Sorrentolens

The temperature here in Florida is beginning to come down just a bit.  It was around 85 degrees this afternoon.  This photo was taken this summer on Anna Maria Island – these two chairs – gazing out over the beautiful water toward the Sunshine Skyway Bridge.

For reference, these two chairs are on the very sandy tip at the bottom of the island in the photo below.  As you can see, this is a magical place.  Skip Disney and come visit sometime – you won’t regret it.

I’ve been practicing some post-processes on selected photos lately.  Getting instruction from all the fine folks out there who take award-winning shots of just about anything.  I made some mods to the vintage Porsche that I post a few weeks ago.  I think I got some decent results.  But I need to get rid of the car in the background.  As ADG would say — Onward!

I love The Fresh Market.  I took some photos there a month or so ago and the manager asked me kindly to stop.  So I did.  But I was able to work some post process techniques on some of the goods.

I’m doing a photo assignment at Scott Thomas’ blog http://stphoto.wordpress.com/ .  The topic is WATER.

I chose this photo because I thought (ready for this) the water was wetter!  If you can imagine such a thing.  I hope the photo shows what I mean.

I had my  camera out today and went cruising around the city of Winter Park.  Stopped in a few places, had some lunch.  This one particular spot gave me pause.  I snapped quite a few photos in the area.

How many faces can you find in the trunk of this tree?

How many faces in the tree?

The neighborhood

Do you supposed some spirits got stuck in the tree and never made it to heaven?  How do we get them unstuck from the tree???

It’s amazing what you find when you open your eyes.  Take a look around as you’r walking down the street – windows shopping or driving.

Dad's Sunday French Toast

Head on over to my other blog Dad Cooks and try out my Sunday French Toast.  Hope you like it!

The Jaguar Badge

Founded as the Swallow Sidecar Company in 1922, by two motorcycle enthusiasts, Sir William Lyons and William Walmsley, the SS Jaguar name first appeared on a 2.5 litre saloon in 1935, sports models of which were the SS 90 and SS 100. The Jaguar name was given to the entire company in 1945 when the SS was dropped due to lack of popularity from WWII.

Jaguar made its name in the 1950s with a series of elegantly-styled sports cars and luxury saloons. In 1951 the company leased what would quickly become its principal plant from the Daimler Motor Company (not to be confused with Daimler-Benz), and in 1960 purchased Daimler from its parent company, the Birmingham Small Arms Company (BSA). From the late 1960s, Daimler was used as a brand name for Jaguar’s most luxurious saloons.

Jaguar merged with the British Motor Corporation (BMC), the Austin-Morris combine, to form British Motor Holdings (BMH) in 1966. After merging with Leyland, which had already taken over Rover and Standard Triumph, the resultant company then became the British Leyland Motor Corporation (BLMC) in 1968. Financial difficulties and the publication of the Ryder Report led to effective nationalization in 1975 and the company became British Leyland, Ltd. (later simply BL plc).

In the 1970s the Jaguar and Daimler marques formed part of BL’s specialist car division or Jaguar Rover Triumph Ltd until a restructure in the early 1980s saw most of the BL volume car manufacturing side becoming the Austin Rover Group within which Jaguar was not included. In 1984, Jaguar was floated off as a separate company on the stock market — one of the Thatcher government’s many privatizations.

In 1999 Jaguar became part of Ford’s new Premier Automotive Group along with Aston Martin, Volvo Cars and, from 2000, Land Rover; Aston Martin was subsequently sold off in 2007. Between Ford purchasing Jaguar in 1989 and selling it in 2008 it did not earn any profit for the Dearborn-based auto manufacturer.

On 11 June 2007, Ford announced that it planned to sell Jaguar, along with Land Rover. On 26 March 2008, Ford announced that it had agreed to sell its Jaguar and Land Rover operations to Tata Motors of India — – a very bad move indeed!

