Nandi (Sanskrit: नन्दी, Tamil: நந்தி, Telugu: న౦ది) is the name for the bull which serves as the mount (Sanskrit: Vahana) of the god Shiva and as the gatekeeper of Shiva and Parvati. In Hindu Religion, he is the chief guru of eighteen masters (18 siddhas) including Patanjali and Thirumular. Temples venerating Shiva display stone images of a seated Nandi, generally facing the main shrine. There are also a number of temples dedicated solely to Nandi.

The application of the name Nandi to the bull (Sanskrit: vṛṣabha) is in fact a development of recent centuries, as Gouriswar Bhattacharya has documented in an illustrated article entitled "Nandin and Vṛṣabha". The name Nandi was earlier widely used instead for an anthropomorphic deity who was one of Shiva’s two door-keepers, the other being Mahākāla. The doorways of pre-tenth-century North Indian temples are frequently flanked by images of Mahākāla and Nandi, and it is in this role of Shiva’s watchman that Nandi figures in Kālidāsa’s poem the Kumārasambhava.

ETYMOLOGY

The word “Nandi” is believed to be derived from the ancient word “Pandi” meaning bull or its has origins in the Sanskrit language where it means 'of Shiva', 'attendant of Shiva', or happy.

BIRTH OF NANDI

There was a Sage named Shilada who underwent severe penance to have a boon - A child with immortality. Lord Indra pleased of the austerities of Shilada appeared in front of him to offer a boon. After hearing the request of Shilada and his desire to have an immortal child, Lord Indra suggested him to pray to Lord Shiva who could provide the boon; nobody else could provide such a boon. Sage Shilada continued his penance for thousand years. He was totally immovable for many years, so the termites settled on his body and slowly started to build up their nest. Finally, his whole body was covered up by them. The insects started to eat his flesh and imbibed his blood. At last, only bones remained. Lord Shiva appeared in front of him and provided the boon for an immortal child. Moreover, Lord Shiva provided Sage Shilada his old form with a single touch. Sage Shilada performed Yagna and a child appeared from the sacrificial fire. His body was clad in armour made out of diamonds. The celestial dancers and singers performed on this auspicious occasion and the deities showered flowers on the child. The boy was named ’Nandi’ - who brings joy. Shilada brought the child home, immediately the boy lost his divine appearance to an ordinary child. The child completely forgot all about his birth. Sage Shilada was worried about the sudden change. He devoted his time for the bringing up the child, his education etc. By the age of seven the boy was well versed in Veda and all sacred texts. One day the two deities - Mitra and Varuna visited Sage Shilada. At the first sight of the boy, they commented: Though the boy had all auspicious signs, he would have a very short life. The boy would not live after the age of eight. Sage Shilada was mortified at this remark. Nandi could not bear his father's sorrow, he began to pray to Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva appeared before him and blessed him. Lord Shiva adorned the boy with a necklace around his neck which he was wearing, and made him immortal. Lord Shiva blessed the child and declared that he would be worshiped along with Him and become his vahana(vehicle). Immediately the boy got all the divine powers and transformed into half bull-half human. Then he and Shilada went to Lord Shiva 's abode to live.

IN HINDUISM

Bulls appear on the Indus Valley seals, including the 'Pasupati Seal', which depicts a seated figure, and according to some scholars is similar to Shiva. However, most scholars agree that the horned bull on the Indus Valley seals is not identical to Nandi.

The various descriptions on Nandi in the Hindu Religion texts include:

Some Puranas describe Nandi or Nandikeshvara as bull faced with a human body that resembles that of Shiva- in proportion and aspect, although with four hands, two hands holding the Parasu (the axe) and Mruga (the antelope) and the other two hands joined together in the Anjali(obeisance). Brahma Vaivarta Purana mentions Krishna himself to have taken the form of a bull as no one else in the Universe can bear Shiva.

Vehicle of Shiva: The bull Nandi is Shiva's primary vehicle and is the principal gana (follower) of Shiva.

Gate keeper of Shiva's abode: The close association of Shiva and Nandi explains the presence of a statue of Nandi at the gate of many temples dedicated to Shiva. It also explains why the word "nandi" in the Kannada, Telugu and Tamil languages is used as a metaphor for a person blocking the way. In Sanskrit, a bull is called "vrisha", which has another connotation - that of righteousness or Dharma. It is important to seek the blessings of Nandi before proceeding to worship Lord Shiva.

Chief in Shiva's army: Some Puranas mention that Nandi lead the Shiva Ganas, Shiva's attendants.

A Guru of Saivism: In addition to being his mount, Nandi is Shiva's foremost disciple. In the Natha/Siddhar tradition, Nandi is one of the primal gurus. He was the guru to Siddhar Thirumulanathar, Patanjalinathar and others.

From the yogic perspective, Nandi/Nandhi/ Nandikeshvara is the mind dedicated to Lord Siva, the Absolute. In other words, to understand and absorb Light, the 'experience and the wisdom' is Nandi which is the Guru within.

Spiritually, Nandi represents an individual jiva (soul) and the message that the jiva should always be focussed on the Atman (Paramatman).

LEGENDS

According to some puranas, Nandi was born to sage Shilada who got him by the grace of Shiva.

It was Nandi who cursed Ravana (the demon King of Lanka) that his kingdom would be burnt by a monkey (Vanara). And later Hanuman burnt Lanka when he went in search of Sita, who was kept prisoner by Ravana in Ashok Vatika. In one puranic story, it is stated that once Siva and Parvathi were playing a game of dice. For any game there has to be an umpire, who has to declare who is the winner. Siva and Parvathi agreed to have Nandi (the divine bull) as the umpire. Nandi is a favorite of Siva, as he is Siva's vehicle. Although Siva lost the game, Nandi declared him the winner. It is stated that Parvathi was indignant over Nandi's partiality for Siva and cursed him that he should die from an incurable disease. Thereupon Nandi fell at the feet of Parvathi and pleaded for forgiveness. "Mother forgive me. Should I not show at least this amount of gratitude to one who is my master? Is it not humiliating for me to declare that my master has lost the game? To uphold his honor I no doubt uttered a lie. But am I to be punished with such severity for so small an offence?" Nandi prayed for forgiveness in this manner. Parvathi forgave Nandi and taught him the means to atone for his lapse. She told him. "The Chaturdasi day in the month of Bhadrapada is the day when my son's birthday is celebrated. On that day you have to offer to my son what pleases you most (green grass)". This means that one atones for one's sins when one offers to the Lord what is most pleasing and enjoyable to him. For Nandi the most enjoyable and relishing food is green grass. As directed by Parvathi Nandi worshipped Ganapathi by offering green grass. Nandi was then relieved of his dreaded disease. His health improved and by the grace of Parvathi he was redeemed.

When the positive forces, the devas, and the negative forces, the asuras, joined together on a rare occasion to churn the ocean with a mountain to obtain the nectar of immortality they utilized Vasuki, the serpent, as the rope. The devas pulled from one end and the asuras from the other. Lots of precious herbs and gems were produced during the Churning and one of them was a poison (halāhala) which became human karma. This "poison" was so dangerous that none of the devas or asuras wanted to go near it. It was extremely sticky and coming into contact with this poison, i.e., human karma, would drag the divinity down to the realms of human suffering and ego. As everyone else ran away, Lord Siva, followed by Nandi, came forward to help as he was the only one who could counteract this deadly poison. Siva took the poison into his hand and drank it, the descent of the poison was in turn stopped at His throat, by His divine consort. Siva is therefore also known as Nīlakaṇṭha (the blue-throated one) and Viṣakaṇṭha (the poison-throated one). Nandi saw some of the poison spill out of Siva's mouth and immediately drank if off the ground. The devas and asuras watching were shocked and wondered aloud what would happen to Nandi. Lord Siva calmed their fears saying, "Nandi has surrendered into me so completely that he has all my powers and my protection".

LARGEST NANDIS IN INDIA

1. Lepakshi, Andhra Pradesh

2. Brahadishwara Temple, Tamil Nadu

3. Chamundi Hills, Mysore, Karnataka

4. Bull Temple, Bangalore, Karnataka

5. Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu

6. Hoysaleswara Temple, Halebidu, Karnataka

7. Shanthaleswara Temple, Halebidu, Karnataka

8. Vadakkunnathan Temple, Thrissur, Kerala

9. Virupaksha Temple, Hampi, Karnataka

10. Nandi Temple, Western Group of Temples, Khajuraho, Madhya Pradesh

11. Kedareshvara Temple at Balligavi (Karnataka)

12. Doddabasaveshvara temple, Kurugodu Bellary dist

WIKIPEDIA

debbie is hot@slainte irish pub. por mariah daher.

Students learn proper paddling techniques and prepare for their first kayak trip.

It is a little bit better to view LARGE. (recommended)

This is Haleakala Crater and located more than 10,000 ft above sea level on the Island of Maui. For additional info please click the link.

Click here for long exposure.

View image exif info.

This can be view, was selected and featured in my Pentax Photo Gallery

This is meant to be used as anatomy reference or use in art. Please see my profile for usage rules!

Name: Reede

Species: English Muntjac

Sex: Male

Location from: England

Other: A young adult that was evidently sourced from roadkill. Has some minor post mortem tooth damage.

Species Info: Muntjacs, AKA Barking Deer, are small portly deer with striking red coats. Their most notable feature are their long canines which are used for fighting. They have no seasonal rut- instead mating year-round due to being a tropical animal.

These deer are native to Asian regions but have been introduced to England, where they have become one of the most common deer species.

Evening walk with my friend Pam

Madeley is recorded in the Domesday Book, having been founded before the 8th century. Historically, Madeley's industrial activity has largely been in mining, and later, manufacturing, which is still a large employer in the town, along with service industries. Parts of the parish fall within the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Ironbridge Gorge, the site of The Iron Bridge, and a key area in the development of Industry.

The settlement of Madeley is recorded as far back as the Domesday Book. The town was founded prior to the 8th century, and subsequently became a market town in the 13th century.

Sigward, a local ruler in the time of King Ethelbald of Mercia, is said to have held 3 hides of land at Madeley.[2] Between 727 and 736 he sold his holdings to Mildburh, daughter of Merewalh, sub-king of the Magonsæte. She was the founder and first head of Wenlock Abbey. The monastery was refounded as a Cluniac priory after the Norman conquest but the manor of Madeley belonged to the church of Wenlock, throughout the Middle Ages, until the Dissolution of the monasteries. It passed to the Crown in 1540 and in 1544 was sold to Robert Broke, a prominent lawyer and politician from Claverley.

Mining of coal began before 1322, and the extraction of ironstone had begun by 1540.[3]

The town played a role in the English Civil War, as it was home to a garrison of Royalist soldiers in 1645, although this post was abandoned after the fall of Shrewsbury. Two months later, Paliamentary forces occupied the parish church.[3] Madeley is also home to a barn in which King Charles II hid after the Battle of Worcester in 1651.[4]

In the 17th century, Madeley was a small market town, but local tradesmen began to specialise, working in the river trade and in mining. In the 18th century, The Iron Bridge was built between Madeley Wood and Coalbrookdale and the settlement of Ironbridge grew by it, which took some of the commercial trade away from the old town of Madeley, including its market.

Residents of the town of Madeley have included Sir Basil Brooke of Madeley Court, who was instrumental in the Industrial Revolution. He was born in the local manor (which he later inherited) in 1576. His grandfather, Robert Brooke, was a former Speaker of the House of Commons.[19] John William Fletcher, an English divine, originally from Switzerland, was the vicar of the parish of Madeley in the 18th century.[20] Major Charles Allix Lavington Yate VC, is another former resident of the town, who earned the Victoria Cross in the First World War.[21] He was kinsman of Colonel Sir Charles Yate, 1st Baronet, (1849-1940) British soldier and administrator in India, who retired to Madeley Hall and is buried in the parish churchyard.

Billy Wright, the former captain of Wolves and the England football team, attended Madeley Senior School (which is now the Abraham Darby Academy).[22] Rob Edwards a current Wolves and Wales full-back, was born in the town, in 1982.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madeley,_Shropshire

The Black Ferns is New Zealand's national women's rugby union team.

The team's nickname combines the colour black and the silver fern, which are iconic New Zealand sporting symbols. For example, the All Blacks is New Zealand's famous men's rugby team, the Black Caps is the men's cricket team, the White Ferns is the women's cricket team, while the Silver Ferns is the national women's netball team.

