AGHHH I LOVE THAT NEW JONAS BROTHERS SONG, LOVE IS ON ITS WAY!

 

holy guacamole! its so beautiiiiful.

i can listen to it like,

1234567890111213141516171819203333 times! :D

www.holyspiritspeaks.org/videos/party-is-not-done-talking/

Introduction

Li Ming'ai is a Christian in mainland China. She is a woman of upright character who respects her parents-in-law, assists her husband and educates her child, and has a happy and harmonious family. In China, where atheism exercises control, however, the Chinese Communist government always wildly arrests and persecutes people who believe in God. In 2006, Li Ming'ai was arrested and fined because of her belief in God. After Li Ming'ai returned home, the Chinese Communist police often threatened and intimidated her and her family, and tried to prevent Li Ming'ai from continuing her belief in God. One day, when Li Ming'ai was away from home holding a meeting, she was reported by an informer. The police went to Li Ming'ai's home trying to arrest her. She was forced to leave home, and from that time on, Li Ming'ai's life hiding from place to place and fleeing from home began. The Chinese Communist police still won't leave her alone, always keeping watch on her home, and waiting for an opportunity to arrest her. One evening, Li Ming'ai stealthily goes home to see her family, but almost immediately the police hurry to arrest her. Luckily someone warns her, and Li Ming'ai escapes disaster.

 

Three years later, while Li Ming'ai is practicing her faith and doing her duty far from home, she is followed and arrested by Chinese Communist police. The Chinese Communist police carry out inhuman torture and torment on Li Ming'ai, and utilize family affection to try to lure her. They use threats such as denying her child a right to attend school, and blocking future access to jobs in the government that the child might have to try to force her to abandon her faith in God, to betray the leaders in the church , and to make known the finances of the church. During this time, Li Ming'ai prays to God and places her faith in God. In God's word she finds enlightenment and guidance. She endures torture and torment by the Chinese Communist police, sees through Satan's tricks, and resolves to not betray God. She stands firm witness for God. The interrogation by the Chinese Communist police bears no fruit, and they are shamed into anger. They lead Li Ming'ai dressed in prisoner's clothing to her village home, parading her for all to see. They do this to shame her, and then try to get her family members to tempt her to betray God, and sell out the church. Li Ming'ai is most enraged by how the Chinese Communists attribute the difficulties of her family to her belief in God. Filled with righteous indignation, Li Ming'ai angrily brings to light the evil reality of how the Chinese Communist government arrests and persecutes Christians. She states that the real destroyer of Christians' families is the Chinese Communist government, which is the arch-criminal who brings people all sorts of calamity. Thus she serves up a thorough and shameful defeat to the Chinese Communists.

 

Eastern Lightning, The Church of Almighty God was created because of the appearance and work ofAlmighty God , the second coming of the Lord Jesus, Christ of the last days. It is made up of all those who accept Almighty God's work in the last days and are conquered and saved by His words. It was entirely founded by Almighty God personally and is led by Him as the Shepherd. It was definitely not created by a person. Christ is the truth, the way, and the life. God's sheep hear God's voice. As long as you read the words of Almighty God, you will see God has appeared.

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This is called Tirana Lake, as far as i remember..

and i think it was somewhere in the Grand Park (Parku i Madh) which was just south of downtown Tirana.. It was a haven from the traffic and dust of the capital in those days. And the thousands of the city's inhabitants came here on holidays to play and picnic(fishing of course). The area was fairly safe, but it was best to go before dark, since police presence was scant,, (any corrections about the place are appreciated btw!)

This is one of the few shots i took over there. I was in the park around the lake and it was a wonderful sky that night, i'll never forget that!

 

Date Taken: 1997

Nikon F90X 35-70 mm. 2.8 Fuji Velvia

   

Maldon.

The Simson family took out pastoral runs around what is now Maldon in 1840. They had the Cairn Curran and the Tarrangower runs. It was near the foot of Mount Tarrangower that gold was discovered in December 1853 precipitating a gold rush in early 1854. The discovered of gold at Maldon was John Mechosk who received numerous government payouts for discovering gold fields apart from the one in Maldon. He also discovered the goldfields at Dunolly, Maryborough and Fryerstown. He received around £1,000 from the Victorian government for his efforts. A town was surveyed and developed in 1854 and it is believed that a member of the survey party suggested the name of Maldon because the hilly country reminded him of Maldon in Essex England. The diggers, up to 20,000 of them, were controlled by the District Gold Commissioner Bernard Smith who arrived and set up camp in 1854.The diggers had their canvas areas throughout the region but the town of Maldon soon had several public buildings including an early timber famed Wesleyan Methodist church built in 1855 and a brewery and several hotels built in 1854.

 

The Maldon gold finds were especially rich and mining companies developed areas to the north, east and south of the town with mining sites such as the Beehive Mine, the Nuggetty Mine, Eagle Hawk Mine, Bell’s Reef, the North British mine etc. Mining continued for a long period and as late as 1903 there were still over 1,000 diggers on the sites around Maldon following the last gold rush of 1897. But this was the last period of active mining around Maldon and the population had shrunk considerably by the 1920s. Because it was not on a main road to anywhere Maldon languished in semi-isolation for the next 50 years until the National Trust declared it the “First Notable Town in Australia” as its mining sites and historic buildings were still largely intact and the town showcased the life of a 19th century Australian gold mining town. Whole streetscapes of Maldon are heritage listed and a number of significant mining structures are still standing such as the 98 feet high Beehive Mine tower built in 1863. It stands at the top of the main street. The cemetery a few kilometres out of town has a fine Chinese funerary burning chamber probably from around 1865 when the gold mines were at their peak. The cemetery was opened in 1861 and the gate house was built in 1866. 121 Chinese are known to have been buried in the Maldon cemetery but only a couple of headstone are known. But there is little other evidence of the significant Chinese population of diggers that were once in the Maldon district. The town proudly proclaims that fact that over 2.1 million ounces of gold was extracted at Maldon worth about 3 billion dollars at today’s values.

 

Because of the wealth of Maldon it has numerous outstanding or significant historic buildings although it was never a really large town. Apart from the many fine hotels and commercial buildings the town has the Penny or Denominational School built as an Anglican school in 1856 but open to any child whose parents could afford the fees. 120 pupils were enrolled at this small school in 1857. The building was enlarged and rebuilt in 1862. The state school in Maldon was not built until 1875. It is still an impressive building. Near the Penny School is one of the early churches of Maldon the Welsh Congregational Church which was built in 1863. There were many Welsh and Cornish miners on the Maldon diggings. Nearby are several churches including the Anglican Church (1861), the Catholic Church built 1891 (replacing an earlier 1859 church), the former Wesleyan Methodist Church built in 1863 (replacing the 1855 wooden one), the Presbyterian Church built in 1905 (replacing an earlier 1861 church) and the Welsh Baptist Church built in 1865 with matching 1890 additions. Further away on the hill near the state school is the impressive Maldon Hospital. A wooden temporary hospital was established in 1859 but this grand classical designed hospital was built in 1867 beside the temporary building. One wing of the classical façade hospital was built in 1860 and the other in 1862. In 1867 the temporary structure in the middle was replaced with the central two storey hospital section which still stands. A further wing was added after this. The design for the hospital was chosen from entries to a public competition. The current town museum was once the Maldon Market which was erected in 1859. Near this central government camp area of Maldon which the Gold Commissioners used you can also find the Courthouse built in 1860 and the Post Office built in 1870. Nearby is the Athenaeum Library built in 1934 and still in use as the town library. This 1934 structure replaced the previous Athenaeum library built in 1863 and destroyed by fire in 1933. In addition to the usual commercial buildings, banks and hotels in the main street there is also an old grain store and further away is the railway station. A train line was built to service Maldon in 1884 and a fine red brick station built in 1888. It closed in 1976.

 

Other buildings of note in Maldon are MacArthur’s Cottage in High Street with the very unusual three dimensional brick work effect around the door and windows. It is next door to the Anglican Holy Trinity church. McArthur’s cottage was built in 1860s. The old Grain Store and Brooks’ Store were built in 1866 for the Maldon Cooperative Trading Company. This cooperative was not successful and went into liquidation in 1872 when John Brooks acquired the property and it is probably at this time additions were added. Members of the Brooks family ran this store until 1986. The Maldon Hotel was built in 1909 and the adjacent Shakespeare House and gallery was erected in 1907. Across the street is the 1854 established McArthur’s Bakery. The sign on this building relates to the establishment of the bakery not the actual building. This corner bakery was built in 1895. The old Beehive Market in Maldon began life as Franklin’s boot and shoe warehouse in 1870. The building later became a timber yard. Upton’s Butcher shop in the Main Street was established on this site in 1859 and the store was built then with the veranda added in 1860. The parapet is more modern being added to the shop in 1907. The Maldon Timber and Hardware building with the fancy parapet was built in 1897 after the earlier building on this site burnt down. It began life as a drapery.

 

This is me Lego mach 5 racing car from speed racer. a few years back we got some speed racer sets based on the movie that was released at the time, but this one is based on the original cartoon series. Besides the 5 on the side, this build shouldn't need any stickers for something like the M on the front.

 

This build includes several gadgets that were featured in the show like saws, jacks, a homing robot and a periscope (unfortunately I wasn't able to get a full glass down over the vehicle for its submarine mode). It also has space for 1 minifigure.

PHOTOGRAPHERS THOUGHTS …

Contrast is about light, and photography is painting with light …

When the colours of a scene are just not working, look to creating a B&W. So many times, photographing towards to sun destroys the colour, but creates good B&W.

Here was just that situation, and using my 9mm lens for field-of view, allowed me to capture the drama unfolding in the sky. Remember, getting a black and white image to work requires the image to have black & white elements …

AMBIENT LIGHT

5.30pm pm at the end of January, with light radiating in from top left

COMPOSITION ELEMENTS

B&W, Contrast, Leading lines, Vanishing point, Dramatic, Field-of-view, Scale, Graded light, Light & shade, Texture, Anchoring point (bottom right), Telling a story, Pano crop.

LOCATION

Long Jetty, Central Coast, N.S.W.

SETTINGS

1/1250th, f11 (within sweet spot range of lens), 200 ISO, Manual Exposure based on blinking highlights in viewfinder, exposure meter, and histogram, to expose correctly for the brightest element in the image, EV 0, Manual Focus, RAW, Fuji X-T2, Laowa 9mm Lens (35mm format – 14mm). Note that this is a manual lens and does not record exif data correctly ...

ENHANCEMENT (Lightroom)

Tweaked image using Exposure, Contrast, Highlights, Shadows, Whites, Blacks, Texture, Clarity & Dehaze, sliders, as well as brushing in some Whites & Blacks

 

These ‘Photographers Thoughts’ are posted to aid photographers to recognise compositional elements, as well as the camera settings used, so you might learn from what worked, or through my mistakes … enjoy Greg

 

She is my favorite Poppy from the Supermodel convention. She is wearing a model life silkstone lingerie, ABS Kyori peignoir. Jewels and perfume bottles by me.

www.etsy.com/shop/IsabelleParisJewels

 

Tierpark Berlin

Deboxing Teal Jasmine. First the outer cardboard cover is removed, by simply sliding it off the box. There is still a plastic cover protecting the doll inside. Then the inner plastic cover and rear cardboard cover are removed, leaving the inner cardboard backing, to which the doll is attached. The backing can stand on its own. The doll is now in clear view. The Certificate of Authenticity is removed from below the backing.

 

Detailed photos of my pre-ordered Teal Jasmine 17 inch doll. I picked her up on release day (Tuesday October 13, 2015) from my local Disney Store. She is #1834 of 5000. She has a similar color difference between her torso and the rest of her body (including her head) as that of my Red Jasmine doll. There is golden sheen in her torso that is especially noticeable in her neck and upper chest. I like Teal Jasmine much more than I thought I would from my initial look at the stock photos and even seeing the display doll in person, although Red Jasmine is still my favorite of the two.

 

She is photographed boxed, during deboxing, and fully deboxed. She is also posed with other comparable dolls.

 

Limited Edition Jasmine Doll - 17'' - Pre-Order

US Disney Store

Pre-order In Store 2015-08-04 (in US and Canada)

Pre-order Online 2015-08-05

$119.95

Item No. 6003040901276P

 

Exotic elegance

The Disney Store proudly presents the Limited Edition Jasmine Doll. Stunning in her peacock-inspired gown, our finely detailed Princess Jasmine is presented in a scenic display for a lasting keepsake. See more

 

Reserve by clicking Pre-Order now! We expect this item to be available by 10/13/2015. You will be notified via email when it is ready to ship.

 

Magic in the details...

 

Available to own October 13, 2015

 

Please Note: Purchase of this item is limited to 1 per Guest.

 

• Limited Edition 1 of 5000

• Includes Certificate of Authenticity

• Bodice with metallic embroidered peacock motif

• Overskirt with intricate metallic gold pattern with gems on bottom

• Sculpted belt and bracelets with jewels

• Golden necklace set with glimmering gems

• Metallic gold beads adorn hair

• Fully poseable

• Display stand included

• Comes in elegant window display case

• Celebrating the return of Disney's classic Aladdin to DVD and Blu-ray disc

 

The bare necessities

 

• Ages 6+

• Plastic / polyester

• 17'' H

• Imported

 

Safety

 

WARNING: CHOKING HAZARD - Small Parts. Not for children under 3 years.

Casa del Sol

 

***Sun is shining-Bob Marley***

 

Sun is shining, the weather is sweet, yeah

Make you wanna move your dancing feet now

To the rescue, here I am

Want you to know, yall, can you understand?

 

When the mornin gather the rainbow, yeah, yeah

Want you to know, Im a rainbow too now

To the rescue, here I am

Want you to know, yall, can you, can you, can you understand?

 

Sun is shining, the weather is sweet now

Make you wanna move your dancing feet, yeah

But to the rescue, here I am

Want you to know just if you can, here I stand, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no

 

Can you understand me now, baby?

Do you believe me?

Canyonlands National Park is an American national park located in southeastern Utah near the town of Moab. The park preserves a colorful landscape eroded into numerous canyons, mesas, and buttes by the Colorado River, the Green River, and their respective tributaries. Legislation creating the park was signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson on September 12, 1964.

 

The park is divided into four districts: the Island in the Sky, the Needles, the Maze, and the combined rivers—the Green and Colorado—which carved two large canyons into the Colorado Plateau. While these areas share a primitive desert atmosphere, each retains its own character. Author Edward Abbey, a frequent visitor, described the Canyonlands as "the most weird, wonderful, magical place on earth—there is nothing else like it anywhere."

 

In the early 1950s, Bates Wilson, then superintendent of Arches National Monument, began exploring the area to the south and west of Moab, Utah. After seeing what is now known as the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park, Wilson began advocating for the establishment of a new national park that would include the Needles. Additional explorations by Wilson and others expanded the areas proposed for inclusion into the new national park to include the confluence of Green and Colorado rivers, the Maze District, and Horseshoe Canyon.

 

In 1961, Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall was scheduled to address a conference at Grand Canyon National Park. On his flight to the conference, he flew over the Confluence (where the Colorado and Green rivers meet). The view apparently sparked Udall's interest in Wilson's proposal for a new national park in that area and Udall began promoting the establishment of Canyonlands National Park.

 

Utah Senator Frank Moss first introduced legislation into Congress to create Canyonlands National Park. His legislation attempted to satisfy both nature preservationists' and commercial developers' interests. Over the next four years, his proposal was struck down, debated, revised, and reintroduced to Congress many times before being passed and signed into creation.

 

In September, 1964, after several years of debate, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed Pub.L. 88–590, which established Canyonlands National Park as a new national park. Bates Wilson became the first superintendent of the new park and is often referred to as the "Father of Canyonlands."

 

The Colorado River and Green River combine within the park, dividing it into three districts called the Island in the Sky, the Needles, and the Maze. The Colorado River flows through Cataract Canyon below its confluence with the Green River.

 

The Island in the Sky district is a broad and level mesa in the northern section of the park, between the Colorado and Green rivers. The district has many viewpoints overlooking the White Rim, a sandstone bench 1,200 feet (370 m) below the Island, and the rivers, which are another 1,000 feet (300 m) below the White Rim.

 

The Needles district is located south of the Island in the Sky, on the east side of the Colorado River. The district is named for the red and white banded rock pinnacles which are a major feature of the area. Various other naturally sculpted rock formations are also within this district, including grabens, potholes, and arches. Unlike Arches National Park, where many arches are accessible by short to moderate hikes, most of the arches in the Needles district lie in backcountry canyons, requiring long hikes or four-wheel drive trips to reach them.

 

The Ancestral Puebloans inhabited this area and some of their stone and mud dwellings are well-preserved, although the items and tools they used were mostly removed by looters. The Ancestral Puebloans also created rock art in the form of petroglyphs, most notably on Newspaper Rock along the Needles access road.

 

The Maze district is located west of the Colorado and Green rivers. The Maze is the least accessible section of the park, and one of the most remote and inaccessible areas of the United States.

 

A geographically detached section of the park located north of the Maze district, Horseshoe Canyon contains panels of rock art made by hunter-gatherers from the Late Archaic Period (2000-1000 BC) pre-dating the Ancestral Puebloans. Originally called Barrier Canyon, Horseshoe's artifacts, dwellings, pictographs, and murals are some of the oldest in America. The images depicting horses date from after 1540 AD, when the Spanish reintroduced horses to America.

 

Since the 1950s, scientists have been studying an area of 200 acres (81 ha) completely surrounded by cliffs. The cliffs have prevented cattle from ever grazing on the area's 62 acres (25 ha) of grassland. According to the scientists, the site may contain the largest undisturbed grassland in the Four Corners region. Studies have continued biannually since the mid-1990s. The area has been closed to the public since 1993 to maintain the nearly pristine environment.

