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Hanover, PA. April 2022.
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If you would like to use THIS picture in any sort of media elsewhere (such as newspaper or article), please send me a Flickrmail or send me an email at natehenderson6@gmail.com
Check out my Night Time and Low Light Photography article in Issue 8 of Gimp Magazine here: gimpmagazine.org/issue8/
Here are the photos featured in the article: www.flickr.com/photos/imuttoo/sets/72157650318570766/
I had the honor of writing an article for my favorite Lego blog on my recent experiences at various cons and why you should go to one. Give it a read and join the discussion if you're so inclined.
And if you haven't read the Manifesto before, you really should. It's some of the best-written commentary (present company excluded) on the Lego community you're likely to find anywhere.
Article link: keithlug.com/2017/09/15/convoluted/
I swear I will actually post a MOC one of these months.
(article from the - Invermere Valley Echo newspaper, December 23, 2015) - Peterborough (now called Wilmer) quickly became a boom town as prospectors, eager to replicate Delphine’s success, flooded in and mines were established, with some lasting decades. The silver rush spread to other parts of the Kootenay region, creating other booms towns in Argenta, New Denver and, eventually the biggest find of all, the Sullivan Mine near Kimberley. The silver rush was at its height at about the same time the community changed its name, in 1902. Apparently having a small town called Peterborough in B.C. while at the same time having a larger town also called Peterborough in Ontario was cause for confusion in the Canadian postal system, so the postmistresses in Peterborough, B.C. was asked to come up with a new name for her community. At that time, everything, including the mail, came up-river from Golden on paddlewheel steamers. The mail got unloaded at Athalmer, which was called Salmon Flats then, and the postman would pick it up and bring it up to Peterborough. The postman’s name was Wilmer, so they would write Wilmer on all the mail going to Peterborough,” said Al. “So the postmistress decided just to rename the town Wilmer. That’s how Wilmer got its name. LINK to the complete article (Page A14 to A15) - issuu.com/blackpress/docs/i20151223044552666 another version on why Wilmer was chosen - The settlement, originally Peterborough, was changed in 1902 to honour Wilmer Wells provincial Minister of Public Works.
(from - Wrigley's 1918 British Columbia Directory) - WILMER - a post office and mining town on west bank of Columbia River, 70 miles south of Golden, and 4 north of Windermere Lake, in Columbia Provincial Electoral District. It was named after Wilmer Cleveland Wells (1840-1933) a rancher and lumberman who founded the place in the late 1890's.
The highest temperature officially recorded in Canada was at Wilmer, British Columbia: 115º F on - 19 June 1911.
The "PETERBOROUGH" Post Office was established - 1 May 1900; name changed to "WILMER" Post Office - 1 May 1902, possibly as required by Post Office Department, to avoid duplication with the much larger community of Peterborough, Ontario. A 1907 Marriage Licence was issued at Peterborough (BC Archives), but by WW I the community was well known as Wilmer. The WILMER Post Office closed - 19 March 1969.
Distributing point - Cranbrook and Golden
LINK to a list of the Postmasters who served at the PETERBOROUGH and WILMER Post Offices - www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/postal-heritage-philately/...;
- arrival - / PETERBOROUGH / JUL 24 / (0)1 / B.C. / - split ring arrival backstamp - this split ring hammer (A1-1) was not listed in the Proof Book - it was most likely proofed c. 1900 - (RF E - now is classified as RF E3).
Addressed to: R. R. Bruce Esqr. / Peterborough / East Kootenay / B.C. /
Robert Randolph Bruce, who had arrived in the valley in 1885, established the Columbia Valley Irrigated Fruitlands Co. in 1911, which drew hundreds of gentlemen farmers from England and Scotland to the area with offers of low land prices and swift immigration. It was also Bruce who lobbied the provincial and federal governments for a highway to connect the valley with the east. Bruce’s determination to see the highway finished was rewarded in 1923 when the Banff-Windermere Highway was completed; meanwhile, the Kootenay Central Railroad had begun operating a regularly scheduled train service between Golden and Cranbrook in 1915. LINK to the complete article - www.cvchamber.ca/valley-history/
Robert Randolph Bruce (b. July 16, 1861 in Lhanbryde, Scotland — d. February 21, 1942 at age 80 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada) was the 13th Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia from 1926 to 1931. Bruce was born in Scotland and educated at the University of Glasgow where he studied engineering. He emigrated to the United States in 1887 before arriving shortly afterward in Canada to work for the Canadian Pacific Railway surveying various new railway lines across the country. LINK to an article about R.R. Bruce - tobycreekadventures.com/history-of-the-paradise-mine/deve...
His occupations - engineer, mining proprietor
His profession - Politician, Diplomat
Article sur le blog
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Discarded, for the moment, until the puppies return.
We're Here, still, ordinary.
Hand-held with remote triggered strobe & auto focus. A macro would have been perfect for today.
Pottstown, PA. April 2022.
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In the Wonderpass going from outside Baker Street Station to the other side of the Marylebone Road.
www.bakerstreetq.co.uk/services-and-projects/article/the-...
This shot accompanied an article on a new code for crash repairs by members of the VBRA. I assume the photo was something they happened to have in the library.
Looks like all three cars had a struggle with power vs. braking ability. The middle one appears to be an Oldsmobile Toronado, but I'm not sure about the other two. PLA3E perhaps another Oldsmobile, and the left-hand car (PLB75L?) maybe an AMC Javelin?
The single-digit registration seems to be relatively common on British-registered American cars of the time, maybe to suit the squarer plate size?
My article this week is all about Beverage Photography. So here are 3 LIGHTING SETUPS (AND 2 TIPS) FOR TASTY BEVERAGE LIGHTING.
Check out the whole article here:
www.diyphotography.net/3-lighting-setups-2-tips-tasty-bev...
Strobist info:
Beer
Studiostrobe thru softbox and between scrim subject left @ 1/16
Studiostrobe thru softbox subject back and right for kick @ 1/8
Studiostrobe with yellow gel pointed at background @ 1/4
silver reflector subject right
Pepsi
Studiostrobe thru softbox subject left and right @ 1/8
Bare studiostrobe back of subject pointing at white seamless paper @ 1/2
Scrim camera right
Coke
Studiostrobe thru softbox subject back left and right @ 1/4
YN-470 speedlight with snoot top of subject @ 1/4
Wallpapers for Desktop with wallpaper, article, japan, windows, image, back, entity, browser, original
First ascent
Main article: First ascent of the Matterhorn
Whymper and party left Zermatt early in the morning of July 13, 1865, heading to the foot of the Hörnli ridge, which they reached 6 hours later (approximately where the Hörnli Hut is situated today). Meanwhile Carrel and six other Italian guides also began their ascent of the Italian ridge.
Despite its appearance, Whymper wrote that the Hörnli ridge was much easier to climb than the Italian ridge:
We were now fairly upon the mountain, and were astonished to find that places which from the Riffel, or even from the Furggen Glacier, looked entirely impracticable, were so easy that we could run about.[40]
The first ascent of the Matterhorn, by Gustave Doré
After camping for the night, Whymper and party started on the ridge. According to Whymper:
The whole of this great slope was now revealed, rising for 3,000 feet like a huge natural staircase. Some parts were more, and others were less, easy; but we were not once brought to a halt by any serious impediment, for when an obstruction was met in front it could always be turned to the right or left. For the greater part of the way there was, indeed, no occasion for the rope, and sometimes Hudson led, sometimes myself. At 6.20 we had attained a height of 12,800 feet and halted for half an hour; we then continued the ascent without a break until 9.55, when we stopped for fifty minutes, at a height of 14,000 feet.[40]
When the party came close to the summit, they had to leave the ridge for the north face because "[the ridge] was usually more rotten and steep, and always more difficult than the face".[40] At this point of the ascent Whymper wrote that the less experienced Hadow "required continual assistance".[40] Having overcome these difficulties the group finally arrived in the summit area, with Croz and Whymper reaching the top first.
The slope eased off, and Croz and I, dashing away, ran a neck-and-neck race, which ended in a dead heat. At 1.40 p.m. the world was at our feet, and the Matterhorn was conquered. Hurrah! Not a footstep could be seen.[40]
Precisely at this moment, Carrel and party were approximatively 400 metres below, still dealing with the most difficult parts of the Italian ridge. When seeing his rival on the summit, Carrel and party gave up on their attempt and went back to Breuil.
The first descent of the Matterhorn, by Gustave Doré
After building a cairn, Whymper and party stayed an hour on the summit. Then they began their descent of the Hörnli ridge. Croz descended first, then Hadow, Hudson and Douglas, the elder Taugwalder, Whymper, with the younger Taugwalder coming last. They climbed down with great care, only one man moving at a time. Whymper wrote:
As far as I know, at the moment of the accident no one was actually moving. I cannot speak with certainty, neither can the Taugwalders, because the two leading men were partially hidden from our sight by an intervening mass of rock. Poor Croz had laid aside his axe, and in order to give Mr. Hadow greater security was absolutely taking hold of his legs and putting his feet, one by one, into their proper positions. From the movements of their shoulders it is my belief that Croz, having done as I have said, was in the act of turning round to go down a step or two himself; at this moment Mr. Hadow slipped, fell on him, and knocked him over.[41]
The weight of the falling men pulled Hudson and Douglas from their holds and dragged them down the north face. The Taugwalders and Whymper were left alive when the rope linking Douglas to the elder Taugwalder broke. They were stunned by the accident and for a time could not move until the younger Taugwalder descended to enable them to advance. When they were together Whymper asked to see the broken rope and saw that it had been employed by mistake as it was the weakest and oldest of the three ropes they had brought. They frantically looked, but in vain, for traces of their fallen companions. They continued their descent, including an hour in the dark, until 9.30 p.m. when a resting place was found. At daybreak the descent was resumed and the group finally reached Zermatt, where a search of the victims was quickly organized. The bodies of Croz, Hadow and Hudson were found on the Matterhorn Glacier, but the body of Douglas was never found. Although the elder Taugwalder was accused of cutting the rope to save himself and his son, the official inquest found no proof of this. -----------------------------------------------------------------------
La prima ascensione
Dopo avere congedato Michel Croz, impegnato con un altro cliente, Whymper si dispose a effettuare un nuovo tentativo con Jean-Antoine Carrel. Egli però si era impegnato con il Club Alpino Italiano per effettuare un tentativo tutto italiano, fortemente voluto da Quintino Sella. Una squadra italiana, formata da César e Jean-Antoine Carrel, Jean-Joseph Maquignaz e una quarta guida, partì per la vetta l'11 luglio seguendo la via italiana.[12][13] Ritornato a Zermatt, Whymper vi trovò un gruppo di compatrioti: Lord Francis Douglas, D. Hadow, e il reverendo Charles Hudson, accompagnati da tre guide, Peter Taugwalder padre e figlio, e Michel Croz che, rilasciato dal suo precedente cliente, si era unito ai tre britannici. I sette formarono una cordata unica, che il 13 luglio 1865 attaccò la salita per quella che è oggi la via normale svizzera. Dopo avere pernottato all'aperto i sette ripartirono il mattino dopo e arrivarono in vetta alle 13.40 del 14 luglio. Dalla vetta videro la squadra italiana guidata da Carrel, che si trovava alcune centinaia di metri più in basso; gli italiani visti i britannici in vetta, si ritirarono.[12]
La discesa fu funestata da un gravissimo incidente. I sette erano tutti legati insieme, con Michel Croz in testa, seguito da Hadow, Hudson, Douglas, Taugwalder padre, Whymper e Taugwalder figlio. Su un passaggio non particolarmente difficile Hadow scivolò e cadde addosso a Croz, che perse l'equilibrio; i due caddero per il precipizio sul versante svizzero, trascinando prima Hudson, poi Douglas. A questo punto la corda tra Douglas e Taugwalder padre si spezzò, e i tre superstiti videro i quattro compagni precipitare per oltre mille metri verso il sottostante ghiacciaio del Matterhorn. I due Taugwalder e Whymper riuscirono a rientrare in serata a Zermatt, dove diedero la notizia. Il 16 luglio una squadra di ricerca trovò le salme dei caduti, tranne quella di Lord Douglas; le salme furono recuperate il 19 luglio.[12]
Fu la prima grande tragedia dell'alpinismo moderno ed ebbe notevole eco nell'opinione pubblica.
Extract from 'A Day on the Road' article from the Commercial Motor Magazine October 21st 1909.
A Motor-transport Contractor's Leyland Steam Wagon on Greasy Stone Setts in Lancashire.
Recounted by a Member of the Editorial Staff.
" It is twenty minutes past three, Sir!" announced the night porter, at the Park Hotel, Preston, one recent Monday morning, after he had already alarmed me by vigorously knocking on the door of my bedroom. I conveyed to him, with as much grace as I could muster at that early hour, an intimation that I was no longer asleep, and that there was no need to awaken
every other visitor in the hotel. I had arrived at Preston not more than four hours previously, after a most tiresome journey, by train and taxicab, from York, and, if my manner was rather short, I sincerely hope that the obliging official who aroused me on that morning has not since been consumed with grief on account of my hastily-spoken words. When I readied the coffee-room, and discovered that he had prepared a tempting breakfast for me, 1 felt more kindly disposed towards him. Having done full justice to the meal. I left the hotel in order to keep an appointment, at the running-shed of H. Viney and Co., Ltd., Motor-transport Engineers, of Strand Road, Preston, whence I was to start with a Levland " steamer " on its usual Monday's round. The Preston Town Council had evidently neglected to settle the previous quarter's account for street lighting, and, as the streets were absolutely deserted at that early hour, I gave up the attempt, unguided, to reach the running shed, and awaited the arrival of the wagon in Fishergate, along which thoroughfare the machine was bound to pass, on its way to Burnley.
This five-ton wagon and trailer are loaded up each Saturday, and the start is made not later than 4 a.m. on the Monday morning following for the places named, where over 200 cases of Whitbread's bottled stout and beer are delivered during 22 calls. This " round " forms part of a large contract, which is to extend over many years, with Whitbread and Co., Ltd. The total distance for this run is about 50 miles, and the total imposed load on the wagon and its trailer is nearly eight tons. When the wagon put in an appearance, in Fishergate, shortly after four o'clock, I made myself as comfortable as possible among the cases of bottled goods, and by 6.15 we had reached Blackburn, and the wagon was climbing the long stonesett-armoured hill on the road to
Burnley. The greasy state of the surface caused the wheels to skid very badly, and, had not the vehicle been skilfully handled by the men in charge, there might have been a serious accident; as it was, we ultimately surmounted the hill after the use of sacks. grit and—nausele. When nearing Church, at 7 a.m., we made our first halt for water, and again, just before entering Burnley, we took in a further supply, not because it was immediately needed, but so that we might be enabled to complete the delivery of the bulk of our cargo in Burnley and Brierfield without making further stops for watering. The first delivery, consisting of 20 cases of bottled stout and ale, was made at Burnley at 8.20 a.m., and at several other places in this town were further deliveries made.
Burnley's streets have an unenviable reputation among drivers of heavy commercial vehicles; many a wagon is forced, by the electric tramcars, on to the excessive side-fall of the roads, and, once its wheels slide into the gutter of a Burnley street, a steel-tired machine is only " pinched" out again with great difficulty. We made the last local delivery in the Burnley district at 10.30, at a point less than eight miles from the boundary line which separates Lancashire from Yorkshire. Brierfield was our next place of call ; here we left over 100 eases of bottled goods, and received the same number of " empties." I took a. photograph of the wagon when in the position to which it was backed, along a narrow lane some 30 yds. long, for unloading, and this view shows how little room there was to spare between the two walls and the sides of the vehicle; a slight error of judgment on the part of the driver, and he would have had the not too-substantially-built walls falling in on his wagon. In addition to this man, " Joe " Ridgley, and the stoker, a. loader accompanies this wagon, and his duties are particularly responsible; lie must not only "do his little bit " so far as the handling of the load is concerned, but he must also, in many cases, collect the aeccents for the goods delivered, and make due allowances for " returned empties," etc. These three men formed a. N cry cheery " crowd," and I was pleased to note that they showed genuine interest in their work, and, when not occupied in the handling of the load, each would find some little duty to perform in connection with the wagon or its trailer-duties which were discharged automatically, and without a grumble; in fact, the stoker's " chuckle" was something to remember for many a day. I was informed that he is an ex-army man who had been through the South-African campaign. I can imagine that such a nature as is habitually displayed by him would make him a very popular man amongst the Tommies after a hard da3's work. Having witnessed the completion of the exchange of full bottles for empty ones, I left the men to partake of their mid-day meal, and sought. out • a satisfying, if not too-appetising, meal for myself at a neighbouring hotel. We were all on the road again by 12.45, and, before leaving Brierfield, we took up more water, from a stone trough at the side of the road. This trough receives its supply from a spring in the side of a neighbouring bill, and, consequently, is " free " water to all comers. Notwithstanding this, the local authorities have posted a notice to the effect that the taking of water is prohibited. How much regard we paid to this notice may be judged by those readers who choose to examine the accompanying illustration of the notice and the tank in question. The " snaky" object at the lower right-hand corner is our suction hose. I may add that a
Yorkshire " was standing near by, also waiting to take in water, and a " limb of the law " was not many yards away. Legal proceedings, I am told, can only be taken if the watering steamer causes any obstruction to the electric trams, the tracks for which take up the greater part of the road. We collected the last of the empties, in Burnley, at three p.m., and made for Preston, via Padtham, Read, Whalley and Mellowbrook, then along the Blackburn road, and through Sandesbury, to Preston. A very large part of the road taken on the return journey is macadam, and, consequently, good time was made.
We arrived at Strand Road, Preston, about 6.30 p.m., and I was there
met by Mr. C. be M. Gosselin, the managing director of H. Viney and Co., Ltd., who very kindly showed me his trading books for the past year, and permitted MB to make certain extracts relating to the cost of running for his Leyland wagons. The vehicle which I accompanied is " No. 6 " of a fleet of similar machines operated by this company over an area bounded by Blackburn, Burnley, Oldham, Manchester and Wigan, a map of which district was reproduced on page 490 of our issue of the 19th August last. " No. 6 " was purchased two years ago, its condition at that time being little better than scrap iron. A considerable sum was expended on repairs, and the replacement of broken and worn-out parts, and thus a good and serviceable machine was created out of the old wreck. The cost of this initial overhaul was, of course, charged to capital account. Since it was put into service, the wagon, which usually draws a loaded trailer behind it, has maintained a weekly average of 161:1 miles, whilst the average weekly mileage for the whole of the company's vehicles of the fleet is 15611
'the total cost per mile run for " No. 6 " is is. 10. per mile, whereas the average for all the vehicles of the fleet is is. 24d. per mile. The latter amount is made up as follows :— This total cast per mile is higher than many of the figures which we have given, from time to time, for wagons in ordinary employment, but it must be noted that, for work of this class, three men are generally needed -hence, the high charge for wages.
Depreciation, too, is necessarily placed at a higher rate by a contractor working in such a district OS Lancashire than would be necessary in the ease of a private owner situated in a district where work is less strenuous. Viney and Co., Ltd., intends to build up a motor-haulage business on sound commercial lines, and the excellent relationship which exists between the management and the men clearly indicates the determination, of both sides, to attain success. It may, therefore, safely be assumed that
the figures we have given are on the liberal side, and take into account every possible charge and contingency against the vehicles. I may add that this company pays the following price for its stores: gear oil, is. per gallon ; cylinder oil, le. 6d_ per gallon ; paraffin for lamps, 5d. per gallon ; and coke, 70. per cwt., or 15s. per ton. The tare weight of " No. 6 " is 4 tons 19 cwt. ; its trailer weighs 1 ton 7 cwt.; and the gross weight to be moved, when both wagon and trailer are loaded, is 15 tons 6 cwt.
archive of Casa Cuseni, an original newspaper article, preserved by Daphne Phelps, who hosted Danilo Dolci in Taormina.
archivio di Casa Cuseni, un articolo di giornale originale, conservato da Daphne Phelps, che ospitò a Taormina Danilo Dolci.
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A story of Sicily: the Sicilian Gandhi (but he was not Sicilian ...).
This photographic story is connected, at least in part, with the previous one, whose link is represented by the nephew of the painter Robert Kitson, Miss Daphne Phelps: in life she was a psychiatric social worker (she collaborated with Anna Freud, daughter by Sigmund Freud), on the death of his uncle in 1948 he moved to Sicily to take care of Casa Cuseni, having inherited it: initially he wanted to sell it and then return to England, instead he ended up falling in love with Taormina and Sicily, deciding to stay there for the rest of his life. Daphne ran Casa Cuseni welcoming paying guests, there are many illustrious names of artists, writers, well-known personalities who have stayed there: Danilo Dolci was one of these guests, and it is precisely about him that I wish to speak. He was born in 1924 in Sesana (Trieste), after a somewhat eventful life, in 1952 he moved to Trappeto (between Palermo and Trapani), a country among the poorest and most disadvantaged in Italy: that same year the first of numerous fasts, going to bed and fasting in the bed of a child who died of malnutrition, a protest that will end only when the authorities undertake to build a sewer. Danilo Dolci continues with numerous initiatives, from the publication of a book ("Banditi a Partinico", which makes public opinion aware of the poor living conditions of western Sicily, to this book and many others will follow), to the "strike at reverses ”, when the workers went on strike, hundreds of unemployed began to work to reactivate an abandoned municipal road, an initiative that was then stopped by the police; Dolci also initiates an activity of denunciation of the mafia phenomenon and its relations with politics. There are numerous certificates of esteem and solidarity that he receives from important personalities from Italy and abroad, but despite this, for others Danilo Dolci is a dangerous subversive, to be hindered, denigrated, locked up in prison. Yet Dolci does not pose as a guru, boss, or teacher, his working method is based on the conviction that change is based on the involvement and direct participation of those concerned, his idea of progress enhances local culture and skills; he tries, working closely with the people and the most disadvantaged and oppressed groups of western Sicily, to free the dormant creativity in every person, calling this research "maieutic", a term coming from philosophy, precisely from Socratic maieutics: it is "the 'art of the midwife ", every educational act is to bring to light all the inner potentialities of the one who wants to learn, like a mother who wants to give birth to her own child from her womb, so no to notions imparted a priori, yes to help the student to bring their knowledge to light, using dialogue as a tool; however, Socratic maieutics is unidirectional, while in Danilo Dolci's "reciprocal maieutics", knowledge comes out of experience and its sharing, therefore it presupposes the reciprocity of communication. During meetings with farmers and fishermen, the idea was born to build the dam on the Jato River, which is important for the economic development of the area, but also to remove a powerful weapon in the hands of the mafia, an instrument of power which controlled the few available water resources; however the request for "water for all" will be heavily hindered, popular mobilizations and long fasts will be necessary to finally see the project realized: now the dam exists, and others have been built, thus modifying the lives of thousands of people, with the development of numerous companies and cooperatives. Among the many activities of Dolci, thanks to the contribution of international experts, the experience of the Mirto Educational Center, attended by hundreds of children, should be mentioned. Returning to Daphne Phelps and Casa Cuseni, here is a lithograph by Tono Zancanaro, dedicated to the birth of one of Danilo Dolci's daughters, but, among the most important, there is a correspondence between the pacifist philosopher Bertrand Russel and Daphne Phelps, in which the English thinker invited Robert Kitson's niece to participate in the gatherings of progressive intellectuals and literary and scientific personalities of the time, among them, besides Albert Camus, Jean-Paul Sartre and Carlo Levi, there was Danilo Dolci, sociologist, educator, still recognized today as one of the most important figures of nonviolence worldwide.
post Scriptum:
- the images with Danilo Dolci come from the Casa Cuseni archive: they are cuttings from original periodicals, often full pages, from English newspapers, carefully preserved by Miss Daphne Phelps; these images were also taken by photographing some pages of James McNeish's book, "Fire under the ashes - The life of Danilo Dolci";
- the photographs taken in various countries of Sicily, are prior to the covid-19 pandemic;
- thanks to the surgeon colleague dr. Franco Spadaro and his kind wife, Mrs. Mimma Cundari, owners of Casa Cuseni (declared in 1998, Italian National Monument), for their hospitality and availability, having made the Danilo Dolci archive available to me.
Una storia di Sicilia: il Gandhi siciliano (ma siciliano non era…).
Questo racconto fotografico, è connesso, almeno in parte, con quello precedente, il cui anello di congiunzione è rappresentato dalla nipote del pittore Robert Kitson, la signorina Daphne Phelps: lei nella vita era una assistente sociale psichiatrica (lei collaborava con Anna Freud, figlia di Sigmund Freud), alla morte dello zio nel 1948 si trasferì in Sicilia per occuparsi di Casa Cuseni, avendola ereditata: inizialmente la voleva vendere per poi ritornarsene in Inghilterra, invece finì con l’innamorarsi di Taormina e della Sicilia, decidendo di restarvi per il resto della sua vita. Daphne gestiva Casa Cuseni accogliendo ospiti paganti, numerosi sono i nomi illustri di artisti, scrittori, note personalità che vi hanno alloggiato: Danilo Dolci è stato uno di questi ospiti, ed è proprio di lui che desidero parlare. Egli nasce nel 1924 a Sesana (Trieste), dopo una vita un po’ movimentata, nel 1952 si trasferisce a Trappeto (tra Palermo e Trapani), un paese tra i più poveri e disagiati d’Italia: quello stesso anno inizia il primo di numerosi digiuni, coricandosi e digiunando nel letto di un bimbo morto per denutrizione, protesta che terminerà solo quando le autorità si impegneranno a costruire una fogna. Danilo Dolci prosegue con numerose iniziative, dalla pubblicazione di un libro (“Banditi a Partinico”, che mette a conoscenza dell’opinione pubblica delle misere condizioni di vita della Sicilia occidentale, a questo libro poi ne seguiranno molti altri), allo “sciopero alla rovescia”, quando i lavoratori fecero sciopero, centinaia di disoccupati si misero a lavorare per riattivare una strada comunale abbandonata, iniziativa però poi fermata dalla polizia; Dolci avvia anche una attività di denuncia del fenomeno mafioso e dei suoi rapporti con la politica. Numerosi sono gli attestati di stima e solidarietà che egli riceve da importanti personalità provenienti dall’Italia e dall’estero, ma nonostante ciò per altri Danilo Dolci è un pericoloso sovversivo, da ostacolare, denigrare, chiudere in prigione. Eppure Dolci non si atteggia né a santone, capo, od un maestro, il suo metodo di lavoro è basato sulla convinzione che il cambiamento è basato sul coinvolgimento e diretta partecipazione degli interessati, la sua idea di progresso valorizza la cultura e le competenze locali; egli cerca, lavorando a stretto contatto con la gente e le fasce più disagiate ed oppresse della Sicilia occidentale, di liberare la creatività sopita in ogni persona, chiamando tale ricerca “maieutica”, termine proveniente dalla filosofia, precisamente dalla maieutica socratica: è “l’arte della levatrice”, ogni atto educativo è far venire alla luce tutte le potenzialità interiori di colui che vuole imparare, al pari di una madre che vuol far nascere la propria creatura dal suo grembo, quindi no a nozioni impartite a priori, si ad aiutare lo studente a portare alla luce la propria conoscenza, usando il dialogo come strumento; però, la maieutica socratica è unidirezionale, mentre nella “maieutica reciproca” di Danilo Dolci, la conoscenza viene fuori dall’esperienza e dalla sua condivisione, quindi presuppone la reciprocità della comunicazione. Nel corso di riunioni con contadini e pescatori, nasce l’idea di costruire la diga sul fiume Jato, importante per lo sviluppo economico della zona, ma anche togliere un’arma potente in mano alla mafia, che faceva del controllo delle poche risorse idriche disponibili uno strumento di potere, però la richiesta di “acqua per tutti” verrà pesantemente ostacolata, saranno necessarie le mobilitazioni popolari, lunghi digiuni, per vedere infine realizzato il progetto: ora la diga esiste, ed altre sono state poi realizzate, modificando in tal modo la vita di migliaia di persone, con lo svilupparsi di numerose aziende e cooperative. Da menzionare, tra le tante attività di Dolci, grazie al contributo di esperti internazionali, l’esperienza del Centro Educativo di Mirto, frequentato da centinaia di bambini. Ritornando a Daphne Phelps e Casa Cuseni, qui è presente una litografia di Tono Zancanaro, dedicata alla nascita di una delle figlie di Danilo Dolci, ma, cosa tra le più importanti, esiste un carteggio tra il filosofo pacifista Bertrand Russel e Daphne Phelps, nel quale il pensatore inglese invitava la nipote di Robert Kitson a partecipare ai raduni di intellettuali progressisti e personalità letterarie e scientifiche dell’epoca, tra di loro, oltre Albert Camus, Jean-Paul Sartre e Carlo Levi, c’era Danilo Dolci, sociologo, educatore, ancora oggi riconosciuto tra le figure di massimo rilievo della nonviolenza a livello mondiale.
post scriptum:
- le immagini con Danilo Dolci provengono dall'archivio di Casa Cuseni: sono ritagli di giornali originali dell'epoca, spesso pagine intere, provenienti da quotidiani inglesi, accuratamente conservati dalla signorina Daphne Phelps; tali immagini sono state realizzate fotografando anche alcune pagine del libro di James McNeish, "Fire under the ashes - The life of Danilo Dolci";
- le fotografie realizzate in diversi paesi della Sicilia, sono antecedenti alla pandemia da covid-19;
- si ringrazia il collega chirurgo dott. Franco Spadaro e la sua gentile consorte, signora Mimma Cundari, proprietari di Casa Cuseni (dichiarata nel 1998, Monumento Nazionale Italiano), per la loro ospitalità e disponibilità, avendo messo a mia disposizione l'archivio relativo a Danilo Dolci.
HIERAPOLIS [excerpted from Wikipedia article]
There are only a few historical facts known about the origin of the city. No traces of the presence of Hittites or Persians have yet been found. However it was customary to build a temple on the site of such a natural phenomenon. The Phrygians built a temple dedicated to Hieron probably in the first half of the third century BC. This temple would later form the centre of Hierapolis. It was already used by the citizens of the nearby town Laodiceia, a city built by Antiochus II Theos in 261-253 BC.
Hierapolis was founded as a thermal spa early in the second century BC and given by the Romans to Eumenes II, king of Pergamon in 190 BC. The city was named after the name of the existing temple, or possibly to honour Hiera, wife of Telephos — son of Heracles by a Mysian princess Auge - the mythical founder of the Attalid dynasty. The city was expanded with proceeds from the booty from the Battle of Magnesia in 190 BC, where Antiochus the Great was defeated by Eumenes II who had sided with the Romans. Thus Hierapolis became part of the Pergamon kingdom.
Hierapolis became a healing centre where doctors used the hot thermal springs as a treatment for their patients. The city began issuing bronze coins in the second century BC. These coins give the name Hieropolis (town of the temple Hieron). This name eventually changed into Hierapolis (Holy city). [1]
In 133 BC, when Attalus III the last Attalid king of Pergamon died, he bequeathed his kingdom to Rome. Hierapolis thus became part of the Roman province of Asia. The Hellenistic city was slowly transformed into a Roman town.
In the year 17 A.D., during the rule of emperor Tiberius, an earthquake destroyed the city. In 60 AD, during the rule of emperor Nero, an even more severe earthquake left the city completely in ruins. Afterwards the city was rebuilt in Roman style with the financial support from the emperor. It was during this period that the city attained its present form. The theatre was built in 129 AD when emperor Hadrian visited the town. It was renovated under Septimus Severus (193-211). When emperor Caracalla visited the town in 215 he bestowed on the city the much coveted title of Neocoros, according the city certain privileges and the right of sanctuary.
This was the "golden age" of Hierapolis. Thousands of people came to town to benefit from the medicinal properties of the hot springs. New building projects were started : two Roman baths, a gymnasium, several temples, a main street with a colonnade and a fountain at the hot spring. Hierapolis became one of the most prominent cities in the field of the arts, philosophy and trade in the Roman empire. The town grew to 100,000 inhabitants and became wealthy. According to the geographer Stephanus of Byzantium, the city was given its name because of the large number of temples it contained (again a sign of wealth).
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In the early 7th century, the town was devastated by Persian armies and again by a destructive earthquake. Afterwards came a slow recovery.
In the 12th century, the area came under the control of the Seljuk sultanate of Konya.
In the year 1190 crusaders under Frederick Barbarossa fought with the Byzantines and conquered the town of Philip the Apostle.
About thirty years later, the town was abandoned and the Seljuks built a castle in the 1220s.
The city was abandoned in the late 1300s.
Old newspaper article where my Dad and his friends won the guard relay race way back in 1983. Picture taken at Manor Pool in Cicero Illinois.
An English Electric 50 that is.......20 205 and 20 189 trundle through, a deserted, Witton station with 50 049 Defiance in tow on 0Z50 09.40 Kidderminster S.V.R. to East Grinstead.
Saw this article and it inspired me to find some American Beech to photograph and post:
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/metro/urban-jungle/...
Excerpt:
Some trees stubbornly cling to their dead leaves throughout the winter. Pin oaks, scarlet oaks and American beeches are among a handful of local species that have marcescent leaves.
Marcescence, the persistence of withered tissue on a plant, occurs mostly on younger trees and on the juvenile parts (lower branches) of older trees, as shown at left.
Why would a tree evolve with this trait? Scientists think it may deter deer from feeding on a tree's nutritious twigs and buds. Dessicated leaves tend to be low in nutrients and difficult to digest, so their presence might cause a hungry deer to look elsewhere for food. By spring, when herbaceous greens have stolen the deer's attention, strong winds and expanding buds finally force a belated fall for the leaves with an added purpose.
I continue to be amazed about the impact of Flickr for magazine articles and photos. This is a scan of page 35 of the October, 2007 issue of What Digital Camera magazine from the United Kingdom.
The photo at the top is one of my HDR images and it is one of four from Flickr photographers utilized in the magazine article that explains HDR photography. Writer Paul Nuttall - who also happens to be a Flickr member - does a fine job of explaning this relatively new photo technique. He had contacted me about using one of my images and even utilized a couple of my tips for high dynamic range imagery in his article.
The photo they used was this one from my Flickr photostream:
flickr.com/photos/jeffclow/1017847208/
I thought I would share this scan with my friends here because it continues to show how the sharing of photos via this magical site can lead to additional exposure of your images in print......
This photograph was published in an online article in DEVON LIVE on 15th July 2025, written by Steffan Rhys Deputy Content Hub Director, Ketsuda Phoutinane Spare Time Content Editor and Ellen Jenne U35 Spare Time Writer and titled:
'' Squirrels will 'run away from' your garden if you plant three plants they 'hate'
Squirrels can be a real headache for gardeners, as they often nibble on plants and flowers. However, there are certain plants that squirrels detest which can also add extra colour to your garden ''
It had previously been Selected for sale in the GETTY IMAGES COLLECTION on June 25th 2021
CREATIVE RF gty.im/1324861349 MOMENT ROYALTY FREE COLLECTION and became my 5,348th frame to be selected for sale with Getty as my sole worldwide agents. I now have in excess of 7,500+ photographs represented by them.
©All photographs on this site are copyright: ©DESPITE STRAIGHT LINES (Paul Williams) 2011 – 2021 & GETTY IMAGES ®
No license is given nor granted in respect of the use of any copyrighted material on this site other than with the express written agreement of ©DESPITE STRAIGHT LINES (Paul Williams). No image may be used as source material for paintings, drawings, sculptures, or any other art form without permission and/or compensation to ©DESPITE STRAIGHT LINES (Paul Williams)
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Photograph taken at an altitude of Forty eight metres at 08:04am on a showery morning on Wednesday 12th May 2021, off Chessington Avenue in Bexleyheath, Kent.
Here we see, Sciurus Carolinensis (Eastern Gray Squirrel or Grey Squirrel), a tree squirrel native to North America and first introduced to the UK in the 1870's. Though it was largely resonsible for the decimation of our own native red squirrel population, those are now on the increase and found in certain parts of the UK including Scotland. The Greys are still an ecologically essential natural forester regenerator.
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Nikon D850 Focal length 600mm Shutter speed: 1/200s Aperture f/6.3 iso200 Tripod mounted with Tamron VC Vibration Control set to position 3. Image area FX (36 x 24) NEF RAW L (8256 x 5504). NEF RAW L (14 bit uncompressed) AF-C Priority Selection: Release. Nikon Back button focusing enabled. AF-S Priority selection: Focus. 3D Tracking watch area: Normal 55 Tracking points Exposure mode: Manual mode Metering mode: Spot metering White balance on: Auto1 (5000k) Colour space: RGB Picture control: Neutral (Sharpening +2)
Tamron SP 150-600mm F/5-6.3 Di VC USD G2. Nikon GP-1 GPS module. Lee SW150 MKII filter holder. Lee SW150 95mm screw in adapter ring. Lee SW150 circular polariser glass filter.Lee SW150 Filters field pouch. Hoodman HEYENRG round eyepiece oversized eyecup.Manfrotto MT057C3-G Carbon fiber Geared tripod 3 sections. Neewer Carbon Fiber Gimble tripod head 10088736 with Arca Swiss standard quick release plate. Neewer 9996 Arca Swiss release plate P860 x2.Jessops Tripod bag. Mcoplus professional MB-D850 multi function battery grip 6960.Two Nikon EN-EL15a batteries (Priority to battery in Battery grip). Black Rapid Curve Breathe strap. My Memory 128GB Class 10 SDXC 80MB/s card. Lowepro Flipside 400 AW camera bag.
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LATITUDE: N 51d 28m 28.17s
LONGITUDE: E 0d 8m 10.53s
ALTITUDE: 47.0m
RAW (TIFF) FILE: 130.00MB NEF FILE: 90.9MB
PROCESSED (JPeg) FILE: 43.80MB
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PROCESSING POWER:
Nikon D850 Firmware versions C 1.10 (9/05/2019) LD Distortion Data 2.018 (18/02/20) LF 1.00
HP 110-352na Desktop PC with AMD Quad-Core A6-5200 APU 64Bit processor. Radeon HD8400 graphics. 8 GB DDR3 Memory with 1TB Data storage. 64-bit Windows 10. Verbatim USB 2.0 1TB desktop hard drive. WD My Passport Ultra 1tb USB3 Portable hard drive. Nikon ViewNX-1 64bit Version 1.4.1 (18/02/2020). Nikon Capture NX-D 64bit Version 1.6.2 (18/02/2020). Nikon Picture Control Utility 2 (Version 2.4.5 (18/02/2020). Nikon Transfer 2 Version 2.13.5. Adobe photoshop Elements 8 Version 8.0 64bit.
Hazleton, PA. March 2018.
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If you would like to use THIS picture in any sort of media elsewhere (such as newspaper or article), please send me a Flickrmail or send me an email at natehenderson6@gmail.com
An excerpt: "We cannot fully blame Donald Trump for this stance.
People in this world are trying to say that they hate Donald Trump for various reasons — perhaps because of his policies or lifestyle. Muslims in particular hate him because he wants to ban all Muslims.
Donald Trump has introduced a proposal according to which every Muslim has to register himself/herself, and all their details; [they have tell the government] the type of Islam they belong to, their activities and belief system."
Read the article here:
medium.com/@YounusAlGohar/re-donald-trumps-proposed-musli...
An article by Patrick Barkham, reporting on my discovery of the pale giant oak aphid Stomaphis wojciechowskii in Cambridgeshire, which appeared on page 4 of The Guardian on Saturday 25 January 2020.
Because the scanning process doesn't reproduce newspaper images very well, I've replaced the image from the article with the original jpeg image, cropped as in the article. The uncropped image can be viewed here.
It probably goes without saying I was very pleased that the story was picked up by The Guardian, and especially that it appeared so near the front of the paper, beneath a story about the tax-avoiding Italian billionaire who runs the Ferrero Rocher chocolates empire. More than that though, it's an extremely well-written piece; apart from drawing out the point that these aphids have as much right to be given protection as any other species, the article also emphasises how the relationship between ants and aphids is really one of 'farming'.
Ant-aphid relationships are often described as 'mutualistic', but in reality many of them are about as mutual as that between humans and dairy cattle, which is why 'farming' is such an appropriate term - and even that's being generous. In some ways it's little more than a protection racket - 'pay us with honeydew and we'll protect you from predators, otherwise you'll get eaten'.
Article is copyright Guardian News and Media.
This photograph was published online in an article in RADIO FRANCE in the France Culture section on May 11th 2023 titled:
'' SERIE MECANIQUES DU VIVANT, SAISON 3: LE CORBEAU ''
Épisode 1 : Un oiseau noir pourtant si brillant
In English:
'' Mechanics of life, season 3: The crow ''
Episode 1: A black bird yet so brilliant
It was also Published online in an article in RADIO FRANCE in the France Culture section on May 11th 2023
Chronique sur les animaux
Les corbeaux et les corneilles : de petits génies de la nature (chronicle on animals
Ravens and crows: little geniuses of nature).
It was previously published as my 3,819th image in the GETTY IMAGES COLLECTION on November 5th 2019 (I now have 7,000+ images published)
CREATIVE RF gty.im/1185462929 MOMENT OPEN COLLECTION**
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Photograph taken at an altitude of Twenty One metres, at 12:34pm on Monday 4th November 2019, off Hyde Park Corner and Park Lane A4202 in the grounds of Hyde park, a Grade 1 listed Royal Park (the largest of) of London.
LEGEND AND MYTHOLOGY
By Paul Williams
Crows appear in the Bible where Noah uses one to search for dry land and to check on the recession of the flood. Crows supposedly saved the prophet, Elijah, from famine and are an Inuit deity. Legend has it that England and its monarchy will end when there are no more crows in the Tower of London. And some believe that the crows went to the Tower attracted by the regular corpses following executions with written accounts of their presence at the executions of Anne Boleyn and Jane Gray.
In Welsh mythology, unfortunately Crows are seen as symbolic of evilness and black magic thanks to many references to witches transforming into crows or ravens and escaping. Indian legend tells of Kakabhusandi, a crow who sits on the branches of a wish-fulfilling tree called Kalpataru and a crow in Ramayana where Lord Rama blessed the crow with the power to foresee future events and communicate with the souls.
In Native American first nation legend the crow is sometimes considered to be something of a trickster, though they are also viewed positively by some tribes as messengers between this world and the next where they carry messages from the living to those deceased, and even carry healing medicines between both worlds.
There is a belief that crows can foresee the future. The Klamath tribe in Oregon believe that when we die, we fly up to heaven as a crow. The Crow can also signify wisdom to some tribes who believe crows had the power to talk and were therefore considered to be one of the wisest of birds. Tribes with Crow Clans include the Chippewa (whose Crow Clan and its totem are called Aandeg), the Hopi (whose Crow Clan is called Angwusngyam or Ungwish-wungwa), the Menominee, the Caddo, the Tlingit, and the Pueblo tribes of New Mexico.
The crow features in the Nanissáanah (Ghost dance), popularized by Jerome Crow Dog, a Brulé Lakota sub-chief and warrior born at Horse Stealing Creek in Montana Territory in 1833, the crow symbolizing wisdom and the past, when the crow had become a guide and acted as a pathfinder during hunting. The Ghost dance movement was originally created in 1870 by Wodziwob, or Gray Hair, a prophet and medicine man of the Paiute tribe in an area that became known as Nevada.
Ghost dancers wore crow and eagle feathers in their clothes and hair, and the fact that the Crow could talk placed it as one of the sages of the animal kingdom. The five-day dances seeking trance, prophecy and exhortations would eventually play a major part in the pathway towards the white man's broken treaties, the infamous battle at Wounded knee and the surrender of Matȟó Wanáȟtaka (Kicking Bear), after officials began to fear the ghost dancers and rituals which seemed to occur prior to battle.
Historically the Vikings are the group who made so many references to the crow, and Ragnarr Loðbrók and his sons used this species in his banner as well as appearances in many flags and coats of arms. Also, it had some kind of association with Odin, one of their main deities. Norse legend tells us that Odin is accompanied by two crows.
Hugin, who symbolizes thought, and Munin, who represents a memory. These two crows were sent out each dawn to fly the entire world, returning at breakfast where they informed the Lord of the Nordic gods of everything that went on in their kingdoms. Odin was also referred to as Rafnagud (raven-god).
The raven appears in almost every skaldic poem describing warfare. Coins dating back to 940's minted by Olaf Cuaran depict the Viking war standard, the Raven and Viking war banners (Gonfalon) depicted the bird also.
In Scandinavian legends, crows are a representative of the Goddess of Death, known as Valkyrie (from old Norse 'Valkyrja'), one of the group of maidens who served the Norse deity Odin, visiting battlefields and sending him the souls of the slain worthy of a place in Valhalla. Odin ( also called Wodan, Woden, or Wotan), preferred that heroes be killed in battle and that the most valiant of souls be taken to Valhöll, the hall of slain warriors.
It is the crow that provides the Valkyries with important information on who should go. In Hindu ceremonies that are associated to ancestors, the crow has an important place in Vedic rituals. They are seen as messengers of death in Indian culture too.
In Germanic legend, Crows are seen as psychonomes, meaning the act of guiding spirits to their final destination, and that the feathers of a crow could cure a victim who had been cursed. And yet, a lone black crow could symbolize impending death, whilst a group symbolizes a lucky omen! Vikings also saw good omens in the crow and would leave offerings of meat as a token.
The crow also has sacred and prophetic meaning within the Celtic civilization, where it stood for flesh ripped off due to combat and Morrighan, the warrior goddess, often appears in Celtic mythology as a raven or crow, or else is found to be in the company of the birds. Crow is sacred to Lugdnum, the Celtic god of creation who gave his name to the city of Lug
In Greek mythology according to Appolodorus, Apollo is supposedly responsible for the black feathers of the crow, turning them forever black from their pristine white original plumage as a punishment after they brought news that Κορωνις (Coronis) a princess of the Thessalian kingdom of Phlegyantis, Apollo's pregnant lover had left him to marry a mortal, Ischys.
In one legend, Apollo burned the crows feathers and then burned Coronis to death, in another Coronis herself was turned into a black crow, and another that she was slain by the arrows of Αρτεμις (Artemis - twin to Apollo). Koronis was later set amongst the stars as the constellation Corvus ("the Crow").
Her name means "Curved One" from the Greek word korônis or "Crow" from the word korônê.A similar Muslim legend allegedly tells of Muhammad, founder of Islam and the last prophet sent by God to Earth, who's secret location was given away by a white crow to his seekers, as he hid in caves. The crow shouted 'Ghar Ghar' (Cave, cave) and thus as punishment, Muhammad turned the crow black and cursed it for eternity to utter only one phrase, 'Ghar, ghar). Native Indian legend where the once rainbow-coloured crows became forever black after shedding their colourful plumage over the other animals of the world.
In China the Crow is represented in art as a three legged bird on a solar disk, being a creature that helps the sun in its journey. In Japan there are myths of Crow Tengu who were priests who became vain, and turned into this spirit to serve as messengers until they learn the lesson of humility as well as a great Crow who takes part in Shinto creation stories.
In animal spirit guides there are general perceptions of what sightings of numbers of crows actually mean:
1 Crow Meaning: To carry a message from your near one who died recently.
2 Crows Meaning: Two crows sitting near your home signifies some good news is on your way.
3 Crows Meaning: An upcoming wedding in your family.
4 Crows Meaning: Symbolizes wealth and prosperity.
5 Crows Meaning: Diseases or pain.
6 Crows Meaning: A theft in your house!
7 Crows Meaning: Denotes travel or moving from your house.
8 Crows Meaning: Sorrowful events
Crows are generally seen as the symbolism when alive for doom bringing, misfortune and bad omens, and yet a dead crow symbolizes potentially bringing good news and positive change to those who see it.
This wonderful bird certainly gets a mixed bag of contradictory mythology and legend over the centuries and in modern days is often seen as a bit of a nuisance, attacking and killing the babies of other birds such as Starlings, Pigeons and House Sparrows as well as plucking the eyes out of lambs in the field, being loud and noisy and violently attacking poor victims in a 'crow court'....
There is even a classic horror film called 'THE CROW' released in 1994 by Miramax Films, directed by Alex Proyas and starring Brandon Lee in his final film appearance as Eric Draven, who is revived by a Crow tapping on his gravestone a year after he and his fiancée are murdered in Detroit by a street gang. The crow becomes his guide as he sets out to avenge the murders.
The only son of martial arts expert Bruce Lee, Brandon lee suffered fatal injuries on the set of the film when the crew failed to remove the primer from a cartridge that hit Lee in the abdomen with the same force as a normal bullet. Lee died that day, March 31st 1993 aged 28.
The symbolism of the Crow resurrecting the dead star and accompanying him on his quest for revenge was powerful, and in some part based on the history of the carrion crow itself and the original film grossed more than $94 Million dollars with three subsequent sequels following.
TAKING A CLOSER LOOK
So, let's move away from legend, mythology and stories passed down from our parents and grandparents and look at these amazing birds in isolation.
Carrion crow are passerines in the family Corvidae a group of Oscine passerine birds including Crows, Ravens, Rooks, Jackdaws, Jays, Magpies, Treepies, Choughs and Nutcrackers. Technically they are classed as Corvids, and the largest of passerine birds. Carrion crows are medium to large in size with rictal bristles and a single moult per year (most passerines moult twice).
Carrion crow was one of the many species originally described by Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus (Carl Von Linne after his ennoblement) in his 1758 and 1759 editions of 'SYSTEMA NATURAE', and it still bears its original name of Corvus corone, derived from the Latin of Corvus, meaning Raven and the Greek κορώνη (korōnē), meaning crow.
Carrion crow are of the Animalia kingdom Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Passeriformes Family: Corvidae Genus: Corvus and Species: Corvus corone
Corvus corone can reach 45-47cm in length with a 93-104cm wingspan and weigh between 370-650g. They are protected under The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 in the United Kingdom with a Green UK conservation status which means they are of least concern with more than 1,000,000 territories.
Breeding occurs in April with fledging of the chicks taking around twenty nine days following an incubation period of around twenty days with 3 to 4 eggs being the average norm. They are abundant in the UK apart from Northwest Scotland and Ireland where the Hooded crow (Corvus cornix) was considered the same species until 2002. They have a lifespan of around four years, whilst Crow species can live to the age of Twenty years old, and the oldest known American crow in the wild was almost Thirty years old.
The oldest documented captive crow died at age Fifty nine. They are smaller and have a shorter lifespan than the Raven, which again is used as a symbol in history to live life to the full and not waste a moment!
They are often mistaken for the Rook (Corvus frugilegus), a similar bird, though in the UK, the Rook is actually technically smaller than the Carrion crow averaging 44-46cm in length, 81-99cm wingspan and weighing up to 340g. Rooks have white beaks compared to the black beaks of Carrion crow, a more steeply raked ratio from head to beak, and longer straighter beaks as well as a different plumage pattern.
There are documented cases in the UK of singular and grouped Rooks attacking and killing Carrion crows in their territory. Rooks nest in colonies unlike Carrion crows. Carrion crows have only a few natural enemies including powerful raptors such as the northern goshawk, the peregrine falcon, the Eurasian eagle-owl and the golden eagle which will all readily hunt them.
Regarded as one of the most intelligent birds, indeed creatures on the planet, studies suggest that Corvids cognitive abilities can rival that of primates such as chimpanzees and gorillas and even provide clues to understanding human intelligence.
Crows have relatively large brains for their body size, compared to other animals. Their encephalization quotient (EQ) a ratio of brain to body size, adjusted for size because there isn’t a linear relationship is 4.1.
That is remarkably close to chimps at 4.2 whilst humans are 8.1. Corvids also have a very high neuronal density, the number of neurons per gram of brain, factoring in the number of cortical neurons, neuron packing density, intraneuronal distance and axonal conduction velocity shows that Corvids score high on this measure as well, with humans scoring the highest.
A corvid's pallium is packed with more neurons than a great ape's. Corvids have demonstrated the ability to use a combination of mental tools such as imagination, and anticipation of future events.
They can craft tools from twigs and branches to hook grubs from deep recesses, they can solve puzzles and intricate methods of gaining access to food set by humans,and have even bent pieces of wire into hooks to obtain food. They have been proven to have a higher cognitive ability level than seven year old humans.
Communications wise, their repertoire of wraw-wraw's is not fully understood, but the intensity, rhythm, and duration of caws seems to form the basis of a possible language. They also remember the faces of humans who have hindered or hurt them and pass that information on to their offspring.
Aesop's fable of 'The Crow and the Pitcher, tells of a thirsty crow which drops stones into a water pitcher to raise the water level and enable it to take a drink. Scientists have conducted tests to see whether crows really are this intelligent. They placed floating treats in a deep tube and observed the crows indeed dropping dense objects carefully selected into the water until the treat floated within reach. They had the intelligence to pick up, weigh and discount objects that would float in the water, they also did not select ones that were too large for the container.
Pet crows develop a unique call for their owners, in effect actually naming them. They also know to sunbathe for a dose of vitamin D, regularly settling on wooden garden fences, opening their mouths and wings and raising their heads to the sun. In groups they warn of danger and communicate vocally.
They store a cache of food for later if in abundance and are clever enough to move it if they feel it has been discovered. They leave markers for their cache. They have even learned to place walnuts and similar hard food items under car tyres at traffic lights as a means of cracking them!
Crows regularly gather around a dead fellow corvid, almost like a funeral, and it is thought they somehow learn from each death. They can even remember human faces for decades. Crows group together to attack larger predators and even steal their food, and they have different dialects in different areas, with the ability to mimic the dialect of the alpha males when they enter their territory!
They have a twenty year life span, the oldest on record reaching the age of Fifty nine. Crows can leave gifts for those who feed them such as buttons or bright shiny objects as a thank you, and they even kiss and make up after an argument, having mated for life.
In mythology they are associated with good and bad luck, being the bringers of omens and even witchcraft and are generally reviled for their attacks on baby birds and small mammals. They have an attack method of stunning smaller birds before consuming them, tearing violently at smaller, less aggressive birds, which is simply down to the fact that they are so highly intelligent, and also the top of the food chain.
Their diet includes over a thousand different items: Dead animals (as their name suggests), invertebrates, grain, as well as stealing eggs and chicks from other birds' nests, worms, insects, fruit, seeds, kitchen scraps. They are highly adaptable when food sources grow scarce. I absolutely love them, they are magnificent, bold, beautiful and incredibly interesting to watch and though at times it is hard to witness attacks made by them, I cannot help but adore them for so many other and more important reasons.
OBSERVATIONS ON THE PAIR IN MY GARDEN
Known mostly for my landscape work, Covid-19 changed everything for me photographically speaking thanks to a series of lock downs which naturally impeded my ability to travel. I began to spend more time on my own land, photographing the wildlife, and suddenly those wildlife photographs began to sell worldwide in magazines and books.
Crows have been in the area for a while, but rarely had strayed into my garden, leaving the Magpies to own the territory. Things changed around mid May 2021 when a beautiful female Carrion crow appeared and began to take some of the food that I put down for the other birds. Within a few days she began to appear regularly, on occasions stocking up on food, whilst other times placing pieces in the birdbath to soften them. She would stand on the birdbath and eat and drink and come back over the course of the day to eat the softened food. Naturally I named her Sheryl (Crow).
Shortly afterwards she brought along her mate, a tall and handsome fella, much larger than her who was also very vocal if he felt she was getting a little too close to me. I named him Russell (Crow). By now I had moved from a seated position from the patio as an observer, to laying on a mat just five feet from the birdbath with my Nikon so that I could photograph the pair as they landed, scavenged and fed.
Sheryl was now confident enough to let me be very close, and she even tolerated and recognized the clicking of the camera. At first, I used silent mode to reduce the noise, but this only allowed two shooting frame rates of single frame or continuous low frame which meant I was missing shots. I reverted back to normal continuous high frames, and she soon got used to the whirring of the mechanisms as the mirror slapped back and forth.
Russell would bark orders at her from the safety of the fence or the rear of the garden, whilst she rarely made a sound. That was until one day when in the sweltering heat she kept opening her beak and sunning on the grass, panting slightly in the heat.
I placed the circular water sprayer nearby and had it rotating so that the birdbath and grass was bathed in gentle water droplets and she soon came back, landed and seemed to really like the cooling effect on offer. She then climbed onto the birdbath and opened her wings slightly and made some gentle purring, cooing noises....
I swear she was expressing happiness, joy even....
On another blisteringly hot day when the sprayer was on, she came down, walked towards it and opened her wings up running into the water spray. Not once, but many times.
A further revelation into the unseen sides to these beautiful birds came with the male and female on the rear garden fence. They sat together, locked beaks like a kiss and then the male took his time gently preening her head feathers and the back of her neck as she made tiny happy sounds.
They stayed together like that for several minutes, showing a gentle, softer side to their nature and demonstrating the deep bond between them. Into July and the pair started to bring their three youngsters to my garden, the nippers learning to use the birdbath for bathing and dipping food, the parents attentive as ever. Two of the youngsters headed off once large enough and strong enough.
I was privileged to be in close attendance as the last juvenile was brought down by the pair, taught to take food and then on a night in July, to soar and fly with its mother in the evening sky as the light faded. She would swoop and twirl, and at regular intervals just touch the juvenile in flight with her wing tip feathers, as if to reassure it that she was close in attendance.
What an amazing experience to view. A few days later, the juvenile, though now gaining independence and more than capable of tackling food scraps in the garden, was still on occasions demand feeding from its mother who was now teaching him to take chicken breast, hotdogs or digestive biscuits and bury them in the garden beds for later delectation.
The juvenile also liked to gather up peanuts (monkey nuts) and bury them in the grass. On one occasion I witnessed a pair of rumbunctious Pica Pica (Magpies), chasing the young crow on rooftops, leaping at him no matter how hard he tried to get away. He defended himself well and survived the attacks, much to my relief.
Into August and the last youngster remained with the adults, though now was very independent even though he still spent time with his parents on rooftops, and shared food gathering duties with his mum. Hotdog sausages were their favourite choice, followed by fish fingers and digestive biscuits which the adult male would gather up three at a time.
In October 2021, the three Crows were still kings of the area, but my time observing them was pretty much over as I will only put food out now for the birds in the winter months. The two adults are still here in December and now taking the food that I put out to help all birds survive in the winter months. They also have a pair of Magpies to compete with now.
Late February 2022 and Cheryl and Russell and their youngster are still with me, still dominant in the area and still taking raw chicken, hotdogs, biscuits and fat balls that I put out for them. Today I saw them mating for the first time this year in the tree and the cycle continues.
By October 2022 the pair had successfully reared a new baby who we nicknamed Baboo, and the other youngster flew the coup. The three now recognised our car returning from weekends away, and were enjoying sausages, hotdogs, raw chicken, fish and especially cheese, but life was hard as they aged with daily morning and evening tussles in the air with invaders and intruders hoping to take their land.
Russell picked up an injury during one fight and hobbled about for a few weeks before fully recovering, though a slight limp remained long-term, but Sheryl was visibly ageing and struggled at times to gain height from a vertical ground take off. I placed a garden chair near the house and she would often jump onto the top and then onto the fence and then the roof in stages.
Baboo became the dominant garden watcher, swooping in to take advantage of the food I put out, though he now faced competition from a gaggle eight resident Magpies, and gulls which seemed to have adopted the area, and brave enough to snatch food from under his nose and eat on the grass in his presence. The three crows still held on to our garden and the territory and loved cheese, hot dogs, raw chicken, fish fingers and digestive biscuits and also mixed nuts, crusty bread and cakes and fat from steak or gammon plus fish skin from salmon or haddock. But by December 13th 2022, feeding became almost impossible as Black headed gulls (Chroicocephalus ridibundus), Herring Gulls (Larus argentatus) and Common Gulls (Larus canus), seemed to take up residence, swooping from nowhere in dozens as soon as I tried to feed the crows and Magpies. I had to wait until any of my three crows were nestled in the Chestnut tree which seeps into my garden, before throwing food out to them, watching as they grabbed what they could, followed by the resident Magpies, before the gulls began to swoop once more!
The three crows could recognise my car and know if we were returning home, and call each other, and wait for me to feed them. They enjoyed Tesco finest mince pies, tinned Salmon steaks, fatballs and raw meatballs over the festive period, and Sheryl particularly loved her mature cheddar cheese in large chunks. Into February, March and April 2023 and the morning skirmishes with bands of four or more outsider crows grew in regularity and intensity. Russell and Sheryl are by now getting older, at least into their third year, probably fourth or more, and the battles must have been getting harder to win.
Corvus Corone.... magnificently misunderstood by some!
Paul Williams June 4th 2021 (Updated on April 3rd 2023)
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Nikon D850 Focal length 240mm Shutter speed 1/60s Aperture f/11.0 iso1250 RAW (14 bit uncompressed) Image size L 8256 x 5504 FX). Hand held with Sigma Image stabilization enabled . Colour space Adobe RGB. Nikon Back button focusing enabled. Focus mode AF-C focus 51 point with 3-D tracking. AF Area mode single. Exposure mode - Manual exposure. Matrix metering. ISO Sensitivity: Manually set. Nikon Distortion control on. Vignette control Normal. Active D-lighting on Automatic. High ISO Noise Reduction: On. Picture control: Auto with Sharpening A+1.00.
Sigma 60-600mm f/4.5-6.3DG OS HSM SPORTS. Lee SW150 MKI filter holder with MK2 light shield and custom made velcro fitting for the Sigma lens. Lee SW150 circular polariser glass filter.Lee SW150 Filters field pouch. Nikon EN-EL15a battery. Lee SW150 MKI filter holder with MK2 light shield and custom made velcro fitting for the Sigma lens. Lee SW150 circular polariser glass filter.Lee SW150 Filters field pouch.Matin quick release neckstrap. My Memory 128GB Class 10 SDXC 80MB/s card. Lowepro Flipside 400 AW camera bag. Nikon GP-1 GPS module.
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LATITUDE: N 51d 30m 23.01s
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PROCESSING POWER:
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HP 110-352na Desktop PC with AMD Quad-Core A6-5200 APU 64Bit processor. Radeon HD8400 graphics. 8 GB DDR3 Memory with 1TB Data storage. 64-bit Windows 10. Verbatim USB 2.0 1TB desktop hard drive. WD My Passport Ultra 1tb USB3 Portable hard drive. Nikon ViewNX-1 64bit (Version 1.2.11 15/03/2018). Nikon Capture NX-D 64bit (Version 1.4.7 15/03/2018). Nikon Picture Control Utility 2 (Version 1.3.2 15/03/2018). Adobe photoshop Elements 8 Version 8.0 64bit.
The three tin foil bowls on the end of the lower arms indicate that this space vehicle has feet and is intended to land somewhere. This is reinforced by the fully-extended digger arm (surface sampler arm in NASA-speak) that today hangs even lower.
The Surveyor programme was run by NASA from June 1966 to January 1968, sending seven robotic spacecraft to the surface of the Moon. Seen above is a test article, a full-scale mock-up, which is now suspended from the ceiling in the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum on the Mall in Washington DC.
The programme's primary goal was to demonstrate the feasibility of soft landings on the Moon. The Surveyor craft were the first American spacecraft to achieve soft landing on an extraterrestrial body. The missions called for the craft to travel directly to the Moon on an impact trajectory, a journey that lasted 63-65 hours, and ended with a deceleration of just over three minutes to a soft landing.
The programme was implemented by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) to prepare for the Apollo programme. JPL selected Hughes Aircraft to develop the spacecraft system which was launched into space aboard an Atlas-Centaur rocket. The total cost of the Surveyor programme was officially $469 million.
Five of the Surveyor craft successfully soft-landed on the moon, including the first one. The other two failed: Surveyor 2 crashed at high velocity after a failed mid-course correction, and Surveyor 4 was lost to contact (possibly exploding) 2.5 minutes before its scheduled touch-down.
All seven spacecraft are still on the Moon; none of the missions included returning them to Earth. Some parts of Surveyor 3 were returned to Earth by the crew of Apollo 12, which landed near it in 1969. The camera from this craft is also on display at the National Air and Space Museum.
There is no sense of scale in the picture, but the whole craft is 3m high and 3.5m wide. Its sisters weighed 283 kg as they landed on the moon.
November 16, 2019: Remove Trump and Fire Drill Fridays at the Capitol and the White House with Jane Fonda
photo google images
article courtesy
www.richard.clark32.btinternet.co.uk/behead.html
(Beheading that will never be forgotten was that of Hazrat Imam Hussain favorite grandson of the Holy Prophet by Shimr under the orders of Yazid of the Ummayad Caliphate at Karbala 1400years back -my words )
Note : Some people may find the images on this page disturbing - they do not load automatically.
""Historical background.
Beheading with a sword or axe goes back a very long way in history, because like hanging, it was a cheap and practical method of execution in early times when a sword or an axe was always readily available.
The Greeks and the Romans considered beheading a less dishonourable (and less painful) form of execution than other methods in use at the time. The Roman Empire used beheading for its own citizens whilst crucifying others.
Beheading was widely used in Europe and Asia until the 20th century, but now is confined to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Yemen and Iran. One man was reportedly beheaded in Iran in 2003 – the first for many years. It remains a lawful method in the other two countries, although no executions by this method have been reported.
Beheading was used in Britain up to 1747 (see below) and was the standard method in Norway (abolished 1905), Sweden (up to 1903), Denmark and Holland (abolished 1870), and was used for some classes of prisoners in France (up until the introduction of the guillotine in 1792) and in Germany up to 1938.
China also used it widely, until the communists came to power and replaced it with shooting in the 20th century. Japan too used beheading up to the end of the 19th century prior to turning to hanging.
Saudi Arabia - beheading in the 21st century.
Saudi Arabia uses public beheading as the punishment for murder, rape, drug trafficking, sodomy, armed robbery, apostasy and certain other offences. Forty five men and 2 women were beheaded in 2002, a further 52 men and 1 woman in 2003 and 35 men and a woman in 2004. Executions rose in 2005 with 88 men and 2 women being beheaded and then reduced to 35 men and four women in 2006.
The condemned of both sexes are given tranquillisers and then taken by police van to a public square or a car park after midday prayers. Their eyes are covered and they are blindfolded. The police clear the square of traffic and a sheet of blue plastic sheet about 16 feet square is laid out on the ground.
Dressed in their own clothes, barefoot, with shackled feet and hands cuffed behind their back, the prisoner is led by a police officer to the centre of the sheet where they are made to kneel facing Mecca. An Interior Ministry official reads out the prisoner's name and crime to the crowd.
Saudi Arabia uses a traditional Arab scimitar which is 1000-1100 mm long. The executioner is handed the sword by a policeman and raises the gleaming scimitar, often swinging it two or three times in the air to warm up his arm muscles, before approaching the prisoner from behind and jabbing him in the back with the tip of the blade, causing the person to raise their head. (see photo) Then with a single swing of the sword the prisoner is decapitated.
Normally it takes just one swing of the sword to sever the head, often sending it flying some two or three feet. Paramedics bring the head to a doctor, who uses a gloved hand to stop the fountain of blood spurting from the neck. The doctor sews the head back on, and the body is wrapped in the blue plastic sheet and taken away in an ambulance. Burial takes place in an unmarked grave in the prison cemetery.
Beheadings of women did not start until the early 1990’s, previously they were shot. Forty women have been publicly beheaded up to the end of 2006.
Most executions take place in the three major cities of Riyadh, Jeddah and Dahran. Saudi executioners take great pride in their work and the post tends to be handed down from one generation to the next.
Equipment for beheading.
There were two distinct forms of beheading - by the sword and by the axe. Where a person was to be decapitated with a sword, a block is not used and they are generally made to kneel down although they could, if short, be executed standing up, and in Germany women were sometimes allowed to sit in a chair.
A typical European execution sword was 36-48 inches (900-1200 mm) long and 2 to 2-1/2 inches (50-65mm) wide with the handle being long enough for the executioner to use both hands to give maximum leverage. It will weigh around 4 lbs. (2 Kg.)
Where an axe was the chosen implement, a wooden block often shaped to accept the neck, was required. Two patterns of block were used, the high block, 18-24 inches (450-600 mm) high, where the prisoner knelt in front of it and lent forward so that the neck rested on the top or lay on a low bench with their neck over the block. The neck on a high block presented an easier target due to the head pointing slightly downwards, thus bringing the neck into prominence. It also meant that the axe was at a better angle at that point in the arc of the stroke to meet the neck full on.
The high block was favoured in later times in Britain and was standard in Germany up to the 1930's.
Some countries used a low block where the person lies full length and puts there neck over the small wooden block which is just a few inches high. This arrangement was used in Sweden where some 600 people, including nearly 200 women, were beheaded in the 19th century until manual beheading was replaced by the guillotine in 1903. This drawing is of the execution of 48 year old Anna Månsdotter in Kristianstad, southern Sweden on 7th of August 1890. She was the last woman to be executed in Sweden and had been convicted of strangling her daughter-in-law, Hanna Johansdotter. Anna was having an incestuous relationship with her son, Per, who received a life sentence for his part in the crime.
The low block presented the executioner with certain difficulties. The arc prescribed by the axe as he brought it down meant that the blade was at quite an angle to the prisoner's neck making it more difficult to sever the head with a single blow. In Anna's case, it passed through her lower jaw which was left attached to her neck.
Two patterns of axe were also used - the pattern used in Britain, which was developed from the traditional woodsman's axe, has a blade about one foot 8 inches (500 mm) high by 10 inches (250 mm) wide with a 5 foot (1525 mm) long handle. In Germany, the axe was like a larger version of a butcher's cleaver, again the handle was long enough for the headsman to use both hands.
Beheading in Britain.
In Britain, beheading was introduced during the reign of William the Conqueror for the execution of Waltheof, Earl of Northumberland in 1076. It was confined to those of noble birth who were convicted of treason, or in a very few cases murder. Several members of Royalty were beheaded, including Charles 1st, Anne Boleyn, Mary Queen of Scots and Lady Jane Grey. Many other Earls, Lords and Knights, including Sir Walter Raleigh, and even some Bishops were beheaded.
The majority of English beheadings took place at the Tower of London. Seven were carried out in private within the grounds, of which 5 were of women and just over 100 on Tower Hill outside the walls of the Tower, where there stood a permanent scaffold from 1485. Only a very small number of beheadings were carried out elsewhere, as the Tower was the principal prison for traitors. It should be noted that treason often meant displeasing the monarch, rather than in any way betraying the country.
The spot indicated as "The site of the scaffold" on Tower Green which visitors can see today was not used for all of the 7 private beheadings although the plaque implies this.
Those beheaded in private on Tower Green were Lord Hastings in 1483, Anne Boleyn on the 19th of May 1536, Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury on the 28th of May 1541, Catherine Howard and her Lady in Waiting, Jane, Viscountess Rochford on the 13th of February 1542, Lady Jane Grey on the 15th of February 1554 and Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex on the 25th of February 1601.
At various times both the low block and the high block have been used . The axe was the normal implement of execution in Britain, although Anne Boleyn was beheaded with a sword (see below).
A replica of the scaffold used for the 1601 execution of Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex has been constructed for exhibition in the Tower. The original was set up in the middle of the Parade Ground and was made of oak, some 4 feet high and having a 9 feet square platform (1.2 m high x 2.75 m square) with a waist high rail round it. The prisoner mounted it by a short flight of stairs and was not restrained throughout the execution as it was expected that people of noble birth would know how to behave at their executions! Devereux lay full length on the platform and placed his neck on the low block with his arms outstretched. It is recorded that three strokes of the axe were required to decapitate him. Straw was spread on the scaffold to absorb the blood.
Beheading in public on Tower Hill was used when the government of the day wished to make an example of the traitor (or traitors). Double beheadings were rare, although not unknown, and were carried out in order of precedence of the victims, as occurred with the Jacobite Earls, Kilmarnock and Balmerino, executed in 1746 for treason after the battle of Culloden.
Simon Lord Lovatt became the last person to be beheaded on Tower Hill when he was executed for treason on April the 9th, 1747. The high block used for Lord Lovatt together with the axe were on display in the Tower. (see photo). It was normal for the executioner to pick up the severed head and display to the crowd proclaiming, "Behold the head of a traitor!"
The execution of Anne Boleyn.
29 year old Anne, (see photo) Henry VIII's second wife, had been convicted on trumped up charges of adultery and treason and was thus sentenced to death by burning at the stake or beheading at the Kings pleasure. Fortunately for Anne, he chose the latter and perhaps through a pang of conscience imported a skilled headsman from Calais in France to ensure the execution was performed as humanely as possible. British hangmen normally got the job of beheading those condemned but were generally very poor at it due to the rarity of such sentences.
On the 19th May 1536, Anne was led to the Parade Ground within the Tower with an escort of 200 Yeoman of the Guard (Beefeaters). She was wearing a loose, ermine trimmed, grey damask robe over a red underskirt. Her hair was "up" covered with a white coif and a small black cap and she wore a cross on a gold chain at her waist and carried a white handkerchief and a prayer book.
She had to climb 4 feet (1200 mm) up the steps to the scaffold to meet her headsman who was wearing a black suit and half mask covering the upper part of his face. The long two handed execution sword was concealed under the straw on the scaffold.
Anne made a short speech to the assembled witnesses and then removed her cape and her hair coif and cap which was now replaced by a white cap. She knelt on the platform and prayed with her chaplain. When she had finished one of her ladies in waiting blindfolded her with a large handkerchief. All was now ready and the headsman took up the sword and beheaded her with a single blow. (Click here to see a shot of her execution as portrayed in a film). Her ladies in waiting recovered her head and as there was no coffin provided, she was placed in an old arrow box and duly buried in the Chapel Royal of St. Peter ad Vinicula, within the Tower.
Lady Jane Grey.
Lady Jane Grey, the daughter of the Duke of Suffolk, was born in October 1537 and was only 16 years old when she was proclaimed Queen on the 10th of July 1553 by Protestant nobles, including her father, after the premature death of Edward VI. She reigned, uncrowned, for just 9 days and was unable to win public acceptance because of her religion in what was a predominately Catholic country. Queen Mary (Bloody Mary) took over the throne and commenced her persecution of Protestants. Thus, Jane was deposed and imprisoned in the Tower for 6 months before being condemned for treason and executed on the 13th of February 1554. She was led to the scaffold erected on Tower Green in front of the White Tower. She made a speech and recited a psalm before using a large white handkerchief to blindfold herself. She knelt on a cushion in front of the high block. Having blindfolded herself she couldn't see the block and fumbling for it said "What shall I do, where is it, where is it?" One of the people on the scaffold guided her down and before the fatal blow she said "Lord, into Thy hands I commend my spirit". (Click here to see an artist's impression of her execution). Earlier on the same day her husband, Lord Guilford Dudley, whom she had married on the 21st of May 1553, was beheaded on Tower Hill and her father suffered the same fate 11 days later for his part in the alleged conspiracy to seize the thrown for his daughter. Many others were to be beheaded or burned at the stake under Mary's reign, hence her nickname.
Germany.
Beheading with a high block and axe was the normal method of execution in some Länders (provinces) of Germany and was carried out in public up to 1851. Other Länders used the sword or the guillotine. Franz Schmidt, the executioner of Nuremberg from May 1578 to 1617, often tried to persuade the authorities to allow him to behead a condemned woman, rather than hang her, as a mercy to the woman. She was seated in a chair and Schmidt beheaded her with his sword from behind. He executed at least 42 women during his 44 years in office.
The execution of Bertha Zillman on October 31st, 1893 was described by journalists. Zillman had poisoned her husband with arsenic, because he beat her and their children, and was sentenced to death. She was beheaded at Plötzensee prison at 8 a.m. Her dress was cut out at the neck down to her shoulders and her hair put up in a bun. She was given a shawl to wear. When the Inspector of the prison went to fetch her, he found her prostrate with fear and she had to be helped to the high block by two male warders. She silently removed the shawl and with one swing of the axe the executioner had decapitated her. It was all over by 8.03 a.m.
There was a double female execution in 1914 when Pauline Zimmer and Marie Kubatzka were beheaded for murder in Ratibor in the Prussian province of Silesia. The women were executed in turn using a high block. In front of the block was a black cushion on which the manacled woman knelt and then bent forward to put her head on the block which was higher on the body side so that it caused the neck to be slightly bent. The assistant executioner held the women's hair out in front of her to prevent her moving at the crucial moment while the masked executioner beheaded her with a short handled axe, rather like a butcher's cleaver. (Click here to see a picture of an earlier, but similar female beheading in Germany)
Two famous beheadings in Germany were carried out at 6 a.m. on 18th February 1935 when Baroness Benita von Falkenhayn and her friend Renate von Natzner, who had been convicted of spying, were beheaded with the axe by the executioner Carl Gröpler wearing the traditional tail-coat, top hat and white gloves, at Berlin's Plötzensee prison. In 1938, Hitler decreed that all future executions should be by hanging or guillotining. West Germany abolished capital punishment altogether in 1951 and the last execution there was in 1949.
The cause of death.
Beheading is effective and is probably as humane as any other modern method if carried out correctly. When a single blow is sufficient to decapitate the prisoner, they lose consciousness within a few seconds. They die from shock and anoxia due to haemorrhage and loss of blood pressure within less than 60 seconds. However, because the muscles and vertebrae of the neck are tough, decapitation may require more than one blow. Death occurs due to separation of the brain and spinal cord, after the transection (cutting through) of the surrounding tissues. Consciousness is probably lost within 2-3 seconds, due to a rapid fall of the “intracranial perfusion of blood" (blood supply to the brain).
It has often been reported that the eyes and mouths of people beheaded have shown signs of movement. It has been calculated that the human brain has enough oxygen stored for metabolism to persist about 7 seconds after the head is cut off.
The problem with beheading.
Beheading requires a skilled headsman if it is to be at all humane and not infrequently, several blows are required to sever the head. It took three blows to remove Mary Queen of Scot's head at Fotheringhay Castle in 1587.
The prisoner is usually blindfolded so that they do not see the sword or axe coming and move at the crucial moment. Again, this is why in both beheading and guillotining it was not unusual for an assistant to hold the prisoner's hair to prevent them moving.
In any event, the results are gory in the extreme as blood spurts from the severed arteries and veins of the neck including the aorta and the jugular vein.
All the European countries that previously used beheading have now totally abolished the death penalty.
Back to Contents page The guillotine
From the Daily Mail, Saturday 16/04/05. This woman - Cathy Jung - achieves a 15" waist by wearing a corset almost 24/7.
On a side-note, the paper used the story as a way to debunk the whole 'Kylie-wearing-a-16"-corset' thing. Except that Kylie herself has said that she never wore such a tiny corset, so what's the point?
I hate the Daily Mail.
This article appeared in the Tampa Tribune on Apr. 10, 2004.
By CAROL JEFFARES HEDMAN
LeHeup Hill gets all the glory.
It’s thought by most to be the highest point in Pasco County, and at one time it was a contender for the highest point in Florida.
The summit, south of Dade City along Fort King Road, doesn't top the list. But it’s the state’s 23rd highest point above sea level, according to America’s Roof, americasroof.com, an organization that records such things.
But for a brief time in 1936, another Pasco County “mountain” vied for the title along with LeHeup Hill.
“Pasco Claims Highest Points in Florida,” the Jan. 10, 1936 edition of the Dade City Banner proclaimed. But the so-called highest point wasn't LeHeup Hill. It was the farm and grove property three miles northwest of Dade City purchased by L.E. Rowland, principal of Zephyrhills High School. Rowland believed the land was 330 feet above sea level.
From his home on the “brow of a hill” accessible via a little traveled road “can be seen a remarkable panorama of the eastern half of the county showing Dade City, the mills of Lacoochee, hills, lakes, groves and homes for miles around,” the article stated.
The view from there was unobstructed to the north and south. “But the longest distance can be seen to the east across the low river swamps between Dade City and Orlando,” the Banner said.
Rowland had reported seeing smoke from trains between Lakeland and Orlando and, at night, airport lights in Orlando, Lakeland and Plant City. And a “glow in the sky” came from Tampa and Brooksville.
But Rowland was most amazed on clear days to see smoke moving in the far distance. From its comparatively slow progress, Rowland believed it came from coastal steamships.
Rowland wished he could have measurements taken to measure his property against LeHeup Hill.
Many years earlier, Dade City, Clermont and other Florida towns were claiming the highest land in Florida, the Banner said. Dade City’s claim was the property of Gertie M. Dew on Fort King Road. The site, now called LeHeup Hill, overlooks Lake Pasadena and was measured at 330.2 feet above sea level, slightly more than the height given the Rowland property, the article said.
But “which ever point is finally proved to be the highest, it is certain that no other section of the state can surpass Pasco County in the height of its hills and beauty of its views,” the Banner said.
LeHeup Hill is now designated at 242 feet above sea level, records show. Not making Florida’s Highest Named Summits list is Clay Hill, six miles northwest of Dade City, recorded at 301 feet. That would make it the highest point in both Pasco and Hernando counties. Frazee Hill, at 251 feet above sea level and perhaps where the Rowland property was located, even tops LeHeup Hill.
But still the hill named for the family that moved there in 1911 gets the glory as Pasco’s highest point. Its adjoining Nursery Hill, also 242 feet above sea level, and nearby Greer Hill, at 229 feet above sea level, both made the Florida Highest Named Summits list.
The highest summit on the list is Britton Hill, at 345 feet above sea level, in Walton County.
Credit for the data above is given to the following websites:
www.anyplaceamerica.com/directory/fl/pasco-county-12101/s...
www.fivay.org/lake_pasadena.html
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In addition to designing actual products, one of my occasional duties at Big Ass Fans was designing and sourcing swag. I designed this pewter belt buckle in (I think) 2007 and had 500 copies made. 501 actually - this one is actually the pre-production proof sample, which I kept for myself.
article complet sur la FIM à lire ici : militaryphotoreport.blogspot.fr/2015/10/la-defense-lhonne...
A little while ago Simon Pickard (aka brickspartan) from Blocks magazine approached me about doing a feature article on me (as part of a series of AFOL feature articles). I was chuffed and flattered for the recognition (and a little intimidated at the same time!) Simon and I had a great time during the interview and I'm really pleased with how well Simon put together this feature.
Its available in UK stockists WH Smith, Tesco, Sainsburys, Morrisons, and others(?). I believe its carried by Barnes and Noble in the US and available globally in digital form from the iTunes Newsstand app.
Blocks is a great read with high quality content and production. That should not be come as a surprise since most of the editorial team are mostly AFOLs.
Blocks Magazine, July 2015, Issue 9