We have a West Fork Mojave River? Who knew?

Hello!

Day 20 of my 365 day photography journey

Today I worked a recall of Popchips and took my camera, like always. But nothing caught my eye all day until my trip home. I was passing a group of trucks along the road.

I decided to stop, introduce myself and be a little curious. I talked with the foreman and asked if I could ask some questions and take pictures. He replied, "Absolutely." The men worked for the USGS (United States Government Survey) in the Water watch division.

The green box mounted on poles is a replacement sensor unit for the desert colored box in the right side of the picture with USGS and Danger stickers on it. The old unit had been acting up for some time so they replaced it. The new unit will measure the depth of water, in the what I now know to be the west fork of the Mojave River (I didn't know there was one until today), and the rate of water flow. I did forget to ask what they did with the information. I'm sure they look for drought indicators and changes in the water cycle.

I can tell you with absolute certainty there is no water running right now. There normally is water running through this fork of the river, not a lot. Enough though to enjoy with the kids and family. I believe water has been cut off during repairs up river somewhere.

This unit has a number and it can be located on the USGS site to monitor the water. 

This map can be found at this link, Water Watch 

This is a google earth image of the gauge location.

I'd like to thank the men of the USGS Water Watch program for their time and hard work. It was a warm day.

Make a great day!!

Our Flag

Hello!

Day 19 of my 365 photography journey

It's the day after the United States of America's celebration of independence from Great Britain. Flags are flying everywhere. So I thought I would talk about our flag.

This flag fly's at a government building in Wisconsin. 

In May of 1776 Betsy Ross sewed the first symbol of the United States. Over the course of history congress has changed the flag several times. It was established the flag would have 13 strips, alternating Red(7) and White(6), representing the original thirteen colonies. A blue union and a star for every state in the Union.

This is the Flag that fly's at Jefferson Park, where the St Louis Arch  was built.

Red represents valor, white purity, and blue vigilance and justice.

As a Cub Scout and then Boy Scout, I learned at a young age our Flag was to be treated with respect. It was to be lit at all times or taken down. It was never to touch the ground. If it was ripped and frayed it was to be taken done and disposed of in a respectful manor, usually burned. I usually just have a bone fire and burn it in the fire. The flag is not to be thrown in the trash. See the following link for more guidelines, Flag Etiquette.

This flag, which fly's over Ranchero Middle School, I believe to be flown without proper lighting.

While I was in the military and stationed in San Antonio, I had the privilege to play both Reveille, to raise the flag, and To the Colors, when lowering the flag.

Thank you France, Spain and Dutch Republic

Hello,

Day 18 of my 365 day photography journey

I'd like to wish you all a good day.

Today, instead of talking about the USA and what our forefathers went through to achieve independence from Great Britain I'm going to say thank you to our allies that provided instrumental assistance.

From the early on set of war with Great Britain, the USA was receiving supplies secretly from France, Spain and the Dutch Republic.

Below is a picture of the French flag that fly's over Institut de France, just across from Notre Dame, in Paris, France. Colors look familiar?

I think we Americans tend to be a bit prideful, forgetting who helped us make this country what it is today.

In February of 1778 the French actually signed a declaration of war against Great Britain and recognized the USA as an independent governing body. There is some debate about whether the USA could have won the war without the French Army but there is no debate about whether the USA could have won without supplies provided by the French, Spanish and Dutch Republic. Supplies were instrumental to several of George Washington's victories very early in the war and continued to arm the revolutionaries through to it's end.

Thank you France, Spain and the Dutch Republic for your assistance with the Revolutionary War.

To change gears on you. When we celebrate our independence do we celebrate the defeat of Great Britain? I think they go hand in hand. When we celebrate a victory aren't we celebrating the defeat of a foe, be it sports, wars or arguments?

I personally don't take pride in being a member of the United States of America. Please don't throw stones before you hear me out. I consider myself blessed and fortunate to be born here. I can't imagine growing up in any other country but would I be any less a person if I was a member of another country? Would I have any less rights? I don't think so. I may not have the freedom to exercise those rights without repercussions but I could still exercise what I believed to be my rights. Does being born in another country make one less my brother or sister? Does being born Iranian make one less human? I don't know of any belief system that thinks people of different countries came from a different mother and father when one goes back to the very beginning of the human species. For me, I believe if I take pride in being an American I'm basically saying I'm glad I'm not French, Russian, or maybe Korean. What good does it do me to take pride in something I had no control over? Taking pride in a personal goal or accomplishment makes more sense then celebrating the defeat of my brothers.

All end with that and wish you a very good day!

Make a Great Day!!

LA at Night

Day 17 of my 365 day photography journey

Hello!

Lee and I decided to capture some night life in Northern Hollywood our last night in LA. I suggest Sunset Blvd, Lee agreed. We made our way up to Sunset Blvd and we were suddenly attacked my men shaking glow sticks at us, trying to get our parking business. I acted suddenly and rashly, which left me, us, $5 poorer. I turned into one of lots, parked and gave up my $5 dollars. We began to walk in the direction I knew several clubs, like Wiskey a go go, Roxy, and The Key, I wanted to photo. After about 15 minutes of walking Lee turned to me and said, "How far away are these clubs?" I parked at the Laugh Factory, see below, thinking it was close. I was wrong. It's happened before. We were about 2 miles from the clubs. We walked back to the parking lot and the truck was gone. Lee turns to me and says, "Did they pull a Ferris Bueller with the truck?" Was our truck being used to pick up the ladies on the strip? I walk to the attendant and ask about the truck, he looks at me and you can see the frustration on his face. In broken English he tells me they moved the truck to a more secure lot to make more room. After about 15 minutes our truck arrives and appears to be okay. I did forget to check the speedometer before I dropped it off. Oh well.

