Stained Glass Window -- Puerto Rico

Did a tour of Old San Juan when I was there earlier this year and saw this beautiful stained glass window in a government building. Caught the view at just the right time of the evening when the colors were just about perfect. Timing is everything.

Up (again) -- New York City

Always something looking up in New York City. This is a shot on the west side of 7th Avenue (I think) not far from Times Square. Always need to look up while walking in the city. Of course, don't do that while crossing New York City streets.

Big D -- Minneapolis

Don't know if this big "D" stands for "Dumb" or if this splash of color fits the theme of this blog. This shot was taken inside an abandoned mill along the Mississippi River just outside downtown Minneapolis and is now part of a museum complex celebrating the mill era that made Minneapolis the capital for milling in the United States back in the 1800's.

Naperville Water Sculpture

Amazing how many people that I met around the country have visited Naperville or have friends or family living here. It is a great place to live and raise a family. Nice water sculptures too.

Just color

Saw this shot and had to get it. Just for fun. If you must know, it is cable of some sort at a construction site.

Wayzata Bay, Minnesoata

Wayzata is a suburban community near Minneapolis. This town has a beautiful bay right adjacent to the downtown area. Our morning meeting gave a few minutes to take a shot just as the sun was rising. Morning colors are always so interesting. Wayzata is an Indian name for the Sioux god of the north who blows cold wind out of his mouth. While it can be very cold here, this day was a beautiful late fall day with temps in the 70's. The god must of been sleeping, but he will be up soon....

Moon Rise Over Lake Pepin

Got off the highway to see if I could find some interesting shots on the way to Minneapolis and saw this view on the bank of Lake Pepin, a natural lake formed by the Mississippi River. Fall colors are just past peak up north, but got lucky with a nice calm view of the lake.

We are SPARTA --- Wisconsin

Apparently, Sparta, Wisconsin is the "Bicycling Capital of America". I never knew that. When I thought of doing this blog, this is the type of "Americana" shot that I thought I would be posting on a regular basis. Turns out, these are pretty boring shots, but I had to post one or two, just for show. Sparta, Wisconsin is up near La Crosse on the way to Minneapolis if you get off the main highway. Getting off of the main highway is exactly what I needed to do to survive all of this travel. So, now we all know that Sparta is the bicycling capital of the US. How do they get that title? Was it voted on? Just curious.

Moon Rise over the Golden Gate--Version 2

A little later in the night as compared to a previous shot posted earlier showed a just-passed full moon rising over the Golden Gate. I hooked up by accident with a "moon walk" group going out to a lighthouse looking back towards the city. Fortune sometimes works better than planning.

Shanghi TV Tower

A dominate part of the Shanghi skyline is the Shanghi TV Tower which is also gives great viewing platform for the city.

The Renaissance started here

This is one panel from the door to the Baptistery across the courtyard from the Duomo Cathedral in Florence. There is always a crowd of people around this door and you might walk by and say, "well it is a pretty door in bronze, by why all the fuss?" The "fuss" is that is could be said that the Renaissance started here, in the competition to produce these panels of this door as the artists of the time discovered perspective as wonderfully displayed by Ghiberti, a contemporary of Michelangelo. Prior to the Renaissance, artists would depict objects within their paintings or carvings further back in the distance by placing them up higher in the frame. That is why pre-renaissance art work looks strange to us. We are looking for perspective and everything is located within one plane. The Renaissance and the discovery of perspective kick started a revolution in art and in thought that continues on to this day. Interesting how art sparked science and it all started with the competition to carve these frames, which Michelangelo later called the "Gates of Paradise".

Alaskan Fall Colors

I thought when I took this shot a few weeks ago that I just missed the peak color season as there were no reds in view. However, I was later told by a local that the trees don't show red in Alaska. Yellow and green is all you get, which is just fine by me as this scene is hard to top. Wonderful views with my back to the Turnagain Sound just outside of Anchorage.

Bug in Florida Brush

When is a Volkswagon Beetle an RV? When an RV owns a Bug. This car was on the property of RV, Robin Van Arsdol, a painter of some renown who we visited while we were in Florida last year. RV is famous for his street art graffiti and is know as one of the catalysts of the New York City street art movement of the Eighties and has come to be an American staple in the European art world. We met him near Orlando where he lives with his family. Stephanie really enjoyed her visit. It was one of the highlights of our trip.

Madrid, New Mexico

Did you see the movie 'Wild Hogs' with Tim Allen, Martin Lawrence, John Travolta and William Macy? Well, the whole end of the movie was filmed in Madrid, a two block long town situated between Albuquerque and Santa Fe where the bikers stood up to the bad guys and resolved all of their life issues. Got to love these small towns and their quirky charm. Lots of leftover hippies end up in these towns and these are what old hippy mail boxes look like.

Hermosa Bar at Night

I was walking back to the hotel in Hermosa Beach after dinner and saw this splash of color and had to shoot it. One day, I might actually go in....

Noble Bird

Visited the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center near Portage Glacier about an hour south of Anchorage down Seward Highway. They had this beautiful American Bald Eagle there, although I hope it was in captivity as an injured bird and not just for show. Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center is a drive-through wildlife viewing park. Got to see bear, moose, elk, buffalo, and musk ox which is a strange looking creature. This was my second trip to the Center. Never thought I would get a chance to go back again. Strange the places that life (in this case, work) takes you.

Feeling Grungy at Work

Here is my building again and I was in a grungy kinda mood so I played around with the colors to get this version of a shot I posted previously.

Chicago Theater from the Inside

Took a fun and informative tour of Chicago Theater, a wonderful art deco building that almost got the wrecking ball back in the 80's. The people of Chicago stepped up and helped save this beautiful building. This is a view from the balcony.

Another Great Reason to Vist San Francisco

Not a lot of explaining necessary here. I will say that the old Ghirardelli chocolate factory has been turned into a bunch of shops and restaurants that make this area of San Francisco near Fisherman's Wharf a fun place to visit. Oh yea, the chocolate is excellent too.

Freaky San Francisco

Is this window display in Chinatown San Francisco designed to sell art or scare away the customers? I love how you can't see the eyes. Wonderful freaky view.

Portgage Glacier, Alaska

Seeing a glacier up fairly close is quite an experience. It is a shocking shade of blue, which is not a color that I expect to see with a glacier. Even the water in the lake below the glacier has a strange blue/green shade that is quite different from other bodies of water. This glacier is only about an hour out of Anchorage so it is easy to get to. I saw this same glacier a couple of years ago. I was pleasantly surprised to see that it hasn't moved higher up the mountain from what I remembered from that visit. The "fog" in the shot is really rain as it was coming down pretty good when I took this shot.

Alaskan Berries

Saw these wonderful red colored berries in a tree right near Girdwood, Alaska. Tried to find out what kind they are, but there are so many different kinds of red berries in Alaska, that I gave up. Look a little cranberry colored to me. Anyway, nice shot of red and green looking up to the sky.

Turnagain Inlet, Anchorage Alaska

This waterway is a very interesting area. Not only is it breathtakingly beautiful at every turn, but this is one of only 60 areas in the world that has what is called a "tidal bore". As the old tide is still flowing out of the inlet, the next tide is trying to rush in. Eventually the new tide overcomes the old and a wall of water comes down the waterway at about 15 mph. I saw it once the last time I was in Alaska a couple of years ago. It looks like a wall of water about 2 feet high flowing steadily down the cove. I read that it could be 10-15 feet high in the spring. I missed it this trip as it happened while I was in meetings. Anyway, beautiful and very cool area.