Irma was a destructive mess, compounded by a nor'easter. This is my artistic twist on it. The original photo was a shot of the surf, and a palm, from a slit in the storm shutter before it got too dark. If you're interested in trying out "Amazing Circles" we have created a new group with tutorials that show how to do it. There was another group on flickr, but it has been made private. We wanted to participate in a public group, thus Amazing Circles--Take Two was born.

this is the result of the "ask a friend to do something destructive ..." page - results from zutaten - the day after she used my birthday cake decoration (umbrellas) and the wax of the birthday cake candles to destruct these pages - the wax went through the other pages too.

Great destructive page - i like it a lot :)

Mural by Caesar Perez aka @czrprzart seen in the Wynwood Arts District of Miami, Florida.

Photo by James aka @urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.

Edit by Teee.

The Empire State Building is a 102-story Art Deco skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The building was designed by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon and built from 1930 to 1931. Its name is derived from "Empire State", the nickname of the state of New York. The building has a roof height of 1,250 feet (380 m) and stands a total of 1,454 feet (443.2 m) tall, including its antenna. The Empire State Building stood as the world's tallest building until the construction of the World Trade Center in 1970; following the latter's collapse in 2001, the Empire State Building reverted to being the city's tallest skyscraper until that title was surpassed in 2012. As of 2022, the building is the seventh-tallest building in New York City, the ninth-tallest completed skyscraper in the United States, the 54th-tallest in the world, and the sixth-tallest freestanding structure in the Americas.

The site of the Empire State Building, in Midtown South on the west side of Fifth Avenue between West 33rd and 34th Streets, was developed in 1893 as the Waldorf–Astoria Hotel. In 1929, Empire State Inc. acquired the site and devised plans for a skyscraper there. The design for the Empire State Building was changed fifteen times until it was ensured to be the world's tallest building. Construction started on March 17, 1930, and the building opened thirteen and a half months afterward on May 1, 1931. Despite favorable publicity related to the building's construction, because of the Great Depression and World War II, its owners did not make a profit until the early 1950s.

The original main lobby is accessed from Fifth Avenue, on the building's east side, and is the only place in the building where the design contains narrative motifs. It contains an entrance with one set of double doors between a pair of revolving doors. At the top of each doorway is a bronze motif depicting one of three "crafts or industries" used in the building's construction—Electricity, Masonry, and Heating. The three-story-high space, which runs parallel to 33rd and 34th Streets, contains storefronts to the north and south. These storefronts are flanked by tubes of dark rounded marble and topped by a vertical band of grooves set into the marble. The lobby contains two tiers of marble: a lighter marble on the top, above the storefronts, and a darker marble on the bottom, flush with the storefronts. There is a pattern of zigzagging terrazzo tiles on the lobby floor, which leads from east to west.

The western ends of the north and south walls include escalators to a mezzanine level. At the west end of the lobby, behind the security desk, is an aluminum relief of the skyscraper as it was originally built (without the antenna). The relief, which was intended to provide a welcoming effect, contains an embossed outline of the building, with rays radiating from the spire and the sun behind it. In the background is a state map of New York with the building's location marked by a "medallion" in the very southeast portion of the outline. A compass is depicted in the bottom right and a plaque to the building's major developers is on the bottom left. A scale model of the building was also placed south of the security desk.

The plaque at the western end of the lobby is on the eastern interior wall of a one-story tall rectangular-shaped corridor that surrounds the banks of escalators, with a similar design to the lobby. The rectangular-shaped corridor actually consists of two long hallways on the northern and southern sides of the rectangle, as well as a shorter hallway on the eastern side and another long hallway on the western side. At both ends of the northern and southern corridors, there is a bank of four low-rise elevators in between the corridors. The western side of the rectangular elevator-bank corridor extends north to the 34th Street entrance and south to the 33rd Street entrance. It borders three large storefronts and leads to escalators (originally stairs), which go both to the second floor and to the basement. Going from west to east, there are secondary entrances to 34th and 33rd Streets from the northern and southern corridors, respectively. The side entrances from 33rd and 34th Street lead to two-story-high corridors around the elevator core, crossed by stainless steel and glass-enclosed bridges at the mezzanine floor.

Until the 1960s, an Art Deco mural, inspired by both the sky and the Machine Age, was installed in the lobby ceilings. Subsequent damage to these murals, designed by artist Leif Neandross, resulted in reproductions being installed. Renovations to the lobby in 2009, such as replacing the clock over the information desk in the Fifth Avenue lobby with an anemometer and installing two chandeliers intended to be part of the building when it originally opened, revived much of its original grandeur. The north corridor contained eight illuminated panels created in 1963 by Roy Sparkia and Renée Nemorov, in time for the 1964 World's Fair, depicting the building as the Eighth Wonder of the World alongside the traditional seven. The building's owners installed a series of paintings by the New York artist Kysa Johnson in the concourse level. Johnson later filed a federal lawsuit, in January 2014, under the Visual Artists Rights Act alleging the negligent destruction of the paintings and damage to her reputation as an artist. As part of the building's 2010 renovation, Denise Amses commissioned a work consisting of 15,000 stars and 5,000 circles, superimposed on a 13-by-5-foot (4.0 by 1.5 m) etched-glass installation, in the lobby.

New York, often called New York City or simply NYC, is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each of which is coextensive with a respective county. It is a global city and a cultural, financial, high-tech, entertainment, and media center with a significant influence on commerce, health care, scientific output, life sciences, research, technology, education, politics, tourism, dining, art, fashion, and sports. Home to the headquarters of the United Nations, New York is an important center for international diplomacy, and is sometimes described as the world's most important city and the capital of the world.

With an estimated population in 2022 of 8,335,897 distributed over 300.46 square miles (778.2 km2), the city is the most densely populated major city in the United States. New York has more than double the population of Los Angeles, the nation's second-most populous city. New York is the geographical and demographic center of both the Northeast megalopolis and the New York metropolitan area, the largest metropolitan area in the U.S. by both population and urban area. With more than 20.1 million people in its metropolitan statistical area and 23.5 million in its combined statistical area as of 2020, New York City is one of the world's most populous megacities. The city and its metropolitan area are the premier gateway for legal immigration to the United States. As many as 800 languages are spoken in New York, making it the most linguistically diverse city in the world. In 2021, the city was home to nearly 3.1 million residents born outside the U.S., the largest foreign-born population of any city in the world.

New York City traces its origins to Fort Amsterdam and a trading post founded on the southern tip of Manhattan Island by Dutch colonists in approximately 1624. The settlement was named New Amsterdam (Dutch: Nieuw Amsterdam) in 1626 and was chartered as a city in 1653. The city came under English control in 1664 and was renamed New York after King Charles II granted the lands to his brother, the Duke of York. The city was temporarily regained by the Dutch in July 1673 and was renamed New Orange; however, the city has been named New York since November 1674. New York City was the capital of the United States from 1785 until 1790. The modern city was formed by the 1898 consolidation of its five boroughs: Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, The Bronx, and Staten Island, and has been the largest U.S. city ever since.

Anchored by Wall Street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan, New York City has been called both the world's premier financial and fintech center and the most economically powerful city in the world. As of 2022, the New York metropolitan area is the largest metropolitan economy in the world with a gross metropolitan product of over US$2.16 trillion. If the New York metropolitan area were its own country, it would have the tenth-largest economy in the world. The city is home to the world's two largest stock exchanges by market capitalization of their listed companies: the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq. New York City is an established safe haven for global investors. As of 2023, New York City is the most expensive city in the world for expatriates to live. New York City is home to the highest number of billionaires, individuals of ultra-high net worth (greater than US$30 million), and millionaires of any city in the world

The written history of New York City began with the first European explorer, the Italian Giovanni da Verrazzano in 1524. European settlement began with the Dutch in 1608 and New Amsterdam was founded in 1624.

The "Sons of Liberty" campaigned against British authority in New York City, and the Stamp Act Congress of representatives from throughout the Thirteen Colonies met in the city in 1765 to organize resistance to Crown policies. The city's strategic location and status as a major seaport made it the prime target for British seizure in 1776. General George Washington lost a series of battles from which he narrowly escaped (with the notable exception of the Battle of Harlem Heights, his first victory of the war), and the British Army occupied New York and made it their base on the continent until late 1783, attracting Loyalist refugees.

The city served as the national capital under the Articles of Confederation from 1785 to 1789, and briefly served as the new nation's capital in 1789–90 under the United States Constitution. Under the new government, the city hosted the inauguration of George Washington as the first President of the United States, the drafting of the United States Bill of Rights, and the first Supreme Court of the United States. The opening of the Erie Canal gave excellent steamboat connections with upstate New York and the Great Lakes, along with coastal traffic to lower New England, making the city the preeminent port on the Atlantic Ocean. The arrival of rail connections to the north and west in the 1840s and 1850s strengthened its central role.

Beginning in the mid-19th century, waves of new immigrants arrived from Europe dramatically changing the composition of the city and serving as workers in the expanding industries. Modern New York traces its development to the consolidation of the five boroughs in 1898 and an economic and building boom following the Great Depression and World War II. Throughout its history, New York has served as a main port of entry for many immigrants, and its cultural and economic influence has made it one of the most important urban areas in the United States and the world. The economy in the 1700s was based on farming, local production, fur trading, and Atlantic jobs like shipbuilding. In the 1700s, New York was sometimes referred to as a breadbasket colony, because one of its major crops was wheat. New York colony also exported other goods included iron ore as a raw material and as manufactured goods such as tools, plows, nails and kitchen items such as kettles, pans and pots.

The area that eventually encompassed modern day New York was inhabited by the Lenape people. These groups of culturally and linguistically related Native Americans traditionally spoke an Algonquian language now referred to as Unami. Early European settlers called bands of Lenape by the Unami place name for where they lived, such as "Raritan" in Staten Island and New Jersey, "Canarsee" in Brooklyn, and "Hackensack" in New Jersey across the Hudson River from Lower Manhattan. Some modern place names such as Raritan Bay and Canarsie are derived from Lenape names. Eastern Long Island neighbors were culturally and linguistically more closely related to the Mohegan-Pequot peoples of New England who spoke the Mohegan-Montauk-Narragansett language.

These peoples made use of the abundant waterways in the New York region for fishing, hunting trips, trade, and occasionally war. Many paths created by the indigenous peoples are now main thoroughfares, such as Broadway in Manhattan, the Bronx, and Westchester. The Lenape developed sophisticated techniques of hunting and managing their resources. By the time of the arrival of Europeans, they were cultivating fields of vegetation through the slash and burn technique, which extended the productive life of planted fields. They also harvested vast quantities of fish and shellfish from the bay. Historians estimate that at the time of European settlement, approximately 5,000 Lenape lived in 80 settlements around the region.

The first European visitor to the area was Giovanni da Verrazzano, an Italian in command of the French ship La Dauphine in 1524. It is believed he sailed into Upper New York Bay, where he encountered native Lenape, returned through the Narrows, where he anchored the night of April 17, and left to continue his voyage. He named the area New Angoulême (La Nouvelle-Angoulême) in honor of Francis I, King of France of the royal house of Valois-Angoulême and who had been Count of Angoulême from 1496 until his coronation in 1515. The name refers to the town of Angoulême, in the Charente département of France. For the next century, the area was occasionally visited by fur traders or explorers, such as by Esteban Gomez in 1525.

European exploration continued on September 2, 1609, when the Englishman Henry Hudson, in the employ of the Dutch East India Company, sailed the Half Moon through the Narrows into Upper New York Bay. Like Christopher Columbus, Hudson was looking for a westerly passage to Asia. He never found one, but he did take note of the abundant beaver population. Beaver pelts were in fashion in Europe, fueling a lucrative business. Hudson's report on the regional beaver population served as the impetus for the founding of Dutch trading colonies in the New World. The beaver's importance in New York's history is reflected by its use on the city's official seal.

The first Dutch fur trading posts and settlements were in 1614 near present-day Albany, New York, the same year that New Netherland first appeared on maps. Only in May 1624 did the Dutch West India Company land a number of families at Noten Eylant (today's Governors Island) off the southern tip of Manhattan at the mouth of the North River (today's Hudson River). Soon thereafter, most likely in 1626, construction of Fort Amsterdam began. Later, the Dutch West Indies Company imported African slaves to serve as laborers; they were forced to build the wall that defended the town against English and Indian attacks. Early directors included Willem Verhulst and Peter Minuit. Willem Kieft became director in 1638 but five years later was embroiled in Kieft's War against the Native Americans. The Pavonia Massacre, across the Hudson River in present-day Jersey City, resulted in the death of 80 natives in February 1643. Following the massacre, Algonquian tribes joined forces and nearly defeated the Dutch. Holland sent additional forces to the aid of Kieft, leading to the overwhelming defeat of the Native Americans and a peace treaty on August 29, 1645.

On May 27, 1647, Peter Stuyvesant was inaugurated as director general upon his arrival and ruled as a member of the Dutch Reformed Church. The colony was granted self-government in 1652, and New Amsterdam was incorporated as a city on February 2, 1653. The first mayors (burgemeesters) of New Amsterdam, Arent van Hattem and Martin Cregier, were appointed in that year. By the early 1660s, the population consisted of approximately 1500 Europeans, only about half of whom were Dutch, and 375 Africans, 300 of whom were slaves.

A few of the original Dutch place names have been retained, most notably Flushing (after the Dutch town of Vlissingen), Harlem (after Haarlem), and Brooklyn (after Breukelen). Few buildings, however, remain from the 17th century. The oldest recorded house still in existence in New York, the Pieter Claesen Wyckoff House in Brooklyn, dates from 1652.

On August 27, 1664, four English frigates under the command of Col. Richard Nicolls sailed into New Amsterdam's harbor and demanded New Netherland's surrender, as part of an effort by King Charles II's brother James, Duke of York, the Lord High Admiral to provoke the Second Anglo-Dutch War. Two weeks later, Stuyvesant officially capitulated by signing Articles of Surrender and in June 1665, the town was reincorporated under English law and renamed "New York" after the Duke, and Fort Orange was renamed "Fort Albany". The war ended in a Dutch victory in 1667, but the colony remained under English rule as stipulated in the Treaty of Breda. During the Third Anglo-Dutch War, the Dutch briefly recaptured the city in 1673, renaming the city "New Orange", before permanently ceding the colony of New Netherland to England for what is now Suriname in November 1674 at the Treaty of Westminster.

The colony benefited from increased immigration from Europe and its population grew faster. The Bolting Act of 1678, whereby no mill outside the city was permitted to grind wheat or corn, boosted growth until its repeal in 1694, increasing the number of houses over the period from 384 to 983.

In the context of the Glorious Revolution in England, Jacob Leisler led Leisler's Rebellion and effectively controlled the city and surrounding areas from 1689 to 1691, before being arrested and executed.

Lawyers

In New York at first, legal practitioners were full-time businessmen and merchants, with no legal training, who had watched a few court proceedings, and mostly used their own common sense together with snippets they had picked up about English law. Court proceedings were quite informal, for the judges had no more training than the attorneys.

By the 1760s, the situation had dramatically changed. Lawyers were essential to the rapidly growing international trade, dealing with questions of partnerships, contracts, and insurance. The sums of money involved were large, and hiring an incompetent lawyer was a very expensive proposition. Lawyers were now professionally trained, and conversant in an extremely complex language that combined highly specific legal terms and motions with a dose of Latin. Court proceedings became a baffling mystery to the ordinary layman. Lawyers became more specialized and built their reputation, and their fee schedule, on the basis of their reputation for success. But as their status, wealth and power rose, animosity grew even faster. By the 1750s and 1760s, there was a widespread attack ridiculing and demeaning the lawyers as pettifoggers (lawyers lacking sound legal skills). Their image and influence declined. The lawyers organized a bar association, but it fell apart in 1768 during the bitter political dispute between the factions based in the Delancey and Livingston families. A large fraction of the prominent lawyers were Loyalists; their clientele was often to royal authority or British merchants and financiers. They were not allowed to practice law unless they took a loyalty oath to the new United States of America. Many went to Britain or Canada (primarily to New Brunswick and Nova Scotia) after losing the war.

For the next century, various attempts were made, and failed, to build an effective organization of lawyers. Finally a Bar Association emerged in 1869 that proved successful and continues to operate.

By 1700, the Lenape population of New York had diminished to 200. The Dutch West Indies Company transported African slaves to the post as trading laborers used to build the fort and stockade, and some gained freedom under the Dutch. After the seizure of the colony in 1664, the slave trade continued to be legal. In 1703, 42% of the New York households had slaves; they served as domestic servants and laborers but also became involved in skilled trades, shipping and other fields. Yet following reform in ethics according to American Enlightenment thought, by the 1770s slaves made up less than 25% of the population.

By the 1740s, 20% of the residents of New York were slaves, totaling about 2,500 people.

After a series of fires in 1741, the city panicked over rumors of its black population conspiring with some poor whites to burn the city. Historians believe their alarm was mostly fabrication and fear, but officials rounded up 31 black and 4 white people, who over a period of months were convicted of arson. Of these, the city executed 13 black people by burning them alive and hanged the remainder of those incriminated.

The Stamp Act and other British measures fomented dissent, particularly among Sons of Liberty who maintained a long-running skirmish with locally stationed British troops over Liberty Poles from 1766 to 1776. The Stamp Act Congress met in New York City in 1765 in the first organized resistance to British authority across the colonies. After the major defeat of the Continental Army in the Battle of Long Island in late 1776, General George Washington withdrew to Manhattan Island, but with the subsequent defeat at the Battle of Fort Washington the island was effectively left to the British. The city became a haven for loyalist refugees, becoming a British stronghold for the entire war. Consequently, the area also became the focal point for Washington's espionage and intelligence-gathering throughout the war.

