Club50 at SkyscraperCity

[Endeavor305]

Originally Posted by spellbound

I also find New Yorkers pretty damn friendly on balance. Don't think it's because I'm from Miami, though. I've heard PLENTY of folks say that after spending time there. Maybe it's because they expect something far different?

Only Jets fans are rude

[spellbound]

Originally Posted by Endeavor305

Only Jets fans are rude

Yes, I should have clarified that I was talking about New Yorkers who happen to be Human/Homo Sapiens etc.

Jets fans are some kind of subspecies that falls between 'primate' and 'pond scum.'

[1772]

Jets fans are from Jersey.
Sooki-folk.

[brickell]

I kind of miss the Brooklyn accent though.

[spellbound]

RIP Ernie.

[theEmbarcadero]

Originally Posted by spellbound

RIP Ernie.

Quenton McHale...!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[1772]

http://goingglobaltv.com/miami/

Going Global TV has a spot on Miami. According to them, things are great.

[spellbound]

Though you guys might enjoy a few pics from the California trip. Mostly Big Sur, a few from the Monterey Bay Aquarium and San Francisco.

Had an absolutely wonderful time and saw some great, old friends. Made me kinda want to live there, actually. It truly is spectacular and San Fran is about as good as it gets among American cities. Oh, and I found our friend 'The Embarcadero' being honored all over the place!

Anyway...

[QuantumX]

I love the shots of the coast line, Spell. Wish Florida looked more like that, but then, we probably couldn't swim in the water, too rough and cold. In the ten years that I lived in California, I probably went in the water at the beach twice. I remember going in the water once. If I tried it again, it's lost from memory. Any more shots of San Francisco proper?

[spellbound]

Originally Posted by QuantumX

I love the shots of the coast line, Spell. Wish Florida looked more like that, but then, we probably couldn't swim in the water, too rough and cold. In the ten years that I lived in California, I probably went in the water at the beach twice. I remember going in the water once. If I tried it again, it's lost from memory. Any more shots of San Francisco proper?

Thanks!

I actually didn't take a ton of San Francisco pics---I guess because I've been there multiple times (not that it ever gets old). My friend Jenny took some, though, and a bunch up in the Berkeley Hills, which is spectacular. We went up there at sunset and you could see the entire Bay Area. I'll try to get her to send them.

And, yes, that whole part of the coast is just unreal in its beauty. I seriously didn't want to leave and the weather could not have been more perfect. It's a good life there but it certainly comes at a big pricetag!

Eager to get back soon, though.

[QuantumX]

I sometimes forget that not everybody is as into it as I've become. After photographing Miami the way I have for so many years now and having lived in San Francisco, I'd slice that place up with a camera and serve up it like a Benihana chef. There are so many angles I want to capture that I remember from living there. When I flew to Chicago to photograph it last month, I never imagined myself one day feeling that excited about going somewhere and photographing it as an urban/architectural photographer and knowing exactly what I wanted to do with the place. It was like my first scuba vacation where I actually flew somewhere to go scuba diving.

I loved living in California while I was there, but I don't miss the quakes - 2.0 and 3.0 quakes happening every 2-3 weeks that only make the local news, but not the national news, and while New York and Chicago are too cold for me in the winter, San Francisco is too cold and foggy for me in the summer. Still, I'd love to go back one Labor Day weekend when it's sunny and clear and shoot it.

Not sure when, if ever, that will be now. My stage 4 prostate cancer has metastasized to my skeletal system and probably beyond that at this point. We'll see on my next CT scan next month. Not meaning to get all morbid and pessimistic all of a sudden, but I thought it was about time I let the rest of the forum know. Q has metastatic prostate cancer and things aren't looking so good right now. I could be gone before you know it, so just want you guys to be prepared.

[Bobdreamz]

^ Oh Q I'm so sorry to hear that! I am truly at a loss for words and I don't know if you believe in faith or not but you are in my prayers and wishing you the very best.

[spellbound]

Q, even having known the situation it's still hard to read that. You are a brave man to share it with everyone.

We may have only met that one time for coffee but I feel that I've come to know you and consider you a friend above and beyond our shared love for Miami. I'm sure everyone here shares the same appreciation for how spectacularly you have showcased our city with your talents.

I look forward to much more of it and seeing you again my friend!

