View allAll Photos Tagged JUSTIFICATION
The painting is engulfing as a result of being primitive, free from justification and the sense of guilt for not being intellectual. It comes from the unconscious creative the psychological drive which is not adapted to a language of nuances and does not require decoding.
Mirits spectator is bombarded with a colorful abundance, with repeating images and metaphors that are easily perceived and identified. For the person who is accustomed to the sophisticated art form, this is a fresh breath of immediate beauty.
Perhaps this is the place and the time to go deeper into the roots of a culture which for generations now has been obscured with theories and isms.
David Gerstein
Deep in the wilderness of Canyonlands National Park, pillars of ancient sandstone stand tall up in the pale moonlight as the world spins. With an exposure totaling 96 minutes, the stars streak across the sky. Warm light from a propane campfire of a nearby camp hi lights the right side of the towering formations while a sliver of the moon lights up the whole land. I must admit this park was relatively low on my radar until this trip opened my eyes to how much of a treasure it truly is. It is truly a wonderland and I cannot wait to return. This is twelve 8 minute exposures stacked, with airplane trails removed.
We must protect our parks which the new administration is doing their best to destroy. Fight back! I was personally told by rangers of the unnecessary cuts being forced upon the park with no justification and how it is impacting operation. There's no reason for any of it!
Thanksgiving is always a special time of year for Audrey. As leader of the Ladies Bible Study* and song leader,** Audrey reflects on the blessings of God and updates her journal.
Journal Entry November 21
"Today I stopped at the Grotto in Turtle Crossing Park. Sometimes it is mostly empty and, on those times, it is one of my most beloved spots to read God's word and pray.
I was reading Philippians 4: "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
While reading I had noticed a family of deer. They kept coming closer until finally the fawn sniffed and nuzzled me. I stroked its head as the doe watched carefully, the buck standing a little away, but still relaxed. What peace. What calm. "And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
As fitting as this relaxing moment with the deer was, it fell short of what the Bible means. The word for 'peace' identifies the peace that comes at the end a war. The battle is over. There is now not only peace but, because of the nature of the battle, a long awaited peace. A peace that was hungered for.
The battle had been with God. The lost soul is alienated, separated from a relationship with their Creator. They have vioated His will and live in such a state. When the lost soul repents and believes upon the Lord Jesus Christ as their only hope for justification, for righteousness, and for the change of their life they so desperately need, they find that God gives them all of these things. And then, there is the peace.
For the peace of God, which truly surpasses our comprehension, I give thanks today."
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law." Galatians 5:22-23
________________________________________________
It is Paprihaven's Seven Days of Thanksgiving! Join us in thanking God for His many blessings! "Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens." Ephesians 1:3
Philippians 4:4-7
Previous Thanksgiving at Paprihaven!
2015:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/23317265455/
2016:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/31221411415/
2017:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/38546781536/
2018:
flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/45946160821/
2019:
flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/49117569293/
2020:
flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/50634408816/
* As seen here!
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/21059005784/
** As seen here!
This will be a real marmite moment for my followers for you will either love it or hate it.
Yeah I know You view me as the girl next door and post like this don't tend to get the attention one would expect. I rather like that fact at least I know you have a level of respect for me.
But difficult times mean difficult choices and as morale officer I have to keep your spirits up and make a sacrifice and a little dignity is a small price to pay, How's my justification going? are you buying it?
If you knew how many shots it took to get this right you would wonder why I bothered and yes I know its a small bag!
Try and keep it clean everyone this is often viewed by partners of us girls.
Could do with my hips getting a bit bigger all my skirts and knickers keep falling off,
Enjoy my friends, keep staying safe and I will keep on posting photos and writing rubbish . Sadly or luckily I don't have any more like this.
Oberlinden Street with the Schwabentor (in English: "Swabian Gate") in the historic city of Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany
Some background information:
The Schwabentor (also called Obertor in the Middle Ages) is the younger of the two remaining city gates of Freiburg im Breisgau's medieval fortifications. The gate tower, built around 1250, originally featured a barbican extending towards the city moat and was open on the city side. It wasn’t until 1547 that it was enclosed on this side with a stone wall.
About 130 years later, a scene was painted on the city-facing side, depicting a merchant with a cart, which later inspired a 19th-century legend about a Swabian who arrived in Freiburg with two barrels full of money to buy the city. He was mocked, but the laughter grew louder when it was revealed that the barrels contained only sand and pebbles as his wife had secretly replaced the money with worthless material before his departure.
The Schwabentor remained largely unchanged until the end of the 19th century. However, in 1896, a competition among German architects sought proposals for redesigning both the Martinstor and the Schwabentor. In 1899, Freiburg's electric tramway was approved, necessitating the relocation of private buildings adjoining the gates. It was proposed to raise the Schwabentor from 26 to 65 meters and the Martinstor from 22 to 66 meters, citing the height of surrounding buildings as justification.
The design of the Schwabentor combined early 13th-century elements with late Gothic additions from the 15th century and the raised city gate was equipped with a stepped gable inspired by North German city towers. In 1954, parts of the alterations were reversed, and the Schwabentor was given a simpler roof, resembling its original state, complete with a bell tower and onion dome.
Freiburg im Breisgau, commonly referred to as Freiburg, is an independent city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. With a population of about 230,000, it is the fourth largest city in Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Karlsruhe, and Mannheim. The town is located in the very southwest of Germany, in the tri-state-area near the French and Swiss border. It is also situated on the southwestern edge of the Black Forest and traversed by the Dreisam River.
Freiburg is a famous old German university town and archiepiscopal seat. It was founded by Konrad and Duke Berthold III of Zaehringen in 1120 as a free market town. This town was strategically located at a junction of trade routes between the Mediterranean Sea and the North Sea regions, as well as the Rhine and Danube rivers. In 1200, Freiburg's population numbered approximately 6,000 people. At about that time, under the rule of Bertold V, the last duke of Zaehringen, the city began construction of its Freiburg Minster on the site of an older parish church.
At the end of the thirteenth century there was a feud between the citizens of Freiburg and their lord, Count Egino II of Freiburg. Egino II raised taxes and sought to limit the citizens' freedom, after which the locals used catapults to destroy the count's castle atop the Schlossberg (in English: "Castle Hill"), a hill that overlooks the city centre. The furious count called on his brother-in-law the Bishop of Strasbourg, Konradius von Lichtenberg, for help, who responded by marching with his army to Freiburg.
According to an old Freiburg legend, a butcher named Hauri stabbed the Bishop of Strasbourg to death. But it was a Pyrrhic victory, since henceforth the citizens of Freiburg had to pay an annual expiation of 300 marks in silver to the count of Freiburg until 1368. In that year the citizens were fed up with their lords, and the town purchased its independence from them. Freiburg turned itself over to the protection of the Habsburg dynasty, which allowed the city to retain a large measure of freedom.
The silver mines in the neighbourhood of Freiburg provided an important source of capital for the town and the silver even made Freiburg one of the richest cities in Europe. In 1377, the cities of Freiburg, Basel, Colmar, and Breisach entered into a monetary alliance known as the Rappenpfennig Collective. This alliance facilitated commerce among the cities and lasted until the end of the 16th century.
In 1457, Albrecht VI, Regent of Further Austria, established the Albert-Ludwigs-Universität, one of Germany's oldest universities. In 1520, Freiburg decided not to take part in the Reformation and became an important centre for Catholicism on the Upper Rhine. Erasmus of Rotterdam moved here after Basel had accepted the Reformation. Being in need of finding a scapegoat for calamities such as the Black Plague, the city became a centre of witch-hunt in the 16th century.
The 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries were turbulent times for Freiburg: At the beginning of the Thirty Years' War, Freiburg had 10,000 to 14,000 residents, but by its end only 2,000 remained. During this war and other conflicts, the city belonged at various times to the Austrians, the French, the Swedes, the Spaniards, and various members of the German Confederation.
Between 1648 and 1805, when the city was not under French occupation it was the administrative headquarters of Further Austria, the Habsburg territories in the southwest of Germany. In 1805, the city, together with the Breisgau and Ortenau areas, finally became part of Baden. In 1827, when the Archdiocese of Freiburg was founded, Freiburg became the seat of a Catholic archbishop.
During World War II, Freiburg was heavily bombed. In May 1940, aircraft of the German Luftwaffe mistakenly dropped approximately 60 bombs on Freiburg near the railway station, killing 57 people. And on 27th November 1944, a raid by more than 300 bombers of the RAF Bomber Command destroyed a large portion of the city centre, with the notable exception of the minster, which was only lightly damaged. However, after the war, the city was rebuilt judiciously on its medieval plan.
A Happy and Healthy New Year 2025 to all of you!
Perhaps the most striking building in Yerevan, Saint Gregory the Illuminator Cathedral was consecrated in 2001 to commemorate the 1700 year anniversary of the state adoption of Christianity. It is, of course, named for the Gregory who was instrumental in the conversion in 301 of King Tiridates III, his erstwhile persecutor. It was also intended to house the relics of the saint, which for complicated historical reasons had long ago been removed to Naples, Italy.
There was a serious obstacle to the repatriation of the relics, however. Over the course of the Middle Ages, the various Eastern and Oriental Christian churches had all fallen out with each other and with the Western church in Rome. This falling out was ostensibly over very arcane theological disputes (in the Armenian vs Roman example, which came to a head in 451: Christ had two natures, but were they united or distinct?). In reality, the falling out between the different churches was really over matters of supremacy and power, as the heads of various churches sought out and found justification for why they should be in charge and not that other guy.
In recent times, councils of the the several churches have as much as admitted that the theological differences either don't really exist, or aren't that significant, or aren't significant enough to have warranted the breaches in the first place. Still, no one has yet agreed to hand over the power to that other guy, and all of the distinct church hierarchies remain. Yet, the renewed good feeling did bear some fruit: just in time for the consecration of the above cathedral, the Catholic Church transferred Gregory's relics to the Armenian Apostolic Church.
Saint Gregory the Illuminator Cathedral, Yerevan, Armenia.
Dinamarca - Dragor - Puente de Oresund
***
www.youtube.com/watch?v=iy6l3Xn7mYo
ENGLISH:
The Øresund or Öresund Bridge (Danish: Øresundsbroen, pronounced [ˈøɐsɔnsˌbʁoˀːn̩]; Swedish: Öresundsbron, pronounced [œːrɛ²sɵnːdsˌbruːn]; hybrid name: Øresundsbron) is a combined railway and motorway bridge across the Øresund strait between Sweden and Denmark. The bridge runs nearly 8 kilometres (5 miles) from the Swedish coast to the artificial island Peberholm in the middle of the strait. The crossing is completed by the 4-kilometre (2.5 mi) Drogden Tunnel from Peberholm to the Danish island of Amager.
The Øresund Bridge is the longest combined road and rail bridge in Europe and connects two major metropolitan areas: Copenhagen, the Danish capital city, and the Swedish city of Malmö. It connects the road and rail networks of the Scandinavian Peninsula with those of Central and Western Europe. A data cable also makes the bridge the backbone of internet data transmission between central Europe and Sweden (and, prior to 2016 also Finland).
The international European route E20 crosses via road, the Oresund Line via railway. The construction of the Great Belt Fixed Link (1988-1998), connecting Zealand to Funen and thence to the Jutland Peninsula, and the Øresund Bridge have connected Central and Western Europe to Scandinavia by road and rail.
The Øresund Bridge was designed by the Danish engineering firm COWI. The justification for the additional expenditure and complexity related to digging a tunnel for part of the way, rather than raising that section of the bridge, was to avoid interfering with air traffic from the nearby Copenhagen Airport, to provide a clear channel for ships in good weather or bad, and to prevent ice floes from blocking the strait.
