Last on the Card, April 2022

Bushboy’s Last Photo on the Card allows self to share one more photo from the Titanic Belfast Museum, which she visited yesterday. It was an unexpectedly emotional experience.

There is a very swank hotel next to the museum. Yesterday afternoon, the hotel’s formal dining room was all decked out for a wedding reception. In the lobby were lovingly restored photographs of the ship at launch. You’d think the associations would keep people from wanting to get married there, but the opposite seems to be the case.

This ship’s model was on the second floor, away from the crowds. (The museum got very, very crowded mid-afternoon, at which point self put on her mask. People were staring. But self would rather be safe than sorry.)

Cee’s Midweek Madness Photo Challenge (CMMC) — Pick a Topic from Cee’s Photo

Here’s the link to Cee’s photo. Possible topics: mother, bigger than life, purple, cups, halloween, club, bricks, red, child, scarecrow, autumn, table, door, sign, brown, mask, water bottle, outdoors, etc.

Self’s photo is of a woman made out of coffee cans, riding on an exercise bicycle.

Isadore Weber’s “Can-Can”, at Baltimore’s Visionary Art Museum

Last on the Card, September 2021

Thanks, bushboys world, for hosting the Last Photo on the Card photo challenge.

I’ve been taking more pics with my cell these days. The last pic I took with my Nikon coolpix on September 23, 2021:

“Pink Over Red”: Mark Rothko, American, born Latvia (1903 – 1970), Stanford’s Anderson Collection

Stanford’s Anderson Collection had re-opened to the public, the day before. It so happened that Sept. 22 was also Dear Departed Mum’s birthday; she would have been 86. So, I was full of FEELZ when I stumbled across this Rothko.

Stay tuned, dear blog readers. Stay tuned.

A Photo A Week Challenge: Unedited

Love this photo challenge from Nancy Merrill’s A Photo a Week.

tbh, ALL self’s shots are unedited. She takes all her pictures on the fly.

Here are a few shots she took last week at the Legion of Honor. She went to see the exhibit Last Supper at Pompeii. On the way in, her attention was captured by these Wangechi Mutu sculptures, and there was no way to take pictures of those without including the bystanders. Not the ideal, but here they are anyway. The man in the blue jacket has a starring role:

Stay cool, dear blog readers. Stay cool.

792 British Bombers

Really, WordPress? REALLY? Whole paragraphs of text disappeared just now!

Inferno, p. 78: The first plane to leave the ground, destination Hamburg, was “Sergeant P. Moseley’s Stirling of 74 (New Zealand) Squadron at 9:45 p.m.”

Lowe then goes on to describe each type of plane involved in the attack (Self absolutely loves these details):

The “Short Stirling” was a “gentleman’s aircraft” because “it was easy to handle, and capable of absorbing an enormous amount of punishment before it succumbed to flak or fighter fire . . . it was also relatively easy to escape from — which was fortunate, because its lamentable ceiling of only 16,000 feet made it the first target of all the German flak batteries.”

There was even a plane “made only of plywood”: the De Havilland Mosquito. It had “no defensive armament whatsoever but these . . . were so fast, and were capable of flying at such extreme altitudes, that they were in fact virtually untouchable.” There were eleven Mosquitos that took off with the main bombing force: “All of them would return to England the next morning, completely unscathed.”

The Rolls Royce of aerial bombers was the Avro Lancaster: “a huge, sleek machine capable of flying to Berlin and back laden with over six tons of bombs . . . Four Rolls Royce Merlin engines along its wings could carry it to a height of 22,000 feet and above, and at speeds of 226 mph.”

In fact, she has seen this engine. Four years ago, she went to London’s Imperial War Museum for the first time: Polished and gleaming, in its own display case on the ground floor, was a Merlin engine. At the time, she wondered why an airplane engine — even one made by Rolls Royce — deserved its own display case. Now she knows.

Stay cool, dear blog readers. Stay cool.

Water Water Everywhere (WWE) Challenge: California Academy of Science

Thought self had come to the end of her California Academy of Sciences archive? NOT!

For the Water Water Everywhere (WWE) Challenge by Jez, here are some shots she took from her visit a month ago:

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The Aquarium, on the lower level, was fabulous.

Self was also fascinated by the tide pool that wraps around the Rain Forest exhibit.

Stay safe, dear blog readers. Stay safe.

One Word Sunday Challenge: MOBILE/MOBIL

The theme for this week’s One Word Sunday Challenge is MOBILE/MOBIL.

Without further ado, her mobile/mobil pictures:

(1) Bird in flight

(2) Alexander Calder mobiles in the recent Calder/Picasso exhibit at the de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park

Stay safe, dear blog readers. Stay safe.

Life in Colour: Silver

Self has many white flowers, so for this challenge, hosted by Jude on Travel World Blog, she will push herself to look for SILVER:

• Silver is a precious metal, indicating wealth. “Born with a silver spoon in your mouth”. A cool colour. Sparkling silver water. The light of the moon. It represents feminine energy, pure, emotional and sensitive.

Her MacBook Air is silver. She’s had three MacBook Airs, but this one she’s had the longest (five years)

Here is Alexander Calder’s “Fish.” Self was lucky enough to attend the Picasso/Calder exhibit at the de Young Museum in March, almost as soon as it re-opened:

March was also when self took her first road trip post-pandemic. She went to Sacramento, to visit the Crocker. She stayed in an Airbnb in an old house that used to be a laundry. For reading material (and she ALWAYS) has reading material, she brought Douglas Stuart’s novel, Shuggie Bain. The room she stayed in was white, the bedspread was white, and the book had a black-and-white (well, more like silver) cover.

Stay safe, dear blog readers. Stay safe.

Travel With Intent’s One Word Sunday Challenge: POINT

It is so much fun joining photo challenges. Here’s another one, from the blog Travel With Intent: the One Word Sunday Challenge.

As this week’s challenge is POINT, self went happily through her archives to look for different examples of pointing.

Below, an Indonesian Bis Pole in the lobby of the Crocker in Sacramento. These poles are carved to resemble humans or animals. Self thinks the profile belongs to a horse.

Another from the Crocker Museum! This one’s called Harbor Seal (Bronze, by Beniamino Bufano, American, 1898 – 1970)

Final image from the Crocker: David Ligare’s Landscape with an Archer (oil on canvas), showing an archer shooting an arrow into the sky.

April 25 BRIGHT SQUARES

Self hasn’t missed a day in April! Here’s how to join:

Post anything that’s

sparkling, polished, shining, clever, cheerful, colourful, astute, brilliant, sunny, glorious, translucent, distinct and clear

But whatever you post has to be in the shape of a square. Get inspired by the galleries on The Life of B.

Today, a gallery of Calders from the Calder/Picasso exhibit at the de Young Museum, Golden Gate Park. Photo # 3 is Calder’s homage to Josephine Baker. LOOOVE the fish.

’twas a memorable exhibit. Going on at the same time as the Frida Kahlo.

Stay safe, dear blog readers. Stay safe.