||||Thomas H. Caldwell

Flanders Hotel as seen from the route 52 ($400 million) causeway bridge. I’m sure the traffic flow is much improved, but the two drawbridges were much more interesting and picturesque.

 

Flanders Hotel suite with ocean view. If I had it to do over again, I would choose a southern or western exposure due to the not so attractive amusement park on the ocean side.

 

 

Beach view of the Flanders Hotel (tallest building in photo). The Flanders was built in 1923 and is named after the American Cemetery in Belgium. Manco & Manco Pizza’s 12th Street location can be seen left of center beyond the dunes.

 

Front of the Ocean City Music Pier. I don’t know anyone in this photo including the woman smiling at me.

 

Looking north toward the Ocean City Music Pier.

 

Ocean City Beach Patrol building.

 

14th Street Fishing Pier, Ocean City, NJ.

 

Port-O-Call Hotel, Ocean City, NJ. A nice place for an off-season breakfast. This hotel is located a block north of the site where the four-masted sailing barque Sindia ran aground on December 15, 1901. Nothing remains visible today, but I remember remnants on the beach and in the water when I was a kid.

Between storms at sunset.

Fall morning at Marsh Creek.

Water tower.

 

The rental.

 

Sun rises over the Atlantic Ocean.

 

Gull at sunrise.

 

Beach umbrella.

 

Gull in flight.

 

Stone Harbor waves.

 

How was this water delivered to the earth? That’s a big question.

 

A side trip to Ocean City, New Jersey on the way home.

Grace Kelly’s parents’ former summer home in Ocean City, NJ. The Spanish Mission Revival style of this building is similar to the design of other Ocean City structures such as the Chatterbox, Music Pier, Golden Galleon, and Flanders Hotel.

 

A wider view of the former Kelly property at Wesley Avenue  and 26th Street, Ocean City, NJ.

 

Looking south on Wesley Avenue from 26th Street, Ocean City, NJ.

 

Looking north on Wesley Avenue between 24th and 23rd Streets, Ocean City, NJ.

 

Houses overlooking the 26th Street Beach, Ocean City, NJ.

 

26th Street Beach, Ocean City, NJ. The Kelly family beach house (which was built on the ocean side of Wesley Avenue across the street from their summer home) used to stand on the site now occupied by the large house on the right.

 

Fralinger’s Original Salt Water Taffy in the Golden Galleon, Ocean City, NJ.

 

 

 Looking south on the Board Walk from 11th Street, Ocean City, NJ.

 

 

Looking north on the Board Walk from 11th Street, Ocean City, NJ.

B-25J Mitchell medium bomber Briefing Time.

16 B-25  bombers were used in the April 18,1942 Doolittle Raid on Japan. The planes took off from the carrier USS Hornet  with no return possible. The mission caused little physical damage, but the psychological impact was significant on both sides.

Note: It was a B-25 that crashed into the Empire State Building on July 28, 1945. This event had an effect on the design of the future World Trade Center. Unfortunately, efforts to protect the the new towers were insufficient due to bigger and faster planes.

 

Being towed in preparation for takeoff.

 

B-25J Mitchell named Briefing Time taking off from the New Garden Airport.

This particular plane has appeared in 7 movies including Catch 22.

 

Wow, that was  impressive!      Makes me want to see a B-17 and a B-29 take off.

On a sad note, my uncle ( John Philip Eubank, Jr.) and all his crewmates were killed when their B-24J  Liberator crashed at Bury’s Hall Farm, Old Buckenham, England on February 9, 1945. They were returning from their 27th mission.

 

C-47D Skytrain on the ground providing shade.

 

C-47D taking off.

Storm clouds over Pottsville, PA.

 

The Andromeda Galaxy (M31) is the star-like object (located just left of center) with a faint cloudy streak passing diagonally through it. What looks like a star is really the galactic bulge, and the cloudy streak is the spiral disc. The Andromeda Galaxy is the closest spiral galaxy to our own Milky Way Galaxy and is “only” 2,500,000 light-years away. The Hubble Space Telescope can see 5,000 times that distance. 5000 times sounds like a lot, but to understand how amazing that number is you have to apply the inverse square law: twice as far means 1/4 the brightness, triple the distance means 1/9 the brightness, and 5000 times the distance means 1/25,000,000 the brightness!

 

Both of these star pictures were taken with my Nikon D300 (equipt with a 18-200 Nikkor zoom lens) in the face of substantial light pollution.

