Another one of Kauai's mind-bending scenic wonders is the Kalalau Valley, part of the island's rugged and isolated Na Pali Coast. From our vantage point at just over 4000 feet in elevation, we're able to look down the length of the valley to the Pacific Ocean, which looks like it merges with the sky at the horizon. Rain showers caused by orographic lift can be seen above the mountains to the right.

 

Fabulous mooch along the canal on Sunday.

I think it’s lockdown that’s somehow enhanced everything. Maybe it’s the feeling that we’ve been imprisoned by a false fear of rule breaking.

The sheer number of people out and about suggests we’re possibly the last couple to venture outdoors like this.

However, we’ve stayed local, it’s our first Sunday exercise for a while and even if I do get sent to the gulag for stepping on the cracks in the pavement or wearing a loud shirt in a built-up area, it’s been worth it.

Sunlight streams through gaps between the trees. Ducks and geese and swans glide in two’s and three’s up and down the canal. Smoke from wood-burning stoves pours out over the water from the houseboats and causes shafts of sunlight here and there. This years new buds are appearing on the trees and their bright coloured tips catch the light. The winter’s green on the tree trunks seems to glow as though daubed with luminous paint. The mirror-like water reflects everything above it creating mind-bending illusions on the eye.

The canal runs for miles around our neck of the woods and so, with good luck and some decent weather, I’ll get the hiking boots on and venture back out to explore it further ASAP!

Looking at this photo might make you feel a little topsy-turvy! This Picture of the Week captures both the Northern and Southern Hemisphere at once — the whole night’s sky in one mind-bending image — something that would be impossible to see in real life.

 

To create this image, photographers Petr Horálek and Juan Carlos Casado took two pictures at observatories located at the same latitudes in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. The top half is a photo taken at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias’ Roque de los Muchachos Observatory in La Palma in the Canary Islands, 29 degrees north of the equator, whilst the bottom half was taken at ESO’s La Silla Observatory in Chile’s Atacama Desert, 29 degrees south of the equator. When digitally stitched together, they create a continuous sweeping view of the night’s sky.

 

One of the most noticeable features in this picture is the eerie white glow radiating out vertically from its centre. This is the zodiacal light, a phenomenon caused by dust that pervades our Solar System scattering sunlight, which is only visible in areas with extremely dark skies free from light pollution. Shining brightly in the beam of the Northern Hemisphere Zodiacal Light is the planet Venus.

 

The bottom image shows several of the telescopes at La Silla, including the ESO 1-metre Schmidt telescope in the foreground. The reflective mirror seen upside-down in the top image is part of the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA), a group of gamma-ray telescopes observing some of the most energetic phenomena in the universe. A second array will be installed in the southern hemisphere close to ESO’s Paranal Observatory, via an agreement between CTA Observatory and ESO.

 

Credit:

P. Horálek & J. C. Casado / ESO

A template, a pencil and a ruler, along with a few litres of house paint, some rollers and a brush.

 

That, and a bucket load of artistic talent, is all it took for an enormous white wall – the ultimate blank canvas – in Christchurch's Salt District to be transformed into a mind-bending mural, the old-fashioned way.

 

Artist George Shaw said he and Shannon Webster settled on the three-dimensional illusion reading Ōtautahi to work around the awkward shape of the Evolution Square building on Tuam St.

"Stuff"

St Pete, FL looking towards Tampa

Mad Dog & Mind Bender`s!................

A little strange i know! lol.

Big Hi to everyone down there, Good to see a few faces.

Photo was taken from quite a distance so my Apologies for the quality of the image.

Get ready for an explosion of color, sound, and energy!

 

Step into a psychedelic dreamscape where DJ Mark Reyes will spin mind-bending beats while we showcase the top four winning photographs from the Artsville Photo Contest!

 

Dress Code: Bright, bold, and groovy! Think psychedelic swirls, neon hues, and retro festival vibes.

 

Let’s lose ourselves in the music, dance among the colors, and celebrate creativity like never before!

*

Join us in the wild world of Artsville: maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Seabreeze/105/213/28

*

Artisville PR:

www.iloveevents.online/psychedelic-bloom-with-dj-mark-rey...

 

5 to go... Done in PMG 0.6.

 

This will be my last gun for about a week as I'm going to go on vacation. Cya all again in one week.

It's 11AM and the sun is shining on the Burlington Northern's roundhouse and car shop complex in Superior, Wisconsin. Like most days, all of the morning job's power has long been dispatched from the roundhouse and those half-dozen switch and local jobs have been at work for almost four hours now.

 

On the RIP tracks leading to the GN's old steel car shop, car men are busy making running repairs to a variety of cars that crews tagged as bad order. This usually included defects with wheels, truck springs, air hoses or broken train lines, air brakes that wouldn't set properly, pin lifters that didn't work, coupler knuckles that were jammed or missing, bent or broken corner steps, inoperative brake wheels, and bad doors or door mechanisms. This is every-day-stuff that railroaders still encounter, report to their yard masters, and those bad order cars go straight to the RIP track for repairs. But in just a day or two, they'll be back out in the yard again, and on their way to move another load across North America.

 

But that said, there is something wrong in this picture here. Because just 30 days from now, in July 1982, large portions of this facility will be razed, torn down, and bulldozed into oblivion. The five-year plan was for almost all of it to be GONE by 1987.

 

The telltale signs are already in this picture. Look closely near the center-right of the frame, just between the roundhouse and the steel car shop. The four fuel-stained tracks in the middle of this area are Bikes 1 and 2, the Inbound Lead track for locomotives coming into the facility to be serviced, and the Steel Shop Lead. Compare and contrast what you see here with this tighter view from 1970: www.flickr.com/photos/jeff_lemke/16215080718/in/album-721...

 

The boiler and blacksmith shop that you saw in the 1970 view has already been torn down. A new set of fuel pads have recently been constructed between Bike 2 and the Inbound Lead. Those new fueling spots are already being used, which means the old ones near the roundhouse have already been abandoned. And for good reason. The bulldozers are already on their way to Superior.

 

The section of roundhouse furthest left will be the first victim in July. That included stalls 11-17. Those were the stalls closest to Belknap Street. Here's a map: www.flickr.com/photos/jeff_lemke/25863836226/in/album-721...

 

The shop's power house would also fall in July 1982. That is the tall building mid-picture with the big black smokestack on it. That was made possible by the last boiler man who finally retired. Without him, there was no need for a steam powered boiler shop. Natural gas heaters were quickly installed inside the remaining portions of the roundhouse, the steel car shop, and a variety of smaller support structures.

 

But even more sweeping change is just around the corner. In the Fall of 1986, nearly everything else here, was leveled too. Here's an aerial shot that provides a rather intense visual postmortum: www.flickr.com/photos/jeff_lemke/16402716465/in/album-721...

 

What's mind bending to me is how few people bothered to take pictures like this one from atop the Belknap Street overpass. This wonderful, sweeping view taken in June 1982 shows what the City of Superior had actually designated as a historic district within the city limits. Officially, it was the largest industrial development within the City of Superior. But in just 30 days, Burlington Northern would begin the process of tearing it all down, or selling off parts of it, in an effort to save on labor costs and property taxes. The city was utterly powerless to keep any of it intact. Their historic designation ended up meaning literally nothing to anyone working outside of city hall, and especially to the bean counters of BN. During the early 1980s, nothing was more important to transportation that saving money by not spending. Anything that could be "thrown overboard to help stay in the air" was (in this writer's opinion) recklessly abandoned. The facility that replaced this historical one (see my aerial view) is minimal, and utterly unworthy of any kind of romantic description.

 

It seems as though the famous Belknap Street roundhouse and shops of Superior, Wisconsin went from something historically very-special, to something else, that is today utterly un-noteworthy. There's nothing going on here anymore, and frankly, hasn't been going on since August of 1986 when the big team of bulldozers arrived to take it all down to the ground.

 

So, so many jobs lost in just this one location in just this one city. Fortunately, many of us still remember just how great the Great Northern was in Superior, Wisconsin when all of this was up and running.

 

I sure do.

Steve Baggsy Biagioni, and his absolutely brutal 7.4 litre turbocharged #LSXR35. A mind-bending mix of Japanese metal, and custom American muscle; Baggsy’s 1,200bhp ride has stunned fans the world over since it first burst on to the scene in mid-2017. From Goodwood to BattleDrift 2, the campaign of shock and awe brought on by this race-fuel fed beast is true sight to behold. Photographed here at Goodwood festival of speed 2019. photographer:pauls imaging photography

🚀The Kubrick Rooms & The Refuge Productions Present🚀

 

What: 🌌“The Ultimate Space Trip”🌌

When: October 19, 2024

🌍Where: Discovery One from 2001: A Space Odyssey Room

🕕Time: 6:00 PM – 12:00 AM SLT

👗Dress Code: Retro Space Attire (60s/70s Sci-Fi Vibes!)

 

LM: Discovery One

 

NOTE: To fully immerse yourself in the event, please ensure you're using a PBR-enabled viewer, as the venue features PBR-enabled objects, environment and terrain. This will enhance your experience and allow you to appreciate the detailed visual effects. Thank you!

 

🎶Music Genres: Space Electronica 🌠Rockabilly🎸Soundtrack Mixes🎧60's & 70's Space Pop/Rock 🚀

 

“Open the Pod Bay Doors, HAL...” As we embark on an interstellar journey through sound and time, inspired by the iconic 2001: A Space Odyssey. Experience the surreal and cosmic, from the Dawn of Man to the Infinite Beyond!

