sky

Birds Go Tweet Tweet!

December 27, 2015 — 14 Comments

Northern Cardinal

F/ 8.0, 1/250, ISO 500.

Northern Cardinal

Day 361 / 365

The mail carrier had a registered letter that needed a signature for a party on his route. Receiving no response to his knock on the front door, he went around to the back door which he found open, except for the screen door. He knocked. A high pitch voice from inside said, “Come in.”Upon entering the kitchen, he was confronted by the largest German Shepard he had ever seen. The dog bared his fangs menacingly, forcing the mail man against the wall. The mail man shouted, “Lady, call off you dog before he eats me alive.” The only response he got was that same high pitch voice coming from the next room saying, “Come in.”Pressing his body against the wall, he slowly worked his way to the door way leading to the next room. Looking around, he saw the room was empty, except for a parrot in a cage. After the threat from the huge dog, he was becoming quite irate and said to the parrot.”Darn you, don’t you know any words besides ‘Come in?”Without a moments hesitation the parrot responded, “Sic him!!!”

Interesting Fact: Northern Cardinals hop through low branches and forage on or near the ground. Cardinals commonly sing and preen from a high branch of a shrub. The distinctive crest can be raised and pointed when agitated or lowered and barely visible while resting. You typically see cardinals moving around in pairs during the breeding season, but in fall and winter they can form fairly large flocks of a dozen to several dozen birds. During foraging, young birds give way to adults and females tend to give way to males. Cardinals sometimes forage with other species, including Dark-eyed Juncos, White-throated Sparrows, other sparrow species, Tufted Titmice, goldfinches, and Pyrrhuloxias. They fly somewhat reluctantly on their short, round wings, taking short trips between thickets while foraging. Pairs may stay together throughout winter, but up to 20 percent of pairs split up by the next season. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Cardinal/lifehistory )

Let There Be Lights!

December 11, 2015 — 15 Comments

Christmas lights Skyline

F/29.0, 39.0, ISO 64.

Day 345 / 365

Little Mikey had a cussing problem and his father was getting tired of it. He decided to ask his friend what to do. The friend said, “Since Christmas is coming up, you should ask Mikey what he wants Santa to bring him. If he cusses while he tells you his wish list, leave a pile of dog poop in place of the gift or gifts he requests.” Two days before Christmas, Mikey’s father asked him what he wanted for Christmas.
“I want a damn teddy-bear laying right beside me when I wake up. When I go downstairs I want to see a damn train going around the damn tree. And when I go outside I want to see a damn bike leaning against the damn garage.”
Christmas morning, Little Mikey woke up and rolled over into a pile of dog poop. Confused, he walked down stairs and saw another pile under the tree. Scratching his head, he walked outside and saw a huge pile of dog poop by the garage.
When Mikey walked back inside with a curious look on his face, his dad smiled and asked, “What did Santa bring you this year?”
Mikey replied, “I think I got a dog, but I can’t find the son-of-a-bitch!”

Interesting Fact: The illuminated Christmas tree became established in the United Kingdom during Queen Victoria’s reign, and through emigration spread to North America and Australia. In her journal for Christmas Eve 1832, the delighted 13-year-old princess wrote, “After dinner.. we then went into the drawing-room near the dining-room. There were two large round tables on which were placed two trees hung with lights and sugar ornaments. All the presents being placed round the trees”.[7] Until the availability of inexpensive electrical power in the early twentieth century, miniature candles were commonly (and in some cultures still are) used. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_lights#History )

This is Maverick, I feel the need… …the need for speed!

November 29, 2015 — 15 Comments

Red-tailed Hawk

F/ 6.3, 1/800, ISO 800.

Red-tailed Hawk

Day 333 / 365

Why did the Hawk cross the road?

To eat the chicken!

Interesting Fact: Red-tailed Hawks have been seen hunting as a pair, guarding opposite sides of the same tree to catch tree squirrels. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Red-tailed_Hawk/lifehistory )

 

I Just Wanna Fly!

November 15, 2015 — 18 Comments

Red-tailed Hawk

F/ 9.0, 1/320, ISO 500.

