A disappointed Sachem Skipper lights on this plumeria blossom only to discover that the flower’s fragrance is a false alarm - plumerias have no nectar - they use their fragrance to dupe pollinators into landing. Click image for closer-up.

The Casino in Avalon, CA. on Catalina Island, is truly one of the world’s greatest Art Deco treasures. The mermaid over the box office (see a closer image here) has become an icon associated with Avalon - her image appears on event posters all over town and on the mainland in the terminals.

Cap’n Bob captured this vertical panorama of the mermaid while standing in the loggia at the entrance to the theater and ballroom. He combined three images to render this top-to-bottom view of the mural and box office. Click on her for the really big version - use the scroll bars to see the entire image.

More about the Casino’s murals from LAMurals.org:

Date
1929

Location
The Casino’s Avalon Theatre
1 Casino Way
Avalon

Media Notes
Designed by John Gabriel Beckman. Executed by Emil Kosa. Jr., Aloyous Bohnen, Vyseled Ulianoff, Alexander Kiss, Eugene de Goncz.

Description
Nine panels of underwater marine life including a mermaid encircle the loggia’s inside walls. They are painted directly on the concrete.

Around the dome, within the auditorium in an Art Deco style, are local flora and fauna, scenes of early California, and abstract designs. They were painted on a burlap-like material with extra-fine ground pigments in a flatene medium (used as a binder by printers). On a seashell carried by seahorses, Venus rises from the the waves. She is the central figure above the proscenium arch. Inside the arch are other figures as well as a map of Catalina.

More about the Casino’s description and history from Away.com:

Continue reading » The Catalina Casino - An Art Deco Treasure

This year for our trip to Catalina Island, we took a flight to the island on Island Express Helicopters, just as we did last year. I took some video of the last trip that you can see at this link. Damsel took some stills this year which I stitched together in the composite below - the helicopter arrival at the helipad - the departure over Los Angeles Harbor - Passing Avalon Bay - on the pad at Pebbly Beach.

However, we did something this year that we have never done before - we took firearms. I made a couple of calls to Island Express and Catalina Express (the boat coming back) to inquire about the policies for bringing firearms for non-CCW private citizens. (We have the Utah CCW but the idiots in the California Legislature deem that to be worthless here).

The helicopter folks told us to declare the firearms to the attendant who would ensure that they were packed in the baggage compartment. We were instructed to pack the ammo in separate luggage.

The boat people said to present the weapons to the Captain of the vessel before boarding and the same admonition for packing ammo as before.

Since we didn’t want to take the guns with us during the day while we were touring and dining, we had the hotel clerk lock them in a safe compartment for which I was presented the only key.

We packed the guns (S&W 686 and 442) in their original cases with padlocks. To avoid blatantly carrying gun cases in the terminals and around the streets of Avalon, I packed both cases in a paper supermarket shopping bag which I kept with me at all times until surrendering to the transportation agents.

Lessons learned - we can get both revolvers into a single case since the 442 is very small and the 686 has a short barrel. The safe boxes do not have any padding, so there was metal-to-metal contact during storage and handling of the box. Next time we will put the guns in a pouch or padded gun case when we put them into the safe.

Damsel usually gets all the good photo shots we post here, but this is an exception. Last Saturday night while we were in our hotel room, I snapped this picture of the Casino, a famous landmark where the annual Avalon Ball is held. There was an event in the ballroom this night, hence the lights were on in the upper level. This was a definite photo opportunity. Please click the image to see the 1024 x 768 pixel version in the viewer.

I used my compact Canon A710 IS camera mounted on a Gorillapod wrapped around a patio chair on the balcony where we stayed. I had the camera set to Shutter Priority (automatic aperture) and an exposure time of 1.3 seconds. I used the shutter delay feature to let the camera motion stabilize after I pressed the shutter button. I did some minor image processing to balance the light levels.

It’s with sadness that we re-post this piece we did in December 2005 - the great George Putnam passed away over the weekend. Even late in his life, he was busy writing his unique “One Reporter’s Opinion” columns at NewsMax. We will miss George Putnam.

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No one who lived in the Los Angeles area between the fifties and the seventies, will forget the iconic television newsman, George Putnam. One of the regular features on his newscast was “One Reporter’s Opinion,” during which he would editorialize on a topical issue. I enjoyed watching Putnam’s newscast, primarily because of his conservative point-of-view in spite of the liberal Times-Mirror’s ownership of the television station, KTTV.

Well, I’m happy to report that George Putnam’s “One Reporter’s Opinion” feature is alive and well at NewsMax on line. Better yet, his politics are still in line with reality:

One Reporter’s Opinion - Americanism Left ‘Cold in the Night’

It is this reporter’s opinion that the very heart of America is under attack. There are those, foreign and domestic, who actually HATE this great nation and all it stands for. Led by atheists and the ACLU, there are groups who would love to destroy the promises on which our nation was founded - our very way of life.

