Memories of the Red and White in my Past

When I lived in San Francisco as a kid, I didn't have any money at all. I used to go down to Fisherman's Wharf to shine shoes in those days when tennis shoes still were a new item. It was also different back then at Pier 43-1/2. The little office of the tour boat company had a ramp and still is there, but back then during the very few days I went to school, I'd be out there at Fisherman's Wharf and run up that ramp which lead to a observation area where I could look out over the piers and boats, toward Alcatraz Island and beyond.....

Those were indeed the Days!

I never had money to ride those tour boats, and eventually, I had moved out of the City I called home. The very few days when I was in my City by the Bay as an adult, one of the very first things I did each and every special time I returned to my City, I'd go down to Fisherman's Wharf to buy a steamed crab, ask them to crack it so I wouldn't cut my fingers bloody later. Then I'd jump on a Cable Car and head to my parents' home which was quite a distance away. 

That poor steamed crab didn't even last 10mins on the cable car ride home!

I didn't return to my City till the late 2000s to live permanently, and what a surprise! Most buildings and streets I remembered well. I felt I never lived my youth in those early days of hippie of the City, and I was busy doing stuff. I was a lost soul and never quite content with my Life....

The City had changed but in reality, like any other place I had lived since departing my City, everything is different but in reality, it hasn't changed at all. Many of the buildings were the same. Now able to drive around, the one way streets with synched traffic lights were still one way and synched. But I really wanted to see the one place that was special to me, and I immediately went to Fisherman's Wharf...

There it was at Pier 43-1/2: The little ticket office of the Red and White Fleet. The huge boat was still above spinning around, and the ramp was still there but now roped off.

At least now I was able to afford a ride on their Red and White tour boats, and finally could get pictures of my City from a viewpoint I couldn't even think of getting when I was that young kid before.

I've heard the company CEO has retired. I'll miss him....  and wish him and his Family well.

If I ever get back to the City, of course I'll stop by. It's something of my childhood that I miss immensely and will never forget!

 

Reflecting Street & Walkway Ponds

When I'm on the street I am always looking all around me. No matter if it's up toward the sky, down to the pathway and sidewalks below my feet, or left and right to windows, cars and what-not! I love reflections, don't you? One needs to think, have I missed something unique just because I didn't look?

Tour Helicopter Flying UNDER the Golden Gate Bridge!

One day while out and about during my past routines while still on the West Coast, I happened to sight a lone SF tour helo flying near the bridge. To my amazement, it flew UNDER the bridge!! It was incredible to think that an aircraft would and could and DID exactly that!

Is that crazy or what? Then the SF FAA Safety office says "well, they have to make a living too". So that justifies breaking the rules and allowing an unsafe flight under the bridge? 

What is happening to the "civilized world" when stuff like that is not only allowed, but turning the eyes in the other direction to basically allow that?

Crazy!!

 

that white night.....

I had planned for several days to take a walk around the downtown area of San Francisco to photograph the homeless. Usually I don't make it a big thing to photograph them, as I do it whenever I am out and about with my camera.... this would be the very first time I would devote time for such a theme.

I have been downtown on previous occasions to photograph the skyscrapers at night in all of their reflective beauty, so I have been in certain areas and seen homeless, so I know "where" they are basically. There are areas of the City I wouldn't venture into though there are a lot of homeless there... I might be crazy but I am not stupid.I ate leftovers from a week ago, made sure my camera battery was charged, then set out an hour before sunset. Walking down from my sister's apartment building in the late afternoon sunlight, I cut across Columbus Avenue and Mason Street toward the Embarcadero. I had no set path in mind, determined to vary my path as the light and search varied. I was at the foot of Telegraph Hill when I cut down some steps to sea level, just a few blocks away from the Embarcadero. I passed by a few stores and a neighborhood shopping center... all closed due to the holiday. People were being turned away by security guys... everything was closed. Crossing the street, I looked down and saw a flash of thin folded green.... it was a rolled-up bit that was a dollar, and I picked it up though I really wanted to leave it - I thought it was rolled up meant it was used most likely for drugs. Disgustedly I reluctantly picked it up using the very tips of my fingers - though I am now in the best financial state in the past seven or more years, I need money too.

I saw several nice views of Coit Tower and the Transamerica Building, so began snapping. I was surprised and shocked to see all the parking meters were flashing "FREE PARKING". Continuing with camera in hand, I crossed over to the wide sidewalk that is the Embarcadero and started walking south toward the Ferry Building. I stopped at the pier at Pacific Avenue, filled with many tourists as always, but amazingly no homeless who normally sit here with their shopping carts full of their lives.... The clouds were gorgeous as I watched the unseen sun set behind the waterfront skyline, backlit by the sunlight, seemingly a brush stroke of light, gray and orange against the darkening sky. Many people with cameras of all types and sizes were snapping away, of the seagulls flying overhead, the clouds toward the west, the boats passing east of the pier, and of the bay bridge. Onward I continued to the Ferry Building where I discovered that area empty.... instead of its usual busy restaurants full of tourists, now empty of chairs and tables, the building itself also closed and doors locked. It was a depressing sight, as if you were in downtown New York City and encountered not one person, nor cars or birds.... everything closed and abandoned. This was a dream out of an eerie movie of decades long past. I crossed the Embarcadero to the wide plaza now filled with people in the temporary ice-skating rink. A long line waiting to buy tickets for shoes and time. This was quite a contrast to the emptiness just across the street.

I passed this all and entered the Embarcadero Center. The lights were lit of the tall buildings and I captured those flashing lines in the black windows of nearby windows of other buildings. I walked across the street to the Hyatt Regency Hotel and saw again the lines of lights hanging from the sky within... I had only seen then entered this place once before since when I was a teen, this all did not exist. Most of what I walked through now was built during my decades-long absence from the City.
Up to this time, I had only seen a few homeless - normally I would see many more, along the Embarcadero, the SOMA area... but saw only enough to count on one hand. On the other hand, I saw my first food shop open.... I moved up Market Street, where many times I had seen lost souls wandering up and down the wide streets, their shopping carts filled high with their bags of clothes..... I watched the people around me. It was a sight to see... mostly tourists lost or headed back to their hotels. Many looked around them as they quickly walked in the dark light, suspicious of anything and anyone near them, regardless of attire.


How utterly depressing.....

have a merry christmas!!! :-(

the golden gate.....

I am always miserable when I see a sunset that is so beautiful that my bones hurt. It happened again when few days ago when I saw from my bedroom window the clouds start to turn pink...... .....sometimes I think I am back inside my apartment in southern Spain since from my balcony windows I can see the beginnings of the sunsets, and have just ten minutes to walk quickly to the beach with camera in hand....

I love watching the sunrises and sunsets... if you know me on Facebook you'll know I try to describe the sunrises I briefly see and often cannot record. I can see a bit of both from the windows of my cell. I can see just a bit of the East Bay and just a bit more of the North Bay and Richmond across the bay.... as I type this I can see the calm light blue waters of the San Francisco Bay and it looks so peaceful and lovely... sighSo, the other day I missed a gorgeous sunset.... I hate it when I am inside organizing my files. I spend so many hours doing this... it seems all of my work to be done involves a keyboard and a monitor.... it seems to me it's inhuman to be indoors when the sun sets when I should be outside enjoying that final splash of color upon the hills, seeing all the windows brighten as they reflect the lowering sun... last night's set was no less than a flaming glow that burned the clouds, put the bay afire, and had everyone out to watch this glorious colorful day's finale.Why would anyone, me included, sit in front of a computer or even worse: a television set when the real drama that is Life sits beyond our imprisonment of confining walls. I wonder if this generation will remember where the air is free and filled with laughter and sadness, hearing the noisy sounds of the day and muted sounds of each night... and recall easily a time and place when kids and adults mingle in that non-virtual reality show that does not come to us through emissions or cables.... sigh

On the other hand, I have been shooting black and white more... I love BLACK AND WHITE!! I love the softness of the grays upon skin, and the shadow details when there is texture... and there is LOTs of texture in this world we call Life!I remember a time past when, for over 30 years I loaded film for my hungry camera into those tiny black film cassettes, and processed film within a small dark room. After I started living in Spain, I built my own dedicated darkroom, then would shoot during the day, then process and print during the night..... and I intend to return to that life within a few more years.... :-) I don't want to live in front of a monitor, looking at digital images, wondering how long my virtual negatives will exist on CDs, DVDs or on some hard drive.

I want to touch my negatives..... want to see the magic of photography as the images appear before my eyes in the dark....

From last night, I share with you these images from my mind and my eyes.... if you see beauty, then thank Nature and Life. I am just a traveler in this world, passing through ever so slightly and softly... never to return nor to look back.... eyes always ahead to the future.... that isn't virtual but a Life of real dreams, real people, with its disadvantages of fears, its cries of pain and tears, but also of happy moments and love, laughter and words....

Always One Step ahead of the Other

Went to see the sunset again tonight, but I went to a location I've never been since living in the City.... I arrived late and lots of people about, mostly tourists - locals never watch the sunset as they are too busy - but I was there....

It's amazing how something so simple as seeing a sun disappear, can make one so sad. One would think it'd be a pleasure to watch, but it's been a long time since I "watched" a sunset. These days I observe it to determine my best position to record it... then I start looking around for a better vantage point (there's always a place better than where you're standing). I try to see where the sun will disappear from my sight, and how it might appear in my camera.... you get the drift: it's been a long time since I've had the pleasure of watching and enjoying a sunset....

sigh.....

This sunset ~ and many others ~ make me reflect on Life... I won't look back. My thoughts are on my future and how to arrive to that point of time in my future when I can stop dreaming about it and it becomes a reality finally. I am "counting down" to my return to my own apartment and small as it might be, it's mine. It's clean, it's bearable and perhaps not the nicest but it's mine. It's my home and I miss being in my apartment. I know where everything is and everything belongs to ME. I clean up after myself and when I get bored, I take a siesta....

The hardest thing I have had to adjust to and to attempt understanding while living here, is why some people analyze the smallest simple thing and how it is blown all out of proportion... from something so harmless it could be put off till doomsday, but in their mind, it's a life and death situation and it has to be done right this instant!

I can see why this culture has such sickness and phobias, some real and others imagined. Why can't things just be better and simple, as it should be?

Oh yea: that greed thang is very annoying too....

I have so many sunsets remaining... I can't see them all but that doesn't worry me. In my corner of Spain, the sunsets are gorgeous and I'll see them when I can, and if I miss one - there's always manana....

I am impatient to leave and I'll miss the great things I've seen, but I'll be happy... I'll be looking forward, thinking of my future joys and never to look to what was and only to what will be. Why dwell on something that has happened and you can't change anything? In fact, why even stress over things that are beyond your control, that you cannot change? Time for a siesta!

On the other hand, I am always interested in, and looking for new things to do in my passion of photography. I've just "spoken" with a friend, model and photographer Naomi Strange who lives in the East Bay, and we are now tentatively planning a virtual exhibit with another photographer of a very interesting concept: how two different photographers SEE and capture one subject - stay tuned for details. I've photographed her as a model (she has gorgeous skin and eyes), and she has a very nice eye in the things she photographs.... it'll be an unique personal project to see how a male and a female photographer sees one subject and creates their two separate and individual imagery! If we are lucky enough to find a locale for hanging prints, perhaps we will have an exhibit that will be both a physical and virtual display of the photographs! Surely the idea has already been done, but it'll be different for us as we work alone.