The Black Ferns are the current Women's Rugby World Cup champions. They have won four consecutive World Cups, winning the first International Rugby Board (IRB)-sponsored Cup in 1998, the 2002 World Cup in Barcelona, the 2006 World Cup in Edmonton, Canada, and the 2010 World Cup in London, England. The Black Ferns have participated in most WRWC events since its inauguration in 1991, only missing the 1994 championship in Scotland. They also won the Canada Cup in 1996, 2000, and 2005, and the Churchill Cup in 2004.

Farah Palmer, who had been captain since 1997, lost her captaincy in 2005 due to a shoulder injury. However, she was honoured as International Women's (Rugby) Personality of the Year at the IRB Awards. During that year, Rochelle Martin and Anna Richards led the team in the 2005 test series against England, which the Black Ferns won 2-0. For the 5th Women's Rugby World Cup in Canada, Farah Palmer fought her way back into the Black Ferns team. After again leading the team to World Cup victory, Palmer announced her retirement from the Black Ferns in September 2006.[1]

While rugby is the most popular spectator game in New Zealand, the Black Ferns have suffered in the past from similar problems to any women's sport—under-funding, lack of support and lack of publicity. The New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) and IRB have been criticised for not doing more to promote women's rugby, although support is beginning to build in those organisations. The NZRU started funding the Black Ferns in 1995, thus giving a great boost to their game. Accordingly the Black Ferns have benefitted from being included in NZRU High Performance initiatives. Along with professional coaches the team has had access to professional development resources such as analysis. The Black Ferns have used Verusco Technologies TryMaker video analysis system, as used by the All Blacks. In more recent times, the team's profile has risen greatly at a grassroots level, due in great part to their string of successes, and it is increasingly seen to be a national team on the same basis as any other.

In January 2010 NZRU announced that the National Provincial Competition (NPC) will have to go due to budget cuts. This has been a shock for many women players especially since it is a World Cup year. Former captain Farah Palmer was one of the women who commented on that.[2] NZRU said women's domestic rugby is one of many victims of the tight financial times. They have faced a barrage of criticism for their decision. General manager of provincial rugby Neil Sorenson said NZRU is going to replace the competition with camps and trials for the Black Ferns.

After the Black Ferns won the World Cup in 2010 and due to efforts of many rugby players in New Zealand the NPC was re-installed. The Auckland Storm with Emma Jensen captaining the side, won the final against Canterbury 38-12 in Christchurch. It was the Auckland Storm 5th consecutive title.

Les Néo-Zélandaises se présentent comme les favorites naturelles du Mondial dames de rugby qui s'ouvre vendredi près de Paris, après avoir remporté les quatre dernières éditions, mais les hôtes françaises et les grandes rivales anglaises se tiennent en embuscade.

Les "Black Ferns" (Fougères noires) règnent sans partage sur le monde depuis 1998 et ont pris l'habitude, lors des trois dernières éditions, de contrarier les rêves anglais en finale. Victorieuses de leurs quatre matches de préparation contre l'Australie, les Samoa et le Canada (deux fois), les Néo-Zélandaises, dont les meilleures sont sous contrat fédéral et sont également championnes du monde à VII, semblent posséder un temps d'avance sur le plan technique et physique. Versées dans une poule B plutôt facile (avec l'Irlande, les États-Unis et le Kazakhstan), les Black Ferns devraient se roder lors de leurs trois premières rencontres disputées à Marcoussis, siège de la Fédération française de rugby à une trentaine de kilomètres au sud de Paris.

Parmi les douze équipes en lice pour cette septième édition, les Françaises font figure de sérieuses prétendantes après avoir remporté le Grand Chelem dans le Tournoi des six nations. Invaincues en 2014, les Bleues ont l'avantage du terrain, à condition de gérer la pression de l'événement. Elles devraient en théorie franchir l'obstacle d'une poule C comprenant le pays de Galles, l'Afrique du Sud et l'Australie. Les Wallaroost; et les ;Bleues; n'ont guère de repères les unes contre les autres, leur dernière opposition remontant au Mondial-2010 et au match pour la 3e place perdu par la France.

Les Anglaises (poule A) voudront, elles, chasser l'amertume du dernier Mondial: elles s'étaient inclinées au Twickenham Stoop d'un cheveu contre les Néo-Zélandaises (13-10) au terme d'une finale à fort suspense. Mais leurs Tournois des six nations 2013 (3e place).

Patan (Sanskrit: पाटन Pātan, Newar: यल Yala), officially Lalitpur Sub-Metropolitan City, is the third largest city of Nepal after Kathmandu and Pokhara and it is located in the south-central part of Kathmandu Valley. Patan is also known as Manigal. It is best known for its rich cultural heritage, particularly its tradition of arts and crafts. It is called city of festival and feast, fine ancient art, making of metallic and stone carving statue. At the time of the 2011 Nepal census it had a population of 226,728 in 54,748 individual households. The city received extensive damage from an earthquake on 25 April 2015.

GEOGRAPHY

Patan is on the elevated tract of land in Kathmandu Valley on the south side of the Bagmati River, which separates it from the city of Kathmandu on the northern and western side. The Nakkhu Khola acts as the boundary on the southern side. It was developed on relatively thin layers of deposited clay and gravel in the central part of a dried ancient lake known as the Nagdaha.

It is the third largest city of the country, after Kathmandu, and Pokhara.

The city has an area of 15.43 square kilometres and is divided into 22 municipal wards. It is bounded by:

East: Imadol VDC and Harisiddhi VDC

West: Kirtipur Municipality and Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC)

North: Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC)

South: Saibu VDC, Sunakothi VDC and Dhapakhel VDC

CLIMATE

Climate is characterized by relatively high temperatures and evenly distributed precipitation throughout the year. The Köppen Climate Classification subtype for this climate is "Cfa" (Humid Subtropical Climate).

HISTORY

Lalitpur is believed to have been founded in the third century BC by the Kirat dynasty and later expanded by Licchavis in the sixth century. It was further expanded by the Mallas during the medieval period.

There are many legends about its name. The most popular one is the legend of the God Rato Machhindranath, who was brought to the valley from Kamaru Kamachhya, located in Assam, India, by a group of three people representing the three kingdoms centered in the Kathmandu Valley.

One of them was called Lalit, a farmer who carried God Rato Machhindranath to the valley all the way from Assam, India. The purpose of bringing the God Rato Machhindranath to the valley was to overcome the worst drought there. There was a strong belief that the God Rato Machhindranath would bring rain in the valley. It was due to Lalit's effort that the God Rato Machhindranath was settled in Lalitpur. Many believe that the name of the town is kept after his name Lalit and pur meaning township.

In May, a chariot festival honoring the deity known as Bunga Dyah Jatra is held in Patan. It is the longest and one of the most important religious celebrations in Patan.

During the month-long festival, an image of Rato Machhendanath is placed on a tall chariot and pulled through the city streets in stages.

Lalitpur said to have been founded by King Veer Deva in 299 AD, but there is unanimity among scholars that Patan was a well established and developed town since ancient times. Several historical records including many other legends indicate that Patan is the oldest of all the cities of Kathmandu Valley. According to a very old Kirat chronicle, Patan was founded by Kirat rulers long before the Licchavi rulers came into the political scene in Kathmandu Valley. According to that chronicle, the earliest known capital of Kirat rulers was Thankot. Kathmandu, the present capital was most possibly removed from Thankot to Patan after the Kirati King Yalamber came into power sometimes around second century AD.

One of the most used and typical Newar names of Patan is Yala. It is said that King Yalamber or Yellung Hang named this city after himself, and ever since this ancient city was known as Yala.

In 1768, Lalitpur was annexed to the Gorkha Kingdom by Prithvi Narayan Shah in the Battle of Lalitpur.

HISTORICAL MONUMENTS

The city was initially designed in the shape of the Buddhist Dharma-Chakra (Wheel of Righteousness). The four thurs or mounds on the perimeter of Patan are ascribed around, one at each corner of its cardinal points, which are popularly known as Asoka Stupas. Legend has it that Emperor Asoka (the legendary King of India) visited with his daughter Charumati to Kathmandu in 250 BC and erected five Asoka Stupas, four in the surrounding and one at the middle of the Patan. The size and shape of these stupas seem to breathe their antiquity in a real sense. There are more than 1,200 Buddhist monuments of various shapes and sizes scattered in and around the city.

The most important monument of the city is Patan Durbar Square, which has been listed by UNESCO as one of seven Monument Zones that make up the Kathmandu Valley World Heritage Site. The seven monument zones were included in the World Heritage List in 1979 as one integrated site. The monument zones are declared as protected and preserved according to the Monuments Preservation Act of 1956. The Square was heavily damaged on 25 April 2015 by an earthquake.

Patan City was planned in Vihars and Bahils. Out of 295 Vihars and Bahils of the valley 56% of them are in Patan. The water conduits, stone spouts, Jaladroni (water tanks), artistic gate ways, Hindu temples and Buddhist Vihars adorn the city. The in built cultural heritage like the royal palace, with intricately carved doors and windows and beautiful courtyards adorned with exquisite icons enhance the beauty of the city. Such art pieces are found in stone, metal, terracotta ivory and other objects. All these artifacts exhibit artistic excellence of the craftsmen and the whole city looks like an open museum.

ECONOMY

A substantial portion of the population is engaged in trades, notably in traditional handicrafts and small scale cottage industries, and some residents work in agriculture. Lalitpur has produced the highest number of renowned artists and finest craftsmen ever recorded in the history of Nepali art.

Patan has maintained a culture of craftwork even in the face of rapid urbanization and many social and political upheavals.

The city is less urbanized than Kathmandu, north of the Bagmati river, but is home to many workshops, stores, restaurants, hotels, schools, embassies and other important sectors of the Kathmandu Valley economy.

Buddha Air has its headquarters in Jawalakhel, near Patan.

EDUCATION

POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION

Patan is home to Pulchowk Engineering Campus, one of the oldest and most reputed colleges affiliated with the Institute of Engineering, Tribhuvan University. Patan Academy of Health Sciences is the only medical university in the city with Patan Hospital as its primary teaching hospital, and there is another medical school - KIST Medical College in Lalitpur. Other instituitions of higher learning in Patan include Kathmandu University School of Management (KUSOM) and Patan Multiple Campus.

PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION

The city is served by a number of private and public instituitions providing education from primary until secondary level. Among all, the largest and reputed schools are Adarsha Vidya Mandir, St. Xavier's School, St. Mary's, Little Angels School, Graded English Medium School, Rato Bangala School, DAV Sushil Kedia, Adarsha Kanya Niketan, The British School, Adarsha Saral Madhyamik Vidyalay and Gyanodaya Bal Batika School.

LIBRARIES

Nepal National Library which was established in 1957 AD was moved to Patan from Singha Durbar in 2061 AD. It is at Harihar Bhawan. Madan Puraskar Pustakalaya which awards the Madan Puraskar and Jagadamba Shree Puraskar literary prizes is in the city.

PLACES OF INTEREST

Patan is renowned as a very artistic city. Most of the Nepalese art is devoted to Gods, and there are an abundance of temples and viharas. Notable places of interest include:

Patan Durbar Square: The palace square and residence of the Malla rulers of Patan state which now houses a museum.

Patan Dhoka: One of the historical entrances to the old city.

Bhaskerdev Samskarita Hiranyabarna Mahavihara: A Buddhist temple known locally as Golden Temple.

Mahabouddha Temple: Also known as 1000 Buddha Temple modeled liked the Mahabodhi temple in Bodh Gaya.

Kumbheswor Temple: A Shiva temple with two ponds whose water is believed to come from Gosaikunda.

Ratnakar Mahavihar: Also known as Ha Baha, the viahara complex is the official residence of the Kumari of Patan.

Krishna Mandir: One of the most beautiful stone temples of Nepal built by King Siddhinarsingh Malla in the 16th century.

Park Gallery: an artist run space founded in 1970.

TRANSPORTATION

AIRPORTS

ROADS

Walking is the easiest method of transportation within the city as the core is densely populated. In terms of motor transport, Kathmandu Valley Ring Road which encircles the central part of the valley is a strategic road in the city. Connection to Kathmandu over the Bagmati River is provided by a host of road and pedestrian bridges. The most trafficked and important bridge connecting to the centre of Kathmandu is Thapathali Bridge. Since pedestrians and vehicles often have to share the same road, traffic congestion is a major problem in Patan. Efforts are being made to widen roads to make them more suitable to vehicular traffic.

PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION

Private companies operate a number of routes connecting Patan with other places in the valley. Buses, micro-buses and electric tempos are the most common forms of public transport seen in the city. Lalitpur Yatayat buses connects the touristic Thamel area of Kathmandu with buses stopping at Patan Dhoka, a five-minute walk to Patan Durbar Square. Lagankhel Bus Park is the central transport hub.

MEDIA

To Promote local culture Patan has one FM radio station Radio Sagarmatha - 102.4 MHz which is a Community radio station.

LANGUAGE

The original native language of Patan is Nepal Bhasa's Lalitpur dialect. Though due to the migration form other places to Patan, other languages like Nepali, Tamang, etc. are also spoken.

WIKIPEDIA

This is a photograph from the Longwood GAA 10KM and 5KM Road Races and Fun Runs 2014 which were held in Longwood Village, Co. Meath, Ireland on Sunday 19th October 2014 at 11:00. This is the fifth year which Longwood GAA have hosted race events. This year's event was an outstanding success with the number of participants doubling over last year's final numbers. There were almost 400 participants in both events with 224 in the 10KM and 166 in the 5KM. In the first three previous years the club had organised a 5KM road race. The events were organised as fundraisers for both the adult and juvenille teams at Longwood GAA club. The event also provided a fundraising opportunity for the local St. Vincent de Paul charity. Overall the whole day was a great success with the hard work put in by the organising committee ensuring that participants enjoyed their race experience. Both routes were accurately measured, kilometer points clearly marked, junctions well stewarded, and electronic timing provided. The event provided many local runners, joggers, fun runners and walkers with a local event to support whilst at the same time providing runners preparing for events such as the Dublin marathon with an opportunity to race a short, fast, distance in the lead up to marathon day. The GAA club provided excellent stewarding and traffic management all around the course. The race had a professional feel to it and it is sure to grow next year given the very positive feedback from many of the participants today.

This is a photograph which is part of a larger set of photographs taken at the event. There were photographs taken at the start of the races and the finishes of both races in Longwood GAA. The full set is available at this link www.flickr.com/photos/peterm7/sets/72157648845224981/

Longwood is a small village in South East Co. Meath and is close to the town of Enfield with access to the M4 Motorway.

Timing and event management was provided by Precision Timing. Results are available on their website at www.precisiontiming.net/result.aspx?v=2100 with additional material available on their Facebook page (www.facebook.com/davidprecisiontiming?fref=ts) See their promotional video on YouTube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-7_TUVwJ6Q

Overall Race Summary

Participants: There were about 400 participants over the two events.

Weather: The weather was very breezy but dry. The temperatures around 10C.

5KM Course: The 5KM started in Longwood village. Runners then took a left turn in the Village down St. Oliver's Road. This straight section of road brings runners to a left turn onto a very well maintained boreen road for less than one kilometer. The race then emerges and joins with the 10KM at Stoneyford where the runners take a left and then another left before arriving back at the finish line in Longwood GAA club. Overall this is a very fast and flat 5KM with no hills to speak of.

10KM Course: The 10KM event begins in Longwood Village outside Stoney's Pub (goo.gl/maps/Of4fW) and proceeds westward out of the village. There are some interesting points along this part of the course. At the 2KM point the runners will run under the double bridges - an aquaduct for the Royal Canal and a bridge carrying the Dublin Sligo Railway line. The race then enters county Kildare just before the 3km and after taking a right turn at the four-cross roads known locally as Lally's Cross it returns to County Meath on top of the River Boyne Bridge (Ashfield Bridge) which forms the county boundary. The race follows a straight road for the next 2KM until runners encounter Blackshade bridge which is the toughest climb on the route. As a point of interest Blackshade bridge brings runners back over the Royal Canal and the Railway line. The race then crosses the River Boyne again at Stoneyford before taking a right which will bring runners on a testing two kilometer stretch with some short hills. The 10KM course then joins with the 5Km course for the final 1.5KM back to Longwood GAA club for the finish.

Location Map: Longwood GAA club (Race Finish and Race Head Quarters - goo.gl/maps/4a8iQ Google StreetView)

Joining point of the two courses (Google Streetview goo.gl/maps/ICUvs)

Some Useful Links

RESULTS 2014: www.precisiontiming.net/result.aspx?v=2253

www.facebook.com/longwoodroadrace?fref=ts (may require Facebook logon)

Longwood GAA Facebook: www.facebook.com/longwoodgaa (may require Facebook logon)

Our photographs from Longwood 5KM 2013: www.flickr.com/photos/peterm7/sets/72157636477484093/

Our photographs from Longwood 5KM 2012: www.flickr.com/photos/peterm7/sets/72157631820426332/

Our photographs from Longwood 5KM 2011: www.flickr.com/photos/peterm7/sets/72157627782257481/

Our photographs from Longwood 5KM 2010: www.flickr.com/photos/peterm7/sets/72157625058772687/

Garmin GPS Trace for the 5KM Event in 2013: connect.garmin.com/player/238527691

Garmin GPS Trace for the 10KM Event in 2013: connect.garmin.com/activity/387453099

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.

I want to 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.

I want 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.

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/

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

Palazzo Duca di Santo Stefano is set amidst lush gardens and is an appealing setting . The Palace's magnificent square structure, massiveness, position and battlemented walls make it look like a fortress, therefore making people think that the initial constructor was a Norman.This 13th century Palace, situated near Porta Catania has a beautiful garden in front of its main facades facing east and north and was the home of the De Spuches, a noble family of Spanish origin, who were Dukes of Santo Stefano di Brifa and Princes of Galati.Palazzo Duca di Santo Stefano is surely one of the masterpieces of Sicilian Gothic art, in which the elements of Arabian and Norman art merge. Arabian reminiscences are aroused by the decoration on the top part of the palace. Norman art instead is recalled by its square tower-like plan.The Palace is made up of three square overlapping sections. The entrance to the ground floor is an ogival arch constructed with squared blocks of black lava stone and white Taormina stone.An internal staircase, made entirely of wood, was reproduced when the building was restored.On the second floor there are four beautiful windows indisputably in Gothic style, two facing east and two facing north, the noble prospects of the palace. In the gardens overlooked by the noble facades there is a well for the collection of rain-water which was the water supply for the whole palace.The municipality of Taormina only gained possession of Palazzo Duca di Santo Stefano in 1964.The Palace today houses the " Mazzullo Foundation ", run by a clever sculptor who has succeeded in turning tradition into modernness.Many of his sculptures are on show in the Palace where you can also appreciate archeological finds that go back to the 3rd century B.C. Many exhibitions, concerts and theatre plays are held in the gardens throughout the summer.

Il Palazzo Duca di Santo Stefano è un palazzo-torrione, all’estremità del corso Umberto, prima dell’arco di porta Catania. L’epoca della costruzione è quella della Badia vecchia; fu poi completata nel XV secolo.L’edificio è a pianta quadrata ed a tre elevazioni, con una serie di finestre ogivali al piano nobile

Il Palazzo Duchi di Santo Stefano fu costruito tra la fine del 1300 e i primi anni del 1400.

Era parte integrante della cinta muraria medievale di taormina. E' un capolavoro dell'arte gotica siciliana, ancorato all'esperienza arabo-normanna. Su due facciate si trova un fregio che forma un magnifico merletto d'intarsi, grazie all’alternanza di tasselli in pietra lavica e di tasselli in pietra bianca di Siracusa. Le bifore del primo piano sono molto semplici. Notate come il profilo esterno degli archi sia evidenziato da blocchetti in pietra lavica. Molto elaborate sono le bifore del secondo piano. Sono trilobate, cioè presentano una sorta di merletto a tre lobi a destra e a sinistra della colonna. Sotto l’arco a sesto acuto, potete vedere un magnifico rosone traforato. Nel 1700 fu realizzata la scala che dal piano terra porta al primo piano. Nel giardino esiste ancora il pozzo per la raccolta dell’acqua piovana. L’originario aspetto di edificio fortificato fu alleggerito nel trecento e nel quattrocento, quando vi abitarono le famiglie dei De Spauches, dei Duchi di Santo Stefano di Brifa e i Principi di Galati. Durante l’estate taorminese, nel cortile adiacente si tengono importanti manifestazioni culturali.Il palazzo, oggi è la sede della Fondazione Mazzullo. Sono esposte numerose opere dell’artista Giuseppe Mazzullo, nato il15 febbraio del 1913 a Graniti, un piccolo paese del messinese, a ridosso delle suggestive gole dell’alcantara.

A summer evening, walking along the Coal Harbour quay enjoying the ocean view, I was passing by the Bayshore Hotel lawns, and was so enchanted by the scene that unfolded, of a dad's delight with his little one. It had been a not-so-well day for me but I ended up "walking on air"

Her bag is awesome! I love it! Her earrings actually also match pretty well :p

This is the second time I've visited the Minnesota Renaissance Festival - it is huge - about 10 times bigger than the Three Barons in Anchorage. I hit the MRF when the themed weekend involved belly dancers (how coincidental!!). The Sisters of the Sahara are one of the main performance groups in the Fest - and one of the best bellying dancing troupes I've ever seen - they perform both solo and group dances and they are absolutely incredibly - always great to watch. Also, they are a blast to talk to after the performances - very sweet, no diva drama in any of them. I sure hope I can make it to the 2013 MRF - it would be worth it!

I took this photo at the 2012 MRF near Shakopee, MN, in September 2012.

This is Rose BOWING to her JESUS now at 18 INCHES on 08 OCTOBER 2006. She is in a cement level base since 25 September that we made. I couldn't resist, when we made it to put soil from Rose's grave, soil from each of her houses, some tiny rocks, a leaf, and a flower from her houses. It was just a little of each but I thought it would make it all the more special. You can see her Heart shape base which is what I will make her memorial stone into soon. It will be made with smooth cement, black die, a white birch cross with Rose's name engraved in it & her picture with Angel wings. The "FERRON" ROSARY with 15 Mysteries that the Virgin Mary had designed & showed Rose on 01 May 1928 and will show each of the Ferron children will surround the edge in heart-shape form with gemstones representing the 10 X 15 Hail Mary beads.. Also Roses saying "Let us braid a crown of Thorns here on earth so my Jesus will turn it into a crown of Roses in Heaven will be surroung the edge a half inch inside before the Rosary. Mr. & Mrs. Ferron will be at the end. I would also like to include St. Michael & Mama Mary with Jesus somehow but havent figured that out yet.. I hope to complete that within next few weeks as Jesus blesses me strength & health enough to do so. I can't wait til it is completed, it will be so beautiful. Then I want to repaint Jesus's face as his eyes don't look right from the statue makers doings. One eye is bigger than the other. It's a shame statue makers & painters don't take greater care in their work but I think I can fix it.

The spire of St Mary's is one of the tallest in England and for over 500 years it has dominated the skyline of Shrewsbury's old town. The church is now the only complete medieval church in Shrewsbury.

It dates from Saxon times and has beautiful additions from the 12th-Century onwards. Inside, the atmosphere is peaceful with the soaring stone arches giving way to the church's great treasure - its stained glass. There are panels in glorious colour including the famous 14th-Century 'Jesse window' filled with figures of Old Testament kings and prophets, and scenes from the life of St Bernard - a Medieval cartoon strip that shows him ridding flies from an abbey, riding a mule and curing the sick. No other church in the country has a collection to equal it. Warmth and richness is also provided by superb Victorian coloured tiles on the floor; and lifting your eyes upwards, you will see the wonderful 15th-Century carved oak ceiling of the nave, with a profusion of animals, birds and angels.

Interpretation panels, friendly stewards, and the 1403 café all guaranteed to provide a fantastic visit. St Mary's is in the care of The Churches Conservation Trust saving historic churches for future generations to enjoy. originalshrewsbury.co.uk/visit/st-marys-church

Shrewsbury, situated on on the River Severn, is a large market town and the county town of Shropshire.

