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01 Hot boi says:

Đi ra những chỗ mờ mờ

Ngồi gần con gái không sờ là ngu

Thà rằng cắt tóc đi tu

Ngồi gần con gái sao ngu ... không sssss

 

(comment này chỉ mang tính minh hoạ .... hihihi....)

Posted 6 months ago. ( permalink | delete )

 

02. nguyentuong.linh says:

Thơ.

Posted 6 months ago. ( permalink | delete )

 

03. ANDY LEDDY says:

Hi, I'm an admin for a group called CONTINENT: ASIA! ! ! post 1, award 2 (sweeper active), and we'd love to have this added to the group!

Posted 6 months ago. ( permalink | delete )

 

04. Hoang troc says:

đường viền ảnh đẹp anh ạ

Posted 6 months ago. ( permalink | delete )

 

05. Hoàng Uy - Lag says:

Ý thật sâu .... !!!! Ẩn hiện, có và không có .......

--

Seen in the group"Vietnam - Vẻ đẹp tiềm ẩn - Cuộc thi số 1" ( ?² )

Posted 5 months ago. ( permalink | delete )

Hoàng Uy - Lag says:

Cảm ơn anh đã ADD ảnh vào

Vietnam - Vẻ đẹp tiềm ẩn - The hidden charm

Những ảnh xuất sắc của anh sẽ là

thông điệp giới thiệu về nét đẹp tiềm ẩn

mang tên Việt Nam gửi đến bạn bè khắp nơi.

Posted 5 months ago. ( permalink | delete )

 

"The objects, in a house, they are an extension of us. Inanimate, but strangely intimate. They mark the time and they enclose emotions."

 

(Hayat, Faíza)

 

This isn't my grandfather's house... but it has a signboard with the name of the house 'Casa do Avô', or in english 'grandfather's house'.

 

PRINTS

View Thunder Knob Creek on Black

 

View Thunder Knob Creek Map/EXIF

 

Nikon D800E + 14-24 mm f/2.8 @ 14 mm - 0.4 sec at f/16, ISO 50

Manual mode @ 0 EV E.C - Pattern metering - no flash

Subject Distance: unknown

 

Much better if viewed large here: zoom.it/XHV5

 

You walk over this creek to get into the walk-in sites at Colonial Creek campground. It's awesome. Also very, very cold, despite the 90 degree air temps.

 

48°41'29" N 121°6'1" W, 1321.7 ft

Thunder Knob Creek, Colonial Creek Campground

Rockport, Washington, USA

 

Taken on 07.08.2012, uploaded on 07.16.2012.

 

©2012 Adam James Steenwyk. Please contact me at ajamess [at] gmail [dot] com if you would like to use this photo. Blog: www.f128.info

www.meucat.com/maps/mapa_satelite.php?COD=roma&NOME=P...

Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi

Following, a text, in english, from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

 

The Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi or "Fountain of the Four Rivers" is a fountain in Rome, Italy, located in the Piazza Navona. Designed by Gianlorenzo Bernini, it is emblematic of the dynamic and dramatic effects sought by High Baroque artists. It was erected in 1651 in front of the church of Sant'Agnese in Agone, and yards from the Pamphilj Palace belonging to this fountain's patron, Innocent X (1644-1655).

The four gods on the corners of the fountain represent the four major rivers of the world known at the time: the Nile, Danube, Ganges, and Plate. The design of each god figure has symbolic importance.

Design

Bernini's design was selected in competition. The circumstances of his victory are described as follows:

So strong was the sinister influence of the rivals of Bernini on the mind of Innocent that when he planned to set up in Piazza Navona the great obelisk brought to Rome by the Emperor Caracalla, which had been buried for a long time at Capo di Bove for the adornment of a magnificent fountain, the Pope had designs made by the leading architects of Rome without an order for one to Bernini. Prince Niccolò Ludovisi, whose wife was niece to the pope, persuaded Bernini to prepare a model, and arrange for it to be secretly installed in a room in the Palazzo Pamphili that the Pope had to pass. When the meal was finished, seeing such a noble creation, he stopped almost in ecstasy. Being prince of the keenest judgment and the loftiest ideas, after admiring it, said: “This is a trick … It will be necessary to employ Bernini in spite of those who do not wish it, for he who desires not to use Bernini’s designs, must take care not to see them.”

Paraphrase from Filippo Baldinucci, The life of Cavaliere Bernini (1682)

Public fountains in Rome served multiple purposes: first, they were highly needed sources of water for neighbors in the centuries prior to home plumbing. Second, they were monuments to the papal patrons. Earlier Bernini fountains had been the Fountain of the Triton in Piazza Barberini, the fountain of the Moor in the southern end of Piazza Navona erected during the Barberini papacy, and the Neptune and Triton for Villa Montalto, whose statuary now resides at Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

Each has animals and plants that further carry forth the identification, and each carries a certain number of allegories and metaphors with it. The Ganges carries a long oar, representing the river's navigability. The Nile's head is draped with a loose piece of cloth, meaning that no one at that time knew exactly where the Nile's source was. The Danube touches the Papal coat of arms, since it is the large river closest to Rome. And the Río de la Plata is sitting on a pile of coins, a symbol of the riches America could offer to Europe (the word plata means silver in Spanish). Also, the Río de la Plata looks scared by a snake, showing rich men's fear that their money could be stolen. Each is a river god, semi-prostrate, in awe of the central tower, epitomized by the slender Egyptian obelisk (built for the Roman Serapeum in AD 81), symbolizing by Papal power surmounted by the Pamphili symbol (dove). In addition, the fountain is a theater in the round, a spectacle of action, that can be strolled around. Water flows and splashes from a jagged and pierced mountainous disorder of travertine marble. A legend, common with tour-guides, is that Bernini positioned the cowering Rio de la Plata River as if the sculpture was fearing the facade of the church of Sant'Agnese by his rival Borromini could crumble against him; in fact, the fountain was completed several years before Borromini began work on the church.

The dynamic fusion of architecture and sculpture made this fountain revolutionary when compared to prior Roman projects, such as the stilted designs Acqua Felice and Paola by Fontana in Piazza San Bernardo (1585-87) or the customary embellished geometric floral-shaped basin below a jet of water such as the Fontanina in Piazza Campitelli (1589) by Giacomo della Porta.

Unveiling

he Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi was unveiled to the populace of Rome on 12 June 1651. According to a report from the time, an event was organised to draw people to the Piazza Navona. Beforehand, wooden scaffolding, overlaid with curtains, had hidden the fountain, though probably not the obelisk, which would have given people an idea that something was being built, but the precise details were unknown. Once unveiled, the full majesty of the fountain would be apparent, which the celebrations were designed to advertise. The festival was paid for by the Pamphili family, to be specific, Innocent X, who had sponsored the erection of the fountain. The most conspicuous item on the Pamphili crest, an olive branch, was brandished by the performers who took part in the event.

The author of the report, Antonio Bernal, takes his readers through the hours leading up to the unveiling. The celebrations were announced by a woman, dressed as the allegorical character of Fame, being paraded around the streets of Rome on a carriage or float. She was sumptuously dressed, with wings attached to her back and a long trumpet in her hand. Bernal notes that "she went gracefully through all the streets and all the districts that are found among the seven hills of Rome, often blowing the round bronze [the trumpet], and urging everyone to make their way to that famous Piazza." A second carriage followed her; this time another woman was dressed as the allegorical figure of Curiosity. According to the report, she continued exhorting the people to go towards the piazza. Bernal describes the clamour and noise of the people as they discussed the upcoming event.

The report is actually less detailed about the process of publicly unveiling the fountain. However, it does give ample descriptions of the responses of the spectators who had gathered in the Piazza. Once there, Bernal notes, the citizens of the city were overwhelmed by the massive fountain, with its huge life-like figures. The report mentions the "enraptured souls" of the population, the fountain, which "gushes out a wealth of silvery treasures" causing "no little wonder" in the onlookers. Bernal then continues to describe the fountain, making continuous reference to the seeming naturalism of the figures and its astonishing effect on those in the piazza.

The making of the fountain was met by opposition by the people of Rome for several reasons. First, Innocent X had the fountain built at public expense during the intense famine of 1646-48. Throughout the construction of the fountain, the city murmurred and talk of riot was in the air. Pasquinade writers protested the construction of the fountain in September 1648 by attaching hand-written invectives on the stone blocks used to make the obelisk. These pasquinades read, "We do not want Obelisks and Fountains, It is bread that we want. Bread, Bread, Bread!" Innocent quickly had the authors arrested, and disguised spies patrol the Pasquino statue and Piazza Navona

The streetvendors of the market also opposed the construction of the fountain, as Innocent X expelled them from the piazza. The Pamphilij pope believed they detracted from the magnificence of the square. The vendors refused to move, and the papal police had to chase them from the piazza. Roman Jews, in particular, lamented the closing of the Navona, since they were allowed to sell used articles of clothing there at the Wednesday market.

 

Navona Square (Piazza Navona).

Following, a text, in english, from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

 

Piazza Navona is a city square in Rome, Italy. It is built on the site of the Stadium of Domitian, built in first century AD, and follows the form of the open space of the stadium.[1] The ancient Romans came there to watch the agones ("games"), and hence it was known as 'Circus Agonalis' (competition arena). It is believed that over time the name changed to 'in agone' to 'navone' and eventually to 'navona'.

Defined as a public space in the last years of 15th century, when the city market was transferred to it from the Campidoglio, the Piazza Navona is a significant example of Baroque Roman architecture and art. It features sculptural and architectural creations: in the center stands the famous Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi or Fountain of the Four Rivers (1651) by Gian Lorenzo Bernini; the church of Sant'Agnese in Agone by Francesco Borromini and Girolamo Rainaldi; and the Pamphilj palace also by Rainaldi and which features the gallery frescoed by Pietro da Cortona.

The Piazza Navona has two additional fountains: at the southern end is the Fontana del Moro with a basin and four Tritons sculpted by Giacomo della Porta (1575) to which, in 1673, Bernini added a statue of a Moor, or African, wrestling with a dolphin, and at the northern end is the Fountain of Neptune (1574) created by Giacomo della Porta. The statue of Neptune in the northern fountain, the work of Antonio Della Bitta, was added in 1878 to make that fountain more symmetrical with La Fontana del Moro in the south.

At the southwest end of the piazza is the ancient 'speaking' statue of Pasquino. Erected in 1501, Romans could leave lampoons or derogatory social commentary attached to the statue.

During its history, the piazza has hosted theatrical events and other ephemeral activities. From 1652 until 1866, when the festival was suppressed, it was flooded on every Saturday and Sunday in August in elaborate celebrations of the Pamphilj family. The pavement level was raised in the 19th century and the market was moved again in 1869 to the nearby Campo de' Fiori. A Christmas market is held in the piazza.

Other monuments on the Piazza Navona are:

Stabilimenti Spagnoli

Palazzo de Cupis

Palazzo Torres Massimo Lancellotti

Church of Nostra Signora del Sacro Cuore

Palazzo Braschi (Museo di Roma)

Sant'Agnese in Agone

Literature and films

 

The piazza is featured in Dan Brown's 2000 thriller Angels and Demons, in which the Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi "The Fountain of the four rivers"(the Danube, the Gange, the Nile and the River Plate) is listed as one of the Altars of Science. During June 2008, Ron Howard directed several scenes of the film adaptation of Angels and Demons on the southern section of the Piazza Navona, featuring Tom Hanks.

The piazza is featured in several scenes of director Mike Nichols' 1970 adaptation of Joseph Heller's novel, Catch-22.

The Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi was used in the 1990 film Coins in the Fountain. The characters threw coins into the fountain as they made wishes. The Trevi Fountain was used in the 1954 version of the film.

 

A Fontana Dei Quattro Fiumi, é maior das três fontes, localizada no centro da praça. Na fonte dos rios, Bernini projetou quatro estátuas representando os rios dos quatro continentes: o Nilo, o Danúbio, o rio da Prata e o Ganges. As estátuas estão montadas sobre um obelisco egípcio, sendo circundadas por leões e outros animais fantásticos, tendo no cume uma pomba em bronze, símbolo da paz no mundo e da família Pamphili. Para realçar a rivalidade entre Bernini e Borromini, que fez a igreja de Santa Agnese, os romanos criaram uma lenda em torno da fonte dos rios, que fica em frente a esta igreja. Segundo os romanos, as estátuas duvidam da solidez do projeto de Borromini. A que retrata o rio da Prata, tem a mão erguida, a proteger o corpo do desabamento da igreja; a que retrata o Nilo, traz a cabeça coberta por um véu, a recusar a ver a obra de Borromini.

