View allAll Photos Tagged Positioning.
NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy gives opening remarks at the 25th meeting of the Space-Based Positioning, Navigation, and Timing National Advisory Board, Thursday, Dec. 9, 2021, at the Sheraton Pentagon City Hotel in Arlington, Va. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)
Cárabo lapón
Rancho Texas Lanzarote Park
Lanzarote
Explore, highest position: 275 on Tuesday, October 13, 2015
Thanks a lot everybody! Muchas gracias a todos!
Having worked north from Wembley to Polmadie over two days at the weekend, GB Railfreight Class 92, 92010 returned south on the Monday night with the second rake of Mk5s for the roll-out of the new stock on the Highlander over the following few days.
The 5Z45 path was originally from Polmadie to Ferme Park, but was adjusted to go direct to Wembley.
Consist (Units 6 and 7): 15003 - 15109 - 15207 - 15323 - 15321 - 15317 - 15310 - 15208 - 15010 - 15107 - 15210 - 15334 - 15305 - 15327 - 15335 - 15315
Explored
Highest position: 264 on Wednesday, September 10, 2008
This image is much better on black and large View On Black
I don't see many Blue Jay's in Ontario anymore. I hear they are suscetible to West Nile, not sure if this is the reason
Anyway first bad cover post
The original I'll Stand By You The Prentenders (Chrissie Hynde)
This song has been covered a few times and I'm not saying it shouldn't be covered but if someone could point me to someone who's done it well...please do.
A couple of singers that tried and failed
And there are a suprising list of others including Rod Stewart and Patti Labelle
The trick to doing a good cover is bringing something of yourself to the song to make it your own.
Of course Chrissie Hynde is probably too much for most singers to follow
Still is you've heard this covered well by someone,let me know
NASA’s Tracking and Data Relay Satellites, known as TDRS-K, aboard an Atlas V rocket, was rolled to its launch position, Space Launch Complex 41, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station beginning at 10 a.m. January 29. TDRS-K will augment NASA’s space communications network, providing high data-rate communications to the International Space Station, Hubble Space Telescope, launch vehicles and a host of other spacecraft. “With this launch, NASA has begun the replenishment of our aging space network,” said Jeffrey Gramling, TDRS project manager. “This addition to our current fleet of seven, will provide even greater capabilities to a network that has become key to enabling many of NASA’s scientific discoveries.” The TDRS Project Office at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., manages the TDRS development program.
----
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- The first of NASA's three next-generation
Tracking and Data Relay Satellites (TDRS), known as TDRS-K, launched
at 8:48 p.m. EST Wednesday from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in
Florida.
"TDRS-K bolsters our network of satellites that provides essential
communications to support space exploration," said Badri Younes,
deputy associate administrator for Space Communications and
Navigation at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "It will improve the
overall health and longevity of our system."
The TDRS system provides tracking, telemetry, command and
high-bandwidth data return services for numerous science and human
exploration missions orbiting Earth. These include the International
Space Station and NASA's Hubble Space Telescope.
"With this launch, NASA has begun the replenishment of our aging space
network," said Jeffrey Gramling, TDRS project manager. "This addition
to our current fleet of seven will provide even greater capabilities
to a network that has become key to enabling many of NASA's
scientific discoveries."
TDRS-K was lifted into orbit aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V
rocket from Space Launch Complex-41. After a three-month test phase,
NASA will accept the spacecraft for additional evaluation before
putting the satellite into service.
The TDRS-K spacecraft includes several modifications from older
satellites in the TDRS system, including redesigned
telecommunications payload electronics and a high-performance solar
panel designed for more spacecraft power to meet growing S-band
requirements. Another significant design change, the return to
ground-based processing of data, will allow the system to service
more customers with evolving communication requirements.
The next TDRS spacecraft, TDRS-L, is scheduled for launch in 2014.
TDRS-M's manufacturing process will be completed in 2015.
NASA's Space Communications and Navigation Program, part of the Human
Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate at the agency's
Headquarters in Washington, is responsible for the space network. The
TDRS Project Office at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in
Greenbelt, Md., manages the TDRS development program. Launch services
were provided by United Launch Alliance. NASA's Launch Services
Program at the Kennedy Space Center was responsible for acquisition
of launch services.
For more information about TDRS, visit:
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission.
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script with touch menu
5 frame colours
shine on/off
10 different lens colours
4 transparency levels
4 glow levels
On nose or on head position switch with edited position auto save.
-Ok commander, I'm in position.
-Great, now we're just waiting for the seperatist troops to show up...
Variable wing-position. The bottom-right image is the angle it was at in the original version, but I feel that the top image is best representative of the in-game ship
Explored: Highest Position #110
Please see it here: On White or On Black
/ This photo was taken in the Bruce Peninsula National Park of Canada. One of the greatest hiking trails in the world and one of the most beautiful places on earth. Read up on it here:
www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/on/bruce/index_e.asp
&
and follow my pictures i'll be adding a couple a day every few days or so...Thanks for looking and please feel free to comment and criticize if you wish, i'm no professional and could always use some help. Thanks!
Felix
Thanks for the visit, comments, awards, invitations and favorites.
Please don't use this image on websites, blogs or other media without my explicit permission.
© All rights reserved
Contact: martin.matyas(at)hotmail.com
He is driving the ball on the highway just off the elevated parking loot!
Il frappe la balle sur l'autoroute qui est juste au delà du stationnement surélevé.
Strobist:
430EX on right high, using TTL.
Camera closed at F11 to get the sunset.
Next step..manual flash :-)
Made it to Explore
Highest position: 84
Highest Explore Position #244 ~ On October 20th 2008.
Tigers - Howletts Wildlife Park, Kent, England - Sunday October 19th 2008.
