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When Cedric dismounted he was greeted by his childhood friend, Brom.
"How are things in Rothburg" he asked.
"Not well, when I left it was adout to be captured by the Queens solders." sighed Cedric.
"Well, we have the future ahead of us" stated Brom, "I would like you to meet Edmund Cartwright, he was lord of this castle before the game moved south. Where the food goes we go. But he agreed to help up and knows the land pretty well."
"Glad to meet you sir Edmond" said Cedric as he bowed.
"And you to" stated Edmond. His beard made it hard to understand him.
"Let me introduce you to the men" said Brom as he led him away.
Sentinel Bridge Half Dome Winter Snow Reflections Merced River Yosemite National Park California American West Fine Art Landscape Nature Photography Fuji GFX 100 ! Elliot McGucken 45EPIC Winter Fine Art Photography Yosemite Wilderness Snowstorm! Fuji GFX100 & FUJIFILM FUJINON Lens
All my photography celebrates the physics of light! The McGucken Principle of the fourth expanding dimension: The fourth dimension is expanding at the rate of c relative to the three spatial dimensions: dx4/dt=ic .
Light Time Dimension Theory: The Foundational Physics Unifying Einstein's Relativity and Quantum Mechanics: A Simple, Illustrated Introduction to the Unifying Physical Reality of the Fourth Expanding Dimensionsion dx4/dt=ic !: geni.us/Fa1Q
"Between every two pine trees there is a door leading to a new way of life." --John Muir
Epic Stoicism guides my fine art odyssey and photography: geni.us/epicstoicism
“The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness.” --John Muir
Epic Poetry inspires all my photography: geni.us/9K0Ki Epic Poetry for Epic Landscape Photography: Exalt Fine Art Nature Photography with the Poetic Wisdom of John Muir, Emerson, Thoreau, Homer's Iliad, Milton's Paradise Lost & Dante's Inferno Odyssey
“The mountains are calling and I must go.” --John Muir
Epic Art & 45EPIC Gear exalting golden ratio designs for your Hero's Odyssey:
Support epic fine art! 45surf ! Bitcoin: 1FMBZJeeHVMu35uegrYUfEkHfPj5pe9WNz
Exalt the goddess archetype in the fine art of photography! My Epic Book: Photographing Women Models!
Portrait, Swimsuit, Lingerie, Boudoir, Fine Art, & Fashion Photography Exalting the Venus Goddess Archetype: How to Shoot Epic ... Epic! Beautiful Surf Fine Art Portrait Swimsuit Bikini Models!
Some of my epic books, prints, & more!
Exalt your photography with Golden Ratio Compositions!
Golden Ratio Compositions & Secret Sacred Geometry for Photography, Fine Art, & Landscape Photographers: How to Exalt Art with Leonardo da Vinci's, Michelangelo's!
Epic Landscape Photography:
A Simple Guide to the Principles of Fine Art Nature Photography: Master Composition, Lenses, Camera Settings, Aperture, ISO, ... Hero's Odyssey Mythology Photography)
All art is but imitation of nature.-- Seneca (Letters from a Stoic - Letter LXV: On the First Cause)
The universe itself is God and the universal outpouring of its soul. --Chrysippus (Quoted by Cicero in De Natura Deorum)
Photographs available as epic fine art luxury prints. For prints and licensing information, please send me a flickr mail or contact drelliot@gmail.com with your queries! All the best on your Epic Hero's Odyssey!
After finishing her violin homework, Zorie wrote her name by using the stickers. "Hi~My name is Zorie!" She introduced herself : )
First in a mini series of Miniland-scale versions of LEGO sets is this 2021 Ferrari 812 Competizione. The LEGO version of this car is new for 2023 in the SpeedChampions series, set nr. 76914
The Ferrari 812 Superfast (Type F152M) is a front mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive grand tourer which debuted at the 2017 Geneva Motor Show. The 812 Superfast is the successor to the F12berlinetta, upon which the architecture is based.
Ferrari presented a limited production, track focused version, called Competizione, of the 812 Superfast, this version being presented together with its drop-top variant, Competizione A (for Aperta, Ferrari's moniker for limited open top models, translating to "open" in Italian). Both versions have a more powerful version of 6.5-litre V12, extensive aerodynamic upgrades and the introduction of an independent four-wheel steering system. The upgraded engine is rated at 830 PS (610 kW; 819 hp) at 9,250 rpm and 692 N⋅m (510 lb⋅ft) of torque at 7,000 rpm and capable of 9,500 rpm redline.
The 812 Competizione & Competizione A are the latest iterations of Ferrari's light weight limited edition front mid-engined V12 Berlinetta platform. They are the direct successors to the F12 TDF and 599 GTO.
This 812 Competizione Aperta has been created for #mocaroundgang #mocaround66 to the theme of #convertible hosted by @spamala808
Beautiful Swimsuit Bikini Model Beach Venus Goddess Santa Monica Pier California Pier! 45SURF 45EPIC Helen from Homer's Iliad! Tall Thin Fit Fitess Model! Athena from Homer's Odyssey! Pretty Woman Green Eyes Long Legs Sandy Blonde Hair!
Epic Fine Art Photography Prints & Luxury Wall Art:
Support epic, stoic fine art: Hero's Odyssey Gear!
All my photography celebrates the physics of light! The McGucken Principle of the fourth expanding dimension: The fourth dimension is expanding at the rate of c relative to the three spatial dimensions: dx4/dt=ic .
Lao Tzu--The Tao: Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.
Light Time Dimension Theory: The Foundational Physics Unifying Einstein's Relativity and Quantum Mechanics: A Simple, Illustrated Introduction to the Unifying Physical Reality of the Fourth Expanding Dimensionsion dx4/dt=ic !: geni.us/Fa1Q
"Between every two pine trees there is a door leading to a new way of life." --John Muir
Epic Stoicism guides my fine art odyssey and photography: geni.us/epicstoicism
“The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness.” --John Muir
Epic Poetry inspires all my photography: geni.us/9K0Ki Epic Poetry for Epic Landscape Photography: Exalt Fine Art Nature Photography with the Poetic Wisdom of John Muir, Emerson, Thoreau, Homer's Iliad, Milton's Paradise Lost & Dante's Inferno Odyssey
“The mountains are calling and I must go.” --John Muir
Epic Art & 45EPIC Gear exalting golden ratio designs for your Hero's Odyssey:
Support epic fine art! 45surf ! Bitcoin: 1FMBZJeeHVMu35uegrYUfEkHfPj5pe9WNz
Exalt the goddess archetype in the fine art of photography! My Epic Book: Photographing Women Models!
Portrait, Swimsuit, Lingerie, Boudoir, Fine Art, & Fashion Photography Exalting the Venus Goddess Archetype: How to Shoot Epic ... Epic! Beautiful Surf Fine Art Portrait Swimsuit Bikini Models!
Some of my epic books, prints, & more!
Exalt your photography with Golden Ratio Compositions!
Golden Ratio Compositions & Secret Sacred Geometry for Photography, Fine Art, & Landscape Photographers: How to Exalt Art with Leonardo da Vinci's, Michelangelo's!