The town centre has a largely-unspoilt medieval street plan and over 660 listed buildings, including several examples of timber framing from the 15th and 16th centuries. Shrewsbury Castle, a red sandstone fortification, and Shrewsbury Abbey, a former Benedictine monastery, were founded in 1074 and 1083 respectively by the Norman Earl of Shrewsbury, Roger de Montgomery. The town is the birthplace of Charles Darwin and is where he spent 27 years of his life. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shrewsbury

Shropshire (/ˈʃrɒpʃər, -ʃɪər/; alternatively Salop; abbreviated, in print only, Shrops; demonym Salopian /səˈloʊpiən/ sə-LOH-pee-ən, Welsh: Swydd Amwythig) is a county in England, bordering Wales to the west, Cheshire to the north, Staffordshire to the east, and Worcestershire and Herefordshire to the south. Shropshire Council was created in 2009, a unitary authority taking over from the previous county council and five district councils. The borough of Telford and Wrekin has been a separate unitary authority since 1998 but continues to be included in the ceremonial county.

CicLAvia is a 501(c)3 non-profit that catalyzes vibrant public spaces, active transportation, and good health through car-free streets. CicLAvia engages with people to transform our relationship with our communities and with each other.

Inspired by Bogotá’s weekly ciclovía, CicLAvia temporarily closes streets to car traffic and opens them to Angelenos to use as a public park. Free for all, CicLAvia connects communities to each other across an expansive city, creating a safe place to bike, walk, skate, roll, and dance through Los Angeles County.

Tashiding Monastery is a Buddhist monastery of the Nyingma sect of Tibetan Buddhism in Western Sikkim, northeastern India. It is located on top of the hill rising between the Rathong chu and the Rangeet River, 40 kilometres from Gyalshing and 19 kilometres to the south east of Yuksam meaning Yuk-Lamas, Sam- Three in Lepcha Language which signifies the meeting place of three holy lamas from Tibet in 1641 A.D. Tashiding is the nearest town to the Tashiding Monastery (Gompa), which is the most sacred and holiest monasteries in Sikkim.

Tashiding means “The Devoted Central Glory” and the monastery by this name was founded in 1641 by Ngadak Sempa Chempo Phunshok Rigzing who belonged to the Nyingma sect of Tibetan Buddhism. Ngadak was one of the three wise men who held the consecration ceremony crowning the first King of Sikkim at Yuksom. It was extended and renovated in 1717 during the reign of the third Chogyal Chakdor Namgyal. 'Bhumchu Ceremony' or festival is a popular religious festival that is held on the 14th and 15th day of the first month of Tibetan Calendar.

The Tashiding Monastery is part of Buddhist religious pilgrimage circuit starting with the first monastery at Yuksam in Sikkim known as the Dubdi Monastery, Norbugang Chorten, Pemayangtse Monastery, the Rabdentse ruins, the Sanga Choeling Monastery, and the Khecheopalri Lake.

LEGEND

There are several legends linked to the most revered monastery and the Bhuchu festival that is held here.

According to one local legend Guru Padmasambhava shot an arrow into the air to select the place. Where the arrow he shot landed, he sat in meditation and that site eventually became the site of the Tashiding Monastery.

Another legend relates to the three monks who consecrated the first Chogyal of Sikkim at Yuksam. It is said that the three monks saw an unusual divine phenomenon of bright light shining on top of the Kanchendzonga mountain, which reflected to a site near the place where the present Tashiding Monastery has been built. Concurrently, a scented smell of incense followed by all pervading divine music was also noted. The first Chogyal who visited the site subsequent to hearing this unusual event, erected a small chorten at the site and named it as Thongwa-Rang-Grol. Legend further glorifies the site stating that a mere sight of it “confers self-emancipation”.

Another absorbing legend is related to the celebration of the Bhumchu festival at Tashiding Monastery. The legend is traced to the tantric art. Guru Padmasambhava, while teaching the tantric system of “Mahakarunika Avalokiteshvara Sadhana and initiation on emancipation from the cycle of mundane existence” to the King Trisong Duetsen, prince Murub Tsenpo, Yeshe Tsogyal and Verotsana in Tibet, sanctified the same holy vase with holy water, which is now kept in Tashiding Monastery and revered during the Bhumchu festival. This vase is made of five types prized jewels, divine soil and holy water said to have been gathered by Padmasambhava from religious centres in India, Odiuana and Zahor. The vase was made by the wrathful deity Damchen Gar-bgag and sanctified by Guru Padmasambhava himself by performing the “Sadhana of Yidam Chuchig Zhal (meaning tutelary deity of eleven heads)”. On this occasion, heavenly deities appeared in the sky and thereafter merged into the holy water contained in the vase. The vase then overflowed and the water dispersed in “all directions in the form of rays.” This ritual was immediately followed by an earthquake, which was considered an auspicious sign. The divine moment also witnessed the presence of the four guardian divinities namely, “the Gyalchen Dezhi/Cutur – Maharajika of Dharma and the gods of the thirty-three heavens (Samchu Tsasumgyi Lhanam) who showered flowers from the sky.” The event was witnessed by devotees and Padmasmabhava distributed the holy water from the vase to all assembled people, which spiritually benefited one and all. The vase was then hidden as a treasure under the care of the divine deities. However, the vase was rediscovered and passed through the hands of several holy men and finally placed at Tashiding by Terton Ngdag Sampachenpo. During the reign of the first ruler of Sikkim, Phuntshog Namgyal, the Terton recited the holy hymn “Om Mani Padme Hum” five billions when several unique events were also witnessed in Sikkim. After the religious ceremony the vase with the water has been kept on display in a small chamber in the Monastery under the custody of the Chogyal himself, which is opened once a year during the Bhumchu festival.

GEOGRAPHY

This monastery located at an altitude of 1465 m is built on top of a heart shaped hill or helmet shaped hill above the confluence of the Rathong Chu and Rangeet rivers, with the Mt. Kanchendzonga providing the scenic back drop. It is about 16 km from Yuksam, 40 km from Gezing via Legship.

The monastery is considered as the spiritual centre of Sikkim since it is encircled by many important monasteries in Sikkim in all directions such as: the Dubdi Monastery 23 km away on its northern direction, the Khecheopalri Lake (wish fulfilling lake) on the northwest, the Pemayangtse monastery on the west, the Shiva temple at Legship on the south, the Mongbrue gompa and Ravangla Bön monastery on the southeast, the Ravangla Gelug monastery on the east, the Karma Kagyud Ralang Monastery on the northeast.[citation needed] Gulia summarising the importance of this monastery has said:

For tashiding one can say: seeing is believing. The monastery is historically illustrious, geographically well located, aesthetically beautiful, spiritually divine – a place where nature and spirituality dwell together, urging the human race to be ecologically upright.

Geographically the Monastery and the Tashiding town are surrounded by four divine caves located in four cardinal directions. The four caves where Buddhist saints meditated are: On the East is the Sharchog Bephug, on the South is the Khandozangphu, in the West is Dechenpug cave and on the North is the Lhari Nyingphug. The main deity deified in the monastery is Tashiding and hence the monastery is also known as 'Dakkar Tashiding'.

HISTORY

In the 17th century, Ngadak Sempa Chemp built a small Lhakhang at this location. This was enlarged into the present monastery during the reign of Chogyal Chakdor Namgyal. Pedi Wangmo built the main monastery and installed many statues which are still seen in the monastery. Lhatsun Chenpo built the Chortens; which are considered holy. Yanchong Lodil, the Master craftsman crafted the flagstones that surround the monastery. These are carved with the holy Buddhist mantra 'Om Mane Padme Hum'.

ARCHITECTURE

An overall picture of the precincts of the monastery within the Tashiding town is provided in five distinct blocks namely, the Sinem market place, the outskirts, the main market place, the main Tashiding Monastery and the Chorten area.

The Sinek market place is located on an incline on the ridge between Rathong Chu and Rangeet River. There is a gompa here called the Sinolochu Gompa from where an approach leads to the Tashiding Monastery on the southern direction. The settlement is spread lengthwise and is 23 kilometres from Yuksom. A large 'Mani' stone is seen at the entrance to this settlement and the Tashiding market.

From the main market centre the approach to the Monastery is through a road, and also a foot path. The foot path in the southern direction has a gentle slope and passes through a Mani and then prayer wind wheels terminating at the entrance gate of the Monastery.

The Monastery itself consists of a 'Mani Lhakang' at the entrance surrounded by flags, and lead to the guest house. From this point ahead is the main 'Tashiding Gompa' which is called as Chogyal Lhakhang or the monastery, followed by the 'butter lamp house', four chortens, 'Tsenkhang', a new butter lamp house and finally terminating at the 'Guru Lhakhang', which is the temple of Guru Rinpoche. Other basic essential structures such as kitchen, school and residential housing are located on the left side of the approach path to the monastery.

In the 'Chorten area', there are 41 chortens categorised as 'Chortens of Enlightenment', 'Chortens of Reconciliation' and 'Chortens of Great Miracle', which are all of Rinpoches and Tathāgatas.

However, the main temple has undergone renovation work in modern times and rebuilt, but is still encircled by traditional buildings and chortens at the far end of the site, which holds the relics of Sikkim Chogyals and Lamas, including the 'Thong-Wa-rang-Dol' chorten which is believed to cleanse the soul of any person who looks at it.

Also of major note are the stone plates called the 'Mani', the work of Yanchong Lodil who inscribed them with the sacred Buddhist inscriptions, such as "Om Mane Padme Hum".

FESTIVALS

Bhumchu festival, which is linked by an ancient legend to Guru Padmasambhava, is about a divine vase filled with holy water kept in the monastery, which is opened for public display and worship every year on the night before the Full Moon day in the first month of Tibetan calendar. Bhumchu (Bhum=pot; Chu=water) is a Buddhist festival celebrated to predict the future. In this vase, water of Rathong chhu is stored for a year and kept in the Tashiding Monastery. It is opened during the festival by the lamas who inspect the water level and hence it is called the festival of holy water. The belief is that alteration in the quantity and quality of the water stored in the vase over a year would indicate the fortune of Sikkim and its people in the following year. If it is filled to the brim (which is interpreted as a measure of increase by 21 cups), the following year will be prosperous. If it is empty, famine will follow, and if it is half-filled also a prosperous year is predicted. If the water is polluted with dust it is interpreted as a sign of strife and clash. Once inspected and the Bhumchu festival is concluded, the lamas fill the vase with fresh water from the river and seal it for the opening in the following year.

The procedure followed for taking out the sacred water from the vase is that the first cup of sacred water is taken out for blessing the members of the Royal family of the Chogyals, then the second cup is meant for the Lamas and the third cup of water is meant for the devotees to whom it is distributed. Pilgrims come to the monastery from all regions of Sikkim to be blessed with the holy water. The festival is of particular importance to the Bhutias (ethnic Tibeteans) of Sikkim who hold the “life-sustaining water of the rivers” with great reverence. The festival falls on the 15th day Full Moon day of the first Tibetan month or Hindu month of Magh corresponding to February/March according to Gregorian calendar.

The basic purpose of the festival is to highlight the importance of water as a precious resource to be conserved and its purity preserved. The prophecy also sends a message to the people that waters should not be polluted and its environmental importance is propagated.

WIKIPEDIA

Kritsa is one of the oldest and most picturesque villages in Crete, Greece, built amphitheatrically on a rock hill, named Kastellos, surrounded by olive groves, at an altitude of 375 m. It is part of the municipality of Agios Nikolaos.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kritsa

el.wikipedia.org/wiki/%ce%9a%cf%81%ce%b9%cf%84%cf%83%ce%a...

Wandsworth Park is always fabulous to go back to, I just need to work out a cheaper method of doing so than paying for the extortionate street parking outside (nearly £7 for 2 1/2 hours this morning). We spent a lovely morning with Ellie, Olivia and Ernie, first wandering around the park, then out to the Putney Canteen for a nutella milkshake (mmmmmmm), a little walk across the footbridge next to the tube tracks across the river and back, and then back to the park where the children played happily in a tree for ages, whilst Hetty met a doppleganger (a black schnauzer puppy) and had a great time too.

is that the surface of the moon reflected?

This is fuckin' BADASS!!! Whatever this is waited above an entrance to my clothesline pole (where there is a hornets nest in which I was about to spray) and I saw this thing go after one. Caught it, flew back onto the cross pole and went about eating it. Just for comparison, that is a full grown hornet it has underneath it. I would have to guess that it is the size of my thumb.