 

🌟Performers🌟

🎵 6PM — DJ Viv🌌

🎵 7:30PM — DJ Aisling🚀

🎵 9PM — DJ Christo🎸

🎵 10:30PM — DJ Owl🌠

 

✨Prepare for an epic odyssey across space and sound!

With music inspired by the hypnotic, mind-bending journey of 2001: A Space Odyssey, this event is a fusion of retro-futuristic style, stellar beats, and Kubrick’s cinematic genius. Let the Monolith guide you... 🌌🎶

 

P.S. A special thanks to Christo for his invaluable help with the poster!

 

About the film - 2001: A Space Odyssey follows humanity’s journey from its primitive origins to its potential future as an interstellar species. The film begins with a group of early hominids encountering a mysterious black monolith, which seems to spark their cognitive evolution. Millennia later, in the year 2001, a similar monolith is discovered buried on the Moon, signaling the next step in human advancement. A team of astronauts, led by Dr. David Bowman and accompanied by the highly advanced AI HAL 9000, is sent on a secret mission to Jupiter to investigate the monolith’s origins. As the crew nears their destination, HAL begins to malfunction, leading to a deadly confrontation. Bowman ultimately deactivates HAL and encounters another monolith in orbit around Jupiter, which triggers a surreal and transformative experience, culminating in his rebirth as the "Star Child," a transcendent being. Through its minimalistic storytelling, stunning visuals, and philosophical themes, 2001 explores evolution, artificial intelligence, extraterrestrial life, and the unknowable vastness of space, leaving much of its meaning open to interpretation.

 

Scenes from the Film

 

Be sure to visit "The Kubrick Rooms," home to the iconic "Discovery One Room" from 2001: A Space Odyssey. This unique venue also features meticulously recreated rooms from Kubrick's masterpieces, including Dr. Strangelove, The Shining, and A Clockwork Orange. For your convenience, taxi is available here Shanghai Mountains Location

Frank Gehry architecture

"You look like a man of discerning tastes. Just take a look at this genuine 'Blue Beach Car'..."

 

Uploading pics for an upcoming Manifesto blog article. I'll be taking a look at the morally mind-bending mini bricks from LOZ.

 

EDIT: The article has posted

The Bugatti Chiron is a mid-engined, two-doored sports car, designed and developed by the Volkswagen Group and the successor to the Bugatti Veyron.

 

The car is named in honor of the Monegasque driver, Louis Chiron.

 

Specifications[edit]

The main carryover piece will be the 8 litre W16 quad-turbocharged engine, though it will be heavily updated. Direct injection will be added and two of the four turbos will be electronically driven to eliminate turbo lag. Chiron has 1,500 PS (1,103 kW; 1,479 bhp) of power and 1,600 N·m (1,180 lb·ft) of torque starting from 2000rpm. Like its predecessor Veyron, it will have a carbon fibre body structure, independent suspension and 4WD system.[3][4][5]

 

The Chiron will accelerate from 0–100 km/h (62mph) in under 2.5 seconds, 0-200 km/h (124mph) in less than 6.5 seconds and 0-300 km/h (186mph) below 13.6 seconds. The Chiron's top speed is limited to 420 kilometres per hour (260 mph) for safety reasons.

 

At full speed the gas tank of 100 liters will be empty in 8 minutes. i.e. 190 l/100 km or 4.5 kg CO2/km.

 

500 units are to be produced and 120 orders have already been placed. The Chiron will be available towards the end of 2016 with a cost of €2.4 million (£1.9 million).

 

[Text from Wikipedia]

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bugatti_Chiron_(2016)

 

What Do You Think Of The Bugatti Chiron?

 

Photography and sketches courtesy of Bugatti

 

This is the world’s fastest production car. At least, it will be, once owners take delivery of the ~$2.6 million Usd. Bugatti Chiron sometime this fall. To defeat its own Veyron SuperSport, the company had to shoot for more than 258 mph—surely not an easy target—but the new car is limited to 261.

 

Besides its speed, opulence, and undoubtedly incredibly intricate servicing routine, I think the 2017 Chiron is notable simply because automakers have finally surpassed the extravagant heights of 1930s excess. Exotic carbon fibre supercars are the modern age’s ‘Art Deco’ streamliners, the most advanced, expensive machines also packed with the most power and performance—just like when Delahaye, Pegaso, Isotta Fraschini, Voisin, Duesenberg, Bugatti, and the others roamed around. Chiron comes from Louis Chiron, the Monaco-born driver who was the company's pre-Second World War star, notably competing well into his 50s.

 

I have a feeling that Chiron would be pleased that his name graces this machine. Now, we get style and continent-crushing performance: zero-to-186 mph (300 km/h) is over in 13.6 seconds, which (down here on planet earth) is an acceptable 1/4 mile time for a sporty car. Like the Veyron, it boasts four turbos, 8.0-litres of displacement from its 16 cylinders, and a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission—only the brake horsepower is now at 1,479 and torque at 1,180 lbs-ft.

 

We still don’t know how fast the car is: when Bugatti attempts to officially set the record for the fastest car in the world, it’s even hinted the car may top 270 mph thanks to just-for-the-feat Michelin tires. Essentially, Bugatti has found a way to surpass even the most wild ’70s sports racing and Can-Am prototypes in performance, while also heaping luxury, comfort, and safety onto its best-travel-lightly occupants.

 

Everything about this car is, expectedly, mind-bending.

 

So as you begin to divest yourself of assets in order to jump in line, keep in mind there’s a lot to learn about this new car, like its blown rear diffuser, carbon fibre monocoque (that’s as strong as a Le Mans prototype’s), air intake LED headlights, and cooled glove box for your morning cold-pressed juice. Better start studying on the firm’s handy microsite.

 

For now, what do you think of the latest Bugatti?

 

[Text from Petrolicious]

 

petrolicious.com/what-do-you-think-of-the-bugatti-chiron

Sometimes the beauty of nature really leaves me spellbind. How on earth did the crane evolve to be so dramatic? How did any of the other animals? Everything living thing originated from a single celled organism, and now the beauty and variety of all living things is nothing but mind bending.

 

Sorry for talking about a slightly tangential issue here, I sat this morning reading some articles about World Wildlife Day (which was last week) and how some of our most iconic species are in mortal peril, and how us humans have put them there. And that got me to think about Nature itself. The great mother, the great balancer, the creator and preserver. Surely, you would expect nature to bounce back from the lashing we have given her in the recent decades? But how much can she take before we push her to the point of no return? Is that time upon us already? The conservationists certainly think so. The time to act is now. Time to protect our vulnerable species, time to get serious about wildlife crime, time to say no to poaching. How will we emerge from such a wildlife crisis is a completely different issue all together. Maybe some of our most beloved species will be lost forever, only to be looked at in trinkets, zoos and museum displays. Maybe they won’t. Maybe we will rally to their cause, just so that our future generations will be gape and wonder at their beauty just like I am doing today.

 

Sorry I deleted the black and white version of this photo last week as I felt it looked a little dull. I am uploading the colour version instead.

 

www.facebook.com/DenisSmithPhotography

 

I think I have posted this before, but damn I love it. I will always feel drawn back to Lake Mungo. What a spiritual, mind bending place it is.

 

One Day

 

Den

If you love trees as I do, you must visit the ancient bristlecone pines. The world's oldest living things, they are some of the most beautiful as well. I was mesmerized by their stark beauty.

View On Black

Vintage postcard. Photo: Saul Zaentz Productions / New Line Cinema. Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Billy Boyd and Dominic Monaghan in The Lord of the Rings - The Fellowship of the Ring (Peter Jackson, 2001).

 

American actor Elijah Wood (1981) successfully transitioned from an acclaimed child actor to an adult performer celebrated for his roles in independent and genre cinema. He became a global superstar as Frodo Baggins in The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

 

Elijah Wood was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in 1981. His parents are Debbie (née Krause) and Warren Wood, who operated a delicatessen together. Elijah has an older brother, Zack Wood (1974), who works in video games, and a younger sister, Hannah Wood (1983). At age seven, he became a child model when his mother wanted him to burn off excessive energy. In elementary school, he appeared in 'The Sound of Music' and played the title character in 'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'. Wood's early promise as an actor was evident, so his family sold their deli and moved to California to support his burgeoning career. Elijah started in minor roles, including a brief appearance as a video game enthusiast in Back to the Future Part II (Robert Zemeckis, 1989) and a more substantial part in the critically lauded Avalon (Barry Levinson, 1990). He quickly established himself as one of the finest child actors of his generation. The early 1990s saw him deliver powerful performances in films such as Radio Flyer (Richard Donner, 1992), where he played a child dealing with family trauma, and the psychological thriller The Good Son (Joseph Ruben, 1993), in which he starred opposite Macaulay Culkin. Other notable adolescent roles included the title character in the Disney adaptation The Adventures of Huck Finn (Stephen Sommers, 1993) and he played Kevin Costner's son in The War (Jon Avnet, 1994). Although critic Roger Ebert gave the film only two stars, he loved the young actor's performance: "The other strong element in The War comes from the young actors. Elijah Wood has emerged, I believe, as the most talented actor in his age group in Hollywood history." Wood had a co-starring role in Ang Lee's acclaimed drama The Ice Storm (1997), which marked his successful pivot to more mature, teenage roles. Wood heard about the Lord of the Rings trilogy while filming the Science-Fiction Horror film The Faculty (Robert Rodriguez, 1998).