New York was greatly damaged twice by fires of suspicious origin, with the Loyalists and Patriots accusing each other of starting the conflagration. The city became the political and military center of operations for the British in North America for the remainder of the war. Continental Army officer Nathan Hale was hanged in Manhattan for espionage. In addition, the British began to hold the majority of captured American prisoners of war aboard prison ships in Wallabout Bay, across the East River in Brooklyn. More Americans lost their lives aboard these ships than died in all the battles of the war. The British occupation lasted until November 25, 1783. George Washington triumphantly returned to the city that day, as the last British forces left the city.

Starting in 1785 the Congress met in the city of New York under the Articles of Confederation. In 1789, New York became the first national capital under the new Constitution. The Constitution also created the current Congress of the United States, and its first sitting was at Federal Hall on Wall Street. The first Supreme Court sat there. The United States Bill of Rights was drafted and ratified there. George Washington was inaugurated at Federal Hall. New York remained the national capital until 1790, when the role was transferred to Philadelphia.

During the 19th century, the city was transformed by immigration, a visionary development proposal called the Commissioners' Plan of 1811 which expanded the city street grid to encompass all of Manhattan, and the opening of the Erie Canal in 1825, which connected the Atlantic port to the vast agricultural markets of the Midwestern United States and Canada. By 1835, New York had surpassed Philadelphia as the largest city in the United States. New York grew as an economic center, first as a result of Alexander Hamilton's policies and practices as the first Secretary of the Treasury.

In 1842, water was piped from a reservoir to supply the city for the first time.

The Great Irish Famine (1845–1850) brought a large influx of Irish immigrants, and by 1850 the Irish comprised one quarter of the city's population. Government institutions, including the New York City Police Department and the public schools, were established in the 1840s and 1850s to respond to growing demands of residents. In 1831, New York University was founded by U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin as a non-denominal institution surrounding Washington Square Park.

This period started with the 1855 inauguration of Fernando Wood as the first mayor from Tammany Hall. It was the political machine based among Irish Americans that controlled the local Democratic Party. It usually dominated local politics throughout this period and into the 1930s. Public-minded members of the merchant community pressed for a Central Park, which was opened to a design competition in 1857; it became the first landscape park in an American city.

During the American Civil War (1861–1865), the city was affected by its history of strong commercial ties to the South; before the war, half of its exports were related to cotton, including textiles from upstate mills. Together with its growing immigrant population, which was angry about conscription, sympathies among residents were divided for both the Union and Confederacy at the outbreak of war. Tensions related to the war culminated in the Draft Riots of 1863 led by Irish Catholics, who attacked black neighborhood and abolitionist homes. Many blacks left the city and moved to Brooklyn. After the Civil War, the rate of immigration from Europe grew steeply, and New York became the first stop for millions seeking a new and better life in the United States, a role acknowledged by the dedication of the Statue of Liberty in 1886.

From 1890 to 1930, the largest cities, led by New York, were the focus of international attention. The skyscrapers and tourist attractions were widely publicized. Suburbs were emerging as bedroom communities for commuters to the central city. San Francisco dominated the West, Atlanta dominated the South, Boston dominated New England; Chicago dominated the Midwest United States. New York City dominated the entire nation in terms of communications, trade, finance, popular culture, and high culture. More than a fourth of the 300 largest corporations in 1920 were headquartered here.

In 1898, the modern City of New York was formed with the consolidation of Brooklyn (until then an independent city), Manhattan, and outlying areas. Manhattan and the Bronx were established as two separate boroughs and joined with three other boroughs created from parts of adjacent counties to form the new municipal government originally called "Greater New York". The Borough of Brooklyn incorporated the independent City of Brooklyn, recently joined to Manhattan by the Brooklyn Bridge; the Borough of Queens was created from western Queens County (with the remnant established as Nassau County in 1899); and the Borough of Richmond contained all of Richmond County. Municipal governments contained within the boroughs were abolished, and the county governmental functions were absorbed by the city or each borough. In 1914, the New York State Legislature created Bronx County, making five counties coterminous with the five boroughs.

The Bronx had a steady boom period during 1898–1929, with a population growth by a factor of six from 200,000 in 1900 to 1.3 million in 1930. The Great Depression created a surge of unemployment, especially among the working class, and a slow-down of growth.

On June 15, 1904, over 1,000 people, mostly German immigrant women and children, were killed when the excursion steamship General Slocum caught fire and sank. It is the city's worst maritime disaster. On March 25, 1911, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in Greenwich Village took the lives of 146 garment workers. In response, the city made great advancements in the fire department, building codes, and workplace regulations.

Throughout the first half of the 20th century, the city became a world center for industry, commerce, and communication, marking its rising influence with such events as the Hudson-Fulton Celebration of 1909. Interborough Rapid Transit (the first New York City Subway company) began operating in 1904, and the railroads operating out of Grand Central Terminal and Pennsylvania Station thrived.

From 1918 to 1920, New York City was affected by the largest rent strike wave in its history. Somewhere between several 10,000's and 100,000's of tenants struck across the city. A WW1 housing and coal shortage sparked the strikes. It became marked both by occasional violent scuffles and the Red Scare.  It would lead to the passage of the first rent laws in the nations history.

The city was a destination for internal migrants as well as immigrants. Through 1940, New York was a major destination for African Americans during the Great Migration from the rural American South. The Harlem Renaissance flourished during the 1920s and the era of Prohibition. New York's ever accelerating changes and rising crime and poverty rates were reduced after World War I disrupted trade routes, the Immigration Restriction Acts limited additional immigration after the war, and the Great Depression reduced the need for new labor. The combination ended the rule of the Gilded Age barons. As the city's demographics temporarily stabilized, labor unionization helped the working class gain new protections and middle-class affluence, the city's government and infrastructure underwent a dramatic overhaul under Fiorello La Guardia, and his controversial parks commissioner, Robert Moses, ended the blight of many tenement areas, expanded new parks, remade streets, and restricted and reorganized zoning controls.

For a while, New York ranked as the most populous city in the world, overtaking London in 1925, which had reigned for a century.[58] During the difficult years of the Great Depression, the reformer Fiorello La Guardia was elected as mayor, and Tammany Hall fell after eighty years of political dominance.

Despite the effects of the Great Depression, some of the world's tallest skyscrapers were built during the 1930s. Art Deco architecture—such as the iconic Chrysler Building, Empire State Building, and 30 Rockefeller Plaza— came to define the city's skyline. The construction of the Rockefeller Center occurred in the 1930s and was the largest-ever private development project at the time. Both before and especially after World War II, vast areas of the city were also reshaped by the construction of bridges, parks and parkways coordinated by Robert Moses, the greatest proponent of automobile-centered modernist urbanism in America.

Returning World War II veterans and immigrants from Europe created a postwar economic boom. Demands for new housing were aided by the G.I. Bill for veterans, stimulating the development of huge suburban tracts in eastern Queens and Nassau County. The city was extensively photographed during the post–war years by photographer Todd Webb.

New York emerged from the war as the leading city of the world, with Wall Street leading the United States ascendancy. In 1951, the United Nations relocated from its first headquarters in Flushing Meadows Park, Queens, to the East Side of Manhattan. During the late 1960s, the views of real estate developer and city leader Robert Moses began to fall out of favor as the anti-urban renewal views of Jane Jacobs gained popularity. Citizen rebellion stopped a plan to construct an expressway through Lower Manhattan.

After a short war boom, the Bronx declined from 1950 to 1985, going from predominantly moderate-income to mostly lower-income, with high rates of violent crime and poverty. The Bronx has experienced an economic and developmental resurgence starting in the late 1980s that continues into today.

The transition away from the industrial base toward a service economy picked up speed, while the jobs in the large shipbuilding and garment industries declined sharply. The ports converted to container ships, costing many traditional jobs among longshoremen. Many large corporations moved their headquarters to the suburbs or to distant cities. At the same time, there was enormous growth in services, especially finance, education, medicine, tourism, communications and law. New York remained the largest city and largest metropolitan area in the United States, and continued as its largest financial, commercial, information, and cultural center.

Like many major U.S. cities, New York suffered race riots, gang wars and some population decline in the late 1960s. Street activists and minority groups such as the Black Panthers and Young Lords organized rent strikes and garbage offensives, demanding improved city services for poor areas. They also set up free health clinics and other programs, as a guide for organizing and gaining "Power to the People." By the 1970s the city had gained a reputation as a crime-ridden relic of history. In 1975, the city government avoided bankruptcy only through a federal loan and debt restructuring by the Municipal Assistance Corporation, headed by Felix Rohatyn. The city was also forced to accept increased financial scrutiny by an agency of New York State. In 1977, the city was struck by the New York City blackout of 1977 and serial slayings by the Son of Sam.

The 1980s began a rebirth of Wall Street, and the city reclaimed its role at the center of the worldwide financial industry. Unemployment and crime remained high, the latter reaching peak levels in some categories around the close of the decade and the beginning of the 1990s. Neighborhood restoration projects funded by the city and state had very good effects for New York, especially Bedford-Stuyvesant, Harlem, and The Bronx. The city later resumed its social and economic recovery, bolstered by the influx of Asians, Latin Americans, and U.S. citizens, and by new crime-fighting techniques on the part of the New York Police Department. In 1989, New York City elected its first African American Mayor, David Dinkins. He came out of the Harlem Clubhouse.

In the late 1990s, the city benefited from the nationwide fall of violent crime rates, the resurgence of the finance industry, and the growth of the "Silicon Alley", during the dot com boom, one of the factors in a decade of booming real estate values. New York was also able to attract more business and convert abandoned industrialized neighborhoods into arts or attractive residential neighborhoods; examples include the Meatpacking District and Chelsea (in Manhattan) and Williamsburg (in Brooklyn).

New York's population reached an all-time high in the 2000 census; according to census estimates since 2000, the city has continued to grow, including rapid growth in the most urbanized borough, Manhattan. During this period, New York City was a site of the September 11 attacks of 2001; 2,606 people who were in the towers and in the surrounding area were killed by a terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, an event considered highly traumatic for the city but which did not stop the city's rapid regrowth. On November 3, 2014, One World Trade Center opened on the site of the attack. Hurricane Sandy brought a destructive storm surge to New York in the evening of October 29, 2012, flooding numerous streets, tunnels, and subway lines in Lower Manhattan. It flooded low-lying areas of Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island. Electrical power was lost in many parts of the city and its suburbs.

Destruction or make room for something new.

~Twilight Garden~

I am the owner of this "original" one-of-a-kind work signed by the artist Felix D'Eon. It is a collage on antique end paper with watercolor and ink on paper.

Rama (/ˈrɑːmə/; Sanskrit: राम Rāma) also known as Raghava, is the seventh avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu, and a king of Ayodhya. Rama is also the protagonist of the Hindu epic Ramayana, which narrates his idealistic ideas and his greatness. Rama is one of the many popular figures and deities in Hinduism, specifically Vaishnavism and Vaishnava religious scriptures in South and Southeast Asia. Along with Krishna, Rama is considered to be one of the most important avatars of Vishnu. In a few Rama-centric sects, he is considered the Supreme Being, rather than an avatar.

Born as the eldest son of Kausalya and Dasharatha, king of Ayodhya, Rama is referred to within Hinduism as Maryada Purushottama, literally the Perfect Man or Lord of Self-Control or Lord of Virtue. His wife Sita is considered by Hindus to be an avatar of Lakshmi and the embodiment of perfect womanhood.

Rama's life and journey is one of adherence to dharma despite harsh tests and obstacles and many pains of life and time. For the sake of his father's honour, Rama abandons his claim to Ayodhaya's throne to serve an exile of fourteen years in the forest. His wife Sita and brother Lakshmana decide to join him, and all three spend the fourteen years in exile together. While in exile, Sita is kidnapped by Ravana, the Rakshasa monarch of Lanka. After a long and arduous search, Rama fights a colossal war against Ravana's armies. In a war of powerful and magical beings, greatly destructive weaponry and battles, Rama slays Ravana in battle and liberates his wife. Having completed his exile, Rama returns to be crowned king in Ayodhya and eventually becomes emperor, rules with happiness, peace, duty, prosperity and justice - a period known as Ram Rajya.

The legend of Rama is deeply influential and popular in the societies of the Indian subcontinent and across South East Asia. Rama is revered for his unending compassion, courage and devotion to religious values and duty.

ETYMOLOGY

The name Rama appears repeatedly in Hindu scriptures. Besides the name of the protagonist of the Ramayana (subject of the current article), the name is also given to other heroes including Parashu-Rama (Bhargava Rama) and Balarama (Bala-Rama).

In the Vishnu sahasranama, Rama is the 394th name of Vishnu. In the interpretation of Adi Shankara's commentary, translated by Swami Tapasyananda of the Ramakrishna Mission, Rama has two meanings: the supreme Brahman who is the eternally blissful spiritual Self in whom yogis delight, or the One (i.e., Vishnu) who out of His own will assumed the enchanting form of Rama, the son of Dasaratha.

Other names of Rama include Ramavijaya (Javanese), Phreah Ream (Khmer), Phra Ram (Lao and Thai), Megat Seri Rama (Malay), Raja Bantugan (Maranao) and Ramar (Tamil).

The greatness of chanting of Rama's name is mentioned in the Ramacharitamanasa.

In Sanskrit, the word Rama (राम) means 'charming'. The name is commonly given to male in India and Nepal.

Some of the popular names of Rama are:

Rama - charming

Ramachandra - Rama with a moon Raghava - descendent of Raghu

Siyaavar - husband of Sita

Ayodhyapati - king of Ayodhya

Dashrathaputra - son of Dasharatha

Maryada-Purushottam - best ideal man

Shriram

Dashrathi - Son of King Dashrath

SOURCES

The primary source of the life and journey of Rama is the epic Ramayana as composed by the Rishi Valmiki. The Vishnu Purana also recounts Rama as Vishnu's seventh avatar, and in the Bhagavata Purana, ninth skandha, adhyayas 10 & 11, the story of the Ramayana is again recounted in brief up to and including the slaying of Ravana and Prince Rama's return to Ayodhya. Additionally, the tales of Rama are reverently spoken of in the Mahabharata. The earliest documentation of Ram is in the Buddhist text of Dasharatha Jataka.

Composition of Ramayana in its current form is usually dated to 7th - 4th Century BCE. However, other scriptures in Sanskrit also reflect the life of Ramayana. The followers of Madhvacharya believe that an older version of the Ramayana, the mula-Ramayana, previously existed. They consider it to have been more authoritative than the version by Valmiki. Another important shortened version of the epic in Sanskrit is the Adhyatma Ramayana. The seventh century CE Sanskrit "Bhatti's Poem" Bhaṭṭikāvya of Bhatti who lived in Gujarat, is a retelling of the epic that simultaneously illustrates the grammatical examples for Pāṇini's Aṣṭādhyāyī as well as the major figures of speech and the Prakrit language.

Versions of the Ramayana exist in most major Indian languages; examples that elaborate on the life, deeds and divine philosophies of Rama include the epic poem Ramavataram by the 12th-century poet Kambar in Tamil, and Ramcharitmanas, a Hindi version of the Ramayana by the 16th-century saint, Tulsidas. Contemporary versions of the Ramayana include Sri Ramayana Darshanam by Kuvempu in Kannada and Ramayana Kalpavruksham by Viswanatha Satyanarayana in Telugu, both of which have been awarded the Jnanpith Award. The epic has transformed across the diverse regions of India, which boast their own unique languages and cultural traditions.

The essential tale of Rama has also spread across Southeast Asia, and evolved into unique renditions of the epic – incorporating local history, folktales, religious values as well as unique features from the languages and literary discourse. The Kakawin Ramayana of Java, Indonesia, the Ramakavaca of Bali, Hikayat Seri Rama of Malaysia, Maradia Lawana of the Philippines, Ramakien of Thailand (which calls him Phra Ram) are great works with many unique characteristics and differences in accounts and portrayals of the legend of Rama. The legends of Rama are witnessed in elaborate illustration at the Wat Phra Kaew temple in Bangkok. The national epic of Myanmar, Yama Zatdaw is essentially the Burmese Ramayana, where Rama is named Yama. In the Reamker of Cambodia, Rama is known as Preah Ream. In the Phra Lak Phra Lam of Laos, Gautama Buddha is regarded as an incarnation of Rama.

The mythological sources propose that Rama was born about 1.2 million years ago, during the Treta Yuga, age that lasted 1,296,000 years and his birthday Rama Navami is celebrated in the month of April/May To the Valmiki Ramayana, Rama was born in Ayodhya, India, on 9th day (now celebrated across India as Ram Navami) of Chaitra lunar month (March–April), when Moon and Jupiter were rising in the east in Cancer sign and four other planets (Sun, Mars, Saturn, Venus) were exalted in their exaltation signs. Based on these star alignments, a few astrologers claimed to have calculated the exact date of birth of Lord Rama as 10 January 5114 BC between 12 noon and 1pm.

Childhood

BIRTH AS AN AVATAR

The Ramayana speaks of how the earth goddess Bhudevi, came to the creator-god Brahma begging to be rescued from evil kings who were plundering her resources and destroying life through bloody wars and evil conduct. The deva (gods) also came to Brahma fearful of the rule of Ravana, the ten-headed rakshasa emperor of Lanka. Ravana had overpowered the devas and now ruled the heavens, the earth and the netherworlds. Although a powerful and noble monarch, he was also arrogant, destructive and a patron of evil doers. He had boons that gave him immense strength and was invulnerable to all living and celestial beings, except man and animals.

Brahma, Bhumidevi and the other gods requested Vishnu, the Preserver, to intervene and free the Earth from Ravana's tyrannical rule. Vishnu promised to kill Ravana by incarnating as a man – the eldest son of Kosala's king Dasharatha. According to the Ramayana, king Dasharata remained childless for a long time and finally decided to perform a putrakameshti yaga under the supervision of the royal priest. During the ritual, Prajapati arose from the sacrificial fire and gave a vessel of sacred potion to Dasharata for distribution to his three wives. The three queens drank the divine potion and conceived four sons: Rama, Bharata, Lakshmana and Shatrughna.

Goddess Lakshmi took birth as Sita in order to accompany her consort Vishnu and was found by king Janaka of Mithila while he was ploughing a field. Vishnu's eternal companion, the Shesha is said to have incarnated as Lakshmana to stay at his Lord's side on earth. Throughout his life, no one, except a few select sages (among which are included Vasishta, Sharabhanga, Agastya and Vishwamitra) know of his destiny. Rama is continually revered by the many sages he encounters through his life, but only the most learned and exalted know of his true identity. At the end of the war between Rama and Ravana, just as Sita passes her Agni pariskha, Brahma, Indra and the gods, the celestial sages and Shiva appear out of the sky. They affirm Sita's purity and ask him to end this terrible test. Thanking the avatar for delivering the universe from the grips of evil, they reveal Rama's divine identity upon the culmination of his mission.

Other scriptures provide other reasons for the avatar. The chastity of Vrinda, wife of the demon Jalandhara, that protects the life of her husband is destroyed by Vishnu by deceit so that Shiva can slay the demon. She curses Vishnu to be born on earth and that in this birth of his, his wife's (Lakshmi as Sita) purity and chastity will be a question in his mind throughout his life and he will be separated from her and live with sadness and grief.

Another legend narrates that Jaya and Vijaya, the gatekeepers of Vishnu, were cursed by the Four Kumaras to be born on earth three lives; Vishnu took avatars each time to free them of their earthy existence. They as born as Ravana and his brother Kumbhakarna, who are both killed by Rama. Also, due to a boon, Kashyapa and Aditi are born as the parents of Rama, Dasharatha and Kausalya. In another version, Svayambhuva Manu and his wife Satarupa are blessed to be born as Rama's parents.

Another tale says that the sage Narada cursed Vishnu to be born on earth as a king, to be helped by monkeys and suffer separation from his wife. Narada also curses Jaya and Vijaya to be born as the demon brothers.

INITIATION OF THE AVATAR

Sage Vishwamitra takes the two princes, Rama and Lakshmana, to his ashram, as he needs Rama's help in slaying several Rakshasas that have been harassing him and several other sages living in the area. Rama's first encounter is with a Rakshasi named Taataka, who is a celestial nymph cursed to take the form of a demoness. Vishwamitra explains that she has polluted much of the habitat where the sages reside and there will not be any contentment until she is destroyed. Rama has some reservations about killing a woman, but since Taataka poses such a big threat to the Rishis and he is expected to follow their word, he fights with Taataka and kills her with an arrow. After her death, the surrounding forest becomes greener and cleaner. Vishwamitra presents Rama with several astras and sastras (divine weapons) that will be of use to him in the future, and Rama masters the knowledge of all the weapons and their uses. Vishwamitra then tells Rama and Lakshmana that soon, he along with some of his disciples, will perform a yagna for seven days and nights that will be of great benefit to the world, and the two princes must keep close watch for the two sons of Taadaka, Mareecha and Subahu, who will try to defile the yagna at all costs. The princes therefore keep a strong vigil for all of the days, and on the seventh day they spot Maricha and Subahu coming with a whole host of Raakshasas ready to pour bones and blood into the fire. Rama points his bow at the two, and with one arrow kills Subahu, and with the other arrow flings Mareecha thousands of miles away into the ocean. Rama deals with the rest of the demons. The yagna is completed successfully

Rama also frees Ahalya, the wife of Gautama Maharishi, from a curse. She was cursed to turn into stone by her husband after a displeasing incident. However, the dust on Rama's feet touched the stone and turned it back into a woman again. Gautama Maharishi was gratified that everything was back to normal again.

Sage Vishwamitra then takes the two princes to the Swayamvara a wedding ceremony for Sita. The challenge is to string the bow of Shiva (Pinaka) and shoot an arrow from it. This task is considered impossible for any ordinary king or living being, as this is the personal weapon of Shiva, more powerful, holy and of divine creation than conceivable. While attempting to string the bow, Rama breaks it in two. This feat of strength spreads his fame across the worlds and seals his marriage to Sita, celebrated as Vivaha Panchami.

After Rama weds Sita and the entire royal family and the Ayodhya army begin their journey back, the great rishi Parashurama (Bhargava Rama) appears before them, having descended from his mountainous hermitage. Parashurama is an extremely powerful rishi, responsible for killing all of the world's tyrannical and oppressive emperors and kings 21 times. He is the sixth Avatara of Vishnu, and finds it unbelievable that anybody could break the bow of Shiva. Considering himself to still be the most powerful warrior-rishi on earth, he brings with them the bow of Vishnu (Saranga), and intends to challenge Rama to prove his strength by stringing it, and then fighting a battle with him to prove superiority. Although the entire Ayodhya army is forestalled by his mystical power, Rama is himself angered. He respectfully bows to Parashurama, and within a twinkling of an eyelid snatches the bow of Vishnu, (that is his own, an example of irony here) strings it, places an arrow and points it straight at the challenger's heart. Rama asks Parashurama what he will give as a target to the arrow. At this point, Parashurama feels himself devoid of the tremendous mystical energy he possessed for so long. He realizes that Rama is Vishnu incarnate, his successor and definitely his superior. He accepts Rama's superiority, devotes his tapasya to him, pays homage to Rama and promises to return to his hermitage and leave the world of men.Rama then shoots the arrow up into the sky with Vishnu's bow, performing a feat true to his supreme, divine nature with his natural weapon. His overpowering of Parashurama and using the supreme weapon with incredible ease and perfection dazzle the spectators and his relatives, but no one save Parashurama and Vasishta associate this with his true identity. It is said that the Rama's arrow is still flying across space, across time and across all of the universe. The day it will return to earth, it is said, it will bring the end of the world. Others say that the flying arrow destroys all evil on earth to uphold dharma and righteousness.

DHARMA OF EXILE

King Dasaratha announces to Ayodhya that he plans to crown Rama, his eldest child the Yuvaraja (crown prince). While the news is welcomed by everyone in the kingdom, the mind of queen Kaikeyi is poisoned by her wicked maid-servant, Manthara. Kaikeyi, who is initially pleased for Rama, is made to fear for the safety and future of her son Bharata. Fearing that Rama would ignore or possibly victimize his younger brother for the sake of power, Kaikeyi demands that Dasaratha banish Rama to a forest exile for fourteen years, and that Bharata be crowned in Rama's place. She had been granted two boons by the king when she had saved his life a long time ago in battle, and the queen now used them to serve her purpose. The king's court and the people are outraged at this turn of events. Dasaratha loved and cherished Rama dearly, and is in personal turmoil. Completely estranged now from his younger wife, he abhors the prospect of separation from Rama. But Rama realizes that the king must not break a solemn promise at any time, and neither should a son disobey his father's command. Sita joins her husband in exile despite his discouraging her, as it is her duty and out of love for Rama that she must be at his side at all times. His younger brother Lakshmana also immediately decides to join Rama rather than remain in the city. As he leaves for exile, the people of Ayodhya are deeply saddened and angered at Dasaratha and Kaikeyi. Dasaratha's heart is broken and he collapses and dies during the night of the sixth day, unable to bear the agony of separation from Rama. Despite the reasoning of Vashistha and the pleas of his brothers, Rama refuses to return. Although horrified at the news of his father's death, Rama finds it impossible that he should break his dead father's word. Rama does not bear any anger towards Kaikeyi, believing firmly in the power of destiny. According to the explanation of the classic, this exile actually presents Rama the opportunity to confront Ravana and his evil empire.

RAMA AND SITA

Rama and Sita are the protagonists in one of the most famous[peacock term] love stories of all time. Described as being deeply in love, Sita and Rama are theologically understood as Incarnations of Lakshmi and Vishnu respectively. When Rama is banished from the kingdom, he attempts to convince Sita not to join him in a potentially dangerous and certainly arduous existence in the jungle, but Sita rejects this. When Rama orders her in his capacity as husband, Sita rejects it, asserting that it was an essential duty of a wife to be at her husband's side come good or ill. Rama in turn is assiduously protective and caring for Sita throughout the exile.

When Sita is kidnapped by Ravana, both Sita and Rama undergo great personal hardships during their separation. Sita protects her chastity assiduously, and survives over a year in captivity on the strength of her love and attention to religious values and duty. She is completely unfettered in her resolve despite Ravana's courting, cajoling and threats. Meanwhile, Rama, not knowing who had kidnapped Sita or where was she taken, often succumbs to despair and tears, denouncing himself for failing to defend her and agonizing over her safety and pain. Sita knows that it is in Rama's destiny to fight to rescue her (she refuses to be rescued thus by Hanuman, who discovers her), but is deeply anxious for his safety and fearful of Ravana's power.

The 'Wedding of Rama and Sita' concerns two entities coming together to form a whole. An Indian marriage forges an alliance not only between two people, but also two families. The marriage of Sita and Rama creates an alliance between two people, two families, and two kingdoms: Mithila, home of Sita, and Kosala, home of Rama. Furthermore, Rama's marriage to Sita on earth parallels the celestial union of Vishnu and Lakshmi; each deity took birth on earth, and so when Rama marries Sita, he is actually reuniting with his divine consort Lakshmi, Goddess of Good Fortune, who brings prosperity to Kosala. At an allegorical level, the union of Rama and Sita represents the relationship between God and the devotee, with Rama as the beloved divine king and Sita as his devotee. Finally, at a societal level, the dance drama brings together north and south Indian dance traditions.

AGNI PARIKSHA

Lord Rama sent a messenger to Ravana that said, "Come to me and I will forgive you," before he slays Ravana. After Rama slays Ravana and wins the war, Sita wants to come before him in the state which over a year's imprisonment had reduced her to, but Rama arranges for Sita to be bathed and given beautiful garments before they are re-united. But even as Sita comes before him in great excitement and happiness,the society starts doubting Sita's purity so Rama decided to prove that his Sita is still pure and chaste in front of the society, so he tells her that she has to give Agni pariksha. At this sudden turn of events, all the vanaras, rakshasas, Sugriva, Hanuman and Lakshmana are deeply shocked.

Sita begs Lakshmana to build her a pyre upon which she could end her life, as she could not live without Rama. At this point, Lakshmana is angered at Rama for the first time in his life, but following Rama's nod, he builds a pyre for Sita. At the great shock and sorrow of the watchers, Sita sits into the flames. But to their astonishment and wonder, she is completely unharmed. Instead, she glows radiantly from the centre of the pyre. But the gods headed by Brahma and Shiva appear, reveal Rama's and Sita's true identity and requests that Rama take Sita back as she is truly pure. Rama replies that he had never doubted her purity for a second, but, the people of the world would not have accepted or honoured her as a queen or a woman if she had not passed this Agni pariksha before the eyes of hundreds. Agni would destroy the impure and sinful, but not touch the pure and innocent, irrespective of Parvati's/Adishakti's curse on him. There is a version of Tulsidas's Ramacharitamanasa, which is popular, which states that Rama had Sita under the protection of Agni God. After Sita was released it was necessary to bring her out of security of Agni god.[50] This finds echo in the sthala purana of Tirupathi. Another version of this, used in Ramanand Sagar's Ramayan, was that Rama had known Sita was going to be abducted by Ravana ahead of time. So he entrusted her to Agni, the god of fire. Rama did this so that he, who in reality was Vishnu, could kill Ravana. Sita, in turn, left behind a "shadow", or twin-like version of herself behind. The "shadow" Sita had been abducted by Ravana. Therefore, the lila of Agni Pariksha was to retrieve the genuine Sita from the temporary care of Agni Deva. Rama explains this to Lakshmana before the "Pariksha" is done. This version has also been written in the Ram Charit Manas.

SITAS´S EXILE

In the Uttara Kanda, Rama banishes his wife Sita, even as she is pregnant, asking Lakshmana to deliver her safely to the forest. He does so after receiving word that some of his subjects in Ayodhya believed that Sita was unfit due to her long captivity in Ravana's city. As a king is expected to uphold moral principles, Rama reluctantly banished Sita in order to uphold his duty. Sita took refuge under the noble sage Valmiki.

A legend by Rishi Agastya in the epic states that Vishnu in a previous age had been cursed by Rishi Bhrigu, whose wife had been killed by Vishnu for sheltering his enemies escaping from battle. The Rishi condemns Vishnu to be denied for a long age the companionship of his soul mate, just as Vishnu, had deprived the Rishi of his loving wife. Thus Rama, Vishnu's incarnation, must live the rest of his life without Sita.

Many Hindus, such as the followers of Sri Vaishnavism, consider this entire section of the Ramayana to be interpolated, and thus they do not accept the authenticity of this story claiming that Sita was banished. An alternate narration of Ramayana does not state it so. It says that Sita later lived in her father's kingdom of Mithila with her sons Lava and Kusha as per the North Indian (especially in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar) custom that children be brought up in their nanihal, or maternal grandmother's place. Sita and her sons later live in Valmiki's ashram for the boys' education and military training. As per Tulsidas's Ramcharitmanas, both the princes grew extremely intelligent and strong under Rishi Valmiki's tutelage.

CHILDREN

According to legend, Kusha and Lava are the twin sons of Lord Rama and Sita. Born in the forest after the banishment of Sita from Ayodhya, the twins were educated and trained in military skills as their mother took refuge in Sage Valmiki's ashram, located in a forest on the banks of the River Tamsa.

As Rama performed the Ashvamedha Yajna, a horse strayed into their forest, Rama sent Hanuman to retrieve the horses. Rama's sons Luv and Kush captured the horses. Hanuman, seeing Luv and Kush recognised that they were the son's of Rama. He let them capture him and tie him up. There Hanuman started meditating on the name Rama. Worried Rama sent his brothers to look for the horses. As they saw Hanuman tied up and two boys guarding him, they thought that the two boy had stolen the horses. So Ramas brothers started attacking Luv and Kush. Although Rama's brothers should have won, but Luv and Kush defeated them all, knocking them unconscious. Luv and Kush were protected by Hanuman. Then Rama himself went looking for the horses fearing that Hanuman and his brothers had been attacked. On his way there, Rama intuitively knew that Luv and Kush were his sons and purposely slept on his chariot to delay tension and confrontation with his sons as he knew it would be inappropriate for a father to fight his sons. Upon reaching the battlefield, the sage Valmiki interrupted the potential battle between father and sons by explaining to Rama that Luv and Kush were his sons. A familial reunion took place.

When Devi Sita found out that Lava and Kusha had defeated Ayodhya's forces, she proudly revealed their/her identity. Rama desired Sita and his sons to live with him in his kingdom but as this took place, the general population of the kingdom resented Sita from returning. In response, Sita forsaked her like and sought final refuge in the arms of her mother Bhumidevi, the Goddess Mother Earth and ultimately returned to Rama in the form of Vishnu in Vishnu's abode - indicating that forced separation from her beloved husband is only limited in life on earth compared to her eternal union with her beloved in life after death.

LATER LIFE

Rama's reign is known as the Rama Rajya which lasted for 11,000 years. During this period, people were healthy, holy, satisfied and lived with complete peace and harmony. There was no evil, no wars, no natural calamity and no diseases. Rama ruled the whole earth without using military force as all kings submitted themselves to him. His brothers Bharata and Shatrughna settled in their later lives. Bharata, with the help of his uncle Yudhajita, conquered the eastern land of the Gandharvas and ruled it. Shatrughna slew the Asura Lavana and founded the city of Mathura. Rama acquired a rare gem from Rishi Agastya which entombed the powers of the gods Indra, Varuna, Yama and Kubera, which helped the king rule efficiently. After his reign, Rama and his brothers and his allies peacefully left the earth on the river Sarayu abandoning their mortal bodies. Valmiki Ramayana mentions an abode named Santanaka invested with all spiritual qualities and located beyond Brahmaloka, which was attained by all followers of Rama, after Rama along with his brothers, entered into Vaishnava potency. Lava and Kusha ruled Kosala and continued the solar race.

MARYADA PURUSHOTTAMA

As a person, Rama personifies the characteristics of an ideal person (purushottama) who is to be emulated. He had within him all the desirable virtues that any individual would seek to aspire, and he fulfils all his moral obligations (maryada). Rama's purity and piety in his intentions and actions inspires affection and devotion for him from a variety of characters from different backgrounds. For example, he gave up his rightful claim to the throne, and agreed to go into exile for fourteen years, to fulfill the vow that his father had given to Kaikeyi, one of King Dashratha's wives. This is in spite of the fact that Kaikeyi's son, Bharat, begged him to return to Ayodhya and said that he did not want to rule in place of Rama. But Rama considered his dharma as a son above that of his own birthright and his life's ambition. For such supreme sacrifices, and many other qualities, Rama is considered a maryada purushottamor the best of upholders of Dharma, a basically human but exemplary figure Some of his ideals are as follows: 1. At the time when it was normal for kings to have more than one wife, Rama gave the ideal of having a single wife. In Balakanda of Valmiki Ramayana it is written that Rama and Sita resided in each other's heart.

2. Rama always followed his promise at any cost. In fact, he went to forest to make his father's promise to Kaikeyi true. Another instance was when, he had promised the Spirit of Time that during their conversation, if anyone was to intrude, Rama would have pronounce an instant death sentence upon the individual. They were intruded upon by his beloved younger brother Lakshmana, and to keep his part of the promise, pronounced the death sentence. There are many examples of Rama's promises which he kept. Most important are the promise to sages to save their lives from Rakshasas, getting back Sugreeva's kingdom, making Vibhishana the king of Lanka.

