View allAll Photos Tagged Actually
I actually got up at 4:00 a.m. today to try out the 5d Mark II in the Glades. With perhaps only 3 hours sleep, a red bull, I headed out to the grounds made famous by Claudia and Carlos to give it a try. The "sunrise" was so so, but the clouds were great and perfect for HDR. This is the result.
Happy Sunday and Go Dolphins!
The last vehicle numerically in the fleet currently, 1415 is one of the former Lothian E400 examples bought for TM Travel and Notts and Derby, initially with a set number for each. However, more have since moved to TM travel and are slowly being painted into this black livery with red and orange strips along the side.
Don’t get me wrong it’s quite a bland livery to choose, but I actually quite like these in this livery, it seems to give a more modern appearance to these. I’m also glad Notts and Derby repainted a couple of theirs into their green and blue rather than the similar black livery, but with TM I think theirs are well suited to this livery - they’re about the smartest buses in their fleet with all the other random Trent liveries being left.
Their fleet is in desperate need of painting, so these are the best they can offer I’d say!
I actually met the owner of this old farmhouse. She owns the surrounding farm and lives in the newer, larger house next door. She saw me lurking around her land and came to investigate my intentions. Once she knew what I was up to, she shared some history. This was the first house that she lived in when she married her late husband. In 1944. 65 years ago.
Her son is responsible for keeping it up and a lot of work seems to have been done to it. She gave me permission to "go ahead and take your picture." I didn't push to go inside, but I took a few outside.
...actually, I think this is the FOURTH one I've made.
So the picking out of the fabric takes the most time - cutting the pieces isn't too bad. The sewing takes no time at all - I had all of the arc pieces done in a half hour, marked out for the white pieces and cut those, pinned them up and sewed it all together. I'd say it takes about 2 hours to piece this whole top together, fer reals.
Now to figure out what to use for the back!
Actually based on a real car which makes its lack of a bonnet much more palatable ;-p
Brand new Hot Wheels casting for 2022 found recently at ASDA. Mint and boxed.
Actually, this was from dinner the night BEFORE Pride. I painted my nails pink and sparkly on Saturday to get a jump on the Jem costume the next morning. Fortunately, I'm shameless that way! :)
Actually these cattle were let into this vineyard deliberately in order to help get rid of the plants. As a different grape will be grown here in the future.
Actually it says 'Lloyds Pharmacy' but who cares about apostrophes these days? (I do.)
Arriva’s 6003 pauses in Princes Risborough town centre on its way to High Wycombe on a 300.
But this is actually central London this month, And that canal is situated immediately outside a side entrance of Paddington Station, one of the busiest stations in the capital.
If you are old enough you may remember stories of the Provos of Amsterdam. They were kind of radical hippies or anarchists who occupied empty buildings all over the city and even an old ship in the harbour! . The Provos had many radical ideas and plans based on green and left leaning principles. One plan which they actually instigated was to place white painted bicycles all over the city for people to use freely and then leave somewhere for the next user. It did work for a while but one by one the bicycles mysteriously began to vanish.
If there's only one time when you should actually listen to everyone that says: "You have to see this movie."
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Actually, it wasn't dinner but lunch in an Asian restaurant.
I grapped everything available: the thing, where the chopsticks are in, the napkin, that papery thing under your plates, a take-away-menu ... and some pictures from the buffet!
The only thing from me is the page's background!
Enjoy your meal! :-)
Actually, they catch fish perpendicular to their beak. Then they have to flip it around a quarter turn to swallow it head first. Sometimes a risky maneuver, but this fellow had no trouble with it.
