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This is just to give you an idea how much snow fell in the Twin Cities this year. This bench is almost covered in snow.
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... the art of drawing without an eraser.
I guess there's a lot of truth here. Our successes combine with our mistakes to compose the final picture.
Disregard email drafts, notes applications and daily agenda administrators: Taskade does all that and the sky is the limit from there
All that I have to keep my life running is put away on the web. Some place. I can't discover it.
I'm discussing all the record numbers, meeting notes, daily agendas, contact data and section drafts I have to see each day. Additionally the plans I need to cook, wines I have to attempt, and YouTube recordings I should watch. A portion of that stuff lives in my email inbox, and some in Google Docs. At that point there are my Pinterest sheets, incidental bookmarks and the Evernote account I can never compose lucidly.
In principle, the web makes it simpler than any time in recent memory to keep all that I need a couple of taps away. Actually, the web has a method of dividing our lives. It resembles I composed everything in a journal and afterward become inebriated, tore out each page and shrouded them in better places around my home.
Taskade makes an extraordinary device for easy plans for the day, and you can utilize photographs, emoticons and stock workmanship to tidy them up.
Photograph: David Pierce/The Wall Street Journal
In the course of recent weeks, an application called Taskade has helped me transform mayhem into request. Taskade joins huge numbers of the best highlights of Google Docs, Excel and Dropbox, alongside heaps of assignment the executives and hierarchical instruments. Taskade Labs Chief Executive Ivan Zhao depicts the item as "the up and coming age of Microsoft Office," which is a little hyperbolic and a ton aspiring. However, it is the best life-association device I've attempted.
Taskade consolidates the highlights of a note-taking application, an assignment the executives application and a spreadsheet device the way that Steve Jobs joined an iPod, a cellphone and an internet browser into the iPhone: All these devices cooperate to make something more than its parts.
I should make reference to that Taskade is genuinely costly: It has a restricted complementary plan, and expenses $8 every month for hefty use. All things considered, it may pay for itself in the applications it replaces, and I've discovered it effectively worth the expense.
I presently have a page with all my carrier and lodging faithfulness numbers in a bulleted list, over a photograph of my dental protection card and an installed map with bearings to my dental specialist's office. I made information bases with all the films, books, TV shows, and YouTube recordings I have to get to—every cell opens to a rich archive with my notes and considerations. Taskade has all the meetings, research material and frameworks for my segments. I'm getting hitched soon and am gazing intently at my marital daily agenda consistently.
One of Taskade's most up to date includes is an information base apparatus, which you can see as a table, a schedule and that's only the tip of the iceberg.
Photograph: David Pierce/The Wall Street Journal
I used to require five separate applications to keep so much stuff straight. Presently it's all in Taskade, a couple of snaps or a basic pursuit away.
Square by Block
It may be simpler to consider Taskade a super-straightforward web designer than a profitability application.
At the point when you open another page in the application, you're truly making a clear matrix onto which you can put and organize pretty much anything. The application's fundamental component is the square, which could be a passage of text, a bulleted list, a table, a picture, a code piece, a YouTube video, a PDF and that's only the tip of the iceberg. You embed blocks with a tap or console alternate way, and afterward reorder and sort out these however much you might want. You can without much of a stretch change the idea of a square, as well. For example, you can choose a lot of text and transform it into a daily agenda.
Taskade's essential component is the square, which takes numerous structures: text, joins, pictures, bookmarks and that's only the tip of the iceberg.
Photograph: David Pierce/The Wall Street Journal
Taskade resembles chess: simple to learn, hard to ace. The application itself looks genuinely natural, with a sidebar on the left and your open page on the right. It has a couple of stylish comforts, similar to the alternative to add a spread photograph to the head of any page.
At the point when you first open the application, however, it doesn't do what's necessary to assist you with understanding all that it can do. Even following quite a while of utilizing Taskade every day, I'm just currently making sense of the most proficient approaches to get things done while attempting to abstain from settling on awful design choices. Do I truly require a full-page photograph inside my daily agenda? My recommendation: Make weighty utilization of Taskade's layouts, since they help you spread out pages and show what the application's prepared to do.
There are local Taskade applications for Windows, Mac and iOS. Mr. Zhao says an Android application ought to be accessible inside weeks. The web application works wonderfully on work area and portable, as well, and it's precisely the same experience regardless of which stage you're utilizing.
Taskade is exceptionally reliant on web network. It works disconnected uniquely with pages you've opened as of late while associated—which implies everything you can do is cross your fingers each time you open Taskade on a plane. On the upside, you can implant tweets and YouTube recordings, even whole website pages, inside a Taskade report.
Photograph: David Pierce/The Wall Street Journal
In spite of the fact that I use Taskade to keep steady over my own work and life (and you ought to as well), Taskade is intended for business groups. It offers communitarian altering, inline remarks and valuable devices for overseeing consents and allocating undertakings. In the event that you utilize Slack, you can get cautions each time somebody remarks on or changes a Taskade archive. Is anything but a substitute for Slack or Salesforce, however it can supplant a significant number of the apparatuses endless organizations use to store and offer data.
All in one resource
Matt Galligan, organizer of the Picks and Shovels Co., a digital money administrations startup, offered a valuable representation for Taskade. He says utilizing the application is much the same as shopping on Amazon. Previously, "stores specific," he stated, "and they worked admirably." Then Amazon went along and accumulated everything. It perhaps wasn't the best store for any single thing, yet the one-stop comfort made it brilliant.
That is simply it: Taskade isn't as ground-breaking a spreadsheet device as Excel, and it doesn't have a portion of the errand the board highlights I need—when an undertaking is expected, I might want an alarm, for example. (Taskade says that is coming.) Yet the application has helped me shave the spots I hold stuff down to only two. I can't prevent email from coming in; I can put everything else in Taskade.
Photograph: David Pierce/The Wall Street Journal
There's parcels left for the Taskade group to do, obviously. Notwithstanding task updates, it's additionally taking a shot at schedule sync, PowerPoint-style introduction includes, a web trimmer, better disconnected help and that Android application. It's additionally wanting to help administrations, for example, Zapier and If This Then That (IFTTT), which help move information between applications. In any case, it as of now accomplishes more than any of its rivals.
For quite a long time, I've bobbed around different note-taking applications and efficiency devices, never entirely upbeat. Evernote makes it simple to catch data, yet I never preferred the interface. Google Docs and Keep don't offer enough highlights. Trello, Asana and other task the board programming don't work for note taking.
Taskade wires the best of each—and others—into an uncommon renaissance application, capable in endless techniques for creation and association. I can't put a cost on the true serenity that originates from an unfragmented life. Pause, yes I can: It's eight bucks every month.
Crude Paste Data
Disregard email drafts, notes applications and daily agenda supervisors: Taskade does all that and that's only the tip of the iceberg
All that I have to keep my life running is put away on the web. Some place. I can't discover it.
I'm discussing all the record numbers, meeting notes, plans for the day, contact data and segment drafts I have to see each day. Besides the plans I need to cook, wines I have to attempt, and YouTube recordings I should watch. A portion of that stuff lives in my email inbox, and some in Google Docs. At that point there are my Pinterest sheets, random bookmarks and the Evernote account I can never arrange soundly.
In principle, the web makes it simpler than any time in recent memory to keep all that I need a couple of taps away. In actuality, the web has a method of dividing our lives. It resembles I composed everything in a scratch pad and afterward become inebriated, tore out each page and shrouded them in better places around my home.
Taskade makes an incredible device for easy plans for the day, and you can utilize photographs, emoticons and stock workmanship to tidy them up.
Photograph: David Pierce/The Wall Street Journal
In the course of recent weeks, an application called Taskade has helped me transform mayhem into request. Taskade consolidates a significant number of the best highlights of Google Docs, Excel and Dropbox, alongside loads of undertaking the executives and authoritative instruments. Taskade Labs Chief Executive Ivan Zhao depicts the item as "the up and coming age of Microsoft Office," which is a little hyperbolic and a ton aggressive. Be that as it may, it is the best life-association apparatus I've attempted.
Taskade joins the highlights of a note-taking application, an assignment the executives application and a spreadsheet instrument the way that Steve Jobs consolidated an iPod, a cellphone and an internet browser into the iPhone: All these apparatuses cooperate to make something more than its parts.
I should make reference to that Taskade is genuinely costly: It has a restricted complementary plan, and expenses $8 every month for substantial use. In any case, it may pay for itself in the applications it replaces, and I've discovered it effectively worth the expense.
I presently have a page with all my carrier and inn faithfulness numbers in a bulleted list, over a photograph of my dental protection card and an implanted guide with bearings to my dental specialist's office. I made information bases with all the films, books, TV shows, and YouTube recordings I have to get to—every cell opens to a rich archive with my notes and considerations. Taskade has all the meetings, research material and diagrams for my segments. I'm getting hitched soon and am gazing intently at my marital plan for the day consistently.
One of Taskade's freshest highlights is an information base apparatus, which you can see as a table, a schedule and that's only the tip of the iceberg.
Photograph: David Pierce/The Wall Street Journal
I used to require five separate applications to keep so much stuff straight. Presently it's all in Taskad
Hope is a waking dream.
Aristotle
Have a great day/night everyone.
Copyright© 2013 Kim Hojnacki
This image is protected under the United States and International Copyright laws and may not be downloaded, reproduced, copied, transmitted or manipulated without written permission.
Is showing your underwear a popular thing everywhere for teenagers now? I must be old now, because I laugh everytime I see this type of display from teenagers.
This is the famous church at Sandringham, where the Queen and the royal family go to on Christmas Day each year. They walk from Sandringham House, through the gates to here.
There was a lot of tourists here, some also taking photos of it.
Clock faces on the tower, one on each side (I got three out of the four).
The Church of St Mary Magdalene is a Grade II* listed building.
Parish church, medieval, restored by S.S. Teulon 1855 and A. Blomfield 1890.
Dark shell carstone with stone dressings, tiled roof. West tower, nave,
chancel and south porch; additions of south transept, north aisle and organ
bay, vestibule to south chancel. Tower with stepped diagonal buttresses,
embattled parapet with carstone flushwork, crocketted finials, gargoyle to
south; polygonal turret to south-east; west window of 3 lights with panel
tracery under basket head, retangular sound holes, segmental headed
traceried double square bell openings and clock face of 1898 to all 4 faces.
C15 2 storeyed porch with diagonal buttresses, 4-centred arch with round
shafts part renewed, carstone flushwork to either side, central tall niche
above with ogee head, flanking trefoil headed lights; single trefoil headed
lights to porch returns. Porch interior: roof renewed, floor to upper
storey lost, reset marble slab now mural with brass arms and inscription
to Wm. Cobbis, 1546; south doorway with continuous moulded 4-centred arch.
South nave window of 3 lights with panel tracery under 4-centred head.
South transept of 1890 with similar window reset, both with figure stops;
C19 2-light window with panel tracery to east of transept. South chancel
with C19 single light with tracery of 2 daggers. Vestibule c1896 across
priests door, in carstone with stone embattled parapet, 2-light window to
left, door to right, vestibule the private entrance of H.M. Queen. C19 set
back angle buttresses to chancel, 3-light window with panel tracery, 1909.
C19 additions to north: vestry with embattled parapet, 2-bay north aisle
with 2 gables and window as south aisle, gabled organ bay with blocked
doorway, all with diagonal buttresses. C19 gable crosses to porch, chancel
and nave. Interior: arch braced nave roof with angel corbels, gilded
bosses and quatrefoil frieze of 1921; continuous 4-centred arches to 2 bay
north arcade and to south transept of 1890; arch in north aisle between
bays; chamfered chancel arch with polygonal jambs, painted hammerbeam chancel
roof of 1890; tall tower arch with continuous roll and wave mouldings;
panelling to nave, C15 style painted panelling to chancel with Gothick
canopies and saints of 1920, panelling to tower with gilded frieze and
angels. C15 glass of saints in tracery panels of south window and north
west window of aisle, some C17 glass in north aisle. Silver reredos of 1911
showing the Appearance of the Risen Christ inscribed "IN MEMORY OF EDWARD
VII THE PEACEMAKER", silver altar of 1920 incorporating the Royal achievement;
metal rails with silver angels; Wineglass pulpit of 1924 with silver panels;
10 relief rondels around walls depicting members of the Royal family from
Princess Alice 1879 to King George VI in bronze 1952. P. Ashton: A Guide
to Church of St. Mary Magdelene, Sandringham, 1957 Pitkin Pictorial.
This is the stretchy shock cord - the bungee that holds the rudder blade in place but still allows the rudder to swing back if it hits anything.
You can use anything from 6mm (1/4") to 8mm (3/8") - 4mm is OK too. The only difference is the number of turns
7mm - two turns (as shown here)
6mm - three turns.
4mm - four turns.
The cord needs to be short enough that you will have to pull it outwards as shown to fit the rudder blade (next photos).
With shockcord you have to pull knots really tight or they will slip. We sometimes put some stitches through the ends with needle and thread.
This is a view from St Catherine's Hill overlooking the Itchen Valley.
St. Catherine's Hill is a small but dramatic chalk hill to the south east of Winchester. Rising steeply some 67 metres (220 ft) from the water meadows of the River Itchen, the summit of the hill at 97 metres (318 ft) provides a fine view over Winchester.
The hill is owned by Winchester College, and largely managed as a nature reserve by the Hampshire Wildlife Trust. St. Catherine's Hill is at the westernmost extremity of the South Downs National Park, having previously been designated as part of the East Hampshire AONB (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty). In addition, much of the hill and adjoining Plague Pits dry valley is designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) due to its chalk downland flora, including 'practically the full range of downland orchids', with chalkhill blue and other butterflies.
The South Downs National Park uniquely combines a biodiverse landscape with bustling towns and villages, and covers an area of over 1,600 km2 and is home to more than 108,000 people. Recognised as an area of outstanding beauty, the South Downs is also home to a multitude of vibrant working communities steeped in history and traditional English culture, from the ancient cathedral city of Winchester in the west to the bustling market town of Lewes in the east.
The ancient building in the valley is the Hospital of St Cross. Set in open meadow land to the south of Winchester, the Hospital of St Cross was founded in the 1130´s by Bishop Henry of Blois for `thirteen poor men, feeble and so reduced in strength that they can scarcely or not at all support themselves without other aid´. The hospital was placed under the care of the Knights of St John, and the thirteen Brothers of this foundation still wear black gowns and a badge depicting the Jerusalem Cross.
The Chapel (which shows up brightly in this picture) was started in the 1160´s and retains much of its late Norman purity, despite being somewhat altered in the 14th and early 15th centuries. The number of Brethren was enlarged in the 15th century by Cardinal Beaufort, who provided for a second order of almsmen, the `Noble Order of Poverty´. Brethren of this order wear magenta gowns.
Apart from providing for the Brethren, Almsgiving is still practised in the form of the `Wayfarers Dole´. A piece of white bread and a cup of good beer or Ale may be obtained by knocking at the door of the Porters Lodge, and requesting the Dole.
This never-before-seen image shows engineers and technicians disassembling ground hardware after completing one of the final lifts of the Webb observatory, before being placed atop ESA’s (European Space Agency) Ariane 5 rocket in French Guiana. This image was taken Nov. 11, 2021.
Image credit: NASA/Chris Gunn
Image Description: Image taken in a cleanroom at Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. Dozens of cleanroom technicians, wearing white contamination-control suits and blue gloves, stand towards the left side of this image. On the right side is the Webb telescope in its folded configuration. Its purple sunshield pallets enclose its hexagonal, gold-colored mirror segments. Other hardware, wires, and equipment are located around the cleanroom, which features bright white walls.
Rebkong is located in the Golden Valley of the Rongwu Guchu River in Malho prefecture southeast of Qinghai province, The valley is at about 2600m above sea-level, extends from the north to south, and is surrounded by several mountains. Rebkong is also famous for itâs Tibetan traditional arts and cultural preservation. The there are several large monasteries and villages scattering around the Rongwu town which is home to hundreds of artist. The most well known villages and monasteries are Sanggeshung Yago and Sanggeshung Mago(upper and lower Wutun), Gomar Gompa, Nyamtok village.etc. If you are interested in learning Tibetan culture and Tibetan traditional arts, Rebkong will be one of most recommend region.
Photo done for Macro Monday's theme "Dark"
Doing a "Van Gogh" and your own leg...is dark enough for me!
...used a Nikon 50mm f1.8 with my D60...not a dedicated lens for macro!...but i liked the effect..Thanks Dr Rob for the loan/pinch/steal/borrow/TIC of the lens.
Early childhood education is the organized practice of educating those who are in early childhood, one of the most vulnerable stages in life. According to the NAEYC (National Association for the Education of Young Children), it spans the human life from birth to age eight.
Early childhood education often focuses on children learning through play.
The terms preschool education and kindergarten emphasize education around the ages of 3-6 years. The terms "early childhood learning," "early care," and "early education" are comparable with early childhood education. The terms Day care and Childcare do not embrace the educational aspects. Many childcare centers are now using more educational approaches. They are creating curricula and incorporating it into their daily routines to foster greater educational learning.
Researchers in the field and early childhood educators both view the parents as an integral part of the early childhood education process. Early childhood education takes many forms depending on the beliefs of the educator or parent.
Much of the first two years of life are spent in the creation of a child's first "sense of self" or the building of a first identity. This is a crucial part of children's makeup—how they first see themselves, how they think they should function, how they expect others to function in relation to them. For this reason, early care must ensure that in addition to employing carefully selected and trained caretakers, program policy must emphasize links with family, home culture, and home language, meaning caregivers must uniquely care for each child using Developmentally Appropriate Practice, Individually Appropriate Practice and Culturally Appropriate Practice. Care should support families rather than be a substitute for them.
If a young child doesn't receive sufficient nurturing, nutrition, parental/caregiver interaction, and stimulus during this crucial period, the child may be left with a developmental deficit that hampers his or her success in preschool, kindergarten, and beyond.
Worst-case scenarios such as those found in Russian and Romanian orphanages demonstrate how the lack of proper social interaction and development of attachment affect the developing child. Children must receive attention and affection to develop in a healthy manner.
Manufactured by VEB Altissa-Camera-Werk, Dresden, former East Germany
Model: introduced in c.1949
35mm film interchangeable lens viewfinder camera
This model is the first 24x36mm camera of the Altix series.
Engraving on the top plate: Altix
Lens: E. Ludvig Meritar V 50mm f/2.9
Mount: screw 29mm, filter slip-on, serial no.none
Lens release: simply turn to counter-clockwise
Aperture: up to f/16, no click stops, setting: by lens front ring and scale
Focus range: 0.75-12m +inf
Focusing: manual helicoid focusing, guess the distance, ring and scale on the lens
Shutter: everset leaf shutter, (name ?); speeds: 1/25, 1/50,1/100 +B
setting: ring and scale behind the lens flange
Cocking and Shutter release: by the same button on the top cover, w/cable release socket, pressing once cocks the shutter and fires, not works without the film in the camera, (double exposure prevention)
Winding knob: on the left of the top plate
Frame counter: additive type, manual reset, window on the top-plate
Viewfinder: reverse telescopic finder
Re-wind knob: on the right of the top plate
Re-wind release: ?
Flash PC socket: two,old type, on the front cover
Cold-shoe: none
Self-timer: none
Film loading:bottom loading, removable take-up spool; hinged film pressure plate,
bottom plate opens by a knob on it, A open, Z close
Exposure table on the back cover
Tripod socket: two, 3/8" and ¼"
Strap lugs: none
Body: metal; Weight: 445g
serial no. none
More info: McKeown's 12th ed., p.257
Stonemasonry or stonecraft is the creation of buildings, structures, and sculpture using stone as the primary material. It is one of the oldest activities and professions in human history. Many of the long-lasting, ancient shelters, temples, monuments, artifacts, fortifications, roads, bridges, and entire cities were built of stone. Famous works of stonemasonry include the Egyptian pyramids, the Taj Mahal, Cusco's Incan Wall, Easter Island's statues, Angkor Wat, Borobudur, Tihuanaco, Tenochtitlan, Persepolis, the Parthenon, Stonehenge, the Great Wall of China, Chartres Cathedral.
DEFINITION
Masonry is the craft of shaping rough pieces of rock into accurate geometrical shapes, at times simple, but some of considerable complexity, and then arranging the resulting stones, often together with mortar, to form structures.
Quarrymen split sheets of rock, and extract the resulting blocks of stone from the ground.
Sawyers cut these rough blocks into cuboids, to required size with diamond-tipped saws. The resulting block if ordered for a specific component is known as sawn six sides (SSS).
Banker masons are workshop-based, and specialize in working the stones into the shapes required by a building's design, this set out on templets and a bed mould. They can produce anything from stones with simple chamfers to tracery windows, detailed mouldings and the more classical architectural building masonry. When working a stone from a sawn block, the mason ensures that the stone is bedded in the right way, so the finished work sits in the building in the same orientation as it was formed on the ground. Occasionally though some stones need to be oriented correctly for the application; this includes voussoirs, jambs, copings, and cornices.
The basic tools, methods and skills of the banker mason have existed as a trade for thousands of years.
Carvers cross the line from craft to art, and use their artistic ability to carve stone into foliage, figures, animals or abstract designs.
Fixer masons specialize in the fixing of stones onto buildings, using lifting tackle, and traditional lime mortars and grouts. Sometimes modern cements, mastics, and epoxy resins are used, usually on specialist applications such as stone cladding. Metal fixings, from simple dowels and cramps to specialised single application fixings, are also used. The precise tolerances necessary make this a highly skilled job.
Memorial masons or monumental masons carve gravestones and inscriptions.
The modern stonemason undergoes comprehensive training, both in the classroom and in the working environment. Hands-on skill is complemented by an intimate knowledge of each stone type, its application, and best uses, and how to work and fix each stone in place. The mason may be skilled and competent to carry out one or all of the various branches of stonemasonry. In some areas, the trend is towards specialization, in other areas towards adaptability.
TYPES OF STONE
Stonemasons use all types of natural stone: igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary; while some also use artificial stone as well.
IGNEOUS STONES
Granite is one of the hardest stones, and requires such different techniques to sedimentary stones that it is virtually a separate trade. With great persistence, simple mouldings can and have been carved from granite, for example in many Cornish churches and in the city of Aberdeen. Generally, however, it is used for purposes that require its strength and durability, such as kerbstones, countertops, flooring, and breakwaters.
Igneous stone ranges from very soft rocks such as pumice and scoria to somewhat harder rocks such as tuff to the hardest rocks such as granite and basalt.
METAMORPHIC
Marble is a fine, easily worked stone, that comes in various colours, but mainly white. It has traditionally been used for carving statues, and for facings of many Byzantine and Italian Renaissance buildings. Prominent Greek sculptors, such as Antenor (6th century BC), Phidias and Critias (5th century BC), Praxiteles (4th century BC) and others used mainly the marble of Paros and Thassos islands, and the whitest and brightest of all (although not the finest), the Pentelikon marble. Their work was preceded by older sculptors from Mesopotamia and Egypt, but the Greeks were unmatched in plasticity and realistic (re)presentation, either of Gods (Apollo, Aphrodite, Hermes, Zeus, etc.), or humans (Pythagoras, Socrates, Plato, Phryne, etc.). The famous Acropolis of Athens is said to be constructed using the Pentelicon marble. The traditional home of the marble industry is the area around Carrara in Italy, from where a bright and fine, whitish marble is extracted in vast quantities.
Slate is a popular choice of stone for memorials and inscriptions, as its fine grain and hardness means it leaves details very sharp. Its tendency to split into thin plates has also made it a popular roofing material.
SEDIMENTARY
TYPES
TYPES OF STONEMASONRY ARE:
FIXER MASONS
This type of masons have specialized into fixing the stones onto the buildings. They might do this with grouts, mortars, and lifting tackle. They might also use things like single application specialized fixings, simple cramps, and dowels as well as stone cladding with things like epoxy resins, mastics, and modern cements.
MEMORIAL MASONS
These are the masons that make headstones and carve the inscriptions on them.
Today's stonemasons undergo training that is quite comprehensive and is done both in the work environment and in the classroom. It isn't enough to have hands-on skill anymore. One must also have knowledge of the types of stones as well as its best uses and how to work it as well as how to fix it in place.
RUBBLE MASONRY
When roughly dressed stones are laid in a mortar the result is a stone rubble masonry.
ASHLAR MASONRY
Stone masonry using dressed (cut) stones is known as ashlar masonry.
STONE VANEER
Stone veneer is used as a protective and decorative covering for interior or exterior walls and surfaces. The veneer is typically 2.54 cm thick and must weigh less than 73 kg m2, so that no additional structural supports are required. The structural wall is put up first, and thin, flat stones are mortared onto the face of the wall. Metal tabs in the structural wall are mortared between the stones to tie everything together, to prevent the stonework from separating from the wall.
Slipform stonemasonry
SLIPFORM STONEMASONRY
Slipform stonemasonry is a method for making stone walls with the aid of formwork to contain the rocks and mortar while keeping the walls straight. Short forms, up to two feet tall, are placed on both sides of the wall to serve as a guide for the stonework. Stones are placed inside the forms with the good faces against the formwork. Concrete is poured behind the rocks. Rebar is added for strength, to make a wall that is approximately half reinforced concrete and half stonework. The wall can be faced with stone on one side or both sides.
TRAINING
Traditionally medieval stonemasons served a seven-year apprenticeship. A similar system still operates today.
A modern apprenticeship lasts three years. This combines on-site learning through personal experience, the experience of the tradesmen, and college work where apprentices are given an overall experience of the building, hewing and theory work involved in masonry. In some areas, colleges offer courses which teach not only the manual skills but also related fields such as drafting and blueprint reading or construction conservation. Electronic Stonemasonry training resources enhance traditional delivery techniques. Hands-on workshops are a good way to learn about stonemasonry also. Those wishing to become stonemasons should have little problem working at heights, possess reasonable hand-eye coordination, be moderately physically fit, and have basic mathematical ability. Most of these things can be developed while learning.
Tools
TOOLS
Stonemasons use a wide variety of tools to handle and shape stone blocks (ashlar) and slabs into finished articles. The basic tools for shaping the stone are a mallet, chisels, and a metal straight edge. With these one can make a flat surface – the basis of all stonemasonry.
Chisels come in a variety of sizes and shapes, dependent upon the function for which they are being used and have many different names depending on locality. There are different chisels for different materials and sizes of material being worked, for removing large amounts of material and for putting a fine finish on the stone.
Mixing mortar is normally done today with mortar mixers which usually use a rotating drum or rotating paddles to mix the mortar.
The masonry trowel is used for the application of the mortar between and around the stones as they are set into place. Filling in the gaps (joints) with mortar is referred to as pointing. Pointing in smaller joints can be accomplished using tuck pointers, pointing trowels, and margin trowels, among other tools.
