Ce plot placide me plaît. Tout est dit, sans rien pouvoir dire des raisons de cette photo. Mais je pense que j'aime les plots placides...

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Explored - #181 on Sunday, August 2, 2009.

Near Schenectady, NY, is Plotter Kill Nature Preserve. It is a gorge with three good-sized waterfalls. I had to climb down about 200 feet of a pretty steep slope to get down here, but it was worth it. Climbing back out is always easier anyway.

3 shot HDR (-2, 0, +2 EV) tonemapped in Photomatix.

B l a c k M a g i c

A green heron watching. Thinking. Plotting.

"Kill" is a Dutch word meaning creek or stream. Plotter Kill Preserve, Rotterdam, New York.

My flash is illuminating this dahlia, as the sun is behind it. It's growing in a dahlia plot behind the barn at Wright-Locke Farm.

Harley Quinn (Cassie) plots her next scheme to get Batman and take over Gotham City.

Cassie can be found at: www.facebook.com/burbankcosplay

Aggie Ring loves a good "selfie!"

I could tell that Aggie Ring was impressed. After several moments of silence he spoke out and said, “If my Eyes of Texas aren’t deceiving me, that’s the biggest damn lightbulb I’ve ever seen! I guess it’s true… Everything IS bigger in Jersey!”

The Aggie Ring woke me up early this morning. In fact it was even before 11:30 a.m. so I knew he wanted to do something. I asked the Aggie Ring, “What do you want to do Aggie Ring?” The Aggie Ring replied, “I want to go see the lightbulb!” I wasn’t sure what he was talking about so I said, “What lightbulb?” The Aggie Ring said with emphasis, “Let there be LIGHT!” Then it hit me. Aggie Ring wanted to drive him up the Parkway to the site of Thomas A. Edison’s Menlo Park laboratory so he could see the Art Deco Edison Memorial Tower and “Big Ass Lightbulb!”

Other than the time he told me that he thought Elvis took our change in a tollbooth on the New Jersey State Turnpike, Aggie Ring has great ideas. It’s only about a 20 to 25 minute drive up the Parkway from our house so Aggie Ring and I set off to see the Edison Memorial Tower. The last time we’d been there it had been in horrible shape and they were beginning work on restoring it. That was a bit over a year ago so I assumed that Aggie Ring figured out that they would be finished with the conservation work on the historical site.

When we drove down the little side street where the tower is located the Aggie Ring was overwhelmed with awe at the restored site. Aggie Ring was truly “speechless!” It’s just as beautiful as the day it was built. They did an incredible job on the restoration. After a few moments sitting in the car just looking out the window Aggie Ring broke his silence and asked me, “Did you bring a cigar? Edison loved his cigars and I think he’d have wanted you to smoke a cigar while you’re looking the place over.” Unfortunately I had left my cigars at home so the Edison “smoke out” will have to happen on a future date.

The laboratory building is no longer at this site but it’s still impressive to think of not only the electric lightbulb, but all of the other great inventions that Mr. Edison invented here. Aggie Ring said, “Imagine. He did all this stuff without the help of an Aggie Ring!”

The Aggie Ring and I walked around the tower and took some photos of the “Big Ass Lightbulb” and the historical plaques at its base. The Aggie Ring and I are planning on going back some evening when the lightbulb is illuminated. Aggie Ring said, “It would be cool if you could get a photo during a thunderstorm when there’s lightning behind the tower.” I told Aggie Ring, “You’re crazy! I’m not standing out in a field during a lightning storm with an Aggie Ring on my finger! Maybe if we can get a VMI grad to come with us. Their rings are so damn big a lightning bolt would hit one of them before us!”

Aggie Ring said, “It’s a good thing Edison invented the lightbulb or there’d be a lot of Waggies drinking their tequila shots by candlelight!” I told the Aggie Ring, “True… Those Waggies love their tequila the invention of the lightbulb makes it a lot easier for them to pour the tequila and do body shots!”

Aggie Ring asked me to provide some info on the Edison “Big Ass Lightbulb” Memorial Tower for your educational enlightenment (“Get it?” Aggie Ring said):

Thomas Alva Edison Memorial Tower and Menlo Park Museum, New Jersey

"Let there be light." Thomas Alva Edison's Menlo Park Laboratory and Memorial Tower. Those of us on the Jersey Shore call it the "Big Ass Lightbulb!”

The Edison Tower, located on the site of the original laboratory at Menlo Park, New Jersey, to which Thomas Alva Edison moved in 1876, was erected in 1937 as a monument to the great inventor. The Tower is the gift of William Slocum Barstow to the Thomas Alva Edison Foundation Incorporated in behalf of the Edison Pioneers. It was dedicated on February 11, 1838, the ninety-first anniversary of the inventor's birth.

Rising 131 ft. 4 in. above the ground, the tower looms as the highest discernible object for many miles. Surmounting the 117 ft. 8 in. concrete-slab structure is a 13 ft. 8 in. replica of the original incandescent lamp which, when illuminated, can be seen for a distance of several miles. It once served as an airplane beacon. The Tower is designed for pressure of wind at a velocity of 120 miles per hour. In its construction, which consumed slightly less than eight months, approximately 1200 barrels of Edison Portland cement and 50 tons of reinforced steel were used.

The large bulb on top of the Tower was cast by the Corning Glass Works. The replica bulb contains 153 separate pieces of amber tinted Pyrex glass, 2 in. thick, set upon a steel frame. The bulb is 5 ft. in diameter at the neck and 9 ft. 2 in. in diameter at the greatest width and weighs, without the steel frame on which it is placed, in excess of three tons. Before the restoration, inside this Pyrex glass bulb were four 1000 watt bulbs, four 200 watt bulbs, and four 100 watt bulbs. A duplicate of each was arranged as automatically to cut in should its companion bulb fail.

The Edison Tower has been completely restored and when complete, the bulb is now illuminated with modern Light Emitting Diode (LED) technology. Mr. Edison would be pleased with this, I’m sure.

While we don’t have any records of exactly what was said when Mr. Edison perfected his invention, I suspect one of his workers shouted out something like this: “Holy Mother of Baby Jesus on a Donkey!” “Mr. Edison, You’ve done it!!! You’ve perfected the Electric Light!!! You truly are King of Kings!!!!”

The tower is located on a mysterious plot of land and exactly at midnight on the night of a full moon, it would be a perfect site for the ritual sacrifice of virgins. Too bad we don’t have any of those in New Jersey! :-)

*********************

Aggie Ring says, “The Road Goes On Forever, and the Party Never Ends!”

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American dancer, choreographer, singer, and actor Fred Astaire (1899-1987) was a unique dancer with his top hat and tails, his uncanny sense of rhythm, perfectionism, and innovation. He began his highly successful partnership with Ginger Rogers in Flying Down to Rio (1933). They danced together in 10 musicals in which he made all song and dance routines integral to the plot Lines. Another innovation was that a closely tracking dolly camera filmed his dance routines in as few shots as possible. His career in film, television and theatre spanned a total of 76 years.

Fred Astaire was born Frederick Austerlitz in 1899 in Omaha, Nebraska, to Johanna (Geilus) and Fritz Austerlitz, a brewer. 'Astaire' was a name that he and his sister Adele had adopted for their vaudeville act when they were about 5 years old. It is said that the name comes from an uncle who had L'Astaire as his surname. They conquered Broadway in 1917 with the play 'Over the Top'. In the 1920s, Adele and Fred performed regularly in Broadway theatres. Their duo ended in 1932 when she married her first husband, Lord Charles Cavendish, a son of the Duke of Devon. Astaire headed to Hollywood. There is a famous story about the RKO Pictures screen test of Fred Astaire who was rejected with "Can't sing. Can't act. Gets a bit bald. Can dance a little". Many of the millions of fans of his films thought he could dance quite well after all. Cole Porter wrote a number of songs specifically for him. Signed to RKO, he was loaned to MGM to appear in the musical Dancing Lady (Robert Z. Leonard, 1933) with Joan Crawford. The film was a breakthrough for Astaire, who appears as himself and dances with Crawford. He first worked with Ginger Rogers in his second film, Flying down to Rio (Thornton Freeland, 1933). It was a box office success. They danced together in 9 RKO pictures. Their characters, after initially disliking each other, fell in love and performed dance and song numbers together. The two sang the hits of popular composers such as George Gershwin, Irving Berlin and Cole Porter in their films. The combination of the two dancers and the choreography of Hermes Pan made dance an important element of the Hollywood film musical. His films with Rogers include The Gay Divorcee (Mark Sandrich, 1934), Top Hat (Mark Sandrich, 1935), and Carefree (Mark Sandrich, 1938). During these years, he was also active in recording and radio.

