Random picture thread for Friday

Full moon tonight - picture taken through the icicles hanging off of my roof.........

MY CLOSE ENCOUNTER OF THE LION KIND

TWO MONTHS AGO THE DIAMOND PRINCESS CRUISE SHIP HAD JUST LEFT THE PORT OF KOCHI JAPAN.

LITTLE DID I EXPECT THAT BEFORE THE EVENING WAS OVER I WOULD FIND MY HEAD BEING SWALLOWED BY A FEROCIOUS FESTIVAL JAPANESE LION THAT WOULD JUMP OFF OF THE PRINCESS THEATRE STAGE AND HEAD DIRECTLY FOR ME.

IN THE IMMEDIATELY BELOW LINKED VIDEO PLAYLIST, Watch the World's Best Balloon Artist use his skills to create a life-size Japanese Festival Shishi Lion. As this first video concludes see the lion unexpectedly jump off the stage into the audience.

In the second video, captured by a fellow passenger, the lion is seen attacking me as it swallows my head whole.

In the 3rd, and final video, the Master Balloon Artist presents for his finale the impressive creation of a Japanese Fire-Breathing Dragon. Watch as smoke spews from its nostrils.

Link to the 3-Video Playlist of:

1.) The World's Top Balloon Artist Creating a Japanese Festival Lion with the Lion then jumping into the audience;

2.) Followed by a video of the lion attacking me and;

3.) The Performer's Finale as he creates a Spectacular Fire-Breathing Dragon:

https://www.youtube.com/embed/videoseries?list=PLtb5zi734BfYhbyS7AtRJTRYXfMUqoGbY

Concurrently taken Photos:

Creation of the Ferocious Lion:

The lion readies to jump off the stage:

My head in the Lion's mouth:

For my Unexpected and Good-Humored Audience Participation Role, the Artist Presented Me with His Subsequently Created Eagle Balloon Masterpiece:

The Cruise Directors (One speaking Japanese and the other English) Join with the Balloon Artist as the performance concludes:

After the Show - Close ups of the Lion's Head that Swallowed Me and the Eagle that was gifted to me Balloon Creations:

From late Yesterday Afternoon:

The United States Air Force's F-22 Raptors, a fifth-generation stealth aircraft, are no longer the newest fighters, they still lay claim to being the best. No other fighter in the world can match their air superiority which follows from extreme maneuverability and an air speed capability exceeding Mach 2.25.

The F-22 Raptors seen here are among a squadron based at Alaska's Joint Base Elmendorf Richardson (JBER) where their prowess was put on display for Russian's President Putin when his Russian "Air Fprce One" brought him to the base for a joint meeting with the President of the United States last fall.

In the below linked two-video Playlist one first sees a pair of F-22 Raptors as they demonstrate their extreme maneuverability as well as their phenomenal speed that can exceed Mach 2.25.

Accompaning the initial video is inspirational music heralding the contribution these fighters make to protecting the freedom of the USA. Watch as an F-22 makes a circling approach with its lights blazing under a spectacular and mystical Alaska Sky.

In the second video share a panoramic view of the impressive Alaska landscape over which not one, not two, but four F-22 Raptors fly in succession.

While the F-22 has yet to see aerial combat with the enemy, it was the plane that shot down the errant Chinese Balloon that invaded America's airspace in 2023.

Link to the Two-Video Playlist featuring the World's Best Air Superiority Fighters, F-22 Raptors, as they Maneuver Across a Mystic Alaska Sky:

https://www.youtube.com/embed/videoseries?list=PLtb5zi734BfYAXT6Ph31zlZ41wgcMaHPf

Screenshots from the above linked Videos: