View allAll Photos Tagged CONVERSATIONAL
From High Wheedlon (National Trust) , in the Upper Dove Valley, on a very cold morning, To go with the poem, Bare Jarnett.
"White Light White Peak", the book, is published by Fly on the Wall press, launching at the Buxton Festival Fringe on July 15th 2019. Order your copy here: www.flyonthewallpoetry.co.uk/shop
An advance review of White Light White Peak – The Book:
“A joyous book - one to be slowly savoured. The black and white photos are truly atmospheric, the snippets of prose down-to-earth and gently humorous, while the poems are a wonderful celebration of nature. Simon Corble produces a little bit of magic in White Light White Peak, capturing the ethereal beauty of England's first national park. This is a book to keep and cherish.”
Helen Moat, freelance travel writer and book reviewer - author of "The Slow Guide to the Peak District".
White Light White Peak, the live show, is a personal journey through a year in the White Peak told through poems and projections. "Summed up in one word - mesmerising." (Caroline Small, events manager at The Green Man Gallery, Buxton). Starting in the depths of a snowy winter, this is a poetic journey through a White Peak year, including encounters with the weather, wildlife and people; some amusing, some thought-provoking and many involving a Springer Spaniel...or two. The poems are told from memory and in a conversational style; more like miniature short stories at times, complete with twists and some happy endings.
The White Light is all in my monochrome photography: Atmospheric landscapes, wildlife shots and enigmatic moments, reflecting the images and moods heard in the poems and projected onto a large screen throughout the performance. With the occasional soundscape, (captured locally - and in all weathers) the whole is a highly immersive experience; the culmination of five years' work.
More about the book and project in this blog:
.www.flyonthewallpoetry.co.uk/single-post/2019/02/25/Poets...
The Garden originated as a teahouse during the 1915–16 Panama-California Exposition and now lies on two acres near the Spreckels Organ Pavilion. Along the Garden’s winding paths are a Zen garden for meditation, an exhibit house, koi pond, bonsai exhibit, ceremonial gate, and a Fujidana (wisteria arbor). Weekend classes are offered in sushi making, bonsai, calligraphy, and conversational Japanese.
“That’s the strangest thing about living here (as opposed to the US). If I met someone and we got on, I’d consider them a friend within a week, but not here. Here, it’d be like a year afterwards and they’d still not consider you close”
I met up with an old friend this afternoon and we went for a good ol’ catch-up and coffee. I had no special place in mind, but we ended up at a coffee shop in the Corn Exchange.
As I ordered our Americano’s from the vendor I noticed Chris' accent and asked where he was from,
“Oh, Chicago”
“Great! What brought you here then?”
“My wife, she’s British”
We chatted a little further about emigration, he had not had a good experience of it unfortunately, before we took out seats. My friend received an important phone call at one point, and I took the opportunity to ask Chris for a portrait.
Chris had heard of the concept before (Humans of New York), and I explained how I took inspiration from it last year and that’s where this project originated. I also went into detail about the differences between HONY and HOL - the difficulty in getting the deep, meaningful stories which the photographer of HONY manages to extract in contrast to the conversational topics which I normally have.
That’s when Chris talked about the ‘strangest thing about living here’, and in some ways what he said was a generalisation of course, but it rung true with many of my encounters. Rarely did a person open up to the degree that they do on HONY. I’m not saying that is a good or a bad thing, it’s simply an observation and something which I got to know very early on in this project. It’s also an aspect of the project which I have questioned more than anything else, as what makes HONY great is the accompanying copy.
Anyway, the nature of this project and it’s evolving state is still in it’s infancy in my opinion, and we shall see where it takes me...
This was a failed shot that just looked so funny that I posted it.
A hunk of dollar store bologna with a firecracker mounted under it goes into full on scream mode.
The main flash failed so I had to raise the exposure by three stops with the resulting noise.
The D90 may be an older camera but it still holds together well.
Cheers.
Note: this photo was published in a Mar 5, 2010 blog titled "Family Mental Health Around the Web, Issue #4." It was also published in a Mar 15, 2010 blog titled "Chit-chat, happiness, and you." And it was published in a Jun 17, 2010 blog titled "How to Rock Your Informational Interview." It was also published in an Oct 3, 2010 blog titled "HOW TO GET MORE THINGS DONE AND CREATE BETTER RELATIONSHIPS IN THE PROCESS." And it was published in an Oct 12, 2010 blog titled "Sharing the Full Story: Calling on Friends."
Moving into 2011, the photo was published in a May 23, 2011 blog titled "Things You Should Know About Italy."
Moving into 2012, the photo was published in an undated (mid-Feb 2012) blog titled "The Art of Conversational Writing." It was also published in an undated (late May 2012) blog titled "Practicing with a friend," as well as a May 25, 2012 blog titled "Writer's Cramp." It was also published in an undated (late Jun 2012) blog titled "Job Interview Practice by Phone or Webcam." And it was published in a Jul 11, 2012 blog titled "Learning to Speak My Truth."
Moving into 2013, the photo was published in a Jan 23, 2013 blog titled "Listen up – you’re a powerful connection magnet !" And a cropped, B/W version of the photo was published in an undated (early Jul 2013) blog titled "Face up to Feedback (Giving and Receiving Constructive Criticism)."
Moving into 2014, the photo was published in a Jan 18, 2014 Mashable blog titled "Take Your Networking to the Next Level: Build Actual Relationships." And it was published in a Jan 25, 2014 blog titled "5 Simple Steps to Becoming a Better Listener." It was also published in an Oct 23, 2014 blog titled "Talking the Talk: Solutions to Common Money Problems with Jen Hemphill."
Moving into 2015, the photo was published in a Mar 12, 2015 blog titled "Help! What to Do if You Get Nervous When Speaking Spanish."
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I have visited Rome's Piazza del Popolo on several occasions, and have taken numerous photos there. However, most of my visits have been in the afternoon; and in most cases, I have simply walked around the broad, open plaza and proceeded on to other locations such as the famous Spanish Steps.
On this visit, I came to Piazza del Popolo on a Sunday morning, when the sun was still low enough in the sky to cast some interesting shadows. And I spent nearly two hours, mostly sitting in one location and watching the variety of people wandering through. Because it was a weekend morning, there were numerous joggers and bicycle riders; and there were also numerous tourists, many of whom spoke Italian, but others of whom were clearly from different countries. There were students and children, older people out for a weekend stroll, families, couples, and people coming and going to church services at nearby churches.
I took nearly 650 photos during the course of the morning; these are the ones I felt were worthy of sharing ...
D850
AF-S 105mm ƒ/1.4
Post: Silver Efex Pro2 for BW conversion
Handing out with Nikon Ambassador Vincent Versace this past week. We are working on a new approach to portraits. We are calling it 'Conversational Portraiture'
Stay tuned...
Spotted this guy just at the onset of the 2nd safari.
Cape Langurs are found in the forest of North-East India, Myanmar, Bhutan & Bangladesh and is listed as Vulnerable under IUCN as it is believed to have undergone a decline of more than 30% over the last 3 generations due to a combination of habitat loss and hunting and is predicted to decline at the same rate over the next three generations unless drastic conversational steps are undertaken to save them.
International Volunteer Travel – Volunteer Abroad Kenya
VOLUNTEER PLACEMENTS IN KENYA
Lecden-Kenya offers Kenya volunteer opportunities to work on either short or long term basis focusing on Children Programs, Environment Education and Community Development.
Lecden Kenya is a Registered Volunteer and Interns Placing Organization based in Nairobi , Kenya.
We mobilizes and deploys international volunteers and Interns from different parts of the world to work with local communities, wildlife and habitats. Our Voluntary work is mainly done in the areas of Education- Teaching, Orphanages, HIV/AIDS Awareness, Old Age Homes, Construction, Elephant Conservancy, Lion Conservancy while Internships Ranges from Medical Health Care, Veterinary Internships to Environmental Nature Projects.
Both volunteers and Interns have to live and work with and within the communities so that they can understand them better and reach a specific goal. After the volunteers leave, the community must be able to finish the task they started together.Volunteer Abroad, Volunteer Teaching Abroad, Volunteer Abroad in an Orphanage, Volunteer Abroad in construction Project, volunteer Africa.
We have Short Term and Long Term volunteer and Internship Programs where we combine volunteerism, Summer Trips, Mission Trips, Missionary Transports and Adventure Expedition to Masai Mara Game Reserves, Lake Nakuru National park, Mount Kenya Climbing, Mombasa and Lamu Holidays.
Most of our community based projects are located in Nairobi, Naivasha, Kiambu, Mlolongo, Limuru, Machakos, Kisumu, Thika, Kajiado, Nanyuki, Nakuru, Bungoma, Mombasa, Eldoret, Lodwar, Rarienda, Nyahururu and Maasai land.
Lecden-Kenya Ecotours Kenya believes that true development is people centered.
VOLUNTEER PLACEMENTS
Lecden-Kenya offers you unique opportunities to work on either short or long term basis focusing on traditional education, environment education and community development. Explore this great country while serving kids, poor communities, and women groups. We invite you to join our volunteer Program and make a difference together.