Stay tuned to this space for updates on this concept!

ooooh, how embarrassing!!!

I was driving back to get my sister and her grandson who I had dropped off in the Marina earlier. I then drove downtown to a gallery to see an exhibition - afterwards I dashed back to the Marina to get my droppees (iz dat a word?) when after parking, I spotted the glorious view of the crescent moon and a bright planet not too far separated. I thought this is even better than the Jupiter, Moon and Mercury of last summer! So after having everyone in the car, I dashed home and after dropping them off, got the camera, tripod and my newly-acquired remote camera timer (never used) and went downstairs to the street below to capture the rare scene! If you've ever been to my part of North Beach ~ or any part of this City for that matter ~ it's shewn with telephone cables and wires all over the place! I thought Europe was bad at obstructing what would normally be a gorgeous view with those awful ugly useless cables and wires! Well, I discovered after returning here that SF is even much more worst! grrrrr

It's so disgusting to think that while on that sidewalk, many people walked past me, not looking at where my camera pointed, or even a bit interested in the rare performance above their heads! What a sorry state of our society where we think the iPod attachment to our "minds", the texting on the cell.... or even the stress of a workday is much more important that the heavenly and visually beautiful things we avoid/miss in a day, week or during our lives... simply because we don't take a split second to look around us or even take an interest of what's going on around us on the street and look up.

sigh......

After testing out my timer - how cool - I thought what an useless foto to just show the Moon and lovely Venus ~ why not get a picture of both with some City landmark? So I looked around... I could only see Coit Tower as a possible point of interest that I could even possibly think of finding it together with these heavenly stars right now. So jump in the car, dash yet again to the Embarcadero and drive slowly and all the way looking to the right to see whenever I even had a view of the moon and Venus. Eventually finding a spot when I could see the two players, I parked, got the tripod then set about looking for a place where I could SEE Coit Tower and the performers behind the lit tower. At one time, I was on a street - or thought I was on a public street when a car stopped not 10 feet away, and with the window glass lowering, the driver stated that I was on private property and if I could step OUT to the sidewalk.... I pointed I wasn't photographing the buildings but the moon, and he insisted still I move out to the sidewalk to which I obliged..... how stupid... and also the sentiment of several people who saw and heard the exchange of words.Getting off a few snaps but as the moon and planet were sinking lower into the skyline, I moved across the street where there was a uniformed privated security guard standing, hands in pockets. how unprofessional!! I went about setting up the tripod again to snap some shots and when I moved into an adjoining green area which again I thought was public property, this guard jumped up and stated in a clear voice that I should stay on the sidewalk! I looked at him and stated I was leaving the area and walking through the green area to the other sidewalk... and left that stupid area and its guards. How paranoid can a society get as to not even allow a photographer snap pixs of something beyond its property... what a sick society this is beginning to develop into.

On the other side, I could see that I was going to have problems... the moon and its companion were too low, there were too many trees and lamp-posts and other obstructions, so I had to get farther away... so with extended tripod and mounted camera, I cross two major and busy thoroughways to look... and after a few monutes I found a place where I could see not only Coit Tower and its two dancers, but a good portion of all three not blocked by things. Having the long 170-500 Sigma lens, I would get only a very tight closeup view of the scene before my eyes. A lot of people passing by commented on the scene we observed and I replied between snaps - I was happier that here on the Embarcadero the people were much more human and I felt better.... happier that I was again among people who took the time to observe and therefore... to live! sigh..... I just cannot wait till I am back in my spanish apartment to live permanently!

Another photographer showed up eventually, his tripod-mounted camera at the ready. At one point he set up about 30 feet away from me, and though he had nodded his head at me and waved as he passed, later whn I attempted conversing with him, he never replied and within a few minutes, he left in the dark without even a wave.... still many people here spoke to me and even stopped to snap pixs with their own cameras, as if I were their inspiration.

sigh....

Then when I uploaded these pixs to my photo website, I mislabeled the images as being the crescent Moon with Mercury when it was actually Venus! I wasn't going to change the pictures but I hate being wrong, and displaying inaccurate information, so I deleted them and uploaded corrected versions of the images that you enjoy now....

Honey from the Heavens....

It's such a pity.... like grass mowed from the lawns of many, it's not effectively used for anything... even though grass is grown for sale to customers in the NorthWest, in general it's a wasted commodity that nobody uses or properly recycles so that it's used for the future.... our future.

What am I referring to? The Honey that falls from the skies and makes us crazy, makes us hide under umbrellas and what makes us wet.... water, or as we know it: rainwater. When I first lived in southern Spain, I was amazed that many would put out their houseplants into their patios or even in the street if there were room, to use the falling precious liquid. I remember even seeing buckets out to gather the raindrops! But in most of the "civilized" world, it's wasted. It runs into storm drains, into sewers, and otherwise washed away.

The Bay Area was flooded with recent rainstorms and where did most of that water go? Into the ground, into the sewers, and into a process called needless water waste. Why do I think of it as millions of people leaving their water faucets open and running for an hour a day every year? Why can't we gather all that blue water, filter it and use it for farming, washing the streets, or other "gray-water" use? Everyone's complaining about the weather but nobody is doing anything... grrrrrr
As I splashed through the wet streets, I thought about the rain but I couldn't do anything about it. I stopped for a car leaving a downtown gas station. The driver sat inside staring at me through the wet glass of his vehicle, surprised someone ~ anyone ~ would stop for him. I flashed my lights and he moved out slowly into traffic.... 20 feet ahead, he also stopped for someone else leaving the same gas station..... friendliness creates more friendliness. Courtesy encourages more courtesy. Peace promotes more peace, so on and so on. I've always had this idea since my teen years and practice it often and everywhere I've lived since. Like a contagious moment of laughter, a smile works wonders.... We never have time for it but we all want that random act of kindness. I was told when I first arrived to the City that drivers here are mean, but I've experienced anything but that. People are generous in their time and have often allowed me to enter traffic or to change lanes... I always acknowledge by holding up my hand to show my gratefulness at their thoughtful consideration. What if everyone would do this?? What a scary thought of a major stateside City full of thoughtful, considerate, friendly people who do random acts of kindness only because it was necessary and with no thought of "what's in it for me".

