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Okay, so... this has been the best birthday. Ever. Mostly on account of Husband Mike who has pretty much dedicated every single moment of the last 72 hours to making sure I'm happy.
There have been fresh, locally grown, organic strawberries. And brilliant meals... served to me already cut in bite-sized pieces, so the "work" of using cutlery doesn't interfere with my enjoyment of flavours and textures and aromas. There have been long walks, with long meandering stops punctuated by frequent cries of "Just one more shot, okay?" (female voice) and its consistent response (male voice), "Take your time. We're not in any hurry."
There has been chocolate. (Oh, there's been chocolate.) And champagne. (Not just bubbly wine but real champagne!) And cheesecake. And plenty of lying around. And staying up late, and sleeping in, and music.
And... even though it was typically grey and mostly cold weatherwise, we did get a few hours of sunshine in the afternoon.
When I took this, we'd just come back from a long walk. Mike was getting dinner started, and I was sitting out on the back steps, eating strawberries and having a look (on my little LCD screen) at the 200-or-so pics I'd shot. It occurred to me that, since I wasn't in any of them, I should add a selfportrait... you know, for posterity. Me on my birthday. The day I turned 41. A keepsake of a really really really excellent day.
I held the camera out at arm's length and snapped. And had a look at the image. And quickly realized that the shadows from my hat were by far the most interesting thing going on here. So I tried a few more with my head at different angles to see what kinds of patterns I could make.
I managed a cat's whiskers effect. That was pretty sweet.
And a hockey mask scary-face effect. Chilling, but kind of cliche.
And a lot of random, abstract looking stuff that will probably bear further review in the future.
But this the one I like the best. It may not be overtly smiley but... believe me. It's a very happy birthday pic indeed.
In a city where the town hall is a sheik’s palace, the Chamber of Commerce is a Turkish harem, and the train station is a mosque, you would probably expect to be somewhere in the Middle East. But no, this is Opa-Locka, Florida, a diminutive city northwest of Miami with the nation’s largest and strangest collection of Islamic Revival architecture.
Opa-Locka was built during the Florida Land Boom of the 1920s, when films like Rudolf Valentino’s orientalist fantasy The Sheik and Douglas Fairbanks’ The Thief of Baghdad had harnessed the sultry and romantic appeal of the Middle East into a full-blown cultural fad.
Florida was hot and tropical enough to feel exotic, so when developer Glenn Curtiss built Opa-Locka, he did so around an overt One Thousand and One Nights theme. In addition to the orientalist architecture, the streets were given names such as Ali Baba Avenue and Sabur Lane.
Though the Great Miami Hurricane of 1926 destroyed a number of Opa-Locka buildings, several of the Moorish buildings survived and have since been added to the National Register of Historic Places. The crowning jewel is the former Opa-Locka City Hall building, an onion-domed and minaret-sporting marvel inspired by the description of the palace of Emperor Kosroushah in One Thousand and One Nights.
Opa-locka is currently in a state of advanced decay as the cash-strapped city faces financial collapse. Many of the Arabian-inspired buildings are falling apart, and the former City Hall itself is boarded up and in a state of advanced disrepair, but a walk through the little town still offers a look at the 1920s’ idea of exotic luxury.
The building is at the intersection of Fisherman Street and Sherazad Street, about two blocks from the current (modern) city hall; the old city hall is clearly visible from the new one. There is ample free parking in the Sherbondy Park lot.
Credit for the data above is given to the following website:
Persian buttercups (Ranunculus asiaticus) is a perennial plant that can grow to be a foot and a half tall.
They have blooms that resemble roses, with simple or branched stems.
The basal leaves are three-lobed, with leaves higher on the stems more deeply divided; like the stems, they are downy or hairy.
The petals are often highly lustrous, especially in yellow species.
Some species are popular ornamental flowers in horticulture, with many cultivars selected for large and brightly coloured flowers.
What got me 'in' to 'flower-photography', was that I wanted to know more about lighting...
That was 35 years ago, flowers seemed the perfect subject matter, because of their different colours, shapes, textures, great variety and 'characters', I'd had many a garden, grown my own, so, I started out with an advantage, I knew about flowers...
I found a niche in the market, for overt 20 years now people have been 'raving' about them, asking me how I 'do' it?
There is NO magic formula, each flower is unique and treated as such! I do NOT consider myself a 'flower-photographer' but a a photographer who knows how to use lighting well...
Glad you enjoy them.
Thank you for your visit, so very much appreciated, Magda, (*_*)
For more: www.indigo2photography.com
IT IS STRICTLY FORBIDDEN (BY LAW!!!) TO USE ANY OF MY image or TEXT on websites, blogs or any other media without my explicit permission. © All rights reserved
Orange, Ranunculus, flowers, peas, ruffles, blooms, portrait, "conceptual Art", studio, black-background, colour, square, design, Nikon D7000, "Magda indigo"
In a city where the town hall is a sheik’s palace, the Chamber of Commerce is a Turkish harem, and the train station is a mosque, you would probably expect to be somewhere in the Middle East. But no, this is Opa-Locka, Florida, a diminutive city northwest of Miami with the nation’s largest and strangest collection of Islamic Revival architecture.
Opa-Locka was built during the Florida Land Boom of the 1920s, when films like Rudolf Valentino’s orientalist fantasy The Sheik and Douglas Fairbanks’ The Thief of Baghdad had harnessed the sultry and romantic appeal of the Middle East into a full-blown cultural fad.
Florida was hot and tropical enough to feel exotic, so when developer Glenn Curtiss built Opa-Locka, he did so around an overt One Thousand and One Nights theme. In addition to the orientalist architecture, the streets were given names such as Ali Baba Avenue and Sabur Lane.
Though the Great Miami Hurricane of 1926 destroyed a number of Opa-Locka buildings, several of the Moorish buildings survived and have since been added to the National Register of Historic Places. The crowning jewel is the former Opa-Locka City Hall building, an onion-domed and minaret-sporting marvel inspired by the description of the palace of Emperor Kosroushah in One Thousand and One Nights.
Opa-locka is currently in a state of advanced decay as the cash-strapped city faces financial collapse. Many of the Arabian-inspired buildings are falling apart, and the former City Hall itself is boarded up and in a state of advanced disrepair, but a walk through the little town still offers a look at the 1920s’ idea of exotic luxury.
The building is at the intersection of Fisherman Street and Sherazad Street, about two blocks from the current (modern) city hall; the old city hall is clearly visible from the new one. There is ample free parking in the Sherbondy Park lot.
Credit for the data above is given to the following website:
Caernarfon Castle is architecturally one of the most impressive of all of the castles in Wales. It's defensive capabilities were not as overt or as powerful as those of Edward I's other castles such as Harlech and Beaumaris, but Caernarfon was instead intended as a seat of power - and as a symbol of English dominance over the subdued Welsh.
