Finally, a year and a half later, the Apex-Class Helios MK III is finally complete! All this time and it just needed some finishing touches.

Named after the Roman god of the sun, with a fiery orange and yellow color scheme, broken up by gray. Overloaded with thrusters in the feet, calves, waist, shoulders, and especially the huge jetpack, this mech is meant to take to the skies and space. Equipped with duel-wielded energy Rayguns that double as physical swords and shoulder SSAM-4 missile pods, the Helios MK III is an Apex-Class mecha ready for nearly anything in low-gravity battles. Standing at 15 inches (38.1 cm) tall, this MOC is quite heavy, and the largest mech I've ever built with Lego.

Initially built concurrently with my Lego Transformers Armada Optimus Prime, the Apex-Class Helios MK III proof-of-concept prototype was thrown together just one month before Brickworld Chicago 2023. Building extremely last-minute, I worked late into the night on-site at the convention hall the first few days of being there, and made it presentable just in time for award judging.

After almost not bringing it all, it ended up being well worth it in the end. I still managed to get it Nominated for Best Mecha (basically top 5 out of everything there). I would not have beat the winner of that competition even if the Helios had been thoroughly finished at the time, but still proud to get my first Nomination award nonetheless.

The Apex-Class Helios MK III was the culmination of multiple mech-building challenges at once:

#1: I wanted to push the limits and make my biggest mech ever while still maintaining full articulation with the new heavier ratchet joint pieces that Lego has made the past couple years.

#2 I wanted to make it flashy and attention-grabbing with the orange and yellow accent color scheme that I usually would not use.

#3: I wanted to build it using more interesting parts and building techniques. This mech uses up to 10 brick separators and integrates them into the armor very well, among other things.

Thank the Lord, this rushed project had turned out to be a massive success. I'm so glad that I can now officially share it with the world.

Added Gold Mario. I may replace this later when I get Toad, so be on the lookout! As always, info from now on will be posted here; so make sure to keep an eye out for when I update info on nicknames n' such.

Most of you probably don't care at this point. I've updated this for what, 4 times now? Uh, sorry about that... I'm not trying to rub this anyone's face or anything, just don't have anything better to post.

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Last Updated: 5/14/2015

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1. is when I got them

2. is what the amiibo's nickname is

3. is what level said amiibo is currently on

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Mario

1. I got him shortly after Christmas, tied for the 3rd amiibo I got. Somewhere at the end of December I think.

2. His nickname is Madio, which is a pun off the original name.

3. He's currently lv.42, grouped with my more experienced amiibo's. He was actually lv.50 awhile back, but grew stuipid and non-aggressive because I kept training him with the same people over and over again. So Madio, along with a bunch of others are being retrained. He's probably my best and smartest amiibo at the moment, though he tends to spam Cape too often.

Donkey Kong

1. I got him shortly after Christmas along with Mario, which means he's also tied for my 3rd amiibo.

2. I named him Beat&Smack for his tendancy to hurdle you around like a sandbag.

3. He's currently lv.27, over the half way point but not quite up there. He was part of the intial batch that was trained to lv.50, but I'm retraining to be smarter; much like Mario.

Link

1. He's actually tied for my 4th amiibo with a bunch of others that I got from Toysrus. Got him the same day as Mario and Donkey Kong.

2. Nicknamed SirCourage, I think you get why.

3. Currently lv.25. He was actually 50 awhile back like Mario and Donkey Kong, but I'm retraining him to be smarter.

Samus

1. Tied with Link for my 4th amiibo, nothing special. Expect alot of characters tied with Link.

2. Nicknamed Huntress, thought it sounded cool.

3. Currently lv.19. She's one of my newbies. Like the others above, I'm retraining her to be smarter.

Yoshi

1. He was my 11th amiibo to be exact, I got him the same day I got Luigi, but at Toysrus. I don't know why I didn't pick him up sooner.

2. Nicknamed Yoshisaur, I just thought it sounded cewl.

3. Currently lv.20, I haven't got far with him due to paying attention to other characters. He was lv.50 before though.

Kirby

1. My very first amiibo was unwrapped as an early Christmas gift from my parents. My little sister actually wrapped the box.

2. Nicknamed Kitby, I got this name from my very first photo of my Lego Kirby. I misspelled his name in the photo title and I've loved the nickname ever since. My buddy Deku Scrubster actually pointed it out.

3. Currently lv. 23, same situation as the others above.

Fox

1. My 2nd amiibo was a gift from my great grandparents at Christmas, at Christmas Eve to be exact.

2. Nicknamed is Trick for his incredible speed in mindgame prowness.

3. Currently lv.50. He was one of my first amiibo's to be retrained along with a couple others.

Pikachu

1. Tied for my 3rd amiibo along with Mario and Donkey. The 3 were found at Meijer shortly after Christmas.

2. Nicknamed Peekachu.

*giggle*

3. Another lv.50, was retrained along with Fox.

Luigi

1. My 10th amiibo. I got him at Best Buy right before I went to Toysrus down the road to get Yoshi.

2. Nicknamed Weegee because he's Weegee.

e_e

3. Currently lv.37. Retraining him.

Captain Falcon

1. I got him from my grandma as a gift in mid January, I helped pay for it though. tied for my 13th amiibo along with a few others.

2. Nicknamed TheHawk. My Falcon tends to stay in the air and quickly swoop in and out for hits, so my amiibo will do the same.

3. Lv.33 because I'm retraining him.

Peach

1. Tied for my 4th amiibo like Link.

2. Peech. *giggles again*

3. Only lv.21 at the moment, I'm trying to be careful with this one. Because like the characters above, I'm retraining her to be smarter. Problem is, I hardly know how to play Peach in general and I'm learning myself. So I'm taking my time with her.

Bowser

1. My first Wave 3 amiibo was also my 17th. I got him about a week before Lucario on a Sunday. The 25th to be exact.

2. Nicknamed him Bruzer. He was actually named Browser originally, but I changed it at short notice because it sounded better.

3. Currently lv.34. Definitely one of my more experienced amiibo's. I've been trying to get him to use Bowser Bomb more to break shields.

Zelda

1. Tied for my 4th amiibo with a bunch of others. Acquired at TRU.

2. Nicknamed WisdomWiz.

3. At lv.23. I'm taking my time because I wanna teach her how to be a defensive machine. Plus I still have a bunch of others to train. Being retrained.

Sheik

1. Tied for my 19th amiibo, got my Target's last one.

2. Nicknamed Illusive. The name always reminded me of how Sheik is as a character. I don't wanna go all nerd, but she's the fastest character in terms of frame data.

3. Now lv.50. She actually has a good pressure game!

Marth

1. Tied for my 13th amiibo along with Falcon. Gift from my grandma.

2. Nicknamed Mars, a reference to his name in the Fire Emblem anime when it was translated into the US.

3. Currently lv.28, retraining.

Meta Knight

1. My 27th amiibo and my most recent one at that. Was a late Christmas gift from my grandparents. Best Buy exclusive.

2. Nicknamed Mask. I dunno, it beats MaskedPuff in terms of coolness. Probably going to stay that way until I come up with something.

3. Only lv.1. I haven't trained him yet, but I'm determined to make him one of my strongest amiibo.

Pit

1. My 16th amiibo. Another gift from my grandma.

2. Nickamed Capt OPG. It technically stands for "Captain of Palutena's Guard", but I try not to think about when I say his name because it brings down it's 'coolness' factor.

3. Lv.39. Definitely an experienced amiibo, and I must say, he's learned not all that much XD

Ike

1. Obtained a bit later in mid Febuary. My 22nd amiibo I believe.

2. Named him Brawn for the sheer power in his moveset.

3. Lv.1, retraining because he turned retarded.

Diddy Kong

1. My 11th amiibo, aquired at Meijer when I randomly stopped by. His eyes are surprisingly non-derpy.

2. Nicknamed TheMangler... Why? Two words, Monkey Flip.

3. Lv.18. Darn Diddy won't learn anything cool, I'm working on boosting his smarts up.

King Dedede

1. Tied for my 25th amiibo along with Mega Man. A preorder from Walmart.

2. Nicknamed Hammy. If you get this reference, you get a virtual cookie :3

3. Uh... he's only lv.1 lol. I haven't trained him yet. I assure you though, he'll be one heck of a force to reckon with.

Lucario

1. Tied for my 17th amiibo along with Toon Link. Woke up early to grab this Toys 'R' Us exclusive.

2. LuCardio, that is all.

3. Lv.21 at the moment, working on him cuz I have no idea how to play Lucario effectively lol.

Shulk

1. reely

2. feelin

3. et

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More info to come!

Portrait of my old Leica M240 with collapsible Summar 50mm f/2,

I don't very often take pictures of my gear but this autumn light was so tasty, so here it is ;)

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Tech:

Nikon D810

Nikkor AF-S 28mm f/1.4E

Wotancraft's Traveler's Notebook and City Explorer Camera Bag Review - Part 2

I've been using Wotancraft's Ranger bag for 25 days and it is only now suitable to give you this review from my personal experience. My Ranger was with me all the time during my business trip to Taipei and Shanghai, as well as daily uses after I came back to Hong Kong, in rainy days, hiking and beach side BBQ, etc.

The soul behind Wotancraft is James, whom started researching about 5 years ago to create a camera bag he would use. I had a great time visiting James and chatted about his creation for about an hour. The name and logo of the company bears a resemblance of the Warcraft role-playing game logo, but James never knew about it when he named the company. Wotancraft means in every sense a desire to achieve perfection in craftsmanship. "Wotan" the old high German form of "Odin", is a major god in Norse mythology who is associated with battle, victory, wisdom and magic. James would like his company to be a powerful one almost achieving a mythical status through highest possible quality standard. He believes careful craftsmanship is better than mass production. Let's see how much details are being put in this US$449 all purpose bag.

Ranger's distressed and nomadic look is not only defined by its unique navy grey canvas and dark brown leather mix, but also the carefully aging processes done to the material. For example, to achieve the effect, the canvas was washed, wrinkled, brushed and stained before a final wax coating was put on it. Although this aging thing sounds a bit superficial, but the minute you start to use it, you literally skip the honeymoon period trying to use the bag carefully, it feels like you've been using it for a while and it is part of you. I mean it, not to worry a bit about scratches on leather, nor to spend time intentionally distressing it heavily in order to feel a personal ownership.