 

A seguir um texto, em português, da Wikipédia a Enciclopédia Livre:

Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi

Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi (Fonte dos Quatro Rios), foi esculpida por Gian Lorenzo Bernini entre 1648 e 1651, artista do barroco italiano, foi concebida por uma ordem do Papa Inocencio X o Papa da familia Pamphili, cujo tinha sua casa nesta praça.

Esta localizada na Praça de Navona, em Roma. Ela representa os quatro principais continentes do mundo cortados por seus principais rios: Rio Nilo, na África; Rio Ganges, na Ásia, Rio da Prata, na América e o Rio Danúbio, na Europa.

A seguir, texto em português do site Wiki lingue:

A escultura da Fonte dos Quatro Rios, encontra-se na Piazza Navona de Roma (Itália) e foi criada e talhada pelo escultor e pintor Gian Lorenzo Bernini em 1651 baixo o papado de Inocencio X, em plena época barroca, durante o período mais prolífico do genial artista e cerca da que em outro tempo fué a Chiesa dei San Giacomo de gli Spagnoli

 

A fonte compõe-se de uma base formada de uma grande piscina elíptica, coroada em seu centro de uma grande mole de mármol, sobre a qual se eleva um obelisco egípcio de época romana, o obelisco de Domiciano .

 

As estátuas que compõem a fonte, têm umas dimensões maiores que na realidade e são alegorias dos quatro rios principais da Terra (Nilo, Ganges, Danubio, Rio da Prata), a cada um deles em um dos continentes conhecidos na época. Na fonte a cada um destes rios está representado por um gigante de mármol .

 

As árvores e as plantas que emergem da água e que se encontram entre as rochas, também estão em uma escala maior que na realidade. Os animais e vegetales, gerados de uma natureza boa e útil, pertencem a espécies grandes e potentes (como o leão, cavalo, cocodrilo, serpente, dragão, etc.). O espectador, girando em torno da fonte, descobre novas formas que dantes estavam escondidas ou cobertas pela massa rocosa. Com esta obra, Bernini quer suscitar admiração em quem olha-a, criando um pequeno universo em movimento a imitação do espaço da realidade natural.

 

A fonte foi submetida a restauração, um trabalho que se deu por concluído em dezembro de 2008. Constitui um dos palcos finque da novela e o filme Anjos e Demónios, à qual é arrojado um dos cardeais sequestrados, e Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) se lança à água para lhe salvar.

 

Os animais da fonte

A fonte apresenta figuras de sete animais, além de uma pequena pomba e o emblema dos Pamphili. Para poder observá-las basta com dar uma volta ao redor da fonte. As figuras são: um cavalo, uma serpente de terra (na parte mais alta, cerca do obelisco), uma serpente de mar, um delfín (que funciona também como desagüe), um cocodrilo, um leão e um dragão. Notar também a vegetación esculpida que parece real.

 

Praça Navona.

A seguir, um texto em português, da Wikipédia a Enciclopédia livre:

 

A Praça Navona (em italiano: Piazza Navona) é uma das mais célebres praças de Roma. A sua forma assemelha-se à dos antigos estádios da Roma Antiga, seguindo a planificação do Estádio de Domiciano (também denominado entre os italianos de Campomarzio, em virtude da natureza rude e esforçada dos exercícios - manejo de armas - e desportos atléticos que aí se realizavam). Albergaria até 20 mil espectadores sentados nas bancadas. A origem do nome deve-se ao nome pomposo que lhe foi dado ao tempo do Imperador Domiciano (imperador entre 81-96 d.c.): "Circo Agonístico" (do étimo grego Agonia, que significa precisamente - exercício, luta, combate). Actualmente o nome corresponde à corruptela da forma posterior in agone, depois nagone e finalmente navone, que por mero acaso significa também "grande navio" na língua italiana.

As casas que entretanto e com o passar dos anos foram sendo construídas sobre as bancadas, delimitariam e circunscreveriam até à actualidade o tão afamado Circo Agonístico.

A Navona passou de fato a caracterizar-se como praça nos últimos anos do século XV, quando o mercado da cidade foi transferido do Capitólio para aí. Foi remodelada para um estilo monumental por vontade do Papa Inocêncio X, da família Pamphili e é motivo de orgulho da cidade de Roma durante o período barroco. Sofreu intervenções de Gian Lorenzo Bernini (a famosa Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi (Fonte dos Quatro Rios, 1651) ao centro); de Francesco Borromini e Girolamo Gainaldi (a igreja de Sant'Agnese in Agone); e de Pietro de Cortona, que pintou a galeria no Palácio Pamphilj, sede da embaixada do Brasil na Itália desde 1920.

O mercado tradicional voltou a ser transferido em 1869 para o Campo de' Fiori, embora a praça mantenha também um papel fundamental em servir de palco para espectáculos de teatro e corridas de cavalos. A partir de 1652, em todos os Sábados e Domingos de Agosto, a praça tornava-se num lago para celebrar a própria família Pamphili.

A praça dispõe ainda duas outras fontes esculpidas por Giacomo della Porta - a Fontana di Nettuno (1574), na área norte da praça, e a Fontana del Moro (1576), na área sul.

Na extremidade norte da praça, por debaixo dos edifícios, foram postas a descoberto ruínas antiquíssimas, a uma cota muito abaixo da actual, comprovando a primeva utilização daquele imenso terreiro. Outros monumentos com entrada para a praça:

Stabilimenti Spagnoli

Palazzo de Cupis

Palazzo Torres Massimo Lancellotti

Church of Nostra Signora del Sacro Cuore

Curiosidades

 

Na Piazza Navona, está localizado o Palazzo Pamphilj, propriedade da República Federativa do Brasil, sede da Embaixada Brasileira e da Missão Diplomática do Brasil para a Itália.

I startled this guy when I opend the window to get his picture

 

View On Black

Visit my blog for advice on how on how to take photographs of your children or submit a photo for inclusion in "Ken's Tips On Your Pics": www.kensharp.com/blog/category/kens-tips-on-your-pics-2/

 

© Ken Sharp. Please do not use or download without permission. If you have any queries please contact me: www.kensharp.com

Rupit, Barcelona (Spain).

 

View Large On White

 

This duck not yet has class, and must swim in dangerous waters of the river.

 

Este pato aún no tiene categoría, y tiene que nadar en las peligrosas aguas del río.

 

ENGLISH

Aluminium foil (known as aluminum foil in North America) is aluminium prepared in thin sheets with a thickness less than 0.2 mm / 0.008 in, although much thinner gauges down to 0.006 mm are commonly used. As a result of this, the foil is extremely pliable, and can be bent or wrapped around objects with ease. However, thin foils are fragile and easily damaged, and are usually laminated to other materials such as plastics or paper to make them useful. It replaced tin foil towards the end of the 19th century.

 

Foil made from a thin leaf of tin was commercially available before its aluminium counterpart. In the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century, tin foil was in common use, and some people continue to refer to the new product by the old name. Tin foil is much stiffer than aluminium foil. It tends to give a slight tin taste to the food wrapped in it, which is one major reason it has largely been supplanted by aluminium and other materials for wrapping food. The first audio recordings on phonograph cylinders were made on tin foil.

 

Tin was first replaced by aluminium in 1910, when the first aluminium foil rolling plant, “Dr. Lauber, Neher & Cie. and Emmishofen.” was opened in Kreuzlingen, Switzerland. The plant, owned by J.G. Neher & Sons, the aluminium manufacturers, started in 1886 in Schaffhausen and Switzerland, at the foot of the Rhine Falls - capturing the falls' energy to produce aluminium. Neher's sons together with Dr. Lauber discovered the endless rolling process and the use of aluminium foil as a protective barrier on December 1907.

 

The first use of foil in the United States was in 1913 for wrapping Life Savers, candy bars and gum. Processes evolved over time to include the use of print, colour, lacquer, laminate and the embossing of the aluminium.

 

The extensive use of aluminium foil has been criticised by some environmentalists because of the high resource cost of extracting aluminium, primarily as a result of the large amount of electricity used to decompose bauxite. However, this cost is greatly reduced via recycling, reduced energy requirements during transport due to lighter weight packages, and the fact that many foods that would otherwise perish can be protected over long periods without refrigeration. Many aluminium foil products can be recycled at around 5% of the original energy cost, although many aluminium laminates are not recycled due to difficulties in separating the components and low yield of aluminium metal.

 

More info: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aluminium_foil

 

----------------------------------

 

CASTELLANO

El papel aluminio (conocido también como papel plateado) es una hoja fina de aluminio que, a consecuencia de ello, es extremadamente maleable y permite numerosos usos en la vida cotidiana, entre las que está la de poder hacer de envoltorio de diversos objetos. conductor de electricidad y se utiliza también como papel de embalaje para envolver alimentos. En España se conoce popularmente como "papel Albal" por la marca Albal, que lo comercializa. Millones de toneladas de papel de aluminio se emplean a diario en todo el mundo en el embalaje y protección de alimentos, cosméticos y productos químicos diversos. Por regla general con una capa extremadamente delgada que suele rondar desde los 20 µm a los 6.5 µm, en algunos casos es laminado con otros materiales tales como plástico o papel.

 

Mucho antes que el moderno papel de aluminio, se empleaban y distribuían hojas finas de estaño para propósitos similares. A finales del siglo XIX y comienzos del siglo XX las hojas delgadas de estaño eran ya muy populares y cuando empezaron a aparecer en el mercado las nuevas hojas de papel de aluminio la gente las seguía denominando como hojas de estaño. El nuevo producto era mejor que las antiguas hojas de estaño debido a diversas razones, el estaño dejaba sabores 'extraños' en los alimentos envueltos con este papel y su resistencia y prestaciones eran mejores. No obstante, las primeras grabaciones de audio en los fonógrafos de cilindro se hicieron en finas hojas de estaño.

 

Las láminas de estaño se reemplazaron por las de aluminio en el año 1910, justo cuando se estableció la primera planta de elaboración de láminas de aluminio bajo la empresa Dr. Lauber, Neher & Cie., Emmishofen, que fue instalada en Kreuzlingen (Suiza). La planta pertenecía J.G. Neher & Sons (manufactureros del aluminio) que comenzaron su trabajo ya en el año 1886 en los alrededores de la ciudad de Schaffhausen, Suiza cerca de las cataratas del Rhine - capturaban la energía de las cataratas para producir el aluminio-. Los hermanos Neher junto con el Dr. Lauber descubrieron el proceso de laminado sin fin y el uso del papel de aluminio como barrera protectora. Los primeros usos de estas hojas fueron el embalaje de los productos del tabaco, las barras de chocolate. a lo largo del tiempo los productores fueron añadiendo lacas que coloreaban las hojas de aluminio.

 

Más info: es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papel_de_aluminio

Farnborough Airport, Hampshire

Lung Wah Hotel and Shatin Restaurant 龍華酒店和沙田畫舫

Lung Wah Hotel was opened in 1951 and became a restaurant in 1985. It was famous for barbecued pigeon. In 1950s, many famous actors such as Bruce Lee, Connie Chan Po-chu, Josephine Siao enjoyed their tea there. Bruce Lee's family alway enjoyed vocation and Bruce practised Kung Fu with his brother Albert there. Bruce participated the film "偷燒鴨" (stealing roast duck www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hJSO8nXgQA ) in his childhood and Lung Wah Hotel was one of the scenes of this film.

Shatin Restaurant was a floating restaurant for seafood and opened in 1963. It was parked where opposite to Lung Wah Hotel. As the reclamation in Shatin in 1970s, it was migrated and closed in 1984.

The top photo can be compared with that in 1983:

www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=542348079120590&set=a...

 

This pops up tad better on Black

 

The monsoons were in full swing and i found walking around the yard in our Kerala home quite interesing with these beautiful fungi popping up here and there in varied hues and sizes. I have managed a couple of them and would love to share them with you in the next few days.

Here is the first one and am afraid i do not have the ID (quite a shame!!!!).But i got some basic notes on fungi to start with...ofcourse from Wikipedia.

 

A mushroom is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground on soil or on its food source. The standard for the name "mushroom" is the cultivated white button mushroom, Agaricus bisporus, hence the word mushroom is most often applied to those fungi (Basidiomycota, Agaricomycetes) that have a stem (stipe), a cap (pileus), and gills (lamellae, sing. lamella) on the underside of the cap, just as do store-bought white mushrooms.

 

The word "mushroom" can also be used for a wide variety of gilled fungi, with or without stems, and the term is used even more generally, to describe both the fleshy fruiting bodies of some Ascomycota and the woody or leathery fruiting bodies of some Basidiomycota, depending upon the context of the word.