Update: It is a Robber Fly (Dasylechia atrox)

Varadharaja Perumal Temple or Hastagiri or Attiyuran is a Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Vishnu located in the holy city of Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu, India. It is one of the Divya Desams, the 108 temples of Vishnu believed to have been visited by the 12 poet saints, or Alwars. It is located in a suburb of Kanchipuram known as the Vishnu Kanchi that is a home for many famous Vishnu temples. One of the greatest Hindu scholars of Vaishnava VisishtAdvaita philosophy, Ramanuja is believed to have resided in this temple. The temple along with Ekambareswarar Temple and Kamakshi Amman Temple in Kanchipuram is popularly known as Mumurtivasam (abode of trio), while Srirangam is referred to as ‘ The Koil’ (meaning: "temple") and Tirupathi as the ‘Malai’ (Meaning: "hill"). Among the Divya Desams, Kanchipuram Varadaraja Perumal temple is known as the ‘Perumal Koil’. This is one of the most sacred places for Vaishnavites. There is another famous temple of Varadarajaswamy in Kurmai, of Palamaner mandal in Chittoor District of Andhra Pradesh, called the Kurma Varadaraja Swamy Temple.

LEGEND

Indra, the king of celestial deities, after getting released from the curse of Goddess Saraswati, installed the silver and golden lizards who were the witness of the ordeal. Brahma performed a yagna here, which was about to be washed away by the fast flowing river Vedavathi. The temple deity, Vishnu laid himself flat to stay the flow and the yagna was successfully performed. Vishnu emerged with brilliance of thousand Suns as Devarajaswamy and stayed here permanently. As is the case with the association of South Indian temples with a sacred tree, the name of the temple, Attigiri is derived from Atti tree, considered sacred to Vaishnavas.

Thirukkachi Nambigal(Also known as Kanchi Purnar) was an ardent devotee of this temple. He used to bring flowers everyday from Poovirundhavalli, where he maintained a garden. He did Aalavatta Kaingariyam, waving to produce breeze with the help of hand fan. It is believed that Vardharaja used to converse with him, while he was doing that seva. Aalavatta Kaingariyam is a worship practise followed in modern times also.

Nambi also composed Devarajaashtakam(A Sanskrit poem of 8 verses) on the presiding deity. Sri Ramanujar, another great Vaishnavite, got answers to his six questions from Lord Varadharaja through Sri Thirukkachi Nambigal.

HISTORY

There is a belief that the temple was first built by the Pallava king Nandivarman II. Varadharaja Perumal Temple was originally built by the Cholas in 1053 and it was expanded during the reigns of the great Chola kings Kulottunga Chola I and Vikrama Chola. In the 14th century another wall and a gopura was built by the later Chola kings. When a Mughul invasion was expected in 1688, the main image of the deity was sent to Udayarpalayam, now part of Tiruchirapalli District. It was brought back with greater difficulty after the involvement of local preceptor who enlisted the services of general Todarmal. Robert Clive, the British general during the colonial period visited the Garuda seva festival and presented a valuable necklace (now termed Clive Maharkandi), which is adorned during a special occasion every year. There are inscriptions dated 1532 CE (record 544 of 1919) indicating the gift of number of villages made by Achutaraya. Vira Narasingaraya Saluva Nayaka who was directed by Achutaraya broke the royal order by giving more lands to Ekambaranathar temple than the Varadaraja Swamy temple against the instruction of an equal gift to either of the temples. Achutaraya on hearing this equally distributed the lands to both the temples. In modern times, the administration is carried out by Hindu Religious and Endowment of the Government of Tamil Nadu.

There are inscriptions dated 1532 CE (record 544 of 1919) indicating the gift of number of villages made by Achutaraya. Vira Narasingaraya Saluva Nayaka who was directed by Achutaraya broke the royal order by giving more lands to Ekambaranathar temple than the Varadaraja Swamy temple against the instruction of an equal gift to either of the temples. Achutaraya on hearing this equally distributed the lands to both the temples.

ARCHITECTURE

The temple covers an area of 93,000 m2 complex and shows the architectural skills of ancient Vishwakarma Sthapathis in temple architecture and is famous for its holiness and ancient history. The temple has three outer precincts (prakarams) namely Azhwar Prakaram, Madai Palli Prakaram and Thiru Malai Prakaram. There are 32 shrines, 19 vimanams, 389 pillared halls (most having the lion type yali sculpture) and sacred tanks some of which located outside the complex.

The main sanctum faces west and can be entered through a 130 feet tall, 7-tiered rajagopuram (main gateway tower). The eastern gopuram is taller than the western gopuram, which is contrasting to large temples where the rajagopuram is the tallest one. One of the most famous architectural pieces in the temple is the huge stone chain sculpted in a single stone.[14] There is a 100 pillared hall which has sculptures depicting Ramayana and Mahabaratha. It is a masterpiece of Vijayanagara architecture.

The shrine of Varadarajaswamy is on a small hillock 10m tall and a flight of 24 steps, termed "Hasthagiri". It has murals of the late Vijayanagara empire on the ceiling. Another significant features of the temple are beautifully carved lizards and gilded with gold, over the sanctum. The vimana over the sanctum of Varadaraja Swami is called Punyakoti Vimanam and the one over Perundevi Thayar shrine is called Kalyana Koti Vimanam.

Apart from the main stone idol, the temple has the wooden image of Varadarajaswamy preserved within a silver box from which water is pumped out every 40 years. There is a shrine of Narasimha on the hillock. The origin of the mask of Narasimha is mysterious and believed to possess inexplicable powers.

In the second precinct downstairs contains four shrines, of which the important one is of Malayala Nachiar (Kerala consort), presumably built during the Chera kings in the early 14th century.

The third precinct has the shrine of Goddess Perundevi Thayar - it is customary for devotees to visit the shrine first before visiting the main Perumal shrine. There are four small pillared halls, identical in structure, called Thulabara Mandapas built during the 1532 for a ceremony of Achutaraya of the Vijayanagara empire.

The image of Chakrathazwhar (Sudarsana) in the temple is depicted with six hands. There festival image of the temple has seven different images of Sudarshana depicted within the same Chakra.

LITERARY MENTION

Vedanta Desika, the revered polymath next only to Ramanuja mentions the annual ten day festival celebrated in May. In one of the verses, he graces the deity as under.

"He is the single root-source for this entire universe,

beginning with space,and all other elements;

like the pupil in the eye of the Vedas."

Vedanta Desika, ( of Thooppul) visits Varadaraja Perumal once a year during the month of Puratasi (Sept-Oct). This is the only Divya Desam, where Desikar enters the Sanctum of Lord Varadaraja. No other Azhvaar has this privilege

The temple also finds mention in the Thirtha Prabandha, a travelogue with descriptions of pilgrim centers throughout India written by Sri Vadiraja Swamy.

Tyagaraja and Muthuswami Dikshitar, the celebrated composers of the 18th century created compositions on the festival. Thirumangai Alvar - 4 Paasurams, Bhoothathalvar - 2 Paasurams and Peyalvar - 1 Paasuram.

FESTIVAL

The temple is famous for its huge umbrella used during festive occasions. During the bhramotsavam (major festival) in Vaigasi (May/June), thousands of people throng the temple and that increases at least by a two-fold during the Garuda Vahanam and the Ther festival (temple chariot).

WIKIPEDIA

114 Pictures in 2014. 49.The Weather Outside is Frightful!

Taken at The Regency, Laguna Woods, California. © 2014 All Rights Reserved.

My images are not to be used, copied, edited, or blogged without my explicit permission.

Please!! NO Glittery Awards or Large Graphics...Buddy Icons are OK. Thank You!

Blue skies may be delightful at times but in the midst of severe drought, they are frightful. I took these images off the television at lunchtime today ~ unusually warm temperatures, gusting Santa Ana winds, not a drop of rain in sight. We're under Red Flag warnings, which means severe fire danger. I hope I don't see any fire more devastating than the two pictured. These are frightening enough!

SPYAIR is a Rock / J-POP group originally from Nagoya, Japan.

They are currently based in Tokyo and will be making their full major debut in August 2010.

Their two nationwide-release singles are ジャパニケーション and 感情ディスコード, which should both be available from major retailers.

Prior to their debut, they could often be seen playing outdoors in the Sakae, Nagoya area.

Their homepage is at www.spyair.net/

Music samples can be found at:

www.myspace.com/spyair

Brownsea Island sits in Poole harbour it is the second largest natural harbour in the world, second only to Sydney harbour in Australia. Brownsea Island ( was also known as Branksea ) is the largest of the islands in Poole Harbour in the county of Dorset, England. The island is owned by the National Trust. Much of the island is open to the public and includes areas of woodland and heath with a wide variety of wildlife, together with cliff top views across Poole Harbour and the Isle of Purbeck. The island was the location of an experimental camp in 1907 that led to the formation of the Scout movement the following year. Access is by public ferry or private boat; in 2017 the island received 133,340 visitors. The ferry trip itself is well worth the time. When I went it was £11.50 return trip. But on the way back the ferry takes a scenic route round the islands to arrive back at Poole Quay.

The island was purchased by wealthy stockbroker Charles van Raalte who used the island as a residential holiday retreat. During this time the castle was renovated and served as host to famous visitors such as Guglielmo Marconi. Robert Baden-Powell, a close friend of the van Raaltes, hosted an experimental camp for boys on the island in the summer of 1907. Brownsea was largely self-supporting, with a kitchen garden and a dairy herd. Many of the pottery factory workers had stayed on after it closed, farming and working for the owners. Charles van Raalte died in Calcutta in 1907 and his wife eventually sold the island in 1925. In 1927 it was purchased at auction by Mary Bonham-Christie for £125,000. A recluse by nature, she ordered a mass eviction of the island's residents to the mainland. The National Trust then agreed to take over responsibility for the island if enough funds were raised and in 1962 it then purchased Brownsea for £100,000. Work was carried out to prepare the island for visitors; tracks were cleared through areas overgrown with rhododendrons and firebreaks were created to prevent repetition of the 1934 fire.

Brownsea Island lies in Poole Harbour opposite the town of Poole. It is the largest of eight islands in the harbour. The island can be reached by one of the public ferries or by private boat. There is a wharf and a small dock near the main castle. The island is about 1 1⁄2 miles ( 2.4 km ) long and 3⁄4 mile ( 1.2 km ) wide and consists of 500 acres of woodland ( pine and oak trees ), heathland and salt-marsh. The entire island, except the church and a few other buildings which are leased or managed by third parties, is owned by the National Trust. Most of the buildings are situated near the small landing stage. The northern portion of the island is a Nature Reserve managed by Dorset Wildlife Trust and an important habitat for birds; this part of the island has limited public access so as not to disturb the wildlife.. A small portion to the southeast of the island, along with Brownsea Castle, is leased to the John Lewis Partnership for use as a holiday hotel for staff, and is not open to the public. The island forms part of the Studland civil parish in the Purbeck local government district. It is within the South Dorset constituency of the House of Commons and the South West England constituency of the European Parliament.

In all the time I have lived in this area I never knew there was a very lovely Church on the Island and managed to take photos and videos of my visit there both inside and out. St Mary’s Church was built in 1853, the church remains very much as it was then - its organ is pumped by hand and the only lighting comes from candles. It's a Victorian church that isfixed in the past so with no electricity or water supply. But its regular spring and summer services can attract congregations between 3 and 300 - and it remains an important part of Brownsea's small island community. A Family Service is held at St.Mary’s at 3.00pm every Sunday from May to September.

From 1st August until 8th in August 1907, Robert Baden-Powell held an experimental camp on the island, to test out his Scouting ideas. He gathered 21 boys of mixed social backgrounds ( from boy's schools in the London area and a section of boys from the Poole, Parkstone,Hamworthy, Bournemouth, and Winton Boys' Brigade units ) and held a week-long camp. The boys took part in activities such as camping, observation, woodcraft, chivalry, lifesaving and patriotism. Following the successful camp, Baden-Powell published his first book on the Scouting movement in 1908, Scouting for Boys, and the international Scouting movement grew rapidly. Boy Scouts continued to camp on the island until the 1930’s, when all public access to the island was forbidden by the island's owner. After ownership of the island transferred to the National Trust, a permanent 20 hectares or 49 acres Scout camp site was opened in 1963 by Olave Baden-Powell. In August 2007, 100 years after the first experimental camp, Brownsea Island was the focus of worldwide celebrations of the centenary of Scouting.

