Watching People Watch The Eclipse Was Part Of The Fun.

People watch Monday's solar eclipse at Burlington,
Vermont's waterfront park. 

Up here in Vermont, we didn't get a total eclipse of the sun yesterday. Just a partial one.

It was still neat, but of course not as wild as being in a total eclipse.

The most fun up here was watching people watch the eclipse.

I went down to Waterfront Park in Burlington to find a festive atmosphere as the eclipse got under way.

It was a hazy day, with smoke from Canadian forest fires giving a brassy hue to the light. As the eclipse progressed, obscuring up to 60 percent of the sun, the hazy blue sky took on a grayish tint.

A woman looks through a hastily made contraption to
view the solar eclipse Monday in Burlington, Vermont.

The brassy light became kind of a sickly yellow tan.

Sounds awful, but it was fun, as people in the park peered through eclipse glasses or watched the spectacle through home-made cardboard contraptions.

I didn't have either of those things, so I was content to duck under some trees, and watch the dappled sunlight that passed through the leaves of the trees form crescent shapes as the eclipse developed.

There was some of the inevitable price gouging. Somebody was selling eclipse glasses for $20 a pair at Waterfront Park.

As you can see from this post, people had a lot of fun. It was an excuse for an impromptu party.

An entrepreneur sells eclipse glasses
for $20 a pop in Burlington Monday

Scroll down for a couple more photos.  

A man enjoys the view of the solar eclipse,
safetly behind special glasses, at Waterfront
Park in Burlington, Vermont Monday

Bureau Of Land Management Gives Us A Lump Of Coal, But Just Temporarily.

The federal Bureau of Land Management's web site had
this photo of a giant coal seam on its home page Thursday,
prompting outrcry and suspicions that the federal government
is all about coal, coal, coal

The United States Bureau of Land Management, as the name implies, manages public lands across the nation.

Most of the land they manage is in the western half of the United States, but it does make up about one eighth of the land mass in for the country.

Most of that land is wilderness and conservation areas, national monuments, and trails and rivers. A little bit of this land is also used for oil and gas drilling and coal mining.

Of course, all you hear from the Trump administration is coal, coal, coal!  Contrary to what he says, coal is not going to make a comeback it's not going to make America great again, and all those coal miners relying on Trump's promise that they'll work in the mines again an make good money are in for a disappointment.

But the Trump administration perseveres any chance it gets. That even affected the web site of the Bureau of Land Management.

Until Wednesday, the BLM's home page had a nice picture of two boys with backpacks gazing out at scenic, hilly terrain.

The BLM home page Thursday had an image of..... a coal seam.

Yep, just a dark, unphotogenic expanse of dark gray coal. A coal seam, by the way, is a nice big mass of coal that's accessible for mining.

I guess this illustrates perfectly the Trump administration philosophy on public lands. If it's pretty, but worth money, make it ugly and take the money.

The  Bureau of Land Management said the coal photo was
just going to be part of a rotating series of photos on its home
page, depicting various aspects of federal lands By Friday,
the coal has been replaced by this image of a fly fisherman.

However, the BLM says the coal picture was not a literally dark vision of how the U.S. government would look at federal lands going forward.

The BLM said they would rotate photos on their home page to reflect different aspects of the agency and the lands they own. Or, more accurately, we own.

They said that by Friday, the picture will have changed again, and that many of the photos would reflect the natural beauty of federal lands.

True to their word, the BLM website's home page late Friday had a nice photo of a young man fly fishing in a fresh, clean looking river.

Phew!

Here's What You Look Like In A Haunted House

A rite of October, I guess, is to go to a "haunted house" to celebrate Halloween.

You pay admission, and all kinds of fake ghosts, zombies and assorted monsters pop out of the dark corners to give you a big scream and scare.

One of those haunted houses is the Nightmares Fear Factory in Niagra Falls, New York.

"Fear is fun and we'll scare the crap outta you!" is their catch phrase. Yeah, it's that kind of place.

Nightmares Fear Factory also has cameras helpfully installed in their creepy house to take photos of people getting the crap scared outta them. A few of the photos are here, only because they're hilarious and I thought I'd share.

And it's more calming than wandering through a haunted house.  If you want to see more, go to their Web site.  

Fun With Huge Bonfires On A Rainy Night During Foliage Season

Steam, an otherworldly glow and ghostly
people at a bonfire in Shrewsbury, Vermont last night. 

