MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM HOLLYWOOD!!!

Well everyone, I'm off to work for the rest of the year, so this will be my last post until 2011! Thanks for taking the time to read my blog. I hope you've enjoyed my photos/editorials, and hope to see you all again next year. Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year!!!

COOL SHADOW

Shadow shots are pretty tough to take since the camera has no "solid" to focus on. So, when I get a good one, it is one of those "I can't believe I got it" shots to me. Here's a shot I got when I was riding in back and commuting up to Newark, NJ (EWR), a couple of weeks ago.

INCREDIBLE SUNSET

Sometimes you just know there has to be a God..........especially when you see a sight like this! Click on the photo!

ARUBAN SUNSET

One of the things I love about going to Aruba, is that we are put up at a hotel that has flamingos on its private island. These are fascinating birds and make for some great photos. I brag about my Nikon 8800 a lot, and you can see from this photo why! I use no "photo shop" or tricks to get a shot like this..........just point and shoot! Sometimes I can't believe the shots that camera takes for me. Sure makes picture taking easy!

ANTIGUA SUNSET

Three years ago I had the opportunity to get an overnight in Antigua (ANU). Our hotel just happened to be on the beach by the annual boat sail-in. Here's an evening shot I took. Their were probably 500 sailboats in the bay, and the next morning when I woke up, their were approximately five or so left.

PUSHBACK IN LOS CABOS, MEXICO

When we push back in foreign countries, it's usually quite a sight. Los Cabos (SJD), Mexico, is no exception. Here's a "reflection" shot of us getting ready to start our flight back to Newark (EWR). Every attendant has their vest on, and when we start the actual push back, everyone will be in their own place, usually lined up as a sign of "respect" and "good voyage" to everyone. It's pretty neat!

NEWARK SUNRISE

Seems a lot of folks like my "sunrises/sunsets", so here's a picture I took a while back of an incredible sunrise in NYC. I'm surprised at how well my camera is able to block the glare from the windows of the terminal since that's where I'm shooting from. I have to tell you, the NIKON 8800 that I use is one great camera! With it, even I can get a good photo every now and then!

SAILBOAT RACING IN MIAMI!

Decided to go to the beach today for a few hours and was surprised to see a major sailboat race in progress. Their were sailboats from all over the world...........and it was pretty cool to watch their sails billow out as they turned into the wind. I'm always amazed how those things can actually move into the wind. But it looks like the beach weather is done for a few days..........back to 38 degrees tonight! BRRRRRR*.........................(*but no snow!!!!!) ;-)

UP CLOSE and PERSONAL WITH A B747

During my recent trip to St Maarten (SXM), I observed a few "uninformed" individuals doing the "let's stand behind the airplane and see what it feels like" routine. Unfortunately, the B747 causes quite a bit more "storm" than most people realize. Here's a lady getting the sandblasting of her life. I think she won't do this again, but that's just my feeling. Needless to say, she was pretty shook up after this little event. Just another reason I love SXM!!!!! Always an adventure! I've attached the "culprit" and the "victim"!!! :-)

SKYWRITING GONE BANANAS

Yesterday while I was relaxing, I got a call from my girlfriend, Maria, and she told me to go check out the skywriting outside our home. Needless to say, someone paid a LOT of money for nothing. Seems the higher level winds were so strong, that the letters were literally disappearing before they were finished. So, what do you think of this guys skywriting? Looks like he needs a lesson in "penmanship". LOL

SUNSET IN SXM

Well, finally back from my hiatus................:-) Actually got an SXM (St. Maarten) trip a couple of days ago, and it worked me right up to my vacation! Wow, how cool is that? Anyways, here's a shot I took of the sun setting. The sky looked like it was on fire. Absolutely gorgeous! Any question of why I'd like to retire in SXM??? Ahhhhh, the beautiful sunsets just make it that much more enticing!

MAGIC AT A CASTLE

When I looked out the window of my hotel in Los Angeles, I not only saw the "HOLLYWOOD" sign, but a strange and delightful looking building that caught my eye. I took my camera, zoomed in on it, and it my surprise, it was the world famous "Magic Castle". As a magician, I was excited to not only finally find this place, but to find out it was only a three minute walk from my hotel! The Magic Castle is like the "holy grail" of magic. Magicians from all over the world come to perform there, and many start their careers in this quaint building. I went over and spoke to some of the people working there and found out how I might be able to get the opportunity to enter this "house of magic". I'll let you know if I ever get in...... ;-) (click on the photo to enlarge it)

VIEW FROM THE HOTEL

Many of you know that I reside in Hollywood, Florida, so it was only fair that I took a photo of the view outside my hotel window during my recent layover in Los Angeles (LAX). I can't seem to get away from "Hollywood"! LOL Even though the van ride was around 45 minutes, we got to stay right next to Hollywood Boulevard, and had a great view of the HOLLYWOOD sign. Leaving the hotel we saw Matt Roloff (the father in the Little People reality show) I'll post a photo of another "magical" hot spot tomorrow.

