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there were multiple inspirations for this creation..
the design is from an osho tartot card of the same name..i actually tried to recreate ths earlier in my stream with a baby in the lotus flower instead..it was not very good.. hence the re-do
and so i decided that i would 'bare all' so to speak and do a selfie ( actually i am wearing shorts that i edited out) mostly because i have been thinking about the belief that some people have about being modest.. and that somehow showing skin makes you a "whore" and is not right in the eyes of Divine..
i wholeheartedly disagree with this viewpoint...
and so this is my expression of my belief that nakedness is next to Godliness.. and that repression of the natural energies is what causes all forms of sexual dysfunction including all fetishes and rape..
having said that.. again.. i am not saying i want to walk around naked and post naked pictures on flickr.. because we don't live in a utopian world.. i'll stay happy and free enough with my tank tops and shorts.
:)
also have to mention cate loughran for inspiring me with her beautiful night life, photo based series
Life is a tenuous series of moments, each glowing for but a second, no matter what your fridge tells you.
Check this shot out at Snaps Magazine!
I am worried about what mankind is doing to our habitats. Please don't be so cruel. Save us and Save yourselves!!!
Mrs Mail said I should photograph some fungi growing in the footpath near our house.
I doubt this is edible and they often grow around the grass in the unstettled weather.
It is about 50mm o 2 inchs across.
A U.S Navy DC-3. Marooned on the black sand beaches of Iceland's southern shore.
Shot on a Nikon FM, with Kodak Ektar, and a Nikkor 24mm f2.0.
Squaring the circle is a problem proposed by ancient geometers. It is the challenge of constructing a square with the same area as a given circle by using only a finite number of steps with compass and straightedge. More abstractly and more precisely, it may be taken to ask whether specified axioms of Euclidean geometry concerning the existence of lines and circles entail the existence of such a square.
In 1882, the task was proven to be impossible, as a consequence of the Lindemann–Weierstrass theorem which proves that pi (π) is a transcendental, rather than an algebraic irrational number; that is, it is not the root of any polynomial with rational coefficients.
It was a harsh existence for a while....we had to tape diapers on or they'd be peeled off. Diaper bag included duct tape, diapers, scissors and wipes. I alienated alot of friends who had kids in diapers. My kids taught their kids how to get nakey. You've never seen a pool party until there are about 12 kids with duct taped diapers.
St. Andrew's Church and the Hopper Mausoleum, located in Gretmare Hill, Shotley, Northumberland, England, hold significant historical and architectural value. Let's explore their history in detail.
St. Andrew's Church:
St. Andrew's Church is an ancient parish church that has stood on the grounds of Gretmare Hill for centuries. The exact date of its construction is uncertain, but it is believed to have been founded in the 12th century. The church is dedicated to St. Andrew, one of the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ. Its historical significance lies in its connection to the local community and its architectural features.
Early History:
The early history of St. Andrew's Church is somewhat obscure, with limited documented records available. However, the Norman architectural style of the church suggests that it might have been built during the Norman period, which spanned from the late 11th to the early 12th century. This architectural style is characterized by features such as rounded arches and small windows.
Architectural Features:
St. Andrew's Church exhibits various architectural features that have evolved over time. The church originally consisted of a nave, chancel, and a simple tower. However, as the village of Gretmare Hill grew, so did the church. Over the centuries, several additions and alterations were made to accommodate the increasing population. The church now includes an extended nave, a south aisle, and a larger tower.
The architectural style of the church has undergone changes reflecting different historical periods. The original Norman features blend with Gothic elements that were added during the medieval period. The pointed arches, ribbed vaults, and decorative tracery in the windows are characteristic of Gothic architecture.
Historical Significance:
St. Andrew's Church has played a vital role in the religious and social life of the local community throughout its existence. It served as a place of worship, a gathering point for the community, and witnessed various important events over the centuries. The church was the venue for weddings, baptisms, and funerals, which were essential milestones in the lives of the villagers.
During the turbulent periods of English history, the church often became a site of refuge and protection. In times of war or conflict, villagers sought shelter within the church walls. This historical aspect adds to the significance of St. Andrew's Church as a symbol of community resilience.
Restoration Efforts:
As with many ancient buildings, St. Andrew's Church required maintenance and restoration to preserve its architectural integrity. In the late 19th century, a restoration project was undertaken to repair the deteriorated parts of the church and enhance its aesthetic appeal. The restoration work aimed to revive the original Norman and Gothic features while accommodating the needs of a modern congregation.
Hopper Mausoleum:
Adjacent to St. Andrew's Church stands the Hopper Mausoleum, a striking structure with its unique design and historical context. The mausoleum is closely associated with the Hopper family, prominent landowners in the area.
Origins and Construction:
The Hopper Mausoleum was built in the early 19th century as a final resting place for members of the Hopper family. It was constructed in the neoclassical architectural style, which was popular during the period. Neoclassical architecture draws inspiration from ancient Greek and Roman styles, emphasizing symmetry, proportion, and classical motifs.
Architectural Features:
The mausoleum is an octagonal structure with a central domed roof and columns around its perimeter. The columns are topped with Corinthian capitals, which are characterized by intricate acanthus leaf designs. The exterior of the mausoleum is adorned with decorative details, including friezes and reliefs.
Inside the mausoleum, there are marble plaques and tombs marking the burial places of the Hopper family members. The intricate craftsmanship and attention to detail reflect the importance attributed to the mausoleum as a memorial for the family.
Hopper Family Legacy:
The Hopper family had deep roots in the local community and were known for their contributions to the area. They were respected landowners and benefactors, involved in various charitable endeavors. The construction of the mausoleum was a testament to their prominence and wealth.
The mausoleum served as a site for mourning and remembrance, allowing the family to honor their deceased loved ones and perpetuate their legacy. It also provided a tangible connection between the Hopper family and the local community, as their contributions were remembered and celebrated.
Preservation and Conservation:
Like St. Andrew's Church, the Hopper Mausoleum required preservation and conservation efforts to ensure its long-term survival. The mausoleum has undergone restoration projects to stabilize its structure and preserve its architectural features. These initiatives have aimed to maintain the neoclassical design and protect the historical significance of the mausoleum.
In conclusion, St. Andrew's Church and the Hopper Mausoleum in Gretmare Hill, Shotley, Northumberland, England, have stood as enduring architectural landmarks for centuries. St. Andrew's Church represents the religious and social life of the local community throughout history, while the Hopper Mausoleum stands as a testament to the legacy of the influential Hopper family. These structures are not only valuable historical artifacts but also cherished symbols of the region's cultural heritage.
