Landscape Composition; Calf Pasture Pier, Norwalk, Connecticut; ©2009 DianaLee Photo Designs

Tonight is the official conclusion of March Madness and the NCAA Final Four National Championship! This is the climax of your Vegas Vacation. Your most substantial mission of this Monday has been to finally decide where and how you want to witness tonight’s NCAA National Basketball Championship Game between the University of North Carolina, and your Alma Mater, the University of Kansas!

So what do you want to do? 🤔

Where do you want to go? 😋

You are at the Miracle Mile Shops at the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino. So now you could go to La Salsa Cantina and load up your big takeout shopping bag with a dozen, or two, Veracruz Hot Wings and you can dash back down the Strip to your nice cozy guest room at the New York-New York Hotel & Casino! Or you could stake out a nice table at Blondies Sports Bar and watch the big ball game there! Or instead you could just dash upstairs to the elegant and luxurious STRIP House, order a big Porterhouse(m) or a NY Strip(m) and watch the North Carolina vs Kansas game at the bar. Choose your big game destination wisely, because it’s been 14 long years since the University of Kansas beat the Memphis Tigers to win their last NCAA National Championship!

Some art class making sketches at the Rambla.

Barcelona 2007.

Spectacular end of the day today, next to the Bura wind cloud, which is flowing from Lika region towards the Adriatic side of Velebit over the lower parts of the range because difference in pressure between high and low diminished and Bura wind weakened so cold continental air no longer can get over the highest parts of the range. In the distance is Sveto Brdo (1751m) peak, rising above the Bura cloud.

Some lego Star Wars characters for a series of stop motion movies I'm planning on making. As you can see, I've included three characters from things other than Star Wars. These are Samus, The Inquisitor, and Brandon Hardesty as Jimmy Jango.

Gank:

Ganks, also known as Gank Killers, were a mysterious, bloodthirsty bipedal sentient species, who mainly resided on the Hutt controlled industrial moon known as Nar Shaddaa. They were often hired as mercenaries.

Elite Gank:

Ganks, also known as Gank Killers, were a mysterious, bloodthirsty bipedal sentient species, who mainly resided on the Hutt controlled industrial moon known as Nar Shaddaa. They were often hired as mercenaries. Elite Ganks are trained in swordplay and lightsaber combat.

Gank Pyro-Technician:

Ganks, also known as Gank Killers, were a mysterious, bloodthirsty bipedal sentient species, who mainly resided on the Hutt controlled industrial moon known as Nar Shaddaa. They were often hired as mercenaries. Gank Pyro-Technicians are trained to use flame throwers.

Nonak:

A Cathar hunter and poacher who was a member of the sith cult known as the Disciples of Ragnos. He was killed by wampas along with his brother (Nodon) in 12 ABY.

Ekrchry Frket Clarke:

A Cathar jedi. His parents were killed by Stormtroopers in 11 BBY. He was four at the time. He was adopted by a kind family. His step brother is Aj Clarke. He hates his name, but has decided against changing in for some reason.

Rachel Brown:

A human jedi. She was a friend of Ekrchry and Aj.

Aj Clarke:

A human jedi and Ekrchry's Step brother.

Nodon:

A Cathar hunter and poacher who was a member of the sith cult known as the Disciples of Ragnos. He was killed by wampas along with his brother (Nonak) in 12 ABY.

Jodo Kast:

Jodo Kast was a member of Alliance SpecOps who became a bounty hunter in the time of the Galactic Civil War. In his suit of modified Mandalorian armor, Kast was sometimes mistaken for the infamous bounty hunter Boba Fett, a fact he capitalized on when possible. Valuing credits over ideals and loyalties, Kast worked for the Empire, Black Sun, the New Republic, or anyone who would pay him. Kast's impersonation of Fett eventually caught up with him, though, when the other bounty hunter sought to reclaim his own reputation. Fett baited a trap on Nal Hutta, using an alias to offer a bounty on a nonexistent man. When Kast came to Nal Hutta, Fett attacked and defeated him, leaving Kast to be killed by his own exploding jetpack.

Keida:

The sister of Nodon and Nonak. She is unaware that her brothers are members of the Disciples of Ragnos. She is in love with Ekrchry.

Boba Fett:

Boba Fett was a Mandalorian warrior and bounty hunter. He was a clone of the famed Jango Fett, created in 32 BBY as the first of many Fett replicas designed to become part of the Grand Army of the Republic, and was raised as Jango's son. Jango taught Boba much, training the latter to become a skilled bounty hunter as his father-figure was before him.

The Inquisitor:

The Inquisitor is a self-repairing simulant who survived until the end of time and, coming to the conclusion that there is no God and no afterlife, decided that the only point of life was to live a worthwhile life. He is on a journey through time, seeking out the worthless and erasing them from existence, allowing a different person to exist in their place — the person who would have been conceived.

Mandalorian Death Watch:

The Death Watch was a Mandalorian splinter group. They wished to start a war, and continue to be brutal savages.

Heavy Death Watch:

The Death Watch was a Mandalorian splinter group. They wished to start a war, and continue to be brutal savages. Heavy troopers used extremely powerful weapons.

Death Watch Commander:

The Death Watch was a Mandalorian splinter group. They wished to start a war, and continue to be brutal savages. The Death Watch commander led the war effort and commanded the troops.

Samus Aran:

Samus is a freelance bounty hunter who is motivated at least in part by wrath as well as an accompanying sense of duty, since her "bounty hunting" helps the galaxy get rid of unsavory elements such as the mysterious lifeforms known as Metroids, who can drain life energy and are frequently used as biological weapons. She is currently tracking Boba Fett, who is tracking Jodo Kast, who is tracking Nodon and Nonak.

Jimmy Jango:

An unfortunate reporter who was nearly killed by the Death Watch remnant. He was rescued by Ekrchry and has traveled with Aj, Ekrchry, and Rachel ever since.

Hoy tras leer y deliberar, he llegado a la conclusión de que expondré las últimas sesiones, llegado septiembre, voy a cerrar exposiciones, y voy a intentar que la repercusión sea lo mayor posible, llegada la fecha.

Aun así os dejaré otro adelanto, pero me guardo las mejores!

From Left to Right: Batman with Soultaker sword and Alfred with Bazooka

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

This weeks episode started fairly quick. As Katana reappeared from her absence last week, she and Alfred confessed to Bruce about the Soultaker sword and how they hid it from him. The scene itself was a plus since we got to see the cold hard Batman accept Alfred's resignation (which was short lived). Ravencroft's employer was also revealed to be Silver Monkey, who was working to receive the Soultaker sword without Lady Shiva's consent. Bruce Wayne was used as bait, lured in by Ravencroft, for Yamashiro (Katana) to bring the Soultaker sword to Silver Monkey. He was shot and thought to be killer, but as we all know the Batman does not simply die! An epic battle ensued between the League of Shadows and Batman and Katana. Lady Shiva then finally makes her appearance and shows her true wrath by taking Ravencroft's soul and having special plans for silver monkey, which will be seen in future episodes. The episode ended with a bang with the reveal to Katana that Batman is indeed Bruce Wayne and Alfred is his sidekick/butler. This marks the beginning for extended stories now that the foundation for the show is set. Overall the episode was great and it set a high bar to beat for next weeks episode. Can't wait to see what they have planned!

Conclusion:

The episode was a big turning point in the overall story and I like how it went very much. Although, I do have some complaints. I wish that a little bit more was shown on Ravencroft and what exactly happened to her, but I'm sure we will see more later on. I'm hoping next weeks episode starts a wider story that'll hopefully begin a long story arc. I would also like to add that I am a bit surprised at how this show is classified for kids considering the suggestive themes in the show. What I mean by that is the way the camera moved up on Lady Shiva and showed her curves seemed a bit too much for me for a kids show. Also, in previous episodes, the biggest one being Magpie. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind, but I am worried about how some parents might perceive the image and not let their kids watch the show.

Final Verdict: I give this weeks episode a 9/10

At the conclusion of my Astronomy class this noon I couldn’t resist passing by Dundas Square since it was only a few steps away. Dundas Square is in the heart of Downtown Toronto and is usually a hub of activity. I’ve met several of my past Strangers here so I thought I’d check it out before going home.

Sure enough, the Square was mostly fenced off while a number of delivery trucks and workmen were busily engaged in setting up for some kind of event. I asked a security guard and was told I was witnessing preparations for a videogame release party. The new videogame “Call of Duty – Ghost” was to be released at midnight tonight to an eagerly-awaiting audience of gamers. I thanked the guard for filling me in and upon turning away I was struck by this young man standing by the security fence, chatting with his friend. It was his colourful, high-altitude Mohawk hairstyle that first caught my eye but then I noticed the piercings decorating his face which appeared friendly and expressive. I tried waiting for a break in the conversation but his friend was a real talker and finally I just had to apologize for interrupting and commented on his impressive hairstyle and told him about my photo project. Meet Josh.

We shook hands and Josh agreed to participate in 100 Strangers almost before I had explained it to him. He had to have seen my camera and said he’s used to people wanting to take his photo, so “Sure.” Finding a decent background nearby was not easy and I was a bit concerned about the bright overcast light, but wasn’t going to miss photographing this interesting young man. I decided to simply pose him alongside the security fence he was standing near and he willingly shifted his body position as I requested in my effort to minimize background distractions and get some light reaching his eyes.

Josh will be 22 in 2 weeks and was born and raised in Toronto. He works as a body piercer and has the appropriate qualification for the work. He is also an apprentice tattoo artist, still working under supervision while he gains the experience to complete his qualification as a tattoo artist. He is between jobs and will be starting work at a new studio in a week or so. I found out that the Call of Duty game is something he has been waiting for with great anticipation – enough anticipation that he came down to Dundas Square at 4:00 this morning to become the first person standing in line for the midnight release! When I asked Josh how he would describe himself he said “I’m not as unusual as I look. Basically I’m just easy-going and down-to-earth.” We talked about the fact that I have a son with the same name (but not the same hair). I asked how he deals with his hair at night and he said he just washes out the gel and spray he uses each morning to spike it up into a Mohawk. As for the dye, he said it lasts months so he doesn’t have to reapply it very often at all.

I found Josh to have a very gentle and friendly manner and it was fun meeting him. He was very tolerant of my questions and happy to answer them. It was abundantly clear that he and I, though far apart in age and lifestyle, were quite similar in what really counts: respect, openness, and good-will. Our brief acquaintance on Dundas Square today proved that.

I decided to use the Mohawk photo as the main submission since this is the feature that first attracted me to Josh. I'm including the close-up as a comment photo because without the hair, it seems to open a different window into his personality.

Thank you Josh for participating in 100 Strangers. You are now Stranger #258 in Round 3 of my project. It was a pleasure getting to meet you and I hope the game proves worth your long, cold wait.

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

To browse Round 1 of my 100 Strangers project click here: www.flickr.com/photos/jeffcbowen/sets/72157633145986224/

To browse Round 2 of my 100 Strangers project click here:www.flickr.com/photos/jeffcbowen/sets/72157634422850489/

from "The Country Mouse and the City Mouse" - Little Golden Book, 1961, pictures by Richard Scarry

Must you always conclude each day with the nagging suspicion that Time is not your Best Friend? 🤔 Do you still think eight days will be sufficient for you to do all the things you think you want to do here? And if your very lovely lady was here, rather than being 772 miles away, would eight days be half enough? 😏

Well Gents — You’ve returned to your NY-NY Home Base. So how do you feel right now as the first night of your seven day March Madness Spring Vacation draws to its conclusion? Did you enjoy your late night topless show, FANTASY, at the Luxor Hotel & Casino? Is there any real mystery as to why you keep coming back to the Fabulous Las Vegas Strip to attend this show! Did you enjoy your steak lunch at Mon Ami Gabi at the Paris Hotel & Casino? So much has changed at the Paris since your last visit eight months ago! But one thing hasn’t changed — the food is still good at Tom’s Urban at the New York-New York Hotel & Casino! 😀

What new wonders await your discovery tomorrow?

And the NCAA Final Four for both the women and the men begin Friday. Your alma mater, the University Of Kansas Jayhawks, are favored to win the National Championship! 😁

You’ve had a good day — So sleep well! You’ve Earned It!!

Comer closer, my darling, I have got something ready for you there!

(further pictures and information are available by clicking on the link at the end of page!)

History of the Vienna Hofburg

First residence

With the elevation of Austria to Archduchy in 1156, Vienna became a city of residence. From the residence of the Babenberg dynasty, who was located on the present site "Am Hof", unfortunately, there do not exist any remains anymore. After the extinction of the Babenberg, Ottokar II of Bohemia (1230-1278) took over by marriage the rule in Vienna and began in 1275 with the construction of a castle within the city walls of Vienna. This castle was equipped with four towers around a rectangular court that is known as Schweizerhof today. In the battle for the German crown Ottokar was defeated at the Battle of Dürnkrut by Rudolf I of Habsburg (1218-1291) and killed during the retreat.

As the old residence of the Babenberg in 1276 burned down, Rudolf probably 1279 moved into the former castle of Ottokar. The descendants of Rudolf extended the castle only slightly: castle chapel (documentary mention in 1296), St. Augustine's Church (consecrated in 1349), reconstruction of the chapel (1423-1426). Due to the division of the lands of the Habsburg Vienna lost its importance and also lacked the financial resources to expand the castle.

Imperial residence

Under Frederick III. (1415-1493) the Habsburgs obtained the imperial title and Vienna became an imperial residence. But Friedrich and his successors used the Vienna Residence only rarely and so it happened that the imperial residence temporarily orphaned. Only under Ferdinand I (1503-1564) Vienna again became the capital of the Archduchy. Under Ferdinand set in a large construction activity: The three existing wings of the Swiss court were expanded and increased. The defensive wall in the northwest as fourth tract with the Swiss Gate (built in 1552 probably by Pietro Ferrabosco) was rebuilt. In the southwest, a tract for Ferdinand's children (the so-called "children Stöckl") was added. The newly constituted authorities Exchequer and Chancery were located in adjacent buildings at Castle Square. Were added in the castle an art chamber, a hospital, a passage from the castle to St. Augustine's Church and a new ballroom.

