Org, photos on Flickr

Assisi (Italian: [asˈsiːzi]; from Latin: Asisium) is a town and comune of Italy in the Province of Perugia in the Umbria region, on the western flank of Monte Subasio.

It is generally regarded as the birthplace of the Latin poet Propertius, born around 50–45 BC. It is the birthplace of St. Francis, who founded the Franciscan religious order in the town in 1208, and St. Clare (Chiara d'Offreducci), who with St. Francis founded the Poor Sisters, which later became the Order of Poor Clares after her death. The 19th-century Saint Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows was also born in Assisi.

View from Piazza Santa Chiara.

To the far right is the Torre del Popolo. Part of the Temple of Minerva in the Piazza del Comune.

Palazzo del Capitano del Popolo and Civic Tower

Palace of the Captain of the People

The building that forms a corner on the upstream side of the square is the Palazzo del Capitano del Popolo. In 1275 the Municipality bought some houses next to the Torre del Popolo to build a new headquarters for the Captain's judiciary. In 1282 the construction was already completed and Captain Guido de' Rossi from Florence had his coat of arms walled up between two shields with the cross symbol of the Municipality. In 1926 the building underwent a radical neo-14th century restoration based on a design by the architect Ruggero Antonelli (Perugia 1888-1974). The rooms on the ground floor are decorated with paintings by Adalberto Migliorati (Rome 1902 – Perugia 1953) with representations of medieval trades.

People's Tower

Close to the Temple of Minerva stands the very high Torre del Popolo (47 m.). The tower was built for the magistracy of the Capitano del Popolo, of which there is news in Assisi in the year 1267. The building was partially completed in 1274, the date once legible above a bell, and housed the Captain's family, as it results for the year 1279. An inscription placed at the base of the tower states that the construction was completed in the year 1305, at the time of Captain Cabrino da Parma. On the occasion of the seventh centenary of the death of St. Francis (1926) the crowning with Ghibelline merlons of the summit was built.

Torre del Popolo – Plaque with the municipal forms and measures

In 1349 the Capitano del Popolo Angelo di Latero da Perugia had a red stone plaque from Subasio walled up at the base of the Tower, with the measurements and thickness of the bricks made in Assisi – bricks, flat tiles, squares and roof tiles – plus three iron rods with the length of the barrel, the step and the palm, followed for wool, silk and linen cloths. The municipal statute of 1469 prescribed the use of these models applied to the base of the tower, as well as regulated times and places in the exercise of the craft professions and in the sale of goods, due to smells and noises.

Torre del Popolo – Portal

In 1501 the rooms on the ground floor of the Torre del Popolo were sold to the Collegio dei Notai to allocate the Audience hall. In 1524 the stonemason Massimo di Puzio sculpted the stone portal, based on a design by the painter Cecco di Bernardino (Assisi doc. 1511-1547). On the key of the arch is a stone shield with the work tools of notaries: book, pen and inkwell. The motto of the Art is carved on the architrave: Unica mundi fides. The coat of arms and the initials visible on the right jamb are those of the notary Francesco Bovi. In 1531 the wood master Paolo di Jacopo da Gubbio executed the door in imitation of the shutters of the Collegio del Cambio in Perugia.

Torre del Popolo – Audience Hall

In the second decade of the sixteenth century, the room on the ground floor of the tower was furnished for the Guild of Notaries with a back court, decorated with candelabra and inlays with ancient letters and figures, according to the model presented on 7 November 1515 by Lorenzo di Paolo, Florentine master woodcutter residing in Assisi. The wooden furniture has been lost. Instead, a battered fresco dating back to the final decades of the 16th century has been preserved, which depicts the Assumption of the Virgin into heaven in the presence of the patron saints Giovanni Evangelista and Rufino, Chiara and Francesco. From here there is access to a courtyard which leads to the back of the Temple of Minerva.

Chiesa Nuova di San Francesco Convertito

The Chiesa Nuova is a church in Assisi, Italy, built in 1615 on the site of the presumed birthplace of St. Francis, the house of Pietro di Bernardone. It was then called Chiesa Nuova because it was the last church to be built in Assisi at that time.

It was erected because, during a visit to Assisi in 1613, Antonio de Trejo, the Spanish Vicar General of the Franciscans, was saddened when he saw the original home of St. Francis becoming dilapidated. With the help of the Spanish Embassy in Rome and through a donation of 6,000 ducats by King Philip III of Spain, he was able to buy the house.

Pope Paul V authenticated this purchase on 10 July 1615 and blessed the first stone. On 20 September 1615 this foundation stone was then brought, in a solemn procession, from the Cathedral of San Rufino to the building site. The church was built under the supervision of brother Rufino di Cerchiara, who was perhaps also the architect.

The church, built in late Renaissance style, features a high dome divided in coffers, with lantern and a drum. Such a caisson ceiling is a feature of Renaissance architecture. The plan is a Greek cross one, with nave and transepts of the same length, inspired by the church of Sant'Eligio degli Orefici in Rome, one of the few churches designed and built by Raphael. The church is decorated with frescoes by Cesare Sermei and Giacomo Giorgetti (17th century).

The high altar was set over the room of St. Francis. One can also visit the shop where Francis sold his cloth and the stairwell in which Francis was imprisoned by his father. This is the place where Francis decided to answer the divine call and to renounce worldly goods.

The adjoining friary houses a museum and an important Franciscan library with many codices and rare books.

Allium sphaerocephalon subsp. sphaerocephalon - Calandstraat, Leiden, NL 13 Jul 2009 09 Leo by Leo breman

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Notes on taxonomy: A confused mess below the species level.

Kew (http://www.kew.org/plants-fungi/Allium-sphaerocephalon.htm) makes an attempt at a summary of subspecies, but without full synonym lists it is unclear if the writer omitted some subspecies (A. sphaerocephalum subsp. curtum from Egypt, Lebanon and Israel, A. sphaerocephalon subsp. ebusitanum from Ibiza, A. sphaerocephalon subsp. durandoi from Algeria) due to purpose or oversight. Also, online photographic evidence from Corsica, Malta and Croatia indicates that the geographical delimitations of the subspecies are not so strict as indicated. Furthermore Kew mentions the white-flowered subsp. arvense as recognized, but almost all other authorities synonymize this particular taxon with subsp. sphaerocephalon (note also the old synonym var. albidum). A. sphaerocephalon subsp. laxiflora from Sicily as mentioned by Kew is mysterious; it is not in the IPNI, subsp. sphaerocephalon and subsp. arvense are also said to grow on Sicily, and lastly the rather complete Flora Italiana does not mention this taxon. So of the 4 subspecies recognized by Kew, only one seems valid: A. sphaerocephalon subsp. trachypus from Greece and Turkey. Of one last note, the wording throughout the text on distribution and subspecies suggests the author copied it ad verbitam from some pre-1947 publication, but the references indicate that the website got this information from another Kew publication by one B. Mathew in 1996 'A Review of Allium Section Allium', this review must have been very summary, as it seems to have omitted data from the 1976 publication 'A revision of the genus Allium L. (Liliaceae) in Africa' from Wageningen in the Netherlands, plus a relevant Spanish publication from 1993. It would seem to me that B. Mathew copied most of his data on this species from outdated sources.

One wonders at the validity of subsp. sphaerocephalon var. bulbilliferum, considering the cultivar 'Hair', and the f. procumbens also seems questionable, considering the repeated synonymizations of A. descendens or A. sphaerocephalon subsp. sphaerocephalon var. descendens, and my own experiences growing this on sand. A. sphaerocephalon var. stipitatum from Yugoslavia is unclear; there also seems to be a A. stipitatum from central Asia. For some reason Tela Botanica sees A. sphaerocephalon subsp. sphaerocephalon var. deseglisei as valid, but the distribution they give makes this taxon a quite doubtful, furthermore the IPNI discards this taxon.

Note also that I am using A. sphaerocephalon subsp. durandoi, but perhaps in error; the African Flowering Plants Database from the Botanical Garden of Geneva synonymizes this with the type.

