Biennalist :

Biennalist is an Art Format commenting on active biennials and managed cultural events through artworks.Biennalist takes the thematics of the biennales and similar events like festivals and conferences seriously, questioning the established structures of the staged art events in order to contribute to the debate, which they wish to generate.

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links about Biennalist :

 

Thierry Geoffroy/Colonel:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thierry_Geoffroy

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergency_Room_(art)

 

www.emergencyrooms.org/formats.html

 

www.colonel.dk/

 

—--Biennale from wikipedia —--

 

The Venice International Film Festival is part of the Venice Biennale. The famous Golden Lion is awarded to the best film screening at the competition.

Biennale (Italian: [bi.enˈnaːle]), Italian for "biennial" or "every other year", is any event that happens every two years. It is most commonly used within the art world to describe large-scale international contemporary art exhibitions. As such the term was popularised by Venice Biennale, which was first held in 1895. Since the 1990s, the terms "biennale" and "biennial" have been interchangeably used in a more generic way - to signify a large-scale international survey show of contemporary art that recurs at regular intervals but not necessarily biannual (such as triennials, Documenta, Skulptur Projekte Münster).[1] The phrase has also been used for other artistic events, such as the "Biennale de Paris", "Kochi-Muziris Biennale", Berlinale (for the Berlin International Film Festival) and Viennale (for Vienna's international film festival).

Characteristics[edit]

According to author Federica Martini, what is at stake in contemporary biennales is the diplomatic/international relations potential as well as urban regeneration plans. Besides being mainly focused on the present (the “here and now” where the cultural event takes place and their effect of "spectacularisation of the everyday"), because of their site-specificity cultural events may refer back to,[who?] produce or frame the history of the site and communities' collective memory.[2]

 

The Great Exhibition in The Crystal Palace in Hyde Park, London, in 1851, the first attempt to condense the representation of the world within a unitary exhibition space.

A strong and influent symbol of biennales and of large-scale international exhibitions in general is the Crystal Palace, the gigantic and futuristic London architecture that hosted the Great Exhibition in 1851. According to philosopher Peter Sloterdijk,[3][page needed] the Crystal Palace is the first attempt to condense the representation of the world in a unitary exhibition space, where the main exhibit is society itself in an a-historical, spectacular condition. The Crystal Palace main motives were the affirmation of British economic and national leadership and the creation of moments of spectacle. In this respect, 19th century World fairs provided a visual crystallization of colonial culture and were, at the same time, forerunners of contemporary theme parks.

The Venice Biennale as an archetype[edit]

 

The structure of the Venice Biennale in 2005 with an international exhibition and the national pavilions.

The Venice Biennale, a periodical large-scale cultural event founded in 1895, served as an archetype of the biennales. Meant to become a World Fair focused on contemporary art, the Venice Biennale used as a pretext the wedding anniversary of the Italian king and followed up to several national exhibitions organised after Italy unification in 1861. The Biennale immediately put forth issues of city marketing, cultural tourism and urban regeneration, as it was meant to reposition Venice on the international cultural map after the crisis due to the end of the Grand Tour model and the weakening of the Venetian school of painting. Furthermore, the Gardens where the Biennale takes place were an abandoned city area that needed to be re-functionalised. In cultural terms, the Biennale was meant to provide on a biennial basis a platform for discussing contemporary art practices that were not represented in fine arts museums at the time. The early Biennale model already included some key points that are still constitutive of large-scale international art exhibitions today: a mix of city marketing, internationalism, gentrification issues and destination culture, and the spectacular, large scale of the event.

Biennials after the 1990s[edit]

The situation of biennials has changed in the contemporary context: while at its origin in 1895 Venice was a unique cultural event, but since the 1990s hundreds of biennials have been organized across the globe. Given the ephemeral and irregular nature of some biennials, there is little consensus on the exact number of biennials in existence at any given time.[citation needed] Furthermore, while Venice was a unique agent in the presentation of contemporary art, since the 1960s several museums devoted to contemporary art are exhibiting the contemporary scene on a regular basis. Another point of difference concerns 19th century internationalism in the arts, that was brought into question by post-colonial debates and criticism of the contemporary art “ethnic marketing”, and also challenged the Venetian and World Fair’s national representation system. As a consequence of this, Eurocentric tendency to implode the whole word in an exhibition space, which characterises both the Crystal Palace and the Venice Biennale, is affected by the expansion of the artistic geographical map to scenes traditionally considered as marginal. The birth of the Havana Biennial in 1984 is widely considered an important counterpoint to the Venetian model for its prioritization of artists working in the Global South and curatorial rejection of the national pavilion model.

International biennales[edit]

In the term's most commonly used context of major recurrent art exhibitions:

Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art, South Australia

Asian Art Biennale, in Taichung, Taiwan (National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts)

Athens Biennale, in Athens, Greece

Bienal de Arte Paiz, in Guatemala City, Guatemala[4]

Arts in Marrakech (AiM) International Biennale (Arts in Marrakech Festival)

Bamako Encounters, a biennale of photography in Mali

Bat-Yam International Biennale of Landscape Urbanism

Beijing Biennale

Berlin Biennale (contemporary art biennale, to be distinguished from Berlinale, which is a film festival)

Bergen Assembly (triennial for contemporary art in Bergen, Norway)www.bergenassembly.no

Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism\Architecture, in Shenzhen and Hong Kong, China

Bienal de Arte de Ponce in Ponce, Puerto Rico

Biënnale van België, Biennial of Belgium, Belgium

BiennaleOnline Online biennial exhibition of contemporary art from the most promising emerging artists.

Biennial of Hawaii Artists

Biennale de la Biche, the smallest biennale in the world held at deserted island near Guadeloupe, French overseas region[5][6]

Biwako Biennale [ja], in Shiga, Japan

La Biennale de Montreal

Biennale of Luanda : Pan-African Forum for the Culture of Peace,[7] Angola

Boom Festival, international music and culture festival in Idanha-a-Nova, Portugal

Bucharest Biennale in Bucharest, Romania

Bushwick Biennial, in Bushwick, Brooklyn, New York

Canakkale Biennial, in Canakkale, Turkey

Cerveira International Art Biennial, Vila Nova de Cerveira, Portugal [8]

Changwon Sculpture Biennale in Changwon, South Korea

Dakar Biennale, also called Dak'Art, biennale in Dakar, Senegal

Documenta, contemporary art exhibition held every five years in Kassel, Germany

Estuaire (biennale), biennale in Nantes and Saint-Nazaire, France

EVA International, biennial in Limerick, Republic of Ireland

Göteborg International Biennial for Contemporary Art, in Gothenburg, Sweden[9]

Greater Taipei Contemporary Art Biennial, in Taipei, Taiwan

Gwangju Biennale, Asia's first and most prestigious contemporary art biennale

Havana biennial, in Havana, Cuba

Helsinki Biennial, in Helsinki, Finland

Herzliya Biennial For Contemporary Art, in Herzliya, Israel

Incheon Women Artists' Biennale, in Incheon, South Korea

Iowa Biennial, in Iowa, USA

Istanbul Biennial, in Istanbul, Turkey

International Roaming Biennial of Tehran, in Tehran and Istanbul

Jakarta Biennale, in Jakarta, Indonesia

Jerusalem Biennale, in Jerusalem, Israel

Jogja Biennale, in Yogyakarta, Indonesia

Karachi Biennale, in Karachi, Pakistan

Keelung Harbor Biennale, in Keelung, Taiwan

Kochi-Muziris Biennale, largest art exhibition in India, in Kochi, Kerala, India

Kortrijk Design Biennale Interieur, in Kortrijk, Belgium

Kobe Biennale, in Japan

Kuandu Biennale, in Taipei, Taiwan

Lagos Biennial, in Lagos, Nigeria[10]

Light Art Biennale Austria, in Austria

Liverpool Biennial, in Liverpool, UK

Lofoten International Art Festival [no] (LIAF), on the Lofoten archipelago, Norway[11]

Manifesta, European Biennale of contemporary art in different European cities

Mediations Biennale, in Poznań, Poland

Melbourne International Biennial 1999

Mediterranean Biennale in Sakhnin 2013

MOMENTA Biennale de l'image [fr] (formerly known as Le Mois de la Photo à Montréal), in Montreal, Canada

MOMENTUM [no], in Moss, Norway[12]

Moscow Biennale, in Moscow, Russia

Munich Biennale, new opera and music-theatre in even-numbered years

Mykonos Biennale

Nakanojo Biennale[13]

NGV Triennial, contemporary art exhibition held every three years at the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia

October Salon – Belgrade Biennale [sr], organised by the Cultural Center of Belgrade [sr], in Belgrade, Serbia[14]

OSTEN Biennial of Drawing Skopje, North Macedonia[15]

Biennale de Paris

Riga International Biennial of Contemporary Art (RIBOCA), in Riga, Latvia[16]

São Paulo Art Biennial, in São Paulo, Brazil

SCAPE Public Art Christchurch Biennial in Christchurch, New Zealand[17]

Prospect New Orleans

Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism

Sequences, in Reykjavík, Iceland[18]

Shanghai Biennale

Sharjah Biennale, in Sharjah, UAE

Singapore Biennale, held in various locations across the city-state island of Singapore

Screen City Biennial, in Stavanger, Norway

Biennale of Sydney

Taipei Biennale, in Taipei, Taiwan

Taiwan Arts Biennale, in Taichung, Taiwan (National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts)

Taiwan Film Biennale, in Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, U.S.A.

Thessaloniki Biennale of Contemporary Art [el], in Thessaloniki, Greece[19]

Dream city, produced by ART Rue Association in Tunisia

Vancouver Biennale

Visayas Islands Visual Arts Exhibition and Conference (VIVA ExCon) in the Philippines [20]

Venice Biennale, in Venice, Italy, which includes:

Venice Biennale of Contemporary Art

Venice Biennale of Architecture

Venice Film Festival

Vladivostok biennale of Visual Arts, in Vladivostok, Russia

Whitney Biennial, hosted by the Whitney Museum of American Art, in New York City, NY, USA

Web Biennial, produced with teams from Athens, Berlin and Istanbul.

West Africa Architecture Biennale,[21] Virtual in Lagos, Nigeria.

WRO Biennale, in Wrocław, Poland[22]

Music Biennale Zagreb

[SHIFT:ibpcpa] The International Biennale of Performance, Collaborative and Participatory Arts, Nomadic, International, Scotland, UK.

 

—---Venice Biennale from wikipedia —

 

The Venice Biennale (/ˌbiːɛˈnɑːleɪ, -li/; Italian: La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation.[2][3][4] The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of its kind. The main exhibition held in Castello, in the halls of the Arsenale and Biennale Gardens, alternates between art and architecture (hence the name biennale; biennial).[5][6][7] The other events hosted by the Foundation—spanning theatre, music, and dance—are held annually in various parts of Venice, whereas the Venice Film Festival takes place at the Lido.[8]

Organization[edit]

Art Biennale

Art Biennale

International Art Exhibition

1895

Even-numbered years (since 2022)

Venice Biennale of Architecture

International Architecture Exhibition

1980

Odd-numbered years (since 2021)

Biennale Musica

International Festival of Contemporary Music

1930

Annually (Sep/Oct)

Biennale Teatro

International Theatre Festival

1934

Annually (Jul/Aug)

Venice Film Festival

Venice International Film Festival

1932

Annually (Aug/Sep)

Venice Dance Biennale

International Festival of Contemporary Dance

1999

Annually (June; biennially 2010–16)

  

International Kids' Carnival

2009

Annually (during Carnevale)

  

History

1895–1947

On April 19, 1893, the Venetian City Council passed a resolution to set up an biennial exhibition of Italian Art ("Esposizione biennale artistica nazionale") to celebrate the silver anniversary of King Umberto I and Margherita of Savoy.[11]

A year later, the council decreed "to adopt a 'by invitation' system; to reserve a section of the Exhibition for foreign artists too; to admit works by uninvited Italian artists, as selected by a jury."[12]

The first Biennale, "I Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte della Città di Venezia (1st International Art Exhibition of the City of Venice)" (although originally scheduled for April 22, 1894) was opened on April 30, 1895, by the Italian King and Queen, Umberto I and Margherita di Savoia. The first exhibition was seen by 224,000 visitors.

The event became increasingly international in the first decades of the 20th century: from 1907 on, several countries installed national pavilions at the exhibition, with the first being from Belgium. In 1910 the first internationally well-known artists were displayed: a room dedicated to Gustav Klimt, a one-man show for Renoir, a retrospective of Courbet. A work by Picasso "Family of Saltimbanques" was removed from the Spanish salon in the central Palazzo because it was feared that its novelty might shock the public. By 1914 seven pavilions had been established: Belgium (1907), Hungary (1909), Germany (1909), Great Britain (1909), France (1912), and Russia (1914).

During World War I, the 1916 and 1918 events were cancelled.[13] In 1920 the post of mayor of Venice and president of the Biennale was split. The new secretary general, Vittorio Pica brought about the first presence of avant-garde art, notably Impressionists and Post-Impressionists.

1922 saw an exhibition of sculpture by African artists. Between the two World Wars, many important modern artists had their work exhibited there. In 1928 the Istituto Storico d'Arte Contemporanea (Historical Institute of Contemporary Art) opened, which was the first nucleus of archival collections of the Biennale. In 1930 its name was changed into Historical Archive of Contemporary Art.

In 1930, the Biennale was transformed into an Ente Autonomo (Autonomous Board) by Royal Decree with law no. 33 of 13-1-1930. Subsequently, the control of the Biennale passed from the Venice city council to the national Fascist government under Benito Mussolini. This brought on a restructuring, an associated financial boost, as well as a new president, Count Giuseppe Volpi di Misurata. Three entirely new events were established, including the Biennale Musica in 1930, also referred to as International Festival of Contemporary Music; the Venice Film Festival in 1932, which they claim as the first film festival in history,[14] also referred to as Venice International Film Festival; and the Biennale Theatro in 1934, also referred to as International Theatre Festival.

In 1933 the Biennale organized an exhibition of Italian art abroad. From 1938, Grand Prizes were awarded in the art exhibition section.

During World War II, the activities of the Biennale were interrupted: 1942 saw the last edition of the events. The Film Festival restarted in 1946, the Music and Theatre festivals were resumed in 1947, and the Art Exhibition in 1948.[15]

1948–1973[edit]

The Art Biennale was resumed in 1948 with a major exhibition of a recapitulatory nature. The Secretary General, art historian Rodolfo Pallucchini, started with the Impressionists and many protagonists of contemporary art including Chagall, Klee, Braque, Delvaux, Ensor, and Magritte, as well as a retrospective of Picasso's work. Peggy Guggenheim was invited to exhibit her collection, later to be permanently housed at Ca' Venier dei Leoni.

1949 saw the beginning of renewed attention to avant-garde movements in European—and later worldwide—movements in contemporary art. Abstract expressionism was introduced in the 1950s, and the Biennale is credited with importing Pop Art into the canon of art history by awarding the top prize to Robert Rauschenberg in 1964.[16] From 1948 to 1972, Italian architect Carlo Scarpa did a series of remarkable interventions in the Biennale's exhibition spaces.

In 1954 the island San Giorgio Maggiore provided the venue for the first Japanese Noh theatre shows in Europe. 1956 saw the selection of films following an artistic selection and no longer based upon the designation of the participating country. The 1957 Golden Lion went to Satyajit Ray's Aparajito which introduced Indian cinema to the West.

1962 included Arte Informale at the Art Exhibition with Jean Fautrier, Hans Hartung, Emilio Vedova, and Pietro Consagra. The 1964 Art Exhibition introduced continental Europe to Pop Art (The Independent Group had been founded in Britain in 1952). The American Robert Rauschenberg was the first American artist to win the Gran Premio, and the youngest to date.

The student protests of 1968 also marked a crisis for the Biennale. Student protests hindered the opening of the Biennale. A resulting period of institutional changes opened and ending with a new Statute in 1973. In 1969, following the protests, the Grand Prizes were abandoned. These resumed in 1980 for the Mostra del Cinema and in 1986 for the Art Exhibition.[17]

In 1972, for the first time, a theme was adopted by the Biennale, called "Opera o comportamento" ("Work or Behaviour").

Starting from 1973 the Music Festival was no longer held annually. During the year in which the Mostra del Cinema was not held, there was a series of "Giornate del cinema italiano" (Days of Italian Cinema) promoted by sectorial bodies in campo Santa Margherita, in Venice.[18]

1974–1998[edit]

1974 saw the start of the four-year presidency of Carlo Ripa di Meana. The International Art Exhibition was not held (until it was resumed in 1976). Theatre and cinema events were held in October 1974 and 1975 under the title Libertà per il Cile (Freedom for Chile)—a major cultural protest against the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet.

On 15 November 1977, the so-called Dissident Biennale (in reference to the dissident movement in the USSR) opened. Because of the ensuing controversies within the Italian left wing parties, president Ripa di Meana resigned at the end of the year.[19]

In 1979 the new presidency of Giuseppe Galasso (1979-1982) began. The principle was laid down whereby each of the artistic sectors was to have a permanent director to organise its activity.

In 1980, the Architecture section of the Biennale was set up. The director, Paolo Portoghesi, opened the Corderie dell'Arsenale to the public for the first time. At the Mostra del Cinema, the awards were brought back into being (between 1969 and 1979, the editions were non-competitive). In 1980, Achille Bonito Oliva and Harald Szeemann introduced "Aperto", a section of the exhibition designed to explore emerging art. Italian art historian Giovanni Carandente directed the 1988 and 1990 editions. A three-year gap was left afterwards to make sure that the 1995 edition would coincide with the 100th anniversary of the Biennale.[13]

The 1993 edition was directed by Achille Bonito Oliva. In 1995, Jean Clair was appointed to be the Biennale's first non-Italian director of visual arts[20] while Germano Celant served as director in 1997.

For the Centenary in 1995, the Biennale promoted events in every sector of its activity: the 34th Festival del Teatro, the 46th art exhibition, the 46th Festival di Musica, the 52nd Mostra del Cinema.[21]

1999–present[edit]

In 1999 and 2001, Harald Szeemann directed two editions in a row (48th & 49th) bringing in a larger representation of artists from Asia and Eastern Europe and more young artists than usual and expanded the show into several newly restored spaces of the Arsenale.

In 1999 a new sector was created for live shows: DMT (Dance Music Theatre).

The 50th edition, 2003, directed by Francesco Bonami, had a record number of seven co-curators involved, including Hans Ulrich Obrist, Catherine David, Igor Zabel, Hou Hanru and Massimiliano Gioni.

The 51st edition of the Biennale opened in June 2005, curated, for the first time by two women, Maria de Corral and Rosa Martinez. De Corral organized "The Experience of Art" which included 41 artists, from past masters to younger figures. Rosa Martinez took over the Arsenale with "Always a Little Further." Drawing on "the myth of the romantic traveler" her exhibition involved 49 artists, ranging from the elegant to the profane.

In 2007, Robert Storr became the first director from the United States to curate the Biennale (the 52nd), with a show entitled Think with the Senses – Feel with the Mind. Art in the Present Tense.

Swedish curator Daniel Birnbaum was artistic director of the 2009 edition entitled "Fare Mondi // Making Worlds".

The 2011 edition was curated by Swiss curator Bice Curiger entitled "ILLUMInazioni – ILLUMInations".

The Biennale in 2013 was curated by the Italian Massimiliano Gioni. His title and theme, Il Palazzo Enciclopedico / The Encyclopedic Palace, was adopted from an architectural model by the self-taught Italian-American artist Marino Auriti. Auriti's work, The Encyclopedic Palace of the World was lent by the American Folk Art Museum and exhibited in the first room of the Arsenale for the duration of the biennale. For Gioni, Auriti's work, "meant to house all worldly knowledge, bringing together the greatest discoveries of the human race, from the wheel to the satellite," provided an analogous figure for the "biennale model itself...based on the impossible desire to concentrate the infinite worlds of contemporary art in a single place: a task that now seems as dizzyingly absurd as Auriti's dream."[22]

Curator Okwui Enwezor was responsible for the 2015 edition.[23] He was the first African-born curator of the biennial. As a catalyst for imagining different ways of imagining multiple desires and futures Enwezor commissioned special projects and programs throughout the Biennale in the Giardini. This included a Creative Time Summit, e-flux journal's SUPERCOMMUNITY, Gulf Labor Coalition, The Invisible Borders Trans-African Project and Abounaddara.[24][25]

The 2017 Biennale, titled Viva Arte Viva, was directed by French curator Christine Macel who called it an "exhibition inspired by humanism".[26] German artist Franz Erhard Walter won the Golden Lion for best artist, while Carolee Schneemann was awarded a posthumous Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement.[27]

The 2019 Biennale, titled May You Live In Interesting Times, was directed by American-born curator Ralph Rugoff.[28]

The 2022 edition was curated by Italian curator Cecilia Alemani entitled "The Milk of Dreams" after a book by British-born Mexican surrealist painter Leonora Carrington.[29]

The Biennale has an attendance today of over 500,000 visitors.[30][31][32]

Role in the art market[edit]

When the Venice Biennale was founded in 1895, one of its main goals was to establish a new market for contemporary art. Between 1942 and 1968 a sales office assisted artists in finding clients and selling their work,[33] a service for which it charged 10% commission. Sales remained an intrinsic part of the biennale until 1968, when a sales ban was enacted. An important practical reason why the focus on non-commodities has failed to decouple Venice from the market is that the biennale itself lacks the funds to produce, ship and install these large-scale works. Therefore, the financial involvement of dealers is widely regarded as indispensable;[16] as they regularly front the funding for production of ambitious projects.[34] Furthermore, every other year the Venice Biennale coincides with nearby Art Basel, the world's prime commercial fair for modern and contemporary art. Numerous galleries with artists on show in Venice usually bring work by the same artists to Basel.[35]

Central Pavilion and Arsenale[edit]

The formal Biennale is based at a park, the Giardini. The Giardini includes a large exhibition hall that houses a themed exhibition curated by the Biennale's director.

Initiated in 1980, the Aperto began as a fringe event for younger artists and artists of a national origin not represented by the permanent national pavilions. This is usually staged in the Arsenale and has become part of the formal biennale programme. In 1995 there was no Aperto so a number of participating countries hired venues to show exhibitions of emerging artists. From 1999, both the international exhibition and the Aperto were held as one exhibition, held both at the Central Pavilion and the Arsenale. Also in 1999, a $1 million renovation transformed the Arsenale area into a cluster of renovated shipyards, sheds and warehouses, more than doubling the Arsenale's exhibition space of previous years.[36]

A special edition of the 54th Biennale was held at Padiglione Italia of Torino Esposizioni – Sala Nervi (December 2011 – February 2012) for the 150th Anniversary of Italian Unification. The event was directed by Vittorio Sgarbi.[37]

National pavilions[edit]

Main article: National pavilions at the Venice Biennale

The Giardini houses 30 permanent national pavilions.[13] Alongside the Central Pavilion, built in 1894 and later restructured and extended several times, the Giardini are occupied by a further 29 pavilions built at different periods by the various countries participating in the Biennale. The first nation to build a pavilion was Belgium in 1907, followed by Germany, Britain and Hungary in 1909.[13] The pavilions are the property of the individual countries and are managed by their ministries of culture.[38]

Countries not owning a pavilion in the Giardini are exhibited in other venues across Venice. The number of countries represented is still growing. In 2005, China was showing for the first time, followed by the African Pavilion and Mexico (2007), the United Arab Emirates (2009), and India (2011).[39]

The assignment of the permanent pavilions was largely dictated by the international politics of the 1930s and the Cold War. There is no single format to how each country manages their pavilion, established and emerging countries represented at the biennial maintain and fund their pavilions in different ways.[38] While pavilions are usually government-funded, private money plays an increasingly large role; in 2015, the pavilions of Iraq, Ukraine and Syria were completely privately funded.[40] The pavilion for Great Britain is always managed by the British Council[41] while the United States assigns the responsibility to a public gallery chosen by the Department of State which, since 1985, has been the Peggy Guggenheim Collection.[42] The countries at the Arsenale that request a temporary exhibition space pay a hire fee per square meter.[38]

In 2011, the countries were Albania, Andorra, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Congo, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czechia and Slovakia, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Haiti, Hungary, Iceland, India, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Mexico, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Singapore, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Syrian Arab Republic, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States of America, Uruguay, Venezuela, Wales and Zimbabwe. In addition to this there are two collective pavilions: Central Asia Pavilion and Istituto Italo-Latino Americano. In 2013, eleven new participant countries developed national pavilions for the Biennale: Angola, Bosnia and Herzegowina, the Bahamas, Bahrain, the Ivory Coast, Kosovo, Kuwait, the Maldives, Paraguay, Tuvalu, and the Holy See. In 2015, five new participant countries developed pavilions for the Biennale: Grenada,[43] Republic of Mozambique, Republic of Seychelles, Mauritius and Mongolia. In 2017, three countries participated in the Art Biennale for the first time: Antigua & Barbuda, Kiribati, and Nigeria.[44] In 2019, four countries participated in the Art Biennale for the first time: Ghana, Madagascar, Malaysia, and Pakistan.[45]

As well as the national pavilions there are countless "unofficial pavilions"[46] that spring up every year. In 2009 there were pavilions such as the Gabon Pavilion and a Peckham pavilion. In 2017 The Diaspora Pavilion bought together 19 artists from complex, multinational backgrounds to challenge the prevalence of the nation state at the Biennale.[47]

The Internet Pavilion (Italian: Padiglione Internet) was founded in 2009 as a platform for activists and artists working in new media.[48][49][50] Subsequent editions were held since,[51] 2013,[51] in conjunction with the biennale.[52]

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وینسVenetsiya

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Veneziako Venecija Venècia Venetië Veneetsia Venetsia VenedigΒ ενετία Velence Feneyjar Venice Venēcija Venezja Venezia Wenecja VenezaVeneția Venetsiya Benátky Benetke Fenisוועניס Վենետիկ ভেনি স威尼斯 威尼斯 ვენეციისવે નિસवेनिसヴ ェネツィアವೆನಿಸ್베니스வெனிஸ்వెనిస్เวนิซوینس Venetsiya Italy italia

 

--------key words

headband protest fashion protestfashion artistic intervention performance artformat action installation critical critic critique institutional critic choregraphy scenography

#venicebiennale #biennalist #artformat #biennale #artbiennale #biennial

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Mural by ROSHI aka @dirtyoldroshi and Mister Toledo aka @mister_toledo, seen at 2268 Venice Boulevard in Los Angeles, California.

 

ROSHI states: "The foundation of self reflection always comes back to duality- the contrast of light/dark, good/evil, yes/no- the binary nature of mind in its attempt to understand, construct, and solve problems through a structure of coupling relativisms. We build perceptions on meaning and challenges to prioritize with this operating system. A crux of human experience: to be caught between the omnipotent state of being part of the collective godhead of creativity and the isolated fragment of being an individual satellite viewing their collective home from afar. Fun stuff to ponder on."

 

Drone photo by James aka Urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.

 

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email: BlvrdP@gmail.com

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

Nothing you see here is real, even though the model, the conversion or the presented background story might be based historical facts. BEWARE!

  

Some background:

The Georgian Air Force and Air Defense Division (თავდაცვის ძალების ავიაციისა და საჰაერო თავდაცვის სარდლობა; tavdatsvis dzalebis aviatsiisa da sahaero tavdatsvis sardloba) was established on January 1, 1992, and in September the Georgian Air Force conducted its first combat flight during the separatist war in Abkhazia. On August 18, 1998, the two divisions were unified in a joint command structure and renamed the Georgian Air Force.

In 2010, the Georgian Air Force was abolished as a separate branch and incorporated into the Georgian Land Forces as Air and Air Defense sections. By that time, the equipment – primarily consisting of Eastern Bloc aircraft inherited from the Soviet Union after the country’s dissolution – was totally outdated, the most potent aircraft were a dozen Suchoj Su-25 attack aircraft and a handful of MiG-21U trainers.

 

In order to rejuvenate the air arm, Tbilisi Aircraft Manufacturing (TAM), also known as JSC Tbilaviamsheni and formerly known as 31st aviation factory, started a modernization program for the Su-25, for the domestic forces but also for export customers. TAM had a long tradition of aircraft production within the Soviet Union. In the 1950s the factory started the production of Mikoyan's MiG-15 and later, the MiG-17 fighter aircraft. In 1957 Tbilisi Aircraft State Association built the MiG-21 two-seater fighter-trainer aircraft and its various derivative aircraft, continuing the MiG-21 production for about 25 years. At the same time the company was manufacturing the K-10 air-to-surface guided missile. Furthermore, the first Sukhoi Su-25 (known in the West as the "Frogfoot") close support aircraft took its maiden voyage from the runway of 31st aviation factory. Since then, more than 800 SU-25s had been delivered to customers worldwide. From the first SU-25 to the 1990s, JSC Tbilaviamsheni was the only manufacturer of this aircraft, and even after the fall of the Soviet Union the production lines were still intact and spares for more than fifty complete aircraft available. Along with the SU-25 aircraft 31st aviation factory also launched large-scale production of air-to-air R-60 and R-73 IR guided missiles, a production effort that built over 6,000 missiles a year and that lasted until the early 1990s. From 1996 to 1998 the factory also produced Su-25U two-seaters.

 

In 2001 the factory started, in partnership with Elbit Systems of Israel, upgrading basic Su-25 airframes to the Su-25KM “Scorpion” variant. This was just a technical update, however, intended for former Su-25 export customers who would upgrade their less potent Su-25K export aircraft with modern avionics. The prototype aircraft made its maiden flight on 18 April 2001 at Tbilisi in full Georgian Air Force markings. The aircraft used a standard Su-25 airframe, enhanced with advanced avionics including a glass cockpit, digital map generator, helmet-mounted display, computerized weapons system, complete mission pre-plan capability, and fully redundant backup modes. Performance enhancements included a highly accurate navigation system, pinpoint weapon delivery systems, all-weather and day/night performance, NATO compatibility, state-of-the art safety and survivability features, and advanced onboard debriefing capabilities complying with international requirements. The Su-25KM had the ability to use NATO-standard Mark 82 and Mark 83 laser-guided bombs and new air-to-air missiles, the short-range Vympel R-73. This upgrade extended service life of the Su-25 airframes for another decade.

There were, however, not many customers. Manufacturing was eventually stopped at the end of 2010, after Georgian air forces have been permanently dismissed and abolished. By that time, approximately 12 Scorpions had been produced, but the Georgian Air Force still used the basic models of Su-25 because of high cost of Su-25KM and because it was destined mainly for export. According to unofficial sources several Scorpions had been transferred to Turkmenistan as part of a trade deal.

 

In the meantime, another, more ambitious project took shape at Tbilisi Aircraft Manufacturing, too: With the help of Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) the company started the development of a completely new attack aircraft, the TAM-1 “Gvelgeslas” (გველგესლას, Viper). It heavily relied on the year-long experience gathered with Su-25 production at Tblisi and on the tools at hand, but it was eventually a completely new aircraft – looking like a crossbreed between the Su-25 and the American A-10 with a T-tail.

 

This new layout had become necessary because the aircraft was to be powered by more modern, less noisy and more fuel-efficient Rolls Royce AE 3012 turbofan engines - which were originally intended to power the stillborn Yakovlev Yak-77 twin-engine business jet for up to 32 passengers, a slightly derated variant of the GMA 3012 with a 44 in diameter (112 cm) fan and procured via IAI from the United States through the company’s connection with Gulfstream Aerospace. Their larger diameter (the Su-25’s original Soyuz/Tumansky R-195 turbojets had a diameter of 109,5 cm/43.1 in) precluded the use of the former integral engine nacelles along the fuselage. To keep good ground clearance against FOD and to protect them from small arms fire, the engine layout was completely re-arranged. The fuselage was streamlined, and its internal structure was totally changed. The wings moved into a low position. The wings’ planform was almost identical to the Su-25’s, together with the characteristic tip-mounted “crocodile” air brakes. Just the leading edge inside of the “dogteeth” and the wing roots were re-designed, the latter because of the missing former engine nacelles. This resulted in a slightly increased net area, the original wingspan was retained. The bigger turbofans were then mounted in separate pods on short pylons along the rear fuselage, partly protected from below by the wings. Due to the jet efflux and the engines’ proximity to the stabilizers, these were re-located to the top of a deeper, reinforced fin for a T-tail arrangement.

 

Since the Su-25’s engine bays were now gone, the main landing gear had to be completely re-designed. Retracting them into the fuselage or into the relatively thin wings was not possible, TAM engineers settled upon a design that was very similar to the A-10: the aircraft received streamlined fairings, attached to the wings’ main spar, and positioned under the wings’ leading edges. The main legs were only semi-retractable; in flight, the wheels partly protruded from the fairings, but that hardly mattered from an aerodynamic point of view at the TAM-1’s subsonic operational speed. As a bonus they could still be used while retracted during emergency landings, improving the aircraft’s crash survivability.

 

Most flight and weapon avionics were procured from or via Elbit, including the Su-25KT’s modernized “glass cockpit”, and the TAM-1’s NATO compatibility was enhanced to appeal to a wider international export market. Beyond a total of eleven hardpoints under the wings and the fuselage for an external ordnance of up to 4.500 kg (9.900 lb), the TAM-1 was furthermore armed with an internal gun. Due to procurement issues, however, the Su-25’s original twin-barrel GSh-30-2 was replaced with an Oerlikon KDA 35mm cannon – a modern variant of the same cannon used in the German Gepard anti-aircraft tank, adapted to the use in an aircraft with a light-weight gun carriage. The KDA gun fired with a muzzle velocity of 1,440 m/s (4,700 ft/s) and a range of 5.500m, its rate of fire was typically 550 RPM. For the TAM-1, a unique feature from the SPAAG installation was adopted: the gun had two magazines, one with space for 200 rounds and another, smaller one for 50. The magazines could be filled with different types of ammunition, and the pilot was able select between them with a simple switch, adapting to the combat situation. Typical ammunition types were armor-piercing FAPDS rounds against hardened ground targets like tanks, and high explosive shells against soft ground targets and aircraft or helicopters, in a 3:1 ratio. Other ammunition types were available, too, and only 200 rounds were typically carried for balance reasons.

 

The TAM-1’s avionics included a SAGEM ULISS 81 INS, a Thomson-CSF VE-110 HUD, a TMV630 laser rangefinder in a modified nose and a TRT AHV 9 radio altimeter, with all avionics linked through a digital MIL-STD-1553B data bus and a modern “glass cockpit”. A HUD was standard, but an Elbit Systems DASH III HMD could be used by the pilot, too. The DASH GEN III was a wholly embedded design, closely integrated with the aircraft's weapon system, where the complete optical and position sensing coil package was built within the helmet (either the USAF standard HGU-55/P or the Israeli standard HGU-22/P), using a spherical visor to provide a collimated image to the pilot. A quick-disconnect wire powered the display and carried video drive signals to the helmet's Cathode Ray Tube (CRT).

 

The TAM-1’s development was long and protracted, though, primarily due to lack of resources and the fact that the Georgian air force was in an almost comatose state for several years, so that the potential prime customer for the TAM-1 was not officially available. However, the first TAM-1 prototype eventually made its maiden flight in September 2017. This was just in time, because the Georgian Air Force had formally been re-established in 2016, with plans for a major modernization and procurement program. Under the leadership of Georgian Minister of Defense Irakli Garibashvili the Air Force was re-prioritized and aircraft owned by the Georgian Air Force were being modernized and re-serviced after they were left abandoned for 4 years. This program lasted until 2020. In order to become more independent from foreign sources and support its domestic aircraft industry, the Georgian Air Force eventually ordered eight TAM-1s as Su-25K replacements, which would operate alongside a handful of modernized Su-25KMs from national stock. In the meantime, the new type also attained interest from abroad, e. g. from Bulgaria, the Congo and Cyprus. The IDF thoroughly tested two early production TAM-1s of the Georgian Air Force in 2018, too.

  

General characteristics:

Crew: 1

Length: 15.53 m (50 ft 11 in), including pitot

Wingspan: 14.36 m (47 ft 1 in)

Height: 4.8 m (15 ft 9 in)

Wing area: 35.2 m² (378 sq ft)

Empty weight: 9,800 kg (21,605 lb)

Gross weight: 14,440 kg (31,835 lb)

Max takeoff weight: 19,300 kg (42,549 lb)

 

Powerplant:

2× Rolls-Royce AE 3012 turbofans with 44.1 kN (9,920 lbf) thrust each

 

Performance:

Maximum speed: 975 km/h (606 mph, 526 kn, Mach 0.79)

Range: 1.000 km (620 mi, 540 nmi) with internal fuel, clean

Combat range: 750 km (470 mi, 400 nmi) at sea level with 4.500 kg (9,911 lb) of ordnance,

incl. two external fuel tanks

Service ceiling: 7.800 m (25,550 ft)

g limits: +6.5

Rate of climb: 58 m/s (11,400 ft/min)

 

Armament:

1× 35 mm (1.38 in) Oerlikon KDA cannon with 200 rds in two magazines

under the lower forward fuselage, offset to port side.

11× hardpoints with a capacity of up to 4.500 kg (9,911 lb) of external stores

  

The kit and its assembly:

This rather rigorous conversion had been on my project list for many years, and with the “Gunships” group build at whatifmodellers.com in late 2021 I eventually gathered my mojo to tackle it. The ingredients had already been procured long ago, but there are ideas that make you think twice before you take action…

 

This build was somewhat inspired by a CG rendition of a modified Su-25 that I came across while doing online search for potential ideas, running under the moniker “Su-125”, apparently created by someone called “Bispro” and published at DeviantArt in 2010; check this: (www.deviantart.com/bispro/art/Sukhoi-Su-125-Foghorn-15043...). The rendition shows a Su-25 with its engines re-located to the rear fuselage in separate nacelles, much like an A-10, plus a T-tail. However, as many photoshopped aircraft, the shown concept had IMHO some flaws. Where would a landing gear go, as the Su-125 still had shoulder wings? The engines’ position and size also looked fishy to me, quite small/narrow and very far high and back – I had doubts concerning the center of gravity. Nevertheless, I liked the idea, and the idea of an “A-10-esque remix” of the classic Frogfoot was born.

 

This idea was fueled even further when I found out that the Hobbycraft kit lends itself to such a conversion. The kit itself is not a brilliant Su-25 rendition, there are certainly better models of the aircraft in 1:72. However, what spoke for the kit as whiffing fodder was/is the fact that it is quite cheap (righteously so!) and AFAIK the only offering that comes with separate engine nacelles. These are attached to a completely independent central fuselage, and this avoids massive bodywork that would be necessary (if possible at all) with more conventional kits of this aircraft.

Another beneficial design feature is that the wing roots are an integral part of the original engine nacelles, forming their top side up to the fuselage spine. Through this, the original wingspan could be retained even without the nacelles, no wing extension would be necessary to retain the original proportions.

 

Work started with the central fuselage and the cockpit tub, which received a different (better) armored ejection seat and a pilot figure; the canopy remained unmodified and closed, because representing the model with an open cockpit would have required additional major body work on the spinal area behind the canopy. Inside, a new dashboard (from an Italeri BAe Hawk) was added, too – the original instrument panel is just a flat front bulkhead, there’s no space for the pilot to place the legs underneath the dashboard!

 

In parallel, the fin underwent major surgery. I initially considered an A-10-ish twin tail, but the Su-25’s high “tail stinger” prevented its implementation: the jet efflux would come very close to the tail surfaces. So, I went for something similar to the “Su-125” layout.

Mounting the OOB stabilizers to the fin was challenging, though. The fin lost its di-electric tip fairing, and it was cut into two sections, so that the tip would become long enough to match the stabilizers. A lucky find in the scrap box was a leftover tail tip from a Matchbox Blackburn Buccaneer, already shortened from a former, stillborn project: it had now the perfect length to take the Su-25 stabilizers! To make it fit on the fin, an 8mm deep section was inserted, in the form of a simple 1.5mm styrene sheet strip. Once dry, the surface was re-built with several PSR layers. Since it would sit further back on the new aircraft’s tail, the stinger with a RHAWS sensor was shortened.

 

On the fuselage, the attachment points for the wings and the engine nacelles were PSRed away and the front section filled with lots of lead beads, hoping that it would be enough to keep the model’s nose down.

 

Even though the wings had a proper span for a re-location into a low position, they still needed some attention: at the roots, there’s a ~1cm wide section without sweep (the area which would normally cover the original engine nacelles’ tops). This was mended through triangular 1.5 mm styrene wedges that extended the leading-edge sweep, roughly cut into shape once attached and later PSRed into the wings’ surfaces

 

The next construction site were the new landing gear attachment points. This had caused some serious headaches – where do you place and stow it? With new, low wings settled, the wings were the only logical place. But the wings were too thin to suitably take the retracted wheels, and, following the idea of a retrofitted existing design, I decided to adopt the A-10’s solution of nacelles into which the landing gear retracts forward, with the wheels still partly showing. This layout option appears quite plausible, since it would be a “graft-on” solution, and it also has the benefit of leaving lots of space for underwing stores, since the hardpoints’ position had to be modified now, too.

I was lucky to have a pair of A-10 landing gear nacelles at hand, left over from a wrecked Matchbox model from childhood time (the parts are probably 35 years old!). They were simply cut out, glued to the Su-25 wings and PSRed into shape. The result looked really good!

 

At this point I had to decide the model’s overall layout – where to place the wings, the tail and the new engine nacelles. The latter were not 1:72 A-10 transplants. I had some spare engine pods from the aforementioned Matchbox wreck, but these looked too rough and toylike for my taste. They were furthermore too bulky for the Su-25, which is markedly smaller than an A-10, so I had to look elsewhere. As a neat alternative for this project, I had already procured many moons ago a set of 1:144 resin PS-90A engines from a Russian company called “A.M.U.R. Reaver”, originally intended for a Tu-204 airliner or an Il-76 transport aircraft. These turbofan nacelles not only look very much like A-10 nacelles, just a bit smaller and more elegant, they are among the best resin aftermarket parts I have ever encountered: almost no flash, crisp molding, no bubbles, and perfect fit of the parts – WOW!

With these three elements at hand I was able to define the wings’ position, based on the tail, and from that the nacelles’ location, relative to the wings and the fin.

 

The next challenge: how to attach the new engines to the fuselage? The PS-90A engines came without pylons, so I had to improvise. I eventually found suitable pylons in the form of parts from F-14A underwing missile pylons, left over from an Italeri kit. Some major tailoring was necessary to find a proper position on the nacelles and on the fuselage, and PSRing these parts turned out to be quite difficult because of the tight and labyrinthine space.

 

When the engines were in place, work shifted towards the model’s underside. The landing gear was fully replaced. I initially wanted to retain the front wheel leg and the main wheels but found that the low wings would not allow a good ground clearance for underwing stores and re-arming the aircraft, a slightly taller solution was necessary. I eventually found a complete landing gear set in the scrap box, even though I am not certain to which aircraft it once belonged? I guess that the front wheel came from a Hasegawa RA-5C Vigilante, while the main gear and the wheels once belonged to an Italeri F-14A, alle struts were slightly shortened. The resulting stance is still a bit stalky, but an A-10 is also quite tall – this is just not so obvious because of the aircraft’s sheer size.

 

Due to the low wings and the landing gear pods, the Su-25’s hardpoints had to be re-arranged, and this eventually led to a layout very similar to the A-10. I gave the aircraft a pair of pylons inside of the pods, plus three hardpoints under the fuselage, even though all of these would only be used when slim ordnance was carried. I just fitted the outer pair. Outside of the landing gear fairings there would have been enough space for the Frogfoot’s original four outer for pylons, but I found this to be a little too much. So I gave it “just” three, with more space between them.

The respective ordnance is a mix for a CAS mission with dedicated and occasional targets. It consists of:

- Drop tanks under the inner wings (left over from a Bilek Su-17/22 kit)

- A pair of B-8M1 FFAR pods under the fuselage (from a vintage Mastercraft USSR weapon set)

- Two MERs with four 200 kg bombs each, mounted on the pylons outside of the landing gear (the odd MERs came from a Special Hobby IDF SMB-2 Super Mystère kit, the bombs are actually 1:100 USAF 750 lb bombs from a Tamiya F-105 Thunderchief in that scale)

- Four CBU-100 Rockeye Mk. II cluster bombs on the outer stations (from two Italeri USA/NATO weapon sets, each only offers a pair of these)

Yes, it’s a mix of Russian and NATO ordnance – but, like the real Georgian Su-25KM “Scorpion” upgrade, the TAM-1 would certainly be able to carry the same or even a wider mix, thanks to modified bomb racks and wirings. Esp. “dumb” weapons, which do not call for special targeting and guidance avionics, are qualified.

The gun under the nose was replaced with a piece from a hollow steel needle.

  

Painting and markings:

Nothing unusual here. I considered some more “exotic” options, but eventually settled for a “conservative” Soviet/Russian-style four-tone tactical camouflage, something that “normal” Su-25s would carry, too.

The disruptive pattern was adapted from a Macedonian Frogfoot but underwent some changes due to the T-tail and the engine nacelles. The basic tones were Humbrol 119 (RAF Light Earth), 150 (Forest Green), 195 (Chrome Oxide Green, RAL 6020) and 98 (Chocolate) on the upper surfaces and RLM78 from (Modelmaster #2087) from below, with a relatively low waterline, due to the low-set wings.

As usual, the model received a light black ink washing and some post-shading – especially on the hull and on the fin, where many details had either disappeared under PSR or were simply not there at all.

 

The landing gear and the lower areas of the cockpit were painted in light grey (Humbrol 64), while the upper cockpit sections were painted with bright turquoise (Modelmaster #2135). The wheel hubs were painted in bright green (Humbrol 101), while some di-electric fairings received a slightly less intense tone (Humbrol 2). A few of these flat fairings on the hull were furthermore created with green decal sheet material (from TL Modellbau) to avoid masking and corrections with paint.

 

The tactical markings became minimal, matching the look of late Georgian Su-25s. The roundels came from a Balkan Models Frogfoot sheet. The “07” was taken from a Blue Rider decal sheet, it actually belongs to a Lithuanian An-2. Some white stencils from generic MiG-21 and Mi-8 Begemot sheets were added, too, and some small markings were just painted onto the hull with yellow.

 

Some soot stains around the jet nozzles and the gun were added with graphite, and finally the kit was sealed with a coat of matt acrylic varnish.

  

A major bodywork project – and it’s weird that this is basically just a conversion of a stock kit and no kitbashing. A true Frogfoot remix! The new engines were the biggest “outsourced” addition, the A-10 landing gear fairings were a lucky find in the scrap box, and the rest is quite generic and could have looked differently. The result is impressive and balanced, though, the fictional TAM-1 looks quite plausible. The landing gear turned out to be a bit tall and stalky, though, making the aircraft look smaller on the ground than it actually is – but I left it that way.

Watercolour on 140 lb. Arches cold press.

 

This is a wee experimental piece using rectangles within rectangles and varying the treatment of the plant. I had a lot of fun with it and plan to try a larger piece at some point. The trouble is I have so many things I want to try, and I need to prioritize, or nothing gets done.

Amtrak's Pennsylvanian makes its way across the Allegheny Mountains as it passes one of the many parked trains waiting for fresh crews and clearance past the derailment site at MP 240. NS was prioritizing Amtrak and intermodal trains since the mainline was reduced to 1 track and the continued sub-zero weather was continue to cause additional issues throughout the Keystone Division.

New Year’s Eve-2024

Ninety-nine percent of good railroad photography is just getting out the door with your camera. Once that’s accomplished, you still have one percent to work with. That was my thought when a FB private message from DC Hammon popped up on my phone. DC allowed that a westbound CSX empty hopper train was enroute from Kingsport to Loyall, with the Clinchfield heritage unit on the point. It was gloomy and misting rain, but after about ten seconds of pondering, I elected to engage the ninety nine percent part of the mission.

I haven’t been on FB much lately. Even though I had a flu vaccine a few weeks ago, on Saturday I was in the Ballad urgent care facility in Norton. I was coughing, congested, chilling, and with all the characteristics of something nasty. It wasn’t COVID, but a strain of flue that must have been a variant not included into blend of vaccines I had received earlier. That’s not unusual, of course, but it doesn’t often happen to me.

Wilma has also been sick, and Walnut has really been having a tough go of it (although in her case I think it’s just her declining age). We haven’t been much, if at all (except for a few runs to pick up essentials). At last, I was feeling more like myself, so this would be a good way to change the afternoon routine. I thought the experience of doing some train photography would be worth the effort, even if I wouldn’t come back home with some masterpiece of imagery worthy of a CRPA award (like that’s ever gonna happen!).

I encountered CSX 1902 West sooner than I had anticipated, at Duffield. I had left the house half thinking of going to Natural Tunnel, but I gave up on that when I realized I had left my wide angle lens at home. I wheeled through a crossover on US 23 and backtracked (no pun intended) until I could crank off a couple of “poke and hope” pacing shots in a short stretch where the highway paralleled the track without major obstructions. I mostly was trying to avoid veering into another lane in front of a semi---but traffic was very light.

Pushing ahead, the unexpected growth of lineside vegetation had erased some earlier “honey hole” spots, but I pulled up to a small clearing and got the train as it passed my spot at the passing track at Jasper. What next?

Photo locations on lines where you’ve photographed trains for decades are like a mental Rolodex, prioritized by train direction, lighting, foreground clutter, backgrounds, and on and on. I decided to drive in to “furnace dip” to get him dropping downgrade from East Stone Gap and across the short South Fork of Powell River Bridge. The weather was going from crummy to extra crummy.

After getting that shot, I drove out and headed home. As I was crossing the East 19th Street crossing, I reflexively looked right to see if the EOT was clear of the distant junction. Instead, I saw the head and ditch lights of an eastbound NS run. Instead of going over the hill toward the house, I drove to the old depot site to get a shot of my buddy Brian Richardson handling an eastbound coal train with three big NS units.

Happy New Year, Brian, and thanks for the tip, DC!

In fact, Happy New Year to everyone!

Welcome aboard The Multidimensional Ship! Its observation deck is your entire perceptual reality. And it is now in motion. YOU are now in motion. If you only realized how fast you were going, you would probably feel a bit ill. In truth, many of you are currently experiencing signs and symptoms of what we call Global Acceleration Syndrome. We provide this title to honor your medical paradigm, even though it is not any kind of official medical diagnosis. Muscle aches and pains, lethargy, fatigue, spacey-ness, panic attacks, depression, insomnia, memory-loss, confusion---these are just a few of the uncomfortable side-effects produced by the incredible velocity at which you are traveling.

 

Your world appears to continue as it always has because YOUR MIND requires this in order to keep from flying apart. Your anxiety and hesitancies are the same feelings shared by those who sailed with Columbus. Bound for a new world, they trembled as they sailed, believing their world to be flat. Even so....... many of you also tremble---certain that you may "go over the edge" at any moment!

 

If you can receive assistance by a health care professional, and your inner guidance affirms this course of action, we encourage you to do so. However, if everything you try seems empty and useless......be strong! Be patient. Deliverance is soon at hand. The journey has begun, and there are wonders ahead, and beauty beyond imagining. The travails of childbirth are many, but the prize that follows far outweighs the pain. Believe this, receive it, and your anxious heart will slowly learn to find rest.

 

INSIDE THE SHIP

 

Spaceship Earth is a Holographic Being. Structurally, it is like a gift box that some imaginative person sends you for Christmas. When you remove the lid, you find a slightly smaller box, fully wrapped---just like the first one, containing another (even smaller) box, which contains yet another, and another, and another.........all the way down to your one-celled creatures. Each "level" of your Ship contains all of the basic elements of every other "level." Some of the features are minimized, in certain aspects, so that others can be maximized and focused upon. But it's all there! And it's all synchronized, like moving parts in a pocket watch. It all blends together beautifully.

 

You have been packing for this journey for quite sometime now. Around the planet there has formed a band of energy---several concentric bands, in fact. The one of which we speak is electromagnetic in nature. It contains diagrams, spreadsheets, poetry, tables of elements, fragments of speech, music, data, archives of human history, bits of TV shows, radio broadcasts, faxes, motion pictures, cell-phone conversations, digital art, and much more besides. When you prepared for this particular journey, you knew you had to pack LIGHT.......because you knew that was the only thing that could go! We are speaking here of your Earth Essence Timeless Capsule.

 

This "Level" of the Planetary Ship is connected to and modulated by sacred powerspots all over the planet. It is, literally, an ARC of Energy..........not unlike that other Ark which was built by Noah, so long ago. Within it, you have placed the best of you---your creations, your memories, your very lives! However, be advised. Entry onto The Arc is not made two-by-two. This "level" of the Oneself is leaving duality behind. Each individual must pass through what is called the "Eye of the Needle," as a Unified Oneself, in order to come aboard.

 

Meanwhile, back on the "hard deck," a good portion of humanity is determined to stay the course, fully in denial---apparently choosing to "play it cool" all the way through the Fourth Dimensional Corridor. Now *that* should make quite a picture, indeed.

 

But you, Dear Ones....... you need not suffer any longer with this illusion. Everything you have felt within---the many surges and flashes of energy up and down your spine---are quite real. They are transmutative jump-starts for new and important programs that have been installed in your consciousness. Soon, all your new perceptual software will come completely online. And then, the fun begins! A very wise man once said: "Don't compare your insides with other people's outsides." We underscore this message whole-heartedly. You are not crazy, and you are not falling apart. It just occasionally feels that way. In fact, you are really falling together! So let it be.

 

MORE ABOUT THE PORTALS

 

There is no one present upon Planet Earth at this time who is not regularly traversing Energy Gates and Portals. Some are very aware of it, and even relish the idea. Others are quite disturbed, because the experiences are not exactly what they had planned, or seem beyond their immediate understanding and control. Still others have found effective ways to insulate themselves almost entirely from this knowledge---which serves a purpose, albeit a temporary one. Soon all humanity will be speaking fluently about Trans-Portals, though they may be called by many names. Indeed, these Energy Gates will soon form a good deal of the conceptual framework for your upcoming human journey.

 

We are The Reconnections. We are all those parts of your Expanded Self which you had to forget about when you came into physical form. We've never been very far from you, just far enough. If there is something that you currently believe about yourself, we make up *everything else* that you could also believe. If there is something that you deny about yourself, we form a repository for that energy until you feel ready to take it up again. Endless variety, endless ability.........all neatly catalogued for your use at any time or place. If something is not present *within* you, then it is being stored here, *within* us. This is because, in Oneness, there really is no such thing as "out." All doorways are marked "enter," and all pathways lead directly home.

 

MEETING YOUR OPPOSITION

 

Before a person can successfully fight a battle, he must define who the enemy is. Though we have frequently reminded you that everything is a reflection of self, you must realize that there are aspects of that "self" that have been created to oppose you, as grounding elements, or for educational purposes. As you will see later in this transmission, identifying and meeting your opposition is crucial to your next levels of unfoldment.

 

Every birthing process involves both expansion and contraction. One part of the body pushes forward, while other parts resist. This is your dance of positive and negative energy. It is rapidly becoming impossible for a person to achieve enduring success without making contact with the "rest" of who he is. We are speaking now of the Multidimensional Self. There is much more to any situation than meets your physical eye. In truth, the puppets that currently dance in the theater of the physical are manipulated by strings being held by unseen hands. Every dance, every drama that is being enacted here, is designed to teach you more and more about those unseen forces.

 

Relationship conflicts, financial difficulties, and political upheavals are perfect venues for a reconnecting soul to learn how to identify with *all sides* of any question. It is only when you are able to lift yourself out of a polarized state, into The Oneself, that you become able to access the necessary elements which will turn the tide for whatever physical challenge that is before you.

 

Many people today are desperately looking for peace and safety. If something seems to be thwarting their goals, or irritating their status quo, they want to deal with it, so they can bring about a rapid resolution. They will choose to fight, or to negotiate---whichever seems most effective in the moment---and then they want to be able to return to "business as usual." But Friends, business can never be "usual" again. And any attempt on your parts to make it so will simply result in deeper and more complicated upheavals. The "box" in which you have all been living is being heated up from the outside. Aspects of your Expanded Self are stirring things up energetically so that you will be forced to look *outside of the physical world* in order to understand what has been creating your reality all along.

 

THE ASTRAL PLANE

 

Beyond the borders of your physical world, there are levels of consciousness that vibrate so rapidly that their purpose and presence often escapes the notice of those who are living and functioning in 3D. The Astral Plane contains beings that are either moving toward or away from physical density, yet which often have considerable influence over what is explored there at any given time.

 

If you were to equate levels of human consciousness to keys on a piano, you would find that each "note" or tone represents one of the energy centers (chakras) functioning within, for example, your human body. You begin your tonal scale with "do," which is the first (root) chakra of that body, and you move up.......through "re" (the second chakra), mi (the third chakra), and so on..........all the way up to "ti," (the crown chakra) where you find yourself ready to begin playing again at a new octave. The Astral Plane begins the gateway into the next octaves of your conscious experience.

 

Those who have made serious studies into ethereal reality tend to be somewhat negative in their attitude towards the Astral Plane. Many think of it as an etheric "junk yard," wherein divergent and confused energies wander aimlessly, trying to make sense of where they are, and how they came to be there. But these judgments are usually drawn by those who have already committed themselves to something. They forget how blissful it can be to simply window shop, to consider, and to resonate with several potential realities at once.

 

Beyond the Astral Plane exists the Reconnected Oneself. Whereas the Astral is made up of consciousness that thinks or believes it knows things..........the Unified Oneself is the part of you which absolutely knows. It KNOWS because it contains all possible levels of every possible situation or interaction.

 

When a person is finished with window shopping---having sufficiently explored all the possibilities---he or she will begin Reconnecting to Oneness. This is a process that can only be accomplished while that person is still present in physical form. In order to do it, he must be willing to forego all his mental ponderings, judgments, and emotional reactivity that makes up most of the drama in your everyday life. He must find a way to go above it, or perhaps to tunnel under it, connecting directly to the Universal Touchstone of Oneness with everything and everyone. When contact with that level of being is reached, all of his attachments and bondage to earthly outcome are erased. At that point, anything becomes possible.

 

THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW

 

Consider for a moment the image of a strong man, standing on a mountain peak, high above the Earth. Through the mist that surrounds his mountain, the man sees a second peak, directly across the valley. The thought enters his mind that he would like to experience that other peak, but there is way too much valley between the two. If he chose, the man could climb down from his mountain, travel through the valley, which seems rather dark and forboding, and climb up the mountain on the other side. The mere thought of moving through that shadowy void, however, makes the whole prospect seem fearsome and impossible.

 

The primary obstacle which blocks the attainment of this man's desire is the separation which he perceives between the two mountains. There seems to be just too big a gap for him to leap across. In many ways, this "gap" is at the root of nearly all problems which arise today in 3D reality.

 

Change the scene. Two men meet together in a public park. One of them says or does something which deeply offends the other, and a shouting match occurs. The topic could be politics, religion, finances, or romance. It usually does not matter. This encounter is a programmed response, anyway. As each continues to speak his mind, the "gap" between them grows deeper and wider. Resentment, hatred, and disdain now exist where once there could have been trust and goodwill.

 

Both of these men are Multidimensional. They are jewels with many facets. Each of them have selves that live high, on the mountain top, and each of them has variations of selves that live deep down in the Valley as well. In the Valley there are horrors galore---guilt, shame, and anger that never seems to be satisfied. What creates a shadow is some object or person that stands between a reflecting surface and the light. In the language of metaphor, your shadow is the part of your own self that is hidden from you because you are standing in your own way.

 

What each man in the above story is reacting to is his own Shadow Reflection, seen in the face of the other. We have spoken about this principle at length in our transmission entitled "Relationships: A Time for Healing." For many years, this process of Creative Shadow Work has provided your planet with tools to complete certain alchemical changes that are required for the Reconnection of your Mental Body. Now it is time for you to begin penetration into your Emotional Body. It is time for you to leave the Valley of the Shadow and to learn the art of building Astral Bridges.

 

WHAT IS AN ASTRAL BRIDGE?

  

In the above story of the two mountains, our wishful climber could surely benefit from some form of Connection, spanning peak to peak, which would allow him to avoid having to go down his mountain and through the Valley to get to the other side. If he knew about his Divine Multidimensional Nature, and had knowledge of how to build an Astral Bridge, his problems would be solved.

 

"Many of you may remember a film that was released a few years back called "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade." This film includes a particularly inspiring scene, in which the hero finds himself needing to cross from one high place to another (very much like in our story above). In a required act of faith, appropriate to the plot, he places his foot upon what *appears to be* empty air, and a bridge instantly appears beneath his feet, allowing him to cross safely to the other side."

In another famous film, "The Matrix," released only a couple of years ago, one of the heros demonstrated a mastery of physical force, using what was called a "Jump Program," which enabled him to leap across a huge expanse of physical space, moving freely from one high building to another. Even characters in the film exclaimed "Whoa! That's impossible."

  

An Astral Bridge begins as an Etheric Connector which brings together two points in physical space which appear to be separated by a gap. The Bridge itself originates somewhere else in the Multiverse---performing a clear purpose within an alternative level of here and now. Through a process we shall explain shortly, a perceptual cursor is passed over the image, and it is highlighted and copied (to use familiar computer terms) to a place where it is desperately needed.

 

At the moment of its transposition, an Astral Bridge is constructed almost entirely of faith. It has been written that "faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." People don't believe in things because they appear. Things appear in physical space because people believe in them. So it is with an Astral Bridge. At the moment it is required, the Bridge gets pasted directly into your NOW.........in a process that only could be described as miraculous........even though it often appears to be a natural part of your flow.

 

HOW MANIFESTATION OCCURS

 

As we mentioned in Trans-Portals 1 and 2, the key to travel within the Multiverse is found in a person's ability to detach himself from his current surroundings, by finding a state of neutrality, so that he can journey anywhere else he wishes to go. What keeps you all trapped in your current 3D context is your continuous *clinging* to outcomes (cause and effect relationships) that you imagine are in operation there. My Dear Friends, this is ILLUSION.

 

When something manifests in your 3D world, it arrives because you *called for it* with your mind and heart. It makes little difference whether your call was a conscious one, or whether it was something that was issued from beneath your Veil of Forgetfulness. It came from you, and you need to own that before you can break free from its influence. Those who have trouble with this concept may need to circle back and do some Creative Shadow Work, as we mentioned a bit earlier in this transmission.

  

Basically..... a successful "call" for reality manifestation involves (at least) two elements:

 

1. A clear statement of belief or intent, spoken or held in a positive way........followed immediately by........

 

2. A complete release of the outcome into the hands of the Expanded Self.

  

A person doesn't manifest his or her world out of nothing. Rather, each of you forms your personal reality from the *everything,* which exists all around you. In order to make something physical, you simply focus upon it.....(which slows down the vibration sufficiently for it to solidify), and then you install Perceptual Veils around it, to block out the awareness of everything else that is there. This is your own perceptual equivalent of putting blinders on a horse.

 

As you begin your process of focusing, you must clearly realize how the creative element of your mind works. The explanation we are going to make for you now is a linear one, because you are currently operating within a linear reality base. Please realize that you have the power to change the order or the rules of this process at any time.

 

Like the printer on a computer, which faithfully stacks and programs its activity based upon keys hit by the operator, your very own Creative Manifesting Mind begins printing out reality based upon statements which you, yourself, hold to be true. Even though your statement is uttered only within your own mind, and is held for just one second, it has absolute power to form your world. And it frequently does!

 

Your affirmative statements, especially when accompanied by true desire and passion, are like Genies from a bottle, granting you everything you could ever wish for. As one Dear Entity once phrased it: "The universe rearranges itself according to your beliefs about what is real." It does this through your own declarations of *what is,* not through declarations of *what is not.*

 

The programming software in your Creative, Manifesting Mind *does not* recognize or respond to words like "no," "not," "don't," or "can't." It automatically eliminates them from your command line. Therefore, whenever a person declares, within himself: "I don't want to smoke" or "I am not going to be angry today," the Creative Manifesting Mind hears (and responds to) an affirmative version of those statements. What it hears is: "I do want to smoke," and "I am going to be angry today."

 

You must realize that physical reality is created from FOCUS. If you are constantly focusing upon what you *don't want," rather than on what you *do want,* your manifestation power will tend follow that focus. The locus of power in a Call to Manifest is located between the subject and the desired (or declared) action or outcome. The commands are stacked and prioritized in your printer, according to the following factors:

 

1. The "Level" of Self that is making the command (The more Expanded Aspects of you get the most clout when it comes to ordering up your manifestations)

 

2. The Desire, Intensity, and Clarity behind the declaration.

 

3. The Order of Command Presentation to the Creative Mechanism.

 

If the desire and intensity of command lines are equal, and they all come from the same level of Self, the manifestations will print out according to the order in which the commands were made. Indeed, this is a very 3D explanation, and we realize that. However, it absolutely works, as long as you are still operating within a 3D format. If a command line comes in from "outside the box" (from your Expanded Self), it will automatically hold precedence over commands that are presented from the Ego Aspect. In other words, it gets to crowd ahead of you in the cafeteria line. But the Ego still has creative power, as all aspects of you have divinity.

 

Statements of similar velocity, which are contradictory, tend to cancel each other out. Their expression is like a husband and wife who go together to vote in a public election. He votes republican and she votes democratic. In truth, the 3D effect produced is no different than if they would have stayed home (except for the satisfaction they receive from exercising their options). In the same way, your inner consciousness frequently entertains divergent points of view. At times, many aspects of you can be barking contradictory commands with virtually the same intensity. If this occurs, your printer gets jammed, and you may end up having to reboot!

 

LETTING IT HAPPEN

 

When using Trans-Portals, either for personal travel or to take delivery on key aspects of your current reality, it is crucial that you learn to *let go of the process* after you have clearly issued the command line. In essence, the Trans-Portal System in the Multiverse functions very similar to the digestive tract in the human body. After materials and energy are introduced into the system, you need to relax and allow the mechanism to do its job. You must let go of your focus *entirely,* and go busy yourself with something else.

 

Clearly making a statement of desire and intent leaves an etheric impression in the "reality bubble" of a person's existence. It registers, whether he is aware of it or not. An order gets introduced. As long as a "cancel order" is not sent in after it, the Creative Mechanism (the internal search engine) will begin collating results and alternatives to meet the command.

 

Following a command statement with an attitude of *complete release and confidence* (in other words......with faith)...... pulls the Ego of the operator away from the keyboard, for reassignment elsewhere. Energetically, this produces a backdraft of energy (a vacuum) which accelerates the "digestion" process and speeds up delivery. In essence, your attitude of trust actually *sucks* your order through the pipeline more quickly, drawing to you whatever it is that you desire.

 

To place an order, and then to stew over it, creates an attitude of doubt in your creative ability. It's like sitting down to eat with 20 people watching your every bite. After awhile, you begin to get a lump in your stomach. The digestive juices become inhibited, and the whole system slows down. It is no different with Trans-Portals. Your desires and commands are transmitted organically, and your physical body (especially your nervous system) is very much involved in the process.

 

BUILDING ASTRAL BRIDGES

 

Now that we have briefly explained the process of everyday manifestation, we will teach you how this applies to Astral Bridges. As we have said, the need for a Bridge involves the presence of a GAP that exists between two or more objects (or individuals) in physical space. This can either be a physical distance, or it can be a relationship impasse that has formed, keeping folks from understanding and integrating with each other.

 

The need to get from "here to there" in 3D arises from a belief in and support of a paradigm of Separation. The Valley of the Shadow represents all the reasons why the Separation formed in the first place. When this situation involves people separating themselves from other people, the Shadow Effect is created because there are aspects of your "other" that you have difficulty accepting as self. Until now, your focus in Reconnection has been to examine this other person, and mentally analyze what it is about this person that you have been denying in yourself. And this is all very good. It feeds your consciousness, and expands awareness. But there is more to full integration than that.

 

The reason you find it hard to "digest" certain types of people into your Oneself Body stems not from what exists in that person, but what is missing in you. We call your attention back to our analogy of Trans-Portals being similar to the human digestive system. When people demonstrate an "allergy" to certain foods, it usually stems from some *processing element* (like an enzyme, for example) that is missing from their digestive process. For some reason, their body doesn't create that chemical, and the whole process suffers because of it. Despite their best attempts to prepare the offending foods properly, with style and variation, the digestive system continues to have problems until the necessary supplement gets added to the process.

 

Not all the people and situations you encounter in physical space are meant to become permanent parts of your life. Sometimes, they simply appear as catalysts for you to reach into your Multidimensional Self and discover new qualities or elements that you have forgotten. And, during a time of conflict, your task of integration and acceptance may not always be focused upon the person who is irritating you. That may only be incidental to the bigger picture.

 

You must remember that both you and the people with whom you have conflicts are Multidimensional Beings. If you are having a dance with someone in current 3D reality, you can count on the fact that there are dances going on between you all up and down the vibrational spectrum---literally involving a whole spreadsheet of possible/probable contacts--many of which are quite pleasant.

 

The resolution of present-moment conflict with another person (or society, for that matter) is brought about by opening a Portal between the physical aspect of you that exists *here* and an alternative aspect of you that exists *elsewhere*---particularly an aspect that is currently enjoying harmonious contact with the very same type of energy which is giving you such heartburn in this current moment.

 

My Friends, if it were possible for you to analyze the energy "chemistry" of the version of you that exists HERE, and the alternative version of yourself that is functioning THERE, you would notice that one or more key elements are missing. To remedy this, an Astral Bridge is formed by taking a "soul sample" of that alternative self and infusing it into yourself here. This is all done in just the ways we outlined for you above.

 

Once the required "energy supplement" gets added to your digestive system, you will find that the whole TONE of your current relationships begin to change. And, it happens automatically, without conscious effort or struggle. The only thing you require is a clear statement of intent (which would be blending with a more Expanded Level of Yourself), and the faith that is required to bring it all about.

 

With all of this in mind, the process for Building Astral Bridges in a relationship would be as follows:

 

1. Notice the exact SENSE of dissonance that exists. Many people are not aware of their sensory impressions, or of any hard feelings that exist between themselves and others. The same is true with allergic foods. Because you aren't aware of what is happening, you keep eating the offending foods, and you keep Shadow Boxing in your current relationships, rather than calling for the necessary "medicine" to complete your process, so your systems can begin to function at a new level.

 

2. Notice how you FEEL when you are in the presence of your "other." How does your body react when he or she approaches you? This is very important information if you are going to command a "search engine" to locate an alternative version of you that can assist in the integration process.

 

***A Key Principle: The first step toward feeling better is becoming better at feeling.

 

3. Ask yourself what you WANT to be different in this relationship. When you do this please *do not* concern yourself with whether or not the change would be possible. Anything is possible if you can believe.

 

4. Make a clear statement of intent, asking your Multidimensional Self to help you find a "Guide" that possesses the "medicine" which you require. A statement that might serve the process might be:

 

"I am Stephen, of the Oneself. I am seeking to contact a level of my Multidimensional Self that is now enjoying a harmonious relationship with this energy currently mirrored to me in Fred. I wish to begin a blending, a sampling of energies with that Self, so that I may be transformed---so that I may be let go of all resistance to accept Fred as a valid and beautiful part of my universe. In faith, I believe. In perfect timing, I shall receive. So let it be."

 

(The wording will come to you when you are ready. These are not established formulas, but simply samples of what is possible if you are ready to move into this process)

 

5. Turn the outcome completely over to the universe. If the offending individual tries to engage you in debate, deep discussion, or argument, you can say to him (as politely as possible) "I am unable to discuss this with you now, but I will get back to you as soon as I can." Then, forget about it. Involve yourself with other tasks. Do not analyze it further, and do not approach the person (unless you must, in order to handle necessary business together) as long as there is any remnant of dissonance remaining. Your sense of continued discomfort is your indicator that the required "enzyme" has not yet spread itself throughout your system. And your relief from same will be your barometer concerning when you have had enough of this particular medicine.

 

If two individuals in a relationship space are performing this alchemical process together, it can be Onederful, but only one "operator" is really required. That is because there is only one of you there anyway! When your "digestion" processes begin to change, you will be amazed at how your own perception of this person begins to shift. It will be like gazing at a hologram in a painting. The picture looks a certain way in one moment, and it changes completely in the next. Realize now that this is due, almost entirely, to energetic changes that have occurred in you.

 

Reconnection to Oneness involves making contact, first and foremost, with your Expanded Self, with your own "Big Story." Only then will your "small story" sub-plots begin reflecting the harmony that is your birthright. As the Psalm clearly states: "Yea, though I walk through the Valley of the Shadow..........I will fear no evil.......for thou art with me." In these powerful days of Phase Shifting and Alchemical Blending, the Expanded Oneself is not just with you.......He/She/We are *within you* as well. You will be rapidly developing your own functional immunity to the many energetic "diseases" that have troubled your soul during this outgoing Paradigm of Separation. In fact, the very word "immune" almost brings to mind the words "I AM IN YOU," does it not? And so it is becoming, My Friends.

 

STANDING ON A MOUNTAIN TOP

 

It is the privilege of The Reconnections to "fill in all the gaps" that separate your Limitation Self from your Expanded Self. We do it slowly, and with much love. There is no need to rush. You have all the time in the world. Each of you came to this place from realms of expression that were nothing less than fantastic. In your "former estate," you were able to do or have anything you wished, just by thinking it. Being natives of such splendor, you yearned for a vacation, of sorts. You wanted to know what it would be like to embody *something* rather than to be *everything.* You wanted to distinguish yourself from others, from various objects and animals, and you wanted to learn what it feels like to need.

 

Soon your research project will be completed. Has this form of reality gotten your goat? Never fear, he's right up there.......perched upon that mountain top. Watch him as he leaps from peak to peak, with perfect grace, perfect ease. Travel freely the Bridges Across Forever!

 

There are Portals, Gates, Bridges, and Inner Pathways all around you.......each volume on a bookshelf, each picture that is hanging on the wall. Words can be a Portal, a statue can be one, or even a rose. An encounter with any symbol can be a spark of remembrance, leading you through a perceptual doorway---into a limitless storehouse of possible/probable versions of that same one thing. Connect two of them, or three, or four.........and the dance goes on into infinity.

 

Some of you will begin to perceive immediately, with no help. Others may need to initiate visualization or meditation processes to tap into their stored memories. All you need do is drop your shields, and the guiding energy will begin to open your eyes. Some will do it sooner, others will do it later. Each person to his own plan, and his own style of unfoldment. As we have said previously, each event is its own miracle. However, some people require more "nudges" than others in order to shake off their slumber.

 

Remember that everything is perfect, and everything is there, filed neatly within the Multiverse. The primary purpose of your physical journey is to explore details, and make alchemical adjustments before you make the leap to more expanded realms. As always, we shall be available to you on the inner planes. Look for us there, and we shall appear to you in whatever form you require.

 

www.reconnections.net/trans_portals3.htm

>///w///< Eee just finished his faceup last night and ahhh I'm so excited to have Shu as a doll again!! I just had to put him on a body and see him all together again!~ I blushed him to match my Unoa Sist, Phyre's, body for now because its the only peachy skin toned MSD body I have right now and i'm still in the process of working on Phyre so I figure while i'm sorting him out Shu can borrow his body temporarily. xD Its CERTAINLY not an appropriate body for Shu, but it works for the purpose of seeing him all together anyways.

 

*U* BUT ANYWAY, ASDFGH- I LOVE HIMMMM <3333 Ah, seriously, I just love him in this sculpt!! There are a few things i'll have to get used to and a few changes I'll make to his faceup whenever I decide to redo it, but gosh, the more I look at him the more I adore him. T///w///T He's just such a little ray of sunshine. Every time I see him I smile! This sculpt really captures so many facets of his character from his wide-eyed wonder, tender passion and eternal innocence. Don't get me wrong, I loved his old doll form too, but aside from being more childish and aesthetically different I also think that it didn't have as much depth and versatility in expression. It certainly captured his more pensive and anxious side which is a large part of his personality, but I think this version of him really highlights the more positive aspects of his character and I really do adore that <333

 

;__; The only thing is....I still don't know how I feel about him and Etzel yet. Ahh, its weird. When I got Euclid I felt an immediate love and connection between them and Faustus. The "chemistry" was there immediately in my own eyes, you know? But I didn't and still don't feel that same strong "chemistry" between Shu and Etzel as dolls and as silly as that might sound that is a huge problem for me. I think...i'm starting to realize that I judge my romantically involved characters in doll form heavily based on how similar their features are to one another. Like the size of their eyes, the length of their mouths etc. compared to one another. The more different they are in these aspects the less I seem to like the look of them together. On a realistic level i'm aware that is a weird thing to desire because in real life couples come in many shapes and sizes and often times people do not look very similar to their romantic counterparts. I imagine the main reason I feel this way is because I draw anime and i'm used to seeing my characters in a way that their features are not so exaggerated. Of course, they all have different facial features but they are much less emphasized. Seeing a more "realistic" and dramatic difference in facial features/proportions between my closely involved doll-characters just feels so...odd and off-putting to me. I think I'm realizing the reason why I like Faustus and Euclid together so much is because their faces are proportionately very similar while consistently Shu and Etzel's haven't been. So again...I think i'm in the same boat as I was last time with the two of them; I love them both separately but not together. ;_____; Dammit.

 

Anyway, tldnr, but I'm not sure what I want to do yet. I'm certainly going to give it a lot of time and thought before I make any sort of decision or possible changes as I really do absolutely adore both Etzel and Shu's current doll forms on their own. I do think that I'm going to prioritize getting both of their new bodies though as I think that will really help me to better visualize them more ideally and give me a better indication of exactly how I feel about them together. But for now i'm just in a really weird place in the doll world of feeling super happy and yet incredibly depressed at the same time, if that is even possible. ;__;

OTL

 

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Shu (boy) is a Soom OE Serin in "Cream" White skin. Color matching and faceup by me.

   

July 18, 2023 The Hill Live brings together caregivers, patients, clinical experts, and lawmakers to answer these questions and more as we discuss the fight against Alzheimer’s and breakthroughs in providing relief to those who suffer from agitation and aggression.

Alzheimer’s disease affects about 55 million people worldwide, including 6.5 million Americans, and has no cure. Some patients with Alzheimer’s sometimes show signs of extreme aggression or become restless and anxious as their brains lose the ability to negotiate with new stimulus.

 

Agitation is a common neuropsychiatric symptom in Alzheimer’s dementia and one of the most complex and stressful aspects of caring for people living with the condition. It is reported in approximately half of people with Alzheimer’s dementia and is associated with earlier alternative living placement.

 

What do patients, caregivers and families navigating the complexities of agitation associated with Alzheimer’s need to know? How are researchers and doctors better understanding risk factors and diagnoses? What policy actions can prioritize research, detection and treatment? And what are the access considerations for patients and their caregivers as they navigate this difficult symptom?

LOCATION

National Press Club Holeman Lounge, 529 14th St. NW, 13th Floor, Washington, DC 20045

Effective Range: Medium

Classification: Intelligence / Recon

Armaments: (1) SMG-UZ01A, (1) HR-HIBMSU01

 

One reason why the New Earth Strategic Trust faction is such a dominant force in the Quorus Wars is due to their supreme tactics and efficient strategies and have outfitted specific units like the Eagle EWAC to prioritize recon and intelligence gathering.

 

The Eagle EWAC is actually based on the NESF-M05E Eagle, a standard combat type reFrame that is deployed in heavy combat areas and serve as a main unit in NEST Special Forces ranks. The EWAC (Early Warning And Control) unit allows for efficient intelligence gathering that is sent to NEST's tactical HQ as data to create up-to-date battle strategies. Extra thrusters were equipped on the Eagle EWAC to give it better mobility in order to move faster to key locations for data scanning as well as avoid enemy units. It is equipped with a light submachine gun (SMG-UZ01A) and a hand cannon mounted on its left arm for emergency combat purposes.

 

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Build notes:

You can find more about the build in my blog article :D

 

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More info, WIP details, and other LEGO mechs over at my blog:

messymaru.wordpress.com/

 

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For those interested in LEGO mech building, I put out an eBook over at Amazon Kindle a while back called Mech Wars Instructional Primer. If you’re looking for a resource that could help you start or even improve your mech building skills, you might find this eBook useful :D

Dear Flickr Friends,

 

Today I finished my second 365 and will be taking a Flickr and BK break. 2012 was a long year! There were many highlights...BlytheCon Dallas and BlytheCon Manchester being the two most memorable events!! There were also some yucky moments but we won't talk about those.

 

Scotty-daddy-poopy-pants and I sold our house this week. I will also be returning to work after a long personal health break. The next few weeks are to prioritize, inventory, and sort out life so to speak. My account here will also be changed over to a private one. Most of my regular contacts have been added to my friends list. I will be around, just not active for awhile.

 

I wish everyone well and will miss you all! You all know how much you mean to me and I shall not forget the friendships and kindnesses extended to me and my dolly family these past two years!

 

Love Juliet

“It is not what we give, but what we share, for the gift without the giver is bare”

~James Russell Lowell

 

I have spent the better part of my life, living with and around more than enough. More than enough food. More than enough clothes. More than enough shelter. More than enough support. More than enough love.

 

When life events brought me to Buffalo, NY in the Fall of 2012 I thought it was for a short visit in between jobs. Little did I know I would end up living on the East Side of the City of Buffalo in a humble old home. The home was owned by Pastor Giles. Pastor Giles has been chest deep in helping individuals, families, and the community for over 20 years; often times helping people in the very worst of times and situations. Less than 3 miles from my home was Back to Basics Outreach Ministries - a Beacon of Hope for community members in dealing with homelessness, hunger, violence, and trauma that can and does suck the life and sometimes hope out of the strongest of people. It was at Back to Basics that community members continued to invite me in to their lives. Sharing laughter, tears, loss, and yes, small and big successes.

 

More than enough. Back in Central Florida in storage I had more nice clothes and shoes and sneakers than any man should own. Big Screen TVs, electronics, antiques and nice furniture with area rugs and over 400 picture frames of all sizes. More than enough material things...and most of my life I wanted bigger TVs, newer and better electronics, more clothes...More.

 

My idea of more than enough has changed. Seeing every day for nearly 3 years kids and adults alike who didn't know where their next meal is coming from IS supposed to change a person.

 

The most recent data available regarding poverty in the city of Buffalo, NY shows 54% of children living in poverty - more than half.

Abandoned, shuttered, and demolished houses can be seen on nearly every block. Approximately 10,000 homes are counted as vacant in the City; second only to St. Louis in the US.

 

We lived on a street that years ago had been in the heart of the proud Polish Community. 150 yards up the road was a beautiful, grand Catholic church. The church was still operating but was lacking in funds to make needed structural repairs. On our street there was a mixture of home owners who had the means to care for their houses, and vacant, boarded, and destroyed homes.

 

In 2015, 41 percent of all fires in Buffalo were in vacant buildings, and more than 90 percent of all arson cases involved abandoned houses.

 

The above picture was taken about 2:30am. The house on fire was abandoned but nearby homes were occupied. Our home was about 40 feet from the burning building in the back. I had already prioritized our important material things and readied the car for a quick escape if needed to be before taking pictures.

 

God Bless our Leaders, Fire Fighters, Police Officers, and all who they serve. And let me always keep in the front of my mind I have more than enough; and something I have someone might need.

 

“It is not what we give, but what we share, for the gift without the giver is bare”

~James Russell Lowell

 

I heard a teacher once use the above quote and then said..."We don't know what we truly have until someone else needs it."

 

Augustus once said, “I found Rome a city of bricks and left it a city of marble.” The establishment of the Roman Empire ushered in a 200-year golden age known as the Pax Romana, marked by relative peacefulness and stability, during which the empire reached its greatest territorial extents. Several Emperors prioritized the construction of significant works of public amenities as much as their own domūs and monuments. In fact, the phrase panem et circenses (bread and circuses) was originally a satirical jab at such artificial appeasement. Nonetheless, the Romans’ advancements in public infrastructure was unprecedented. The vast aqueduct system provided more than 300 million gallons of water on a daily basis. To put this into perspective, that’s more daily water per capita than modern New York City. It’s little wonder, then, how Rome became the first city in history to reach a population of more than one million. Such density, however, proved to be disastrous in July 64 CE when a devasting fire destroyed two-thirds of the city. The Great Fire of Rome lasted nine days and is regarded as one of the worst urban conflagrations in history. While the aftermath would provide a clean slate for reconstruction, the efforts were certainly not without their exploitations as Emperor Nero began persecuting Christians and numerous projects were funded and built on the wealth and backs of newly conquered peoples. Although the Pax Romana is said to have ended with the death of Marcus Aurelius in 180 CE, the Halcyon days of Rome lasted until its eventual sack in 410 CE, but not before Emperor Constantine I brought about the Edict of Milan in 313, legalizing Christianity and paving the way for the eventual Edict of Thessalonica which made it the Empire’s official state church. Having left an indelible legacy on world history through such social decrees coupled with its pioneering achievements in public infrastructure, Rome is considered to be the greatest city of the Ancient world.

July 18, 2023 The Hill Live brings together caregivers, patients, clinical experts, and lawmakers to answer these questions and more as we discuss the fight against Alzheimer’s and breakthroughs in providing relief to those who suffer from agitation and aggression.

Alzheimer’s disease affects about 55 million people worldwide, including 6.5 million Americans, and has no cure. Some patients with Alzheimer’s sometimes show signs of extreme aggression or become restless and anxious as their brains lose the ability to negotiate with new stimulus.

 

Agitation is a common neuropsychiatric symptom in Alzheimer’s dementia and one of the most complex and stressful aspects of caring for people living with the condition. It is reported in approximately half of people with Alzheimer’s dementia and is associated with earlier alternative living placement.

 

What do patients, caregivers and families navigating the complexities of agitation associated with Alzheimer’s need to know? How are researchers and doctors better understanding risk factors and diagnoses? What policy actions can prioritize research, detection and treatment? And what are the access considerations for patients and their caregivers as they navigate this difficult symptom?

LOCATION

National Press Club Holeman Lounge, 529 14th St. NW, 13th Floor, Washington, DC 20045

One of Webb’s most complex instrument modes is with the MIRI Medium Resolution Spectrometer (MRS). The MRS is an integral-field spectrograph, which provides spectral and spatial information simultaneously for the entire field of view. The spectrograph provides three-dimensional ‘data cubes’ in which every pixel in an image contains a unique spectrum. Such spectrographs are extremely powerful tools to study the composition and kinematics of astronomical objects, as they combine the benefits of both traditional imaging and spectroscopy.

 

“The MRS is designed to have a spectral resolving power (observed wavelength divided by the smallest detectable wavelength difference) of about 3,000. That is high enough to resolve key atomic and molecular features in a variety of environments. At the highest redshifts, the MRS will be able to study hydrogen emission from the first galaxies. At lower redshifts, it will probe molecular hydrocarbon features in dusty nearby galaxies and detect the bright spectral fingerprints of elements such as oxygen, argon, and neon that can tell us about the properties of ionized gas in the interstellar medium. Closer to home, the MRS will produce maps of spectral features due to water ice and simple organic molecules in giant planets in our own solar system and in planet-forming disks around other stars.

 

“In order to cover the wide 5 to 28 micron wavelength range as efficiently as possible, the MRS integral field units are broken up into twelve individual wavelength bands, each of which must be calibrated individually. Over the past few weeks, the MIRI team (a large international group of astronomers from the USA and Europe) has been focusing primarily on calibrating the imaging components of the MRS. They want to ensure that all twelve bands are spatially well aligned with each other and with the MIRI Imager, so that it can be used to place targets accurately into the smaller MRS field of view. We show some early test results from this alignment process, illustrating the image quality achieved in each of the twelve bands using observations of the bright K giant star HD 37122 (located in the southern sky near the Large Magellanic Cloud).

 

“Once the spatial alignment and image quality of the several bands are well characterized, the MIRI team will prioritize calibrating the spectroscopic response of the instrument. This step will include determining the wavelength solution and spectral resolution throughout each of the twelve fields of view using observations of compact emission-line objects and diffuse planetary nebulae ejected by dying stars. We show the exceptional spectral resolving power of the MRS with a small segment of a spectrum obtained from recent engineering observations of the active galactic nucleus at the core of Seyfert galaxy NGC 6552. Once these basic instrument characteristics are established, it will be possible to calibrate MRS so that it is ready to support the wealth of Cycle 1 science programs due to start in a few short weeks.”

 

Read more: blogs.nasa.gov/webb/2022/06/16/webbs-mid-infrared-spectro...

 

This image: This portion of the MIRI MRS wavelength range shows engineering calibration data obtained of the Seyfert galaxy NGC 6552 (red line) in the constellation Draco. The strong emission feature is due to molecular hydrogen, with an additional weaker feature nearby. The blue line shows a lower spectral resolution Spitzer IRS spectrum of a similar galaxy for comparison. The Webb test observations were obtained to establish the wavelength calibration of the spectrograph. Credit: NASA, ESA, and the MIRI Consortium.

Upper New Cornwall is a community in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, located in the Lunenburg Municipal District in Lunenburg County.

 

The Post Offices of New Cornwall, Nova Scotia (1867–1953) -

The coordinated closure of the Lower, Middle (New Cornwall) and Upper New Cornwall post offices on February 28, 1953, represents a significant turning point in the history of rural Lunenburg County. This mass closure was not an isolated event but part of a national modernization effort by the Canada Post Office Department to transition from small, fixed-location offices to Rural Mail Delivery (RMD).

 

1. Historical Timeline of the Offices:

The three offices spanned nearly a century of service, adapting to the growing needs of the local communities:

New Cornwall (Middle): Established as the primary hub in 1867, the same year as Canadian Confederation. It served the central region for 86 years before its closure on February 28, 1953.

 

Upper New Cornwall: First opened on September 1, 1891. While there was a brief interruption of one day in service in 1914, it was reactivated in a new location and eventually permanently closed alongside its sister offices in early 1953.

 

Lower New Cornwall: The youngest of the three, established on May 1, 1920, to provide localized service for the southern end of the community as the population density shifted.

 

The Great Consolidation of 1953: The simultaneous closure of all three offices on February 28, 1953, was a result of several converging factors:

 

Expansion of Rural Routes: By 1953, Canada had established over 5,200 rural mail routes covering more than 120,000 miles. These routes used motorized vehicles to deliver mail directly to roadside boxes, eliminating the need for residents to travel to separate "Lower," "Middle," or "Upper" buildings.

 

Infrastructure Improvements: The post-WWII era saw significant road improvements in Nova Scotia. Better roads allowed for the consolidation of multiple small offices into a single regional hub, typically located in a larger nearby town like Bridgewater or Mahone Bay.

 

Operational Efficiency: Managing three separate postmasters and facilities within a roughly 10-kilometre stretch was no longer cost-effective for the department. The transition allowed for a unified delivery system that prioritized speed over local storefront presence.

 

Community Impact: For decades, these post offices—often located in general stores or the homes of local postmasters—served as the social glue of the New Cornwall area. Their closure marked the end of the "Post Office gathering" as a daily ritual, replacing it with the individual convenience of the mailbox at the end of the driveway.

 

The message reads (from the front of the postcard) - August 1, 1905 - This is the open air church I generally go to. It is the Camp Meeting. I wonder if you think of it at home that tomorrow I will be 20 years old. Love to all Myrtle

 

Myrtle (nee Hallamore) Rose

(b. 2 August 1885 in New Cornwall, Lunenburg County), Nova Scotia – d. 31 December 1960 at age 75 in Akron, Pennsylvania) - LINK to her newspaper obituary - www.newspapers.com/article/lancaster-new-era-obituary-for...

 

Her husband - Clarence Atwood Rose

(b. 10 August 1880 in Urbania, East Hants, Hants County, Nova Scotia, Canada – d. 13 November 1941 at age 61 in Ardmore, Lower Merion Township, Montgomery, Pennsylvania, United States) LINK to his newspaper obituary - www.newspapers.com/article/the-philadelphia-inquirer-obit...

 

DR. CLARENCE ATWOOD ROSE - CLINIC FOUNDER DIES - Nova Scotia Native Also Was on Staff of Bryn Mawr Hospital - Dr. C. Atwood Rose, founder and chief of the State Tuberculosis Clinic at Bryn Mawr Hospital for 26 years, died suddenly yesterday at his home, 125 Argyle road, Ardmore. He was 61. Dr. Rose was a member of the hospital staff. He was a native of Nova Scotia was graduated from Jefferson Medical College in 1913. He was a member of the Montgomery County Medical Society, the American Medical Association, a charter member the Ardmore Club and a member of the Canadian Society of Philadelphia. He is survived by his wife, Myrtle, and a son, C. Glenwood Rose.

 

They were married - 10 June 1914 in Baltimore, Maryland - LINK to - Wedding Secret Kept a Year - www.newspapers.com/article/evening-public-ledger-wedding-...

 

Their son - Clarence Glenwood Rose

(b. 10 August 1916 in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, United States – d. May 1972 at age 55)

 

Addressed to: Mrs. Maude Joudrey / Upper Cornwall / Lunenburg County / Nova Scotia

 

Maude Samantha (nee Deal) Joudrey

(b. 17 December 1874 in Upper Cornwall, Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia, Canada - d. 30 April 1968 at age 93 in New Cornwall, Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia, Canada) - LINK - gw.geneanet.org/ngumbel?lang=en&n=deal&p=maude+sa...

 

Her husband - James Henry Masters Harry Joudrey

(b. 6 July 1871 in Upper Cornwall, Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia, Canada - d. 8 May 1938 at age 66 in New Cornwall, Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia, Canada) - LINK - gw.geneanet.org/ngumbel?lang=en&n=joudrey&p=james...

 

Postcard was written: August 1 (Birthday Eve)

Mailed: August 2 (20th Birthday)

Transit Hub: August 4 (Mahone Bay)

Final Delivery: August 7 (Upper New Cornwall)

 

The Postal Journey: Aug 2 – Aug 7, 1905

 

August 2 (Cottage City, MA): The card leaves Martha’s Vineyard, likely via steamship to New Bedford or Woods Hole, then by rail toward Boston.

 

- sent from - / COTTAGE CITY / AUG / 2 / 4 PM / 1905 / MASS. / - duplex cancel

 

August 4 (Mahone Bay, NS): Just 48 hours later, it has crossed the border (likely via the Yarmouth-to-Boston steamship link) and reached the regional sorting hub at Mahone Bay.

 

- via - / MAHONE BAY / AU 4 / 05 / N.S. / partial cds transit stamp

 

August 7 (Upper New Cornwall, NS): The three-day gap between Mahone Bay and the final destination reflects the "last mile" delivery. Since August 6, 1905, was a Sunday (when mail didn't move), the card was likely transported by a horse-drawn mail carriage on Monday morning to the Upper New Cornwall Post Office.

 

- arrival - / UPPER • NEW • CORNWALL / AU 7 / 05 / N.S / - split ring arrival stamp - this split ring hammer (No.1 / NS-2642) was proofed - 6 October 1891 - RF D.

The Augusta Clothing Company is a luxury women's fashion boutique located at 601 5th Ave S, Naples, FL 34102. Opened in March 2026, this flagship storefront marks the brand's primary expansion from its historic roots in Missouri's wine country to Florida's Gulf Coast.

 

Brand Concept and Curated Style

The Founder: The boutique features collections personally curated by Jerri Hoffmann, matriarch of the family-run private equity firm, Hoffmann Family of Companies.

 

Target Audience: The wardrobe selection focuses primarily on styling women spanning from their late 20s through their 70s.

 

Style Profile: Offerings prioritize a professional, polished mission blended with fun, on-trend seasonal items built for long-term wardrobe assembly.

 

Inventory: Hand-picked items focus heavily on high-quality ready-to-wear dresses, sportswear, premium footwear, jewelry, and distinct accessories.

 

Store Leadership: The Naples flagship is led by Store Director Andrea Pereira, who brought extensive high-end luxury retail experience from previous management roles at Gucci and Hermès.

 

Strategic Background

Origin: The brand initially debuted in April 2022 inside a 150-year-old Wine Hall building located in Historic Augusta, Missouri.

 

Scale: The 5th Avenue South storefront is three times larger than the original Missouri location. The building was purchased by the Hoffmanns for $6.5 million as part of a broader corporate footprint in downtown Naples.

 

Credit for the data above is given to the following websites:

theaugustaclothingcompany.com/

www.google.com/search?q=the+augusta+clothing+company+napl...

www.google.com/search?q=who+is+the+architect+of+601+fifth...

www.google.com/search?q=what+year+was+the+building+at+601...

www.google.com/search?q=what+is+the+architectural+style+o...

www.google.com/search?q=who+was+the+architect+of+601+fift...

 

© All Rights Reserved - you may not use this image in any form without my prior permission.

   

The Augusta Clothing Company is a luxury women's fashion boutique located at 601 5th Ave S, Naples, FL 34102. Opened in March 2026, this flagship storefront marks the brand's primary expansion from its historic roots in Missouri's wine country to Florida's Gulf Coast.

 

Brand Concept and Curated Style

The Founder: The boutique features collections personally curated by Jerri Hoffmann, matriarch of the family-run private equity firm, Hoffmann Family of Companies.

 

Target Audience: The wardrobe selection focuses primarily on styling women spanning from their late 20s through their 70s.

 

Style Profile: Offerings prioritize a professional, polished mission blended with fun, on-trend seasonal items built for long-term wardrobe assembly.

 

Inventory: Hand-picked items focus heavily on high-quality ready-to-wear dresses, sportswear, premium footwear, jewelry, and distinct accessories.

 

Store Leadership: The Naples flagship is led by Store Director Andrea Pereira, who brought extensive high-end luxury retail experience from previous management roles at Gucci and Hermès.

 

Strategic Background

Origin: The brand initially debuted in April 2022 inside a 150-year-old Wine Hall building located in Historic Augusta, Missouri.

 

Scale: The 5th Avenue South storefront is three times larger than the original Missouri location. The building was purchased by the Hoffmanns for $6.5 million as part of a broader corporate footprint in downtown Naples.

 

Credit for the data above is given to the following websites:

theaugustaclothingcompany.com/

www.google.com/search?q=the+augusta+clothing+company+napl...

www.google.com/search?q=who+is+the+architect+of+601+fifth...

www.google.com/search?q=what+year+was+the+building+at+601...

www.google.com/search?q=what+is+the+architectural+style+o...

www.google.com/search?q=who+was+the+architect+of+601+fift...

 

© All Rights Reserved - you may not use this image in any form without my prior permission.

   

Here's another from my recent Minnesota trip that was on my wish list. When we were here in May we only got one train here at the 37th Avenue crossing and it wasn't the classic head on view of a train coming south under the DMIR docks, so I prioritized that this time.

 

This is an interesting stretch of track because it sees trains of four different Class 1s operate on it, owner BNSF, and trains of CPKC, UP, and CN which are successors to legacy Twin Ports carriers Soo, CNW, and DMIR. Dating from 1892 the tracks here were once owned by the short Duluth Transfer Railway, a Northern Pacific subsidiary. Note the twin mileposts with the 2.51 at right being the BNSF's ex NP/DTRR mileage and the 0 at left which is the beginning of CN's ex Missabe mainline. To learn more about the NP and the Duluth Transfer check out this tremendous link: zenithcity.com/archive/historic-industry/the-northern-pac...

 

Just about to cross Merrit Creek and 37th Avenue is a CN Proctor Yard job bringing a string of ore hoppers down to the waterfront presumably for limestone loading at CN-Hallett Dock 5. The train is led by a pair of rebuilt tunnel motors bracketing an SD40-2, BLE 903, IC 6261, and DMIR 408 all in CN dress.

 

In the background at right berthed up beside CN's ex DMIR Dock 6 taking on a load of iron ore is the Interlake Steamship Company's M/V Mesabi Miner. The self unloading bulk carrier was laid down in 1975 by American Shipbuilding of Lorraine, OH and christened in 1977 to honor the men and women of Minnesota’s Mesabi Iron Range. She has always been part of the Interlake fleet and at 1004 ft long she was the 4th thousand footer on the Great Lakes and one of 13 still sailing (including one which is technically and ITB).

 

Duluth, Minnesota

Sunday October 8, 2023

Mothers and children enjoy an afternoon game of volleyball on a beach in Majuro Atoll in the Marshall Islands on Nov. 9, 2015. For decades, the tiny Marshall Islands has been a stalwart American ally. Its location in the middle of the Pacific Ocean has made it a key strategic outpost for the U.S. military. (AP Photo/Rob Griffith, File)

__________

AP NEWS

 

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — For decades, the tiny Marshall Islands has been a stalwart American ally. Its location in the middle of the Pacific Ocean has made it a key strategic outpost for the U.S. military.

 

But that loyalty is being tested amid a dispute with Washington over the terms of its “Compact of Free Association” agreement, which expires soon. The U.S. is refusing to engage the Marshallese on claims for environmental and health damage caused by dozens of nuclear tests it carried out in the 1940s and ’50s, including a huge thermonuclear blast on Bikini Atoll.

 

The dispute has some U.S. lawmakers worried that China might be willing to step into the breach, adding to a bruising competition for geopolitical dominance between the two superpowers.

 

Since World War II, the U.S. has treated the Marshall Islands, along with Micronesia and Palau, much like territories. On the Marshall Islands, the U.S. has developed military, intelligence and aerospace facilities in a region where China is particularly active.

 

In turn, U.S. money and jobs have benefited the Marshall Islands’ economy. And many Marshallese have taken advantage of their ability to live and work in the U.S., moving in the thousands to Arkansas, Hawaii and Oklahoma.

 

But this month, 10 Democratic and Republican members of the House of Representatives wrote to President Joe Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, about the U.S. compact talks with the Marshalls, Micronesia and Palau.

 

“It is distressing that these negotiations do not appear to be a priority — there have been no formal meetings since this Administration began — even as our international focus continues shifting to the Indo-Pacific,” they wrote.

 

The lawmakers said the delays were putting the U.S. in a weaker position, and “China is all too ready to step in and provide the desperately needed infrastructure and climate resiliency investment that is sought by these long-time partners.”

 

China’s Foreign Ministry said the U.S. should face up to its responsibility to restore the environmental damage it caused with its nuclear tests. It said China was willing to engage with the Marshall Islands and other Pacific island nations on the basis of mutual respect and cooperation under the “One China Principle,” in which Taiwan is viewed as part of China.

 

“We welcome efforts to boost economic relations and improve the quality of life between the sides,” the ministry said in a statement.

 

China has steadily poached allies from Taiwan in the Pacific, including Kiribati and the Solomon Islands in 2019. Just this week, angry protesters in the Solomons set fire to buildings and looted stores in unrest that some have linked to the China switch.

 

James Matayoshi, the mayor of Rongelap Atoll on the Marshall Islands, said he and hundreds of others have remained displaced from their atoll since the nuclear tests and want to see it revitalized. He said officials have been talking with potential investors from Asia, after a previous proposal by a Chinese-Marshallese businessman fell through.

 

“It would be a business transaction. We don’t advocate for war or any superpower influence,” Matayoshi said. “But we want to be able to live in our backyard, and enjoy life here.”

 

Like many others on the Marshall Islands, Matayoshi believes a U.S. settlement of $150 million agreed to in the 1980s fell well short of addressing the nuclear legacy. He said his late mother was pregnant at the time of one massive nuclear blast and got exposed to radiation that was the equivalent of 25,000 X-rays before giving birth to a stillborn baby.

 

But the U.S. position has remained static for more than 20 years, the last time the compact came up for renegotiation. The U.S. maintains that nuclear compensation was dealt with in a “full and final settlement” and cannot be reopened.

 

Marshallese Senator David Paul — who is on the islands’ negotiating committee and also represents Kwajalein Atoll, which is home to a major U.S. military base — said continuing high cancer rates and the displacement of people remain huge issues.

 

“Everyone knows the negotiations at that time were not fair or equitable,” Paul said. “When you look at the total cost of property damage and the ongoing health issues to date, it’s a drop in the bucket. It’s an insult.”

 

Various estimates put the true cost of the damage at about $3 billion, including for repairs to a massive nuclear waste facility known as the Cactus Dome which environmentalists say is leaking toxic waste into the ocean.

 

A report to Congress last year from the U.S. Department of Energy said the dome contains over 100,000 cubic yards (76,000 cubic meters) of radioactively contaminated soil and debris but the structure wasn’t in any immediate danger of failing. The report concluded that any contaminated groundwater flowing beneath the structure was not measurably impacting the environment.

 

As it did in earlier compact negotiations, the U.S. has stonewalled discussions on the nuclear legacy, something that American officials acknowledge.

 

“We know that’s important, but there is a full and final settlement, and both sides agreed to it,” said a senior U.S. official who wasn’t authorized to publicly discuss the issue and spoke on condition of anonymity. “So, that issue is just not subject to being reopened. But, we’re still quite willing to work with the (Marshallese) on the broader issues that are important to us and that’s what we hope to do.”

 

The U.S. State Department said the Indo-Pacific is central to U.S. foreign policy.

 

“We are prioritizing achieving success in the negotiations related to the Compacts with the Freely Associated States as a regional foreign policy objective,” the department said.

 

The frustrations of the Marshallese were apparent in a letter sent last month by Foreign Minister Casten Nemra to Rep. Katie Porter, a California Democrat who chairs the House Natural Resources Committee’s oversight and investigations panel.

 

“The State and Interior Department officials involved have been unwilling to discuss an agenda for the talks and tried to confine the discussion to their own limited proposals,” Nemra wrote. “The nuclear issue clearly was one reason. All issues raised by the Marshall Islands were met with assertions that they did not have authority to discuss the matters without any indication that they would seek it.”

 

Sen. Paul said the American approach needs to change.

 

“I believe the U.S. has the legal and moral obligation to make sure they clean up this debris,” Paul said. “We want to make sure we get a better deal this time around. As they say, the third time is a charm.”

In June 2020, after experiencing a devastating spring due to COVID, New York State announced that certain businesses could begin partially opening again. New York City’s response included a program called Open Restaurants, which allowed restaurants to use sidewalks and parking spaces for outdoor, socially distant dining. Owners quickly built temporary enclosures in the streets in front of their businesses to try and recover from months of shutdown. Small stretches of Brooklyn in early 2021 display the variety and feel of these enclosures. Hopefully, the Open Restaurants initiative will help these businesses to survive and may even lead to a more permanent reorienting of streets to prioritize people over cars.

Effective Range: Medium

Classification: Intelligence / Recon

Armaments: (1) SMG-UZ01A, (1) HR-HIBMSU01

 

One reason why the New Earth Strategic Trust faction is such a dominant force in the Quorus Wars is due to their supreme tactics and efficient strategies and have outfitted specific units like the Eagle EWAC to prioritize recon and intelligence gathering.

 

The Eagle EWAC is actually based on the NESF-M05E Eagle, a standard combat type reFrame that is deployed in heavy combat areas and serve as a main unit in NEST Special Forces ranks. The EWAC (Early Warning And Control) unit allows for efficient intelligence gathering that is sent to NEST's tactical HQ as data to create up-to-date battle strategies. Extra thrusters were equipped on the Eagle EWAC to give it better mobility in order to move faster to key locations for data scanning as well as avoid enemy units. It is equipped with a light submachine gun (SMG-UZ01A) and a hand cannon mounted on its left arm for emergency combat purposes.

 

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Build notes:

You can find more about the build in my blog article :D

 

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More info, WIP details, and other LEGO mechs over at my blog:

messymaru.wordpress.com/

 

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For those interested in LEGO mech building, I put out an eBook over at Amazon Kindle a while back called Mech Wars Instructional Primer. If you’re looking for a resource that could help you start or even improve your mech building skills, you might find this eBook useful :D

 

English Version

First, I will prioritize Japanese and English, and release my novel, B♭ (B-flat).

It is available in the Drive below.

 

Drive folder for novel publication:

drive.google.com/drive/folders/1EUyKO4locQKzfKfvmlh0-uamF...

 

B♭

Mitsushiro Nakagawa, with ChatGPT 5.5

My new novel, B♭, is now available.

First release: English and Japanese.

A North Korean cryptocurrency system is hacked.

Hundreds of millions of dollars disappear.

At the end of that invisible flow of money, a group of Palestinian men and women from Gaza secretly enters the United States.

Their purpose is not merely revenge.

They intend to “recreate” the lost homeland of Gaza on American soil.

Hardline immigration policies.

A nation divided by fear and resentment.

A society already beginning to fracture from within.

Using all of it, a silent plan moves forward.

During a speech, Republican presidential candidate Justin Bradford is shot.

At almost the same moment in Los Angeles, former President Owen Reed is also attacked at a campaign event for Democratic candidate Ryan Bennett.

Two gunshots.

One divided nation.

But Justin survives.

His life is saved by an extraordinarily rare blood type: Bombay blood.

The only person able to provide it is Anaya Patel, a community art facilitator working in Brooklyn.

One woman’s blood touches the fate of a nation.

What seemed like coincidence slowly begins to draw her into the center of a much larger design.

Terror.

Election politics.

Immigration.

Memory.

Blood.

Prayer.

A plan born from revenge begins to blur the line between justice and emptiness, salvation and hatred.

Some still believe the wounded world deserves punishment.

Others begin to understand that beyond that punishment, nothing may remain.

The lights of Manhattan.

The silence of Brooklyn.

Memories left beside the river.

The city keeps shining as if nothing has happened.

But beneath its streets, a low sound continues to resonate — unheard, unresolved, unforgettable.

What does revenge take from us?

Whom can prayer save?

And where do we go, carrying everything we have lost?

Trailer

flic.kr/p/2rTrncc

Soundtrack

B♭ — My Novel Playlist

music.apple.com/jp/playlist/b-my-novel-soundtrack/pl.u-47...

B♭ — My Novel Playlist for Japanese

music.apple.com/jp/playlist/b-my-novel-soundtrack-for-jap...

© 2026 Mitsushiro Nakagawa. All rights reserved.

No part of this work may be reproduced, distributed, modified, or transmitted without permission from the author.

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僕はまず、日本語と英語を優先して、僕の小説、【B♭（ビーフラット）】を公開しました。

それは以下のドライブにあります。

 

Drive folder for novel publication: (小説専門の公開用ドライブ)

drive.google.com/drive/folders/1EUyKO4locQKzfKfvmlh0-uamF...

 

B♭

Mitsushiro Nakagawa, with ChatGPT 5.5

僕の新しい小説 『B♭（ビーフラット）』 を公開しています。

まずは、英語版と日本語版から。

北朝鮮の仮想通貨システムがハッキングされ、数億ドルが奪取された。

その資金の流れの先で、ガザ出身のパレスチナ男女のグループが、密かにアメリカ合衆国へ潜入する。

彼らの目的は、失われた祖国ガザを、アメリカの地に「復元」することだった。

共和党による強硬な移民政策。

国内にくすぶる排外感情。

分断されていく社会。

そのすべてを利用し、アメリカを内側から崩壊させる計画が、静かに進行していく。

共和党大統領候補ジャスティン・ブラッドフォードが演説中に撃たれ、ほぼ同じ時刻、ロサンゼルスでは前大統領オーウェン・リードもまた銃撃される。

国家を二分する、ふたつの銃声。

だが、ジャスティンは奇跡的に生還する。

彼の命をつないだのは、世界でも極めて希少な血液型――ボンベイブラッド。

その血を提供できたのは、ブルックリンで活動するコミュニティアート・ファシリテーター、アナヤ・パテルだった。

ひとりの女性の血が、国家の運命に触れてしまう。

その偶然は、やがて偶然ではなかったかのように、彼女自身を巨大な事件の中心へ引き寄せていく。

テロ、選挙、移民、血、記憶、祈り。

破壊を信じる者と、破壊の果てに残る空虚を見てしまう者。

復讐として始まった計画は、いつしか救済と虚無の境界を曖昧にしていく。

マンハッタンの夜。

ブルックリンの光。

川辺に残された記憶。

都市は何事もなかったかのように輝き続けている。

だがその足元では、誰にも聞こえない低い音が鳴っている。

復讐は、何を奪うのか。

祈りは、誰を救うのか。

そして人は、失われたものを抱えたまま、どこへ向かうのか。

Trailer

flic.kr/p/2rTrncc

Soundtrack

B♭ — My Novel Playlist

music.apple.com/jp/playlist/b-my-novel-soundtrack/pl.u-47...

B♭ — My Novel Playlist for Japanese

music.apple.com/jp/playlist/b-my-novel-soundtrack-for-jap...

© 2026 Mitsushiro Nakagawa. All rights reserved.

本作品の著作権は Mitsushiro Nakagawa に帰属します。内容の全部または一部を、著者の許可なく複製・転載・改変することを禁じます。

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#novel #B♭ #小説 #ビーフラット #ネットフリックスへの挑戦 #ChallengetoNetflix #Netflix #ネットフリックス #千葉 #やちまた #八街 #八街市 #yachimata #yachimatacity #cityofyachimata #NewYork #ニューヨーク #マンハッタン #Manhattan #アメリカ #USA #Chiba #MrLonely #BobbyVinton #oneokrock #thepilot

  

In June 2020, after experiencing a devastating spring due to COVID, New York State announced that certain businesses could begin partially opening again. New York City’s response included a program called Open Restaurants, which allowed restaurants to use sidewalks and parking spaces for outdoor, socially distant dining. Owners quickly built temporary enclosures in the streets in front of their businesses to try and recover from months of shutdown. Small stretches of Brooklyn in early 2021 display the variety and feel of these enclosures. Hopefully, the Open Restaurants initiative will help these businesses to survive and may even lead to a more permanent reorienting of streets to prioritize people over cars.

"Vortex"

 

These dunes were so incredible that I decided to return a few times and spend several days exploring them. Even so, I scarcely made a dent. After realizing how much I loved the way Fuji Neopan Acros 100 film renders light, shadow and texture in the desert, I decided to prioritize the black and white film images over color on future trips. This is from one of those trips. While hiking up a very large dune, I found this hole near the crest that had inexplicably formed up there in the side of the otherwise normal dune crest. In the sharp light shortly after sunrise, the sun made the inside of the hole appear black, and the wind had created these beautiful ripples cascading out away from the opening, causing it to look like a mysterious whirlpool or portal opening. I love the way the black and white film makes it look all the more mysterious and ominous.

 

Made with film.

Fujifilm Neopan Acros 100

Medium Format 6x7

Mamiya RB67 Professional

Mamiya-Sekor 90mm f/3.8

Naples is a city in Collier County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 19,115. Naples is a principal city of the Naples–Marco Island metropolitan area, which had a population of about 375,752 as of 2020. Naples' USPS City population (i.e. the total population that lists Naples as the city on their postal address and who consider themselves residents of Naples) includes most of the communities in Collier County with the notable exceptions of Immokalee, Marco Island, Ave Maria, Everglades City and a few others, and thus Naples' USPS City population is approximately 333,083.

 

The city is mostly known for its high-priced homes, white-sand beaches, and numerous golf courses. Naples is the self-titled "Golf Capital of the World", as it has the second most holes per capita out of all communities, and the most holes of any city in Florida. The city is also known for being appealing to retirees, and a large percent of the population is made up of them.

 

Credit for the data above is given to the following website:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naples,_Florida

 

© All Rights Reserved - you may not use this image in any form without my prior permission.

  

Ah, sure, i'll chuck this one in. I need two filler photos. This is another MANviro that i needed a retake of, and it is one that is yet to undergo a repaint. Maybe next year. It seems Hull are prioritizing MANs and other depot vehicles at the moment. Let's see what 2022 brings, maybe every single MANviro repainted?

 

Stagecoach Hull 24163, a 2009 MAN 18.240LF ADL Enviro 300, was seen coming up Holderness Road, whilst operating a service 4 to Bilton Grange. Although Hull doesn't really have a particular allocation, this was one of the more unusual vehicles on the 4 yesterday, considering it is typically E400 MMCs.

New to Stagecoach Merseyside & South Lancashire.

Trains are piling up at Darling as the Dispatcher is prioritizing the hotter Z trains. Here in the shot, the foreground train is slowing for red signals at the next control point being West Darling. In the distance a long Stack can be seen going away and the first of many Z's is on it's way up as well out neat Angell.

 

BNSF 7585 West, Q LACAUG6 29L.

Day 10/365

SOOC, minus the text!

 

I was tagged today by Ms. Becca Joy. Go check out her stream, she is wonderful!

 

1. I actually put some more earrings in my ear today.

2. Idk why I have so many holes if I don't wear anything in them.

3. I can't wait for Degrassi to start back up October 8th!!

4. I should be taking the vitamins I spent 8 bucks on, but I always forget.

5. I never feel like my pictures are good enough.

6. Sometimes it makes me stop altogether.

7. I use a desktop p.c., but with college in January I might be getting a Macbook :]

8. Whenever I spend money I feel completely guilty afterwards. I feel like I didn't prioritize right. I spend hours prioritizing though.

9. I make "Things to buy with paycheck" lists. It helps me budget and see what I can and can't afford. One check, I can afford food (I mean, extra, besides what Kelly has). And another check I can afford cigarettes, or extra gas.

10. I didn't put any deodorant on today and my pits staaaaank. But I was just bummin.

 

Today is my grandma and papa's 43rd Wedding Anniversary. I finally got to hear the story of how they first met. As forgetful as my grandma is when you are talking to her, she remembers everything about when she was younger like it was yesterday. So happy 43rd you guys! Thank you for everything, and I hope you enjoy what is left of your night!

Lockheed Reorganizes Its Space Division, Adding Plans to Sell Satellite Parts to Other Companies

The moves reflect the growing space market and particularly the military’s demand for speed.

 

MARCUS WEISGERBER | MAY 4, 2023

SPACE INDUSTRY

 

Lockheed Martin is reorganizing its space division for the first time in a decade as it looks for ways to more quickly deliver products to a satellite-hungry military.

 

The division also plans to start selling some of its technology and satellite parts to other firms, a sign of just how much the space sector is growing.

 

“They want speed, they want maturity, and they want resiliency,” Robert Lightfoot, executive vice president of Lockheed Martin Space, said in an interview.

  

Under the restructure, Lockheed Martin Space will consolidate its five business lines into three. It will combine its military space unit, which builds satellites; its special programs division for classified work; and its mission solutions unit, which connects the satellites to the military and intelligence community. The new business will be called National Security Space.

 

“It allows us to have better connectivity internally, but also better connectivity back to the customer,” Lightfoot said. “Hopefully, what that'll do is allow us to have a better speed and get technical maturity faster on some of the systems that we want to bring forward.”

 

What you need to know about the defense industry - in your inbox.

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The National Security Space business will be led by Maria Demaree, an executive who has run the special programs and mission solutions business. Lockheed Space’s commercial civil and strategic and missile defense businesses will not change.

 

Employees were told about the reorganization, which is expected to happen over the next four to six months, on Thursday morning.

 

In recent years, Lightfoot noted, the military and intelligence community themselves have changed how they organize and prioritize space efforts. For example, 2019 saw the creation of the Space Force and satellite-buying Space Development Agency.

 

“I think it does position us to really continue the innovation that we expect,” Lightfoot said. “It really allows us to be, I'm gonna say, more intentional with the investments that we do.”

 

Lockheed Space will also stand up a “Product Center” that will market its technology and hardware to other companies.

  

“Harnesses, antennas, solar arrays—we build these all the time, but we build them for ourselves,” Lightfoot said. “How do we take those [and] make them marketable across the entire industry? There's a lot of folks coming into this industry and [this] gives us an opportunity” to sell to them.

 

Lightfoot declined to project revenue for the new business.

 

He did note that Lockheed has in the past sold components to other manufacturers. In 2016, for example, the company began marketing its solar arrays to other satellite makers.

 

“In the past, we've done some of that, but haven't done as much, I think, [as] we can,” Lightfoot said. “We've always just looked at the final mission product, not so much the parts and pieces that we do.”

 

First-quarter revenues for Lockheed’s space division were up nearly 16 percent over the same period last year—the biggest jump among the company’s four businesses, according to its latest financials. The increase was largely attributed to more Pentagon contracts.

 

Earlier this year, Lightfoot put several of his division’s development efforts under a new unit called Ignite.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, face masks, such as surgical masks and cloth masks, have been employed as a public and personal health control measure against the spread of SARS-CoV-2. In both community and healthcare settings, their use is intended as source control to limit transmission of the virus and personal protection to prevent infection. Their function for source control is emphasized in community settings.

The use of face masks (or coverings in some cases) has been recommended by American immunologist and NIAID director Anthony Fauci to reduce the risk of contagion. In the COVID-19 pandemic, governments recommend the use of face masks with a main purpose for the general population: to avoid the contagion from infected people to others. Masks with exhalation valves are not recommended, because they expel the breath of the wearer outwards, and an infected wearer would transmit the viruses through the valve. A second purpose of the face masks is to protect to each wearer from environments that can be infected, which can be achieved by many models of masks..Between the different types of face masks that have been recommended throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, with higher or lower effectivity, it is possible to include: cloth face masks surgical masks (medical masks) uncertified face-covering dust masks certified face-covering masks, considered respirators, with certifications such as N95 and N99, and FFP filtering respirators with certifications such as N95 and N99, and FFP other respirators, including elastomeric respirators, some of which may also be considered filtering masks There are some other types of personal protective equipment (PPE), as face shields and medical goggles, that are sometimes used in conjunction with face masks but are not recommended as a replacement. Other kinds of PPE include gloves, aprons, gowns, shoe covers and hair covers. A cloth face mask is worn over the mouth and nose and made of commonly available textiles. Masks vary widely in effectiveness, depending on material, fit and seal, number of layers, and other factors. Although they are usually less effective than medical-grade masks,[citation needed] some health authorities recommend their use by the general public when medical-grade masks are in short supply, as a low-cost and reusable option. Unlike disposable masks, there are no required standards for cloth masks. One study gives evidence that an improvised mask was better than nothing, but not as good as soft electret-filter surgical mask, for protecting healthcare workers while simulating treatment of an artificially infected patient. Research on commonly available fabrics used in cloth masks found that cloth masks can provide significant protection against the transmission of particles in the aerosol size range, with enhanced performance across the nano- and micronscale when masks utilize both mechanical and electrostatic-based filtration, but that leakage due to improper fit can degrade performance.[10] A review of available research published in January 2021 concludes that cloth masks are not considered adequate to protect healthcare practitioners in a clinical setting. Another study had volunteers wear masks they made themselves, from cotton T-shirts and following the pattern of a standard tie behind the head surgical mask, and found the number of microscopic particles that leaked to the inside of the homemade masks were twice that of commercial masks. Wearing homemade masks also leaked a median average of three times as many microorganisms as commercial masks. But another study found that masks made of at least two layers T-shirt fabric could be as protective against virus droplets as medical masks, and as breathable. A woman sews a multi-layered woven cloth face mask on a sewing machine. Many people made cloth face masks at home during the pandemic. World Health Organization infographic on how to wear a non-medical fabric mask safely. A peer-reviewed summary of published literature on the filtration properties of cloth and cloth masks suggested two to four layers of plain-weave cotton or flannel, of at least 100 threads per inch. There is a necessary trade-off: increasing the number of layers increases the filtration of the material but decreases breathability. Decreased breathability makes it harder to wear a mask and also increases the amount of leak around the edge of the mask. A plain-language summary of this work,[16] along with a hand-sewn design, suggestions on materials and layering, and how to put on, take off, and clean cloth masks are available. As of May 2020, there was no research on decontaminating and reusing cloth masks. The CDC recommends removing a mask by handling only the ear loops or ties, placing it directly in a washing machine, and immediately washing hands in soap and water for at least twenty seconds. Cold water is considered as effective as warm water for decontamination. The CDC also recommends washing hands before putting on the mask, and again immediately after touching it. There is no information on reusing an interlayer filter. Disposing of filters after a single use may be desirable. A narrative review of the literature on filtration properties of cloth and other household materials did not find support for the idea of using a filter. A layer of cloth, if tolerated, was suggested instead, or a PM2.5 filter, as a third layer. A surgical mask is a loose-fitting, disposable mask that creates a physical barrier separating the mouth and nose of the wearer from potential contaminants in the immediate environment. If worn properly, a surgical mask is meant to help block large-particle droplets, splashes, sprays, or splatter that may contain viruses and bacteria, keeping them from reaching the wearer's mouth and nose. Surgical masks may also help reduce exposure of others to the wearer's saliva and respiratory secretions. Certified medical masks are made of non-woven material and they are mostly multi-layer. Filters may be made of microfibers with an electrostatic charge; that is, the fibers are electrets. An electret filter increases the chances that smaller particles will veer and hit a fiber, rather than going straight through (electrostatic capture). While there is some development work on making electret filtering materials that can be washed and reused, current commercially produced electret filters are ruined by many forms of disinfection, including washing with soap and water or alcohol, which destroys the electric charge.[30] During the COVID-19 pandemic, public health authorities issued guidelines on how to save, disinfect and reuse electret-filter masks without damaging the filtration efficiency. Standard disposable surgical masks are not designed to be washed. Surgical masks may be labeled as surgical, isolation, dental, or medical procedure masks. The material surgical masks are made from is much poorer at filtering very small particles (in range a tenth of a micrometre to a micrometre across) than that of filtering respirators (for example N95, FFP2) and the fit is much poorer. Surgical masks are made of a non-woven fabric created using a melt blowing process. Random control studies of respiratory infections like influenza find little difference in protection between surgical masks and respirators (such as N95 or FFP masks). However, the filtering performance of correctly worn N95/FFP2 type filtering respirators is clearly superior to surgical and to cloth masks and for influenza, work by the UK Health and Safety executive found that live virus penetrated all surgical masks tested but properly fitted respirators reduced the viral dose by a factor of at least a hundred. Tsai Ing-wen, President of Taiwan, wearing a surgical mask Surgical masks made to different standards in different parts of the world have different ranges of particles which they filter. For example, the People's Republic of China regulates two types of such masks: single-use medical masks (Chinese standard YY/T 0969) and surgical masks (YY 0469). The latter ones are required to filter bacteria-sized particles (BFE ≥ 95%) and some virus-sized particles (PFE ≥ 30%), while the former ones are required to only filter bacteria-sized particles. The effectiveness of surgical masks in limiting particle transmission is a function of material and fit. Since the start of the pandemic, scientists have evaluated various modifications to ear loop surgical masks aimed at improving mask efficacy by reducing or eliminating gaps between the mask and face. The CDC evaluated and recommends two such modifications to ear loop masks to reduce transmission of SARS-CoV-2. Under normal use, the CDC found that a surgical mask worn by a coughing individual blocked 41.3% of simulated cough aerosols (0.1–7.0 μm particle size) from reaching a second individual six feet away. However, by applying a knot and tuck technique,[a] 62.9% of particles were blocked. When the surgical mask was covered with a larger cloth mask, 82% of particles were blocked. When both the source and recipient wore masks, 84% of particles were blocked. The number increased to more than 95% when both parties either wore double masks (surgical mask with larger cloth mask) or used the knot and tuck technique. Il Another type of modifications was aimed to improve the comfort of the wearers. Early on in the pandemic, healthcare workers were required to continue wearing surgical masks for 12 or more hours a day. This caused the ear loops of the masks to chafe the back of their ears. Ear savers, plastic straps and hooks that go around wearer's heads, were invented to move the ear loops away from the wearer's ears. They could be made on demand by using 3D printing process. An N95 mask is a particulate-filtering facepiece respirator that meets the N95 air filtration rating of the US National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, meaning it filters at least 95 percent of airborne particles, while not resistant to oil like the P95. It is the most common particulate-filtering facepiece respirator. It is an example of a mechanical filter respirator, which provides protection against particulates, but not gases or vapors. Like the middle layer of surgical masks, the N95 mask is made of four layers[ of melt-blown nonwoven polypropylene fabric. The corresponding face mask used in the European Union is the FFP2 respirator. Hard electret-filter masks like N95 and FFP masks must fit the face to provide full protection. Untrained users often get a reasonable fit, but fewer than one in four gets a perfect fit. Fit testing is thus standard. A line of petroleum jelly on the edge of the mask. has been shown to reduce edge leakage in lab tests using mannequins that simulate breathing. Some N95 series respirators, especially those intended for industrial use, have an exhalation valve to improve comfort, making exhalation easier and reducing leakage on exhalation and steaming-up of glasses. But those respirators are not reliable for the control of infected people (source control) in respiratory diseases such as COVID-19, because infected users (asymptomatic or not) would transmit the virus to others through the valve. During the COVID-19 pandemic, there were shortages of filtering facepiece respirators, and they had to be used for extended periods, and/or disinfected and reused. At the time, public health authorities issued guidelines on how to save, disinfect and reuse masks, as some disinfection methods damaged their filtration efficiency. Some hospitals stockpiled used masks as a precaution, and some had to sanitize and reuse masks. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) does not recommend the use of face shields as a substitute for masks to help slow the spread of COVID-19.[54] In a study by Lindsley et al. (7 January 2021) funded by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, part of the CDC, face shields were found to block very few cough aerosols in contrast to face coverings – such as cloth masks, procedure masks, and N95 respirators – indicating that face shields are not effective as source control devices for small respiratory aerosols and that face coverings are more effective than face shields as source control devices to reduce the community transmission of SARS-CoV-2. In a scoping review, Godoy et al. (5 May 2020) said face shields are used for barrier protection against splash and splatter contamination, but should not be used as primary protection against respiratory disease transmission due to the lack of a peripheral seal rather than as an adjunct to other facial protection. They remarked that face shields have been used like this alongside medical-grade masks during the COVID-19 pandemic. They cited a cough simulation study by Lindsley et al. (2014) in which face shields were shown to reduce the risk of inhalation exposure up to 95% immediately following aerosol production, but the protection was decreased with smaller aerosol particles and persistent airborne particles around the sides. A systematic review of observational studies on the transmission of coronaviruses, funded by the World Health Organization found that eye protection including face shields was associated with less infection (adjusted odds ratio 0.22; 95% confidence interval 0·12 to 0·39), but the evidence was rated as low certainty. Elastomeric respirators are reusable personal protective equipment comprising a tight-fitting half-facepiece or full-facepiece respirator with exchangeable filters such as cartridge filters. They provide an alternative respiratory protection option to filtering facepiece respirators such as N95 masks for healthcare workers during times of short supply caused by the pandemic, as they can be reused over an extended period in healthcare settings. However, elastomeric respirators have a vent to exhalate the air outwards and unfiltered, so the wearer must be attentive that he or she is not infected with SARS-CoV-2, to prevent a possible transmission of the virus to others through the vent. For the COVID-19 response when supplies are short, the US CDC says contingency and crisis strategies should be followed: Each elastomeric respirator is issued for the exclusive use of an individual healthcare provider, but must be cleaned and disinfected as often as necessary to remain unsoiled and sanitary. If there is no other option than to share a respirator between healthcare providers, the respirator must be cleaned and disinfected before it is worn by a different individual. Filters (except for unprotected disc types) may be used for an extended period, but the filter housing of cartridge types must be disinfected after each patient interaction. A powered air-purifying respirator (PAPR) is a personal protective equipment in which a device with a filter and fan creates a highly filtered airflow towards the headpiece and a positive outflow of air from the headpiece. There is an increased risk for healthcare workers to become exposed to SARS-CoV-2 when they conduct aerosol-generating procedures on COVID-19 patients, which is why it is argued that such situations may require enhanced personal protective equipment (i.e., higher than N95) such as PAPRs for healthcare workers. In a systematic review, Licina, Silvers, and Stuart (8 August 2020) said field studies indicate that there was equivalent rates of infection between healthcare workers, who performed airway procedures on critical COVID-19 patients, utilizing PAPRs or other appropriate respiratory equipment (such as N95 or FFP2), but remarked that there is a need to further collect field data about optimal respiratory protection during highly virulent pandemics. Some masks include an exhalation valve to expel the breath outwards, but that current of air is not filtered. Certification (as N95 or FFP2) is about the mask itself and does not warrant any safety about the air that is exhaled. Putting tape over the exhalation valve can make a mask or respirator as effective as one without a valve. Scientists have visualized droplet dispersal for masks with exhalation valves and face shields, and concluded that they can be ineffective against COVID-19 spread (e.g., after a cough) and recommended alternatives. The use of face masks or coverings by the general public has been recommended by health officials to minimize the risk of transmissions, with authorities either requiring their use in certain settings, such as on public transport and in shops, or universally in public. Health officials have advised that medical-grade face masks, such as respirators, should be prioritized for use by healthcare workers in view of critical shortages, so they generally first and foremost recommend cloth masks for the general public. The recommendations have changed as the body of scientific knowledge evolved. According to #Masks4All, about 95% of the world population lives in countries where the government and leading disease experts recommend or require the use of masks in public places to limit the spread of COVID-19. Early in 2020, the WHO had only recommended medical masks for people with suspected infection and respiratory symptoms, their caregivers and those sharing living space, and healthcare workers.[71][72][73] In April 2020, the WHO acknowledged that wearing a medical mask can limit the spread of certain respiratory viral diseases including COVID-19, but claimed that medical masks would create a false sense of security and neglect of other necessary measures, such as hand hygiene. The early WHO advice on limited mask usage was scrutinized for several reasons. First, experts and researchers pointed out the asymptomatic transmission of the virus. Second, according to Marteau et al. (27 July 2020), available evidence does not support the notion that masking adversely affects hand hygiene: Dame Theresa Marteau, one of the researchers, remarked that "The concept of risk compensation, rather than risk compensation itself, seems the greater threat to public health through delaying potentially effective interventions that can help prevent the spread of disease." The WHO revised its mask guidance in June 2020, with its officials acknowledging that studies indicated asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic spread.[81] The updated advice recommended that the general public should wear non-medical fabric masks where there is known or suspected widespread transmission and where physical distancing is not possible, and that vulnerable people (60 and over, or with underlying health risks) and people with any symptoms suggestive of COVID-19 as well as caregivers and healthcare workers should wear surgical or procedure masks.[68] They stated that the purpose of mask usage is to prevent the wearer transmitting the virus to others (source control) and to offer protection to healthy wearers against infection (prevention). The WHO advises that non-medical fabric masks should comprise a minimum of three layers, suggesting an inner layer made of absorbent material (such as cotton), a middle layer made of non-woven material (such as polypropylene) which may enhance filtration or retain droplets, and an outer layer made of non-absorbent material (such as polyester or its blends) which may limit external contamination from penetration. On 21 August 2020, the WHO and UNICEF released an annex guidance for children.[83] For children five and younger, they advise that masks should not be required in consideration to a child's developmental milestones, compliance challenges, and autonomy required to use a mask properly, but recognized that the evidence supporting their cut-off age is limited and countries may hold a different and lower age of cut-off. For children 6–11, they advise that mask usage should be decided in consideration of several factors including the intensity of local viral transmission, (the latest evidence about) the risk of infection for the age group, the social and cultural environment (which influences social interactions in communities and populations), the capacity to comply with appropriate mask usage, the availability of appropriate adult supervision, and the potential impact on learning and psychosocial development, as well as additional factors involving specific settings or circumstances (such as disabilities, underlying diseases, elderly people, sport activities, and schools). For children 12 and older, they advise that masks should be worn under the same conditions for adults in accordance to WHO guidance or national guidelines. Regarding the use of non-medical fabric masks in the general population, the WHO has stated that high-quality evidence for its widespread use is limited, but advises governments to encourage its use as physical distancing may not be possible in some settings, there is some evidence for asymptomatic transmission, and masks could be helpful to provide a barrier to limit the spread of potentially infectious droplets.

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Face_masks_during_the_COVID-19_pand...

Stripped down, the "Black Dogs" prioritize speed and firepower over armour protection.

PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii (Dec. 29, 2020) U.S. Pacific Fleet Fleet Master Chief James Honea receives the COVID-19 vaccine from Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Philip Sayma, assigned to Navy Environmental and Preventative Unit 6, at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. Naval Health Clinic was one of the facilities selected to receive the vaccine in a phased and coordinated strategy, prioritizing the vaccine for eligible personnel to protect their health, families, and communities. (U.S. Navy photo by Chief Mass Communication Specialist Jay C. Pugh) (Released)

Reed, Chester A.

Wild Flowers of New England

Chas K. Reed, Worcester, Massachusetts. 1912

46 pages

 

Charles K. Reed was the author's father.

 

40 colored illustrations

Reed Nature Series

Press of A. M. Eddy, Albion, New York

 

Sold by the Williams Book Store, 349 Washington Street, Boston, Mass USA

 

Inscribed "Mayannah Woodward Seeley, Boston, April 9, 1915".

 

The final, unnumbered pages are advertisements for other books in the Reed Nature Series by Chester A. Reed, S. A.

 

Wild Birds of New England

Game Birds of North America

Land Birds

Water Birds

Camera Studies of Wild Birds in their Homes

Flower Guide

North American Birds’ Eggs

Nature Studies – Birds

Nature Studies in Fields and Woods

Birds of Eastern North America

 

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

He was an artist, a photographer, an author and a naturalist who lived at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century.

 

Who remembers Chester A. Reed?

 

Though, he was the first person to publish a “Field Guide” on birds in color, in 1905. He passed away on December 16th, 1912. This website is dedicated to his memory and aims to highlight the 100th anniversary of his death.

 

Chester A. Reed, what has he done?

 

Chester A. Reed was the person who defined, in a few years, the foundations of the ornithology hobby. He published the first ornithology magazine for the general public between 1901 and 1906, aiming specifically to the education and the conservation of bird life. He collaborated actively to the publication of the book “Color Key to North American Birds” published in 1903 by Mr. Frank M. Chapman. He published a series of Field Guides in colour, including the first book on bird identification in November 1905, the first Field Guide on flowers in colour in 1907 and the first Field Guide on New Jersey birds for the New Jersey Audubon Society in 1911. He published a series of Field Guides in colour, including the first book on bird identification in November 1905, the first Field Guide on flowers in color in 1907 and the first Field Guide on New Jersey birds for the New Jersey Audubon Society in 1911.

 

He became a professional of photographic hunting of birds. He published various articles in local newspapers and regularly offered conferences on ornithology to audiences of 300 to 700 people, adults and students, using his pictures. They would all listen to Chester communicating his passion.

 

He had many talents as an artist, a photographer, a writer and a naturalist, but the one that made him stand out and influenced his time as well as ours, was his talent as an educationalist. His skills and his desire to help people to understand and learn better brought him to publish books that are still very sought-after by collectors of older ornithology books.

 

We would only have to mention the way to present and document a bird on a bird identification chart by color published in his magazine “American Ornithology for the Home & School” in February 1902. The same structure is still used by contemporary authors in bird identification books (Field Guides).

 

His Time

 

To better understand Chester A. Reed’s influence and work, it is important to contextualize the time when he lived.

The end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century were the start of a popular movement towards an interest in nature study. The movement was so important that the entire education system for universities, high schools and elementary schools was changed to introduce nature study to young students.

 

What best defines that time of “ecological effervescence” was that we would prioritize nature study by observations and experimentations outside of the classroom. Mrs. Anna Botsford Comstock (1854-1930), professor at Cornell University, published the book “Handbook of Nature Study” in 1911. It provided teachers of young students with many experiments and lesson plans to support them in their teaching process.

Mrs. Comstock’s motto was “Nature through Books”, as opposed to Mr. Louis Agassiz’s (1808-1873) motto “Study nature, not books”. Her book was published from 1911 to 1957. Chester A. Reed’s books (Bird Guide and Flower Guide) have been a recommended reference during all those years.

 

A Premature End

 

Chester passed away at age 36, much too young to enjoy his reputation in ornithology. In 11 years of public life, Chester:

 

•Published 67 editions of the magazine “American Ornithology for the Home & School”

•Published 24 books on various topics, but mostly on ornithology

•Drew thousands of birds and flowers in color ;

•Was innovative in many ways.

 

His reputation as an artist was based on the fact that his drawings were reproduced in dimensions closer to the original. Scale reproduction was his trademark.

 

He passed away on December 16th, 1912, from pneumonia that killed him in 5 days. He left us a heritage in ornithology that still has an impact today.

 

He deserves the title of “pioneer” in the history of the ornithology hobby in America.

 

Here is a comment that was published in the magazine “The Auk” from The American Ornithologist’ Union association in April 1913, announcing Chester’s death.

 

In the death of Chester A. Reed of Worcester, Mass., on December 16, 1912, the Union lost an Associate of much promise. While only thirty-six years of age Mr. Reed had already attained a wide reputation by his publications on popular bird study. He early conceived the idea that colored illustrations were the surest means of obtaining a familiarity with birds and in all his works, the furnishing of adequate illustrations was the chief aim.

Chester A. Reed was a builder, and we have to remember him.

 

This website is dedicated to his memory and aims to highlight his contribution to the ornithology hobby and the 100th anniversary of his death.

chester-reed.org/en/chester-albert-reed/

   

35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

 

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Jn 6:35.

 

How the Gospel of John Can Transform Your Life

 

Jesus not only taught about what living in the presence of God was like; he also lived it. When God abides with his people and his people abide with him, their own lives reflect his character and heart. No one knew this better—or lived it more fully—than Jesus. And of all the examples he gave, none is more poignant—or better demonstrates the subversive qualities of such a life—than when Jesus washed his disciples’ feet (John 13). In Jesus’ view, the most honorable person is the one who most fully lives God’s sacrificial love.

 

The disciples understood how subversive this concept was to their world. Hellenistic culture was strongly class-defined, and individuals rarely acted outside of the limitations of their social stratum. Honor and shame were the two sides of the coin that held first-century, Graeco-Roman society together: Servants and slaves received no public honor and had no public voice, and the elite deserved the highest courtesies, honors, and attention. In the minds of all good citizens, the reversal of these ideas would seem to level society, creating social chaos out of perfectly reasonable order. Dishonoring the honorable simply wasn’t done—you don’t let your teacher, an honorable figure, wash your feet. Likewise, a teacher wouldn’t honor lower members of society. Jesus reverses everything, and it’s beautiful.

 

Today, our version of the honor-shame paradigm is a prioritization of the self, a driving concern for one’s image or reputation. This idea of dignity or importance prevents us from abandoning our desires and reputations in favor of self-sacrifice and the betterment of others. But didn’t Jesus provide a better example?

 

John D. Barry et al., eds., DIY Bible Study (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2014).

Designed to rapidly respond to security threats across corporate space, the Whiplash fleet saw extensive service across Imyr.

The Whiplash was a response to irritating, profit-reducing pirate raids along the shipping lanes to Campria, and as such prioritized speed and situational awareness over bulk and heavy weapons. It served well in this roll, and was produced in-system in some numbers under license by Nebulite Mining after the initial purchase from Sungdai spaceyards.

 

They and I were waiting at a stoplight and I was aware of their bubbly, excited banter. Then I noticed they had matching sunglasses. Intrigued by their matching look, I complimented them on their matching sunglasses and they were amused that I had noticed and commented. The light had changed and we were walking the same way and I mentioned I’m an amateur photographer and that they would make a good double-portrait with their matching sunglasses. They liked the idea but took a moment to do a couple of photos in front of a coffee shop. When I mentioned my project, they loved the concept but said they were in a rush to calculus class (starting in 3 minutes). We introduced ourselves and I gave them my contact card. They said they would email me so I could send them the photo and they would be glad to answer my questions for the project by email. Met Shae-Lin and Carly.

 

It has been my experience that people I meet on the street frequently intend to follow up with an email in order to get their photo or share a bit of their story in life but are often busy or lose the card. It was, therefore, a nice surprise when I promptly got an email and an invitation to explain what I needed for my project. I explained more about the project and the things that make for an interesting story and on the weekend I received an email that blew me away. Both Shae-Lin and Carly had really taken some time to introduce themselves. They signed off their email "Carly and Shae-Lin - the sunglasses girls." I have drawn the rest of this story from what they so generously shared with me.

 

Shae-Lin and Carly are both 18 year-old university students who are in the Engineering program. Neither is from Toronto and they met during orientation week. Being females in a male-dominated program, they paired off and discovered they had much in common. Both grew up in close, supportive families and, while excited about university, miss their parents and siblings. Falling in together as new best friends has really made the university adjustment easier and fun. The story behind the matching sunglasses is that both like fashion and Youtube. It was from a Youtube video that Carly got the idea for this type of glasses and found an inexpensive pair in town. That afternoon, Shae-Lin just had to go to the same store where she was delighted to find an identical pair. The matching sunglasses have come to symbolize their friendship and they love wearing them everywhere – especially to calculus class which they both take. They get a kick out of being noticed with their matching glasses which are a bit of an in-joke with them.

 

Shae-Lin is from Alberta and came to Toronto to study Aerospace Engineering. Space and space exploration have been an interest of hers since early childhood. She attributes this to her grandfather who is her “best friend” and shared his passion for space and space exploration with her from an early age. She intends to do a Master’s degree in International Space Studies and hopes to work within the Canadian Space Agency in the future. She is active and outdoorsy and finds the absence of mountains to hike is one of the big adjustments to Toronto city life. She loves travel and volunteering and will be doing both this summer in India and Nepal. As she explains “I am also a huge health foodie, movie junky, sock lover, tea enthusiast, and want to learn more languages. ”

 

She grew up a full-time competitive dancer and whenever she wasn’t in school or doing homework, her time was filled with dancing and training. Although she loved dancing and feels the discipline it imposed had a positive side, it also cost her many of the experiences that a young person needs. “I never had time for playdates, or music lessons, or even meals with my family.” It was quite stressful so her message to her younger self would be to reduce stress and realize there is more to life than success in a single activity. Her second message to her younger self is “to enjoy every moment instead of resenting them when it was hard, because they would later become some of my most cherished memories.”

 

Shae-Lin says “the number one challenge I face every day and have my entire life is something I call my ‘mom syndrome.’ Having been raised by an incredible mother, I take a scary amount after her , including ALWAYS putting others first and over prioritizing others well above my own.” She says “Don’t get me wrong, everybody should help others without the expectation of getting something in return, but not once amongst the dozens of those I have gone out of my way for, has anyone returned even half of the heart I led to them, leaving me to lose focus on bettering myself.”

 

Shae-Lin’s message to the project is “be as bright as you can every day. From complimenting someone’s outfit , to holding the door for someone or just truly listening to listen instead of listening to input our own opinion, because life is about soaking up all the goodness it has to offer and enjoying every little moment.”

 

Carly comes from a small rural Ontario town an hour from Toronto. Her major in Chemical Engineering was influenced by a Reese Witherspoon movie she saw at age 10 in which Reese played a woman who investigated a water pollution problem. This led to a desire to learn about the product production, perhaps in the cosmetics industry. She comes from a close-knit family and is very close to her younger brother. This relationship has given he a love of children and she is devoted to teaching young children swimming at the local pool. Her parents travelled to Australia when they were young, something Carly would like to do herself. In Carly’s words “I am super interested in fashion and there’s nothing I love more than going shopping and finding a great deal (like my sunglasses, for example. Haha). I love country music, grilled cheese sandwiches, watching the Bachelor, reading a good book, and going on adventures with my friends.” She wrote “I would describe myself as optimistic, outgoing, bubbly, and always smiling.”

 

In terms of advice to her younger self, Carly described herself has having been confident and “full of spunk” as a young child – carefree and comfortable in doing whatever she fancied. She found her early teens difficult in that she “lost that spark” and became overly-preoccupied with fitting in with peers. Not only did she lose that “spark” but she became self-conscious and self-critical. She explained that “These past few years have been huge for me in the sense that I really think I’ve found my spark again and have learned to stop comparing myself to those around me and instead to just be confident in my own skin. Lately, I’ve been as sure of myself as I was when I was little and it’s refreshing to realize that I hadn’t lost the spirited girl who I was 10 years ago. So, even though I’m nowhere close to figuring it all out, I wish I would tell my 13 year-old self that there’s no need to feel insecure or put on an act just to please people. If you be who you are then you will put yourself on the right path and get so much more out of life.”

 

Challenges Carly has faced? She wrote “The biggest challenge I’ve faced in my life is when I was 10 and my mom battled breast cancer.” Carly described how terrifying it was to be 10 and to face the fear of losing her mother and having to grow up without her mother’s guidance. In her words “I was by my mom’s side through surgery, 8 rounds of chemo, and radiation. I remember wanting to be strong and optimistic for my mom throughout this process. I’ve always been one to put on a smile, but at times it was so hard to do that.” The story had a positive outcome, however. “After a year or so of her battle, my mom beat the cancer. I am so proud of her and even though this was by far the hardest time in my life, I got to witness firsthand from my mom what it means to be a strong woman and I carry that with me every day.”

 

Carly’s response to being asked to share a message with the project: “I would want people to look at this picture of Shae-Lin and I and see the fun we have every day here at [university]. I hope that people can see the genuineness of our smiles and joy for life that we both share. Especially since the photo was taken at [university], the place where we met, and the place where we are so happy to be everyday. I want people to look at our sunglasses and know that we wear them all the time, even when it’s cloudy, because we love them and think it’s funny to be matching. I want people to know that we were running late for class that day because I had to run back to my room and get my sunglasses so we could match like always, haha. There’s something so amazing about doing something just ‘cause and that’s exactly why these glasses are so cool to us. I mean who would have thought two pairs of $10 sunglasses would land us doing a super cool, spontaneous project like this one!”

 

And so ends one of my most interesting encounters with strangers to date. To me, this encounter says so much about the challenges of adolescence, about strength, resilience, optimism and the amazing power of friendship.

 

This is my 806th submission to The Human Family Group on Flickr.

 

You can view more street portraits and stories by visiting The Human Family.

Yup, that's me, in front of the famous Oscar Mayer Weiner Mobile parked at a hotel in downtown Denver. Two of my favorite things in life are photography and hot dogs! Please don't make me prioritize!

With the Sanctuary Knights being primarily set up within a singular colony they did not prioritize Space Capable Mobile Suits. The in-house development of the SL3D helped bridge the gap, but did not perform as well as dedicated Space MSs in terms of dogfighting. Northrop-Grumman didn't have the capacity for production of a new suit so the New Sanctuary Technicians had to settle for developing a Variant of the Gallant.

 

Fitted with 18 separate Thruster assemblies, 8 being Primary thrusters and 10 banks of Maneuvering Thrusters. To fuel all the thrusters Additional Fuel tanks were fitted as part of the Backpack. Using Darker colors to help blend in and Extra Armor fitted rounds out the design.

 

Seen here fitted with a Small Buster Shield and a Lancer Heavy Rifle

 

Heh, this was actually one of the first variants I created after the Gallant, THRUSTERS EVERYWHERE LOLOLOL. xD I need to develop a dedicated Space MS at some point......maybe some Mobile Armors.....

View On Black

 

I created a baby in two days.

 

See my baby alive and kicking by clicking kriskrosphotography.com.

 

This is the fruit of my labor. I never had my hands in web designing for the past 4 years. Fortunately, I was able to recover some of my knowledge in HTML, CSS, basic javascript and DHTML.

 

Please help me build up this site so I can sell more pictures.

 

There are three (3) ways you can HELP me.

 

1) One way of help will be to buy my artworks from this site. You may still buy my pictures by ordering directly to me and sending payments either by PayPal or by check. Please read the blog for detailed information.

 

The website kriskrosphotography.com, however, is more professional and processing and delivery of your orders are much faster.

 

2) Another way of helping me is by sending me an email at kkros2k@gmail.com and inform me of your favorites among my creations that are not yet uploaded to this site. That way, I can prioritize the best of KK Arts to be available for sale.

 

3) And the best part, number 3, Let Us Be Partners. Sell your pictures on this new website. We will split the profit. You don't have to pay or maintain a site or a virtual store. You will have your own gallery or galleries on kriskrosphotography.com. You will be my business partner. This is the type of business where you will earn while you are sleeping. Just give it a thought and if you decide you like the idea, CLICK THIS NOW to shoot me an e-mail. Looking forward to be your partner. Remember, our market is not just planet flickr. It will be the whole wide world of internet. Time to turn YOUR wonderful pictures into real money.

  

HOME UPDATE

We have not been contacted by the bank regarding our house since we asked for a grace period to settle our account and to make it current. A lawyer is representing us who offered his services pro bono.

 

Thank you all for your financial aid, gift of love, for buying my art and for your prayers and support during these difficult times.

 

May God bless you all.

 

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

 

WORD ON SMUGMUG.COM

The smugmug technicians and support are very cordial and prompt in answering my queries. I'm very satisfied that I chose smugmug.com to be my print site host.

 

If you decide to join smugmug, you can save $5 by entering my email address ( kkros2k@gmail.com ) or my personal coupon ( 6pAioAabQFDms ) in the 'Referred by' field on the signup form. I will also be compensated when you become a paying member of smugmug. com. They have unlimited storage and your website can be tailored based on your design. They also have ready-made templates where you don't have to design anything. Just upload your pictures and smugmug.com will store and save your great pictures on a wonderful site you will be proud of.

 

One thing I love with smugmug.com is the way you can group your pictures by categories, sub-categories and by galleries. They also have password facility for the galleries. Overall, I like what I see and what I gained from joining smugmug.com. Ths is my honest review of this website. Simply, one of the best for flickr fanatics like us.

 

I still have 10 days out of 14 days trial period. They didn't ask for credit card information when I signed up. So, you can also test drive this site without any cost for 14 days. But please, just don't forget to identify me as your referrer when you join smugmug.com..

Le Parc is a luxury beachfront high-rise condominium located at 4951 Gulf Shore Boulevard North in the prestigious Park Shore neighborhood of Naples, Florida.

 

Development and Construction

Completion: The building was completed in 1990.

 

Developers: It was delivered by the Lutgert Companies (specifically the Lutgert Group) in collaboration with BCB Builders.

 

Architecture: Designed by the firm WilsonMiller Inc., the 22-story tower features a distinctive curved facade with reflective glass windows.

 

Curved Facade: The building features a distinctive curved exterior that creates a striking silhouette against the Naples skyline.

 

Reflective Glass: It utilizes expansive reflective glass windows to blend with the surrounding sky and Gulf of Mexico.

 

Floor-to-Ceiling Windows: Units are designed with 9-foot floor-to-ceiling glass to maximize panoramic views of the water.

 

Lobby Aesthetics: The interior public spaces, such as the grand two-story lobby, incorporate sophisticated materials like Venetian tile, Brazilian hardwood, and mother-of-pearl inlays.

 

Structural Materials: The building is constructed with concrete block and stucco, typical of Florida high-rise architecture for durability and insulation.

 

While many buildings in Naples follow a Mediterranean or Neo-Mediterranean style, Le Parc leans more toward a contemporary, clean-lined luxury aesthetic intended to prioritize visibility of the Gulf of Mexico and Venetian Bay.

 

Recent Updates:

The building recently underwent a total renovation of its lobby and social rooms to maintain its luxury status.

 

Building Specifications

Structure: The high-rise consists of 22 residential floors (often cited as 19 to 23 stories depending on the inclusion of the lobby and parking levels).

 

Units: There are 78 total residences, including 10 penthouse units.

 

Unit Sizes:

2 Bedroom + Den: Starting at approximately 2,300 square feet.

3 Bedroom + Den: Ranging up to 3,579 square feet.

Penthouses: Expansive units reaching up to 5,779 square feet.

 

Market History and Milestones

Record Sale: In April 2022, a penthouse unit (#PH-402) set a building record by selling for $14,600,000.

 

Historical Low: The lowest recorded sale price in the building was $699,500 for unit #704 back in 1998.

 

Value Retention: Its position as the northernmost high-rise in Park Shore provides unobstructed views of the Gulf, Venetian Bay, and Clam Bay, which has historically helped maintain high property values.

 

Amenities and Lifestyle

Beach Access: Direct access to the white sandy beaches of the Gulf and the 1.25-mile Park Shore Beach promenade.

 

On-site Facilities: Includes a beachfront pool and spa, a modern fitness center with saunas/steam rooms, a Har-Tru tennis court, and a grand social room with a catering kitchen.

Security: The building features 24-hour security, a gated entry, and a resident manager.

 

Credit for the data above is given to the following websites:

www.google.com/search?q=history+of+le+parc+condos+naples+...

rocketreach.co/wilsonmiller-inc-profile_b5c6cb85f42e0cca

 

© All Rights Reserved - you may not use this image in any form without my prior permission.

Maple Ridge, BC Canada

 

A Harbour Authority (HA) is a non-profit, locally controlled organization which operates under a head lease with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) to operate and maintain a DFO-owned public commercial fishing harbour in the best interests of the commercial fishing fleet.

 

The harbour facility consists entirely of the property and water lots under the ownership of DFO – Small Craft Harbours (SCH).

 

An HA must operate the harbour as a public facility in accordance with the terms of the head lease and must at all times prioritize the needs of the commercial fishing industry above all else

 

Image best viewed in large screen.

 

Thank-you for your visit, and any comments or faves are always very much appreciated! ~Sonja.

'Sculpture Garden'

Geneva Biennale .. ⟨3rd Edition⟩

The ambition of this project is to establish itself as a major summer artistic event for the region, offering Geneva, its inhabitants and its many national and international visitors an outdoor exhibition of high-caliber during the whole summer period.

 

A monumental installation of five larger-than-life vessels used to store and carry water.

The artist draws attention to the lack of available fresh water being and ecological consequence of government policies that have prioritized oil extraction above nearly all else across the Arabian Gulf (where she comes from).

 

Fiberglass and Polyester Resin

 

Genève ⇀ Quai Gustave-Ador

On a fantastic night of fireworks, there was an opportunity to catch three holiday tags in one night. An 8:30pm Holiday Wishes, 10:30 Holiday Illuminations, and 11:50 Fantasy in the Sky. Prioritizing shooting Fantasy in the Sky locked me into the Contemporary resort, so I had the opportunity to look for a unique location to watch Illuminations from there. Climb 15 stories to the top of the Contemporary Resort, slap on the 200mm lens, strap as much weight onto the tripod, and this is what you get. It‘s incredible how much shake you get at the top of the building!

 

After this show, it was a quick swap to the other side of the building to catch yesterday’s photo, which again, was simply stunning!

Sainte-Chapelle, the radiant Gothic chapel in the middle of Paris, has been a "bucket list" photo destination of mine for years. It's hidden within the Palais de Justice and underneath the shadow of its more famous, larger cousin: Notre Dame.

 

Gothic cathedrals are famous for their heavy stone structures and foreboding decorations. The purpose of all that masonry is to provide support for enormous windows. Nowhere is this more evident than Sainte-Chapelle: it seems the entire structure is made of garishly-saturated stained glass.

 

Now, I find many of the most interesting Sainte-Chapelle photographs were taken when just light enough outside to illuminate the windows, but dark enough to necessitate the interior chandeliers to be lit. Given you are not allowed to bring a tripod into the chapel, that means that most of the work I've seen of the chapel either lacks dynamic range, detail, or is butchered by overly-aggressive post-processing.

 

Years ago, during my last visit to Paris, I had missed the opportunity to tour the chapel. Knowing I had a few free hours in Paris upcoming, I immediately prioritized bringing a camera to the chapel and I decided to rent a new Sony A7r III for two purposes: to compare it to my standby D800, and to see if the in-body image stabilization (IBIS) that the camera boasts was truly able to offer multiple stops of stabilization.

 

I received a Sony A7r III (I'm sure I was the first person to use this particular camera) and a Novoflex Nikon G to Sony FE adapter on a Thursday and by Saturday I had shoved it along with a tripod and my D800 and associated lenses into a duffel and was on my way to the airport.

 

The first visit I made was during the daytime hours on a Sunday, the place was relatively empty and the sunlight was both intense and direct. It shone through the glass and cast shades of purple and blue throughout the chapel. Though the photographs (and more importantly, the experience of visiting) were beautiful - I had a different image in my mind.

 

Under these well-lit conditions, there was little difference between the Nikon and the Sony - chalk that up to the ability to stop down and still achieve a low ISO with either camera. The Nikon was far more pleasant to use (perhaps a function of familiarity), however, and therefore I ended up taking more images and ended with a better set.

 

When the skies opened up a day later and stormy weather began to roll over Paris, I had a short window of time available before meetings and I decided to try again. I trudged through the rain to wait in line once more. This time, I was rewarded with near perfect lighting conditions - the thunderstorm had created precisely the atmosphere I was seeking.

 

Inside the chapel, I worked to capture most angles with both cameras - I wasn't interested in a scientific comparison, but in a real-world test of image quality in the field. This is about comparing the in-the-moment experiences and qualitative impressions of both systems captured while using both heavily under time pressure and in difficult lighting.

 

Another long flight back and I sat in front of the computer to compare results. A couple of conclusions:

 

1) On overall image quality, and particularly dynamic range, the Nikon D800, for being many years old, can still hold its own against the latest and greatest offerings.

 

2) For those of us accustomed to DSLRs - the OVF and ergnomics are superior to the more compact, mirrorless options. This is purely subjective and, as advantages go, short-lived. Photographers who buy into mirrorless will feel the opposite way once their muscle memory is accustomed to their cameras. Kudos to Sony for making something I could rent and learn and use effectively in a weekend - but it's tiny and cramped and all a bit, well... unsubstantial.

 

3) Nikon owners don't have automatic adapters yet (or at least I didn't) and therefore are still reliant on manual focusing and manual aperture control - if you're thinking of switching you can use your Nikkor lenses, but don't expect to enjoy it.

 

4) 42MP is a truly marginal improvement over 36MP - if you're a D800 user lusting after more resolution, you're either eyeing the D850 or (more accurately) a 100MP back or future camera to see another step-change the likes of which you experienced moving to the D800

 

5) The Sony A7r III produces truly amazing images - on par or better with the best DSLRs. This bit is obvious and has been shown over and over again in qualitative and quantitative tests.

 

6) The Sony's IBIS gave me at least 1-2 stops improvement over the Nikon - producing sharp images at ~1/8 of a second and below. When you consider that IBIS systems in general degrade image quality (the sensor is moving, after all) and that 42 megapixels is a brutal judge of sharpness - that I could reliably shoot below 1/10th of a second and produce sharp images is truly remarkable. The top image is 6 frames shot handheld and stitched - all of them were taken in quick succession and have no issues with blur or hand shake. Amazing.

 

7) The Sony's dynamic range and therefore the ability to draw out shadows and pull back highlights in post was at least as good as the D800 - an awesome parlor trick for those of us who grew up on film and early digital no matter how old.

 

8) I have no idea if the A7r III has a focusing advantage or even how it operates with an autofocus lens.

 

9) It's not that much smaller. If you're trekking through the back-country then the size matters, but the much-touted smaller form factor comes with as many costs as benefits. I have a Leica Q, so maybe that disqualifies me from commenting on size (as I already have a camera that solves for the size/quality maximum) - but if you're a DSLR user, I wouldn't buy this for the size advantage. After all, a good lens (and you'll need one to benefit from that sensor) isn't going to clock in any smaller on the Sony than the Nikon

 

10) There are a mix of Nikon and Sony images on this page - you can't tell them apart unless you look at the EXIF - and both are years ahead of mobile image quality. As good as it is, the iPhone photo below (shot in RAW and processed with Adobe Lightroom Mobile) is clearly inferior to the "big camera" images. Mobile cameras were, at one point, "catching up" with DSLR image quality, but we've now entered into a time where that gap is opening again.

 

11) None of these images were possible anywhere near this quality 10 years ago. This is the bit that's exciting - despite diminishing returns - digital tech is still opening up new frontiers in what you can capture. That goes double for the "low quality" iPhone image - if I'd brought film with me, the iPhone would blow it out of the water.

 

Was the image quality noticeably better under tougher conditions with the Sony? Yes. Would I switch to Sony mirrorless? Not yet. Would I rent again for a situation like this? Yes - I may even leave the DSLR home next time and save a little carry-on room for a warmer jacket.

 

This technology is real - Nikon and Canon (who may have fallen permanently behind) need to continue to over-deliver on their DSLRs - the D850 probably keeps me in the Nikon fold if I need to replace my 800 in the coming years.

BOX DATE: 2022

MANUFACTURER: M.G.A.

DOLLS IN LINE: Meygan; Kumi; Kiana; Nevra; Dylan

BODY TYPE: 2001; bend & snap legs

HEAD MOLD: 2001; parted lips

IMPORTANT NOTES: This doll is an updated re-release of 2005 Wild Wild West Kiana. MGA did make some changes to this doll, so she is substantially different than the original 2005 version. The 2005 doll has rooted eyelashes, painted teeth, ear piercings, and different hairstyle (no braids, but elastics running down each strand instead). This 2022 doll is simplified, comes with fewer accessories, metallic blue painted panties, and has a code (584681) printed on her back. See my outfit photo for more details about the accessory differences.

 

PERSONAL FUN FACT: I was beside myself in late 2022, when I glanced on Amazon for Bratz and saw OODLES of newly released dolls. It has been years since Bratz were consistently being cranked out...and it's such a weird feeling having "wish list" dolls I can buy brand new. I knew that I would have to prioritize some dolls over others (and there was no way to collect everyone). Kiana immediately appealed to me, because I don't have any version of her. The other dolls from The Bratz Pack collection are ones I have the originals of (mostly complete too). I figured it made sense to snag Kiana, but not purchase the others. It's always tempting of course, because I love hoarding variations (and re-releases are especially enticing). However, the collector dolls that came out in late 2022 were expensive, so I figured my money would be better spent on them rather than the reissues. I kept popping on Amazon hoping to catch a Warehouse deal or sale. But I actually ended up getting Miss Kiana on Walmart's website. My headphones died one morning while I was going about my daily chores. I admit that headphones have a tendency to fail me, because I'm hard on them (I listen to music and Youtube videos while I stack wood, clean, etc). The pair I wanted were only $15...which meant I needed to spend a little more to qualify for free shipping. Why pay for shipping if you can get another item?!! I of course checked for Bratz...that was my first thought. Kiana was on sale for around $17...it wasn't the markdown I hoped for, but better than the usual $25. She arrived super quickly which surprised me. I think it's fascinating how different this version is from the original 2005 one. I'd consider her more of an update, rather than a reissue. The other dolls from her line seen more accurate compared to their original counterparts, just with less stuff. Kiana doesn't have rooted lashes, teeth, or pierced ears. Her hairstyle is also subtly different. I'm not sure why the lashes and teeth were omitted (I guess I understand the earrings since none of the other dolls from the wave had them). I actually think she's prettier without rooted lashes...they look rather odd generally speaking on Bratz. I still would LOVE to find the 2005/2006 Kiana...it would be way cool to see her side by side with this 2022 version. She's such a gorgeous doll, what with her jet black hair and tan skin. I love the pop of blue eye shadow and her juicy pink lips. I also was inclined to want Kiana most of all from her collection, since western themed dolls always fondly remind me of my dad. I remember in the later years of his life, he spent HOURS watching old western shows and movies. When I would be at home taking care of him, I'd sit with him in the living room and watch them too. I think he'd like Kiana...he always got a kick out of how trampy and ridiculous Bratz dolls were (and the cowgirl theme would make him laugh extra).

Building renovation and construction contrast the gardens on the High Line an elevated railway line owned by the City of New York, today the High Line is a 1.45-mile-long linear public park maintained, operated, and programmed by Friends of the High Line, in partnership with the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation, on Tuesday, September 15, 2015. High Line was opened in 1934 and moved goods to and from Manhattan’s largest industrial district until 1980. The third and final phase officially opened to the public on September 21, 2014. The High Line's green roof system with drip irrigation is designed to allow the planting beds to retain as much water as possible; because many of the plants are drought-tolerant, they need little supplemental watering. When supplemental watering is needed, hand watering is used so as to tailor the amount of water to the needs of individual species and weather conditions, and to conserve water. High Line is independently funded from U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service (USFS). Urban forestry and green spaces are priority areas for USFS. With 80 percent* of the nation's population in urban areas, there are strong environmental, social, and economic cases to be made for the conservation of green spaces to guide growth and revitalize city centers and older suburbs. Urban forests broadly include urban parks, street trees, landscaped boulevards, public gardens, river and coastal promenades, greenways, river corridors, wetlands, nature preserves, natural areas, shelter belts of trees and working trees at industrial brownfield sites. Urban forests are dynamic ecosystems that provide needed environmental services by cleaning air and water helping to control storm water, and conserving energy. They add form, structure, beauty and breathing room to urban design, reduce noise, separate incompatible uses, provide places to recreate, strengthen social cohesion, leverage community revitalization, and add economic value to our communities. Urban forests, through planned connections of green spaces, form the green infrastructure system on which communities depend. Green infrastructure works at multiple scales from the neighborhood to the metro area up to the regional landscape. This natural life support system sustains clean air and water, biodiversity, habitat, nesting and travel corridors for wildlife, and connects people to nature. Urban forests, through planned connections of green spaces, form the green infrastructure system on which communities depend. Urban and Community Forestry (UCF) is a cooperative program of the US Forest Service that focuses on the stewardship of urban natural resources. UCF provides technical, financial, research and educational services to local government, non-profit organizations community groups, educational institutions, and tribal governments. The program is delivered through its legislative partners, the state forestry agencies in 59 states and US territories. Forest Service cooperative programs are currently being redesigned to make more effective use of federal resources. Programs will be focused on issues and landscapes of national importance and prioritized through state and regional assessments. Over the next five years an increasing percentage of funding will be focused on landscape scale projects. Three national themes provide a framework for this work: conserve working forest landscapes; protect forests from harm; and enhance benefits associated with trees and forests. More information and upcoming webinars on December 9, 2015 | 1:00pm-2:15pm ET; January 13, 2016 | 1:00pm-2:15pm ET; and February 10, 2016 | 1:00pm-2:15pm ET can be seen at *http://www.fs.fed.us/ucf/program.shtml. USDA Photo By Lance Cheung.

Hey guys, this is Starconyx4. By the title of this pic, and the text on it, you should probably have been able to figure out that I have reached the 200 follower milestone! So, yea, that's a thing. And, well, this pic is to commemorate, or bring that up, because, ya know, everyone does it i guess :P

So, 200+ followers, that's pretty big. I mean, I know most of you have like 3 times more than that, but I've been here for about 9 months here now. So, not that long, and lets be honest here, my stuff isn't really that great compared to most of you guys out there. So I'm just amazed that over 200 people actually are interested in my stuff enough to decide to look at it frequently, or at least have accidentally hit the follow button and have put off unfollowing me for a while. Either way, its amazing. I'm so grateful and astounded that you guys find my work interesting enough to want to keep looking at it. So thank you, all of you, it really means a lot. Sooooo.... Here is something I have said many times i would never do. A tag. Yep, it's happening. What has gotten into me?

 

1. Why am I doing this again?

2. Right, this is my follower count divided by 100, thats why

3. My name as you know it is Starconyx4. Or Star. Technically it's pronounced Starconyx-Four, but whatever, everyone calls me Starcony anyway

4. I like DC comics and stuff like that

5. I like MARVEL too, but not as much

6. Favorite superhero is Batman, because he's Batman. Others include Azrael, Green Arrow, The Flash, Martian Manhunter, and Booster Gold

7. Clearly that's not every superhero I like , but we could be here all day

8. I write about Wrath, who is the Anti-Batman in the DC universe. But he is s lot cooler than that

9. The fig in this pic is my sig-fig, because I made one. I swear someone like API is going to make me regret posting it

10. I like to paint minifigs, but I started out because I didn't, and still don't, have a lot of the printed pieces most people use for purists, and I can't order pieces every time I want to make a figure

11. I am a MOD for the DC Comics Story Group, created by [Stubbs] and you should all check it out!

12. Technically I am a Loreesi in LoR, but recently it's been harder to balance it with school and my Wrath story, which I have prioritized, as well as find inspiration for.

13. Also staff in the MARVEL Story Group, but MARVEL isn't as interesting to me as DC, so I don't really plan on doing much for it for a while.

14. I have a habit of buying comics and then putting off reading them for a long time :P

15. The torso on my Sig-fig is representing the sweatshirt I always wear IRL

16. You shall never know where I live.

17. How long does this have to be?

18. I might be going to WWB Anaheim next year

19. Speaking of which, Go Angels!

20. And Go Bronco's

21. I swear if you mention it...

22. Can I be done now?

23. You will never see my face too

24. I'm done.

 

Anyways, I'm not going to force you to do this if you don't want, but you can. But some really don't need to be answered :P

I've had such a backlog of photos that needed to be processed and edited that I had to prioritize certain photos to be posted ahead of others. Here is one that was shot in December but benefited from my using Lightroom and Photoshop Express. I was able to bring out the colors in the clouds better using the new software, doing so without adding colors that didn't already exist.