Ginoza Okinawa Announces --- The Number One Hamburger

Just a quick blog post tonight to pass along this news.

In the Matsuda district of Ginoza Village, a Hamburger Festival took place today.

Here's a photo of the winners.

On the left, Captain Kangaroo Burgers, won third place.

To the right, Restaurant Tempusu, took second place with their hamburger.

Dead center in the photo, and winner by People's Choice....

drum roll, please...

Toto La Bebe 

Remember, last year, I said this was The Best Hamburger on the Island !

NOTE: By the time, I showed-up with my camera Toto La Bebe Burgers were sold out.

So, I didn't cast any votes.  But, I cussed a little.

Ginoza Village was a bit overwhelmed with crowds at this 1st annual event.

By my estimate, over 10,000 hamburgers were served in about five hours.

For sure, next year, there will be improvements in logistics surrounding the event.

Everybody loves hamburgers.

Don't they ?



2013 Okinawa International Orchid (蘭) Show (Photos)

The Okinawa International Orchid (蘭) Show started today.

Jennifer Lyn Solomon was there and, I was, too.

She just got declared a supermodel, by me, because she posed and signed a model release.

If you like flowers, you'll love this place.

Trying to remember what order these photos were shot in can get confusing.

It would be nice to give a tour, in the sequence you would see things as you walk through.

But, using two cameras and switching back and forth, I get carried away.

 There must be several thousand types of orchids in this event.

They come from around the globe, too.

 And, people give their flowers names. 

Pink Delight, Jailhouse Rock, Chantilly Green, Spring Melody and Temptation were there.

Also, I found a Snow Boy, Blockbuster "The Giant", SakuraYama and Maxima.

Favorite Person, Melody Fair and Giant Pearl were in there, somewhere, too.

Some of the orchids are huge, like trees.

Others, are so small, they grow in pots the size of coffee cups.

Taking photos indoors is alright but, I'd rather be outside.

Those pink, yellow, purple, white and green colors really pop, in natural light.

When busloads of tourists start coming through, outside is the place to be.

They call the place Tropical Dreamland and now, I know why.

How many people get to see sights like this in February ?  

Dream on !

Back inside the circular greenhouses I found plenty more.

Some flowers had French and Chinese names, too.  I forgot to write them down.

There were orchids named Spring Dance, Dream Paradise and Gola Boy.

Inside, I kept going around and around shooting all the orchids (蘭) I could find.

After I ran across Jailhouse Rock the third time, I figured out, I was lost.

 So, I went back outside and got directions from an American couple, I met.

Shoot, I should have wrote their names down.  They were real nice folks.

She said her dad loves orchids.  And, showed me a picture of him driving his John Deere tractor.

So, I promised I'd post ten photos tonight. I got carried away and threw in a few extra.

Now, I'm no flower expert but, if I had to pick the winner at this show, it would be this one.

Whoever Kaori Yohena is, her orchid gets my vote.

The Okinawa International Orchid Show goes until Monday FEB 11, 2013.

There's plenty of time to hop on a plane and visit so, come on over !

Today's Feature Photo

The Million Views Contest Winner Announced

The Winner is Emi Iwasaki, a Facebook Fan from Tokyo, Japan !

This is a continuation of the events that took place Sunday night.

In case you ever decide to do a contest redneck-style, bookmark this page.

After the winner's name was drawn, the model ran around posing with it.

The Ryukyu Dudes let her have some fun and that was alright, I guess.

We weren't paying her.  So what the heck.

RyukyuRusty was shootin' the camera and the rest of us were drinking beer.

After awhile I yelled at her to quit fooling around and said.

"Would you please hold still and let the cameraman get a picture of the winner's name" ?

 Probably, I shouldn't of done that.

  She almost cried.

So, I went over there and gave her a l'il hug and everything went back to normal.

The tux is only worn for special occasions.

Now, I have to get the beer and wrinkles out of it before St. Patrick's Day.

