This is part of a storefront sign for the Lakeshore Learning

Store. I guess they sell all sorts of products to aid in the education

of children. But if you ask me, the picture of the little girl
looks more like a circus sideshow advertisement exulting the
wonders of Bendora, The Girl with Pincushion Hands.

I like it.

I took this picture about a month ago not far from our home.

I like the yellow flowers. I wish that I could capture them better.

1024 x 786

This is what last night's view looks like today.

I took this picture at 3:30 today. Doesn't look too bad.
Under full control hopefully.

I took this picture tonight, just a little while ago.

It's fire season once again and there is a pretty large brush fire off

in the distance. And I hope it stays off in the distance. This fire

is on government land and I believe has been fully contained.

At this time it is threatening no homes or buildings.

That's good news.

The Posy Peddler.

I've never been in there.

Sounds illegal.

We can't afford no danged GPS.

So we got us the next best thing.

Again, please... Don't judge me.

Happy Friday the 13th!

Wow, another one. They are coming in waves now.

Scary, no? This is my NECA Jason Voorhees from the 2009

remake or re-imagining or whatever it is. You know Mr. Voorhees

had to make an appearance here today.Yeah, I'm not opening him.

Stay safe, kiddies.

All too easy.

It's just too sad. I don't know what to say.

Here's the other part of yesterday's photo. Little R2D2 doing

a bit of work on the StarSpeeder 3000 in the Star Tours ride

queue at Disneyland. Just before C3PO starts chewing him out, he

does something that creates a bit of noise and sends smoke (steam)

flying out the engine(?).

R2 is my all time favorite Star Wars Character. My son took

this picture as well.

Who doesn't love a good picture of C3PO chastising R2D2

as he works on a StarSpeeder 3000? This is of course the

Star Tours adventure at Disneyland in Anaheim, California.

This is about my all time favorite ride. My son took this picture

some years ago. The ride has been totally updated now and I

hope to visit it again someday. I grew up going to Disneyland at least

once a year, but a few years ago that fell by the wayside.

Year after year these birds make their nest in the fire alarm bell on

the outside wall of our house. I would not want to be them if it ever

rings. But then again, if it ever rings, I don't want to be us either.

Well, I did say some of my pictures might be downright terrible

and I 'spect this might be that. But I like this spot on the 210 freeway

in Irwindale, California. Driving straight at the Miller Brewery. On warm

summer days as you drive by, the smell of hops and grains (if that's

what it is) brewing fill the air and you start craving b-e-e-r. I don't drink,

but if I did, I'm thinkin I would get off at the next exit, find a

hole in the wall and have one.

This is what's been on Lizzy's menu for the last two days.

I haven’t had a cold in a year and a half, and that one only lasted

like two days and was never that bad. This one is a different story.

I hope it's gone soon.

I remember many years ago watching on TV a man who had just turned

102 years old being interviewed. They asked him, "To what do you

attribute your long life?" Peanuts", he said. "Peanuts."

I attribute my lack of illness to hand sanitizer. It upsets my stomach a little,

but I think it's been worth it.

I was in the garage the other day and I noticed a little baby

lizard that must have fallen into this pail. That's a normal sized

pail and that is a teeny sized lizard to be sure.

Baby lizards are really cute, iff'n ya ask me.

The bottom photo shows the little feller scurrying off into the

wherever when I took him outside and set him free. The photo is
a little blurry because it is an action shot. High intensity action, baby.

Happy Birthday America.

I took this picture at a store that sells those "lifter" things.

I have no idea what they are called.

Here is another cool thing that was a gift from my son a few years

ago. This Jelly Belly© gumball machine is another something that I

would have never bought for myself. And it is another something that

I don't think about. But it is really neat to have it. Every once in a while

when the "sweet tooth" strikes, there it is. And I think there is a lot of

change in there.

And this is not one of those cheap plastic models. This thing is constructed

of glass and metal. I really like having it.

I think it was 1999 when I took this picture at an airshow in

Ventura, California. It's a portable motion ride similar to Star

Tours at Disneyland (of course not anywhere NEAR as good).

It looks like it simulates a ride on a Stealth Bomber. But I don't know for

sure as we (my son and I) didn't go on it. If I recall correctly I didn't have

a lot of money at the time and this thing was like $8 a person. I just couldn't

justify $16 for two minutes of jostling around.

I took this picture with a film camera and scanned it years ago.

On Tuesday, June 12 I posted a photo of a side entrance to the

Spreckels Organ Pavilion in Balboa Park at San Diego, California.