 

Mammals that roam this park include black bears, coyotes, skunks, bats, elk, foxes, bobcats, badgers, ring-tailed cats, pronghorns, desert bighorn sheep, and cougars. Desert cottontails, kangaroo rats and mule deer are commonly seen by visitors.

 

At least 273 species of birds inhabit the park. A variety of hawks and eagles are found, including the Cooper's hawk, the northern goshawk, the sharp-shinned hawk, the red-tailed hawk, the golden and bald eagles, the rough-legged hawk, the Swainson's hawk, and the northern harrier. Several species of owls are found, including the great horned owl, the northern saw-whet owl, the western screech owl, and the Mexican spotted owl. Grebes, woodpeckers, ravens, herons, flycatchers, crows, bluebirds, wrens, warblers, blackbirds, orioles, goldfinches, swallows, sparrows, ducks, quail, grouse, pheasants, hummingbirds, falcons, gulls, and ospreys are some of the other birds that can be found.

 

Several reptiles can be found, including eleven species of lizards and eight species of snake (including the midget faded rattlesnake). The common kingsnake and prairie rattlesnake have been reported in the park, but not confirmed by the National Park Service.

 

The park is home to six confirmed amphibian species, including the red-spotted toad, Woodhouse's toad, American bullfrog, northern leopard frog, Great Basin spadefoot toad, and tiger salamander. The canyon tree frog was reported to be in the park in 2000, but was not confirmed during a study in 2004.

 

Canyonlands National Park contains a wide variety of plant life, including 11 cactus species,[34] 20 moss species, liverworts, grasses and wildflowers. Varieties of trees include netleaf hackberry, Russian olive, Utah juniper, pinyon pine, tamarisk, and Fremont's cottonwood. Shrubs include Mormon tea, blackbrush, four-wing saltbush, cliffrose, littleleaf mountain mahogany, and snakeweed

 

Cryptobiotic soil is the foundation of life in Canyonlands, providing nitrogen fixation and moisture for plant seeds. One footprint can destroy decades of growth.

 

According to the Köppen climate classification system, Canyonlands National Park has a cold semi-arid climate ("BSk"). The plant hardiness zones at the Island in the Sky and Needles District Visitor Centers are 7a with an average annual extreme minimum air temperature of 4.0 °F (-15.6 °C) and 2.9 °F (-16.2 °C), respectively.

 

The National Weather Service has maintained two cooperative weather stations in the park since June 1965. Official data documents the desert climate with less than 10 inches (250 millimetres) of annual rainfall, as well as hot, mostly dry summers and cold, occasionally wet winters. Snowfall is generally light during the winter.

 

The station in The Neck region reports an average January temperature of 29.6 °F and an average July temperature of 79.3 °F. Average July temperatures range from a high of 90.8 °F (32.7 °C) to a low of 67.9 °F (19.9 °C). There are an average of 45.7 days with highs of 90 °F (32 °C) or higher and an average of 117.3 days with lows of 32 °F (0 °C) or lower. The highest recorded temperature was 105 °F (41 °C) on July 15, 2005, and the lowest recorded temperature was −13 °F (−25 °C) on February 6, 1989. Average annual precipitation is 9.33 inches (237 mm). There are an average of 59 days with measurable precipitation. The wettest year was 1984, with 13.66 in (347 mm), and the driest year was 1989, with 4.63 in (118 mm). The most precipitation in one month was 5.19 in (132 mm) in October 2006. The most precipitation in 24 hours was 1.76 in (45 mm) on April 9, 1978. Average annual snowfall is 22.8 in (58 cm). The most snowfall in one year was 47.4 in (120 cm) in 1975, and the most snowfall in one month was 27.0 in (69 cm) in January 1978.

 

The station in The Needles region reports an average January temperature of 29.7 °F and an average July temperature of 79.1 °F.[44] Average July temperatures range from a high of 95.4 °F (35.2 °C) to a low of 62.4 °F (16.9 °C). There are an average of 75.4 days with highs of 90 °F (32 °C) or higher and an average of 143.6 days with lows of 32 °F (0 °C) or lower. The highest recorded temperature was 107 °F (42 °C) on July 13, 1971, and the lowest recorded temperature was −16 °F (−27 °C) on January 16, 1971. Average annual precipitation is 8.49 in (216 mm). There are an average of 56 days with measurable precipitation. The wettest year was 1969, with 11.19 in (284 mm), and the driest year was 1989, with 4.25 in (108 mm). The most precipitation in one month was 4.43 in (113 mm) in October 1972. The most precipitation in 24 hours was 1.56 in (40 mm) on September 17, 1999. Average annual snowfall is 14.4 in (37 cm). The most snowfall in one year was 39.3 in (100 cm) in 1975, and the most snowfall in one month was 24.0 in (61 cm) in March 1985.

 

National parks in the Western US are more affected by climate change than the country as a whole, and the National Park Service has begun research into how exactly this will effect the ecosystem of Canyonlands National Park and the surrounding areas and ways to protect the park for the future. The mean annual temperature of Canyonlands National Park increased by 2.6 °F (1.4 °C) from 1916 to 2018. It is predicted that if current warming trends continue, the average highs in the park during the summer will be over 100 °F (40 °C) by 2100. In addition to warming, the region has begun to see more severe and frequent droughts which causes native grass cover to decrease and a lower flow of the Colorado River. The flows of the Upper Colorado Basin have decreased by 300,000 acre⋅ft (370,000,000 m3) per year, which has led to a decreased amount of sediment carried by the river and rockier rapids which are more frequently impassable to rafters. The area has also begun to see an earlier spring, which will lead to changes in the timing of leaves and flowers blooming and migrational patterns of wildlife that could lead to food shortages for the wildlife, as well as a longer fire season.

 

The National Park Service is currently closely monitoring the impacts of climate change in Canyonlands National Park in order to create management strategies that will best help conserve the park's landscapes and ecosystems for the long term. Although the National Park Service's original goal was to preserve landscapes as they were before European colonization, they have now switched to a more adaptive management strategy with the ultimate goal of conserving the biodiversity of the park. The NPS is collaborating with other organizations including the US Geological Survey, local indigenous tribes, and nearby universities in order to create a management plan for the national park. Right now, there is a focus on research into which native plants will be most resistant to climate change so that the park can decide on what to prioritize in conservation efforts. The Canyonlands Natural History Association has been giving money to the US Geological Survey to fund this and other climate related research. They gave $30,000 in 2019 and $61,000 in 2020.

 

A subsiding basin and nearby uplifting mountain range (the Uncompahgre) existed in the area in Pennsylvanian time. Seawater trapped in the subsiding basin created thick evaporite deposits by Mid Pennsylvanian. This, along with eroded material from the nearby mountain range, became the Paradox Formation, itself a part of the Hermosa Group. Paradox salt beds started to flow later in the Pennsylvanian and probably continued to move until the end of the Jurassic. Some scientists believe Upheaval Dome was created from Paradox salt bed movement, creating a salt dome, but more modern studies show that the meteorite theory is more likely to be correct.

 

A warm shallow sea again flooded the region near the end of the Pennsylvanian. Fossil-rich limestones, sandstones, and shales of the gray-colored Honaker Trail Formation resulted. A period of erosion then ensued, creating a break in the geologic record called an unconformity. Early in the Permian an advancing sea laid down the Halgaito Shale. Coastal lowlands later returned to the area, forming the Elephant Canyon Formation.

 

Large alluvial fans filled the basin where it met the Uncompahgre Mountains, creating the Cutler red beds of iron-rich arkose sandstone. Underwater sand bars and sand dunes on the coast inter-fingered with the red beds and later became the white-colored cliff-forming Cedar Mesa Sandstone. Brightly colored oxidized muds were then deposited, forming the Organ Rock Shale. Coastal sand dunes and marine sand bars once again became dominant, creating the White Rim Sandstone.

 

A second unconformity was created after the Permian sea retreated. Flood plains on an expansive lowland covered the eroded surface and mud built up in tidal flats, creating the Moenkopi Formation. Erosion returned, forming a third unconformity. The Chinle Formation was then laid down on top of this eroded surface.

 

Increasingly dry climates dominated the Triassic. Therefore, sand in the form of sand dunes invaded and became the Wingate Sandstone. For a time climatic conditions became wetter and streams cut channels through the sand dunes, forming the Kayenta Formation. Arid conditions returned to the region with a vengeance; a large desert spread over much of western North America and later became the Navajo Sandstone. A fourth unconformity was created by a period of erosion.

 

Mud flats returned, forming the Carmel Formation, and the Entrada Sandstone was laid down next. A long period of erosion stripped away most of the San Rafael Group in the area, along with any formations that may have been laid down in the Cretaceous period.

 

The Laramide orogeny started to uplift the Rocky Mountains 70 million years ago and with it, the Canyonlands region. Erosion intensified and when the Colorado River Canyon reached the salt beds of the Paradox Formation the overlying strata extended toward the river canyon, forming features such as The Grabens. Increased precipitation during the ice ages of the Pleistocene quickened the rate of canyon excavation along with other erosion. Similar types of erosion are ongoing, but occur at a slower rate.

 

Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It borders Colorado to its east, Wyoming to its northeast, Idaho to its north, Arizona to its south, and Nevada to its west. Utah also touches a corner of New Mexico in the southeast. Of the fifty U.S. states, Utah is the 13th-largest by area; with a population over three million, it is the 30th-most-populous and 11th-least-densely populated. Urban development is mostly concentrated in two areas: the Wasatch Front in the north-central part of the state, which is home to roughly two-thirds of the population and includes the capital city, Salt Lake City; and Washington County in the southwest, with more than 180,000 residents. Most of the western half of Utah lies in the Great Basin.

 

Utah has been inhabited for thousands of years by various indigenous groups such as the ancient Puebloans, Navajo, and Ute. The Spanish were the first Europeans to arrive in the mid-16th century, though the region's difficult geography and harsh climate made it a peripheral part of New Spain and later Mexico. Even while it was Mexican territory, many of Utah's earliest settlers were American, particularly Mormons fleeing marginalization and persecution from the United States via the Mormon Trail. Following the Mexican–American War in 1848, the region was annexed by the U.S., becoming part of the Utah Territory, which included what is now Colorado and Nevada. Disputes between the dominant Mormon community and the federal government delayed Utah's admission as a state; only after the outlawing of polygamy was it admitted in 1896 as the 45th.

 

People from Utah are known as Utahns. Slightly over half of all Utahns are Mormons, the vast majority of whom are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), which has its world headquarters in Salt Lake City; Utah is the only state where a majority of the population belongs to a single church. A 2023 paper challenged this perception (claiming only 42% of Utahns are Mormons) however most statistics still show a majority of Utah residents belong to the LDS church; estimates from the LDS church suggests 60.68% of Utah's population belongs to the church whilst some sources put the number as high as 68%. The paper replied that membership count done by the LDS Church is too high for several reasons. The LDS Church greatly influences Utahn culture, politics, and daily life, though since the 1990s the state has become more religiously diverse as well as secular.

 

Utah has a highly diversified economy, with major sectors including transportation, education, information technology and research, government services, mining, multi-level marketing, and tourism. Utah has been one of the fastest growing states since 2000, with the 2020 U.S. census confirming the fastest population growth in the nation since 2010. St. George was the fastest-growing metropolitan area in the United States from 2000 to 2005. Utah ranks among the overall best states in metrics such as healthcare, governance, education, and infrastructure. It has the 12th-highest median average income and the least income inequality of any U.S. state. Over time and influenced by climate change, droughts in Utah have been increasing in frequency and severity, putting a further strain on Utah's water security and impacting the state's economy.

 

The History of Utah is an examination of the human history and social activity within the state of Utah located in the western United States.

 

Archaeological evidence dates the earliest habitation of humans in Utah to about 10,000 to 12,000 years ago. Paleolithic people lived near the Great Basin's swamps and marshes, which had an abundance of fish, birds, and small game animals. Big game, including bison, mammoths and ground sloths, also were attracted to these water sources. Over the centuries, the mega-fauna died, this population was replaced by the Desert Archaic people, who sheltered in caves near the Great Salt Lake. Relying more on gathering than the previous Utah residents, their diet was mainly composed of cattails and other salt tolerant plants such as pickleweed, burro weed and sedge. Red meat appears to have been more of a luxury, although these people used nets and the atlatl to hunt water fowl, ducks, small animals and antelope. Artifacts include nets woven with plant fibers and rabbit skin, woven sandals, gaming sticks, and animal figures made from split-twigs. About 3,500 years ago, lake levels rose and the population of Desert Archaic people appears to have dramatically decreased. The Great Basin may have been almost unoccupied for 1,000 years.

 

The Fremont culture, named from sites near the Fremont River in Utah, lived in what is now north and western Utah and parts of Nevada, Idaho and Colorado from approximately 600 to 1300 AD. These people lived in areas close to water sources that had been previously occupied by the Desert Archaic people, and may have had some relationship with them. However, their use of new technologies define them as a distinct people. Fremont technologies include:

 

use of the bow and arrow while hunting,

building pithouse shelters,

growing maize and probably beans and squash,

building above ground granaries of adobe or stone,

creating and decorating low-fired pottery ware,

producing art, including jewelry and rock art such as petroglyphs and pictographs.

 

The ancient Puebloan culture, also known as the Anasazi, occupied territory adjacent to the Fremont. The ancestral Puebloan culture centered on the present-day Four Corners area of the Southwest United States, including the San Juan River region of Utah. Archaeologists debate when this distinct culture emerged, but cultural development seems to date from about the common era, about 500 years before the Fremont appeared. It is generally accepted that the cultural peak of these people was around the 1200 CE. Ancient Puebloan culture is known for well constructed pithouses and more elaborate adobe and masonry dwellings. They were excellent craftsmen, producing turquoise jewelry and fine pottery. The Puebloan culture was based on agriculture, and the people created and cultivated fields of maize, beans, and squash and domesticated turkeys. They designed and produced elaborate field terracing and irrigation systems. They also built structures, some known as kivas, apparently designed solely for cultural and religious rituals.

 

These two later cultures were roughly contemporaneous, and appear to have established trading relationships. They also shared enough cultural traits that archaeologists believe the cultures may have common roots in the early American Southwest. However, each remained culturally distinct throughout most of their existence. These two well established cultures appear to have been severely impacted by climatic change and perhaps by the incursion of new people in about 1200 CE. Over the next two centuries, the Fremont and ancient Pueblo people may have moved into the American southwest, finding new homes and farmlands in the river drainages of Arizona, New Mexico and northern Mexico.

 

In about 1200, Shoshonean speaking peoples entered Utah territory from the west. They may have originated in southern California and moved into the desert environment due to population pressure along the coast. They were an upland people with a hunting and gathering lifestyle utilizing roots and seeds, including the pinyon nut. They were also skillful fishermen, created pottery and raised some crops. When they first arrived in Utah, they lived as small family groups with little tribal organization. Four main Shoshonean peoples inhabited Utah country. The Shoshone in the north and northeast, the Gosiutes in the northwest, the Utes in the central and eastern parts of the region and the Southern Paiutes in the southwest. Initially, there seems to have been very little conflict between these groups.

 

In the early 16th century, the San Juan River basin in Utah's southeast also saw a new people, the Díne or Navajo, part of a greater group of plains Athabaskan speakers moved into the Southwest from the Great Plains. In addition to the Navajo, this language group contained people that were later known as Apaches, including the Lipan, Jicarilla, and Mescalero Apaches.

 

Athabaskans were a hunting people who initially followed the bison, and were identified in 16th-century Spanish accounts as "dog nomads". The Athabaskans expanded their range throughout the 17th century, occupying areas the Pueblo peoples had abandoned during prior centuries. The Spanish first specifically mention the "Apachu de Nabajo" (Navaho) in the 1620s, referring to the people in the Chama valley region east of the San Juan River, and north west of Santa Fe. By the 1640s, the term Navaho was applied to these same people. Although the Navajo newcomers established a generally peaceful trading and cultural exchange with the some modern Pueblo peoples to the south, they experienced intermittent warfare with the Shoshonean peoples, particularly the Utes in eastern Utah and western Colorado.

 

At the time of European expansion, beginning with Spanish explorers traveling from Mexico, five distinct native peoples occupied territory within the Utah area: the Northern Shoshone, the Goshute, the Ute, the Paiute and the Navajo.

 

The Spanish explorer Francisco Vázquez de Coronado may have crossed into what is now southern Utah in 1540, when he was seeking the legendary Cíbola.

 

A group led by two Spanish Catholic priests—sometimes called the Domínguez–Escalante expedition—left Santa Fe in 1776, hoping to find a route to the California coast. The expedition traveled as far north as Utah Lake and encountered the native residents. All of what is now Utah was claimed by the Spanish Empire from the 1500s to 1821 as part of New Spain (later as the province Alta California); and subsequently claimed by Mexico from 1821 to 1848. However, Spain and Mexico had little permanent presence in, or control of, the region.

 

Fur trappers (also known as mountain men) including Jim Bridger, explored some regions of Utah in the early 19th century. The city of Provo was named for one such man, Étienne Provost, who visited the area in 1825. The city of Ogden, Utah is named for a brigade leader of the Hudson's Bay Company, Peter Skene Ogden who trapped in the Weber Valley. In 1846, a year before the arrival of members from the Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day Saints, the ill-fated Donner Party crossed through the Salt Lake valley late in the season, deciding not to stay the winter there but to continue forward to California, and beyond.

