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The GP40X was EMD's testbed for the future GP50 and introduced the unpopular HT-B truck. The 'elephant ears' version shown here was an experiment in normalizing the tunnel motor concept. The ears eventually were removed and the HT-B trucks were never reproduced. I needed a powered SP unit to haul around some heavy trains so all those unique qualities fit the bill just right. Originally I wanted to build the UP version, but the SP is more iconic with those elephant ears. The UP version will follow someday.
Goli Otok prison
Despite having long been an occasional grazing ground for local shepherds' flocks, the barren island was apparently never permanently settled other than by the prisoners during the 20th century. Throughout World War I, Austria-Hungary sent Russian prisoners of war from the Eastern Front to Goli Otok.
In 1949, the entire island was officially made into a high-security, top secret prison and labor camp run by the authorities of the People's Federal Republic of Yugoslavia,[6] together with the nearby Sveti Grgur island, which held a similar camp for female prisoners. Until 1956, following the Tito–Stalin split and throughout the Informbiro period, it was used to incarcerate political prisoners. These included known and alleged Stalinists, but also other Communist Party of Yugoslavia members or even non-party citizens accused of exhibiting sympathy or leanings towards the Soviet Union.
Many anti-communists (Serbian, Croatian, Macedonian, Albanian and other nationalists etc.) were also incarcerated on Goli Otok. Non-political prisoners were also sent to the island to serve out simple criminal sentences and some of them were sentenced to death. A total of approximately 16,000 political prisoners served there, of which between 400 and 600 died on the island. Other sources, largely based on various individual statements, claim almost 4,000 prisoners died in the camp.
The prison inmates were forced to labor (in a stone quarry, pottery and joinery), without regard to the weather conditions: in the summer the temperature would rise as high as 40 °C (104 °F), while in the winter they were subjected to the chilling bora wind and freezing temperatures. The prison was entirely inmate-run, and its hierarchical system forced the convicts into beating, humiliating, denouncing and shunning each other. Those who cooperated could hope to rise up the hierarchy and receive better treatment.
After Yugoslavia normalized relations with the Soviet Union, Goli Otok prison passed to the provincial jurisdiction of the People's Republic of Croatia (as opposed to the Yugoslav federal authorities). Regardless, the prison remained a taboo topic in Yugoslavia until the early 1980s. Antonije Isaković wrote the novel Tren (Moment) about the prison in 1979, waiting until after Josip Broz Tito's death in 1980 to release it. The book became an instant bestseller.
The prison was shut down on 30 December 1988 and completely abandoned in 1989. Since then it has been left to ruin. It has since become a tourist attraction and is populated by shepherds from Rab. Former Croatian prisoners are organized into the Association of Former Political Prisoners of Goli Otok. In Serbia, they are organized into the Society of Goli Otok.
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Goli Otok, Barren Island', Isola Calva 20021207 S 262 BuraVel 9122 PhotosCROLopar
Goli Otok; lit. 'Barren Island'; Italian: Isola Calva) is a barren, uninhabited island that was the site of a political prison which was in use when Croatia was part of Yugoslavia. The prison was in operation between 1949 and 1989.
The island is located in the northern Adriatic Sea just off the coast of Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, Croatia with an area of approximately 4.5 square kilometers (1.7 sq mi). Exposed to strong bora winds, particularly in the winter, the island's surface is almost completely devoid of vegetation, giving Goli Otok ("barren island" in Croatian) its name. It is also known as the "Croatian Alcatraz" because of its island location and high security.
I had been watching the wheel barrels being filled with Nopaj pads by workers and then waited by this truck with my camera..... ready to shoot the 'loading ramp stunt' (((:
History of Nopal:
Archaeological evidence shows Nopal as a staple and medicine for the cultures which have thrived in Meso Americ (Mexico) dating back at least 12,000 years including the Olmec, Toltec and most recently Aztec. Indeed Aztec folklore describes a prophetic vision of an eagle holding a serpent in its talons while perched on a Nopal cactus plant, where providence dictated they build their city. The Aztec’s referred to Nopal as “Nochtli” in their native Nahuatl language, thus naming their divinely inspired city Tenochtitlan, or City of the Nopal; today’s location of Mexico City. Explorers visiting that area in the 15th Century were fascinated by Nopal’s shelf life and ability to protect against scurvy, which we now know is due to its high Vitamin C content. Thus Nopal became a popular seafaring food and eventually made its way around the globe.
INFO on the HEALTH BENEFITS OF NOPAL cactus - taken from the Chosen Foods - Ancient Nutrition website:
What is Nopal?
Nopal is a cactus native to Mexico, botanically classified as Opuntia ficus-indica. The Genus Opuntia describes over 200 cactus species growing worldwide, all of which share the common Mexican ancestor O. ficus-indica The success of Nopal as a food and medicine has kept it an icon of health food in Mexico where more than 700,000 metric tons are consumed annually.
More recently clinical research has found Nopal to be an ancient nutrition for modern illness because of its unique ability to normalize blood sugar, improve digestive health, and protect against inflammation and oxidative stress.
One of our spa quality herbal products!
These cost a fortune in spas, but they are so simple at home. And the results are visible immediately!
Just pop the muslin bag into a large pot of boiling water. Move the pot off the stove and onto another surface where you can easily put your face over it, and drape a towel over your head to catch the steam. When the pot begins to cool and there is less steam, return the pot to boiling and repeat. I don't recommend doing this for more than 20 minutes all tolled, and the steam should never burn you. However, a slight tingling sensation of circulation can be felt that will fade as your skin normalizes. For best results, facial steams are recommended once a week, and the effect is cumulative.
And the bonuses don't stop after the steam! The herbs I use are beneficial for all skin types, and especially the eyes. Use the spent bags as a treatment for baggy, puffy eyes or for any other problem areas.
All ingredients organic where possible. I designed this product to work with any other regime. I made this originally for myself, as I couldn't find it on the market made with quality ingredients as well as reasonably priced. You'll see these in boutiques and spas for four times the amount! Environmentally friendly with all natural, biodegradable ingredients.
Price is for three packets. $2 off shipping with the purchase of two items. Three or more and shipping is free! To save on packaging and shipping, as well as the burden on the Earth, I do not ship these in singles. Three bags for $7 or one bag can be sent with the purchase of another product for $3.
Herbs can vary according to availability.
A batch of Gifts of Nature Facial Steams may contain:
Fennel: Wrinkle remover. Fragrance herb.
White Willow: Moisturizing. Healing wash for eruptions and sores.
Nettle. Astringent, tonic, improves skin. Very high in vitamins and minerals.
Lavender flowers: Soothing. Stimulates circulation. Toning. Anti-microbial and topical antiseptic. Healing for cuts, burns. Fragrance.
Rose petals: Wrinkle removing, moisturizing. Fragrance. Sacred in Western Europe.
Linden: Softening, healing. Wrinkle removing, antiseptic, mildly bleaching. Fragrance.
St. John's Wort: Anti-microbial. Healing for skin ulcerations and severe conditions.
Red Clover: Skin conditions of all types. Purifier. Blood cleanser.
Yarrow: Astringent and healing, especially for cuts and gashes.
Elderflowers: Tonic. Clears and softens skin, smoothes wrinkles and bleaches freckles.
Calendula: Treats inflammation, wounds, irritations, and sores.
Chaparral: Treats severe skin conditions, including serious infections.
Christiania was one of my favourite places to visit in Copenhagen.
Christiania, also known as the Freetown Christiania, is a partially self-governing neighborhood in the city of Copenhagen, Denmark, which has established semi-legal status as an independent community.
Christiania was founded in 1971, when a group of hippie squatters took over an area of abandoned military barracks. For years the legal status of the region was in limbo, as the Danish government attempted, without success, to remove the squatters.
The neighborhood is accessible only through two main entrances, and cars are not allowed. However the Danish authorities have repeatedly removed the large stones blocking the entrance and the residents have put them back. The authorities claim that they need to have the possibility to drive into the area due to firefighting needs, but the residents suspect (not without merit) that it will instead be used by the police.
The people in Christiania have developed their own set of rules, completely independent of the Danish government. Having no cars is one of these rules. These rules also include: No stealing, No Guns, No Bulletproof Vests, and No Hard Drugs.
Famous for its main drag, known as Pusher Street, where hash was sold openly from permanent stands until 2004, it nevertheless does have rules forbidding hard drugs, such as heroin and cocaine. The commerce is controversial, but since they require a consensus they can't be removed unless everybody agrees. The region negotiated an arrangement with the Danish defense ministry (which still owns the land) in 1995, and the residents now pay taxes. The future of the area remains in doubt, though, as Danish authorities continue to push for its removal.
On Pusher Street, cameras are not allowed, and locals will wave their hands and shout "No photo!" if they see someone trying to take a picture.
The inhabitants fight back with humor and persistence - for instance, when authorities in 2002 demanded that the hash trade be made less visible, the stands were covered in military camouflage nets. On January 4, 2004, the stands were finally demolished by the owners themselves (without stopping the hash trade as such, which continued on a person-to-person basis) as a way of persuading the government to allow the Free Town to continue to exist. Before they were demolished, the National Museum of Denmark was able to get one of the more colorful stands, which is now part of an exhibit.
The drug trade in Christiania has been a source of constant outrage for many Danish politicians and the current right-wing government is taking a number of steps to "normalize" Christiania, i.e. ensuring that the rule of Danish law is respected. The first step in this process was the police crackdown on the drug trade, and both politicians and police have declared that the drug trade will not be allowed to return. The second (and currently undergoing) phase is the registration of all buildings in Christiania so that property taxes can be collected (the squatters have never paid either income taxes, property taxes or rent.) The third step will be the demolition of a number of illegal shacks, constructed in a nature-preserved area (the historic naval fortress of Copenhagen). Ultimately, the government will grant other Danes the right to settle in the area. A group of squatters have staked a claim for collective ownership of all Christiania, but this has been ignored by the government.
