Photo 365 - Day 88 (Ladybug Graveyard)

Day 88 (September 30th, 2010)
Title: Ladybug Graveyard


Clearly, some people need entirely different hobbies.  I saw this "lovely" exhibit at the San Francisco Academy of Science (kick booty level 9! - Go there!).  Now, while its creepy factor might be a tad high, the really amusing part was this was on the wall leading into a "Global Warming" exhibit for kids. Now, I should preface this by saying, the full sized exhibit of this "graveyard" is a triptych (3 framed boxes), with each box being 3 foot x 5 foot. 

I can just imagine little Suzy walking towards a giant room with lots of fun interactive exhibits and ready to learn all about global warming!  Then, just as she turns the corner to the happy times, she sees 45 feet of small, cute, ladybugs speared to the wall.  Each little ladybug lovingly spiked to the field with their own individual spear.

Yeah, good times for the kids...

Ticket to CalAcademy - $25.00
Kids ticket to CalAcademy - $18.00
Micro-small bottle of water - $15.00
Therapy for little Suzy - $4500.00
Years of mental trauma - Priceless.

Enjoy!

Photo 365 - Day 87 (de Young)

Day 87 (September 29th, 2010)
Title: de Young


I shot this on our trip to the de Young (a great museum in SF - highly recommended!), to see the Birth of Impressionism exhibit.  Firstly, it was a MAD HOUSE.  I had never been in a museum with so many people.  They made people queue up in groups of 50-60, then ushered them into small rooms to look at the pictures for approximately 12 nanoseconds.  After which, you would be ushered into the next small room to "experience the grandeur of Monet, Renoir, and Manet." 


Clearly basking in the glory of the art and beauty could have been hazardous, because by the time my eyes focused on a painting and I nearly was able to actually discern a shape of so, a person, house, or goat, we were shuffled into another room of beauty and amazement. 


Being tall, I was able to actually see some of the paintings well enough that I actually got to say "Wow, that Monet was really... OUCH, stop prodding me with that stick!  I'm moving!"


It was a lovely experience.


Enjoy


Ps: It actually WAS a lot of fun - the painting were amazing.  If you have a chance go to go the current Post-Impressionist Masterpieces exhibit, I would highly recommend it.

Photo 365 - Day 86 (Duck Lips)

Day 86 (September 28th, 2010)
Title: Duck Lips

This photo goes with yesterdays duck picture.  After watching the duck looking all majestic and "duck-like", I saw him actually drinking!  I had never see a duck just drink before... Perhaps he was on a break from all his hard duck-work and was just parched. Either way, I thought it was cute and I just kept watching him till he did it again - then attack of the 7 fps (frame per second) camera! And in the end, I got it; evidence of duck lips! 

Enjoy!

Photo 365 - Day 85 (Duck Reflection)

Day 85 (September 27th, 2010)
Title: Duck Reflection

When I saw this duck, looking at his reflection (course, I'm not really sure he is doing that), I was reminded by of the story, The Ugly Duckling by Hans Christian Anderson.  Basically, the story goes: Duck, born looking like it fell out of the storks basket a few hundred feet up, gets picked on by other ducks.  He decides he's had enough, he learns Duck-Fu, and the next time the kids try and mess with him he was going to go all "medieval" on them.  But, through his training he learns that he does not need to beat them up because they are all superficial, materialistic, self-centered egotist ducks.  UD (as his friends call him now), learns to find inner-peace, gets a masters degree in both electrical engineering and architecture so he can build climate controlled DuckMansions(TM), so he and his friends don't have to fly South for the winter.  Now, he and his other "ugly" friends laugh and mock those other "pretty" ducks that have to fly south, while they drink Barcardi and play shuffleboard. 

And he lived happily ever after. 

Hans was a bit of a messed up writer. 

Photo 365 - Day 84 (Boat Race)

Day 84 (September 26th, 2010)
Title: Boat Race

I saw these boats just skimming along the water and I really loved the colors (is also turned out that the trees were sporting some nice colors as well, so double bonus!).  I'm not sure what kind of boats these are (I'm sure there is some cool nautical term for them, rather than - Small one-manned sail boat), but watching I was reminded of kids who build "wooden block racers" and spent so much time painting and customizing them before racing them (for what turned about to be like 30 seconds).  I'm picturing these guys doing the same thing: spending weekend tuning and tweaking the boats, getting the sail just right, finding the best widget to use, so in the end they can race for perhaps an hour.  Then, go home and start again. 

It kinda exemplifies the quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson: "Life is a journey, not a destination" (or perhaps finish line, in this case).

Enjoy!

Photo 365 - Day 83 (Chillin' By The Pool - Otter Style)

Day 83 (September 25th, 2010)
Title: Chillin' By The Pool - Otter Style.


Cutest otter ever, just chillin' by the pool.  Sitting in, what can only be considered a otter-version of a Lazy-Boy (Lazy-Ott?), he gave me a look of: Yeah, you *wish* you were cool enough to do this job.


I shot this will a small digital camera, so the quality is a bit less than I would like, but sometimes its better to get a fuzzy shot than no shot at all! 


Enjoy!

Photo 365 - Day 82 (Tall Tree)

Day 82 (September 24th, 2010)
Title: Tall Tree

I'm finally not sick anymore!  I know I was out of commission for awhile there, but I'm hoping to get back on track! 

This photo is from the Codornices Park in Berkeley CA (near the Berkeley Rose Garden).  I was a nice picnic day, and we decided to do a little walking.  These giant trees were kind enough to provide us some cool shade, so I promised them I'd get them on the Internet!  

F/10.0
1/200
27mm

Enjoy!