The look is just one of the many carefully planned features of a Ranger. A lot of the satchels you see in the market have those two straps coming down from the top over the flap, they are there mostly for decorative purpose and not designed to function. Ranger's straps are there because James wanted to solve one problem, to carry a jacket when you don't have an extra hand. I'm sure many of you have the same problem, the places we go to take photos can have huge temperature differences, nobody wants to carry a larger volume bag just to take care of the jacket. These straps became very handy because they are extra long yet adjustable, I could tie my scarf or slide my leather jacket beneath them with zero efforts during business trips. On rainy days, I also carry a retractable umbrella like that for quick access.

Two additional straps fixed to the bottom of Ranger can also be used to carry your jacket or tripod.

Let's talk about external pockets. There are two side pockets for small stuffs, I wish they were big enough to put my iPhone though. The two front pockets are large enough for small cameras like my Natura Classica or Olympus EP-3 with pancake lens. One problem with these front pockets is that there is no flap to secure the contents inside, I might have to stitch a leather flap with snaps by myself someday so that I can feel safer to put camera or keychains in them. This is obviously a point for improvement.

Behind the front pockets is a zip pocket large enough to put your iPad, this became my quick access pocket to important things like my Traveler's Notebook. Now these three pockets are behind the bag's leather flap, but you don't need to unfasten the snaps to access them, just quickly pull over the flap to reveal and retrieve, very handy and speedy!

Gear protection. Heavily inspired by WWII aesthetics, Wotancraft highlights Ranger with aluminum buckles and brass snaps on the outside, but gets serious with gear protection on the inside. The removable MK.I pouch, using the same material as military hovercraft's air cushion on the surface, sealed by YKK water-repellent zipper, is almost 100% waterproof. According to James, he is planning a MK.II version which is completely seamless with even better waterproof features. Well, waterproofing is not what I'm looking for, but you can see how dedicated he is to the details.

On both the MK.I pouch and the external bag, there are hidden velcros. They are there to make sure your MK.I pouch is fixed firmly inside the bag, but when they are not needed, the velcros are hidden to prevent scratching on your equipments. The inside of MK.I pouch is made from high density foam covered with very smooth micro fiber cloth, making camera retrieval a low friction effort in addition to the heavy duty protection. Four dividers are provided so that you can create your own suitable compartments. I can put 3 cameras inside: Canon F1 with 85mm f1.2 lens, Voigtlander R4A with Nokton 35mm f1.2 lens, Olympus EP-3 with 12mm f2.0 lens.

So literally you have 3 layers of protections. Waterproof anti-shock MK.I, external waxed canvas bag with zipper and the leather flap. For my daily use, I actually don't need the MK.I pouch, I usually put a slimmer Artisan & Artist inner pouch to carry 1 camera, the Ranger immediately shrinks into a transit friendly casual bag.

Here's some more smart features of the Ranger. For a large bag like this, it takes time to unzip all the way and resistance at the two corners is inevitable. If you are not a zipper person like me, you can leave the canvas cover half zipped half opened, this can be achieved by folding the cover in half, it snaps in place by itself because of the built in magnets, it makes cameras accessible yet secure inside, very smart design. If you are an insecure person and always want to zip up everything, speedy access is still possible because there is a small leather tab you can leave dangling outside, with just one quick pull of the tab, both zipper heads fly open in split seconds! James nailed it, satisfying men's desire to access their tools with speed, imagine this design on a pair of jeans :)

A final note on features. There is a laptop compartment inside the canvas bag, suitable for my 13" Macbook Air or 15" models. There are small pockets for pen and accessories sitting behind the laptop compartment as well, although I don't use them that much.

I have to mention the weight, which is important to photographers. My Saddleback briefcase medium size is a heavy 2.95 kg monster, I love the bag but I just can't use it to carry cameras, it is killing my shoulders and spine. Wotancraft's Ranger is 1.72 kg without the MK.I pouch (which is 0.52 kg by itself). The reason why it is slightly heavier than a typical canvas bag is that wax was not only coated but actually soaked thoroughly into the canvas, you can see I had no hesitation to leave my Ranger on a wet football field in one of the photos. The softness of cushioned canvas also makes it more comfortable to body than hard thick leather used on the Saddleback briefcase (well I know, Saddleback's was never designed for photographers anyway).

The shoulder strap. Beautiful piece of craftsmanship, it feels very comfortable hanging down the shoulder or diagonally crossing the body. Even though its length is adjustable, I still found it a bit too long coz I like to carry weight close to my center of gravity (I'm 5'8" last time I checked 20 years ago). So I did a little modification to suit my need. There are two small built in D-rings near each end of the shoulder pad, I stitched safety hooks on them with scrap leather, giving me an option to shorten or quick releasing the strap in 5 possible lengths. Now I can carry my Ranger comfortably as a messenger bag or as a clutch bag.

If you are new to Wontancraft's Ranger, I must remind you to use sand paper to blunt the buckle pins coz they are very sharp. I also found that some of the leather edge finishing paint may fall off, I have no problem with that because it helps to give the distressed look I like about Ranger. In any case, Wotancraft is serious about quality, according to Wotancraft and both distributors I know (one from Hong Kong (Annie Barton), one from Netherlands (Vintage 217)), they are fully committed to give Wotancraft users complete satisfaction, just shoot them an email if you need support, they are all decent and nice people as far as I know. Again, Wotancraft is not a corporation but just a few artisans behind doing what they enjoy most, you can expect friendly services and dedication to details. I would give Ranger a 9.5 out of 10 score as a cool stylish and function rich camera/casual bag.

During my discussion with James in their Taipei showroom, he told me that he is designing a future add-on to the Ranger bag, a strap to convert Ranger into a backpack! I need that James! Especially in a long day I need it to be a backpack, then it is perfect!

A week ago, Steve Huff reviewed Wotancraft's City Explorer Paratrooper camera bag, check out his video below.

More on Scription blog: scription.typepad.com/blog/2012/04/wotancrafts-travelers-...

My husband had to go to a funeral out of town this afternoon, so I have been doing some "spring cleaning" with my photos.

I saw this picture by Beth Jansen a couple of months ago and was completely inspired for 3 reasons...

1. I had a pregnant sister

2. I had the exact same jacket

3. I had a scarf (or 2 or 3)

This is my attempt. :)

This was taken in June...actually I just noticed that it was taken on my sister and borther-in-law's 10th anniversary...Ella was born on July 22.

so i finalllllly got back my film. have learned a couple of things:

1) it is fucking expensive. like holy shit. and i am not really pleased with the resolution of the scans on the CD i requested. may try a different photo lab next time.

2) i SUCK at manual focusing. need to work on that. ruined a good number of good shots with horrible focusing.

3) i take too many flowers and street shots.

4) i lost 3 shots out of 10 in the 120 roll. whoops?! damnit.

even though my first round didn't go amazingly, i'm still looking forward to shooting more! though i will definitely have to set aside funds for this.

this was taken with a pentax 67 and fuijfilm pro400 :)

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippolyte_Rocks

Camera: Nikon D3

Lens: Nikon AF-Nikkor 28-70mm f/2.8 at 28mm focal length

Aperture: f/11

Shutter Speed: 1/250sec

ISO: 640

White Balance: AUTO 5,628°K

File Size: 25mb NEF (Raw)

Color Space: Nikon Adobe RGB

Picture Control: Neutral

Taken, handheld at- 13:58, 5 July 2014

I took this photo, last year, during Winter months, in Tasmania, on a gloomy day. Typically, I hibernate when the weather is cold and gloomy. My wife was participating in an Irish dancing competition, which gave me sufficient time to fill the hours, rather than sitting in an auditorium, listening to repetitive Irish jigs and reels.

This photo began life as a muted NEF (Nikon Electronic Format) Raw file. It did not impress me. I placed it into my external hard drive into the "blah" bin. I tend to photograph using Neutral Picture Control . . . Not really a factor when photographing in NEF, except for the embedded JPEG for Preview.

I decided to take a second look at the image, as I had thoughts for processing, which might be able to make the viewer seem to be there, sharing the experience, the sound of the waves crashing against the cliff face, the smell of the damp, salty air, feeling the chill, and seeing the Hippolyte Rocks Island and Thumbs in the distance.

I tried three programs to process the NEF. Each, on its own, yielded disappointing results.

One, made the image too Sharp, to the point when I viewed it at 200% or 300%, I could see a brightened Halo. I want my image to be sharp enough to see the structure of the rocks and water drops, without the halo. As I would see it in real life. Correct Sharpness is always a challenge for me. There are a lot of words written on the subject . . . And, I must say that I have seen absolutely stunning images out-of-focus. Sharpness is not everything, always. Depends on the subject and what artistic impression a photographer wants to render.

I did process this image as a monochrome and what I liked about the black&white is that it rendered the clouds in the background and the sea with form and realistic dimension. Hmmm, got me wondering about a color version.

Tried my usual processing methods, but I was not satisfied, which is the reason I initially rejected the image. I persisted. I processed the NEF using three different Nikon Picture Controls, leaving the Sharpness dialed back to maybe 2.

I used a second software to combine the three TIFs, because I just cannot do it using Nikon's Capture NX2. There does seem to be a bug in the Nikon software, because it will have a smaller version embedded and that will not allow it to be post-processed using other software, until the embedded smaller image is removed.

Once the three TIFs were combined, I used a program to reduce the haze, which is common throughout Tasmania.

Then I imported the huge 300+mb image back to Nikon Capture NX2 to view it at 200%, darkened it to show any spots clearly, removed them, and then restored the image back to correct Exposure.

Next, I selectively modified contrast and saved the file, just in case.

Next, I selectively reduced the Exposure Levels & Curves and saved the image.

Next, I began to work on Sharpness, bringing the image up to 300%, looking at tree branches and rock crevasses for Halo or the brightness of the Halo and reduced it to the point where it was barely visible, yet Sharp, then viewed the image at 100%.

Next I decided to Crop the image, asking my wife's opinion with each variation, as women see things and use their brains differently from men. She preferred the image in its entirety.

I must say I attempted processing this image a few times, already. I gave it a big effort, again, last night, until past 11:00, to my wife's displeasure, thinking I was ignoring her. I was on a roll.

I finished it this morning, which is presented here. I am guessing a film image might have taken just as long to process.

Moral of the story. Never discard or Delete a marginal image.

A gentle reminder about copyright and intellectual property-

Ⓒ Cassidy Photography (All images in this Flickr portfolio)

cassidyphotography.net

hi

yes i am a real person so haha. petin will be hatin on my undercut so be ready :p

1. I am the swag

2. i like legoz

3. trailer park boys r the best

4. 30 new figs are almost done!

5. someone told me i looked like mackelmore but with brown hair lololololol

6. someone give me Jap decnals pls

7. BABABA-BAAAAMMMM www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2hqzEKbaIQ

8. chuck norris is still watching me

9. I am 16 so lel

11. this picture is inception

10. i mixed up 10 and 11

12. u looked

13. YOLO

14. im le tired naow

In the City (Part 2)

I set myself up between QVB and Park Street. Here one can see the crowds. In fact the tram I caught later between QVB Stop and Circular Quay was standing room only.

4 Wkhứ :) ..

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Wá khứ fai nhoà :) !!

" 1 lần hôn nhau rồi thôi , 1 lần ôm nhau r` thôi :) !

Cuộc tình đôi ta từ nay sẽ 2 rẽ lối đi !

Vì tình chúng ta là sai , vì tình ta chia làm 2 :)

Bít bên nhau r` cho nhau bao đớn đau :)

M~ sẽ k còn nữa ...mm~ ta sẽ k gặp nhau :) ...

Massanutten Peak - Massanutten Mountain Range - Shenandoah Valley of Virginia

Spring is an awesome season - there's nothing quite like the rebirth of the earth. From the valley floors to the high elevation mountains, watching nature come alive after the Winter slumber is a spectacular once-a-year event. It is so cool to see the vibrant Spring colors creep their way up the mountainsides, the view from either below or above is simply amazing.

I am spreading my 'photographic wings' as of late, and giving the wildlife (and myself) a break. I don't have to pursue or try to keep up with a landscape - ha! :-)

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In Appalachian Virginia there are three recognized topographic belts: the Blue Ridge, the Great Valley and the Alleghany mountains.

The Shenandoah Valley is bounded by the Blue Ridge Mountains to the east and the Allegheny Mountains to the west. The valley is about 160 miles long and 30 miles wide. It is part of the Great Valley of the Appalachians, and divided into two parts by Massanutten Mountain.

Massanutten is a 50-mile long, 6-mile wide mountain range which bisects the Shenandoah Valley just east of Strasburg (in Shenandoah County in the north), to its highest peak east of Harrisonburg (in Rockingham County in the south), which is the section shown in my photo above, and not far from where I live. The towers you see on the peak are part of the Massanutten Resort. (see the 2 pics below)

The Shenandoah Valley is drained by the Shenandoah River, which flows in two forks (the North and South Forks) on both sides of the Massanutten Mountain.

The Mountains of Massanutten

Massanutten Peak

Green Mountain

Three Top Mountain

Powell Mountain

Little Crease Mountain

Short Mountain

Mertins Rock

Bowman Mountain

Kerns Mountain

Catback Mountain

Waterfall Mountain

First Mountain

Second Mountain

Third Mountain

Fourth Mountain

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See the 1000px version for a much better view

3 brackets (-2 | 0 | +2) merged and lightly tone mapped, no crop

THANKS FOR VIEWING!

Day 92- In addition to the cake smashed in my face two days ago, were these glorious wonders of sugary deliciousness.

Oh yes, I do love a delicious cupcake baked into a flat-bottomed ice cream cone. YUM!!!

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10 things people may not know about me and my birthday.

1) I LOVE BIRTHDAYS!!!!

2) I prefer to celebrate for a week. Why have a single day when you can have a week, right?

3) I'm not a fan of belated celebrations though. I want to celebrate before or on the day because afterward seems like an afterthought and it kind of bums me out to be honest.

Then again, I won't walk away from a party or a present because it's late. I'm picky, not stupid.

4) BTW, I love everything that comes along with birthday celebrations. Bring on the cake, balloons, flowers, presents, cards...you name it. I say, "Rock on with the treats!" :)

5) Yes, my favorite number is 5. Duh?

6) I don't count numbers other than that one. I find a lot of people are deeply ageist and I won't feed into anyone's prejudice. I AM AS OLD AS I FEEL.

7) Seriously, don't ask. It's not really all that relavent. Besides, it's rude to ask someone their age. That's what I was taught by my grandparents when I was a small child and I agree with them completely.

8) Speaking of being a child, I always associate my birthday with Easter because they were often celebrated together with my family. As a result, I have a fondness for bunnies and all things trinket-like.

9) Best birthday presents have always been vacations. I've gone to Europe, Mexico and across the USA as part of three different birthday presents.

10) Any birthday you can celebrate where you are healthy and happy is a good birthday.

and i'm taking a grad class that's getting me all fired up about this.

please, look into what our presidential candidates have to say. i tend to listen the hardest to their words on education.

it's our future. and it could be scary if the right moves are not made. but don't just take it from me. ask around. talk to teachers in your communities. we HAVE to make changes. soon.

I probably won't have time to go see if any hummingbirds are still at NYBG. These were shot on Oct 2. I usually can't tell if I'm seeing the same hummingbird, but this definitely is the same bird as seen by the pollen stuck on its beak.

Focus is on the back instead of the head, but I kept this image to have a different flower in the shot.

MichaelLeePicsNYC.com

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Art prints available here

At the moment, to be an artist it's good, but that does not fill the refrigerator...

Teriyaki Matz' & Michel Jones Tagged me so this is 16 personal stuffs about me.

1 ) I'm in week End !

2) I've Got A Golden Fish

3)I have to cute my haire but i don't do it ....

4)I need to buy a Imac sooooonnn

5)i love piercing and tattoo , soon i 'll tattoo my full left arm but it's expensive $$

6)i love my friend and take coffe with them !!

7) I have a 206 Peugeot as Car !!

8)i hate the school i stop it early... :(

9)i want succeed my life in music or photograph

10)i want 2 children ^^ Girl & boy !

11)i hate wait for my train...so boring

12)i become crazy when my ipod is lowBatt.....aAHHAHAH

13)i love sleep with my little wife ^^

14) Tonight i watch a Woody Allen Movie

15) i don't what i eat for the dinner

16)it's 6.28 P.M

Explorer Jan 16, 2009 #179

SOOC

Tagged again:

1. I'm a bit pigeon toed. I think it's because it was the "emo look" when I was in 7th grade. My whole middle school year I tried to point my feet inward to try to be cool like those hipsters. Well, I guess it worked because my toes go in now.

2. I kinda want a tattoo. I want one where no one can see it. And i want it to be simple. Nothing too outrageous. Maybe a tattoo of a feather or something cool like that.

3. One time in eigth grade i was being really obnoxious and my teacher called on me to answer a question. I didn't know the answer because I wasn't paying attention; I could feel the blood rushing to my face. That's what she wanted, she wanted me to be embarrassed. It worked, and by the time she left me alone, I was so light headed that I almost passed out. It was one of the worst days of my life.

4. I'm really flexible. In middle school, I stretched everyday so I could do a split. It worked and I can do a full out split.

5. I love music. I can't sing and i can barely play the piano but I still love music. And guys who can sing give me the cold chills. Their talent for singing makes them so attractive.

6. I like to sing while looking in my mirror. It's a fun thing to do. And if you really get into it, pretend people are watching you--- it's a thriller.

7. I've been seeing things lately. Yesterday, while finding an outfit to wear, I saw a cat run up my stairs; there was nothing there though. I guess this means I'm turning out more and more like my twin sister.

8. It makes me severally sad to hear someone i'm friends with smoke or drink. I'm so against both things. People say they aren't that big of a deal and that I shouldn't care, but I do. I care a lot.

9. Lying is one of the one things I can't stand. If you can tell a lie to your girlfriend and not care, then there is something wrong with you; believe me.

10. sometimes I think about everything and i start to go insane. I think about how the earth is just a point in space; how space never ends; i'll be dead one day; in 100 years my name will be forgotten. It makes me insane..

100 Strangers No 2. I met Janet and Michael while they were having lunch in Janets's front garden which borders a tow path.

We talked about many things but Janet was very interested in my 100 Strangers project. Michael was keen to tell me about his service in the R.A.F.

Janet: "We're just good friends that's all. Just good friends."

Michael: "I'm the gardening muscle."

This picture is #XX in my 100 strangers project. Find out more about the project and see pictures taken by other photographers at the 100 Strangers Flickr Group page

Summary of 2013

or

Dumb, Dumber and Dumbest: The Ongoing Saga of ****** Street

by Andrew Karagianis, December 31st, 2013/January 1st, 2014

I have been thinking about how to write up my “It’s become an annual thing” summary of the year. I have lots to write about, but there was no real cohesive theme in 2013 with which everything else revolved around – in 2012, my entire year was devoted to going back to school for Addictions. 2013 was a more regular year spent moving forward, slowly but surely, as an adult. Not a year of many milestones, but a year of enjoying life with my girlfriend, working in my field, and working my way toward a normal, conformist, middle-class adult life. In other words, everything 17-year-old Andrew worked to avoid ;)

I rang in the new year (2013) on King Street near Roy Thomson Hall with Ally. We then took the streetcar home, while I exchanged “Happy New Year!” texts with other friends. It was uneventful, but I was happy to spend the night with Ally, because the next day, I was off to work! Fascinating, right? I got my first job in my field in the middle of December 2012, and worked there every weekend in January. Let's call it "Center 1". I didn’t really do much else in January. Work, hang out with Ally at her apartment, and go back to Dad’s house. But work in January was fun. It was a good group of clients to introduce me to another side of addiction treatment – the government-funded, waitlist kind.

