The Fourth Of July

Now that the Fourth of July has passed us, I just wanted to say that I hope every one had a nice holiday yesterday.  Did everyone get to enjoy a fireworks display somewhere?  I saw the one they had in New York City on television and it was a patriotic splendor.  For those of you who missed out on the big bang, here are a few pictures of fireworks for you.  Aren't you in the patriotic spirit now?

My Dad, Mom and Brother waving Old Glory back on March 4th, 1991.

July 4th, 1978.

July 4th, 1979.

July 4th, 2010.

July 4th, 2011.

 

August 16th, 2013.

Turko de Mayo XI

The titles of these Turko de Mayo celebrations are starting to feel like a Superbowl or the name of a Chicago album!  Anyhow,  This year's meal took place on May 31st, 2020 and I invited a friend over to enjoy the food with me.  As you can see from the image below, the same foods were represented and a good time was had by both of us, plus we got to reminisce with the past.  If you haven't cooked a turkey in May, I'm telling you - you don't know what you're missing!

Here's my table topped with the variety of goodies I cooked.  Taken with my second Minolta X-370 35mm camera.

Fourteenth Annual Ten Commandments Post

I don't have much to say for this year, what with a corona virus running rampant all over the world.  But, I'm currently watching the version of The Ten Commandments I got for my birthday two years ago.  It is part of a four-disc set that also includes Ben Hur.  Now, I've had the movie on DVD for several years and always watched that copy.  This year I decided to finally watch the version I got from my sister for my birthday.  I'm onto disc 2 and so far, it seems exactly like the version found on my other DVD.  It appears to have the same extras on the discs, so now I know.  Just as a reminder, here's what the cover looks like:

I've had my ham for dinner during the early part of the movie and then for dessert, I baked some double chocolate chip cookies the other day and had those for my chocolate fix for the day.  The world outside might be crumbling down, but here at home - life is still sweet.  Stay safe out there, everybody, and have a great Easter!

Some additional information:
I finished watching The Ten Commandments and this version was restored by Paramount in 2010.  It did look pretty clean and bright, and I don't remember any parts missing, so they must have had a complete copy to work with.

Turko de Mayo X

As promised, here is a picture of the meal I fixed for Turko de Mayo X, held on May 28th, 2019.  It was the tenth anniversary of the first Turko de Mayo.  I hope it doesn't make you too hungry to look at it:

Turko de Mayo - 10th Anniversary

Back in 2010, I came up with an idea where you could have the foods that are traditionally served at Thanksgiving more than once a year.  Being as Thanksgiving dinner is my favorite meal, this was important to me.  So I came up with a brainstorm to have this meal in May, that way, it would be six months in between Thanksgiving, which is celebrated in November, and in that way it would always be only half a year until the next turkey dinner.  I dubbed this holiday "Turko de Mayo."  The beauty of this holiday is that you can observe it any day in May that fits your schedule!  Here are some pictures from various Turko de Mayos I have celebrated.  If these images don't make your mouth water for turkey, I don't know what will!

The first Turko de Mayo, May 7th, 2010:

The second edition of Turko de Mayo, held on May 31st, 2011:

I couldn't find pictures of the third one, but here's the bird of Turko de Mayo IV, from May 29th, 2013:

All the fixin's from Turko de Mayo V, May 30th, 2014:

A closeup of that succulent bird, from May 29th, 2015:

 

And that same turkey taken on black and white film:

Everything I served for Turko de Mayo VII, held on May 30th, 2016:

A nice, big plump turkey from May 31st, 2017:

Last year's edition of Turko de Mayo, number IX, held on May 29th, 2018:

When Turko de Mayo X is over, I'll be sure to post some images from it.

Thirteenth Annual Ten Commandments Post

This post could just as easily be called "Family Memories."  That's because every year at Easter, my family would gather and enjoy a meal that always included ham and then we would watch the movie The Ten Commandments.  Whatever else we would do that day depended on the period of time it was held.  This, then, are some pictures and memories from the past that include my family members.  Memories which became engrained in my life.

Easter eggs from 1978.

Easter eggs from 1979.  Notice the one painted chrome silver in the middle.

The annual showing of The Ten Commandments on ABC from 1980.

My Mom and Dad on Easter 1981.

My brother Matthew with his Easter basket, in 1986.

Mom and Dad clowning around on Easter 1991.

Easter 2008 ham.

Playing Wii on Easter 2008.

More Easter eggs, from 2018.

What it all boils down to - ham and The Ten Commandments.  I think it's time to make some more memories.

Nostalgia

Here's a post that is somewhat nostalgic for me.  Back in 1978, when I was 17 years old, I joined my high school's yearbook staff during the latter half of my junior year as photographer.  They used a huge Polaroid Land Camera and a Konica Autoreflex TC 35mm SLR for their picture-taking needs.  I ended up getting to use both of those cameras, but the one I remember most fondly, was the Konica 35mm.  Here's an image of it in the hands of the guy who was the yearbook photographer just before me, his name was Randy.  This was taken from my junior yearbook:

And here's that same camera in my hands from my senior yearbook.  Both images were cropped:

I learned a lot using that camera and here are some pictures I took using that camera.  The first three were for the yearbook, and the last three were some I took for myself:

I liked that camera so much that I ended up buying one of my own many years later.  When eBay came along and became huge, I realized that you could find practically anything there.  Remembering how much I liked the school's old Konica Autoreflex TC, I searched and found one on eBay - and bought it!  Here's a picture of it:

And a picture taken with it (after I had gotten a lens for it:

It didn't come with a lens, so I got me a second one from eBay that had a lens on it.  The second one didn't work, but was pretty cheap and it had the advantage of having the lens I needed.  That one looked like this:

The first one did work when I first got it, but it jammed up soon after and I haven't had a chance to fix it or use it until recently.  But I did manage to fix the second one I got that didn't work and here's a picture I took with it.  It shows some of the buttons in my late Mother's collection:

At first, however, I now had two of these Konicas and neither one of them worked.  So, I went back to eBay and found a third one that worked, but it, too, didn't have a lens on it.  Not to worry, though, because I had a lens.  Here's what that third one looked like:

And here's a couple pictures taken with that third Autoreflex TC:

Fast forward to 2019.  I was again searching on eBay and found an auction that had nine great old single lens reflex camera bodies, and two of them were Konica Autoreflex TCs!  I ended up getting those cameras and paid less than $10 for both of the Konicas together.  Here's what the first one looks like and a picture taken with it:

And here is the second one, now the fifth total Konica Autoreflex TC cameras in my collection, along with a picture taken just last night with that camera, more buttons in my late Mother's collection:

So, that's the tale, (so far....) of the Konica Autoreflex TC.  Who knows how it will end up?  But every time I use one, I'm transported back in time to when I was teenager and blissfully taking pictures that captured a special memory each time I clicked the shutter button.