 

And did you know?... India has a National Centre for Mushroom Research and Training, NCMRT (now Directorate of Mushroom Research , DRM) at Solan, Himachal Pradesh, with a mandate to carry out research, training and extension on all aspects of mushrooms in the country.

 

Exposure Time: 1/60

F No.5.6

Date Taken: 29.07.2008

 

Thanks for stopping by...

 

Would appreciate any help with the ID....

___________________________

Have a great day:)

Yes

Sir

This print is available for purchase on Etsy!

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Model: Tabea Lutz and Louisa Djebl

Wardrobe and Style: Thaddeus Carreon

MUA: Butch Idio

Location: Al Nassem stud Saar Farm, Bahrain

Lights : Shajin

Special thanks to : KHALID ALMAS MUBARAK

On black

My driver, Wasi, lighting a Golden Leaf. Wasi lives with his family in Rawalpindi, he used to be a typist at the US embassy but he is now a taxi driver. He speaks some English and above all, he's a wonderful guy, with a great sense of humour. He's not a "fixer" and had never worked for a journalist before, but he was a great guide. If you ever happen to go to Islamabad / Rawalpindi, I'll be happy to put you in touch with him :-)

 

Merci de lire les explications en début d'album / Please read the explanations at the beginning of the set

 

Part of Pakistani Lifestyle (Recommended as a slideshow)

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Opened in 1829, the ESP was the first modern prison in the world; it pioneered the idea that if prisoners were given quiet time to reflect rather than being tortured, they would feel penitent (this is the root of the word "penitentiary") and could rejoin society as productive members. Thus, for many decades the prisoners here were kept in their own cells and were prohibited from interacting with their fellow inmates. They exercised in individual, walled outdoor areas that were attached to their cells. It was only much later that "solitary confinement" came to acquire a negative connotation, as a special punishment for infractions committed while already in prison.

 

Among the ESP's more illustrious inmates in its 142 years of operation were Al Capone (who spent a year here), and the bank robber Willie Sutton. But perhaps its most unusual inmate was a dog, Pep (a black Labrador retriever). Said canine reportedly killed a cat belonging to Pennsylvania governor Gifford Pinchot; the governor retaliated by sentencing the dog to life in prison. I even saw a picture of the dog's admittance papers (he was admitted in 1924). But then the Governor got a lot of bad press over this, so he changed his story and said that the dog was his, and that he had donated it to the prison for the betterment of the inmates. Yeah, right.

 

In the mid-19th century, the ESP was quite the tourist attraction. Its distinguished visitors in that era included Alexis de Tocqueville and a young Charles Dickens. Before embarking on his first trip to the U.S. in 1842, Dickens said that the two places in this nation that he most wanted to see were Niagara Falls, and the Eastern State Penitentiary.

 

EffiArt2015

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Emblem Button Zeichen sign Abzeichen

LOCATION

 

www.flickr.com/places

Baden-Württemberg / Dettensee ...

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Manche Zuschauer und

ganz besonders Noel wollten so gerne einen Button von der Dettenseer Flecken Fastnacht 2015.

Leider gab es das nicht zu kaufen.

  

Opa Erwin kann so was am Computer erstellen - EffiArt2015

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Fastnacht Karneval Fasnet Fasching "Fastnachts-Dienstag" "Kleiner Omzug"

Umzug Dettensee FDS Horb-Dettensee

Dätsailer Fleckenfasnet

Di, 17. Februar 2015

 

Saukopfessen (10 Uhr), Umzug (14:00 Uhr),

Musik und Unterhaltung mit Narrentreiben im Gemeindesaal

am Fasnetsdienstag in Dettensee, abends Fasnetsverbrennung

 

SX60 HS "Canon PowerShot SX60 HS" Canon Bridgecamera bridge camera "Canon PowerShot SX60" "Canon SX60" "Powershot SX60" SX60HS eagle1effi SX "430 EXII" "External Flash" Speedlite

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11.11.11 Occupy the Streets. Occupy the World

 

O movimento "Ocupar Lisboa" está a planear fazer uma série de workshops no próximo dia 11.11.11. Em vez dos protestos públicos esperados no mundo inteiro, os elementos deste grupo reúnem-se no acampamento em frente ao Parlamento, assumindo uma atitude pacífica - sob o slogan "Ocupa-te a ti Próprio". Vão estar disponíveis para fazer uma série de workshops, de acordo com os conhecimentos de algumas pessoas do grupo, tais como: filosofias orientais, reiki, permacultura, criatividade, imaginação, expressão livre, olaria, música e teatro, entre outras.

O principal objectivo deste dia é atrair mais pessoas para participar nestes eventos, dar-lhes a conhecer os jovens criativos que eles são e levar mais pessoas a aderir a este movimento.

O grupo quer tornar-se maior para ter mais gente para levar a mensagem...

 

The movement Occupy Lisbon is planning a series of workshops for this day. Instead of public protests, the members are going to be in the camping in front of Parliament, assuming a peaceful attitude and - with the slogan "Occupy Yourself" - they will be available to do several workshops according to the expertise some people in the group have, such as: oriental philosophies, reiki, permaculture, criativity, imagination, free expression, pottery, music, theatre, among others.

The main goal of this day is to motivate more people to participate in these happenings, let them know the young and creative people behind "Occupy Lisbon" and make them join the movement. The movement needs more members to grow stronger and be able to spread the message...

 

See the CNN iReport here...

   

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Description

The swift fox Vulpes velox, a member of the canid, or dog, family, is related to wolves, coyotes, dogs, and other foxes. It can be distinguished from other kinds of foxes found in Canada, such as red, arctic, and grey foxes, by its small size (it is about the size of a house cat), the black spot on each side of its nose, and its black-tipped tail.

 

In winter, the swift fox’s fur is long and dense, mainly buff-grey on the head, back, and upper surface of the tail, and orange-tan on the sides, legs, and lower tail surface. The throat, chest, and belly are light coloured (buff to white). In summer, the fur is short and coarse and more reddish grey.

 

Males are slightly larger than females, average weights being 2.45 and 2.25 kg, respectively. The animal stands about 30 cm high at the shoulder, and its total length is about 80 cm.

 

Early settlers of the Canadian plains knew the swift fox as the “kit” fox, and the two names have been used interchangeably since that time. However, studies of the prairie kit fox of Canada and the central United States and the desert kit fox of the southwestern United States showed that the two animals have some differences in appearance. Hence, the plains-dwelling species was designated the “swift” fox, and its desert cousin retained the name “kit” fox.

 

The swift fox can be distinguished from the kit fox Vulpes macrotis by its shorter, more widely spaced ears and its more rounded and dog-like head. The kit fox is broader between the eyes and has a narrower snout. The swift fox also has a slightly shorter tail, averaging of 52 percent of its body length compared with 62 percent for the kit fox.

 

Information from www.hww.ca/hww2.asp?id=105&cid=8

Patio de los Cipreses - El Generalife, Granada (Spain).

 

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ENGLISH

This patio has a central pond surrounded by a myrtle hedge and in the middle of the pond there is another little pond with a stone fountain. The patio is so called because of the old cypresses that are in the verandas, the most famous of which is the Cypress of the Sultana (Ciprés de la Sultana) in which, according to the legend, Boabdil's wife used to meet a knight of the Abencerrajes family. This triggered the death of the people of this noble tribe, whose throats were slit.

 

A big 19th century stone staircase with a portico and two lions made of glazed pottery of Granada leads to the high part of the gardens, which go from the Hill of the Sun (Cerro del Sol) to the street Rey Chico. These gardens are hanging gardens that include simple vegetable gardens, myrtle clumps, trimmed boxes or hundred-year-old cypresses.

 

One of the staircases that are in these gardens is especially beautiful because of its beauty and originality. It is supposed to be the oldest staircase in these gardens (it already existed in the Muslim period). The staircase is divided in three flights, each with a fountain and handrails that are channels with running water. The staircase is surrounded by laurels that join their crowns and form a vault. The sun shines through this laurel vault and the light contributes to the extremely beautiful scene.

 

Two regal pleasure palaces, Palace of Dar al-Arusa and Palace of the Alixares, stood on the lands covering the area between the valley of the river Darro and that of the river Genil. They were abandoned and the passing of time has ended up destroying them. Recent excavations discovered them and showed their richness and magnificence, as well as the beautiful decorative elements that have been found.

 

Source: www.alhambradegranada.org/historia/alhambrageneralifepcip...

 

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CASTELLANO

Este patio tiene un estanque central rodeado por setos de arrayán y en el centro del estanque existe otro pequeño estanque con una fuente de piedra. El patio recibe su nombre de los viejos cipreses que encontramos en los cenadores, el más famoso de los cuales es el Ciprés de la Sultana en el que, según la leyenda, se veían la esposa de Boadbil y un caballero abencerraje, lo que desencadenó finalmente la muerte de los señores de esta noble tribu, que fueron degollados.

 

A través de una escalinata de piedra del siglo XIX con pórtico y dos leones de cerámica vidriada granadina, se llega a la parte alta de los jardines, que se extienden desde el cerro del Sol hasta el camino del Rey Chico, jardines colgantes que van desde simples huertas hasta macizos de arrayán, bojes recortados o cipreses centenarios.

 

Cabe destacar una de las escalinatas de las que encontramos a lo largo de los jardines por su belleza y originalidad, y que supuestamente es la más antigua del jardín (ya existía en tiempos de los árabes). Está dividida en tres tramos, en cada uno de los cuales se encuentra una fuente con surtidor, flanquedada por canales que conforman las barandillas y por donde bajan ruidosamente las aguas. La escalinata se encuentra rodeada por laureles, que unen sus copas formando una bóveda por la que se filtran los rayos del sol, configurando una estampa de una belleza indescriptible.

 

En los terrenos que van desde el valle del Darro al del Genil se alzaban dos regios palacios de recreo, el de Dar al-Arusa y el de los Alixares, que el abandono y el paso del tiempo terminaron por destruir, hasta que recientes excavaciones señalaron su situación, poniendo de relieve su riqueza, la magnitud de las ruinas descubiertas y los elementos decorativos encontrados.

 

Fuente: www.alhambradegranada.org/historia/alhambraGeneralifePCip...

my country is you! here is my country! and i shall bear it in my heart, i shall bear it in my heart to the day of my death, and we shall see, let any man tear it from me! and i will give up everything in the world, renounce all, and perish for this country!

--nikolai gogol

 

i am so behind on flickr!!! oh my gosh...i promise i will spend some time catching up on all of your wonderful comments and messages and your beautiful photostreams this evening and over the next few days. but in the meantime, thank you all so much! i hope you all had a happy 4th and are enjoying magical weekends so far. :)

--Rabindranath Tagore

 

Explore--3/28/10

 

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"How long does a monarch live?" "Why do monarchs migrate south?"

 

The answers to these two questions go hand-in-hand. Children ask them all the time. Most monarchs live from two to six weeks as an adult butterfly, but the Monarch's migration is the KEY to its yearly life cycle.

 

The total time frame for one butterfly's life cycle (one generation) is about 6-8 weeks . . . egg, caterpillar, chrysalis, butterfly. It grows inside the egg for about 4 days. It then munches milkweed and grows as a monarch caterpillar (larvae) for about 2 more weeks. The caterpillar's life inside the chrysalis (pupa) lasts about 10 days and its wonderful life as an adult butterfly lasts from 2 - 6 weeks.

 

February/March - hibernating monarchs in Mexico and southern California reawaken, become active, find a mate, begin the flight northward and lay their eggs. Finally they die. These special monarchs have lived about 4-5 months through the long winter.

 

March/April -the 1st generation monarchs are born -egg, caterpillar, chrysalis, adult butterfly;

 

May/June - the 2nd generation is born - egg, caterpillar, chrysalis, adult butterfly;

 

July/August - the 3rd generation is born - egg, caterpillar, chrysalis, adult butterfly;

 

Sept/Oct - the 4th generation is born - egg, caterpillar, chrysalis, adult butterfly . . . but THIS generation does not die. It MIGRATES south and lives 6-8 months in Mexico or Southern California. They begin awakening and mating in February/March of the NEXT SPRING, and then lay their eggs! Withered and tattered from their migration and hibernation . . . they finally die.

 

The cycles goes on as the new baby caterpillars are born each spring and the cycle continues throughout the year into the next spring. MAGICAL and AMAZING!

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Remember my previous post about stairs and little hill? This is to the left of it but still closed to the public with barricades on top and bottom of the stairs. I'll go back to find out what they had in mind for this. The view on Lower Manhattan, Statue of Liberty and Governor's Island is just beautiful!! Love the textures and tones here that almost matches the texture of the Majestic Brooklyn Bridge in the background!!

