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If you know me, you know I love the city of London. And any reason is a good reason to spend a couple of days in the capital of the U.K. Long weekends in May are the perfect time for a stroll along sites everyone knows: the London Eye, the Royal Albert Hall, St. Paul’s Cathedral, …
Or you could just visit areas you haven’t been in a long while. Just as I had not been to the financial district of London in a very long time. Gaping at the skyscrapers. Finding surprising views of some of those iconic towers.
Did you know there’s a rose garden 37 stories up in the heart of the city?
My main reason to head to London this time was to go see The Moonwalkers: A Journey with Tom Hanks. The Moonwalkers is a full immersive video experience telling stories about NASA’s Apollo missions to the moon and behind-the-scenes of upcoming Artemis program. You can no longer experience The Moonwalkers in London. At the time publication of this article, you can experience it in Manchester (UK), Boston, MA and at Space Center Houston in Texas.
Moonwalkers puts you in the middle of the action. Quite literally. You are surrounded by video of NASA’s most daring missions. And when looking at images of the Apollo astronauts on the moon, it feels as if you’re standing next to them.
The foodie in me got treated to a couple of delights too: coffee and donuts from Donutelier in Carnaby Street, burgers and fries at Heard.–run by Two Michelin-starred chef Jordan Bailey–just off of Borough Market and Mexican at El Pastor in Coal Drops Yard. I left London a happy pup… And well fed too.
Yellow latex, a couple of pine trees and the warm glow of the evening sun. All the ingredients you need for a nice shoot with my gorgeous friend Daria. Daria and I found a couple of pine trees and the warm glow of the evening sun to light up her curves and that yellow latex bikini… These are the pics we got:
Episode 2: USS Missouri
September 2nd, 1945: the battleship USS Missouri (BB-63) anchors in the Bay of Tokyo. She will be the scene of the signing of Japanese Instrument of Surrender. While several dozens of Allied war planes fly over the USS Missouri and the bay of Tokyo, Generals Yoshijirō Umezu for Japan and Douglas MacArthur for the US sign the document that brings an end to WWII.
(photos from my 2001 trip to Hawai‘i)
The Mighty Mo, as the battleship is affectionately known, had previously participated in the battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. She would later do 2 tours in the Korean War between 1950 and 1953. She would also escort oil tankers in the Persian Gulf in the 1980’s. USS Missouri served in Operation Dessert Storm before being decommissioned in 1991.
She is now moored at a dock next to the USS Arizona Memorial and serves as a museum ship. No visit to Pearl Harbor would be complete without a quick visit to this mighty vessel. We were treated to a beautiful rendition of Amazing Grace by a local school choir as they were rehearsing for the ceremonies for the attack on Pearl Harbor.
We visited her for the 1st time back in 2001. So we had a pretty good idea of what to expect. She’s beautifully maintained. She’s even got a new deck in certain parts of the ship. Space is still as cramped as ever. It is hard to imagine having to live and work in those tight quarters along almost 2000 other sailors.
If I would have been a sailor on the USS Missouri, this would probably be my duty station. This repair shop of the electrical engineers of Mighty Mo. It was hard to fathom that there were hardly any computers or digital instruments on the ship. I asked myself how they did al those complex tasks without help from computers, digital radio, etc. Note the overly important drawer with coffee supplies.
The beginning and the end of WWII in the Pacific now lay next to each other in the shallow waters of Pearl Harbor. To left, USS Missouri (BB-63) and to the right USS Arizona (BB-39).
Did you know the Mighty Mo is also a famous movie star? She was pulled out to sea by 3 tug boats to star in the 2012 movie Battleship. And in the 1992 Movie Under Siege, Erika Eleniak jumped out of a cake in Missouri’s officer’s mess.
Episode Guide
This story is part of a series of stories from my trip to Hawai‘i in December 2024. Other episodes include:
Prelude: Aloha from Hawai‘i
Episode 1: Local Wildlife
Episode 2: USS Missouri
Episode 3: Hawaiian Sunsets
Episode 4: 4 Different Colors of Sand on the Beach
Also, read all about my 3 day stopover in Seattle, WA before heading to Hawai‘i.
Walking? Kissing? Lovin’? Riding a unicorn? I think Ashley’s boots are made for posing. They should be the star of the these simple pics. A little bit of latex should be OK, right?
Model Daria appeared to me like a fata morgana in the Lommelse Sahara a little while ago. When she dressed in her white outfit, she looked like an Arabian princess. The white sand beach of the Lommelse Sahara, the lake and the trees in the background… It makes for a scene from Arabian Nights.
And even when she dresses in fiery red, she still looks adorable.