Epic Landscape Photography:
A Simple Guide to the Principles of Fine Art Nature Photography: Master Composition, Lenses, Camera Settings, Aperture, ISO, ... Hero's Odyssey Mythology Photography)
All art is but imitation of nature.-- Seneca (Letters from a Stoic - Letter LXV: On the First Cause)
The universe itself is God and the universal outpouring of its soul. --Chrysippus (Quoted by Cicero in De Natura Deorum)
Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;
To bend with apples the moss'd cottage-trees,
And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;
To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells
With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,
And still more, later flowers for the bees,
Until they think warm days will never cease,
For Summer has o'er-brimm'd their clammy cells. --To Autumn. by John Keats
This is a Photo Essay about Briny Breezes, a small retirement community of trailers located...at the beach on the EAST coast of South Florida. Given the state of our planet and the United States lack of prepardeness in the event of previous emergencies...Brownie excluded...I thought I'd repost this story. It was originally shot in the SUmmer of 2000 I believe for a workshop I was doing with Sarah Leen at the Palm Beach Photographic Workshops in Del Ray Beach. Due to developers influence and the fast approaching Hurricane season it may all be gone soon.
This photo is of the Space Shuttle lauching up coast and over the Clubhouse on the beach.
Hi all! This is a photo of one of my cats Tyza when we were hanging out in the backyard at home in March. I took this photo because the sun was kind of hidden behind clouds and the backyard was lit really beautifully so I jumped into action! Plus Tyza and Gus, our other cat, are always doing something that makes me want to capture the moment so I can look back at it another day. I took this photo with my iPhone 12 using portrait mode, but I’d like to get to the point where I’d feel confident that I could get this kind of photo(or even better haha) with my Nikon.
An urban road ahead spells the end of the blues....
With the introduction of the new First ‘Urban’ livery to all of First’s Scottish fleets, it means the end of buses in the rather pleasant two tone blue livery introduced by both First Scotland East in West Lothian and Midland Bluebird. This now disappearing livery is demonstrated here by 69257 (SK57ADO) which was new to the company in 2007. For a while, this bus carried an all over pink livery for the Falkirk Loop service but it was then repainted into the two-tone blue. Note the pink slash towards the rear, advertising that the buses accept Contactless payments.
In case you’re curious as to what this previous pink scheme was, it can be seen here:- flic.kr/p/MATL2L
Bare Foot. This is how you will usually find me. Whether at home or on a job. I love to feel connected and grounded to the earth beneath me. This picture reminds me a lot of my grandmother who I lived with as a teenager. I would always get in trouble of her for not wearing shoes up the street. She would say "a lady always wears shoes"
Lunch Creek Waterfall Glacier National Park Montana Wilderness Summer Fine Art Landscape Photography Fuji GFX100s Medium Format MT! Elliot McGucken Master Fine Art Nature Photographer American West Fuji GFX 100 s & GF Lens Glacier NP!
Dr. Elliot McGucken Fine Art Spacetime Sculpture dx4//dt=ic:
Epic Fine Art Photography Prints & Luxury Wall Art:
Support epic, stoic fine art: Hero's Odyssey Gear!
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All my photography celebrates the physics of light! The McGucken Principle of the fourth expanding dimension: The fourth dimension is expanding at the rate of c relative to the three spatial dimensions: dx4/dt=ic .
Lao Tzu--The Tao: Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.
Light Time Dimension Theory: The Foundational Physics Unifying Einstein's Relativity and Quantum Mechanics: A Simple, Illustrated Introduction to the Unifying Physical Reality of the Fourth Expanding Dimensionsion dx4/dt=ic !: geni.us/Fa1Q
"Between every two pine trees there is a door leading to a new way of life." --John Muir
Epic Stoicism guides my fine art odyssey and photography: geni.us/epicstoicism
“The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness.” --John Muir
Epic Poetry inspires all my photography: geni.us/9K0Ki Epic Poetry for Epic Landscape Photography: Exalt Fine Art Nature Photography with the Poetic Wisdom of John Muir, Emerson, Thoreau, Homer's Iliad, Milton's Paradise Lost & Dante's Inferno Odyssey
“The mountains are calling and I must go.” --John Muir
Epic Art & 45EPIC Gear exalting golden ratio designs for your Hero's Odyssey:
Support epic fine art! 45surf ! Bitcoin: 1FMBZJeeHVMu35uegrYUfEkHfPj5pe9WNz
Exalt the goddess archetype in the fine art of photography! My Epic Book: Photographing Women Models!
Portrait, Swimsuit, Lingerie, Boudoir, Fine Art, & Fashion Photography Exalting the Venus Goddess Archetype: How to Shoot Epic ... Epic! Beautiful Surf Fine Art Portrait Swimsuit Bikini Models!
Some of my epic books, prints, & more!
Exalt your photography with Golden Ratio Compositions!
Golden Ratio Compositions & Secret Sacred Geometry for Photography, Fine Art, & Landscape Photographers: How to Exalt Art with Leonardo da Vinci's, Michelangelo's!
Epic Landscape Photography:
A Simple Guide to the Principles of Fine Art Nature Photography: Master Composition, Lenses, Camera Settings, Aperture, ISO, ... Hero's Odyssey Mythology Photography)
All art is but imitation of nature.-- Seneca (Letters from a Stoic - Letter LXV: On the First Cause)
The universe itself is God and the universal outpouring of its soul. --Chrysippus (Quoted by Cicero in De Natura Deorum)
Photographs available as epic fine art luxury prints. For prints and licensing information, please send me a flickr mail or contact drelliot@gmail.com with your queries! All the best on your Epic Hero's Odyssey!
For the full story regarding this collection of images Please read the NEW album introduction HERE; www.flickr.com/photos/jbschofield/sets/72157632196706891/... It tells a much fuller story than that provided below.
This is a scanned print from a collection of photographs taken by the late Jim Taylor A number of years ago I was offered a large number of photographs taken by Jim Taylor, a transport photographer based in Huddersfield. The collection consisted of 30,000 prints,20,000 negatives – and copyright! Although some prints were sold elsewhere, particularly the popular big fleet stuff, I should have the negatives, unfortunately they came to me in a random mix, without any sort of indexing and as such it would be impossible to match negatives to prints, or, to even find a print of any particular vehicle. I have only ever looked at a handful myself unless I am scanning them.
I hope to avoid posting images that Jim had not taken his self, however should I inadvertently infringe another photographers copyright, please inform me by email and I will resolve the issue immediately. There are copyright issues with some of the photographs that were sold to me. A Flickr member from Scotland drew my attention to some of his own work amongst the first uploads of Jims work. I had a quick look through some of the 30 boxes of prints and decided that for the time being the safest thing for me to do was withdraw the majority of the earlier uploaded scans and deal with the problem – which I did. whilst the vast majority of the prints are Jims, there is a problem defining copyright of some of them, this is something that the seller did not make clear at the time. I am reasonably confident that I have since been successful in identifying Jims own work.
You may notice photographs being duplicated in this Album, unfortunately there are multiple copies of many prints (for swapping) and as I have to have a system of archiving and backing up I can only guess - using memory - if I have scanned a print before. It is easier to scan and process a print than check my files - on three different PC's - for duplicates. There has not been, nor will there ever be, any intention to knowingly breach anyone else's copyright. I have presented the Jim Taylor collection as exactly that-The Jim Taylor Collection- his work not mine, my own work is quite obviously mine. To anyone reading the above it will be quite obvious that I can’t provide information regarding specific photos or potential future uploads in this Album – I didn't take them!