This is actually one of my favorite cars, its so unique and yet so kitsch and the color is just amazing. Description that follows is courtesy of Wikipedia:
The Kaiser Dragon was a trim option and later a model of car produced by the American Kaiser automotive company. The name, Dragon, came from the vinyl upholstery claimed to resemble dragon skin. After a year of no Dragons, the 1953 Kaiser Dragon was introduced on Oct. 31, 1952.[7] This time, the Dragon was a separate model, not a trim option.[1][7] These cars were upscale, and had many high-end standard features, such as an electric clock, a radio,[1] a heater, windshield wipers, a vinyl top that resembled bamboo, 14-carat gold plated hood and fender nameplates, interior trim(including a nameplate on the glove box door that was personalized with the owner's name),[2][7] and hood ornament, plus power steering[1] and padding in the glove box. They only came in four-door sedans.[1][2] Front leg room was 45.1 inches (1,150 mm), with real leg room at 39.5 inches.[1] Unfortunately, these cars were expensive for the time at $3,924[1] ( a comparable 1953 Buick Roadmaster cost $3,358 and came with Buick's 188 hp 322CID V8, vs. the Dragon's 118 hp[2] I6). Also, 0-60 mph time was a slow 15 seconds.[7] Only 1,277 were sold.
Actually just a scale model I built with LEDs and a lit-up backdrop for the sunset. Lot of time on my hands.
Actually, this is what remains of the stream bank when the water level was much higher during a rainy spell a few weeks ago.
Ocean Park, Washington
Actually, this old wagon is in front of the Gifford House, a museum and store located right next to the Fruita Campground. They are known for their homemade pies and other goodies made from fruits that come from the nearby orchards. I bought a jar of peach jelly which I learned, after some questioning, actually came from TEXAS! (It was still good. They said that, because peaches were out of season, they had to "import".)
He actually looked dead at me, asked A to smile and gave me his "I wanna be a model look" that got me back when i was 15... LOL. He looks like he's wearing a turtle neck but he's not... which is hilarious because he hates them.
You can kinda see here where she gets her lashes from... and her lips. But she's got my big cheeks.. ;) See us all together here.
i caught 2 more with A smiling but she's still looking away and she looks like a pirate.
Actually promoting Rugby World Cup, which will hold in France in September & October 2023. With SBB-CFF-FFS "Léman Express" Stadler Flirt.
St Mary, Flixton, Suffolk
As the Waveney twists eastwards, the rolling, tree-shrouded bluffs on either side hide narrow lanes and secrets. St Mary sits above its village, but there are no views of it until you actually enter the graveyard. If it could be seen from a distance, it would be much better known, because the tower of this important 19th century church is quite like any other in East Anglia. The architect was Anthony Salvin, a flamboyant character, who seems to have based the design of the tower here on the Saxon helm tower of the church at Sompting in Sussex. Salvin was working here in the 1850s, and earlier in the decade there had been a major restoration at Sompting, which had featured heavily in the architectural press. Perhaps it could be said that Sompting was in the contemporary zeitgeist.
This Flixton is not to be confused with its namesake some fifteen miles east on the outskirts of Lowestoft. The current St Mary, and, presumably, the original, were bankrolled by two great landed families, who owned the Flixton estate and lived at Flixton Hall. They were the Tasburghs, and then the Adairs. It was the Adair family, Lord and Lady Waveney, who rebuilt St Mary. The original tower had fallen in the 1830s, and a sketch of 1818 shows it to have been a fairly conventional affair. Many churches rebuilt in the 1860s were done in an Early English style, but Salvin's tower seems to have been intended to complement a Norman survival. Or perhaps it was a preference of the Adairs?
Be that as it may, over the next twenty years the whole church was entirely rebuilt, the nave in a familiar East Anglian Perpendicular, and the chancel in a rather more exotic Norman. There are crisp, clean lines to the whole piece, offset nicely by the cushion of green of the tight little graveyard. Walking around to the north side, there is a curious little octagonal extension at the west end of the north aisle. The startlingly pointed south porch leads into the inner door, and then down into the nave. As you would expect with those great Perpendicular windows, you step into a building only a little less light than outside, but you look east to a chancel shrouded in Norman darkness. There is a stillness, a crispness, as if Salvin and his workers had only just packed up and headed off back to London.
Within the parish are the dramatic ruins of Flixton Priory, at the top of the hill from the church. After the Reformation, it fell into the hands of the Tasburgh family, formerly of St Peter's Hall in the nearby South Elmhams. However, it is unlikely that they saw the inside of St Mary very often, for they were recusants, remaining Catholics during the Elizabethan and Stuart penal years. They are said to have retained a small community of Benedictine monks. Charles II, visiting Flixton Hall, which they built in the ruins of the priory, is reported to have said that "these popish dogs have a beautiful kennel". When the Tasburghs died out, the hall was bought by the Adairs. The Adairs lived here until the 1940s, when the estate was split up, and Flixton Hall sold. In 1950, it was demolished. The last of the Adair line died as recently as 1988.