 

3 shots HDR

 

Of course when I was there for sunrise shot, Kenny and I didn't really care about the barricades on the top and just move them a little and parked our gears in front of those flimsy things, LOL!! The rangers making their tours saw us, and couple other photographers, didn't mind knowing well we'll be there for few minutes only!!

 

Have a great week, it is gloomy and raining here!! :((

 

Thanks for stopping by and commenting!!

 

Real nice here

  

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Orix fighting at Etosha Nat. Park, Namibia.August 2004.

 

Antílope africano perteneciente al género Oryx. Vive en manadas de hasta 40 individuos, pero en estación lluviosa, se reúnen cientos. En sequía, puede pasar muchos días sin beber, sobreviviendo de la humedad que contienen frutos y raíces. Mide hasta 1,6 metros de largo y la altura de la cruz llega hasta el 1,2 m. Armados con largos cuernos rectos y anillados, de un metro o más de longitud, en contraste con sus pequeñas orejas. Son resistentes a las temperaturas extremas, a la sed, y además pueden mantener un galope sostenido durante muchos kilómetros. Como particularidad, pueden aumentar la temperatura de su cuerpo para poder irradiar el calor al ambiente en lugar de absorberlo, gracias a un sofisticado sistema de irrigación sanguínea que también permite que la sangre más fría sea la que riegue el cerebro tras pasar previamente por las aberturas de la nariz (narinas), donde se refresca. Su carácter temperamental se puede comparar al de un toro bravo, de forma que su caza es peligrosa para cualquier predador. Los machos luchan embistiendose con los cuernos en paralelo, de forma que se produce un forcejeo entre ellos sin que se llegue a herir al rival, mientras que a la hora de defenderse de depredadores, embisten apuntando con su cornamenta de forma que pueden ensartar a su enemigo. Es la única especie de antílope cuyos descendientes ya nacen armados.

Portrait

Something is going to happen

The fight

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Nei pressi di Perugia e poco distante da Magione, accanto al Lago Trasimeno, si trova Mugnano, piccolo ma pittoresco centro circondato dalla campagna umbra.

L'abitato trae origine da insediamenti del II secolo a.C. cui fece seguito la costruzione, tra il IX e X secolo, di una fiorente abbazia benedettina i cui monaci furono impegnati nella bonifica dei territori circostanti che di lì a poco divennero tra i più fertili della regione.

A protezione dei beni e della popolazione locale nel XIV secolo fu costruito il castello con le sue mura perimetrali e il maestoso maschio cui si sovrappose, nel XVIII secolo, la torre campanaria. Nel Settecento all'interno dell'antico castrum si insediò la confraternita del Santissimo Sacramento.

All'interno del castello da non perdere la visita alla piazzetta della “pompa” con un profondo pozzo nel quale, le donne, fin dall'inizio del Novecento, attingevano acqua con una pompa azionata a mano.

 

MUGNANO IL PAESE DEI MURI DIPINTI

 

Nel borgo, in un'atmosfera quasi surreale, si snoda il percorso alla scoperta dei “muri dipinti” realizzati, su idea del pittore Benito Biselli, da artisti italiani e stranieri che rappresentano un'esposizione permanente di grande interesse.

L'originalità delle pitture, i temi trattati, gli stili e le tecniche usate danno voce ai diversi linguaggi dell'arte sconfinando dal figurativo all'informale e regalando alle vecchie mura forme e colori.

Mugnano cominciò ad essere interesse della critica negli anni settanta del Novecento, quando nel borgo furono organizzate quattro mostre di alto livello in cui esponevano temporaneamente importanti artisti. Nel corso degli anni l'idea cambiò trasformando l'evento da temporaneo a permanente. Nel 1983 fu organizzata per la prima volta “In...contriamoci a Mugnano” una grande festa paesana, con cadenza annuale, tra la fine di giugno e i primi di luglio, che oltre a proporre sapienti piatti di eno-gastronomia locale, arricchiva l'antico nucleo architettonico, i piccoli vicoli e le piazzette con opere d'arte moderna permanenti. Quell'anno furono chiamati i primi otto pittori locali che realizzarono altrettanti “muri dipinti” suscitando gran fervore di critica. L'anno successivo la manifestazione fu aperta anche agli artisti stranieri e nel 2008 è arrivata alla XXV edizione. Ad oggi sono stati realizzati trentotto dipinti murali.

Nei giorni precedenti la festa un gran fervore anima il paese: si montano i palchi davanti agli intonaci e gli artisti cominciano la loro opera circondati da una folla di curiosi e addetti ai lavori.

I muri del paese cantano una fioritura improvvisa di opere, una ritmica stesura di sigilli pittorici dove ogni artista ha deposto il succo della sua creatività (Mimmo Coletti, 1990).

L'itinerario, con opere restaurate e inaugurate nel 2008, grazie anche al sostegno della Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Perugia, è completamente illuminato con luci a risparmio energetico, e visitabile anche nelle ore notturne.

 

'Come Sail Away' On Black

  

Artist: Styx

Album: Return To Paradise

Title: Come Sail Away

 

I'm sailing away, set an open course for the virgin sea

I've got to be free, free to face the life that's ahead of me

On board, i'm the captain, so climb aboard

We'll search for tomorrow on every shore

And i'll try, oh lord, i'll try to carry on

 

I look to the sea, reflections in the waves spark my memory

Some happy, some sad

I think of childhood friends and the dreams we had

We live happily forever, so the story goes

But somehow we missed out on that pot of gold

But we'll try best that we can to carry on

 

A gathering of angels appeared above my head

They sang to me this song of hope, and this is what they said

They said come sail away, come sail away

Come sail away with me

Come sail away, come sail away

Come sail away with me

 

I thought that they were angels, but to my surprise

They climbed aboard their starship and headed for the skies

Singing come sail away, come sail away

Come sail away with me

Come sail away, come sail away

Come sail away with me

Click here to view larger size photo with more details

 

They are images that remain in our memories and for some reasons human beings remain frozen in awe before a sunset over water. It is like the time is slowing down and we are waiting to see the end of this magic moment we try to keep in our memories for ever.

 

The silhouette of this mother and young son admiring the colors of the sun and its reflections on the lake reminds us, adults, of similar memories of a time that seemed remote and peaceful in comparison with the aggressions we feel in our current and modern city lives.

Hopefully this child will remember this magic moment spent with his mom.

 

Nikon D700 and lens Leica Telyt-R 350mm f/4.8. Taken with Monopod at ISO 1600, f/8 and 1/4000s.

*

*

aumentar

  

En Biodiversidad virtual

 

Artículo LA BIODIVERSIDAD OCULTA

  

Aunque el tardígrado Macrobiotus camina al revés, para él parece que no hay reveses. Los tardígrados son pequeños animales de cuerpo alagado y blando provistos de cuatro pares de patas, generalmente terminadas en garras.

 

Aunque pueden vivir prácticamente en cualquier tipo de ambiente, son relativamente frecuentes entre los musgos y la vegetación acuática en emplazamientos con agua dulce o salada. Poseen en la cabeza unos primitivos ojos compuestos y una boca que se abre en una especie de hocico y con la que son capaces de perforar la pared celular de algas y musgos para absorber con su potente y musculosa faringe, los líquidos que constuyen el contenido celular.

 

Los tardígrados son animales extraordinariamente resistentes a condiciones ambientales extremas, son capaces de soportar temperaturas que oscilan entre los -272ºC y los 149ºC, pueden recibir altas dosis de radiación sin apenas verse afectados, en situaciones de extrema sequía pierden los líquidos de sus tejidos y quedan momentáneamente momificados -momentos que pueden variar desde días a decenas o cientos de años- para volver de nuevo a la vida en cuanto se hidratan.

 

Hace poco tiempo, en 2008-2009, viajaron al espacio en un experimento diseñado por la Agencia Espacial Europea, en el espacio pudieron permanecer con vida en ausencia de oxígeno y soportando unas radiaciones 1000 veces más potentes que las que llegan a la Tierra...y en estas condiciones fueron capaces hasta de reproducirse...para los tardígrados no hay reveses.

 

Feliz fin de semana

 

La fotografía se ha tomado a 400 aumentos con la técnica de campo oscuro y procede de una represa, probablemente construida por los romanos en el bonito arroyo de Sogo, situado en la comarca zamorana de Sayago.

 

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☁ la nube negra de una justicia pervertida en nuestro país, movida por la envidia y la venganza, permanecerá aquí, hasta que soplen los vientos limpios que todos necesitamos. La Justicia es uno de los cimientos necesarios para la Paz. Desde aquí todo nuestro apoyo al Juez Baltasar Garzón -el buen Juez de Saramago- y a las personas de buena voluntad como él que trabajan por la Justicia.

 

José Saramago: Ni leyes ni Justicia

Martín Pallín

Firmas de apoyo en Facebook

Radio Nacional Holandesa

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Understanding that

heavy things can't fly,

she let go of what was weighing her heart,

the things she could no longer control or carry,

and she gave herself a chance.

A chance to reach into the unassuming blue,

to embrace the possibility of an open sky,

with an open heart.

She gave herself

a chance to soar.

View On Black "When you cant see the angels"

Jake Oh - Up In The Blue

You do what you came here to do

You take a trip up in the blue

I want to get much closer to you

So I can feel free and get loose

 

There are so many things to be found

'cause when you are with me

We lift up from the ground

 

It's with you I take a trip up in the blue

It's your eyes that send me straight up in the skyes

And it's you who make me sing what I do

It's your smile, that keeps your ? so high

 

When we flew down from the sky

I grabed your hand and I smiled

We are lost in the space of time

Where the moon and the stars keep in the ? of love ?

 

There are so many things to be found

'Cause when you are with me

We lift up from the ground

 

It's with you I take a trip up in the blue

It's your eyes that send me straight up in the skyes

And it's you who makes me sing what I do

It's your smile, that keeps your ? so high

 

It's with you, I take a trip, up in the blue

Your face, your eyes

?, so high

Up in the blue baby, up in the blue

Jake Oh

 

It's with you (It's whith you) I take a trip up in the blue (up in the blue)

It's your eyes (i'ts your eyes) that send me straight up in the skyes (bring me to the skyes)

And it's you who make me sing what I do (you make me sing what I do)

It's your smile, that keeps your ? so high (go high, go high)

 

It's with you (oooh) I take a trip up in the blue (up in the blue yeah)

It's your eyes that send me straight up in the skyes (straight up to the sky, straight up to the sky)

And it's you who make me sing what I do (yeeah)

It's your smile (it's your smile) that keeps your ? so high ( your ? go high)

Up in the blue

 

Pix taken at Arcachon pure SL

Ur love cost me 2 many tears

Jst like the wounds that doesn’t heal

 

www.ma7room.com/songs/sounds.php?mqtaa=2658

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Invictus

  

Out of the night that covers me,

Black as the pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever Gods may be

For my unconquerable soul.

   

In the fell clutch of circumstance,

I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance,

My head is bloodied but unbowed.

   

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

Looms but the horror of the shade.

And yet the menace of the years

Finds and shall find me unafraid.

   

It matters not how straight the gate,

Nor how charged with punishments the scroll.

I am the master of my fate,

I am the captain of my soul.

  

-- William Ernest Henley

 

At the age of 12 Henley became a victim of tuberculosis of the bone. In spite of this, in 1867 he successfully passed the Oxford local examination as a senior student. His diseased foot had to be amputated directly below the knee; physicians announced the only way to save his life was to amputate the other. Henley persevered and survived with one foot intact. He was discharged in 1875, and was able to lead an active life for nearly 30 years despite his disability. With an artificial foot, he lived until the age of 54. "Invictus" was written from a hospital bed.

  

View On Black

 

The great pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do.

 

Walter Bagehot

 

This is one of many water Lilies in our little pond at the side of our house. They really seem to have bloomed very nicely this year.

breath on black;

 

yesterday a very old friend and i went to China town and got some shots, for the majority of the time i was using his old Minolta camera while he used my D40. I'm proud to say yesterday was my first ever roll of film (: I'm going to develop them on Monday, but I'm not looking forward to seeing how well they came out, because i know they wont be the best ! but no one is perfect and although getting lots of practice wont make me perfect, it will get me close to it!

 

anyway about this shot she was a street vendor, selling scarfs and other items, it was kind of late into the day and it was overcast the whole day so at that time it was already getting dark so i couldnt get much.

 

the blue tones are a preset on lightroom 3 then i took it over to photoshop and did a bit more tweaking around.