The Øresund Bridge crosses the border between Denmark and Sweden, but in accordance with the Schengen Agreement and the Nordic Passport Union, there are usually no passport inspections. There are a few random customs checks at the entrance toll booths entering Sweden, but not when entering Denmark. Since January 2016, checks have become significantly more stringent due to the European migrant crisis.
Construction began in 1995, with the bridge opening to traffic on 1 July 2000. The Øresund Bridge received the 2002 IABSE Outstanding Structure Award.
***
www.youtube.com/watch?v=iy6l3Xn7mYo
ESPAÑOL:
El puente-túnel de Sund, puente-túnel de Øresund o de Öresund (en danés, Øresundsbroen; en sueco, Öresundsbron; nombre híbrido: Øresundsbron) conecta las dos áreas metropolitanas de la región de Øresund: la capital danesa, Copenhague, y la ciudad sueca de Malmö. Cuenta con dos líneas de tren y cuatro carriles de carretera, siendo el puente combinado tren-carretera más largo de Europa. La ruta internacional europea E20 pasa por este puente. El transporte ferroviario es operado conjuntamente por la empresa sueca Statens Järnvägar (SJ) y la danesa Danske Statsbaner (DSB).
La construcción de esta obra se inició en 1995 y el proyecto fue gestionado por una alianza internacional entre las empresas constructoras: Skanska de Suecia, Hochtief de Alemania, y las danesas Højgaard & Schultz y Monberg & Thorsen. El tramo final fue completado el 14 de agosto de 1999. El príncipe heredero Federico de Dinamarca y su contraparte sueca la princesa heredera Victoria de Suecia se reunieron en el centro del puente para celebrar su finalización. La inauguración oficial fue el 1 de julio de 2000, con la presencia de la reina Margarita II de Dinamarca y el rey Carlos XVI Gustavo de Suecia. El puente fue abierto al tráfico ese mismo día. Antes de la inauguración, 79 871 corredores compitieron en una maratón de media distancia (Broloppet, la Carrera del Puente) entre Amager (Dinamarca) y Escania (Suecia) el 12 de junio de 2000.
El puente posee uno de los mayores vanos centrales de los puentes atirantados del mundo, con 490 m. El pilar más alto mide 204 m. La longitud total del puente es de 7845 m, que corresponden aproximadamente a la mitad de la distancia entre las costas de Suecia y Dinamarca, y su peso es de 82 000 t. El resto de la distancia se cubre mediante la isla artificial de Peberholm (islote de la pimienta, 4055 m), llamado así en contraposición al ya existente Saltholm, (islote de la sal) y luego un túnel de 3510 m en el lado danés. Las dos líneas de ferrocarril se encuentran bajo las pistas de la carretera. El puente tiene una altura libre de 57 metros. No obstante, la mayor parte de los barcos que circulan por el Øresund lo hacen por el estrecho de Drogden (donde se encuentra el túnel).
Por otro lado la frecuencia de los trenes Malmoe-Copenhague, cada 20 minutos, y el precio menor que el peaje cuando viaja una sola persona, hace que los viajeros de negocios se decanten por estas lanzaderas, que cruzan el Øresund en 25 minutos.
Los 49 tableros que constituyen la totalidad de los vanos de aproximación al puente atirantado fueron construidos en Puerto Real, Cádiz (España), por la empresa española Dragados Offshore que también se encargó de transportarlos por vía marítima hasta el lugar indicado y, una vez allí, hundirlos. Se construyó en forma de túnel, isla y puente, ya que todo el tramo de 16 km de túnel hubiera resultado demasiado caro. Y no se construyeron 16 km de puente porque se tenía que asegurar la aeronavegabilidad de la zona, pues el aeropuerto de Kastrup (Aeropuerto Internacional de Copenhague) está situado junto a la entrada actual del túnel. Las torres del puente fueron colocadas por la grúa flotante más grande del mundo y están diseñadas para que el puente no se destruya ni en caso de una colisión aérea contra las torres.
Works as an abstract composition. Not sure what to make of the functional justifications. Calm and quieting place to stay at. More from that visit here: www.flickr.com/photos/88082393@N02/
In the summer of 2011, my normal route to Galesburg was closed due to construction, which forced a reroute through the tiny town of Arlington, Illinois. Not much is in Arlington, however, it sits along today's BNSF double-track Mendota Sub. In the CB&Q days, this line saw a lot more traffic than it does today, which was justification for this giant Arlington Grain Co. grain elevator. This picture does not do justice to just how large this complex actually was. I wanted so bad to stop and explore this, but time was of the essence. I vowed to one day return. But unbeknownst to me at the time, this elevator was on borrowed time. When I next went through Arlington 2 months later, the elevator was gone, along with just about every trace of its existence.
Dostoyevsky, upon the failure of his second marriage was overheard to say that in the future he would just look for a woman he didn’t like and buy her a house.
Re string the beads
Strap the baby in
This is gonna get rough
I’m basically into rolling stops but for yard sales I pull over. It wasn’t like I was looking for anything in particular I was just curious and like poking around in other peoples stuff.
To be honest it was pretty bleak. trashy romance novels. records I wouldn’t want to listen to. A lot of plates. Bags of buttons. A stair master. some dumb bells. Turned out I didn’t feel attracted to the part of their life that they were selling off.
then I spotted the typewriter sitting on a flower patterned suitcase all cued up with a sheet paper.
The uick brown fox jumped over the lazy dogs . . . . .
And then out of nowhere I launched into a letter to my ex wife. We’d barely spoken in the almost year since our divorce and when we did it was pretty shallow . . .
“is the bread maker still out in the garage”
“don’t forget to change the furnace filter”
“any mail for me”
“sorry to hear about sascha but you can’t say i didn’t warn you”
there were things I’d been wanting to say - nothing like explanations or justifications – no apologies - that was all to far past. But there were other things that I’d never had the words for or hadn’t been clear about and right there and then it all came out in a rush. I pounded away.
I singled spaced through the sheet and turned it over without pausing.
The rest of the world disappeared. Slap Ding. Slap Ding. Slap Ding. Slap Ding.
Done.
I pulled the sheet. A quick read. She’d figure out “ueen of sheba” . I Folded it into my pocket. Picked up the Remington and an ashtray made to look like the Grand Canyon saying “wish you were here” along the canyon floor and went to pay the lady.
Nothing was priced and there was a little sign saying cash only.
All I had was a five dollar bill.
Will you take 5?
6
all I’ve got is 5 and the “q” key doesn’t even work – you can keep the ash tray
ok just give me 5
I’m not one to talk but people are so weird.
So
I get home, rag it off and put it on the kitchen table.
it felt like i had found the holy grail. I’d write a novel. A couple of novels. Plays. Poems Think of all those letters I was behind on. This was a miracle.
I put in a fresh sheet and typed “Sven”. Sven is a good friend who lives in belgium who in his last letter had told me that a freak accident stringing a banjo had left him blind in one eye
Sven,
That’s as far as I got. Nothing came next.
I left it like that and came back later but . . . .nothing. I tried a few laps of the uick brown fox to see if it was some sort of priming issue but no.
a stone cold wall of china
and I was never able to write anything on it again. It sat on the table for a couple of months until finally one day I realized that that was that. It must have been a one shot deal. I took it outside and put it on the front steps and went back inside to make a pot coffee.
10 or 15 minutes later When I went back up front with my coffee it was gone. I lit a cigerette and sat there.
A tall black man wearing a purple tuxedo complete with matching top hat strode by. I don’t think I’d ever seen a person who looked as happy as him. He was positively beaming (no pun intended)
His eyes twinkled. His teeth twinkled. He just plain twinkled. He spoke in a voice loud, rich and friendly:
“ain’t life great? Don’t you just learn something everyday?” and cruised on up the block.
“learn something everyday?” . . . actually I’m kind of slow and Lately I’ve taken to writing these things down hoping that they’ll sink in deeper
Carlisle station in all its glory in BR days with an Inter City express quietly gliding in on Mk 3 stock. A look at the station clock will give a clue as to why there do not seem to be passengers waiting to board the train.
It is actually "The Royal Scot" and Preston is the only intermediate scheduled stop, both ways, between Euston and Glasgow. I think this service was the only one which had this schedule and had few competitors in the country for the distance achieved non stop. The overall distance with just one stop on route had to be unique. If ever there was justification for electric power, this is it. No need to refuel and replenish the steam heat boiler, if applicable. Just turn round and keep going.
Little wonder that there was the prospect of achieving a mileage total of several million in a very short period of time.
Under intense use on passenger and freight there was the chance for one loco only to cover at least 1,000 miles a day. Over just 3 years that would clear one million miles. So a 30 year life span would have a possible mileage of around 11 million miles. That's some figure - no wonder electric power was seen as the way forward.
Les Ross has reportedly covered over 5 million miles.
Dinamarca - Dragor - Puente de Oresund
***
www.youtube.com/watch?v=iy6l3Xn7mYo
ENGLISH:
The Øresund or Öresund Bridge (Danish: Øresundsbroen, pronounced [ˈøɐsɔnsˌbʁoˀːn̩]; Swedish: Öresundsbron, pronounced [œːrɛ²sɵnːdsˌbruːn]; hybrid name: Øresundsbron) is a combined railway and motorway bridge across the Øresund strait between Sweden and Denmark. The bridge runs nearly 8 kilometres (5 miles) from the Swedish coast to the artificial island Peberholm in the middle of the strait. The crossing is completed by the 4-kilometre (2.5 mi) Drogden Tunnel from Peberholm to the Danish island of Amager.
The Øresund Bridge is the longest combined road and rail bridge in Europe and connects two major metropolitan areas: Copenhagen, the Danish capital city, and the Swedish city of Malmö. It connects the road and rail networks of the Scandinavian Peninsula with those of Central and Western Europe. A data cable also makes the bridge the backbone of internet data transmission between central Europe and Sweden (and, prior to 2016 also Finland).
The international European route E20 crosses via road, the Oresund Line via railway. The construction of the Great Belt Fixed Link (1988-1998), connecting Zealand to Funen and thence to the Jutland Peninsula, and the Øresund Bridge have connected Central and Western Europe to Scandinavia by road and rail.
The Øresund Bridge was designed by the Danish engineering firm COWI. The justification for the additional expenditure and complexity related to digging a tunnel for part of the way, rather than raising that section of the bridge, was to avoid interfering with air traffic from the nearby Copenhagen Airport, to provide a clear channel for ships in good weather or bad, and to prevent ice floes from blocking the strait.
The Øresund Bridge crosses the border between Denmark and Sweden, but in accordance with the Schengen Agreement and the Nordic Passport Union, there are usually no passport inspections. There are a few random customs checks at the entrance toll booths entering Sweden, but not when entering Denmark. Since January 2016, checks have become significantly more stringent due to the European migrant crisis.
Construction began in 1995, with the bridge opening to traffic on 1 July 2000. The Øresund Bridge received the 2002 IABSE Outstanding Structure Award.
***
www.youtube.com/watch?v=iy6l3Xn7mYo
ESPAÑOL:
El puente-túnel de Sund, puente-túnel de Øresund o de Öresund (en danés, Øresundsbroen; en sueco, Öresundsbron; nombre híbrido: Øresundsbron) conecta las dos áreas metropolitanas de la región de Øresund: la capital danesa, Copenhague, y la ciudad sueca de Malmö. Cuenta con dos líneas de tren y cuatro carriles de carretera, siendo el puente combinado tren-carretera más largo de Europa. La ruta internacional europea E20 pasa por este puente. El transporte ferroviario es operado conjuntamente por la empresa sueca Statens Järnvägar (SJ) y la danesa Danske Statsbaner (DSB).
