Some Recent Great Photos

I am inspired by the landscape around me and there are some photographers I would like you to meet. They have a special way of making this place come alive.

The tubes are now closed at Glen Canyon Dam and the Grand Canyon has received a wallop of new sand for the beaches. While the tubes were open over 42,000 cfs roared out of the dam and photographer Chris Eaton got this shot of the outlet tubes at full force.

On May 20 of this year, northern Arizona was treated to an annular solar eclipse. We watched the eclipse from the South Rim of the Grand Canyon and I blogged about the event here. But photographer Clinton Melander was at Horseshoe Bend near Page, AZ and captured this stunning multiple image.

The San Francisco Peaks are the highest point in the state of Arizona and photographer Ted Grussing makes it a habit of flying over them often. His photographs are stunning as seen here on a recent sunny afternoon. The view ois of the southwest side of the Peaks.

To Honor John R. Parsons

Recently, at the start of the month, it was someone's special birthday.
And to celebrate, we are going back to the days of e-tickets

Be sure to check out the very first ride on Main Street on this early edition ticket!

 

Here's your "junior" admission

 

Gotta love that Mark Twain Steamboat

And what about the Pack Mules thru Natures Wonderland!

Happy Belated Birthday John! 

Every day with you is an e-ticket ride!

A Two Minute History of the World

I received this nice link to a two a minute video about the history of the universe. Obviously, it is anthro-centric but still interesting to watch. Have a look here.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)

The mission of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is to promote policies that will improve the economic and social well-being of people around the world. The OECD is now 50 years old. You can read about it here.

They have developed a Better Life Index, which rates the conditions in eleven different categories for the richest 36 countries in the world. You can view the index here. Hover your cursor over a counties name and its standing in those eleven categories will be displayed.

For my home country, the United States of America, the ratings for incomes, safety, health, and housing is really good. It is not as good in the categories of work-life balance and education. Denmark scored the highest in life satisfaction and work-life balance.

I found this to be an instructive way to see how various countries stack up with respect to their neighbors.