Northumberland is a ceremonial county in North East England, bordering Scotland. It is bordered by the Scottish Borders to the north, the North Sea to the east, Tyne and Wear and County Durham to the south, and Cumbria to the west. The town of Blyth is the largest settlement.
The county has an area of 5,013 km2 (1,936 sq mi) and a population of 320,274, making it the least-densely populated county in England. The south-east contains the largest towns: Blyth (37,339), Cramlington (27,683), Ashington (27,670), and Morpeth (14,304), which is the administrative centre. The remainder of the county is rural, and the largest towns are Berwick-upon-Tweed (12,043) in the far north and Hexham (13,097) in the west. For local government purposes the county is a unitary authority area. The county historically included the parts of Tyne and Wear north of the River Tyne.
The west of Northumberland contains part of the Cheviot Hills and North Pennines, while to the east the land becomes flatter before reaching the coast. The Cheviot (815 m (2,674 ft)), after which the range of hills is named, is the county's highest point. The county contains the source of the River North Tyne and much of the South Tyne; near Hexham they combine to form the Tyne, which exits into Tyne and Wear shortly downstream. The other major rivers in Northumberland are, from south to north, the Blyth, Coquet, Aln, Wansbeck and Tweed, the last of which forms part of the Scottish border. The county contains Northumberland National Park and two national landscapes: the Northumberland Coast and part of the North Pennines.
Much of the county's history has been defined by its position on a border. In the Roman era most of the county lay north of Hadrian's Wall, and the region was contested between England and Scotland into the Early Modern era, leading to the construction of many castles, peel towers and bastle houses, and the early modern fortifications at Berwick-upon-Tweed. Northumberland is also associated with Celtic Christianity, particularly the tidal island of Lindisfarne. During the Industrial Revolution the area had significant coal mining, shipbuilding, and armaments industries.
Northumberland, England's northernmost county, is a land where Roman occupiers once guarded a walled frontier, Anglian invaders fought with Celtic natives, and Norman lords built castles to suppress rebellion and defend a contested border with Scotland. The present-day county is a vestige of an independent kingdom that once stretched from Edinburgh to the Humber, hence its name, meaning literally 'north of the Humber'. Reflecting its tumultuous past, Northumberland has more castles than any other county in England, and the greatest number of recognised battle sites. Once an economically important region that supplied much of the coal that powered the industrial revolution, Northumberland is now a primarily rural county with a small and gradually shrinking population.
As attested by many instances of rock art, the Northumberland region has a rich prehistory. Archeologists have studied a Mesolithic structure at Howick, which dates to 7500 BC and was identified as Britain's oldest house until it lost this title in 2010 when the discovery of the even older Star Carr house in North Yorkshire was announced, which dates to 8770 BC. They have also found tools, ornaments, building structures and cairns dating to the bronze and iron ages, when the area was occupied by Brythonic Celtic peoples who had migrated from continental Europe, most likely the Votadini whose territory stretched from Edinburgh and the Firth of Forth to Northumberland. It is not clear where the boundary between the Votadini and the other large tribe, the Brigantes, was, although it probably frequently shifted as a result of wars and as smaller tribes and communities changed allegiances. Unlike neighbouring tribes, Votadini farms were surrounded by large walls, banks and ditches and the people made offerings of fine metal objects, but never wore massive armlets. There are also at least three very large hillforts in their territory (Yeavering Bell, Eildon Hill and Traprain Law, the latter two now in Scotland), each was located on the top of a prominent hill or mountain. The hillforts may have been used for over a thousand years by this time as places of refuge and as places for meetings for political and religious ceremonies. Duddo Five Stones in North Northumberland and the Goatstones near Hadrian's Wall are stone circles dating from the Bronze Age.
When Gnaeus Julius Agricola was appointed Roman governor of Britain in 78 AD, most of northern Britain was still controlled by native British tribes. During his governorship Agricola extended Roman control north of Eboracum (York) and into what is now Scotland. Roman settlements, garrisons and roads were established throughout the Northumberland region.
The northern frontier of the Roman occupation fluctuated between Pons Aelius (now Newcastle) and the Forth. Hadrian's Wall was completed by about 130 AD, to define and defend the northern boundary of Roman Britain. By 142, the Romans had completed the Antonine Wall, a more northerly defensive border lying between the Forth and Clyde. However, by 164 they abandoned the Antonine Wall to consolidate defences at Hadrian's Wall.
Two important Roman roads in the region were the Stanegate and Dere Street, the latter extending through the Cheviot Hills to locations well north of the Tweed. Located at the intersection of these two roads, Coria (Corbridge), a Roman supply-base, was the most northerly large town in the Roman Empire. The Roman forts of Vercovicium (Housesteads) on Hadrian's Wall, and Vindolanda (Chesterholm) built to guard the Stanegate, had extensive civil settlements surrounding them.
The Celtic peoples living in the region between the Tyne and the Forth were known to the Romans as the Votadini. When not under direct Roman rule, they functioned as a friendly client kingdom, a somewhat porous buffer against the more warlike Picts to the north.
The gradual Roman withdrawal from Britain in the 5th century led to a poorly documented age of conflict and chaos as different peoples contested territories in northern Britain.
Nearly 2000-year-old Roman boxing gloves were uncovered at Vindolanda in 2017 by the Vidolanda Trust experts led by Dr Andrew Birley. According to the Guardian, being similar in style and function to the full-hand modern boxing gloves, these two gloves found at Vindolanda look like leather bands date back to 120 AD. It is suggested that based on their difference from gladiator gloves warriors using this type of gloves had no purpose to kill each other. These gloves were probably used in a sport for promoting fighting skills. The gloves are currently displayed at Vindolanda's museum.
Conquests by Anglian invaders led to the establishment of the kingdoms of Deira and Bernicia. The first Anglian settlement was effected in 547 by Ida, who, accompanied by his six sons, pushed through the narrow strip of territory between the Cheviots and the sea, and set up a fortress at Bamburgh, which became the royal seat of the Bernician kings. About the end of the 6th century Bernicia was first united with the rival kingdom of Deira under the rule of Æthelfrith of Northumbria, and the district between the Humber and the Forth became known as the kingdom of Northumbria.
After Æthelfrith was killed in battle around 616, Edwin of Deira became king of Northumbria. Æthelfrith's son Oswald fled northwest to the Gaelic kingdom of Dál Riata where he was converted to Christianity by the monks of Iona. Meanwhile, Paulinus, the first bishop of York, converted King Edwin to Roman Christianity and began an extensive program of conversion and baptism. By his time the kingdom must have reached the west coast, as Edwin is said to have conquered the islands of Anglesey and Man. Under Edwin the Northumbrian kingdom became the chief power in Britain. However, when Cadwallon ap Cadfan defeated Edwin at Hatfield Chase in 633, Northumbria was divided into the former kingdoms of Bernicia and Deira and Christianity suffered a temporary decline.
