EDIT: MAY 2, 2014 – HERE’S THE PHOTO CHALLENGE HOST BLOG! JENNIFER NICOLE WELLS
________________________________
At my age, confusion reigns supreme. I cannot figure out who is conducting the “One Word Photo Challenge” series.
Oh, well. But it said to tag it “One Word Photo Challenge” so I did…
And here’s my turquoise photo; it’s of the Pontiac hood ornament on a turquoise car.
Who loves classic cars?!
Now what and where do I link this to? Old age sucks.
In response to Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge of this week: SHINE
My best to you, America, for the New Year.
Ford Custom Grill
TMI – I didn’t need to see this side of you. Besides, whoever you did this to earlier has a leg up on you.
Not to bore anyone but a few of you readees may recall my dad abd older siblings were in essentially peison camps during WWII just for looking like the enemy.
Well, researchers found another prison almost forgotten due to obscurity. This prison camp was not far from Spokane.
While the prisoners were paid up ti $60 a month, they did build many mikes of road.
History is what we make of it.
But blogs like ours are sure better than the misguided media.
A few of you know I’ve been in a little bit of “funk” the past month or so…
No real reason… just things.
But I had a GREAT Father’s Day! So a belated and short post.
It started out with seeing my “second” dad – Old Man Jack. I last visited Jack on Memorial Day… but it was a bit saddening to see that his only daughter hadn’t been by.
It’s always good to see him – although I didn’t stop by in my LOUD supercharged Mustang he loved so much.
Of course, you can only have one dad… and mine’s 94. We had a Father’s Day Brunch at his assisted living center and his luckily, his appetite was back. We enjoyed a special Father’s Day brunch. Meat and potatoes! His fave!
He then finished off his lunch with…sweets! Man, he’s got a sweet tooth! These were Japanese candies sent to him from my cousin Masako (and Izumi) in Hiroshima. (He had four. lol)
Does he look content? LOL
And someone “special” had called… and wanted to give me a Father’s Day hug! Ou-la-la! She is a gal with one of the sweetest souls around…and she shall remain nameless. 🙂
She’s had a positive impact on me. 🙂
And then… the grand finale…
I headed up from Fashion Island in Newport Beach to Pomona…My oldest son, Takeshi……graduated from Cal Poly Pomona! He’s even got a straight A streak going! And he BEAT his brilliant sister in Organic Chemistry by getting an A! She will never hear the end of that one… 🙂
Congratulations, son! And a BIG thanks to my ex and his step-dad. I couldn’t ask for a better guy.
I don’t think an old man can ask for anything greater than that superific day!
A fellow (not male) blogger took a light-hearted approach to her surviving her husband’s “man flu“. Us guys took it on our bearded chins from the ladies.
Lies. All lies, I say!
Blasphemy that us men would whimper and keel over from the invasion of tiny buggers we can’t even see with a microscope.
________________________________
Well, guys, its our turn. We must defend our manliness. Light-heartedly, of course.
The other night, I survived another commute home with against hordes of women drivers.
Barely survived.
Actually, it was a wonder I made it home unscathed and not get hit by the invisible things only women drivers can see.
They are gifted.
Us men can only see real things.
________________________________
It is not easy “sharing” the road with women drivers when they have a different perceptions of “lanes”, “sharing”…and things only THEY can see. Invisible things that apparently take up a LOT of space. Thank goodness they can see them or I would run into these invisible things.
And women’s maligned beliefs they had to suffer the consequences of the man-flu… Dastardly. If anything, a man-flu lasts but a week.
Commuting with against females and their invisible things (only visible to them) is five days a week, 50 weeks a year for us hard-working men.
And I thought about the man-flu smack down when I came to this (long) stop light.
I got my trusty new smartphone and managed to snap a picture for evidence (unlike the man-flu blog which had NO evidence)… but of course, none of the HUGE invisible things only WOMEN can see showed up in the picture.
(Trust me. The two vehicles in front of me have female drivers.)
