Up a short trail from the upper Komagatake ropeway station stands a torii at the entrance to the Hakone Mototsumiya Shrine ("original shrine"). This shrine stands at the summit of Komagatake, one of Mount Hakone's multiple peaks. People come up here to get a view of Mt. Fuji in the distance, but unfortunately on this day it was hidden in the haze.

 

Per Wikipedia, according to shrine tradition, Hakone-jinja was founded in 757 during the reign of Emperor Kōshō. Credit for establishment is also given to Priest Mangan, for pacifying the nine-headed dragon that lived at the bottom of Lake Ashi.

Panorpa communis

 

Male Scorpion Fly. A dangerous time for this fella unless he presents his female with dead insects or a mass of saliva to pacify her. Looks like he's in for a rough night!

 

I've spotted the combine harvesters out already and I'm feeling I haven't yet found the pick of the crop: a glowing, waving field of barley. But because the Rewind Festival was on at Capesthorne Hall I decided to take the longer, back way to work and spotted a pair of wheel tracks leading from a gateway through a field of oats. This morning the light was half decent and I had left home slightly early so I thought I had time to park up, tip toe through the muddy field entrance and grab a shot. Unfortunately the road was and there was no ideal spot to park but there was a bit of what I took to be someone's front lawn nearby. "I won't be long" I said to myself as if it would pacify the owners inside the house, and dived round the corner into the field. The shadows and light were nice but I know I rushed it in my usual carefree manner. In and out, and the woman in the house probably never knew I had been there. But I got my oats. Am I too late to get barley this year?

The metal sculpture of a girl on the waterfront of Puerto Varas, Chile, points towards volcano Osorno. According to the legend, people sacrificed the headman's daughter, the most beautiful girl of the tribe, to pacify the evil spirit living in the volcano. A Condor came out of the volcano and ripped out the heart of the girl. Soon it began to snow and the volcano was extinct.

a mixed media art:

acrylic paint in collage background

   

A thousand-year-old tradition dating back to the Heian period, this Shinto ritual seeks to pacify the spirit of Sugawara no Michizane by delivering the message of his exoneration. The climax arrives when the doors of Houfu Tenmangu Shrine swing open, unleashing a torrent of white-clad men, the "hadakabō," who storm the hall. The spectacle of the massive, 500-kilogram oajirokoshi palanquin careening down the steps is nothing short of breathtaking. This is one of western Japan's most exhilarating and chaotic festivals.

Eilean Donan is a small tidal island situated at the confluence of three sea lochs in the western Highlands of Scotland, about 1 kilometre from the village of Dornie. It is connected to the mainland by a footbridge that was installed early in the 20th century and is dominated by a picturesque castle that frequently appears in photographs, film and television. The island's original castle was built in the thirteenth century; it became a stronghold of the Clan Mackenzie and their allies, the Clan MacRae. However, in response to the Mackenzies' involvement in the Jacobite rebellions early in the 18th century, government ships destroyed the castle in 1719. The present-day castle is Lieutenant-Colonel John Macrae-Gilstrap's 20th-century reconstruction of the old castle.

Eilean Donan is part of the Kintail National Scenic Area, one of 40 in Scotland. In 2001, the island had a recorded population of just one person, but there were no "usual residents" at the time of the 2011 census.

Eilean Donan, which means simply "island of Donnán", is named after Donnán of Eigg, a Celtic saint who was martyred in 617. Donnán is said to have established a church on the island, though no trace of this remains.

It is possible that an early Christian monastic cell was founded on the island in the 6th or 7th century, and that it was dedicated to Donnán of Eigg, an Irish saint who was martyred on Eigg in April 617. No remains of any Christian buildings survive, though fragments of vitrified stone (stone that has been subjected to very high temperatures) have been discovered, indicating that there was an Iron Age or early medieval fortification on the island.

In the earlier thirteenth century, during the reign of Alexander II (ruled 1214–1249), a large curtain-wall castle (wall of enceinte) was constructed; it enclosed much of the island. At this time, the area around the island was at the boundary of the Norse-Celtic Lordship of the Isles and the Earldom of Ross: Eilean Donan provided a strong defensive position against Norse expeditions. A founding legend has it that the son of a chief of the Mathesons acquired the power to communicate with birds; as a result of this power, and after many adventures overseas, he gained wealth, power, and the respect of Alexander II, who asked him to build the castle to defend his realm.

At a later date, the island became a stronghold of the Mackenzies of Kintail, originally vassals of William I, Earl of Ross. At this early stage, the castle is said to have been garrisoned by Macraes and Maclennans, both clans that were later closely associated with the Mackenzies. Traditional Mackenzie clan histories relate that Earl William sought advantage from the Treaty of Perth of 1266, by which King Magnus VI of Norway ceded the Hebrides to Scotland, and demanded that his kinsman Kenneth Mackenzie return the castle to allow his expansion into the islands. Mackenzie refused, and Earl William led an assault against Eilean Donan that the Mackenzies and their allies repulsed.

The Mackenzie clan histories also claim (with little, if any, supporting contemporary evidence), that Robert the Bruce sheltered at Eilean Donan during the winter of 1306 to 1307; the castle escaped any other involvement in the Wars of Scottish Independence. In 1331 Thomas Randolph, Earl of Moray, sent an officer to Eilean Donan to warn the occupants of his forthcoming visit. In preparation 50 wrongdoers were rounded up and executed, their heads being displayed on the castle walls to Moray's approval. By the middle of the 14th century the Mackenzies are said to have been on the losing side in the ongoing feuding with the Earls of Ross. William III, Earl of Ross granted Kintail to Raghnall Mac Ruaidhrí in 1342. With the assistance of Leod Macgilleandrais, the Earl allegedly apprehended Kenneth Mackenzie, 3rd of Kintail, and had him executed in 1346 at Inverness. Through this period Eilean Donan is said to have been held by Duncan Macaulay for the Mackenzies, against the Earl and his allies. Kenneth's young son Murdo Mackenzie supposedly evaded the Earl's attempts to eliminate him, and on the return of David II from exile Murdo Mackenzie was allegedly confirmed in the lands of Kintail and Eilean Donan by a charter of 1362 (of which, however, no trace survives to the present day). At some point in the earlier 14th century it is thought that the Clan Macrae began to settle in Kintail as a body, having migrated from the Beauly Firth, and there gained the trust of the Mackenzie lairds through possible kinship and an advantageous marriage. The Macraes began to act as Mackenzie's bodyguards, acquiring the soubriquet "Mackenzie's shirt of mail".

James I, determined to pacify the Highlands, journeyed to Inverness in 1427 and invited the principal chiefs to meet him there. Allegedly among them was the young Alexander Mackenzie, 6th Earl of Kintail. James then arrested him, along with the other chiefs, on their arrival. Mackenzie clan histories relate that, although several chiefs were executed or imprisoned, Alexander, due to his youth, was instead sent to Perth to attend school. Alexander's uncles attempted to seize control of Kintail, but the constable Duncan Macaulay continued to hold Eilean Donan on his behalf. Fionnla Dubh mac Gillechriosd, considered by clan historians to be the founder of the Clan Macrae in Kintail, was dispatched to fetch the young laird back. During his lairdship Alexander appears to have supported the monarchy against the MacDonald Lords of the Isles and was allegedly rewarded by another charter of Kintail in 1463. Alexander died in about 1488 at a great age, and was succeeded by Kenneth Mackenzie, 7th of Kintail who won the Battle of Blar Na Pairce against the MacDonalds. Kenneth died a few years later and was succeeded first by his eldest son, then on his death in 1497 by his second son, John of Killin, who was still a minor. His uncle, Hector Roy Mackenzie, attempted to usurp the Mackenzie lands and installed his own constable in Eilean Donan, Malcolm Mac Ian Charrich Macrae. Hector's lawless activities caused the Mackenzies to be branded rebels, and in 1503 the Earl of Huntly offered to deliver Eilean Donan to the king, and to hold it on his behalf. James IV supplied a ship to support the enterprise. Eventually, John compelled his uncle to relinquish his claim, and Hector agreed to hand over Eilean Donan. The constable refused however, and John's supporters laid siege. Malcolm Mac Ian Charrich was eventually persuaded by Hector to relinquish the castle, after which he was dismissed as constable and Christopher Macrae (Gillechriosd Mac Fionnlagh Mhic Rath) was appointed in his place in around 1511. John of Killin obtained a further charter of Kintail and Eilean Donan in 1509.

In 1539, Donald Gorm Macdonald of Sleat ravaged the lands of MacLeod of Dunvegan on Skye and then attacked the Mackenzie lands of Kinlochewe, where Miles (Maolmure), brother of Christopher Macrae, was killed. After a series of retaliatory raids, Donald Gorm learned that Eilean Donan was weakly garrisoned and launched a surprise attack. In fact, only two people were in the castle: the recently appointed constable Iain Dubh Matheson and the warden. Duncan MacGillechriosd of the Clan Macrae, son of the former constable, arrived at the start of the attack and killed several MacDonalds at the postern gate. Arrows launched by the attackers killed Matheson and the warden, but MacGillechriosd managed to hit Donald Gorm with his last arrow, fatally wounding Gorm, and the Macdonalds retreated. Duncan MacGillechriosd expected to be appointed as the new constable but was considered too headstrong: the local clergyman John MacMhurchaidh Dhuibh (John Murchison) was appointed as a compromise between rival Macrae and Maclennan interests. Furious at this treatment, MacGillechriosd left Kintail and joined the service of Lord Lovat, though he eventually returned to settle at Inverinate. Meanwhile, an aggrieved Maclennan apparently shot MacMhurchaidh in the buttocks with an arrow.

MacGillechriosd's son Christopher Macrae became constable of Eilean Donan in turn, and held the castle during yet another clan feud, this time between the Mackenzies and the MacDonalds of Glengarry. Feuding broke out in 1580 and continued for almost 25 years. In around 1602 Eilean Donan was the base for a sea skirmish at the narrows of Kyle Rhea led by Christopher's son Duncan. During the action the MacDonalds were driven on to the Cailleach Rock at the eastern tip of Skye and Angus, son of MacDonald of Glengarry, was killed. Christopher was succeeded as constable by the Rev. Murdoch Murchison, minister of Kintail.

Kenneth Mackenzie, 3rd Earl of Seaforth, was brought up at Eilean Donan by Rev. Farquhar Macrae

The Rev. Farquhar Macrae, son of Christopher Macrae, was born at the castle in 1580. After attending Edinburgh University and taking holy orders, in 1618 he was appointed constable of the castle and minister of Kintail on the death of Murdoch Murchison. Colin Mackenzie of Kintail was created Earl of Seaforth in 1623. He lived mainly at Chanonry of Ross in Fortrose, but made regular visits to Eilean Donan where the constable was required to entertain him and his retinue of between 300 and 500 retainers, as well as the neighbouring lairds. In 1635 George Mackenzie, 2nd Earl of Seaforth, appointed Farquhar as tutor to his six-year-old son Kenneth, who was subsequently raised at Eilean Donan.

In the civil wars of the mid 17th century, the Earl of Seaforth sided with Charles I. In 1650, after the king's execution, the Parliament of Scotland ordered a garrison to Eilean Donan. The local people did not welcome the garrison. When a party of 30 soldiers came out from the castle to request provisions from the local people, a band of 10 men who opposed their demands met the occupiers. An argument broke out, which led to the garrison men being driven off with several casualties. Shortly thereafter the garrison departed. The following year the Earl's brother, Simon Mackenzie of Lochslin, gathered troops for the royalist cause around Eilean Donan. For reasons unrecorded, he fell out with Farquhar Macrae and demanded his removal from the castle. Farquhar initially resisted, and despite interventions by the young Kenneth, had to be marched out by Lochslin and George Mackenzie (later Earl of Cromartie). He was finally persuaded to leave without violence, stating that he was too old to dwell in the cold castle. Farquhar was thus the last constable to dwell in Eilean Donan until its reconstruction, although he retained the ministry of Kintail until his death in 1662, at the age of 82.

After this time, the castle was briefly occupied by the Earl of Balcarres and his wife, who were in the Highlands in support of the Earl of Glencairn's royalist uprising, although Balcarres later disagreed with Glencairn and departed. In June 1654 General Monck, Oliver Cromwell's military governor in Scotland, marched through Kintail while suppressing the uprising. His troops destroyed much property, and stole 360 of Farquhar Macrae's cattle, though only one man was killed.

In 1689, King James VII of the House of Stuart was declared to have to forfeit the throne, and the crown was offered to William of Orange, in the so-called "Glorious Revolution". The revolution also established Presbyterianism in Scotland, although the Highlands generally remained Roman Catholic and loyal to the Stuarts. A series of Jacobite risings followed, leading to an increased military presence in Scotland as government forces attempted to penetrate and subdue the Highlands. In 1714 while surveying fortifications for the government, the military engineer Lewis Petit made the only surviving drawing of Eilean Donan. The sketch-elevation and carefully drawn plan show a dilapidated castle, largely roofless but for a small building by the entrance.

A major Jacobite uprising took place in 1715. Led by the Earl of Mar, it was an attempt to restore the exiled James Stuart, the "Old Pretender", to the throne. William Mackenzie, 5th Earl of Seaforth, joined the Jacobite army, leading out men of the Clan Mackenzie and Clan Macrae. The Macraes mustered at Eilean Donan, and are said to have danced on the roof of the castle before setting out to the Battle of Sheriffmuir where 58 Macraes were among the Jacobite dead. The battle was indecisive and the rising collapsed soon after.

Following the failure of the rising of 1715, the Jacobites found new support from Spain, now opposing both Britain and France in the War of the Quadruple Alliance. The Duke of Ormonde led the main invasion fleet from Spain, while an advance party of 300 Spanish soldiers under George Keith, 10th Earl Marischal, arrived in Loch Duich in April 1719, and occupied Eilean Donan Castle. The expected uprising of Highlanders did not occur, and the main Spanish invasion force never arrived. At the beginning of May, the Royal Navy sent ships to the area. Early in the morning on Sunday 10 May 1719 HMS Worcester, HMS Flamborough and HMS Enterprise anchored off Eilean Donan and sent a boat ashore under a flag of truce to negotiate. When the Spanish soldiers in the castle fired at the boat, it was recalled and all three frigates opened fire on the castle for an hour or more.[40] The next day the bombardment continued while a landing party was prepared. In the evening under the cover of an intense cannonade, a detachment went ashore in the ships' boats and captured the castle against little resistance. According to Worcester's log, in the castle were "an Irishman, a captain, a Spanish lieutenant, a serjeant, one Scottish rebel and 39 Spanish soldiers, 343 barrels of powder and 52 barrels of musquet shot." The naval force spent the next two days in the castle and landed 27 barrels of gunpowder. The frigates' official logs are curiously worded, perhaps to conceal the reputed fact that the Macraes succeeded jn destroying the castle although in naval hands, in order to prevent the English from garrisoning it: at all events, the castle was demolished by the gunpowder exploding. Flamborough then took the Spanish prisoners to Edinburgh. The remaining Spanish troops were defeated on 10 June at the Battle of Glen Shiel.

Between 1919 and 1932, the castle was rebuilt by Lt. Col. John MacRae-Gilstrap. The restoration included the construction of an arched bridge to give easier access to the island. Macrae-Gilstrap also established a war memorial dedicated to the men of the MacRae clan who died in the First World War. The memorial is adorned with lines from John McCrae's poem "In Flanders Fields", and is flanked by grey field guns from the war. Eilean Donan was opened to the public in 1955, and has since become a popular attraction: over 314,000 people visited in 2009, making it the third-most-visited castle in Scotland. In 1983 ownership of the castle was transferred to the Conchra Charitable Trust, established by the Macrae family to maintain and restore the castle, and a purpose-built visitor centre was opened on the landward side of the bridge in 1998.

The castle is regularly described as one of the most photographed monuments in Scotland, and is a recognised Scottish icon, frequently appearing on packaging and advertising for shortbread, whisky and other products. Eilean Donan has made several appearances in films, beginning with Bonnie Prince Charlie in 1948 and The Master of Ballantrae in 1953. The castle was the setting for the 1980 short film Black Angel, filmed to accompany screenings of The Empire Strikes Back in cinemas. It featured prominently in Highlander (1986) as the home of Clan MacLeod, was backdrop to a dance scene in the Bollywood movie Kuch Kuch Hota Hai in 1998, and served as the Scottish headquarters of MI6 in The World Is Not Enough in 1999. In Elizabeth: The Golden Age Eilean Donan stood in for Fotheringhay Castle in England. In the movie Made of Honor Eilean Donan can be seen as home of the groom's family. The Tamil song "Kandukondain Kandukondain" from the movie of the same name was filmed in this location.

Josie is doing fine.

Josie has been off her diuretics for a few months now thanks to my local vet here who said she doesn't need them. It was a bit nerve racking in the first few days off them because she appeared to be having distress breathing at times, but that passed, and she's just fine now.

She's still on fortekor. On occasion I have forgotten to give it to her and she'll get a dose one and a half days since the previous dose, she seemed ok but I'm too scared to test her off it. The only way I can safely take her off it is to have an echocardiogram in Sydney, three and a half hour drive, and that will determine the thickness of the walls of her heart and if they have reduced or not.

I can get someone to drive me while I pacify her in the car, but I'm still very nervous to put her through the stress with her heart condition. The vet that did Josie at Sylvania has left that clinic, and she managed to do the echocardiogram without sedating Josie, she had a way with her to calm her down and make her still enough. I would be working with a different vet if I took her to Sydney. Sedation could kill her. Everything is a risk.

TalkPhotography.co.uk 52 Photo Challenge 2023 Week 14 - Smooth

A thousand-year-old tradition dating back to the Heian period, this Shinto ritual seeks to pacify the spirit of Sugawara no Michizane by delivering the message of his exoneration. The climax arrives when the doors of Houfu Tenmangu Shrine swing open, unleashing a torrent of white-clad men, the "hadakabō," who storm the hall. The spectacle of the massive, 500-kilogram oajirokoshi palanquin careening down the steps is nothing short of breathtaking. This is one of western Japan's most exhilarating and chaotic festivals.

BNSFs 4466/7110 with Canadian pacifies 9530 head down the Cajon pass with a well loaded double stacker on 9/2/15.

When Cobra takes over a city, it’s up to the Alley-Vipers to maintain order and keep the population pacified. They move from street to street systematically eliminating troublemakers and undesirables.

www.troopsofdoomcomic.com

The Deposition, also known as the Pala Baglioni, Borghese Entombment or The Entombment, is an oil painting by the Italian High Renaissance painter Raphael. Signed and dated "Raphael. Urbinas. MDVII", the painting is in the Galleria Borghese in Rome. It is the central panel of a larger altarpiece commissioned by Atalanta Baglioni of Perugia in honor of her slain son, Grifonetto Baglioni. Like many works, it shares elements of the common subjects of the Deposition of Christ, the Lamentation of Christ, and the Entombment of Christ. The painting is on wood panel and measures 184 x 176 cm.

In the early part of the 16th Century, violence among factions, mostly in the form of hand-to-hand combat, was relatively common in Perugia and other parts of Italy, such as Florence. The Baglioni family were the lords of Perugia and surrounding areas, and also leading condottiere or leaders of mercenary troops. There was an especially bloody episode in Perugia on the night of 3 July 1500, when Grifonetto Baglioni and some angry members of the family conspired to murder much of the rest of the Baglioni family as they slept. According to Matarazzo, the chronicler of the family, following the bloodshed, Grifonetto's mother Atalanta Baglioni refused to give her son refuge in her home and when he returned to the city he was confronted by Gian Paolo Baglioni, the head of the family who had survived the night by escaping over the roof tops. Atalanta changed her mind and rushed after her son, but arrived only in time to see her son being killed by Gian Paolo and his men. A few years later, Atalanta commissioned the young Raphael to paint an altarpiece to commemorate Grifonetto in the family chapel in San Francesco al Prato. Raphael took the commission very seriously, over the course of two years working on and developing his design through two phases and numerous preparatory drawings.

