View allAll Photos Tagged Entitlement
Model (StarryMuse) entitled "Starry Umbrella 1a" by jagged-eye on DeviantART found here:
www.deviantart.com/art/Starry-Umbrella-1a-279548410
Model image made into a silhouette.
Raindrops entitled "Wetness - FREE Texture" is from my stock found here:
www.flickr.com/photos/plumnutz/9092056163/in/set-72157625...
Frame is from my stock entitled "Panels - FREE TO USE" found here:
www.flickr.com/photos/plumnutz/6584339739/in/set-72157625...
Background of roses is from my stock.
This piece is entitled Danke Andrej Sacharov for a human rights activist and was created by artist Dmitri Vrubel. More here:
www.lostscientist.com/street-art-in-berlin/germanyuae2012...
**All photos are copyrighted. Please don't use without permission**
"Nur wer für die Juden schreit, darf gregorianisch singen" - only those crying out for the Jews are entitled to sing Gregorian chant. This was Dietrich Bonhoeffer's reaction to the burning of the synagogues in 1938. The withdrawal into a non-political space is not appropriate. Today, we must shout on behalf of suffering Ukraine. Close-up at F2.
Southwark Cathedral, London
Entitled Christ Rests in Peace, the dramatic sculpture of Christ’s head with crown of thorns, is the result of over 20 years work on the face of Jesus by acclaimed British sculptor Nic Fiddian-Green.
The giant eight-foot head, cast in lead with a gilded crown of thorns, was on display in front of the high altar during Lent and the Holy Week.
It is powerful not just because of its sheer size but also because when you look beyond the thorns you see the humanity in the face of Christ, says Andrew Nunn, Dean of Southwark.
Of Nature I shall have enough
When I have entered these
Entitled to a Bumble bee's
Familiarities
—Emily Dickinson
The artist Jaune has created four works for the new City of Brussels Public cleanliness campaign. Entitled “Everyday hero”, it is an artistic way of showcasing cleanliness employees. The images are shown on posters as well as on stencil frescos.
Mural by Jaune: www.the-art-of-jaune.com
Location: 54 Rue d'Ophem, Brussels, Belgium
This piece is entitled Ant Bone IV by Hu Xiaoyuan
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hu_Xiaoyuan
**All photos are copyrighted**
For some inexplicable reason, this image reminds me of Jimmy Hendrixâ's song entitled "All Along the Watchtower," which according to Wikipedia, "became a Top 20 single in 1968, received a Grammy Hall of Fame award in 2001 and was ranked 47th in Rolling Stone magazine's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time in 2004."
It is certainly not the lyrics of the song, however, which speak of confusion. This image, like the moment when it was taken, has a calming and serenity effect. That's the reason I enjoy taking sunset pictures so much.
I took this photo last night at the Ponce de Leon Historical Park while standing at the end of the fishing pier looking down the boat channel with its navigation markers. Various waterfowl had staked out their squatting rights on the top of navigation markers beneath the setting sun.
After the sun had set, I chatted with a couple of ladies from Illinois... the state where I just sold my home in January. We waited for 30 minutes to see if the blue hour would occur (that's when the clouds light up again when sunlight reflects off the ocean after the sun has sunken below the horizon). Unfortunately, it did not occur on this particular evening, but I enjoyed the ladies company. One of them showed me a picture on her cell phone that someone took when a pelican unexpectedly landed on her shoulders as she watched men cleaning fish... what an experience that must have been (and an amazing photo)!
_DSC4404 9x16 B
Copyrighted Stephen L. Frazier. All Rights Reserved. Duplication, printing, publication, or any other use of these images without written permission is prohibited.
Entitled ‘Thank You, Andrei Sakharov’ (‘Danke, Andrei Sakharov’), this simple portrait was painted by Dmitri Vrubel and Viktoria Timofeeva in honour of Soviet nuclear physicist, dissident and human rights activist Andrei Sakharov.
Having worked to design thermonuclear weapons for the Soviet Union, Sakharov later became an advocate of civil liberties and civil reform, facing state persecution for his activism. These efforts earned him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1975. He died in 1989, just a few weeks after the Wall fell.
Berlin, Deutschland
dear world,
can you read between the lies? you are a complete mess. i am building an ark. repent. wine cures whine.
what you need is a good influenza outbreak to get your values straightened out. call me and i can cough on you, first time is free.
love,
ty
Dimanche 09 février. Vagabondage vers le quai Kennedy. Retour au source du roman de Maylis de Kerangal intitulé "Quai Kennedy"....
Sunday, February 9. a wandering toward the dock Kennedy. Back to the source novel Maylis Kerangal entitled "Quai Kennedy."
Mural entitled "Rooted in Royalty" by Thomas Turner aka @thomasturner_tt for the Atlanta United Football Club, seen at 647 Reed Street SE in the Summerville area of Atlanta, Georgia.
Photo by James aka @urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.
Edit by Teee.
Mural entitled "Mona Lisa" by Brian Clemons (circa 1990), seen at 28 Bollinger Street in Colombus, Ohio.
Photo by James aka Urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.
Edit by Teee.
I've just read an article 'New Syndrome Defined: Grown-up Kids Who Won't Leave Home'. The psychologists formulated the term 'entitled dependence'. In Australia these young people are called 'boomerang children'. I also like the Italian 'bamboccioni'. In the photo above the young kangaroo was in fact warned and invited by Mum's open pouch to hide when she spotted a man with his big dog (fortunately on leash) and reacted as every overprotective mother would.
Foxy taking a break from hunting for voles along the edge of a pond.
To see more pics from this day and other fox photos please check out my album entitled "foxes" at www.flickr.com/photos/black_cat_photography/albums/721577...
All comments regarding this picture, subject, composition, etc are welcome and appreciated. TIA.
Mural entitled "Them Pretty Weeds" by Lacey Longino aka @lacyclongino, seen at 1099 Boulevard SE in Atlanta, Georgia.
Drone photo by James aka Urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.
Edit by Teee.
I like to pursue the experience of seeing Horsetail Fall each year. A client of ours not long ago dismissed it as something to the effect of "everyone pursuing the same shot". That's fine, everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but it got me wondering why I disagree, and what has driven me to pursue the event maybe 80-90 times over the past couple of decades. It's never the same twice, but it's more than that. A lot more.
A lot of people pursue the sight of Horsetail Fall each year. The phenomenon requires a lot of variables to line up, so it may only be dramatic on one or two nights each year. Sometimes there's only a wet spot on the rock illuminated with sunset light, other times there's a small amount of water, but it only gets a weak glow of color as the sun fades behind thin haze as it sets.
On the best of nights there's a strong flow cascading over the lip or El Capitan, and the full force of the sun lights up the water through clear skies to the west. The waterfall becomes a shining beacon of sunlight, shimmering as it cascades down the granite surface. It looks white hot at first, difficult to look at when the water catches and transmits enough of the sun. Then there's an increasing amount of color, as the sun sets through thickening atmosphere and blue light is scattered, leaving warmer tones. Yet as the coloration starts, the intensity is still very high, like vigorously splashing molten copper. Water splashes as it cascades, and the droplets create a scintillating effect of liquid molten sunlight. This is the part that's utterly spectacular, leaving witnesses with jaws agape, oohs and ahhs coming from the spectators below. The effect is most analogous to the shimmering corona present for a few minutes during a total solar eclipse, something that many people travel the world over and over to see and experience again. On one hand seeing the sun's corona revealed is a combination of coincidence and physics, but it can trigger awe with a healthy dose of dopamine, endorphins, and who knows what else, an intense natural high that may be unmatched in the viewer's prior life experience. So it's little wonder that many people with the means pursue that experience over and over again. At its best and most intense, Horsetail Fall, if you're in the right place to get the full force of intense transmitted sunlight, produces that effect.