None of my photographs are free to use - only free to view!
Please read the album intro’ before contacting me with requests, it may answer your query.
Thank you for taking the time to look and best regards
Mark Schofield
And another one that fits the theme ‘Pets’.
This puzzle is called ‘An introduction’, no clue about the artist, but in the left corner is printed ©1908 by J.V. Sloan & CO. As the box isn’t the original one, I don’t know the maker nor the brand (if anyone can help???). It is an American puzzle. I like the cut and especially the colour line cutting.
It measures 41 x 25 cm, 278 pieces are present, I want to replace the 2 missing ones (not the small knob)
+++ DISCLAIMER +++
Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based historical facts. BEWARE!
Some background:
The T-34, a Soviet medium tank, had a profound and lasting effect on the field of tank design. At its introduction in 1940, the T-34 possessed an unprecedented combination of firepower, mobility, protection and ruggedness. Its 76.2 mm high-velocity tank gun provided a substantial increase in firepower over any of its contemporaries while its well-sloped armour was difficult to penetrate by most contemporary anti-tank weapons. Although its armour and armament were surpassed later in the war, it has often been credited as the most effective, efficient and influential tank design of the Second World War.
The T-34 was the mainstay of Soviet armoured forces throughout the Second World War. Its design allowed it to be continuously refined to meet the constantly evolving needs of the Eastern Front: as the war went on it became more capable, but also quicker and cheaper to produce. Soviet industry would eventually produce over 80,000 T-34s of all variants, allowing steadily greater numbers to be fielded as the war progressed despite the loss of tens of thousands in combat against the German Wehrmacht. Replacing many light and medium tanks in Red Army service, it was the most-produced tank of the war, as well as the second most produced tank of all time (after its successor, the T-54/55 series). T-34 variants were widely exported after World War II, and even as recently as 2010, the tank has seen limited front-line service with several developing countries
One of the unusual and rather unknown operators of the T-34 was Austria. 25 tanks (some sources claim 27 or even 37) of the late T-34/85 variant came as a gift from (well, they were actually left behind by) the Soviet Union in 1955 when the Red Army left the country, meaning that the Austrian Bundesheer was re-established. These vehicles became the young army's initial backbone, until more modern equipment (e. g. M41 and M47 tanks procured from the USA and AMX-13/75 tanks from France) replaced them in frontline service. Due to their ruggedness and simplicity, they were kept in service, though - primarily for training, and some vehicles were in the 1970s integrated into hidden bunkers, defending strategically vital "security space zones".
A revival of the Austrian T-34/85 fleet came in the late Sixties, though, when the Austrian Army recognized a lack in long range attack capabilities (at 1.000 m range and more) against hardened targets like enemy tanks, paired with high mobility and low costs, similar to the German Jagdpanzer profile from WWII. At that time, Austria operated roundabout 50 Charioteer tanks with 83.4 mm guns in this role, but these British vehicles were outdated and needed a timely replacement.
Another limiting factor were severe budget restrictions. The eventual solution came from the Austrian company Saurer: a relatively simple conversion of the indigenous Saurer APC, armed with a version of the French AMX-13's FL-12 oscillating turret, armed with a powerful 105mm cannon, which had just become available in an export version. However, in order to bridge the new tank hunter's development time and quickly fill the defense gap, the Austrian T-34/85s were checked whether it was possible to modernize them with the new turret, too.
The first conversion was carried out by Saurer in 1963 and proved to be successful. Since the light FL-12 turret had a smaller bearing diameter than the old T-34/85 turret, the integration into the hull went straightforward with the help of a simple adapter ring. What made the conversion even simpler was the fact that the FL-12, with its integrated cannon and an automated loading system, was a complete, self-sufficient unit.
The French turret was only lightly armoured, since the tank was not supposed to engage heavily-armed enemies at close range. The turret's front armour protected the crew from 20mm armour-piercing rounds over its frontal arc, while all-round protection was against small arms bullets only. The commander was seated on the left of the turret and the gunner on the right. The commander was provided with seven periscopes and a periscopic sight. The commander's infrared night sight had a magnification of x6. The gunner had two observation periscopes, a telescopic sight and a one-piece lifting and swiveling hatch cover. Due to the design of the oscillating turret, all sights were always linked to the main and secondary armament (a standard NATO machine gun). For engaging targets at night, an infrared periscopic sight was provided for the commander. In order to simplify and lighten the tank, the T-34’s bow machine gun in the hull was deleted and its opening faired over and the crew was reduced to three.
The 105 mm gun could penetrate 360 mm of armour, and the internal magazines of 2x 6 shots allowed a very high rate of fire (up to 12 shots per minute), even though a crew member had to leave the tank in order to fill the magazines up again from the outside. Once the gun had been fired the empty cartridge cases were ejected out of the rear of the turret through a trapdoor hinged on the left. Beyond the 12 rounds in the turret, a further 42 rounds were stored in the tank's hull, primarily in a stowage rack for 30 shots where the former second crew member in the front hull had been placed, and a further twelve rounds in magazines at the turret’s base.
The T-34/85’s engine and transmission were not changed, since an update was beyond the conversion budget limit, but lighter “skeleton” wheels from Czech T-34 post-war production were introduced, so that the modified tank weighed roundabout 30 tons, 2 less than the standard T-35/85.
After highly successful field tests with the prototype in the course of 1963 and 1964, a further conversion program for 16 tanks was approved and carried out until early 1965. The modified tanks received the official designation T-34/105Ö and allocated to two tank battalions. Most of the time these tanks were only used for training purposes, though, in preparation of the arrival of the "real" tank hunter, the SK-105 "Kürassier" (Cuirassier) with almost identical weapon systems. The SK-105’s first prototype was eventually ready in 1967 and delivery of pre-production vehicles commenced in 1971, but teething troubles and many detail problems delayed the type's quick and widespread introduction. Lighter and much more agile than the vintage T-34s, it became a big success and was produced in more than 700 specimen, almost 300 of them for the Austrian Army and the rest for export (Argentina, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Morocco and Tunisia). In consequence, the small T-34/105Ö fleet was soon retired and by 1976, when the Kürassier was in service and other, heavy tanks had become available, none of the converted tanks was still active anymore. Nevertheless, a few Austrian T-34s that had become part of the hidden bunker installations soldiered secretly on, the last ones were dug out of their positions and scrapped in 2007(!).
Specifications:
Crew: Three (commander, gunner, driver)
Weight: 29.7 t combat load
Length: 8.21 m (26 ft 10 ½ in) with turret forward
6.10 m (19 ft 11 ¾ in) hull only
Width: 3.00 m (9 ft 10 in)
Height: 2,74 m (8 ft 11 ½ in)
Suspension: Christie
Ground clearance: 0.4 m (16 in)
Fuel capacity: eight internal tanks, total capacity of 545 l (145 U.S. gal; 118 imp gal),
plus up to four external fuel drums à 90 l each (24 U.S. gal; 19.5 imp gal)
Engine:
Model V-2-34M 38.8 l V12 Diesel engine with 520 hp (370 kW) at 1.800 rpm
Transmission:
5 forward and 1 reverse gears
Armor:
16 - 45 mm steel (plus composite armour in the turret)
Performance:
Speed:
- Maximum, road: 58 km/h (36 mph)
- Cross country: up to 40 km/h (28 mph)
Operational range: 250 km (155) on streets with internal fuel only,
up to 330 km (250 mi) with four additional fuel drums
Power/weight: 17.5 hp/t
Armament:
1× 105 mm CN 105-57 rifled gun with a total 54 rounds, 12 of them ready in the turret's magazines
1× 7.62mm (0.3") co-axial NATO machine gun with 2.000 rounds
2× 2 smoke grenade dischargers
The kit and its assembly:
This weird, fictional combo was originally spawned by an Israeli idea: some vintage M4 Sherman tanks had been outfitted with the AMX-13's swiveling turrets and armed with French CN-75-50 75mm a cannon, creating the so-called "Isherman". I kept this concept in the back of my mind for a long time, with the plan to build one some day.