A mason's hammer has a long thin head and is called a Punch Hammer. It would be used with a chisel or splitter for a variety of purposes
A walling hammer (catchy hammer) can be used in place of a hammer and chisel or pincher to produce rubble or pinnings or snecks.
Stonemasons use a lewis together with a crane or block and tackle to hoist building stones into place.
Today power tools such as compressed-air chisels, abrasive spinners, and angle grinders are much used: these save time and money, but are hazardous and require just as much skill as the hand tools that they augment. But many of the basic tools of stonemasonry have remained virtually the same throughout vast amounts of time, even thousands of years, for instance when comparing chisels that can be bought today with chisels found at the pyramids of Giza the common sizes and shapes are virtually unchanged.
Stonemasonry is one of the earliest trades in civilization's history. During the time of the Neolithic Revolution and domestication of animals, people learned how to use fire to create quicklime, plasters, and mortars. They used these to fashion homes for themselves with mud, straw, or stone, and masonry was born.
The Ancients heavily relied on the stonemason to build the most impressive and long-lasting monuments to their civilizations. The Egyptians built their pyramids, the civilizations of Central America had their step pyramids, the Persians their palaces, the Greeks their temples, and the Romans their public works and wonders (See Roman Architecture). People of the Indus Valley Civilization, such as at Dholavira made entire cities characterized by stone architecture. Among the famous ancient stonemasons is Sophroniscus, the father of Socrates, who was a stone-cutter.
Castle building was an entire industry for the medieval stonemasons. When the Western Roman Empire fell, building in dressed stone decreased in much of Western Europe, and there was a resulting increase in timber-based construction. Stonework experienced a resurgence in the 9th and 10th centuries in Europe, and by the 12th-century religious fervour resulted in the construction of thousands of impressive churches and cathedrals in stone across Western Europe. Medieval stonemasons' skills were in high demand, and members of the guild, gave rise to three classes of stonemasons: apprentices, journeymen, and master masons. Apprentices were indentured to their masters as the price for their training, journeymen were qualified craftsmen who were paid by the day, and master masons were considered freemen who could travel as they wished to work on the projects of the patrons and could operate as self-employed craftsmen and train apprentices. During the Renaissance, the stonemason's guild admitted members who were not stonemasons, and eventually evolved into the Society of Freemasonry; fraternal groups which observe the traditional culture of stonemasons but are not typically involved in modern construction projects.
A medieval stonemason would often carve a personal symbol onto their block to differentiate their work from that of other stonemasons. This also provided a simple ‘quality assurance’ system.
The Renaissance saw stonemasonry return to the prominence and sophistication of the Classical age. The rise of the humanist philosophy gave people the ambition to create marvelous works of art. The centre stage for the Renaissance would prove to be Italy, where Italian city-states such as Florence erected great structures, including the Florence Cathedral, the Fountain of Neptune, and the Laurentian Library, which was planned and built by Michelangelo Buonarroti, a famous sculptor of the Renaissance.
When Europeans settled the Americas, they brought the stonemasonry techniques of their respective homelands with them. Settlers used what materials were available, and in some areas, stone was the material of choice. In the first waves, building mimicked that of Europe, to eventually be replaced by unique architecture later on.
In the 20th century, stonemasonry saw its most radical changes in the way the work is accomplished. Prior to the first half of the century, most heavy work was executed by draft animals or human muscle power. With the arrival of the internal combustion engine, many of these hard aspects of the trade have been made simpler and easier. Cranes and forklifts have made moving and laying heavy stones relatively easy for the stonemasons. Motor powered mortar mixers have saved much in time and energy as well. Compressed-air powered tools have made working of stone less time-intensive. Petrol and electric-powered abrasive saws can cut through stone much faster and with more precision than chiseling alone. Carbide-tipped chisels can stand up to much more abuse than the steel and iron chisels made by blacksmiths of old.
WIKIPEDIA
Trekking in Nepal is part of Hiking in Nepal and Adventure Trekking in Nepal and Trekking in Himalaya. Natures to renew one’s own self regard, to relive oneself, to realize Nepal beauty, to interact with its generous, friendly peoples are highlights of Trekking in Nepal. Trekking is one long term activity that draws repeat Nepal Travelers for Treks Himalaya. So, Nepal is final purpose for trekking. Offers numerous options walking excursion to meet snowy peaks, their foot hills, valleys but however there is amazing for each who hope Trek in Nepal hill, mountain area. Typical trekking and Hiking in Nepal as unique combination of natural glory, spectacular trekking trips to hard climbing and Everest Base Camp Trek is most rewarding way to skill Nepal natural beautification and cultural array is to walking, trekking, width and the height of country. Trekking is important of Travel Nepal for Trekking Tours in Himalaya on description Nepal Tour of large range of ecological features for Nepal Travel Holiday. The country nurtures a variety of flora and scenery. Addition to natural atmosphere is rich Himalayan culture. Many of visitor trek to different part of Nepal every year to experience its rustic charm, nature and culture. Most treks through areas between 1000 to 5185m, though some popular parts reach over 5648 meters. Trekking is not climbing, while the climb of Himalayan peaks and enjoy walking Holiday in Nepal and Trekking Tours Nepal might be an attraction for travelers. Every travelers knows for the Trekking in Nepal from all over the words an inspiring knowledge. Attraction for your Travel Holiday in Nepal of beauty and its excellent culture.
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Annapurna trekking region of Nepal enjoy with magnificent view close to highest and impressive mountain range in the world. Day exploration in Pokhara and morning morning flight to Jomsom or drive to Besishisahar from Kathmandu begin of trek. High destination, Muktinath 3800m and in generally highest point of whole Annapurna is 5416m. Thorangla la is situated in Buddhist Monastery, an eternal flame, and Hindus Vishnu Tempe of Juwala Mai making it a pilgrimage site for both Hindus and Buddhists and Muktinath is on the way down from popular trekking it call Thorang la pass which is incredible view in Annapurna region. Whenever possible we will arrive at lodging mid-afternoon, which should leave plenty time for explore the local villages, enjoy the hot springs at Tatopani, continue to Ghorepani where there is forever the possibility of sunrise hike to Poon Hill for spectacular views of Dhaulagiri, Fishtail, Nilgiri and the Annapurna Himalaya range. Continue on to Birethanti finally between with the Baglung road where we will catch cab to Pokhara, next day drive or fly to Kathmandu.
Everest trekking region, although fairly effortless compare to some of other trek, takes you high along trails to Tengboche monastery Everest Solu Khumbu is the district south and west of Mount Everest. It is inhabited by sherpa, cultural group that has achieve fame because of the develop of its men on climbing expeditions. Khumbu is the name of the northern half of this region above Namche, includes highest mountain (Mt. Everest 8848m.) in the world. Khumbu is in part of Sagarmatha National Park. This is a short trek but very scenic trek offers really superb view of the world's highest peaks, including Mt. Everest, Mt. Lhotse, Mt. Thamserku, Mt. Amadablam and other many snowy peaks. Fly from Kathmandu to Lukla it is in the Khumbu region and trek up to Namche Bazzar, Tyangboche and into the Khumjung village, a very nice settlement of Sherpas people. This trek introduction to Everest and Sherpa culture with great mountain views, a very popular destination for first time trekkers in Nepal. Justifiably well-known world uppermost mountain (8848m.) and also for its Sherpa villages and monasteries. Few days trek from Lukla on the highland, takes you to the entry to Sagarmatha National Park and town of Namche Bazaar is entrance of Everest Trek. Environment of the towering Himalayas is a very delicate eco-system that is effortlessly put out of balance.
Langtang trekking region mixture of three beautiful trek taking us straight into some of the wildest and most pretty areas of Nepal. Starting from the lovely hill town of Syabrubensi our trek winds during gorgeous rhododendron and conifer forests throughout the Langtang National Park on the way to the higher slopes. Leads up to the high alpine yak pastures, glaciers and moraines around Kyanging. Along this route you will have an chance to cross the Ganja La Pass if possible from Langtang Valley. Trail enters the rhododendron (National flower of Nepal) forest and climbs up to alpine yak pastures at Ngegang (4404m). From Ngegang we make a climb of Ganja La Pass (5122m). We start southwest, sliding past Gekye Gompa to reach Tarkeghyang otherwise we take a detour and another unique features of trekking past, the holy lakes of Gosainkund (4300 m.) cross into Helambu via Laurebina to Ghopte (3430 m) and further to Trakegyang. Northern parts of the area mostly fall within the boundaries of Langtang National park.
Peak Climbing in Nepal is great view of Himalayas and most various geological regions in asia. Climbing of peaks in Nepal is restricted under the rules of Nepal Mountaineering Association. Details information and application for climbing permits are available through Acute Trekking. First peak climbing in Nepal by Tenzing Norgey Sherpa and Sir Edmund Hilary on May 29, 1953 to Mt. Everest. Trekking Agency in Nepal necessary member from Nepal Mountaineering Association. Our agency will arrange equipment, guides, high altitude porters, food and all necessary gears for climbing in Nepal. Although for some peaks, you need to contribute additional time, exertion owing to improved elevation and complexity. Climbing peaks is next step beyond simply trekking and basic mountaineering course over snow line with ice axe, crampons, ropes etc under administration and coaching from climbing guide, who have substantial mountaineering knowledge and for your climbing in mountain.
Everest Base Camp Trek well noon its spectacular mountain peaks and the devotion and openness of its inhabitants, the Everest region is one of the most popular destination for tourists in Nepal. While numerous of the routes through the mountains are difficult, there are plenty places to rest and enjoy a meal along the way. Additionally, don't worry about receiving lost. Just ask a local the way to the next village on your route, and they will direct you. Most Sherpas under the age of fifty can at least understand basic English, and many speak it fluently.
Annapurna Base Camp Trek is the major peaks of the western portion of the great Annapurna Himalaya, Annapurna South, Fang, Annapurna, Ganagapurna, Annapurna 3 and Machhapuchhare and including Annapurna first 8091 meters are arranged almost exactly in a circle about 10 miles in diameter with a deep glacier enclosed field at the center. From this glacier basin, known as the Annapurna base camp trek (Annapurna sanctuary trek), the Modi Khola way south in a narrow ravine fully 12 thousand ft. deep. Further south, the ravine opens up into a wide and fruitful valley, the domain of the Gurungs. The center and upper portions of Modi Khola offer some of the best short routes for trekking in Nepal and the valley is situated so that these treks can be easily joint with treks into the Kali Gandaki (Kali Gandaki is name of the river in Nepal) region to the west.
Upper Mustang Trekking name Make an escapade beginning from world deepest gorge Kaligandaki valley into world's highest area of Lo-Mangthang valley that passes through an almost tree-less barren landscape, a steep stony trail up and down hill and panorama views of high Annapurna Himalaya including Nilgiri, Annapurna, Dhaulagiri and numerous other peaks. The trek passes through high peaks, passes, glaciers, and alpine valleys. The thousands years of seclusion has kept the society, lifestyle and heritage remain unaffected for centuries and to this date.
Helicopter Tour in Nepal having high mountains and wonderful landscape of countryside but is effortlessly reachable by land transport, is known as helicopter tours country. Helicopter services industry in Nepal is now well well-known with many types and categories of helicopters for the fly to different of Nepal. The pilots are very knowledgeable expert with 1000 of flying hours knowledge in Nepal. We have service for helicopter is outstanding reputations and established records for reliable emergency and rescue flight too. Here we would like to offer some of amazing helicopter tour in Himalaya country of Nepal. Further more details information about Nepal tour itinerary for helicopter tour in different part of Nepal contact us without hesitation.
Kathmandu Pokhra Tour is an exclusive tour package specially designed for all level travelers. Kathmandu Pokhara tour package is effortless tour alternative for Nepal visitors. This tour package vacation the historically significant and ethnically rich capital (Kathmandu ) of Nepal and the most stunning city of world by the nature, Pokhara. Mountain museum and world peace stupa are another charming of Pokhara tour. Pokhara is the center of escapade tourism in Nepal. Package tour to Kathmandu Pokhara is design to discover highlighted areas of Kathmandu and Pokhara valley. Nepal is the country which is socially and geographically different that’s why we powerfully recommend you discover Nepal to visit once in life time. It is hard to explore all Nepal in one Nepal tours trip in this way we design this trip to show you the highlights of Nepal especially in Kathmandu and Pokhara.
Hiking in Nepal in the southern part of the asia continent there lays a tiny rectangular kingdom squeezed between two hugely populated countries, China to the north and India to the south, this country is Nepal a world of its own. Adventure trekking is a type of tourism, involving exploration or travel to remote, exotic and possibly hostile areas. Adventure trekking in Nepal is rapidly growing in popularity, as tourists seek different kinds of vacations. The land of contrast is presumably the exact way to define the scenery of Nepal for you will find maximum world highest peaks high high up above the clouds determined for the gods above. Straight, active and attractive learning experience adventure trekking in Nepal that engross the whole person and have real adventure. Mt. Everest, Kanchenjunga, Daulagiri, and Annapurna and many more are there for the offering for mountain-lovers, adventurers and travelers.
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Salerno (pop. ~ 130.000) is located on the Gulf of Salerno on the Tyrrhenian Sea. The site has been one of the most important and strategic ports on the Mediterranean sea, yielding a rich Greco-Roman heritage. It was an independent Lombard principality in the early Middle Ages. The Normans in 1077 made Salerno the capital of their rule in all of southern Italy. In the 16th century, under the Sanseverino family, among the most powerful feudal lords in southern Italy, the city became a center of learning, culture, and the arts.
Salerno has been the seat of an archbishop since 983 and the city's medical school is famous for being the first college or "university" of medieval Europe.
The construction of the Cathedral was begun by Robert Guiscard in 1076. This was just three years after the Normans took over the city, which had previously been under Lombard rule for more than 400 years. The church, built on an early Christian church, that was built on the ruins of a Roman temple, was consecrated in 1084 and completed in 1085.
Due to the short construction time, cracks formed repeatedly in the building over the centuries. After severe damage from an earthquake in 1688, the cathedral was restored with baroque alterations. In the 20th century, attempts were made to reconstruct the original facade.
The monumental Arabo-Norman bell tower rises almost 52 meters in height. On a plaque is written that the builder was Guglielmo da Ravenna, Archbishop of Salerno from 1137 to 1152.
Here you can find more photos from the Campania region:
I have lived in Kent since 2007, and hadn't visited Sevenoaks before yesterday. It being one of Kent's major towns, this is something of a surprise, I even had to check my photostream on here to make sure: nothing for Sevenoaks.
For me, Sevenoaks is famous for two things: 1. the seven oaks destroyed in the 1987 "hurricane" and I suppose home to the chain of hi-fi shops, Sevenoaks Audio, though I didn't see a branch during my visit.
I don't know why I decided to visit here today, the idea had been to go to Nunhead to a large rambling and overgrown Victorian cemetery (more of that later), and the Southeastern website suggested the way there was via St Pancras and then on Thameslink. I thought there must have been a route across Kent, which is how I came to be in Sevenoaks, change here for Nunhead.
So, why not explore the town before travelling on?
So, I guess that's why I was here.
The spread of the new COVID variant meant I did consider cancelling the trip, but with no new lockdowns announced on Monday, and armed with a mask I set off, Jools dropping me off at Dover Priory at half six, withenough time for a gingerbread latte (with an extra shot) before my train pulled in.
Less than a dozen got in the 12 carriages, and there service trundled through Kent, Ashford, Pluckley, Marden, Staplehurst, Tonbdrige to deposit me here at Sevenoaks.
I and half a dozen people got off, I lingered to take a couple of shots before the long walk up the hill to the town centre.
Thanks to GSV, I had travelled up London Road to the centre of town, so knew it was a hike, but worth it. I mean, no point going somewhere if there was nothing of worth to snap, was there?
At first I walked past large houses, then at the major road junction, a sparkling Ferrari Dealership, not something we have in Dover, and not sure if Canterbury even has one. But Sevenoaks does, as well as on one, not two, but three dry cleaners, all looking busy.
The main shopping area had old pubs and coaching inns, clapboard houses and other with peg tiles decorating the outside, all got photographed, of course.
Att he top of the shopping streets, where the two A roads meet, there is a fine pre-warboys signpost that I snapped good and proper.
Finally, as the hill flattened out, the buildings got older still, before coming to the parish church, which I knew from research was almost impossible to get inside judging by the reviews left.
It wasn't yet nine, my back was complaining, so I took a seat in the chuchyard to wait.
Wait for what, I do not know.
The clocked chimed mournfully for nine, to the south, a couple of workmen repair the top of the substantial wall, and I guess the ownes comes into the churchyard to find bricks that have fallen from it. The wall is at least twenty feet high, separating the church from the grand house, I wonder what the owners thought were being kept out?
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The church looks well from the main street, with its east end almost on the road. Built of local stone, the nave, aisles, chapels and tower are typical of fifteenth-century design. The church has been so often restored - in 1812, 1878, 1954 and most recently in 1994 when a crypt was built - that its historical interest is limited. However, the stained glass windows by Kempe and Heaton, Butler and Bayne are of excellent quality, especially those in the south aisle. There are also some interesting monuments, including one to William Lambarde (d. 1601), the first Kentish historian.
www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Sevenoaks+1
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SEVENOKE.
NEXT southward from Seale lies the parish and town of SEVENOKE, called, in the Textus Roffensis, SEOUENACCA, which name was given to it from seven large oaks, standing on the hill where the town is, at the time of its being first built. It is now commonly called SENNOCK.
THE PARISH of Sevenoke is situated partly above and partly below the great ridge of sand hills which runs across this county, and divides the upland from the Weald or southern district of it. It is divided into three districts, the Town Borough, Rotherhith or Rethered, now called Riverhead, and the Weald. The parish is of considerable extent, being five miles in length, from north to south, and about four miles in width. The soil of it varies much; at and about the town, it is a sand, as it is towards the hill southward, below which it is a stiff clay, and towards the low grounds, to Riverhead, a rich sertile soil. It reaches more than a mile below the hill, where there is a hamlet, called Sevenoke Weald, lying within that district, for it should be known, that all that part of this parish, which lies below the great range of sand hills southward, is in the Weald of Kent, the bound of which is the narrow road which runs along the bottom of them, and is called, to distinguish it, Sevenoke Weald; thus when a parish extends below, and the church of it is above the hill, that part below, has the addition of Weald to it, as Sevenoke Weald, Sundridge Weald, and the like.
THE TOWN of Sevenoke lies about thirty-three miles from London, on high ground above the sand hill, the church, which is situated at the south end of it, is a conspicuous object each way to a considerable distance. The high roads from Westram; and from London through Farnborough, meeting at about a mile above it; and that from Dartford through Farningham and Otford, at the entrance of the town; and leading from thence again both to Penshurst and Tunbridge. Between the town and the hill there is much coppice wood, and a common, called Sevenoke common, on which is a seat, called Ash-grove, belonging to Mrs. Smith. The town of Sevenoke is a healthy, pleasant situation, remarkable for the many good houses throughout it, inhabited by persons of genteel fashion and fortune, which make it a most desirable neighbourhood. In the middle of the High-Street is the house of the late Dr. Thomas Fuller, afterwards of Francis Austen, esq. clerk of the peace for this county; near which is the large antient market-place, in which the market, which is plentifully supplied with every kind of provisions, is held weekly on a Saturday; and the two fairs yearly, on July 10, and Oct. 12, and where the business of the assizes, when held at Sevenoke, as they were several times in queen Elizabeth's reign, and in the year before the death of king Charles I. and once since, has been usually transacted. At the south end of it is a seat, the residence of Multon Lambard, esq. at a small distance westward is the magnificent mansion and park of Knole; and eastward, a small valley intervening, the seat of Kippington; at a little distance northward of the town is an open space, called Sevenoke Vine, noted for being the place where the great games of Cricket, the provincial amusement of this county, are in general played; this joins to Gallows common, so called from the execution of criminals on it formerly. In the valley below it is Bradborne, and the famous silk mills, belonging to Peter Nonaille, esq. called Greatness, near which are the ruins of the hospital or chapel, dedicated to St. John, where this parish bounds to Otford.
About a mile north-west from the town, where the two roads from London and Westerham meet, is the large hamlet of Riverhead, bounded by the river Darent and the parish of Chevening; in which, among others, is the seat of Montreal; that of Mrs. Petley; and of the late admiral Amherst and others; most of which the reader will find described hereafter.
In the Account of the Roman Stations in Britain, written by Richard, a monk of Cirencester, published by Dr. Stukely, the station, called Vagniacæ, is supposed to have been at Sevenoke, which is there set down as eighteen miles distant both from Medum, Maidstone; and Noviomagus, Croydon; but in this opinion he has hardly been followed by any one.
THE MANOR OF SEVENOKE was always esteemed as an appendage to that of Otford, and as such was part of the possessions of the see of Canterbury, till it was exchanged with the crown for other premises, by archbishop Cranmer, in the 9th year of Henry VIII. as will be further mentioned below.
THE MANOR OF KNOLE, with that of Bradborne, in this parish, had, according to the earliest accounts, for some time the same owners as the manors of Kemsing, Seale, and Bradborne. Accordingly, in king John's reign, they were in the possession of Baldwin de Betun, earl of Albemarle, from whom they went in marriage into the family of the Mareschalls, earls of Pembroke. Whilst one of these, William Mareschal, earl of Pembroke, sided with the rebellious barons at the latter end of king John's, and beginning of king Henry III's reign, the king seized on his lands, as escheats to the crown; during which time these manors seem to have been granted to Fulk de Brent, a desperate fellow, as Camden calls him. He was a bastard by birth, of mean extraction, who had come out of the low countries, with some foreign auxiliaries and freebooters, to king John's assistance, and became a great favorite, both with that king and his son, Henry III. from both of whom he was invested with much power, and had the lands of many of the barons conferred on him; till giving loose to his natural inclination, he became guilty of many cruelties and oppressions, and at length sided with prince Lewis of France in his design of invading England. But failing in this, he fled into Wales, and the king seized on all his possessions throughout England; after which, returning and pleading for mercy, in consideration of his former services, he was only banished the realm, and died in Italy soon afterwards, as is said, of poison. After which, the earl returning to his obedience, obtained the possession of these manor's again. (fn. 1) Hence they passed again in like manner to Hugh Bigod, earl of Norfolk, whose heir in the 11th year of king Edward I. conveyed them to Otho de Grandison; on whose death without issue, William de Grandison, his brother, became his heir; his grandson, Sir Thomas Grandison, passed away Knole to Geoffry de Say, and Braborne, Kemsing, and Seale, to others, as may be seen under their respective descriptions.
Geoffry de Say was only son and heir of Geoffry de Say, by Idonea his wife, daughter of William, and sister and heir of Thomas lord Leyborne, and was a man of no small consequence, having been summoned to parliament in the 1st year of king Edward III. and afterwards constituted admiral of all the king's fleets, from the river Thames westward, being then a banneret. He died in the 33d year of king Edward III. leaving William, his son and heir, and three daughters. William de Say left issue a son, John, who died without issue in his minority, anno 6 king Richard II. and a daughter Elizabeth, who was first married to Sir John de Fallesley, and afterwards to Sir William Heron, but died s. p. in the 6th year of king Edward IV. (fn. 2) so that the three sisters of William de Say became coheirs to the inheritance of this family. (fn. 3)
¶How the manor of Knole passed from the family of Say I do not find; but in the reign of king Henry VI. it was in the possession of Ralf Leghe, who then conveyed it by sale to James Fienes, or Fenys, as the name came now to be called, who was the second son of Sir William Fynes, son of Sir William Fienes, or Fynes, who had married Joane, third sister and coheir of William de Say above-mentioned. He was much employed by king Henry V. and no less in favor with king Henry VI. who, in the 24th year of his reign, on account of Joane, his grandmother, being third sister and coheir to William de Say, by an especial writ that year summoned him to parliament as lord Say and Seale; and, in consideration of his eminent services, in open parliament, advanced him to the dignity of a baron, as lord Say, to him and his heirs male. After which he was made constable of Dover-castle, and warden of the five ports, lord chamberlain, and one of the king's council; and, in the 28th year of that reign, lord treasurer; which great rise so increased the hatred of the commons against him, that having arraigned him before the lord mayor and others, they hurried him to the standard in Cheapside, where they cut off his head, and carried it on a pole before his naked body, which was drawn at a horse's tail into Southwark, and there hanged and quartered.
Of the THREE DISTRICTS, into which this parish is divided, of which those of Town Borough and the Weald have already been described, the remaining one of Riverhead is by no means inconsiderable. It lies about a mile from Sevenoke town, and seems formerly to have been written both Rotherhith and Rothered, comprehending the western part of this parish; it contains the large hamlet of Riverhead, in which are situated lord Amherst's seat of Montreal; that of Cool Harbour, late admiral Amherst's; and Mrs. Petley's; through this hamlet the road branches on the one hand to Westerham, and on the other across the river Darent towards Farnborough and London; hence it extends beyond Bradborne to the bounds of this parish, north-eastward, at Greatness, which is within it.
In this hamlet was the antient mansion, called Brook's Place, Supposed to have been built by one of the family of Colpeper, out of the materials taken from the neighbouring suppressed hospital of St. John. It afterwards came into the possession of a younger branch of the family of Amherst. Jeffrey Amherst, esq. bencher of Gray's-inn, was owner of it, and resided here at the latter end of the last century. He was descended of ancestors, who had been seated at Pembury in the reign of king Richard II. from whom, in a direct line, descended Richard Amherst, esq. who left three sons; the eldest of whom, Richard, was sergeant at law, and of Bayhall, in Pembury, in the description of which a full account will be given of him and his descendants. Jeffry, the second, was ancestor of the Riverhead branch, as will be mentioned hereafter; and William, the third son, left an only daughter, Margaret, married to John Champs of Tunbridge.
Jeffry Amherst was rector of Horsemonden, and resided at Southes, in Sussex, where he died, and was buried in 1662; whose grandson, Jeffry Amherst, esq. was of Riverhead, as has been before mentioned. and a bencher of Gray's-inn, and dying in 1713, was buried at Pembury. By his first wife, Elizabeth, daughter of Henry Yates, esq. of Sussex, he had several children, of whom, Jeffry, the second son, only arrived at maturity, and was of Riverhead; he was a bencher of Gray's-inn, and dying in 1750, was buried in Sevenoke church, having married Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Kerrill, esq. of Hadlow, by whom he had seven sons and two daughters, viz. Elizabeth, married to John Thomas, clerk, of Welford, in Gloucestershire; and Margaret, who died unmarried.
Of the sons, Sackville, the eldest, died unmarried in 1763, Jeffry the second, will be mentioned hereafter; John, the third, was of Riverhead, and viceadmiral of the blue squadron; he married Anne, daughter of Thomas Lindzee, of Portsmouth, by whom he had no issue; he died in 1778, and his widow re-married Thomas Munday, esq. The seventh son, William, was a lieutenant-general in the army, and married Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Patterson, esq. of London. He died in 1781, leaving one son, William-Pitt, and a daughter, Elizabeth-Frances.