[info from Wikipedia]
What I was most struck by was the fact that, outside of Pusher Street, which sort of confirms the image that one would have of Christiania from its "fame", the City is actually beautiful and almost pastoral, with canals and swans, and cute self-made houses, people raising kids and riding bicycles to see each other. These two pictures were taken inside of Christiania. it was a joy to spend an afternoon walking around in the sun, on one of the most gorgeous days of our entire trip, and an unusually hot and sunny one for Denmark.
President Donald J. Trump, joined by White House senior staff members, delivers a statement announcing the agreement of full normalization of relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates Thursday, Aug. 13, 2020, in the Oval Office of the White House. (Official White House Photo by Joyce N. Boghosian)
This is not a painting, or made using AI, as some asked me. It is a real picture taken with a combination of photographic light cameras and telescopes.
SE ED102 + SE Red. 0.7
Luminance (ASI2600MM, L-Enhance, 900s, g100, 15 frames total)
RGB-(HOO) (ASI2600MC Pro, L-enhance, 300s, g100, 15 frames total).
Pixinsight, BXT, NXT, STX, Bill Blanshan’s HOO-Normalization and StarReduction scripts. Final edits in Photoshop.
Shot with a Nikon D780 and a Rokinon 14mm F/2.8. Aperture is fully open at ISO3200 6s.
A half-moon significantly washed out the aurora. The city sky glow combined with the moon light resulted in an exposure gradient across the frame; this was normalized in processing however it contributed to the noise on the left side.
12:17:46AM to 2:01:50AM.
893 frames shot at a 7 second interval, and rendered at 30FPS. This results in playback that is 210x faster than real time.
Watch on youtube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4XsDKx8LYY
The Asahiflex IA was established in 1953 as successor of the Asahiflex I, Japan's first SLR. It had a mirror coupled to the shutter button.
When the shutter button is pressed the mirror goes up, when released the mirror moves down again. This quick-but-not-yet-instant return mirror was a nice feature for the early 1950s, when most SLRs had to be wound on to get the mirror down again.
Tha Asahiflex´s waist level finder is non-interchangeable. To solve the inconvenience of a mirror-inversed image on the ground glass and to make eye-level use possible, a small optical viewfinder was on top of the camera.
The angle of view for this finder was the same as for the 50mm standard lens. The standard lens for this camera was a Takumar 50/3.5 objective with click-stop aperture (see below). Lenses can only be used with pre-set aperture.
Compared to the Asahiflex I the IA had a number of modifications: the shutter speed numbers have been "normalized" to a series of B, 1/25, 1/50, 1/100, 1/200 and 1/500.
A second flash connector (X sync) was added above the first one.
Production number of the IA: about 11,500 made.
Every marriage after living together for more than 5 years goes through dry spells, no matter how steamy they were at the beginning. In India up to 70% couples especially in metropolitan city have to actually struggle to keep the passion alive in their relationship. Marriage is all together such as different ball game from living relationship dating and friendship. Due to busy schedules, work pressure, monotony, children and old aged these are the factors that can do wreak havoc on your sex life.
If I have to speak bluntly then sex is the glue that holds a relationship together. Yoga, apart from working wonders for your mind and soul, also enriches your sex life yoga helps you become aware of your sexual core proper breathing is essential for sexual arousal. Asanas, mudras, pranayamas, and meditation are the new way to better sexuality. As more and more people are discovering that practicing yoga leads to better sex life whether you practice yoga or sex for both you need some practice and training. The yoga system of treatment requires Proper diet and daily practice of yoga.
Good sex makes our skin glow, firms up our abs, beats the blues and above all as a great stress buster.
VAJROLI MUDRA: Sit in any comfortable meditative posture with eyes closed head and spine straight. Now inhales hold the breath in and try to draw the urethra upward. This action is similar to holding back on urge to urinate. Hold the contraction for as long as your feel comfortable. Then exhale while releasing the contraction. Do this Vajroli mudra minimum 10 to 15 rounds
BENEFITS: This mudra regulates and tones the entire uro-genital system, Vajroli mudra balances testosterone levels and sperm count and gives control over premature ejaculation. Problems like prostates hypertrophy are prevented.
SHAVASANA: Lie down on the floor on your back, keep the legs straight on the floor with feet apart by about your shoulder width. Keep the arms straight by your sides with hands placed about six inches away from the body. The head ad spine should be in a straight line. Close your eyes gently. Make the whole body loose and stop all physical movement, mentally watch your breathing and allow it to become rhythmic and relaxed.
BENEFITS: This asana leads to remove physical and mental fatigue. The breathing becomes more regulated and controlled naturally. This asana improves optimum capacity of lungs and intake of oxygen. Relaxation helps to open up blocked arteries and thus helps to improve cardiac functions.
VATAYANASANA METHOD: Stand with feet together bends the right knee and place the foot on the left thigh in the half padamasan position. Then place the hand in Namaskar position. Maintain the balance and hold the position for a short duration. Release the right leg repeat the practice with the opposite leg, breathing normal. Do it two times on each side.
BENEFITS: This asana develops the ability to retain seminal fluid and regulates the reproductive system and prevent early ejaculation. It also strengthens the leg muscle and knee joints. CAUTION: Try to do it slowly after some practice one can do it. This asana require more coordination then muscular strength.
ASWANI MUDRA: Stand in comfortable position closes eyes and breathing normal. Take your attention to the anus area. Contract the anal muscles for a few seconds without feeling any strain. Then relax for a few seconds. Repeat the contraction and relax the anal muscles. Make the contractions more rapid. BENEFITS: It is very helpful to prevents early ejaculation. The inflammation of prostate gland is also cured by this mudra. It helps to alleviate piles, constipation and prevents the escape of pranic energy from the body.
Home Remedy
consuming garlic is one of the best ways to treat sexual impotence. Chew two to three cloves of raw garlic, on a daily basis. In fact, you should include garlic in your regular diet.
Onion is another very good vegetable to treat sexual impotence. It increases libido and strengthens reproducing organs. White onions are best for this purpose.
Finely chop about 150 grams of carrots. Consume this, along with a half-boiled egg, dipped in a tablespoon of honey, once every day. This will help increase sexual stamina.
Take about 5-10 gm root powder of Ladyfinger in a glass of milk. Add 2 tsp of mishri in this milk and drink it. This will prove helpful in improving sexual vigor.
Put 15 gm dried roots of asparagus in a glass of milk. Have this milk two times in a day. It will be useful in treating both sexual impotency and premature ejaculation.
In 250ml of boiled milk, add 15 grams drumstick flowers. Prepare a soup from this decoction. Another effective way to use drumsticks would be to boil 120 gm of the powder of the dry bark in half a liter of water, for about half an hour. Yet another effective way would be to have 30 grams of this powder with a tablespoon of honey. Have this paste 3 times in a day.
Ginger juice is beneficial in treating sexual impotence. Mix ½ tsp ginger juice with half boiled egg and honey. Have this mixture once every night. It is beneficial in curing impotency, premature ejaculation..
Dry fruits are effective in curing sexual impotency. Pound and mix equal quantities of dates, almonds, pistachios and quince seeds. 100 grams of this mixture, consumed on a daily basis, is said to increase sexual power.
Wash 30 grams of black raisins in lukewarm water. Eat them with a glass of warm milk, daily. Increase the quantity by 50 grams after some time.
Mix jambul fruit (Indian herb) with milk and add a little honey to it. Consume this mixture to treat impotence.
Some of the items that help normalize hormonal imbalance and boost sexual craving are chickweed, ginseng, plantain and safflower. Include them in your diet.
For female sterility, dry the roots of banyan tree and powder them into fine particles. Take about 20 gm of this powder with milk, in a ratio of 1:5. Have this for 3 consecutive nights after the menstrual cycle. Including lots of seeds, fruits, nuts, grains, fresh green vegetables and fresh fruits in the diet is helpful in treating sexual impotence.
To know more log on www.yogagurusuneelsingh.com Pic By Vijay Gautam Mobile 09810210802
Amidst all the filth and chaos, there is a man in the background with a broom, trying to clean up. But there is no way to normalize this way of life.
I’m heading to my Cardiologist’s office for an INR test. They prick my finger, squeeze a drop of blood out and snatch it onto a card where it sits for about ten or twenty seconds. When it coagulates, the Nurse announces the INR number. If it falls outside the acceptable range they adjust my anticoagulant dose starting tonight. Then we schedule the next INR and I leave.... Now that’s what I call fun fun... So, it’s an international normalized ratio. Simply stated it’s the ratio of how long it takes my blood to clot divided by the normal time it takes people of my age and general state of health. Such Fun 💐💐🎊🎂
Place: Dongyin, Matsu Islands
The Matsu islands are a minor archipelago of 36 islands and islets in the East China Sea and administered by the Republic of China (Taiwan). The Matsu islands together form the county of Lienchiang, but most of Liangjiang County (same name, different spelling) is under control of the People's Republic of China. Linear distance from mainland China is less than 20 km.
Mainlanders from Fujian and Zhejiang started migrating to the islands during the Yuan Dynasty. The popular net fishing industry had established the base for development of Fuao settlement and industrial development of the region over several hundred years.
During the early Qing Dynasty, pirates gathered here and the residents left temporarily. In contrast with Taiwan and Penghu, the Matsu Islands were not ceded to the Japanese Empire via the Treaty of Shimonoseki in 1895. Neither were they occupied by Japanese troops during World War II because they were not important militarily. Due to its strategic location for the only route for spice road, the British established the Dongyong Lighthouse in Dongyin Island in 1912 to facilitate ships navigation.
In 1911, the Qing Dynasty was toppled after the Xinhai Revolution on 10 October 1911 and the Republic of China (ROC) was established on 1 January 1912. Matsu Islands was subsequently governed under the administration of Fukien Province of the ROC. On 1 August 1927, the Nanchang Uprising broke out between the ruling Nationalist Party of China (KMT) and Communist Party of China (CPC) which marked the beginning of Chinese Civil War. After years of war, the CPC finally managed to take over mainland China from KMT and established the People's Republic of China (PRC) on 1 October 1949 which also covers the Lianjiang County of Fujian. The KMT subsequently retreated from mainland China to Taiwan in end of 1949.
After their retreat, the KMT retained the offshore part from the original Lianjiang County located on Matsu Islands, and also all of Kinmen County. In July 1958 the PRC began massing forces opposite the two islands and began bombarding them on 23 August, triggering the Second Taiwan Strait Crisis. On 4 September 1958, the PRC announced the extension of its territorial waters by 20 kilometres (12 mi) to include the two islands. However, after talks were held between the USA and PRC in Warsaw, Poland later that month, a ceasefire was agreed and the status quo reaffirmed.
The phrase "Quemoy and Matsu" became part of American political language in the 1960 U.S. presidential election. During the debates, both candidates, Vice-President Richard Nixon and Senator John F. Kennedy, pledged to use American forces if necessary to protect Taiwan from invasion by the PRC, which the United States did not recognize as a legitimate government. But the two candidates had different opinions about whether to use American forces to protect Taiwan's forward positions, Quemoy and Matsu, also. In fact, Senator Kennedy stated that these islands - as little as 9 kilometres (5.5 mi) off the coast of China and as much as 170 kilometres (106 mi) from Taiwan - were strategically indefensible and were not essential to the defense of Taiwan. On the contrary, Vice-President Nixon maintained that since Quemoy and Matsu were in the "area of freedom," they should not be surrendered to the Communists as a matter of "principle."
Self governance of the county resumed in 1992 after the normalization of the political warfare with the mainland and the abolishment of Battle Field Administration on 7 November 1992. Afterwards, the local constructions progressed tremendously. In 1999, the islands were designated under Matsu National Scenic Area Administration. In January 2001, direct cargo and passenger shipping started between Matsu and Fujian Province of the PRC. Since 1 January 2015, tourists from mainland China could directly apply the Exit and Entry Permit upon arrival in Matsu Islands. This privilege also applies to Penghu and Kinmen as means to boost tourism in the outlying islands of Taiwan.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matsu_Islands
In 2013 I had the opportunity to visit the largest of the Matsu islands, Nangan, as a friend of mine is a teacher at a primary school on the island.
Dongyin is Taiwan's northernmost island.
Goli Otok prison
Despite having long been an occasional grazing ground for local shepherds' flocks, the barren island was apparently never permanently settled other than by the prisoners during the 20th century. Throughout World War I, Austria-Hungary sent Russian prisoners of war from the Eastern Front to Goli Otok.
In 1949, the entire island was officially made into a high-security, top secret prison and labor camp run by the authorities of the People's Federal Republic of Yugoslavia,[6] together with the nearby Sveti Grgur island, which held a similar camp for female prisoners. Until 1956, following the Tito–Stalin split and throughout the Informbiro period, it was used to incarcerate political prisoners. These included known and alleged Stalinists, but also other Communist Party of Yugoslavia members or even non-party citizens accused of exhibiting sympathy or leanings towards the Soviet Union.
Many anti-communists (Serbian, Croatian, Macedonian, Albanian and other nationalists etc.) were also incarcerated on Goli Otok. Non-political prisoners were also sent to the island to serve out simple criminal sentences and some of them were sentenced to death. A total of approximately 16,000 political prisoners served there, of which between 400 and 600 died on the island. Other sources, largely based on various individual statements, claim almost 4,000 prisoners died in the camp.
The prison inmates were forced to labor (in a stone quarry, pottery and joinery), without regard to the weather conditions: in the summer the temperature would rise as high as 40 °C (104 °F), while in the winter they were subjected to the chilling bora wind and freezing temperatures. The prison was entirely inmate-run, and its hierarchical system forced the convicts into beating, humiliating, denouncing and shunning each other. Those who cooperated could hope to rise up the hierarchy and receive better treatment.
After Yugoslavia normalized relations with the Soviet Union, Goli Otok prison passed to the provincial jurisdiction of the People's Republic of Croatia (as opposed to the Yugoslav federal authorities). Regardless, the prison remained a taboo topic in Yugoslavia until the early 1980s. Antonije Isaković wrote the novel Tren (Moment) about the prison in 1979, waiting until after Josip Broz Tito's death in 1980 to release it. The book became an instant bestseller.
The prison was shut down on 30 December 1988 and completely abandoned in 1989. Since then it has been left to ruin. It has since become a tourist attraction and is populated by shepherds from Rab. Former Croatian prisoners are organized into the Association of Former Political Prisoners of Goli Otok. In Serbia, they are organized into the Society of Goli Otok.
-----------------------------------------
Goli Otok, Barren Island', Isola Calva 20021207 S 262 BuraVel 9122 PhotosCROLopar
Goli Otok; lit. 'Barren Island'; Italian: Isola Calva) is a barren, uninhabited island that was the site of a political prison which was in use when Croatia was part of Yugoslavia. The prison was in operation between 1949 and 1989.
The island is located in the northern Adriatic Sea just off the coast of Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, Croatia with an area of approximately 4.5 square kilometers (1.7 sq mi). Exposed to strong bora winds, particularly in the winter, the island's surface is almost completely devoid of vegetation, giving Goli Otok ("barren island" in Croatian) its name. It is also known as the "Croatian Alcatraz" because of its island location and high security.
Projecting a pattern onto a screen made of Savage Translum plastic suspended over a glossy black acrylic panel covered in water (held in by gaffer tape around the edges). Another screen made of tracing-paper to the left has a ball of orange light projected onto it. The ripples are made, by dropping the bottle from about 5mm height. I used Control My Nikon with sound triggering to take the shot from the sound of the bottle hitting the acrylic panel.
Lights: Lencarta 600SF super-fast heads.
Projection attachment from Pixapro, using one of their GoBOs.
The light on the left has a full cut of CTO in it, with the camera set to incandescent white balance to normalize it. This has the effect of making the back light blue. I didn't want to colour the back light blue directly, as it was already at full power due to the amount of light the projector loses.
I use a 100ml syringe to fill the "pool" around the bottle. Really useful for precise placing of water too, and, for sucking the water back out again when you're done :)
So everyday I have a cup of tea (milk and sugar please) and also... write down what I do. Every day.... I've been writing down what I do every day for over 3 years now, and it has come in so handy in remembering things! (kind of sad, since I'm 'young'... but it's helped me, Steve, and even other people in my life in important events... since I document it ;) ) This is my current... it's more or less calendar style, than a journal... but I'll call it daily log ;) Steve sends me them from Paperchase in London... well this one he brought over with him in April.. but yeah, I haven't found a proper Paperchase store out here that carries them... we only have a selection of their items at Borders I think? Anywho, I keep track of all my daily things, and also have little symbols for some particular items ;) Maybe I've got a little bit of a neurotic side, or symptomatology for ocd or ocpd.. you choose, whatever. I like doing it, and actually have a couple of friends that do it too. Ya know, just had to 'normalize' my behavior for you lot. ;D
Anyway, this is a routine... which is part of a series I had wanted to begin with this image... But, um... I didn't ;)
Happy Bokeh Wednesday too!
Day .210.
One of our spa quality herbal products!
These cost a fortune in spas, but they are so simple at home. And the results are visible immediately!
Just pop the muslin bag into a large pot of boiling water. Move the pot off the stove and onto another surface where you can easily put your face over it, and drape a towel over your head to catch the steam. When the pot begins to cool and there is less steam, return the pot to boiling and repeat. I don't recommend doing this for more than 20 minutes all tolled, and the steam should never burn you. However, a slight tingling sensation of circulation can be felt that will fade as your skin normalizes. For best results, facial steams are recommended once a week, and the effect is cumulative.
And the bonuses don't stop after the steam! The herbs I use are beneficial for all skin types, and especially the eyes. Use the spent bags as a treatment for baggy, puffy eyes or for any other problem areas.
All ingredients organic where possible. I designed this product to work with any other regime. I made this originally for myself, as I couldn't find it on the market made with quality ingredients as well as reasonably priced. You'll see these in boutiques and spas for four times the amount! Environmentally friendly with all natural, biodegradable ingredients.
Price is for three packets. $2 off shipping with the purchase of two items. Three or more and shipping is free! To save on packaging and shipping, as well as the burden on the Earth, I do not ship these in singles. Three bags for $7 or one bag can be sent with the purchase of another product for $3.
Herbs can vary according to availability.
A batch of Gifts of Nature Facial Steams may contain:
Fennel: Wrinkle remover. Fragrance herb.
White Willow: Moisturizing. Healing wash for eruptions and sores.
Nettle. Astringent, tonic, improves skin. Very high in vitamins and minerals.
Lavender flowers: Soothing. Stimulates circulation. Toning. Anti-microbial and topical antiseptic. Healing for cuts, burns. Fragrance.
Rose petals: Wrinkle removing, moisturizing. Fragrance. Sacred in Western Europe.
Linden: Softening, healing. Wrinkle removing, antiseptic, mildly bleaching. Fragrance.
St. John's Wort: Anti-microbial. Healing for skin ulcerations and severe conditions.
Red Clover: Skin conditions of all types. Purifier. Blood cleanser.
Yarrow: Astringent and healing, especially for cuts and gashes.
Elderflowers: Tonic. Clears and softens skin, smoothes wrinkles and bleaches freckles.
Calendula: Treats inflammation, wounds, irritations, and sores.
Chaparral: Treats severe skin conditions, including serious infections.
This bead has the symbol of Two Eyes and Two Diamonds.
Diamonds represent the Vajra, a weapon against ignorance and stupidity.
Two eyes in Tibet denote the masculine and feminine principles in the world and the harmony between them. This is also the concept of Yin Yang in Feng Shui.
Many call it the "bead of LOVE". It is believed that the bead attracts love and partners, builds relationships. This is only partly true. First of all, the bead harmonizes the internal balance of male and female, then the surrounding space reacts accordingly. Thanks to inner harmony, existing relationships are normalized and what was previously empty is filled. Updates in life will not keep you waiting if you wear a 2-eyed Pure bead all the time.
4 symbols around the bead symbolize freedom from 4 cardinal directions. This is freedom of choice and movement, and freedom of thought.
are you scared yet?
I love this time of year..ya know, the time of year when my urge to kill is normalized and acceptable. LOL
I've been known to howl while running amuck so this piece of.... photoshop...may be more true to life than ya think.
Sony RX1 User Report.
