Grace Jackson and Louis Thorton

Previously I have found fun facts about the people in my photos by using the ever so powerful Google search engine. So tonight I assumed that I would be telling a brief story about Grace Jackson and Louis Thorton, but Google let me down, so I went to Bing and Bing too let me down. That is not to say that I did not receive any information on Louis or Grace, I did, information such as, a Louis Thorton spoke to a Montpelier Lions Club gathering back in 1981 and that Grace Jackson has a Facebook page, but just nothing that I could pin down to the time frame and limited information on have on Louis and Grace. You see, I did not know of the existence of either Louis or Grace prior to last Sunday when I purchased an old black and white photo of the two from 1927.

Dan

Beauty, It's in the Eye of the Beholder

They say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder and this photo proves it. This last weekend, the family and I spent some time at the Flea Market in Fremont and there I found a large Tupperware full of old back and white photos. Most appeared to be from Germany, ranging from the 1920's through the early 1960's. I grabbed a big ol' hand full of photos and picked out 15 of my favorites. This one however, takes the cake.

Final Thoughts On Prague and Other Events

Well as noted not too long ago here in America's Finest Blog, I went to Prague 15 years ago this month, and even though I've missed the anniversary of my return date, I still will provide you the readers of America's Fist Blog some final thoughts on the subject. I will first address though readers of America's Finest Blog that believe I should be making note of the 78th anniversary of the completion of US 101 around the peninsula, I would say it is a fine moment but I lack good photos of or from the highway. Others may say how can I call this America's Finest Blog without commenting on Ed Kennedy. Well I say this is America's Finest Blog because I will not wax on about Ed being expelled from Harvard , or his drunken whoring or the death of Mary Jo Kopechne, without mentioning his accomplishments. Nor will I mention only his accomplishments without a peep about his many flaws. I will however mention that "Ted" Kennedy was a long serving American politician from a famous political family and that "Ted" was not above being human.

Now back to Prague, what can I say that I really haven't already said, other than I miss that city every day and have for 15 years. I remember speaking with a Dutch fellow named Otto, while drinking in a Beer Garden, we both noted what was a general shyness that the Czechs had toward free market peoples, especially Americans (at least in 1994). It was as if they felt inferior to us and that they had nothing to offer. But they did, in the form of their beautiful city and their willingness to share it with us. The irony was not lost on either of us, that most the locals we ran into during our stays in the city would have switch places with us in a heartbeat, but not nearly as quickly as we would have traded with them.

Enjoy a couple more Prague photos and the only photo of me taken during my trip...Taken by my sister in her kitchen the night I returned to the States.

Dan

When You Go to San Francisco...

Tonight's discussion is why the modern world is so much better than the olden world. Especially when only considering the medium of photography. Now days we can go spend $20 on a 2GB memory card and take 1600 photographs of our family vacation. In rougher times, like the 1970's, you would get a roll of 20 or 24 exposure film to take with you on your vacation of a lifetime. Furthermore, and to make matters worse, that film was for a Kodak Tele-Instamatic 608. Them were the bad ol' days alright. This was what my mother was up against when she went to San Francisco, CA, back in 1974 or '75, so the photos are few and some are blurry, because with a 608, you needed a zen-like quality to make you body completely still, lots and lots of light, a stationary object and the good graces of God to get a decent photo. Tonight I will be showing off a couple of these photographs.

As an aside, I remember when my mom took this trip, because it was first time I remember that sisters and myself all got shipped off to my grandparent's house and the same time, it would only happen one other time and that was a disaster and different story... But this time was a lot of fun, I can remember my grandma making buckwheat hotcakes for everyone, ah good times.

Anyway Enjoy the photos

Dan

Humpty Dumpty's Great Fall (Finally), A New Website, Drinking Water and the Rest of the World as Seen Through the Eyes of Cable News Websites

Gee Bye Gosh, Bye Golly, what a fun week it has been. So much happened, both locally and within the Williams household. First after a nice vacation I returned to work and the limited access to information that comes with it, basically I have the choice between cable news websites to glean information about the happenings in the world. This is not the strong press that Jefferson spoke of, that much is obvious. I have been able to gather the following information, the happenings in Bermuda are considered "nation" news, and all that Americans care about is cash for clunkers and when Michael Jackson will be buried. Oh yeah, and health care reform is too difficult to explain to Americans so one party or the other is lying to you. Without cable news we would be just lesser primates. Not mentioned on the cable news, we had ecoli in the well water, that really was not much fun, and Mayor Nickels has lost, that is fun, Washington State's biggest wind bag lost his re-election bid. Other than the water problems, the Williams household celebrated the creation of a new website for my photography endeavours, see "Links to Stuff not as Cool as This, But Cool Anyway."

