert is sustainable and life affirming and we have Wild Mustangs living out there too.

Our sand dunes may be at the coast, but we have 'em, alright. Yeah!

You can keep your Cacti & Joshua trees, your jumbo jet graveyards and your gawd awful tarantulas. And! At least our Volcanoes have water in them! Who needs Death Valley or Palm Springs when you have Smith Rock?

I spit on your alkali flats and give your our Alkali Flats!

You may pump your own gas down there in Cali-Forn-I-A, but at least we don't have to! HA!

California! Pffft! Ptuey!

46: How many more people are on the list for that book? I want to join.

Anna, ask B... all I know is Rena is sending to me next. I will send to you if no one else is on the list.

55> Awesome!

Here's the history: Enrique purchases The Same River Twice at Borders with his trusty 40% off coupon. He then sends it to Geneg in Georgia; Geneg then sends it to TomcatMurr in Taiwan; TomcatMurr then sends it to ChocolateMuse in Australia; ChocolateMuse in Australia scans the page proving that Enrique, Geneg, and TomcatMurr have indeed held the book in their own hands/paws; ChocolateMuse will be sending the book to Highdesertlady in Bend, Oregon, where the deserts are lush and green and not very deserty at all; Highdesertlady will then send the book to Anna_in_pdx, who frequents Powell's bookstore and whose stepmother authored a book about crossbreeding bonobos and homo sapiens and the resulting ethical and sociopolitical implications thereafter; once Anna_in_pdx reads the book, after ChocolateMuse has both read the book and sent said book to Highdesertlady of Bend, OR, where the temperature rarely surpasses 100 degrees (what a wimpish desert!), and Highdesertlady has then sent it along to Anna, Anna can then read it.

The real pressing question is: Who gets it after Anna?

Since Anna will have it in Portland, Oregon, I recommend it go from Anna to Solla and then perhaps to the mysteriously elusive, Slickdpdx (assuming he'll part with an address or po box #).

Yeah, yeah... we have our moments of heat, but it's just right for this old crone... ;-p

Rique, what would we do without you. ♥

Sol Lewitt:



and Petah Coyne:



in reference to Piero's trip to Mass MOCA

>60 janemarieprice:,

Petah Coyne looks like the remains of a giant black rooster.

messy roadkill

61 & 62 - Ha! I know, it's pretty weird...and I love it, but I'm strange like that.

>63 janemarieprice::

I thought it was weird until I took a peep into your picture gallery (couldn't resist, I like photos) and found a connection between Petah Coyne and "Pop and Heidi". Not strange at all! Was that a big turkey Pop was holding up?

Actually, it was quite elegant up close. Some of the pieces intertwined birds with the textured muslin, chicken wire, mud, steel mesh, and whatnot, and some didn't. I preferred the latter, birdless pieces myself.

ooooooooo lots of feathers and dead birds!! yum yum

LOL

I prefer the real ones. The past few evenings, dozens of common nighthawks have been flitting their stilletto wings out of Southern Connecticut towards South America.

"August, die she must, the autumn winds grow chilly then cold..."

Isn't that how that Simon & Garfunkel tune goes?

I went to school with Paul Simon. He was a grade ahead of me, in one of the (then) free city colleges, which nevertheless had a spate of fraternities, the snobbiest of which he belonged to; Pi something. Aside from being a BMOC, he was hardly known. My Comparative Literature professor was enamored with him, invited him (and his guitar) into class one day to perform one or two the faux folk songs he'd written. Faux folk was all the rage then, of course. I was a faux folkie too.

I have my books
and my poetry
to protect me

I am told that he (Simon) had a small fire in his kitchen years ago now and tried to insist that the firefighters remove their boots before entering his apartment.

>72 slickdpdx:: slickdpdx,

I didn't know that. Guess I can understand. To use a somewhat extreme analogy: Just because the doctor has to remove a tumor from somebody doesn't give him the right to violate the patient.

Yeah, but c'mon, books. Would you want to put out a fire in your socks?

I would have fire-proof socks. :)

Well. We know now that books is not Garfunkel. S/he may be Edie Brickell.

not only would i expect them to take off their shoes, but they would have to wash their hands too. We are not savages after all.