February is where 2013 started to get interesting. I had applied to work at another treatment center in January, and in early February, I had an interview. The interview went well, although the interviewer took a call to hear that a client had stolen a counsellor’s car at the treatment center, which I should have taken as my cue to say “Thanks but no thanks”. Anyway, that same week, I had been hired at the center where I did my placement in the fall of 2012. Let's call it "Center 2". I worked a few shifts at the other treatment center (Center 3), where the staff were decent, but I soon noticed problems. Clients were smoking indoors and in the van. A counsellor filled up the van with gas while the engine was running. I drove up there during the February snowstorm and ruptured my gas tank on a snowbank in their driveway when their plow operator asked me to move my car. And when they handed me the new-employee paperwork after my third shift, it included a non-competition clause. I spoke with the bigwig who interviewed me about having been hired by a competitor at the same time, and he told me that I had to choose one or the other. So I went to my mom’s to think about it, did the math, and quit Center 2. I called Center 3 to inform them. That evening, I found out that they weren’t going to give me as many hours as I had been led to believe, and so I made my dissatisfaction known. The next day, they called to say they had “withdrawn the offer.” So there I was, fired from one after quitting the other, feeling guilty and enraged. Thankfully, I got my job back at Center 2, and I’ve been working there ever since. Center 3 did not pay me for hours worked, and they have a reputation for dishonesty and being unprofessional. They will get their comeuppance, and I will be happy to watch them crumble.

For the rest of February and March, I worked a fair bit at Center 2, and learned to present the family program lectures. I didn’t work at Center 1 for a stretch of six weeks, and this “work a lot at one job; don’t work much at the other” went back and forth for several months.

Since I had met Ally in July of 2012, her rented townhouse on ****** Street had been a revolving door of tenants. In early 2013, it was her; a hipster in her mid-30s; an unemployed Asian guy in his early 30s; and a starving musician in his mid-30s. In March, Ally and I talked about finding a place to live together. Shortly afterward, her female roommate announced that she was leaving. Hallelujah! Ally’s female roommate had made our lives difficult for as long as we’d been there, what with her snarky comments, unkempt appearance, coconut oil shampoo, Dr. Bronner’s Magic Syrup, salad for every meal, claw-happy cat, pants-eating rabbit, music that sounded like jackhammers attacking a nest of raccoons, and the dark cloud and cold wind that always followed her into a room. We decided that I would take her place in the nice bedroom at the front of the house. I’d get to live downtown, with my girlfriend; neither of which I’d done before. I’d get that reserved parking spot, with quick access to the highways I needed to drive on to get to both of my jobs. Walking distance to all sorts of cool places. And we’d be done with shitty roommates.

Or so we thought.

But like an ad on YouTube (which I can’t fucking STAND), you’re going to have to read through the unrelated stuff in order to get to the meat of that story ;)

In April, I went to Niagara Falls with Ally for her birthday – we saw a Buddhist temple, a butterfly garden, a really cool aviary where I made use of my bird communication skills and called over a parrot, and had dinner at TGIFridays, where I typed up a get-healthy plan on my phone…and quickly forgot about it thereafter. April was also the leanest month of the year for me in terms of work – no extra shifts beyond the bare minimum. It wasn’t so bad though, because I spent the month packing for my move downtown. Packing takes a long time when you [probably] have the hoarder gene.

On May 2nd, Ally and I picked up a U-Haul in Midland, loaded it up, and moved my stuff downtown, with a stop at her parents’ house to pick up our new grown-up (i.e., double) bed. A twin bed is cozy for two, but knowing that you’re only an inch from falling out every night…coupled with the old bed falling apart about once a month…meant it was time for a change.

Anyway, after cleaning the alfalfa and rabbit turds off the floor in my new room downtown, it was nice to finally start living with Ally full time. Soon thereafter, a coworker at one job had to go on medical leave, so I got trained for admission work and picked up quite a few extra shifts, which continued until the end of June, when the boss discovered that I don’t have a Social Work degree…so she hired someone else for the position. She told me that I would have to go back to school to get what appears to be a less-relevant diploma than the certificate I just earned in addictions, so that seriously demotivated me for a good few weeks. That’s putting it nicely. Thankfully, my shifts started picking up again at Center 2, and until mid-November, it stayed that way. Anyway, I’m glad I learned how to do admission work, and at Center 2, too, they started handing me a lot of the assessments, which I was happy to do. As of this writing, I’ve done about 35 assessments between the two jobs.

Also in May, Terrance pulled out a feather and started bleeding, while he was still at Dad’s house. In August, he did it again, while living downtown with me, and again in mid-December (thankfully I was in the room when he squawked the latter two times, so I could put styptic powder on the wound immediately). A bird with a lampshade is a pissed-off bird.

June = lots of working. Hot afternoons stuck on 401. Shorts good. Money good. Can’t complain. I like summer. Who cares if it’s 35 degrees out! Also, new Sabbath CD. Awesome.

July began with Ally going on a ten-day meditation course. Although I had gone without seeing Ally for 9 days in December 2012 when she went to her sister’s destination wedding, this time, she was not permitted to use her phone. No contact for almost ten days. Thankfully, I worked a week of night shifts while she was gone, so the schedule adjustment provided enough of a distraction. I lived most of my life alone in the ‘relationship’ sense anyway, so I’m not afraid of being alone. But it was a daunting prospect, I must admit. We made it through, though ☺

On July 20th, I had a party at my new place. It was a good time overall, until V-Ron innocently (supposedly; you never know with V-Ron) called out to a black guy on the street – “What’s up, bro?” He immediately came up the steps and started giving everyone shit for saying “West side, bro”. I thought he must have been high if he was willing to fight like 7 guys at once…anyway, Ally threatened him off, and I’m sure he has no recollection of it. It made for a funny story for the rest of the night.

Also in July, I decided to have a look at that show I saw spoofed in Family Guy – Cosmos. I’m glad I did. Ally and I watched the whole series this summer. I wish I could find the words to describe how I felt while watching the first episode, but I can’t. It was so refreshing, even though the show was 33 years old, to see someone so wise talking about the universe and humanity with such a wide, long-term perspective. Part of what I liked about it is that Carl Sagan’s views on humanity were very similar to my own, so I felt like “Hey, finally, here’s a show that I can relate to!” I also liked how he ripped into pseudoscientific enterprises like astrology while retaining his composure. Although he’s been dead since 1996, Carl Sagan definitely became my idol in the second half of 2013. I’m reading one of his books now. Ally and I even made a Cosmos-themed Christmas tree this year (see photo!); painting ornaments to look like planets, with a Styrofoam sun on the top, and with Carl Sagan’s face in plasticene stuck to the front – which, by the way, was all Ally’s idea.

In early August, I did something I’ve been wanting to do for several years – had friends up to the cottage. Although they were Ally’s friends. But it was a good time nonetheless, and they introduced me to a new drink – Captain Morgan. In that time, spiced rum & Coke has replaced screwdrivers as my drink of choice. Screwdrivers were too bitter, anyway.

Also in August, my car was broken into. Pissed me off, but at least the scumbag cleared out all the junk in my car. It’s much tidier now.

Yep, August was an interesting month for me – remember the shitty roommate situation I talked about above? The one we so naïvely thought was over and done with? Well, in August, our Asian roommate underwent a transformation, from being simply lazy to being a prick. At first, we put up with his constant smoking. With parking his ass on my couch while playing Mehicán Black Ops at full volume. With leaving the burner on after taking the pot off the stove. With letting his tomato-can ashtray catch fire on the front porch. But toward the end of the month, our washing machine crapped out. When we contacted the landlord, she arranged to have it replaced. On the day the service guy arrived, I was at work, the musician housemate had to leave for work, Ally had to leave for her new job – and the Asian roommate had to go hang out with his friends. When the service guy arrived, the Asian roommate bolted out the door, leaving Ally to wait for the service guy to leave, and thus being an hour late for work herself. Our Asian roommate told her to just leave a key for the service guy and tell him to put it in the mailbox – yeah, that makes sense, given how close we are to Regent Park. When Ally confronted him the next day, he got his back up and defended his prioritizing friends over other people’s jobs. I guess when the government pays your rent, you feel entitled to lose your sense of responsibility. He also called her a racist because the service guy was black. No, dummy, it’s because normal people don’t leave their key in the mailbox and leave service people alone in your house. But when you have no possessions of any value in the house and rely on your housemates for everything from furniture to internet to pots and pans, I guess you have nothing to lose, right? Anyway, Ally relayed this to our landlord, who said there was nothing she could do. We had enough. We gave our notice. But the battle was not over yet. Thankfully we were able to take a step back for a week.

On September 11th, Ally and I got up at some ungodly hour to fly to New York. I had been talking about going there ever since I got back from Europe in 2008, and Ally finally called me on it and booked the tickets. It was great to get away! I have a detailed (some might say too detailed) summary of the trip typed elsewhere, but I’ll summarize the summary here: Arrived in Newark on the sweatiest day in recent memory; bought some American cereal; saw the Crack is Wack playground; ate at the Seinfeld restaurant; and saw a show at the Apollo – what an introduction! Next day wandered around and saw the Met – a shitty day for photography though, so I was grumpy. Next day, saw the World Trade Center memorial and went to Staten Island. The WTC memorial was well done, although the symbolism of the moment seemed to be lost on a few tourists smiling for selfies with the pools in the background – very disrespectful. The view from Staten Island was awesome, and helped pull me out of the funk I entered on the second day. On Day Four we went to the top of the Rockefeller Center, which was probably the highlight of the trip for me – such an awesome view! I took pictures up there for an hour and a half. Day Five was my birthday – Ally treated me to dinner at a fancy restaurant in Little Italy, where a fight broke out – and ended – within 15 seconds of sitting down. Awesome. We walked across the Manhattan Bridge into Brooklyn to end the evening with some nighttime pics while the rats scurried about. On Day Six, we kinda just wandered around until it was time to take the harrowing Megabus ride back to Toronto. Bad idea! That bus drove way too fast for a double-decker, and it was literally freezing outside that night. Next time, fuck saving money – we’ll fly both ways. We got home sometime around 5:00am, at which point I dove my frozen body into bed and got some sleep.