Finally to honor such a busy week and celebrate the return of summer, photos of people busy enjoying summer.

Enjoy

Dan

More Prague

Sticking with the Prague theme for today, here are a couple more photos from that trip so very long ago...

The Public Market

Today marks the 102nd birthday of the Seattle Public Market, the Pike Place Market if you will. Started back in the days of progressive movement, the market was a win for both farmer and consumer, as it blocked out the commission houses. The commission houses were terrible capitalist middlemen that screwed both farmer and consumer. Strangely, it is the evil commission houses that are the real heroes here, if they have been on the up and up, giving good prices to both farmer and consumer the chances are that the Market is never started and at least not successful enough to warrant several city blocks of buildings for market space. Thus robbing Seattle of its eclectic heart, rendering the city to be indistinguishable when compared to Tacoma or Boise. So tonight in honor of those greedy jerks that unwittingly gave Seattle it's heart and soul, and not to mention really good donuts, pictures of the market.

15 Years Gone

It was on this date in 1994, I boarded a Delta Airlines flight from JFK to Frankfurt en route to Prague. It is one of the seminal events in my life. It is still the date that I use to separate old Dan from new Dan. I won't go into too much depth here, but my trip to New York and Prague changed me, I was new again and the life I live now, largely is a result of that trip and the years that have followed. It has been as if the experiences and some of the people I encountered prior to this time were just practice. New Dan embraced the unknown and a uncharted path, to the point that offers to live and work in New York, were passed upon, partly due to the timing of events and partly because, at that time, I needed to stand alone and be something. I can say that I never got to the point of seriously questioning not leaving NYC, however I was close enough to that point that if I allowed myself the time to really think about it, I would have probably stayed. But hey I went to Prague, so here are some pictures from the world's most beautiful city.

Dan

Back from Vacation

Well I am back from vacation and tomorrow I will officially resume a normal blogging schedule. Until then some photos of the Oregon Coast from past trips down that way. I would show you current photos, however this is Dusty Moments and I don't want to let Cicely off the hook so easy. Indeed it was a great time, and we all wish we had a couple more days.

Enjoy

Dan

Vacation

As mentioned in previous entries, my routine as been blow up and now it's vacation time, so in honor of my vacation; pictures of beer. I'll resume regular blogging next week I suppose.

Enjoy

Dan

Easton

My routine has been derailed and destroyed it seems of late. It seems between work, a toddler that doesn't like to go to bed before 9, the heat and Quin's grandma's visit, I'm faced with trying to get photography related work done, in the few minutes I have before bed. A sad story, I know, but just because I haven't scanned a photo in a couple weeks, doesn't mean this is going to be a "What to blog" post. Instead it is going to be about Easton. Wow now this is exciting.

Easton is the first "town" on the east side of Snoqualmie Pass, once upon a time there were two railroads that ran through town and most importantly the Sunset Highway ran down Main Street. Those days are long gone, now days Easton is a populated ghost town. By that I mean there are people who live there, but the commercial part of the town itself has been mostly abandoned. Most commerce appears to take place at the gas station on the other side of the Interstate. In the four or five times that I have traveled through town I have never seen a person, nor do I remember an open business. Easton is a classic example of a highway town, post bypass, just a couple streets of closed down businesses. But if you do get off I-90 and take the old highway through town you will see that a some point Easton was probably an alright place to get a meal and some petrol. Back when cars got eight miles to the gallon and driving to your destination was part of the fun, not a necessity.

Enjoy a few photos of Easton, and try to make it a habit to check out a forgotten or bypassed town when you are out on the road.

Dan

Mt. Rainier

The family and I took an impromptu trip to see the Mt. Rainier National Park on Saturday, mostly since Cicely's Mom had never been to the park. What a beautiful place and what difficult place to get too. I suppose if it were easy we would take it for granted. So in honor of our most recent trip to Mt. Rainier, pictures from other trips to the mountain.

Enjoy

Dan

Another Favorite

I chose to do a favorite tonight, not en lieu of a rambling post on why I cannot seem to think about anything to blog about, but instead because it's late and I got sidetracked doing something else. So this favorite photograph is of Multnomah Falls, on Oregon side of the Columbia River Gorge. Whether in person or in photos, it is hard to image the falls without the Benson Footbridge. Built in 1914, the bridge does such a nice job of separating the upper falls from the lower falls, it almost seems organic. Enjoy tonight's photo.

Dan