Yadana Man Aung Paya, Nyaung Shwe (ညောင်ရွှေမြို့) by Mary Loosemore

Tuesday 29 October 2013: Kalaw (ကလောမြု့) - Pindaya Caves (ပင်းတယရွှေဥမင်) - Nyaung Shwe (ညောင်ရွှေမြို့)

Awake early, to clear skies which made for some lovely final photos of Kalaw - Aung Chan Tha zedi (the mirror mosaic pagoda) and (again from the Winner Hotel's rooftop restaurant) the alms collecting monks returning to Thein Taung Paya monastery.

Bidding farewell to Kalaw, we boarded our bling bus and drove through the colourful Shan State (ရှမ်းပြည်နယ်) countryside to the Pindaya Caves. I'd taken "We venture into the labyrinth of tunnels with our guide to gain a better insight into its history" to mean we'd have a guided tour of the caverns, chambers and tunnels which house over 8,000 images of Buddha.... instead we were left to our own devices to explore the limestone caverns for an hour. Stunning - but I would have liked some explanation. Yet again, I regretted not bringing a guidebook.

Lunch at the Green Tea Restaurant - a lovely lakeside setting and set up, but catering solely for large western tour groups - then looping back through the fields and hills (I became a tad obsessed with getting a snap of the beautifully stacked cabbages and the wooden horse and carts collecting them) towards Nyaung Shwe, our Inle Lake (အင်းလေးကန်) base for the next few days.

We had a couple of stops en route: a viewpoint over the valley where the Myanmar Railway line loops back on itself (which apparently inspires poets), and at the fascinating Nan Cherry Bamboo Umbrella and Shan Paper shop near Heho (ဟဲဟိုး) where we got to see a family producing hand made petal decorated paper and traditional bamboo umbrellas. On the final approach to Nyaung Shwe we had some time to photograph the beautiful teak monastery of Shwe Yan Pyae.

Our home in Nyaung Shwe was the Hu Pin hotel, which provided a compact, simple but bijoux twin bed room and - most importantly - laundry facilities. The Explore and Exodus groups were staying here too - we overlapped with them both at various times on our trip. The lovely ladies on reception provided a map of the town, and Anna, Miriam, Joelle and I headed out to explore, visiting the Yadana Man Aung Paya as dusk fell.

For dinner, Anna, Miriam and I followed up on one of the suggested restaurants in Miriam's guide book rather than going for pizza with Josh and the rest of the group. The Aurora proved a winner: family run, local food and plenty of it. Wonderful. If you're ever in Nyaung Shwe, eat there.

DSC02889_small

Buckfast Abbey - the Abbey Church of St Mary from the Physic Garden by Elliott Brown

Our tour group was taken to Buckfast Abbey in the morning.

The first Abbey was founded on this site in 1018 and absorbed into the Cistercian order in 1147. It grew throughout the middle ages until it's closure in 1539 by King Henry VIII.

The buildings were converted and allowed to fall into ruin, but in 1882 a group of Benedictine monks, exiled from France, settled at Buckfast and eventually set about rebuilding the Abbey.

It is incredible that a team of no more than 6 monks completed the work in 30 years, and only one - Brother Peter had any experience as a builder.

Today Buckfast Abbey is the only English medieval monastery to have been regranted and used again for it's original purpose.

Going into the abbey church I was told to take my baseball cap off, which I did.

Grade II* Listed Building

Church of St Mary (Buckfast Abbey)

Description

BUCKFASTLEIGH

SX7467 BUCKFAST ROAD, Buckfast

1011-1/5/29 Abbey Church Of St Mary

10/01/51

(Formerly Listed as:

BUCKFAST ROAD, Buckfast

St Mary's Church, Buckfast Abbey)

GV II*

Abbey church. Built 1907-1932, on the foundations of the

medieval Cistercian abbey church (except the east end). FA

Walters. For the Benedictine monks who established a house

here in 1882. Most of the building work was carried out by a

small group of monks working under a master mason. Snecked

local grey limestone with Ham Hill dressings; copper roof.

Style "mixture of English Cistercian and French early Gothic"

(Pevsner). 1965 east end Blessed Sacrament chapel to the

designs of Paul Pearn.

Plan: church with 8-bay lean-to aisles plus galleried western

bay; central crossing tower; transepts with chapels; 3-bay

choir with choir aisles; east end Blessed Sacrament chapel

with undercroft.

EXTERIOR: west end of nave with flanking projecting buttresses

containing stairs to gallery, rising as pinnacles with broach

spire roofs, bases and pinnacles decorated with blind

arcading. Round-headed west doorway with shafts, left and

right shafts with cushion capitals and carved gable.

Doorway has 3 orders of zigzag, billet and chevron moulding on

engaged shafts; 2-leaf door with elaborate ironwork. Above the

doorway a recessed 3-centred blind moulded arch containing 2

round-headed windows with shafts and a roundel window above.

Above the archway blind arcading decorates the gable. West

ends of lean-to aisles have smaller versions of the buttresses

flanking the nave and paired round-headed openings (one blind)

with roundels above.

North side of 9-bay nave has pilasters and a corbelled

parapet. Round-headed triforium windows linked by string

rising as continuous hoodmould. Nave with parapet and

round-headed windows, the hoodmould string interrupted by the

pilasters. Small gabled porch in second bay from the west with

set-back buttresses, parapet and round-headed outer doorway

with shafts and chevron-carved arch. Easternmost 2 bays of

aisle with taller roof and blind arcading above the windows.

North end of north transept with tall paired arches containing

4 tiers of glazed blind and glazed windows, either

round-headed or roundels. East side of transept has one-bay

chapel. The choir continues in the same style with lean-to

choir aisle roofs. 1965 concrete east end chapel on 4 columns

with shallow gabled roof.

Tower with 3 stages above nave roof. Clasping pilasters;

corner pinnacles with 2 tiers of blind arcading and broach

spires, crow-stepped parapet. Lower stage has lancet windows

in round-headed recesses, middle stage has small lancet

windows in moulded arched recesses; 2-light plate-traceried

louvred belfry windows.

INTERIOR: Stone-vaulted, the aisles with transverse vaults.

Arcades with piers with engaged shafts and chamfred and

moulded arches. Nave rib vault with red sandstone infill.

Triforium has a pair of 2-light pointed arches to each bay

with super-ordinate round-headed blind arch. Aisle walls

decorated with blind round-headed recesses containing triple

round-headed arches on shafts with moulded bases and carved

capitals. Stone-vaulted west end gallery on piers with canted

bays to parapet. Tower arches on short paired shafts with

moulded bases and carved capitals. Crossing has corbelled

stone gallery; transepts have simple galleries on moulded

corbels with cast-iron railings.

Choir has similar detail to nave but carved, not moulded

capitals and stone infill to the vaulting of choir and choir

aisles. East end of sanctuary has 2 round-headed arches and 2

round-headed windows above the triforium with a central shaft

rising to a carving of the Coronation of the Virgin.

The furnishings, floors, painted decoration and stained glass

are unexpectedly lavish, particularly the outstanding

metalwork, which is mostly 1928-1932 by Bernhard Witte of

Aachen, inspired by German Romanesque metalwork and described

in some detail in Pevsner. The stained glass is a remarkable

collection, mostly still in the medievalising Victorian

tradition and of the highest quality. In addition the church

contains a C16 ivory crucifix donated by the Clifford family

of Ugbrooke, the leading Roman Catholic family in Devon. 1965

Blessed Sacrament chapel by Paul Pearn conceived as a setting

for ambitious mosaic stained glass designed by Father Charles

Norris, one of the Buckfast Abbey monks.

Historical note: the rebuilding of the abbey church by the

Buckfast monks was well-publicised in the national and local

press and one of the monks with an interest in photography

recorded much of the work: the archive is held by the abbey.

Buckfast Abbey became an important focus for Roman Catholicism

in Devon in the late C19 and C20 with the monks serving

private chapels in the area, including Ugbrooke in Chudleigh

for the Clifford family and Dundridge in Harberton for the

wife of Sir John Harvey.

(Buildings of England: Pevsner N: Devon: London: 1989-:

222-226).

Listing NGR: SX7414767411

Seen from the Physic Garden.