Not long after returning home, the roommate war started back up – this time, the landlord joined in. After asking her for Laundromat money to compensate for the broken washer, she got mad at Ally. We showed our rooms to a bunch of interested people; one of whom was on welfare. The landlord didn’t like that, and when we asked her about finding new tenants to replace us, she got even more angry, calling Ally “entitled”. So I sent her a reply, listing off a few gems that our Asian friend had said while showing the apartment to a few other interested people:

1. “I said in the ad that we’ll give brownie points to anyone who has a TV and can put the bills in their name.”

2. “Are you willing to put the bills in your name? We can’t because we don’t have credit.”

3. “We’re hoping to have at least one girl here, because otherwise this place would look like a pigsty.”

I never heard from the landlord again after that e-mail.

After that, we stopped putting in any effort to maintain the apartment. The slob game can be a two-way street. We found a new apartment that a friend of Ally’s was leaving, and happily jumped on board. Our moving day was exhausting, having to climb up two flights of stairs with all our stuff. I got in the shower afterward (details omitted) and laughed hard at something (details omitted), and my stomach went into a crippling spasm – I had to crouch down for a minute to relieve the pain. But it was so worth it. Our spirits were buoyed by comments about never having to deal with the old place again. We’ve only been here for two and a half months, but it’s in a nicer neighbourhood that isn’t a thoroughfare for gangsters and trash-rummagers; we still have easy access to the TTC; we don’t hear screaming rakins trying to kill each other in the tree outside our window; we don’t hear sirens every night; we don’t have to wipe cat fur off the counter; we don’t have to wipe slime out of the fridge; we don’t have to smell smoke every time we enter and exit the building; our landlord actually takes initiative to replace broken appliances, and we don’t have to deal with any roommates’ stupid bullshit!

The rest of the fall was fairly busy with work, Christmas shopping, photography, and so on. Ally’s brother and sister-in-law had another baby. Heather, David and I re-enacted some old pictures, ranging from approximately 1989 to 2003, which was a lot of fun, to give to Mom and Dad for Christmas, which they loved. My favorite re-enactment was of David and I holding up our Bibles in June of 2001 after we got confirmed. We re-enacted it by posing with our copies of The God Delusion. Jeremy’s Zoo party was a good time of sneaker-skating down icy sidewalks and getting kicked out of the Dance Cave, as is, of course, tradition (South Park reference!). As we transition into winter (who are we kidding; it’s been winter for the past month), I can only wonder what 2014 will bring. I spent most of New Year's Eve working at Center 1, although I'm sure it was harder on the clients than it was on me. Then I came home to Ally and we spent the night in -- can't get drunk when you have to work in rehab the next day! I just hung up my new TTC subway calendar (that’s right!), and I'm off to work again soon. I know one thing I’m looking forward to in 2014: The new Cosmos series!

Anyway, I’ll end with a few bits and pieces that I didn’t mention in the chronological story:

1. 2013 was the Year of Weddings: I attended two weddings in January, two in August, and one in October.

2. Music:

-Best New Album/only new album I bought: 13 by Black Sabbath. Very impressed with the darkness and power of this comeback! Especially “God is Dead?”!

-Song of the Summer: “Get Lucky” by Daft Punk. I hated Daft Punk before this song.

-Favorite Album of the Year: Casino by Al Di Meola. I first heard this album on vinyl at Ally’s place in 2012, and I listened to it all the time in the winter of 2013. I recommend it to any guitar players.

-Favorite Artists of the Year: Al Di Meola, Bob Marley, Dr. Dre, The Smashing Pumpkins, various electronic artists resembling STS9.

-Ain’t Nobody Got Time Fo Dat!

3. Books I read:

-The God Delusion, by Richard Dawkins: The first few chapters were hard to follow, but the second half delightfully rips into the follies and dangers of organized religion as they play out violently in society.

-Broca’s Brain, by Carl Sagan: Not finished it yet, but it’s good. A collection of essays/articles from the ‘70s about space, science, anthropology, and so on. Ain’t nobody got time for fiction.

-In The Realm of Hungry Ghosts, by Gabor Maté: I just started this one, but it’s good so far, and is well-known in the Addictions field, so I hope it will increase my understanding.

4. Things I did for the first time:

Attended a Muslim wedding ceremony; conducted two unsupervised family counselling sessions; made chilli – yes, this is a big deal, and it was delicious.

5. Disappointments:

Didn’t play with my band at all; didn’t record many songs; didn’t use Flickr very much, partly due to a disastrous redesign; and realized my recent education still may not be enough for a full-time job.

6. Accomplishments:

Got my F licence; made my longest “me driving” road trip (about 870km; made more bearable thanks to David and Heather); painted for the first time in probably 14 years; finally saw New York City; noticeably refined my guitar playing; read an entire book; and made it to a year and a half with Ally as of this writing ☺

_____________

IMG_1017762ps

1) In the night I am sometimes woken-up by my own snoring. That's really weird...

2) I can't look through the viewfinder with my left eye - it feels soooo strange!

3) As a child I took my teddy with me everywhere. He must have travelled like 10.000 kilometers in his life! I also used to nick-name myself edditeddy due to liking my bear so much.

4) I have the wander-lust all the time!!!! Can't get enough of travelling! I think my next destionation is Thailand. I want to book only the flight to Thailand and then back-pack travel Thailand (with my cam and LOADS of memory cards of course).

5) When being in France or England I start dreaming in the national language after some days, not in german anymore

6) When I take photos I forget everything around me; that's probably why I love photography so much.

7) I have been voted biggest bitch AND person with the biggest mood-swings in our student magazine... but I think I have changed since then...at least I hope so ;-)

8) I'm a mac addict...

9) I get goose-bumps when eating chocolate chip cookies...

10) I used to hate my name. now I love it

11) I'm a frostbite...

12) I LOVE (and by saying LOVE I mean LOVE) eating. My favorites are: Mexican, Chinese, Thai, Italian, Greek, African

13) I listen to music during the whole day

14) I used to be bored A LOT as a teen-ager. Now I hardly know how to spell bohrredohmm

15) I like saturation a lot. Would you EVER have guessed???? I guess not :D

16) iLOVE life!!!!

I am tagging linientreu , Artie , George Goodnight, foto fr@nk and Younglings

1.I never answer any phone calls; I’d rather text.

2.I used to wear converse and vans back when i was in middle school but now, I only wear flats, flip flops or boots.

3.I am very picky with food.

4.People misspell my name most of the time.

5.I do not live with both of my parents :’(

6.One of my closest friend and I watch Asian Dramas online except I get tired from reading the English subtitles xD

7.I almost got hit by a car when I was likeee ten or eleven.

8.I currently have a 4.83 GPA but gaaah, finals are next weeeeeeeek.

9.I probably have all the different colors of Sharpie.

10.When I was in elementary, my cursive was perfect; now, I don’t know anymore.

11.I really really really do want to visit either Asia or Europe this year.

12.I want a Polaroid.

13.I can’t think of anything else to writeeee about.

14.I wish some of my flickr friends would send me a print of one of their pictures so I can collect them >:P

15. I’ve met the most amazing people through Flickr .

16.I am gonna study… now.

I think I’m gonna stop taking pictures for NOW. I really have to get ready for finals

And study study study.

Ew.

1. taken in front of creekview.

2. I used perspective on this photo to make it look this way.

3. I should have edited it more

It seems that i cannot decide which of the two ''Urban reflections 2'' i prefer,so i am posting both !

This is Jess, not the most co-operative of models, but a good opportunity to practice with the 85mm f1.2 I've borrowed for a few days off a good friend Graham while he is away on holiday... I may not want to give it back !? :-)

1-800 || f/2 || Iso1000 || 85mm || EV+0.67

View My images on Fluidr

*********************************************************************************************************

All my images are © All Rights Reserved, and must not be used in any form whatsoever, on or in any type of media without my expressed permission

EXPLORED

birds; you see that they're beautiful, thats how i feel about you

tagged.

1. i secretly/not so secretly have bieber fever.

2. i hate feet

3. i seem to stay up later and later these days

4. i never get to school on time

5. i can't wait till september but before that i can't wait till summer!

6. i hate getting texts with no kisses.

7. i like eating frozen pees

8. and frozen chips

9. i hate reading out loud

10. i had a long nosebleed today and now i feel dizzzzy.

raa.

1922 AC&F

C&O Office Car 3

The Chapel Hill was originally built in 1922 for Post Cereals Heiress, Marjorie Merriweather Post, and stock broker and investment banker E.F. Hutton, at the St. Charles, Missouri plant of American Car & Foundry.

Originally christened Hussar, the car was used for company business and personal travel between their principal residence in New York City; their Hispanic-Moresque winter estate, "Mar-a-lago", in Palm Beach; and Camp Topridge, the couple’s summer retreat in the Adirondacks of upstate New York. It was also used extensively for entertainment, as Post was known as a lavish hostess.

The Huttons divorced in 1935 and the Hussar became a part of Post’s settlement. She later remarried Joseph E. Davies, a Washington, D.C. attorney and ambassador to the Soviet Union and Belgium. After the Davies left for the Soviet Union in 1937, the Hussar was sold to the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway.

Shortly after the car was acquired, a Pullman air-conditioning system, complete with roof ducting, was installed. The Hussar was renamed simply Office Car 2. It was renumbered several times before finally settling on Office Car 3.

In 1957, the CC&O modernized the entire window line. Other exterior changes through the years included roller bearings added to the trucks, a rebuilt open-platform and the service door relocated to the opposite side of the car, across from the kitchen and pantry.

DeWitt Chapple, Jr. purchased Office Car 3 from C&O in 1971. Chapple retained the car’s number, but added the name Chapel Hill after his alma mater, the University of North Carolina, in Chapel Hill.

French postcard by Humour a la Carte, Paris, no ST-198. Photo: Marianne Rosenstiehl. Mickey Rourke in Year of the Dragon (Michael Cimino, 1985).