Jeffry Amherst, esq. the second son, became, at length, possessed of the mansion of Brooks, and attaching himself early in life to the prossession of a soldier, he acquired the highest military honours and preferments, after a six years glorious war in North America, of which he was appointed governor and commander in chief in 1760; which, when he resigned, the king, among other marks of his royal approbation of his conduct, appointed him governor of the province of Virginia.
¶The victorious atchievements of the British forces in North America, during Sir Jeffry Amherst's continuance there, cannot be better summed up than by giving two of the inscriptions on an obelisk, in the grounds of his seat at Montreal; viz.
This is the perfect offer for Spring! Very cozy, following current fashion trends and unique at the same time. This original bolero will add a fresh fashionable look even to your favourites every-day clothes.
It is my original design, hand-knitted with hand-painted bulky merino wool. This yarn is multicolor thick-and-thin type. I used it in such a way that it gets gradually thinner towards bottom of the sweater and towards the tips of the sleeves. This surely looks extraordinary! It also has an original buckle to do it up.
The sleeve is a bit puffed, tightly finished.
© Evelda's Neverland, 2010. All rights reserved.
Mathew Street is a street in Liverpool, England, best-known worldwide as the location of the Cavern Club, where The Beatles played on numerous occasions in their early career.
The street connects Rainford Gardens to North John Street, and is located in an area of the city centre known today as "The Cavern Quarter". Historically it was the centre of Liverpool's wholesale fruit and vegetable market. . A wall in Mathew Street is adorned by a sculpture by Arthur Dooley entitled "Four Lads Who Shook the World".
It was also home to the influential music club Eric's, which played host to many famous punk bands from its opening in 1976, despite only being open for 4 years.
The fame of Mathew Street led to the arrest of 3 men in 2006 when a resident of Dallas, Texas, viewing the street's webcam, saw a burglary in progress and called Merseyside Police.
Original statue of Jung in Mathew Street, a half-body on a plinth captioned "Liverpool is the pool of life"
The philosopher Carl Jung is often cited as visiting Liverpool in 1927, but only recorded a dream in which he had, and of which he wrote "Liverpool is the pool of life, it makes to live." As a result a statue of Jung was erected in Mathew Street in 1987, but being made of plaster, was vandalised and replaced by a more durable version in 1993.
Today, Mathew Street is one of Liverpool's most popular nightlife destinations.
LIVERPOOL CITY CENTRE FEBRUARY 2013
This is a photograph from the 5th annual Craughwell 10 Mile Road Race which took place in Craughwell Village, Co. Galway, Ireland on Sunday 23rd March 2014 at 13:00. The 'Craughwell 10' has grown quickly to become not just one of Connaught's best known and attended road races but one of Ireland's best road races. Rather uniquely for road races in Ireland today the Craughwell 10 Mile road race offers a fully traffic free route for participants. The fast primarily flat course brings participants on the network of rural country roads to the west of Craughwell village. This year's event attracted a record number of over 650 participants building on the 600+ finishers from last year's race (results available below).
Reading on a Smartphone or tablet? Don't forget to scroll down further to read more about this race and see important Internet links to other information about the race! You can also find out how to access and download these photographs.
Results are available on RedTagTiming's website www.redtagtiming.com who provided the chip timing for the event.
Our photographs from the Craughwell 10 2014 are available on our Flickr photostream at: www.flickr.com/photos/peterm7/sets/72157642744431035/
You are also likely to find photographs from the race from edenhill77 at www.flickr.com/photos/edenhill77/sets/
The organisation team of Craughwell AC and a huge team of volunteers from the local community deserve great praise and congratulations on the excellent work that they put into making the Craughwell 10 such an outstanding success. A race of this size is a mammoth undertaking and it's flawless organisation is a tribute to the volunteer work behind the scenes.
Route Description
The race starts in Craughwell Village and then heads west on country roads. The route takes a right turn after 1KM and heads north towards Caheradine. The route then takes a left and heads west again towards the N18. After 4 miles the race takes another left (goo.gl/maps/khTi4) heading south. Just before 6 miles another left turn brings the race back towards Craughwell village. This leaves the runners with a straight run to the finish area from here and the finish in the Primary School. There was a stiff cold breeze at different parts of the course but for the most part there was good stretches of tail winds also. There were water stations at two points in the course.
The AAI County Galway 10 mile Road Race Championships took place in conjunction with the race today which ensured that there was great competition amongst Co. Galway based clubs at all categories.
The spread of refreshments after the race was incredible. Every taste was catered for. The organisers were thoughtful enough to include a wide range of gluten free goodies for participants after the race.
Useful Web Links
Where is Craughwell? (OpenStreetMap): www.openstreetmap.org/?mlat=53.2261&mlon=-8.7331&...
Where is Craughwell? (Google Maps): goo.gl/maps/vfIia
Craughwell 10 Mile - Race Headquarters at the National School (Google StreetView) goo.gl/maps/nTr5F
Craughwell 10 Mile Route on MapMyRun: www.mapmyrun.com/sc/victoria-english-river/craughwell-10-...
Craughwell 10 Mile Route on Garmin Connect: connect.garmin.com/jsPlayer/27008273
Craughwell 10 Mile Facebook Event Page www.facebook.com/events/1426933890856519/?ref=22 (requires Facebook logon and access)
Craughwell 10 Mile 2014: Results www.redtagtiming.com/results/Craughwell10_2014.pdf
Results from previous years.
2013: Results: www.redtagtiming.com/results/Craughwell10_2013.pdf
2012: www.redtagtiming.com/results/Craughwell_10Mile_2012.pdf
Photographs from previous years by edenhill77
2012: www.flickr.com/photos/edenhill77/sets/72157629283834474/
2012: www.flickr.com/photos/edenhill77/sets/72157629267117098/
2011 www.flickr.com/photos/edenhill77/sets/72157626365451542/
2011: www.flickr.com/photos/edenhill77/sets/72157626387107196/
We use Creative Commons Licensing for these photographs
We use the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License for all our photographs here in this photograph set. What does this mean in reality?
The explaination is very simple.
Attribution- anyone using our photographs gives us an appropriate credit for it. This ensures that people aren't taking our photographs and passing them off as their own. This usually just mean putting a link to our photographs somewhere on your website, blog, or Facebook where other people can see it.
ShareAlike – anyone can use these photographs, and make changes if they like, or incorporate them into a bigger project, but they must make those changes available back to the community under the same terms.
Creative Commons aims to encourage creative sharing. See some examples of Creative Commons photographs on Flickr: www.flickr.com/creativecommons/
Can I use these photographs directly from Flickr on my social media account(s)?
Yes - of course you can! Flickr provides several ways to share this and other photographs in this Flickr set. You can share to: email, Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Tumblr, LiveJournal, and Wordpress and Blogger blog sites. Your mobile, tablet, or desktop device will also offer you several different options for sharing this photo page on your social media outlets.
We take these photographs as a hobby and as a contribution to the running community in Ireland. Our only "cost" is our request that if you are using these images: (1) on social media sites such as Facebook, Tumblr, Pinterest, Twitter,LinkedIn, Google+, etc or (2) other websites, blogs, web multimedia, commercial/promotional material that you must provide a link back to our Flickr page to attribute us.
This also extends the use of these images for Facebook profile pictures. In these cases please make a separate wall or blog post with a link to our Flickr page. If you do not know how this should be done for Facebook or other social media please email us and we will be happy to help suggest how to link to us.
How can I download these pictures to my computer or device?
You can download the photographic image here direct to your computer or device. This version is the low resolution web-quality image. How to download will vary slight from device to device and from browser to browser. However - look for a symbol with three dots 'ooo' or the link to 'View/Download' all sizes. When you click on either of these you will be presented with the option to download the image. Remember just doing a right-click and "save target as" will not work on Flickr.
How can I get full resolution, print-quality, copies of these photographs?
If you just need these photographs for online usage then they can be used directly once you respect their Creative Commons license and provide a link back to our Flickr set if you use them. For offline usage and printing all of the photographs posted here on this Flickr set are available free, at no cost, at full image resolution.
Please email petermooney78 AT gmail DOT com with the links to the photographs you would like to obtain a full resolution copy of. We also ask race organisers, media, etc to ask for permission before use of our images for flyers, posters, etc. We reserve the right to refuse a request.
In summary please remember when requesting photographs from us - If you are using the photographs online all we ask is for you to provide a link back to our Flickr set or Flickr pages. You will find the link above clearly outlined in the description text which accompanies this photograph. Taking these photographs and preparing them for online posting does take a significant effort and time. We are not posting photographs to Flickr for commercial reasons. If you really like what we do please spread the link around your social media, send us an email, leave a comment beside the photographs, send us a Flickr email, etc. If you are using the photographs in newspapers or magazines we ask that you mention where the original photograph came from.
I would like to contribute something for your photograph(s)?
Many people offer payment for our photographs. As stated above we do not charge for these photographs. We take these photographs as our contribution to the running community in Ireland. If you feel that the photograph(s) you request are good enough that you would consider paying for their purchase from other photographic providers or in other circumstances we would suggest that you can provide a donation to any of the great charities in Ireland who do work for Cancer Care or Cancer Research in Ireland.
I ran in the race - but my photograph doesn't appear here in your Flickr set! What gives?
As mentioned above we take these photographs as a hobby and as a voluntary contribution to the running community in Ireland. Very often we have actually ran in the same race and then switched to photographer mode after we finished the race. Consequently, we feel that we have no obligations to capture a photograph of every participant in the race. However, we do try our very best to capture as many participants as possible. But this is sometimes not possible for a variety of reasons:
►You were hidden behind another participant as you passed our camera
►Weather or lighting conditions meant that we had some photographs with blurry content which we did not upload to our Flickr set
►There were too many people - some races attract thousands of participants and as amateur photographs we cannot hope to capture photographs of everyone
►We simply missed you - sorry about that - we did our best!
You can email us petermooney78 AT gmail DOT com to enquire if we have a photograph of you which didn't make the final Flickr selection for the race. But we cannot promise that there will be photograph there. As alternatives we advise you to contact the race organisers to enquire if there were (1) other photographs taking photographs at the race event or if (2) there were professional commercial sports photographers taking photographs which might have some photographs of you available for purchase. You might find some links for further information above.
Don't like your photograph here?
That's OK! We understand!
If, for any reason, you are not happy or comfortable with your picture appearing here in this photoset on Flickr then please email us at petermooney78 AT gmail DOT com and we will remove it as soon as possible. We give careful consideration to each photograph before uploading.
I want to tell people about these great photographs!
Great! Thank you! The best link to spread the word around is probably http://www.flickr.com/peterm7/sets
Breastfeeding is an extremely healthy and natural method. Mother's milk contains all the necessary nutrients for the baby to develop and strengthens the immune system.Breast MilkDear mothers, you already know that the most valuable food for your baby is breast milk and that you should breastfeed-my-baby exclusively breastfeed your baby for the first 6 months.For your baby to grow and develop healthily, they need to have a sufficient and balanced diet. All research indicates that breastfeeding reduces infant mortality (death rate due to illness) and morbidity (rate of causing illness), supports healthy growth and development of babies, and is superior to all other forms of nutrition.The Disadvantages of Long-Term Breastfeeding!Breast milk, which perfectly meets the physiological and psychosocial needs of the baby during the first six months, also plays an important role in establishing a bond between the mother and the baby.Breastfeeding exclusively with breast milk for the first six months, continuing to breastfeed with breast milk along with complementary foods after the sixth month, and continuing breastfeeding until the age of two provide numerous benefits for the baby.The benefits of breastfeeding are not limited to the breastfeeding process alone; they also have significant positive effects on later life health. Therefore, the importance of breastfeeding in laying the foundations of a healthy life cannot be debated.So how long should mothers breastfeed their babies?The
Angkor Wat or "Capital Temple" is a temple complex in Cambodia and the largest religious monument in the world. It was first a Hindu and later a Buddhist temple. It was built by the Khmer King Suryavarman II in the early 12th century in Yaśodharapura, present-day Angkor, the capital of the Khmer Empire, as his state temple and eventual mausoleum.
Breaking from the Shiva tradition of previous kings, Angkor Wat was instead dedicated to Vishnu. As the best-preserved temple at the site, it is the only one to have remained a significant religious center since its foundation. The temple is at the top of the high classical style of Khmer architecture. It has become a symbol of Cambodia, appearing on its national flag, and it is the country's prime attraction for visitors. Angkor Wat combines two basic plans of Khmer temple architecture: the temple-mountain and the later galleried temple, based on early Dravidian architecture, with key features such as the Jagati. It is designed to represent Mount Meru, home of the devas in Hindu mythology: within a moat and an outer wall 3.6 kilometres long are three rectangular galleries, each raised above the next. At the centre of the temple stands a quincunx of towers. Unlike most Angkorian temples, Angkor Wat is oriented to the west; scholars are divided as to the significance of this. The temple is admired for the grandeur and harmony of the architecture, its extensive bas-reliefs, and for the numerous devatas adorning its walls.
The modern name, Angkor Wat, means "Temple City" or "City of Temples" in Khmer; Angkor, meaning "city" or "capital city", is a vernacular form of the word nokor (នគរ), which comes from the Sanskrit word nagara (नगर). Wat is the Khmer word for "temple grounds" (Sanskrit: वाट vāṭa ""enclosure").
HISTORY
Angkor Wat lies 5.5 kilometres north of the modern town of Siem Reap, and a short distance south and slightly east of the previous capital, which was centred at Baphuon. It is in an area of Cambodia where there is an important group of ancient structures. It is the southernmost of Angkor's main sites.
According to one legend, the construction of Angkor Wat was ordered by Indra to act as a palace for his son Precha Ket Mealea.
According to the 13th century Chinese traveler Daguan Zhou, it was believed by some that the temple was constructed in a single night by a divine architect. The initial design and construction of the temple took place in the first half of the 12th century, during the reign of Suryavarman II (ruled 1113-C. 1150). Dedicated to Vishnu, it was built as the king's state temple and capital city. As neither the foundation stela nor any contemporary inscriptions referring to the temple have been found, its original name is unknown, but it may have been known as "Varah Vishnu-lok" after the presiding deity. Work seems to have ended shortly after the king's death, leaving some of the bas-relief decoration unfinished.
In 1177, approximately 27 years after the death of Suryavarman II, Angkor was sacked by the Chams, the traditional enemies of the Khmer. Thereafter the empire was restored by a new king, Jayavarman VII, who established a new capital and state temple (Angkor Thom and the Bayon respectively) a few kilometers to the north.
In the late 13th century, Angkor Wat gradually moved from Hindu to Theravada Buddhist use, which continues to the present day. Angkor Wat is unusual among the Angkor temples in that although it was somewhat neglected after the 16th century it was never completely abandoned, its preservation being due in part to the fact that its moat also provided some protection from encroachment by the jungle.
One of the first Western visitors to the temple was António da Madalena, a Portuguese monk who visited in 1586 and said that it "is of such extraordinary construction that it is not possible to describe it with a pen, particularly since it is like no other building in the world. It has towers and decoration and all the refinements which the human genius can conceive of."
In the mid-19th century, the temple was visited by the French naturalist and explorer, Henri Mouhot, who popularised the site in the West through the publication of travel notes, in which he wrote:
"One of these temples - a rival to that of Solomon, and erected by some ancient Michelangelo - might take an honorable place beside our most beautiful buildings. It is grander than anything left to us by Greece or Rome, and presents a sad contrast to the state of barbarism in which the nation is now plunged."
Mouhot, like other early Western visitors, found it difficult to believe that the Khmers could have built the temple, and mistakenly dated it to around the same era as Rome. The true history of Angkor Wat was pieced together only from stylistic and epigraphic evidence accumulated during the subsequent clearing and restoration work carried out across the whole Angkor site. There were no ordinary dwellings or houses or other signs of settlement including cooking utensils, weapons, or items of clothing usually found at ancient sites. Instead there is the evidence of the monuments themselves.
Angkor Wat required considerable restoration in the 20th century, mainly the removal of accumulated earth and vegetation. Work was interrupted by the civil war and Khmer Rouge control of the country during the 1970s and 1980s, but relatively little damage was done during this period other than the theft and destruction of mostly post-Angkorian statues.The temple is a powerful symbol of Cambodia, and is a source of great national pride that has factored into Cambodia's diplomatic relations with France, the United States and its neighbor Thailand. A depiction of Angkor Wat has been a part of Cambodian national flags since the introduction of the first version circa 1863. From a larger historical and even transcultural perspective, however, the temple of Angkor Wat did not become a symbol of national pride sui generis but had been inscribed into a larger politico-cultural process of French-colonial heritage production in which the original temple site was presented in French colonial and universal exhibitions in Paris and Marseille between 1889 and 1937. Angkor Wat's aesthetics were also on display in the plaster cast museum of Louis Delaporte called musée Indo-chinois which existed in the Parisian Trocadero Palace from C. 1880 to the mid-1920s. The splendid artistic legacy of Angkor Wat and other Khmer monuments in the Angkor region led directly to France adopting Cambodia as a protectorate on 11 August 1863 and invading Siam to take control of the ruins. This quickly led to Cambodia reclaiming lands in the northwestern corner of the country that had been under Siamese (Thai) control since 1351 AD (Manich Jumsai 2001), or by some accounts, 1431 AD. Cambodia gained independence from France on 9 November 1953 and has controlled Angkor Wat since that time.
ARCHITECTURE
SITE AND PLAN
Angkor Wat, located at 13°24′45″N 103°52′0″E, is a unique combination of the temple mountain, the standard design for the empire's state temples and the later plan of concentric galleries. The temple is a representation of Mount Meru, the home of the gods: the central quincunx of towers symbolises the five peaks of the mountain, and the walls and moat the surrounding mountain ranges and ocean. Access to the upper areas of the temple was progressively more exclusive, with the laity being admitted only to the lowest level. Unlike most Khmer temples, Angkor Wat is oriented to the west rather than the east. This has led many (including Maurice Glaize and George Coedès) to conclude that Suryavarman intended it to serve as his funerary temple.Further evidence for this view is provided by the bas-reliefs, which proceed in a counter-clockwise direction - prasavya in Hindu terminology - as this is the reverse of the normal order. Rituals take place in reverse order during Brahminic funeral services. The archaeologist Charles Higham also describes a container which may have been a funerary jar which was recovered from the central tower. It has been nominated by some as the greatest expenditure of energy on the disposal of a corpse. Freeman and Jacques, however, note that several other temples of Angkor depart from the typical eastern orientation, and suggest that Angkor Wat's alignment was due to its dedication to Vishnu, who was associated with the west.
A further interpretation of Angkor Wat has been proposed by Eleanor Mannikka. Drawing on the temple's alignment and dimensions, and on the content and arrangement of the bas-reliefs, she argues that the structure represents a claimed new era of peace under King Suryavarman II: "as the measurements of solar and lunar time cycles were built into the sacred space of Angkor Wat, this divine mandate to rule was anchored to consecrated chambers and corridors meant to perpetuate the king's power and to honor and placate the deities manifest in the heavens above." Mannikka's suggestions have been received with a mixture of interest and scepticism in academic circles. She distances herself from the speculations of others, such as Graham Hancock, that Angkor Wat is part of a representation of the constellation Draco.
STYLE
Angkor Wat is the prime example of the classical style of Khmer architecture - the Angkor Wat style - to which it has given its name. By the 12th century Khmer architects had become skilled and confident in the use of sandstone (rather than brick or laterite) as the main building material. Most of the visible areas are of sandstone blocks, while laterite was used for the outer wall and for hidden structural parts. The binding agent used to join the blocks is yet to be identified, although natural resins or slaked lime has been suggested. The temple has drawn praise above all for the harmony of its design. According to Maurice Glaize, a mid-20th-century conservator of Angkor, the temple "attains a classic perfection by the restrained monumentality of its finely balanced elements and the precise arrangement of its proportions. It is a work of power, unity and style." Architecturally, the elements characteristic of the style include: the ogival, redented towers shaped like lotus buds; half-galleries to broaden passageways; axial galleries connecting enclosures; and the cruciform terraces which appear along the main axis of the temple. Typical decorative elements are devatas (or apsaras), bas-reliefs, and on pediments extensive garlands and narrative scenes. The statuary of Angkor Wat is considered conservative, being more static and less graceful than earlier work. Other elements of the design have been destroyed by looting and the passage of time, including gilded stucco on the towers, gilding on some figures on the bas-reliefs, and wooden ceiling panels and doors.
FEATURES
OUTER ENCLOSURE
The outer wall, 1024 by 802 m and 4.5 m high, is surrounded by a 30 m apron of open ground and a moat 190 m wide. Access to the temple is by an earth bank to the east and a sandstone causeway to the west; the latter, the main entrance, is a later addition, possibly replacing a wooden bridge. There are gopuras at each of the cardinal points; the western is by far the largest and has three ruined towers. Glaize notes that this gopura both hides and echoes the form of the temple proper. Under the southern tower is a statue of Vishnu, known as Ta Reach, which may originally have occupied the temple's central shrine.Galleries run between the towers and as far as two further entrances on either side of the gopura often referred to as "elephant gates", as they are large enough to admit those animals. These galleries have square pillars on the outer (west) side and a closed wall on the inner (east) side. The ceiling between the pillars is decorated with lotus rosettes; the west face of the wall with dancing figures; and the east face of the wall with balustered windows, dancing male figures on prancing animals, and devatas, including (south of the entrance) the only one in the temple to be showing her teeth. The outer wall encloses a space of 820,000 square metres, which besides the temple proper was originally occupied by the city and, to the north of the temple, the royal palace. Like all secular buildings of Angkor, these were built of perishable materials rather than of stone, so nothing remains of them except the outlines of some of the streets. Most of the area is now covered by forest. A 350 m causeway connects the western gopura to the temple proper, with naga balustrades and six sets of steps leading down to the city on either side. Each side also features a library with entrances at each cardinal point, in front of the third set of stairs from the entrance, and a pond between the library and the temple itself. The ponds are later additions to the design, as is the cruciform terrace guarded by lions connecting the causeway to the central structure.
CENTRAL STRUCTURE
The temple stands on a terrace raised higher than the city. It is made of three rectangular galleries rising to a central tower, each level higher than the last. Mannikka interprets these galleries as being dedicated to the king, Brahma, the moon, and Vishnu.
Each gallery has a gopura at each of the points, and the two inner galleries each have towers at their corners, forming a quincunx with the central tower. Because the temple faces west, the features are all set back towards the east, leaving more space to be filled in each enclosure and gallery on the west side; for the same reason the west-facing steps are shallower than those on the other sides.
The outer gallery measures 187 by 215 m, with pavilions rather than towers at the corners. The gallery is open to the outside of the temple, with columned half-galleries extending and buttressing the structure. Connecting the outer gallery to the second enclosure on the west side is a cruciform cloister called Preah Poan (the "Hall of a Thousand Gods"). Buddha images were left in the cloister by pilgrims over the centuries, although most have now been removed. This area has many inscriptions relating the good deeds of pilgrims, most written in Khmer but others in Burmese and Japanese. The four small courtyards marked out by the cloister may originally have been filled with water.
North and south of the cloister are libraries.
Beyond, the second and inner galleries are connected to each other and to two flanking libraries by another cruciform terrace, again a later addition. From the second level upwards, devatas abound on the walls, singly or in groups of up to four. The second-level enclosure is 100 by 115 m, and may originally have been flooded to represent the ocean around Mount Meru.
Three sets of steps on each side lead up to the corner towers and gopuras of the inner gallery. The very steep stairways represent the difficulty of ascending to the kingdom of the gods. This inner gallery, called the Bakan, is a 60 m square with axial galleries connecting each gopura with the central shrine, and subsidiary shrines located below the corner towers. The roofings of the galleries are decorated with the motif of the body of a snake ending in the heads of lions or garudas. Carved lintels and pediments decorate the entrances to the galleries and to the shrines. The tower above the central shrine rises 43 m to a height of 65 m above the ground; unlike those of previous temple mountains, the central tower is raised above the surrounding four. The shrine itself, originally occupied by a statue of Vishnu and open on each side, was walled in when the temple was converted to Theravada Buddhism, the new walls featuring standing Buddhas. In 1934, the conservator George Trouvé excavated the pit beneath the central shrine: filled with sand and water it had already been robbed of its treasure, but he did find a sacred foundation deposit of gold leaf two metres above ground level.
DECORATION
Integrated with the architecture of the building, and one of the causes for its fame is Angkor Wat's extensive decoration, which predominantly takes the form of bas-relief friezes. The inner walls of the outer gallery bear a series of large-scale scenes mainly depicting episodes from the Hindu epics the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. Higham has called these, "the greatest known linear arrangement of stone carving".
From the north-west corner anti-clockwise, the western gallery shows the Battle of Lanka (from the Ramayana, in which Rama defeats Ravana) and the Battle of Kurukshetra (from the Mahabharata, showing the mutual annihilation of the Kaurava and Pandava clans). On the southern gallery follow the only historical scene, a procession of Suryavarman II, then the 32 hells and 37 heavens of Hindu mythology.
On the eastern gallery is one of the most celebrated scenes, the Churning of the Sea of Milk, showing 92 asuras and 88 devas using the serpent Vasuki to churn the sea under Vishnu's direction (Mannikka counts only 91 asuras, and explains the asymmetrical numbers as representing the number of days from the winter solstice to the spring equinox, and from the equinox to the summer solstice). It is followed by Vishnu defeating asuras (a 16th-century addition). The northern gallery shows Krishna's victory over Bana (where according to Glaize, "The workmanship is at its worst"). and a battle between the Hindu gods and asuras. The north-west and south-west corner pavilions both feature much smaller-scale scenes, some unidentified but most from the Ramayana or the life of Krishna. Angkor Wat is decorated with depictions of apsaras and devata; there are more than 1,796 depictions of devata in the present research inventory. Angkor Wat architects employed small apsara images (30–40 cm) as decorative motifs on pillars and walls. They incorporated larger devata images (all full-body portraits measuring approximately 95–110 cm) more prominently at every level of the temple from the entry pavilion to the tops of the high towers. In 1927, Sappho Marchal published a study cataloging the remarkable diversity of their hair, headdresses, garments, stance, jewelry and decorative flowers, which Marchal concluded were based on actual practices of the Angkor period.
CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUES
The stones, as smooth as polished marble, were laid without mortar with very tight joints that are sometimes hard to find. The blocks were held together by mortise and tenon joints in some cases, while in others they used dovetails and gravity. The blocks were presumably put in place by a combination of elephants, coir ropes, pulleys and bamboo scaffolding. Henri Mouhot noted that most of the blocks had holes 2.5 cm in diameter and 3 cm deep, with more holes on the larger blocks. Some scholars have suggested that these were used to join them together with iron rods, but others claim they were used to hold temporary pegs to help manoeuvre them into place. The monument was made out of millions of tonnes of sandstone and it has a greater volume as well as mass than the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt. The Angkor Wat Temple consumes about 6 million to 10 million blocks of sandstone with an average weight of 1.5 tons each. In fact, the entire city of Angkor used up far greater amounts of stone than all the Egyptian pyramids combined, and occupied an area significantly greater than modern-day Paris. Moreover, unlike the Egyptian pyramids which use limestone quarried barely half a km away all the time, the entire city of Angkor was built with sandstone quarried 40 km (or more) away. This sandstone had to be transported from Mount Kulen, a quarry approximately 40 km to the northeast. The route has been suggested to span 35 kilometres along a canal towards Tonlé Sap lake, another 35 kilometres crossing the lake, and finally 15 kilometres upstream and against the current along Siem Reap River, making a total journey of 90 kilometres. However, Etsuo Uchida and Ichita Shimoda of Waseda University in Tokyo, Japan have discovered in 2012 a shorter 35-kilometre canal connecting Mount Kulen and Angkor Wat using satellite imagery. The two believe that the Khmer used this route instead.
Virtually all of its surfaces, columns, lintels even roofs are carved. There are miles of reliefs illustrating scenes from Indian literature including unicorns, griffins, winged dragons pulling chariots as well as warriors following an elephant-mounted leader and celestial dancing girls with elaborate hair styles. The gallery wall alone is decorated with almost 1000 square metres of bas reliefs. Holes on some of the Angkor walls indicate that they may have been decorated with bronze sheets. These were highly prized in ancient times and were a prime target for robbers. While excavating Khajuraho, Alex Evans, a stonemason and sculptor, recreated a stone sculpture under 1.2 m, this took about 60 days to carve. Roger Hopkins and Mark Lehner also conducted experiments to quarry limestone which took 12 quarrymen 22 days to quarry about 400 tons of stone. The labor force to quarry, transport, carve and install so much sandstone must have run into the thousands including many highly skilled artisans. The skills required to carve these sculptures were developed hundreds of years earlier, as demonstrated by some artifacts that have been dated to the seventh century, before the Khmer came to power.
ANGKOR WAT TODAY
The Archaeological Survey of India carried out restoration work on the temple between 1986 and 1992. Since the 1990s, Angkor Wat has seen continued conservation efforts and a massive increase in tourism. The temple is part of the Angkor World Heritage Site, established in 1992, which has provided some funding and has encouraged the Cambodian government to protect the site. The German Apsara Conservation Project (GACP) is working to protect the devatas and other bas-reliefs which decorate the temple from damage. The organisation's survey found that around 20% of the devatas were in very poor condition, mainly because of natural erosion and deterioration of the stone but in part also due to earlier restoration efforts. Other work involves the repair of collapsed sections of the structure, and prevention of further collapse: the west facade of the upper level, for example, has been buttressed by scaffolding since 2002, while a Japanese team completed restoration of the north library of the outer enclosure in 2005. World Monuments Fund began conservation work on the Churning of the Sea of Milk Gallery in 2008 after several years of conditions studies. The project restored the traditional Khmer roofing system and removed cement used in earlier restoration attempts that had resulted in salts entering the structure behind the bas-relief, discoloring and damaging the sculpted surfaces. The main phase of work ended in 2012, and the final component will be the installation of finials on the roof of the gallery in 2013. Microbial biofilms have been found degrading sandstone at Angkor Wat, Preah Khan, and the Bayon and West Prasat in Angkor. The dehydration and radiation resistant filamentous cyanobacteria can produce organic acids that degrade the stone. A dark filamentous fungus was found in internal and external Preah Khan samples, while the alga Trentepohlia was found only in samples taken from external, pink-stained stone at Preah Khan. Angkor Wat has become a major tourist destination. In 2004 and 2005, government figures suggest that, respectively, 561.000 and 677.000 foreign visitors arrived in Siem Reap province, approximately 50% of all foreign tourists in Cambodia for both years. The site has been managed by the private SOKIMEX group since 1990, which rented it from the Cambodian government. The influx of tourists has so far caused relatively little damage, other than some graffiti; ropes and wooden steps have been introduced to protect the bas-reliefs and floors, respectively. Tourism has also provided some additional funds for maintenance - as of 2000 approximately 28% of ticket revenues across the whole Angkor site was spent on the temples - although most work is carried out by foreign government-sponsored teams rather than by the Cambodian authorities. Since Angkor Wat has seen significant growth in tourism throughout the years UNESCO and its International Co-ordinating Committee for the Safeguarding and Development of the Historic Site of Angkor (ICC), in association with representatives from the Royal Government and APSARA, organized seminars to discuss the concept of "cultural tourism". Wanting to avoid commercial and mass tourism, the seminars emphasized the importance of providing high quality accommodation and services in order for the Cambodian government to benefit economically, while also incorporating the richness of Cambodian culture. In 2001, this incentive resulted in the concept of the "Angkor Tourist City" which would be developed with regard to traditional Khmer architecture, contain leisure and tourist facilities, and provide luxurious hotels capable of accommodating large amounts of tourists. The prospect of developing such large tourist accommodations has encountered concerns from both APSARA and the ICC, claiming that previous tourism developments in the area have neglected construction regulations and more of these projects have the potential to damage landscape features. Also, the large scale of these projects have begun to threaten the quality of the nearby town's water, sewage, and electricity systems. It has been noted that such high frequency of tourism and growing demand for quality accommodations in the area, such as the development of a large highway, has had a direct effect on the underground water table, subsequently straining the structural stability of the temples at Angkor Wat. Locals of Siem Reap have also voiced concern over the charming nature and atmosphere of their town being compromised in order to entertain tourism. Since this charming local atmosphere is the key component to projects like Angkor Tourist City, local officials continue to discuss how to successfully incorporate future tourism without sacrificing local values and culture. At the ASEAN Tourism Forum 2012, both parties have agreed Borobudur and Angkor Wat to become sister sites and the provinces will become sister provinces. Two Indonesian airlines are considering the opportunity to open a direct flight from Yogyakarta, Indonesia to Siem Reap.
WIKIPEDIA
Miami is a huge city, the skyscrapers go on and on, they are constantly building more. This view is from the north looking south and only shows a portion of the city. Compared to other major cities in the United States the downtown/uptown area is much larger than most. Only two come to mind that are larger and they would be New York City and Chicago.
"The narrative of New York is a story worth telling. Our rich treasures of history and culture make the Empire State one of the premiere destinations for heritage tourists from around the world." - Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo
On August 28, as part of a bold initiative called "Path Through History" (PTH) Governor Cuomo convened over 200 stewards of history from throughout the state (including 2 from Rye - myself and PTH Task Force Co-Chair, Harold Holzer.) His challenge to all of us? Work together as regions to raise the profile of some of our most eloquent and majestic cultural treasures. From Dutchess County to Niagara, we were grouped by our localities and then asked to brainstorm about how to best increase heritage tourism in our towns.
Our landmark gathering began early in the morning with backstage tours of ongoing capital projects at the Capitol from 8:30 to 10:00am followed by a warm welcome from Mark Schaming, Holzer's fellow Co-Chair of the PTH Task Force and the Director of the NYS Museum.
Little did we know we were already on our own new path through history. Our group was guided through the freshly renovated Hall of Governors with its crisp new timeline of milestones in New York's history. Smartly annotated exhibit cases line the corridor and contain rarely seen parchment documents related to our state's founding and evolution as a great power. Holzer, who is also Senior Vice President of External Affairs of the Metropolitan Museum of Art served as an advisor to this well-curated project. One of Governor Cuomo's first acts in office was to reopen this venue to the public which had been closed off from view since 1995. What a bonanza this is for history and art lovers! Each vaulted space could be a stand-alone museum so rich are these rooms - just the paintings, sculptures and decorative details alone rival any other collection in the world. Of greatest interest to Rye residents? A number of portraits of former governors that were missing from the collection were restored and installed, including a painting of Rye's most famous son and New York's second Governor John Jay (1795 - 1801.)
We lingered appreciatively in the refurbished Red Room and the "War Room" and the Executive Chamber Suite enjoying the brighter colors and newly labeled artifacts. We also got a hard hat tour of the elaborately carved sandstone Senate staircase in the Capitol now undergoing cleaning and restoration. It was fascinating to compare "before and afters" with a tour of the completed 1879 Assembly staircase with its red and gold stenciling and etched skylight.
The day sped by. Our tours were followed by two inspiring talks with brainstorming sessions and a collegial lunch in between. Historian Ken Jackson gave a fabulous opening address expertly demonstrating that the thread of New York's history is very much the same chronology of America's watershed moments (baseball fans have to agree!) He emphasized that we need to make our state's stories vital and fun for today's generations. So much of US history was New York's history first but other sites are doing a better job of promoting theirs. Harold Holzer underscored the theme that NY History is also at the core of America's history - he reminded us that even a young man from Illinois credited the great state of New York with his election victory: US history's trajectory changed after Lincoln delivered a pivotal speech at Cooper Union in Manhattan coupled with an indelibly popular photo of the president-to-be that was taken by New Yorker, Matthew Brady (who would later create one of the greatest pictorial records of the Civil War with his camera.)
Participants yesterday hailed from 10 regions in the State - Western NY, Finger Lakes, Central New York, Southern Tier, Mohawk Valley, Capital Region, North Country, Mid-Hudson, New York City, and Long Island. As President of the Jay Heritage Center, I attended to participate in Mid-Hudson region breakout discussions and advocate inclusion of the National Historic Landmarks on Westchester's historic Long Island Sound. The prevailing buzz from everyone's lips was teamwork and collaboration - all of these very passionate academics, volunteers and educators are eager to meet again and help refine and support this new strategic plan that includes incorporating innovate technology like smart apps and social media into travel itineraries. Governor Cuomo took our positive buzz and turned it into applause with a 1 million dollar announcement that each of the ten regions would receive 100,000 in marketing funds to fuel their creative efforts.
In a concluding reception at the Governor's mansion, we exchanged business cards, Twitter and Facebook accounts and also had the chance to meet and share our ideas with the Governor and members of the PTH Task Force face to face. I made new friends from the USS Slater Destroyer Escort Historical Museum on the Hudson River and we talked about preserving NY's naval history; I loved hearing the directors at Historic Huguenot Street in New Paltz talk about the importance of documenting the histories of families something we are doing as well. I shared ideas about making historic buildings energy efficient with Michael Hall from the Wings of Eagles Discovery Center in Horseheads. And one of my favorite new contacts is Janet Burnet with the Hudson Watershed Alliance - I can't wait to show her our schedule of sustainable landscape programs. I was proud to invite them all to our historic landmarks in Rye and proud that our town has such an incredible resource in Harold Holzer.
If it sounds like something you wish you had been to, don't despair! The Hall of Governors is online at www.hallofgovernors.ny.gov/ and you can hear Harold Holzer speak at the Jay Heritage Center on Sunday October 21 at 3:00pm about "The Image of the Emancipation Proclamation." His talk is free as part of our continuing commemoration of the 150th Anniversary of the Civil War in New York and kicks off an exhibit about the complicated and contradictory story of the Jay Family and their anti-slavery efforts.
Lastly I do urge you to follow NY's Path Through History - make a stop outside Westchester at one of the places I mentioned above. And if you haven't seen us yet, please come to our own historic jewelbox in Rye - the place where the architect of both NY State's Constitution and the NY Gradual Emancipation Act grew up - the place where John Jay chose to celebrate the end of the Revolutionary War on Westchester's historic Long Island Sound. Bring your family and walk the paths he walked with his. Explore the 10,000 year old landscape that shaped a young boy into one of America's greatest jurists and peacemakers. - Suzanne Clary, President, Jay Heritage Center
Postscript - The Jay Estate was added to NY State's Path Through History in 2014 as part of a Civil Rights themed tour. New Yorkers have been proud to be at the forefront of Civil Rights advocacy but the struggle for equality continues to be challenging. Jay's efforts to abolish slavery began in 1777 and culminated in his signing of the Gradual Emancipation Act in 1799 though he himself still enslaved individuals through 1810. His sons Peter Augustus Jay and William Jay continued his work - Peter Augustus argued for voting rights for freed Black Americans but was overruled. Signs installed on the Hutchinson River Parkway and US Route 1 help direct visitors and school groups to our site where they can learn more about our nation's complicated heritage and ongoing struggle for equity.
Photo Credit - Jay Heritage Center Archives
Jay Heritage Center
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The brand new Bettie Page shape from Body Doubles!
I would provide details on the skin, hair, eyes, etc, but you'll have to get the styling card from Body Doubles for that!
I work for RD so I can tell you that the outfit is "Racy RN"
The shoes are mine (Ooh Strappy! Stilettos from Messy) and no longer available.
This is what happens when someone puts together the following:
1929 Bugatti Type 46 Semi-profile Coupe, 1930
Cord L-29 Cabriolet, 1930
Henderson KJ Streamline
1930 Jordan Model Z Speedway Ace Roadster
1933 Pierce-Arrow Silver Arrow Sedan
1934 Model 40 Special Speedster
1934 Packard Twelve Model 1106 Sport Coupe by LeBaron
1934 Voisin Type C27 Aérosport Coupe
1935 Chrysler Imperial Model C-2 Airflow Coupe
1936 Cord 810 "Armchair" Beverly Sedan
1936 Delahaye 135M Figoni & Falaschi Competition Coupe
1936 Stout Scarab
1937 Delahaye 135MS Roadster
1938 Hispano-Suiza H6B Dubonnet “Xenia” Coupe
1938 Talbot-Lago T-150C-SS Teardrop Coupe
1938 Tatra T97
1939 Bugatti Type 57C by Vanvooren
1939 Delage D8-120S Saoutchik Cabriolet
1940 Indian Chief
1941 Chrysler Thunderbolt
Spring is sprung. Boys are excited. Two pairs of tundra swans are entangled in a group fight on Detroit River on their way back to arctic tundra
Torrijo de la Cañada is a town located in the valley of the river Manubles, municipality of Spain, in the province of Zaragoza, Autonomous Community of Aragon. It has an area of 74.6 km² with a population of 231 inhabitants.
History
The history of Torrijo dates back to antiquity when it was known as Termes and as Turriga. Here was an episode told by the historian Apianus and carried out by the proconsul Quinto Pompeyo in 137 BC, within the Celtiberian wars when after defeating Numancia, he went against the city of Termes, where he lost 700 men. According to Christian tradition, in the third century AD, where the parish church rose, Dacianus commanded the slaughter of the saints Felix and Regula, on September 11, 300, who were born in the city of Thebes and belonged to the Legion Tebea. Torrijo was reconquered in the twelfth century by Alfonso I the Battler where it appears with the name of Turrillo. Already in century XIV as all the towns of the eastern zone of the province of Saragossa suffered the consequences of the war of Dos Pedros.
Geography and monuments
The municipal term is crossed by the Manubles, affluent of the river Jalón. It is between Bijuesca and Villalengua, also has another river, called by the locals Carabán, (Carabantes) affluent of the river Manubles.
In its historical architecture stands out its Church of Our Lady of the Hortal with a central tower and arch in the base, Flamigeo, that could be given for being Gothic, and to few meters of this church forming part of the greater place we emphasize the consistorial palace, with The bottom arched in the shape of a market. Where they put their goods with their goods. Ecclesiastically it is included in the Arciprestazgo of the High Jalón.
Crowned the main square by a tower-bridge belonging to the old wall that serves as an access to cross to the other side of the village in Gothic style and made the base of the tower of stone sillar, as the bridge of Torrijo de la Cañada in truth a Magnificent preserved historical ensemble. In the XVI century the height of the tower increases, moment to which belong the two upper floors, decorated with brick windows, characteristic Aragonese renaissance.
The other church that stands out for its tower is the call of San Juan, which is all of sillar stone, emphasizing in its contalamiento and covered several columns and porticos of Renaissance style. In the high streets of the town we can find among remains of ancient corrals the remains of what was a medieval fortress, built in the 14th century, during the Pedros war.
At the top of the summits that crown the valley where the village stands on the Manubles river, we can see a hermitage, from which we can see the whole town, this hermitage is dedicated to Santa Barbara. We can also see a hillside, in which there are more than a hundred old wine cellars. Still image of a wine past. Now used as popular rocks.
All around, are more or less preserved, the typical threshing ages along with hundreds of haystacks of a past also dedicated to the cultivation and treatise of cereal, along with its two factories (in ruins) flour.
We also find the ruins of an old hermitage at the exit of the village towards the neighboring town of Castile Deza, this hermitage raised in honor of Santa Cristina has a Peirón in quite a state of conservation. (We found another Peirón, at the entrance of the town according to Comes from the neighboring Villalengua, dedicated in honor to San Vicente).
Later we enter a green forest for reforestation and in the end at the summit of the highest mountain exceeding 1000 meters we can find a hermitage, raised in honor of the patron saints San Felix and Santa Régula, and a very good view of A splendid setting and the Moncayo.
Passing the Carabán river and part of a mountain of great value of flora and fauna typically Iberian, which opens to give way to a Spanish-Aragonese sub-set, in which we find several ruins of sales, haystacks and warehouses for the grain of a settlement Inhabited well into the twentieth century called Campo Alaves, in which a large hermitage is kept up in honor of the virgin of Campo Alaves. Easter in Torrijo de la Cañada is declared of regional tourist interest.
Torrijo de la Cañada es una población situada en el valle del río Manubles, municipio de España, en la provincia de Zaragoza, Comunidad Autónoma de Aragón. Tiene un área de 74,6 km² con una población de 231 habitantes.
Historia
La historia de Torrijo se remonta a la antigüedad cuando era conocida como Termes y como Turriga. Aquí tuvo lugar un episodio contado por el historiador Apiano y protagonizado por el procónsul Quinto Pompeyo en el año 137 a.C., dentro de las guerras celtíberas cuando después de haber derrotado a Numancia, se dirigió contra la ciudad de Termes, donde perdió 700 hombres. según la tradición cristiana, en el siglo III en el lugar donde se levanta la Iglesia parroquial, fue donde Daciano mandó degollar a los santos Félix y Régula, el 11 de septiembre de 300, que habían nacido en la ciudad de Tebas y pertenecían a la Legión Tebea. Torrijo fue reconquistado en el siglo XII por Alfonso I el Batallador donde aparece con el nombre de Turrillo. Ya en el siglo XIV como todos los pueblos de la zona oriental de la provincia de Zaragoza sufrió las consecuencias de la guerra de los Dos Pedros.
Geografía y monumentos
El término municipal está cruzado por el Manubles, afluente del río Jalón. Está entre Bijuesca y Villalengua, también tiene otro río, llamado por los lugareños Carabán ,(Carabantes) afluente del río Manubles.
En su arquitectura histórica destaca su Iglesia de Nuestra Señora del Hortal con una torre central y arco en la base, Flamigeo, que se podía dar por ser gótico, y a pocos metros de esta iglesia formando parte de la plaza mayor destacamos el palacio consistorial, con la parte inferior arqueada en forma de lonja. Dónde se ponen con sus mercancías los feriantes. Eclesiásticamente está incluido en el Arciprestazgo del Alto Jalón.
Coronada la plaza mayor por un torreón-puente perteneciente a la antigua muralla que sirve de acceso para cruzar al otro lado del pueblo de estilo gótico y hecha la base de la torre de piedra sillar, como el puente de Torrijo de la Cañada en verdad un magnífico conjunto histórico conservado. En el siglo XVI se incrementa la altura de la torre, momento al que pertenecen los dos pisos superiores, decorados con ventanas de ladrillo, características renacimiento aragonés.
La otra iglesia que destaca por su torre es la llamada de San Juan, que es toda de piedra sillar, destacando en su aportalamiento y cubierto varias columnas y pórticos de estilo renacentista. En las calles altas del pueblo podemos encontrar entre restos de antiguos corrales los restos de lo que fue una fortaleza medieval, construida en el siglo XIV, durante la guerra de los Pedros.
En lo alto de las cumbres que coronan el valle donde se asienta el pueblo jalonado por el río Manubles podemos observar una ermita ,desde la cual podemos observar todo el pueblo, esta ermita está dedicada a Santa Bárbara. Podemos observar también una ladera, en la cuál se encuentran más de un centenar de antiguas bodegas.Imagen aún viviente de un pasado vinícola. Ahora usadas como peñas populares.
Todos los alrededores, están más o menos conservadas, las eras típicas de trillar junto a cientos de pajares de un pasado también dedicado al cultivo y tratado del cereal, junto con sus dos fábricas (en ruinas) harineras.
Encontramos también las ruinas de una antigua ermita a la salida del pueblo hacia el vecino pueblo de Castilla Deza, esta ermita levantada en honor a Santa Cristina tiene un Peirón en bastante estado de conservación.(Encontramos otro Peirón, a la entrada del pueblo según se viene de la vecina Villalengua, dedicado en honor a San Vicente).
Más adelante nos adentramos en una verde sierra de repoblación forestal y al final en la cumbre de la montaña más alta superando los 1000 metros podemos encontrar una ermita, levantada en honor a los Santos patronos San Félix y Santa Régula, y unas vistas muy buenas de un entorno espléndido y del Moncayo.3
Pasando el río Carabán y parte de un monte de gran valor de flora y fauna típicamente ibérica, que se abre para dar paso a una submeseta Castellano-Aragonesa, en la cuál encontramos varias ruinas de ventas , pajares y almacenes para el grano de un asentamiento habitado hasta bien entrado el siglo XX llamado Campo Alavés, en el cuál se conserva una ermita grande levantada en honor a la virgen del Campo Alavés. La Semana Santa en Torrijo de la Cañada está declarada de interés turístico regional.
March is Women’s History month, and we want to highlight some of the amazing women here at U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on our social media sites.
Name: Kayt Jonsson
Title: Multimedia Production Specialist
Duty station: USFWS Headquarters
Female Conservation Hero or Mentor: Rachel Carson. She was an amazing communicator who was able to shine a light on the environment that made people care about the things that were happening.
Where did you go to school: Undergrad: Marietta College (Ohio), Graduate: American University (Washington, D.C)
What did you study? I studied Political Science and Radio/Television at Marietta, I have a Master of Fine Arts in Film and Electronic Media from American University
How did you get interested in conservation? My grandfather was an avid outdoorsman - hunting, fishing, camping. Though I didn’t have the opportunity to do those things with him as much as I would have liked, he helped me see the beauty in nature and the outdoors. When I’m at work, I feel a little closer to him, and I think he’d be proud of the work I do.
If you could have one incredible animal adaptation, what would it be? Flying. Absolutely, hands down, I want to be able to jump up and take off. Think of the views!
To totally appreciate this view you have to experience it in person. The Trocadero is located about a half mile from the Eiffel Tower and is about 100 feet above the base of the tower. There is a large plaza between two large buildings (a theater and the Maritime Museum). The plaza is busy all day with vendors selling cheap trinkets for exorbitant prices and street performers trying to earn a living and people just gazing at and photographing the tower.
At dusk the plaza really fills up until the point that there are probably a thousand people or more waiting for the lights to illuminate the tower. Then once per hour the tower puts on a show when thousands of little flash like bulbs twinkle repeatedly. When that begins you hear a collective sigh from the crowd.
This shot was taken from below the plaza at the head of the reflecting pool. The golden dome to the left is Les Invalides which among other things is the burial place for Napoleon. The Carousel was spinning during the shot and looks like a top in this photo, that's on the lower right. You can also see a star in the upper left portion of the sky.
Almost forgot, this one is SOOC, no post of any kind! I love when that happens.
Nikon D90
f 8
3 sec
20mm
tripod
Oulton Park is a great circuit that has yet to be spoilt with run off areas the size of Brighton Beach and, as such, suits historic motor sport down to the ground. Drivers enjoy it as do spectators, who have the freedom to wander and watch almost at will. But it has to be said, today’s racing was boring. Maybe it’s too early in the year, maybe the grids were too small, or maybe the races, one lasting seventy-five minutes, were just too long.
Funnily enough, it was the race with the smallest entry that was the most exciting. Just eight cars started the Old Hall Trophy FF 1600 race but Douglas Crosbie and Samuel Carrington-Yates had a right ding dong battle for second place with neither giving an inch. In the end the two Van Diemans were beaten by the faster Ray GRS09 of Neil Alberico, with Douglas second.
The afternoon began with the Clay Hill Trophy 1970s Celebration Race, an easy win for Russell Paterson in the orange Morgan Plus Eight. The two Porsche 911 RSRs of Mark Bates and Paul Howells followed him home some thirty seconds adrift but it was the sideways Escort RS1800 of Mark Wright that provided a modicum of entertainment. Only eight cars finished.
The Pre-1966 Touring Car Race was jolly good fun with many battles breaking out during the sixty minutes of close encounters. Henry Mann seemed a might surprised to be given the chequered flag in his red Alan Mann Cortina, beating the similar Lotus of David Hall by seven seconds, while the Mustang of Dowd and Cooke went off song and although setting fasted qualifying time struggled to finish third. Further down in the pack, the Nick Smith Mini stormed home fourth leaving ex-F1 driver Roberto Moreno to die a death and retire. Retro-Speed favourites Andy Harrison and Tony Jardine peddled the red peril home to a well-judged thirteenth.
It should have rained for the Knickerbrook Trophy for World Sportscars but it didn’t, so the gaggle of Chevrons fought it out with the lone Lola for overall honours in the dry, depriving the spectators of at least one unpredictable race. That the Minshaws led the field home in their ultra rapid B8 was no big surprise. The same could not be said for the Lyons Lola T70 MK3b that popped and banged its way around the circuit for thirty minutes before eventually finishing well and truly last.
At 16:15 ten Pre-1966 GT cars set of on a seventy-five-minute marathon that had everybody falling asleep. The Mike Whitaker TVR Griffith stormed off into the distance and then slowed to a steady cruise after the Schryver/Hadfield Lotus 26R showed it lacked the consistent pace to mount a challenge. Everyone continued circulating, probably feeling ever lonely and unnecessarily burning fuel, until to everyone’s relief and with darkness in the air, the flag fell. The Marcos 1800GT of Tice and Conoly finished third while the pretty dark blue Diva GT of Aylett and Farrell led the Austin Healey 100/4 home at the tail end.
I came away feeling the Masters Series was jumping the gun. Like the Mille Miglia it needs glamour and sunshine to attract the crowds, both were missing from Oulton Park. For the organisers of this prestigious series of Championship gatherings, surely the season really begins in Barcelona.
Graffiti (plural; singular graffiti or graffito, the latter rarely used except in archeology) is art that is written, painted or drawn on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from simple written words to elaborate wall paintings, and has existed since ancient times, with examples dating back to ancient Egypt, ancient Greece, and the Roman Empire (see also mural).