So started also this "week" my first day of civil duty and obligation... grrrrr I went early after dropping off my sister at her downtown workplace. Not knowing any better, I parked a block away to avoid the crowds and to find a good parking space, but enroute the court building, noticed many available spots I could've used but..... someone else could use them. I'm not greedy. The building at 400 McAllister was closed to visitors at this early hour so I waited with a small handful of others awaiting entry at 8am. It wasn't raining yet though gray clouds loomed overhead, and I waited watching the passing people.... I noticed one man off the sidewalk in the street looking down. He stooped to pick up a tossed-off cigarette butt, looked again for more and not finding any, stepped onto the sidewalk and walked up to me and started waiting behind me! I glanced over my shoulder and saw a jury summons in his hand and thought: one can't get a more accurate representation of this city population!! Minutes later we entered the building and after going through the metal detectors, saw the signs directing jurors downstairs. I followed the signs down the white marble stairwell to a very modern, clean and gorgeous jury room filled with chairs, benches, tables and hanging television monitors (of all the monitors there, later only two on multimedia stands were used).

I was shocked at the size and appearance of the room; though I had been advised the room was very modern, I still expected something more.... ghetto and run-down. It was far form that! A line formed as prospective jurors arrived and checked in with summons in hand; I had brought a book and I must confess this is probably the first book I've even attempted to read since I changed from film to digital imagery almost a decade ago... Looking at the entering people and still reading the hardcover book, I noted a lot of little details: the women were in general, better dressed than the men, though in some cases, some older women actually looked as if they could be street bag-women. At first everyone sat at least a discreet two seat-positions away from the other, until as time passed and seats filled, people started sitting next to others. I saw a very few who plain slept while others worked on puzzles (the young woman next to me), read a newspaper, or even read a book. There were quite a few carrying laptops. They filled quickly the wall seats where table lights allowed comfortable laptop use. Looking about, there was truly a wide range of ages, social and racial backgrounds, and education and social status, as displayed in dress and choice of clothing. Hours later I was dismissed after filling out the juror questionnaire - as I walked past the ornate City Hall, I saw workers on scaffolding at the trees in front of the City Hall and asked what they were doing.... apparently artist Patrick Dougherty with two assistants was in the process of building an natural exhibit atop the branch-less trees by placing trimmed thin branches atop the tree-tops and arranging them in such a way that it looked interesting when I passed by earlier, and now even as it rained, looked ever more delicate and unique...
Rainy days in San Francisco were to be over in a few days, but the rest of the day brought pouring rain, but I like the rain! sigh....

NOTE: All of the above images were captured with my Motorola RZR 1,3mp cell camera :-D

back in the City from Spain

... and what a heck of a looong flight it was ~ slept very little on the journey which for me started in Rota early Wednesday morning by cleaning up everything a final time. I love seeing my apartment so clean and "empty" and I will return one day though not soon enough. Arriving at the Sevilla airport just before 8am, I had enough time to check in and relax, if that is possible in an airport that is filthy, dirty and so old the bench leather coverings are crusted and wrinkled, and the gate waiting areas have floor spill drops so old and so visible, I would be embarrassed to say I worked there. I thought about a complaint but know it would get the standardized form-letter complaint reply and nothing would be done. I've suggested and complained on previous occasions about poor service, airport workers allowing people to smoke within the airport and not saying anything, etc., but the spanish are accustomed to their lifestyle, and complaints or suggestions do not last long in the system.

Aboard the Sevilla to Barcelona flight, I was distressed after we took off and I didn't have my camera out and at the ready; the raindrops as it again poured as we took off were so beautiful upon the tiny cabin windows that I wished I could have recorded its slow movement across my window.... by time I did get out the camera, the raindrops were gone being high above the clouds and in Barcelona it wasn't even raining any longer. There my next segment was delayed due to heavy fog at Munich, which was a change from the usual Frankfurt. I dreaded returning to Germany as a passenger due to their double security checkpoints but was later pleasantly surprised when after finally arriving and moving fast to the next gate - which of course seemed to be miles and miles away - I didn't have to pass through any security checkpoints at all! Even as we were still taxiing to the Munich terminal, the PA system in the aircraft warned all travelers to hurry to their connecting flights as the airport security can be very slow and time-consuming.

Seen in the men's restrooms in the Munich airport, a great airport when compared with the old and filthy Sevilla airport. Seems that the urinal designers thought ahead in an attempt to inprove the aim of those using these facilities. I've seen this before but was never able to get a picture and this time I was prepared! A few others saw me snapping pictures of the urinals and thought I was crazy till I pointed out to them it wasn't the urinal but the fly I was interested in... then the response was laughter.... and in an airport, who can't use a bit of laughter?