 

music___ The script- break even

 

View On Black

This is my friend Marclino you have all seen him

before but you probably dont recognize him maby

its because he has shaved his head bald lol i was with him

today and when i saw him i just burst out laughing he just looked

so different i said marcilino what have you done so he said

have a guess english oh and by the way thats what they call me

out here in the north of portugal they never ask me what my name is

all they no is that i am from england so they call me english i no its

very strange but thats how it is out here.again this was taken with the wifes

P+S but as a contact friend of mine macro marcie has pointed out

to me the most important thing is catching the essence.....and that can be done with any camera.again thankyou so much for your time and your comments

and kind regards to you all.

www.fluidr.com/photos/lightpoacher

 

Cubelles, Barcelona (Spain).

 

View Large On White

 

Effects of the East storms. / Efectos de los temporales de levante.

 

ENGLISH

The reclaimed wetlands of the river Foix estuary have made this area into one of the main attractions of the town. The River Foix, which is dry during most of the year due to construction of the Foix Resservoir is another of the most emblematic places in Cubelles. At the Foix estuary, you can spend the day enjoying nature and birthwatching, or at one of the picnic areas. This zone is also intended for school visits, as it is a place where children can study the ecosystem of a Mediterranean river such as the Foix.

 

The estuary is separated from the sea by a sand barrier which has accumulated over time, due to sea currents and rainwater sediments, forming freshwater laguens behind the barrier. The natural area of the Foix Delta has a branch of land that sticks out into the sea. This was formed during the floods of 1994 and joins onto another branch, leaving an island in the middle. Tourists can visit the island by crossing a wooden footbridge.

 

Source: www.cubelles.net/docs/20050211004068.htm

 

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CASTELLANO

La recuperación de los espacios húmedos de la desembocadura del río Foix ha convertido la zona en una de las de mayor atractivo del municipio. El río Foix -que desde la construcción del pantano del Foix está la mayor parte del año seco- es otro de los elementos más emblemáticos de los cubellenses. En la desembocadura del Foix, además de poder pasar un día rodeado de la Naturaleza, se puede observar el comportamiento de las aves autóctonas de esta zona o disfrutar de las áreas de picnic. El espacio también está dirigido a las escuelas, que pueden visitar y estudiar el ecosistema de un río mediterráneo, como es el del Foix.

 

Su desembocadura está separada del mar por una barrera de arena acumulada por las corrientes marítimas y los depósitos pluviales, formando lagunas de agua dulce en su interior. El Espacio Natural del Delta del Foix, mantiene el brazo de salida al mar que se formó por las riadas de 1994, a la que se ha añadido un segundo brazo dejando una isla en el medio, conectada con la zona de entretenimiento a través de unas pasarelas de madera. Otra pasarela de madera sobre uno de los brazos del río, sirve de punto de observación del desarrollo natural de la desembocadura del Foix.

 

Fuente: www.cubelles.net/docs/20050211004073.htm

 

Hilo de la Fotohistoria en Pullip .es: THE DATE (1 of 1) /

LA CITA (1 de 1)

 

(Read in order, this is: SHOT/FOTO 31 of 36) PAG: 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36.

 

FOTOHISTORY: In English / En Español

Shin: … O_O

/

Shin: … O_O

 

LINKS:

- FOTOHISTORIAS en casa de Sheryl en el Foro de Pullips: Pullip .es

- Sheryl Photostories at Flickr

- Ayrin and Sheryl PHOTOSTORIES at Flickr

- Saw Canceled and Sheryl PHOTOSTORIES at Flickr

View On Black

 

Zuki really wants a duck. He still loves his seal, "Club", but he's not getting along with whale or pig that much. He hasn't even bothered to name them.

 

I wanted to put that in illustration tonight with duck boots, which were promised at my last Bench Monday, but he threw a hissy fit.

 

"NOT DUCKS, MUM! THESE ARE NOT DUCKS!"

 

So he's back in the closet. I'm hoping he comes out for tomorrow's shot which will be a face down tuesday, but includes a bed. Unfortunately, that will disqualify the shot as a "Face Down Tuesday", but I also said on Wednesday that I would explain why I couldn't sleep until 3AM.

 

So much catching up to do. I feel that I've neglected my contacts horribly. They started making me actually do work at work. It's 10:20 and I'm just uploading, and I swore I'd try to sleep like a semi-normal person this week.

Large

 

Adam and I went with our friends Jesse and Natalie down to the Hal & Mal's St. Patty's Day Parade today. This parade is one of my favorite holiday traditions. The fun to be had is endless. And our parade is ranked one of the best in the country. So, with that being said, i had a complete blast! I got hella sunburned, drank way to much beer, and ate a waaaay yummy mexican meal at 3 in the afternoon! Ahhh, what a glorious day. More parade pics coming...Right now, I am off to bed. I'm exhausted!!!

Oh, and in case you want to know more about our little parade, here are some facts from a little Q&A session that I found:

 

Q: Who is Mal, anyway?

A: "Mal" is Malcolm White...Jackson's resident club owner/restauranteur/promoter/head of the Mississippi Arts Commission,

writer/publisher/piano-playing blues-ologist/philanthropist/philosopher, and most importantly, "Leprechaun-at-Large."

Q: Why a St. Paddy's Parade?

A: Because Jackson didn't have one! It all started way back in late '70's when a young(er) Mal lived and worked in New Orleans' French Quarter. Mal was fascinated and excited by the concept of parades. There were Mardi Gras Parades, Jazz Funeral Marches, and small street parades happening all the time, and Mal became a "Parade Man" for life.

Q: When was the first parade?

A: The first one was in 1982 (or was it '83?).

Q: How about a little parade history?

A: The original idea was to have a "pub crawl" from CS's to George Street Grocery. But when the inspiration for a parade struck him, Mal figured "We might as well take a dip through downtown." What ensued made headlines in the Clarion Ledger: "PARADE STOPS RUSH HOUR TRAFFIC!" It was quite a news story and all that was needed to capture the attention and imagination of Irishmen (both real and imagined) across the state. This first parade was an amazing assortment of enthusiastic participants and was, in retrospect, a surreal sight to see. Highlights included the first Grand Marshal, the late ARTHUR MAHONEY, a true Irishman and ex-boxer in his 90's waving to onlookers from a convertible...the debut of the venerable and voluptuous "SWEET POTATO QUEENS' ...the inaugural appearance of the "RUDE BOYS", a "frat party on wheels' ...the great blues legend "SWEET" SAM MYERS standing in the sunroof of "BROTHER PETE'S BLUES VAN" waving an Irish flag ... the fondly remembered KENDALL WILSON on roller skates being pulled by a motorcycle ... the newly-formed "BLUZ BOYS" band playing loudly on a flat-bed

trailer with the assistance of a generator ... neighborhood kids on bicycles ...parade co-conspirators MARSHALL, JOEY, and PAT surely wondering "What the BLARNEY-hell have we let Malcolm talk us into?!?" ... SERGIO FERNANDEZ recording the whole thing for posterity while perched atop a beer truck driven by DINK ... and of course, leading the procession, MAL himself decked out in green (what else?) Army pants, his beard spray-painted red, carrying an Irish walking stick and flanked by his beloved Dalmation "PEARL" ...

What a "MAL-function"!!!

Q: How about the parade today?

A: It's gotten bigger and better than ever. You still have the "SWEET POTATO QUEENS",

"RUDE BOYS" and other annual favorites plus more recent traditions like the "O'TUX SOCIETY", "KREWE of KAZOO", "GREEN LADIES", and a real New Orleans brass marching band. And new

entries are lining up every year! 2009 Grand Marshal Leland Speed will be joining an illustrious list of luminaries which includes the late, great TINY TIM, musician MAC McANALLY, THALIA MARA, MAESTRO COLMAN PEARCE, O.C. McDAVID, "Toons til Two" radio personality DAVID ADCOCK, "COUSIN" CLETA ELLINGTON, DEUCE McALLISTER, CAT CORA, and BERT CASE, and many others.

Q: Where does all that money from the entry fees go?

A: There is a function to all this frivolity. In recent years, the parade has raised over $250,000 for the Blair E. Batson Hospital for Children.

View On Black

  

Ford was launched in a converted factory in 1902 with $31,000 in cash (approximately US$704 thousand, adjusted for inflation) from twelve investors, most notably John and Horace Dodge, who would later found the Dodge Brothers Motor Vehicle Company. Henry Ford was 40 years old when he founded the Ford Motor Company, which would go on to become one of the largest and most profitable companies in the world, as well as being one of the few to survive the Great Depression. The largest family-controlled company in the world, the Ford Motor Company has been in continuous family control for over 100 years.

 

During its early years, the company produced a range of vehicles designated, chronologically, from the Ford Model A (1903) to the Model K and Model S (Ford's last right-hand steering model)[1] of 1907.[2] The K, Ford's first six-cylinder model, was knows as "the gentleman's roadster" and "the silent cyclone", and sold for US$2800 (approximately US$65.4 thousand, adjusted for inflation);[3] by contrast, around that time, the Enger 40 was priced at US$2000,[4] the Colt Runabout US$1500,[5] the high-volume Oldsmobile Runabout[6] US$650, Western's Gale Model A US$500,[7] and the Success hit the amazingly low US$250 (approximately US$5.84 thousand, adjusted for inflation).[8]

 

The next year, Henry Ford introduced the Model T. Earlier models were produced at a rate of only a few a day at a rented factory on Mack Avenue in Detroit, Michigan, with groups of two or three men working on each car from components made to order by other companies (what would come to be called an "assembled car"). The first Model Ts were built at the Piquette Road Manufacturing Plant, the first company-owned factory. In its first full year of production, 1909, about 18,000 Model Ts were built. As demand for the car grew, the company moved production to the much larger Highland Park Plant, and in 1911, the first year of operation there, 69,762[9] Model Ts were produced, with 170,211 in 1912.[10] By 1913, the company had developed all of the basic techniques of the assembly line and mass production. Ford introduced the world's first moving assembly line that year, which reduced chassis assembly time from 12½ hours in October to 2 hours 40 minutes (and ultimately 1 hour, 33 minutes),[11] and boosted annual output to 202,667 units that year[12] After a Ford ad promised profit-sharing if sales hit 300,000 between August 1914 and August 1915,[13] sales in 1914 hit 308,162, and 501,462 in 1915;[14] by 1920, production would exceed one million a year.

 

These innovations were hard on employees, and turnover of workers was very high, while increased productivity actually reduced labor demand.[15] Turnover meant delays and extra costs of training, and use of slow workers. In January 1914, Ford solved the employee turnover problem by doubling pay to $5 a day, cutting shifts from nine hours to an eight hour day for a 5 day work week (which also increased sales; a line worker could buy a T with less than four months' pay),[16] and instituting hiring practices that identified the best workers, including disabled people considered unemployable by other firms.[17] Employee turnover plunged, productivity soared, and with it, the cost per vehicle plummeted. Ford cut prices again and again and invented the system of franchised dealers who were loyal to his brand name. Wall Street had criticized Ford's generous labor practices when he began paying workers enough to buy the products they made.[18]

Ford assembly line (1913)

 

While Ford attained international status in 1904 with the founding of Ford of Canada, it was in 1911 the company began to rapidly expand overseas, with the opening of assembly plants in England and France, followed by Denmark (1923), Germany (1925), Austria (1925),[19] and Argentina (1925),[20] and also in South Africa (1924)[21] and Australia (1925) as subsidiaries of Ford of Canada due to preferential tariff rules for Commonwealth countries. By the end of 1919, Ford was producing 50 percent of all cars in the United States, and 40% of all British ones;[22] by 1920, half of all cars in the U.S. were Model Ts. (The low price also killed the cyclecar in the U.S.)[23] The assembly line transformed the industry; soon, companies without it risked bankruptcy. Of 200 U.S. car makers in 1920, only 17 were left in 1940.[24]

 

It also transformed technology. Henry Ford is reported to have said, "Any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants so long as it is black." Before the assembly line, Ts had been available in a variety of colors, including red, blue, and green, but not black. Now, paint had become a production bottleneck; only Japan Black dried quickly enough, and not until Duco lacquer appeared in 1926 would other colors reappear on the T.[25]

 

In 1915, Henry Ford went on a peace mission to Europe aboard a ship, joining other pacifists in efforts to stop World War I. This led to an increase in his personal popularity. Ford would subsequently go on to support the war effort with the Model T becoming the underpinnings for Allied military vehicles.

