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”E.M.M.I. stands for Extraplanetary Multiform Mobile Identifier. It can procedurally modify and enhance its own capabilities.
I estimate a 99% probability of death if an E.M.M.I. captures you.
You are faced with overwhelming power. Accept your helplessness.”
More photos in the album.
Villains of Metroid
Hey Guys!
Here is my submission for The Survivors Tournament #3, Mission on Mimban. The requirements were two air support speeds and terrain groundwork. This was an awesome challenge I truly enjoyed the building process and was able to push the limits of the style I typically produce. Thanks to all the Survivors team and a special shout out to MWBricks and Director KW. Give them a follow and feel free to comment. We love to hear from the community! God Bless!
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Planet: Mimban
Location: Near a Forgotten Imperial Base
//Log Entry\\
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The mission was simple, the objective was to destroy ground cannons, the probability of survival ...not so high.
Other Survivor groups had very successful undertakings on Coruscant and have those Imps on the run. Intel soon reached Zach, our leader.
They were fleeing to Mimban and had hidden at a forgotten Imperial base.
We didn’t think twice about it and were debriefed immediately. The mission was to take out the ground cannons while only using limited air vehicles in order to avoid too much attention. As the leader of Ryder Squadron, I called a meeting and asked who wanted to come along as we needed two members to stay back and guard the base.
“You know me Jefe, count me in,” Pancho said confidently.
“Me as well,” Banji echoed.
“Ok, that means DJ and Blue will stay back and guard,” I said while I turned around to begin and gather my stuff.
“Gear up boys we leave within the hour”
As to not bore you with the sores of details. We grabbed two air speeders and snuck aboard a transit on its way to Mimban. Once back on land we snuck off and rode towards the communicated coordinates and even before arriving we could see the aftermath of so many wars. The footprint of control and demand all over the muddy dirt.
We could now see the cannons off in the distance and slowed down our speed to stop and take.
“Pancho, you think you can stay on the ground. Take out a couple of troops and give us time to attack from above.” I asked already knowing what he would say to me.
“Danger is my middle name. These pobre troops won't know what hit’em”
I nodded as Pancho got off and began to make his way towards the machines.
“Alright Banji, that leaves you and me to deal damage from the skies”
“What is your plan?” He asked me.
I thought for a moment then looked back at him with my mind decided.
“Not die”
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Thanks for reading and stopping by! I pray that you have enjoyed this build!
Have a great day and God Bless!
47/365
Lighting:
1 Canon Speedlight 430ex
Cactus Remote flash trigger
Westcott collapsible umbrella kit
Flash placed behind subject at a 45 degree angle
I had completed my mission at the annual Twins Days Festival by successfully capturing both a female and a male set of twins (check out those two previous stranger portraits for a description of the mind blowing scene that was the Twins Days Festival). I was essentially on my way toward the exit when I passed a picnic table that caused me to do a double take….no, a triple take. There, eating their lunch, were three beautiful young ladies all donning the same dress. Upon closer inspection, it was clear that they were triplets. Although I had already put my camera away for the day, the enticement of this stranger portrait was too great to pass up. I had to get their portrait.
However, they were in the middle of their lunch, and I maintain that it is bad form to interrupt someone’s meal. Therefore I went into stalker mode and camped out a fair distance away from them patiently waiting for them to finish eating. As I was sitting there, a voice over the PA system announced that a group photo of all the twins in attendance (hundreds, if not thousands) was to take place in ten minutes. I could see the flow of the crowd shifting toward the location of the group photo and I figured my subjects may soon be headed that way as well. They continued their meal, but once the PA announcer called out the five minute warning, the girls wrapped up their lunch and I could tell they were about to be on the move. I had to act quickly because I feared that if they entered the group photo area (an area I would not be allowed in), I might lose this opportunity for good.
I approached them, gave a quick explanation of my purpose, and then requested thirty seconds to do a portrait. All three of them were very sweet and didn’t think twice (or is that thrice) about posing for me. Obviously I would have preferred to shoot them somewhere else besides a wide open area in bright midday sun, but that option was simply not in the cards for this shot. I would have to be happy with the shot that I could get…. Truth is that I am thrilled to have this shot.
Although our encounter was brief, we did have a few moments to chat. I have to say that it was quite the mind trip to be conversing with three beautiful girls that were exact replicas of one another. It was a bit disconcerting as I felt I was in some sort of Twilight Zone movie scene. I asked one of the girls (sorry, I’m not sure which one) if they were identical triplets, and she confirmed that yes, they were of the rare, identical variety of triplets. I retorted that the probability of that occurrence must be astronomical, and she replied, ”Yeah, something like one in a million. I’m not really sure.”
We parted ways, but I continued to be curious by the fact that they were unsure about the statistical probability of their birth circumstance (it seemed to me a stat they probably would have been aware of their entire lives). Therefore I did a little research once I got home. I was surprised to learn that there really is no scientific consensus on the probability of identical triplets. As far as I can tell, this occurs somewhere between 1 in every 60 thousand births and 1 in every 2 million births (quite a wide range). One statistic I am fairly sure of is that this is the first portrait of identical triplets in the 100 Strangers group, which means they are 1 of about 52 thousand portraits in our group. So yes, I am triumphantly planting my flag and staking my claim to this milestone : the first, the best, and the only portrait of identical triplets in the 100 Strangers Group. ***MAJESTIC ROAR*** Who loves yah, baby?
Check out the rest of the stranger street portraits in my project at Paco's 100 Strangers Project and find out more about the project and see pictures taken by other photographers at the 100 Strangers Flickr Group page.
See my main account for my photography, videos, fractal images and more here: www.flickr.com/photos/josh-rokman/
Made with Image Creator from Microsoft Designer, formerly known as the Bing Image Creator. Powered by DALL·E 3.
I think that AI image generation is similar in many ways to photography. The camera itself handles all the fine details, but the photographer is in charge of curating the types of images that will be created.
Ultimately, it is all about maximizing the probability that something good will be created.
This is very similar to AI image generation, in terms of the skills involved and what the human does vs. what the machine does.
You can't compare AI image generation to the process of actually making these images from scratch with 3D software or paint/pencils, where the human controls every detail.
However, I think the process really is very similar to that of photography, as I made the case for above. I think that DALL-E 3 is by far the most powerful AI image generation tool currently available.
- Josh
New book! Epic Landscape Photography: The Principles of Fine Art Nature Photography!
www.facebook.com/epiclandscapephotography/
Join my new 45EPIC fine art landscapes page on facebook!
facebook.com/mcgucken
Working on a couple photography books! 45EPIC GODDESS PHOTOGRAPHY: A classic guide to exalting the archetypal woman. And 45EPIC Fine Art Landscape Photography!
More on my golden ratio musings: facebook.com/goldennumberratio
instagram.com/goldennumberratio
Greetings all! I have been busy finishing a few books on photography, while traveling all over--to Zion and the Sierras--shooting fall colors. Please see some here: facebook.com/mcgucken
Let me know in the comments if you would like a free review copy of one of my photography books! :)
Titles include:
The Tao of Epic Landscape Photography: Exalt Fine Art with the Yin-Yang Wisdom of Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching!
The Golden Number Ratio Principle: Why the Fibonacci Numbers Exalt Beauty and How to Create PHI Compositions in Art, Design, & Photography
facebook.com/goldennumberratio
And I am also working on a book on photographing the goddesses! :) More goddesses soon!
Best wishes on your epic hero's odyssey!:)
I love voyaging forth into nature to contemplate poetry, physics, the golden ratio, and the Tao te Ching! What's your favorite epic poetry reflecting epic landscapes? I recently finished a book titled Epic Poetry for Epic Landscape Photographers:
www.facebook.com/Epic-Poetry-for-Epic-Landscape-Photograp...
Did you know that John Muir, Thoreau, and Emerson all loved epic poetry and poets including Shakespeare, Milton, Homer, and Robert Burns?
I recently finished my fourth book on Light Time Dimension Theory, much of which was inspired by an autumn trip to Zion!
www.facebook.com/lightimedimensiontheory/
Via its simple principle of a fourth expanding dimension, LTD Theory provides a unifying, foundational *physical* model underlying relativity, quantum mechanics, time and all its arrows and asymmetries, and the second law of thermodynamics. The detailed diagrams demonstrate that the great mysteries of quantum mechanical nonlocality, entanglement, and probability naturally arise from the very same principle that fosters relativity alongside light's constant velocity, the equivalence of mass and energy, and time dilation.
Follow me on instagram!
Join my new 45EPIC fine art landscapes page on facebook!
Probability of Fog: 62%
Reality: 100% Rain, well +/- 5 mins at sunrise. Soaked.
Warmed up and dried off in McDonalds, at least you know what your going to get there.
During our trip to Sunriver/Bend, my top photography destination was Sparks lake up in the Cascade mountains on Century Drive. I had been here many times as a kid but never for photography and hoped that the elements would line up for a good sunset or sunrise. 2 nights into our trip, I backed out of going because the clouds looked too thick and there was a storm cell on the radar that looked to have a strong probability of blocking the path of the sun. That evening I cried from our house as the afterglow exploded everywhere in vivid bright red.
Fortunately, I had this beautiful night on the lake, with very little wind and some amazing patchy clouds that provided some awesome reflections. I got in the water so I could get close to the lava rock and this little inlet of water for a different comp. Sparks Lake is a truly amazing place with a view of the Sisters mountain range and broken top reflecting in the shallow waters. 5 image blend for focus. Hope you enjoy, let me know what you think!
See my main account for my photography, videos, fractal images and more here: www.flickr.com/photos/josh-rokman/
Made with the Bing Image Creator, powered by DALL-E 3.
I think that AI image generation is similar in many ways to photography. The camera itself handles all the fine details, but the photographer is in charge of curating the types of images that will be created.
Ultimately, it is all about maximizing the probability that something good will be created.
This is very similar to AI image generation, in terms of the skills involved and what the human does vs. what the machine does.
You can't compare AI image generation to the process of actually making these images from scratch with 3D software or paint/pencils, where the human controls every detail.
However, I think the process really is very similar to that of photography, as I made the case for above.
- Josh
See my main account for my photography, videos, fractal images and more here: www.flickr.com/photos/josh-rokman/
Made with Image Creator from Microsoft Designer, formerly known as the Bing Image Creator. Powered by DALL·E 3.
I think that AI image generation is similar in many ways to photography. The camera itself handles all the fine details, but the photographer is in charge of curating the types of images that will be created.
Ultimately, it is all about maximizing the probability that something good will be created.
This is very similar to AI image generation, in terms of the skills involved and what the human does vs. what the machine does.
You can't compare AI image generation to the process of actually making these images from scratch with 3D software or paint/pencils, where the human controls every detail.
However, I think the process really is very similar to that of photography, as I made the case for above. I think that DALL-E 3 is by far the most powerful AI image generation tool currently available.
- Josh
Unknown artist - Woman cleaning fish (18th century). In the collection of the Museu de Lisboa, Palácio Pimenta.
This tile panel shows a woman, in all probability a slave of African origin, cleaning fish on a table, apparently assisted by a cat. It was set in the former kitchen of Palácio Pimenta during the restoration work undertaken in 1984 to enhance the room's baroque atmosphere, but it came from a palace in a totally different area of the city (Martim Moniz), where it covered the inside of a chimney. Curators assume that even there it was not the panel's original location, since the lower part of the panel was missing.
Lucky Number by Lena Lovich
‘Something tells me my lucky number's gonna be changing soon’
Last weekend the locomotive on our journey to London was 91115 and on the return we had 91116. There are 31 locomotives in the class and assuming all were available for traffic there are 930 permutations of two locomotives, so the chances of getting this precise result would be approximately 0.001.
I've always found it interesting that the study of probability is a relatively recent branch of mathematics, originating in the 17th Century through the work of Fermat and Pascal. Chaos Theory is even more recent, dating from the 1970s and is explained by its originator Edward Lorenz as:
‘When the present determines the future, but the approximate present does not approximately determine the future.’
The famous 'butterfly effect', where a small change at the start gives a disproportionately big change at the end.
I chose the song ‘Lucky Number’ because of both the coincidence in numbers and because of how it illustrates seemingly chance occurrences in life, such as meeting a loved one, can make such a difference. In instances such as this, I’m very sure that something greater than chance is at work.
I wonder if my next haulage will be with 91117?
1N29 the 18:27 King’s Cross to Newcastle awaits departure on the evening of 15th January 2017 whilst in the care of 91116.
Edited in Photos.
yep they're very early because I started this one months ago & found it again last night...finally finished....softened it a bit...
thanks for looking.....appreciated....best bigger.....hope you have a great day
Replacing an earlier scanned slide with a better version 06-Jul-15, plus Topaz DeNoise AI 20-Dec-23.
Delivered new to Braathens (S.A.F.E. = South American and Far Eastern) as LN-SUP in Jan-69, it continued in service with Braathens for 21 years until it was returned to ILFC in Feb-90.
It was leased to Transwede Airways the following month and sub-leased to Euralair International until Feb-91, It was also sub-leased to Time Air Sweden in Mar-91 and operated by them for Air Comores from Dec-92 until it was repossessed by the lessor in Feb-93 after Transwede ceased operations.
It was stored until Sep-93 when it was leased to Nordic East International. It was returned to the lessor in Jan-95. In Jul-95 it was leased to Magnicharters (Mexico) as XA-SYT and re-registered XA-MAD in Apr-00.
It was stored at Mexico City on Aug-00 and then leased to Aerocontinente in Jan-01 as OB-1751. Aerocontinente ceased trading in Jul-04 and immediately restarted as Nuevo Continente.
The aircraft was withdrawn from use and stored at Lima, Peru in Apr-05 at the grand old age of 36. I have no further information although in all probability it's been broken up.
Note: The registration LN-SUP was previously used on a Braathens C-54B/R5D-2.
Enjoy my new blog!
epicfineartphotography.wordpress.com/
Antelope Canyon Ghosts & Light Beams! Upper & Lower Antelope Canyon Page Arizona! Elliot McGucken Fine Art Landscape and Nature Photography!
Support epic fine art!
patreon.com/45surf !
Bitcoin: 1FMBZJeeHVMu35uegrYUfEkHfPj5pe9WNz
Enjoy my new fine art landscapes & ballet video!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3b1df46oKw
Let me know what you think! :)
Join my new 45EPIC fine art landscapes page on facebook!
facebook.com/mcgucken
Working on a couple photography books! 45EPIC GODDESS PHOTOGRAPHY: A classic guide to exalting the archetypal woman. And 45EPIC Fine Art Landscape Photography!
Fresh snow! More on my golden ratio musings: facebook.com/goldennumberratio
instagram.com/goldennumberratio
Greetings all! I have been busy finishing a few books on photography, while traveling all over--to Zion and the Sierras--shooting fall colors. Please see some here: facebook.com/mcgucken
Let me know in the comments if you would like a free review copy of one of my photography books! :)
Titles include:
The Tao of Epic Landscape Photography: Exalt Fine Art with the Yin-Yang Wisdom of Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching!
The Golden Number Ratio Principle: Why the Fibonacci Numbers Exalt Beauty and How to Create PHI Compositions in Art, Design, & Photography
facebook.com/goldennumberratio
And I am also working on a book on photographing the goddesses! :) More goddesses soon!
Best wishes on your epic hero's odyssey!:)
I love voyaging forth into nature to contemplate poetry, physics, the golden ratio, and the Tao te Ching! What's your favorite epic poetry reflecting epic landscapes? I recently finished a book titled Epic Poetry for Epic Landscape Photographers:
www.facebook.com/Epic-Poetry-for-Epic-Landscape-Photograp...
Did you know that John Muir, Thoreau, and Emerson all loved epic poetry and poets including Shakespeare, Milton, Homer, and Robert Burns?
I recently finished my fourth book on Light Time Dimension Theory, much of which was inspired by an autumn trip to Zion!
www.facebook.com/lightimedimensiontheory/
Via its simple principle of a fourth expanding dimension, LTD Theory provides a unifying, foundational *physical* model underlying relativity, quantum mechanics, time and all its arrows and asymmetries, and the second law of thermodynamics. The detailed diagrams demonstrate that the great mysteries of quantum mechanical nonlocality, entanglement, and probability naturally arise from the very same principle that fosters relativity alongside light's constant velocity, the equivalence of mass and energy, and time dilation.
Follow me on instagram!
Join my new 45EPIC fine art landscapes page on facebook!
Enjoy my new fine art landscapes & ballet video!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3b1df46oKw
Let me know what you think! :)
Elliot McGucken Fine Art Landscape and Nature Photography
Zion NP Fall Foliage, Autumn Colors, & Winter Snow! Elliot McGucken Fine Art Landscape and Nature Photography!
Antelope Canyon! Elliot McGucken Fine Art Landscape and Nature Photography!
HAMPI - UNESCO - World Heritage Site - Karnataka, India " If dreams were made out of stone, it would be Hampi"
For some mysterious reasons this was called as the queen’s bath. But in all probability this was a royal pleasure complex for the king and his wives.
Hampi abounds in water channels and water tanks, a telling testimony to the engineering skill, which had been achieved. The most elaborate of the bathhouses is the Queen's bath situated in the citadel area,The building is a large square structure, remarkable for the contrast between its plain exterior and the very ornate interior. The bath is 15m square and 1.8m deep and surrounded by delicately decorated arched corridors and projecting balconies. The carved stucco ornamentation on the ceilings and vaults above each of the arched bays is characteristic of Islamic architecture. It is truly a bath for a queen, discreet in its outer appearance and rich and elaborate in the enclosed inside.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mianwali_District
Mianwali (Urdu: ضلع میانوالی) is a District in the north-west of Punjab province, Pakistan. It borders Lakki Marwat district in the west, Kohat and Karak districts in the North west and Dera Ismail Khan District in the southwest. Attock lies in the north, Chakwal in the north east, Khushab in the east and Bhakkar in the south. In November 1901, the North-West Frontier Province was carved out of Punjab and present day towns of Mianwali, Isa Khel, Kalabagh, and Kundian were separated from Bannu District (NWFP) and hence a new district was made with the headquarters in Mianwali city and placed in Punjab.
Demography
The majority of the population is of Hindko origin similar to the people of Attock.Niazi Tribe is The Most Famouse Tribe of this District. Niazi Tribe is Mostly Living in The Mianwali City, Shahbaz Khel, Mosa Khel, Mochh,Utra Kalaan, Sawans. The Tribes who known as Jats are living in the Kacha and Thal speak a Hindko Seraiki, lived in all parts of the district but mostly in Waan Bacharaan, Kundian, Ding Khola, Khanqah Sirrajia, Saeed Abad, Bakharra/Kacha Kalo, Kacha paar,khita-e-Atlas, Kacha Gujrat, Kacha Shahnawaz Wala, Phaati, Hurnoli, Alluwali, Duaba, Jaal, Piplan, Wichveen Bala, Moosa Khel, Shadia and many others villages which are parts of the district. There are small minority of Pashtuns and Punajbis. Mostly people speak a unique dialect of Seraiki which borrows many words from Hindko and Pashto. However the Khattak tribes living in the suburbs of Isakhel, Chapri, Bhangi Khel, Sultan Khel, Makarwal and Bani Afghan are bilingual, Pashto being their primary language but can fairly communicate in Seraiki as well. Awans living in the Salt range of Mianwali speak a dialect of Potohari which is called "Uttraadi"(pertaining to the highlanders).
According to the 1998 census of Pakistan the district had a population of 1,056,620 of which 20.39%[2] of which 85,000 inhabit the district capital.
Administration
Mianwali used to be the part of Bannu district but on November the 9th,1901 a new district was made with headquarters at Mianwali city.Deputy commissioner used to be the head of the district.The first deputy commissioner was Captain A.J.O'Brian.The first district judge was Sardar Balwant Singh.It is worth mentioning that Capt.O'Brian served Mianwali not once but thrice.He was again given the charge of D.C.Mianwali in 1906 and then in 1914. This time he was promoted to the rank of Major.
The system continued even after the creation of Pakistan as a sovereign nation.It was not until year 2000 when the new local government system was introduced by the President of Pakistan Pervez Musharraf.Three basic changes were made
Divisions which used to be third tier of the government were abolished and more autonomy was given to the districts under the motive of devolution of power.
With this new status of the districts Nazims were to become the administrators of the district with more authoritative powers.
The post of D.C. was abolished with the aim to put an end to the bureaucratic rule however the bureaucracy was offered an olive branch by creating a new post of District Co-ordinating Officer.However the Nazim remains the main elected representative and administrator while the D.C.Os serve as representatives of the government.
The district is administratively divided into three tehsils and 56 Union Councils:[3]
Name of Tehsil No of Unions
Isakhel 14
Mianwali 28
Piplan 14
Total 56
Geography
Mianwali district covers an area of 5,840 square kilometres. The area in north is a continuation of the Pothohar Plateau and the Kohistan-e-Namak. The district consists of various towns, including Kalabagh, Isa Khel,Ding Khola (Khanqah Sirrajia), Kundian, Paikhel, Piplan, Kamar Mushani, Mochh, Rokhri, Harnoli, Musa Khel, Zimri, Wan Bhachhran, Daud Khel and the district capital - Mianwali city.
Kalabagh is famous for the Kalabagh Dam and the Nawab of Kalabagh and for the red hills of the salt range and scenic view of mighty Indus River.
Nawab of Kalabagh Malik Amir Muhammad Khan(1910-1967),Ex-Governor West Pakistan.Kundian is the second largest town at a distance of 15 km from the city of Mianwali.There is a Chashma Nuclear power plant(Chashnupp)Ding Khola (PAEC),Kundian(Chashma)Barrage,K.J(Kundian Jehlum)Chashma Jehlum)Link Canal
Thal is a large area which is mostly desert and semi-arid. It is located between Jhelum and Indus river (The Sindh-Saagar Doab). The boundaries of the old district established in 1901 included almost 70 % of this great area, but after the separation of Layyah and then Bhakkar Tehsils, only about 20% remains in this district. First deputy commissioner Mr. A J O'Brian wrote in his memoirs
" In 1901 the District of Mianwali was formed out of the two Punjab halves of two older districts, and I had the good fortune to be put in charge. It was a lonely District with, as my Assistant Mr. Bolster called it, 'three white men in a wilderness of sand.'"[4]
Nammal (Namal) Lake is a place of interest for the hikers and holiday-makers in Chakrala.
Amongst fine views should be included that of the Indus and the eastern valley from a little conical hill at Mari, where the "Kalabagh diamonds" (quartz crystals) are found and which is crowned by an old Hindu ruin. Amongst picturesque spots may be mentioned Nammal, just beyond the Dhak Pass in Mianwali, also Kalabagh and Mari on the Indus, and Kotki in the throat of Chichali Pass.[5]. The average rainfall in the district is about 250 mm.
Isa Khel is another important town located in the west of Mianwali. It is a historical town named after Isa Khan, a famous Niazi chief.
Kamar Mushani is famous for its trade and minerals.
Education
The city is an economic and commercial hub in the district. There are several educational institutions up to post-graduate level, affiliated with the University of Punjab.
Climate
Whole of the district has extreme weather, summer last from May to September, June is the hottest month average temperature of month rise up to 42°C and maximum could go to 50°C whereas in winter, December and January temperature is as low as 3 to 4°C average per month
History
Traditionally all major rulers of South Asia governed this area in their turn. Mughal emperor Babur mentions Essa Khail (Isakhel) whilst he was fighting against the Pakhtuns as part of his campaign to conquer the Punjab during the 1520s (ref. Baburnama). Then came the Sikhs, that era was famous for lawlessness, and barbarism, they ruled until the annexation of Punjab in 1849 by the British. During British rule, the Indian empire was subdivided into province, divisions and districts, (after the independence of Pakistan divisions remained the third tier of government until 2000). The British had made the towns of Mianwali and Isa Khel tehsil headquarters of Bannu District then part of Dera Ismail Khan Division of Punjab province.
The district of Mianwali was created in November 1901, when the North West Frontier Province was carved out of Punjab and the towns of Mianwali, Isa Khel, Kalabagh, and Kundian were separated from Bannu District which became part of the NWFP. A new district was made with the headquarters in Mianwali city and placed in Punjab, the district became a part of Multan Division. Mianwali originally contained four tehsils namely Mianwali, Isa Khel, Bhakkar, and Layyah, in 1909 Layyah was transferred to Muzaffargarh District. The district became a part of Sargodha Division in 1961, in 1982 Bhakkar tehsil was removed from Mianwali and became a separate district of Sargodha Division.
Of the early history of the district nothing can be stated with any certainty, beyond the fact that its inhabitants were Hindus, and that before the Christian era the country formed an integral portion of the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom of Kabul and the Punjab.
Early History
The Thal, however, without wells would be a desert, and the probability is that in early historic times nearly the whole of it was a barren waste. There is no record of any plundering expedition on the Thal side by Alexander the Great's forces, when they passed down the Jhelum to its junction with the Indus River, though they lightly undertook such an expedition across the waterless Bar to the Ravi. This affords a presumption that the Thal was then a poorer country than it is now. www.mianwalinews.com,
Architectural Objects and Remains
In the southern part of the district the general absence of antiquarian remains also tends to prove that it can never have been the site of a rich and populous Government. In the Kachhi tract, of course, such remains could not survive the action of river floods, and this tract must, at one time, have been much wider than it is now. The Thal, however, is admirably suited for the preservation of antiquarian relics, had any such ever existed, but there are none that date from earlier than the fourteenth century.
Ruins at Mari Indus & Mari City
Ruins of centuries old hindu temples in salt range near Mari Indus (River Indus can be seen traversing through hills)At Mari in the Mianwali Tahsil there is a picturesque Hindu ruin, crowning the gypsum hill, locally called Maniot (from Manikot, meaning fort of jewels), on which the Kalabagh diamonds are found. The ruins themselves must once have been extensive. It appears that the very top of the hill was built over with a large palace or fort.
Architectural Objects and Remain-Ruins of Sirkapp Fort
Overlooking the village site of Namal in the Khudri is a ridge of great natural strength, cut off on three sides by hill torrents. On the top of this ridge there are extensive ruins of what is said to have been the stronghold of Sirkapp, Raja of the country , who was a contemporary of Raja Risalu of Sialkot, by whom he was vanquished. The outer wall of the fort still exists in part in a dilapidated condition, but the enclosure, which must once have contained accommodation for a fairly large garrison , is now one mass of fallen houses and piles of hewn or chiselled stones . The series of lifts, made for carrying water from the bed of the stream to the top of the hill, have left their marks.
Other Antiquities
The above, together with two sentry-box like buildings, supposed to be dolmens, midway between, Namal and Sakesar, and several massive looking tombs, constructed of large blocks of dressed stones in the Salt Range, comprise all the antiquities above ground in the district. No doubt many remain concealed beneath the surface. The encroachments of the Indus and even of the Kurram near Isakhel often expose portions of ancient masonry arches and wells.