 

Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, commonly known as Mormon pioneers, first came to the Salt Lake Valley on July 24, 1847. At the time, the U.S. had already captured the Mexican territories of Alta California and New Mexico in the Mexican–American War and planned to keep them, but those territories, including the future state of Utah, officially became United States territory upon the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, February 2, 1848. The treaty was ratified by the United States Senate on March 10, 1848.

 

Upon arrival in the Salt Lake Valley, the Mormon pioneers found no permanent settlement of Indians. Other areas along the Wasatch Range were occupied at the time of settlement by the Northwestern Shoshone and adjacent areas by other bands of Shoshone such as the Gosiute. The Northwestern Shoshone lived in the valleys on the eastern shore of Great Salt Lake and in adjacent mountain valleys. Some years after arriving in the Salt Lake Valley Mormons, who went on to colonize many other areas of what is now Utah, were petitioned by Indians for recompense for land taken. The response of Heber C. Kimball, first counselor to Brigham Young, was that the land belonged to "our Father in Heaven and we expect to plow and plant it." A 1945 Supreme Court decision found that the land had been treated by the United States as public domain; no aboriginal title by the Northwestern Shoshone had been recognized by the United States or extinguished by treaty with the United States.

 

Upon arriving in the Salt Lake Valley, the Mormons had to make a place to live. They created irrigation systems, laid out farms, built houses, churches, and schools. Access to water was crucially important. Almost immediately, Brigham Young set out to identify and claim additional community sites. While it was difficult to find large areas in the Great Basin where water sources were dependable and growing seasons long enough to raise vitally important subsistence crops, satellite communities began to be formed.

 

Shortly after the first company arrived in the Salt Lake Valley in 1847, the community of Bountiful was settled to the north. In 1848, settlers moved into lands purchased from trapper Miles Goodyear in present-day Ogden. In 1849, Tooele and Provo were founded. Also that year, at the invitation of Ute chief Wakara, settlers moved into the Sanpete Valley in central Utah to establish the community of Manti. Fillmore, Utah, intended to be the capital of the new territory, was established in 1851. In 1855, missionary efforts aimed at western native cultures led to outposts in Fort Lemhi, Idaho, Las Vegas, Nevada and Elk Mountain in east-central Utah.

 

The experiences of returning members of the Mormon Battalion were also important in establishing new communities. On their journey west, the Mormon soldiers had identified dependable rivers and fertile river valleys in Colorado, Arizona and southern California. In addition, as the men traveled to rejoin their families in the Salt Lake Valley, they moved through southern Nevada and the eastern segments of southern Utah. Jefferson Hunt, a senior Mormon officer of the Battalion, actively searched for settlement sites, minerals, and other resources. His report encouraged 1851 settlement efforts in Iron County, near present-day Cedar City. These southern explorations eventually led to Mormon settlements in St. George, Utah, Las Vegas and San Bernardino, California, as well as communities in southern Arizona.

 

Prior to establishment of the Oregon and California trails and Mormon settlement, Indians native to the Salt Lake Valley and adjacent areas lived by hunting buffalo and other game, but also gathered grass seed from the bountiful grass of the area as well as roots such as those of the Indian Camas. By the time of settlement, indeed before 1840, the buffalo were gone from the valley, but hunting by settlers and grazing of cattle severely impacted the Indians in the area, and as settlement expanded into nearby river valleys and oases, indigenous tribes experienced increasing difficulty in gathering sufficient food. Brigham Young's counsel was to feed the hungry tribes, and that was done, but it was often not enough. These tensions formed the background to the Bear River massacre committed by California Militia stationed in Salt Lake City during the Civil War. The site of the massacre is just inside Preston, Idaho, but was generally thought to be within Utah at the time.

 

Statehood was petitioned for in 1849-50 using the name Deseret. The proposed State of Deseret would have been quite large, encompassing all of what is now Utah, and portions of Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, Wyoming, Arizona, Oregon, New Mexico and California. The name of Deseret was favored by the LDS leader Brigham Young as a symbol of industry and was derived from a reference in the Book of Mormon. The petition was rejected by Congress and Utah did not become a state until 1896, following the Utah Constitutional Convention of 1895.

 

In 1850, the Utah Territory was created with the Compromise of 1850, and Fillmore (named after President Fillmore) was designated the capital. In 1856, Salt Lake City replaced Fillmore as the territorial capital.

 

The first group of pioneers brought African slaves with them, making Utah the only place in the western United States to have African slavery. Three slaves, Green Flake, Hark Lay, and Oscar Crosby, came west with this first group in 1847. The settlers also began to purchase Indian slaves in the well-established Indian slave trade, as well as enslaving Indian prisoners of war. In 1850, 26 slaves were counted in Salt Lake County. Slavery didn't become officially recognized until 1852, when the Act in Relation to Service and the Act for the relief of Indian Slaves and Prisoners were passed. Slavery was repealed on June 19, 1862, when Congress prohibited slavery in all US territories.

 

Disputes between the Mormon inhabitants and the federal government intensified after the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' practice of polygamy became known. The polygamous practices of the Mormons, which were made public in 1854, would be one of the major reasons Utah was denied statehood until almost 50 years after the Mormons had entered the area.

 

After news of their polygamous practices spread, the members of the LDS Church were quickly viewed by some as un-American and rebellious. In 1857, after news of a possible rebellion spread, President James Buchanan sent troops on the Utah expedition to quell the growing unrest and to replace Brigham Young as territorial governor with Alfred Cumming. The expedition was also known as the Utah War.

 

As fear of invasion grew, Mormon settlers had convinced some Paiute Indians to aid in a Mormon-led attack on 120 immigrants from Arkansas under the guise of Indian aggression. The murder of these settlers became known as the Mountain Meadows massacre. The Mormon leadership had adopted a defensive posture that led to a ban on the selling of grain to outsiders in preparation for an impending war. This chafed pioneers traveling through the region, who were unable to purchase badly needed supplies. A disagreement between some of the Arkansas pioneers and the Mormons in Cedar City led to the secret planning of the massacre by a few Mormon leaders in the area. Some scholars debate the involvement of Brigham Young. Only one man, John D. Lee, was ever convicted of the murders, and he was executed at the massacre site.

 

Express riders had brought the news 1,000 miles from the Missouri River settlements to Salt Lake City within about two weeks of the army's beginning to march west. Fearing the worst as 2,500 troops (roughly 1/3rd of the army then) led by General Albert Sidney Johnston started west, Brigham Young ordered all residents of Salt Lake City and neighboring communities to prepare their homes for burning and evacuate southward to Utah Valley and southern Utah. Young also sent out a few units of the Nauvoo Legion (numbering roughly 8,000–10,000), to delay the army's advance. The majority he sent into the mountains to prepare defenses or south to prepare for a scorched earth retreat. Although some army wagon supply trains were captured and burned and herds of army horses and cattle run off no serious fighting occurred. Starting late and short on supplies, the United States Army camped during the bitter winter of 1857–58 near a burned out Fort Bridger in Wyoming. Through the negotiations between emissary Thomas L. Kane, Young, Cumming and Johnston, control of Utah territory was peacefully transferred to Cumming, who entered an eerily vacant Salt Lake City in the spring of 1858. By agreement with Young, Johnston established the army at Fort Floyd 40 miles away from Salt Lake City, to the southwest.

 

Salt Lake City was the last link of the First Transcontinental Telegraph, between Carson City, Nevada and Omaha, Nebraska completed in October 1861. Brigham Young, who had helped expedite construction, was among the first to send a message, along with Abraham Lincoln and other officials. Soon after the telegraph line was completed, the Deseret Telegraph Company built the Deseret line connecting the settlements in the territory with Salt Lake City and, by extension, the rest of the United States.

 

Because of the American Civil War, federal troops were pulled out of Utah Territory (and their fort auctioned off), leaving the territorial government in federal hands without army backing until General Patrick E. Connor arrived with the 3rd Regiment of California Volunteers in 1862. While in Utah, Connor and his troops soon became discontent with this assignment wanting to head to Virginia where the "real" fighting and glory was occurring. Connor established Fort Douglas just three miles (5 km) east of Salt Lake City and encouraged his bored and often idle soldiers to go out and explore for mineral deposits to bring more non-Mormons into the state. Minerals were discovered in Tooele County, and some miners began to come to the territory. Conner also solved the Shoshone Indian problem in Cache Valley Utah by luring the Shoshone into a midwinter confrontation on January 29, 1863. The armed conflict quickly turned into a rout, discipline among the soldiers broke down, and the Battle of Bear River is today usually referred to by historians as the Bear River Massacre. Between 200 and 400 Shoshone men, women and children were killed, as were 27 soldiers, with over 50 more soldiers wounded or suffering from frostbite.

 

Beginning in 1865, Utah's Black Hawk War developed into the deadliest conflict in the territory's history. Chief Antonga Black Hawk died in 1870, but fights continued to break out until additional federal troops were sent in to suppress the Ghost Dance of 1872. The war is unique among Indian Wars because it was a three-way conflict, with mounted Timpanogos Utes led by Antonga Black Hawk fighting federal and Utah local militia.

 

On May 10, 1869, the First transcontinental railroad was completed at Promontory Summit, north of the Great Salt Lake. The railroad brought increasing numbers of people into the state, and several influential businessmen made fortunes in the territory.

 

Main article: Latter Day Saint polygamy in the late-19th century

During the 1870s and 1880s, federal laws were passed and federal marshals assigned to enforce the laws against polygamy. In the 1890 Manifesto, the LDS Church leadership dropped its approval of polygamy citing divine revelation. When Utah applied for statehood again in 1895, it was accepted. Statehood was officially granted on January 4, 1896.

 

The Mormon issue made the situation for women the topic of nationwide controversy. In 1870 the Utah Territory, controlled by Mormons, gave women the right to vote. However, in 1887, Congress disenfranchised Utah women with the Edmunds–Tucker Act. In 1867–96, eastern activists promoted women's suffrage in Utah as an experiment, and as a way to eliminate polygamy. They were Presbyterians and other Protestants convinced that Mormonism was a non-Christian cult that grossly mistreated women. The Mormons promoted woman suffrage to counter the negative image of downtrodden Mormon women. With the 1890 Manifesto clearing the way for statehood, in 1895 Utah adopted a constitution restoring the right of women's suffrage. Congress admitted Utah as a state with that constitution in 1896.

 

Though less numerous than other intermountain states at the time, several lynching murders for alleged misdeeds occurred in Utah territory at the hand of vigilantes. Those documented include the following, with their ethnicity or national origin noted in parentheses if it was provided in the source:

 

William Torrington in Carson City (then a part of Utah territory), 1859

Thomas Coleman (Black man) in Salt Lake City, 1866

3 unidentified men at Wahsatch, winter of 1868

A Black man in Uintah, 1869

Charles A. Benson in Logan, 1873

Ah Sing (Chinese man) in Corinne, 1874

Thomas Forrest in St. George, 1880

William Harvey (Black man) in Salt Lake City, 1883

John Murphy in Park City, 1883

George Segal (Japanese man) in Ogden, 1884

Joseph Fisher in Eureka, 1886

Robert Marshall (Black man) in Castle Gate, 1925

Other lynchings in Utah territory include multiple instances of mass murder of Native American children, women, and men by White settlers including the Battle Creek massacre (1849), Provo River Massacre (1850), Nephi massacre (1853), and Circleville Massacre (1866).

 

Beginning in the early 20th century, with the establishment of such national parks as Bryce Canyon National Park and Zion National Park, Utah began to become known for its natural beauty. Southern Utah became a popular filming spot for arid, rugged scenes, and such natural landmarks as Delicate Arch and "the Mittens" of Monument Valley are instantly recognizable to most national residents. During the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, with the construction of the Interstate highway system, accessibility to the southern scenic areas was made easier.

 

Beginning in 1939, with the establishment of Alta Ski Area, Utah has become world-renowned for its skiing. The dry, powdery snow of the Wasatch Range is considered some of the best skiing in the world. Salt Lake City won the bid for the 2002 Winter Olympics in 1995, and this has served as a great boost to the economy. The ski resorts have increased in popularity, and many of the Olympic venues scattered across the Wasatch Front continue to be used for sporting events. This also spurred the development of the light-rail system in the Salt Lake Valley, known as TRAX, and the re-construction of the freeway system around the city.

 

During the late 20th century, the state grew quickly. In the 1970s, growth was phenomenal in the suburbs. Sandy was one of the fastest-growing cities in the country at that time, and West Valley City is the state's 2nd most populous city. Today, many areas of Utah are seeing phenomenal growth. Northern Davis, southern and western Salt Lake, Summit, eastern Tooele, Utah, Wasatch, and Washington counties are all growing very quickly. Transportation and urbanization are major issues in politics as development consumes agricultural land and wilderness areas.

 

In 2012, the State of Utah passed the Utah Transfer of Public Lands Act in an attempt to gain control over a substantial portion of federal land in the state from the federal government, based on language in the Utah Enabling Act of 1894. The State does not intend to use force or assert control by limiting access in an attempt to control the disputed lands, but does intend to use a multi-step process of education, negotiation, legislation, and if necessary, litigation as part of its multi-year effort to gain state or private control over the lands after 2014.

 

Utah families, like most Americans everywhere, did their utmost to assist in the war effort. Tires, meat, butter, sugar, fats, oils, coffee, shoes, boots, gasoline, canned fruits, vegetables, and soups were rationed on a national basis. The school day was shortened and bus routes were reduced to limit the number of resources used stateside and increase what could be sent to soldiers.

 

Geneva Steel was built to increase the steel production for America during World War II. President Franklin D. Roosevelt had proposed opening a steel mill in Utah in 1936, but the idea was shelved after a couple of months. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States entered the war and the steel plant was put into progress. In April 1944, Geneva shipped its first order, which consisted of over 600 tons of steel plate. Geneva Steel also brought thousands of job opportunities to Utah. The positions were hard to fill as many of Utah's men were overseas fighting. Women began working, filling 25 percent of the jobs.

 

As a result of Utah's and Geneva Steels contribution during the war, several Liberty Ships were named in honor of Utah including the USS Joseph Smith, USS Brigham Young, USS Provo, and the USS Peter Skene Ogden.

 

One of the sectors of the beachhead of Normandy Landings was codenamed Utah Beach, and the amphibious landings at the beach were undertaken by United States Army troops.

 

It is estimated that 1,450 soldiers from Utah were killed in the war.

Who is going to the IPCA retreat in Columbus Ohio this August? I have the honor of being their guest artist this year and I have a great line-up of demo's I will be doing. Some time ago I combined my folded beads and shapes ideas to come up with this folded shapes technique that will be one of my demo topics. I'm still in the process of discovering all the variations possible and will share how I make them with retreat attendees. Pictures of more examples coming soon! Don't forget I also have 2 one-day workshops before the retreat. Here's the link to my workshops: www.helenbreil.com/ipca.html and here's the link to my demo information: polymerclayretreat.com/site/guest-artist-demo-schedule/

This is my final photo on flickr.

People have different ideas about photography. People have different ideas in general. I respect different ideas, I welcome discussion, I acknowledge criticism. What I cannot accept is being offended by people who don't even know me. This is not a farewell. My flickr account stays active and though I won't post photos of mine I'll keep on watching and commenting on the photos of those nice people I'm happy I met here (make sure you're in my contact list). As for me, I'll post some photos on a personal photoblog.

Thanks to all those who constructively commented on my photos and that will hopefully keep on encouraging me.

 

Questa e' l'ultima foto che pubbblichero' su flickr. Le persone hanno differenti idee di fotografia. Le persone hanno differenti idee in generale. Io rispetto le idee diverse, accolgo discussioni e critiche. Quello che non posso accettare e' venire offeso da persone che non mi conoscono e non sanno niente di me (chi vuole approfondire puo' leggere qui. Questo non e' un addio. Il mio account di flickr resta attivo e anche se non postero' piu' mie foto, continuero' a guardare e commentare le foto di quelle persone in gamba che sono lieto di aver incontrato qui (controllate la vostra presenza tra i miei contatti). In quanto a me, continuero' a postare in un fotoblog personale. Grazie a tutti coloro che hanno commentato le mie foto costruttivamente, e che mi auguro continueranno a commentarle e ad incoraggiarmi.

2005

It's been a very long time since I've made Shrinky Dinks, so I thought I'd order some sheets of the magical plastic to aid in decorating our tree this year, and Mr. Larry King is the first out of the oven. This holiday season is startin' to feel pretty avuncular!

The Hairy Woodpecker is a medium-sized woodpecker with a fairly square head, a long, straight, chisel-like bill that is nearly the same length as the head. Like its close cousin and the similar looking Downy Woodpecker, they are contrastingly black and white. The black wings are checkered with white; the head has two white stripes. A large white patch runs down the center of the black back.

 

Adult male Hairy Woodpeckers have a red patch on the back of the head, while adult females lack the red patch. But juvenile and some second year birds have red feathers in the crown. The male usually has a more extensive covering of red feathers than the female, but since both gender can have it, it can be difficult to determine the sex of young birds.

 

Body length is 7.1 - 10.2 inches (18 - 26 cm) with a wing span of 13 - 16.1 inches (33 - 41 cm).

 

Hairy Woodpeckers range across most of North America where mature forests can be found with medium to large trees. They also occur in woodlots, suburbs, parks, and cemeteries. You can find them equally common in coniferous forests, deciduous forests, or mixtures, and generally up to about 6,500 feet elevation. Also found at forest edges, around beaver ponds, in recently burned forests, southern swamps, open pine, oak, or birch woodlands, and orchards.

 

More than 75% of the Hairy Woodpecker’s diet is made up of insects, particularly the larvae of wood-boring beetles and bark beetles, ants, and moth pupae in their cocoons. The remainder of their diet is made up of fruit and seeds. Hairy Woodpeckers can be common visitors to feeders, eating suet and sunflower seeds.