As soon as I arrived at the gate, I was boarded and after four others behind me followed, the cabin doors were closed and we took off inside a recently-delivered new A340-600 plane that was beautiful to relax and enjoy this 11-hour flight back to San Francisco!! Not only first- and business-class areas look nice but even the economy class area was a delight! Each and every seat in the aircraft had its own LED touch-screen media center that allowed passengers to view music videos, see a wide selection of movies, listen to over 10 styles of radio-system music, or even learn about the airline company! As a result, I watched a total of four on-demand movies throughout the long-journey, interrupted frequently by my getting the camera to snap away at the gorgeous sunset that lasted half of the long-haul flight and amazingly enough turned even more flaming red just as I thought the sunset would finally end after four hours! It turned out it was to end but as the flight route took us from Germany to the Americas on a northwestern curve taking us over the Norwegian Sea, Iceland, Greenland, then just north of Hudson Bay then toward Vancouver Island, BC..... it seems when the plane finally took its downward curve just as I saw the sunset colors fading; remembering in San Francisco a month ago, the bearing angle of the sunset then was about 240-degrees, so when we turned southwesternly, according to the visual map of our route, we turned toward the sun and that accounted for it glowing once again to finally end later after six hours!!!
Amazingly enough, the last two hours were the most colorful as the horizon burned with an intense flaming-red color. I believe this is the very first time I have seen such a sunset lasting more than three-hours, plus no sunrise! In fact, I saw two sunsets on this flight!!

The movies I saw were Eagle Eye which I've wanted to see but hate SF theaters, Ghost Town which I thought was stupid but cried during the last 15mins of the movie, Vicky Christina Barcelona, and Nights In Rodanthe - an excellent movie which I am glad I watched after seeing it starred Richard Gere and Diane Lane. I also cried during the last 10mins of Nights In Rodanthe for the sad ending though it ended on a happier note....

It seems strange to be back in the City, and in a place where I have a car as I had to walk during my month in Spain which I don't mind at all if I were wearing the proper shoes for that type of activity. Even with the high amount of walking, unfortunately I gained weight instead of losing ~ I blame all that great olive oil in the spanish food eaten out in town, and cooking at home ~ the first time ever I've gained instead of lost weight in my trips to Spain. Perhaps all I really need to do is stop eating enough for four or five persons at a sitting!! hahahahaaaa

sigh.....

Carnaval, water water water everywhere, and MotoGP

Thursday, 29 January: Time passes so fast when you don't want it to, and so sloooow when you want it to be fast. grrrrr Cannot believe that I'm on my last days in Rota. The last few days have been very cloudy, so much that I've skipped watching sunsets and will wait till next week before I'll pass by the beach again. Yuppy, you read that correctly: I am on strike till next Monday!!!

I've spoken here a few times about the spanish Carnaval.... If you haven't seen or heard the Cadiz Carnaval, you're in for a grand, though pleasant surprise. The streets are filled with small performances, and these are spread to the small town and cities around Cadiz; Rota is no exception. It consists of a group chorus, or a smaller quartet, or small groups which fling satire on anything and everything; nobody and nothing is spared. It can be political, the weather, global warming, some silly incident that earned national news coverage, or just the whim of the musician who writes the lyrics. The melody is always the same but the costumes and lyrics are unique and judging of the best is based on costume, lyrics, background, and more. It always amazes me how so many people participating can memorize so many lyrics and sing in harmony all at once! The accompanying images were taken with the cell camera again to capture actual live performance off the television screen, to show you just a bit through the Cadiz local channel: OndaCadiz.es. The music and lyrics flies very fast, and when you get the people/groups of Cadiz then a lot of spanish slang is used... your spanish should be in excellent form or close to it, or you'll miss the bulk of it. But it's all in jest, fun and the audience love it. One can even watch it just to marvel at the performance, the costumes and the comedy of it all.... people come from all over Spain for the final performance when only the best fight to earn the biggest and final prize. There is nothing like it in the world that I have seen or heard. I've been in Cadiz very few times during Carnaval as the streets are so crowded and the bars/restaurants even more so. So, if you're ever in southwestern Spain about the end of January and through the end of February, then you're in for a special treat as carnaval throughout Spain, if celebrated at all, is not the same. In the Cadiz province carnaval takes on a special emotion and it's all for a good {great} time! Another site to read and see carnaval is diariodecadiz.es please remember these above two links are spanish links, therefore, your knowledge of the spanish language should be very functional.

Read today in the newspaper how the Hurones water reservoir had its storm gates opened last night for the first time since 2001. This reservoir supplies water to most of the Cadiz province in cluding Rota. Due to a somewhat "normal" winter start and especially the last few weeks of rain, it's at its highest capacity in years at 91% and when the storm gates were opened to allow the waters to flow... but not to waste, as it will be flowing downstream to a smaller body of water to fill that.

Interested in the european style of motorcycle racing? Like the MotoGP and planning to buy tickets online to watch the Gran Premio de Jerez in early May? Well, many others are also but beware: the Jerez de la Frontera racetrack officials have released information today that illegal FAKE tickets are being sold online. This weekend events draws thousands to the Cadiz province - my province! each year and they are warning those interested in attending to be sure they buy only from authorized vendors. Never seen MotoGP? Please pass by my friend's flickr site to see some past images captured during previous MotoGP races.

Sunday, 25 January: It's yet another cloudy day in Rota. The north of Spain suffered through the night with high winds, reaching over 190kph in some areas. I had my bed comforter hanging on the clothes-lines and when I awoke in the morning, it was gone. I looked below and it was in my downstairs neighbor terrace. I was trying to figure out how to explain to him I wanted the comforter back when I saw his big dog sniff at the comforter a few times, circled it then curled into a ball and rested his head on my comforter. Well, at least he could use it because as I am allergic to dog, cats and women, I won't claim it now. At the next gypsy market this coming Wednesday, I'll pick up a new one... or at I have so few days remaining, maybe I won't!

