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The upper reaches of the Cache La Poudre River gather steam and round a bend near the junction with Hague Creek on the north side of Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado.
My youngest son and I went for an impromptu backpacking trip for one night with a neighbor and his three kids. Although this location is not far from home as the crow flies, the nature of the roads makes it almost a 3 h drive to get to the trailhead from Boulder. My neighbor's youngest is only 4 so we opted for a relatively modest 1+ mile walk in to set up camp.
Once we arrived in camp, the afternoon and early evening thunderstorms commenced, ensuring that we were in no danger of overheating. In addition to hauling most all of the gear and food for himself and his progeny, my neighbor also produced a small box of red wine to accompany the pasta. His pack was truly mountainous. Although the mosquitoes were numerous, the sunset was splendid and time in the mountains with the kiddo is hard to pass up.
Technical notes: Camera steadied on top of knees while seated, deep breathing, click shutter, then repeat and hope statistical probabilities add up to at least one passable photo...
"SRENGGENGE (Javanese language) MATAHARI (Indonesian language, Mata=eye, Hari=day: becomes Day Eye or SUN in the English sentence. This describes the sun or life in 2022. A picture of 4 human characters (on the island of Java known as Punakawan,Javanese shadow puppet) symbolizes the four characters of the human form around the world who are never afraid to face all the trials in the world, with full enthusiasm, a giant image as a symbol of disasters that come and go like power from the world of darkness and we will always be calm in dealing with them." rant January 06.2022
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NEW YEARr, NEW YEARNING
A new year bestows hope
Promises new pages
Sliding on a salient slope
Where the wise earn deserved wages.
A new year erases mad memories
Folks would rather forget
As they pen in their dainty diaries
‘Don't entertain in the new year a regret secret.'
A new year opens vistas
Teeming with profound possibilities
For folks to metamorphose into stars
Provided they make good the propulsion probabilities.
A new year affords a chance
To grace, bless and to assess
The right wrong balance
In an effort to forestall any further stress.
A new year swings into action
An opportunity to recast lives
Into the right direction devoid of malefaction
As the dawn of hope arrives and thrives.
A new year whips sorrow
Into submission and humiliation
So long as society seizes tomorrow
To spread affection, benediction, restoration and cooperation.
by John Sensele Thursday, December 28, 2017
This planet seems good. One species seem to be so populous they have infiltrated every continent. They do have some rudimentary language skills but their mathematic ability is so basic they would never be considered an intelligent species. Atmosphere is very similar to ours with minimal terra and bioforming needed making it cheap to colonize.
The fingers quickly tapped the device sending a communication to corporate headquarters that they could apply to the commission to colonize earth with a high degree of probability of being approved.
Within a decade the ships started arriving. Humans objected to being colonized and threw every nuclear weapon they could scrap up. The colonizers retreated back to orbit, baffled by a species intelligent enough to create a bomb that could destroy the atmosphere and stupid enough to deploy it. The colonizers requested equipment to cleanse the atmosphere which was an extra expense. By the time they received approval and the equipment, all life forms on earth were dead except for cockroaches.
The colony shipped in fauna and flora from their original planet. It was much better really. Normally it was very difficult to get permission to make a planet exactly like home. There were groups that fought for planetary diversity but really it wasn't the colonizers' fault the original species killed themselves and almost everything else.
No one was happy about the cockroaches tho. Not even the groups for planetary diversity as cockroaches spread quickly across the galaxies once a few managed to get aboard ships. Major funding was approved to eradicate them. Nothing worked. The cockroaches kept surviving and coming back. Very irritating.
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Since SL is a community effort with lots of people making things, like a movie, here is the credit roll of everyone who helped make this picture possible
Windlight Sky:
Naturally Dreamy Summer from ColeMarie's Windlight Set (Series #1) by ColeMari Soleil
Backdrop:
Data Spaceship Backdrop by Synnergy.Tavis
Handheld object with pose:
Data Reader Bento Pose by Synnergy.Tavis
Myself:
Catsuit ZX-3 Maitreya White by CyberFactory
Hair: River Hair by Raven Bell
13. Bangs / Swept Right Narrow by TRUTH
Simrugh Horns Winter Special Edition by AERTH
Wrist/hands tattoo: Winter Touch, hands by +Fallen Gods Inc.
Lipstick: Evo X - 01 Silver Glitter Lipstick 75% by Izzie's
Eyelashes tinted turquoise through Lel Evox hud for Noel 3.1 by LeLUTKA
Face: Frozen (LeL Evo X) - Porcelain by Bold & Beauty
Skin: Icy by Velour
Head lel Evox Noel 3.1 by LeLUTKA
Body: Lara v.5.3 by Maitreya
Shape: Tessa Shape Vv by WoW Skins with modifications by myself
Note: I added texture and the aqua lighting on the right through Photoshop. For the texture, I used NightCafe to create an image with two planets on one layer and then used the SoftLight filter in PS at 40% opacity. The aqua lighting I brushed two circles of aqua, then Guassian Filter to spread them out, then Vivid Light filters at differing opacity for each circle.
This is my original raw picture from SL
Microseconds of life remaining...
Although there's perhaps an element of "Wow! in pics like this for folks not used to shooting bird photographs, it's maybe only truthfully moral to admit to how such are completely unscripted and the result only of statistical probability. That being, that if you shoot enough very closely-coupled high speed shots of aerial insect-feeders, then a certain proportion of those MIGHT show something like what this one does. No kudos to the shooter except for sticking with these frustrating targets..
New Challenge! The Hypo Music Festival!
www.flickr.com/groups/1179479@N25/discuss/721576663667027...
Challenge #42 - Blue Skies - The Blind Pig Speakeasy - March 15 to April 14
www.flickr.com/groups/challenges_community_group/discuss/...