The next phase is when the color peaks in Horsetail Fall, the sun is in its final orange phase, and the water resembles hot lava in color. If someone unmasked you in that spot in exactly that moment, you could be convinced that it IS hot lava, the eruption spewing droplets of red hot Pele's tears as it falls. It's awesome, but if you were waiting for color and didn't pay attention to the prior phase because your neighbor was chatty, you missed the main event. Clever photographers will go to great lengths to try to get an unusual angle on the waterfall, to capture a unique composition. If you're standing at a right angle to the light going through the waterfall, getting some reflected color but not the scintillating light coming through small droplets, sure, you may have captured a pretty picture, but sorry, if it happened at all, you may have missed the most intense part of the experience.
The final phase is when the color starts to fade, and the setting sun might cast a more magenta to red tone on the water. In some years, especially when there's low water flow, this is the best that it gets in five nights of trying.
In later dates in February, the sunlight will have a shadow creeping up from below, leaving intense light mainly on the upper portion of the waterfall.
The event typically ends in the spectators cheering and clapping, a release of energy they accumulated during the various phases of the spectacle.
There are probably multiple reasons why someone might not get why Horsetail Fall is something to experience. One category is people who chased it and either it didn't happen, or it wasn't that great. Fair enough, sorry you missed it. It's a bit like chasing a solar eclipse that ends up impeded by clouds. It could feel like a waste of time, and you may wonder why people put themselves through the hassle.
Another category of unimpressed people may be photographers who flit around the country or world like butterflies, collecting places but never stopping to truly experience them. Lori and I traveled to Turkey in 2010, but we spent over 3 weeks there and spent a lot of time driving around the countryside staying with locals. We wanted to experience the country and meet the people, not just blow through it collecting postcard shots. Our favorite experiences are from when we left a hole in our itinerary and had locals recommend where we should go. And the time when no one spoke English while our rental car broke down for several hours. Travelling the country and photographing/seeing many sites was great, the people and experiences were priceless.
Similarly for many of the most spectacular moments we experience, often with little warning, it's most compelling to remember to experience the full impact, not just photograph the pretty colors or the unusual weather. Often we run into conditions that boggle the mind, and contain a range of light that the photographic process, without the full intensity of the sun, will never fully contain or convey. Moments that we never could have possibly anticipated, when nature is just showing off how it can exceed what we've experienced before. The first thing I do in these circumstances is to observe, "No one will ever believe this!" Because it's true. And I point out the when they're post-processing the images, if they upload an image and at least some people don't reply with "fake", "over-processed", "oversaturated", or now "AI", then they've failed to convey even a fraction of what they've seen. We also try to encourage people to learn how to automate their exposures with an interval timer, so they can experience the moment as well. Or take lots of different compositions at various times as conditions evolve, but also pause, look up, and notice, and experience the awe.
For me that's the draw. The experiences. The photographs are just a way to share some small fraction of what we experienced.
Back to Horsetail Fall... one of the biggest challenges is trying to post-process the results to reflect the full range of light, to try to include as much of the extreme contrast as possible, without washing out the intense color. I'll probably have to take several passes at the images, and gradually improve them over time. And they probably won't have an appropriate impact without a searing light source, a very bright and high contrast display, or a massively bright light shining directly on a metal print (does someone print on copper?). It'll never match the original event. You can't contain the sun, and re-emit it on command. But perhaps some fraction of the awe can be communicated, and even if not, we'll always have the experiences. And that's what I'm in this for... the doing, the experiencing, and sharing what I can to people who perhaps can't get out as often as we do and see as much of the ridiculous beauty that occurs, whether there's anyone there to see and record it or not.
See you in 5-6 weeks, Horsetail Fall!
Mural entitled "Memphis Belle" by Curtis Glover aka @curtisglovercreative for Paint Memphis 2021, seen seen at 660 South B.B. King Boulevard in Memphis, Tennessee.
Drone photo by James aka Urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.
Edit by Teee
23:10] ocellnuri: wrote D. James a testimonial :-)
[23:10] ocellnuri: I respect that guy so much
[23:15] ocellnuri: he blows me away every day
[23:15] ocellnuri: but he's exactly the type of stuff I love
[23:15] ocellnuri: high contrast, high color abstract structural
[23:16] tysiscoe: sniff. you used to like me like that. then i got all moody and desaturated
[23:16] tysiscoe: sigh
[23:16] ocellnuri: lol
[23:16] ocellnuri: I'm sorry Ty
[23:16] ocellnuri: we can't change the ways we change
[23:17] tysiscoe: fuck you, just fuck you and your trophy flickr buddy
[23:18] tysiscoe: im still hot
[23:18] tysiscoe: people still like me
[23:18] ocellnuri: I just can't change what I like
[23:18] tysiscoe: i could have any contact i wanted
[23:18] ocellnuri: we grow, and we need different things
[23:18] ocellnuri: it's not your pictures, it's mine
[23:18] tysiscoe: lol
[23:18] tysiscoe: good one
[23:18] ocellnuri: :-)
[23:19] tysiscoe: would you like me better if i had a gear upgrade??
[23:19] tysiscoe: bigger camera
[23:19] ocellnuri: well... sometimes I just need a shot tighter than 300mm
[23:20] tysiscoe: you couldnt handle a real 300mm
[23:20] ocellnuri: I have before
[23:20] tysiscoe: shook in your hands
[23:20] ocellnuri: once, when you were out shooting with your 50mm... I looked at a 400mm shot
[23:20] ocellnuri: and Ty, I just can't go back to your wide angle bullshit
[23:21] tysiscoe: and to think i let you use my flash card
[23:21] tysiscoe: i feel used
[23:21] ocellnuri: Just move on Ty
[23:22] ocellnuri: oh, and make sure you check your memory card for corrupt memory sectors
[23:22] tysiscoe: lol!!!
[23:24] tysiscoe: fine, bitch, i will go give a testimonial to the first new person in central i find. i wont even look at their stream
[23:25] ocellnuri: you would
[23:25] ocellnuri: you don't get me at all
[23:25] tysiscoe: and your new buddy will get tired of your tired derivative black and whites real soon and you will see me in the forums laughing at you
[23:26] ocellnuri: man
[23:26] ocellnuri: you bitch
[23:26] ocellnuri: that was uncalled for
[23:26] ocellnuri: You said you'd never speak of my flirtations with BW shots again
[23:26] ocellnuri: you said that you could put that behind you!
[23:26] ocellnuri: I knew you were just holding it as a crutch all along!
[23:26] ocellnuri: you
[23:26] ocellnuri: you BITCH
[23:29] tysiscoe: im sorry, mr i wannabe manray, but you need to know that youre not the art godhead he tells you you are.
[23:29] tysiscoe: you were a runaway with a canon powershot when i met you
[23:30] tysiscoe: i took you under my wing
[23:30] tysiscoe: believed in you
[23:30] tysiscoe: gave you confidence, composition skills
[23:30] ocellnuri: I don't owe you for that
[23:30] ocellnuri: I'm not in debt to you
[23:30] ocellnuri: don't turn this into a guilt trip
[23:30] tysiscoe: if it wasnt for me you would still be levitating keyboard composition shots and shooting your coffee mug, not to mention those faux-goth moody lookdown and mopey shots that make everyone laugh at you for
[23:30] ocellnuri: every time I talk to you, you just try to make me feel guilty for this
[23:31] tysiscoe: its not guilt.
[23:31] tysiscoe: you cant handle the truth
[23:31] tysiscoe: and everytime you run off with another flickr flavor of the month
[23:31] ocellnuri: The truth is that I need more now, and you don't have it. And D. James does. YOu've got to live with that and quit pining over me
[23:31] tysiscoe: you end up coming back asking for help with your creative juices
[23:33] tysiscoe: im not saying d. james aint got it, im saying you aint got it to give back
[23:33] tysiscoe: he will get bored off you shooting the same shots he does
[23:33] tysiscoe: looking at his exif data
[23:33] tysiscoe: fawning over his abstracts
[23:34] ocellnuri: My exif is impressive too!