______________________________________
Here is a schematic of the picture. By some miracle, it is as UN-females see it:
Notice where in the lane the female driver of the world’s tiniest car has decided to stop at this intersection. There was obviously a couple of those invisible things that only WOMEN can see…on both sides of her. If you can catch the Man Flu, you probably can’t see these invisible things. She is so blessed, isn’t she?
(This was during rush hour. At a long signal. With other drivers behind us. Forming two distinct lines…except for the two cars in front of me.)
Also trust me when I say the perspective of this photo hastily snapped with my smartphone is as deceiving as is the ladies’ perception of the effects of the man-flu. There is LOTS of space on either side of car #1.
______________________________
Which brings us to the second car immediately in front of me. There is enough space between car #1 and this one that the front offensive line for the Ravens could do their stretching exercises.
Well, she also stopped her car skewed to the right of center… You can see the reflection of my curbside headlamp on her LEFT tail lamp. Imagine that.
…and she is not trying to make a right turn… Here, at least.
She made the turn at the NEXT stop light beyond the freeway overpass.
_______________________________
Well, gents, a lady friend viewed the photograph at my humble request… and with her special vision, she pointed out the invisible things to me. How blessed are women!
THIS is what they can see with their magic vision!
OK.
Please allow me to beat this one to death.
Yes. President Harding’s last photos in my grandmother’s album.
OMG. Leave it alone!
________________________
I found a copy of the actual event flyer from July 1923.
Now we can see an overview. See what the Bell Street Pier looked like when President Harding rode in his motorcade.
You can make out train tracks. Look at the far left – you can see the window locations on the building and…a pole. You can also see blackness under what appears to be a short bridge and a railing that abruptly ends. Important stuff.
Upon studying “Grandma’s” photos further and in comparison to the “press” photo (below), I feel BOTH were taken within seconds of each other – but from opposite side of the motorcade. Please note my scribbles:
And note the following obervations:
Amazing. These are two rare images taken from different sides of President Harding and within seconds of each other.
BUT…….
With the flyer image, we now know train tracks ran along the pier. Trains are also visible in the press photo. There are MEN atop the rail cars.
Due to the angle, it is believed the photos in Grandma Kono’s album were taken from atop the rail cars. Off to the left just outside the field of view in the picture (just like the grassy knoll in the famous Zapruder film of JFK’s assassination).
Ergo, I cannot fathom Grandma Kono climbing atop a rail car…let alone in a dress as was customary at that time for ladies.
Or would she? Nah.
So…I don’t believe she herself took the pictures.
Dadgummit.
BUT……
Perhaps it was Grandpa Hisakichi!
OK. Stop.
Unbelievable.
The last few privately taken photos of an American president before his death were in an old Japanese lady’s photo album.
My grandmother’s.
________________________________
These four photos had intrigued me. They had caught my eye earlier but there were other precious photographs to scan and retouch.
But the curiosity killed this old sourpuss.
I had to scan them… and there were fantastic discoveries.
_______________________________
President Harding, our 29th president, arrived in Seattle on July 27, 1923. He was on a 40-day tour of the Western United States.
He would pass away just six days later.
_______________________________
After collaborating with a flickr buddy and author, Shawn Hennessey, we came to the conclusion that this indeed was President Harding’s motorcade at the Port of Seattle. Of course, we will never know for sure who took these photos but they are of the same size and finish of many of Grandmother Kono’s other photos of that time period. Still, they are remarkably an incredible capture historically.
They are unretouched. I thought they look better as-is.
You can clearly make out the Port of Seattle signage with the beginning of “Bell Street Pier” on the building. Note the US Marine and US Navy color guards. It is likely President Harding’s destroyer that is docked at pier’s end. The blanket of flowers can be seen on the hood of the President’s limousine, too.
The President can be seen closer below. Of note is the agent standing on the limousine’s running board – or more specifically, his clothing. Compare his clothing to other images you can find on the web. You will see gentlemen doffing their hats to the President as he passes by.
__________________________________
Just a glimpse into American history – from a Hiroshima photo album.
I hope you all won’t mind if I feel Grandmother Kono took these pictures in 1923.
Masako and Spam Musubi 