I hesitate to write about gear. Tools are tools and the bitter truth is that a great craftsman rises above his tools to create a masterpiece whereas most of us try to improve our abominations by buying better or faster hammers to hit the same nails at the same awkward angles.
The internet is fairly flooded with reviews of this tiny marvel, and it isn’t my intention to compete with those articles. If you’re looking for a full-scale review of every feature or a down-to-Earth accounting of the RX1’s strengths and weaknesses, I recommend starting here.
Instead, I’d like to provide you with a flavor of how I’ve used the camera over the last six months. In short, this is a user report. To save yourself a few thousand words: I love the thing. As we go through this article, you’ll see this is a purpose built camera. The RX1 is not for everyone, but we will get to that and on the way, I’ll share a handful of images that I made with the camera.
It should be obvious to anyone reading this that I write this independently and have absolutely no relationship with Sony (other than having exchanged a large pile of cash for this camera at a retail outlet).
Before we get to anything else, I want to clear the air about two things: Price and Features
The Price
First things first: the price. The $2800+ cost of this camera is the elephant in the room and, given I purchased the thing, you may consider me a poor critic. That in mind, I want to offer you three thoughts:
Consumer goods cost what they cost, in the absence of a competitor (the Fuji X100s being the only one worth mention) there is no comparison and you simply have to decide for yourself if you are willing to pay or not.
Normalize the price per sensor area for all 35mm f/2 lens and camera alternatives and you’ll find the RX1 is an amazing value.
You are paying for the ability to take photographs, plain and simple. Ask yourself, “what are these photographs worth to me?”
In my case, #3 is very important. I have used the RX1 to take hundreds of photographs of my family that are immensely important to me. Moreover, I have made photographs (many appearing on this page) that are moving or beautiful and only happened because I had the RX1 in my bag or my pocket. Yes, of course I could have made these or very similar photographs with another camera, but that is immaterial.
35mm by 24mm by 35mm f/2
The killer feature of this camera is simple: it is a wafer of silicon 35mm by 24mm paired to a brilliantly, ridiculously, undeniably sharp, contrasty and bokehlicious 35mm f/2 Carl Zeiss lens. Image quality is king here and all other things take a back seat. This means the following: image quality is as good or better than your DSLR, but battery life, focus speed, and responsiveness are likely not as good as your DSLR. I say likely because, if you have an entry-level DSLR, the RX1 is comparable on these dimensions. If you want to change lenses, if you want an integrated viewfinder, if you want blindingly fast phase-detect autofocus then shoot with a DSLR. If you want the absolute best image quality in the smallest size possible, you’ve got it in the RX1.
While we are on the subject of interchangeable lenses and viewfinders...
I have an interchangeable lens DSLR and I love the thing. It’s basically a medium format camera in a 35mm camera body. It’s a powerhouse and it is the first camera I reach for when the goal is photography. For a long time, however, I’ve found myself in situations where photography was not the first goal, but where I nevertheless wanted to have a camera. I’m around the table with friends or at the park with my son and the DSLR is too big, too bulky, too intimidating. It comes between you and life. In this realm, mirrorless, interchangeable lens cameras seem to be king, but they have a major flaw: they are, for all intents and purposes, just little DSLRs.
As I mentioned above, I have an interchangeable lens system, why would I want another, smaller one? Clearly, I am not alone in feeling this way, as the market has produced a number of what I would call “professional point and shoots.” Here we are talking about the Fuji X100/X100s, Sigma DPm-series and the RX100 and RX1.
Design is about making choices
When the Fuji X100 came out, I was intrigued. Here was a cheap(er), baby Leica M. Quiet, small, unobtrusive. Had I waited to buy until the X100s had come out, perhaps this would be a different report. Perhaps, but probably not. I remember thinking to myself as I was looking at the X100, “I wish there was a digital Rollei 35, something with a fixed 28mm or 35mm lens that would fit in a coat pocket or a small bag.” Now of course, there is.
So, for those of you who said, “I would buy the RX1 if it had interchangeable lenses or an integrated viewfinder or faster autofocus,” I say the following: This is a purpose built camera. You would not want it as an interchangeable system, it can’t compete with DSLR speed. A viewfinder would make the thing bigger and ruin the magic ratio of body to sensor size—further, there is a 3-inch LCD viewfinder on the back! Autofocus is super fast, you just don’t realize it because the bar has been raised impossibly high by ultra-sonic magnet focusing rings on professional DSLR lenses. There’s a fantastic balance at work here between image quality and size—great tools are about the total experience, not about one or the other specification.
In short, design is about making choices. I think Sony has made some good ones with the RX1.
In use
So I’ve just written 1,000 words of a user report without, you know, reporting on use. In many ways the images on the page are my user report. These photographs, more than my words, should give you a flavor of what the RX1 is about. But, for the sake of variety, I intend to tell you a bit about the how and the why of shooting with the RX1.
Snapshots
As a beginning enthusiast, I often sneered at the idea of a snapshot. As I’ve matured, I’ve come to appreciate what a pocket camera and a snapshot can offer. The RX1 is the ultimate photographer’s snapshot camera.
I’ll pause here to properly define snapshot as a photograph taken quickly with a handheld camera.
To quote Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” So it is with photography. Beautiful photographs happen at the decisive moment—and to paraphrase Henri Cartier-Bresson further—the world is newly made and falling to pieces every instant. I think it is no coincidence that each revolution in the steady march of photography from the tortuously slow chemistry of tin-type and daguerreotype through 120 and 35mm formats to the hyper-sensitive CMOS of today has engendered new categories and concepts of photography.
Photography is a reflexive, reactionary activity. I see beautiful light or the unusual in an every day event and my reaction is a desire to make a photograph. It’s a bit like breathing and has been since I was a kid.
Rather than sneer at snapshots, nowadays I seek them out; and when I seek them out, I do so with the Sony RX1 in my hand.
How I shoot with the RX1
Despite much bluster from commenters on other reviews as to the price point and the purpose-built nature of this camera (see above), the RX1 is incredibly flexible. Have a peek at some of the linked reviews and you’ll see handheld portraits, long exposures, images taken with off-camera flash, etc.
Yet, I mentioned earlier that I reach for the D800 when photography is the primary goal and so the RX1 has become for me a handheld camera—something I use almost exclusively at f/2 (people, objects, shallow DoF) or f/8 (landscapes in abundant light, abstracts). The Auto-ISO setting allows the camera to choose in the range from ISO 50 and 6400 to reach a proper exposure at a given aperture with a 1/80 s shutter speed. I have found this shutter speed ensures a sharp image every time (although photographers with more jittery grips may wish there was the ability to select a different default shutter speed). This strategy works because the RX1 has a delightfully clicky exposure compensation dial just under your right thumb—allowing for fine adjustment to the camera’s metering decision.
So then, if you find me out with the RX1, you’re likely to see me on aperture priority, f/2 and auto ISO. Indeed, many of the photographs on this page were taken in that mode (including lots of the landscape shots!).
Working within constraints.
The RX1 is a wonderful camera to have when you have to work within constraints. When I say this, I mean it is great for photography within two different classes of constraints: 1) physical constraints of time and space and 2) intellectual/artistic constraints.
To speak to the first, as I said earlier, many of the photographs on this page were made possible by having a camera with me at a time that I otherwise would not have been lugging around a camera. For example, some of the images from the Grand Canyon you see were made in a pinch on my way to a Christmas dinner with my family. I didn’t have the larger camera with me and I just had a minute to make the image. Truth be told, these images could have been made with my cell phone, but that I could wring such great image quality out of something not much larger than my cell phone is just gravy. Be it jacket pocket, small bag, bike bag, saddle bag, even fannie pack—you have space for this camera anywhere you go.
Earlier I alluded to the obtrusiveness of a large camera. If you want to travel lightly and make photographs without announcing your presence, it’s easier to use a smaller camera. Here the RX1 excels. Moreover, the camera’s leaf shutter is virtually silent, so you can snap away without announcing your intention. In every sense, this camera is meant to work within physical constraints.
I cut my photographic teeth on film and I will always have an affection for it. There is a sense that one is playing within the rules when he uses film. That same feeling is here in the RX1. I never thought I’d say this about a camera, but I often like the JPEG images this thing produces more than I like what I can push with a RAW. Don’t get me wrong, for a landscape or a cityscape, the RAW processed carefully is FAR, FAR better than a JPEG.
But when I am taking snapshots or photos of friends and family, I find the JPEGs the camera produces (I’m shooting in RAW + JPEG) so beautiful. The camera’s computer corrects for the lens distortion and provides the perfect balance of contrast and saturation. The JPEG engine can be further tweaked to increase the amount of contrast, saturation or dynamic range optimization (shadow boost) used in writing those files. Add in the ability to rapidly compensate exposure or activate various creative modes and you’ve got this feeling you’re shooting film again. Instant, ultra-sensitive and customizable film.
Pro Tip: Focusing
Almost all cameras come shipped with what I consider to be the worst of the worst focus configurations. Even the Nikon D800 came to my hands set to focus when the shutter button was halfway depressed. This mode will ruin almost any photograph. Why? Because it requires you to perform legerdemain to place the autofocus point, depress the shutter halfway, recompose and press the shutter fully. In addition to the chance of accidentally refocusing after composing or missing the shot—this method absolutely ensures that one must focus before every single photograph. Absolutely impossible for action or portraiture.
Sensibly, most professional or prosumer cameras come with an AF-ON button near where the shooter’s right thumb rests. This separates the task of focusing and exposing, allowing the photographer to quickly focus and to capture the image even if focus is slightly off at the focus point. For portraits, kids, action, etc the camera has to have a hair-trigger. It has to be responsive. Manufacturer’s: stop shipping your cameras with this ham-fisted autofocus arrangement.
Now, the RX1 does not have an AF-ON button, but it does have an AEL button whose function can be changed to “MF/AF Control Hold” in the menu. Further, other buttons on the rear of the camera can also be programmed to toggle between AF and MF modes. What this all means is that you can work around the RX1’s buttons to make it’s focus work like a DSLR’s. (For those of you who are RX1 shooters, set the front switch to MF, the right control wheel button to MF/AF Toggle and the AEL button to MF/AF Control Hold and voila!) The end result is that, when powered on the camera is in manual focus mode, but the autofocus can be activated by pressing AEL, no matter what, however, the shutter is tripped by the shutter release. Want to switch to AF mode? Just push a button and you’re back to the standard modality.
