DC Fireworks Finale

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Originally uploaded by Joe Ganci

The weather was gorgeous!

Evgenia and her Dad Vladimir

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Originally uploaded by Joe Ganci

We went to the Independence Day fireworks in DC!

Receiving a Sweet Kiss

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Originally uploaded by Joe Ganci

Either I'm doing something right, or Lauren-Claire is giving me a birthday kiss!

Walking in the Fairfax County Independence Day Parade!

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Originally uploaded by Joe Ganci

Dateline: July 4, 2009, Fairfax, Virginia

Joe Ganci once again walks in the Fairfax County Indpendence Day Parade as part of the Fairfax Sons of Italy Lodge. The crowds cheered....all for me, I'm sure!

Two and a Half Months Later...

And it's still going on!

See http://joeganci.blogspot.com/2009/03/times-are-toughand-junk-mail-preys-on_01.html

Evgenia's Parents

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Originally uploaded by Joe Ganci

Last night our friend Evgenia's parents came to visit from the Ukraine. We ate a wonderful dinner at Sweetwater Tavern. Conversation was a mix of English, Italian, Russian and Ukrainian! It turns out that Ukrainians are terrifically nice people!

Lovely Frederick, Maryland

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Originally uploaded by Joe Ganci

After all these years living outside Washington, D.C., I had never until today visited Frederick, MD, only 45 minutes North of where I live. I had read about an Arts Festival happening there and decided to go visit. What a beautiful town! I really enjoyed it.

Unfortunately, on the way up there was a section of road where headlight use was mandatory. Normally I use the automatic setting for the headlights and unfortunately my car doesn't warn me when I leave them on so when I got back to the car, the battery was as dead as it could be.

A lady who was sitting on her porch nearby offered to help. Thank you to Jessica for all her help today!

Sunday at Great Falls Park

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Originally uploaded by Joe Ganci

A beautiful day Sunday at Great Falls Park!

Lots of Meat

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Originally uploaded by Joe Ganci

Viva Vienna today in Vienna, Virginia. I couldn't help but take this picture of a ton of meat and the man wearing a Big Fat Daddy's shirt. A carnivore's bliss, a heart surgeon's job security!

The Fountains of Kansas City

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Originally uploaded by Joe Ganci

Nice 14-block area of fountains and shops. Did you know that Kansas City has more fountains than any other city except Florence, Italy? Also, many of the fountains in KC were sculpted by Italian artists. All this was due to the founder of Hallmark, who loved fountains and Italy.

Click the photo to see more photos.

Kansas City, Friends and Barbecue!

I met my old friends John and Jeanene Underwood and Chris Phillips at Jack Stack Barbecue while working in Kansas City. Yum - very good barbecue! Interestingly, when I was flying to KC, my seatmate was on her way there to visit her grandchildren and she told me that her niece works at Jack Stack and to ask for her, but her niece was still away on maternity leave. :-)

1960 Volkswagen Beetle

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Originally uploaded by Joe Ganci

I took this while visiting my client on the fourth floor of Audi / Volkswagen Headquarters. Pretty cool, huh? The other photo shows it from above and you can get a better idea of its actual size.

Bird in Garage

Bird in my garage. He just kept going back and forth on the top shelf in my garage, acting as if he were taunting me to shoot him down! I didn't know that birds really did the back and forth thing like in the videogames! Take a look at the video. BTW, I didn't shoot him down, I whisked him out of the garage with a rake. Yeah, I was out of ammo (haha).

On a warm summer day a few years ago, six friends and neighbors gathered together in my home. Among them were Richard, Sabine and Ruth who, as flight attendants, had many stories to tell about flying the friendly skies. Also present were Tom and Kitty, the beautiful married couple who manage a large hotel. I videotaped the conversation and created a transcript of the conversation, editing for clarity.

I hope you enjoy it!

Here's the link:

www.joeganci.com/TalesFromLandAndSky.pdf

Today, these birds started to attack the screens of the windows in my home office. What gives? I added an audio track so you can hear a little of what I could hear.

Put The Kids to Work!

My friends Katya and Ian and I put their two kids to work on a scavenger hunt at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens to find all the frog statues! As a result, we all got a packet of wildflower seeds. Score! Make the kids work and reap the benefits!

My new friend Pasquale and me. Pasquale is the first friend that I had previously met on Facebook and then met in real life! He is quite an awesome guy for many reasons, including being a great Italian cook!

The lovely couple, Pasquale and Colleen! Thank you for having me to your home for a wonderful Italian home cooked meal!