XIII Congreso FEDALMA 2016 - Ciudad Real by ALBA LACTANCIA MATERNA

Congreso Nacional de Grupos de Apoyo a la Lactancia Materna celebrado en Ciudad Real en Abril 2016

EL GUARDIÁN DEL BOSQUE DE NIEBLA, HISTRICULUS, LLANOS DEL JUNCAL by Proyecto Agua

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En Biodiversidad virtual y también en Twiter

Con este aspecto feroz y esas patas como cuchillos, es probable que nadie se atreva a cruzaerse en su camino y es que el ciliado Histriculus se ha convertido en el guardián de la gota de agua, una gota de agua, que trajo el viento del sur empapándose en la niebla y que junto a otras se han ido destilando en los Llanos del Juncal junto a un bosque húmedo que es selva y que da cobijo a numerosas algas que Histriculus guarda como un tesoro, son su alimento y al mismo tiempo las joyas que adornan su cuerpo en el que se dibujan como broches de un tesoro que se va dorando con el tiempo.

Histriculus pertenece a ese grupo de ciliados de la clase "Stichotricha" en la que los cilios se han soldado para convertirse en estas afiladas espinas como dagas flexibles, amenanzantes e inofensivas, que ayudan a caminar a estos organismos por los fondos del agua con la agilidad de cualquier artrópodo acuático, milpiés o saltamontes, cangrejo o pulga saltarina.

El género Histriculus incluye a ciliados hervíboros de aspecto muy similar a Stylonychia y a otros géneros de apariencia feroz, pero completamente pacíficos y de hábitos vegetarianos. Ese aspecto arisco y agresivo lo dan los gruesos cirros que poseen tanto alrededor, como en la parte dorsal y ventral de su aplanado cuerpo. Son cilios fundidos de apariencia áspera y espinosa y que actúan como remos elásticos, impulsando como un resorte al cuerpo de estos organismos. En otras ocasiones, estos cirros se convierten en patas y hacen del desplazamiento de estos protozoos un paseo como el que podría tener cualquier insecto subacuático.

Los cirros en este grupo de ciliados se colocan exactamente y en número fijo en cada una de las porciones del cuerpo y constituyen una seña de identidad única. En Histriculus los cirros del contorno son pequeños y bordean como un fleco continuo los costados de este protozoo, en otros géneros es frecuente que falten en la parte de la cola y que en ella se sitúen otros tres muy largos con aspecto de antena tal y como ocurre en Stylonychia .

Parece que el comportamiento de Histriculus es muy territorial, se mueven siempre alrededor de una zona no muy extensa, unas veces permanecen inmóviles mientras baten las membranas de cirros situadas en la abertura de su boca -cistostoma-, de este modo atraen hacia sí a partículas vegetales y pequeñas algas a las que arremolinan antes de ingerir. En otras ocasiones, se mueven inquietos hacia delante y hacia atrás en saltos cortos e imprevisibles mostrando su temperamento inquieto. Posiblemente este modo de actuar junto a las defensas que le proporcionan los gruesos y amenazantes cirros, sean una protección frente a sus depredadores…no debemos olvidar que estos ciliados son los pequeños corderos de los pastos subacuáticos, corderos con púas de erizo.

Histriculus vive en zonas de aguas limpias aunque en ellas abunden los restos vegetales. El de hoy lo hemos encontrado entre las algas y la vegetación acuática de los Llanos del Juncal sobre el precioso bosque húmedo de Alcornoques que mira hacia otro continente y se abre hacia el mar sin fronteras. La fotografía tomada con la técnica de contraste de interferencia a 400 aumentos procede de una muestra recogida el junto a Lechu, Elena y Cristina, el 24 de febrero de 2018 entre Algerciras y Tarifa donde Histriculus se ha convertido en guardian de sus bosques de niebla.

Monument Valley by lukedrich_photography

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Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monument_Valley

Monument Valley (Navajo: Tsé Biiʼ Ndzisgaii, pronounced [tsʰépìːʔ ǹtsɪ̀skɑ̀ìː], meaning "valley of the rocks") is a region of the Colorado Plateau characterized by a cluster of sandstone buttes, with the largest reaching 1,000 ft (300 m) above the valley floor. The most famous butte formations are located in northeastern Arizona along the Utah–Arizona state line. The valley is considered sacred by the Navajo Nation, the Native American people within whose reservation it lies.

Monument Valley has been featured in many forms of media since the 1930s. Famed director John Ford used the location for a number of his Westerns. Film critic Keith Phipps wrote that "its five square miles [13 km2] have defined what decades of moviegoers think of when they imagine the American West".

Sourc: navajonationparks.org/navajo-tribal-parks/monument-valley/

History

Before human existence, the Park was once a lowland basin. For hundreds of millions of years, materials that eroded from the early Rock Mountains deposited layer upon layer of sediment which cemented a slow and gentle uplift, generated by ceaseless pressure from below the surface, elevating these horizontal strata quite uniformly one to three miles above sea level. What was once a basin became a plateau.

Natural forces of wind and water that eroded the land spent the last 50 million years cutting into and peeling away at the surface of the plateau. The simple wearing down of altering layers of soft and hard rock slowly revealed the natural wonders of Monument Valley today.

From the visitor center, you see the world-famous panorama of the Mitten Buttes and Merrick Butte. You can also purchase guided tours from Navajo tour operators, who take you down into the valley in Jeeps for a narrated cruise through these mythical formations. Places such as Ear of the Wind and other landmarks can only be accessed via guided tours. During the summer months, the visitor center also features Haskenneini Restaurant, which specializes in both native Navajo and American cuisines, and a film/snack/souvenir shop. There are year-round restroom facilities. One mile before the center, numerous Navajo vendors sell arts, crafts, native food, and souvenirs at roadside stands.

Additional Foreign Language Tags:

(United States) "الولايات المتحدة" "Vereinigte Staaten" "アメリカ" "米国" "美国" "미국" "Estados Unidos" "États-Unis" "ארצות הברית" "संयुक्त राज्य" "США"

(Arizona) "أريزونا" "亚利桑那州" "אריזונה" "एरिजोना" "アリゾナ州" "애리조나" "Аризона"

(Utah) "يوتا" "犹他州" "יוטה" "यूटा" "ユタ州" "유타" "Юта"

(Monument Valley) "وادي النصب التذكاري" "纪念碑谷" "Vallée des monuments" "מוניומנט ואלי" "स्मारक घाटी" "モニュメントバレー" "모뉴먼트 밸리" "Долина Монументов" "Valle de los Monumentos"

BobbyTH055 @ Insimadult.org by bobby TH.

Naughty WorkOut!

by BobbyTH

Bobby's 3D'Ilusions@InsimAdult.Org

XIII Congreso FEDALMA 2016 - Ciudad Real by ALBA LACTANCIA MATERNA

Congreso Nacional de Grupos de Apoyo a la Lactancia Materna celebrado en Ciudad Real en Abril 2016

P2240771-org by James Chiu

org_1ad5fa9be5b87c38_1534386971000 by DAVE HALLOCK

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Dcim\100media\Dji_0538.Jpg

www.dulcemaria.org by RBD 2008

www.dulcemaria.org

East Anglian Railway Museum - train carriage - British Railways Mk 1 Corridor Second Coach E24959 - Please remember that you are in a Museum railway carriage. Do not put your feed on the seats or interfere or play with any of the fittings. Thank you. by Elliott Brown

A visit to the East Anglian Railway Museum.

The East Anglian Railway Museum is located at Chappel and Wakes Colne railway station in Essex, England, which is situated on the former Great Eastern Railway branch line from Marks Tey to Sudbury. Services on the Sudbury Branch Line are operated by Abellio Greater Anglia.

The museum has a wide collection of locomotives and rolling stock, some of which are fully restored, three are converted into Thomas, Percy and Toby replicas while others are undergoing repair and restoration. The Restoration Shed was built in 1983–4, before which most work had to take place in the Goods Shed or in the open. On event days, steam or diesel train rides are operated over a short demonstration track.