Then I came a couple of weeks ago across a picture on FlickR that showed a T-34/85 with Austrian markings. At first I thought that it had been a fictional museum piece in fake markings, but upon some legwork I found out that Austria had actually operated the T-34!
So, why not combine both ideas into a new and fictional one...? The rest was straightforward kitbashing: the FL-12 turret with a 105 mm cannon came from a Heller AMX-13 (a shaggy thing with dubious fit, but it was cheap) and for the chassis I tried the relatively new Zvezda T-35/85. The latter is actually a very crisp snap-fit kit, just some light flash here and there. Detail and proportions are very good, though, as well as fit. I was only surprised by the construction of the tracks, because it is a different approach from both of the traditional vinyl tracks or IP track segments. Instead, you get complete, rather thin and delicate IP tracks, and Zvezda expects the builder to bend them around the wheels and stick them between the wheels' halves during the construction process. You actually have to mount the “inner” half of the wheels first, then the track is attached to a locator pin on one of the main wheels, bent into shape, and finally the wheels' “outer” halves are added. Sounds complicated, and it actually is, and it also makes painting the whole running gear quite difficult, but it works – even though the result is IMHO not better than the traditional solutions.
The AMX-13 turret’s integration was easier than expected. Building the turret was a little complicated, because all side walls are separate and there are no locator pins or other aides for orientation. Some PSR became necessary to fill some minor gaps, but nothing dramatic. Mounting the AMX-13 turret to the T-34 hull was made easy through a very convenient design detail of the Zvezda kit: the T-34 comes with a separate turret ring that could be used as an adapter for the Heller turret. Three ejection/sprue residues inside of the ring could be used as a foundation for the AMX-13 turret, and the turret’s lower half/ring was, after some sanding to reduce the gap between the turret and the hull, was also glued onto the adapter. Worked like a charm, and the resulting combo looks very natural!
In order to improve the turret’s look I added a cloth seal between the lower and the upper, oscillating turret section, simulated with paper tissue drenched in thinned white glue (OOB the turret cannot be moved vertically at all). A similar seal was added at the barrel’s base.
Other changes were only minimal: the machine gun port in the front hull was sanded away and faired over, and I omitted the spare track links attached to the front hull. For a modernized look I gave the tank an additional pair of front lights as well as stoplights at the rear, scratched from styrene bits.
Painting and markings:
Basically a very simple affair, because there is ONLY one possible livery and color that suits an Austrian Bundesheer vehicle or item from the Seventies: RAL 7013 (Braungrau). This is a very ugly tone, though, "greenish, fresh mud" describes it well: a dull, brownish olive drab, but definitively not a green (like the omnipresent NATO tone Gelboliv RAL 6014, which was used by the German Bundeswehr until the standardized NATO three-tone camouflage was introduced around 1984). I organized a rattle can of this special color, since the tank model would receive a simple, uniform livery.
Due to the kit's , err, unique running gear construction, painting became a little complicated. I had to paint the hull and the (still) separate wheel parts in advance, so that the pre-painted elements could be assembled around the tracks (see above). The tracks themselves were painted with a cloudy mix of iron metallic, black and leather brown (Revell 99, 8 and 84). The turret was painted separately.
After the kit’s major sections had been assembled they received a light wash with a mix of highly thinned black with some red brown added, and the washing was immediately dabbed off of the surfaces so that most of the pigments ended up in recesses and around details, while the rest received an blurry, light dirt filter.
Once dry, I applied the decals. The tiny Austrian roundels come from a generic TL Modellbau sheet (never expected to find any use for them!), the tactical code comes from another tank kit sheet. In order to add some more highlights I also added some small, white markings on the fenders.
Then I gave the model an overall dry-brushing treatment with olive drab, medium grey and finally some ochre, just emphasizing details and edges.
Since the uniform livery appeared a bit dull to me, I decided to add a few camouflage nets to the hull, which also hide some weak points of the Zvezda kit, e.g. the missing rails along the hull. The nets were created from gauze bandages: small pieces (~1”x1”) of the material were dipped into a mix of white glue and olive drab acrylic paint and then carefully placed on hull, turret and barrel. Once dry, they were also dry-brushed.
As final steps, the kit was sealed with matt acrylic varnish (rattle can again) and I dusted the lower areas with a greyish-brown pigment mix, simulating dust and some mud crusts.
What started as a weird idea turned into a very conclusive what-if project – in fact, the T-34 with the French FL-12/44 turret does not look bad at all, and the Austrian colors and markings make this piece of fiction IMHO very convincing. Adding the camouflage nets was also a good move. They hide some of the details (e.g. the omitted bow machine gun station), but they liven up the rather clean and bleak exterior of the tank. I am positively surprised how good the T-34/105Ö looks!
Running around its train at Peterborough's Nene Valley station is ScotRail liveried Class 47, 47765.
The Class 47/7's were derived from the original fleet of Class 47's to replace earlier diesel locomotives used between Edinburgh and Glasgow. By the late 1970's the service was operated by top n' tail Class 27's which, due to their age, were starting to suffer from unreliability. As such, British Rail organised the conversion of several Class 47's to be able to work with push-pull stock by fitting TDM equipment. This was combined with the conversion of several MkII BSO (Brake-Standard-Open) carriages to be fitted with cabs, these being designated DBSO (Driving-Brake-Standard-Open).
In all, twelve Class 47/4's were converted to 47/7's, being fitted with TDM equipment and longer range fuel tanks. Performance wise, the locomotives were upped to 100mph operation so as to maintain a faster schedule.
The first locomotives were converted in 1979, and by 1980 had begun operations on the premier service. With this, the previous Class 27's were either withdrawn or put onto the Edinburgh to Dundee semi-fast services, eventually ending their days in around 1987, being replaced by Class 150 DMU's.
As for the new Class 47/7's, they lived a charmed life working their push-pull services, operating a fairly reliable service, with push-pull operations being extended further to services between Glasgow and Aberdeen. However, on July 30th, 1984, disaster struck when at Polmont, a service from Edinburgh to Glasgow (led by a DBSO) struck a cow which had gained access to the track through a damaged fence from a field. The result was the death of 13 passengers and 61 injured. With this, doubt surrounded the future of push-pull operations, but thankfully these services continued to operate until the end of the 1980's.
In 1989, the introduction of Class 158 Express DMU's saw the push-pull service brought to an end. As such, these locomotives were moved en masse to the south, ending up on services from London Waterloo to Salisbury and Exeter working for Network SouthEast. However, the stop-start nature of the service took their toll on the reliability of the locomotives, which operated better on express trains with limited stops. This, however, was but a stop gap until the new Class 159 DMU's could be introduced in 1993.
This wasn't the end of the Class 47/7's however, as their push-pull capabilities made them ideal to work with the Royal Mail's PCV (Propelling Control Vehicle) services, which were converted Class 307 EMU's. As such, these locomotives were put to work on the extensive mail train operations up and down the country. Two Class 47's also had the distinction of being put on prestigious duty for Her Majesty the Queen, 47798 Prince William and 47799 Prince Henry becoming the motive power for the Royal Train.
The 47/7's however truly began to show their age towards the end of the 1990's, and a new form of motive traction had to be found. In 2000, EWS, holder of the Mail Train contract, brought into use Class 67's built by Alstom. By 2002, the Class 47/7's diagrams had been largely reduced to zero, and with a few occasional services, they were made largely redundant and many scrapped.
Today however, some have made a comeback, with eight registered for mainline use working for Colas Rail and West Coast Railways. On the preservation front, four have been preserved, including the two Royal Class 47's, of which three are mainline approved and frequently appear on the network.
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All art is but imitation of nature.-- Seneca (Letters from a Stoic - Letter LXV: On the First Cause)
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The universe itself is God and the universal outpouring of its soul. --Chrysippus (Quoted by Cicero in De Natura Deorum)
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A wonderful wooden hulled vessel with a lot of class - uses standard sculptured prims so there isn't any issues with crossing into servers that run different codes - see and try it in Second Life.
Full video can be seen here:
Molly dropt by to introduce two of the people filling in this summer
as custodians in the building we work in: Jamie, Molly and Shannon.
They all have blue eyes. So I got their pictures. :)
Every year in 50 countries across the world, more than 5 million mothers and children die from preventable conditions and their economies lose billions of dollars to poor health and nutrition. This is in large part due to a significant financing gap for health and nutrition.The Global Financing Facility for Women, Children and Adolescents (GFF) is a multi-stakeholder partnership that is helping governments in low-income countries transform how they prioritize and finance the health and nutrition of their people. The GFF supports governments to bring partners together around a country-led plan, prioritizing high-impact but underinvested areas of health, such as primary health care, nutrition, and sexual and reproductive health and rights. The GFF partnership supports countries by:
1. Developing an investment case and implementation plan for prioritizing reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health and nutrition and a strong primary health care system;
2. Strengthening a country-led platform that aligns all key stakeholders around this investment case and plan; and
3. Mobilizing and coordinating the financial resources needed to accelerate progress for the most vulnerable populations, often in the hardest-to-reach regions.
The GFF Trust Fund acts as a catalyst for financing, with countries using modest GFF Trust Fund grants to significantly increase their domestic resources alongside World Bank financing, aligned external financing, and private sector resources.The work of the GFF partnership touches the lives of women and girls in some of the worldʼs poorest countries and regions. The photos in this exhibit tell just Photo © Dominic Chavez/GFF
An illustrated introduction to Lamarck's conchology
London :Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, & Green,1827.
Seen powering through Teignmouth with the 1V50 Edinburgh to Plymouth is Cross Country Class 43, 43304.
Class 43's and their InterCity 125 sets were introduced onto the Cross Country Route towards the end of their production run in 1982. The Cross Country Route is traditionally designated as the line between Bristol Temple Meads, Birmingham, Derby, Chesterfield, Sheffield, Leeds, Doncaster and York, where it joins the East Coast Mainline, although the Cross Country service pattern used to be much more diverse, with some obscure trains such as Sunderland to Shrewsbury, Aberdeen to Portsmouth, Hull to Birmingham and Dover to Glasgow. HST's primarily began operation on the longest services, those being from Penzance and Plymouth in the South West of England, to Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen in Scotland.
Upon their introduction, the HST sets began to replace the older loco-hauled classes and services being operated by ageing Class 45 and 46 Peaks, as well as Class 47's, although in some instances a Class 50 would be pressed into service. The formation of these sets differed from the remainder of the HST sets in use as they only consisted of 7-cars (5 Standards, 1 Buffet, 1 First), as opposed to the 8-car formations on all other routes. Also, First Class was located at no particular end as these trains didn't serve a London terminus, whereas usual train formation tradition would have First Class at the London end, so business travellers didn't have far to walk to their waiting Rolls Royce!
Although HST operation was widespread, and many sets dedicated to the operation of the routes, there weren't enough to replace Loco-Hauled services entirely, and thus Class 47's continued to be prime mover's on the Cross-Country network right up until 2002 after the introduction of the Class 220/221 Voyagers.
In January 1997, the Cross Country network was privatised, and came under the ownership of Virgin Group, operator of both Cross Country services as well as trains on the West Coast Mainline from London Euston. For the Cross Country fleet, this consisted of 52 HST Powercars based at a variety of locations along their route, including Plymouth Laira, Manchester Longsight, Leeds Neville Hill, Derby Etches Park, Edinburgh Craigentinny, Glasgow Polmadie and Bristol St Phillips Marsh. This was the second largest number of HST Powercars operated by a single company behind Great Western Trains' fleet, including all 9 of the rare Buffered Class 43 units that had been used during the testing of the Class 91's on the East Coast Mainline in the 1980's.
The Network remained primarily the same, although there were less operations on the Southern Region, and many of the shorter journeys were cut back due to Franchise divisions. Additionally, the HST's had the task of operating trains from London Euston to Holyhead as part of the West Coast Franchise, with officially 5 powercars owned by that franchise to work the service. These powercars however could be swapped with Cross Country sets and vice versa. Holyhead services differed in that they were formed of 8-cars, with the traditional First Class at the London end.
Reliability early on however was a big issue with the HST's, with a prominent number of failures and cancellations due to poorly maintained stock. I remember well having my train cancelled due to a failure with the HST, or dragged into the station 6 hours late by a Class 47. In fact the reliability issues meant that Class 47's were posted at a myriad of locations so they could immediately spring into action if a Virgin HST happened to break down somewhere nearby.
Reliability issues were gradually improved as the franchise got to grips with its new fleet, and slowly the company began repainting trains from the previous InterCity Swallow livery into Virgin Trains red. In the Summer period, Virgin would increase capacity by hiring in a HST set from another company, usually GNER or Midland Mainline as their northern bases were more ideal for a single out-and-back journey.
However, as part of Virgin's commitment to upgrade both franchises, the company made an order in March 1998 to lease 34 Class 220 'Voyagers' and 40 Class 221 tilting 'Super Voyagers' from Bombardier to replace loco-hauled and HST services on the Cross-Country network. Loco-hauled services were first to go, with the Class 47's bowing out in September 2002. An increase in popularity however for the 2001 Summer Season forced Virgin to retain their HST's, but reduce them to 5-cars nicknamed 'Challengers' so they could keep up with the faster acceleration of the Voyager units. Some services did still operate at 7-cars, operating to their own diagrams, but time was rapidly running out for the HST's on the Cross Country network. The axe finally fell at the end of the 2003 Summer Season on September 27th, with the final service being to Glasgow Central hauled by 43154 and 43157.