My Friend Lisa!

I saw my very good friend Lisa while in Minnesota recently. She married a great guy named Larry and that transplanted her from Corpus Christi, Texas to the frigid Minnesota! Now THAT is love!

My Minnesota Students

These were four of my students from the class I taught at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, in April. What a great group of people! In the second photo, from left to right, we have Scott and the married couple Ann and Jeff.

As Seen in Atlanta #2

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Originally uploaded by Joe Ganci

These are my wonderful friends in Atlanta: Ian and Katya and their two boys Ben and Nikki! Katya has her own blog which you can see here:

http://itinerant-oak.blogspot.com/

Also, to see all the photos of our outing at the Botanical Gardens, click the photo!

As seen in Atlanta #1

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Originally uploaded by Joe Ganci

This shows the windows that were damaged during the tornado of 2007 and have not yet been replaced because they are custom windows and are still on back order.

Click the photo to see more photos from this set!

Our Garden

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Originally uploaded by Joe Ganci

I love springtime! I wish someone would invent a perfume as good as the garden smells right now!

Click the photo to see all the photos I took of the garden at the end of March.

As Seen in Seattle #2

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Originally uploaded by Joe Ganci

Yep! I visited the very first Starbucks!

Click the photo to see all the photos I took in Seattle!

As Seen in Seattle #1

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Originally uploaded by Joe Ganci

Monkfish....looks ugly, tastes pretty good!

Click the photo to see all the photos I took in Seattle!

Everything is Relative....in Size

THIS is fascinating - it's rather dazzling to see it presented this way. (Click the photos to enlarge them.)






Antares is the 15th brightest star in the sky. It is more than 1000 light years away.

This is a Hubble telescope ultra deep field Infrared view of countless entire galaxies. Billions of light-years away.


Below is a close-up of one of the darkest regions of the photo above.

"Watch" This!

I am one of those people who is prone to lose a watch shortly after donning it, especially because I don't like wearing one when I'm typing on a keyboard. For this reason, I keep the nice watch locked up at home and use a cheap watch when traveling. While I was in Italy last time, I went to an outdoor market and found this watch (the one in the photo) for only 5 euros, about $7.50. It runs pretty well, no problems, but one look at the watch and you may see why it's so cheap. Any ideas? What do YOU think?

One of My Favorite Bands

Several year ago I attended a conference in Nashville, Tennessee. While there, we went out one evening to Printer's Alley to a blues club. The house band playing was Stacy Mitchart and Blues You Can Use. To say that they rocked the place would be an understatement. We were all on our feet dancing. They were fantastic! Before going home, we went back. It was Halloween and the place was so much fun and once again Mitchart made it fantastic. I bought a couple of his CDs and have listened to them a lot since.

Last year I was back in Nashville and looked them up. They are now the house band at BB Kings, a step up. I got a seat near the stage and once again loved them. I got on their mailing list hoping to find that one day they would tour near DC.

While in Orlando this week, I got an email from them telling me where they were touring right now and lo and behold, they were going to be playing one night in Orlando the very next evening. I got five of my friends to join me and we went to see them at BB Kings in Pointe Orlando. All agreed that they were fantastic.

By the way, Stacy is a GUY! :-)

Here's his website: http://www.stacymitchhart.com/default.aspx?24

By the way, I spoke to Stacy during a break and he said he was going to be in DC in May to perform on XM Radio. He told me there'd be room for about 50 attendees. I hope to make it.

You can see my entries from when I saw Stacy and his band in Nashville:

http://joeganci.blogspot.com/2008/03/more-stacy-videos.html
http://joeganci.blogspot.com/2008/03/nashville.html

As Seen at the Airport...

When I arrived at my local airport the other day to go on a trip, I took this photo of a bunch of clothes piled up near a trashcan. Can you guess why?

I'm pretty sure it's because the individual's suitcase was just a little too heavy and the cost of the clothing was less than what the extra fees would have been for the overweight luggage. What do you think?

Ringing off the Hook

We still say that the phone was ringing off the hook. When's the last time you used a phone with a hook?

I remember when I was a kid we used to have a phone on the wall and that it had a hook that the receiver hung on. If you picked up the receiver, the hook would move up and would engage the dial tone. If you put the phone on the hook, it would move down and would disengage the phone.

Let's not be in a rush to change the terminology, though. I still like it. We still say we dial the phone, right? When's the last time you used a phone with a dial? :-)

What other old phone terms do we still use?

Let me think and then add your own.