Click here to see the Larger image
Click here to see My most interesting images
Not the best shot I've every taken, because it's through a wire fence and from a distance, plus there were squillions of people in my way and twas hard to get a good angle...oh well as they say..:O)))
Hope everybody had a great weekend..:O)))
Explored :: position 382 on Apr 25, 2012
♥ o ♥ o ♥ Huge thanks to all of you wonderful friends for your comments and favs! ♥ o ♥ o ♥
Old Québec, its walled city perched high on a bluff above the Saint Lawrence River and the lower town or Quartier Petit-Champlain by the water's edge, has roots going back to the early seventeenth century. This entrance in an old stone building on Rue Saint-Jean is an example of some of the old-world charm that makes Québec so unique. Unfortunately, I didn’t notice the name of the restaurant as I walked by and quickly snapped this shot in the late evening.
Inert MIM-14 Nike Hercules missile raised to its launch position, after being brought up from its magazine by a hydraulic elevator system.
Nike Hercules Site SF-88L, the only restored Nike Hercules launch site in the United States. It is located within the Golden Gate National Recreation Area in Marin County, California, north of San Francisco.
Nike Missile Site SF-88L (National Park Service):
www.nps.gov/goga/nike-missile-site.htm
Golden Gate National Recreation Area
(National Park Service)
MIM-14 Nike Hercules (Wikipedia):
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIM-14_Nike_Hercules
"The Last Missile Site: An Operational and Physical History of Nike Site SF-88, Fort Barry, California"
by Stephen A. Haller and John A. Martini: www.holeintheheadpress.com/last_missile_site.html
"Winged Victory: The History of the Nike Missile Training Program At Fort Bliss" by William A. Dodge, Ph.D. and Timothy L. Sawyer, Ph.D.
Second exercise of the Strobist Lighting 102 series, 1.2: Position/Distance. This was interesting! It was puzzling me beforehand, and keeps on puzzling now that I did it. The goal was to vary the distance of the light source to the model, adjusting the power so that the model is always well exposed, keeping the rest constant. In principle, one could vary the background colour from white to black by controlling this distance.
Set-up: camera on a gorillapod tripod on a table, wireless remote release Phottix Cleon II C6, model-to-wall distane perhaps 2 meters. I was holding the flash (Canon 270 EX on PW FlexTT5) on my hand, and the remote flash was fired through PW MiniTT1 and AC3. The bare flash was on camera left, somewhat higher than the model. The flash was used in the wide-angle setting. ISO 100, 1/200 s, f/5.6.
I started with full power of the flash. My goal was to halve the distance every time, diminishing the flash power to one fourth (In the AC3, going from +3 to +1 to -1 to -3). For the darkest picture, I am not sure if the flash was at 1/32 or 1/64 power, I did not find it in the manual whether it would support 1/64.
What great result, and so easily! I am amazed by the black background. I have tried making it earlier, but that you could get it by putting the flash so close, that I had not realized.
This was so interesting that I might redo this later. Also finding a way to make the camera take sharp pictures - here I had focussed once in the beginning, and images are not sharp. But here the light was the point anyway.
Original assignment: strobist.blogspot.com/2007/06/lighting-102-12-position-di...
Highest Explore Position #260 ~ On February 26th 2008.
Clockwork Robot - Dr Who Exhibition, Land's End, Cornwall - Sunday February 17th 2008.
Episode Four: The Girl in the Fireplace
Clockwork Robots
Doctor Who
Race: Clockwork Robots
Type: Mechanical droids
Home planet: None
First appearance: The Girl in the Fireplace
The Clockwork Robots were created by a spacecrew from the 51st Century. When the ship was damaged, vital machinery was destroyed so they began to use the crew's body parts instead.
They managed to travel through time windows so they could meet Madame de Pompadoure to use her brain, only when she was at the right age though.
They had strange smiling faces and long black hair for their trips to France but were actually glass humanoid figures operated by space age clockwork technology.
They would break any clocks in the room to disguise their arrival and would slice open the parts of people where the organs could be found by their blades and saws in their hands.
The Doctor freezed them with ice guns but finally defeated them by destroying the time window causing them to break down. The Doctor managed to get back however by Madame de Pompadoure's fireplace.
Henry is on pole position waiting for the grid girls..
All my white cat's www.flickr.com/photos/stuart166axe/tags/whitecat
My Henry album flic.kr/s/aHBqjBWh
The position light signal was designed around 1920 by Alexander Holley Rudd, chief engineer of signals for the Pennsylvania Railroad. Rudd's design conveyed a signal indication without the use of color, in a way that achieved clarity in suboptimal weather conditions (like fog) with a minimum consumption of power.
Rudd's PRR was most well-known adherent to the position light, but his brainchild spread worldwide. Dwarf signals based on the Pennsylvania model are seen in the United Kingdom and various British Commonwealth countries, Scandinavia, Switzerland, Italy, and others.
Here we see dwarf signal 30 at Como San Giovanni station. As trains in Italy run left-handed, this signal governs the track to its rear. In Italian, this would be described as senso pari (even direction) on the binario illegale, which is to say "counter to the normal traffic flow." A North American would describe this as a signal governing northbound moves on a normally southbound track.
Casino Monte Carlo
I started travelling internationally right after finishing college when I took a teaching position in Kuwait. Over the decades of my career, my partner and I have continued to work in or explore different parts of the world. More recently, since taking early retirement, we manage to spend around five months away during Canadian winters.
I kept track of all the places with a blogged list. In 2018, I decided it would be useful to find a single, personal image to represent each country I've visited. I have put these into a single Flickr Album. A photograph may occasionally be updated if we have a return visit.
