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The first BARREL balloon is inflated just before its launch on Aug. 13, 2016, from Esrange Space Center near Kiruna, Sweden.
The BARREL team is at Esrange Space Center launching a series of six scientific payloads on miniature scientific balloons. The NASA-funded BARREL – which stands for Balloon Array for Radiation-belt Relativistic Electron Losses – primarily measures X-rays in Earth’s atmosphere near the North and South Poles. These X-rays are produced by electrons raining down into the atmosphere from two giant swaths of radiation that surround Earth, called the Van Allen belts. Learning about the radiation near Earth helps us to better protect our satellites.
Several of the BARREL balloons also carry instruments built by undergraduate students to measure the total electron content of Earth’s ionosphere, as well as the low-frequency electromagnetic waves that help to scatter electrons into Earth’s atmosphere. Though about 90 feet in diameter, the BARREL balloons are much smaller than standard football stadium-sized scientific balloons.
This is the fourth campaign for the BARREL mission. BARREL is led by Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. The undergraduate student instrument team is led by the University of Houston and funded by the Undergraduate Student Instrument Project out of NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility. For more information on NASA’s scientific balloon program, visit: www.nasa.gov/scientificballoons.
Image credit: NASA/University of Houston/Edgar Bering
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission.
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The ACR SD40/40-2's worked ore trains and freights between Sault Ste. Marie and Hawk Junction and also the Michipicoten Branch from Hawk Junction through Wawa and down to the harbor. While good running units and strong pullers the big SD's were kept off the lighter rail and bridges of the Northern Division north of Hawk. They also contributed to heavy rail wear on the curve and grade infested line south of Hawk. This lead to the ACR buying GP38-2's and a pair of GP40 rebuilds for there last locomotive purchases. This trio of SD's , 183, 182 and 186 has worked the northbound freight and now is tied up at Hawk Junction awaiting a rested crew and then will be heading the southbound ore train to Sault Ste. Marie on May 1, 1983. In typical for the time ACR action the freight arrived at daybreak and the crew will rest all day before leaving at dusk on the southbound.
The Mithraic Mysteries were a mystery religion practised in the Roman Empire from about the 1st to 4th centuries AD. The name of the Persian god Mithra (proto-Indo-Iranian Mitra), adapted into Greek as Mithras, was linked to a new and distinctive imagery. Writers of the Roman Empire period referred to this mystery religion by phrases which can be anglicized as Mysteries of Mithras or Mysteries of the Persians; modern historians refer to it as Mithraism,[1] or sometimes Roman Mithraism.The mysteries were popular in the Roman military.
Worshippers of Mithras had a complex system of seven grades of initiation, with ritual meals. Initiates called themselves syndexioi, those "united by the handshake".They met in underground temples (called mithraea), which survive in large numbers. The cult appears to have had its centre in Rome.
Numerous archaeological finds, including meeting places, monuments and artifacts, have contributed to modern knowledge about Mithraism throughout the Roman Empire.The iconic scenes of Mithras show him being born from a rock, slaughtering a bull, and sharing a banquet with the god Sol (the Sun). About 420 sites have yielded materials related to the cult. Among the items found are about 1000 inscriptions, 700 examples of the bull-killing scene (tauroctony), and about 400 other monuments.[9] It has been estimated that there would have been at least 680 mithraea in Rome.[10] No written narratives or theology from the religion survive, with limited information to be derived from the inscriptions, and only brief or passing references in Greek and Latin literature. Interpretation of the physical evidence remains problematic and contested.
The Romans regarded the mysteries as having Persian or Zoroastrian sources. Since the early 1970s the dominant scholarship has noted dissimilarities between Persian Mithra-worship and the Roman Mithraic mysteries. In this context, Mithraism has sometimes been viewed as a rival of early Christianity with similarities such as liberator-saviour, hierarchy of adepts (archbishops, bishops, priests), communal meal and a hard struggle of Good and Evil (bull-killing/crucifixion).The name Mithras (Latin, equivalent to Greek “Μίθρας” is a form of Mithra, the name of an Old Persian god– a relationship understood by Mithraic scholars since the days of Franz Cumont. An early example of the Greek form of the name is in a 4th century BC work by Xenophon, the Cyropaedia, which is a biography of the Persian king Cyrus the Great.
The exact form of a Latin or classical Greek word varies due to the grammatical process of declension. There is archeological evidence that in Latin worshippers wrote the nominative form of the god’s name as “Mithras”. However, in Porphyry’s Greek text De Abstinentia («Περὶ ἀποχῆς ἐμψύχων»), there is a reference to the now-lost histories of the Mithraic mysteries by Euboulus and Pallas, the wording of which suggests that these authors treated the name “Mithra” as an indeclinable foreign word.
Related deity-names in other languages include
Sanskrit Mitra (मित्रः), the name of a god praised in the Rig Veda.In Sanskrit, "mitra" means "friend" or "friendship"
the form mi-it-ra-, found in an inscribed peace treaty between the Hittites and the kingdom of Mitanni, from about 1400 BC.
Iranian "Mithra" and Sanskrit "Mitra" are believed to come from an Indo-Iranian word mitra meaning "contract, agreement, covenant".
Modern historians have different conceptions about whether these names refer to the same god or not. John R. Hinnells has written of Mitra / Mithra / Mithras as a single deity worshipped in several different religions. On the other hand, David Ulansey considers the bull-slaying Mithras to be a new god who began to be worshipped in the 1st century BC, and to whom an old name was applied.
Mary Boyce, a researcher of ancient Iranian religions, writes that even though Roman Empire Mithraism seems to have had less Iranian content than historians used to think, still "as the name Mithras alone shows, this content was of some importance.Much about the cult of Mithras is only known from reliefs and sculptures. There have been many attempts to interpret this material.
Mithras-worship in the Roman Empire was characterized by images of the god slaughtering a bull. Other images of Mithras are found in the Roman temples, for instance Mithras banqueting with Sol, and depictions of the birth of Mithras from a rock. But the image of bull-slaying (tauroctony) is always in the central niche.Textual sources for a reconstruction of the theology behind this iconography are very rare. (See section Interpretations of the bull-slaying scene below.)
The practice of depicting the god slaying a bull seems to be specific to Roman Mithraism. According to David Ulansey, this is "perhaps the most important example" of evident difference between Iranian and Roman traditions: "... there is no evidence that the Iranian god Mithra ever had anything to do with killing a bull."n every Mithraeum the centrepiece was a representation of Mithras killing a sacred bull, called the tauroctony.
The image may be a relief, or free-standing, and side details may be present or omitted. The centre-piece is Mithras clothed in Anatolian costume and wearing a Phrygian cap; who is kneeling on the exhausted bull, holding it by the nostrils[33] with his left hand, and stabbing it with his right. As he does so, he looks over his shoulder towards the figure of Sol. A dog and a snake reach up towards the blood. A scorpion seizes the bull's genitals. A raven is flying around or is sitting on the bull. Three ears of wheat are seen coming out from the bull's tail, sometimes from the wound. The bull was often white. The god is sitting on the bull in an unnatural way with his right leg constraining the bull's hoof and the left leg is bent and resting on the bull's back or flank.[34] The two torch-bearers are on either side, dressed like Mithras, Cautes with his torch pointing up and Cautopates with his torch pointing down. Sometimes Cautes and Cautopates carry shepherds' crooks instead of torches.
Tauroctony from the Kunsthistorisches Museum
The event takes place in a cavern, into which Mithras has carried the bull, after having hunted it, ridden it and overwhelmed its strength.[38] Sometimes the cavern is surrounded by a circle, on which the twelve signs of the zodiac appear. Outside the cavern, top left, is Sol the sun, with his flaming crown, often driving a quadriga. A ray of light often reaches down to touch Mithras. At the top right is Luna, with her crescent moon, who may be depicted driving a biga.[39]
In some depictions, the central tauroctony is framed by a series of subsidiary scenes to the left, top and right, illustrating events in the Mithras narrative; Mithras being born from the rock, the water miracle, the hunting and riding of the bull, meeting Sol who kneels to him, shaking hands with Sol and sharing a meal of bull-parts with him, and ascending to the heavens in a chariot.[39] In some instances, as is the case in the stucco icon at Santa Prisca mithraeum, the god is shown heroically nude. Some of these reliefs were constructed so that they could be turned on an axis. On the back side was another, more elaborate feasting scene. This indicates that the bull killing scene was used in the first part of the celebration, then the relief was turned, and the second scene was used in the second part of the celebration.Besides the main cult icon, a number of mithraea had several secondary tauroctonies, and some small portable versions, probably meant for private devotion, have also been found.[The second most important scene after the tauroctony in Mithraic art is the so-called banquet scene.The banquet scene features Mithras and the Sun god banqueting on the hide of the slaughtered bull. On the specific banquet scene on the Fiano Romano relief, one of the torchbearers points a caduceus towards the base of an altar, where flames appear to spring up. Robert Turcan has argued that since the caduceus is an attribute of Mercury, and in mythology Mercury is depicted as a psychopomp, the eliciting of flames in this scene is referring to the dispatch of human souls and expressing the Mithraic doctrine on this matter. Turcan also connects this event to the tauroctony: the blood of the slain bull has soaked the ground at the base of the altar, and from the blood the souls are elicited in flames by the caduceus.Mithras is depicted as being born from a rock. He is shown as emerging from a rock, already in his youth, with a dagger in one hand and a torch in the other. He is nude, standing with his legs together, and is wearing a Phrygian cap.