1. We still talk about wiring money. While wires may be involved, most wiring is now done through the internet.
2. Phones ring but no longer contain actual bells like in the old days.
3. We hang up the phone even though we normally don't really hang it anywhere. We normally put it down somewhere, not up.

A Visit to Pompeii, Just Inside Washington, D.C.

There is a wonderful Pompeii exhibit being shown at the National Gallery of Art right now, one of the Smithsonian museums in Washington, D.C. Its run ends on March 22, after which it will move across the country and be shown in Los Angeles starting in May before being returned later this year to its rightful place on the other side of the ocean.

My wife and I have been to the actual city of Pompeii, thankfully many years after Vesuvius got angry and spouted lava all over the place (I know you know, but just in case you've forgotten, that happened in 79 AD). But it's a different experience walking through the actual town and seeing a number of pieces artfully shown together in one place, such as was the case in this exhibit.

The first five photos are on the approach to the exhibit. No photography was allowed inside the exhibit, so I've scanned images from the brochure we were given so you can get an idea of what we saw. The pieces are so well-preserved (lava will do that).


Garden Scene, Pompeii, House of the Golden Bracelet, fresco, 1st century BC - 1st Century AD, Ufficio Scavi, Pompeii


The Forum at Pompeii with Vesuvius in the Background, Christian Kobke, 1841, oil on canvas, The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles


Two seaside villas, Pompeii, 1st century BC - 1st century AD, fresco, Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli


Kantharos entwined with olive branches, Pompeii, House of the Menander, 1st century BC, silver, Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli


Two table supports, Pompeii, House of Gaius Cornelius Rufus, 1st century AD, marble, Ufficio Scavi, Pompeii


Plato's Academy, Pompeii, Villa of T. Siminius Stephanus, 1st century BC - 1st century AD, mosaic, Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli


Apollo and the muse Clio, Moregine, Triclinium A, 1st century AD, fresco, Ufficio Scavi, Pompeii


Homer, Baiae, 1st century BC - 1st century AD, marble. On Loan from the British Museum, London


Aphrodite, Rione Terra at Puteoli, probably early 1st century AD, marble, Museo Archeologico dei Campi Flegrei, Baia


Victorius Athlete, Herculaneum, Villa dei Papiri, 1st century BC, silver, Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli


Torso from a statue of a woman, Rione Terra at Puteoli, 1st century AD, marble, Museo Archeologico dei Campi Fiegrei, Baia


Tray-bearing youth or Apollo, House of Gaius Julius Polybius, 1st century BC - 1st century AD, bronze, Ufficio Scavi, Pompeii


Girl fastening her peplos, Herculaneum, Villa dei Papiri, bronze, 1st century BC - 1st century AD, mosaic, Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli


Alexander the Great on horseback, Herculaneum, 1st century BC - 1st century AD, bronze, Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli


Bust of a youth or Apollo, 1st century BC, bronze, Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli


Vesuvius from Portici, Joseph Wright, c. 1774-1776, oil on canvas, The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.


A Sculpture Gallery, Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, 1874, oil on canvas, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire

Times Are Tough...And Junk Mail Preys on Our Fears, Part 2

Here's another one we got in the mail. On the outside, very large letters: Retirement Relinquishment. What the heck does THAT mean? I've relinquished my retirement funds? Has the economy gotten so bad that my retirement fund is completely kaput?

Well, no, of course not. Now get ready: this one is really a stretch. It's basically a going-out-of-business sale for a furniture store. They call it retiring the business and they're relinquishing their furniture. Get it? Yeah, I told you it was a stretch! I don't think I'll be shopping there anytime soon...or ever!

Times Are Tough...And Junk Mail Preys on Our Fears, Part 1

The First Notice, Customer Reference #22123 you see here was showing through a plastic window in an official-looking envelope I received. First Notice? Sounds as if I'm behind on a bill! Oh, no! I open the envelope and see at the top of the letter ATTENTION: LOAN MODIFICATION NOTICE. Oh, no again! What loan? Of course, it was all a scare tactic to make me read the letter, which was nothing more than an offer to refinance our mortgage. Why do people think that after scaring us for no good reason we'll be open to doing business with them?

Oh, and Customer #22123? I've never been a customer of theirs, so that number is totally random!

You TOO Can See My Keynote Speech

Oh, yes, I know you're dying to see me in action, up on the stage, hundreds of adoring fans hanging onto every word that comes out of my mouth...haha.

Take a look if you like, but be kind with your comments!

Click here to see it.

More Friends in Orlando!

