A little of the top please...

I like the photo even though you would usually see it in color.
For more on the barber pole, see the below link from Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barber's_pole

Holiday photo

My workplace recently held their holiday party
out at Savannah Rapids Pavilion.

Happy Holidays to all!

It has been awhile.....

Photo courtesy of our friend,

Veslemøy. Cool picture at some

old ruins in Norway, the town

of Hamar to be exact. Here's

the Wiki link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathedral_Ruins_in_Hamar

Sorry it has been so long since

I have posted something. It has

been a long, cold winter and I

guess I just didn't feel like writing.

We have been busy clearing up

the mess the winter storm left

behind and if I get around to

uploading some of the photos

Chris took of the cleanup, I'll

share them. Well, I hope the

Spring weather will inspire me

to keep writing, or maybe my

inspiration will come from our

Spring plantings. But for now,

Ciao!

Weekend in SC

Well, Chris has braggin' rights this weekend...
She got me out of the house and on a road trip.
We travelled to the small town of Aiken,
South Carolina. Aiken is known for its equestrian
flare. They are well known for their steeplechase
racing and polo clubs. And they don't like when
you sneak into the steeplechase races, but that
story is for another day.

Aiken tidbit: Whitney Polo Field, the oldest polo
field in the United States, was built by the citizens
of Aiken and funded by the Town Council in 1882.

The camera was out and I snapped a dozen or
so pictures in town, but really was not pleased
with most of them. Here is one that I do like...


As previously mentioned, Aiken is known for
its close association with horses and equestrianism,
and the downtown area is dotted with statues of
horses like this one. One side of the saddle is
represented by the American Flag, the other....

the British....

We also stopped by the Aiken Center

for the Arts. A nice display of local

art and an interesting collection of

balloon sculptures were on hand.

After a long, hot day what better way

to finish it off with a couple of ice cold

Sweet Tea drinks and a BBQ sandwich.

Much to Chris' disbelief I ordered a homemade

burger instead. It was good too! Oh, and did I

mention the Peanut Butter cake with peanut

butter icing. Got to love the south for its

down home food.

Flags

Flags have always been an interest of mine and I love to take pictures of flags, especially the US Flag. In my opinion, we do have one of the best looking flags in the world.

For those that wish, here is a nice website that will give you some quick factoids on flags of the world: http://www.worldflags101.com/

And here is a nice site on flag etiquette: http://www.usflag.org/flagetiquette.html

And finally, a link to international maritime signal flags:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_maritime_signal_flags

Flags are not the easiest things to photograph, the wind always seems to blow them "this way or that way" right as you press the button. Or just the opposite, no wind, droopy flag. OK, so now you know I have a gazillion shots of "not so great flag shots"....On with the photos.....

As I think I have mentioned before, my friend always flies an American Flag when we are on board, I believe this is the evening we were introduced to Norwegian Fish soup...



A snapshot I took on board one the the US ships when she visited Oslo....


I love this shot, it was taken from our neighbor's house in NC and looks down on our land (I ended up sending them a replacement flag as a gift for being so nice to us over the years).


Our flag stands out among the many....


One of the many pennants flown on board my friend's boat...


This was taken in the town of Aiken, GA
(The Brits do have a nice looking flag as well).


Again in Aiken, GA...


A variety of flags in an outdoor hall....


Our little friend was kind enough to pose for this picture (but was probably scoping the place out for leftover Fish soup)...


USA, USA...as the chant goes....Good luck to the US Soccer team who are playing Cuba today as part of the qualifications to go to the World Cup in South Africa in 2010. This is a historic match, as the last time the US played on Cuban soil was back in 1947. (http://ussoccer.com/)


Looking down Karl Johans Gate (main street in Oslo) on May 17th, Norway's national day...


And here we are celebrating the day....

Photos at the National Gallery of Art

One of our many (and I mean many) trips to a gallery, but I actually had fun...can you believe it! And here's why....

OK, so me reading a book about the place probably wasn't where the fun began...



Now that I am behind the camera, let the fun begin. Here's us trying to be Warholish...



Begin the theme song from a "Bond" movie here...



And my lovely "Blond"...



OK, let's take this show outside...



Time to experiment with reflection, angles and such...

And yes, what would the day be without some "feet/shoe" shots...

Ah, my assistant has arrived....



Just look at this smile, a good day was had by all (even though I might add...it was in a gallery).

