Three Men Walking
Three men walking back to work after lunch.The men walk in unison. I liked this picture because it looked like it could come from any year in any major city.
That’s enough pictures buddy
I dropped a couple of dollars in his hat. He was playing Accordion in the Hague Netherlands on a deserted street and as far as I could tell I was the first one to give him even a penny all day. It looked like he was playing for tips but he just wasn’t in a very good spot for that.
He smiled, when I dropped the money in kept playing. I took two pictures in about 10 seconds and was about to take a third when his smile dropped and he said, “Thats enough pictures buddy”.
I must have been incredibly annoying with my photography that day because he was the 3rd person that either said, “No pictures or Stop taking pictures, or thats enough!”
One thing I have learned over time is that photographers have to be slightly annoying and intrusive to get any good pictures at all so instead of taking these protest as a negative thing, I thought to myself, I must be somewhat getting into the middle of things for people to have this somewhat negative reaction to me. I am always polite and request for pictures and always stop if someone say’s no.
In the end though, this guy was right. Maybe he was a bit cranky but I had enough for the day. I got on the train and said to myself, “Thats enough pictures buddy.”
Lets take a moment
And reflect on the fact that we live in So Cal and have summer weather while the rest of the nation is buried in snow.
A SuitCase to Delft
It’s a town thats a bit off the beaten path. It’s a town that time seems to have forgotten filled with European streets along canals. People rarely drive cars, opting to bike or walk everywhere. The streets are narrow and cobblestone. It is like Venice a bit but right in the middle of Holland
This is an old city. Originally formed 1200 years after Christ walked the earth. It was a tiny rural village that grew over time.
The city had a rough start. In the 1600’s a gun powder store in the middle of the village exploded and it destroyed most of this beautiful little town
There are many churches in this small town, very many churches for a small town and they are all extraordinary and worth a visit
I enjoyed the food in Delft. I only these sandwiches. They were Chicken Swarma sandwiches and were quite tasty. I found a tiny restaurant and that is what I ate for two days straight. The man took 15 minutes to make this sandwich. At first I was annoyed but then I realized he was taking so much time to make it taste perfect.
And then after having that nice healthy meal, I got the best donuts in the world at this place. It was just a big donut truck.
It was a cool autumn day but I walked up and down these beautiful canals walking through neighborhoods and seeing how everyone lived. Everyone was friendly. It was easy to see why. They lived in a beautiful place
At night the cobblestone streets come alive when the street lamps are lit. The city begins to look even older and more interesting.
I highly recommend visiting Delft while you are in Amsterdam or Hague. It is a beautiful place. If you want to check out the gallery of pictures go here – Delft.
A Narco Corrido for Patricio
I have always been fascinated with Narco Corrido songs which often feature famous Mexican Drug Lords. You are not truly a heavy weight in the drug cartel until you have a Narco Corrido written for you by a band.
Which is why I wrote this Narco Corrido for my straight edge brother Patrick who we call Patricio.
Every Narco Corrido starts off with a nickname of the hero whether its “Chapo” or “Chino” or “El Chignon” – a name that perfectly sums up that person up. Well for Patrick, I chose the name “Mochilon” which technically means Big BackPack. Patrick loves to wear his backpack everywhere he goes so he is “El Mochilon”
What Makes a Good Sunset in San Diego
A good sunset is a perfect collaboration between clouds, sun and earth. What makes a good sunset?
There is no formula
Its hard to actually put into a formula but I believe the best sunsets are a combination of high clouds above, minimal cloud cover on the horizon and warm weather. If there are low clouds on the horizon the sun will be obscured and if there are no clouds in the sky, the sunsets will be boring.
They come about every 45 days
Perfect sunsets in San Diego come about every 45 days. Most perfect sunsets occur in October during late Santa Ana conditions.
Its hard to predict a perfect sunset but if you see a lot of flowy or stretchy high clouds directly above about 1 hour before sunset you are bound to have a pretty good one.
Keep Trying
Tonight was close, but not exactly on. There was lots of clouds overhead but by sunset they had mostly blown away. I’ll keep looking for that perfect sunset.
Photos of Librarians
I was up in Oakland last week taken photos of the California Librarians Association at the annual conference for my friends, Chris and Vanessa.
This is my other friend Stephan who I caught in this very candid shot. He was so surprised.