3. Excellent friend: Rama had very touching relations with his friends irrespective of their status. Some of his friends are Nishada-raja Guha, King of Nishaadas (a caste whose profession was hunting the birds), Sugreeva (the Vanara king) and Vibhishana a Rakshasa.

4. Even towards his enemies, Rama showed great nobility and virtue. To gather information about the enemy army's strengths and weaknesses, Ravana sent two of his spies, Suka and Sarana, to the Vanara camps. Disguised as Vanaras they blended into the enemy camp, but Vibhishana saw through their deceit. The duo sought Rama's protection when the monkey warriors thrashed them. Rama gave them refuge. He then asked them what their mission was and whether they fulfilled it. After listening to them, he sent for a Vanara to give them a proper tour of all the Vanara camps and give them all the information they desired about the major soldiers and their strengths. He then told the spies to give this message to Ravana. "Tomorrow morning, I will destroy all of Lanka. Keep all sides of your palace well defended and be ready with all of your men by sunrise." The spies were greatly astonished with Rama's charisma, courage, and adherence to the codes of war. After Rama gave them leave, they knew that their king was bound to lose against this virtuous and courageous man. When Ravana first fought with Rama, Rama defeated him to such an extent that Ravana lost his charioteer, horses, chariot, flag, weapons and armor. Though the situation was at his advantage, Rama instead praised Ravana for a great fight that day, and asked him to retire and take rest, as he must be quite tired. Ravana was greatly embarrassed at this, but he was also gratified that Rama saved his life, and this led him to consider for a moment whether to retreat and give Sita back...

COMPANIONS

Even as Rama is the ideal conception of manhood, he is often aided and complemented in different situations by the characteristics by those who accompany him. They serve Rama devotedly, at great personal risk and sacrifice.

BHARATA AND LAKSHMANA

Absent when Rama is exiled, upon his return Bharata is appalled to learn of the events. And even though Kaikeyi had done all this for his benefit, Bharata is angered at the suggestion that he should take Ayodhya's throne. Denouncing his mother, Bharata proclaims to the city that he would go to the forest to fetch Rama back, and would serve out his term of exile himself. Although initially resentful and suspicious, the people of Ayodhya hail Bharata's selfless nature and courageous act. Despite his fervent pleas to return, Rama asserts that he must stay in the forest to keep his father's word. He orders Bharata to perform his duty as king of Ayodhya, especially important after Dasaratha's death, and orders Shatrughna to support and serve him. Returning saddened to the city, Bharata refuses to wear the crown or sit on the throne. Instead, he places the slippers of Rama that he had taken back with him on the throne, and rules Ayodhya assiduously keeping Rama's beliefs and values in mind. When Rama finally returns, Bharata runs personally to welcome him back. Bharata is hailed for his devotion to his elder brother and dharma, distinguished from Lakshmana as he is left on his own for fourteen years. But he unfailingly denies self-interest throughout this time, ruling the kingdom only in Rama's name. Vasishtha proclaims that no one had better learnt dharma than Bharata, and for this piety he forms an essential part of the conception of perfect manhood, of the Seventh Avatara of Vishnu. Shatrughna's role to Bharata is akin to that of Lakshmana to Rama. Believed to be one-quarter of Vishnu incarnated, or as the incarnation of his eternal companion, Ananta Sesha, Lakshmana is always at Rama's side. Although unconstrained by Dasaratha's promise to Kaikeyi, Lakshmana resists Rama's arguments and accompanies him and Sita into the forest. During the years of exile, Lakshmana constantly serves Rama and Sita – building huts, standing guard and finding new routes. When Sita is kidnapped, Rama blazes with his divine power and in his immense rage, expresses the desire to destroy all creation. Lakshmana prays and pleads for Rama to calm himself, and despite the shock of the moment and the promise of travails to come, begin an arduous but systematic search for Sita. During times when the search is proving fruitless and Rama fears for Sita, and expresses despair in his grief and loneliness, Lakshmana encourages him, providing hope and solace.When Rama in his despair fears that Sugriva has forgotten his promise to help him trace Sita, Lakshmana goes to Kishkindha to remind the complacent monarch of his promise to help. Lakshmana twangs the bow inside the hall quaking the entire building and threatens to destroy Sugriva and the monkey kingdom with his own divine power. Lakshmana is unable to tolerate Sugriva breaking his vow to Rama while enjoying material and sensual pleasures while Rama suffers alone. It is only through the diplomatic intervention of Queen Tara, Sugriva's wife, that Lakshmana is pacified. Tara then scolds and galvanises Sugriva into honoring his promise to Rama. Sugriva and Rama are then reconciled with the help of Lakshmana and Tara. Sugriva sends the monkey hoards to find the location of Sita and lead the monkey army into battle against the demonic forces of Ravana.Lakshmana is uniquely responsible for slaying Indrajit, the invincible son of Ravana who had humiliated Indra and the devas, and outwitted the brothers and the Vanaras on several occasions. Rishi Agastya later points out that this victory was the turning point of the conflict. Rama is often overcome with emotion and deep affection for Lakshmana, acknowledging how important and crucial Lakshmana's love and support was for him. He also trusts Lakshmana to carry out difficult orders – Lakshmana was asked to take Sita to the ashrama of Valmiki, where she was to spend her exile. Lakshmana's deep love for Rama, his unconditional service and sacrifice, as well as qualities of practical judgment and clear-headedness make him Rama's superior in certain situations and perspectives. Lakshmana symbolizes a man's duty to his family, brothers and friends, and forms an essential part of the conception of ideal manhood, that Rama primarily embodies.

JATAYU, HANUMAN AND VIBHEESHNA

When Rama and Lakshmana begin the desperate search to discover where Sita had been taken, after traversing a distance in many directions, they come across the magical eagle Jatayu, who is dying. They discover from Jatayu that a rakshasa was flying away with a crying, struggling Sita towards the south. Jatayu had flown to the rescue of Sita, but owing to his age and the rakshasa's power, had been defeated. With this, Jatayu dies in Rama's arms. Rama is overcome with love and affection for the bird which sacrificed its own life for Sita, and the rage of his death returns to him in the climactic battle with Ravana.Rama's only allies in the struggle to find Sita are the Vanaras of Kishkindha. Finding a terrified Sugriva being hunted by his own brother, king Vali, Rama promises to kill Vali and free Sugriva of the terror and the unjust charge of plotting to murder Vali. The two swear everlasting friendship over sacred fire. Rama's natural piety and compassion, his sense of justice and duty, as well as his courage despite great personal suffering after Sita's kidnapping inspire devotion from the Vanaras and Sugriva, but especially Hanuman, Sugriva's minister. Devoted to Rama, Hanuman exerts himself greatly over the search for Sita. He is the first to discover that Sita was taken to Lanka, and volunteers to use his divine gifts in a dangerous reconnaissance of Lanka, where he is to verify Sita's presence. Hanuman hands Rama's ring to Sita, as a mark of Rama's love and his imminent intention of rescuing her. Though captured, he candidly delivers Rama's message to Ravana to immediately release Sita, and when his tail is burned, he flies and sets Lanka on fire. When Lakshmana is struck down and near death and Rama overcome with love and concern for his brother, Hanuman flies to the Himalayas on the urgent mission to fetch the sanjeevani medicinal herbs, bringing the entire mountain to Lanka so that no time is lost in saving Lakshmana. The Vanaras fight the rakshasas, completely devoted to Rama's cause. They angrily dismiss Ravana's efforts to create international divisions within their army when he suggested that Rama considered them, monkeys, as mere animals. At the end of the war, Indra restores life to the millions of fallen Vanaras.Before the onset of war, rakshasa prince Vibheeshana, Ravana's youngest brother comes to join Rama. Although he loves his brother and Lanka, he fails in repeated efforts to make Ravana follow religious values and return Sita. Vibheeshana believes that Ravana's arrogance and callousness will cause the destruction of Lanka, which is a gross violation of a king's duty, and that Ravana's actions have only propagated evil. Vibheeshana refuses to defend the evil of Ravana's ways and inspired by Rama's compassion and piety, leaves Lanka to join the Vanara Army. His knowledge of rakshasa ways and Ravana's mind help Rama and the Vanaras overcome black magic and mystical weapons. At the end of the war, Rama crowns Vibheeshana as the king of Lanka. Vibheeshana, and to a greater extent Hanuman, embody the perfect devotee in the wider conception of perfect manhood.

RAMA IN WAR

When Rama is thirteen years old, he and his brother Lakshmana are taken by Vishwamitra to the forests, with the purpose of killing rakshasas who are wrecking the tapasya and sacrifices of brahmins. When asked to slay the demoness, Rama demurs, considering it sinful to kill a woman. But Vishwamitra explains that evil has no gender. Rama replies that "My father asked me to follow your orders, I will obey them even if it is a sin". Rama proceeds to slay Tadaka, a cursed yaksha demoness. The killing of Tadaka liberates the yaksha soul who was cursed for a sin, and had to adopt a rakshasi's body. It restores the purity of the sacrifices of the brahmins who live nearby, and protects the animals who live in the forest, and travelers. Rama and Lakshmana are taught the advanced military arts and given the knowledge of all celestial weapons by Vishwamitra. The main purpose of Vishwamitra's exursion is to conduct his yagna without interruption from two evil demons, Maricha and Subahu sons of Tadaka. Rama and Lakshmana guard the sacrifice, and when the two demons appear, Rama shoots an arrow named Manava Astra that carries Maricha across the lands and into the ocean, but does not kill him. Rama and his brother then proceed to kill Subahu and accompanying demons. Rama explains to Lakshmana that leaving Maricha alive was an act of compassion, but the others did not heed the point and chose to attack. During the forest exile, sages plead for protection and help against evil rakshasas who spoil their sacrifices and religious activities and terrorize them. Many rakshasas had even killed and eaten sages and innocent people. At Janasthana, Rama uses his exceptional prowess to single-handedly kill over fourteen thousand demon hordes led by the powerful Khara, who is a cousin of Ravana and Dushana . . .

WIKIPEDIA

It's said that BaoBomb was once the great protector of the villagers of Tu'R'Land against the destructive giants of the land. He threw his bombs with a mighty swing of his trunk, stopping his nemesis well before they set foot near the cities and towns he protected.

While BaoBomb was loved across the land, his demise couldn't have been prevented. BaoBomb had a deep love with the fruit of the Slumber Forest, a forest that no mortal dared set foot in. While BaoBomb had made this gluttonous trip many times, his last trip wasn't cautious enough. Although the Slumber Forest had many great treats, it was also the home to many heinous variations of vegetation. One such thing was the Devourer Plant, a breed of plant that took over trees, land, and anything else it could root into. Not only was this plant a menace it grew fast. While BaoBomb was busy with his delectable fruits, he didn't notice that he had walked through a Devourer Plant patch along the way. The seeds of the plant had stuck to his feet and the juices dripping from his hands activated the seeds which began to sprout. By the time that BaoBomb had noticed the plant crawling up his leg, it was already too late. The plant had deeply rooted into the ground and quickly climbed up his body locking him in place.

BaoBomb wasn't discovered until a brave soul went looking for the giant. The man knew BaoBomb had disappeared to the forests before and that's where he had to be. Unfortunately the man found him rooted in place. His famous bomb still in his hand, but instead of a flame, a plume of fiery foliage now represented the wick. The people of Tu'R'Land still make an annual journey to BaoBomb to pay their respects to the great defender.

BaoBomb is a custom 10" Dr. Bomb that now stands 14" and 3 lbs.

BaoBomb will go on sale June 3rd @ 11:00am (EST)

Shadowplay and I drove from squatter shack to squatter shack on our destructive, "Alarm Clock Tour." After two days in a row of random alarm clock behavior in two separate hotel rooms, we came upon this shack with some eerily 'on target' graffiti... (please see alarm clock photo/set for more info.) On this same day, as we struggled with the car door locks that continued to play pranks on us, a mighty dust devil approached us. We (or maybe just shadowplay) thought we were done, gone, biting the dust, so to speak...we hid behind a structure and peeked around the corner and watched the mini-tornado of dirt and particles come towards us...and then it veered away as though to say, "Psyche!" Shadowplay was so rattled he had to sit down on a bucket for twenty minutes and collect his thoughts. I, on the other hand, did not. heh (Okay, I made that last part up.)

HUE ZITADELLE

The Imperial City (Vietnamese: Hoàng thành; Hán tự: 皇城) is a walled enclosure within the citadel (Kinh thành; 京城) of the city of Huế, the former imperial capital of Vietnam.

HISTORY

In June 1802 Nguyễn Ánh ascended the throne of a unified Vietnam and proclaimed himself Emperor Gia Long with Hue, the ancestral seat of the Nguyễn Lords as the capital. Geomancers were consulted as to the propitious location site for the new city and construction began in 1804. Thousands of workers were ordered to build the walled citadel and ringing moat, measuring some 10 kilometres long. The original earthwork was later reinforced and faced with brick and stone resulting in 2 m-thick ramparts.

The citadel was oriented to face the Huong River (Perfume River) to the southeast. This differs from Beijing's Forbidden City in which faces true south. Rather than concentric rings centered on the Emperor's palace, the imperial residence itself is offset toward the southeast side of the citadel, nearer the river. A second set of tall walls and a second moat was constructed around this Imperial City, within which many edifices were added in a series of gated courtyards, gardens, pavilions and palaces. The entire complex was the seat of power until the imposition of the French protectorate in the 1880s. Thereafter it existed mostly to carry on symbolic traditions until the Nguyễn dynasty was ousted in 1945, with the Proclamation of Independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. At the time, the Purple Forbidden City had many buildings and hundreds of rooms. Once vacated it suffered from neglect, termite ravages, and inclement weather including a number of cyclones. Nonetheless the Imperial City was an impressive sight. Most destructive were man-made crises as evidenced in the bullet holes still visible from the military conflicts of the 20th century.

Major losses occurred in 1947 when the Việt Minh seized the Citadel in February. The French led counter-attack laid siege and the six-week ensuing battle destroyed many of the major structures. The core of the city including the Imperial Palace was burned.

The Citadel came under fire again in the early morning hours of January 31, 1968, as part of the Tet Offensive a Division-sized force of People's Army of Vietnam and Viet Cong soldiers launched a coordinated attack on Huế seizing most of the city. During the initial phases of the Battle of Huế, due to Huế's religious and cultural status, U.S. troops were ordered not to bomb or shell the city, for fear of destroying the historic structures; but as casualties mounted in house-to-house fighting these restrictions were progressively lifted and the fighting caused substantial damage to the Imperial City. Viet Cong troops occupied some portions of the citadel while South Vietnamese troops occupied others; and allied warplanes targeted the anti-aircraft guns the communists has mounted on the citadel's outer towers Out of 160 buildings only 10 major sites remain because of the battle, such as the Thái Hòa and Cần Thanh temples, Thế Miếu, and Hiển Lâm Các. The city was made a UNESCO site in 1993. The buildings that still remain are being restored and preserved. The latest, and so far largest, restoration project is planned to conclude in 2015.

LAYOUT

The grounds of the Imperial City are protected by fortified ramparts 2 by 2 kilometres, and ringed by a moat. The water in the moat is routed from the Perfume River through a series of sluice gates. This enclosure is the citadel (Kinh thành).

Inside the citadel is the Imperial City (Hoàng thành; 皇城), with a perimeter wall some 2.5 kilometres in length.

Within the Imperial City is the Purple Forbidden City (Tử cấm thành; 紫禁城), a term identical to the Forbidden City in Beijing. Access to the innermost enclosure was restricted to the imperial family.

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HALONG BAY

Hạ Long Bay or Halong Bay (Vietnamese: Vịnh Hạ Long, IPA: [vînˀ hâːˀ lawŋm] (About this soundlisten)) is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and popular travel destination in Quảng Ninh Province, Vietnam. The name Hạ Long means "descending dragon". Administratively, the bay belongs to Hạ Long city, Cẩm Phả city, and is a part of Vân Đồn District. The bay features thousands of limestone karsts and isles in various shapes and sizes. Ha Long Bay is a center of a larger zone which includes Bai Tu Long Bay to the northeast, and Cát Bà Island to the southwest. These larger zones share a similar geological, geographical, geomorphological, climate, and cultural characters.

Hạ Long Bay has an area of around 1,553 km2 (600 sq mi), including 1,960–2,000 islets, most of which are limestone. The core of the bay has an area of 334 km2 with a high density of 775 islets. The limestone in this bay has gone through 500 million years of formation in different conditions and environments. The evolution of the karst in this bay has taken 20 million years under the impact of the tropical wet climate. The geo-diversity of the environment in the area has created biodiversity, including a tropical evergreen biosystem, oceanic and sea shore biosystem. Hạ Long Bay is home to 14 endemic floral species and 60 endemic faunal species.

Historical research surveys have shown the presence of prehistoric human beings in this area tens of thousands years ago. The successive ancient cultures are the Soi Nhu culture around 18,000–7000 BC, the Cai Beo culture 7000–5000 BC and the Hạ Long culture 5,000–3,500 years ago. Hạ Long Bay also marked important events in the history of Vietnam with many artifacts found in Bai Tho Mountain, Dau Go Cave, Bai Chay.

500 years ago, Nguyễn Trãi praised the beauty of Ha Long Bay in his verse Lộ nhập Vân Đồn, in which he called it "rock wonder in the sky". In 1962, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of North Vietnam listed Ha Long Bay in the National Relics and Landscapes publication. In 1994, the core zone of Ha Long Bay was listed as a World Heritage Site according to Criterion VII, and listed for a second time according to Criterion VIII.

