A quick post of the Russian Syncronized Swimming duet team the Anastasias's from the 2006 FINA World Cup Championship in Yokohama, Japan. They went on to win in this event and also in the 2008 olympics too.

Marigold flower unopened

Marigold flower unopened, originally uploaded by Otto Phokus.

It's amazing what pictures people like, you can't even guess it right, you just have to put up your best, and a lot of variety, and see what takes off. I happen to like this one, the bokah, blur, and colors of this picture; and someone else marked it as a favorite too.

Frozen Pond Fun

Frozen Pond Fun, originally uploaded by Otto Phokus.

As you can see the Pond is frozen over, and it is being cleared for ice skating and ice hockey. I am also using this picture as my first test post from Flickr to blog. Photrade is having a hard go of it since they lost all there funding as a result of the current financial crisis, and it's a coin toss as to how long they can keep going. Flickr is the premier picture site anyway, so I am just going to upload to there from now on.

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Coffee Grinder

I decided to get a coffee bean grinder. Starbucks has screwed up my order 3 times in the past 6 months, I even started getting half pound bags because of it, but I ask for them to grind it for Espresso, and I get it home and it is not ground for Espresso. Well, now I can buy my coffee beans at Wegmans, or anywhere and ground them myself as I need it, and not limited to Espresso, but regular coffee too. I haven't used my regular coffee brewer except once in the last 6 weeks. I am getting ready to store it. And to think I was looking to buy another one for spare parts a few blogs ago, because they discontinued the model I use. Don't get me wrong, it still makes the best coffee, I just drink too much when I brew it. I am down to about 4-5, 4 ounce espressos', or Cafe Breve (espresso shot with a little cream, and about 1- 1 1/2 ounces of hot water) a day. Then I usually buy a 12 or 16 ounce regular coffee when I am out and about, or at work. So I have averaged about 28 - 35 ounces of coffee a day. Much better then the 50 -66 or more ounces I had been drinking! I often wonder too, how many tip when they buy something from Starbucks, or Dunkin Donuts? If you are paying 2.50 for a Red Eye, and then add tip, that is an expensive drink. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. I used to work in the food/hospitality industry, but I just don't see giving a tip when you are paying those types of prices. I think Mcdonalds coffee is just as good and half the price. And just to note, if you are watching your sodium intake, Dunkin Donuts is 60mg per 10 ounces, and the other big 2, Starbucks and Mcdonalds are 10mg per 10 ounces. I have put this down from memory, as I researched it over a year ago, but I will look it up again, just to make sure I am quoting the right figures.

Half Me Spin - 3D spin

I am building on yesterdays "Hello World" post. I was testing the same Hello World code with a picture. Just something I threw together quick.

One of my Photos used on a Website! Hooray!!!!

Finally, one of my photos was selected to be used on a website. The woman contacted me and asked if she could use the picture. That's a first for me! She said there are 2 more she wants to use. It made my day, week, year. If you can't get the the link I have included for the web page where my picture is located. I have a copy of what she used it for here:

Webpage link