3 Parks 1 Day! 10 hours! WooHoo!

Not bad for an experienced couple – we fell in love in the Magic Kingdom back in 1973, honeymooned at Disney in 1974 and celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary in 2014 at Disney! I believe Carol and I have bankrolled a few Disney movies over the years with what we’ve spent – worth every penny!

Some additional rescued images from my dead hp laptop –

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At EPCOT for only one reason… 

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The “Tower that Carol will never ride” at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

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Disney’s forgotten park – Hollywood Studios.

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Not quite NYC.

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My Carol ^.^

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Chris’ new favorite throwback WDW jacket from the 1970s!

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Gotta have a Disney door!

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Our daughter always had to test the paint to see if it was wet! 2 cute!

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Ye be Pirates!!!

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The hat’s gone now!

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Slick ride!

Adios Disney’s Hollywood Studios!

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Monorail to the MK!

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Next stop the Magic Kingdom!

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How awesome!

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Gotta see Jack… that’s Captain Jack Sparrow if you please.

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Savvy

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At the Whispering Canyon Cafe at the Wilderness Lodge.

We’re done for that day!!! More Disney soon.

Camera: Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W170

Thanks – Chris and Carol

Finding the Magic Kingdom!

While recovering some lost images from my now deceased hp laptop, I came across these pics that I’m somewhat proud of. Why? Because taking pictures in Disney World is not easy. How many times can you take the same shot over and over? How do you look at something that you’ve seen hundreds of times and still find an interesting point of view? How do you make the thousands of people “go away”?

Here’s some examples –

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Cindy’s Castle from behind. A tight crop in the camera while pointing it nearly straight up with a wide angle lens. A dramatic sky helps too.

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No peeps view! I had to wait until the last person cleared the bridge. I like the sky in this one too and it’s shot from a Tomorrowland viewpoint.

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While driving (slowly) I held the camera out the driver’s side window… no they wouldn’t let me get out of the car to take this shot. How many times have I driven under that sign and wanted to take a picture???

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Another tight crop in the camera while holding the camera over my head to make the people go away. Gorgeous day too!

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Hi Megan!!!

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Green means we’re in!

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Welcome!

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Crazy contrast! And yes the sky was that blue!!!

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Not so haunting.

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Yes it is – but an expensive one.

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I’m thinking “UP”!

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We’ve always seen a face.

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Almost golden.

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Time to go…

Thanks for hanging with us!

Camera: Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W170

Chris and Carol

Yashica’s ‘Sailor Boy’ – 1962

Yashica’s advertising figurine the ‘Sailor Boy’ first appeared in 1962 – closely associated with the launch of Yashica’s J-3 35mm single-lens reflex camera. It was made for Yashica by Modern Plastics of Japan and was produced in a variety of sizes – from a 20cm shop and dealer display model down to this little 10cm guy.

This one ⇓ came to our collection from Germany and man was he a dirty guy!

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Covered with a coat of nicotine and grime, he looked like he was in a bar room fight! But he has a good casting and the paint looks good. Notice how grungy his hat is.

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Since he was covered with a thin film of nicotine he was sticky!

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Looks like he has a black eye!

After some restoration work in the studio, he’s looking ⇓ much better and brighter.

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Nice and shiny! Still a hint of a black smudge near his right eye.

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His hat is white again. If you look to collect one, be sure to look closely at the hat. Often the casting will be a bit porous there and show some pitting. This one is nice and smooth.

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The manufacturer’s marks on the bottom. The round spot was meant to insert a small magnet so as to keep him in his place.

Made in Japan by Modern Plastics for Yashica. He’s never been given an official name from Yashica so we’ve always called him ‘Sailor Boy’ for obvious reasons. Some of the figurines will have ‘Yashica’ in katakana characters on the hat. We don’t have one like that – yet.

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The 20cm shop model with the J-3. The eyelashes are different on the larger models otherwise they’re the same.

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Not our collection! Wish it was! There is one missing – a 10 cm ‘Sailor Boy’ with green shoes otherwise this collection is complete. Notice the large doll on the back left does not have Yashica on his hat but does have green shoes. The one with the camera was released for the launch of the Yashica Electro 35 and as best as I can tell he’s modeled after Wee Willie Winkie from the Scottish nursery rhyme. These are on display at a Tokyo store that specializes in collectible figurines and dolls.