 

[edit] History of the blue oval

 

The Ford oval trademark was first introduced in 1907. The 1928 Model A was the first vehicle to sport an early version of the Ford script in the oval badge. The dark blue background of the oval is known to designers as Pantone 294C. The Ford script is credited to Childe Harold Wills, Ford's first chief engineer and designer. He created a script in 1903 based on the one he used for his business cards. Today, the oval has evolved into a perfect oval with a width-to-height ratio of 8:3. The current Centennial Oval was introduced on June 17, 2003 as part of the 100th anniversary of Ford Motor Company.[26]

 

[edit] Post-World War I developments

 

In 1919, Edsel Ford succeeded his father as president of the company, although Henry still kept a hand in management. Although prices were kept low through highly efficient engineering, the company used an old-fashioned personalized management system, and neglected consumer demand for improved vehicles. So, while four wheel brakes were invented by Arrol-Johnson (and were used on the 1909 Argyll),[27] they did not appear on a Ford until 1927. (To be fair, Chevrolet waited until 1928.)[28] Ford steadily lost market share to GM and Chrysler, as these and other domestic and foreign competitors began offering fresher automobiles with more innovative features and luxury options. GM had a range of models from relatively cheap to luxury, tapping all price points in the spectrum, while less wealthy people purchased used Model Ts. The competitors also opened up new markets by extending credit for purchases, so consumers could buy these expensive automobiles with monthly payments. Ford initially resisted this approach, insisting such debts would ultimately hurt the consumer and the general economy. Ford eventually relented and started offering the same terms in December 1927, when Ford unveiled the redesigned Model A, and retired the Model T after producing 15 million units.

 

[edit] Lincoln Motor Company

 

On February 4, 1922 Ford expanded its reach into the luxury auto market through its acquisition of the Lincoln Motor Company, named for Abraham Lincoln whom Henry Ford admired, but Henry M. Leland had named the company in 1917. The Mercury division was established in 1938 to serve the mid-price auto market.[29] Ford Motor Company built the largest museum of American History in 1928, The Henry Ford.

 

Henry Ford would go on to acquire Abraham Lincoln's chair, which he was assassinated in, from the owners of the Ford Theatre. Abraham Lincoln's chair would be displayed along with John F. Kennedy's Lincoln limousine in the Henry Ford Museum & Greenfield Village in Dearborn, known today as The Henry Ford. Kennedy's limousine was leased to the White House by Ford.

 

[edit] Fordlândia

Main article: Fordlândia

 

In 1928, Henry Ford negotiated a deal with the government of Brazil for a plot of land in the Amazon Rainforest. There, Ford attempted to cultivate rubber for use in the company's automobiles. After considerable labor unrest, social experimentation, and a failure to produce rubber, and after the invention of synthetic rubber, the settlement was sold in 1945 and abandoned.

 

[edit] The Great Depression

 

During the great depression, Ford in common with other manufacturers, responded to the collapse in motor sales by reducing the scale of their operations and laying off workers. By 1932, the unemployment rate in Detroit had risen to 30%[30] with thousands of families facing real hardship. Although Ford did assist a small number of distressed families with loans and parcels of land to work, the majority of the thousands of unskilled workers who were laid off were left to cope on their own. However, Henry Ford angered many by making public statements that the unemployed should do more to find work for themselves.

 

This led to Detroit’s Unemployed Council organizing the Ford Hunger March. On March 7, 1932 some 3,000 - 5,000 unemployed workers assembled in West Detroit to march on Ford's River Rouge plant to deliver a petition demanding more support. As the march moved up Miller Road and approached Gate 3 the protest turned ugly. The police fired tear gas into the crowd and fire trucks were used to soak the protesters with icy water. When the protesters responded by throwing rocks, the violence escalated rapidly and culminated in the police and plant security guards firing live rounds through the gates of the plant at the unarmed protesters. Four men were killed outright and a fifth died later in hospital. Up to 60 more were seriously injured.[31]

 

[edit] Soviet Fords and the Gorki

 

In May 1929 the Soviet Union signed an agreement with the Ford Motor Company. Under its terms, the Soviets agreed to purchase $13 million worth of automobiles and parts, while Ford agreed to give technical assistance until 1938 to construct an integrated automobile-manufacturing plant at Nizhny Novgorod. Many American engineers and skilled auto workers moved to the Soviet Union to work on the plant and its production lines, which was named Gorkovsky Avtomobilny Zavod (GAZ), or Gorki Automotive Plant in 1932. A few American workers stayed on after the plant's completion, and eventually became victims of Stalin's Great Terror, either shot[32] or exiled to Soviet gulags.[33] In 1933, the Soviets completed construction on a production line for the Ford Model-A passenger car, called the GAZ-A, and a light truck, the GAZ-AA. Both these Ford models were immediately adopted for military use. By the late 1930s production at Gorki was 80,000-90,000 "Russian Ford" vehicles per year. With its original Ford-designed vehicles supplemented by imports and domestic copies of imported equipment, the Gorki operations eventually produced a range of automobiles, trucks, and military vehicles.

 

[edit] World War II

 

President Franklin Roosevelt referred to Detroit as the "Arsenal of Democracy." The Ford Motor Company played a pivotal role in the allied victory during World War I and World War II. As a pacifist, Henry Ford had said war was a waste of time, and did not want to profit from it. He was concerned the Nazis during the 1930s might nationalize his factories in Germany. During the Great Depression Ford's wages may have seemed great to his employees but many of the rules of the factories were very harsh and strict. Those were tense times for American companies doing business in Europe. In the spring of 1939, the Nazis assumed day to day control of Ford factories in Germany.

 

With Europe under siege, Henry Ford's genius would be turned to mass production for the war effort. After Bantam invented the Jeep, the War Department handed production over to Ford and Willys. When Consolidated Aircraft could at most build one B-24 Liberator a day, Ford would show the world how to produce one an hour, at a peak of 600 per month in 24 hour shifts. The specially-designed Willow Run plant broke ground in April 1941. At the time, it was the largest assembly line in the world, with over 3,500,000 square feet (330,000 m2) under one roof. Edsel Ford, under severe stress, died in the Spring of 1943 of stomach cancer, prompting his grieving father to resume day-to-day control of Ford. Mass production of the B-24 began by August 1943. Many pilots slept on cots waiting for takeoff as B-24s rolled off the line.[34]

 

In the United Kingdom, Ford built a new factory in Trafford Park, Manchester during WW2 where over 34,000 Rolls-Royce Merlin aero engines were completed by a workforce trained from scratch.

 

[edit] Post-World War II developments

 

At the behest of Edsel Ford's widow Eleanor and Henry's wife Clara, Henry Ford would make his oldest grandson, Henry Ford II, President of Ford Motor Company.

A Ford Taurus, one of Ford's best-selling models. In its 21 year lifespan, it sold 7,000,000 units. It is the 4th best selling car in Ford's history, behind only the F-150, the Model T, and the Mustang.

 

Henry Ford II served as President from 1945–1960, and as Chairman and CEO from 1960–1980. "Hank the Deuce" led Ford to become a publicly traded corporation in 1956. However, the Ford family maintains about 40 percent controlling interest in the company, through a series of Special Class B preferred stocks.

 

In 1947, Henry Ford died. According to A&E Biography, an estimated 7 million people mourned his death.

 

Ernest R. Breech was hired in 1946 and became the Executive Vice President. Then later became Board Chairman in 1955.

 

In 1946, Robert McNamara joined Ford Motor Company as manager of planning and financial analysis. He advanced rapidly through a series of top-level management positions to the presidency of Ford on 9 November 1960, one day after John F. Kennedy's election. The first company head selected outside the Ford family, McNamara had gained the favor of Henry Ford II, and had aided in Ford's expansion and success in the postwar period. Less than five weeks after becoming president at Ford, he accepted Kennedy's invitation to join his cabinet, as Secretary of Defense.

 

In the 1950s, Ford introduced the iconic Thunderbird in 1955 and the Edsel brand automobile line in 1958. Edsel was cancelled after less than 27 months in the marketplace in November 1960. The corporation bounced back from the failure of the Edsel by introducing its compact Ford Falcon in 1960 and the Mustang in 1964. By 1967, Ford of Europe was established.

 

Lee Iacocca was involved with the design of several successful Ford automobiles, most notably the Ford Mustang. He was also the "moving force," as one court put it, behind the notorious Ford Pinto. He promoted other ideas which did not reach the marketplace as Ford products. Eventually, he became the president of the Ford Motor Company, but he clashed with Henry Ford II and ultimately, on July 13, 1978, he was famously fired by Henry II, despite Ford posting a $2.2 billion dollar profit for the year. In 1979 Philip Caldwell became Chairman, succeeded in 1985 by Donald Petersen.

 

Harold Poling served as Chairman and CEO from 1990-1993. Alex Trotman was Chairman and CEO from 1993-1998, and Jacques Nasser served at the helm from 1999-2001. Henry Ford's great-grandson, William Clay Ford Jr., is the company's current Chairman of the Board and was CEO until September 5, 2006, when he named Alan Mulally from Boeing as his successor. As of 2006, the Ford family owns about 5 percent of Ford's shares and controls about 40 percent of the voting power through a separate class of stock.[35]

 

In December 2006, Ford announced that it would mortgage all assets, including factories and equipment, office property, intellectual property (patents and trademarks), and its stakes in subsidiaries, to raise $23.4 billion in cash. The secured credit line is expected to finance product development during the restructuring through 2009, as the company expects to burn through $17 billion in cash before turning a profit. The action was unprecedented in the company's 103 year history.

www.nvr.org.uk/history/5485.php

 

The Loco

This engine is a beast. If it were a lorry it would be an earth mover, built for shifting massive loads over short distances, with big cylinders and very small wheels. It is rated at 800h.p., a tractive effort of 28,000lb, a weight of 66tons and wheels of only 3' 6" diameter. This compares with the STD class 5 at 26,120 lbs tractive effort, and a weight of 76 tons.

 

Polish engineering is not known for it's high quality, and the engine is no exception. For example, the cylinder bore on engines should line up with the axle centre - not here, the cylinder centreline is clearly inches above the axle centreline. General construction is simple, for example the smoke box door is made from flat plate welded together, where most engines have a rounded door made from pressings / castings. Many of the steam valves are made from steel / iron, which can corrode, where other loco's would use brass or bronze which doesn't corrode. Oddly, for a simple machine, it has the complexity of superheaters; more superheaters than an LMS Jubilee. On a machine that is for shunting and not designed for speed this is unusual, as superheaters are thought to be effective only when an engine is working for long periods and has time to warm through.

 

It has been said that we are asking too much of this engine, with its small wheels at 25MPH. An A4 Pacific has 6'8" wheels, and at 75MPH (Network Rail's max speed limit for steam) this equates to 315RPM. 5485, with 3' 6" wheels, at 25MPH is only running at 200 RPM. Indeed, the engine's stated maximum speed is 40km/h, and it has proven itself capable of easily keeping to time.

 

For the crew it is an easy engine to fire, with a large boiler that has plenty of steam generating capacity, and a medium size firebox where the first time fireman won't have trouble getting coal to the far end of the fire. There is also a drop grate in the firebox and a hopper ashpan, making the disposal of fire and ash simpler. The injectors have been proven to be reliable, after fettling work. For the driver, the controls are well placed and all reachable from the cab window. However, the regulator is difficult, steam can be admitted on a little or lots basis, there's not much in between. If you see the engine starting a train and it slips frequently, you know the driver is battling with the regulator. The engine has the luxury of very bright electric lights, in the cab and above the wheels as well as front and back. Some crew like working in the dark with this loco as you have the rare luxury of being able to see where you are going. Due to the long wheel base, two of the axles have a large amount of side-play. This lets the engine go around curves, but it means that there is a lot of side - side waddle, especially on straight track, and there is a lot of that at Nene Valley!

 

History

This engine is fairly modern as steam engines go, being built by Fablok of Chrzanow, Poland in 1959, as one of a large class of 406 loco's, built from 1950 - 1963. 90 of the class were exported to China. Visit hobby.ien.com.pl/kolej/Freight Tank Locomotives/TKp.htm for further info. It worked for 36 years in the Coalfields in Bytom, southern Poland and was withdrawn in 1995, when the mine closed.

 

The engine was bought by it's current owner in 1996, in working order with a current boiler ticket. It came complete with it's entire service history, all in Polish, from when it was built, on the 14th of Maja 1959! Many of these documents still have their wax seal from the works. The documents show that the engine had a heavy overhaul in 1990, with a new firebox, a new front tubeplate and new portions of the boiler barrel fitted at Olesnica, Poland. The resulting good condition of the boiler is why it was preserved.

 

The loco was moved to Belgium by rail through Holland and Germany, in a convoy of loco's devoid of their rods, at a cost of £2,500 for each loco; 900 miles at 25mph. One of the loco owners videoed the convoy and saw sparks from the axlebox of loco. A hurried conversation with the driver (in German) followed! The damaged loco went on to be preserved in Northampton.