When the church was rebuilt, the driving force seems to have been Theodosia Adair, Lady Waveney, and the octagonal, vaulted structure at the west end of the north aisle is her memorial chapel, clear glass in the gothic windows illuminating her life-size statue, the work of John Bell. As Mortlock recalls, he is most famous for the work Babes in the Wood, the centrepiece of the main 19th century gallery at Norwich Castle Museum.
A pleasant backwater, but the wider world has been touched by this place. The helpful leaflet in the church remembers a connection which is often forgotten, between the Waveney Valley and the troubled recent history of the United Kingdom. Flixton vicarage, built by the Adairs in the 1870s, was found to be surplus to requirements, and so it was given to the Flixton Estate manager to live in. In the last decade of the 19th century, this was one Captain Charles Boycott, who, having disastrously failed to fulfil the same role in on an estate in Ireland, had given his name as a new word to the English language.
Actually, I finally got around to getting a wireless remote for the camera. Apparently, it works. And in the process created some cashmere bokeh.
Actually it's Ashbridges Bay...Lake Ontario...Ontario......Canada ....Planet Earth....our home, third planet from the Sun. A beautiful blue and white ball when seen from space , it is the largest of the inner planets.
Earth is the only planet known to support life and to have liquid water at the surface.
Day 4. I hate how I feel a tiredness and slight shortness of breath ALL THE TIME. I'd settle for being able to control the flow of drool from my mouth to the floor and/or my panties. Would also be nice to have feeling in my forehead (which actually had some air in it that I squeezed out by accident,then it itched a lot for a min or 2) or in my lower lip. Molly Jane Powers said it will be around for months. All my lower teeth feel like after I had my radial cyst removals when the nerves reattach...I remember constantly rubbing my teeth with paper towels in order to make them feel SOMETHING. Nerve attacks, basically. Well this feels like that. But everywhere. Used a straw without holding my lips together with a hand! Woo!
Claire gets to take her own bath now, with assistance from Carolyn. This surgery doesn't lend itself to giving one the energy to bathe every day, but it's required for two weeks. The burden Claire must bear for her transition, lol.
[NOTE: Picture censored for Facebook/public consumption. Uncensored versions are on our flickr (friends only).]
Claire.
bathing.
bathtub, water.
censored. edited.
practice, 2Pass Clinic, business, Antwerp, Belgium.
September 7, 2018.
... Read my blog at clintjcl at wordpress dot com
Claire got her Facial Feminization Surgery with Dr. Bart Van De Ven at the 2Pass Clinic in Antwerp, Belgium on September 4th, 2018.
***************** FOR THE FULL LOG OF CLAIRE'S FFS RECOVERY, VISIT HER PAGE AT www.facebook.com/cleo.jane.sawyer/posts/459732837767406 *****************
He had a lot of before and after pictures for Claire to look at, and a 6-day stay in their clinic to include food and board was included in the price. It was a really nice facility, and Carolyn was glad that Claire had chosen 2Pass over PriyaMed in India, after seeing CT scans confirming friends had paid for procedures that were never even done (PriyaMed suuuuucks!). Dr. Bart and the entire 2Pass staff, including the resident who lived at the clinic and took care of all the patients, Petra, were very nice and friendly. We absolutely have complaints about the experience -- the implants that made my mouth look worse for months, only to threaten my life, creating two more additional surgeries for me to undergo and recover from. The nerve damage on my chin, which I think could have been avoided if Dr. Bart didn't insist that CT scans are unnecessary while any upscale FFS place does CT scans. The complication under my eye which literally exploded out of my face, but only 14 months later. Letting me leave without my chin strap. Sending me home when I wasn't really fit to fly yet. Having a big wooden table with an irregular shape that people trip over, which is very easy when your eyes are sewn shut. Not shaving as much off my forehead quite as I'd hoped (but still an amazing forehead job!). Not doing as much jaw work as I'd hoped (and that nerve damage). Not including a neck lift in my package when it absolutely should have been (it's so saggy now & it has been indicated as something I should do by another FFS surgeon). The surgery was good -- I've had people tell me in private that my FFS is the best FFS they've ever seen (wow) -- but it wasn't A+ for us. It was more like a A- or B+ for results, B+ for price, C for choosing the right procedures to perform on me, and a C- for complications endured. We felt like there was a lot of room for improvement in our experience as well. Like they don't say what time of day to arrive, and only let you check into your room a few hours before your appointment. So we ended up being several hours late because of this -- they could simply let people in 6-8 hrs before their appointment, then we would have been able to aim earlier and not be late. But at the same time...no regrets. This surgery was the best thing to ever happen to me. I'm very happy with what 2Pass did for me. I just wish things had gone better.
