Monday, December 12, 2016

Graffiti Art: a few last photos from Romania and Serbia

Wow, I didn't realize a month has passed since I last added to this blog. The holidays have started to consume my attention.

Before I forget, there is one last batch of photos from my summer trip I wish to share. Usually I am not a huge fan of graffiti, but some I saw in Belgrade and Bucharest really caught my attention. They either caught my eye because they had a real message or were like mural art or both.

The first really made me do a double take. As I looked at it, I thought of my sister's husband and how this would be so his style. It's a thinker.


Building in Belgrade

Belgrade 




This next batch of graffiti made me smile, as I am a vegetarian and try to be vegan. After spotting the first one from the city tour bus, I started seeing them all over Belgrade written in both English and Serbian.
Belgrade

Bucharest
These next two I spotted connected together along a wall in Bucharest, Romania. I had just exited a city park with my friends, and as we walked we passed by these pieces of graffiti art.
Bucharest

Bucharest 


Though this giant banner doesn't fall under the true definition of graffiti, I felt like it was. As I was driven through Bucharest many historical buildings were covered with giant banners like this one. As I was into the architecture, I found these banners too modern and frustrating for my taste.



Wednesday, October 19, 2016

Gates of Kovacica, Serbia

While on my trip to Serbia and Romania, I visited more than just Belgrade and Bucharest. One lovely small town I spent time in was Kovacica, Serbia. Over several days I walked around and looked the buildings and parks. One aspect of Kovacica caught my eye: the gates. Almost every home had a gate and all these gates were different. Most were made of metal.  Many gates showed aged, while others were brightly painted.

Since these gates so fascinated me on my walks, during two outings I took photos of dozens of them. Here are some of the gates I enjoyed admiring.









Sunday, October 9, 2016

Help save Bengal Tigers!

On Change.Org there is petition going to save the Bengal Tigers and other animals living in the Sundarbands. All you are being asked to do is sign a petition in order to protect these beautiful creatures.  Please check this petition out and if you support it, please sign.

Thank you.

https://www.change.org/p/save-bengal-tigers-and-their-home-the-sundarbans

Wednesday, October 5, 2016

Books for Sale in store in Salem, Oregon

My novels are now for sale at The Fussy Duck in Salem, Oregon. So if you live near that area, and aren't into buying books on-line, here is your chance to get copies at a store. All these copies are signed too!

The Fussy Duck is located at 3170 Commercial St. SE, Salem, Oregon. The books can be found in Booth B19. The workers there can help you find them if you don't want to spend time searching through all the wonderful antiques and other unique items for sale.


Of course, if you can't get to the store the books are all available on lulu.com and amazon.com as paperbacks and kindles. Enjoy reading!



Tuesday, September 27, 2016

Architecture of Belgrade, Serbia

Since I blogged about the architecture I saw while visiting the city of Bucharest, I thought it only fair to share pictures of the buildings of another capitol city, Belgrade. My first few days of my vacation were spent in Belgrade, thus they were also the days I was recovering from jet-lag. Yet, I managed to tour the Fortress in Belgrade, take a bus tour, see the Millennium Tower, and visit the Tesla Museum. Add in some walks around the city and I collected a few photos. Here are some of my favorites.

Belgrade Fortress




These first photos are of the Fortress in Belgrade. If it has a more official name I don't know it, since I didn't go on any tours. I just walked around the various ramifications. Though there is an outdoor dinosaur replica museum that I did visit.
Belgrade Fotrerss
Millennium Tower





The Millennium Tower is a beautiful structure that is in an area called Zemun. You can take a tour into it, which I did. Once inside you go up a spiral staircase. At the top you can walk around and from there get some great  photos of Belgrade.

Spiral staircase of Millennium Tower

View of Belgrade from Millennium Tower

Throughout the city there are many wonderful looking buildings that solidified for me a that I was in Europe. Here are some of those pictures for you to enjoy.


Belgrade

Church in Belgrade

Church in Belgrade


Belgrade

Belgrade government building

Belgrade



Tuesday, September 6, 2016

Oregon State Fair 2016 Concerts: Foreigner and Montgomery Gentry

This year I had the pleasure of attending the Oregon State Fair for the first time. I went to the Fair three times. The main purpose behind two of those visits was to enjoy the concerts.  The list of acts this year was impressive. If I could have managed it, I would have attended more of them, but in the end selected to see Foreigner and Montgomery Gentry.

Having recently relocated to Oregon from California, I am used to fairs costing $5 to $35 to get in.Years previously I visited the California State Fair and that was never a cheap day.