First major extensions of the residence

In the area of ​​"desolate church" built Ferdinand from 1559 a solitary residence for his son. However, the construction was delayed, and Maximilian II (1527-1576) after his father's death in 1564 moved into the ancient castle. His residence he for his Spanish horses had converted into a Hofstallgebäude (Stallburg - stables) and increased from 1565 .

Ferdinand I decided to divide his lands to his three sons, which led to a reduction of Vienna as a residence. Moreover, stayed Maximilian II, who was awarded alongside Austria above and below the Enns also Bohemia and Hungary, readily in Prague and he moved also the residence there. In 1575 he decided to build a new building in front of the Swiss court for the royal household of his eldest son, Rudolf II (1552-1612). The 1577 in the style of the late Renaissance completed and in 1610 expanded building, which was significantly fitted with a turret with "welscher hood" and an astronomical clock, but by the governor of the Emperor (Archduke Ernst of Austria) was inhabited. However, the name "Amalienborg Castle" comes from Amalie of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (wife of Joseph I.), which in 1711 there installed her widow seat.

In the late 16th and early 17th Century only a few extensions were carried out: extension of a separate tract in the northeast of the castle for the Treasure and Art chamber (1583-1585) and setting up of a dance hall in the area of ​​today's Redoutensäle (1629-1631).

Under Leopold I the dance hall by Ludovico Burnacini 1659/1660 was rebuilt into an at that time modern theater ("Comedy House"). 1666 Leopold I in the area of ​​today's castle garden a new opera house with three tiers and a capacity of 5,000 people had built.

In the 1660-ies under Leopold I (1640-1705) after the plans of architect Filiberto Lucchese an elongated wing building between the Amalienborg Castle and the Schweizerhof, the so-called Leopoldine Wing, was built. However, since the tract shortly after the completion burned down, this by Giovanni Pietro Tencala was set up newly and increased. Architecturally, this tract still connects to the late Renaissance. The connection with the Amalienborg castle followed then under Leopold's son Joseph I (1678-1711).

After completion of the Leopoldine Wing the in the southeast of castle located riding school was renewed, the south tower of the old castle pulled down, the old sacristy of the chapel replaced by an extension. Under Charles VI. (1685-1740) the Gateway Building between cabbage market (Kohlmarkt) and Courtyard by Johann Lucas von Hildebrandt was transformed into a monumental triumphal arch as a representative sign of the imperial power. However, this construction does not exist anymore, it had to give way to the Michael tract.

Baroque redesign of the Hofburg

In the early 18th Century set in a buoyant construction activity. The emperor commissioned Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach with the construction of new stables outside the city walls and a new court library.

After the death of Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach, his son Joseph Emanuel Fischer von Erlach took over the construction management for the stables and the court library. 1725 the palatial front of the stables was completed. As already during the construction period has been established that the stables were dimensioned too small, the other wings were not realized anymore. The with frescoes by Daniel Gran and statues of Emperors by Paul Strudel equipped Court Library was completed in 1737.

Opposite the Leopoldine Wing a new Reich Chancellery should be built. 1723 was entrusted with the planning Johann Lucas von Hildebrandt. 1726, however, the supervision the Reich Chancellery was withdrawn and transferred to the Chancery and thus Joseph Emanuel Fischer von Erlach, who also designed the adjacent Court Chamber and the front to St. Michael's Church. 1728 the Court Chamber and the facade of the two buildings were completed. By Joseph Emanuel Fischer von Erlach was also the Michaelertrakt, the connection between the Winter Riding School and the Imperial Chancellery Wing planned. However, since the old Burgtheater the building was in the path, this was half done for a period of 150 years and was only completed in 1889-1893 by Ferdinand Kirschner .

Under Maria Theresia (1717-1780) the at St. Michael's Square located and only as remnants existing Ballhaus was adapted as a court theater. Beside the Emperor hospital in return a new ball house was built, being eponymous for the Ballhausplatz. Subsequently, there occured again and again conversions and adaptations: reconstruction of the comedy hall according to the plans of Jean Nicolas Jadot into two ballrooms, the small and large ball room (1744-1748). The transformation of the two halls (from 1760), repair of the Court Library, and from 1769 onwards the design of the Josephsplatz took place under Joseph Nicolas of Pacassi. These buildings were completed by the successor of Pacassi Franz Anton Hillebrandt. As an extension for the Court Library in the southeast the Augustinian tract was built.

Other structural measures under Maria Theresia: establishment of the court pharmacy into the Stallburg, relocation of the in the Stallburg housed art collection into the Upper Belvedere, razing of the two remaining towers of the old castle, the construction of two stairways (the ambassador stairway and the column stairways (Botschafter- and Säulenstiege).

Extensions in the 19th Century and early 20th century

Francis II (1768-1835) gave Duke Albert of Saxe-Teschen and his wife Marie Christine (daughter of Maria Theresa) the Palais Tarouca south of the Augustinian monastery. From 1800 this was remodeled by Louis Montoyer and extended by a wing building to today's Albertina.

1804, Francis II proclaimed the hereditary Empire of Austria and was, consequently, as Franz I the first Emperor of Austria. With the by Napoleon Bonaparte provoked abdication of the emperor in 1806 ended the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation.

1809 part of the old bastions was blown up at the castle in consequence of the war with Napoleon, and after it blazed. Towards today's ring road, then new outworks were created (the so-called Hornwerkskurtine and the Escarpen). In the early 20-ies of the 19th Century were layed out three gardens: the private imperial castle garden with two of Louis Remy planned steel/glass- constructed greenhouses, Heroes Square (Heldenplatz) with avenues and the People's garden (Volksgarten) with the Theseus Temple (Pietro Nobile). At the same time, emerged also the new, 1821 by Luigi Cagnola began and 1824 by Pietro Nobile completed outer castle gate.

1846 was built a monumental memorial to Francis I in Inner Castle Square. In the turmoil of the 1848 revolution the Stallburg was stormed and fought fiercely at the outer castle square and the castle gate. As a result, the roof of the court library burned. The political consequences of the revolution were the abdication of Emperor Ferdinand I (1793-1875), the dismissal of the dreaded Chancellor Clemens Lothar Fürst Metternich and the enthronement of Ferdinand's nephew Franz Joseph.

In the first years of the reign of Emperor Franz Joseph I (1830-1916) the royal stables of Leopold Mayer have been redesigned and expanded. As part of the expansion of the city, the city walls were razed and instead of the fortifications arose place for a magnificent boulevard, the Ringstrasse. 1862, the idea of ​​an Imperial Forum by architect Ludwig Förster was born. On the surface between the Hofburg and the Imperial Stables should arise court museums (Museum of Art History and Museum of Natural History).

At the outer Castle Square (today's Heldenplatz) were in the 60-ies of the 19th Century the by Anton Dominik Fernkorn created equestrian statues of Archduke Charles (victor over Napoleon at the Battle of Aspern) and Prince Eugene of Savoy (victor over the Turks in several battles) set up.

After an unsuccessful architectural competition on the design of the Heroes' Square area in 1869 Gottfried Semper could be won. This led to the involuntary and not frictionless collaboration with Carl Freiherr von Hasenauer. Planned was a two-wing complex beyond the ring road, with the two flanking twin museums (Art and Natural History Museum) and the old stables as a conclusion. 1871 was began with the Erdaushebungen (excavations) for the museums. 1889, the Museum of Natural History was opened, and in 1891, the Museum of Art History.

On a watercolor from 1873 by Rudolf Ritter von Alt (1812 - 1905) an overall view of the Imperial Forum is shown.

1888, the Old Court Theatre at St. Michael's Square was demolished, as the new KK Court Theatre (today's Burgtheater), built by Gottfried Semper and Carl Freiherr von Hasenauer, was finished. The since 150 years existing construction site at St. Michael's Square could be completed. The roundel got a dome, the concave curved Michaelertrakt was finalized by Ferdinand Kirschner. The once by Lorenzo Mattielli created cycle of statues on the facade of the Reich Chancellery was continued with four other "deeds of Hercules' at he side of the passage arches. 1893, the Hofburg had finally got its ostentatious show facade.

1901, the old greenhouses were demolished and replaced by an orangery with Art Nouveau elements according to plans by Friedrich Ohmann (completed in 1910). In 1907, the Corps de Logis, which forms the end of the Neue Burg, is completed. Since Emperor Franz Joseph I in budding 20th Century no longer was interested in lengthy construction projects and the heir to the throne Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Este (1863-1914) was against the establishment of a throne hall building, but was in favour for the construction of a smaller ballroom tract, the implementation of the second wing was dropped. After the assassination of Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Este in Sarajevo, the First World War broke out. Franz Joseph I died in 1916. A great-nephew of Franz Joseph I, Charles I (1887-1922), succeeded to the throne, however, he held only two years. The end of the First World War also meant the end of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. On 11 November 1918 the First Republic was proclaimed. As Karl although renounced to government business, but not to the throne, he had to go into exile with his family.

The Imperial Palace in the 20th century

The interior design of the ballroom tract and the Neue Burg continued despite the end of the monarchy until 1926. By the end of the monarchy, many of the buildings lost their purpose. Furthermore used or operated was the Riding School. The stables were used from 1921 as an exhibition site of the Vienna Fair ("Fair Palace"). In 1928, the Corps de Logis, the Museum of Ethnology, until then part of the Natural History Museum, opened. In 1935 the collection of weapons (Court, Hunting and Armour Chamber) of the Kunsthistorisches Museum (Museum of Art History) came in the Neue Burg.

1933/1934 the outer castle gate by Rudolf Wondracek was transformed into the hero monument to the victims of the First World War. 1935 emerged on the left and on the right of the castle gate the pylon portals with eagle sculptures by William Frass. In March 1938, the Heroes Square and the balcony of the Neue Burg gained notoriety after Adolf Hitler to the cheering crowd at the Heldenplatz announced the annexation of Austria to the German Reich. The Nazis were planning a redesign of the Heroes' Square to a paved parade and ceremony space. The plans were not realized since 1943 a fire pond at Heldenplatz was dredged and the place was later used for agriculture. In the Trade Fair Palace during the period of Nazism propaganda events were held.

During the war, the Hofburg (Imperial Stables, St. Augustine's Church, Albertina, the official building of the Federal President, the current building of the Federal Chancellery) was severely damaged by bombing: The first President of the Second Republic, Dr. Karl Renner, in 1946 the Office of the President moved into the Leopoldine Wing (in the former living quarters of Maria Theresa and Joseph II).

During the occupation time the seat of the Inter-Allied Commission was housed in the Neue Burg.

1946 first events were held in the Exhibition Palace again, and were built two large halls in the main courtyard of the Exhibition Palace. In the course of the reconstruction war damages were disposed and the Imperial Palace was repaired, the barn castle (Stallburg) erected again. In 1958, in the ballroom wing the convention center has been set up.

1962-1966 the modern Library of the Austrian National Library is housed in the Neue Burg.

1989 emerged for the first time the notion of a "Museum Quarter". The museum quarter should include contemporary art and culture. The oversized design by Laurids and Manfred Ortner but was downsized several times after resistance of a citizens' initiative. It was implemented a decade later.

1992 the two Redoutensäle (ball rooms) burned out completely. Yet shortly after the fire was started with reconstruction. The roof was reconstructed and the little ball room (Kleiner Redoutensaal) could be restored. The big ball room, however, was renovated and designed with paintings by Josef Mikl. In 1997 the two halls were reopened.

From 1997-2002 the Museum Quarter (including Kunsthalle Wien, Leopold Collection) was rebuilt and the old building fabric renovated.

Was began in 1999 with the renovation of the Albertina. The by a study building, two exhibit halls and an underground storage vault extended Museum was reopened in 2003. The Albertina ramp was built with an oversized shed roof by Hans Hollein.

In 2006, additional rooms for the convention center were created by the boiler house yard.

(Source: Trenkler, Thomas: "The Hofburg Wien", Vienna, 2004)

www.burghauptmannschaft.at/php/detail.php?ukatnr=12185&am....

Voronezh is a city and the administrative centre of Voronezh Oblast in southwestern Russia straddling the Voronezh River, located 12 kilometers (7.5 mi) from where it flows into the Don River. The city sits on the Southeastern Railway, which connects western Russia with the Urals and Siberia, the Caucasus and Ukraine, and the M4 highway (Moscow–Voronezh–Rostov-on-Don–Novorossiysk). In recent years the city has experienced rapid population growth, rising in 2021 to 1,057,681, up from 889,680 recorded in the 2010 Census, making it the 14th-most populous city in the country.

For many years, the hypothesis of the Soviet historian Vladimir Zagorovsky dominated: he produced the toponym "Voronezh" from the hypothetical Slavic personal name Voroneg. This man allegedly gave the name of a small town in the Chernigov Principality (now the village of Voronizh in Ukraine). Later, in the 11th or 12th century, the settlers were able to "transfer" this name to the Don region, where they named the second city Voronezh, and the river got its name from the city. However, now many researchers criticize the hypothesis, since in reality neither the name of Voroneg nor the second city was revealed, and usually the names of Russian cities repeated the names of the rivers, but not vice versa.

A comprehensive scientific analysis was conducted in 2015–2016 by the historian Pavel Popov. His conclusion: "Voronezh" is a probable Slavic macrotoponym associated with outstanding signs of nature, has a root voron- (from the proto-Slavic vorn) in the meaning of "black, dark" and the suffix -ezh (-azh, -ozh). It was not “transferred” and in the 8th - 9th centuries it marked a vast territory covered with black forests (oak forests) - from the mouth of the Voronezh river to the Voronozhsky annalistic forests in the middle and upper reaches of the river, and in the west to the Don (many forests were cut down). The historian believes that the main "city" of the early town-planning complex could repeat the name of the region – Voronezh. Now the hillfort is located in the administrative part of the modern city, in the Voronezh upland oak forest. This is one of Europe's largest ancient Slavic hillforts, the area of which – more than 9 hectares – 13 times the area of the main settlement in Kyiv before the baptism of Rus.

In it is assumed that the word "Voronezh" means bluing - a technique to increase the corrosion resistance of iron products. This explanation fits well with the proximity to the ancient city of Voronezh of a large iron deposit and the city of Stary Oskol. As well as the name of Voroneț Monastery known for its blue shade.