American actor and former boxer Mickey Rourke (1952) received critical praise for his deep, tortured characters in the Charles Bukowski biopic Barfly (1987) and the horror mystery Angel Heart (1987). In 1991, Rourke left acting and became a professional boxer for a time. After returning to acting, he had supporting roles in the remake of Get Carter (2000), and Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003). Rourke made his mainstream comeback with lead roles in Sin City (2005) and The Wrestler (2008), for which he received a Golden Globe, and an Oscar nomination. Since then, Rourke has appeared in blockbusters as Iron Man 2 (2010) and Immortals (2011).

Philip Andre 'Mickey' Rourke Jr. was born in Schenectady, New York, in 1952, He was the son of Ann (Cameron) and Philip Andre Rourke, a bodybuilder. He has a brother, Joey, and an older sister, Patricia. The nickname Mickey was given to him as a child by his parents, who thought he looked like a mouse. When he was six, his parents divorced. A year later, his mother married Eugene Addis, a Miami Beach police officer, and mother and son moved to Miami Shores, Florida. There, he went to the Miami Beach Senior High School. At that time, he was more interested in baseball and boxing than in acting. Rourke joined a self-defense course at the Boys Club of Miami. Here he learned to box and began a career as an amateur boxer. At the age of 12, he won his first match in the 51-54 kg category. He then called himself Andre Rourke. Later, he moved to a gym on 5th Street in Miami and joined the Police Athletic League. In 1969, he briefly became a sparring partner of Luis Rodriguez, who at that time was the world light heavyweight champion. In 1971, he suffered a concussion during a boxing match, so doctors ordered him to stop boxing for a year. After working for a short time as a busboy at the famed Forge Restaurant on Miami Beach, Rourke moved back to New York to seek out a career in acting. he attended acting classes at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute. Rourke says of himself that he was a shy and reserved student, but very comfortable with improvisation. His teacher Sandra Seacat convinced him to move to Los Angeles. After a few small roles on television, Rourke made his film debut in the small role of Private Reese in Steven Spielberg's war comedy 1941 (1979). A year later, he appeared in Heaven's Gate (Michael Cimino, 1980), one of the biggest commercial failures in film history that meant the end of United Artists. A year later, he appeared alongside Kathleen Turner and William Hurt as a pyro expert in the thriller Body Heat (Lawrence Kasdan, 1982). This is generally regarded as his breakthrough.

In the 1980s, Mickey Rourke began to claim the lead role a little more often. He was one of Steve Guttenberg and Kevin Bacon's young pals in Barry Levinson's Diner (1982). He appeared as the sensitive and protective older brother of Matt Dillon in Francis Ford Coppola's Rumble Fish (1983). Rourke had his first lead role in The Pope of Greenwich Village (Stuart Rosenberg, 1984), co-starring with Eric Roberts. He reunited with Michael Cimino for the violent police film Year of the Dragon (1985), based on a scenario by Oliver Stone. Rourke gave a bravura performance as police captain Stanley White, fanatically determined to eliminate John Lone, the crime boss of New York's Chinatown. The film was hotly contested in the United States, however, with critics denouncing the negative portrayal of Chinese people and the overtly racist nature of its central character. He gained the status of sex symbol with the erotic drama 9½ Weeks (Adrian Lyne, 1986), which became one of Rourke's best-known films. He plays John, a man who starts an affair with Elizabeth (Kim Basinger). A year later, he played the lead in Angel Heart (Alan Parker, 1987), opposite Robert De Niro. The film was once again controversial in the United States, initially rated X (under 17) because of the sex scene between Rourke and the young Lisa Bonet, fresh off The Cosby Show. The sequence was eventually censored in the cinema and Rated R. For his next film, Barfly (Barbet Schroeder, 1987), the actor received rave reviews for his role as the alcoholic writer Henry Chinaski, based on Charles Bukowski. These rebellious anti-hero characters were especially well-liked in Europe and especially France where Rourke was a popular film idol.

Mickey Rourke wrote, produced, and starred in Homeboy (Michael Sereesin, 1988), a film about a near brain-dead prizefighter. It skipped theatrical release and went straight to home video. Rourke joined Walter Hill's Johnny Handsome (1989), then appeared in Wild Orchid (Zalman King, 1989). Divorced from his first wife Debra Feuer in 1989, he met actress-model Carré Otis on the set, who became his wife in 1992. The film was mocked by critics for its overall weakness and its sex scenes considered too explicit, some of which were cut to avoid the film being classified as pornographic. Rourke played another anti-hero in Desperate Hours (Michael Cimino, 1990) but was nominated for a Razzie Award for Worst Actor of the Year for his performances in The Wild Orchid and Desperate Hours. He worked with David Bowie on his album 'Never Let Me Down'', but his film career had taken a turn downhill. Another setback was Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man (Simon Wincer, 1991), with Don Johnson. Rourke later admitted that he only made the film for the money. He decided to take up boxing again. He felt that he was self-destructive and had no respect for the actor Rourke. His boxing career did not go smoothly. Under the supervision of his coach, Chuck Zito of the Hells Angels, he was often injured. In retrospect, he would admit that he was too old to return to boxing, but that he had done so anyway for personal reasons. In 1995, he continued to work on his film career but he had to make do with supporting roles. In 1997, Mickey Rourke appeared on screen with his face surgically altered, his features enlarged and his body thickened in Double Team (Tsui Hark', 1997) opposite Jean-Claude Van Damme. Rourke also reprised his role as an s&m fetishist in Another 9 1/2 Weeks (Anne Goursaud, 1997), a virtual remake of the original, only sans the redeeming presence of Kim Basinger. He had a small part in Francis Ford Coppola's adaptation of John Grisham's The Rainmaker (1997). There were also quite a few roles that barely came to light. In the critically-worshipped The Thin Red Line (Terrence Malick, 1997), his role was edited out. Unemployed and broke, he had to sell his motorbike collection and his Los Angeles mansion to pay off his creditors and was temporarily committed when his friends became concerned about his suicidal tendencies. In 1999, he played an important role in the Flemish film Shades (Erik Van Looy, 1999). He also appeared as a transvestite prisoner in Steve Buscemi's Animal Factory (2000), and opposite Sylvester Stallone in Get Carter (Stephen T. Kay, 2000). The latter film, above all, enabled him to straighten out his financial situation, thanks to Stallone.

Mickey Rourke gave an impressive supporting performance in Sean Penn's police procedural-cum-harrowing study of obsession, The Pledge (2001) opposite Jack Nicholson. After Rourke played a role in the music video for the song 'Hero' by Enrique Iglesias, he appeared in Roberto Rodriguez's hit Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003). As a harbinger of things to come, a powerful creative bond formed between the weathered, iconic Rourke and the tireless director on the Mexico set. In 2005 they again teamed for Rodriguez's and Frank Miller's eagerly anticipated big-screen adaptation of Miller's Sin City comics. Bruce Lawton writes at AllMovie: "Cast as lovelorn brute Marv, Rourke delivered an impressive performance as an imposing beast of a fellow bent on avenging the death of an angelic prostitute in this stylish noir comic book come to life, which gave him cult status among a new generation of fans." In 2004, Rourke delivered a memorable supporting performance in Tony Scott's Man on Fire alongside Denzel Washington. It marked the first film in a two-picture creative partnership between Scott and Rourke, the second half of which came to fruition with Domino (2005) starring Keira Knightley. In 2008, he collaborated with Darren Aronofsky on the film The Wrestler. Rourke was widely praised for his role as Randy "The Ram" Robinson, a wrestler who is way past his prime. Besides the typical elements of a sports drama, the film also contains some striking similarities with Rourke's own career as a boxer and actor. Mickey Rourke won a Golden Globe in 2009 for this role. Rourke would enjoy sustained success in the years to follow, appearing in films like The Expendables (Sylvester Stallone, 2010), and Iron Man 2 (Jon Favreau, 2010) with Robert Downey Jr. and Scarlett Johansson. The latter brought in more than $312 million in the United States. His later films include Immortals (Tarsem Singh, 2011), the thriller The Courier (Hany Abu-Assad, 2012), and the Western Dead in Tombstone (Roel Reiné, 2013).

Sources: Bruce Lawton (AllMovie), Chase Rosenberg (IMDb), Wikipedia (Dutch, French, and English), and IMDb.

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

Some of the Disney VHS tapes I currently own.

- Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs - 1994 Masterpiece Collection

- Pinocchio - 1993 Walt Disney Classics

- Fantasia - 1991 Walt Disney Classics

- Dumbo - 1991 Walt Disney Classics

- Bambi - 1989 Walt Disney Classics

- The Three Caballeros - 1994 Masterpiece Collection

- Fun and Fancy Free - 1997 Masterpiece Collection

- Melody Time - 1998 Masterpiece Collection

- Cinderella - 1988 Walt Disney Classics

- Alice in Wonderland - 1986 Walt Disney Classics

- Alice in Wonderland - 1994 Masterpiece Collection

- Peter Pan - 1990 Walt Disney Classics

- Lady and the Tramp - 1987 Walt Disney Classics

- Sleeping Beauty - 1986 Walt Disney Classics

- Sleeping Beauty - 1997 Masterpiece Collection

- One Hundred and One Dalmatians - 1992 Walt Disney Classics

- The Sword in the Stone - 1991 Walt Disney Classics

- The Jungle Book - 1997 Masterpiece Collection

- Robin Hood - 1991 Walt Disney Classics (includes orange-red FBI Warning screens and the cut-short Classics logo)

- The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh - 1996 Masterpiece Collection

- The Rescuers - 1992 Walt Disney Classics

- The Fox and the Hound - 1994 Walt Disney Classics

- The Black Cauldron - 1998 Masterpiece Collection

- The Great Mouse Detective - 1992 Walt Disney Classics

- The Brave Little Toaster

- Oliver and Company - 1996 Masterpiece Collection

- The Little Mermaid - 1990 Walt Disney Classics

- DuckTales The Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp

- The Rescuers Down Under - 1991 Walt Disney Classics

- Beauty and the Beast - 1992 Walt Disney Classics

- Aladdin - 1993 Walt Disney Classics

- The Muppet Christmas Carol (even though it's from Jim Henson Video, I still count it as a Disney movie)