This wasn't the end of the HST's however, as capacity issues with the smaller Voyager units meant that soon afterwards, Virgin was once again hiring HST's from Midland Mainline and GNER to operate the service. As for ex-Virgin Trains sets, these were either placed into storage or sold on to other operators, most notably Midland Mainline, who began to use them on the Project Rio service from London St Pancras to Manchester Piccadilly whilst the West Coast was being rebuilt.. These services ended in 2004, but some sets were retained while others were sent to First Great Western and GNER.
In November 2007 however, Virgin Trains lost the Cross Country franchise to Arriva, who made it their intention to return regular HST operation to the network. 5 former Midland Mainline Project Rio sets were brought in and refurbished throughout 2008 to operate 4 diagrams a day as far as Plymouth, two from Leeds, one from Edinburgh, and one from Glasgow. Powercars in operation with Cross Country were re-engined with brand new MTU powerplants, and their numbers changed to be increased by a figure of 200. Carriages were also refurbished, with the removal of the Buffet in place of a small kitchen, with food and drink service provided by a trolley. Seat reservations were made electronic, and the general interiors of the carriage fully refreshed for a much more pleasing interior.
Today these HST's continue to ply their trade on the Cross Country network, having never truly disappeared from the route. Most of the time these sets prove even more popular than First Great Western's, and considerably more than the Voyagers, and if I'm travelling to the Midlands I'll often try to reserve myself onto a HST (although Cross Country are known for supplying a Voyager instead at the last minute).
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Light Time Dimension Theory: The Foundational Physics Unifying Einstein's Relativity and Quantum Mechanics: A Simple, Illustrated Introduction to the Unifying Physical Reality of the Fourth Expanding Dimensionsion dx4/dt=ic !: geni.us/Fa1Q
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The universe itself is God and the universal outpouring of its soul. --Chrysippus (Quoted by Cicero in De Natura Deorum)
Best wishes on your Epic Odyssey!
Homer: Tell me, O muse, of that ingenious hero who traveled far and wide after he had sacked the famous town of Troy. Many cities did he visit, and many were the nations with whose manners and customs he was acquainted; moreover he suffered much by sea while trying to save his own life and bring his men safely home. . . --Homer's Odyssey, Book I
Photographs available as epic fine art luxury prints. For prints and licensing information, please send me a flickr mail or contact drelliot@gmail.com with your queries! All the best on your Epic Hero's Odyssey!
《Moonlit Sadness》
I do not know how to describe this old song, because it is so beautiful, are not enough to describe any praise.
This song is from the plains aborigines in Taiwan songs, it was hymns new music, and later in 1933, a beautiful and plaintive songs "Moonlit Sadness" was born.
In the introduction to this, the mood of the song without any explanation, ears listening to rely on the love of the old era.
我不知道該怎麼形容月夜愁這首老歌，因為它太美，任何的稱讚都嫌矯情。
唯一可以介紹的是，《月夜愁》這首歌來自台灣原住民平埔族歌謠，經馬偕醫生加以譜寫的聖歌，後來在1933年，台灣最有名的台語詩人、也是知名作曲家鄧雨賢重新編曲、同期知名作詞家周天旺先生填詞後，一首優美又哀愁的《月夜愁》就此誕生。
介紹至此，歌裡的意境就不由分說、只能靠耳朵告訴你屬於舊年代的愛情了。
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Yooma Mayo exhibition「春と修羅～Yes,Giovanni 」フォトコンテスト
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Ralph Waldo Emerson. The happiest man is he who learns from nature the lesson of worship.
Lucius Annaeus Seneca: On entering a temple we assume all signs of reverence. How much more reverent then should we be before the heavenly bodies, the stars, the very nature of God!
John Muir: All the wild world is beautiful, and it matters but little where we go, to highlands or lowlands, woods or plains, on the sea or land or down among the crystals of waves or high in a balloon in the sky; through all the climates, hot or cold, storms and calms, everywhere and always we are in God's eternal beauty and love. So universally true is this, the spot where we chance to be always seems the best.
The Lost World (20th Century Fox, 1960).
youtu.be/h1CLA-gJbmA?t=5s Trailer
Irwin Allen, the producer who would go on to make the disaster film a huge success in the seventies, brought us this Saturday afternoon fodder with giant lizards posing as dinosaurs. Starring Michael Rennie, David Hedison, Claude Rains and Jill St. John.
Intended as a grand sci-fi/fantasy epic remake of Arthur Conan Doyle's classic novel. The first film adaptation, shot in 1925, was a milestone in many ways, but movie making and special effects had come a long way in 35 years. Irwin Allen's Lost World (LW) & 20th Century Fox version was derailed on the way to greatness, but managed to still be a respectable, (if more modest) A-film. Allen's screenplay followed the book fairly well, telling of Professor Challenger's expedition to a remote plateau in the Amazon upon which dinosaurs still lived. Aside from the paleontological presumptions in the premise, there is little "science" in The Lost World. Nonetheless, dinosaur movies have traditionally been lumped into the sci-fi genre.
Synopsis
When his plane lands in London, crusty old professor George Edward Challenger is besieged by reporters questioning him about his latest expedition to the headwaters of the Amazon River. After the irascible Challenger strikes reporter Ed Malone on the head with his umbrella, Jennifer Holmes, the daughter of Ed's employer, Stuart Holmes, offers the injured reporter a ride into town. That evening, Jenny is escorted by Lord John Roxton, an adventurer and big game hunter, to Challenger's lecture at the Zoological Institute, and Ed invites them to sit with him. When Challenger claims to have seen live dinosaurs, his colleague Professor Summerlee scoffs and asks for evidence. Explaining that his photographs of the creatures were lost when his boat overturned, Challenger invites Summerlee to accompany him on a new expedition to the "lost world," and asks for volunteers. When Roxton raises his hand, Jenny insists on going with him, but she is rejected by Challenger because she is a woman. Ed is given a spot after Holmes offers to fund the expedition if the reporter is included. The four then fly to the Amazon, where they are met by Costa, their guide and Manuel Gomez, their helicopter pilot. Arriving unexpectedly, Jenny and her younger brother David insist on joining them. Unable to arrange transportation back to the United States, Challenger reluctantly agrees to take them along. The next day, they take off for the lost world and land on an isolated plateau inhabited by dinosaurs. That evening, a dinosaur stomps out of the jungle, sending them scurrying for cover. After the beast destroys the helicopter and radio, the group ventures inland. When one of the creatures bellows threateningly, they flee, and in their haste, Challenger and Ed slip and tumble down a hillside, where they encounter a native girl. The girl runs into the jungle, but Ed follows and captures her. They then all take refuge in a cave, where Roxton, who has been making disparaging remarks about Jenny's desire to marry him solely for his title, angers Ed. Ed lunges at Roxton, pushing him to the ground, where he finds a diary written by Burton White, an adventurer who hired Roxton three years earlier to lead him to the lost diamonds of Eldorado. Roxton then admits that he never met White and his party because he was delayed by a dalliance with a woman, thus abandoning them to certain death. Gomez angrily snaps that his good friend Santiago perished in the expedition. That night, Costa tries to molest the native girl, and David comes to her rescue and begins to communicate with her through sign language. After Gomez goes to investigate some movement he spotted in the vegetation, he calls for help, and when Roxton runs out of the cave, a gunshot from an unseen assailant is fired, nearly wounding Roxton and sending the girl scurrying into the jungle. Soon after, Ed and Jenny stray from camp and are pursued by a dinosaur, and after taking refuge on some cliffs, watch in horror as their stalker becomes locked in combat with another prehistoric creature and tumbles over the cliffs into the waters below. Upon returning to camp, they discover it deserted, their belongings in disarray. As David stumbles out from some rocks to report they were attacked by a tribe of natives, the cannibals return and imprison them in a cave with the others. As the drums beat relentlessly, signaling their deaths, the native girl reappears and motions for them to follow her through a secret passageway that leads to the cave in which Burton White lives, completely sightless. After confirming that all in his expedition perished, White tells them of a volcanic passageway that will lead them off the plateau, but warns that they must first pass through the cave of fire. Cautioning them that the natives plan to sacrifice them, White declares that their only chance of survival is to slip through the cave and then seal it with a boulder. After giving them directions to the cave, White asks them to take the girl along. As the earth, on the verge of a volcanic eruption, quakes, they set off through the Graveyard of the Damned, a vast cavern littered with dinosaur skeletons, the victims of the deadly sulfurous gases below. Pursued by the ferocious natives, Roxton takes the lead as they inch their way across a narrow ledge above the molten lava. After escaping the natives, they jam the cave shut with a boulder and, passing a dam of molten lava, finally reach the escape passage. At its mouth is a pile of giant diamonds and a dinosaur egg. As Costa heaps the diamonds into his hat, Challenger fondles the egg and Gomez pulls a gun and announces that Roxton must die in exchange for the death of Santiago, Gomez' brother. Acting quickly, Ed hurls the diamonds at Gomez, throwing him off balance and discharging his gun. The gunshot awakens a creature slumbering in the roiling waters below. After the beast snatches Costa and eats him alive, Ed tries to dislodge the dam, sending a few scorching rocks tumbling down onto the monster. Feeling responsible for the peril of the group, Gomez sacrifices his life by using his body as a lever to dislodge the dam, covering the creature with oozing lava. As the cave begins to crumble from the impending eruption, the group hurries to safety. Just then, the volcano explodes, destroying the lost world. After Roxton hands Ed a handful of diamonds he has saved as a wedding gift for him and Jenny, Challenger proudly displays his egg, which then hatches, revealing a baby dinosaur. The End.
