Preamble photos on Flickr

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click to activate the icon of slideshow: the small triangle inscribed in the small rectangle, at the top right, in the photostream;

or…. Press the “L” button to zoom in the image;

clicca sulla piccola icona per attivare lo slideshow: sulla facciata principale del photostream, in alto a destra c'è un piccolo rettangolo (rappresenta il monitor) con dentro un piccolo triangolo nero;

oppure…. premi il tasto “L” per ingrandire l'immagine;

www.worldphoto.org/sony-world-photography-awards/winners-...

www.fotografidigitali.it/gallery/2726/opere-italiane-segn...

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The island of Sicily is a land that you never stop discovering, rich in natural treasures, artistic works, artifacts that are the fruit of human ingenuity, in its historical and cultural panorama it is the popular traditions that represent an unparalleled "eco living, static and dynamic at the same time "that exist (and persist) becoming visible, only when it is the people themselves who decide to give voice to them, traditions whose roots sink into a dark and distant past made up of stratified cultures between them, very often synonymous with wars and dominations, to throw ever green leaves in the present: this as a preamble to what I am going to describe in words and photographs, of the traditional folk festival of the "Maiorchino tournament", unique in its kind, which is is held this year in the Sicilian town of Novara di Sicilia. This ancient medieval center is an ancient village located in the province of Messina, whose name seems to come from a transformation of the ancient Latin name Noa into the Arabic language Nouah, which means "flower garden", to indicate the beauty of this territory, so appreciated by the Arabs when they settled here. The “Maiorchino Tournament” is a game that was once very popular in the province of Messina (Sicily) in the areas of the Nebrodi and Peloritani mountains, but which today survives exclusively in the town of Novara di Sicilia; the game-competition, complete with cheering towards the various teams, takes place during the Carnival period, it is a team competition (each team consists of three players, both men and women), which consists in throwing a heavy circular shape the precious Novara di Sicilia cheese called “Maiorchino” (cheese made with sheep's and goat's milk, whose weight varies between 10 and 12 kg); to throw the heavy cheese the players use a rope that is wound (as if it were a yo-yo) along the circumference of the cheese, a rope that is previously treated with pitch, to make it more "sticky" when it is unrolled during the launch; the route is downhill and is in stages, the total length of which is about one kilometer; to complete the entire course each team will have to do a lot of throws, the team that completes the entire course with fewer throws as possible wins. The photographs of the tournament, both for men and women, I took on Shrove Tuesday this year 2022, while the last two past editions were not taken due to the covid-19 pandemic.

L’isola di Sicilia è una terra che non si finisce mai di scoprire, ricchissima di tesori naturali, di opere artistiche, di manufatti frutto dell’ingegno umano, nel suo panorama storico e culturale sono le tradizioni popolari quelle che rappresentano una ineguagliabile “eco vivente, statica e dinamica al tempo stesso” che esistono (e persistono) divenendo visibili, solo nel momento in cui è il popolo stesso che decide di dare voce ad esse, tradizioni le cui radici sprofondano in un oscuro e lontano passato fatto di culture stratificate tra loro, molto spesso sinonimo di guerre e dominazioni, per gettare foglie sempre verdi nel presente: questo come preambolo di quanto vado a descrivere in parole e fotografie, della tradizionale festa popolare del “torneo del Maiorchino”, unica nel suo genere, che si è tenuto quest’anno nel paese siciliano di Novara di Sicilia. Questo antico centro medioevale è un antico borgo situato in provincia di Messina, Il cui nome sembrerebbe provenire da una trasformazione dell’antico nome latino Noa nella lingua araba Nouah, che significa “giardino fiorito”, ad indicare la bellezza di questo territorio, così apprezzato dagli Arabi quando qui si insediarono. Il “Torneo del Maiorchino”, è un gioco in passato molto diffuso in provincia di Messina nelle zone dei monti Nebrodi e dei monti Peloritani, ma che oggi sopravvive esclusivamente a Novara di Sicilia; il gioco-competizione, con tanto di tifo verso le varie squadre, si svolge durante il periodo di Carnevale, è una gara a squadre (ogni squadra è composta da tre giocatori, sia uomini che donne), che consiste nel lanciare una pesante forma circolare del pregiato formaggio di Novara di Sicilia chiamato “Maiorchino” (formaggio realizzato con latte di pecora e di capra, il cui peso varia tra i 10 ed i 12 Kg); per lanciare il pesante formaggio ci si avvale di una corda che viene avvolta (come se fosse uno di yo-yo) lungo La circonferenza del formaggio, corda che viene precedentemente trattata con della pece, per renderla più “adesiva” quando verrà srotolata durante il lancio; il percorso è in discesa ed è a tappe, la cui lunghezza totale è di circa un chilometro; per completare l’intero percorso ogni squadra dovrà fare molto lanci, vince la squadra che completerà l’intero percorso con meno lanci possibili. Le fotografie del torneo, sia maschile che femminile, le ho realizzate il giorno di martedì grasso di quest’anno 2022, mentre le due ultime passate edizioni non state realizzate a causa della pandemia da covid-19.

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click to activate the icon of slideshow: the small triangle inscribed in the small rectangle, at the top right, in the photostream;

or…. Press the “L” button to zoom in the image;

clicca sulla piccola icona per attivare lo slideshow: sulla facciata principale del photostream, in alto a destra c'è un piccolo rettangolo (rappresenta il monitor) con dentro un piccolo triangolo nero;

oppure…. premi il tasto “L” per ingrandire l'immagine;

www.worldphoto.org/sony-world-photography-awards/winners-...

www.fotografidigitali.it/gallery/2726/opere-italiane-segn...

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The island of Sicily is a land that you never stop discovering, rich in natural treasures, artistic works, artifacts that are the fruit of human ingenuity, in its historical and cultural panorama it is the popular traditions that represent an unparalleled "eco living, static and dynamic at the same time "that exist (and persist) becoming visible, only when it is the people themselves who decide to give voice to them, traditions whose roots sink into a dark and distant past made up of stratified cultures between them, very often synonymous with wars and dominations, to throw ever green leaves in the present: this as a preamble to what I am going to describe in words and photographs, of the traditional folk festival of the "Maiorchino tournament", unique in its kind, which is is held this year in the Sicilian town of Novara di Sicilia. This ancient medieval center is an ancient village located in the province of Messina, whose name seems to come from a transformation of the ancient Latin name Noa into the Arabic language Nouah, which means "flower garden", to indicate the beauty of this territory, so appreciated by the Arabs when they settled here. The “Maiorchino Tournament” is a game that was once very popular in the province of Messina (Sicily) in the areas of the Nebrodi and Peloritani mountains, but which today survives exclusively in the town of Novara di Sicilia; the game-competition, complete with cheering towards the various teams, takes place during the Carnival period, it is a team competition (each team consists of three players, both men and women), which consists in throwing a heavy circular shape the precious Novara di Sicilia cheese called “Maiorchino” (cheese made with sheep's and goat's milk, whose weight varies between 10 and 12 kg); to throw the heavy cheese the players use a rope that is wound (as if it were a yo-yo) along the circumference of the cheese, a rope that is previously treated with pitch, to make it more "sticky" when it is unrolled during the launch; the route is downhill and is in stages, the total length of which is about one kilometer; to complete the entire course each team will have to do a lot of throws, the team that completes the entire course with fewer throws as possible wins. The photographs of the tournament, both for men and women, I took on Shrove Tuesday this year 2022, while the last two past editions were not taken due to the covid-19 pandemic.

L’isola di Sicilia è una terra che non si finisce mai di scoprire, ricchissima di tesori naturali, di opere artistiche, di manufatti frutto dell’ingegno umano, nel suo panorama storico e culturale sono le tradizioni popolari quelle che rappresentano una ineguagliabile “eco vivente, statica e dinamica al tempo stesso” che esistono (e persistono) divenendo visibili, solo nel momento in cui è il popolo stesso che decide di dare voce ad esse, tradizioni le cui radici sprofondano in un oscuro e lontano passato fatto di culture stratificate tra loro, molto spesso sinonimo di guerre e dominazioni, per gettare foglie sempre verdi nel presente: questo come preambolo di quanto vado a descrivere in parole e fotografie, della tradizionale festa popolare del “torneo del Maiorchino”, unica nel suo genere, che si è tenuto quest’anno nel paese siciliano di Novara di Sicilia. Questo antico centro medioevale è un antico borgo situato in provincia di Messina, Il cui nome sembrerebbe provenire da una trasformazione dell’antico nome latino Noa nella lingua araba Nouah, che significa “giardino fiorito”, ad indicare la bellezza di questo territorio, così apprezzato dagli Arabi quando qui si insediarono. Il “Torneo del Maiorchino”, è un gioco in passato molto diffuso in provincia di Messina nelle zone dei monti Nebrodi e dei monti Peloritani, ma che oggi sopravvive esclusivamente a Novara di Sicilia; il gioco-competizione, con tanto di tifo verso le varie squadre, si svolge durante il periodo di Carnevale, è una gara a squadre (ogni squadra è composta da tre giocatori, sia uomini che donne), che consiste nel lanciare una pesante forma circolare del pregiato formaggio di Novara di Sicilia chiamato “Maiorchino” (formaggio realizzato con latte di pecora e di capra, il cui peso varia tra i 10 ed i 12 Kg); per lanciare il pesante formaggio ci si avvale di una corda che viene avvolta (come se fosse uno di yo-yo) lungo La circonferenza del formaggio, corda che viene precedentemente trattata con della pece, per renderla più “adesiva” quando verrà srotolata durante il lancio; il percorso è in discesa ed è a tappe, la cui lunghezza totale è di circa un chilometro; per completare l’intero percorso ogni squadra dovrà fare molto lanci, vince la squadra che completerà l’intero percorso con meno lanci possibili. Le fotografie del torneo, sia maschile che femminile, le ho realizzate il giorno di martedì grasso di quest’anno 2022, mentre le due ultime passate edizioni non state realizzate a causa della pandemia da covid-19.

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urbanurban by Danica Staples

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Urban 6 collection By Jen Maddocks

Urban 6 {MM Clusters} By Jen Maddocks

Preamble mask-Jen Maddocks

Blinkt by Jennifer Hohensteiner

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Update/Preamble: I just found out there already IS a pattern called "Blink" on Tanglepatterns by Beth Snoderly. So I am changing this one's name to "Blinkt". Because I "blinkt". I really do check Tanglepatterns before I go online with a step-out, but I don't look at the names as much as at the patterns themselves. So, I guess I better do that in the future.

Now back to the original description (except for the name):

The regularity of this pattern is its irregularity. The angular lines in step 1 should not (necessarily) echo each other. The Little sticks in step 2 should be at haphazard angles to each other. And I personally also like to fill in the spaces randomly - with solid black, or lines, or just thicken a few of the lines.

One morning I was still lying in bed in the dark room when my dear son came in and threw on the overhead light. I closed my eyes...and saw a very cool pattern on the back of my eyelids. (You know you've got the Zentangle bug in a bad way when you start deconstructing patterns on the backs of your eyelids...what's next, floaters? Hmmm...) Anyway, this developed from that, although the original was much wilder - and in fact the little sticks glowed (don't know how to deconstruct that!)... and that's why I called it "Blinkt".

Edinburgh Castle (17) by Arjayempee

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The Castle and Prince Charles Edward A.D. 1745

It was September 1745, and in the old Palace of Holyrood for the last time in Scottish story, a Prince of the House of Stuart held his Court. When, some three weeks before, tidings of the southward march of Prince Charles and his Highlanders had reached the capital there had been much alarm among the citizens, succeeded by many stout words and precautionary deeds. The trained bands of the city, one thousand strong, furbished up their ancient firelocks, whose most serious use hitherto had been to discharge a joyous volley on some city holiday. An 'Edinburgh regiment' of volunteers was hastily enrolled and under the guidance of 'worthy Professor Maclaurin, the Archimedes of the age,' batteries were mounted at suitable points on the old city walls. But when the fierce Highlanders came within striking distance, the courage of the citizens evaporated, the trained bands melted away with ludicrous rapidity, and of real resistance there was none. In the early morning of i7th September, a surprise party of Lochiel's Camerons rushed the city guard at the Netherbow, and the whole city, with the exception of the Castle, at once yielded.

Tidings were immediately sent to the Prince, who was waiting with his forces at Slateford, and no sooner did he learn of Lochiel's success than the order to march was given, and by midday his whole army, numbering some three thousand men, was camped in Hunter's Bog, a sheltered hollow at the foot of Arthur's Seat. The proudest moment of Charles' life had arrived. At the other side of the hollow, beyond the ridge, lay Holyrood, the Palace of the Stuart Kings; and attended by the Duke of Perth, Lord Elcho, and his guard of loyal clansmen, the 'last hope' of the Stuarts rode forward to claim his own. By St. Anthony's Chapel he halted, and with intense, if suppressed, emotion looked for the first time on the ancient Palace with the grey old city stretching away behind it. The sight, inspiring in itself by reason of its beauty and its memories, was made for him yet more inspiring by the crowds of expectant citizens who filled the surrounding park. All Edinburgh had turned out to greet him; some from passionate loyalty, many from prudential considerations in view of possibilities, most from curiosity. But the Prince did not stay to analyse the motives. The holiday crowd, the cheers, the waving banners, were enough for the moment, and with a heart beating quick with hope he dismounted and entered the Palace of his ancestors. Yet ere he passed within the gateway, tradition says he received a rude reminder that to enter the Palace was not to win the Crown. From the direction of the Castle was heard an ominous report, and in a few seconds a cannon ball crashed full against the wall of Holyrood. The message needed no interpreter. The City might have yielded, the Palace might have opened its gates, but the Castle hurled its defiance against the bold invader.

For a few days, however, the old fortress was left untroubled, and the handsome young Prince set himself to charm Edinburgh. How he might have succeeded is doubtful, had it not been that he was soon able to back his persuasive graces with the lustre of a victory. Three days after his arrival, he and his Highlanders marched out to meet the Royal troops which, under General Cope, were advancing from Dunbar towards the City, surprised them in the grey dawn of the morning at Prestonpans, and inflicted a defeat so utter and humiliating as to be unforgettable. In five minutes the battle was over; four hundred men were slain, over two thousand were prisoners, and only some two hundred escaped in panic flight. Little wonder that the taunting song which commemorates the fight, caught and has held the imagination of Scotsmen:-

Hey, Johnnie Cope, are ye wauking yet!

Or are ye sleeping, I would wit ?

O haste ye, get up, for the drums do beat,

O fye, Cope, rise in the morning !

Flushed with victory the Prince returned to Edinburgh, where he was greeted with an enthusiasm much less superficial than that of three days before, and as the pipes played him into Holyrood to the tune of 'The King shall enjoy his ain again,' there were many who thought that the prediction might well prove true.

But there was still the Castle. As an effective hostile force it did not indeed count for much; yet the significance for the Prince and his cause of a Hanoverian garrison in the heart of Edinburgh was great, and correspondingly significant would be its disappearance. With the capture or surrender of the Castle, and the hoisting of the Stuart flag from its battlements, Scotland's adhesion to the cause would be so unmistakably proclaimed, that the last waverer might well be won. But, however desirable its acquisition, direct assault was not politic at least not until by further conciliatory tactics the City had been firmly won over. So for the time Charles was content with placing a guard of the Camerons in the Weighhouse, at the head of the High Street, to watch the Castle entrance, while he gave himself anew to the task of wooing his Scottish countrymen by many a royal grace.

It was a task for which nature had admirably suited him, and he discharged it well. Tall, handsome, and debonair, the grace and kindliness of his manner charmed the ladies of Edinburgh, and was not without influence on their less impressionable husbands. Holyrood revived its ancient fame and grew familiar with courtly ways and royal receptions. Whenever the young Prince rode along the streets, he won the admiration of the common people, alike by his kingly appearance and his frequent gracious words. Toleration was the order of the day. The Protestant ministers, who had fled from Edinburgh, feeling certain that their Church services would be forbidden, were encouraged to return, and were assured that absolute freedom of worship would be accorded to all. And it was; for even when one of their number, Mr Macvicar, the minister of St. Cuthbert's, strained this liberty to excess he was not interfered with. The guns of the Castle immediately overhead gave him perhaps a sense of unusual security, and at a service in his church, which was attended by many Jacobites, he offered the customary prayers for King George, adding besides this undoubtedly offensive petition: " As to this young person who has come among us seeking an earthly crown, do Thou, in Thy merciful favour, grant him a heavenly one." "An honest fool" was all that Charles said, when the objectionable prayer was reported. Everything, in short, was done to conciliate the Scottish people and revive their attachment to the Stuart line; and in the proclamations from Holyrood, which were plentifully issued at the time, promises to redress all grievances were as abundant as were predictions of the prosperous future that awaited Scotland on the return of the exiled King James. As described by Mrs Cockburn (the authoress of The Flowers of the Forest) in a satirical poem, the Prince was all things to all men that he might gain some.

Have you any laws to mend?

Or have you any grievance?

I am a hero to my trade

And truly a most leal Prince.

Would you have war, would you have peace,

Would you be free of taxes?

Come chapping to my father's door,

You need not doubt of access.

After ten days of this soothing treatment, Charles thought he might now deal with the Castle, more especially as the garrison was beginning to resent the presence of the Highland guard at the Weighhouse, and had fired an occasional shot in that direction. So on 29th September communication between the Castle and the City was forbidden. The blockade had begun; and the men in the Castle were not sorry, for they were keen soldiers and quite ready to give a good account of themselves. In General Preston, the Governor of the Castle, the Jacobite cause had a determined foe, and along with him was General Guest, the Commander of the Royal Forces in Scotland, not so keen perhaps in his antagonism, but a loyal Hanoverian none the less. Under these leaders was the garrison, some two hundred strong, which had been further increased by one hundred fugitives from Prestonpans. With a fairly ample store of provisions, the fortress was thus well equipped for meeting any attack which the Jacobite forces were likely to make. A prolonged siege was out of the question, as the Prince must needs move on to England at an early date. Any hope of success in the matter of the Castle plainly lay either in its voluntary surrender, or in a sudden strenuous assault. Of the former there was little prospect, and how faint the grounds for the latter hope, the event amply proved. On 29th September the blockade had been declared, and on 5th October it was abandoned. Yet in these seven days occurred sundry lively passages both of correspondence and of fighting.

The stationing of guards to enforce the blockade was promptly answered from the Castle by a communication from the Governor to the City authorities, that if free intercourse with the Castle was obstructed, he would open fire upon the City and on the obstructing guards. The mere threat threw the City fathers into a panic, and hastening to Holyrood they begged the Prince to cancel the blockade and save the City from destruction. But the Prince saw things in another light. To remove the blockade would be to abandon his hopes, and he preferred to answer threat by counterthreat.

"I shall be heartily sorry," he wrote, in a letter addressed to the City authorities, but intended for General Preston's perusal, "for any mischief that may befall the city, and shall make it my peculiar care to indemnify you in the most ample manner. In the meantime I shall make full reprisals upon the estates of those who are now in the Castle, and even upon all who are known to be open abettors of the German(!) Government, if I am forced to it by the continuance of such inhumanities.

Holyrood House, Sept. 30, 1745.

CHARLES, P.R."

To the threat General Preston, whose estate in Fife was specially referred to, was indifferent. But in response to the urgent prayer of the City authorities, who had despatched a messenger to intercede with King George in London, he agreed to a truce for six days, conditionally on the free communication between the Castle and the City being undisturbed. By the end of the first day, however, the truce was broken. On 1st October the guard at the Weighhouse fired on some messengers who were taking provisions into the Castle. At once the fortress guns spoke out, and hostilities began in earnest.

The guard at the Weighhouse was strengthened, other detachments of the Camerons were posted in St. Cuthbert's Churchyard and in Livingstone's Yards, and intermittent firing was kept up between the Castle and all three positions. But the heavier metal was in the Castle, and General Preston decided that the time had come to use it. On 4th October at noon a notice was sent to the inhabitants of James' Court, and other houses in the immediate neighbourhood, that the guns were to begin to play, and that all who wished to save their lives had better remove themselves with the utmost speed. In a trice the houses at the head of the High Street were tenantless, and throughout the afternoon a steady cannonading took place (one relic of which is still to be seen in a cannon ball fast embedded in the gable of 'Cannon Ball House’, the first house on the South side of the street). Towards evening a sortie was made by the garrison, when under the protection of the guns a trench was dug midway between the gate and the top of the High Street, and on the earthen rampart thus thrown up were mounted some field pieces, which had full command of the Weighhouse. Throughout the night a constant fire was kept up, and no little damage resulted, but the Highlanders still maintained their position. At five o'clock next afternoon, 5th October, the one real assault was made. The persistent fire from the trench had irritated the Camerons beyond endurance, and in the face of tremendous volleys they dashed up the head of the street, carried the earthworks, drove the Castle troops back into the citadel, and remained for the moment masters of the field. But the position was hopelessly exposed, and having vindicated their courage the Highlanders could do nothing but reluctantly seek shelter in the City from the fire of the Half-Moon Battery.

Brief though the contest had been, and not inglorious, it had cost the Prince a score of valuable lives which he could ill spare, and the damage to the City was costing him the loyalty of citizens which he could spare even less. So, reluctantly, he made a virtue of a necessity, and issued his final proclamation concerning the Castle, the magniloquence of which may be pardoned when one thinks of the bitter necessity which led to its issue:

"Charles', Prince of Wales, &c., Regent of Scotland, England, France and Ireland, and the Dominions thereunto belonging. -

It is with the greatest regret that we are hourly informed of the many murders which are committed upon the innocent inhabitants of this City, by the inhuman commanders and garrison of the Castle of Edinburgh . . . . As we have threatened, we might justly proceed to use the powers which God has put into our hands to chastise those who are instrumental in the ruin of this Capital, by reprisals upon the estates and fortunes of those who are against us: but we think it no ways derogatory to the glory of a prince to suspend punishment or alter a resolution, when thereby the lives of innocent men can be saved. In consequence of this sentiment, our humanity has yielded to the barbarity of our common enemy: the blockade of the Castle is hereby taken off, and the punishment threatened suspended."

Given at our Palace of Holyrood House, the 5th day of October 1745 years.

Charles, P.R."

Fewer words might have served better, but the pill required a little gilding. The preamble gratified the Prince, and the citizens were entirely satisfied with the conclusion. The blockade was raised, they and their belongings were no longer in danger of sudden destruction, and that sufficed.

Thus ended the last ‘siege' of Edinburgh Castle. For a few weeks longer the Prince tarried in Holyrood, receiving daily accessions to his army until his force numbered nigh six thousand men, but the soldiers of King George behind the Castle walls were left severely alone. And when 1st November arrived, they found themselves once more undisputed masters of the City; for, on that day, after a grand review on Portobello sands, the whole Jacobite Army, with pipes playing and banners flying, marched away to the South to put the fortunes of the Stuarts to the final test. The Prince had looked his last upon the Castle, and the Castle had seen its last of him. Never was the Stuart banner to adorn that ancient fortress of his race. Never within those walls were these standards, so proudly borne by the southward marching clans, to float out in triumph on the breeze. Yet - strange fate! - in sad dishonour they were one day to find there a temporary resting-place, which was to be the prelude to a deeper shame. On Culloden's field, not six months after the farewell to Holyrood, the hopes of the Stuarts were for ever quenched, and out of the clenched hands of the dead Highlanders who lay on that disastrous field, were wrenched the standards they had so bravely carried. Conveyed to Edinburgh in triumph, they were borne to the Castle, and there exhibited as spoils of war, the tokens of unquestioned victory. Thus it was that at last the banners of the Stuarts gained entrance to the Castle.

Had that been their final fate, no soldier would ever have complained. Defeat and capture bring no dishonour. But to capture, the Duke of Cumberland proceeded to add shame. The order was given that the standards be burned at the Market Cross - an unworthy order and unworthily obeyed. Brave men had carried these colours through fire and flood, and at last had died in their defence. Mistaken they may have been in their ideals and their endeavours, but their banners spoke of nothing but a loyal devotion and a splendid gallantry which will ever be Scotland's pride. Yet when from the Castle these symbols of a lost cause were carried to the burning, the hands to which they were entrusted were those of the least esteemed of all Edinburgh's citizens. Prince Charles' own standard was borne by the public executioner! Thirteen other banners, each embroidered with the arms of a noble House, were carried by chimney sweepers! One by one they were committed to the flames, and one by one the herald proclaimed as outlaws the chieftains to whom the banners had belonged.

So it was that with every possible mark of shame the association of Prince Charles Edward with Edinburgh and its Castle came to an end. Yet today there is no thought of shame in the minds of Scotsmen when they think of him. Whatever be their judgment as to his bold and unfortunate enterprise, they remember him with a great tenderness and not a little pride: and think of him as the hero inspirer of Scotland's sweetest songs, as the Prince whose brave adventure closed the long romance of Scottish history, and as the son of Scotland's ancient Kings, whose brief Court at Holyrood added a memorable page to the story of Royal Edinburgh.

Déjà Vu - Again by Andrew

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A slightly later start to my walk but without the preamble to the newly reopened Jubilee Bridge meant that I was passing Fiddlers Ferry at much the same time as on my previous wander. Also passing at much the same time was 000Y Arpley to Ditton. The slight difference was that the locomotive was 66065 instead of 66023. Oh - and the sun was shining this time!

Oceania - Papua New Guinea / Bodypaint by RURO photography

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Papua New Guinea (PNG; Tok Pisin: Papua Niugini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands (the western portion of the island is a part of the Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Papua). It is located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, in a region defined since the early 19th century as Melanesia. The capital is Port Moresby.

Papua New Guinea is one of the most culturally diverse countries on Earth. According to recent data, 841 different languages are listed for the country, although 11 of these have no known living speakers. . (A detailed series of language maps of Papua New Guinea may be found at Ethnologue) There may be at least as many traditional societies,out of a population of about 6.2 million. It is also one of the most rural, as only 18% of its people live in urban centres. The country is one of the world's least explored, culturally and geographically, and many undiscovered species of plants and animals are thought to exist in the interior of Papua New Guinea.

The majority of the population live in traditional societies and practise subsistence-based agriculture. These societies and clans have some explicit acknowledgement within the nation's constitutional framework. The PNG Constitution (Preamble 5(4)) expresses the wish for "traditional villages and communities to remain as viable units of Papua New Guinean society",and for active steps to be taken in their preservation.

After being ruled by three external powers since 1884, Papua New Guinea gained its independence from Australia in 1975. It remains a Commonwealth realm of Her Majesty Elizabeth II, Queen of Papua New Guinea. Many people live in extreme poverty, with about one third of the population living on less than US$1.25 per day

Preamble by Ben Campney

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Long Live American Democracy by Mike McCall

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Election day in USA. Read the Preamble to our Constitution. This is our creed. Vote responsibly.

[6368-D90-Neo]

Preamble Express WB St.Paul, MN 1974 by Hiawatha Rails

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In preparation for the Bicentennial journey of the American Freedom Train, the four-car Preamble Express was dispatched to scout the route and court host city officials.

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click to activate the icon of slideshow: the small triangle inscribed in the small rectangle, at the top right, in the photostream;

or…. Press the “L” button to zoom in the image;

clicca sulla piccola icona per attivare lo slideshow: sulla facciata principale del photostream, in alto a destra c'è un piccolo rettangolo (rappresenta il monitor) con dentro un piccolo triangolo nero;

oppure…. premi il tasto “L” per ingrandire l'immagine;

www.worldphoto.org/sony-world-photography-awards/winners-...

www.fotografidigitali.it/gallery/2726/opere-italiane-segn...

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The island of Sicily is a land that you never stop discovering, rich in natural treasures, artistic works, artifacts that are the fruit of human ingenuity, in its historical and cultural panorama it is the popular traditions that represent an unparalleled "eco living, static and dynamic at the same time "that exist (and persist) becoming visible, only when it is the people themselves who decide to give voice to them, traditions whose roots sink into a dark and distant past made up of stratified cultures between them, very often synonymous with wars and dominations, to throw ever green leaves in the present: this as a preamble to what I am going to describe in words and photographs, of the traditional folk festival of the "Maiorchino tournament", unique in its kind, which is is held this year in the Sicilian town of Novara di Sicilia. This ancient medieval center is an ancient village located in the province of Messina, whose name seems to come from a transformation of the ancient Latin name Noa into the Arabic language Nouah, which means "flower garden", to indicate the beauty of this territory, so appreciated by the Arabs when they settled here. The “Maiorchino Tournament” is a game that was once very popular in the province of Messina (Sicily) in the areas of the Nebrodi and Peloritani mountains, but which today survives exclusively in the town of Novara di Sicilia; the game-competition, complete with cheering towards the various teams, takes place during the Carnival period, it is a team competition (each team consists of three players, both men and women), which consists in throwing a heavy circular shape the precious Novara di Sicilia cheese called “Maiorchino” (cheese made with sheep's and goat's milk, whose weight varies between 10 and 12 kg); to throw the heavy cheese the players use a rope that is wound (as if it were a yo-yo) along the circumference of the cheese, a rope that is previously treated with pitch, to make it more "sticky" when it is unrolled during the launch; the route is downhill and is in stages, the total length of which is about one kilometer; to complete the entire course each team will have to do a lot of throws, the team that completes the entire course with fewer throws as possible wins. The photographs of the tournament, both for men and women, I took on Shrove Tuesday this year 2022, while the last two past editions were not taken due to the covid-19 pandemic.

L’isola di Sicilia è una terra che non si finisce mai di scoprire, ricchissima di tesori naturali, di opere artistiche, di manufatti frutto dell’ingegno umano, nel suo panorama storico e culturale sono le tradizioni popolari quelle che rappresentano una ineguagliabile “eco vivente, statica e dinamica al tempo stesso” che esistono (e persistono) divenendo visibili, solo nel momento in cui è il popolo stesso che decide di dare voce ad esse, tradizioni le cui radici sprofondano in un oscuro e lontano passato fatto di culture stratificate tra loro, molto spesso sinonimo di guerre e dominazioni, per gettare foglie sempre verdi nel presente: questo come preambolo di quanto vado a descrivere in parole e fotografie, della tradizionale festa popolare del “torneo del Maiorchino”, unica nel suo genere, che si è tenuto quest’anno nel paese siciliano di Novara di Sicilia. Questo antico centro medioevale è un antico borgo situato in provincia di Messina, Il cui nome sembrerebbe provenire da una trasformazione dell’antico nome latino Noa nella lingua araba Nouah, che significa “giardino fiorito”, ad indicare la bellezza di questo territorio, così apprezzato dagli Arabi quando qui si insediarono. Il “Torneo del Maiorchino”, è un gioco in passato molto diffuso in provincia di Messina nelle zone dei monti Nebrodi e dei monti Peloritani, ma che oggi sopravvive esclusivamente a Novara di Sicilia; il gioco-competizione, con tanto di tifo verso le varie squadre, si svolge durante il periodo di Carnevale, è una gara a squadre (ogni squadra è composta da tre giocatori, sia uomini che donne), che consiste nel lanciare una pesante forma circolare del pregiato formaggio di Novara di Sicilia chiamato “Maiorchino” (formaggio realizzato con latte di pecora e di capra, il cui peso varia tra i 10 ed i 12 Kg); per lanciare il pesante formaggio ci si avvale di una corda che viene avvolta (come se fosse uno di yo-yo) lungo La circonferenza del formaggio, corda che viene precedentemente trattata con della pece, per renderla più “adesiva” quando verrà srotolata durante il lancio; il percorso è in discesa ed è a tappe, la cui lunghezza totale è di circa un chilometro; per completare l’intero percorso ogni squadra dovrà fare molto lanci, vince la squadra che completerà l’intero percorso con meno lanci possibili. Le fotografie del torneo, sia maschile che femminile, le ho realizzate il giorno di martedì grasso di quest’anno 2022, mentre le due ultime passate edizioni non state realizzate a causa della pandemia da covid-19.

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Westbound Old Timers' Special, near Erda, Utah by blair kooistra

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September 20, 1976, with Preamble Express E9 #951 with three sisters on 18 cars. . . roaring!

Preamble Express WB south of Lake City, MN 1974 by Hiawatha Rails

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In preparation for the Bicentennial journey of the American Freedom Train, the four-car Preamble Express was dispatched to scout the route and court host city officials.

Christmas Day organ recital at Washington National Cathedral by Green Valley Boys

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youtu.be/IHaq-4zCb4w

Joyful and Triumphant! (1992) Gilbert M. Martin

(b. 1941)

Toccata on “God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen” (1999) Mark A. Miller

(b. 1967)

Personent hodie (2009) Pamela Decker

(b. 1955)

Weihnachten, Op. 145, No. 3 (1915) Max Reger

(1873–1916)

Go, Tell It on the Mountain (1966) Eugene W. Hancock

(1929–1993)

Variations on the Huron Carol (2017) Brenda Portman

I. Preamble (b. 1980)

II. Tambourin

III. Reverie

IV. March

V. Caprice

VI. Toccata

It Came upon the Midnight Clear Marianne Kim

(b. 1972)

I Saw Three Ships (2007) Richard Elliott

(b. 1957)

Ned Osborne House in Autumn (1874) by A.Davey

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Oysterville's Ned Osborne House has been in this photostream before, but never in the autumn.

It looks like a piece of New England set into the landscape of the Pacific Northwest.

A plaque installed by the Daughters of the Pioneers has this to say in a single sentence:

"Built for his bride-to-be who died before the wedding date faithful to the end Ned lived a bachelor all his life in this house."

======================

Historian and writer Sidney Stevens wrote about the Osborne House in far greater detail in the February 5, 2008, issue of the Chinook Observer. Keep reading, because Ned Osborne features prominently in this story though it might not seem like it at first.

======================

When I first moved to Oysterville some thirty years ago, the old Ned Osborn house was owned by Norm Dutchuck and his wife, Dolores.

In a village known for its 'characters,' Norm was among the most colorful. In fact, when he died some fifteen years later, Dolores had 'The Mad Russian of Oysterville' carved on his tombstone - "not mad in the sense of angry or insane," their son Mike is quick to explain. "More the wild-and-crazy-guy kind of mad."

Norm was a fun-loving, people and party person. A salesman in the Portland area, he frequently offered a get-away to his Oysterville house as a bonus to his clients.

Invariably, they became friends and during the 30 or 40 weekends a year that Norm, himself, was in residence, there was often a party going on.

If the weather was good, the party was more than likely in the front yard and Norm's end of our quiet village street could be said to be 'a little boisterous,' perhaps reminiscent of Oysterville's rip-roaring pioneer days of a hundred years past.

Not only did Norm have a bigger-than-life capacity for fun, he looked the part of a 'character,'too. An inveterate hunter, he had lost an eye from a stray pellet on a pheasant hunting expedition in Eastern Oregon.

His one glass eye, though a good match for his real one, gave him a distinctive, somewhat zany appearance.

(Mike, with a sense of humor to match his dad's, has kept Norm's glass eyes - there was always a spare - and has plans to place them somewhere in the house, perhaps imbedded in a brick above a doorway, to keep watch over the comings and goings of the household.)

It was a Sunday 'morning-after' that I met Norm. He came dashing around my Uncle Willard Espy's neighboring cottage where Wede (as Willard was often called), his wife Louise, and I were having a leisurely cup of mid-morning coffee. Introductions were made, a cup provided for Norm and, without much preamble he asked, "Were we too noisy last night, Wede?"

"Not at all, Norm," Willard chuckled. "In fact, I thought the party broke up a little earlier than usual."

"Yeah, I had to send them all home. That's what I want to talk to you about. Around midnight or so I went into the house to get another beer and a man I'd never seen before came down the stairs. It was the damndest thing. He said to me 'Get those people the hell out of here.' And I could tell he meant business. So I sent everyone home. I was wondering if you had any idea who that man was."

"What did he look like?"Willard looked very interested, though somewhat amused, I thought. "Well, what did the man look like?" he asked. "Short or tall? Did he have a beard? How old do you think he was?"

Norm answered each question, elaborating with detail, and at that point I wondered which man, if either, was pulling the other's leg. Or were they both serious?

I wish I had listened more closely to Norm's answers for, after some time, Willard said, "You know, I think that was Ned Osborn. At least that's what I remember him looking like when I was a boy."

"Well, that's what I wondered," said Norm. And both men lapsed into silence.

Louise and I, full of curiosity wanted more information and, at our urging Norm and Wede told us what they knew of the man who had built and lived in the house that the Dutchucks now owned.