PROGRAM QUALITY
we evaluates every project we offer to ensure that we only commit to programs with genuine need for volunteer aid, not just financial assistance. We develop relationships with the programs, and help shape initiatives to ensure that in the long run, we do not encourage dependence on outside help. Rather, we establish foundations on which the people can build and develop themselves. We also ensure that the members of those communities are open and eager to learn and discover our culture, as we become a part of theirs. The quality and sustainability of our programs are very important to us. We want you to have the most fulfilling and memorable time possible, and are part of something that is going to last into the future generations.
PROGRAMS
There are numerous programs for volunteers both in rural and urban areas that empower individuals to be agents of change, reach out and involve community members in their own initiatives. Our volunteering opportunities in Kenya are in the areas of Education and training for children from under-privileged families, orphanages and care centres, health care and HIV/AIDS education and counseling.
If you are looking for teaching opportunity in schools or medical internship in hospitals, we offer very unique and customized opportunities for a lifetime internship experience in Kenya. The projects we offer can be under taken on either long term or short term goals and focus on traditional education, social education and community development.
Children Program in Orphanages : Working in an orphanage in Kenya is an opportunity to make an input and create hope in the lives of orphans, destitute and youth who live in extreme poverty. This program is designed to create an atmosphere where orphaned children can experience the fun and excitement of learning and feel part of the fortunate world to offer them the hope in life.
Children Program in Orphanage/Care Center
The orphanage work program is highly challenging and rewarding, as you will be changing the lives of orphaned children who rarely receive opportunities to interact with other people. Share love and care for innocent, troubled, and forgotten children, offer them a profound gift.. Working with orphaned children demands lots of patience, as these children’s harsh living conditions have often alienated them from society.
A volunteer’s responsibility depends on the needs of the orphanage and the skills and interests of the volunteer. Most of the orphanages aim at the provision of education opportunities to orphans; therefore, in most cases, volunteers teach basic conversation English to the children. Volunteers also help in developing creative programs such as art, music, dance, sports, etc. Additional help on day trips, sanitation, cooking, and administration might be requested.
Children Feeding Program
Children at the Center
One of the most wonderful opportunities that work in children orphanage can give you is the chance to share your love and skills with poor orphaned children. Many volunteers have deemed the work life changing. By offering attention and love to children, you are making a real difference in the life of a young person. Whether you have a background in childcare or simply enjoy sharing love with kids, a smile can offer something meaningful to the life of kids deprived of love and care.
As a volunteer, you can help care for children in orphanages. Children are an integral part of all societies around the world and providing adequate care for them is an important part of everyday life. As an international volunteer this type of placement provides an opportunity for active hands-on work as well as a unique cultural exchange opportunity. Many orphanages are community initiated and operated by local community members. Often government support and staff are minimal; therefore the institutions are not provided with the necessary resources to optimize the children’s care. The orphanages rely upon volunteers to support their long-term sustainable initiatives through simple tasks and creative energy. Sharing your time with the children, you will be offering them the family love which they have not been privileged with, you will be presenting to them a reason to live as normal as you and us.
You may be assisting with daily routines helping cook and feed the children, playing with them, and devising games for their leisure after school and on weekends. Through all that you do, the individual attention and love that you give the children will last in their memories for a lifetime. The single most important factor in the development of young children is relationships with caring adults. Whether you have a background in childcare or simply enjoy caring for young children, a smile or hug can be a meaningful and long-term contribution.
In addition, the dialogue and interaction with local staff provides a rare opportunity for you to share ideas with them and build morale. The most important attributes needed for these placements are an open heart and a love for spending time with children. In some placements you will quickly pick up on the daily routine while in others you may need to be more creative in coming up with ideas.
Volunteer’s responsibilities
•Helping the children in conversational English and assignments.
•Supervise the children to clean up and dress up.
•Supervise their studies and assignments.
•Share their food; sit by them to see them eat.
•Prepare them for schools, check their dresses.
•Design, teach, organize and play games (educational and environmental).
Program Objectives
•To offer support, care and family for the orphans and vulnerable.
•To develop their mental and moral sense of belonging and responsibility.
•To create a platform for volunteers mentor the children and offer them cross cultural exposure.
Program Duration and Dates.
Program is opened to volunteers all year round. Volunteers can spend from two weeks onwards on the program.
Airport Pick up/Orientation
Volunteers will be picked up from the airport and transferred to their places of stay upon arrival. The pre-departure information to the placement and program is done to offer volunteers a clear picture and sensitivities of the people in the community of work. Orientation is at the placement including basic local language, syllabus and how to go about things in the community in terms of transport, food, water, socialization, etc.
Who can volunteer in children program in orphanages? Anybody can volunteer in this program as long as you are 18 years or more. It is regardless of your profession, skill or experience. You can volunteer as a team or an individual. You should understand that you will not do anything that may stigmatize any of the people you meet in the course of your work. You need to have an open mind and a willing heart.
How will a volunteer see his/her contribution after the program?
•You will see how valuable your love has been shared among the children.
•You will realize how important the knowledge you have about care or recreation, no matter how little, has been in the creation of joy and hope for many young ones.
•Your contribution to the development of the children will be well counted years to come.
How will you benefit from volunteering in this program?
•You would discover more of yourself.
•You would have gotten for yourself more love.
•Your experience and understanding for children will grow.
•It shall be a great holiday break in an environment of pure love.
…….Apply for this program……
info@lecdenkenya.com
HIV/AIDS Program : The HIV epidemic is currently the leading of death in Africa. Despite Government and other relevant NGO’s intervention, the rate of HIV infection in many communities is still rising especially those who live around the shores of L.Victoria and urban centers. Many people infected particularly in the local communities still do not know how to prevent infection, and even very few people know how to deal with the virus once they have it.
HIV/AIDS Program
Due to poverty syndrome that has escalated the nation, people often avoid attending health facilities because they don’t have something to pay from their own pockets and because of this reason, most of the people encounter premature death as a result of depression and inability to take care of themselves.
The impact of HIV/AIDS is deepening and getting worse as the economy continues to deteroriate. The need for action to effectively control, manage, provide support for those affected by the disease and prevent its further spread is urgent.This is an excellent opportunity for volunteers to care for people with HIV/AIDS. Volunteers work at special clinics for HIV/AIDS patients providing care and support and directly with local community based organization providing support, counselling and programs for those unfortunate enough to be infected. As a volunteer you can help the casualties suffering from opportunistic diseases to reverse the quality of life in many communities. There is a lot to learn and experience working on these projects. Most of the persons living with HIV/AIDS receive care from the relatives mostly children of the patients at their own homes. We all as human beings have responsibilities for one another.
Volunteer’s responsibilities
•You offer care and support for HIV/AIDS infected and affected children and people.
•Volunteer’s intervention is required and very welcomed to help care for the patients who have often been left out of the social circle due to their condition.
•Engage in educational and training activities meant to increase awareness and stop the epidemic of HIV/AIDS in the Kenyan communities.
•Assist in vocational training for the HIV infected persons who have either lost their jobs or unemployed
•Home and school visitation for the children who are rendered Orphans or vulnerable due to the direct and indirect effect of the HIV/AIDS on them.
•Other activities set out by the community based organization shall be among your responsibilities
Organizations who work on the HIV/AIDS problem have established different community outreach programs such as hospital care, recreational and educational programs, voluntary counselling and testing, and educational seminars and conferences on the virus within the local community.
Program Objectives.
•To offer education, sensitization, care and support for affected and infected people.
•To offer a peer education, educational campaign and awareness for the youth on the preventive measures and dangers of the disease.
•To expand the volunteer’s knowledge on the dangers and socio-economic problems associated with HIV/AIDS so there can be an increasing global action and awareness.
•To promote greater community residents participatory role and the sense of responsibility for development projects to boost maintenance and sustainability of such projects.
•To promote friendliness between volunteers’ community and that of the beneficiary communities.
•To offer volunteers deeper understanding and experience of other cultures and economies.
Program Duration and Dates
The HIV/AIDS Program is opened to volunteers all year round. Volunteers can spend a minimum of two weeks to one year on the program.
Airport Pick up/Orientation
Volunteers will be picked up from the airport and transferred to their places of stay upon arrival. The pre-departure information to the placement and program is done to offer volunteers a clear picture and sensitivities of the people in the community of work. Orientation is at the placement including basic local language, syllabus and how to go about things in the community in terms of transport, food, water, socialization, etc.
Who can volunteer in HIV/AIDS Program?
This program is open to anyone who wants to share their love, time and compassion with the HIV/AIDS patients. There are no specific qualifications required, however you should understand that you will not do anything that may stigmatize any of the people you meet in the course of your work. You need to have an open mind and a willing heart.
How can a volunteer instantly identify his contributions after participation?
•Life will be better for those infected with HIV/AIDS as you attend to them with love and care they do not get from their family and friends, by this you will see yourself become a friend to someone few people understand and smile with.
•Family and friends shall gain a better understanding of the disease or problem and what is required of them for the affected person.
•Tears will be shed during your departure by those you are leaving behind having developed a passion and such a great joy felt by the affected persons during your participation and your work, love and commitment. Such a great love you have brought to someone in need.
•There will be a greater awareness of the disease or problems in the work community, especially among the students and youth to be approached with educational programs.
How will you benefit from volunteering in this program?
•You will be proud of yourself for positively affecting someone’s life in your own means to change.
•You will discover more about yourself to and what you are capable of doing on your own which will definitely help you in making many vital decisions like your future career etc.
•You will experience a true and pure culture of a different kind in different communities.
•You will enhance on your knowledge on life, society, care the HIV/AIDS disease and its effect on people.
•It shall be such a great adventure and experience of a life time.
•Opportunity to make friends with people from different background.
•An opportunity to acquire knowledge for educating your peers back home about the disease.
…….Apply for this program……
info@lecdenkenya.com
Medical/Health Program : Women and children continue to suffer due to lack of proper medical care and shortage of doctors, nurses and social workers in the hospitals in the rural areas. Access to basic healthcare is often one of the most challenging issues that low-income and neglected populations face. Community level intervention and local health clinics offer services to local families at minimal or no cost…
Medical/Health Program
Even though greater efforts to improve health service delivery, especially the health of women and children is being observed. Emphasis is placed on improving the quality of reproductive health services and on preventing and reducing the impact of widespread communicable diseases. Working on health projects offers a wonderful opportunity for volunteers to become familiar with the challenges and health issues of developing countries. The Government and non-governmental organizations runs a number of different health facilities, hospitals, maternity clinics, children’s hospitals, HIV/AIDS wards, and alternative-medicine clinics in many towns and small rural villages.
In the health project, volunteers support the local doctors and nurses. Work ranges from observational to basic assistance, depending on level of knowledge, experience, and skill. As a volunteer you can work with a health centre within a local community by observing and assisting with a local medical practice.
Health care professionals, students, and non professionals are needed at the small village clinics. The working conditions may not be what you are used to. The equipment is quite basic and the amount and variety of medicines are very limited. Volunteers record attendance, patient history, temperatures, perform patient examinations, provide pre-natal care, assist in deliveries, offer education to clinic patients and community groups on ways of preventing diseases affecting them most. Examples might be how to treat an unsafe water before use, how to prepare a balanced and healthy meal, the practice of hygiene, etc. Medical doctor, nurse medical student or nursing students are highly needed. Volunteers are stationed at local health centres.
Volunteer’s responsibilities.
•Taking care of patients reporting for out-patient care or on admission.
•Changing bandages and monitoring recovery.
•Checking blood pressure.
•Distributing foods.
•Weighing babies.
•Helping with first aid treatment.
•Observing the expert in diagnosing a patient.
•Recommending treatment.
•Performing minor, major or specialist surgeries, etc. Many healthcare centres also run different programs on health education, basic prevention, nutrition, and sanitation.
Program Objectives.
•To take part in the effort to send proper improved basic healthcare to poor in their own communities.
•To offer health care and education as the basis for improving the livelihood of the underprivileged communities.
•To offer staff support to the insufficient staffs of the rural healthcare.
•To offer traditional healthcare providers an improvement in their health delivery to efficiently support the modern ones.
•To offer volunteers an opportunity to discover practical and innovative healthcare practice and first aid application with little or no resources.
•To create a bond between the volunteer and the local community or health centre so that in the near future, the volunteer can return to assist in a higher capacity when knowledge or resources has grown for the volunteer.
•To promote cross cultural understanding.
Who can volunteer in Medical/Health Program?
Medical Doctors, Nurses, Pharmacists, medical and sciences students and pre-med students can volunteer in this program. You can volunteer as a group or an individual. However you should understand that you will not do anything that may stigmatize any of the people you meet in the course of your work. You need to have an open mind and a willing heart.
Program Duration.
Program is opened to volunteers all year round. Volunteers can spend from two weeks onwards on the program.
Airport Pick up/Orientation
Volunteers will be picked up from the airport and transferred to their places of stay upon arrival. The pre-departure information to the placement and program is done to offer volunteers a clear picture and sensitivities of the people in the community of work. Orientation is at the placement including basic local language, syllabus and how to go about things in the community in terms of transport, food, water, socialization, etc.
Volunteer benefits.
•You will be proud of yourself for positively affecting someone’s life in your own means to change.
•You will discover more about yourself to and what you are capable of doing on your own which will definitely help you in making many vital decisions like your future career etc.
•You will experience a true and pure culture of a different kind in different communities.
•You will enhance on your knowledge on life, society, care the HIV/AIDS disease and its effect on people.
•It shall be such a great adventure and experience of a life time.
•Opportunity to make friends with people from different background.
•An opportunity to acquire knowledge for educating your peers back home about the disease.
…….Apply for this program……
info@lecdenkenya.com
Teaching in Local Schools : This is a great opportunity to gain firsthand experience in teaching if you are considering the same as your future career. It gives volunteers an opportunity to share their talents of teaching profession to impart the same knowledge acquired in their areas of specialization. You will also gain experience within the culture and work environment..
Teaching in Local Schools
We have a variety of programs that educate both children and youth in various capacities. Access to education changes life of Kenya children and it allows them to break the vicious cycle of poverty they would otherwise be destined for. Through education they can gain valuable skills that can further also in development of the community and themselves. Volunteers teach in public schools in a variety of subjects areas e.g. science, math and English. Volunteers must be native English speakers, have a good command in oral and spoken English, be flexible, patient and passion and love for teaching and cross cultural experience.
This is a very good opportunity for volunteer interns with an educational background to gain some experience in their desired profession. These schools are in the remote villages and urban areas experiencing shortage of qualified teachers who are unable to handle the overwhelming number of students in a single class. This has called for a great need of volunteers who can speak and write English to assist these communities.
Volunteers shall teach Basic English science and mathematics, others may include sex and reproductive education, Socio-economical and psychological empowerment, games and physical education. No qualifications are needed to be a volunteer teacher. If you can read and write and is 18 years and over, you are qualified to volunteer as a teacher.
Volunteers will handle students with the age between 10-15 years in primary schools and students between 15 to 18 years in secondary schools depending on the class. The role of the volunteer goes far beyond assisting teaching. Children are attracted to school by the presence of volunteers and your presence also is a proven moral booster for parents and the limited teachers as well as a great inspiration for students.
Volunteer’s responsibilities
•Prepare lesson notes.
•Organize learning materials.
•Develop a teaching method.
•Teach classes through lecturing, discussions and demonstration.
•Discuss output and methods with fellow teachers and supervisor.
•Access the performance of the students through work assignments etc.
•Organize recreational games with students.
Program objectives
•First to help us encourage the children to come to school, keep them in the classrooms and have the interest in learning.
•To compliment the effort of the teachers to offer proper education to all to fight poverty, crime and dependency within the community.
•To help the deprived acquire better and competitive education to pursue further studies and jobs.
•To enable the Organization identify brilliant but needy students in such communities through the reports of volunteers and help offer scholarships for further studies.
•To encourage the children and their parents to love school. Due to the lack of teachers, students’ performance has been nothing to help them pursue further studies or some other jobs. After the primary education, they end up in the same old form of sustenance so the parents and even the youth see school attendance as a waste of time and choose to drop out. By offering volunteers into these communities, lack of teachers will be managed whiles quality education shall be offered these children.
•To promote culture exchange that will take place between the volunteers and the residents of the communities/villages in which differing ideas, abilities, backgrounds and needs are fostered and valued, and where those with diverse backgrounds and experiences are able to participate and contribute towards development.
•To create inter relationship between volunteers and that of the communities deprived but rich in culture.
•To offer the volunteer an opportunity to make a positive contribution into the lives of a disadvantaged to satisfy his/her social conscience.
•To enable Lecden-Kenya receive proper problem assessment of the villages/communities to further enable us direct the right programs into the communities.
Program Duration and Dates.
The teaching Program is opened to volunteers all year round except in the months of April, August and December when the schools remain closed for holidays. Volunteers can spend a minimum of two weeks to one year on the program.
Airport Pick up/Orientation.
Volunteers will be picked up from the airport and transferred to their places of stay upon arrival. The pre-departure information to the placement and program is done to offer volunteers a clear picture and sensitivities of the people in the community of work. Orientation is at the placement including basic local language, syllabus and how to go about things in the community in terms of transport, food, water, socialization, etc.
Who can volunteer in Teaching Program in Kenya?
A volunteer in this program can be anyone at the age of 18 years and above regardless of your profession, skill or experience. All you need is the will to contribute to the lives of these communities. We accept group volunteers or an individual. Not only is your participation on your project of great help to the local communities, but so is the boost to the local economy that volunteers creates while they are visiting.
Volunteer benefits.
•You will be proud of yourself for positively affecting someone’s life in your own means to change.
•You will discover more about yourself to and what you are capable of doing on your own which will definitely help you in making many vital decisions like your future career etc.
•You will experience a true and pure culture of a different kind.
•You will enhance on your knowledge on life, society, politics and problem solving skills and approach.
•It shall be such a great adventure and experience of a life time.
•Opportunity to make friends with people from different background.
…….Apply for this program……
info@lecdenkenya.com
Youth Program.
If you have a love for sports and a little sporting ability, then you could play an important part in the personal development of young Kenyan men and women who are interested in sports. Our sports programs allow the volunteer opportunities to coach soccer (football), basketball, net ball and volleyball.
Football Coaching in Kenya.