ETYMOLOGY

The name Hạ Long (chữ Hán: 下龍) means "descending dragon".

Before the 19th century, the name Hạ Long Bay had not been recorded in the old books of the country. It has been called An Bang, Lục Thủy, Vân Đồn ... In the late 19th century, the name Hạ Long Bay appeared on the Maritime Map of France. The French-language Hai Phong News reported "Dragon appears on Hạ Long Bay".

According to local legend, when Vietnam had just started to develop into a country, they had to fight against invaders. To assist the Vietnamese in defending their country, the gods sent a family of dragons as protectors. This family of dragons began spitting out jewels and jade. These jewels turned into the islands and islets dotting the bay, linking together to form a great wall against the invaders. Under magics, numerous rock mountains abruptly appeared on the sea, ahead of invaders' ships; the forward ships struck the rocks and each other. After winning the battle, the dragons were interested in peaceful sightseeing of the Earth, and then decided to live in this bay. The place where the mother dragon descended was named Ha Long, the place where the dragon's children attended upon their mother was called Bái Tử Long island (Bái: attend upon, Tử: children, Long: dragon), and the place where the dragon's children wriggled their tails violently was called Bạch Long Vĩ island (Bạch: white-color of the foam made when Dragon's children wriggled, Long: dragon, Vĩ: tail), present-day Tra Co peninsula, Móng Cái.

OVERVIEW

The bay consists of a dense cluster of some 1,600 limestone monolithic islands each topped with thick jungle vegetation, rising spectacularly from the ocean. Several of the islands are hollow, with enormous caves. Hang Dau Go (Wooden Stakes cave) is the largest grotto in the Ha Long area. French tourists visited in the late 19th century, and named the cave Grotte des Merveilles. Its three large chambers contain large numerous stalactites and stalagmites (as well as 19th-century French graffiti). There are two bigger islands, Tuần Châu and Cát Bà, that have permanent inhabitants, as well as tourist facilities including hotels and beaches. There are a number of beautiful beaches on the smaller islands. A community of around 1,600 people live on Hạ Long Bay in four fishing villages: Cua Van, Ba Hang, Cong Tau and Vong Vieng in Hung Thang ward, Ha Long city. They live on floating houses and are sustained through fishing and marine aquaculture (cultivating marine biota), plying the shallow waters for 200 species of fish and 450 different kinds of mollusks. Many of the islands have acquired their names as a result of interpretation of their unusual shapes. Such names include Voi Islet (elephant), Ga Choi Islet (fighting cock), Khi Islet (monkey), and Mai Nha Islet (roof). 989 of the islands have been given names. Birds and animals including bantams, antelopes, monkeys, and lizard also live on some of the islands.

Almost all these islands are as individual towers in a classic fenglin landscape with heights from 50–100 metres (160–330 ft), and height/width ratios of up to about six.

Another specific feature of Hạ Long Bay is the abundance of lakes inside the limestone islands. For example, Dau Be island has six enclosed lakes. All these island lakes occupy drowned dolines within fengcong karst.

LOCATION

Hạ Long Bay is located in northeastern Vietnam, from E106°55' to E107°37' and from N20°43' to N21°09'. The bay stretches from Quang Yen town, past Hạ Long city, Cẩm Phả city to Vân Đồn District, is bordered on the south and southeast by Lan Ha Bay, on the north by Hạ Long city, and on the west by Bai Tu Long Bay. The bay has a 120-kilometre-long coastline and is approximately 1,553 km2 in size with about 2,000 islets. The area designated by UNESCO as the World Natural Heritage Site incorporates 434 km2 with 775 islets, of which the core zone is delimited by 69 points: Dau Go island on the west, Ba Ham lake on the south and Cong Tay island on the east. The protected area is from the Cái Dăm petrol store to Quang Hanh ward, Cẩm Phả city and the surrounding zone.

CLIMATE

The climate of the bay is tropical, wet, sea islands, with two seasons: hot and moist summer, dry and cold winter. The average temperature is from 15–25 °C, and annual rainfall is between 2 and 2.2 metres. Ha Long Bay has the typical diurnal tide system (tide amplitude ranges from 3.5–4 metres. The salinity is from 31 to 34.5MT in the dry season and lower in the rainy season.

POPULATION

Of the 1,969 islands in Ha Long, only approximately 40 are inhabited. These islands range from tens to thousands of hectares in size, mainly in the East and Southeast of Hạ Long Bay. In recent decades, thousands of villagers have been starting to settle down on the pristine islands and build new communities such as Sa Tô Island (Hạ Long City), Thắng Lợi Island (Vân Đồn district).

The population of Hạ Long Bay is about 1,540, mainly in Cửa Vạn, Ba Hang and Cặp Dè fishing villages (Hùng Thắng Ward, Hạ Long City). Residents of the bay mostly live on boats and rafts buoyed by tires and plastic jugs to facilitate the fishing, cultivating and breeding of aquatic and marine species. Fish require feeding every other day for up to three years, when they are eventually sold to local seafood restaurants for up to 300,000 Vietnamese dong per kilogram. Today the life of Hạ Long Bay inhabitants has much improved due to new travel businesses. Residents of the floating villages around the Ha Long bay now offer bedrooms for rent, boat tours, and fresh seafood meals to tourists. While this is an isolating, back-breaking lifestyle, floating village residents are considered wealthy to residents of other Hạ Long Bay islands.

At present ((clarify)), the Quảng Ninh provincial government has a policy to relocate the households living in the bay to resettle, in order to stabilize their life and to protect the landscape of the heritage zone. More than 300 households living in fishing villages in Hạ Long Bay have been relocated ashore in Khe Cá Resettlement Area, now known as Zone 8 (Hà Phong Ward, Hạ Long City) since May 2014. This project will continue to be implemented. The province will only retain a number of fishing villages for sightseeing tours.

HISTORY

SOI NHU CULTURE (16,000–5000 BC)

Located in Hạ Long and Bai Tu Long are archaeological sites such as Me Cung and Thien Long. There are remains from mounds of mountain shellfish (Cyclophorus), spring shellfish (Melania, also called Thiana), some fresh water mollusc and some rudimentary labour tools. The main way of life of Soi Nhu's inhabitants included catching fish and shellfish, collecting fruits and digging for bulbs and roots. Their living environment was a coastal area unlike other Vietnamese cultures, for example, like those found in Hoa Binh and Bac Son.

CAI BEO CULTURE (5000–3000 BC)

Located in Hạ Long and Cat Ba island, its inhabitants developed to the level of sea exploitation. Cai Beo culture is a link between Soi Nhu culture and Hạ Long culture

Hạ Long culture (2500–1500 BC)

CLASSICAL PERIOD

History shows that Hạ Long Bay was the setting for local naval battles against Vietnam's coastal neighbors. On three occasions, in the labyrinth of channels in Bạch Đằng River near the islands, the Vietnamese army stopped the Chinese from landing. In 1288, General stopped Mongol ships from sailing up the nearby Bach Dang River by placing steel-tipped wooden stakes at high tide, sinking the Mongol Kublai Khan's fleet.

MODERN PERIOD

Hạ Long Bay was the site of the first ever raising of the new national flag of the Provisional Central Government of Vietnam on 5 June 1948 during the signing of the Halong Bay Agreements (Accords de la baie d’Along) by High Commissioner Emile Bollaert and President Nguyễn Văn Xuân.

During the Vietnam War, many of the channels between the islands were heavily mined by the United States Navy, some of which pose a threat to shipping to this day.

GEOLOGY AND GEOMORPHOLOGY

In 2000, UNESCO's World Heritage Committee inscribed Hạ Long Bay in the World Heritage List according to its outstanding examples representing major stages of the Earth's history and its original limestone karstic geomorphologic features. Hạ Long Bay and its adjacent areas consist of a part of the Sino-Vietnamese composite terrane having its development history from pre-Cambrian up to present day. During Phanerozoic, terrigenous, volcanogenic and cherty-carbonate sediments containing in abundance graptolites, brachiopods, fishes, corals, foraminiferas, radiolarias, bivalves and flora, separated one from another by 10 stratigraphic gaps, but the boundary between Devonian and Carboniferous has been considered as continuous. The limestone karstic geomorphology of the bay was developed since Miocene, especially the cone-shaped hills (fengcong), or isolated high limestone karst towers (fenglin) with many remnants of old phreatic caves, old karstic foot caves, marine notch caves form magnificent limestone karst landforms as unique on the world. The Quaternary geology was developed through 5 cycles with the intercalation of marine and continental environments. The present Hạ Long Bay, in fact, appeared after the Middle Holocene maximum transgression, leaving ultimate zone of lateral undercutting in the limestone cliffs bearing many shells of oysters, having the 14C age as 2280 to >40,000 y. BP. Geological resources are abundant: anthracite, lignite, oil shale, petroleum, phosphate, limestone and cement additives, kaolin, silica sand, dolomite, quartzite of exogenous origin, and antimony, mercury of hydrothermal origin. Besides, there still are surface water, groundwater and thermal mineral water on the shore of the Hạ Long - Bái Tử Long Bays and other environmental resources.

In terms of marine geology, this area is recorded as an especially coastal sedimentary environment. In the alkaline seawater environment, the chemical denudation process of calcium carbonate proceeds rapidly, creating wide, strangely shaped marine notches.

The bottom surface sediments are various from clay mud to sand, however, silty mud and clay mud are dominated in distribution. Especially, the carbonate materials originated from organisms make up from 60 to 65% sedimentary content. The surface sediments of coral reefs are mainly sand and pebbles of which the carbonate materials occupy for more than 90%. The intertidal zone sediments are various from clay mud to sand and gravel depending to distinguished sedimentary environments such as mangrove marshes, tidal flats, beaches etc. At the small, but wonderfully beautiful beaches, the sand sediments may be dominated quartz or carbonate materials.

The sediment layers of intertidal zone, the upper sea bed with a plain surface conserving ancient rivers, systems of caves and its sediments, traces of ancient marine action forming distinctive notches, beaches and marine terraces, mangrove swamps are important evidence of geological events and processes taking place during Quaternary.

HISTORY OF TECTONICS

Hạ Long Bay has experienced at least 500 million years in various geological states of orogeny, marine transgression and marine regression. During the Ordovician and Silurian periods (500-410 million years ago), Hạ Long Bay was deep sea. During the Carboniferous and Permian periods (340-250 million years ago), Ha Long Bay was at shallow sea level.

The dominated uplift movement of neotectonic and recent tectonic influenced deeply on topography of this area, and the present landscape of sea-islands was formed around 7 or 8 thousand years ago by the sea invasion during Holocene transgression begun at about 17-18 thousand years ago. Particularly from the Holocene time, from about 11,000 years ago Cat Ba - Ha Long area has much archaeological evidence connecting variations in sea levels with the development of ancient cultures such as the Soi Nhu and Ha Long cultures.

KARST GEOMORPHOLOGY VALUE

Due to a simultaneous combination of ideal factors such as thick, pale, grey, and strong limestone layers, which are formed by fine-grained materials; hot and moist climate and slow tectonic process as a whole; Ha Long Bay has had a complete karst evolution for 20 million years. There are many types of karst topography in the bay, such as karst field.

Hạ Long Bay is a mature karst landscape developed during a warm, wet, tropical climate. The sequence of stages in the evolution of a karst landscape over a period of 20 million years requires a combination of several distinct elements including a massive thickness of limestone, a hot wet climate and slow overall tectonic up lift. The process of karst formation is divided into five stages, the second of which is the formation of the distinctive do line karst. This is followed by the development of fengcong karst, which can be seen in the groups of hills on Bo Hon and Dau Be Inland. These cones with sloping sides average 100m in height with the tallest exceeding 200m. Fenglin karst is characterised by steep separate towers. The hundreds of rocky islands with form the beautiful and famous landscape of the Bay are the individual towers of a classic Fenglin landscape where the intervening plains have been submerged by the sea. Most towers reach a height of between 50 and 100m with a height to width ratio of about 6. The karst dolines were flooded by the sea, becoming the abundance of lakes that lie within the limestone islands. For example, Dau Be island at the mouth of the Bay has six enclosed lakes including those of the Ba Ham lakes lying within its fengcong karst. The Bay contains examples of the landscape elements of fengcong, fenglin and karst plain. These are not separate evolutionary stages but the result of natural non – uniform processes in the denudation of a large mass of limestone. Marine erosion created the notches which in some places have been enlarged into caves. The marine notch is a feature of limestone coastline but, in Ha Long Bay, it has created the mature landscape.

Within Hạ Long Bay, the main accessible caves are the older passages that survive from the time when the karst was evolving though its various stages of fengcong and fenglin. Three main types of caves can be recognized in the limestone islands (Waltham, T. 1998):

Remnants of old phreatic caves

Old karstic foot caves

Marine notch caves

The first group consists of old phreatic caves which include Sung Sot, Tam Cung, Lau Dai, Thien Cung, Dau Go, Hoang Long, Thien Long. Nowadays, these caves lie at various high levels. Sung Sot cave is on Bo Hon island. From its truncated entrance chambers on a ledge high on the cliff, a passage of more that 10m high and wide descends to the south. Tam Cung is a large phreatic fissure cave that developed in the bedding planes of the limestone dividing the fissure cave into three chambers. Lau Dai is a cave with a complex of passages extending over 300m opening on the south side of Con Ngua island. Thien Cung and Dau Go are remnants of the same old cave system. They both survive in the northern part of Dau Go island at between 20 and 50m above sea level. Thien Cung has one large chamber more that 100m long, blocked at its ends and almost subdivided into smaller chambers by massive wall of stalactites and stalagmites. Dau Go is a single large tunnel descending along a major set of fractures to a massive choke.

The second group of caves is the old karstic foot caves which include Trinh Lu, Bo Nau, Tien Ong and Trong caves. Foot caves are a ubiquitous feature of karst landscapes which have reached a stage of widespread lateral undercutting at base level. They may extend back into maze caves of stream caves draining from larger cave systems within the limestone. They are distinguished by the main elements of their passages being close to the horizontal and are commonly related to denuded or accumulated terraces at the old base levels. Trinh Nu, which is one of the larger foot caves in Ha Long Bay with its ceiling at about 12m above sea level and about 80m in length, was developed in multiple stages. Bo Nau, a horizontal cave containing old stalactite deposits, cuts across the 25o dip of the bedding plane.

The third group is the marine notch caves that are a special feature of the karst of Hạ Long Bay. The dissolution process of sea water acting on the limestone and erosion by wave action crates notches at the base of the cliffs. In advantageous conditions, dissolution of the limestone allows the cliff notches to be steadily deepened and extended into caves. Many of these at sea level extend right though the limestone hills into drowned dolines which are now tidal lakes.

A distinguishing feature of marine notch caves is an absolutely smooth and horizontal ceiling cut through the limestone. Some marine notch caves had been not formed at present sea level, but old sea levels related to sea level changes in Holocene transgression, event to Pleistocene sea levels. Some of them passed preserved the development of old karstic foot cave in mainland environment or preserved the remnants of older phreatic caves. One of the most unusual features of Ha Long Bay is the Bo Ham lake group of hidden lakes and their connecting tunnel – notch caves in Dau Be island. From the island's perimeter cliff a cave, 10m wide at water level and curving so that it is almost completely dark, extends about 150m to Lake 1. Luon cave is on Bo Hon island and extends 50m though to an enclosed tidal lake. It has a massive stalactite hanging 2m down and truncated at the modern tidal level. It has passed through many stages in its formation.

The karst landscape of Hạ Long Bay is of international significance and of fundamental importance to the science of geomorphology. The fenglin tower karst, which is the type present in much of Ha Long Bay, is the most extreme form of limestone landscape development. If these karst landscapes are broadly compared in terms of their height, steepness and number of their limestone towers, Ha Long Bay is probably second in the entire world only to Yangshou, in China. However, Hạ Long Bay has also been invaded by the sea so that the geomorphology of its limestone islands are, at least in part, the consequence of marine erosion. The marine invasion distinguishes Ha Long Bay and makes it unique in the world. There are other areas of submerged karst towers which were invaded by the sea, but none is as extensive as Ha Long Bay.

TIMELINE OF GEOLOGIC EVOLUTION

Some of the most remarkable geological events in Hạ Long Bay's history have occurred in the last 1,000 years, include the advance of the sea, the raising of the bay area, strong erosion that has formed coral, and, pure blue and heavily salted water. This process of erosion by seawater has deeply engraved the stone, contributing to its fantastic beauty. Present-day Ha Long Bay is the result of this long process of geological evolution that has been influenced by so many factors.

Due to all these factors, tourists visiting Ha Long Bay are not only treated to one of the natural wonders of the world, but also to a precious geological museum that has been naturally preserved in the open air for the last 300 million years.

ECOLOGY

Hạ Long Bay is host to two ecosystems: a tropical, moist, evergreen rainforest ecosystem; and a marine and coastal ecosystem. The bay is home to seven endemic species: Livistona halongensis, Impatiens halongensis, Chirita halongensis, Chirita hiepii, Chirita modesta, Paraboea halongensis and Alpinia calcicola. Bioluminescent plankton can also be found.

The many islands that dot the bay are home to a great many other species, including (but likely not limited to): 477 magnoliales, 12 pteris, 20 salt marsh flora; and 4 amphibia, 10 reptilia, 40 aves, and 4 mammalia.

Common aquatic species found in the bay include: cuttlefish (mực); oyster (hào); cyclinae (ngán); prawns (penaeidea (tôm he), panulirus (tôm hùm), parapenaeopsis (tôm sắt), etc.); sipunculoideas (sá sùng); nerita (ốc đĩa); charonia tritonis (ốc tù và); and cà sáy.

ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE

With an increasing tourist trade, mangroves and seagrass beds have been cleared and jetties and wharves have been built for tourist boats.

Game fishing, often near coral reefs, is threatening many endangered species of fish.

Local government and businesses are aware of the problems and many measures have been taken to minimise the impact of tourism on the bay environment for sustainable economic growth like introducing eco-friendly tours and introducing tight waste control on resorts.

AWARDS AND DESIGNATIONS

In 1962, the Vietnam Ministry of Culture, Sport and Tourism designated Ha Long Bay a 'Renowned National Landscape Monument'.

Hạ Long Bay was first listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994, in recognition of its outstanding, universal aesthetic value. In 2000 the World Heritage Committee additionally recognised Ha Long Bay for its outstanding geological and geomorphological value, and its World Heritage Listing was updated.

In October 2011, World Monuments Fund included the bay on the 2012 World Monuments Watch, citing tourism pressures and associated development as threats to the site that must be addressed. The goal of Watch-listing is to promote strategies of responsible heritage-driven development for a sustainable future.

In 2012, New 7 Wonders Foundation officially named Ha Long Bay as one of New Seven Natural Wonders of the world.

Ha Long Bay is also a member of the Club of the Most Beautiful Bays of the World.

WIKIPEDIA

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YOU ARE NEVER, NEVER, never… going to see a TV series like this, again. Ever.

HAWKEYE and CHINGACHGOOK turn a young, reckless, self-destructive man, away from his self-hate, with that disarming easy manner of theirs.

First with that, and then, by giving him a second chance.

"Young brave, not have right, to throw away life."

"Life belong to tribe."

Contrast these wise words of Chingachgook, with today's fickle, trendy, suicide encouragement cheerleaders across the globe.

You know what I'm talkin' about.

Think Belgium where the elderly and the mentally ill, can be forcibly euthanized for organ harvesting and/or to save healthcare dollars. Euthanasia is being 'normalized' there and in other western countries by a very subtle form of grand social engineering (secular human utilitarianism) whereby unelected elites who aren't concerned about your granny, can, and will make very direct decisions about her ongoing longevity in the near future, here in Canada the good.

Recently, an alcoholic in Europe, chose doctor-assisted suicide because, well, he was an alcoholic! A very treatable condition.

He shouldn't even have that option available.

This people-are-disposable mentality flies in the face of thousands of years of Western culture, Jewish and Christian religiosity, and certainly Hawkeye and Chingachgook's worldview. A worldview that continues on into eternity by the way. Higher intelligence, it seems, can always find ways to rationalize the most abhorrent practices in contemporary society. Eggheads are better suited to dehumanization than are red-blooded frontiersmen, and are thus able to separate emotions from actions. Elitists are able to do the mostly ghastly things, wipe their mouths, and ask shocked onlookers, "What's wrong?"

'nuff said.

This Pickering winter scene was filmed in an ACTUAL CANADIAN WINTER (which was brutal on the oil used in those large, ancient, movie cameras, back in the day — which would really freeze up)… because that's the way real men did things back then.

Real winter filming was harsh. Outside it was whip-snap cold.

They liked it. They loved it!

Today people use the walking trails alongside the West Duffins Creek (in Pickering) WITHOUT REALIZING they are on, and walking through, the former site of this FAMOUS 50s CLASSIC TV series.

No idea, not a clue…

Yet, Canada's HOLLYWOOD NORTH industry began right here.

Ground Zero or, rather, SET ZERO.

REMEMBER, THIS TRIP BACK IN TIME was helped along because of the great research efforts of others, and the 'Hawkeye' fanship of others.

I learned that "Hawkeye", one of my fav boyhood TV shows, was actually filmed in CANADA through one of the links below.

So I had to check things out (go there), MYSELF, because of that.

So, do check out these "Hawkeye and the Last of the Mohicans" links below!

Clayton Self: johnhart.tripod.com/pickeringhawkeye.html

Steve Jensen: www.members.tripod.com/~JohnHart/hawkloca.html

Ian and Kyle Macpherson: www.members.tripod.com/~JohnHart/starhawk.htm

… also check out Clayton Self's additional investigative work, his The Forest Rangers TV Show Fan Site. Hey, remember that show?!: forestrangers.bravehost.com

"Destructive Winds: Leathernecks of Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 334 [VMFA-334] combine their strength to tie a tarpaulin to an F-4J Phantom jet during Typhoon Bess which rampaged near the Da Nang area recently. Bess brought nearly 11 inches of rain and gusts up to 55 knots (official USMC photo by Lance Corporal Jim De Witt)."

From the Jonathan Abel Collection (COLL/3611), Marine Corps Archives & Special Collections.

OFFICIAL USMC PHOTOGRAPH

Just started painting using my wacom tablet with the intention of makeing a creature involving electricity. This is what happened :) Completely created in photoshop and painted out of my head.

This is the largest white cockatoo in Australia. They have a habit of posting sentinels when they are feeding in a flock. These sentinels remain in trees whilst the flock is feeding on the ground. When there is a sign of danger approaching they take flight and begin screaming warning notes to alert the flock.

They are widespread through northern, eastern and south eastern Australia as well as in parts of Tasmania and offshore islands. In Western Australia escapees from aviaries have resulted in populations in that region.

They can be very destructive to cropsand orchard trees and have even been known to eat the wood work around houses!

This one was enjoying almonds from my garden!

Which only proves, Looks can be deceiving! :o) The Western Spotted Cucumber Beetles cause agricultural damage by feeding on roots, seedlings, flowers and foliage, and transmitting disease. However, they are native to California.

There are four destructive interactions, called the four dissembling horsemen. They include:

* Criticism — instead of complaining about a behavior, you attack the other's personality or character, usually with blame. Criticism of personality also comes in the form of listing complaints about past behaviors and thereby suggesting a character fault.

* Contempt — contempt is criticism that is intended to insult and psychologically abuse a person. Contempt reflects a very negative view of that person.

* Defensiveness — defensiveness is a way of avoiding taking responsibility for setting things right by denying responsibility, making excuses, attributing negative thoughts to others, using one's own complaints to counter another's complaints, and simply repeating oneself.

* Stonewalling — stonewalling is a break down of communication. The person turns into a 'stone wall' and stops responding to communication.

adapted from wikipedia

Repetition as studied in psychoanalysis can be interesting. It states, the functions and results of repetition can either be constructive or destructive. And in fact, there is often a razor thin line that can separate the two. Repetition is constructive when the effect and function is reinforcement, but at some point it becomes destructive as redundancy is the effect.

Most interesting to me are some of the paradoxes of repetition in psychoanalysis. One paradox, that applies to this photo, is that repetition is everywhere and nowhere at the same time. It is in the eye of the beholder. What is equivalent and what is different? These edges in my image above could be viewed as repeating the ‘same’ by some. Others may find that each line is ‘unique’ with differing light reflections, width, length, etc. So, are these lines the same or different to you?

Images that inspire me: My Galleries

“Born to dig” is this dog’s rallying cry. He’s super-active, super-smart and, in the wrong hands, super-destructive. The Jack Russell (Parson Russell if you live on the AKC side of the fence) does best when he is kept busy hunting rats on a farm, going riding with his owner, or competing in terrier races and earthdog tests.

Destructive fires near Kamloops BC cause floating smoke.

thegoldensieve.com

The dichotomy: comfort in a wild land.

Life is a destructive pursuit—our position comes at the expense of so much. Yet so little of what we destroy is by our own hand. Seldom do we find ourselves behind the wrecking ball. Nowhere is this more true than in America. Opportunity—the payoff of so much destruction—abounds, but not all are worth what they cost: much has been sacrificed in our race for a cheaper and more plentiful material world.

The barbarians of development and commercialization are forever beating upon the gates of our last wild refuges. Yet much untouched wildness remains worth protecting and it is the commercial potential of these places that is our most valuable weapon in their defense.

Much about my wild experiences illustrates this central dichotomy of American wilderness. We made Seattle from California’s central coast in less than two hours and descended in comfort through the tumult of a building storm. We rented a car and sipped African coffee as sun-bloodied clouds broke like waves upon the great volcano. We entered the pitchest shadow of both Earth and old-growth forest ascending the southern limb of Tacoma to find a warm bed nestled along the Nisqually.

In the morning I woke and climbed a rain-soaked ribbon of slate. Winding through dense fog, I drove with no destination in mind. Here and there the curtain of pine opened to reveal a white and murky world beyond. Before the road reached the yawning scar of spring melts, I turned off at Christine Falls. Alone and cold, I made a few images of the falls. At moments like this, my gaze is cast back toward the hectic pace of daily life, back across the scar my own existence is bound to cut across the Earth. I wonder what life is like for a Douglas fir in the katabatic wind of the great mountain—bound for centuries to a small patch of rock where “nature red in tooth and claw” surely compares favorably with the sting of an eight-month winter. Is it paradise? Is it interminable? Privilege and immense opportunity aside, the singularity of life leaves so many questions behind.

Perhaps some romanticize a retreat to an anachronistic idea of what life should be. Perhaps some would abandon from modernity—but not I. The box is open and evils loosed. The central question now is, how can we ensure the persistence of conservation? How can we use what opportunity is given to better ourselves and others?

The itch to return just under my skin.

This is the question that faces parks today and it is asked not just from within: this weekend this topic sprung up in conversation online with friends. Industrial tourism both threatens and sustains the parks. I am loathe to wholly condemn it simply because I know I could not visit the parks without roads and without lodging—my days of backpacking are both behind and far in front of me. My hope is that park visitation is a positive experience for others as it is for me; that visiting the National Parks continues to build faith in its mission.

Landscape photography may have started for me as an attempt to collect a portfolio of beautiful images but it quickly turned into a method to lose myself somewhere beautiful. Words often fail when I try to express what it means to me to make a few photographs in some place as sublime as Mount Rainier National Park. Could I bottle and share an approximation of the feeling we would have seen our last box store built. Instead I can share only photographs and a few sentences.

I’m not after post-card images. The past two years of living in California, of exploring the coasts and the mountains I am left of sound opinion that a photograph’s power is in its ability to share a genuine moment. My younger self may have been disappointed with the fog that obscured whatever early morning color might have come from sunrise, but I was giddy. Fog means terrific, soft light. Fog means drama and the chance to focus on the world within a radius of some 100 feet.

The falls sent out a tongue of cold mist whose path was notable even above the fog and chill of night not yet shook loose from the fragrant trees. The irony of Rainier is that it is a volcano that flows everywhere with ice and water. Standing before the falls amongst centuries-old firs, one must remind himself that man and pine alike are just visitors to a perilous land.

Years ago, I had the pleasure of waiting for sunrise along the rain-kissed roadside cliffs of Tahoe and Glacier National Park. The world of rock and trees and fog are everywhere similar and are nowhere the same. Minarets of stone wring the very water from the air and wear the spoils. Vast armies of evergreens pour over the foothills and march onward into the permafrost until they can climb no more, twisted and stunted in the frigid breath of the mountain. Wherever I go, I hold the scent of falling water and pine resin in my mind and the itch to return just under my skin.

In the past 200 years we’ve transformed nearly all the wild places of the Earth. I fetishize wildness, I’ll admit it. I doubt, however, that my love for it is any deeper than the apathy that exists elsewhere towards its destruction; and, so, if there is any role for one amateur photographer and nature lover in the support of parks—I am only too happy to play my part. In these experiences, I constantly reflect on whether my coming to these places or my consumption of photography has done anything to contribute to their preservation. I never have an answer.

I figured out how to non-destructively open up a DUPLO figure. The key is to remove the bar like element. This bar is 2.75L and 3.0mm at the ends but 3.2mm in the middle. You can clip stuff to the middle and poke the ends into Modulex. See the whole writeup at www.dagsbricks.com/2014/07/lego-techniques-duplo-figure-b...

In his most destructive aspect Shiva becomes Bhairava, the fearful destroyer, who takes pleasure in destruction. He is depicted with a club or sward, holding the severed head of Brahma, with or sitting on a dog (associated with cremation). Shiva became Bhairava specifically to burn off the fifth head of Brahma. Because he has done such a terrible thing, he roams the eternity as a beggar.

Heroin addiction is one of the most destructive and painful addictions in the world. Produced from the poppy, heroin is a semi-synthetic form of morphine. It has been estimated to be one of the most addictive substances created.

Heroin can be taken orally, smoked, or injected, the quick rush from an IV injection gives users the most powerful (and most addictive) experience.

Heroin addiction has been regarded as rapidly increasing in the North America, giving rise to alarm amongst the authorities and health professionals. The largest producers of heroin are Afghanistan, Pakistan, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Mexico, and Columbia.

Destructive but colorful

I headed out for an early morning walk before the sun was up and before the forecast rain set in for the day. My route took me out the Queen’s Lawn Cemetery gate in Grimsby, Ontario and I noticed the sky beyond the trees was lit up by a combination of yellow grow lights from a nearby commercial marijuana green house operation and mixed lighting from the pre-dawn sky and other nearby buildings. The fence happened to be lit by passing vehicles from time-to-time, so I waited for a passing bus to light the fence and add a bit of light to the front face of the entrance column with its sign. Lacking a tripod, I helped stabilize the camera by resting it on low stone wall adjacent to the other column. I liked the moody, somewhat cinematic look. - JW

Date Taken: 2023-01-19

(c) Copyright 2023 JW Vraets

Tech Details:

Taken using a hand-held (resting on stone wall, actually) Olympus OM-D EM-5 fitted with an Olympus M Zuiko 14-42mm 1:3.5-5.6 II lens set to 40mm, Program mode mode, Auto WB, Matrix metering, ISO1600 (Auto ISO), f/5.5, 1/4 sec with an EV-2.0 exposure bias to prevent blowout of the fence and sky. PP in free Open Source RAWTherapee from Olympus RAW/ORF source image: set final image size to be 9000px wide, crop image to a 3:2 format, enable Tone Mapping at default levels and also apply Dynamic Range Compression at default levels (to manage the dark entrance column, sky and fence), use the Graduated Neutral Density/GND tool rotated to cover the column along the left of the frame to lighten (NOT darken) the column, boost Contrast and Chromaticity in L-A-B mode, increase Vibrance, apply noise reduction, sharpen (edges only), save. PP in free Open Source GIMP: adjust colour balance to reduce blue cast on steel fence, copy image to a new top layer, apply black/transparent mask to the top layer and on that mask paint in (white) the entrance column so the column can be adjusted without impacting the rest of the frame, on the top layer use the Curves tool and the Contrast/brightness tool to bring up the column detail, add a non-destructive dodge/burn layer and use it to brighten the cemetery sign and wall, create new working layer from visible result, sharpen,

save, scale image to 6000px wide, save, add fine black-and-white frame, add bar and text on left, save, scale image to 3000 wide for posting online, save.

Testing, Testing, ... BANG!!!

Nondestructive testing

Nondestructive testing or Non-destructive testing (NDT) is a wide group of analysis techniques used in science and industry to evaluate the properties of a material, component or system without causing damage.[1] The terms Nondestructive examination (NDE), Nondestructive inspection (NDI), and Nondestructive evaluation (NDE) are also commonly used to describe this technology.[2] Because NDT does not permanently alter the article being inspected, it is a highly valuable technique that can save both money and time in product evaluation, troubleshooting, and research. Common NDT methods include ultrasonic, magnetic-particle, liquid penetrant, radiographic, remote visual inspection (RVI), eddy-current testing,[1] and low coherence interferometry.[3][4] NDT is commonly used in forensic engineering, mechanical engineering, petroleum engineering, electrical engineering, civil engineering, systems engineering, aeronautical engineering, medicine, and art.[1] Innovations in the field of nondestructive testing have had a profound impact on medical imaging, including on echocardiography, medical ultrasonography, and digital radiography.

Methods[edit]

NDT methods may rely upon use of electromagnetic radiation, sound, and inherent properties of materials to examine samples. This includes some kinds of microscopy to examine external surfaces in detail, although sample preparation techniques for metallography, optical microscopy and electron microscopy are generally destructive as the surfaces must be made smooth through polishing or the sample must be electron transparent in thickness. The inside of a sample can be examined with penetrating radiation, such as X-rays, neutrons or terahertz radiation. Sound waves are utilized in the case of ultrasonic testing. Contrast between a defect and the bulk of the sample may be enhanced for visual examination by the unaided eye by using liquids to penetrate fatigue cracks. One method (liquid penetrant testing) involves using dyes, fluorescent or non-fluorescent, in fluids for non-magnetic materials, usually metals. Another commonly used NDT method used on ferrous materials involves the application of fine iron particles (either liquid or dry dust) that are applied to a part while it is in an externally magnetized state (magnetic-particle testing). The particles will be attracted to leakage fields within the test object, and form on the objects surface. Magnetic particle testing can reveal surface & some sub-surface defects within the part. Thermoelectric effect (or use of the Seebeck effect) uses thermal properties of an alloy to quickly and easily characterize many alloys. The chemical test, or chemical spot test method, utilizes application of sensitive chemicals that can indicate the presence of individual alloying elements. Electrochemical methods, such as electrochemical fatigue crack sensors, utilize the tendency of metal structural material to oxidize readily in order to detect progressive damage.

Analyzing and documenting a non-destructive failure mode can also be accomplished using a high-speed camera recording continuously (movie-loop) until the failure is detected. Detecting the failure can be accomplished using a sound detector or stress gauge which produces a signal to trigger the high-speed camera. These high-speed cameras have advanced recording modes to capture some non-destructive failures.[5] After the failure the high-speed camera will stop recording. The capture images can be played back in slow motion showing precisely what happen before, during and after the non-destructive event, image by image.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nondestructive_testing

Liverpool

Thierry Piët and Jos Bouwhuis - horn section of the band Destructive Penguins. Honoring their confusing name, contradiction has become the trademark of this up and coming band from Holland. To create a sound of their own the five-piece band skillfully demolished the walls between hip hop, jazz, funk, rock and reggae music. Sultry like a warm summer at times; but always pumping, roaring, and exuberant when performed live on stage.