***************** FOR THE FULL LOG OF CLAIRE'S FFS RECOVERY, VISIT HER PAGE AT www.facebook.com/cleo.jane.sawyer/posts/459732837767406 *****************
Transition Progress at this point: 13 months on estrogen HRT (since 8/2017) [injections (and no spiro) since 1/2018: 48 injections in 8mos], 5mos on progesterone (since 4/2018). 3 days since Facial Feminization Surgery at 2Pass Clinic in Antwerp, Belgium (6hr $~30K surgery by Dr. Bart Van De Ven.) DHEA (10mg/4d) to raise testosterone a bit, since 4/2018--5mos. 10X/d Biotin for fingernails since 1/17--8mos. Full-time female since 9/2017--1 year. Publicly out as trans since 10/11/2017--11mos). Legally female since 12/21 (8mos). 7mos of voice training (since 2/2017)--17 speech therapy sessions (2 GWU semesters + 4-clinician session at UDC). Hair removal: 56 electrolysis sessions [since 4/2017] totaling 37.5 hours; 34 laser hair removal sessions [since 9/2016] (55 area treatments: 17/16/14/13 mouth/goatee/face/neck, 9 armpits, 7 legs/chest/ears/Brazilian); and bi-weekly at-home IPL on arms since 6/17 (over a year). Weight down to 145lbs (52 down from 197, but 10 up from 135). Same-weight waist measurement has dropped from 32" (12/2017) to 31" (6/2018) [now 35-31-35]. Boobs (Tanner IV) filling a 34A bra, but unsure of real cup size. Have seen endo/primary therapist 7X [bloodwork 6X], and 4 other therapists 13X--Currently on anticonvulsant mood stabilizer Lamictal (4.5mos since 4/15; 200mg/day). Latisse for eyelash lengthening since 4/17 (1yr,5mos). 2 dental implants, Zoom teeth whitening, pierced ears, star brand on ass (7/14/2018), hair dyed with a bit of purple in front. No haircuts since 1/2015--3.7yrs. Useless Sephora makeup class attended. Minor body contouring procedures purchased on groupon (8 laser lipo + 4 ultrasonic liposculpture + 3 non-invasive buttlift sessions + permanent lip coloring), to be done after FFS. Wardrobe replacement up to 1,140+ items. Total transition expenditures at this point are now over $54,250.
actually a ferry bus at the queens head in Green street Green is TA 17971 LX53 JZO. 17971 is covering as a ferry vehicle for the last driver on the R5 & R10
This is actually a fridge magnet photographed in non-macro mode.
These are some of the things you can/can't compost.
Compost Bins in Norfolk can be purchsed for a few pounds, and are large enough to produce a lot of compost.
The one thing missing here from the list which is important is; your compost material needs water. Not too much otherwise it will become too wet and runny.
Experimenting with your bin over time will result in you learning the right amounts of organic matter needed for successful compost.
The aim of this small project is to highlight the earth's dwindling natural resources and the need to recycle these in a productive way.
Composting is one easy and non-labour intensive way of achieving this. The question could be asked:
"Why bother as this type of matter illustrated will eventually rot in landfill sites?"
The answer is,Yes, it will, but as it is compressed with many other items in a landfill site, it will produce a toxic methane gas, one of the main gases responsible for global warming.
Besides, to produce your own compost, for those tubs and hanging baskets, will cost nothing compared to the bags commercially produced for sale. This type of compost contains peat, which has to be extracted from peat bogs.Peat bog sites are dwindling in numbers, so by composting at home you will also be saving these precious bogs and therefore, helping the environment.
