Photo Blogging Challenge (February 2014): Red

So it occurs to me that I need to blog more often than once a month.  My last post was for this same photo blogging challenge on the theme new.  This one is on the theme red.  The photos I posted for last month's theme, I thought were rather good, yet I only received 2 comments about them.  It's kind of disheartening when that happens which may be a contributing factor in me not writing more.  

The other reason is February has been an incredibly busy month for me.  I participate in our school's Shakespeare club and our performance happens this Wednesday during school hours and then again on Thursday evening.  Seeing middle school kids memorize Shakespeare has always been amazing, even more so when I get involved in the process and it takes me forever and a day to get all of my lines down.

But on to this month's theme - RED

I really haven't thought about the theme that much this past month (Sorry P.J.), but when I looked at my shots I came up with six that I think will work quite well with the theme, so here we go.

1.  "K" Line
A couple of weeks ago on the 365 project, I was pushed to take a shot of some real live trains.  I'd been posting shots of the model trains when I went to the Great American Train Expo in January and my push partner wanted me to think bigger.  Coming home from a geocaching trek out in the desert, I stopped at this overpass in Colton, as it's right on the edge of a huge rail yard next to Interstate 10.  This shot ended up being one of the ones I posted for that particular challenge.  Many people at 365 weren't quite sure if it was a real shot or if it was another model train shot.  I assure you, these trains are huge, nothing that any of us could pick up by hand.

2.  Monorail Red
Back when I was in college, I worked at Disneyland.  It was one of those great summertime jobs that worked out well with my schedule while I was in college.  People always ask me where I worked when they find out I worked there.

I worked on the Davy Crockett Explorer Canoes, Mike Fink Keel Boats, worked one Christmas and New Year's on Pirates of the Caribbean and the last summer I was there, I worked on the Monorails.  

Each ride had its own special appeal and you had a different thought process with each ride.  Someone asked me once if I ever went back to work at the park, which ride would I go to and without hesitation, I would choose the canoes.  I don't think I really appreciated it at the time, but when you think about it, there's not too many places and/or jobs where you can get an 8 hour workout and get paid for doing it.

When we went to the park a couple of weeks ago, I told them I had worked on the monorails and they asked whether I wanted to see the new look of the cockpit.  I'd driven the old Mark III monorail and this was the much improved Mark VII.  The driver now has the ability to go through an array of video displays keeping tabs on each riding compartment, including a rear display.  One time when I was driving, the train ahead of me broke down and I had to park my train over the motor boat cruise for about 20 minutes or so while they tended to the train in front of me.  Those cameras would have come in handy since one of the guests inside my train decided to jump out.  I'll never understand why people will do such stupid things in order to "save" themselves five or ten minutes of time.

3.  The Happiest Place on Earth
As noted above, we went to Disneyland over President's Day weekend.  My daughter flew down with her friend and she took me to Disneyland for my birthday.  Needless to say, it was one of the best trips I've had to the park in recent memory.  When we first entered into the park, we headed over to City Hall, so I could get my birthday badge, which I wore proudly the entire day.  I don't care how old you are, it's always nice to get birthday greetings from total strangers.  I started to seek out other people who share my day and wished them a Happy Birthday as well.  I don't think I should be that amazed in once sense, but it was quite fun to notice all the people who share my birthday.  

Later on, the younger set decided they all wanted some kind of hat to commemorate the occasion and a stop at the Mad Hatter's shop next door to Alice in Wonderland was in order.  Both my daughter and her friend got matching Minnie Mouse ears that they wore proudly throughout the rest of the day.  My son bought a Peter Pan hat and later in the day a small child even called him Peter Pan.

4.  Upland Station
Last weekend, I took the Metrolink train into Union Station on a reconnaissance mission.  At school, I run a photo club and the teacher across the hallway runs an art club.  We've talked about taking a field trip into downtown Los Angeles on the train for both clubs and we wanted to scout out locations ahead of time.  Since the plan was to leave from the Upland station, we met here Saturday morning.  While I was waiting for her to arrive, I walked around and took some photos, catching this one of the station and the light clouds in the sky.  I thought the red tile roof worked as a nice color contrast to the rest of the shot.  I submitted this shot and the Monorail Red shot to the Yahoo weather app as well, but neither one was accepted.  

5.  Go for Broke Monument

Located in the Little Tokyo district in downtown Los Angeles, the Go for Broke Monument highlights the contributions of all Nisei veterans of World War II. Most of these veterans were interred in concentration type camps for the duration of the war, yet still felt the need to enlist and serve their country of birth, the United States of America.

The memorial includes the names of all who served with the 100th Infantry Battalion, 442nd Regimental Combat Team, Military Intelligence Service (MIS), 522nd Field Artillery Battalion, 232nd Combat Engineer Company, and the 1399th Engineer Construction Battalion.

Old Glory just looked awesome from this angle.  I almost wished I'd brought my wide angle lens along on this trip, but I think this shot worked out well, even though it's kind of tight overall.

Well, that's another month of shots posted for the theme.  Please stop by P.J.'s blog to see other takes on the same thing by wonderful photographers.  And, once again, please comment below.  I really won't bite.