In 634, Oswald defeated Cadwallon ap Cadfan at the Battle of Heavenfield, resulting in the re-unification of Northumbria. Oswald re-established Christianity in the kingdom and assigned a bishopric at Hexham, where Wilfrid erected a famous early English church. Reunification was followed by a period of Northumbrian expansion into Pictish territory and growing dominance over the Celtic kingdoms of Dál Riata and Strathclyde to the west. Northumbrian encroachments were abruptly curtailed in 685, when Ecgfrith suffered complete defeat by a Pictish force at the Battle of Nechtansmere.
When Saint Aidan came at the request of Oswald to preach to the Northumbrians he chose the island of Lindisfarne as the site of his church and monastery, and made it the head of the diocese which he founded in 635. For some years the see continued in peace, numbering among its bishops Saint Cuthbert, but in 793 Vikings landed on the island and burnt the settlement, killing many of the monks. The survivors, however, rebuilt the church and continued to live there until 883, when, through fear of a second invasion of the Danes, they fled inland, taking with them the body of Cuthbert and other holy relics.
Against this background, the monasteries of Northumbria developed some remarkably influential cultural products. Cædmon, a monk at Whitby Abbey, authored one of the earliest surviving examples of Old English poetry some time before 680. The Lindisfarne Gospels, an early example of insular art, is attributed to Eadfrith, the bishop of Lindisfarne from 698 to 721. Stenton (1971, p. 191) describes the book as follows.
In mere script it is no more than an admirable example of a noble style, and the figure drawing of its illustrations, though probably based on classical models, has more than a touch of naïveté. Its unique importance is due to the beauty and astonishing intricacy of its decoration. The nature of its ornament connects it very closely with a group of Irish manuscripts of which the Book of Kells is the most famous.
Bede's writing, at the Northumbrian monasteries at Wearmouth and Jarrow, gained him a reputation as the most learned scholar of his age. His work is notable for both its breadth (encompassing history, theology, science and literature) and quality, exemplified by the rigorous use of citation. Bede's most famous work is Ecclesiastical History of the English People, which is regarded as a highly influential early model of historical scholarship.
The kingdom of Northumbria ceased to exist in 927, when it was incorporated into England as an earldom by Athelstan, the first king of a united England[citation needed].. In 937, Athelstan's victory over a combined Norse-Celtic force in the battle of Brunanburh secured England's control of its northern territory.
The Scottish king Indulf captured Edinburgh in 954, which thenceforth remained in possession of the Scots. His successors made repeated attempts to extend their territory southwards. Malcolm II was finally successful, when, in 1018, he annihilated the Northumbrian army at Carham on the Tweed, and Eadulf the earl of Northumbria ceded all his territory to the north of that river as the price of peace. Henceforth Lothian, consisting of the former region of Northumbria between the Forth and the Tweed, remained in possession of the Scottish kings.
The term Northumberland was first recorded in its contracted modern sense in 1065 in an entry in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle relating to a rebellion against Tostig Godwinson.
The vigorous resistance of Northumbria to William the Conqueror was punished by ruthless harrying, mostly south of the River Tees. As recounted by the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle:
A.D. 1068. This year King William gave Earl Robert the earldom over Northumberland; but the landsmen attacked him in the town of Durham, and slew him, and nine hundred men with him. Soon afterwards Edgar Etheling came with all the Northumbrians to York; and the townsmen made a treaty with him: but King William came from the South unawares on them with a large army, and put them to flight, and slew on the spot those who could not escape; which were many hundred men; and plundered the town. St. Peter's minster he made a profanation, and all other places also he despoiled and trampled upon; and the ethelling went back again to Scotland.
The Normans rebuilt the Anglian monasteries of Lindisfarne, Hexham and Tynemouth, and founded Norman abbeys at Newminster (1139), Alnwick (1147), Brinkburn (1180), Hulne, and Blanchland. Castles were built at Newcastle (1080), Alnwick (1096), Bamburgh (1131), Harbottle (1157), Prudhoe (1172), Warkworth (1205), Chillingham, Ford (1287), Dunstanburgh (1313), Morpeth, Langley (1350), Wark on Tweed and Norham (1121), the latter an enclave of the palatine bishops of Durham.
Northumberland county is not mentioned in the Domesday Survey, but the account of the issues of the county, as rendered by Odard the sheriff, is entered in the Great Roll of the Exchequer for 1131.
In 1237, Scotland renounced claims to Northumberland county in the Treaty of York.
During the reign of Edward I (1272–1307), the county of Northumberland was the district between the Tees and the Tweed, and had within it several scattered liberties subject to other powers: Durham, Sadberge, Bedlingtonshire, and Norhamshire belonging to the bishop of Durham; Hexhamshire to the archbishop of York; Tynedale to the king of Scotland; Emildon to the earl of Lancaster; and Redesdale to Gilbert de Umfraville, Earl of Angus. These franchises were exempt from the ordinary jurisdiction of the shire. Over time, some were incorporated within the county: Tynedale in 1495; Hexhamshire in 1572; and Norhamshire, Islandshire and Bedlingtonshire by the Counties (Detached Parts) Act 1844.
The county court for Northumberland was held at different times at Newcastle, Alnwick and Morpeth, until by statute of 1549 it was ordered that the court should thenceforth be held in the town and castle of Alnwick. Under the same statute the sheriffs of Northumberland, who had been in the habit of appropriating the issues of the county to their private use, were required thereafter to deliver in their accounts to the Exchequer in the same manner as the sheriffs of other counties.
From the Norman Conquest until the union of England and Scotland under James I and VI, Northumberland was the scene of perpetual inroads and devastations by the Scots. Norham, Alnwick and Wark were captured by David I of Scotland in the wars of Stephen's reign. In 1174, during his invasion of Northumbria, William I of Scotland, also known as William the Lion, was captured by a party of about four hundred mounted knights, led by Ranulf de Glanvill. This incident became known as the Battle of Alnwick. In 1295, Robert de Ros and the earls of Athol and Menteith ravaged Redesdale, Coquetdale and Tynedale. In 1314 the county was ravaged by king Robert Bruce. And so dire was the Scottish threat in 1382, that by special enactment the earl of Northumberland was ordered to remain on his estates to protect the border. In 1388, Henry Percy was taken prisoner and 1500 of his men slain at the battle of Otterburn, immortalised in the ballad of Chevy Chase.