However, there are variations. Sometimes he is shown as coming out of the rock as a child, and in one instance he has a globe in one hand; sometimes a thunderbolt is seen. There are also depictions in which flames are shooting from the rock and also from Mithras' cap. One statue had its base perforated so that it could serve as a fountain, and the base of another has the mask of the water god. Sometimes Mithras also has other weapons such as bows and arrows, and there are also animals such as dogs, serpents, dolphins, eagles, other birds, lion, crocodiles, lobsters and snails around. On some reliefs, there is a bearded figure identified as Oceanus, the water god, and on some there are the gods of the four winds. In these reliefs, the four elements could be invoked together. Sometimes Victoria, Luna, Sol and Saturn also seem to play a role. Saturn in particular is often seen handing over the dagger to Mithras so that he can perform his mighty deeds.
In some depictions, Cautes and Cautopates are also present; sometimes they are depicted as shepherds.
On some occasions, an amphora is seen, and a few instances show variations like an egg birth or a tree birth. Some interpretations show that the birth of Mithras was celebrated by lighting torches or candles.[One of the most characteristic features of the Mysteries is the naked lion-headed figure often found in Mithraic temples, named by the modern scholars with descriptive terms such as leontocephaline (lion-headed) or leontocephalus (lion-head). He is entwined by a serpent (or two serpents, like a caduceus), with the snake's head often resting on the lion's head. The lion's mouth is often open, giving a horrifying impression. He is usually represented as having four wings, two keys (sometimes a single key), and a scepter in his hand. Sometimes the figure is standing on a globe inscribed with a diagonal cross. In the figure shown here, the four wings carry the symbols of the four seasons, and a thunderbolt is engraved on the breast. At the base of the statue are the hammer and tongs of Vulcan, the cock, and the wand of Mercury. A more scarcely represented variant of the figure with a human head is also found.
Although animal-headed figures are prevalent in contemporary Egyptian and Gnostic mythological representations, an exact parallel to the Mithraic leontocephaline figure is not found.
The name of the figure has been deciphered from dedicatory inscriptions to be Arimanius (though the archeological evidence is not very strong), which is nominally the equivalent of Ahriman, a demon figure in the Zoroastrian pantheon. Arimanius is known from inscriptions to have been a god in the Mithraic cult (CIMRM 222 from Ostia, 369 from Rome, 1773 and 1775 from Pannonia).
While some scholars identify the lion-man as Aion (or Zurvan, or Cronus) others assert that it is Ahriman.[51] There is also speculation that the figure is the Gnostic demiurge, (Ariel) Ialdabaoth. Although the exact identity of the lion-headed figure is debated by scholars, it is largely agreed that the god is associated with time and seasonal change.[53] An occultist, D. J.Cooper, speculates to the contrary that the lion-headed figure is not a god, but rather represents the spiritual state achieved in Mithraism's "adept" level, the Leo (lion) degree. Rituals and worship[edit]
According to M. J. Vermaseren, the Mithraic New Year and the birthday of Mithras was on December 25. However, Beck disagrees strongly.Clauss states: "the Mithraic Mysteries had no public ceremonies of its own. The festival of natalis Invicti [Birth of the Unconquerable (Sun)], held on 25 December, was a general festival of the Sun, and by no means specific to the Mysteries of Mithras." Mithraic initiates were required to swear an oath of secrecy and dedication, and some grade rituals involved the recital of a catechism, wherein the initiate was asked a series of questions pertaining to the initiation symbolism and had to reply with specific answers. An example of such a catechism, apparently pertaining to the Leo grade, was discovered in a fragmentary Egyptian papyrus (P.Berolinensis 21196),and reads:
... He will say: 'Where ... ?
... he is/(you are?) there (then/thereupon?) at a loss?' Say: ... Say: 'Night'. He will say: 'Where ... ?' ... Say: 'All things ...' (He will say): '... you are called ... ?' Say: 'Because of the summery ...' ... having become ... he/it has the fiery ... (He will say): '... did you receive/inherit?' Say: 'In a pit'. He will say: 'Where is your ...?... (Say): '...(in the...) Leonteion.' He will say: 'Will you gird?' The (heavenly?) ...(Say): '... death'. He will say: 'Why, having girded yourself, ...?' '... this (has?) four tassels. Very sharp and ... '... much'. He will say: ...? (Say: '... because of/through?) hot and cold'. He will say: ...? (Say): '... red ... linen'. He will say: 'Why?' Say: '... red border; the linen, however, ...' (He will say): '... has been wrapped?' Say: 'The savior's ...' He will say: 'Who is the father?' Say: 'The one who (begets?) everything ...' (He will say): '('How ?)... did you become a Leo?' Say: 'By the ... of the father'. ... Say: 'Drink and food'. He will say '...?'
'... in the seven-...
Almost no Mithraic scripture or first-hand account of its highly secret rituals survives;with the exception of the aforementioned oath and catechism, and the document known as the Mithras Liturgy, from 4th century Egypt, whose status as a Mithraist text has been questioned by scholars including Franz Cumont. The walls of Mithraea were commonly whitewashed, and where this survives it tends to carry extensive repositories of graffiti; and these, together with inscriptions on Mithraic monuments, form the main source for Mithraic texts.
Nevertheless, it is clear from the archeology of numerous Mithraea that most rituals were associated with feasting – as eating utensils and food residues are almost invariably found. These tend to include both animal bones and also very large quantities of fruit residues.The presence of large amounts of cherry-stones in particular would tend to confirm mid-summer (late June, early July) as a season especially associated with Mithraic festivities. The Virunum album, in the form of an inscribed bronze plaque, records a Mithraic festival of commemoration as taking place on 26 June 184. Beck argues that religious celebrations on this date are indicative of special significance being given to the Summer solstice; but this time of the year coincides with ancient recognition of the solar maximum at midsummer, whilst iconographically identical holidays such as Litha, St John's Eve, and Jāņi are observed also.
For their feasts, Mithraic initiates reclined on stone benches arranged along the longer sides of the Mithraeum – typically there might be room for 15 to 30 diners, but very rarely many more than 40 men. Counterpart dining rooms, or triclinia, were to be found above ground in the precincts of almost any temple or religious sanctuary in the Roman empire, and such rooms were commonly used for their regular feasts by Roman 'clubs', or collegia. Mithraic feasts probably performed a very similar function for Mithraists as the collegia did for those entitled to join them; indeed, since qualification for Roman collegia tended to be restricted to particular families, localities or traditional trades, Mithraism may have functioned in part as providing clubs for the unclubbed.However, the size of the Mithraeum is not necessarily an indication of the size of the congregation.
Each Mithraeum had several altars at the further end, underneath the representation of the tauroctony, and also commonly contained considerable numbers of subsidiary altars, both in the main Mithraeum chamber and in the ante-chamber or narthex.[68] These altars, which are of the standard Roman pattern, each carry a named dedicatory inscription from a particular initiate, who dedicated the altar to Mithras "in fulfillment of his vow", in gratitude for favours received. Burned residues of animal entrails are commonly found on the main altars indicating regular sacrificial use. However, Mithraea do not commonly appear to have been provided with facilities for ritual slaughter of sacrificial animals (a highly specialised function in Roman religion), and it may be presumed that a Mithraeum would have made arrangements for this service to be provided for them in co-operation with the professional victimarius of the civic cult. Prayers were addressed to the Sun three times a day, and Sunday was especially sacred.
It is doubtful whether Mithraism had a monolithic and internally consistent doctrine. It may have varied from location to location. However, the iconography is relatively coherent. It had no predominant sanctuary or cultic centre; and, although each Mithraeum had its own officers and functionaries, there was no central supervisory authority. In some Mithraea, such as that at Dura Europos, wall paintings depict prophets carrying scrolls,but no named Mithraic sages are known, nor does any reference give the title of any Mithraic scripture or teaching. It is known that intitates could transfer with their grades from one Mithraeum to another.
Mithraeum
See also: Mithraeum
A mithraeum found in the ruins of Ostia Antica, Italy
Temples of Mithras are sunk below ground, windowless, and very distinctive. In cities, the basement of an apartment block might be converted; elsewhere they might be excavated and vaulted over, or converted from a natural cave. Mithraic temples are common in the empire; although unevenly distributed, with considerable numbers found in Rome, Ostia, Numidia, Dalmatia, Britain and along the Rhine/Danube frontier; while being somewhat less common in Greece, Egypt, and Syria.According to Walter Burkert, the secret character of Mithriac rituals meant that Mithraism could only be practiced within a Mithraeum.Some new finds at Tienen show evidence of large-scale feasting and suggest that the mystery religion may not have been as secretive as was generally believed.
For the most part, Mithraea tend to be small, externally undistinguished, and cheaply constructed; the cult generally preferring to create a new centre rather than expand an existing one. The Mithraeum represented the cave to which Mithras carried and then killed the bull; and where stone vaulting could not be afforded, the effect would be imitated with lath and plaster. They are commonly located close to springs or streams; fresh water appears to have been required for some Mithraic rituals, and a basin is often incorporated into the structure. There is usually a narthex or ante-chamber at the entrance, and often other ancillary rooms for storage and the preparation of food. The extant mithraea present us with actual physical remains of the architectural structures of the sacred spaces of the Mithraic cult. Mithraeum is a modern coinage and mithraists referred to their sacred structures as speleum or antrum (cave), crypta (underground hallway or corridor), fanum (sacred or holy place), or even templum (a temple or a sacred space).
In their basic form, mithraea were entirely different from the temples and shrines of other cults. In the standard pattern of Roman religious precincts, the temple building functioned as a house for the god, who was intended to be able to view through the opened doors and columnar portico, sacrificial worship being offered on an altar set in an open courtyard; potentially accessible not only to initiates of the cult, but also to colitores or non-initiated worshippers.Mithraea were the antithesis of this.