"Days of Yore" PR ZE. class 230 enroute to Lakki Marwat from Mari Indus in frosty winter morning circa 1987.(Mianwali was the only district in Punjab with about 80 km of Narrow Gauge section which was closed in 1992)The only other antiquity worth mentioning is a monster baoli at Wanbhachran , said to have been built by order of Sher Shah Suri. It is in good preservation and similar to those in the Shahpur District.
The Rule of the Ghakkars in the North - Invasion of Nadir Shah in 1738
Prior to the invasion of Nadir Shah in 1738, there is little to relate concerning .the history of the northern portion of the district. The upper half of the district was ruled by the Ghakkars, who became feudatories of the Mughal Empire, of which the district continued to form a part until the invasion of Nadir Shah. In 1738 a portion of his army entered Bannu, and by its atrocities so cowed the Bannuchis and Marwats that a heavy tribute was raised from them. Another portion of the army crossed the Pezu pass and worked its way .down to Dera Ismail Khan. The country was generally plundered and contingents raised from the neighbourhoods of Bannu and Dera Ismail Khan marched under Nadir Shah's banner to the sack of Delhi. In 1739 the country west of the Indus was surrendered by the Emperor of Delhi to Nadir Shah, and passed after his death to Ahmad Shah Abdali.
Grave of Lt.Col. A J O'Brien 1st Deputy Commissioner of the district, Brompton Cemetery, LondonExpulsion of the Ghakkars in 1748
In 1748 a Durrani army under one of Ahmad Shah's generals crossed the Indus at Kalabagh, and drove out the Ghakkars, who still ruled in the cis-Indus tracts of the district, owing nominal allegiance to the Emperor at Delhi. Their stronghold, Muazzam Nagar, was razed to the ground, and with their expulsion was swept away the last vestige of authority of the Mughal Emperor, in these parts.
The armies of Ahmad Shah marched repeatedly through the district, the cis-Indus portion of which was, with the rest of the Punjab, incorporated in the Durrani Kingdom in 1756, and for the next sixty years a precarious hold was maintained on their eastern provinces, including this district, by Ahmad Shah and his successors to the throne of the newly created Kingdom of Kabul.
The history of the Bhakkar Tahsil comprising the southern portion of the district both in the period which preceded and that which followed the incorporation of the district in the
Durrani Kingdom, requires separate recording. Its history is bound up with that of Dera Ismail Khan and of Leiah, and to some extent with that of Dera Ghazi Khan.
During the greater portion of the reign of Ahmad Shah, no regular Governors were appointed by the Kabul Government. The country was divided between the Hot and Jaskani chiefs, whose predecessors had been the first Biluch chiefs to form settlements along the Indus.
References to the original settlements of the first Biluch chiefs are found in Ferishta and in a Persian manuscript, quoted in Mr. Tucker's settlement report of the Dera Ismail Khan District. The account given by the latter is, that in 874 Hijri (1469 A.D.) Sultan Husain, son of Kutubudin, obtained the Government of Multan. He held the forts of Shor and Chiniot in Lyallpur District and of Kot Karor (Karor Lal Isan) and Din Kot (near Kalabagh). Soon after Malik Suhrab, a Dodai Biluch, along with his son, Ismail Khan, and Fatih Khan and others of his tribe arrived from Kech Mekran, and entered the service of Sultan Husain. As the hill robbers were then becoming very troublesome in the province of Multan, Sultan Husain rejoiced in the opportune arrival of Malik Suhrab, and assigned to him the country from the fort of Karor to Dinkot." On this becoming known, many Balochis came from Kech Mekran to the service of the Sultan. The lands, cultivated and waste, along the banks of the Indus were assigned to the Balochis, and the royal revenue began to increase, The old inhabitants of Dera Ghazi Khan and Multan relate that after Suhrab's arrival, Haji Khan, with his son Ghazi Khan and many of their kindred and tribe, came from Kech Mekran to enter the service of the Sultan. When the tracts along the Indus were in the hands of Malik Suhrab and Haji Khan, Malik Suhrab founded a Dera named after Ismail Khan, and Haji Khan another, with the name of Ghazi Khan ". This account is confirmed, though in less detail, by the historian Ferishta.
Tribes & Clans
The populations of the district is split into four main groups, the Pashtuns who predominate in Isa Khel Tehsil, and riverain Mianwali Tehsil, the Awans who are found mainly in the Salt Range, and Kalabagh in Isakhel Tehsil. The Thal desert portion is held by Seraiki speaking Jat and Baluch tribes. The city of Mianwali and town of Wan Bhachran are both home to the Qureshi - Makhdooms and Miana tribes respectively.
The district are includes descendents of refugees from East Punjab and Haryana in India, who settled after partition..
Immigration
The district has been settled by a triple immigration from opposite directions, of Awans from the north-east, of Jats and Balochis up the valley of the Indus from the south, and of Pakhtuns from the north-west.
Awans
The Awans now occupy that part of the district which lies east of the Dhak Spur of the Salt Range and is known as Khudri, Pakhar, or Awankari. "Men of Mianwali mostly know the name Pakhar; but residents of the Kacha and Isakhel generally speak of the tract and parts beyond as utrad. i.e., the high country."Bannu district Gazetter
They have been almost the sole occupants of that extensive tract for at least six hundred years and may perhaps have resided there since the Arab invasions of the seventh century. Previous to the decilne and extinction of Ghakkar tribe authorities in Mianwali, the Awan possessions extended westward of the Salt Range. At first Awans under the leadership of legendary Awan warrior Qutab Shah pushed the Niazi tribe out of Mianwali who were previously residing in Mianwali. But afterwards , Niazis rose up and were able to fight back most of their captured land from Awans.
The Awans were amongst those the British considered to be "martial races" and as such, formed an important part of the British Indian army, serving with distinction during World Wars I and II. Along with Rajputs, Awans occupy the highest ranks of the Pakistani army.
Sir Colin Campbell Garbett (founder of Campbellpur, modern day Attock), said of the Awans, "There are no better people in India."
Awans claim themselves to be of Arab origin , a claim which is disputed by many British anthropologists and historians. Some label them as remnants of "Bactrian Greeks".While the others insist that they are the descendants of Raja Risalu of Sialkot , thus insisting on their Rajput origins. Some also relate them to the Qutab Shah who had Arab ancestry thus giving a proof to their claim.
However in general Awans are brave, big landlords , religious and best known for their hospitality. They also got the fame of being the good horsemen.
The Jat and Baloch Immigration
Before the fifteenth century the lower portion of the district was probably occupied by a few scattered tribes of Jats, depending on their cattle for subsistence. The valley of the Indus was a dense jungle, swarming with pig and hog-deer, and frequented by numerous tigers; while the Thal must have been almost unoccupied.
All the traditions of the people go to show that an immigration of mixed tribes of Jats Talokar/Tilokar/Talukar/Thalokar,(Siyars, Chhina, Khokhars, &.c.,) set in about the beginning of the 15th century from the Multan and Bahawalpur direction. They gradually passed up the valley of the Indus to the Mianwali Tahsil, occupying the intervening country. Most of their villages would have been located on the edge of the Thal and a portion of the immigrants probably crossed the river and settled along its right bank. After these came the Balochis. They also came from the south, but in large bands under recognized leaders, and they appear to have taken military rather than proprietary possession of the country. They were the ruling class, and served under their chiefs in the; perpetual little wars that were then going on in every direction. It is probable that the Jat immigration continued for sometime after the Balochis first came into the country. However it may have been, all the Kachha, immediately adjoining the Thal bank, seems to have been parcelled off to Jat families. Each block was accompanied with a long strip of Thal to the back. These estates are the origin of the present mauzas as far north as Kundian in the Mianwali Tahsil. They are almost all held by Jats. Here and there, shares are held by Balochis, but these have mostly been acquired in later times by purchase. In the same way the unoccupied lands towards the river were divided off into blocks, and formed into separate estates; and sometimes; where the hads first, formed had too much waste land, new hads were formed in later times by separating off outlying portions of the old estates. This division into hads extended right up to Kundian. In course of time, as the Balochis settled down in the country, individuals acquired plots of land for wells, but generally in subordination to the had proprietors or lords of manors. Here and there a small clan settled down together, but this was the exception. Balochis are still numerous all through the southern part of the Kachha, up to Darya Khan; but though they were originally the ruling race, still, as regards proprietary rights in the land they hold a position inferior to that of the Jats and Sayyads, by whom the superior proprietorship of hads is generally held. North of Darya Khan there are very few Balochis. In the Thal the population is nearly entirely Jat.
Baluch Clans
The Mamdanis of Khansar, the Magsis, a tribe which came in very early, and settled in the eastern Thal about Dhingana and Haidarabad, and the Durranis of Dab in the Mianwali Tehsil, are almost the only considerable bodies of Balochis to be found in the Thal.
[edit] The Jat Clans
All through the Kachha the mass of the villages are named after Jat families, who form the bulk of the proprietors. These are generally the descendants of the original founders, and have stuck together as like 'Jat Talokar/Tilokar/Talukar/Thalokar in Ding Khola(Khanqah Sirrajia) and bakhharra(kachha).'''' In the Thal there are a large number of villages held in the same way by men of particular families ; but in most the population is very mixed, nearly every well being held by a man of a different caste. The only Jat tribes in the Thal deserving of special mention are the Chhinas and Bhidwals. The Chhina country extends across from Chhina, Behal, Lappi and Notak, on the edge of the Kachha, to Mankera and Haidarabad on the further side of the Thal. The Bhidwals possess a somewhat smaller tract round Karluwala and Mahni in the neighbourhood of the Jhang border. They have always been a good fighting tribe.
The Pakhtun Immigrations
Mahmud of Ghazni is said to have conquered the upper half of the district together with Bannu, expelling its Hindu inhabitants and reducing the country to a desert. Hence there was no one left, capable of opposing the settlement of immigrant tribes from across the, border. The series of Pakhtun immigrations into Bannu took place in the following order :-
1.The Bannuchis, who about five hundred years ago displaced two small tribes of Mangals and Hannis, of whom little is known as well as a settlement of Khattaks, from the then marshy but fertile country on either bank of the Kurram.
2.The Niazis, who some hundred and fifty years later spread from Tank over the plain now called Marwat, then sparsely inhabited by pastoral Jats.
3.The Marwats, a younger branch of the same tribe, who within one hundred years of the Niazi settlement of Marwat, followed in their wake, and drove them farther eastward into the countries now known as Isa Khel and Mianwali.
Immigrations - The Niazis
Burqa-clad women in Mianwali--This district is famous across the country for strict Burqa-observanceThe Bannuchis must have settled down for nearly two centuries, before the Niazi arrival into Marwat took place. The Niazis occupied the hills about Salghar, which are now held by the Sulaiman Khels, until a feud with the Ghilzais compelled them to migrate elsewhere. Marching south by east, the expelled tribe found a temporary resting place in Tank. There the Niazais lived for several generations, occupying themselves as traders and carriers, as do their kinsmen the Lohani Pawindahs in the present day. At length towards the close of the fifteenth century, numbers spread north into the plain now known as Marwat, and squatted there as graziers, and perhaps too as cultivators, on the banks of the Kurram and Gambila, some fifteen miles below the Bannuchi Settlements. There they lived in peace for about fifty years, when the Marwat Lohanis, a younger branch of the Lodi group, swarmed into the country after them, defeated them in battle, and drove them across the Kurram at Tang Darra, in the valley beyond which they found a final home. At the time of the Niazai irruption, Marwat seems to have been almost uninhabited, except by a sprinkling of pastoral Jats; but the bank of the Indus apparently supported a considerable Jat and Awan population. The most important sections of the expelled Niazais were the Isakhel, Mushanis and a portion of the Sarhangs. The first named took root in the south of their new country and shortly developed into agriculturists ; the second settled farther to the north roundabout Kamar Mushani, and seem for a time to have led a pastoral life ; of the Sarhangs, some took up their abode at Sultan Khel, while others, after drifting about for several generations, permanently established themselves cis-Indus on the destruction of the Ghakkar stronghold of Muazzam Nagar by one of Ahmad Shah's lieutenants. That event occurred about 1748, and with it terminated the long connection of the Ghakkars with Mianwali.They seem to have been dominant in the northern parts of the country even before the emperor Akbar presented it in jagir to two of, their chiefs. During the civil commotions of Jehangir's reign the Niazais are said to have driven the Ghakkars across the Salt Range, and though, in the following reign, the latter recovered their position, still their hold on the country was precarious, and came to an end about the middle of the 18th century as stated above. The remains of Muazzam Nagar, their local capital, were visible on the left high bank of the Indus about six miles south of Mianwali, until the site was eroded by the river about the year 1870. The Niazais thus established themselves in Isa Khel over three hundred years ago, but their Sarhang branch did not finally obtain its present possessions in Mianwali, until nearly 150 years later. The acquisition of their cis-Indus possessions was necessarily gradual, the country having a settled, though weak Government, and being inhabited by Awans and Jats.