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www.youtube.com/watch?v=z92bmlcmyq0
A shot of a bird on top of a cross, on a church in the town,with some lightning+rain enhancement.After we dropped my daughter and her bestie off at the pizza place to meet with some of their friends,we passed a certain church,and as i saw the bird sitting on the neon cross in the twilight,i said to my husband:"Stop!! i have to capture this!" Was hoping like mad that the bird would just stay put for a minute or two,and luckily it did:-)
♥High RARE probability♥
2018/9/26
♪ SaNaRae Event 2018.9.26 open
♪ 6 COMMON Catwa eyes/Mesh eyes
♪ 3 COMMON lipstick
♪ 1 COMMON star ribbons freckles
♪ 3 RARE
3 catwa eyes/mesh eyes + all eyes
1 milk skin
1 milk&honey skin
♪ All are 100% Original Maitreya HUD/Catwa eyes/Mesh eyes/Catwa head/ Omega HUD
Celebrate 3rd Anniversary♥♥♥
Two kinds of shape will be sold next to Gacha.
left is kuriko shape // right is kudori shape
Very happy to make a gacha with Sikora.
very cute Skin made by sikora :D plz follow her♥
A common woods bird that resembles its relative the Black-capped Chickadee. The two are often confused. They have different ranges, but where ranges overlap, they may hybridize. Know the chickadee ranges and you can predict the species that live there with a high probability.
John James Audubon named this species on a trip to the Carolinas. Conservation status is Least Concern.
Our beautiful world, pass it on.
#AbFav_LOVE_❤
MESMERISING aren't they? OP-HEARTS or POP-HEARTS? LOL? Best not 'jiggle' it about!
If you and your mate master these values, your love will, in all probability, last a lifetime.
1. The couple in love is committed to always putting each other first in their relationship with each other.
2. The couple in love is committed to democracy in their relationship.
3. The couple in love is committed to ensuring their mutual happiness.
4. The couple in love values absolute trustworthiness and integrity in their relationship with each other.
5. The couple in love is committed to caring and unconditional love for each other.
6. The couple in love is committed to being mutually respectful towards each other.
7. The couple in love values their mutual sense of responsibility for each other.
A special day, but don't forget, Valentine... love not just ONE day... but 365?
Have a day filled with love, M, (*_*)
For more: www.indigo2photography.com
IT IS STRICTLY FORBIDDEN (BY LAW!!!) TO USE ANY OF MY image or TEXT on websites, blogs or any other media without my explicit permission. © All rights reserved
Valentine, KITCHEN-GADGETS, red, prickers, utensils, kitchen, tools, wood, studio, hearts, colour, square, "Nikon D7000", black-background, "magda indigo"
It's the wet season here just now and we hardly ever have a clear sky at night. The not quite full moon showed it's face last night so I took a shot encase it can't be seen on the 14th. The probability is 'not' with a forecast of full cloud cover.
It is positioned on the side verandah of the house.
It is placed against the brick wall of the house, nothing surrounds the chair.
One can almost envisage an elderly lady or man sitting there alone, lost in their memories of their past.
Perhaps she is sitting there with her knitting creating a garment for a grand or great grand child. A child who in all probability will never arrive.
He is possibly sitting there with his hat on his head, perhaps he is waiting for someone to come to pick him up to take him back out to the farm so he can be reminded of his previous life.
If this were to be reality then the reality would more than likely be that both would be waiting for something that will never occur, for they are like time itself, forgotten.
Camden, New South Wales, Australia.
FEC train #206 at Stuart with an SD trailing in the consist. This is my third trip to the area this year, and I have the ETA's of 101 and 206 timed out pretty well that I just show up when I expect them to pass, and if the drawbridge stays down after the NB and SB Brightline trains pass, then there's a high probability that they are close.
And now the backstory. I'm in Florida for 6 days in the middle of the summer heat and humidity as one of the parental units is in the hospital, which happens to be the white building visible above the radiators of the second unit. I was able to get away a couple of times to get a few images on my IPhone as I decided bringing the big gear would be in poor taste. I was fortunate to return home a day before the airlines melted down last Thursday, and Delta Airlines has still yet to recover.
I was lucky to have moonrise and auroras at the same time. There had been no aurora alerts and probability for them was very low, so they came as a big and pleasant surprise!
As a teacher, I always had dice in my desk drawer for teaching probability. The only problem was that I could never find them. What are the odds? These dice were never in my desk. I bought them here in New Brunswick for shots like this. lol And, as Dirty Harry once said, "Are ya feelin' lucky, Punk? Well, are ya?" And, yeah before you jump all over me, I know that's a misquote.
Marble statue of a bearded Hercules
Roman Flavian period AD 68-98
Restorations made during the early 17th century:both legs,the plinth,the support at the left leg,pieces in the lion's skin.The arms were also restored but have been removed.
This statute and the over-life-sized statue of Hercules in the courtyard were in all probability made as a pair to decorate one of the great spaces in a large public bath.Although they are much restored their stance and attributes are essentially correct and are variants on long established statue types that are probably originated in the images of the Greek hero Herakles dating to the fourth century BC.They were part of the large collection of ancient sculpture made in Rome at the beginning of the 17th century by a wealthy Genoese banker,the Marchese Vincenzo Giustiniani
The arches in Arches National Park are, indeed spectacular. But the "fins" are like a different world. And somewhat forbidden, given the high probability of getting lost inside them.
(and FYI, the EXIF data about the lens is wrong. It was an Elmarit 28mm, not a 50mm Noctilux.
Canna (or Canna lily, although not a true lily) is a genus of approximately twenty species of flowering plants.[1][2] The closest living relations to cannas are the other plant families of the order Zingiberales, that is the gingers, bananas, marantas, heliconias, strelitzias, etc
Canna is the only genus in the family Cannaceae. Such a family has almost universally been recognized by taxonomists. The APG II system of 2003 (unchanged from the APG system, 1998) also recognizes the family, and assigns it to the order Zingiberales in the clade commelinids, in the monocots.
The species have large, attractive foliage and horticulturists have turned it into a large-flowered, brash, bright and sometimes gaudy, garden plant. In addition, it is one of the world's richest starch sources, and is an agricultural plant
Although a plant of the tropics, most cultivars have been developed in temperate climates and are easy to grow in most countries of the world as long as they can enjoy about 6 hours average sunlight during the summer. See the Canna cultivar gallery for photographs of Canna cultivars.
