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RSPB Bempton Cliffs in The East Riding of Yorkshire, England - June 2013 by Saffy H

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www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/guide/b/bemptoncliffs/index.aspx

Top things to do in Summer

1.Experience the sights, sounds and smells of the miraculous seabird spectacle at the peak of the breeding season

2.The surrounding fields are bejewelled by glorious red campion flowers

3.Enjoy a bite to eat in the family-friendly picnic area

www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/guide/b/bemptoncliffs/about.aspx

A family favourite, and easily the best place in England to see, hear and smell seabirds! More than 200,000 birds (from April to August) make the cliffs seem alive – with adults bringing food to their nests, or young chicks making their first faltering flights.

With huge numbers to watch, beginners can easily learn the difference between gannets, guillemots, razorbills, kittiwakes and fulmars. The easily recognisable puffins (here between April and July) are always a delight. Specially-created cliff top viewpoints are wheelchair accessible with care.

You can watch our 200,000 seabirds LIVE on CCTV through the breeding season from March to October. Meet our information assistants and hear about the live action, watch it for yourself on our two TV screens and enjoy the close-up images of our nesting gannets.

Opening times

The reserve is open at all times. From March to October, the visitor centre is open daily from 9.30 am to 5 pm, and from November to February, 9.30 am to 4 pm.

Entrance charges

Entry is free of charge to members all year. There's a charge for non-members of £5 per car, minibus £8 and coach £10.

If you are new to birdwatching...

The birds are easy to see during breeding season - creating a fantastic seascape and bird spectacle. Only eight target seabird species breed here, so learning to identify birds is simple. In winter, common passerines (buntings, sparrows and finches) and short-eared owls (vary in numbers from one year to next) can be seen and identified.

Information for families

Reserve already popular with families. Various family events included in our programme throughout the year. Backpack Activity days very popular.

Information for dog owners

Dogs are welcome on the reserve, however they must be kept on leads at all times. This is to ensure that ground nesting birds are not disturbed, and also to ensure the safety of dogs on the cliff top.

www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/guide/b/bemptoncliffs/star_speci...

Star species

Our star species are some of the most interesting birds you may see on your visit to the reserve.

Gannet

Look for stunning gannets cruising around at the base of the cliffs and fishing out to sea by rising up into the air before plunging in headfirst with their wings close.

Kittiwake

Visit Bempton in spring and early summer and your ears will be filled with the unmistakable 'kitti-wake' calls of this dainty gull. Look along the cliffs to see them packed onto their tiny nesting ledges.

Puffin

Enjoy the comical antics of puffins in spring and early summer from the viewing points on the cliffs. Watch the adults returning from fishing forays at sea with sandeels hanging from their colourful beaks.

Short-eared owl

Short-eared owls can be seen hunting over the clifftop grassland here in winter. The afternoons are a good time to spot them banking and gliding just above the ground; their piercing yellow eyes scanning for voles moving in the grass below.

Tree sparrow

Flocks of tree sparrows can be seen in the cliff top fields and are regular visitors to the feeding stations. Listen out for their conversational calls - a hard and piercing 'tek'.

www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/guide/b/bemptoncliffs/seasonal_h...

Seasonal highlights

Each season brings a different experience at our nature reserves. In spring, the air is filled with birdsong as they compete to establish territories and attract a mate. In summer, look out for young birds making their first venture into the outside world. Autumn brings large movements of migrating birds - some heading south to a warmer climate, others seeking refuge in the UK from the cold Arctic winter. In winter, look out for large flocks of birds gathering to feed, or flying at dusk to form large roosts to keep warm.

Spring

Breeding seabirds start to return, including gannets, puffins, guillemots, razorbills, fulmars, kittiwakes, herring gulls and shags. Farmland birds such as skylarks, tree sparrows, linnets, meadow pipits, reed and corn buntings can be seen. There are normally short-eared owls and peregrines to be seen too. Migratory birds include arriving wheatears and various warblers, while over-wintering thrushes can be seen on the reserve before moving back into mainland Europe. Porpoises can often be seen on calm days while early morning visits may provide sightings of roe deer.

Summer

Breeding season is in full swing with all 200,000 seabirds with eggs or chicks. Breeding tree sparrows, whitethroats, grasshopper warblers, sedge warblers, skylarks, linnets, reed buntings, rock and meadow pipits can be seen within 200 m of the visitor centre and car park. A moderate range of the commoner butterflies may be seen on sunny days, along with day-flying moths such as cinnabars, burnet moths and occasionally hummingbird hawk-moths. Trailside flora is dominated by red campion, black knapweed, various thistles and orchids including common spotted, northern marsh and pyramidal.

Autumn

All seabirds departed and breeding finished except for gannets. The autumnal migration can be exciting at Bempton owing to its coastal location and being on a headland. Short-eared owls begin to arrive to stay for the winter (depending on food availability) but the main interest is in the arrival of migrants such as willow warblers, chiffchaffs, whitethroats, lesser whitethroats, reed warblers, sedge warblers, goldcrests, stonechats, whinchats, wheatears and redstarts. Scarce species occur annually such as red-backed shrikes, and barred and icterine warblers. October is peak time to witness the winter thrush arrival, often hundreds of redwings, blackbirds, song thrushes and fieldfares occur along with occasional ring ouzels. Offshore, movements of seabirds may be seen in ideal weather conditions (strong NW winds). These include Manx and sooty shearwaters, Arctic and great skuas. Around the car park area migrant hawker and common darter dragonflies can be seen. There is little botanical interest at this time of year.

Winter

This is normally a quiet time of year. Bracing clifftop walks and fantastic seascapes are probably the best in Yorkshire. Up to 12 short-eared owls winter here, though in poor 'vole' years there may only be a few. The bird feeding station offers food and shelter to a range of commoner species such as tree sparrows (110 have been counted), greenfinch (60), and smaller numbers of blackbirds, robins, dunnocks, wrens, chaffinches, bramblings and various tit species. The cliff face attracts very few birds except for occasional herring gulls and fulmars, but by January gannets will return in good numbers with occasional days of guillemots in good numbers too.

www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/guide/b/bemptoncliffs/facilities...

Facilities

•Visitor centre

•Information centre

•Car park : Car park has no height restrictions. Cycle rack available close to visitor centre.

•Toilets

•Disabled toilets

•Picnic area

•Binocular hire

•Live camera

•Group bookings accepted

•Guided walks available

•Remote location

•Good for walking

•Pushchair friendly

Viewing points

Five cliff-top viewpoints and a bird feeding station. The five viewpoints are:

Grandstand: 200 m from visitor centre/car park, accessible by wheelchairs/pushchairs with care

Bartlett Nab: 400 m from visitor centre/car park and not easily accessible by wheelchairs/pushchairs

Jubilee Corner: 900 m from visitor centre/car park, not easily accessible by wheelchairs/pushchairs

New Roll-up: 500 m from visitor centre/car park, not easily accessible by wheelchairs/pushchairs

Staple Newk: 900m from visitor centre/car park, not easily accessible by wheelchairs/pushchairs.

The bird feeding station is easily accessed, 50 m from visitor centre/car park.

Nature trails

There are two nature trails. The first nature trail leading to five cliff-top viewpoints. The most distant viewpoints are 900 m from the visitor centre. Part of the trail is crushed chalk, with the remainder over worn grass. There is easy wheelchair and pushchair access to one viewpoint only. Paths can be wet and slippery following wet weather conditions, therefore care should be taken. The discovery trail is a shorter farmland walk.

Refreshments available

•Hot drinks

•Cold drinks

•Snacks

•Confectionery

Shop

The shop stocks:

•Binoculars and telescopes

•Books

•Bird food

•Gifts

Educational facilities

The Bempton Field Teaching Scheme operates throughout the year and offers exciting educational opportunities linked with the National Curriculum. The busiest time is from May to July, when breeding seabirds are at their peak. The scheme provides a unique opportunity to discover breeding seabirds, such as gannets and puffins, as well as investigating the challenging habitats in this fantastic coastal location. A truly memorable experience!

www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/guide/b/bemptoncliffs/accessibil...

Accessibility

26 October 2012

This is a Summary Access Statement. A full access statement is available to download from this page

Before you visit

•Clear print leaflet available on request

•Free parking for members. Parking charge for non members. Free parking for carer or essential companion

•Registered Assistance Dogs welcome

•Check accessibility for events and activities

•Wheelchair free of charge to hire. Pre-booking advised

•Live footage on TV in Visitor Centre

How to get here

•Bempton railway station is 1.25 miles away

•The nearest bus stops are on the main B1229 through the village, around 1 mile from the reserve

•No pavement on road to reserve

Car parking

•Four blue badge parking spaces 10 m (13 yards) from the visitor centre on bound gravel and paved path

•60 spaces in main car park, is a short walk to the main entrance of the visitor centre

•Overflow with 60 spaces on grass

•The path surface from the overflow car park is crushed limestone on exiting the field and after 20 m (26 yards) joins the path from the coach drop-off point (see below)

•Drop-off point 50 m (60 yards) from the visitor centre with a crushed limestone surface with a 1:10 sloped descent

•No lighting or height restrictions.

Visitor centre

Situated on ground floor level with step free access. Live footage on TV from the colony. Four circular tables with seating. Outside when weather is fine. Tiled floor surface. Artificial and natural lighting. Access ramp leads to reserve.

Nature trails

The reserve offers visitors a mixture of trails. A mix of bonded tar-spray chip, crushed limestone or mown grass. Most trails are a minimum of 1200mm/47ins wide and the majority lead to the cliff top viewing points (see Viewing Facilities below).

Viewing facilities

Five built viewpoints along the cliff top path, most have seats. In the Visitor Centre there is live footage on TV of the colony. From car park to exit is The Dell - good for small migrant birds - with a narrow grass path with inclines to and from two seats. A bird feeding station is off the path between the coach park and visitor centre.

Toilets

There are toilets and an accessible toilets outside the visitor centre, with level access to all. Note there are no toilet facilities beyond the visitor centre.

Catering

A servery with a hatch facing outside the visitor centre offering hot and cold beverages, snacks and ice creams. Hatch is 900 mm (36 inches) from the ground.

Shop

The shop is within the visitor centre. Staff and volunteers can assist. There is level entry and no doors to enter apart from those at the main entrance. The shop is lit with spot lamps.

Education area

There is currently a short mown grass square to the rear of the visitor centre which serves as an outdoor classroom reached via the access ramp.

Picnic area

Seven picnic tables - four on grass and three with spaces for wheelchairs on crushed limestone surface - situated 25 m/30 yards from the visitor centre.

For more information

Bempton Cliffs

E-mail: bempton.cliffs@rspb.org.uk

Telephone:01262 851179

YO15 1JF

www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/guide/b/bemptoncliffs/directions...

How to get here

By train

Nearest railway station 200 m south of Bempton village. Exit station and turn left, follow road down to church, walk up lane adjacent to church to staggered cross-road junction. Walk across road and take the road adjacent to the White Horse public house, northwards to the reserve. Total walking distance 1.5 miles (2.4 km). Walking time 40 minutes.

By bus

Nearest bus stop in Bempton village, 1 mile (1.5 km) from the reserve. Buses will drop off at any point on request. Disembark at White Horse public house and follow road northwards up the lane to the reserve. Walking time 30 minutes.

By road

The reserve is on the cliff road from the village of Bempton, which is on the B1229 road from Flamborough to Filey. In Bempton village, turn northwards at the White Horse public house and the reserve is at the end of the road after 1 mile (follow the brown tourist signs).

Other ways to get to the reserve

Trains and buses stop at Bempton, 1.5 miles (2.4 km) from the reserve. The timetables are seasonal so we advise you call the Visitor Centre for further details. Nearest ferry port in Hull and Humberside Airport in north Lincolnshire.

www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/guide/b/bemptoncliffs/ourwork/in...

Management

Our Bempton Cliffs reserve, on the Yorkshire coast, protects over five kilometres of sea cliffs. From April to mid-August, these support England's largest population of seabirds. Grassland and scrub along the cliff tops are also home to breeding and wintering farmland birds.

The RSPB is managing the reserve for the benefit of its wildlife, which also includes seals and porpoises, and with a long-term view to upgrading its protection status.

Cliff-face communities

Bempton's breeding seabirds are internationally important, making the cliffs both a Site of Special Scientific Interest and a Special Protection Area.

Species include kittiwakes, gannets, guillemot, razorbills and puffins. We have specific targets for every one: for instance, we would like to maintain a yearly kittiwake population of 43,000 nesting pairs, producing at least one young each.

During the breeding season, our cliff-top patrols help prevent disturbance by visitors and fishermen.

Leading by example

Unfortunately seabird colonies are vulnerable to environmental threats that lie beyond our control. These include climate change and industrial fishing, which affect the birds' food supplies. We aim to use Bempton to highlight these issues, so that key decision makers will take action to safeguard the long-term future of seabirds. We hope this will lead to Bempton being designated a marine Special Conservation Area.

Room at the top

The grassland and scrub at the top of the cliffs are home to farmland birds such as tree sparrows, skylarks and linnets. Short-eared owls also spend winter here.

We are cutting back scrub and harrowing grassland in order to increase the population of insects and small mammals on which all these birds feed. We also put out extra food when necessary.

Vision for visitors

The seabird spectacle at Bempton makes the reserve very popular during summer, while the farmland birds help generate interest all-year-round. We aim to continue attracting and educating people, and inspiring them to support the marine environment.

Our facilities currently include a shop, picnic area and cliff top walks. We aim to develop these, with a view to increasing numbers to 60,000 visitors per annum over the next five years.

Tracking gannets

For the first time, we're finding out where Bempton's gannets go when they're away from the colony.

RSPB scientists have fitted satellite tags to a number of adult gannets so that we can monitor where they go to catch fish. The tags are designed so that they don't hurt or hinder the birds, and they will eventually fall off when the gannets grow new tail feathers, if not sooner.

We need to find out whether the birds are using areas which the government has earmarked as potential wind farms, and how that might affect them. This information will be used to help plan where to put wind turbines at sea.

What we're doing

•Fourteen adult gannets were fitted with satellite tags in July 2010 (and another 13 in July 2011)

•In 2010 we got data from all 14 tags during the time when the gannets were rearing their chicks, and several kept transmitting data late into the breeding season

•The highest density of recorded locations at sea was within 31-62 miles (50-100 km) of Bempton Cliffs

•The greatest overlap with any of the proposed wind farm areas was with the Hornsea zone, which is nearest to Bempton

•These results are from just one breeding season, so it's unclear just how representative they are of what Bempton's gannets do. We'll monitor them again in future breeding seasons to learn more.

You can find out more about this work on the gannet tracking project page.

conversational wet activity. by Salvatore Vitale

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mamiya M645

exp. fuji fp-100c.

mah, non lo so, mi sembra troppo "stilistica"...

e poi la smetto con l'acqua, almeno per il momento!

Southern England ; Kent to Cornwall : brochure issued by British Railways, Southern Region : 1960 by mikeyashworth

A quite stylish brochure issued by the Southern Region of British Railways and designed and produced by their Publicity Office in 1960. It has the feel of a distinct design and style shift from the 'standard' BR leaflets of the 1950s towards something a little more 'contemporary' in graphic design terms. By 1965 the complete rebranding of the network as British Rail, with a strongly centralised 'look' would have swept such regional fare away.

The graphics include this stylised diesel locomotive across the title banner and the text is an attempt at something more informal and conversational. Clickety-clack.

43/365 - Cross Over The Bridge, Midge by Edenmatt

16 39

The road back from Scotland was long and dull. The weather was grey and the road skirted around the edge of Dundee, Aberdeen, Perth, Edinburgh and Glasgow, without seeing anything of them. One bonus was I got to allow my abnormal mind to complete a task that was started over dinner the night before.

During the meal, Paul Simon's 'Fifty Ways To Leave Your Lover' kept coming to mind, but I could only remember the line about Gus getting on the bus. A quick visit to google revealed that, great song as it is, there were only five ways suggested. The conversation turned to some new ways that could fill up the quota, but soon returned to more normal conversational topics.

However, after a stop off at (or more specifically under) the Forth Road Bridge, a new one sprung to mind. And then the rest of the trip flew past as I tried to think of 44 new ways, as well as try and retain those I'd already thought of in my mind. So, here is proof. Paul Simon said there must be fifty ways to leave your lover. And he was right.

You just slip out the back, Jack

Make a new plan, Stan

You don't need to be coy, Roy

Just get yourself free

Hop on the bus, Gus

You don't need to discuss much

Just drop off the key, Lee

And get yourself free

Cross over the bridge, Midge

Put her in the shed, Ned*

Move to Peru, Stew

That's what you should do

Pretend that you're dead, Fred

Just go on and pack, Mack

Fly your plane and flee, G

And get yourself free

Drive off on a quad, Rod

Don't go back again, Ben

Just up and leave, Steve

That's what I believe

Don't settle for this, Chris

Leave her in the park, Mark

Surf off on a wave, Dave

And get yourself Free

Just get on and pack, Barack

Sneak off to Iran, Dan

Ski off in the snow, Joe

You just gotta go

Break it off with a fax, Max

Ride off on a gnu, Lou

Hide away in your bin, Tim

And get yourself free

Give a strong rebuke, Luke

Find a new job, Bob

Hide out in a den, Ken

Got to be done now and then

Just cut yourself loose Bruce

Run off down the lane Shane

Go on make the call Paul

And get yourself free

Take a trip out to France, Lance

Just try your luck, Chuck

Swim off witha seal, Neil

If that's how you feel

Take up the life of a thief, Keith

Get her out of your head, Jed

Drive off in a tank, Frank

And get yourself free

Get on your bike, Mike

Get up off your seat, Pete

Start life anew, Drew

And just see it through

Walk out and be gone, John

Hide out in a barn, Arn

Pretend that you're sick, Nick

And get yourself free

Just got to be mean, Dean

Move out to Iraq, Mack

Stand by what you said, Ed

Its all in your head

Set off round Cape Horn, Sean

Fake your own death, Seth

Say you've had your fill, Will

And get yourself free

Just get on your way, Jay

Move on with a laugh, Garth

Leave her in your wake, Jake

And get yourself free

*In no way do I condone the actions of Ned

Once I'd completed this epic, yet inane task it suddenly occured to me that if I'd only used female names as well, it would have been a lot easier. It seems I've had a nightmare, Clare. Should have thought of that, Kat. And now all the time, I rhyme. And I'll never be free.

B and B marketing Strategies by Angella Grey

vacationrentalsexperts.pennistonemedia.com/tag/bb/

Questions to ask yourself before starting a bed and breakfast:

Is your home located in a desirable setting?

What makes your home unique or attractive?

Must the structure of your home be altered to function well for you, your family and your guests?

Will additional furnishings be needed?

Will you have the time, money, and skills needed?

Is your family prepared to have strangers stay in their house?

Have you consulted professionals with expertise related to the bed and breakfast industry?

Do you like being with people?

Do you have good hosting, conversational and listening skills?

Do you enjoy maintaining a neat and clean home?

Are you well-organized (e.g., to maintain reservation schedules and prepare breakfast)?

Do you understand the basics of managing, accounting and bookkeeping?

Have you done your research (demand, competition, advertising)?

Do you have realistic expectations? (Do not expect big profits.

These are not get-rich-quick operations.

Milano Street Walking - Conversational by Peter Cantrill

8 1

Dana by Jeff Bowen

44 8

Our paths intersected on campus and the first thing I noticed was her multitude of cascading tight braids – black with interwoven red. Her response to my introducing myself was energetic and friendly. She was pleased to have been selected for my project but explained her time frame was very short because she was on her way to a meeting regarding a university project. I bargained for a couple of minutes and promised to keep it brief. Meet Dana.

I took a couple of photos in the here and now, then tried a couple with her facing the other way, and then accompanied her in the direction she was walking to finish up near the Image Arts building. Dana was fun to meet and to work with and she brought her own energy to the impromptu “hit and run” photo session. She assumed I would want her hood down but then agreed to a couple of photos with her hood up when I suggested it. She spontaneously shifted the angle of her head and even spontaneously lifted her hands to hold her hood (her own idea and one that worked really well). It was a cloudy day with light snow falling and Dana, like everyone around us, was dressed for Toronto in February.

Born and raised in Toronto, Dana is 18 and is enrolled in the Early Childhood Education program at the university. One thing this strangers project has showed me is that we can find some common ground or shared experience with just about everyone we meet. Sometimes it is a bit remote but often it is close enough to form a conversational link. Dana was interested to learn that my wife did an ECE (Early Childhood Education) diploma quite a few years ago at another Toronto college. One of my wife’s major assignments was to research and design a “hypothetical preschool” complete with finding a location, sorting out licensing requirements, determining local need, designing staffing, curriculum, and physical design. I told Dana that after doing all that “project work” with a fellow student, my wife and her project partner graduated and decided to put all that groundwork into action, founding a preschool which they ran for 35 years and which is still running now that they are both retired. I think the message for Dana was that school projects (like the one she was hurrying off to) can be more than an academic exercise.

It was fun meeting you Dana and I'm glad you are going into a profession that will enrich the intellectual and emotional health of the generation which will inherit the planet.

This is my 590th submission to The Human Family Group on Flickr.

You can view more street portraits and stories by visiting The Human Family.

Revenge! by Chris Nevard

It’s all kicking off down at the docks!

Barry Bullhead is surrounded by Hubert the conversational Latin speaking horse, Herbert the conversational Mayan speaking horse, and Hartley the only horse that can chat in conversational Vectis, the ancient native language of the Isle of Wight. Also some of our other regulars from inch high Little England are here to witness the antics, and they’re not happy, oh no.

A few days ago Barry Bullhead arranged for our three favourite stallions to be carted off to the pet food factory, but due to help from you my loyal readers, Hubert, Herbert and Hartley have managed to escape their unjust fate.

Sadly for Barry, looks very likely that he will end up in the water, for not only are there three angry horses after revenge, but two crane drivers and a mechanical front shovel driver are also after evil Barry Bullhead in support of Hubert, Herbert and Hartley. Boo hiss Barry!

~~~~~🐎🐎🐎~~~~~

Content Post 4 photos by venkat krish

Google first announced Allo and Duo, its new messaging and video chat apps, at its I/O developer conference earlier this year. Duo launched about a month ago and today it’s Allo’s turn.

With Allo, Google is combining everything it has learned from its previous messaging products with the company’s machine learning smarts. Indeed, Allo marks the first time you’ll be able to use the Google Assistant, the company’s more conversational version of Google Now that will also soon find its way into products like Google Home, Android Wear and others.https://techcrunch.com/2016/09/20/allo-brings-googles-smarts-to-messaging/

Z7R_VAV5851_FINAL_IP by Vincent Versace

One of the things the dress rehearsal for the Zombie Apocalypse has afforded me is time. This is from a Figure photoshoot/workshop I did in Florida a few years back during Fotofusion at the Palmbeach Photographic Centre, with my the brand new just converted to shoot infrared Z7. This is with the 24-120mm and the FTZ kit lens. Which is a hell of a piece of glass. I say this a lot, you don't take pictures they take you. I was just looking through the camera lens marveling at how cool it was to actually see in real time what my IR images were going to look like, Jack Davis (my co-instructor) was setting up a shot and talking about it. The model he wasn't using was just playing with the water of the pool with her foot daydreaming. next thing I know I saw this and the camera went click. Or not- I was in silent shooting mode. I did not disrupt her daydream and I got the idea for doing conversational portraits.

Capture NXD, Photoshop CC, SilverEfexPro by DxO.

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Milkings Lane New Year's Day by Simon Corble

9 11

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".

FERRARI ROMA by rhorn2

5 2

~ 2021 - 2025

The swung dash ~ , also known as a tilde* or a wavy dash, is a mark that has come to mean “approximately” in informal, conversational English—it is used primarily before numbers to indicate that the number is not exact or precise.

Clean, Clear & Simple by Mark

18 22

The United States Air Force Memorial

Arlington County, Northern Virginia

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Sometimes I get carried away with trying to line up landscape photographs that showcase my imagined skill. It's often, however, the cleanest, clearest, and simplist photos that give me the most satisfaction. Much like writing, if you hide behind lots of technical terms, jargon and concepts, the message is lost in translation. The best writers and speakers in my personal opinion are always those that can take complicated ideas and translate them into conversational and well flowing verse that is both relatable and easy to understand. In photography, I think many of my favorite photographers have similar abilities--to generate the feeling of a landscape or moment without over-the-top gimics; to capture and/or enhance natural colors and patterns in ways that translate powerfully; to create photographs with depth that appear as if you could get lost in the scene itself. I think sometimes instead of going out at the exact right time of day and/or ensuring that my composition has strong, contrasting elements in all the right areas and/or worrying about if others have taken the same photograph--sometimes these things just need to be tucked into a nice tidy box and filed away for another day. Sometimes I think that I just need to detach the camera from the tripod and remote and all the other goodies I've accumulated over time and just walk around. I'm not saying that planning is not absolutely critical in landscape photography--knowing the weather conditions, scouting out locations, having the appropriate gear, understanding compositional logic and so forth is critical and will remain so. But, when it comes time to capture the picture, be it during golden light with bags of gear for a shot that you've planned for three years or in the middle of the afternoon at an impromtu location that caught your eye, the photograph is still about the simple (yet so difficult!) art of translating the emotion of the place--using compositional elements, light, gear, etc.--to capture a feeling that is translated, maybe easily, maybe more subtly, but translated nonetheless, through the elements of your photograph and to your viewer. Sometimes with so much technical jargon to remember, it is easy for me to lose the bottom-line goal of photography, which in my mind, has little to do with mega-pixels, thirds, and clean frames. Just some rambling thoughts for Flickr Friday...

George & Deidre by Chris Nevard

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It’s Christmas Eve, and like in all the movies, it’s snowing with many of our favourites having come out to watch the morning goods trundle through before they all head to the pub. What’s so special about this train, I’m not sure, but I needed to write something to establish today’s post.

And much to my surprise, and quite likely yours too if you’re a regular reader of my drivel, it would appear that Farmer George and Deidre Dinkle, flirty darling of the butter blending department have finally got together after all this time. Phew, it was getting rather tiresome, so, 1, 2, 3 … aaaarrrhhhh, bless.

You’ll notice that most are dressed to suit the weather, but not George or Deidre. But I’ve since found out, having never spoken to them until a short while ago, that they’re both from Yorkshire, so this is like summer. Readers and viewers of this post from the grim north, I’m sure will confirm that a coat, hat and scarf is just for those namby pamby bloody southerners.

To the left, Arthritic Arthur is struggling a little with his joints, but hopefully as soon at the train has passed, Deliberation Dave will guide him to the pub for a bit of boozy lubricant to loosen him up.

Posh photographer ‘Oh Dear Boy’ Ivan Locksmith, is standing next to Barry Bullhead with his back to us photographing the passing train on his trusty Rolleiflex. Barry for once is just enjoying the moment, but I’m sure will be back to his old ways at The Ministry of Misery as soon as the festive season is over.

Outside the pub you’ll notice a 3 wheeled Scammell ‘Mechanical Horse’, for Dizzie Lizzie’s latest job is dropping off ale to local pubs. Lizzie, as I’m sure many of you know by now, only hangs on to a job for a week or two, this being her 17th job since September. And if you look closely, it would appear that Neil is proposing to her, but it’s most likely that he’s just grovelling for something - the snivelling little tick. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him stand up to be honest. Anyway, Lizzie is married to an accountant with aspirations of becoming a lion tamer.

Local cad and ladies’ man, Terry Tuttle-Thomas-Smythe is stood next to his Triumph Roadster in his standard ‘Hello Ladies’ pose. Once Neil has scuttled away on all fours, Terry will turn his attention to Lizzie, hoping that a quick spin in his roadster she’ll find more appealing than watching hubby get chased by lions at the nearby zoo.

And finally, Hubert the conversational Latin speaking horse is giving Harry the Hammer some tips on how to swear in Latin for when he stubs his thumb - such a clever horse.

Season6: Eps18 - Sin in the City 4 (photo story) by APPark

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Charley: *signs* “The credit card company that’s having him hack into their system and then plug the holes?”

Molly: “That’s the one. Since we moved in with Bishop, he’s been hookin’ Diego up with a slew of new jobs. Diego told you he was goin’ to have to leave today around noon, right?”

Charley: *nods, pushing her empty bowl away*

Molly: “That’s ‘cuz he has another meeting. He’ll be back tomorrow mornin’, though.”

Charley: *signs, hesitantly* “He doesn’t have to come at all if he’s too busy. It’s fine.”

Molly: “Family helps family, Charles. He wants to come. You know he does.”

Charley: *signs* “How’s his new girlfriend.”

Molly: “I reckon calling her his ‘girlfriend’ is a stretch. They play video games together, and they have sex sometimes. She works at the same gaming company as Bishop, so she comes by the apartment all the time. Matter of lusty convenience, if you ask me.”

Charley: begins to sign, then stops…then starts back up* “What’s she like?”

Molly: “Pink.”

Charley: *confused expression* “Okay.”

Molly: *smiles* “You’ll see. She’s nice enough. Kinda funny. Purty. I don’t think she’s any more serious about Diego than he is about her. They seem to line up in that way, at least.”

Charley: *looks down, nods*

Molly: *touches Charley’s hand, conversationally* “You know, you’ve made a lot of new friends since comin’ here. Back in Ohio, it used to be just you, me, and Diego, with Bishop and Gunn poppin’ up from time to time. So, I reckon I was a little threatened by all these new people in your life at first. Then, I realized your relationship with them don’t change the one we have. I hain’t replaceable in your life, and you hain’t replaceable in mine…or Diego’s. Ya hear me, Charley Sweeney?”

Charley: *faint smile, signs* “I hear you.”

--Sound of door opening and the jangle of keys being pocketed—

Diego (loudly): “It’s me. Sorry I’m late. I stopped to pick up donuts.”

Charley: *signs* “Diego’s here. With donuts.”

Molly: “And the sugar rush begins! *raises hands to the sky* All hail the white powder of addiction!”

Charley: *signs/says* “I think that’s crack.”

Molly: “Not for me, it hain’t.”

Diego: *walks into the kitchen, box of donuts in one hand, stand mixer in the other*

Fashion Credits

***Any doll enhancements (i.e. freckles, piercings, eye color changes, haircuts) were done by me unless otherwise stated.***

Charley

Jeans: Sugarbabylovedoll (Etsy.com)

Sweater: JiaJiaDoll (Etsy.com)

Sneakers: Sekiguchi – Momoko – Go For Victory

Glasses: Sekiguchi – Momoko Separate

Necklace: Me

Doll is a Morning Dew Giselle transplanted to a Poppy body, re-rooted by the totally rad valmaxi(!!!)

Molly

Dress: Cangaway (Etsy.com)

Vest: IT – Dynamite Girls – Free Spirit Jett

Boots: Snow’s Shopping Paradise (eBay)

Earrings: IT

Necklace: Me

Doll is a She’s Not There Poppy Parker.

Diego

Jeans: IT – Dynamite Boys – All-American Auden

T-shirt: Kimberlee of Hazel Street Dezigns

Shirt: Bravado – Justin Bieber

Shoes: IT – Poppy Parker – Baby, It’s You Chip

Hat: Mattel – Barbie Collector – Frank Sinatra

Watch: IT – Color Infusion – Vice Effect Ollie Lawson

Doll is a Rock Steady Romain.

Coffee, Call, and Concrete by Blick Calle

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22nd and Walnut Street

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Trip to the Canning Factory by Chris Nevard

Once a year usually around this time, the old engine from the museum is fired up and taken on a spin of the dockland lines. The weather doesn’t look great, and the lack of suitable cover for both crew and passengers won’t go unnoticed. But seeing that the event has been arranged by Barry Bullhead from The Ministry of Misery, this is very much expected and of course very much of its time. For in olden times, we were expected, and indeed did expect to suffer and be grateful for anything thrown at us. Actually, this sounds rather like Little England of today, but I mustn’t go down that wormhole.

Today’s lucky passengers are Hubert the conversational Latin speaking horse, Herbert the conversational Mayan speaking horse, and Hartley the only horse that can chat in conversational Vectis, the native Isle of Wight language that vanished midway through the last ice age.

Barry Bullhead is a thoughtful man, and has arranged for each lucky horse to have a small wagon, just the right size in fact. This to to prepare them for the canning process at the local pet food factory. Bob Geeza Cat and Rufus Hound look on in awe, much like posh types eye up lobsters awaiting their untimely demise in a seafood restaurant.

100 Strangers | 9: James by Facundity

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This picture is 9/100 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.

Here, I am pleased to introduce you to James Otero, a native New Mexican, born and raised in Valencia. I only asked for his first name, but he made a point of giving me his last name, too. Otero is a very old family name in New Mexico; it first appears in 1659 in marriage records at Santa Fe.

I met James while power walking in a neighborhood park. I saw his hair blowing in the wind. From a distance, I couldn't tell if he was a man or woman. As I approached, I saw he was a middle-aged fellow who was walking with a dog and a small child.

Once I drew in closer, I stopped and greeted him with my first name. I explained that I was doing an interesting project and looking for strangers to photograph. As I was already acquainted with the only two other people enjoying the park, I invited him to become my ninth participant.

He agreed, but "warned me" that he didn't look good in photographs. Whenever someone tells me that before I make my photos of them, I feel duty bound to prove them wrong!

The sun was starting to set, and while it had been overcast moments before approaching James, there was a cloud break. I hoped to work fast before the light was gone again. In New Mexico, our light changes constantly. It can be really annoying if one is outside making portraits in natural light without a scrim. Now that I'm into this project, I've got to make one or obtain one for my gear kit. Suggestions or links are welcome BTW in the comments below.

To ease James into my picture taking and get him to relax more, I asked him small talk questions. This is one of my favorite parts about encounters with strangers: because of the unexpected nuggets revealed in such short conversations.

James is from what most would consider a large family: twelve kids. He said, "I had 5 brothers and 6 sisters. It was perfect having an even number of boys and girls." Growing up, his family business was construction. After serving in the US Marines he returned to New Mexico to "do his own thing." He bought himself an inexpensive fixer-upper house in Carlsbad, NM. After making repairs to it and getting it livable, he sold it and moved to Albuquerque to be closer to family.

"I bought that place in Carlsbad, sight unseen. I told the real estate agent what I wanted to spend. He called me up, told me how cheap the place was, and so I couldn't pass it up. When I moved in, it didn't have any windows or doors. I was OK sleeping in there alone. Like being out in the open. I could handle anyone who dared to come inside. Being a Marine teaches you a few things."

I asked if he preferred living in the southeast part of the state. "Well, there are no mountains like up here in Albuquerque." He said, "It seems like everywhere people live, there are trees, buildings and streets. What is noticeably different are the cultures of people who live there. When I was living near Hobbs, people were informal and friendly and would stop and have conversations with me, like we are doing now. Here in the city, people keep to themselves more. It's harder to really know your neighbors."

James takes care of a schnauzer named Seven, and a 2-year-old nephew who handed him a stick while we were speaking. When James addressed the child, he called him. "Mi'jo," which is a casual conversational term in Spanish for "son."

He told me I could take his photograph with the child. I thanked him, and declined doing so. I explained that since he wasn't the boy's legal guardian, I didn't feel comfortable including him.

James was watching his nephew with care the entire time we were speaking. He faced the child at all times. We moved around the play area to keep the boy in his sights.

Even after James relaxed into our conversation and the child was merely steps away from us, he was never comfortable looking strait into my camera. He was fine at making strong eye contact with me when the camera wasn't in front of my face.

I've been unsuccessful shooting from the hip, so I made a few shots with my camera at my eye level. I paused a few times from the picture taking, and then resumed. Each time I hoped to catch him whilst looking at me, but he would avert if I raised the camera, so I settled for a side angle in this shot. It was just more natural for him, and I accepted that. He was a stranger, after all.

When I had some material to select from, I asked James how he would like me to get the image to him. He didn't even care to see any of my results. He declined needing to get a copy.

James told me, "I don't watch TV or care about things you find on a computer. I'm different from lots of other people. To thank me for watching this little one here, my sister-in-law got me tickets to see Cher in concert because she knows I really like her music. I was thinking, 'What am I going to do with those tickets? I don't want to see Cher in concert. Sure, I like her music, but she doesn't care about me.' Now if you told me it was a chance to meet Cher in person, that would have been interesting."

We shook hands, I thanked him for joining my project, and gave him my last name before parting. Then I continued my walk with a few more laps to go.

Make........ GOOGLE do "IT" by xacobeo4

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The Google Assistant was unveiled during Google's developer conference on May 18, 2016, as part of the unveiling of the Google Home smart speaker and new messaging app Allo; Google CEO Sundar Pichai explained that the Assistant was designed to be a conversational and two-way experience, and "an ambient experience that extends across devices". Later that month, Google assigned Google Doodle leader Ryan Germick and hired former Pixar animator Emma Coats to develop "a little more of a personality."

El asistente de Google fue presentado durante la conferencia de desarrolladores de Google el 18 de mayo de 2016, como parte de la presentación del parlante inteligente Google Home y la nueva aplicación de mensajería Allo; El CEO de Google, Sundar Pichai, explicó que el Asistente fue diseñado para ser una experiencia conversacional y bidireccional, y "una experiencia ambiental que se extiende a todos los dispositivos". Más tarde ese mismo mes, Google asignó al líder de Google Doodle Ryan Germick y contrató a la ex animadora de Pixar Emma Coats para desarrollar "un poco más de personalidad".

100 Strangers | 64: Autumn by Facundity

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I was back at the Rail Yards Market in the Barelas neighborhood of downtown Albuquerque. After picking out a dry pint of heirloom tomatoes, I let myself enjoy the sounds of a jazz band at the back of the hall. I entertained some light conversation with a few strangers milling about in the hopes that I would find my next subject.

Originally, I had sought a particular woman with an interesting veneer. I decided not to ask for her participation after sensing that we lacked a conversational je ne sais quoi. Moving away from her, I walked along the line up of stalls that happened to be on the same side of the hall that gave me lighting issues for stranger No.50 several weeks earlier. You can bet I wanted to make an image to get that chip off my shoulder.

I came to a stall with some framed-up chicken wire on which there was a display of colorful and whimsical artwork. There were also spray painted lengths of rustic wood on which some art pieces were hanging. I moved in closer to consider the art.

There I met Autumn, the creative artist, and the subject who became stranger 64/100. I was certain about asking her to participate and she agreed immediately.

“From one artist to another I would be honored to participate in your project.” That was a good start.

Autumn is a zero-waste consumer who doesn’t throw out anything if she can help it. Everything that she creates is made from upcycled materials that could go into recycling or the garbage landfill. Autumn has had some commercial success selling various sized flowers made from carefully slashed up aluminum cans. She sprays the petals with an assortment of weather resistant colors. Some are designed to hang on a wall. Others are strung up like enormous beads, and designed to be hung like a dangling mobile sort of whimsy.

While we were speaking, a collector of her flowers came to purchase a dangler. It was, in fact, the same one I liked best of the lot. In the comments, I include a candid moment from when this customer was considering some pieces and Autumn was freeing them from the display to be examined at closer range. The customer told me she already owns a few of Autumn’s flowers. They were purchased in a gallery in Madrid (say MAD-rid), which is a quirky art village on the Turquoise Trail leading to/from Santa Fe. Customer hung her earlier pieces outside in her backyard and was excited to add to her collection.

When the customer paid and moved along, Autumn and I continued to speak. She told me she earned a graduate degree in arts education from Indiana University. She moved out west and loves the community and climate here. She bought a rundown church in Tijeras, NM and named it, “The Church.” Though it's been a lot of work, she has converted it to a fine and folk art gallery and event space in the East Mountains (www.facebook.com/pages/The-Church-An-Art-Sanctuary/216154...). Recently she listed it on airbnb. Autumn takes her passion for found art creativity to all ages, but lucky are the students at East Mountain High School where by day, she is their art teacher!

Autumn told me of some big projects in the works for the upcoming 13th annual OFFCenter Folk art Festival to be held on Sunday, September 13th (offcenterarts.org/events/folk-art-festival/) in Robinson Park. This is the same location as where the Downtown Growers Market is set up on Saturdays. If I see her there, she will no longer be a stranger.

I made a handful of shots of Autumn using her artwork as the background. It was mostly intentional that I broke the portrait rule about not having items in the background stick out of one's subject's head. In the main image, I liked how it looked that Autumn was struck through the head with the arrow of her own artwork.

I asked her to begin with a serious face, but as soon as I would capture that expression, she couldn't hold it. Autumn burst into an indomitable smile, like the one shown here. When I finished making my photos, she hugged me and was overjoyed. That’s the first for me since embarking on this journey!

My set of 100 Strangers for the Flickr group project can be seen here: flic.kr/s/aHsk9s8ZQb.

Constructive C+C is welcome and appreciated.

Learn more about the project and see pictures taken by other photographers at the 100 Strangers Flickr Group page.

Nick by Zack Huggins

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Denton house party days

December 2011

Professor Charles Goslin 1932-2007 by sgoralnick

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My senior year of college I was "awarded" the daunting task of designing and creating a book for my graduating class. While doing some research for the project, I was bewildered to discover that although he had been teaching at Pratt Institute since 1966, Goslin had never won nor was ever nominated as the Distinguished Professor (a title the school traditionally bestowed upon one faculty member each year). I decided to hell with it, I would just feature him in my book. It wouldn't matter whether he won or not, everyone who had a copy of the book would think he did. I was told that this was ridiculous, that I couldn't do this, it just wasn't fair, that it didn't make any sense, I couldn't just feature a design teacher just because i was a designer, what about all the other departments? What if he didn’t win? My answer was a shrug and a reminder that I had been given the freedom to do whatever I wanted. I suggested that if he won, it would work out perfectly and not be a problem. So... maybe someone should just make sure he won.

I realized that these naysayers were the least of my problems. My main obstacle was obtaining a photo of Goslin, an endearingly grouchy old man who absolutely loathed having his picture taken. The only tactic available to me was ambush. I gathered a small, stealthy crew, and we waited for him to finish teaching one afternoon. Upon settling down to eat his lunch, I gave the signal for the others to grab his chair so he couldn’t swivel away, put up a black background, and engage in a conversational distraction before he could realize what was happening. The man was extremely annoyed. He barked and complained, tried to escape, growled and shouted that I was a nuisance. Secretly amused, he pointed his finger and told me to buzz off.

The book came out and he was teary-eyed at the mention. He won the award. He mentioned me in his speech at commencement. Afterwards, I thanked him for the shout-out (which had impressed my parents), and he thanked me for making him a centerfold.

Goslin confessed that this was his favorite image of himself. He requested copies over the years, for the wall of portraits that people had drawn and painted of him; to send to estranged family members he wanted to rekindle with. It is hearbreaking but fitting that the next and last print I will make of this photo will be for his memorial service.

“I felt the same way the day before I got the award as I did the day after. And I shouldn’t feel any different. Otherwise, it’s a conceit trip. But it is nice. When I make an image of my own, it’s very concrete. It’s there. I can see it. I can enjoy it. But when I teach, it’s very abstract, so for someone to pat you on the head and say, ‘You’re alright, cousin. You’re not bad.’ That’s very nice. That’s concrete.”

—Charles Goslin, May 2003

stitched head-stelly'13-paul-jaisini-blue and yellow series by Santorria

…we went upstairs into a spacious studio. The invigorating, nutty smell of

oil paint delighted my senses. It seemed as if I had stepped inside of the

painting. The enormous room dissolved the concentrated scent of oil paints and transformed into Asian perfume. Stepping inside an artist’s studio every time put me into the position of Alice in Wonderland. Surrounded by scattered paintings, brushes, pallets, paint tubes, roles of canvases, and sketch pads, I was searching for the special conversational piece. If I could only find the right piece, which would be the artist’s favorite, I knew it

would break the ice. The first painting that caught my attention put me suddenly under hypnosis and I don’t recall for how long I was staring at it, whether it was a minute or an hour. This is not, in any way, an exaggeration but a real-live experience.

Evidently, Jaisini noticed that I was trapped by one of his paintings and broke the silence.

-Do you like that piece, or are you looking for a starting point to criticize it?

However it is, I welcome your criticisms rather than flattery.

-Your painting develops in my mind like photosensitive paper in a developer. On second thought, I sense an aesthetic pleasure from just the color harmony, but I still need more time-I said.

-No problem, take your time while I finish a sketch.

I had to postpone the interview in order to get a better look at the painting

that captured me. The artist put on some classical music. I began taking notes about what I had seen while he was silently sketching. As time flew

by, it was getting dark outside and the music ended long ago. I glanced at

the watch and realized that 4 hours had already elapsed and I didn’t even start the interview.

Jaisini was still concentrating on his work and it was obvious that I should’ve called it a day. Setting the convenient time for tomorrow I left.

…we met at the café.

I could tell that Jaisini was in a good mood and the interview has a better chance today. Perhaps his work went well, I thought. Jaisini greeted me as someone he had already befriended….

…-Positively, the painting I was contemplating in your studio sticks to my mind

Jaisini answered;

-It happens to many. I like this cafe. It is always so picturesque. The people

here make it colorful. For example, do you see that waitress?

-The small blond in her late thirties?

-Yes, her name is Nancy. Three years ago she told me that she wanted to become famous and in her free time she writes a script for a movie, convincing me that it will be the first script of its kind, a love story based on

her memoir.

Jaisini smiled charmingly, adding: -Oh, no, I am not joking. I believe in her. Once I invited her to the studio, as

she seemed like such a peculiar person. I was just finishing my painting called “Organ Grinder”. She declared frankly and firmly: ”I want this picture. How much?”

I explained to her that I don’t sell paintings.

Then I experienced certain chemistry. When such a “simple” person, but still

the one who writes the script, says: “I want the “Organ Grinder”, it was the

strangest thing. I didn’t like the painting one bit and after that, all of a sudden, I started seeing it in a different light of something very pure and

divine. She wanted so badly to own the picture that she induced her desire on me. I think that to create this “divine” we have to get down with people, declass to become simple and understand art with awe. Even though Gleitzeit is not for regular people, it can be understood by a mailman who asked me for an autograph, by an immigrant who came to the US to earn

money, or by a priest from England who told me that this art is for intellectuals, not for ambitious people who say, “I understand this art while others don’t.”.

-Do you think that your pictures relate to people as if they are puzzles of human life?

-When a man is awake, a man is asleep; everything encloses. And when you enclose your line you create the reality in which the man truly exists not knowing that he is entrapped in a secluded world of his own doing which he cannot escape. The enclosed line may provoke the desire to breakout, to find an exit.

-The question arises, what is fine art now and who needs it? The elite?

-Yes, but people crave art too if a mailman asked me for my autograph on a postcard after I had to explain him about the picture he saw. Before I explained the painting the man felt scared of breaking his head over it. It is understandable when in schools art is taught as an entertainment, not as a psychological significance, a process of growth, a visualization of today’s reality, an analysis of social life and ancient history, or the world’s history that brought people to the technical progress.

- To build a family is more important for that man.

-Yes, he understands his purpose of trying to build a family of five with eighteen grandchildren. A man’s genetic structure is of a turtle’s and is directed to one, laying eggs by any means and returning in a year through six thousand miles across the ocean to lay eggs again at the same place. But pay attention that bravado of the civilized world brings a realization that everything is a sham. Real is what is encoded by nature; real is when you see a beautiful ocean, a beautiful sunrise, or the grace of a horse. This is real.

- Then what is fine art? Is fine beautiful or good?

-Beautiful. It began from nature, from the copying of beautiful bodies of people and horses…. My main direction in art is most progressive, to achieve in composition the grace of color combinations, an intellectual color climax, tone, contrast, and so on. The idea of the painting unites in itself everything we see in the real world, but in an intricate, puzzle-like concept.

-Art in America is a tendency for immediate recognition. The remembrance is strictly visual since there was no comprehension. First they want to see that it’s different. What about Gleitzeit, how do you see this visual effect expressed?

-A regular person, either a lady florist, my tennis partner, or a teenage cowboy comes to my studio and says: “I don’t understand this art and

I don’t want to see it, it’s not mine. When the lady florist starts seeing some figures in a painting, she shouts, “I see! Look! Look! I see it now!” like a child. A man denies what he doesn’t understand as an immediate reaction. An everyday man is brought up on the understanding of natural grace. He doesn’t assimilate it in an abstract

way. He sees an egg and a hen and points out which are the egg and the hen. In my picture he can’t say that this is an egg and this is a hen at first. Moreover, he can’t say what came first, the egg or the hen. He sees something very simple or very complicating. The man refuses to do an effort. Slowly, not even slowly, but pretty quickly the man can

transform if he learns.

-Do you want to change the process of art cognition? The judgment is not based on the appearance since ‘we’ve seen all there is to see’ with and without philosophy, like when they sell us Coca-Cola they tell us about the transcendental. We are understanding folks. Do you want this “flat” cognition to change?

- A man is looking for an escape. I try to attach him to a thread in the picture, which is twisted, to untangle it. What is next? Did he learn something? Yes, and he also begins to understand abstraction after the knot is undone. This is flexitime. Will the work turn blank? No, since it still has an idea. If it would be an automated drawing by a schoolchild that may look like something there is no concept. In my art you have an idea and mastership. The key is the artist’s mastership. A weak painting will not survive. What is left to the spectator is aesthetic pleasure and confidence.

-What if people ask you for a simpler art? Why do they have to untangle your art?

- I answer simply. It’s not my doing and decision. I didn’t decide it. The art critics said so, they who studied art all their life and read volumes of books. They say that they analyzed it and it has this and that meaning, non other. That an artist is a reflection of society.

- Do you consider yourself a reflection?

-No, I don’t. Philosophers try to understand what is art and life. I only

insist that grace will not diminish in value.

… and I caught myself on a thought that I wanted to know how the story with the scriptwriter waitress ended. If the painting is still in the artist’s holdings I would like to see it to know why she wanted it so badly. And I asked…From 48 hours of the Interview with Paul Jaisini in his New York studio

Beer Snacks by Chris Nevard

Sid Ding, yard foreman and part time exotic takeaway owner, waves off the departure of the the morning goods. To the right, as always, it’s the end of Harry The Hammer’s shift. He and Hubert the conversational Latin speaking wagon shunting horse, will shortly be heading to the pub over there on the left in the far distance.

Hubert likes an ale or two, and a few salty knuckle scratchings - a specialty of the pub which is known for its bare knuckle fights on Thursdays. The pub also sells salty deep fried wasps, they also being a much sought after treat after the conclusion of the weekly ladies’ wasp chewing competition. As you can see, nothing goes to waste here in the land of the inch high, with the sweepings of the pub floor after match days being turned in to delicious high protein beer snacks.

Quite how today’s quinoa and tofu sucking generation would cope if they travelled back in time I’m not sure, but that’s unlikely to happen seeing we have yet to invent a time machine. But I did read the other day that we all might be eating insects one day, so it’s possible that deep fried crispy wasps will be on the menu, but maybe not half chewed ones.

And finally, hopefully our miniature chums will get to the pub before the heavens open, those clouds do look rather laden. Luckily the pub allows horses in to the public bar.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tech: iPhone 14 Pro, macro mode, Apple ProRAW. Photoshop glitter.

B.Species- 6 -Pond heron by Sujith P K

16 21

Ardeola grayii

Ponnani, kerala, India

Size:- cattle egret

Field characteristics:- an egret like marsh bird chiefly earthy brown when at rest, but with the glistening white wings, tail and rump flashing into prominence immediately it flies. in the breeding season acquires maroon like plumes on back, and long white occipital crest. sexes alike. singly or loose parties, at jheels, ponds,etc

Distribution:- throughout the indian union, bangladesh, pakistan, sri lanka myanmar.plains and upto about 1000m elevation.

Habits:- found where ever there is water, river, jheel, roadside ditch, kutcha well, or temple pond, often even in the midst of populous towns. also on the sea coast in the mangrove swamps, tidal mudflats, etc. its normal method of feeding is to stand hunched up at the water's edge watching patiently for movements and jabbing at the quarry when opportunity offers. sometime it wades into the shallows, moving forward stealthily and with circumspection, neck craned and bills poised in readiness.

Food:- frogs, fish, crabs and insects. flight typically heron--steady wing beats with neck pulled in. roosts in large leafy trees in mixed congregation of crows and other birds.

Call:- a harsh croak uttered when flying off. a low conversational note, waku and a variety of peculiar mumblings are produced by nesting pairs.

Nesting:- season -- chiefly may to september (SW monsoon), november to January in South India. Nest-- an untidy twig platform like a crows up in large mango, tamarind and such like trees, shared with other egrets. frequently within town limits; not necessarily near water. eggs-- 3 to 5 pale greenish blue

Courtesy The book of Indian birds by Salim Ali

Yellow Eye... by ragtops2000

30 76

This Common Myna was on the island of Maui. They seemed to be quite plentiful and were always nearby searching for food. The male and female common myna are very similar in appearance, although the male is usually slightly larger, the common myna has large and strong feet that allow it to walk on the ground rather than hop, while the stout, straight bill enables it to be fairly flexible in its food choice. The common myna is highly vocal at all times, and can also be identified by its ceaseless, loud chattering of various conversational-like gurgles and whistles, and it is even capable of learning to mimic human speech when in captivity

#underwater-mermaid-art-photography-design-jaisini-stelly-riesling-collection by Santorria

…we went upstairs into a spacious studio. The invigorating, nutty smell of

oil paint delighted my senses. It seemed as if I had stepped inside of the

Evidently, Jaisini noticed that I was trapped by one of his paintings and broke the silence.

-Do you like that piece, or are you looking for a starting point to criticize it?

However it is, I welcome your criticisms rather than flattery.

-Your painting develops in my mind like photosensitive paper in a developer. On second thought, I sense an aesthetic pleasure from just the color harmony, but I still need more time-I said.

-No problem, take your time while I finish a sketch.

I had to postpone the interview in order to get a better look at the painting

that captured me. The artist put on some classical music. I began taking notes about what I had seen while he was silently sketching. As time flew

by, it was getting dark outside and the music ended long ago. I glanced at

the watch and realized that 4 hours had already elapsed and I didn’t even start the interview.

Jaisini was still concentrating on his work and it was obvious that I should’ve called it a day. Setting the convenient time for tomorrow I left.

…we met at the café.

I could tell that Jaisini was in a good mood and the interview has a better chance today. Perhaps his work went well, I thought. Jaisini greeted me as someone he had already befriended….

…-Positively, the painting I was contemplating in your studio sticks to my mind

Jaisini answered;

-It happens to many. I like this cafe. It is always so picturesque. The people

here make it colorful. For example, do you see that waitress?

-The small blond in her late thirties?

her memoir.

Jaisini smiled charmingly, adding: -Oh, no, I am not joking. I believe in her. Once I invited her to the studio, as

she seemed like such a peculiar person. I was just finishing my painting called “Organ Grinder”. She declared frankly and firmly: ”I want this picture. How much?”

I explained to her that I don’t sell paintings.

Then I experienced certain chemistry. When such a “simple” person, but still

the one who writes the script, says: “I want the “Organ Grinder”, it was the

strangest thing. I didn’t like the painting one bit and after that, all of a sudden, I started seeing it in a different light of something very pure and

money, or by a priest from England who told me that this art is for intellectuals, not for ambitious people who say, “I understand this art while others don’t.”.

-Do you think that your pictures relate to people as if they are puzzles of human life?

-The question arises, what is fine art now and who needs it? The elite?

- To build a family is more important for that man.

- Then what is fine art? Is fine beautiful or good?

-A regular person, either a lady florist, my tennis partner, or a teenage cowboy comes to my studio and says: “I don’t understand this art and

transform if he learns.

-What if people ask you for a simpler art? Why do they have to untangle your art?

- Do you consider yourself a reflection?

-No, I don’t. Philosophers try to understand what is art and life. I only

insist that grace will not diminish in value.

Telepathy...the Bamileke use these horizontal “lines” like telephone wires to send and receive telepathic messages. by Hughes Songe

14 1

Origins of the concept

The songs of, the native priests of Bamileke, believe that telepathic messages are sent directly from one solar plexus to another. According to the Bamileke, the KE, or etheric body, of one person sends out a “finger” or thread of aka substance to the solar plexus of another. This sticky substance connects the two like a “silver spider web.” Telepathic messages are sent out along these threads. After the instinctive, or “low,” self receives the message, it relays the information to the rational, or “middle,” self, where it “rises in the mind” like a memory. When repeated contact is made, these threads eventually become braided into an aka “cord,” which creates a strong telepathic bond between two people. Aka threads can be sent to strangers by means of a glance or a handshake.The African Bamileke communicate in a similar way., the Bamilleke of the Cameroon believe that all living creatures are connected by a stream of energy that extends from one belly button to another and named this song SI. The Bamileke use these horizontal “lines” like telephone wires to send and receive telepathic messages.

In experiments dating back to the nineteenth century, scientists have validated two types of telepathy: instinctual, or feeling-based, telepathy and mental, or mind-to-mind, telepathy. According to the Wisdom teachings, there is also another, higher type of telepathy called soul-to-soul, or spiritual, telepathy.

According to historians such as Roger Luckhurst and Janet Oppenheim the origin of the concept of telepathy in Western civilization can be tracked to the late 19th century and the formation of the Society for Psychical Research.As the physical sciences made significant advances, scientific concepts were applied to mental phenomena (e.g., animal magnetism), with the hope that this would help to understand paranormal phenomena. The modern concept of telepathy emerged in this context. Psychical researcher Eric Dingwall criticized SPR founding members Frederic W. H. Myers and William F. Barrett for trying to "prove" telepathy rather than objectively analyze whether or not it existed.

Thought reading

In the late 19th century, the magician and mentalist, Washington Irving Bishop would perform "thought reading" demonstrations. Bishop claimed no supernatural powers and ascribed his powers to muscular sensitivity (reading thoughts from unconscious bodily cues).[15] Bishop was investigated by a group of scientists including the editor of the British Medical Journal and the psychologist Francis Galton. Bishop performed several feats successfully such as correctly identifying a selected spot on a table and locating a hidden object. During the experiment Bishop required physical contact with a subject who knew the correct answer. He would hold the hand or wrist of the helper. The scientists concluded that Bishop was not a genuine telepath but using a highly trained skill to detect ideomotor movements.Our etheric bodies are part of an interactive sea of energy that connects us to everyone and everything in our world. It is through our etheric bodies that we both send and receive telepathic information. In this article, I will describe each type of telepathy in detail and show you just how universal these teachings are. I will also show you how our pioneering scientists are, once again, validating this ancient wisdom.

Another famous thought reader was the magician Stuart Cumberland. He was famous for performing blindfolded feats such as identifying a hidden object in a room that a person had picked out or asking someone to imagine a murder scene and then attempt to read the subject's thoughts and identify the victim and reenact the crime. Cumberland claimed to possess no genuine psychic ability and his thought reading performances could only be demonstrated by holding the hand of his subject to read their muscular movements. He came into dispute with psychical researchers associated with the Society for Psychical Research who were searching for genuine cases of telepathy. Cumberland argued that both telepathy and communication with the dead were impossible and that the mind of man cannot be read through telepathy, but only by muscle reading. Instinctual Telepathy

Instinctual telepathy is the lowest type of telepathy. We share this type of telepathy with the animal kingdom, and it is still a common mode of communication in indigenous cultures. Instinctual telepathy utilizes the area around the solar plexus, the center of instinct and emotion. In this type of telepathy, one person registers the feelings or needs of another at a distance. As you will see below, this teaching can be found in a wide variety of cultures, both ancient and modern. In every culture, the area around the solar plexus is key.

Case studies

Gilbert Murray conducted early telepathy experiments.

In the late 19th century the Creery Sisters (Mary, Alice, Maud, Kathleen, and Emily) were tested by the Society for Psychical Research and believed to have genuine psychic ability. However, during a later experiment they were caught utilizing signal codes and they confessed to fraud. George Albert Smith and Douglas Blackburn were claimed to be genuine psychics by the Society for Psychical Research but Blackburn confessed to fraud:

For nearly thirty years the telepathic experiments conducted by Mr. G. A. Smith and myself have been accepted and cited as the basic evidence of the truth of thought transference... ...the whole of those alleged experiments were bogus, and originated in the honest desire of two youths to show how easily men of scientific mind and training could be deceived when seeking for evidence in support of a theory they were wishful to establish.

Between 1916 and 1924, Gilbert Murray conducted 236 experiments into telepathy and reported 36% as successful, however, it was suggested that the results could be explained by hyperaesthesia as he could hear what was being said by the sender.[21][22][23][24][25] Psychologist Leonard T. Troland had carried out experiments in telepathy at Harvard University which were reported in 1917. The subjects produced below chance expectations.

Arthur Conan Doyle and W. T. Stead were duped into believing Julius and Agnes Zancig had genuine psychic powers. Both Doyle and Stead wrote the Zancigs performed telepathy. In 1924, Julius and Agnes Zancig confessed that their mind reading act was a trick and published the secret code and all the details of the trick method they had used under the title of Our Secrets!! in a London newspaper.

In 1924, Robert H. Gault of Northwestern University with Gardner Murphy conducted the first American radio test for telepathy. The results were entirely negative. One of their experiments involved the attempted thought transmission of a chosen number, out of 2010 replies none were correct.

In February 1927, with the co-operation of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), V. J. Woolley who was at the time the Research Officer for the SPR, arranged a telepathy experiment in which radio listeners were asked to take part. The experiment involved 'agents' thinking about five selected objects in an office at Tavistock Square, whilst listeners on the radio were asked to identify the objects from the BBC studio at Savoy Hill. 24, 659 answers were received. The results revealed no evidence for telepathy.

A famous experiment in telepathy was recorded by the American author Upton Sinclair in his book Mental Radio which documents Sinclair's test of psychic abilities of Mary Craig Sinclair, his second wife. She attempted to duplicate 290 pictures which were drawn by her husband. Sinclair claimed Mary successfully duplicated 65 of them, with 155 "partial successes" and 70 failures. However, these experiments were not conducted in a controlled scientific laboratory environment.[35] Science writer Martin Gardner suggested that the possibility of sensory leakage during the experiment had not been ruled out:

In the first place, an intuitive wife, who knows her husband intimately, may be able to guess with a fair degree of accuracy what he is likely to draw—particularly if the picture is related to some freshly recalled event the two experienced in common. At first, simple pictures like chairs and tables would likely predominate, but as these are exhausted, the field of choice narrows and pictures are more likely to be suggested by recent experiences. It is also possible that Sinclair may have given conversational hints during some of the tests—hints which in his strong will to believe, he would promptly forget about. Also, one must not rule out the possibility that in many tests, made across the width of a room, Mrs. Sinclair may have seen the wiggling of the top of a pencil, or arm movements, which would convey to her unconscious a rough notion of the drawing.In our culture, the term gut feeling is the most common way to explain our instinctive feelings about a person or situation. We say, “I trusted my gut in making that decision” or, “My gut told me not to trust this or that person.” This term has long been used in the business and law-enforcement communities. Businessmen use the term gut hunch to describe their instinctive reactions to an idea or proposal, while police detectives refer to their “blue sense” as a way to describe their gut feelings about a crime.

In 2004, parapsychologists Dean Radin and Marilyn Schlitz conducted an experiment at the Institute of Noetic Sciences with twenty-six couples to determine if the gut response of one person could be felt by another. One person, designated as the sender, was shown a series of images designed to evoke “positive, negative, calming, or neutral emotions.” In another room, the reaction of the receiver was monitored by electrodes placed on the heart, skin, and stomach muscles. The experimenters found that the stronger emotions—both positive and negative—did produce measurable responses in the receiver and concluded that the gut has a “belly brain” with a “perception intelligence” of its own.[5]

The existence of a belly brain has also been backed up by medical research. It was first documented by the nineteenth-century German neurologist Leopold Auerbach and later rediscovered by Dr. Michael Gershon, a professor at Columbia University who wrote a book in the 1990s called The Second Brain. This second brain is made up of billions of nerve cells in the digestive tract. Some medical researchers now believe that the belly brain may be the source of the unconscious gut reactions that are later communicated to the main brain.[6]

Biologist Rupert Sheldrake, the author of two books on this subject, has done more than anyone to validate this type of telepathy scientifically. In The Sense of Being Stared At and Other Aspects of the Extended Mind, he summarizes his research on this subject. He also believes this type of telepathic communication to be instinctual, calling it part of our “evolutionary heritage, an aspect of our biological, animal nature.”[7]

Sheldrake and his associates have collected over five thousand case histories illustrating this type of telepathy. An additional twenty thousand people have participated in a variety of experimental tests— the most recent involving text and e-mail messages. While largely unconscious, this type of telepathic perception still plays an important role in modern life. Because it utilizes the center of emotion, instinctual telepathy depends on strong emotional bonds between two people. The most common examples are between parents and children, husbands and wives, lovers, and best friends. According to Sheldrake, the most striking examples of instinctive telepathy involve intense emotion—emergencies, death, or distress.[8]

In Ropes to God: Experiencing the Bushman Spiritual Universe, Keeney includes a Bushman’s description of this type of telepathy:

You cannot send a thought to another person without first being filled with heightened emotion. . . . In this state you mix your thought, message or directive with your intensified feeling and make the thought a pure feeling. It is concentrated in your belly where the intensity of your feeling escalates to a point where it can no longer be held. Then it is released along the line coming out of your belly and directed to another person’s belly. They immediately respond when you communicate in this way. It may seem like we send our thoughts, but we are actually sending our feelings. Not weak, arbitrary feelings, but intense, almost overwhelming feelings. . . . A thought, message or request is changed into a feeling. . . . The feeling is the carrier.[9]

In the late 1960s, Marcia Emery was driving in downtown Washington, DC, when her brakes suddenly failed. According to Marcia,

When I put my foot on the brake, it went right to the floor. The emergency brake didn’t work either. I had the choice of either crashing into the cars on the street or running into people on the sidewalk. I suddenly heard an inner voice say, “Make a quick right.” I turned into an alley and smashed into a wall between two men’s clothing stores, narrowly missing a pedestrian.

I survived with only scratches on my elbows and knees. My car was completely totaled—it crumpled like an accordion. On my way home, I decided not to tell my mother about the accident. I was planning to drive to Philadelphia to visit her in a few weeks and I didn’t want her to worry.

I was still shaking when I got home. As I walked through the door, the telephone rang. It was my mother and her first words were “How’s your car?” When I asked her how she knew, she said, “I don’t know; the words just came out of my mouth.”[10]

Sheldrake also collected stories of people who instantly knew that a loved one had died. While researching this chapter, I discovered that several of my friends have had this experience. One friend shared this story with me:

My mother died from endometrial cancer. When I got the call that the end was near, I flew from California to Wisconsin to say goodbye. I took a “red-eye” flight and fell asleep on the plane. When I woke up, tears were running down my cheeks and I knew, in that moment, that my mother had just died. When I got to Chicago to change planes, my brother was waiting at the airport. Before he could speak, I said, “I already know mom died.” I later saw that her death certificate recorded the exact time I woke up on that plane.

This kind of telepathy also operates in a more benign way with the people we are closest to. I had a birthday while working on this chapter. A few days before, while driving home from the library I was thinking about my interest in esoteric Christianity when the thought suddenly popped into my mind that I’d like to have a cross necklace. I thought of my one-year baby picture and the tiny gold cross I wore around my neck, a gift from my favorite uncle. A few days later, a cross necklace arrived in the mail—a birthday present from my sister. When I called to thank her, she said, “I don’t know why, but as soon as I saw that necklace, I just had to get it for you.”

Frederick Marion who was investigated by the Society for Psychical Research in the late 1930-1940s.

The Turner-Ownbey long distance telepathy experiment was discovered to contain flaws. May Frances Turner positioned herself in the Duke Parapsychology Laboratory whilst Sara Ownbey claimed to receive transmissions 250 miles away. For the experiment Turner would think of a symbol and write it down whilst Ownbey would write her guesses.The scores were highly successful and both records were supposed to be sent to J. B. Rhine; however, Ownbey sent them to Turner. Critics pointed out this invalidated the results as she could have simply written her own record to agree with the other. When the experiment was repeated and the records were sent to Rhine the scores dropped to average.

Another example is the experiment carried out by the author Harold Sherman with the explorer Hubert Wilkins who carried out their own experiment in telepathy for five and a half months starting in October 1937. This took place when Sherman was in New York and Wilkins was in the Arctic. The experiment consisted of Sherman and Wilkins at the end of each day to relax and visualise a mental image or "thought impression" of the events or thoughts they had experienced in the day and then to record those images and thoughts on paper in a diary. The results at the end when comparing Sherman's and Wilkins' diaries were claimed to be more than 60 percent.

The full results of the experiments were published in 1942 in a book by Sherman and Wilkins titled Thoughts Through Space. In the book both Sherman and Wilkins had written they believed they had demonstrated that it was possible to send and receive thought impressions from the mind of one person to another. The magician John Booth wrote the experiment was not an example of telepathy as a high percentage of misses had occurred. Booth wrote it was more likely that the "hits" were the result of "coincidence, law of averages, subconscious expectancy, logical inference or a plain lucky guess".A review of their book in the American Journal of Orthopsychiatry cast doubt on their experiment noting "the study was published five years after it was conducted, arouses suspicion on the validity of the conclusions.

In 1948, on the BBC radio Maurice Fogel made the claim that he could demonstrate telepathy. This intrigued the journalist Arthur Helliwell who wanted to discover his methods. He found that Fogel's mind reading acts were all based on trickery, he relied on information about members of his audience before the show started. Helliwell exposed Fogel's methods in a newspaper article. Although Fogel managed to fool some people into believing he could perform genuine telepathy, the majority of his audience knew he was a showman.

In a series of experiments Samuel Soal and his assistant K. M. Goldney examined 160 subjects over 128,000 trials and obtained no evidence for the existence of telepathy. Soal tested Basil Shackleton and Gloria Stewart between 1941 and 1943 in over five hundred sittings and over twenty thousand guesses. Shackleton scored 2890 compared with a chance expectation of 2308 and Gloria scored 9410 compared with a chance level of 7420. It was later discovered the results had been tampered with. Gretl Albert who was present during many of the experiments said she had witnessed Soal altering the records during the sessions. Betty Marwick discovered Soal had not used the method of random selection of numbers as he had claimed. Marwick showed that there had been manipulation of the score sheets "all the experiments reported by Soal had thereby been discredited."

In 1979 the physicists John G. Taylor and Eduardo Balanovski wrote the only scientifically feasible explanation for telepathy could be electromagnetism (EM) involving EM fields. In a series of experiments the EM levels were many orders of magnitude lower than calculated and no paranormal effects were observed. Both Taylor and Balanovski wrote their results were a strong argument against the validity of telepathy.

Research in anomalistic psychology has discovered that in some cases telepathy can be explained by a covariation bias. In an experiment (Schienle et al. 1996) 22 believers and 20 skeptics were asked to judge the covariation between transmitted symbols and the corresponding feedback given by a receiver. According to the results the believers overestimated the number of successful transmissions whilst the skeptics made accurate hit judgments. The results from another telepathy experiment involving undergraduate college students (Rudski, 2002) were explained by hindsight and confirmation biases.

In parapsychology

Within the field of parapsychology, telepathy is considered to be a form of extrasensory perception (ESP) or anomalous cognition in which information is transferred through Psi. It is often categorized similarly to precognition and clairvoyance.[50] Experiments have been used to test for telepathic abilities. Among the most well known are the use of Zener cards and the Ganzfeld experiment.

Types

Parapsychology describes several forms of telepathy:

Latent telepathy, formerly known as "deferred telepathy",is described as the transfer of information, through Psi, with an observable time-lag between transmission and reception.

Retrocognitive,[failed verification] precognitive, and intuitive[failed verification] telepathy is described as being the transfer of information, through Psi, about the past, future or present state of an individual's mind to another individual.

Emotive telepathy, also known as remote influence or emotional transfer, is the process of transferring kinesthetic sensations through altered states.

Superconscious telepathy involves tapping into the superconscious to access the collective wisdom of the human species for knowledge

Zener Cards[edit]

Main article: Zener cards

Zener cards

Zener cards are marked with five distinctive symbols. When using them, one individual is designated the "sender" and another the "receiver". The sender selects a random card and visualize the symbol on it, while the receiver attempts to determine that symbol using Psi. Statistically, the receiver has a 20% chance of randomly guessing the correct symbol, so to demonstrate telepathy, they must repeatedly score a success rate that is significantly higher than 20%. If not conducted properly, this method can be vulnerable to sensory leakage and card counting.

J. B. Rhine's experiments with Zener cards were discredited due to the discovery that sensory leakage or cheating could account for all his results such as the subject being able to read the symbols from the back of the cards and being able to see and hear the experimenter to note subtle clues.Once Rhine took precautions in response to criticisms of his methods, he was unable to find any high-scoring subjects. Due to the methodological problems, parapsychologists no longer utilize card-guessing studies.

Dream telepathy

Parapsychological studies into dream telepathy were carried out at the Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York led by Stanley Krippner and Montague Ullman. They concluded the results from some of their experiments supported dream telepathy.However, the results have not been independently replicated. The psychologist James Alcock has written the dream telepathy experiments at Maimonides have failed to provide evidence for telepathy and "lack of replication is rampant."

The picture target experiments that were conducted by Krippner and Ullman were criticized by C. E. M. Hansel. According to Hansel there were weaknesses in the design of the experiments in the way in which the agent became aware of their target picture. Only the agent should have known the target and no other person until the judging of targets had been completed, however, an experimenter was with the agent when the target envelope was opened. Hansel also wrote there had been poor controls in the experiment as the main experimenter could communicate with the subject

An attempt to replicate the experiments that used picture targets was carried out by Edward Belvedere and David Foulkes. The finding was that neither the subject nor the judges matched the targets with dreams above chance level.Results from other experiments by Belvedere and Foulkes were also negative.

Ganzfeld experiment

When using the Ganzfeld experiment to test for telepathy, one individual is designated as the receiver and is placed inside a controlled environment where they are deprived of sensory input, and another person is designated as the sender and is placed in a separate location. The receiver is then required to receive information from the sender. The nature of the information may vary between experiments.

The Ganzfeld experiment studies that were examined by Ray Hyman and Charles Honorton had methodological problems that were well documented. Honorton reported only 36% of the studies used duplicate target sets of pictures to avoid handling cues. Hyman discovered flaws in all of the 42 Ganzfeld experiments and to access each experiment, he devised a set of 12 categories of flaws. Six of these concerned statistical defects, the other six covered procedural flaws such as inadequate documentation, randomization and security as well as possibilities of sensory leakage.Over half of the studies failed to safeguard against sensory leakage and all of the studies contained at least one of the 12 flaws. Because of the flaws, Honorton agreed with Hyman the 42 Ganzfeld studies could not support the claim for the existence of psi.

Possibilities of sensory leakage in the Ganzfeld experiments included the receivers hearing what was going on in the sender's room next door as the rooms were not soundproof and the sender's fingerprints to be visible on the target object for the receiver to see.

Hyman also reviewed the autoganzfeld experiments and discovered a pattern in the data that implied a visual cue may have taken place:

The most suspicious pattern was the fact that the hit rate for a given target increased with the frequency of occurrence of that target in the experiment. The hit rate for the targets that occurred only once was right at the chance expectation of 25%. For targets that appeared twice the hit rate crept up to 28%. For those that occurred three times it was 38%, and for those targets that occurred six or more times, the hit rate was 52%. Each time a videotape is played its quality can degrade. It is plausible then, that when a frequently used clip is the target for a given session, it may be physically distinguishable from the other three decoy clips that are presented to the subject for judging. Surprisingly, the parapsychological community has not taken this finding seriously. They still include the autoganzfeld series in their meta-analyses and treat it as convincing evidence for the reality of psi.

Hyman wrote the autoganzfeld experiments were flawed because they did not preclude the possibility of sensory leakage.In 2010, Lance Storm, Patrizio Tressoldi, and Lorenzo Di Risio analyzed 29 ganzfeld studies from 1997 to 2008. Of the 1,498 trials, 483 produced hits, corresponding to a hit rate of 32.2%. This hit rate is statistically significant with p < .001. Participants selected for personality traits and personal characteristics thought to be psi-conducive were found to perform significantly better than unselected participants in the ganzfeld condition. Hyman (2010) published a rebuttal to Storm et al. According to Hyman "reliance on meta-analysis as the sole basis for justifying the claim that an anomaly exists and that the evidence for it is consistent and replicable is fallacious. It distorts what scientists mean by confirmatory evidence." Hyman wrote the ganzfeld studies have not been independently replicated and have failed to produce evidence for telepathy. Storm et al. published a response to Hyman claiming the ganzfeld experimental design has proved to be consistent and reliable but parapsychology is a struggling discipline that has not received much attention so further research on the subject is necessary.Rouder et al. 2013 wrote that critical evaluation of Storm et al.'s meta-analysis reveals no evidence for telepathy, no plausible mechanism and omitted replication failures.

A 2016 paper examined questionable research practices in the ganzfeld experiments.

Twin telepathy

Twin telepathy is a belief that has been described as a myth in psychological literature. Psychologists Stephen Hupp and Jeremy Jewell have noted that all experiments on the subject have failed to provide any scientific evidence for telepathy between twins.According to Hupp and Jewell there are various behavioral and genetic factors that contribute to the twin telepathy myth "identical twins typically spend a lot of time together and are usually exposed to very similar environments. Thus, it's not at all surprising that they act in similar ways and are adept at anticipating and forecasting each other's reactions to events."

A 1993 study by Susan Blackmore investigated the claims of twin telepathy. In an experiment with six sets of twins one subject would act as the sender and the other the receiver. The sender was given selected objects, photographs or numbers and would attempt to psychically send the information to the receiver. The results from the experiment were negative, no evidence of telepathy was observed.

The skeptical investigator Benjamin Radford has noted that "Despite decades of research trying to prove telepathy, there is no credible scientific evidence that psychic powers exist, either in the general population or among twins specifically. The idea that two people who shared their mother's womb — or even who share the same DNA — have a mysterious mental connection is an intriguing one not borne out in science."

Scientific reception