Red-tailed Hawk

Day 319 / 365

What birds spend all their time on their knees?

Birds of prey!

Interesting Fact: Birds are amazingly adapted for life in the air. The Red-tailed Hawk is one of the largest birds you’ll see in North America, yet even the biggest females weigh in at only about 3 pounds. A similar-sized small dog might weigh 10 times that. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Red-tailed_Hawk/lifehistory )

Let Me Lift Up Your Smile

November 13, 2015 — 11 Comments

crane

F/14.0, 259.0, ISO 64.

Day 217 / 365

There were three workers; one crane operator, one pole climber, one guide.
The guide tied the crane to the end of a pole. The crane operator would then pick the pole up on end. The climber climbed to the top and dropped a tape measure which the guide promptly read and noted the measurement. The crane operator then lowered the pole to the ground and repsitioned to pick up another pole.
This went on several times when the foreman came over and asked why they couldn’t measure the poles while they were laying on the ground?
The worker replied, “we need to know how tall the poles are, not how long”.

source: http://www.jokebuddha.com/Crane#ixzz3rRDzfNPL

Interesting Fact: It is assumed that Roman engineers lifted these extraordinary weights by two measures. First, as suggested by Heron, a lifting tower was set up, whose four masts were arranged in the shape of a quadrangle with parallel sides, not unlike a siege tower, but with the column in the middle of the structure (Mechanica 3.5).[6] Second, a multitude of capstans were placed on the ground around the tower, for, although having a lower leverage ratio than treadwheels, capstans could be set up in higher numbers and run by more men (and, moreover, by draught animals).[7] This use of multiple capstans is also described by Ammianus Marcellinus (17.4.15) in connection with the lifting of the Lateranense obelisk in the Circus Maximus (ca. 357 AD). The maximum lifting capability of a single capstan can be established by the number of lewis iron holes bored into the monolith. In case of the Baalbek architrave blocks, which weigh between 55 and 60 tons, eight extant holes suggest an allowance of 7.5 ton per lewis iron, that is per capstan.[8] Lifting such heavy weights in a concerted action required a great amount of coordination between the work groups applying the force to the capstans. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crane_(machine)#History )

I Don’t Think Anyone Will Row Row Row That Boat Gently Down The Stream

November 12, 2015 — 26 Comments

Binghamton ferry

F/22.0, 159.0, ISO 64.

Day 316 / 365

What do you do with a sick boat?

Take it to the DOC!

Interesting Fact:

Binghamton was one of six identical screw-propelled double-ended ferryboats built by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry-dock Company at Newport News, Virginia in 1904-05 to designs by Gardner & Cox, naval architects. She was launched on February 20, 1905, with Miss Charlotte Emery, daughter of John M. Emery, the newly promoted superintendent of the Hoboken Ferry Company and Ferry Department of the DL&W, serving as her sponsor. Binghamton was completed a month later and left the Newport News yard on March 25 for the trip to Hoboken, New Jersey. She was placed in commission on April 3. Her Captain for the first crossing was Oren D. Relyea.

Her normal run was from the Hoboken Terminal to Barclay Street, a twelve-minute journey of approximately 1 and 3/4 miles, a trip made continuously nearly every day for more than sixty years (on occasion she substituted on the Hoboken – 23rd Street run). ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binghamton_(ferryboat) )

 

 

New York, Concrete Jungle Where Dreams Are Made Of There’s Nothin’ You Can’t Do Now You’re In New York

November 6, 2015 — 19 Comments

Empire State Building

F/16.0, 57.0, ISO 64.

Day 310 / 365

Two men are sitting drinking at a bar at the top of the Empire State
Building when the first man turns to the other and says, “You know,
last week I discovered that if you jump from the top of this building,
by the time you fall to the 10th floor, the winds around the building
are so intense that they carry you around the building and back into
the window.”

The bartender just shakes his head in disapproval while wiping the
bar.