[23:34] ocellnuri: it kept you around
[23:34] tysiscoe: i felt responsible
[23:34] tysiscoe: like finding a wounded bird
[23:34] tysiscoe: you werent ready to go back into the wild
[23:34] tysiscoe: but now
[23:34] tysiscoe: you cant be held back
[23:35] tysiscoe: sigh. the pain is too much
[23:35] ocellnuri: You'll find another point and shooter
[23:35] ocellnuri: and you'll start your self-destructive cycle again
[23:36] tysiscoe: lol
[23:36] ocellnuri: you're nothing but a compactophile
[23:36] tysiscoe: bahahaha
[23:36] ocellnuri: wearing a DSLR
[23:37] tysiscoe: when you have thousands of hits on your stream, you can talk with some authority, but right now youre lucky if your pitying friends comment on you
[23:37] ocellnuri: :-(
[23:38] tysiscoe: you, you, you overexposurer
[23:38] ocellnuri: IT'S A STYLE
[23:38] tysiscoe: cry bitch
[23:38] ocellnuri: sorry it's over your head
[23:38] tysiscoe: its so 80s nagal
[23:38] tysiscoe: its not even retrocool
[23:38] ocellnuri: I don't deny my past
[23:38] tysiscoe: cuz you cant, its stuck to your foot like toilet paper
...
[23:42] tysiscoe: im gonna post this. mind?
[23:43] ocellnuri: hahaha
[23:43] ocellnuri: please!
Mural entitled “The Birth of Helen and Clytemnestra” by @napoletanoart and @nmnapoletanoart seen at 3300 East 13th Avenue in the City Park area of Denver, Colorado.
Photo by James aka @urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.
Edit by Teee.
Mural entitled “Lion’s Dance” by @juuriart83 seen at 132 West Wayne Street in Ft Wayne, Indiana.
Photo by James aka Urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.
Edit by Teee.
I’m sitting here at my desk wondering what to write and I’m struggling. Most of the time I like to accompany my photos with some sort of chatter. Sometimes it’s about the photo but most of the time it has nothing at all to do with. I do this mainly to keep my writing brain active, which I must admit a talent I’ve always been poor at. Suffering from a level of dyslexia English was a totally failed subject at school, It was a skill I did not need the first part of my working life as a mechanical fitter, It also did not hinder me in my switch of careers into Information Technology (IT). However as I moved into management the more I needed to write, the word processor and spell checker came to my rescue as it was painful to be referring to a dictionary for every other word, even so I know when I read this back the spelling and wrong or missing words will be most evident along with poor gramma. So now I write drivel and it’s OK if you don’t read it, it’s for me as is the photo. At the moment I’m looking at instructions entitled “Pelvic Floor Exercises for Men”. I should have been doing these exercises the last 11 months waiting for my prostate procedure, but I haven’t. This is not out of laziness more from an inability to be convinced I’m doing the exercise properly as I’m still struggling to identify the muscle in question. Now with just over a fortnight to go before I go under the laser I’m resigned to not be prepared in that department and the foreseen circumstances. Anyway a little about the photo. When the storm was upon us and everything seemed lost the heavens opened and a messenger appeared. it’s all there in my imagination and photo.
Mural entitled "Joy of Creativity" by @andaluztheartist and @nhankins1982, seen at 3201 NW 7th Avenue in Miami, Florida.
Photo by James aka @urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.
Edit by Teee.
From my set entitled "Twelve Mile Lake, 2008"
www.flickr.com/photos/21861018@N00/sets/72157607787077684/
In my collection entitled "Places"
www.flickr.com/photos/21861018@N00/collections/7215760074...
In my photostream
www.flickr.com/photos/21861018@N00/
Every year, Karen and I, along with our friends, Bev Woodroffe and Henk Tiesma, visit Bob and Carol Barkwell, usually in the Spring, at their home in Lindsay, Ontario. Karen, Bev and Carol began their teaching careers together forty years ago.
This year, we went to Bob and Carol's cottage on Twelve Mile Lake in the Haliburton Highlands of Ontario. The main focus of the weekend was the Haliburton County Studio Tour, which includes twenty-one artisans. We visited several studios, and also took in the town of Haliburton. The trip was extra special this year, since the Fall colours are breathtaking.
From Wikipedia:
www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&ct=res&cd=...
Haliburton is a county of Ontario, Canada, known as a tourist and cottage industry area for its scenery and for its resident artists. Minden Hills is the county seat. Haliburton County was established in 1983, but had existed as the Provisional County of Haliburton since 1874. Haliburton County and the village of Haliburton, are named after Thomas Chandler Haliburton, author, statesman, and the first chairman of the Canadian Land and Emigration Company.
Haliburton is a village on Head Lake inside Haliburton County which is its namesake. The county also contains the village of Minden, as well as the smaller communities of Wilberforce, Gooderham, Irondale, West Guildford, and Eagle Lake. The county borders Algonquin Park on the north.
The county is serviced by two hospitals, one in Haliburton and one in Minden. Both are administrated by Haliburton Highlands Health Services.
Haliburton County's economy is dominated by the service sector based on tourism due to the regions many lakes and rivers, mainly due to people visiting vacation homes in the summer months, whose properties outnumber permanent residents 3 to 1.[5] Employment in this region primarily caters to the needs of this seasonal population, including residential construction, resorts, services and retail.[6] The region is unique in the sense that there is no resource, industrial, or agricultural base. Because of the nature of the economy, the area has a high rate of unemployment at 8.4% exceeding the provincial average, which skyrockets in the winter months to 35%.[7] Consequently, Haliburton County is the poorest jurisdiction in the Province of Ontario, with per capita earnings of $32 709 in 2005.[8]
The Haliburton Highlands is home to a thriving arts community. The County is dotted by galleries, both public and private, offering events, programs and workshops to the public. Artists’ studios can be found in almost every community, many offering public demonstrations, small galleries, and classes. There are murals and public sculptures in the downtowns of most communities, as well as in park settings such as the Haliburton Sculpture Forest, and the River Walk in Minden.
Heritage is also a focus in the County, with established museums in Carnarvon, Dorset, Haliburton, Minden, and Wilberforce, as well as many fledgling museums emerging in some of the smaller communities. Many buildings throughout the County are designated heritage sites by the province, and many others undergoing preservation through the interests of the public.
The performing arts also receive much attention. Haliburton Highlands Secondary School has strong drama and music programs, showcasing their talents throughout the year to the public. As well, the Highlands Summer Festival presents a wide array of theatre offerings throughout the summer, showcasing the talents of local and seasonally local actors and musicians. Numerous indie bands perform throughout the County, with open mic events being held at a number of establishments.
Certain scenes were filmed on location at Camp Wanakita and Kilcoo Camp for the Disney Channel Original Movie, Camp Rock, starring the Jonas Brothers.
Pisco Bandito, the bandit fish, is described as being "in Haliburton near the Lake of Bays" in the song Pisco Bandito by the band Moxy Fruvous.
Twelve Mile Lake is one of the Haliburton Highland's premiere lakes. Part of a two-lake change, Twelve Mile Lake offers boaters miles of open water to explore.
Post Processing:
PhotoShop Elements 5: crop, poster, sharpen, watercolour, rough pastel
Mural entitled "Angry Zebra 2.0" by Ben Watson (EVOLUTION) aka @evolution_816 and background by Sike Style Industries aka @sikestyle, seen at 320 Southwest Boulevard in Kansas City, Missouri.
Drone photo by James aka @urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.
Edit by Teee.
to your informed opinion. No one is entitled to be ignorant:-)
― Harlan Ellison
zen magnolia, j c raulston arboretum, ncsu, Raleigh, north carolina
From my set entitled “Amsterdam”
www.flickr.com/photos/21861018@N00/sets/72157602418470116/
In my collection entitled “Rhine Main Danube”
www.flickr.com/photos/21861018@N00/collections/7215760702...
In my photostream
www.flickr.com/photos/21861018@N00/
Just over a year ago, Karen and I cruised the Rhine-Main-Danube System. The tour covered the following countries: Netherlands, Germany, Austria and Hungary. The cities we visited included Amsterdam, Xanten, Cologne, Koblenz, Aschaffenburg, Wurzburg, Bamberg, Nuremburg, Regensburg, Passau, Vienna and Budapest. It was a lovely trip, and I came home with over 2000 photos, most of which I posted between October, 2007 and May, 2008.
