Montmartre Paris, at Metropolitain Subway Stop near Sacre Coeur

Montmartre offers some of Paris' most intriguing cityscapes. The Metropolitain Subway Stop, the Pigalle "red light district", the magnificent Sacre Couer Cathedral looming above the world's most famous nightclub, the Moulin Rouge.

When visiting be sure to take the long walk through the windy streets just below Sacre Couer where you'll find some of the sources of the inspiration for many masters of the art world.

Montmartre at Wikipedia

Montmartre near Sacre Coeur

Depression Coming? How about some Campbell's Soup.

This is a Campbell's Soup magazine advertisement from December of 1929. Although the crash of 1929 was in October the full blown depression era was just beginning and would last through most of the 1930's. Interestingly the cost for a can of Campbell's Soup in 1929 was a whopping .12 Although that might not sound like much compared to today's cost of about 1.25 per can it is important to note that if you'd put that .12 in average DOW listed blue chip stocks at the time it would have become by now approximately $4.40
DOW 200 vs current DOW 8400 = 42x increase. So be thankful that Campbell's soup remains ... a bargain even in these troubled times.

Miami History: Essex House Hotel

Essex House Hotel
Originally uploaded by Photog*Phillip

The Miami area has a history going back over 1000 years to the native Tequesta Indians. The Tequesta were displaced by the Spanish who built a Mission in Miami in 1567. However Miami's rise to global prominence as a key center of US culture and commerce is a a fairly recent phenomenon, fueled in part by a large influx of Cubans after Fidel Castro overthrew Batista in Cuba in 1959 and hundreds of thousands of Cubans left the Island, many to settle in the USA.

"Migrant Mother", one of the USA's most famous pictures, was taken in February or March of 1936 by Dorothea Lange. Pictured are Florence Owens Thompson, then 32 years old, and her children who are now grown. Katherine, who is the girl to the left burying her face in shame in this picture, was interviewed this week by CNN. Click here for more.

As economic uncertainty once again grips the USA we'll see more references to the great depression - the worst economic time in the history of the USA with terrible conditions that extended to other countries. Thankfully, most experts think the US won't face depression era conditions even as conditions become worse.

USS New Orleans at Tulagi

War brings many of most stark and tragic images of history. Here, after taking a torpedo in WWII, the USS New Orleans is anchored at Tulagi Island in the Solomons Islands. The ship has been camouflaged to protect from another attack.

Tulagi: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulagi

More USS New Orleans pictures: http://www.navsource.org/archives/04/032/04032.htm

History: http://www.hazegray.org/danfs/cruisers/cl32.txt

Hong Kong History

The Discover Hong Kong package tours Hong Kong Tourism website has a little history of the region - one of the world's most important cities despite the fact that Hong Kong was nothing more than a bunch of fishing villages only 160 years ago. Unlike other key world commerce capitals like New York, Paris, London, Beijing, etc, Hong Kong is relatively new and also sprung into being largely as the result of trade - often illegal - between China and the sprawling British Empire. In fact Hong Kong was under British control and protection until 1997 when the islands became a semi autonomous regio of China.

Although I lost most of my pictures from a Hong Kong visit in April here are a few Hong Kong Pictures mixed in with my China set.

Multnomah Falls, Oregon

Multnomah Falls, Oregon

Columbia-Gorge-2008 146
Originally uploaded by JoeDuck

Multnomah Falls is one of Oregon's oldest and most popular attractions. Millions have visited this beautiful Oregon landmark which lies less than an hour from Portland along the Columbia Gorge National Scenic Byway.

Multnomah is one of the tallest waterfalls on earth and the second tallest in the USA (Yosemite Falls is first).

Multnomah's concrete bridge, which began as a massive wooden log bridge about 100 years ago, gives the area an almost surreal appearance.

The falls are only minutes away from the I84 turnout, and the walk up to the bridge is only an extra 5-10 minutes. For the adventurous there are extensive hikes up and over the falls in the wilderness areas south of Multnomah. Check in at the information center for more information about the region.