The second guy says, “What are you a nut? There is no way that could
happen.” “No, it’s true,” said the first man, let me prove it to you.”
He gets up from the bar, jumps over the balcony, and plummets to the
street below. When he passes the 10th floor, the high wind whips him
around the building and back into the 10th floor window and he takes
the elevator back up to the bar. He met the second man, who looked
quite astonished. “You know, I saw that with my own eyes, but that
must have been a one time fluke.”

“No, I’ll prove it again,” says the first man as he jumps. Again just
as he is hurling toward the street, the 10th floor wind gently carries
him around the building and into the window.

Once upstairs he urges his fellow drinker to try it. “Well, what the
hey,” the second guy says, “it works, I’ll try it!” He jumps over the
balcony plunges downward, passes the 11th, 10th, 9th, 8th floors
…and hits the sidewalk with a ‘splat.’ Back upstairs the Bartender
turns to the other drinker, saying “You know, Superman, sometimes you
can be a real jerk.”

Interesting Fact: On July 28, 1945, a B-25 bomber that was lost in fog slammed into Empire State Building north wall of the 78th and 79th floors. Fourteen people were killed (it was a Saturday, so many offices were empty). Elevator operator Betty Lou Oliver survived a plunge of 75 stories inside an elevator, the Guinness World Record for the longest survived elevator fall recorded. There was no important structural damage to the building, which opened for business on the following Monday. ( https://www.walksofnewyork.com/blog/empire-state-building-facts )

Eat Drink And Be Merry!!

November 1, 2015 — 23 Comments

diner

F/16.0, 71.0, ISO 64.

Day 305 / 365

A man entered a diner restaurant and sat at the only open table. As he sat down, he knocked the spoon off the table with his elbow. A nearby waiter reached into his shirt pocket, pulled out a clean spoon and set it on the table. The diner was impressed. “Do all the waiters carry spoons in their pockets?”

The waiter replied, “Yes. Ever since we had that efficiency expert out; he determined that 17.8% of our diners knock the spoon off the table. By carrying clean spoons with us, we save trips to the kitchen.”

The diner ate his meal. As he was paying the waiter, he commented, “Forgive the intrusion, but do you know that you have a string hanging from your fly?”

The waiter replied, “Yes, we all do. Seems that the same efficiency expert determined that we spend too much time washing our hands after using the men’s room. So, the other end of that string is tied to my penis. When I need to go, I simply pull the string to pull out my penis, go, and return to work. Having never touched myself, there is no need to wash my hands. Saves a lot of time.”

Wait a minute,” said the diner, “how do you get your penis back in your pants?”

“Well, I don’t know about the other guys, but I use the spoon.”

Interesting Fact: The first diner was created in 1872, by a man named Walter Scott. He decided to sell food out of a horse-pulled wagon to employees of the Providence Journal, in Providence, Rhode Island. Scott’s diner can be considered the first diner with “walk up” windows that were located on each side of the wagon. Commercial production of lunch wagons began in Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1887, by Thomas Buckley. Buckley was very successful and became known for his “White House Cafe” wagons. Charles Palmer received the first patent (1893) for the diner, which he billed as a “Night-Lunch Wagon.” He built his “fancy night cafes” and “night lunch wagons” in the Worcester area until 1901. ( https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diner )



Style Is Away To Say Who You Are Without Having To Speak

October 23, 2015 — 4 Comments

the walk

F/ 5.3, 1/60, ISO 320.

Day 296 / 365

I’ve never understood the fashion industry, those people are so clothes minded.

Interesting Fact:  The first official Fashion Week started in 1943 in New York. Its main purpose was to distract the attention away from French fashion during World War II and kickstart the way for American designers. ( http://www.younghollywood.com/scene/15-amazing-fashion-facts.html )

Come On, Ride The Train, It’s The Choo Choo Train

October 22, 2015 — 8 Comments

train tracks

F/5.6, 1/20, ISO 500.

Day 295 / 365

Why is the railroad angry?

Because people are always crossing it!

Interesting Fact: The streets of New York were very crowded in the late 1800s. Inventor Alfred Ely Beach wanted to build a train underground. The government said no. So, he built it in secret, digging out of the rented basement of an apartment store. His subway opened in 1870. ( http://easyscienceforkids.com/all-about-trains/ )