Things That Caught My Eye

Alexis and I went for a stroll in Maryville this morning. I didn't really get any great shots but I saw some interesting things.

Like, okay, like I wasn't going to anyway. You're all like bossy and stuff.

Note found outside of the courthouse. Things like this fascinate me. I wonder who Fernandez is, why they were at the courthouse, etc.

NOT an exit.

Everybody was Kung Fu Fightin! Not only is in kung fu, it is STREET kung fu...


I'm really lichen this picture.


Sir Bedevere: No, no. What else floats in water?
Peasant 1: Bread.
Peasant 2: Apples.
Peasant 3: Very small rocks.
Peasant 1: Cider.
Peasant 2: Gravy.
Peasant 3: Cherries.
Peasant 1: Mud.
Peasant 2: Churches.
Peasant 3: Lead! Lead!
King Arthur: A Duck.
Sir Bedevere: ...Exactly. So, logically...
Peasant 1: If she weighed the same as a duck... she's made of wood.
Sir Bedevere: And therefore...
Peasant 2: ...A witch!

Fun With Tequila

I should just drink the stuff but where would be the fun in that?

I was getting ready to make a tequila marinade for steaks when the light of the late afternoon sun caught my eye and I had to play around a bit. There were no special effects or lighting. Just the tequila, a window, and the sun.

Being Pretty, Pretty Much Sucks (if you're a leaf)

I noticed today that the prettiest Autumn leaves are some of the first ones to fall....

Damn I'm glad that I'm not pretty!

Shadow Shot Sunday Self Portrait

The first hints of the end of summer reveal themselves in the long afternoon shadows. Sunset comes minutes earlier each evening. Flowers are just a slightly less brilliant shade of color than the day before. The butterflies are gone and the other insects seem a step slower. Summer may be slipping away, but I still have this day to enjoy.

See other shadow shots at
On edit: Margaret inquired whether this was a self timed shot. Nope. I set this up in the hallway outside of my son's bathroom where the octagonal window is. Here is the uncropped shot. I just aimed the camera at the mirror in the bathroom and lined the shot up.

On Assignment

Sorry that I haven't been posting much lately. I've been playing sports photographer for my son's 10 y/o football team, so I haven't had time for photo hunting.

Accidental Turns

On our way back from our weekend jaunt to Louisville last weekend, we got off on a side road that turned out not to be the road I wanted.

My poor GPS system was confused. The route guidance was literally drawing circles on the display. The system's voice guidance, normally full of confidence as she announces directions and commands, was reduced to soft sobs of desperation.

I didn't care. We were heading in the general direction that we needed and seemed to be paralleling the interstate. Along the curvy, winding road, we found these two long forgotten work horses. I felt sad for them. I wonder if they once help build the nearby Interstate back in the 1960's.

Cades Cove

We spent time with my parents camping at Cades Cove this weekend, in the Great Smoky Mountain Park. I had Trevor and his cousin with us so I was not afforded the luxury of spending time thinking through any of my shots. It was "click - run go catch up with the kids" the whole time. I find that frustrating but I just kept reminding myself this weekend wasn't about photography, it was family.

It's the land of quiet forests, mountain streams, and rhododendron.And home of the North American Tail-less Monkey
The rhododendron were a little past their peak bloom but we still found a few on our hike down Anthony Creek. Of course, we did the obligatory tour through the Cades Cove 11 mile loop.
We didn't see any black bear this weekend although they have been very active this year. My mom got these pics off of Roaring Fork Parkway a few days earlier. These were taken from her van with her point and shoot.

LAND SHARK !!!!!!

This isn't a photographic piece of art but damn it was funny. We found this mailbox when we diverted off of a country road because we saw a public boat ramp sign (water = scenic views) on our Sunday photo safari. If I remember right, this was off of State Road 333 near Friendsville, TN.

Rainbows

Ok, I retract my comment about rainbows last week;)If you look real close at this picture, there's a second rainbow above the main one. It's very faint.

Written by Paul Williams and used by Kermit the Frog, of The Muppets, Jim Henson Productions

Why are there so many songs about rainbows
And what's on the other side?
Rainbows are visions, but only illusions,
And rainbows have nothing to hide.
So we've been told and some choose to believe it
I know they're wrong, wait and see.
Someday we'll find it, the rainbow connection,
The lovers, the dreamers and me.

Who said that every wish would be heard and answered
when wished on the morning star?
Somebody thought of that
and someone believed it,
and look what it's done so far.
What's so amazing that keeps us stargazing?
And what do we think we might see?
Someday we'll find it, the rainbow connection,
the lovers, the dreamers and me.

All of us under its spell,
we know that it's probably magic....

Have you been half asleep
and have you heard voices?
I've heard them calling my name.
Is this the sweet sound that calls the young sailors?
The voice might be one and the same.
I've heard it too many times to ignore it.
It's something that I'm supposed to be.
Someday we'll find it, the rainbow connection,
the lovers, the dreamers and me.
La, la la, La, la la la, La Laa, la la, La, La la laaaaaaa

Around the neighborhood

My wife does an amazing job with our front yard garden every year. In addition to the glorious flowering plants that she actually has timed (spring, early summer, mid summer, late summer) so we have something flowering at any given time, she also keeps me supplied with my favorite herbs.

My 6'4" 20 y/o son Brett doing a front flip over a kids basketball goal and dunking the ball before landing feet first in the pool. I love the contrast between the blue sky and the blue of the pool.

Graffiti Wall

After visiting the Tennessee Veteran's Cemetery to get some pictures for a Memorial Day post, I headed downtown. It's a veritiable ghost town at 7:30 on a Sunday Morning. It kind of gives you that "I Am Legend" or "Life After People" feel.

I only got to snap a few shots at Market Square before it started raining. Most of them were at the graffiti wall at the Woods & Taylor building under perpetual renovation. I hope you find some of these interesting or at least amusing.

Are you threatening ME, Darwin????

Unofficial Knoxville Visitor's Guide

Apathy or Irony?

Post No Bills just doesn't have the same ring to it.

This one had me chuckling.

Global hot flashes...

Quit staring at me! You're creeping me out lady.

Curiosity

Moaning Lisa and Bloodfartz

Pikachu has fallen on hard times. Time for a "VH-1 Behind The Scenes of Pokeman".

Apples and Oranges

Munch Graffiti

In the key of G

Hope you all are having a good weekend.