Brand-new Baby Birds
There’s yet another robin’s nest above our front porch light this year. Yesterday, there were four blue eggs in it. When I got back from my run this morning, I noticed a piece of blue shell on the concrete.
I don’t think I’ve ever gotten a photo of hatchlings that I’m absolutely certain are less than a day old, or that includes the newbies side-by-side with unhatched eggs. (And it looks like #3 might be arriving soon, if I’m judging the chip on that egg correctly.) The picture’s a little blurry, but it’s difficult to shoot into the nest sight unseen, and I didn’t want to cause any more of a disturbance.
Backstage with Vader and Luke
Finding some odd stuff while cleaning and reorganizing my office. Here’s a newspaper archive photo of James Earl Jones and Mark Hamill:
I love it: It feels genuine.
According to the caption information, it’s New York, September 1987, following a Broadway performance of Fences, which Jones was starring in at the time. (The caption also notes their roles in Star Wars, indicating that the saga connection might be what prompted Associated Press photographer Frankie Ziths to get the shot.)
Beneath the Backyard
Looks like something Lovecraftian trying to dig its way out:
And now let’s check in with Giant Vintage Kenner Chewie on the weather conditions at 8:43 a.m. Dec. 30, 2012:
(For perspective, here’s Chewie’s initial placement on Dec. 26, and a snapshot from just about 24 hours ago.
Some snapshots from Turks and Caicos
Grace Bay Beach, Providenciales.
I’m planning a few posts about this summer’s big family trip to Turks & Caicos. Quick summary: Best vacation I’ve ever taken. First time in the Caribbean, first time snorkeling, gorgeous surroundings, total lack of internet or cell phone connectivity, and a great week with my wife and daughter, mom, and my two brothers and their families.
There are hundreds of photos from several cameras to sort through, but for starters, I’ve put most of my Droid snapshots in this set: Turks and Caicos, July 2012.
Four blue eggs
They’re back:
Three years ago, I documented the growth of three baby robins in a nest above our front porch light. There were actually two clutches that summer, and we had another family in 2010, but not in 2011.
This year’s nest popped up overnight and includes a bit of green Christmas ribbon.
Jim Carchidi’s Florida Visions
So, the Orlando Museum of Art is putting together an exhibition of Florida photography called “Picturing My Florida: A Grassroots Portrait of the Sunshine State” and they’ve posted the entries under consideration on Facebook.
Three of my friend Jim Carchidi‘s photos are in the running, and all of them remind me of some of the things I have missed from time to time since leaving central Florida in 1999.
Not only that, but I think Jim’s entries all include aspects which are particularly Central Florida-centric and tap into the region’s history and identity – they’re not just fantastic eye-catching shots of things which happen to be in Florida. To sum up: I think Jim’s art deserves inclusion in the exhibit, and the more Facebook “likes” his photos get, the better the chance that will happen. So:
Clicking on any of the photos below will take you to that picture’s entry within the OMA’s Facebook “Made in Florida” gallery, where you can provide the all-powerful “Like.”
You can also peruse the entire gallery of Made in Florida Entries.
I also love that Jim’s entries also push some geek buttons: NASA space shuttle launches, Space Mountain at Walt Disney World, and giant monsters echoing a faded age (of sorts).
Final Discovery, 2011 - by Jim Carchidi
Spire, 2011 - by Jim Carchidi
The Dangers of Tourism, 2011 by Jim Carchidi
Louisville to Chicago Midway, 11/30/11
Last fall, I flew from Louisville, Ky. to Chicago Midway for a business trip. It was a cloudless flight, but it had snowed north of Indianapolis, so we were treated to a very cool view of the transitioning landscape below as it went from patchwork green to sun-glare reflections and powder white.
Click to enlarge.
They’re not the best photos, being from the cell phone and dealing with the sun and the reflections and all, but I really like the way several of them came out, and I’m always kind of enthralled by the way hills and river valleys look from the air.
When we landed at Midway, I lucked into a shot with the Sears Tower (yes, I still call it that) as a vanishing point for shadows and runway guides:
Click to enlarge.
Three Pictures of A Sleeping Cat.
"This is NOT what I ordered."
"Please tell me they included a receipt."
"Hey, human: The Schrödinger jokes? Not as funny as you think."
For the record, that’s a 7x10x3.25-inch box. Ferris put himself in there and is sound asleep in all of these pictures.
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