 

ISO1600, aperture f/5.6, exposure .003 seconds (1/320) focal length 450mm

 

Az önhipnózis, egyrészt mint egy természetes, mélyen ellazult tudatállapot, másrészt, mint egy rendkívül lecsendesült, fókuszált figyelmi állapot rengeteg jótékony hatással bír. Tovább is megyek. Az általános jótékony hatásokon túl, ez egy olyan tudatállapot, amely képessé tesz bennünket önmagunk és magunkon keresztül az egész életünk megváltoztatására. Ez a tudatállapot a lelki "svájci bicskánk", roppant sokoldalú eszköz. Hogy mennyire? Lássuk!

1. Stresszoldó

 

A stressz lelki, fizikai hatásait mindenki ismeri, a paletta széles; közéjük tartozik az ingerültség, rosszkedvűség, izomfeszültség, hasi panaszok, vérnyomás ingadozás, fokozott verejtékezés, kedélyhullámzás, memória romlása, koncentrálási zavarok és így tovább. Egyre inkább terjed az a nézet is, hogy nagyon sok betegség kialakulásában is jelentős szerepet játszik a stressz.

 

A Wikipédia szerint:

 

"Hosszabb ideig fennálló tartós stressz hatására kialakulhat

 

Tartósan rossz közérzet

Szorongás

Pánikrohamok, esetleg pánikbetegség

Depresszió, Ingerlékenység

Soványság, elhízás

Csökkent ellenálló képesség

Menstruáció megszűnése

Hajhullás"

 

Az önhipnózis egy olyan természetes, megváltozott tudatállapot, melynek során egy rendkívül mély fizikai, érzelmi és mentális ellazulást élünk meg. Ez a szent hármas teszi lehetővé azt, hogy a testünk fellélegezzen és gyors ütemben elkezdje magát regenerálni. Egy szóval: nagyon-nagyon egészséges!

 

Az önhipnózis elsajátításakor a gyakorlók megtanulják, hogyan tudják a testüket és elméjüket gyorsan és akaratlagosan ellazítani, illetve megtanulják felismerni és tudatosan ellazítani az esetleges belső feszültségeket.

 

Az önhipnózis pusztán ezért az egy tulajdonságáért is megérdemli a helyet a kedvenc szabadidős tevékenységek között.

2. Önbizalom növelő

 

Ezt leginkább azok az emberek emelik ki, akik korábban nagyon is hadilábon álltak az önbizalommal.

 

Az önhipnózis során megtanuljuk a tudatalattink erőforrásait felismerni és felhasználni. Minél többet gyakorlunk, annál biztosabban érezzük ezt az erőt, és annál könnyebben tudjuk azt irányítani, a fejlődésünkre, illetve a céljainkra fordítani.

 

Egy idő múlva már nem lesz számunkra kérdés, hogy egy nagyszerű segítségünk van a mindennapok gondjainak leküzdésére, és fokozatosan a gondokat megtanuljuk kihívásokként értelmezni, amikhez minden eszközünk megvan, hogy megoldjuk.

 

Fokozatosan letesszük azokat a káros hiedelmeinket, miszerint kicsik és erőtlenek vagyunk a körülményekkel szemben, hiszen a belső tudatunk megadja számunkra azt a bölcsességet, amivel tisztán kezdjük látni az életünket és szerepünket.

3. Érzelmi intelligencia, empatikus képesség növekedése

 

Egyre divatosabb kifejezés manapság az érzelmi intelligencia. Mit is takar?

"Az érzelmi intelligencia (EI) az intelligencia vagy a képességek azon fajtája, ami a saját és mások érzelmeinek érzékelésével, kezelésével és pozitív befolyásolásával kapcsolatos." /Wikipédia

Ez számunkra a mindennapi életben azt jelenti, hogy az önhipnózis gyakorlásával egyre inkább tudatában leszünk érzelmeinknek, és nem csak akkor amikor már kitörtek vagy bajt okoztak. Lépésről lépésre, egyre inkább felismerjük az érzelmek valódi, mélyebben fekvő okait.

 

Egyre könnyebben észrevesszük azt, hogyan rángatnak minket ezek az érzelmek és egyre könnyebben megértjük és elfogadjuk más emberek szempontjait. Ezáltal könnyebben és tudatosabban irányítjuk az érzelmileg telített helyzeteket.

4. Problémamegoldó képesség javulása

A problémamegoldó képesség javulása egyenes következménye az érzelmi intelligencia fejlődésének. Ebben az esetben nem rohanunk vadul bele érzelmeinktől elvakítva konfliktusokba, hiszen az nem a probléma megoldását segítené csupán a feszültségek levezetését. A feszültségek kisütésének a következménye, hogy a másik fél is feszült lesz és egyre inkább a saját érzései vezérlik, mintsem a probléma mindkét fél számára való megoldásának a vágya.

 

Ugyanakkor nem is fojtjuk magunkba az érzéseket a konfliktustól való félelmünkben, vagy a "béke kedvéért", hiszen az elfojtás rengeteg negatív energiát hoz létre, ami így vagy úgy, de kihat mind a saját egészségünkre, mind a környezetünkre.

 

A két rossz megoldás helyett egyre jobban tudatában leszünk annak, hogyan hozzuk létre ezeket a negatív érzéseket, mivel hozzuk létre magunkban a feszültséget és belső tudatunk segítségével azt is elsajátítjuk, hogy hogyan lehet ezeket az érzéseket időben feloldani, transzformálni. Így energiánkat átalakítjuk, hogy inkább segítsen a probléma megoldásában, ahelyett, hogy súlyosbítaná azt.

5. Kiegyensúlyozottság, belső nyugalom erősödése

Szintén "mellékhatása" a rendszeres önhipnózis gyakorlásnak, hogy egyre nyugodtabbá válunk a hétköznapokban.

 

Mivel érzelmeink egyre jobban tudatosulnak és egyre jobban megtanuljuk ezeket az érzelmi energiákat felismerni és pozitív érzelmekké alakítani, így nem halmozódnak fel bennünk a feszültségek.

 

A nehéz helyzeteket is egyre higgadtabban tudjuk kezelni, ami ismét csak visszahat ránk, hiszen a környezetünk is csillapodik a mi hatásunkra. Ez a hatás-ellenhatás elve.

6. Öröm, felszabadultság és egyéb pozitív érzések erősödése

Ez a személyes kedvencem. Az öröm és felszabadultság érzet természetes közegünkké válik. Ez nem jelenti azt, hogy örökké rózsaszín szemüvegben röpködünk a föld felett, egyszerűen csak annyit jelent, hogy egyre több apróságban megéljük az élet szépségét. Emellett ugyanilyen tisztán megéljük a szomorúságot vagy egyéb érzelmeket, amikor azoknak jön el az ideje, de nem ragadunk bennük, nem kötjük magunkat hozzájuk, mintha minden pozitív érzelem pusztán illúzió lenne.

 

Megéljük azt, hogy az életöröm természetes állapotunk. Ez az az állapot, amikor az élet minden mozzanata jelentőséggel bír, bármily csekélynek tűnjön is. Elkezdjük észrevenni, mennyi öröm és szépség vesz minket körül, mennyi csodának vagyunk részesei.

 

Megtanultuk, hogy természetesnek vegyük, mindazt, ami minket körül vesz. Természetes, hogy van kezünk, lábunk, szeretteink vagy nap és égbolt. Mintha mindez járna nekünk, így nem is fordítunk ezekre a dolgokra különösebb figyelmet.

 

Ha visszaemlékszünk a gyerekkorunkra, akkor talán felrémlik, milyen apróságok tudtak minket elvarázsolni, mennyi örömet rejtett a pocsolyában való ugrálás (amíg valamelyik kevésbé megértő szülő véget nem vetett a röpködésnek), a homokvár építés friss sárga homokból vagy egy szarvasbogár nézegetése. Ez volt az a tudatállapot, amikor a lehetőségek még ott hemzsegtek körülöttünk, bennünk. Ehhez a tudatállapothoz térünk vissza, csak ezúttal már több megértéssel (remélhetőleg), de semmivel sem kevesebb örömmel.

7. Életcélunk, a világlátásunk tisztul

Amíg érzelmeink és a tudatalattiba száműzött energiáink nincsenek rendbe téve, úgy csetlünk-botlunk az életben, mint egy telezsúfolt, teleszemetelt, sötét lakásban. Célunk homályos, nehezen kivehető, és időnként azt vesszük észre, hogy rossz irányba megyünk, ez a cél nem is a mienk, vagy ha a mienk is volt, mégsem lettünk boldogabbak tőle. Nem beszélve a keresgélés során összetört kis lábujjakról.

 

Amikor elkezdjük az önhipnózist rendszeresen gyakorolni és a belső tudatunkkal végre kapcsolatot felvenni, akkor az olyan, mintha elemlámpát gyújtanánk. Egyszerre ugyan csak egy kis részt világít be, de ahogy elkezdjük a szobákat apránként rendbe rakni, egyre nagyobb tér szabadul fel bennük önmagunk és a számunkra fontos emberek számára. Ezzel együtt egyre tisztábbá válnak valódi, belső lelki céljaink.

 

A lelki szobánk egyre világosabb és otthonosabb lesz, így válik életünk is egyre "otthonosabbá" önmagunk és szeretteink számára.

8. Az emberi kapcsolatok javulása

Az önhipnózis önmagunk megváltoztatásának egyik leghatékonyabb módja.

 

De mit is értünk önmagunk megváltoztatásán?

 

Belső önmagunk, lelkünk már most is tökéletes. Nem szorul változtatásra.

 

Ami változtatásra szorul az a viselkedésünk, szokásaink, berögzült hiedelmeink és ezáltal az energiánk. Az, ahogyan az energiánkat használjuk, torzítjuk és kisugározzuk. Ez kihat miránk és a környezetünkre is, és ez alapvetően meghatározza az emberi kapcsolatainkat.

 

Az önhipnózis során megtanuljuk, hogyan használjuk a saját energiánkat, hogyan merevítjük káros viselkedésmódokká, szokásokká majd jellemvonásokká.

 

"Én már csak ilyen vagyok." Ismerős? Kényelmes kifogás azért, hogy ne kelljen szembenézni önmagunkkal.

 

A tudatosítás azt jelenti, hogy megtanuljuk megkülönböztetni önmagunkat és azt a sok belső, tudatalatti programot, amely a mai személyiségünket alkotja. Egyre jobban megtanuljuk a saját káros programjainkat felismerni és átírni pozitív, hasznos módon.

 

Az emberek tudat alatt a viselkedésünkön, hozzáállásunkon és lényünkön keresztül kisugárzott energiára reagálnak.

 

"Jó kisugárzása van."

 

Ez nem más, mint valaki, aki nyitott, pozitív módon, használja az energiáját. A pozitív energia pedig vonzerővel bír, ezzel nem árultam el titkot.

9. Az önismeret rendkívüli mértékben megnő

Talán nem is kell ragozni, hogy egyenes következménye a belső énünkkel való munkának, hogy egyre többet tudunk meg magunkról.

 

Aki szereti magát abban a tévhitben ringatni, hogy már mindent tud önmagáról és már semmi újat nem lehet neki ezzel kapcsolatban mondani, annak sajnos azt kell mondanom, hogy igaz a közhely, ez egy végtelen út. Minél többet ismerünk meg önmagunkból, annál inkább rádöbbenünk arra, mennyi új megismerni való vár még ránk.

 

Ez ne riasszon meg senkit. Ez egy nagyon gyümölcsöző út, ami önmagunk felé vezet. Érdekes, izgalmas és gyönyörű, mint egy nagyon érdekesen megírt könyv. Tele van csavarokkal, és a kép egyre jobban kitágul, egyre több részlet mutatkozik meg. Lassanként rájövünk, hogy sokkal többek vagyunk, mint ahogy gondoltuk.

 

Ezzel együtt a felismeréssel együtt, érdekes módon, kialakul egy csodálattal vegyes alázat saját lényünk iránt. Minél inkább rálátunk, ráérzünk belső, isteni lényünkre, annál inkább felismerjük, milyen pici dobozba próbáltuk bepréselni téves elképzeléseinkkel. Tisztelni kezdjük önmagunkat a szó legnemesebb értelmében, mert meglátjuk a lélekben a végtelent.

10. Spirituális fejlődés

Ezzel el is érkeztünk ahhoz a ponthoz, ahova tudat alatt mindannyian törekszünk.

 

Önmagunkon, belső tudatunkon keresztül nyílik ki a kapu a belső, végtelen fény felé. Ahogy elkezdjük egyre jobban beengedni a fényt önmagunkba, megértjük, mennyi érzésünk pusztán annak a következménye volt, hogy elzártuk magunkat a saját belső fényünktől, amely a végtelen fény része.

 

A belső tudat fényében világossá válik, hogy a magány, az elhagyatottság, az elveszettség mind nem más, mint "hiánybetegség". A fény hiányának betegsége. Érezni fogjuk, hogy ezt a fényt nem vette el tőlünk senki, nem vonta meg tőlünk senki, senki nem taszított minket a sötétségbe, hanem mi zártuk ki magunkból a belső energiáinkat. Burokként összezárultunk magunk körül, kizárva a fényt és a sötétben megéltük a fény hiányát, mint végtelen magányt és elhagyatottságot.

 

Belső tudatunk segít megérteni a fontos összefüggéseket az életünkben. A látszólag kívülről ránk szakadt körülmények törvényszerűségeit. Természetesen mindezt lépésről lépésre tanuljuk meg, mindenki a saját ütemében, a saját módján, a saját fejlődési szintjén. Sürgetni nincs értelme. A belső tudat mindent a mi képességeinkhez mér.

 

Ugyanakkor biztosak lehetünk benne, hogy ez a tanulás mindannyiunknak nagyon sok hasznot hoz.

 

Annyi haszontalan dolgot megtanultunk életünkben, ideje végre életünk legfontosabb leckéinek nekilátnunk.

És +1: Az önhipnózis roppant kellemes!

Az ellazulás, illetve az érzelmek feloldása, felszabadítása egyre kellemesebb élménnyé teszi az önhipnózist.

 

Javaslom napi rendszerességgel végezni (ismerem a kifogásokat, de gondoljunk arra, hogy a számunkra igazán fontos dolgokra mégis szoktunk tudni időt szakítani!), egy idő múlva már kifejezetten igényelni fogjuk!

 

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*Project Neverland is a way for us to show our love for Movies, TV Shows and Books in a Fashion way. We make references, not cosplays.

 

Model: Jenniré Narváez.

 

Team:

-Daniela Salvador

-Jenniré Narváez

-Julia Olivo

 

Project Neverland Instagram: instagram.com/projectneverlandpn/

Project Neverland Twitter: twitter.com/ProjNeverland

 

Facebook: www.facebook.com/jennireanarvaez

Twitter: twitter.com/TheJennire

Instagram- Jenniré: instagram.com/thejennire

Instagram- Daniela: instagram.com/danisalvador/

Instagram- Julia: instagram.com/olivojulia/

Instragram 2: instagram.com/jennirenarvaezphotography

Tumblr: thejennire.tumblr.com/

Youtube: www.youtube.com/channel/UCCUlbTmDg8cKnPbkojpJ8lQ

The Fogg Dam Conservation Reserve is a protected area consisting of wetlands and surrounding monsoon and dry forests approximately 70 km (43 mi) east of Darwin in the Northern Territory of Australia (a comfortable 1 hour drive from Darwin CBD or suburbs).

 

The Reserve lies within the Adelaide and Mary River Floodplains, which is an Important Bird Area.

 

Fogg Dam Conservation Reserve was created after the demise of an unsuccessful rice farming project which operated in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The dam was originally created as dry season water storage facility for the rice crop.

 

The reserve attracts a wide range of local and migratory water birds and other wildlife including one of the largest populations of snakes within Australia (including the Water Python and Death Adder), and includes a several raised observation platforms.

 

Saltwater Crocodiles (Crocodylus porosus) and Freshwater Crocodiles (Crocodylus johnstoni) can be seen at Fogg Dam all year around.

 

Fogg Dam is open 24 hrs per day all days of the year. The only limitation is that during very heavy monsoon rain periods, water may overflow the dam wall (which serves as a road through the reserve) and limit traffic to high-clearance vehicles.

 

In some years, the dam wall may be temporarily damaged by monsoon rain overflows and be impassable for a short section.

 

The open nature of the reserve along the dam wall makes it an excellent site for birds in flight (BIF) photography.

 

The highest bird activity for BIF photography occurs later in the wet and early dry season (say March to June) when thousands of waterbirds and other water-attracted species are moving around the reserve.

 

Passerine species can be best photographed from treed areas, and the Woodlands and Monsoon Forest tracks.

 

She has been scary ill, but is starting to, amazingly, do better again. What a tough girl!!! She suddenly went blind in her right eye, but already has things pretty well figured out for such a huge change in navigation skills.

Nincs szíved, soha nem is volt, már nem remélem,

Oh, hogy hatásod az milyen? Sosem érted meg,

Sosem, sosem. ébredt, felkelt halott lelkem,

Gyakran felemel emléked, watfordi vonat száguld,

Ülök rajta, fényes sínpár a jövőbe vezet, mindig szeretlek.

 

Nincs szíved, kemény a lelked, bár jellemed kecses,

A vonaton éreztem, hogy érdeked a szenvedésem,

Néztél, láttam szándékod, volt mély, rejtett, megijesztett,

Van egy szép nő, A WhatsAppon gyakran vele csetelek,

Gyakran azt hiszem, hogy te vagy, s csak játszol velem.