This was the last of several major commissions by the young Raphael for Perugia, the home city of his master Perugino. He had already painted for the same church the Oddi Altarpiece (now in the Vatican) for the Baglioni's great rival family (with whom they were also intermarried), and other large works. The new commission marked an important stage in his development as an artist, and the formation of his mature style. The painting remained in its location until in 1608, it was forcibly removed by a gang working for Cardinal Scipione Borghese, nephew of Pope Paul V. In order to pacify the city of Perugia, the Pope commissioned two copies of the painting from Giovanni Lanfranco and the Cavaliere d’Arpino, and that by Arpino is still in Perugia. Though confiscated by the French in 1797 and exhibited in Paris in the Louvre, then renamed the Napoleon Museum, it was returned to the Galleria Borghese in 1815, except for the predella which was taken to the Vatican Museums.

Cantagalo–Pavão–Pavãozinho is a bairro (neighborhood), a grouping of two favelas in the South Zone of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, located between the bairros of Ipanema and Copacabana. As of 2010, it has circa 9,500 inhabitants.[1]

 

Cantagalo and Pavão–Pavãozinho were well known for violence, especially that associated with drug wars.[2] However, beginning in December 2009, the bairro was pacified by a then-newly formed Pacifying Police Unit (UPP).[1][3] On 30 June 2010, the Rubem Braga Complex was inaugurated in it, composed of two towers, an overlook (named by the inhabitants of the region "Mirante da Paz", or the "Peace Overlook") and two lifts linking the favela to the General Osório Metro Station.[4]

 

The Rio de Janeiro section of the 2009 first-person shooter video game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 was fashioned after the favela complex.[2] Gospel music singer Fernanda Brum has a song entitled "Pavão Pavãozinho"; it was inspired by and had its music video shot at the favela

The 'smugglers' who shared the cabin with me on the Trans Siberian always placed a generous cash gratuity into our passports as we were to be searched. Andre 'the elder' would assert his authority as the head smuggler and collect all four of the passports... including mine... and he would give them to the officials with a mischevous smile and a nod that said 'this is my gift to you.' This is my business. This is what I do.

 

Andre always put the American passport on the bottom... I think he thought it would draw less attention there...and then he always shushed me with a stern and piercing look as he prepared for these most critical transactions. The first thing the official would do is put the American passport on top. I began to realize that although we shared that cabin and the comraderie of the rails... or confinement thereof... that Andre 'the elder' didn't really think that having an American in his cabin was all that much good for business. It seemed to bring a little 'extra special' attention and scrutiny to his little clandestine smuggling operation. Maybe he had to bump up the bribes a notch or two to insure the safe passage of his valuable contraband. Either way you could just tell by watching him that Andre was a bottom line kind of guy.

 

By the end of the journey though Andre had invited me to live with him and his family in Poland... to work at his store... and to marry his daughter who he assured me had the bluest of eyes and breasts that were the national pride of Poland. Although I never saw him again I came to love Andre as a father in law even though I never met his daughter... somehow I feel like I know her.

 

It's no joke either about Polish womens breasts being an object of national pride. Somehow Andre 'the elder' seemed capable of working it into any conversation relating to his motherland... to which Andre 'the younger' and their female companion would invariably agree with.

 

This usually led to a toast... a clanking of the glasses... the tipping of a bottle and a slurred chorus of 'nasdorovia's.'

 

Whenever the merits of Polish breasts were agreed on, indeed that meant it was time to drink some more vodka. Even to this day... when I think of Andre or Polish womens breasts... it makes me want to knock back a shot of vodka... but I don't drink anymore and really I am more of an ass man... but still. I never had the heart to tell Andre that... I mean, talking about Polish womens breasts really seemed to make him so happy. I didn't want to take that way from him. You've just never seen a guy so filled with joy as Andre was whenever his favorite subject was being discussed or debated... it really lit him up from the inside.

 

Anytime you want to make a Polish national feel good... or homesick... just bring up the fact that Polish women have the best breasts. It's been good for a lot of free drinks for me.

 

I had just left Asia... everyday I travelled closer to Europe. With the passage of time and distance Andre's observations were indeed verified though... the closer I got to Poland... the larger breasts became. I'm not kidding. Andre was right.

 

The first Russian I met... the man smiling in the photograph... was like most Russians it seemed...named Sergei. A few were named Alexander or Andre. I think Russians have only three names... except for politicians or people of fame. I might have met a couple of Victors and a handful of Igor's as well. Somebody once said they'd heard of a Russian named Nikolai too. Still... most men in Russia are named Sergei. That's just the way it is there.

 

Seconds after I took this photograph Sergei slipped into his pocket without flinch or hesitation the currency that Andre had stashed in his passport. I knew it was coming and I was watching closely for it. I barely caught it. And I grew up in Chicago.

 

Living on that train with those smugglers was like taking an advanced college course in the subtleties and techniques of graft. It was Andre 'the elder' who taught me that you need to keep variable amounts of currency in each of your four pockets... like five in one, ten in the next, then twenty and a hundred...and that you must properly size up the person you are attempting to bribe and choose from one of your pockets the minumum amount you are betting it will take to pacify that official.

 

That's helped me more than once in life since then.

 

Andre also showed me that it was really important to telegraph the bribe... to look the mark right in the eyes and demonstrate that one... you were about to bribe him and two... that you were going to reach into your pocket and take out all of the money you had available to you for this transaction. It was really deep psychology according to Andre. The man had an ethic and he was a perfectionist. It's always remarkable to watch such a master at work.

 

Andre pointed out that it was good form to allow your pocket to turn slightly inside out so that the mark could see that indeed you really emptied it. This he noted made them feel really special. Like you went all the way for them. He also taught me that a bribe is never to be peeled off of a larger wad of bills or taken from a wallet... unless you had done business with the mark before but in his opinion it was still a bad idea.

 

Andre's bribes never failed or produced even the slightest trace of hesitation. The man was truly a master. Andre 'the elder' was the maestro of bribery. And he taught me well. Halfway through the journey he announced that he was getting sick of the train and that he and his cohorts were getting off at Irkusk and flying on to Moscow.

 

He gave to me a case of vodka and an envelope with additional bribes in it and told me that he would meet me in Moscow with the 'goods' next week.

 

I was proud and honored that Andre 'the elder' trusted me with the 'stuff.'

 

I was officially a smuggler now.

 

When I went through Japanese customs they even pulled me right out of line... took me to this little office where I presumed I was going to learn what a rough rectal exam was like. They never even looked in my bags though... they just wanted to know if I slept with any prostitutes in Bangkok... it was a real interrogation too... they didn't believe me when I said I hadn't... they even tried to say I must be gay then. the fact that I didn't seem to take much offense at their calling me gay really seemed to disturb them because thry had a little conference among themselves... in Japanese... so I had no way of knowing what they were saying.

 

I told them that i did get a killer massage at the James Bond Turkish Bath and Massage House... but there was no happy ending if you know what I mean. I only went in because of the James Bond motiff. I'm a sucker for that stuff... like the cosmonaut cigarettes on the train in Russia.

 

Still they didn't believe me but they let me go with a warning... a reminder to call them if I wanted to change my story and they gave me this pamphlet that described all of the symptoms one might have after a hedonistic weekend in the city of angels... Bankok. Reading the brochure it made me really glad I just stuck with the massage. The pictures, even though they were in black and white, they were especially disturbing.

 

Bangkok... really the only reason I went there is because I loved that song by Murray McMurray... you know the one... 'one night in Bangkok makes a hard man humble.' I wanted to see what the inspiration for that song was... and I thought I could use some humbling. Murray was correctamundo... I was indeed humbled.

 

I dealt with smugglers before in Japan... Nigerians... but dealing with the Nigerians always made me feel dirty. And that was before they became famous on the internet.

 

Those Nigerians... they are a resourceful bunch though. And the colorful clothing... you haven't partied until you've partied with a Nigerian man wearing a yellow daishiki with a matching hat. I couldda stared at those intricate psychadellic patterns forever. I still felt dirty though. But as a rule, if you ever want anything illegal, if you want to find the corruption or a cities dark underbelly... look for the Nigerians... you can't miss them the way they dress. Or you can just find cab drivers... who are often Nigerian anyway. Cab drivers are also a valuable resource when you are looking for some sin in a new city. I never once got into one of those three wheeled cabs in Bangkok called "Tuk-tuk's" without being offered a "massagy-massagy," Not once.

 

When I was in high school and I wanted some beer or alcoholoc beverages... I'd just call for a cab... and when the guy got there... I'd tell him to go get me a twelve pack or something... then I would do that "rip the twenty dollar bill in half" trick and tell him he'd get to keep the other half when he came back. They loved that. It always produced for me. It's one of the most secret agent like things you could do... ripping a bill in half like that... it's an all or nothing move... it's like saying neither one of us trusts the other but this twenty... that's what it's all about. Of course you gotta figure in the cab fare too.

  

I think Nigeria has the worlds biggest cab driver school or something. Most Nigerian guys grow up to be cab drivers... the ones with more education do internet scams... white collar work. From what I've seen... those are your only two career paths if you're from Nigeria. Smuggling and dealing in hashish is just a very common side gig. And they had this scam where they used a computer to alter prepaid phone cards and increase their value. Nigerians can be geniuses.

 

It was a Nigerian that taught me that if you took the local train long distance in Japan you could have a friend get on at the station before your destination and give you an extra ticket he bought there for like a buck and you could save hundreds because if you over rode your fair they didn't check on the train... you just had to pay when you inserted your ticket at the exit. Those Nigerians.