 

The defining chapter of Elijah Wood's career arrived when he was cast as Frodo Baggins in Peter Jackson’s epic adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s 'The Lord of the Rings'. Filming the trilogy in New Zealand was a monumental undertaking, and Wood's portrayal of the earnest young hobbit burdened with the task of destroying the One Ring earned him international fame and critical adulation. The films, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Peter Jackson, 2001), The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (Peter Jackson, 2002), and the Oscar-winning The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (Peter Jackson, 2003), became a cultural phenomenon, cementing Wood’s place in cinematic history. Roger Ebert about the first part: " It is an awesome production in its daring and breadth, and there are small touches that are just right; the Hobbits may not look like my idea of Hobbits (may, indeed, look like full-sized humans made to seem smaller through visual trickery), but they have the right combination of twinkle and pluck in their gaze–especially Elijah Wood as Frodo and Ian Holm as the worried Bilbo." Following the trilogy's conclusion, Wood intentionally sought out diverse and often unconventional roles to avoid typecasting, showcasing his versatility and taste for the offbeat. He appeared in the mind-bending romantic Science Fiction film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Michel Gondry, 2004), the stylish Neo-Noir Sin City (Robert Rodriguez, Frank Miller, 2005) as the silent, psychopathic Kevin, and the poignant historical drama Everything Is Illuminated (Liev Schreiber, 2005). This period also included the animated hit Happy Feet (George Miller, 2006), in which he voiced the tap-dancing penguin Mumble, a role he reprised in its sequel. In subsequent years, Wood has continued to build an eclectic filmography. He reprised the role of Frodo in The Hobbit series, starting with The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (Peter Jackson, 2012), but also embraced independent films, voice acting (notably in the TV series Wilfred and various video games), and production work with his company SpectreVision, which focuses on Horror and genre films. He continues to appear in interesting projects, such as the true-crime thriller No Man of God (Amber Sealey, 2021) and the superhero black comedy The Toxic Avenger (Macon Blair, 2023) starring Peter Dinklage. Since 2024, he has been married to Danish film producer Mette-Marie Kongsved, and they have two children. Yusuf Piskin at IMDb: "With a career beginning in childhood, he has proven both his longevity and his ability to transition from celebrated child actor to adult performer with a diverse range of roles across genres and mediums."

 

Sources: Roger Ebert (Roger Ebert.com), Yusuf Piskin (IMDb), Wikipedia (English and Dutch) and IMDb.

 

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

A mind-bending, split-second image gives a spin on your average motion shot.

RhB Ge 6/6 I Krokodil Nr. 415 waits in a siding on the south western side of Disentis Bahnhof for a Glacier Express Pullman charter train to arrive from Zermatt. Continuing Rhätische Bahn's theme of using mind bending novelty colour schemes, the lok is sporting a seemingly iridescent metallic purple-turquoise wrap. This makes a stark contrast to the Krok's usual brown.

 

In the background, the station's broad white sail is sheltering the tail end of an MGB Andermatt train on track 2 and the leading end of an RhB Chur train hauled by Ge 4/4 II Nr. 620 "Zernez" on track 3. MGB HGe 4/4 II Nr. 5 "Mt Fuji" is on the far track, likely coming around to the front of the train on track 2. Grassy, green mountains rise in the distance under a bright blue sky with patches of cloud.

Fun with Photo Impact

Comparison of scale & compatibility between LEGO bricks and their LOZ clone counterparts.

 

Uploading pics for an upcoming Manifesto blog article. I'll be taking a look at the morally mind-bending mini bricks from LOZ.

 

EDIT: The article has posted

I believe this is a 2022 Ferrari SF90 Stradale in black

Our Lamborghini Club of Arizona has a car show on the 3rd Saturday of every month at the Penske auto showrooms on Chauncey Drive in North Scottsdale - around the corner from my house.

www.penskeautomall.com/cars-coffee/

 

www.ferrari.com/en-EN/auto/sf90-stradale

The car’s name encapsulates the true significance of all that has been achieved in terms of performance. The reference to the 90th anniversary of the foundation of Scuderia Ferrari underscores the strong link that has always existed between Ferrari’s track and road cars. A brilliant encapsulation of the most advanced technologies developed in Maranello, the SF90 Stradale is also the perfect demonstration of how Ferrari immediately transitions the knowledge and skills it acquires in competition to its production cars.

The SF90 Stradale is the first ever Ferrari to feature PHEV (Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle) architecture which sees the internal combustion engine integrated with three electric motors, two of which are independent and located on the front axle, with the third at the rear between the engine and the gearbox.

 

www.caranddriver.com/ferrari/sf90-stradale-2023

The word “plug-in hybrid” probably calls to mind dorky but practical vehicles like the Toyota Prius Prime. But believe it or not, the sleek, low-slung Ferrari SF90 Stradale coupe and the SF90 Spider convertible also fit into that category, packing a twin-turbocharged V-8 and three electric motors. Instead of focusing on efficiency, however, the SF90 uses its electrified powertrain to boost performance—its 60-mph time of 2.0 seconds makes it officially the quickest car we've ever tested. Along with bedroom poster-worthy looks and mind-bending acceleration, the SF90’s interior is wrapped in rich, sweet-smelling leather and fitted with high-quality switchgear and a 16-inch digital gauge cluster. Unsurprisingly, the bonkers performance and classy cabin will cost you around half-a-million dollars, but if you can afford to plunk down that hefty sum, you’ll be able to enjoy one of the sharpest, most capable supercars on sale today—and, so far, the undisputed quickest.

With the SF90, power comes from a massively powerful V-8 and three electric motors. The 4.0-liter twin-turbocharged V-8 generates a mighty 769 horsepower on its own, and the trio of electric motors provide an additional 217 horsepower. In the end, the gas/electric powertrain generates a net output of 986 horsepower and 590 pound-ft of torque. Power is sent to all four wheels, making this the first mid-engine Ferrari with all-wheel drive. An eight-speed automatic transmission oversees the proceedings. As you'd expect, all that power under the hood translates into blistering acceleration. Ferrari’s official estimate is that it will rocket from zero to 60 mph in a scant 2.5 seconds; our testing proved that number to be conservative as the SF90 ripped to 60 in a scant 2.0 seconds—something no production vehicle has ever done before. Different driving modes allow you to tailor the car's handling to suit your preferences. Use the mode selector to dial-up EV Only, Hybrid, Performance, and, last but not least, Qualify—a setting that allows you to fully exploit the car's performance capabilities.

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferrari_SF90_Stradale

 

Penske Auto Mall 2024

Tunage: youtu.be/_d7WAQl__Hg?si=5N-gsfbbYDC31Dzz

 

"When logic and proportion

Have fallen sloppy dead

And the White Knight is talking backwards

And the Red Queen's off with her head

Remember what the dormouse said

Feed your head!

Feed your head!"

  

Hey, babes! Since it's spooky szn and cosplay is abound, I decided to pay homage to one of the most mind-bending movies of all time: The Matrix! Enjoyyyyy~

 

Are you starting to believe?

  

[Body]

🎃 LeLutka Avalon Head 3.1

🎃 eBody REBORN

🎃 Velour Picasso Babe - Ebody Reborn - Modelesque/Amber

🎃 Velour Picasso Babe x Contored Cleavege (AMBER)

🎃 Velour Picasso Babe x Moles

🎃 Velour SADE for Evo X (Amber - NB)

🎃 REVERIE Sloan Eyebrows - Evo X - V2 - #15

🎃 -SU!- No F*cks Given Tattoo Left & Right

🎃 Lilithe Lukthu Tattoos - FRESH (CHEST)

🎃 Lilithe Rabies Tattoos - FRESH (FINGERS)

🎃THIS IS WRONG Mistique Scar FRESH

🎃 Loa Alien Eyes - White - BOM

  

[Hair & Makeup]

🎃 CAMO - Baby Hair Essentials - A03 EvoX

🎃 Stealthic - Riot ( S Head/M Breasts)

🎃 -SU!- No F*cks Given Eye Makeup - Gray

🎃 Gorsimi - Rigor Lipstick

  

[Fit]

🎃 AsteroidBox Kain Dress - eBody Reborn

🎃 N-Core - Lexi - Reborn

  

[Accessories]

🎃 REQUISITION - Beasthunter's Gatling Gun

🎃 :H: Morningstar Septum - Silver

🎃 Madame Noir Macabre Face Piece

🎃RAWR! Draco Earrings - Swallow Pixie

🎃 UNHOLY MALEVOLENT HANDS

🎃 GRAVEYARD - Neo Glasses

The colossal dome at Yerkes Observatory near Lake Geneva, WI, is a mind-bending behemoth that defies the conventional boundaries of cosmic exploration. A looming structure with an aura of enigmatic allure, this astronomical cathedral reeks of scientific revolution and intellectual pandemonium.

 

As one steps into its colossal shadow, the air crackles with an electric blend of anticipation and scholarly fervor. Inside, the behemoth dome stands as a celestial coliseum, where starry spectacles and cosmic theater collide. It's a psychedelic journey into the abyss of the universe, a portal to the mysteries of the cosmos.

 

Here, in this hallowed space, astral voyagers delve into the unknown depths of space and time. The dome is a theater of telescopic wonders, a playground for probing minds seeking the secrets of distant galaxies. The sheer enormity of the dome mirrors the vastness of human curiosity, inviting fearless seekers to transcend the limits of comprehension.

