Wordless Wednesday: High Tension in Japan

Wordless Wednesday: Downtown Crackdown

Wordless Wednesday: Report to Police

Silly Sign Will Make You Think Twice

Warning: This May Be Serious

Having done Sunday's Silly Signs for about a year, I decided to terminate the project.

This one caught my attention, when it was spotted in a pastry shop.

Of course, I asked the lady behind the counter, for permission to photograph it.

These days, it might not be politically correct. Maybe, it's an antique.

Just in case somebody, can't read, I'll tell you what it says.

"No Trespassing Girls Only Violators Will Be Slapped"

MORE SILLY SIGNS IN THE DOOZIES

One of the 170 Species Called Jatropha Plants is on Okinawa (Photos)

This Flower Could Make the Doozies Page

 

 

It's always a pleasure to give readers some interesting facts about plants and flowers.

So, I go to great lengths researching any new ones I capture with the camera.

Here are a few photos of Jatropha hastata found in the 21 Century Forest Park.

That's in Nago City, Okinawa, Japan, and the plants were photographed on Mar 11, 2013.

 Shooting these bright red, star-shaped flowers on a cloudy day was a blast.

It's always a good idea, when you spot a new flower, to shoot plenty of photos for identification.

  Sometimes, the bark of the tree or, the shape of the leaves is more important than the flower.

Getting a positive ID can be a real time-consumer and drive the average guy absolutely nuts!

 This time, once I got my hands on the right book, it was a breeze.

Sub-tropical Flowers in Okinawa ISBN4-9901917-3-0 gave me the answer: Jatropha hastata.

Then, the University of Florida Okeechobee County Extension Service gave me this link.

Do not eat the seeds, they are very toxic!

 Other than that, the plants are great for adding color to your landscape and attract butterflies.

If that Wasn't Enough Information

Along came another interesting article from the University of Florida.

This time from IFAS Research the Florida Agricultural Experiment Station.

The oil that comes from the Jatropha seeds can run a diesel engine.

No wonder ya ain't supposed to eat them!

So, the research had to go on a bit further, to find out more about this mysterious plant.

A person could invest in Jatropha cultivation or make biodiesel and even, jet fuels. 

Here's an official Jatropha Tree Site

 

 

Sunday's Silly Sign (Photo) NOV 6, 2011: Fire in My Hand

WARNING !

I carry a 700º C fire in my hand

WITH PEOPLE WALKING ALL AROUND ME.

Facrynoutloud dude, that looks like it could be the OLYMPIC TORCH !

This Sunday's Silly Sign was discovered at a beach, somewhere in Okinawa, Japan.

Now, I ain't giving the location away.

But, I'm sure glad that girl in her wedding gown didn't get burnt !

TO SEE MORE OF OKINAWA'S SILLY SIGNS VISIT THE DOOZIES

STOP BY MY WEBSITE FOR THE PHOTO OF THE DAY

Flowers and New Shoes (Photos) Good News and Bad News

What a day this turned out to be, no wildlife shots but, one heck of a busy day and I got a lot accomplished with the help of my shooting buddy, Doc.  We're doing a Wednesday weekly shooting day from now on, as long as the wives don't put the clamps on our activities.  That's good news.

Today's story will unfold in the sequence I shot these pictures but, plenty of things happened while the cameras were safely locked-up in the car.

Just so you know we weren't drinking, the first flower is a pink hibiscus.  I shot it while Doc was hauling his bag of concrete out of the DIY Store and breaking his back loading up the car.  I asked a salesgirl if I could shoot photos of the flowers and she told me to go ahead.  That's good news.

Some stores are afraid of industrial espionage, especially when the see a DSLR in your hands.

Remind me, someday, it'd be a good idea for me to buy a little Point and Shoot for those type operations.



Next, I shot this Multi-colored Hibiscus.  It looked unreal, to me.  Like I figured somebody painted it or put foodcoloring in the planter to make it that way but, Doc said they grow that color naturally.



When he saw me shooting these furry caterpillar-looking things, he said he'd never seen a plant like that before.  I see them all the time when I'm walking my dogs.  I call them caterpillar-looking flowers. 

Today I shot the sign that says, Benihimo 1980 Yen and Googled it.  My Wikipedia connections tell me it is a Chenille Plant (Acalypha hispida).



On the way out of the DIY Store's Flower and Garden Center I shot this wide angle scene just because it was there. We'll have to get a translator to read all that fancy kanji that was imported from China, years ago. I only read the simple stuff. I'll find out the names of all the flowers I shot today, eventually and hope I can escape with the information for you, without having to buy any of them.  Er, that'd be bad news.

Before we hit the DIY Store, all kinds of things got accomplished.  Doc and I were on a mission.  I had to do some shopping for frames to mail photos to my contest winners.  And, to avoid firing my printer up to make photos for the frames, I went to a print shop.

With a whole hour to kill, waiting for the prints, we wandered off and started looking at cameras, computers and all kinds of other stuff we really didn't need.

The good news: I found a pair of shoes.  I need new shoes, the kind you can go over rough terrain in. 

I found a pair of rugged-looking shoes that are supposed to cost around a hundred US Dollars, on sale for only about 25 bucks.  So, I bought them, even if they're a half size too large for my feet.

Like I told Doc, just wear more socks, until they fit.  I can buy plenty of socks with the 75 dollars I saved.  Right ?



There they are. That's my new shoes, never been worn and a DVD even came with them.  Hah !
How many times have you ever bought a pair of shoes and got a DVD included in the box with them ?

So, when I got back here, to my office, I had to wait for these PCs to wake up and get scanned before I could download my camera.  That's when I got the bright idea to shoot my shoes.  I could do something like a product review on them.  You know, like a one month, blow by blow account of me and my new shoes going over rough terrain and stuff like that.  I'll put them through some rugged tests.

I don't have time to watch a DVD and I'm pretty sure I know what I'm doing when it comes to shoes. 

I'll start testing these suckers in a few minutes.  I'm leaving my flip-flops at the bar and I'll be heading to the beach with the dogs, shortly.

Just to make sure these shoes didn't get put on sale because some company went extinct, I googled them.  They're good to go.

Then, I started reading some of the literature that came in the box.  This is more bad news.

There's a WARNING:
"The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal.  Criminal copyright infringement, including without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000."  YIKES !

So, it's probably best that I don't tell you any of what I see on the DVD or read in the book until I get authorization from the proper authorities.  I could email the company, I guess.  Or should I just shred the book, DVD, the box and everything that came with it ?  I'm pretty sure I can wear the things and walk alright without anyone's advice.  What would you do, worry about goin to jail ?