 

The Japanese didn't have much an apetite for the devils weed... they preferred amphetamines... something I never did. I always thought it would be pretty hillarious to hang out with some really stoned Japanese people. I wondered what their eyes could possibly look like when they were smoking pot.

  

The other gaurd in the picture... the mean looking one... noted the transaction as if to say 'I had better get my cut' and the money quickly dissapeared with all of the magnificence of a Las Vegas slieght of hand magician.

 

You could see it in the officers eyes... and he didn't appreciate my shutter happy finger either. I thought this would be another precious roll of thirty five millimeter lost to the angry hands of the authorities. That stuff is hard to come by in Siberia you know.

 

It was obvious these men were used to being treated to such gratuities. Probably they sent word ahead... there is a man in the rear cabin who treats security officials very well.

 

It reminded me of the consulate officer at the Russian embassy in Beijing who informed me that they were 'all out of visas' until I produced my last eight american dollars... and even then he motioned for me to show him the inside of my bag because I'm sure he wanted to make it an even ten. That's why you keep your money in different pockets. Miraculously the rubber stamp that made visas was rejuvenated and after a strong smack on the stamp pad was good for just one more visa.

 

Our cabin and our bags were never searched. Not anywhere on the entire journey. They could have contained a ton of heroin or four chinese children set out to work in the kitchens of europe.

 

At this time I didn't know what the two Andres and their female cohort were smuggling, but I had hoped that it was indeed something that would make the journey more pleasant.

 

My passport was taken from me there at Manzhoulli and I was issued Russian travel papers that I carried for the duration of the trip. Papers that were stamped with a radiation symbol the morning after we tore ass through the radiated zone caused by the disaster at Chernobyl. To this day I wonder how the passport was returned to me as I departed Russia at the Polish border.

 

Later Sergei 'the compensated' and I sat outside the Manzhoulli station where he smoked a cigarette and asked me questions about America. It wasn't small talk... Sergei had a deep interest in the way things were there... why our countries grew up in this diabolic situation of mutual assured nuclear destruction. What was so different about us his words seemed to say in a meandering way. I saw then that Sergei was raised too on the same diet of propoganda that I was... just the other end of the spectrum. I remember it seemed as if we both realized that right at the same time... his deep basso Russian laughter overwhelmed mine and carried beyond our immediate confines to precede me into Siberia.

 

I uncapped the pewter whiskey flask in my bag... the one decorated with the golfers on it that I shoplifted from Carson Perie Scott's in high school and we shared a sip. The same one the port official in Shanghai uncapped to smell but never dared to partake of. I crushed that flask when I had it in my back pocket when I fell off the back of a moving truck... the flask was empty... which undoubtably had something to do with me falling off of the back of a moving truck... but I was crushed too because I loved that flask. I ended up filling it with water and freezing it repeatedly until the crushed metal expanded outward. Plus I think it's realy the only thing I've ever shoplifted... except for candy and stuff like that. I just fell in love with that thing the first time I saw it. I knew then that I had to have it and I carried it around the whole world.

 

In Siberia vodka was golden... but whiskey... even the cheap Japanese stuff I carried...Suntory I think... it produced a reaction in my Russian friends like nothing I had ever seen. One sip... savored as if it were sent from heaven above and there were kisses and bear hugs. One sip of whiskey to a Russian then always opened up an immediate and strong friendship. Sometimes it even lasted longer than the fire it produced in your stomach and the burn in your throat.

 

I watched the sunset there that evening in Manzhoulli. Alone at the side of the rails I wished that someone would have walked over... sat next to me... and even in the silence of those who speak no common language... just appreciated that Manzhoulli sunset with me.

 

If I could have found one...I would have paid a prostitute just to sit next to me and enjoy that there. But I've heard that prostitutes always make you pay extra for weird stuff like that. I did after all have a bag of Yuan's that I worked out of the black market in China. The ones that I was left with after they wouldn't let me buy booze with them. The ones only chinese citizens are supposed to carry. Foreigners in China are supposed to carry a different money than the Chinese... they're called foreign exchange certificates. I called them 'fecks' because I like to come up with acronyms or slang names for things. It makes me sound smarter... like I been around the block a time or two.

 

Chinese money confused me... they rarely used coins... I'd break a one yuan note... worth maybe twenty cents and about the size of a buck... and for change I'd get a bunch of smaller notes of differing sizes. It was like some of their cash was as small as a postage stamp. After a week I had so much of the stuff and couldn't figure out how to use it... I'd just open my hip bag and let the bus driver or shop keeper help themselves.

  

It was the hearbreak of the solo traveller... that I should be in a place of such significance and see something of extraordinary beauty and have no one there to even draw breath with in in the way one does when confronted with such magnificence. The sigh of beauty.

 

Envy was the emotion I always felt as I watched others hold hands or share the entwinement of a lovers arms... those who whispered to each other at these moments... them who had someone stand on the pier or at the station to wish them bon voyage... even more so they who met someone to welcome them to their destination.

 

I always stepped off of my conveyance alone.

 

I was there alone as the sun set on Asia... I said goodbye as it was dropping low over Mongolia and casting a gorgeous and firery reflection off of the steppes and the deserts miles distant.

 

It would be to me my last sunset of Asia.

 

And my last stupid thought. Possibly it was the vodka the Andres forced upon me there... but I clasped my hands behind my head and layed back on my backpack as the sun rounded the earth... and I entertained myself with a promise that if I were ever to become filthy rich that I would buy my childhood home... the one I grew up in... have it taken apart piece by piece and put into shipping containers where I would then have them shipped here... or maybe to the Steppes of Mongolia in front of me... and reassembled exactly as it was. I didn't care where... I just thought it would be loads of fun to take my childhood home apart and rebuild it somewhere really far away.

 

That I might live in my house and look out the window at this place.

“The intriguing placidity from the slothful pace of a snail is truly very peaceful. Our world is in need of this calmness to pacify itself”

― Munia Khan

 

SL Prompt Project 2025

 

A thousand-year-old tradition dating back to the Heian period, this Shinto ritual seeks to pacify the spirit of Sugawara no Michizane by delivering the message of his exoneration. The climax arrives when the doors of Houfu Tenmangu Shrine swing open, unleashing a torrent of white-clad men, the "hadakabō," who storm the hall. The spectacle of the massive, 500-kilogram oajirokoshi palanquin careening down the steps is nothing short of breathtaking. This is one of western Japan's most exhilarating and chaotic festivals.

Papua New Guinea Sunset, in the Bismarck Archipelago.

Conwy Castle is one of the earliest examples of Edward I's "iron ring" of castles built to pacify the rebellious princes of northern Wales between 1283 and 1289. For many years the castle was not well maintained and it was bought by Viscount Conwy in 1628 for just 100 pounds. The local authority took over in the 19th century and now the castle is cared for by the Welsh Historic Monuments.

Conwy was more than a castle - the town itself was protected by 1,400 yards of wall on average 24 feet thick. Some of this can be walked upon and it provides a view of the medieval city below.

Excerpt from histoiresainteducanada.ca/en/le-sanctuaire-du-sacre-coeur...:

 

Father Joseph-Arthur Laporte was born in Saint-Paul de Joliette on August 15, 1857, the feast of the Assumption. He entered the community of the Clerics of Saint-Viateur on August 25, 1879. The members of this community have a great devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and it is through their contact that Father Laporte developed this devotion.

 

He left the community of the Clerics of Saint-Viateur on July 28, 1886 and requested his incardination to the Bishop of Sherbrooke. He was admitted to the number of priests of the diocese by Bishop Antoine Racine, and appointed pastor of the parish of Sainte-Praxède de Bromptonville (1891-1902) from where he discovered the “mountain” that he would later call “Beauvoir”.

 

Eight kilometers north of Sherbrooke, a small mountain of one hundred and fifteen meters, still unnamed, had long attracted the attention of this great lover of nature. After many approaches to Mr. Émile Lessard, a farmer, he bought two hectares of land from him in 1915. He gave the name “Beauvoir” (beautiful to see) to this corner of paradise whose panoramic view enchanted him. He decided to build a small cottage, a house of six meters on a side surrounded by a gallery. In 1916 and 1917, he bought more land to enlarge his small domain.

 

And in 1920, he founded the Sanctuary of the Sacred Heart of Beauvoir.

 

For years, Father Laporte has been fascinated by the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. He speaks of it tirelessly. So it is not surprising that the only decoration on the bare walls of his cottage is a lithograph, without much artistic pretension, of the Sacred Heart of Montmartre.

 

In 1916, Father Laporte still dreamed of making Beauvoir a place where people would come to pray and celebrate the Sacred Heart of Jesus, whose devotion was spreading more and more throughout the country. He therefore decided to erect, not far from his cottage, a statue of the Sacred Heart. Measuring two meters in height, this statue, with its arms wide open, stands on a pedestal of field stones that farmers have faithfully transported on their carts.

 

The parish priest now invites his parishioners to come and taste the happiness that is his at the Sacred Heart…

 

As early as 1918, pilgrims began “the ascent of the Rosary”, a devotional practice that would have its heyday in the 1930s. On Sunday afternoons, pilgrims, starting from the main road, climbed to Beauvoir while reciting the rosary.

 

In 1933, at the request of the pilgrims, Father Pierre-Achille Bégin had a cross erected in front of the road leading to the Shrine. It is from this cross, still visible, that the pilgrimages to Beauvoir started. Along the way, wooden boards were set up on which were written the fifteen mysteries of the rosary. For Beauvoir, the erection of this cross gives all its meaning to the ascent of the rosary: it is the beginning of the ascent, it is the cross of the rosary that the lips kiss before murmuring the “Aves”, the first links of this long chain that leads the pilgrims to the very Love that awaits them at the Shrine.

 

In 1920, during a Holy Hour, he asked for a special favor from the Sacred Heart, with the promise of building a small chapel in Beauvoir if he was granted it. With the help of some local craftsmen, he had the promised little chapel built.

 

It is an architectural jewel that Abbé Laporte had built on the hill of Beauvoir.