This is a photograph from the second annual Duleek & District Athletic Club (D&DAC) "Indaver Duleek 10KM" Road Race and Fun Run which was held in Duleek, Co. Meath, Ireland on Sunday 17th August 2014 at 10:00. The road race event was the first event of the town's annual Duleek Fair Day which is held at this time every August. In 2013 Duleek & District Athletic Club decided to launch an annual road race. In 2013 over 500 runners attended which represented a very impressive achievement for a new club and a new race. The feedback was very positive from all quarters: a good route, professional approach to organisation, excellent goody-bags and post race refreshments and family entertainment. The club surpassed itself in 2014 with a superb race - with every aspect of the race professionally attended to. Just under 500 runners attended this year. Duleek & District Athletic Club (D&DAC) was founded in March 2012 with the principal aim of promoting athletics in the village and environs of Duleek. The Club’s purpose is to facilitate the enjoyment of athletics in a fun and social environment. Overall the conditions were very favourable for road racing - there was a fairly strong headwind for runners to contend with for the first 3KM along with some undulating countryside. However the final 5KM had a tail wind a good deal of downhill to make for a more enjoyable final half of the race. Everyone at Duleek & District Athletic Club and the local community must be congratulated at their work and organisation today. This race is likely to grow quickly over the next few years.

This photograph is part of a larger set of photographs which was taken today at the event - the majority of these photographs are from the finish line: Please see the full set on the Flickr album at Set from today: www.flickr.com/photos/peterm7/sets/72157646478274516/ - This set contains shots of participants up to a finish time of 60 minutes.

Timing and event management was provided by Precision Timing. Results are available on their website at www.precisiontiming.net/result.aspx?v=2100 with additional material available on their Facebook page (www.facebook.com/davidprecisiontiming?fref=ts) See their promotional video on YouTube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-7_TUVwJ6Q

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.

What is the race route?

The race starts just beyond Duleek GAA Club on the Navan Duleek road (the R150). The first two KM are on this road until the course makes a right turn and heads northward through Kellystown and Rahill until just after 4KM the course turns right again and due east to begin the return to Duleek. This brings the runners through the large townland of Downstown. Up to the 9KM mark the race has been predominantly ran on scenic rural roads until the race joins the R15O Navan Road again and proceeds directly up the main street of Duleek for the finish.

Some useful Internet links associated with this race event

Google StreetView of the Finish Area on the Duleek Mainstreet: www.google.ie/maps/@53.655152,-6.416647,3a,75y,90t/data=!...

Video Flyover of the Route for the 2014 Race: www.youtube.com/watch?v=PK5SvhOrP3s

Teaser trailer on Youtube for the 2014 Indaver Duleek 10KM: www.youtube.com/watch?v=wq8pn0mjN0E

Video Storyboard of the Indaver Duleek 10KM 2013 www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNlmSa6X63c

Indaver Duleek 10KM 2013 RESULTS: www.precisiontiming.net/result.aspx?v=1452

2013 Photographs: www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.670094496334283.1073741... (requires Facebook logon)

Indaver Duleek 10KM Road Race Event Page on Facebook: www.facebook.com/events/679840455404891/694437963945140/ (requires Facebook logon)

Duleek & District Athletic Club (D&DAC) Facebook: www.facebook.com/DuleekAC

Duleek & District Athletic Club (D&DAC) Web Homepage: www.duleekac.ie/

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.

I want to 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.

I want 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.

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/

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

Het internet is stuk. Hoe kunnen we het weer repareren? Daarover vertelde Marleen Stikker, auteur van 'Het internet is stuk', op 23 januari tijdens de Privacyrede 2020. Met de 50e verjaardag van het internet is dit hét moment om terug te blikken en vooruit te kijken.

Marleen Stikker (1962) is internetpionier van het eerste uur. In 1993 richtte ze De Digitale Stad op, de eerste Nederlandse internetprovider die gratis toegang gaf tot het web. Vijfentwintig jaar geleden startte ze Waag Society, een onderzoeksinstituut voor kunst, technologie en samenleving. Daarnaast was ze onder meer betrokken bij de ontwikkeling van de duurzame Fairphone.

De Privacyrede biedt een podium aan personen die een vernieuwende blik werpen op de maatschappelijke gevolgen van technologie. De Privacyrede is een jaarlijks evenement georganiseerd door SETUP | MediaLab Utrecht en SURFnet, in samenwerking met TivoliVredenburg. Dit is de zesde editie.

Her name is Noelle.

I had a dream about her.

She rings my bell.

I got gym class for half an hour.

Oh how she rocks.

in Keds and tube socks.

But she doesn't know who I am.

And she doesn't give a damn about me.

Cause I'm just a teenage dirtbag, baby.

Yeah, I'm just a teenage dirtbag, baby.

Listen to Iron Maiden baby, with me.

Her boyfriend's a dick

and he brings a gun to school.

He'd simply kick

my ass if he knew the truth.

He lives on my block

and he drives an Iroc.

But he doesn't know who I am

And he doesn't give a damn about me

Cause I'm just a teenage dirtbag, baby.

Yeah, I'm just a teenage dirtbag, baby.

Listen to Iron Maiden maybe with me.

Oh yeah, dirtbag. No, she doesn't know what she's missing.

Oh yeah, dirtbag. No, she doesn't know what she's missing.

Man, I feel like mold.

It's prom night and I am lonely.

Lo and behold, she's walking over to me.

This must be fake, my lip starts to shake.

How does she know who I am?

And why does she give a damn about me?

(In girl's voice)

" I've got two tickets to Iron Maiden, baby.

Come with me Friday don't say maybe.

I'm just a teenage dirtbag baby, like you [uuuuuh. uuuuuuuuh.]"

Oh yeah, dirtbag. No, she doesn't know what she's missing.

Oh yeah, dirtbag. No, she doesn't know what she's missing.

The Beheading of St. John the Baptist is my favourite dedication of any Kent church seen this far. It sits on the side of a down, above the rest of the village, which is what counts as the main road from Newnham to Lenham.

It also sits beside the parkland of Doddington Park, I was told by a local that is well worth a visit to see the gardens.

That the church is largely untouched since the 13th century, the clapboarded tower seems to have a new coast of paint and glistened in the early spring sunshine.

The churchyard seems now to be a nature reserve, or that wildlife is encouraged. So it is carpeted with snowdrops, with Winter Aconites, Primroses and Crocuses all showing well.

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An enchanting church set in a wooded churchyard on the edge of a steep valley. The building displays much of medieval interest due to minimal nineteenth-century interference. The most important feature is the small stone prayer desk next to the westernmost window of the chancel. This window is of the low side variety - the desk proving the window's part in devotional activities. The nearby thirteenth-century lancet windows have a series of wall paintings in their splays, while opposite is a fine medieval screen complete with canopy over the priests' seats. There is also an excellent example of a thirteenth-century hagioscope that gives a view of the main altar from the south aisle, which was a structural addition to the original building. The south chancel chapel belonged to the owners of Sharsted Court and contains a fine series of memorials to them. Most of the stained glass is nineteenth century - some of very good quality indeed. Outside there is a good tufa quoin on the north wall of the nave and a short weatherboarded tower.

www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Doddington

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DODDINGTON.

NEXT to that of Linsted south-eastward, is the parish of Doddington, called in the record of Domesday, Dodeham.

THIS PARISH is about two miles across each way, it lies the greatest part of it on the hills on the northern side of the high road leading from Faversham through Newnham valley over Hollingborne hill towards Maidstone. It is a poor but healthy situation, being much exposed to the cold and bleak winds which blow up through the valley, on each side of which the hills, which are near the summit of them, interspersed with coppice woods, rise pretty high, the soil is mostly chalk, very barren, and much covered with slint stones. The village stands on the road in the valley, at the east end of it is a good house, called WHITEMANS, which formerly belonged to the family of Adye, and afterwards to that of Eve, of one of whom it was purchased by the Rev. Francis Dodsworth, who almost rebuilt it, and now resides in it. Upon the northern hill, just above the village, is the church, and close to it the vicarage, a neat modern fashed house; and about a mile eastward almost surrounded with wood, and just above the village of Newnham, the mansion of Sharsted, a gloomy retired situation.

Being within the hundred of Tenham, the whole of this parish is subordinate to that manor.

At the time of taking the above record, which was anno 1080, this place was part of the possessions of Odo, the great bishop of Baieux, the king's half brother; accordingly it is thus entered, under the general title of that prelate's lands:

The same Fulbert holds of the bishop Dodeham. It was taxed at one suling. The arable land is . . . . . In demesne there is one carucate and seventeen villeins, with ten borderers having two carucates. There is a church, and six servants, and half a fisbery of three hundred small fish, and in the city of Canterbury five houses of seven shillings and ten pence. In the time of king Edward the Confessor it was worth ten pounds. The bishop let it to ferm for ten pounds, when Fulbert received it, six pounds, and the like now . . . . . Sired held it of king Edward.

Four years after which the bishop of Baieux was disgraced, and all his effects were consiscated to the crown.

PART OF THE above-mentioned estate was, most probably, THE MANOR OF SHARSTED, or, as it was antiently called Sabersted, the seat of which, called Sharsted-court, is situated on the hill just above the village of Newnham, though within the bounds of this parish.

This manor gave both residence and name to a family who possessed it in very early times, for Sir Simon de Sharsted died possessed of it in the 25th year of king Edward I. then holding it of the king, of the barony of Crevequer, and by the service of part of a knight's see, and suit to the court of Ledes.

Richard de Sharsted lies buried in this church, in the chapel belonging to this manor. Robert de Sharsted died possessed of it in the 8th year of king Edward III. leaving an only daughter and heir, married to John de Bourne, son of John de Bourne, sheriff several years in the reign of king Edward I. whose family had been possessed of lands and resided in this parish for some generations before. In his descendants this estate continued down to Bartholomew Bourne, who possessed it in the reign of Henry VI. in whose descendants resident at Sharsted, (who many of them lie buried in this church, and bore for their arms, Ermine, on a bend azure, three lions passant guardant, or) this estate continued down to James Bourne, esq. who in the beginning of king Charles I.'s reign, alienated Sharsted to Mr. Abraham Delaune, merchant, of London, the son of Gideon Delaune, merchant, of the Black Friars there, who bore for his arms, Azure, a cross of Lozenges, or, on a chief gules, a lion passantguardant of the second, holding in his dexter paw a fleur de lis; which was assigned to him by William Segar, garter, in 1612, anno 10 James I.

He resided at Sharsted, in which he was succeeded by his eldest son, Sir William Delaune, who resided likewise at Sharsted, where he died in 1667, and was buried in Doddington church. He was twice married; first to Anne, daughter and only heir of Tho. Haward, esq. of Gillingham, by whom he had an only daughter Anne, heir to her mother's inheritance. His second wife was Dorcas, daughter of Sir Robert Barkham, of Tottenham High Cross, (remarried to Sir Edward Dering) by whom he had a son William, and a daughter Mary, married to colonel Edward Thornicroft, of Westminster.

William Delaune, esq. the son, succeeded to this estate, and was knight of the shire for this county. He died in 1739, s.p having married Anne, the widow of Arthur Swift, esq. upon which it passed by the entail in his will to his nephew Gideon Thornicroft, son of his sister Mary, widow of Edward Thornicroft, esq. by whom she had likewise three daughters, Dorcas, Elizabeth, and Anne. This branch of the family of Thornicroft was situated at Milcomb, in Oxfordshire, and was a younger branch of those of Thornicroft, in Cheshire. John Thornicroft, esq. of London, barrister-at-law, was younger brother of Edward Thornicroft, esq. of Cheshire, and father of John, for their arms, Vert, a mascle, or, between four crasscreated a baronet of August 12, 1701, and of colonel Edward Thornicroft above-mentioned. They bore for their arms, Vert, a mascle, or, between four crosscroslets, argent. Lieutenant-colonel Thornicroft was governor of Alicant, when that fortress was besieged in 1709, and perished there, by the explosion of a mine. (fn. 1)

Gideon Thornicroft, esq. possessed this estate but a small time, and dying in 1742, s.p. and being the last in the entail above-mentioned, he devised it by his will to his mother, Mrs.Mary Thornicroft, who dying in 1744, by her will devised to her two maiden daughters, Dorcas and Anne, this manor and seat, as well as all the rest of her estates, excepting Churchill farm in Doddington, which she gave to her second daughter Elizabeth, who had married George Nevill, lord Abergavenny, who dieds.p. and lady Abergavenny, in her life-time, made a deed of gift of this farm, to her son Alured Pinke, esq. who now owns it.