A variety of tests have been performed to demonstrate telepathy, but there is no scientific evidence that the power exists. A panel commissioned by the United States National Research Council to study paranormal claims concluded that "despite a 130-year record of scientific research on such matters, our committee could find no scientific justification for the existence of phenomena such as extrasensory perception, mental telepathy or 'mind over matter' exercises... Evaluation of a large body of the best available evidence simply does not support the contention that these phenomena exist." The scientific community considers parapsychology a pseudoscience.There is no known mechanism for telepathy. Philosopher and physicist Mario Bunge has written that telepathy would contradict laws of science and the claim that "signals can be transmitted across space without fading with distance is inconsistent with physics".

Physicist John Taylor has written the experiments that have been claimed by parapsychologists to support evidence for the existence of telepathy are based on the use of shaky statistical analysis and poor design, and attempts to duplicate such experiments by the scientific community have failed. Taylor also wrote the arguments used by parapsychologists for the feasibility of such phenomena are based on distortions of theoretical physics as well as "complete ignorance" of relevant areas of physics.

Psychologist Stuart Sutherland wrote that cases of telepathy can be explained by people underestimating the probability of coincidences. According to Sutherland, "most stories about this phenomenon concern people who are close to one another - husband and wife or brother and sister. Since such people have much in common, it is highly probable that they will sometimes think the same thought at the same time." Graham Reed, a specialist in anomalistic psychology, noted that experiments into telepathy often involve the subject relaxing and reporting the 'messages' to consist of colored geometric shapes. Reed wrote that these are a common type of hypnagogic image and not evidence for telepathic communication.

Outside of parapsychology, telepathy is generally explained as the result of fraud, self-delusion and/or self-deception and not as a paranormal power. Psychological research has also revealed other explanations such as confirmation bias, expectancy bias, sensory leakage, subjective validation and wishful thinking.[94] Virtually all of the instances of more popular psychic phenomena, such as mediumship, can be attributed to non-paranormal techniques such as cold reading. Magicians such as Ian Rowland and Derren Brown have demonstrated techniques and results similar to those of popular psychics, without paranormal means. They have identified, described, and developed psychological techniques of cold reading and hot reading.

Psychiatry

The notion of telepathy is not dissimilar to two clinical concepts: delusions of thought insertion/removal. This similarity might explain how an individual might come to the conclusion that they were experiencing telepathy. Thought insertion/removal is a symptom of psychosis, particularly of schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder or substance-induced psychosis. Psychiatric patients who experience this symptom falsely believe that some of their thoughts are not their own and that others (e.g., other people, aliens, demons or fallen angels, or conspiring intelligence agencies) are putting thoughts into their minds (thought insertion). Some patients feel as if thoughts are being taken out of their minds or deleted (thought removal). Along with other symptoms of psychosis, delusions of thought insertion may be reduced by antipsychotic medication. Psychiatrists and clinical psychologists believe and empirical findings support the idea that people with schizotypy and schizotypal personality disorder are particularly likely to believe in telepathy.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telepathy

by Onilad

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When will the lighted lamp speak to me of memories and bright days? I gaze as it penetrates my thoughts with conversational soliloquy. Let's dance instead till your light turns to morn as I retire in our own secluded room.

uhm, something's wrong here.. by Nicole:HearMeRoar(:

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hahah, do you like my extremely disfigured rainbow? his name is Klaus. ya know, like the really smart brother in the Series of Unfortunate events books? if you never read those i'm so sorry for you.

used cross process in this picture. you can't tell since you never saw the original, but that's okay :D heheh.

+2 pictures in the comments that have very important meanings!!

"spongebob, it's been over eleven years.. you're not getting your drivers liscense."

"if plankton's so smart, why doesn't he just have someone buy him a krabby patty?"

those lovely words of lovliness can be found at this twitter. i've been on it all day. i don't have one but i creep around and i got lead to this site thru a few clicks and clacks of my mouse.

2 weeks left.. I don't know if I'm ready for this.

Im not at that point in my life yet, but I've been thinking about the saying "what do you want to be when you grow up?" there comes a point where you do grow up. where it's no longer a conversational topic, but a serious choice and career decision. to be honest, although i'm currently quite confident in what I want to be, I'm scared.

A Special Gift by Jan

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This is Saturday, and it is my day for Saturday Silliness, but I am also sharing a picture of one of the most special gifts I’ve received in a long time. It is a picture drawn for me by my favorite patient who visits the office where I work. He is 75 years old, and lives in a state funded facility. He is over 6 feet tall and looks much younger than his years. He speaks simply, but he talks and laughs VERY LOUDLY!!! LOL!!! Everything he says is about 10 times louder than anyone else speaking in a regular conversational voice. :) He comes in every other month, and we have a wonderful time talking and laughing when he visits.

Last Christmas he surprised me and sent me a card in which he included a hand printed page, covered front and back with the name of every player on the Utah Jazz basketball team. (How did he know I wanted all of their names?? :) ) That is another of my favorite all time gifts… I promised I’d give him a picture of me, so I took this shot holding his picture, to give to him when he comes in this week. He has touched my heart deeply. Knowing him (as well as many other wonderful souls) is one of the best parts about my job. :)

Z9_CUBA_03_22_641._B_IP by Vincent Versace

Trust me I shot other things... but a promise is a promise to the dancers and musicians (from my last trip to Cuba with Palm Beach Photographic Centre's Cuba workshop)

This image is of the trumpet player Jose Gomez Rodreguez of Stepteto Habanero.

When the D850. was released it hand facial recognition follow focus (not sure if that's the "official" name for it) in Live view. It also could shoot in silent mode in live view. So I hooked up a remote and with te 70-200mm f2.8 I shot "conversational portraits" in which the subject had no idea that I was or when I was taking a picture.

Cook to the Z9-

There is a powerful advantage to a camera that can focus at the speed of life and that is more silent than a breath held expectant. You can truly create a place when the spirt of the subject can hide in your camera/

There is no camera system that has a better or more powerful one. This image was was shot using highlight center metering.

Shot with the AMAZING Z9. The Z9 is more camera than I am photographer.

The Color Version.

#Nikon100 #nikonlove #lexar #kelbyone #photography #onOne @NikonUSA

#mirrorless #Nikonz9 #NikonNoFilter #niksoftware #nikonUSA #Epson

#wacom #xritephoto #onone #sunbounce #fineartphotography #kolarivision

#DxO #iamgenerationimage #iamnikon #B&H #PhotogenicbyBenQ

#nikonLOVE #hoodman #infrared

#nikonnofilter #nikonambassador

New Year's Resolutions, Anyone? by Mike Romani

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Although I've lived in Japan for 22 1/2 years I'm not yet fluent in Japanese. I speak enough everyday conversational Japanese to get by and I understand more Japanese than I can speak. However, I want to become more fluent speaking Japanese and I want to be able to read Japanese as well. Last summer I spent 3-7 hours a day studying Japanese. In September I got busy with work again. My goal this year is to study a minimum of 2 hours a day.

I'm also walking a minimum of 30 minutes a day (hopefully an hour or more when possible).

My other resolution is to get active again on Flickr and to get out and shoot as much as possible. Last year I did very little photography for various reasons. I did get out early this morning to shoot some birds at one of my favourite places. There are usually dozens of various kinds of species at this park every autumn, winter and spring. However, the birders at the park told me today that this past year has been bad. Very few birds, it's weird. I only took a handful of shots of one bird after a few hours so I gave up and went to a nearby Starbucks to study. I've finished several books in this stack, but I always review. These are only a few of the books I use for study. I also use a variety of apps on my iPad Air as well as several websites.

Best wishes in keeping your New Year's Resolutions in 2014!

_Tara - Long Barrel by Mark Chamberlin - SmarterPics

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Movie Script: "So Jake, honey, now that I have your attention, are you feelin a little more conversational?"

I wouldn't mess with her! I love the 17-55mm lens!

I used a bleach filter in PS.

Strobist - Rectangular Softbox full power camera rt.

Model - Tara Walker MM# 580279

Santa Fe Springs_0114 by Thomas Willard

14 2

(conversational tone)

Dublin Inn Dublin NH by William L. Bird

postmarked 1968

Missing Sheep by Chris Nevard

Comical Ned (with the funny shaped head) is trying to entice Farmer George and Hubert (the conversational Latin speaking horse) over for a lunchtime pint at the Jolly Farmer in the distance. But George is a busy man, as are all farmers and is not sure he has the time, for he needs to find a possible broken fence after some of his sheep were found propping up the bar in The Railway Hotel in Culmstock last night.

Driver Arthritic Arthur cries from the passing train to say that local creamery worker Deidre Dinkle, the flirty darling of the butter blending department is in the pub playing toad in the hole (quite how Arthur knows what the conversation is, I have no idea, but Arthur knows everybody and everything).

George has had a crush on Deidre for ages, and this might be a chance for him to finally ask her out for a ride on his brand new combine harvester. He might also find a couple more of his missing sheep, which means he can justify it as work whilst also satisfying his ongoing lust for love.

Lamps, Flies & Trouser Snakes by Chris Nevard

Saturday at Combwich. Dud and Deliberation Dave prior to hopping back on their loco, confirm that their flies (zipper for my colonial followers) are done up before then checking out each other’s attire. After all, they don’t want to be scaring any passengers with a rogue one-eyed trouser snake, that’s more Nasal Nigel’s thing.

Through the cab of the loco, Waving Wayne spots Harry the Hammer who as usual is at the end of his shift, along with Hubert the conversational Latin speaking horse standing in the yard. Wayne is always waving, he even waves in his sleep we are told by his mother Semaphore Sarah.

Not noticing Wayne, Harry and Hubert, before heading to The Star, watch the departure of the 12pm to Bridgwater. Today it’s formed of an elderly Johnson 1P 0-4-4 tank locomotive, a parcels van and an ex Southern Railway Maunsell brake composite coach in crimson and cream. Normally the coach on this service is an ancient ex Midland suburban carriage from the Victorian era smelling of urine and fungus, so todays passengers are in for a marginally better experience.

The streetlamp fanatics here, will no doubt be excited by the concrete lamp post of Southern Railway origin and its Art Deco inspired ceramic lanterns. The station is mostly lit by gas, however electric lighting is slowly being introduced, but at the current rate of progress gas will be around for a lot longer yet, this lamp being installed almost 20 years ago.

Bus spotters, I’m sure with have noticed the Bedford OB lurking on the far left. It’s very similar to the one seen a week of two ago being used for ‘Murder on the Rail Replacement Bus Service’ events. Actually it might even be the same bus. Today it’s forming the 12pm Combwich to Bridgwater bus service, duplicating the rail service here. All very ‘Titfield Thunderbolt’ I must say! Sensing foul play here, I’ve a hunch Barry Bullhead and Terry Tuttle-Thomas-Smythe are involved.

Grizzly G0771Z Table Saw by Thomas Gion

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!

Afternoon Tea with Clemance by raaen99

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Cavendish Mews is a smart set of flats in Mayfair where flapper and modern woman, the Honourable Lettice Chetwynd has set up home after coming of age and gaining her allowance. To supplement her already generous allowance, and to break away from dependence upon her family, Lettice has established herself as a society interior designer, so her flat is decorated with a mixture of elegant antique Georgian pieces and modern Art Deco furnishings, using it as a showroom for what she can offer to her well heeled clients.

Today however, we have travelled a short distance west from Cavendish Mews, skirting Hyde Park, around Hyde Park Corner, through Knightsbridge past the Brompton Road and Harrods with its ornate terracotta façade, past the great round Roman amphitheatre inspired Royal Albert Hall that was built in honour of Queen Victoria’s late husband prince Albert in 1861, past Kensington Palace, to Holland Park. It is here, in a cream painted stucco three storey Nineteenth Century townhouse with a wrought and cast iron glazed canopy over the steps and front door, flanked by two storey canted bay windows to each side with Corinthian pilasters, that we find ourselves. Lettice and her mother, Lady Sadie, have come to the elegant and gracious home of her widowed future sister-in-law, Clementine (known preferably now by the more cosmopolitan Clemance) Pontefract.

Lettice is engaged to Clemance’s elder brother, Sir John Nettleford Hughes. Old enough to be her father, wealthy Sir John, according to London society gossip enjoys dalliances with a string of pretty chorus girls of Lettice’s age and younger. As an eligible man in a aftermath of the Great War when such men are a rare commodity, with a vast family estate in Bedfordshire, houses in Mayfair, Belgravia and Pimlico and Fontengil Park in Wiltshire, quite close to the Glynes estate belonging to her parents, Lettice’s mother, Lady Sadie, invited him as a potential suitor to her 1922 Hunt Ball, which she used as a marriage market for Lettice. Although she did not become engaged to him then, Lettice did reacquaint herself with Sir John at an amusing Friday to Monday long weekend party held by mutual friends Sir John and Lady Gladys Caxton at their Scottish country estate in 1924. To her surprise, Lettice found Sir John’s company rather enjoyable. She then ran into him again later that year at the Portland Gallery’s autumn show in Soho, where she found him yet again to be a pleasant and attentive companion for much of the evening. Sir John also made a proposition to her that night: he offered her his hand in marriage should she ever need it. More like a business arrangement than a marriage proposal, Sir John offered Lettice the opportunity to enjoy the benefits of his large fortune, be chatelain of all his estates and continue to have her interior design business, under the conditions that she agree to provide him with an heir, and that he be allowed to discreetly carry on his affairs in spite of their marriage vows. He even suggested that Lettice might be afforded the opportunity to have her own extra marital liaisons if she were discreet about them. When Lettice’s understanding with Selwyn Spencely, son of the Duke of Walmsford, fell apart, Lettice agreed to Sir John’s proposal.

Now, some seven months on, plans are starting to be laid for the wedding, albeit at a somewhat glacial pace. On an earlier visit to Clemance, when Lettice and Sir John were taking tea with his younger sister, Lettice suggested that Clemance might help her choose her trousseau*. Thinking that Lady Sadie’s ideas will doubtless be somewhat old fashioned and conservative when it comes to commissioning evening dresses and her wedding frock, Lettice wants to engage Clemance’s smart and fashion conscious eye and eager willingness to please Lettice as her future sister-in-law to help her pick the trousseau she really wants. Knowing that the subject would be difficult to discuss with her mother, with whom she has a somewhat fraught relationship, she decided to approach Lady Sadie face-to-face. Unsurprisingly, Lady Sadie did not take kindly to the suggestion, any more than she did the idea that Lord Bruton’s son, Gerald, Lettice’s oldest childhood chum and best friend, who designs gowns from a shop in Grosvenor Street, making Lettice’s wedding frock. In the end, Lady Sadie wouldn’t countenance the idea of Gerald making Lettice’s gown, since she felt it would be embarrassing for her youngest daughter to appear in a frock made by the son of her family friend and neighbours, Lord and Lady Bruton, as well as have Gerald as a guest at the wedding. Appealing to her father, Viscount Wrexham, to help her, being his favourite child, Lettice disclosed a secret shared with her by Sir John about his sister, indicating why she has taken such a keen interest in being involved in Lettice’s wedding plans. Clemance had a daughter born the same year as Lettice, that she and her husband lost to diphtheria when the child was twelve. Upon hearing this revelation, the Viscount agreed to talk to Lady Sadie and try and sway her to allow Clemance to be involved in the acquiring of Lettice’s trousseau, a task that is usually the preserve of the bride and her mother, but made no promises. In the end, Lady Sadie acquiesced, albeit begrudgingly, and only under the proviso that she should meet Clemance and vet her suitability for herself.

So Clemance has arranged a sumptuous afternoon tea for Lettice and Lady Sadie at her elegant Holland Park home. Clemance’s drawing room is elegantly appointed with the comfortable Edwardian clutter of her continual and conspicuous acquisition, not dissimilar to the décor of Lady Sadie’s preserve, the morning room at Glynes, the grand Georgian family seat of the Chetwynds in Wiltshire. Being of a similar age to Lady Sadie, Clemance’s conspicuous collecting is the hallmark of a lady of her age and social standing. Clusters of floral chintz chairs and sofas are placed around the room in small conversational clutches, whilst elegant French antiques, collected by her and her late husband Harrison during their years living in France, stand around the walls. The room is papered in pale pink Georgian style wallpaper and hung with Eighteenth Century pastoral scenes in gilded frames, whilst the floor is parquet. The room smells of freshly arranged hothouse flowers, and Josette, Clemance’s beloved canary twitters in her cage on the pillar table next to Clemance’s chair.

Clemance fusses of Josette and takes some seeds from a small silver container and deposits some into the bottom of Josette’s cage, tutting at her, whilst Lettice, sitting on the long and low chaise lounge, leans forward and tops up her mother’s teacup with some fresh tea.

“Thank you, Lettice my dear.” Lady Sadie says a little stiffly.

Mother and daughter have had an uncomfortable morning visiting Reville and Rossiter, the Court dressmaker in Hanover Square where once again they have differed over Lettice’s flair and love of the new and exciting modern styles from Paris, which is at odds with Lady Sadie’s more conservative and old-fashioned sensibilities, which are more pre-war in style.

Lady Sadie tuts quietly, shaking her head as she watches Clemance fussing over Josette, drawing the hostess’ attention to Lady Sadie’s quiet admonishment.

“You don’t approve of birds in cages then, I take it, Lady Chetwynd.” Clemance asks, turning her attention away from her beloved bird and back to her guests. “Thank you, dear.” she says as she accepts her filled cup of tea from Lettice, who smiles politely as she does.

“I’m afraid I don’t, Mrs. Pontefract.” Lady Sadie admits. “I’m a country girl at heart, and I believe all birds should be out in nature, flitting across the fields and making nests in the hedgerows.”

“I doubt you will find any fields, or hedgerows, within a mile of here, Lady Chetwynd.” Clemance opines.

“No, but there are large parks not far from here at all.” Lady Sadie replies. “Please pardon me for saying this and being so frank, Mrs. Pontefract, but I think having birds in cages is cruel.”

“Mamma!” Lettice gasps, pausing mid pour into her own teacup. “Josette is very precious to Clemance. And once Josette is a bit more settled here in Holland Park, she intends to let Josette out of her cage and fly around freely about the room, like she did with her in her apartment in Paris. Aren’t you, Clemance?”

“I am.” Clemance confirms. “However your mother is entitled to opinion, Lettice my dear, just as I am entitled to mine and you to yours. I can see your point of view, Lady Chetwynd.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Pontefract.” Lady Sadie replies gratefully. Turning to her daughter she adds, staring at her sharply, “You see Lettice. I’m not always wrong.”

Lettice doesn’t reply, but resumes pouring herself some fresh tea and then takes a slice of chocolate sponge lavished with cream and fresh strawberries from the platter on the central low coffee table.

“You don’t live in Belgravia, with your brother, Mrs. Pontefract?” lady Sadie goes on, steering the conversation to a more neutral and safer topic.

“You know, since we are to be family soon, you must call me Clemance.” Clemance says kindly, looking over at Lady Sadie and smiling broadly.

“Well,” Lady Sadie’s face crumples up with discomfort at the familiarity.

“And may I call you Sadie?” Clemance seeks permission. “You calling me Mrs. Pontefract and me calling you Lady Chetwynd, well, it really is too formal for family, don’t you think?”

Lady Sadie swallows the lump in her throat somewhat awkwardly. “Very well, Mrs. Pon… Clemance.” she manages in a strangulated tone.

“Good.” Clemance says, nodding her approval, making her pearl drop earrings dangling from her lobes jiggle about. “ Well now that that’s settled, going back to your question, Sadie, I’ve lived abroad, apart from my brother for too many years now to live under the same room as him, even in his spacious Belgravia townhouse. I’m too independent. Besides, he has his own life, and will forge one with Lettice soon,” She nods in Lettice’s direction and smiles at the girl warmly, so she doesn’t notice Lady Sadie shudder at the mention of the forthcoming nuptials*** between Sir John and Lettice. “I would only get under foot.”

“Nonsense, Clemance!” Lettice insists. “How could you ever get under anyone’s feet.”

“Oh that’s kind of you dear.” She reaches out her older, wrinkled hand and squeezes Lettice’s dainty youthful one in it comfortingly. “But you know it’s true. There is no place for an old widow like me in a newlywed’s nest.” Returni g her attentions to Lady Sadie, Clemance goes on, “Besides, I prefer Holland Park, even if it is not so salubrious a neighbourhood as Belgravia. I find as I grow older, I want less to do with the London social round. It’s much more for the young, like Lettice here: all those balls, Cowes, the Henly Regatta and the like.”

