Good morning and greetings, post-holiday fans. As the captain of this photographic ship of fools, I continue to search for truth, justice and the American way along with magnificent color in the morning and evening sky. In a trend that continued throughout our eleventh month, the dawn experiences as of late have been weak, listless and dull, much like my performance on my high school math achievement test.

Each morning I awake with fresh and renewed hope that, along with getting dial tone, the day will bring the colors that my mind, body and digital soul so yearn for. Instead, it has been fog city with a marine layer sitting on the coast that prevents the red, orange and yellow light show extravaganza that the month of November has so often brought.

The one exception to this party cloudly, fog party was last Tuesday morning. Like a reptile smuggler going thru customs I hurried down to West Cliff and positioned myself like an Eagle Scout along Bird Rock. As you can see from the first three shots the sky put on a pretty good pre-sunrise performance as the Russian judge scored it as a 9.5. I would normally have driven over to Steamer Lane to shoot the clouds and the inspiring reflection over the wharf and Boardwalk but it was getting late and I heard my children’s french toast calling me.

The next three photos are from Monday night’s sunset on a day where we saw very little sun until it dropped thru the clouds in late afternoon. There has been some color in the evening sky but nothing to really text message the Weather Channel about. At this point in my first lifetime I am seeking only the spectacular, when the sky is just exploding with color and you just want to savor the moment and think, “Yeah, there is no other place I’d rather be.” Except Hawaii. This low tide sunset, much like a trip to the Hindquarter for the best burger in town, had it’s moments. Thus we are going with the sunrise, sunset, theme as tribute to “Fiddler on the Roof.” If only I were a rich man.

On to our comedy section of the show. Here’s the best thing I heard coming out of the late night monologues last week, courtesy of Jay Leno. “Looks like the government is going to bailout CitiGroup but they don’t want to bailout the auto companies. See, I don’t think this is fair for blue collar workers who make our cars, they don’t get the bailout but the white collar guys who work on Wall Street, they get the bailout. You know what I think they should do? I think they should work together. I think the guys in Detroit should keep making the cars and the guys on Wall Street should make the license plates.”

We continue with some bonus Thanksgivng humor. I used this joke last year but I thought it was amusing enough of bring back for a return engagement. A turkey farmer was always experimenting with breeding to perfect a better turkey. His family was fond of the leg portion for dinner and there were never enough legs for everyone. After many frustrating attempts, the farmer was relating the results of his efforts to his friends at the general store. “Well I finally did it! I bred a turkey that has 6 legs!” They all asked the farmer how it tasted. “I don’t know” said the farmer. “I never could catch the darn thing!”

That’s it for another week of what’s in the skies above Monterey Bay. I hope it was a pleasant Thanksgiving holiday for all of you out there in cyberspace or New Jersey. With the tragic news out of Mumbai it’s just another reason to be grateful for all we are blessed with. This includes the defending Super Bowl champion New York football Giants, who are now 11-1 on the season. Unbelievable. So as we bid farewell to November, let’s bring on December, which will hopefully be filled with peace and prosperity. We could use a good month to end this year. Aloha, mahalo and we’ll catch you on the end around. Later, LeBron James fans.

Good morning and greetings, electorial college fans. Well, Tuesday’s gone with the wind and we are still buzzing about the history made by Barack Obama. That was a day like no other. While we were in the process of electing the first black President since the first season of Jack Bauer and “24,” I thought I would showcase what this historic morning looked like on the westside of Santa Cruz. The place was Natural Bridges State Beach, and the time was for change.

It was a beautiful morning as the sky was filled with interesting clouds, pelicans lined the both sides of the rock and the beach was a gathering place for local gulls. Add to the mix the great blue heron reflecting in the pond and it was great to be there just Joe Biden my time. At one point the heron took off and flew up into the iceplants. That’s where I took my final shot but my foot was on the line so it wasn’t a three-pointer.

To quote the late Buddy Miles, who was the drummer in Jimi Hendrix’s Band of Gypsys, “Well, my mind is going thru them changes.” It’s hard to believe we are finally done with this moron in the White House who has done a tremendous job of dividing this country while getting the rest of the world to depise us. Those days are over. The fact that Bush feels he has done the country no wrong and that history will prove him right on Iraq is somewhat galling, but with any luck Karl Rove, Condy Rice or his dog Barney will explain to him that the Obama landslide victory was a huge statement against everything he stands for.