You can find more information on composting at home by visiting the website www.norfolk.gov.uk/compost
Happy composting and thanks for helping the environment.
A true classic! I've actually shot this camera in black and white and I'll post some shots later, The film advance was not working when I got it, but I got it working.
Argus was an American camera company and this is one of their most durable models -- in terms of construction and the fact that it was made in various forms for almost two decades.
Affectionately known as the "Brick" for it's boxy shape and toughness.
A weird rangefinder where you focus through one viewfinder, then shoot through another. Aperture is set by a dial at the very end of the lens, shutter speed with a wheel on the front of the camera, and focus with a wheel on the front that sticks out at the top. The shutter cocking and winding mechanism are separate, which results in double exposures if you're not careful.
Not sharp based on what I see in my shots, but a lot of fun to shoot. Especially at night in a steel mill in freezing cold weather, lol.
I know I won't use it a lot -- but it's a fun camera though you have to use a lightmeter with it.
I bought it for about $20.00 on eBay.
Please visit the Entropic Remnants website or my Entropic Remnants blog -- THANKS!
So I am decorating for Thanksgiving this year. Here is one of the projects I have planned. You know how it is with plans... haha... but this one I actually accomplished. There are at least two more projects to complete. Wish me luck.
I bought these letters at the craft store. They were plain papier-mâché letters that I covered with patterned paper. I cut the leaves from the same paper using a template. The paper is double-sided cardstock paper from K & Company. The leaves got ruffled and inked a bit to make them look real. Well, as real as a patterned paper leaf gets.
The acorns are the pièce de résistance, though! The meaty part is cut from rusty metal mesh. The hat part is cut from a piece of gold embossed paper. They are really cool.
Actually, it's under the Blue Ridge Mountains, but this scene looked like Golum might come rowing out any minute!
HSS!
I have lived off-and-on in Virginia for the past forty years, and it is the place I most consider home. Driving along the roads of the Commonwealth for as long as I can remember I've seen various Luray Cavern billboards promising A World of Natural Beauty! 400 Million Years in the Making! See the Great Stalagpipe Organ! My wife finally put it on the list of things to do this summer, and it was every bit as beautiful, and every bit as campy Americana as I expected.
Actually, I've always kind of liked the Moos Tower, even if it gets held up as an example of fascist architecture. C'mon, it's just futuristic.
Actually this pooch was in the sea but if he had of been here yesterday he could easily have been swimming around in all the floods we had. The rain came down so hard I had it coming through the ceiling in my office - lol.
Anyway the weekend is nearly upon us again - so hoorah!!
Happy Furry Friday everyone
Hope you all have a fabulous weekend:-)
Found at Bethany Lakes Park, Allen, TX.
The Egyptian Goose is not really a goose, but is actually a Shelduck. It is a cross between a goose and a duck. It has many duck-like characteristics, but it also has some external goose-like traits. It is the most widespread of all the African waterfowl. These old-world shelducks were domesticated by the ancient Egyptians, who considered them to be sacred. The Romans and the Greeks also kept Egyptian Geese in domestic flocks.
Description
Two of the most obvious field marks of the Egyptian Goose are the chestnut eye patches surrounding its yellow eyes, and a brown chest patch. There is also a brown stripe that forms a collar around the nape of the neck. There are two color forms of Egyptian Geese: some have gray-brown upper parts, and others are red-brown. The Egyptian Goose is about 25-29” long. It has pink legs and feet. The bill is also pink, with a black tip and a dark base. The male has green secondaries, but a large portion of the adult wing is white. The white usually remains hidden when the bird is at rest, however, the white wing feathers can be easily seen when the bird is in flight. The under tail coverts are cinnamon colored: the upper tail is black. The sexes look alike, but the female is slightly smaller. She also may have a lighter colored head than the male. Close-up, the feathers have a wavy look to them. The young birds look similar to the adult, but lack the eye and chest patches. They have brown eyes.
Range and Habitat
Egyptian Geese are mainly found south of the Sahara in Africa, along the Nile River Valley, and in southern Israel. They were introduced into England in the 1700’s, and some feral birds can be found in the United States. They are usually found inland, close to wet areas, and can sometimes be found on the open plains.