Immigrations - The Niazais, Khattaks and Bhangi Khels
A few of the Khattaks, who had preceded the Niazais into the Isa Khel Tahsil, clung to the foot of the Maidani Range. The Bhangi Khels, a strong little section of Khattaks, spread up into the Bhangi Khel tract some 400 years ago, and remain there to this day. Trag is one of the biggest village of Tehsil Isa Khel(Tarna, an old name),District Mianwali.Trag came into being in between 1660-1685. It is populated by one of the significant clan “Shado Khel” hailing from Niazi Pathan.These people are basically Afghan in origin and adventured Hindustan along with their main tribe i.e. Niazi. Their entry route was Wana----Tank----Dera Ismail Khan and Paniala/ Kundal. They finally settled at present location. Background: Trag is named after his notable elder, literally meaning an “Iron Helmet”. He was an adventurous and brave combatant. He was famous for his ever readiness, most of the times seen in combatior outfit. Hence his real name is not traceable. And he became well known as Trag. The family tree of Trag is Trag bin Amir Khan bin Jehangir Khan bin Shado Khel bin Khir bin Jam bin Tor bin Habib bin Wagan bin Jamal Niazi. He had three sons Ako, Bako and Khero. Descendants of these sons of Trag occupy main bulk of the village and are known as Akwal, Ibrahim Khel and Kherowal. Syeds, Quereshis, Arayans,Bhambs, Buchas,Awans, Mohanas, Dheor and Jats etc hold significant number in local population and contributing their role in the social development of their beloved soil.
Biluchch Pashtuns
A few families of Biluchch Pashtuns came across the Indus . from the Paniala Hills .Of these, one became dominant at Piplan, while the others moved on into the Thal and took up their abode eventually in and about Jandanwala.
Turkhel
A tribe occupying few villages near Kalabagh. According to some traditions, they are Jat and not Pashtun.
Wirali
Is a tribe living in Pai Khel,Mianwali.Hundred years ago there was a great sufi saint, named "Mian Muhammad Wirali".He was a philanthropist with much regard among the masses.He distributed his land to the poor.Now a days his shrine is at Pai Khel,in the base of a mountain from where dolomite is extracted for steel mills. After him, his tribe is known as "Wirali".
Lamborghini.
It was perhaps a little ironic that that this Italian made car was parked on a cobblestone street that was in all probability built by the Roman's 2000 years ago.
Maybe it is true, somethings just never change.
Cambridge, Great Britain.
One thing most people don't know is that penguins have excellent mathematical brains and can instinctively apply dice probabilities to complex situations. Obviously this makes them Backgammon ninjas, just like Flippers McFlapperson here. So, don't be fooled if a penguin offers to play you for fish at Backgammon. They're hustling you.
This observation targets a highly textured bedrock surface in northeastern Tyrrhena Terra. Due to this location of this material at the junction of incised valley networks, the presence of massive layering at Context Camera resolution, and the high apparent erosional susceptibility of these materials, this location has a high probability of being a sedimentary deposit. This observation will be used to characterize this deposit.
Image is less than 5 km (3 mi) across and is 261 km (162 mi) above the surface. For full images including scale bars, visit the source link.
www.uahirise.org/ESP_065958_1740
NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona
My alarm clock was not set last night, as I was so desperately tired after three nights in a row of very little sleep. As a result, I slept in really late this morning, so am posting my photos around noon. I turned on my computer and left the room. A minute or two later, when I returned, I found a black screen with white writing on it - don't know if I just missed seeing the Blue Screen of Death, which I got a few days ago. Panic now sets in, as I think of many months' worth of photos not backed up at all! Looks like I'd better back-up at least a few photo folders.
Yesterday was a birding trip to Bow Valley Provincial Park, west of Calgary, at the very foot of the eastern edge of the Rocky Mountains. Takes around 45 minutes to drive there from the western edge of Calgary. This was the park that I finally made myself drive to on 20 July, with my youngest daughter. Can't wait to tell her what we saw yesterday, that made the day "exciting" as well as thoroughly enjoyable - and not a single photo to show it, ha. A good thing she and I didn't come across certain of yesterday's sightings on 20 July! I'm going to use the trip leader's write-up of the events of the day - thank you, Andrew, for yet another great trip to a very beautiful place. Each year, this trip to the park makes such a great day. Hope you don't mind my using your report here! I should add that all these birds were far, far away, too far for photos and, for me with no binoculars, too far to see either properly or at all. We walked about 6 km in total.
The following is the description from the trip by our leader. I have removed the list of species from his description and placed them in a comment box way below. Thanks to Bryant Olsen for his suggestion to do this. The only problem is that when I get a copy of my photos on to another website, only the description is transferred and nothing in a comment box. Will have to give this some thought.
"We had six participants on this trip.
We arrived at BVPP with early morning temperatures which started to warm up.
We walked around the Flowing Waters Trail where we heard many of the species we recorded. The highlight of this segment was a Blue Headed Vireo (conceivably a Cassin's but we decided Blue Headed was the higher probability, based on location and the song). I do have some photographs but doubt they would delineate between the two species. (Later: confirmed to be a Cassin's).
We had lunch in the Whitefish area and then went over to the Many Springs Trail.
As we were assembling in the small Many Springs Trail's car parking area, we looked back along the road we just driven in by and saw a fairly large very glossy, very black Black Bear amble across the road and vanish into the woods.
We carried on walking around the trail. About half way around we heard a call from ahead which sounded something like "bear on the trail". We exchanged a few shouted communications with the group ahead of us and
concluded that there was a black bear with two cubs wandering around on the trail about 200m ahead of us. We all looked at the (suddenly small looking) bear spray I had with me and decided to turn around and head back to the car park. There were still six of us when we got back.
We stopped briefly at Middle Lake and then stopped at the Morleyville Church on Hwy 1A on the way back to Calgary.
We had cell coverage all day so I recorded all of the sightings on the Birdlog app, which created the convenient summary of the trip."
Awestruck is much better than face-struck.
The fried egg photo was taken in my frying pan on the stove. I fortunately was not.
Here's a photo of the Kannapolis Winn-Dixie Marketplace in its habitat, sitting in the site of a former Zayre's, which was shot by a photographer for Cabarrus County in early-mid 2003. At the time of the photoshoot, the parking lot seemed to look a bit dead, probably due to the BI-LO, Food Lion, and Aldi all getting business within the nearby radius of the area, and it's a probability that the exterior shot was taken in the morning hours.
A year later in 2004, Winn-Dixie remodeled some of its stores in the Charlotte market, that was before Food Lion rolled out its RenewAll strategy, which remodeled 65 to 70 stores in said market (5 were converted into Bloom prototype stores); the Kannapolis W-D store only had minor work done on the exterior (removing the "Winn-Dixie" and "FOOD PHARMACY" signage letterings, and replacing the "Marketplace" lettering with "WINN-DIXIE" in capital letters).
In 2005, as with all other Winn-Dixie stores in the Carolinas, they all either closed down, or was sold to competitors (example being store #2038 in China Grove being sold to Food Lion, becoming the beloved store #2650), in the wake of W-D's bankruptcy, this Winn-Dixie closed down in the summer of 2005. Since then it was a shoe store for a brief period in the mid-2000s, and currently (as of March 9, 2022), only Big Lots occupies the left half of the former Winn-Dixie. Save-A-Lot closed their store down on October 23, 2021, leaving the right half vacant.
Photo courtesy of Cabarrus County/Laserfiche WebLink
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Winn-Dixie #2048, 1994-built (closed 2005), 950 South Cannon Boulevard, Kannapolis, North Carolina
In Egypt, as in other countries with struggling economies, buildings are often built in phases, with parts of them occupied while the rest remains unfinished. There is also the probability that my not being completed, or giving the appearance of being so, that taxes are being avoided.
Epic 45SURF Gear for your Epic Hero's Odyssey!
New book! Epic Landscape Photography: The Principles of Fine Art Nature Photography!
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The Epic Seascape! Malibu Sea Caves!
Landscape photography is not only about traveling through space, but it is also about traveling through time. One may return to the same beach time and again throughout the seasons to find a million different universes, changing in an infinitude of manners with each passing wave.
Not only do we voyage outwardly to get the shot, but we travel even further inwardly. While I spend my year trekking along the John Muir Trail, and on through Zion, Yosemite, the Grand Canyon, Death Valley, and the Colorado Plateau, my heart always finds its home in these Malibu sea caves, where I have stood in awe during all hours of the day and night.
Included within are a few shots that only I have so far captured, including a miraculous winter solstice sunrise.
Best wishes throughout the coming year!
Join my new 45EPIC fine art landscapes page on facebook!
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Working on a couple photography books! 45EPIC GODDESS PHOTOGRAPHY: A classic guide to exalting the archetypal woman. And 45EPIC Fine Art Landscape Photography!
More on my golden ratio musings: facebook.com/goldennumberratio
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Greetings all! I have been busy finishing a few books on photography, while traveling all over--to Zion and the Sierras--shooting fall colors. Please see some here: facebook.com/mcgucken
Let me know in the comments if you would like a free review copy of one of my photography books! :)
Titles include:
The Tao of Epic Landscape Photography: Exalt Fine Art with the Yin-Yang Wisdom of Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching!
The Golden Number Ratio Principle: Why the Fibonacci Numbers Exalt Beauty and How to Create PHI Compositions in Art, Design, & Photography
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And I am also working on a book on photographing the goddesses! :) More goddesses soon!
Best wishes on your epic hero's odyssey!:)
I love voyaging forth into nature to contemplate poetry, physics, the golden ratio, and the Tao te Ching! What's your favorite epic poetry reflecting epic landscapes? I recently finished a book titled Epic Poetry for Epic Landscape Photographers:
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Did you know that John Muir, Thoreau, and Emerson all loved epic poetry and poets including Shakespeare, Milton, Homer, and Robert Burns?
I recently finished my fourth book on Light Time Dimension Theory, much of which was inspired by an autumn trip to Zion!
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Via its simple principle of a fourth expanding dimension, LTD Theory provides a unifying, foundational *physical* model underlying relativity, quantum mechanics, time and all its arrows and asymmetries, and the second law of thermodynamics. The detailed diagrams demonstrate that the great mysteries of quantum mechanical nonlocality, entanglement, and probability naturally arise from the very same principle that fosters relativity alongside light's constant velocity, the equivalence of mass and energy, and time dilation.
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See Part 1 in my archives Peepz. And if you're in a hurry, you may want to read this later, or in bits...it's bloody long. It's a work in progress...
"The Diamond Ring"
As my gaze scanned the small, crowded bus depot in Adelaide that December morning, I had all but given up trying to find a lift with anybody from the bus, as I hadn't met anybody on the truck stops we'd made along the way. The ticket counter wasn't open yet, so I decided that I should just wait there until it opened, and figure out what to do next after that. In the meantime I could put out some feelers and try and sense whether anybody else there looked like they might be headed for the eclipse. At that point I was still convinced I should try to get on a connecting bus to Ceduna, where most of the eclipse watchers would be, but I was sure that the tickets were sold out. I hadn't ruled out hitching on the road, but hoped it wouldn't come to that. I was also a little dubious about the weather. It was seven thirty in the morning, and the clouds formed a thick blanket of grey above the city.
The day before, I'd checked the weather forecasts to see what the outlook was like and it was sketchy. There was going to be cloud cover in most of the places along the path of totality, but the forecast said that the clouds should clear to just a scattering by mid or late afternoon. It might have prevented me from going at another time, but because I felt so driven to go I trusted that wherever I ended up would be the right place, with the right people and the right conditions. Still, I couldn't help having a slight sense of trepidation over whether all my efforts would end up in travelling over a thousand miles to watch a total eclipse of a total eclipse.
So with all that and more whirring around my skull, I let my eyes skim the crowd while my otherware kicked in at the non-local levels, and before I knew it I couldn't help but notice these two guys who were standing in one of the aisles a few feet away from me. It was their wooden case that first caught my attention and it got me pretty excited when it looked liked it was just the right size for a telescope. When I looked for who might own it, I scoped them. They looked a little fatigued, but ready for action.
The tall one that looked like Tom Selleck was dressed in loose khaki shorts with cargo pockets, a matching polo shirt, chunky white socks and brown suede walking boots. Short blondish-brown hair peeked out from beneath a baseball cap that made his rugged features look slightly boyish, but he looked to me to be around forty. Standing next to him was a guy of similar age, who looked like your classic computer programmer or science genius. He was more slightly built, had a pale complexion and black rimmed glasses. He was wearing a black leather jacket over his knitted jumper and polo shirt (which was underneath and neatly tucked in to his jeans), a black belt and some well-worn brown leather shoes.
I was totally loving their look. I had to meet them.
I approached them and asked if they were going to see the eclipse.
I think they might have been a bit surprised to have been approached but they smiled and said yes. I found out that their names were Gerard and Alan, then they told me that they'd been on the same bus from Melbourne I'd been travelling on. I had been all the way up the front in seat 1D behind the driver, and hadn't seen them behind me in seats 11C and D.
I told them that I was going to try to get to Ceduna. They glanced at each other making me feel uneasy and they said that the weather forecast didn't look so good there. It was much better where they were going, the Wirraminna Rail Siding, in the desert, but first they had to go to Port Augusta where they would be picking up their car.
It became instantly apparent that going to the desert over the coast was a way better idea given the weather, so I figured that the best thing for me should be to try to get to Woomera with them (which is where I thought the Wirraminna Rail Siding was). I imagined this really cute country town where there would be balloons and streamers in the streets and lots of bakeries. I thought that we'd get there, mingle with the others who'd gathered, and then I could find accommodation and another lift back to Adelaide the next day. I asked that if I could get Port Augusta, would they let me hitch with them to Woomera? We all decided to have breakfast together and see.
As soon as we sat down they were pulling out all these crazy maps and charts that they'd downloaded off the net, one with a pencil line drawn by hand marking the path of totality. Others had bright highlighted sections where they'd made other notes. They had made all the calculations for latitude and longitude, timing down to the second, were a wealth of astronomical knowledge and they told me all about the amazing capabilities of the camera gear they'd brought. They were prepared for everything. I could not believe my luck. They even had spare eclipse glasses! They were able to tell me everything I needed to know and I really hoped it could all happen so that I could travel with them.
After breakfast I noticed that the ticket counter was about to open and I watched as about twenty people formed two queues in front of the two nearest windows. A third window had also opened but no-one seemed to want to go there and at first I stood at the end of one of them then figured it wouldn't hurt to ask, so I went over to the third window. When I asked if that was the right ticket counter for a bus ticket to Port Augusta I was told it was and got my ticket in about 30 seconds, beating everybody. It was a completely full bus, confirming to me again just how much we make our own luck.
The guys agreed to let me join them in Port Augusta and I felt this wave of gratitude leave my body and travel out into the cosmos. As I looked at them hanging out together with their impressive assortment of camera gear, tripods, bags and telescope, with their open, friendly faces, smart casual clothing and a tendency toward geekishness, they looked like my very own Batman and Robin. I smiled inwardly. My prayers HAD been answered! I DID find the right people to travel with right there on the bus!
It was a moment I'll never forget.
After that I found a pay phone and rang Bimbo Deluxe, a bar I had a residency at, and left a message letting them know I wouldn't be coming in for my set that night.
We got on the next bus, me alone behind the driver in 1A again, and them just a few seats behind. I spent a bit of time visualising a bright blue, cloudless sky for the eclipse, and reminding myself to be in the moment, trusting as much as possible that life would take me where I needed to go, as the frequencies of gratitude for all that had occurred up until then filled me and flowed outwards from me. All the seeds sown by reading the CWG series which had tied up so many loose ends for me in my esoteric studies, were beginning to sprout and I wanted to breathe as much life into them as possible. I wanted to see how they might grow, as I did. I thought about Time. Then I slept deeply.
"Alan and Gerard spent the trip working out the orbital distance of the Moon and the rotation of the Earth in order to finally understand the path taken by the Moon during the eclipse and the speed at which it travelled. This was facilitated by the calculator in the mobile phone. Alan also worked out how photo exposures and bracketing points using full and ½ stops."
This is what Gerard wrote about what he and Alan did on the bus to Port Augusta, in his own account of our travels called "Eclipse 2002". He has even named the subtitles in Chapter 1, which will give you a greater idea of what's to come.
Subtitle 1: Alan's, Gerard's and Liz's Big Time-Warp Adventure
Subtitle 2: Port Augusta or Bust!
Subtitle 3: The Kangaroo Did It
I believe all time is happening in one eternal now. Especially since studying the Maya's supreme understandings of cosmic timing cycles and mathematics. Whenever I begin to worry about anything "in the future", I ask myself, "Am I OK, in this moment?", and the answer is always yes, so it's a good way for me to quell my fears and anxieties, and to trust life more. I really started this practice on a regular basis during this trip. And I was more than ok, as I was soon to see..
When we arrived at Port Augusta, the sky had cleared and a few tufts of white dotted the sky, which was a relief, and a beautiful gleaming silver sedan met us at the terminal. It belonged to Gerard, and I asked how even though he lived in Melbourne, his car was quite conveniently waiting for us in Port Augusta, at the bus terminal. After we piled into the car I heard the first of many stories during that trip that would change me forever.
The guys had so much gear it was hard to believe they'd carried it all by themselves and for a few moments I had my doubts that we would fit everything of theirs into the car, let alone have room for me or my scant belongings. After some tricky packing though, a space was made available for me to squeeze into in the back seat, behind Alan who was in the passenger seat, and with Gerard expertly handling the wheel, we set off for last minute supplies.
The whole transition from the bus to the car couldn't have been timed more perfectly or executed with more ease. It was a good sign, but once we got in the car I really knew that the gods had smiled down on me. They could've had a big old pick up truck for all I knew, but instead I was able to relax in the luxury of black leather seats and enjoy the views from air conditioned comfort, gaze out at the sky through the sunroof and tinted windows and tell the outside temperature from a LED display in the wood dash. To top it all off, I had just met the two coolest, smartest straight guys I'd met in ages, and we were about to embark on a truly amazing adventure together. I was happy and grateful to be alive.
We stopped in Pt Augusta's main shopping drag for some lunch, supplies and fuel for the trip. After some bad cafe food Alan and I headed off to the supermarket while Gerard attended to some other business and we quickly dashed around picking up water, bags of fruit, nibbles, and chocolate (for me). I asked Alan if they'd like to have something to eat later, maybe for a picnic? This seemed like a good idea to him (I don't know if the guys, for all their planning, had considered the necessity for food at all), and I picked out a roast chicken and some salads. I completely forgot to buy a disposable camera in Adelaide so I tried finding one there only to discover they were sold out. There was a Woolies a block down too (also sold out of cameras), but I quickly purchased a cotton blanket as I had nothing warm with me, and hoped it would come in handy, seeing I already had my pillow and I had no idea where I was sleeping that night. All I knew was that the eclipse was in less than four and a half hours and when we met up with Gerard a short time later, it was agreed that there was no time to spare, so we, and the fully-laden car, swung back onto the road and headed for the outback. Alan had a collection of maps in the glove box that he would refer to from time to time as Gerard brought us up to a comfortable cruising speed of 130 kph. ETA was going to be 17:45 at our desired spot.
They were both great story tellers, although you could see that Alan's more outgoing personality was more suited to it, but Gerard certainly didn't seem concerned, and I realized later that even though Gerard had heard Alan tell most of his stories several times before, he obviously still liked to hear them, and he often helped coax a story out of Alan's memory banks by reminding him of some of the funny details.
I began to hear about how they had been driving through the South Australian countryside a month earlier, taking photos and generally enjoying a break from work for a few days when they had hit a kangaroo when it suddenly jumped out in front of the car and stopped them all in their tracks. Gerard's car had been in the shop at Port Augusta getting extensive repairs done ever since, and as the eclipse was occurring at the same time they could collect the car, they decided (at the last minute too) to come and get it and see the eclipse at the same time. At the end of their story we all fell silent for a moment as it dawned on us that their encounter with the kangaroo had actually created the conditions for us to meet as we did. The kangaroo was pivotal to the whole story and we knew it. I silently thanked the kangaroo for it's role in all this, and for the ripples that that moment created when it lost its life that night, as I marvelled at the way our lives had intersected.
Whatever green countryside there was around Pt Augusta soon made way for flat, dry earth covered in clumps of long grasses, low bushes and small trees as we sped towards Woomera. We passed a few old run down towns that looked like the only public outlet was the petrol station, and I wondered how people out there spent their time, and how children, if any, could cope with the sheer barrenness and isolation. Then we passed Pimba. It was so third world I was totally taken aback. I felt like I'd stepped into an alternate reality, into another version of Australia, one I would never want to dream into reality, but it already was. It was quite a sight. We all unanimously agreed that it was a "hole" of gargantuan proportions, a "standard reference hole" at that, as we passed the shabby weatherboard houses that all seemed to be just barely standing, with each and every backyard sporting massive piles of rubbish and broken down, rusting machinery. I thought I'd seen bad, after all, some of my poor Filipino relatives used to live in houses where to get there, you'd have to walk on wooden planks to avoid the mud, streams and little fishes everywhere, but this was BAD.
I could see why the area we were fast approaching was home to a detention centre for illegal immigrants, a former nuclear missile testing ground and hot spot for UFO sightings. There was nothing. For miles around, nothing. Just red earth, a bit of scrub, and the wind and sky. I must admit as well as watching for the clouds to clear up even more, I was constantly on the lookout for any unusual aerial phenomena as I'd thoroughly done my research and the probability for a sighting was in my estimation, high.
While we drove to our destination we all got to know each other a bit better which was easy as we all seemed to like one another. At first I was a little unsure about whether Alan was actually happy about me being in tow, as the two of them had conferred briefly before deciding to let me come, and I'd picked up on a vibe. I couldn't blame him if it he wasn't all too pleased, as my coming along had interfered with their plans and well, "guy time". I soon put those thoughts to rest though as it as it soon became apparent to all of us that that the extra pair of hands I now afforded them, might've actually come in quite handy.
We went over a few things about the way the guys wanted to set up their gear, and what we would do when totality arrived. Then they started describing to me how they would like me to help change a solar filter on "the Lens", this massive super-telephoto thing. They explained that When Gerard said "totality", I had to take the filter off and to put it in a special Tupperware container that they had brought with them. I was like, "Oh my God, are these guys for real? We're actually practicing a DRILL for taking photos!". Say what you will, I thought they were unreal.
I know that sort of daggy technical stuff about photography and math and astronomy that we talked a lot about is pretty boring for most people but I frickin love it! And I didn't even need a camera after all! It was almost too much, too good.
When we passed Woomera it dawned on me that we weren't going to stop there, and that I'd gotten my wires slightly crossed. But as we drove past it, I thanked my lucky stars I wasn't going. The town looked horrible, with a big vintage fighter plane mounted on a big metal brace near the "Welcome to Woomera" sign near the town's entrance, to show off our so-called military "might", right(?), and the selfish misuse-use of our country's resources by stupid white guys who are all dead now anyway. I didn't see one person anywhere. The whole town looked deserted and felt like a museum you'd never go want to go visit. It didn't look like anywhere I could find accommodation at either, that's for sure. The Wirraminna Rail Siding was another 73 km on from Woomera, as I quickly learned, as the guys handed me the map and asked me to calculate the distance.
When I realised that I had no plan of action for after the eclipse, or anywhere to stay, and that I was in the middle of nowhere, I decided to just go with the flow, and didn't worry too much about it, and drew comfort from the fact that at least I'd had the foresight to bring dinner.
When we started getting close, the energy in the car changed from quiet expectation to a more intense, hair prickling kind of anticipation. I'd been chatting quite animatedly with the guys from the back seat the whole way there, but now I was nearly bouncing up and down like a child with excitement as we passed the parked cars, then bus loads of Japanese tourists, four-wheel drives and camper vans. The Japanese tourists had lined up all their shiny camera gear in front of their respective buses and had about 30-50 telescopes per bus pointed at the Sun. We kept driving though, for another couple of k's, headed for as close to the centre line of the path of totality as possible. When they explained this to me, I nearly exploded with glee, although I didn't really grasp the enormity of this fact until the moment of the eclipse itself.
The sky had finally cleared to just a bit of late afternoon haze, and the temperature was up around 27 degrees, a far cry from the sombre 11 degrees that morning in Adelaide. I was being taken to a spot on the earth that would be precisely in line with the Moon and the Sun as the eclipse took place. I thought back to the day before when all of this had been just a dream. I knew I was experiencing life at a much a higher frequency than the one I normally did, and things that would normally take a lot longer to materialize, seemed to be taking form almost instantly.
We finally saw a place where we could park. There were a few people dotted around the brush nearby. Some guy was hanging out at his ute with his sheepdog about 30 metres away. He looked liked a local with his cut-off sleeves and messy shoulder length hair. There were a couple with a tent next to their car some distance away too, as well as a tourist bus parked on the other side of the road behind us. Although there were really only a few others in the close vicinity, the air still felt tantalisingly pregnant with expectation.
We began unpacking the car and setting up all the gear. Alan had cut some sheets of polystyrene back in Melbourne to make a viewing box and we set about putting it together. The tripods were set up and the telescope came out of it's handsome handmade box. Gerard took care of setting up his two cameras and the Super Lens and soon everything was done. He found himself afterward, aching for somewhere to relieve himself and decided the only gentlemanly thing to do was drive the car down the road a couple of k's and find somewhere totally private. I think he had to go quite a way though as he was gone for quite a few minutes...
I had mentioned to Alan and Gerard earlier that I was interested in UFO's and I was secretly hoping I might get to see one fly past as the only other time was a long time ago, and it was pretty far away. I kept my eyes peeled to the skies, which by now were absolutely clear of any haze and a vivid, bright blue. YAY.
During the 1991 eclipse in Mexico City, tens of thousands of spectators saw a huge metallic disc sitting stationary as it slowly spun in the air and emitted a reddish glow. It was captured by 17 different cameras at the time and you can get the videos online if you do a search. Anyway, it was in the air above the city for 30 minutes before, during, and after the eclipse. But that is something I have learned since.
We did the practice run of the drill for when totality struck, when Alan would have me change the solar filter on the camera lens. Gerard was supposed to alert us when totality came, which only lasted 32 seconds, by saying "Totality". I would quickly remove the filter and say "Off", and put it into the special Tupperware container, heh. When totality was nearly over I was to put the filter back on and say "On" and he would continue snapping. It was a pretty funny and well, beyond cute for me. We laughed a lot while we were practicing too, so you can see they don't take themselves too seriously. Along with their brain power, personalities, preparedness and 5 star transport, it was everything that worked for this li'l diva. It was so hard to believe how amazing this was all turning out, but I kept reminding myself to accept it, because it was exactly what I'd set out to create. I was ticking off all the things on my checklist of requirements effortlessly. They were the perfect eclipse companions.
It was getting close to the time when "first touch" was going to occur and both Alan and Gerard started getting really anxious and a bit fidgety. They made last minute checks of their gear, which turned out to be good thing, as Gerard realised that one of the lenses on his camera wasn't right and changed it. They checked their watches, which had been synchronised to the second (NO! Really? Yes...REALLY), and I got some of the prepared polystyrene board so Alan could project the Sun's image onto it from the telescope's eyepiece while they both took pictures. The wind was up and it was becoming increasingly difficult to hold it so that it was straight, but I managed, and they were able to capture all the crucial moments without too much trouble in the end, but how the hell they'd planned to do all that on their own, I have no idea. There was only about an hour to go until totality and I wondered when the sky would begin to grow dark.
We occupied our time by switching from eclipse glasses to looking through the Super-Lens and watching the projector board. After 40 minutes or so I noticed that the desert was beginning to look darker and redder. It was so beautiful with the contrast in colours so much more pronounced all around us. Then it became darker and darker very quickly. The soil, the rocks, the trees, everything now looked like a deep blood red. We looked at each other and knew that this is what we'd all come so far to see. The hairs began to stand on end on the backs of our necks. The Moon's disc was almost all the way across the Sun, and we couldn't wait for the last of it to be covered. As Alan was focussing through the camera, Gerard and I put the glasses on and watched. We grew more and more animated as the last couple of minutes ticked by, talking about how it was going to be great. They'd told me earlier that when the Sun was in totality, it was ok to remove the glasses due to the rays being blocked, which I didn't know, so now I was really hanging out for when I could look at the Eclipse with my naked eyes.
"All is ready. The sky is clear of any obstruction, the gear is set-up and as good as it can be. 14.5cm telescope, low power eyepiece and reflective board, Nikon 1200mm lens on a cinematographic tripod with a Nikon F100 behind it loaded with several feet of Fuji's finest 400 ASA film ready to go. All the planning has been for this moment. Researching the websites for eclipse locations, photographic exposure tables, rain and cloud-cover forecasts; the planning, the buying, the hiring, the building, the packing and the travelling have come down to this moment, which finds Alan, Gerard and Liz at the side of the Stuart Highway A87 halfway between Pimba and Glendambo in South Australia on Wednesday Dec 4 2002, at 19:40 and 43 seconds local summer time."
More from "Eclipse 2002".
Then Gerard yelled out "Totality!" and exactly what happened next is rather hazy. I know that at some point filters must have been changed and photos were taken, but what I do remember is Gerard saying, "Liz, you should take the glasses off". I turned my back to the sun, whipped them off my face and when I jumped back to look at the sky, my jaw fell. It was so incredible. Oh my God, OH MY GOD, the COLOURS!" And then I was suddenly going "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!" at the top of my voice and started pogo-ing up and down on the spot like an African Masai tribesman, not caring at all what Alan and Gerard must have thought about my rather vociferous, ebullient display. It was just so stunningly beautiful. Think of Jodie Foster's face in Contact when she travelled through the wormhole and saw the galactic core for the first time. Ok? Awesome. That was me. That was ME!!!!!
It was so ineffable, so untranslatable, so profound, to watch the perfect circle of the Moon's disc finally moving into place, and exactly covering the Sun's. The resulting diffuse flares of intensely-hued colours that began around the white-hot corona, and radiated trails that filled the entire dome of the sky overhead and as far as one could see. They formed in streaks of rich fire-orange, electrically charged gold, plasma-perking purples, reds of all shades, the deepest royal blues and St Germaine's violet flame. Small fiery orbs of intense orange, called Bailey's Beads, gathered and bubbled around the edges of the Moon's jagged mountain peaks and looked like liquid mercury. Stars became visible for those few moments, as did the planet Mercury, which hung like a small jewel in the sky beneath the Sun.
Nothing can prepare you for that moment. No photo can ever do it justice, no words can completely convey all the emotions that you experience or what your eyes actually see. It is like looking into the Eye of God.
Physically being a part of that alignment makes you understand just how synchronised this universe is. As I watched the Moon gliding over the Sun, as our planet turned, I felt like I was a both a witness to and a part of a great cosmic clock, and I was watching as the cogs were sliding perfectly into place. It stirred something so deep and ancient within me, my enduring connection to the Sun, and I knew that I could never be the same again. Looking back I realise that the rays of light I was exposing myself to were in fact carriers of particular frequencies that open usually inactive codes within our DNA, often referred to as "junk". What a crock. It's not junk, it's programs and codes that help re-install our Otherware, and we all have it in our DNA.
All across the desert, from all the different groups of people scattered around us and beyond our line of sight came cries out to the sky like mine. People cheered, hooted, honked, laughed, screamed, clapped, cried. Dogs howled. Their voices were carried by the outback winds high up into the air where they met and playfully merged with the sounds of others that had come from further away, then they dropped back down to earshot where my ears would catch them, and I could feel their wonder too. We all knew we were part of something infinitely greater than us, that we were seeing something incomparable, that we were part of some vast intelligence that permeates and synchronises the entire Cosmos.
The guys were similarly affected and started exclaiming things, which again are hazy. What is clear, is how we all just looked at each other at one point, and with crazed smiles across our faces, spontaneously hugged all at once, laughing. Then they both paced around our site afterwards saying things like, "No one can ever take this away from us. We can say WE WERE HERE", and "We saw it!" We really saw it!" and, "We can never say "Awesome" about anything else again!" I thought statements like these, especially from Gerard, were rather brave, as I couldn't imagine him having outbursts like this very often, and we all went "Yeah!" quite loudly in agreement...and laughing that excited laugh that is almost the same as the one you do when you drink too much red cordial.
I thought a lot about the unbelievable relationships of proportional size and distance that it takes to actually create a total solar or lunar eclipse from our vantage point on earth. It is not a coincidence that the sun is 400 times bigger than our Moon, or that it also happens to be 400 times further away from the Moon than the Moon is to Earth. Unsurprisingly, I've wanted to learn a lot about sacred geometry since then and from what the astronomers are saying about the layout of the Universe, it seems nothing has been placed anywhere by accident.
At the end of 32 seconds, after the Moon began to move again, the first rays of light emerged again and for the briefest time, we were treated to the dazzling "diamond ring" effect that results. It's what most of the eclipse watchers as their favourite moment and I now know why. We took more photos and continued to watch through the cameras or the on the projector board for at least another half an hour. The Sun had only been 14 degrees above the horizon when totality had occurred so the Sun set quickly as the last whiskers of the pinks and oranges of sunset trailed across the sky. We packed up and left there, as I continued to watch the sky out of the car's back window, for as long as any traces of light remained. By 9:15 they'd all disappeared, having been devoured by the by the encroaching darkness, and we were plunged into night once again.
Then I realised I could start looking for UFOs so I spent the next twenty minutes scouring the skies some more.
We were all still pretty high from the eclipse experience, but by that time we had settled into our own reveries and the car was silent. We decided to drive down the road a little further until we found a spot to stay at for the night. The guys figured they'd just sleep in the car, and that was fine by me. I was SO glad I'd bought that blanket, let me tell you, as it can get nippy out there in the desert, even in summer. We'd passed some lovely salt lakes on our way there during the day, but hadn't had time to stop so we decided to try and find one to make camp at. Gerard found a great spot down a dip off the road beside one of these giant salt lakes that was quietly shimmering as it reflected the starlight. As there was no moon or cloud, the stars lit up with sparkles over the black canvas of the sky. It had been awhile since I'd been out to the country and I'd forgotten just how many stars there were up there, but it was great to be reminded. I breathed in deeply and imprinted all I could about that moment into my DNA. The Milky Way was looking particularly milky, and when I remembered we had a telescope with us I nearly lost it. I completely forgot all about stargazing that day, which for me is unusual. I'd wanted to bring my own telescope but knew it wasn't practical, and I hardly thought I would get the chance for sky watching without having my own transport.
It was becoming more and more evident that our meeting was no accident. Every single thing that I had visualized was coming true, and I felt totally in the zone. The best part was that I could get an astronomy lesson too, something I hadn't even thought remotely possible when I left for Adelaide the night before. I'd only just begun studying backyard astronomy on my own for a few months at that stage, so I really appreciated the opportunity to learn some more from people who actually knew their stuff.
We set up a rug to sit on, a buffet was laid out on the boot of the car, and we had a fabulous starlight picnic, then Alan got to work putting the telescope back together. He'd not only painstakingly constructed the box for it, he's also done several clever modifications to the telescope itself. It was incredibly smooth to manoeuvrer and the viewfinder was mounted in such a way that made it permanently aligned to the eyepiece. Not bad compared to my clumsy thing, which was big and had a great lens, but needed constant adjusting.
Gerard had a red-light torch for perusing the star map, and between them both they had all the star maps you could wish for, including a current one. I'd brought my Mighty Bright light as well so we consulted the maps for awhile under the open hood of the boot, deciding finally that we should definitely try to get a rare glimpse of the Andromeda galaxy, which was going to be low on the horizon, but still visible for a little while from where we were. It's the closest spiral galaxy to ours, and part of our local system of stars, but it's still 2.2 million light years away!
So we began. We looked at binary star systems including Sirius A and B, the Great Square of Pegasus, found Andromeda (it looked amazing, though tiny - but who cares, I saw it with my own eyes), some pretty star clusters, a wild nebula in the Orion constellation, and loads more. We had a ball. I was completely enthralled. Alan turned to me after awhile and asked whether there was anything I would like to see, and I faltered for a minute. I tried to pull a star's name, a constellation, anything from my rather limited astronomical knowledge that I'd like to view. Then I remembered! It slipped off my tongue so easily like it was something I said all the time: "I'd like to see The Pleiades please". With a quick look at the sky map, he and Gerard quickly turned the scope into position and aimed. When Alan told me I could take a look, I put my eye up to the lens. I could not have been less prepared for the reaction that I had next. It all happened in the instant when the photons of light, carried across space for my eyes to see, entered my retina. I was greeted by the most gorgeous display of hundreds of shining points of light, like diamonds on black velvet, in a beautiful cluster formation, with the seven main stars of the constellation contained within my field of view. It was breathtakingly beautiful and I gasped audibly. Within nano-seconds every part of my being, down to my DNA, was resounding with the recollection that the stars I was looking at, were HOME. Yes home. H-O-M-E. What!?@!
Tears had welled up in my eyes and I just wanted to cry it was so beautiful, but I had to catch myself in front of the guys, as I didn't want to come across as a complete lunatic. I didn't even know what to think myself. I had to process this. It was happening so fast. So I composed myself and said something like, "Wow. That is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen." (twice in one day, shit, what was happening to me?), and I found it very hard to tear myself away from the telescope after that .
We did however move away for awhile, and we all sat around chatting some more, and telling more stories. I didn't speak about what had just happened to me. I just sat with it and tried to make some sense out of it. I really knew very little about them, except that they were also known as the Seven Sisters and were a favourite for stargazers. The Pleiades weren't a part of my research or knowledge base at all. I don't even know how I even remembered the name. Whatever was unfolding though, I knew one thing was undeniable. I must be going insane. NO, just jerkin with ya, sorry, anyway, it was undeniable.
Everything in me knew that I was somehow deeply connected to this star system, but how? I resolved to do some investigating when I got home. But that night in the Australian Outback, in my planetary home, I knew that I had remembered another home, a galactic home, and that it was just as real. It thrilled me to the core. I was beginning to remember who I was!
Gerard retired early that night, and went to sleep in the driver's seat fully reclined, while Alan and I told a few more stories. I'd asked him earlier in the car if he'd ever seen any UFO's and had hinted at something but didn't really want to discuss it much. But when we were alone I asked him to tell me again and he did, reluctantly at first, but then much more engagingly, as he began describing some unusual sightings he'd had growing up on the coast in New Zealand.
These were not some pissy two second glances at a tiny little light in the sky type of sightings, his were skilfully detailed, varied, and in one case he watched some craft over a few hours. He eventually worked out that there must have been a flight path near his home because he would regularly see them all following the same course. Commercial and Air Force planes would also fly past but whenever he would ring Air Traffic Control at any of the Air Force bases or airports, he would be told that it was one of their regular flights, just a bit off schedule. Then he would say, "NO, I saw Flight Number so and so depart on time, this was something else," which always fucked them up. I heard some pretty amazing stuff and realised there was more to this funny computer guy cum action hero, than I thought. It didn't surprise me in the least that we could have something like that in common. I've always been attracted to people that, despite appearances, upon scratching their surface, you find that there's a whole lot more going on with them than you knew.
Alan declared he was sleeping outside on the rug, and I stayed up late into the night, just me, the telescope, and the stars. I finally had to go to bed when I looked directly up at the sky overhead a couple hours later, and the black void turned into a flat plasma screen and the stars became eyes, and they were all looking at, Me. That was the limit.
I was able to lie down quite comfortably in the back seat if I lay on my side in the Toblerone-shaped wedge that had formed under the reclined seats from the front. I adjusted my pillow, put the blanket over me and slept like a baby.
I found out later that the salt lake we were led to is named, quite appropriately, Lake Hart. Heart....geddit? Can you believe it? I actually couldn't. The gods have such a sense of humour.
Since then a lot has happened, and my kin in the Pleiades are now a big part of my life. They have taught me so much. I'll write a lot more about them in later posts, trust me.
And for the next two and a half days Gerard, Alan and myself ended up staying together. I gave them several opportunities to ditch me, but we were really having a lot of fun, and they would always invite me to stay on. We were well matched intellectually, but we all had quite different worldviews, so it was nice challenge for us to be mutually respectful of each other's ideas while trying to challenge one another as coherently as possible. We spent much time on the road exchanging ideas, trying on stuff for size, or sometimes throwing them in the 'too hard" basket. If Alan slept then Gerard and I would talk about stuff and vice versa. They both worked as computer technicians, which is how they met, and pretty early on it became obvious to me that some of my ideas about reality were pretty hard for them to hear. They were always open-minded enough to let me speak though, and they'd bounce things off me. We talked sporadically about some of the ideas in the CWG books that were relevant to that moment, or about a particular insight I'd had, or how you might apply some of the ideas to your daily living, and it sparked much interest and debate. I found out about a year later that Alan and Gerard had both decided to give the books a read a few months after our trip, which was brilliant.