We're off again but in another attempt to find parking we got side tracked and started climbing. "Wouldn't a picture of LA at night be great," I comment to Lee. She agrees and begins to Google high points in Hollywood to catch that shot. Four miles from the Whisky a go go we locate a scenic view off Mulholland Drive.

The park area closes at sunset and opens at sunrise. These hours don't allow for much nighttime photography. I see several cars parked so I pull off the road and decided to try and find the shot. It's pitch black and Lee has decided it's too scary to get out of the truck. I grab my gear and flashlight. I find a little 2 foot fence to climb over and a small trail which leads me to the point. I passed several couples coming back from the beautiful vantage point.

Once at the point I knew Lee made a mistake. After a few shots of the valley I knew I needed to go get Lee to see this.

Below are photos from that location. I played with them on photoshop to, well, play and see.

  

  

When I got back to the truck, I was greeted my an eager Lee ready to go up to the point. It turns out she was more afraid after I left her in the truck with darkness all around. She swears some man was walking up to the truck to attack her. I saw no man. She said he hid. I escorted Lee safely to the point and we were able to enjoy the point together.

Below are panoramics from the same point. Double Click the images to see them in full view.

On our way back to the truck we passed two teenage girls in heels and dresses climbing up to the point. Apparently the boogeyman didn't see them.

I hope you enjoy the images.

Make a great day!!

Like always prints are available for sale. gpmccash@gmail.com

Pink's, the famous Hot Dog Stand

Hello!

Day 16 of my 365 day photography journey

We decided to remove another item from the bucket list. Pink's the famous hot-dog stand in Los Angeles, located in Hollywood, on La Brea cross of Melrose was the place to do it. Maybe we'd even see a celeb. The line was long an hour long at 8:15 PM on Sunday.

The shadow next to Lee kept his distance from the people in front of him. You know those people. The ones that look like they are going to let someone in when they aren't looking. I'll come back to him later.

Apparently, this stop was a first for several people. Camera's and pictures everywhere.

Parking, clearly in this area has been a problem for the neighboring business. Signs everywhere threatening tows, fines and tickets for non business patrons. I parked next to a cop car hoping to be safe. The cooking area is about 400 square feet but the parking lot covers several lots. With some cars double parked.

With them only cooking hot-dogs and hamburgers you'd think the line would move faster but it doesn't. You order in one area and pay in another. You can tell who can't order properly (No soup for you!), because when they are done there is no one at the pay station, where there is usually 6-8 people waiting.

Someone's been cooking hot dogs since 1939 originally by Paul and Betty Pink. They started with a cart and upgraded to a shack.

This is my favorite image.

The menu has grown since 1939. I ordered the 9" Chili Cheese dog and Guacamole Dog with grilled onions.

The man above is the shadowed figure next to Lee in a previous picture. Do you recognize him? He's a comedian. I recognized him from his voice. His back was to me most of the time, so I never really saw his face until I spoke with him. His name is John Caparula. He's very funny and seems down to earth. I asked him if he was a comedian, he replied, "Yes, my name is John...." I apologized for not remember names, which is a cop-out. He shook our hands and said hello.

It was a great experience to eat at Pink's and a bonus to meet John Caparula, our only celeb seen in LA.

Make a Great Day!!

Youth and Old Places, well California Old

Hello,

Day 15 of my 365 day photography journey

It's been beautiful down here in Los Angeles weather wise. I think the biggest difference between city's like LA and say Paris is the cleanliness of the shops and streets. LA doesn't clean like Paris and San Francisco, in my opinion. So many wonderful buildings and shops but filthy windows and entry ways. It's a shame.

In spite of the lack of cleanliness, we've definitely been enjoying revisiting old parts of LA like Olvera, China Town, Korea Town, Wilshire, Hollywood, and Century City.

This first picture is the reason we are down here. This is the anime crew getting ready to head down to the expo. Good thing we got the extra large bathroom!!

We've dropped everyone off and it's time to hit Olvera Street for some delicious taquitos. Ahh, just like I remember. So crispy and so good covered in a guacamole tomatillo sauce. 

Yum! Taquitos!!!

Lee and I both agree the street seemed bigger when we were kids! Weird!

Off to Union Station.

That's all I have to say about that!

Off to China Town. We thought we picked the best day to go to China Town on accident, because it looked they were having a parade. We were all excited. Wrong!!! They were having a protest. Oh boy.

 It turned out to be a Walmart bashing parade. 99% of the signs just bashed Walmart, 1% of the signs said no Walmart in Chinatown, which is kinda ironic because everything in Walmart comes from China. Well this is probably the place to voice my opinion on the whole corporation versus the "lowly worker bee," but I'll do it some other time.

These guys thought it was a parade as well, until they showed up. Someone went up to them and said, "Dude this is a protest march not a celebration parade." Then they said to each other with a shrug of the shoulders, "Well, we're here and dressed up. Lets just stay." I for one was glad they did.

 After the parade, I mean protest, went through Chinatown was pretty dead.

It's the year of the water dragon, my year. It's my lucky year!! Woot! These painted cross walks are pretty cool.

Make a Great Day!!