From the late 1930s, Ginger Rogers concentrated more and more on her solo career, and Fred Astaire danced with other partners. He danced with Rita Hayworth in You'll Never Get Rich (Sidney Lanfield, 1941) and You Were Never Lovelier (William A. Seiter, 1942), with Eleanor Powell in Broadway Melody of 1940 (Norman Taurog, 1940), and with Joan Leslie in The Sky's the Limit ( Edward H. Griffith, 1943). Astaire also worked with Bing Crosby in Holiday Inn (Mark Sandrich, 1942) and Blue Skies (Stuart Heisler, 1946). After the great box-office failure of the fantasy comedy Yolanda and the Thief (Vincente Minnelli, 1945), Astaire temporarily retired from the film business. He soon returned to the big screen to take over the role of the injured Gene Kelly in Easter Parade (Charles Walters, 1948) opposite Judy Garland and Peter Lawford. Later he starred in The Band Wagon (Vincente Minnelli, 1953) with Cyd Charisse. One of his last musical roles was as fashion photographer Dick Avery alongside Audrey Hepburn in Funny Face (Stanley Donen, 1957). By the end of the 1950s, the popularity of musical films had waned considerably. Astaire, now in his 60s, increasingly refrained from dance roles, although he still appeared in television dance specials in the 1960s, which won several Emmy Awards. Astaire continued to act, appearing in such films as On the Beach (Stanley Kramer, 1959), Finian's Rainbow (Francis Ford Coppola, 1968) alongside Petula Clark, and The Towering Inferno (John Guillermin, 1974) where he received his only Oscar nomination in the Best Supporting Actor category. His last film was Ghost Story (John Irvin, 1981). Fred Astaire died of pneumonia in 1987 and, like Ginger Rogers, is buried in the Oakwood Memorial Park Cemetery in Chatsworth, California. He was married twice. He was first married to Phyllis Livingston Potter from 1933 till her death in 1954. They had two children, Ava Astaire-McKenzie and Fred Astaire Jr. From 1980 till his death in 1987, he was married to Robyn Smith.

Sources: Diana Hamilton (IMDb), Wikipedia (Dutch and German), and IMDb.

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

©2008 Susan Ogden- All Rights Reserved

Suffice it to say, i earned my 2nd "mental health day" by noon today!!

B&W detail of the upper Plotter Kill waterfall.

My garden plot for this year finally finished

4/8

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08:00:09 up 13 days, 13:19, 0 users, load average: 0.99, 0.79, 0.76 | temp=41.2'C | SID plot Finished

Find out more about the project and see pictures taken by other photographers at 100 Strangers Flickr Group page

This photo was initially published in my local photo blog about the citizens of my area in Montréal. quartiersnord.photos/les-gens-the-people/

I met Guy at the entrance of the Jardin Ahuntsic, a beautiful community garden sloping up to the south of Sackville Street. He started cultivating a plot of this garden 2 years ago. His plantations are quite varied and growing well this year. Insofar as his dwelling place would allow it, he always had a small piece of land to cultivate. It's a habit that comes from his mother. As is often the case in the area, the soil here is clayey; a plant that grows well in it is the tomato. Guy chose the Florida cultivar.

I thought the places were few and that there were long waiting lists to get one in a community garden. He said he got his pretty quickly and has already seen some turnover. People without gardening experience make a first try and then give up. These are often people who do not measure the daily involvement necessary to maintain a vegetable garden. They buy ready-made plants, put them in the ground, go on vacation three weeks without seeking a caretaker and then return to find that everything has withered. For him, the garden is a daily haven after work in a green oasis.

Guy knows his way around in Greater Montreal. Growing up in the Mile End in Montreal, he lived in different districts of the city, then on the South Shore and the North Shore.

Production Manager in a printing shop in St-Laurent, he came to live in the Sault-au-Récollet district two years to be closer to his work. The fact that his children are well on their way in life after successfully completing their studies also favored his return to the city.

The company where he works is active in two sectors, general commercial printing and music publishing. It makes everything that is connected with the packaging and promotion of recorded music.

I wish him a good harvest.

Cette photo fait partie de mon projet 100 Strangers (100 inconnus). Apprenez en plus sur ce type de projet et voyez les photos d’autres photographes à 100 Strangers Flickr Group page

Did you know?

- Cat's have a third eyelid;

- See worse in the day time than humans;

- Large eyes in comparison to the head are typically seen as cute, just look at anime, babies, etc. It's why we love kittens so much.

...and when you see them staring at something that isn't there and suspect a ghost... it's more than likely a spider web clinging in the air or a tiny insect.

Even the slightest of movement is noticeable to them.

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1850's "mirror mansion" built by identical twins Argalus Isaac and Augustus Ira Foote.