Graffiti is a controversial subject. In most countries, marking or painting property without permission is considered by property owners and civic authorities as defacement and vandalism, which is a punishable crime, citing the use of graffiti by street gangs to mark territory or to serve as an indicator of gang-related activities. Graffiti has become visualized as a growing urban "problem" for many cities in industrialized nations, spreading from the New York City subway system and Philadelphia in the early 1970s to the rest of the United States and Europe and other world regions
"Graffiti" (usually both singular and plural) and the rare singular form "graffito" are from the Italian word graffiato ("scratched"). The term "graffiti" is used in art history for works of art produced by scratching a design into a surface. A related term is "sgraffito", which involves scratching through one layer of pigment to reveal another beneath it. This technique was primarily used by potters who would glaze their wares and then scratch a design into them. In ancient times graffiti were carved on walls with a sharp object, although sometimes chalk or coal were used. The word originates from Greek γράφειν—graphein—meaning "to write".
The term graffiti originally referred to the inscriptions, figure drawings, and such, found on the walls of ancient sepulchres or ruins, as in the Catacombs of Rome or at Pompeii. Historically, these writings were not considered vanadlism, which today is considered part of the definition of graffiti.
The only known source of the Safaitic language, an ancient form of Arabic, is from graffiti: inscriptions scratched on to the surface of rocks and boulders in the predominantly basalt desert of southern Syria, eastern Jordan and northern Saudi Arabia. Safaitic dates from the first century BC to the fourth century AD.
Some of the oldest cave paintings in the world are 40,000 year old ones found in Australia. The oldest written graffiti was found in ancient Rome around 2500 years ago. Most graffiti from the time was boasts about sexual experiences Graffiti in Ancient Rome was a form of communication, and was not considered vandalism.
Ancient tourists visiting the 5th-century citadel at Sigiriya in Sri Lanka write their names and commentary over the "mirror wall", adding up to over 1800 individual graffiti produced there between the 6th and 18th centuries. Most of the graffiti refer to the frescoes of semi-nude females found there. One reads:
Wet with cool dew drops
fragrant with perfume from the flowers
came the gentle breeze
jasmine and water lily
dance in the spring sunshine
side-long glances
of the golden-hued ladies
stab into my thoughts
heaven itself cannot take my mind
as it has been captivated by one lass
among the five hundred I have seen here.
Among the ancient political graffiti examples were Arab satirist poems. Yazid al-Himyari, an Umayyad Arab and Persian poet, was most known for writing his political poetry on the walls between Sajistan and Basra, manifesting a strong hatred towards the Umayyad regime and its walis, and people used to read and circulate them very widely.
Graffiti, known as Tacherons, were frequently scratched on Romanesque Scandinavian church walls. When Renaissance artists such as Pinturicchio, Raphael, Michelangelo, Ghirlandaio, or Filippino Lippi descended into the ruins of Nero's Domus Aurea, they carved or painted their names and returned to initiate the grottesche style of decoration.
There are also examples of graffiti occurring in American history, such as Independence Rock, a national landmark along the Oregon Trail.
Later, French soldiers carved their names on monuments during the Napoleonic campaign of Egypt in the 1790s. Lord Byron's survives on one of the columns of the Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion in Attica, Greece.
The oldest known example of graffiti "monikers" found on traincars created by hobos and railworkers since the late 1800s. The Bozo Texino monikers were documented by filmmaker Bill Daniel in his 2005 film, Who is Bozo Texino?.
In World War II, an inscription on a wall at the fortress of Verdun was seen as an illustration of the US response twice in a generation to the wrongs of the Old World:
During World War II and for decades after, the phrase "Kilroy was here" with an accompanying illustration was widespread throughout the world, due to its use by American troops and ultimately filtering into American popular culture. Shortly after the death of Charlie Parker (nicknamed "Yardbird" or "Bird"), graffiti began appearing around New York with the words "Bird Lives".
Modern graffiti art has its origins with young people in 1960s and 70s in New York City and Philadelphia. Tags were the first form of stylised contemporary graffiti. Eventually, throw-ups and pieces evolved with the desire to create larger art. Writers used spray paint and other kind of materials to leave tags or to create images on the sides subway trains. and eventually moved into the city after the NYC metro began to buy new trains and paint over graffiti.
While the art had many advocates and appreciators—including the cultural critic Norman Mailer—others, including New York City mayor Ed Koch, considered it to be defacement of public property, and saw it as a form of public blight. The ‘taggers’ called what they did ‘writing’—though an important 1974 essay by Mailer referred to it using the term ‘graffiti.’
Contemporary graffiti style has been heavily influenced by hip hop culture and the myriad international styles derived from Philadelphia and New York City Subway graffiti; however, there are many other traditions of notable graffiti in the twentieth century. Graffiti have long appeared on building walls, in latrines, railroad boxcars, subways, and bridges.
An early graffito outside of New York or Philadelphia was the inscription in London reading "Clapton is God" in reference to the guitarist Eric Clapton. Creating the cult of the guitar hero, the phrase was spray-painted by an admirer on a wall in an Islington, north London in the autumn of 1967. The graffito was captured in a photograph, in which a dog is urinating on the wall.
Films like Style Wars in the 80s depicting famous writers such as Skeme, Dondi, MinOne, and ZEPHYR reinforced graffiti's role within New York's emerging hip-hop culture. Although many officers of the New York City Police Department found this film to be controversial, Style Wars is still recognized as the most prolific film representation of what was going on within the young hip hop culture of the early 1980s. Fab 5 Freddy and Futura 2000 took hip hop graffiti to Paris and London as part of the New York City Rap Tour in 1983
Commercialization and entrance into mainstream pop culture
Main article: Commercial graffiti
With the popularity and legitimization of graffiti has come a level of commercialization. In 2001, computer giant IBM launched an advertising campaign in Chicago and San Francisco which involved people spray painting on sidewalks a peace symbol, a heart, and a penguin (Linux mascot), to represent "Peace, Love, and Linux." IBM paid Chicago and San Francisco collectively US$120,000 for punitive damages and clean-up costs.
In 2005, a similar ad campaign was launched by Sony and executed by its advertising agency in New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and Miami, to market its handheld PSP gaming system. In this campaign, taking notice of the legal problems of the IBM campaign, Sony paid building owners for the rights to paint on their buildings "a collection of dizzy-eyed urban kids playing with the PSP as if it were a skateboard, a paddle, or a rocking horse".
Tristan Manco wrote that Brazil "boasts a unique and particularly rich, graffiti scene ... [earning] it an international reputation as the place to go for artistic inspiration". Graffiti "flourishes in every conceivable space in Brazil's cities". Artistic parallels "are often drawn between the energy of São Paulo today and 1970s New York". The "sprawling metropolis", of São Paulo has "become the new shrine to graffiti"; Manco alludes to "poverty and unemployment ... [and] the epic struggles and conditions of the country's marginalised peoples", and to "Brazil's chronic poverty", as the main engines that "have fuelled a vibrant graffiti culture". In world terms, Brazil has "one of the most uneven distributions of income. Laws and taxes change frequently". Such factors, Manco argues, contribute to a very fluid society, riven with those economic divisions and social tensions that underpin and feed the "folkloric vandalism and an urban sport for the disenfranchised", that is South American graffiti art.
Prominent Brazilian writers include Os Gêmeos, Boleta, Nunca, Nina, Speto, Tikka, and T.Freak. Their artistic success and involvement in commercial design ventures has highlighted divisions within the Brazilian graffiti community between adherents of the cruder transgressive form of pichação and the more conventionally artistic values of the practitioners of grafite.
Graffiti in the Middle East has emerged slowly, with taggers operating in Egypt, Lebanon, the Gulf countries like Bahrain or the United Arab Emirates, Israel, and in Iran. The major Iranian newspaper Hamshahri has published two articles on illegal writers in the city with photographic coverage of Iranian artist A1one's works on Tehran walls. Tokyo-based design magazine, PingMag, has interviewed A1one and featured photographs of his work. The Israeli West Bank barrier has become a site for graffiti, reminiscent in this sense of the Berlin Wall. Many writers in Israel come from other places around the globe, such as JUIF from Los Angeles and DEVIONE from London. The religious reference "נ נח נחמ נחמן מאומן" ("Na Nach Nachma Nachman Meuman") is commonly seen in graffiti around Israel.
Graffiti has played an important role within the street art scene in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), especially following the events of the Arab Spring of 2011 or the Sudanese Revolution of 2018/19. Graffiti is a tool of expression in the context of conflict in the region, allowing people to raise their voices politically and socially. Famous street artist Banksy has had an important effect in the street art scene in the MENA area, especially in Palestine where some of his works are located in the West Bank barrier and Bethlehem.
There are also a large number of graffiti influences in Southeast Asian countries that mostly come from modern Western culture, such as Malaysia, where graffiti have long been a common sight in Malaysia's capital city, Kuala Lumpur. Since 2010, the country has begun hosting a street festival to encourage all generations and people from all walks of life to enjoy and encourage Malaysian street culture.
The modern-day graffitists can be found with an arsenal of various materials that allow for a successful production of a piece. This includes such techniques as scribing. However, spray paint in aerosol cans is the number one medium for graffiti. From this commodity comes different styles, technique, and abilities to form master works of graffiti. Spray paint can be found at hardware and art stores and comes in virtually every color.
Stencil graffiti is created by cutting out shapes and designs in a stiff material (such as cardboard or subject folders) to form an overall design or image. The stencil is then placed on the "canvas" gently and with quick, easy strokes of the aerosol can, the image begins to appear on the intended surface.
Some of the first examples were created in 1981 by artists Blek le Rat in Paris, in 1982 by Jef Aerosol in Tours (France); by 1985 stencils had appeared in other cities including New York City, Sydney, and Melbourne, where they were documented by American photographer Charles Gatewood and Australian photographer Rennie Ellis
Tagging is the practice of someone spray-painting "their name, initial or logo onto a public surface" in a handstyle unique to the writer. Tags were the first form of modern graffiti.
Modern graffiti art often incorporates additional arts and technologies. For example, Graffiti Research Lab has encouraged the use of projected images and magnetic light-emitting diodes (throwies) as new media for graffitists. yarnbombing is another recent form of graffiti. Yarnbombers occasionally target previous graffiti for modification, which had been avoided among the majority of graffitists.
Theories on the use of graffiti by avant-garde artists have a history dating back at least to the Asger Jorn, who in 1962 painting declared in a graffiti-like gesture "the avant-garde won't give up"
Many contemporary analysts and even art critics have begun to see artistic value in some graffiti and to recognize it as a form of public art. According to many art researchers, particularly in the Netherlands and in Los Angeles, that type of public art is, in fact an effective tool of social emancipation or, in the achievement of a political goal
In times of conflict, such murals have offered a means of communication and self-expression for members of these socially, ethnically, or racially divided communities, and have proven themselves as effective tools in establishing dialog and thus, of addressing cleavages in the long run. The Berlin Wall was also extensively covered by graffiti reflecting social pressures relating to the oppressive Soviet rule over the GDR.
Many artists involved with graffiti are also concerned with the similar activity of stenciling. Essentially, this entails stenciling a print of one or more colors using spray-paint. Recognized while exhibiting and publishing several of her coloured stencils and paintings portraying the Sri Lankan Civil War and urban Britain in the early 2000s, graffitists Mathangi Arulpragasam, aka M.I.A., has also become known for integrating her imagery of political violence into her music videos for singles "Galang" and "Bucky Done Gun", and her cover art. Stickers of her artwork also often appear around places such as London in Brick Lane, stuck to lamp posts and street signs, she having become a muse for other graffitists and painters worldwide in cities including Seville.
Graffitist believes that art should be on display for everyone in the public eye or in plain sight, not hidden away in a museum or a gallery. Art should color the streets, not the inside of some building. Graffiti is a form of art that cannot be owned or bought. It does not last forever, it is temporary, yet one of a kind. It is a form of self promotion for the artist that can be displayed anywhere form sidewalks, roofs, subways, building wall, etc. Art to them is for everyone and should be showed to everyone for free.
Graffiti is a way of communicating and a way of expressing what one feels in the moment. It is both art and a functional thing that can warn people of something or inform people of something. However, graffiti is to some people a form of art, but to some a form of vandalism. And many graffitists choose to protect their identities and remain anonymous or to hinder prosecution.
With the commercialization of graffiti (and hip hop in general), in most cases, even with legally painted "graffiti" art, graffitists tend to choose anonymity. This may be attributed to various reasons or a combination of reasons. Graffiti still remains the one of four hip hop elements that is not considered "performance art" despite the image of the "singing and dancing star" that sells hip hop culture to the mainstream. Being a graphic form of art, it might also be said that many graffitists still fall in the category of the introverted archetypal artist.
Banksy is one of the world's most notorious and popular street artists who continues to remain faceless in today's society. He is known for his political, anti-war stencil art mainly in Bristol, England, but his work may be seen anywhere from Los Angeles to Palestine. In the UK, Banksy is the most recognizable icon for this cultural artistic movement and keeps his identity a secret to avoid arrest. Much of Banksy's artwork may be seen around the streets of London and surrounding suburbs, although he has painted pictures throughout the world, including the Middle East, where he has painted on Israel's controversial West Bank barrier with satirical images of life on the other side. One depicted a hole in the wall with an idyllic beach, while another shows a mountain landscape on the other side. A number of exhibitions also have taken place since 2000, and recent works of art have fetched vast sums of money. Banksy's art is a prime example of the classic controversy: vandalism vs. art. Art supporters endorse his work distributed in urban areas as pieces of art and some councils, such as Bristol and Islington, have officially protected them, while officials of other areas have deemed his work to be vandalism and have removed it.
Pixnit is another artist who chooses to keep her identity from the general public. Her work focuses on beauty and design aspects of graffiti as opposed to Banksy's anti-government shock value. Her paintings are often of flower designs above shops and stores in her local urban area of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Some store owners endorse her work and encourage others to do similar work as well. "One of the pieces was left up above Steve's Kitchen, because it looks pretty awesome"- Erin Scott, the manager of New England Comics in Allston, Massachusetts.
Graffiti artists may become offended if photographs of their art are published in a commercial context without their permission. In March 2020, the Finnish graffiti artist Psyke expressed his displeasure at the newspaper Ilta-Sanomat publishing a photograph of a Peugeot 208 in an article about new cars, with his graffiti prominently shown on the background. The artist claims he does not want his art being used in commercial context, not even if he were to receive compensation.
Territorial graffiti marks urban neighborhoods with tags and logos to differentiate certain groups from others. These images are meant to show outsiders a stern look at whose turf is whose. The subject matter of gang-related graffiti consists of cryptic symbols and initials strictly fashioned with unique calligraphies. Gang members use graffiti to designate membership throughout the gang, to differentiate rivals and associates and, most commonly, to mark borders which are both territorial and ideological.
Graffiti has been used as a means of advertising both legally and illegally. Bronx-based TATS CRU has made a name for themselves doing legal advertising campaigns for companies such as Coca-Cola, McDonald's, Toyota, and MTV. In the UK, Covent Garden's Boxfresh used stencil images of a Zapatista revolutionary in the hopes that cross referencing would promote their store.
Smirnoff hired artists to use reverse graffiti (the use of high pressure hoses to clean dirty surfaces to leave a clean image in the surrounding dirt) to increase awareness of their product.
Graffiti often has a reputation as part of a subculture that rebels against authority, although the considerations of the practitioners often diverge and can relate to a wide range of attitudes. It can express a political practice and can form just one tool in an array of resistance techniques. One early example includes the anarcho-punk band Crass, who conducted a campaign of stenciling anti-war, anarchist, feminist, and anti-consumerist messages throughout the London Underground system during the late 1970s and early 1980s. In Amsterdam graffiti was a major part of the punk scene. The city was covered with names such as "De Zoot", "Vendex", and "Dr Rat". To document the graffiti a punk magazine was started that was called Gallery Anus. So when hip hop came to Europe in the early 1980s there was already a vibrant graffiti culture.
The student protests and general strike of May 1968 saw Paris bedecked in revolutionary, anarchistic, and situationist slogans such as L'ennui est contre-révolutionnaire ("Boredom is counterrevolutionary") and Lisez moins, vivez plus ("Read less, live more"). While not exhaustive, the graffiti gave a sense of the 'millenarian' and rebellious spirit, tempered with a good deal of verbal wit, of the strikers.
I think graffiti writing is a way of defining what our generation is like. Excuse the French, we're not a bunch of p---- artists. Traditionally artists have been considered soft and mellow people, a little bit kooky. Maybe we're a little bit more like pirates that way. We defend our territory, whatever space we steal to paint on, we defend it fiercely.
The developments of graffiti art which took place in art galleries and colleges as well as "on the street" or "underground", contributed to the resurfacing in the 1990s of a far more overtly politicized art form in the subvertising, culture jamming, or tactical media movements. These movements or styles tend to classify the artists by their relationship to their social and economic contexts, since, in most countries, graffiti art remains illegal in many forms except when using non-permanent paint. Since the 1990s with the rise of Street Art, a growing number of artists are switching to non-permanent paints and non-traditional forms of painting.
Contemporary practitioners, accordingly, have varied and often conflicting practices. Some individuals, such as Alexander Brener, have used the medium to politicize other art forms, and have used the prison sentences enforced on them as a means of further protest. The practices of anonymous groups and individuals also vary widely, and practitioners by no means always agree with each other's practices. For example, the anti-capitalist art group the Space Hijackers did a piece in 2004 about the contradiction between the capitalistic elements of Banksy and his use of political imagery.
Berlin human rights activist Irmela Mensah-Schramm has received global media attention and numerous awards for her 35-year campaign of effacing neo-Nazi and other right-wing extremist graffiti throughout Germany, often by altering hate speech in humorous ways.
In Serbian capital, Belgrade, the graffiti depicting a uniformed former general of Serb army and war criminal, convicted at ICTY for war crimes and crimes against humanity, including genocide and ethnic cleansing in Bosnian War, Ratko Mladić, appeared in a military salute alongside the words "General, thank to your mother". Aleks Eror, Berlin-based journalist, explains how "veneration of historical and wartime figures" through street art is not a new phenomenon in the region of former Yugoslavia, and that "in most cases is firmly focused on the future, rather than retelling the past". Eror is not only analyst pointing to danger of such an expressions for the region's future. In a long expose on the subject of Bosnian genocide denial, at Balkan Diskurs magazine and multimedia platform website, Kristina Gadže and Taylor Whitsell referred to these experiences as a young generations' "cultural heritage", in which young are being exposed to celebration and affirmation of war-criminals as part of their "formal education" and "inheritance".
There are numerous examples of genocide denial through celebration and affirmation of war criminals throughout the region of Western Balkans inhabited by Serbs using this form of artistic expression. Several more of these graffiti are found in Serbian capital, and many more across Serbia and Bosnian and Herzegovinian administrative entity, Republika Srpska, which is the ethnic Serbian majority enclave. Critics point that Serbia as a state, is willing to defend the mural of convicted war criminal, and have no intention to react on cases of genocide denial, noting that Interior Minister of Serbia, Aleksandar Vulin decision to ban any gathering with an intent to remove the mural, with the deployment of riot police, sends the message of "tacit endorsement". Consequently, on 9 November 2021, Serbian heavy police in riot gear, with graffiti creators and their supporters, blocked the access to the mural to prevent human rights groups and other activists to paint over it and mark the International Day Against Fascism and Antisemitism in that way, and even arrested two civic activist for throwing eggs at the graffiti.
Graffiti may also be used as an offensive expression. This form of graffiti may be difficult to identify, as it is mostly removed by the local authority (as councils which have adopted strategies of criminalization also strive to remove graffiti quickly). Therefore, existing racist graffiti is mostly more subtle and at first sight, not easily recognized as "racist". It can then be understood only if one knows the relevant "local code" (social, historical, political, temporal, and spatial), which is seen as heteroglot and thus a 'unique set of conditions' in a cultural context.
A spatial code for example, could be that there is a certain youth group in an area that is engaging heavily in racist activities. So, for residents (knowing the local code), a graffiti containing only the name or abbreviation of this gang already is a racist expression, reminding the offended people of their gang activities. Also a graffiti is in most cases, the herald of more serious criminal activity to come. A person who does not know these gang activities would not be able to recognize the meaning of this graffiti. Also if a tag of this youth group or gang is placed on a building occupied by asylum seekers, for example, its racist character is even stronger.
By making the graffiti less explicit (as adapted to social and legal constraints), these drawings are less likely to be removed, but do not lose their threatening and offensive character.
Elsewhere, activists in Russia have used painted caricatures of local officials with their mouths as potholes, to show their anger about the poor state of the roads. In Manchester, England, a graffitists painted obscene images around potholes, which often resulted in them being repaired within 48 hours.
In the early 1980s, the first art galleries to show graffitists to the public were Fashion Moda in the Bronx, Now Gallery and Fun Gallery, both in the East Village, Manhattan.
A 2006 exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum displayed graffiti as an art form that began in New York's outer boroughs and reached great heights in the early 1980s with the work of Crash, Lee, Daze, Keith Haring, and Jean-Michel Basquiat. It displayed 22 works by New York graffitists, including Crash, Daze, and Lady Pink. In an article about the exhibition in the magazine Time Out, curator Charlotta Kotik said that she hoped the exhibition would cause viewers to rethink their assumptions about graffiti.
From the 1970s onwards, Burhan Doğançay photographed urban walls all over the world; these he then archived for use as sources of inspiration for his painterly works. The project today known as "Walls of the World" grew beyond even his own expectations and comprises about 30,000 individual images. It spans a period of 40 years across five continents and 114 countries. In 1982, photographs from this project comprised a one-man exhibition titled "Les murs murmurent, ils crient, ils chantent ..." (The walls whisper, shout and sing ...) at the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris.
In Australia, art historians have judged some local graffiti of sufficient creative merit to rank them firmly within the arts. Oxford University Press's art history text Australian Painting 1788–2000 concludes with a long discussion of graffiti's key place within contemporary visual culture, including the work of several Australian practitioners.
Between March and April 2009, 150 artists exhibited 300 pieces of graffiti at the Grand Palais in Paris.
Spray paint has many negative environmental effects. The paint contains toxic chemicals, and the can uses volatile hydrocarbon gases to spray the paint onto a surface.
Volatile organic compound (VOC) leads to ground level ozone formation and most of graffiti related emissions are VOCs. A 2010 paper estimates 4,862 tons of VOCs were released in the United States in activities related to graffiti.
In China, Mao Zedong in the 1920s used revolutionary slogans and paintings in public places to galvanize the country's communist movement.
Based on different national conditions, many people believe that China's attitude towards Graffiti is fierce, but in fact, according to Lance Crayon in his film Spray Paint Beijing: Graffiti in the Capital of China, Graffiti is generally accepted in Beijing, with artists not seeing much police interference. Political and religiously sensitive graffiti, however, is not allowed.
In Hong Kong, Tsang Tsou Choi was known as the King of Kowloon for his calligraphy graffiti over many years, in which he claimed ownership of the area. Now some of his work is preserved officially.
In Taiwan, the government has made some concessions to graffitists. Since 2005 they have been allowed to freely display their work along some sections of riverside retaining walls in designated "Graffiti Zones". From 2007, Taipei's department of cultural affairs also began permitting graffiti on fences around major public construction sites. Department head Yong-ping Lee (李永萍) stated, "We will promote graffiti starting with the public sector, and then later in the private sector too. It's our goal to beautify the city with graffiti". The government later helped organize a graffiti contest in Ximending, a popular shopping district. graffitists caught working outside of these designated areas still face fines up to NT$6,000 under a department of environmental protection regulation. However, Taiwanese authorities can be relatively lenient, one veteran police officer stating anonymously, "Unless someone complains about vandalism, we won't get involved. We don't go after it proactively."
In 1993, after several expensive cars in Singapore were spray-painted, the police arrested a student from the Singapore American School, Michael P. Fay, questioned him, and subsequently charged him with vandalism. Fay pleaded guilty to vandalizing a car in addition to stealing road signs. Under the 1966 Vandalism Act of Singapore, originally passed to curb the spread of communist graffiti in Singapore, the court sentenced him to four months in jail, a fine of S$3,500 (US$2,233), and a caning. The New York Times ran several editorials and op-eds that condemned the punishment and called on the American public to flood the Singaporean embassy with protests. Although the Singapore government received many calls for clemency, Fay's caning took place in Singapore on 5 May 1994. Fay had originally received a sentence of six strokes of the cane, but the presiding president of Singapore, Ong Teng Cheong, agreed to reduce his caning sentence to four lashes.
In South Korea, Park Jung-soo was fined two million South Korean won by the Seoul Central District Court for spray-painting a rat on posters of the G-20 Summit a few days before the event in November 2011. Park alleged that the initial in "G-20" sounds like the Korean word for "rat", but Korean government prosecutors alleged that Park was making a derogatory statement about the president of South Korea, Lee Myung-bak, the host of the summit. This case led to public outcry and debate on the lack of government tolerance and in support of freedom of expression. The court ruled that the painting, "an ominous creature like a rat" amounts to "an organized criminal activity" and upheld the fine while denying the prosecution's request for imprisonment for Park.
In Europe, community cleaning squads have responded to graffiti, in some cases with reckless abandon, as when in 1992 in France a local Scout group, attempting to remove modern graffiti, damaged two prehistoric paintings of bison in the Cave of Mayrière supérieure near the French village of Bruniquel in Tarn-et-Garonne, earning them the 1992 Ig Nobel Prize in archeology.
In September 2006, the European Parliament directed the European Commission to create urban environment policies to prevent and eliminate dirt, litter, graffiti, animal excrement, and excessive noise from domestic and vehicular music systems in European cities, along with other concerns over urban life.
In Budapest, Hungary, both a city-backed movement called I Love Budapest and a special police division tackle the problem, including the provision of approved areas.
The Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003 became Britain's latest anti-graffiti legislation. In August 2004, the Keep Britain Tidy campaign issued a press release calling for zero tolerance of graffiti and supporting proposals such as issuing "on the spot" fines to graffiti offenders and banning the sale of aerosol paint to anyone under the age of 16. The press release also condemned the use of graffiti images in advertising and in music videos, arguing that real-world experience of graffiti stood far removed from its often-portrayed "cool" or "edgy'" image.
To back the campaign, 123 Members of Parliament (MPs) (including then Prime Minister Tony Blair), signed a charter which stated: "Graffiti is not art, it's crime. On behalf of my constituents, I will do all I can to rid our community of this problem."
In the UK, city councils have the power to take action against the owner of any property that has been defaced under the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003 (as amended by the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005) or, in certain cases, the Highways Act. This is often used against owners of property that are complacent in allowing protective boards to be defaced so long as the property is not damaged.