Here I am with Patti and Jeff. Patti and I have been friends for years and Jeff and I have been friends since he married Patti! They treated me to a really nice Italian restaurant in an area of Orlando called Portofino, patterned after the real Portofino in Italy.

Below you see a couple of shots of Portofino and a picture of me with the accordion player in the restaurant.

The last photo shows Jeff and I copping a feel from a young lady. She was a bit stonelike, but no matter!

In the restaurant, a trio sang and played for us. I had them sing Happy Birthday in Italian for my wife, who was stuck back in cold Virginia, poor thing!

Listen to them sing in the videos.

My New Friends

This lovely couple are Luana, originally from Brazil, and her husband Giovanny, originally from Columbia. Don't they make a lovely couple? We met at the conference at which I spoke last week in Orlando and we have become fast friends...fast!

As Seen In Orlando...

A black horse and a white unicorn. Are they dancing? Are they about to fight? Are they using sign language to communicate? What do you think?

Who Drives This?

I saw this parked at the hotel where I stayed in Orlando last week. With the sun shining on this beauty, I could see it a mile away!

What a lovely shade of...purple?

Kill, Kill, Kill!

This was my last night in Orlando before going home (yea!!), at least for two weeks, after which I'm back here for another conference!

So I wanted to get at least seven hours sleep before leaving for the airport. Instead, at 3 am I woke up to a loud argument happening in the room next to mine. There is an adjoining door between our rooms and their argument was so loud I thought they were in my room!

The argument finally stopped (sort of) after they turned on the TV full blast. They were watching My Cousin Vinny, one of my favorite movies, only I wasn't quite in the mood to watch it right then. Then, while the movie was playing, the couple in the room started screaming at each other again. It seemed a little alcohol-fueled considering the slurring I was hearing.

I debated with myself:

1) banging on the adjoining door and risk having them break down mine and politely challenging me to a duel in my sleepy state

2) calling the front desk, but at this hotel they NEVER answer the phone and besides the couple next door would be able to hear me and then proceed to option 1 above

3) calling them directly but again they'd hear me through the door (stereo effect), which would lead to option 1

4) going out into the hall and banging on their front door, but that's kind of like option 1, which would lead to the results of option 1.

So which did I choose? That's right, I turned on the air conditioning in the room, setting it to the current temperature so that it wouldn't actually turn on, but then set the fan to high, which made a lovely loud white noise sound, almost completely muffling the next door neighbors.

Ah, to sleep, perchance to dream. I fell back asleep.

I had set the alarm for seven a.m., but instead woke up at 6 a.m. and the usual thing happened - my brain started racing around thinking of all the things I had to do. Yep, I couldn't sleep. I got up, finished packing, and turned on my TV. Not real loud, mind you, just enough. The couple next door no longer has their TV on, but I can still hear them arguing.

Couples on vacation, so relaxing!

Funny Pics Galore

A Man Who Really Wants to Get into the World Cup

Best T-Shirt Design


What Will You Be When You Grow Up?


Don't Worry, It's a Refrigerator Magnet

A Valentine's Day Incident

This month, February, is a costly one for me. Not only is it Valentine's Day, but the next few day are also my wife's birthday and our wedding anniversary. Then our second child decided to be born on our sixth anniversary so I have his birthday too. I went to the card store and there were all the men buying Valentine's Day cards. I picked up four cards, one for each of the above events. A man saw me holding four cards and with eyebrows raised said, "Just how many girlfriends do you have?" I just smiled and walked away!

Getting Older...Still!

I've noticed another disturbing trend as I get older...many of the famous people are younger than I am. I've gotten used to seeing new actors and actresses come onto the scene who are years younger than I, but...

FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THE HISTORY OF MANKIND...

The president of the United States is younger than I am! He was born a year after I was!

This trend is truly disturbing! If it continues, I see a time when everyone on Earth will be younger than I. What will happen then? Will I win some kind of contest?

Time to Get Serious, Part 2 - Lying for God

I receive so many forwarded messages from several well-meaning individuals, most of which were written by the original poster taking umbrage at some incident that proves that America is moving away from God. The only problem is that most of the time those incidents never happened! The most recent exclaims that the words "so help us God" were left out of a quote from Franklin Delano Roosevelt that is engraved on the World War II Memorial here in Washington, D.C. The problem here is that the quote from a speech that FDR gave never says those words in that part of the speech. Many of the emails are even more obvious in their fallacies. Another one I just got recently states that Budweiser has stopped delivery to a store in California after Sept. 11, 2001, because the beer delivery man saw the Muslims inside celebrating. Again, this has been disproved, including by Budweiser itself.