The following articles deal with our ship, The MS Casanova, operated by Peter Deilmann Reederei
Reproduced from Deilmann Casanova Review
By Durant and Cheryl Imboden
www.riverdiscounts.com/5496294_14881.htm
Peter Deilmann Reederei has operated cruise vessels on European rivers since 1983, when the Donauprinzessin joined the line's existing fleet of ocean ships. Today, the company has 10 ships on the rivers of Western and Central Europe, together with two luxurious ocean vessels: the MS Deutschland and the sailing yacht Lili Marleen.
In fall, 2004, my son and I spent a week aboard the MS Casanova, a five-star river vessel that moved from Northern Italy to the Rhine, Danube, Moselle, and Rhine-Main Canal for the 2005 season and beyond. This illustrated review describes the ship, the service and amenities onboard, and the distinctly European style of river cruising that Peter Deilmann offers to cosmopolitan travelers.
MS Casanova: the ship
Casanova was built in 2001 for cruises on Italy's Po River, where ships must be able to cruise under low bridges and fit comfortably in narrow, shallow canals. As a result, it's smaller than many ships that cruise Central European waters, with a length of 338 feet and a beam of 32 feet, or 103 m by 9,70 m. The ship could be described as a "boutique vessel," since it accommodates only 96 passengers.
Most public rooms are on the Verdi deck, or main deck, which also has 26 of the the ship's 48 passenger cabins. A staircase leads down to the Rialto Deck, where a foyer separates the restaurant from the 22 lower-deck staterooms. The Sundeck, an open area on the top of the ship, offers deck chairs, tables, and plenty of space along the railings for sightseeing and picture-taking.
Passengers enter and leave the ship via the reception area, located amidships on the Verdi deck, which acts as a buffer between the public rooms and cabins. A doorway on the starboard side of Casanova leads past a boutique/hairdresser into the large and well-appointed lounge, which has a bar, a library corner, a small dance floor, and a piano for entertainment.
Audience and ambience
Like other Peter Deilmann river vessels, Casanova serves a multinational audience. This makes it different from its leading competitors on the European river-cruising circuit, which operate separate vessels for the U.S. and Canadian market (Viking) or cater only to North American travelers (Avalon Waterways, Uniworld, Vantage, etc.).
The bulk of Deilmann's guests come from German-speaking countries, but a substantial minority are from the U.S., Canada, and Britain. On our cruise, about a third of the passengers were American or Canadian, with one British couple on board. Most of our fellow guests were in their 60s or older (a fairly typical age range for European river cruises).
The ship's ambience has a strong German flavor, but don't go looking for stereotypes from yesteryear: The waiters, stewardesses, and reception staff are more friendly than formal, and the dress code on most evenings is "smart casual." You'll notice the Teutonic influence mostly when you turn on the TV--where German channels predominate--or if you request water in the restaurant, when you'll be asked if you want bottled mineral water or American-style ice water. (After the first meal or two, your beverage stewardess will remember your preferences.)
All ship's announcements are in both German and English, and separate versions of the daily newsletter are published for Deutsch- and English-speaking guests.
Overall, Casanova and Peter Deilmann Cruises offer a more cosmopolitan atmosphere than you'd find on a vessel that caters primarily to U.S. and Canadian travelers. With Deilmann, you feel that you're in Europe when you're aboard the ship, not just when you go ashore. Whether that's good or bad depends on your tastes and whether you prefer mingling with the locals or sticking with fellow foreigners.
Casanova's staterooms come in three flavors:
Queen cabins. In these 16 staterooms, the queen-size beds have separate mattresses, each with its own duvet when the stewardess removes the bedspread at night. This means you can snuggle or maintain separation, depending on whom you're traveling with.
Twin cabins. These 30 cabins have twin beds on opposite walls. One berth converts into a sofa during the day.
Junior suites. There are just two junior suites, both on the lower or Rialto deck. They have queen-size beds and are slightly larger than the standard queen and twin cabins.
Rooms on the Verdi or upper deck have cleverly designed French doors overlooking the water. Open the left half, and you have a floor-to-ceiling screen to keep bugs at bay. Open the right side, and you can lean out to take pictures, check the passing landscape in more detail, or get a feel for the weather.
Cabins on the Rialto or lower deck have fixed picture windows.
All staterooms are attractively decorated with generous expanses of wood paneling, drapes, pictures on the walls, etc. Casanova's designers gave a lot of attention to details, as the inset photo of a ceiling light will show. The gold-trim motif is also used on the custom cabin furniture, which includes built-in closets, nightstands with storage space, and a desk with minibar. (I did notice one small oversight: Casanova's duvets are filled with a thin polyester batting instead of down.)
The bathrooms are extremely well-designed, with luxury touches such as glass shower enclosures, marble and ceramic walls, wooden toilet seats, brass faucets, and sinks that have marble countertops in a beautiful brown-red marble above a wooden storage cabinet and shelves. There's a retractable clothesline in the shower stall, and you'll find plenty of racks and hooks for towels and dressing gowns. (Your stewardess will supply bathrobes on request.)
Finally, the TV in each cabin has a good assortment of channels--mostly in German, but with BBC World and CNN to keep you in touch with what's happening back home. Casanova also has closed-circuit movies several times a day in both German and English.
Dining
Germans have a reputation for taking their food seriously, and the quality of hotel and restaurant food in Germany tends to be much better than in the United States or Britain. So it shouldn't come as a surprise that Peter Deilmann's Casanova lives up to its five-star ambitions in the dining room.
Breakfast consists of a buffet with fresh fruit, cereals, rolls, dark German breads, croissants and other pastries, cheeses, cold cuts, herring, smoked salmon, etc. Waiters are on hand to serve beverages, whisk away dirty plates, and take orders for fresh-cooked eggs or daily specials. Mineral water and sparkling wine, which you pay for at lunch or dinner, are free at breakfast. (Nicole, our beverage stewardess, told us that some guests like a glass of Prosecco to wake up in the morning. I tried a quarter-glass as a test but decided to stick with coffee. My son was pleased by the hot chocolate, which was excellent.)
Lunch is a choose-your-own-adventure affair where you can fill up a plate from the buffet or have a full meal served course by course. On most days, I grabbed a few salad and fish items from the buffet and skipped directly to the main course or requested pasta as an entrée.
At dinner, the menu typically features an appetizer, two soups, a fish or pasta course, a choice of entrées, and dessert. (On gala nights, a sorbet precedes the main course.) The restaurant's wood-and-marble buffet table is laid with a salad bar (with the term "salad" encompassing such luxuries as shrimp and fish), which is replaced by a selection of cheeses and fruit at the end of the meal.
Deilmann doesn't skimp on ingredients: High-quality fish is on the menu at nearly every midday or evening meal, and we were served lobster, large shrimp, lamb, veal, and duck at various times during the cruise. Baked goods are also excellent--most notably the cakes and other desserts, which are baked on board by a full-time pastry chef.
If sightseeing leaves you hungry for more than three square meals a day, you can top up your tummy with boullion at 11 a.m., finger sandwiches and cakes at afternoon tea, or the late-night snack in the lounge at 10:30 p.m. (On our voyage, Jozef--the Casanova's excellent pianst and vocalist--offered musical accompaniment during afternoon tea, the 6:30 p.m. cocktail hour, and the evening snack.)
About beverages:
Coffee, tea, ice water, and fruit juices are free. Other drinks cost extra at lunch and dinner, although complimentary sparkling wine and Kir Royale are served (and replenished generously) on gala nights. If you order a bottle of wine or mineral water in the dining room, your waiter will mark the bottle and save it for future meals.
Drink prices are in line with what you might expect on a European luxury vessel: On our cruise, a glass of German draft beer cost €2,80, a bar-size bottle of soft drink was €2,50, a 5-cl glass of vermouth cost €2,90, grappa was €3,80, and whiskies or cocktails were in the €5,50 to €6,90 range. Featured wines on the dinner menu typically cost €20 to €25, and a quarter-liter of the house white or red was less expensive than a glass of wine in a typical U.S. restaurant.