In addition to the obvious physical and mental benefits that regular exercise provides, there are many inherit life-skills to be learned, such as the importance of team-work, communication and discipline. As volunteers participate on sports projects, it is a way for KVCDP to promote peace, unity and development and also to harness the potential in many young children to take to professional football as a career. Volunteers will help in developing passion for sports such as football, basketball, volleyball etc. among school and community kids. Volunteers will also assists in coaching training drills, coordinating skills, and organizing competitions among sports men and women. This project involve placement at a local school or with a local football club.
VOLUNTEERS TYPICAL ACTIVITIES.
Volunteers will help in developing passion in sports like football, basketball, volleyball etc among school and community kids. Volunteers will assists in training drills, coordinating skills and organizing competitions among sports men and women.
PROJECT DURATION: Always open all year round and can spend a minimum of 2 weeks.
ACCOMMODATION AND MEALS:
Typically volunteers are accommodated with a host family. Basically, there are three meals a day which are mostly breakfast, lunch and dinner but in some exceptions you could be provided with just two meals a day depending on your project locations so please we advice prospective volunteers make provision for the exceptions.
WHAT YOU CAN BRING TO SUPPORT.
Set of jerseys, keepers gloves, footballs, boots, whistles and other sporting staff.
…….Apply for this program……
info@lecdenkenya.com
Environmental Conservation : Proper perception of our environment is our top priority. Our livelihood is wholly dependent on the environment and for us to get the resources that are needed to sustain life; we should make the environment be healthy and natural
Environmental Conservation
It is from here that we get our food, clean water, herbs, medicines and raw materials. In this program, we try to bring an end to the habit of misusing this natural capital but instead renew it and even make it better than we found it. It is this practice that will lead to maintenance of global biodiversity, fruitful productivity and steady resilience of ecological systems.
Volunteer’s responsibilities
Volunteers work on a wide variety of activities,:-
•Help to plant trees in areas where deforestation has been the order of the day
•Teaching environmental awareness to planting trees within the community
•Encourage establishment of tree nurseries, Soil cover e.g. grass, shrubs on fallow parcels and building a gabion to curb erosion, use of conventional insecticides and herbicides that are environment friendly, and Flower gardening to make our homes and the environment beautiful and a place worth residing.
Program Objectives
•Create a habitat for our wildlife
•To bring back life to our environment by making it healthy and natural
Program Duration.
•Program is opened to volunteers all year round. Volunteers can spend from two weeks onwards on the program.
Who can volunteer? Anybody can volunteer in this program as long as you are 18 years or more. It is regardless of your profession, however, specialized skills and expertise will be used accordingly.
Participants should have a positive attitude, be ready to adopt and enjoy simple living conditions, be flexible and patient.
Volunteer Benefits
•You would discover more of yourself and be happy to bring back life to nature
•You would have gotten for yourself more experience and how capable you are to work so hard.
•Your experience and understanding for environmental issues would be even more
…….Apply for this program……
info@lecdenkenya.com
VolunTravel in Kenya : For volunteer travelers who want to indulge deeper into the real culture of Kenya, you will work a long side with the local community on various projects and really make a difference while experiencing an adventure holiday for a rewarding break.
VolunTravel in Kenya.
Volunteers can either spend 1-12 weeks on any one of the projects or combine it with their safari travel. We ensure that volunteers involved enjoy a totally unique experience all year round not just summer. The programs includes teaching in remote rural primary and secondary schools, work in Kenyan children orphanages giving hope to the needy children, environmental conservation, working as community health worker in hospital, assisting in administrative work and many more as per the interest of volunteers.
Trave in Kenya
-Location: Varies
-Start & Duration: Volunteers can begin our placements based on their choice program dates.
Qualifications: 18+ years, Volunteers participating in the health care must have appropriate training and certification (to be presented during placement)
Languages: English speaking
Experience Required: None
Participants: Open to worldwide participants both individual and group volunteers.
Living arrangements: Home stays and others.
Post program service: include debriefing and certificate of completion.
Volunteers are given the opportunity to choose a volunTravel package of their interest from the options given below:-
17 Days Kenya VolunTravel & Tiwi Beach Resort.
19 Days Kenya VoluTravel Holidays & Lamu
23 Days Volunteer Adventure Experience.
26 Days VolunTravel & Tiwi Beach Reort
27 Days VolunTravel Homestay & Lamu Island
…….Apply for this program……
info@lecdenkenya.com
Please join us in our Charity Work, Volunteer vacations, the ultimate Ethical Wild Life Safaris, medical elective placements, corporate company breaks, Outreach mission trips, Volunteer africa, volunteer nairobi kenya, volunteer in an orphanage, volunteer teaching kenya , volunteer teaching africa, volunteeer HIV/AIDS awareness projects in Kenya, volunteer in old age Homes, volunteer, volunteer abroad, volunteer overseas, volunteer placement, medical internships, veterinary internship africa, kenya, medical internship, dental internship, internship in kenya, internship in Africa Educational Student &school trips. Together we can make a difference to Orphans and other vulnerable Children/widows/ women/People lives
Regards
Steve
info@lecdenkenya.com
"Odd, said Miss Pettigrew conversationally, 'the undermining effect of flowers on a woman's common sense.”
Winifred Watson
tones: Fly Preset
texture: flypaper
NEW: "i love your work 7"
It’s Saturday down at the canal wharf, and as usual PC Rob Banks and Officer Crook are doing their twice daily walkabout to track down any nefarious activities, which invariably involve the production, sale and distribution of some kind of hooch.
They start with Hubert the conversational Latin speaking horse. But Hubert is no snitch and just grunts in Latin which has the desired effect.
Over the the right, local charmer, ‘businessman’ and smarmy ladies’ man Terry Tuttle-Thomas-Smythe accompanied by the utterly charmless self-serving Barry Bullhead from The Ministry of Misery prepare to dart off in Terry’s sporty red Triumph Roadster. The goods train conveniently placing a moving barrier between them and our hapless coppers to hide their depart just in time.
Terry and Barry are feeling doubly smug, because the narrowboat and goods train are both carrying several barrels and jars of their latest batch of hooch which is currently being distributed from the large tank above the second wagon in the train. The boater is Waving Willy by the way, and half brother of Waving Wayne who some of you may recall from previous posts.
Meanwhile, Bob Geeza Cat is more than a little concerned about the state of the mast on the old sailing barge. It looks like it could snap at any moment due to woodworm.
~~~🤔~~~
Thomas Gainsborough FRSA (14 May 1727 (baptised) – 2 August 1788) was an English portrait and landscape painter, draughtsman, and printmaker. He surpassed his rival Sir Joshua Reynolds to become the dominant British portraitist of the second half of the 18th century. He painted quickly, and the works of his maturity are characterised by a light palette and easy strokes. He preferred landscapes to portraits, and is credited (with Richard Wilson) as the originator of the 18th-century British landscape school. Gainsborough was a founding member of the Royal Academy.
Youth and training[edit]
Lady Lloyd and Her Son, Richard Savage Lloyd, of Hintlesham Hall, Suffolk (1745–46). At the time, his clientele included mainly local merchants and squires.
He was born in Sudbury, Suffolk, the youngest son of John Gainsborough, a weaver and maker of woollen goods, and his wife, the sister of the Reverend Humphry Burroughs.[1] One of Gainsborough's brothers, Humphrey, had a faculty for mechanics and was said to have invented the method of condensing steam in a separate vessel, which was of great service to James Watt; another brother, John, was known as Scheming Jack because of his passion for designing curiosities.[2]
The artist spent his childhood at what is now Gainsborough's House, on Gainsborough Street (he later resided there, following the death of his father in 1749).[citation needed] The original building still survives and is now a dedicated House to his life and art.
When he was still a boy he impressed his father with his drawing and painting skills, and he almost certainly had painted heads and small landscapes by the time he was ten years old, including a miniature self-portrait.[3] Gainsborough was allowed to leave home in 1740 to study art in London, where he trained under engraver Hubert Gravelot[1] but became associated with William Hogarth and his school. He assisted Francis Hayman in the decoration of the supper boxes at Vauxhall Gardens,[1] and contributed to the decoration of what is now the Thomas Coram Foundation for Children.
Suffolk[edit]
In 1746, Gainsborough married Margaret Burr, an illegitimate daughter of the Duke of Beaufort, who settled a £200 annuity on them. The artist's work, then mostly consisting of landscape paintings, was not selling well. He returned to Sudbury in 1748–1749 and concentrated on painting portraits.
In 1752, he and his family, now including two daughters, moved to Ipswich. Commissions for personal portraits increased, but his clientele included mainly local merchants and squires. He had to borrow against his wife's annuity.
Bath[edit]
Ann Ford (later Mrs. Philip Thicknesse), 1760
The Blue Boy (1770). The Huntington, California.
In 1759, Gainsborough and his family moved to Bath, living at number 17 The Circus.[4] There, he studied portraits by van Dyck and was eventually able to attract a fashionable clientele. In 1761, he began to send work to the Society of Arts exhibition in London (now the Royal Society of Arts, of which he was one of the earliest members); and from 1769 he submitted works to the Royal Academy's annual exhibitions. He selected portraits of well-known or notorious clients in order to attract attention. The exhibitions helped him acquire a national reputation, and he was invited to become a founding member of the Royal Academy in 1769. His relationship with the academy was not an easy one and he stopped exhibiting his paintings in 1773.