Oh, there are so many other stories that are like these. They are almost universally sent by those who have a far-right or a religious agenda and usually fall into one of these categories:

1. Someone or some organization is trying to delete God from our country.
2. An inspiring story from 9/11.
3. During the months leading up to the election, something proving that Obama was a fundamentalist Muslim, or a God-hater, or an atheist, or...well, almost anything else that is negative and not true.

When I receive one of these stories, I like to check for myself whether they are true, because sometimes, though rarely, they are. Luckily, there are impartial research organizations that check these all the time. One of the best ones is www.snopes.com. There is a search window there and you can just type in a keywords, such as "World War II Memorial", and you'll see any stories that relate to that subject. Right at the top it will say whether the story is True or False and then give a very good explanation as to why. I highly recommend it to anyone.

A little skepticism can help us to avoid falling for so many lies. That leads me to the question...why do people lie to promote the idea of God? When the original writer of an email writes about something that is made out of whole cloth (for my foreign readers, that's an expression in English that means something is not true), even if the email promotes giving yourself over to Jesus Christ as your Savior, do they believe that Jesus approves of their lies? Do they think Jesus thinks it's OK to lie on His behalf? If so, how much further down the road do they have to go before they think it's OK to steal or kill on His behalf?

Time to Get Serious, Part 1 - Tolerance

Not only do I believe in tolerance, I believe in acceptance. I believe we should accept each other no matter our beliefs or backgrounds. The only thing that makes me want to distance myself from someone is an individual's actions, not beliefs, fears, kinky ideas or anything else. I don't promise to respect your beliefs if they are different from mine, but I will not mock you or try to convince you to abandon your beliefs. If you ask me about mine, I will share freely. If you ask me about yours, I'll tell you what I think without being condescending (I hope). If you try to belittle me for what I believe, don't expect me to be happy about it.

No, nothing has happened today to make me write this. It's just an overall conclusion I've reached after a lifetime of experience.

Cool Demo from Adobe!

Adobe has a new cool demo for its latest version of Adobe Creative Suite. Click here to see it for yourself.

Be sure to move the red bar at the bottom all the way to the right to see the whole animation. Be sure also to have your speakers on.

The Spirit Leaves the Body...

I was using Skype Video to talk with our friend Gina, who is in Preston, England, for a few months. At a certain moment, I saw her spirit leave her body and took a picture of it, which you see here. I promise you I did not retouch this photo in any way!

I believe this is the first time in history that anyone has actually taken a picture of the moment that the spirit leaves the body.

Oh, please don't tell me that this is due to slow connection and slow screen refresh! No, no, there are no technical reasons behind this. The fact that Gina is alive and well has nothing to do with anything! She was just temporarily separated from herself. The fact that she felt nothing different during this process means nothing! Now give me a million dollars! :-)

These Guys Really Mean It

Can you "hear" the message any louder than when a chain is attached to the pen? Don't Steal Our Pen!

I took this picture at a local restaurant!

The Video Phone Has Arrived

Several times a week, I speak with mom with Skype video, absolutely free. Thank you, Skype, for giving us this option! It's so cool to talk to mom, here with Sally and Klaus (the dog), this way - almost like being there. The video looks a lot sharper than what you see here, but because it's often after dark there when we talk (it's winter now, short days plus the time zone differences), they're often in semidarkness whereas I have sunlight coming through the window caressing my delicate skin!

Our First Snowfall of the Winter

Not that we had any snow in the Summer or Fall, mind you!

The first picture I took through my window, a night shot of course. This is my front yard.

The second picture I took a few minutes later. It's my backyard and I used a setting to capture more light.

The third is the morning after. They had plowed the road, as you can see, and my son was getting the ice off his back window - using the claw of a hammer! It worked very well.

In the movie, you can see my son performing a maneuver to get his car into our garage. The slick ice on the driveway required a slick maneuver! No problems - he's a pro!

Aluminum Foil Wonder!

I got this from a friend.

Whoever looks at the end of the aluminum foil box?

You know when you try to pull some foil out and the whole roll comes out of the box. Then you have to put the roll back in the box and start over. It never goes back in the way it came out and it always comes out at the wrong time.

Well, I'd like to share this with you. Yesterday as I went to throw out an empty Reynolds foil box for some reason I looked at the end of the box. And written on the end it said, "Press here to lock end."

Right there on the end of the box is a tab to lock the roll in place.