Service
Casanova has an unusually large staff for a river ship that carries only 96 passengers. Peter Deilmann claims a passenger-to-crew ratio of 2.5:1, or "about the best crew to passenger ratio of any river vessel." There's even a physician on board.
The multilingual restaurant, bar, housekeeping, and reception staff were a hardworking bunch during our cruise, and they were also highly-trained professionals. Our waiter, Mladen Tomljanovic, was a nine-year veteran of cruise ships, and our beverage stewardess, Nicole Hoppe, had three years of professional education and apprenticeship before joining Peter Deilmann Cruises. Mladen, Nicole, and other members of the restaurant and beverage staff worked together as an efficient team, delivering service on a par with what you'd expect on a luxury cruise line or a five-star hotel.
I was also impressed by the crew's warmth, friendliness, and overall good cheer. One evening, the younger staff were kind enough to invite my 18-year-old son to join them at a nightclub that was popular with riverboat crews. (I resisted the urge to play chaperone, spending the evening with a Donna Leon mystery instead.)
Tipping suggestions:
The Casanova's newsletter recommended dividing gratuities of €6,50 to €7,50 per passenger per day among the service staff, and passengers were encouraged to make additional contributions to a tips box at the reception desk for other members of the crew. I thought the recommended figures were a bit low for staff who worked 15 hours or more per day, so I gave €50 each (for two passengers) to our waiter, beverage stewardess, and cabin stewardess, plus another €50 for the crew box.
(Note: Tips for bar purchases should be made at the time of service, since the person who serves you a drink may not be your regular beverage stewardess or waiter.)
From Professional Travel Guide
www.professionaltravelguide.com/Cruise/Cruise-Lines/Peter...
This German-built river boat from Peter Deilmann Cruises launched in 2001 and was refitted in 2006. She sails with up to 96 passengers on a wide variety of itineraries along the Rhine, Moselle, Main and Danube rivers from mid-March to early November. This slim, trim triple-decker is an all-white 338-ft beauty with red trim. She has a width of 32 ft and a draft of 4 ft and shows a classical profile.
Peter Deilmann founded this German company a quarter century ago, first with oceangoing cruise ships and then riverboats. His two daughters carry on the tradition from the company headquarters at Neustadt in Holsetin, Germany operating eight high-end riverboats and the cruise ship Deutschland.
North American and German speakers come aboard in varying numbers depending on the itinerary and departure. Most are 50 and older. Very few children are found aboard, and there are no special facilities for them. The riverboat crew is fully bilingual, so there are no language problems. Suggested per diem tipping rates are US$9 for waitstaff and US$5 for the cabin attendant.
The Casanova used to sail on the River Po in northern Italy, and now she is found plying many different itineraries lasting from 7 to 14 days. She may be based at Amsterdam, The Netherlands, for cruises on the Dutch and Belgian waterways or along the Rhine and Main in Germany. She sails with the Mozart on 7-day Danube River trips based at Passau, Germany.
Her most ambitious cruise is a pair of sailings between Amsterdam and Budapest, Hungary, via the Rhine, Main, Danube and connecting canal. Some shore excursions are included in cruise-tours but not for cruise-only fares. A money-saving tour package can be bought for most itineraries. Depending on the numbers, the buses may be separate for each language or bilingual, and the same goes for the guided walks.
The panoramic restaurant has a stately Italian Provincial elegance with classic highback chairs and cherry accents, a circular compass rose of yellow glass on the ceiling and a buffet station. The room can accommodate all passengers at a single sitting. No one has time to get hungry, with breakfast, morning bouillon, lunch, tea, dinner and midnight snacks. Excellent multicourse luncheons and dinners feature Continental fare and wines of many countries. Evening meals can feature nine courses on some nights, so expect to spend a lot of time at the table.
English-speaking passengers are seated together at reserved tables and single sitting. Evening wear often sees men in jacket and tie. The tastefully furnished lounge brings passengers together several times a day, with its plump sofas and armchairs, panoramic views, well-stocked bar, and nightly entertainment and dancing. Announcements, menus, and daily programs are all provided in English and German.
The sun deck topside has plenty of deck chairs and blankets, and a doctor is onboard. Standard cabins are 140 sq ft, with two minisuites of 160 sq ft, all beautifully appointed with desks, TVs, phones, radios, closets, and baths with showers, hair dryers and robes. Beds are twins and queen-sized, and the upper deck cabins have French doors. Bedding is European-style with duvets and feather pillows, but synthetic materials are available upon request.
As of 2008, there is no smoking inside any Deilmann vessels. Smoking is only allowed on deck.
Post processing:
PhotoShop Elements 5: increased midtones, sharpened, posterized, canvas filter
Please don't use this image on websites, blogs or other media without my explicit permission. If you wish to use this image, please, contact me through flickrmail or at vicenc.feliu@gmail.com. © All rights reserved...
On Explore! No. 64 @ 478. Thanks, my friends!!!
Krewe of Zulu Mardi Gras Parade, 2009. New Orleans Louisiana.
Early in 1909, a group of laborers who had organized a club named "The Tramps," went to the Pythian Theater to see a musical comedy performed by the Smart Set. The comedy included a skit entitled, "There Never Was and Never Will Be a King Like Me," about the Zulu Tribe...
That is how Zulu began, as the many stories go...
Years of extensive research by Zulu's Historian staff seem to indicate that Zulu's beginning was much more complicated than that. The earliest signs of organization came from the fact that the majority of these men belonged to a Benevolent Aid Society. Benevolent Societies were the first forms of insurance in the Black community where, for a small amount of dues, members received financial help when sick or financial aid when burying deceased members.
Conversations and interviews with older members also indicate that in that era the city was divided into wards, and each ward had its own group or "Club." The Tramps were one such group. After seeing the skit, they retired to their meeting place (a room in the rear of a restaurant/bar in the 1100 block of Perdido Street), and emerged as Zulus. This group was probably made up of members from the Tramps, the Benevolent Aid Society and other ward-based groups.
While the "Group" marched in Mardi Gras as early as 1901, their first appearance as Zulus came in 1909, with William Story as King.
From: www.kreweofzulu.com/Krewe-Of-Zulu/History-Of-the-Zulu-Soc...
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Red Fox focusing in on another vole...
To see more pics from this day and other fox photos please check out my album entitled "foxes" at www.flickr.com/photos/black_cat_photography/albums/721577...
All comments regarding this picture, subject, composition, etc are welcome and appreciated. TIA.
From my set entitled “Steve and Marg’s Farm”
www.flickr.com/photos/21861018@N00/sets/72157608031549391/
In my collection entitled
www.flickr.com/photos/21861018@N00/collections/7215760074...
In my photostream
www.flickr.com/photos/21861018@N00/
My brother, Stephen Pallett, has farmed near the south shore of Lake Simcoe for close to fifty years: poultry, pigs, beef and an assortment of field crops. Over the years he has served as an area councillor and was on the board of the conservation authority. Currently, he is vice president of the Red Barn Theatre in Jackson's Point, and also serves as chair for the committee of adjustment for the Town of Georgina. Another of his activities has been the annual bird count.
Reproduced from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harrow_(tool)
In agriculture, a set of harrows is an implement for cultivating the surface of the soil. In this way it is distinct in its effect from the plough, which is used for deeper cultivation. They are commonly called harrows (plural) as they are used as a set. There are nominally three types of harrows; disc (disk), tine and chain.
Harrows were originally horse-drawn. In modern practice they are almost always tractor-mounted implements, drawn after the tractor, either trailed or mounted on the three-point linkage.
Harrowing is often carried out on fields to follow the rough finish left by ploughing operations. The purpose of this harrowing is generally to break up clods and lumps of soil and to provide a finer finish, a good tilth or soil structure that is suitable for seeding and planting operations. Such coarser harrowing may also be used to remove weeds and to cover seed after sowing.
