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Namchi (Nepali : नाम्ची) or Namtse is the capital of the South Sikkim district in the Indian state of Sikkim. The appellation Namchi means Sky (Nam) High (Chi) in Sikkimese.
GEOGRAPHY
Namchi is located at 27.17°N 88.35°E. It has an average elevation of 1,315 metres.
Namchi is situated at an altitude of 1,675 m above sea level. It is situated at a distance of 78 kilometres from the state capital Gangtok and 100 kilometres from the town of Siliguri, the nearest railhead and airport. Namchi lies off the road between Melli and Jorethang. Namchi is well connected to other towns in Sikkim and West Bengal. Jeeps and buses regularly ply between Namchi to Gangtok, Pelling, Jorethang, Kalimpong and Siliguri.
DEMOGRAPHICS
As of 2011 India census, Namchi has a population of 12194. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Namchi has an average literacy rate of 78%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 81%, and female literacy is 73%. In Namchi, 9% of the population is under 6 years of age. Most of the people of Namchi are Hindus and Buddhists. Languages spoken are Nepali, English and Hindi.
EDUCATION
Namchi has more than half a dozen private schools with quality education (Mt. Carmel School, Namchi Public School, Tendong Educational Institute, Victory Educational Institute, New Light Academy etc.) and government Higher Secondary Schools for Boys and Girls and world valid computer institute (MULTIMEDIA COMPUTER INSTITUTE) an authorized study center of Manipal Group. Just few kilometers away from the town is a reputed Government College for Arts and Education. People give a lot of importance and focus on education with a reverence. Namchi Public School run by catholic missionaries is one of the respected educational institute in the State and one of the best in the south district of Sikkim.
TOURISM
Namchi is fast becoming a major tourist spot and pilgrimage centre. The Namchi monastery, Ralong monastery and Tendong Hill are important Buddhist pilgrimage centres. The world's largest statue (36 m) of the Buddhist Padmasambhava, also known as Guru Rinpoche, the patron saint of Sikkim, is on the Samdruptse hill (The Wish Fulfilling well) opposite Namchi. It was completed in February 2004. It is also said that the Samdruptse hill is actually a Dormant Volcano. Myths say that the buddhist monks have been going on top of the hill and offering prayers to the volcano to keep it calm. There is also a Rock Garden just few kilometers up from the town on the way to Samdruptse.Sikkim Best Home Stay Dong Busty Home Stay just 8km away from Namchi Bazar. The Rock Garden displays a wide variety of Flora and is a local recreation and picnic spot. It offers a magnificent view of Mt. Kanchendzonga (aka Mt. Kangchenjunga, the world's third highest peak). Recently inaugurated (November 2011) Siddhesvara Dhaam is a unique pilgrimage tourism venture of the Sikkim Government developed as “Pilgrim cum Cultural Centre” having a 26,52 m statue of Lord Shiva and replicas of four Dhams of the country at one place at Solophok hilltop in Namchi. The four most revered Dhams of the Hindus Jagannath, Dwarika, Rameshawaram, Badrinath have been replicated in this fantastic complex to benefit the devotees and tourists. The dream project of Chief Minister Pawan Chamling which was conceived by him and started in the year 2005 stands promisingly amidst the breadth taking surrounding of Solophok hill, befitting the mythological setting behind the establishment of the original Dhams. For the consecration of the Dham Shri Jagadguru Sankaryacharya Swami Swarupananda Saraswati in the presence of the Chief Minister Shri Pawan Chamling and his wife Smt Tika Maya Chamling did the “Pran Prastisha” of the Dham. There are replicas of the “Dwadash Jyotirlingas” (the twelve jyothirlinga) of Somnath, Mallikarjuna, Mahakaleswar, Omkareshwar, Kedarnath, Bhimashankar, Viswanath, Triambakeshwar, Vaidyanath, Nageswar, Rameshwar at Rameswaram and Grishneshwar surrounding the statue of Lord Shiva and the Char Dhams. There is a grand statue of Kirateshvar Mahadev and a temple of Shirdi Sai Baba too. One can have a view of the Mt Kanchenjunga, Statue of Guru Padmasambhava at Samdruptse, Darjeeling and other such locations from here. The Dham has stay facility for the devotees at “Yatri Niwas” which can accommodate more than 90 people at a time. The Dham has won the National Tourism Awards 2010–11 under the category of “Most Innovative/Unique Tourism Project” by the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India. A helipad is located 5 km away from town at an altitude of around 1524 m. From here one can get the most panoramic view of Mt. Kanchanzonga with the surrounding mountain a part of Darjeeling Kalimgpong and the rolling plains of Bengal. The visitors can savour the view of temi tea garden the one and the only tea estate in the state which produces top quality tea in the international market.
Near the town, Sikkim's sole tea estate — the Temi Tea Garden is situated. The tea carries a premium the world over and costs around Rs. 800/- a kg. The tea is marked by its exotic odour and flavour.
In the month of February, the Namchi garden hosts it annual flower show. The flower show is the largest in Sikkim with flowers in a riot of colours. The prime attraction of this show is the display of exotic and rare orchids.
One of the highlights of the town is the football stadium – the Baichung Stadium built by the Sikkimese government in honour of its most famous citizen, footballer Baichung Bhutia. "The Gold Cup" football tournament is held in Bhaichung Stadium almost every year. Football teams from all over India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan vie for the honour which draws lot of crowds from all over Sikkim. Namchi is also the base of the chief minister of Sikkim, Pawan Kumar Chamling.
