I captured this breathtaking evening sky a few nights ago; photo taken from our back deck. A fleeting moment to stop and savor all it's splendour.

There is truly something so special and spellbinding in a glorious sunset. 

Photo © 2008 Geraldine Hartman

El Paso is beautiful.   I love taking pictures as I am driving around the mountains.  Enjoy.

My name is David and I am living El Paso.

The weather here in Michigan was gorgeous over our holiday weekend.  The days were warm, sunny and cloudless, the nights were clear, cool and crisp. 

This gorgeous weather allowed us some stunning sunsets.  Three nights of beautiful colors.  Vivid oranges, pretty pinks and warming yellows graced our eyes every night.  Making the transition from day to night a spectacular show not to be missed.

I took this on Sunday night.  It's kind of symbolic to me.  Symbolic of the closing of yet another month and also the non-official closing of summer itself.  Granted, summer isn't over for a couple of weeks, but September has never seemed like a summer month to me.  September is and always will be, representative of fall.

And what a way to welcome in the fall...

Anyways, link to the article provided, please read; it's quite interesting actually.

http://www.livescience.com/environment/080903-volcano-sunsets.html

"A follow-up to this year’s Bright Blue Dream, Sunset’s The Glowing City is equal parts seamless song cycle and singles collection. Songs about reflection, failure, exhaustion of life and circumstance, join with pop sensibilities in a beautifully tragicomic fashion. Essentially two albums worth of material on one disc, this album makes it all available directly and emphasizes Bill Baird’s song cycle approach - Pink Clouds and Bright Blue Dream being the forerunners."

Here's a few tracks off of their new record for your listening pleasure:

{{{Sunset}}} - Zombies

[audio http://www.fileden.com/files/2007/3/17/894230/01%20-%20Zombies.mp3]

{{{Sunset}}} - Graveyard Dog

[audio http://www.fileden.com/files/2007/3/17/894230/11%20-%20Graveyard%20Dog.mp3]

Here's their MySpace:  http://www.myspace.com/lobosunset

Check them out, you will not be disappointed (if you have good taste).

Mmm, quiero una naranja sanguina.

As the sun disappears beyond the horizon, the evening twilight glows across the Kansas prairies and hills.

Welcome SkyWatchers!

Click SkyWatch photo below and join the fun.

Copyright © 2008 by Anna Surface. All Rights Reserved.

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Click on the photo to view it larger. This is a recent view of a colorful summer sky right after sunset, with the Great Smoky Mountains in the distance. I live in the Smokies, so of course these mountains are almost always in my sky photos.

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View more sky photos from around the world here:

Sky Watch

We spent the day exploring the northern part of the island, starting off with the famous Pamplemousses Botanical Garden.  This garden was established nearly 300 years ago by the then French governor of Mauritius.  Entry was 100R (approx $3.75 Cdn), and 50R/person for a tour guide, which we did hire.  It is definitely worth it to hire a guide, as he will explain in detail exactly what you are looking at, otherwise we would have been walking around all day saying "Look at that cool tree, I wonder what it is and how old it is?".  So, we saw ancient trees (over 200 years old), we saw red rose tree's imported from Venezuala, massive 200 year old Rain Tree's also from several regions of South America, African banyan's, Amazonian water lillies growing up to 2 meters in length!, and even water proof lily's - these were especially interesting, as when we splashed water on them, it just rolled off, leaving the lily bone dry.  Someone should tell REI about this, it would make for a great tent cover!  The garden also has an interesting turtle zoo; these old creatures were big!  It's amazing to see them live and so close up.  The massive shells are quite impressive.