Another weather low is blowing through in a few more days, though luckily the southern region - as usual - is starting to warm up again with sol.... Across the bay in Cadiz, the spanish Carnaval has begun and it's again a great time. While I lived here, I'd watch the try-outs in the Theater Manuel de Fallas on the television, and listen to it at night on the radio. While in the states, I'd listen to it by internet radio, happily enjoying the satire and lyrics. Over 300 groups have signed up to compete in this year's edition and it's going to be another great Carnaval. The Obama theme has already appeared in the first day of the festivities and performances and am sure the name will reappear. In fact, the other day I read in the newspaper how a service vessel in Cadiz has been renamed Obama..... it seems more than 6 million spaniards tuned in to watch the swearing-in ceremonies on the small screen, which is a lot of spainish eyes. It's almost as if Spain were watching a European Cup Soccer finals playoff; that's how many people were watching! The streets would be deserted, and the shopping activity would be very mininal except for lost tourists.

My eyes are steadily improving. With the high winds of recent days I've been using my eye drops even more than back in SF, and though there have been instances of street junk blowing into my eyes, I've been fortunate to not have any real damage. I am surprised how so few people have even noticed that I am not wearing glasses. Of the many people I know and have greeted since my return, I can count on one hand the few who noted right off that I am without glasses.... sigh.

Not always running with good luck nor fortune, I've been often thrown a curve ball, and seems I have been dealt yet another. Luckily, my decision to return soon to live in Spain won't be too far in the future and I'll easily forget the few good times had in the states, the beautiful scenery seen while traveling to and experienced, and the very few friends I knew will soon forget me. I always wonder why I am alone and though I know there's a reason for it, I wish someone would tell me why because it's a miserable feeling. sigh.....

Last night was a gray sunset, and am glad I didn't go out thinking there might be some color, because right now my Life looks so empty and gray. But, nobody knows and even if someone knew, who would care? We already know nobody reads this blog..... except for two persons outside the USA. Lucky them!!

Looks like the only bright points in my life now is getting back to SF so I can start packing my stuff to somehow figure out how to get my stuff back to Rota, plus a possible artnudes exhibit in a small downtown Rota bar soon after I return ~ at least I will be back in a place where I can "afford" framing. Last trip to Rota I brought with me five 8"x12" images with me of SF scenes to be framed. I had them framed at a friend's frame shop, but ran out of money and so left them there.... a year later, I might have money to finally pick them up. All five framed pictures won't even cost me 90€ {though recomputed at 2009 costs}, so I am so happy at that end result that he didn't sell them to someone else thinking I wasn't returning......

Seems like all my life I am packing or unpacking, or living out of boxes. If only I could pack myself into a small box and send myself to Mars. Sure it'd be a long journey and I'd probably die, but that actually isn't a bad idea. Perhaps I'll get lucky and will get my life snuffed out in a flash of flames enroute SF.... but I know I would never be that lucky!! sigh....

It would make everything so much nicer and easier.... if one did not exist.

NOTE: I cannot believe I am at a public wifi terminal with my laptop and for the past 30minutes it has been pouring down rain with even thunder!! grrrrr

Thursday, 22 Jan: Another overcast day but I like the overcast and cloudy moreso than the hot clear skies that is usually so typical of this area, even in winter. Last January 2008 when I was here I could've worn tee-shirts all day, but this year the winter has been very normal for the season. Southern Spain needs the rain and when I bussed from Sevilla over a week ago, that's the first thing I noticed: the very green fields and the very moist ground - it's strange to see this part of Andalucia - or any area of Andalucia for that matter - so moist and growing, instead of a dying brown. Unlike California, there are NO fires here to pamper with the weather but the past few days when the sunset was able to be seen, it's been flaming, just downright gorGeous red and orange!! I couldn't believe how beautiful it was, and as usual, people were on the boardwalk, not looking... just talking and walking, their eyes blind to the sights that Nature offers us each and everyday, if we chose to see and to enjoy it. sigh....

I finally departed the beach and rushed home to see the pictures.... seeing them on a small screen is nothing like seeing the brush strokes of colors splashed in front of your face for 220-degrees, but I managed to survive again the glorious sight of the sunset but this time through the miracle of digital images.

During my few days in Rota, I've been bumping into faces and people (more people than faces) and getting the same reactions: Where have you been? Haven't seen you in so long... the few americans I know here have been warm except for a few (too) businesslike persons who put on an expression like they were even bothered to lift their hand to shake mine, and instantly I had the sensation that I shouldn't have entered their place. I have been trying to return to all of my spanish and american friends' place of business to have a drink, a tapa or a meal. This person... well... I should have stayed away. He was cold before and even colder now. It'll be a cold day again before I stop to greet this typical american. It's funny how some things change, but other things and attitudes never change....

I've decided not to buy the furniture and other big money items for my apartment as with the new presidency in motion, the dollar is already gaining strength,and am hoping that in a year's time when I return to live here, the dollar will be strengthened enough where I can safely buy the items and services required and not lose so much in the conversion between dollar and the euro. The other day I deposited a goodly amount of american greenbacks in my spanish bank, and instantly lost money, and then they levied a commission for that conversion of another $75 for a total loss of $900USD. In my two years in the USA, I have been frantically searching for a bank that would offer me a refinance or a personal loan so I can pay off my meager remaining amount and kiss this stupid Banco de Santander (they have NO concept of client relations and are very RUDE, plus in the past even with complaining clients they would smoke in their opened-door offices), and I contact them on a regular basis to inform them that their services and tact are lacking. The first opportunity I get to drop them, I will do so happily even though a pre-payment fee of 3% is imposed. These stupid bankers at Santander are the worst business people I have ever dealt with.

Only thirteen days till I reboard another plane to head west. ..... just so many sunsets, clouds , tapas and squid, and cafe con leches that I have to take before leaving again.