The museum also plays host to three popular annual events: the Winter Beer Festival held each February, the Cider Festival held each June, and the Summer Beer Festival held each September. During the festivals, additional late-evening trains on the Sudbury Branch Line allow festival-goers to return home by train subject to provision by the train operation companies. There are no moving exhibits during the festivals, although train carriages are usually open to sit in and drink, with one wagon doubling up as The Shunters Arms at the summer festival.

The museum was originally formed as the Stour Valley Railway Preservation Society on 24 September 1968. The SVRPS was established at Chappel & Wakes Colne Station in December 1969 after a lease was obtained from British Rail to use the vacant goods yard and railway buildings, including the station building. The first public steam day took place three months later.

The goods shed and station buildings were quickly restored; with a workshop being set up in the goods shed to enable maintenance and restoration work to be undertaken on the rolling stock.

The Stour Valley Railway Preservation Society was renamed to The East Anglian Railway Museum in 1986 to confirm its focus on representing railway history of the Eastern Counties rather than just operating trains. The museum gained charitable status in 1991 (Registered Charity No. 1001579) and became a Registered Museum in 1995.

Since 2005, the museum has had a greater emphasis on interpretation and display facilities, a large variety of events take place each year to raise funds to support the museum's activities.

This pair of trains the slam doors were open and you could go on board. Sit in first class or standard class.

British Railways Mk 1 Corridor Second Coach E24959

Built at Derby in 1956, this coach remained in service until 1981.

On withdrawal it was purchased by Museum Members Chris Wright and Bill Bourne and loaned to the Museum. It has since been in regular use on Operating Days, and upon refurbishment in 2002, it was generously donated to the Museum by the owners.

Please remember that you are in a Museum railway carriage.

Do not put your feed on the seats or interfere or play with any of the fittings. Thank you.

ORG_A6502994 by brianshih

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Ribbons 1 by Robert Hodgin

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Stills from VJ projects performed last night at the Mighty Gallery to Bitshifter's gameboy-driven audio.

All visuals were run as Processing-exported OSX applications controlled live with an M-Audio Trigger Finger. Someone buy me a Lemur so I can do this properly.

Textures courtesy of Filter Forge.

Atlas Negative Collection Image by SDASM Archives

PictionID:44123923 - Catalog:14_010286 - Title:Kearny Mesa Facility. Details: New Convair-Astronautics Buildings; Building 3 Fifth Floor. Date: 01/21/1958 - Filename:14_010286.TIF - - - - - Image from the Convair/General Dynamics Astronautics Atlas Negative Collection---Please Tag these images so that the information can be permanently stored with the digital file.---Repository: San Diego Air and Space Museum

CitizenGO Summer School by CitizenGO

www.dulcemaria.org by RBD news

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www.dulcemaria.org

Org by walknboston

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PC HEAVEN-WISHES AUNA 1 by Jean-Michel

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Le Wyoming (USA) est un Etat montagneux et c'est l'État le moins peuplé des États-Unis. Une vue typique du bétail pendant une "Wyoming Rush Hour" pour ces belles cartes pour les Wishes du Groupe PC Heaven !

Philae Temple Complex, Agilkia Island, Egypt. by PHOTOGRAPHY by DM & DBM.

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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philae_temple_complex

The Philae temple complex (/ˈfaɪliː/; Greek: Φιλαί or Φιλή and Πιλάχ, Arabic: فيلة Egyptian Arabic: [fiːlæ], Egyptian: p3-jw-rķ' or 'pA-jw-rq; Coptic: ⲡⲓⲗⲁⲕ, ⲡⲓⲗⲁⲕϩ, Coptic pronunciation: [ˈpilɑk, ˈpilɑkh]) is an island-based temple complex in the reservoir of the Aswan Low Dam, downstream of the Aswan Dam and Lake Nasser, Egypt.

Until the International Campaign to Save the Monuments of Nubia, the temple complex was located on Philae Island, near the expansive First Cataract of the Nile in Upper Egypt. These rapids and the surrounding area have been variously flooded since the initial construction of the Aswan Low Dam in 1902. The temple complex was dismantled and moved to nearby Agilkia Island as part of the UNESCO Nubia Campaign project, protecting this and other complexes before the 1970 completion of the Aswan High Dam. The hieroglyphic reliefs of the temple complex are being studied and published by the Philae Temple Text Project of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna (Institute OREA).

Geography

Philae is mentioned by numerous ancient writers, including Strabo, Diodorus Siculus, Ptolemy, Seneca, Pliny the Elder. It was, as the plural name indicates, the appellation of two small islands situated in latitude 24° north, just above the First Cataract near Aswan (Egyptian Swenet "Trade;" Ancient Greek: Συήνη). Groskurd computes the distance between these islands and Aswan at about 100 km (62 mi).

Despite being the smaller island, Philae proper was, from the numerous and picturesque ruins formerly there, the more interesting of the two. Before the inundation, it was not more than 380 metres (1,250 ft) long and about 120 metres (390 ft) broad. It is composed of syenite: its sides are steep and on their summits a lofty wall was built encompassing the island.

Since Philae was said to be one of the burying-places of Osiris, it was held in high reverence both by the Egyptians to the north and the Nubians (often referred to as "Ethiopians" in Greek) to the south. It was deemed profane for any but priests to dwell there and was accordingly sequestered and denominated "the Unapproachable" (Ancient Greek: ἄβατος). It was reported too that neither birds flew over it nor fish approached its shores. These indeed were the traditions of a remote period; since in the time of the Ptolemaic Kingdom, Philae was so much resorted to, partly by pilgrims to the tomb of Osiris, partly by persons on secular errands, that the priests petitioned Ptolemy VIII Physcon (170-117 BC) to prohibit public functionaries at least from coming there and living at their expense.

In the nineteenth century, William John Bankes took the Philae obelisk on which this petition was engraved to England. When its Egyptian hieroglyphs were compared with those of the Rosetta Stone, it threw great light upon the Egyptian consonantal alphabet.

The islands of Philae were not, however, merely sacerdotal abodes; they were the centres of commerce also between Meroë and Memphis. For the rapids of the cataracts were at most seasons impracticable, and the commodities exchanged between Egypt and Nubia were reciprocally landed and re-embarked at Syene and Philae.

The neighbouring granite quarries also attracted a numerous population of miners and stonemasons; and, for the convenience of this traffic, a gallery or road was formed in the rocks along the east bank of the Nile, portions of which are still extant.

Philae also was remarkable for the singular effects of light and shade resulting from its position near the Tropic of Cancer. As the sun approached its northern limit the shadows from the projecting cornices and moldings of the temples sink lower and lower down the plain surfaces of the walls, until, the sun having reached its highest altitude, the vertical walls are overspread with dark shadows, forming a striking contrast with the fierce light which illuminates all surrounding objects.

Construction

The most conspicuous feature of both islands was their architectural wealth. Monuments of various eras, extending from the Pharaohs to the Caesars, occupy nearly their whole area. The principal structures, however, lay at the south end of the smaller island.

The most ancient was a temple for Isis, built in the reign of Nectanebo I during 380-362 BC, which was approached from the river through a double colonnade. Nekhtnebef was his ancient Egyptian royal titulary and he became the founding pharaoh of the Thirtieth and last native dynasty when he deposed and killed Nepherites II.

For the most part, the other ruins date from the Ptolemaic Kingdom, more especially with the reigns of Ptolemy II Philadelphus, Ptolemy V Epiphanes, and Ptolemy VI Philometor (282-145 BC), with many traces of Roman work in Philae dedicated to Ammon-Osiris.

In front of the propyla were two colossal lions in granite, behind which stood a pair of obelisks, each 13 metres (43 ft) high. The propyla were pyramidal in form and colossal in dimensions. One stood between the dromos and pronaos, another between the pronaos and the portico, while a smaller one led into the sekos or adyton. At each corner of the adytum stood a monolithic shrine, the cage of a sacred hawk. Of these shrines one is now in the Louvre, the other in the Museum at Florence.