HIGH SCHOOL FRIEND REUNION

Last week during my trip to Seattle (SEA), I was able to link up with one of my high school classmates, Serena Blach. The last time I saw Serena was at our 30th high school class reunion in Roswell, NM, back in 2006. It was great to rehash old high school memories. But, the biggest part of our breakfast conversation was the winning of the Kentucky Derby last year by her dad's horse, "Mine that Bird"............a 50-1 long shot! The stories she told me about the derby, preparing for it, and the actual race were great........and downright hilarious. What a great thing to experience! And best of all, her dad had signed a photo to me personally from that great day which she had been holding for the past year. Thanks for the photo and wonderful get together Serena. Hopefully it'll be less than four years till our next visit.

GOING FAST>>>>>VERY FAST!!!

Every now and then the winds and weather work together to make for a great FAST ride. Here's a shot showing just that! Our "ground speed" is showing 645 knots which computes to 743 miles per hour! You'll notice the airspeed indicator to the right in the photo showing approximately 295 KIAS (knots indicated airspeed). Due to the density of the air, strong tailwind, and perfect temperatures, we had a great ride on our arrival into Newark (EWR) at a blazing speed.......one which most people will never experience. We were covering over 12.4 miles a minute, or one mile every 4.9 seconds! Fortunately, it feels no different going fast or slow, so the passengers notice nothing.............except an extremely early arrival! Pretty neat, eh?

WATER AND OIL DON'T MIX????

Often we get asked what all the "circles" are when we're flying over certain areas of the country (they're crop circles, NOT alien forms). I found this particular area to be a bit interesting.......especially with all the crop circles AND oil wells intermingled. Yep, it seems that the areas that are being irrigated are filled with oil wells. I guess oil and water do mix!

ANTIGUA SUNSET

A couple of years ago I happened to be in Antigua (ANU), when the annual boat "sail in" occurred. As the sun was setting, I was able to capture some nice images of the boats as they bobbed around in the water by the hotel. When I went to sleep that night, their must have been 500 boats in the bay, but when I woke up the next morning, only three or four remained. What a life............boating from island to island..........unfortunately, when I go boating, I spend more time "feeding the fish" (if you know what I mean), than I do enjoying the boat ride. Good thing I fly planes........it's easier on the stomach!!!!!

JET SHADOW

Jet shadows are rather hard to take since the clouds generally don't offer a "solid" background for the camera to focus on. Every now and then I luck out and get one of those shots that I so desperately try to take. Here's a shot of a B-737 just before we enter the clouds. I would say that for every 100 shots I take of something like this, only one or two will even come close to being a keeper. Hope you like the shot.
(For those of you who know "positions" in the cockpit, I was a copilot when I took this picture, hence the view you see. ;-) ).

IAH Sunset photo

Here's a shot I dug up from a while back. I was in the pilot weather room in Houston (IAH), and noticed a beautiful sunset. Hard to photograph through the window, but the shot seemed okay..........so here it is. Sometimes you just know there is a GOD!

A CALMING PHOTO

A know a lot of Continental employees are in a state of disbelief that our company was effectively "swept away" over the past few days. I decided to post a photo that I felt was a bit moving as we see our history "set" in front of us......but rest assured, it went away beautifully! Here's to CONTINENTAL!!! THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES!

WOMAN BUS DRIVER????

So I took this photo of a bunch of school buses and noticed that only ONE was parked backwards. From logic and deductive reasoning, I came to the conclusion that it had to be a woman driver. Just a man's intuition.......................LOL Want to bet I was right, or ever better than that, you want to bet she didn't even notice????? ;-)

LAST FLIGHT FOR CAL

Well, yesterday was "officially" my last flight as a pilot for CAL. It was a sad day for me. After 12 years of flying with a great company, we're being "merged" on the 1st of October. I'm on vacation till the 4th of October, so I'll miss the transition day. Oh well, I'd rather be on the beach anyway..........;-) Here's a shot of me in Las Vegas before my last flight.

THE RUSSIANS IN MEXICO

While in Mexico City two weeks ago, I noticed a few Russian aircraft that are used by the Mexican Navy. Seems interesting that they would use such outdated, LOUD, and unreliable aircraft in their fleet. We used to be briefed on the Hip helicopter when I was in the USAF by our security teams. My how times have changed.................