Thanks for your visit! And yes, we take donations of unwanted ‘Sailor Boys’!!! JK

Camera: Fujifilm FinePix S9900W

Chris

Fort Clinch State Park – Florida

Fort Clinch State Park is a beautiful 1,400 acre park on the extreme northeastern tip of Amelia Island. The fort makes up only one small part of this diverse and ecologically important park – here the old Florida can be appreciated for its tall sand dunes covered with a coastal maritime forest. More can be found https://www.floridastateparks.org/park/Fort-Clinch

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Beautiful gopher tortoises roam the dunes at will. Here this one was at the base of one of the fort’s brick walls.

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Beautiful animals and fun to watch.

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Along the Atlantic Ocean coast of the park.

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Half mile walking and fishing pier – severely damaged by Hurricane Matthew last October 7, 2016.

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Osprey keeping a watchful eye on me and the ocean.

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At the end of the fishing pier. A jetty continues out farther into the ocean. It’s a great place to do some wave watching and capturing some great cloud formations.

It’s well worth your time to visit the park – between the ocean access and the St. Marys river access is a wonderful coastal forest and of course, the fort.

Thanks for your visit!

Camera: Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W170

Chris & Carol

Update on the West Mims Wildfire at the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge

The wildfire which was sparked by a lightning strike in the refuge on April 6, is still out of control and is growing. As of today, the fire has consumed nearly 130,000 acres of the Wildlife Refuge which is located along the Georgia-Florida border in southeastern Georgia. The last visible satellite image for today clearly shows the extensive smoke plume streaming to the southeast across much of northeast Florida and out over the Atlantic Ocean.

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Visible satellite image from May 8, 2017

Compare this image from today with the image from Saturday when the low level winds were much stronger.

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Stronger winds produced a much longer smoke plume.

Conditions are favorable for the wildfire to continue in the short term as hot, dry weather will continue for the remainder of the week. At this point in time, the only way for the wildfire to be extinguished is by a long soaking rain event such as with a tropical wave, storm or hurricane.

Chris

 

Mets vs Braves – July 2009

While downloading some forgotten images that were stored on my busted hp laptop, we came across these pics from a trip to see the Atlanta Braves take on our New York Mets at Turner Field in Atlanta. It was an early start Sunday night game that began at 6PM on ESPN.

Atlanta, Georgia on July 9th at 6PM – should have been nuclear hot out but it wasn’t. We caught a break! But the Mets didn’t!

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Standing in the parking lot of Turner Field where the Fulton County Stadium used to be. My son, T.J. is standing near the original outfield wall where Hank Aaron hit his historic home run.

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Of course starting in 2017, the Braves no longer play at Turner Field. They only played there for 20 years before moving to SunTrust Part on the northside of Atlanta.

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One of the first sights of Turner field when you first walk in.

 

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‘Met Killer’ and Braves great Chipper Jones #10 at the plate in the first inning. The Mets great David Wright #5 is just visible in the upper left of the image playing third base.

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Good sized crowd for the ESPN Sunday Night game.

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Miss Jackie – long time usher for the Braves works in the stands behind home plate. A super lady and friendly to smiling Mets fans too!

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Me and Miss Jackie pose for a pic after the Braves beat my Mets, 7-1.

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My guy Daniel Murphy #28 of the New York Mets.

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Last sight of Turner Field for us as we didn’t get a chance to go back before the Braves moved on.

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Popular one time Brave, Jeff Francoeur #12 at the plate in his first appearance back in Atlanta as a Met.

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Ah yes… the 1969 Atlanta Braves. The team the Mets beat in 3 straight games in 1969 to win the National League Pennant and then go on to win the World Series against the Baltimore Orioles.

Thanks for your visit!

Camera: Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W170

Chris and T.J.

 

Sukoshi – Our Cat

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Always the hardest of our 3 cats to photograph. She is somewhat of a rescue kitty and is part squirrel and feral moma. JK…

Here is one of the few times in her life she’s not running from the camera. Cute kitty.

Camera: Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W170

Chris