These are organized alphabetically. You should be able to go forward or background from the image's main page where you can also see the names, and dates. In most cases the EXE date is correct. Some images may have been scanned and dates approximated.
+++ DISCLAIMER +++
Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based historical facts. BEWARE!
Some background:
The Focke-Wulf Project VII Flitzer ("streaker" or "dasher", sometimes incorrectly translated as "madcap") was a jet fighter under development in Germany in World War II.
The design began as Focke-Wulf Project VI which had a central fuselage and two booms carrying the rear control surfaces having great similarity with the de Havilland Vampire. Project V had the air inlets still positioned on either side of the nose, just below the cockpit.
The estimated horizontal speed was not satisfactory and in the next development, Project VII, the jet intakes were situated in the wing roots. Further improvements over Project VI were a narrower fuselage and a changed pilot's canopy. In order to improve the rate of climb, a Walter HWK 109-509 hypergolic liquid-propellant rocket was added.
In spite of the fact that a complete mock-up was built and all construction and assembly plans finished, the aircraft was not accepted by the RLM (Reich Air Ministry, or Reichsluftfahrtministerium).
But the design was not shelved, though: with the Project VIII, Focke-Wulf began a design study for a turboprop-powered fighter-bomber. It was based on the work previously done on Project VII, but became a very different aircraft.
Biggest change of the Project VIII was its turboprop engine, based on the Heinkel S 011 jet engine. While the engine was still placed in the section behind the wing main spar, the power shaft that ran through the lower fuselage and drove a three-bladed variable pitch propeller required major changes. For instance, the front wheel had to be lengthened in order to make enough room for the propeller.
To accomodate the new gearbox and a bigger front landing gear well, the whole aircraft nose had to be modified, too. The front wheel now retracted backwards and rotated by 90°, so that it could lie flat under the power shaft, flanked by two machine cannons. Two more were mounted in the wings, which were at an initial stage taken over wholesale from the P.VII, and a heavy 30mm MK 108 autocannon fired through the propeller hub.
Due to the aircraft's "nose-up" position on the ground, the tail arrangement was changed and simplified, too: the Flitzer's twin boom gave way to a more conventional single boom above the jet exhaust, ending in a simple tail with swept surfaces. This had the positive side effects of better aerodynamics, as well as a reduced overall weight.
The design was submitted to the RLM in November 1944 and quickly accepted, despite serious delays with the DB 109-021 turboprop engine. This was eventually ready in May 1945, when first tests and the Fw 260's maiden flight (how the type was now officially designated, the two prototypes having the suffix A-0) took place.
The turboprop was a very effective engine, especially at low and medium altitude, where the Project VIII would outperfrom any contemporary pure piston engine fighter. It was also more manoueverable than comparable jet fighters (esp. concerning acceleration and rate of climb - the aircraft was able to climb twice as fast as the former pure jet Flitzer design), and operations only required much shorter runways for operations.
The initial Fw 260 A-1 was delivered to front line units in late 1945 and immediately thrown into the defensive battles at the Eastern front, where they flew missions against point targets and even night time missions.
An improved version with new, thinner wings and a slightly increased sweep for even better performance, the A-2, was scheduled to enter production in summer 1946, but the end of hostilities limited overall production to less than 100 Fw 260 A-1.
General characteristics:
Crew: One pilot
Length: 10,30 m (33 ft 8 3/4 in)
Wingspan: 8.00 m (26 ft 2 in)
Wing sweep: 30° at quarter chord
Height: 3,31 m (10 ft 10 in)
Wing area: 17.0 m2 (183 ft2)
Empty weight: 3.396 kg (7.486 lb)
Gross weight: 4.900 kg (10.802 lb)
Powerplant:
1× Daimler-Benz DB 109-021 turboprop, rated at 1,491 kW (2,000 hp)
plus 770 kp (1.697 lb) residual thrust
Performance:
Maximum speed: 900 km/h (559 mph) at 9.000 m (30.00 0ft)
Range: 1.020 km (633 miles) on internal fuel at 7.000 m (23.000 ft)
Endurance: 1 hour 17 min at full load and at 7.000 m (23.000 ft)
Service ceiling: 13,000 m (42,500 ft)
Rate of climb: 39 m/s (128 ft/sec)
Armament:
1× 30 mm (1.18 in) MK 108 cannon (40 RPG), firing through the propeller hub
4× 20 mm MG 213 cannons, one pair in the lower front fuselage and one in each wing,
each with 100 RPG.
Up to 1.000kg (2.202 lb) of external ordnance at two wing hardpoints, including bombs
of up to 500 kg (1.100 lb) caliber, drop tanks, racks with unguided missiles, or podded
cannons
The kit and its assembly:
I had this Luft '46 project on the list for a while, and while waiting for parts for other projects I decided to dig a Revell "Flitzer" kit out of the pile and start a quick conversion.
Yes, this one is based on a real German project: Fact is that this one was a turboprop-powered derivative of the pure jet Flitzer, with swept surfaces and a conventional tail boom. And it was intended as an attack aircraft, not a fighter.
Its designation, be it internally or through the RLM, varies widely, though. Some sources call it "Project VIII" (because the Flitzer was Project VII), but that's doubtful because there were several iterations with twin and single boom arrangements, as well as different wing shapes (ranging from the Flitzer's clipped delta shape to swept, slender wings that remind of the F-86).
Unicraft did a resin kit of this paper project, calling it "P.127" for whatever reason, and they also did a kit of its twin-boom predecessor - the latter being christened Fw 258 by Unicraft, even though this number had not been allocated by the RLM.
I took that idea up and gave my creation the fictional designation Fw 260 - the "260" was never used by the RLM, too, and it is even uncertain which number the Flitzer would have had, had it been built or accepted for Luftwaffe service.