Last night, I was at a huge party at my sister Laurie's house, and her partner Bennie, in rural Shrewsbury, Vermont.

As you read down, you'll get an explanation of the ghostly photos in this post. Some explanation is in order.

Laurie's parties tend to be huge affairs that go late into the night. There's plenty of music, food, and LOTS of booze.

(It's OK, there's also lots of designated drivers, or people who just crash on couches for the night.)

The party was a huge hit, despite the fact it rained torrentially through most of the event.

We huddled under tents with good buddies like Dr. McGillicuddy, Dr. Jagermeister,  and some home grown concoctions.  Although, to be honest, at my age I wasn't able to handle much beyond some nice Vermont microbrew.

A bonfire on a rainy night in Shrewsbury, Vermont.  

There were two guys, one a singer and guitarist, the other, a handsome young man playing spoons incredibly expertly.

The pair played mostly country standards, and were surprisingly talented and engaging.

There was a lot of dancing, but I don't think anybody there would be a finalist on "So You Think You Can Dance." 

Especially not the woman in the pink sweater and the clear garbage bag she was using as a raincoat. She was drunk enough to kind of look like those blow up signs and figures that wave wildly in front of used car lots.

I did think the big huge burly guy wearing the hard hat while dancing might have been the smartest person at the party.

People were especially enthusiastic when the two guys played Garth Brook's "Friends in Low Places." It was that kind of party. In other words, raucus, not exactly fancy, but very, very, very fun.

Sparks from a nighttime bonfire rise
up into fall foliage overhead on a rainy
Saturday night in Shrewsbury, Vermont.  

Another odd highlight was when the two guys played that song from the early 1960s about a teenage couple who gets in a car crash and the girl dies.

It's called "Oh Where Can My Baby Be." It's totally cheesy, which is why the guys played the song

It was hilariously odd to see people dancing with drunken joy to a stupid, melodramatic song about a car crash. You had to be there, though, to get the full effect.

A centerpiece of Laurie and Bennie parties is usually an immense bonfire. Such was the case last night, despite the rain soaking everything so thoroughly it was hard to get a fire going at first.

But it did get going.

I loved the ghostly images it caused with the flames spiking up into the rain pouring down, the smoke, the sparks, the glow of the fire on the fall foliage, the steam from the fire's heat hitting everything wet.

Of course, it was hard to take photos of this with an iPhone in the rain after a few beers, but I tried. They're amateurish, but I got a few otherworldly images that I kind of like in a weird sort of way.

So they're in this post. As always, click on any image you're interested in to get a bigger, better look.

Time Waster Of The Day: Hilarious "Terrible Real Estate Photos"

If you've put your house on the market and fret that it doesn't look impressive enough for potential buyers, don't worry.

Maybe Jackson Pollock lived here? 

It could be worse. Much worse.

A Tumblr site called Terrible Real Estate Photos is a hilarious time waster that shows properties that are, shall we say, unique fixer uppers.

A few sample photos from the site are in this post, but go ahead and peruse the Tumblr site. You'll never look at real estate sales brochures the same way again.

A property perfect for your weekend firing squad parties!  

Airy living spaces in this newly listed home.  

This bathroom leaves
quite an impression.   

Russian School Custodian Makes Awesome Snow Art

I know many of us don't want to think about snow after a long, cold winter has finally ended, but this is too good to pass up.  

Russian school custodia Seymon Bukharin made
this snow art in a school yard with just a broom.  

Huffington Post recently featured photos of what a Russian school custodian named Seymon Bukharin did with just a broom after snowfalls.

He'd go out into the school yard and make beautiful art by sweeping snow away just so.

Maybe I'll hire him to clear snow from my yard next winter.

More snow art by Seymon Bukharin  

One more.  

Great Song, Great Video About The Importance of Photos In Our Lives

Over at the other blog I operate, Matt's Weather Rapport, which caters to anyone interested in the weather, I touched on efforts to return photographs to their owners after the momentos were scattered far and wide by tornadoes that struck the Midwest last month.

This man saved a wedding photo from the wreckage
after a tornado hit Washington, Ill. last month.
Other people lost important photos in the storm.  

All the more reason to store our photos in "the cloud" so if our houses burn down or get blown or washed away in a disaster, we don't lose these important documents and touchstones.