The name Canna originates from the Celtic word for a cane or reed
he plants are large tropical and subtropical perennial herbs with a rhizomatous rootstock. The broad, flat, alternate leaves, that are such a feature of this plant, grow out of a stem in a long narrow roll and then unfurl. The leaves are typically solid green but some cultivars have glaucose, brownish, maroon, or even variegated leaves
The flowers are composed of three sepals and three petals that are seldom noticed by people, they are small and hidden under extravagant stamens. What appear to be petals are the highly modified stamens or staminodes. The staminodes number (1–) 3 (–4) (with at least one staminodal member called the labellum, always being present. A specialized staminode, the stamen, bears pollen from a half-anther. A somewhat narrower, 'petal' is the pistil which is connected down to a three-chambered ovary
The flowers are typically red, orange, or yellow or any combination of those colours, and are aggregated in inflorescences that are spikes or panicles (thyrses). Although gardeners enjoy these odd flowers, nature really intended them to attract pollinators collecting nectar and pollen, such as bees, hummingbirds and bats. The pollination mechanism is conspicuously specialized. Pollen is shed on the style while still in the bud, and in the species and early hybrids some is also found on the stigma because of the high position of the anther, which means that they are self-pollinating. Later cultivars have a lower anther, and rely on pollinators alighting on the labellum and touching first the terminal stigma, and then the pollen
The wild species often grow to 2-3+ meters but there is a wide variation in size among cultivated plants; numerous cultivars have been selected for smaller stature.
Canna grow from swollen underground stems, correctly known as rhizomes, which store starch, and this is the main attraction of the plant to agriculture, having the largest starch particles of all plant life.[3]
Canna is the only member of the Liliopsida Class (monocot family) in which hibernation of seed is known to occur, due to its hard, impenetrable seed covering.
The genus is native to tropical and subtropical regions of the New World, from the southern United States (southern South Carolina west to southern Texas) and south to northern Argentina
Although all cannas are native to the New World, they have followed mankind's journeys of discovery and some species are cultivated and naturalized in most tropical and sub-tropical regions.
Canna cultivars are grown in most countries, even those with territory above the Arctic Circle, which have short summers but long days, and the rapid growth rate of Cannas makes them a feasible gardening plant, as long as they get their 6 hours of sunlight each day during the growing season and are protected from the cold of winter.
The first Cannas introduced to Europe were C. indica L., which was imported from the East Indies, though the species originated from the Americas. Charles de l'Ecluse, who first described and sketched C. indica indicates this origin, and states that it was given the name of indica, not because the plant is from India, in Asia, but because this species was originally transported from America: "Quia ex America primum delata sit"; and at that time, one described the tropical areas of that part of the globe as the Western Indies;[8] English speakers still call them the West Indies.
Much later, in 1658, Pison made reference[9] to another species which he documented under the vulgar or common name of 'Albara' and 'Pacivira', which resided, he said, in the shaded and damp places, between the tropics; this species is Canna angustifolia L., (later reclassified as C. glauca L. by taxonomists).[1]
Without exception, all Canna species that have been introduced into Europe can be traced back to the Americas, and it can be asserted with confidence that Canna is solely an American genus. If Asia and Africa provided some of the early introductions, they were only varieties resulting from C. indica and C. glauca cultivars that have been grown for a long time in India and Africa, with both species imported from Central and South America. Canna is an American genus, as pointed out by Lamarck were he argues that "Cannas were unknown to the ancients, and that it is only after the discovery of the New World, that they made their appearance in Europe; Since Canna have very hard and durable seed coverings, it is likely that seed remains would have survived in the right conditions and found by archaeologists in the Old World. If the soils of India or Africa had produced some of them, they would have been imported before the 1860s into European gardens.
* Some species and many cultivars are widely grown in the garden in temperate and sub-tropical regions. Sometimes, they are also grown as potted plants. A large number of ornamental cultivars have been developed. They can be used in herbaceous borders, tropical plantings, and as a patio or decking plant.
* Internationally, cannas are one of the most popular garden plants and a large horticultural industry depends on the plant.
* The canna rhizome is rich in starch, and it has many uses in agriculture. All of the plant has commercial value, rhizomes for starch (consumption by humans and livestock), stems and foliage for animal fodder, young shoots as a vegetable and young seeds as an addition to tortillas.
* The seeds are used as beads in jewelry.
* The seeds are used as the mobile elements of the kayamb, a musical instrument from Réunion, as well as the hosho, a gourd rattle from Zimbabwe, where the seeds are known as "hota" seeds.
* In remoter regions of India, cannas are fermented to produce alcohol.
* The plant yields a fibre - from the stem - it is used as a jute substitute.
* A fibre obtained from the leaves is used for making paper. The leaves are harvested in late summer after the plant has flowered, they are scraped to remove the outer skin and are then soaked in water for 2 hours prior to cooking. The fibres are cooked for 24 hours with lye and then beaten in a blender. They make a light tan brown paper.
* A purple dye is obtained from the seed.
* Smoke from the burning leaves is said to be insecticidal.
* Cannas are used to extract many undesirable pollutants in a wetland environment as they have a high tolerance to contaminants.
Wild Canna species are the Cannas unaffected by mankind. There are approximately 20 known species, and in the last three decades of the 20th century, Canna species have been categorised by two different taxonomists, Paul Maas, from the Netherlands and Nobuyuki Tanaka from Japan. Both reduced the number of species from the 50-100 that had been accepted previously, and assigned most to being synonyms.
The reduction in numbers is also confirmed by work done by Kress and Prince at the Smithsonian Institution, however, this only covers a subset of the species range.
Cannas became very popular in Victorian times as a garden plant and were grown widely in France, Germany, Hungary, India, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the USA.
As tender perennials in northern climates, they suffered severe setbacks when two world wars sent the young gardening staff off to war. It took many years for the frugalities of war and its rationing subsequences to change to the more prosperous times of the late 20th century. We have recently experienced a renewed interest and revival in popularity of the Canna genus.
There were once many hundreds of cultivars but many of these are now extinct. In 1910, Árpäd Mühle, from Hungary, published his Canna book , written in higher German. It contained descriptions of over 500 cultivars.
