Perfect Picnic Spot

Sunning by the Sea. Isala del Giglio, Tuscany, Italy

(Setting courtesy of Costa Concordia, Carnival Cruise Line)

Norman Schwartzkopf

Stormin' Norman

R. I. P.

Merry Christmas 2012

An all-time favorite:
http://youtu.be/k9ZWNxM-r3M

Thanks, Bing.
(The deepest voice in pop music ever!)

Confused

Hey, anyone. You've got to help me here.

No, I'm serious. Help.

:)

An earlier, easier time

Norman Rockwell, 1956

Winter sports

are taking rather strange forms in this technological age.

But, it's still fun for the kids.

Find your favorite -

- city in the USA

(click to enlarge)

Thank you, NASA. :)

December 7, 1941

Ah, December 7th. How well I remember that fateful Sunday 1941 noon in Bethesda, Maryland. Arturo Toscanini was conducting the New York Symphony on the radio, and I was taking my after-lunch nap upstairs. (I still do that, when I can, and often, these days, I can.)
Then, the music stopped and I heard voices on the radio. My father came into the room, told me to come downstairs with him to listen. He said to me, "You must hear this. Your future wife's Navy has bombed our Navy in Hawaii." Of course, DW#1 hadn't been born yet, but you get the point.

 

My father was wise beyond his time.

Tonight's dessert

Perhaps we have too much time on our hands...

"He used to be handsome"

says my dear roommate.

 

 I say, perhaps I had a few more strands of hair, but my ears were way big from the beginning!

:)

You have to be really old. . .

. . .(like me) to remember the 1939 World's Fair with its iconic Trylon and Perisphere.

But, lo! In our new Century, in the year 2012, we now have our own iconic version of the political President Trylon and Governor Perisphere:

(H/T:Lucianne)

I'm a genius!

Pizza Scissors

A short engineering career

Now please gaze upon the proximate cause of the premature retirement of a foundation engineer in the City of Shanghai earlier this year.

Not an inspection problem -

Rather, a storm-preparation failure.

 

There will be lawsuits, just 'cause that's the way we do things.

Another cloud pic. . .

This really is not fun for the East Coast and the upper Midwest.

Weather shot

Sunday evening:

Awesome energy.

Pierce County Quandary

Pierce County, Washington

Very Bad Positioning

I get it. It's a drumset! From Microsoft!

http://youtu.be/8mSckyoAMHg

What's that odor?

Swear to Heaven, Ref. It wasn't me!

This is turning out . . .

. .  .to be an interesting national election on several levels. At the very least, the daily shifts in sentiment are worth tracking.

Underlying all, of course, is the unusual and distinctive friendship of the two candidates for Vice President of the United States (VPOTUS), one a current, the other a former member of the Congress of the United States (COTUS.)

Friends

 

We sorely need a caption!

All submissions will be personally reviewed by the author of this blog.
Winner will received a Romney/Ryan button.

Angry? Determined? Frightened?

You tell me:  ____________________________________________________

Days of sorrow, and of innocence

http://youtu.be/wbggEGUaE28

(Someday, I may learn how to embed. Sigh.)

Where accolades are due, we offer them of course...

 

 



especially to our friends across the pond for their skills in millinary extravaganzas.

Typical Thursday Lunch

First Street, Napa

Just sayin'

Your wine lesson

http://youtu.be/DfTaMzV4oFo

Click or cut

Indifferent Golf Gallery

 

It's important, when playing golf, to be aware of the gallery surrounding you, while not letting their presence affect your concentration.
Especially while at the Big Island Country Club halfway up the slopes of Mauna Kea on the Big Island of Hawaii.

Byodo-In Temple

On the Windward Side of Oahu, in the shadow of the Pali mountains. A gorgeous place.

Tuesday, September 11, 2001

What NASA saw from space.

Every now and again...

a toilet-fixture manufacturer comes face to face with an irresistable urge to express its inner porcelain. Here is Toto's contribution to the genre:

That's the "Toilet Bike Neo." We should all be so lucky.

Memorial Stadium Again

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqrmqWZKRz4&feature=colike

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/TqrmqWZKRz4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> 

Do play the video. The music is good. :)

Once in a while. . .

http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=24107935&topic_id=&c_id=oak&tcid=vpp_copy_24107935&v=3

Go A's!

:)

Practice rounds for next year's Americas Cup on San Francisco Bay start on Tuesday. Here watch Korea discover that the winds are capricious.

http://youtu.be/QZIpinE7xss

Hot Summer Dinner Out

So it's hot, the a/c is acting up, DW#1 did 18 holes at Franklin Canyon, and there's no spirit for eating at home. What to do?

"6 for $6" Happy Hour at the nearby Walnut Creek Flemings.

Bad News: Lousy timing, place was packed, only one seat at the bar. Started a bar tab with two glasses of wine.

Closed the tab, started to sign, young lady said "Table is open." Off we went to try the table experience.

Good News: Great grub! $6 each for a Sirloin Burger and Tenderloin Carpaccio. These are deals, dear readers. We loved them.

Bad News: Waitperson Spencer screwed up the bill. Took 15 minutes to reissue.

Results: So So, but we will try again.

I was surprised. . .

to see this building:

(It's fun being an architect.)

Correction...

I didn't mean to overstate the point yesterday. Further digging around the Internet shows that, indeed, some of the major highways in North Korea are being enjoyed by the people. Notice the busy centers of commerce taking advantage of the superb government infrastructure.





It takes more than a government road.

April 2012. A 10-lane highway in the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea. 'Nuff said.

Cannot. Figure. This. Out. . .

Got this one at a garage sale. I loaded it okay, but I haven't figured out how to fire it.

Stay tuned.

Sorry, dear. I'm gonna be a bit late. . .

Traffic is really stopped up tonight.

Zut alors!

Sometimes (not often) I wish I had been born French.

Trees have haircuts

Okay, we're discussing Land Use patterns here. A municipality with lots of land likes to build an airport, for the prestige and the income. Good.
The land around the airport is not appropriate for housing, schools, or commercial uses. Golf courses are okay.
Thus, most municipal airports have adjoining municipal golf courses.
Makes sense, right?
However, golf courses like trees. Airports do not like trees.
Hence, as at Buchanan Field, Concord CA above, we give the trees haircuts.
It looks weird, but it makes sense.
Q.E.D.
(Don't ask. :))

The Old Fishing Hole

Glimpses of Saipan:


http://bit.ly/MBdyYP



:)

A scenic drive through the hills of San Francisco

If you, like me, enjoy driving, even driving in The City, you must spend 10 minutes of your precious time to enjoy the video referenced below. You will be happy that you did. And, you might finally have an answer to what caused all those recent "donuts" on San Francisco's streets.

Go here, cut and paste if necessary, and thank me later:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuDN2bCIyus
Click on "DC SHOES" and sit back.

Thanks also to Bloomberg West for making it available. And I note that it's also showing up on the cable news channels. Oh, well.

Always needed

One Wise Owl

(Click to enlarge)

Really neat visual!

Afternoon, 4 July

First:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ETrr-XHBjE
Then:
http://pjmedia.com/spengler/2012/07/04/a-national-anthem-that-begins-and-ends-with-a-question/2/

If you can make both work, both are worthshile.

Happy Fourth!