A couple thoughts on Johnny McCain. I thought his gracious concession stand speech was the best thing he’d done in the campaign. If he had spoken like that more often instead of espousing “Joe the Plumber” or Obama as an “elitist” or “socialist” who parties with terrorists, he might be on his way to the White House instead of the early bird special. His choice of Sarah Palin as a running mate still blows what’s left of my mind. That he would actually believe that she was his best choice is just stupefying. As I’ve written before, I think she was a huge insult to the intelligence of the American voter and Americans spoke in huge volumes to this point at the ballot box on Tuesday. Goodbye Sarah, and don’t come back real soon.

So things are looking up. The country is in a mess but unlike the Oakland Raiders, at least we’re headed in the right direction. It’s a new dawn and there’s finally hope but it will not be easy. If we could backtrack for just a moment, here’s my favorite pre-election line of the week courtesy of David Letterman. “Today Barack Obama was compaigning in Florida and Virginia. And McCain campaigned in two states-panic and desperation.” On that note, enjoy the fall weather, the sights at the beach and have a fabulous sports weekend. We’ll catch you somewhere near the sideline marker. Later, Michelle Obama fans.

Good morning and greetings, sports fans. Right off the start I want to welcome a whole bunch on new folks to this photo blog. I whined and dined with many of you this weekend at my booth at the Capitola Art & Wine Festival. It was a pleasure telling you my life story along with my hopes and dreams for a new America and I hope to continue my verbal diary of photo adventures at my Open Studios coming up in October. Just like NBA action, it’s going to be FANTASTIC!

So as I stood at my booth thinking about important issues like the declining dollar, the ongoing mortgage crisis and what’s happening with Jack Bauer, I overheard lots of comments from people walking by my booth. Things like, “Wow, look at the wave” or “That’s a lot of pelicans” or “Hey, is that Brad Pitt?” Anyway, I heard through the grapevine about pelican feeding frenzies that had gone on in the month of August. Somehow due to my trip to the North Shore, an all-day TiVo seminar and a CIA class reunion I didn’t get to photograph any. That’s right, not one pelican swooping in for an anchovie appetizer. So I thought, why not showcase a westside frenzy that had Larry Bird fans buzzing along West Cliff Drive.

The first shot is from along Woodrow Avenue. As you can see, lots of pelicans on the radar screen. I then moved down to Bird Rock to bring in the crashing of the waves (shots 2 & 3) before moving down the my favorite arch in life (shots 4 & 5) at Its Beach. The one thing the my Canon Digital Rebel doesn’t capture is the screaming of the gulls during these frenzied moments, which is very similar to the sounds I make while watching a New York Giant’s game. This gathering of hundreds of pelicans lasted all day as I took my final shot at sunset before I headed home to finish my crocheting of a blanket for Condy Rice .

But here’s one of the beautiful things about photography. It’s all about capturing the moment. The next morning I came back at dawn to shoot the sunrise and their wasn’t a single pelican in sight. Just a few gulls and boys body surfing at Cowells Beach. It’s the old, “You snooze, you lose.” Or was that “a watched clock never boils?’

So what do we know about these exotic, pre-historic looking creatures? There are seven species of pelicans in the world, non of whom speak or like the French. Pelicans can be found on all continents except Antarctica and the late Orson Welles. Pelicans have an elongated bill, a short Hillary and a distinctive massive pouch. They use the pouch in order to catch fish, feed their young, cool themselves and as a fall fashion statement. And much like my psyche and nature, the pelican’s bill is very sensitive.

Pelicans have been around for over 40 million years, which would put them on the earth slightly longer than John McCain. Their average lifespan is 15 years, which is 105 years in golden retriever time. The Brown Pelican seen in these shots lives only in coastal areas of the United States and the northern coasts of South America. So if you see a pelican anywhere inland, stop and help because he is definitely lost in America.