La construcción de esta obra se inició en 1995 y el proyecto fue gestionado por una alianza internacional entre las empresas constructoras: Skanska de Suecia, Hochtief de Alemania, y las danesas Højgaard & Schultz y Monberg & Thorsen. El tramo final fue completado el 14 de agosto de 1999. El príncipe heredero Federico de Dinamarca y su contraparte sueca la princesa heredera Victoria de Suecia se reunieron en el centro del puente para celebrar su finalización. La inauguración oficial fue el 1 de julio de 2000, con la presencia de la reina Margarita II de Dinamarca y el rey Carlos XVI Gustavo de Suecia. El puente fue abierto al tráfico ese mismo día. Antes de la inauguración, 79 871 corredores compitieron en una maratón de media distancia (Broloppet, la Carrera del Puente) entre Amager (Dinamarca) y Escania (Suecia) el 12 de junio de 2000.
El puente posee uno de los mayores vanos centrales de los puentes atirantados del mundo, con 490 m. El pilar más alto mide 204 m. La longitud total del puente es de 7845 m, que corresponden aproximadamente a la mitad de la distancia entre las costas de Suecia y Dinamarca, y su peso es de 82 000 t. El resto de la distancia se cubre mediante la isla artificial de Peberholm (islote de la pimienta, 4055 m), llamado así en contraposición al ya existente Saltholm, (islote de la sal) y luego un túnel de 3510 m en el lado danés. Las dos líneas de ferrocarril se encuentran bajo las pistas de la carretera. El puente tiene una altura libre de 57 metros. No obstante, la mayor parte de los barcos que circulan por el Øresund lo hacen por el estrecho de Drogden (donde se encuentra el túnel).
Por otro lado la frecuencia de los trenes Malmoe-Copenhague, cada 20 minutos, y el precio menor que el peaje cuando viaja una sola persona, hace que los viajeros de negocios se decanten por estas lanzaderas, que cruzan el Øresund en 25 minutos.
Los 49 tableros que constituyen la totalidad de los vanos de aproximación al puente atirantado fueron construidos en Puerto Real, Cádiz (España), por la empresa española Dragados Offshore que también se encargó de transportarlos por vía marítima hasta el lugar indicado y, una vez allí, hundirlos. Se construyó en forma de túnel, isla y puente, ya que todo el tramo de 16 km de túnel hubiera resultado demasiado caro. Y no se construyeron 16 km de puente porque se tenía que asegurar la aeronavegabilidad de la zona, pues el aeropuerto de Kastrup (Aeropuerto Internacional de Copenhague) está situado junto a la entrada actual del túnel. Las torres del puente fueron colocadas por la grúa flotante más grande del mundo y están diseñadas para que el puente no se destruya ni en caso de una colisión aérea contra las torres.
I had the privilege of visiting this city of beautiful parks and gardens in 1966 before the Ukraine gained its independence from the former USSR in 1991. The world weeps for Ukraine and stands beside it. I fear this square and city will all be tragically destroyed by Russian bombardment from an invasion that has no justification.
This is The Bohdan Khmelnytsky Monument located at Sophia Square, with views of St. Sophia's Cathedral and St. Michael's Golden-domed Monastery.
The Bohdan Khmelnytsky Monument (Ukrainian: Пам'ятник Богданові Хмельницькому) is a monument in Kyiv dedicated to Bohdan Khmelnytsky, the first Hetman of Zaporizhian Host. It was built in 1888 - it is one of the oldest sculptural monuments, a dominating feature of Sophia Square and one of the city's symbols.
The monument is located almost in the middle of the Sophia Square (formerly the main city's square) on the axis that unites both belltowers of the Sophia Cathedral and the St. Michael's Monastery.
Here on 23 December 1648 residents of Kyiv met Khmelnytsky leading his Cossacks' regiments by entering the city through the Golden Gates soon after the victory over Polish Army at the battle of Pyliavtsi.
Spring is arriving rapidly as it always does in the northwoods. It's as though everything recognizes that time is short and wasting...;-)
In addition to this forsythia and the arrival of spring, I have equally suddenly found that I have been unceremoniously dumped into the Flickr beta function. I may have inadvertently clicked the banner at the top of the page, but regardless, it seems I am now in without escape. In my exploration of this new world, I have found that the only difference is that one finds previous one click selections are now "disguised" under various new headings, but if clicked take you right back to the old page. So in essence, the changes have simply resulted in additional clicks to get where you want to be. Again, big salaries need justification.
I'm not sure if this has happened to others as of yet. Two of the main differences is that finding your contact page is a selection under "You" instead of on its own. And the view of your photostream is altered, and after uploading, the new images do not appear unless you press "Edit" under the new "More" heading on the right and then the page which previously always automatically appeared after an upload appears after two additional clicks. Pretty ridiculous.
I also had to figure out how to add the comment photo as to do so has changed to accomodate the far more important desires of social media. So if it's not there let me know. It is the SOOC version of the featured photo which I texturized in emulation of some of the excellent work of my contacts. I have a hard time doing so with macro flowers...and, in truth, I'm not really sold on this one...;-))
Prints, cards, clothing and more products are available via the website: shiny.photo/photo/The-Structure-of-Trees-16-df07d7723cc06...
A toned black-and-white photograph of trees concentrating on the natural forms of trunk and branch - how limbs grow, split and stretch through space. Some trees lean or bend under their own weight, others reach upward or out in wide arcs.
Light filters through the canopy, casting soft highlights and deep shadows that bring out the grain of the bark and the structure of the leaves.
No dramatic weather or wide vistas here - just closeup attention to the way trees deport themselves in the quiet of the woods.
Nature does not require justification - least of all as a means to further some goal of mankind - especially because humanity has yet to develop a collective exhaustive knowlege, much less appreciation, of its unknown delights, benefits and pitfalls. It should just be, pure, beautiful in its authentic rawness, left to do what it will.
Fotografía tomada coa vella Zenit-122 en febreiro de 2000.
“[Medieval] Art was not just a static element in society, or even one which interacted with the various social groups. It was not simply something which was made to decorate or to instruct — or even to overawe and dominate. Rather, it was that and more. It was potentially controversial in ways both similar and dissimilar to its couterpart today. It was something which could by its force of attraction not only form the basis for the economy of a particular way of life, it could also come to change that way of life in ways counter to the original intent. Along with this and because of this, art carried a host of implications, both social and moral, which had to be justified. Indeed, it is from the two related and basic elements of justification and function — claim and reality — that Bernard approaches the question of art in the Apologia.”
Conrad Rudolph, The "Things of Greater Importance": Bernard of Clairvaux's "Apologia" and the Medieval Attitude Toward Art, 1990.
MÚSICA: Giovanni Pierluigi DA Palestrina | Jesu, rex admirabilis [á 3; The Monteverdi Choir]
Lyric Opera of Chicago
October 11, 14, 17, 20, 23 and 26, 2025
🎭 Cherubini’s Medea – Synopsis
Composer: Luigi Cherubini
Libretto: François-Benoît Hoffman, based on Euripides’ Medea, Pierre Corneille’s Médée, and other classical sources.
Premiere: 1797, Théâtre Feydeau, Paris (Médée in French); commonly performed in the 20th century in Italian translation (especially the Lachner version)
Setting:
Ancient Corinth, in the aftermath of Medea and Jason’s adventures in Colchis and the quest for the Golden Fleece.
Act I – The Wedding Day
The opera opens on the day of Jason’s wedding—not to Medea, his former wife, but to Glauce (also called Creusa), daughter of King Creon of Corinth. Jason has abandoned Medea and their two children in pursuit of social status and security.
Glauce is nervous—haunted by Medea’s reputation as a powerful and vengeful sorceress from a foreign land. Creon is firm: Medea must leave Corinth at once to prevent disruption to the royal wedding. Jason, torn but resolute, justifies his betrayal as necessary for the children’s future.
Medea arrives uninvited, distraught and humiliated. She pleads with Jason, only to be met with coldness. When Creon orders her exile, she manipulates him into granting her a one-day reprieve. The act ends with Medea vowing revenge.
Act II – The Veil of Vengeance
Medea wrestles with despair and rage, invoking the gods and her own powers. She hatches a deadly plan: she will send her children to Glauce bearing gifts—a robe and a diadem laced with poison.
Jason, still deluded by self-justification, allows the children to deliver the gifts, thinking it will bring peace between the two women. Medea hides her fury behind a mask of reconciliation.
Act III – Fire and Blood
Word soon comes that Glauce is dead—her body consumed by fire when she dons the cursed robe. Creon, trying to save her, dies as well.
Medea's triumph turns to horror as she prepares for her final act. She resolves to kill her own children to fully punish Jason—denying him both legacy and love. As Corinth burns and the people cry out in terror, Medea murders the boys and appears before Jason one last time, bloodied but defiant.
She vanishes into the night, leaving Jason to face the ruins of his ambition.
Themes and Musical Style
Cherubini’s Medea is a powerful blend of classical tragedy and early Romantic opera. Though written in the 1790s, it anticipates the dramatic intensity of later composers like Beethoven and Berlioz. The title role is one of the most demanding in the repertoire—vocally fierce, emotionally volcanic, and psychologically layered. Medea is no mere villain; she is a wronged woman driven to the outer edge of human experience, her grandeur and monstrosity bound together.
The opera explores:
Betrayal and abandonment.
The foreign woman as both outsider and threat.
The limits of power, reason, and vengeance.
The devastating consequences of pride and revenge.
====================
🎭 Opera in Revolutionary Paris: From Collapse to Reinvention
🔥 The Crisis (1789–1794)
At the outset of the French Revolution in 1789, opera was seen by many revolutionaries as a corrupt and elitist art form associated with the ancien régime. The Académie Royale de Musique (Paris Opéra), long funded by the monarchy, symbolized aristocratic excess and state patronage. The fall of the monarchy in 1792 and the execution of Louis XVI in 1793 sent shockwaves through all institutions—including the arts.
During the Reign of Terror (1793–1794):
Many aristocratic patrons were executed or fled.
Censorship was intense and ideological.
Performances were suspended or redirected to serve revolutionary propaganda.
Operas of the ancien régime were banned or rewritten to reflect republican ideals.
Some theaters were shut down; others became stages for revolutionary pageantry and pièces à sauvetage (melodramas featuring heroic rescues and virtue).
Yet even amid the chaos, theater and opera never fully ceased. The revolutionary government understood their power for mass persuasion, and theaters were repurposed as tools for civic education.
Rebuilding and Redirection (1795–1797)
After Robespierre’s fall in 1794, the political climate began to thaw. The Directory (1795–1799) brought a more pragmatic and less ideologically rigid approach. Cultural life, especially in Paris, began to rebound, driven by:
A new bourgeois audience, eager for diversion and moral elevation.
A reorientation of content: works with themes of virtue, justice, and self-sacrifice were encouraged.
Relaxation of censorship allowed composers and librettists more freedom.
Theaters were reopened or rebranded; the Paris Opéra resumed activity under different auspices.
Foreign composers and émigré artists (like Cherubini, an Italian working in Paris) were welcomed, especially if they embraced revolutionary values—or at least avoided monarchist associations.
🎼 Cherubini’s Médée in Context
Luigi Cherubini had remained in Paris through the Revolution, adapting astutely to the shifting tides. He aligned himself with revolutionary ideals without becoming doctrinaire. His music struck a new, leaner tone—stripped of rococo ornament, full of dramatic clarity, moral gravity, and classical rigor—all qualities that appealed to post-revolutionary audiences.
Médée (1797) fit the moment perfectly:
Based on a classical subject, it resonated with revolutionary neoclassicism.
Medea, as a powerful outsider, embodied anxieties about vengeance, justice, and moral collapse.
The opera combined psychological realism with tragic grandeur, aligning with the Directory’s taste for high-minded drama over frivolous entertainment.
The setting and costumes could invoke antiquity without recalling Versailles.
Bigger Picture: Why Opera Survived
Opera endured because it could adapt:
Thematically, by shifting from gods and kings to heroes and martyrs.
