A Great Loss !!

On 12-November-2022, at a Dallas, Texas annual airshow, there was a terrible crash during one of the low-altitude fly-overs of the air field, right in front of thousands of visitors.  

An official cause has not yet been determined, but the videos of the event show a vintage P-63 fighter aircraft, flying faster than the B-17 Bomber, fly right into the rear of the B-17's left wing.  

As the propeller of the P-63 struck the wing of the B-17, which also has 2 propeller engines, both aircraft violently disintegrated, crashing onto the airfield.  Fortunately, none of the spectators were injured, but the 6 people flying the 2 aircraft were all killed.

This particular B-17, known as "Texas Raiders" is operated by the Commemorative Air Force and participated in air shows around the country,  including the annual Wings over Houston show.  

I had the privilege of photographing this beautiful aircraft more than once, resulting in one of my favorites photos ever (this one):

This bomber was built during World War II and was sent to the European Theater, but before it could fly it's first mission, hostilities ceased, so it never flew in actual combat. 

I never met the aircrews, I only saw the plane, so I don't mean not to mourn the loss of the people, but I can't help but mourn the loss of this wonderful aircraft.

See y'all round,

- Mark

Stop !

 Ukraine

Reflections...

Adding a couple of "reflections"...

One, vintage aircraft reflected in the polished aluminum skin of another...

Light reflecting off water, can make for some cool photos.

Here, the sun slides slowly into the Gulf of Finland.  In the high latitudes, the sun is moving at a very low angle to the horizon, and so the sunsets and sunrises last longer than they do in Houston.  The "stuff" floating in the water is chunks of ice...it was pretty chilly.



Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

Finland again, this time dawn, only a few birds moving around.




Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

Even a truss bridge can look cool when nicely lit,
                  and with city lights reflecting off the water...

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

This is from my first trip to Toledo, Spain.  My favorite part is the orange shoes of the kid who wouldn't get out of my shot.  It was cool because I was standing by the reflecting pool, in cloudy weather, not realizing that it was a reflecting pool, until the sun briefly broke through the clouds and illuminated the church tower.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

I went back to Toledo a couple of weeks ago,

on a much sunnier day, which makes a very different reflective photo.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

Dawn in Haarlem, Netherlands.  Not the sun this time, as it was behind thick clouds.  This time it's much less romantic high-pressure sodium lights.  They were on a photo cell, and switched off a few minutes later, but when the sun isn't cooperating, they make a pretty nice light on the water.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

No matter what a city looks like in the daytime, it looks totally different at night,

    especially if there is water to reflect the lights.



Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

Of course, light reflecting off glass can be cool too.  This is downtown Houston...just caught the clouds at the right moment...

Photo by Jordan Laughlin

This photo is by Jordan, while visiting Normandy.  It's a display of the Invasion Gliders used by the Allies during the Normandy Invasion.  There's a window across the front of the display which is reflecting the photographer and the trees behind her.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

Western Finland again.  Also dawn.  Beautiful mirror.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

                               ...and a duck !   (these last two are at Herrankkukaro).

Y'all take care,
- Mark






Lions - III (Sasan Gir, Gujarat, India)

UPDATE:

My friends from India visited Houston this week (Feb-2018).  They reported that a lioness in Gir Forest killed two people who had entered the park unauthorized, and thought it would be interesting to tease the lion.  Bad idea.  Like I said, these are wild lions...

-M

* * * * *

Some final shots from the lion preserve...

Fellow visitors, out searching, just after dawn...

In my book, it was pretty darn cold for a crocodile to be out cruising the lake, but there he was (approx. 2.5m long !).  ...  Da-dum, da-dum...

So, when you are a game warden on the preserve, roaming around making sure that visitors don't bother the lions (or that lions don't eat the visitors...), they give you a motor cycle, and a stick !  Not a "bang-stick" (like for sharks), not an electric cattle prod...just a regular stick that looks a lot like a broomstick.  I imagine that when trying to back down a full-grown lion, it takes a stick plus a heavy dose of attitude !!

The native axis deer are frequently seen in the company of the monkeys, even close enough to be touching.  It seems that they are not competing for the same foods, and both are quite watchful for lions and leopards, both erupting in vocal warning calls when danger is spotted.

Not sure about my ability (willingness) to handle a lion with a "stick"...but maybe a mongoose.

