On a wing and a prayer

Well, I wasn’t going to post today, but since some folks think the world is coming to an end tomorrow, I figured I’d post something pretty for them to see before they take off.Â As for me and my house, we don’t subscribe to such nonsense, so we’ll be hanging around a bit longer.Â For the rest of you planning to hang out for a while, I’ll be posting more over the next few years (yes, that means beyond 2012, when the next end-of -the-world folks will be bangin’ their drums), as the world continues hurtling towards somewhere in a hand-basket.

I’ve got the power…

Been awhile since I’ve posted an URBEX shot, so here’s one from the Soviet Military base “V”I explored recently.Â As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, this sprawling complex is full of great photo opportunities, one that would require several visits to do it any justice.Â So many locations, so little time!

Red Hot

Had a real tough time deciding what music to use to process this one today, finally deciding to drop the needle MÃ¶tley CrÃ¼e for this one of an old abandoned kitchen in Soviet Base “V”.Â By the way, anyone here know what the writing on the deep fryer says?Â I’ve no idea, and would love to know.

Ground Control to Major Tom

Man did I ever have a great time exploring the abandoned buildings of Soviet Base “V” the other week, and this was one of my favorite spaces (lame pun intended).Â And, much like the ‘We can be Heroes’ Soviet mural I posted the other day, from a building on the came compound, this mural is one of those typical Soviet propaganda paintings you run across in abandoned Soviet military bases.Â I guess they were pretty proud of their cosmonauts.Â What I thought interesting is the “space shuttle” looking thing in there.Â I’m pretty sure the Soviets did not have one of those, though they probably pilfered the plans for one and may have been planning to build and launch one.Â I processed this shot to two songs: David Bowie’s Space Oddity, and Peter Shilling’s Major Tom, both great songs!

21 Guns

I don’t know about you, but I get excited when I find old armories while exploring abandoned military bases.Â This particular armory, at Soviet Base “V”,Â had weapon racks on both sides of the room (the side I’ve captured here, as well as the wall behind me), and this was only one of the armories we discovered on this base.Â Suffice to say that they had a whole lot more than 21 guns in this room, but you’re stuck with that name for today’s post ’cause I was listening to Green Day’s 21 Guns while post-processing and writing this blog entry.

As a bonus, to give you a little bit of the feel of what it was like to get up close and personal to these racks, I’ve included a second shot where you can clearly read the serial numbers of some of the weapons, as well as the names and ranks of the soldiers. By the way, the Russian rank Ð•Ñ„Ñ€ÐµÐ¹Ñ‚Ð¾Ñ€ (Efreitor, from the German word Gefreiter) is higher than the rank of Private, but just below the Russian rank of Junior Sergeant.