Incredible Blue Skies Over Okinawa Island

Image Was Slightly Tweaked

 

 

That's what photographers have to do, before posting on the internet. Sorry.

This afternoon, after a night of heavy lifting, I woke up, showered and walked to work.

 There wasn't a cloud to be seen, up there in the sky. I kept checking.

In fact, I bumped into three telephone poles, not watching where I was going.

And, I don't even own one of those Smartphones, yet.

Just walking around, like some redneck, visiting that big New York City.

Damn, my head hurts !

Just for the Heck of It A Photo of the Sky

 

At the office, I removed the camera batteries from chargers and, was itching to shoot.

So, I stumbled out the door and, took one shot of the sky.

There probably, won't be any more photography for today. The itching stopped, already.

Damn, my head still hurts !

Researching Blue Skies

 

There's a whole bunch of Willie Nelson songs on YouTube. 

People who don't like Willie Nelson probably, wouldn't be too fond of me, either.

The way that guy sings through his nostrils, is just classic.

And, he strums, his beat up old guitar, all kinds of whacky/out of tune, like a professional.

So, I went through several versions of his song, "Blue Skies" to get the best one.

Damn, my head hurts. But, I came up with a dandy, for y'all.

Before Kenny Rogers Got His Face Tweaked

Some guy, named Larry, got an award for Outstanding Sound Mixing, on this video.

So, it isn't just some run of the mill, crappy YouTube edition. You don't have to thank me.

Listen to them play and sing the tune.

 

Then, tell me, you don't feel like, walking around with your face pointed towards the sky.

Just, be careful and, don't try it on no city sidewalks. OK ?

Damn, my head still hurts !

3 Minutes of Blue Skies Shining on Me

Not especially high tech, at computer stuff, I tried something new today.

There was a huge (6000x4000 pixel) photo of a bridge in blue skies, I was saving.

It had a speck of dust, up in this blue portion of sky.

There are all sorts of Adobe programs that can be used to remove dust.

And, I own a bunch of them but, never tried dust removal on any of my photos.

Dust on a camera sensor or, a spot on a lens, shouldn't be there, in the first place.

So, whenever, I see a spot on one of my images, I just throw it away.

And, go figure out where it came from.  Then, fix the problem.

This Was a Special Photo

 

 

 

It was high time, I taught my self, how to do digital spot removal.

So, I did some online research and read my Dummies book.

Then, opened the photo with my Adobe Elements.

Thinking, I knew what I was doing, removing the dust, here's what happened:

The bridge disappeared along with the dust !

Everything (eventually) turned out alright and I gotterdun.

But, can't show you the image, just yet, because it's going to be in a contest.

Anyhow, the incident reminded me of this tune.

There's no sense, letting some good old blue skies go to waste.

Enjoy the Willie Nelson song and music. 

Tax Trouble Tuesday Willie Nelson Dunnit So Can I, Hah !

                              Whoops, looks like I PULLED ANOTHER LITTLE WILLIE !

Today, just for the heck of it,  I'll call Tax Trouble Tuesday cuz that's what day it is where I'm at in Okinawa, Japan.  Don't worry, I haven't got tax troubles like Willie Nelson had.  What a hoot !

My delinquent taxes are on some property in California that's probably going to fall into the ocean someday.  Soon, I hope.  Do you still have to pay taxes for property you own at the bottom of the sea ?

Usually, I pay my taxes to help those poor folks back in California, way ahead of time.  But, last year, I guess I stuck the tax bill in the box with all the Christmas cards I keep forgetting to write.

Then, this pink slip came in the mail and I stuffed it in my cargo pocket so I wouldn't forget to make an online payment.

Well, I walked around in a typhoon and got everything soaked. It's dry now and I went to make an online-delinquent payment.  They wouldn't take my money because the online robots were too busy counting everybody else's delinquent tax payments. Sounds like business is booming there !

So, they're getting my taxes, the old fashioned way, by snail mail. 

My penalties and all comes up to less than the cost of a sixpack of beer.  No need to auction off any of the wife's (excess) household possessions or anything like that.  I could skip a few beers this week and come out ahead, I suppose.

It's not even the IRS, just the state of California.  I have kinfolk there so, I don't wish the whole place would fall in the ocean.  Just my property would be good enough, for me. Unless Willie wants the place.  I'd give him a good deal.