Aesthetically, by adopting simpler, starker forms in tune with revolutionary neoclassicism.
Institutionally, by transforming royal theaters into national ones.
Politically, by serving as both mirror and mouthpiece of civic ideology.
And crucially: the public still wanted it. Even in the darkest days, Parisians flocked to theaters. In a society newly preoccupied with the people’s voice and emotions, opera—paradoxically—became more essential than ever.
This text is a collaboration with ChatGPT.
Castle Drogo is a country house and mixed-revivalist castle near Drewsteignton, Devon, England. Constructed between 1911 and 1930, it was the last castle to be built in England. The client was Julius Drewe, the hugely successful founder of the Home and Colonial Stores. Drewe chose the site in the belief that it formed part of the lands of his supposed medieval ancestor, Drogo de Teigne. The architect he chose to realise his dream was Edwin Lutyens, then at the height of his career. Lutyens lamented Drewe's determination to have a castle but nevertheless produced one of his finest buildings. The architectural critic, Christopher Hussey, described the result: "The ultimate justification of Drogo is that it does not pretend to be a castle. It is a castle, as a castle is built, of granite, on a mountain, in the twentieth century".
The castle was given to the National Trust in 1974, the first building constructed in the twentieth century that the Trust acquired. The castle is a Grade I listed building. The gardens are Grade II* listed on the National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.
Glen Canyon Dam is a concrete arch-gravity dam on the Colorado River in northern Arizona, United States, near the town of Page. The 710-foot (220 m) high dam was built by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) from 1956 to 1966 and forms Lake Powell, one of the largest man-made reservoirs in the U.S. with a capacity of more than 25 million acre-feet. The dam is named for Glen Canyon, a series of deep sandstone gorges now flooded by the reservoir; Lake Powell is named for John Wesley Powell, who in 1869 led the first expedition to traverse the Colorado River's Grand Canyon by boat.
A dam in Glen Canyon was studied as early as 1924, but these plans were initially dropped in favor of the Hoover Dam (completed in 1936) which was located in the Black Canyon. By the 1950s, due to rapid population growth in the seven U.S. and two Mexican states comprising the Colorado River Basin, the Bureau of Reclamation deemed the construction of additional reservoirs necessary. Contrary to popular belief, Lake Powell was not the result of negotiations over the controversial damming of the Green River within Dinosaur National Monument at Echo Park; the Echo Park Dam proposal was abandoned due to nationwide citizen pressure on Congress to do so. The Glen Canyon Dam remains a central issue for modern environmentalist movements. Beginning in the late 1990s, the Sierra Club and other organizations renewed the call to dismantle the dam and drain Lake Powell in Lower Glen Canyon. Today, Glen Canyon and Lake Powell are managed by the U.S. Department of the Interior within Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.
Since first filling to capacity in 1980, Lake Powell water levels have fluctuated greatly depending on water demand and annual runoff. The operation of Glen Canyon Dam helps ensure an equitable distribution of water between the states of the Upper Colorado River Basin (Colorado, Wyoming, and most of New Mexico and Utah) and the Lower Basin (California, Nevada and most of Arizona). During years of drought, Glen Canyon guarantees a water delivery to the Lower Basin states, without the need for rationing in the Upper Basin. In wet years, it captures extra runoff for future use. The dam is also a major source of hydroelectricity, averaging over 4 billion kilowatt hours per year. The long and winding Lake Powell, known for its scenic beauty and recreational opportunities including houseboating, fishing and water-skiing, attracts millions of tourists each year to the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.
In addition to its flooding of the scenic Glen Canyon, the dam's economic justification was questioned by some critics. It became "a catalyst for the modern environmental movement," and was one of the last dams of its size to be built in the United States. The dam has been criticized for the large evaporative losses from Lake Powell and its impact on the ecology of the Grand Canyon, which lies downstream; environmental groups continue to advocate for the dam's removal. Water managers and utilities state that the dam is a major source of renewable energy and provides a vital defense against severe droughts.
Olive-winged Bulbul (Pycnonotus plumosus)
Justification
This species has an extremely large range, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criterion (Extent of Occurrence 30% decline over ten years or three generations). The population size has not been quantified, but it is not believed to approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population size criterion (10% in ten years or three generations, or with a specified population structure). For these reasons the species is evaluated as Least Concern.
Taxonomic source(s)
Sibley, C. G.; Monroe, B. L. 1990. Distribution and taxonomy of birds of the world. Yale University Press, New Haven, USA.
Population justification
The global population size has not been quantified, but the species is described as generally abundant throughout its range (del Hoyo et al. 2005).
Trend justification
The population is suspected to be stable in the absence of evidence for any declines or substantial threats.
[Credit: www.birdlife.org/]
Dziś na ulice Krakowa wyjechały wszystkie trzy wypożyczone tramwaje - warszawski z krakowską przyczepą na specjalnie dziś uruchomioną linię 7. Przyczepa w zeszłym roku ani razu nie wyjechała - ale było to spowodowane pracami remontowami
Warto też nadmienić że w porównaniu do poprzednich lat linia 7 została przedłużona z pętli Krowodrza Górka do Górki Narodowej. Nie ma to zbyt wielkiego uzasadnienia w historii, ale z drugiej strony dało szansę na zrobienie paru zdjęć w innych niż zawsze miejscach...
Today, all three rented trams rolled out onto the streets of Krakow - the Warsaw one with the Krakow trailer on line 7, which was launched especially today. The trailer never rolled out last year - but that was due to renovation work. It is also worth mentioning that compared to previous years, line 7 was extended from the Krowodrza Górka loop to Górka Narodowa. There is not much historical justification for this, but on the other hand, it gave me a chance to take a few photos in different places than usual...
You might have a strong need for being useful to the society and you look for justification in the outside world. You may underestimate what you want from yourself and for yourself. Shyness may be accompanied by resentment of the fact that others ignore you. Do not seek approval from the outside, it will not help you get rid of your doubt and it is harmful to you. You have to trust your inner values.
The painting is engulfing as a result of being primitive, free from justification and the sense of guilt for not being intellectual. It comes from the unconscious creative the psychological drive which is not adapted to a language of nuances and does not require decoding.
Mirits spectator is bombarded with a colorful abundance, with repeating images and metaphors that are easily perceived and identified. For the person who is accustomed to the sophisticated art form, this is a fresh breath of immediate beauty.
Perhaps this is the place and the time to go deeper into the roots of a culture which for generations now has been obscured with theories and isms.
David Gerstein
O what a melting consideration is this!
(John Flavel, "The Fountain of Life" 1671)
"Christ died for the ungodly." (Romans 5:6)
O what a melting consideration is this! That . . .
out of His agony — comes our victory;
out of His condemnation — comes our justification;
out of His pain — comes our ease;
out of His stripes — comes our healing;
out of His gall and vinegar — comes our honey;
out of His curse — comes our blessing;
out of His crown of thorns — comes our crown of glory;
out of His death — comes our life!
I've been sleeping too long. I'm sorry, there's absolutely nothing wrong here, but it didn't feel right to continue as before. I wish I could offer a better explanation.
As the days, then weeks went by, it didn't seem possible to return without a reasonable explanation and that delayed me day after day, because I can't find one. Maybe I can offer some justification in the next few days. For now, I've decided just to reappear and sort out my explanations later.
Kielder Water is a large man-made reservoir in Northumberland in North East England. It is the largest artificial lake in the United Kingdom by capacity of water and it is surrounded by Kielder Forest, one of the biggest man-made woodlands in Europe. The scheme was planned in the late 1960s to satisfy an expected rise in demand for water to support a booming UK industrial economy. But the decline of traditional heavy industry, together with more water-efficient industrial processes and better control of water supply leakage, served to undermine the original justification for the reservoir and the government-funded project has been criticised as a white elephant.
Kielder Water is owned by Northumbrian Water, and holds 200 billion litres (44 billion gallons, or 0.2 cubic km), making it the largest artificial reservoir in the UK by capacity (Rutland Water is the largest by surface area). It has a 27.5-mile (44.3 km) shoreline, is 24.6 miles (39.6 km) from the sea, and has a maximum depth of 52 metres (170 ft).
After the scheme was approved by Parliament in 1974, work to build the reservoir and the dam at the hamlet of Yarrow in the Kielder Valley began in 1975. The reservoir and dam were designed for Northumbrian Water by consulting civil engineers Babtie, Shaw and Morton. Sir Frederick Gibberd and Partners were responsible for architectural aspects. Earth moving and infrastructure construction was undertaken in a joint venture with AMEC and Balfour Beatty.
The design meant the loss of numerous farms and a school. About 95 people had been resident in the area prior to its development. The former permanent way of the Border Counties Railway was also taken away through the development of the reservoir.
Work was completed in 1981. Queen Elizabeth II officially opened the project the following year. The valley took a further two years to fill with water completely.
This observation shows large mounds that may represent hydrothermal diapirism in a lacustrine (lake) setting, possibly involving fluid movement from great depth. “Diapirism” is a process where a more mobile (and deformable) material is forced up onto overlying material, hence the mounds. An easy point of reference for this process is something most people have seen: a lava lamp.
One of the justifications for this observation is to assess landing/roving hazards and morphology. This observation also underscores how landing sites are chosen: a safe place to land and explore that is also scientifically compelling.
Image is less than 1 km top to bottom (under a mile) and is 294 km (182 mi) from the surface. North is to the right. For full images including scale bars, visit the source link.
www.uahirise.org/ESP_021919_2135
NASA/JPL/UArizona
The garage LAB is one of the fashion moods that our cultural Association launched as fashion forecast in 2014 in Milano, Bologna & Florence (together with 4 more moods that we might post or, even better, fade in our videos in the future).
We have imagined a post-apocalyptic world where the survivors will become good co-operative citizens sharing barthering & work. All the 5 moods are linked by the "Minkowski link" that can be epitomized as The sharing concept without which life will no longer be possible. And each existing one is tied by its own Minkowski link as everything has its own particular justification on Earth. Every human being has its own reason & time.
It's a natural law.
We work as anticipators many years before the fashion goes to the final-consumer. So, we are pretty there now ;)
For us posting later on some of our shootings means reviving something that we studied long ago but it's fun to see nowadays some up-to-date trends that we had foreseen. Yep, ON TARGET!
Timewise, we will post more in this new album called "Industrial Art".
Model: Passenger Laura
Shoting Location: Montebianco - Milano
Stylist & photographer: #AEupani
Concept, shooting production & research: ©Vintage Workshop®
All our photos are copyrighted and can't be used in any ways without prior written permission of the author.
The painting is engulfing as a result of being primitive, free from justification and the sense of guilt for not being intellectual. It comes from the unconscious creative the psychological drive which is not adapted to a language of nuances and does not require decoding.
Mirits spectator is bombarded with a colorful abundance, with repeating images and metaphors that are easily perceived and identified. For the person who is accustomed to the sophisticated art form, this is a fresh breath of immediate beauty.
Perhaps this is the place and the time to go deeper into the roots of a culture which for generations now has been obscured with theories and isms.
David Gerstein
Second stand-off. Photo © Linda Dawn Hammond / IndyFoto.com Sept.18, 1990 Reinforcements arrive by air, kicking up dust. Prior to the incident in which several Army soldiers were beaten up by some of the Natives. Army Invasion and teargassing of Kahnawake, a Canadian Mohawk reserve in Quebec.
On September 18th, the Canadian army invaded the Kahnawake reservation in a surprise attack. Ostensibly looking for guns in a clubhouse located on small Tekakwitha Island, dozens of men were deployed by Chinook helicopters. On the bridge, unarmed Mohawks confronted the army soldiers, who emerged from their helicopter wearing tear gas masks and immediately began firing volleys of chemicals at the civilians, both men and women, some of whom fell off into the water and were injured. In response, some young men began throwing stones at the soldiers. In the virtual absence of media (I and a TV cameraman, there entirely by chance, were originally the sole media present), soldiers gun butted several Mohawk youths. More army men and civilian Mohawks of all ages and sexes converged on the Island, to face each other in what was a tense stand-off, fortunately defused by some astute, diplomatic Mohawk leaders who eventually managed to calm things down.