“I feel the same Mrs. err… Clemance.” Lady Sadie replies. “I find I rarely come up to London anymore.”

“But you have a townhouse in Fitzroy Square****, do you not, Sadie?”

“Yes, a few doors down from my cousin Gwendolyn, the Duchess of Whitby.” Clemance nods in acknowledgement of Lady Sadie’s well-known and social cousin. “But I seldom use it. It requires opening it up, and then there is the question of finding good help in London. I can bring my lady’s maid, Ward, from Glynes, as I have done for this trip, but I can’t deplete the house completely of servants, so I get by with the basic assistance of the caretaker and his wife. If the Viscount and I have to come up for a longer period, I bring up a small coterie of staff from Wiltshire and then use a domestic agency to plug any gaps, but that requires so much time and effort. When my husband and I were younger, oh!” She chortles as she remembers her early married life with Cosmo. “We used to use Fitzroy Square all the time. It was a house bedazzled by gay parties and balls as we participated in the London social round. However, the lustre of the place has gone now. I much prefer the country. There is a sense of permanence and peace I get at Glynes that I don’t here. London is always changing now, and at such a rapid pace! One day a house I remember as always being there is gone, and the next it has been replaced by one of those blocks of mansion flats***** such as Lettice and her fashionable friends live in nowadays. The old traditions are gone here, but may still be found in the country. No, we haven’t really used it very much since the war, except for Lettice’s coming out in that first Season after the war and the Spanish Influenza in 1920 when things really recommenced, of course.”

“Of course.” Clemance acknowledges, sipping her tea.

“I also happen to think that something has changed in me, with the war. I never felt comfortable in London again. Perhaps it was those zeppelin raids******, which upset my nerves terribly. Even to this day, I still can’t help but look up at the sky when I’m here in London and I hear an aeroplane.” She holds out one of her hands to show it quivering slightly even at the thought. “And London is a young people’s city. What is it the papers call the young people now?”

“The Bright Young People or Bright Young Things, I think Sadie.”

“That’s it! The Bright Young Things, of course!” Lady Sadie claps her hands. “How clever of you… Clemance. Well, London is theirs now, not ours, or perhaps I should say mine, since you seem quite at home here. For me, London is busier, more frenetic, faster paced: not like the London of hansom cabs and strolls through parks like Cosmo and I enjoyed in our youth. There’s no room for an old woman like me.” She laughs. “Do you know, on the way here today in a taxi, Lettice and I saw a double decker London red motorbus with an enclosed top*******? I remember when such conveyances were single storey and drawn by horses!”

“As do I, Sadie.” Clemence confirms with a nod. “As do I.”

“But of course you have been living abroad for some years now, Clemance, so London would be very different for you anyway. You were Paris I believe? That’s what Lettice told me.”

“Yes for the most part of the last two decades, except during the war years, when my husband and I lived in Switzerland.”

“And I believe your husband died, not all that long ago, Clemance. My condolences.”

“Thank you, Sadie. That’s why I returned to London after all this time, so I could be closer to my brother, although,” Clemance adds as an afterthought. “Not living out of his pocket as it were.”

Clemance glances down at her coffee table. “Lettice,” she asks her future sister-in-law.

“Hhhmmm?” Lettice replies.

“Would you run upstairs to my dressing room. I think I left some magazines of the latest wedding fashions from Paris that I wanted to show you and your mother whilst you are here. You should find a few of copies of ********Le Petit Écho de la Mode. My dressing room is the first door on the left.”

“Of course, Clemance.” Lettice says, picking herself up out of the comfortable corner of Clemance’s pillow and bolster covered floral chaise. She turns and walks from the room.

“Good!” Clemance says with a relieved sigh as she listens to Lettice’s footfalls fading on the staircase in the hallway outside the door. “Now that we’re alone, Sadie, I really think that I should explain.”

“Explain… Clemance?” Lady Sadie queries with a slight twist of her head and an arched eyebrow.

“Yes, explain why I’ve come blundering into the middle of your wedding plans like an elephant with a broken toe. I know that the bride’s trousseau and various other tasks are the preserve, the duty, of the bride’s mother.” Clemance looks across at Lady Sadie with some embarrassment. “I didn’t want to do it. I think they were just being kind.”

“They?”

“My brother and your daughter. You see it was Lettice who approached me about being involved in the picking out of her trousseau, not the other way around. I expressed my reservations of course, from the very beginning. I thought it might cause ructions if I participated. I was thinking of your feelings.”

“Oh, not at all, Clemance.” Lady Sadie replies with a dismissive wave of her bejewelled hand. “That’s very kind of you. Please, don’t mention it. I’ll be glad of your assistance, since I don’t much enjoy coming up to London these days. Besides, if you have copies of the latest editions of Le Petit Écho de la Mode, you must have your pulse on the current trends, unlike tweedy old county me.”

“It’s very kind of you to lie, Sadie, but I know that my presence must have come as something of a shock.”

“Well, I won’t deny that.” Lady Sadie admits.

“I did try to dissuade Lettice of the idea initially,” Clemance says in an embarrassed fashion, turning her head away from Lady Sadie and fussing and cooing over Josette. “But Nettie…”

“Nettie?”

“Oh sorry!” Clemance replies, turning back, growing red in the face as she becomes flustered. “Nettie is my pet name for my brother. John… John was rather insistent that I should have a certain level of involvement in Lettice’s side of the wedding plans, so that I wouldn’t miss out, you see.”

“Miss out, Mrs… err… Clemance? No, sorry. I don’t see.”

“As I intimated before, after my husband died suddenly, I decided to return here to London so I could be closer to John. He’s the only family I have left now. However, without a husband, and with no real friends here, I’ve been at rather a loose end ever since I arrived, and I’m too apt to brood.”

“Brood? About what?”

Clemance doesn’t answer straight away, but looks down into her lap where she twists her diamond ring decorated hands in a rather distracted way.

“You see, I… I had a daughter too, once.” she finally admits. “Oh and please don’t tell Lettice!” She looks at Lady Sadie imploringly. “I don’t want to upset her before the wedding, but being family she will find out at some stage anyway, whether it be from me of Nettie.”

“Very well. I won’t.” Lady Sadie assures her, lying and keeping a straight face so as not to betray the fact that Lettice is well aware of Clemance’s dead daughter from a confidence placed in her by Sir John, and has confided this secret with both the Viscount and Lady Sadie herself. “Please, go on, Clemance.”

Clemance’s breathing becomes more laboured as she tries to maintain her composure. “Elise was Harrison’s and my only child. Sadly, although we had been trying for some years before she was born, and again after, we were never blessed with more children. In truth, I think at my age, by the time Harrison and I finally married, I was probably moving beyond my real childbearing years, so we were lucky to have Elise at all. You may have noticed a portrait of me with a little girl in the hallway when you first arrived.”

“Yes,” Lady Sadie admits. “It’s very lovely.”

“Well that is… or rather was… Elise.” Clemance gulps. “She… she died you see, of diphtheria, when she was ten. There was nothing we could do, even with the very best medical care we could provide. She just couldn’t breathe, and in the end,” Tears well in Clemance’s eyes and she withdraws a lace handkerchief from the pocket of her pale pink silk cardigan, bringing it up to her nose daintily. “Her little heart just gave out.”

“Oh please, Clemance,” Lady Sadie says kindly, her own voice strangulated with emotion. “Don’t go on.” She holds up her hand. “Recalling it must be so painful for you.”

“I have to, Sadie. It’s a part of me, and…” Clemance sobs. “And I have to tell you now… whilst I have the strength to do so.”

Lady Sadie nods shallowly as she withdraws her own lace handkerchief from her beaded and crocheted reticule and dabs her eyes which well with her own tears for Clemance and for herself, having lost two of her own children to stillbirths.

“You see, Elise would have been around Lettice’s age,” Clemance releases a shuddering sigh. “And I think that… out of a sense of loyalty to me, and in an attempt to be kind, John pressured Lettice into asking me to be involved, so that I wouldn’t miss out on having a chance to help a young lady choose the wardrobe for her married life.” She sobs again and dabs her eyes quickly with her handkerchief.

“I understand.” Lady Sadie replies softly. “I lost two of my own children, one after my eldest son was born, and one before my youngest son was born: a boy and a girl.”

“So you know what it is like to lose a child.” Clemance breathes in relief.

“I do, but I was blessed with four healthy children who survived and grew into adulthood, which goes some way to assuaging the loss of my two lost babbies.”

Clemance sniffs. “In some ways, I rather wish John hadn’t been the sweet and kind brother that he is to me, forcing me blundering into your plans. It’s unfair for me to be foisted upon you.”

“You aren’t being foisted upon me, Mrs… Clemance.”

“It’s alright. I understand. I know am an imposition. Yet…” She shudders with heartache. “Yet… it’s the most wonderful opportunity for me to experience something… well never thought I would after Elise… died.”

“However?” Lady Sadie asks the unspoken question to get Clemance to finish her thought.

“However, I know it’s all smoke and mirrors.” Clemance blinks through tears that run in silent rivulets down her cheeks. “Lettice is not my daughter. She’s my future sister-in-law.” Clemance sniffs, dabs at her eyes again and sits up more stiffly in her armchair. “Anyway, I just thought I should explain myself to you, whilst Lettice is not here.” She sniffs and breathes deeply. “You… you don’t have to involve me in your shopping expeditions with your daughter, Sadie. I know it’s a special time for the two of you. I would never want to intrude.”

Lady Sadie does not answer immediately, and takes a moment to compose herself. She looks at Clemance and considers her. “You aren’t intruding, Clemance. Of course you must be involved.”

“Really, Sadie?”

Lady Sadie nods shallowly. “You’ve been living in the fashion capital of the world up until recently. I’d welcome your opinion on the latest fashions, so we must organise some shopping expeditions down Motcomb Street********* for the three of us.”

“Oh thank you, Sadie.” Clemance exclaims, clasping her hands together in delight, smiling brightly through her tears. “I’m so grateful. Of course I will demur to any final decisions you make.”

“Naturally.” Lady Sadie agrees with a curt nod.

“Although I do have one suggestion, if you will be so good as to indulge me, Sadie.”

Lady Sadie looks warily at Clemance, unsure if she wants to hear what is coming next.

“I know you are rather wedded… err… no pun intended,” Clemance begins awkwardly. “To Madame Handley-Seymour********** and a few other of the more… traditional Court dressmakers for Lettice’s wedding frock.”

“No final decisions have been made… yet.” Lady Sadie replies guardedly. “Lettice and I are still… exploring.”

“Oh that’s a relief, Sadie.” Clemance sighs. “You see, I really do think you should let Lettice have her way with it, and allow Gerald Bruton to design it. He really is quite brilliant you know.”

“Are you suggesting that my choice in Madame Handley-Seymour, the dressmaker chosen by the Duchess of York*********** for her wedding dress, a couturier approved by Queen Mary herself, is unsuitable to make my daughter’s wedding dress?”

“No… no of course not, Sadie!” Clemance quickly defends herself. “It’s just that Lettice has her heart so set on it, and she is quite right, he’s been making her beautiful frocks for the last few years now, and he does know her figure intimately.” As soon as she utters the word, Clemance knows she has miss-stepped. “That is to say… err… I mean…”

“Yes, well!” quips Lady Sadie curtly, cutting Clemance off abruptly, her eyebrows arching over her sapphire chip sparkling eyes. “I already have my concerns about that. It seems most inappropriate that Gerald should be so familiar with Lettice’s figure.”

“Gerald?” Clemance chuckles deeply. “Surely you jest, Sadie!”

“They aren’t three years old any more, sharing a tub in front of the nursery fire. With Nanny” retorts Lady Sadie crisply, her mouth crumpling in disapproval.

“But Gerald’s harmless! It’s just business to him: fact and figures on a page. Surely you know that, Sadie?”

“Harrumph!” Lady Sadie snorts haughtily. “It’s the figure I worry about: Lettice’s I mean, not to mention her reputation. Being seen by him in her undergarments! It’s shameful! There is such a thing as propriety,” She pauses. “Even though I know with social mores being what they are in this modern age, it is out of style with these Bright Young People who lack any morals.”

“Dear Gerald is really quite harmless, dear Sadie!” Clemance assures her with a gentle smile. “Besides, Lettice tells me that your own wedding dress was made by Charles Frederick Worth************.”

“Mr. Worth was far older than Gerald is when I was fitted for my wedding day, Clemance, and he was married with a family, unlike Gerald who is still conspicuously single in this day and age when marriageable young men are few and far between.”

“You’ve never suspected that there is a reason for that, Sadie?” Clemance says, her voice heavy with implication.

“Oh, don’t you worry, Clemance. It’s never escaped my attention how much of a torch Gerald Bruton holds************* for my youngest daughter. Don’t think it hasn’t gone unnoticed that he and Lettice are within one another’s pockets up here in London whilst I and my husband Gerald’s parents are nicely tucked out of the way in quiet old Wiltshire. I have eyes! I can see! I see them together, smiling, in the social pages, as I read about the latest shenanigans that they have gotten up to with their young friends over my breakfast tray**************.”

“Oh dear!” Clemance gasps.

“Oh dear, what?”

“You really have no idea about Gerald, do you, Sadie?”

“Gerald Bruton is a churlish young man who is bitter, and he is a bad influence on my youngest daughter. He said the most unspeakable things to me when he was tight*************** on my husband’s best French champagne at the Hunt Ball I threw for Lettice in 1922.”

“What on earth could dear Gerald say that would upset you so, Sadie? He’s sun an inoffensive and gentlemanly young man.”

“You may think so, Clemance, but I know otherwise!” Lady Sadie beats her chest. “He told me that I was a silly old woman, meddling in my own daughter’s affairs of the heart. All I did was guide Selwyn Spencely and Lettice together. Is it wrong that I should want the best for my daughter?”

Clemance suddenly feels a visceral need to leap to her brother’s defence, the emotion overriding her feeling of self pity over the loss of Elise, pushing it momentarily from her mind as she sees red. “And so she is, Sadie!” Clemance spits angrily. “My brother is far superior to Selwyn Spencely, whom, from what I can gather, is completely under his harridan of mother’s thumb, has no backbone and no moral conscience. In short, he is a cad! John is superior to him in every way. And the Nettleford-Hughes fortune far exceeds that of the Dukes of Walmsford.”

“Oh!” Lady Sadie gasps. “Oh, I’m sorry, Clemance. I didn’t mean to sound like I was disparaging your brother. Honestly, I’m not!” For once she speaks the truth about her immediate attitude to Sir John as she vents her frustrations over the correct prediction Gerald made that Lettice and Selwyn’s romantic interlude would come to naught because Lady Zinnia had other plans for her son’s marriage. “I apologise for any offence I may have caused you.”

“I accept your apology, Sadie.” Clemance says, albeit a little icily.

“I’m merely trying to point out why I don’t approve of Gerald.”

“Well, if you don’t mind me saying so, Sadie – even if you do – I’ve never heard such a lot of poppycock. Throw me into Gerald’s camp for being so forthright and speaking my mind, but you have nothing to be concerned about when it comes to your daughter’s reputation as far as Gerald is concerned, and I think it is most unfair that you refuse to consider such a brilliant young designer whom Lettice wants, to design her wedding dress because you have a petty grudge towards something he said to you under the influence three years ago.”

“It was very hurtful to me.” Sadie mewls rather lamely.

Clemance doesn’t answer, but simply gives Lady Sadie a withering look.

“Besides, Gerald is the youngest son of our Wiltshire neighbours, Lord and Lady Bruton, so he shall naturally be in attendance as a guest at the wedding. How do you think that will look socially when we tell people that he designed Lettice’s wedding frock?”

“I think that is a poor excuse, Sadie.” Clemance says frankly. “In fact, I don’t think it is an excuse at all. This is Lettice’s wedding dress we are speaking of. Surely, she should be able to choose who makes it.”

“I was never consulted about my wedding dress. My father was determined that no cost should be spared for my wedding gown. He wanted the best of the best for me, so he and my mother commissioned Worth to make one for me.”

“When was that, Sadie?”

“April 1882.”

“Well, it’s 1925 now. Times have changed, Sadie, and whilst I agree with you, I am tired of all the tumult and change of the Twentieth Century as you are, we must move with the times. Lettice must be allowed to have some say in her wedding dress.”

“Well… I…” Lady Sadie blusters.

“And,” Clemance interrupts. “Was your wedding dress beautiful, Sadie?”

“Oh, it was like a dream come true!” Lady Sadie gushes, her tone wistful and her eyes taking on a dreamy softness as she remembers walking up the aisle to join Cosmo at the altar of the Glynes village Church of England chapel.

“Well then, that much hasn’t changed. Lettice wants to get married in the wedding frock of her dreams too. She just happens to have more of an idea about what she wants than you did when you got married. So let her choose it, Sadie. Please! I implore you. It would make her happy. It would make me happy. It would make John happy, and even though you don’t believe it now, it will make you happy too.”

Sadie looks up at Clemance, who gazes earnestly across the low coffee table at her. She is torn. On one hand, she wants to put as many impediments in Lettice’s way as she plans her wedding to Sir John, so that Lettice has time to reconsider her rushed engagement. She can already see the shine wearing off the engagement the longer it goes on. Using every pretext to avoid giving in to Lettice’s wishes about a designer for her wedding frock just yet gives more of that time needed to show Lettice the folly of it all. On the other hand, she does not wish for Lettice to walk down the aisle in a frock she does not want to wear, no matter who she marries. Then again, she wants Lettice to marry a man as well suited to her, as good to her, as the Viscount has been. Lady Sadie doesn’t feel that Sir John will be that for Lettice. He's far older than her, is pragmatic rather than loving, and worst of all, he is a known philanderer, although she doubts that Clemance knows the latter of him judging by the way she defends him so quickly and earnestly. Lady Sadie knows that Lettice is aware of the fact that Sir John has liaisons, but that she hasn’t really considered what the consequences of marriage to such a man would be like. All she can see is heartache and pain for her daughter. Her throat suddenly feels dry, and her breathing becomes a little laboured. She reaches out with a shaking hand and picks up her teacup and nearly drains it of tea.

“I never said I wouldn’t consider it, Clemance.” she manages to say at length. “I just want Lettice to see a breadth of designers and not be so stubbornly affixed to Gerald making her frock.”

“Well do, Sadie.” Clemance says with a smile. “Please do give it serious consideration.”

“Clemance!”

Lettice’s calls alert both woman to Lettice’s imminent return to the drawing room and both quickly shuffle their lace handkerchiefs out of sight, straighten and smooth down their frocks and pat their hair self-consciously as they hurriedly compose themselves.

“Clemance, I couldn’t find them.” Lettice says as she walks back into the room and weaves her way back to Clemance and Lady Sadie around the clusters of occasional tables and salon chairs. “I even found your lady’s maid, but she said she hadn’t seen any magazines in your dressing room either.”

“Oh really?” Clemance asks, putting her hand to her temple a little melodramatically. “Well, well perhaps I was mistaken then. Maybe it was the ones I have already given you that I was thinking of. I must have muddled myself up. What a silly old fool I am!”

“Oh nonsense, Clemance!” Lettice assures her as she resumes her seat on the low floral chaise opposite her mother and adjunct to Clemance.

Lettice glances between the two older women as both of them focus unusually intently on the bottoms of their gilt teacups in their hands. Josette chirps away prettily in her cage oblivious to the atmosphere Lettice senses.

“So, what have I missed whilst I’ve been away?” She reaches forward and picks up the teapot and pours fresh tea into her cup. “Have you two been talking about me?”

Her mother gives her a withering look. “Contrary to popular belief, mostly of your own making Lettice my dear, the world does not always revolve around you.”

“We’ve just been getting to know one another a little better, dear.” Clemance adds, replacing her cup and saucer back onto the table next to Josette’s cage.

“And I’ve discovered that Clemance is a very wise woman, and she knows a great deal about fashion, so I have asked her to join us on a few of our little upcoming expeditions as we shop for your trousseau in the months ahead.”

“Oh hoorah!” Lettice claps her hands in delight. “Oh Mamma! I’m so pleased! I knew you would get along with Clemance!” She turns her attentions to Clemance and looks at her with hopeful eyes. “Maybe you can convince Mamma that I don’t think Madame Handley-Seymour or Redfern**************** should make my wedding frock.”

“We haven’t necessarily ruled anything in, or out, just yet, Lettice.” Lady Sadie says noncommittally.

“We shall just have to see, Lettice my dear.” Clemance adds. “Besides, you and Nettie haven’t even set a date yet. Between his schedule and your own, you really should look seriously as to when the big day will be.”

Lady Sadie gulps down the last of her tea awkwardly, and silently hopes that Lettice does not look seriously into the matter.

*A trousseau refers to the wardrobe and belongings of a bride, including her wedding dress or similar clothing such as day and evening dresses.