 

But the Sacred Heart, never defeated in generosity, knows how to reward his servant by giving to vile materials a stamp of rustic elegance, to a humble and poor building, a beauty that escapes no one. And all those who come to pray in this rustic chapel find there a calm, a peace that penetrates deep into their souls and leaves them pacified. One can almost feel the loving presence of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which bends down with tenderness over those who come to visit it.

 

The exterior of this chapel is reminiscent in many ways of some of the country chapels of France. The rustic walls, the rudimentary furnishings and the few decorations are not likely to satisfy the connoisseur of expensive works of art. It is poverty, destitution. The only decoration is a statue, a frame, two statuettes, a few ex-votos testifying to the goodness of the Sacred Heart, lanterns and old images of the Way of the Cross. But, near the tabernacle, how one can taste with love and peace the divine presence of the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus!

 

On October 24, 1920, Bishop Larocque came to bless the little chapel. The next day, Father Laporte celebrated the first mass on Mount Beauvoir.

 

In the spring of 1921, his health inexorably deteriorated. Even though he was ill, he was taken to Beauvoir four or five more times. Then he had to give up returning to Beauvoir. He was hospitalized at the Saint-Vincent-de-Paul Hospital at the beginning of August. And on August 20, Father Laporte was finally able to meet face to face with the one who was the great love of his life.

 

The body of Father Laporte now rests in the crypt of the church of Saint-Jean-Baptiste of which he was parish priest. However, on the west wall of the little chapel in Beauvoir, a commemorative plaque recalls the man who founded the Shrine and who continues to watch over its work from above.

 

Father Laporte had bequeathed the Beauvoir property to the diocese on the condition that he pay the remaining $3,500 debt. The diocese refused this bequest. Beauvoir thus reverted to the universal legatee, Miss Euphémie Charest, Father Laporte’s former housekeeper. She sold Beauvoir in 1923 to the executor of Father Laporte’s will, the notary Gédéon Bégin, for the price of the debt. This wealthy businessman used Beauvoir Hill as a summer vacation spot for his family.

 

From 1923 to 1929, Beauvoir fell into almost complete abandonment. Only a few lovers of the Sacred Heart would go up there privately to pray at the foot of the Sacred Heart statue. But at the end of July 1929, Father Pierre Achille Bégin, a retired priest and brother of the owner, accompanied by a few members of the family, came to visit Beauvoir. Although the buildings had been quite damaged by thieves and the weeds had invaded the area, the group was charmed by the landscape and decided to settle there for two weeks.

 

From then on, the Bégin family would come to spend a few weeks in Beauvoir during the summer vacations.

 

Without looking for signs, the good abbot knows how to recognize an invitation. First of all, together with his family members, he decided to restore the place and to revive the project of Father Laporte. Every year in June, he invites the people of the area for the triduum in preparation for the feast of the Sacred Heart. This is the highlight of the year.

 

Throughout the summer months, Father Bégin, surrounded by nephews and nieces, ensures for the pilgrims the mass every morning and the prayer at the Sacred Heart every evening as well as a Holy Hour every Thursday evening. Father Bégin, after Father Laporte, sought to spread devotion to the Sacred Heart. It is in the small stone chapel that he spends most of his time in prayer and in welcoming the small groups of pilgrims who continue to climb the mountain. “All my desire is that in Beauvoir the Sacred Heart be particularly honored, praised and prayed to, and that He spread His greatest graces there.”

This particular morning I woke exceedingly early with creaking noises from a worryingly wobbly bunk bed. We were all for the first time in a family room at the Whitby YHA, (highly recommended by the way). Recommended that is, if you are that special type of person who looks exceedingly healthy and is up before dawn to do clean, fresh, good for you activities. (Ha, I’m only half way there by the way). Anyway we tiptoed out of the room, not before managing to pacify Cathy that I was going to be careful with her son. Well after breakfast we headed for Saltswick Bay. I knew it was about fifteen minutes away on foot, (from plenty of post sunset walk back to Whitby), but had not countered in my little apprentices speed, or the lethal conditions on the path down to the bay.

 

Oh man, it’s bad enough when it’s wet, but when there is snow covered mud and you’re making every effort to make sure your accompanying offspring doesn’t slip and end you up in a very sticky situation, you concentrate very har! Even if the conditions are leaving you ecstatic with joy, knowing you must get down to the water’s edge before ether sun gets too bright. Anyway we did manage to avoided mishap and ended up witnessing a very special morning. There is something so exhilarating about dawn on a beach, but when you have your son, snow and the memories to treasure, it can’t get any better!

 

A thousand-year-old tradition dating back to the Heian period, this Shinto ritual seeks to pacify the spirit of Sugawara no Michizane by delivering the message of his exoneration. The climax arrives when the doors of Houfu Tenmangu Shrine swing open, unleashing a torrent of white-clad men, the "hadakabō," who storm the hall. The spectacle of the massive, 500-kilogram oajirokoshi palanquin careening down the steps is nothing short of breathtaking. This is one of western Japan's most exhilarating and chaotic festivals.

After the area was pacified under the Ottoman Empire, the castle ceased to be purely defensive, and numerous villas were built inside the walls during the 19th century.

 

Please see here more; Turkey, Ephesus, Kusadasi and Alanya.

© www.tomjutte.tk.

 

A thousand-year-old tradition dating back to the Heian period, this Shinto ritual seeks to pacify the spirit of Sugawara no Michizane by delivering the message of his exoneration. The climax arrives when the doors of Houfu Tenmangu Shrine swing open, unleashing a torrent of white-clad men, the "hadakabō," who storm the hall. The spectacle of the massive, 500-kilogram oajirokoshi palanquin careening down the steps is nothing short of breathtaking. This is one of western Japan's most exhilarating and chaotic festivals.

A thousand-year-old tradition dating back to the Heian period, this Shinto ritual seeks to pacify the spirit of Sugawara no Michizane by delivering the message of his exoneration. The climax arrives when the doors of Houfu Tenmangu Shrine swing open, unleashing a torrent of white-clad men, the "hadakabō," who storm the hall. The spectacle of the massive, 500-kilogram oajirokoshi palanquin careening down the steps is nothing short of breathtaking. This is one of western Japan's most exhilarating and chaotic festivals.

Eilean Donan is a small tidal island where three sea lochs meet, Loch Duich, Loch Long and Loch Alsh, in the western Highlands of Scotland. A picturesque castle that frequently appears in photographs, film and television dominates the island, which lies about 1 kilometre from the village of Dornie. Since the castle's restoration in the early 20th century, a footbridge has connected the island to the mainland.

Eilean Donan is part of the Kintail National Scenic Area, one of 40 in Scotland.

Eilean Donan, which means simply "island of Donnán", is named after Donnán of Eigg, a Celtic saint martyred in 617. Donnán is said to have established a church on the island, though no trace of this remains.

The castle was founded in the thirteenth century, and became a stronghold of the Clan Mackenzie and their allies the Clan MacRae. In the early eighteenth century, the Mackenzies' involvement in the Jacobite rebellions led in 1719 to the castle's destruction by government ships. Lieutenant-Colonel John Macrae-Gilstrap's twentieth-century reconstruction of the ruins produced the present buildings.It is possible that an early Christian monastic cell was founded on the island in the 6th or 7th century, dedicated to Donnán of Eigg, an Irish saint who was martyred on Eigg in April 617. No remains of any Christian buildings survive, though fragments of vitrified stone, subjected to very high temperatures, have been discovered indicating the presence of an Iron Age or early medieval fortification.

In the earlier thirteenth century, during the reign of Alexander II (ruled 1214–1249), a large curtain-wall castle (wall of enceinte) was constructed that enclosed much of the island. At this time the area was at the boundary of the Norse-Celtic Lordship of the Isles and the Earldom of Ross: Eilean Donan provided a strong defensive position against Norse expeditions. A founding legend relates that the son of a chief of the Mathesons acquired the power of communicating with the birds. As a result, and after many adventures overseas, he gained wealth, power, and the respect of Alexander II, who asked him to build the castle to defend his realm.

At a later date, the island became a stronghold of the Mackenzies of Kintail, originally vassals of William I, Earl of Ross. At this early stage, the castle is said to have been garrisoned by Macraes and Maclennans, both clans that were later closely associated with the Mackenzies. Traditional Mackenzie clan histories relate that Earl William sought advantage from the Treaty of Perth of 1266, by which King Magnus VI of Norway ceded the Hebrides to Scotland, and demanded that his kinsman Kenneth Mackenzie return the castle to allow his expansion into the islands. Mackenzie refused, and Earl William led an assault against Eilean Donan that the Mackenzies and their allies repulsed.

The Mackenzie clan histories also claim (with little, if any, supporting contemporary evidence), that Robert the Bruce sheltered at Eilean Donan during the winter of 1306 to 1307; the castle escaped any other involvement in the Wars of Scottish Independence. In 1331 Thomas Randolph, Earl of Moray, sent an officer to Eilean Donan to warn the occupants of his forthcoming visit. In preparation 50 wrongdoers were rounded up and executed, their heads being displayed on the castle walls to Moray's approval. By the middle of the 14th century the Mackenzies are said to have been on the losing side in the ongoing feuding with the Earls of Ross. William III, Earl of Ross granted Kintail to Raghnall Mac Ruaidhrí in 1342. With the assistance of Leod Macgilleandrais, the Earl allegedly apprehended Kenneth Mackenzie, 3rd of Kintail, and had him executed in 1346 at Inverness. Through this period Eilean Donan is said to have been held by Duncan Macaulay for the Mackenzies, against the Earl and his allies. Kenneth's young son Murdo Mackenzie supposedly evaded the Earl's attempts to eliminate him, and on the return of David II from exile Murdo Mackenzie was allegedly confirmed in the lands of Kintail and Eilean Donan by a charter of 1362 (of which, however, no trace survives to the present day). At some point in the earlier 14th century it is thought that the Clan Macrae began to settle in Kintail as a body, having migrated from the Beauly Firth, and there gained the trust of the Mackenzie lairds through possible kinship and an advantageous marriage. The Macraes began to act as Mackenzie's bodyguards, acquiring the soubriquet "Mackenzie's shirt of mail".