As more media and soldiers arrived, the Mohawks regrouped in another location and tensions began to escalate once more. Shots were fired and some natives managed to get hold of a couple of the army men and exact revenge through severe beatings. No-one really understood the justification for the original invasion, but army personnel were later seen emerging from the clubhouse holding one dismantled rifle and (according to a Mohawk who may have embellished the story) several cases of beer, which were allegedly loaded on the helicopter. The military claimed to have seized 47 weapons but as this is a hunting community, even if this were the case, it was not necessarily cause for a confrontation of this magnitude.
Behind the Barricades: OKA series by Linda Dawn Hammond / IndyFoto.com '90/ 2015
Photographs and text by Linda Dawn Hammond
Behind The Barricades: OKA
BOOKS
2015 "HerStory 2015", (Coteau Books, Saskatoon Women’s Calendar Collective). Photo of Jenny Jacks, First Nations activist at Oka, from “Behind the Barricades” series.
2010 "Incident at Oka" (D&M Publishers), 1 photograph from Behind the Barricades: OKA " Jenny Jacks", Author: Harry Swain
2001 The Women's Daybook 2002, 'Women and Food' (Sumach Press), 1 Photograph and text by Linda Dawn Hammond: Behind The Barricades: OKA
1994 Semiotext(e) canadas (Columbia University Press)
Back cover Photograph and 3 within by Linda Dawn Hammond: Behind The Barricades: OKA
1991 The Possessed Individual: Technology and the French
Postmodern (New World Perspectives)
Author: Arthur Kroker
Photography by Linda Dawn Hammond: 2 from Three Part Bodyseries , 4 photographs from Behind the Barricades: OKA
www.scribd.com/doc/7426491/The-Possessed-Individual
EXHIBITIONS
May, 2017
Collège La Cite à Toronto
Exhibit and auction for MSF
Photos Sans Frontières
Solo exhibit entitled,
Derrière les barricades: OKA- Behind the Barricades: OKA,
6 photographs on exhibit, 3 additional in auction for MSF
June - Aug 2005
Compton Verney, Warwickshire, UK
Group exhibit entitled, The American West
Behind the Barricades: OKA, 6 photographs,
REVIEW
www.birminghampost.co.uk/whats-on/find-things-to-do/a-pio...
Oct 2004
Photopolis, Halifax Festival of Photography
Group exhibit entitled, Documents and Dreams: A Group Exhibit of Canadian Documentary Photography
Organized by Narrative 360 At ViewPoint Gallery, Oct.7, 04 - Oct. 31, 04, "Mohawk Child at West Gate Barricade" Giclee print (dim. 36" by 56")
Nov 2003
Bfly Atelier, Vancouver
Group exhibit entitled, Documents and Dreams: A Group Exhibit of Canadian Documentary Photography
Organized by Narrative 360 At Bfly Atelier, Nov.13, 03 - Nov. 25, 03, "Mohawk Child at West Gate Barricade" Giclee print (dim. 36" by 56")
2000
Les Vivres, Montreal
Solo exhibit entitled, "Hot July: Oka and Sexgarage"
Behind the Barricades: OKA, and Sexgarage: Serve and Protect - Silver prints, (dim. 8" by 10", 11" by 14"),
Quickprint/ Mylars (dim. 3' by 5'),
REVIEW
www.montrealmirror.com/ARCHIVES/2000/071300/art1.html
Nov 90
Union Francaise, Montréal
Benefit for the Mohawk Defense Fund, Solo exhibit entitled,Behind the Barricades- Oka:
28 B&W documentary photographs (dim. 11" by14")
Oct 90
Le Festival du Nouveau Cinema et de
la Video, Montréal
Solo exhibit entitled,Behind the Barricades- Oka:
28 B&W documentary photographs (dim. 11" by14")
chinookSM
The northern pygmy owl (Glaucidium gnoma), known as northern pygmy-owl in North America, is a small owl native to North and Central America.
Some experts consider this bird a superspecies with the mountain pygmy owl. The American Ornithologists' Union, the authority for the North American region, does not recognize this split, so the populations are still considered conspecific. Clear differences in the territorial calls by males are the basis for a proposed split, with birds in the high elevations of Arizona and Mexico giving a two-note call while their more northerly congeners give a repeated single-note call. Results from DNA sequence comparisons of cytochrome-b have been weak and inconclusive despite being referenced repeatedly as a justification for taxonomic splitting. Some taxonomists split the northern pygmy owl from the mountain form, in which case the latter takes the nominate form, and the former takes the G. calfornicum specific name.
Adults are 15–17 cm in overall length (nearly 6 inches) and are gray, brownish-gray or rufous in colour. This owl has a round white spotted head, weakly defined facial disc, and dark upper breast, wings and tail, the latter quite long compared to other owls. The eyes are yellow and the bill is yellowish-green. The bird has two black nape spots outlined in white on the back of its head, which look like eyes. The mid to lower breast is white with darker vertical streaking. Legs are feathered down to the four well-armed toes on each foot.
Males will regularly perch at the top of the tallest available conifer trees to issue their territorial call, making them somewhat ventriloquistic in sloped landscapes, and causing distress and confusion among observers on the ground hoping to get a glimpse. They are incredibly hard to spot because of their size and color.
Some of my photographer friends avoid processing their images too much because they feel to do so would be to stray from the truth, from reality.
I respect them for that, and I can see where they are coming from. In essence, all photography is about is capturing the light at a particular time and place, a record of what was there to be seen at the time. That’s particularly important for some genres of photography like landscape, nature and street photography.
But the justification of photography as being a record of reality is a holey one I think. And this image is an example of some of the more subtle holes. Looking at it our minds tell us that the bike must be moving or it would fall over, yet nothing in the image is moving. The image plays false when compared with our perception. In a real sense, the photograph lies.
Human visual perception is intriguing. Physically we wouldn’t see what the photograph represents her even if we were there at the time, not least because our eyes cannot record such a broad field of colour at one time and in any case we see stereoscopically so we have a sense of depth and position. Our minds respond to movement, constantly predicting trajectories, and to faces and eyes looking for threats or people to recognise.
And our minds don’t perceive what our eyes tell us anyway. The mind leaps to conclusions irrespective of reality.
This brings me to my point (Hooray!! At last!) - if a photograph is not reality then mangling it isn’t a matter of destroying truth. So, with a deft sleight of hand, I can justify my Sliders Sunday excesses :)
This image was taken in Cambridge on the same day as all my panning shots and street photography attempts. I really like the way it’s come out (compared to all the failures, you need to realise) so I thought I would sacrifice normal processing to various tweakings and manglings.
I’ve been working on this image for some weeks now, off and on. I have five variations for your delight and I shall comment on them all here so that you don’t need to read more of the commentaries. And, just in case you wonder, there were dozens of failures as I was at play. The image relies on its composition and content for its strength - play with those too much and its impact degrades.
I - My favourite (just now) and the first one I worked on to realise my original vision. Topaz Studio Impression. This is the variant I’m putting in Sliders Sunday, and also for my 100x Motion project.
II - Another Impression. I’ve been experimenting with some of the sketchier painting modes, trying to get a little fullness and colour in the picture. This is highly tweaked.
III - Photoshop using Accented Edges but then merged back with the original using the Divide blend at reduced opacity and then some work on the brightness and contrast.
IV - Photoshop again using Posterise Edges which is one of my favourite filters. It looks very close to the original but with a slightly more pen and ink feel about it.
V - Nik Analog Efex using the Double Exposure filter with the original image as both sources. This is an interesting filter and, although this is not perhaps the best subject, I think it has real potential for emphasising parts of the image you want to be noticed (in this case the cyclist).
I’ll post a link to the in-camera image in the first comment as usual for these.
Thank you for taking the time to look. I hope you enjoy the images. Happy Sliders Sunday and 100x :)
I've got a week to turn the orange in today's sunrise into red. I'm sure something will develop and hope it does for all of you, too. If participation in the protest April 6 approaches the very successful black version previously presented, it will be equally impressive and a tribute to the sincere concern of Flickr folk. Not that there will necessarily be any reaction on the part of Flickr to the request. They have already proven they are very good at ignoring the sentiments of their paying customers. But that the membership continues to care enough to be involved is significant in itself....and should be applauded.
Ironically, I just received notice that my Pro membership is up in April and that they will be withdrawing the renewal fee automatically unless notified. I think we all know the psychology and purpose behind that little alteration in methodology. Many of you know that change for the sake of change can often be attributed to what I call "salary justification."
I also think that we who have made the noise regarding the changes over the last several years may unfortunately represent the "vocal minority"...long time members who have developed legitimate relationships and look forward to continuing those over time. Sadly, the changes continue to discourage this aspect of Flickr and further de-personalize those things important to those members. The trivialization of the title and description and the placing of small font almost unreadable comments in white have diminished those things of particular personal importance to me. They are now all tossed into the "black hole" on the right.
The reason I say minority is that we all know that this format is supposed to appeal to the "mobile" generation of which I personally am not one. However, I do see that suddenly there are thousands of views without comments. That is a decided difference from previous experience. Who are these people who are looking at our photos? Are they the target demographic? Perhaps members of what was once called under less than auspicious circumstances (to some of us) the "silent majority" which appears to be the target of the Flickr powers that be. Yet another example of further limiting any interest in indepth interaction. Just gawk at the pics and be on your way...perfectly congruent with the quickly declining interest in real communication in society, rapidly reaching the apparent goal of none at all. Not what we "protestors" have looked for or experienced in the past.
I've rambled on too long already...especially in the Beta format. Certainly no one will take the time nor risk the eye strain to read it there. But for most of us who have for the time being gone to a different language in desperation, I applaud your fervor and hope in the face of what in all probablility is a "done deal." As is often said, "It's not whether you win or lose..." I fear we have already lost, but let's concede with a flurry of red over the next week and particularly next Sunday. The one thing we can be sure of is that the "silent majority" will not be heard. And so ends my Sunday editoral...;-))
I will be honest I know that this is a fairly dull shot . In justification i would say that I partly use Flickr to record things I have seen that really interest me and hopefully the shots are of interest to at least some people.
Enough of the preamble this is a shot of 8 college Street in Winchester the house where the novelist Jane Austen died in July 1817.
For some time I have considered Jane Austen 1775 -1817 to be the finest English novelist. Every time I go back to her work I find new things to admire. Austen’s work has been sadly trivialised in many TV adaptations that concentrate overmuch on costumes and carriages . Rather than concentrating on her brilliant and acerbic wit and her acute penetration of human personality . It's odd how our taste changes thirty years ago Dickens, George Elliot or DH Lawrence would have been at the top of my desert island list of authors but Austen has slowly climbed past them in my appreciation . Winchester is no doubt a mecca for Austen readers as her burial place is in the nave of the city’s cathedral . Later in the trip we visited Lyme Regis and walk on the Cobb that features in her finest novel Persuasion
THANKS FOR YOUR VISITING BUT CAN I ASK YOU NOT TO FAVE AN IMAGE WITHOUT ALSO MAKING A COMMENT. MANY THANKS KEITH.
ANYONE MAKING MULTIPLE FAVES WITHOUT COMMENTS WILL SIMPLY BE BLOCKED
Spotted on a nearby farm, evoking reflections on woodworking and, perchance, photography:
“ A hobby is a defiance of the contemporary. It is an assertion of those permanent values which the momentary eddies of social evolution have contravened or overlooked. If this is true, then we may also say that every hobbyist is inherently a radical, and that his tribe is inherently a minority.