We continued on toward the islands East shore, passing small villages along the way.  What struck me was the amount of people on the streets - playing cards in front of clap-board shops, playing Bocce Ball, lined up sitting on window ledges, watching white tourists zoom through in their air conditioned cars.  It is also very interesting that this island is host to several religions, all living in harmony.  We passed Christian churches (one built in 1857, and still fully intact and in great condition), Mosques, beautifully decorated Hindu Temples (they are so colorful I thought at first they were a tourist attraction for kids!); although we are new to the island, it certainly looks to me they have the peaceful living thing figured out.  Don't tell that to the Westerners.  They may think something is wrong and Mauritius is hiding something, then declare war.  Tch.

On the way to our next destination, we came across a Hindi wedding caravan.  A truck full of guests cheering us as we passed, following another smaller pick-up truck with the bride and groom sitting in the rear, facing each other.  So much color!

We stopped in the tiny enclave of Poudre d'Or to visit the old Catholic church, however we took a wrong turn and fortunately ended up on the beach, where we stopped for lunch.  Now let me tell you something.  We ate an amazingly delicious lunch for about $1.00 Cdn each, from a street vendor.   We had a spectacular view of the turquoise waters and waves crashing in the distance.  I grabbed the "Boulet" which was a variety of 4 different "boulets"(?) in a deliciously spicy broth.  There was veggie balls, fish balls, beef balls and some kind of dumpling thingy.  NJAM dude.  The girls had a veggie fried noodle dish which was equally delicious.  The same meal, with the same view, in America, would have cost us $30 each, excluding beverages.  Screw that.  Give me more street food by the beach!

We visited the church and it's graveyard, which was seemingly discombobulated and disorganized collection of an infinite variety of crosses, but once inside a closer look will reveal that it is an organized grid.

We made our way back to the apartment, making another couple of stops at various beaches so that I could make my endless comments on the size of the waves crashing in the distance against the reef. "That one had to be 15 feet high!"  The girls eyes rolled and we got back in the car to continue on.

Once back, Mika and I brought some drinks and snacks to the beach to watch the silent sun set, as a local boy a few meters away was strumming his guitar and passionately singing songs ranging from local to Bob Marley's "No woman no cry".

Tomorrow is Friday, stay tuned.  And did I mention that today, they put Ganesh into the water?

more to come :)

S2S

Sean Faris

Sean Faris

For actor Sean Faris, life as he knows it has kicked into high gear. He recently showcased his talents in the coveted lead role of Summit Entertainment’s Never Back Down which has been likened to a cross between Fight Club and Karate Kid, and recently returned to New York City starring for filmmaker Jessy Terrero in Brooklyn to Manhattan. Also on the horizon is the central role in the rugby-inspired feature Forever Strong. Additionally, he appeared as Dennis Quaid’s eldest son in Paramount’s hit remake of the classic Yours, Mine & Ours and previously starred as the hunky object of affection in MGM’s comedy romp Sleepover. In direct contrast, Sean starred as the lead in Fox’s acclaimed drama series Reunion which followed six close friends from their high school graduation to their 20th reunion. He previously led the cast of ABC’s dramatic series Life as We Know It. Based upon British author Melvin Burgess’ controversial novel Doing It, the acclaimed show chronicled the sexual antics of a group of high school friends in Seattle. For his role as sensitive jock Dino Whitman, he was heralded as a breakout talent by the likes of Daily Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, and USA Today. No stranger to television, Sean has also guest-starred on such shows as Smallville, One Tree Hill, and Boston Public. His big screen debut featured him alongside the likes of Ben Affleck and Josh Hartnett in Michael Bay’s epic Pearl Harbor. A Texas native, Sean moved to Ohio at age 12 and has been honing his craft in Los Angeles since moving four years ago upon his high school graduation.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26529769/

Bilden är från flickr.com

But before the walk started we had a relaxed and delicious breakfast on Marcus and Simone's back veranda and had coconuts from the tree that their security guard, the kind hearted Jumadin collected and cut open for us. An excellent way to start a day of rare physical activity to be sure. Jumadin said that coconut water cleans your blood. That sounds like a pretty good thing to happen to your blood right?