Speculated underground railroad site, Al Capone moonshine still

For years, this old place lie rotting away just a short trip through the woods from my home. I was in it when I was young and later in my teens. I knew it was there but didn't think much of it. Sure I loved old houses - the workmanship and the history - but it wasn't until crazy stories told to me captured my imagination. Stories of secret stairways, underground tunnels, and stories of moonshine and gangsters - then I was curious of the old, boarded up building. Were there tunnels? Was there, truly, rings in the basement walls and blood spattered upon them from some unfortunate incident? Were there bars on the basement windows? There was some truth to some of it, but how much? I headed to the library to seek information.... and the courthouse, many, many times

It was there I learned the story of twin brothers, born in 1817, who shared a deep brotherly love through out their life. It's been said they had a double wedding, Argalus married Adelia, and Augustus married Anna, making a complete foresome of "AF" initials. So close they were, after moving from Massachusetts in the early 1850's, they had constructed a home for two families. One side of the house was the mirror image of the other side just like the brothers themselves. It is said that they furnished their sides the same and that the interior decorating was of the highest quality. Things were good. The brothers farmed their 300 acres (and more) of virgin land and Argalus and Adelia started building their family with sons Andrew, William, and Frank. The place was the pride of the countryside... but fate intervened. Anna Foote died during childbirth just before Christmas, 1855. The little daughter, Mary, followed her mother a few months later. As you can imagine, Augustus was devestated. Suddenly things became unequal between the two. Contrary to what is written out there, the Foote brothers carried on with life despite what was planned to be. Augustus lived with his sister, Sara, and mother, Rebecca, until they both past away as well. Come 1870 census, Augustus no longer lived there. Too much personal tragedy probably drove him away. In his place lived farmhands and a domestic servant or two. Once Argalus' wife past away in 1876, the decision was made to move away. Argalus' three sons had grown and left as well. Everyone moved to Oshkosh and established the Foote Brothers Milling Co. Their home sat empty and became known as "Foote's Folly."

The mansion was bought by a family who raised horses and soon there were stables of fine horses and a racetrack was set up behind the house. Some eleven years later, they moved on, and the place sat empty. The place changed hands numerous times until the present owner bought it in 1934. But just prior to that, the place was one of speculation and concern.

Stories of covered trucks coming and going through the night and gangsters living there had the town of Eureka concerned. Once a place of admiration, now it was a place to avoid. Rumors soon circulated of a machine gun, on a turret, being mounted in the cupola. There were ideas of who they were, and to this day, Al Capone's name comes up. Their time passed there as well.

In 1935, a local women's group held a Halloween tour at the huge place. People came from everywhere for their chance to see the house, something of a legend already. To this day, their names are written on the walls of that time as well as others. So much admiration....

A lot of damage and deterioration came into play after that. Numerous articles in papers were written about it, a few photos taken, but nothing to save it from ruin. The coils and boilers from the moonshine days were lying out by a shed back in the 60's as evidence of it's moonshine days.

Armed with my new found knowledge of the house, I had a entirely new sense of admiration for the place. It was the twins dream house. It was an enormous place and being there, I felt like I was in another era - another time. The structure is - was - quite a place to walk up to. Very massive and overwhelming, yet somewhat personally romantic with it's remaining Italianate gingerbread. It was hauntingly beautiful and I was completely drawn to it.... To imagine what it looked like - to "see" it with all the shutters, windows, and massive front porch. Fantastic...

Investigating it further, I noticed the remains of a carriage loop in the front yard from all those years ago. Inside the 7000 sq ft house were sagging floors covered with falling plaster and busted lathe. Remains of peeling wall and ceiling papers clung to twelve foot ceilings, hand-grained woodwork, ceiling medallions with remains of chandeliers in each of the four parlors, etc. There were two kitchens linked to twin dining rooms graced by huge bay windows. Upstairs there were 9 bedrooms, each with built in show closets, located off a 80ft hallway. The three staircases were open but the spindles were long gone. A hidden flight of steps led to the cupola which was once encased in 16 double hung windows.

The fabled tunnel was no longer open, but found to be mortared shut in the basement and sealed off on the other end. I spoke to a man who tried to dig it out when he was a kid in the 40's. What could be in there? I wonder to this day.... Did the Foote's set a lantern out on the porch years ago for those runaway slaves to spot? Was it another spot along the way towards freedom in Canada? It may forever remain a mystery.

It was a place of broken dreams from another place in time. It became a place riddled with rumors and speculation - a legend in itself. Those who desired to save it, couldn't find a way. A place admired by many but now it faces a fate of it's own. Even the fact of being potentially eligible for National Registry status wasn't enough.

The brothers lived out their lives together in New London, Wi, with Argalus' son, Andrew. It is written in one of their obituaries that, I quote, "they were impossible to tell apart and shared everything through out life. Their minds were but one thought it seems and their pleasures and sorrows were shared together. Their pocketbooks were combined, and neither knew what a quarrel was.That they trusted each other in ways that few brothers ever could. Living into their early '80s, before the time of Augustus' passing it was said they were the oldest surviving twins in the United States." Augustus past away in 1901 and was laid to rest beside his wife and daughter who lives were tragically cut short so many years before, and Argalus, the following year. A short mile away, the family is buried together in a family plot marked by a tall, white spire. The brothers still together just like they had been all their lives.

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Naomi eating lunch in the kitchen as three of the cats plot to steal her ramen from her.