Degrees of initiation
In the Suda under the entry "Mithras", it states that "no one was permitted to be initiated into them (the mysteries of Mithras), until he should show himself holy and steadfast by undergoing several graduated tests."Gregory Nazianzen refers to the "tests in the mysteries of Mithras".
There were seven grades of initiation into the mysteries of Mithras, which are listed by St. Jerome.Manfred Clauss states that the number of grades, seven, must be connected to the planets. A mosaic in the Ostia Mithraeum of Felicissimus depicts these grades, with symbolic emblems that are connected either to the grades or are just symbols of the planets. The grades also have an inscription beside them commending each grade into the protection of the different planetary gods. In ascending order of importance, the initiatory grades were:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mithraic_mysteries
In the Mithraic ceremonies, there were seven degrees of initiations: Corax (Raven), Nymphus (Bridegroom), Miles (Soldier), Leo (Lion), Perses (Persian),Heliodromus (Courier of the Sun), and Pater (Father). Those in the lowest ranks, certainly the Corax, were the servants of the community during the sacred meal of bread and water that formed part of the rite.
The area where the concentration of evidence for Mithraism is the most dense is the capital, Rome, and her port city, Ostia. There are eight extant mithraea in Rome of as many as seven hundred (Coarelli 1979) and eighteen in Ostia. In addition to the actual mithraea, there are approximately three hundred other mithraic monuments from Rome and about one hundred from Ostia. This body of evidence reveals that Mithraism in Rome and Ostia originally appealed to the same social strata as it did in the frontier regions. The evidence also indicates that at least some inhabitants knew about Mithraism as early as the late first century CE, but that the cult did not enjoy a wide membership in either location until the middle of the second century CE.
As the cult in Rome became more popular, it seems to have "trickled up" the social ladder, with the result that Mithraism could count several senators from prominent aristocratic families among its adherents by the fourth century CE. Some of these men were initiates in several cults imported from the eastern empire (including those of Magna Mater and Attis, Isis, Serapis, Jupiter Dolichenus, Hecate, and Liber Pater, among others), and most had held priesthoods in official Roman cults. The devotion of these men to Mithraism reflects a fourth-century "resurgence of paganism," when many of these imported cults and even official Roman state religion experienced a surge in popularity although, and perhaps because, their very existence was increasingly threatened by the rapid spread of Christianity after the conversion of the emperor Constantine in 313 CE.
global.britannica.com/topic/heliodromus
Mithraism had a wide following from the middle of the second century to the late fourth century CE, but the common belief that Mithraism was the prime competitor of Christianity, promulgated by Ernst Renan (Renan 1882 579), is blatantly false. Mithraism was at a serious disadvantage right from the start because it allowed only male initiates. What is more, Mithraism was, as mentioned above, only one of several cults imported from the eastern empire that enjoyed a large membership in Rome and elsewhere. The major competitor to Christianity was thus not Mithraism but the combined group of imported cults and official Roman cults subsumed under the rubric "paganism." Finally, part of Renan's claim rested on an equally common, but almost equally mistaken, belief that Mithraism was officially accepted because it had Roman emperors among its adherents (Nero, Commodus, Septimius Severus, Caracalla, and the Tetrarchs are most commonly cited). Close examination of the evidence for the participation of emperors reveals that some comes from literary sources of dubious quality and that the rest is rather circumstantial. The cult of Magna Mater, the first imported cult to arrive in Rome (204 BCE) was the only one ever officially recognized as a Roman cult. The others, including Mithraism, were never officially accepted, and some, particularly the Egyptian cult of Isis, were periodically outlawed and their adherents persecuted.
ecole.evansville.edu/articles/mithraism.html
Some words were enough for God to precipitate the most beautiful of his creatures at the bottom of the abyss. Lucifer, the carrier of Light, pulled(entailed) with him a third(third party) of the angels in its revolt. Hell was created for him. We know the continuation(suite) … The column of July Place de la Bastille, was set up between 1833 and 1840. In its summit, thrones the "Spirit of liberty" conceived(designed) by the sculptor Auguste Dumont. Curious tribute returned by Louis Philippe to the insurgents who knocked down(spilled) Charles X and the Absolute monarchy three years earlier. Lucifer picked up. No detail misses(is lacking) … Torch in the hand, the Angel has just broken his chains(channels) and dashes to new conquests. Under its impressive base is a crypt sheltering some 500 rests of Fighters of 1830, as well as Egyptian mummy brought back(reported) by Napoleon.Durant la commune de Paris en 1870, après avoir abattu la colonne Vendôme, les communards s’en prirent à celle de la Bastille… sans succès. Ni le dispositif d’explosifs souterrains, ni le tir d’une trentaine d’obus depuis les buttes Chaumont n’en virent pas à bout. La flamme du porteur de Lumière refusa de s’éteindre…
During the municipality of Paris in 1870, having brought(shot) down the column Vendôme, the Communards took themselves in that of the Bastille unsuccessfully. Neither the device(plan) of subterranean explosives, nor the shooting(firing) of around thirty shells since mounds Chaumont transfer(fire) it to end. The flame of the carrier of Light refused to go out …Lucifer was so far away...?
« Non Serviam »- « Je ne servirai pas ! »
Quelques mots suffirent à Dieu pour précipiter la plus belle de ses créatures au fond de l’abîme. Lucifer, le porteur de Lumière, entraîna avec lui un tiers des anges dans sa révolte. L’enfer fut créé pour lui. Nous connaissons la suite…La colonne de Juillet Place de la Bastille, fut érigée entre 1833 et 1840. À son sommet, trône le « Génie de La Liberté » conçu par le sculpteur Auguste Dumont. Curieux hommage rendu par Louis Philippe aux insurgés qui renversèrent Charles X et la Monarchie absolue trois ans plus tôt. Lucifer a repris du poil de la bête. Aucun détail ne manque… Torche à la main, l’Ange vient de briser ses chaînes et s’élance vers de nouvelles conquêtes. Sous son imposant piédestal se trouve une crypte abritant quelques 500 restes des combattants de 1830, ainsi qu’une momie égyptienne rapportée par Napoléon.Durant la commune de Paris en 1870, après avoir abattu la colonne Vendôme, les communards s’en prirent à celle de la Bastille… sans succès. Ni le dispositif d’explosifs souterrains, ni le tir d’une trentaine d’obus depuis les buttes Chaumont n’en virent pas à bout. La flamme du porteur de Lumière refusa de s’éteindre…
www.pariszigzag.fr/histoire-insolite-paris/qui-est-vraime...
Yangon - Shwedagon
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New images of the Phantom Galaxy, M74, showcase the power of space observatories working together in multiple wavelengths. On the left, the Hubble Space Telescope’s view of the galaxy ranges from the older, redder stars towards the centre, to younger and bluer stars in its spiral arms, to the most active stellar formation in the red bubbles of H II regions.
On the right, the James Webb Space Telescope’s image is strikingly different, instead highlighting the masses of gas and dust within the galaxy’s arms, and the dense cluster of stars at its core. The combined image in the centre merges these two for a truly unique look at this “grand design” spiral galaxy. Scientists combine data from telescopes operating across the electromagnetic spectrum to truly understand astronomical objects. In this way, data from Hubble and Webb compliment each other to provide a comprehensive view of the spectacular M74 galaxy.
Read more: esawebb.org/images/potm2208c/
Image credits: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, J. Lee and the PHANGS-JWST Team.
Acknowledgement: J. Schmidt
Image description: This image is divided evenly into 3 different views of the same region in the Phantom Galaxy. At left is an optical view taken by Hubble. Arms carved of brown filaments spiral out from a bright galactic core. The arms have pops of pink, which are star-forming regions, and there are blue stars throughout. The middle view contained combined Webb and Hubble data. Lacy red filaments spiraling out of the center of the galaxy are overlaid over a black field speckled with tiny blue stars. The red filaments contain pops of bright pink, which are star-forming regions. Lighter oranges in the red dust mean that dust is hotter. Heavier older stars closer to the center of the galaxy are cyan and green, and contribute to a greenish glow at the core. At right is a mid-infrared image from Webb. Delicate gray filaments spiral outwards from the center. These arms are traced by blue and bursts of pink, which are star-forming regions. A cluster of young stars glow blue at the very heart of the galaxy.
Constructed in 1913-1914, this Classical Revival-style building was funded by the Carnegie Foundation, and constructed as a library for Centre College to replace a previous library constructed in the 1890s, and served as the Centre College library until Crounse Hall was completed in 1967. The red brick building features a red tile hipped roof with decorative exposed rafter ends, corinthian pilasters flanking the three central bays fo the front facade, large stained glass windows, limestone trim, a limestone base, quoins flanking the two outer bays of the front facade, with arched windows on the second floor of the outer bays, a central portico with ionic columns, brackets, and a decorative stone surround at the main entrance, arched windows on the second floor of the side facades, with an addition in the northwest corner of the building featuring quoins at the corner and a low-slope roof with a parapet. The rear facade features three levels of double-hung windows, divided by pilasters into vertical bays running from the sills on the first floor to the roof of the building. Following the library’s relocation out of the building, Old Carnegie served variously as home to Centre College’s admissions office, bookstore, and the campus post office, and is presently utilized as administrative offices and a special events center. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986, and is a contributing structure in the Danville Commercial District Historic District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.
This series of photos will include some of the flowers.....