 

Néztél, éreztem szándékod, tudom, hogy miért kerestél,

Hm, arra engemet sosem rá nem veszel, megismertelek,

Nem tudom, hogy mit tettél velem, vannak nők körülöttem,

Senki nem érdekel, csakis benned remélek, szeretlek.

A WhatsAppon az amerikai nő pótol téged, de ő is érdekes..

Jó hogy jött, megadta nekem azt, ami benned elveszett,

Szép nyelveden írom neki a verseket, talán megkedvelt.

 

Köszönöm, köszönöm neked, itt egy új világ indult el,

Mi lesz belőle? Emléked, s értelmed engemet vezessen,

Az írást mindenért teszem, s lesznek neked ajánlott versek,

Egy dolgot bevallok neked, igen, neked, egyedül vagyok,

Egyedül vagyok, csak te kellesz, hm, nem jössz, kereslek,

Így is jó, legalább írhatok veled, minden időm a tied.

 

Nem akarom, hogy elfeledj, látogass, s fejtsd amit írok neked,

Írigylek valakit, megkapott egy nőt, akit én nagyon szeretek,

Üzenem neki, hogy tégedet nagyon szeressen, tiszteljen,

Lassan zárom e sorokat, de állítom, hogy nincs szíved,

Nincs, nincs szíved, sosem volt, hm, nem is lesz, kővilág,

Kemény, érzelem nincs kövült tengerén, rajta sziklák,

Sivatagi világ, marsbéli táj, holdbéli táj, kráterek tömkelege vár.

 

Még sétálok benne, pedig ilyen vagy, száradt, de szeretlek,

Megöntözném e tájat, hogy ne halott, hanem édeni legyen,

Fogalmad sincs arról, hogy mily gyümölcsök teremnének,

Nézd az arcom, abból téged a múltból sok karakter kémlel,

Ellöktél, belém rúgtál, megútáltál egy szerelmes sztereotípiát,

Lesz másé, tudom, hív majd valaki, ismernek, közel hozzád.

 

Nincs szíved,

Lett volna,

Nálam van,

Még nincs tulajdonosa.

"The New Town (Czech: Nové Město) is a quarter in the city of Prague in the Czech Republic. New Town is the youngest and largest of the five independent (from the Middle Ages until 1784) towns that today comprise the historic center of modern Prague. New Town was founded in 1348 by Charles IV just outside the city walls to the east and south of the Old Town and encompassed an area of 7.5 km²; about three times the size of the Old Town. The population of Prague in 1378 was well over 40,000, perhaps as much as twice that, making it the 4th most populated city north of the Alps and, by area, the 3rd largest city in Europe. Although New Town can trace its current layout to its construction in the 14th century, only few churches and administrative buildings from this time survive. There are many secular and educational buildings in New Town, but also especially magnificent gothic and baroque churches. These nevertheless are not the main drawing points for tourists. New Town's most famous landmark is Wenceslas Square, which was originally built as a horsemarket and now functions as a center of commerce and tourism. In the 15th century, the Novoměstská radnice, or New Town Hall, was the site of the first of the three defenestrations of Prague.

 

Prague (/ˈprɑːɡ/ PRAHG; Czech: Praha [ˈpraɦa]; German: Prag [pʁaːk]; Latin: Praga) is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate oceanic climate, with relatively warm summers and chilly winters.

 

Prague is a political, cultural, and economic hub of central Europe, with a rich history and Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque architectures. It was the capital of the Kingdom of Bohemia and residence of several Holy Roman Emperors, most notably Charles IV (r. 1346–1378) and Rudolf II (r. 1575–1611).

 

It was an important city to the Habsburg monarchy and Austro-Hungarian Empire. The city played major roles in the Bohemian and the Protestant Reformations, the Thirty Years' War and in 20th-century history as the capital of Czechoslovakia between the World Wars and the post-war Communist era.

 

Prague is home to a number of well-known cultural attractions, many of which survived the violence and destruction of 20th-century Europe. Main attractions include Prague Castle, Charles Bridge, Old Town Square with the Prague astronomical clock, the Jewish Quarter, Petřín hill and Vyšehrad. Since 1992, the historic center of Prague has been included in the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites.

 

The city has more than ten major museums, along with numerous theatres, galleries, cinemas, and other historical exhibits. An extensive modern public transportation system connects the city. It is home to a wide range of public and private schools, including Charles University in Prague, the oldest university in Central Europe.

 

Prague is classified as a "Alpha-" global city according to GaWC studies. In 2019, the city was ranked as 69th most livable city in the world by Mercer. In the same year, the PICSA Index ranked the city as 13th most livable city in the world. Its rich history makes it a popular tourist destination and as of 2017, the city receives more than 8.5 million international visitors annually. In 2017, Prague was listed as the fifth most visited European city after London, Paris, Rome, and Istanbul.

 

Bohemia (Latin Bohemia, German Böhmen, Polish Czechy) is a region in the west of the Czech Republic. Previously, as a kingdom, they were the center of the Czech Crown. The root of the word Czech probably corresponds to the meaning of man. The Latin equivalent of Bohemia, originally Boiohaemum (literally "land of Battles"), which over time also influenced the names in other languages, is derived from the Celtic tribe of the Boios, who lived in this area from the 4th to the 1st century BC Bohemia on it borders Germany in the west, Austria in the south, Moravia in the east and Poland in the north. Geographically, they are bounded from the north, west and south by a chain of mountains, the highest of which are the Krkonoše Mountains, in which the highest mountain of Bohemia, Sněžka, is also located. The most important rivers are the Elbe and the Vltava, with the fertile Polabean Plain extending around the Elbe. The capital and largest city of Bohemia is Prague, other important cities include, for example, Pilsen, Karlovy Vary, Kladno, Ústí nad Labem, Liberec, Hradec Králové, Pardubice and České Budějovice, Jihlava also lies partly on the historical territory of Bohemia." - info from Wikipedia.

 

Summer 2019 I did a solo cycling tour across Europe through 12 countries over the course of 3 months. I began my adventure in Edinburgh, Scotland and finished in Florence, Italy cycling 8,816 km. During my trip I took 47,000 photos.

 

Now on Instagram.

 

Become a patron to my photography on Patreon or donate.

Now summer is over and my lack of photographs being uploaded has continued despite my many attempts and many apology's. I do wish I had more time to upload my photographs but I have been working extra shifts and focusing on my Alevels as it is my last year before university. I hope sincerly that my efforts are being put to good use although I miss my efforts put in sharing my photographs on Flickr and I regret my neglect for it deeply. I enjoy sharing my photographs as photography is my biggest passion as is what I strive to study beyond Alevel, thus being my chosen course in which I want to study at university next year. With the thought of university and actually applying to university I am going to have to have to take an extra focus in on my photography and do everything I can to improve my chances of receiving an offer to my particular choices. Needless to say that Flickr plays a big role in this therefore I hope but do not promise that photo's will be being uploaded more frequently and more regularly.

 

Aside from my personal life and goals this is another awaited image from my vist to Stratford-Upon-Avon in April earlier this year. It only seems appropriate that I continue to upload these photographs before any recent ones as they have been sitting on my computer without a purpose. I want to give these images a purpose as the weekend was beautiful and one which the memories will live on forever. I enjoyed taking these photographs and I am proud to say that these photographs are mine.

This is another image made during the workshop by Jay Maisel on Light, Gesture, Color, and Perceptioin in Santa Fe, New Mexico in March 2013. For Jay, color, especially color with light, can be the primary element in a photograph. Of course, in Jay's view a person or two would have made the image better. Jay's main comment on this image was that it would have been better without the white Aspen tree on the right. He found this distracting. Another point that Jay made frequently was that a photograph should have color and not colors. Jay found the use of a single color more powerful in an image than the use of several strong colors.

 

This image is a hotel (Inn at Loretto) near the Plaza in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

 

© Roger Wyrick. All rights reserved.

 

View the entire Jay Maisel Workshop Set - Light, Gesture, Color, and Perception

 

View the entire New Mexico Set

This is a quick video I took of the front and how busy it was at 4 p.m. on a Wednesday two days before Christmas.

 

Three days before Christmas, and the shopping is in full swing. As I got my own shopping done, I saw lines of at least three people each at ALL six checkouts and the customer service desk!

 

I did not hear any Pentatonix songs yet again, but I enjoyed more favorites including "Christmas Eve Sarajevo 12/24" by Trans Siberian Orchestra, "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" by Andy Williams, and "Christmas In the Sand" by Colbie Caillat.

 

It's encouraging to me that Kmart still gets at least some attention at Christmas (at least locally), even if it often pales in comparison to other area stores and businesses. Whether it is encouraging enough or not to fellow shoppers, the fact that this store has made it this far (along with the others in Eaton, Englewood, Springboro and Riverside) matters more in my opinion. We may not (and a lot of us do not) know why or how they are still here, but they ARE here. No matter how uncertain the future is for Kmart and Sears, I believe the most important thing is that their stores are still here NOW, and we should still enjoy and experience whatever they have to offer NOW and not worry too much about the future or how much longer these stores will remain in business. Sure, we must not let ourselves forget the predicament SHC faces, but we mustn't let it get in the way of a good store visit either.

 

That is why I am optimistic about my local Kmart stores. Not only is it because I am loyal to them and thankful that they've made it this far, it is also because I ENJOY them and every other location I visit and make the most of whatever time I spend there, no matter the impending situation. Yes, I am well aware of their uncertain future and their doubtful chances of surviving long-term. But I know that years from now, long after Kmart #3407 closes its doors for the last time, I'm going to look back on these amazing memories made there and smile, thinking "Those were great times!"

 

I always enjoy seeing my friends who work at Kmart (whom one day I plan to work alongside when I hopefully get a job there in the spring!). In fact, it has been the main reason for a number of my visits there. Other times, it would be looking for a good deal, eating a quick lunch at Little Caesars, or seeing if I could chase down a Blue Light Special (which so far I still have not witnessed one yet). My perspective on these visits is not just VISITING, but EXPERIENCING. After all, a brand that is a shadow of its former self still has at least one good thing to offer! :D

 

I knew I had to get this out sooner or later, just to offer a window into what I think about the whole overall Kmart situation. No, it's not a rant by any means; it is just the opinion and local perspective of a loyal shopper.

 

Bottom line: Don't take your local Kmart for granted. Be thankful that it's still there, in business, at least for the time being. Make friends with whoever you see there frequently, and enjoy whatever that store has to offer (especially if it has a cafe!). And while you fellow Flickr users are there (or at any location for that matter) snapping photos, just take a moment, look around, soak everything in (mentally, of course) and savor the moment of actually being there in person - not everyone gets a chance to experience that same store, after all!

It may be hard for some of you to do, but it is very well possible. :)

 

Merry Christmas, everyone! Sorry this batch of pics is a bit late.

 

Kmart #3407 - 4480 Indian Ripple Rd - Beavercreek Township, Ohio

MY local Kmart! (along with #4179 in Riverside)

This is the memorial to not one but two mining disasters at Auchengeich. In 1931 six miners were killed by an explosion - a number of their comrades tried to go back to save them, but were overcome by fumes and had to be rescued themselves.

 

The second disaster was in 1959, when 47 men were trapped by a blaze, a thousand feet below the surface of the Earth. So severe was the fire and smoke (most were overcome by the smoke, it is thought) that the rescue attempts could not get close, and eventually they were left with no choice but to flood the put to dowse the flames.

 

47 men gone just like that, dozens of families shattered. My mother was a wee girl when it happened, but she remembered some of the children whose family members were in the pit being taken out of school, wailing and screaming their grief. The history books like to talk about the Great Events - the Industrial Revolution, exploration, empire and all of that, but often neglects that everything was built on the broad backs of men who laboured in such dangerous conditions for little reward.

Istanbul is famous for its Grand Bazaar, which is one of the largest and oldest covered markets in the world. It's difficult to navigate, easy to get lost in, and just about every shop owner wants to haggle you a bit. But just outside its doors is a shopping area that caters to locals. Here you find many lingerie shops and beautiful traditional head scarves, among other things that are of less interest to tourists. The contrast was interesting - a few moments earlier I was being haggled in the Grand Bizarre, but on these crowded streets I was no longer the target and could easily browse without interruption.

I'm in the middle of something on Facebook.

PADDY: "Hullo everyone! Do you know what? Bears have two birthdays. Do you know what else? Today is one of my birthdays! And do you know what else? Today is my Daddy's birthday too! Isn't that a wonderful coincidence! Now Scout and I are not allowed to use the oven for fear of singeing our plush fur, so even though it is his birthday, Daddy has been so kind and has baked me a birthday cake! It is a lemon cake made with fresh organic lemons he was given. Grumbly tummy Daddy! Grumbly tummy!" * Rubs tummy vigorously. "Isn't Daddy nice to do that just for me? I can't eat that cake all by myself, even with a grumbly tummy, so I am having a birthday party. I have invited Scout and Daddy of course. I've also asked Cousin Paddington Bogart, Rosie, Jago, Daisy-Maud, Orson, Cornelia, Emmett, Bertie, Danny Boy, Algie, Nanuk, Benjamin, Edgar, Freddy the fox, little bears Sapphire, Pearl and Flock and Duckie to come along, and also Chippy the monkey who lives in the front room. Best of all, Fairy Mum granted my greatest birthday wish and brought mijn allerbeste vriend Oleg to join me for my birthday! I know that everyone who I've asked to come will enjoy the occasion!

 

If today is your birthday too, I'd like to wish you a very happy birthday full of big little bear hugs and snuffly birthday kisses. Even if it isn't, I'd like to wish you a very happy day full of big little bear hugs and snuffly kisses. Would you like some cake too?"

 

This beautiful nursery pantomime nursery dinner set was made in England by the Shell China Company in the 1920s. It features six cups, saucers and plates as well as a teapot, milk jug, sugar bowl, platter, sandwich plate, a lidded soup tureen on its own dish and a gravy or cream jug on its own dish. Each piece is gilt edged and decorated and feature different faerie tales including: "The Queen of Hearts", "To Market, to Market to Buy a Fat Pig", "There was a Little Man who had a Little Gun", "Jack and Jill", "Goosey, Goosey Gander", "Sing a Song of Sixpence" and "Ride a Cock Horse" amongst others. The set I acquired from England, and it is a sister set to a 1930s Shell China Company faerie tale tea set. This set was given as a gift some years ago by a close friend who knows I collect nursery ware and children's tea sets. There are also doll (bear) sized tea spoons which are sterling silver salt spoons, and the spoon in the "Ride a Cock Horse to Bunbury Cross" sugar bowl is an Eighteenth Century mustard spoon and is sterling silver. Their dessert spoons are sterling silver coffee spoons made by James Dixon and Sons in London in 1921.

 

My Paddington Bear came to live with me in London when I was two years old (many, many years ago). He was hand made by my Great Aunt and he has a chocolate coloured felt hat, the brim of which had to be pinned up by a safety pin to stop it getting in his eyes. The collar of his mackintosh is made of the same felt. He wears wellington boots made from the same red leather used to make the toggles on his mackintosh.

 

He has travelled with me across the world and he and I have had many adventures together over the years. He is a very precious member of my small family.

 

Scout was a gift to Paddy from my friend. He is a Fair Trade Bear hand knitted in Africa. His name comes from the shop my friend found him in: Scout House. He tells me that life was very different where he came from, and Paddy is helping introduce him to many new experiences. Scout catches on quickly, and has proven to be a cheeky, but very lovable member of our closely knit family.

 

Rosie is Scout's cousin, because like Scout, she is a free trade knitted bear from Africa. She was made in Kenya by one of the Kenana Knitters, Martha Wanjira. She is made from home spun and dyed wool. She was a gift to me from two very dear friends, including the one who gave Scout to Paddy.

 

My bears Paddy and Scout have made very good friends with two bears in Holland called Peter and Oleg www.flickr.com/photos/40262251@N03/galleries/721577154558... and www.flickr.com/photos/40262251@N03/galleries/721577233464... and their Mummy Marian Kloon (on and off) . Oleg and Paddy are very similar and have become best friends.

 

Bogart has travelled all the way from Georgia, via Alabama as a gift to me from a friend. He has lovely Southern manners and seems to be a fun and gentle soul with an inquisitive nature.

 

Jago was a gift from a dear friend in England. He is made of English mohair with suede paw pads and glass eyes. He is a gentle bear, kind and patient who carries an air of calm about him. He is already fitting in with everyone else very nicely.

 

Travelling all the way from London, Cousin Paddington was caught in transit thanks to the Coronavirus pandemic, so it looks like he is stopping with us for a long while. That makes me happy, as the more I look into his happy, smiling face, the more attached I am becoming to him.

 

Daisy Maud is Jago's little sister and was made by the same friend in England who made him. She is made of German mohair with floral fabric cotton paw pads that match her pretty sunhat, and glass eyes. A sweet and loving little girl bear, she is happy to be reunited with her big brother, Jago, and enjoys being spoiled by her new Daddy.

 

Orson, named after the little bear constellation, was made by the same friend who made Jago and Daisy-Maud. He comes ready dressed in 'trousers' made of German mohair accessorised with embroidered braces. His paws are ultra suede and his eyes are glass. He is described as being a little bit serious minded but very friendly. He's fine once he gets to know you.

 

Danny Boy, made by the same friend who made Jago, Daisy-Maud and Orson, has a touch of the 'Oirish' in him with his emerald green scarf. He has an open mouth as he likes to sing and comes with his own songbook, "Irish Airs for Teddy Bears". He has a wobbly head to give him animation when he's talking to you, and is made of English mohair, has paws of ultra suede and eyes of glass. Quite a happy-go-lucky little character....