- The Lion King - 1995 Masterpiece Collection

- A Goofy Movie

- Pocahontas - 1995 Masterpiece Collection

- Toy Story

- Flubber

- Toy Story 2

- 102 Dalmatians

BOX DATE: 1997

MANUFACTURER: Mattel

DOLLS IN PACK: Barbie, Kelly

VARIATIONS: Blonde; African American; Hispanic

BODY TYPE: 1966; white molded B print panties; Twist 'n Turn waist; articulated elbows; speaker on torso; battery compartment & button on back; bend & snap knees

HEAD MOLD: 1976 "Superstar"; pierced ears

SPECIAL FEATURES: Talks

PERSONAL FUN FACT: The funny thing is, I don't ever remember seeing Dentist Barbie in stores. I'm sure that we crossed paths many times in the toy aisles when I was growing up, but I guess I never picked her up on my radar. But that being said, Dentist Barbie came to be one of the most iconic 90s Barbie dolls ever made to me. I was about seven years old when I encountered a Dentist Barbie at my local flea market. She was on a table with a bunch of other Barbies, who were all laid out for $1 or $2. I gazed over the selection of dolls, when Dentist Barbie caught my eye. She was still wearing her original uniform, but it had come unbuttoned, leaving her bosoms exposed. I recall trying to snap Barbie's dress back up, because I felt bad leaving her in such a state of undress. But the uniform kept popping open, which made me feel so very terrible for her. I remember that I was by myself--Dad, Colleen, and Mom were looking at some other stuff. Despite the fact that this event took place close to twenty years ago, I still vividly recall finding Dad and asking him if I could get a doll. He gave me the $2, and I promptly returned to the table to get Dentist Barbie. Colleen's interest was piqued when she realized I got a doll, and she too felt bad for the poor, exposed doll. When I got home with my new dolly, I had to work her into our current doll game, which featured Pearl Beach Christie and Bathtime Fun Kelly (the African American version). I decided that Dentist Barbie would be the nanny...and in the process, I made Christie turn into a villain. My idea of a "bad guy" was a poor housekeeper and a neglectful sister. Christie left piles of unwashed dishes in the sink, didn't make the beds, didn't tend to the garden, and of course didn't feed or bathe her little sister. Dentist Barbie became the heroine--I made her transform the untidy house into a magically clean space, and little Kelsey (that was Kelly's name) fell in love with her. By the end of the game, Christie had left, and Dentist Barbie and Kelsey were left to their happy ending in the Fold 'n Fun House. I still vividly remember dressing Barbie up in my 90s fashion packs, making her rake the paper leaves outside the house, and having her feed Kelsey at our Eat 'n Fun Kelly highchair. I still remember the day that Colleen and I forgot Kelsey and Barbie on the little kid sized table outside in the yard, and when we returned home, they were soaked because it rained. We rushed the dolls inside, dried them off, and changed them into fresh clothes. Dentist Barbie, who I purchased purely because I felt sorry for her, became my favorite doll. This love was only ever superseded by a handful of dolls--Jewel Girl Teresa, 2001 Sparkling Jasmine, and Travel in Style Barbie. Sadly, none of the dolls shown in this picture are my childhood Dentist Barbie. We parted ways only a year or so after I got her (if that). I went through this phase as an eight year old in which I felt bad having "too many" dolls. I think part of this was a manifestation of my un-diagnosed OCD. I became fixated on the number of dolls I had, how much space they took up, etc. This wasn't a healthy purge of sorts, that rid me of excess dolls I didn't love or use. Instead, it was almost a form of self punishment--I got rid of some of my favorite dolls of all time, including Dentist Barbie and Jewel Girl Teresa. There were dolls I hadn't even owned a month that I gave away, all for the sake of having less. The worst part of it all is that immediately after my friends were all gone, I was left with pangs of guilt and regret. So I started hunting for replacements right away, but Dentist Barbie eluded me.

The search for a blonde Dentist Barbie continued into my adulthood. After a five year hiatus, I was still desperate to reunite myself with Dentist Barbie. As a kid, I know I had purchased a shabby Dentist Barbie at the flea market (she may have been in a bin). But this doll had cut hair, broken thumbs, and a super wonky face. She looked nothing at all like my first beautiful doll...and I got rid of her as an adult (it's a shame really). I saw a few other Dentist Barbies on my quest, but I wanted a very specific looking one--I turned them all down, because they were wonky, broken, or just plain unattractive (beggars can't be choosers, but apparently I was). Anyways, I found my first blonde doll shown here wearing handmade earrings at an outdoor flea market in 2011. She was on a table, much like my childhood doll, sprawled out with tons of other dolls. The moment I met her, I knew she was the one. I managed to swap her into her uniform, which was being worn by another doll (the seller gave me permission). Despite the fact that she was in poorer condition than my childhood gal, all was right with the world, and I finally had my beloved Dentist Barbie.

The girl on the right is my newest and most wonderful Dentist Barbie! She was part of the "Clueless lot" of 2017. Ironically, for someone who searched for so long and in such desperation for a blonde Dentist Barbie, I paid this doll no mind when I first stumbled upon her at the flea market. Originally, Colleen and I were not going to buy the entire bin, because it cost $20 and we already had the majority of the dolls. We selected seven dolls and were going to pay for them separately, when the seller made a new offer of $15 for the lot. This is when a horrible event occurred. Barbie's baby sister Kelly must have been left behind as we transferred the seven dolls out of the paper bag and into one of Colleen's reusable shopping bags. Something nagged at me and told me to double check the paper bag before we left, but I ignored my instincts, and when we got home, I was horrified to realize that Kelly was gone. We went back to the flea market minutes after the discovery, only to come home empty handed. Up until the Kelly incident, I was preoccupied with the other new dolls, and had not taken much notice of this Barbie. But when I felt the need to apologize to her because I lost her sister, I realized how lucky I was. She looks EXACTLY like my first Dentist Barbie, the doll I rescued all those years ago. She has the same exact eye placement, facial expression, and beauty. She is even in wonderful condition like my old friend. While Kelly's fate is undoubtedly heart breaking, the one upside to this story is that I feel the Dentist Barbie chapter in my life has truly been closed. This doll is quite literally the closest thing I will ever get to my actual childhood doll, and for that I will be forever grateful. She's easily my most prized and appreciated Dentist Barbie in my collection (although I love them all). And I hope that my love can make up the loss of her sister to Barbie.

Two points to consider:

1. I am old (70, last time I checked)

2. I ALWAYS try to be a lady

So I was tagged. Three times.

I'll do my best to get in all 60 facts...

1: I hate having my face on the internet! Hence why I've just used an old picture of Ek.

2: I really like Ninjago despite being at the very top of the age range.

3: Per above, I kinda consider it a guilty pleasure.

4: Per above once more, my sigfig is based in the Ninjago story.

5: I HAVE A SIGFIG! His name is Cypher.

6: I like Doctor Who. I have no regrets.

7: Per above, I dislike the 12th Doctor and his series.

8: I actually have a MOC that's ready to post! I've just been away from my picture taking area due to real life things.

9: SCREW RAHKSHI HEADS. I originally used them for the CotF MOCs, but have officially done away with as many as I can.

10: I'm attempting a stop motion series called City of the Fallen (CotF). I only just recently got my final voice actors, though.

11: I have a story in my head that I intend to turn into a book series.

12: My birthday is in October.

13: My best friend has a Self-MOC, thanks to yours truely. His CotF Self-MOC is Asurwolf, and his other Self-MOC, based in Entropy's story, is named Hunt.

14: I am a Libra, according to the European Zodiac.

15: I am a Dragon according to the Chinese Zodiac.

16: Fact 15 is a good thing because dragons are my favorite animal even if they don't exist.

17: I love the ._. emoticon, and almost any variation, such as ;-; or ;~;

18: I have a few dozen ideas for characters, but haven't been able to set piece to piece and make them. Mostly because they're all difficult designs.

19: My first serious MOC was not in fact Ek, but a character named Silent Fire.

20: Silent Fire has also been reimagined and is in the same storyline as Entropy. She's also a girl now.

21: My favorite type of music is instrumental/orchestral.

22: I used to play piano. My last teacher ruined it for me, though.

23: Two Steps From Hell, Audiomachine, and the like are my favorite bands.

24: I dislike uplifting music.

25: Fact 24 is also the reason I don't like certain soundtracks.

26: In case you didn't notice, I'm categorizing the facts :P

27: I don't feel all of my popularity on here is rightfully earned, as I have had support from people who were already popular.

28: My name, Ekorak, is actually based off of my own edit to the word "ichor" from mythology.

29: Per above, that is because Ekorak's original concept was for him to be a "godhunter" of some sort, as in Greek mythology, ichor was the blood of the gods.

30: My favorite colors are many: Black, green, blue, and purple.

31: I have braces. I don't recommend them ;~;

32: My eyes were blue as an infant, but my eyes are currently pale green.

33: I will not share my legal name, but my family refers to me as Buddy more often than my real name.

34: Per above, this has been my nickname since before I could walk. Hence why I don't really mind it.

35: I actually answer to Ekorak in real life. True story.

36: I actually like gaming. However, normal FPS games are overrated and usually crappy, in my opinion.

37: I do however play specific games. My favorites are Skyrim, Quake II, Quake III, and Castle Crashers, in no particular order. Three of those are also FPS.

38: I hardly ever play games on my tablet. Mostly just browse the internet and watch Youtube.

39: I have gotten an insanely lucky frag on Quake II, involving a triple kill with only two other people on the map.

40: Due to the above fact, my old Quake gamertag was Railgun.

41: I AM OUT OF FACTS

42: THE REAL 41, 42, AND ALL THE WAY UP TO 60 WILL COME LATER

Camaioni(PO) 11 Ottobre 2023

La E.483.057-2 I-GTSR in transito sul ponte ferroviario sull'Arno nei pressi di Camaioni(PO) mentre svolge il Livorno Darsena / Reggio Emilia

Hover Fly 2

I would just like to ask my friends to join my group The Magical World of Photography! it has some competitions and games if you are already a memeber it would be nice if you entered in the Rust Competition! REMEMBER HAVE FUN!! PLEASE.