 

5485 Came to England in 1997 and was stripped and overhauled at Llangollen. All the steel pipework was replaced with copper, the smokebox was replaced and a new cab and cladding, was fitted. The boiler is now in very good condition; when in steam it is as dry as a bone. Whilst at Nene Valley, the loco has spent much time out of traffic for repairs to badly worn bearings and bushes on the coupling rods and connecting rods, and a failed main steam pipe. The loco is now back in traffic, but further repairs may soon be required. The valves and pistons have always been blowing-by; the leakage of steam can be heard as a whoosh from the chimney when starting away. On occasion, the blow-by is so bad that the loco will move backwards when starting off in forward gear!

 

(Incidentally, put 'Slask' into your spell checker and it will suggest 'slack' - Bill Gates is well informed!)

 

Recent Mechanical Group Reports

Recent reports by the Mechanical Group on 5485 can be found by clicking here

  

BLOGGED: 19 Nov. 2008: www.counterspinyc.blogspot.com/

 

New Yorkers Protest the US$850 BILLION (US$3 TRILLION) Wall Street BAILOUT: Wall Street, NYC - September 25, 2008.

 

This is actually a GOOD guy. See: billionairesforbush.com/index.php for more information.

 

VOTE YOUR CONSCIENCE on 04 NOVEMBER 2008!

 

Photographer: a. golden, eyewash design - c. 2008.

 

Friends,

 

The richest 400 Americans -- that's right, just four-hundred people -- own MORE than the bottom 150 million Americans COMBINED! 400 of the wealthiest Americans have got more stashed away than half the entire country! Their combined net worth is $1.6 trillion. During the eight years of the Bush Administration, their wealth has increased by nearly $700 billion -- the same amount that they were demanding We give to them for the "bailout." Why don't they just spend the money they made under Bush to bail themselves out? They'd still have nearly a trillion dollars left over to spread amongst themselves!

 

Of course, they are not going to do that -- at least not voluntarily. George W. Bush was handed a $127 billion surplus when Bill Clinton left office. Because that money was OUR money and not HIS, he did what the rich prefer to do -- spend it and never look back. Now we have a $9.5 trillion debt that will take seven generations from which to recover. Why -- on --earth – did -- our -- "representatives" -- give -- these -- robber -- barons -- $US850 BILLION -- of – OUR -- money?

 

Last week, proposed my own bailout plan. My suggestions, listed below, were predicated on the singular and simple belief that the rich must pull themselves up by their own platinum bootstraps. Sorry, fellows, but you drilled it into our heads one too many times: THERE...IS...NO…FREE... LUNCH ~ PERIOD! And thank you for encouraging us to hate people on welfare! So, there should have been NO HANDOUTS FROM US TO YOU! Last Friday, after voting AGAINST this BAILOUT, in an unprecedented turn of events, the House FLIP-FLOPPED their "No" Vote & said "Yes", in a rush version of a "bailout" bill vote. IN SPITE OF THE PEOPLE'S OVERWHELMING DISAPPROVAL OF THIS BAILOUT BILL... IN SPITE OF MILLIONS OF CALLS FROM THE PEOPLE CRASHING WASHINGTON "representatives'" PHONE LINES...IN SPITE OF CRASHING OUR POLITICIAN'S WEBSITES...IN SPITE OF HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE PROTESTING AROUND THE COUNTRY... THEY VOTED FOR THIS BAILOUT! The People first succeeded on Monday with the House, but failed do it with the Senate and then THE HOUSE TURNED ON US TOO!

 

It is clear, though, we cannot simply continue protesting without proposing exactly what it is we think THESE IDIOTS should/'ve do/one. So, after consulting with a number of people smarter than Phil Gramm, here’s the proposal, now known as "Mike's Rescue Plan." (From Michael Moore's Bailout Plan) It has 10 simple, straightforward points. They are that you DIDN'T, BUT SHOULD'VE:

 

1. APPOINTED A SPECIAL PROSECUTOR TO CRIMINALLY INDICT ANYONE ON WALL STREET WHO KNOWINGLY CONTRIBUTED TO THIS COLLAPSE. Before any new money was expended, Congress should have committed, by resolution, to CRIMINALLY PROSECUTE ANYONE who had ANYTHING to do with the attempted SACKING OF OUR ECONOMY. This means that anyone who committed insider trading, securities fraud or any action that helped bring about this collapse should have and MUST GO TO JAIL! This Congress SHOULD HAVE called for a Special Prosecutor who would vigorously go after everyone who created the mess, and anyone else who attempts to scam the public in future. (I like Elliot Spitzer ~ so, he played a little hanky-panky...Wall Street hates him & this is a GOOD thing.)

 

2. THE RICH SHOULD HAVE PAID FOR THEIR OWN BAILOUT! They may have to live in 5 houses instead of 7. They may have to drive 9 cars instead of 13. The chef for their mini-terriers may have to be reassigned. But there is no way in hell, after forcing family incomes to go down more than $2,000 dollars during the Bush years, that working people and the middle class should have to fork over one dime to underwrite the next yacht purchase.

 

If they truly needed the $850 billion they say they needed, well, here is an easy way they could have raised it:

 

a) Every couple makeing over a million dollars a year and every single taxpayer who makes over $500,000 a year should pay a 10% surcharge tax for five years. (It's the Senator Sanders plan. He's like Colonel Sanders, only he's out to fry the right chickens.) That means the rich would have still been paying less income tax than when Carter was president. That would have raise a total of $300 billion.

 

b) Like nearly every other democracy, they should have charged a 0.25% tax on every stock transaction. This would have raised more than $200 billion in a year.

 

c) Because every stockholder is a patriotic American, stockholders should have forgone receiving a dividend check for ONE quarter and instead this money would have gone the treasury to help pay for the bullsh*t bailout.

 

d) 25% of major U.S. corporations currently pay NO federal income tax. Federal corporate tax revenues currently amount to 1.7% of the GDP compared to 5% in the 1950s. If we raised the corporate income tax BACK to the levels of the 1950s, this would give us an extra $500 billion.

 

All of this combined should have been enough to end the calamity. The rich would have gotten to keep their mansions and their servants and our United States government ("COUNTRY FIRST!") would've have a little leftover to repair some roads, bridges and schools...

 

3. YOU SHOULD HAVE BAIL OUT THE PEOPLE LOSING THEIR HOMES, NOT THE PEOPLE WHO WILL BUILD AN EIGHTH HOME! There are 1.3 million homes in foreclosure right now. That is what is at the heart of this problem. So, instead of giving the money to the banks as a gift, they should have paid down each of these mortgages by $100,000. They should have forced the banks to renegotiate the mortgage so the homeowner could pay on its current value. To insure that this help wouldn't go to speculators and those who tried to making money by flipping houses, the bailout should have only been for people's primary residences. And, in return for the $100K pay-down on the existing mortgage, the government would have gotten to share in the holding of the mortgage so it could get some of its money back. Thus, the total initial cost of fixing the mortgage crisis at its roots (instead of with the greedy lenders) is $150 billion, not $850 BILLION.

 

And let's set the record straight. People who have defaulted on their mortgages are not "bad risks." They are our fellow Americans, and all they wanted was what we all want: a home to call their own. But, during the Bush years, millions of the People lost the decent paying jobs they had. SIX MILLION fell into poverty! SEVEN MILLION lost their health insurance! And, every one of them saw their real wages go DOWN by $2,000! Those who DARE look down on these Americans who got hit with one bad break after another should be ASHAMED.! We are a better, stronger, safer and happier society when all of our citizens can afford to live in a home they own.

 

4. THERE SHOULD HAVE BEEN A STIPULATION THAT IF YOUR BANK OR COMPANY GOT ANY OF OUR MONEY IN A "BAILOUT," THEN WE OWN YOU. Sorry, that's how it's done. If the bank gives me money so I can buy a house, the bank "owns" that house until I pay it all back -- with interest. Same deal for Wall Street. Whatever money you need to stay afloat, if our government considers you a safe risk -- and necessary for the good of the country -- then you can get a loan, but WE SHOULD OWN YOU. If you default, we will sell you. This is how the Swedish government did it and it worked.

 

5. ALL REGULATIONS SHOULD HAVE BEEN BE RESTORED. THE REAGAN REVOLUTION IS DEAD! This catastrophe happened because we let the fox have the keys to the hen-house. In 1999, Phil Gramm authored a bill to remove all the regulations that governed Wall Street and our banking system. The bill passed and Clinton signed it. Here's what Sen.Phil Gramm, McCain's chief economic advisor, said at the bill signing:

 

"In the 1930s ... it was believed that government was the answer. It was believed that stability and growth came from government overriding the functioning of free markets.

 

"We are here today to repeal [that] because we have learned that government is not the answer. We have learned that freedom and competition are the answers. We have learned that we promote economic growth and we promote stability by having competition and freedom.

 

"I am proud to be here because this is an important bill; it is a deregulatory bill. I believe that that is the wave of the future, and I am awfully proud to have been a part of making it a reality."

 

FOR THIS NOT TO REOCCUR, This BILL SHOULD HAVE BEEN REPEALED! Bill Clinton could have helped by leading the effort for the repeal of the Gramm bill and the reinstating of even tougher regulations regarding our financial institutions. And when they were done with that, they should have restored the regulations for the airlines, the inspection of our food, the oil industry, OSHA, and every other entity that affects our daily lives. All oversight provisions for any "bailout" should have had enforcement monies attached to them and criminal penalties for all offenders.

 

6. IF IT'S TOO BIG TO FAIL, THEN THAT MEANS IT'S TOO BIG TO EXIST! Allowing the creation of these mega-mergers and not enforcing the monopoly and anti-trust laws has allowed a number of financial institutions and corporations to become so large, the very thought of their collapse means an even bigger collapse across the entire economy. No ONE or TWO companies should EVER have this kind of power! The so-called "economic Pearl Harbor" can't happen when you have hundreds -- thousands -- of institutions where people have their money. When we have a dozen auto companies, if one goes belly-up, we DON'T FACE A NATIONAL DISASTER! If we have three separately-owned daily newspapers in your town, then one media company can't call all the shots (I know... What am I thinking?! Who reads a paper anymore? Sure glad all those mergers and buyouts left us with a STRONG and "FREE" press!). Laws Should have been enacted to prevent companies from being so large and dominant that with one slingshot to the eye, the GIANT FALLS and DIES. And no institution should be allowed to set up money schemes that NO ONE understands. If you can't explain it in two sentences, you shouldn't be taking anyone's money!

 

7. NO EXECUTIVE SHOULD EVER BE PAID MORE THAN 40 TIMES THEIR AVERAGE EMPLOYEE, AND NO EXECUTIVE SHOULD RECEIVE ANY KIND OF "PARACHUTE" OTHER THAN THE VERY GENEROUS SALARY HE OR SHE MADE WHILE WORKING FOR THE COMPANY. In 1980, the average American CEO made 45 times what their employees made. By 2003, they were making 254 times what their workers made. After 8 years of Bush, they now make over 400 times what their average employee makes. How We have allowed this to happen at publicly held companies is beyond reason. In Britain, the average CEO makes 28 times what their average employee makes. In Japan, it's only 17 times! The last I heard, the CEO of Toyota was living the high life in Tokyo. How does he do it on so little money? Seriously, this is an OUTRAGE! We have created the mess we're in by letting the people at the top become bloated beyond belief with millions of dollars. THIS HAS TO STOP! Not only should no executive who receives help out of this mess profit from it, but any executive who was in charge of running his company into the ground should be FIRED before the company receives ANY help.

 

8. CONGRESS SHOULD HAVE STRENGTHENED THE FDIC AND MADE IT A MODEL FOR PROTECTING NOT ONLY PEOPLE'S SAVINGS, BUT ALSO THEIR PENSIONS AND THEIR HOMES. Obama was correct to propose expanding FDIC protection of people's savings in their banks to $250,000. But, this same sort of government insurance must be given to our NEVER have to worry about whether or not the money they've put away for their old age will be there. This should have meant strict government oversight of companies who manage their employees' funds -- or perhaps it means the companies should have been forced to turn over those funds and their management to the government? People's private retirement funds must also be protected, but perhaps it's time to consider not having one's retirement invested in the casino known as the stock market??? Our government should have a solemn duty to guarantee that no one who grows old in this country has to worry about becoming destitute.

