Big Wheel keeps on turning

I was going to post this on the solstice but didn't around to it. Still, it's a timeless story.

Don't go in much for amusement park rides anymore. Being spun in circles doesn't amuse me as it did when I was young. But I still love ferris wheels. Always have. I think my very favorite and scariest ride was at Coney Island. The cars slide on this one so when you're going down the front of the wheel it feels like you're going to fly right off.

I was reminded about this when I saw this photo gallery of ferris wheels around the world. Some very cool ones. If I ever win the lottery maybe I'll take a world tour and ride every one of them.

On a related note, found this on the social nets and it made me laugh. Probably don't want to ride the ferrous wheel. But, cute joke.

And on a semi-related note, the other ride I used to love but don't want to go on anymore is the roller coaster. I don't like the new ones that corkscrew and whatnot and it's hard to find wooden ones still in operation. The last one I rode was years ago and it's probably the best one in the world. The Cyclone at Coney Island, which is still running. Just turned 85 years old.

Worth every penny for the ride.

Cool, cool water

Very few people look up when they're walking around a city. You miss a lot if you don't. Like these water towers on the rooftops of NYC.

More about this one here.

Sundown in the sacred valley

Twitter picture of the day.

[original photo]

Chalk artist strikes again

Just love this guy's chalk drawings. Think these are new ones. At least they're new to me.



[More photos here]

Puppy meets crab on the beach

This is just too cute. Must share, though there's a lot of traffic so it was loading slow. If it doesn't work the first time, try again later. So worth it.



[Direct link may load quicker]

Chalk artist strikes again

Just love this guy's 3D chalk drawings. Pretty sure these are new ones. They're new to me anyway.



[More photos here]

They had me at Attack of the 50 Foot Woman

I've always loved cool matchbook covers. This one is a beauty.



Don't make them like this anymore. More at this link.

A girl and her dog

Not actually her dog. My gorgeous niece with a pup who was recently abandoned by an owner who moved away and left the poor little guy behind. He decided to join us for the picnic.

Kindness to strangers

This is just the best story. Restores my faith in humanity. Of course, they're old people who remember when we had a civil society.

Somewhere in West Tennessee, not far from Graceland, nine women -- or "The 9 Nanas," as they prefer to be called -- gather in the darkness of night. At 4am they begin their daily routine -- a ritual that no one, not even their husbands, knew about for 30 years. They have one mission and one mission only: to create happiness. And it all begins with baked goods.

Trust me. Read the whole story. It will make you feel good. These women eventually made almost a million dollars and gave it all away. To strangers. Who really needed it.

Many rivers to cross

I've crossed the 59th Street bridge many times in my life. If memory serves, there was always a few squeeqee guys lurking at the traffic light at the end. And there was a whole long block full of motorcyles on the way to the West Village.



Click to embiggen. It's worth it. [Sorensen NYC photo, via]

All you gotta do is dance

This guy had been making these videos for a long time I think. Pretty sure this is a new one. At least I don't remember seeing it before. Anyway, I do love them. They're so cheery.

Dance the Night Away

One of my favorite fairy tales is The Twelve Dancing Princesses. I once had a Golden Book version that so beautifully illustrated, the images stuck in my head all these years. I was thinking about this book this afternoon. I made a wish that I find it. This evening, a twitter friend posted this:



Not quite the same illustrations as the version in the head, but really close. A gorgeous remake. The internet is a magical place.

Reading between the lines

Facebook find of the day. I didn't know the ridges on those red plastic cups were measurements. Probably because I've never seen anybody use them.



Meanwhile, I'm impressed with how long this meme has lasted. The internets are full of creative people.

Safe

Another baby animal picture that just melted my heart this week. The look on that little elephant's face is priceless.



Elephants are such incredible animals. So smart yet mostly gentle. Click over to my friend Paul Shoul's blog and see this bigger elephant painting a gorgeous watercolor picture.

Not always what it seems

When I first saw this I thought it was a bug on a table with something spilled on it. Then I clicked to make it bigger and wow -- it's a beach.



Click on the photo to embiggen. It's worth it. And longer shot of the whole piece. One of the Sand Paintings by Andres Amador who does these all the time apparently. Only to have them washed away by the sea. Actually I've done similar sand paintings myself but on a much smaller scale.