Osborn was born in Kalmar Sweden and went to sea as a young boy, along with his good friend Charles Nelson. The two of them eventually wound up in Oysterville and settled along Fourth Street (now Territory Road) on neighboring parcels of land. Ned went to work as a sail maker and, in 1873, began building a house for his bride-to-be.

Like many of the old residential buildings of Oysterville, Osborn's house may be classified as 'carpenter' style architecture.

It is a simple 'T' shape in plan, of frame construction with a pitched gable roof and shiplap siding. The covered front porch, sheltering stacks of stove wood, a barrel full of long-handled garden tools, and an old fashioned porch swing, provides an inviting entryway to the house.

The front door opens directly into the kitchen, a cozy space dominated by a round dining table and wood cook stove - a room that is obviously the heart of the old structure, for it gives access to all other parts of the house.

To the left are the parlor and the downstairs bedroom; to the right are the pantry and the bathroom.

Along the rear wall, next to the kitchen sink and counter, a door opens onto a generous back porch.

It is from the kitchen, too, that the stairway leads to the large dormitory-style bedroom above - a room which can sleep as many as 12, says Mike.

Whether Ned intended to make separate bedrooms upstairs is unclear.

As the house was nearing completion, he sent to the 'old country' for his true love, but learned that she had recently died.

Though he lived in the house for the rest of his days, Ned never married, nor did he finish the upstairs portion of the house.

Perhaps he had soured on life, Norm and Willard speculated; perhaps that was why he didn't hold much truck with partying into the wee hours.

By the time they had finished telling the tale, both Norm and Willard seemed convinced that the man who had come down from those erstwhile unfinished rooms was Ned Osborn, himself, though dead for more than fifty years.

No one of us ever said the word "ghost" or "haunted" or "spirit."

The facts as presented by Norm and dignified by Wede's careful questioning seemed to warrant more respect than to be called a "ghost story."

However, Ned Osborn became a 'person of interest' in my mind and when more information about him surfaced many years later I was intrigued.

It was while I was cleaning out a closet in the Espy family house that I ran across some notes on the back of an old envelope, stamp cancellation date 1947. In my grandfather's familiar, cramped handwriting down the length of the paper, almost in poetic form, was 'new' information about Ned and his house!

Oysterville, Washington.

hypothyroidism-and-hormonal-imbalance by דר. נורברט קורלנד

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Hypothyroidism and Hormonal Imbalance can prevent you from experiencing even the most magical moments of life to the fullest.

At Dr. Norbert Corland Clinic📞 +972-9-760-1440 treats hormonal imbalances and hypothyroidism.

www.fibrokur.com/PREAMBLE/

תת פעילות בלוטת התריס וחוסר איזון הורמונלי עלולים למנוע גם ממך לחוות את הרגעים הקסומים של החיים במלואם.

במרפאת ד"ר נורברט קורלנד📞 09-760-1440 מטפלים בחוסר איזון הורמונלי ותת פעילות בלוטת התריס.

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Preamble Express WB south of Lake City, MN 1974 by Hiawatha Rails

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In preparation for the Bicentennial journey of the American Freedom Train, the four-car Preamble Express was dispatched to scout the route and court host city officials.

Martin Johnson Heade - Approaching Thunder Storm [1859] by Gandalf's Gallery

36

Heade (1819 - 1904) became a good friend of the acclaimed landscape painter Frederic Church (1826–1900), but he worked on the periphery of the Hudson River School. He specialised not in dramatic wilderness subjects, as many of the school did, but preferred more prosaic marshlands and coastal settings. Even when he painted storms, as here, he portrayed not the actual tempest, but its tense preamble of blackening sky and eerily illuminated terrain. This painting was based on a sketch of an approaching storm that Heade witnessed on Rhode Island's Narragansett Bay about 1858. The image became the basis for a more elaborate and synthetic version of the subject painted in 1868 (Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth, Texas).

[Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York - Oil on canvas, 71.1 x 111.8 cm]

Vaticano by Rodrigo Soldon

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Lo Stato della Città del Vaticano (in latino Status Civitatis Vaticanæ[9]), comunemente abbreviato in Città del Vaticano , è uno stato indipendente (0,44 km², 799 abitanti al 23 aprile 2009, capitale Città del Vaticano) dell'Europa.

La semplice dizione Vaticano spesso è usata anche per indicare non tanto lo Stato, quanto piuttosto il vertice della Chiesa cattolica, ovvero la Santa Sede, la quale è tuttavia un'entità diversa e distinta.

È un'enclave del territorio della Repubblica Italiana, essendo inserito nel tessuto urbano della città di Roma e costituisce il più piccolo Stato indipendente del mondo, in termini sia di popolazione sia di estensione territoriale.

Le lingue ufficiali sono l'italiano e il latino.

______________________

O Vaticano ou Cidade do Vaticano, oficialmente Estado da Cidade do Vaticano (italiano: Stato della Città del Vaticano), é o centro da Igreja Católica e uma cidade-estado soberana sem costa marítima cujo território consiste de um enclave murado dentro da cidade de Roma, capital da Itália. Com aproximadamente 44 hectares (0,44 km²) e com uma população de pouco mais de 800 habitantes, é o menor Estado do mundo, tanto por população quanto por área.

A Cidade do Vaticano é uma cidade-estado que existe desde 1929. É distinta da Santa Sé, que remonta ao Cristianismo primitivo e é a principal sé episcopal de 1,142 bilhões de Católicos Romanos (Latinos e Orientais) de todo o mundo. Ordenanças da Cidade do Vaticano são publicados em italiano; documentos oficiais da Santa Sé são emitidos principalmente em latim. As duas entidades ainda têm passaportes distintos: a Santa Sé, como não é um país, apenas trata de questões de passaportes diplomáticos e de serviço; o estado da Cidade do Vaticano cuida dos passaportes normais. Em ambos os casos, os passaportes emitidos são muito poucos.

O Tratado de Latrão, de 1929, que criou a cidade-estado do Vaticano, falou dela como uma nova criação (Preâmbulo e no artigo III) e não como um vestígio dos muito maiores Estados Pontifícios (756-1870) que anteriormente abrangiam a Itália central. A maior parte deste território foi absorvido pelo Reino da Itália em 1860 e a porção final, ou seja, a cidade de Roma, com uma pequena área perto dele, dez anos depois, em 1870.

A Cidade do Vaticano é um estado eclesiástico ou sacerdotal-monárquico,[3] governado pelo bispo de Roma, o Papa. A maior parte dos funcionários públicos são todos os clérigos católicos de diferentes origens raciais, étnicas e nacionais. É o território soberano da Santa Sé (Sancta Sedes) e o local de residência do Papa, referido como o Palácio Apostólico.

Os papas residem na área, que em 1929 tornou-se Cidade do Vaticano, desde o retorno de Avignon em 1377. Anteriormente, residiam no Palácio de Latrão na colina Celio no lado oposto de Roma, local que Constantino deu ao Papa Milcíades em 313. A assinatura dos acordos que estabeleceram o novo estado teve lugar neste último edifício, dando origem ao nome Tratado de Latrão, pelo qual é conhecido.