In cooler climates the most common types are the disc harrow, the chain harrow, the tine harrow or spike harrow and the spring tine harrow. Chain harrows are often used for lighter work such as levelling the tilth or covering seed, while disc harrows are typically used for heavy work, such as following ploughing to break up the sod. In addition, there are various types of power harrow, in which the cultivators are power-driven from the tractor rather than depending on its forward motion.
Tine harrows are used to refine seed-bed condition before planting, to remove small weeds in growing crops and to loosen the inter-row soils to allow for water to soak into the subsoil.
Chain harrowing may be used on pasture land to spread out dung, and to break up dead material (thatch) in the sward, and similarly in sports-ground maintenance a light chain harrowing is often used to level off the ground after heavy use, to remove and smooth out boot marks and indentations. When used on tilled land in combination with the other two types, chain harrowing rolls the remaining larger clumps of soil to the surface where the weather will break them down and prevent interference with seed germination.
All three harrow types can be used in one pass to prepare the soil for seeding. It is also common to used any combination of two harrows for a variety of tilling processes. Where harrowing provides a very fine tilth, or the soil is very light so that it might easily be wind-blown, a roller is often added as the last of the set.
Harrows may be of several types and weights, depending on the intended purpose. They almost always consist of a rigid frame to which are attached discs, teeth, linked chains or other means of cultivation, but tine and chain harrows are often only supported by a rigid towing-bar at the front of the set.
In the southern hemisphere the so-called giant discs are a specialised kind of disc harrows that can stand in for a plough in very rough country where a mouldboard plough will not handle the tree-stumps and rocks, and a disc-plough is too slow (because of its limited number of discs). Giant discs are scalloped-edged discs operated in a set, or frame, that is often weighted with concrete or steel blocks to improve penetration of the cutting edges. This sort of cultivation is normally immediately followed by broadcast fertilisation and seeding, rather than drilled or row seeding.
A drag is a heavy harrow.
In Europe, harrows were first used in the early Middle Ages.
The following text is taken from the Household Cyclopedia of 1881:
"When employed to reduce a strong obdurate soil, not more than two harrows should be yoked together, because they are apt to ride and tumble upon each other, and thus impede the work, and execute it imperfectly. On rough soils, harrows ought to be driven as fast as the horses can walk; because their effect is in the direct proportion to the degree of velocity with which they are driven. In ordinary cases, and in every case where harrowing is meant for covering the seed, three harrows are the best yoke, because they fill up the ground more effectually and leave fewer vacancies, than when a smaller number is employed. The harrowman's attention, at the seed process, should be constantly directed to prevent these implements from riding upon each other, and to keep them clear of every impediment from stones, lumps of earth, or clods, and quickens or grass roots; for any of these prevents the implement from working with perfection, and causes a mark or trail upon the surface, always unpleasing to the eye, and generally detrimental to the vegetation of the seed. Harrowing is usually given in different directions, first in length, then across, and finally in length as at first. Careful husbandmen study, in the finishing part of the process, to have the harrows drawn in a straight line, without suffering the horses to go in a zigzag manner, and are also attentive that the horses enter fairly upon the ridge, without making a curve at the outset. In some instances, an excess of harrowing has been found very prejudicial to the succeeding crop; but it is always necessary to give so much as to break the furrow, and level the surface, otherwise the operation is imperfectly performed."
Post processing:
Topaz: detail (HDR)
PhotoShop Elements 5: straighten, light balance, multiply, posterization, ink outlines
Mural entitled "Wolfberries" by Key Detail aka @keydetail for Kotis Street Art, seen on the wall of the Family Dollar Store at 1318 Lees Chapel Road in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Drone photo by James aka @urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.
Edit by Teee.
I used to think that people just went for a walk in the woods. Bill Bryson went for a walk in the woods – he walked large chunks of the Appalachian Trail with his dissolute friend Stephen Katz, in the suitably entitled “A Walk in the Woods.” Bears, hypothermia, shotgun wielding hillbillies, and most frighteningly of all, people who wanted to talk about hiking gear weren’t enough to put him off - although they frightened me a bit. I myself have twice walked pretty much the entire length of the east bank of Loch Lomond, twenty miles or more along a heavily wooded section of the West Highland Way. The most brutal section of the entire long distance trail in my opinion - but also possibly the most rewarding. Despite the occasional break through open ground where the mountains filled the backdrop to the opposite bank, I definitely felt that I was having a walk in the woods. Miles from anyone, with the exception of a few other long distance hikers gradually making their way north.
But it seems that I was wrong. Now I’ve learned that what we’ve all been doing is having a bath of sorts. We’ve been forest bathing in fact. Amble along peaceably, stop and cuddle the odd oak here and there, feel the love and then be interviewed by an outdoorsy type of celebrity for a spot on Countryfile. “Outdoorsy” didn’t cause the spellchecker to go into overdrive by the way. Who knew? I’ve always been suspicious of passing fads – terrified that I might stroll through a forest and bump into Gwyneth Paltrow hugging a Horse Chestnut or Will Young baring his soul to a Beech. But what I do find rather soothing is the sound of endless birdsong and the gentle rustle of life somewhere up in the canopy. There’s nothing quite like it. It seems I’ve been in the bath too – it’s just that I never realised that’s what I was doing. I’d better not accidentally bump into Paltrow as it seems that can turn out to be a rather expensive thing to do based on recent events.
Like many of you, each year I produce a calendar using images from the adventures of the last twelve months, and rather than simply compiling twelve shots from the September adventures in Iceland, I prefer each month to be represented by an image taken at the appropriate time. It’s not something I’ll ever be bothered to try and do commercially though, so sorry I can’t take orders – besides which yours is probably far better anyway. Just a dozen or so for family and a few close friends. A few days ago we turned over from Madeira in March to April’s feature and remembered that it’s almost a year since Ali and I took the van to the New Forest to do some forest bathing of our own. I’d forgotten how much I liked this picture. It was one that I’d intended to share at the time but somehow never did. On a still sunny afternoon, one of those when you knew that spring had truly arrived, we took a long circuit through the Ashurst Forest towards the heath, stopping here to enjoy the silence and snaffle a ration or two. Neither Paltrow nor Young appeared to be present, and nor did anyone else for that matter, famous or otherwise.
Of course I’d taken the camera with me, and the long lens did exactly what I hoped it would, eliminating the sky and blurring the background as I focused on the nearest subject. I tried a few compositions, but having the space filled with brown trunks against the yellow floor and the leading subject somewhere around the left hand third seemed the most pleasing version to me. Woodland photography is so often a struggle, but here it seemed simple enough with the regular forms before me disappearing softly into the distance, and the odd spring of fresh green growth to gatecrash the colour scheme.
And what better place to take a dip than in one of the most famous baths in the nation? Room for plenty of people to find their inner wotsit as they search around in the deep end for the soap and the loofah. A space in which to switch off and drop out for a while. Not that we were exactly over exerting ourselves in the first place of course. We’re retired and enjoying the golden years after all. But then again, there’s always another slow lane in which to ease down a gear, put up our feet and watch the rest of the world race by.
This is a bronze artwork entitled "Ikaro fallen" (...or loosely translated as Fallen Angel) created by the Polish contemporary artist Igor Mitoraj. It is displayed at the foot of the even more famous Leaning Tower of Pisa, as part of the exhibition ANGELS, among the events celebrating the 950th anniversary of the laying of the foundation stone of the Cathedral of Pisa. It's the first time a contemporary artist is hosted in the Square of Miracles.
The exhibition "ANGELS" (May 17, 2014 - April 12, 2015) includes about a hundred pieces of work: monumental works, bronzes, iron casts and marble sculptures, as well as fifty plaster casts and some paintings, a lesser known side of the artist’s production, created in recent years.
This angel sculpture was facing the Leaning Tower, and it was somewhat challenging for me to get both the angel and the Leaning Tower into one single image, without sacrificing some of the important details. Eventually I decided to skip the Tower and instead took this photo of the front of this angel, which shows the exquisite details of Igor's artwork.