The other day was reading in the provincial spanish newspaper how one immigrant from south Africa has jumped to his death in a sad story of suicide. There's not even enough jobs here for the spanish let alone the illegal immigrants that come from the other side of the straits... this is just one more sad story of life gone bad. The investigating police didn't even thought it important enough to warrant a news release; the newspaper devoted a whole half page to this story of misery. sigh

Wednesday, 21 Jan: I avoided watching the swearing in... it was all over the newspapers and spanish television. How could anyone avoid it? I went out earlier to search for a wifi-equipped cafe/bar in my little town and eventually even found one... just one in the downtown area. In fact, the owner is someone who, in my final months before moving to the states, asked me repeatedly if I would show some of my fotos in his bar. I couldn't as I didn't have any funds to print the pictures, plus no time with all the packing, cleaning, etc. When I saw him, he repeated the question and I replied to reserve me a date for a show of my newest artnudes created in oregon and SF about a year and a half from now... hahahahaaaa

The spanish news has been crazy about covering the american Obama craze, down to all the possible combinations of Obama souvenirs one can purchase. I photographed the sunset, then slowly walked back to my apartment, but not before I stopped by the cafe/bar to see the interior and to talk a bit with him. It's ben two years since my last time inside and I wanted to see how many photos I could hang, etc. The cold streets were almost empty of people, I imagined everyone was watching the tele for that insight into the historic american moment, and how everyone was hoping for his success, as his success was to create more hope for the world... wow, what responsibility!

I watched the bits and seconds on the late evening spanish news, then was amazed that they were to show also the George Bush movie by Oliver Stone: "W". I hadn't seen it yet so decided to stay up to watch it at 10pm. Of course it was dubbed into spanish so once again, everyone on the tiny screen spoke better spanish than I. At the end, I could imagine this to be a more dramatic version of his life, and how it shapen his life and presidency... it sure does describe and explain his behavior though.

The weather here has been cold and northern Spain has been beaten by high winds and surf, and rain, plus snow all the way down to the 400meter elevations. In Rota, the wind has been a very cold, biting hug at the sleeves, and my ears and wrists are falling off frozen when I am out snapping the clouds and sunsets.

Here's it's Sunday the 18th already and again am at a public terminal typing this. It's been a slow relaxing first week and more in Rota.... been meeting friends and it's good being back in the "swing" of things but saddening at the same time, to think I need to close up my apartment once again and leave this place. Rota might not be the best place in the world, but to me it's the greatest and living in San Francisco is nice, but there is no comparsion whatsoever.

The other night I was at the beach shooting the glorious sunset - as usual - and as I am shooting, there are people on the boardwalk behind me. I hear a voice in spanish: "Nobody would be out on the beach without a camera unless it was Tony...." and I turned around to see a friend and his lovely wife. We chatted for a few minutes, me turning around all the while to watch the sun, then they excused themselves politely seeing my attention was elsewhere, so I could continue to capture the golden spanish sol....

Another night I was in the tiny hole-in-a-wall bar where a friend makes the greatest chocos a la plancha (grilled squid). I went early this evening intentionally so I could read the spanish newspaper.... an older man comes in - about in his 50s but looking in shape. He looks at me while talking to my friend, taking a seat a good distance away from me. He talks then switches to the "old days " and continuing - this is all in spanish - then starts to relate of how he knew this one man about so many decades ago who walked into his office.... intently looking at me with a smile.... he adds: . . . and I remember this young man to this very day... and then he says MY name! What a surprise and what a pleasant memory! This happens often while in Rota, and I think it will continue long after I leave or return to live again. All of my memories in this location are good, unless it deals with the photo studios.

And this is why I am here, why I love this place and though there are several fake "photographers" here who continuously steal my image ideas and TRY hard to copy my style - always failing miserably, I still want to stay here. This is as close to paradise as I will ever get. . . and I will not allow it to escape or let some other stupid people ruin my idea of this splendid place. Now, if only I can find someone who will accompany me back to this place I call "home", who can watch the sunsets and travel with me? sigh.....

I have the long-awaited ceiling fan and a good Jerez friend is kind enough to loan me his ladder and drill. I should be installing it now but the spanish lifestyle is already taking over, and I feel like I should finish mounting both today.... but heck..... I'm on "vacation" and it can well wait. My soccer team Real madrid plays tonight and I'll watch them win again tonight as they did last week.

While I have been walking a LOT and thought I was losing some of that SF weight gained in the last few months, I've been starting to cook again, and eating a LOT and now am even heavier than when I was back in the Bay Area!! grrrrrrrrr I will just have to stop cooking so much and eating at one sitting enough portions to feed four hungry soldiers. hahahahaaaa

Friday, 16 January: Overcast day in Rota but still a great day for me. Though I love Spain and my little town of Rota, this brings back a lot of sad memories of being alone here. It now looks like within a year at the earliest, I will be returning for a final time. I'll be buying a one-way ticket back home.... I really need to care for my apartment, and closed up or rented, maintenance needs to be done and it hasn't been done. I'm thankful for the few great people who have trusted me enough to stay at my apartment, but it'll be closed nup till I return sometime in 2010. Now the only problem is trying to get all of my stuff back to Spain.....