Episode 1: Local Wildlife
The State of Hawai‘i is a pretty isolated group of islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It should not come as a surprise that wildlife on the islands in pretty unique. I was quite keen on viewing some of the unique species that live on the islands. Especially, nēnē… I really wanted to see nēnē this time around.
Nēnē (Branta sandvicensis) are a species of geese indigenous to the Hawaiian Islands. They’ve gone nearly extinct in the previous century. Only 30 birds remained in 1952. Since then a huge conservation project brought the species back from near-extinction. In 2022 the population grew to 3862 birds.
The nēnē is the state bird of the state of Hawai‘i.
I was hoping for a close encounter of the goose kind. And sure enough, we met 2 birds near the parking lot of the Puʻupuaʻi Overlook in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park.
It was late in the afternoon. We were to only ones in the parking lot. So, I sat down in the middle of the parking lot and spent a good 20 minutes watching the birds. And taking pictures. From a safe distance obviously. Park regulations require you to stay at least 20ft from the birds. But it was a great moment: just me, those 2 birds, my camera and the warm sun on our backs.
Silversword (Argyroxiphium sandwicense) or ʻāhinahina in Hawaiian is an indigenous plant. Almost just as rare as nēnē. There are 2 subspecies of Silversword. Both only grow at an elevation of 2000m or higher. One only grows on the slopes of Haleakalā volcano on Maui. The other on Mauna Kea on the Hawai‘i Island. Of the latter only 40 individuals exist making it an endangered plant.
We found several Haleakalā silversword on the volcano’s summit near the visitors center of Haleakalā National Park. The plants leaves are covered silver hair that glisten beautifully in the sunlight. I’ve scouted to find 2 beautiful individuals for my photos.
Hawai‘i is home and to 5 different species of sea turtles. The Green Sea Turtle (Chelonia mydas), called Honu in Hawaiian, is the most common. They are easy to spot. We saw several sunbathing on the beaches of the Hawai‘i Island.
I was also fortunate enough to see one foraging near the shore line. It was floating under water for minutes at a time. It’s quite amazing to see them open up their nostrils and their mouth as they are slowly coming up to the surface to breathe.
Episode Guide
This story is part of a series of stories from my trip to Hawai‘i in December 2024. Other episodes include:
Prelude: Aloha from Hawai‘i
Episode 1: Local Wildlife
Episode 2: USS Missouri
Episode 3: Hawaiian Sunsets
Episode 4: 4 Different Colors of Sand on the Beach
Also, read all about my 3 day stopover in Seattle, WA before heading to Hawai‘i.
Prelude: Aloha from Hawai‘i
Flashback to last December. My best buddy and I took a little trip to celebrate my birthday. This is us being all happy and excited ’cause we get to board a Delta flight for our next hop. We left a cold and foggy—yet very cool—Seattle, WA. About 6 hours later we landed in the tropics. Aloha from Hawai‘i!
I’ll be sharing my photos and stories as a multi-part series. In each story, I will focus on a particular aspect of our trip. There are just too many photos to edit. The are too many stories to share. I will intertwine them with my other posts.
I’ll add an episode guide to the end of each story too. That way, it’ll be easy to move between all the stories.
Episode Guide
This story is part of a series of stories from my trip to Hawai‘i in December 2024. Other episodes include:
Prelude: Aloha from Hawai‘i
Episode 1: Local Wildlife
Episode 2: USS Missouri
Episode 3: Hawaiian Sunsets
Episode 4: 4 Different Colors of Sand on the Beach
Also, read all about my 3 day stopover in Seattle, WA before heading to Hawai‘i.
My employer’s offices live in the shadows off Brussels Airport 01/19 runway. On a good day, planes coming in to land on runway 01 buzz our office. I am not at the office everyday. But whenever I am at the office, I will have ADS-B Exchange open in the background just to see what is coming in.
The other day, while having lunch, I saw a bird coming in on ADS-B Exchange that was marked as “UK Government”. That triggered my curiosity. As I happened to have my camera with me, I walked out to our parking lot, just in time to catch that bird coming in. This Airbus 321 is painted in a distinctive Great Britain livery. Very beautiful to see. A lucky catch for me indeed.
This DeMask corset is one of the oldest latex garments in my collection. And it’s probably one of my favorites. Model Ashley is the perfect size for this corset. It accentuates her curves just right…
It is almost summer. I should be planning pool parties and latex swimsuit shoots. If my schedule is not too busy this summer, I’m considering a couple of shoots. Who’s up for some fun in the pool? Model Joke was wearing latex swimwear by William Wilde a few summers ago. This could be you this summer…