**Reville and Rossiter were a prestigious British court dressmaking and millinery firm, well-known during the late Nineteenth and early Twentieth Centuries. The company catered to high society and royalty, making them highly respected in their field. Their work was primarily centred around creating elegant and formal attire for aristocracy, the upper class, and members of the royal family, particularly for events like court appearances, balls, and other ceremonial occasions. Reville and Rossiter were established in London around the late 1800s. The firm specialised in creating bespoke dresses, gowns, and accessories, with a focus on high-quality craftsmanship and luxurious materials. Their expertise was in making highly decorative and stylish outfits, often for women of the British Royal Family or for other prominent individuals of the period.

***Nuptials is an alternative word for marriage. The term “nuptials” emphasizes the ceremonial and legal aspects of a marriage, lending a more formal tone to wedding communications and documentation.

****Fitzroy Square is a Georgian square in London, England. It is the only one in the central London area known as Fitzrovia. The square is one of the area's main features, this once led to the surrounding district to be known as Fitzroy Square or Fitzroy Town and latterly as Fitzrovia, though the nearby Fitzroy Tavern is thought to have had as much influence on the name as Fitzroy Square.

*****A ‘mansion flat’ refers to a luxurious apartment, often found in a large, grand building, particularly in Britain. These flats are characterised by their spaciousness, high ceilings, and often feature ornate design elements, resembling the grand scale of a mansion. As the daughter of a Viscount, it stands to reason that whilst Lettice lives in a flat, rather than a grand house, her flat is spacious and luxurious, implying it is a ‘mansion flat’.

******Zeppelin raids on London occurred during the First World War. These raids were part of Germany's strategy to conduct bombing campaigns against Britain. Zeppelins, which were large rigid airships, were used by the German military to carry out long-range bombing missions, primarily targeting civilian areas and infrastructure. The raids began in 1915, and while they didn't cause huge numbers of casualties compared to other forms of warfare, they created widespread panic and disrupted life in London and other parts of Britain. The first Zeppelin raid on London took place on May the 31st, 1915. Over the course of the war, the German airships dropped bombs on various cities, including London, causing deaths, injuries, and significant damage. Whilst the Zeppelins were initially successful in carrying out these attacks, they also had significant vulnerabilities. They were slow, large, and relatively easy targets for British aircraft and anti-aircraft artillery. By 1917, as more advanced aircraft and tactics were developed, the Zeppelins became less effective, and the German military shifted to using other types of bombers, including Gotha biplanes, which were faster and harder to target. Despite their limited military impact, the Zeppelin raids contributed to the sense of vulnerability and fear that civilians in Britain felt during the war, as they were one of the first large-scale aerial bombing campaigns in history.

*******The Bright Young Things, or Bright Young People, was a nickname given by the tabloid press to a group of Bohemian young aristocrats and socialites in 1920s London.

*******London first introduced enclosed-top double-decker buses in 1923. These buses were a significant advancement in public transportation compared to the previous open-top double-deckers, which had been in service since the late Nineteenth Century. The new enclosed buses provided better protection from the weather, making travel more comfortable for passengers, especially during the colder months. The AEC (Associated Equipment Company) open-top double-decker buses had been the norm for Londoners prior to the 1920s. However, with the growth of the city's population and increased demand for more reliable, year-round transportation, there was a shift towards enclosed buses, which could be operated more easily in all seasons. The first enclosed double-deckers were typically known as "motor buses" and came with a fully enclosed upper deck. This was also a response to changing design standards and the improvement of motorized vehicles, which by the 1920s were starting to replace horse-drawn buses entirely. This change marked the beginning of the modern London bus network, with these enclosed buses becoming a hallmark of London's public transport system for much of the Twentieth Century.

********“Le Petit Écho de la Mode” was launched as a weekly magazine in 1880, with a free model pattern introduced in 1883, by which time it was selling 210,000 copies across France per week. By 1900, when “Le Petit Écho de la Mode” first introduced a colour front page, it had a circulation of over 300,000 per week. Surviving the Second World War, the zenith of the magazine came in 1950, when it had a record circulation of one and half million. After being taken over by their competitor “Femmes d’Aujourd’hui” in 1977, “Le Petit Écho de la Mode” finally ceased publication 104 years after it was first released, in 1984.

*********Motcomb Street is a street in the City of Westminster's Belgravia district in London. It is known for its luxury fashion shops, such as Christian Louboutin shoes, Stewart Parvin gowns, and the jeweller Carolina Bucci, and was the location of the original Pantechnicon department store. In 1925 when this story is set, it was home to dozens of Count dressmakers and well known couturiers. The street runs south-west to north-east from Lowndes Street to a junction with Wilton Terrace, Wilton Crescent, and Belgrave Mews North. Kinnerton Street joins it on the north side and Halkin Mews is on the south side.

**********Elizabeth Handley-Seymour (1867–1948) was a London-based fashion designer and court-dressmaker operating as Madame Handley-Seymour between 1910 and 1940. She is best known for creating the wedding dress worn by Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, the future Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, for her marriage to the Duke of York, the future King George VI, in 1923; and later, Queen Elizabeth's coronation gown in 1937.

***********Elizabeth Bowes Lyon went on to become Queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions from 1936 to 1952 as the wife of King George VI. Whilst still Duke of York, Prince Albert initially proposed to Elizabeth in 1921, but she turned him down, being "afraid never, never again to be free to think, speak and act as I feel I really ought to" In 1925, when this story was set, she and the Prince were known as the Duke and Duchess of York.

************Charles Frederick Worth was an English fashion designer who founded the House of Worth, one of the foremost fashion houses of the Nineteenth and early Twentieth Centuries. He is considered by many fashion historians to be the father of haute couture. Worth is also credited with revolutionising the business of fashion. Established in Paris in 1858, his fashion salon soon attracted European royalty, and where they led monied society followed. An innovative designer, he adapted 19th-century dress to make it more suited to everyday life, with some changes said to be at the request of his most prestigious client Empress Eugénie. He was the first to replace the fashion dolls with live models in order to promote his garments to clients, and to sew branded labels into his clothing; almost all clients visited his salon for a consultation and fitting – thereby turning the House of Worth into a society meeting point. By the end of his career, his fashion house employed over one thousand two hundred people and its impact on fashion taste was far-reaching.

*************The idiom “to carry a torch (for someone)” means to love or to be romantically infatuated with someone, especially when such feelings are not reciprocated. It is often used to characterise a situation in which a romantic relationship has ended, but where one partner still loves the other.

**************Before the Second World War, if you were a married Lady, it was customary for you to have your breakfast in bed, because you supposedly don't have to socialise to find a husband. Unmarried women were expected to dine with the men at the breakfast table, especially on the occasion where an unmarried lady was a guest at a house party, as it gave her exposure to the unmarried men in a more relaxed atmosphere and without the need for a chaperone.

***************To get tight is an old fashioned term used to describe getting drunk.

****************Redfern was a renowned fashion house that operated in both London and Paris during the late Nineteenth and early Twentieth Centuries. Founded in 1855 on the Isle of Wight by John Redfern, the Redfern company began as a tailor specializing in women’s clothing, particularly yachting attire for upper-class women. It gained prominence for its sporty, elegant tailoring, especially during the Victorian and Edwardian eras. Redfern opened branches in London on Bond Street, in Paris, and New York, becoming one of the earliest international haute couture houses. By the 1880s, Redfern was officially designated as Court Dressmaker to Queen Victoria and later to Queen Alexandra and Queen Mary. The brand's prominence faded by the 1930s. While the Paris house closed around 1932, the legacy of Redfern's contributions to modern women's fashion endured in tailoring traditions.

This upper-class drawing room may appear real to you, but it is in fact made up of 1:12 miniature pieces from my extensive collection, including items from my old childhood.

Fun things to look for in this tableau include:

The gilt Art Nouveau tea set on Clemance’s low coffee table, featuring a copy of a Royal Doulton leaves pattern, comes from a larger tea set which has been hand decorated by beautifully Handmade Miniatures in Kettering. The very realistic looking chocolate sponge cake topped with creamy icing and strawberries has been made from polymer clay and was made by Karen Ladybug Miniatures in the United Kingdom. The Silver filagree bowl of roses I acquired from Kathleen Knight’s Dolls’ House Shop in the United Kingdom

1:12 size miniature hats made to exacting standards of quality and realism such as those seen in this photograph are often far more expensive than real hats are. When you think that each would sit comfortably on the tip of your index finger, yet they could cost in excess of $150.00 or £100.00, they are an extravagance. American artists seem to have the monopoly on this skill and some of the hats that I have seen or acquired over the years are remarkable. The maker of Lady Sadie’s feather plumed and pink rose covered cloche and Lettice’s pink straw flower decorated hat are unknown, but they are part of a larger collection I bought from an American miniature collector Marilyn Bickel. The two parasols with their lacy furls and beautiful handles are also part of Marilyn Bickel’s former collection.

Lettice’s snakeskin handbag lying on the chaise, with its gold clasp and chain comes from Doreen Jeffries’ Small Wonders Miniature Shop in the United Kingdom.

The wicker cage with the bird on its perch I acquired through an online stockist on E-Bay. The wooden pedestal table it stands on is made from beautiful golden walnut and is an unsigned artisan piece that I acquired from Kathleen Knight’s Dolls’ House Shop. The embroidered footstools you can see also came from there.

Clemance’s floral chintz sofa and chair are made by J.B.M. miniatures who specialise in well made pieces of miniature furniture made to exacting standards. The floral cushions on it,with their lacy edges and the floral chaise in the foreground came from Kathleen Knight’s Dolls’ House Shop

In the background you can see Clemance’s grand piano which I have had since I was about ten years of age. It is made from walnut. The footstool has several sheets of music on it which were made by Ken Blythe. The sofa in the background to the left of the photo is part of a Marie Antionette suite with pretty floral upholstery which has been made by the high-end miniatures manufacturer, Creal. The coffee table in the midground is from the same set, as is the chair to the right of the photo.

The gilt swan pedestals in the background are made by the high-end miniature furniture maker, Bespaq. The vases of flowers on them are beautifully made by hand by the Doll House Emporium.

Standing on the hand painted set of drawers to the right of the photo stand are two miniature diecast lead Meissen figurines: the Lady with the Canary and the Gentleman with the Butterfly, made by Warwick Miniatures in Ireland, who are well known for the quality and detail applied to their pieces, The pair have been hand painted and gilded by me. The two vases flanking them come from Kathleen Knight’s Dolls’ House Shop, whilst in front of them stand three floral pieces made by miniature ceramicist and artisan, Anne Dalton.

All the paintings around Clemance’s drawing room in their gilded frames are 1:12 artisan pieces made by V.H. Miniatures in the United Kingdom, and the wallpaper is an authentic copy of late Victorian paper from the 1880s.

The Persian rugs on the floor has been woven by Mackay and Gerrish in Sydney, Australia.

The conversationals by Bim Bom

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Those chairs! #interiorstyling #black #chromedetail #modernliving #luxurylifestyle #woodfloor #blackandchrome #conversational #green by Caroline Trinidad

la hermosita by enjoythelittlethings

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y deseo que habia tomado esta foto en el dia de los muertos tambien, esta una cara buena para las celebraciones, pero a mi me encanta algundia :)

Aaaaaand I think I can speak spanish, pretty funny eh? I hope to one day have enough courage to speak it conversationally with some of my spanish speaking friends, but I usually wuss out.

The Day of The Dead celebration occurs on November 2 in connection with the Catholic holidays of All Saints' Day. It is celebrated by many in Mexico and by some Mexican Americans living in the United States and Canada. The holiday focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember friends and family members who have died. People go to cemeteries to be with the souls of the departed and build private altars containing the favorite foods and beverages as well as photos and memorabilia of the departed. The intent is to encourage visits by the souls, so that the souls will hear the prayers and the comments of the living directed to them.

I wanted to do this for FGR - Day of the Dead, but of course I missed that...I think I'll add it there anyway :)

And this is my second attempt at lighting inside. (this time I used two lamps!) TOTW - Ghetto Lighting

P.S. I still don't know which one I like better...

Montezuma oropendolas - Costa Rica by Serge K

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Montezuma oropendolas are one of Costa Rica's most iconic bird species because of their unique call. A melodic warble, this birdsong contains conversational gurgles and bubbles, and is a key element to the species' mating ritual.

les Oropendolas Montezuma sont l'une des espèces d'oiseaux les plus emblématiques du Costa Rica en raison de leur appel unique. Un gazouillis mélodique, ce chant et est un élément clé pour le rituel de l'accouplement de l'espèce.

Nuts and Bolts Of It, The by Charlie McNeilly

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Taken on the 15th of May 2004 and uploaded on the 15th of November 2025.

I like reading and sometimes get hung up on what I think are particularly silly phrases, probably used to pad out poor writing and add a false sense of authenticity to naff dialogue, see Dan Brown. I remember reading a book aged 11 or 12 by Al Jaffee which is probably the cause of this...anyway, to show I can be as meaninglessly verbose as anyone, I have compiled a short list of conversational aphorisms which serve the same purpose: two people blethering about something neither really understand who have reached a point where one has said something the other can't refute or qualify or honestly agree to: "Yes, this is it." says the second.

Philosophers: "That's the gist of it."

Pedants: "That's the truth of it."

Pretentious P&*@#s: "That's the long and the short of it."

Engineers:"That's the nuts and bolts of it."

Blah, blah, blah.

[6017a]

"Small hills become as miniature isles" by Simon Corble

From the poem, Bare Jarnett. Taken from Longstone Moor, on a magical day, when "all the smothered world below is locked in foggy nightmare, trouble, joyless doubt".

"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:

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.

More about the book and project in this blog:

.www.flyonthewallpoetry.co.uk/single-post/2019/02/25/Poets...

Franklin Park, Washington, DC (2021) by David Enzel

Originally established in 1832, Franklin Park reopened in September 2021 after an eagerly anticipated renovation. The new park includes an expanded and restored fountain plaza, a new children’s garden, ADA accessible sidewalks, enhanced lighting, conversational seating, engaging green space and a future restaurant pavilion. Operated by DowntownDC BID, Franklin Park is a destination for residents, workers and visitors in the heart of DC.

WHATEVER... TULIP by magda indigo

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Sadly trendy now. About bad 'attitude'?

Whatever is a slang term meaning "whatever you say" and "I don't care what you say". The term is used to dismiss a previous statement and express indifference and is usually considered offensive and impolite. In the late 20th century and early 21st century, the word became a sentence in its own right; in effect an interjection, it is used as a passive-aggressive conversational blocking tool, leaving the responder without a convincing retort. Anything they do or say can simply be blocked by the retort of "whatever".

I really is NOT a nice thing, so please do NOT say it?

With love to you and thank you for ALL your faves and comments, M, (* _ *)

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Season5: Eps19 - Sin in the City 5 (photo story) by APPark

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Kumi: *enunciates slowly, clearly trying to rein in her temper* “Magpie, we are talking about what you’re going to wear to your wedding. Not all your preconceived, delusional notions about your swellness. You ‘lack’ a gown…you lack wit!”

Magpie: *lips curve up into a smug, little smile, as she takes a bite out of her apple* “I assure you that I lack neither gown nor wit.”

Yuri, Kumi, & Emma: *stare at Magpie’s triumphant expression, flummoxed*

Emma: “Em, Mags, you ken wrappin’ toilet paper ‘round yerself is no’ an appropriate answer tae this dilemma…yeah? This is no’ yer Halloween party costume o’ aught-eight.”

Magpie (mildly): “Watch your tone, brat, or I swear I’ll use your Z as a lollipop the next time I see him. And he’ll like it. A lot. I have a preternaturally nimble tongue.”

Emma: *pulls a face* “Ew! Fine, wear whitever you want, then. You’d ne’er find a better dress than the one I wore tae my wedding anyway!”

Magpie (serenely): “Is that a fact? Well, I suppose we’ll see, won’t we?” *hops down off the counter, tosses her apple core into the trash and saunters out of the kitchen*

Kumi: *watches Mags’ departure through narrowed eyes* “What’s Cinnabon in the oven talkin’ about? How can she possibly have a dress that we don’t know about?”

Emma: *shrugs* “Mags doesna make much sense tae me, even on her most lucid days.”

Yuri (thoughtfully): “Hmm, I believe I know where she is procuring her gown.”

Kumi: *turns to Yuri* “Spill.”

Yuri: “If you will recall, when Magpie flew down here to wait for Satoru, the luggage she brought with her was full of items she had packed for her concert tour in the city, including—”

Kumi (breathlessly): “Her costume trunk! She does, like, four gown changes during the course of a performance, so that means…”

Magpie: *reenters the kitchen, wheeling an oversized trunk behind her, face split into a radiant smile* “I have four *sings* deeeelightful, deeeelicious, deeee-lovely gowns at my disposal! All of them crème de la crème and all of them impeccably fitted to my measurements.”

Yuri, Kumi, & Emma: *eye the trunk greedily, squeal in unison* “Open it!”

Magpie: *perches on the top of the trunk, conversationally* “Granted, I don’t have anything strictly bridal in here, but I’ve never pictured myself as an overtly traditional bride anyway.”

Yuri, Kumi, and Emma: *still staring at the trunk, squeal in unison* “Open it!”

Fashion Credits

**Any doll enhancements (i.e. freckles, piercings, eye color changes) were done by me unless otherwise stated.**

Yuri

Shorts: Randal Craig RTW – Lilli Style Redeux

Top: Momoko – Lacy Modernist (FYI: Does not fit the NF body without some ‘help’ in the back.)

Shoes: IT – Fashion Royalty – High Tide Vanessa

Brooch/Pin: BFMC – Equestrian Fashion

Bracelet: me

Dolls is a Nu.Fantasy Little Red Riding Hood Yuri transplanted to a NuFace body.

Kumi

Skirt: Clear lan

Top: IT – NuFace – Lady in Red Erin

Shoes: IT – Fashion Royalty – Paparazzi Bait Adele

Necklace: Origin Unknown

Aqua Bracelet: IT – NuFace – Lady in Red Erin

Gold Bracelet: me

Dolls is a Nu.Fantasy Wild Wolf Kumi transplanted to a NuFace body.

Magpie

Dress: Mattel – Playline – Fashion Fever Doll

Jacket: Sakurana

Shoes: Randall Craig RTW – Summertime

Brooch/Pin: BFMC

Earrings: me

Doll is a Wild at Heart Lilith re-rooted by the brilliant valmaxi(!!!).

Emma

Dress & Shorties: shortcut/Patty

Sandals: Mattel – Barbie Collector – Trina Turk Malibu Barbie

Necklace & Bracelets: me

Doll is a Style Mantra Eden.

34. Many - Kid's Lit for Everyone by Carol VanHook

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These are many great books well worth the read! Children's literature is going strong in 2018! Happy reading! Good for all ages. Best if enjoyed with a little one! A special thank you to the Des Moines Public Library East for always having my books ready to be checked out on the Reserve Shelf! Your staff is so nice!

Something I once composed as a teacher librarian with the aid of other students and educators....

Top Fifteen Reasons WHY a person should READ

*Reading connects you with others. It's a great conversational activity!

*Reading is relaxing. Chocolates, a latte, and a good book...by the fireplace. It's great after a long day to just sit down and enjoy the company of a good book.

*Don't kid yourself! Reading makes you lots smarter!

*If you are bored, pick up a book and start reading.

*Reading lets you travel the world without leaving the comfort of your own house.

*Reading builds character.

*Reading increases your vocabulary.

*Could it just be, perhaps, that reading is the BEST teacher?

*In one hour, reading burns 88 calories. More importantly, that would be equal to burning 1/3 of the calories in eating a Snickers Bar. So, if you read for three hours, you've burned off the entire candy bar!

*Reading gives you answers to life's questions.

*Reading STAMP out ignorance.

*I read to find myself, calm myself , and help take care of the anger and stress inside of me.

*If you go to the doctor or any other appointment, for that matter, take a book along. Chance are slender that your appointment will be on time. You'll have to wait. Instead of grumbling about the wasted time, enjoy the opportunity to read something good.

*Those who don't read good books have no advantage over those who cannot.

*Your local library is surely not so far away. Take a trip through the pages of a book! You'll save a lot of gas money on this trip!!!

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