Another picture and Another

A beach scene from Hawaii, likely during World War II.



A serviceman posing with Diamond Head in the background. Again, probably around WWII.

This Creates Confidence

Get your "brekes" repaired.

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Another Picture

This picture caught my eye. Five friends or sisters? I am thinking sisters or cousins. They all have the same mouth. Either way, it's dated July 1939.

More From Tybee Island

The first day we were there a storm came rolling in. It was beautiful. It didn't hit us, the clouds you can see below moved over the north part of the island. We got a little bit of rain out of it. The woman you see reading in this picture had no idea the storm was moving in, she was completely engrossed in the novel she was reading. I brought the storm to her attention. I said, "You see what's coming over your shoulder?" She looked and said, "Woah, I had no idea. Thanks." She packed up her stuff and skedaddled inside.


While we were sitting in the sun a Coast Guard helicopter flew by. I forget how frequently I used to see them while growing up in northern Michigan until I see one at the beach. When you live near water the Coast Guard helicopters are just always there, like seagulls.


Another nice thing about Tybee is that Savannah, GA is a very busy port. These supersized container ships are a common sight.


The night we went out to see the moonrise there was a family in front us doing the same. I opened the lens up when a jogger with a headlamp went by.


One day we rented bikes and rode to the northern end of Tybee Island. The northern end of the island is a good place to visit, there are fewer people out and about. We came across a roost of seabirds down there.


Around noon one day we walked to the Tybe Market IGA. It's a pleasant walk about .8 miles. It's pleasant if you don't pick the hottest part of the hottest day of your visit. Which we did, of course. The walk down was fine, it was warm but overcast. An easy walk. While we were in the store the sky cleared and the temperature went way up. We were hurting on the way back. When we got back to the hotel Melanie cracked open a Yeung Ling. She called it, "The best beer ever." And it was.

The beer below is not the "Best beer ever" but it was almost as good. I had it with my lunch at Marlin Monroe's. Silly name but I really like their cheese burgers and Melanie had a fish taco plate that she really enjoyed.

The beach. It's impossible to not have a good time.

You got it

Wayne LaPierre & George Zimmerman tying their soft penises together with a scarlet ribbon under a full moon.

— rob delaney (@robdelaney) July 24, 2013

Get in my Belly

My old Marine buddy Cal went to the British Open golf tournament last week. Because the tournament was being held in Scotland he decided at some point he was going to yell "Get in my belly" after a player putted the ball. Why? In tribute to the Fat Bastard character from the Austin Powers movies. He picked his moment well. He yelled it when Phil Mickelson was putting on the 17th green on Sunday while on his way to a historic victory. I'm not a fan of the meatheads who yell "Get in the hole!!" after every shot players make during a lot of the tournaments in the US but after getting a message from Cal and going back and finding this on my recording of Sunday's action I have to admit that I laughed. Now, I have recorded it and shared it with you.

More Old Photos

I also bought a batch of negatives during my recent trip to the antique store. I had not seen negatives for sale until this weekend. What a great find. I think there are at least three different batches of photos in this set and I don't know if they originate with the same family or not. There was an envelope in the package from a pharmacy in Chicago called Hollywood.

This photo is my favorite so far. A family and a young sailor.

More Found Photos

Today I swung by an antique store after spending some time at the golf range. I like to stop by this store because one of the vendors carries old photographs. I think they charge too much but it's one of the few places I know I can find old photos so I go there occasionally. I found a few good ones today.

This one is labeled "July 1939" on the back.


The Happy Graduate. No information on photo.


Print date on photo is December 73

The Beach The Beach The Beach

Bill Hicks claimed to not understand why people went to the beach. To him it was just "where water meets sand." I agree with a lot of what Bill said but not that. There's something about the beach, two hours in a beach chair can go by in a flash. Where else do humans gather and just sit like we do at the beach? It's like one mass return to the womb. Mother Earth? Mother Ocean is more like it.

So, in late June Melanie and I went to Tybee Island for four nights and three days of leisure. Leisure is good. Although we did seem to spend a good deal of time walking, at a leisurely pace, of course.

How about a few pictures?

This is what we saw each day when we hung out at the beach, it's so peaceful. One mistake I made on this trip was bringing the wrong book. I brought a World War II novel that was highly recommended and I could not get into it. I thought maybe I was distracted by the beach but when I got back home I still couldn't get into the novel. Turns out, it just wasn't that great. Ah, well.


The first night there we went out to see the moonrise. It was the week of the so-called "super moon" and I was curious to see if it really did seem larger. It didn't but it was still beautiful beyond measure. I had not seen a moonrise at the the coast before. I wasn't prepared for the amazing red colors.




I don't want you to think we spent the whole time sitting in a beach chair listening to the surf while reading and soaking up the sun. We also took naps and even went sightseeing one afternoon.

A short distance from the hotel where we stayed is the Tybee Island Lighthouse and Museum. The lighthouse as it stands now was finished shortly after the Civil War and the lower first 60 feet are much older. I didn't know that before and I was, not really concerned, but aware that I was ascending a structure built over 150 years ago. How much longer will it stand, I wondered. Is it inspected? Do these retirees that run this place know what in the hell they are doing? But we went up and it was great. It's 144 feet tall and has an observation deck. With the low country being flat as a pancake you can see a long way from 144 feet in the air.

Hey look, a lighthouse




Because the lighthouse is old and will probably fall over during the next big storm only so many people were allowed to enter at a time. The front was guarded by a tiny woman who really reminded me of my grandmother. Walking up 144 feet in late June in Georgia is not the most pleasant activity but we made it. We did pass an overweight woman as she was coming down and she was in as ill of a mood as anyone I've seen in a long while. Man, was she pissed.

This was the line to get in. Normally, not as long, I think. We got there when a couple of tour groups arrived. Even with the line this long the wait was around ten to fifteen minutes which isn't too bad.


What is unique, according to the volunteers, about his light station is that several of the buildings used to support the lighthouse and the staff still survive in their mostly original state. This building is the main lightkeeper's home.



Here is Melanie at the top. She was a little unsure about the climb but she made it up with no problem. Behind her you can see how amazing the view is.



While we were up there a lady pointed out you could see dolphins trailing behind fishing boats, gobbling up scraps. You can see a fin in the shot below.


You also see surfers bobbing in the surf on the north side of the island. Near as I could tell surfing in the Atlantic Oceans consists of a lot of sitting on your board waiting for a wave that is never going to arrive.


More later.

George Zimmerman Trial Not About Race?

See what happens when the roles are reversed.

And holy cow, the comments by the juror who was interviewed today.

Not about race? My ass.