Alnwick, Bamburgh and Dunstanburgh were garrisoned for the Lancastrian cause in 1462, but after the Yorkist victories of Hexham and Hedgley Moor in 1464, Alnwick and Dunstanburgh surrendered, and Bamburgh was taken by storm.
In September 1513, King James IV of Scotland was killed at the Battle of Flodden on Branxton Moor.
Roman Catholic support in Northumberland for Mary, Queen of Scots, led to the Rising of the North in 1569.
After uniting the English and Scottish thrones, James VI and I sharply curbed the lawlessness of the border reivers and brought relative peace to the region. There were Church of Scotland congregations in Northumberland in the 17th and 18th centuries.
During the Civil War of the 17th century, Newcastle was garrisoned for the king by the earl of Newcastle, but in 1644 it was captured by the Scots under the earl of Leven, and in 1646 Charles I was led there a captive under the charge of David Leslie.
Many of the chief Northumberland families were ruined in the Jacobite rebellion of 1715.
The mineral resources of the area appear to have been exploited to some extent from remote times. It is certain that coal was used by the Romans in Northumberland, and some coal ornaments found at Angerton have been attributed to the 7th century. In a 13th-century grant to Newminster Abbey a road for the conveyance of sea coal from the shore about Blyth is mentioned, and the Blyth coal field was worked throughout the 14th and 15th centuries. The coal trade on the Tyne did not exist to any extent before the 13th century, but from that period it developed rapidly, and Newcastle acquired the monopoly of the river shipping and coal trade. Lead was exported from Newcastle in the 12th century, probably from Hexhamshire, the lead mines of which were very prosperous throughout the 16th and 17th centuries. In a charter from Richard I to Hugh de Puiset creating him earl of Northumberland, mines of silver and iron are mentioned. A salt pan is mentioned at Warkworth in the 12th century; in the 13th century the salt industry flourished at the mouth of the river Blyth, and in the 15th century formed the principal occupation of the inhabitants of North and South Shields. In the reign of Elizabeth I, glass factories were set up at Newcastle by foreign refugees, and the industry spread rapidly along the Tyne. Tanning, both of leather and of nets, was largely practised in the 13th century, and the salmon fisheries in the Tyne were famous in the reign of Henry I.
John Smeaton designed the Coldstream Bridge and a bridge at Hexham.
Stephenson's Rocket
Invention of the steam turbine by Charles Algernon Parsons
the absence of evidence for extraterrestrial intelligence. For the type ofestimation problem, see Fermi problem. For the music album, see Fermi Paradox (album). For the short story, see The Fermi Paradox Is Our Business Model.A graphical representation of the Arecibo message – Humanity's first
attempt to use radio waves to actively communicate its existence to alien civilizations. The Fermi paradox (or Fermi's paradox) is the apparent contradiction between high estimates of the probability of the existence of extraterrestrial civilization and humanity's lack of contact with, or evidence for, such civilizations.[1] The basic points of the argument,
made by physicists Enrico Fermi and Michael H. Hart, are:
• The Sun is a young star. There are billions of stars in the galaxy that are billions of years older;• Some of these stars likely have Earth-like planets[2] which, if the Earth is typical, may develop intelligent life;• Presumably some of these civilizations will develop interstellar travel, as Earth seems likely to do;• At any practical pace of interstellar travel, the galaxy can be completely colonized in just a few tens of millions of years.According to this line of thinking, the Earth should have already been colonized, or at least visited. But no convincing evidence of this exists.Furthermore, no confirmed signs of intelligence elsewhere have been spotted, either in our galaxy or the more than 80 billion other galaxies of
the observable universe. Hence Fermi's question "Where is everybody?"
brainu.org/files/wikipedia_fermi_paradox_information.pdf
Frank Drake in 1961 in an attempt to find a systematic means to evaluate the numerous probabilities involved in the existence of alien life. The speculative equation considers the rate of star formation in the galaxy; the fraction of stars with planets and the number per star that are habitable; the fraction of those planets that develop life; the fraction that develop intelligent life; the fraction that have detectable, technological intelligent life; and finally the length of time such communicable civilizations are detectable. The fundamental problem is that the last four terms are completely unknown, rendering statistical estimates impossible.There are two parts of the Fermi paradox that rely on empirical evidence—that there are many potential habitable planets, and that we see no evidence of life. The first point, that many suitable planets exist, was an assumption in Fermi's time that is gaining ground with the discovery of many exoplanets, and models predicting billions of habitable worlds in our galaxy..The second part of the paradox, that we see no evidence of extraterrestrial life, is also an active field of scientific research. This includes both efforts to find any indication of life,[36] and efforts specifically directed to finding intelligent life. These searches have been made since 1960, and several are ongoing?Those who think that intelligent extraterrestrial life is (nearly) impossible argue that the conditions needed for the evolution of life—or at least the evolution of biological complexity—are rare or even unique to Earth. Under this assumption, called the rare Earth hypothesis, a rejection of the mediocrity principle, complex multicellular life is regarded as exceedingly unusual.The Rare Earth hypothesis argues that the evolution of biological complexity requires a host of fortuitous circumstances, such as a galactic habitable zone, a central star and planetary system having the requisite character, the circumstellar habitable zone, a right sized terrestrial planet, the advantage of a giant guardian like Jupiter and a large natural satellite, conditions needed to ensure the planet has a magnetosphere and plate tectonics, the chemistry of the lithosphere, atmosphere, and oceans, the role of "evolutionary pumps" such as massive glaciation and rare bolide impacts, and whatever led to the appearance of the eukaryote cell, sexual reproduction and the Cambrian explosion.This is the argument that technological civilizations may usually or invariably destroy themselves before or shortly after developing radio or spaceflight technology. Possible means of annihilation are many,[68] including war, accidental environmental contamination, or poorly designed artificial intelligence. This general theme is explored both in fiction and in scientific hypothesizing. In 1966, Sagan and Shklovskii speculated that technological civilizations will either tend to destroy themselves within a century of developing interstellar communicative capability or master their self-destructive tendencies and survive for billion-year timescales.Self-annihilation may also be viewed in terms of thermodynamics: insofar as life is an ordered system that can sustain itself against the tendency to disorder, the "external transmission" or interstellar communicative phase may be the point at which the system becomes unstable and self-destructs.Another hypothesis is that an intelligent species beyond a certain point of technological capability will destroy other intelligent species as they appear. The idea that something, or someone, might be destroying intelligent life in the universe has been explored in the scientific literature. A species might undertake such extermination out of expansionist motives, paranoia, or aggression. In 1981, cosmologist Edward Harrison argued that such behavior would be an act of prudence: an intelligent species that has overcome its own self-destructive tendencies might view any other species bent on galactic expansion as a threat It has also been suggested that a successful alien species would be a superpredator, as are humans.New life might commonly die out due to runaway heating or cooling on their fledgling planets.On Earth, there have been numerous major extinction events that destroyed the majority of complex species alive at the time; the extinction of the dinosaurs is the best known example. These are thought to have been caused by events such as impact from a large meteorite, massive volcanic eruptions, or astronomical events such as gamma-ray bursts.[76] It may be the case that such extinction events are common throughout the universe and periodically destroy intelligent life, or at least its civilizations, before the species is able to develop the technology to communicate with other species.
