Digitized Analog Phot-o' the Day: National Pantheon of Heroes; Asunción, Paraguay

El Panteón Nacional de los Héroes, the National Pantheon of Heroes, in Asunción, Paraguay. Many Paraguayan national heroes are honored and interred inside.

I visited Asunción in late 1997, just when Paraguay was emerging from the isolation and military dictatorships that had been its station since independence in the early 19th Century. Things might have changed over the last two decades, but the only person in all of Asunción I encountered who spoke English was the day shift front desk clerk at my hotel. But it was OK. I went to Paraguay specifically because I wanted to go somewhere no one else I knew went to. Twenty-three years later, I still think I'm the only one I know (in the sense of whether any of us truly knows one's self) who has been to Paraguay.

And I loved it.

Digitized Analog Sunday Church Phot-o' the Day: Igreja e Convento de São Francisco; Salvador, Brazil

This is the facade and main entrance of Igreja e Convento de São Francisco, the Church and Monastery of St. Francis of Assisi, in the Pelourinho neighborhood of Salvador, Brazil. The church is just as amazingly beautiful inside as it is outside.

Salvador is a wonderful city. It is the center of Afro-Brazilian culture. (It is probably the best place in the western hemisphere to experience African culture, period.) It has the best music and the best food in Brazil. Basically, it is a Portuguese-speaking version of New Orleans, only with miles and miles of the beautiful beaches.

Visited December 1997. For years, I had wanted to spend Christmas on a beach in Brazil. In 1997, I did. In Salvador.

Pilgrimage to Carhenge (June 2003)

Somewhere in a field, not far from the town of Alliance in the high plains of Western Nebraska, is one of the most amazing, awe-inspiring, roadside attractions in all of the Americas: Carhenge.

Three and a half miles north of Alliance, Carhenge may be found. And what exactly is Carhenge? And what makes it so awesome?

Carhenge is a replica of the more famous Stonehenge. Unlike Stonehenge, however, which is made of stone, Carhenge is made of cars.

Hence the name.

These are all American automobiles from the 1960s and 1970s, repainted a flat monotone stoney gray. Each car in the "henge" was precisely placed in exact alignment with the stones of the English henge of stone.

Where the stones on the Plains of Salisbury have fallen, the Dodge or Chevy or AMC Gremlin (yes, there is a Gremlin, see it right there on the left, atop two cars) is placed at an angle that mimics what can be found at the original.

But where the stones are still standing where originally placed, the cars are standing tall, like soldiers. Well, soldiers with a car placed at a right angle on top of them and the next soldier in alignment.

It is a spiritual, mystical and, yes, whimsical, experience.

Those cars were adjacent to Carhenge, but they were not part of the "henge." They're the wrong color, for one thing. And none of the stones of the Stonehenge were placed directly above like the two yellow cars above.

And the Carhenge site attracted other whimsical art, such as ...

"Spawning salmon." I can see it. Abstract expressionism is dead in the fields of Western Nebraska. Whimsical realism reigns.

And finally, in the greater Carhenge art installation site, there was this ....

Just a metal dinosaur? Or a foreshadow of the next destination on the travel through multiple magical destinations in the summer of 2003?

Digitized Analog Phot-o' the Day: Iguacu Falls, Brazil

Heading into the spray at Iguaçu Falls along the Brazilian/Argentine border.

There are two important things to note about the mighty Iguaçu Falls, only one of which is captured by this photo. It is incredibly beautiful. It is by most measures the largest waterfall in the world, although it would be more accurately described as a waterfall complex. Look up aerial photos on line to get a sense of just how huge the Iguaçu Falls series of waterfalls actually is. So, yes it is beautiful and magnificent and awesome. But when you go there to actually see and experience Iguaçu in person, you will have one other major sensory memory.

It is loud. Overwhelmingly "you can't carry on a conversation" loud. "The Who In Concert" loud. Water makes noise. And lots of water makes lots of noise.

Visited December 1997.

Digitized Analog Phot-o' the Day: MGM Grand Hotel Lion-head Entrance

Back in the bygone days of film photography, I took a number of black and white photos on the Las Vegas Strip. This is the original, now replaced, lion-head entrance into the MGM Grand hotel-casino a the corner of Las Vegas Boulevard and Tropicana Avenue. I'm not sure when this was taken, although I know it dates back all the way back to the 20th Century. There is an escalator in the bottom right corner for an overhead walkway across Tropicana. That might help in dating this photo. Were those escalators original from the opening of the MGM? I don't remember. I don't recall.