Anyway, changing the Revell Flitzer into its successor was not an easy task. It started with a new nose that would not only carry the scratched propeller, it would also have to blend into the trapezoid diameter of the original "pod" fuselage. The solution was found through a rear drop tank end from a vintage Revell F4U that was cut in two pieces: the rear tip would become the propeller spinner (onto which single, deep blades from a vintage Frog Ta 152 were glued), while the rest replaced the original Flitzer nose and holds a 6x6mm, square styrene tube inside that carries the propeller on a round styrene axis. It's even spinning!
Because this scratched arrangement needed space, the original front landing gear well had to be cut away, as well as parts of the cockpit floor. Lots of putty created some new nose lines, and before the hull was glued together as much lead as possible was hidden behind the cockpit and even inside of the front landing gear well.
The cockpit was taken almost OOB: I just used a deeper seat - the original part looks tiny, but the cockpit is really cramped so that a replacement was not easy to fit in.
At the pod's rear end, a new tail had to be created. First measure was to "reverse" the original exhaust position, flipping it from top to bottom, and adding a tail boom as a spine extension. The boom is actually a tail from a Hobby Boss P-39, which was considerably modified and cut into shape. Again, lots of putty smoothed out the lines.
With the tail in place and the new, longer nose, the wings' position was not right anymore. Consequently, the wings were moved forward by 7mm - an easy task, thanks to the kit's construction. New stabilizers were scratched from the spares box, too.
Speaking of the wings: the Flitzer's toeholds for the twin tail booms had to disappear, too - done through cutting and putty inserts on/in the wings' trailing edges. Worked pretty well.
The landing gear was taken OOB from the original kit. The front wheel wa not inserted as deep as in the Flitzer (there's no space anymore, anyway...) and slightly offset - profile drawings from Focke Wulf suggest such an arrangement, probably due to the power shaft that had to run somewhere under the cockpit floor.
Another issue became the new, forward position of the wings: this would push the tail even more down. So, I added a 3mm console at the main gear struts' bases - just enough to get the tail high enough for a plausible ground position. The real aircraft would have had a high nose, too, so the odd look is not as farfetched as it might seem.
Final touches included additional underwing hardpoints and a pair of 250 kg bombs (IIRC, from an Italeri Ju 188), outfitted with scratched fuze extensions for soggy ground, suitable ordnance for the intended ground attack role.
Painting and markings:
The late WWII canon for German aircraft leaves not much room for paint scheme experiments, but I did not want to repeat myself. So I was lucky to find a real Me 262 in the rather odd night paint scheme that I eventually used - and the result is... interesting.
Top cammo basically consists of RLM 81 and 82 (Braunviolett and Light Green enamels, from Modelmaster's Authentic line) in wavy, but sharply defined fields. On the fuselage flanks, RLM 81 and 82 also feature "counter-blotches" of the respective other tone. The undersides are painted black (RLM 22) - originally, this could also have been dark grey (RLM 66), but I found black more attractive, also as a contrast to the dark grey landing gear.
Markings were minimal on the Me 262 paradigm: all insignia in a simplified version, and even in black on the flanks. The only code was red number (outlined in white) - that's all! On the kit I added the heart emblems and the red spinner with a white spiral as a personal touch, but the aircraft still looks murky and purposeful - for night attack sorties.
The basic tones were shaded with lighter colors, including Humbrol 120, 155 and 32. Since the putty work on the fuselage made almost any engraving disappear, I added painted panel lines (with the help of some Tamiya "Smoke").
The exhaust area was painted with Modelmaster Metallizer and treated with grinded graphite, which was also used to add soot stains around the many gun nozzles.
The decals were puzzled together, stencils were taken over from the Flitzer Sheet - and these many red bits make the dark aircraft a bit more lively. Finally, everything was sealed under a coat of matt Revell Acrylics varnish.
Even if this model does not look like it: it was a major surgery job, especially the nose and the landing gear caused severe headaches. But the result looks pretty cool and sleek, and the unique paint schem adds to the mysterious look of this Luft '46 whif.
The Lost World (20th Century Fox, 1960).
youtu.be/h1CLA-gJbmA?t=5s Trailer
Irwin Allen, the producer who would go on to make the disaster film a huge success in the seventies, brought us this Saturday afternoon fodder with giant lizards posing as dinosaurs. Starring Michael Rennie, David Hedison, Claude Rains and Jill St. John.
Intended as a grand sci-fi/fantasy epic remake of Arthur Conan Doyle's classic novel. The first film adaptation, shot in 1925, was a milestone in many ways, but movie making and special effects had come a long way in 35 years. Irwin Allen's Lost World (LW) & 20th Century Fox version was derailed on the way to greatness, but managed to still be a respectable, (if more modest) A-film. Allen's screenplay followed the book fairly well, telling of Professor Challenger's expedition to a remote plateau in the Amazon upon which dinosaurs still lived. Aside from the paleontological presumptions in the premise, there is little "science" in The Lost World. Nonetheless, dinosaur movies have traditionally been lumped into the sci-fi genre.