Geology and climate are important contributing to the successful establishment of plants within the park. Deep deposits of volcanic ash combined with even rainfall, mild winters and warm summer temperatures are conducive to plant growth for a range of species from around the world. With this variety of plant types Pukekura is unique in offering a diverse range of landscapes from dense remnant tawa/mahoe/pukatea forest to broad lawns with annual bedding displays and themed garden plantings.
The former Walker Brothers Druggists building was constructed circa 1930. The structure is located in the Downtown Columbia Historic District listed on the National Register of Historic Place and is a contributing property.
Cold spell and mist had frozen on the branches of the trees along the River Beult in Kent. A couple of weeks earlier, the Beult contributed to flooding downstream at Yalding.
These three images are of the central region of the magnificent spiral galaxy M100, taken with three generations of the Hubble Space Telescope cameras that were sequentially swapped out aboard the telescope, and document the consistently improving capability of the observatory.
The image on the left was taken with the Wide Field/Planetary Camera 1 in 1993. The photo is blurry due to a manufacturing flaw (called spherical aberration) in Hubble's primary mirror. Celestial images could not be brought into a single focus. [Credit: NASA, ESA, and Judy Schmidt]
The middle image was taken in late 1993 with Wide Field/Planetary Camera 2 that was installed during the Dec. 2-13 space shuttle servicing mission (SM1, STS-61). The camera contained corrective optics to compensate for the mirror flaw, and so the galaxy snapped into sharp focus when photographed. [Credit: NASA, ESA, and J. DePasquale (STScI)]
The image on the right was taken with a newer instrument, Wide Field Camera 3, that was installed on Hubble during the space shuttle Servicing Mission 4 in May 2009. [Credit: NASA, ESA, and Judy Schmidt]
In celebration of the 25th anniversary of NASA's first space servicing mission to Hubble, these comparison photos of one of the telescope's first targets are being released today.
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission.
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The Industrial Gallery which connects the two main parts of the Grade II* Listed Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, in the city centre of Birmingham, West Midlands.
There are now over 40 galleries to explore that display art, applied art, social history, archaeology and ethnography. The art gallery is famous for its Pre-Raphaelite paintings, which are part of the largest public Pre-Raphaelite collection in the world. It is also home of the Staffordshire Hoard, the largest hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold ever found, in its own dedicated gallery.
The Birmingham History collections feature prominently in the 'Birmingham: its people, its history' gallery, which covers the majority of the 3rd floor. There is also art and objects spanning seven centuries of European and World history and culture, this includes Greeks & Romans and Ancient Egypt.
In 1829, the Birmingham Society of Artists created a private exhibition building in New Street, Birmingham while the historical precedent for public education around that time produced the Factory Act 1833, the first instance of Government funding for education.
In 1864, the first public exhibition room was opened when the Society and other donors presented 64 pictures as well as the Sultanganj Buddha to Birmingham Council and these were housed in the Free Library building but, due to lack of space, the pictures had to move to Aston Hall. Joseph Nettlefold bequeathed twenty-five pictures by David Cox to Birmingham Art Gallery on the condition it opened on Sundays.
Jesse Collings, Mayor of Birmingham 1878–79, was responsible for free libraries in Birmingham and was the original proponent of the Birmingham Art Gallery. A £10,000 (£1.2 million in 2019) gift by Sir Richard and George Tangye started a new drive for an art gallery and, in 1885, following other donations and £40,000 (£5 million in 2019) from the council, the Prince of Wales officially opened the new gallery on Saturday 28 November 1885.
The Museum occupied an extended part of the Council House above the new offices of the municipal Gas Department. The building was designed by Yeoville Thomason. The metalwork for the new building (and adjoining Council House) was by the Birmingham firm of Hart, Son, Peard & Co. and extended to both the interior and exterior including the distinctive cast-iron columns in the main gallery space for the display of decorative art.
The lofty portico, surmounted by a pediment by Francis John Williamson, representing an allegory of Birmingham contributing to the fine arts, was together with the clock-tower considered the "most conspicuous features" of the exterior upon its opening. By 1900 the collection, especially its contemporary British holdings, was deemed by the Magazine of Art to be "one of the finest and handsomest" in Britain.
In 1913 suffragettes from the militant suffrage organisation the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) launched a spate of attacks on art galleries and museums in Britain. The attack at Birmingham Art Gallery on 9 June 1914 was carried out by Bertha Ryland, a 28 year old suffragette who had two earlier arrests for militant activities. Ryland used a butcher’s cleaver hidden in her blouse to hack at ‘Master Thornhill’, a painting by George Romney, causing £50 (£5,484 in 2019) worth of damage. She was arrested at the scene and identified from a note she left giving her name and address and protesting against the differential treatment of suffragette prisoners and Irish militants.
Information sources
www.birminghammuseums.org.uk/bmag/about
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birmingham_Museum_and_Art_Gallery
britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/101210333-council-house-city...
Aberdeenshire (Scottish Gaelic: Siorrachd Obar Dheathain) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the old County of Aberdeen which had substantially different boundaries. Modern Aberdeenshire includes all of what was once Kincardineshire, as well as part of Banffshire. The old boundaries are still officially used for a few purposes, namely land registration and lieutenancy. Aberdeenshire Council is headquartered at Woodhill House, in Aberdeen, making it the only Scottish council whose headquarters are located outside its jurisdiction. Aberdeen itself forms a different council area (Aberdeen City). Aberdeenshire borders onto Angus and Perth and Kinross to the south, Highland and Moray to the west and Aberdeen City to the east. Traditionally, it has been economically dependent upon the primary sector (agriculture, fishing, and forestry) and related processing industries. Over the last 40 years, the development of the oil and gas industry and associated service sector has broadened Aberdeenshire's economic base, and contributed to a rapid population growth of some 50% since 1975. Its land represents 8% of Scotland's overall territory. It covers an area of 6,313 square kilometres
Space Science image of the week:
Maybe you’re reading this caption while drinking a coffee. As you stir your drink with a spoon, vortices are produced in the liquid that decay into smaller eddies until they disappear entirely. This can be described as a cascade of vortices from large to small scales. Furthermore, the motion of the spoon brings the hot liquid into contact with the cooler air and so the heat from the coffee can escape more efficiently into the atmosphere, cooling it down.
A similar effect occurs in space, in the electrically charged atomic particles – solar wind plasma – blown out by our Sun, but with one key difference: in space there is no air. Although the energy injected into the solar wind by the Sun is transferred to smaller scales in turbulent cascades, just like in your coffee, the temperature in the plasma is seen to increase because there is no cool air to stop it.
How exactly the solar wind plasma is heated is a hot topic in space physics, because it is hotter than expected for an expanding gas and almost no collisions are present. Scientists have suggested that the cause of this heating may be hidden in the turbulent character of the solar wind plasma.
Advanced supercomputer simulations are helping to understand these complex motions: the image shown here is from one such simulation. It represents the distribution of the current density in the turbulent solar wind plasma, where localised filaments and vortices have appeared as a consequence of the turbulent energy cascade. The blue and yellow colours show the most intense currents (blue for negative and yellow for positive values).
These coherent structures are not static, but evolve in time and interact with each other. Moreover, between the islands, the current becomes very intense, creating high magnetic stress regions and sometimes a phenomenon known as magnetic reconnection. That is, when magnetic field lines of opposite direction get close together they can suddenly realign into new configurations, releasing vast amounts of energy that can cause localised heating.
Such events are observed in space, for example by ESA’s Cluster quartet of satellites in Earth orbit, in the solar wind. Cluster also found evidence for turbulent eddies down to a few tens of kilometres as the solar wind interacts with Earth’s magnetic field.
This cascade of energy may contribute to the overall heating of the solar wind, a topic that ESA’s future Solar Orbiter mission will also try to address.
In the meantime, enjoy studying turbulent cascades of vortices in your coffee!
More information: Perrone et al. (2013) ; Servidio et al. (2015) and Valentini et al. (2016).
Credit: D. Perrone et al
EB coal meets a WB manifest with UP 6776 at 5:16pm. Of the 6 train (4 east, 2 west) that I saw, there were 2 manifest, 2 coal, an empty ethanol, and a ballast train headed for the tie gang near Denison. The single track around the gang likely contributed to the ebb and flow of trains that I saw. Still, traffic levels seemed like old times. After one hour I took off knowing that there was an empty EB auto train on the bell which I would pass on the way home.
*Working Towards a Better World
Diversity: the art of thinking independently together.
Malcolm Forbes
When power leads man toward arrogance, poetry reminds him of his limitations. When power narrows the area of man's concern, poetry reminds him of the richness and diversity of existence. When power corrupts, poetry cleanses.
John F. Kennedy
Real cultural diversity results from the interchange of ideas, products, and influences, not from the insular development of a single national style.
Tyler Cowen
Today when I think about diversity, I actually think about the word 'inclusion.' And I think this is a time of great inclusion. It's not men, it's not women alone. Whether it's geographic, it's approach, it's your style, it's your way of learning, the way you want to contribute, it's your age - it is really broad.
Ginni Rometty
We need to give each other the space to grow, to be ourselves, to exercise our diversity. We need to give each other space so that we may both give and receive such beautiful things as ideas, openness, dignity, joy, healing, and inclusion.
Max de Pree
What I'm trying to do is get a change in the mindset so people move from a level of mere tolerance to total acceptance and eventually to celebrate diversity. If you feel comfortable with one another, it doesn't matter whether we live in which neighbourhood but we can interact with one another freely. It's a mindset.
Najib Razak
Diversity on the bench is critical. As practitioners, you need judges who 'get it!' We need judges who understand what discrimination feels like. We need judges who understand what inequality feels like. We need judges who understand the subtleties of unfair treatment and who are willing to call it out when they see it!
