The Photography of Dr. Jeffrey P. Harper

I am just back from the Thai Island of Phuket.  It is a beautiful place of mostly sand, palm trees, and crystal clear water.  Once a year they have their Vegetarian Festival which includes a big parade down "Main Street." Lots of fun . . . . if your idea of fun is chasing ghosts off of the corners by stabbing whatever is handy in the kitchen drawers, or around the house or garage,  through your cheeks while under a trance and then parading yourself in front of your friends and neighbors.  Oh, and then having the crowd set off thousands of very large (and illegal everywhere on earth) firecrackers right over your head while you are bearing a litter of your local temple's favorite deities for all to see. It is a very photogenic experience, in a perverse kind of way. By the way, do not even try to order lamb brochettes during this time of year . . . . . I tried and was told, "Sorry, we're out of skewers."  "Why?" I asked.  There are more photos here.   This is what you missed:

The kids love to try and see how close they can come to blowing their toes off. I didn't stick around.

There were lots of kids having fun, but somehow they seemed a little consumed with thoughts of their future participation in the parade . . . . .

Oh, that's where the skewers have gone.

I guess lamb-ka-bobs are out of the question too.

Let's see, what else does Mom have in the kitchen drawer . . . . .

Not Mother's lamp too!  I'm gonna tell . . . . .

Ouch.

The end of the parade is where all the fun, and missing fingers and eyes-put-out . . . . yes, you guessed right . . . The Rain Of Firecrackers!

Phuket Firecrackers Duckers (PFD).

Loitering on parade while the ambulance tended the newly blind (no kidding).

O.K., now that the ambulances have gone . . . . . PAR-TAY!

I am just back from a quick trip to The States.  I got to see my wonderful daughter in Philadelphia on my way to attending an international conference in Baltimore.  Unfortunately I got food poisoning at the Airport Hilton Hotel in Newark, New Jersey on the way that put a damper on my time in Philadelphia.  I recovered by the time I got to Baltimore . . . and the National Aquarium.  Here are some photos from the trip.

Baltimore harbour from the hotel window.

These things seemed to be left over from the last Ice Age in Baltimore Harbour.

A view to the US National Aquarium where, interestingly, they have a lot of fish that you can photograph!

A Box Fish head . . . . .

A Large Mouth Fish . . . . .

The underside of a Sting Ray . . .

They even had some snakes in the habitats at The US National Aquarium.  See more photos from the National Aquarium in my Travel Photo Blog section.