_______________________

Vatican City or Vatican City State ]officially Stato della Città del Vaticano which translates literally as "State of the City of the Vatican", is a landlocked sovereign city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome, the capital city of Italy. It has an area of approximately 44 hectares (110 acres), and a population of just over 800

Vatican City was established in 1929 by the Lateran Treaty, signed by Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Gasparri, on behalf of the Holy See and by Prime Minister Benito Mussolini on behalf of the Kingdom of Italy. Vatican City State is distinct from the Holy See, which dates back to early Christianity and is the main episcopal see of 1.166 billion Latin and Eastern Catholic adherents around the globe. Ordinances of Vatican City are published in Italian; official documents of the Holy See are issued mainly in Latin. The two entities even have distinct passports: the Holy See, not being a country, only issues diplomatic and service passports; Vatican City State issues normal passports. Very few passports are issued by either authority.

The Lateran Treaty in 1929, which brought the city-state into existence, spoke of it as a new creation (Preamble and Article III), not as a vestige of the much larger Papal States (756-1870) that had previously encompassed much of central Italy. Most of this territory was absorbed into the Kingdom of Italy in 1860, and the final portion, namely the city of Rome with Lazio, ten years later, in 1870.

Vatican City is an ecclesiastical or sacerdotal-monarchical state, ruled by the Bishop of Rome—the Pope. The highest state functionaries are all Catholic clergymen of various national origins. It is the sovereign territory of the Holy See (Sancta Sedes) and the location of the Pope's residence, referred to as the Apostolic Palace.

The Popes have generally resided in the area that in 1929 became Vatican City since the return from Avignon in 1377, but have also at times resided in the Quirinal Palace in Rome and elsewhere. Previously, they resided in the Lateran Palace on the Caelian Hill on the far side of Rome from the Vatican. Emperor Constantine gave this site to Pope Miltiades in 313. The signing of the agreements that established the new state took place in the latter building, giving rise to the name of Lateran Pacts, by which they are known.

3803 - Mahatma Gandhi ,Father of the Nation Statue at Marina Beach, Chennai by chandrasekaran arumugam

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India celebrates her 65th Republic Day today. Greetings to all

Constitution of India, biggest in the world came into existence on 26th January,1950

PREAMBLE

WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a SOVEREIGN SOCIALIST SECULAR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLICand to secure to all its citizens:

JUSTICE, social, economic and political;

LIBERTY of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship;

EQUALITY of status and of opportunity;

and to promote among them all

FRATERNITY assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the Nation;

IN OUR CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY this twenty-sixth day of November, 1949, do HEREBY ADOPT, ENACT AND GIVE TO OURSELVES THIS CONSTITUTION.

Star trails in Poland, on #fujicolorsuperia200. Yeah. 🌃 by Franek N

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Olympus OM-4TI

zuiko 28mm f/2.8 @ f/5.6

fuji superia 200

Processed and scanned at Nation Photo, Paris.

roll start 20190423

end 20190425

Shot on 2019-04-24T22:23(GMT+2) until 23:45 = 80 minutes total exposure

This year, right after Easter, the weather was oh so pleasant. Much like a preamble to summer. Delicious nights. On this vacation, I could not resist the urge, I had to sacrifice some much needed sleep to try a shot. And here it is. Dogs were barking but at least, my tripod was not shaking 😀

Anyway.

It would have looked better on slide film, just like last year but colour negatives were all I had.

Oh and I "brushed" the trees with my iPhone's lamp for one minute at full power, give or take.

Thanks for looking :)

Apocalipsis Now by Ana Botella Crew

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La profecía maya es cierta. El Apocalipsis ha comenzado. Los tsunamis y demás catástrofes naturales y las numerosas guerras, fueron el preámbulo de lo que hoy es un hecho: Ana Botella será la nueva alcaldesa de Madrid. El fin del mundo es hoy.

Y Ana Botella Crew lo queremos celebrar con esta acción simple y contundente. Manzanas y peras con boquillas de spray le dan la bienvenida a la gran reina al grito bilingüe de Apocalipsis Now, con su nuevo palacio como telón de fondo.

Con esto demostramos que, por mucho que te esfuerces, estudies y trabajes, no serás más que un triste mileurista indignado viviendo en una diminuta casa hipotecada. En cambio, ella, sin dar un palo al agua ni ser votada, gobernará sobre la capital del Reino de España, España, España.

"Si se suman dos manzanas, pues dan dos manzanas. Y si se suman una manzana y una pera, nunca pueden dar dos manzanas, porque es que son componentes distintos. Hombre y mujer es una cosa, que es el matrimonio, y dos hombres o dos mujeres serán otra cosa distinta".

///////////

The Mayan prophecy is true. The Apocalypse has begun. Tsunamis and other natural disasters and the many wars, was the preamble to what is now a fact: Ana Botella will be the new mayor of Madrid. The end of the world is today.

Ana Botella Crew wants to celebrate with this simple and forceful street action. Apples and pears with spray caps welcome the great queen shouting bilingual, Apocalipsis Now, with her new palace as a backdrop.

This demonstrates that, however much you try, studies and works, you're just a sad angry poor guy living in a tiny house mortgaged. Instead, she, without a stick to water or a vote, rule over the capital of the Kingdom of Spain.

"If you sum up two apples, two apples is the result. But if you sum up an apple and a pear, the result will never be two apples, because they are distinct components. Man and woman is one thing, which is marriage, and two men or two women will be something else ", she said, also she said that she will destroy graffiti. That´s why this street art action is made with apples, pears and spray can´s caps.

"Whosoever Holds This Hamburger, If He Be Hungry..." by Andy Ihnatko

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Marvel Chief Creative Officer and former Editor-In-Chief Joe Quesada cleared his throat and leaned closer to the microphone at the start of the "Cup Of Joe" panel.

After an long pause, broken only with light, confused murmuring from the crowd, he commanded his hand to pick up the presentation remote and put the cover of the rebooted Thor #1 on the screen. The image was already familiar to the 2,000 people in the convention hall. Those who hadn't seen Quesada unveil the cover during his appearance on "The Tonight Show" the night before had surely seen it since. It had been splashed across social media and by morning it was the leading topic of conversation on every comics news and rumor site. Many doubted its veracity.

"This exciting new direction for Thor," he said, without preamble, "was always planned. It's an organic part of our ongoing evolution of the character."

He took a sip of water and scanned the crowd. A man seated in the front row noted the unexpected pause and glanced up from his Blackberry, irritated. He was the only business-suited person in the hall who wasn't doing Tony Stark cosplay.

Quesada put the remote down, so that he would have both hands free to grip the sides of the podium before continuing.

"Disney's recent acquisition of McDonalds' 'McDonaldland' intellectual property library..."

Another sip of water, followed by a slow swallow.

"...had absolutely no influence upon our pre-existing plans for...our plans to...for..."

And here Quesada lowered his head to the podium. No sound was heard but his shoulders were seen to quake.

The crowd offered slow, sympathetic, supportive applause before awkwardly filing out of the room, to afford Mr. Quesada some privacy and dignity.

The panel was scheduled to run another thirty seven minutes.

The man in the front row shook his head and made a phone call.

* Long Shadows at Kyle Field - 20220910_180551 by Traveler 999

7 1

A scene in Kyle Field at Texas A&M university after the A&M Aggies lost a out of confidence football game to the FCS Appalachian State Mountaineers in one of college football’s most improbable upsets of 2022. The long shadows set an appropriate mood and serve as a preamble to a disastrous 2022 season that resulted in A&M not qualifying for a bowl game for the first time in a long time.

A song for Euro6 by George

8 1

Happy Al’s is providing shuttle services in Liverpool City Centre during the Eurovision Song Contest and its preamble. Today they had deployed a couple of Enviro 400 MMCs and two ex-Lothian Volvos, including SN08 BWK, formerly Lothian 877.