Aided and abetted by strange court decisions and oddball judges, each day brings a new shocker. We find federal judges ruling against the Pledge of Allegiance as unconstitutional, finding that “one nation under God” violates schoolchildren’s right “to be free from a coercive requirement to affirm God.”

The latest target of the atheists is to remove “in God we trust” from our currency, claiming that this phrase violates the so-called separation of church and state.

Continue reading George Putnam’s article on NewsMax: One Reporter’s Opinion - Americanism Left ‘Cold in the Night’

We had a wonderful three days on Catalina Island. We were married ten years ago in the city park in Avalon and we have gone back on our anniversary for the last five years. We should have started that pilgrimage sooner in that it’s just so much fun. This is a look back at the terminal as we depart Avalon Bay for the mainland.

Click for big.

We took a hike up the road to the Avalon Chime Tower today and enjoyed the views looking down on the bay. The Casino and the Catalina Yacht Club are prominent in this image. Click to enlarge.

We visited the Wrigley Memorial today. What a beautiful place . . .

From the Catalina Island Conservancy Website:

The Wrigley Memorial honors the memory of William Wrigley Jr., who lived from 1861 to 1932. Although best known as the founder of the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company, largest manufacturer of chewing gum in the world, he also played an instrumental role in the history of Santa Catalina Island. He truly loved the island, and with undying enthusiasm and energy, he brought numerous improvements: public utilities, new steamships, a hotel, the Casino building, and extensive plantings of trees, shrubs and flowers. William Wrigley Jr.’s greatest legacy was his remarkable vision and plan for the future of Santa Catalina Island — that it remain protected for all generations to enjoy.

With its commanding view of Avalon Bay, the Wrigley Memorial is the centerpiece of the Botanical Garden. It was built in 1933-34 with the goal of using as much Catalina materials as possible. Quarried Catalina stones can be seen in the reinforced concrete construction — the facade having been sandblasted to hide the cement and highlight the native crushed stones.

The blue flagstone rock on the ramps and terraces comes from Little Harbor, on Catalina’s “back” side. And the red roof tiles and all the colorful handmade glazed tiles used for finishings came from the Catalina Pottery plant, which was in operation from 1927 to 1937. The marble inside the tower was quarried in Georgia.

Damsel liked this photo I took of the tiles in the arch at the top of the tower from inside. Click either photo for a larger view.

Once again, we’re in Avalon to celebrate our wedding anniversary. Blogging will be light while we’re here but we’ll try to post a pic a day. This was taken from the helicopter on approach to the island. Click for big.

In the true spirit of “Never Forget” we re-post our original tribute to Mark Scott Zeplin, one of the 2996 victims killed in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. There were 2996 victims killed, but we were all victims of the pain inflicted by the attacks. Here’s our original “2996″ tribute on this Patriot Day, 2008.

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Damsel and I are very proud to be able to honor Marc Scott Zeplin on the fifth anniversary of 9/11/2001 and to be part of the 2996 Project.

“Zep” is what his friends called him. Zep was one of the 2996 victims who perished in the attacks of September 11, 2001.

Marc Scott Zeplin, age 33.

Place killed: World Trade Center. Resident of Harrison, N.Y. (USA).

Marc Zeplin worked in the World Trade Center offices of Cantor Fitzgerald, a financial services company. Reading what Marc’s friends and family have written about him, Marc was well-liked and respected by peers, friends and others who wrote words about him following his death.

The following is from Zep’s tribute at the memorial site that his company set up to remember their employees that were lost in the attack:

Date of Birth: January 12, 1968

Department: Equity Sales

A group of friends named and registered a star in the heavens in memory of Marc Zeplin. How fitting as he was a star in the eyes of so many.

Successful as an equity trader, he formed close relationships with his clients but he was foremost a family man. Marc was very caring and devoted to his wife Debra, sons Ryan (3 yrs old) and Ethan (10 months), parents, sister and in-laws. He adored his children and treasured the time he spent with them. Marc was very proud of the new home he and his wife built in Westchester and enjoyed the change from urban to suburban living.

Raised in Long Island, Marc attended Oceanside High School and the University of Michigan where he also continued to earn a master’s degree in the acclaimed business school. Marc’s first career calling was sports casting. He loved sports of all kinds and enjoyed broadcasting games in Michigan during his college years. However, when he returned to New York, he found immediate employment in the financial world and soon after started at Cantor Fitzgerald where he became a partner.

Marc was truly a “master of the word.” He knew how and what to say in order to put you at ease, make you laugh or help you resolve a problem. Marc loved people. He had many friends and demonstrated a zest for living life to the fullest. He was tops in every way. He even worked at the top. The right position for so many years unfortunately was wrong on only one day - September 11, 2001.

— Debra Zeplin and Leora Zeplin, Marc’s Wife and Mother.