This, however, is serious: Becoming serious is a grievous fault in hobbyists. It is an axiom that no hobby should either seek or need rational justification. To wish to do it is reason enough. To find reasons why it is useful or beneficial converts it at once from an avocation into an industry – lowers it at once to the ignominious category of an 'exercise' undertaken for health, power, or profit.”
Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac, 1949, p. 182
But then Leopold didn't experience the luxury of the hobbies we have today - like digital photography with the fun of processing and sharing on a social site like flickr. Perhaps this milieu allows us to be "serious" yet still retain the full benefits of hobby status.
Note to Jon Nelson: I have read this wonderful book several times and noted this passage, but don't have my copy up north with me. I was pleased to recognize this quote in your flickr profile and thank you for the reminder and the wording. Hope you don't mind!
Suecia - Puente sobre el Oresund
***
www.youtube.com/watch?v=iy6l3Xn7mYo
ENGLISH:
The Øresund or Öresund Bridge (Danish: Øresundsbroen, pronounced [ˈøɐsɔnsˌbʁoˀːn̩]; Swedish: Öresundsbron, pronounced [œːrɛ²sɵnːdsˌbruːn]; hybrid name: Øresundsbron) is a combined railway and motorway bridge across the Øresund strait between Sweden and Denmark. The bridge runs nearly 8 kilometres (5 miles) from the Swedish coast to the artificial island Peberholm in the middle of the strait. The crossing is completed by the 4-kilometre (2.5 mi) Drogden Tunnel from Peberholm to the Danish island of Amager.
The Øresund Bridge is the longest combined road and rail bridge in Europe and connects two major metropolitan areas: Copenhagen, the Danish capital city, and the Swedish city of Malmö. It connects the road and rail networks of the Scandinavian Peninsula with those of Central and Western Europe. A data cable also makes the bridge the backbone of internet data transmission between central Europe and Sweden (and, prior to 2016 also Finland).
The international European route E20 crosses via road, the Oresund Line via railway. The construction of the Great Belt Fixed Link (1988-1998), connecting Zealand to Funen and thence to the Jutland Peninsula, and the Øresund Bridge have connected Central and Western Europe to Scandinavia by road and rail.
The Øresund Bridge was designed by the Danish engineering firm COWI. The justification for the additional expenditure and complexity related to digging a tunnel for part of the way, rather than raising that section of the bridge, was to avoid interfering with air traffic from the nearby Copenhagen Airport, to provide a clear channel for ships in good weather or bad, and to prevent ice floes from blocking the strait.
The Øresund Bridge crosses the border between Denmark and Sweden, but in accordance with the Schengen Agreement and the Nordic Passport Union, there are usually no passport inspections. There are a few random customs checks at the entrance toll booths entering Sweden, but not when entering Denmark. Since January 2016, checks have become significantly more stringent due to the European migrant crisis.
Construction began in 1995, with the bridge opening to traffic on 1 July 2000. The Øresund Bridge received the 2002 IABSE Outstanding Structure Award.
***
www.youtube.com/watch?v=iy6l3Xn7mYo
ESPAÑOL:
El puente-túnel de Sund, puente-túnel de Øresund o de Öresund (en danés, Øresundsbroen; en sueco, Öresundsbron; nombre híbrido: Øresundsbron) conecta las dos áreas metropolitanas de la región de Øresund: la capital danesa, Copenhague, y la ciudad sueca de Malmö. Cuenta con dos líneas de tren y cuatro carriles de carretera, siendo el puente combinado tren-carretera más largo de Europa. La ruta internacional europea E20 pasa por este puente. El transporte ferroviario es operado conjuntamente por la empresa sueca Statens Järnvägar (SJ) y la danesa Danske Statsbaner (DSB).
La construcción de esta obra se inició en 1995 y el proyecto fue gestionado por una alianza internacional entre las empresas constructoras: Skanska de Suecia, Hochtief de Alemania, y las danesas Højgaard & Schultz y Monberg & Thorsen. El tramo final fue completado el 14 de agosto de 1999. El príncipe heredero Federico de Dinamarca y su contraparte sueca la princesa heredera Victoria de Suecia se reunieron en el centro del puente para celebrar su finalización. La inauguración oficial fue el 1 de julio de 2000, con la presencia de la reina Margarita II de Dinamarca y el rey Carlos XVI Gustavo de Suecia. El puente fue abierto al tráfico ese mismo día. Antes de la inauguración, 79 871 corredores compitieron en una maratón de media distancia (Broloppet, la Carrera del Puente) entre Amager (Dinamarca) y Escania (Suecia) el 12 de junio de 2000.
El puente posee uno de los mayores vanos centrales de los puentes atirantados del mundo, con 490 m. El pilar más alto mide 204 m. La longitud total del puente es de 7845 m, que corresponden aproximadamente a la mitad de la distancia entre las costas de Suecia y Dinamarca, y su peso es de 82 000 t. El resto de la distancia se cubre mediante la isla artificial de Peberholm (islote de la pimienta, 4055 m), llamado así en contraposición al ya existente Saltholm, (islote de la sal) y luego un túnel de 3510 m en el lado danés. Las dos líneas de ferrocarril se encuentran bajo las pistas de la carretera. El puente tiene una altura libre de 57 metros. No obstante, la mayor parte de los barcos que circulan por el Øresund lo hacen por el estrecho de Drogden (donde se encuentra el túnel).
Por otro lado la frecuencia de los trenes Malmoe-Copenhague, cada 20 minutos, y el precio menor que el peaje cuando viaja una sola persona, hace que los viajeros de negocios se decanten por estas lanzaderas, que cruzan el Øresund en 25 minutos.
Los 49 tableros que constituyen la totalidad de los vanos de aproximación al puente atirantado fueron construidos en Puerto Real, Cádiz (España), por la empresa española Dragados Offshore que también se encargó de transportarlos por vía marítima hasta el lugar indicado y, una vez allí, hundirlos. Se construyó en forma de túnel, isla y puente, ya que todo el tramo de 16 km de túnel hubiera resultado demasiado caro. Y no se construyeron 16 km de puente porque se tenía que asegurar la aeronavegabilidad de la zona, pues el aeropuerto de Kastrup (Aeropuerto Internacional de Copenhague) está situado junto a la entrada actual del túnel. Las torres del puente fueron colocadas por la grúa flotante más grande del mundo y están diseñadas para que el puente no se destruya ni en caso de una colisión aérea contra las torres.
O Sacred Heart of Jesus, to Thee I consecrate and offer up my person and my life, my actions, trials, and sufferings, that my entire being may henceforth only be employed in loving, honoring and glorifying Thee. This is my irrevocable will, to belong entirely to Thee, and to do all for Thy love, renouncing with my whole heart all that can displease Thee.
I take Thee, O Sacred Heart, for the sole object of my love, the protection of my life, the pledge of my salvation, the remedy of my frailty and inconstancy, the reparation for all the defects of my life, and my secure refuge at the hour of my death. Be Thou, O Most Merciful Heart, my justification before God Thy Father, and screen me from His anger which I have so justly merited. I fear all from my own weakness and malice, but placing my entire confidence in Thee, O Heart of Love, I hope all from Thine infinite Goodness. Annihilate in me all that can displease or resist Thee. Imprint Thy pure love so deeply in my heart that I may never forget Thee or be separated from Thee.
I beseech Thee, through Thine infinite Goodness, grant that my name be engraved upon Thy Heart, for in this I place all my happiness and all my glory, to live and to die as one of Thy devoted servants.
Amen.
It is Christmas 2021! This year through Christmas songs of praise by our carolers in Old Town, Paprihaven celebrates the Lord Jesus Christ coming to take our form to save the lost.
🎵 Hark! The herald angels sing,
“Glory to the newborn King;
Peace on earth, and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled!”
Joyful, all ye nations rise,
Join the triumph of the skies;
With th’angelic host proclaim,
“Christ is born in Bethlehem!”
Hark! the herald angels sing,
“Glory to the newborn King!” 🎶
“Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold;
My chosen one in whom My soul delights.
I have put My Spirit upon Him;
He will bring forth justice to the nations.
“He will not cry out or raise His voice,
Nor make His voice heard in the street.
“A bruised reed He will not break
And a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish;
He will faithfully bring forth justice.
“He will not be disheartened or crushed
Until He has established justice in the earth;
And the coastlands will wait expectantly for His law.”
Though He could have come in powerful sovereignty, as one would expect of the God visiting His own creation, Christ Jesus came meek and mild. Though equal with the Father, Jesus took our form and became the suffering servant in order to bring upon Himself the justice necessary to save the very lawbreakers who deserved it. In this way God's wrath at sin was satisfied and the guilty sinner could be set free.
🎵 Christ, by highest Heav’n adored;
Christ the everlasting Lord;
Late in time, behold Him come,
Offspring of a virgin’s womb.
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see;
Hail th’incarnate Deity,
Pleased with us in flesh to dwell,
Jesus our Emmanuel. 🎶
But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” 7 Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God.
Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
In the perfect time of creation's history, the time appointed by God, the Savior did this indescribable work for His people, to save them from their sin. All will glorify Him in judgment. Those who are lost, who refuse to properly glorify Him now while the opportunity is presented, will do so in judgment when it is too late to save them. Those who have been saved will continue, with great joy, to glorify Him without end.
🎵 Hail the heav’nly Prince of Peace!
Hail the Sun of Righteousness!
Light and life to all He brings,
Ris’n with healing in His wings.
Mild He lays His glory by,
Born that man no more may die;
Born to raise the sons of earth,
Born to give them second birth. 🎶
“For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace; and all the arrogant and every evildoer will be chaff; and the day that is coming will set them ablaze,” says the Lord of hosts, “so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.” “But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall. You will tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day which I am preparing,” says the Lord of hosts.
🎵 Come, Desire of nations, come,
Fix in us Thy humble home;
Rise, the woman’s conqu’ring Seed,
Bruise in us the serpent’s head.
Now display Thy saving pow’r,
Ruined nature now restore;
Now in mystic union join
Thine to ours, and ours to Thine. 🎶
The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, Cursed are you more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you will go, And dust you will eat All the days of your life; And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.”
Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned.
Promised at the beginning of time, when the Redeemer did appear, His work enabled the most precious union. Sinful people brought back into perfect fellowship with their God.
🎵 Adam’s likeness, Lord, efface,
Stamp Thine image in its place:
Second Adam from above,
Reinstate us in Thy love.
Let us Thee, though lost, regain,
Thee, the Life, the inner man:
Oh, to all Thyself impart,
Formed in each believing heart. 🎶
Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned— for until the Law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.
But the free gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many. The gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned; for on the one hand the judgment arose from one transgression resulting in condemnation, but on the other hand the free gift arose from many transgressions resulting in justification. For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.
Sin and death defeated by Christ Jesus. It is done. His last words on the cross, "It is finished!"
___________________________________________________
Paprihaven's Seven Songs of Christmas! We hope that you will be able to rejoice in having Christ Jesus as your Savior this season!
Isaiah 42:1-4
Galatians 4:4-6
Philippians 2:5-11
Malachi 4:1-3
Genesis 3:15
John 15:4-6
Romans 5:12-17
"Hark The Herald Angels Sing" - Charles Wesley
Previous Paprihaven Christmas Series!
2015:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/23840372982/
2016:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/31734213812/
2017:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/39290040911/
2018:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/45728577024/
2019:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/49269486048/
2020:
Thích Quảng Đức arrived at the intersection of Phan Dinh Phung Boulevard and Le Van Duyet Street in Saigon, as part of a procession that had begun at a nearby pagoda. Around 350 monks and nuns marched in two phalanxes, preceded by the Austin Westminster, carrying banners printed in both English and Vietnamese. They denounced the Diệm government and its policy towards Buddhists, demanding that it fulfill its promises of religious equality.