 A pair of resting jackles.

The brush is kept in check via controlled burns, otherwise it would get so thick you couldn't see anything.  This probably also promotes grass growth for the grazing animals (and healthy grazing animals make for healthy prey animals...)

This large lioness is looking at a guide that got out of our jeep to attract her attention...he was thinking "look at me !", she was thinking "...two steps closer, Snack-boy, two steps closer..."

Then to cap it all off on Sunday morning, our last trip out, we saw a leopard !!
Not only saw, but had him (or her) pose right in front of us !!  What luck !!

So, we hit the road, back to business, along with this group of farmers, likely heading off to market somewhere.

Y'all take care.
- Mark

COLOR !! ... Holi-Houston-2017

Here's a memory from 2017 for my Indian fiends, who are missing my Covid-delayed travel photos.  What a fun day !!

Take care guys !

 - Mark 

For my non-Indian friends, Holi is an annual spring-time festival, very popular in India, and as important as Christmas is to us as an annual celebration.  Key to all of this, Holi is the Festival of Color.  To give you an idea of where we are headed, this is a "before" photo...note the very bright yellow shirts my buddies have, and the brand new, very black hat on the one.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

Holi-Houston is the largest Holi celebration in the USA, and it's held at the Houston Farm & Ranch Club (Clay Road at Hwy 6, in west Houston).

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

Here the DJ has just taken the stage and is calling people over to begin the program.  They said they expected 15,000 people. 

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

As you see on my buddie's faces in the first photo at the top, you begin to throw or rub color onto friends, or any fellow party-goer you want, from the very beginning.  We received our first colors from the girls at the gate who were greeting everyone and wishing them "Happy Holi !!"  Even here, early in the party, there are plenty of colorful faces. 

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

And then the DJ begins to crank things up, Indian music, with a loud, thumping base, and lots of color.  Part of the theme of Holi is equality and inclusiveness, as the color flies, the races and skin colors of the participants become quickly blurred, we are all one, we are all equal.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

At a quick break, you can see two of my buddies above.  I was using those very bright yellow shirts to help me keep track of them in the crowd, as I moved around taking photos.  But, it would only work for so long...

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

The color continues to fly.  One gringo sees me taking photos, and asks if I want to take one of him throwing color on his girlfriend.  She was unfortunately smiling at the time, I asked her what the color tasted like, she said "...not good..."

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

There were a few gringos at the party.  I realized this morning that I was aware of how many white and other non-Indian people attended, not because I was seeing them, but because the DJ, as part of his inclusive message, was asking people to raise hands if non-Indian, asking them to shout out where they were from, even asking a few to come on stage and join the dancing.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

Some "gringo"...

                 ...some "go-green"...

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

And the party continued, more music...the crowd danced and sang to most of the songs...

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

 Now and then the DJ would call for crowd to throw color, and people happily obliged...

     ...until, as you can see, skin color becomes pretty unimportant...

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

 ... everyone dances...

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

 ...and the color flies...

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

Until, as you can see, the transformation is pretty much complete.  The big fellow below on the left is my friend Arijit (same fellow on the left in the top photo), bright no-longer-yellow shirt, and a hat that is everything but black.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

It was cool.  The "magic" of the color works.  The crowd was at least 80-85% Indian, with the rest being other south-Asians, and a few gringos.  I felt perfectly at home.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

Here's the formerly black hat again...my hat was quite similar (and shirt, shoes, face, etc...)

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

Photo by my friend Anand J.

My buddies.  We all had a great time !!

- Mark W. Laughlin

Taken from the Holi-Houston home page:

http://houstonholi.com/holi.html

...The other legend talks about the immortal love between Radha and the Hindu God Krishna. Krishna was a prince and Radha was the daughter of a shepherd. They were childhood friends and grew up playing on the streets of Mathura.  

When he was a teenager, Krishna’s concern about the color of his dark skin grew and he wondered whether the fair-skinned Radha would still like him. One day his mother asked him to put color on Radhas face, suggesting to him that their differences were only superficial. Fascinated by the idea, Krishna playfully colored himself and Radha with different colors, giving birth to their love and the tradition of Holi. Once colored, they were the same. No rich or poor, no fair or dark, no king or commoner. All that remained was the feeling of love and togetherness. This is why at Holi, people play with colors, promoting peace, tolerance, and a sense that we are all one