Heap Big Wind, Much Dust..... by Vic Gregg (Read ABOUT)

....NO rain... We had all the preamble today.... but not a drop of wet stuff!

Happy Persian New Year ...1389 by Mohtaj

43 1.4K

United Nations General Assembly Recognizes 21 March as International Day of Nowruz

united-nowruz-payvandFeb. 23rd 2010

UN Sixty-fourth General Assembly

The General Assembly this afternoon recognized the International Day of Nowruz, a spring festival of Persian origin, and moved back the dates of the next high-level dialogue on Financing for Development, as it continued its sixty-fourth session.

According to the preamble of the resolution on the International Day (document A/64/L.30/Rev.2), Nowruz, which means new day, is celebrated on 21 March, the day of the vernal equinox, by more than 300 million people worldwide as the beginning of the new year. It has been celebrated for over 3,000 years in the Balkans, the Black Sea Basin, the Caucasus, Central Asia, the Middle East and other regions.

The Assembly called on Member States that celebrate the festival to study its history and traditions with a view to disseminating that knowledge among the international community and organizing annual commemoration events.

Welcoming the inclusion of Nowruz into the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on 30 September 2009, the text notes the festival’s “affirmation of life in harmony with nature, the awareness of the inseparable link between constructive labour and natural cycles of renewal and the solicitous and respectful attitude towards natural sources of life”.

The text who said that, as a holiday celebrated in many parts of the world with themes important to all humanity, Nowruz encouraged intercultural dialogue and understanding. Speaking after the Assembly took action on the draft, the representative of Iran marked its adoption by quoting lines of the Persian poet Jalaluddin Rumi that expressed the holiday’s theme of rebirth “on our planet and in our souls”.

مجمع عمومى سازمان ملل متحد در نشست عصر سه شنبه خود تصويب كرد كه روز ۲۱ مارس، اول نوروز، به عنوان «روز بين المللى نوروز» نامگذارى شود.

در قطعنامه روز بين المللى نوروز اشاره شده كه ۲۱ مارس (اول فروردين) همزمان با آغاز فصل بهار، توسط بيش از ۳۰۰ ميليون نفر از مردم جهان به عنوان نخستين روز سال جديد (خورشيدى) جشن گرفته مى شود.

اين قطعنامه مى افزايد: جشن آغاز نوروز كه ريشه ايرانى دارد بيش از سه هزار سال است كه در مناطق بالكان، حاشيه درياى سياه، قفقاز، آسياى مركزى، خاورميانه و ساير مناطق گرامى داشته مى شود.

مجمع عمومى سازمان ملل از اعضاى خود خواسته است تا با جشن گرفتن اين روز، تاريخ و سنت هاى آن را با چشم انداز گسترش هويت نوروز در ميان جامعه بين المللى، مورد مطالعه قرار دهند.

اين مجمع همچنين خواستار برنامه ريزى سالانه براى پاسداشت اين روز توسط اعضاى سازمان ملل شده است.

پس از تصويب سند نامگذارى روز بين المللى نوروز در مجمع عمومى سازمان ملل، معاون نمايندگي ايران در سازمان ملل در سخنانى از جلال الدين مولوى، شاعر ايرانى، نقل و قول كرد كه آغاز سال نو را به عنوان «تحول در زمين و جان ها» معرفى كرده است.

اسحق آل حبيب گفت: «بزرگداشت نوروز در واقع تجسم يكى از اهداف متعالى سازمان ملل يعنى تقويت صلح جهانى از طريق احترام به فرهنگ هاى ملى، ميراث فرهنگى جهانى و تنوع فرهنگى است.»

سند قرار گرفتن نوروز در فهرست ميراث بين المللى سازمان علمى، فرهنگى و آموزشى سازمان ملل، يونسكو، روز ۳۰ سپتامبر سال ۲۰۰۹ به تصويب رسيده بود.

در اين سند اشاره شده كه جشن نوروز يادآور آن است كه زندگى در پيوند با طبيعت تعريف مى شود و بيانگر پيوند ناگسستنى ميان كار سازنده با چرخه هاى طبيعى تجديد پذير و همچنين نشان دهنده اشتياق و نگرش احترام برانگيز نسبت به ريشه هاى طبيعى زندگى است.

در اين قطعنامه كه توسط نمايندگى هاى ايران، جمهورى آذربايجان، افغانستان، تاجيكستان، تركيه، تركمنستان، قزاقستان و قرقيزستان به مجمع عمومى سازمان ملل ارايه شده بود از نوروز به عنوان جشنى ياد شده كه براى بشريت عناصر مهمى در بر دارد و گفت و گوى بين فرهنگى و درك متقابل را تقويت مى كند.

قطعنامه روز بين المللى نوروز در ۱۷ بند مقدماتى و پنج بند اجرايى تنظيم شده است و در آن علاوه بر شناسايى روز ۲۱ مارس (اول فروردين) به عنوان روز بين المللى نوروز از كشورها خواسته شده تا در باره اين جشن و سازماندهى مراسمى در بزرگداشت نوروز اقدام كنند.

همچنين از كشورهايى كه نوروز را گرامى مى ‌دارند خواسته شده تا براى پژوهش پيرامون تاريخ و سنت‌هاى نوروزى با هدف انتشار آگاهى در مورد ميراث نوروز در ميان جامعه بين المللى تلاش كنند

La Luz by Fascinating Light Photography

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Hi all, If you are a photographer based in or near Edinburgh, Scotland, and you've got the time please read on, it might just be worth your while. I've been asked a few times if do lessons but it's not something I do or am planning to do, however If you ever meet me I'm happy to exchange views and help with advice if you want it. Just ask.

Anyway that was a little bit of tangential preamble to the main purpose of this message, which is that next Saturday (13 July) I'm planning a photography day away. I have a couple of ideas in mind just now... firstly (and most likely) I might aim for Dunnottar Castle at sunrise and then head north to Rattray Lighthouse and then round the north east coast of Scotland before maybe finishing at sunset along the north coast near Nairn or Inverness, then back home down the A9.... another idea might be a deep incursion south of the border to capture some English light and bring it back home, however I'm also open to other ideas.

So here's the thing, if anyone else is interested in coming with me for the day then I've got space for another 3 people in the car.

Here's the deal, whatever the cost of the petrol is for the day then we split it between us. I reckon I can get about 450-500 miles on a full tank and a full tank costs about £90. I expect to cover somewhere in the region of 500-800 miles on this trip. So u can estimate what a share of the petrol might be. Remember there might only be two or three of us so factor that in.

Duration/Timings etc

You need to be able to get to me for the start time or be available to be picked up en-route. This is going to be a long mission. Sunrise is roughly 0430 hours just now and the intention will be to be somewhere for sunrise. If your late for any rendezvous or pick up I won't be missing out on the sunrise waiting for you, I'll be continuing on. Just saying :o) So it's likely I'll be leaving Edinburgh at around 0100-0200 hours on the Saturday morning, in time to get a sunrise somewhere, then we'll see what we can find during the rest of the day and we'll be staying out to get the sunset somewhere too and that might be several hundred miles away from home. So all in all I expect the total trip to last roughly 24 hours from start to finish. (0200 Saturday right through to roughly 0200 Sunday)

Anyway this offer is on a first come first served basis. I'll throw in any advice you want for free, or maybe you can buy me a chippy ;o)

If you are interested get in touch.

I have final say on the route :o)

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