In July 2008, a conspiracy charge was used to convict graffitists for the first time. After a three-month police surveillance operation, nine members of the DPM crew were convicted of conspiracy to commit criminal damage costing at least £1 million. Five of them received prison sentences, ranging from eighteen months to two years. The unprecedented scale of the investigation and the severity of the sentences rekindled public debate over whether graffiti should be considered art or crime.
Some councils, like those of Stroud and Loerrach, provide approved areas in the town where graffitists can showcase their talents, including underpasses, car parks, and walls that might otherwise prove a target for the "spray and run".
Graffiti Tunnel, University of Sydney at Camperdown (2009)
In an effort to reduce vandalism, many cities in Australia have designated walls or areas exclusively for use by graffitists. One early example is the "Graffiti Tunnel" located at the Camperdown Campus of the University of Sydney, which is available for use by any student at the university to tag, advertise, poster, and paint. Advocates of this idea suggest that this discourages petty vandalism yet encourages artists to take their time and produce great art, without worry of being caught or arrested for vandalism or trespassing.[108][109] Others disagree with this approach, arguing that the presence of legal graffiti walls does not demonstrably reduce illegal graffiti elsewhere. Some local government areas throughout Australia have introduced "anti-graffiti squads", who clean graffiti in the area, and such crews as BCW (Buffers Can't Win) have taken steps to keep one step ahead of local graffiti cleaners.
Many state governments have banned the sale or possession of spray paint to those under the age of 18 (age of majority). However, a number of local governments in Victoria have taken steps to recognize the cultural heritage value of some examples of graffiti, such as prominent political graffiti. Tough new graffiti laws have been introduced in Australia with fines of up to A$26,000 and two years in prison.
Melbourne is a prominent graffiti city of Australia with many of its lanes being tourist attractions, such as Hosier Lane in particular, a popular destination for photographers, wedding photography, and backdrops for corporate print advertising. The Lonely Planet travel guide cites Melbourne's street as a major attraction. All forms of graffiti, including sticker art, poster, stencil art, and wheatpasting, can be found in many places throughout the city. Prominent street art precincts include; Fitzroy, Collingwood, Northcote, Brunswick, St. Kilda, and the CBD, where stencil and sticker art is prominent. As one moves farther away from the city, mostly along suburban train lines, graffiti tags become more prominent. Many international artists such as Banksy have left their work in Melbourne and in early 2008 a perspex screen was installed to prevent a Banksy stencil art piece from being destroyed, it has survived since 2003 through the respect of local street artists avoiding posting over it, although it has recently had paint tipped over it.
In February 2008 Helen Clark, the New Zealand prime minister at that time, announced a government crackdown on tagging and other forms of graffiti vandalism, describing it as a destructive crime representing an invasion of public and private property. New legislation subsequently adopted included a ban on the sale of paint spray cans to persons under 18 and increases in maximum fines for the offence from NZ$200 to NZ$2,000 or extended community service. The issue of tagging become a widely debated one following an incident in Auckland during January 2008 in which a middle-aged property owner stabbed one of two teenage taggers to death and was subsequently convicted of manslaughter.
Graffiti databases have increased in the past decade because they allow vandalism incidents to be fully documented against an offender and help the police and prosecution charge and prosecute offenders for multiple counts of vandalism. They also provide law enforcement the ability to rapidly search for an offender's moniker or tag in a simple, effective, and comprehensive way. These systems can also help track costs of damage to a city to help allocate an anti-graffiti budget. The theory is that when an offender is caught putting up graffiti, they are not just charged with one count of vandalism; they can be held accountable for all the other damage for which they are responsible. This has two main benefits for law enforcement. One, it sends a signal to the offenders that their vandalism is being tracked. Two, a city can seek restitution from offenders for all the damage that they have committed, not merely a single incident. These systems give law enforcement personnel real-time, street-level intelligence that allows them not only to focus on the worst graffiti offenders and their damage, but also to monitor potential gang violence that is associated with the graffiti.
Many restrictions of civil gang injunctions are designed to help address and protect the physical environment and limit graffiti. Provisions of gang injunctions include things such as restricting the possession of marker pens, spray paint cans, or other sharp objects capable of defacing private or public property; spray painting, or marking with marker pens, scratching, applying stickers, or otherwise applying graffiti on any public or private property, including, but not limited to the street, alley, residences, block walls, and fences, vehicles or any other real or personal property. Some injunctions contain wording that restricts damaging or vandalizing both public and private property, including but not limited to any vehicle, light fixture, door, fence, wall, gate, window, building, street sign, utility box, telephone box, tree, or power pole.
To help address many of these issues, many local jurisdictions have set up graffiti abatement hotlines, where citizens can call in and report vandalism and have it removed. San Diego's hotline receives more than 5,000 calls per year, in addition to reporting the graffiti, callers can learn more about prevention. One of the complaints about these hotlines is the response time; there is often a lag time between a property owner calling about the graffiti and its removal. The length of delay should be a consideration for any jurisdiction planning on operating a hotline. Local jurisdictions must convince the callers that their complaint of vandalism will be a priority and cleaned off right away. If the jurisdiction does not have the resources to respond to complaints in a timely manner, the value of the hotline diminishes. Crews must be able to respond to individual service calls made to the graffiti hotline as well as focus on cleanup near schools, parks, and major intersections and transit routes to have the biggest impact. Some cities offer a reward for information leading to the arrest and prosecution of suspects for tagging or graffiti related vandalism. The amount of the reward is based on the information provided, and the action taken.
When police obtain search warrants in connection with a vandalism investigation, they are often seeking judicial approval to look for items such as cans of spray paint and nozzles from other kinds of aerosol sprays; etching tools, or other sharp or pointed objects, which could be used to etch or scratch glass and other hard surfaces; permanent marking pens, markers, or paint sticks; evidence of membership or affiliation with any gang or tagging crew; paraphernalia including any reference to "(tagger's name)"; any drawings, writing, objects, or graffiti depicting taggers' names, initials, logos, monikers, slogans, or any mention of tagging crew membership; and any newspaper clippings relating to graffiti crime.
Who is our neighbor? Whoever he/she is, we need to help him/her.
There is prostitution in every part of the world. And chances are there is human trafficking behind it. Government officials and cops are often bribed so few people know that this evil things happen in our areas.
Please help the women and teens who are forced to be sex slaves whenever you can or pray for them. Thank you and God bless you.
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Luke 10
The Good Samaritan
25 An expert in the Law of Moses stood up and asked Jesus a question to see what he would say. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to have eternal life?”
26 Jesus answered, “What is written in the Scriptures? How do you understand them?”
27 The man replied, “The Scriptures say, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind.’ They also say, ‘Love your neighbors as much as you love yourself.’”
28 Jesus said, “You have given the right answer. If you do this, you will have eternal life.”
29 But the man wanted to show that he knew what he was talking about. So he asked Jesus, “Who are my neighbors?”
30 Jesus replied:
As a man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, robbers attacked him and grabbed everything he had. They beat him up and ran off, leaving him half dead.
31 A priest happened to be going down the same road. But when he saw the man, he walked by on the other side. 32 Later a temple helper[i] came to the same place. But when he saw the man who had been beaten up, he also went by on the other side.
33 A man from Samaria then came traveling along that road. When he saw the man, he felt sorry for him 34 and went over to him. He treated his wounds with olive oil and wine[j] and bandaged them. Then he put him on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. 35 The next morning he gave the innkeeper two silver coins and said, “Please take care of the man. If you spend more than this on him, I will pay you when I return.”
36 Then Jesus asked, “Which one of these three people was a real neighbor to the man who was beaten up by robbers?”
37 The teacher answered, “The one who showed pity.”
Jesus said, “Go and do the same!”
White-bellied Sea Eagle
The white-bellied sea eagle (Haliaeetus leucogaster), also known as the white-breasted sea eagle, is a large diurnal bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. Originally described by Johann Friedrich Gmelin in 1788, it is closely related to Sanford's sea eagle of the Solomon Islands, and the two are considered a superspecies. A distinctive bird, the adult white-bellied sea eagle has a white head, breast, under-wing coverts and tail. The upper parts are grey and the black under-wing flight feathers contrast with the white coverts. The tail is short and wedge-shaped as in all Haliaeetus species. Like many raptors, the female is slightly larger than the male, and can measure up to 90 cm (35 in) long with a wingspan of up to 2.2 m (7.2 ft), and weigh 4.5 kg (9.9 lb). Immature birds have brown plumage, which is gradually replaced by white until the age of five or six years. The call is a loud goose-like honking.
Resident from India and Sri Lanka through Southeast Asia to Australia on coasts and major waterways, the white-bellied sea eagle breeds and hunts near water, and fish form around half of its diet. Opportunistic, it consumes carrion and a wide variety of animals. Although rated as Least Concern globally, it has declined in parts of southeast Asia such as Thailand, and southeastern Australia. It is ranked as Threatened in Victoria and Vulnerable in South Australia and Tasmania. Human disturbance to its habitat is the main threat, both from direct human activity near nests which impacts on breeding success, and from removal of suitable trees for nesting. The white-bellied sea eagle is revered by indigenous people in many parts of Australia, and is the subject of various folk tales throughout its range.
The white-bellied sea eagle has a white head, rump and underparts, and dark or slate-grey back and wings. In flight, the black flight feathers on the wings are easily seen when the bird is viewed from below. The large, hooked bill is a leaden blue-grey with a darker tip, and the irides are dark brown. The cere is also lead grey. The legs and feet are yellow or grey, with long black talons (claws). Unlike those of eagles of the genus Aquila, the legs are not feathered. The sexes are similar. Males are 66–80 cm (26–31 in) long and weigh 1.8–3 kg (4.0–6.6 lb). Females are slightly larger, at 80–90 cm (31–35 in) and 2.5–4.5 kg (5.5–9.9 lb). The wingspan ranges from 1.78 to 2.2 m (5.8 to 7.2 ft). A 2004 study on 37 birds from Australia and Papua New Guinea (3 °S to 50 °S) found that birds could be sexed reliably on size, and that birds from latitudes further south were larger than those from the north. There is no seasonal variation in plumage. The moulting pattern of the white-bellied sea eagle is poorly known. It appears to take longer than a year to complete, and can be interrupted and later resumed from the point of interruption.
The wings are modified when gliding so that they rise from the body at an angle, but are closer to horizontal further along the wingspan. In silhouette, the comparatively long neck, head and beak stick out from the front almost as far as the tail does behind. For active flight, the white-bellied sea eagle alternates strong deep wing-beats with short periods of gliding.
A young white-bellied sea eagle in its first year is predominantly brown, with pale cream-streaked plumage on their head, neck, nape and rump areas. The plumage becomes more infiltrated with white until it acquires the complete adult plumage by the fourth or fifth year. The species breeds from around six years of age onwards. The lifespan is thought to be around 30 years.
The loud goose-like honking call is a familiar sound, particularly during the breeding season; pairs often honk in unison, and often carry on for some time when perched. The male's call is higher-pitched and more rapid than that of the female. Australian naturalist David Fleay observed that the call is among the loudest and furthest-carrying of all Australian bird calls, in stark contrast to the relatively quiet calls of the wedge-tailed eagle.
Adult white-bellied sea eagles are unmistakable and unlikely to be confused with any other bird. Immature birds can be confused with wedge-tailed eagles. However, the plumage of the latter is darker, the tail longer, and the legs feathered. They might also be confused with the black-breasted buzzard (Hamirostra melanosternon), but this species is much smaller, has white patches on the wings, and has a more undulating flight. In India, the Egyptian vulture has white plumage, but is smaller and has a whiter back and wings. The white tail of the white-bellied sea eagle in flight distinguishes it from other species of large eagles. In the Philippines, it can be confused with the Philippine eagle, which can be distinguished by its crest; immature white-bellied sea eagles resemble immature grey-headed fish eagles, but can be identified by their more wholly dark brown underparts and flight feathers, and wedge-shaped tail.
The white-bellied sea eagle is found regularly from Mumbai (sometimes north to Gujarat, and in the past in the Lakshadweep Islands) eastwards in India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka in southern Asia, through all of coastal Southeast Asia including Burma, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Indochina, the main and offshore islands of the Philippines, and southern China including Hong Kong, Hainan and Fuzhou, eastwards through New Guinea and the Bismarck Archipelago, and Australia. In the northern Solomons it is restricted to Nissan Island, and replaced elsewhere by Sanford's sea eagle. In Victoria, where it is otherwise scarce, it is locally more common at Corner Inlet and Gippsland Lakes. Similarly in South Australia, it is most abundant along the north coast of Kangaroo Island. The range extends to the islands of Bass Strait and Tasmania, and it is thought able to move between the islands and the mainland. There is one unconfirmed record from Lord Howe Island and several from New Zealand.
They are a common sight in coastal areas, but may also be seen well inland (It is reportedly seen at the Panna Tiger Reserve in central India, nearly 1,000 km (621 mi) away from the sea shore) The white-bellied sea eagle is generally sedentary and territorial, although it may travel long distances. They have been reported travelling upriver to hunt for flying foxes (Pteropus). Populations in inland Australia move around as inland bodies of water appear and then dry up. In one instance, a pair came to breed at Lake Albacutya in northwestern Victoria after the lake had been empty for 30 years. The species is easily disturbed by humans, especially when nesting, and may desert nesting sites as a result. It is found in greater numbers in areas with little or no human impact or interference.
The white-bellied sea eagle is an opportunistic carnivore and consumes a wide variety of animal prey, including carrion. It often catches a fish by flying low over the water and grasping it in its talons. It prepares for the strike by holding its feet far forward (almost under its chin) and then strikes backwards while simultaneously beating its wings to lift upwards. Generally only one foot is used to seize prey. The white-bellied sea eagle may also dive at a 45 degree angle from its perch and briefly submerge to catch fish near the water surface. While hunting over water on sunny days, it often flies directly into the sun or at right angles to it, seemingly to avoid casting shadows over the water and hence alerting potential prey.
The white-bellied sea eagle was important to different tribes of indigenous people across Australia. The guardian animal of the Wreck Bay aboriginal community, it is also the official emblem of the Booderee National Park and Botanic Gardens in the Jervis Bay Territory. The community considered localities around Booderee National Park to be connected with it. A local Sydney name was gulbi, and the bird was the totem of Colebee, the late 18th century indigenous leader of the Cadigal people. The white-bellied sea eagle is important to the Mak Mak people of the floodplains to the southwest of Darwin in the northern Territory, who recognised its connection with "good country". It is their totem and integrally connected to their land. The term Mak Mak is their name for both the species and themselves. The Umbrawarra Gorge Nature Park was a Dreaming site of the bird, in this area known as Kuna-ngarrk-ngarrk. It was similarly symbolic to the Tasmanian indigenous people—Nairanaa was one name used there.
Known as Manulab to the people of Nissan Island, the white-bellied sea eagle is considered special and killing it is forbidden. Its calls at night are said to foretell danger, and seeing a group of calling eagles flying overhead is a sign that someone has died. Local Malay folk tales tell of the white-bellied sea eagle screaming to warn the shellfish of the turning of tides, and a local name burung hamba siput translates as "slave of the shellfish". Called Kaulo in the recently extinct Aka-Bo language, the white-bellied sea eagle was held to be the ancestor of all birds in one Andaman Islands folk tale. On the Maharashtra coast, their name is kakan and its call is said to indicate the presence of fish in the sea. They sometimes nest on coconut trees. Owners of the trees destroy the nest to avoid attacks when harvesting the coconuts.
Foreign policy of a country is not a static scenario. It varies from leader to leader and political changes of a Nation in the world family. It decides and directs the economy, development and all aspects of the citizen as the behaviour of the state is interconnected to the government machinery. It is the study of foreign affairs and global issues within the international system including the role of states, NGOs, INGOs and multinational corporations. It is a set of goals outlining how the country will interact with other countries and international institutions and bodies. In the United States it comes under the president which he has delegated to the foreign secretary.
Today foreign policy is playing a major role in Sri Lankan polity due to the scrutiny of the international brotherhood on Sri Lankan affairs before and after the defeat of terrorism, which has engulfed Sri Lanka, the SAARC region and the world community over 30 years which Rajapaksa government was able to eradicate to the relief of the giant neighbour and the world community.
In the world family the portfolio of the Foreign Minister in state is generally in the hands of the Executive leader of the country or the Prime Minister except on exceptional circumstances. President Rajapaksa has entrusted this responsibility to the Able Foreign Minister whose task is to implement the vision and directions in the maze of pitfalls and in the midst fields of bombs of distrust laid underground world over remotely controlled.
We had to go through the dreadful war and destruction of thousands of lives and lost three decades of life of the Nation and citizens due to the mismanagement of foreign policy during the cold war, by antagonizing our loved giant neighbour with whom President Rajapaksa has now developed excellent and warm relations. LTTE went through training and planning to be the most ruthless terrorist outfit using the Indian soil when India and USSR as a regional and a world poser had entered into a treaty against the common enemy then.
This is the biggest mistake we made resulting which period we lived in the loss of lives and 30 years was robbed from us during which period we lived in hell with smell of blood, death and destruction. We believe nothing is permanent and what is permanent is sheer impermanence. USA is now wounded, isolated and seeks friendship with India against Chins both emerging economic and world powers!
President cautious
President Rajapaksa has been extremely cautious and diplomatic in dealing with the power blocks interested primarily in their interest especially in the volatile and uncertain world politics and economy which crumbled with no notice facing them with the most disastrous recession ever. South Asia and Sri Lanka were less affected due to their simplicity and management of their own affairs based on Home Grown solutions. The response from the USA Senate is wonderful- that they cannot afford to lose Sri Lanka - and it is time they realise we should not be drifted toward a political block out of sheer necessity.
It is time the diplomatic community of the West and USA in Sri Lanka should play a safe game to maintain and enhance good relations with Sri Lanka without being interested in local politics however interesting it is.
Award of Honorius Causa Doctorate from the People’s Friendship University of Russia on President Rajapaksa is the zenith of his achievement for the conduct of international affairs from the assumption of the office as the President of Sri Lanka four years ago. It is to his credit and respect to the nation that the sixth and the most rare honour of awarding the prestigious academic excellence on peace was awarded for the services rendered to mankind by eliminating the terror outfit to the disbelief and surprise of the Global Community. Wall Street Journal of USA reported in the speech of the President “I know as well as anyone that our future success relies on lasting peace.
The revival of terrorism was an important milestone in that process, but the nation needs to be bound by a common purpose. My new government will address the genuine grievances of all communities and foster the enforcement of equal rights for all.” It was during the last few days of the end of the terror regime that maximum pressure was exerted to President Rajapaksa by the Western leaders, EU, USA, UN, and a number of powerful NGOs wanted to stop the war on terror and enter into the same old peace process that failed and “Hell” in Sri Lanka at the cost of hundreds of thousands of human lives and destruction of trillions of rupees of national wealth. India, China, USSR, Middle East, Africa and the Sri Lanka expatriate community stood firmly with President Rajapaksa and Sri Lanka isolating USA, UK and EU with NGOs and Inter Governmental organisations depending on public and UN funds, which is proof of the successful conduct of international affairs based on ‘Mahinda Chintana’ and his own style on the process of dealing with the international community, which is reiterated in ‘Mahinda Chintana’.
Two as “I will continue Sri Lanka’s non-aligned foreign policy. During the last four years we witnessed the benefit of maintaining friendly relations with India, Japan China, Pakistan, and other Asian countries. I am committed to continue these friendly relations in the political, economics, defence trade and cultural arena. I will ensure that Sri Lanka abides by the global treaties and agreements on environmental and climatic changes and will strengthen Sri Lanka’s ties with UN agencies. I will maintain the dignity of my country in foreign relations and will initiate a new programme to forge relations with countries”.
Achievements
President’s conduct as a leader of a country with an unstable and volatile political and war situation during the war on terror has been exemplary cautious, well planned and well thought of. It is difficult to satisfy the political agenda of the complicated world political groupings, UN and Non-governmental organisations and the Sri Lankan polity while maintaining the vision, identity and the interest of the Nation with a minority government representing different political and ethnic groups with difficult different and unattainable demands.
Every mission to meet world leaders was with a purpose and vision. Leading a trade mission to China the leading political and economic power in the near future, meeting the President of Iran when we had fuel shortages, meeting President Gadaffi when he was about to be appointed to Chair the Human Rights Committee when UN and INGOs were trailing us to deal internationally, hosting of SAARC which has enhanced and strengthened close ties with India and the SAARC countries just before the last lap of the end of terror where we were blessed with the group of SAARC and other regional organisations attended the summit as observers, Address the UN and taking part in international forums such as the address to the Oxford students union in the United Kingdom strengthened presidents international stature as an emerging world leader leading a fair cross section of the human community in the globe.
International relations of a Nation depend on the vision, conduct, personality and the conduct of diplomacy of the Chief Executive in the world family representing the Nation region and the world in international forums and dealing with world leaders and international organisations. Successful world leaders had their own style of conducting International Affairs in the international arena. Nehru, Chou En Lai, Indira, Gandhi, Tony Blair, Putin, Bush, Obama and other leading and charismatic world leaders on assuming power changed the foreign policy of the country according to the current needs of the day.
In India the foreign policy is streamlined as it is very slowly and rarely the policy deviates from the mainstream due to their discipline and rigidity in foreign affairs administration and governance. In Sri Lanka foreign policy deviations are marked and effective.
S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike brought about a complete change in foreign policy after Sir John Kotalawela’s policy which was modified to non-alignment by Madam Sirimavo Bandaranaike until J.R. Jayewardene again changed the policy to a mixture of pro West and non-alignment. Rajapaksa government is emerging victorious with a unique foreign policy unique to Mahinda Rajapaksa’s “International Personality” which is basically non-alignment with modifications based on the realities on international economic and world order in the fast changing new world of Information Technology which has changed our globe to a borderless modern and wonderful world.
Uniqueness of President Rajapaksa is the non-negotiability in main issues such as unitary nature of the State, sovereignty equality among Nations, sovereignty of the Nation and the people, love and respect to Motherland, equality and impartiality towards all the citizens sans differences, and service to the brethren based on equality and with respect to all modes and norms of individual and collective Human Rights.
Excellent
Despite the excellent relations with the world family the worrying factor is the misunderstanding of some western countries and INGOs due to vigorous campaign by powerful pro LTTE elements which are fast disintegrating. President Rajapaksa has friendship of the intention of mending fences with the West with his charm and diplomatic which has been proved successful.
He has secured the trendskill or the Eastern block including the Central Asia, Middle East with Iran and other Oil rich, Africa, small orbital nations around USA, and of course the two emerging world powers China and USSR which were instrumental in bailing us out when we were in danger of being interrogated by the UN on false and malicious LTTE related propaganda. Nation is confident and prays his next mission towards the West will be another success story as has been proved before.
President Rajapaksa’s initiation to ensure to abide by global treaties and agreements on climate change is encouraging when the world is facing grave danger of slow destruction of the planet due to unplanned industrialization and developments.
It is also time for us to review the position with the Charter of the United Nations established in place of the League of Nations anticipating a more effective world organisation. It is time for us to be active as Asians promoting the emerging power India as a member of the Security Council. Sri Lanka - India relations run back to thousands of years.
King Asoka sent his most precious son Mahinda and daughter Sanghamitta as Emissaries to propagate Buddhism to King Devanampiyatissa though they have not met which been close friends.
Diplomacy and diplomatic relations is not something alien to us and we have been maintaining relationships with the rest of the world from time immemorial. Arab merchants came to “Serandib” as traders and ancient Kings gave them freedom to engage in business, observe religion and settle down which indicates how magnanimous our previous rulers were.
It is now time to regain the same close relationships we have been maintaining previously especially in the 1970s. President Rajapaksa’s next task and mission would be to restore and re demarcate and re define his unique foreign policy based on Mahinda Chintana and his International Personality in order to raise our Nation on the top of the International Arena.
Sunday Observer 21/02/2010
Bagan; (formerly Pagan) is an ancient city located in the Mandalay Region of Burma (Myanmar). From the 9th to 13th centuries, the city was the capital of the Kingdom of Pagan, the first kingdom to unify the regions that would later constitute modern Myanmar. During the kingdom's height between the 11th and 13th centuries, over 10.000 Buddhist temples, pagodas and monasteries were constructed in the Bagan plains alone, of which the remains of over 2200 temples and pagodas still survive to the present day.
The Bagan Archaeological Zone is a main draw for the country's nascent tourism industry. It is seen by many as equal in attraction to Angkor Wat in Cambodia.
ETYMOLOGY
Bagan is the present-day standard Burmese pronunciation of the Burmese word Pugan, derived from Old Burmese Pyugam (meaning 'Pyu Village'). Its classical Pali name is Arimaddana-pura, lit. "the City that Tramples on Enemies". Its other names in Pali are in reference to its extreme dry zone climate: Tattadesa, "parched land", and Tampadipa, "bronzed country". The Burmese chronicles also report other classical names of Thiri Pyissaya and Tampawaddy.
HISTORY
7th to 13th CENTURIES
According to the Burmese chronicles, Bagan was founded in the second century CE, and fortified in 849 CE by King Pyinbya, 34th successor of the founder of early Bagan. Mainstream scholarship however holds that Bagan was founded in the mid-to-late 9th century by the Mranma (Burmans), who had recently entered the Irrawaddy valley from the Nanzhao Kingdom. It was among several competing Pyu city-states until the late 10th century when the Burman settlement grew in authority and grandeur.From 1044 to 1287, Bagan was the capital as well as the political, economic and cultural nerve center of the Pagan Empire. Over the course of 250 years, Bagan's rulers and their wealthy subjects constructed over 10000 religious monuments (approximately 1000 stupas, 10000 small temples and 3000 monasteries) in an area of 104 square kilometres in the Bagan plains. The prosperous city grew in size and grandeur, and became a cosmopolitan center for religious and secular studies, specializing in Pali scholarship in grammar and philosophical-psychological (abhidhamma) studies as well as works in a variety of languages on prosody, phonology, grammar, astrology, alchemy, medicine, and legal studies. The city attracted monks and students from as far as India, Ceylon as well as the Khmer Empire. The culture of Bagan was dominated by religion. The religion of Bagan was fluid, syncretic and by later standards, unorthodox. It was largely a continuation of religious trends in the Pyu era where Theravada Buddhism co-existed with Mahayana Buddhism, Tantric Buddhism, various Hindu (Saivite, and Vaishana) schools as well as native animist (nat) traditions. While the royal patronage of Theravada Buddhism since the mid-11th century had enabled the Buddhist school to gradually gain primacy, other traditions continued to thrive throughout the Pagan period to degrees later unseen.