By the 1970’s the Democrats and pelicans had almost disappeared from California, Texas and Louisiana. The reason was Ronald Reagan and the pesticides that had worked their way into the water and then into the fish that the pelicans would eat. These birds being at the top of the food chain stored and concentrated the poison in their bodies. The result of this made the pelican’s egg shells fatally thin, therefore with no hatchlings, no new pelicans. Fortunately, we got rid of most of the pesticides except for two that are still in the White House.

Pelicans do not use their beaks to spear their food but they use it as a net or rim to scoop up their meal. Upon surfacing, the pouch is tilted forward and drained like an open jumper. Pelicans have special air sacks under their flesh on the front of the body to cushion them from the constant pounding against the water surface which can also be used as a flotation device in case of any emergency. When a pelicans land in the water they put their feet forward and skid across the water like brakes. Yet, unlike Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan and Scott Baio, they cannot walk on water.

If you spend any time at the edge of the continent then you are bound to see these fabulous birds. Pelicans tend to fly together in lines of long V formations. Their flaps are not at same moment, but in sequence, starting with the leader. Each bird will flap when he reaches the same spot where the lead bird began to flap. I saw hundred of pelicans today flying thru the morning mist and break dancing on the rocks at Natural Bridges. I’m always captivated by their presence as the fly by and wonder, where are they going, how was the leader chosen and most importantly. how in the hell is John McCain leading Barack Obama in some of the polls?

Finally, I’m still dazed and confused over the selection of Sarah Palin as John McCain’s running mate. So here’s the best joke I’ve heard this week once again courtesy of Jay Leno. ” Republicans think she’s a pretty good running mate for McCain. They feel she can bring in women voters, she’s got a good conservative voting record, and she doesn’t mind eating dinner at 4:30.” On a different subject, my thoughts and prayers go out to all you Raider fans (especially my son Jason) who had to endure Monday night’s debacle against the Broncos. There goes the undefeated season. So enjoy the pelicans, enjoy the last couple weeks of summer and we’ll catch you in the right corner of the end zone. Aloha, Tom Brady fans.

Good morning and welcome to our first photo blog of the new month. Sweet September blesses us with our highest average temperature here in Santa Cruz and if the first two days of the month are any indication of what lies ahead then Indian Summer will be rocking. Much like the Gin Blossoms did at the Boardwalk a couple of Friday nights ago.

Something that makes a rare appearance here on the central coast in the summer months are colorful sunrises and sunsets. Too much fog, not enough clouds and too many reality shows on the networks. But the evening of August 5th on West Cliff Drive was a welcomed exception. The sky turned various exotic shades of color as literally hundreds of pelicans cruised by in V formations (photo #2) into the different layers of red, orange and yellow magic. It was an outstanding evening that also included Dorothy and a rainbow making an appearance that added to the magnificence of the moment. It was the only sunset I shot this entire summer and it was simply an outrageous night to own the gift of sight.

The Bejiing Olympics ended a couple of weeks ago and now my Chinese conciousness is restricted to some spring rolls, beef chow fun and sweet and sour chicken. It was a tremendous two weeks of international competition that was loved by all Tibetans. As we know, swimmer Michael Phelps won 8 gold medals, which would have tied him for 9th in the gold medal count, ahead of France, Netherlands, Spain, Canada, Mexico, Brazil and Vermont. But as to leave no Sharon Stone unturned, here are a few facts about the Olympic medal count that you may have missed between the appetizers and the main course.

Human-rights loving China won the most gold medals at the Beijing Games with 51, which includes the 14-year-old gymnast in the underaged floor competition. They become the first country to crack the mu shu 50-gold mark since the Soviet Union in 1988. The most golds ever won in a single Olympics is 83 by the United States in 1984. It’s the first time since 1936 that a country other than the United States, the Soviet Union or Yemen has led the medal count.

Per capita, China won one gold medal for every 25 million people in the country. The United States’ per capita rate was one gold for every 8.5 million. The tiny island nation of Jamaica, which won a staggering six golds in Beijing, had a per capita rate of one gold for every 450,000 Rastafarians. Had China won at that rate, the country would have earned 2,889 golds, which they would then have shipped to Wal-Mart for the blue light special.