Made with Fuji XT-2 and Fuji XF 35mm f/2.0 WR

PC Hooftstraat | Hobbemastraat 31/01/2021 14h59

Most shopkeepers in the chic PC Hooftstraat have their shops well protected against possible riots and destructive crowds. Often with wooden planks and bulkheads, but there are also shops baricaded with shipping containers and concrete blocks. The normally so friendly and beautiful shopping street has turned into a war zone. All because a peace-loving but banned demonstration a week earlier resulted in massive riots across the country. Fortunately it remained quiet on this Sunday.

Street artist Karski and Beyond was called upon to make something beautiful of the wooden wall at the luxury men's fashion store Profuomo on the corner of Hobbemastraat.

Karski & Beyond

Karski (1974) and Beyond (1983) are known as an artist duo from the Netherlands. They have a background in graphic design and the academy of fine arts and were heavily involved in graffiti. Karski picked up the spray can when he was only 10 years old. Beyond, being from another generation, started painting in 1997.

They started combining their skills in 2012 as an experiment. Because the first wall they painted together worked out so well, they decided to join forces. Since then they have created several murals together in numerous countries.

Karski and Beyond both have a passion for traveling and creating art. They are happy that they can combine these passions in their daily life.

Their work is known for the use of original and vivid colour combinations. It contains realistic, graphic and abstract elements often with surprising depth as well as incredible amounts of dynamic.

Photography, being a part or their curriculum, aroused their interest in the creative part of this discipline. This clearly shows in their current work.

When Karski painted his first big mural in the slums of Harare, Zimbabwe, he found out how much a painting does for the people living close proximity.. Before the paintings were made, people where ashamed to tell others they were living in this area, but after the paintings were finished, people became proud to say they were living in one of the “art buildings”. The fact that Karski's and Beyond’s art combined can make people feel proud of their neighbourhood is more than a positive side effect.

For Karski and Beyond, art is a way to express themselves, and doing big murals such as these is what makes them feel alive. Each of their paintings tells a story. It is therefore that they truly are modern storytellers.

Karski and Beyond’s murals didn’t go unnoticed.

In 2017 they were granted the “Dutch StreetArt Award” for the “Best Dutch Mural”.

Quote Jury:

A big project with several murals. Tactically and perfectly executed telling their own fictive story.

Complete with all kinds of details, shadows, lights and 3D - obvious craftsmanship.

Testimonial Curator Muralharbor:

“The Duo is the definition of “ready”. A rare combo of talent and logistics. Four hands one brain. Amazing Art. Superfast Production. Bros and Pros! In the well plowed field of Photorealism a “Karski&Beyond” will always stand out; due to their unique composition, colorworlds and double exposures.”

Web: Karski & Beyond

Instagram:

KarskiandBeyond

Beyond.Graffiti

Karskione

Corona Crisis in Amsterdam (my special album on Flickr)

SOCIAL DISTANCING (1.5 METERS)

AVOID CROWDS – STAY SAFE

MASK UP

Damaged during the Lebanese Civil War (1975 to 1990), the Beirut Holiday Inn stills stands as a terrifying reminder of war; the curtains and wallpaper of the hotel rooms are still visible. Although Beirut is very westernised, especially in comparison to it's neighbour Syria, it is not difficult to find evidence of past conflicts.

Beirut (Arabic: بيروت‎, Bayrūt) is the capital and largest city of Lebanon with a population of over 2.1 million as of 2007. Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's coastline with the Mediterranean sea, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan Area, which consists of the city and its suburbs. The first mention of this metropolis is found in the ancient Egyptian Tell el Amarna letters, dating to the 15th century BC, and the city has been continuously inhabited since.

Beirut holds Lebanon's seat of government and plays a central role in the Lebanese economy with its city centre, Hamra, Verdun, and Ashrafieh based corporate firms and banks. The city is the focal point of the region's cultural life, renowned for its press, theatres, cultural activities, and nightlife. After the destructive Lebanese civil war, Beirut underwent major reconstruction,[2][3][4] and the redesigned historic city centre, marina, pubs and nightlife districts have once again rendered it a tourist attraction. Beirut was named the top place to visit in 2009 by the New York Times.[5] It was also listed as one of the ten liveliest cities in the world by Lonely Planet in 2009.[6]

From en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beirut

Further Information: news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent...

View more Lebanese Images here

Designer: Zhang Yun, Sheng Tingfang

1976, May

Determinedly strike anti-revolutionary destructive activities, further strengthen and consolidate the dictatorship of the proletariat

Jianjue daji fangeming pohuai huodong, jin yibu jiaqiang he zhugu wuchan jieji zhuanzheng

Call nr.: BG E12/700 (IISH collection)

Text also in a "minority language" from Xinjiang.

More? See: chineseposters.net

The Oklahoma City bombing was a terrorist bomb attack on the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Downtown Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995. It would remain the most destructive act of terrorism on American soil until the September 11, 2001 attacks. The Oklahoma blast claimed 168 lives, including 19 children under the age of 6 and injured more than 680 people. The blast destroyed or damaged 324 buildings within a sixteen-block radius, destroyed or burned 86 cars, and shattered glass in 258 nearby buildings. The bomb was estimated to have caused at least $652 million worth of damage. Extensive rescue efforts were undertaken by local, state, federal, and worldwide agencies in the wake of the bombing, and substantial donations were received from across the country. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) activated eleven of its Urban Search and Rescue Task Forces, consisting of 665 rescue workers who assisted in rescue and recovery operations.

Within 90 minutes of the explosion, Timothy McVeigh was stopped by Oklahoma State Trooper Charlie Hanger for driving without a license plate and arrested for unlawfully carrying a weapon. Forensic evidence quickly linked McVeigh and Terry Nichols to the attack; Nichols was arrested, and within days both were charged. Michael and Lori Fortier were later identified as accomplices. McVeigh, an American militia movement sympathizer who was a Gulf War veteran, had detonated an explosive-filled Ryder truck parked in front of the building. McVeigh's co-conspirator, Terry Nichols, had assisted in the bomb preparation. Motivated by his hatred of the federal government and angered by what he perceived as its mishandling of the Waco Siege (1993) and the Ruby Ridge incident (1992), McVeigh timed his attack to coincide with the second anniversary of the deadly fire that ended the siege at Waco.

The official investigation, known as "OKBOMB", was the largest criminal investigation case in American history; FBI agents conducted 28,000 interviews, amassing 3.5 short tons (3.2 t) of evidence, and collected nearly one billion pieces of information. The bombers were tried and convicted in 1997. McVeigh was executed by lethal injection on June 11, 2001, and Nichols was sentenced to life in prison. Michael and Lori Fortier testified against McVeigh and Nichols; Michael was sentenced to 12 years in prison for failing to warn the U.S. government, and Lori received immunity from prosecution in exchange for her testimony. As with other large-scale terrorist attacks, conspiracy theories dispute the official claims and allege the involvement of additional perpetrators.

As a result of the bombing, the U.S. government passed the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, which tightened the standards for habeas corpus in the United States, as well as legislation designed to increase the protection around federal buildings to deter future terrorist attacks. On April 19, 2000, the Oklahoma City National Memorial was dedicated on the site of the Murrah Federal Building, commemorating the victims of the bombing. Annual remembrance services are held at the same time of day as the original explosion occurred.

To see more of my work, www.cmitchellphotography.com

"Zerstorungsfeuer gegen die Maginotlinie."

Destructive fire against the Maginot Line."

WW2 German Stereoview Image, Artillery Firing at the Maginot Line, no 31 DER KAMPF IM WESTEN Series.

STEREOSCOPIC PHOTOGRAPHS: "DER KAMPF IM WESTEN"

Illustrated German propaganda book and 3-D viewer with 100 images, Der Kampf im Westen, (Otto Schonstein: Munich), 1940. A 70pp. 4to. hardbound propaganda piece aimed at honoring the victorious Wehrmacht which had recently completed the utter destruction of the French army and had forced the British to flee via Dunkirk as it swept through Belgium to Paris. With 100 stereoscopic photos of Hitler and Goring at Versailles, Dunkirk, destroyed towns and villages, coastal and field artillery, tanks, surrendered arms, blasted vehicles, etc. which one may view through the metal collapsible pair of stereoscopic slide viewers provided.

thegoldensieve.com

The dichotomy: comfort in a wild land.

Life is a destructive pursuit—our position comes at the expense of so much. Yet so little of what we destroy is by our own hand. Seldom do we find ourselves behind the wrecking ball. Nowhere is this more true than in America. Opportunity—the payoff of so much destruction—abounds, but not all are worth what they cost: much has been sacrificed in our race for a cheaper and more plentiful material world.

The barbarians of development and commercialization are forever beating upon the gates of our last wild refuges. Yet much untouched wildness remains worth protecting and it is the commercial potential of these places that is our most valuable weapon in their defense.

Much about my wild experiences illustrates this central dichotomy of American wilderness. We made Seattle from California’s central coast in less than two hours and descended in comfort through the tumult of a building storm. We rented a car and sipped African coffee as sun-bloodied clouds broke like waves upon the great volcano. We entered the pitchest shadow of both Earth and old-growth forest ascending the southern limb of Tacoma to find a warm bed nestled along the Nisqually.

In the morning I woke and climbed a rain-soaked ribbon of slate. Winding through dense fog, I drove with no destination in mind. Here and there the curtain of pine opened to reveal a white and murky world beyond. Before the road reached the yawning scar of spring melts, I turned off at Christine Falls. Alone and cold, I made a few images of the falls. At moments like this, my gaze is cast back toward the hectic pace of daily life, back across the scar my own existence is bound to cut across the Earth. I wonder what life is like for a Douglas fir in the katabatic wind of the great mountain—bound for centuries to a small patch of rock where “nature red in tooth and claw” surely compares favorably with the sting of an eight-month winter. Is it paradise? Is it interminable? Privilege and immense opportunity aside, the singularity of life leaves so many questions behind.

Perhaps some romanticize a retreat to an anachronistic idea of what life should be. Perhaps some would abandon from modernity—but not I. The box is open and evils loosed. The central question now is, how can we ensure the persistence of conservation? How can we use what opportunity is given to better ourselves and others?

The itch to return just under my skin.

This is the question that faces parks today and it is asked not just from within: this weekend this topic sprung up in conversation online with friends. Industrial tourism both threatens and sustains the parks. I am loathe to wholly condemn it simply because I know I could not visit the parks without roads and without lodging—my days of backpacking are both behind and far in front of me. My hope is that park visitation is a positive experience for others as it is for me; that visiting the National Parks continues to build faith in its mission.

Landscape photography may have started for me as an attempt to collect a portfolio of beautiful images but it quickly turned into a method to lose myself somewhere beautiful. Words often fail when I try to express what it means to me to make a few photographs in some place as sublime as Mount Rainier National Park. Could I bottle and share an approximation of the feeling we would have seen our last box store built. Instead I can share only photographs and a few sentences.

I’m not after post-card images. The past two years of living in California, of exploring the coasts and the mountains I am left of sound opinion that a photograph’s power is in its ability to share a genuine moment. My younger self may have been disappointed with the fog that obscured whatever early morning color might have come from sunrise, but I was giddy. Fog means terrific, soft light. Fog means drama and the chance to focus on the world within a radius of some 100 feet.

The falls sent out a tongue of cold mist whose path was notable even above the fog and chill of night not yet shook loose from the fragrant trees. The irony of Rainier is that it is a volcano that flows everywhere with ice and water. Standing before the falls amongst centuries-old firs, one must remind himself that man and pine alike are just visitors to a perilous land.

Years ago, I had the pleasure of waiting for sunrise along the rain-kissed roadside cliffs of Tahoe and Glacier National Park. The world of rock and trees and fog are everywhere similar and are nowhere the same. Minarets of stone wring the very water from the air and wear the spoils. Vast armies of evergreens pour over the foothills and march onward into the permafrost until they can climb no more, twisted and stunted in the frigid breath of the mountain. Wherever I go, I hold the scent of falling water and pine resin in my mind and the itch to return just under my skin.

In the past 200 years we’ve transformed nearly all the wild places of the Earth. I fetishize wildness, I’ll admit it. I doubt, however, that my love for it is any deeper than the apathy that exists elsewhere towards its destruction; and, so, if there is any role for one amateur photographer and nature lover in the support of parks—I am only too happy to play my part. In these experiences, I constantly reflect on whether my coming to these places or my consumption of photography has done anything to contribute to their preservation. I never have an answer.

Miss Self Destructive Catalogo 2010

Estilismo : Miss Self Destructive

Fotografía edición y dirección: Berkanna

Make up: Sandra Borrego

Modelos: María de Perdomo Y Sandra Borrego.

The total global nuclear arsenal is about 30,000 nuclear warheads with a destructive capacity of 5,000 megatons (5,000 million tons of TNT).

An air burst (detonating a bomb above the surface) would produce far more damage and death via radioactive fallout than one detonating at ground level.

A single 100 megaton air burst would be enough to cause a nuclear winter and pollute the Earth for many many years. Theoretically, a 100 megaton bomb detonated below ground could produce a massive earthquake and the constant explosions of a full blown nuclear war may also cause numerous earthquakes around the globe.

ZOOM TO DOOM

archive.greenpeace.org/wmd/

List of states with nuclear weapons

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_states_with_nuclear_weapons

Arguments

Professor Paul Rogers on nuclear dangers and global security in the 21st century

www.youtube.com/user/talkworks1#p/u/25/1tXKdlFfHhU

Talking About Nuclear Disarmament

www.youtube.com/user/talkworks1#p/u/8/4vZysHCGAiw

Professor Johan Galtung on nuclear weapons as theological statements

www.youtube.com/user/talkworks1#p/u/3/ds1RY0AFdzU

Wheeling Daily Intelligencer, July 7, 1896:

"A very destructive rain storm that at one time almost approached the volume of a cloud-burst, occurred in the vicinity yesterday morning, and caused immense loss to property and the loss of three lives... The rain fell heavily in the interior of Ohio and Marshall counties and over in Belmont county, Ohio, Sunday night, but it was not until about 2 o'clock yesterday morning that the rain came down so heavily that it was practically a cloud burst... Early in the morning it became known at the Baltimore & Ohio passenger station that train shed which is supported across the creek by a stone pier at the northern end, by another about the center and by a third at the southern end, was in danger of falling into the boiling flood."

The pier gave way at 11:30 that morning and the train shed fell. The weight of the wreckage caused the northern span of the bridge that crossed the creek just below the passenger station train sheds to collapse.

▶ Read a full account in the Wheeling Daily Intellingencer

-Cyanotype from the Eddie Martin/William O'Leary Collection of the Ohio County Public Library Archives. Photo taken by W. C. Brown.

▶ Visit the Library's Wheeling History website

The photos on the Ohio County Public Library's Flickr site may be freely used by non-commercial entities for educational and/or research purposes as long as credit is given to the "Ohio County Public Library, Wheeling WV." These photos may not be reproduced in any format for profit or other presentation without the permission of The Ohio County Public Library.

The Viridis was developed as a bomber craft. It's strong armor and devastating payload makes it very destructive against large enemy stations or battleships. The storage bay on the bottom can also double for carrying cargo or supplies for long scouting missions.

The Viridis is an amalgamation of several projects I had in the works, the thrusters are inspired by some concept art I saw online. The fuselage started out as an attempt at something similar to a Star Trek style shuttle. I created the thrusters and thought they looked great, but I had a really hard time coming up with a fuselage that matched, so I re-purposed some elements of it into the Ocellaris. I didn't want to give up on the thrusters though, so I kept messing around and then while looking at another project, I realized the fuselage from a different ship I was stuck on fit perfectly. So I combined the two projects and ended up with something I am really happy with!

I have a bunch of MOCs I have made over the years, and since Taylor and I are now posting all of our pictures under the same profile, I thought it would be good to upload them now that I have some decent pictures.

~Brandon

From the back cover:

Their bodies were colored lights; their voices were music. But whatever they touched was incinerated!

For a moment in time their destructive powers were limited to a small portion of Earth. Yet they were determined to burn the whole planet to a crisp.

Was there no hope for man's survival?

As a last resort Boraston is projected into a future where the Diabols have almost won. Only a few humans remain, struggling to stay alive by holding the Diabols off with skirmishes and holding actions.

Can Boraston devise a method to destroy them?

If he succeeds, Earth can plan to save itself from the Diabols.

If he fails, Earth was doomed to become nothing more than a charred and blackened cinder in the galaxy!

Elephants are destructive! For the elephant, feeding is ongoing whether day or night. We watched this one almost completely devour the nearby bush on its own1

Non-Destructive, Reversible MD to A-Mount Conversion

Lens on Minolta Maxxum 7D

1. Original MD stainless steal mounting ring removed.

2. The flange of a T2-A mount adapter was turned on a lathe to reduce the flange thickness to 50/1000 of an inch. Four clear holes were drilled to match the four screws on the MD mount. The adapter was then stacked on top of the MD mount and fasten with the four screws This completes the MD to A mount conversion, which is non-destructive and reversible to MD mount.

Destructive Katydid in Wet Tropics rainforest QLD Australia

Near Cairns Botanic Garden

Let's show the world we can dance... Bad enough to strut our stuff... The music gives us a chance... We do more out on the floor

Groovin' loose or heart to heart... We put in motion every single part... Funky sounds wall to wall

We're bumpin' booties havin us a ball y'all

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.......***** All images are copyrighted by their respective authors ......