 

Algie is made by the same friend who made Jago, Daisy-Maud, Orson and Danny Boy. He is is made of sparse English mohair, has paws of ultra suede and eyes of glass. A very adventurous little boy, he loves to climb and sit on top of gates, edges of tables and chairs. He adore climbing trees, and will cheekily sit there with crossed legs. He's very friendly and he loves adventures of any kind.

 

Made by Merrythought in England, Emmett is a charming little bear, sweet and smiling, crafted from multi-tonal marl grey mohair and featuring golden velvet paws. He is accessorised with a classic tartan woollen scarf. He is number 23 or a limited worldwide edition of 200.

 

Handmade at Merrythought in England from warm-gold tousled mohair plush, Edgar is a cheerful companion who has terracotta pure cotton velvet paws, and wears a delightful floral cotton bow tie. He is number 2 of a limited worldwide edition of 200.

 

Benjamin is made by Merrythought in England too. A friendly character, he has been handmade from soft, caramel-coloured mohair plush featuring a chocolate-coloured base that beautifully complements his pure wool felt paws. He wears a traditional, satin-lined waistcoat made from the finest British tweed and secured with brass studs. He is number 110 of a limited worldwide edition of 150.

 

Once upon a time, not so very long ago, there was a bear called Nanuk. Nanuk is a Polar Bear. The Teddy Bear Orphanage in the Netherlands recently contacted my friend Mummy Marian who is well known for being a generous host for bears who need a home. They told her that Nanuk has been living at the Teddy Bear Orphanage for quite some time. They also told Mummy Marian that he's very unhappy. Sweet Nanuk was born with a rare disease: poor body temperature regulation. He\'s always cold! The Teddy Bear Orphanage were looking for someone who lives in a country where it never freezes. Mummy Marian immediately thought of me, as like her, I am well known for being a generous host and making my home available to bears who need a family. Mummy Marian felt that Australia (where I live) would be the most perfectly wonderful place for Nanuk to live: a warm country with me as his Daddy, and many bear friends to make a family for him. I considered Mummy Marian’s request, and I immediately said “yes”! I think Nanuk will be a very happy Polar Bear, living with me and all my bears. We don’t know the end of the story yet, because of course, Nanuk’s tale is only just beginning! However, I do think he will live happily ever after!

 

Bertie came to live with me on Christmas Day 2022. He was a gift from a very dear friend. He is vintage and is hand knitted with soft red dioxide wool and has chocolate brown felt pads on his paws. He has shiny black bead eyes and has his own very smart tartan bow. He tells me that he was living in an antique shop for quite a while, just looking for his forever home, which now he feels that he has. Bertie is very soft and loves cuddles, and whilst perhaps not as forthcoming as some of my other bears due to his shyness, he is very loving and caring and gives big little bear hugs and snuffly kisses beautifully.

 

Pearl and Sapphire are both little Russ Bears, and Flock a vintage posable bear who all arrived on Christmas Day 2023. They travelled from Mama Kim's house in Alabama all the way here. Both are sweet little bears who are tenacious and cheeky, but full of love and snuffly kisses most of all.

 

Freddy Fox is made by Merrythought in England. I bought him, of all places, from a men’s accessory shop in Melbourne’s Block Arcade, called Mr. Wares. Freddy Fox is made of English Mohair with felt paws and glass bead eyes. He has so much charm and charisma that already he is winning hearts with anyone whom he meets, and he is kind and sweet, which makes him an ideal member of our family.

 

Duckie I saw when I was at a Sunday market on a stall of homemade knitted and crocheted items. She caught my eye straight away with her happy, smiley face and bright colours. I think she finds life with my bears intriguing and perhaps a little confusing, however she is learning.

 

Chippy the monkey came to live with me when I was four. His name is derived from his innards, which are broken chips of hazelnut shells. He was made in America some time in the mid Twentieth Century. He features beautiful brown glass eyes, a felt face, hands and feet. He was given to me by one of my Grandfather's friends who worked in a small high street toy shop which sold a mixture of new, vintage and antique toys. Chippy was vintage at the time, and had been well loved prior, so with a few holes, some worn plush and patches, he was too worn to be sold, but my family friend knew that my gentle nature and respect for my toys meant he could find a new home with me for a long time. All these decades later, she was proven right, for he still lives with me; a bit more loved, a bit more worn and with a few more patches. He also has some red chalk marks on his right hand which I remember putting on him by accident when I was six! He wanted to draw a rose on my chalkboard and I helped him do it!

 

Thank you to Marian Kloon (on and off) for the use of her photos of Oleg in my photo montage.

French postcard, no. 2009.

 

American actor Johnny Depp is one of the most versatile actors in today's Hollywood. He made his film debut as one of Freddy Krueger's victims in A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984). With his dark, intense eyes and highly defined cheekbones, he shot to fame as a teen idol in the TV series 21 Jump Street (1987). He is now best known for his many wonderful collaborations with director Tim Burton, and for his flamboyant pirate Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of Carribean franchise. He likes to play freakishly eccentric outcasts whose oddities are misunderstood by society. Depp has been nominated for three Oscars and has won the Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Awards for Best Actor.

 

John Christopher Depp II was born in Owensboro, Kentucky, in 1963, to Betty Sue (Wells), who worked as a waitress, and John Christopher Depp, a civil engineer. Depp was raised in Florida. He dropped out of school when he was 16 (or 15 - the sources differ), after his parents divorced. The brooding teenager fronted a series of music-garage bands, including the punk rock/New Wave band The Kids, which opened for Iggy Pop, Duran Duran, and The B-52's. When he married Lori Anne Allison (Lori A. Depp), he took up the job of being a ballpoint-pen salesman to support himself and his wife during slack times in the music business. When he visited Los Angeles with his wife, he met actor Nicolas Cage, who advised him to turn to acting. This culminated in Depp's film debut in the low-budget horror film, A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), where he played a teenager who falls prey to dream-stalking demon Freddy Krueger. He played a supporting role as a Vietnamese-speaking private in Oliver Stone's Vietnam War film Platoon (1986), starring Charlie Sheen. In 1987 he shot to stardom when he replaced Jeff Yagher as Officer Tom Hanson, who goes on an undercover operation by posing as a student in crime-ridden Los Angeles-area high schools in the TV series 21 Jump Street (1987). After numerous roles in teen-oriented films, Depp spoofed the genre as 1950s teen rebel 'Cry-Baby' Wade Walker in John Waters' tongue-in-cheek Cry-Baby (John Waters, 1990). The film received positive reviews from critics, but did not achieve high audience numbers in its initial release. It has subsequently become a cult classic and spawned a Broadway musical of the same name which was nominated for four Tony Awards. That year, Depp also started his great collaborations with director Tim Burton, playing the title role in the romantic dark fantasy Edward Scissorhands (1990) with Winona Ryder and Christopher Lee.

 

Following the film's success, Johnny Depp carved a niche for himself as a serious, somewhat dark, idiosyncratic performer, consistently selecting roles that surprised critics and audiences alike. He continued to gain critical acclaim and increasing popularity by appearing in such features as Lasse Hallström's What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993). He starred alongside Leonardo DiCaprio and Juliette Lewis in this drama about a dysfunctional family. He rejoined with Burton in the lead role of Ed Wood (Tim Burton, 1994), a biographical film about one of history's most inept film directors. Then he played a newly-orphaned accountant in the surrealist Western Dead Man (Jim Jarmusch, 1995), and an undercover FBI agent in the fact-based crime drama Donnie Brasco (Mike Newell, 1997), opposite Al Pacino. Depp appeared as Hunter S. Thompson's alter ego in Terry Gilliam's trippy adaptation of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998). The same year he teamed up again with Burton in Sleepy Hollow (Tim Burton, 1999), brilliantly portraying Ichabod Crane. With Chuck E. Weiss, Depp turned the Central Nightclub in Los Angeles, into the famous Viper Room at 8852 Sunset Blvd. The building was once owned by infamous gangster Bugsy Siegel. It's also the place where River Phoenix passed away on 31 October 1993. Depp closed down the Viper Room for two weeks after Phoenix's death and he also closed it on every 31 October until 2004. That year, he ended his ownership of the Viper room when he signed it over to Amanda Fox, the daughter of his missing partner in the club, Anthony Fox. Depp also once co-owned a restaurant/club in a former cinema in Paris called Man Ray (named after the avant-garde artist), with Sean Penn, John Malkovich and British musician Mick Hucknall.

 

Johnny Depp has played many different and often bigger-than-life characters in his career. He played a fact-based one, Insp. Fred Abberline in From Hell (Albert Hughes, Allen Hughes, 2001). He stole the show in the finale to Robert Rodriguez's Mariachi trilogy, Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003), opposite Antonio Banderas. In that same year he starred in the marvelous family blockbuster Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (Gore Verbinski, 2003), playing a character that only the likes of Depp could pull off: the charming, conniving and roguish Capt. Jack Sparrow. He based Sparrow on rock legend Keith Richards and the Looney Tunes character, Pepe Le Pew. The film's enormous success included an Oscar nomination for Depp. Depp was again nominated for the Best Actor Academy Award for his performance as kind-hearted Scottish novelist James Matthew Barrie, who penned the children's classic Peter Pan, in Finding Neverland (Marc Forster, 2004), with Kate Winslet. He appeared as the notorious second Earl of Rochester in the British film, The Libertine (Lawrence Dunmore, 2004) opposite John Malkovich. Depp collaborated again with Burton in a screen adaptation of Roald Dahl's novel, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Tim Burton, 2005), and the stop-motion animation Corpse Bride (Tim Burton, 2005), in which Depp voiced the character Victor Van Dort. Later followed Sweeney Todd (Tim Burton, 2007), Alice in Wonderland (Tim Burton, 2010) and Dark Shadows (Tim Burton, 2012). Depp reprised the role of Jack Sparrow in the Pirates sequels Dead Man's Chest (Gore Verbinski, 2006), At World's End (Gore Verbinski, 2007) and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (Rob Marshall, 2011), which were again major box office successes.

 

Off-screen, Johnny Depp has dated several female celebrities, and has been engaged to Sherilyn Fenn, Jennifer Grey, Winona Ryder and Kate Moss. He was married to Lori Anne Allison in 1983, but divorced her in 1985. Depp has two children with French singer/actress Vanessa Paradis: Lily-Rose Melody (1999) and Jack (2002). He married actress/producer Amber Heard in 2015. Heard filed for divorce from Johnny Depp in May, 2016. She was granted a temporary domestic violence restraining order against Depp in relation to a physical altercation between the couple, which resulted in Heard filing for divorce in the first place. Heard was granted $7 million as part of the former couple's divorce, which was finalised in 2017. Depp has struggled with alcoholism and addiction for much of his life. Depp has stated that he began smoking at age 12 and began using alcohol and drugs shortly thereafter. In July 2018, Depp was sued for allegedly punching a crew member twice in the ribs during a foul-mouthed tirade. Court documents stated that the actor "reeked of alcohol" and took drugs on set. According to IMDb, Johnny Depp resides in France, Los Angeles, and an island he owns in the Bahamas. He divides his time in France between Meudon, a suburb of Paris and a villa in Plan-de-la-Tour, an hour outside of St Tropez in Southern France. He also purchased Bela Lugosi's Los Angeles home. Depp is intensely protective of his private life. Inside the Actors Studio (1994) is one of the few televised interviews he's granted. Hal Erickson at AllMovie: "Despite this massive success (or maybe as a result), Depp's career suffered a downswing after a string of critical and commercial flops. Films like The Tourist (opposite Angelina Jolie), Dark Shadows (a rare misstep with Tim Burton) and The Lone Ranger failed to connect with audiences and critics alike and left many to wonder when Depp's career would recover." It did. In recent years, Depp reprised the role of the Mad Hatter in Alice Through the Looking Glass (James Bobin, 2016), reprised his role as Captain Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (Joachim Rønning, Espen Sandberg, 2017), and he was seen in the blockbuster Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (David Yates, 2018), written by J. K. Rowling and starring Eddie Redmayne. Depp is set to return as Gellert Grindelwald in the third Fantastic Beasts film, which is scheduled for release in November 2020.

 

Sources: Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Wikipedia and IMDb.

Regensburg is a city in south-east Germany, situated at the confluence of the Danube, Naab and Regen River. With over 140,000 inhabitants, Regensburg is the fourth-largest town in the State of Bavaria after Munich, Nuremberg and Augsburg. The city is the political, economic and cultural centre of Eastern Bavaria and the capital of the Bavarian administrative region Upper Palatinate.

 

The medieval centre of the city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a testimony of the city's status as cultural centre of southern Germany in the middle ages. In 2014, Regensburg was among the top sights and travel attractions in Germany.[2] Generally known in English as Ratisbon until well into the twentieth century, the city is known as Ratisbonne in French and as Ratisbona in Spanish and Italian.

 

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

What is missing from this picture? Have a careful look. Spot it? I think what is missing from this picture is a leash round my neck.

The great tit is one of the most common and most striking birds found in the Netherlands. The bird is also one of the best known Dutch birds, partly because the bird is not shy and is to be found regularly feeding tables in winter. The male is distinguished by the black stripe on the abdomen is much broader. Of the female The song of the great tit is very variable, but often can be heard. Titituu or a recognizable tituu

 

The great tit is a cavity nesting and breeding include in tree cavities and nest boxes. Because of the short life of the great tit are laid many eggs per brood. Although in some years with multiple broods started, brings the blackbird each year only a nest of chicks. Great tits sometimes leave a nest with eggs or young birds down, to start. Better conditions in another place again

Tofino is blessed with stunning sunsets this is the first of my collection of images that frankly do not do Tofino justice

The Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway is a volunteer-run heritage railway which runs along the Gloucestershire/Worcestershire border of the Cotswolds, England. The GWSR has restored and reopened around 14 miles of track, operating between Cheltenham Race Course and Broadway.

This photograph was taken using Ilford XP2 super 400 ISO film and was shot with a Canon EOS 3 camera and a EF 16-35mm USM IS lens. Developed by my self using Ilford DDX developer at 1-9 at 45 minuets and temperature of 21 C. The negative was scanned using my Canon EOS-R camera and with a EF 100mm f2.8 macro lens.

Just showing the equipment I've added to my IS-4. Suggestions on what else to add are appreciated!

The word Allah

 

The Semitic language which is spoken in the celestial spheres, is the language in which the angels and God address each other. Adam Safi-Allah spoke the same language in paradise. Adam and eve then came into the world and settled in Arabia. Their children also spoke the same language. Then as a result of the descendants of Adam spreading in the world, this language passed from Arabic, Persian, Latin and into English and God was then known by different names in the different languages. As Adam lived in Arabia, there are many words of the Semitic language which are still found in the Arabic language. God addressed the Prophets, Adam as Adam Safi-Allah, Noah as Nuh Nabi-Allah, Abraham as Ibraheem Khalil-Allah, Moses as Musa Kalim-Allah, Jesus as I’sa Ruh-Allah and Mohammed Rasul-Allah. All these titles, in the Semitic language were written on the Tablet before the arrival of the Prophets. This is why the Prophet Mohammed said: “I was a Prophet even before I came in to this world.”

Many people believe that the word Allah is a name given by Muslims, this is not so.

The Prophet Mohammed’s fathers name was Abd-Allah, at a time when Islam did not exist. Prior to the advent of Islam the Name Allah was announced with the title of every Prophet. When the souls were created, the first Name on their tongue was Allah and when the soul entered the body of Adam, it said, Ya-Allah, and only then it entered the body. Many religions understand this enigma and chant the Name Allah and many others because of doubt are deprived of the Name.

Any name which is used to point towards God is worthy of respect.

 

In other words, which points towards God. The mystical effect of the Name of God has been diversified due to the different names. Every letter of the alphabet has a separate numeric value. This is also a celestial knowledge. All the numeric values are connected with all of the human race. Occasionally the numeric values do not agree with the astronomical calculations as a result of which people become afflicted. Many people go to astrologers and experts of this knowledge and have charts prepared based on the stars. They name their children on this basis.

 

Just as the letters (a, b, j, d,) (1, 2, 3, 4) when added have the numerical value of ten. Similarly every name has a separate numeric value. As God has been given so many different names, this has caused a conflict between the numeric value of the different names. If all the people called upon God by the same name, then despite the fact that they would all have separate religions, they would all be united inwardly. They too, like Nanak Sahib and Baba Farid would then say:

 

“All the souls have been created by the light of God, even though their environment and communities are separate.”

 

The angels that are assigned tasks in the world are also taught the languages of the people of the world.

 

It is important for the people of every Prophet that they recite, chant and affirm the Title of their Prophet which was granted by God to the Prophet at his time, for the recognition, spiritual grace and purification of his people. The recital and affirmation should be in the same method and in the language of their Prophet.

 

The entry of any individual into any religion is subject to the condition that the individual accepts and affirms the Title of the Prophet of that religion. Just as the affirmation and the verbal vows are a condition of any marriage.

 

Entry into the heavens has been made subject to the acceptance and affirmation of the Titles of the Prophets. In the western world many Muslims and Christians have no knowledge of their Prophet’s Title furthermore many do not even know their Prophets original name (in the original language of the Prophet.)

 

People who only verbalize the affirmation of their Prophet’s Title rely upon their good deeds. Those that reject and do not affirm their Prophet’s Title are refused entry to paradise. Those individuals in whose hearts the affirmation of their Prophet’s Title has descended (entered) they will enter paradise without any accountability.

 

The revealed celestial Scriptures, whichever language they are in so long as they are in the original form, are a means to finding God. Where the texts and the translations that have been adulterated, just as adulterated flour is harmful for the stomach, the adulterated books have become harmful and people of the same religion and the same of Prophet have divided into so many sects.