 

Amidst the dim glow of distant stars, scientists and enthusiasts alike huddle around, driven by an insatiable hunger for cosmic revelations. It's a place where imagination dances with scientific rigor, and reality dissolves into a kaleidoscope of astronomical possibilities.

 

The biggest observatory dome at Yerkes Observatory isn't just a structure; it's a gateway to cosmic enlightenment, a pulsating nucleus of cosmic curiosity that beckons the fearless and the inquisitive to plunge into the cosmic unknown.

Step into a dreamy 60s living room brought to life with vibrant colors and trippy visuals. DJs Thai and Nikopol will provide a soundtrack of nostalgic tunes.

 

Dress in your grooviest 60s attire and join us for an unforgettable, mind-bending experience!

 

The Midnight Cabaret: maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Candy%20Island/216/142/2813

 

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I❤EventsonlinePR: www.iloveevents.online/event/the-midnight-cabaret-present...

 

I believe this is a 2023 Ferrari SF90 Stradale in Rosso Corsa.

Our Lamborghini Club of Arizona has a car show on the 3rd Saturday of every month at the Penske auto showrooms on Chauncey Drive in North Scottsdale - around the corner from my house.

www.penskeautomall.com/cars-coffee/

 

www.ferrari.com/en-EN/auto/sf90-stradale

The car’s name encapsulates the true significance of all that has been achieved in terms of performance. The reference to the 90th anniversary of the foundation of Scuderia Ferrari underscores the strong link that has always existed between Ferrari’s track and road cars. A brilliant encapsulation of the most advanced technologies developed in Maranello, the SF90 Stradale is also the perfect demonstration of how Ferrari immediately transitions the knowledge and skills it acquires in competition to its production cars.

The SF90 Stradale is the first ever Ferrari to feature PHEV (Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle) architecture which sees the internal combustion engine integrated with three electric motors, two of which are independent and located on the front axle, with the third at the rear between the engine and the gearbox.

 

www.caranddriver.com/ferrari/sf90-stradale-2023

The word “plug-in hybrid” probably calls to mind dorky but practical vehicles like the Toyota Prius Prime. But believe it or not, the sleek, low-slung Ferrari SF90 Stradale coupe and the SF90 Spider convertible also fit into that category, packing a twin-turbocharged V-8 and three electric motors. Instead of focusing on efficiency, however, the SF90 uses its electrified powertrain to boost performance—its 60-mph time of 2.0 seconds makes it officially the quickest car we've ever tested. Along with bedroom poster-worthy looks and mind-bending acceleration, the SF90’s interior is wrapped in rich, sweet-smelling leather and fitted with high-quality switchgear and a 16-inch digital gauge cluster. Unsurprisingly, the bonkers performance and classy cabin will cost you around half-a-million dollars, but if you can afford to plunk down that hefty sum, you’ll be able to enjoy one of the sharpest, most capable supercars on sale today—and, so far, the undisputed quickest.

With the SF90, power comes from a massively powerful V-8 and three electric motors. The 4.0-liter twin-turbocharged V-8 generates a mighty 769 horsepower on its own, and the trio of electric motors provide an additional 217 horsepower. In the end, the gas/electric powertrain generates a net output of 986 horsepower and 590 pound-ft of torque. Power is sent to all four wheels, making this the first mid-engine Ferrari with all-wheel drive. An eight-speed automatic transmission oversees the proceedings. As you'd expect, all that power under the hood translates into blistering acceleration. Ferrari’s official estimate is that it will rocket from zero to 60 mph in a scant 2.5 seconds; our testing proved that number to be conservative as the SF90 ripped to 60 in a scant 2.0 seconds—something no production vehicle has ever done before. Different driving modes allow you to tailor the car's handling to suit your preferences. Use the mode selector to dial-up EV Only, Hybrid, Performance, and, last but not least, Qualify—a setting that allows you to fully exploit the car's performance capabilities.

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferrari_SF90_Stradale

 

Penske Auto Mall 2024

Håkan Dahlström Photography

So yeah... I know that I said I wouldn't make another one of these for a long time, but ya know, I ended up getting Wave 5 (and part of 6 for us americans) and thought that I may as well since you won't be seeing one of these for a whole 3 months (I think).

 

Speaking of Wave 5, I've customized Ganon and Palutena already. They were given some minor details and are hardly noticeable, so I haven't put up pics of them.

 

Anyway, I'll put the nicknames section here like normal...

 

LAST UPDATED: 7/28

 

NEW ARRIVALS: Wii Fit, Olimar,

 

//////////////////

Kirby - Kitby

 

The nickname originated from when I first got on flickr. Deku Scrubster pointed out that I misspelled Kirby's name, turns out, this is what happened.

 

Liked it ever since.

//////////////

Fox - Speedster

 

He's fast, what else can I say? I can hardly keep up with the dude. You could almost say he's fantastic.... (EH?!?!?)

/////////////////////

Mario - Madio

 

Still a pun off the original name.

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Donkey Kong - Konkey Dong

 

My Sis mispronounced his name one day and it got the whole family a laughin'. I've loved the name ever since.

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Pikachu - Spark

 

He has electricity. 'nuff said.

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Link - SirCourage

 

Simple enough, I thought this gave him a more 'knightly' attitude.

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Peach - Peech

 

Help me plz, I have no idea what to name her.

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Zelda - WisdomWiz

 

Can you see the trend I have going here? It'll probably be Powerhouse with Ganondorf (spoiler alert).

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Samus - Huntress

 

Since she's also a bounty hunter, I thought this suited her pretty well. Also a homage to the DC superhero of the same name.

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Luigi - Weegee

 

Weeeeeeeeeeeeg.

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Yoshi - Demolisher

 

Nothing much here, just thought it sounded cool and ya know, made his appetite stick out more.

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Diddy Kong - TheMangler

 

Monkey Flip.

 

Bruh.

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Little Mac - MegatonMac

 

Sakurai himself did say that his smashes hit at "megaton" levels... That's pretty strong...

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Marth - Mars

 

Original translation of Marth's name into the short lived anime. Thought it sounded cool as well.

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Captain Falcon - Turbo

 

In the F-Zero games, you go at mind bending speeds. I figured this well represented his franchise and Falcon's character really well.

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Pit - Captain OPG

 

Captain of Palutena's Guard.

 

Pretty much the long and short of the name given to him in the Punch Out! boxing stage.

 

I find it incredibly interesting how I managed to give Pit and Dark Pit different playstyles - Pit just so happens to be more defensive and ground based than his gloomy counterpart.

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Bowser - Bruzer

 

Pun off the original name as well as referencing his hard-hitting attacks.

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Toon Link - LooneyLink

 

Toon Link's name in other languages.

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Lucario - Hound

 

Pretty much me thinking he looks a lot like a dog.

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Rosalina - Star Queen

 

A better name I came up with. She spends most of her time in space, so why not?

 

(For those of you who don't know, her original name was Rosielina)

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Sheik - Illusive

 

This nickname both sounds cool and has reminds me of how mysterious and quick she(?) is.

 

Probably one of my favorites.

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Ike - Brawn

 

He's really strong.

 

'nuff said.

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Sonic - The Blur

 

He's really fast.

 

'nuff said.

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Shulk - Swift

 

Thought this described his playstyle pretty well. I also think the name is cool in general.

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King Dedede - MonarchDDD

 

Fun Fact: "monarch" is another word for "king".

 

Google told me so.

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Mega Man - Android87

 

This both references his human looks and his date of birth in 1987.

 

FNaF anyone?

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Meta Knight - Hawk

 

What can I say? I trained him to stay in the air and swoop down when he needs to. Plus it sounds pretty intimidating!

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Gold Mario - Goldio

 

With great power comes great stupidity... A line that Gold Mario goes by. Unlike the rest of amiibo I own, Goldio is customized. It's to the point that his attack power and speed are insanely high.

 

However, with all the power and speed comes incredibly awkward A.I. and held back defensive capabilities. He's definitely a kick from normal Madio though.

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Villager - Major Fear

 

The eyes... THE EYES!!!

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Wario - Scoundrel

 

....

 

WAHAHAHHAHHAAHHAAA

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Lucina - Lukina

 

Lucina's name in another language. Korean I believe.

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Robin - Mr.Enchant

 

Minecraft reference... Plus it gave him a sense of maturity while also showing off the fact he has magic that grows more powerful.

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Charizard - Heat Wave

 

One of my little bro's robot toys are named this. Personally, I think the name was pretty cool and thought "why not?"

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Ness - PsychicKid

 

I could really use some suggestions for this one. I couldn't think of anything else...

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Pac-Man - Gobbler

 

NOM-NO....uh I mean WAKKA-WAKKA-WAKKA-WAKKA

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Jigglypuff - Pigglywuff

 

What? I really like Jigglypuff's name. I didn't wanna change it all that much....

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Ganondorf - Powerhouse

 

He shatters my shield instantly, how can I not give him this name?

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Dark Pit - Dark Wings

 

I originally wanted to do something along the lines of "gloomy double" but I didn't have enough space, so he sounds like chicken wings instead :P

 

Dark Pit is more offensive and air based than normal Pit. It's pretty cool how he's usually the one to throw the first punch. I find it very entertaining when they fight just because even though they're fundamentally the same character, their playstyles are different enough to make every match interesting. I might have to upload a match sometime to show you what I mean.

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Palutena - Lightning

 

Both because she is the Goddess of Light in the games and as homage to the Final Fantasy character.

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Zero Suit Samus - Elastica

 

I heard she had enchanted DNA or something like that? Also a Brawl in The Family comic inspired me on this one. (If you don't know what 'BiTF' is, get out.)