How long has this little locking tab been there? I then looked at a generic brand of aluminum foil and it had one, too.

I looked at a box of Saran wrap and it had one, too!

I can't count the number of times the Saran wrap roll has jumped out when I was trying to cover something up. The only box that doesn't have this feature is the Wax Paper box.

It's a small thing, but this little bit of information may just save your day when you're in a hurry.

Goes to show you learn something new --- every day.

Mom and Klaus

Isn't this a cute photo of mom and Klaus? He protects her, watches over her and especially keeps a keen eye on her when she is going up and down the stairs.

Thanks to my sister for this photo. You can see her blog by clicking on the link to the left, the first one in the Friends and Family section.

President Bush Commemorative Collectibles

Being sold through my local right-wing newspaper. Why on Earth would I want to be reminded of the tragedy of the last eight years any longer than necessary?

And, really, a cigar?

Unforgettable Places to See Before You Die

So, there's this book, see? It's called "Unforgettable Places to See Before You Die" by Steve Davey. This is the list of places he believes we should see. I tend to agree with many if not all of them. My question to all of you is: what's missing from this list? Additional questions: Which of these have you visited and of them, which do you recommend and why? I've placed a star next to the few I've seen. I really do want to see the Grand Canyon!

01. Angkor Wat, Cambodia
02. St. Petersburg, Russia
03. Havana, Cuba
04. Wat Phra Kaeo, Bangkok, Thailand
05. Grand Canyon, Arizon, USA
06. Taj Mahal, Agra, India *
07. Eilean Donan Castle, Scotland
08. The Alhambra, Granada, Spain
09. Aitutaki, Cook Islands
10. Pyramid of Kukulcan, Mexico
11. Venice, Italy *
12. Dead Vlei, Namibia
13. Iguassu Falls, Brazil and Argentina
14. Petra, Jordan
15. College Fjord, Alaska, USA
16. Karnak Temple, Luxor, Egypt
17. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
18. Taman Negara Rainforest, Malaysia
19. Jaisalmer Fort, India
20. Galapagos Islands, Ecuador
21. Manhattan Island, New York, USA *
22 Lake Titicaca, Bolivia and Peru
23. Monet's Garden, Giverny, France
24. Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania
25. Santorini, Greece
26. Drakensbert, South Africa
27. Zanzibar, Tanzania
28. Makalu, Himalayas, Nepal *
29. Lalibela, Ethiopia
30. Machu Picchu, Peru
31. Uluru, Australia
32. The Ghats, Varanasi, India
33. Great Barrier Reef, Australia
34. Lhasa, Tibet
35. Yangshuo, Guilin, China
36. Dubrovnik, Croatia
37. Ephesus, Turkey
38. The Bund, Shanghai, China
39. Samarkand, Uzbekistan
40. Killary Harbour, Ireland

Be careful if you get this on Skype

I got this strange and potentially very dangerous instant message on Skype. Somebody named "Computer Alert" that warns me that my system is infected and to click a link to download a patch.

I'm absolutely sure that the patch that I would download if I clicked the link would be a nice little virus that will infect my system.

Don't click that link or any other suspicious link, especially one that comes to you in this way!

Two Millon Strong...and...

Two Million people at the Inauguration of Barack Obama...and not one arrest!

More Ice Water Holes

Another lake, this one close to my house, with lots of birds resting around the melted ice surrounding the fountain.

My dog finds the whole scene rather curious, sitting in the car.

Make sure you click the photos to enlarge them!

Appunti di un Volontario di Barack Obama

Yes, this is in Italian. I wrote it for an Italian website. Sorry if you don't read Italian! (By the way, if there is a heaven, they speak Italian there...so if you want to get into heaven, you'd better start learning Italian!)

