"Another Saturday Night and I A'int Got Nobody"...

A typical slow Saturday night at work, and the question was asked who recorded the above mentioned song. I do know that at least one or two of the many thousands of readers would be interested in the answer. The answer dear readers is Sam Cooke, and the song was recorded on February 28th in 1963. Of course most of you were probably not born yet.

The attached photo was taken in Coal Harbor, near my home one dark evening and I am not sure whether it was a Saturday night or not. I just thought it went with the nature of this blog entry which I admit is a little light in content. However, I did want to wish you all a Happy and safe Halloween.

Live well and prosper.
Dennis

If All Else Fails - Hang On !!!

Life is not what you see, but what you've projected. It's not what you've felt, but what you've decided. It's not what you've experienced, but how you've remembered it. It's not what you've forged, but what you've allowed. And it's not who's appeared, but who you've summoned.

And this should serve you, well until you find what you already have.

I thought of the above in relation to the above image which I took on my recent trip to Namibia. It was sent to me from a site that I follow and I thought it applied to this small lizard who decided to hang on for dear life. I wondered what was going through his mind, although it is debatable I suppose if "mind" is the right term here. I think he thought he was in control of the situation by firmly hanging on, and perhaps he is right. The above quotation does indicate that we are in control at all times, even if it appears otherwise. In fact we have "summoned" all the people in our lives either consciously or unconsciously. Our past is a series of how we have remembered the "experiences". And life is not what we feel, but how we have decided to feel.

So dear readers, I offer you the courage and wisdom to remember all past experiences in joy, summon beautiful people into your life and to allow all manner of good into your life.

Live well and Prosper

Dennis

Be Careful What You Wish For !

Last night was one scary night!! My 3 year old grandson had been talking for weeks about going into Stanley Park and going on the Halloween train. This ride meanders through part of the park and into tunnels and heavy forest areas. During this time of year, scary ghosts and goblins jump out as the train travels along. This was very exciting to him prior to the event, but as the ride unfolded it seemed a little more than he had imagined or bargained for. Very soon after we started he exclaimed: "I am ready to go home now". This was impossible as we were underway. His Dad and Mom talked him through the fear and he seemed to cope OK until the end. To add to the scare factor, it was pitch black out and a strong wind had been blowing the leaves and howling through the large trees in the park.

I thought it was an interesting parallel to life in general where we wish for things and sometimes have no idea how we will cope with the wish should it come true. As we walked home in the howling wind, I took the above image that I now share with you.

I wish for you, that all your wishes come true, and when they do, I hope they make you happy, and you do not say "I want to go home now!!!"

Live well and prosper.

Dennis

An Angry Cat

Hello to my many thousands of viewers!! A fairly slow day at work today, and thought I would share this image of an angry cat. The guide who assured me that he would jump in if the cheetah attacked me thought that this was about a 1.5 year old juvenile. He assured me that cheetah's were not agressive like lions or leopards. This guy however thought I was a little close and commenced a series of fake charges and snarling. He would charge forward about 6 inches and snarl and then move back 2 feet. As a result he kept getting further away from me, but still trying to show me he was the boss. Strangely enough I felt quite comfortable standing eyeball to eyeball with him. I don't think I would have been as comfortable with a lion or leopard.

Live well and prosper
Dennis

Happy Sunday

Happy Sunday morning! Here I am at work at my supervisor's desk watching (ah supervising that is) my air traffic controllers being not so busy. While I was sitting here I was looking at past photo images and thought I would share one of my past favourites with my many thousands of readers/viewers;-)

This image was taken on the west side of Vancouver Island near Tofino at sunset. I was struck by the individual contemplating life (or whatever) on the hill watching the sun decend into the ocean.

I wish you all a wonderful week of contemplation of life, nature and whatever you feel like creating for yourself.

Caio for now

Dennis

Abstract or Realistic???

I have often been amazed that some people refer to images as "abstract" as opposed to realistic. I was once asked of an image that had a flower and the moon against a black background; "is that the real moon?" I replied of course it is the real moon! I of course did not say that I actually took the image of the moon from the parking lot at work during the full moon, and the image of the flower was taken in France some years earlier. Through the magic of photoshop and my creative instincts the image was "rendered" as opposed to "captured".

To me "abstract" means an image that one cannot tell what the image is. In other words an image where color and light define the palette and not lines. The image on the right is definitely not "abstract" in my opinion. While it is obvious that I have manipulated this image by make it more saturated and contrasty, it is obvious at the same time what the image is, namely a water lily captured in Monet's Estate in Giverney, France. My thought in altering the captured image was to give it more life and also to capture some of the color of the red flowers in the background.

Whether "abstract" to some people or "realistic" to others, the only important thing to me when I look at any image is "do I like it or not?"

Until next time, live well and prosper

Dennis

Making New Friends

During my recent trip to Namibia and specifically a Himba Village, I was struck by how similar we as human beings all are, even though we live in different cultures and many thousands of miles apart. In this photo I am making new friends with 2 young Himba boys who are very interested in my camera. They were most interested in pushing all the buttons, and changing the image on the monitor. They especially liked the photos of themselves.

I then realized how their behavior was the same as my grandson who is about the same age. He is forever fascinated by buttons and levers and anything that needs pushing or pulling to make it go or change something.

The only conclusion I can draw from this and other examples is that when you strip away the color, creed, religion or political affiliations that we are all the same. We just express ourselves in a different format or skin color and language, but we are just people. If we can throw away our prejudices and illusions when we look at or "judge" other people we will find that we are just "looking" at ourselves. I think I will use a new affirmation for myself:

" For today and just for today I will see the god in all people and cast aside my illusions and prejudice"

I will try and say this every day, and my goal will be success one day at a time. Care to join me?

Live well and prosper

Dennis

Everything is Perfect in the Universe

It was Wayne Dyer who said that: "Everything is perfect in the universe, even your desire to improve it". Several weeks ago I was in the Twyfelfontein area of Namibia and took the above night shot of the nearby mountain which was lighted by the hotel lights and the dark sky. I was hoping to get one of those beautiful shots that one sometimes sees in magazines which include the Milky Way and the millions of stars that it includes. The best I could do was the above. I learned that any exposure longer than 4 seconds shows the stars as trails, and that one needs a "star tracker" to freeze the star in its position relative to the earth and the camera. So even though the above image is perfect for the tools I had to work with, I desire even more perfection in my image. Perhaps the next time I take night shots I will have the requisite equipment to show the Milky Way. In the meantime, I must be content with my less than perfect perfection.

Live well and prosper
Dennis

Where Is My Inspiritation ??

It has been a little over a week since I have returned from Namibia and I keep waiting for some insightful message to post here on the blog. So far: zilch, nothing, nada, bupkus, zero and zip !! Not that I think that I should have some pearls on wisdom on every entry, but really how about something even moderately significant. I sit here at work typing this message and am at a loss of what to write. So in the absence of anything brilliant, I will simply share the above image that was taken from the Robinson R44 helicopter with the door removed as we travelled above Sossussvlei, Namibia. Hopefully some brilliant insight will come soon, so my many thousands of readers can be guided in the right direction :-))

Live well and prosper

Dennis

The Sands of Time

Well I am back! After 45 hours enroute from Namibia, I have had almost a week to return to normal and think I am getting close. The above image is of the amazing sand dunes near Sossussvlei in southwest Nambia. On this day we experienced a thunder and lightning storm with no rain! I will be sharing many exciting images of landscapes, animals and the Himba village people in the days to come, along (hopefully) with some words of wisdom or at least near wisdom in the days to come.

Hope you all have been creating wonderful days for yourselves.

Live well and prosper

Dennis