The 50s had seen several examples of the dinosaur sub-genre. LW is one of the more lavish ones, owing to color by DeLuxe and CinemaScope. The A-level actors help too. Claude Rains plays the flamboyant Challenger. Michael Rennie plays Roxton, perhaps a bit too cooly. Jill St. John and Vitina Marcus do well as the customary eye candy. David Hedison as Malone and Fernando Lamas as Gomez round out the bill.
The first film version of LW was a silent movie shot in 1925: screenplay by Marion Fairfax. The film featured stop-motion animated dinosaurs by a young Willis O'Brien. Fairfax followed Doyle's text, but Fairfax added a young woman to the team, Paula White. Ostensibly trying to find her father from the first failed expedition, she provided the love triangle interest between Malone and Roxton.
Allen's screenplay tried to stick to Doyle's text as much as Hollywood would allow. It carried on Fairfax's invention of the young woman member of the group as triangle fodder. Fairfax had Doyle's ape men (ape man) but omitted the native humans. Allen had the natives, but no ape men. Allen revived the Gomez/revenge subplot, which Fairfax skipped. Doyle's story had Challenger bringing back a pterodactyl. Fairfax made it a brontosaur who rampaged through London streets (spawning a popular trope). Allen suggested the baby dinosaur traveling to London.
Willis O'Brien pitched 20th Century Fox in the late 50s, to do a quality remake of LW. He had gained much experience in the intervening 35 years, so his stop-motion dinosaurs were to be the real stars. Fox bass liked the idea, but by the time the ball started rolling, there was trouble in studioland. Fox's grand epic Cleopatra was underway, but was already 5 million dollars over budget. Cleo would nearly sink 20th Century Fox when it was finally released in 1963. To stay afloat, all other Fox films' budgets were slashed. Allen could no longer afford the grand O'Brien stop-motion.
Allen's production is often criticized for its "cheap" dinosaurs, which were live monitor lizards and alligators with fins and plates and horns glue onto them. (more on that below) These were already a bit cheesy when used in the 1940 film One Million B.C.. O'Brien is still listed on the credits as "Effects Technician," but all Allen could afford was lizards with glued on extras. Somewhat amusingly, the script still refers to them as brontosaurs and T-Rexes.
The character of Jennifer Holmes starts out promising. She's a self-assured to the edges of pushy, and is said to be able to out shoot and out ride any man. Yet, when she gets to the Amazon jungle, she's little more than Jungle Barbie, dressed in girlie clothes and screaming frequently. She even does the typical Hollywood trip-and-fall when chased by the dinosaur, so that a man must save her.
Bottom line? FW is a finer example of the not-quite-sci-fi dinosaur sub-genre. The actors are top drawer, even if some of their acting is a bit flat. Nonetheless, FW is a fair adaptation of Doyle's
classic adventure novel, given the constraints of Hollywood culture.
The Movie Club Annals … Review
The Lost World 1960
Introduction
There was absolutely nothing wrong with Irwin Allen's 1960 production of The Lost World. Nothing. It was perfect in every way. I therefore find myself in the unique and unfamiliar position of having to write a rave review about a Movie Club movie that was entirely devoid of flaws.
Faced with such a confounding task, I half-heartedly considered faking a bad review, then praying my obvious deceptions would go unnoticed. But the patent transparency of my scheme convinced me to abandon it posthaste. After all, leveling concocted criticisms at such an unassailable masterpiece would be a futile and tiresome exercise, the pretense of which would escape nary a semi-cognizant soul.
Thus, having retreated from my would-be descent into literary intrigue, I start this review in earnest by borrowing a quote from the legendary Shelly Winters, spoken during the 1972 filming of Irwin Allen's The Poseidon Adventure:
"I'm ready for my close up now, Mr. Allen.” Shelly Winters, 1972
Review
A bit of research into the casting choices of Irwin Allen, who wrote, produced, and directed The Lost World, begins to reveal the genius behind the virtuosity.
The first accolades go to Irwin for his casting of Vitina Marcus, the immaculately groomed Saks 5th Avenue cave girl with exquisite taste in makeup, jewelry, and cave-wear. No finer cave girl ever graced a feature film.
Vitina Marcus, as The Cave Girl
She was the picture of prehistoric glamour, gliding across the silver screen in her designer bearskin mini-pelt, her flawless coiffure showing no signs of muss from the traditional courting rituals of the day, her perfect teeth the envy of even the most prototypical Osmond. Even her nouveau-opposable thumbs retained their manicure, in spite of the oft-disagreeable duties that frequently befell her as an effete member of the tribal gentry.
By no means just another Neanderthal harlot, Vitina had a wealth of talent to augment her exterior virtues. Her virtuoso interpretation of a comely cave girl in The Lost World certainly didn't escape the attention Irwin Allen. In fact, he was so taken with her performance that he later engaged her services again, casting her as the Native Girl in episode 2.26 of his Voyage to The Bottom of The Sea TV series.
Leery of potential typecasting, Vitina went on to obtain roles with greater depth and more sophisticated dialogue. This is evidenced by the great departure she took from her previous roles when she next portrayed the part of Sarit, a female barbarian, in episode 1.24 of Irwin Allen's The Time Tunnel TV series.