Large executive

§ 1935–1948 2½ Litre saloon

§ 1937–1948 3½ Litre saloon

§ 1948–1951 Mark V

§ 1951–1957 Mark VII (& VIIM)

§ 1957–1959 Mark VIII

§ 1959–1961 Mark IX

§ 1961-1970 Mark X

§ 1966-1970 420G

§ 1968–1987 XJ6 Series 1, 2 & 3

§ 1972–1992 XJ12

§ 1986–1994 XJ6 (XJ40)

§ 1993–1994 XJ12 (XJ81)

§ 1995–1997 XJ6 & XJ12 (X300 & X301)

§ 1998–2003 XJ8 (X308)

§ 2004–2009 XJ (X350)

§ 2009–date XJ (X351)

Compact executive

§ 1935–1949 1½ Litre saloon

§ 1955–1959 Mark 1

§ 1959–1967 Mark 2

§ 1963–1968 S-type

§ 1966–1968 420

§ 1966–1968 240 & 340

§ 1999-2008 S-type

§ 2001-date X-type

§ 2008-date XF

Sports

§ 1948–1954 XK120

§ 1954–1957 XK140

§ 1957–1961 XK150

§ 1961–1974 E-Type

§ 1975–1996 XJ-S

§ 1992-1994 XJ220

§ 1997–2005 XKR (X100)

§ 1996–2006 Jaguar XK8 ^[41]

§ 2007-date XKR (X150)

Concept models

§ Pirana (1967)

§ XK180 (1998)

§ F-type (2000) – Roadster, similar to the XK8 but smaller

§ R-Coupé (2002) – Luxury four-seater coupé, closest competitor being the Bentley Continental GT

§ Fuore XF 10 (2003)

§ R-D6 (2003) – Compact four-seat coupé

§ XK-RR – A high-performance version of last generation XK coupé

§ XK-RS – Another performance-spec version of last generation XK convertible

§ Concept Eight (2004) – Super-luxury version of the long-wheelbase model of the XJ

§ C-XF (2007)

source for text:  wikipedia.org

The great team at Collier Jaguar in Orlando let me snap away as long as I wanted to – nice folks over there – with a great product.

I love the older Jags – when I was in high school, my next-door-neighbor had a 1960 Jaguar Saloon – it was a stately-looking rig and I think I’ve always liked them since seeing his.

The rest of these beautiful cats are varied, but they have a very magical look about them.  Kinda makes you want to dig out your tweeds and find that Meerschaum and pack it with some fragrant smoking tobacco.  Take a look:

1960 Mark II Saloon

1960 Mark II Saloon

1960 Jaguar MK IX

Jaguar MK V Saloon

Jaguar MK II

Jaguar XK 120

Jaguar E Type V-12

Took these back in March but just got around to tweaking them a bit.  I’ve been trying to find out what  the name or the theme for the tower is, but can’t seem to find any information readily available.

The first of these photos is mine – I took it back in May at a launch parking lot off the side of one of the causeway bridges in South Daytona Beach.  The rest of the phots are from the Life Archives  and are wonderful shots of sailing back in the 50s and 60s – credits to Peter Stackpole, George Silk, and Gordon Parks.

Moored

From http://experienceproject.com

“Sailing all day. 30 knot winds. White knuckles. It’s dark now and the city admires itself in the reflection of the Bay. The wind is falling, the waves roll calmly under our stern. Sun-beaten and wind-worn, we think of warm soup … hot showers … the sleep of the dead.

The bouncing moon rises over the hills and shines a path home. Red and green road signs flicker in the distance. I reflect on how I should be doing this every day of my life.”  — hellosailor

“My whole life I’ve spent on boats.

Yes, my whole life, from about 4-5 months old on.

That makes me a boat brat.

Its so ingrained into me that moving away from the ocean and boats for any length of time makes me freak out horribly.

Offshore is an interesting thing.

Most are brought up to think there’s nothing out there but a vast open blank ocean, but infact it is pretty damn busy out there between all the commercial traffic, the fish, the dolphins, the whales, the weather, and the birds (yes birds).

It really is amazing.” – anteye

“Sailing is quite a bit like life

It’s not the destination but the journey that is the true reward.” –HappySailor

“A focused relaxation”

“There is a special kind of relaxation I feel when I am sailing.

I leave all the problems and worries of my life on land behind me.  There is usually something to think about that requires my attention, the course, the trim of the sails, where to anchor for the night… and this focus on a completely different set of issues provides an escape.

And of course there is the sensual delight…” — accomplice