At that time I said I would post a picture or the actual stage. The top

picture shows that stage and the bottom picture shows the view from

the stage out to the audience. And believe me, that place gets filled to the

brim a LOT of the time.

And as I wrote in my last post about Spreckels, this place has had concerts

since 1917. I'm amazed by the pictures I've seen of the people who have attended

events at this pavilion through the years. Image search it on Google if you're

interested. It's even more interesting if you have visited the pavilion for yourself.

And if you ever have the chance, you should. And there is quite a bit more to see at

Balboa Park than the pavilion alone. It's a full day to be sure.

I like the angle of this tree.

It's on an uphill road that we take to get home.

This guy is about 12 inches tall. I found him at a thrift store for

seventy-five cents. He's an educational tool for kids.

But you're never too old to learn, and I've learned that if you
jiggle him just right his leg will fall off.

Okay, please forgive me. It's been a couple of months again

since I've had pizza and I must reminisce for a moment. I was

actually on my way to have pizza on Wednesday, June 13,

the day I ran over the ladder on the freeway and totalled our car.

Needless to say, no pizza on Wednesday, June 13.

So for today I am just looking with lust at my last pizza.

Soon.

I WILL have pizza.... soon.

On Tuesday, May 8 of this year I had posted a photo of

The Indian Store in Julian, California. I wrote of a cowboy hat

they had in the window that I was curious about. I figured that if the

hat was worth $80, they would be a'chargin $150. But they were closed

and so I'd never know. I said that I would post a picture of the hat as viewed

through the winnder and here she is.

Nothin too special but I like the color, the shape and the crease.

He was in the driveway. He was about four inches long.

I stopped to look at him. He just kind of tilted his head

and looked at me. I went on my way. He went on his way.

I think I never saw him again.

So let's see... Back in the day they had real helium balloons on

strings blowing in the breeze to attract your attention to their

business. Now they have a hard plastic ball on a pole.

Man, one day they're just gonna have holograms. Put a box on

the ground, flip a switch and wa-lah! Balloons in the air. They'll be

so commonplace nobody would even care to steal them. I kind

of wish I could be around to see that technology.

I went to the movies tonight to see Prometheus. I've been excited

about this one. It was good. I can't wait for it to come out on Blu-ray

so I can watch it again and maybe pick up on a few more things.

The photo above shows my IMAX 3D glasses, my ticket stub, and yes,

that piece of paper was attached to a coupon for ten dollars off my ticket. I got the

coupon when I bought Alien on Blu-ray. So my grand total for seeing

this movie in IMAX 3D was..... TWO FREAKIN DOLLARS.
A rockin good deal says I.

Oh, and in the lower left hand corner is a container with salt in it. I bring it

to season my popcorn to suit my taste buds. I am a nerd like that. There is also

a Kenner Queen Alien toy (not accurate at all) that I bought a few weeks ago.

Anyway, there was a fun time had by all (me).

Several years ago I visited San Francisco with some friends. Early

one morning there was a ruckus (I think I should get extra points for using the word

ruckus in a sentence) across the way from the hotel we were staying at.

The dark window you see there was the site of an early morning fire.

I believe this was about eight floors up.

San Francisco is a beautiful city (politics aside), but this photo makes the place

look really depressing.

I really like this hybrid fence.

You can speculate on the reasons for it till the cows come home.

And I'm bettin that there are cows around here somewhere.

My jury duty was completed today. I don't know if others

would find it interesting and cool, and I don't know if I would

find it to be interesting and cool every time, but this time around

was just awesome. I found it to be a wonderful experience.

I've been in jury pools many times over many years, and I've been

questioned as a perspective juror more than once, but this was the

first time I had actually been chosen as a juror for a (criminal) trial.

I took the above photo with my iPod as I was sitting in the hallway

waiting to be called back into the courtroom.

The other day I spotted this cool little Bart Simpson

playing air guitar. He was just kind of sitting there by

himself and was only a few dollars so I brought him home.

The date on him says 1999 and he's made of that solid

hard/soft plastic stuff.

I can hear him saying, "C'mon Homer! Drums man, drums!"

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On Tuesday, March 20 of this year I had posted a photo of

a waterfall running down some steps at Balboa Park in

San Diego, California. Well, it's so warm here today I

decided to try and cool off a little by putting that photograph into

motion. It's a very short video, all my videos are short. But

I am liking the fantasy of walking barefoot in that water.

About a year ago I was lucky enough to attend a performance

at a very small venue given by Debbie Reynolds. It was totally fantastic.