Debbie Wasserman Schultz
We need to reject any politics that targets people because of race or religion. This isn't a matter of political correctness. It's a matter of understanding what makes us strong. The world respects us not just for our arsenal; it respects us for our diversity and our openness and the way we respect every faith.
Barack Obama
Right now, when we're hearing so much disturbing and hateful rhetoric, it is so important to remember that our diversity has been - and will always be - our greatest source of strength and pride here in the United States.
Michelle Obama
Thank you for your kind visit. Have a wonderful and beautiful day! ❤️ ❤️ ❤️
This Sōrin has been exhibited on the roof-top of the Seven-storied Pagoda in the site of the EXPO´70. On the occasion of this exposition, this Pagoda has been re-created by Furukawa Pavilion, in the same appearance as the Seven-storied Pagoda that once stood in the Compound of Nara´s Todai-ji Temple about 1.200years ago. And after the closing of the EXPO´70 this Sōrin has been contributed and re-established in this place on October 1971
Este Sōrin se ha exhibido en la azotea de la Pagoda de siete pisos en el sitio de la EXPO´70. Con motivo de esta exposición, esta Pagoda ha sido recreada por Furukawa Pavilion, en la misma apariencia que la Pagoda de siete pisos que una vez estuvo en el Compuesto del Templo Todai-ji de Nara hace unos 1.200 años. Y tras el cierre de la EXPO´70 este Sōrin se ha aportado y reestablecido en este lugar en octubre de 1971
The sōrin (相輪, lit. alternate rings) is the vertical shaft (finial) which tops a Japanese pagoda, whether made of stone or wood. The sōrin of a wooden pagoda is usually made of bronze and can be over 10 meters tall. That of a stone pagoda is also of stone and less than a meter long. The sōrin is divided in several sections possessing a symbolic meaning and, as a whole, in turn itself represents a pagoda. Although quintessentially Buddhist, in Japan pagodas and their sōrin can be found both at Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines. This is because until the Kami and Buddhas Separation Act of 1868 a Shinto shrine was normally also a Buddhist temple and vice versa. Itsukushima Shrine for example has one.
The sōrin of a wooden pagoda is usually made of bronze and is divided in several segments called (from top to bottom):
The Jewel or gem (宝珠, hōju or hōshu), a spherical or tear-shaped object, shapes sacred to Buddhism. Believed to repel evil and fulfill wishes, it can be also found on top of pyramidal temple roofs, of stone lanterns or of tall poles. It can have flames, in which case it is called kaen hōju (火炎宝珠, flaming gem). Those made before the Momoyama period tend to be rounder.
The dragon vehicle (竜車, ryūsha), the piece immediately below the hōju
The water flame (水煙, suien, lit. "water smoke"), consisting of four decorative sheets of metal set at 90° to each other and installed over the top of the main pillar of a pagoda.
The fūtaku (風鐸, lit. "wind bell"), small bells attached to the edges of a sōrin's rings or of the suien.
The nine rings (九輪, kurin), the largest component of the sōrin. In spite of their name, there can sometimes be only eight or even seven of them.
The ukebana (受花・請花, lit. "receiving flower"), a circle of upturned lotus petals, usually eight in number. There can also be another circle of petals facing down.
The inverted bowl (伏鉢, fukubachi), which sits between the ukebana and the roban.
The base or dew basin (露盤, roban, lit. "external bow"l), on which rests the entire finial. Because it covers the top of the roof in order to prevent leaks, it normally has as many sides as the roof itself (four, six or eight).
The most important stone pagoda having a finial is the hōkyōintō. Usually made in stone and occasionally metal or wood, hōkyōintō started to be made in their present form during the Kamakura period. Like a gorintō, they are divided in five main sections, of which the sōrin is the uppermost. Its components are, from the top down: Hōju, Ukebana, Kurin, Ukebana, Roban.
The sōrin sits on the kasa (笠, umbrella) or yane (屋根, roof), a stepped pyramid with four wings at the corners called mimikazari (耳飾) or sumikazari (隅飾).
The sōrintō (相輪橖) is a type of small pagoda consisting just of a pole and a sōrin.
El sōrin (相 輪, lit. anillos alternos) es el eje vertical (remate) que corona una pagoda japonesa, ya sea de piedra o madera. El sōrin de una pagoda de madera suele estar hecho de bronce y puede tener más de 10 metros de altura. La de una pagoda de piedra también es de piedra y tiene menos de un metro de largo. El sōrin está dividido en varias secciones que poseen un significado simbólico y, en su conjunto, a su vez representa una pagoda. Aunque son esencialmente budistas, en Japón se pueden encontrar pagodas y su sōrin tanto en los templos budistas como en los santuarios sintoístas. Esto se debe a que hasta la Ley de Separación de Kami y Budas de 1868, un santuario sintoísta era normalmente también un templo budista y viceversa. El Santuario Itsukushima, por ejemplo, tiene uno.
El sōrin de una pagoda de madera suele estar hecho de bronce y se divide en varios segmentos llamados (de arriba a abajo):
La joya o gema (宝珠, hōju o hōshu), un objeto esférico o con forma de lágrima, tiene formas sagradas para el budismo. Se cree que repele el mal y cumple los deseos, pero también se puede encontrar en la parte superior de los techos de los templos piramidales, en faroles de piedra o en postes altos. Puede tener llamas, en cuyo caso se llama kaen hōju (火炎 宝珠, gema llameante). Los hechos antes del período Momoyama tienden a ser más redondos.
El vehículo dragón (竜 車, ryūsha), la pieza inmediatamente debajo del hōju
La llama de agua (水煙, suien, lit. "humo de agua"), que consta de cuatro láminas decorativas de metal colocadas a 90 ° entre sí e instaladas sobre la parte superior del pilar principal de una pagoda.
El fūtaku (風 鐸, literalmente "campana de viento"), pequeñas campanas unidas a los bordes de los anillos de un sōrin o del suien.
Los nueve anillos (九 輪, kurin), el componente más grande del sōrin. A pesar de su nombre, a veces puede haber solo ocho o incluso siete.
El ukebana (受 花 ・ 請 花, literalmente "flor receptora"), un círculo de pétalos de loto vueltos hacia arriba, por lo general ocho en número. También puede haber otro círculo de pétalos hacia abajo.
El cuenco invertido (伏 鉢, fukubachi), que se encuentra entre el ukebana y el roban.
La base o cubeta de rocío (露 盤, roban, lit. "arco externo" l), sobre la que descansa todo el remate. Debido a que cubre la parte superior del techo para evitar goteras, normalmente tiene tantos lados como el techo mismo (cuatro, seis u ocho).
La pagoda de piedra más importante que tiene un remate es el hōkyōintō. Generalmente hecho en piedra y ocasionalmente en metal o madera, el hōkyōintō comenzó a fabricarse en su forma actual durante el período Kamakura. Como un gorintō, se dividen en cinco secciones principales, de las cuales la sōrin es la más alta. Sus componentes son, de arriba hacia abajo: Hoju, Ukebana, Kurin, Ukebana, Roban.
El sōrin se sienta en el kasa (笠, paraguas) o yane (屋 根, techo), una pirámide escalonada con cuatro alas en las esquinas llamada mimikazari (耳飾) o sumikazari (隅 飾).
El sōrintō (相 輪 橖) es un tipo de pequeña pagoda que consta solo de un poste y un sōrin.
I don't recall where I shot this, perhaps a Chicago conservatory? I think this may have been one of my first shots with my Polaroid Colorpack II that I found at a flea market. I decided to shoot with black and white film first since it seemed easier to set focal distance and get okay results (or so says my Flickr post from long ago about the cam: flic.kr/p/6Ysyk9). I don't know how the brown/bronzy dots developed on this frame. I imagine that because I wasn't super careful about storing these images, that may have contributed, but I like the magical fairy dust kind of effect they have on this dreamy image. I don't think the scan does this image justice, but I am posting anyway.
Maybe I’m alone with this but I have noticed when I dress up as a woman I find myself constantly checking out my look. I think a number of factors contribute to this. The big one being, since I was a young boy I have always wanted to become a girl. As I have grown older the desire to spend time as a woman has strengthened and not diminished in any way. As a young man I always believed I would ‘get over’ my desire to spend time as a female but that proved to be delusional. I enjoy spending time as a woman more and more, and it connects with me on deeply emotional level. I have regrets now that I was not brave enough as a young man to embark on the journey to becoming a woman. I took a different path that I now like and value and would not change. I do sometimes become consumed with the desire to be female but I do not wish to jeopardise my family and income by being too indulgent of my own desires.
Moving on from that current reality, my embracing transvestism saved me and enabled true self expression. I rarely become a woman and adore the precious few hours I am able to cross-dress and adopt a female appearance. When I have undergone the process of male to female transformation, something that is lengthy and requires much planning in my situation, I am thrilled and euphoric to cease being male for a few hours.
I have a deep need to try and pass completely as a woman, I have no desire within me to look like a man but as I am a man I find myself challenged in trying to achieve my inner dream. I do find big psychological changes occur as I work on myself physically to try and look female. As I pluck and shape my eyebrows, shave off my body hair and see my legs, chest and arms become smooth and hairless I felt a deep joy surfacing and a more relaxed sense of self emerging. Tucking away my male genitals and having no bulge really boosts me, I love how it makes me feel more female.
Typically at this stage I will apply my make-up at this point and an urgency begins to take root, the awareness I am committing to try and be more feminine than masculine grows exponentially and I have to force myself to be patient and take things steadily. I adore the moment I finally disguise my beard shadow with make-up and this induces a considerable confidence boost that pushes me forward to complete my transformation. I will admit a big thrill courses through me at this stage and I can at times, feel rather light headed. I often need to calm myself before proceeding.
In recent months I invested in an airbrush make-up application kit which, though tricky to use at first, produces smooth flawless looking coverage without looking thick on the face. It’s another huge confidence booster. I can recommend it for your foundation application, especially if you require a lot of coverage and want to venture out in public. You will get great smooth coverage and look more natural. Applying eyeliner, mascara and lipstick literally sends me in raptures of pure pleasure! I adore wearing make-up and love how it makes me feel.
Once the make-up is on my face I find I urgently have to don my wig, pull on my knickers (panties) and put on a bra and fill it with my breast forms, suddenly I feel I am more woman than man. I next enjoy taking my time sitting in my lingerie, in my make-up and with my feminine hair, and painting my nails.
If you are a male to female cross-dresser you will know what comes next. The moment has arrived to pull on tights (pantyhose) and pull on a dress before then slipping on a pair of high heels. I always love the moment of standing up as a woman at this point and enjoy the fact the man within has gone. Adding a dash of perfume and attaching ear-rings is the final touch beard a moment of sheer emotional intoxication takes over. Again, I find myself so suffused with inner joy at finally escaping my male self and embracing my female self that I need to take awhile to calm and settle into my female persona.
That’s the background to what occurs next and which I’ve compiled into this brief video. The video captures my own joy at being a closer to presenting myself as a woman and how I can hardly believe I have actually just transformed myself away from beg a male. I think vanity and obsession kick in and I find myself looking at myself in the mirror a lot and taking lots of photos to remind myself I did actually do this.
For many years photos were all I had of myself as my female alter-ego when, inevitably, I began to wonder do I actually look female? Personally, I always see my male self in my female appearance, which is a bit crushing emotionally, but I see some potential that if I work on it i may just one day pass as a woman and never be perceived as male.
As I became more curious about my efforts to look like a woman I came across a video on Flickr by Michelle Bennet in America. This, along with her patient encouragement as we corresponded, resulted in me recording my first video as a woman in June 2010. Video proved very revealing and far less forgiving than choosing the ‘good photo’ which is the way I used to do things. Most of the photos I took were deleted and only certain images where things were captured right were retained.
Video was exciting, I was suddenly seeing myself not just dressed as a woman but moving and I realised I had to try harder if I wanted to become a woman during the times I cross-dressed. It was really exciting and I drew on Michelle’s inspiration greatly. also found video was great for opening up about being a transvestite. I found it incredibly liberating to appear as a woman on camera and just chat about all the things I had suppressed for decades. Video has now become my outlet for self expression in regard to my female side.
I Idid notice in my videos that often, before I began to chat on camera, I would be examining myself on the screen. This is partly vanity (well a lot really) and partly the sheer amazement I am dressed as a woman and in make-up. I find since I began using my phone for video I ca see myself clearly on the screen and I keep checking myself out! I find myself examining my make-up and wig and outfits in detail and despite the vanity of such actions, it is good at providing instant feedback on my efforts to look and act as if I am a female.
These days I believe in admitting to all the things I’ve gone through in my quest to become a convincing looking woman when I cross-dress and I think it’s good to embrace your needs, desires and your past. I’ve gone through the whole micro skirts, skyscraper high heels and over the top make-up trying to act overtly sexy so why deny it, it happened and I loved doing it at the time. Go for it I say!
My quest these days is to pass in the real world as a woman. I found that thinking yourself into the gender and making that work unconsciously helps amazingly in your efforts to pass as a woman. Sometimes I surprise myself with the thoughts that I have when I am dressed as a woman. I definitely enjoy leaving the man behind and thinking as a female, its shocking, and exciting and genuinely thrilling when you realise you’ve crossed the line in your head!
Returning to this truly self indulgent video, I’ve compiled a few shots of myself checking out my look and would encourage others to give it a go as it really does help you evolve and improve with your make-up and hair and body movements and it is rather fun! It’s not really very structured as a video but as I am currently not able to cross-dress and become the woman I like to spend time as I am coping with my desire by posting indulgent videos like this one to help me cope and build anticipation for my next opportunity.
Despite being a man I love being a woman!
This photo was an experiment for me. The sky is actually a reflection from a pond, and although it looks like the camera was pointed upward for the shot, this was taken at a sharp downward angle. The early evening sunlight contributed some nice highlights and a circular polarizer brought out the details. This is best viewed large.
Thanks to a friend on Instagram, I just learned that this plant is a buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis).
HDR + Orton
If you like my photograph, feel free to download it.
Just click the link down below in case you wish to contribute with a donation. That would be highly appreciated, thank you :)
This portrait of Alan Turing was generated by artificial intelligence by a paragraph long prompt. It is in Bletchley Park where he worked on code breaking during World War II, significantly contributing to the defeat of Hitler's Nazi Germany. He is widely considered to be the father of theoretical computer science.
www.flickr.com/search/?sort=date-taken-desc&safe_sear...
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam are asking Canadians to remain vigilant against the spread of COVID-19, with the number of cases of the respiratory infection continuing to increase.
With numbers rising in Ontario and Quebec hot spots, Trudeau on Friday implored people to adhere to public health guidelines, stressing that "what we do now will be critical for the weeks and months to come."
Tam advised Canadians to downsize their social bubbles and reduce the duration of these encounters. "Every person you encounter brings their whole network of contacts with them," she said on Twitter.
The repeated refrain came as political and public health officials took pains to tell the public it was time to scale back parties, dinners out, group activities and other individual actions they say have been contributing to the increasing caseload of the novel coronavirus.
I haven't contributed here in such a long time I don't know how active things are here anymore. Still it's good to re-visit the place of many happy postings, contacts and discussions. Truth is like a lot of people I'm busy getting on with life beyond the online world and haven't had much time to participate in the wonderful world of photography. I feel fortunate to be able to dip in and out as and when and not need to make money from it! My passion remains undimmed and an absence certainly helps. As it happens I've still got a stack of older images that were waiting to be given a bit of post processing tlc. I've never developed the extreme post processing chops of some of the incredible guys I've had the pleasure to come into contact with, I keep promising that's one for the long days of retirement when I'll have the time. But that could be a long way off I'm still just a lad :) Nevertheless I'm quite happy with how this turned out and I feel I'm still working within the same vision that feels authentic to how I see the world. That's enough of me saying hello again, thanks for dropping by and taking a look!
The upper one of a pair of new, solar active regions that just rotated into view of SDO offered a beautiful profile view of cascading loops spiraling above it (Jan. 15-16, 2012) following a solar flare eruption. These loop structures are made of superheated plasma, just one of which is the size of several Earths. With its ability to capture the Sun in amazing detail, SDO observed it all in extreme ultraviolet light.
Credit: NASA/GSFC/SDO
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission.
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Transformation
Website:
TransFormation was created in 2007 with the goal of offering an annual intensive workshop for professional dancers. Throughout the last 11 years, TransFormation has become a landmark in the Montreal dance scene as a highly anticipated and indispensable event. Cherished by artists for its intensive format, TransFormation contributes to focusing on precise objectives over the span of a couple of weeks. It is also a rare occasion to meet, exchange and network with other artists from Montreal, Quebec, Canada and throughout the world, who all share the same passion.
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TransFormation is a contemporary dance intensive for professional dancers, choreographers, professional teachers and emerging artists. A variety of technique classes, workshops and creation laboratories are offered on an à la carte basis encouraging the artists themselves to choose a programming which would best fit their pursuit of their unique artistic development.
Dancers develop their own distinct way of working, bringing a singularity and their own particular colour to the creations they take part in. Consequently, the contemporary dancer must not only explore new techniques but also new “states of body”. Transformation is a place that offers the opportunity to acquire and incorporate new tools, to improve critical sense and refine one’s personal aesthetic choices.
TransFormation brings together dancers from different horizons and with different views and interests. Together these factors make for a very unique and enriching experience. Every year dancers leave with an appreciation for the fluidity of interpersonal relations between the dancers, choreographers and faculty as well as the intense concentration of the workshop and the atmosphere of artistic freedom that is felt in the different studios during TransFormation.
The program reflects the dancer’s commentaries, views and interests in the new paths of contemporary creation along with the human and artistic experience of its director Lisa Davies and its founders Catherine Viau and David Pressault. The choice of faculty is based on a desire to offer a space of real transformation.
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The Publishers of True Mystery ( Chatwick University Press) would like to truly thank the following artists who have contributed to this Magazine.
If anyone would like to be considered to be published in future editions, please by all means drop us a line and a shortcut to what you would have us publish…
True Mystery Halloween Edition 2017
Contents :
JewelOfDeniel - Dead Man's Party flic.kr/p/Z5dwfL
Kayla Woodrunner - Girl ( Ghouls)Band flic.kr/p/ZMMeVm
pammy.1963 - Pumkin Galore (Pic By Tonic) flic.kr/p/C7bMgf
Teddi Beres - Before the gates of Blacklichen flic.kr/p/AqcvSW
SeppeCampese – Weltschmerz flic.kr/p/ZsEXmE
Chatwick University - Ghost Story flic.kr/p/NgCvaV
Cover Story
CybeleMoon - The Rising of the Moon flic.kr/p/ZFbPBE
Please Visit our group
Fort Lauderdale is a city in the U.S. state of Florida, 25 miles (40 km) north of Miami. It is the county seat of Broward County. As of the 2019 census, the city has an estimated population of 182,437. Fort Lauderdale is a principal city of the Miami metropolitan area, which was home to an estimated 6,198,782 people in 2018.