Folk etymology claims the name comes from combining the Russian words for raven (ворон) and hedgehog (еж) into Воронеж. According to this explanation two Slavic tribes named after the animals used this combination to name the river which later in turn provided the name for a settlement. There is not believed to be any scientific support for this explanation.

In the 16th century, the Middle Don basin, including the Voronezh river, was gradually conquered by Muscovy from the Nogai Horde (a successor state of the Golden Horde), and the current city of Voronezh was established in 1585 by Feodor I as a fort protecting the Muravsky Trail trade route against the slave raids of the Nogai and Crimean Tatars. The city was named after the river.

17th to 19th centuries

In the 17th century, Voronezh gradually evolved into a sizable town. Weronecz is shown on the Worona river in Resania in Joan Blaeu's map of 1645. Peter the Great built a dockyard in Voronezh where the Azov Flotilla was constructed for the Azov campaigns in 1695 and 1696. This fleet, the first ever built in Russia, included the first Russian ship of the line, Goto Predestinatsia. The Orthodox diocese of Voronezh was instituted in 1682 and its first bishop, Mitrofan of Voronezh, was later proclaimed the town's patron saint.

Owing to the Voronezh Admiralty Wharf, for a short time, Voronezh became the largest city of South Russia and the economic center of a large and fertile region. In 1711, it was made the seat of the Azov Governorate, which eventually morphed into the Voronezh Governorate.

In the 19th century, Voronezh was a center of the Central Black Earth Region. Manufacturing industry (mills, tallow-melting, butter-making, soap, leather, and other works) as well as bread, cattle, suet, and the hair trade developed in the town. A railway connected Voronezh with Moscow in 1868 and Rostov-on-Don in 1871.

Olympus Digital PEN E-P1

Lumix G 20mm f/1.7 ASPH

Aperture Priority Mode

f/5.6

ISO 200

20mm

1/10

Metering: Matrix

White Balance: Flash

Sensor Stabilization: On (IS1)

No Photoshop

No HDR

No tripod

Part 3.

Making baby spiders!

Tras varios meses cursando la asignatura he llegado a la conclusión de que el agua, como pongo en el título de la foto, es "la gran maltratada" por muchos en la actualidad y sobre todo por los mal llamados países desarrollados.

Por eso tomé la foto de un charco, algo que doy de lado, que piso con las ruedas de los coches y que al fin y al cabo ignoro desde mi cosmovisión europea. Cuando pasé por delante de este charco a la vuelta de clase me paré a pensar en cuánto tiempo hacía que no veía ninguno (obviando estas últimas semanas donde si ha llovido) y me volví a preguntar conceptos de la asignatura: la aridez de nuestra zona contra los elevados requerimientos de agua de nuestros principales sectores económicos, la escasez física y social que sufrimos ¿por qué los planes de sequía se crean cuando estamos inmersos en una y no antes?. ¿Por qué los marcos institucionales permiten el despilfarro de agua de nuestra tierra? ¿Quién gana realmente con estas políticas de agua y de dónde provienen?

Comparando esta última foto con la primera que tomé (mi perra bebiendo de una fuente) me doy cuenta de que en la perteneciente al principio del curso fui yo el que "produjo" un charco en el suelo y que ahora me detengo a pensar delante de uno.

Volviendo a los conceptos, me pregunto que cúal es la huella hídrica de este charco. Para que se forme, el agua ha debido viajar desde un lugar en el que se evaporó, ese lugar puede que fuera un río, un lago, una regadera con la que regar plantas o el propio mar, puede que antes viniera de algún lugar donde se usó y después (en el mejor de los casos) se tratara para devolverla al medio. Para devolverla al medio tuvo que provenir de una actividad de uso no consuntivo y después se usó agua para tratar agua y "limpiarla",... Entonces, ¿cuál es realmente la huella hídrica de este charco? ¿Es el término de la huella hídrica útil? ¿Se creará algún nuevo término que realmente lleve a las personas a pagar por toda el agua usada durante cualquier actividad no vital? ¿Veré ese término en vida?

Concluyo esta reflexión sabiendo que he conseguido avanzar un poco más hacia una visión más integradora como lo es la de la economía ecológica pero que no podré avanzar más hasta que no viva desde dentro los problemas de pasar sed pero, ¿quiero pasar sed?

Why I Grew My Hair Long

Before the Columbia police riot in 1968, I could not convince the people of Waterloo that I was not in a rock band. As I was the first boy to wear his hair long in Waterloo that is the only thing they could think of and my reality could not touch their conclusion jumping. It was so bad that the manager of the Walgreen's on the corner of East 4th and Sycamore asked me for my autograph. In the famous Balcony of Blacks' Department store a young black guy came up to me with culture shock on his face and said, "I'm from Chicago and you understand man, you're the only one here who understands." Well I didn't know what he was talking about but it would not have been a comfort to him to admit it so I disassembled, while he expressed his dismay at the culture of Waterloo.

My reality was that in 1964 the barbers' union declared 14 year old boys were adults and had to pay adult prices for haircuts. I felt that as I could not vote, drive, marry, work full time, or join the army, I should not be considered an adult at the barbers till.

The Beatles were becoming popular at that time and I decided that I would not cut my hair until I could vote, and could get away with it as longer hair was being worn on the East Coast. And as written, it sort of worked, for a while.

Reaction Rears its' Head

As I wrote, I did get away with it for awhile but then in 1968 after the police went nuts at Columbia University in NYC, David Brinkley, of the Huntley-Brinkley Report, issued the pronouncement that all 'hippies' were commie homos who wanted to screw your daughters and take away your Cadillacs. For those of you who do not remember, Huntley and Brinkley were NBC's answer to Walter Cronkite. Of course Waterloo believed every word and the same people who had been asking for my autograph now started throwing rocks at me. This actually happened. They threw rocks. Not everyone though, some children just hid behind trees if they saw me. Once on Franklin Street, Phyllis Singer, who wrote a column for the Waterloo Courier newspaper, rolled down her car window and yelled, "Are you a boy or are you a girl?' as she was driven past me, but perhaps the women in her family wore beards and she was naturally confused. One never knows.

The Police Preserve and Protect

My response was that I was not going to be forced into complying with totalitarians and so kept my hair long far longer than I had planned or wished. If the idiots had stopped trying to force me to cut it I would have, I was tired of it's upkeep, but they were too bigoted and too stupid to do so. It was just wild. Once a fat motorcycle cop (by the way, he was also a part time barber) put his machine up on sidewalk along East Fifth Street just across from the County Hall and walked it a few inches behind me gunning the motor. I got rid of him by dodging into a bank and waiting for him to go on with whatever he thought his job was.

Another time, I was returning home at night after mailing a letter at the Post Office when on East Fourth just below Mulberry a squad car ran at speed up onto the sidewalk almost hitting the front of Lincoln's Office Supply before stopping. The cop started screaming out of his window at me. The advice from those old British adventure movies about great white hunters does work: stay calm and look them in the eye. A calm quiet tone in word and posture, polite responses in my best English and respectful inquire into why he was so red faced hysterical did the trick. We didn't call the police pigs because we didn't like them; we called them pigs because they wanted us dead. And wanted it why? Just because? We were being taught that America is a free country, we learnt the hard way that it isn't; at best it is a continuing attempt at a free country.

It was with that background of abuse and hatred that I went off to California and was so dumb that I thought no one would pay any attention to me. Well, I was verbally and almost physically attacked by an Asian woman on Market Street in San Francisco but her friend dragged her away before she started swinging, and even the freaks there stared at me.

One night In Santa Cruz while crossing the Soquel Bridge a couple young men spoke to me as though I were a human being. It was the first time in six years that had happened and I no longer knew how to respond. I was dumb struck and nonplussed. I couldn't even speak to them. I almost felt like jumping off the bridge. Puzzled, they when on and as they did I heard them speculate that I must be tripping on some very heavy acid. But it was just PTSD from years of trying to be free in that hell hole Waterloo, Iowa where three months before I had stepped out of my home for a breath of night air, and was standing under my bedroom window when a car load of cops came up the alley and tried to arrest me for house breaking. But then the night that a face covered in blood pressed against the door window between the street and our living room and we let in a woman, who had been thrown out of her 'boyfriends' car for not putting out, the police had to be invited over but did not respond to our call.

the Life Political

I still didn't cut my hair when I became old enough to vote as I felt the morons I lived among would have thought that they had won by force of their oppression. I didn't cut it until the Arab oil embargo during the Carter Administration when my fellow Americans were all so worried about their gasoline they completely forgot my hair. It's really sad that Carter, who was trying to do something about global warming, yes dear we knew about then, if we cared to, was punished for high gas prices we might have had a chance to stave off the disaster facing us today, but no we were too stupid, and got Reagan the mental dinosaur.

So the hair was still long when I first walked into the Waterloo City Hall looking for where my polling place was hidden. At the City Hall I found the signage conflicting with itself. Like a comic gag with arrows pointing away from each other and others pointing toward each other with the words "This Way"…and others just pointing to a blank wall. The Police Station was, however, in plain sight at the end of a hall so I went there to ask for directions.

The cop at the desk didn't know where the polls were any more than the person who had put up the signs but ask me to wait. He was gone for awhile I thought perhaps if he had gone to look for the Poles, perhaps in Warsaw, but he had gone to summoned Detective Morelock who came out from behind somewhere.

Now this was not the Detective Morelock* who was arrested for burglary while on duty but his brother the other detective Morelock. He asked me back into an interrogation room where he left me for quite some time so I had a chance to examine the dust layers on the filing cabinets, although not a geologist, I was impressed. Upon returning Morelock began to ask me all sorts of questions which got too personal when he started asking about income which I didn't have as no one would hire me because of my hair. In my family we don't talk to outsiders about money anymore than bowel movements or sex. So I started asking questions myself - just what was going on? It was a fishing trip trying to find proof that I was a drug dealer?

He claimed that a woman had been raped on the west side and that I matched the description of the rapist exactly. Well at the time he claimed the rape happened I had been at an All Soul's Mass at Saint Joseph's Church where maybe four hundred persons had seen me (they would have been looking at my hair and beard not the priest). I mentioned that there were a few witnesses to my whereabouts then asked, "So this rapist has shoulder length blond hair and a red beard?" "Well", he stammered, "there isn't anything about a beard in the report. But he wore the same color shirt you have on." I was wearing a paisley shirt.

I said, “in that case I think I will just go and vote NOW. By the way, do you know where the polls are in this building?" He didn't. I found them before the night was over and voted for the first time in my life. I voted for Gus Hall, the Communist Party candidate.

Quite a forced march, as In 1964 I was a Goldwater Boy, the only one at East High, and got hell for it. But I really did think he would win the war and the Democrats would just dick around throwing away lives and wealth hoping the Vietnamese would go away. I was wrong about Goldwater but right about the Democrats.

Earlier in 1968, while still taking politics seriously, I crashed both Democratic and Republican caucuses and at the Republicans spoke for Rockefeller, and got to vote for him! Rockefeller lost that caucus by a landslide, the American voters as usual preferring a dildo. I was 19 but no one asked for id.

Young enough to die for a politician but too young to vote for one. I went to the Democrats in the name of reason over power. I went to the Republicans to speak for Truth and honesty over power. America voted against both.

Be free.

PS during the '60's, '70's, '80's, and most of the '90's the word mullet for a hairstyle was unknown and never used. It appears to have been coined in 2002 by a pair of jokers who wrote a dreary little book making fun of men's hairstyles. Not knowing that long hair was just that and not caring they made up some crap name.

P.S. One week before this photo was shot I made my first commercial airline passage. We left from Waterloo on Ozark Airlines, but before boarding I was spoken to by a pair of Airport personnel who asked me back into that little room where you don't want to go.

What was the problem? A woman passenger flying on that run had objected to me. She said she wouldn't fly if I were allowed on the plane? Why? The top three buttons of my shirt were undone, not my pants but my shirt, the top three buttons of my shirt. She just could not bear to be on a plane with anyone dressed like that! I was too astonished to even laugh. But having already learnt that to be graceful is a good way to live as grace makes life more bearable for others, I simply buttoned those buttons, asking if that might not assuage her. The airport thugettes thought it would work and perhaps they made it so.

Go in Grace, the Story has Ended.

David Weldon

Cats have nine lives, I have more than that. Cops in the Next Century

September 25, 2010 at 4:04 AM

One late summer's’ night, upon returning home I got out of my car locking the door behind me, only then realizing that my only set of keys was still in the ignition, making things worse, my house keys were on that chain.

My car has very good locks by the way. And I couldn’t break into my home as I have done in the past. The doors and windows were not as compliant as they had been on other occasions. So I couldn’t call a locksmith or the police. In desperation I asked the next door I asked the neighbor, who is in law school and is a part time cop in a small town, to call the police for me to unlock the car. He was resistant at first but I talked him into it.

Iowa City came rather quickly, it seemed to be a slow night, but couldn’t open the car. That officer refused to give up and so called another officer.

Three more calls and two and a half hours later there were in front of my home, two Iowa City cops each with his own car (one was the K-nine), the University of Iowa K-nine unit, and a unit from Coralville, four neighbors one of whom had been riding with the Coralville cop, oh and his girlfriend was with him. He’s a Palestinian party boy and a good kid at heart, when he overheard one of the cops complaining to me that we needed a wedge and it was a mystery that none of the cops had one, our party boy piped up that he had one and ran off to get it. I looked at the cop and asked, “I wonder what he was doing with one of those.” The cop replied that he was just wondering that too.

And then the keys were in my hand.

They were all having such a good time laughing and joking, teasing each other for not being able to open the simple little door that I don't feel bad for having them out. But what an opera! All we needed was beer, and brats on the grill and it would have been a perfect night.

* Waterloo Courier 23 December 1970 page 1

To edit at trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/5600207?searchTerm=w.%20...

Done….. years ago…

On a visit to the US vehicle factories Sep. 1918.

FULL SPEED AHEAD.

OUT TO WIN THE WAR.

MARVELS IN AMERICA.

(From Mr. "W. A. Crowie.)

Detroit, September 7.

I wish I could transfer every Australian to America for a few weeks to see for themselves the unanimity of capital

and labor and the whole nation for the wining of this war.