Synopsis
When his plane lands in London, crusty old professor George Edward Challenger is besieged by reporters questioning him about his latest expedition to the headwaters of the Amazon River. After the irascible Challenger strikes reporter Ed Malone on the head with his umbrella, Jennifer Holmes, the daughter of Ed's employer, Stuart Holmes, offers the injured reporter a ride into town. That evening, Jenny is escorted by Lord John Roxton, an adventurer and big game hunter, to Challenger's lecture at the Zoological Institute, and Ed invites them to sit with him. When Challenger claims to have seen live dinosaurs, his colleague Professor Summerlee scoffs and asks for evidence. Explaining that his photographs of the creatures were lost when his boat overturned, Challenger invites Summerlee to accompany him on a new expedition to the "lost world," and asks for volunteers. When Roxton raises his hand, Jenny insists on going with him, but she is rejected by Challenger because she is a woman. Ed is given a spot after Holmes offers to fund the expedition if the reporter is included. The four then fly to the Amazon, where they are met by Costa, their guide and Manuel Gomez, their helicopter pilot. Arriving unexpectedly, Jenny and her younger brother David insist on joining them. Unable to arrange transportation back to the United States, Challenger reluctantly agrees to take them along. The next day, they take off for the lost world and land on an isolated plateau inhabited by dinosaurs. That evening, a dinosaur stomps out of the jungle, sending them scurrying for cover. After the beast destroys the helicopter and radio, the group ventures inland. When one of the creatures bellows threateningly, they flee, and in their haste, Challenger and Ed slip and tumble down a hillside, where they encounter a native girl. The girl runs into the jungle, but Ed follows and captures her. They then all take refuge in a cave, where Roxton, who has been making disparaging remarks about Jenny's desire to marry him solely for his title, angers Ed. Ed lunges at Roxton, pushing him to the ground, where he finds a diary written by Burton White, an adventurer who hired Roxton three years earlier to lead him to the lost diamonds of Eldorado. Roxton then admits that he never met White and his party because he was delayed by a dalliance with a woman, thus abandoning them to certain death. Gomez angrily snaps that his good friend Santiago perished in the expedition. That night, Costa tries to molest the native girl, and David comes to her rescue and begins to communicate with her through sign language. After Gomez goes to investigate some movement he spotted in the vegetation, he calls for help, and when Roxton runs out of the cave, a gunshot from an unseen assailant is fired, nearly wounding Roxton and sending the girl scurrying into the jungle. Soon after, Ed and Jenny stray from camp and are pursued by a dinosaur, and after taking refuge on some cliffs, watch in horror as their stalker becomes locked in combat with another prehistoric creature and tumbles over the cliffs into the waters below. Upon returning to camp, they discover it deserted, their belongings in disarray. As David stumbles out from some rocks to report they were attacked by a tribe of natives, the cannibals return and imprison them in a cave with the others. As the drums beat relentlessly, signaling their deaths, the native girl reappears and motions for them to follow her through a secret passageway that leads to the cave in which Burton White lives, completely sightless. After confirming that all in his expedition perished, White tells them of a volcanic passageway that will lead them off the plateau, but warns that they must first pass through the cave of fire. Cautioning them that the natives plan to sacrifice them, White declares that their only chance of survival is to slip through the cave and then seal it with a boulder. After giving them directions to the cave, White asks them to take the girl along. As the earth, on the verge of a volcanic eruption, quakes, they set off through the Graveyard of the Damned, a vast cavern littered with dinosaur skeletons, the victims of the deadly sulfurous gases below. Pursued by the ferocious natives, Roxton takes the lead as they inch their way across a narrow ledge above the molten lava. After escaping the natives, they jam the cave shut with a boulder and, passing a dam of molten lava, finally reach the escape passage. At its mouth is a pile of giant diamonds and a dinosaur egg. As Costa heaps the diamonds into his hat, Challenger fondles the egg and Gomez pulls a gun and announces that Roxton must die in exchange for the death of Santiago, Gomez' brother. Acting quickly, Ed hurls the diamonds at Gomez, throwing him off balance and discharging his gun. The gunshot awakens a creature slumbering in the roiling waters below. After the beast snatches Costa and eats him alive, Ed tries to dislodge the dam, sending a few scorching rocks tumbling down onto the monster. Feeling responsible for the peril of the group, Gomez sacrifices his life by using his body as a lever to dislodge the dam, covering the creature with oozing lava. As the cave begins to crumble from the impending eruption, the group hurries to safety. Just then, the volcano explodes, destroying the lost world. After Roxton hands Ed a handful of diamonds he has saved as a wedding gift for him and Jenny, Challenger proudly displays his egg, which then hatches, revealing a baby dinosaur. The End.
The 50s had seen several examples of the dinosaur sub-genre. LW is one of the more lavish ones, owing to color by DeLuxe and CinemaScope. The A-level actors help too. Claude Rains plays the flamboyant Challenger. Michael Rennie plays Roxton, perhaps a bit too cooly. Jill St. John and Vitina Marcus do well as the customary eye candy. David Hedison as Malone and Fernando Lamas as Gomez round out the bill.
The first film version of LW was a silent movie shot in 1925: screenplay by Marion Fairfax. The film featured stop-motion animated dinosaurs by a young Willis O'Brien. Fairfax followed Doyle's text, but Fairfax added a young woman to the team, Paula White. Ostensibly trying to find her father from the first failed expedition, she provided the love triangle interest between Malone and Roxton.
Allen's screenplay tried to stick to Doyle's text as much as Hollywood would allow. It carried on Fairfax's invention of the young woman member of the group as triangle fodder. Fairfax had Doyle's ape men (ape man) but omitted the native humans. Allen had the natives, but no ape men. Allen revived the Gomez/revenge subplot, which Fairfax skipped. Doyle's story had Challenger bringing back a pterodactyl. Fairfax made it a brontosaur who rampaged through London streets (spawning a popular trope). Allen suggested the baby dinosaur traveling to London.
Willis O'Brien pitched 20th Century Fox in the late 50s, to do a quality remake of LW. He had gained much experience in the intervening 35 years, so his stop-motion dinosaurs were to be the real stars. Fox bass liked the idea, but by the time the ball started rolling, there was trouble in studioland. Fox's grand epic Cleopatra was underway, but was already 5 million dollars over budget. Cleo would nearly sink 20th Century Fox when it was finally released in 1963. To stay afloat, all other Fox films' budgets were slashed. Allen could no longer afford the grand O'Brien stop-motion.