Grateful Dead beat meets Popeye-the-Sailor-man lyrics.

79: FUNNY!

A Baja Sunrise

Zounds.

Wishing I was there. Well, in November anyway. ;-) The view is from under my brother's sail shade on his property.

Cabo San Lucas?

Actually, Los Barriles, halfway between La Paz and Cabo on the Sea of Cortez. Exquisite... makes me home sick for Viejo's taco stand.

I don't mean to sound metrosexualish (as if there's anything inherently dubious sounding metrosexualish), but I do love that tablecloth!

Yeah, Mexican style! Throw down that ol' serape and you've got a picnic!

looks like a rebozo to me, just yanked off the shoulders of a pretty senorita !

Some of Henri's Hiking Pics

"Ruins Inn," Icehouse Canyon, SoCA


Window to the Mojave Desert. Shot from inside fire lookout ruins on the summit of Mt. Islip, SoCA.


Henri: "How much higher?"


Next Up ... pics of the Mighty Sierra Nevada ...

Thanks for the pimpage, Piero, from the main nature thread. Is it just you and me, and Por-Man, and Janea Jones, I just noticed, over on that, whatever that thread is, thread, stuck at home this Labor Day Weekend? Dead quiet. Peaceful. Tranquil. Contemplative.

Trail Crest, the hard way to access Sequoia National Park, at 13,600 ft. or so. It's early Oct. of a dry winter, so incredibly (rarely) at this altitude, there's no visible snow patches, though there was ice in the shade just below the crest. Note the tree line off to the left, at roughly 11,000 ft. The picture simply can't do justice to the sublime views, but pics are the best I can do to hopefully help share the breathtaking experience, being alone, and being about as high in elevation in the 48 contiguous United States that's possible with your feet on the ground.

what beautiful vistas, what a beautiful country !

Oh good! Big Mac Daddy's around too! Check out these next two, Mac, and I'll call it a night.

Okay, the pic below may look familiar because it was shot a mere 100 yards or so to the left (or south) of the Trail Crest pic above. I found a nice level outcropping to break for lunch, and was soon joined (look at the far ledge of the tan granite outcropping, in the middle of the pic) by a bird, a mountain chickadee.



Wait till you see what that bird (a very friendly bird) did next!

And then bird, the mountain chickadee, invites its mountain chickadee friend? mate? over to what became our little impromptu lunch date ...



good night

'Enri! What gor-geous shots!

EF, I don't buy chickadee. I'm thinking the genus Luecosticte.

How about a Bee-utiful pair of Gray-crowned Rosy Finches!

That would be a "lifer" (ie, a "life - bird") for me (the Bird nerd).

Speaking of birds, here's the pic relating to my little story in the sister Nature thread. Henrietta is the little ball of red feathers (Murr, stop it!) in front of the healthier other red one. I took the photo yesterday, at which point I knew Henrietta's sickness was serious unto death, though she was still alive at that point.

You're probably right, Dawg! I was guessing.

This thread is for the birds.

Oh, good, I thought that it was just I who was for the birds.

As I lay on the porch, occasionally scratching my fleas, I dream that someday I will be able to kick back at some serious elevation, with a Rosy Finch on my doggie boots.

87> My belated condolences to poor Henrietta.

89> Are Rosy Finches known for being so friendly, unafraid of close encounters with Homo sapiens? It was the strangest experience. I hadn't offered them food or anything, and they just fluttered on down and kept me company for a good half hour.

No se, senor Freeque. Perhaps those little alpine guys are so isolated, they are absolutey fearless.

Just like at the Galapagos. Hey, maybe they're related to Darwin's Finches!

burp

Pardon me. it was the feathers.

Henri, those places look rather dangerous to me. I hope you are being careful on your hikes.

Henri, those places look rather dangerous to me.

Thanks!

If it wasn't dangerous, I wouldn't do it.

'Enri = adrenaline junkie.

Speaking of dangerous, I've just joined a group formed on the 4th that's already been red flagged 13 times! How unlucky, right here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/98205

More on all these red flags!

http://www.librarything.com/topic/98208&newpost=1#lastmsg

Vera kool.

Peter from time to time mentions splitting wood. I thought I'd share these images of our woodsplitter.



That's me running it.