Historically, Namchi was the place where Pende Ongmoo, the trecherous princess who poisoned one of the Chogyals of Sikkim, was caught and killed for her deed. Legend says her spirit still haunts the foothills of Ghurpisey.
WIKIPEDIA
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Abandoned Gas Station in a ghost town.
Calchaquí Valleys (Valles Calchaquíes) near Cafayate (Argentina)
For more information about the Calchaquí Valleys area, read: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calchaqu%c3%ad_Valleys
If you like this photo, follow me on instagram (tristan_sf) and don't hesitate to leave a comment or email me.
Actually I wanted something more in background, i'm not very satisfied with the composition of the photo.
A few months ago I purchased the remote control of self-timer and I am completely satisfied with purchase.
Obviously you're not watching horrible way in which I have given the enamel.
I hope you can spend a long full weekend like will probably be as mine.
Have a nice time to all!
Actually, I think this was in Vila Nova de Gaia (just across the river), but the punning is better this way.
actually this is our "last First Date Anniversary" It was our official "first date" and the last one of those we would ever have. we go to Morton's in Bev. Hills each year and OMG I have gotten crab legs the past couple of years, but I must've gotten the half order because I got the full order and didn't even eat half of it (and it was $120!!! - i'm eating this doggie bag for real!!!!)
Gates of a park in Solihull town centre called Malvern Park. The park actually links two parks (Malvern Park and Brueton Park), but this is the Malvern Park end in the town centre.
I decided not to go in (this time).
By the time I came back to Solihull all of the snow was mostly melted, with only minor bits of ice left. The green grass has returned.
This is the gated entrance to Malvern Park near New Road. Dates to 1954 - 55.
Coat of arms on the gates to the park near New Road. This is the coat of arms of the Solihull Urban District Council of 1948 to 1974. Slight changes were made to it when it became the Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council in 1974.
The present Armorial bearings of the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull were granted in 1975.
Arms Argent within two Barrulets Gules between in chief a Griffin passant Sable and in base a Hurt thereon a Fleur-de-Lys Argent a Greyhound courant Sable. (translation: on a silver shield within two red Barrulets between, at the top, a black Griffin with one paw raised and, at the bottom, a silver fleur-de-lys on a blue roundel, a black greyhound running at full speed). The two red bars are the symbol of the Throckmorton family of Coughton Court, near Alcester. Sir George Throckmorton purchased the Manor of Solihull in 1528 and it was held by his family until 1604. The black greyhound is taken from the arms of the Greswold family who were associated with Solihull for several centuries and built Malvern Hall and also the Manor House in the High Street. The silver fleur-de-lys is taken from the arms of the Digby family, which has held the manor of Coleshill (including Chelmsley Wood, Kingshurst and Fordbridge) since 1496. The black griffin is taken from the arms of the Finch family, Earls of Aylesford, who have held the lordships of the manors of Bickenhill and Meriden.
Crest On a wreath Argent and Sable Issuant from the battlements of a Tower in front of a Oak Tree proper fructed Or two sickles in the shafts in saltire the blades upward and outward proper. (translation: on a black and silver wreath, arising from the battlements of a tower in front of an oak tree bearing golden fruit, two sickles, the shafts crossed and blades upward and outward).
Motto Urbs in Rure (the town in the country). The present armorial bearings were based on those used by Solihull Urban District Council 1948-1974.
Note: I think that the arms on this entrance to Malvern Park are from the previous council of 1948 - 1974. But the 1975 one is based on it.
The station known as Miloslavov on SK 131 is actually located in the neighbouring village of Alžbetin Dvor and it is here that we see a Leo Express Alstom LINT 41 unit arrive on Os 4312 from Dunajská Streda.
Passenger services on this route are served exclusively by a mix of these units running as single, in pairs or, on a few diagrams such as the mighty Os 4323, as three units coupled together.
My first, and only experience with the hot beverage known as 'Espresso was in 2011 when I met my daughter after work in McDonald's at Twerton in Bath (you know the one Glen, opposite PC World). Being a tea drinker and 'however'-it-comes instant in a mug at work' coffee drinker, I was not well versed in all things 'roasted bean-wise' and, trying to appear nonchalant, I ordered an Espresso (because I'd heard the term somewhere) and a Cappuccino for my daughter. It arrived in a tiny cup and it tasted like super-concentrated coffee, when I took it back to the counter for an explanation the young lad there misunderstood my inquiry and gave me a second cup free-of-charge! Nowadays I just go for a simple Cappuccino or nothing at all.
Actually, several of them are....a box of broken colored pencils. The Macro Monday's theme this week is repetitive/repetition. HMM
Actually, this alley looks pretty good ... as far as alleys go.
3 exposures, tonemapped in Photomatix and processed in Photoshop
This area actually got revised quite a bit and looks pretty different now. Originally shown here, it was a large area going back pretty far but after I found some better reference images from my source material, the Resident Evil Movie (2002), I wound up creating several much smaller offices creating a much more reserved and visually confusing area.
**Update July 14, 2018: While the sim is now closed please feel free to still join the group: world.secondlife.com/group/ee72cab4-18dc-a00c-05ff-79d1c4...
We made our annual trip to London in November. We travel down by coach from Slaithwaite and stay at The Cumberland Hotel at Marble Arch. It’s actually a weekend ladies shopping trip that is run as a fundraiser for Slaithwaite Brass Band – I’m the only bloke that goes every year! We decided ( the two of us) to stay down in London until Thursday this time as we wanted to see weekday London and be able to explore a bit further afield on foot. We covered up to 16 miles a day, which is tough going on crowded pavements with hundreds of busy roads to cross. I photographed anything that looked interesting but I bent a contact in the CF card slot, fortunately I had quite a few SD cards with me and the 5D has dual slots so I was able to carry on using it. It’s currently at Lehmann’s getting fixed.