The city is a popular tourist destination, with an average year-round temperature of 75.5 °F (24.2 °C) and 3,000 hours of sunshine per year. Greater Fort Lauderdale which takes in all of Broward County hosted 12 million visitors in 2012, including 2.8 million international visitors. The city and county in 2012 collected $43.9 million from the 5% hotel tax it charges, after hotels in the area recorded an occupancy rate for the year of 72.7 percent and an average daily rate of $114.48. The district has 561 hotels and motels comprising nearly 35,000 rooms. Forty six cruise ships sailed from Port Everglades in 2012. Greater Fort Lauderdale has over 4,000 restaurants, 63 golf courses, 12 shopping malls, 16 museums, 132 nightclubs, 278 parkland campsites, and 100 marinas housing 45,000 resident yachts.
Fort Lauderdale is named after a series of forts built by the United States during the Second Seminole War. The forts took their name from Major William Lauderdale (1782–1838), younger brother of Lieutenant Colonel James Lauderdale. William Lauderdale was the commander of the detachment of soldiers who built the first fort. However, development of the city did not begin until 50 years after the forts were abandoned at the end of the conflict. Three forts named "Fort Lauderdale" were constructed; the first was at the fork of the New River, the second at Tarpon Bend on the New River between the Colee Hammock and Rio Vista neighborhoods, and the third near the site of the Bahia Mar Marina.
The area in which the city of Fort Lauderdale would later be founded was inhabited for more than two thousand years by the Tequesta Indians. Contact with Spanish explorers in the 16th century proved disastrous for the Tequesta, as the Europeans unwittingly brought with them diseases, such as smallpox, to which the native populations possessed no resistance. For the Tequesta, disease, coupled with continuing conflict with their Calusa neighbors, contributed greatly to their decline over the next two centuries. By 1763, there were only a few Tequesta left in Florida, and most of them were evacuated to Cuba when the Spanish ceded Florida to the British in 1763, under the terms of the Treaty of Paris (1763), which ended the Seven Years' War. Although control of the area changed between Spain, United Kingdom, the United States, and the Confederate States of America, it remained largely undeveloped until the 20th century.
The Fort Lauderdale area was known as the "New River Settlement" before the 20th century. In the 1830s there were approximately 70 settlers living along the New River. William Cooley, the local Justice of the Peace, was a farmer and wrecker, who traded with the Seminole Indians. On January 6, 1836, while Cooley was leading an attempt to salvage a wrecked ship, a band of Seminoles attacked his farm, killing his wife and children, and the children's tutor. The other farms in the settlement were not attacked, but all the white residents in the area abandoned the settlement, fleeing first to the Cape Florida Lighthouse on Key Biscayne, and then to Key West.
The first United States stockade named Fort Lauderdale was built in 1838, and subsequently was a site of fighting during the Second Seminole War. The fort was abandoned in 1842, after the end of the war, and the area remained virtually unpopulated until the 1890s. It was not until Frank Stranahan arrived in the area in 1893 to operate a ferry across the New River, and the Florida East Coast Railroad's completion of a route through the area in 1896, that any organized development began. The city was incorporated in 1911, and in 1915 was designated the county seat of newly formed Broward County.
Fort Lauderdale's first major development began in the 1920s, during the Florida land boom of the 1920s. The 1926 Miami Hurricane and the Great Depression of the 1930s caused a great deal of economic dislocation. In July 1935, an African-American man named Rubin Stacy was accused of robbing a white woman at knife point. He was arrested and being transported to a Miami jail when police were run off the road by a mob. A group of 100 white men proceeded to hang Stacy from a tree near the scene of his alleged robbery. His body was riddled with some twenty bullets. The murder was subsequently used by the press in Nazi Germany to discredit US critiques of its own persecution of Jews, Communists, and Catholics.
When World War II began, Fort Lauderdale became a major US base, with a Naval Air Station to train pilots, radar operators, and fire control operators. A Coast Guard base at Port Everglades was also established.
On July 4, 1961 African Americans started a series of protests, wade-ins, at beaches that were off-limits to them, to protest "the failure of the county to build a road to the Negro beach". On July 11, 1962 a verdict by Ted Cabot went against the city's policy of racial segregation of public beaches.
Today, Fort Lauderdale is a major yachting center, one of the nation's largest tourist destinations, and the center of a metropolitan division with 1.8 million people.
Credit for the data above is given to the following website:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Lauderdale,_Florida
© All Rights Reserved - you may not use this image in any form without my prior permission.
Many people contributed to the sim in many ways that are greatly appreciated. These are the people however, who busted their butts through thick and thin....day after day...for YEARS to help make Hard Alley and Retroville fun for those who came to enjoy the sim. The foundation that held us up. Friends, family. I love your faces Jade, Kron...and of course my Hard Rust. Without YOU Hard, I would never have met all the awesome people through the years. Thank you. ♥
Ten years. Wow. Hard Alley/Retroville may be gone, but I will carry these people in my heart always...as well as the many awesome people who made the sim home for me. I am thankful for all of you.
Photographer.Editor.Pose Maker: Spirit Eleonara
I was baking mocha cupcakes for a cake sale at work tomorrow, in aid of Macmillan. My lovely colleague is off tomorrow, so as she couldn't contribute, she gave me some of her free range chook eggs to bake with - turned out well, I think!
This full disc image of earth shows the strom system on Dec. 10, 2013 at 1445 UTC.
According to the National Weather Service snow is falling from Tennessee Valley into the Mid-Atlantic and New England Tuesday . The fast moving system is creating swath of 2 to 7 inches of snow from southwest Virginia to the New England coast. Heavy Lake Effect snows will also impact the Lower Great Lakes into later this week, with up to two feet of accumulation.
Credit: NOAA/NASA GOES Project
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission.
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Cartoonist and professor of creativity Lynda Barry presented the benefits of creativity in everyday life as part of Goddard's Office of Communications Story Lab seminar series.
Read more: www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/cartoonist-discusses-cr...
Credit: NASA/Goddard/Rebecca Roth
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission.
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My bug hotel is coming along nicely (see next upload), this Money Spider & a tiny snail (shell approx 4mm long) were the first residents I spotted today on the lower level. I was taking a photo of the snail when the spider hurried past. I know this is a tiny spider but they all count lol. Arachtober has been fun & I've really enjoyed seeing all the fabulous spider photos people have uploaded. Sadly I didn't have many photos to contribute myself but that won't be the case next year.
"A universe comes to contribute to our happiness when reverie comes to accentuate our repose. You must tell the man who wants to dream well to begin by being happy. Then reverie plays out its veritable destiny; it becomes poetic reverie and by it, in it, everything becomes beautiful. If the dreamer had "the gift" he would turn his reverie into a work. And this work would be grandiose since the dreamed world is automatically grandiose." from The Poetics of Reverie by Gaston Bachelard
This one is for GERI aka Born 2 Be Mild. I don't know when and how I stumbled upon Geri's stream but I surely am glad I did. I could never forget her 5-CARROT RING POST. If I recall that was the very first of her photos I commented on. And I knew right there and then that I had to stay connected to this wonderful lady - now a treasured friend - because if there is someone on Flickr who can make me laugh, she certainly can. She may not know it, but it was Geri who inspired me to capture droplets on flowers and leaves. And that is why I am dedicating this droplet, this "dreamed world" to her. I hope she finds it worthy.
Im glad to see my photo is been used as cover for the Second Life (Opted Out) Neons by Leria. Thank you so much ♥ Guys do check the group and contribute your imaginations here www.flickr.com/groups/4329927@N23/
#AB_FAV_EVENING_NIGHT
This was a shoot for a glossy Casino magazine, the client wanted transparencies, I'm not fond of working with slide film so Paul was the main photographer, which means I take care of all the rest, the liaising, the models, clothes and the dresses, jewelry, hair and make-up stylist, other needs for all involved.
I always have my cameras and lenses with me off course, I back up things and during breaks, I'll always have a go and enjoy myself.
As I had never been in a casino, it was all new to me and challenging.
The lights were set up for entertainment, leisure and pleasure.
It was very important that the 'lights' on the table be visible, a lot of time spent on light-readings to have the right balance.
As one of the poses was to be for the cover, we needed space for text and strap lines. Had to take that into account for the composition.
"The model, just a beautiful 'accessory' = something nonessential but desirable that contributes to an effect or result."
These images were taken only for my own pleasure, the model happy with them too.
Magda, (*_*)
For more: www.indigo2photography.com
IT IS STRICTLY FORBIDDEN (BY LAW!!!) TO USE ANY OF MY image or TEXT on websites, blogs or any other media without my explicit permission. © All rights reserved
Monumento ad Emanuele Filiberto collocato in Piazza San Carlo a Torino
If you like my photograph, feel free to download it.
Just click the link down below in case you wish to contribute with a donation. That would be highly appreciated, thank you :)
Taken for the Looking close on Friday group. I've not joined in with this group for ages so it's good to contribute as I really like this one
Would you like to contribute your articles or writings?
Suggestions for submittal.
1. Essay: Stories about a personal experience or an opinion that is related to our world of TG or CD life. It could be around one subject and your views.
2. How-To: These pieces contain steps, ways, or tips that help our community do something specific. It could be makeup suggestions, wardrobe selections, body shaping, anything that would help each person gather helpful hints at honing their craft.
3. Question and Answer: You could pose your questions and I provide the answers received on special comment sections. I could add voting to topics too with results. Your friends page could have its own links on top of the header. Expand into your own multiple tabs type of page.
4. Personality Profile: This type of article revolves around a person’s TG or CD life and accomplishments. Based on an interview, you provide an in-depth look at her life, including early beginnings, significant life events, accomplishments, quirks, faults, character, and strengths.