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Plotter sketches for a new series. Studio Mode graciously let me use their CNC cutter to do these.

Plotter sketches for a new series. Studio Mode graciously let me use their CNC cutter to do these.

East London.

This is a photograph of the Plot of land reserved for Nissan in Washington, UK. It was taken at some point in the 1970's or early 1980's.

Reference: 5417/79/2

This collection of images has been assembled in support of the Washington Heritage Festival 2013.

The celebration of Washington brings together a variety of different themes. Washington is a Town in the City of Sunderland, Tyne & Wear. It is traditionally associated with Coal Industry, and notably known as the home of the Washington Family, ancestors of the First President of the United States George Washington.

However, in 1964 Washington was designated a New Town and drastically changed. With the introduction of new industry such as the Nissan Car Factory Washington experienced a huge redevelopment in both its economy and community.

These Photographs are taken from the Records of the Washington Development Corporation; held at Tyne & Wear Archives. The records document this change in industry, landscape and community in Washington between 1964 & 1988, and consist of many photographs.

For more information on the Washington Heritage Festival, 21st September 2013 please click here.

(Copyright) These images are Crown Copyright. We're happy for you to share these digital images within the spirit of The Commons. Please cite 'Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums' when reusing. Certain restrictions on high quality reproductions and commercial use of the original physical version apply though; if you're unsure please email archives@twmuseums.org.uk

Up to Something

In the southwest corner of Amache National Historic Site is the original cemetery and monument house. Established between 1942 and 1945 when the area was Granada War Relocation Center, the cemetery includes 11 grave plots, ten with markers and one without. According to WRA records, 106 deaths occurred at Amache, although many remains were voluntarily removed after Amache’s closure in 1945.

A brick memorial building stands in the northwest corner of the cemetery. originally built to be a columbarium, or a place to store cremated remains. It was never used as intended since the Japanese did not want the ashes to be left or forgotten. Instead, in 1945 as people were being relocated and released, a three-piece memorial was designed by Rev. Masahiko Wada and a memorial committee. In the building, a granite stone honors those who passed away in Amache and is etched in English and Japanese. Above the stone, the names and family information of the people who passed away in Amache and the names of the 31 Japanese American soldiers whose families were incarcerated here is etched in Japanese on a wooden panel. A gold star shield honoring the 31 soldiers hung on the east wall. The people incarcerated at Amache etched the granite stone, wood memorial salutation, and gold star shield memorial.

Today, only the stone remains. Prior to organized preservation at Amache, the memorial house was broken into. The wooden memorial honoring those who died in Amache was saved from burning and is on loan to the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles, California. The gold star Honor Roll shield is missing. In 1983, a second memorial inscribed with US military casualties from Amache was erected at the cemetery by the Denver Central Optimists Club. It is large concrete obelisk with a memorial salutation on the front and the Amache Honor Roll names on the east and west sides.

Many visitors and relatives of the deceased continue to leave offering and memorabilia at the cemetery. Although the offerings and memorabilia left at the cemetery are contemporary and ongoing, they also have potential historical significance. The National Park Service recognizes that many of the offerings and memorabilia left at the cemetery are worthy of collection and preservation.

Since its closure in 1945, the Granada War Relocation Center Cemetery has remained a place reflection, worship, pilgrimages, protest, and a place to reach out to share an experience with strangers.

The smallest incarceration site by population—the Granada Relocation Center, as it was designated by the War Relocation Authority—was in Colorado, only 15 miles west of the Kansas border and less than 2 miles from the town of Granada. Although all WRA records refer to the incarceration camp as the Granada Relocation Center, early on, incarcerees began referring to the camp as Amache, after the camp’s postal designation. Built to accommodate up to 8,000 people, Amache housed 7,318 incarcerees at its peak in 1943, making it the 10th largest city in Colorado at that time. During its three years of operation, 10,331 incarcerees passed through Amache. Its population often fluctuated due to work, education, and military leave programs, as well as indefinite leaves as part of the resettlement program.

Ameohtse’e (Amache/Walking Woman) was a Cheyenne woman whose father was killed at the Sand Creek Massacre. A generation after her death, Japanese Americans incarcerated at the Granada Relocation Center embraced Amache as the camp’s unofficial name, referring to themselves as Amacheans.

Incarcerees at Amache came primarily from three areas of California: the Northern San Francisco Bay Area, primarily Sonoma County; Central California, namely the San Joaquin Valley; and southwestern Los Angeles, including the Seinan District. Nikkei from these areas were initially forced into either the Merced Assembly Center in the Central Valley or the Santa Anita Assembly Center in Los Angeles.