London[edit]
In 1774, Gainsborough and his family moved to London to live in Schomberg House, Pall Mall.[1][5] A commemorative blue plaque was put on the house in 1951.[6] In 1777, he again began to exhibit his paintings at the Royal Academy, including portraits of contemporary celebrities, such as the Duke and Duchess of Cumberland. Exhibitions of his work continued for the next six years. About this time, Gainsborough began experimenting with printmaking using the then-novel techniques of aquatint and soft-ground etching.[7]
His later pictures are characterized by a light palette and easy strokes. Portrait of Anne, Countess of Chesterfield, 1777–1778
In 1780, he painted the portraits of King George III and his queen and afterwards received many royal commissions. This gave him some influence with the Academy and allowed him to dictate the manner in which he wished his work to be exhibited. However, in 1783, he removed his paintings from the forthcoming exhibition and transferred them to Schomberg House.
In 1784, royal painter Allan Ramsay died and the King was obliged to give the job to Gainsborough's rival and Academy president, Joshua Reynolds. Gainsborough remained the Royal Family's favorite painter, however. At his own express wish, he was buried at St. Anne's Church, Kew, where the Family regularly worshipped.
In his later years, Gainsborough often painted relatively simple, ordinary landscapes. With Richard Wilson, he was one of the originators of the eighteenth-century British landscape school; though simultaneously, in conjunction with Sir Joshua Reynolds, he was the dominant British portraitist of the second half of the 18th century.
William Jackson in his contemporary essays said of him "to his intimate friends he was sincere and honest and that his heart was always alive to every feeling of honour and generosity".[8] Gainsborough did not particularly enjoy reading but letters written to his friends were penned in such an exceptional conversational manner that the style could not be equalled.[9] As a letter writer Henry Bate-Dudley said of him "a selection of his letters would offer the world as much originality and beauty as is ever traced in his paintings".[10]
In the 1780s, Gainsborough used a device he called a "Showbox" to compose landscapes and display them backlit on glass. The original box is on display in the Victoria & Albert Museum with a reproduction transparency
He died of cancer on 2 August 1788 at the age of 61 and is interred at St. Anne's Church, Kew, Surrey (located on Kew Green). He is buried next to Francis Bauer, the famous botanical illustrator. As of 2011, an appeal is underway to pay the costs of restoration of his tomb.[12] A street in Kew, Gainsborough Road, is also named after him. wikipedia
The Garden originated as a teahouse during the 1915–16 Panama-California Exposition and now lies on two acres near the Spreckels Organ Pavilion. Along the Garden’s winding paths are a Zen garden for meditation, an exhibit house, koi pond, bonsai exhibit, ceremonial gate, and a Fujidana (wisteria arbor). Weekend classes are offered in sushi making, bonsai, calligraphy, and conversational Japanese.
Another from the poem, Circling, about my encounter with an invisible skein of wild geese and the ensuing "wild goose chase" at night, when I had had too much to drink...
"White Light White Peak", the book, is published by Fly on the Wall press, launching at the Buxton Festival Fringe on July 15th 2019. Order your copy here: www.flyonthewallpoetry.co.uk/shop
An advance review of White Light White Peak – The Book:
“A joyous book - one to be slowly savoured. The black and white photos are truly atmospheric, the snippets of prose down-to-earth and gently humorous, while the poems are a wonderful celebration of nature. Simon Corble produces a little bit of magic in White Light White Peak, capturing the ethereal beauty of England's first national park. This is a book to keep and cherish.”
Helen Moat, freelance travel writer and book reviewer - author of "The Slow Guide to the Peak District".
White Light White Peak, the live show, is a personal journey through a year in the White Peak told through poems and projections. "Summed up in one word - mesmerising." (Caroline Small, events manager at The Green Man Gallery, Buxton). Starting in the depths of a snowy winter, this is a poetic journey through a White Peak year, including encounters with the weather, wildlife and people; some amusing, some thought-provoking and many involving a Springer Spaniel...or two. The poems are told from memory and in a conversational style; more like miniature short stories at times, complete with twists and some happy endings.
The White Light is all in my monochrome photography: Atmospheric landscapes, wildlife shots and enigmatic moments, reflecting the images and moods heard in the poems and projected onto a large screen throughout the performance. With the occasional soundscape, (captured locally - and in all weathers) the whole is a highly immersive experience; the culmination of five years' work.
More about the book and project in this blog:
.www.flyonthewallpoetry.co.uk/single-post/2019/02/25/Poets...
Faculty at the College of Du Page in Glen Ellyn, Lombard, DuPage County,
Illinois USA
While my Father, Roberto Hung Juris Doctor, was recovering from
neurosurgery caused by aneurysm and a Traumatic Brain Injury at our Lombard
home during July 1997, I received a call from Kim Ramey, Community
Marketing Director at the Du Page in Glen Ellyn, and later from Kathy
McCullough, R.N., offering faculty employment to develop a curriculum
program for Health Care Professionals in Spanish Communications for Human
Resources at Good Samaritan Advocate Hospital, National Chiropractic
College, also known today as the National University Health Sciences in the
Village of Lombard, and Central Du Page Hospital in Winfield, Illinois, in
order to teach for the Business Professional Institute managed by Lotty
Petusky at the College of Du Page, offering to develop another curriculum
program for Business Communications in Spanish for Lucent Technologies in
Lisle-Naperville, and AT&T Bell Labs in Du Page County, Illinois. The
Business Professional Institute by the West Campus was located next to the
Police Academy and Training Center for Paramedics at the College of Du Page
in Glen Ellyn, Illinois USA.
The College of Du Page Human Resources employed me as Faculty to teach
Developmental Writing 101, and the Center for Independent Learning assigned
teaching for English 101, 102, 103, 104, 105 at the Main Campus in Glen
Ellyn, Illinois.
In addition, Kathy Doyle who worked for the Tutoring Center, called me to
provide Tutoring Sessions in Spanish for individual students who wanted to
practice the language by speaking with an instructor.
I worked at the College of Du Page as Faculty and Curriculum Developer.
• College of Du Page, Glen Ellyn, teaching, Medical Spanish for Healthcare
Professionals,
Conversational Spanish, Developmental Writing, English 101, 102, 103, 105,
English as a
Second Language, 1997-2000.
• “Communications for Health Care Professionals” English/Spanish, 1997 –
2000
Developed syllabus and overall course structure, and administered all
grades.
• “Developmental Writing” , 1998– 2000
Developed syllabus and overall course structure, and administered all
grades.
• Communications – English 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 1998– 2000
Developed syllabus and overall course structure, including weekly lab
practicum,
and administered all grades.
• Business Professional Institute Adult Education Program, 1997-2000
• Collaborated on curriculum and exam development, met with students upon
request, and graded all written work, including final exam papers.
During my work as Faculty at the College of Du Page, I also participated in
the campus committees for the European Heritage Committee with Ann Cotton,
Rob Streit, and the Latin American Committee with Zinta Conrad, as well as
the Illinois Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages with Flora
Breidenbach and her husband Heribert.
Gardenia C. Hung, M.A., B.A.
Consulting Social Media Arts Communications
www.intranslations.blogspot.com
www.linkedin.com/in/gardeniahung
For the new poem, called "The Application" taken just outside Ashford in the Water. I see on the google map that this lane is called Pennyunk Lane.
"White Light White Peak", the book, is published by Fly on the Wall press, launching at the Buxton Festival Fringe on July 15th 2019. Order your copy here: www.flyonthewallpoetry.co.uk/shop
An advance review of White Light White Peak – The Book:
“A joyous book - one to be slowly savoured. The black and white photos are truly atmospheric, the snippets of prose down-to-earth and gently humorous, while the poems are a wonderful celebration of nature. Simon Corble produces a little bit of magic in White Light White Peak, capturing the ethereal beauty of England's first national park. This is a book to keep and cherish.”
Helen Moat, freelance travel writer and book reviewer - author of "The Slow Guide to the Peak District".
White Light White Peak, the live show, is a personal journey through a year in the White Peak told through poems and projections. "Summed up in one word - mesmerising." (Caroline Small, events manager at The Green Man Gallery, Buxton). Starting in the depths of a snowy winter, this is a poetic journey through a White Peak year, including encounters with the weather, wildlife and people; some amusing, some thought-provoking and many involving a Springer Spaniel...or two. The poems are told from memory and in a conversational style; more like miniature short stories at times, complete with twists and some happy endings.
The White Light is all in my monochrome photography: Atmospheric landscapes, wildlife shots and enigmatic moments, reflecting the images and moods heard in the poems and projected onto a large screen throughout the performance. With the occasional soundscape, (captured locally - and in all weathers) the whole is a highly immersive experience; the culmination of five years' work.
More about the book and project in this blog:
.www.flyonthewallpoetry.co.uk/single-post/2019/02/25/Poets...
A text, in english, from the Wikitravel's site.
You can see more at the address wikitravel.org/en/Haiti
Haiti (Haitian Creole: Ayiti, French: Haïti) is a Caribbean country that occupies the western one-third of the island of Hispaniola. The eastern two-thirds of Hispaniola is occupied by the Dominican Republic. The North Atlantic Ocean lies to the north, while the Caribbean Sea lies to the south. Haiti is a country with a troubled past, and its future still remains uncertain.
Decades of poverty, environmental degradation, violence, instability and dictatorship have left it as the poorest nation in the western hemisphere.