A Sunday walk

Well it is 3:57 am over here and raining quite heavily...can't sleep, so why not take this opportunity to add something to the blog. Hold on, maybe it was that Kebab I had late this evening that is keeping me awake. As Anthony Bourdain always says, "tonight's pleasure, tomorrow's diarrhea".

What I have found rather interesting about our time over here is that we really are not that dependent on our vehicle. It is a nice feeling, one I am sure we are going to miss once we move on from Oslo. I can't remember us walking as much when we lived in the States, kind of sad when I think about it. You really can miss out on so much when you don't travel on foot. Take for instance this "Chick Fillet" looking character....Boy, what I would do for a waffle fry right about now!!!



Or this ...


Anybody watching the Olympics? This lady looks like she is ready to dive in and take on Michael Phelps.


I guess I was enjoying the walk too much, because I didn't take any other photos along our route this day. We put some good distance on our walking shoes, so much in fact that we ended up taking the tram back home.

Bored with too much time on my hands tonight

Ever get tired of doing paperwork, watching the tube, cleaning the house (OK, maybe that went a little too far)....but you get my drift. Every once in a blue moon you just have to get creative and play a little. Photo manipulating software is so amazing these days, the possibilities seem endless.

Randomness

Here it is midnight, can't sleep so I decided to look at some old photos. Here's to random photos and thoughts:

Connie, our prayers are with you....


Holy Cow!! (this guy was at the entrance to our land in NC)


Who is going to cut all this grass!!??


Looking forward to the day we can find these small treasures on a regular basis...


Don't even think about it Mister....


Oooppah!




For some reason I just take a lot of photos of shoes



Holy finger in the nose Hulkster...


Ever paint yourself into a corner? There is hope....



Don't look down on a gift horse (or something like that)



Aaaarrgh!! If you ever need a ambidextrous, pirate looking grill master...I'm your man.



Here's to the economy getting stronger...soon, we hope!

The Art of Trash

Photo from a trip to Savannah, Georgia

As previously mentioned in an earlier blog, I love to take "trashy" photos. NO, not that kind for those whose minds have ventured elsewhere, these are simply "trash" on the streets. I am not sure why it intrigues me, but it does. We walk by it everyday, ignoring it or turning up our noses at it....but hey wait a minute, I like to think of it as art on the streets with no admission fee, no snobbery involved and best of all it doesn't hurt zee credit card. If you like it, all you have to do is pick it up!

Photo from a trip to Richmond, Virginia

I wish I could find my trash photos from our trip to Paris (the homeless baguette is one of my favorites) or from our trip to New Orleans, but alas those photos are buried somewhere in the maze of plastic containers in our apartment. Many of our early photos were taken with a Sony Macvia, when you could either put your pictures on a small memory card or a 3.5 inch floppy disk. We have tons of floppy disks, not exactly user friendly when you are looking for a particular photo. One of these days when we settle down I'll get my act together and create a photo album/scrap book. A nice post retirement project during a rainy spell down on the hill.

Photo from a trip to Savannah, Georgia

Not one of my more interesting photos, but seeing the "Red Bull can" brought back fond memories of my trip to Amsterdam with a group of buddies. The night started off with a nice meal at a Brazilian restaurant (a good steak and cold beer), followed by a few night clubs. Well, a few of us rolled in at 6am the next morning after the caffeine from the "Red Bull & Vodkas" kept us rolling along. What a crazy night that was, the last bar was so packed you could barely move. I learned to like this drink back in England, thought it was kind of strange to mix the two, but hey...tis not bad, you should try it sometime.

Photo from a trip to Richmond, Virginia

A simple cup on a wall, but add the guy in the background and wallah, you now have a semi-interesting photo. It is as if the cup is waiting to greet someone or simply out people watching. I feel as if it is no longer the white cylindrical inanimate object anymore, it is now someone whose cup is half full and ready to be a part of the vibe on the street. OK, so maybe that is stretching it a bit, but after reading Stephen King novels you would think anything is possible.

Photo from a trip to Richmond, Virginia

OK, what do you see? Trash, right? Well, yes....but I like to think that there's more to the story. For instance, hey it is the middle of the day..must have been nice to have a cold one during your stroll down the sidewalk. Smokes and gum....were they from the same person trying to hide their smoker's breath? And the toothpick, every time I see one of these I think of the person who tries to flip the toothpick over and over again in their mouth and the anticipation of all those around who are waiting for this poor guy to stab himself in the cheek. And what about the poor person who has to go around and clean up these trash bins, the things they must smell and see!