Tuesday, Jan 13rd. 12:50pm: I'm at a public library typing this and it's funny how some thing seem so ironic... when I first moved to Spain and the internet was still a rare and strange "thing", I used to walk for about 20 minutes to a site offering free internet access. Sometimes in the winter it would rain down as I walked, and I would be completely soaked to the skin on one side only - the wind blew hard. At this location, I would sit at the computer for my allotted time and dry - somewhat - and the rain would stop. But sure enough when it was MY time to depart, the rain would start back up again, raining even harder than before, and I'd be walking in that rain again and get completely soaked again, this time the other side as I was now walking with the wind. sigh I'm waiting for a ceiling fan that I ordered at my corner electronics store though even when I do get it, I won't be able to do much as I haven't got a ladder any longer. I gave it away when I departed Spain two years ago... the person I gave it to stated I could use it though I haven't heard from them again and they haven't called me. I'll probably end up buying a new one soon. While at my friend's place in Sevilla, I walked all over the downtown area for several hours for two days and getting on the bus to get to the coast last Friday, I was really feeling the exercise I was getting now... boy, my legs ached! I haven't walked this much since I lived in Rota before!! I used to walk everywhere but being in the big City, I am always in the car driving my sister there and here, and the little walking I do isn't sufficient to keep me in shape. Even my spanish friends have noticed I put on a few pounds.... YUCK As it's still pouring rain, I think when I get home I'll go through my stored boxes and see what I can get rid of. I surely don not need to horde anything any longer. I saw three hours of CSI in spanish last night!! Dammmmm, everyone speaks better spanish than I do!! hahahaha Apparently they call the CSI: NY series a different name! hahahahaaa I did see one espisode that I haven't seen in the USA or here so I really lucked out! Plus my team Real Madrid won last Sunday night so the first game I see was a good one!! I've put up some pictures at the foto site if you'd like to see.... of gorgeous historic Sevilla and the golden Rota sunsets I captured over the weekend.

7 January: The trip was long and tiring but to be expected. The non-stop flight from SFO to Frankfurt, Germany offered three movies not seen before, plus a sunset seen but missed with my camera. I was however ready with the camera for the sunrise, which we chased for almost an hour, offering me enough time to bother the other passengers and snap away to get a great view from above those cotton clouds below.

A few hours of harrassment of two high-security checkpoints that I protested but being from a non-EC country, I had to tolerate it along with the long lines of others passing through to get to their connecting flights as I was.... This is making me rethink my next travel plans, and will bypass Germany and the UK, which I hear also has regulations requiring double security checkpoint for non-EU citizens even though we may just be TRYing to get to our next flight leg.

Then to Barcelona where I saw lots of snow-removal trucks working overtime removing snow off the taxi- and runways. I saw the gorgeous sunset just before boarding the flight to Sevilla.... had to dig myself into a corner behind some fake plants but I did get it! This wasn't the case in Sevilla as the weather was nicer, though the temperature wasn't too much different. I stayed in Sevilla two days as a friend was staying in my apartment. I walked all over downtown Sevilla, depressed to see so many stores empty and closed, but still Sevilla was beautiful in the sunlight.

Finally arriving Friday early evening by bus from Sevilla, I'm finally back and though I am happy to be here, the conditions of my place is pretty depressing. I have a lot of work to do but have decided to not start most of it. I don't have internet access here, and am using a friend's net access at a store he works at... it's nice to have friends. ;-)

It's COLD outside!!

It's been a busy few days as I have been attempting to devote time to archiving of my image files – not too successful – and still continue capturing what goes on in my life. All the while, I still have to think of packing for my upcoming trip to my apartment in Rota, and that will be a welcome "break". Of course I will be working like a slave, buying furniture and working on the apartment, which isn't in the best shape after being gone for so long. My neighbors who are watching my apartment had fallen on hard times also, and lost contact with them for months. I have been noticing that the temperatures there and weather has been seemingly a "normal" winter with lots of rain, but I know once I arrive in my apartment on the 9th, it'll warm up as it always does when I am there! Hahahahaaa

The weather just a week ago allowed me to get over to the Marina district where I stopped for a rare night shot of the Palace of Fine Arts... not often do I get the opportunity to be out at night with tripod and camera, and these past few days the Bay Area has been really frigid due to a big Pacific storm blanketing my old home of Eugene with snow while here I had to battle frigid gusting winds to get pixs of a gorgeous golden sunset last Friday and Saturday. Even in this weather, I managed to get out into the cold with bare hands to snap night scenes of the bay and the bridge from the Marin County headlands. I expected the road to the Pt Bonita lighthouse to be open due to the full moon, but it wasn't so to make the drive across the bridge worthwhile I stopped to snap pixs, though the blasting headlands winds made it very difficult to get a good steady tripod image. A photographer who later appeared next to me on the dark uneven headlands ground had his camera while mounted on a tripod fall over, when a gust of wind blew it over! OuCh!! This morning in North Beach was apparent scenes of frozen standing water... ice was everywhere - not a normal sight in the City but the weather climate is changing and it's leaving evidence everywhere!

ice on a car windshield is a sign of the
frigid weather in North Beach this morning

This isn't the coldest weather I've been through… while in the military I remember being out in the rain and snow in many places in "warm" clothing all night long standing guard duty {oftentimes all soaked through to the skin and bones}, and in Nebraska I patrolled outside a building in – 4f blizzard conditions. Of course, Germany must be the most recent time I went out willingly to photograph various female clients nude in the snow… them, not me…. And though it was cold, they enjoyed their experiences very much. When we returned to warmer places, we found out the weather outside was about –20c, which reads about –4f….. brrrrrrrr so, this change in the weather isn't the worst but still: any cold shock to the system leaves an impression on the mind and body… that it happens during my photography just gives that image more meaning.

I have another weekend road trip coming up…. Then comes New Year's when I expect to be out again in an attempt to capture the fireworks, and then jes DAYs before I leave for Spain!!! I cannot wait!!!

Please remember – if you'd like to donate to help me with my spending money to fix up my apartment in Spain, please buy a print!! Just want to donate outright? I'll send you a print of your choice/theme if you tell me what you like… remember, there's a LOT of gorgeous spanish sunsets to be seen while I am in Rota, and they will be posted as always on my photo website. As always, there are more images posted in my photo website also, and many more that are unseen by other eyes!!! Your donation will serve as a voucher for your future visit in my apartment!! :-)

Stay warm everyone and have a safe and quiet holidays!!!

I even had a chance recently to photograph
a very nice car!! yaaay!