UK Ireland 2016 Collage

Just some of the places we visited this year.  God is good.

Clockwise:  (1) Chester, England; (2) Stone Henge, England; (3) East Gate Clock, Chester, England; (4) Phone Booth in London, England; (5) Stream in the Ring of Kerry, Ireland; (6) sheep grazing in the Ring of Kerry, Ireland; (7) Bath Abbey, England.

#iPhone #SimplyTrafalgar #TrafalgarInsider #collage

I love the nightlife

When you've got women all over town

The women in Limerick know how to party.  They dress in style.  They conform to one another.  They want real action.  And they like to go where the people dance.  They really love the nightlife.  They want to boogie.  On the disco round, yeah!

#simplyTrafalgar #TrafalgarInsider #iPhone6 #AliciaBridges #80s #disco #boogie
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Interpreting St Stephen's Green

Eighty percent of success is showing up. 

Shot with iPhone 6 at St Stephen's Green, Dublin.  So I sent this image to some people and requested their interpretation of it.

Scorsese:  I think they are heading to bomb the police department.  Possibly they are from the IRA.

Tarantino:  Seems like a sequel to Reservoir Dogs.  They are planning to rob a bank.

Woody Allen:  Are they walking backwards?  Because I think it's brilliant.


#simplyTrafalgar #TrafalgarInsider #StStephensGreen #Dublin #iPhone6
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Still Life with Fruit Basket

The cool thing about shooting still life is my subjects never complain.  

This is from the archive.  I shot the image back in 2008.

I think it was the time when KC returned from Baltimore.  Or was it?  My mind is foggy now.  But I remember it was Christmas season.  She took a bunch of fruits, and added some cones and Heavenly Bamboo from our back yard, and proceeded to create a holiday fruit basket.  I didn't want to let a great work go to waste, so I decided to document it.  At that time, I was just getting serious into photography.  Didn't know much what I was doing.  It was with an entry level DSLR - a Canon Rebel XT (or 350D if you're in Europe or Australia) and 18-55mm kit lens.  Didn't know much how to use the flash either.  But the picture turned out pretty decent - if I may say so. 

Wishing you a safe and grand holiday.  

#FruitBasket #CanonRebelXT #KitLens 

Can you hear me knocking

Shot with iPhone 6 on Pembroke Street.

"The first principle is that you must not fool yourself and you are the easiest person to fool." Richard P. Feynman

The Georgian Doors are part of the established visual attractions in Dublin.  Specifically, they can be found mostly along Fitzwilliam Square.  This one was shot along Pembroke Street.  Probably the most shot door in that  area.  I think it's because of the red brick walls complimenting the foliage.  Some tourist guides will tell you that at one time the doors were originally painted with the same neutral color.  Probably washout grey or something similar.  That didn't last long.   After leaving the pubs in the evening, drunken men would be knocking on the wrong door.  This irritated some people so they started painting their doors with whatever colors they fancied - so as to distinguish one door from another.  Don't you ever believe this story.  The truth is even with distinguishable door, the men of this day - besotted from a night of drinking -  can still be seen knocking on somebody's door.

And you mat find yourself
This is not my beautiful housing 
you may find yourself
this is not my beautiful wife - Talking Heads

#GeorgianDoor #Ireland #Dublin #simplyTrafalgar #TrafalgarInsider #FitzwilliamSquare #PembrookeStreet

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Wish you were here

Phone Booth in London

No one uses the phone booths anymore but they are still ubiquitous.

#SimplyTrafalgar #London #England #Unionjack #PhoneBooth

Glimpse of Venice, California

Jamal:  Where do I sign up for California to secede from the United States?

Oprah:  You can try that T-shirt store back there.

Penny:  Like ... where did the other half of my sneakers go?

#streetPhotography #VeniceCalifornia

Ginny, Sidney and the Olfactory Afternoon Delight (Or choose a topping)

© 2014 Rob Castro

Sidney:  Hmmm … I can smell the organic garlic in your hair.

Ginny:  Shut up.  Can't you tell that I haven't shampooed in weeks?

Sidney: Oh, is that why you are wearing that silly hat?

Ginny:  You mean this one?  I found it at the Asian food mart.  They were using it to measure the jasmine rice.

Sidney:  Hmmm… jasmine rice.

#streetPhotography #NewYorkFleaMarket

Existential Thoughts at Waterford

Shot with iPhone 6 from our hotel.

 The day is dawning.  My entire consciousness shrinks before me now.  It eludes me - fleeting like a whisper of breath of a dying heathen.   It is  pure futility to fight it.  All sublime.  And yet boring.  I mean it's cool.  But it's not like standing close to the edge.  I think it's time I have my breakfast.

#simplyTrafalgar #TrafalgarInsider #HighlightsOfIreland #Philosophy #Existentialsim #Waterford #Ireland

The Mighty St George

Shot with iPhone 6.  St George at the V&A Museum, London.

 In the tenth-century Georgian narrative, the story begins in the fictional city of Lasia, which was plagued by a fire breathing dragon.  

To appease the dragon, the people of the city fed it two sheep every day. When they ran out of sheep, they started feeding it their children.  This was done through lottery.  One time, the lot fell on the king's daughter.  The king, in his grief, told the people they could have all his gold and silver and half of his kingdom and unlimited access to his credit cards if his daughter were spared.  Ah, but the people were too scared of the dragon so they refused. 

The daughter, dressed as a chicken salad, was sent out to be fed to the dragon.    By chance, St George rode past where the dragon dwelled.  Seeing that the princess was in distress, St George negotiated with the dragon.  

Being a pacifist, St George believe that any dire situation can be dealt with reasonable arguments.  The dragon was adamant that it be given the entire kingdom.  But St George was able to bargain.  He promised that the dragon could have Brooklyn instead, and that its name would be remembered as Puff the Magic Dragon.  Not knowing where Brooklyn was, and the name Puff sounded exotic, the dragon agreed.  St George gave the dragon a one way ticket to New York, and then took the princess with him to Estonia.  There they got married and had five happy children.  

The rest is history.

#V&A Museum #SaintGeorge #iPhone

Off with his head

I was taking pictures of the Queen of Hearts when one of the the Playing Card Soldiers scolded me because it was unlawful to take photos of the queen.  At that very moment, I heard a familiar shriek that could only mean my life was endangered.

"Off with his head!"

#AliceInwonderland #Denver #QuuenOfHearts #RedQueen

Waiting at BJs

Shot with iPhone 6.  The unberable lightness of being and having feelings that are unbearable.

Loneliness:  Same as sadness because one has no friends or company.  Used in sentence as "feelings of depression and loneliness".  Or the quality of being unfrequented and remote.  Isolation.  Used in sentence as "the loneliness of the waiting for one's beer while everybody is enjoying their drink".

Emptiness:  While Christianity and Western sociologists and psychologists view a state of emptiness as a negative, unwanted condition, in some Eastern philosophies such as Buddhist philosophy and Taoism, emptiness (Śūnyatā) is a realized achievement.  Really.

Empty chairs:  Evidence that no one is around.  Or business is not doing very well.

#iPhone6 #restaurantBar # LonelyPerson #Alone