James I, determined to pacify the Highlands, journeyed to Inverness in 1427 and invited the principal chiefs to meet him there. Allegedly among them was the young Alexander Mackenzie, 6th Earl of Kintail. James then arrested him, along with the other chiefs, on their arrival. Mackenzie clan histories relate that, although several chiefs were executed or imprisoned, Alexander, due to his youth, was instead sent to Perth to attend school. Alexander's uncles attempted to seize control of Kintail, but the constable Duncan Macaulay continued to hold Eilean Donan on his behalf. Fionnla Dubh mac Gillechriosd, considered by clan historians to be the founder of the Clan Macrae in Kintail, was dispatched to fetch the young laird back. During his lairdship Alexander appears to have supported the monarchy against the MacDonald Lords of the Isles and was allegedly rewarded by another charter of Kintail in 1463. Alexander died in about 1488 at a great age, and was succeeded by Kenneth Mackenzie, 7th of Kintail who won the Battle of Blar Na Pairce against the MacDonalds. Kenneth died a few years later and was succeeded first by his eldest son, then on his death in 1497 by his second son, John of Killin, who was still a minor. His uncle, Hector Roy Mackenzie, attempted to usurp the Mackenzie lands and installed his own constable in Eilean Donan, Malcolm Mac Ian Charrich Macrae. Hector's lawless activities caused the Mackenzies to be branded rebels, and in 1503 the Earl of Huntly offered to deliver Eilean Donan to the king, and to hold it on his behalf. James IV supplied a ship to support the enterprise. Eventually, John compelled his uncle to relinquish his claim, and Hector agreed to hand over Eilean Donan. The constable refused however, and John's supporters laid siege. Malcolm Mac Ian Charrich was eventually persuaded by Hector to relinquish the castle, after which he was dismissed as constable and Christopher Macrae (Gillechriosd Mac Fionnlagh Mhic Rath) was appointed in his place in around 1511. John of Killin obtained a further charter of Kintail and Eilean Donan in 1509.

In 1539, Donald Gorm Macdonald of Sleat ravaged the lands of MacLeod of Dunvegan on Skye, and then attacked the Mackenzie lands of Kinlochewe, where Miles (Maolmure), brother of Christopher Macrae, was killed. After a series of retaliatory raids, Donald Gorm learned that Eilean Donan was weakly garrisoned and launched a surprise attack. In fact, only two people were in the castle: the recently appointed constable Iain Dubh Matheson and the warden. Duncan MacGillechriosd of the Clan Macrae, son of the former constable, arrived at the start of the attack and killed several MacDonalds at the postern gate. Arrows launched by the attackers killed Matheson and the warden, but MacGillechriosd managed to hit Donald Gorm with his last arrow, fatally wounding Gorm, and the Macdonalds retreated. Duncan MacGillechriosd expected to be appointed as the new constable but was considered too headstrong: the local clergyman John MacMhurchaidh Dhuibh (John Murchison) was appointed as a compromise between rival Macrae and Maclennan interests. Furious at this treatment, MacGillechriosd left Kintail and joined the service of Lord Lovat, though he eventually returned to settle at Inverinate. Meanwhile, an aggrieved Maclennan apparently shot MacMhurchaidh in the buttocks with an arrow.

MacGillechriosd's son Christopher Macrae became constable of Eilean Donan in turn, and held the castle during yet another clan feud, this time between the Mackenzies and the MacDonalds of Glengarry. Feuding broke out in 1580 and continued for almost 25 years. In around 1602 Eilean Donan was the base for a sea skirmish at the narrows of Kyle Rhea led by Christopher's son Duncan. During the action the MacDonalds were driven on to the Cailleach Rock at the eastern tip of Skye and Angus, son of MacDonald of Glengarry, was killed. Christopher was succeeded as constable by the Rev. Murdoch Murchison, minister of Kintail.

Kenneth Mackenzie, 3rd Earl of Seaforth, was brought up at Eilean Donan by Rev. Farquhar Macrae

The Rev. Farquhar Macrae, son of Christopher Macrae, was born at the castle in 1580. After attending Edinburgh University and taking holy orders, in 1618 he was appointed constable of the castle and minister of Kintail on the death of Murdoch Murchison. Colin Mackenzie of Kintail was created Earl of Seaforth in 1623. He lived mainly at Chanonry of Ross in Fortrose, but made regular visits to Eilean Donan where the constable was required to entertain him and his retinue of between 300 and 500 retainers, as well as the neighbouring lairds. In 1635 George Mackenzie, 2nd Earl of Seaforth, appointed Farquhar as tutor to his six-year-old son Kenneth, who was subsequently raised at Eilean Donan.

In the civil wars of the mid 17th century, the Earl of Seaforth sided with Charles I. In 1650, after the king's execution, the Parliament of Scotland ordered a garrison to Eilean Donan. The local people did not welcome the garrison. When a party of 30 soldiers came out from the castle to request provisions from the local people, a band of 10 men who opposed their demands met the occupiers. An argument broke out, which led to the garrison men being driven off with several casualties. Shortly thereafter the garrison departed. The following year the Earl's brother, Simon Mackenzie of Lochslin, gathered troops for the royalist cause around Eilean Donan. For reasons unrecorded, he fell out with Farquhar Macrae and demanded his removal from the castle. Farquhar initially resisted, and despite interventions by the young Kenneth, had to be marched out by Lochslin and George Mackenzie (later Earl of Cromartie). He was finally persuaded to leave without violence, stating that he was too old to dwell in the cold castle. Farquhar was thus the last constable to dwell in Eilean Donan until its reconstruction, although he retained the ministry of Kintail until his death in 1662, at the age of 82.

After this time, the castle was briefly occupied by the Earl of Balcarres and his wife, who were in the Highlands in support of the Earl of Glencairn's royalist uprising, although Balcarres later disagreed with Glencairn and departed. In June 1654 General Monck, Oliver Cromwell's military governor in Scotland, marched through Kintail while suppressing the uprising. His troops destroyed much property, and stole 360 of Farquhar Macrae's cattle, though only one man was killed.

In 1689, King James VII of the House of Stuart was declared to have to forfeit the throne, and the crown was offered to William of Orange, in the so-called "Glorious Revolution". The revolution also established Presbyterianism in Scotland, although the Highlands generally remained Roman Catholic and loyal to the Stuarts. A series of Jacobite risings followed, leading to an increased military presence in Scotland as government forces attempted to penetrate and subdue the Highlands. In 1714 while surveying fortifications for the government, the military engineer Lewis Petit made the only surviving drawing of Eilean Donan. The sketch-elevation and carefully drawn plan show a dilapidated castle, largely roofless but for a small building by the entrance.

A major Jacobite uprising took place in 1715. Led by the Earl of Mar, it was an attempt to restore the exiled James Stuart, the "Old Pretender", to the throne. William Mackenzie, 5th Earl of Seaforth, joined the Jacobite army, leading out men of the Clan Mackenzie and Clan Macrae. The Macraes mustered at Eilean Donan, and are said to have danced on the roof of the castle before setting out to the Battle of Sheriffmuir where 58 Macraes were among the Jacobite dead. The battle was indecisive and the rising collapsed soon after.

Following the failure of the rising of 1715, the Jacobites found new support from Spain, now opposing both Britain and France in the War of the Quadruple Alliance. The Duke of Ormonde led the main invasion fleet from Spain, while an advance party of 300 Spanish soldiers under George Keith, 10th Earl Marischal, arrived in Loch Duich in April 1719, and occupied Eilean Donan Castle. The expected uprising of Highlanders did not occur, and the main Spanish invasion force never arrived. At the beginning of May, the Royal Navy sent ships to the area. Early in the morning on Sunday 10 May 1719 HMS Worcester, HMS Flamborough and HMS Enterprise anchored off Eilean Donan and sent a boat ashore under a flag of truce to negotiate. When the Spanish soldiers in the castle fired at the boat, it was recalled and all three ships opened fire on the castle for an hour or more. The next day the bombardment continued while a landing party was prepared. In the evening under the cover of an intense cannonade, a detachment went ashore in the ships' boats and captured the castle against little resistance. According to Worcester's log, in the castle were "an Irishman, a captain, a Spanish lieutenant, a serjeant, one Scotch rebel and 39 Spanish soldiers, 343 barrels of powder and 52 barrels of musquet shot." The naval force spent the next two days and 27 barrels of gunpowder demolishing the castle. Flamborough then took the Spanish prisoners to Edinburgh. The remaining Spanish troops were defeated on 10 June at the Battle of Glen Shiel.

Between 1919 and 1932, the castle was rebuilt by Lt. Col. John MacRae-Gilstrap. The restoration included the construction of an arched bridge to give easier access to the island. Macrae-Gilstrap also established a war memorial dedicated to the men of the MacRae clan who died in the First World War. The memorial is adorned with lines from John McCrae's poem "In Flanders Fields", and is flanked by grey field guns from the war. Eilean Donan was opened to the public in 1955, and has since become a popular attraction: over 314,000 people visited in 2009, making it the third-most-visited castle in Scotland. In 1983 ownership of the castle was transferred to the Conchra Charitable Trust, established by the Macrae family to maintain and restore the castle, and a purpose-built visitor centre was opened on the landward side of the bridge in 1998.

Clan MacRae Roll of Honour inside Eilean Donan Castle grounds, added during the restoration.

The castle is regularly described as one of the most photographed monuments in Scotland, and is a recognised Scottish icon, frequently appearing on packaging and advertising for shortbread, whisky and other products. Eilean Donan has made several appearances in films, beginning with Bonnie Prince Charlie in 1948 and The Master of Ballantrae in 1953. The castle was the setting for the 1980 short film Black Angel, filmed to accompany screenings of The Empire Strikes Back in cinemas. It featured prominently in Highlander (1986) as the home of Clan MacLeod, was backdrop to a dance scene in the Bollywood movie Kuch Kuch Hota Hai in 1998, and served as the Scottish headquarters of MI6 in The World Is Not Enough in 1999. In Elizabeth: The Golden Age Eilean Donan stood in for Fotheringhay Castle in England. In the movie Made of Honor Eilean Donan can be seen as home of the groom's family.