We who live under the so called luxurious dome with limitless facilities still don't realize what is out there. How "they" are spending each moment of their life. At the very age when they need to discover the meaning of life, learning about the essence surrounding them..... they are still fighting for a nip of happiness. Still they are starving. They even have to leave the basic need of education just to bear the expectation of their love one's on those soft shoulders. And i don't know when this situation will be solved.........
Abbreviated Existence.
Varanleg skuggar skjálfandi trefjar skip þyrlist,
Agorodd dychryn cnoi cerrig tafodau ofnau enfawr rholiau,
υπόκριση λοιμό απολιθωμένο κοιμάται μέσα διερευνηθούν,
erzürnte ergänzt schwarz Wahn Abgrund,
In ruina sepelit confusions inventa terribilis abyssus condemnans fletu,
рассуждения помещения наоборот природ гипотетические иллюстрации раздумывая,
todo performances trágicas histórias de probabilidade históricos distinções feridos,
consistente imitaties inferieure punten zwakheden heeft subjectieve geesten,
versi metafore strane licenza non prosaico effetti poetici giambici provocarono,
symbolique manifestations émanation intellect imprègne ordre de l'harmonie,
bukke prinsipper personlig universalitet etisk styrke fremtredende uavhengighet formet,
持続意識流体存在が流れて無駄な抑制熱意本格的快楽.
Steve.D.Hammond.
2002-08, 80x57 cm (31x22 inch)
Acryl auf Hartplatte
Without colors only a bleak existence.
1973. I had discovered front of the church facade a rusty cage in which a plant grew. A situation which impressed me and I made on the subject for painting.
2002. The fate of the cage I had earlier compared with that of a human. From now on, I painted pictures on the fate of colors.
Sans couleurs seulement une existence morne.
1973. Je découvrais devant l'église de Saint-Julien-le-Pauvre à Paris une cage rouillée, dans laquelle une plante poussait. Une situation qui m'a impressionné et je fait sur ce sujet des peintures.
2002. Le sort de la cage, je l'avais comparée à celle d'un humain. A partir de maintenant, je peignais des images sur le sort de couleurs.
Ohne Farben nur ein düsteres Dasein.
1973. Ich entdeckte vor der Kirche St. Julien-le-Pauvre in Paris einen rostigen Käfig, in dem eine Pflanze wuchs. Eine Situation, die mich beeindruckte und die ich zum Thema für Gemälde machte.
2002. Das Schicksal des Käfigs hatte ich früher mit dem eines Menschen verglichen. Ab jetzt malte ich Bilder über das Schicksal der Farben.
The Lion sculpture has had a very long and obscure history, probably starting its existence as a winged lion-griffin statue on a monument to the god Sandon at Tarsus in Cilicia about 300 BC.[3] The figure, which stands on the eastern column, at some point came to represent the Lion of Saint Mark, traditional symbol of Saint Mark the evangelist.
The Lion, in its present form, is a composite of different pieces of bronze created at very different times, building upon ancient "core" components. It has undergone extensive restoration and repair work at various times.
Scholarship over the last 200 years variously attributed the provenance of the most ancient parts of the statue to Assyria, Sassania, Greco-Bactria, medieval Venice, and various other times and places. Scientific and art historical studies in the 1980s, however, led to the conclusion that it was created between the end of the 4th and the beginning of the 3rd centuries BC somewhere in the Hellenistic Greek or Oriental Greek world. The original bronze figure, taken as a whole, was likely significantly different from the Lion of today; and, predating Christianity, would not have originally had any association with Saint Mark.
It is likely that the statue was assembled into something like its present form by or during the Medieval period. The earliest textual reference to the Lion is from 1293, when it is recorded as having been restored after long neglect.
( Wikipedia )
Sakharibazar, Old Dhaka, 2011
Normal people with extraordinary lifestyles
Along with smile and the gloomy, here life has its own rhyme, has its own colour.
Time passed by, humanity changed along with its history...
But these people remained here tolerating the hardest truth of existences
..........its their story of extraordinary existences.
Sakharibazar, Old Dhaka. A very interesting place for all of us to visit. Culture and customs of old Dhaka are the tribute to the ancient history of Bangladesh. Peoples still living in 100 years old building from generations after generations. With the reflection of their religious beauty Old Dhaka attracts peoples from here and abroad.
Shakhari Bazaar is one of the oldest mohallas (a traditional neighbourhood) in Puran Dhaka (Old Dhaka), located near the intersection of Islampur Road and Nawabpur Road;the two main arteries of the old city and only a block away from the Buriganga River. Shakhari Bazaar stretches along a narrow lane, lined with thin slices of richly decorated brick buildings, built during the late Mughal or Colonial period. Despite rampant modifications, accretion, extension over time, even redevelopment, many still bear the testimony of a rich tradition.
Shakhari Bazaar is the manifestation of the irrational policies, lack of adequate development control rules and distorted legal framework, all of which have left their indelible mark on this precious little mohalla that shares a long history of more than 400 years with Dhaka city itself.The history of Shakhari Bazaar goes back to the pre-Mughal days if not earlier. The first mention of Puran Dhaka can be found in the writings of Mirza Nathan, the general turned historian, who traveled with Subahdar Islam Khan. He mentioned Puran Dhaka, as the area between Dholai Khal and Buriganga river covering Shakhari Bazaar, Tanti Bazaar, Bangla Bazaar, Lakhsmi Bazaar, Bangla Bazaar, Kamar Nagar, Sutar Nagar, Goala Nagar, etc. Each mohalla belonged to separate communities depending on their craft and trade. The influences of the Mughal vocabulary in the planning of the spaces are literally evident in the use of Persian names to identify different spaces..
Yugoslavia was a country in Southeastern and Central Europe for most of the 20th century. It came into existence after World War I in 1918 under the name of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes by the merger of the provisional State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs (it was formed from territories of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire) with the Kingdom of Serbia, and constituted the first union of the South Slavic people as a sovereign state, following centuries in which the region had been part of the Ottoman Empire and Austria-Hungary. Peter I of Serbia was its first sovereign. The kingdom gained international recognition on 13 July 1922 at the Conference of Ambassadors in Paris. The official name of the state was changed to Kingdom of Yugoslavia on 3 October 1929.