Although the population at Amache was a mix of families from both urban and rural areas,

farming communities were slightly more numerous. These close-knit families often maintained their connections throughout the upheaval of forced removal and incarceration. This population included the entirety of the Yamato Colony, founded in 1906 by Kyutaro Abiko, a San Francisco newspaper publisher and businessperson. This settlement eventually evolved into three separate but adjacent colonies known as Yamato, Cressey, and Cortez, located in and around the Livingston area.

Another discrete Japanese American community that was removed together was Walnut Grove, a small agricultural community in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta that served as a commercial and social center for Japanese American farm laborers beginning in the 1890s. The Seinan District of southwest Los Angeles was another community whose members ended up in large numbers at Amache. Also a tightknit, thriving community, the Seinan District differed from the other communities because it was a part of a bustling urban city.

The structure of daily life in Amache was drastically different from life outside of incarceration. Cramped, shared spaces and communal dining and bathing robbed incarcerees of their privacy, forcing them to adapt, subvert, and redefine private spaces. Not only could incarcerees hear and be heard by neighbors, but families also lacked physical privacy from each other.

Many Japanese American incarceration survivors remember using curtains as substitutes for walls, separating small living and sleeping areas within the barracks. These cramped living conditions often had divisive effects on family unity.

Family life was also strained by how meals were organized. In traditional Japanese culture, mealtime is a time to spend with family. Familial roles are fulfilled, structure is emphasized, and family dynamics are solidified. At Amache, the structure of mealtimes was disrupted by being forced into the public arena.

Mealtimes were characterized by long lines, unfamiliar foods, and the visible deterioration of family solidarity and unity. The mess halls contained rows of unassigned tables and benches, seating approximately 250 people at a time. Many young adults, teenagers, and even older children began using mealtime as an avenue of socialization and chose to sit with their friends and peers rather than their families.

One of the most challenging aspects of communal life in confinement involved the public performance of personal hygiene activities such as showering and using the toilet. The public latrine was split into a women’s side and a men’s side and included a row of exposed toilets and showers, with no dividers or walls to offer even a modicum of privacy. Incarcerees adopted an array of tactics and tricks to cope with this transition, including walking to the bathhouse covered in bathrobes, wearing geta (Japanese wooden sandals) in the shower, bringing in different materials like cardboard and sheets to create dividers, and employing the use of chamber pots to avoid walking to the latrine in the middle of the night.

Like a city, Amache relied on a planned and managed infrastructure that provided basic services and necessities that addressed health, safety, and governance. Amache included many specialized departments and programs, such as the hospital, fire department, police department, and an agricultural program just to name a few. All of these were overseen and supervised by WRA personnel, but incarcerees were either strongly encouraged to participate in these programs or specifically recruited as the government took advantage of the incarcerees for their cheap labor.

This practice was blatantly evident in the differences in monthly wages earned in camp ($12–$19) versus those earned outside of camp ($132–$164).

The skill and experience of Japanese American farmers was also something that the WRA took into consideration as they aimed to operate self-sufficient sites. Intensive and extensive agricultural programs were deliberately set up at each of the camps, with the intention of harnessing the knowledge and labor of the seasoned Nikkei farmers to grow food for each camp’s population. The 8,860 acres of land that lay outside Amache's central project area were intended for use in agricultural production.

Amache, though the smallest of the incarceration camps, had one of the largest agricultural programs; it grew enough produce to be used at Amache, distributed to other incarceration camps and the US military, or sold. The farm program produced 2.7 million pounds of vegetables in 1943 and an even more impressive 3.3 million pounds in 1944. Not only were common vegetables such as onions, tomatoes, and potatoes grown, but other crops, not usually grown in the area, such as daikon, Chinese cabbage, and mung beans were also successfully grown.

About the photo :

This is the vege plot I passed by in upper part of Valencia .

Here's a little description of Valencia :

"Valencia is a ... municipality in the province of Negros Oriental, Philippines. It is located 9.4 kilometre west of Dumaguete...."

"Valencia was originally named Ermita, which means "a secluded place", due to its being a refuge from marauding Muslim pirates. In 1856 it was renamed to Nueva Valencia by Spanish colonizers, in honor of its parish priest Fr. Matias Villamayor from Valencia, Spain.

In 1920 it was renamed Luzuriaga in behalf of Don Carlos Luzuriaga, a delegate from Negros island to the Philippine Legislature who promised town officials he would work hard to help improve the town. The town was renamed Valencia in 1948, by virtue of Republic Act No. 252. "

Source : en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valencia,_Negros_Oriental

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I love gardening ,and find Valencia area good for this sort of interests . It's easy to grow patchoi or Petchay, brocolli ,cabbages , brussel sprouts, cauliflower ,carrots and many types of veges and flowers here . The temp is a little cooler from lowland .