 The Andromeda Galaxy is the largest in the Local Group (a cluster of galaxies that includes the Milky Way Galaxy) with perhaps a trillion stars. Our own Milky Way Galaxy comes in second place with about 300 billion stars, and the Triangulum Galaxy is the third largest with around 40 billion stars.

In the below photo the Andromeda Galaxy definately is visable, while the Triangulum Galaxy (M33) is, perhaps,  just barely visable.

Some decent convection in the West Chester area on July 24, 2012.

Frosting-like pileus clouds are seen in the first 3 photos. Pileus clouds indicate robust updrafts.

 

 

 

You are definitely in trouble if you’re trading off your Martin: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmlL86FKdxk

YouTube mystery man: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8k4PVWiPEhc

This just isn’t fair: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RVFQwl6n_M

Nice Leonard Cohen song the way it should be sung: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Patmb1gHKqo&feature=fvsr

I know he’s not playing the quitar, and I have no problem with that: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5RmJYoVPqs

And then there is this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbndgwfG22k

Just a busker from Venice Beach: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vq5Dc71Derg

3rd street Promenade (Santa Monica, California) busker: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FoRgCJ5BJq4

Some more THC approved music:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdc_sGSco40&feature=related (Mary Chapin Carpenter.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_W8W-3uerDQ&feature=related (Emmy Lou and friends.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNtvNcVcE9w (Tavis Tritt.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qBEYfhvrdg (from the man himself.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bb-WT4JhiCU (her singer/songwriter father, Terry Gilkyson, was born in Phoenixville, PA.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYsqq3_FXCw (Her father died before he could hear this song.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQwqQwD6OOw (Neil Diamond at the height of his powers ( deep, internal, intense, and mysterious).)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2sYIIjS-cQ (The venue/song/singer combination is somewhat ironic. That being said, I know of no one else who has the perfect attitude for this 60’s anthem. And why not, he wrote the song.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czu_8e6J-R8(Jill (Lynne Byrem, from Bloomsburg, PA,  (a.k.a. Lacy J. Dalton) sings 16th Avenue.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52Fv9-zkt2I (The songwriter’s version of 16th Avenue.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xY8Gi2mEYos (An encore performance by Frettkillr. The song, Darcey Farrow, was written by Steve Gillette and Tom Campbell.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9adAljIaKYc (Surprisingly profound.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHqeQO1CMHw (Jim is gone, but apparently Jesse can still pick.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPajOFoHjAw (Tish Hinojosa on Austin City Limits.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdaHb4oG24A (One amazing voice)

Newer links:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeFk_nuheHs (If you want to add a little soul to a song, you’ve come to the right singer. Lucinda!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4sMSSm0x2A (Jim Cantore never sounded like this.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zwBHd4kll0 (And why don’t we ever hear this on The Weather Channel?)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3m7ckGhnsc (Iconic canadian song sung by the songwriter himself, Ian Tyson. His former wife, Sylvia, is singing by his side. At the end he is joined by Murray McLaughlan, Judy Collins, Gordon Lightfoot, and Emmylou Harris.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1HiMNuU6F8 (Let us head south from Alberta to the Texas border town of El Paso and hear Raul Malo sing a classic song written and made famous by Marty Robbins. Raul can sing!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOFVrDAnrGc (A one hundred plus year old cowboy standard of questionable origins sung by cowgirl Stevie Nicks and Chris Isaak. Newman is featured on guitar. Or maybe not.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-xF94rOUdk (I couldn’t find a video of Mo Bandy singing this classic cowboy song. I think Mo Bandy’s version is the best, but this rendition is pretty good for a California rancher. The song was derived from a Curley Fletcher poem written a century ago.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2B_rWc_gCNc (John Gorka maybe from New Jersey, but he sings this one in Texas.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtE3JksPpXw (Old White Men by Vance Gilbert.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apemYk2oz7M (canadian astronaut, Chris Hadfield, lends some credibility to this Bowie song.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3D0qfK8JNA (Ted Hawkins sings There Stands the Glass, an old Webb Pierce song.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acD7TKCNFVE (Van Morrison interprets the previous song. I like the backup vocals.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4OxQ7960nY (Morrison slows down Don Gibson’s song, I Can’t Stop Loving You. The backup vocals are terrific! This was an appearance on the eclectic Austin City Limits. Sadly, I’ve out lived my Austin City Limits T-shirt.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSyCiIkOde8 (Brian Stokes Mitchell has some good advice and I think Reba McIntyre is listening.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsRkkYqP2Jg (John Doe, Cindy Wasserman, and Val McCullum sing Woodrow Wilson Guthries’ So Long it’s Been Good to Know Yuh.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Knwdj1qhky4 (Woody’s friend and kind of the bridge from Guthrie to Dylan. I can’t believe I’m saying it, but I think his voice isn’t what it used to be. Warning: not for everybody.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCdF3KuRimg (The title of this song has some serious order of operations problems which I won’t get into. Fortunately you don’t have to understand the title or the lyrics to love this Bob Dylan song.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfKdOjJPWsI (Lacy J. Dalton sings about being a parent.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sse_kdQAlsE (This kind of grass is legal in all 50 states!)