With it being close to Christmas the decorations are up everywhere so there was plenty of colour at night. In Hyde Park the Winter Wonderland was in full swing, we’ve never bothered going to it before but I went twice at night this time. It is massive this year, I couldn’t get over how big it is and the quality of some of the attractions. The cost and effort involved must be phenomenal – it was quite expensive though. It was very difficult to photograph, with extremes of light (LED’s) and darkness and fast moving rides into the bargain. I think I have some decent usable stuff but at the time of writing I am only part way through the editing process so I don’t know for sure.
We set off at around 8.15 am every day and stayed out for at least 12 hours. The weather was poor for a day and a half with drizzle and very dull grey conditions, fortunately we had some pleasant weather (and light) along the way as well. Being based at the end of Oxford Street – Europe’s busiest shopping street – meant that I did quite a bit of night shooting on there. Although I carried a tripod everywhere I only used it once and that was during the day! Because there is always a moving element in almost every shot it seemed pointless using a tripod. I would have got some shots free of movement – or I could have gone for ultra-long exposures to eliminate people and traffic but it would have been problematic I felt. In the end I wound the ISO up and hand held – fingers crossed.
We walked out to Camden Market and Locks but it had been raining and we were a bit early as many were only just setting up for the day. We tried to follow routes that we hadn’t used before and visit new places. We paid a fortune to get in St Pauls but you can’t use cameras. This something that I fail to see the point of, ban flash if you want but if you are going to encourage tourism why ban cameras when there is nothing in particular happening in there. It’s a rule that seems to be applied arbitrarily in cities around the world. Fortunately we could take photos from the outside of the dome, which was real reason for visiting, and we had some great light. Expensive compared with a couple of euros in some famous cathedrals. I’ve wanted to walk to Canary Wharf for a number of years and this year we did. We crisscrossed the Thames a few times and tried to follow the Thames path at other times. We covered around ten miles but it was an interesting day. It was also very quiet for the last four or five miles. We got there about 12.00 and managed to get a sandwich in a café in the shopping centre at the foot of the high rise office blocks before tens of thousands of office workers descended from above. It was mayhem, packed, with snaking queues for anywhere that sold food. We crossed to the other side of The Isle of Dogs and looked across to the O2 Arena and the cable car, unfortunately there isn’t a way across for pedestrians and it was around 3.00 pm. With darkness falling at around 4.30 we decide it was too late to bother. We made our way back to the Thames Clipper pier to check the sailing times. They sail every twenty minutes so we had a couple of glasses of wine and a rest before catching the Clipper. Sailing on the Thames was a first in 15 trips to London. The Clipper is fast and smooth, the lights had come on in the city and there was a fantastic moon rise. It was nigh on impossible to get good shots at the speed we were traveling though and there were times that I wished I could be suspended motionless above the boat. Again, hopefully I will have some usable shots.
We felt that the shopping streets were a little quieter, following the Paris massacre it was to be expected, I might be wrong as we were out and about at later times than previous trips. I think I have heard that footfall is down though. It was good to get into some of the quieter backstreets and conversely to be stuck in the city business district – The Square Mile- at home time. A mass exodus of people running and speed walking to bus stops and the rail and tube stations. It was difficult to move against or across the flow of bodies rushing home.
Whilst the Northern(manufacturing) economy is collapsing, London is a giant development site, it must be the tower crane capital of Europe at the moment. It was difficult to take a shot of any landmark free of cranes, it was easier to make the cranes a feature of the photo. It’s easy to see where the wealth is concentrated – not that there was ever any doubt about it. The morons with too much money are still driving their Lambo’s and Ferraris etc. like clowns in streets that are packed with cars , cyclists and pedestrians, accelerating viciously and noisily for 50 yards. They are just sad attention seekers. From Battersea to Canary Wharf we walked the Thames Embankment, the difference between high and low tide on the river is massive, but the water was the colour of mud – brown! Not very attractive in colour. We caught a Virgin Train from Kings Cross for £14.00 each – a bargain!. We had quite a bit of time to kill around midday at Kings Cross so I checked with security that I was OK to wander around taking photos, without fear of getting jumped by armed security, and set off to photograph the station and St Pancras International Station across the road. I haven’t even looked at the results as I type this but I’ll find out if they are any good shortly. Talking of security, following Paris, there was certainly plenty of private security at most attractions, I don’t know if it was terrorism related though, I can’t say I noticed an increased police presence on the streets. It took us three hours and five minutes from Kings Cross to being back home, not bad for a journey of 200 miles. I can’t imagine that spending countless billions on HS2 or HS3 is going to make a meaningful (cost effective) difference to our journey. Improving what we have, a little faster, would be good. There are some bumpy bits along the route for a mainline and Wakefield to Huddersfield is the equivalent of a cart track – and takes over 30 minutes – it’s only a stone’s throw.
Here it is…my last big vacation of 2015. It also happened to be the longest of the year. I’ve actually put off editing these pictures (until this week – mid-January 2016). I’ve been putting this off because, honestly, I have very mixed emotions about the trip.