Beyond the entrance into the principal court are small temples, one of which, dedicated to Isis, Hathor, and a wide range of deities related to midwifery, is covered with sculptures representing the birth of Ptolemy Philometor, under the figure of the god Horus. The story of Osiris is everywhere represented on the walls of this temple, and two of its inner chambers are particularly rich in symbolic imagery. Upon the two great propyla are Greek inscriptions intersected and partially destroyed by Egyptian figures cut across them.

The monuments in both islands indeed attested, beyond any others in the Nile valley, the survival of pure Egyptian art centuries after the last of the Pharaohs had ceased to reign. Great pains have been taken to mutilate the sculptures of this temple. The work of demolition is attributable, in the first instance, to the zeal of the early Christians, and afterward, to the policy of the Iconoclasts, who curried favour for themselves with the Byzantine court by the destruction of heathen images as well as Christian ones.[citation needed] Images/icons of Horus are often less mutilated than the other carvings. In some wall scenes, every figure and hieroglyphic text except that of Horus and his winged solar-disk representation have been meticulously scratched out by early Christians. This is presumably because the early Christians had some degree of respect for Horus or the legend of Horus - it may be because they saw parallels between the stories of Jesus and Horus (see Jesus in comparative mythology#Iconography and #Dying-and-rising god archetype).

The soil of Philae had been prepared carefully for the reception of its buildings–being leveled where it was uneven, and supported by masonry where it was crumbling or insecure. For example, the western wall of the Great Temple, and the corresponding wall of the dromos, were supported by very strong foundations, built below the pre-inundation level of the water, and rested on the granite which in this region forms the bed of the Nile. Here and there steps were hewn out from the wall to facilitate the communication between the temple and the river.

At the southern extremity of the dromos of the Great Temple was a smaller temple, apparently dedicated to Hathor; at least the few columns that remained of it are surmounted with the head of that goddess. Its portico consisted of twelve columns, four in front and three deep. Their capitals represented various forms and combinations of the palm branch, the doum palm branch, and the lotus flower. These, as well as the sculptures on the columns, the ceilings, and the walls were painted with the most vivid colors, which, owing to the dryness of the climate, have lost little of their original brilliance.

History

The ancient Egyptian name of the smaller island meant "boundary". As their southern frontier, the pharaohs of Egypt kept there a strong garrison, and it was also a barracks for Greek and Roman soldiers in their turn.

The first religious building on Philae was likely a shrine built by Pharaoh Taharqa of the 25th Dynasty, which was probably dedicated to Amun. However this structure is only known from a few blocks reused in later buildings, which Gerhard Haeny suspects may have been brought over for reuse from structures elsewhere.

The oldest temple to have undoubtedly stood on the island, as well as the first evidence of Isis-worship there, was a small kiosk built by Psamtik II of the 26th Dynasty. This was followed by contributions from Amasis II (26th Dynasty) and Nectanebo I (30th Dynasty). Of these early buildings, only two elements built by Nectanebo I survive– a kiosk that was originally the vestibule of the old Isis temple, and a gateway which was later incorporated into the first pylon of the current temple.

Ptolemaic era

More than two thirds of Philae's surviving structures were built in the Ptolemaic era, during which the island became a prominent site of pilgrimage not only for Egyptians and Nubians but for pilgrims from as far as Anatolia, Crete, and the Greek mainland. Some of these pilgrims marked their presence with inscriptions on the temple walls, including votive inscriptions known as proskynemata, as well as other types. Among these are inscriptions left by four Romans in 116 BC, which represent the oldest known Latin inscriptions in Egypt.

Along with the various contributions of Ptolemaic rulers, Philae also received additions from the Nubian king Arqamani, who contributed to the Temple of Arensnuphis and the mammisi, and his successor Adikhalamani, whose name has been found on a stela on the island. Some experts have interpreted these additions as signs of collaboration between the Nubian and Ptolemaic governments, but others consider them to represent a period of Nubian occupation of the region, likely enabled by the revolt of Hugronaphor in Upper Egypt. The cartouches of Arqamani were later erased by Ptolemy V, while the stela of Adikhalamani was eventually reused as filling under the floor of the pronaos.

Roman era

The Roman era saw an overall decline in pilgrimage to Philae, especially from Mediterranean regions, as evidenced by the reduced number of inscriptions. Nevertheless, it remained an important sacred site, especially for Nubians, who continued to visit both as individual pilgrims and in official delegations from their government in Meroë.

Several Roman emperors made artistic and architectural contributions to Philae. While most of the architectural additions date to the Julio-Claudian dynasty, the island continued to receive contributions to its temples up to the time of Caracalla as well as a triple arch built by Diocletian. In AD 298, Diocletian ceded Roman territory south of the First Cataract as part of an agreement made with the neighboring Nobades, withdrawing the border to about the area of Philae itself. The Kushite king Yesebokheamani made a pilgrimage to Philae in this period and may have taken over the Roman hegemony.

During the Roman era, Philae was the site of the last known inscription in Egyptian hieroglyphs, written in AD 394, and the last known Demotic inscription, written in 452.

Christianization

Christianity seems to have been present at Philae by the fourth century, at which point it coexisted with traditional Egyptian religion. According to the Coptic hagiography Life of Aaron, the first bishop of Philae was Macedonius (attested in the early fourth century), who is said to have killed the sacred falcon kept on the island, though modern experts question the historicity of this account. By the mid fifth century, a petition from Bishop Appion of Syene to co-emperors Theodosius II and Valentinian III indicates the presence of multiple churches on the island functioning alongside the pagan temples.

Traditional worship at Philae appears to have survived into at least the fifth century, despite the anti-pagan persecutions of that time. In fact, the fifth-century historian Priscus mentions a treaty between the Roman commander Maximinus and the Blemmyes and Nobades in 452, which among other things ensured access to the cult image of Isis.

According to the sixth-century historian Procopius, the temple was closed down officially in AD 537 by the local commander Narses the Persarmenian in accordance with an order of Byzantine emperor Justinian I. This event is conventionally considered to mark the end of ancient Egyptian religion. However, its importance has recently come into question, following a major study by Jitse Dijkstra who argues that organized paganism at Philae ended in the fifth century, based on the fact that the last inscriptional evidence of an active pagan priesthood there dates to the 450s. Nevertheless, some adherence to traditional religion seems to have survived into the sixth century, based on a petition from Dioscorus of Aphrodito to the governor of the Thebaid dated to 567. The letter warns of an unnamed man (the text calls him "eater of raw meat") who, in addition to plundering houses and stealing tax revenue, is alleged to have restored paganism at "the sanctuaries," possibly referring to the temples at Philae.

Philae retained significance as a Christian center even after its closure as a pagan site. Five of its temples were converted into churches (including the Temple of Isis, which was dedicated to Saint Stephen), and two purpose built churches were constructed on the north side of the island.

1800s

The island of Philae attracted much attention in the 19th century. In the 1820s, Joseph Bonomi the Younger, a British Egyptologist and museum curator visited the island. So did Amelia Edwards, a British novelist in 1873–1874.

The approach by water is quite the most beautiful. Seen from the level of a small boat, the island, with its palms, its colonnades, its pylons, seems to rise out of the river like a mirage. Piled rocks frame it on either side, and the purple mountains close up the distance. As the boat glides nearer between glistening boulders, those sculptured towers rise higher and even higher against the sky. They show no sign of ruin or age. All looks solid, stately, perfect. One forgets for the moment that anything is changed. If a sound of antique chanting were to be borne along the quiet air–if a procession of white-robed priests bearing aloft the veiled ark of the God, were to come sweeping round between the palms and pylons–we should not think it strange.

— Amelia B. Edwards, A thousand miles up the Nile / by Amelia B. Edwards, 1831-1892, p. 207.

These visits are only a small sample of the great interest that Victorian-era Britain had for Egypt. Soon, tourism to Philae became common.

1900s

In 1902, the Aswan Low Dam was completed on the Nile River by the British. This threatened to submerge many ancient landmarks, including the temple complex of Philae. However, the British prioritized the advancement of Modern Egypt at the expense of the complex. The height of the dam was raised twice, from 1907 to 1912 and from 1929 to 1934, and the island of Philae was nearly always flooded. In fact, the only times that the complex was not underwater was when the dam's sluices were open from July to October.