Behavior
The Egyptian Geese are terrestrial; they spend a lot of time ashore. They feed both day and night sometimes far from the water. They are good swimmers and divers, but do not filter their food. They mainly eat seeds, leaves, grass, berries, and herbs. They also eat locusts, worms, insects, and small animals. They can be real pests when they visit cultivated areas in the dry season, causing real damage to crops. They will perch in trees and on buildings, often returning to the same spot each night to roost.
Egyptian Geese are notoriously bad-tempered especially during breeding season. They are quarrelsome and aggressive, very intolerant of other birds, including their own kind. They can even be vicious. The males hiss and the females make a cackling noise.
Egyptian Geese stay in small flocks of family units for the majority of the year, and pair up only during breeding. They usually walk away from danger, seldom flying unless they are surprised. Their flight looks heavy and goose-like, with slow wing-beats. They may fly together in an irregular V-shape formation or in a long line.
Breeding and Nesting
Egyptian Geese are sexually mature at 2 years. It is believed they mate for life. They can breed year around, but usually breed in the spring or at the end of a dry season. They have a noisy courtship with much honking, feather displays, and neck stretching. Pairs nest alone and are excellent parents. They build their nests in a variety of locations including: trees, ledges, on buildings, on the ground, in burrows, and on cliffs. They also use a variety of nesting materials, but the nests are always lined with soft, downy feathers. The female lays 5-8 eggs which are incubated for 28 days. If the nest is built up high, the parents will call to the chicks from down below, until the chicks jump to the ground. The young chicks are reared by both parents. They fly at 11 weeks, but remain with the parents for more several weeks.
Actually not a house at all, though it could be a temple. I actually don't remember, except that it was within the amazing Buddha park where the gigantic siting Buddha resides.
Taken in Leshan, China.
Actually, I was trying to get some sort of flight shot of a Bluebird. Right idea, wrong color.
This male has been hanging around the yard for a couple of years. He has been a good friend for a long time. He is pretty easy to pick out by his bad left foot. Only one claw, and pretty useless for supporting his weight. None the less, he has raised a bunch of baby Cardinals and carries on like a trouper. I guess, since he's old, he flies really slow, so he's easier to photograph :-)
© Steve Byland 2013 all rights reserved
Unauthorized use or reproduction for any reason is prohibited.
Please do not link to or blog this without contacting me first.
Cincinnati (actually Blue Ash), Ohio. From their site "Pandoracon is a brand new convention in Cincinnati, Ohio for fans of science fiction, fantasy, anime, LARP, comics, gaming, cosplay, and various other flights of imagination. . . . The programming of Pandoracon is built around genre fans gathering together to celebrate their joy of all aspects of the Dork Side of the Farce." Now you know as much as I do.
We saw an ad for the event in a local news and entertainment weekly paper, but really didn't understand what this three day gathering was all about and so weren't about to plunk down the registration fee for the unknown. On Friday we went to the motel where things were being set up to see what we could find out. I was more confused after talking to a few of the folks than I was before. The next day we were eating lunch at a nearby restaurant when a couple of the attendees came in dressed in full costume. I struck up a conversation with them and then decided we should go to the motel on the chance we could get some shots of some of the costumed participants. We weren't disappointed although my shots would probably have been better if I was more familiar with my new camera and the conditions had been more conducive to getting a good shot. We plan to return next year and hope to be better prepared.
I have no idea who this guy is supposed to be, but I loved his costume. Perhaps someone in the know will be able to help.
... I guess a few people have wondered where I've been the past few days and so I'll confess. When I tell you about movies or anything else, I do it for me as much as for you, knowing you have every right to delete me and move on. You should do whatever you're moved to do and that's exactly what I'm doing. If you're going to love your neighbor, for which your neighbor will be eternally grateful, it's high time you settled in and learned to love yourself, so you'll have some guidelines for future neighborly action. I make no apologies for my Flickrsite being all about me ... that's what the word ME means. Without the ME you couldn't even make the word MEANING. Surely that means something, then again, maybe not.