Caernarfon is located at the southern end of the Menai Strait between North Wales and Anglesey, 8 miles south west of Bangor. During Edward I's invasions of Wales, this was strategically an excellent place to build a castle; Anglesey was referred to as the garden of Wales, providing agriculturally rich land close to the poorer land on North Wales. The Menai Strait also allowed speedy access between the north Welsh coast and the western coast, and was therefore important for Edward to control for supplying outposts such as Harlech and Aberystwyth.
A Digitalis purpurea (common foxglove) in our garden in Christchurch, New Zealand. The background flowers are Linarea purpurea (purple toadflax). While there are some bright spots off to the right, courtesy of the sun hitting our brick house, I decided I liked the image enough anyway (if I was doing an edit, these could easily be brought under control to minimise distraction). While I avoid overtly manmade objects, I'm happy to use them when I feel either you cannot tell, or at least it doesn't scream out its unnaturalness (but if you consider how it was taken you can work it out).
Cropped 5x4, but otherwise unprocessed camera jpeg.
I felt an unsettling sense of connection with this frightful Halloween decoration the moment I laid eyes upon it. As these things go, they are often over the top in terms of being ghastly, blood-soaked and monstrous. While certainly ghoulish, this small figure seemed to capture an overwhelming sense of pathos in a very relatable human form. The softness of facial features juxtaposed against the vacant eyes. The look of a little girl playing dress-up with inexpertly applied makeup and a party dress, but horribly conflicted with the awful hair and balding scalp. These subtleties and juxtapositions are what make this so terrifying. Creations such as Frankenstein and Dracula are almost humorous by comparison. Perhaps because they've been so overdone over the years I've become immune to them. But it's also because their inhuman qualities add a layer of safe distance. This figure is relatable in the sense that the human qualities remain, cleverly blended in with the a dark vision of the afterworld. It is imbued with the qualities I imagine a real ghost would exhibit. I can just imagine an encounter with something like this in the many dark and lonely places I've explored, completely alone. I saw so many overtly horror-filled displays the day I found this sad little urchin, but they are mostly lost to me now. Only this figure remains in my mind, and I've got a feeling it will be there long after Halloween has passed.
Persian buttercups (Ranunculus asiaticus) is a perennial plant that can grow to be a foot and a half tall.
They have blooms that resemble roses, with simple or branched stems.
The basal leaves are three-lobed, with leaves higher on the stems more deeply divided; like the stems, they are downy or hairy.
The petals are often highly lustrous, especially in yellow species.
Some species are popular ornamental flowers in horticulture, with many cultivars selected for large and brightly coloured flowers.
What got me 'in' to 'flower-photography', was that I wanted to know more about lighting...
That was 35 years ago, flowers seemed the perfect subject matter, because of their different colours, shapes, textures, great variety and 'characters', I'd had many a garden, grown my own, so, I started out with an advantage, I knew about flowers...
I found a niche in the market, for overt 20 years now people have been 'raving' about them, asking me how I 'do' it?
There is NO magic formula, each flower is unique and treated as such! I do NOT consider myself a 'flower-photographer' but a a photographer who knows how to use lighting well...
Glad you enjoy them.
Thank you for your visit, so very much appreciated, Magda, (*_*)
For more: www.indigo2photography.com
IT IS STRICTLY FORBIDDEN (BY LAW!!!) TO USE ANY OF MY image or TEXT on websites, blogs or any other media without my explicit permission. © All rights reserved
Orange, Ranunculus, flowers, petals, ruffles, blooms, portrait, "conceptual Art", studio, black-background, colour, square, design, Nikon D7000, "Magda indigo"
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_hare
The European hare (Lepus europaeus), also known as the brown hare, is a species of hare native to Europe and parts of Asia. It is among the largest hare species and is adapted to temperate, open country. Hares are herbivorous and feed mainly on grasses and herbs, supplementing these with twigs, buds, bark and field crops, particularly in winter. Their natural predators include large birds of prey, canids and felids. They rely on high-speed endurance running to escape from their enemies; having long, powerful limbs and large nostrils.
Generally nocturnal and shy in nature, hares change their behaviour in the spring, when they can be seen in broad daylight chasing one another around in fields. During this spring frenzy, they sometimes strike one another with their paws ("boxing"). This is usually not competition between males, but a female hitting a male, either to show she is not yet ready to mate or as a test of his determination. The female nests in a depression on the surface of the ground rather than in a burrow, and the young are active as soon as they are born. Litters may consist of three or four young and a female can bear three litters a year, with hares living for up to twelve years. The breeding season lasts from January to August.
The European hare is listed as being of least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature because it has a wide range and is moderately abundant. However, populations have been declining in mainland Europe since the 1960s, at least partly due to changes in farming practices. The hare has been hunted across Europe for centuries, with more than five million being shot each year; in Britain, it has traditionally been hunted by beagling and hare coursing, but these field sports are now illegal. The hare has been a traditional symbol of fertility and reproduction in some cultures, and its courtship behaviour in the spring inspired the English idiom mad as a March hare.