Tap-taps:
The people of Haiti call their forms of public taxis a "tap-tap" and they're often modified trucks or vans, usually with a raised wooden canopy-like cabin over the truck bed. Wood benches are attached to the bed and serve as seats. Tap-Taps are usually painted bright colors, and often bear a religious slogan, such as Jesus vous aime ("Jesus loves you").
Tap-taps are the most economical way to travel in Haiti with the ticket prices usually under a dollar. They are also quite convenient as they will stop along the route wherever you request. However, they are sometimes over packed and can be quite dangerous to ride in the mountain roads where the road conditions are less than ideal. First time travellers who do not speak conversational Creole are advised not to travel by tap-tap without assistance. There are also bus versions of tap-taps used for longer voyages. The prices are often expensive due to the distance traveled.
t is okay to feel overwhelmed if you have not experienced this type of culture difference before. If you are easily affected by signs of poverty, Haiti is not for you. Be polite but not intrusive. It is OK to ask questions of the locals, but you should be prepared to be hassled a LOT of the time if you stand out as a foreigner. Remember that you are a guest in their country. This is not like a "vacation" you may have had in the past. Don't expect to be treated as a king or a queen (though you might get some extra privileges) because you're foreign. Haiti on a whole is emphatically NOT a marketed tourist destination and therefore they do not view foreigners as tourists whom they are ready to please and serve on hand and foot. If you prepare your mindset before arrival, you will be better able to cope.
Transportes no Haiti
Haití tem quase 5.000 quilómetros de estradas, e nem todas são transitáveis durante a época de chuvas. Além do taxi, também podem-se percorrer de carro, mini-ônibus e kombis. Mas o mais barato e típico são os tap-tap, (chamados assim pelo barulho que faz o motor), pequenos caminhões abertos atrás, com assentos para os passageiros. Param em qualquer lugar, e a tarifa mais cara é aquela que permite-lhe ir ao lado do condutor.
Art Hearts Fashion Week 2015 - Nicole Miller Collection
After completing studies at the L'Ecole de la Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienneand graduating from the Rhode Island School of Design,Miller interned with legendary dress designer Clovis Ruffin in New York City. Miller began working as head designer at P.J. Walsh, a dress manufacturer. There, she was hired by the president of the company, Bud Konheim.Konheim said one of the reasons he hired Miller was for her belief that design and business can be successful combination.In 1982, Konheim started the company Nicole Miller with Nicole.
In 1986, Miller opened her first shop on Madison Avenue. Miller's fashion line launched in the mid 1980s with a conversational print men's tie collection that became a hit in the fashion world for a number of years.Miller made headlines in September 1998 by presenting her spring 1999 clothing line one week ahead of her French counterparts, becoming the first American to do so.
In 2002, Miller designed costumes for the Houston-based Stages Repertory Theatre production of García Lorca's "Blood Wedding,"
In a departure from designing adult fashions, Miller designed a Sesame Street line of clothing for babies and toddlers in 2004. She also created a line of makeup products for Melaleuca.
Since 2005, Miller has designed a line of affordable clothes, handbags, footwear, fashion jewelry and other accessories for J.C. Penney. J.C. Penney credits this collaboration as result of extensive customer input. Miller also designs a home furnishings collection that is distributed through Bed Bath and Beyond.
Celebrities of varying ages including Anjelica Huston,Beyoncé Knowles, Angelina Jolie,Brooke Shields,LeAnn Rimes,Lauren Hutton, Jennifer Stone, Susan Sarandon and Eva Longoria have worn, and continue to wear, her designs. Miller designed clothes for singer Cyndi Lauper's world tour.She created gowns for Sheryl Crow to wear at the Grammys.
"And then around the hill itself the beast came banking low" - another from the poem, Chinook Over Minninglow" (see previous).
"White Light White Peak", the book, is published by Fly on the Wall press, launching at the Buxton Festival Fringe on July 15th 2019. Order your copy here: www.flyonthewallpoetry.co.uk/shop
An advance review of White Light White Peak – The Book:
“A joyous book - one to be slowly savoured. The black and white photos are truly atmospheric, the snippets of prose down-to-earth and gently humorous, while the poems are a wonderful celebration of nature. Simon Corble produces a little bit of magic in White Light White Peak, capturing the ethereal beauty of England's first national park. This is a book to keep and cherish.”
Helen Moat, freelance travel writer and book reviewer - author of "The Slow Guide to the Peak District".
White Light White Peak, the live show, is a personal journey through a year in the White Peak told through poems and projections. "Summed up in one word - mesmerising." (Caroline Small, events manager at The Green Man Gallery, Buxton). Starting in the depths of a snowy winter, this is a poetic journey through a White Peak year, including encounters with the weather, wildlife and people; some amusing, some thought-provoking and many involving a Springer Spaniel...or two. The poems are told from memory and in a conversational style; more like miniature short stories at times, complete with twists and some happy endings.
The White Light is all in my monochrome photography: Atmospheric landscapes, wildlife shots and enigmatic moments, reflecting the images and moods heard in the poems and projected onto a large screen throughout the performance. With the occasional soundscape, (captured locally - and in all weathers) the whole is a highly immersive experience; the culmination of five years' work.
More about the book and project in this blog:
.www.flyonthewallpoetry.co.uk/single-post/2019/02/25/Poets...
Jason Derulo
Alcatraz - Milano
10 Marzo 2014
Ph.Mairo Cinquetti
After emerging in 2009 with his 3x-platinum debut single, “Whatcha Say,” Miami-born singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor Jason Derulo has parlayed his songwriting and performing talent and sheer determination into becoming a regular fixture on the pop chart over the last three years with a steady stream of best-selling singles, including the 2x-platinum “In My Head” and the 2x-platinum “Ridin’ Solo” from his self-titled 2010 debut, and the platinum “Don’t Wanna Go Home” (which spent five consecutive weeks in the Top 10), and “It Girl,” both from Derulo’s current album Future History. However everything came to a screeching halt in January when Derulo suffered a severe neck injury and was nearly paralyzed while rehearsing for a headlining world tour in support of Future History. Fortunately Derulo made a full recovery and returned in May with an appearance on the season finale of American Idol, during which he performed a new song, “Undefeated,” which featured lyrics submitted by fans through the Coca-Cola Perfect Harmony contest. Derulo has streamed more than half a billion views on his YouTube Channel and sold more than 16 million singles worldwide. He was a five-time winner at the 2011 BMI Pop Awards including being honored as "Songwriter of the Year" (which he shared with Lady Gaga and his debut album’s producer JR Rotem), and took home a 2010 Teen Choice Award for “Choice Music: Album, R&B.” Derulo has also been nominated for a four additional Teen Choice Awards, a 2011 NAACP Image Award, an American Music Award, an ARIA and MOBO Award, two MTV Video Music Awards, two MTV Europe Music Awards, and a Much Music Award. He is currently in the studio working on his third album for Beluga Heights/Warner Bros. Records.
The 21-year-old chart-topper is set to release his eagerly awaited sophomore effort, Future History, on Beluga Heights/Warner Bros. Records on September 27th. “It’s where I see myself going in the future,” says Derulo of the meaning behind the album title. “These are the songs I’m going to be singing for the rest of my life, and I’d like my music to live on after I’m no longer around.”
Future History finds Derulo moving seamlessly from ultra-sexy urban dance tracks to poppy love songs, once again offering up a unique genre-blurring blend of varied sounds deeply rooted in pop. This time, production is handled by The Fliptones, including the first single and instant summer anthem “Don’t Wanna Go Home,” as well as hitmakers J.R. Rotem, Frank E, The Dream, and Eman.
“On this album I just wanted to be me,” explains Derulo, who wrote all of the songs on Future History either by himself or in collaboration with top names like Kara Dioguardi, The Dream, and Claude Kelly. The new batch of songs reflects a newfound maturity in Derulo’s personality as well as the music that he’s eager to share with his fans. “I was 19 before and now I’m 21 and I’ve really kind of found myself,” he says. “So you can hear a whole new person, a new being almost.”
While recording in Serenity Studio in Los Angeles, Derulo created the ideal vibe to inspire the creative process. “Music becomes conversational and real,” says Derulo of his ritual of keeping the studio dimly lit with candles so he can put himself in the place he’s singing about in each song, and express exactly what he’s feeling. “I’m not diluting what I’m saying with a pen, and I’m not editing myself. I’m saying what I feel.”
He’s certainly not shying away from his romantic side on Future History, with songs like “It Girl”—on which he sings of his ideal woman being his “greatest hit”—and “Breathing,” a gorgeous love song that also pays tribute to his late cousin with such lyrics as, “I only miss you when I’m breathing.”
“The lyrics are heartfelt, but they’re hidden behind a beat that makes them seem very light,” says Derulo of exposing his softer side on the song, which also features him breaking into an impromptu African chant. “That’s what I think is so cool about it. The song has both a positive and negative vibe. You have both elements.”
And you won’t find Derulo holding back when it comes to the details of sexual relationships on tracks like “Make It Up As We Go,” an ode to friends with benefits, and the testosterone-fueled “My Shit,” which he says is the result of his “no boundaries” approach to expressing himself. “It’s pretty graphic,” admits Derulo with a laugh. “It’s a super-manly sexual side, rather than a gentle sexual side. I think there should be a balance. It’s about an amazing time in the bedroom and just giving ownership to what’s mine.”