I have absolutely nothing but good things to say about India and all the Indians I met there – better things yet to say about Indian cuisine. However, I didn’t travel alone, and that caused quite a bit of headaches. So, I’ve been lazier than usual about going through these. However, in looking at them, I’m starting to dwell only on the good side, and hopefully will show that here. (I won’t mention anything else about what or why I didn’t enjoy the trip. Honestly, I hope to go back to India again sometime. It’s the 7th largest country in the world and has a lot to see…)
This particular trip was 13 days…and very localized. We only visited two states: Rajasthan (RJ) and Uttar Pradesh (UP). Also Delhi, though I didn’t go out in Delhi and don’t have a single picture to show for it. In those two weeks, we took the following tour, in this order: landed in Delhi (at 3:00 a.m.) on September 26. At 7:30 a.m., we were on a bus to our first destination: Rajasthan.
The first week we spent in Rajasthan visiting each of these cities for approximately two days: Jaipur, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, and Udaipur. (I found myself thinking, “There sure are a lot of ‘purs’ here…just like there are a of ‘zhous’ in China – Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Zhengzhou, Zhouzhou. ‘Pur,’ like ‘zhou,’ apparently means “town.”) Rajasthan is hot. Damn hot. Even in late September the daytime temperatures seemed to soar close to 40 degrees. At least 35, for certain… Rajasthan has a lot of desert terrain and many castles. Quite a few old palaces are out in Rajasthan, so it can tend to have a bit of a romantic feel to it.
After finishing in Rajasthan, we went over to Uttar Pradesh for literally one afternoon seeing the Taj Mahal in Agra, before shuffling off to the holy city of Varanasi (one of Hinduism’s most famous – if not the most famous – cities). From Varanasi, we took an 18 hour train ride (during which I apparently ate something so nasty that it stayed with me…for close to three months). Note to readers: Try to avoid eating on Indian trains. After another two days in Delhi, we flew back around 4:00 in the morning on October 9. For now…back to the beginning in Jaipur.
Jaipur is famously called the Pink City. A lot of the old town architecture is pink, so…well, you get the idea. It’s named for its founder, Jai Singh II (1688-1744), a great warrior-astronomer who assumed power at age 11 upon his father’s death.
The following is from Lonely Planet India: “Jai Singh could trace his lineage back to the Rajput clan of Kachhawas, who consolidated their power in the 12th century.” Their capital was at Amber (which is pronounced ahm-AIR…not AM-burr) about 10 kilometers northeast of town. This is northern India’s first planned city, if LP is being honest with me.
All I hope you get out of that is that this is an area with close to a millennium of “important” history to India, but the city of Jaipur as we see it now is only about 300-400 years old. Jaipur currently has a population of about three million. There’s an Old City (Pink City) which is where most of the tourists head – including yours truly – a new city, and….that’s about it. For my purposes (and in an attempt at brevity), I’ll say we went to the Central Museum (Albert Hall) south of the Old City. We also visited Hawa Mahal, Tripolia Bazaar (and Gate), and Jantar Mantar in the Old City. Other than that, we went to Amber Fort for a few hours.
Things started innocuously enough. We had left Delhi at 7:30 in the morning and gotten to Jaipur about 5 hours later. We had one stop on the bus for breakfast. I don’t recall what I ate…some type of curry, of course, but I don’t recall which. It may have just been mutter paneer. It was, however, delicious, and I didn’t feel hungry at all again until dinner.
The bus. Bus transportation in India, by the way, is rather interesting. Sometimes they are private buses (the small kind that only hold 8-12 people), sometimes sleeper buses, sometimes regular coaches…but the regular coaches didn’t seem too common. There doesn’t seem to be any uniformity in India about this.
Anyway, the bus dropped us off right next to Amber Fort. Since this was one of the small 8-12 person jobs, it could pretty much stop and go where it pleased, it seems, and this one didn’t actually take us to Jaipur.
As soon as we got off the bus here, we hired a tuk tuk (san lun che, for you Chinese readers) that took us down to the Old City. There, we switched to another one that took us the 2-3 kilometers west of the Old City to the more quiet and residential Bani Park where our hotel (the Hotel Anuraag Villa, which turned out to be about the nicest one we stayed in) was located. The second tuk tuk driver is the one we hired to take us around that afternoon and the next day. For the first day, I paid 500 rupees (~50 RMB/$8) for 4-6 hours’ work. We checked in and he waited patiently as we ate lunch in the backyard of the hotel.
Our driver took us first to the Central Museum (Albert Hall) where we spent an hour or two in mid-afternoon. The museum itself isn’t too bad. It has standard fare: tribal dress, Buddhist sculptures, even an Egyptian mummy. The building itself, though, is worth seeing. Anyway, an hour here was more than enough time.
From there, we went to the Sun Temple (I think that’s what it’s called) where I enjoyed the late afternoon sun (and rather smoggy view, though not quite as smoggy as Chinese cities I’m accustomed to). After that, we ended up going to a rather nice restaurant that cost about 2500 rupees (250 RMB/$40) for two. I splurged. It was fantastic.
After a night of sleep that may or may not have transported me to an alternate universe (I sleep more deeply than most bears), I woke up ready to go the next morning. I hired the same tuk tuk driver to haul us around, and we went first to the Old City (Hawa Mahal, the Tripolia Bazaar, Jantar Mantar, and Amber Fort…plus another fort in the middle of the water whose name I’ve forgotten). Though the time was a little shorter than the previous day, I paid him 750 rupee, since he actually drove us around farther. That’s still just under $15, so I had no problem with that.
Hawa Mahal (Palace of the Winds) is the most recognizable architectural building in the Pink City (though it’s technically just outside the Old City). It’s a five story building that was built by Sawai Pratap Singh in 1799 to “enable ladies of the royal household to watch the life and processions of the city.” There are nice views of Jantar Mantar and the City Palace to the west and the Siredoori Bazaar directly across the street.
Jantar Mantar is an observatory that was built by Jai Singh in 1728. “Jantar mantar” is derived from the Sanskrit “yanta mantr,” which means “instrument of calculation.” There are some rather large, interesting, and certainly eclectic sculptures, all for measuring time among the heavens.
Amber Fort was the highlight of Jaipur for me. The Kachhawaha Rajputs ruled from here for over 800 years. This fort was built beginning in 1592 by Maharaja Man Singh using war booty. It’s a royal palace built from pale yellow and pink sandstone with various courtyards. If you walk up the hill, you will enter the fort through the Suraj Pol (Sun Gate) and find yourself in Jaleb Chowk (Main Square) where the armies presented to the king. Walking up the stairs from Jaleb Chowk will bring you to the second courtyard and Diwan-I-Am (Hall of Public Audience) with its double row of columns. The maharaja’s apartments are located around the third courtyard, which you enter through Ganesh Pol. On one side of the interior courtyard is the Jai Mandir (Hall of Victory) which has many mirrored tiles. On the opposite side of Jai Mandir, across Maota Lake (a very small decorative pond, really) is Sukh Niwas (Hall of Pleasure). The fourth courtyard has the zenana (women’s quarters), which were designed so the maharaja could make his nightly visits without the other women knowing about it. In all, the fort/palace and the views from the fort are wonderful. I won’t say “breathtaking” or “stunning,” but certainly worth the visit.
Once I bade farewell to the tuk tuk driver, we wandered around the Old City a little longer before heading over to the hotel for dinner and to see a puppet show (that was not free, but wasn’t advertised as costing anything; they basically try to shame you into “donating” when they’re done). After that, we headed to the train station for a midnight ride across the state on Indian Railways…the first of five train rides throughout these two weeks.
If anyone has seen Slumdog Millionaire, you saw Indian Railways in action…with people riding ON the cars, among other things. I didn’t see anything quite like that, but…the lowest class passenger cars were quite crowded. We were always in first- or second-class sleepers which, to me, didn’t differ too much from the style of sleeper cars in China, though they weren’t quite as nice. They were…very close to the same, at least from my experience.
So, goodbye Pink City and hello Golden City. Jaisalmer was a twelve hour ride due west from Jaipur, and we arrived sometime mid-morning. More to come…
Actually, the Marigolds were not really borrowed, they were stolen, as she was not planning on giving them back. She actually pulled the whole plant out of the ground. But...since there will be a frost tonight, they would have been dead in another day or so anyway. Aislynn, my beautiful granddaughter, looks like cozy autumn as she is styling her denim jumper and brown leather boots. Age: 16 months. Used some luminosity edits. f/2.8 1/500 200mm Kelvin 6200
This is the build I made to showcase my batpod , as well as replicate one of my favourite scenes from "The Dark Knight" ( probably my favourite movie , along with the rest of the trilogy ) . The lamp posts took a while to design , as I wanted them to actually light up , and I'm not a big fan of 3d-party lighting for Lego . The solution came from modding the PF lights by removing the covering so that they get "bar" (lightsaber blade) wide , so they can fit through pins . The lamp posts are also designed to look exactly like the ones in the film . The road part of the build is simple and somewhat plain, but I like how it looks . The batpod is probably one of the best things I've ever built ( at least in my opinion ) and I think it is the very , very close to the " real thing " , at least for mining scale . I wont't talk too much about it , since there is a post just for it right here , so head there for more details about it . Finally , the minifigure roster includes the "Tumbler" 's Joker , as well as my custom pad printed Batman ( Dark Knight and Dark Knight Rises suit ) , one of the few Lego Batmen with regular ,non-cartoony-white eyes .
Actually it's my pal Flickrite Chuck Kelly (FLY2BIGBEAR) :o)
Enderle Center - Tustin, CA
For a larger view press "L"
Actually, most of my editors aren't quite this involved in my work. But there's always that exception.
As lobbies go, the reception area of the Lucasfilm campus has your dentist's lobby beat all hollow. Old "Reader's Digest"s just can't compare with a full-size Darth Vader and Boba Fett.
You can wander the lobby fairly freely while you wait for your appointment to come down and collect you, so it's no wonder that these out-in-the-open displays are purpose-built reproductions and not original costumes. Still: damned cool things to fiddle with.
(I think they ought to embed a couple of specially-colored tiles in the floor, to guide visitors. For the Vader pic, stand with your toes on the yellow mark; have the photographer stand on the yellow and green mark; for the Fett photo stand on the...)
My Star Wars wonkery isn't as great as it used to be but I did spot a lack of labels on the buttons on Darth's chestplate.
I'm posting this from a new MacBook. If I had Photoshop or any other photo editor on here, I most certainly have edited my visitor's badge to make people think I was the personal guest of George Lucas, instead of merely removing the name of the extremely nice and indulgent person whom I was actually here to see.
Actually there where no other trees around her. I just thought the title sounded cool (:
Strobist info: YN460 at 1/2 power, camera above right on a pass thru umbrella.
Columbia Road Sunday Flower Market well-intentioned STUPID Covid-19 Coronavirus Social Distancing measures which actually make the situation Worse by creating crowded Queues and bottlenecks
Actually, billionaire philanthropist Yu Panglin's house, Cumberland Road, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong.
Yu bought the house for HK$850,000 in the 1960s and rented it to Lee up until the martial arts actor died.
The 5,699 sq ft house, which has until recently been used as a love hotel, was put up for sale along with four other properties to raise money for victims of the Sichuan earthquake. One offer was HK$105m - but Yu decided to withdraw the house from sale after calls for the house to be turned into a Lee museum.
Discussion between interested parties, including the local Bruce Lee Club and the HK government, continues.
Actually a 10 month old pure white husky. She belongs to Tara’s daughter and lives off grid here in Dumfries and Galloway. Very difficult to photograph as she is so lively!
Actually behaving quite well during a large family gathering for a grandchildren photo shoot, four lights white sheet = high key.
... I think this is the producer's favorite segment of Love Actually and I have to admit while I was more enchanted by Jamie and Aurelia, I thoroughly enjoyed Billy Mack.
This from Wikipedia ...
Billy Mack and Joe ...
With the help of his longtime manager Joe (Gregor Fisher), aging rock and roll legend Billy Mack (Bill Nighy) records a Christmas variation of The Troggs' classic hit "Love Is All Around." Despite his honest admission that it is a "festering turd of a record," the singer promotes the release in the hope it will become the Christmas number one single. During his publicity tour, Billy repeatedly causes Joe grief by pulling stunts such as defacing a poster of rival musicians Blue with a speech bubble reading, "We've got little pricks." He also promises to perform his song naked on television should it hit the top spot. The song does go to number one and Mack keeps his word-albeit while wearing boots and holding a strategically placed guitar. After briefly celebrating his victory at a party hosted by Sir Elton John, Billy unexpectedly arrives at Joe's flat and explains that Christmas is a time to be with the people you love, and that he had just realized that "the people I love... is you", despite simultaneously hitting Joe with insulting comments about his weight. He reminds Joe that "We have had a wonderful ride" touring around the world together over the years. He suggests that the two celebrate Christmas by getting drunk and watching porn.
Here's the link to Love Actually on Wikipedia ...
We've been wanting to try some bubble teas from the new shop in town for a while now... finally got some today because A) it was nice and B) I had a coupon (hehe). So Una and I sat out on the Green and did homework and tried to make sense of those silly black squishy things coming up our straws. It would have been a really cool thing if they actually tasted good, or like anything at all... but they didn't. So we drank around them (hey, the tea was still good) and, well, needed to find something to do with the leftover "attack balls." I think our net enjoyment of the teas exceeded anyone's expectations (or intentions)...
Actually, this is the Sunwapta River, a major tributary of the Athabasca, which flows along the Icefields Parkway (Highway 93) between Jasper and the Athabasca Glacier. Here we are about a third of the way between Jasper and Banff, quite near the Athabasca Glacier, which is the main source of water for the river. The gorgeous mountain to the left of the road is called Tangle Ridge.
The Athabasca River including the Sunwapta has its headwaters in the Columbia ice field located just behind the mountains in front and to the right in this photograph. I will show photos and talk about the Columbia ice field later in this set, but now I would like to say something about the river itself. The Athabasca is one of Canada's most beautiful rivers, especially in its upper reaches, because it flows through one of the country's most scenic regions, the Rocky Mountains. It is also one of the most threatened of the entire world. This is the same Athabasca River that flows pass Fort McMurray and through the oil sand region of Alberta, about 1,000 km downstream from here, before it empties into Lake Athabasca in the far north of the province. All Canadians are well aware of the mega controversy surrounding the oil sands. Because of the oil sands, Canada can claim to have the second largest proven oil reserves in the world (at 179 bbl of which 170 bbl are in the oil sands). But exploiting those reserves is proving to be extremely detrimental to the ecology, most notably to the lower Athabasca River basin.
actually this is not a fog. this is the smoke from burning peatbogs in moscow suburbia. it filled up whole city in august 2002...
camera: Zenit ET with MC Jupiter-9 lense
I actually live at Henrietta Place off Henrietta Street and for more than twenty years I have been depressed by the condition of the area but there have been massive improvements in the last few years especially at No. 14 [now a museum] and No. 3 [now a top class Aparthotel]
Henrietta Street is the earliest Georgian Street in Dublin, and at the forefront Dublin's later Georgian streetscapes. Construction on the street started in the mid-1720s, on land bought by the Gardiner family in 1721. Construction was still taking place in the 1750s. Gardiner had a mansion, designed by Richard Cassels, built for his own use around 1730.
The street was popularly referred to as Primate's Hill, as one of the houses was owned by the Archbishop of Armagh, although this house, along with two others, was demolished to make way for the Law Library of King's Inns.
The street fell into disrepair during the 19th and 20th centuries, with the houses being used as tenements. While the houses on Henrietta Street had been home to a small number of wealthy residents in the 18th century, these were given-over to tenement use during the 19th century, and by 1911 there were 835 people living in poverty in just 15 houses. A number of houses on the street remained in use as tenements until the 1970s. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, the street has been subject to restoration efforts.
The street has been used as a period-location for film and TV companies, with productions filmed including Albert Nobbs, Inspector George Gently and Foyle's War.
The street is a cul-de-sac, with the Law Library of King's Inns facing onto its western end. As of 2017, there are 13 houses on the street. One of these houses, 14 Henrietta Street, was opened as a museum in late 2018. 14 Henrietta Street tells the story of the building and of the lives of the people who lived there.
We made our annual trip to London in November. We travel down by coach from Slaithwaite and stay at The Cumberland Hotel at Marble Arch. It’s actually a weekend ladies shopping trip that is run as a fundraiser for Slaithwaite Brass Band – I’m the only bloke that goes every year! We decided ( the two of us) to stay down in London until Thursday this time as we wanted to see weekday London and be able to explore a bit further afield on foot. We covered up to 16 miles a day, which is tough going on crowded pavements with hundreds of busy roads to cross. I photographed anything that looked interesting but I bent a contact in the CF card slot, fortunately I had quite a few SD cards with me and the 5D has dual slots so I was able to carry on using it. It’s currently at Lehmann’s getting fixed.
With it being close to Christmas the decorations are up everywhere so there was plenty of colour at night. In Hyde Park the Winter Wonderland was in full swing, we’ve never bothered going to it before but I went twice at night this time. It is massive this year, I couldn’t get over how big it is and the quality of some of the attractions. The cost and effort involved must be phenomenal – it was quite expensive though. It was very difficult to photograph, with extremes of light (LED’s) and darkness and fast moving rides into the bargain. I think I have some decent usable stuff but at the time of writing I am only part way through the editing process so I don’t know for sure.
We set off at around 8.15 am every day and stayed out for at least 12 hours. The weather was poor for a day and a half with drizzle and very dull grey conditions, fortunately we had some pleasant weather (and light) along the way as well. Being based at the end of Oxford Street – Europe’s busiest shopping street – meant that I did quite a bit of night shooting on there. Although I carried a tripod everywhere I only used it once and that was during the day! Because there is always a moving element in almost every shot it seemed pointless using a tripod. I would have got some shots free of movement – or I could have gone for ultra-long exposures to eliminate people and traffic but it would have been problematic I felt. In the end I wound the ISO up and hand held – fingers crossed.
We walked out to Camden Market and Locks but it had been raining and we were a bit early as many were only just setting up for the day. We tried to follow routes that we hadn’t used before and visit new places. We paid a fortune to get in St Pauls but you can’t use cameras. This something that I fail to see the point of, ban flash if you want but if you are going to encourage tourism why ban cameras when there is nothing in particular happening in there. It’s a rule that seems to be applied arbitrarily in cities around the world. Fortunately we could take photos from the outside of the dome, which was real reason for visiting, and we had some great light. Expensive compared with a couple of euros in some famous cathedrals. I’ve wanted to walk to Canary Wharf for a number of years and this year we did. We crisscrossed the Thames a few times and tried to follow the Thames path at other times. We covered around ten miles but it was an interesting day. It was also very quiet for the last four or five miles. We got there about 12.00 and managed to get a sandwich in a café in the shopping centre at the foot of the high rise office blocks before tens of thousands of office workers descended from above. It was mayhem, packed, with snaking queues for anywhere that sold food. We crossed to the other side of The Isle of Dogs and looked across to the O2 Arena and the cable car, unfortunately there isn’t a way across for pedestrians and it was around 3.00 pm. With darkness falling at around 4.30 we decide it was too late to bother. We made our way back to the Thames Clipper pier to check the sailing times. They sail every twenty minutes so we had a couple of glasses of wine and a rest before catching the Clipper. Sailing on the Thames was a first in 15 trips to London. The Clipper is fast and smooth, the lights had come on in the city and there was a fantastic moon rise. It was nigh on impossible to get good shots at the speed we were traveling though and there were times that I wished I could be suspended motionless above the boat. Again, hopefully I will have some usable shots.
We felt that the shopping streets were a little quieter, following the Paris massacre it was to be expected, I might be wrong as we were out and about at later times than previous trips. I think I have heard that footfall is down though. It was good to get into some of the quieter backstreets and conversely to be stuck in the city business district – The Square Mile- at home time. A mass exodus of people running and speed walking to bus stops and the rail and tube stations. It was difficult to move against or across the flow of bodies rushing home.
Whilst the Northern(manufacturing) economy is collapsing, London is a giant development site, it must be the tower crane capital of Europe at the moment. It was difficult to take a shot of any landmark free of cranes, it was easier to make the cranes a feature of the photo. It’s easy to see where the wealth is concentrated – not that there was ever any doubt about it. The morons with too much money are still driving their Lambo’s and Ferraris etc. like clowns in streets that are packed with cars , cyclists and pedestrians, accelerating viciously and noisily for 50 yards. They are just sad attention seekers. From Battersea to Canary Wharf we walked the Thames Embankment, the difference between high and low tide on the river is massive, but the water was the colour of mud – brown! Not very attractive in colour. We caught a Virgin Train from Kings Cross for £14.00 each – a bargain!. We had quite a bit of time to kill around midday at Kings Cross so I checked with security that I was OK to wander around taking photos, without fear of getting jumped by armed security, and set off to photograph the station and St Pancras International Station across the road. I haven’t even looked at the results as I type this but I’ll find out if they are any good shortly. Talking of security, following Paris, there was certainly plenty of private security at most attractions, I don’t know if it was terrorism related though, I can’t say I noticed an increased police presence on the streets. It took us three hours and five minutes from Kings Cross to being back home, not bad for a journey of 200 miles. I can’t imagine that spending countless billions on HS2 or HS3 is going to make a meaningful (cost effective) difference to our journey. Improving what we have, a little faster, would be good. There are some bumpy bits along the route for a mainline and Wakefield to Huddersfield is the equivalent of a cart track – and takes over 30 minutes – it’s only a stone’s throw. Time to get back to editing.
Actually this was a very nice and friendly boy who asked me the way to a certain store (V&D in Zwolle).
This is the way he thinks he should pose when asked by a stranger to be pictured. Pretty 'mean' don't you think? ;-)
We made our annual trip to London in November. We travel down by coach from Slaithwaite and stay at The Cumberland Hotel at Marble Arch. It’s actually a weekend ladies shopping trip that is run as a fundraiser for Slaithwaite Brass Band – I’m the only bloke that goes every year! We decided ( the two of us) to stay down in London until Thursday this time as we wanted to see weekday London and be able to explore a bit further afield on foot. We covered up to 16 miles a day, which is tough going on crowded pavements with hundreds of busy roads to cross. I photographed anything that looked interesting but I bent a contact in the CF card slot, fortunately I had quite a few SD cards with me and the 5D has dual slots so I was able to carry on using it. It’s currently at Lehmann’s getting fixed.
With it being close to Christmas the decorations are up everywhere so there was plenty of colour at night. In Hyde Park the Winter Wonderland was in full swing, we’ve never bothered going to it before but I went twice at night this time. It is massive this year, I couldn’t get over how big it is and the quality of some of the attractions. The cost and effort involved must be phenomenal – it was quite expensive though. It was very difficult to photograph, with extremes of light (LED’s) and darkness and fast moving rides into the bargain. I think I have some decent usable stuff but at the time of writing I am only part way through the editing process so I don’t know for sure.
We set off at around 8.15 am every day and stayed out for at least 12 hours. The weather was poor for a day and a half with drizzle and very dull grey conditions, fortunately we had some pleasant weather (and light) along the way as well. Being based at the end of Oxford Street – Europe’s busiest shopping street – meant that I did quite a bit of night shooting on there. Although I carried a tripod everywhere I only used it once and that was during the day! Because there is always a moving element in almost every shot it seemed pointless using a tripod. I would have got some shots free of movement – or I could have gone for ultra-long exposures to eliminate people and traffic but it would have been problematic I felt. In the end I wound the ISO up and hand held – fingers crossed.
We walked out to Camden Market and Locks but it had been raining and we were a bit early as many were only just setting up for the day. We tried to follow routes that we hadn’t used before and visit new places. We paid a fortune to get in St Pauls but you can’t use cameras. This something that I fail to see the point of, ban flash if you want but if you are going to encourage tourism why ban cameras when there is nothing in particular happening in there. It’s a rule that seems to be applied arbitrarily in cities around the world. Fortunately we could take photos from the outside of the dome, which was real reason for visiting, and we had some great light. Expensive compared with a couple of euros in some famous cathedrals. I’ve wanted to walk to Canary Wharf for a number of years and this year we did. We crisscrossed the Thames a few times and tried to follow the Thames path at other times. We covered around ten miles but it was an interesting day. It was also very quiet for the last four or five miles. We got there about 12.00 and managed to get a sandwich in a café in the shopping centre at the foot of the high rise office blocks before tens of thousands of office workers descended from above. It was mayhem, packed, with snaking queues for anywhere that sold food. We crossed to the other side of The Isle of Dogs and looked across to the O2 Arena and the cable car, unfortunately there isn’t a way across for pedestrians and it was around 3.00 pm. With darkness falling at around 4.30 we decide it was too late to bother. We made our way back to the Thames Clipper pier to check the sailing times. They sail every twenty minutes so we had a couple of glasses of wine and a rest before catching the Clipper. Sailing on the Thames was a first in 15 trips to London. The Clipper is fast and smooth, the lights had come on in the city and there was a fantastic moon rise. It was nigh on impossible to get good shots at the speed we were traveling though and there were times that I wished I could be suspended motionless above the boat. Again, hopefully I will have some usable shots.
We felt that the shopping streets were a little quieter, following the Paris massacre it was to be expected, I might be wrong as we were out and about at later times than previous trips. I think I have heard that footfall is down though. It was good to get into some of the quieter backstreets and conversely to be stuck in the city business district – The Square Mile- at home time. A mass exodus of people running and speed walking to bus stops and the rail and tube stations. It was difficult to move against or across the flow of bodies rushing home.
Whilst the Northern(manufacturing) economy is collapsing, London is a giant development site, it must be the tower crane capital of Europe at the moment. It was difficult to take a shot of any landmark free of cranes, it was easier to make the cranes a feature of the photo. It’s easy to see where the wealth is concentrated – not that there was ever any doubt about it. The morons with too much money are still driving their Lambo’s and Ferraris etc. like clowns in streets that are packed with cars , cyclists and pedestrians, accelerating viciously and noisily for 50 yards. They are just sad attention seekers. From Battersea to Canary Wharf we walked the Thames Embankment, the difference between high and low tide on the river is massive, but the water was the colour of mud – brown! Not very attractive in colour. We caught a Virgin Train from Kings Cross for £14.00 each – a bargain!. We had quite a bit of time to kill around midday at Kings Cross so I checked with security that I was OK to wander around taking photos, without fear of getting jumped by armed security, and set off to photograph the station and St Pancras International Station across the road. I haven’t even looked at the results as I type this but I’ll find out if they are any good shortly. Talking of security, following Paris, there was certainly plenty of private security at most attractions, I don’t know if it was terrorism related though, I can’t say I noticed an increased police presence on the streets. It took us three hours and five minutes from Kings Cross to being back home, not bad for a journey of 200 miles. I can’t imagine that spending countless billions on HS2 or HS3 is going to make a meaningful (cost effective) difference to our journey. Improving what we have, a little faster, would be good. There are some bumpy bits along the route for a mainline and Wakefield to Huddersfield is the equivalent of a cart track – and takes over 30 minutes – it’s only a stone’s throw.
Actually this is the Life Guard Station. I know it's been done a million times but it is the perfect spot to practice your photo taking skills.
That is Lake Ontario for anyone looking at this who is not from Toronto or the GTA.
Taken with a 5 megapixel Minolta Dimage 7hi and worked on a bit to give it that "HDR" look.