We headed out to the same beach we started from last time but this time we were entering the forest from a completely different spot. The beginning of the walk followed a road that was wide enough for cars, and even as it narrowed further up the mountain there was still enough of a track to take a motorbike along.

Eventually the vehicle track ended and it was time to enter the forest for real.

Just prior to this we met a man who had some property along the track and he told us the way to the beach but insisted that it was much further than we thought. The seed of doubt was planted. According to his times we would be struggling to get to the beach and back before dark.

We continued along for a little while until we hit a narrow track on a steep edge that was so dense with vegetation we had to push ourselves through it. At this point our doubts were increasing and enthusiasm waning and eventually we turned back.

On our way back we stopped in for a longer chat with the man who had given us direction.

On his property he has fruit trees, tomato plants and some other things I couldn't identify. He didn't live on this property permanently, but I think he said he spent a few weeks here and there staying over tending to the farm. He had cacao trees (the seeds/beans of which make cocoa/chocolate)

And puppies! It's been too long since this blog has featured baby animals.

We headed back and ended up spending a few hours at the regular secret beach. The secret beach isn't a secret at all and there are usually groups of young men hanging around (sometimes swimming and sometimes just sitting on the rocks watching the world below). There were lots of guys out that day but miraculously, at one point, we had the beach to ourselves for about half and hour or more.

Our plan next was to return to Joel's to eat pizza but it was CLOSED! That was a real blow to morale, but we soon found some team building activities to cheer everyone up again.

And look who else we met! (that's Joel's Restaurant in the background)

You may recall Wan from our last walk. He was just about as pleased to see us as we were to see him. We chatted to Wan and some other locals while we waited for our car which arrived as the sun went down. I didn't do a very good job capturing this, but it gives you a hint.

Sunset on 9/3/08

The sunset was pretty tonight and it's really nice out, but with the number of clouds it doesn't seem that I'd be able to do any astrophotography this evening.

Once again, a lovely shot from my Canon PowerShot. I promise more photos from my SLR will come soon, but it's been fun to sort through some old favorites.

I got this shot on the way down from hiking the Pacaya Volcano that which overlooks the city of Antigua, Guatemala. The clouds settling around the other nearby volcanoes made for a beautiful sunset.

Little did we know that when we finished the hike, our ride would be gone and we would end up hitching a ride down the hill from the park in the back of a pick-up truck, all 11 of us.

All compromises come with, well, compromises. But this one – “Come on, I’d like to hike someplace I haven’t seen,” I whined – turned out to be a big one. The boyfriend found the hike, a meandering trail through the Ishi Wilderness alongside lower Mill Creek, after shooting down my idea to see Bully Hill, a one-time smelter alongside the shores of Shasta Lake.

“Shasta Lake?” he said, wrinkling his nose at the bathtub-ringed lake and the sharpened rocks that line it.

He flipped through a guidebook and convinced me on two counts: A nine out of ten for Mill Creek's beauty and a two out of ten for its difficulty – forgetting, conveniently, perhaps, about the difficulty in getting over creeks and 20 miles of washboard to get there.

It turned out that the trailhead that we thought we had found, at the edge of camp, wasn’t the trail at all. A local with an ice chest pointed the way to a path marked only with green and white striped tape. Dunk the pug in the creek for a cool-off period and we were on our way.

And the guidebook’s rating suddenly made more sense.

A waterfall poured into a canyon creek pool, which was studded by cathedral-like columns, spires that jutted from the canyon’s edge. Oak trees dotted the valley, which was covered in raffia-hued grasses. And the centerpiece: A towering black rock, aptly named Black Rock, which rose from the canyon floor in swirling patterns, a testament to the tectonic forces that created it.

Equally formidable was a towering pine that grew straight from the base of the rock, a tangible tribute to the tenacity of survival.