If only peace would stretch another hundred years ,yet with the current crisis looming :population explosion the inevitable food shortage ,animals dying for some unknown reasons ,Our population has gone past the 7 billion mark ,you see the middleast conflict escalating /world terrorism , upheaval ,social moral decay ,spritual confusion and deception , the rise of occult teachings and growing tolerance towards darkness ; evil perceive as good ,abortions in millions -- can you ever think of a bright safe future ahead. Perhaps I'm only pessimistic ,but I like to look at real trends / knock on effects and what we see everywhere are tell tale signs of what's in store for the future ... the future doesn't look bright .

Thinking of retirement - I have to be honest , right now my gut feelings seem strongly on a negative line .

Before I'll reach The point of retirement big global changes could happen and this isn't for the better , 20 yrs seem too long .Big changes could happen anytime soon ,the markers are right at the door ,you can see them in God's manual ,the Bible. .I strongly feel there's no retirement for me here . I wish not to say this in the open ,because I knew many of you are kind and polite and not to say the word "crazy" to me projecting doom and gloom - if you know that feeling. I'm in a battle of denial sometimes .But I find ihard to deny it and shut myself to silence .If you hate doomsday topics ,please avoid reading my posts . You can look at the photo but don't read it :) It does't contribute any good if you feel depressed .I will understand ,no offense . But I do encourage you to be aware of the possibilities .Update yourself ,not just the mainstream news but from the alternative sources ,as many events happening that were not reported or has only very little coverage. Regardless of these doon and gloom events,I am not depressed .I am not sad , I am not scared ,because the true peace of God is keeping me assured. It's so hard to explain it. The truth is I'm awestruck ! I'm part of the generation to see these things and the wonders of God to be seen in these last days as we know it .

As a christian , there's no place of depression in ones life ,that's true for me . If you you are away from faith ,then then can be so scary ! I always trust God for everything . My husband is hopeful thinking to retire someday- living in the Philippines .Most of us have dreams ,it nice to dream on . I don't want to spoil his hopes this time and the future .But I always try my best to make him aware of what is to come . However big the scale is , even when I am gone ( in case I might go ahead of him )he should be prepared and never loose hope ,to trust in Jesus in everything ,even to the last breathe .We bought adjacent plots here in 2004 and 2005, so we could be closely living near the city of Dumaguete, thinking of a future someday after retirement .However ,this seem blurry to me . I always hope I'm wrong with my projections . But I also think we should be prepared mentally and also our emotions as we are seeing the future unfold . It's likely a different kind of scary movie .

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<<~~~~@

Just for correction , am not ill , but you never know of life . I always think what the next day is ,will I still be here nxt day ,nxt week ,nxt month ?

I have seen people go - which gave me some perspective how precious life is , as life is like a bubble . I'm trying my best to have my day less complicated and relaxed as I can make it ,just in case it's my last day.

I have an accident in the past that could have cost my life and don't have any idea it could happen to me .I could have died on the spot . It changed my attitude and perspectives since that . I count everyday as blessing , another day might be different . Not the least to say ,I like to leave the day with a clean heart and conscience with God . I'm not perfect .I do make mistakes though how much I tried not to .But one thing, I don't stay / waddle with the same mistakes over and over again. I always pursue spiritual cleanliness through Christ ,and there is no room of guilt and self condemnation ,a room for secret sin to dwell in me . The love and salvation through Christs is a redeeming grace takes it all , we have to give our burdens to Jesus by simply repenting ,letting it all go and let Jesus' love and peace change our hearts to purity .Without the saving grace of Jesus ,we can't do nothing ,we are still same ol' filthy rags even though how good we think we are .

11:00:01 up 17:47, 0 users, load average: 0.35, 0.75, 0.78 | temp=48.2'C | Start

11:00:09 up 17:48, 0 users, load average: 0.48, 0.77, 0.79 | temp=48.7'C | SID plot Finished

This is part of my project on the culture of Prestbury a village on the outskirts of Cheltenham, UK.

Shot on Kodak Portra 400 120

Mamiya M645 1000S 80mm Sekkor

Part of www.flickr.com/photos/danwye_photography/sets/72157630731...

This is actually my final CEGEP project in Java. Built with Lego Mindstorms, hacked firmware with Java VM. The plotter was actually controlled using a Windows-based program with the mouse ! Very cool project. Took about 2 days to build and program.

Nelder plot experiment.

Photo by Fiston Wasanga/CIFOR

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Rie

East London.

Intento de afiche para beca de plotter Cad

07:00:02 up 2 days, 13:47, 0 users, load average: 0.82, 0.66, 0.68 | temp=47.6'C | Start

07:00:09 up 2 days, 13:48, 0 users, load average: 1.01, 0.70, 0.69 | temp=48.2'C | SID plot Finished

Charlotte, staring at freedom...