There is evidence everywhere of no "let up," with a continued increase of effort to make the German nation know that America is in the war for nothing but victory. .

This week I went over the Ford ship building plant. The boats, which are over 200 ft. long, are housed in a large building, and 18 are being built at one time.

The building is situated several miles from any water, and a canal has been built to the works. When a launching takes place the boat is put on an elevator which drops down into the canal, and the steamer floats off. The steamers are built on large moving railway trucks which allow them to be moved from one special production gang to another, who progressively only carry out certain special operations.

It is a most inspiring sight. Before very long launchings are to take place at the rate of one vessel complete a day. I am confident this will be accomplished.

I have been over several motor car factories of repute which are no longer manufacturing motor cars. Their total

output is devoted to munitions and gun carriages. The quantity of shells both for aeroplane bombing work and the guns being produced would give the impression that it would be impossible ever to exhaust them at the front. The general opinion here is that if the war continues on the present scale the production of motor cars for general sale will be stopped by January 1.

Many motor car factories are patriotically devoting their energies in this direction in anticipation of a possible Act of Congress.

Only yesterday an Act went through Congress making the whole United States dry for alcobolic liquors until after the de-

mobilisation of the fighting forces when peace is concluded.

Considering the great interests involved this will give some idea of how the country is backing the President. One cannot help coming to the conclusion that instead of America being the greatest democracy in the world, it is really

the greatest autocracy.

The President's powers are unlimited.

Last Sunday a request from the powers that be went into force, that motor cars should not be used on Sundays so as to conserve gasoline, and practically the whole of the motoring public adopted the suggestion, thus conserving many hundreds of thousands of gallons of gasoline for the

benefit of the Allies.

The streets of Detroit were almost without automobiles on

Sundays. Yet on every business day of the week I had to drive my car some times around several city blocks before I

could find ' place to park it.

Last Monday was "Labor Day," one of the four great national days of America.

To show the progress made during the last four years in general motor engine design it has got to be said that at the annual motor boat races at Monaco, in the South of France, before the war it was unusual for the fastest boats to attain more than about 35 miles an hour. On the lake here last Monday the vessels that won the race attained the speed of 70 miles an hour, and several did over 60 miles an hour.

These races were wonderful.

I wish I could impress on the Australians generally the great amount of prosperity which has come about in America to the agricultural community especially, and which mostly concerns us, by the putting down of good roads and the provision of irrigation. I consider these are most essential for the success of Australia in coming generations, to encourage both immigration and the right kind of settlement on the land.

In motoring through to New York I had an opportunity of seeing several military camps, each of which is training approximately 50,000 men. Over 1,000,000 soldiers are in constant training in these camps, and over 1,500,000 are already in France.

As each camp empties of trained men it is filled up with a fresh draft for training.

America has surprised even the most optimistic of Americans.

from trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/5600207?searchTerm=w.%...

see also down below!

Debating last week’s EU Summit with Presidents Michel and von der Leyen and EU Foreign Policy Chief Borrell, MEPs united in showing solidarity and giving more help to Ukraine.

On Wednesday morning, MEPs discussed the conclusions of the European Council meeting of 24-25 March 2022, including the latest developments in the war against Ukraine. They called for further sanctions against Russia, additional support for Ukraine and for reducing the EU’s energy dependency.

More to the session: www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en

These photos are free to use under Creative Commons license CC-BY-4.0 and must be credited: "CC-BY-4.0: © European Union 2022 – Source: EP". (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) No model release form if applicable. For bigger HR files please contact: webcom-flickr(AT)europarl.europa.eu

Now What? 🤔 Didn’t you originally come to the Fabulous Las Vegas Strip for shameless rest and relaxation? So now that you have finally returned to your New York-New York Hotel & Casino home base — What Marvelously Magnificent Midnight Mischief are you prepared to immediately instigate!?!? There’s Mambo and Merengue nightclub dancing going on at Gonzalez y Gonzalez! There’s Dueling Pianos still going on at The Bar At Times Square! There’s Merry Cowboy Mischief going on upstairs at Coyote Ugly! And then there’s Pizza going on at Sirrico’s NY-Style Pizza! So are you prepared to burn an hour or two flying Solo at the NY-NY nightclubs, or are you ready to conserve your energy and grab a pizza and just retire to your hotel room for a good night’s sleep? After all, you have a busy day ahead of you as you celebrate your birthday. 🤔

en la foto Viviana Yañez y creo que Erwin

hoy de cumpleaños mi hnita :) y Valentina Matalama (amiga y model en alguna de mis fotos tambien) saludos para ellas de parte de mi :P

hoy a las 16:30 en el ex teatro Enrique Molina, Concepción visita guiada

la foto es del 1er día

not edited, unposed & not cropped (and with tripod :D)

View On Black

View On Black & Large

View On White

View On White & Large

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.

Ecclesiastes 12:13 King James Version

role.bandcamp.com/album/the-whole-duty-of-man

Time to move on.

In conclusion, I believe that Virtual Education and education via online courses is a wonderful innovation to the world of education. I understand it's advantages and disadvantages but I continue to believe that with education being as accessible as it is now with the innovations of distance learning, we can help educate so many more people to become citizens of the world.

techreplies.com/virtual-education-technology-applied-to-t...

After an entertaining chase from Lake City, MN to La Crosse, WI I finally called it quits with this extra section of 280. Sure was awesome to see so much CSX power together on the CP, especially with the SD50-2 leading the way!

I love you so fooking much.

So, after a drought of not buying any direct Lego sets for several months (mainly because the prices are steep, and because I tended to get an annoying number of poor pieces in new sets) I decided to take a chance, and buy a brand new set from le toy store.

I open it, and find this. I think you can all come to your own conclusion about what I am thinking.

The most annoying thing, is that one of the only reasons I bought the set, was because I want a new set that I could buy and immediately build, without having to wait a few weeks for a Bricklink seller to ship to me. Now, I have to wait for Lego to ship me a replacement piece, which will certainly take longer than what a BL seller would take to ship an entire set.

The Great Western Railway was the probably the earliest large scale user of the steam railcar (often called railmotor), although it was the London & North Eastern Railway that took the concept to its conclusion with the Sentinel and Clayton railcars of the 1930s. However, whilst none of the latter have survived, we are fortunate to have a superbly restored 1908 GWR steam railcar to remind us of this most interesting aspect of branch line railway development.

This fictional rendition, based on an original image provided by Justin Foulger, depicts the classic GWR chocolate and cream livery that superseded the lined crimson lake scheme in which the actual vehicle is preserved. In reality, it is unlikely that any steam railcars survived long enough to carry this scheme (31-Oct-11).

STRICTLY COPYRIGHT: You may download a copy of any image for your personal use, but it would be an offence to remove the copyright information or to post it elsewhere without the express permission of the copyright owner.

Sadly we will be shutting down the pool this weekend.

Finally took photos in downtown Des Moines and it was probably the best and I have a lot more stuff coming up.

Check out my Blog.

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like my Facebook page!

(Colbie Caillat: Circles) Let's see how many of her fans get diverted over here

Firstly. DavidStGr. I have beef with you. I thought you'd like this, it's calm-er ! But no, frantic was a word you used to describe it. There's just no pleasing some people is there? Just Joking David, Just Joking. I used my new light toy to make this and everything. I had a brainwave and POOF ! This was actually my first try, and I tried about 10 times, but I came to the conclusion that this was the best. I think when I don't actually methodically think about painting, something actually comes good. We'll see what the viewers think shall we; I put it to you, light painters. Not thinking does light painting a lot of good !

Straight . Out . Of . The . Camera

I'm going to watch the rugby right about now, I'm immensely excited due to the fact Sebastién Chabal is playing. He is hot to trott. I love him !

What Do I Use As a Light Source?

taro taking his pictures for netflix 'ads' (see more here: tar0shiba.tumblr.com/post/967950437/shibaadvertisements2 )

see the full set of taro shiba advertisements here: tar0shiba.tumblr.com/tagged/shiba_advertisement/chrono

or follow taro on twitter (@_tar0_)

I just love women (Vase flying aside my head). I just wanted to start to articulate my limitations … ;-)

I need women because they always know where things are.

~Voltaire

Whatever women do they must do twice as well as men to be thought half as good. Luckily, this is not

difficult.

~Charlotte Whitton

A woman is like a tea bag, you can not tell how strong she is until you put her in hot water.

~ Eleanor Roosevelt

The trouble with some women is they get all excited about nothing – and then they marry him.

~Cher

Ah, women. They make the highs higher and the lows more frequent.

~Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

I have seen too much not to know that the impression of a woman may be more valuable than the conclusion of a male analytical reasoner.

~Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

with small editorial corrections ;-)

December 15 marked the conclusion of a four-month gang and violence reduction initiative called Operation Triple Beam in San Antonio.

Since September 18, the U.S. Marshals Service Lone Star Fugitive Task Force, San Antonio Police Department, Bexar County Sheriff’s Office and Texas Department of Public Safety have removed 70 guns from San Antonio streets, arrested 215 people, seized $233,373 during drug related arrests and taken out of circulation a variety of illegal drugs with a street value of $176,153. The agencies involved also conducted 51 sex offender compliance checks to ensure offenders were following court mandated restrictions.

Led by the U.S. Marshals Service Gang Enforcement Unit, Operation Triple Beam focuses multiple agencies on targeted areas to reduce gang violence and dismantle gang infrastructures. U.S. Marshals fugitive task forces have the unique ability to bring multiple agencies with a wide variety of jurisdictions to bear, and the Gang Enforcement Unit is able to assist with funding the additional hours needed to conduct the focused warrant operations and search warrants.

Photo by: Shane T. McCoy / US Marshals

S. Maria Maggiore

Nel Libro pontificale si legge che Simplicio papa (a. 468‑483) dedicavit basilicam beati apostoli Andreae IVXTA BASILICAM S. MARIAE. Che questa basilica di s. Maria sia la liberiana è cosa certissima. Un' omelia di s. Gregorio il Grande in alcuni codici porta il titolo: (habit) in basilica s. Andreae POST PRAESEPE. Infatti è cosa notissima che la grande basilica dell' Esquilino fino dal secolo VI almeno ebbe fra le solenni sue denominazioni anche quelle ad Praesepe o post Praesepe; fu pure chiamata basilica s. Mariae, basilica Liberii, e fino dal secolo IV basilica Sicinini. Ammiano Marcellino così la denomina, descrivendo i tumulti che vi accaddero, per lo scisma di Ursicino contro Damaso. Da s. Girolamo e Rufino fu detta Sicininum, sulla quale denominazione il ch. De Rossi ha fatto una scoperta di grande valore nel codice vaticano 4961, ove si conserva la raccolta autentica dei documenti spettanti allo scisma predetto. Fra questi v' ha il rescritto di Valentiniano che ordina al prefetto di Roma di restituire al legittimo pontefice la chiesa occupata dagli scismatici; rescritto che il Baronio copiò dal predetto codice stanza indicare di quale chiesa parli. Ciò spiega il titolo del documento che dice così: ubi reddetur basilica Sicinini. La storia adunque della basilica di Sicinino spetta alle origini ed ai fasti di quella del papa Liberio, che, dopo la morte di lui, fu invasa dai fautori dell' antipapa Ursicino. Quivi si venne alle mani fra i partigiani di Damaso e di Ursicino e il sangue fu sparso in copia. Riepilogando adunque le denominazioni primitive della chiesa, troviamo cronologicamente le seguenti: basilica Liberii, basilica Sicinini, basilica maior, basilica s. Mariae, ad Praesepe; poi dopo il secolo X, comparisce anche quello ad nives.

Questa insigne basilica romana, la più antica dedicata solennemente al culto della Vergine, fu dal terzo Sisto nel secolo V ricostruita e adorna a memoria dell' Efesino concilio. Ecco perchè sulla cima dell' arco trionfale e sopra l' epigrafe: XYSTVS EPISCOPVS SANCTAE PLEBI DEI, il pontefice volle che signoreggiasse come centro di tutta la vasta composizione il crucigero trono del codice divino corteggiato dagli apostoli Pietro e Paolo ed in alto dalle mistiche imagini personificanti i quattro evangelj. Ed innanzi tutto sapevamo dal papa Adriano I che Sisto III aveva ornato di musaici la basilica di s. Maria Maggiore. Quei musaici, benchè più volte restaurati, sono in gran parte i sistini del secolo V. È noto che l' eresia di Nestorio consisteva nell' ammettere in Cristo due persone colle due nature, e diceva che la Vergine non aveva da chiamarsi Genitrice di Dio, perchè aveva generato Cristo uomo, non Cristo Dio. Ora Sisto rifacendo la basilica di Liberio ad onore di Maria Madre di Dio, fece rappresentare quei soggetti evangelici che si potevano allegare in rova del domma. Essi sono l' Annunziazione dell' Angolo, la Presentazione al Tempio, l' Adorazione dei Magi, la Strage degli Innocenti, la disputa di Cristo nel tempio. È notevole in quei musaici che la testa di Erode è circondata dal consueto nimbo circolare ad indicare l' autorità regia.

La plebe di Dio alla quale Sisto dedicò la nobilissima opera sua, si vede espressa ai due piedi dell' archo nelle cue città di Gerusalemme e Betlemme, dinnanzi alle cui porte stanno gli eletti in sembiante di agnelli, che levano lo sguardo alle mistiche città, le cui mura sono decorate di pietre preziose.

Sisto III vi pose poi la seguente epigrafe:

VIRGO MARIA TIBI SIXTUS NOVA TEMPLA DICAVIT

DEGNA SALUTIFERO MUNERA VENTRE TUO

TU GENITRIX IGNARA VIRI QUESTE DENIQUE POETA

VISCERIBUS SALUIS EDITA NOSTRA SALUS

ECCE TUI TESTES VETERI SIBI PRAEMIA PORTANT

SUB PEDIBUSQUE IACET PASSIO CUIQUE SUA

FERRUM FLAMMA FERAE FLUVIUS SACRUMQUE VENENUM

TOT TAMEN HAS MORTES UNA CORONA MANET.