Appunti di un Volontario di Barack Obama
Di Joe (“Giuseppe”) Ganci

A questo punto tutto il mondo sa che Barack Obama ha vinto la presidenza degli Stati Uniti, un evento storico su tanti livelli. Naturalmente è storico perché Obama è il primo uomo a vincere che non abbia la pelle bianca, ma questo fatto troppe volte oscura una cosa ancora più importante. Barack Obama rappresenta la speranza che ci porterà via dall’incubo degli ultimi otto anni di George W. Bush. Sotto l’amministrazione di Cheney-Bush (sì, ho messo per primo Cheney), il nostro benamato paese ha abbandonato molti dei principi democratici che hanno reso gli Stati Uniti un’ispirazione per tanti nel mondo. Ha invece cercato di controllare i nostri citttadini con la paura e l’ansia. Bush, che ha fallito in tutto ciò che ha provato a fare durante la sua vita, ha infine fallito anche a governare il nostro paese, al punto che gli USA sono disprezzati e anche odiati da tanti. Una guerra illegale, Guatanamo Bay, l’economia distrutta per le sue polizze e molte altre ragioni farebbero meritare a lui e ai suoi colleghi una lunga permanenza in prigione. C’è chi dice pure che il solo fatto che hanno svelato Valerie Plaine come agente della CIA per fare dispetto al marito di Plaine, che come giornalista aveva scritto la verità sui delitti dell’amministrazione Bush nel New York Times, è un atto di tradimento che di solito porterebbe alla pena di morte.

Sta per finire questo periodo di tenebre, ora che i miei concittadini hanno finalmente capito l’errore di avere votato per il traditore e hanno invece votato per un uomo onesto e bravo che farà del suo meglio per risanare il paese.

Naturalmente, non sarebbe riuscito a vincere da solo. Invece, aveva bisogno di aiuto – e anche tanto. Molti di noi, circa otto milioni infatti, abbiamo sacrificato tanto tempo per portare Sgr. Obama alla Casa Bianca.

In tutti gli stati, Obama ha avuto molti centri elettorali stabiliti per la sua campagna. Sono andato ad iscrivermi come volontario al centro più vicino a casa mia e ho chiesto come potevo essere utile. Mi hanno subito messo a lavorare. Dopo una breve riunione durante la quale ci hanno dato delle istruzioni, sono andato alla zona a me designata a bussare alle porte di quegli indirizzi indicati nell’ elenco che mi è stato dato. Tutto era ben organizzato. L’elenco indicava solo quelle persone che non si erano già dichiarate per Obama o McCain e tutti gli indirizzi erano nella stessa zona. Per qualche ora ho fatto alcune domande che mi erano state date, alle persone che rispondevono alla porta. Indicavo le loro risposte sui moduli e alla fine riportavo tutto indietro al centro per inserire i dati nel computer.

Dovevo indicare nei moduli, quelli che non erano a casa. Ogni tanto si capiva se qualcuno era per Obama semplicemente perché avevano messi fuori casa un cartello che lo indicava. Nello stesso modo potevo capire certe volte se qualcuno era per McCain, ma anche se c’era un cartello, se non c’era nessuno a casa, dovevo scriverlo, perché magari il cartello era stato messo dal marito e la moglie non era d’accordo, o vice-versa. Se non c’era nessuno a casa, lasciavo alla porta un depliant.

Le reazioni variavano fra quelli che erano a casa Certi erano simpatici e rispondevano volentieri alle mie domande. Altri mi hanno sbattuto la porta in faccia. C’era chi appena visto che era scritto Barack Obama sul mio pachetto si arrabbiava e mi mandava via con parolacce.

Alcuni casi me le ricorderò per sempre:

• L’uomo che è diventato rosso di rabbia dicendomi che Obama era l’anticristo e che io ero il servo del diavolo!

• La donna che mi ha detto che se Obama non avesse vinto, sarebbe andata a vivere all’estero.

• L’uomo che non ha potuto parlare perché ha dovuto farsi levare la mascella, probabilmente come risultato di un cancro, e avevo un buco alla gola per respirare.

• Diversi che mi hanno chiesto come potevono diventare volontari per Obama anche loro

• Una donna nera che si è messa a lacrimare, dicendomi che per tutta la vita le era stata detto di non fidarsi dei bianchi, ma ora non ci crede più perché i bianchi lavorano insiemi ai neri e a tutte le altre razze per eleggere un uomo nero.

Un altro modo in cui ho aiutato la campagna elettorale è stato di stare seduto nel centro dei volontari, telefonando a molte persone, di nuovo indicate negli elenchi che mi sono stati dati. Gli organizzatori mi hanno detto che ho una voce molto soave e che era perfetta per telefonare alle persone per fare loro delle domande, domande molto simili a quelle che avevo fatto andando da porta a porta. Ma ho trovato che al telefono le persone erano disposte ancora di più ad essere oneste. Il bello è che gli elenchi indicavano alcuni dati personali: nome, indirizzo, e anche l’età. Ho telefonato a migliaia di persone. Molti erano giovani, dai 18 anni in poi, ma c’erano anche gli anziani che avevano più di 100 anni! Il più anziano aveva 108 anni. Ho trovato bello il fatto che non potevo presupporre che gli anziani fossero conservativi contro Obama. Infatti, molti di loro erano molto felici di aver potuto vedere il nostro paese andare un passo così avanti prima di morire.