Allen's production is often criticized for its "cheap" dinosaurs, which were live monitor lizards and alligators with fins and plates and horns glue onto them. (more on that below) These were already a bit cheesy when used in the 1940 film One Million B.C.. O'Brien is still listed on the credits as "Effects Technician," but all Allen could afford was lizards with glued on extras. Somewhat amusingly, the script still refers to them as brontosaurs and T-Rexes.
The character of Jennifer Holmes starts out promising. She's a self-assured to the edges of pushy, and is said to be able to out shoot and out ride any man. Yet, when she gets to the Amazon jungle, she's little more than Jungle Barbie, dressed in girlie clothes and screaming frequently. She even does the typical Hollywood trip-and-fall when chased by the dinosaur, so that a man must save her.
Bottom line? FW is a finer example of the not-quite-sci-fi dinosaur sub-genre. The actors are top drawer, even if some of their acting is a bit flat. Nonetheless, FW is a fair adaptation of Doyle's
classic adventure novel, given the constraints of Hollywood culture.
The Movie Club Annals … Review
The Lost World 1960
Introduction
There was absolutely nothing wrong with Irwin Allen's 1960 production of The Lost World. Nothing. It was perfect in every way. I therefore find myself in the unique and unfamiliar position of having to write a rave review about a Movie Club movie that was entirely devoid of flaws.
Faced with such a confounding task, I half-heartedly considered faking a bad review, then praying my obvious deceptions would go unnoticed. But the patent transparency of my scheme convinced me to abandon it posthaste. After all, leveling concocted criticisms at such an unassailable masterpiece would be a futile and tiresome exercise, the pretense of which would escape nary a semi-cognizant soul.
Thus, having retreated from my would-be descent into literary intrigue, I start this review in earnest by borrowing a quote from the legendary Shelly Winters, spoken during the 1972 filming of Irwin Allen's The Poseidon Adventure:
"I'm ready for my close up now, Mr. Allen.” Shelly Winters, 1972
Review
A bit of research into the casting choices of Irwin Allen, who wrote, produced, and directed The Lost World, begins to reveal the genius behind the virtuosity.
The first accolades go to Irwin for his casting of Vitina Marcus, the immaculately groomed Saks 5th Avenue cave girl with exquisite taste in makeup, jewelry, and cave-wear. No finer cave girl ever graced a feature film.
Vitina Marcus, as The Cave Girl
She was the picture of prehistoric glamour, gliding across the silver screen in her designer bearskin mini-pelt, her flawless coiffure showing no signs of muss from the traditional courting rituals of the day, her perfect teeth the envy of even the most prototypical Osmond. Even her nouveau-opposable thumbs retained their manicure, in spite of the oft-disagreeable duties that frequently befell her as an effete member of the tribal gentry.
By no means just another Neanderthal harlot, Vitina had a wealth of talent to augment her exterior virtues. Her virtuoso interpretation of a comely cave girl in The Lost World certainly didn't escape the attention Irwin Allen. In fact, he was so taken with her performance that he later engaged her services again, casting her as the Native Girl in episode 2.26 of his Voyage to The Bottom of The Sea TV series.
Leery of potential typecasting, Vitina went on to obtain roles with greater depth and more sophisticated dialogue. This is evidenced by the great departure she took from her previous roles when she next portrayed the part of Sarit, a female barbarian, in episode 1.24 of Irwin Allen's The Time Tunnel TV series.
Vitina, as Sarit
Vitina's efforts to avoid typecasting paid off in spades, as she was soon rewarded with the distinctive role of Girl, a female Tarzanesque she-beast character, in episode 3.14 of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. TV series.
Lured back from the U.N.C.L.E. set by Irwin Allen, Vitina was next cast in the role of Athena (a.k.a. Lorelei), the green space girl with the inverted lucite salad bowl hat, in episodes 2.2 and 2.16 of the revered Lost in Space TV series.
And with this, Vitina reached the pinnacle of her career. For her many unparalleled displays of thespian pageantry, she leaves us forever in her debt as she exits the stage.
For those who would still question the genius of Irwin Allen, I defy you to find a better casting choice for the character of Lord John Roxton than that of Michael Rennie. Mr. Rennie, who earlier starred as Klaatu in The Day the Earth Stood Still, went on to even greater heights, starring as The Keeper in episodes 1.16 and 1.17 of the revered Lost in Space TV series. Throughout his distinguished career, Mr. Rennie often played highly cerebral characters with
unique names, such as Garth A7, Tribolet, Hasani, Rama Kahn, Hertz, and Dirk. How befitting that his most prolific roles came to him through a man named Irwin, a highly cerebral character with a unique name.
The selection of David Hedison to play Ed Malone was yet another example of Irwin's uncanny foresight. Soon after casting him in The Lost World, Irwin paved Mr. Hedison's path to immortality by casting him as a lead character in his Voyage to The Bottom of The Sea TV series. Although Voyage ended in 1968, Mr. Hedison departed the show with a solid resume and a bright future.
In the decades following Voyage, Mr. Hedison has been a veritable fixture on the small screen, appearing in such socially influential programs as The Love Boat, Fantasy Island, Knight Rider, The Fall Guy and The A Team. Mr. Hedison's early collaborations with Irwin Allen have left him never wanting for a day's work in Hollywood, a boon to the legions of discerning fans who continue to savor his inspiring prime time depictions.
Irwin selected Fernando Lamas to play Manuel Gomez, the honorable and tortured soul of The Lost World who needlessly sacrificed himself at the end of the movie to save all the others. To get a feel for how important a casting decision he was to Irwin, just look at the pertinent experience Mr. Lamas brought to the table:
Irwin knew that such credentials could cause him to lose the services of Mr. Lamas to another project, and he took great pains to woo him onto the set of The Lost World. And even though Mr. Lamas never appeared in the revered Lost in Space TV series, his talent is not lost on us.
