Wood Stork (Mycteria americana) chick in its rookery nest.

999 Anastasia Boulevard, St. Augustine, Florida: 27 May 2013

part of the St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park album

A haven for great egrets, snowy egrets, cattle egrets, tricolored herons, green herons, little blue herons, wood storks and roseate spoonbills, the St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park rookery is an amazing place to observe and photograph gregarious wading birds roosting and raising their young.

Although it may seem strange that 736 adults would build 463 nests to raise their 601 chicks (2013 count) above a swamp filled with hundreds of alligators, the birds choose this place knowing that they are safe from tree-climbing predators.

A boardwalk winds through the rookery swamp providing incredible views of the adult birds, chicks, eggs and nests at close range. Most sections of the wooden walkway border trees, providing an intimate perspective not usually available.

The zoo features many exhibits with exotic and in some cases endangered species — participating in the Species Survival Plan conservation project and conducting biological research — but I was most captivated by the rookery.

Based on the typical schedule, activity at the rookery has already begun for this year's season. From late April to early May, things usually get the most chaotic with loud, overlapping vocalizations and loads of chicks from every species hatched. This was my general experience on 27 May 2013.

First established in 1893 as the St. Augustine Alligator Farm at South Beach, the current location was built in 1920 after two fires within four months destroyed the original. I really enjoyed my visit and shot 721 photographs plus nine videos. Suffice it to say, more images from this shoot will be developed hereafter.

Wall-mounted lighting fixture in the portico with three marble busts outside the Old Supreme Court Chamber on 1F in the north wing of the United States Capitol (1811/1866).

First Street SE, Washington, District of Columbia: 02 February 2014

part of the United States Capitol album

Outside and across the ground floor corridor from the Old Supreme Court Chamber in the Capitol, there is a portico with three marble busts of foreign-born military figures on display.

Kazimierz Michał Władysław Wiktor Pułaski (1745–1779) of Warsaw, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was a nobleman and military commander who fought against Russian domination in his country before emigrating to the United States to fight and die in the American Revolutionary War.

Giuseppe Garibaldi (1807–1882) of Nice, France was a sailor, merchant captain, mercenary fighter and navy officer who participated in a mutiny against the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia, engaged in freelance warfare in Brazil and Uruguay and later became an acclaimed military leader in Italy.

Tadeusz Andrzej Bonawentura Kościuszko (1746–1817) of Mereczowszczyzna, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was a traveler and student who came to the United States in 1776 to fight and provide key strategies, earning him a rank of brigadier general before returning to his county to fight the Russians.

In celebration of what would have been Pulaski's 267th birthday, the Poles in America Foundation with congressional support from Representative Dan Lipinski (D-IL) conducted a wreath laying ceremony at the bust in 2012. Uniformed members of the now non-military Pulaski Cadets (1833) were also in attendance.

Virginia opossum (Didelphis virginiana) crossing the lawn just west of the United States Capitol (1811/1866) House Chamber in broad daylight.

Near Southwest Drive at First Street SW, Washington, District of Columbia: 02 February 2014

part of the United States Capitol album

As Erik and I walked the paths around the United States Capitol just west of the House Chamber, something in the grass between us and the building caught my eye. Moving closer down and to the edge of the sidewalk, where a fence keeps people off the grass in this area, we could see that it was a Virginia opossum.

The only marsupial in North America north of Mexico, the Virginia or North American opossum is generally nocturnal. While certainly not uncommon in urban areas where greater opportunities for food exist, I was a bit surprised to see this opossum on the grounds of the Capitol in the middle of the afternoon.

We watched it make its way across the lawn, moving away from the building and toward a nearby tree. It paused for a moment to check us out but then continued on as before. A woman walking by stopped to look and asked us what kind of animal it was. I got the impression that she had never seen one before and was possibly a tourist from abroad.

The opossum stopped when it got to the tree it was seemingly walking toward. I expected it to climb the tree at this point but it just sat there. Unfortunately, we were on a tight schedule to rendezvous with a Capitol staffer and could not hang out to watch the opossum further and see what it did next.

Due to the success of Morris Michtom and his stuffed bear named after President Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt, another toy company decided to try and recreate the same magic in 1908. Their "Billy Possum" plush toy design was instead after William Howard Taft, Roosevelt's likely successor.

Although Billy Possum does appear in several political cartoons and Taft was indeed elected to office, the opossum toy failed to capture the public's attention as the teddy bear had only years earlier.