Alcuni casi che mi ricordo dalle telefonate che ho fatto:

• La donna anziana che si è arrabbiata subito e mi ha gridato di non telefonare mai più, che detestava il nome di quel diavolo Obama e che non voleva mai più sentire quel nome. Ho resistito nel dirle che sarebbe stato meglio per lei abituarsi visto che Obama aveva un bella possibilità di vincere!

• La giovane donna che ha cercato di flirtare con me al telefono!

• L’uomo che ha cercato di flirtare con me al telefono!

• L’uomo che mi ha detto che se Obama avesse vinto, sarebbe andato a vivere all’estero (proprio l’opposto di quella donna con cui avevo parlato a casa sua!).

• L’uomo che mi ha detto che ero la quinta persona a telefonargli quel giorno per fargli delle domande e che era stufo di parlare di politica!

L’ultimo raduno di Barack è stato proprio qui in Virginia, non tanto lontano da casa nostra, il giorno prima dell’elezione. Anche se eravamo già andati ad un’altro raduno circa un mese prima, naturalmente siamo andati anche a quest’ultimo raduno prima di votare. Figuratevi – non siamo stati gli unici!! Circa 100.000 persone sono venuti a condividere il loro entusiasmo per Obama.

Alla fine tutte le nostre fatiche sono state ben premiate. Non solo Barack Obama ha vinto, ma Gli Stati Uniti hanno vinto, anche se non tutti riescono ancora a crederci!

http://www.360-us.com/obama200pix.swf

Crop Circles...No. Water Circles...Yes!

It's been cold here in Washington, D.C. but we haven't had much snow, just a little bit the other day and it melted quickly. The many ponds and lakes in our area got a very thin layer of ice cover - don't you dare try to skate on it! The ice is so thin that they haven't turned off most of the fountains in these man-made bodies of water, which creates these interesting water circles. They're kind of interesting, kind of pretty. Of course, it may be only me that thinks so!



The geese here seem puzzled by what they see!

Brilliant Sidewalk Chalk Art

Julian Beever, Pavement Picasso

Julian Beever is an English artist who is famous for his anamorphic art on the pavements of England, France, Germany, USA, Australia and Belgium. Beever gives an amazing illusion to his drawings, so that the objects appear to be three dimensional rather than flat as they actually are.

Art for the people. My art is for anybody, it's for people who wouldn't go into an art gallery. It's art for the people. Art shouldn't be locked away in galleries and libraries and books. Art should be for everybody and not just art buffs, historians and so-called experts.

Julian works in chalk, so his art, which takes up to 3 days to complete, is there only as long as the elements allow. If it rains it means I've done a lot of hard work for nothing, but I usually manage to avoid that.

The important thing for me is to get a photo of it at the end. For me, I'm working towards building a photograph as my end result, and if I get that I'm happy.

The secret is to set up a camera on a tripod and keep it in one spot and check every mark you make. It's really just playing with perspective to make it appear different to what it really is.

The 3D aspect to his work came much later while he was working in Brussels. I decided to get into 3D after seeing the effect of tiles being removed from the street, and later trying to recreate the sense of depth in a drawing.


Make Poverty History The front view is above and the side view is below. This is 40 feet long!



Politicians get sucked into a pit. Who will save them? Once I realized you could make things go down, I realized you could make them appear to go up and I began experimenting.



Today I'm drawing Felix the Cat gate-crashing the Chinese New Year of the dog. He's popping out of the ground in a Chinese dragon costume.
Chinese Dragon with Felix the Cat



There is no hole in this pavement.



Land Use



Canal Street - New Orleans



Rafting - Watch Out!



Hosing down the street - Everything is fake, even the hose and water!



People avoid the hole.



Did you spot tiny Julian Beever on the Top of the Bottle?





Hard to believe that the little boy is standing flat on the pavement!









Julian Deever - Self Portrait

Interesting Photo Angles

If you don't see something interesting at first, look again!
These are from interesno.dn.ua.

Not Available in All States!

This one has bugged me for ages. I'll be listening to a radio commerical about whatever and then they get to the fine print section. Of course, this being radio, it's not fine print you're reading. Instead, you're listening to a fast low talker! And one of the things he or she will say is, "Not available in all states."

I feel like screaming! What do you mean not available in all states? Doesn't that mean it's not available anywhere? Shouldn't the phrase be not available in some states? Am I wrong??