A Sisto appartiene pure la serie dei quadretti in musaico che adorna la parete della nave maggiore a destra e sinistra sopra la cornice sostituita dalle colonne che corre intorno, ove sono dipinte scene del vecchio testamento.

I musaici però della tribuna sono dell' epoca di Niccolò IV fatti per ordine del cardinale Iacopo Colonna: ivi si legge i nome dell' artefice, musaicista celebratissimo, Giacomo Turrita il quale vi appose la data del 1295. Non è questo da confondere col IACOBUS FRATER S. FRANCISCI, che nel 1225 compose i musaici della tribuna di s. Giovanni a Firenze. Il soggetto principale dell' abside è Maria coronata dal Redentore circondata da una gloria d' angeli: il Salvatore ha un libro in mano ove si legge: VENI ELECTA MEA ET PONAM IN QUESTE THRONU MEU; sotto il cielo vi sono le parole: MARIA VIRGO ASSUmPTA E AD ETHEREU THALAMU IN QUO REX REGUM STELLATO SEDET SOLIO. Ai due lati del trono di Maria stanno gli apostoli Pietro e Paolo, i due giorno, Francesco e Antonio da Padova. Al campo d' oro fanno cornice tralci di vite con augelli variopinti. Niccolò IV e il cardinale che avea commesso il lavoro, sono rappresentati genuflessi in piccolissime dimensioni, coll' epigrafe:º DNS IACOBVS DE COLVPNA CARDINALIS: all' angolo a sinistra si legge: IACOBUS TORRITI PICTOR H OP MOSIAC. FEC. Nel ventaglio della conca regna il monogramma. Nella zona inferiore è rappresentata la scena del mare con putti naviganti: nel centro sta il mistico monte coi quattro fiumi in mezzo ai quali sta la Gerusalemme celeste. Il grandioso musaico è opera di tanto splendore da non sembrare cosa terrena, ma celeste; è uno spettacolo incantevole che scuote l' anima esultante allorchè si trova in quel maggior tempio, monumento dei trionfi di Maria vincitrice dell' eresia.

Sotto il musaico si leggono i seguenti versi:

QUARTUS PAPA FUIT NICOLAUS VIRGINIS AEDEM

HANC LAPSAM REFCIT FITQUE VETUSTA NOVA

PETRUS APOSTOLICUM SERVET FRANCISCUS ALUMNUM

PROTEGAT OMNIPOTENS MATRE ROGANTE BEET.

Il cardinale Giacomo Colonna fece adornare di quei musaico l' abside sotto Niccolò IV non solo nella parte interna, ma anche nella esterna, lavori che furono compiuti dopo la morte del papa nel 1295. I musaici esterni furono però distrutti, ma il De Rossi ne ha trovato notizia in un codice barberiniano che crede opera di Niccolò Alemanni. Ivi era la Madonna fra le sante Agnese, Cecilia, Lucia, Caterina: vi era inoltre la scena dell' epifania.

La facciata della basilica è adorna di musaico nella parete elevata sopra il portico anteriore della medesima, costruito da Eugenio III (1145‑53). Ma quel musaico insigne fu mutilato e chiuso delle goffe arcate della grande loggia eretta per la benedizione papale da Benedetto XIV nel 1743.

Il musaico e diviso in due piani: nel superiore regna entro l' ovato del firmamento il Salvatore in trono fra quattro angeli, le lettere ΙϹ ΧϹ stanno ai due lati del nimbo, nel codice divino che ha in mano il Salvatore si legge: EGO SVM LVX MVNDI QVI; sotto questo sgabello del trono l' artefice segnò il nome: PHILIPP RVSVTI FECIT HOC OVS. Ai lati del Salvatore librano le ali su nubi di fuoco l' angelo e i tre animali simbolici; al disotto sono schierati otto santi in piedi; prima è la beata Vergine colle lettere ΜΗΡ ΘΥ, che teneva in mano un libro aperto. Segue l' apostolo Paolo sul cui volume si legge: MICHI VIVE. XC, poi san Giacomo col bordone di pellegrino, quindi s. Girolamo coll' epigrafe che diceva SCS IERONIMVS: dall' altra parte è il Battista, poi s. Pietro colla sua professione di fede scritta nel volume: TV ES CHRISTUS FILIUS DEI VIVI, poi s. Andrea, la cui epigrafe è guasta, ma dicea: INVENIM MESSIAM QD E ITP ATV XPC, poi un santo del mente rimane il buso col suo nome SCS MATTIAS, e nel volume aveva le lettere; C RESVRREXION E VITA FVTVRI SCLI. Ordinatori del nobile musaico furono i cardinali Giacomo e Pietro Colonna, le cui figure sono perite, ma l' nonimo barberianiano ne vide una coll' epigrafe: DNS IACOBVS DE COLVPNA CARDINALIS. Nel piano inferiore vi ha una serie di quadri, il primo a sinistra mutilate è chiarito dall' epigrafe: VGO M APPVIT PP LIBIO DICES FAC M ECC I MOTE SVPAGIO SIC NIX IDICAT, dalla quale si vede che il monte Esquilino era chiamato Superagio, del qual vocabolo il ch. De Rossi ritrova la parole contrafatte dalla pronuncia del popolo super aggerem, reminiscenza del famoso aggere di Servio Tullio che correva appunto innanzi a quella basilica. In quel quadro si vede Liberio dormiente cui apparisce la Vergine. Nel quadro seguente si vede una donna che veglia a piè di un letto e dietro la cortina un famiglio che dorme, e l' epigrafe dice: QUANDO EADEM NOCTE APPARUIT IOANNI PATRICIO IDEM DICENS NONIS AUGUSTI: il pontefice siede su un faldistorio ed ode il racconto di Giovanni come dice l' epigrafe: QUI IOANNES PATRITIUS IVIT AD PAPAM LIBERUM PRO VISIONE QUAM VIDERAT. Nell' ultimo quadro il Salvatore e la Vergine dal cielo fanno cader la neve sul monte Superagio ed il papa accompagnato da Giovanni e dal popolo delinea sulla neve la chiesa; nel campo è scritto: CONGREGATIO (nivis).

Nel 1295, Mino da Turrita compì il musaico nell' abside interna della basilica a spese di Giacomo Colonna, uno degli anzidetti cardinali. Tornando ora alla tribuna, ha dimostrato il ch. De Rossi che essa era di forma speciale, siccome abbiamo da un passo rimasto fin qui oscurissimo del libro pontificale nella vita di Pasquale I, concernente il presbiterio di quella basilica. Il biografo pontificio scrive che le matrone nella basilica liberiana stavano dietro la cattedra pontificale, e tanto ad essa vicine, che ascoltavano ogni parola detta dal pontefice ai suoi ministri. Come mai poteva ciò avvenire, scrive il De Rossi, se la cattedra era posta, secondo il rito solenne, nel mezzo dell' emiciclo e addossata alla parete dell' abside? Ora, la cosa è appunto evidente, se si ricordi che l' antica abside, innanzi che fosse rinnovata da Niccolò IV nel 1290, era sostituita da pilastri e da archi aperti comunicanti con un posteriore ambulacro, il quale ai tmk di Pasquale I era destinato alle matrone, matroneo, che poi fu incorporato al presbiterio ed al coro. Così era l' abside dei ss. Cosma e Damiano al Foro Romano, così quello di s. Sebastiano ad catacumbas, così a Napoli quello della b severiana. Nella cornice architravata che ricorre sulle colonne della nave maggiore, evvi un bel fregio di musaico, sopra al quale ricorrono quadretti di musaico, opera anch' essi di Sisto III, rappresentanti scene dei due testamenti, dei quali molti essendo periti furono suppliti con altri in pittura imitante il musaico.

Da Sisto III ad Eugenio III la chiesa subì poche modificazioni: questo pontefice ne rifece fare intiero il portico, sul quale leggevasi i versi che oggi, tolti dal posto primitivo, sono murati in un parete dell' andito presso la sacrestia:

TERTIUS EUGENIUS ROMANUS PAPA BENIGNUS

OBTULIT HOC MUNUS VIRGO MARIA TIBBI

QUAE MATER CHRISTI FIERI MERITO MERUISTI

SALUA PERPETUA VIRGINITATE TIBI

ES VIA VITA SALUS TOTIUS GLORIA MUNDI

DA VENIAM CULPIS VIRGINITATIS HONOS.

Il pavimento è d' opera cosmatesca del secolo XIII, erroneamente detta alessandrina. Nel mezzo della nave maggiore v' erano in musaico rappresentati due cavalieri, cioè Scotto e Giovanni de' Paparoni nobili romani, che colle loro offerte fecero fare il pavimento della chiesa come dicea l' epigrafe:

VIRGO SERENA TIBI SCOTUS PAVIMENTA LOCAVIT

FILIUS ATQUE PARENS SCOTUS PAPARONE IOANNIS

SANGUINE QUI CLARO TAM DURIS QUI STAT ANNIS

CONSOLE QUO TREPIDANS ROMA RGENTE STETIT

RUUIUS ET ABSUNTO FATTA CONSORTE IOHANNE

PROLE SUA CONSUL TUTA DRAGONE FUIT

IMMEMOR HAUD SUMPTAM SCOTUS PAPARONE SALUTIS

TALE PAVIMENTUM DAT TIBI VIRGO PARENS.

Il senato romano circa quei tempi volle edificare nella nave di mezzo uno degli altari sacro a s Gregorio, mentre Giacomo Capocci e Vinia, sua moglie, ne edificarono un secondo. Dall' epoca di Niccolò IV la basilica cominciò a cambiare la forma primitiva di Liberio: i cardinali Colonna trasferirono il coro dalla basilica nel presbiterio. Si moltiplicarono le cappelle in tutti gli angoli della basilica e perfino nel mezzo delle navi. Sopra una di queste doveva essere la celeberrima opera del Masaccio descritta dal Vasari, che dice era in una cappelletta vicino alla sacrestia, ove era il ritratto di Maria, del papa Martino e di Sigismondo imperatore.

Nel secolo 14 il cardinale Estouteville aprì le due porte ai lati della tribuna, edificò altre cappelle, fece le volte della crocera e delle navi minori ed ornò con ricco ciborio l' altare papale. Alessandro VI, essendo ancora Roderico Borgia e cardinale di detta chiesa, fece il bel soffitto della nave maggiore, opera stupenda di quel secolo, già incominciata da Callisto III, e che si vuole dorato colonne primizie del prezioso metallo venuto dall' America da poco discoperta. Sisto V e Paolo V edificarono le due magnifiche cappelle laterali, monumenti d' infinita ricchezza e pietà. Gregorio XIII fece un breve, pro capitulo et ecclesia s. Mariae M. de Urbe, nel quale concede la facolt`a al capitolo di costituire dei censi pro reparanda ecclesia. Benedetto XIV ristorò in modo la basilica che quasi la ebbe riedificata, deturpandone però architettonicamente la facciata. A destra di questa si alza la bellissima torre campanaria, la maggiore di Roma, riedificata da Gregorio XI dopo il suo ritorno a Roma, e restaurata da Paolo V. Testè da questa torre è stata tolta una campana assai antica che si conserva oggi nei giardini del Vaticano e sostituita da altra donata dal Santo Padre Leone XIII.

Sulla prima si legge l' epigrafe:

AD HONOREM DEI ET BEATE MARIE VIR

GINIS ISTA CAMPANA FACTA FUIT PER

ALFANUM POSTMODUM IN ANNO DOMINI

MCCLXXXIX RENOVATA † EST PER

DOMINUM PANDULFUM DE SABELLO

PRO REDEMPTIONE ANIME SUIE GUIDOC

TUS PISANUS ET ANDREA EIUS FILIUS

ME FECERUNT.

Due personaggi storici sono qui ricordati, cioè l' Alfano, camerlengo di Callisto II, ed il famoso e notissimo Pandolfo Savelli che combattè nella giornata di Tagliacozzo contro Corradino, senato di Roma nel 1279 e fratello di Onorio IV. Quella campana aveva sette secoli di storia, e forse i suoi rintocchi furono uditi dai romani allorchè venne annunziata la conclusione della pace nel primo concilio lateranense. Possa quella donata da Leone XIII fare udire al venerato pontefice non meno festosi rintocchi! Le tre navi della basilica vengono divise da trentasei colonne di marmo greco bianco con capitelli ionici. Sotto l' altare papale v' è la cappelletta o confessione di s. Mattia, splendidamente rinnovata sotto il pontificato di Pio IX dall' architetto Virginio Vespignani. A destra della nave minore Sisto V nel 1586 fece edificare la magnifica cappella a croce greca detta sistina con l' architettura del Fontana, il quale posevi nel mezzo l' antica cappelletta della sacra culla, che egli con macchine congegnate levò tutta intera dalle sue fondamenta dal luogo dove prima era. Questa celeberrima cappella si trovava lungi 70 palmi dal luogo attuale: era stata incominciata da Innocenzo III e condotta a fine da Onorio III con l' architettura del celebre Arnolfo di Lapo, il quale ivi costruì anche la tomba del suddetto papa. Ivi si veneravano le reliquie del santo presepio consistenti in tre tavole fatte venire dalla Palestina, secondo alcuni da Gregorio III, secondo altri da Teodoro. Nell' altare di questa cappella cantava messa il papa nella notte del s. Natale, poi all' alba andava a celebrar la seconda in s. Anastasia, tornando per la terza volta in questa basilica a cantar la terza sull' altare maggiore. Nel medioevo giunto in chiesa la seconda volta, il papa con una canna fornita di lume nell' estremità dava fuoco a dei fiocchi di stoppa pendenti dagli intercolunnj, ricordando ai fedeli che la seconda venuta di Cristo sarebbe accaduta non nella quiete d' un presepe, ma fra i cataclismi e l' incendio della natura. Nel fondo della nave minore a destra v' ha il deposito del cardinale Consalvo vescovo d' Albano, morto nel 1299. Il sarcofago è ornato d' opera cosmatesca e nella fronte leggesi la seguente epigrafe:

HIC DEPOSITUS FUIT QUONDAM CONSALVUS EPISCOPUS

ALBANEN. A. D. MCCLXXXXIX HOC OPUS FECIT IOHANNES

MAGISTRI COSMAE CIVIS ROMANUS.

o più accuratamente:

HIC DEPOSITVS FVIT QVONDA DNS GUNSALVVS EPS [. . .