Taken next to the Leaning Tower at The Square of Miracles, Pisa, Tuscany, Italy, as part of a series of shore excursions during my Mediterranean cruise in 2014
Or I could entitle this image making an HDR image from a single RAW image. As my comment for the image title indicates, there were really two things on my mind with this image. The first was just composing this image, using some of the ridges and valley to kind of funnel the view to that one mountain peak of the Eldorado Massif off in the distance. I felt funneling the view best highlighted the setting with the clouds seemingly surrounding and hugging the mountainside. The second part was the large dynamic range when capturing this image and metering it properly with the highlighted areas in the clouds caught in the morning sunlight and the more shadowed in midtone areas across the mountainside off in the distance as well as the valley below. As initially processed the image the RAW image, I was kind of disappointed in trying to bring out the dynamic range captured. It was then I remembered how Aurora HDR Pro could use one single RAW image and bring out an HDR one that I could then export as a TIFF image. I then finished the final processing in Capture NX2
A very, very long time ago I posted a shot entitled Emergence (flic.kr/p/2hWPoqh). In it I gave a brief overview of the South Chicago and Indiana Harbor Railway. I haven't paid hardly any attention to the Short Line since then, inflicted with yet another case of "don't pay attention to what's in my backyard" syndrome. But recently I've been realizing how much I've missed out on by not paying much attention to the railroad.
Flash forward to about a month ago, I heard the strangest claim that these guys had stored all their power with little chance of taking them out, which led me to investigate them around the same time I started looking for B09, another recent way-late-to-the-party instance.
Thankfully, it didn't take very long to realize that my assumption was correct in this certainly NOT being the case.
These guys are the absolute last thing I'd expect to see moving around on a Saturday morning, but to prove me wrong, here is the railroad's own #31 dropping down to street level with three coil cars for eventual forwarding to the BRC right across the NS from here. It goes without saying that the lead pictured here, which heads west into the railroad's dinky yard and shops in the East Side neighborhood of South Chicago, has become quite jungly as of late.
With all of that being said, I've began looking for these guys as much as I humanly can with daylight rapidly dwindling day to day. Expect much much more of them, along with some very long descriptions of the history and operations of this fascinating railroad.
Mural entitled "Electric Paradise" by Nate Dee aka @miaminate, seen at 2200 NW 1st Avenue in the Wynwood Arts District of Miami, Florida.
Photo by James aka Urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.
Edit by Teee
(Continuation of story which begins with the first upload entitled Portugal)
We took the ferry across the Straits of Gibraltar and when we entered the city of Tangiers, a whole new exotic world opened before our eyes. I had first seen Moorish architecture in the Algarve. In the beginning, this landscape can appear foreboding and menacing. Later it becomes mysterious and welcoming.
The street signs were all in French and Arabic. Not really a surprise, but I was once again reminded of my poor language skills. Helping Marvin navigate would be difficult for me, but I conjured up some bold confidence that worked for a short while.
It was still early in the afternoon so we decided to press on to Fez and spend the night there. Soon we were in the middle of an open road with no towns in sight. That was a rather welcome sight. Navigation was easier I thought but then remembered that we had no local currency. I mentioned this to Marvin and he brushed off the fact saying that surely a town would appear soon where we could exchange money.
The day went along and no towns appeared on the horizon. The sun was quickly going down in the sky. The arrow of the fuel gauge had also dipped dangerously low. In the age of no international credit cards this was a very serious problem as we had read that the Moroccans would only do business in dirhams.
Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a man on a motorcycle pull up along side our car. He was smiling and waving. He began to speak and when he did his first question was, “Are the two of you Americans?” I was dumbfounded. We were in a Volkswagen with Portuguese license plates. We had been away from America so long we had almost forgotten that we were Americans. How did he know?
He continued to yell and screamed that he loved Americans because his brother had gone to school in America and we were very kind to him. He asked where we were staying and we shook our heads. I then blurted out that we had failed to get dirhams and that we were low on gas.
He screamed back to follow him and he would help us. Soon we were pulling into a gas station and we could talk in a normal tone. His brother owned the gas station but our new friend would pay for our tank to be filled up. We could repay him the following morning after we exchanged currency. We then followed him to a lovely hotel and said good-bye until the morning. It was our first of many warm experiences with Muslim hospitality.
The image is of the oldest medina in the world at Fez. It was named a United Nations World Heritage site just before we visited there.
Scala dei turchi - Sicilia
Explore 19.09.2013 #498
Thank you everyone!!!
www.facebook.com/pages/Beadele-Photography-and-Imaging/11...
Questa foto fa parte di un progetto fotografico dal titolo " siamo minuscoli"
Se ti intessa seguirlo guarda il set e questo bel sito in cui mi hanno dedicato una stupenda recensione
This photo is included in a photographic project entitled "We are minuscule"
Look at the set and this beautiful page where is a wonderful review
www.bestselected.it/elisabetta_dalolio_gallery.html
www.flickr.com/photos/47015106@N05/sets/72157635852661244/
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Mural entitled "Dadstrength" by Joe Miller aka @thejoemiller seen on the wall of the North Flats Apartments at Honore & North Avenue in the Wicker Park area of Chicago Illinois. The mural depicts the artist's brother and niece.
Drone photo by James aka Urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.
Edit by Teee
Mural entitled "Bullets for a Fool" by Gus Cutty aka @guscutty, seen at 15 Gill Street in Asheville, North Carolina.
Photo by James aka @urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.
Edit by Teee
Mural entitled "The Ascension" by Candy Kuo aka @itscandykuo for Paint Memphis 2021, seen at 660 South B.B. King Boulevard in Memphis, Tennessee.
Drone photo by James aka Urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.
Edit by Teee
The Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center is a convention center located in Long Beach, California. Built on the former site of the Long Beach Municipal Auditorium; the venue is composed of the Long Beach Convention Center, Long Beach Arena and the Long Beach Performing Arts Center.
Long Beach Arena was the first building to be completed in the complex. Capacities are as follows: 11,200 for hockey, 13,609 for basketball and either 4,550, 9,200 or 13,500 for concerts, depending on the seating arrangement.
The arena has hosted various entertainment and professional and college sporting events, most notably the volleyball events of the 1984 Summer Olympic Games.
For trade shows, the arena features 46,000 square feet (4300 m2) of space, with an additional 19,000 square feet (1800 m2) of space in the lobby and 29,000 square feet (2700 m2) in the concourse. Hanging from the arena's 77 foot (23 m) high ceiling is a center-hung scoreboard with four White Way "Mega Color" Animation Screens. There is an 11 by 15 foot SACO Smartvision LED Wall located on the south end of the arena.
The arena was the site of the first NHL game involving a 1967 expansion team, as the Los Angeles Kings and the Philadelphia Flyers, both expansion teams, played on October 14, 1967, the Kings won 4–2. The Kings played in Long Beach for the first half of their expansion season while The Forum was being completed.
In the 1970s, the arena hosted several games of the Los Angeles Sharks, of the WHA and regular appearances of the Los Angeles Thunderbirds roller derby team. The Grateful Dead played the arena on December 15th, 1972; the first of 13 concerts there through 1988.
In 1980–81 the arena was also home to the California Surf of the North American Soccer League for one season of indoor soccer.
The arena was home to the former Long Beach Ice Dogs team, which played professional ice hockey in the IHL, WCHL and ECHL. The Ice Dogs ceased operations of the team in 2007.
The Eagles performed during a benefit concert for California Senator Alan Cranston on July 31, 1980, on what has been described as "Long Night at Wrong Beach".Tempers boiled over as Glenn Frey and Don Felder spent the entire show telling each other about the beating each planned to administer backstage. "Only three more songs until I kick your ass, pal," Frey recalls Felder telling him near the end of the band's set.Felder recalls Frey making a similar threat to him during "Best of My Love"."We're out there singing ‘Best of My Love', but inside both of us are thinking, 'As soon as this is over, I'm gonna kill him,' " recalled Frey. The animosity purportedly developed as a result of Felder's response of "You're welcome – I guess" to Senator Cranston as he was thanking the band for doing the benefit for his reelection. A live recording of their song "Life in the Fast Lane" from this show was included on their live album, entitled Eagles Live. This marked their final live performance, as The Eagles, for 14 years, until April 25, 1994.