In my Weather Rapport post, I included a wonderful music video by Laura Marier for her song "Running For Photographs" which is a great song and great video in its own right, whether or not you're interested in the weather.

So I decided to included it here, too, because the song is definitely worth listening to and the video is totally worth watching.

Olympic Parents Strike Gold, Too

Part of the fun of watching the Olympics is the reactions of parents and other relatives in the stands.

Debbie Phelps, mom of swimmer Michael
Phelps watches her kid win again. 

Thankfully, there is now a Tumblr site, Parents of Olympians, where you can check out how mom and dad react to their kiddies as they seek the gold.

It almost looks like the parents are more emotionally invested in the competition than the actual competitors.

That makes sense, since a lot of these parents spent their time ferrying kids to and from gyms, pools and whatnot from Day 1.

Still, judging by the reactions, I think some of these parents get as big a workout cheering their kids and the Olympians do in competition.

Newspapers, Church Signs Unintentionally Amuse

I keep running across unfortunate newspaper headlines and layouts and posted signs that fail to work. But the people who screwed up did us a favor by making us laugh. Some examples:

In the first photo, police have made this startling conclusion about crime

Next, I'm not sure the newspaper has otten who the suspects are quite right.

Third, I guess the church needs some joy on Sundays after a week of gloom. At least they're staying optimistic.

Photoshop Humiliates Rioters

I can't think of much funny to say about all that awful rioting in Britain this week, but a Tumblr site gives it a good go.

In this photoshopped image, looters and police
pause during riots to play Twister.

It's called Photoshoplooter, and it adds ridiculous elements to photos of looters in action. Typical is one shot of a big bad looking male looter carrying away a male blowup sex toy doll. Another shows more big bad male looters helping themselves to Barbie dolls and accessories.

It's a great time waster, so check it out. It will make you fantasize about ways to put those looters in their place, and make them never want to commit a crime again.

Wild Storm Hits Me, I Rejoice

In the summer time, I often drive a fair distance to chase a nice big fat thunderstorm, that's just the geek I am.

Two big trees blew over in  a severe thunderstorm
yesterday in Shelburne, Vermont

Yesterday, the wildest thunderstorm I've been in this summer came to me. I have Jackson the puppy to thank for that.

It was time for Jackson to get his first checkup and some shots, so off to Shelburne, Vermont I went. Jackson got throught the veterinarian visit with flying colors. As we left a thumder was just about to break

I got in the truck just as a wave of wind and rain and hail swept in. I put the truck in part, whipped out the camera and started filming. You see pics of the aftermath of the storm in the photos here, and the video is below.

I wish I angled the truck differently, because as I was filming at least three big trees fell behind me.

Damaged trees after the severe storm
in Shelburne, Vermont yesterday.

But it was still wild to feel the truck rock in the wind and the hail rattle over the truck's roof and hood. By the way, when the video goes to just gray and white, that wasn't a mistake. That's what it really looked like.

The area hit by the storm was isolated. I happened to be right in the middle of it. Just a quarter mile to my south and north, there were few signs of wind damage.

To think I would have missed the storm if it weren't for Jackson. Thanks, buddy.

Epic Lake Flood Pics

Lake Champlain here in Vermont has had its worst flood on record. The crest yesterday was a foot over the old record. There's been lots of damage, as you might expect. The governor declared a state of emergency, the National Guard is helping, and we're officially a disaster zone. 

I've been taking pictures of the flood, and the river flooding that led up to it. A few are in this post to share.  I've been contributing, along with almost the entire rest of the staff to extensive flood coverage in the Burlington Free Press if you want more details.

Stay dry!

Lake Champlain floodwater destroys a camp
on Colchester Point, Vt,  May 6 2011

Another view of camp destruction from Lake Champlain
floodwaters, May 6, 2011

Lake Champlain floodwater invades the U.S.
Coast Guard station in Burlington Vt. this week.

A toy truck rests on the hood of a car flooded
by high Lake Champlain water, Burlington Vt.
earlier this week. 

Water from Lake Champlain invades a
Burlington, Vt. building this week,

Laundry is caught in floodwater along the Missisquoi River
In East Berkshire, Vt. on April 27

Floodwater cascades over a dam along the Lamoille River in
Fairfax, Vt., April 27, 2011

Cars make their way through floodwater along
Route 105 in Enosburgh, Vt., April 27, 2011.