. . .] ALBANEN ANN DNI M·CC·LXXXXVIIII

HOC OP9 FEC IOHES MAGRI COSME CIVIS ROMANVS

Nella parete, in un tabernacolo di marmo, v' ha in musaico l' imagine di Maria avente da un lato l' effigie di s. Mattia con questo motto scritto in un cartello: ME TENET ARA PRIOR; e dall' altra quella di s. Girolamo colla scritta: RECVBO PRAESEPIS AD ANTRVM, segno che i corpi dei due santi erano deposti nella basilica. Dirimpetto alla cappella sistina v' ha l' altra non meno magnifica di Paolo V Borghese eretta nel 1611; sul cui altare principale si venera un' assai antica e divota imagine della Vergine. Il Baronio opina sia quella portata in processione da s. Gregorio il grande, ma non dice dove ha tolto la notizia; ella è certo una imagine non anteriore al quinto secolo, come afferma il ch. Garrucci. Presso la odierna sacrestia v' ha il magnifico battistero over era il coro dei canonici. Annesso alla basilica v' ha il palazzo dell' arciprete e della canonica eretto sull' antico in cui l' anno 1292 morì il papa Niccolò IV ai 4 di aprile e che egli stesso aveva fondato come una residenza pontificia. I documenti del secolo XIII e SIV ricordano alcuni degli altari, cappelle e fondatori di queste. Così nella navata medesima v' era l' altare delle ss. reliquie fatto erigere da Iacopo di Ianni Capocci e da Lavinia sua moglie nel 1256: vi si leggeva l' epigrafe: IACOBUS IOANNIS CAPOCCI ET VINIA UXOR EIUS FECERUNT FIERI HOC OPUS PRO REDEMPTIONE ANIMARUM SUARUM ANNO DOMINI MCCLVI. L' altare era sostenuto da sei colonne, delle quali quattro di porfido. Seguiva l' altare della Madonna, creduta di s. Luca e così allora chiamata: quello era stato riedificato dal senato e dal popolo romano nel secolo XIII e vi stette finchè Paolo V pose nella sua ricchissima cappella la veneratissima imagine. Veniva poi la cappella del presepio di cui abbiamo già parlato, quindi quella del Gonfalone che era dedicata al Crocifisso, e rifatta nel 1326. Seguivano quindi, la cappella della Compagnia del ss. Salvatore che secondo il suo costume vi si conducea a celebrare i suffragi de' difunti; la cappella di s. Barbara che era del Capocci ove furono sepolti i cardinali Pietro e Niccolò Capocci, l' uno nel 1259, l' altro nel 1368; la cappella di s. Lorenzo anch' essa del Capocci, quella di s. Maria da Podio degli Arcioni, quattro cappelle della famiglia Colonna, in uno dei quali era sepolto Niccolò IV, quella dell' Assunta e di s fra, del card. Landi nel 1417, di s. Silvestro, della famiglia de' Normanni nel 1304, di s. Lucia, degli Omodei, di s. Angelo e della Croce e quella di s. Girolamo, che fu demolita da Sisto V per la sua grande cappella. L' altare ove si venerava il corpo di s. Girolamo era stato edificato circa il 1400 da Stefano de' Guaschi, ed il corpo vi era stato trasferito da altro luogo della basilica cioè dalla vicinanza di quello del presepio. Sotto Sisto V il canonico Ludovico Ceragola, temendo che il papa concedesse il corpo di s. Girolamo agli Schiavoni per la loro chiesa, lo fece nascondere nel pavimento sotto una pietra di profido nel pavimento a destra del presbiterio, donde lo ricolse il card. Pinelli ponendolo sotto la confessione con la cass d' argento che racchiudeva quelle reliquie. Quando e come a questa basilica vennero le reliquie di s. Girolamo è incerto, altri attribuiscono questa traslazione a Teodoro, altri ad epoca posteriore, cioè poco prima di Niccolò IV. Nella nave sinistra v' era la cappella della Visitazione fatta edificare nel 1424 da Niccolò Viviani vescovo di Chieti; anche quella della b. Vergine era stata eretta dai Campilo nel medesimo anno, alla quale era vicino una cappella di s. Caterina, eretta da un tal Brizio del rione Monti nel 1444. La cappella dell' Annunziata era una delle quattro detta dei Colonnesi, fondata da Oringia Colonna. Il card. d' Estouteville nel 1483 fondò anche una cappella di s. Michele Arcangelo e di s. Pietro ad Vincula. V' era anche la cappella di s. Andrea apostolo, ed un' altra detta della Madonna e dei ss. Girolamo e Bernardo edificata da Guglielmo de Pereriis ai 13 di novembre del 1501.

L' ultima delleº cappelle antiche era quella di s. Maria della Neve, la quale fu riedificata nel 1612. Il capitolo liberiano ne avea concesso il sito alla casa Patrizi che la ricostruì di pianta. Ivi un altare più antico era stato consecrato in onore dell' Assunta e della Madonna della Neve l' anno 1574; una cappella però della Neve in quella basilica si trova ricordata fin dal 1566 e forse era assai più antica, eretta cioè quando si cominciò a formare la leggenda suddetta.

Molti personaggi furono sepolti in questa basilica: tra i primi è da ricordare Onorio III, il celebre conte Everso dell' Anguillara deposto vicino al conte Dolce suo padre morto nel 1464, Andrea figlio di Angelotto de' Normanni morto nel 1383, e il card. Stefano Palosci. Si dicea pure che vi fosse deposto quel Giovanni Patrizio che secondo la leggenda della neve sarebbe stato il fondatore della basilica. Il spc infatti portante l' epigrafe seguente si leggeva presso l' avello di Clemente IX: IOHANNIS PATRITII — HUIUS BASILICAE FUNDATO — RISULTA SEPULCHRUM, stile e latinità tutt' altro che del secolo quarto. Ai 22 di febbraio del 1746 fu fatto esaminare il contenuto del sepolcro sottoposto alla lapide: vi si rinvennero alcune ossa maschili e femminili, ed avanzi di aromi, e brandelli di stoffa.

La grande basilica di Liberio nel volgere dei secoli fu testimone di due tragici avvenimenti, il primo poco dopo la sua edificazione, allora entro le sue porte accadde la strage dei seguaci di Ursicino; il secondo è meno antico, quando cioè nel Natale del 1075 il grandissimo dei papi s. Gregorio VII fu violentemente strappato dall' altare da Cencio e dai suoi congiurati. Colà poco dipoi fu il papa santo ricondotto in trionfo dal popolo, e ripigliò a dire la messa interrotta. Meraviglioso coraggio e fortezza che rivela non solo la grandezza di quell' animo, ma la fortezza e l' indole del papato!

Quattro erano i monasteri chche circondavano la basilica: l' uno detto Ex aiulo, il secondo in Vespani, il terzo Massa Iuliana, il quarto ad duo furna, ossia il 1o ss. Andrea e Stefano, il 2o santi Cosma e Damiano, il 3o s. Andrea, il 4o ss. Lorenzo, Adriano, Prassede e Agnese. I due primi stavano fra s. Maria Maggiore e il castello dell' acqua alessandrina. Nel secolo XIV quello dei ss. Andrea e Stefano, convertito in ospedale, diceasi in aggere o in superagio, nome che ricordava corrottamente l' antico agger di Servio presso al quale era appunto quell' edifizio. Quello dei ss. Cosma e Damiano aveva mutato nome in s. Luca, l' altro detto in Massa Iuliana era presso la villa di Mecenate: infine il nome Vespani si riferiva forse a Vipsano Agrippa. Il terzo monastero fu occupato dal chiostro di s. Antonio, il quarto da quello di santa Prassede.

Da Le Chiese di Roma di Mariano Armellini 1891;

Raccolta Internet de Le Chiese di Bill Thayer;

Raccolta Foto de Alvariis.

It felt like the conclusion of a movie when I finally rode my bike the final sixty-something kilometers from Moss to Oslo a month ago today.

When I left Moss, the weather wasn't what I had planned, and I even felt cold for a bit. But once I started cycling, that cold feeling didn't make any difference.

Before I arrived in Oslo, I had to go through some hills and lakes, and I saw several people cycling in the morning. The film images I'm sharing here today show some of these locations.

It didn't feel real when I got to the Oslo City Hall and saw my girlfriend and a few friends waiting for me with racing flags. Still, I couldn’t be happier about it!

I have been thinking, training, planning, and cycling with this bike ride in my mind since 2018, and I finally made it from Berlin to Oslo! This trip was beyond fantastic, and I'm already planning what I can do next year.

(The rest of the Conclusion)

Esta es la foto que presenté al concurso organizado por Beads Perles:

beads-perles.blogspot.com/

donde había que diseñar un collar para el vestido que hay cinco fotos más abajo:

www.flickr.com/photos/alia_h/3466662290/

Me hubiera gustado que cada pieza pudiera llevar un texto explicativo, como en la edición anterior, y como esta vez no pudo ser por motivos de anonimato, ahí va:

Lo primero que me pregunté antes de empezar era si había que hacer un collar para ese vestido, o hacer un collar para ese vestido en ese momento de la película. Volví a verla, y por causa de la guerra, los yanquis habían robado todo en la casa, incluidas joyas y vestidos, de ahí que Escarlata tenga que hacerse el traje con las cortinas. Es el momento de máxima penuria para la familia, cuando sólo disponen para comer de los rábanos del huerto (de hecho, lo de hacerse el vestido con las cortinas viene después de la famosa escena en que pone a Dios por testigo…)

Descartada la idea de que en la casa quede alguna joya que ella se pueda poner, no le queda otra que hacerse el collar ella misma, pero tampoco hay materiales disponibles para ello…a excepción de las piedras cosidas en las propias cortinas, tanto en las de su vestido como en las otras que queden en la casa.

Mi conclusión fue que la misma “señorita Escarlata” debe hacerse el collar, y dispone tan sólo de las piedras para coser, y los materiales que pueda encontrar en su costurero, por lo que el collar no puede ser deslumbrante, sino discretamente vistoso, ya que su estilismo en esta ocasión es un puro decorado.

Desde mi punto de vista, éste pudo ser el posible collar que llevara con su vestido de terciopelo verde la apasionada y temperamental heredera de “la tierra roja de Tara”.

ead MEPs from Parliament’s political groups reacted on Wednesday to last week’s European Council and outlined their priorities ahead of the Rome declaration which will focus on the future of the EU. The majority of MEPs stressed the need for member states to set the EU on a course to tackle the immediate needs of citizens.

Welcoming the Italian Prime Minister and the Council and Commission presidents, EP President Antonio Tajani said that the 60th anniversary of the Rome treaty would be “an opportunity to bring Europe closer to its citizens and to promote our values in the world.” (…) “Now more than ever, what we need is unity. We must change, but by no means weaken the EU.”

On Europe’s future, Council President Donald Tusk said “If you want to go fast, go alone, if you want to go far, go together”. He promised to strive in the Brexit talks for political unity among the 27, whilst ensuring that UK and EU stay “close friends”. “Doors will always stay open for our British friends”, he added. But he rejected “claims, taking the form of threats, that ‘no deal’ would be bad for the EU. It would be bad for both, but for the UK in particular”. Speaking in Dutch, Mr Tusk expressed solidarity with the Netherlands, a “place of freedom and democracy”.

Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker Juncker (part. 2) warned against narrowing the future of Europe to a “two-speed” scenario: “I don’t want a new 'iron curtain' in Europe”. Mr Junckerraised the Turkish attacks on the Netherlands saying these were “totally unacceptable” and that those responsible were moving Turkey away from the EU. He also noted that the new US trade policy was raising expectations for the EU to become the new world leader of multilateral free trade, but stressed that all free trade talks must include social partners and civil society.

If we do not reduce unemployment and leave the EU countries alone at the frontline of the migration crisis; if we give in to nationalisms and leave behind the weakest, “there will be no citizens’ trust in the EU”, said Italy’s Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni. On the “two-speed EU” debate, he said: “No to two Europes, big and small, east and west (...), but yes to one in which each country has its own level of ambition and can choose to join (...) at any time, now or later, and everybody is involved in the common project”.

For the Council Presidency, Deputy Prime Minister Louis Grech said that the current times demand decisive action from the EU and member states’ leaders. He also warned against falling into negative mind-sets. On the EU’s future, Mr Grech said that the Rome declaration must be followed up concretely, but stressed that there should be “no second class citizens, no quick-fix solutions, and no knee-jerk reactions”.

Read more: www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/news-room/20170308IPR65669...

I guess we will have to draw our own conclusion on how this chair came to be broken in the middle of a burned out building.. I know I have posted several shots of this same place on my stream but every time I pass it I am drawn to it once again and have to stop and shoot it.

Foto da foto do Santo Sudário ou o Sudário de Turim em tamanho real. Esta foto se encontra na parede de uma sala ao lado do altar da Igreja Real de São Lourenço (San Lorenzo) em Turim, Itália.

A seguir, texto, em português, da Wikipédia, a enciclopédia livre:

O Sudário de Turim, ou o Santo Sudário é uma peça de linho que mostra a imagem de um homem que aparentemente sofreu traumatismos físicos de maneira consistente com a crucificação. O Sudário está guardado fora das vistas do público na capela da catedral de São João Baptista em Turim, Itália.

O sudário é uma peça rectangular de linho com 4,4 metros de comprimento e 1,1 de largura. O tecido mostra as imagens frontal e dorsal de um homem nu, com as mãos pousadas sobre as partes baixas, consistentes com a projecção ortogonal, sem a projeção referente à parte lateral do corpo humano. As duas imagens apontam em sentidos opostos e unem-se na zona central do pano. O homem representado no sudário tem barba e cabelo comprido pela altura dos ombros, separado por uma risca ao meio. Tem um corpo bem proporcionado e musculado, com cerca de 1,75 de altura. O sudário apresenta ainda diversas nódoas encarnadas que, interpretadas como sangue, sugerem a presença de vários traumatismos

* ferida num dos punhos, de forma circular; o segundo punho está escondido em segundo plano;

* ferida na zona lateral, aparentemente provocada por instrumento cortante;

* conjunto de pequenas feridas em torno da testa; e

* série de feridas lineares nas costas e pernas.