After a prolonged contest, I put a stick on the ground and take this getaway vacation. I drive 17 hours to this place to seek inner peace of my soul.

The start of the journey is an endless driving until I get to the shore of Matane, QC and just in time to see the red sun's glow break through thick storm clouds. I am at a loss and drive by. On following days, I plan a few scenic spots and am shooting in search for the reflection of my mind. I am unable to count numbers of good shots or bad shots until I add a meaning to each one of them. But on the day break of the final day, I climb to the top of this hill and watch the sun illuminate the cloud from beneath and rise to the top of adjacent hills. At this moment, I am pacified into an ethereal state of mind. I know right away that the ends and means of this journey have been met.

 

Boy and girl birds, look almost the same. That is, there is no sexual-dimorphism.

Adult bird, head completely bald; Throat, featherless. Throat color, yellow; There is redness in the face.

Juvenile birds have some feathers on the head and neck, but are conspicuously bald. Throat color, whitish. And there is no redness on the face.

Madan, the name of the god of love in Sanatan Dharma. It is said that when all the other gods, fearing an angry Shiva, did not go before him, Madanadeva, in a simple mind, went before him, to pacify Shiva, and, consumed by the fire of Shiva's eyes (panchasara), was reduced to ashes. Perhaps, due to this incident, fools or simple minded people came to be called madans.

 

© Md.Imran Hossain Khan (Imu)

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True contemplation is the locus quietus, “the place of true rest.” This is true contemplation, where God himself is experienced, passively, in rest and in deepest secrecy. It is above all an experience of God’s mercy. This is necessary, in view of what has gone before. If one saw the justice of God and did not experience that mercy overcame justice, one could hardly rest in God. Furthermore it is a place of security, in a mercy which is not fickle and unstable but endures forever. It is an awareness of God’s will, as it were, pressing down on us with his mercy so that we are truly his and cannot doubt of it. Here God is seen in peace and quiet, because he himself brings peace and quiet to our souls. He pours into our hearts peace, confidence, assurance, love. He pacifies all curiosity, all striving of the mind, all strain, all agitation of the interior and exterior senses. “The tranquility of God tranquilizes all about him, and the contemplation of his rest is rest to the soul.” So great is the power of God over the soul here that there are no longer any distractions, no desires, no anxieties, no cares. This then is the cubiculum [bedchamber]—the place of true peace. But unfortunately one does not remain there for long: All too rare that privilege, alas! And all too short-lived!

-A course in Christian mysticism : thirteen sessions with the famous Trappist monk Thomas Merton / edited by Jon M. Sweeney.

This event took place during the initial wave of exploration in New Terra, before Oleon established a permanent presence on the island.

 

Most revered chieftain, there have been trespassers on our sacred island!

They came from one of those huge canoes with sails big like the clouds in the sky. We met a band of their warriors in the tall forest and they were clothed in blood! They were also carrying magical blowpipes which were bellowing lightning and smoke at us, but it seemed not as fast as our blowpipes. Our brave warriors were at first stricken with fear of the magic but we rallied under the ancestral cries of war and defeated the invaders at last. Their companions paddled back in their small canoe to the big canoe which left through the mists for other waters. May the Ancestors help us to keep this island safe from more of these filthy invaders!

 

Probably Oleon’s endeavour of pacifying Île de Zeus will not be without bloodshed either...

 

This is my entry for Challenge II - Defending Yer Claims, category B in Brethren of the Brick Seas on Eurobricks.

Or maybe some bubble gum? Et tu...... Candy shop in Stratford-on-Avon, England.

The Ayurvedic Sanskrit name of rock salt is “Saindhav lavan” . It is also known as “Halite”, which is a mineral of Sodium chloride.

It is rich in minerals. The benefits of rock salt have been described here.

 

Halite forms isometric crystals. The mineral is typically colorless or white, but may also be light blue, dark blue, purple, pink, red, orange, yellow or gray depending on the amount and type of impurities. It commonly occurs with other evaporite deposit minerals such as several of the sulfates, halides, and borates.

 

This salt enhances the taste of recipes in which it has been used.

Rock salt supplies minerals which are required by our body. Salt enhances water absorption, maintains PH and helps in movement of nutrients between tissue fluid and cells.

Apart from these functions, rock salt stabilizes blood pressure and also acts as an anti-oxidant.

It pacifies all the three doshas and is considered the healthiest form of salt in ayurveda.

« Meilleur que mille mots sans utilité est un seul mot bénéfique, qui pacifie celui qui l’entend. »

 

"Better than a thousand useless words is one beneficial word, which pacifies the hearer. "

 

Thanks ♥

Batan Island, Basco Batanes | Feb. 2016

 

In the Ivatan language Valugan means “east”. Boulders fill the jagged eastern edge of Batan Island like marbles dumped in a corner. The wind is whistling, the sea slapping the shore and cliffs breaking the waves. Like the ironically named ocean it faces, Valugan Beach is absolutely pacifying.

 

© Rein Catabay Photography | www.facebook.com/pages/Rein-Catabay-Photography/145453864...

 

Europe, Netherlands, Zuid Holland, Rotterdam, Timmerhuis (OMA), Meeting room (slightly cut)

 

Shot at the ‘Timmerhuis’, at the bottom layer (floors 1 to 5) of this OMA designed building (Rem Koolhaas, Reinier de Graaf. Interior design: Saskia Simon, Katrien van Dijk).

This level is used by the municipality of Rotterdam (22.000 square meters, max capacity of 1800 of civil servants) and the Museum Rotterdam.

 

Grandmaster Rem isn’t well known for his keen sense of humour, but the team of interior designers (led by Saskia Simon and Katrien van Dijk) seems to be a little different., when one considers ’the elephant in the room’ here. and this pic too, captured in one of the bigger meeting rooms of the Timmerhuis, with a picture-carpet of the Feijenoord soccer stadium (De Kuip) in full swing.

 

This decoration seems to illustrate the saying that collective decision making is an arena (the 'policy arena'). With players, rules and ‘supporters’, cheering the proceedings on. A more ironic reading of the decoration is that it might be a referral to the 'bread and circuses' adagio, stating that the masses can be pacified by the administrative elite by offering them 'bread and circuses' ;-)

 

This is the start of a new mini-series about the ‘Stadstimmerhuis’.

 

Number 261 of the Zwart/Wit album.

And number 259 of the Interiors album.

 

At the start of the war, VII Corps was tasked with holding positions across a 100km stretch of land that reached from just south of Chișinău all the way to the Dniester Estuary. While this did leave the Corps stretched thin, the Soviet 5th Army was focused on striking towards Chișinău, leaving this sector of the front relatively quiet. However, after 5th Army received additional reinforcements on 8 July, the 27th Rifle Corps broke through this Romanian line as part of a larger encirclement of Chișinău. While the 16th Infantry Division managed to fall back toward Chișinău, and the 15th made a disorganized retreat towards Galați, the 14th’s commander believed their best chance of survival would be to fall back towards Cetatea Albă.

 

Cetatea Albă, a port on the Dniester Estuary, was also home to the Akkerman Fortress. The fortress was garrisoned by a battalion-sized detachment, which was equipped with five 150mm guns to defend the city’s port facilities. The fortress itself dated back to the 15th Century, and extensive renovations were made to it throughout the 1920s and 30s to modernize it, including extra pillboxes around the perimeter, reinforcing the walls, an extensive tunnel system, underground telegraph lines connected to Chișinău and Galați, and the aforementioned heavy artillery battery. Despite being the second largest city in Bessarabia, Soviet plans for the invasion paid little attention to Cetatea Albă, believing the city would be easily pacified due to its remote location. However, after the Romanian guns had repeatedly interfered with Red Navy control over the Dniester, the 27th Rifle Corps was redirected to lay siege to the fortress.

 

On 12 July, the 27th Rifle Corps descended on Cetatea Albă. Despite having supporting fire from the Akkerman battery, the 14th Division was still unprepared for the attack, and, after losing about one third of their strength, retreated into the fortress itself. Fearful of Stalin’s reaction to another costly siege, the Stavka issued the order to: “Silence the guns, starve out what’s left.” The resulting air bombardment went mostly unopposed, due to the only anti-aircraft guns on hand being light guns from the 14th, and, despite having only destroyed two of the five guns, the defenders decided to hold their fire from that point on to avoid drawing any further attention to themselves. This strategy had some success, as all of the 27th Rifle Corps except for the 125th Rifle Division was withdrawn from the siege to be sent to the front on 27 July.

 

Conditions inside the fortress were grim. Many of the barracks at the center of the fort had been destroyed during the bombardment, forcing many of the defenders underground. The tunnels were dimly lit, often only illuminated by candlelight or visionslits to the outside, and ventilation was so poor that many soldiers choked on the dust stirred up in the bombardments that became frequent as the Soviets continued to attempt to demoralize their enemy. The underground infirmary quickly filled up, leaving much of the wounded to be scattered about the already cramped hallways.

 

While the fortress was stocked with enough supplies to last the original garrison six months, the addition of the remnants of the 14th quadrupled the number of occupants. And while the 14th did manage to bring some supplies as they retreated, and the fortress’s location directly on the water allowed for soldiers to fish to supplement their rations, supplies- especially medical supplies and potable water- started to become scarce less than a month into the siege. After telegraphing Galați, a supply drop was arranged to take place on 5 August. While about one-third of the supplies landed in Soviet territory, it provided vital medical supplies and water desalination equipment for the besieged defenders. A second drop was organized on 27 August, but two thirds of the transport planes were shot down en route, and all future drops were cancelled. Nevertheless, the defenders clung to their positions, mapping out potential targets for their heavy guns, waiting for the day of their breakout.