Derulo has been honing his songcraft for as long as he can remember. Raised on a healthy diet of Prince, Michael Jackson, Elvis, and Madonna while growing up in Miami, Derulo composed his first song, a little ditty called "Crush On You," on the piano at just eight years old. By the time he was a teen, he was attending the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York, where he also competed for and won The Apollo's Grand Championship in 2006.
At the age of 17, Derulo composed and sang the chorus to "Bossy” for Southern rapper Birdman, and soon became a sought-after tunesmith, crafting songs for hip-hop star Lil Wayne, R&B singer Cassie, and girl group Danity Kane, to name a few. Around this time, producer J.R. Rotem’s brother Tommy was searching for artists to sign to Rotem’s new label, Beluga Heights, and contacted Derulo through his MySpace page and invited him out to Los Angeles to pen songs for Sean Kingston’s second album.
"Jason is one of those guys who can write songs for other people but has a career of his own," says Rotem, who produced “Pick Up The Pieces,” “Be Careful,” and “Dumb” on Future History. Rotem quickly realized that Derulo belonged in the spotlight himself. "Jason can write pop songs for women to sing, R&B for men to sing, he can write ballads; he's very eclectic,” Rotem says. “He has really inspired us."
Produced by Rotem, Derulo’s debut album brought him a string of smash hit singles last year—the 3x-platinum "Whatcha Say" and the 2x-platinum "In My Head" and "Ridin' Solo"—making Derulo the first male solo artist to score consecutive No. 1's on Billboard's Pop Songs radio airplay chart in its 17-year-history with his first two entries.
Also that year, Derulo tried his hand at acting, appearing in the MTV feature film Turn the Beat Around in between tours with two of the biggest acts in the world—first on a six-week stint with Lady Gaga on her sold-out “Monster Ball” tour of North America, and then as support for the Black Eyed Peas in Canada—before headlining his own tour. Since then, Derulo’s live show has continued to grow. “The venues have doubled in size which is pretty cool,” he says. “It’s crazy that it happened in two years.”
Derulo plans to take Future History on his most extensive world tour yet, which will begin in Europe before hitting Australia and America, where he’s sure to put on his most memorable shows to date. “I’m excited to perform this album all over the world,” Derulo says. And fans can expect to see him continue to evolve, as he mounts an even bigger live production, complete with never-seen-before dance moves and plenty of costume changes.
“My goals for myself are almost impossible to reach,” explains Derulo when looking to the future. “It’s just me doing what I’m doing, and that is making music for the world, and hopefully making it a brighter place for somebody.”
SMC Pentax DA 18-55mm f3.5-5.6 AL WR
This image captures a candid moment of a group of young people socializing in a park. The composition employs a loose, informal arrangement, with the group positioned in a casual, conversational manner. The leading lines of the path and the trees in the background guide the viewer's eye through the scene, while the rule of thirds is subtly applied, with the group's central figures positioned along the intersecting lines.
The color palette is dominated by earthy tones, with the gray pavement, green foliage, and muted clothing creating a harmonious, naturalistic atmosphere. The use of color is relatively subdued, with the exception of the bright blue cups and the burgundy boots of one of the individuals, which add pops of color and draw attention to specific elements within the composition.
Lighting is natural, with the overcast sky diffusing the light evenly, creating a soft, diffused effect that minimizes harsh shadows and highlights. This lighting choice enhances the relaxed, informal atmosphere of the scene.
Symbolically, the image conveys a sense of youthful camaraderie and spontaneity, as the group appears to be enjoying each other's company in a casual, outdoor setting. The presence of umbrellas and rain boots suggests that the gathering might be taking place on a rainy day, adding a layer of authenticity to the scene.
In terms of artistic movement, this image could be associated with contemporary realism or street photography, as it captures a slice of everyday life with a candid, unposed approach. The subjective aesthetic quality of the image is moderate to high, as it effectively conveys a sense of place and atmosphere, and the composition is well-balanced and engaging. However, the image's aesthetic appeal is somewhat limited by its casual, documentary style, which may not appeal to viewers seeking more formal or polished compositions.
In 1980 I produced a television programme in which Seamus Heaney, the future Nobel Laureate in Literature, discussed his work and read from Field Work, his (then) latest book of poetry. For me, Heaney was the perfect studio guest – congenially Irish (always a good start!), conversational, easy going, and utterly without pretension.
Heaney is one of the greatest writers of poetry in the English language – but if that’s not enough, he’s also a lecturer, playwright and translator. His most notable translation is undoubtedly the first millennium Anglo-Saxon epic Beowulf in 1999.
Working with him on a half-hour programme was a joy; one of the great pleasures of my life. I’ve no idea what became of the programme recording; perhaps it’s in an archive somewhere, although I rather doubt it.
♦ Very sadly, Seamus Heaney died in 2013, at the age of 75.
The Garden originated as a teahouse during the 1915–16 Panama-California Exposition and now lies on two acres near the Spreckels Organ Pavilion. Along the Garden’s winding paths are a Zen garden for meditation, an exhibit house, koi pond, bonsai exhibit, ceremonial gate, and a Fujidana (wisteria arbor). Weekend classes are offered in sushi making, bonsai, calligraphy, and conversational Japanese.
Johnny Carson, his famously puckish face obscured by sunglasses and disguised by distress, led a squad of men through a rain-swept Manhattan evening. ... their destination a modest high-rise in the East Forties. [Their mission: to find evidence of his wife's cheating with Frank Gifford] ... Their identities,: Joe Mullen, a licensed New York private eye, straight out of Mickey Spillane, Mario Irizarry, his tall, gaunt aide-de-camp, adept at lock picking and conversational as a clam ...
12.08.2010
Me: You could have an awesome day today.
Him: My mum and dad are getting divorced I think, I don't think today will be good.
Me: Believe me you wont want ot be in the family where divorce is threatened all the time but never carried out. You get the same only you have to put up with the arguments :/
Him: Yea it was like that all the time before
Me: I wouldnt put yourself down too much over it. How old are you?
Him: 16
Me: f?
Him: lol no. You're going to disconnect now..?
Me: You know you still have your own life to make as awesome as you possibly can. Learn from the mistakes your Mum and Dad may have made and become even greater.
Him: You're just a random person but you have filled me with more hope than anyone else. :D
Me: Absolutely no problem :)
///Your conversational partner has disconnected.///
True story. I havent been on omegle in ages and of course it is full of pedafiles, lurkers and people bored out of their minds. I went on it when I was bored before too but I 've recently started to try and network a bit or actually help someone. I wanted to know stuff about living in Canada so instead of trawling through biased blog posts I asked the canadians themselves, it took a while but you get a much better idea. I also came accross an indonesian girl who had travelled the world a lot thanks to her free spirited parents and through just talking about that I get to understand a little about asian/western differences. Some people are really helpful some are really not but it becomes easier to filter through the pedafiles etc in time. You can also find a lot of messed up people on it like that guy, so sharing stuff I have found answers for was as helpful for him as it was me.
The idea of the site is that there are a few thousand anonomous users from all over the world and from all ages on a server, you hit 'new' and the server assigns you a complete stranger out of random selection. Its up to you what you say.
A usual rule of thumb is that users just saying 'Hi, asl?' aren't worth talking to, usually they're guys looking for a kick.
All in all it can be brain numbingly pointless or very productive, depending on how you approach it.
----
Im glad I waited until now to process this, sorry about the late upload but a guy's gotta sleep :)
BIG risk
Gesprächspartner? Phoenixsee, Dortmund Hörde, 2017
Dieser Kaffeetrinker aus Bronze sitzt vor einem Restaurant am Ufer des Phoenixsees in Dortmund Hörde. Er wirkt so lebensecht, dass man versucht ist, sich daneben zu setzen und ein Gespräch zu beginnen. Es ist zwar keine echte Person aber dennoch ein gutes Motiv für die Streetfotografie.
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This bronze coffee drinker sits in front of a restaurant on the shores of Lake Phoenix in Dortmund Hörde. He looks so lifelike that one is tempted to sit down and start a conversation. Although it is not a real person but still a good motive for street photography.
- 30 June, 2012 -
I am so thrilled to finally make this connection -- reading the JRS yesterday –
I happened across ironmonkeys.org/default.aspx in the Resource Guide.
I decided to click on the link and there, on their web page, is a picture of this bitchen flaming metal sculpture garden that I’ve been trying (ineffectively) to describe.
Now, when I saw the picture, it took me right back to the playa, to a moment in time that occurred nine months ago, a moment in time that has stayed with me and that I have written about and talked about ever since… and with a bit of research I found out that the 2011 incarnation of this flaming metal sculpture garden was called “Garden of Monkey Retrospectus by the Iron Monkeys”
A picture of that garden resides here on Flickr - www.flickr.com/photos/colorstream/6192846928/
So why I am writing about the ironmonkeys.org 2011 flaming metal sculpture garden, on the description for my photo of this magnificent Golden Dragon Mutant Vehicle?
Well, I shall tell ye a story, about a beautiful playa-moment, one I have thought of MANY times with a smile. And one I hinted at, in my 2012 application for a Burning Man scholarship/low income ticket.