The Oregon State Fair is different. Opening night was only $1.50 to get in and $5 to park. The amazing part is the concerts are free with admission.  You can pay for VIP Seats, but I found no need to do that. The regular seats are good as you can see for yourself in the photos.


One thing to note about half the VIP seats (starting at $35) is they had benches with no backs. The free seats had backs. For some this doesn't matter as they spend most of a concert standing, but for me having something to lean against is always nice.

Seating for these concerts opened at 6 pm, and the shows started at 7 p.m. and lasted until about 8:30 p.m.  I arrived for Foreigner early thinking it would be hard to get seats, and that maybe I wouldn't, but that proved not to be an issue.
  

The night Montgomery Gentry played the entry cost to the Fair was only $1.50. Again I paid $5 for parking.  This time I didn't wait in line for seats, I walked around the Fair a bit first (including getting my free Oregon State Lottery Ticket and an ice tea) before settling in for the show.

As I like a variety of music, I enjoyed both shows. The crowds were energized, but not too big. Both shows even had a pre-show band play, of which I have a photo, but I can't seem to recall the exact name of that band. 

 The Oregon State Fair had many other things to enjoy, which I did as well, but I find it amazing one could go see some truly famous bands for less than $7 (and remember that was to get into the Fair and for parking as the concerts were free).

Here are a few more pictures for fun.





Sunday, August 21, 2016

Favorite Photos from Serbia and Romania

I spent several hours sorting photos from my trip to Serbia and Romania. As I did so I revisited all those special moments.  Yet, a handful of photos really caught my attention, and not because of the memories to which they were attached.

These photos appealed to the artist in me. Each captured something I felt was unique. Lighting had a great deal to do with this. How the light falls has a great impact on photos, which is often why photographs take pictures in the early morning or just before dusk.

These first two photos that caught my eye were taken in the town of Sremski Karlovci in Serbia.  I aimed upward to catch the church steeples around sunset and these amazing shots are what I got.



Given my camera is a simple digital 14 Mega Pixels Kodak, the kind that can fit in your pocket, I was impressed by what I was able to capture.














This next picture startled me when I saw it. While at the Romania National Museum I snapped many shots of manuscripts. Since a flash was not allowed, all the photos were taken with the lightning that the museum provided to illuminate the objects. When I looked at this particular manuscript it didn't look much different than the others, but the photo revealed something very different. See for yourself.


Hopefully you see what I do, that some of the writing is in gold and jumps off the page almost in a 3-D effect. Naturally I am curious what the gold lettering reads.




This picture, also taken at the Romania National Museum, I had help creating.  My friend Cristy posed for it per the suggestion of our friends. We took two shots, but this one really looks like he could be holding that staff. Though I do wish I had noticed the water bottle at the time and had him set it aside.





The final picture I will share I took on my flight home out the window of the plane. According to the flight plan provided on the screen the plane was just reaching Canada at this juncture. The way the window ended up angled at the bottom of the picture accented the island. This is one of the better photos I've ever taken out of an airplane window.





Though I like the benefit of being able to take photo after photo with a digital camera and being able to discard all the bad shots (which I had many), I still miss my old, heavy Nikon film camera and the days you had to wait until all the film was developed to see if you had any good shots at all. Yet, given suitcases are now weighed, it's a good thing I can get some great shots with a light pocket-sized camera.

Thursday, August 18, 2016

Architecture of Bucharest, Romania

Photographing architectural features such as buildings, archways, and gates is something I enjoy doing when I travel. While in Bucharest I took over 300 photos, most of them of buildings.

Bucharest has some very old buildings and wonderful statues throughout the city. Yet, I did find it distracting that some of these glorious pieces of architecture often had advertising banners hanging off them. Those ads often kicked me from my thoughts of what the place was like in former decades to the more modern age. In addition businesses like Pizza Hut screamed America to me and not Romania. While these historical detractors exist in Bucharest, I avoided photographing them and focused on the ancient (by American standards), unique, and beautiful.

As I walked, rode a tour bus and in my friend's car, I often focused my camera, occasionaly with some nice results. Here are a few of those photos. The buildings I know the name of I labeled.

This building is across the street from the Romania National Museum

Detail from building above






Local friends called this pair of buildings the Twin Towers of Bucharest

Parliament Building or The People's House

Inside the Parliament Building
Parliament Building
Parliament Building
Bucharest as viewed from Parliament Building
Inside Parliament Building

From the roof of the Parliament Building