Carrying.
I keep mine in a small, neoprene pouch with a semi-hard LCD cover and a circular polarizing filter on the front—perfect for buttoning up and throwing into a bag on my way out of the house. I have a soft release screwed into the threaded shutter release and a custom, red twill strap to replace the horrible plastic strap Sony provided. I plan to gaffer tape the top and the orange ring around the lens. Who knows, I may find an old Voigtlander optical viewfinder in future as well.
Sony RX1 User Report.
I hesitate to write about gear. Tools are tools and the bitter truth is that a great craftsman rises above his tools to create a masterpiece whereas most of us try to improve our abominations by buying better or faster hammers to hit the same nails at the same awkward angles.
The internet is fairly flooded with reviews of this tiny marvel, and it isn’t my intention to compete with those articles. If you’re looking for a full-scale review of every feature or a down-to-Earth accounting of the RX1’s strengths and weaknesses, I recommend starting here.
Instead, I’d like to provide you with a flavor of how I’ve used the camera over the last six months. In short, this is a user report. To save yourself a few thousand words: I love the thing. As we go through this article, you’ll see this is a purpose built camera. The RX1 is not for everyone, but we will get to that and on the way, I’ll share a handful of images that I made with the camera.
It should be obvious to anyone reading this that I write this independently and have absolutely no relationship with Sony (other than having exchanged a large pile of cash for this camera at a retail outlet).
Before we get to anything else, I want to clear the air about two things: Price and Features
The Price
First things first: the price. The $2800+ cost of this camera is the elephant in the room and, given I purchased the thing, you may consider me a poor critic. That in mind, I want to offer you three thoughts:
Consumer goods cost what they cost, in the absence of a competitor (the Fuji X100s being the only one worth mention) there is no comparison and you simply have to decide for yourself if you are willing to pay or not.
Normalize the price per sensor area for all 35mm f/2 lens and camera alternatives and you’ll find the RX1 is an amazing value.
You are paying for the ability to take photographs, plain and simple. Ask yourself, “what are these photographs worth to me?”
In my case, #3 is very important. I have used the RX1 to take hundreds of photographs of my family that are immensely important to me. Moreover, I have made photographs (many appearing on this page) that are moving or beautiful and only happened because I had the RX1 in my bag or my pocket. Yes, of course I could have made these or very similar photographs with another camera, but that is immaterial.
35mm by 24mm by 35mm f/2
The killer feature of this camera is simple: it is a wafer of silicon 35mm by 24mm paired to a brilliantly, ridiculously, undeniably sharp, contrasty and bokehlicious 35mm f/2 Carl Zeiss lens. Image quality is king here and all other things take a back seat. This means the following: image quality is as good or better than your DSLR, but battery life, focus speed, and responsiveness are likely not as good as your DSLR. I say likely because, if you have an entry-level DSLR, the RX1 is comparable on these dimensions. If you want to change lenses, if you want an integrated viewfinder, if you want blindingly fast phase-detect autofocus then shoot with a DSLR. If you want the absolute best image quality in the smallest size possible, you’ve got it in the RX1.
While we are on the subject of interchangeable lenses and viewfinders...
I have an interchangeable lens DSLR and I love the thing. It’s basically a medium format camera in a 35mm camera body. It’s a powerhouse and it is the first camera I reach for when the goal is photography. For a long time, however, I’ve found myself in situations where photography was not the first goal, but where I nevertheless wanted to have a camera. I’m around the table with friends or at the park with my son and the DSLR is too big, too bulky, too intimidating. It comes between you and life. In this realm, mirrorless, interchangeable lens cameras seem to be king, but they have a major flaw: they are, for all intents and purposes, just little DSLRs.
As I mentioned above, I have an interchangeable lens system, why would I want another, smaller one? Clearly, I am not alone in feeling this way, as the market has produced a number of what I would call “professional point and shoots.” Here we are talking about the Fuji X100/X100s, Sigma DPm-series and the RX100 and RX1.
Design is about making choices
When the Fuji X100 came out, I was intrigued. Here was a cheap(er), baby Leica M. Quiet, small, unobtrusive. Had I waited to buy until the X100s had come out, perhaps this would be a different report. Perhaps, but probably not. I remember thinking to myself as I was looking at the X100, “I wish there was a digital Rollei 35, something with a fixed 28mm or 35mm lens that would fit in a coat pocket or a small bag.” Now of course, there is.
So, for those of you who said, “I would buy the RX1 if it had interchangeable lenses or an integrated viewfinder or faster autofocus,” I say the following: This is a purpose built camera. You would not want it as an interchangeable system, it can’t compete with DSLR speed. A viewfinder would make the thing bigger and ruin the magic ratio of body to sensor size—further, there is a 3-inch LCD viewfinder on the back! Autofocus is super fast, you just don’t realize it because the bar has been raised impossibly high by ultra-sonic magnet focusing rings on professional DSLR lenses. There’s a fantastic balance at work here between image quality and size—great tools are about the total experience, not about one or the other specification.
In short, design is about making choices. I think Sony has made some good ones with the RX1.
In use
So I’ve just written 1,000 words of a user report without, you know, reporting on use. In many ways the images on the page are my user report. These photographs, more than my words, should give you a flavor of what the RX1 is about. But, for the sake of variety, I intend to tell you a bit about the how and the why of shooting with the RX1.
Snapshots
As a beginning enthusiast, I often sneered at the idea of a snapshot. As I’ve matured, I’ve come to appreciate what a pocket camera and a snapshot can offer. The RX1 is the ultimate photographer’s snapshot camera.
I’ll pause here to properly define snapshot as a photograph taken quickly with a handheld camera.
To quote Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” So it is with photography. Beautiful photographs happen at the decisive moment—and to paraphrase Henri Cartier-Bresson further—the world is newly made and falling to pieces every instant. I think it is no coincidence that each revolution in the steady march of photography from the tortuously slow chemistry of tin-type and daguerreotype through 120 and 35mm formats to the hyper-sensitive CMOS of today has engendered new categories and concepts of photography.
Photography is a reflexive, reactionary activity. I see beautiful light or the unusual in an every day event and my reaction is a desire to make a photograph. It’s a bit like breathing and has been since I was a kid.
Rather than sneer at snapshots, nowadays I seek them out; and when I seek them out, I do so with the Sony RX1 in my hand.
How I shoot with the RX1
Despite much bluster from commenters on other reviews as to the price point and the purpose-built nature of this camera (see above), the RX1 is incredibly flexible. Have a peek at some of the linked reviews and you’ll see handheld portraits, long exposures, images taken with off-camera flash, etc.
Yet, I mentioned earlier that I reach for the D800 when photography is the primary goal and so the RX1 has become for me a handheld camera—something I use almost exclusively at f/2 (people, objects, shallow DoF) or f/8 (landscapes in abundant light, abstracts). The Auto-ISO setting allows the camera to choose in the range from ISO 50 and 6400 to reach a proper exposure at a given aperture with a 1/80 s shutter speed. I have found this shutter speed ensures a sharp image every time (although photographers with more jittery grips may wish there was the ability to select a different default shutter speed). This strategy works because the RX1 has a delightfully clicky exposure compensation dial just under your right thumb—allowing for fine adjustment to the camera’s metering decision.
So then, if you find me out with the RX1, you’re likely to see me on aperture priority, f/2 and auto ISO. Indeed, many of the photographs on this page were taken in that mode (including lots of the landscape shots!).
Working within constraints.
The RX1 is a wonderful camera to have when you have to work within constraints. When I say this, I mean it is great for photography within two different classes of constraints: 1) physical constraints of time and space and 2) intellectual/artistic constraints.
To speak to the first, as I said earlier, many of the photographs on this page were made possible by having a camera with me at a time that I otherwise would not have been lugging around a camera. For example, some of the images from the Grand Canyon you see were made in a pinch on my way to a Christmas dinner with my family. I didn’t have the larger camera with me and I just had a minute to make the image. Truth be told, these images could have been made with my cell phone, but that I could wring such great image quality out of something not much larger than my cell phone is just gravy. Be it jacket pocket, small bag, bike bag, saddle bag, even fannie pack—you have space for this camera anywhere you go.
Earlier I alluded to the obtrusiveness of a large camera. If you want to travel lightly and make photographs without announcing your presence, it’s easier to use a smaller camera. Here the RX1 excels. Moreover, the camera’s leaf shutter is virtually silent, so you can snap away without announcing your intention. In every sense, this camera is meant to work within physical constraints.
I cut my photographic teeth on film and I will always have an affection for it. There is a sense that one is playing within the rules when he uses film. That same feeling is here in the RX1. I never thought I’d say this about a camera, but I often like the JPEG images this thing produces more than I like what I can push with a RAW. Don’t get me wrong, for a landscape or a cityscape, the RAW processed carefully is FAR, FAR better than a JPEG.
But when I am taking snapshots or photos of friends and family, I find the JPEGs the camera produces (I’m shooting in RAW + JPEG) so beautiful. The camera’s computer corrects for the lens distortion and provides the perfect balance of contrast and saturation. The JPEG engine can be further tweaked to increase the amount of contrast, saturation or dynamic range optimization (shadow boost) used in writing those files. Add in the ability to rapidly compensate exposure or activate various creative modes and you’ve got this feeling you’re shooting film again. Instant, ultra-sensitive and customizable film.
Pro Tip: Focusing
Almost all cameras come shipped with what I consider to be the worst of the worst focus configurations. Even the Nikon D800 came to my hands set to focus when the shutter button was halfway depressed. This mode will ruin almost any photograph. Why? Because it requires you to perform legerdemain to place the autofocus point, depress the shutter halfway, recompose and press the shutter fully. In addition to the chance of accidentally refocusing after composing or missing the shot—this method absolutely ensures that one must focus before every single photograph. Absolutely impossible for action or portraiture.