Found on Facebook via my friend Richard Loomis who shares from Green Renaissance where they collect very beautiful images like this.

A kitten's revenge

I suppose you have to be on Facebook to get the joke here, but it made me laugh out loud for real.



By the way, if you're not on FB, the joke is the new timeline sucks rotten eggs and they're making you use it. Some of us have successfully avoided it so far, but we're living on borrowed time. Some day, I'll wake up and find they changed it for me and won't let me go back to the old format. Probably won't think it's as funny then.

All you need is love

This is possibly the sweetest poster I've ever seen out of millions I've viewed on the interwebs over the years. The look on their little kitty faces just melts my heart.



So true. Found, as with most things lately, on Facebook.

In the future

According to Motorola in 1961, in the future we would all be living in glass houses furnished with mostly uncomfortable but galactically cool looking furniture. I love the art style of these ads. Hard to choose which one to post.



See the rest here. And of course, glass houses didn't become the norm, but these guys weren't that far off the mark. You do occasionally see someone building a modern day glass house. Like this one I recently saw on Facebook.



Trouble with an glass roof, of course, is the heat factor. If you live in a very sunny climate, not that practical but admit I would love to spend a few days in the fall in this one.

I want to be a part of it, NY, NY

Been a while since I posted a NYC photo and this was an especially nice one of the Empire State Building at dusk.



Taken by the fabulous Inga Sarda-Sorensen. Original here.

The Zombie Apocalypse

What with all the cannibalism in the news for the last couple of weeks, lot of people talking about the zombie uprising. I figure if they're coming, can't do much to stop it so you might as well laugh...



These don't look that scary do they? Also, love when people figure out these hand painting things. Sometimes the simple things are best.

Venus Transit

Just realized I never posted the pictures I found of the Venus transit earlier this week. Literally looked at hundreds of photos. It's hard to make a dot on the sun look interesting. This is the best real shot of the event I saw. That's the Taj Mahal the bird is landing on:



And this is the funniest take off on the event:



It was cloudy here so I didn't get to see it live at all. Suppose it's just as well. I probably would have forgotten not to look at it directly and gone blind.

Original photos here and here.

Time waits for no one

Found on Facebook. This was from the days when you were required to choose sides. Either you were a Beatles fan or a Rolling Stones fan. Looking at this now, hard to believe that the Stones were cast as the "bad boys."



By the way, I was a Stones fan.

Peaceable kingdom

I've been in something of a funk this week. Something about this really cheered me up even though it's kind of sad.



Bobcat kitten and 3-day old fawn take shelter together after the Jesusita Fire in Santa Barbara , CA.[original photo]

Cats rule the internets

Good Lord, I guess I am turning into a cat blogger, but this just made me laugh. Maybe it will amuse you too.



Click on the picture to make it bigger so you can read the captions.

Puppy Love

This was one of the first things I saw on the internets today. Refreshing change from the usual cranky stuff that fills my timeline. Caption reads: "Somebody is afraid of the vet."



Not sure you can access this link unless you're on Facebook, but original photo here.

Your daily squee

The animal rescue squad I call my family just acquired a new kitten. A couple of kids hit up the fam in a parking lot and begged them to take the little guy, which clearly still should have been with its mother. He's so tiny and young, his ears aren't even fully picked up yet, though his eyes are open. Still, they have to feed him with a toy baby bottle. Wish I could have taken a picture of him, but he's about this big right now. And he's not white. He's going to grow up to look like one of the black ones in this video.



Well not exactly like one of these. The little guy doesn't have a tail and his back feet are white and really big. Thinking his daddy was probably a Manx.

The artists formerly known as the King B's

Stumbled across this blast from my past. When I was teen, the place to be was the "stags" they held at The Elks Hall. A couple of churches also held dances, but the Elks were the best. My best friend at the time, Marleen, was dating Vinnie, the guy with the beard so I got to tag along and hang out with these cool guys too:

Yes, they really dress that way. And Neil Diamond opened for them at this show. Yes, that Neil Diamond.

Hello, who's calling?

Sorry, been dealing with back problems so blogging suffered again. To cheer us all up, this was my favorite Facebook meme of the week. So true: