View allAll Photos Tagged CONVERSATIONAL
White Light White Peak, the live show, is a personal journey through a year in the White Peak told through poems and projections. see: www.whitelightwhitepeak.com
“a beautiful work of art in every one of its facets – poetry, photography, stagecraft, soundtrack.”
Jim Marriott – Buxton Festival Fringe review.
"Summed up in one word - mesmerising." (Caroline Small, events manager at The Green Man Gallery, Buxton).
Touring the Peak District and beyond, September and October - with more dates planned for 2020.
Starting in the depths of a snowy winter, this is a poetic journey through a White Peak year, including encounters with the weather, wildlife and people; some amusing, some thought-provoking and many involving a Springer Spaniel...or two. The poems are told from memory and in a conversational style; more like miniature short stories at times, complete with twists and some happy endings.
The White Light is all in my monochrome photography: Atmospheric landscapes, wildlife shots and enigmatic moments, reflecting the images and moods heard in the poems and projected onto a large screen throughout the performance. With the occasional soundscape, (captured locally - and in all weathers) the whole is a highly immersive experience; the culmination of five years' work.
"White Light White Peak", the book, is published by Fly on the Wall press - order a copy here: www.flyonthewallpoetry.co.uk/shop Copies for sale at a discount (and signed!) at the live event if you buy the programme, which contains a supplement of seven poems with photographs.
A review of White Light White Peak – The Book:
“A joyous book - one to be slowly savoured. The black and white photos are truly atmospheric, the snippets of prose down-to-earth and gently humorous, while the poems are a wonderful celebration of nature. Simon Corble produces a little bit of magic in White Light White Peak, capturing the ethereal beauty of England's first national park. This is a book to keep and cherish.”
Helen Moat, freelance travel writer and book reviewer - author of "The Slow Guide to the Peak District".
Montage of four images from a Takumar 105mm f2.8, so the 'blue' is from distance.
A simple way to depict a local hill is by concentric circles. When the hills weave into a concertina of distance, then parallel canals and cross links may have been a closer schematic for a local landscape. Place, animals, people, memories, culture, myth and family can all distribute through a landscape, turning it into a rich set of visual meanings. Registering the links of the landscape and empowering them with cup-like loci that can hold conversational detail would help people to experience a landscape by proxi and gain information without direct experience. Writing and words also let people think they have experience and knowledge without having lived, but that is history.
AJM 26.4.19
Of which I am in need....
Met a nice enough guy at Target tonight in the oatmeal aisle. The first 10 minutes of conversation were good...an hour of conversational ADHD later and my ears are exhausted and I have waaaaay too much information! So I am in search of silence....
Thank you for your comments and faves – they are greatly appreciated!
Select photos from my Flickr stream are available for purchase as prints or personal download at [www.winterfirephotographicarts.com].
From the poem Immersion, about the magic of a late Summer day.. My personal favourite of the whole collection; Dexter, one of our Springer Spaniels, just happened to lift his head at this moment, when I was already pretty pleased with the composition.
"White Light White Peak", the book, is published by Fly on the Wall press, launching at the Buxton Festival Fringe on July 15th 2019. Order your copy here: www.flyonthewallpoetry.co.uk/shop
An advance review of White Light White Peak – The Book:
“A joyous book - one to be slowly savoured. The black and white photos are truly atmospheric, the snippets of prose down-to-earth and gently humorous, while the poems are a wonderful celebration of nature. Simon Corble produces a little bit of magic in White Light White Peak, capturing the ethereal beauty of England's first national park. This is a book to keep and cherish.”
Helen Moat, freelance travel writer and book reviewer - author of "The Slow Guide to the Peak District".
White Light White Peak, the live show, is a personal journey through a year in the White Peak told through poems and projections. "Summed up in one word - mesmerising." (Caroline Small, events manager at The Green Man Gallery, Buxton). Starting in the depths of a snowy winter, this is a poetic journey through a White Peak year, including encounters with the weather, wildlife and people; some amusing, some thought-provoking and many involving a Springer Spaniel...or two. The poems are told from memory and in a conversational style; more like miniature short stories at times, complete with twists and some happy endings.
The White Light is all in my monochrome photography: Atmospheric landscapes, wildlife shots and enigmatic moments, reflecting the images and moods heard in the poems and projected onto a large screen throughout the performance. With the occasional soundscape, (captured locally - and in all weathers) the whole is a highly immersive experience; the culmination of five years' work.
If you want to book the live show, then please email me corblesimon@gmail.com, Suitable for all kinds of spaces that can provide some level of blackout,
Multiple intelligences
Have you ever wondered what made Michael Jordan such a good basketball player? What about Mozart? He wrote entire operas in one sitting without editing. That's pretty impressive! According to psychologist and educator Howard Gardener, each of these men possessed a specific-type of intelligence that is not usually considered intelligence at all. They are usually considered talents.
Gardener generated a theory known as multiple intelligences from observing extremely talented and gifted people. He came up with seven types of intelligence that are typically left out of most people's ideas of what intelligence actually is:
Bodily-kinesthetic ability:
Michael Jordan seems to possess a lot of this ability. People high in bodily-kinesthetic ability have superior hand-eye coordination, a great sense of balance, and a keen understanding of and control over their bodies while engaged in physical activities.
Musical ability:
If you can tap your foot and clap your hands in unison, then you have a little musical intelligence, just a little. People high in musical intelligence possess the natural ability to read, write, and play music exceptionally well.
Spatial ability:
Have you ever gotten lost in your own backyard? If so, you probably don't have a very high level of spatial intelligence. This intelligence involves the ability to navigate and move around in space and to the ability to picture three-dimensional scenes in your mind.
Linguistic ability:
This is the traditional ability to read, write, and speak well. Articulate, well-spoken people, along with poets, writers, and gifted speakers, are high in this ability.
Logical-mathematical ability:
This intelligence includes basic and complex mathematical problem-solving ability.
Interpersonal ability:
The gift of gab and the used-car salesperson act are good examples of interpersonal intelligence. A "people person" who has good conversational skills and knows how to interact and relate well with others is high in interpersonal ability.
Intrapersonal ability:
How well do you know yourself? Intrapersonal intelligence involves the ability to understand your motives, emotions, and other aspects of your personality. Anyone can have varying degrees of Gardener's intelligences. You may be one heck of a baseball-playing, singing, math wiz, but you may get lost in your own backyard, be unable carry on a conversation, and may be unable to figure out why you just did that really silly thing.
read more: Thinking Smart: Understanding Intelligence
www.dummies.com/how-to/content/thinking-smart-understandi...
Rondeau Provincial Park, Aug 31, 2022.
In the shadows, waiting for an opening in the pond for its splash and dash bath.
Vireo gilvus
The highly variable song usually ends on a high note, leading the birder Pete Dunne to describe it as sounding “like a happy drunk making a conversational point at a party.”
source - allaboutbirds-org.
Slight sketch watercolour processing on this one...to convey a relaxed group of local french men, passing the time of day.
BTW those are serious turn ups!
I went inside to a gift shop and found that there was another entrance/exit, so I went out through those doors and found this view. It was nice!
I hope you all have a great weekend! : )
Universal Studios, Orlando
"Saying what we think gives us a wider conversational range than saying what we know." - Cullen Hightower
Der Dialog zwischen Betrachter und Kunstwerk ist ein faszinierender, dynamischer Prozess, in dem beide Seiten miteinander kommunizieren. Das Kunstwerk bietet Impulse, Emotionen und symbolische Ebenen, die der Betrachter aktiv interpretiert. Dabei fließen persönliche Erfahrungen, kulturelle Hintergründe und individuelle Stimmungen in die Wahrnehmung ein. Das Kunstwerk bleibt nicht statisch, sondern wird durch den Blick des Betrachters lebendig und eröffnet immer wieder neue Bedeutungen. So entsteht ein ständiger Austausch, in dem das Kunstwerk zu einem Gesprächspartner wird – ein Dialog, der zum Nachdenken anregt und die subjektive Verbindung zwischen Kunst und Mensch intensiviert.
Gottfried Helnwein
Gottfried Helnwein ist ein österreichischer Künstler, der für seine provokanten, oft kontroversen Werke bekannt ist, die Fotorealismus, Surrealismus und verstörende Themen miteinander verbinden. Seine Arbeiten reichen über Malerei, Fotografie, Installationen und Performancekunst. Besonders bekannt wurde er durch seine großformatigen, hyperrealistischen Porträts von Menschen, die oft mit einem düsteren und zugleich faszinierenden Unterton versehen sind.
Ein zentrales Thema in Helnweins Arbeiten ist die Auseinandersetzung mit Gewalt, Trauma, Kindheit und menschlicher Zerbrechlichkeit. Häufig verwendet er Kinder als Motive in seinen Werken, die jedoch in verstörenden Kontexten dargestellt werden. Diese Darstellungen schaffen eine Spannung zwischen der Unschuld von Kindern und der oft bedrohlichen oder schmerzhaften Welt, in der sie sich befinden. Helnwein nutzt diesen Kontrast, um tiefere gesellschaftliche und psychologische Fragen zu stellen.
Seine Werke zeichnen sich durch eine außergewöhnliche technische Präzision aus, die an Fotografie erinnert, aber gleichzeitig eine symbolische Bedeutung trägt. Durch die detaillierte Darstellung von Gesichtern, Körpern und Szenen erzeugt er eine intensive emotionale Wirkung, die den Betrachter herausfordert und oft verstört.
Helnwein ist auch für seine provokanten Installationen und öffentlichen Projekte bekannt. Ein Beispiel dafür ist seine Zusammenarbeit mit Musikern wie der Band "Rammstein" und die Gestaltung von Bühnenbildern, die seine visuelle Ästhetik mit der Musik vereinen.
Seine Kunst ist oft eine Reaktion auf die düsteren Aspekte der menschlichen Existenz und spricht sowohl persönliche als auch gesellschaftliche Traumata an. Dabei ist Helnwein nicht nur ein Künstler, der Ästhetik schafft, sondern auch ein Kommentator der Welt, die uns umgibt, mit einer tiefen, oft schmerzhaften Auseinandersetzung mit der Vergangenheit und den Schatten der Geschichte.
Englisch
The dialogue between the viewer and the artwork is a fascinating, dynamic process in which both parties communicate with each other. The artwork provides impulses, emotions, and symbolic layers that the viewer actively interprets. In doing so, personal experiences, cultural backgrounds, and individual moods flow into the perception. The artwork is not static but is enlivened by the viewer’s gaze, constantly unveiling new meanings. Thus, a continuous exchange emerges, where the artwork becomes a conversational partner—a dialogue that provokes reflection and deepens the subjective connection between art and the individual.
Gottfried Helnwein is an Austrian artist known for his provocative, often controversial works that combine photorealism, surrealism, and unsettling themes. His creations span painting, photography, installations, and performance art. He became particularly famous for his large-scale, hyper-realistic portraits of people, which are frequently imbued with a dark yet captivating undertone.
A central theme in Helnwein’s work is the confrontation with violence, trauma, childhood, and human fragility. He often employs children as motifs, although they are depicted in disturbing contexts. These portrayals create a tension between the innocence of childhood and the often threatening or painful world in which these figures exist. Helnwein uses this contrast to raise deeper societal and psychological questions.
His works are characterized by an extraordinary technical precision reminiscent of photography, while simultaneously carrying symbolic meaning. Through detailed depictions of faces, bodies, and scenes, he produces an intense emotional impact that challenges and often unsettles the viewer.
Helnwein is also renowned for his provocative installations and public projects. An example of this is his collaboration with musicians such as the band “Rammstein” and the design of stage sets that merge his visual aesthetics with music.
His art frequently reacts to the darker aspects of human existence, addressing both personal and societal traumas. In doing so, Helnwein is not only an artist who creates striking visuals but also a commentator on the world around us, engaging deeply—and often painfully—with the past and the shadows of history.i
This is picture number 12 of 100 in my 100 Strangers project. Find out more about the project and see pictures taken by other photographers at the 100 Strangers Flickr Group page.
I saw Angelica out of the corner of my eye as I was passing - a clearly well dressed woman, even though I couldn't see a face, as she was turned away from me. I continued a little, and started thinking how much could be done with a hat in a portrait. But who was beneath that hat? I had no idea, but decided, in the spirit of the project to go back and ask to take the photo regardless of who I found.
Angelica is originally from Hungary, but has lived here for over 30 years. She is a very friendly, conversational person and we chatted a lot about just about everything for the time I was there (which in the end was cut short as it was starting to rain).
It bothers me that this should be a colour portrait - the colours of Angelica's outfit were bright and fun, and were what had caught my eye. Yet somehow, it just didn't work in the photo. I am really inspired by photographers who produce great colour portraits, and I am determined to make that an objective in my forthcoming stranger portraits.
Overall, I'm happy with my boldness in asking a practically unseen person for their photo, I'm pleased with how the doorway as a backdrop worked, and most of all, I think it's quite a flattering photo of a more senior person.
Excerpt from toronto.com:
A giant thinking emoji is going to be roaming the streets of Toronto asking questions about identity in the digital world.
Museum of Contemporary Art partnered with Leo Burnett to bring the emoji to the streets. Its thought-provoking messaging ties into the Age of You exhibition at MOCA.
“Our lives exist in both the real and online worlds, which are commodified into data — a resource everyone is competing for,” Rachel Hilton, managing director of MOCA, said in a statement about the emoji. “The thinking emoji is meant to give visitors pause about their place in the digital world. As MOCA promotes exceptional artistic thinking and provides a space for discourse and creativity, we are thrilled to inspire conversation in the streets of Toronto.”
“Taking the symbol of digital emotion into the real world is a way of getting people to think deeper about the effects this digital age has on our identity, all in response to the ideas raised by MOCA’s current exhibition Age of You. It makes the complex subject a little more conversational,” Lisa Greenberg, chief creative officer at Leo Burnett, said in the statement.
Cathedral of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which is on the Moat (Intercession Cathedral, Intercession on the Moat, conversational - the cathedral (church) of St. Basil the Blessed) is an Orthodox church on Red Square in Moscow, a monument of Russian architecture. The construction of the cathedral was carried out from 1555 to 1561].
The name of the cathedral mentions a moat that ran along the Kremlin wall and served as a defensive fortification (Alevizov moat), its depth was about 13 meters and its width was about 36 meters.
The Cathedral is included in the Russian list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
stasera sono stato intervistato in una trasmissione di radio popolare, per parlare di lomografia...
per l'ascolto potete seguire la trasmissione domani su radio popolare, alle 12.20 e in replica la domenica alle 8,45, poi ci sarà anche il podcast qui www.conversational.it
:-)
chiedo scusa a tutti in anticipo ;-DD
Best viewed large.
Found this guy at Laguna Del Lagarto Lodge, Boca Tapada, Costa Rica.
The Montezuma oropendola is a New World tropical icterid bird. It is a resident breeder in the Caribbean coastal lowlands from southeastern Mexico to central Panama, but is absent from El Salvador and southern Guatemala. It also occurs on the Pacific slope of Nicaragua and Honduras and northwestern Costa Rica. It is among the oropendola species sometimes separated in the genus Gymnostinops. The English and scientific names of this species commemorate the Aztec emperor Moctezuma II.
The "unforgettable" song of the male Montezuma oropendola is given during the bowing display, and consists of a conversational bubbling followed by loud gurgles, tic-tic-glik-glak-GLUUuuuuu. Both sexes have loud cack and crrrk calls.
[soundcloud.com/martynstewart/montezuma-oropendola]
Psarocolius is a genus of nine species of oropendola.
Eva: Dave, where is everyone?
Dave: We're all being socially responsible and keeping a some increased physical space between us.
Eva: Oh, I get it. They saw Aggie coming and thought they should give us some space.
Dave: Not that. Well, not that this time. It's more to do with helping keep infection rates down for coronavirus.
Eva: Oh. That sounds important.
Dave: It totally is.
Eva: But can I tell you something? It's kind of sad because the only people I can talk to here are you and this bumble bee. And the bee is not very conversational right now.
Dave: I get it. But on the plus side us humans are spending more time at home with you right now.
Eva: Awesome. And more time at home with humans equals more cookies! So let's be socially responsible and eat more cookies.
----------
The world seems upside down right now, but we're all doing our best. And the dogs truly are enjoying the extra human time at home. I don't think that they've been alone for over a week now, which does mean extra cookies and cuddles. Plus walks in the park are still a good option for us.
I heard a good quote saying that "physical distancing" is a better term than "social distancing". Even though we're all physically more distant now, society is doing this together for the good of everyone. And we have such technological gifts available to us that we can keep being social even though we are physically distant.
I was at the plant store just at closing time. A Brewer's Blackbird landed on an irrigation line and warbled. I opened a birding app on my phone and played played the 'conversational' chuk sound, which caught the bird's attention.
A sort of chat ensued--the bird singing, me playing a selection of Brewers Blackbird sounds from the app. A couple other blackbirds showed up before the clerk reminded me it was time to clear out.
Birds are cool.
A homeowner in the Heights of Houston created this amazing fence/wall along the side of the house & yard... a variety of rocks, gems, and minerals... some amethyst and even seashells can be found among the stones!!! An interesting conversational piece to highlight her landscape. Blessings to you my friends... HFF!!!
(A click on the image will show you the rocks up close.)
in that spark of light when that moment was espied, in which you wake to find that extra special knowing which keeps shining. when every drop of sweat was to make the soil richer that grows all the truest things. offering a welcome space for all, a friendly space, a grand and glorious space, a golden space, this clean slate has been quietly forming. then the bliss, in moments of fresh breeze, when pure devotion gets kindled in heart.
to bring the love we feel into threaded conversation with this friend of purest actions is telling someone that you love them truly. firmly grounded, benumbing the abstraction and truly living the words, our thread of purest actions creates a conversational space in heart which resonates with innocence. held until that moment, it unfolds a process of increasing revelation and thus begins the eternal canvas for you in the middle of time.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_Stations_of_the_Naples_Metro
« Questo progetto è molto poetico, volevo dare alle persone che al mattino vanno a lavoro o all'università, che frequentano la metropolitana, cinque minuti di ispirazione. » (Karim Rashid)
La stazione di Università, progettata dagli architetti Karim Rashid e Alessandro Mendini, è stata inaugurata il 26 marzo 2011; la stessa, a trenta metri sotto il livello della strada, serve inoltre piazza Giovanni Bovio e corso Umberto I.
La fermata, eclettica e piena di colori, è stata concepita per simboleggiare l'era digitale e l'informazione.Ha affermato infatti Rashid che lui immaginò degli spazi «che incarnassero i saperi e i linguaggi della nuova era digitale, che trasmettessero le idee di comunicazione simultanea, d'innovazione e di mobilità proprie dell'attuale Terza Rivoluzione Tecnologica». Infatti, accanto alle scalinate che conducono allo scalo, sono state poste delle mattonelle di ceramica sulle quali è possibile trovare numerosissime parole coniate a partire dagli anni sessanta, come «network», «operativo», «portatile», «database», «interfaccia» o «software».]
Atrio della stazione di Università. Sono visibili i due pilastri neri, che prendono il nome di Conversational profile, il pannello 3D Ikon e la scultura d'acciaio Synapsi
L'atrio della stazione è caratterizzato da pannelli e colori molto suggestivi; i materiali utilizzati per la loro realizzazione sono il Corian e l'acciaio specchiante. Negli interni è presente un forte contrasto cromatico tra i due colori principali, rosa fucsia e lime, che si rivelano utili anche per indirizzare l'utenza alle banchine.
Nella hall ci sono numerose opere d'arte. Al di là dei tornelli è presente Conversational profile, ovvero due grandi pilastri cilindrici nei quali è possibile intravedere due volti di profilo, che simboleggiano il dialogo e la comunicazione tra gli esseri umani. La seconda, Ikon, è un esteso light box in cui sembrano galleggiare numerose figure tridimensionali. Tra i pilastri neri e il light box si erge invece Synapsis , una scultura in metallo satinato che rimanda all'intelligenza umana e al reticolo neurale del cervello. [fonte Wikipedia]
HOPE your Christmas was filled with
conversational exchanges,
and not those gifts that must be returned!
Happy New Year, Everyone!
Tried to get an image of a warbling vireo doing its splash and dash bath.
1/500 sec at 12 frames a second and it is badly blurred.
Talk about a fast bath.
Vireo gilvus
Warbling Vireos have a good name—the males sing a fast, up-and-down, rollicking song that suits the word “warbling.” The early twentieth century ornithologist William Dawson described the song this way: “fresh as apples and as sweet as apple blossoms comes that dear, homely song from the willows.” The highly variable song usually ends on a high note, leading the birder Pete Dunne to describe it as sounding “like a happy drunk making a conversational point at a party.”
source - Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
James Henry Simon was a Berlin entrepreneur of the Wilhelmine Era. He was a patron of museums in Berlin, a conversational partner of Kaiser Wilhelm II., and the founder and financier of numerous charitable institutions. He is considered to be one of the most important art patrons of his time.
Berlin (Germany)
I found this piece in the bush many years ago and I still don't know what it actually is. It's about an inch thick 26mm and too heavy and too cold for fiberglass and is beautiful cobalt blue when held up to the light. Personally I think it's volcanic glass! Either way it is a great conversational piece and beautiful to look at. It has a great home in my Bower bird nest.
The dark-bellied subspecies of the brent goose is one of the characteristic birds of Norfolk’s coastal saltmarshes in winter. Tens of thousands of these confiding, conversational birds visit the county every year, fleeing the harsh winter in their arctic Russian breeding grounds
Well then, how about an email? Or a text? Or, best of all, a tweet?
I was going to link the Led Zeppelin song of the same title but, over time, have discovered many of my contacts don't particularly like the group that entirely changed the direction of rock and roll, so maybe just the chorus will suffice to convey my feelings about today's conversational modes, the goal of which is apparently to reduce personal interaction to the lowest amount possible, at some point perhaps eliminating it entirely. Certainly 140 characters is more than enough to convey anything one has to say, right? Just ask Trump.
Communication breakdown... it's always the same.
I'm having a nervous breakdown...drive me insane!
[So much fun to read what the tagmaster sees upon examination of photos. Here, he/she/it (I understand gender pronouns are also currently undergoing critical evaluation due to their inherent bias) apparently has a rather visionary/abstract concept of "cat," don't you think? If I squint hard, I think I can see it....]
We re on holiday on the island of Usedom, Germany/Poland, on the Baltic Sea where this week has been spectacular with Hirundine migration but in particular with the "small ones", the Sand Martins (Riparia riparia).
The sand martin (Riparia riparia) or European sand martin, bank swallow in the Americas, and collared sand martin in India, is a migratory passerine bird in the swallow family. It has a wide range in summer, embracing practically the whole of Europe and the Mediterranean countries and across the Palearctic to the Pacific Ocean. It is a Holarctic species also found in North America. It winters in eastern and southern Africa, South America, and the Indian Subcontinent.
The specific name means "of the riverbank"; it is derived from the Latin ripa "riverbank".
The 12 cm (4.7 in) long sand martin is brown above, white below with a narrow brown band on the breast; the bill is black, the legs brown. The young have rufous tips to the coverts and margins to the secondaries.
Its brown back, white throat, small size and quick jerky flight separate it at once from similar swallows, such as the common house martin (Delichon urbicum), the American cliff swallow (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota) or other species of Riparia. Only the banded martin (R. cincta) of sub-Saharan Africa is similar, but the sand martin only occurs there in (the northern) winter.
The sand martin's twittering song is continuous when the birds are on the wing and becomes a conversational undertone after they have settled in the roost. The harsh alarm is heard when a passing falcon, crow or other suspected predator requires combined action to drive it away.
The sand martin departs early, at any rate from its more northerly haunts. In August, the gatherings at the nightly roost increase enormously, though the advent and departure of passage birds causes great irregularity in numbers. They are essentially gone from their breeding range by the end of September.
High up on The Mendip Hills Light Railway which runs from nowhere to the edge of nowhere, the little people are trialing their new 2ft 3 inch gauge tourist train imported from that there mainland Europe.
But the locomotive has come to a grinding halt, despite a full head of invisible steam, so as usual many of our regulars are dishing out misguided advice and generally pontificating about the situation with comments like ‘foreign junk’, ‘should have bought British’ and ‘where does the key go?’
But there is a glimmer of hope, for standing on the engine is Dud with his famous notebook which contains more information than the whole of the World Wide Web, though of course in this pre internet time, it will be mostly about spiders and cobwebs - the latter being the only web, so that glimmer is immediately extinguished.
However looks like Hubert the conversational Latin speaking shunting horse has just appeared on the horizon, and with his unparalleled hauling power, he might be able to drag the stricken train to the next station. Hurrah for Hubert!
~~~🤔~~~
We grow great by dreams. All big men are dreamers. They see things in the soft haze of a spring day or in the red fire of a long winter's evening. Some of us let these great dreams die, but others nourish and protect them; nurse them through bad days till they bring them to the sunshine and light which comes always to those who sincerely hope that their dreams will come true.
Woodrow T. Wilson
The bright sun did some crazy stuff through my lens at this angle.
In Seljalandsdalur valley, Álftafjörður, Westfjords, W-Iceland.
Please, do not comment with awards or invites. I appreciate those, but real conversational comments are so much more fun -and human.
"He must be built huge. He must have a bellybutton".
Árný Lilja, age 3
Youre never too old to make a snowman, and a 3 year old cousin visiting is the perfect excuse you can use if someone starts questioning your maturity.
Things did get a bit complicated when we tried to figure out where the bellybutton would go, and a few other bits of anatomy.
Too bad about the skinny arms.....
Now my old, trusty, Canon 20D sits on a tripod hooked up to a timer; quietly staring at that snowman out the window, opening it's shutter every 20 minutes to record the untimely death of that tall and handsome stranger sitting outside our house, sweating it's small and large stuff in the pouring rain.
UPDATE: Video of the 345 images here
Please, do not comment with awards or invites. Real conversational comments are so much more fun. And so much more apropriate when it comes to storytelling photos;).
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 1854 – 30 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is best remembered for his epigrams and plays, his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, and the circumstances of his criminal conviction for gross indecency for consensual homosexual acts in "one of the first celebrity trials", imprisonment, and early death from meningitis at age 46.
Wilde's parents were Anglo-Irish intellectuals in Dublin. A young Wilde learned to speak fluent French and German. At university, Wilde read Greats; he demonstrated himself to be an exceptional classicist, first at Trinity College Dublin, then at Oxford. He became associated with the emerging philosophy of aestheticism, led by two of his tutors, Walter Pater and John Ruskin. After university, Wilde moved to London into fashionable cultural and social circles.
As a spokesman for aestheticism, he tried his hand at various literary activities: he published a book of poems, lectured in the United States and Canada on the new "English Renaissance in Art" and interior decoration, and then returned to London where he worked prolifically as a journalist. Known for his biting wit, flamboyant dress and glittering conversational skill, Wilde became one of the best-known personalities of his day. At the turn of the 1890s, he refined his ideas about the supremacy of art in a series of dialogues and essays, and incorporated themes of decadence, duplicity, and beauty into what would be his only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890). The opportunity to construct aesthetic details precisely, and combine them with larger social themes, drew Wilde to write drama. He wrote Salome (1891) in French while in Paris, but it was refused a licence for England due to an absolute prohibition on the portrayal of Biblical subjects on the English stage. Undiscouraged, Wilde produced four society comedies in the early 1890s, which made him one of the most successful playwrights of late-Victorian London.
Sand martins are very social birds that live and nest in colonies. They are active during the day and spend their time foraging, preening, and often sunbathe in groups. At night they gather in communal roosts. Sand martins are fast and agile fliers. They rarely land on the ground and are often seen perching or in flight. These birds usually forage in the morning singly or in groups; they catch insects on the wing and occasionally on the ground or over the water. Sand martins constantly communicate with each other; their twittering song is continuous when the birds are on the wing and becomes a conversational undertone after they have settled in the roost. The harsh alarm is usually heard when a passing falcon, crow, or other suspected predator requires combined action to drive it away.
And it’s race day at the colliery. Prince v Princess prepare for a 100ft sprint. Technical advisers and race engineers Pete & Dud have prepared both engines to the same steam pressure. Drivers are Barry Bullhead and Terry Tuttle-Thomas-Smythe, and upon the blowing of the whistle they’ll run to their allocated engines in finest Brooklands ‘running-start’ style. On the left, betting girl Beryl has her money on Prince, her choice of loco being the closest she’ll ever get to a real Prince. Liz & Margo on the right love a flutter on the engines, and of course have chosen Princess as their champion. Hubert the conversational Latin speaking horse, is on hand as third party in the event of there being a dispute. He will decide on the winner in the event of a draw, though Liz & Margo have carrots just in case.
I participated in a Secret Santa gift exchange for creative, do-it-yourself types this year, and my recipient's medium of choice is woodworking and resin. The centerpiece of his shop is this Grizzly table saw. Since my medium of choice is LEGO, I figured I'd build him a model of his saw! Here's how it turned out.
Free instructions on my Rebrickable!
As an aside, lots of exciting things happening in my LEGO world right now! I've started streaming the process of designing models over here on Twitch. Currently, I'm there on Fridays at 7PM Central, but I'll probably be doing this more soon due to the great response it's gotten. Come swing by; it's super chill and conversational! We talk shop and share ideas in real time.
Also, if you want to own something designed by me, you can get some of my models over at BuildaMOC!
A Pulp Fiction Story
The fluorescent lights of the dingy back-alley bar flickered, casting a sickly hue over the grimy walls. It was the kind of place where the whiskey had to fight the grime on the glasses for flavor, and the barflies had more stories than the books in the library. But tonight, the barflies were silent, the jukebox was silent, all because of her - the dame in the green jacket.
She strolled in like she owned the place, her heels clicking a steady rhythm on the sticky floor. Her eyes, sharp as the edge of a knife, scanned the room, and you could almost hear the collective heartbeat of the room skip a beat. She wasn’t just any dame; she was Viper, and her reputation preceded her like the howl of a wolf on a quiet night.
In the corner, a lowlife – a real bottom-feeder named Joey 'The Squint' – sat nursing his drink, his eyes roving with the subtlety of a sledgehammer. When Viper walked by, 'The Squint' lived up to his name, and his gaze went where it wasn't invited. That's when the air got thick, thick like molasses in winter, and everybody knew something was about to go down.
Viper stopped dead in her tracks, her silhouette against the neon exit sign looking like the last thing many a man had ever seen. She turned on the balls of her feet, a pirouette of impending doom, her hand already fishing out the .22 she kept snug against her ribs.
'The Squint' was still grinning, the kind of grin that would make a shark tell him to take it down a notch, oblivious to the fact that he was staring down the wrong end of the food chain.
"What are you lookin' at, Joey?" Viper's voice was smooth, too smooth for the jagged edge in her eyes.
Joey’s grin faltered, but his bravado was a stubborn thing. "Just admiring the view, Viper. You know how it is."
"Oh, I know how it is," she said, her voice never rising above a conversational purr. "You see, in this world, there are two kinds of views, Joey. The one you pay for, and the one you pay for."
Joey's brain was struggling to keep up, his alcohol-sodden neurons firing too slow to catch the meaning in her words. He was about to learn, though, that Viper's lessons were always punctuated with an exclamation mark.
She aimed the gun, not with malice, but with the indifference of a butcher weighing meat. "So, Joey, which view you wanna pay for?"
The bar was silent, the kind of silence that screams, and Joey's grin had checked out, left the building, leaving behind a man who suddenly found religion.
"I-I was just joking, Viper."
"That's the thing about jokes, Joey," she said, as she lowered the gun, the threat hanging in the air like smoke. "They're supposed to be funny."
And with that, she walked away, her heels clicking a victory march, leaving Joey with a view he didn’t have to pay for – the sight of his life, walking away from him.
The bar returned to its low hum, the jukebox crooned a bluesy track, and the night went on, with one more story for the barflies to not talk about.
End.
In a world dominated by steam-powered contraptions and hissing steam valves, the city of Glimmerglim stood in the shadow of a deep forest, adorned with wooden corridors and bronze ornaments. Within this city dwelt a man named Gurthar Brummelspeck, who received little praise or admiration for his appearance and stature. His frame was as round as it was grotesque, as unsightly as the citizens of Glimmerglim could imagine.
The denizens of Glimmerglim were anything but kind to Gurthar. They mocked him, taunted him, and tormented him in the city's alleys. The blame for his woeful fate lay not only in his physical form but also in his character. Gurthar was of a friendly and gentle nature, yet the people saw only his outward visage and not the heart that resided within.
One day, as Gurthar sought refuge from the ridicule by retreating to the dense woods at the city's edge, he stumbled upon something that, even in this peculiar world, was deemed highly unusual. There, amidst gnarled trees and moss-covered rocks, he encountered a troll. But this troll was unlike any other troll found in tales and legends.
This troll bore the features of a wolf, with skin as hairy and teeth as sharp as those of a werewolf.
"What brings thee to these parts, kind mortal?" inquired the troll with a voice so mellifluous that it bore no semblance to its appearance.
Gurthar, taken aback by this unexpected meeting, confided in the troll, recounting his sorrowful life in Glimmerglim and the cruelty he endured at the hands of the city's inhabitants. The troll listened attentively and nodded in understanding.
"Thou art not alone in thy otherness," spoke the troll. "I, too, was cast out by my kin, for I am too fair for a troll. In our world, ugliness is held in highest esteem, and with my hairy countenance, I never quite fit in."
Gurthar and the troll, whose name was Eldrin Moonscar, resolved to join forces. Together, they returned to Glimmerglim and embarked on a mission to extort protection money from the city's taverns and shops. Those who refused to pay were threatened with the incineration of their buildings.
The people of Glimmerglim were thrown into terror and dismay. None dared to stand against Gurthar and Eldrin, for the troll possessed incredible strength and could easily reduce entire structures to rubble. The two friends carried out their extortion without resorting to physical violence, yet their words alone were sufficient to compel the townsfolk to pay. On occasion, to give weight to their threats, they set fire to those inns that resisted their demands.
With the ill-gotten gains, Gurthar and Eldrin led carefree lives. They settled in a secluded part of Glimmerglim and savored the time they spent together. The city's residents did not dare to approach them or jeopardize their friendship.
In due course, as time passed and their wealth grew, Gurthar and Eldrin decided to depart their homeland. They had heard tell of a distant land where trolls and humans coexisted side by side and were even allowed to enter into wedlock. This land was Norway, and thither they journeyed in hopes of finding peace and acceptance at long last. Perhaps, just perhaps, they would discover in this world, reminiscent of the tales spun by John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, a community where ugliness and beauty no longer held sway and only that which dwelled within the hearts of every being mattered.