 Probably, you wouldn't want to be so formal, if you did a redneck contest of your own.

Some of those Bib Overalls from Walmart would be OK.

I hate gettin' all dressed up, too. 

Back to the Winner

Emi Iwasaki tells me that she loves southern islands, especially Hawaii.

She studies and teaches Hawaiian Hula Dancing.

On a visit to Okinawa back in April, Emi found my Facebook Page.

So, she has been following and liking photos there all along, without me knowing.

Facebook should fix those pages for old people.  I don't like wearing my reading glasses.

Anyway, Emi typed in there "I want to see more of the Ryukyu Islands".

CONGRATULATIONS EMI

YOU WON !

Million Views Contest: How We Gotterdun

As promised we drew the winner's name in true redneck style.

These photos by RyukyuRusty, will show you how we gotterdun.

The Million Views Giveaway blog and Facebook pages were printed.

Each contestant, who made a legitimate entry, had their name snipped out of the page.

Lucky for us, nobody was using the pool table.  This was a serious operation.

 To be fair and square about it, the criminals trying to enter twice, had to be eliminated.

But, they only got eliminated, once.  So, they still had a chance to win.

 The pretty girl, who wants to be a model, did some practice poses.

That was while I was doing the paperwork.

We had to arm wrestle a few times because that's what rednecks do when they aren't playing pool.

She won every match, easily.  That was so I could buy the beers.

Next, we folded-up all the contest entries so they all looked the same size.

They were placed in this guy's hat.  I stepped out of the scene, to keep things honest.

That's my hand, over there, and I'm telling the model, "Reach in and pick one winner".

We had to hurry and get this contest over before everyone was falling-down drunk.

There she went.  She pulled a winner's name out of the hat.

She held the thing up in the air just like she was a professional model all her life !

There's  more to how we gotterdun.  Even a photo of me wearing my tux.  But, I gotta run.

To be continued.....

Photos: My Pictures of the Week that Became Editor's Picks

Here are three photos that made this week worthwhile. All of them became Editor's Picks this week at Better Photo (dot) Com.

Title: Grey Heron   Date Entered: 12/2/2010  Category: Animals

Title: The Honeymooners  Date Entered: 12/3/2010  Category: Travel and Places

Title: A Little Ringed Plover  Date Entered: 12/4/2010  Category: Animals

This is just the first step in the process of getting a photo recognized for an award. You could call it Round One. From there it has to make it into the Finalist batch (Round Two) and if the Judges decide your photo is the creme of the crop, it can go on to become a Winner.

One of these days, I'll put together a series of Photography Tips and explain some of the things Judges look for in Photo Contests. Competition can be fierce but, there are a few things, other than taking good photos, involved in the process. If you learn them, it gives you an edge.

These pictures may, or may not, go any higher in the competition. They are all I've entered in the monthly contest for December, so far. Three Editor's Picks made it a good week for me !

PRESS RELEASE

Today two Press Releases arrived in my email.  One for this photo:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

3/28/2010 Photographer Michael Lynch of Kin, Okinawa, has won Second Place for February in the prestigious photography contest sponsored by BetterPhoto.com, the site's founder, Jim Miotke, announced Sunday.

More than 17100 entries were submitted to the online photography contest, which attracted contestants from around the world and featured 10 separate categories.

Lynch's stunning image, "A Sign of Spring", garnered top honors after being submitted in the Animals category.

And another for this one:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

3/28/2010 Photographer Michael Lynch of Kin, Okinawa, has won Second Place for February in the prestigious photography contest sponsored by BetterPhoto.com, the site's founder, Jim Miotke, announced Sunday.

More than 17100 entries were submitted to the online photography contest, which attracted contestants from around the world and featured 10 separate categories.

Lynch's stunning image, "Parting Shot", garnered top honors after being submitted in the Travel & Place category.

TAKIN' THE REST OF THE DAY OFF !

Cheers.
Mike