Thích Quảng Đức emerged from the car along with two other monks. One placed a cushion on the road while the second took a five-gallon container of petrol from the car. As the marchers formed a circle around him, Thích Quảng Đức calmly seated himself in the traditional Buddhist meditative lotus position on the cushion. His colleague emptied the contents of the gasoline container over Thích Quảng Đức's head while he rotated a string of wooden prayer beads and recited a homage to Amitabha Buddha. He then struck a match and dropped it on himself.
Photographer Malcolm Browne took a series of shots, one of which is shown above, another of which won the 1963 World Press Photo of the Year.
The news and images of Thích Quảng Đức's self-immolation spread around the world and was later regarded as a turning point in the Buddhist crisis and the critical point in the collapse of the Diệm regime. President John F. Kennedy, who saw the picture while reading the paper in bed the following morning later remarked that "no news picture in history has generated so much emotion around the world as that one." (He was of course, to feature in some famous photos and footage himself later that year!)
I guess that to many people around the world, the event made them think that if a 'good man' like Thích Quảng Đức was prepared to demonstrate against President Diem in this way, there must be something genuinely wrong with the government supported by the US government.
Ironically, President Diem's views about the Buddhists were not entirely without justification. The Viet Cong knew that Diem and his family were Catholic, and often used Buddhist monasteries as cover for their activities.
I know lots of you manage to photograph Jays but where I live in the Pennines they are extremely wary, almost certainly because they get shot at. So this is one of few photographs of Jay that I have managed.
The General Licences that allow birds like Jays to be shot were challenged recently by the organisation wildjustice.org.uk/, and as a result were withdrawn by Natural England (in England only). Mark Avery describes the case much better than me here:
markavery.info/2019/04/28/what-wild-justice-says-about-th...
But Michael Gove found the time during his busy leadership campaign to issue new General Licences including GL34 – to 'conserve wild birds and flora or fauna', which includes Jay. But the BTO have researched Jays thoroughly and say there is no justification to include them on this, or any other General Licence. Again Mark's blog explains it better. markavery.info/2019/05/04/jay-to-drop-out-of-general-lice...
So it looks like Gove bowed to pressure from the shooting industry because "wild birds" includes the 70 million non-native Pheasants and Red-legged Partridges released annually into the British countryside. And once again, Mark Avery has written an excellent blog on how the shooting industry have their cake and eat it too, by absolving themselves of responsibility once their captive-reared birds are released. markavery.info/2019/06/13/the-common-pheasant-livestock-o...
Quoting Mark's blog " This is convenient for their former owner because if his (or her) Pheasants eat your vegetables in your garden or cause a serious, maybe even fatal, road traffic accident then it’s a wild bird not someone’s livestock for which they are responsible."
I have come to judge people on the way the argue.
After quite some time I have come to realise that often,
its not what perspective or opinion which is considered 'right' or 'wrong' or even which one you actually end up agreeing with or/and connecting with, but more the way the argument is put forth by each person. This is what determines respect and worth of a person, particularly so in the social media scene where you may never physically meet the person.
Its when you can see the reasons and justifications of the other side and it is put forward in a way that encourages open minded debate with respect have you reached a acceptable level of civility.
Civility and restraint have seem to have been lost somewhere along the way and there are too many people acting like boneheads and they seem to be attracted to photography communities ;)
I am going to break from tradition here and give you a second take on Upper Bridal Veil Falls to go along with my post from this morning. I am doing this mainly because there were things I wanted to say with this morning's post that I did not have time to write out.
I hiked down to this falls with a couple of friends who had never visited before. This was my third trip, but first in a couple of years. While we were down there one of my friends posted an image of the falls to Facebook and by the time we had hiked out he had received three messages from a follower asking him whether he planned to divulge the location of this falls or to even name it publicly and asked him not to. His justification was that he and his wife had been going there for 20 years and it was a special place for them and they had seen the damage that the army of photographers marching down there had done. This is a problem not just at this falls and not just recently. I saw images of people standing atop the balancing rock at Cape Kiwanda and I wondered how long til someone knocked it over pulling a stunt like climbing atop it. Heck I was out there on Sunday and hiking back found an abandoned campfire on the bluffs still burning. There have been stories and arguments regarding Mossy Grotto Falls (aka Upper Ruckel Creek) and Panther Creek and virtually every other nice natural place out there.
And it is problem. We see images of these places and love them so much we want to see and photograph them ourselves. So we go and in the process we stomp on things and slide down hills tearing up vegetation and dislodge rocks and step on wildflowers (go up to Rowena Crest or Mount Rainier at the height of wildflower season and count the photographers who go off trail, stepping on flowers to get to flowers). This is very much a real and serious issue. We are loving many of these places to ruin.
But what is the answer? A number of photographers think it is secrecy. They want to keep the locations hidden from everyone else. I have serious trouble with this. It is arrogant and elitist and even worse, futile. A friend of mine on Facebook recently labeled this mentality as a "your feet are bigger than mine and therefore do damage that mine won't" kind of issue. It is arrogant to think you are safe for that environment while others are causing the damage and it is elitist to think you have the right to know about the secret that others don't deserve to know about. It is futile because the internet makes the proliferation of information so readily available that if someone wants to find a spot, they will easily, whether you tell them or not. I doubt not telling them even slows them down more than a few minutes. Heck, they can even just do an image search of your image to find other people who will convey that info. "Keeping it secret" is a poor solution to a complicated problem.
So what do I think the solution is? I don't really know, but I have my opinions. My thoughts are to start a dialogue, to talk about these things openly and fervently and without accusation. I was hiking with my son the other day and we were traversing some switchbacks when he saw a boot trail cutting the switchback. He suggested we take that informal trail as it was shorter so I stopped and explained to him what people taking that trail did, how it killed the vegetation and promoted erosion. I showed him the effects and explained the consequences. Moreover I explained to him that whenever we step off trail, no matter how careful we are we cause damage and therefore we have to be very considerate about when we choose to do so. He got it. And we followed the designated trail the extra ten feet around the switchback saving that patch of ground a bit of wear.
When we go down to these places we are going to leave our mark, no matter how careful we are. Some of us are less careful and leave a bigger mark, and those people need to have this explained to them, not hidden from them. Hiding locations won't help, not in this day and age of the internet. If they don't get the info from you, they will get it from somewhere else. So instead of putting up a brick wall, have a conversation with the person instead. Say something like, hey I can help you find this place but a lot of photographer-caused damage has been going on down there, be careful, think of what you are doing, save it for those who will come after you. Help make them aware of the problem and recruit them to the cause rather than making them an adversary by trying to shut them out.
And in a weird sort of way, I think encouraging people to go to places like this will eventually change them, most of them anyway. My appreciation for nature comes from all the time I have been in nature, not from the time I have spent looking at photos other people took in nature. Every day I spend at the beach or in the gorge makes make appreciate the natural wealth of those areas more and makes me want to help protect it more, or at least do my part to minimize the erosion of its beauty.
It is an interesting problem for me, because I too am worried about the wear and tear we are subjecting these places to, but I so abhor the philosophy of hiding locations. It's like, if you want a place to be a secret and you aren't willing to tell others how to get there, then don't be posting your photos of it on-line. If you want it to be a secret, keep it a secret. Don't show us the pictures and say look at this amazing place I went to, oh by the way I'm not telling you where it is, you'll damage it but I won't.
But then again an image I posted of this falls on Instagram just got featured on a really popular feed over there and got over 3000 likes. I scrolled through the comments reading the dozens and dozens of remarks people left saying they were going to go find it and visit it themselves. And I honestly don't know how to feel about that. They have a right to see the place as much as I do, or any other person. But an army of people, even a careful army, is going to leave a footprint.
It is worth noting that the places that suffer the most are the ones off the beaten path. And even though some would hate the idea, perhaps the best answer is to build formal paths to some of these spots. If we have clear walkways and fences and designated no-go zones, then these places seem to suffer less despite the increase in traffic. Think Yellowstone or Yosemite. Hell, it is the whole premise of the National Park system. You open these places up to massively larger amounts of people but you actually regulate and protect them more efficiently in the process. It wouldn't have to be that formal. I think about Latourell and Elowah and Multnomah and even more remote falls like Ramona or Falls Creek. All these places have maintained trails that go right to them, and while people still do step off that trail and still do cause damage, it seems to be much less than some of these really off-track trails where people are more inclined to just go wherever in the landscape once they get there.
Just my thoughts. It is a weird phenomenon that we can love places like this to death. Well, not death per se. Upper Bridal Veil Falls won't die even if we trample all the vegetation down. But we can love it to the ruination of its natural beauty. And a cynical part of me says that could be a possible solution too. Eventually we will all trample it down so much nobody will want to go there anymore for a long while.
In closing, and it is past time to close this I would implore you to remember that you are part of the problem, whoever you are, no matter how good your photos are, no matter how careful you are. You don't see the mess you are helping create, only the mess that others are helping to create, but trust me, you are part of the problem too. We all are, every time we step out there. And so we should all be part of the solution. Talk to each other. Speak up when you see photographers doing something needlessly inconsiderate, but do so politely if possible. Peer pressure has a profound effect, but also we can teach each other and help make each other better. And perhaps it is time for someone to petition the local or state government to help protect these places by building maintained trails to concentrate the traffic.
It isn't your waterfall. It isn't mine. It belongs to this generation and the next, and the one after that. Keep that in mind when you are looking where you are about to step.
Be careful out there, but love it too. Leave something that the next person can love as much as you did.
(In Memory of Emma 2011)
Because your steadfast love is better than life,
my lips will praise you.
4 So I will bless you as long as I live;
in your name I will alift up my hands.
5 My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food,
and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips,
6 when I remember you upon my bed,
and meditate on you in the watches of the night;
7 for you have been my help,
and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.
8 My soul clings to you;
your right hand upholds me.
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Ps 63:3–8.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmxNhI4YHaI
VERSE 1
In the moments where I’m weakest
I lift my eyes to see
You are everything you said you’d be
When I’m looking for the answers
And questions stir up fear
I lift my eyes to heaven
And your voice is all that I hear
CHORUS 1
You carry me through the valley
Carry me through the fire
You carry me into freedom
Carry me into life
VERSE 2
When I’m searching, when I’m longing
For more than what I’ve seen
It’s your love that keeps me steady
And my heart from wandering
CHORUS 2
You carry me through the valley
Carry me through the fire
You carry me into freedom
Carry me into life
You carry me up the mountain
Carry me to the heights
Where I understand your story
Where faith is not a fight
BRIDGE
I’m leaning, leaning
Leaning on the everlasting arms
Words and Music by Kristene Dimarco
© 2015 Capitol CMG Genesis | Jesus Culture Music
CCLI #: 7047278
it's already my favourite place, but yesterday a formal Government application was put forward for the Welsh Slate landscape to become a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The extensive deposits of high quality slate in north Wales were exploited as far back as the Roman period, but it was in the 18th century that the industry began to grow significantly, expanding rapidly between 1856 and 1900, and remaining technically innovative until 1914. During the 19th century the north Wales quarries were major providers of roofing materials and slate products throughout the world, and the associated technologies of quarrying and transport infrastructure were also exported worldwide.
The proposed nomination for the cultural landscape associated with the industry will incorporate up to seven areas representing different forms and traditions of the slate workings, its transport and infrastructure, and the communities which made up its workforce. These are:
• the slate quarrying landscape of the Ogwen-Cegin valleys comprising the long-lived Penrhyn quarry, its harbour at Port Penrhyn and associated rail system, and Penrhyn Castle, the home of the major quarry-owning family;
• The Dinorwic quarry with associated workings, innovative quarry hospital, worker settlements and transport systems, now part of the Welsh Slate Museum;
• Nantlle/Moel Tryfan slate quarrying landscape with worker settlements and transport systems;
• the Gorsedda quarry, tramway and worker settlement;
• the Ffestiniog slate landscape with early hydro-power station and associated transport systems including the Ffestiniog Railway;
• the southern Gwynedd quarrying landscapes and transport systems; and
• the main university building at Bangor, reflecting the quarrymen's financial contribution to, and zeal for, education.