 

To be sure of the straight and guided path it is better that you are guided by the Light (of God) also.

  

The method of producing light.

 

In prehistoric times stones would be rubbed together to make fire. Whereas a spark can also be produced by rubbing two metals together. In a similar way electricity is made from water. Similarly by the friction of the blood inside the human body, in other words electric energy is produced by the vibrating heartbeat. In every human being there is present, approximately one and a half volts of electricity due to which the body is energetic. As the heartbeat slows in old age, this reduces the electricity in the body and this in turn also causes a reduction of the energy level in the body.

 

Firstly, the heartbeat has to be made vibrant and pronounced. Some do this by dancing, some by sports and exercise and some people try to do this by meditating and chanting the Name of God Allah.

 

When the heartbeat becomes vibrant and pronounced then by chanting the Name Allah try to synchronize it with every heartbeat. Alternatively try to synchronize Allah with one heartbeat and Hu with the other. Some time by placing your hand on the heart and when you feel your heartbeat, again try to synchronize the Name Allah by chanting it with the rythm of the heartbeat and imagine that the Name Allah is entering the heart.

 

The chanting of Allah Hu is better and more effective but if anyone has an objection, or a fear of chanting Hu, then instead of being deprived one should solely use the Name Allah, repetitively in the chanting. It is beneficial for people who chant and practice this discipline and who read mantras to physically remain as clean as possible as the:

 

“disrespectful are unfulfilled and the respectful are fulfilled.”

 

The first method for producing light.

Write Allah on a paper in black ink, and do this exercise for as long as you wish on a daily basis. Soon thereafter, the Word Allah will be transported from the paper and hover over the eyes. Then with one-pointed concentration, attempt to transport the word from the eyes to the heart.

 

The second method for producing light.

Write Allah on a zero watt bulb, in yellow. Whilst you are awake or just before sleep, concentrate and try to absorb it into the eyes. When it appears on the eyes then try to transport it to the heart.

 

The third method for producing light.

This method is for those people who have perfect spiritual guides and teachers and who due to their spiritual connection are spiritually assisted by them.

 

Sit alone and imagine that your index finger is a pen. Using your finger and with your concentration, attempt to write Allah on your heart. Call upon your spiritual teacher (spiritually), so that he too may, hold your finger, and write Allah on your heart. Continue to do this exercise everyday, until you see Allah written on your heart.

 

By the first and second method, the Name Allah becomes inscribed on the heart, just as it was written and seen by you but when it becomes synchronized with the heartbeat, then it slowly starts to shine. In the synchronized method, the assistance of the spiritual teacher is provided and for this reason it is seen shining and well written on the heart right from the beginning.

 

Many Prophets and Saints have come into the world, and just for the sake of testing this, if you feel it appropriate, concentrate or call upon all of them when you are practicing your meditation.

 

Whilst concentrating on any Prophet or Saint, during your meditating practice, if the rhythm of your heartbeat increases, in its vibration or you feel an improvement then this means that your destiny (spiritual fruits) lies with that Prophet or Saint.

 

Thereafter it is beneficial to concentrate on that same person whenever you practice your meditation as spiritual grace is transferred in this way, because every Saint is spiritually connected to a Prophet, even if that Prophet is not physically living.

 

The spiritual fruit (grace) of every illuminated person is in the hands of one Saint or another. It is essential that the Saint is living. Sometimes a very fortunate person is gifted with celestial spiritual grace by a perfect Saint who is not living, but this is very rare. However Saints not living in our human realm can provide worldly spiritual grace and assistance to people from their tombs. This is known as Owaisi spiritual grace.

 

The recipients of such spiritual grace often get entangled in their spiritual insights, visions and dreams because the spiritual guide providing the assistance is in the spiritual realm and so too is Satan and the recognition of the two becomes difficult.

 

Along with the spiritual grace it is important to have knowledge, for which a living Saint is more appropriate. If a person (Saint) possesses spiritual grace but is without knowledge, that person is known as a Majzoob (Godly but abstracted due to the complete absorption into the Essence of God and who is not in full control of his faculties).

 

A person (Saint) having spiritual grace and knowledge is known as a Mehboob (literally, loved one). Such people (Saints) as a result of their knowledge provide worldly spiritual assistance as well as spiritual grace and benefit. Whereas the Majzoobs are known to provide worldly spiritual assistance to people by their unusual but accepted practices of shouting obscenities and poking people with their wooden sticks.

 

If any (Prophet or Saint) appears but does not help or assist you then put Gohar Shahi to the test.

 

You may belong to any religion, there is no condition in this respect as long as the individual is not eternally ill-fated.

  

Many people have received the spiritual grace of Qalb meditation from the Moon. This is obtained when there is a full Moon from the East. Look at it with concentration and when you see the image of Gohar Shahi on it say Allah, Allah, Allah three times and you will be blessed with this spiritual grace. Thereafter without any fear or reservation practice the meditation as described.

 

Believe (the fact) that the image on the Moon has spoken to many people in many different languages. You can try looking and speaking to it also.

 

About Muraqba

(transcendental meditation)

 

(Literally. journey. Meditation in which the soul leaves the human body)

 

Many people without having acquired the illumination of the spiritual entities (‘Lata’if/Shaktian’) and without attaining spiritual strength and prowess try to engage in this meditation. They either fail to reach the meditative state or become the subject of Satanic interference. This type of meditation is for illuminated people, whose spiritual entity of the self has been purified and the Qalb has been cleansed. The practice or attempt at this type of meditation is foolish no matter what type of physical worship is used to achieve this. To collect and gather the strength of the soul and the spiritual entities and then to travel to a place is what is known as meditation.

 

Sainthood is the one fourtieth part of Prophecy.

 

Every dream, meditative journey, inspiration or revelation of a Prophet is accurate and authentic and does not need verification. Only fourty out of a hundred dreams, meditative journeys, inspirations and revelations of Saints are accurate the remaining sixty percent are inaccurate.

 

God cannot be understood without knowledge

 

The lowest type of meditative journey is started only after the illumination and awakening of the spiritual entity of the Qalb. This is impossible without first achieving the meditation of the Qalb (meditation with the vibrating heartbeat synchronized with the Name Allah). It takes one jerk or shake to bring the person out of this meditative state and back to consciousness. The faculty of the augury (foretelling the future by reading verses or looking into designated books) is also connected to the Qalb.

 

The next stage is the meditative journey of the soul. It takes three jerks or shakes to return a person back to normality from this meditative state.

 

The third stage of the meditative journey is done by the spiritual entity, Anna and the soul together. The soul travels along with the spiritual entity Anna, to the realm of souls just as the Archangel Gabriel accompanied the Prophet Mohammed to the realm of souls.

 

People who are in this meditative state are sometimes even taken to be buried in their graves and they are unaware of this happening to them. Such a meditative state and journey was taken by the “Companions of the Cave” as a result of which they remained asleep in the cave for more than three hundred years.

 

When this meditative state and journey was undertaken by the Sheikh, Abdul-Qadir al-Jilani, in the jungle, the occupants of the jungle would regard the Sheikh as dead and would take him to a grave for burial but the meditative journey would break just before the burial (the Sheikh would return to consciousness).

 

How to recognize a special inspiration and revelation from God.

 

When a person has awakened and illuminated the spiritual entities in the chest and is worthy of receiving the rays of the Grace of God, then at that point God communicates with that person. God is All-Powerful and can do as he pleases and thus communicate with the human being in any way fit, but he has made a special method for his recognition so that his friends can be saved from the deception of Satan.

 

Firstly, text in the Semitic language appears on the seekers heart and its translation is seen in the language of the seekers mother-tongue. The text is white and shiny and the eyes close automatically and look at the text (internally). The text then passes the Qalb and moves towards the spiritual entity Sirri as a result of which it shines even more. Then the text moves towards the spiritual entity, Akhfa and from here it shines more and then moves onto the tongue. The voice then spontaneously starts to repeat that text.

 

If this inspiration is from Satan then an illuminated heart will dull the text and if the text is strong and prominent then the spiritual entities Sirri or Akhfa destroy that text. Further if due to the weakness of the spiritual entities the text does arrive at the tongue, then the voice will prevent it from being spoken into words.

 

This type of inspiration is for special types of Saints, whereas in respect of ordinary Saints, God sends messages to them through the angels or other spiritual entities. When the Archangel Gabriel accompanies the special and inspired text, this is known as revelation which is confined to the Prophets.

 

For more detail visit www.goharshahi.org or visit asipk.com and for videos visit HH rags

 

The original aircraft on which the reproduction is based was produced by Vickers Armstrong at their Castle Bromwich works in March 1944. It was equipped with a Merlin 66 engine and entered service on 5th. July 1944 with 64 Fighter Squadron, bearing the Squadron letters 'SH' and identification letter 'B'. Having been thoroughly tested it became the personal aeroplane of F/Lt. Anthony 'Tony' Cooper who was at the time 'A' Flight Commander and Deputy Squadron Commander.

In those days it was normal procedure for the aircraft to bear an insignia or name chosen by its pilot, and following this tradition MK 805 was duly inscribed 'Peter John III', this being the third Spitfire to carry the name of F/Lt. Cooper's son who was born two months earlier on 5th. May 1944.

 

MK 805 has taken its builder, Terry Arlow, over 25 years to complete and has been built using copies of the original Spitfire drawings. The only way of obtaining these in the 1980's was from microfilm held in the archives at the RAF Museum in Hendon. This was a laborious task which took over eight years to complete. After spending thousands of hours studying the drawings and creating full size templates, work began on the construction of the fuselage in 1990.

Three months were spent cutting out the fuselage frames from the firewall frame 5 through to frame 19, these were then positioned into a jig and all intercostals brackets and stiffeners were fitted into position. Many cockpit and fuselage items now had to be fitted as access to these areas would not be possible at a later stage. The cockpit contains all genuine Spitfire parts including all the instruments. The fuselage was then skinned using thousands of rivets.

The next stage was to build three more jigs, one for each wing and one for the tail unit.

The wings were started in 1994 by constructing two main wing spars and two rear spars, each spar being double skinned for added strength. Then 42 wing ribs, 21 for each wing, plus auxiliary spars, brackets and stiffeners were constructed. All these parts were treated with primer and painted to give a long lasting protection.

A further 18 months were spent attaching the skins to the wings; half of this time was on the leading edge skins. The very complex tail unit was also being developed during this time, which also incorporated the port and starboard tail planes. This unit was joined to the fuselage in 2001.

The next task was making the cowling structure. As the builder had all original parts from different Spitfires it was difficult to match these together but it was achieved after 18 months of work. The undercarriage system which includes the legs, pintles, u/c jacks, wheels and tyres are all original and these were fitted next. Between 2000 and 2009 the elevators, rudder, flaps and ailerons were constructed, aligned and attached.

Priming and painting of the Spitfire was carried out between 2008 and 2010 in the markings of 64 Fighter Squadron by Stephen Arlow. The final assembly of the Spitfire, which included the fitting of the wings to the fuselage, took place in May 2010.

 

MK 805 is seen displayed at the Lowestoft Armed Forces Day event, held on Lowestoft seafront.

   

Lanercost Priory was founded by Robert de Vaux between 1165 and 1174, the most likely date being 1169, to house Augustinian canons. The priory is situated at the village of Lanercost, Cumbria, England, within sight of Naworth Castle, with which it had close connections. The Lanercost Chronicle, a thirteenth-century history of England and the Wars of Scottish Independence, was compiled by the monks of the priory.

 

It is now open to the public and in the guardianship of English Heritage.

 

The foundation date was traditionally 1169, but can only be dated definitely between 1165 and 1174 on the evidence of charters. The dedication is to Mary Magdalene, unusual in the region.

 

It would seem the arrangements for founding the Priory were well advanced by the time of the foundation charter, as opposed to the more gradual process at Wetheral and St Bees priories. Robert de Vaux gave the land of Lanercost "between the ancient wall and the Irthing and between Burth and Poltros, the vill of Walton by stated bounds, the church of that vill with the chapel of 'Treverman,' the churches of Irthington, Brampton, Carlaton and Farlam". The charter of foundation states that the benefaction was made for the sake of Henry II, and for the health of the souls of his father Hubert and his mother Grace.

 

Soon after the foundation of the house, Robert de Vaux granted to the canons the right of free election, so that when the lord prior died the person on whom the choice of the canons or the greater part of them fell should be elected in his place.

 

The bulk of the church building dates from the late 13th century, though there is evidence of earlier work. The Priory buildings were constructed, at least in part, from stones derived from Hadrian's Wall, including a number of Roman inscriptions that were built into its fabric.

 

The proximity to Scotland inevitably had an effect on the fortunes of the priory, and it was a target of Scots attacks in retaliation for English raids. This became acute after the outbreak of the Wars of Scottish Independence. In 1296 the Scottish army encamped at Lanercost after burning Hexham priory and Lambley nunnery. The Scots were interrupted before the damage could become great, and they retreated through Nicolforest, having burnt some houses of the monastery but not the church. Similar depredations under Wallace continued the next year and led to calls for reprisals from the English.

 

Edward I made several visits to the priory in the latter part of his reign. In the autumn of 1280 he visited in the company of Queen Eleanor on his way to Newcastle. The canons met him at the gate in their copes, and although staying only a few days, he found time to take 200 stags and hinds while hunting in Inglewood forest. In 1300, on his way to the siege of Caerlaverock Castle, Edward stayed at Lanercost for a short while.

 

Edward's last visit was in 1306, travelling in a horse litter owing to age and illness, and accompanied by Queen Margaret, his second wife. He arrived at Michaelmas and his stay extended until the following Easter, a duration of 6 months which put a huge burden upon the resources of the priory. It was while Edward was at Lanercost that the brothers of Robert de Brus and other Scottish captives were sent to Carlisle for execution by his order.

 

This last royal visit depleted the reserves of the priory, and the canons begged him for recompense, but a deal to acquire the church of 'Hautwyselle,' worth about 100 marks a year, fell through. However the king granted the appropriation of the churches of Mitford in Northumberland and Carlatton in Cumberland, for the relief of the Priory. In a letter to the Pope, Edward gave his reasons for generosity being the special devotion he felt to St Mary Magdalene, his long stay due to illness, and making good the damage of the Scots. Edward died shortly afterwards at Burgh by Sands in July 1307, whilst still campaigning against the Scots.

 

In August 1311, Robert Bruce, King of Scotland, came with his army and made it his headquarters for three days, "committing infinite evils" and imprisoning some canons, though later letting them free. By contrast in 1328, in fulfilment of the treaty between the Bruce and Edward III, a mutual interchange of good offices took place between the priory of Lanercost and Kelso Abbey in respect of their common revenues out of the church of Lazonby. Later though, in 1346, David II ransacked the conventual buildings and desecrated the church. Fresh from the overthrow of Liddel he "entered the holy place with haughtiness, threw out the vessels of the temple, stole the treasures, broke the doors, took the jewels, and destroyed everything they could lay hands on". As late as 1386, one of the priors was taken prisoner by the Scots and ransomed for a fixed sum of money and four score quarters of corn.

 

The fortunes of the priory were linked to the state of warfare and raids on the border. The priory was in relatively affluent circumstances before the outbreak of the war of Independence in 1296, and the annual revenue of the house was returned at £74 12s 6d in the 1291 valuation of Pope Nicholas IV. But by the taxation of 1318, the value had fallen almost to nothing.

 

Lanercost Priory was dissolved in 1538 by Henry VIII, and the conventual buildings were stripped of their roofs, excepting the church building which continued in use as the parish church. In the late 17th century, as the nave deteriorated, the congregation used just the north aisle which had been re-roofed.

 

In 1747, the nave was re-roofed, but by 1847 the Priory was in a state of disrepair to the extent that the east end roof collapsed. However, by 1849, The church was in use again after a major restoration by Anthony Salvin. In the 1870s, there was further restoration by the Carlisle architect C. J. Ferguson.

 

At the Dissolution, ownership had passed to the Dacre family, and then in the early 18th century to the Howards. In 1929, the Priory ruins were put into public ownership, and today they are managed by English Heritage.

 

The nave has an aisle to the north but a large wall to the south with no aisle, where it abuts the cloister. The impressive ruined chancel and crossing of ca. 1220–1230 are in a good state of preservation; as high as the eaves, and would only require a roof and windows to be restored to the original condition. The oldest masonry is in the south transept, and dates from the late 12th century. The cloister and monastic buildings have been largely dismantled, except for the west range, which was made into a house by Sir Thomas Dacre in the 16th century. The statue of St Mary Magdalene, given by King Edward I, still survives in a niche high up on the west front. A dossal – an embroidered wall hanging – designed by William Morris in 1881, underwent restoration before being replaced behind the priory altar in 2013–14.

 

The priory has an unusual medieval stone carving called the Lanercost Cross with an inscription dating back to 1214. Originally the cross was set just outside the entrance to the church. Today, the stump of the cross remains, but the main shaft is housed inside the priory. In the churchyard is the tomb of Thomas Addison, scientist and physician. In the nave is a memorial to the Reverend Henry Whitehead, former vicar of Lanercost, best known for his pioneering epidemiological work with John Snow on cholera.

 

Humphrey Dacre, 1st Baron Dacre, and his widow Mabel were both buried at the Priory in the 15th century, as is Thomas Dacre, 2nd Baron Dacre.

 

Lanercost is a village in the northern part of Cumbria, England. The settlement is in the civil parish of Burtholme, in the City of Carlisle local government district. Lanercost is known for the presence of Lanercost Priory and its proximity to Hadrian's Wall.

 

History

Lanercost Priory was founded in 1165 as an Augustinian house of Canons.