It was proposed that the temples be relocated, piece by piece, to nearby islands, such as Bigeh or Elephantine. However, the temples' foundations and other architectural supporting structures were strengthened instead. Although the buildings were physically secure, the island's attractive vegetation and the colors of the temples' reliefs were washed away. Also, the bricks of the Philae temples soon became encrusted with silt and other debris carried by the Nile.

Rescue project

The temples had been practically intact since the ancient days, but with each inundation the situation worsened and in the 1960s the island was submerged up to a third of the buildings all year round.

In 1960 UNESCO started a project to try to save the buildings on the island from the destructive effect of the ever-increasing waters of the Nile. First, building three dams and creating a separate lake with lower water levels was considered.

First of all, a large coffer dam was built, constructed of two rows of steel plates between which a 1 million cubic metres (35 million cubic feet) of sand was tipped. Any water that seeped through was pumped away.

External images

Next the monuments were cleaned and measured, by using photogrammetry, a method that enables the exact reconstruction of the original size of the building blocks that were used by the ancients. Then every building was dismantled into about 40,000 units from 2 to 25 tons, and then transported to the nearby Island of Agilkia, situated on higher ground some 500 metres (1,600 ft) away. The transfer itself took place between 1977 and 1980.

Nearby locations of interest

Prior to the inundation, a little west of Philae lay a larger island, anciently called Snem or Senmut, but now Bigeh. It is very steep, and from its most elevated peak affords a fine view of the Nile, from its smooth surface south of the islands to its plunge over the shelves of rock that form the First Cataract. Philae, Bigeh and another lesser island divided the river into four principal streams, and north of them it took a rapid turn to the west and then to the north, where the cataract begins.

Bigeh, like Philae, was a holy island; its ruins and rocks are inscribed with the names and titles of Amenhotep III, Ramesses II, Psamtik II, Apries, and Amasis II, together with memorials of the later Macedonian and Roman rulers of Egypt. Its principal ruins consisted of the propylon and two columns of a temple, which was apparently of small dimensions, but of elegant proportions. Near them were the fragments of two colossal granite statues and also an excellent piece of masonry of much later date, having the aspect of an arch belonging to a church or mosque.

reaction-diffusion time example by Jessica Rosenkrantz

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more example sketches for the workshop

Robert Lembke by Michael Mechthold-Jin

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Robert Lembke (1913-1989) was one of the most famous TV personalities in post-war Germany. Even I knew him although I never watched TV and my parents did not even own such a gadget.

Here he hosts his famous show "Was bin ich?" (What am I?), which was shown weekly from 1961 to 1989. It was rather dull, as far as I remember. The candidates were always the same 4 people. No celebrities, no flamboyant fashion statements, nothing provocative. The jokes, if any, were slow and extremely family friendly. As you can see in the picture, even his dog fell asleep during the show.

Nevertheless it was the most popular game show for a long time and many German expressions that are still being used today were invented here, such as the idioms "gehe ich recht in der Annahme" and "welches Schweinderl hätten's denn gern" and "machen Sie einmal eine typische Handbewegung" as well as the word "jein", a portemanteau made up from the German words for yes and no.

The show was all about professions, a very important concept for Germans. In Germany, your profession is not only what you do from 8 to 5 but it's part of your personality, even after you retire. To refer to your profession as a "job" is almost blasphemy in Germany. The German word for it, "Beruf", is related to the verb "rufen", suggesting that it's a call from above, your mission on earth. However, I understand that the concept of the game actually comes from the United States where a similar show was allegedly popular even earlier in the history of light entertainment.

I don't remember where I found this photo. If you have the copyright, don't get upset - just let me know.

PRIMER CROSS MEDIA MONTAÑA DE LA ASOCIACIÓN DE ESCLEROSIS MÚLTIPLE DE TOLEDO = ADEM-TO by JOSE-MARIA MORENO GARCIA

PRIMER CROSS MEDIA MONTAÑA DE LA ASOCIACIÓN DE ESCLEROSIS MÚLTIPLE DE TOLEDO = ADEM-TO

Cross Solidario www.ademto.org

+ INFO en atletismotoledano.blogspot.com.es/2013/05/cross-ademto-el...

VIDEOS DE AURELIO GOMEZ CASTRO www.youtube.com/user/augocas

CRÓNICA DE Sergio Miguel - lunes, 13 de mayo de 2013 para La Tribuna de Toledo

El deporte sigue siendo un motor solidario en la ciudad y la última prueba se pudo recoger ayer en el paraje natural conocido como la Fuente del Moro, en el barrio de Santa María de Benquerencia. En esta ocasión, la gran beneficiada fue la Asociación de Esclerosis Múltiple de Toledo (Ademto), que se ocupó de llevar a cabo su I Cross de Media Montaña que contó con el seguimiento cerrado del mundo del atletismo y las victorias de Óscar Martín y Miriam Guijarro en las categorías absolutas.

Ya desde el comienzo de la mañana el ambiente en los alrededores del centro comercial Luz del Tajo denotaba ambiente festivo. Sin embargo, para algunos las alegrías se transformaron en un puntito de sufrimiento cuando se situaron en la línea de salida y divisaron la primera de las cuestas que debían sortear.

Y es que, nada más emprender la marcha por el circuito de seis kilómetros, los atletas se tuvieron que enfrentar a una subida de un enorme desnivel que empezó a establecer las primeras diferencias entre los favoritos. Sin embargo, hubo que esperar hasta pasar por el segundo kilómetro para que el gran candidato al triunfo comenzase a marcar el ritmo.

Óscar Martín tomó la cabeza y empezó a abrir una contundente brecha sobre el resto de sus rivales, entre los que se encontraba un Jesús Lungarán que tiene un hechizo especial con el Polígono. No en vano, se ha proclamado en varias ocasiones vencedor de las populares que se celebran en el barrio toledano y ayer no quería dar su brazo a torcer a las primeras de cambio.

Con todo, en el Cross de Media Montaña de Ademto tenía a un rival muy experimentado que en ningún momento flaqueó para adjudicarse una brillante victoria. De esta forma, Óscar Martín se ocupó de controlar bien a sus rivales y no bajar nunca el ritmo hasta que cruzó triunfante la línea de meta.

Por detrás, a unos segundos de distancia y sin posibilidades de echarle el guante, Jesús Lungarán, Miguel Ángel Pulido y Noé Romero Funchal se tuvieron que conformar con ocupar puestos de honor en sus respectivas categorías.

En la carrera de las féminas, el dominio incontestable le correspondió a Miriam Guijarro Leo, que siguió una estrategia similar a la que utilizó Óscar Martín. Como en el caso del fondista toledano, a la ganadora en la Fuente del Moro le bastó imponer un poderoso ritmo para que el circuito se aliara con ella en la selección de favoritas.

Tanto es así que Guijarro consiguió llevarse la victoria por delante de una atleta que, en las últimas semanas, está tocada por una varita mágica. Se trata de Sonia Ruiz Andrade, perteneciente al TrainingRey, quien se tuvo que conformar con la segunda plaza en la categoría sénior, por delante de Susana Romero Hernández, que completó el podio.

Próximo objetivo. Nada más recuperar el resuello, Óscar Martín reconoció que «es un circuito duro, pero me he entrenado aquí en alguna ocasión y estoy encantado de poder correr en Toledo y por una buena causa como ésta», en referencia a la recaudación benéfica en favor de Ademto.

Aunque no destacó ningún punto especialmente duro en el circuito, porque «había muchas pendientes», admitió que «me he marchado en el segundo kilómetro y luego he ido a mi ritmo». Buena estrategia para lograr una victoria que le debe servir de acicate para su siguiente objetivo, que no es otro que «ganar por cuarto año consecutivo la Carrera del Corpus, que para mí es una clásica, al igual que la San Silvestre». De acuerdo con sus propias palabras, «según estoy, creo que podré llegar bien para disputarla».