It was always reciprocally enlightening, being in their company. They were an absolute mine of information about all sorts of things and we never ran out of topics to discuss. And it wasn't long before I threw away my return bus ticket and we leisurely drove me around some of the most beautiful South Australian countryside on a very scenic route back to Melbourne. We went through quaint little towns that they'd found on previous jaunts, and I saw the constantly changing landscape from high lookouts and wide open roads.
I've experimented with stretching time ever since I first discovered that when you fall in love, you can make a kiss last an eternity. You can also make a boring flight pass more quickly if you get good at it, or create an atmosphere at a party where a deep, lengthy, important conversation that seems to last for hours, passes in only twenty minutes. I've always liked bending and stretching time to suit my needs and on that trip it happened constantly, but it felt out of our hands for the most part, like we were caught in a strange time-warp so we just surrendered to it. "Is that the time?" was something we ended up saying more times than I can remember. And the best part was, it wasn't just me saying it, we all were.
We "parked" out the next night in a back street of a village. We got there quite late at night, and parked the car at what appeared to be a dead end street, with no neighbours to annoy. The next morning, we were mildly shocked to discover that we'd parked only a short distance away from the municipal dump! A few curious Jersey cows had congregated at the fence beside the car as well, and from beneath thick eyelashes, they were casually eyeing its sleeping inhabitants. The next night we were in the Barossa Valley, slightly more prepared, and we woke up to a gorgeous view of a hillside covered in rows and rows of lush green grapevines and blue sunny skies.
Once we got back to Victoria, we made for the Grampians, where time seemed to bend and take on a mind of its own again. No matter how we tried to stick to a schedule, or drive faster it just seemed to take a really long time to get back to the City. We saw wild deer in the mountains though, which I loved, and we used the drive to delve a little deeper into our exchanges. My cheeks welcomed the break too as they'd begun to ache a little due to all the laughing I'd done over the last few days, and especially that last day. Alan had let loose with some of his real life death-defying adventures at around lunchtime and he had me crying with laughter a few times. He really is Batman if all that stuff is true, and he told them like it was. So at around dusk, the tone changed slightly and I got to hear about a poltergeist that he'd lived with for over a year, and some other pretty far-out stuff that had happened to him. Gerard spent some time wanting to discuss the Akashic Field, so I fielded questions from both of them about that for awhile. We talked about reincarnation, dimensions of reality co-existing in the same space without knowing about each other, consciousness, the astral world, the Noetic Sciences Institute, a whole lot of stuff that I really love and it was a nice way to leave things.
We'd gone from being complete strangers to all being deeply transformed in some way by our meeting, in three and a half days. We'd trusted in our flexibility in each moment, and stretched ourselves beyond our normal comfort zones, creating or participating in large and small miracles, so it seemed, at every turn. We used our brains, which came as a great joy to me as I don't get to talk quantum physics with many of my disco friends. It's not their fault I know...but it was a nice change. I also knew that I'd helped to open up their perspective in many ways, as they did for me, in HUGE ways. My heart knew that I had been drawn to them because their soul's urge for change, and expansion, had already begun, by nudging them into unconsciously creating the conditions for me to enter their lives. I'd definitely sent out a call for them too, for the same reasons. The difference was that they had no idea I was coming along. I, on the other hand, had been certain that I would find them.
We finally made it back to Melbourne sometime around 9 pm that night. It was a lot later than we all thought we'd be back by, and we'd all been together non-stop for 3 and a half days. On our way home, I told them where I lived and it turned out that Alan lived just around the corner from me! It was nice, as dropping me off didn't pose any inconvenience at all. We swapped numbers and said our farewells amidst bear hugs and kisses goodbye. It was good to be home, back to my bed, but I could've kept going for at least another day if I'd had to. They dropped me off right to my front door.
We all knew it was meant to be, and it was.
We've all kept in touch too, Batman, Robin and I.
I'm forever in their debt for everything they shared with me, for their kindness and generosity and for behaving like perfect gentlemen the entire time. Men like these are really rare... but if you are one them, you should try going to an eclipse!
The squirrel
Sciurus vulgaris
Like mice and rats, squirrels are rodents, but thanks to their cute appearance, they have a higher cuddly. Yet they are not as innocent as they look because they have sharp teeth which they can bite firmly. Let the animals so mostly alone: ââthey are wild animals that belong in our nature.
The squirrel species living in Flanders, is also called red squirrel. In the rest of Europe, this is the most common type. He does not appear in southern Spain and some Mediterranean islands. In the UK, the gray squirrel is ever introduced. The latter now has red squirrel driven back to the north of the islands. In parts of Italy displaces the gray squirrel, the red squirrel. The gray squirrel is larger, heavier and less shy than the red squirrel.
You recognize the squirrel:
large bushy tail
ear tufts in the winter
color of the coat can vary from red to brown, sandy, gray or black, with a white belly
4 toes on the front and five on the hind legs, with sharp nails to climb well
lower jaw halves that can move independently from each other, so they can easily crack open nuts
His big bushy tail squirrel used to give signals. If he feels threatened or insecure, he is waving and undulating movements with his tail. He also used to keep the balance when jumping and to regulate his body temperature.
Big eater
Squirrels live in both coniferous, deciduous and mixed forests, parks and gardens. In autumn and winter squirrels eat mainly seeds of trees, hazelnuts, beechnuts, chestnuts, seeds of pine, spruce and lorkenappels, ... He is a big eater: he can the seeds of more than 100 pine cones a day eat! Squirrels make the greatest possible supply of winter, each time burying the seeds alone or with several together in a shallow well. The 'wintervoorraadjes' be found on smell, but often overlooked or not found.
In spring, when the trees lose their seeds, squirrels switch to previously constructed food stocks and buds and shoots and galls and later flowers of trees, berries, insects, worms, fungi and occasionally even a bird egg or young bird. From July, the proportion of seeds in their diet increased again. The squirrel is often labeled as a "notorious nest robbers, but the proportion of eggs in his diet is so small that the impact on bird populations is negligible.
No hibernation
Contrary to what many people think, keep squirrels do not hibernate. They will be less long active in the winter to lose too much energy: especially in the morning and early afternoon dives on them. By prolonged cold squirrels stay sometimes several days in their nest. The rest of the year they are active from dawn to dusk.
Squirrels use a half years about 12 nests. This involves both resting and sleeping nests. They make their nest in a natural tree cavity or an abandoned spechtenhol or build yourself a sphere nest of branches with leaves or needles, lined with stripped bark, moss, ferns, grass, ... There is a solidly built main nest often and longer used (eg during the winter and as a maternity nest).
Different fathers
Squirrels have two distinct reproductive peaks in January and in May-June During mating, the female 2-4 males are chasing. The most dominant male - or the male that can last the longest - may eventually pairs. Sometimes the dominant male can a week in advance to sleep with the female, but after mating both partners go their separate ways again. Females also mate with multiple males sometimes. Genetic research has shown already that boy from the same litter can have. Different fathers sometimes
After a gestation period of 36-42 days (ie from early February), 2-6 young are born. The reproductive success is greatest in large, heavy females with nutrient-rich habitats and favorable food and weather conditions. At the age of 8 weeks the boy first come out, and at 3 months the mother chases them away and they have to go searching. Private residential At 9-10 months, the boy sexually mature.
Many enemies
Squirrels are hunted by various birds of prey, the hawk probably has the greatest impact. Also captures the hawk and buzzard even the squirrels. Crows sometimes rob young squirrels out of the nest. Besides raptors mustelids are important predators. Many squirrels in the spring, when they forage on the ground, caught by a polecat. Also weasels, stoats and martens rob nests and even kill adult squirrels. Even foxes already put a squirrel on the menu. In gardens, young squirrels often slain by dogs or cats. In addition, also the traffic a major killer, especially around small bushes, where the squirrels have to cross to the surrounding gardens to gather enough food. Almost daily road
Because the squirrel with us not in high quantities, usually does not cause stripping bark and bark and eating buds and shoots for major damage to trees and shrubs. Be able squirrels in gardens full stock hazelnuts or walnuts eat. Fortunately, most people do not mind.
Squirrels are often accused of sabotage. The natural regeneration of forests However, it is very unlikely that the squirrels eat all the seeds. She has buried seeds indeed a positive effect on the germination and spread of the species, because the squirrels certainly not find all the seeds from their winter stock.
Lover of large forests
Between 1960 and 1970 plunged the population of the red squirrel in Western Europe in a disease. The population has since largely recovered. The probability of the presence of red squirrels is always very high in large forests, independent of the nutrient. However, in small forest quality is very important. The likelihood of their presence also decreases strongly with increasing isolation of the forest. As a result, the provinces of Antwerp and Limburg North, with their large coniferous forests, the most suitable for red squirrels. In South Limburg, Flemish Brabant and East Flanders (except the northern forest belt of East Flanders and the great forests to the east and southeast of the Brussels Region) knows the red squirrel a low presence, by the very humid or low quality forests (eg . poplar). In West Flanders, a province with very few forests, red squirrels are only for local, mainly in the area of ââBruges. In the woods of southern West Flanders there are sporadic sightings of red squirrel.
Malibu Fine Art Sea Cave Sunset Seascape! 45Epic Dr. Elliot McGucken Fine Landscape and Nature Photography
Join my new 45EPIC fine art landscapes page on facebook!
Working on a couple photography books! 45EPIC GODDESS PHOTOGRAPHY: A classic guide to exalting the archetypal woman. And 45EPIC Fine Art Landscape Photography!
Fresh snow! More on my golden ratio musings: facebook.com/goldennumberratio
instagram.com/goldennumberratio
Greetings all! I have been busy finishing a few books on photography, while traveling all over--to Zion and the Sierras--shooting fall colors. Please see some here: facebook.com/mcgucken
Let me know in the comments if you would like a free review copy of one of my photography books! :)
Titles include:
The Tao of Epic Landscape Photography: Exalt Fine Art with the Yin-Yang Wisdom of Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching!
The Golden Number Ratio Principle: Why the Fibonacci Numbers Exalt Beauty and How to Create PHI Compositions in Art, Design, & Photography
facebook.com/goldennumberratio
And I am also working on a book on photographing the goddesses! :) More goddesses soon!
Best wishes on your epic hero's odyssey!:)
I love voyaging forth into nature to contemplate poetry, physics, the golden ratio, and the Tao te Ching! What's your favorite epic poetry reflecting epic landscapes? I recently finished a book titled Epic Poetry for Epic Landscape Photographers:
www.facebook.com/Epic-Poetry-for-Epic-Landscape-Photograp...
Did you know that John Muir, Thoreau, and Emerson all loved epic poetry and poets including Shakespeare, Milton, Homer, and Robert Burns?
I recently finished my fourth book on Light Time Dimension Theory, much of which was inspired by an autumn trip to Zion!
www.facebook.com/lightimedimensiontheory/
Via its simple principle of a fourth expanding dimension, LTD Theory provides a unifying, foundational *physical* model underlying relativity, quantum mechanics, time and all its arrows and asymmetries, and the second law of thermodynamics. The detailed diagrams demonstrate that the great mysteries of quantum mechanical nonlocality, entanglement, and probability naturally arise from the very same principle that fosters relativity alongside light's constant velocity, the equivalence of mass and energy, and time dilation.
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The Joint Typhoon Warning Center states that formation of a significant tropical cyclone is possible in the Bay of Bengal within the next 12 - 24 hours as of 0730Z on May 21, 2014. Along with deep convective banding associated with a consolidating low-level circulation center, warm sea surface temperatures are conducive for further development. This image was taken by the Suomi NPP satellite's VIIRS instrument in two passes, the east pass around 0615Z and the west pass around 0755Z on May 21, 2014.
Credit: NASA/NOAA/NPP/VIIRS
The Joint Typhoon Warning Center states that formation of a significant tropical cyclone is possible in the Bay of Bengal within the next 12 - 24 hours as of 0730Z on May 21, 2014. Along with deep convective banding associated with a consolidating low-level circulation center, warm sea surface temperatures are conducive for further development. This image was taken by the Suomi NPP satellite's VIIRS instrument in two passes, the east pass around 0615Z and the west pass around 0755Z on May 21, 2014.
Honoring John Venn (1834–1923) creator of the Venn diagram a widely used diagram style that shows the logical relation between sets. The diagrams are used to teach elementary set theory, and to illustrate simple set relationships in probability, logic, statistics, linguistics and computer science.
Colas owned GE-70807 works through Undy with '6B22' the 14:29 from Avonmouth to Aberthaw Power Station.The once common site of endless coal trains working into the nations many coal fired
generation stations is slowly slipping into history.Another seven years (2025) and in all probability these movements by rail in the UK will have ceased altogether.Yet another 'end-game' for the railways!
----02 february 2018----
Top slide: ... so in general, the probability of a nuclear conflict is quite small ...
Bottom slide: ... F@CK
The RF-101C was the only Voodoo version to serve in Vietnam. Aircraft from 15th TRS of the 67th TRW based at Kadena were deployed to South Vietnam in October-November 1961 to fly intelligence gathering flights over South Vietnam and Laos. They flew their missions from Tan Son Nhut AFB near Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City). The 67th TRW was soon followed by detachments of the 15th and 45th TRS and flew reconnaissance missions from bases in Thailand and then Vietnam. These reconnaissance missions lasted from November 1961 through the spring of 1964. In 1965, the 20th TRS replaced the 15th TRS, which converted to RF-4Cs. The 20th TRS operated from Udorn RTAFB in Thailand for most of its service life and covered most of the missions over northern North Vietnam whereas the 45th TRS, based at Tan Son Nhut, covered the southern sectors.