Yugoslavia was invaded by the Axis powers on 6 April 1941. In 1943, a Democratic Federal Yugoslavia was proclaimed by the Partisan resistance. In 1944 King Peter II, then living in exile, recognised it as the legitimate government. The monarchy was subsequently abolished in November 1945. Yugoslavia was renamed the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia in 1946, when a communist government was established. It acquired the territories of Istria, Rijeka, and Zadar from Italy. Partisan leader Josip Broz Tito ruled the country as president until his death in 1980. In 1963, the country was renamed again, as the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY).
The six constituent republics that made up the SFRY were the SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, SR Croatia, SR Macedonia, SR Montenegro, SR Serbia, and SR Slovenia. Serbia contained two Socialist Autonomous Provinces, Vojvodina and Kosovo, which after 1974 were largely equal to the other members of the federation. After an economic and political crisis in the 1980s and the rise of nationalism, Yugoslavia broke up along its republics' borders, at first into five countries, leading to the Yugoslav Wars. From 1993 to 2017, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia tried political and military leaders from the former Yugoslavia for war crimes, genocide, and other crimes committed during those wars.
After the breakup, the republics of Montenegro and Serbia formed a reduced federative state, Serbia and Montenegro, known officially until 2003 as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY). This state aspired to the status of sole legal successor to the SFRY, but those claims were opposed by the other former republics. Eventually, it accepted the opinion of the Badinter Arbitration Committee about shared succession and in 2003 its official name was changed to Serbia and Montenegro. This state dissolved when Montenegro and Serbia each became independent states in 2006, while Kosovo proclaimed its independence from Serbia in 2008.
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s136a 7750 EncJu1962 Grbovi i zastave Zagreb MCMLXII 5 Jugos-Mak Enciklopedija Jugoslavije Izdanje i naklada Leksikografskog zavoda FNRJ
Socijalistička Federativna Republika Jugoslavija (SFRJ; skraćeno Jugoslavija; također poznata i kao "Druga Jugoslavija") bila je država nastala 29. novembra 1943. na drugom zasjedanju AVNOJ-a u Jajcu kao zajednica 5 naroda i 6 republika, sa prvobitnim imenom Demokratska Federativna Jugoslavija (DFJ). To je ime promijenjeno 29. novembra 1945. na trećem zasjedanju AVNOJ-a u Beogradu u Federativna Narodna Republika Jugoslavija (FNRJ), da bi konačno 7. aprila 1963. dobila ime Socijalistička Federativna Republika Jugoslavija (SFRJ). Bila je jedna od osnivača Ujedinjenih nacija i Pokreta nesvrstanih.
SFRJ je bila nasljednica Kraljevine Jugoslavije (1918-41). Prestala je postojati 1992. godine osamostaljivanjem Slovenije, Hrvatske i Makedonije (1991), zatim i Bosne i Hercegovine (1992) iz federacije. Preostale republike, Srbija i Crna Gora, formirale su novu zajednicu; prvo u aprilu 1992. SR Jugoslaviju, potom 2003. državnu zajednicu Srbija i Crna Gora, a na referendumu 21. maja 2006. godine Crna Gora je istupila iz državne zajednice, stvorivši samostalnu republiku. Kosovo se 2008. godine odvojilo od Srbije proglašavanjem nezavisnosti.
Please view on black!
© All rights reserved. Please don't use any of my images on websites, blogs or other media without my explicit permission, thank you;-)
***
Existence is beyond the power of words
To define:
Terms may be used
But are none of them absolute.
In the beginning of heaven and earth there were no words,
Words came out of the womb of matter;
And whether a man dispassionately
Sees to the core of life
Or passionately
Sees the surface,
The core and the surface
Are essentially the same,
Words make them seem different
Only to express appearance.
If name be needed, wonder names them both:
From wonder into wonder
Existence opens.
Lao Tzu (Translator: Witter Bynner)
light is a rainbow
it hides seven colours
to bring life to our existence
life is a rainbow
it hides seven senses
to help us reach out
to the light of existence
john tiong chunghoo
Even better Large and Dark.
Thanks to everyone for helping this one make it to explore - I'm so chuffed!
I was lucky enough to attend an event in the former rotating restaurant at the top of the Post Office Tower BT Tower last night - given the murky evening it was not an ideal night for any long shots into the distance for panoramic views of London (also the glass was super-reflective) but with the help of Dominic's tripod (the official photographer at the event) I got a few good shots looking down to the streets below...
.. and behold - Middlesex Hospital chapel looking rather forlorn in the middle of the vaste site that was previously the hospital.
The first part of Middlesex Hospital was in Windmill Street in Soho and opened in 1745 - the site here was the second location and was built between 1755 and 1757. At the time the residents of London complained that the location was too far out of the city and that you had to cross the Soho fields to get to it. Seeing the extent of London now it's hard to imagine how this must have looked.
The hospital was extended over the years and numerous buildings were added - in 1929 a large area of the original hospital was demolished as it was in danger of collapse and was replaced with the a large seven-story 'H block' which opened in 1935 and was a familiar landmark known to all visitors.
Alongside this were a number of other buildings - notable here are the row along Nassau Street and 10 Mortimer Street. I mention these as the front walls of the buildings on Nassau Street remain and can be seen on the right of the site... 10 Mortimer Street is in the top right corner of the wasteland and is Grade II listed. Built in 1898 in red brick and Portland stone it started out as offices for an iron founders but was soon incorporated into the hospital. Interesting that the style of 10 Mortimer Street is "Art and Craft" which is the same as used by Ebenezer Howard, founder of Letchworth Garden City, my home town, as seen elsewhere in my photostream.
The chapel was started in 1891 and is rather different as the interior vaults were built in the Italian Gothic Style and are all marble and mosaic - quite stunning. The original architect was John Pearson although the building wasn't actually finished until 1929 when the demolition of much of the old buildings allowed the East window to be completed - the architect for this was one Frank Pearson, his son. John Pearson was one of the foremost Victorian church architects and if you're of a mind you can pay homage to him in Westminster abbey, which I think gives an indication of the esteem in which he was held.
The mosaics in the chapel are by Maurice Josey who's work can be seen across the country, most notably in St Pauls cathedral, Westminster Abbey and The Church of the Sacred Heart in Droitwich which is absolutely stunning Regardless of whether you're into the style I can recommend a visit if you're in the area just to marvel at the work.