In recent years many new cultivars have been created, but the genus suffers severely from having many synonyms for many popular ones. Most of the synonyms were created by old varieties re-surfacing without viable names, with the increase in popularity from the 1960s onwards. Research has accumulated over 2,800 Canna cultivar names, however, many of these are simply synonyms.
See List of Canna hybridists for details of the people and firms that created the current Canna legacy we all enjoy.
In the early 1900s, Professor Liberty Hyde Bailey defined, in detail, two garden species (C. x generalis and C. x orchiodes) to categorise the floriferous Cannas being grown at that time, namely the Crozy hybrids and the ‘orchid-like’ hybrids introduced by Carl Ludwig Sprenger in Italy and Luther Burbank in the USA, at about the same time (1894) The definition was based on the genotype, rather than the phenotype, of the two cultivar groups. Inevitably, over time those two floriferous groups were interbred, the distinctions became blurred and overlapped, and the Bailey species names became redundant Pseudo-species names are now deprecated by the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants which, instead, provides Cultivar Groups for categorising cultivars
The Canna Agriculture Group contains all of the varieties of Canna grown in agriculture. Canna achira is a generic term used in South America to describe the cannas that have been selectively bred for agricultural purposes, normally derived from C. discolor. It is grown especially for its edible rootstock from which starch is obtained, but the leaves and young seed are also edible, and achira was once a staple foodcrop in Peru and Ecuador
Many more traditional varieties exist world-wide, they have all involved human selection and so are classified as agricultural cultivars. Traditionally, Canna 'edulis' has been reputed to be the variety grown for food in South America, but there is no scientific evidence to substantiate the name. It is probable that edulis is simply a synonym of C. discolor, which is grown for agricultural purposes throughout Asia.
Cannas grow best in full sun with moderate water in well-drained rich or sandy soil. Cannas grow from perennial rhizomes but are frequently grown as annuals in temperate zones for an exotic or tropical look in the garden.[2]
The rhizomes are marginally cold hardy but may rot if left unprotected in freezing conditions. In areas which go below about −10 °C in the winter, the rhizomes can be dug up before freezing and stored in a protected area (above +7 °C) for replanting in the spring. Otherwise, it is recommended that Cannas are protected by a thick layer of mulch overwinter.
Cannas are largely free of pests but in the USA plants sometimes fall victim to the Canna Leaf Roller and the resultant leaf damage can be most distressing to a keen gardener.
Slugs and snails are fond of Cannas and can leave large holes in the leaves, preferring the tender young leaves that have not yet unfurled. Red Spider Mite can also be a problem for Cannas grown indoors or during a very hot, long summer outdoors. The Japanese Beetles will also ravage the leaves if left uncontrolled.
Canna are remarkably free of disease, compared to many genus. However, they may fall victim to canna rust, a fungus resulting in orange spots on the plant's leaves, caused by over moist soil. Cannas are also susceptible to certain plant viruses, some of which are Canna specific viruses, which may result in spotted or streaked leaves, in a mild form, but can finally result in stunted growth and twisted and distorted blooms and foliage.
The flowers are sometimes affected by a grey, fuzzy mold called Botrytis. Under humid conditions it is often found growing on the older flowers. Treatment is to simply remove the old flowers, so the mould does not spread to the new flowers.
Seeds are produced from sexual reproduction, involving the transfer of pollen from the stamen of the pollen parent onto the stigma of the seed parent. In the case of Canna, the same plant can usually play the roles of both pollen and seed parents, technically referred to as a hermaphrodite. However, the cultivars of the Italian Group and triploids are almost always seed sterile, and their pollen has a low fertility level. Mutations are almost always totally sterile.
The species are capable of self-pollination, but most cultivars require an outside pollinator. All cannas produce nectar and therefore attract nectar consuming insects, bats and hummingbirds that act as the transfer agent, spreading pollen between stamens and stigmas, on the same or different inflorescence.
Since genetic recombination has occurred a cultivar grown from seed will have different characteristics to its parent(s) and thus should never be given a parent’s name. The wild species have evolved in the absence of other Canna genes and are deemed to be ‘true to type’ when the parents are of the same species. In the latter case there is still a degree of variance, producing various varieties or minor forms (forma). In particular, the species C. indica is an aggregate species, having many different and extreme varieties and forma ranging from the giant to miniature, from large foliage to small foliage, both green and dark foliage and many different coloured blooms, red, orange, pink, and yellow and combinations of those colours.
Outside of a laboratory, the only asexual propagation method that is effective is rhizome division. This is done by using material from a single parent, and as there is no exchange of genetic material such vegetative propagation methods almost always produce plants that are identical to the parent. After a summer’s growth the horticultural Canna can be separated into typically four or five separate smaller rhizomes, each with a growing nodal point (‘growing eye’). Without the growing point, which is composed of meristem material, the rhizome will not grow.
Micropropagation, or tissue culture as it is also known, is the practice of rapidly multiplying stock plant material to produce a large number of progeny plants. Micropropagation using in vitro (in glass) methods that produce plants by taking small sections of plants and moving them into a sterile environment were they first produce proliferations that are then separated from each other and then rooted or allowed to grow new stem tissue. The process of plant growth is regulated by different ratios of plant growth regulators or PGRs, that promote cell growth. Many commercial organizations have attempted to produce Canna this way, and specifically the “Island Series” of Cannas was introduced by means of mass produced plants using this technique. However, Cannas have a reputation of being difficult micropropagation specimens.
Note Micropropagation techniques can be employed on specimens infected with Canna virus and used to dis-infest plants of the virus, it is possible to use a growing shoot tip as the explant, the growing tip is induced into rapid growth, which results in rapid cell division that has not had time to be infected with the virus. The rapidly growing region of meristem cells producing the shoot tip is cut off and placed in vitro, with a very high probability of being uncontaminated by virus, since it has not yet had contact with the sap of the plant which moves the virus within the plant. In this way, healthy stock can be reclaimed from virus contaminated plants.
The Church of Saint Lawrence in Prague is a church of the Old Catholic Church of the Czech Republic. It is located on Petřín hill, next to Petřín Lookout Tower and the Hunger Wall.
Located on the site of a Romanesque church dating back to the 10th century, this Baroque church was restored in the mid-1700s. This restoration project has formed the basis of the church that can be seen today and was designed in all probability by Kilian Ignaz Dienzenhofer and built by Ignazio Palliardi and his nephew of the same name. The dominant features of the church are undoubtedly the three towers, with the side towers standing at 24.5 meters and the central tower measuring 22.7 meters high.
There are several different sights within the church that people from around the region regularly come to see, such as the sculpture. of St. Lawrence by J. Lederer and the altarpiece, which is painted by J.C. Monnoto and shows the Martyrdom of St. Lawrence. Although closed between 1784 and 1840, the church has been re-consecrated since the middle of the 1800s.
Since 1994 the church has been leased to the Old Catholic Church, and in 1995 it was raised to the position of the cathedral.
Perched atop the peanut butter feeder (for birds) this short-tailed weasel (stoat) is studying his probability of leaping to the suet feeder (also for birds) hanging from a nearby caribou antler.
This weasel has been coming to the back yard for a couple of days now, but hasn't yet managed to climb the hard, smooth surface of the caribou antler to get to the suet. Exactly why it is mounted on the antler.
Notice the prominent black tip on this weasel's tail; dead giveaway to the species short-tailed weasel. (Mustela erminea)
Really difficult to get decent photos of this tiniest but mighty predator, he moves like lightning, and never sits still.
What does probability for rain of 40% even mean? Well in this case it means, I dared to go out with my bike (and boots) for some bike & hike. I got lucky, I didn't get wet unlike some others about 10km south of this. I got even luckier with this kind of light ;-). Once in a while it's worth taking a little "risk" for a good image.
This is Flattop Arch in the Bisti Badlands of New Mexico, located about 36 miles (60 Km) south of Farmington. There are relatively few visitors here and at night the probability is that you will be there alone. It's a rough terrain after you traverse the initial flat area near the parking lot. It's a highly varied landscape with areas of clustered hoodoos, flat areas, ridges and ravines, and a number of small arches. There are a number of hoodoos that look like wings or tables balanced on a rock pedestal. In this photo there is a constant or static light behind the arch, and the front lighting is reflected light from a hand held halogen spotlight. The light is reflected off a formation to my right. This was taken with a Canon 6D camera and a Nikon 14-24 mm lens at f 2.8, 30 sec, 14 mm, and ISO 6400.
This is a single exposure.
Hope you enjoy!
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Kestrel - Falco tinnunculus (Male)
The common kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) is a bird of prey species belonging to the kestrel group of the falcon family Falconidae. It is also known as the European kestrel, Eurasian kestrel, or Old World kestrel. In Britain, where no other kestrel species occurs, it is generally just called "the kestrel".
This species occurs over a large range. It is widespread in Europe, Asia, and Africa, as well as occasionally reaching the east coast of North America.
Kestrels can hover in still air, even indoors in barns. Because they face towards any slight wind when hovering, the common kestrel is called a "windhover" in some areas.
Unusual for falcons, plumage often differs between male and female, although as is usual with monogamous raptors the female is slightly larger than the male. This allows a pair to fill different feeding niches over their home range. Kestrels are bold and have adapted well to human encroachment, nesting in buildings and hunting by major roads. Kestrels do not build their own nests, but use nests built by other species.
Their plumage is mainly light chestnut brown with blackish spots on the upperside and buff with narrow blackish streaks on the underside; the remiges are also blackish. Unlike most raptors, they display sexual colour dimorphism with the male having fewer black spots and streaks, as well as a blue-grey cap and tail. The tail is brown with black bars in females, and has a black tip with a narrow white rim in both sexes. All common kestrels have a prominent black malar stripe like their closest relatives.
The cere, feet, and a narrow ring around the eye are bright yellow; the toenails, bill and iris are dark. Juveniles look like adult females, but the underside streaks are wider; the yellow of their bare parts is paler. Hatchlings are covered in white down feathers, changing to a buff-grey second down coat before they grow their first true plumage.
Data from Britain shows nesting pairs bringing up about 2–3 chicks on average, though this includes a considerable rate of total brood failures; actually, few pairs that do manage to fledge offspring raise less than 3 or 4. Compared to their siblings, first-hatched chicks have greater survival and recruitment probability, thought to be due to the first-hatched chicks obtaining a higher body condition when in the nest. Population cycles of prey, particularly voles, have a considerable influence on breeding success. Most common kestrels die before they reach 2 years of age; mortality up until the first birthday may be as high as 70%. At least females generally breed at one year of age; possibly, some males take a year longer to maturity as they do in related species. The biological lifespan to death from senescence can be 16 years or more, however; one was recorded to have lived almost 24 years.
Population:
UK breeding:
46,000 pairs
Time for caroling and a nip of wassail as my seasonal decorating is complete, admittedly with a little help. In fact, all the work is provided and all I need do is enjoy the finished product, seen here. My Christmas tree collection displays its annual frosting...a likely occurrence since the historical probability of a white Christmas in this area is 98% and 100% since my residency. So when my good friend, King Wenceslas looks out, he will indeed find that the snow lay round about, deep and crisp and even. More detailed portions of the ornamentation can be seen in comments and larger is nice.
[By the way, I believe these all illustrate the famous photographic principle of "almost thirds," no?]
Cats assess all risks at 100% probability and this sound will certainly result in being offered, with no justification whatsoever, to the notoriously cat hating vet. Exact same happened last year: first the basket; then shut in the boot of the lurching car thing how he got a licence beats me; finally donated for vet's amusement with needles and horrible poison and nothing to eat for two days.
In 1971 a room in the tower was only discovered accidentally during a search for a document fallen behind a filing cabinet. So there is a probability that there are even more rooms than the currently counted 647 rooms.
One Catalan legend holds that Tarragona was named for Tarraho, eldest son of Tubal in c. 2407 BC; another (derived from Strabo and Megasthenes) attributes the name to 'Tearcon the Ethiopian', a seventh-century BC pharaoh who campaigned in Spain.[3] The real founding date of Tarragona is unknown.
The city may have begun as an Iberian town called Kesse or Kosse, named for the Iberian tribe of the region, the Cossetans, though the identification of Tarragona with Kesse is not certain.[4] William Smith suggests that the city was probably founded by the Phoenicians, who called it Tarchon, which, according to Samuel Bochart, means a citadel. This name was probably derived from its situation on a high rock, between 75–90 m (250–300 ft) above the sea; whence we find it characterised as arce potens Tarraco.[5] It was seated on the river Sulcis or Tulcis (modern Francolí), on a bay of the Mare Internum (Mediterranean), between the Pyrenees and the river Iberus (modern Ebro).[6] Livy mentions a portus Tarraconis;[7] and according to Eratosthenes it had a naval station or roads (Ναύσταθμον);[8] but Artemidorus Ephesius says with more probability that it had none, and scarcely even an anchoring place; and Strabo himself calls it "harbourless" (ἀλίμενος).[9] This better reflects its present condition; for though a mole was constructed in the 15th century with the materials of the ancient amphitheatre, and another subsequently by an Irishman named John Smith Sinnot, it still affords little protection for shipping.[10] Wikipedia
Born 14 weeks early, Stefán was barely survivable and had a 25% probability of being confined to a whealchair with cerebral palsy when he was born due to a IVH Grade 3 Bilateral. But he also had a 25% chance of no issues so we fought. After 99 days in the NICU he came home. And all his assessments to date suggest that he is going to be perfectly healthy. Stefán is named after his Icelandic great uncle.
The local Lotto (Lottery) Jackpot nears half a billion pesos (approximately US$10MM). This has brought about queues of 5-10 people long in betting areas such as the above. However, we calculated the odds in winning the lottery and it shows that an entry of a 6 number combination between 1 to 55 is about 1:28,000,000!
To seal a win or get a 100% probability of winning, one has to bet on all possible combinations and bet approximately Php560MM or about US$12.7MM, and in my opinion a bad financial decision! Worse is if someone is so lucky and shares the jackpot with you.
As to this shot, I took this from inside my car. i tried to manage a most likely blur (and I was expecting it with very low light and an ISO of 1000 at an Aperture priority mode) by resting my elbow in my cam bag. The car moved though as I squeezed the trigger. This was the result.
Away
My Interplanetary Memories
Interplanetary Travel
I realized that I hadn't eaten in a while. My complicated mood has reached such a level that I forget what I have to do. I realized that I hadn't eaten for a while, as soon as I got up from where I was sitting, as a result of my dizziness and falling to the ground. When I measured my blood pressure and blood values as soon as I came to myself, I realized that I had not eaten anything for a long time. My psychological state had almost destroyed my sense of hunger. While I should have measured my biological values twice a day, I realized that I had not done these for a while. Since there is no one inside my spaceship to warn me but myself, the probability of this situation happening again is quite high. There is nothing here to remind me of me, except the computer that gives a warning when I forget to measure my biological values. Just because I turned off the computer's warning system a while ago doesn't mean I don't care about myself. Rather, it was something I did to get away from living like a robot. It was just one of my attempts to feel human again. Turning off the computer's warning system also helped. I took myself out of the routine and let myself go with the flow of life. This made me a little bit happy. I guess the routines I had to follow on this space journey made me live like a robot. But I was not a robot. I was a human. And I had feelings. These were the emotions I had to experience. I think it's been quite a long journey for a human, this space travel. It was a journey long enough to make a person get lost in his mind. This is a more complex disappearance than being lost in the depths of space. I still have not deviated from my course in this space journey that causes journeys to the past in the depths of the mind. I don't want to go back to planet earth before I find the Plutonians. Maybe I'll never find the plutonians. Maybe I'm looking for a civilization that has disappeared. In this case, this search could take forever. I think it has turned into a commitment for me. I consider myself part of the plutonian civilization. But on the other hand, my belonging to planet Earth, that is to my home, forces me to return home. I am going through a very difficult time. There are dozens of questions running through my mind. All I do is sleep and daydream when I have to find answers to each question. It's the only way for me to escape reality. Because, as soon as I answer the questions in my mind, I know that I will change the course of my spacecraft to planet earth and put an end to this space travel. That's why I need to avoid the questions that occupy my mind. This situation adversely affects my biological health. I don't forget to eat is only one of them. I still don't know what to do. I think it would be best if I put a stop to this post here for something to eat. See you in the next post. Take care of your soul...
Camera: Canon EOS Kiss X7i
Photograph by Yusuf Alioglu
Location: Outer space (space)
Lowestoft Suffolk
Bingo is a game of probability in which players mark off numbers on cards as the numbers are drawn randomly by a caller, the winner being the first person to mark off all their numbers.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bingo_(United_Kingdom)
Loch Ard Gorge
Great Ocean Road
So here I was waiting for dawn to give some colour which it finally managed to eek out just past dawn. I had set up for a long exposure with the filter holder I thought I had firmly attached before it suddenly dropped off! I ran down to the beach below to get it but it was nowhere to be seen. On further inspection up top, it had caught itself on a ledge which I could just reach with my tripod. My plan was to extend the tripod, flick the holder on to the beach and collect it, continue with the shoot. The plan was going well as I extended the tripod legs into the holder , then 1,2,3, glorious flick! ....only....it slipped a bit and the filter holder lodged perfectly onto a branch where it probably dangles now. I took a bow to the gods of probability as I could never have timed that flick if I was aiming to hook it on that branch ..... So if you're in the area wondering what a Lee filter holder is doing hanging off a branch .....its mine .......can I have it back??? And I gave myself a good golf clap to finish up...
Penrhos or Brymbo Colliery dates from the 18th Century. It was established by John “Iron Mad” Wilkinson who along with his brother William owned the nearby Brymbo Ironworks.
For more photographs of Brymbo / Penrhos Colliery please click here: www.jhluxton.com/Industrial-Archaeology/Mines-and-Collier...
In 1792 Wilkinson purchased Brymbo Hall and its 500-acre estate from the Assheton-Smith family for the sum of £14,000, some of which may have been lent by Boulton and Watt.
The estate was rich in coal and ironstone deposits, several small coal pits having existed even before Wilkinson purchased the estate.
Penrhos Engine house was constructed shortly afterwards and is believed to have housed a Boulton and Watt beam engine.
Colliery coal was believed to have been used at Wilkinson’s Ironworks and the local lead smelter that refined ore from lead mines in the area.
Steam for the engine was created in an adjacent boiler house which stood on the north side of the site.
The engine continued in use until circa 1840 when the engine house was converted into a residence. At this time two domestic brick chimneys were inserted and remain visible today.
The remains of a building adjacent to the engine house is believed to have housed a pig stye and bread oven.
The building, believed to be the oldest mine engine house in Wales, remains are of national importance for its potential to enhance knowledge of mining in Wales. The site retains significant archaeological potential, with a strong probability of the presence of associated archaeological features and deposits. The structure itself may be expected to contain archaeological information concerning chronology and building techniques. It is a grade II* listed structure.
I started working in Atlantic County on March second. It was on one of my first trips down the expressway that I noticed something strange in an osprey nest platform along the highway. As I flew by in traffic, I could see the top of a head in the nest. “That was strange!” I thought. “That looked like the head of a bird with ear tufts.” Although ospreys can have some “wild hair” days in the wind they don’t have two ear tufts. Each time I passed I was rushing for procedures or a hospital case. Stopping wasn’t an option. Besides, what respectable owl would put her nest on a highway, out in the open, and in an osprey platform? Right? I must have been wrong. Then abruptly, I could see more than one head. I realized that despite the probabilities, this was indeed a great horned owl and her owlets. I mentioned it to a good friend, who managed to find the nest and confirmed the discovery. It wasn’t until this morning that I had a chance to take a few moments and stop. It would certainly seem that mom is taking quite a gamble placing her youngsters this close to an open highway. There is a good chance that they will not make it once they start to fledge, but then maybe mom is a gambler. After all, she did choose to put her nest in Atlantic City? #GreatHornedOwls
So while standing in an empty field at some wraithy hour of the night we got talking about the plausibility that, eventually, one day we'll see something strange.
Really - it comes down to the law of probability - as photographers we seem to find ourselves in unusual, generally empty, places at strange hours - whether that be 2am, sunrise or sunset - we're there!
So what will we see? When will it be?
While watching the universe spin before us on this perfectly clear night in Jamberoo's surrounding farmland we waited, patiently and....
Press "L" to view this uneventful star trail large on black and, as always, thanks for looking!
The Holy Monastery of Koutloumousiou is near Karyes, and is dedicated to the Transfiguration of the Saviour. The etymology of the name is in all probability connected with two phases in the life of the Monastery. A monastery with the name of Koutloumousi is mentioned in a document as early as 1169 and is to be identified with the one which bears that name today. Nevertheless, the second founder of the Monastery is thought to have been a certain Koutloumous, a member of a dynasty of the Seljuks converted to Christianity.
In the 4th century Koutloumousi passed through difficult times because of looting raids by the Catalans which set the seal on a process of weakening and decline which had begun as early as the 12th century. Prosperity came to the Monastery under the enlightened leadership of the Abbot Chariton of Imbros in the second half of the 14th century. Chariton obtained important help from John Vladislav in maintaining the privileges of the Greeks against the Romanians who had taken up residence there. In 1393 the Monastery was awarded the status of a stavropegic foundation. In the early 15th century monks from Koutloumousi took up residence in and annexed the deserted St Alypius Monastery. By a Patriarchal sigillium of 1428 the Alypius Monastery was absorbed by Koutloumousi, which thus became more powerful.
This period of prosperity was followed by one of decline, to which the great fire of 1497 contributed. In 1767 yet another fire destroyed the east wing of the Monastery. The assistance of the Patriarch of Alexandria Matthaios II was decisive for the Monastery's recovery. In the 19th century (1857 and 1870) fire again did serious damage to the buildings of Koutloumousi. Repairs were carried out through the efforts of the Abbot Meletios. The last fire occurred in 1980; the damage caused was recently made good.
The katholikon of Koutloumousiou dates from the 16th century and is a classic example of Athonite architecture. Its original wall-paintings have, however, been painted over. The phiale and the bell-tower are works of the 19th century. The Monastery possesses 18 kellia and the fine Skete of St Panteleimon (1790), with 22 kalyves. Of special artistic value is the carved wooden sanctuary screen. Koutloumousiou has seven chapels and an equal number outside its walls. The Chapel of the Mighty Protection has a wonder-working icon of Our Lady of the same name. The Monastery has in its safekeeping many relics of saints, vestments and interesting portable icons. The library contains 662 manuscripts and approximately 3,500 printed books. Koutloumousi holds sixth place in the hierarchy of Athonite monasteries and, like all the monasteries on Mount Athos today, is a coenobium. It has some 20 monks.
Η Ιερά Μονή Κουτλουµουσίου είναι κτισµένη κοντά στις Καρυές και είναι αφιερωµένη στη Μεταµόρφωση του Σωτήρος. Η ετυµολογία του ονόµατος σχετίζεται πιθανότατα µε δυο φάσεις της ζωής του µοναστηριού. Μονή µε το όνοµα Κουτλουµούσι αναφέρεται ήδη σε έγγραφο του 1169 και θα πρέπει να την ταυτίσουµε µε την σηµερινή. Ωστόσο δεύτερος ιδρυτής της µονής θεωρείται κάποιος Κουτλουµούσης από την εκχριστιανισµένη δυναστεία των Σελτζουκιδών.