She really is a superstar (in most circles). She sang and reminisced about

her acting days with the likes of Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire and Donald O'Connor.

She more than once (with humor) talked about her less than desirable marriage to

Eddie Fisher. After the performance I was able to meet with her and she

autographed a program to me.

And as she put it, for the younger folks who don't have a clue as to who Debbie

Reynolds is, she is Princess Leia's real mom.

To me, always a welcome sight. Added bonus points for cleanliness,

a rare occurrence I admit. But as the saying goes, never pass up a

chance to use the restroom. These were in a parking lot that was used

for a wine tasting event (that I did not attend, just passing through).

Just on the off chance you don't know who my

favorite Captain is.

And yeah, my room was pretty warm. Probably made that

way by me thinking about who my favorite Captain is.

A few years ago as I was driving down the freeway, the car

in front of me kicked up a big chunk of steel of some kind

and my car's windshield was the (un)lucky recipient of the

impact. The whole interior of the car was sprayed with glass

and I must have closed my eyes at just the right time because

how I didn't get any glass in them is beyond me.

Well, today I feel even more fortunate to be writing this because

on my way home from jury duty I had a run in with a 10 foot tall

 aluminum ladder. It was lying flat and  lengthwise in the middle

 of the lane making it very difficult to determine just what was in my path.

 I hit it full on. My car went airborne, then landed and started to fishtail.

I was able to recover and was just shaken up a bit. Quite a bit.

Our mechanic's first impression is that the car will be declared totalled.

I am a good driver. This was unavoidable.

It's been a long day.

This is a side entrance to the Spreckels Organ Pavilion in

Balboa Park in San Diego, California. The Pavilion was built

in I think 1914 and it is just beautiful. It was built expressly for a large pipe

organ that is the center piece of the Pavilion. There have been free

Sunday concerts here featuring the organ music since 1917.

There are photos on the Internet of this place when men were wearing

top hats and women were wearing bustles. This is another one of those

places that you just have to visit when in San Diego. I will eventually post

photos of the main pavilion and stage.

Oh yes, and the name Spreckels is the sugar Spreckels you have probably heard

of. The organ was donated by the family in 1914.

Just another parking lot picture I took recently.

I spend a lot of time in parking lots, I guess.

It's getting to be that time again. Time to plant your vegetables, if you

do that sort of thing. I have in the past, but I just have no time for a personal
garden these days. I took the above photo when we were buying irrigation
parts for our property earlier this week.

And like I wrote, a few years ago I had a crop of tomatoes that just kept

coming and coming and coming. I had tomatoes coming out of my ears

and they were really good. For some reason, the green tomato worms

(ghastly, those things) were absent from my crop.

The above photo shows a couple of those tomatoes and
 also a few onions I grew.

Hello Big Choice. I want you.

I want to step up to you and hold you in my hands

and move you and I want to surrender what little I have in

the hope that you will reward me.

"You will never have me."

Dang nabbit.

Oh look! Some carefree folks took advantage of our

beautiful weather and had themselves a parking lot picnic!

And that's just plain AWESOME!

I like to take pictures of... "unusual" things.

I was sitting in the passenger seat of our car the other day when the

driver of the SUV parked on my side loaded up her car and kid, then

drove away after purposefully leaving her shopping cart right there just
inches from my door. It was then impossible for me to get out of the car.
And yes, she knew I was there.

Unusual?

This is an American flag that my son made when he was

in maybe the first or second grade. I can't remember exactly

which. All I know is that I fell in love with it and had to frame it.

It be one of me most prized treasures says I.

This is apropos of my post today (apropos, $5 word that) because

I have been busy the last few days doing my civic duty by serving on

a jury. And it looks like this may be going on for the next week to two weeks.

I am a reluctant proud to do my duty American. You may relate.

So if my posts slow down a bit, that thar be the reason.

When I was (much) younger some friends and I had

a couple of rabbits. Their names were Pico and Sepulveda.

If you know the Los Angeles area, or if you ever listened

to Dr. Demento on KMET (ta-weedle-dee), this means something

to you.

All I remember about these two rabbits is that they were kind of mean.

Or maybe I'm just too sensitive. Heh heh.

Just movin' on down the highway on

a sunny June day...

A couple of Frank Sinatra tickets that went unused.

I had seen him at the Universal Amphitheater in Los Angeles

(back when it was still outdoors)  the previous night (or

thereabouts) and like an idiot, I just didn't go back for

this show. I am still full of regret that I passed on this one.