A 28 de Maio de 1898, o fotógrafo italiano Secondo Pia tirou a primeira fotografia ao sudário e constatou que o negativo da fotografia assemelhava-se a uma imagem positiva do homem, o que significava que a imagem do sudário era, em si, um negativo. Esta descoberta lançou o mote para uma discussão científica que ainda hoje permanece aberta: o que representa o sudário?

As primeiras referências a um possível sudário surgem na própria Bíblia. O Evangelho de Mateus (27:59) refere que José de Arimateia envolveu o corpo de Jesus Cristo com "um pano de linho limpo". João (19:38-40) também descreve o evento, e relata que os apóstolos Pedro e João, ao visitar o túmulo de Jesus após a ressurreição, encontraram os lençóis dobrados (Jo 20:6-7). Embora depois desta descrição evangélica o sudário só tenha feito sua aparição definitiva no século XIV, para não mais ser perdido de vista, existem alguns relatos anteriores que contêm indicações bastante consistentes sobre a existência de um tal tecido em tempos mais antigos.

A primeira menção não-evangélica a ele data de 544, quando um pedaço de tecido mostrando uma face que se acreditou ser a de Jesus foi encontrado escondido sob uma ponte em Edessa. Suas primeiras descrições mencionam um pedaço de pano quadrado, mostrando apenas a face, mas São João Damasceno, em sua obra antiiconoclasta "Sobre as imagens sagradas", falando sobre a mesma relíquia, a descreve como uma faixa comprida de tecido, embora disesse que se tratava de uma imagem transferida para o pano quando Jesus ainda estava vivo.

Em 944, quando esta peça foi transferida para Constantinopla, Gregorius Referendarius, arquidiácono de Hagia Sophia pregou um sermão sobre o artefato, que foi dado como perdido até ser redescoberto em 2004 num manuscrito dos arquivos do Vaticano. Neste sermão é feita uma descrição do sudário de Edessa como contendo não só a face, mas uma imagem de corpo inteiro, e cita a presença de manchas de sangue. Outra fonte é o Codex Vossianus Latinus, também no Vaticano, que se refere ao sudário de Edessa como sendo uma impressão de corpo inteiro.

Outra evidência é uma gravura incluída no chamado Manuscrito Húngaro de Preces, datado de 1192, onde a figura mostra o corpo de Jesus sendo preparado para o sepultamento, numa posição consistente com a imagem impressa no sudário de Turim.

Em 1203, o cruzado Robert de Clari afirmou ter visto o sudário em Constantinopla nos seguintes termos: "Lá estava o sudário em que nosso Senhor foi envolto, e que a cada quinta-feira é exposto de modo que todos possam ver a imagem de nosso Senhor nele". Seguindo-se ao saque de Constantinopla, em 1205 Theodoros Angelos, sobrinho de um dos três imperadores bizantinos, escreveu uma carta de protesto ao papa Inocêncio III, onde menciona o roubo de riquezas e relíquias sagradas da capital pelos cruzados, e dizendo que as jóias ficaram com os venezianos e relíquias haviam sido divididas entre os franceses, citando explicitamente o sudário, que segundo ele havia sido levado para Atenas nesta época.

Dali, a partir de testemunhos de época de Geoffrey de Villehardouin e do mesmo Robert de Clari, o sudário teria sido tomado por Otto de la Roche, que se tornou Duque de Atenas. Mas Otto logo o teria transmitido aos Templários, que o teriam levado para a França. Apesar desses indícios de que o sudário de Edessa seja possivelmente o mesmo que o de Turim, o assunto ainda é objeto controvérsia.

Então começa a parte da história do sudário que é bem documentada. Ele aparece publicamente pela primeira vez em 1357, quando a viúva de Geoffroy de Charny, um templário francês, a exibiu na igreja de Lirey. Não foi oferecida nenhuma explicação para a súbita aparição, nem a sua veneração como relíquia foi imediatamente aceite. Henrique de Poitiers, arcebispo de Troyes, apoiado mais tarde pelo rei Carlos VI de França, declarou o sudário como uma impostura e proibiu a sua adoração. A peça conseguiu, no entanto, recolher um número considerável de admiradores que lutaram para a manter em exibição nas igrejas. Em 1389, o bispo Pierre d’Arcis (sucessor de Henrique) denunciou a suposta relíquia como uma fraude fabricada por um pintor talentoso, numa carta a Clemente VII (em Avinhão). D’Arcis menciona que até então tem sido bem sucedido em esconder o pano e revela que a verdade lhe fora confessada pelo próprio artista, que não é identificado. A carta descreve ainda o sudário com grande precisão. Aparentemente, os conselhos do bispo de Troyes não foram ouvidos visto que Clemente VII declarou a relíquia sagrada e ofereceu indulgências a quem peregrinasse para ver o sudário.

Em 1418, o sudário passou a ser propriedade de Umberto de Villersexel, Conde de La Roche, que o removeu para o seu castelo de Montfort, sob o argumento de proteger a peça de um eventual roubo. Depois da sua morte, o pároco de Lirey e a viúva travaram uma batalha jurídica pela custódia da relíquia, ganha pela família. A Condessa de La Roche iniciou então uma tournée com o sudário que incluiu as catedrais de Genebra e Liege. Em 1453, o sudário foi trocado por um castelo (não vendido porque a transacção comercial de relíquias é proibida) com o Duque Luís de Sabóia. A nova aquisição do duque tornou-se na atracção principal da recém construída catedral de Chambery, de acordo com cronistas contemporâneos, envolvida em veludo carmim e guardada num relicário com pregos de prata e chave de ouro.

O sudário foi mais uma vez declarado como relíquia verdadeira pelo Papa Júlio II em 1506. Em 1532, o sudário foi danificado por um incêndio que afectou a sua capela e pela água das tentativas de o controlar. Por volta de 1578 a peça foi transferida para Turim em Itália, onde se encontra até aos dias de hoje na Cappella della Sacra Sindone do Palazzo Reale di Torino. A casa de Sabóia foi a proprietária do sudário até 1983, data da sua doação ao Vaticano. A última exibição da peça foi no ano 2000, a próxima está agendada para 2010. Em 2002, o sudário foi submetido a obras de restauro.

As primeiras análises ao sudário foram realizadas em 1977 por uma equipe de cientistas da Universidade de Turim que usou métodos de microscopia. Os resultados demonstraram que o linho do sudário contém inúmeras gotículas de tinta fabricada a partir de ocre. Entretanto, a hipótese de uma pintura realizada por ação humana foi completamente descartada por experimentos posteriores.

Em 1978, a equipe americana do STURP (Shoud of Turin Research Project) teve acesso ao sudário durante 120 horas. A equipe era composta por 40 cientistas, dos quais apenas 7 católicos e um ateu, Walter C. McCrone, que retirou-se logo no início das investigações. Foram realizados muitos experimentos que envolveram diversas áreas da ciência, como fotografias com diferentes tipos de filme, radiografia de raios X, raio X com fluorescência, espectroscopia, infravermelho e retirada de amostras com fita.

Depois de três anos de análise do STURP, ficou provado que existia sangue humano no sudário e que as gotículas de tinta ocre eram resultado de contaminação. Existiram diversas tentativas de se recriar algo semelhante ao sudário, realizadas durante os séculos, feitas por dezenas de pintores, mas que nunca chegaram a um resultado minimamente próximo ao sudário examinado pelo STURP. Quando questionados sobre se o sudário não era a mortalha de Jesus Cristo, de forma unânime, foi afirmado que nenhum dos resultados dos estudos contradisse a narrativa dos evangelhos. Entretanto, como cientistas, também não podiam afirmar que a mortalha era verdadeira porque essa é uma hipótese não falseável.

Cientistas do STURP também mostraram a completa improbabilidade de aquela ser uma imagem gerada pela ação de um artista, ou seja, é humanamente impossível que o sudário seja uma pintura. A habilidade e equipamentos necessários para gerar uma falsificação daquela natureza são completamente incompatíveis com o período da Idade Média, época em que o sudário apareceu e foi guardado.

As principais conclusões científicas do STURP após cerca de 100.000 horas de pesquisa sobre o artefato foram as seguintes:

a) as marcas do Sudário são um duplo negativo fotográfico do corpo inteiro de um homem. Existe a imagem de frente e de dorso. O sangue do Sudário é positivo;

b) a figura do Sudário, ao contrário de todas as outras figuras bidimensionais já testadas até então, contém dados tridimensionais;

c) o material de cor vermelha do Sudário é sangue;

d) não existe ainda explicação científica de como as imagens do Sudário foram feitas; e

e) o Sudário está historicamente de acordo com os Evangelhos, pois mostra nas imagens as marcas da paixão de Cristo com precisão.

Na época, o STURP não foi autorizado a fazer o teste por datação carbono-14.

A Igreja Católica não emitiu nenhuma opinião acerca da autenticidade desta alegada relíquia. A posição oficial a esta questão é a de que a resposta deve ser uma decisão pessoal do crente. O Papa João Paulo II confessou-se pessoalmente comovido e emocionado com a imagem do sudário, mas afirmou que uma vez que não se trata de uma questão de fé, a Igreja não se pode pronunciar, ao mesmo tempo que convidou as comunidades científicas a continuar a investigação. O grande problema reside na dificuldade de acesso ao sudário, que não é de propriedade da Igreja Católica, mas de uma fundação italiana que alega que novos e constantes testes podem danificar o material da suposta relíquia. A Catholic Encyclopedia, editada pela Igreja Católica, no seu artigo sobre o Sudário de Turim afirma que o sudário está além da capacidade de falsificação de qualquer falsário medieval.

Following, a text, in english, from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

The Shroud of Turin (or Turin Shroud)

The Shroud of Turin (or Turin Shroud) is a linen cloth bearing the image of a man who appears to have been physically traumatized in a manner consistent with crucifixion. It is kept in the royal chapel of the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist in Turin, Italy. It is believed by many to be the cloth placed on the body of Jesus at the time of his burial.

The image on the shroud is much clearer in black-and-white negative than in its natural sepia color. The striking negative image was first observed on the evening of May 28, 1898, on the reverse photographic plate of amateur photographer Secondo Pia, who was allowed to photograph it while it was being exhibited in the Turin Cathedral. According to Pia, he almost dropped and broke the photographic plate from the shock of seeing an image of a person on it.

The shroud is the subject of intense debate among scientists, people of faith, historians, and writers regarding where, when, and how the shroud and its images were created. From a religious standpoint, in 1958 Pope Pius XII approved of the image in association with the Roman Catholic devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus, celebrated every year on Shrove Tuesday. Some believe the shroud is the cloth that covered Jesus when he was placed in his tomb and that his image was recorded on its fibers at or near the time of his resurrection. Skeptics, on the other hand, contend the shroud is a medieval forgery; others attribute the forming of the image to chemical reactions or other natural processes.

Various tests have been performed on the shroud, yet the debates about its origin continue. Radiocarbon dating in 1988 by three independent teams of scientists yielded results published in Nature indicating that the shroud was made during the Middle Ages, approximately 1300 years after Jesus lived.[4] Claims of bias and error in the testing were raised almost immediately and were addressed by Harry E. Gove.[5] Follow-up analysis published in 2005, for example, claimed that the sample dated by the teams was taken from an area of the shroud that was not a part of the original cloth. The shroud was also damaged by a fire in the Late Middle Ages which could have added carbon material to the cloth, resulting in a higher radiocarbon content and a later calculated age. This analysis itself is questioned by skeptics such as Joe Nickell, who reasons that the conclusions of the author, Raymond Rogers, result from "starting with the desired conclusion and working backward to the evidence".[6] Former Nature editor Philip Ball has said that the idea that Rogers steered his study to a preconceived conclusion is "unfair" and Rogers "has a history of respectable work".

However, the 2008 research at the Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit may revise the 1260–1390 dating toward which it originally contributed, leading its director Christopher Ramsey to call the scientific community to probe anew the authenticity of the Shroud.[7][8] "With the radiocarbon measurements and with all of the other evidence which we have about the Shroud, there does seem to be a conflict in the interpretation of the different evidence" Gordan said to BBC News in 2008, after the new research emerged.[9] Ramsey had stressed that he would be surprised if the 1988 tests were shown to be far off, let alone "a thousand years wrong", and insisted that he would keep an open mind.

The shroud is rectangular, measuring approximately 4.4 × 1.1 m (14.3 × 3.7 ft). The cloth is woven in a three-to-one herringbone twill composed of flax fibrils. Its most distinctive characteristic is the faint, yellowish image of a front and back view of a naked man with his hands folded across his groin. The two views are aligned along the midplane of the body and point in opposite directions. The front and back views of the head nearly meet at the middle of the cloth. The views are consistent with an orthographic projection of a human body, but see Analysis of the image as the work of an artist.

The "Man of the Shroud" has a beard, moustache, and shoulder-length hair parted in the middle. He is muscular and tall (various experts have measured him as from 1.75 m, or roughly 5 ft 9 in, to 1.88 m, or 6 ft 2 in). For a man of the first century (the time of Jesus' death), or of the Middle Ages (the time of the first uncontested report of the shroud's existence and the proposed time of a possible forgery), these figures present an above-average although not abnormal height. Reddish brown stains that have been said to include whole blood are found on the cloth, showing various wounds that correlate with the yellowish image, the pathophysiology of crucifixion, and the Biblical description of the death of Jesus:

* one wrist bears a large, round wound, apparently from piercing (the second wrist is hidden by the folding of the hands)

* upward gouge in the side penetrating into the thoracic cavity, a post-mortem event as indicated by separate components of red blood cells and serum draining from the lesion

* small punctures around the forehead and scalp

* scores of linear wounds on the torso and legs claimed to be consistent with the distinctive dumbbell wounds of a Roman flagrum.

* swelling of the face from severe beatings

* streams of blood down both arms that include blood dripping from the main flow in response to gravity at an angle that would occur during crucifixion

* no evidence of either leg being fractured

* large puncture wounds in the feet as if pierced by a single spike

Other physical characteristics of the shroud include the presence of large water stains, and from a fire in 1532, burn holes and scorched areas down both sides of the linen due to contact with molten silver that burned through it in places while it was folded. Some small burn holes that apparently are not from the 1532 event are also present. In places, there are permanent creases due to repeated foldings, such as the line that is evident below the chin of the image.