The concrete sculpture Astronomers Monument (1934) celebrating Hipparchus, Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler, Newton and Herschel in the front lawn of the Griffith Observatory (1935).

2800 East Observatory Avenue, Los Angeles, California: 22 August 2013

part of the Griffith Observatory album

Front entrance, parking and triad of flags at the front of 400 National Way (1984), the fictional PlayTronics headquarters building in "Sneakers" (1992).

400 National Way, Simi Valley, California: 22 August 2013

part of the 400 National Way album

Of the films that I consider to be favorites, there are a select few that were also influential in some way. It is easy to say that the 1992 tech caper Sneakers is an excellent example of such a film.

I was four months away from turning twelve-years-old when Sneakers premiered on Friday, 11 September 1992. I cannot remember whether I saw it at the AMC Interstate Mall 6 (1974–1999) or General Cinema Altamonte 8 at Renaissance Center (1990–2000), but Sneakers was a real enjoyment for a young man already interested in electronics and computers.

Similar to the way that Back to the Future made me want to learn how to drive a manual transmission when I got a license — I did and have owned several cars with standard transmissions — Sneakers encouraged me to continue pursuing my interest in technology for fun and as a prime future career candidate.

The story's namesake protagonists are a group of technical and security professionals working together as a private tiger team available for hire. As a one scene character clarifies early on for the audience, "so people hire you to break into their places to make sure no one can break into their places?"

Written by Phil Alden Robinson, Lawrence Lasker, Walter F. Parkes and directed by Robinson, Sneakers features a large ensemble cast including Robert Redford, Sidney Poitier, David Strathairn, Dan Aykroyd, River Phoenix, Mary McDonnell and Ben Kingsley with Timothy Busfield, Stephen Tobolowsky, Eddie Jones, George Hearn and James Earl Jones supporting.

As is the standard practice in Hollywood productions, much of the filming took place in and around Los Angeles — the December 1969 flashback (Courthouse Square in the Universal backlot), the tunnel scene (2nd Street Tunnel) and Liz's music school (500 Bellefontaine Street in Pasadena), for example.

Since the film takes place in San Francisco, there are a few scenes featuring iconic Bay Area locations. I persuaded Mom to drive me over the San Mateo Bridge in the mid-1990s so I could hear the concrete seams that play a key part in the characters finding the antagonist. Coming from the city, they should be driving the other way, left toward San Mateo, in this shot.

In 2009, I stopped by the former Hills Brothers Coffee building (1925) plaza along The Embarcadero at 2 Harrison Street where Martin Bishop (Redford) makes a delivery. You can see the Muni F line under early construction.

More recently in January 2013, I planned to stop by the Sneaker's lair exterior at the Fox Oakland Theatre (1807 Telegraph Avenue in Oakland) but it was dark by time I arrived and decided to carry on.

But before the internet, I could not figure out just where a certain building was located. During the course of the plot, Bishop and gang expertly figure out the location of antagonist Cosmo (Kingsley). Identified as PlayTronics — "the future of toys" — the building actually serves another purpose as the front of Cosmo and his not-so-friendly thugs.

While the location is played as near San Mateo in the film, driving across the bridge as I did will not bring you anywhere close to the building, ironically home to Countrywide Financial in the 1990s and later acquired by Bank of America in 2008. What would Cosmo think about that?!

Fulfilling a two decades-long desire, I drove to 400 National Way a.k.a. 2800 Madera Road in Simi Valley on Thursday, 22 August 2013. I was staying in Newport Beach for a week on business and had this day free to tour greater LA shooting locations, starting with the trek to PlayTronics.

With James Horner's Sneakers score featuring Branford Marsalis playing the entire eighty-five mile journey, I made my way north through Los Angeles. After a late start and congestion due to an accident on I-5, I was finally at California State Route 118 Exit 22B for Madera Road northbound and my destination.

I do not know how many other people stop by because of Sneakers, but I did not expect any trouble since a public bank branch is on-site (or at least was; it is not listed on their website). I started at the southern dead end driveway, which features limited parking and two brick turnaround circles.

Walking west in front of the building on the south side, I wanted to get closer to where Cosmo's and Werner Brandes' (Tobolowsky) offices were located.

I was amused to find that a security camera is installed at the end, in front of what was the corner of Cosmo's secure third floor office.

It was great to see the trees living in the middle of the two turnaround circles doing well. You can see in the film frame of the PlayTronics sign above that the trees existed during filming in January 1992 but were still quite young and small.