 

9. EVERYBODY NEEDS TO TAKE A DEEP BREATH, CALM DOWN, AND NOT LET FEAR RULE THE DAY. Turn off your TVs! We are NOT in the Second Great Depression. The sky is NOT falling, Chicken Little! Pundits and politicians have lied to us so FAST and FURIOUS it's hard not to be affected by all the fear mongering. Even I wrote to and repeated what I heard on the news last week, that the Dow had the biggest one day drop in its history. Well, that was true in terms of points, but its 7% drop came nowhere close to Black Monday in 1987 when the stock market in one day lost 23% of its value. In the '80s, 3,000 banks closed, but America didn't go out of business. These institutions have always had their ups and downs and eventually it works out. It has to, because the rich do not like their wealth being disrupted! They have a vested interest in calming things down and getting back into their Jacuzzis before they slip into their million thread-count sheets to drift off to a peaceful, Vodka tonic and Ambien-induced slumber.

 

As crazy as things are right now, tens of thousands of people got a car loan last week. Thousands went to the bank and got a mortgage to buy a home. Students just back to college found banks more than happy to put them into hock for the next 15 years with a student loan. I was even pre-approved for a US$5K personal loan. Yes, life has gone on with little-or-no-change (other than the whopping 6.1% umeployment rate, but that happened last month). Not a single person lost any of his/her monies in bank, or a treasury note, or in a CD. And, the perhaps the most amazing thing is that the American public FINALLY didn't buy the scare campaign. The citizens didn't blink, instead telling Congress to take that bailout and shove it. THAT was impressive. Why didn't the population succumb to the fright-filled warnings from their president and his cronies? Well, you can only say 'Saddam has the bomb' so many times before the people realize you're a lying sack of shit. After eight long years, the nation is worn out and simply can't take it any longer. The WORLD is fed up & I don't blame them.

 

10. THEY SHOULD HAVE CREATED A NATIONAL BANK, A "PEOPLE'S BANK." Since they're really itching to print up a trillion dollars, instead of giving it to a few rich people, why don't We give it to ourselves? Now that We own Freddie and Fannie, why not set up a People's bank? One that can provide low-interest loans for all sorts of people who want to own a home, start a small business, go to school, come up with the cure for cancer or create the next great invention. And, now that we own AIG - the country's largest insurance company - let's take the next step and PROVIDE HEALTH INSURANCE FOR EVERYONE. MEDICARE FOR ALL! It will SAVE us SO MUCH MONEY in the LONG RUN (not to mention bring peace of mind to all). And, America won't be 12th on the life expectancy list! We'll be able to have a longer lifespan, enjoying our government-protected pension and will live to see the day when the corporate criminals who caused this much misery are let out of prison so that We can help re-acclimate them to plain old ordinary, civilian life -- a life with ONE nice home and ONE gas-free car invented with help from the People's Bank.

 

P.S. Call your Senators NOW !!! ---> www.visi.com/juan/congress/

 

Since they voted against passing the extension of unemployment benefits and skipped out to "campaign" to us to be re-elected...call them and tell them you will vote for the other "guy" if they don't get their act together!

 

UPDATE:

  

The Bailout Is A Truly Evil Disaster And Enabler Pelosi Must Go

 

We are hearing more and more reports of how badly the ill-advised banker's bailout is being handled, multi-million dollar bonuses for Paulson's old cronies at Goldman Sachs, billions going to finance the takeover of rival banks, making the "too big to fail" even bigger, and the taxpayer getting an otherwise rotten deal for their investment. We even heard a Republic senator asking how fast they could blow the money.

 

NONE of this could have happened without the fawning complicity of Nancy Pelosi, who infamously said it was Bush's proposal, INSTEAD of coming forward with a robust alternative plan. Just like Bush, she believes she is immune, she believes she is unaccountable, and shame on us if we don't do everything we can to defeat her this Tuesday, and replace her with Cindy Sheehan.

 

Here is Cindy's last TV spot. Please make whatever donation you can to put this ad on the air in these critical final days.

 

Last Cindy TV Spot Action Page:

www.usalone.com/cindy/donations_tv2.php

 

There is still time for you to make a real difference. We thank all of our participants who have already donated so generously to make this campaign what it is. For those who cannot make a contribution, please consider helping with the phone banking, and there is a link for that also on the page above.

 

The one thing we know is that we must continue to speak out. We must continue to challenge. Surrendering is what our current so-called representatives in Congress are so prone to, NOT what we do. Ultimate victory is not only possible, it is assured if we work as hard as we can for real change, not just the rebranding of the same old boys'

network.

 

And we promise you, immediately after the election we will go right back to work on pure issue advocacy full time, to continue to build the base of action for the future.

 

Paid for by Cindy Sheehan for Congress

 

Donations to Cindy Sheehan for Congress are not tax-deductible

 

Please take action NOW, so we can win all victories that are supposed to be ours, and forward this alert as widely as possible.

 

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Please View Large On Black

 

This is the weirdest pice of rock I've seen. Taken on the way up the mountain where I shot my last upload. this rock is in the middle of the trail. The weird thing about it is all the small holes that makes it look like the surface of a golf ball. All the way up the mountain the rocks were like this. Not only this type of sand coloured rock, but "normal" grey rock as well. (PLease excuse my horrible geological skills).

 

Anyway, I liked the way the sun coming in from the left giving character to the mountain in the back while at the same time lighting the foreground. A great sky over the background mountains which the pola really made "pop" was the icing on the cake.

 

Canon 5D

Canon 17-40 @ 17mm

f/16

1/2sec

ISO100

Lee .9 soft ND grad.

Heliopan polarizer

 

Cheers

Håkon

 

PS: Thanks for all your comments and favs! Trying to reach over as many other photo streams as I can!

 

classic goofy Elizabeth face seen HERE

 

Dudes. I made it to 300! (this photo is a nod to day 137, which is my favourite number)

This whole 365 project has been a crazy ride. I plan on doing a huge look back, a "Retrospective" if you like, when I am finished but I have to say 300 is a huge milestone! I'm pretty proud of myself for actually sticking with it. I'm a fairly determined and ambitious person, but I'm honestly surprised I've lasted this long!

 

Starting this project is weird though... I don't think many people realise just what they're getting into. A whole YEAR of your life is devoted to this (if you stick with it) and if you're as diligent as I have been, you are committed to not only taking a photo everyday but loading it, editing it, writing your little description, putting it into groups so people actually see your efforts... for me it's about two hours of work a day, at least!

 

I do think I'm a bit obsessive compulsive about my project... I strive to create something above average everyday. I'm not one of those half-ass people! Sure, some of my photos are kind of shitty, but I have grown so much in the past 300 days and some of my stuff is actually (in my opinion) quite remarkable. It's remarkable to me because I know me. I'm not as cool/ put together/ pretty in real life as I appear in my photos. Needless to say, I never knew I was capable of coming up with some of the cooler stuff I've come up with.

 

I do think I give a lot of myself in this project, but it definitely doesn't always show who I truly and completely am. For example, it would be REALLY hard for me to do a photo without any make up on. (And infact I spent about 45 minutes editing my skin in this photo... my skin is probably my most hated feature... but I wont go on about it)

 

ANYWAYS, what I'm trying to say is that I'm kind of a perfectionist. These photos are kind of an idealised version of myself. In real life I'm actually just a really goofy, down-to-earth, overly kind, and completely sincere girl who is just trying her hand at photography.

 

I'm going to shut up now.

 

I LOVE YOU FLICKR :-)

 

Song of the Day - Deftones - Change

View On Black

 

A reworked previous post based on constructive criticism to give a larger perspective and show more of the face whislt aiming to satisfy those thinking a closer crop may be better through the use of creative framing and texture added to by using an ice texture in a hard light blending mode and erasing the section over the face a colour cast has been further added using glamour glow plugin from nic software at 20% and reducing the temp til it looked right iv further tweaked with curves and exposure blending painted in... I really must write all this down caus I can never create it the same!

the texture was a sheet of ice from the garden..

the eyes were tweaked as before using an inverted mask and painted in screen mode and then with lighten to give them that shiny marble look... total process time around 35 mins and im sure i could do more to it with dodge and burn to give more of a movie poster feel.

I hope this helps in demystifying my processing a little.

Cheers Andy

Montblanc, Tarragona (Spain).

 

View Large On White

 

Spinning at 33 rpm in the show window of a store.

 

Dando vueltas a 33 rpm en el escaparate de un tienda.

 

ENGLISH

The phonograph, or gramophone, was the most common device for playing recorded sound from the 1870s through the 1980s.

 

The famous phonograph was the fourth device for recording and replaying sound. The term phonograph ("sound writer") is derived from the Greek words φωνή (meaning "sound" or "voice" and transliterated as phoné) and γραφή (meaning "writing" and transliterated as graphé). Similar related terms gramophone and graphophone have similar root meanings. The coinage, particularly the use of the -graph root, may have been influenced by the then-existing words phonographic and phonography, which referred to a system of phonetic shorthand; in 1852 The New York Times carried an advertisement for "Professor Webster's phonographic class", and in 1859 the New York State Teachers' Association tabled a motion to "employ a phonographic recorder" to record its meetings.

 

F. B. Fenby was the original author of the word. An inventor in Worcester, Massachusetts, he was granted a patent in 1863 for an unsuccessful device called the "Electro-Magnetic Phonograph". His concept detailed a system that would record a sequence of keyboard strokes onto paper tape. Although no model or workable device was ever made, it is often seen as a link to the concept of punched paper for player piano rolls (1880s), as well as Herman Hollerith's punch card tabulator (used in the 1890 United States census), a distant precursor of the modern computer.

 

Arguably, any device used to record sound or reproduce recorded sound could be called a type of "phonograph", but in common practice it has come to mean historic technologies of sound recording.

 

In the late 19th and early 20th century, the alternative term talking machine was sometimes used. This term was more in line with Thomas Edison's early view that his invention was better suited for spoken recordings such as dictation than for musical recordings.

 

More info: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phonograph

 

------------------------------------

 

CASTELLANO

Un tocadiscos es un sistema de reproducción del sonido hijo del fonógrafo ya que usa el mismo tipo de tecnologia, sustituyendo el cilindro por un Disco de vinilo. El tocadiscos también ha sido conocido como platina de discos, giradiscos, tornamesa, fonochasis o pickup. Ninguna de estas cuatro últimas nomenclaturas tiene demasiada aceptación.

 

El fonógrafo, fue el dispositivo más común para reproducir sonido grabado desde la década de 1870 hasta la década de 1980.

 

La primera invención conocida de un dispositivo capaz de grabar sonido fue el "autofonógrafo", inventado por el francés Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville y patentado el 25 de marzo de 1857. Podía transcribir sonido a un medio visible, pero no tenía un modo de ser reproducido después. El aparato consistía de un cuerno o un barril que recogía las ondas hacia una membrana a la que estaba atado una cerda. Cuando llegaba el sonido, ésta vibraba y se movía y el sonido podía grabarse en un medio visible. Inicialmente, el fonoautógrafo grababa en un cristal ahumado. Una versión posterior usaba un papel también ahumado en un tambor o cilindro. Otra versión dibujaba una línea representando el sonido en un rollo de papel. El fonoautógrafo era una curiosidad de laboratorio para el estudio de la acústica. Era usado para determinar la frecuencia de un tono musical y para estudiar el sonido y el habla. No se entendió hasta después del desarrollo del fonógrafo que la onda grabada por el fonoautógrafo era de hecho una grabación del sonido que sólo necesitaba un medio de reproducción adecuado para sonar.

 

El fonógrafo fue el que, hasta 1876, se creyó el primer aparato capaz de grabar sonido, aunque sí fue el primero que pudo reproducirlo después. Thomas Alva Edison anunció la invención de su primer fonógrafo, el 21 de noviembre de 1877, mostró el dispositivo por primera vez el 29 de noviembre de ese mismo año y lo patentó el 19 de febrero de 1878.

 

El fonógrafo utiliza un sistema de grabación mecánica analógica en el cual las ondas sonoras son transformadas en vibraciones mecánicas mediante un transductor acústico-mecánico. Estas vibraciones mueven un estilete que labra un surco helicoidal sobre un cilindro de fonógrafo. Para reproducir el sonido se invierte el proceso.

 

Al principio se utilizaron cilindros de cartón recubiertos de estaño, más tarde de cartón parafinado y, finalmente, de cera sólida. El cilindro de cera, de mayor calidad y durabilidad, se comercializó desde 1889, un año después de que apareciera el gramófono.

 

El 2 de diciembre de 1889 un representante de la casa Edison, Theo Wangeman, grabó una interpretación del celebérrimo compositor Johannes Brahms. Se trataba de un segmento de las Danzas Húngaras en una versión para piano solo. Esta grabación aún se conserva, pero su calidad es pésima.

 

Más info: es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tocadiscos, es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fon%c3%b3grafo

 

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