Last Night's Supermoon -- Animation and a Word About Cats

The Scene at 6:34 PM

 

 

Conveniently located three flights of stairs above my office is the roof of the building.

Moonrise was supposed to happen at 6:18 PM and, I was ready.

About 5:30, I grabbed a tripod and the Pentax, to set them up early.

Looking out to the east, I was disappointed when seeing the thick cloud layer out at sea.

Not used to this location, I wasn't sure, where the moon would appear if, it did at all.

They say, an idle mind is the devil's workshop. That's kind of spooky.

So, when I started thinking about spitting on cats, walking down the street, I had to get busy.

I'm not real fond of stray cats but, don't want cat people getting mad at me.

So, I started shooting buildings, bugs and birds, through 700MM of lens.

Once, I even ran back down the stairs and grabbed some coffee out of my fridge.

When the cats, see me coming, they run, too. I like cat people better than cats.

They are responsible for the design of tuna fish cans, I believe.

Whenever I eat canned tuna, I like to lick the can clean, with my tongue.

If those cans had sharp edges, you could wind-up bleeding all over the place.

The tuna people know, the cat people, would take them to court over bleeding cats.

So, that's why, I think cat people are alright. Still, I'm not crazy about cats.

Back to the Moon

As the sun set behind me, fast moving black clouds, started showing up.

The moon, would appear and disappear several times, during the hour, I was up there.

Nobody wants photos of the full moon, with clouds covering half of it, I'm sure.

Having the camera, locked in position, made creation of this GIF, easy.

Seven images, shot between 6:43 and 6:51, were used to make it.

Then, I saved the supermoon images, I liked best and, threw the other 50 away.

Out in the garden, I placed some leftovers, for the stray cats to eat.

And, called it a day !

Do You Know What Wind Turbines Do ?

Unlike Windmills -- Generate Electricity

 

 

Those old fashioned windmills generated mechanical power.

They were used for pumping water, grinding grain or, running a sawmill.

Turbines use the wind to convert mechanical power into electric power.

One of these gadgets could power your home or, a whole neighborhood.

Electricity coming from a source that doesn't pollute, sounds great, to me.

Somebody Had to Start Complaining

 

 

Just when you think the coal-burning and nuclear plants are done, a problem arises.

The pollution must go on and, miners have to keep on digging.

We won't be able to just use, free wind power.

Somebody discovered that, when birds fly into these wind machines, it kills them !

And, that got a movement started, to quit building wind turbines.

Birds that fly into building windows and walls, get killed, too.

When they fly into the windshield or, any part of an automobile, they crap-out, as well.

Have you heard of anyone trying to stop cars and buildings from being made ?

Why pick on windmills, then ?

Cats Kill More Birds Than Wind Turbines

Our little furry felines kill hundreds of millions a year.

Windows, on homes and businesses, kill 100 million birds annually.

Automobiles, account for 60 million bird casualties each year.

Communication towers, for your mobile phones, kill 40-50 million birds a year.

Wind turbines, account for 10,000 - 40,000 bird deaths annually.

SOURCE: Do wind turbines kill birds?

 People Can't Be Expected to Live Without Some Things

Homes, businesses, cars and cellular phones are like, necessities.

But, cats?  Who needs them?

If you haven't already guessed, I am a dog person.

To be politically correct, cat people are OK, too.

So, I thought about making a phone call, to an imaginary cat person, friend of mine.

That would be a long distance phone call and, I don't hear too well.

Anyway, I figured, I know what she'd say if, I told her about the cats.

She would tell me, there aren't as many wind turbines, as cats, yet.

So, we should wait until we have equal numbers of each, before making judgement.

So, I didn't bother, calling my imaginary cat friend.

And, saved a whole bunch of imaginary money !

Resources:

American Bird Conservancy

American Wind Energy Association

Tree Hugger

Have Some Fun After Your Cat Dies

Here's What We Did

 

 

One day, RyukyuRusty came by with one of those dead cat stories.

Well, there's no sense in crying over dead cats. Get rid of the thing.

Don't get another one, either.  It will die, too.

But, you shouldn't waste the dead cat's food.  Find a hungry cat to give it to.

Bring along a camera and tripod.

Set everything up and wait for some action to happen.

Rusty and the Map It Okinawa dude went climbing trails in the woods.

Sometimes, I find other ways to entertain myself.