As the sun set and spread golden rays across the wilderness, we passed that rock and the pine that grew tall and straight from its feet. The setting sun cast the pine’s shadow across the rock, where it fell and bent with a zig, but not a zag, before straightening out again.

“Do you remember Plato’s The Allegory of a cave?” the boyfriend asked.

“Nope,” I said, wondering what in the heck he was getting at as I examined the dichotomy of the tree, its shadow and the swirling rock.

He explained the allegory, in all of its shadowy detail. (The man has a mind like a steel trap – nothing escapes it once he’s learned it.) How, if you’re in a cave lit by fire, shadows that dance on the walls are not always what they seem. That, if you don’t have another perspective or reference point, you can be confused and tricked into believing something that you see – with your own eyes – is true. Even when it's not.

And there it was, right at sunset, a crooked shadow that represented, at that moment, a stately tree. But the bend had more to do with the setting sun's angle and the ragged rock that it was cast upon than the tree itself.

Oh, and the pug, once cooled, managed the hike just fine.

-Christy

But as the sunset drew to a close, my mindless driving had taken me to my high school, the one I had left behind when I walked up to receive my diploma in May. I pulled into the parking lot, took my camera (I rarely leave the house without it), and walked around the campus. It was still and silent, and crickets and grasshoppers seemed to serenade my stroll. Each step echoed as my foot hit the concrete. I laid down on the pavement, still hot from the day's sun, and looked up at the fading light of the sky.

And then it hit me. I was going to miss this place. Despite all the unpleasant memories, all the complaints about teachers, all the insults I hurled at the school, I was going to miss it. In a couple weeks, I'll be on a plane to California, where I'll make pleasant and unpleasant memories, and grow attached to yet another campus. But I'll still miss this place.

And then, as suddenly painful as a rock falling from the sky, I felt lonely.

I wanted to title this "Golden Sunset" or something like that but what, in my opinion, sets this apart from my other sunset images (yes, I have LOADS of them) are the people wading in the waters. They're there sometimes, during low tide, to look for edible shells. But this time, the skies and waters were in hues of gold and it was the most beautiful backdrop. What else was a woman with a camera supposed to do? :-)

Sapangar Bay, on the outskirts of Kota Kinabalu,
Sabah, Malaysian Borneo

Bezmaksnieks! :D

Should have posted this a few weeks ago, but seem to have had very little time these days. Anyway, the "mistrust" clan went away on holiday (vacation) at the end of July for some much needed rest and recuperation. Nowhere really special - just a Haven Holidays caravan park near Prestatyn, in North Wales. The best thing about it was the scenery, including the wonderful Talacre Sands and rabbit warren. Very inspirational for some ideas for new tunes (yes, I DO actually make music!), very calming. The kids loved it apart from the first night when no-one could settle (well, Paul couldn't settle and disturbed the rest of us. We managed to get some great footage on video and some great still photos of the surrounding area. I'll put them up on Youtube and Flickr when I get time. I took one of those small handheld video cameras that uses a memory card - an Aiptek. I was a bit doubtful about what the quality would be like, but in the end I got some great results. Have a look at the header image of my blog site (the one you're on now!) to see what I mean. That was taken on the 3MP setting at sunset on Talacre Beach. I actually submitted the full size version of that photo to BBC North Wales' "Your Pictures" feature a few weeks ago, and it's been added to the "Sunrise/Sunset" section. You can see the picture in full-size on the BBC North Wales site here.

In contrast, I nearly ended up in hospital at the end of the holiday.....but that's another story that will appear in a couple of days' time.....

The Badger -- Steaming out of the harbor, photo by Diann*.

Diann says that the SS Badger leaving its home port of Ludington en route to Manitowoc, Wisconsin was the grand finale of a great Labor Day weekend.

It's one of a number of cool shots in her Trains, Tugs, and Ferries set (slideshow) and she has posted it in big, beautiful, background-class glory!

More about this Lake Michigan car ferry at the SS Badger web site and from Michigan in Pictures.