The Pagan Empire collapsed in 1287 due to repeated Mongol invasions (1277–1301). Recent research shows that Mongol armies may not have reached Bagan itself, and that even if they did, the damage they inflicted was probably minimal. However, the damage had already been done. The city, once home to some 50.000 to 200.000 people, had been reduced to a small town, never to regain its preeminence. The city formally ceased to be the capital of Burma in December 1297 when the Myinsaing Kingdom became the new power in Upper Burma.
14th to 19th CENTURIES
Bagan survived into the 15th century as a human settlement, and as a pilgrimage destination throughout the imperial period. A smaller number of "new and impressive" religious monuments still went up to the mid-15th century but afterward, new temple constructions slowed to a trickle with fewer than 200 temples built between the 15th and 20th centuries. The old capital remained a pilgrimage destination but pilgrimage was focused only on "a score or so" most prominent temples out of the thousands such as the Ananda, the Shwezigon, the Sulamani, the Htilominlo, the Dhammayazika, and a few other temples along an ancient road. The rest - thousands of less famous, out-of-the-way temples - fell into disrepair, and most did not survive the test of time.
For the few dozen temples that were regularly patronized, the continued patronage meant regular upkeep as well as architectural additions donated by the devotees. Many temples were repainted with new frescoes on top of their original Pagan era ones, or fitted with new Buddha statutes. Then came a series of state-sponsored "systematic" renovations in the Konbaung period (1752–1885), which by and large were not true to the original designs - some finished with "a rude plastered surface, scratched without taste, art or result". The interiors of some temples were also whitewashed, such as the Thatbyinnyu and the Ananda. Many painted inscriptions and even murals were added in this period.
20th CENTURY TO PRESENT
Bagan, located in an active earthquake zone, had suffered from many earthquakes over the ages, with over 400 recorded earthquakes between 1904 and 1975. The last major earthquake came on 8 July 1975, reaching 8 MM in Bagan and Myinkaba, and 7 MM in Nyaung-U. The quake damaged many temples, in many cases, such as the Bupaya, severely and irreparably. Today, 2229 temples and pagodas remain.
Many of these damaged pagodas underwent restorations in the 1990s by the military government, which sought to make Bagan an international tourist destination. However, the restoration efforts instead drew widespread condemnation from art historians and preservationists worldwide. Critics are aghast that the restorations paid little attention to original architectural styles, and used modern materials, and that the government has also established a golf course, a paved highway, and built a 61-meter watchtower. Although the government believed that the ancient capital's hundreds of (unrestored) temples and large corpus of stone inscriptions were more than sufficient to win the designation of UNESCO World Heritage Site, the city has not been so designated, allegedly mainly on account of the restorations.
Bagan today is a main tourist destination in the country's nascent tourism industry, which has long been the target of various boycott campaigns. The majority of over 300.000 international tourists to the country in 2011 are believed to have also visited Bagan. Several Burmese publications note that the city's small tourism infrastructure will have to expand rapidly even to meet a modest pickup in tourism in the following years.
There is a well-known saying of Myanmar people : "If you are a real Myanmar, you must have been to Bagan." Bagan is spirit of history of Myanmar.
GEOGRAPHY
The Bagan Archaeological Zone, defined as the 13 x 8 km area centered around Old Bagan, consisting of Nyaung U in the north and New Bagan in the south, lies in the vast expanse of plains in Upper Burma on the bend of the Irrawaddy river. It is located 290 kilometres southwest of Mandalay and 700 kilometres north of Yangon. Its coordinates are 21°10' North and 94°52' East.
ARCHITECTURE
Bagan stands out for not only the sheer number of religious edifices of Myanmar but also the magnificent architecture of the buildings, and their contribution to Burmese temple design. The artistry of the architecture of pagodas in Bagan prove the achievement of Myanmar craftsmen in handicrafts. The Bagan temple falls into one of two broad categories: the stupa-style solid temple and the gu-style hollow temple.
STUPAS
A stupa, also called a pagoda, is a massive structure, typically with a relic chamber inside. The Bagan stupas or pagodas evolved from earlier Pyu designs, which in turn were based on the stupa designs of the Andhra region, particularly Amaravati and Nagarjunakonda in present-day southeastern India, and to a smaller extent to Ceylon. The Bagan-era stupas in turn were the prototypes for later Burmese stupas in terms of symbolism, form and design, building techniques and even materials.
Originally, an Indian/Ceylonese stupa had a hemispheric body (Pali: anda, "the egg") on which a rectangular box surrounded by a stone balustrade (harmika) was set. Extending up from the top of the stupa was a shaft supporting several ceremonial umbrellas. The stupa is a representation of the Buddhist cosmos: its shape symbolizes Mount Meru while the umbrella mounted on the brickwork represents the world's axis. The brickwork pediment was often covered in stucco and decorated in relief. Pairs or series of ogres as guardian figures ('bilu') were a favourite theme in the Bagan period.
The original Indic design was gradually modified first by the Pyu, and then by Burmans at Bagan where the stupa gradually developed a longer, cylindrical form. The earliest Bagan stupas such as the Bupaya (c. 9th century) were the direct descendants of the Pyu style at Sri Ksetra. By the 11th century, the stupa had developed into a more bell-shaped form in which the parasols morphed into a series of increasingly smaller rings placed on one top of the other, rising to a point. On top the rings, the new design replaced the harmika with a lotus bud. The lotus bud design then evolved into the "banana bud", which forms the extended apex of most Burmese pagodas. Three or four rectangular terraces served as the base for a pagoda, often with a gallery of terra-cotta tiles depicting Buddhist jataka stories. The Shwezigon Pagoda and the Shwesandaw Pagoda are the earliest examples of this type. Examples of the trend toward a more bell-shaped design gradually gained primacy as seen in the Dhammayazika Pagoda (late 12th century) and the Mingalazedi Pagoda (late 13th century).
HOLLOW TEMPLES
In contrast to the stupas, the hollow gu-style temple is a structure used for meditation, devotional worship of the Buddha and other Buddhist rituals. The gu temples come in two basic styles: "one-face" design and "four-face" design - essentially one main entrance and four main entrances. Other styles such as five-face and hybrids also exist. The one-face style grew out of 2nd century Beikthano, and the four-face out of 7th century Sri Ksetra. The temples, whose main features were the pointed arches and the vaulted chamber, became larger and grander in the Bagan period.
INNOVATIONS
Although the Burmese temple designs evolved from Indic, Pyu (and possibly Mon) styles, the techniques of vaulting seem to have developed in Bagan itself. The earliest vaulted temples in Bagan date to the 11th century, while the vaulting did not become widespread in India until the late 12th century. The masonry of the buildings shows "an astonishing degree of perfection", where many of the immense structures survived the 1975 earthquake more or less intact. (Unfortunately, the vaulting techniques of the Bagan era were lost in the later periods. Only much smaller gu style temples were built after Bagan. In the 18th century, for example, King Bodawpaya attempted to build the Mingun Pagoda, in the form of spacious vaulted chambered temple but failed as craftsmen and masons of the later era had lost the knowledge of vaulting and keystone arching to reproduce the spacious interior space of the Bagan hollow temples.)
Another architectural innovation originated in Bagan is the Buddhist temple with a pentagonal floor plan. This design grew out of hybrid (between one-face and four-face designs) designs. The idea was to include the veneration of the Maitreya Buddha, the future and fifth Buddha of this era, in addition to the four who had already appeared. The Dhammayazika and the Ngamyethna Pagoda are examples of the pentagonal design.
ECONOMY
Bagan's economy is based mainly on tourism. Because of boycotts against the previous military government, the Bagan region's tourism infrastructure is still quite modest by international standards. The city has a few international standard hotels and many family-run guesthouses. Bagan is also the center of Burmese lacquerware industry, which to a large degree depends on tourist demand. Much of the lacquerware is destined for souvenir shops in Yangon, and to the world markets. Moreover, the lacquerware-making process itself has become a tourist draw.
WIKIPEDIA
Town Hall Square (Vienna)
The inner part of the town square
Street sign town square
The Town Hall Square is located in the first District of Vienna, Inner City. It is named after the erected here (new) Vienna City Hall. Due to its size, design and architecture of the buildings bordering the square it is considered one of the most important places in the center of Vienna.
History
Vienna City Hall, View from 1891
In the area of today's town square was once the Josefstädter Glacis, a meadow terrain held as a free field of fire before the walls of Vienna and later the parade and drill ground of the Imperial Army. During the construction of the Ring Road from 1858 this military site remained untouched for some time until the army after long efforts of Mayor Cajetan Felder had renounced and the City Expansion Found could develop a Baulinienplan (building line plan) for the area. During this time, other locations were considered for the City Hall.
Now the Town Hall Square, the largest square in the recessed ring road zone was provided. The northern and southern part of the square shaped city gardener Rudolf Siebeck 1872/1873 as City Hall Park, the central part of the square, the axis Town Hall-Burgtheater, was kept free. 1873, the foundation stone was laid for the construction of the New Town Hall. 1874, work began on the Town Hall at the former Franzensring opposite the Burgtheater and the south of the square adjacent parliament building (north side front: Town Square 6). From 1877 on, the new main building of the University of Vienna (southern side front: Town Square 5 ) was built. Are installed on the three sides of the square five blocks with nine house numbers (No. 1 to No. 9), the fourth side is bordered by the Ring.
In course of time the name of the place changed four times. In 1870 it was created as Town Hall Square, renamed in 1907 after the incumbent Christian Social mayor in Dr.-Karl-Lueger square. The since 1919 dominant Red Vienna this appeared to be inappropriate, as Lueger in Vienna had prevented the universal and equal male suffrage, in 1907 introduced at state level. Therefore, the of a private committee donated Lueger monument under the rule of mayor Karl Seitz was not, as intended by the Committee, on the Town Square erected but built in 1926 on a previously unnamed square corner Wool Line/Stubenring and this place in the same year named Dr.-Karl-Lueger square named. The Town Square was returned its original name. In 1938, the place was again renamed into Adolf Hitler square, what was reversed in 1945.
Christmas Market at City Hall
The large space between City Hall and the Burgtheater was used by all the rulers for political rallies. Since 1921, its current form dating back to 1929 and interrupted from 1933 to 1945, it is the traditional final rally of the Vienna SPÖ Maiaufmarsches (May-Procession) on 1 In May at the Town Hall Square. In addition, the space is exploited for most of the year for cultural and social events. The most important of them since 1975, the Christmas market in November and December, the Vienna Ice Dream in January and February, the opening of the Vienna Festival in May and open-air cinema screenings with classical music in July and August. The Life Ball at Vienna City Hall refers also to the town square. Traditionally, a since 1959 every year from one of the states erected large Christmas tree as a gift to the federal capital.
Location and characteristics
The Town Hall Square is located between the extended Grillparzer street to the north, the University Ring to the east, the extended Stadion alley in the south and the extended Reichsrats street in the West. Except the ring on which there are no buildings on this side of the street, bear the buildings that are in the course of these streets at the place, house numbers of the Town Square. Stadion alley and Grillparzer street end before the square, the Reichsrats street is interrupted by the square.
About two-thirds of the space area of 40,000 m² are occupied by the City Hall park which is divided by a blocked to traffic, very wide access road between the Burgtheater and the Rathaus, offering space for events, into a northern and southern half. The Town Square is lined by some of the most important monumental Rings Road constructions in historicist style. In the square itself is a large number of monuments and statues. Thus, the town square is one of the most representative places in Vienna.
The tram lines 1 and D operate on the Ring Road and have at the City Hall Square opposite the Burg Theatre and at the corner of Parliament stops. Coming from the south and turning from the ring, operates tram line 2 on the southern edge of the Town Square to Stadiongasse. The individual passage traffic runs heading north on the eastern edge of the square on the Ring Road in the opposite direction behind the Town Hall on the two-line (Zweierlinie). Cycling trails pass off on the Ring Road and at the Grillparzer street and Stadion alley. Behind the Town Hall runs the subway line U2 to the City Hall with the subway station as shuttle to City Hall and City Hall Square.
Building
City hall
The central building in the middle of the west side of the Town Square is the City Hall, built in 1873-1883 by Friedrich von Schmidt, New Town Hall, Town Hall called only since about 1970. The powerful, dominating the square building was designed by the Dutch Gothic models. It should express the political power of the strengthened bourgeosie against the monarch and the aristocracy.
The City Council has at the Town Hall no main entrance or direct access to the arcade court, they are located on the side fronts of Felder Street and Lichtenfels alley, another entrance is at the rear front at the Friedrich-Schmidt square. From the Town Hall itself essentially the so-called People's Hall on the ground floor of the Town Hall via a staircase outdoors is accessible (entrances centered under the Town Hall Tower and left and right). The People's Hall is occasionally used for exhibitions. At the corner towards Felder street there is the exit to the restaurant Rathauskeller/Town hall cellar.
Arcade, Town Hall Square 2-4
Foyer with ceiling painting Apotheosis of Vindobona, Town Hall Square 4
No. 2, 3 and 4: Arcade Shops
The block north of City Hall was built in 1880-1883 by Franz von Neumann. Plan requirement was to equip the buildings (such as on the west side of the Imperial Parliament Street, in the course of which they are) at the town square with arcades. Held in the old German style, houses have remarkable corner projections made with domes. At the central projection there are respectively balconies on herma. The attic floor is decorated with stucco relief female figures. The rib-vaulted arcades are painted with grotesques by Franz and Carl Jobst and equipped with cast iron lanterns. Particularly important are the foyers on No. 4 (and at the back of the block on the Ebendorfer street 4). Frieze reliefs show the allegories of commerce, the arts and trading. A large ceiling painting depicts the apotheosis of Vindobona. Lanterns and railings are made of wrought iron.
No. 5: University of Vienna, Main Building
Town Hall Square and front side of the university's main building in 1900
The Town Hall Square side facing the front of the main university building today (2007 )
On the north side of the town square is the front side of the main building of the University of Vienna. The main work of the late phase of the strict historicism was built in 1873-1884 by Heinrich von Ferstel. The 29-axle side facade is broken repeatedly by risalits as well as by half and full columns. Statues of Anton Schmidgruber and Franz Koch stand in relation to the Philosophical faculty. The building has no open entrance here.
No. 6: Parliament
On the south side of the town square is the side front of the parliament building, which was built as Reichsratsgebäude for Cisleithania. It is the most important work of the architect Theophil von Hansen that the latter one founded 1871-1883 by ancient Greek models. At the Town Hall Square, the Parliament has a covered side entrance, originally a carriage way.
No. 7, 8 and 9 houses with arcades
Dome on the corner risalt, Town Hall Square 7
South of the Town Hall is located one block of houses with arcades, built 1877/1878 of City Hall architect Friedrich von Schmidt and Franz Neumann in old German forms. These were the first houses with arcades of City Hall district. Dominant are domes on corner risalit and central dome, bay windows, balconies, putti frieze and statues of Venus and Mars on the facade. In the rib-vaulted arcades are embedded gates with half column portals and acroterion figures. The lobbies are decorated with stucco ceilings, among other rich and grotesque painting. At No. 8 is located under the arcades the in City Hall circles famous café and pastry shop Sluka.
City Hall Park
At the request of Mayor Felder the City Hall Park was created as a complementary recreation area in the Ring Road zone. It is a strictly historicist Park, which was created as the city park of city gardener Rudolf Siebeck. The green area is north and south of a link road from the Burgtheater on the Ring to the City Hall laid out, which extends space-like in front of City Hall. In each of the two parts is a Rondeau Park with fountains, which are intended to highlight the two Viennese spring water lines and were financed by the builder Antonio Gabrielli.
Orientation plan
Under the old trees of the park there are five trees that are designated as natural monuments in Vienna. A lime in the southern part of the park was planted on the occasion of the 50th anniversary jubilee of Emperor Franz Joseph I in 1898, an oak tree, also in the southern part of the park in 1906 for the then incumbent mayor Karl Lueger. Winding paths lead through the two parts of the park. The garden fence is original historicist. In the northern part of the park is a large children's play area. A 1890 in the southern part of the park built weather house, destroyed during the Second World War, was renewed in 1955 with mosaics of Mary Biljan-Bilger. The modern toilet facilities were designed by Luigi Blau.
Monuments
Waldmüllerdenkmal (Monument) by Josef Engelhart, 1913
The Town Hall Square is home of a number of monuments, they are described here from the ring road starting.
(Disabled) access from the Burgtheater to City Hall
At the beginning of this approach is, turning off the Ring Road, left the monument to Theodor Körner, mayor, then President of the Second Republic, by Hilde Uray, bronze statue, 1963,
right of the monument to Karl Seitz, first head of state of the First Republic, then mayor in Red Vienna, by Gottfried Buchberger, bronze statue, 1962.
Directly between the two parts of the park in 1902 eight stone monuments of significant figures in the history of Vienna were placed four at each park side facing each other. They had been established in 1867 on the balustrades of the former Elizabeth Bridge over the river (Wienfluss) on Karlsplatz. When in 1897 the bridge was demolished in this area because of the light rail construction and the resulting vaulting of the Wienfluss, the eight monuments first have been put along the then still in the incision extending new light rail line on the Karlsplatz, where they but heavily by the soot of steam locomotives polluted monuments were popularly called eight chimney sweepers. Therefore, they were transferred to the town square later:
left ( south side):
Margrave Henry II Jasomirgott from the House of Babenberg, by Franz Melnitzky
Duke Rudolf the founder of the House of Habsburg, of Josef Gasser
Ernst Rüdiger von Starhemberg, defender of Vienna (second Turkish siege), by Johann Baptist Fessler
Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach, Baroque architect, Josef Cesar
right (north side):
Duke Leopold the Glorious from the House of Babenberg, by Johann Preleuthner
Niklas Graf Salm, defender of Vienna (first siege of Vienna), by Matthias Purkartshofer
Archbishop Charles Leopold of Kollonitsch, spiritual leader of Vienna (second Turkish siege), Vincenz Pilz
Joseph of Sonnenfels, judicial and administrative reformer of Maria Theresa, by Hanns Gasser (replaced in the Nazi era in 1939 by a statue of the composer Christoph Willibald Gluck, re-erected after 1945)
Next to the town hall (tower), outside of the southern part of the park: replica of the Vienna City Hall man at the top of City Hall tower in scale 1: 1, by Fritz Tiefenthaler, 1985
Southern part of the city hall park (towards Parliament)
At the corner of Park Ring/Parliament, addressed to the ring: Karl Renner, the first Chancellor of the First and first president of the Second Republic, portrait head of Alfred Hrdlicka on monument structure of Josef Krawina, 1965-1967
Josef Popper-Lynkeus, social ethicist, stone bust of Hugo Taglang, 1926. As artist and represented were Jews, the bust was removed in the Nazi regime in 1938, restored in 1951 according to the plaster model.
Johann Strauss (father ) and Joseph Lanner, statues of Franz Seifert, 1905, Art Nouveau, the bronze sculptures stand in front of a curved wall with marble reliefs of ball scenes and a poem by Edward von Bauernfeld. This concept and the architecture created Robert Oerley.
Northern part of the city hall park (towards the University)
Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller, marble monument of Josef Engelhart, 1913, Art Nouveau
Ernst Mach, physicist, of Heinz Peteri, 1926
Adolf Schärf, vice chancellor, then president of the Second Republic, bronze bust of Alfred Hrdlicka, 1985
The most recent monument in the park, built in 1993, commemorates the wartime destruction of Vienna in 1945 and was by Hubert Wilfan under the title Yesterday - Today created from stone.
I seek refuge in Allah from Satan, the outcast.
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful.
Allah’s peace be upon Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W), the glorious Prophet of Islam, and on his Companions and his followers.
TASAWWUF
"There is no doubt that Tasawwuf is an important branch of Islam. The word itself may have been derived form the Arabic word "Soof" (Wool) or from "Safa" (cleanliness), but its foundation lies in one’s personal sincerity in seeking Allah’s nearness and trying to live a life pleasing to Him. Study of the Quran, the Hadith, and the practical life of the holy Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) and his faithful Companions provide unmistakable support to this reality." (Hazrat Moulana Allah Yar Khan (R.A)
SUFISM, AN ESSENTIAL PART OF ISLAM
Doubts exist not only in the minds of the Muslim faithful but also among the Ulema, notably the exoteric about Tasawwuf and its votaries. Often they lead to misunderstanding, as if Shariah and Tariqah were two separate entries, or that Tasawwuf was some obscure discipline foreign to Islam, or that it was altogether above the established laws and injunctions of our Religion. To help remove these misgivings and to reassure seekers, as well as scholars, our Sheikh Hazrat Moulana Allah Yar Khan (R.A), Sheikh Silsila Naqshbandia Awaisia, wrote Al-Jamal Wal Kamal, Aqaid-O-Kamalaat Ulmai-e-Deoband, Binat-e-Rasool (S.A.W), Daamad-e-Ali (R.A), Dalael-us-Salook, Ejaad-e-Mazhab Shia, Hayat-un-Nabi (S.A.W), Hayat Barzakhia, Ilm-o-Irfan, Niffaz-e-Shariat Aur Fiqah-e-Jaferia, Saif-e-Owaisi, Shikast-e-Ahdai Hussain and Tahkeek Halal Haram books.
BIOGRAPHY
Sheikh Allah Yar Khan was born in Chakrala, a remote village of Mianwali District of Pakistan, in 1904. He completed his religious education in 1934. The very year, he met Shaykh Abdul Rahim, who took him to the shrine of Shaykh Allah Deen Madni. By Divine Will his spiritual connection was right away established with the saint of the 10th century Hijra (sixteenth century) and he started receiving spiritual beneficence. His sublime education in Sufism, signifying progressive spiritual growth and advancement, continued for about twenty-five years. In 1962 he was directed to carry out the propagation of Prophetic blessings - a noble mission that he accomplished with singular enthusiasm and devotion for a period spanning half a century. Anybody who visited him was duly rewarded with a share of spiritual bliss as per his/her sincerity and capacity. Shaykh Allah Yar Khan's mission produced men and women of deep spiritual vision and distinction.
Although Hazrat Moulana Allah Yar Khan (R.A) have lived a major portion of his life as a scholar, with the avowed mission of illuminating the truth of Islam and the negation of fallacious sects, and this would appear quite removed from Tasawwuf, yet the only practical difference between the two, namely the use of the former as a media to expound the truth, and the latter to imbue people with positive faith. Nevertheless, people are amazed that a man, who until the other day, was known as a dialectician and a preacher of Islam, is not only talking of Mystic Path, but is also claiming spiritual bonds with the veteran Sufi Masters of the Past. This amazement is obviously out of place in the view of Quranic injunction: This is the bounty of Allah which He gives to whom He wills. (62:4)
THE PURIFICATION OF THE SOUL
The purification of the soul always formed part of the main mission of the Prophets; that is, the dissemination and propagation of the Devine Message. This responsibility later fell directly on the shoulders of the true Ulema in the Ummah of the last Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W), who, as his genuine successors, have continued to shed brave light in every Dark Age of materialism and sacrilege. In the present age of ruinous confusion, the importance of this responsibility has increased manifold; of the utter neglect of Islam by Muslims has not only driven them to misery, but also grievously weakened their bonds of faith in Allah and His Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W). The decay in their belief and consequent perversion in their conduct has reached a stage that any attempt to pull them out of the depth of ignominy and the heedless chaos of faithlessness, attracts grave uncertainties and apprehensions rather than a encouraging will to follow the Shariah, to purify the soul and to reform within. The Quranic Verse: Layers upon layers of darkness… (24:40) provides the nearest expression of their present state.
SHARIAH & SUFISM
Any action against the Sunnah (Prophet’s way of life) cannot be called Sufism. Singing and dancing, and the prostration on tombs are not part of Sufism. Nor is predicting the future and predicting the outcome of cases in the courts of law, a part of Sufism. Sufis are not required to abandon their worldly possessions or live in the wilderness far from the practical world. In fact these absurdities are just its opposites. It is an established fact that Tazkiyah (soul purification) stands for that inner purity which inspires a person’s spirit to obey the holy Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W). If a false claimant of Sufism teaches tricks and jugglery, ignoring religious obligations, he is an impostor. A true Sheikh will lead a believer to the august spiritual audience of the holy Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W). If you are fortunate enough to be blessed with the company of an accomplished spiritual guide and Sheikh of Sufism, and if you follow his instructions, you will observe a positive change in yourself, transferring you from vice to virtue.
ISLAM, AS A COMPLETE CODE OF LIFE
Islam, as a complete code of life or Deen, was perfected during the life of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W). He was the sole teacher and his mosque was the core institution for the community. Although Islam in its entirety was practiced during that blessed era, the classification and compilation of its knowledge into distinct branches like ‘Tafsir’ (interpretation of the Quran), Hadith (traditions or sayings of the holy Prophet- SAWS), Fiqh (Islamic law), and Sufism (the soul purification) were undertaken subsequently. This Deen of Allah passed from the holy Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) to his illustrious Companions in two ways: the outward and the inward. The former comprised the knowledge defined by speech and conduct, i.e., the Quran and Sunnah. The latter comprised the invisible blessings or the Prophetic lights transmitted by his blessed self. These blessings purified the hearts and instilled in them a passionate desire to follow Islam with utmost love, honesty and loyalty.
WHAT’S SUFISM
Sufism is the attempt to attain these Barakah (Blessings). The Companions handed down Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) teachings as well as blessings to the Taba’een. Their strong hearts were capable of infusing these blessings into the hearts of their followers. Both aspects of Islam were similarly passed on by the Taba’een to the Taba Taba’een. The compilation of knowledge and its interpretation led to the establishment of many schools of religious thought; famous four being the Hanafi, the Hanbali, the Maliki, and the Shafa'i, all named after their founders. Similarly, in order to acquire, safeguard and distribute his blessings, an organized effort was initiated by four schools of Sufism: The Naqshbandia, the Qadria, the Chishtia, and the Suharwardia. These schools were also named after their organizers and came to be known as Sufi Orders. All these Orders intend to purify the hearts of sincere Muslims with Prophetic lights. These Sufi Orders also grew into many branches with the passage of time and are known by other names as well. The holy Quran has linked success in this life and the Hereafter with Tazkiyah (soul purification). He, who purified, is successful. (87: 14) Sufi Orders of Islam are the institutions where the basics of Tazkiyah (soul purification) and its practical application are taught. They have graded programs in which every new seeker is instructed in Zikr-e Lisani (oral Zikr) and is finally taught the Zikr-e Qalbi (Remembrance in heart).
ZIKR-E QALBI
However, in the Naqshbandia Order, Zikr-e Qalbi is practiced from the very beginning. Adherence to the Sunnah (Prophet’s way of life) is greatly emphasized in this Order, because the seeker achieves greater and quicker progress through its blessings. The essence of Zikr is that the Qalb should sincerely accept Islamic beliefs and gain the strength to follow the Sunnah with even greater devotion. ‘If the heart is acquainted with Allah and is engaged in His Zikr; then it is filled with Barakaat-e Nabuwwat (Prophetic blessings) which infuse their purity in the mind and body. This not only helps in controlling sensual drives but also removes traces of abhorrence, voracity, envy and insecurity from human soul. The person therefore becomes an embodiment of love, both for the Divine and the corporeal. This is the meaning of a Hadith, “There is a lump of flesh in the human body; if it goes astray the entire body is misguided, and if it is reformed the entire body is reformed. Know that this lump is the Qalb”.’