I set out to give you a review of the movie LOVE ACTUALLY and what a movie it is. Wikipedia will tell you, it's the incorporation of ten different stories involving love of all sorts, but involving people who are all connected, even if loosely. I got carried away researching the film and here's what I've been doing the past week.
I watched the movie and fell in love with it. I went back and watched the bonus materials, the deleted scenes, the documentary on music, and then I re-watched the movie with the director and several of the leading performers doing a commentary as the movie moved along. That was exciting and I learned a lot of trivia. Trivia always captures my fancy and my fancy is very difficult to capture. Then, of course I picked up trivia of my own.
The first piece of trivia I picked up on was in one of the stories involving an unsuccessful young English stud who believes he'll be much more appreciated by American girls, so flies to Milwaukee where girls in a local bar go gaga over him and his brittle English accent. Three girls take him into their apartment and then go back to England with him at the end of his vacation. Here's the little gem of trivia ... one of those girls is Betty Draper, remember Don Draper, star of Mad Men? What a trollop that lady has turned into. You fans of Mad Men will want to look for her. As she talks she does that magic thing with her eyes, shutting them at key words in her sentencing and looking down and then back up at her subject. In the commentary, the director even told the others to watch what she does with her eyes. It's s small world, I never expected to see Betty in Wisconsin.
Then the big trivia popped up in the form of Heike Makatsch, Harry's secretary who makes passes at him around Christmas time. She is a doppleganger for my granddaughter, Ashley. I may be a month doing this review, at this rate. After watching the reviewed movie, I went back and watched it again to get the sequences straight in my mind. This image is two pictures of Ashley on the left and two of Heike on the right and me in the center, since I'm a part of this transaction also. I've explained that already...Love your neighbor, include yourself remember? I'm anxious to hear what Ashley thinks about this look-a-like who turned up in Love Actually and if my daughter and sons will agree they are phenomenally similar in appearance, or is it just me seeing some vision of my own ... More later.
This from Wikipedia ...
Harry, Karen, and Mia ... Harry (Alan Rickman) is the managing director of a design agency. Mia (Heike Makatsch), his new secretary, clearly has sexual feelings for him. His nascent mid-life crisis allows him tentatively to welcome her attention, and for Christmas he buys her an expensive necklace from jewellery salesman Rufus (Rowan Atkinson), who takes a very long time adding ever more elaborate wrapping while Harry becomes increasingly nervous with the fear of detection. Meanwhile, Harry's wife Karen (Emma Thompson) is busy dealing with their children, Daisy (Lulu Popplewell) and Bernard (William Wadham), who are appearing in the school Nativity, her brother David, a politician who just became the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and her friend Daniel, who has just lost his wife. Karen discovers the necklace in Harry's coat pocket and assumes it is a gift for her, only to be given the CD Joni Mitchell's Both Sides Now to "continue [Karen's] emotional education", as Harry puts it, instead. She then believes Harry is having an affair with Mia (having earlier noticed how closely they were dancing together at their office party), and briefly breaks down alone in her bedroom before composing herself to attend the children's play with her husband. Following the play, Karen confronts Harry over the necklace, who admits, "I am so in the wrong - a classic fool", to which Karen replies: "Yes, but you've also made a fool out of me - you've made the life I lead foolish too", before blinking back tears and enthusiastically congratulating their children. As for Mia, she is shown smiling while trying on the necklace.
Here's the link to Love Actually on Wikipedia ...
I still remember that cheerful voice that narrated useful information while going down on that elevator. An elevator that descended 750 ft below the vast desert that dominates New Mexico. But what I remember is not the actual contents of the speech but rather how much it left me unprepared for what was waiting for me when I got out.
I had never been in caves before, except for a couple of small jaunts to the Luray Caverns in Virginia and the Crystal caves in Sequoia National Park. But Carlsbad Caverns is a completely different beast. The enormity of the caverns, the variety of limestone formations and the creativity of the lighting patterns all made the place so mesmerizing.
And then I actually got to check out unlit caverns and I still vividly remember the amount of light or lack thereof!. Pitch blackness that would put any place above-ground to shame.
I was glad I dragged my tripod along to capture some of the formations, colors and unique shapes found nowhere else.
Carlsbad Caverns National Park
NM USA