RF-101Cs flew pathfinder missions for the F-100s in the first USAF strike against North Vietnam on 8 February 1965. Bombing missions against the North required a large amount of photographic reconnaissance support and by the end of 1967, all but one of the TAC RF-101C squadrons were in Southeast Asia. Initially, the missions were medium-altitude single-ship flights, although two-ship missions were allocated to particularly well-defended areas. When SAM threats became more severe, Voodoos began using a low-altitude high-speed approach to the target followed by a quick pop-up to 10,000-15,000 feet for the photographic run and then diving back down to lower altitudes for egress. This tactic continued until April 1967 when improved ECM equipment, such as the ALQ-71 pods, allowed a return to medium altitude flights.
The RF-101C was fast enough to easily evade interception by North Vietnamese MiG-17s. However, the Mach-2 capable MiG-21 Fishbed proved to be a more serious threat. Following the loss of an RF-101C to a MiG-21 in September 1967, the Voodoo was replaced by the McDonnell RF-4C Phantom II in reconnaissance over North Vietnam. At that time, the Voodoo was restricted to missions over Laos and South Vietnam, where the probability of encountering enemy fighters was lower. Still, 33 RF-101Cs were lost in combat in Southeast Asia, either to SAM, AAA, small-arms fire, or air base attacks, and several unknown causes (pilot error). ALthough originally planned to be phased out by the RF-4C in 1965, the needs of the Vietnam War saw the RF-101C soldier on until November 1970. By 1971, the RF-101Cs were transferred to the ANG and then officially retired in 1975.
In this image, an RF-101C from the 45th TRS sits inside a revetment at Udorn RTAFB in Thailand, awaiting its next reconnaissance mission.
I really like this one.
See my main account for my photography, videos, fractal images and more here: www.flickr.com/photos/josh-rokman/
Made with the Bing Image Creator, powered by DALL-E 3.
I think that AI image generation is similar in many ways to photography. The camera itself handles all the fine details, but the photographer is in charge of curating the types of images that will be created.
Ultimately, it is all about maximizing the probability that something good will be created.
This is very similar to AI image generation, in terms of the skills involved and what the human does vs. what the machine does.
You can't compare AI image generation to the process of actually making these images from scratch with 3D software or paint/pencils, where the human controls every detail.
However, I think the process really is very similar to that of photography, as I made the case for above.
- Josh
One store-bought jumbo-sized egg produced this double-yolk surprise. The probability of an egg producing a double yolk is about 1 in 1,200; that's means you can expect to find 1 double-yolk egg in every 100 dozen-egg cartons you buy.
www.chickensandmore.com/double-yolk-eggs/
FAVORABILITY: this photo represented 36% of 33 faves on 7/17/2022.
This is a five-frame panorama showing one of the elderly microwave towers that used to carry analog telephone calls in the era of telephones with wires.
** Technology **
You know how the stars 'twinkle' at night? The same thing happens with radio signals. The KS15676 horn antennas are paired for diversity reception. Bell Labs designed these so a second receiver antenna could be placed a few feet away. There's a low probability that both receivers will experience a fade at the exact same moment. Your wired telephone call sound would be sturdy so long as one of the two receivers still had a signal from microwave tower at the other end. (If your eyes were further apart and summed the light received, the stars wouldn't twinkle.)
According to public documents, the circular horn facing this way still connects via 10 gigahertz with a companion on Mount Laguna. The tower is about 162 feet tall. The tower legs are maybe 30- or 40-feet apart, keeping the narrow-beamed antennas pointing in exactly the right direction in spite of winds or earthquakes. This is a possible benefit of monopoly where the sole provider is required to meet a service level. The current model is designed for quarterly profits instead of reliability.
The next tower east of here was in the city of Brawley. I say "was" because it was dismantled about 15 years ago. This means the three horn-type antennas on the far side appear to be unused.
This building has a crap-load of fiberoptic lines going into it as evidenced by miles of signs along this road. In other words, all the stuff that used to be carried by microwave radio is now carried by digital fiberoptic links, it appears.
** End of Technology **
Because some percentage of people in law enforcement are Brady cops, I generally stay away from electronic sites. Although the site is within about 50 feet of the road's edge, I shot this from the road 0.8 miles east on S22 and did not get near the site except for the few seconds it took to drive by.
That's the Salton Sea and the Chocolate Mountains in the background. The site is a few hundred feet east of the county line inside San Diego County. The terrain you're seeing is almost entirely in Imperial County.
The paint scheme is called aircraft obstruction marking paint. This thing also has a nice set of lights, keeping aircraft away during dusk and night.
Journalism grade image.
Source: 9,700x7,000 pixel 16-bit TIF panorama file.
Please do not copy this image for any purpose.
Darwin's beetle, Grant's stag beetle, or the Chilean stag beetle.
Charles Darwin collected the species in Chile during the second voyage
Variable in size and in the development of the jaws and exhibits a strong sexual dimorphism. Males can reach a length of 60–90 millimetres (2.4–3.5 in) including the mandibles, while females are much smaller, having a body length of 25–37 millimetres (0.98–1.46 in).
C. grantii is considered a rare and vulnerable species, with a high probability of extinction, mainly as a consequence of the global climate change.
The male's over-sized jaws are crucial in its objective to secure a mate. It climbs trees, often climbing many meters, searching for a female. As it climbs and searches for females, it also seeks out other males in the vicinity.
I have seen big numbers dead under the big trees.
They can fly ...scary!
From a placard beside the missile. 'The Pershing I Battlefield Support Missile entered service with the United States Army in 1964, replacing the aging Redstone Missile System. The Pershing I missile is a solid-propellant, two-stage, surface to surface ballistic missile. The missile is transported on three tracked vehicles; one carrying the missile and erector- launcher, one carrying the warhead and one carrying the programmer test station and power station. Guidance is by on-board radar which steers the missile by maneuvering the steering vanes. The missile is steered until the radar image received matches the internally stored map. The warhead is nuclear with a circular probability of error radius of 1200 feet. The Pershing I served until replaced in the late 1960âs by the Pershing IA Missile System. The Pershing I is no longer in service with any nation."The Pershing I had a range from 100 to 400 miles.
The Parish Church of St. John the Baptist is the largest of the churches in the Benefice. Situated in Church Street, in the heart of the village of Somersham, the church stands on a site which in all probability has been consecrated for Christian worship since the second half of the seventh century. The current building though dates from the period between 1250 and 1300 and is likely to have been built and paid-for by one of the bishops living in the (now disappeared) Bishops Palace which was sited only a few hundred yards from where the church now stands
Our understanding of nature heavily relies on our understanding of probability and chance. Not only does Nature play dice, but she seems to be an addictive gambler.
In frame we have a "Science and Nature" Montegrappa fountain pen in enamel and sterling silver resting on an onyx dice with 4.5cm sides.
With a Laowa 60mm Macro at f/5.6.
See my albums list for some of my best work: www.flickr.com/photos/200044612@N04/albums/
See my main account for my photography, videos, fractal images and more here: www.flickr.com/photos/josh-rokman/
Made with Image Creator from Microsoft Designer, formerly known as the Bing Image Creator. Powered by DALL·E 3.
I think that AI image generation is similar in many ways to photography. The camera itself handles all the fine details, but the photographer is in charge of curating the types of images that will be created.
Ultimately, it is all about maximizing the probability that something good will be created.
This is very similar to AI image generation, in terms of the skills involved and what the human does vs. what the machine does.
You can't compare AI image generation to the process of actually making these images from scratch with 3D software or paint/pencils, where the human controls every detail.
However, I think the process really is very similar to that of photography, as I made the case for above. I think that DALL-E 3 is by far the most powerful AI image generation tool currently available.
- Josh
Yesterday Frank opened three-double-yolked eggs in row. What are the odds?
I don't know. I dropped college statistics because my beret-wearing professor at Northwestern decided he'd raise the learning curve by requiring that we all use slide rules to do all calculations. Yes, it was the 70s, but electronic calculators suitable for statistics had been around for a while. What a jerk.
What are the odds that I'd discover an online article about the odds of getting three twin-yolked eggs in a row? Let's stipulate they're incalculable and move on to the story.
Six Yolks from Three Eggs: What Are the Odds of That?
Making breakfast one recent morning, a colleague cracked an egg and BOOM! A double yolk came out. He cracked another. SHAZAM! And a third, BOOYAH!
Three double yolks in a row, what are the odds of that?
It turns out, that number is easy to calculate: In general, one out of every thousand eggs is a double, which would calculate the odds at 1,000 x 1,000 x 1,000, or one in a billion. Before we all went out and splurged on a pack of scratch tickets, however, we delved a little deeper.
It turns out that doubles turn out more frequently among young hens than older birds, and that flocks of hens tend to be the same age. The chance of a young hen laying a double-yolked egg are roughly 1:30. So, three in a row would calculate the odds at one in 27,000.
So which is, one in a billion or one in 27,000? You can see how, if this were a business case, whichever assumption is in error could have enormous implications on your financial modeling, response rate forecasts or whatever you are trying to predict.
On reflection, both of these calculations seem to me to be erroneous. If, in general, one gets a double every 1,000, then it strikes me the odds of the first egg being a double is 1:1000. Once you get one, assuming the "all eggs in the carton came from a flock of young hens" rule, the chances of a second would be 1:30 and the third would be another 1:30. So, our best guess of the odds of getting three in a row are 1,000 x 30 x 30, which is one in 900,000.
Why is this important? Because probability, statistics and math are hugely important to so many of our business processes. And more often than you might think, folks distort the assumptions that go into statistical modeling for a wide range of reasons, be they political, emotional, or to align conclusions with an expectation of the outcome.
Science and math by their nature seem factual, to be taken at face value. We need to remember that most scientific modeling comes with built-in assumptions, and these must also be factual or the whole conclusion can be suspect.
In this small example, we might have pointed to the 1:1,000,000,000 odds to make the point that something truly extraordinary had just happened.
Our friendly competitor might want to tear us down a notch and challenge our assumptions, coming up with the 1:27,000 number.
Yet, a balanced calculation results in a more nuanced conclusion, with the most accurate prediction of the likelihood of a six-yolk breakfast from the crack of three eggs being somewhere just short a million to one.
If you want to challenge an argument, find the assumptions that are used to justify it and delve a little deeper. You'll be surprised at what you might find, and how your predictors might become more accurate.
Update: The next morning, he cracked three morning and got three more doubles! Now that's extraordinary!
www.hollandlitho.com/3_straight_double-yolk_eggs_what_is_...
Note: This calculation is incorrect. Frank was using jumbo eggs, and experience suggests the likelihood of finding a double yolk is 1:15. If we use the formula the author used above, the odds are 1:225,000.
Developed during a time before widespread use of electronic sights. Instead, people tried increasing hit probability for the common soldier through gimmicks. The result: an overengineered masterpiece that fires two-round bursts at 1800rpm, because of the Soviet space magic.
This current project is taking a while. A lot of stuff has been built over and over again. For example, the part where the grip, stock and receiver come together has been rebuilt countless times. Since I have made quite some progress on it lately, I thought it'd be nice to show a preview of some sorts.
Features include:
- folding stock
- reciprocating barrel (which is attached to the trigger)
- working bolt
- working magazine catch and detacheable magazine, which is iconically canted slightly to the right
This shot of the feeding Cranes shows both the Greater and Lesser Cranes... the Lesser is to the right. It's easy to see the size difference. Regardless, they are considered the same species. If you can capture the two together in a group flight shot, the size difference is even more obvious. The Lessers here in New Mexico are occasional stray visitors... I'd estimate that more than 95% of our wintering Cranes are Greaters. (I've also long pondered the probability of them cross breeding and likely resulting in an intermediate sized bird.)
IMG_4200; Sandhill Cranes
Flight 744, featuring 747-400 N666US, carrying a big Thanksgiving crowd between the Delta hubs in Minneapolis and Atlanta on Saturday, November 28, 2015.
There's a high probability this is the third to last scheduled passenger departure of a 747 at Minneapolis, as Delta will be retiring their fleet by 2017, and there's no remaining regular service here. The occasion attracted aviation enthusiasts from around the country - accomplished rail photographer and aviation geek Blair Kooistra, visiting from DFW, is on the far left.
There will be two round trips Sunday, and an arrival on Monday morning; the full schedule can be found here.
Rocky Horror Picture Show performance @ Helsinki Pride 2016
Helsinki, Finland 2016 (ReUp)
Nikon F5 + AF Nikkor (With probability of 99% it was AF Nikkor 85/1.8)
AgfaPhoto APX 100 @100 (expired)
D-76 stock
Epson F-3200
The Glock .40 has been around for years. Kel-Tec came out with a pistol caliber carbine in both 9mm and .40 Cal. The carbine was made in several versions accepting different magazines from different brands of pistols.
In this above picture the carbine takes a magazine used by the .40 Cal. Glock. The carbine as a few added parts such as a sling, a one inch stock extension and a very short rail to add a flashlight.
I keep the Glock and the SUB-2000 in a kit along with extra magazines, a good knife and a small survival kit. When I decide to head out somewhere to do some photographing I just throw the kit in the Rover and I'm set if I leave the highway, which is about a 99% probability.
One 500 Watt Light with a reflector. I've never done still lifes before and each one is a learning experience. Advice is welcome. I will not be using any kind of plaid again and I will replace the reflector with a second 500 Watt light.