Just put the camera on burst mode and fire away.

No animals were harmed in the making of this blog.

And, if that cat would have eaten all that food, it would be no problem.

There was another bag up in the bicycle basket.

If you don't feel like having fun after your cat dies, send the food over my way. 

Auto Awesomenator makes my day !

Japan's Wedding Envelope: An Insider's Tips

In Japan, there are many occassions where a gift of cash is given.  A Japanese wedding is one of them.

Here is a shot of one I scanned this morning while my cameras were sleeping.  I'll probably be doing a series on the money envelopes of Japan, or maybe, an article at POCKET CULTURES
and promise to use the camera instead of scanning, next time around.

The Google Stats Guys keep showing me lots of people are looking at my Japan Insider's Tips so, I decided I'd better hurry up and start putting more stuff in there.  I bought a pile of almost every Japanese envelope you could imagine, just for that purpose and they've been gathering dust waiting for me to shoot them. The Japanese Wedding, first because there's a couple of real doozies I can tell you about these things. 

Like, scanners don't do well copying them.  But, there's more.

The very first wedding I attended in Japan was up in Kyushu.  The bride's father paid my way to spend a week up there so I could help my not-so-much-Japanese-speaking friend translate while he was meeting family and getting hitched.  He was from Ohio, I think, because that's all the Japanese he kept saying.

Being treated like royalty for a whole week, I figured the least I could do was act like I knew what I was doing for the wedding.  Hah!  I was clueless.

I got the bride's sister to take me shopping for a wedding card.  That's when I learned it was an envelope, not a card.  And you're supposed to put money in the envelope.

So, I put the equivalent of 300 US Dollars, as a wedding gift, for my two friends, in the envelope.

There was a table with a guest log at the entrance of the wedding hall.  That was where I scrawled my name in the book and deposited what I thought was my wedding gift.

As it turns out, that wedding gift doesn't go to the bride and groom.  All the money given in the wedding envelopes goes to Papa.  It helps pay the costs of the wedding.

So, when the newlyweds returned to Okinawa, I took them shopping for their wedding gift.

ANOTHER DOOZY:

Glad this didn't happen to me but, I witnessed this one.  Some of the fancy money envelopes you can buy in Japan aren't for weddings.  They could be for "Get Well Soon" wishes or even funerals. 

Another friend of mine married here, in Okinawa and some gal brought a funeral envelope to the wedding.  Damn.  I'd rather watch cats scratching each other's eyes out !

MY INSIDER'S TIP FOR JAPANESE WEDDING ENVELOPES:

Or, any other gift giving envelope in Japan, if you don't have a reliable translator to go along with you, GOOGLE IT .

There are plenty of sites explaining the different envelopes, Flickr photos, even photographers who make their living shooting, framing and selling Japanese Envelopes.

Here's one link, I thought was kinda nice, if you want more on fancy envelopes MAMALISA.COM  She seems to have her act together so, I give her a ThumbsUp !


RELATED POST JAPAN'S FUNERAL ENVELOPE

Cat Lovers: A Photo and Info for You !

Here's a cat posing on the seawall in Ishikawa Okinawa, Japan. I think it's a she because, well, look at the tummy and decide for yourself.

Homeless cats don't have it too bad in Okinawa. Cat Lovers take care of them and if they don't, the cats just take care of each other.

Mostly, I guess you could call me a dog person. I've had a few cats over the years but, they pretty much ignored me. So, I've learned to pretty much ignore back at them. But, I don't hate them.

If I ever get a cat again, to keep around the house, it'd be something cool. You know, like a black panther. Something the dogs couldn't beat up. A black panther wearing a gold choker chain.  That'd be cool. 

But, he'd have to learn to give me his paw and not crap in the house or yard.

Before posting this cat photo, I did my usual, thorough, online research. 

I like to post information along with my photos that may be of use to somebody. I hit the jackpot today. 

I have some info, cat lovers, even if they are allergic to cats, can use.

Cat Lovers around the world, from over 100 countries have already visited this site. More than 90,000 people have played with the cats, in Portland, Oregon, USA.  You don't even have to get out of your chair at home, to visit these cats and you can tease them with the mouse on your computer.

Just use this Info: Follow the links to the OREGON HUMANE SOCIETY and play with the cats !

Visit my Homepage for the PHOTO OF THE DAY