Sensibly, most professional or prosumer cameras come with an AF-ON button near where the shooter’s right thumb rests. This separates the task of focusing and exposing, allowing the photographer to quickly focus and to capture the image even if focus is slightly off at the focus point. For portraits, kids, action, etc the camera has to have a hair-trigger. It has to be responsive. Manufacturer’s: stop shipping your cameras with this ham-fisted autofocus arrangement.
Now, the RX1 does not have an AF-ON button, but it does have an AEL button whose function can be changed to “MF/AF Control Hold” in the menu. Further, other buttons on the rear of the camera can also be programmed to toggle between AF and MF modes. What this all means is that you can work around the RX1’s buttons to make it’s focus work like a DSLR’s. (For those of you who are RX1 shooters, set the front switch to MF, the right control wheel button to MF/AF Toggle and the AEL button to MF/AF Control Hold and voila!) The end result is that, when powered on the camera is in manual focus mode, but the autofocus can be activated by pressing AEL, no matter what, however, the shutter is tripped by the shutter release. Want to switch to AF mode? Just push a button and you’re back to the standard modality.
Carrying.
I keep mine in a small, neoprene pouch with a semi-hard LCD cover and a circular polarizing filter on the front—perfect for buttoning up and throwing into a bag on my way out of the house. I have a soft release screwed into the threaded shutter release and a custom, red twill strap to replace the horrible plastic strap Sony provided. I plan to gaffer tape the top and the orange ring around the lens. Who knows, I may find an old Voigtlander optical viewfinder in future as well.
President Donald J. Trump meets with reporters Friday, Sept. 11, 2020 in the Oval Office, to announce that the Kingdom of Bahrain is joining the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in normalizing relations with Israel. (Official White House Photo by Tia Dufour)
"Look for the helpers," as Fred Roger's mom would have said... we are looking, and we are finding them! Thank you for being one of the helpers we have found, Mo Willems and the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts! You brightened our day!
Later we figured out how to get Mo Willems' wonderful doodling video on our TV so we could draw along, as he drew and talked, gently normalizing for the kids the fact that we are all isolated together. <3
But when we first discovered the video, the kids watched it on my phone, and I was entranced by my kids, squished together, faces filled with delight and hope as we listened to Mo share with us about being isolated too, and about wanting to show his studio and drawings to try to help us all feel a bit better.
Thank you for being a helper, Mo Willems. <3
Photo 1/4
Bokeh (out-of-focus blur) and Effective Aperture of smaller sensors
A series of 4 photos demonstrate the relationships between Bokeh, background blur at a given subject to background distance between Nikon 35mm Full France, APS-C and CX (1 inch) sensors.
This is a non scientific test but just a quick test using the light on the X’mas tree to visualize the difference in Bokeh.
Subject to background distance: about 39 inches (about 1 meter) and lens equivalent to about 100mm.
Sensor size: Nikon D800: Full Frame, FX (1x crop factor)
Lens: 105mm F/1.8 AI-S @F1.8
Picture size normalized to 2400 x1800 pixel.
Result: Bokeh is nice and smooth. (In this shot, limit by the 7 aperture blades)
Note: equivalent lens used in this series of shot:
105mm F/1.8 AI-S x 1 = 105mm (FX)
50mm F/1.4G x 1.5 = 85mm (DX)
35mm F/1.8 DX x 2.7 = 95mm (CX)
Autumn, also known as fall in North American English, is one of the four temperate seasons. Autumn marks the transition from summer to winter.
The word autumn comes from the ancient Etruscan root autu- and has within it connotations of the passing of the year. It was borrowed by the neighbouring Romans, and became the Latin word autumnus. After the Roman era, the word continued to be used as the Old French word autompne (automne in modern French) or autumpne in Middle English, and was later normalized to the original Latin. In the Medieval period, there are rare examples of its use as early as the 12th century, but by the 16th century, it was in common use.
In the style of Masaru Hashimoto, Akira Nagashima, Jun Maekawa, Tomoko Fuse and Johannes Kepler.
An immensely frustrating model to photograph -- no matter what angle you approach it from, the camera wants to normalize it, make it round and somehow regular.
(See links). Krog St Tunnel, constructed in 1912, runs under Hulsey Yard and has two lanes for traffic, as well as pedestrian walkways. The tunnel runs between DeKalb Avenue on the Inman Park side and Wylie Street on the Cabbagetown side. It is a tunnel in Atlanta known for its street art. The tunnel links the Cabbagetown and Inman Park neighborhoods. The decor is a walk through popular culture. Its known for its street art.
Making Graffiti Cool Again. An underground magnet of ever-changing urban canvas of images, words and ideas awaits you in the Krog Street Tunnel, linking the eclectic Inman Park and Cabbagetown neighborhoods. The Krog Street Tunnel is covered with graffiti by local artists. Most urban tunnels and viaducts have their fair share of graffiti, but Atlanta’s Krog Street Tunnel no longer has an inch of unpainted space.
The short underpass connects the Atlanta neighborhoods of Cabbagetown and Inman Park, attracting residents from both sides who are looking for a place to make their mark with street art. From small tags to huge murals to underground festival flyers, the concrete walls and pillars of are a chaotic kaleidoscope of overlapping and ever-shifting images, words, and ideas. People have even spray-painted marriage proposals on the walls. The graffiti is so well known and so often updated that there are even websites that post an image a day from the Krog street underground.
Krog Street Tunnel - Atlanta.net
Krog Street Tunnel - Not For Tourists
Krog Street Tunnel - Atlas Obscura
Krog Street Tunnel - Krog Street Tunnel a setting for art, community bonds
Krog Street Tunnel - some goofy guys You Tube Video
Dekalb Ave & Krog St. Atlanta, GA. 080619.
Created for TMI: your ART and NATURE Picture Connection - A Game for Fun - Showing Pictures found here:
www.flickr.com/groups/impressionists/discuss/721576293849...
Continuing Story line.....
This sure does look like a good place to pick up some of that Zen. Hope it tastes good. So they tried a bit of each colorful plant and soon things began to normalize and they.....
I don't remember where Angelita picked up this habit, but years ago she decided she wanted her water in a tall vase, and this is the only way she will take a drink. Once we tried "normalizing" her and replaced her vase with a regular water dish, and she sat there and yelled at us until we returned her vase. And, who are we to argue?
I cranked the ISO on this shot up to 2000, and I'm real pleased with the outcome. I come from a film world where ISO (ASA in those days) 400 was pretty grainy, and I still have resistance to advancing my Nikon D90 much past that level. Yet, whenever I do, I'm always surprised and pleased with the results. I tried one shot at ISO 6400, which is 3200 beyond the D90's normal range, and was even more surprised with the results. It was definitely noisy, but at least I know if I'm ever desperate to get the shot in a low light situation, I can get a usable image.
Feskekôrka (English: Fish Church (normalized), English: Fish church) is an indoor fish market in Gothenburg, Sweden, Which got its name from the building's resemblance to a Gothic church. It opened 1 November 1874 and was drawn by the city architect Victor von Gegerfelt. Feskekôrka is an institution in Gothenburg as well as a tourist magnet, housing one of the city's oldest trades, fishing.
Read more here: mobile.twitter.com/i/moments/796417517157830656?m=1
And so it begins. Hate and bigotry have been normalized. Electing a fascist into office has granted people permission to be vile human beings. This election was a referendum on how this country values the humanity of marginalized people, and the message we received is that they are not valued by a vast number of their fellow countrypeople. All he had to do was repeat bullshit talking points about HRC and disgorge disgusting bigotry during unscripted stream of consciousness garbage monologues, and then coast to victory on a wave of hatred.
Now that the US has normalized relations with them, my Dad and I decided to drive to Cuba yesterday and shoot Keokuk Junction's FP9's rocking and rolling west towards Good Hope, IL. I'm a little upset that I didn't roll video at this location, as the train was ROCKING and rolling as it went by at a blistering 10mph.
Sony RX1 User Report.
I hesitate to write about gear. Tools are tools and the bitter truth is that a great craftsman rises above his tools to create a masterpiece whereas most of us try to improve our abominations by buying better or faster hammers to hit the same nails at the same awkward angles.
The internet is fairly flooded with reviews of this tiny marvel, and it isn’t my intention to compete with those articles. If you’re looking for a full-scale review of every feature or a down-to-Earth accounting of the RX1’s strengths and weaknesses, I recommend starting here.
Instead, I’d like to provide you with a flavor of how I’ve used the camera over the last six months. In short, this is a user report. To save yourself a few thousand words: I love the thing. As we go through this article, you’ll see this is a purpose built camera. The RX1 is not for everyone, but we will get to that and on the way, I’ll share a handful of images that I made with the camera.
It should be obvious to anyone reading this that I write this independently and have absolutely no relationship with Sony (other than having exchanged a large pile of cash for this camera at a retail outlet).
Before we get to anything else, I want to clear the air about two things: Price and Features
The Price
First things first: the price. The $2800+ cost of this camera is the elephant in the room and, given I purchased the thing, you may consider me a poor critic. That in mind, I want to offer you three thoughts:
Consumer goods cost what they cost, in the absence of a competitor (the Fuji X100s being the only one worth mention) there is no comparison and you simply have to decide for yourself if you are willing to pay or not.
Normalize the price per sensor area for all 35mm f/2 lens and camera alternatives and you’ll find the RX1 is an amazing value.
You are paying for the ability to take photographs, plain and simple. Ask yourself, “what are these photographs worth to me?”
In my case, #3 is very important. I have used the RX1 to take hundreds of photographs of my family that are immensely important to me. Moreover, I have made photographs (many appearing on this page) that are moving or beautiful and only happened because I had the RX1 in my bag or my pocket. Yes, of course I could have made these or very similar photographs with another camera, but that is immaterial.
35mm by 24mm by 35mm f/2
The killer feature of this camera is simple: it is a wafer of silicon 35mm by 24mm paired to a brilliantly, ridiculously, undeniably sharp, contrasty and bokehlicious 35mm f/2 Carl Zeiss lens. Image quality is king here and all other things take a back seat. This means the following: image quality is as good or better than your DSLR, but battery life, focus speed, and responsiveness are likely not as good as your DSLR. I say likely because, if you have an entry-level DSLR, the RX1 is comparable on these dimensions. If you want to change lenses, if you want an integrated viewfinder, if you want blindingly fast phase-detect autofocus then shoot with a DSLR. If you want the absolute best image quality in the smallest size possible, you’ve got it in the RX1.
