COOLING HIS PAWS

 This big boy was cooling his paws, at least the two front ones, in a fountain where my little dog always jumps in and lounges, soaking her entire body.  Each to  his own.

'REAL GOOD FOR FREE"

 This fellow was playing beautiful soft jazz on his saxophone so I sat down to listen. He did have a box for passers-by to drop some money in. I waited until he had finished one song and told him I'd taken some pictures. He gave me his email, and after I finish typing this, Kirill (who was Russian), will be sent a few.

Posting too Joni Mitchell's "Real Good For Free".

 In her song, a fellow is playing a clarinet, but she says the music was good... Have a listen.  

THE WAY IT SHOULD BE

 This is park renovation done right. Don't chop down the tree; make the walkway around it.

OBLIVIOUS

 I always rant about people's not noticing when you take their photo. Usually, be it with my camera or with my phone as was the case with this shot, I just point quickly and click. However, I tested myself here and really made sure the guy was in focus, decent composition, etc.

He never knew what hit him, so absorbed in his own phone was he. Hmmm.....maybe he was taking MY picture.

OYSTER MUSHROOMS

 They say young and small OYSTER MUSHROOMS taste best, but I hardly ever see anything but the big ones. They're still good.....

OUT FOR A RIDE

 These two ladies were 'strolling' with their dogs. The pug chose not to ride yet, but there is a small white dog in the red stroller on the lower shelf. Normally people use these strollers for elderly dogs, but these two were spry. Maybe they are for when Fifi gets tired.

SURE, WHY NOT? HELP YOURSELF....

 I am still angry.  I caught this woman red-handed yesterday while she was picking (stealing!) herself a bouquet of lavender from a a nearby public park. I took several shots before I called out to her and got her attention. I reprimanded her saying that the flowers were for everyone, not just for her. You can probably imagine that she didn't care at all, and kept right on picking. She did stop though when I called to her once more and got a face shot. Off she went. I wrote to the park police and I hope this lady will have her own personal 'wanted' poster...but I doubt it.

TITO'S BLUE TRAIN

 

Yesterday I visited former Marshal Josip Broz Tito's famous Blue Train, which he used to travel all over Europe. Luxurious (for the 60s), art deco, and with some adaptations for possible famous guests like Charles De Gaulle, who had a custom made bed. Hailie Selassie, Indira Gandhi, and Queen Elizabeth were only three of the heads of state who traveled on this train. Not to miss if you head this way. A real time machine.

Google Tito's Blue Train and check out Wiki.

COUNTRY HOMES

 Two homes seen on a recent road trip in the country.

SIMPLE STILL LIFE

 A still life from my day trip to Kikinda about three hours from Belgrade.  Every year they hold a pumpkin festival with all kinds of pumpkins, squash, gourds and products made from same.

You can read about the winning pumpkin BY CLICKING HERE, but for some reason, and I hope the paper corrected the error, it is written that the pumpkin weighed 716 kilos, but that was last year's winner.  This year the big boy weighed 865 kilos (around 1,907 pounds.) That's a lot of pie.

SHADOW SHOT SUNDAY--Manasija monastery

 Visited a friend in Despotovac, a couple of hours south of Belgrade. She took me to the 15th-century MANASIJA MONASTERY, beautifully restored thanks to UNESCO.

This is a sneak phone shot.  See other shadows on SHADOW SHOT SUNDAY.

WEEKEND REFLECTIONS--OLD AND NEW

 Like in many cities, Belgrade's downtown is rapidly changing. Buildings going up (and others out) everywhere. A 'reflection' of the times.

See other reflections on James' WEEKEND REFLECTIONS.

WHAT ONCE WAS IS NO MORE

 I went to the bus station yesterday to buy a bus ticket to and from a town about three hours from here where a friend lives.  The bus station is adjacent to the former, old, beautiful train station where I arrived in 1977 from Paris.  It has been closed for quite a few years now and replaced by a brand new one in another part of town.....all this to make way for highrises you can see through the grass grown over the rails.  Just to think, the Orient Express once passed through Belgrade.

DOGS JUST WANNA HAVE FUN

 There were two of these dogs, totally ignoring the 'Stay off the Flowers' sign, but they were frolicking so fast I could only capture one of them.  I envied them....

KILTS ARE IN

 I've noticed quite a few men wearing kilts recently. Honestly, they're cooler than trousers, especially if you know what they (at least Scottish men) wear underneath. 

MONDAY MURALS---CHEMISTS

 Three Serbian chemists peer down at me from a wall beside a park downtown.

See other murals on MONDAY MURALS.

SLIM PICKINGS

 "Slim pickings," for those of you who may not know, means that there's little success in getting something because there's not a lot of it left. Kind of like when you turn up late at a party....

This cat is very thin, whereas many city cats here are chubby.

Don't confused 'slim pickings' with the beloved movie star SLIM PICKENS, whom I especially loved in Mel Brooks' BLAZING SADDLES.

NEVER TOO YOUNG TO LEARN

 Dad was helping his getting his son interested in photography. 

As the joke goes, "Get your child interested in photography and he'll never have money for drugs and alcohol."

SKYWATCH--SUPER MOON

 A flashback to other night's super moon. It was playing peek-a-boo outside my window; mainly 'peek,' since I never saw it in its entirety.

See other skies on SKYWATCH.

BLUE HAIR = BLOND

 

Here in Serbia the word 'plava' (blue) is also used to refer to a blond man or woman. I don't know what color this young woman's hair really is, but she is certainly 'plava' here.

TWO ORANGES AND A DOG

 Don't bother looking for the fruit...just two people in bright orange and a dog. And of course another two people with a dog ahead of them.

WATCH OUT FOR THE BEES!

 I  may have posted this before a long time ago, but this statue of a woman holding a beehive caught my attention (again?)

I looked up what beehives mean and they seem to  be symbols of obedience, organization, and structure.

This statue is also making a fashion statement with her 'ripped' dress, reminding me of the ripped jeans craze.

TIMING IS EVERYTHING

I was lurking on a bench, on lap, waiting for prey. I saw this lady coming. Her dress and her black and white dog matched, so I got ready. And then the dog squatted..... Perfect example of what my muse, Henri Cartier-Bresson called 'l'instant décisif"!

Timing is everything.

SHADOW SHOT SUNDAY--sticking out his tongue

 I often pass this MASCARON on my way to a small supermarket where I shop. The house it adorns, sadly in disrepair, dates from 1901.

I always smile at this creature's attempt at being a rainspout. Any run-off water is going to gush mainly in the window below or at least down the facade.

See other shadows on SHADOW SHOT SUNDAY.

WEEKEND REFLECTIONS--street lamp in cycle mirror

 Fiddling around with my older camera, which has a terrific zoom. I was very far away.

See other reflections on James's WEEKEND REFLECTIONS.

THEME DAY--BOTTLE--CARS GO BETTER WITH COKE!

 Here I am back again after a long hiatus. I have to admit that this is not a new photo (It dates from 2009), when gasoline was still hard  to find at the pumps and had to be smuggled in (albeit very overtly!).

Since we had all been used to this way of selling gasoline for quite some time during the sanctions years before, most of us drivers could tell at a glance by its color which gasoline was best (pale green).

For years now gas stations are working like anywhere else, even if gas is expensive. Right now it is around 189 dinars PER LITER, i.e. around 4 times that for a gallon, give or take. Therefore, an approximate gallon would be 756 dinars or $7.00 a gallon (6.45 euros).  It's always been high, and I was always amused when I heard my American friends in the US complain about gas prices...

See other bottles on CITY DAILY PHOTO THEME DAY.