Digitized Analog Phot-o' the Day: Butchart Gardens, Brentwood Bay (near Victoria), B.C., Canada

See all the pretty flowers.

Butchart Gardens is a large garden. That has to be stated because not everything named "Something Gardens" is a garden. Madison Square Garden in New York, for example, may have a plant or two nearby, but it's known for something else entirely. Marvin Gardens on your Monopoly board is a street, in the yellow sector, at the extreme upper end of the mid-range properties. But Butchart Gardens is not metaphorical gardens. It is actual gardens. Lots and lots and lots of plants and trees and colorful flowers.

It is located just north of Victoria, British Columbia, on Vancouver Island, which is not to be confused with the City of Vancouver which is not on the island of Vancouver, it's on the mainland. If you're into this sort of thing, referring to acres of pretty flowers, it is well worth the visit. If you're not into this sort of thing (and I am not), it still is well worth the visit. If you are REALLY into this sort of thing, it's worth planning a trip with Victoria, B.C., as your primary destination.

Visited June 2001.

Digitized Analog Phot-o' the Day: Arches National Park; Moab, Utah USA

Delicate Arch, the signature arch of Arches National Park. It's been on the Utah state license plate so that makes it pretty iconic. Is this as seen from a hiking trail? Or is it as seen from a viewpoint on the driving loop through the park? It's been too many years for me to remember.

But I do remember that Arches is one of the greatest sights to see on Planet Earth. How did they manage to fit all these stone arches into such a tiny corner of Utah? Why is this where it happened with so much frequency? I've seen these stone arches here and there and everywhere as I've traveled around. But I think that at least a clear majority, if not an overwhelming majority, were packed into this one national park.

And Moab, Utah, is a cute little town worth visiting on its own right. Well, at least it was when I visited in June 2003.

Phot-o' the Day: Yosemite on a Dry Autumn Day; Yosemite National Park, California USA

If you go to Yosemite National Park, don't make the mistake I made. Do not go in the fall, when the weather is warm and dry. Go in the spring, preferably after a wet winter. Why?

You need water to make a waterfall. You can see the barest glimmer of a waterfall plunging over this cliffside. I am guessing from the discoloration of the surrounding rock that the dark color is the maximum water flow in the wettest years. That's a whole lot more water than the tiny trickle visible in this shot.

At least in the fall, on a weekday, after the school year has long started (back in the pre-COVID days when children would physically attend schools in actual live person), Yosemite was relatively empty. Still, Yosemite without waterfalls is like Yellowstone without geysers. Or Rocky Mountain National Park in the plains. Something important is missing.

Visited September 2002. Before the advent of digital photography (in my life, at least).

Sunday Church Phot-o' the Day: Cathedral of Brasilia; Brasilia, Brazil

The most retrofuturistic cathedral in the world, in the most retrofuturistic city on the planet: the Cathedral of Brasilia, in the Brazilian capital city of Brasilia.

Like most of Brasilia, the Cathedral was designed by Oscar Niemeyer, Brazil's architect of the future, well, the future as envisioned in 1960. The most interesting thing about Brasilia? There are no cross walks. There are almost no intersections. High-speed, multi-lane roads cross above and below each other, but almost never "at grade." There was no thought given to the idea that there would be pedestrians.

So just try walking around downtown Brasilia. On the other hand, don't try. The hot equatorial sun is searing hot, especially in late December (which is when I was there) (which is the beginning of the South American summer) (not the seasons matter all that much this close to the equator). Walking in Brasilia makes walking in L.A. seem like a stroll through a shady village green.

Visited December 1997. Still scanning my analog photos into digital.

Phot-o' the Day: At the Copa, Copacabana; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

I have finally started the long process of digitizing all of my old film-photography photos from my life (including travels) prior to the advent of digital photography. It's like experiencing a past-life regression. Scratch that: it is experiencing a past life regression.

Today's past life regression is to the first major international vacation of my adulthood (Canada not counting as "international" for the limited purpose of defining a travel experience):  Brazil in December 1997. My first stop in Brazil (other than the change of planes in Sao Paulo airport) was Rio de Janeiro.  This is the view of crescent-shaped Copacabana Beach as seen from Pão de Açucar, Sugarloaf mountain. An iconic sight of Brazil as seen from an iconic sight of Brazil.

Colors are fading because that what happens with film photography. The sand is not pink on Copacabana. They're sandy tan. And neither are the bodies pink. No skin gets sunburned in Rio de Janeiro because it's always exposed to the sun (well, except after dark).