They possessed this estate jointly till the death of Mrs.Dorcas Thornicroft, in 1759, when she by will devised her moiety of it, as well as the rest of her estates, except the Grange in Gillingham, to her sister Mrs. Anne Thornicroft, for her life, remainder in tail to her nephew Alured Pinke, barrister-at-law, son of Elizabeth, lady Abergavenny, her sister by her second husband Alured Pinke. esq. barrister-at-law, who had by her likewise a daughter Jane, married to the Rev. Henry Shove; upon this Mrs.Anne Thornicroft before-mentioned, became the sole possessor of this manor and estate, in which she resided till her death in 1791, æt. 90, upon which it came to her nephew, Alured Pinke, esq. before-mentioned, who married Mary, second daughter of Thomas Faunce, esq. of Sutton-at-Hone, by whom he has one son Thomas. He bears for his arms, Argent, five lozenges in pale, gules, within a bordure, azure, charged with three crosses pattee, fitchee. He resides here, and is the present possessor of this seat and estate. A court baron is held for this manor.

DOWNE-COURT is a manor in this parish, situated on the hill, about half a mile north westward from the church. In the reign of king Edward I. it was in the possession of William de Dodington, who in the 7th year of it did homage to archbishop Peckham for this manor, as part of a knight's fee, held of him by the description of certain lands in Doddington, called Le Downe. His descendant Simon de Dodington, paid aid for it in the 20th year of king Edward III. as appears by the Book of Aid; from him it passed into the family of Bourne, of Bishopsborne, whose ancestors were undoubtedly possessed of lands in this parish, (fn. 2) so early as the reign of Henry III. for archbishop Boniface, who came to the see of Canterbury in the 29th year of it, granted to Henry de Bourne, (fn. 3) one yoke of land, in the parish of Dudingtune, belonging to his manor of Tenham, which land he held in gavelkind, and might hold to him and his heirs, of the archbishop and his successors, by the service of part of a knight's fee, and by rent to the manor of Tenham.

His descendant John de Bourne lived in the reign of king Edward I. in the 17th year of which he obtained a charter offree warrenfor his lands in Bourne, Higham, and Doddington, after which he was sheriff in the 22d and the two following years of it, as he was again in the 5th year of king Edward III. His son John de Bourne married the daughter and sole heir of Robert de Sharsted, by which he became possessed of that manor likewise, as has been already related, and in his descendants Downe-court continued till about the latter end of king Henry VI.'s reign, when it was alienated to Dungate, of Dungate-street, in Kingsdown, the last of which name leaving an only daughter and heir, she carried it in marriage to Killigrew, who about the beginning of Henry VIII. ending likewise in two daughters and coheirs, one of whom married Roydon, and the other Cowland, they, in right of their respective wives, became possessed of it in equal shares. The former, about the latter end of that reign, alienated his part to John Adye, gent. of Greet, in this parish, a seat where his ancestors had been resident ever since the reign of Edward III. for he was descended from John de Greet, of Greet, in this parish, who lived there in the 25th year of that king's reign. His grandson, son of Walter, lived there in the reign of Henry V. and assumed the name of Adye. (fn. 4) This family bore for their arms, Azure, a fess dancette, or, between three cherubins heads, argent, crined of the second; which coat was confirmed by-Sir John Segar, garter, anno 11 James I. to John Adye, esq. of Doddington, son and heir of John Adye, esq. of Sittingborne, and heir of John Adye, the purchaser of the moiety of this manor.

He possessed this moiety of Downe court on his father's death, and was resident at Sittingborne. He died on May 9, 1612, æt. 66, and was buried in Doddington church, leaving issue by Thomasine his wife, daughter and coheir of Rich. Day, gent. of Tring, in Hertsordshire, one son John, and five daughters.

John Adye, esq. the grandson of John, the first purchaser, succeeded at length to this moiety of Downe-court, and resided there, during which time he purchased of the heirs of Allen the other moiety of it, one of which name had become possessed of it by sale from the executors of Cowland, who by his will in 1540, had ordered it to be sold, for the payment of debts and legacies. He died possessed of the whole of this manor and estate, in 1660, and was buried in Nutsted church, of which manor he was owner. He left by his first wife several children, of whom John, the eldest, died s.p. Edward, the second, was of Barham in the reign of king Charles II. under which parish more of him and his descendants may be seen; (fn. 5) and Nicholas was the third son, of whom mention will be made hereafter. By his second wife he had Solomon, who was of East Shelve, in Lenham, and other children.

Nicholas Adye, esq. the third son, succeeded to Downe-court, and married Jane, daughter of Edward Desbouverie, esq. Their eldest son, John Adye, succeeded to this manor, at which he resided till he removed to Beakesborne, at the latter end of Charles II.'s reign, about which time he seems to have alienated it to Creed, of Charing, in which name it continued till it was sold to Bryan Bentham, esq. of Sheerness, who devised it to his eldest son Edward Bentham, esq. of the Navy-office, who bore for his arms, Quarterly, argent and gules, a cross story counterchanged; in the first and fourth quarters, a rose, gules, seeded, or, barbed vert; in the second and third quarters, a sun in its glory, or; being the arms given by queen Elizabeth to Thomas Bentham, D.D. bishop of Litchfield, on his being preferred to that see in 1559, the antient family arms of Bentham, of Yorkshire, being Argent, a bend between two cinquefoils, sable. Since his death this estate has by his will become vested in trustees, to fulfil the purposes of it.

Charities.

JOHN ADYE, ESQ. gave by will in 1660, 40s. to the poor of this parish, payable yearly out of Capel hill, in Leysdown, the estate of Samuel-Elias Sawbridge, esq.

AN UNKNOWN PERSON gave 20s. per annum, payable out of an estate in Doddington, late belonging to the earl of Essingham, and now to the Rev. Francis Dodsworth.

TEN SHILLINGS are paid yearly at Christmas, to the poor of this parish, by the lessee of the parsonage by the reservation in his lease.

THE REV. MR. SOMERCALES, vicar of this parish, by his will gave an Exchequer annuity of 14l. to be applied to the instructing of poor children in the Christian religion.

FORTY HILLINGS are payable yearly at Michaelmas, out of a field formerly called Pyding, now St.John Shotts, belonging to Alured Pinke, esq. towards the repair of the church.

A PERSON UNKNOWN gave for the habitation of three poor persons, a house, now containing three dwellings.

The poor constantly relieved are about forty-five.

DODDINGTON is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the dioceseof Canterbury, and deanry of Ospringe.

The church, which is dedicated to St. John Baptist, consists of a body and chancel, with a chapel or chantry on the south side of it, belonging to the Sharsted estate. At the west end is a low pointed steeple, in which are six bells. About the year 1650, the steeple of this church was set on fire by lightning, and much damaged. In this church are memorials for the Swalman's, Nicholson's of Homestall, and the Norton's, and in the south, or Sharsted chancel, there is a black marble of an antique form, and on a fillet of brass round the verge of it, in old French capitals, Hic Jacet Ricardus de Saherstada, with other letters now illegible, and memorials for the Bourne's and Delaune's.

The church of Doddington was antiently esteemed as a chapel to the church of Tenham, as appears by the Black Book of the archdencon, and it was given and appropriated with that church and its appendages, in 1227, by archbishop Stephen Langton, to the archdeaconry. It has long since been independent of the church of Tenham, and still continues appropriated to the archdeacon, who is likewise patron of the vicarage of it.

Richard Wethershed, who succeded archbishop Langton in 1229, confirmed the gift of master Girard, who whilst he was rector of the church of Tenham, granted to the chapel of Dudintune, that the tithes of twenty acres of the assart of Pidinge should be taken for the use of this chapel for ever, to be expended by the disposition of the curate, and two or three parishioners of credit, to the repairing of the books, vestments, and ornaments necessary to the chapel. (fn. 6)

It is valued in the king's books at fifteen pounds, and the yearly tenths at 1l. 10s. In the visitation of archdeacon Harpsfield, in 1557, this vicarage was returned to be of the value of twelve pounds; parishioners sixty, housholders thirty-two.

¶In 1569, at the visitation of archbishop Parker, it was returned, that the chapel of Doddington used to be let to farm for forty pounds, and sometimes for less; that there were here communicants one hundred and thirteen, housholders thirty-five. In 1640 the vicarage was valued at thirty pounds; communicants one hundred and seven.

Archdeacon Parker, at the instance of archbishop Sancrost, by lease, anno 27 Charles II. reserved an additional pension of ten pounds per annum to the vicar. It pays no procurations to the archdeacon. It is now a discharged living in the king's books.

Tiputa is the main pass used by big ships to enter Rangiroa lagoon, the second largest atoll in the world. We entered this morning at 11:20 on july 02, 2006 and then had a chance to go ashore. The village of Tiputa (250 inhabitants) is a very quiet and laid back place where Internet, blackberry and other"great" gadgets have not arrived yet... There is something indecent to upload these images via immarsat on board the MV Paul Gauguin from Regent cruises where I am on board, just for the week end to join Heidy, my wife who is an archeology and anthropology lecturer on board.I was looking for new KAP Targets and found a few. I had never tried Kite Aerial Photography from the rear of a cruise ship and could not imagine the influence of the thermics from the cheminey.

All the images were made from a remote cameria supsnded on a kite.

On this image you can realky see the "pass"

As background, this is a comparison of Noga Magnetic Base Indicator holders. The Noga model numbering system can be baffling, but basically the first three digits of the number give an indication of the maximum reach of the articulated arm (not including the indicator holder at the end). From smallest to largest they are MA (509mm), MG7 (276mm), MG6 (246mm), DG6 (211mm), NF6 (107mm), and LC6 (76mm). The other digits of the model number specify if it has a mag base, if the fine adjustment is on the head, on the base, or both, and whether the arm that attaches to the mag base is threaded metric or imperial, and if it holds 8mm dial indicators or ⅜” indicators. The type of indicator mount at the far end determines the final reach length and can vary by 20mm. Noga’s current indicator holder ends are the newer FA1500 type which are long, but very difficult to adjust and keep steady. On every Noga holder that I own, I have replaced the indictor holder with the older FA1300 units which are far more rigid and easier to set up and adjust.

Below is a photo of my collection of Noga holders showing their relative reach on an X-Roll sliding table. Front to back they are (with total reach in parenthesis) NF61003 (178mm), DG1033 (232mm), MG10533 (267.5mm), MG1033 (317mm), MG71003 (347.5mm), MA61003 (580mm).

Of all of these models, my most used and favorite is the MG10533 since it has fine adjustment on the base, the indicator holder does not swivel and is thus rigid and easy to set up, and the reach is sufficient for sliding table outside edge alignment checks.

Orlestone is three hundred and eighty eight hectares in size. It is predominantly mixed native broadleaves and a small percentage of conifer.

The area is a SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest), managed principally for birds and butterflies.

There is a medium sized car park and picnic area, with a height barrier at the main entrance. . All roads are unsurfaced. As it is very low lying, it has a tendency to flood in winter.

This is what's left of the pond at Philbrick-Cricenti Bog in New London, NH. Apparently only a hundred years ago you could fish in the still-open water at this spot. Now it's almost entirely covered over by a layer of Sphagnum peat moss, on which various shrubs and herbs take root. Underneath, it's open water all the way to the bottom. When you walk on the surface, it's all bouncy and springy. Technically you COULD fall through, but I'm not too worried (except maybe a little about the camera).

It's all quiet and full of spring wildflowers here (cottongrass, rhodora, buckbean, sheep laurel, bog laurel, and blueberries, all in bloom). I love bogs.

(here's a nifty trail guide for this site :o)

large view

EXCISION is the story of Pauline (AnnaLynne McCord), a delusional teenage outcast. Pauline picks scabs. Pauline dissects road kill. Pauline fantasizes about performing surgery on strangers. Her fascinations disturb her schoolmates and her parents, Phyllis (Traci Lords) and Bob (Roger Bart). No one understands Pauline except for Grace (Ariel Winter), her younger sister who suffers from cystic fibrosis. An outcast at school and at home, Pauline is convinced that the best way to repair her estranged relationship with her family is to perform a risky operation to save her sister’s life...