Vitina, as Sarit
Vitina's efforts to avoid typecasting paid off in spades, as she was soon rewarded with the distinctive role of Girl, a female Tarzanesque she-beast character, in episode 3.14 of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. TV series.
Lured back from the U.N.C.L.E. set by Irwin Allen, Vitina was next cast in the role of Athena (a.k.a. Lorelei), the green space girl with the inverted lucite salad bowl hat, in episodes 2.2 and 2.16 of the revered Lost in Space TV series.
And with this, Vitina reached the pinnacle of her career. For her many unparalleled displays of thespian pageantry, she leaves us forever in her debt as she exits the stage.
For those who would still question the genius of Irwin Allen, I defy you to find a better casting choice for the character of Lord John Roxton than that of Michael Rennie. Mr. Rennie, who earlier starred as Klaatu in The Day the Earth Stood Still, went on to even greater heights, starring as The Keeper in episodes 1.16 and 1.17 of the revered Lost in Space TV series. Throughout his distinguished career, Mr. Rennie often played highly cerebral characters with
unique names, such as Garth A7, Tribolet, Hasani, Rama Kahn, Hertz, and Dirk. How befitting that his most prolific roles came to him through a man named Irwin, a highly cerebral character with a unique name.
The selection of David Hedison to play Ed Malone was yet another example of Irwin's uncanny foresight. Soon after casting him in The Lost World, Irwin paved Mr. Hedison's path to immortality by casting him as a lead character in his Voyage to The Bottom of The Sea TV series. Although Voyage ended in 1968, Mr. Hedison departed the show with a solid resume and a bright future.
In the decades following Voyage, Mr. Hedison has been a veritable fixture on the small screen, appearing in such socially influential programs as The Love Boat, Fantasy Island, Knight Rider, The Fall Guy and The A Team. Mr. Hedison's early collaborations with Irwin Allen have left him never wanting for a day's work in Hollywood, a boon to the legions of discerning fans who continue to savor his inspiring prime time depictions.
Irwin selected Fernando Lamas to play Manuel Gomez, the honorable and tortured soul of The Lost World who needlessly sacrificed himself at the end of the movie to save all the others. To get a feel for how important a casting decision he was to Irwin, just look at the pertinent experience Mr. Lamas brought to the table:
Irwin knew that such credentials could cause him to lose the services of Mr. Lamas to another project, and he took great pains to woo him onto the set of The Lost World. And even though Mr. Lamas never appeared in the revered Lost in Space TV series, his talent is not lost on us.
Jay Novello was selected by Irwin Allen to play Costa, the consummate Cuban coward who perpetually betrays everyone around him in the name of greed. In pursuing his craven calling, Mr. Novello went on to play Xandros, the Greek Slave in Atlantis, The Lost Continent, as well as countless other roles as a coward.
Although Mr. Novella never appeared in the revered Lost in Space TV series, his already long and distinguished career as a coward made him the obvious choice for Irwin when the need for an experienced malingerer arose.
Jill St. John was Irwin's pick to play Jennifer Holmes, the "other" glamour girl in The Lost World. Not to be upstaged by glamour-cave-girl Vitina Marcus, Jill played the trump card and broke out the pink go-go boots and skin-tight Capri pants, the perfect Amazonian summertime jungle wear.
Complete with a perfect hairdo, a killer wardrobe, a little yip-yip dog named Frosty, and all the other trappings of a wealthy and pampered prehistoric society, Jill's sensational allure rivaled even that of a certain cave girl appearing in the same film.
With the atmosphere rife for an on-set rivalry between Jill and Vitina, Irwin still managed to keep the peace, proving that he was as skilled a diplomat as he was a director.
Claude Rains, as Professor George Edward Challenger
And our cup runneth over, as Irwin cast Claude Rains to portray Professor George Edward Challenger. His eminence, Mr. Rains is an entity of such immeasurable virtue that he is not in need of monotonous praise from the likes of me.
I respectfully acknowledge the appearance of Mr. Rains because failure to do so would be an unforgivable travesty. But I say nothing more on the subject, lest I state something so obvious and uninspiring as to insult the intelligence of enlightened reader.
Irwin's casting of the cavemen mustn't be overlooked, for their infallibly realistic portrayals are unmatched within the Pleistocene Epoch genre of film. Such meticulous attention to detail is what separates Irwin Allen from lesser filmmakers, whose pale imitations of his work only further to underscore the point.
To be sure, it is possible to come away with the unfounded suspicion that the cavemen are really just a bunch of old white guys from the bar at the local Elks lodge. But Irwin was an absolute stickler for authenticity, and would never have allowed the use of such tawdry measures to taint his prehistoric magnum opus.
In truth, Irwin's on-screen cavemen were borne of many grueling years of anthropological research, so the explanation for their somewhat modern, pseudo-caucasian appearance lies obviously elsewhere. And in keeping with true Irwin Allen tradition, that explanation will not be offered here.
1964 - Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Season One, Episode 7 - "Turn Back the Clock", featuring Vitina Marcus as The Native Girl. Produced by Irwin Allen.
And then there was Irwin Allen's masterful handling of the reptilian facets of The Lost World, most notably his inimitable casting of the dinosaurs. His dinosaurs were so realistic, so eerily lifelike, that they almost looked like living, breathing garden variety lizards with dinosaur fins and horns glued to their backs and heads.
The less enlightened viewer might even suppose this to be true, that Irwin's dinosaurs were indeed merely live specimens of lizards, donned in Jurassic-era finery, vastly magnified, and retro-fitted into The Lost World via some penny-wise means of cinematic trickery.
But those of us in the know certainly know better than that, as we are privy to some otherwise unpublished information about The Lost World. The lifelike appearance of the Irwin's dinosaurs can be attributed to a wholly overlooked and fiendishly cunning approach to the art of delusion, which is that the dinosaurs didn't just look real, they were real.
While the world abounds with middling minds who cannot fathom such a reality, we must follow Irwin's benevolent leanings and temper our natural feelings of contempt for this unfortunate assemblage of pedestrian lowbrows. In spite of Irwin's superior intellect, he never felt disdain toward the masses that constituted his audiences. He simply capitalized on their unaffectedness, and in the process recounted the benefits of exploiting the intellectually bereft for personal gain.
The purpose of all this analysis, of course, is to place an exclamation point on the genius of Irwin Allen, the formation of his dinosaur exposé being a premier example. Note how he mindfully manipulates the expectations of his unsuspecting audience, compelling them to probe the dinosaurs for any signs of man-made chicanery. Then, at the palatial moment when the dinosaurs make their entry, he guilefully supplants the anticipated display of faux reptilia with that of the bona fide article.
Upon first witnessing the de facto dinosaurs, some in the audience think they've been had, and indeed they have. Irwin, in engineering his masterful ruse, had used reality as his medium to convey the illusion of artifice. His audience, in essence, was blinded by the truth. It was the immaculate deception, and none but Irwin Allen could have conceived it.
Indeed, the matter of where the live dinosaurs came from has been conspicuously absent from this discussion, as the Irwinian technique of fine film making strongly discourages the practice of squandering time on extraneous justifications and other such trite means of redundant apologia. For the benefit of the incessantly curious, however, just keep in mind that Irwin Allen wrote and produced The Time Tunnel TV Series, a fact that should provide some fair insight into his modis operandi.
Carl R.