This one is of the full machine. That's a 350 cu. in. V-8 Chevy motor with an automatic truck transmission driving a hydraulic splitter. It can do a couple of cords an hour, depending on the stamina of the operator.

Holy Moly, Gene! Looks like a mini pyle driver!

Guy has it easy. I use a big fat axe and my shoulders. But then, the pieces of wood I split aren't full chunks of trees. They've already been split, by guys like him, and I split them further, to better fit into the stove--and also to open a new surface in aid of a better burn.

109 - That's awesome!

Jeezusgeneyouarntkiddingaround. I've split some wood in my time but you are the reigning LT if not the world champ. That outfit would do Paul Bunyan proud.

>109 geneg:. I've been in such a tizzy the last few days, what with the new book and the Italian hyberole over the other book, that I haven't been paying proper attention. I overlooked that it's you, operating that massive machine. In fact, if I hadn't glimpsed the Atlanta Braves cap, I probably would have missed that salient fact once again.

The second picture is my wife's cousin once removed. He's the son of the fellow with the fish in one of the older threads. I was operating the machine at the time the first photo was taken, but something must have gone wrong, the fellow in the picture is way too old to be me.

That's what I was thinking too. The guy in the mirror, however, disagrees.

My wife took these about two hours ago. It's still falling like this and the ground is nearly covered with snow.

Here's the gazebo. You can see the snow falling really well in this one.



Here's the pond from the porch.

Gene, It is beautiful--hope you aren't going anywhere!

I'm working on resizing the second picture. It's taking time due to internet slowness.

Here are a couple of photos my wife took yesterday morning:



Turkeys up at the driveway. This looks like most of the flock.



Turkeys on the run toward the woods. The two geese are the ones that live on the island with the gazebo on it while they nest. They mostly ignored the turkeys.

Man's got his own island. Nice shots.

turkeyinthestraw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsnZxfkkoKQ

Gene, you have a beautiful place. Great pics.

Gene-(egg?). I trust these burds are on the run from Mr and Mrs Weissman.

Oh, and the hat makes me miss Bobby Cox already.

henri--the flagging got boring this time--no fireworks, no lola...

Mr. and Mrs. Weissman? Explain, please. Why would turkeys run from them? And what makes you think the missus adopted the mister's name? Maybe she retained her own.

pardon the assumption...You posted turkeys photoad by your wife and said that she had shot them. if i recall, it was Geneg who responded to the joke i made.
my wife did not take my name. neither of them did. And turkeys run from me because on the rare occasion I have seen a wild turkey i couldn't help but run at them. No harm intended, but just for the fun of it--they are masters of deception. Great flyers when madmen run at them.

Ben Franklin thought they would make a fine national bird. The Eagle, bald or otherwise won the contest. Were not high flying enough.

Rick, Rick, you jump to all sorts of confusions. I am too technically incompetent to post photos, my wife is in hiding, and anyway, she never shot a gun in her life. Nor have I, come to think of it.

That's quite a flock you've got there gene. Beautiful. Turkeys are one of the few birds I like.

Hah! Now who leaps. I exist in a muck of confusion, and my leaps never entirely clear me.

So that wasn't your turkey photo? I WAS wondering how people post the things they do.

So, anyone wish to explain how to post a photo?

Turkeys rule. Balde Eagles tend to be hoary...

If Ben had gotten his way, and the turkey was our national bird, what the heck would we eat for Thanksgiving?

Even if your wife kept her maiden, or otherwise former name, she is still Mrs. You. If she wants to be her ownself, then she should be Miss Maiden or Ms. Maiden.

Robert

133

Greasy, musty, pemmican

Piero, I swear I could walk you through it. Just like you figured out the touchstones for DD, I'm confident I could guide you through posting pics. Please, I insist on teaching you how. Or, so as not to feel the pressure, perhaps we could start a seminar for "everybody" on how to post pictures in posts, or even how to turn an html link into text, etc. ...

good lord, henri, proceed with haste

I tried, Henri, I truly did. I got a bucketshop account, a password, and then quickly ran aground. I know you did this before; it comes up periodically. But yes, let's do a tutorial, only this time make it a separate thread that can be assessed in the future from the salon starting page, so we don't have to reinvent the wheel every few months.