Autor: José-María Moreno García. Fotógrafo humanista y documentalista. Una de las mejores formas de conocer la historia de un pueblo es a través de sus imágenes; en ellas se conserva no sólo su realidad tangible, calles, plazas, monumentos, sino también sus costumbres, fiestas, tradiciones, lenguaje, indumentaria, gestos y miradas, que nos dicen sin palabras como se vivía, cuales eran sus esperanzas y temores, qué había en su pasado, qué esperaban del futuro. Uno de los objetivos más ambiciosos es recuperar y catalogar todo el material gráfico existente en nuestra familia desde 1.915, para después ponerlo a disposición de vosotros, que la historia volviera a sus protagonistas, y los que aún siguen con nosotros pudieran disfrutar con ello. VISITA La colección "CIEN AÑOS DE FOTOGRAFÍA FAMILIA MORENO (1915-2015)" en www.josemariamorenogarcia.es y www.madridejos.net

SI ALGUIEN NO DESEA APARECER EN EL ÁLBUM POR FAVOR COMUNICALO A josemariamorenogarcia@gmail.com

waves by amattox mattox

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Waves are created in an array of fluid particles and flow through eachother.

Created with Processing.

View my blog post for more information and the interactive applet of a variation of this script.

ORG_RM408213 by brianshih

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De korenbloem, Cornflower (Centaurea cyanus) by bram reinders

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nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korenbloem

Photo of 01/05/15 by Bob Hyland, Sr.

See this post on InsideUrbanGreen.org

www.insideurbangreen.org/2015/01/my-entry.html

www.3elag.org by gfg45

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www.3elag.org

disconnect by David Bollinger

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Gina Bennett at the Miller Center Forum by Miller Center

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Gina Bennett speaks at the Miller Center Forum, March 14, 2011.

by Lyubomir Popov

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Kfir_10b by AereiMilitari.org

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Art Institute of Chicago by lukedrich_photography

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Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago

Chicago, officially the City of Chicago, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois, and the third-most-populous city in the United States. With an estimated population of 2,705,994 (2018), it is also the most populous city in the Midwestern United States. Chicago is the county seat of Cook County, the second-most-populous county in the US, with a small portion of the northwest side of the city extending into DuPage County near O'Hare Airport. Chicago is the principal city of the Chicago metropolitan area, often referred to as Chicagoland. At nearly 10 million people, the metropolitan area is the third most populous in the United States.

Located on the shores of freshwater Lake Michigan, Chicago was incorporated as a city in 1837 near a portage between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River watershed and grew rapidly in the mid-19th century. After the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, which destroyed several square miles and left more than 100,000 homeless, the city made a concerted effort to rebuild. The construction boom accelerated population growth throughout the following decades, and by 1900, less than 30 years after the great fire, Chicago was the fifth-largest city in the world. Chicago made noted contributions to urban planning and zoning standards, including new construction styles (including the Chicago School of architecture), the development of the City Beautiful Movement, and the steel-framed skyscraper.

Chicago is an international hub for finance, culture, commerce, industry, education, technology, telecommunications, and transportation. It is the site of the creation of the first standardized futures contracts, issued by the Chicago Board of Trade, which today is the largest and most diverse derivatives market in the world, generating 20% of all volume in commodities and financial futures alone. Depending on the particular year, the city's O'Hare International Airport is routinely ranked as the world's fifth or sixth busiest airport according to tracked data by the Airports Council International. The region also has the largest number of federal highways and is the nation's railroad hub. Chicago was listed as an alpha global city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network, and it ranked seventh in the entire world in the 2017 Global Cities Index. The Chicago area has one of the highest gross domestic products (GDP) in the world, generating $689 billion in 2018. In addition, the city has one of the world's most diversified and balanced economies, with no single industry employing more than 14% of the workforce. Chicago is home to several Fortune 500 companies, including Allstate, Boeing, Caterpillar, Exelon, Kraft Heinz, McDonald's, Mondelez International, Sears, United Airlines Holdings, and Walgreens.

Chicago's 58 million domestic and international visitors in 2018 made it the second most visited city in the nation, as compared with New York City's 65 million visitors in 2018. The city was ranked first in the 2018 Time Out City Life Index, a global quality of life survey of 15,000 people in 32 cities. Landmarks in the city include Millennium Park, Navy Pier, the Magnificent Mile, the Art Institute of Chicago, Museum Campus, the Willis (Sears) Tower, Grant Park, the Museum of Science and Industry, and Lincoln Park Zoo. Chicago's culture includes the visual arts, literature, film, theatre, comedy (especially improvisational comedy), food, and music, particularly jazz, blues, soul, hip-hop, gospel, and electronic dance music including house music. Of the area's many colleges and universities, the University of Chicago, Northwestern University, and the University of Illinois at Chicago are classified as "highest research" doctoral universities. Chicago has professional sports teams in each of the major professional leagues, including two Major League Baseball teams.

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_Institute_of_Chicago

The Art Institute of Chicago, founded in 1879 and located in Chicago's Grant Park, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the United States. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 million people annually. Its collection, stewarded by 11 curatorial departments, is encyclopedic, and includes iconic works such as Georges Seurat's A Sunday on La Grande Jatte, Pablo Picasso's The Old Guitarist, Edward Hopper's Nighthawks, and Grant Wood's American Gothic. Its permanent collection of nearly 300,000 works of art is augmented by more than 30 special exhibitions mounted yearly that illuminate aspects of the collection and present cutting-edge curatorial and scientific research.

As a research institution, the Art Institute also has a conservation and conservation science department, five conservation laboratories, and one of the largest art history and architecture libraries in the country—the Ryerson and Burnham Libraries.

The growth of the collection has warranted several additions to the museum's 1893 building, which was constructed for the World's Columbian Exposition. The most recent expansion, the Modern Wing designed by Renzo Piano, opened in 2009 and increased the museum's footprint to nearly one million square feet, making it the second-largest art museum in the United States, after the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Art Institute is associated with the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, a leading art school, making it one of the few remaining unified arts institutions in the United States.

IMG_20170721_185859788_HDR Classmates Wendy G (Myers) Stevens, Mike Hapes and Susan L (Case) McLaughlin at their AHS 45-year class reunion Friday evening Moore Park Ames Iowa July 21 2017 659pm by Ames High School Alumni Assoc.

AHS Ames High School Alumni Assoc - Ames, IA.

ameshigh.org - reunions - photos - newsletters - authors - calendar - news - deceased - email - letters - join AHSAA

The Ames High School Class of 1972 45-Year Reunion was held Friday, Saturday and Sunday July 21 22 and 23rd, 2017 in Ames Iowa, and it was FUN!!

To view ALL AHS class of 1972 photos click here

1972 AHS 45th reunion photos from July 2017 are here

AHS 1972 45th, 40th, 35th and 30th reunion info on www.AmesHigh.org

Welcome back Class of 1972 Ames Senior High School !!

Ames High School class of 1972 45-year post reunion summary

The 40th reunion was amazing!! The class of 1972 always has one of the strongest most connected classes out of all the Alumni classes at AHS, and this was no exception as approximately 100 1972 classmates met and re-connected on Friday July 21 2017 at Moore Park Shelter in Ames Iowa.

Saturday, July 22 we all toured the High School then 80 classmates met again later that day at Ames Golf and Country Club for a banquet, group photos, a short program and then another wonderfully enchanted evening of re-connecting with old friends. It was so much fun to see classmates we had not seen for so long, in some cases not since AHS days 45 years ago. We all have journeyed 45 years to get to this spot in time. It is something ever so special to have friends that span most, if not all of your life, especially after 45 plus years. Sunday was an awesome picnic at Inis Grove Park in Ames IA with another fun group photo, then we shed a tear and said our goodbyes and we hope to see you again soon.

#ameshighclassof1972 #1972ahs #45th #45-year-reunion #1972AHS45

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Susan McLaughlin Obituary

Susan Case McLaughlin Obituary

Susan L. McLaughlin Obituary

Susan Case Obituary

Sue Case Obituary

www.adamssoderstrum.com/obituaries/Susan-L-Mclaughlin?obI...

Susan L. McLaughlin, of Ames, passed away unexpectedly at her home on October 28, 2023.

Susan was born in Des Moines, Iowa and moved to Ames, Iowa at an early age.