While we are on the subject of interchangeable lenses and viewfinders...
I have an interchangeable lens DSLR and I love the thing. It’s basically a medium format camera in a 35mm camera body. It’s a powerhouse and it is the first camera I reach for when the goal is photography. For a long time, however, I’ve found myself in situations where photography was not the first goal, but where I nevertheless wanted to have a camera. I’m around the table with friends or at the park with my son and the DSLR is too big, too bulky, too intimidating. It comes between you and life. In this realm, mirrorless, interchangeable lens cameras seem to be king, but they have a major flaw: they are, for all intents and purposes, just little DSLRs.
As I mentioned above, I have an interchangeable lens system, why would I want another, smaller one? Clearly, I am not alone in feeling this way, as the market has produced a number of what I would call “professional point and shoots.” Here we are talking about the Fuji X100/X100s, Sigma DPm-series and the RX100 and RX1.
Design is about making choices
When the Fuji X100 came out, I was intrigued. Here was a cheap(er), baby Leica M. Quiet, small, unobtrusive. Had I waited to buy until the X100s had come out, perhaps this would be a different report. Perhaps, but probably not. I remember thinking to myself as I was looking at the X100, “I wish there was a digital Rollei 35, something with a fixed 28mm or 35mm lens that would fit in a coat pocket or a small bag.” Now of course, there is.
So, for those of you who said, “I would buy the RX1 if it had interchangeable lenses or an integrated viewfinder or faster autofocus,” I say the following: This is a purpose built camera. You would not want it as an interchangeable system, it can’t compete with DSLR speed. A viewfinder would make the thing bigger and ruin the magic ratio of body to sensor size—further, there is a 3-inch LCD viewfinder on the back! Autofocus is super fast, you just don’t realize it because the bar has been raised impossibly high by ultra-sonic magnet focusing rings on professional DSLR lenses. There’s a fantastic balance at work here between image quality and size—great tools are about the total experience, not about one or the other specification.
In short, design is about making choices. I think Sony has made some good ones with the RX1.
In use
So I’ve just written 1,000 words of a user report without, you know, reporting on use. In many ways the images on the page are my user report. These photographs, more than my words, should give you a flavor of what the RX1 is about. But, for the sake of variety, I intend to tell you a bit about the how and the why of shooting with the RX1.
Snapshots
As a beginning enthusiast, I often sneered at the idea of a snapshot. As I’ve matured, I’ve come to appreciate what a pocket camera and a snapshot can offer. The RX1 is the ultimate photographer’s snapshot camera.
I’ll pause here to properly define snapshot as a photograph taken quickly with a handheld camera.
To quote Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” So it is with photography. Beautiful photographs happen at the decisive moment—and to paraphrase Henri Cartier-Bresson further—the world is newly made and falling to pieces every instant. I think it is no coincidence that each revolution in the steady march of photography from the tortuously slow chemistry of tin-type and daguerreotype through 120 and 35mm formats to the hyper-sensitive CMOS of today has engendered new categories and concepts of photography.
Photography is a reflexive, reactionary activity. I see beautiful light or the unusual in an every day event and my reaction is a desire to make a photograph. It’s a bit like breathing and has been since I was a kid.
Rather than sneer at snapshots, nowadays I seek them out; and when I seek them out, I do so with the Sony RX1 in my hand.
How I shoot with the RX1
Despite much bluster from commenters on other reviews as to the price point and the purpose-built nature of this camera (see above), the RX1 is incredibly flexible. Have a peek at some of the linked reviews and you’ll see handheld portraits, long exposures, images taken with off-camera flash, etc.
Yet, I mentioned earlier that I reach for the D800 when photography is the primary goal and so the RX1 has become for me a handheld camera—something I use almost exclusively at f/2 (people, objects, shallow DoF) or f/8 (landscapes in abundant light, abstracts). The Auto-ISO setting allows the camera to choose in the range from ISO 50 and 6400 to reach a proper exposure at a given aperture with a 1/80 s shutter speed. I have found this shutter speed ensures a sharp image every time (although photographers with more jittery grips may wish there was the ability to select a different default shutter speed). This strategy works because the RX1 has a delightfully clicky exposure compensation dial just under your right thumb—allowing for fine adjustment to the camera’s metering decision.
So then, if you find me out with the RX1, you’re likely to see me on aperture priority, f/2 and auto ISO. Indeed, many of the photographs on this page were taken in that mode (including lots of the landscape shots!).
Working within constraints.
The RX1 is a wonderful camera to have when you have to work within constraints. When I say this, I mean it is great for photography within two different classes of constraints: 1) physical constraints of time and space and 2) intellectual/artistic constraints.
To speak to the first, as I said earlier, many of the photographs on this page were made possible by having a camera with me at a time that I otherwise would not have been lugging around a camera. For example, some of the images from the Grand Canyon you see were made in a pinch on my way to a Christmas dinner with my family. I didn’t have the larger camera with me and I just had a minute to make the image. Truth be told, these images could have been made with my cell phone, but that I could wring such great image quality out of something not much larger than my cell phone is just gravy. Be it jacket pocket, small bag, bike bag, saddle bag, even fannie pack—you have space for this camera anywhere you go.
Earlier I alluded to the obtrusiveness of a large camera. If you want to travel lightly and make photographs without announcing your presence, it’s easier to use a smaller camera. Here the RX1 excels. Moreover, the camera’s leaf shutter is virtually silent, so you can snap away without announcing your intention. In every sense, this camera is meant to work within physical constraints.
I cut my photographic teeth on film and I will always have an affection for it. There is a sense that one is playing within the rules when he uses film. That same feeling is here in the RX1. I never thought I’d say this about a camera, but I often like the JPEG images this thing produces more than I like what I can push with a RAW. Don’t get me wrong, for a landscape or a cityscape, the RAW processed carefully is FAR, FAR better than a JPEG.
But when I am taking snapshots or photos of friends and family, I find the JPEGs the camera produces (I’m shooting in RAW + JPEG) so beautiful. The camera’s computer corrects for the lens distortion and provides the perfect balance of contrast and saturation. The JPEG engine can be further tweaked to increase the amount of contrast, saturation or dynamic range optimization (shadow boost) used in writing those files. Add in the ability to rapidly compensate exposure or activate various creative modes and you’ve got this feeling you’re shooting film again. Instant, ultra-sensitive and customizable film.
Pro Tip: Focusing
Almost all cameras come shipped with what I consider to be the worst of the worst focus configurations. Even the Nikon D800 came to my hands set to focus when the shutter button was halfway depressed. This mode will ruin almost any photograph. Why? Because it requires you to perform legerdemain to place the autofocus point, depress the shutter halfway, recompose and press the shutter fully. In addition to the chance of accidentally refocusing after composing or missing the shot—this method absolutely ensures that one must focus before every single photograph. Absolutely impossible for action or portraiture.
Sensibly, most professional or prosumer cameras come with an AF-ON button near where the shooter’s right thumb rests. This separates the task of focusing and exposing, allowing the photographer to quickly focus and to capture the image even if focus is slightly off at the focus point. For portraits, kids, action, etc the camera has to have a hair-trigger. It has to be responsive. Manufacturer’s: stop shipping your cameras with this ham-fisted autofocus arrangement.
Now, the RX1 does not have an AF-ON button, but it does have an AEL button whose function can be changed to “MF/AF Control Hold” in the menu. Further, other buttons on the rear of the camera can also be programmed to toggle between AF and MF modes. What this all means is that you can work around the RX1’s buttons to make it’s focus work like a DSLR’s. (For those of you who are RX1 shooters, set the front switch to MF, the right control wheel button to MF/AF Toggle and the AEL button to MF/AF Control Hold and voila!) The end result is that, when powered on the camera is in manual focus mode, but the autofocus can be activated by pressing AEL, no matter what, however, the shutter is tripped by the shutter release. Want to switch to AF mode? Just push a button and you’re back to the standard modality.
Carrying.
I keep mine in a small, neoprene pouch with a semi-hard LCD cover and a circular polarizing filter on the front—perfect for buttoning up and throwing into a bag on my way out of the house. I have a soft release screwed into the threaded shutter release and a custom, red twill strap to replace the horrible plastic strap Sony provided. I plan to gaffer tape the top and the orange ring around the lens. Who knows, I may find an old Voigtlander optical viewfinder in future as well.
Empirically Normalized 7-Color Reflectance of the Moon
This empirically normalized Wide Angle Camera (WAC) color mosaic covers an area from 60 degrees S to 60 degrees N and 0 degrees E to 360 degrees E and is composed of seven wavelength bands (321 nm, 360 nm, 415 nm, 566 nm, 604 nm, 643 nm, and 689 nm). The 7-band mosaic was constructed from 137,400 color WAC images acquired from January 21, 2010 to January 31, 2013 over a broad range of lighting and viewing geometries.
Each pixel from the WAC observations was photometrically normalized to a standard geometry of 30 degrees incidence angle, 0 degrees emission angle, and 30 degrees phase angle using an empirically derived photometric function similar to that of Boyd et al. (2012), and local topography provided by the GLD100 WAC-derived 100m/pixel Digital Terrain Model (wms.lroc.asu.edu/lroc/view_rdr/WAC_GLD100; Scholten et al., 2012)
Source:
Place: Nangan, Matsu Islands
The Matsu islands are a minor archipelago of 36 islands and islets in the East China Sea and administered by the Republic of China (Taiwan). The Matsu islands together form the county of Lienchiang, but most of Liangjiang County (same name, different spelling) is under control of the People's Republic of China. Linear distance from mainland China is less than 20 km.
Mainlanders from Fujian and Zhejiang started migrating to the islands during the Yuan Dynasty. The popular net fishing industry had established the base for development of Fuao settlement and industrial development of the region over several hundred years.