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Wii Fit Trainer - Miss Fit

 

Eh

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Olimar - TBA

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--------

  

P.S. All the amiibo are in order from which I acquired them.

  

Uh, toodles!

  

Inside, the last performance of THE HAIRY APE. I wish Eugene O'Neill could have seen this production, which was mind bending.

Admittedly, I've been a bit sidetracked lately with hunting and playing MadPea Games. I can't lie. I'm addicted. I've never been one to give much time or a second thought to skipping hunts or some of the more intricate games but there are no regrets at all. Well, except that my competitive streak kicked in and I am determined to make top 10 on the Cosmic Conquest! Currently holding that #9 spot!

 

And Ascension, goodness. I walked in there all cocky like there is no way a puzzle game can beat me. Took me hours and thankfully I was given a little help along the way and I finally made it through. I am NOT smarter than the AI. Kudos to any of you that made it to the top! I *ahem* may or may not have picked a wrong door or two along the way.

 

All that aside, there are so many great prizes that are high quality, unique, really cool, and leaves you feeling that you accomplished something worthwhile. Time to kick back with my spoils, at least for an hour or two. Then it's back to the hunt!

 

Event/Hunt/Games:

 

MadPea - Cosmic Conquest - Alien Secrets

You are a visitor to the cyberpunk planet of Cyborian V, where a group of cyber-scientists known as the Helix Syndicate needs your help.

Hunt and collect alien DNA for them to discover your very own alien companion and unlock its secrets.

The syndicate promises rewards beyond your wildest dreams for your service.

Earn achievements, and prizes, and discover the galaxy in this epic grid-wide hunt.

More Info Here!

 

MadPea - Ascension

Welcome to Ascension, a pioneering experiment orchestrated by the esteemed Illumina Innovations, pitting human intellect against the cutting-edge AI of the future.

We’re opening the doors to individuals of all ages and walks of life for the ultimate test of intelligence and humanity.

Across ten levels of formidable challenges, you’ll navigate mind-bending puzzles, intricate simulations, and thought-provoking tasks. But tread with caution, for failure to complete a level may lead to elimination from the test.

As you conquer each level, you’ll earn a reward of $100,000, with the ultimate prize awaiting those who reach the pinnacle—$1 million for completion.*

Ascend to unlock exclusive technologies, groundbreaking knowledge, and global recognition as one of today’s brightest minds.

So, will you accept the challenge and join us in Ascension? It’s time to discover which race reigns supreme in the battle of wit and wisdom.

*Disclaimer: The cash prize is for story purposes only.

More Info Here!

 

Prizes Shown:

CC:AS - Found While Hunting:

Crisis Galactica Backdrop - The Beaded Guy

 

CC:AS - Purchasable with Hunt Points @ MadPea:

MadPea - Cosmic Jetpack

MadPea - Cyber Cat Heaphones

MadPea - Cyber Greenhouse

MadPea - Cyberpunk Glasses

MadPea - Cyberpunk Helmet

MadPea - Cybertronic TV Head

MadPea - DNA Strand Hologram

MadPea - Dodecahedron Lamp

MadPea - Neon Bladed Katana

MadPea - Neon Potted Cactus

MadPea - Planetary Nightlight

 

Ascension - Prizes Upon Completion:

MadPea - Ray Gun 3000

MadPea - Gold Bars

MadPea - Ascension Trophy

 

♰ Featured/Event Items ♰

 

Chair:

MadPea - Gamer's Cocoon

• Includes: PG & Adult Versions, Side Table, Energy Drink, Chips, Controller Stand

• Options: 22 Colors + 3 Sections + 5 Side Panels + Table HUD w/ 22 Color Options

>>-----Get it Here-----> LEVEL Event

 

Outfit:

Poonsh - Rin Outfit - Fatpack

• Fits: LaraX, Legacy/Perky, Reborn/Waifus

• Sweatshirt & Bodysuit

• Options: 14 Solids + 7 Prints + 4 Metals + 3 Sections + Tintable Options

>>-----Get it Here-----> Suicide Dolls Event

 

♰ Sponsored Items ♰

Body - eBODY - Reborn Body

Hair - Truth Hair - Whisper

Boots - Poonsh - Joyce Boots

 

♰ Base & Extras ♰

Head - LeLutka

Face Skin - Heaux

Body Skin - Velour

Mods - MAZE

Skin Extras - Izzie's

Brows - Suicidal Unborn

Eyes - Avi-Glam

Piercings - LeLutka & Little Fish

Eyeshadow - Knife Party

Lipstick - Suicidal Unborn

Shine/Scars/Eye Shine - This is Wrong

“Meteorites are, by almost any measure, far more diverse than any rocks formed on Earth.”

 

This line from Appendix 1 of Greg Brennecka’s book Impact struck me. To illustrate the point, here is my newest addition to the collection, a rare carbonaceous Cba subgroup, with mysterious chondrules of metal.

 

More from Greg's 2022 book:

 

“Meteorites represent the origins of Earth and humanity… in the form of fossils that recorded the important events of our Solar System’s origins.”

 

“Meteorites are ancient and largely unchanged — certain types have never been melted since they formed over 4.5 billion years ago, and thus are excellent time capsules for the genesis of the Solar System. The most primitive types of meteorites are so pristine we essentially sample an unadulterated version of our parent molecular cloud from which the Solar System formed.”

-- Starting composition of the Sun and planets

-- Ancient clocks and thermometers, embedded in stone

-- “Diamonds older than the sun among the cosmic dust and galactic garbage”

-- Amino acids, DNA and RNA base pairs, and large amounts of water

-- “the texture and minerals present in many meteorites are essentially impossible to re-create on Earth.”

-- Paleomagnetism: the sun had an intense magnetic field in the early years

-- “Meteorites record a gradient in their isotopic compositions related to how far out from the sun they formed.”

 

Luna launch: “The moon exists because of a really, really big meteorite. When the Earth was a mere toddler, less than 150 million years after the birth of the Solar System, the impact flash-melted the entire surface of the Earth and large portions of its mantle. The impactor itself, a Mars size body that have been names Theia, was completely obliterated as it violently introduced itself to a fledgling Earth. The material that was ejected from this collision eventually coalesced into what we call the Moon, producing a brilliantly tidally locked, lower-density-than-Earth extra-large satellite for us to marvel at 4 billion+ years later.”

-- Sterilized Earth and reset the atmosphere to be rich in hydrogen, carbon monoxide and water (the source of our abundant water remains unknown; it may have come from Theia, liberated from the Earth’s mantle from Theia’s impact, or delivered by subsequent comets and water-rich meteorites. Or all three).

-- “Four billion years ago, Earth was spinning much faster and the Moon was much closer to us. These differences caused much larger tide fluctuations to happen more frequently: up to ~50m changes every five hours.”

-- “Ocean tides produce local differences on a repeated basis, which happens to be the perfect mechanism for concentrating organic material. Without the Moon and the tides it creates, this crucible for carbon concentration would barely exist.”

 

Dino-busting: “One moment there were creatures as big as 100 tons strutting their stuff around, and then, in a blink of geologic time, no living animal on Earth was larger than a basset hound.”

 

Ongoing nourishment: “Every day in our modern world, an average of more than 100 metric tons of meteoritic material is added to Earth.”

-- “Living things use only 21 amino acids to perform their daily functions, and many amino acids discovered in meteorites were previously unknown to exist. More than 80 types of amino acids have been identified in a single primitive metworite.”

-- “The realization that organic molecules exist at all in meteorites is mind-bending enough, but the fact that such a complex and highly diverse suite of molecules — including life-essential things like sugars, alcohols and amino acids— exist in abundance in many kinds of meteorites is almost incomprehensibly thought provoking.”

-- Other essential ingredients for our biology, like reactive phosphorous and soluble iron may have come from meteorites, as it is in “vanishingly short supply, particularly in places like the ocean, where organisms get a lot of the nutrients they require from seawater.”

-- “The well documented increased influx of extraterrestrial material around 450 million years ago caused a global increase of marine productivity (seeding the oceans with iron). If such a productivity bump was intense enough, it would have caused a significant drawdown of global CO2 levels, lowering global temperatures. As such, increased meteoritic delivery may have been the indirect cause of the most intense ice age of the last 500 million years, the Ordovician-Silurian extinction event, which wiped out ~85% of marine species at the time.”

 

Free Sample Return from Mars: Martian meteorites could not have been launched by volcanos on Mars, as some initially thought. The escape velocity is 11,000 MPH “so the only realistic way they got off Mars was from large impacts to the surface of the planet” — more meteorites, hitting Mars.

-- “It is only through the study of Martian meteorites that we can quantify the amount of water that was present in the past, and how much has been lost over time.”

-- We have 300 samples “from 4.1 billion years old to a scant 160 million years ago; in other words, for nearly the entirely of Mars’s history.”

-- No plate tectonics remixing and melting the surface

-- “With the recent space exploration interest success by private companies such as SpaceX, and the continued interest and accelerated collaboration between governmental space agencies, the possibility of returning samples from Mars is becoming ever more tangible” and they will be chosen rocks from chosen locations, like old lakebeds and riverbanks.

 

“Iron meteorites represent something we have no access to on Earth: planetary core material.”

 

“Pallasites are generally about 50% iron-nickel metal and about 50% of the mineral olivine. This cosmic combo can make pallasites very beautiful to look at: brilliant green olivine crystals encased in a shiny metal matrix make for an otherworldly appearance. Interestingly, it was the unique appearance (it can’t be made on Earth) of the first known pallasite that helped convince the scientific community that rocks could come from somewhere other than Earth.”