Friday, 2nd January 2008

Please use with permission and full attribution

{,,,,,,

So I've now developed my first test roll of FP4+ for 510-Pyro, using RZ67.

This was at box speed, following published dev time of 10mins at 20ºC. I screwed up the last frame in the sequence, so the bottom row frames here are the same (the last one should be a stop darker for Zone 10).

I was hoping to make an argyrotype of this today to confirm, but I've compared this against my set of test negs for Pyrocat HD and I think the film speed is OK actually, at 125 (as opposed to 64 which I used for PyrocatHD) but, even with the extra zone 10 exposure here, I still think I could go a stop up in the development time, so N+1 would be N for a bit more expansion in the highlights. So perhaps 12'15".

Will try to expose and process some 10x8 sheets and see. Not a particular hardship if they don't quite work for argyrotype because they'll scan fine.

Quick thoughts on the difference in use between the two developers.

1) I'm v glad to not have to do the extra steps that I've been doing with PyrocatHD, e.g. using a v weak acetic acid stop bath, and a hypo clear step (though tbh I don't think either of these were either totally necessary or desirable).

2) I wish 510-Pyro was less gloopy and messy and more easily mixed in (for Pyrocat HD in glycol I happily used a 5ml measure for both parts as opposed to a cumbersome syringe process, which I started with for Pyrocat but ditched. 510 is far too gloopy to afford this convenience it seems).

3) The stain seems good to me!

4) Looking forward to making a better fixer. Since I've run out of TF4, I've been using my own alkali hypo+soda mix, but this easily runs past 10mins fixing time (this was the second run for this lot of fixer and the clearing time was 7 minutes, starting at 5mins). I could use Ilford Rapid Fixer but don't want to reduce the stain particularly.

Also NB pink tinge is a reminder to wash the negs properly (I just did these using Ilford method, which isn't enough, clearly). If the tinge is still there after 10 cycles of water, then I'll reintroduce the hypoclear step maybe.

Taken in the fall time in beautiful Wisconsin. I live in Manhattan and I do miss the open land in the midwest. Fall time was a bit dry when I was back in my home state which resulted in a bright golden fields of dried hay. You can see a bit of that in the background.

I didn't do anything particularly different with this picture. I did use Lucis Pro to enhance the sunset haze coming off the river as the temp of the air cooled and the water remained warm. Shot with 3 exposures (-2,0, +2). I hope you enjoy.

Company/Owner: Admiral Transport, Inc.

Bus/Fleet Number: 8538

Classification: Non Air–conditioned City Bus

Coachbuilder: Trans–Oriental Motor Builders, Inc.

Model: Dongfeng/Trans–Oriental XML6103 Marcopolo 2

Engine: Yuchai YC6J230–20 (J40FA)

Chassis: Dongfeng EQ6100K (LGF1FBJS9FF)

Transmission: 5–speed M/T

Seating Configuration: 3x2

Seating Capacity: 59

Route: Novaliches, Quezon City–Baclaran, Parañaque City via EDSA–Congressional Avenue–Mindanao Avenue–Quirino Highway (Quezon City) and vice versa (City Operation)

Date taken: April 29, 2017

* Some parts of the specifications and route are subject for verification and may be changed without any prior notice.

#TeamPBPA #PhilippineBus

So,,,,,,, my new obsession with Princess Aurora rages on. (I should really stop because 1. I'm butchering my wallet 2. I'm eager to see what DS has in store for next year! the "Aurora's Year") Anyways. I've always adored this redesign of her. I felt like this redesign for her was appropriate because I think that THIS is how her dress would be when she became queen. (weird~) I loved all the versions that were made for this redesign; But I'll have to say, Mattel's dress really impressed me the most. Anyways, I got the JCP's Aurora doll and put her in Mattel's dress and DS's jewelry and I put the DS's Aurora doll in the US version of the deluxe dress but in Mattel's jewelry. I tried swapping it but I think the Mattel's jewelry suits the DS's dress more because of the rhinestones on her dress and I felt that it looked abit too much with the Mattel's dress because the dress has this huge jewel attached to her chest already - so, a simple crown and necklace would do.

This isn't for my 365. I was tagged, and wanted to do it before I forgot. So I found one of my favorite pictures of me, since it just desrcibes me so well (Girly enough to love dresses, particularly prom dresses, but boyish enough to wear my Chucks.)

I can't take credit for this, it's one of my Senior portraits. Photo credit goes to Sarah Tarabocchia at Imago Dei Photography.

10 Things.

1. My favorite shoe in the entire world is Converse Chuck Taylors. High tops specificially. My dream is to own a pair in every color. I'd settle for some being colored laces though, to go with all of my back pairs. Right now I've got black, purple, and green. Plus my vintage gray ones with the Chuck symbol on them.

2. I'm not sure a day goes by without me watching Law and Order: SVU.

3. I don't remember how to fall asleep by myself without a movie or something playing in the background.

4. There are a few things that I "girl out" over. Dresses/shopping is one. Others include shoes, jewelry, my hair, and cute and fluffy animals.

5. I want an English Bulldog so badly. I would name him something British or formal sounding, but I'm not entirely sure what yet. Humphrey, Leonard, etc.

6. My first year of college (both in general and as a theatre major) is almost done. This scares the living poo out of me.

7. I've been toying with the idea of opening my own theatre when I leave college. But really, I haven't decided what I want to do once I graduate. Act, direct, teach etc. Just something in theatre.

8. Fruit punch and I are in love. It is likely to be served at my wedding.

9. I never stay single for very long. I just don't like it.

10. My family and friends mean the world to me. I'd be nothing without thier love and support, and I thank them from the bottom of my heart.

1. I love hydrangeas.

2. I love reading.

3. I love reading ABOUT hydrangeas.

:)

NY COMIC CON DAY 2: I am SO GLAD not an inch of her was invisible.

There is the second step of my MK1 drawing. This is how it looks after 6 hours... Im still not sure about the wheels and tires, but I think I will have to live with them... Hope you like it :)

I recently posted its sister plant, Howeara Lava Burst 'Puanani', which is the redder of the 2. I've always had problems growing these. The leaves get spotted and the pseudobulbs get shrivelled.

I've repotted both howearas in a more airy mixture, in the hopes of keeping the roots happier. They can otherwise make good houseplants, not requiring much light to flower. Both plants are tiny and will most likely pot them together next spring. This is a welcomed bloomer in November, while the rest of my orchids get ready to sleep in the cooler and darker months of the year.

ok so another group guide. after i saw guardians of the galaxy vol 2 i was compelled to make the original team shown in the after credits scene.for krugarr the nexo knights red tail piece is an obvious choice, the torso is a red ninja ninjago torso and for the head i have considered the swamp man head with the top fin sanded down however the chima bat headpiece if painted red and sanded could work well. its a bit oversized but i think it can work for now.for charlie 27 due to his large stature i plan on painting a lego flashlight keychain and then applying decals. the torso will be based off of dwalins from the hobbit sets and his head will be like war machines. for martinex i wasnt sure if his outfit was a dark blue or black. i know he is in stakars crew and he wears blue but when looking at the photos of martinex the blue seems to be caused by the lighting rather than being the actual colour of the fabric. the old police torso i believe is perfect for martinex as it as the diagonal zip running from left to right. i was considering using the transparent electro head for martinex or another clear head although martinex has more of a metallic head than crystal so i opted for the knockoff silver surfer head. i think i may leave him without a hairpiece for now as he only has small spiles on his head. a proper hairpiece would probably be overdoing it. and lastly for aleta ogord i searched the internet for a female green torso and found nothing that i thought represented her look. i endeded up choosing mantis torso for her although i may change this if i find something better. i thought the head pictured was a suitable likeness and the hairpiece from the adventure time marceline figure is pretty spot on. in some concept art however aleta appears to have pink streaks in her hair so the gamora hairpiece may end up working for her. the small inaccuracies in these figures come down to a lack of clear photos so i apologise for that. anyway thats it for now let me know what you think! also check out ⒽⓄⓅⒺ hes done a really good stakar ogord figure!

WEEK 2 – Spaghetti Warehouse “Double Helping,” Part 2

I thought this shot would be cool: an overview of the property with both the building and the road sign included in the same shot. Thankfully, my phone takes widescreen photos, so it was able to fit all of this into one image, haha! Granted, I still had to step off of the sidewalk and into the street to be able to manage this one… but no worries there, as Huling dead-ends at some railroad tracks just out of view to my left, so I wasn’t in any danger of being hit by traffic :P (Unless some crazed maniac driver hungry for spaghetti was to swerve around the corner from out of nowhere in order to nab that last available parking spot on the bottom left XD )

The Spaghetti Warehouse (now closed) // 40 W Huling Avenue, Memphis, TN 38103

(c) 2018 Retail Retell

These places are public so these photos are too, but just as I tell where they came from, I'd appreciate if you'd say who :)

After the first roll through the KMZ FT-2, I had a look at the innards to see what was causing the scratches. I found a few bits of dust on the backing plate, so I cleaned it off and ran another roll through the camera on Monday down in Point Pleasant Beach. Victory! No scratches! That was an easy fix. There's still some unevenness in exposure, but not as pronounced; I used 1/100 and 1/200 instead of 1/400. Seems imperfectly usable to me.

Shot on Plus-X (expired 1989, shot at box speed), developed in HC-110 1:90 for 18 minutes, agitation every three minutes.

Picture taken with Kamlan 50mm f/1.1 for EF-M mount at about f/1.1 or 1.2. I love the Bokeh.

please also view → flic.kr/p/dYzn62 → Farmall 2

I've never been one for the fictional bus fleets, however with Mrs Revenge now granting permission for a OO gauge model railway layout in the loft all that has changed.

After much head scratching for a location and name the offspring came up with 'Lilford', the name being taken from a park and woodland close to home.

We'll have more from Lilford in due course, but it's a post deregulation bus operator has been created to take on the might of the large dominant operator. London & Country livery has been standardised on for two reasons : 1, I picked up a few L&C liveried models cheap which were ideal : 2, I couldn't be arsed sourcing models, stripping them and then devising a livery.

Old names off, New Lilford Traveller names designed and printed..........Bingo!