DISCLAIMER:  SOMEBODY ELSE THUNK OF TAX TROUBLE TUESDAY BEFORE ME

Hah, and somebody named Jody went in the comments department and called Willie a "rich, hippy dope head".  Wonder what Jody was smoking ?  There ain't no hippies in Texas, are there ?


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Typhoon Songda Will Make My Weekend A Wet One

The weather guys say this Super Typhoon will hit Okinawa, Japan this weekend.  I'm ready, baby!

 This is what super typhoons look like from space. Just in case you're ever up there looking down.

This photo is not Typhoon Songda.  I haven't been able to snatch you a good one, yet. I'm using an old one I borrowed from Encyclopedia Britannica awhile back.  They haven't complained, as far as I can tell.

Knowing lots of people check my blog because they have friends or family living on the islands of Okinawa, I figured I'd better see what I can find to keep you informed.  There are some fairly horrible sources for up to date information on the internet and I know how frustrating it can be when you want to know what's happening as disasters strike around the globe.

We are expecting some winds and rain, a little more than normal.  So, I went up on the roof of my house, where I have a garden, and tied the stuff down that I don't want blowing away.  

And the stuff I want to blow away, I left untied.  Hah !

Americans living over here, who work on the bases, have a long weekend holiday, Memorial Day, I think they call it. Anyway, I just saw a crowd of them stocking up on booze at a package store.

So, I told them, it's probably not a good idea to plan a party anywhere near the beach.

Right now, the weather doesn't look too bad. It's partly sunny/cloudy and partly sprinkling invisible rain.  

Here's the best link I've found, so far THE ACCUWEATHER GUY a self-confessed Expert Senior Meterologist.  

Does that sound like the kind of guy who would lie to you?

From all the research I've done, so far today, I'd have to say he seems to have it figured out better than a lot of the other weather gurus.  Hopefully, he keeps things updated. 

UPDATE: JAPAN METEROLOGICAL AGENCY HAS MAPS AND CURRENT INFORMATION.
CLICK ON THE BUTTONS, REFRESH YOUR COMPUTER AND FIND ALL SORTS OF GOODIES ABOUT TYPHOON SONGDA.  IT'S NOT TOO BAD, SO FAR.  SORTA BORING.

If and when, it ever decides to put on a good show for me, I'll be out there shooting some photos for you.  That's as long as I don't fall asleep waiting !


My new camera, I ordered because Willie Nelson hasn't come through, yet is here and I'm figuring out all the controls, now.  

If that Super Typhoon named Songda decides to blow over Okinawa, I'll see if I can snatch a couple of photos to show you what it looks like from down here on earth.

Have You Ever Pulled A Willie? Or Is It A Doozy?

No, I'm not talkin about sex, drugs or even rock n roll, here.  They have other channels for that sorta stuff.

If that's what you were thinkin, you took a wrong turn.  Get outa here, quick !

People who appreciate good music know exactly what I'm talking about.  Me and the guy from Texas (Rusty) gabbed our cameras yesterday and pulled a Willie Nelson by gettin ON THE ROAD AGAIN.



We took it literally and went places where we've never been and stayed out in the hot sun most of the day just so we could shoot a sunset from someplace different than anybody else's sunsets in Okinawa, Japan.


We found some cool places to get out of the sun while we were waiting.  And I got plenty of practice with my cell phone camera. I sorta malfunctioned my Pentax and it was given most of the day-off.

    We kept going through holes in caves splashing our way along the coast finding more stuff to shoot.

     My Pentax had to be saved for one last shot at sunset so, I shot Rusty doing stuff with a real camera.

Most of the time, when I wasn't cussing at myself for leaving the PANASONIC DMC-FZ50 at home I was sneaking around trying to get photos of Rusty.  This way, his Mom can see he's not goofing-off too much over here.  He's learning all kinds of camera tricks, foreign languages and a few new cuss words from me.

I can't tell you what I did to my Pentax but, it was a doozy, whatever I did.  Maybe, I'll have to send it back to the factory for a rebuild. That takes too long and the people who see what I do to their cameras might come chasing after me with a bunch of those guys wearing white jackets.

Rusty's Mom knows Willie Nelson.  Maybe, she could call him and ask him to send money for me to buy one of those brand new Pentax K5 cameras.  That's what I'd call pulling a real Willie. 

Or would that be a doozy?


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