Well, Someone had to win it...
A Super Bowl I didn't care about turned into a GREAT GAME...
-
When I heard the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Arizona Cardinals were going to tangle in the Super Bowl, I figured Pittsburgh would win it, mainly 'cos they've Been There a whole lotta times before. I wasn't counting on it being a knockdown-dragout fight to the finish. It was one of those especially excruciatingly intense games; watching it in its entirety, every play, was like going on a Great Football Voyage, with both teams literally thrashing each other, until the game ended, with Pittsburgh coming out on top 27-23. I've watched a whole lot of Super Bowls that were 'turkeys', in which one team blew out the other, but that sure wasn't the case here. This game was an absolute MASTERPIECE.

Pittsburgh scored first; at one point, they led 20-7, and then Arizona came back and eventually took the lead, after which Santanio Holmes of the Steelers made an absolutely unbelievable catch in the end zone. Later on, with 30 seconds left in the game, Arizona had a chance to come back, and who knows what would've happened if QB Kurt Warner's throwing arm hadn't been snagged at the last second by a Pittsburgh defender. In this age of prima-donna athletes and ridiculous player salaries, The Athletes Ruled Supreme Today. This is one of the best football games I've ever SEEN. Both teams should be Really Proud of their performances. But someone had to win, and until the very end, this game was a toss-up. Coulda gone either way.
__________________

Image...is everything: I went out to do some more photo-taking this past weekend, and managed to come up with some strange perceptions of nature; the photo at below left was taken from the Simpson Reef Overlook, with waves crashing on the reef about half-a-mile out, as seen through the fence which was thoughtfully installed so as to prevent vertigo-challenged individuals like me from doing an accidental swan dive into the ocean 60 feet below...

...the photo at above right pictures a kite someone was flying down on the beach; it looks like one of those precociously-pretentiously Photos That Aspire To Be 'Art'. Consider that the kite was about 50-60 feet up in the air, and I was above the kite, looking down from the Beach Overlook. While the legacy of Ansel Adams is surely not in jeopardy from my end, I think it's a rather cool photo. And an indication of how windy it was, which sent the January Chill Factor waaay down. Brrrrr...

A good photo, I'm finding, is more than anything, the result of being in the right place at the right time, and if the occasion presents itself, all you gotta do is press the button. I was sitting in my car, at the same old place I've taken dozens of photos already, thinking, "how am I going to get a unique photo here? Just then, three crows landed right in front of the car, and they're featured below...you can see a bit of 'reflection'; I was in the car and took the photo thru the windshield...



...shortly afterwards, I headed down the road a little ways, and even though I've stopped quite a few times at this location, I never noticed the "leaning tree" in the photo at above right. I've taken pictures here, but not this picture. Must be some really strong roots for that tree to maintain its location. The wind was blowing hard, and sent a chill thru my bones...note to self: Bring Warmer Coat Just In Case...

Finally, it was Sunset. If I'd had any sense, I would've gone home, because as the day progressed towards evening, it just got colder and colder. For a long time, I've been trying to get some really good pictures of a Sunset in which Clouds didn't get in the way, and I finally did! By this time I was freezing my ***** off, but it was worth it...although I couldn't really spend a whole lot of time getting ready to take these pictures, I did get these...so here's the Sun Setting Below The Ocean...



...obviously, I'm trying to get my cheap digital camera to do more than it can possibly do, so these photos are distorted a bit from what I actually saw; indeed, these look more like photos of a nuclear holocaust. With the world the way it is, one can hope these bizarre photos are the closest we ever come to witnessing such an event. Once the sun set, I hi-tailed home...after all, I had a little girl waiting for me...



Here's Little Jill, the Meyers' Parrot, feasting upon some Sun Chips I crumbled onto my shoulder. The thought comes to mind that she eats more chips nowadays than I do...chips just kinda don't go together with dentures very well...