But first:
– I took this photo of the Golden Dragon Mutant Vehicle, on the way TO the Temple Burn. And I should also preface this with the fact that of the hundreds of Mutant Vehicles on the playa last year – I saw a very small percentage close-up, and even fewer when I had my camera with me, and NO, I did not see the Steam Punk Octopus – but THIS one, I saw TWICE, in one night…
It was Temple Burn Night 2011 - after the temple burned - sauntering back toward 2:00+C where I was living in the middle of a Burning Man soundcamp. I had stopped for a moment at an inviting flaming metal sculpture garden (as one tends to do out there) – somewhere between the massive glowing LOVE sculpture and )’(oOlligan Alley, out in the dark playa of late Sunday night après Temple Burn - a quiet gathering place, off the beaten path, accidently found.
As I approached the installation, I noticed people clustered together here and there, low conversational tones, mellow vibe, plain-clothed-citizenry -- chillin and chattin, hanging out, smoking cigarettes, gathered around these flaming metal sculptures. I took the crowd in general to be Artists and perhaps DPW (let’s just say there was a marked absence of flouro-fluffy-blinky-bits) and all around us darkness of playa, with the Temple Burn site visible off in the distance.
So, I am standing there beside one of the many beautiful flaming metal sculptures, feeling the warmth and communion of this thoughtful gathering place, contemplating the Temple Burn and my journey to this moment… when out of the quiet surrounding dark comes the magnificent Golden Dragon Mutant Vehicle I’d seen and taken pictures of at rest earlier – but now, here, this great dragon is prowling and growling across the playa, pumping out the thrasher metal music – oldskool Metalica, or maybe it was Pantera - crunchy Marshall stacks and electric guitars blasting – and this huge golden dragon, in all it’s glory, starts circling, circling the ironmonkey’s Garden of Monkey Retrospectus and all of us quietly gathered there. As the dragon circled round and round and round, my smile grew wider at each consecutive go around, someone near-by may have heard me chuckle. This is the kind of thing that would never happen in the default world and it’s just the kind of moment that I adore out there on the playa. No big deal, just a huge growling golden dragon circling a group of talented individuals and explorers, who have gathered momentarily around a flaming metal sculpture garden in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of the night. I LOVE THIS SHIT!! In fact, here’s a snippet of what I wrote to the BMorg, on my scholarship application for this year’s ticket – alluding to this spontaneous meeting of minds and magic…
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Question #27 - Is there anything else you would like to tell us?
I can only hope I “make it to the playa this year” - I feel like I have not “seen” enough, met enough people, ate enough dust or drank enough cool-aid to “be done with Burning Man.”
I truly love every visceral, scary, mystical, emotionally riddled part of it. I adore the “every moment is a new possibility for connection” part of it. I’ll take the bus of DPW peeps hollering at me to “GO HOME!” last year, on Tuesday after the man burned, as I methodically and magnetically raked my little section of the playaverse, picking up almost a pound of “somebody else’s” micro metallic MOOP. I’ll take the sudden overwhelming sorrow and pain enveloping me from out of nowhere, crumpling me to the ground as I approached an art installation of hand written letters at Metropolis’ Center Camp, my vision blurred with tears “out of nowhere” before I read the first line.
I’ll take it LOUD and in my face, when I least expects it…
I for one DON’T mind when an arrant LOUD ass MutantVehicle sporting 30, 40, 100Kwatts of whatthefuckever music blasts its way past our “quiet contemplative gathering.” It’s not like it’s LIFE THREATENING! IMO *that* is what is so amazing about the place! And I *sincerely* hope the BMorg does NOT start trying to regulate that beautiful glorious cacophonic Petri dish. Seriously, WHAT NEXT!? Are we gonna have to get licenses for our fucking Bullhorns!? I can understand no more drive by shooting of wedding cakes made of propane tanks… but “noise complaints” dictating what’s GOOD or BAD noise? Oh dear, my apologies, I do digress…
I could go on and on, but I MUST get this thing in the mail.
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So there you have it. Just another silly little playa story…
One moment in the vastness of time and space, connected to another moment in the vastness of time in space. Sometimes it takes nine months to get back to that place where you were and bring it all into some kind of perspective. Whether you are out on the playa, or back in the default world, these opportunities for connection and synchronicity occur all the time.
I am ever thankful I am around and open to experiencing them.
Hope to see you in the dust.
Safe travels! ~ wendEwho ~
Living here in regional NSW it takes me 2 hours to travel by train into the City of Sydney. It also only takes me 2 hours to drive and fly into the City of Brisbane, So thats what I did yesterday morning. Hopped a plane up to Brisbane. I wandered about all day looking primarily at the mix of old and new architecture and was not far off heading back to the airport when this beautiful green haired woman leapt off the bus I was getting on. Quick decision..... I missed that bus! I called out "excuse me" and she turned around. Conversationally it was the quickest stranger chat I have ever had! So quick I didnt even ask Danna's boyfriend his name!!! What I did find out was that they were Brisbaneites and he asked where I was from. He knew the area well and we discussed the majestic local beaches near my place. Danna gave me her email and away they went. I didnt even get to tell them much about the 100 Strangers Project, details of which can be found here 100 Strangers Flickr Group page .
I will send Danna the links with the emailed image. Funny how things work out. I hadn't shot a pair of strangers until Chris and Ann (no. 57) and then these two awesome creatures grabbed my attention. I loved their style, I just wish I knew his name.
UPDATE.... Danna has joined Flickr as littlemileu and commented below. Her gorgeous man is called Nav. How wonderful!!!
Art Hearts Fashion Week 2015 - Nicole Miller Collection
After completing studies at the L'Ecole de la Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienneand graduating from the Rhode Island School of Design,Miller interned with legendary dress designer Clovis Ruffin in New York City. Miller began working as head designer at P.J. Walsh, a dress manufacturer. There, she was hired by the president of the company, Bud Konheim.Konheim said one of the reasons he hired Miller was for her belief that design and business can be successful combination.In 1982, Konheim started the company Nicole Miller with Nicole.
In 1986, Miller opened her first shop on Madison Avenue. Miller's fashion line launched in the mid 1980s with a conversational print men's tie collection that became a hit in the fashion world for a number of years.Miller made headlines in September 1998 by presenting her spring 1999 clothing line one week ahead of her French counterparts, becoming the first American to do so.
In 2002, Miller designed costumes for the Houston-based Stages Repertory Theatre production of García Lorca's "Blood Wedding,"
In a departure from designing adult fashions, Miller designed a Sesame Street line of clothing for babies and toddlers in 2004. She also created a line of makeup products for Melaleuca.
Since 2005, Miller has designed a line of affordable clothes, handbags, footwear, fashion jewelry and other accessories for J.C. Penney. J.C. Penney credits this collaboration as result of extensive customer input. Miller also designs a home furnishings collection that is distributed through Bed Bath and Beyond.
Celebrities of varying ages including Anjelica Huston,Beyoncé Knowles, Angelina Jolie,Brooke Shields,LeAnn Rimes,Lauren Hutton, Jennifer Stone, Susan Sarandon and Eva Longoria have worn, and continue to wear, her designs. Miller designed clothes for singer Cyndi Lauper's world tour.She created gowns for Sheryl Crow to wear at the Grammys.
The Garden originated as a teahouse during the 1915–16 Panama-California Exposition and now lies on two acres near the Spreckels Organ Pavilion. Along the Garden’s winding paths are a Zen garden for meditation, an exhibit house, koi pond, bonsai exhibit, ceremonial gate, and a Fujidana (wisteria arbor). Weekend classes are offered in sushi making, bonsai, calligraphy, and conversational Japanese.
COLOR VERSION
Fifth post processed image from my “Marilyn Monroe” shoot with Stephanie Stuart arguably the Best Marilyn Monroe impersonator in the country.
I am a big believer in getting it as close to completely right in the camera as reality allows. What I was able to do with the combo of the sunbounce cage and hive lights was magic. We shot video during the shoot to discuss how to do conversational portraiture using the D850.
I used Hive light led wasps lights with a leko lens an a fresnel. Sunbounce cage and Sunbounce reflectors.
Nikon D850 and Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8
Post processing: Capture NX-D, Photoshop CC 2018, NiK Collection by DxO's Silver Efex Pro and Viveza.
#Nikon100 #NikonAmbassador #nikonlove #lexar #kelbyone #photography #onOne @NikonUSA #D850 #70-200mm f2.8 #NikonNoFilter #niksoftware #nikonUSA #Epson #wacom #xritephoto #onone #sunbounce #fineartphotography #DxO #iamgenerationimage #iamnikon #B&H #hivelight #PhotogenicbyBenQ #lexarMemory #nikonLOVE @lexarmemory elite photographer #lexarmemory
#Nikon100 #NikonAmbassador #nikonlove #lexar #kelbyone #photography #onOne @NikonUSA #D850 #70-200mm f2.8 #NikonNoFilter #niksoftware #nikonUSA #Epson #wacom #xritephoto #onone #sunbounce #fineartphotography #DxO #iamgenerationimage #iamnikon #B&H #PhotogenicbyBenQ #lexarMemory #nikonLOVE @lexarmemory elite photographer #lexarmemory #hivelight @stephstuart @my_ms_marylin_monroe @hiveligthing #litbyhive #hivelighting