 

Badlands landscape revealing millions of years of geological history in layered rock formations. The scale of deep time written in stone is absolutely mind-bending.

This week we saw season 3 of “The Flash” wrap up! Let’s take a look at what happened (NOTE: SPOILERS ARE AHEAD):

 

CHARACTERS: There were so many good characters and so much character development! I especailly loved Caitlyn, Cisco, HR and Julian’s arcs; we got to see Caitlyn’s fall from grace and redemption, as well as a more serious side to Cisco dealing with his best friend’s betrayal. To be honest, I didn’t like HR and Julian at first, but I grew to love them as we saw that Julian was more than an annoying coworker and HR was more than a dumb “genius”; when HR died, I was literally on the edge of my seat, I didn’t see them killing him off, but they did, and his motive was believable. He got to be the hero he wanted. I really loved Wally’s character too, his journey to become the Kid Flash was cool to watch; he fulfilled his dream. The only negatives about the characters were that I found Cisco annoying at the beginning of the season (I know he was completely justifed in being angry at Barry, but it felt dragged out), and I found the characters of HR and Julian annoying at the beginning too.

 

STORY: This has got to be my favourite season of the Flash. They brought in past characters who we didn’t think we’d see again, especially in the Speed Force episode, which was one of my favourites. The Speedforce is one of the more mysterious things in the Flash, and we got to explore it. I loved how they really dove into Barry and Iris’ relationship and how much it would mean if she was taken from him. This season not only was a great superhero show but a good mystery, you didn’t know almost until the very end who Savitar was, and it was mind-bending trying to figure it out how the whole paradox-thing with the Time Remnant worked. Some other great parts were the switch HR pulled, I definitely didn’t see that coming, and in the very last episode where Team Flash actually tried to help Savitar. I loved the dynamic between Savitar and Caitlyn, and it was interesting to see how Flashpoint affected everyone, which brings me to my o gripes: we hardly saw anything of Flashpoint. While I didn’t want it to be a whole-season issue, I felt like they really teased it only to have it all solved in 45 minutes. I would have liked to see at least 1 more episode involving it, and seeing more of Flashpoint. The last 10 minutes of the finale should have been saved for the first episode of season 4, in my opinion. I wish they could have just left them where they were, and had saved the whole part about him running into the storm for season 4. Other than that, I thought the story was well done and well written.

 

VILLAIN: Hands-down Savitar is my favourite villain so far. He was menacing, driven, and, when you came down to it, he was just a normal guy who had been hurt by his friends. He wanted a place of belonging, but couldn’t have it, so he decided everything would belong to him as a Speed God. I actually really felt bad for Savitar, being abandoned by Team Flash and all. Also, the whole Time Remnant thing was genius, I never saw it coming. Plus the metal suit was so freaking cool! The only issue I have–and this isn’t really with the character himself–is that I thought the scars were a bit much, it felt like a copy of Two-Face. I wasn’t against giving him scars, but I thought the way they did it was sloppy.

 

So, there we go: “The Flash” delivers another amazing season, not failing to satisfy. I give it 8/10. What did you think? Let me know in the comments, and have a good day. (PS: Happy 40th, Star Wars!)

 

Picture creds to the Official Flash Instagram page

MOTOR GIRL # 1

When Samantha's junkyard is visited by a UFO looking for spare parts, she is only too happy to oblige. But when word gets out she is a reliable source, Sam's booming alien business catches the attention of an Area 51 investigator determined to shut her down! Don't miss the premier issue of Terry Moore's fantastic new series!

 

MERCY SPARX YEAR ONE # 1

For years we've known Mercy Sparx as Heaven's secret weapon. A devil working for the good guys, tasked with hunting down and capturing rogue angels hiding on Earth. This is the never told story of her first year on Earth, and even more mysterious beginnings in the forgotten divine realm of SHEOL. Supported by a story in last May's FCBD special Mix Tape 2016 and a nationwide signing tour!

 

BATMAN ’66 MEETS STEED AND MRS. PEEL # 5

Lord Ffogg’s ancestral home has become more than a simple girls’ school—it’s now a mind-bending psychedelic trap for our heroes! As Robin is surprised by the conduct of some old friends, so is the rest of the team when Michaela Gough’s icy, silent partner is revealed! Co-published with BOOM! Studios.

 

ALEISTER & ADOLF

In Aleister & Adolf, media theorist and documentarian Douglas Rushkoff weaves a mind-bending tale of iconography and mysticism, set against the backdrop of a battle-torn Europe.

 

This all-new original graphic novel, beautifully rendered by Michael Avon Oeming (The Victories, Powers), views real-world history through a psychedelic occult lens.

 

In a story spanning generations and featuring some of the most notable and notorious idealists of the twentieth century, legendary occultist Aleister Crowley develops a powerful and dangerous new weapon to defend the world against Adolf Hitler’s own war machine—spawning an unconventional new form of warfare that is fought not with steel but with symbols and ideas. But these intangible arsenals are much more insidious—and perhaps much more dangerous—than their creators could have ever conceived.

Building on his first book, On Intelligence, Jeff bravely presents a framework for how the brain works to produce intelligence from neurons organized into ~150 thousand cortical columns.

 

His decades of self-funded dedication to studying how the brain works affords a possibly unique and unifying perspective. In both books, though, he loses his way when speculating on the artificial brains of the future (with logical inconsistencies and overgeneralizations anchored on our biology). I think the first 112 pages are the best part of his new book. I’ll focus on that and save a brief critique of his AI constraints for the end.

 

In his first book, Hawkins presents a memory-prediction framework for intelligence. The neurons in the neocortex provide a vast amount of memory that learns a model of the world. These models continuously make low-level predictions in parallel across all of our senses. We only notice them when a prediction is incorrect. Higher in the hierarchy, we make predictions at higher levels of abstraction (the crux of intelligence, creativity and all that we consider being human), but the structures are fundamentally the same.

 

If that is not mind-bending enough, in his new book, Jeff extends the memory framework to the construct of “reference frames”. Everything we perceive is a constructed reality, a cortical consensus from competing internal models resident in many cortical columns, the amalgam of 1000 brains. Those models are updated by data streaming from the senses. But our reality resides in the models.

 

Here are the best parts of his new book, in my opinion. I revisit them to learn. Travelling without moving, as we’ll see…

 

“The cells in your head are reading these words. Think how remarkable that is.”

 

“If you ignore folds and creases, then the neocortex looks like one large sheet of cells, with no obvious divisions. The neocortex looks similar everywhere. Every part of the neocortex generates movement. In every region we have examined, scientists have found cells that project to some part of the old brain related to movement. The complex circuitry seen everywhere in the neocortex performs a sensory-motor task. There are no pure motor regions and no pure sensory regions.”

 

The cortex is relatively new development by evolutionary time scales. After a long period of simple reflexes and reptilian instincts, only mammals evolved a neocortex. “At some point millions of years ago, a new piece of the brain appears that we now call the neocortex. It starts small, but then grows larger, not by creating anything new, but by copying a basic circuit over and over. As the neocortex grows, it gets larger in area but not in thickness.” Given the recency, it’s “probably not enough time for multiple new complex capabilities to be discovered by evolution, but it’s plenty of time for evolution to make more copies of the same thing.”

 

• Vernon Mountcastle’s proposition from 1978: “All the things we associate with intelligence, which on the surface appear to be different, are, in reality, manifestations of the same underlying cortical algorithm. Darwin proposed that the diversity of life is due to one basic algorithm (evolution). Mountcastle proposed that the diversity of intelligence is due to one basic algorithm.”

 

Beyond the evolutionary time-scale argument, the brains’ vast flexibility to accept different, even prosthetic, sensory input changes and its ability to learn many different things point to a universal framework for learning.

 

• Cortical Columns are “the largest and most important piece of the puzzle.” They are roughly one square millimeter in size with 100K neurons. A mouse has one column per whisker. “Every cortical column is making predictions. We are not aware of the vast majority of these predictions unless the input to the brain does not match.”

 

• Learning through movement: “The brain learns its model of the world by observing how its inputs change over time. There isn’t another way to learn. Every time we take a step, move a limb, move our eyes, tilt our head, or utter a sound, the input from our sensors change. For example, our eyes make rapid movements, called saccades, about three times a second. With each saccade, our eyes fixate on a new point in the world and the information from the eyes to the brain changes completely.” We don’t perceive any of this because we are living in the model, which is predicting the next input to come, across all the senses. “Vision is an interactive process, dependent on movement. Only by moving can we learn a model of the object.”

 

“To avoid hallucinating, the brain needs to keep its predictions separate from reality. We are not aware of most of the predictions made by the brain unless an error occurs.”

 

“Thoughts and experiences are always the result of a set of neurons that are active at the same time (about 2% of the total). Individual neurons can participate in many different thoughts or experiences. Everything we know is stored in the connections between neurons. Every day, many of the synapses on an individual neuron will disappear and new ones will replace them. Thus, much of learning occurs by forming new connections between neurons that were not previously connected.”

 

Sequence memory (like predicting the next note in a melody or a common sequence of behaviors): “Sequence memory is also used for language. Recognizing a spoken work is like recognizing a short melody.”