Susan graduated from Ames High School in 1972.

Susan married Gregory McLauglin on December 21, 1974 and together they brought three beautiful children into this world.

Susan worked at Iowa State University for over 20 years before retiring in 2014. Susan was a great wife and mother and was able to enjoy her retirement years.

Susan is survived by her husband Gregory of Ames, Iowa; her daughter Shelly (Lucas) Hall of Clive, Iowa, and her son Cole of Des Moines, Iowa; and her 3 grandchildren, Hadley, Amara, and Landon.

Susan was proceeded in death by her parents, Robert and Betty; her brother, Robert Jr.; and her son Matthew.

A private family gathering is planned for the future.

Funeral arrangements are under the direction of the Adams Funeral Home and online condolences may be left for Susan’s family at www.adamssoderstrum.com.

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Metropolitan Museum of Art (The MET) by lukedrich_photography

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Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City

New York City (NYC), often called the City of New York or simply New York (NY), is the most populous city in the United States. With an estimated 2018 population of 8,398,748 distributed over about 302.6 square miles (784 km2), New York is also the most densely populated major city in the United States. Located at the southern tip of the U.S. state of New York, the city is the center of the New York metropolitan area, the largest metropolitan area in the world by urban landmass. With almost 20 million people in its metropolitan statistical area and approximately 23 million in its combined statistical area, it is one of the world's most populous megacities. New York City has been described as the cultural, financial, and media capital of the world, significantly influencing commerce, entertainment, research, technology, education, politics, tourism, art, fashion, and sports. Home to the headquarters of the United Nations, New York is an important center for international diplomacy.

Situated on one of the world's largest natural harbors, New York City is composed of five boroughs, each of which is a county of the State of New York. The five boroughs—Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, the Bronx, and Staten Island—were consolidated into a single city in 1898. The city and its metropolitan area constitute the premier gateway for legal immigration to the United States. As many as 800 languages are spoken in New York, making it the most linguistically diverse city in the world. New York is home to more than 3.2 million residents born outside the United States, the largest foreign-born population of any city in the world as of 2016. As of 2019, the New York metropolitan area is estimated to produce a gross metropolitan product (GMP) of $2.0 trillion. If greater New York City were a sovereign state, it would have the 12th highest GDP in the world. New York is home to the highest number of billionaires of any city in the world.

New York City traces its origins to a trading post founded by colonists from the Dutch Republic in 1624 on Lower Manhattan; the post was named New Amsterdam in 1626. The city and its surroundings came under English control in 1664 and were renamed New York after King Charles II of England granted the lands to his brother, the Duke of York. New York was the capital of the United States from 1785 until 1790, and has been the largest U.S. city since 1790. The Statue of Liberty greeted millions of immigrants as they came to the U.S. by ship in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and is a symbol of the U.S. and its ideals of liberty and peace. In the 21st century, New York has emerged as a global node of creativity and entrepreneurship and environmental sustainability, and as a symbol of freedom and cultural diversity. In 2019, New York was voted the greatest city in the world per a survey of over 30,000 people from 48 cities worldwide, citing its cultural diversity.

Many districts and landmarks in New York City are well known, including three of the world's ten most visited tourist attractions in 2013. A record 62.8 million tourists visited New York City in 2017. Times Square is the brightly illuminated hub of the Broadway Theater District, one of the world's busiest pedestrian intersections, and a major center of the world's entertainment industry. Many of the city's landmarks, skyscrapers, and parks are known around the world. Manhattan's real estate market is among the most expensive in the world. New York is home to the largest ethnic Chinese population outside of Asia, with multiple distinct Chinatowns across the city. Providing continuous 24/7 service and contributing to the nickname The City that Never Sleeps, the New York City Subway is the largest single-operator rapid transit system worldwide, with 472 rail stations. The city has over 120 colleges and universities, including Columbia University, New York University, Rockefeller University, and the City University of New York system, which is the largest urban public university system in the United States. Manhattan is home to the world's two largest stock exchanges by total market capitalization, namely the New York Stock Exchange, located on Wall Street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan, and NASDAQ, headquartered in Midtown Manhattan.

Pase de Modelos - Modelo Femenina by Rafael Ángel Fernández Gutiérrez

Presentación del Número 47 de la Revista ASM-Sevilla / Terraza Ritual

Pressnet Blog: www.pressnetweb.com/blog

Imagen para ilustrar el Post:

Presentación del número 47 de la Revista ASM - Sevilla y de su 'Chica de Portada':

www.pressnetweb.com/blog/?p=218

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Queda prohibida la reproducción total o parcial, sin el consentimiento expreso de su autor /

Is forbidden the total or partial reproduction without their author expressed consent

Iolis Carruthers gives her annual Seder Dinner demonstration by Mary Constance

A Lenten tradition at St. Mary's Episcopal Cathedral, Memphis.

Photo by Gary Bridgman

SpaceStation by Diana Lange

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Made with Processing.

Video:

vimeo.com/16614423

Code:

openprocessing.org/sketch/15155

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Visit: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortress_of_Louisbourg

The Fortress of Louisbourg (French: Forteresse de Louisbourg) is a National Historic Site of Canada and the location of a one-quarter partial reconstruction of an 18th-century French fortress at Louisbourg on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. Its two sieges, especially that of 1758, were turning points in the Anglo-French struggle for what today is Canada.

The original settlement was made in 1713, and initially called Havre à l'Anglois. Subsequently, the fishing port grew to become a major commercial port and a strongly defended fortress. The fortifications eventually surrounded the town. The walls were constructed mainly between 1720 and 1740. By the mid-1740s Louisbourg was one of the most extensive (and expensive) European fortifications constructed in North America. It was supported by two smaller garrisons on Île Royale located at present-day St. Peter's and Englishtown. The Fortress of Louisbourg suffered key weaknesses, since it was erected on low-lying ground commanded by nearby hills and its design was directed mainly toward sea-based assaults, leaving the land-facing defences relatively weak. A third weakness was that it was a long way from France or Quebec, from which reinforcements might be sent. It was captured by British colonists in 1745, and was a major bargaining chip in the negotiations leading to the 1748 treaty ending the War of the Austrian Succession. It was returned to the French in exchange for border towns in what is today Belgium. It was captured again in 1758 by British forces in the Seven Years' War, after which its fortifications were systematically destroyed by British engineers. The British continued to have a garrison at Louisbourg until 1768.

The fortress and town were partially reconstructed in the 1960s and 1970s, using some of the original stonework, which provided jobs for unemployed coal miners. The head stonemason for this project was Ron Bovaird. The site is operated by Parks Canada as a living history museum.

French settlement on Île Royale (now Cape Breton Island) can be traced to the early 17th century following settlements in Acadia that were concentrated on Baie Française (now the Bay of Fundy) such as at Port-Royal and other locations in present-day peninsular Nova Scotia

In 1713, France set about constructing Port Dauphin and a limited naval support base at the former site of Fort Ste-Anne; however, the winter icing conditions of the harbour led the French to choose another harbour on the southeastern part of Île Royale. The harbour, being ice-free and well protected, soon became a winter port for French naval forces on the Atlantic seaboard and they named it Havre Louisbourg after King Louis XIV.

The Fortress of Louisbourg was the capital for the colony of Île-Royale, and was located on the Atlantic coast of Cape Breton Island near its southeastern point. The location for the fortress was chosen because it was easy to defend against British ships attempting to either block or attack the St. Lawrence River, at the time the only way to get goods to Canada and its cities of Quebec and Montreal. South of the fort, a reef provided a natural barrier, while a large island provided a good location for a battery. These defences forced British ships to enter the harbour via a 500-foot (150 m) channel. The fort was built to protect and provide a base for France's lucrative North American fishery and to protect Quebec City from British invasions. For this reason it has been given the nicknames ‘Gibraltar of the North’ or the ‘Dunkirk of America.’ The fort was also built to protect France’s hold on one of the richest fishing grounds in the world, the Grand Banks. One hundred and sixteen men, ten women, and twenty-three children originally settled in Louisbourg. (Wikipedia)

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http://www.model-trains.org by Manuela Kinne

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www.model-trains.org