Heading back toward the car, I took note of the triad of flags on display at the building. In the movie, the United States flag is displayed on the center flagpole while the other two are unused. Three flags were flying on this day: United States, State of California and Bank of America.

From the southeastern driveway circle, there is a view of the "very gentle slope" that Bishop misleadingly refers to while helping Whistler (Strathairn) on his heroic drive. On the hill beyond is a water tank, one of the forty storage facilities operated by Ventura County Waterworks District 8.

Moving around beneath the southeastern circle, you can see where the production installed the lit PlayTronics sign. To the right, they had also added a guard post with a boom gate at the entrance to the first row of parking. That is funny to me because there are seven other ways into the lot on this side alone.

That is a great thing about fiction; the workings of a location do not necessarily have to correspond with their real-world counterparts. Another example is when Brandes takes Liz (McDonnell) to PlayTronics. He is coming from a dead end and would have already passed the building to take the route we see him drive.

I next decided to drive around a bit myself. Given its proximity to an employee entrance and break area, I decided to photograph the loading dock while driving up to it. Aside from some reflections in the windshield, I got a nice view. Noticeably absent is the ladder that Bishop climbs down.

Turning right at the loading dock, I drove around the northern side of the building and past a parking garage to come around to the western parking lot. Pulling up the main row at the south, I approached a signed Bank of America entrance. Next to the door there is a nice patio with umbrella-covered tables.

Finally, it was time to head to the far corner of the parking lot, near where Whistler starts his drive. I parked in the last row and got out again. It was ninety-three degrees and would get up to ninety-seven before I left the property.

I walked east as far as I could and was highly amused to discover a gate is actually installed where there had been one in the film; Whistler backs-up through it at the start of his drive.

The gate keeps people away from the county water tanks installed there. One is readily visible sitting over the northeast corner of the parking lot, but the other is a little over a quarter mile north of that. The paved road ends at that second tank, although an unpaved road continues and connects to others winding through the undeveloped native terrain.

This vantage point also offered an unobstructed panorama of Simi Valley, the Ronald Reagan Freeway (SR 118) and the Simi Hills mountain range beyond.

Cooling off in the car, I sent one or two short emails to commemorate my accomplishment before it was time to head to my next destination.

It was great to finally be able to visit this place. Unlike so many other locations, everything here besides the botanical growth looks pretty much as it did on film.

Although some of the technology depicted is dated, this does not detract from the movie (quite the contrary). Indeed, Sneakers turned out to be far more predictive than we could have ever imagined.

Take this dialogue from the film between Bishop and Gordon (Busfield) that came to mind in August 2013, two months into the Snowden-induced revelations about the NSA and global surveillance.

BISHOP

Uh, sorry to waste your time, gentlemen.
I don't work for the government.

GORDON

We know. National Security Agency.

BISHOP

Oh, you're the guys I hear breathing
on the other end of my phone.

GORDON

No, that's the FBI. We're not chartered
for domestic surveillance.

BISHOP

Oh, I see. You just overthrow governments,
set up friendly dictators.

GORDON

No, that's the CIA. We protect our
government's communications. We try to
break the other fellas codes. We're the
good guys, Marty.

And then there is this poignant exchange with Bishop, Crease (Poitier), Whistler and Mother (Aykroyd).

BISHOP

It's interesting, don't you think you guys,
that the NSA's here? I thought the FBI was
supposed to do this kinda thing.

CREASE

Absolutely. This is outside the NSA's
jurisdiction.

WHISTLER

Unless the NSA didn't want anyone to
know about Janek's little black box.

BISHOP

I keep thinking about something Greg told me.
He said that our codes are based on an
entirely different system than the Russian
codes, so this box wouldn't really work
on them. The only thing it'd really be
good for is spying on Americans.

MOTHER

Well sure, with a box like that they could
read the FBI's mail.

WHISTLER

Or the CIA's. Or the White House's.

CREASE

No wonder they don't want to share with
the other children.

Hell, the phrase "Setec Astronomy" even appeared on a National Reconnaissance Office uniform patch. The very existence of the NRO was not declassified until Friday, 18 September 1992 — a week after the movie came out.

On a final note, Sneakers looks great on Blu-ray! Although it lacks any of the special features that are on the "Collector's Edition" DVD, the picture and sound on the region-free import Blu-ray (barcode 5050582929393) are wonderful.

The disc may lack bonus material, but does come loaded with numerous language dubs and subtitles. I dislike dubs when a film is not in English, but watching one I know very well in say, Japanese, is a lot of fun!