PAS ANFAS
Recent History Khawajah Naqshband (d. 1389 CE) organized the Naqshbandia Order at Bukhara (Central Asia). This Order has two main branches – the Mujaddidia and the Owaisiah. The former is identified with Sheikh Ahmed Sirhindi, known as Mujaddid Alif Sani (literally: reviver of the second Muslim millennium), a successor to Khawajah Baqi Billah, who introduced the Order to the Indo- Pakistan sub-continent. The Owaisiah Order employs a similar method of Zikr but acquires the Prophetic blessings in the manner of Khawajah Owais Qarni, who received this beneficence from the Holy Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) without a formal physical meeting. The Zikr employed by the Naqshbandia is ‘Zikr-e Khafi Qalbi’ (remembrance of Allah’s Name within the heart) and the method is termed ‘Pas Anfas’, which (in Persian) means guarding every breath. The Chain of Transmission of these Barakah, of course, emanates from the holy Prophet- SAWS.
SPIRITUAL BAI’AT (OATH OF ALLEGIANCE
It is necessary in all Sufi Orders that the Sheikh and the seekers must be contemporaries and must physically meet each other for the transfer of these blessings. However, the Naqshbandia Owaisiah Order goes beyond this requirement and Sufis of this Order receive these Barakah regardless of physical meeting with their Sheikh or even when the Sheikh is not their contemporary. Yet, it must be underscored that physical meeting with the Sheikh of this Order still holds great importance in dissemination of these Barakah. Sheikh Sirhindi writes about the Owaisiah Order in his book ‘Tazkirah’: ‘It is the most sublime, the most exalted, and the most effective…and the highest station of all others is only its stepping stone.’ By far the greatest singular distinction of the Naqshbandia Owaisiah Order is the honor of Spiritual Bai’at (Oath of Allegiance) directly at the blessed hands of the holy Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W).
SHEIKH HAZRAT MOULANA ALLAH YAR KHAN (R.A)
The Reviver Sheikh Allah Yar Khan was born in Chikrala, a remote village of Mianwali District of Pakistan, in 1904. He completed his religious education in 1934. The same year, he met Sheikh ‘Abdul Rahim, who took him to the shrine of Sheikh Allah Deen Madni. By Divine Will his spiritual connection was immediately established with the saint of the 10th century Hijra (sixteenth century CE) and he started receiving spiritual beneficence. His sublime education in Sufism, signifying progressive spiritual growth and advancement, continued for about twenty-five years, after which he was directed to undertake the propagation of Prophetic blessings - a noble mission that he accomplished with singular zeal and dedication for a period spanning half a century. Anybody who visited him was duly rewarded with a share of spiritual bliss commensurate with his/her sincerity and capacity. Sheikh Allah Yar Khan’s mission produced men and women of deep spiritual vision and eminence. He authored eighteen books, the most distinguished being Dalael us-Sulook (Sufism - An Objective Appraisal), Hayat-e Barzakhiah (Life Beyond Life) and Israr ul- Haramain (Secrets of the two holy Mosques). He was undoubtedly one of the most distinguished Sufi saints of the Muslim Ummah and a reviver of the Naqshbandia Owaisiah Order. He passed away on 18 February 1984 in Islamabad at the age of eighty.
THE CHAIN OF TRANSMISSION OF NAQSHBANDIA OWAISIAH
1. Hazrat Muhammad ur-Rasool Allah (Sall Allah-o Alaihi wa Sallam), 2. Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddiq (Radhi Allah-o Unho), 3. Hazrat Imam Hassan Basri (Rahmat Ullah Alaihi), 4. Hazrat Daud Tai (Rahmat Ullah Alaihi), 5. Hazrat Junaid Baghdadi (Rahmat Ullah Alaihi), 6. Hazrat Ubaid Ullah Ahrar (Rahmat Ullah Alaihi), 7. Hazrat Abdur Rahman Jami (Rahmat Ullah Alaihi), 8. Hazrat Abu Ayub Muhammad Salih (Rahmat Ullah Alaihi), 9. Hazrat Allah Deen Madni (Rahmat Ullah Alaihi), 10. Hazrat Moulana Allah Yar Khan (Rahmat Ullah Alaihi).
THE SPIRIT OR RUH
The spirit or Ruh of every person is a created reflection of the Divine Attributes and it originates in Alam-e Amar (Realm of Command). Its food is the Light of Allah or the Divine Refulgence, which it acquires from the Realm of Command through the holy Prophet Muhammad (may Allah’s choicest favors and peace be upon him), whose status in the spiritual world is like that of the sun in the solar system. The Quran refers to him as the ‘bright lamp’. Indeed, he is the divinely selected channel of all Barakah. All Exalted Messengers themselves receive these Barakah from him.
LATAIF
The human Ruh also possesses vital organs like the physical body; through which it acquires its knowledge, food and energy. These are called Lataif (singular Latifah: subtlety). Scholars of various Sufi Orders have associated them with specific areas of the human body. The Naqshbandia Owaisiah Order identifies these Lataif as follows. First - Qalb: This spiritual faculty is located within the physical heart. Its function is Zikr. Its strength increases one’s capacity for Allah’s Zikr. Second – Ruh: The site of this Latifah, which is a distinct faculty of the human Ruh, is on the right side of the chest at the level of Qalb. Its primary function is concentration towards Allah. Third – Sirri: This is located above the Qalb and functions to make possible Kashf. Forth – Khaffi: This is located above the Ruh and functions to perceive the omnipresence of Allah. Fifth – Akhfa: This is located in the middle of chest, at the centre of the first four Lataif and makes it possible for the Ruh to perceive the closeness of Allah, Who is closer to us than our own selves. Sixth – Nafs: This Latifah is located at the forehead and functions to purify the human soul. Seventh – Sultan al-Azkar: This Latifah is located at the top centre of the head and serves to absorb the Barakah of Allah into the entire body, so that every cell resonates with Zikr.
FIVE EXALTED MESSENGERS OF GOD
There are Five Exalted Messengers among the many known and unknown Messengers of Allah. They are Hazrat Muhammad, Hazrat Nuh (Noah), Hazrat Ibrahim (Abraham), Hazrat Musa (Moses), and Hazrat Esa (Jesus), peace be upon them all. Hazrat Adam is the first Prophet of Allah and the father of mankind. Each Latifah is associated with a particular Prophet. The Barakah and lights from Hazrat Adam (peace be upon him), descend on the first Latifah Qalb; its lights are reflected from the first heaven and are yellowish. The second Latifah is associated with Hazrat Nuh and Hazrat Ibrahim (peace be upon them). Its lights descend from the second heaven and appear as golden red. The lights descending upon the third Latifah are from Hazrat Musa (peace be upon him) and are white. One the fourth Latifah, the lights of Hazrat Esa (peace be upon him) descend from the fourth heaven and are deep blue. The fifth Latifah receives its Barakah directly from the holy Prophet Muhammad (may Allah’s choicest favors and peace be upon him). The lights associated with this Latifah are green, descend from the fifth heaven, and overwhelm all the first four Lataif. The Lights descending upon the sixth and seventh Lataif are the Divine Lights, whose color and condition cannot be determined. These are like flashes of lightening that defy comprehension. If Allah blesses a seeker with Kashf, he can observe all of this. The vision is slightly diffused in the beginning, but gradually the clarity improves.
SULOOK
Stages of the Path After all seven Lataif of a seeker have been illuminated with Divine Lights through Tawajjuh of the Sheikh and his Ruh has acquired the ability to fly, the Sheikh initiates its journey on the sublime Path of Divine nearness. The Path is known as Sulook, and its stages are not hypothetical imaginations but real and actually existing stations on the spiritual Path. These are also referred to as Meditations, because a seeker mentally meditates about a station while his/her Ruh actually ascends towards it. The first three stations that form the base of whole Sulook are described as; Ahadiyyat, a station of Absolute Unity of Divinity. It is above and beyond the seven heavens. It is so vast a station that the seven heavens and all that they encompass are lost within Ahadiyyat as a ring is lost in a vast desert. Its lights are white in color. Maiyyat station denotes Divine Company, ‘He is with you, wherever you might be.’ This station is so vast that Ahadiyyat along with the seven heavens beneath are lost within it as a ring is lost in a desert. Its lights are green in color. Aqrabiyyat station denotes Divine Nearness, ‘He is nearer to you than your life- vein.’ Again, Aqrabiyyat is vast as compared to Maiyyat in the same proportion. Its lights are golden red and are reflected from the Divine Throne. It is indeed the greatest favor of Almighty Allah that He blesses a seeker with an accomplished Sheikh, who takes him to these sublime stations. The final station that a seeker attains to during his/her lifetime becomes his/her Iliyyeen (blessed abode) in Barzakh and his/her Ruh stays at this station after death.
ZIKR
Why is Zikr Necessary for Everyone? Allah ordains every soul in the Quran to Perform Zikr. This not only means reciting the Quran and Tasbeeh but also Zikr-e Qalb. It is only through Zikr-e Qalbi that Prophetic Lights reach the depths of human soul and purify it from all vice and evil. Zikr infuses a realization of constant Divine Presence and a seeker feels great improvement in the level of sincerity and love towards Allah and the holy Prophet- SAWS. Such levels of sincerity, love and feelings of Divine Presence can never be obtained without Zikr. It would be a mistake to believe that Zikr may be a requirement only for the very pious and virtuous people. Zikr provides the Prophetic blessings which are in effect the life line of every human soul. It transforms even the most corrupted humans into virtuous souls by bringing out the best in them. The fact is that Zikr is the only way to achieve true contentment and satisfaction in life. The holy Quran has pointed to this eternal fact that it is only through Zikr Allah that hearts can find satisfaction. Such satisfaction and peace are the ultimate requirements of every person, regardless of religion, race and ethnicity. Practicing Zikr regularly removes all traces of anxiety and restlessness, and guides the human soul to eternal bliss and peace.
KHALIFA MAJAZEEN
Hazrat Moulana Allah Yar Khan (R.A), during his life time in 1974, presented a nomination list to Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W), during Maraqba, of expected Khalifa Majazeen for Silsila Naqshbandia Awaisia. Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) approved some names, deleted some of the names, and added down the name of Major Ghulam Muhammad as also Khalifa Majaaz of Silsila Naqshbandia Awaisia (which was not previously included in the list)
The approved names at that time included:
1. Mr. Muhammad Akram Awan Sahib,
2. Mr. Sayed Bunyad Hussain Shah Sahib,
3. Mr. Major Ahsan Baig Sahib,
4. Mr. Col. Matloob Hussain Sahib,
5. Mr. Major Ghulam Muhammad Sahib of Wan Bhachran Mianwali,
6. Mr. Molvi Abdul Haq Sahib,
7. Mr. Hafiz Abdul Razzaq Sahib,
8. Mr. Hafiz Ghulam Qadri Sahib,
9. Mr. Khan Muhammad Irani Sahib,
10. Mr. Maolana Abdul Ghafoor Sahib,
11. Mr. Syed Muhammad Hassan Sahib of Zohb.
These Majazeen were authorized to; held Majalis of Zikar (Pas Anfas) in their respective areas, arrange Majalis of Zikar in neighboring areas, train them on the way of Sulook, prepare them for Spiritual Bai’at (Oath of Allegiance), and present them to Sheikh Hazrat Moulana Allah Yar Khan for Spiritual Bai’at at the Hand of Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W), in the life of Hazrat Moulana Allah Yar Khan (R.A), and were all equal in status as Khalifa Majaaz of Hazrat Moulana Allah Yar Khan (R.A).
Presently we are following Hazrat Major ® Ghulam Muhammad Sahib, Khalifa Majaaz of Hazrat Moulana Allah Yar Khan (R.A).
Once upon a time, I guess Kingsnorth was a small leafy village, set in loamy countryside, rarely visited. Indeed this is what Hasted suggests.
Set a mile or two outside Ashford, all was calm and peaceful until the railways came to Ashford and the town grew and grew.
In the 21st century, Kingsnorth is found from the main road into the town centre, along a busy road to where the old village pub still sits. And opposite is the start of Church Hill, at the top, not surprisingly, sits the church.
Inbetween now is a large and modern housing estate, and beside the church, a busy school, even busy on a Saturday morning due to football practice and the fleet of MPVs and Soccer Moms taking their darlings for a kickabout.
It is the modern way, after all.
St Michael sits quietly next door to the school, the end of a footpath leading to another housing development on the Brenzett road, were an old friend once had a house. And I can remember him leading us on a walk over the fields through clouds of Gatekeepers where we found, as today, the church open.
I took a few shots then, but am back now to complete the task.
First highlight was the 17th century graffiti in the porch.
In truth it is a small and simple church, mostly clear what looks like modern glass, though a single panel of ancient glass is in one of the north have windows and a single panel of wall painting on the side of the north chancel arch.
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KINGSNOTH,
THE next parish south-eastward is Kingsnoth, sometimes called Kingsnode, and by Leland written Kinges-snode.
THIS PARISH is so obscurely situated as to be but little known, the soil in it is throughout a deep miry clay; it is much interspersed with woodlands, especially in the south-east part of it, the whole face of the country here is unpleasant and dreary, the hedge rows wide, with spreading oaks among them; and the roads, which are very broad, with a wide space of green swerd on each side, execrably bad; insomuch, that they are dangerous to pass except in the driest time of summer; the whole of it is much the same as the parishes adjoining to it in the Weald, of which the church, which stands on the hill nearly in the middle of the parish, is the northern boundary, consequently all that part of it southward is within that district. There is no village, the houses standing single, and interspersed throughout it At no great distance eastward from the church is the manor house of Kingsnoth, still called the Park-house, the antient mansion, which stood upon a rise, at some distance from the present house, seems from the scite of it, which is moated round, to have been large, remains of Mosaic pavement, and large quantities of stone have been at times dug up from it. South-eastward from the church is Mumfords, which seems formerly to have been very large, but the greatest part of it has been pulled down and the present small farm-house built out of it; westward from the church stands the court-lodge, now so called, of East Kingsnoth manor, it is moated round, and seems likewise to have been much larger than it is at present, and close to the western boundary of the parish is the manor-house of West Halks, which has been a large antient building, most probably of some consequence in former times, as there appears to have been a causeway once from it, wide enough for a carriage, which led through the courtlodge farm towards Shadoxhurst, Woodchurch, and son on to Halden, remains of which are often turned up in ploughing the grounds. In the low grounds, near the meadows, is the scite of the manor of Moorhouse, moated round. The above mansions seem to have been moated round not only for defence, but to drain off the water from the miry soil on which they were built, which was no doubt the principal reason why so many of the antient ones, in this and the like situations were likewise moated round. There is a streamlet, which rises in the woods near Bromley green, and slows along the eastern par to this parish northward, and joining the Postling branch of the Stour near Sevington, runs with it by Hockwood barn and under Alsop green, towards Ashford. Leland in his Itinerary says, vol. vii. p. 145, "The river of Cantorbury now cawled Sture springeth at Kinges Snode the which standeth sowthe and a lytle by west fro Cantorbury and ys distant of Cant. a xiiii or xv myles."
THE ROYAL MANOR OF WYE claims paramount over this parish. The lord of that manor, George Finch Hatton, esq. of Eastwell, holds a court leet here for the borough of East Kingsnoth, which claims over this parish, at which a borsholder is yearly appointed; subordinate to which is THE MANOR OF KINGSNOTH, which in early times was the residence of a family to which it gave name, who bore for their coat armour, as appeared by seals appendant to their antient deeds, Ermine, upon a bend, five chevronels; and John de Kingsnoth, who lived here about the latter end of king Edward I. sealed with that coat of arms; yet I find that Bartholomew de Badlesmere, who was attainted about the 17th year of king Edward II had some interest in this manor, which upon his conviction escheated to the crown, and remained there until Richard II. granted it to Sir Robert Belknap, the judge, who had, not long before, purchased that proportion of this manor which belonged to the family of Kingsnoth, by which he became possessed of the whole of it; but he being attainted and banished in the 11th year of that reign, that part which had belonged to Badlesmere, and was granted by the king to Sir Robert Belknap, returned again to the crown, a further account of which may be seen hereafter. (fn. 1) But the other part of this estate, which belonged to the family of Kingsnoth likewise, henceforward called the manor of Kingsnoth, which seems to have been the greatest part of it, on the petition of Hamon Belknap his son to parliament, to be enabled in blood and lands to his father, notwithstanding the judgement against him, was restored to him, and he was found by inquisition to die possessed of it in the 7th year of king Henry VI. Soon after which I find Sir Thomas Browne, of Beechworth castle, treasurer of the king's houshold, to have become possessed of it; for in the 27th year of that reign, he obtained licence for a fair in this parish, on the feast of St. Michael, and that same year he had another to embattle his mansion here and to inclose a park, and for freewarren in all his demesne lands within this manor; and in a younger branch of his descendants this manor continued down to Richard Browne, esq. of Shingleton, in Great Chart, who married Elizabeth, daughter of Sir William Andrews, of Lathbury, in Buckinghamshire, and dying soon after the death of king Charles I. Elizabeth, their only daughter and heir, carried it in marriage to Thomas, lord Leigh, of Stoneleigh, who afterwards alienated it again to Andrews, in which name it continued till Alexander Andrews, executor and devisee of William Andrews, in 1690, conveyed this manor, with the farm called the Park, the manor of Morehouse, and other lands in this parish, being enabled so to do by act of parliament, to the company of haberdashers of London, as trustees, for the support of the hospital at Hoxton, commonly called Aske's hospital, in whom they are now vested. There is not any court held for this manor.
THE OTHER PART of the above-mentioned estate, which had formerly belonged to the family of Badlesmere, and had escheated to the crown on the attainder of Bartholomew de Badlesmere in the 17th year of king Edward II. remained there until Richard II. granted it to Sir Robert Belknap, on whose attainder and banishment in the 11th year of that reign it returned again to the crown, whence it seems, but at what time I have not found, to have been granted to the abbot and convent of Battel, in Sussex, by the name of THE MANOR OF EAST KINGSNOTH, together with the manors of West Kingenoth, in Pluckley; Morehouse, in this parish; and Wathenden, in Biddenden, lately belonging to that monastery, in as ample a manner as the late abbot, or any of his predecessors had possessed them, (fn. 2) and they continued part of the possessions of it till its dissolution in the 30th year of Henry VIII. when they came into the hands of the crown, where they staid but a short time; for the king that year granted these manors to Sir Edw. Ringsley for his life, without any rent or account whatsoever; and four years afterwards the king sold the reversion of them to Sir John Baker, one of his council, and chancellor of the first fruits and tenths, to hold in capite by knight's service. He died in 1558, possessed of this manor, with the advowson of the church of Kingsnoth, and the manors of West Kingsnoth and Morehouse, held in capite, in whose descendants the manor of East Kingsnoth, with the advowson of the church, descended down to Sir John Baker, bart. who, in the reign of king Charles I. passed it away by sale to Mr. Nathaniel Powell, of Ewehurst, in Sussex, and afterwards of Wiarton, in this county, who was in 1661 created a baronet; and in his descendants it continued down to Sir Christopher Powell, bart. who died possessed of it in 1742, s.p. leaving his widow surviving, whose trustees sold this manor and advowson, after her death, to Mrs. Fuller, widow of Mr. David Fuller, of Maidstone, attorney-at-law, who in 1775 devised them by will to her relation William Stacy Coast, esq. now of Sevenoke, the present owner of them. There is not any court held for this manor.
MUMFORDS, as it is now called, though its proper and more antient name is Montfort's, is a manor in this parish, which was once the residence of the family of Clerc, written in antient deeds le Clerc, and afterwards both Clerke and Clarke, in which it continued till about the latter end of the reign of king Edward I. when Henry le Clerc leaving no issue male, Susan his daughter and heir carried it, with much other inheritance, in marriage to Sir Simon de Woodchurch, whose descendants, out of gratitude for such increase of fortune, altered their paternal name from Woodchurch to Clerke, and in several of their deeds subsequent to this marriage, were written Clerke, alias Woodchurch. They resided at Woodchurch till Humphry Clerke, esq. removed hither in Henry VIII.'s reign. (fn. 3) His son Humphry Clerke, about the end of queen Elizabeth's reign, sold this manor to John Taylor, son of John Taylor, of Willesborough, who afterwards resided here. His son John Taylor, gent. of Winchelsea, alienated it, about the beginning of king Charles I.'s reign, to Edward Wightwick, gent. descended of a family originally of Staffordshire, who bore for their arms, Argent, on a chevron, argent, between three pheons, or, as many crosses patee, gules, granted in 1613. He afterwards resided here, as did his descendants, till at length Humphry Wightwick, gent. about the beginning of king George II.'s reign removed to New Romney, of which town and port he was jurat, in whose descendants this manor became afterwards vested in several undivided shares. At length Mr. William Whitwick, the only surviving son of Humphry, having purchased his mother's life estate in it, as well as the shares of his brother Martin's children, lately sold the whole property of it to Mr. Swaffer, the present possessor and occupier of it.
WEST HALKS, usually called West Hawks, is a manor, situated near the western bounds of this parish, being held of the manor of Kenardington; it formerly was the residence of a family of the name of Halk, who bore on their seals a fess, between three bawks, and sometimes only one, and were of no contemptible account, as appears by old pedigrees and writings, in which they are represented as gentlemen for above three hundred years. Sampson de Halk, gent. died possessed of this manor about the year 1360, and held besides much other land at Petham and the adjoining parishes; but about the latter end of king Henry VI.'s reign, this manor had passed from this family into that of Taylor, in which name it continued till the latter end of king Henry VII. when it was alienated to Clerc, whose descendant Humphry Clerke, esq. about the end of queen Elizabeth's reign, passed it away to Robert Honywood, esq, of Charing, who settled it on his fourth son by his second marriage Colonel Honywood. How long it continued in his descendants, I cannot learn; but it has been for some length of time in the name of Eaton, of. Essex, Mr. Henry Eaton being the present owner of it.
Charities.
HUMPHRY CLARKE, gent. of this parish, left by will in 1637, a parcel of land, called Pightland, containing about three acres, in the eastern part of this parish, for the benefit of the poor of it.
MRS. ELIZABETH MAY, in 1721, gave by will 9l. every third year, chargeable on Bilham farm, to be paid, clear of all deductions, to this parish in turn, during a term of years therein mentioned, to be applied yearly towards the binding out a child an apprentice, of the poorest people in three parishes in turn, as has been already mentioned more at large under Sevington. One girl only has as yet been put out apprentice from this charity, by this parish.
The number of poor constanly relieved are about twentyfive, casually twelve.
KINGSNOTH is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of Limne.
The church, which is dedicated to St. Michael, is small, consisting only of one isle and one chancel, having a square tower steeple at the west end, in which are five bells. In the isle is an antient gravestone, coffin-shaped, with old French capitals round it, now illegible. In the chancel is a stone, with an inscription on it in brass, for Thomas Umfrey, rector, no date; and a monument for Thomas Reader, A. M. son of Thomas Reader, gent. of Bower, in Maidstone, obt. 1740. Against the north wall is the tomb of Humphry Clarke, esq. made of Bethersden marble, having the figures of him and his wife remaining in brass on it, and underneath four sons and five daughters. Over the tomb, in an arch in the wall, is an inscription to his memory, set up by his daughter's son Sir Martin Culpeper, over it are the arms of Clarke, Two pales wavy, ermine, impaling Mayney. In the glass of the south window of the isle are several heads remaining, and in the north-west window the figure of St. Michael with the dragon. The north chancel fell down about thirty years ago. It belonged to the manor of Mumfords, and in it were interred the Wightwicks, owners of that manor; the gravestones of them, nine in number, yet remain in the church-yard, shut out from the church; and on one next to theirs, formerly within this chancel, is the figure of a knight in armour, with a lion under his feet, and an inscription in brass, for Sir William Parker, son of William Parker, esq. citizen and mercer of London, obt. 1421; arms, On a fess, three balls.
The advowson of the rectory of this church was formerly parcel of the possessions of the priory of Christ-church, and at the dissolution of it in the 31st year of Henry VIII. came into the king's hands, where it remained till that king in his 34th year, granted it in exchange, among other premises, to archbp. Cranmer, (fn. 4) who did not keep it long; for four years afterwards, he reconveyed it, with the consent of his chapter, back again to the king, (fn. 5) who soon afterwards granted it to Sir John Baker, one of his council, and chancellor of his first-fruits and tenths, who died possessed of the manor of East Kingsnoth, together with the advowson of this church, in the year 1558, in whose descendants it continued down to Sir John Baker, bart. who in the reign of king Charles I. alienated it, with that manor, to Mr. Nathaniel Powell. Since which this advowson has continued in the like succession of ownership with that manor, as may be seen more fully in the account of it before, to the present patron of it, William Stacy Coast, esq. now of Sevenoke.
There was formerly a pension of forty shillings payable from this church to the abbot of Battel.
¶This rectory is valued in the king's books at 11l. 9s. 9½d. and the yearly tenths at 1l. 2s. 11¼d. In 1578 it was valued at sixty pounds, communicants one hundred. In 1640 it was valued at fifty pounds only, and there were the like number of communicants. It is now worth about one hundred and forty pounds per annum. The rector takes no tithes of wood below the hill southward. There are about seventeen acres of glebe land.
www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-kent/vol7/pp583-592
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There has been a Church in Kingsnorth from Saxon Times but the present building probably dates from the 11thC. There are examples of 13thC and 14thC stained glass remaining in some of the windows. The chancel was rebuilt in the 18thC following a storm and the two side chapels were demolished at this time. Major restoration was carried out in the 19thC at which time the stained glass in the East Window was installed. At this time and again in the 1920s work was carried out to try and cure the problem of rising damp due to the high water table. In 2006 major restoration was once again required and in addition to repairs to the tower and external stonework it was decided that an extension would be built on the site of the old chantry chapel on the north side of the building and that the interior of the church would be re-ordered. This involved digging out the interior of the church and laying a new suspended floor to try and cure the problem of the rising damp (This has been largely successful). The old pews and choir stalls were replaced with modern stackable pews to enable a more flexible use of the space, new lighting and a new heating system was installed. This has resulted in a light airy user friendly building. At the back of the church a glass screen was erected forming a separate area. This provides a space where parents can take their children if they become restless during the services. The ground floor of the extension consists of a large meeting room with kitchenette plus toilet. On the first floor there is a choir vestry and church office. There are currently plans to install a second toilet on this floor. On the second floor there is a further small meeting room and a store room.