Sunday's Silly Sign (Photo) DEC 18, 2011 Please Don't Break !

This Sunday's Silly Sign was discovered when I went to the men's room to ahem, ahum, fix my hair at one of the finer drinking establishments in town.

This Please Don't Break sign,

I'm not sure if it was installed too early, or too late.

But, I thought it kinda added to the atmosphere of the joint.

I went back and grabbed my camera to snap this photo.

There doesn't appear to be any copyright or trademark visible anywhere.

So, feel free to borrow the idea if you ever want to add some class to your powder room !

SEE MORE SUNDAY'S SILLY SIGNS IN THE DOOZIES

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Pretty Girl in a Tree and a Balanced Rock (Photos)

Sometimes my busy schedule has me stumbling upon the most unusual photographic subjects.

Today was one of those days. 

I'm a little bit pressed for time, right now so, this won't be my usual blog post.

Here's a photo of a pretty girl I met in a tree in Naha Okinawa, Japan on my way to a Chinese Garden.

Of course, I asked permission to shoot her.  She'll get the best photo. You know.

Don't ask me how this stuff happens.  A girl was sitting in a tree with an Apple laptop.

  And, within the hour, I ran across this balancing rock so, I shot it, too.

There's really no time for me to tell you much more because ahem, ahum, I'm really busy right now. 

Just this pretty girl sitting in a tree and the balancing rock caught my eye and I shot them.

If you were me, what would you have done?

Then and Now: An Okinawan Sweetheart (Photos)

Yup, I got her permission.  Nope, I ain't givin her name away.

Here is a photo of this gal, I met up in Bise Okinawa, Japan.

It was taken, probably, before colored film became popular and maybe, before it was even invented.

Let's just say this picture is from way back then.

And here's a photo of the little sweetheart now.

You know, a gentleman doesn't ask a lady her age.  So, I did.

But, I aint givin that away, either.

Let's just say somewhere around ahem, ahum, not any younger than me.

See the island in this photo?

That'd be IeShima.  It's the island I went to for the Easter Lily Festival.

The gal in the photos above modeled for an airline poster with that island in the background.

That was way back then.  She promised to go and strike the same pose for me at the same location for a Then and Now Series I'm putting together.  Wouldn't that be cool?

Whaddya Think I Called Her A Sweetheart For?

More Then and Now Photos

Photo Essay: Brilliant Colors at Tanabata Festival in Okinawa

Riding around on the southern end of Okinawa, Japan today I looked out my window as Doc Graff of ISLAND PEOPLE PORTRAITS FAME was negotiating the curves and spotted these bright colored things hanging from trees.  I don't think he saw them.  So, I yelled out, "What the Frapachino was that"?  

Er, it was something along those lines to get his attention off the highway.

We made a couple of u-turns to get a closer look and some people who had just arrived and parked their cars invited us on in to take some photos. They mentioned that it was "Tanabata".

Some of my brain cells recognized the word Tanabata but, I wasn't sure what it meant.  I didn't want to crash somebody's funeral, wedding, childbirth or 50th anniversary party with my camera so, I looked the word up in my cell phone dictionary.  It's some sort of Star Festival.  Now, I remember.

Look at the decorations hanging from the trees.  There could be a thousand of them covering acres of land.

There were paper chains, cranes, stars,  gift-wrapped boxes, streamers and DVDs hanging from the trees!

This is the kind of stuff I love taking photos of even if the sun is burning the highlights out of the pictures and the wind won't let anything stand still.  I was having a blast and forgot Doc was with me, somewhere.

He had wandered up to the house of this private property we were on and met the gal who made all these decorations.  One Okinawan gal did it all by herself and she's been hanging these brilliant, handmade decorations in her yard for over twenty years.  What a sweetheart !

In Japan it's not rude to ask someone their age.  When  I asked she (ahem) was a bit senior to me.  So, when she asked my age (ahum) I lied and told her I'm 89.  That's just to seem polite.

She was a doll.  Even went in her house and brought out some huge glasses of iced coffee for Doc and I. 

I would have hugged her but, I was sweating like a pig and smelled a lot worse.

There are all sorts of versions on the history of Tanabata.  It is celebrated in China and Japan under different titles.  I won't stick my neck out and pretend to be an expert on the subject. 

I just know it has something to do with the Milky Way, stars and some guy and gal lovers who only get a chance to visit each other on the seventh day of the seventh month every year.

We chatted awhile and got all the gals at the house laughing, thanked them for everything and headed back up north.  But, the gal who made all these brilliant colored decorations for Tanabata invited us to come back again.  So, next year when I (ahem) turn 90, I think I may visit for another glass of iced coffee and shoot some more photos.

More about Tanabata may be seen at:

MUZA-CHAN'S GATE TO JAPAN

WIKIPEDIA ORG