The hospital closed in December 2005 and services moved to the University College London Hospital on the Euston Road - from all accounts by this stage the buildings were unable to support modern hospital requirements although the staff appear to have enjoyed the surroundings.
In order to pay for the new hospital the site here was sold for development (but not before being used as a location for a film "Eastern Promises" where it appeared as Trafalgar Hospital). The sale for £200M (thought to be some £25M over value and even £175M was way more than expected due to the rising cost of property - good news for UCL hospital though) completed in June 2006 and the site was cleared, save for the chapel and 10 Mortimer Street, and there it all starts to go horribly wrong.
The developers were (you can tell where we're headed can't you - were) the Candy brothers, Christian and Nick who planned a £1bn development called NoHo Square. Now this would be fine if London had a Houston Street and you could have South and North of Houston.. but the history of Soho has nothing to do with South of anything so NoHo is completely meaningless.
I'll spare you the details of the innovative/thrusting/blue-glass residential/retail plans - this article in Property Week is fairly descriptive and contains much knob-waving by Candy and Candy over how spanky their plans were going to be.
Roll forward to late 2008 and Famine's Hand doth Stalk the Developer's Land in the shape of Robert Peston the Credit Crunch. The upshot of this was that the Candy brothers pulled out and 'swapped' developments with one in Beverley Hills - the fact that an informal valuation of the site puts it now at £120m may have something to do with this.
So now we have an empty site owned by the Icelandic bank Kaupthing (yes - that one which was nationalised) and in the current climate little chance of movement for some time. I can only hope that the chapel survives it's lonely existence in the middle of this barren landscape.
Who knows what may happen to architectural trends between now and when work re-starts... green glass instead of blue?! The shot here reflects the multitude of styles in the area and hopefully this can be reflected in the plans. I always like the way streets appear when viewed from above at night - the tones are lovely and the way the light shines up buildings at night, reflected from the street, as opposed to down is most pleasing...
.. enjoy
P.S I couldn't help think of the song Nightporter by the popular 80's beat combo "Japan" - those of synth and haircut fame. No porters in this hospital anymore...
Could I ever explain this feeling of love?
It just lingers on
The fear in my heart that keeps telling me
Which way to turn
We'll wander again
Our clothes they are wet
We shy from the rain
Longing to touch all the places we know we can hide
The width of a room that can hold so much pleasure inside
Here am I alone again
A quiet town where life gives in
Here am I just wondering
Nightporters go
Nightporters slip away
I'll watch for a sign
And if I should ever again cross your mind
I'll sit my room and wait until nightlife begins
And catching my breath, we'll both brave the weather again
Here am I alone again
The quiet town where life gives in
Here am I just wondering
Nightporters go
Nightporters slip away
This was calm room. And, there was nothing but this plant.
But, something existed there.
静かな部屋。
真ん中の存在感はたっぷりだけど。この部屋は本当は人がいなくて寂しいんじゃないかと思ったり。
To be on the verge of death. When I had the flu last week, I felt like I had one foot in the grave. The way the nurses are talking, it sounds like Great-Uncle Edmund already has one foot in the grave—you better come to the hospital quick. The phrase 'one foot in the grave' has been current in English since the 17th century. It is rather an antiquated expression but took an upswing in use, in the UK at least, following the success of the BBC sitcom One Foot In The Grave, which was popular throughout the 1990s and starred Richard Wilson as grumpy old man Victor Meldrew. It is fairly easy to derive the meaning of the phrase as 'close to death'. The first example of the expression in print is found in Philip Massinger's and Nathan Field's play The Fatall Dowry: A Tragedy, 1632:
When one foot's in the graue.
The afterlife (also referred to as life after death or the hereafter) is the belief that an essential part of an individual's identity or the stream of consciousness continues to manifest after the death of the physical body. According to various ideas about the afterlife, the essential aspect of the individual that lives on after death may be some partial element, or the entire soul or spirit, of an individual, which carries with it and may confer personal identity or, on the contrary, may not, as in Indian nirvana. Belief in an afterlife, which may be naturalistic or supernatural, is in contrast to the belief in oblivion after death. In some fabulous views, this continued existence often takes place in a spiritual realm, and in other popular views, the individual may be reborn into this world and begin the life cycle over again, likely with no memory of what they have done in the past. In this latter view, such rebirths and deaths may take place over and over again continuously until the individual gains entry to a spiritual realm or Otherworld. Major views on the afterlife derive from religion, esotericism and metaphysics. There is still the position, based on the philosophical question of personal identity, termed open individualism, and in some ways similar to the old belief of monopsychism, that concludes that individual existence is illusory, and our consciousness continues existing after death in other conscious beings. Positions regarding existence after death were supported by some notable physicists such as Erwin Schrödinger and Freeman Dyson. A study conducted in 1901 by physician Duncan MacDougall sought to measure the weight lost by a human when the soul "departed the body" upon death.MacDougall weighed dying patients in an attempt to prove that the soul was material, tangible and thus measurable. Although MacDougall's results varied considerably from "21 grams", for some people this figure has become synonymous with the measure of a soul's mass.The title of the 2003 movie 21 Grams is a reference to MacDougall's findings. His results have never been reproduced, and are generally regarded either as meaningless or considered to have had little if any scientific merit. Although the majority of denominations within the Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam do not believe that individuals reincarnate, particular groups within these religions do refer to reincarnation; these groups include the mainstream historical and contemporary followers of Kabbalah, the Cathars, Alawites, the Druze, and the Rosicrucians.The historical relations between these sects and the beliefs about reincarnation that were characteristic of Neoplatonism, Orphism, Hermeticism, Manicheanism, and Gnosticism of the Roman era as well as the Indian religions have been the subject of recent scholarly research.Unity Church and its founder Charles Fillmore teach reincarnation.. Many religions, whether they believe in the soul's existence in another world like Christianity, Islam and many pagan belief systems, or in reincarnation like many forms of Hinduism and Buddhism, believe that one's status in the afterlife is a reward or punishment for their conduct during life.
ACTUALIZE YOUR DREAMS / 2022
___________
SPEAK YOUR DREAMS INTO EXISTENCE / WEALTHY MINDS Murals by Shawn Perkins in collaboration with Billionaire P.A at Union Market District along 5th Street between Florida Avenue and Morse Street, NE, Washington DC on Monday afternoon, 31 January 2022 by Elvert Barnes Photography
SHAWN PERKINS website at www.sptheplug.com/
Elvert Barnes GRAFFITI Writings On The Wall 2022 at elvertxbarnes.com/graffiti
Elvert Barnes Public Art 2022 at elvertxbarnes.com/public-art-2022
Trip to / from Union Market District, NE, and Columbia Heights, NW, Washington DC
Elvert Barnes January 2022 at elvertxbarnes.com/january-2022
Original photo at www.flickr.com/photos/perspective/51855787698/
The #FlickrFriday #FormsInNature challenge
Tens, maybe even hundreds, of millions of years ago a fish died, its existence, like ours, not even representing a blink in the 4.5 billion years Earth has existed. Yet it prevails.