Taxonomy and genetics
The European hare was first described in 1778 by German zoologist Peter Simon Pallas.[2] It shares the genus Lepus (Latin for "hare"[3]) with 31 other hare and jackrabbit species,[4] jackrabbits being the name given to some species of hare native to North America. They are distinguished from other leporids (hares and rabbits) by their longer legs, wider nostrils and active (precocial) young.[5] The Corsican hare, broom hare and Granada hare were at one time considered to be subspecies of the European hare, but DNA sequencing and morphological analysis support their status as separate species.[6][7]
There is some debate as to whether the European hare and the Cape hare are the same species. A 2005 nuclear gene pool study suggested that they are,[8] but a 2006 study of the mitochondrial DNA of these same animals concluded that they had diverged sufficiently widely to be considered separate species.[9] A 2008 study claims that in the case of Lepus species, with their rapid evolution, species designation cannot be based solely on mtDNA but should also include an examination of the nuclear gene pool. It is possible that the genetic differences between the European and Cape hare are due to geographic separation rather than actual divergence. It has been speculated that in the Near East, hare populations are intergrading and experiencing gene flow.[10] Another 2008 study suggests that more research is needed before a conclusion is reached as to whether a species complex exists;[11] the European hare remains classified as a single species until further data contradicts this assumption.[1]
Cladogenetic analysis suggests that European hares survived the last glacial period during the Pleistocene via refugia in southern Europe (Italian peninsula and Balkans) and Asia Minor. Subsequent colonisations of Central Europe appear to have been initiated by human-caused environmental changes.[12] Genetic diversity in current populations is high with no signs of inbreeding. Gene flow appears to be biased towards males, but overall populations are matrilineally structured. There appears to be a particularly large degree of genetic diversity in hares in the North Rhine-Westphalia region of Germany. It is however possible that restricted gene flow could reduce genetic diversity within populations that become isolated.[13]
Historically, up to 30 subspecies of European hare have been described, although their status has been disputed.[5] These subspecies have been distinguished by differences in pelage colouration, body size, external body measurements, skull morphology and tooth shape.[14] Sixteen subspecies are listed in the IUCN red book, following Hoffmann and Smith (2005): Lepus europaeus caspicus, L. e. connori, L. e. creticus, L. e. cyprius, L. e. cyrensis, L. e. europaeus, L. e. hybridus, L. e. judeae, L. e. karpathorum, L. e. medius, L. e. occidentalis, L. e. parnassius, L. e. ponticus, L. e. rhodius, L. e. syriacus, and L. e. transsylvanicus.[15] Twenty-nine subspecies are listed by Chapman and Flux in their book on lagomorphs, including in addition L. e. alba, L. e. argenteogrisea, L. e. biarmicus, L. e. borealis, L. e. caspicus, L. e. caucasicus, L. e. flavus, L. e. gallaecius, L. e. hispanicus, L. e. hyemalis, L. e. granatensis, L. e. iturissius, L. e. kalmykorum, L. e. meridiei, L. e. meridionalis, L. e. niethammeri, L. e. niger, L. e. tesquorum, and L. e. tumak, but excluding L. e. connori, L. e. creticus, L. e. cyprius, L. e. judeae, L. e. rhodius, and L. e. syriacus, with the proviso that the subspecies they list are of "very variable status".[5]
Description
The European hare, like other members of the family Leporidae, is a fast-running terrestrial mammal; it has eyes set high on the sides of its head, long ears and a flexible neck. Its teeth grow continuously, the first incisors being modified for gnawing while the second incisors are peg-like and non-functional. There is a gap (diastema) between the incisors and the cheek teeth, the latter being adapted for grinding coarse plant material. The dental formula is 2/1, 0/0, 3/2, 3/3.[16][17] The dark limb musculature of hares is adapted for high-speed endurance running in open country. By contrast, cottontail rabbits are built for short bursts of speed in more vegetated habitats.[5][18] Other adaptions for high speed running in hares include wider nostrils and larger hearts.[5] In comparison to the European rabbit, the hare has a proportionally smaller stomach and caecum.[19]
This hare is one of the largest of the lagomorphs. Its head and body length can range from 60 to 75 cm (24 to 30 in) with a tail length of 7.2 to 11 cm (2.8 to 4.3 in). The body mass is typically between 3 and 5 kg (6.6 and 11.0 lb).[20] The hare's elongated ears range from 9.4 to 11.0 cm (3.7 to 4.3 in) from the notch to tip. It also has long hind feet that have a length of between 14 and 16 cm (5.5 and 6.3 in).[21] The skull has nasal bones that are short, but broad and heavy. The supraorbital ridge has well-developed anterior and posterior lobes and the lacrimal bone projects prominently from the anterior wall of the orbit.[20]
The fur colour is grizzled yellow-brown on the back; rufous on the shoulders, legs, neck and throat; white on the underside and black on the tail and ear tips.[21] The fur on the back is typically longer and more curled than on the rest of the body.[5] The European hare's fur does not turn completely white in the winter as is the case with some other members of the genus,[21] although the sides of the head and base of the ears do develop white areas and the hip and rump region may gain some grey.[5]
Range and habitat
European hares are native to much of continental Europe and part of Asia. Their range extends from northern Spain to southern Scandinavia, eastern Europe, and northern parts of Western and Central Asia. They have been extending their range into Siberia.[5] They may have been introduced to Britain by the Romans (circa 2000 years ago) as there are no records of them from earlier sites. Undocumented introductions likely occurred in some Mediterranean Islands.[22] They have also been introduced, mostly as game animals, to North America (in Ontario and New York State, and unsuccessfully in Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and Connecticut), South America (Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia, Peru and the Falkland Islands), Australia, both islands of New Zealand and the south Pacific coast of Russia.[5][21][23]
Hares primarily live in open fields with scattered brush for shelter. They are very adaptable and thrive in mixed farmland.[5] According to a study done in the Czech Republic, the mean hare densities were highest at altitudes below 200 metres (660 ft), 40 to 60 days of annual snow cover, 450 to 700 millimetres (18 to 28 in) of annual precipitation, and a mean annual air temperature of around 10 °C (50 °F). With regards to climate, the study found that hare densities were highest in "warm and dry districts with mild winters".[24] In Poland, hares are most abundant in areas with few forest edges, perhaps because foxes can use these for cover. They require cover, such as hedges, ditches and permanent cover areas, because these habitats supply the varied diet they require, and are found at lower densities in large open fields. Intensive cultivation of the land results in greater mortality of young hares (leverets).[25]
In the United Kingdom, hares are seen most frequently on arable farms, especially those with fallow land, wheat and sugar beet crops. In mainly grass farms their numbers are raised when there are improved pastures, some arable crops and patches of woodland. They are seen less frequently where foxes are abundant or where there are many buzzards. They also seem to be fewer in number in areas with high European rabbit populations,[26] although there appears to be little interaction between the two species and no aggression.[27] Although hares are shot as game when they are plentiful, this is a self-limiting activity and is less likely to occur in localities where they are scarce.[26]
Behaviour and life history
Hares are primarily nocturnal and spend a third of their time foraging.[5] During daytime, a hare hides in a depression in the ground called a "form" where it is partially hidden. Hares can run at 70 km/h (43 mph) and when confronted by predators they rely on outrunning them in the open. They are generally thought of as asocial but can be seen in both large and small groups. They do not appear to be territorial, living in shared home ranges of around 300 ha (740 acres). Hares communicate with each other by a variety of visual signals. To show interest they raise their ears, while lowering the ears warns others to keep away. When challenging a conspecific, a hare thumps its front feet; the hind feet are used to warn others of a predator. A hare squeals when hurt or scared and a female makes "guttural" calls to attract her young.[21] Hares can live for as long as twelve years.[1]
Food and foraging
European hares are primarily herbivorous. They may forage for wild grasses and weeds but with the intensification of agriculture, they have taken to feeding on crops when preferred foods are not available.[1] During the spring and summer, they feed on soy, clover and corn poppy[28] as well as grasses and herbs.[21] During autumn and winter, they primarily choose winter wheat, and are also attracted to piles of sugar beet and carrots provided for them by hunters.[28] They also eat twigs, buds and the bark of shrubs and young fruit trees during winter.[21] Cereal crops are usually avoided when other more attractive foods are available, the species appearing to prefer high energy foodstuffs over crude fibre.[29] When eating twigs, hares strip off the bark to access the vascular tissues which store soluble carbohydrates. Compared to the European rabbit, food passes through the gut more rapidly in the hare, although digestion rates are similar.[19] They sometimes eat their own green, faecal pellets to recover undigested proteins and vitamins.[20] Two to three adult hares can eat more food than a single sheep.[21]
European hares forage in groups. Group feeding is beneficial as individuals can spend more time feeding knowing that other hares are being vigilant. Nevertheless, the distribution of food affects these benefits. When food is well-spaced, all hares are able to access it. When food is clumped together, only dominant hares can access it. In small gatherings, dominants are more successful in defending food, but as more individuals join in, they must spend more time driving off others. The larger the group, the less time dominant individuals have in which to eat. Meanwhile, the subordinates can access the food while the dominants are distracted. As such, when in groups, all individuals fare worse when food is clumped as opposed to when it is widely spaced.[30]
Mating and reproduction
European hares have a prolonged breeding season which lasts from January to August.[31][32] Females, or does, can be found pregnant in all breeding months and males, or bucks, are fertile all year round except during October and November. After this hiatus, the size and activity of the males' testes increase, signalling the start of a new reproductive cycle. This continues through December, January and February when the reproductive tract gains back its functionality. Matings start before ovulation occurs and the first pregnancies of the year often result in a single foetus, with pregnancy failures being common. Peak reproductive activity occurs in March and April, when all females may be pregnant, the majority with three or more foetuses.[32]
The mating system of the hare has been described as both polygynous (single males mating with multiple females) and promiscuous.[33] Females have six-weekly reproductive cycles and are receptive for only a few hours at a time, making competition among local bucks intense.[31] At the height of the breeding season, this phenomenon is known as "March madness",[32] when the normally nocturnal bucks are forced to be active in the daytime. In addition to dominant animals subduing subordinates, the female fights off her numerous suitors if she is not ready to mate. Fights can be vicious and can leave numerous scars on the ears.[31] In these encounters, hares stand upright and attack each other with their paws, a practice known as "boxing", and this activity is usually between a female and a male and not between competing males as was previously believed.[21][34] When a doe is ready to mate, she runs across the countryside, starting a chase that tests the stamina of the following males. When only the fittest male remains, the female stops and allows him to copulate.[31] Female fertility continues through May, June and July, but testosterone production decreases in males and sexual behaviour becomes less overt. Litter sizes decrease as the breeding season draws to a close with no pregnancies occurring after August. The testes of males begin to regress and sperm production ends in September.[32]
Does give birth in hollow depressions in the ground. An individual female may have three litters in a year with a 41- to 42-day gestation period. The young have an average weigh of around 130 grams (4.6 oz) at birth.[35] The leverets are fully furred and are precocial, being ready to leave the nest soon after they are born, an adaptation to the lack of physical protection relative to that afforded by a burrow.[21] Leverets disperse during the day and come together in the evening close to where they were born. Their mother visits them for nursing soon after sunset; the young suckle for around five minutes, urinating while they do so, with the doe licking up the fluid. She then leaps away so as not to leave an olfactory trail, and the leverets disperse once more.[21][36] Young can eat solid food after two weeks and are weaned when they are four weeks old.[21] While young of either sex commonly explore their surroundings,[37] natal dispersal tends to be greater in males.[33][38] Sexual maturity occurs at seven or eight months for females and six months for males.[1]
Mortality and health
European hares are large leporids and adults can only be tackled by large predators such as canids, felids and the largest birds of prey.[20] In Poland it was found that the consumption of hares by foxes was at its highest during spring, when the availability of small animal prey was low; at this time of year, hares may constitute up to 50% of the biomass eaten by foxes, with 50% of the mortality of adult hares being caused by their predation.[39] In Scandinavia, a natural epizootic of sarcoptic mange which reduced the population of red foxes dramatically, resulted in an increase in the number of European hares, which returned to previous levels when the numbers of foxes subsequently increased.[40] The golden eagle preys on the European hare in the Alps, the Carpathians, the Apennines and northern Spain.[41] In North America, foxes and coyotes are probably the most common predators, with bobcats and lynx also preying on them in more remote locations.[35]
European hares have both external and internal parasites. One study found that 54% of animals in Slovakia were parasitised by nematodes and over 90% by coccidia.[42] In Australia, European hares were reported as being infected by four species of nematode, six of coccidian, several liver flukes and two canine tapeworms. They were also found to host rabbit fleas (Spilopsyllus cuniculi), stickfast fleas (Echidnophaga myrmecobii), lice (Haemodipsus setoni and H. lyriocephalus), and mites (Leporacarus gibbus).[43]
European brown hare syndrome (EBHS) is a disease caused by a calicivirus similar to that causing rabbit haemorrhagic disease (RHS) and can similarly be fatal, but cross infection between the two mammal species does not occur.[44] Other threats to the hare are pasteurellosis, yersiniosis (pseudo-tuberculosis), coccidiosis and tularaemia, which are the principal sources of mortality.[45]
Relationship with humans
In folklore, literature, and art
In Europe, the hare has been a symbol of sex and fertility since at least Ancient Greece. The Greeks associated it with the gods Dionysus, Aphrodite and Artemis as well as with satyrs and cupids. The Christian Church connected the hare with lustfulness and homosexuality, but also associated it with the persecution of the church because of the way it was commonly hunted.[46]
In Northern Europe, Easter imagery often involves hares or rabbits. Citing folk Easter customs in Leicestershire, England, where "the profits of the land called Harecrop Leys were applied to providing a meal which was thrown on the ground at the 'Hare-pie Bank'", the 19th-century scholar Charles Isaac Elton proposed a possible connection between these customs and the worship of Ēostre.[47] In his 19th-century study of the hare in folk custom and mythology, Charles J. Billson cites folk customs involving the hare around Easter in Northern Europe, and argues that the hare was probably a sacred animal in prehistoric Britain's festival of springtime.[48] Observation of the hare's springtime mating behaviour led to the popular English idiom "mad as a March hare",[46] with similar phrases from the sixteenth century writings of John Skelton and Sir Thomas More onwards.[49] The mad hare reappears in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, in which Alice participates in a crazy tea party with the March Hare and the Mad Hatter.[50]
Any connection of the hare to Ēostre is doubtful. John Andrew Boyle cites an etymology dictionary by A. Ernout and A. Meillet, who wrote that the lights of Ēostre were carried by hares, that Ēostre represented spring fecundity, love and sexual pleasure. Boyle responds that almost nothing is known about Ēostre, and that the authors had seemingly accepted the identification of Ēostre with the Norse goddess Freyja, but that the hare is not associated with Freyja either. Boyle adds that "when the authors speak of the hare as the 'companion of Aphrodite and of satyrs and cupids' and 'in the Middle Ages [the hare] appears beside the figure of [mythological] Luxuria', they are on much surer ground."[51]
The hare is a character in some fables, such as The Tortoise and the Hare of Aesop.[52] The story was annexed to a philosophical problem by Zeno of Elea, who created a set of paradoxes to support Parmenides' attack on the idea of continuous motion, as each time the hare (or the hero Achilles) moves to where the tortoise was, the tortoise moves just a little further away.[53][54] The German Renaissance artist Albrecht Dürer realistically depicted a hare in his 1502 watercolour painting Young Hare.[55]
Food and hunting
Across Europe, over five million European hares are shot each year, making it probably the most important game mammal on the continent. This popularity has threatened regional varieties such as those of France and Denmark, through large-scale importing of hares from Eastern European countries such as Hungary.[5] Hares have traditionally been hunted in Britain by beagling and hare coursing. In beagling, the hare is hunted with a pack of small hunting dogs, beagles, followed by the human hunters on foot. In Britain, the 2004 Hunting Act banned hunting of hares with dogs, so the 60 beagle packs now use artificial "trails", or may legally continue to hunt rabbits.[56] Hare coursing with greyhounds was once an aristocratic pursuit, forbidden to lower social classes.[57] More recently, informal hare coursing became a lower class activity and was conducted without the landowner's permission;[58] it is also now illegal.[59]
Hare is traditionally cooked by jugging: a whole hare is cut into pieces, marinated and cooked slowly with red wine and juniper berries in a tall jug that stands in a pan of water. It is traditionally served with (or briefly cooked with) the hare's blood and port wine.[60][61] Hare can also be cooked in a casserole.[62] The meat is darker and more strongly flavoured than that of rabbits. Young hares can be roasted; the meat of older hares becomes too tough for roasting, and may be slow-cooked.[61][63]
Status
The European hare has a wide range across Europe and western Asia and has been introduced to a number of other countries around the globe, often as a game species. In general it is considered moderately abundant in its native range,[13] but declines in populations have been noted in many areas since the 1960s. These have been associated with the intensification of agricultural practices.[64] The hare is an adaptable species and can move into new habitats, but it thrives best when there is an availability of a wide variety of weeds and other herbs to supplement its main diet of grasses.[1] The hare is considered a pest in some areas; it is more likely to damage crops and young trees in winter when there are not enough alternative foodstuffs available.[21]
The International Union for Conservation of Nature has evaluated the European hare's conservation status as being of least concern. However, at low population densities, hares are vulnerable to local extinctions as the available gene pool declines, making inbreeding more likely. This is the case in northern Spain and in Greece, where the restocking by hares brought from outside the region has been identified as a threat to regional gene pools. To counteract this, a captive breeding program has been implemented in Spain, and the relocation of some individuals from one location to another has increased genetic variety.[1] The Bern Convention lists the hare under Appendix III as a protected species.[26] Several countries, including Norway, Germany, Austria and Switzerland,[1] have placed the species on their Red Lists as "near threatened" or "threatened".
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...xD Is this too lewd? Idk //shot
Anyways, yeah! I recently sewed this little lingerie set for Rift because A) I'm trying to get better at sewing and B) because she has bountiful bosoms that needed to be contained xD
I imagine Rift as the type of character who loves wearing revealing, overtly sexual clothes like lingerie casually so this was sort of a test run for more lingerie and body-hugging clothes for her in the future. They definitely aren't perfect but I think they turned out pretty good for a first try anyways. I'll experiment with making different patterns in the future too~
xD And of course, this isn't the best picture to really see them so i'll upload a more proper sewing barf picture later on, but I just really liked this picture and wanted to share it now hehe~
...xD Also excuse the terrible couch thing she's laying on. It was a random test project I made ages ago and it is pretty awful but hey, at least it serves its purpose of being a place for my dolls to sit anyway //shot
*3* Also need to get her urethane eyes so they'll fit better in her head but asdfghjkl why are minty green, yellow, and orange eyes so hard to find?!? OTL
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Rift (girl) is a modded Fairyland Minifee FLAM event head in Beautiful White skin. Faceup, mods, tattoo and flower crown by me.
Fort DeSoto, a county park at the tip of Pinellas County, is a bit of pristine beach heaven set apart from miles and miles of urbanization. Though many "best beaches" lists will opt for beaches packed with hi-rises and overt commercialization to either side of this park, in my mind there is no developed beach that can compete with a more natural shoreline like what is present at Fort DeSoto.
The right moment! The right light! And there was its creator, in glowing gold and black, spanning it assertively.
The genus Argiope includes rather large spiders that often have a strikingly colored abdomen. Most countries in tropical or temperate climates host one or more species that are similar in appearance. The etymology of Argiope is from a Latin word argentum meaning silver. The carapace of Argiope species is typically covered in silvery hairs. The average orb web is practically invisible, and it is easy to blunder into one and end up covered with a sticky web. The visible pattern of banded silk made by Argiope is pure white, and some species make an "X" form, or a zigzag type of web (often with a hollow centre). The spider then aligns one pair of its legs with each of the four lines in the hollow "X", making a complete "X" of white lines with a very eye-catching spider forming its centre.
The zigzag patterns, called stabilimenta, reflect UV light. They have been shown to play a role in attracting prey to the web, and possibly in preventing its destruction by large animals. The centres of their large webs are often just under 1 metre above the ground, so they are too low for anything much larger than a rabbit to walk under. The overtness of the spider and its web thus has been speculated to prevent larger creatures from accidentally destroying the web and possibly crushing the spider underfoot.
Other studies suggest that the stabilimenta may actually lead predators to the spider; species such as A. keyserlingi place their web predominantly in closed, complex habitats such as among sedges.
As Argiope sit in the center of their web during the day, they have developed several responses to predators, such as dropping off the web, retreating to the periphery of the web, or even rapidly pumping the web in bursts of up to 30 seconds.
Orb Spider, Biscayne Park, FL
With her back to the viewer, Wyeth's subject Anna Christina Olson stares into the distance, looking out at her farmhouse in Cushing, Maine. Suffering from a degenerative muscular disease, Christina was unable to walk. Wyeth said that she was "limited physically but by no means spiritually" and that "the challenge was to do justice to her extraordinary conquest of a life which most people would consider hopeless." Her gaunt arms and legs and her slight frame make the figure seem vulnerable and isolated in the expansive field, and the viewer is put in an ambiguous position, looking at her from behind. The scene contains a sense of vulnerability, contributing to a certain forboding feeling.
To say this is a true portrait of Christina Olson, though, would be misleading. While the pink dress and slim limbs belong to the then 55-year-old Olson, Wyeth used his young wife Betsy as the actual model here, thus fusing Christina's aging and abnormal body with that of a healthy, young one. Even though Wyeth wanted to depict Olson's plight, it can be interpreted that Wyeth made the subject an "Everywoman".
Christina's World presents an intriguing, open-ended narrative that appeals to the imagination. Who is Christina? Why is she in a field? Is that her house? Why does she seem to be crawling? While a seemingly straightforward painting, Christina's World is, in fact, characteristic of Wyeth's version of Magic Realism, which is not fantastical or overtly surrealistic but more subtle and unsettling in its hyper-realism. As one curator explained, Wyeth's paintings "are filled with hidden metaphors that explore common themes of memory, nostalgia and loss." And the artist himself said, "Magic! It's what makes things sublime. It's the difference between a picture that is profound art and just a painting of an object."
The profundity that Wyeth was able to capture in this painting makes it one of the most well-known and admired pieces that Wyeth ever produced; however, it was not his personal favorite. Wyeth felt that the painting would have been more successful without the figure in the field. He remarked to an interviewer, "When I was painting Christina's World I would sit there by the hours working on the grass, and I began to feel I was really out in the field. I got lost in the texture of the thing. I remember going down into the field and grabbing up a section of earth and setting it on the base of my easel. It wasn't a painting I was working on. I was actually working on the ground itself."
Tempera on panel - The Museum of Modern Art, New York
“There is something profoundly satisfying about sharing a meal. Eating together, breaking bread together, is one of the oldest and most fundamentally unifying of human experiences.”
-Barbara Coloroso
Where I grew up meals are still taken together, welcoming anyone who drops by. While not always overtly unifying, sharing food at the kitchen table (50p at auction in 1971) has come to represent what it is to be at home.
The extreme violence of totalitarian social systems proved able to paralyse the human spirit throughout whole continents.
A man who has placed his soul in the service of Fascism declares an evil and dangerous slavery to be the only true good. Rather than overtly renouncing human feelings, he declares the crimes committed by Fascism to be the highest form of humanitarianism; he agrees to divide people up into the pure and worthy and the impure and unworthy.
The instinct for self-preservation is supported by the hypnotic power of world ideologies. These call people to carry out any sacrifice, to accept any means, in order to achieve the highest of ends: the future greatness of the motherland, world progress, the future happiness of mankind, of a nation, of a class. Vassili Grossman, Life and Fate
In a city where the town hall is a sheik’s palace, the Chamber of Commerce is a Turkish harem, and the train station is a mosque, you would probably expect to be somewhere in the Middle East. But no, this is Opa-Locka, Florida, a diminutive city northwest of Miami with the nation’s largest and strangest collection of Islamic Revival architecture.
Opa-Locka was built during the Florida Land Boom of the 1920s, when films like Rudolf Valentino’s orientalist fantasy The Sheik and Douglas Fairbanks’ The Thief of Baghdad had harnessed the sultry and romantic appeal of the Middle East into a full-blown cultural fad.
Florida was hot and tropical enough to feel exotic, so when developer Glenn Curtiss built Opa-Locka, he did so around an overt One Thousand and One Nights theme. In addition to the orientalist architecture, the streets were given names such as Ali Baba Avenue and Sabur Lane.
Though the Great Miami Hurricane of 1926 destroyed a number of Opa-Locka buildings, several of the Moorish buildings survived and have since been added to the National Register of Historic Places. The crowning jewel is the former Opa-Locka City Hall building, an onion-domed and minaret-sporting marvel inspired by the description of the palace of Emperor Kosroushah in One Thousand and One Nights.
Opa-locka is currently in a state of advanced decay as the cash-strapped city faces financial collapse. Many of the Arabian-inspired buildings are falling apart, and the former City Hall itself is boarded up and in a state of advanced disrepair, but a walk through the little town still offers a look at the 1920s’ idea of exotic luxury.
The building is at the intersection of Fisherman Street and Sherazad Street, about two blocks from the current (modern) city hall; the old city hall is clearly visible from the new one. There is ample free parking in the Sherbondy Park lot.
Credit for the data above is given to the following website:
Hengki Lee is from Jakarta, Indonesia. Photography has been his passion for the last few years. He likes to blur his photographs using lensbaby to create dreamy and moody images. His shots are usually surrealistic, emotive, and poetic. His work has been published in numerous magazines, including Fotoblur Magazine, Stark Magazine, and B&W Magazine. Many of his photos have been selected for awards and prizes both internationally and in his native Indonesia.
Story Behind:
Early morning, January 2012. I was walking with some friends in a forest in Bogor, West Java, Indonesia. The rain was falling heavily not long after we arrived in the location. So we took a shelter in a small building there. Almost 45 minutes later, the rain stopped, and I could hear nothing but drops trickling in the calm forest. Then suddenly, the mist started engulfing the entire forest. The atmosphere was overtly dramatic, evoking mysterious sense in me as if I was torn away from reality.
I got out my camera and started shooting this wondrous forest scene. A small local boy approached me and inquired if I would like to rent his umbrella. I instinctually realized that this encounter was somehow connected to the shot I needed to take.
An outtake from the "Shift" photoshoot. It looks good (among the blur, focusing in on a message), but in the end turned out to be too generic, overt and cliché (which is something I strive very hard not to be). No Photoshop was used to create the shot, just good old fashioned natural depth of field
Another world
awaits you
in INDYYYYYYYA
nothing like youve seen before if you are from the WESTERN/developed nations.
Sheer overt suffering and in full living color
a 3 ring circus.................
but there are no jugglers, no dancing clowns, bears, nor laughing faces..............................
Gangrene will set in before long......
beggars tie cloth around their extremities to cut off blood supply, which in turn produces gangrene.....
ALLAHABAD,
the KUMBH MELA 2013
Photography’s new conscience
Sony NEX-5R + Minolta MD 50mm f1.7
何の種を植えたのか忘れてしまった。ネームプレートも滲んで読めない。ひとりはみ出て頑張ってる…私みたい。
まだ親指を動かすと激痛!カメラを落としそう ><; 腰の方は痛みを和らげる体操でだいぶ快方に向かっている。^^
Lower south side of Morro Rock,
Morro Bay, California
I got this ID when I recently saw the man who wrote the book, David Keil, Vascular Plants of San Luis Obispo County, California. Apparently, Morro Rock is the only known location for this species in the county, with plants growing along seasonal seepage areas. (These plants are overtly similar to the perennial Common Monkeyflower, E. guttata, but the flowers and the plants in general are much smaller.)
SE of Calgary, AB
Not the most overtly colorful ducks out there and probably the most easiest to misidentify. They are very common around here in all of the marshes and shallow waters. Gadwall Ducks male and female
Exhibited at Art Center East's "An Image Is Worth a Thousand Words" (May 27 - June 12, 2021).
artscentereast.org/1000-words/
SOLD!
After I stopped laughing at what I was seeing I took several shots of this guy. He turned and saw me and I told him I just couldn't resist the repetition of spikes. He didn't respond in any overt way and I turned away. A minute later I turned back and asked him if he would let me get a profile. He was young and probably a RISD student but already had a cool unsmiling way about him. He didn't really acknowledge my request but within a couple of minutes he began doing what he was doing anyway in profile. Not a word spoken on his part but a very mutual interaction nonetheless.
Cadets from the Citadel, the historic military college of Charleston South Carolina, perform the daily ritual of checking the freshmen over and making sure they are in perfect attire and are disciplined. The Citadel dates back to 1829, before the days of the Civil War. On January 9th 1861 Cadets from the school carried out the first overt act of war during the Civil War when they fired shots on the U.S. steamer, the Star of the West, after South Carolina had seceded from the Union.
In a city where the town hall is a sheik’s palace, the Chamber of Commerce is a Turkish harem, and the train station is a mosque, you would probably expect to be somewhere in the Middle East. But no, this is Opa-Locka, Florida, a diminutive city northwest of Miami with the nation’s largest and strangest collection of Islamic Revival architecture.
Opa-Locka was built during the Florida Land Boom of the 1920s, when films like Rudolf Valentino’s orientalist fantasy The Sheik and Douglas Fairbanks’ The Thief of Baghdad had harnessed the sultry and romantic appeal of the Middle East into a full-blown cultural fad.
Florida was hot and tropical enough to feel exotic, so when developer Glenn Curtiss built Opa-Locka, he did so around an overt One Thousand and One Nights theme. In addition to the orientalist architecture, the streets were given names such as Ali Baba Avenue and Sabur Lane.
Though the Great Miami Hurricane of 1926 destroyed a number of Opa-Locka buildings, several of the Moorish buildings survived and have since been added to the National Register of Historic Places. The crowning jewel is the former Opa-Locka City Hall building, an onion-domed and minaret-sporting marvel inspired by the description of the palace of Emperor Kosroushah in One Thousand and One Nights.
Opa-locka is currently in a state of advanced decay as the cash-strapped city faces financial collapse. Many of the Arabian-inspired buildings are falling apart, and the former City Hall itself is boarded up and in a state of advanced disrepair, but a walk through the little town still offers a look at the 1920s’ idea of exotic luxury.
The building is at the intersection of Fisherman Street and Sherazad Street, about two blocks from the current (modern) city hall; the old city hall is clearly visible from the new one. There is ample free parking in the Sherbondy Park lot.
Credit for the data above is given to the following website:
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or, they could be stylized birds in a row....!
Utah State Capitol steps abstract, Nokia phone photo edited in Corel Paintshop Pro X7 (levels, sharpening, local tone mapping, vibrancy, clarity, saturation)
The more obvious processing would be to push the black on the left side of the image for an overt bright/dark study in shapes, but I enjoy the odd detail that shows up with this version. In the end, you toss a coin mentally and go with what you go with!
Two young Hippo bulls (Hippopotamus amphibius) - Masuma Dam, Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe.
_______
We watched these boys play-fighting and were struck by the power they displayed, despite being relatively young. At times, it seemed that their 'play' went a little too far, becoming overtly aggressive. Its necessary practice however for the time when they will have to fight for dominance over other males to gain the right to mate.
* Harsh overhead sunlight caused a lot of glare off the hippos' skin and water, making this a challenging proposition photographically. If one has a choice, active hippos and elephants in water are best caught early or late in the day.
(Alternative spelling!!) ((Foehn)
The ballet The Afternoon of a Faun (French: L'Après-midi d'un faune) was choreographed by Vaslav Nijinsky for the Ballets Russes and first performed in the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris on 29 May 1912. Nijinsky danced the main part himself. As its score it used the Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune by Claude Debussy. Both the music and the ballet were inspired by the poem L'Après-midi d'un faune by Stéphane Mallarmé. The costumes and sets were designed by the painter Léon Bakst.
The style of the ballet, in which a young faun meets several nymphs, flirts with them and chases them, was deliberately archaic. In the original scenography designed by Léon Bakst, the dancers were presented as part of a large tableau, a staging reminiscent of an ancient Greek vase painting. They often moved across the stage in profile as if on a bas relief. The ballet was presented in bare feet and rejected classical formalism. The work had an overtly erotic subtext beneath its façade of Greek antiquity, ending with a scene of graphic sexual desire.
Fragmento 1 de película evangélico "La ciudad será destruida": El mundo religioso ha degenerado en la ciudad de Babilonia
www.kingdomsalvation.org/es/videos/the-city-will-be-overt...
Los líderes del mundo religioso se apartan del camino del Señor y siguen las tendencias mundanas; también cooperan con el poder establecido en su salvaje oposición y condena del Relámpago Oriental y ya han emprendido el camino de la oposición a Dios. El mundo religioso ha degenerado en la ciudad de Babilonia. La Biblia dice: "Y entró Jesús en el templo y echó fuera a todos los que compraban y vendían en el templo, y volcó las mesas de los cambistas y los asientos de los que vendían las palomas. Y les dijo: Escrito está: 'Mi casa sera llamada casa de oracion', pero vosotros la estáis haciendo cueva de ladrones" (Mateo 21:12-13). "¡Cayó, cayó la gran Babilonia! Se ha convertido en habitación de demonios, en guarida de todo espíritu inmundo y en guarida de toda ave inmunda y aborrecible. Porque todas las naciones han bebido del vino de la pasión de su inmoralidad, y los reyes de la tierra han cometido actos inmorales con ella, y los mercaderes de la tierra se han enriquecido con la riqueza de su sensualidad" (Apocalipsis 18:2-3).
Recomendación: Reflexion sobre la fe
Las escrituras tomadas de LA BIBLIA DE LAS AMERICAS® (LBLA) Copyright © 1986, 1995, 1997 por The Lockman Foundation usado con permiso. www.LBLA.com.
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In a city where the town hall is a sheik’s palace, the Chamber of Commerce is a Turkish harem, and the train station is a mosque, you would probably expect to be somewhere in the Middle East. But no, this is Opa-Locka, Florida, a diminutive city northwest of Miami with the nation’s largest and strangest collection of Islamic Revival architecture.
Opa-Locka was built during the Florida Land Boom of the 1920s, when films like Rudolf Valentino’s orientalist fantasy The Sheik and Douglas Fairbanks’ The Thief of Baghdad had harnessed the sultry and romantic appeal of the Middle East into a full-blown cultural fad.
Florida was hot and tropical enough to feel exotic, so when developer Glenn Curtiss built Opa-Locka, he did so around an overt One Thousand and One Nights theme. In addition to the orientalist architecture, the streets were given names such as Ali Baba Avenue and Sabur Lane.
Though the Great Miami Hurricane of 1926 destroyed a number of Opa-Locka buildings, several of the Moorish buildings survived and have since been added to the National Register of Historic Places. The crowning jewel is the former Opa-Locka City Hall building, an onion-domed and minaret-sporting marvel inspired by the description of the palace of Emperor Kosroushah in One Thousand and One Nights.
Opa-locka is currently in a state of advanced decay as the cash-strapped city faces financial collapse. Many of the Arabian-inspired buildings are falling apart, and the former City Hall itself is boarded up and in a state of advanced disrepair, but a walk through the little town still offers a look at the 1920s’ idea of exotic luxury.
The building is at the intersection of Fisherman Street and Sherazad Street, about two blocks from the current (modern) city hall; the old city hall is clearly visible from the new one. There is ample free parking in the Sherbondy Park lot.
Credit for the data above is given to the following website:
Based on Andrew Edwards's sculpture in St George's Hall, Liverpool.