 

-Side Note-

just a little scene to show I'm still alive, and ooohh its a cliffhanger! (and also the wall technique is from here )

 

A thousand-year-old tradition dating back to the Heian period, this Shinto ritual seeks to pacify the spirit of Sugawara no Michizane by delivering the message of his exoneration. The climax arrives when the doors of Houfu Tenmangu Shrine swing open, unleashing a torrent of white-clad men, the "hadakabō," who storm the hall. The spectacle of the massive, 500-kilogram oajirokoshi palanquin careening down the steps is nothing short of breathtaking. This is one of western Japan's most exhilarating and chaotic festivals.

♥

 

mood in music:

melanie martinez - pacify her

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

head:

GENUS Project - Genus Head - Baby Face W001

 

shape:

[RUMOURS] DAISY SHAPE for Genus Baby Face W001

 

body:

[LEGACY] Meshbody (f) Perky

 

skin:

DeeTaleZ "Viktoria" Nordic for Genus Baby Face W001

 

make-up:

 

[Simple Bloom] JuliaFire Small HighArch Eyebrows - Blonde (tintable)

IDTTY FACES - GENUS LOVE ISLAND - EYESHADOW 1

[ :: JesyDream :: ] Band Aid in Candy World

*Rainbow Sundae* Mini Face Tatts

Sap ~ Dimples

[The Skinnery] Spring Anxiety FaceBundle

TOP1SALON - HD MILK LIPSTICK (PALE)

WarPaint* #IWokeUpLikeThis2

 

body make-up:

Ama. : Spanked! (Thighs - Mid)

BLAXIUM -Natural Bodyshine

DeeTaleZ *SKINS* Body ADDONS *Body Fat* - NORDIC

WarPaint*#IWokeUpLikeThis BodyEdit

 

hair:

Foxy - Charm Hair; interactive with animation for putting down hair up into a pony, scrunchie included!

 

outfit:

. offbeat . Beside you : Renew sweater Pink A Rare - RETIRED

Palette. - Nappy Bottom Rabbit

 

accessories:

!13ACT - Cry babe (tears) #Silver

Kibitz - Anna's love hoops

MishMish - Milky Pals

[Rezz Room] Box Shih Tzu Adult Animesh

Swan Swan Swindi Collection B

[VEXiin] The Cross

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

set:

FOXCITY. VIP Photo Booth - Crying Room

Reve Obscura - Cutie BENTO Pose

 

♥

A thousand-year-old tradition dating back to the Heian period, this Shinto ritual seeks to pacify the spirit of Sugawara no Michizane by delivering the message of his exoneration. The climax arrives when the doors of Houfu Tenmangu Shrine swing open, unleashing a torrent of white-clad men, the "hadakabō," who storm the hall. The spectacle of the massive, 500-kilogram oajirokoshi palanquin careening down the steps is nothing short of breathtaking. This is one of western Japan's most exhilarating and chaotic festivals.

Come Thirsty - Max Lucado Don’t deny your anger. Don’t dismiss your loneliness. Your restless spirit, your sense of dread. Don’t let your heart shrink into a raisin. Hydrate your soul. Heed that thirst!

Not everything you put to your lips will help your thirst. The arms of forbidden love may satisfy for a time, but only for a time. Eighty-hour workweeks grant a sense of fulfillment, but they never remove the thirst. Religion pacifies but never satisfies. Church activities may hide a thirst, but only Christ quenches it. Drink him, and drink him often.

Don’t you need regular sips from God’s reservoir? I do. I step to the underground spring of God and receive anew his work for my sin and death, the energy of his Spirit, his lordship, and his love. His unending, unfailing love. Drink deeply—and drink often!

Come Thirsty. Max Lucado

PART 3:

It was decidedly hotter on Wednesday 4th October. The horizon was hazy and the coastline of Taiwan was veiled in mist as we got closer to land. Many of the teenage Vietnamese had been standing at the ship’s side, day-dreaming as they watched the water slide past Wellpark’s hull as she powered forward. Only two whole days after their rescue it seemed they were at home on the ship and enjoying the experience like some low cost cruise.

 

But arrival in Kaohsiung meant confrontation with reality, the reality that these people only had one rightful home, which was Vietnam. By all rights they should be returned to their homeland on arrival in Taiwan. As Wellpark entered the quarantine anchorage we could see enormous pylons, hundreds of feet high on which were mounted the biggest red flags I had ever seen. A number of jet fighters flew low across the ship. It all added to increase the air of tension.

 

A cutter came out to Wellpark with uniformed Port Health and Immigration authorities on board. We all wondered what would happen. We tried to pacify the Vietnamese. Perhaps naively we told them Wellpark was British property, an island of safety and security on the other side of the world. We were passionately protective of our refugees.

 

But the formalities seemed to be straightforward and were completed that afternoon. Perhaps things had been settled at Government level before we even arrived. But before we could berth to unload our cargo all the Vietnamese must be inoculated against Cholera and Smallpox. And a more comprehensive list of identities would have to be drawn up with left thumbprint, photograph, signature, occupation, Vietnam address, and relative addresses, where possible. Strangely it was discovered there were now 346 Vietnamese on Wellpark, three more than were counted before! The fact that the ship was now cleared ‘inward’ led us to assume the Vietnamese had been accepted by Taiwan. This was to be their new home. I was a little crestfallen. I couldn’t help feeling these kind, gentle, respectful and smiley people on board our ship deserved a better home than Taiwan, which was a country I always perceived as ‘unfriendly’.

 

As it turned out we were left in doubt a little longer, uncertain what would happen. The grain berth with its grain elevators was still busy unloading another ship and the ship was ordered to remain in the anchorage. Now that we were ‘in’ Taiwan it was hot and humid. Even though we were not going anywhere, we were still working hard. There was no navigating to be done, and no cargo could be unloaded, but in the heat we were worked hard to prepare the ship for a busy time in port.

 

Through the day there was no escape from the heat. The ship was so low on fresh water that it was rationed even for the crew. That meant no shower after a hard days work, but as the sky darkened at night we could still go out on deck and sit on No.5 hatch and relax in the cooling night air, talking amongst the families, asking them about the lives they once lived in Vietnam, and discussing what their new lives might be. Slowly friendships grew to a point where we found ourselves ‘adopting’ families. They would ask us to write down our names and home addresses or might ask for an essential item; perhaps a needle and thread to mend clothes, or for a pen and paper to write with. The crew had lent some books, a few games and even a couple of guitars to help make their stay more pleasant. Earlier in the day, quite spontaneously, the crew donated every bit of clothing they could spare. It was a token gesture because we had no clothing suitable for women or children, but the smiles on the Vietnamese faces showed it was appreciated. We had all been working so hard that we had not previously had time to stop, but at that point I noted how the crew had been transformed. Only ten days earlier in a boisterous initiation ceremony, Crossing the Line, some cadets had some rather nasty things done to them. Some were given savage haircuts, chunks cut out of one or both sides of the head , and were daubed, dumped in and forced to swallow all sorts of revolting fluids. Presumably all the Vietnamese were too polite to ever ask why some of the cadets had such patchy haircuts! First trippers had the worst time of it, but now as one, the crew had grown into one ‘family’ with the Vietnamese, a family given to sharing and helping, caring and loving each other. In a corner of the hatch cover a group of three girls were singing. Slowly they lowered their voices as the parents tucked up the younger children under the blankets stretched on the steel deck. Gradually they too settled to sleep and we retired to our bunks with sprung mattresses, our hearts filled with a sense of fulfilment and peace.

 

Other chapters of this story are here:

 

PART A www.flickr.com/photos/pentlandpirate/1438584566/in/set-72...

PART 1 www.flickr.com/photos/pentlandpirate/1436299943/in/set-72...

PART 2 www.flickr.com/photos/pentlandpirate/1437528215/in/set-72...

PART 4 www.flickr.com/photos/pentlandpirate/1460893557/in/set-72...

PART 5 www.flickr.com/photos/pentlandpirate/1437563459/in/set-72...

PART 6 www.flickr.com/photos/pentlandpirate/1438381480/in/set-72...

 

You can also join the Wellpark Reunion site here : wellparkreunion.ning.com/main/authorization/signIn?target...

  

Go to www.shipsnostalgia.com/Guides/MV_Wellpark for the rest of the story

Raphael (1483-1520) - Giulio Romano (1499-1546) and workshot - The Fire in the Borgo (1514) - Room Fire in the Borgo- Raphael Rooms - Vatican Museums

 

La scena mostra il miracoloso spegnimento dell'incendio divampato nel Borgo grazie all'intervento di Leone IV. La scena, impostata su violenti gruppi asimmetrici, alludeva al ruolo pacificatore del pontefice, ed alla sua attività per spegnere i conflitti tra le potenze cristiane.

 

A sinistra trova spazio anche la citazione colta di Enea che trasporta sulle spalle il padre Anchise, al fianco del figlioletto Ascanio e della nutrice Caieta: allusione agli interessi letterari del papa.

 

The scene shows the miraculous extinguishing of the fire that broke out in the village thanks to the intervention of Leo IV. The scene, set on violent asymmetrical groups, alluded to the pacifying role of the pontiff, and to his activity to extinguish conflicts between the Christian powers.

 

To the left is given to the erudite quotation of Aeneas carrying on his shoulders his father Anchises, alongside son Ascanio, and the nurse Caieta allusion to literary interests of the pope.

Papua New Guinea Sunset, in the Bismarck Archipelago.

Note the friendly amiable face, designed to engender a peaceful pacifying facade for the public's safety and comfort.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHXLWjF6IEQ

New pose - available at ROMP!

Opens today - August 11th.

Athabasca Falls. Cánada.

Canon 5D Mark IV

EF-24-105mm f/4L-IS-USM.

A hush hush morning

The sound of a pebble splash

Pacifies my soul

© KENNY BARKER

  

HAIKU SET-

www.flickr.com/photos/kenny_barker/sets/72157626204955402/