End.
PS. I had to redesign and re-upload the image because Flickr had "shot" the image by mistake and unfortunately the support could not fix it.
As spring is in the air, I thought it would be appropriate to share another flower-like snowflake before the series ends. Temps going into the double digits (Celsius) here over the next few days, winter has given up the fight… but there are still a few more snowflakes to share! View large!
If you’ve followed this series through the winter, some of what I’m going to say might be repetitious. However, I’m not sure we’ve seen the same combination of snowflake “ingredients” before, so bear with me. :)
The very center of the snowflake holds my interest because it’s elongated. The “turtle” shape is caused by aerodynamics; if a snowflake falls in such a way that one side or a portion of the crystal receives more water vapour that other sides, we end up with triangular, trapezoidal, or elongated shapes like this. This evens out as the branches grow further, but there is always an echo that can be seen. The brighter area in the center? Those in-the-know will identify that as a bubble in the ice, allowing more reflective layers and brighter features.
The larger hexagonal shape is a design often called a “sectored plate”, which describes a hexagonal snowflake that has changed its mind. Branches formed, but they’ve grown so close together that they essentially form a hexagonal shape. This persists until the fully-fledged branches poke out of the corners, something that will always happen given enough time. The further away the growth gets from the center, the less likely it is to hold a purely hexagonal outer footprint.
There are a few addition features that make this snowflake feel flower-like. The rounded contours near the center are caused by inward crystal growth, which happens when a thicker outer ridge gives the snowflake an ability to “fill in” its thickness back towards the thinner center. These rounded petals are quite flower-like, with the tiny dots around the central area (many just beyond the inner hexagon) appearing similar to pollen. These dots are actually tiny bubbles, and can be seen throughout the snowflake if you look closely.
This series always starts on December 1st and ends 100 days from there. We’re nearing the end, but I’ve still got some surprises in store! :)
If you enjoy my work with snowflakes through this series, you’ll absolutely love my book Sky Crystals: skycrystals.ca/book/ - it’s full of “conversational science” that will allow you to explore the universe at your feet, and in the clouds. It also has a complete photographic tutorial that describes how these images are created, and how to make them for yourself!
If you simply enjoy the beauty of these images and want them on your wall, I’d recommend that you check out “The Snowflake” print: skycrystals.ca/poster/ - there is a synergistic quality found when you put over 400 crystals together and scale them to proper proportions to one another. Take a look!
Beethoven. I know you. I've seen your name and picture on some of those smelly record covers Dad has laying around. You're that deaf dude who likes to play the piano.
"...As you are that disheveled dog who liketh to play with begrimed balls, yes."
Okay, okay, keep your Ludwig on. But how can you hear and understand me?
"I could well ask the same of you."
Don't reckon I know, partner. But I've always been able to talk. Most dogs can, to their owners and other dogs, at least. Ask anybody who has one. I'm just a little better at it than some, maybe. So what are you doing in my house?
"A more mysterious realm our universe could not be."
Huh?
"I am at a loss. My journey hath ended here."
Well, you're lucky. If I hadn't recognized you, and if you had a bum, I might have taken a good-size chunk out of it. I'm very protective of my family.
"I am aware. Santa's article in the daily Everlasting News was quite clear on this matter."
AHHH! Santa died?!
"No, but he is a positive spiritual being, hence was long ago issued a swipe card to Heaven's Gate. But still his beard is in knots over last December 25."
Hey, anybody I discover tiptoeing around our living room in the middle of the night while wearing a disguise and carrying a sack is just asking for it.
"Be that as it may, I am here on holiday. We every one get a week off Heaven every 200 years or so to travel whereupon we choose. I have begun with a visit to earth to discover if my music is still of note, to be droll, ahaha, ahaha."
I thought everyone in Heaven knew what was going on down here at all times.
"Not so, my fine furry friend. We cannot all be He. In my case, my music is constantly performed in my ears 23 hours a day."
23?
"He insists we every one play an hour of his favorite four-handed card game, Matzlfangen. You surely could imagine the clamor for Him as a partner every eve, ahaha."
Well, it sounds more like the opposite of Heaven, but anyway, classical music is still relevant today, though less so than in the past. Yours has always been right up there with the best. Look, Dad has your Pathétique Sonata right there beside you, it's one of his favorites. But there's lots of different music in the world today. Just about every country or culture has had indigenous music to an extent, and some of that has been creatively mixed over the years into a kind of musical soup of all kinds that is eaten up by anyone who has an appetite for it, and variations are still being created. Personally, I like '60s pop and rock'n roll, Irish folk and traditional --and of course, it goes without saying, every ballad ever written.
"Pop...rock 'n...folk...soup...as we speak, I am rolling over in both of my graves."
All this is a little TOO grave for me, Van man, so presto, I gotta run. Stay sharp, and don't lose the key to your flat.
(And on this coda, stay tuned for the next performance of
Conversational Clancy)
________________________________________________
531 Clancy 9yrs 35wks
Clancy's YEARBOOK 10: www.flickr.com/photos/130722340@N04/albums/72157720201164845
________________________________________________