Jay Novello was selected by Irwin Allen to play Costa, the consummate Cuban coward who perpetually betrays everyone around him in the name of greed. In pursuing his craven calling, Mr. Novello went on to play Xandros, the Greek Slave in Atlantis, The Lost Continent, as well as countless other roles as a coward.
Although Mr. Novella never appeared in the revered Lost in Space TV series, his already long and distinguished career as a coward made him the obvious choice for Irwin when the need for an experienced malingerer arose.
Jill St. John was Irwin's pick to play Jennifer Holmes, the "other" glamour girl in The Lost World. Not to be upstaged by glamour-cave-girl Vitina Marcus, Jill played the trump card and broke out the pink go-go boots and skin-tight Capri pants, the perfect Amazonian summertime jungle wear.
Complete with a perfect hairdo, a killer wardrobe, a little yip-yip dog named Frosty, and all the other trappings of a wealthy and pampered prehistoric society, Jill's sensational allure rivaled even that of a certain cave girl appearing in the same film.
With the atmosphere rife for an on-set rivalry between Jill and Vitina, Irwin still managed to keep the peace, proving that he was as skilled a diplomat as he was a director.
Claude Rains, as Professor George Edward Challenger
And our cup runneth over, as Irwin cast Claude Rains to portray Professor George Edward Challenger. His eminence, Mr. Rains is an entity of such immeasurable virtue that he is not in need of monotonous praise from the likes of me.
I respectfully acknowledge the appearance of Mr. Rains because failure to do so would be an unforgivable travesty. But I say nothing more on the subject, lest I state something so obvious and uninspiring as to insult the intelligence of enlightened reader.
Irwin's casting of the cavemen mustn't be overlooked, for their infallibly realistic portrayals are unmatched within the Pleistocene Epoch genre of film. Such meticulous attention to detail is what separates Irwin Allen from lesser filmmakers, whose pale imitations of his work only further to underscore the point.
To be sure, it is possible to come away with the unfounded suspicion that the cavemen are really just a bunch of old white guys from the bar at the local Elks lodge. But Irwin was an absolute stickler for authenticity, and would never have allowed the use of such tawdry measures to taint his prehistoric magnum opus.
In truth, Irwin's on-screen cavemen were borne of many grueling years of anthropological research, so the explanation for their somewhat modern, pseudo-caucasian appearance lies obviously elsewhere. And in keeping with true Irwin Allen tradition, that explanation will not be offered here.
1964 - Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Season One, Episode 7 - "Turn Back the Clock", featuring Vitina Marcus as The Native Girl. Produced by Irwin Allen.
And then there was Irwin Allen's masterful handling of the reptilian facets of The Lost World, most notably his inimitable casting of the dinosaurs. His dinosaurs were so realistic, so eerily lifelike, that they almost looked like living, breathing garden variety lizards with dinosaur fins and horns glued to their backs and heads.
The less enlightened viewer might even suppose this to be true, that Irwin's dinosaurs were indeed merely live specimens of lizards, donned in Jurassic-era finery, vastly magnified, and retro-fitted into The Lost World via some penny-wise means of cinematic trickery.
But those of us in the know certainly know better than that, as we are privy to some otherwise unpublished information about The Lost World. The lifelike appearance of the Irwin's dinosaurs can be attributed to a wholly overlooked and fiendishly cunning approach to the art of delusion, which is that the dinosaurs didn't just look real, they were real.
While the world abounds with middling minds who cannot fathom such a reality, we must follow Irwin's benevolent leanings and temper our natural feelings of contempt for this unfortunate assemblage of pedestrian lowbrows. In spite of Irwin's superior intellect, he never felt disdain toward the masses that constituted his audiences. He simply capitalized on their unaffectedness, and in the process recounted the benefits of exploiting the intellectually bereft for personal gain.
The purpose of all this analysis, of course, is to place an exclamation point on the genius of Irwin Allen, the formation of his dinosaur exposé being a premier example. Note how he mindfully manipulates the expectations of his unsuspecting audience, compelling them to probe the dinosaurs for any signs of man-made chicanery. Then, at the palatial moment when the dinosaurs make their entry, he guilefully supplants the anticipated display of faux reptilia with that of the bona fide article.
Upon first witnessing the de facto dinosaurs, some in the audience think they've been had, and indeed they have. Irwin, in engineering his masterful ruse, had used reality as his medium to convey the illusion of artifice. His audience, in essence, was blinded by the truth. It was the immaculate deception, and none but Irwin Allen could have conceived it.
Indeed, the matter of where the live dinosaurs came from has been conspicuously absent from this discussion, as the Irwinian technique of fine film making strongly discourages the practice of squandering time on extraneous justifications and other such trite means of redundant apologia. For the benefit of the incessantly curious, however, just keep in mind that Irwin Allen wrote and produced The Time Tunnel TV Series, a fact that should provide some fair insight into his modis operandi.
Carl R.
Dunbar Castle was one of the strongest fortresses in Scotland, situated in a prominent position overlooking the harbour of the town of Dunbar, in East Lothian. Several fortifications were built successively on the site, near the English-Scottish border. The last was slighted in 1567; it is a ruin today.