 

• Locus of Predictions: “Oddly, less than 10% of the pyramidal cell’s synapses are in the proximal area. The other 90% are too far away to trigger a spike. For many years, no one knew what 90% of the synapses in the neocortex did. The big insight I had was that dendrite spikes are predictions. A dendrite spike occurs when a set of synapses close to each other on a distal dendrite get input at the same time, and it means the neuron had recognized a pattern of activity in some other neurons. When the pattern of activity is detected, it raises the voltage at the cell body, putting the cell into what we call a predictive state. The cell is primed to spike… and the cell spikes a little bit sooner than if it would have if the neuron was not in a predictive state.” And this inhibits other neurons from ever firing, the ones who were behind in that race. “When an input arrives that is unexpected, then neurons fire at once. If the input is predicted, then only the predictive-state neurons become active. This is a common observation about the neocortex: unexpected inputs cause a lot more activity than expected ones.” Predictions prime the pump, sub-threshold. “Predictions are not sent along a cell’s axon to other neurons, which explains why we are unaware of most of them.”

 

“Most predictions occur inside neurons. With thousands of distal synapses, each neuron can recognize hundreds of patterns that predict when the neuron should become active. Prediction is built into the fabric of the neocortex. As few as 20,000 neurons can learn thousands of complete sequences. The sequence memory continued to work even if 30% of the neurons died or the input was noisy.”

 

• Reference Frames: “The secret of the cortical column is reference frames. A reference frame is like an invisible, 3D-grid surrounding and attached to something” (like a map)

 

“Predicting the next input in a sequence and predicting the next input when we move are similar problems. Our sequence-memory circuit could make both types of predictions if the neurons were given an additional input that represented how the sensor was moving.”

 

“Most of the circuitry is there to create reference frames and track locations. The brain builds models of the world by associating sensory input with locations in reference frames. You need a reference frame to specify the relative position and structure of objects. Roboticists rely on them to plan the movements of a robot’s arm or body. Reference frames were the missing ingredient, the key to unraveling the mystery of the neocortex and to understanding intelligence. We showed that a single cortical column could learn the 3D shape of objects by sensing and moving and sensing and moving. Each cortical column must know the location of its input relative to the object being sensed. To do that, a cortical column requires a reference frame that is fixed to the object. The brain must have neurons whose activity represents the location of every object that we perceive.”

 

“Mammals have a powerful internal navigation system. There are neurons in the old part of our brain that are known to learn maps of the places we have visited” — the hippocampus and enthorhinal cortex, organs roughly the size of a finger.

 

“Place cells tell a rat where it is based on sensory inputs, but planning movement requires grid cells. Grid cells form a grid pattern. The two types of cells work together to create a complete model of the rat’s environment. Every time a rat enters an environment, the grid cells create a new reference frame to specify locations and plan movements.” In the new brain, these same cells and structures create models of objects instead of environments.

 

“Every cortical column learns models of complete objects. The columns do this using the same basic method that the old brain uses to learn models of environments. It is as if nature stripped down the hippocampus to a minimal form, made tens of thousands of copies, and arranged them side by side in cortical columns. That became the neocortex. Each patch of your skin and each patch of your retina has its own reference frame in the neocortex. Your five fingertips touching a cup are like five rats exploring a box.”

 

“Not all cortical columns are modeling objects. Language and other high-level cognitive abilities are, at some fundamental level, the same as seeing, touching, and hearing. The reference frames that are most useful for certain concepts have more than three dimensions.”

 

• Thinking is a form of movement: “The brain arranges all knowledge using reference frames, and thinking is a form of moving. Thinking occurs when we activate successive locations in reference frames.”

 

“A cortical column is just a mechanism that tries to discover and model the structure of whatever is causing its inputs to change” whether the structure of environments, physical objects or conceptual objects. “Reference frames are not an optional component of intelligence; they are the structure in which all information is stored in the brain. Every fact you know is paired with a location in a reference frame. Organizing knowledge this way makes the facts actionable” to “determine what actions are needed to achieve a goal.”

 

“To recall stored knowledge, we have to activate the appropriate locations in the appropriate reference frames. Thinking occurs when the neurons invoke location after location in a reference frame, bringing to mind what was stored in each location. The succession of thoughts we experience when thinking is analogous to the succession of sensations we experience when touching an object with a finger, or the succession of things we see when we walk about a town.”

 

• What and Where Pathways. “Your brain has two vision systems. If you follow the optic nerve as it travels from the eye to the neocortex, you will see that it leads to two parallel vision systems, called the ‘what’ visual pathway and the ‘where’ visual pathway.” If you disable one, you can identify what something is but not where, or vice versa. “Similar pathways also exist for other senses. There are what and where regions for seeing, touching, and hearing.”

 

“Cortical grid cells in What columns attach reference frames to objects. Cortical grid cells in Where columns attach reference frames to you body.” The distinction depends on where the inputs come from. “If a cortical column gets input from the body, such as the neurons that detect the joint angles of the limbs, it will automatically create a reference frame anchored to the body.”

 

“Your body is just another object in the world. However, unlike external objects, your body is always present. A significant portion of the neocortex — the Where regions — is dedicated to modeling your body and the space around your body.”

 

For abstract concepts like mathematics, there are difference reference frames one could use to learn. “Part of learning is discovering what is a good reference frame, including the number of dimensions.” History can be learned on a timeline, or geographically. “They lead to different ways of thinking about history. They might lead to different conclusions and different predictions. Becoming an expert in a field of study requires discovering a good framework to represent the associated data and facts. Discovering a useful reference frame is most difficult part of learning, even though most of the time we are not consciously aware of it. The correct reference frame to understand how the brain works is reference frames.” It's no surprise that the memory trick called the method of loci, or memory palace, is a good method for remembering a large sequential list of nouns.

 

From fMRI studies, “the process of storing items in a reference frame and recalling them via ‘movement’ is the same.”

 

“Nested structure and recursion are key attributes of language. Each cortical column has to be able to learn nested and recursive structure. Cortical columns create reference frames for every object they know. Reference frames are then populated with links to other reference frames. The brain models the world using reference frames that are populated with reference frames; it’s reference frames all the way down.”

 

• The Thousand Brains Theory of Intelligence: The prevailing view of the neocortex was a hierarchy of feature detectors, from edge detectors up to face detectors. Jeff argues that each and every column is a sensory-motor system. “When the eyes saccade from one fixation point to another, some of the neurons in the V1 and V2 visual regions do something remarkable. They seem to know what they will be seeing before the eyes have stopped moving. These neurons become active as if they can see new input, but the input hasn’t yet arrived. There are connections between low-level visual regions and low-level touch regions.” Mouse vision occurs in the V1 region; it does not depend on a hierarchy of vision abstractions.

 

“All cortical columns, even in low-level sensory regions, are capable of learning and recognizing complete objects. A column that senses only a small part of an object (e.g., from a patch of retina) can learn a model of the entire object by integrating its inputs over time.”

 

“Learning is not a separate process from sensing and acting. We learn continuously. When a neuron learns a new pattern, it forms new synapses on one dendrite branch. The new synapses don’t affect previously learned ones on other branches. Thus, learning doesn’t force the neuron to forget or modify something it learned earlier.” It’s additive.

 

“What a column learns is limited by its inputs. Columns in V1 can recognize letters and words in the smallest font. V1 and V2 learn models of objects, such as letters and words, but the models differ by scale.”

 

“Knowledge of something is distributed in thousands of columns, but these are a small subset of all the columns. This is why we call it the Thousand Brains Theory: knowledge of any particular item is distributed among thousands of complimentary models. The columns are not redundant, and each is a complete sensory-motor system.”

 

• The Solution to Sensor Fusion and the Binding Problem: “Columns vote. Your perception is the consensus the columns reach by voting.”

 

“If you touch something with only one finger, then you have to move it to recognize the object. But if you grasp the object with your entire hand, then you can usually recognize the object at once. In almost all cases, using five fingers will require less movement than using one.” (made me think of reading Braille with multiple fingers). “Voting works across sensory modalities (sight, touch, etc.)”

 

How? “Cells in some layers send axons long distances within the neocortex” between left and right-hand brain regions or between V1 and A1, the primary vision and auditory regions. “These cells with long-distance connections are voting. Cells that represent what object is being sensed can vote and will project broadly. Often a column will be uncertain, in which case its neurons will send multiple possibilities at the same time. Simultaneously, the column receives projections from other columns representing their guesses. The most common guesses suppress the least common ones until the entire network settles on one answer. The voting mechanism works well even if the long-distance axons connect to a small, randomly chosen subset of other columns”

 

• The Stability of Perception with ever-changing inputs: “What we perceive is based on the stable voting neurons. We are not consciously aware of the changing activity in each column.” Roughly 98% are silent at any given time and 2% are continuously firing. Consider the experience of an optical illusion duality (like the drawing of a pair of faces or vase); you can only see one at a time, and there is a delay if you force yourself to switch. “Recognizing an object in one sensory modality leads to predictions in other sensory modalities.”

 

• Attention: We have the perception of multiple objects in our visual field even though we can only attend to one at a time. “Attention plays an essential role in how the brain learns models. The brain can attend to smaller or larger parts of the visual field. Exactly how the brain does this is not well understood, but it involves a part of the brain called the thalamus, which is tightly connected to all areas of the neocortex. It is so intimately connected to the neocortex that I consider it an extension of the neocortex.”

 

• Consciousness: “Neurons form a continuous memory of both our thoughts and actions. It is this accessibility of the past — the ability to jump back in time and slide forward again to the present — that gives us our sense of presence and awareness. This is the core of what it means to be conscious. If we couldn’t replay our recent thoughts and experiences, then we would be unaware we are alive.”