5. Trend: Our community is always changing for the better. Writings about these directions with helpful current insight into what you feel is beneficial to us.
6. Lifestyle: These articles focus on a lifestyle issue, such as health, relationships, or recreation, and can include interviews as well as statistics.
7. Shorts: This is a where you can create a story around our way of life that would be intriguing to the reader.
SEND to:
stories.crossdressingfun@gmail.com
Music and Venue Promotion Poster
Bill Graham Presents at Fillmore Auditorium
Procol Harum
Rock Band
Procol Harum are an English rock band formed in 1967. They contributed to the development of symphonic rock, and by extension, progressive rock. Their best-known recording is their 1967 hit single "A Whiter Shade of Pale", considered a classic in popular music and one of the few singles to have sold over 10 million copies. Although noted for their baroque and classical influence, Procol Harum's music also embraces the blues, R&B, and soul.
Santana is an American Latin rock band formed in San Francisco, California in 1966 by Mexican-American guitarist Carlos Santana. The band first came to widespread public attention when their performance of "Soul Sacrifice" at Woodstock in 1969 provided a contrast to other acts on the bill. This exposure helped propel their first album, also named Santana, into a hit, followed in the next two years by the successful Abraxas and Santana III.
In the years that followed, lineup changes were common. Carlos Santana's increasing involvement with guru Sri Chinmoy took the band into more esoteric music, though never quite losing its initial Latin influence.
In 1998, Santana was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, with Carlos Santana, Jose "Chepito" Areas, David Brown, Gregg Rolie, Mike Carabello and Michael Shrieve being honored.[6]
The band has earned nine Grammy Awards and three Latin Grammy Awards, the latter all in 2000. Carlos also won a Grammy Award as a solo artist in 1988. Santana has sold more than 90 million records worldwide, making them one of the world's best-selling groups of all time.[7] In 2013, Santana announced a reunion of the classic line-up for a new record, Santana IV, which was released in April 2016. They are tied for having the most won Grammys in one night.
Sinclair
After the wonders of Moissac, I drove back North 125 kilometers to the small town of Souillac, back in the département of Lot but still in the old province of Quercy (and in the modern region of Occitania). According to unconfirmed local stories, the abbey of Souillac was founded by Saint Éloi († 660) before it was taken over by the Benedictines from Aurillac in the 900s. From that period, only the Western tower-porch remains.
Less famous than Moissac, this abbey was, for me, at least as interesting, beginning with the church, which has not been altogether transformed in the Gothic style like in Moissac, but retains its beauty and genuineness from the 1100s, as I hope you will see through the photos I will upload.
Sculpture is also at least as amazing at that of Moissac, and even more so in some respects —and it is in much better condition, for reasons that we will explore together as I caption the relevant photos.
Listed as a Historic Landmark on the first list of 1840, the abbey is not on the path to Compostela and was never known for housing any particularly famous relics, which is why the church, dedicated to Saint Mary, has no ambulatory around the choir.
I was very nicely received in Souillac by the local authorities as the photos I took contributed to the documentation of the nationwide crowdfunding project that is in place to restore parts of the church, under the ægis of the Fondation du Patrimoine (Mission Bern), for which I work as a pro bono photographer: www.fondation-patrimoine.org/les-projets/abbatiale-sainte....
As I mentioned above, the oldest part of the abbey church is the western tower-porch from the 900s, with parts that are even older, from the 800s. During the consolidation works undertaken on the tower in the 1950s, which involved excavation to pour concrete and stabilize the base of the tower, a Merovingian cemetery was found with sarcophagi from the 400s and 500s, some quite plain, some very ornate.
They have been kept in an underground room under the tower. This space is not open to the public but I was given access to take pictures.
One of the sarcophagi was, for reasons of economy, shut with these two carved stones re-used from a Carolingian chancel enclosure.
Some of the tombs found in that small necropolis were much more recent, 12th or 13th century.
I was asked by the nice Jerrod Maruyama - www.flickr.com/photos/jmaruyama - to contribute an illustration to the awesome Pixar Times Blog.
See it here along with a little interview I´ve did: pixartimes.com/2011/07/08/pixart-july-2011-feature-monste...
The Meeting Place is a 9-metre-high (30 ft), 20-tonne (20-long-ton) bronze sculpture that stands at the south end of the upper level of St Pancras railway station. Designed by the British artist Paul Day and unveiled in 2007, it is intended to evoke the romance of travel through the depiction of a couple locked in an amorous embrace.
The statue, which stands in the Eurostar terminal, is reported to have cost £1 million and was installed as the centrepiece of the refurbished station. The work, commissioned by London and Continental Railways, is modelled on the sculptor and his wife.
Despite harsh criticism from major figures in the British art world, the statue has become popular with the public and contributed to its perception of St Pancras. In 2011, an edition of "The World’s Most Romantic Spots" by Lonely Planet described the station as one of the most romantic meeting places in the world, citing the statue as a key reason.
The Statue has a very detailed frieze around it base. This high relief frieze was added to the Base in 2008 and is a work of art in itself. It depicts scenes and history throughout the years of the railway train and tube in London. The attention to detail is extraordinary with each piece depicting a different time in train railway travel.
Built in 1859 as a Greek Revival-style building for the Linsley Institute, a private high school, the building became the West Virginia State Capitol in 1863, upon its secession from Virginia, and remained in use as the home of the state government until 1870, when the state government moved to Charleston. The building was designed by Henry Coen, and was renovated by Edward B. Franzheim in the 1920s with the addition of Classical Revival-style elements to serve as the Bertschy Memorial Mortuary, a funeral home. In the 1960s, the building was purchased by the Medical Arts Corporation, and renovated to house medical offices, being renamed the Medical Arts Building. The building features a stucco-clad red brick exterior with Corinthian pilasters, twelve-over-one and nine-over-one double-hung windows with decorative window hoods, a corncie with dentils, urns on the parapet, a projected entrance bay with corinthian pilasters, a pediment with a cartouche, and a front entrance door with an arched transom, bronze lampposts flanking the front entrance door, two one-story wings on either end of the front facade, which feature urns on the parapet, planter beds on the front facades, and carved relief panels with festoons, and decorative balconies at the second floor windows with metal railings. The building is a contributing structure in the Wheeling Historic District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. The building presently houses various office tenants.
Last week researchers from around the world gathered at the Accademia dei Lincei in Rome for the Science with the Hubble Space Telescope IV conference. The event celebrated the history of Hubble’s extraordinary achievements, and looked to the future at what might yet be achieved and how the James Webb Space Telescope will build on our knowledge of the Universe. As part of this celebration artist Tim Otto Roth revealed a new artwork, Heaven’s Carousel, inspired by Hubble’s work on the accelerating expansion of the Universe.
This installation, named Heaven’s Carousel, links together the fields of art, music and astronomy. Conceptualised and designed by German artist and composer Tim Otto Roth, the work is inspired by novel work on the accelerating expansion of the Universe by Nobel laureate Adam Riess (STScl), Greek cosmology and Renaissance astronomers.
Read more here: www.spacetelescope.org/news/heic1407/
Credit: NASA, ESA, and Pam Jeffries (STScI)
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission.
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Highest position in Explore # 8 on 13th Sept'09
Tanah Lot is one of the main temples in Bali located on a rock formation at the west coast of Bali. Its one of the most conservative temples and tourists are not allowed to get near it.
Sunset is the best time to visit Tanah Lot, when the golden red skies frame the temple and waves crash into the rocks. Fortunately or unfortunately during the lovely sunset it was again interrupted by ominous clouds!!
Dramatic effect in the shot was created by tonemapping single RAW image in Dynamic Photo and finishing touch was provided in Photoshop.
Trivia
Myth says there are still poisonous snakes live in the nearby caves to guard the temple and contribute to the temple's dangerous reputation.
2018 NJ BALD EAGLE PROJECT REPORT
by: Larissa Smith, CWF Wildlife Biologist
The Conserve Wildlife Foundation of NJ in partnership with the NJ Division of Fish and Wildlife, Endangered and Nongame Species Program, has released the 2018 NJ Bald Eagle Project Report.
“Two hundred-four nest sites were monitored during the nesting season, of which 185 were documented to be active (with eggs) and 19 were territorial or housekeeping pairs. Thirty new eagle pairs were found this season, 20 in the south, nine in central and one in the north. One hundred-twenty-one nests (66%) of the 182 known-outcome nests produced 172 young, for a productivity rate of 0.94 young per active/known-outcome nest. The failure rate was well above average with 61 nests (33%) failing to produce. The Delaware Bay region remained the state’s eagle stronghold, with roughly half of nests located in Cumberland and Salem counties and the bayside of Cape May County.”
The number of active nests has increased while the number of young eagles fledged has decreased since a high of 216 young fledged in 2016. During the 2018 eagle nesting season there was an abundance of cold, wet, windy and snowy weather which was the cause for a portion of the nest failures. As the eagle population increases, there are more eagles competing for territories. This can also be a contributing factor in nest failures. NJ is still in the range of 0.9 to 1.1 young per nest which is needed for population maintenance with a productivity rate of 0.94 young per known-outcome/active nest in 2018. The 2018 NJ Eagle Project Report has all the details on the project including telemetry, re-sightings and recoveries.
The success of the eagle project is due to the tremendous dedication of the NJ Eagle Project Volunteers. They monitor the nests in all types of conditions and education people about the eagles with enthusiasm.
Link to the 2018 NJ Bald Eagle Project Report: www.conservewildlifenj.org/downloads/cwnj_852.pdf