Looks good against a black background... 'Plotting her escape...' On Black

Plots can also be created from a list of points.

Plots can be added to each other using the '+' operator.

Sage contains preliminary support for graph plotting, but there are many rough edges.

The best Freecycle offer ever!

A Summagraphics inkjet plotter and a Houston Instruments pen plotter.

Spring runoff ... nice amout of water, but very wet with spray! This image from a point about 20' up the rather steep slope to the left of the waterfall. Out of the pray but exceedingly awkward for the tripod.

This is the 60' upper waterfall at the Plotter Kill Preserve.

Even in winter, the east wind gusting, I like to be on the plot, thinking about the ground and what it will grow.

The plot in summer flic.kr/p/L5X9xY

Empty plots like the one in this shot are somewhat abundant in the 'old town', right at the centre of Valencia. This is the other face of the city, hidden in the official propaganda brochures, a face, however, the startled tourist takes no time at all to discover.

(Incidentally, the graffiti artwork is splendid; best seen large)

It once dawned on me (a few years back) that the only way to keep the mind going more or less fine in this particular place I happen to live is not to take the place seriously. The only way to get along and not to lose one's marbles is to realize and to firmly believe that nothing ever happening here matters. How could one otherwise avoid going mental in a place where people drive as if playing a video game, cars are raucous, four-wheeled loudspeakers (and a few are periodically burned every weekend just for the fun of it), traffic-lights are useless, colourful street ornaments (some people flippantly claim there's a hidden code associated with the colours though its meaning remains utterly unknown), zebra-crossings are parking places (a property also shared by bike trails and wheelchair ramps formerly designed to ease the handicapped daily struggle around the city), lifts are smoking rooms, litter bins are largely neglected (and the few days they receive attention, which accurately match traditional festivities, it is to be either detached from the locations they hang on - traffic-lights, walls or lamp-posts; as part of their ornamental accessories, so to speak - burned, or both), youngsters are more and more aggressive each day - and at increasingly earlier ages - smoking pot is the number one activity among teenagers to the point that its massive use seems to them absolutely essential to make the world go round, football matches (everything football in fact) are TV screen savers, good manners and education are utopias, noise is our everyday's companion (and taken for granted), rubbish carpets the pavement, local television is disgusting - to say the least (reality shows and sensationalist journalism devoted to air all sort of pathetic gossip columns play the role of educational programs whose aim is to enhance dormant feelings such as self-confidence, solidarity or freedom while achieving in the process a non-negligible standardization of the language skills and cultural level), politicians don't often measure up, and the identity of the native language seems condemned to be a recurrent issue forever and ever, to give but a few examples?

Nelder plot experiment.

Photo by Fiston Wasanga/CIFOR

cifor.org

forestsnews.cifor.org

If you use one of our photos, please credit it accordingly and let us know. You can reach us through our Flickr account or at: cifor-mediainfo@cgiar.org and m.edliadi@cgiar.org

Memories of bonfire night 2012

"Don't you Remember,

The Fifth of November,

'Twas Gunpowder Treason Day,

I let off my gun,

And made'em all run.

And Stole all their Bonfire away." (1742)

"Guy Fawkes Night, also known as Guy Fawkes Day, Bonfire Night and Firework Night, is an annual commemoration observed on 5 November, primarily in Great Britain. Its history begins with the events of 5 November 1605, when Guy Fawkes, a member of the Gunpowder Plot, was arrested while guarding explosives the plotters had placed beneath the House of Lords. Celebrating the fact that King James I had survived the attempt on his life, people lit bonfires around London, and months later the introduction of the Observance of 5th November Act enforced an annual public day of thanksgiving for the plot's failure.

Within a few decades Gunpowder Treason Day, as it was known, became the predominant English state commemoration, but as it carried strong religious overtones it also became a focus for anti-Catholic sentiment. Puritans delivered sermons regarding the perceived dangers of popery, while during increasingly raucous celebrations common folk burnt effigies of popular hate-figures, such as the pope. Towards the end of the 18th century reports appear of children begging for money with effigies of Guy Fawkes and 5 November gradually became known as Guy Fawkes Day. Towns such as Lewes and Guildford were in the 19th century scenes of increasingly violent class-based confrontations, fostering traditions those towns celebrate still, albeit peaceably. In the 1850s changing attitudes eventually resulted in the toning down of much of the day's anti-Catholic rhetoric, and in 1859 the original 1606 legislation was repealed. Eventually, the violence was dealt with, and by the 20th century Guy Fawkes Day had become an enjoyable social commemoration, although lacking much of its original focus. The present-day Guy Fawkes Night is usually celebrated at large organised events, centred around a bonfire and extravagant firework displays."

Source: Wikipedia

Website update: using #plotly v2 for statistics colectiacosticaacsinte.eu/status/