 

“The neocortex does not directly control any muscles. The neocortex has to be attached to something that already has sensors and already has behaviors (the primitive brain). It does not create completely new behaviors; it learns how to string together existing ones in new and useful ways.”

 

“Instead of the neocortex using a hierarchy to assemble features into a recognized object, it uses hierarchy to assemble objects into more complex objects.” The assumption of hierarchy has been stumbling block for neuroscience for many decades.

 

“Reverse engineering the brain and understanding intelligence is the most important scientific quest humans will ever undertake. At one point I debated whether I should end right there. A framework for understanding the neocortex is certainly ambitious enough for one book.”

 

Yes, perhaps he should have. AI has been his failing. And, more abstractly, it is one of the grand challenges of biomimicry. While the brain provides the existence proof of an iterative algorithm compounding complexity and generating intelligence, it is a non-trivial exercise to capture the right level of abstraction when instantiating on a silicon substrate. Jeff seems to anchor on our biology to the point of having the wrong reference frame, so to speak, for his intuition. He asserts that certain aspects of our biology must be replicated in all artificial intelligences (e.g., a physically moving vision sensor vs a raster scan saccade) while dismissing countless other aspects of our biology, from ion channels to the goal setting regions of the brain.

 

We can logically see many idiosyncratic limitations in our biology, constrained by cellular sensors and compute, and need not replicate them in silicon. Similarly, there are limits in our silicon substrates (e.g., number of metal layers and lack of dynamic interconnect) that we need to address if synaptic fanout and long-range voting circuits are fundamental elements.

 

He is not alone is anchoring on the wrong elements of biomimicry. Neuromorphic spiking compute comes to mind. And this is why I did not even present his AI arguments, as they seemed so riddled with misguided leaps of intuition. You can see how he lost his way in his first book when he asserted that we could generate an AI, and then cut and paste key blocks of functionality like the ability to speak French from one AI to another.

 

Nevertheless, I am curious about his self-funded work on the brain, which might be a meaningful contribution on the biological side.

Reflection mind bender

João “J Desenhos” Carvalho is sixteen years old, entirely self-taught, and draws with supplies you could find at any Wal-Mart. Here’s what

 

Source by julee1590

  

sharekid.com/this-self-taught-teenager-draws-mind-bending...

 

#ShareKid

Man, I sure hope you guys can see them all well...

 

So this has been updated with Wave 4 and Villager! I've gotten them all over the course of May and I just now received the final half of Wave 4 through GameStop and Target.

 

I'll be posting nicknames only this time so I don't have to update everything as much. I kept forgetting to with the other post, so there won't be any reason to look back here often.

 

Without further adieu, here's the nicknames section!

 

LAST UPDATED: 6/12

 

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Kirby - Kitby

 

The nickname originated from when I first got on flickr. Deku Scrubster pointed out that I misspelled Kirby's name, turns out, this is what happened.

 

Liked it ever since.

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Fox - Speedster

 

He's fast, what else can I say? I can hardly keep up with the dude. You could say he's fantastic....

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Mario - Madio

 

Still a pun off the original name.

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Donkey Kong - Konkey Dong

 

My Sis mispronounced his name one day and it got the whole family a laughin'. I've loved the name ever since.

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Pikachu - Spark

 

He has electricity. 'nuff said.

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Link - SirCourage

 

Simple enough, I thought this gave him a more 'knightly' attitude.

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Peach - Peech

 

Help me plz, I have no idea what to name her.

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Zelda - WisdomWiz

 

Can you see the trend I have going here? It'll probably be Powerhouse with Ganondorf.

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Samus - Huntress

 

Since she's also a bounty hunter, I thought this suited her pretty well. Also a homage to the DC superhero of the same name.

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Luigi - Weegee

 

Weeeeeeeeeeeeg.

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Yoshi - TheYoshter

 

Nothing much here, just thought it sounded cool. Probs change it later.

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Diddy Kong - TheMangler

 

Monkey Flip.

 

Bruh.

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Little Mac - MegatonMac

 

Sakurai himself did say that his smashes hit at "megaton" levels... That's pretty strong...

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Marth - Mars

 

Original translation of Marth's name into the short lived anime. Thought it sounded cool as well.

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Captain Falcon - Turbo

 

In the F-Zero games, you go at mind bending speeds. I figured this well represented his franchise and Falcon's character really well.

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Pit - Captain OPG

 

Captain of Palutena's Guard.

 

Pretty much the long and short of the name given to him in the Punch Out! boxing stage.

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Bowser - Bruzer

 

Pun off the original name as well as referencing his hard-hitting attacks.

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Toon Link - LooneyLink

 

Toon Link's name in other languages.

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Lucario - TheAuraK9

 

Pretty much his key attribute and me thinking he looks a lot like a dog.

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Rosalina - Rosielina

 

I really need a better name for her, but this is as original as it gets.

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Sheik - Illusive

 

This nickname both sounds cool and has reminds me of how mysterious and quick she(?) is.

 

Probably one of my favorites.

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Ike - Brawn

 

He's really strong.

 

'nuff said.

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Sonic - The Blur

 

He's really fast.

 

'nuff said.

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Shulk - Swift

 

Thought this described his playstyle pretty well. I also think the name is cool in general.

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King Dedede - MonarchDDD

 

Fun Fact: "monarch" is another word for "king".

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Mega Man - Android87

 

This both references his human looks and his date of birth in 1987.

 

FNaF anyone?

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Meta Knight - Hawk

 

What can I say? I trained him to stay in the air and swoop down when he needs to. Plus it sounds pretty intimidating!

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Gold Mario - Gold(?)

 

I actually forgot his nickname, but it was supposed to be a pun off of gold.

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Villager - Major Fear

 

The eyes... THE EYES!!!

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Wario - Pudgy

 

....

 

WAHAHAHHAHHAAHHAAA

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Lucina - Lukina

 

Lucina's name in another language. Korean I believe.

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Robin - Mr.Enchant

 

Minecraft reference... Plus it gave him a sense of maturity while also showing off the fact he has magic that grows more powerful.

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Charizard - Heat Wave

 

One of my little bro's robot toys are named this. Personally, I think the name was pretty cool and thought "why not?"

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Ness - PsychicKid

 

I could really use some suggestions for this one. I couldn't think of anything else...

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Pac-Man - PAC-ATTACK

 

Yay, more puns.

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Jigglypuff - Pigglywuff

 

What? I really like Jigglypuff's name. I didn't wanna change it all that much....

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Good to see you made it! You deserve a medal for reading through all that. Or perhaps you didn't and just scrolled to the bottom like any lazy person would...

 

Ether way, hope ya enjoyed!

  

P.S. All the amiibo are in order from which I acquired them.

Merry Christmas, what a marvelous place to visit.

A beautiful display at the entrance to the Canoe House.

 

Tulsa’s Gathering Place opened its doors in September 2018 and instantly became home to world-class attractions, one-of-a-kind experiences and dynamic programming. During those first 365 days, the Park garnered multiple prestigious accolades, including Best New Attraction by USA Today and one of National Geographic’s 12 Mind-Bending Playgrounds Around the World. Recently, Gathering Place added TIME Magazine’s World’s Greatest Places, American Planning Association’s Great Places and an Urban Land Institute Global Excellence Award to this list. These awards highlight how the Park, created to promote inclusivity in Tulsa, captures worldwide attention for its mission, innovation and design.

I would really appreciate your comments (pro or con) about this image. It is my very first attempt at such a project.

 

Taken with NIKON 8—15 mm zoom

A mirror image* pair of the identical mind bending fully spherical

4π steradian fisheye panoramas viewed from two directions.

This is the widest angle possible in thee dimensions.

 

It takes some time and effort to wrap these spherical images around your brain so they can be properly appreciated.

 

If you place your cursor on the 4th. step from the bottom there is a tiny square with a note showing the spot directly 5' below the camera's location. Stairs are very interesting subjects for this sort of image; but they are highly incompatible with my current hardware for creating them. I'm working on some improved hardware.

We went across to Chatsworth yesterday for the now annual Beyond Limits exhibition by Sotheby's. Again there were lots of photo opportunities to be had, helped in no small part by the kind weather.

 

This is a shot across the highly reflective surface of Eve by Richard Hudson...there was lots of fun to be had with this piece.

 

Chatsworth, Derbyshire, UK.

 

17 September, 2010.

 

My Chatsworth set; (includes pictures from last years exhibition too).

 

18/09/10: 3rd Explore in 3 days...???...merci beaucoup everybody. :-)

 

My Explore set.

ift.tt/2uMr0cs

© Cynthia E. Wood

 

www.cynthiawoodphoto.com | FoundFolios | facebook | Blurb | Instagram @cynthiaewood

Donnie Darko is a mind bending story about a troubled schizophrenic boy who begins to see dismal hallucinations…among them, what is figured to be his imaginary friend, Frank the creepy bunny. Frank tells him the world will end in 28 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes and 12 seconds. Donnie begins to dabble in lofty ideas such as time travel, wormholes, portals and astrophysics, leading the viewers to wonder if Donnie Darko is insane or brilliant far beyond normal thinking. This was built for Model Gal’s Hop To It

challenge…which asks participants to build mainland scale figures that remind us of hopping, in celebration of April and Easter. Logically, I sought inspiration from a dark and depraved story.

 

With the aid of rain, a front seat upstairs on the 139 and a reasonably slow shutter speed, the late bus ride home provided unexpected visual entertainment without having to have recourse to mind-bending drugs.