The body of buildings measured in excess of 165 feet (50 m) from east to west, and in some places up to 210 feet (64 m) from north to south. The South Battery, which Grose supposes to have been the citadel or keep, is situated on a detached perpendicular rock, only accessible on one side, 72 feet (22 m) high, and is connected to the main part of the castle by a passage of masonry measuring 69 feet (21 m). The interior of the citadel measures 54 by 60 feet (16 m × 18 m) within the walls. Its shape is octagonal. Five of the gun-ports remain, which are called the 'arrow-holes'. They measure 4 feet (1.2 m) at the mouth and only 16 inches (41 cm) at the other end. The buildings are arched and extend 8 feet (2.4 m) from the outer walls, and look into an open court, whence they derive their light.
About the middle of the fortress, part of a wall remains, through which there is a gateway, surmounted with armorial bearings. This gate seems to have led to the principal apartments. In the centre, are the arms of George, 10th Earl of Dunbar, who succeeded his uncle in 1369, and who besides the earldom of Dunbar and March, inherited the Lordship of Annandale and the Isle of Man from his heroic aunt, Black Agnes of Dunbar. They must have been placed there after his succession, as he was the first who assumed those sculptured Arms: viz, a large triangular shield, and thereon a lion rampant, within a bordure charged with eight roses. The shield is adorned with a helmet, carrying a crest: a horse's head bridled. On the right are the Arms of the Bruces, and on the left those of the Isle of Man.
The castle towers had communication with the sea, and dip low in many places. North-east from the front of the castle is a large natural cavern, chiefly of black stone, which looks like the mouth of the Acheron – a place that leads to melancholy streams. This spot is supposed to have formed part of the dungeon where prisoners were confined, such as Gavin Douglas, Bishop of Dunkeld, who was a prisoner here in 1515. There is, however, also a dark postern which gives access to a rocky inlet from the sea, and it seems probable that it was through this that Sir Alexander Ramsay and his followers entered with a supply of provisions to the besieged in 1338.
It was long said the castle was invulnerable, possibly because of the many sieges it sustained. The castle was built with a red stone similar to that found in the quarries near Garvald. Large masses of walls, which have fallen beneath the weight of time, appear to be vitrified or run together. In the north-west part of the ruins is an apartment about 12 feet (3.7 m) square, and nearly inaccessible, which tradition states was the apartment of Mary, Queen of Scots.
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Burning Man Festival 2016
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Recent trip to Amsterdam to visit the city and the keukenhof for the tulips using Pentax Spotmatic and Ilford XP2 Super film
WALNEY LIGHTHOUSE WAS BUILT IN 1790, AND POSITIONED AT HAWS POINT ON THE ISLAND. ITS PURPOSE WAS TO IMPROVE THE NAVIGATION OF THE RIVER LUNE AND ACT AS A GUIDE FOR CARGO SHIPS FROM THE WEST INDIES BOUND FOR THE GLASSON DOCKS. THE LIGHTHOUSE WAS NOT BUILT TO BENEFIT BARROW, AS IT WAS ONLY A SMALL FISHING COMMUNITY AT THIS TIME.
THE LIGHTHOUSE WAS BUILT OF STONE QUARRIED FROM OVERTON IN LANCASHIRE AND TRANSPORTED TO THE SITE BY SHIP. THE OCTAGONAL TOWER IS 70 FEET HIGH AND RESTS ON A CIRCULAR FOUNDATION 20 FEET 6 INCHES IN DIAMETER. THERE ARE 91 STEPS UP TO THE TOP OF THE LIGHTHOUSE. THE ORIGINAL LIGHT WAS AN ARGENT BURNER, A TYPE OF PARAFFIN LAMP.
IN 1909 AN ACETYLENE GASLIGHT SYSTEM WAS INSTALLED WHICH FLASHED AT ONE MINUTE INTERVALS. IN 1953 THIS WAS REPLACED WITH AN ELECTRIC LIGHT WHICH FLASHES AT 15 SECOND INTERVALS. THE NEW LIGHT IS 30 TIMES MORE POWERFUL (450,000 CANDLE POWER) AND HAS A RANGE OF 18 MILES COMPARED TO 13 MILES OF ITS GAS PREDECESSOR. THE ELECTRIC LIGHT WAS FIRST POWERED BY ITS OWN GENERATOR, NOT BEING CONNECTED TO THE NATIONAL GRID UNTIL 1969. THIS GUIDING LIGHT CAN EVEN BE SEEN FROM BLACKPOOL.
ATTACHED TO THE LIGHTHOUSE ARE TWO HOUSES IN WHICH THE KEEPER AND STAFF LIVE. THESE HOUSES WERE ORIGINALLY ONE HOUSE, WHICH WAS BUILT FOR THE FIRST FULL-TIME KEEPER. THE HOUSE WAS DIVIDED INTO TWO IN THE LATE 19TH CENTURY. AT THIS TIME THE LIGHTHOUSE’S ONLY WATER SOURCE CAME FROM THE RAIN AND THE ONLY LIGHTING CAME FROM CANDLES.
DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR, THE HOUSE WAS USED AS AN OFFICERS' MESS WHEN 170 SOLDIERS WERE ENCAMPED AT THE LIGHTHOUSE AS PART OF THE COASTAL DEFENCE NETWORK. IN 1946 14 PRISONERS OF WAR WERE MOVED INTO THE CAMP. THEY DID ODD JOBS AROUND THE LIGHTHOUSE IN RETURN FOR CIGARETTES AND FOOD. THE REMAINS OF THE BARRACKS ARE STILL VISIBLE.
TODAY THE LIGHTHOUSE IS RUN BY THE PORT OF LANCASTER COMMISSIONERS AND CONTAINS A RADIO BEACON FOR TRINITY HOUSE, FORMING A MAJOR LINK IN THE BRITISH COASTGUARD SYSTEM. ALTHOUGH THE LIGHTHOUSE IS NO LONGER OPEN TO THE PUBLIC, IT CAN BE VIEWED FROM THE OUTSIDE.