Iron Maiden performed four consecutive shows during their World Slavery Tour on March 14–17, 1985. The show on the 15th was recorded and released as a double live-album, entitled Live After Death.
The arena was also one of the sites of the 1986 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship Rounds of 64 and 32. The teams, which played at the arena, included Maryland, Pepperdine & UNLV. Maryland's Len Bias played his final collegiate game at the arena on March 14, 1986, in a loss to UNLV in the Round of 32. The arena was also the site of the Big West Conference men's basketball tournament from 1989 to 1993. It was the home court for Long Beach State's men's basketball team for several seasons in the 1970s and 1980s.
Run–D.M.C. performed during their Raising Hell Tour on August 17, 1986, with Whodini, LL Cool J, The Beastie Boys and The Timex Social Club as their opening act. The show made news worldwide when gang fights broke out between the Long Beach-based Insane Crips and the Los Angeles based Rollin 60's Crips within the audience, with 42 reported injuries during the incident.
From 2009 to 2016, the FIRST Robotics Competition Los Angeles Regional was held at the Long Beach Arena.
On July 1 and 2, 2017, the arena hosted New Japan Pro-Wrestling's G1 Special in USA shows, which marked the company's first independently promoted shows in the United States.
The arena will host handball during the 2028 Summer Olympics.
A mural entitled "The Collector" painted by artist Josh Keyes in 2015 for the "Forest For The Trees" project.
Mural entitled "Ascending" by INSANE 51 aka @insance51 for Bright Walls 2022, seen at 175 West Pearl Street in Jackson, Michigan,
Photo by James aka Urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.
Edit by Teee.
This the best rendition of the painting I have at this time even with hours of photoshopping. If I get a better image, I'll update this. Here are the Emails we exchanged:
I received this Email 051609
Dear Mr. Strain,
My name is Elizabeth R. My mother had one of your paintings entitled "There Is A Boy Who Loves Me". When she passed away in 1996, the painting was given to her sister who lives in Dallas, Texas. She has the painting hanging in her den and I told her I would do some research regarding the artist. And I looked you up on the internet.
The painting was done in 1968. You have signed it on the front and there is a letter attached to the back of the painting. I think my mother may have purchased this piece of art while she was living in Corpus. She had it on an easel for as long as I can remember. She lived in Victoria, Texas and that is where I was born. She loved the painting and I can just see it right now.
I thought maybe you could tell me something about the painting. My aunt is 85 years old and is not able to remove it from the wall unless she has help.
I would like to know if the painting is an original or a print? there is not a number in the right hand corner of the painting; just your signature.
I will do more research on the painting but if you could email me any more information regarding this piece of art, I would surely appreciate it.
Thank you so very much. I surely did enjoy enjoy reading your biography. I am presently living near LG, Texas.
Elizabeth R.
The same day, I got another Email from Elizabeth:
Dear Strain,
I just spoke with my aunt and she did tell me the contents of the letter that came with the watercolor and ink painting.
It says that you came upon a young lady in the road and all she said was that there is a boy who loves me. She is wearing a white dress and she is barefoot and she has long hair and there is a house in the background.. I am sure you will remember this painting and maybe give me more information.
Thank you again.
Elizabeth R.
The same day, I sent this response to Elizabeth:
Hi Elizabeth ... I just don't remember the picture. I do remember the title. I traveled a lot into Mexico when I was working in the Rio Grande Valley and I was much intrigued with the responses of the more primitive poverty stricken people of La Frontera. I do remember a little girl saying that to me in Spanish. I smiled and thought she didn't know what to say to a stranger, so she just said the most important thing in her life that day. I did a number of versions as I recall. The actual incident took place as I was driving south from Mier toward Reynosa on the Mexican side. The little girl (grade school, perhaps third grade) was standing on the school ground of a most unusually shaped school building. I stopped to sketch and she came up to watch. That was the only thing she said, although I tried to talk to her. Later I used her as a person standing in front of an unusual home I sketched in Falfurrias, Tx.
I think if I could see even a poor grade photograph of the watercolor, I'd be able to tell you all about it. What your aunt has is an original, because I never went into the print business. If it's the watercolor I did of the little girl in front of the original school where I met her, I think it's one of my better watercolors and your mother paid a whopping price for those years probably as much as $60 to $75 ... LOL ... If I could get a good resolution photograph of it, I'd love to put it on my sebsite.
I'm doing almost entirely computer art now and having a ball. As you probably know, my website is www.billstrain.com and my main thing going now is the first selection on that site with the word Flickr in it. That's where I do a daily blog of art, humor and narrative. I have as many of my old originals on the Flickrsite as anywhere under the set name of "Blasts from the Past."
I look forward to hearing from you. You might want to change my Email to bill.strain@yahoo.com. That's where I get most of my mail. This address is the old original one that we set up with the old website. Thanks for you inquiry and ..
Best wishes from Sherry and Bill in Kerrville
Still on the 16th, this Email from Elizabeth:
Hi Bill,
Thank you so much for your reply. I read your email to my aunt, who does not own a computer and never will, and she gave me a more detailed description of the painting. there is a one story house in the background and to the left of the house appears some black crosses maybe 5; look like crosses. then the little girl is standing on some stones and there appears to be more stones that could have been from a stone wall. She says the colors are magnificent!!! she just loves the painting.
She has a friend who will be returning to town around the 25th and he will come over and take a picture of it digitally and he can email you a picture. Then perhaps you will remember the painting. She is thrilled that I heard from you and will be glad to have her friend take a picture. I am thrilled that it is an original.
My aunt had it put into a different frame and she sees it every day all day when she is in her den. She acquired the painting about 11 years ago.
Thank you so much for the information and you will be hearing from me when her friend can send you the photo.
Have a great weekend.
Elizabeth R.
Then this Email came from Paul, actually 3 Emails each with a different JPEG of the watercolor. It was from these three JPEGs I got the image posted. I'll keep this updated until we get the best results we're going to. So another magic "BLAST FROM THE PAST" ... lol
From Paul: Sorry for the reflection. I couldn't see it until I got home and downloaded them onto my computer.
I'm sending the three best. Will try again, but am traveling till next week.... Have Jean remind me when I get back.
Sending them separately.
Paul
Here's my Email to Elizabeth after I saw the painting and was able to remember it:
Hi Elizabeth,
I got three photographs from Paul and he will try for more quality when he returns from a business trip. I worked a couple of hours trying to restore the color and detail, but the reflections were too strong.
That IS the primary painting I remember. I conisder it one of the top twenty paintings I've ever done. And that's the school I told you about and a caricature of the young gangly girl I talked to that day. I felt pretty special that she had shared with me something she probably didn't even share with her parents ... LOL ... for fear they'd cut off the possibility of a friendship with the boy.
I have an 13 x 18 inch scanner and could scan that watercolor without taking it out of the frame, if anyone is ever in the Kerrville area. I can't remember the size of the actualy painting, but I could do it in two or three scans and then patch it together and provide you with a CD and the potential for having prints made for the family or anyone you wanted to give them to.
If Paul is able to get a better quality photograph, I'll put it on my Flickrsite and add it to the "Blasts from the past" set and that one really is a blast from the past. On my website with my conventional art I have a publication "Nueces District Clerk's Journal" or something to that effect and a similar composition is in black and white on the cover. Also from the same era is one I called "Coronado's Child" of a little boy sitting on the edge of where a sidewalk ends in front of an abaondoned old church in Mier, Mexico. During those years I did a lot of sketching up and down the Rio Grande, Camargo, Mier, Rio Grande City, Roma, San Ignacio and even up to Laredo.
Well, it's been a hoot and I thank you for making it possible...grin. I'll wait for Paul's next effort and we'll talk some more.
Best wishes and ...
Love from Sherry and Bill