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.....item 1a).... youtube video ... Peaches & Herb - Shake Your Groove Thing(extended version) ...

6:42 minutes ...

www.youtube.com/watch?v=45GTRrz2L6s

fab70smusic

Published on Mar 2, 2012

UK hit 1979 peaked at No.26, 10 weeks on chart

Category

Music

License

Standard YouTube License

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.....item 1b)....song lyrics ... LyricsMode.com ... www.lyricsmode.com ...

Peaches And Herb

Shake Your Groove Thing lyrics

www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/p/peaches_and_herb/shake_your_g...

Shake it, shake it

Shake your groove thing

Shake your groove thing, yeah yeah

Show 'em how we do it now

Shake your groove thing

Shake your groove thing, yeah yeah

Show 'em how we do it now

Show 'em how we do it now

Let's show the world we can dance

Bad enough to strut our stuff

The music gives us a chance

We do more out on the floor

Groovin' loose or heart to heart

We put in motion every single part

Funky sounds wall to wall

We're bumpin' booties havin us a ball y'all

Shake your groove thing

Shake your groove thing, yeah yeah

Show 'em how we do it now

(repeat)

We've got the rhythm tonight

All the rest know we're the best

Our shadows flash in moonlight

Twistin', turnin', we keep burnin'

Shake it high or shake it low

We take our bodies where they want to go

Feel that beat, never stop

Or hold me tight, spin me like a top

Shake your groove thing

Shake your groove thing, yeah yeah

Show 'em how we do it now

(repeat)

There's nothing more that I like to do

Than take the floor and dance with you

Keep dancin'

Let's keep dancin'

Shake it, shake it

Shake it, shake it

Groovin' loose or heart to heart

We put in motion every single part

Funky sounds wall to wall

We're bumpin' booties havin us a ball y'all

Shake your groove thing

Shake your groove thing, yeah yeah

Show 'em how we do it now

Shake your groove thing

Shake your groove thing, yeah yeah

Show 'em how we do it now, yeah

Shake it

Show 'em how we do it now, yeah

Shake it, shake it

More lyrics: www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/p/peaches_and_herb/#share

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......item 2).... Snapchat, solipsism and stupid cups

... FSU News ... www.fsunews.com/ ...

Jun. 26, 2013 |

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img code photo ... What’s the better experience

cmsimg.tallahassee.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=CD&D...

What’s the better experience: playing with the dog or snapping the dog to share with friends? / Perry Kostidakis / FSView

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FILED UNDER

FSU News

FSU News Views

www.fsunews.com/article/20130627/FSVIEW03/130626021/Snapc...

Phones don’t belong in cups. Tables, desks, car cupholders, possibly pockets (still haven’t figured that one out, have we science?) are all suitable locations for phones. Cups, not so much. However, that is where I discovered mine after a lovely night out in Orlando’s finest establishment. If you desire an image of this bar, think Potbelly’s, but replace the FSU athletes with the broiest of bros and picture it somehow more trashy. It was lovely.

Anyway, the phone in the cup problem is the point here. I’d like to imagine my phone wanted a cozy cover to sleep away the night’s fun dreaming of future Snapchat selfies and inappropriate late-night texting conversations…but no, this is a nightmare where the camera lens is cloudy with moisture and the shutter refuses to open on my iPhone. All is for the worst in the worst of all possible worlds.

The moisture’s bastardly tentacles had only seeped its way to infiltrating my phone and corresponding apps, which meant one thing in particular—no more Snapchat. Okay, full disclosure: I’m sort of a Snapchat whore. I can’t explain its addictive quality, but I now I was like a meth addict on the Heisenberg Blue special the first time I snapped. Okay fuller disclosure: I’m a mass Snapchatter. When I made videos of myself singing Beyonce’s “Ego (Remix) with Kanye West in the mirror without a shirt, sunglasses off, wearing a participation medal from an adventure race like it was my Jesus piece, I felt compelled to share with everyone. I had to give the people what they wanted. They just didn’t know they had wanted that.

But this “no camera” problem posed a particularly difficult situation: I was headed to Itchetucknee Springs with my high school friends. Not to get overly sentimental or anything (a.k.a. that’s exactly what I’m about to do), but, as incoming seniors, this was sort of a last hurrah for us. Of course I wanted some photos to keep (and upload on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and to Snapchat obviously).

While on our car ride to Itchetucknee, a couple of my friends started Snapchatting my caravan, almost as a direct taunt to me. They knew my addiction, they knew my current withdrawals, yet they flashed that wondrous white ghost dancing in front of the kaleidoscope-flashing colors. I missed my ghost friend.

But then my buddy Tom launched an interesting quandary at us: “Speaking as someone looking from the outside on this, isn’t Snapchat kind of strange? Photos are supposed to capture memories, or at least they used to, but Snapchats disappear after like five seconds.”

And he’s right—Snapchat, once you take a step back from the narcissistic, instant gratification of it, is pretty dumb. Some joke Snapchat was created for nude pics sent, but that would entail somebody sending a single Snapchat to a specific person. Unless it’s a response, that never happens. When it comes to sending out those Mission Impossible, self-destructive photos, everyone exists on different tiers, at least that’s how it is for me. It’s Google-Plus circles, except people actually use them.

1) Elite Tier:

Reserved for childhood best friends and possible/current love interests. If we’re dating, you’re receiving every, single Snapchat I send. You will not forget my bushy face.

2) Buddy Tier:

Reserved for people I regularly hang out with and know of my daily adventures (a.k.a. what I read on the Internet that day). These friends receive a large majority of Snapchats, but if things get too personal or emotional, I’m leaving them out of it.

3) Acquaintance Tier:

Reserved for those friends only tolerable for a day or two every three weeks. You’re receiving this Snapchat from me because I need attention and if my buddies or girlfriend don’t respond, you’re my last hope to stroke my ego. Please don’t let me down.

4) D-Tier:

Otherwise known as #drunj tier. If you are in my Snapchat contact list, and I have had a few, I’m sending you some pictures. I don’t care if you respond or not, because we’re not really friends, but it would be a delightful surprise if you did, like discovering an extra jelly bean in what was believed to be an empty bag.

Regardless of where you exist on those planes, each Snapchat isn’t sent to you for memory’s sake. People may have the ability to save by screenshotting, but social media has fundamentally changed our purpose for personal photography (professional photography’s intention has stayed relatively the same). We don’t snapshot our lives to remember later; we snapshot to share with others. Whether this sharing of pictures is more designated so those “friends” who see them will like those pictures on Facebook, or favorite them on Instagram and Twitter, or respond how goofy/attractive/happy/sad you look on Snapchat remains unknown. It seems like social media’s intention is to engage others and include them in our daily lives on a large scale operation. But this may come at the cost of cheapening our own experiences. Instead of simply enjoying a tube ride down the river, or a night at a bar, we’re overly concerned with others knowing we’re doing those things. How many dumb duckface selfies does this world truly need to see?

Maybe this digital era of photography isn’t so different, as we used to share those photo albums the second a relative visited, and maybe I’m just a sad solipsistic bored without Snapchat. Liquid can be a real ponderous bitch like that, sometimes.

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sacred and fierce, healing and destructive, life sustaining and life taking.

Water.

For which I am grateful

The Pacific Northwest has been drowning in excess water the last 24 hours, with 3 inches in 24 hours in Portland that is melting the snow in the hills and swelling the streams. When I came back last night from Seattle, I drove the little 7 mile stretch of the Historic Highway from Bridle Veil to a park near Bonneville Dam. Several times I had to drive through water and gravel across the roadway... I am sure it was closed soon after... the Oregon State Highway trucks were there as I came through checking it out. This shot is from a few days earlier on my way north and I thought the falls was full then! I tried to get a shot of Wahkeena the 28th as it raged full, but it was getting dark too fast.. I may post one anyway just to show...

below in comments I will post the scenic highway with water pouring into the road on January 1, 2009...

Here is a link to info on the scenic highway that looks interesting...

www.columbiariverhighway.com/

Red Lily Bug

Colorful and Destructive

Bright red and rather attractive when you first meet them. Then you discover the colourful Red lily bug, (technically a beetle, but who cares,) has devastated all of your lilies.

Lilioceris lilii to give it its proper name, has been a lily pest in the UK since the early 1900's.

The scarlet lily beetle (Lilioceris lilii), or red / leaf lily beetle, is a leaf beetle that eats the leaves, stem, buds and flower of lilies, fritillaries and other members of the family Liliaceae. They mainly lay their eggs on Lilium and Fritillaria species. Observed in absence of Lilium and Fritillaria species, the numbers of eggs laid were significantly less and the survival rate of eggs and larvae were lowered. It is now a pest in most temperate climates where lilies are cultivated.Lily leaf beetles overwinter in the soil and come out early in spring whereas adults stay in moist environments.

Life cycle

During the winter, adult lily leaf beetles rest in an undisturbed protective environment, normally shaded, cool and moist. Lily leaf beetles overwinter in soil or plant debris underneath the lily leaf plants they fed on during the previous summer and sometimes in gardens or woods quite a distance away from their host plants. In early spring, they emerge to feed on young lily leaves and mate. Females can lay up to 450 eggs each season by laying about 12 eggs on the underside of an individual lily/fritillaria leaf in irregular lines along the midrib to conceal them. Hatching of the eggs occurs in about 6 days. The larvae begin to feed underneath the leaf and working up to the rest of the plant, feeding for up to 24 days. They then burrow themselves in the ground to pupate in a cocoon formed by saliva and small particles of soil. In about 20 days, they emerge as adults and continue to feed until winter. In some cases, they are able to go through this cycle more than once in a single year.

-- Page 18

"Yoko Ono performs her work CUT PIECE

at Carnegie Hall

Concept-art, where you can be an Artist, goes

further and involves with the audience as in Ono's CUT

PIECE, where each member of the audience is asked

to come up on the stage one at a time and remove the

performer's clothing with a large pair of tailor's

shears. The performer sits motionless through the

whole operation in a kneeling position until all the

clothing has been removed or everybody has had a

chance to cut, usually about an hour. In contrast to

the rest of the ceoncert which is usually filled with

restlessness in the audience, this piece always takes

place in complete silence, with periods of several

minutes elapsing before the next performer (member

of the audience) gets enough courage to come up on the

stage. Usually only one third of the audience performs

while the rest apparently consider the prospect."

-- Page 17

"Ono leads in a direction that might be called Concept-Art

INSTRUCTIVE AUTO-DESTRUCTION

THE FULL MOON hangs over the Lower East Side, its light

shines on paper-littered streets. In the daytime 2nd Avenue

is jammed with traffic and it's possible to look up through

the dust and heat at the sky and imagine what those few

seconds would be like before it came if eternity were to fit.

What an EVENT!

What is an Event and what does it have to do with Art?

Circa 1950: Yoko Ono is sitting around some-place

striking matches. She is observing the significance of a

natural act. Many matches later she finds that by lighting

a match and watching til it has gone out she is making

something that has a shorter existence than herself, and

by comparison is making her life longer.

When people are asked to observe the passage of time

they may feel ill at ease. Is this why we have a term like

auto-destruction? One of Yoko Ono's first events is

called LIGHTING PIECE: 'Light a match and watch

till it goes out.'

1961: her first one-man show in New York, in which

fifteen works were what she calls INSTRUCTUER;

'Something that emerged from instruction and yet not

quite emerged - not quite structured - never quite struc-

tured --- like an unfinished church with a sky ceiling.'

One of these works which was described by a critic as 'a

grimy unstrung canvas with a hole in it' is SMOKE

PAINTING: 'Light canvas or any finished painting with

a cigarettes at any time for any length of time. See the smoke

movement. The painting ends when the whole canvas is

gone.'* For Ono, paintings like Event do end: an ad-

ditional act in life; something to solve the temptation of

insanity.

Other works in her 1961 show were, PAINTING TO

BE STEPPED ON: 'Leave a piece of canvas or finished

painting on the floor or in the street.'* A + B PAINTING;

'Cut out a circle on canvas. A. Place a numeral figure, a

roman letter, or a katakanao on canvas B at an arbitrary

point. Place canvas A on canvas B and hang them together.

The figure on canvas B may show, may show partially, or

may not show. You may use old paintings, photographs, etc.

instead of blank canvases.'* PAINTING FOR THE

WIND: 'Make a hole. Leave it in the wind.'* PAINT-

ING TO SEE THE SKIES: 'Drill two holes into a can-

vas. Hang it where you can see the sky. (Change the place

of hanging. Try both the front and the rear windows, to

see if the skies are different.')* PAINTING TO LET

THE EVENING LIGHT GO THROUGH: 'Hang a

bottle behind a canvas. Place the canvas where the west

light comes in. The painting will exist when the bottle

creates a shadow on the canvas, or it does not have to

exist. The bottle may contain liquor, water, grasshoppers,

ants or singing insects, or it does not have to contain.'*

BLOOD PIECE: 'Use your blood to paint. Keep painting

until you faint (A). Keep painting until you die (B).'*

These and the others in the show were designed to be

done by anybody although at the time it was not apparent

to most observers and as well the works had been made by

Ono, they were regarded as going in one direction only:

purely auto-destructive. Actually all her paintings exist

in two phases. (1) The instruction phase; which may be

compared to a musical composition; written, copywritten,

distributed, and generally at large for anybody to make

(perform) and show (2) the existence of the particular

piece, which generally has some aspect which is in a state

of flux. Sometimes this may be only one-way, sometimes

it may be oscillating, or the piece may just need to be

refuelled, so to speak.

The one aspect which is considered so important in

most painting, the graphic element, or visual design, is

almost never stated except in the vaguest way as in A + B

PAINTING, and like a Swiss Patent, it is never clear

exactly how the formula goes. This is left up to the indi-

vidual who is to construct the work and how he feels about

such things. For the maker of the work and the audience

this opens up all sorts of possibilities. One is able to

observe certain relationships between art and life that are

usually overlooked in purely graphic art. Instead of saying

how the hell did he do that one might say why the hell do

I have to do that. The owner and/or maker of the painting

must continually come to grips with certain problems that

force him to consider what the concept of art is all about.

Recently, while the works of hers constructed by various

painters and sculptors were being collected in a gallery

for a show this coming fall, a piece was accidentally sold.

The piece WORD MACHINE #1 SKY MACHINE,

which produces a card with the word 'sky' on it when 25c

is deposited was acquired by Mr. & Mrs. Robert Scull. In

order to complete the sale in the case of this particular

piece it was necessary for Mr. Scull to sign a contract in

which he only received the right to possess the machine

but had to agree that serving of the machine would

remain the right of the maker and the maker would

receive 60% of the proceeds of the sake of 'sky' cards.

The pure iconism of the work is at question. It is a

machine, it has to be cleaned, repaired, cards replaced,

money extracted, in short, handled like crazy and the owner

and the maker have become involved in a continual

bureaucratic even in order to meet the terms of the con-

tract. Her original composition for this work states that

these machines should eventually replace all Coca-cola

and chewing gum machines, etc. everywhere. Immediately

there is a threat on these manmoth industies which have

always been auto-destructive in nature anyway - this

piece is a kind of a parody of them - and pocesses certain

interesting problems as the underworld usually controls

the vending machine operations here in New York. Is

there something wrong with a society that vends art in

machines instead of phosphate? Many agree that the coke

bottole has long been of better use and more valuable than

its contents anyway, and certain artists have even emulated

it in what has come to be known as Pop art.

Ono's work involves many facets and many roots that

are deeply traditional in Eastern and Western thought. In

the East there are traditions that have been obscured by

the advent of the West and one might hope that the reverse

may take place in the West: interbreeding considered

healthful. In Japan it was common and still is to a lesser

degree, to wrap one's lunch in a beautiful package -

intricately embossed gold foil was ideal (there are still

many things we don't know about food) - to contemplate

while eating in the woods; of course the wrapping would

be thrown away ... or for many people to gather with

the express purpose of observing the moon, without any

particular motive scientific or otherwise. This approach is

referred to as 'wabi and sabi' and it is considered that no

clear translation should be available.

In the West Ono relates to that arear referred to by Gene

Swenson as 'The Other Tradiotion'; Duchamp, Ernst,

Cage, Rauschenberg, Johns, etc., and it is interesting that

these men were attracted to her and attended her concerts

and events held in 1959-61 at her loft on Chambers St.

in New York before her return to Tokyo (at one point she

was close to Cage and tourned Japan with him in 1962, but

her music which has been described as 'music of the mind'

is diametrically opposed to his in philosophy and has no

audible sound in the conventional sense.)

What about painting of the mind? One of Ono's works

in her series 'imaginary paintings', is PAINTING TO BE

CONSTRUCTED IN YOUR HEAD: 'Imagine a flower

made of hard material such as gold, silver, stainless

steel, tin, marble, copper, etc. Imagine that the

pedals suddenly become soft like cotton or like living flesh.

In three hours prick all the petals. Save one and press it in a

book. In the margin of the page where the petal is pressed

note the derivation of the petal and the name of the petal.

At least eight hours should be spent in the construction

of the painting.'*

ANTHONY COX

New York City, July 4, 1966

For this special number of Art and Artists Yoko Ono

contributed the following: AUTO-DESTRUCTIVE

EVENTS; 1 - Dissapearing of snow, 2 - Thinking, 3 -

Dreaming, 4 - Waiting/not waiting, 5 - A wind, 6 -

Travel, 7 - Make wishknots in your head. Forget the

wish.

* reproduced by permission from Grapefruit, published by

Weltinnenraums Press, Box 186, NYC 14 USA."

Art and Artists

Volume One, Number Five

August 1966

Edited by Mario Amaya

London: Hansom Books, 1966

Private Collection of Mikihiko Hori