[QuantumX]

Originally Posted by Bobdreamz

^ Oh Q I'm so sorry to hear that! I am truly at a loss for words and I don't know if you believe in faith or not but you are in my prayers and wishing you the very best.

I'll put it to you this way! My favorite Shakespeare quote is from Hamlet when he sees the ghost of his father appear before him and Horatio. Horatio is just stunned "O day and night, but this is wondrous strange!" Hamlet tells him, "There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy." For me, that says for all we can conceive of, there is more. There is so much we don't know about how the universe works and why things are the way they are, so it is best to always keep an open mind. There is so much yet to be discovered, so much yet to be understood, and I feel that when I die, I'll be able to see a lot of this, which is why I'm not afraid of death and never have been. It's a better place I go to when I die. I have no question of it, especially after hearing about another episode like that senseless Aurora, CO Batman premier. I'll try to send you some photos of what Miami looks like in the future. I guess it all depends on how high my level of security clearance will be.

Originally Posted by spellbound

Q, even having known the situation it's still hard to read that. You are a brave man to share it with everyone.

But Spell, when I first told you, I only knew that I had prostate cancer and that I would have to have my prostate completely removed surgically because only one-part out of a 12-part prostate biopsy came back benign. I didn't tell you that after I had a bone scan later is when we discovered that I didn't have to have surgery because it would do me no good. It had already progressed to stage 4. My whole skeletal system is lit up like a Christmas tree with bony metastatic lesions from my head to my hips. My urologist said he was shocked because it had already moved up all the way up into the back of my skull and it's everywhere in-between my head and my hips in my skeleton. He also said he couldn't believe I typed up my own bone scan result myself. You name the bone and its there. There's no telling where it is now. It could be in my brain, liver, and/or lungs.

Now Spell, while you might consider me a brave man for sharing this with everyone, that's not the way I look at it at all. I just don't want anybody to be shocked or stunned and going "WHAT?" when somebody posts in the forum that Q passed away today at 1500 hours. Some people will be hurt because others knew and they didn't when they felt we were close enough for me to share that with them. That's my experience! Some macho guys will get something terminal and get all gong-ho with this macho attitude that they are going to beat it, and when their health takes a turn for the worst they don't say anything to anybody other than their closest family members because they don't want anybody to know that they lost the battle and they failed. Then, after he dies and one of his macho friends he hasn't seen in the while gets the news, he ends up bawling his eyes out with his mouth wide open like a baby not only because his friend his gone, but also because he didn't know that the last time he saw him was going to be THE last time he saw him. So I'm trying to avoid that.

My aunt in Sanford called me saying she felt hurt because she felt we had the kind of relationship where I could share that with her, but I think I finally got her to understand that at that time, I had just found out and I wasn't particularly upset about it and I certainly was planning on going anywhere any time soon. So I didn't want to call her and get her all upset when I wasn't particularly upset, and I told my aunt down here to tell her that when they spoke of it. Now stage 4 prostate cancer is definitely something you might want to tell all your family and friends about because that means it has spread to other parts of your body and you might be able to stabilize it, but you will never be rid of it. It's chemotherapy for the rest of your life, if you can tolerate it until you die from something else.

Originally Posted by spellbound

We may have only met that one time for coffee but I feel that I've come to know you and consider you a friend above and beyond our shared love for Miami. I'm sure everyone here shares the same appreciation for how spectacularly you have showcased our city with your talents.

I look forward to much more of it and seeing you again my friend!

Thanks, Spell! I think I did a pretty good job with Chicago too. Nine of my photos of Chicago made it into my Shutterstock gallery.

[ftlauddude]

Think positive Q! Have faith (whatever religion you practice). Get better....

[QuantumX]

Originally Posted by ftlauddude

Think positive Q! Have faith (whatever religion you practice). Get better....

Thanks, Ftldude! I've got too much more to shoot!

[zach7795]

I already gave you my part on another forum, Q. but keep fighting, I believe in you!

[QuantumX]

Originally Posted by zach7795

I already gave you my part on another forum, Q. but keep fighting, I believe in you!

Thanks! The fight continues!

[Endeavor305]

This is only one stop in the journey my friend. Don't stop doing what you love while at this stop. Looking forward to more of your photos.

[QuantumX]

Originally Posted by Endeavor305

This is only one stop in the journey my friend. Don't stop doing what you love while at this stop. Looking forward to more of your photos.

Thanks, Endeavor! I might wait until something else gets built down here first or go to New York or San Francisco next.