BERMUDA..........SHORTS

Last week while on my quick turn to Bermuda ((BDA).........and pre-hurricane), I snapped this quick shot of the airport terminal. I found it kind of funny that they put a pink pair of "Bermuda Shorts" above the name of the terminal. The folks are so nice there, but talk about expensive......I go broke just looking at that place.......;-)

OLD CONTINENTAL B737 in MEXICO

A week ago during my trip to Mexico City, (MEX), we noticed an old Continental B737 that had been apparently purchased by someone in Mexico. The paint job was horrible, and the plane just seemed to be wanting someone to care for it. It's sad to see a plane I used to fly looking like it did. Unfortunately, there' plenty more where that one came from. I've seen B-727's in Roswell, NM (my hometown!) that I used to fly all over Europe, being chopped up and sold as scrap. It leaves a sick feeling in my stomach to see these reliable planes put down. But life goes on..................

9/11 SUPPORT AIRCRAFT

Finally home for a few days................so I'll post some of the things I've encountered over the past few weeks. On 9-12, I was departing Newark (EWR), and noticed a few F-16's on standby in case anything "fishy" was spotted flying around NYC on 9-11. At least we're paying attention to the threat for a change. I think it'd take a minute or so for these bad boys to get to NYC from Newark. At least it's nice to see our military protecting us in THIS country instead of 10,000 miles away over a desert. Click on the photo to enlarge it.

INTERESTING CLOUD FORMATION

Last week while flying to Bermuda, I noticed a "strange" looking cloud. This single cloud literally spanned hundreds of miles, but looked like a rope from our altitude. It extended as far as you could see on both sides of the plane. This shot was taken the day after hurricane Earl passed along the eastern seaboard. Interesting cloud to say the least. Been out flying the past week and heading out again today after one day of R and R. Vacation next week, so I'll post when I get back.

THUNDERSTORM OVER CUBA

Well, I've been flying a lot lately and haven't had time to update my blog. Home for one day, and then back up to Newark again for a few more days, so here's an update for you. My last trip was to Panama City, Panama (PTY). On the way back to Newark, we flew over Cuba and saw some incredible thunderstorms. Here's a shot of one that has a downpour in progress. It's not often we see thunderstorms this intense, but when we do, I try to have my camera ready.

HOUSTON INTERCONTINENTAL from the AIR

Airports just seem to keep getting bigger and bigger. The amount of real estate they take up is immense. What seems to be incredible is that when we change planes on a 45 minute turn, we usually end up having to go (walk) from one end of the terminal to the other. You can see from this photo of Houston Intercontinental Airport, that we have a LONG walk ahead of us. What's even more incredible is the number of pilots we have that are out of shape in spite of these long brisk walks...........;-) Maybe they should call them "workout ports" since we do see a lot of crew members and passengers running to their gates............ (Can you spot the KLM B747 in the picture????) Click on the photo to enlarge it.

CLEAR WATER IN ST JOHNS

A while back I flew to St Johns, Newfoundland. Upon departing we flew over some incredibly clear water............as you can see from the photo. We're passing through 10,000 feet, yet it seems you can see several hundred feet into the water. I imagine the diving has to be spectacular (if you can stand the cold), especially if you can see that deep from 2 miles up. It's nice to see uncluttered oceans and waterways still exist.

EMPTY BEACHES

Well, it's been a while since I've posted anything. Just got back from being on the road for seven LONG days..........red-eyes and cross country flying.............and it's wearing me out! Was in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, (PUJ) and got a few shots of some gorgeous beaches. The resort we stay at is practically empty. Yes, those few folks out in the water are just about all that's there! The photo says it all...................... Hard to believe there's NEVER anyone at this 5 star resort. Nice..........but desolate. Personally, I prefer my favorite......St. Maarten! Hopefully I'll get back their soon.

OLD TIME AIR CONDITIONING for PLANES

During my recent turn to Nassau, Bahamas (NAS), I got to see an "old time" air conditioning truck parked next to our plane. The air came from a large trailer towed behind the truck, but the air actually went through a large nozzle that ran through the main cab of the truck! Can you imagine how loud this must be? This old vehicle appears to be from the 60's or so, but is still in use. Guess they don't make air conditioning trucks like they used to!!!

LEAVING THE SUN BEHIND

Sometimes when I'm out flying, I think of different shots that would make "interesting" photos. Here's a picture I took recently when we were flying an evening trip from the west coast to the east coast. With the sun setting and night approaching in front of us, we just happened to be in the right spot for an interesting picture. At least I thought it was....... Too bad I couldn't open the window at 35,000 feet.............then it would have been a GREAT shot.....LOL

FOSSIL DRILLER

While visiting the Natural History Museum in Washington, DC, I meandered over to the area where they work on fossils. They had two ladies with super small "jackhammers" working on "releasing" the fossil that was lodged in the rock. I watch for about five minutes and thought these volunteers must be REALLY into this kind of work because it is SLOW and TEDIOUS. I guess the results must be terribly satisfying though.............seeing a dinosaur bone "come to life" before you must be a real thrill. I think I'll stick to flying....:-)

WASHINGTON MONUMENT

Here's a shot I took of the Washington Monument a couple of weeks ago during our trip to our nation's capitol. The sun was starting to set, so it made for a more dramatic photo. This is one tall monument, that's for sure. When someone asked if I wanted to go up to the top of the monument, I just told them I have a better view from my "office" every day!

HUGE HIBISCUS

Finally home for two days, and then back to the work grind again. Sorry for so few posts lately, but I've been on the road quite a bit lately. I'll try and get more up for your enjoyment! Here's a shot I took of my hand next to the largest hibiscus I've ever seen, which I saw during my recent trip to Washington DC's, Smithsonian. Pretty amazing flower, isn't it?

FIRE BOAT!!

Every now and then while at the beach, something unusual comes around and catches my attention. A while back, this "fire boat" showed up about a mile off shore and started doing all sorts of "water dances" with its fire water spouts. It shot water in the air for about five minutes and then sailed away. Pretty neat!

THE DEVIL MADE ME DO IT!!

Every now and then you see something that makes you cringe. This guy was as the beach and you just knew something was up with him and all his tattoos. Yes, I've seen folks with devil tattoos before but this seemed a bit more "obsessive". He even had HORNS tattooed on his forehead. Funny thing was though, was that he had a LOT of people walking down the beach stop to tell him how cool he looked. How welcome do you think this guy would be in church???? Better yet, do you think he might be possessed, and what would mom say if I told her I had a great new friend with some really cool tats? Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Now for the joke of the day: Did you hear about the lady who didn't pay for her exorcism? She got repossessed! :-)

FANCY BIKE RIMS and a CASKET TO BOOT!!

Every Wednesday at the local Hooters here in Hollywood, Florida, hundreds of motorcyclists bring their bikes to chat and "show off" their latest and greatest toys. One particular bike that grabbed my attention was pulling in when Jimmy and I were leaving, and it stuck my interest as a great photo opportunity. The orange lights that lit up the rear wheel chrome rim was pretty cool.......at least in my book. But the casket trailer was a real attention getter. Some people sure spend a lot of time and money on their bikes, but can you imagine pulling your own casket around? What will someone think of next? :-)

THE METAL TREE

Well I'm finally flying again. The first layover on the trip was in our nation's capitol, Washington, DC. My first officer and I decided to go sightseeing and headed out to the Smithsonian and other surrounding museums (all FREE by the way!). They have so many neat things to see, but in the art area, we stumbled upon this gigantic METAL tree made out of steel, pipes, and concrete. It was so neat that we stopped by it on our way coming and going. It literally looked like a dead tree that was coated in chrome. Almost looks like it belongs in the Wizard of Oz!!!

LYCHEES!!

Back in December, my girlfriend and I purchased a home in Hollywood Hills, FL. I was pretty excited to find out that we had a huge lychee tree in the back yard, and that it was a great fruit producer. Unfortunately, we had a bad infestation of a Syrian "leaf notcher" weevil which almost devastated the leaves and blooms. (You can see the leaves are almost destroyed). After looking on the internet for several days, we came to the conclusion that not much was available to destroy these pests. Luckily though, those bugs missed a couple of blooms, and we got to try a few lychee fruits from the tree. Wooohooo!!! Now, if we can just get this tree fixed up for next summers crop...................and hopefully get more than a handful of these great little fruits.

BIKI ON THE BEACH

Well, since I've shown you so many "shots" of guys wearing practically nothing on the beach, I've decided to dig up an "equal opportunity" photo of some gals wearing practically nothing too! Here's one I found..............but you can only see the back since the front had just about as much material!!! I think her friend was thinking "I can't believe she's actually wearing this thing in front of people!!". This biki................as I call it since it's not really a "bikini", had to be a bit uncomfortable, don't you think? Who thinks up these designs?????

PORTLAND, OREGON ARRIVAL

Since I've been home with my arm problems, I've gone through some of my older photos and selected a few for my blog that I thought everyone might like. Here's a shot I took while we were descending into Portland, Oregon (PDX) a few months ago. The sun just happened to be peeking through a cloud layer which I found to be an intriguing shot. Hard to believe something approximately 93 million miles away can produce such an interesting photo!! Isn't Mother Nature grand? (click on the photo to enlarge it)

YOU SEE EVERYTHING AT THE BEACH

As most of you know, I take a lot of photos at the beach..... mostly of people who seem to have no idea they are attracting attention. This guy was walking, or should I say "sashaying" down the beach a while back, totally oblivious to the world. He was wearing long pants, and this goofy headgear which made him look like the monster from the green lagoon. Now why on earth would anyone go walking on the beach looking like this? I guess I must be missing something. (Sorry for the poor picture quality....this guy caught me totally off guard).