Starring AnnaLynne McCord (“90210”) as Pauline, EXCISION continues a long tradition of horror films with compelling female leads, such as Scream, the original Halloween, the original A Nightmare on Elm Street, The Birds, and Psycho. The film also stars Traci Lords (Cry Baby, Blade), Ariel Winter (“Modern Family”), Roger Bart (“Desperate Housewives”), Jeremy Sumpter (Friday Night Lights, Soul Surfer), Malcolm McDowell and John Waters.

EXCISION is Richard Bates, Jr.’s directorial debut adapted from his highly praised short film, Excision, which played in over 50 film festivals internationally and garnered 24 awards from festivals such as Austin Fantastic Fest, Honolulu International Film Festival and the Washington DC Independent Film Festival.

Welcome to Tuesday.

You are welcome to it.

And something exciting happening later, but for now, there is the usual, get up, get dressed, drink coffee and be ready for work at seven.

Jools wasn't going swimming, so she had a shower then got dressed before heading off just before seven.

When we looked out the back of the house, the sky was black with cloud, except for a small band of clear sky just above the trees on the other side of the valley, and in that gap was the blood red sliver of the waning moon.

And was then gone.

And so with Cleo watching on, I set up the office.

I learn that Denmark at two inches of snow and is still very cold. We actually are due to have sunshine, though ten degrees cooler than a week before.

Now the interesting bit.

At the end of the Deal Road into Dover, is the Duke of York's roundabout with the Duke of York's pub behind it. Why'd they have that name?

Well, behind both is the Duke of York's Military School, a huge site stretching from here to Fort Bergoyne, then to Guston. The school was founded here in 1909 and was a place where the children of military personnel were taught while their parents were posted, probably overseas.

It is still 100% for boarders, but no longer under the control of the MOD, but has a strong military ethic. I'm not going to judge.

Anyway.

The project to photograph Kent churches is mainly for parish church, but if I can get to see otheres: RC, Baptist or whatever, I'll take it.

Last September, for the first time, The Duke of Yorks Military School took part in Heritage Weekend. Sadly, I found out too late to get on a tour, but I struck up e mail correspondence with the organiser and he agreed that I could come and take shots.

Clashes of dates meant that I had to wait two months, but today was the day, and weather full of low winter sunshine. Although shadows inside were very striking.

The school was built here when it moved from Chelsea in 1909, designed by Sir Henry Tanner in the "Hampstead Garden Suburb" style. The entire complex is pretty much of all the same date and style, with the exception of two newer academic buildings.

Focal point is the large clock tower, which has just been renovated.

The chapel has several war memorials dedicated to pupils who gave their lives for their country.

I was met at reception after driving round the ring road past the athletics track and several of the boarding houses. I was met by the guy I had been writing to, he guessed I was Ian as I was laden with camera gear.

The chapel was on the other side of the road, and is a fine example of early 20th century design, the rest of the school is all of a similar style too.

He lets me get on with my task of taking shots, while he tells me some of the history of the school and chapel.

It is very well maintained, with a fairly new rood, but the rest is original and very well kept.

I took a 100 shots or so, said thanks and was gone, all in under an hour.

I went to Tesco to buy unch and came away with: a turkey and stuffing sandwich, a spicy bean wrap and a pack of spicy paprika crisps. Don't shop when you're hungry, kids.

Back home for lunch and back to work, where not much had happened.

On the tellybox at the same time as working, Saudi beat Argentina 2-1 after being a goal down.

Football, eh?

And then two dull 0-0 draws, so once work was done, I decided to go out for a walk.

Not far, just up and down the four streets in the estate, nearly 6,000 steps.

Feeing better.

We had warmed through stuffed peppers again for dinner, and were again totes amazeballs.

As was the wine.

And there was time for one more game to watch as music played on the cat's whiskers.

Phew.

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Last September, for the first time, The Duke of Yorks Military School took part in Heritage Weekend. Sadly, I found out too late to get on a tour, but I struck up e mail correspondence with the organiser and he agreed that I could come and take shots.

Clashes of dates meant that I had to wait two months, but today was the day, and weather full of low winter sunshine. Although shadows inside were very striking.

The school was built here when it moved from Chelsea in 1909, designed by Sir Henry Tanner in the "Hampstead Garden Suburb" style. The entire complex is pretty much of all the same date and style, with the exception of two newer academic buildings.

Focal point is the large clock tower, which has just been renovated.

The chapel has several war memorials dedicated to pupils who gave their lives for their country.

It should be open again in September 2023 for Heritage Day.

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In 1801, His Royal Highness Frederick Duke of York laid the foundation stone in Chelsea of what was to become The Duke of York's Royal Military School, a school for the children of military personnel which opened in 1803. Then in 1909, the school relocated to its present site in Dover, Kent and in 2010, we became the first full state boarding academy, opening our doors to any family wishing to choose this unique and iconic school for their child’s secondary education.

www.doyrms.com/about-us

This is Mars on August 29th, 2003, taken from a stack of video frames. With no way to hook the video camera up to my telescope, I put the camera on a tripod and pointed it down to the eyepiece. I ended up getting a cpl of hours of video over a few weeks. I then took a 10 second clip and ran it through a program called Registax. Registax takes the best frames of the video, and stacks them on top of each other to bring out subtle markings.

Here is a dapper crew of some of Dunbar's characters(politically correct term based on some of the stories I have heard over the years). They are l-r Allan Hamilton, Fred Lizza, Edison Strong, Pat Caruso and Alex Giobbi. Fred Lizza married my dad's sister and Alex's son was a contemporary of mine and a friend while I was in Dunbar. I believe only Edison and Pat are still alive.These guys are contemporaries and friends of my father. It is taken across from Rose Ann's Candy Kitchen on the platform of the B&O RR station in Dunbar(see link for pic). This picture was found in a batch of pictures my parents gave me for historical purposes. They have moved into a home that caters to older folks and their space is limited. This picture was reprinted in 1993, no idea where or if the negative still exists. I believe it may predate WW2, but can't be sure have a post war pic of the group and this one definately looks like they are much younger. If you know more information please add it.

www.flickr.com/photos/lionel682/3446234532/

Canang sari is one of the daily offerings made by Balinese Hindus to thank the Sang Hyang Widhi Wasa in praise and prayer. Canang sari will be seen in the Balinese temples (pura), on small shrines in houses, and on the ground or as a part of a larger offering.

Canang sari is offered every day to Sang Hyang Widhi Wasa as a form of thanking for the peace had given to the world; it is the simplest daily household offering. The philosophy behind the offering is self-sacrifice in that they take time and effort to prepare. Canang sari is not offered when there is a death in the community or family.

CANANG SARI PARTS

There are peporosan, ceper, raka-raka, and sampian urasari. Peporosan or the core material is made from betel leaf, lime, gambier, prestige, tobacco and betel nuts. Material of peporosan is symbolize the Trimurti, three major God in Hinduism. Shiva symbolized by lime, Vishnu symbolized by betel nut, and Brahma symbolized by gambier. Canang sari are covered by ceper (a tray made from palm leaf) as a symbol of Ardha Candra. Raka-raka is topped with sampian urasari, which are in turn overlaid by flowers placed in a specific direction. Each direction symbolizes a Hindu God (deva): White-colored flowers that point to the east as a symbol of Iswara; Red-colored flowers that point to the south as a symbol of Brahma; Yellow-colored flowers that point to the west as a symbol of Mahadeva; Blue or green colored flowers that point to the north as a symbol of Vishnu

A canang sari is completed by placing on top of the canang an amount of kepeng (the coin money) or paper money, which is said to make up the essence (the "sari") of the offering [Wikipedia.org]

Mickey & Minnie Mouse

Happiness Is Here

Tokyo Disneyland

MAMLESHWAR JYOTIRLING

Omkareshwar (Hindi: ओंकारेश्वर) is a Hindu temple dedicated to God Shiva. It is one of the 12 revered Jyotirlinga shrines of Shiva. It is on an island called Mandhata or Shivapuri in the Narmada river; the shape of the island is said to be like the Hindu ॐ symbol. There are two temples here, one to Omkareshwar (whose name means "Lord of Omkaara or the Lord of theOm Sound") and one to Amareshwar (whose name means "Immortal lord" or "lord of the Immortals or Devas"). But as per the sloka on dwadash jyotirligam, Mamleshwar is the jyotirling, which is on other side of Narmada river.

Omkareshwar Jyotirlinga also has its own history and stories.Three of them are prominent. The first story is about Vindhya Parvat (Mount). Once upon a time Narada (son of Lord Brahma), known for his non-stop cosmic travel, visited Vindhya parvat. In his spicy way Narad told Vindhya Parvat about the greatness of Mount Meru. This made Vindhya jealous of Meru and he decided to be bigger than Meru. Vindhya started worship of Lord Shiva to become greater than Meru. Vindhya Parvat practiced severe penance and worshipped parthivlinga (A linga made from physical material) along with Lord Omkareshwar for nearly six months. As a result Lord Shiva was pleased and blessed him with his desired boon. On a request of all the gods and the sages Lord Shiva made two parts of the lingas. One half is called Omkareshwara and the other Mamaleshwar or Amareshwar. Lord Shiva gave the boon of growing, but took a promise that Vindhya will never be a problem to Shiva's devotees. Vindhya began to grow, but did not keep his promise. It even obstructed the sun and the moon. All deities approached sage Agastya for help. Agastya along with his wife came to Vindhya, and convinced him that he would not grow until the sage and his wife returned. They never returned and Vindhya is there as it was when they left. The sage and his wife stayed in Srisailam which is regarded as Dakshina Kashi and one of the Dwadash Jyotirlinga.

The second story relates to Mandhata and his son's penance. King Mandhata of Ishvaku clan (an ancestor of Lord Ram) worshipped Lord Shiva here till the Lord manifested himself as a Jyotirlinga. Some scholars also narrate the story about Mandhata's sons-Ambarish and Mucchkund, who had practiced severe penance and austerities here and pleased Lord Shiva. Because of this the mountain is named Mandhata.

The third story from Hindu scriptures says that once upon a time there was a great war between Devas and Danavas(demon), in which Danavas won. This was a major setback for Devas and hence Devas prayed to Lord Shiva. Pleased with their prayer, Lord Shiva emerged in the form of Omkareshwar Jyotirlinga and defeated Danavas. By Kailash Mansarovar Foundation Swami Bikash Giri www.sumeruparvat.com , www.naturalitem.com

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This is my week 43 submission for the 2010 challenge from photochallenge.org

The Challenge Theme for week 41-44: ARCHITECTURE

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I went to St. Joseph's last week with the plan of taking a HDR vertorama of the interior. I took the the exposures I wanted and headed back home. When I got home and started stitching the images together, I found that I needed to take more exposures to the left and right of the center exposure.

I was hoping to retry the shot over the weekend, but as one would guess, the church is pretty busy on Saturday for weddings and Sunday for mass.

I tried this again on Tuesday and took plenty of exposures to encompass the room. I came home and stared the processing. The HDR processing went fine, but I had more issues with the final pano/verto stitch. The final result had way to much distortion where the walls looked too bent. I tried a few different things to fix it but none really to my liking.

Fortunately, when I went to St. Joseph's this time, I took some compositions that I didn't expect to use for the pano/verto.

I haven't given up at working on the pano/verto, but I think I'll need to learn a little bit more on taking a panorama with a wide angled lens, or how to control the distortion in photoshop.

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canon 5d mkii

EF 17-40mm f/4 L @ 17mm

f/9

ISO 100

3 exp @ 0.8 sec / 3.2sec/ 13 sec (-2 / 0 /+2)

Took an extra at -4 to get detail in the 3 bright windows and blended it in by hand in photoshop.

It bugs me that there is a piece of fluff on her eye.

Keomi is the third Siamese cat I have owned, the first one dating back to 45 years ago. They have all been so wonderful and loving.

The first Keomi would allow my very young daughter to dress her in doll clothes and then would lie in a doll carriage and be wheeled around.

The Keomi in this pet portrait is now 15 years old. I think her the sweetest cat in the world, but then I am prejudiced!

Our Daily Challenge-Group 3

This is my grandfather, my uncle George and some cousins. My grandfather was in the steel industry and brought to America a method of making seamless tubing that he learned in Germany. His company didn’t survive the depression and he died in 1938 when my dad was six years old.

I found this crinkled 4x6 negative in a box of old family stuff and was pretty blown away when I saw this scan, what an amazing link to the past. I don’t know if a pro took this photo but it sure is nicely made.

You really should look at the detail in the original size.

A3C3 -- yeah I know this is not really crappy but it's old...