Added after 9/29/2013:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ttnh69UYyCE (Exuberant street singer,Clarence Milton Bekker, finds his way out from the depths of addiction by busking the streets of Barcelona.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kU1AWOfvSM (Clarence Bekker sings Killing Me Softly in Barcelona.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAjFnJuk1Aw (Clarence again plays for change.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziHqfO7IcvI (An older Sungha Jung playing Somewhere Over the Rainbow.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vaaz3pxJfxI (Sungha Jung plays Country Roads.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1sjOg8TFYw ( John Denver (with James Burton on lead guitar) sings Back Home Again.)

Added after 11/5/2013:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-8_NCQr-20 (Tish Hinojosa sings about the real West and some dubious astronomy.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMUZwWYzYoU (Tish gets autobiographical is this song about the west side of town.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Jc2efqj5Js (Lonnie Donegan, the King of Skiffle, sings the best dam song I know. The lead guitar player appears to be James Bond, no doubt under deep cover at the time. I could tell you more, but then I’d have to kill you.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqtRM-3Ekqo (I thought that Lonnie Donegan’s version (see above) of Woody Guthrie’s song, Grand Coulee Dam, was a lot of fun. Let’s see if Woody’s good friend Ramblin’ Jack Elliott has an opinion.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVbMV0WijHQ (Alright Jack, here is a traditional version of Ranger’s Command.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IfehzGF9GE ( An eclectic group of folk singers singing what might be called the People’s National Anthem.)

Phil Everly died January 3, 2014. The Everly Brothers produced remarkable harmonies, which I only now appreciate.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Doem-_tfMuY (All I Have to Do Is Dream.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4d1ig-dYuLk (Let It Be Me.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTseFBze0NM (Wake Up Little Susie.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bz0Sscke9z4 (Crying in the Rain.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCWMMKS6W4Q (Bye Bye Love.)

The Bee Gees were one of  the groups influenced by the Everly Brothers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nCedXvoaBE (Maurice Gibb sings 1st of May with his ex- wife. Lulu. )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHLMGBwAbhA (Some of that genetic harmony in the song, Words.)

Pete Seeger died January 27, 2014. What an extraordinary person.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXqTf8DU6a0 (Where Have All The Flowers Gone?)

http://performingsongwriter.com/pete-seeger-flowers-gone/ (Some of the history of the above song.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnvCPQqQWds (FOX NEWS couldn’t have been happy with this moment in american history.)

Added 04-26-2014 and after.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wXBgOVIYtw (David Frizzell and Shelly West sing You’re The Reason God Made Oklahoma.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZytLdoGhc4 (Arthur Smith died April 3, 2014. He was known for Dueling Banjos and Guitar Boogie.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgVqX0a49HM (A young Sungha plays Michael Jackson”s Billie Jean.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wrNFDxCRzU (Don McLean sings Vincent.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQM3YtiI400 (Leona Lewis sings Over The Rainbow with some insperation from Eva Cassidy.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1031Y6yM1c  (Eva Cassidy sings Fields of Gold.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEGFuXGHMdY (Leona Lewis does a nice job on The First Time Fver I Saw Your Face. Roberta Flack  may have been the first to have a big hit with this song, but many others covered it before her.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9_J9Jt7-Uw  (It’s Just The Sun by Don McLean. McLean met Jim Croce while he briefly attended Villanova University.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7uyG6RrBDE (Richard Thompson’s 1952 Vincent Black Lightning is turned to Blue Grass by the DelMcCoury Band. The town’s name was changed from Box Hill to Knoxville.)

 

Friday evening “Glow Party”.