During the early Qing Dynasty, pirates gathered here and the residents left temporarily. In contrast with Taiwan and Penghu, the Matsu Islands were not ceded to the Japanese Empire via the Treaty of Shimonoseki in 1895. Neither were they occupied by Japanese troops during World War II because they were not important militarily. Due to its strategic location for the only route for spice road, the British established the Dongyong Lighthouse in Dongyin Island in 1912 to facilitate ships navigation.
In 1911, the Qing Dynasty was toppled after the Xinhai Revolution on 10 October 1911 and the Republic of China (ROC) was established on 1 January 1912. Matsu Islands was subsequently governed under the administration of Fukien Province of the ROC. On 1 August 1927, the Nanchang Uprising broke out between the ruling Nationalist Party of China (KMT) and Communist Party of China (CPC) which marked the beginning of Chinese Civil War. After years of war, the CPC finally managed to take over mainland China from KMT and established the People's Republic of China (PRC) on 1 October 1949 which also covers the Lianjiang County of Fujian. The KMT subsequently retreated from mainland China to Taiwan in end of 1949.
After their retreat, the KMT retained the offshore part from the original Lianjiang County located on Matsu Islands, and also all of Kinmen County. In July 1958 the PRC began massing forces opposite the two islands and began bombarding them on 23 August, triggering the Second Taiwan Strait Crisis. On 4 September 1958, the PRC announced the extension of its territorial waters by 20 kilometres (12 mi) to include the two islands. However, after talks were held between the USA and PRC in Warsaw, Poland later that month, a ceasefire was agreed and the status quo reaffirmed.
The phrase "Quemoy and Matsu" became part of American political language in the 1960 U.S. presidential election. During the debates, both candidates, Vice-President Richard Nixon and Senator John F. Kennedy, pledged to use American forces if necessary to protect Taiwan from invasion by the PRC, which the United States did not recognize as a legitimate government. But the two candidates had different opinions about whether to use American forces to protect Taiwan's forward positions, Quemoy and Matsu, also. In fact, Senator Kennedy stated that these islands - as little as 9 kilometres (5.5 mi) off the coast of China and as much as 170 kilometres (106 mi) from Taiwan - were strategically indefensible and were not essential to the defense of Taiwan. On the contrary, Vice-President Nixon maintained that since Quemoy and Matsu were in the "area of freedom," they should not be surrendered to the Communists as a matter of "principle."
Self governance of the county resumed in 1992 after the normalization of the political warfare with the mainland and the abolishment of Battle Field Administration on 7 November 1992. Afterwards, the local constructions progressed tremendously. In 1999, the islands were designated under Matsu National Scenic Area Administration. In January 2001, direct cargo and passenger shipping started between Matsu and Fujian Province of the PRC. Since 1 January 2015, tourists from mainland China could directly apply the Exit and Entry Permit upon arrival in Matsu Islands. This privilege also applies to Penghu and Kinmen as means to boost tourism in the outlying islands of Taiwan.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matsu_Islands
In 2013 I had the opportunity to visit the largest of the Matsu islands, Nangan, as a friend of mine is a teacher at a primary school on the island.
Legend says that the body of Mazy drifted and stopped at the site of the temple.
Mazu is a Chinese sea goddess. She is the deified form of the purported historical Lin Mo or Lin Moniang, a Fujianese shamaness whose life span is traditionally dated from 960 to 987. Revered after her death as a tutelary deity of seafarers, including fishermen and sailors, her worship spread throughout China's coastal regions and overseas Chinese communities throughout Southeast Asia. She was thought to roam the seas, protecting her believers through miraculous interventions. She is now generally regarded by her believers as a powerful and benevolent Queen of Heaven.
President Donald J. Trump, joined by White House senior staff members, delivers a statement announcing the agreement of full normalization of relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates Thursday, Aug. 13, 2020, in the Oval Office of the White House. (Official White House Photo by Joyce N. Boghosian)
Can't even describe how exhausted I am today. Only got about 5 hours sleep after getting off work at 3am. My schedule still hasn't normalized after the holidays.
I do love Lowcountry Shrimp and Grits :o) I went to medical school in Charleston SC, and you just can't live there for any amount of time without falling in love with so much of it!
What are we being conditioned for?
Become a global citizen of the Brave New World State. Our collective motto is DIVERSITY, EQUITY, INCLUSION. We indoctrinate the children with repetitive suggestions (wokeism, critical race theory, gender theory), until these suggestions become part of the fabric of their minds. These suggestions will stay with them throughout their lifetimes. Through the lens of our suggestions they will rationalize the world. “But all these suggestions are our suggestions!” “Suggestions from the State.” The State wants us from cradle to grave, or in the Brave New World: from incubator to grave. No parents, just the nanny State.
In Brave New World young children are taught to engage in “erotic play.” This erotic play is normalized among the children. They also promoted “auto-erotism (masturbation) and homosexuality” among the children, just as our society is doing today. Our children are being sexually conditioned through things like sex education, gender theory, drag queen story time, and erotic drag queen advents. Diversity, equity, inclusion: merging the children into the Brave New World. Leave no child behind! Yet all this is happening as school test scores plummet. It’s easier to control a dumbed down population.
This Brave New World revolves around pleasure. The masses are controlled through pleasure. They are slaves to their own desires, yet for them it’s utopia. They love their slavery. They embrace their slavery, because their slavery revolves around pleasure and technology. “You will own nothing and be happy!”
Take your soma (drugs). All hail big pharma! Take your antidepressants, smoke your weed, do your illicit drugs. Hey, let’s legalize street drugs! A drugged up society is a society we can control. Drugs and brainwashing go hand in hand, just ask the CIA. Let’s get buzzed from our video games, cell phones and social media. We’ve become dopamine junkies!
Let’s get high off sexual immorality. Let’s watch porn, sleep around, and go to the “Abortion Centre.” Hey, let’s legalize abortion! Let’s legalize prostitution! “Civilization is Sterilization,” sperm counts ever falling! “Family, monogamy, romance,” yet in our time it’s become more and more like: “But every one belongs to every one else.” We will break up the traditional family, because the State must be the parent. We will break up traditional marriage, because everyone must be one with the State. We will replace romance and dating with hookup apps and cheap sex “Orgy-porgy!” Distraction, distraction! Conform, conform! Nothing to see here: passively step in line. Submit, submit! If not, we will give you 1984.
“Bureaux of Propaganda (Operation Mockingbird)”: you’ll love our media and entertainment. Growing up on social media will make you lonely and depressed, and you will have no real friends. You’ll never know normal. Out with the old, in with the new!
The Controller shrugged his shoulders. “Because it’s old; that’s the chief reason. We haven’t any use for old things here.”
“Even when they’re beautiful?”
“Particularly when they’re beautiful. Beauty’s attractive, and we don’t want people to be attracted by old things. We want them to like the new ones.” (Sounds like Maoism)
“History is bunk.” Whisk, whisk, whisk history away. Tear down those historic statues. Riot and loot, you tweakers! Burn the evil capitalist system to the ground! University students, do you love Marxism? Yes! Do you hate capitalism? Yes! Do you want to destroy capitalism? Yes! Do you want to replace capitalism with socialism? Yes! Do you hate free speech? Yes! Do you lack critical thinking skills? Yes! Indeed, global citizens will be mindlessly drawn to the World State.
We are being immersed into a culture that selfishly seeks pleasure, attention, and temporary happiness. Such things are not fulfilling and only satisfy us for the moment. We look happy on the outside, but we are miserable on the inside. We live a lie, but we cannot be honest about it; we cannot let it go, because it feels so good to gratify the lusts of our flesh. We profess to be free, yet we are slaves to our passions—our sins. Our superficial happiness has produced high rates of suicide, and increasing rates of mental illness and drug addiction. We are using soma to suppress our self-inflicted pains and sorrows. When our short-term pleasures quickly dissipate, we are left feeling empty. We must then find our next hit, our next soma fix (sex, drugs & entertainment), so that we can get stoned (feel good) again. How weak! How empty! How demeaning! How degrading! How demoralizing! How dehumanizing! Indeed, a society that has lost its purpose is easily controlled.
Now, what if we up the dose? What if we, like the subtle serpent, say: take this soma and you’ll be like God. Take the jab, take the chip, take the Mark, and you can be a god. Become a transhuman citizen of the utopian garden of the World State and you’ll be happy forever. We will electronically stimulate the G-spot of your brain and your life will be orgasmic…digital orgasms anyone? Why live in a depressing dystopia where you can’t buy or sell, when you can take the World State soma/ecstasy and live blissfully in a utopia where you can buy and sell? Life outside the garden is unhappy and toilsome, but inside the garden State there is an addictive zombie-like happiness! Take the Mark, forget your troubles. Take the chip, forget your pain. Why not take this free gift of salvation from the Beast? A society that has lost its moral compass is easily controlled. Happy slavery!
The World State is run by “Ten Controllers.” Revelation 17:12-13 “The Ten Horns you saw are Ten Kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but who for one hour will receive authority as kings along with the Beast. These kings have one purpose: to yield their power and authority to the Beast.” Daniel 2:43 “And just as you saw the iron mixed with baked clay, so the people will be a mixture and will not remain united, any more than iron mixes with clay.” The Bible describes the antichrist’s kingdom as a mixture of iron and clay. God made man from the dust of the ground. “And just as you saw the iron (machine) mixed with baked clay (man).” Hybrid humans: man merging with machine. 666: join the drug induced occultic orgy, join the brainwashed Luciferian Beast cult. Be a slave to your sin nature, embrace the antichrist.
Truly, truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of the Beast unless they are born again. Truly, truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of the Beast unless they are born of the Mark and the Beast. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Beast gives birth to transhumanism.
The visualization shows the influence of the economic crisis in the lexicon of Italian fiction. Analyzed(*) are the ten books awarded with the last ten editions of the Strega Prize. Books are arranged chronologically (x-axis) and by the total number of words (y-axis). For each novel the visualization displays a syntactic and semantic study on the frequency of fifty words, divided into five categories, and related to the theme of the crisiss. In order to understand the actual influence of the crisis semantic vocabulary within the novel, the visualization also shows the placement of the words along the timeplot of the novel through a dispesion plot on books’ length normalized.