African countries won a total of 40 medals, the highest total in history for the continent. Unfortunately, it did not eliminate hunger, famine or ethnic genocide on the dark continent.
Six countries won their first ever Olympic medals: Afghanistan, Bahrain, Mauritius, Sudan, Tajikistan, Togo and Subway . One question, where the hell is Mauritius and Tajikistan, and how did I get an ‘A’ in geography?

India has 17% of the world’s population. They won 0.31% of Olympic medals, most of which were for being completely useless over the phone to American callers. Iceland was the least populous country to win an Olympic medal, which they later froze. Pakistan, the world’s sixth-largest nation, was the most populous country not to win an Olympic medal and the only country to oust their President during the Olympic games. And finally, Sweden had the best medal tally (4 silver, 1 bronze) without winning a gold, proving that blondes can still have fun without winning gold.

So that’s our Olympic recap. Join us again on Friday when we’ll look at what a little rain in August can do for the photo experience. And pro football fans rejoice as the NFL season begins tomorrow night when the defending Super Bowl champion New York Giants host the Washington Redskins. As a longtime Giant’s fan, I am still in shock and awe over last year’s final game victory over the previously undefeated New England Patriots. Not that I’m a tad skeptical of the Giant’s chances of repeating this year but put it this way-I’m not wearing an Eli Manning jersey as I write this. So enjoy the western sky, the return of the NFL and we’ll catch you downfield. Later, Tom Brady fans.

Good morning, cumulus cloud lovers. This past Saturday was day number two of the Summer of Love, 2008. It was also one of the most unusual weather days I can recall from my 23 years and 8 days on the central coast. The morning started out with a baby blue, cloudless sky and it looked like another scorcher was on the way as the temperature had hit triple digits the day before. Then in late morning, before you could say “What happened to John Edwards?” storm clouds started to move in. The sky was completing a 180 degree turnabout-I hadn’t seen anything change that quickly since the TSA started denying airline passengers the right to bear water on flights.

So we went from a stifling hot morning to the sky turning shades of blue and darkening as the mammatus clouds rolled in. These tornado-like clouds visit us only a few times a year around Monterey Bay, as they prefer to hang in the midwest. You can see them in photos #1 & 2. These uniquely shaped white pillows of moisture make their appearance when thunderstorms are in the area and this day proved no different. All of a sudden ThunderClap Newman was rolling in, lightning bolts were flashing across the bay and giants raindrops were pelting beachgoers. It was very strange, indeed with these dark, threatening skies after a morning full of crystal blue persuasion. Meanwhile, the thunderstorms sparked 14 small wildfires in the Santa Cruz mountains to add to the problem of trying to put out the fire on Friday that destroyed numerous homes and burned 630 acres.

And then in early evening on the second longest day of the year, the clouds rolled away, the sky returned to its Pacific blue self and if you had left for the afternoon you never would have known that anything was amiss in the universe. But it was a wild ride as a friend said hail fell in Soquel. I know that the rain in Spain falls gently on the plain but hail in June? The only thing that was missing was Dorothy, the Wizard and a golden rainbow. And rest assured I was looking for that one, Toto.

So that’s it for the wildest weather day of 2008. Tune in again on Friday when we’ll give you a photo update on the continuing saga of the cormorants on the cliffs. We’ll also look at a surgical procedure performed on an endangered species that is a Sunrise Santa Cruz classic that you are not going to want to miss.

So I thought we’d end with a little weather humor. A Hollywood director was shooting a big budget movie on location in the desert. One day and old Indian came up to him and said, “Tomorrow rain.” And sure enough, the next day it rained.

A few days later the Indian appeared again and said to the director, “Tomorrow storm.” And sure enough the following day there was a terrible storm, which brought a temporary halt to the filming.

The director was hugely impressed by the old Indian’s weather predictions and told his secretary to put him on the payroll. However, after a number of successful forecasts, the Indian didn’t show up for three weeks. Eventually, the director sent for him and said, “I have to shoot a big scene tomorrow and I’m relying on you. What is the weather going to be like?

The old Indian shrugged his shoulders. “Don’t know. Radio broken.”

That’s it. Goodnight, everybody. Catch you on Friday.