 

Robert de Vaux, also known as Robert de Vallibus, (died c.1195), Baron of Gilsland, was a prominent 12th-century English noble, who served as Sheriff of Cumberland in 1175 and 1176.

 

Biography

Vaux was the eldest son of Hubert I de Vaux, Lord of Gilsland and his wife Grace. Robert succeeded his father in 1165, as a confirmation of Gilsland was given to him by King Henry II of England. He founded the Augustinian Lanercost Priory in c.1169. Robert was required to pay forty shillings for scutage, for not participating in the Norman invasion of Ireland by Henry II. Robert was appointed in Michelmas 1174 as the Sheriff of Cumberland and also served his last term from Michelmas 1183. In 1186 he was fined a hundred marks for a variety of offences including allowing prisoners to escape. He held Carlisle against the Scottish invasion of Cumberland in 1173 and 1174 by King William I of Scotland, surrendering the castle after a second siege in 1174. Robert was heir to his uncle Randolph, who died without issue.

 

Robert, married Ada, widow of Simon de Morville, the daughter and heiress of William de Engaine, died without surviving issue. Robert's son William died during his father's lifetime. Robert died circa 1195 and was succeeded by his brother Ranulf.

 

Augustinians are members of several religious orders that follow the Rule of Saint Augustine, written in about 400 AD by Augustine of Hippo. There are two distinct types of Augustinians in Catholic religious orders dating back to the 12th–13th centuries:

 

Various congregations of Canons Regular also follow the Rule of Saint Augustine, embrace the evangelical counsels and lead a semi-monastic life, while remaining committed to pastoral care appropriate to their primary vocation as priests. They generally form one large community which might serve parishes in the vicinity, and are organized into autonomous congregations.

 

Several orders of friars who live a mixed religious life of contemplation and apostolic ministry. The largest and most familiar is the Order of Saint Augustine (OSA), founded in 1244 and originally known as the Hermits of Saint Augustine (OESA). They are commonly known as the Austin Friars in England. Two other orders, the Order of Augustinian Recollects and the Discalced Augustinians, were once part of the OSA under a single prior general. The Recollects, founded in 1588 as a reform movement in Spain, became autonomous in 1612. The Discalceds became an independent congregation in 1592, and were raised to the status of a separate mendicant order in 1610.

 

There are also some Anglican religious orders created in the 19th century that follow Augustine's rule. These are composed only of women in several different communities of Augustinian nuns.

 

Canon (Greek: κανονικός, romanized: kanonikós) is a Christian title usually used to refer to a member of certain bodies in subject to an ecclesiastical rule.

 

Originally, a canon was a cleric living with others in a clergy house or, later, in one of the houses within the precinct of or close to a cathedral or other major church and conducting his life according to the customary discipline or rules of the church. This way of life grew common (and is first documented) in the 8th century AD. In the 11th century, some churches required clergy thus living together to adopt the rule first proposed by Saint Augustine that they renounce private wealth. Those who embraced this change were known as Augustinians or Canons Regular, whilst those who did not were known as secular canons.

 

English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses.

 

The charity states that it uses these properties to "bring the story of England to life for over 10 million people each year". Within its portfolio are Stonehenge, Dover Castle, Tintagel Castle and the best preserved parts of Hadrian's Wall. English Heritage also manages the London blue plaque scheme, which links influential historical figures to particular buildings.

 

When originally formed in 1983, English Heritage was the operating name of an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government, officially titled the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England, that ran the national system of heritage protection and managed a range of historic properties. It was created to combine the roles of existing bodies that had emerged from a long period of state involvement in heritage protection. In 1999, the organisation merged with the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England and the National Monuments Record, bringing together resources for the identification and survey of England's historic environment.

 

On 1 April 2015, English Heritage was divided into two parts: Historic England, which inherited the statutory and protection functions of the old organisation, and the new English Heritage Trust, a charity that would operate the historic properties, and which took on the English Heritage operating name and logo. The British government gave the new charity an £80 million grant to help establish it as an independent trust, although the historic properties remain in the ownership of the state.

 

History

Non-departmental public body

Over the centuries, what is now called "heritage" has been the responsibility of a series of state departments. There was the "Kings Works" after the Norman Conquest, the Office of Works (1378–1832), the Office of Woods, Forests, Land Revenues and Works (1832–1851), and the Ministry of Works (1851–1962). Responsibility subsequently transferred to the Ministry of Public Building and Works (1962–1970), then to the Department of the Environment (1970–1997), and it is now with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). The state's legal responsibility for the historic environment goes back to the Ancient Monuments Protection Act 1882. The central government subsequently developed several systems of heritage protection for different types of assets, introducing listing for buildings after World War II, and for conservation areas in the 1960s.

 

In 1983, Secretary of State for the Environment Michael Heseltine gave national responsibility for the historic environment to a semi‑autonomous agency (or "quango") to operate under ministerial guidelines and to government policy. The Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission was formed under the terms of the National Heritage Act 1983 on 1 April 1984. The 1983 Act also dissolved the bodies that had previously provided independent advice – the Ancient Monuments Board for England and the Historic Buildings Council for England – and incorporated those functions into the new body. Soon after, the commission was given the operating name of English Heritage by its first chairman, Lord Montagu of Beaulieu.

 

A national register of historic parks and gardens, (e.g. Rangers House, Greenwich) was set up in 1984, and a register for historic battlefields (e.g. the Battle of Tewkesbury) was created in March 1995. 'Registration' is a material consideration in the planning process. In April 1999 English Heritage merged with the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England (RCHME) and the National Monuments Record (NMR), bringing together resources for the identification and survey of England's historic environment. By adoption, that included responsibility for the national record of archaeological sites from the Ordnance Survey, the National Library of Aerial Photographs, and two million RAF and Ordnance Survey aerial photographs. Those, together with other nationally important external acquisitions, meant that English Heritage was one of the largest publicly accessible archives in the UK: 2.53 million records are available online, including more than 426,000 images. In 2010–11, it recorded 4.3 million unique online user sessions and over 110,000 people visited NMR exhibitions held around the country in 2009–10. In 2012, the section responsible for archive collections was renamed the English Heritage Archive.

 

As a result of the National Heritage Act 2002, English Heritage acquired administrative responsibility for historic wrecks and submerged landscapes within 12 miles (19 km) of the English coast. The administration of the listed building system was transferred from DCMS to English Heritage in 2006. However, actual listing decisions still remained the responsibility of the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, who was required by the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 to approve a list of buildings of special architectural or historic interest.

 

Following the Public Bodies Reform in 2010, English Heritage was confirmed as the government's statutory adviser on the historic environment, and the largest source of non-lottery grant funding for heritage assets. It was retained on grounds of "performing a technical function which should remain independent from Government". However, the department also suffered from budget cuts during the recession of the 2010s, resulting in a repairs deficit of £100 million

Nikon F3, Nikkor 105 2.5 Ai-s, Ilford HP5+

Captured on this date ... my first "walk" with the New Canon RF-85 F2 Macro IS STM lens.

This is another shot of a fancy hibiscus I photographed outside a resort in Ka'anapali! The colors were too bright and beautiful to ignore, so I thought that I would share them with you. the photo was taken in March 2012, with my trusty Olympus digital camera. Enjoy.

“Most of my images are grounded in people. I look for the unguarded moment, the essential soul peeking out, experience etched on a person’s face. I try to convey what it is like to be that person, a person caught in a broader landscape, that you could call the human condition.” - Steve McCurry

 

Photographing Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos) celebration in Oaxaca City, Mexico put my skills as a travel photographer to the test. The fast paced action of the spontaneous street parades, the wild Banda bands and joyous spirit of the Mexican people made for a memorable week.

 

While I spent a good portion of that time behind the lens, I also found time to step out from behind it and be an active participant in the celebrations and meet the locals.

 

I met Alejandro, a college student, on my second evening in town and he invited me to join his group of girlfriends and dance the night away on the streets of Oaxaca.

 

I had a unique cultural experience getting my haircut from Carlos the barber. Although I took four years of Spanish in college, it was still a task to communicate with him to make sure I would not go bald. In the end, I still had my hair and he taught me about futbol and I shared my passion for American football.

 

I met Cesar while enjoying my morning coffee at a sidewalk cafe on Oaxaca’s zocalo (public square). He shared some great tips on where to photograph the best street parades and the small cemeteries, without tourists, where I could get an intimate feel for the Mexican tradition of Day of the Dead.

 

Now that I have returned to the United States, looking at my photographs brings both happiness and sadness. As much as I cherished meeting, photographing, and understanding the Mexican people, I also know that I may never meet these people again in my lifetime.

 

Everyone I met on my journey had a story to tell and storytelling is the essence of a travel photographer.

 

Come join me on my journey....

 

Happy Travels!

 

Text and photo copyright by ©Sam Antonio Photography

 

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This is the Catholic Church on the Island at Lake BLED in Slovenia. Surrounded by Mountains, Lake Bled is one of the most beautiful and peaceful of places. A nice place to rest up after climbing TRIGLAV, the highest peak in Slovenia.

"The Palace of Trade Unions in Na Perštýně Street is absolutely exceptional, basically Neo-Classical, with cubist elements in décor and rich relief and sculptural decoration."

 

This Cubist-style building designed by Alois Dryák was built in 1920-1922. The address is Bartolomějská 347/14, Na Perštýně 347/11.

 

Alois Dryák: Double anniversary of the architect

 

(article for The Old Prague Club Bulletin 3/2002)

 

Alois Dryák

* 24. 2. 1872

† 22. 1. 2001

 

Alois Dryák is not as well-known as Kotěra or Gočár, although he is a contemporaneous person, and in terms of quantity and quality of realized buildings, he is equal. The main reason why it is hardly known is that he did not teach and was not the initiator of avant-garde news. Yet he was an architect of modern and extraordinarily active even in civic life. From today's post-modern point of view, Dryák's work is of an unusual size, in particular because his buildings, mostly in the original state of roofs and facades, have always retained their traditional character. This sense of thoroughness and quality and the context with the architecture of previous ages has recently been a model and a starting point for overcoming modernity.

 

Alois Dryák was born in the countryside on 24 February 1872 in Olšany near Slaný. Soon he came to Prague (1886) to study at an art school. He is one of the best pupils of Professor Bedřich Ohmann (along with B. BendImayer) in the specialty for decorative architecture. That is why he is also a continuator of the project of the oldest surviving Art Nouveau building in Prague - Hotel Central in Hybernská Street from 1899. He begins to work as an assistant at secondary vocational schools and at the Academy of Arts. It is also an active falcon. His interest in public affairs is evidenced by his signature at a protest action against the demolition of the Old Town of Prague, the so-called Bestia Triumphans (1896).

 

At that time he begins his work, in which - especially in the number of proposals and participation in competitions - overtakes Kotěr and Gočár. He also conducts his own business, together with Bendlmayer, owns an architectural studio in Moran under Charles Square. From that time, the design for the Rudolfinum Fountain Competition was awarded the first prize. In his projects, he develops Ohmann's direction from the Neo-Renaissance to the Art Nouveau style. From this peak of his Art Nouveau period (which occurs during the competition at the Municipal House in 1906) comes the project of villas in Dykova Street in Vinohrady, still somewhat neo-Renaissance, and in V Pětidomí Street in Bubeneč with Art Nouveau gables and details.

 

In 1905 Dryák and Bendlmayer rebuilt the Hotel U Archduke Stepan on Wenceslas Square (later Šroubek, today Europe). While Dryák designed the neighboring slender Hotel Garni (today Meran) in the style of plant art nouveau in 1903, Bendlmayer is already moving inside the U Archduke Stephen's Hotel to a geometric art nouveau modeled on Jan Kotěra's modernism. Alois Dryák shows this transition when designing buildings outside Prague (secondary school in Kladno and Česká Třebová). Dryák's design for the National Theater in Brno is already very modernist.

 

Hotel Garni, 1903, Wenceslas Square (today Meran).

 

In Prague it is not possible to be seduced by avant-garde cubism, but directly below Vyšehrad at Výtoň, on today's Rašín embankment, and in Na Hrobcích Street it creates a rational modern design for the construction of apartment buildings with plastic decoration by Tomáš Amena. At that time, Dryák is getting married. He lives in Letná in Nad štolou Rudolfovou Street. On the nearby Letná Plain he regularly designs the architecture of meeting stadiums with wooden structures at that time.

 

Architect Dryák is active in Sokol in Prague as well as in the Association of Czech Architects. His competition proposal for the building of the Representative House in Prague was not selected for implementation, but it influenced today's Balšánek and Polívek concepts. It contained a connection with the Powder Tower, a representative entrance further from the Powder Tower and a modern horizontal concept of the facade with respect to the verticality of the Neo-Gothic Tower. In 1912-1915, two of the largest monuments in Prague - František Palacký by sculptor St. Suchardy and St. Wenceslas by JV Myslbek. In the competition for the monument of Master Jan Hus on the Old Town Square with the sculptor J. Kvasnička against Solomon failed. The First World War temporarily interrupted his work.

 

Monument of Palacký

 

After the war he designs several apartment buildings in Prague in the style of rondocubism (Jana Masaryka Street, Baranova Street), the Brothers' Cash Register in Kladno, a school in Šumperk and the Regional Authority in Uzhhorod. Based on family contacts he designs the house on the main square in Pilsen. The Palace of Trade Unions in Na Perštýně Street is absolutely exceptional, basically Neo-Classical, with cubist elements in décor and rich relief and sculptural decoration (1920-22). For many entrepreneurs, it rebuilds and designs villas for rural living, such as the house of the factory owner Pelly in Police nad Metují, Villa Dr. Šůry in Újezd ​​nad Černými lesy or Dr. Oesterreicher in Prague on Hanspaulka.

 

In his social life, Dryák is involved in the Club For Old Prague. As a Sokol official, he designs Sokol houses and Sokol halls. He works on the committee for the construction of the Ořechovka garden district. Together with Jaroslav Vondrák they create its architecture (houses of English cottage type, community house, own villa in the years 1923 - 1924, location of the monument to the fallen). In his villa on Západná Street in Ořechovka, he moves his studio from Letná, where he prepares competing projects for public buildings - banks, schools and others, urban design of Prague embankments (1926), Brno University Complex (1928) and city plans of Olomouc, Ostrava. and Bratislava. Dryák's designs do not always win, but inspire the competition. This was most evident in the winning design and implementation of the Fair Palace (today's National Gallery) in 1924-1928.

 

Building of the Central Czechoslovak Tobacco Directing in Prague, Vinohrady, 1924-1926

 

Except for the Strahov Stadium, the tobacco houses (1923-28) with sculptural decorations by J. Jiříkovský and Jaroslav Horejc (now the Commercial Court building) in Slezská Street, the Radiopalác building at Vinohradská Street with a cinema and a restaurant (1922-24) ) and Orbis printers reaching into Slezská Street (1927-28). Out of the overall concept of the university complex of Masaryk University in Brno, only one building was realized - the Faculty of Law on Veveří Street (1927-31). In the interior Dryák cooperated mainly with the painter Antonín Procházka (front panel in the auditorium) and František Kysela (stained glass in the auditorium).

 

Detail of the parterre of the same building.

 

It was not only Ořechovka, where he lived and worked, but also the garden district Hanspaulka, where the architect Dryák worked. An example is the still well-functioning elementary school in Sušická Street (from 1931) and the aforementioned Villa Dr. Oesterreicher opposite the school.

 

In Dryák's studio, the architects Jan Mayer (1923-32), Josef Mayer (previously from 1919 to 1932), Vratislav Mayer (1920-25) and Ferdinand Pokorný (1923-27) collaborate on projects at different times. Just before his sudden death (June 6, 1932) Alois Dryák designs his last building - the Sokol Hall in Vršovice (1931). This project was completed by his longtime friend and Nutcracker Bohumil Hübschmann, who led Dryák's unfinished work to his end.

 

Dryák's project of the largest sports complex of the time was realized in Prague-Strahov. Masaryk's stadium (later Spartakiad) was then the largest stadium in the world. Therefore, he was awarded a diploma at the World Olympics in Los Angeles (1932).

 

Monument of St. Wenceslas

 

In conclusion, Dryák's work has its main focus in public buildings (schools, office buildings, gyms) not only in Prague and its surroundings, but also in Brno and other cities. His balanced way of creating belongs to the style of rational modernity using decorative art-deco elements. Later, Dryák moved to monumental neoclassicism. Functionalism was never believed by architect Dryák, because he considered flat roofs and facades to be of low durability, only the Sokol house in Vršovice is an exception. The monumentality of Dryák's work was especially reflected in the architectural design of the monuments of F. Palacký and St. Wenceslas.

 

Only the post-modern era most appreciated Dryák's work, which was characterized mainly by high durability, quiet representativeness and rational spirit. His diligence and artistic potency led him to set a goal in solving living tasks as brought by contemporary life. Dryák's production went with the times, but his own technical solutions, experience and reason protected him from the effects of inadvertent novelties and errors, often accompanying the work of his peers in times of creative revolution and search.

 

Jan Stěnička

Photo Zdeněk Dryák

 

LITERATURE:

 

Švoma, Rostislav: From Modernism to Functionalism. Prague - Odeon, 1985

 

Šuman, Viktor: Works of architect Alois Dryák. Wien: Nakladatelství "Aida", Praha: F.Topič, 1932.

 

Dryak, Alois, Novackova, Olga, Stenicka, Jan: Alois Dryak - monograph (manuscript ready for publication)

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This is the tree we were told would die 14 years ago! Leica Q at close focus point, not macro. F/2.0, 1/4000th, ISO 100

Ribbon is taking Pocky out for a short walk.

How nice of her? Pocky seems very happy too. *^^*

 

Look like it is about to rain, they can't stay there long.