On May 28, 1898, amateur Italian photographer Secondo Pia took the first photograph of the shroud and was startled by the negative in his darkroom.[3] Negatives of the image give the appearance of a positive image, which implies that the shroud image is itself effectively a negative of some kind. Pia was immediately accused of forgery, but was finally vindicated in 1931 when a professional photographer, Giuseppe Enrie, also photographed the shroud and his findings supported Pia

Image analysis by scientists at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory found that rather than being like a photographic negative, the image unexpectedly has the property of decoding into a 3-D image of the man when the darker parts of the image are interpreted to be those features of the man that were closest to the shroud and the lighter areas of the image those features that were farthest. This is not a property that occurs in photography, and researchers could not replicate the effect when they attempted to transfer similar images using techniques of block print, engravings, a hot statue, and bas-relief.

Many people, including author Robin Cook,[42] have put forth the suggestion that the image on the shroud was produced by a side effect of the Resurrection of Jesus, purposely left intact as a rare physical aid to understanding and believing in Jesus' dual nature as man and God. Some have asserted that the shroud collapsed through the glorified body of Jesus, pointing to certain X-ray-like impressions of the teeth and the finger bones. Others assert that radiation streaming from every point of the revivifying body struck and discolored every opposite point of the cloth, forming the complete image through a kind of supernatural pointillism using inverted shades of blue-gray rather than primary colors. However, science has yet to find an example of a reviving body emitting radiation levels significant enough to produce these changes.

There are several reddish stains on the shroud suggesting blood. McCrone (see above) identified these as containing iron oxide, theorizing that its presence was likely due to simple pigment materials used in medieval times. This is in agreement with the results of an Italian commission investigating the shroud in the early 1970s. Serologists among the commission applied several different state-of-the-art blood tests which all gave a negative result for the presence of blood. No test for the presence of color pigments was performed by this commission.[57] Other researchers, including Alan Adler, a chemist specializing in analysis of porphyrins, identified the reddish stains as type AB blood and interpreted the iron oxide as a natural residue of hemoglobin. But the problem with a blood type AB for an authentic shroud is that it is today known that this type of blood is of relative recent origin. There is no evidence of the existence of this blood type before the year AD 700. It is today assumed that the blood type AB came into the existence by immigration and following intermingling of mongoloid people from central Asia with a high frequency of the blood type B to Europe and other areas where people with a relatively high frequency of the blood type A live.

As a depiction of Jesus, the image on the shroud corresponds to that found throughout the history of Christian iconography. For instance, the Pantocrator mosaic at Daphne in Athens is strikingly similar. This suggests that the icons were made while the Image of Edessa was available, with this appearance of Jesus being copied in later artwork, and in particular, on the Shroud. Art historian W.S.A. Dale proposed (before the radiocarbon dating of the Shroud) that the Shroud itself was an icon created in the 11th century for liturgical use. In opposition to this viewpoint, the locations of the piercing wounds in the wrists on the Shroud do not correspond to artistic representations of the crucifixion before close to the present time. In fact, the Shroud was widely dismissed as a forgery in the 14th century for the very reason that the Latin Vulgate Bible stated that the nails had been driven into Jesus' hands and Medieval art invariably depicts the wounds in Jesus' hands.

Although the Vatican newspaper Osservatore Romano covered the story of Secondo Pia's photograph of May 28 1898 in its June 15, 1898 edition, it did so with no comment and thereafter Church officials generally refrained from officially commenting on the photograph for almost half a century.

The first official connection between the image on the shroud and the Catholic Church was made in 1940 based on the formal request by Sister Maria Pierina De Micheli to the curia in Milan to obtain authorization to produce a medal with the image. The authorization was granted and the first medal with the image was offered to Pope Pius XII who approved the medal. The image was then used on what became known as the Holy Face Medal worn by many Catholics, initially as a means of protection during the Second World War. In 1958 Pope Pius XII approved of the image in association with the devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus, and declared its feast to be celebrated every year the day before Ash Wednesday.

In 1983 the Shroud was given to the Holy See by the House of Savoy. However, as with all relics of this kind, the Roman Catholic Church has made no pronouncements claiming whether it is Jesus' burial shroud, or if it is a forgery. As with other approved Catholic devotions, the matter has been left to the personal decision of the faithful, as long as the Church does not issue a future notification to the contrary. In the Church's view, whether the cloth is authentic or not has no bearing whatsoever on the validity of what Jesus taught nor on the saving power of his death and resurrection. The late Pope John Paul II stated in 1998, "Since we're not dealing with a matter of faith, the church can't pronounce itself on such questions. It entrusts to scientists the tasks of continuing to investigate, to reach adequate answers to the questions connected to this shroud." He showed himself to be deeply moved by the image of the shroud and arranged for public showings in 1998 and 2000. In his address at the Turin Cathedral on Sunday May 24 1998 (the occasion of the 100th year of Secondo Pia's May 28 1898 photograph), Pope John Paul II said: "... the Shroud is an image of God's love as well as of human sin" and "...The imprint left by the tortured body of the Crucified One, which attests to the tremendous human capacity for causing pain and death to one's fellow man, stands as an icon of the suffering of the innocent in every age."

Recent developments

On April 6, 2009, the Times of London reported that official Vatican researchers had uncovered evidence that the Shroud had been kept and venerated by the Templars since the 1204 sack of Constantinople. According to the account of one neophyte member of the order, veneration of the Shroud appeared to be part of the initiation ritual. The article also implies that this ceremony may be the source of the 'worship of a bearded figure' that the Templars were accused of at their 14th century trial and suppression.

On April 10, 2009, the Telegraph reported that original Shroud investigator, Ray Rogers, acknowledged the radio carbon dating performed in 1988 was flawed. The sample used for dating may have been taken from a section damaged by fire and repaired in the 16th century, which would not provide an estimate for the original material. Shortly before his death, Rogers said:

"The worst possible sample for carbon dating was taken."

"It consisted of different materials than were used in the shroud itself, so the age we produced was inaccurate."

"...I am coming to the conclusion that it has a very good chance of being the piece of cloth that was used to bury the historic Jesus."

A text, in english, about The Real Chiesa of S. Lorenzo and Turin:

The Real Chiesa of S. Lorenzo, restored on the occasion of the two Ostensionis of the Shroud (happened in 1998 and in 2000), he/she offers to the visitor, is assiduous, the vision is occasional marveled of this jewel of Guarino Guarini.

The Priests of the church of S. Lorenzo wish to each to bring itself, after having tasted how much the creation guariniana offers to the intelligence and the heart, that feelings of architectural and religious harmony that Guarino Guarini, father Teatino, knew how to amalgamate with his genius of architect and with the faith of the believer.

A visitor to the Church of San Lorenzo – a veritable work of art – reaches piazza Castello and sees no façade marking the church. Piazza Castello is a square with a theatre without a façade (Regio), a façade of a palace (Madama) with no corresponding palace, and a church without a façade. One in fact was designed but never built to maintain the architectural harmony of the square.

The church is next to the gates of the royal palace.

On the church front there is a plaque commemorating the dead on the Russian front and above a bell that strikes 10 times at 5.15 p.m. every day.

Why is this Royal Chapel dedicated to San Lorenzo (St. Lawrence)?

In 1557, Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy, and his cousin Phillip II, King of Spain, were fighting the French at Saint-Quentin in Flanders.

They made a votive offering to build a church in the name of the saint whose feast fell on the day of their eventual victory; that victory came on 10 August, St. Lawrence’s day.

Turin:

Turin, Torino in Italian, is an interesting and often overlooked city in the Piedmont region of Italy. Famous for the Shroud of Turin and Fiat auto plants, Turin has a lot more to offer. From its Baroque cafes and architecture to its arcaded shopping promenades and museums, Turin is a great city for wandering and exploring. Turin hosted the 2006 Winter Olympics and makes a good base for exploring nearby mountains and valleys.

Turin is in the northwest of Italy in the Piemonte region between the Po River and the foothills of the Alps.

Turin is served by a small airport, Citta di Torino - Sandro Pertini, with flights to and from Europe. There is bus service connecting Turin's airport with Turin and the main railway station. A railway links the airport to GTT Dora Railway Station in the northwest of Turin. The closest airport for flights from the United States is in Milan, a little over an hour away by train.

Turin is a major hub on the Italian train line and intercity buses provide transportation to and from Turin.

Turin has an extensive network of trams and buses that run from 5AM until midnight. There are also electric mini-buses in the city center. Bus and tram tickets can be bought in a tabacchi shop. A 28km metropolitan line is due for completion in 2006.

Turin's main railway station is Porta Nuova in central Turin at the Piazza Carlo Felice. The Porta Susa Station is the main station for trains to and from Milan and is connected to central Turin and the main station by bus.

There are tourist offices at the Porta Nuova Railway Station and at the airport. The main office is in Piazza Castello and there is also one in Piazza Solferino.

You can find landromats and internet points in Turin with Lavasciuga.

Turin discount cards: See Turin and Piedmont Card for information about discount passes and the ChocoPass for chocolate tastings.

The Piedmont region has some of the best food in Italy. Over 160 types of cheese and famous wines like Barolo and Barbaresco come from here as do truffles, plentiful in fall. Turin has some outstanding pastries, especially chocolate ones. Chocolate for eating as we know it today (bars and pieces) originated in Turin. The chocolate-hazelnut sauce, gianduja, is a specialty of Turin.

Turin celebrates its patron saint in the Festa di San Giovanni June 24 with events all day and a huge fireworks display at night. Turin's big chocolate festival is in March. Turin has several music and theater festivals in summer and fall. During the Christmas season there is a 2-week street market and on New Year's Eve an open-air conert in the main piazza. The Turin Marathon in April attracts a huge number of international participants.

Turin has many museums. Walking around the city with its arcades, Baroque buildings, and beautiful piazzas can be very enjoyable.

* The Via Po is an interesting walking street with long arcades and many historic palaces and cafes. Start at Piazza Castello.

* Mole Antonelliana, a 167 meter tall tower built between 1798 and 1888, houses an excellent cinema museum. A panoramic lift takes you to the top of the tower for some expansive views of the city.

* Palazzo Carignano is the birthplace of Vittorio Emanuele II in 1820. The Unification of Italy was proclaimed here in 1861. It now houses the Museo del Risorgimento and you can see the royal apartments Royal Armoury, too.

* Museo Egizio is the third most important Egyptian museum in the world. It is housed in a huge baroque palace which also holds the Galleria Sagauda with a large collection of historic paintings.

* Piazza San Carlo, known as the "drawing room of Turin", is a beautiful baroque square with the twin churches of San Carlo and Santa Cristina as well as the above museum.

* Piazza Castello and Palazzo Reale are at the center of Turin. The square is a pedestrian area with benches and small fountains, ringed by beautiful, grand buildings.

* Il Quadrilatero is an interesting maze of backstreets with sprawling markets and splendid churches. This is another good place wo wander.

* Elegant and historic bars and cafes are everywhere in central Turin. Try a bicerin, a local layered drink made with coffee, chocolate, and cream. Cafes in Turin also serve other interesting trendy coffee drinks.

At the conclusion of the Chinese Civil War in 1949, some remnants of the anti-communist Kuomintang (KMT) forces refused to surrender, including the 93rd Division, led by General Tuan Shi-wen. The division fought its way out of Yunnan in southwestern China, and its soldiers lived nomadic lives in Burma's jungles before seeking asylum in Mae Salong (Santikhiri). In exchange for their asylum, they fought for Thailand until 1982, helping to counter the communist insurgency at the Thai frontier. In reward, the Thai government granted citizenship to most of the KMT soldiers and their families.

With Breto-Major's prolonged involvment in the Cuerno Isle debacle, the Union's peacekeeping forces came to the conclusion that just mobilizing more of the well trained Expeditions Wing's squadrons did not yield suffiecient results in driving back Royal Patagorian expanditionist efforts.

Although both parties commonly fielded the same aircraft, Royal Patagorian air superiority over the unforgiving terrain was evident and undoubtedly owed to their formidable use of carrier airships.

In order to increase their squadron's effectiveness and survivability when met with "blimp nests", the Expedition Wing's command pleaded for the supply of multiple heavier versions of the well-tried Mk6.

These planes were to accompany every squadron in small numbers and be able to quickly evade enemy escort fighters before striking hard on the armored airships.

Maintenance and upkeep were also required to be possible with mostly interchangeable parts.

After an impressively short trial phase the first Pteranodon 2-HA ('high altitude, heavy armament') were produced by a contractor in southern Breto-Minor and sent to the front lines.

The machines had an elongated fuselage to accommodate two engines in tandem, driving a pair of counter-rotating propellers through a special gearbox. Together with an increased wingspan, the plane retained decent handling characteristics while easily outpacing previous rival fighters.

The modifications also allowed for the installation of two heavy cannons below the upper wing supports.

The Mk6 2-HA was considered by it's designers to be an overall improvement to the original but the revised, heavier and slightly less nimble plane necessitated better preparation of runways and made it entirely unsuitable for the use on carrier airships.

Surviving units captured by Patagorian troops or Isleño rebels were thus generally treated as trophies and kept for distinguished pilots with only a small number actively used in skirmishes by each.

Both parties lacked crucial supplies to reliably maintain the more intricate powertrain and had to field the planes in missions where they would be operated outside each side's usually preferred strategies of airship raids or guerellia tactics.

Expedition 47 prime crew members: Flight Engineer Jeff Williams of NASA, far left; Soyuz Commander Alexey Ovchinin of Roscosmos, second left; and Flight Engineer Oleg Skripochka of Roscosmos, center; pose for a photo with Expedition 47 back up crew members, Flight Engineer Shane Kimbrough of NASA, third right; Soyuz Commander Sergey Ryzhikov of Roscosmos, second right; and Flight Engineer Andrey Borisenko of Roscosmos, far right; at the conclusion of the press conference held at the Cosmonaut Hotel in Baikonur, Kazakhstan on Thursday, March 17, 2016. The mission is set to launch March 19 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)