Being bony and muscular, it sank to the muddy bottom of the river or lake which was its home. It was soon covered and hidden from scavengers which ultimately would have claimed the vast majority of its kind, the anaerobic environment greatly protecting its body from decay. Mud ever so slowly became rock, encasing it for millions of years of pressure, uplift, erosion, heat and cold, even seismic activity linked to continental drift. It survived all of this intact. One day a fossil hunter found it and sold it to the shop which sold it to me as a memento of a family holiday in what is now Tuscany. This truly is one of nature's miracles.
It's not a museum piece, but nevertheless there is a lot of detail here. Interpreting an ancient 3D fish now compressed into a 2D fossil raises issues, but let's try anyway.
The fish was about 15cm long, its slender frame suggesting an ability to move swiftly in and out of tight spots when necessary. Its needle-like teeth reveal it to be a predator, perhaps an active hunter. A pectoral fin is just visible as are the dorsal and anal fins and tail. The ureta leading from the pectoral to the anal area appears well preserved. Is that a displaced left eye in front of a gill cover? Is the prominent orange structure the remains of the larger internal organs, which would include the liver, swim bladder and stomach? Is the whitish material the remains of scales? I'm no paleontologist, but it's fun to speculate.
The photo was taken using a light tent, with some photoshopping performed to tease out texture and detail.
Forests, lakes, and rivers, clouds and winds, stars and flowers, stupendous glaciers and crystal snowflakes - every form of animate or inanimate existence, leaves its impress upon the soul of man.~
Orison Swett Marden
Crystal Houses / MVRDV
MVRDV’s Crystal Houses began its existence with the request of Warenar to design a flagship store combining both Dutch heritage and international architecture on the PC Hooftstraat, Amsterdam’s one and only luxury brand street that was previously primarily residential. MVRDV wanted to make a representation of the original buildings and found a solution through an extensive use of glass. The near full-glass façade mimics the original design, down to the layering of the bricks and the details of the window frames, but is stretched vertically to comply with updated zoning laws and to allow for an increase in interior space. Glass bricks stretch up the façade of Crystal Houses, eventually dissolving into a traditional terracotta brick façade for the apartments (as stipulated in the City’s aesthetics rules), which appears to be floating above the shop floor. The design hopes to provide a solution to the loss of local character in shopping areas around the world. The increased globalisation of retail has led to the homogenisation of high-end shopping streets. Crystal Houses offer the store a window surface that contemporary stores need, whilst maintaining architectural character and individuality, resulting in a flagship store that hopes to stand out amongst the rest.
“We said to the client, ‘Let’s bring back what will be demolished but develop it further’” explains Winy Maas, architect and co-founder of MVRDV. “Crystal Houses make space for a remarkable flagship store, respect the structure of the surroundings and bring a poetic innovation in glass construction. It enables global brands to combine the overwhelming desire of transparency with a couleur locale and modernity with heritage. It can thus be applied everywhere in our historic centres.”
After conceiving the initial idea MVRDV worked closely with a number of partners to develop the technologies to make it possible. Solid glass bricks were individually cast and crafted by Poesia in Resana, near Venice. Research undertaken by the Delft University of Technology, in partnership with engineering firm ABT and contractor Wessels Zeist, led to the development of structural solutions and fabrication techniques, with the use of a high-strength, UV bonded, transparent adhesive from Delo Industrial Adhesives in Germany to cement the bricks together without the need for a more traditional mortar.
Six to ten experts worked every day for a whole year (!) in a place that bore more resemblance to a laboratory than a construction site. Due to the sensitivity of the materials, an extremely high level of accuracy and craftsmanship was required and a technical development team was onsite throughout the process. Since this construction is the first of its kind, new construction methods and tools had to be utilised: from high-tech lasers and laboratory grade UV-lamps, to slightly lower-tech Dutch full-fat milk, which, with its low transparency, proved to be an ideal liquid to function as a reflective surface for the levelling of the first layer of bricks. Despite its delicate looks, strength tests by the Delft University of Technology team proved that the glass-construction was in many ways stronger than concrete. The full-glass architrave, for instance, could withstand a force of up to 42.000 Newton; the equivalent to two full-sized SUVs.
The development of new construction methods unearthed additional possibilities for future building, such as the minimisation of waste materials. In essence, all of the glass components are completely recyclable. Waste materials from the project, such as imperfect bricks, could simply be (and were) melted down and re-moulded or entirely repurposed. Such is also true for the entire façade itself, once the building has reached the end of its life span, the whole facade can be melted down and given a new life. The only exceptions to this rule are added features which ensure the security of the building, such as a concrete ram-raid defence plinth, hidden in a blend of reflective and translucent materials and built to withstand the force of a car crashing into the building. Repair-protocols were developed in the event of any damage, allowing for the replacement of individual bricks.
With a façade made primarily out of glass it was important to ensure that energy requirements were supplied through renewable sources. Therefore, the building was designed around a ground source heat pump, its pipes leading up to 170 metres underground, allowing for an optimal indoor climate throughout the year. A crucial element when dealing with delicate, sophisticated detailing while striving for a proper energy balance at the same time.
This photo was taken on Piccadilly near Hyde Park Corner during the anti-Trump ban march from the US embassy to Downing Street.
On Friday morning thousands of protesters armed with placards filled most of Grosvenor Square outside the American Embassy in London. They were rallying to demand that prime minister Theresa May repudiate Donald Trump's shameful blanket entry ban on all Syrian, Iraqi, Somali, Yemeni, Iranian, Sudanese and Libyan nationals for the next 90 days as well as the indefinite ban on all Syrian refugees.
Some also demanded that his planned state visit as a guest of the queen be revoked and that the British government also take decisive action to help desparate refugees and ease the conditions within the UK for asylum seekers.
By 11 am an estimated ten thousand had gathered outside the US Embassy for a march on Downing Street organized by the Stop the War Coalition, Stand Up to Racism and the Muslim Association of Britain
Among the most frequent chants heard were "May shame on you", "dump Trump", "build bridges not walls" and "refugees are welcome here". Protesters pointed out that all the countries effected were Muslim majority nations and yet none of the countries targeted had any nationals implicated in any recent terrorist attack within the United States.
Ironically it is US foreign policy in the Middle East, including years of bombing and support for regional dictators that is one of the main causes of the current refugee crisis.