The Christmas truce (German: Weihnachtsfrieden; French: Trêve de Noël) was a series of widespread but unofficial ceasefires along the Western Front around Christmas 1914. In the week leading up to the holiday, German and British soldiers crossed trenches to exchange seasonal greetings and talk. In areas, men from both sides ventured into no man's land on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day to mingle and exchange food and souvenirs. There were joint burial ceremonies and prisoner swaps, while several meetings ended in carol-singing. Men played games of football with one another, giving one of the most enduring images of the truce. However, the peaceful behaviour was not ubiquitous; fighting continued in some sectors, while in others the sides settled on little more than arrangements to recover bodies....The truces were not unique to the Christmas period, and reflected a growing mood of "live and let live", where infantry in close proximity would stop overtly aggressive behaviour, and often engage in small-scale fraternisation, engaging in conversation or bartering for cigarettes. In some sectors, there would be occasional ceasefires to allow soldiers to go between the lines and recover wounded or dead comrades, while in others, there would be a tacit agreement not to shoot while men rested, exercised, or worked in full view of the enemy. The Christmas truces were particularly significant due to the number of men involved and the level of their participation – even in very peaceful sectors, dozens of men openly congregating in daylight was remarkable – and are often seen as a symbolic moment of peace and humanity amidst one of the most violent events of human history. Wikipaedia. Please see youtu.be/JG3l-OBdcPI
This is the headquarters of the Powerful Secret Society of Steampunk Travelers or PSSST for short. Why would a secret society building stick out so much? Well, in the words of Sherlock Holmes, “It’s so overt, it’s covert.” This building is 3 stories tall & features smokestacks, gears, pipes, lights, windows, doors, flat roof to land Zeppelin & a telephone booth (sublevel secret entrance)…I designed this MOC & came up with the backstory. The PSSST secret society & building don’t really exist...or do they? ;D
This is my second and final entry in the Mini Building Madness contest on rebrick.com. You can see other builder's amazing entries here: www.lego.com/en-us/rebrick/contest-page/contests/mini-mod...
In a city where the town hall is a sheik’s palace, the Chamber of Commerce is a Turkish harem, and the train station is a mosque, you would probably expect to be somewhere in the Middle East. But no, this is Opa-Locka, Florida, a diminutive city northwest of Miami with the nation’s largest and strangest collection of Islamic Revival architecture.
Opa-Locka was built during the Florida Land Boom of the 1920s, when films like Rudolf Valentino’s orientalist fantasy The Sheik and Douglas Fairbanks’ The Thief of Baghdad had harnessed the sultry and romantic appeal of the Middle East into a full-blown cultural fad.
Florida was hot and tropical enough to feel exotic, so when developer Glenn Curtiss built Opa-Locka, he did so around an overt One Thousand and One Nights theme. In addition to the orientalist architecture, the streets were given names such as Ali Baba Avenue and Sabur Lane.
Though the Great Miami Hurricane of 1926 destroyed a number of Opa-Locka buildings, several of the Moorish buildings survived and have since been added to the National Register of Historic Places. The crowning jewel is the former Opa-Locka City Hall building, an onion-domed and minaret-sporting marvel inspired by the description of the palace of Emperor Kosroushah in One Thousand and One Nights.
Opa-locka is currently in a state of advanced decay as the cash-strapped city faces financial collapse. Many of the Arabian-inspired buildings are falling apart, and the former City Hall itself is boarded up and in a state of advanced disrepair, but a walk through the little town still offers a look at the 1920s’ idea of exotic luxury.
The building is at the intersection of Fisherman Street and Sherazad Street, about two blocks from the current (modern) city hall; the old city hall is clearly visible from the new one. There is ample free parking in the Sherbondy Park lot.
Credit for the data above is given to the following website:
I feel really blessed to be able to live out this fantasy of mine to be dressed as a woman at a fancy ball. As I was going there, I certainly felt nervous about being "read". And, this was a younger crowd, so you never know what people's reactions might be. But I was glad that I never felt that anyone overtly "read" me and if they did, they certainly did not act like they did.
If you go back through my pictures, you will see that in 2011, I attended a New Years Eve ball at the Sheraton with my best friend. So, this is not the first time that I've gone out to a large "straight" ball, but it certainly had been some time. You can see those old pictures here: www.flickr.com/photos/mayatoronto/albums/72157631925322719
Wentworth Falls is a genuinely charming small village which has become a major tourist destination because of its excellent bushwalks and its large number of dramatic views across the Jamieson Valley. Its appeal lies primarily in its dramatic vistas and the simple fact that it is not nearly as crowded and overtly touristy as Katoomba or Leura which are the next two towns as the visitor rises up the mountains.
Location
Wentworth Falls is 867 metres above sea level and 95 km from Sydney via the Great Western Highway.
TOP
Origin of Name
When William Cox was building the road across the Blue Mountains in 1815 he constructed a supply depot at the present site of Wentworth Falls. He called it "The Weatherboard" and amusingly the settlement continued to use that name until 1879 when the name was officially changed to Wentworth Falls. It was named after William Charles Wentworth who, along with Blaxland and Lawson, was the first European to cross the mountains in 1813.
Not all games are digital, and not all board games are Settlers. This round of LOADING... we bring you - *pm* Vintage Board Games: Pachisi
In days gone past, many people would paint or customize their own board games. These are vintage boards that were hand painted! Many of these boards were auctioned off and some were in museum galleries, all 5 relating to the circle and cross game known as Parchisi (Parcheesi in the United States)!
Each under 1LI as rezzed, link together for lower. Great way to spruce up a room and show your nerdom without being overt.
25% off while at the event!
LOADING... runs September 9th - September 29th
They're interestingly herd animals. Though only the size of a medium dog, standing at best thigh-height on an adult human, they will sometimes stand their ground against a threat - perhaps even approach it warningly.
This one seemed to be the herd's protector - while the rest of the herd tended to casually keep a little distance from me, this one kept close watch on me, and slowly approached with hackles raised whenever it felt I was too close. It never charged or did anything else so overtly aggressive, but it made it clear where the herd's personal space was.
I seem drawn to places and scenes that exude a sense of quiet solicitude. Even when that's not my intention. Such was the case on this old farmstead. There was nothing overtly frightening here. But as I look back at the images I captured that day, I'm struck by a vague sense of uneasiness. It goes beyond the forlorn, melancholy look of the place and the day. It's not really defined, just an underlying sensation of anxiety. I'm utterly alone on most of these explorations, and perhaps I'm subconsciously keying in on that vulnerability. Sometimes I think this is the result of my overactive imagination. Yet it really is palpable in the photos. And I thrive on the energy I feel when I enter a place like this with my camera because I know I will be able to channel it.
I think the boots and trousers are a bit of a "give away".
Or maybe he is just on his way home after a day on the beat.
Candid street shot, Taunton, Somerset, UK.
Police Community Support Officers in Avon and Somerset have the distinctive blue cap band as opposed to the more normal black and white chequered band.