The industry enabled a traditional culture and minority language to adapt to the modern world by acquiring new skills. The call for craft-skills and the challenges of industrialisation were met by a growing working population in north Wales; quarry communities created their own democratic structures including workers' chapels, and contributed financial support to Bangor University. The business functioned through the medium of the Welsh language, making it unique within major capitalised British industries.
The impact of the industry on the landscape is profound and remains largely intact, creating distinctive quarrying environments and settlements that are recognised as classic examples of 19th century industrial/vernacular towns and villages. There has been little redevelopment or reclamation and in recent decades many key sites have been conserved. The industry remains active on a reduced scale.
Justification of Outstanding Universal Value
The Gwynedd slate quarrying industry landscape is exceptional as the leading producer of slate roofing elements world-wide in the classic industrial period of the 19th century, and was acknowledged as such. It is internationally significant not only in terms of the global export of slates from Wales, providing roofing for prestigious buildings and mass industrial housing alike, but also in terms of its impact on other and comparatively smaller slate quarrying industries elsewhere in the world, in particular the export of technology and skilled workers to the growing slate industry of the United States and its technical influence on the long-established slate industry of Loire-et-Maine in France. The north Wales slate industry landscape illustrates the way in which a traditional minority culture adapted to modernity in the classic ‘industrial' period, thereby growing into the confident living culture of today. It did so by evolving technological solutions to geological and processing problems as well as by developing a unique set of craft skills, involving a profound understanding of the nature of the rock to be quarried and processed. Although in some cases these methods drew upon applications applied in other industries, they were mostly original and specific to the slate industry.
The skills developed in north Wales were passed on to other quarrying areas, most notably France and the USA, by exchange of ideas, export of technical expertise and (in the case of the USA) by emigration of skilled workers. Products from the north Wales quarries are to be found all over the world. The distinctive solution evolved by the industry to the problem of transporting the slates from the quarry to navigable water is the locomotive-worked narrow-gauge railway. This was identified by engineers world-wide as a model adaptable to their own countries from 1870 onwards.
The social gulf between patrician proprietors and workers is seen in the Neo-Norman masterpiece Penrhyn Castle, home of the owner of one of the major quarries, in relict/preserved workers' vernacular housing, churches and chapels in quarry landscapes.
Criteria met:
(ii) The north Wales slate industry landscape exhibits an important global interchange of human values in terms of extractive technology, building materials and transport technology and emigration. The influence of its extractive technology is felt in the quarries of the USA and France, and of its transport technology in narrow-gauge rail systems all over the world. The extensive use of the main product is evident world-wide.
(v) The north Wales slate industry landscape is an outstanding example of the adaptation of a traditional human settlement and land-use to modern industry without losing its distinctive character and language. This is representative of a strong minority culture, as well as of human interaction with the environment through quarrying and engineering.
Statements of authenticity and/or integrity
Integrity: The proposed site is complete in that all the physical attributes necessary to express its Outstanding Universal Value are contained within the provisionally identified boundaries. The impressive series of quarry landscapes demonstrate the extractive and processing techniques employed, with examples of early industrial power systems and provision for workers' welfare, such as the Dinorwig hospital. The associated quarrymen's settlements exemplify vernacular industrial housing and cultural attributes such as chapels and educational buildings, the social divide between worker and industrial owner manifest in Penrhyn Castle. Transport systems for export of slate products survive as relict or living features at Port Penrhyn harbour, and the series of narrow-gauge railways.
The anticipated proposed property may comprise up to seven discrete areas chosen as best exemplars of the industry and its infrastructure, though elements survive outside the boundaries, as is inevitable given the scale of the industry in the 19th century. The industry continues today, which gives a sense of continuity to the property, but the reduced scale of operations has enabled preservation of older structures. The scale of the landscapes and friability of some of the structures result in some pressures on conservation, but local planning policies are in place to protect the landscapes and settlements, the status of Dinorwic, Penrhyn Castle and the narrow-gauge railways as publicly accessible sites. The continuation of process at some quarries, rail systems and harbour adds another layer of protection.
Authenticity: The quarry landscapes and associated structures have not altered except for the addition of some modern technology in areas of continuing extraction, and the inevitable decay of some of the older structures. The survival of entire landscapes with settlements and extensive transport systems demonstrates the workings of the complete industry from original extraction to export of product, and from workers' welfare and housing to their cultural, educational and spiritual life.
These extensive landscapes allow understanding and demonstration of the complete industrial processes and associated social and cultural structures. There have been inevitable alterations within some settlements, which continue as present-day communities subject to development or modification, but the materials from which buildings are constructed and the continuity of traditional occupations have resulted in changes being generally minor and harmonious. The continuity of use within some quarries and railways has required modification or replacement of elements, but these have been undertaken sensitively and with respect for tradition.
Comparison with other similar properties
Sites demonstrating extraction of stone by open and underground quarrying are under-represented on the World Heritage List. Sites associated with extraction of metal-ore bearing rocks, coal and salt extraction are better represented. In this context, the Gwynedd slate quarrying industry landscape is exceptional as the leading producer of slate roofing elements world-wide in the classic industrial period of the 19th century, and was acknowledged as such. It is internationally significant not only in terms of the global export of slates from Wales, providing roofing for prestigious buildings and mass industrial housing alike, but also in terms of its impact on other and comparatively smaller slate quarrying industries elsewhere in the world, in particular the export of technology and skilled workers to the growing slate industry of the United States and its technical influence on the long-established slate industry of Loire-et-Maine in France. In addition, the distinctive transport technology evolved by the Welsh slate quarrying industry - the 0.6m steam-hauled narrow-gauge railway - was explicitly adopted on a significant scale throughout the world, but particularly in India, France, Hungary, Pomerania, the Union of South Africa, German South West Africa, Venezuela, New Guinea, the Belgian Congo and Morocco.
Examples for comparison may include:
• Australian Convict Sites (coal mines)
• Hallstatt-Dachstein/Salzkammergut Cultural Landscape (salt-capture and salt-mining)
• Sewell Mining Town (copper-mining)
• Kutná Hora: Historical Town Centre with the Church of St Barbara and the Cathedral of Our Lady at Sedlec demonstrates the prosperity derived from silver-mining sites
• From the Great Saltworks of Salins-les-Bains to the Royal Saltworks of Arc-et-Senans, the Production of Open-pan Salt (salt capture)
• Mines of Rammelsberg, Historic Town of Goslar and Upper Harz Water Management System includes mining sites for extracting copper, lead and tin ore for the production of non-ferrous metals
• Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex in Essen (coal mining)
• Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine and its Cultural Landscape (mining and smelting of silver)
• Wieliczka Salt Mine (salt-capture)
• Historic Town of Banská Štiavnica and the Technical Monuments in its Vicinity (silver-lead mining)
• Blaenavon Industrial Landscape demonstrates coal-mining and some quarrying of limestone for flux
• The buffer zone of the Loire Valley between Sully-sur-Loire and Chalonnes - which includes some of the Angers slate quarries but these do not form part of the property. The description notes ‘The 17th-18th centuries saw the development of a secular commercial economy based on industry, crafts, trade, shipping, the river, and the towns alongside the feudal survival of the Ancien Régime' but does not specifically refer to quarrying.
• Mining Area of the Great Copper Mountain in Falun (copper mining)
• Ironbridge Gorge (coal-mining and clay extraction)
• Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape (tin and copper mining)
• Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Canal includes wharves where slate and limestone were loaded onto vessels.
The painting is engulfing as a result of being primitive, free from justification and the sense of guilt for not being intellectual. It comes from the unconscious creative the psychological drive which is not adapted to a language of nuances and does not require decoding.
Mirits spectator is bombarded with a colorful abundance, with repeating images and metaphors that are easily perceived and identified. For the person who is accustomed to the sophisticated art form, this is a fresh breath of immediate beauty.
Perhaps this is the place and the time to go deeper into the roots of a culture which for generations now has been obscured with theories and isms.
David Gerstein
Ever since hearing about the concept of trashing the dress, Jennifer was excited to do it. I photographed their engagement and wedding and then immediately she wanted to trash her dress and her police officer husband was all about letting her do it, and thought this morbid scene was so odd, but hey, you have to push the boundaries in order to create new territories, right?
So first we headed into the hills and had some fun frolicking in the tall grass, and then headed back to the beach at sunset for some wet & wild fun down there. She was such a trooper. Didn’t complain about the ticks in the field or the coldness of the water. And then after she saw the photos she emailed me a sweet thank you message. That’s all the justification I ever need for doing what I do.
Check out the rest of the session on my Facebook page and do me a favor and let me know via Likes or comments which one(s) I should post next.
Kthanksluvyoubuhbye!
STROBIST: SB900 triggered wirelessly camera right on 1/2 power via iShoot PT-04
Renaturation of the River Aire
This project is a finalist for Rosa Barba Prize and will be presented at the International Biennial of Landscape Architecture in Barcelona on 29th of September, 2016.
Project: Renaturation of the river Aire, Geneva
Client: République et Canton de Genève (State of Geneva)
Architecture: Group Superpositions
Architects: Georges Descombes and Atelier Descombes & Rampini
Engineers: B+C Ingénieurs
ZS Ingénieurs civils
Biology: Biotec SA
Chronology:
Costs: 33’000’000 Fr
Lentgh: 5km
Surface: 50 Ha
Year: 2015
Designing a rivergarden
text by Superpositions
The Aire river flows through valleys historically devoted to farming. From late 19th century it was progressively canalized. In 2001 State of Geneva opened a competition with the idea of restoring the river to its original shape by destroying the canal. We instead proposed to combine the canal with a vast divagation space for the river. In the process the canal becomes the pointer for the transformations, a reference line giving the possibility to understand the before and after. A becoming which superimposes both situations.
The « official » justification for the competition program was an ecological one, in which the legitimated necessities of environmental ameliorations submerge other considerations and implies an opposition between nature and culture. Our project attempts to propose an alternate path, where the urgent ecological shifts are incorporated into a larger cultural change. The complex organization of the design associates the new river space and a linear series of gardens in the former canal. In reality the whole design becomes a linear garden. Facing the whole watershed, the original morphology of the mountains and the traces of human modifications, this long rivergarden organises the situations, views, confrontations, presences, aiming at introducing into this fragile and precious territory questions, worries, hopes. The necessary calm and interiority, without which there is no real garden, yields organized sequences of differenciated places and paths allowing a reasonable distribution of people and movements. The footprint of the canal is a key device for building the necessary calm and interiority without which there is no real garden. It is a permanent trace which introduces a complex temporality, both past and future, memory and desire.
For the drawing of the river itself – conscious of the useless effort to design a fixed river bed and aware that a river usually loves to design itself freely – we instead proposed a launching pattern whose form addresses the play between the river flow and the prepared terrain. This diamond- shape pattern opens a complex serie of undetermined channels for the flows. These channels were excavated along the entire new river by removing the humus layer, maintaining a precise control of the longitudinal profile of the river. The dimensions of these lozenges islands were configured to be able to « accept » the general sizes of the former meanders. The result is spectacular and suggests the devices of most land artists, effecting clearly artificial interventions into a natural situation, thereafter left to the mercy of natural forces. One year after the opening of the new river space, the results are beyond our expectations: the river flows, displacing diverse materials, gravels, sand and the geometrical matrix of lozenges is significantly modified. We must accept this paradox: the more defined the grid given to the river, the more the river will be free to design.
www.landezine.com/index.php/2016/06/renaturation-of-the-r...