Τον 14ο αιώνα το Κουτλουµούσι έζησε δύσκολες στιγµές µε τις ληστρικές επιδροµές των Καταλανών που σφράγισαν µια πορεία αποδυνάµωσης και κάµψης η οποία είχε αρχίσει ήδη από τον 12ο αιώνα. Η περίοδο ακµής του µοναστηριού ήρθε µε τη φωτισµένη καθοδήγηση του ηγουµένου Χαρίτωνα από την Ίµβρο το δεύτερο µισό του 14ου αιώνα. Ο Χαρίτων εξασφάλισε σηµαντική βοήθεια από τον Ιωάννη Βλαδισλάβο διατηρώντας τα προνόµια των Ελλήνων έναντι των εκεί εγκαταβιούντων Ρουµάνων. Το 1393 το µοναστήρι κατεστάθηκε σταυροπηγιακό. Στις αρχές του 15ου αιώνα Κουτλουµουσιανοί µοναχοί κατοίκησαν και προσάρτησαν την έρηµη µονή του αγίου Αλυπίου. Με πατριαρχικό σιγίλλιο το 1428 η µονή Αλυπίου απορροφήθηκε από το Κουτλουµούσι το οποίο απέκτησε περισσότερη δύναµη.
Την ακµή διαδέχθηκε η παρακµή στην οποία συνέβαλε και η µεγάλη πυρκαγιά του 1497. Το 1767 ακόµη µια πυρκαγιά κατέστρεψε την ανατολική πλευρά της µονής. Η συνδροµή του πατριάρχη Αλεξανδρείας Ματθαίου Γ΄ υπήρξε καθοριστική στην ανακαίνιση της µονής. Τον 19ο αιώνα (1857 και 1870) η φωτιά µε σφοδρότητα έρχεται και πάλι να πλήξει τα κτίρια της µονής. Οι επισκευές τελεσφόρησαν µε τη φιλότιµη προσπάθεια του ηγουµένου Μελετίου. Η τελευταία πυρκαγιά που συνέβη είναι αυτή του 1980, οι ζηµίες της οποίας πρόσφατα αποκαταστάθηκαν.
Το Καθολικό της Κουτλουµουσίου ανάγεται στον 16ο αιώνα και αποτελεί κλασικό δείγµα αγιορειτικής αρχιτεκτονικής, ενώ οι αρχικές αγιογραφίες του έχουν επιζωγραφηθεί. Η φιάλη και το κωδωνοστάσιο είναι έργα του 19ου αιώνα. Στην κατοχή της µονής βρίσκονται 18 Κελλιά και η ωραία σκήτη του Αγίου Παντελεήµονος (1790) µε 22 Καλύβες. Ιδιαίτερης καλλιτεχνικής αξίας είναι το ξυλόγλυπτο τέµπο. Η µονή διαθέτει 7 παρεκκλήσια και ισάριθµα εξωκκλήσια. Στο παρεκκλήσι της Φοβεράς Προστασίας υπάρχει και η οµώνυµη θαυµατουργή εικόνα της Παναγίας. Στη µονή φυλάσσονται πολλά λείψανα αγίων, ιερά άµφια και ενδιαφέρουσες φορητές εικόνες. Στη βιβλιοθήκη στεγάζονται 662 χειρόγραφα και περί τα 3,500 έντυπα βιβλία. Το Κουτλουµούσι κατέχει την έκτη θέση στην ιεραρχία των µονών και όπως όλα τα σηµερινά αθωνικά καθιδρύµατα είναι κοινόβιο. Οι µοναχοί του είναι περίπου 20.
With a more pointed beak and stockier barrel chested body, this is likely a rarer adult male purple finch that I have photographed rather than a brightly-colored variation of the more common house finch (adult male). That is my best guess. Of course, probabilities favor that this is a much more common house finch.
Birders, what say ye?
Penrhos or Brymbo Colliery dates from the 18th Century. It was established by John “Iron Mad” Wilkinson who along with his brother William owned the nearby Brymbo Ironworks.
For more photographs of Brymbo / Penrhos Colliery please click here: www.jhluxton.com/Industrial-Archaeology/Mines-and-Collier...
In 1792 Wilkinson purchased Brymbo Hall and its 500-acre estate from the Assheton-Smith family for the sum of £14,000, some of which may have been lent by Boulton and Watt.
The estate was rich in coal and ironstone deposits, several small coal pits having existed even before Wilkinson purchased the estate.
Penrhos Engine house was constructed shortly afterwards and is believed to have housed a Boulton and Watt beam engine.
Colliery coal was believed to have been used at Wilkinson’s Ironworks and the local lead smelter that refined ore from lead mines in the area.
Steam for the engine was created in an adjacent boiler house which stood on the north side of the site.
The engine continued in use until circa 1840 when the engine house was converted into a residence. At this time two domestic brick chimneys were inserted and remain visible today.
The remains of a building adjacent to the engine house is believed to have housed a pig stye and bread oven.
The building, believed to be the oldest mine engine house in Wales, remains are of national importance for its potential to enhance knowledge of mining in Wales. The site retains significant archaeological potential, with a strong probability of the presence of associated archaeological features and deposits. The structure itself may be expected to contain archaeological information concerning chronology and building techniques. It is a grade II* listed structure.
In September we went to the Black Rock Desert in Nevada to attend Balls 24, a crazy rocket launch event with huge rockets. Some people call this event the Super Bowl of rocketry, others the Wild Wild West of rocketry. Over 300 people attended, there were teams from as far as England and Egypt. Many rockets were built in the garage from scratch, including the solid propellant for the motors.
Quite a number of rockets came down ballistic, either with some problems with the electronics, structural problems at high g-forces and supersonic speed, or parachute deployment problems. You gotta have balls to be there - the probability to get hit by a rocket is tiny but not zero.
I do not have any info on this rocket. I positioned myself to have the sun almost behind the rocket, hence the nicely backlit plumes of smoke.
I processed a balanced HDR photo from a RAW exposure.
Thank you for visiting - ♡ with gratitude! Fave if you like it, add comments below, like the Facebook page, order beautiful HDR prints at qualityHDR.com.
-- © Peter Thoeny, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0, HDR, 1 RAW exposure, NEX-6, _DSC8156_hdr1bal1f
Guillemot /Murre - Uria aalge
The common murre or common guillemot (Uria aalge) is a large auk. It is also known as the thin-billed murre in North America. It has a circumpolar distribution, occurring in low-Arctic and boreal waters in the North Atlantic and North Pacific. It spends most of its time at sea, only coming to land to breed on rocky cliff shores or islands.
Common murres have fast direct flight but are not very agile. They are more manoeuvrable underwater, typically diving to depths of 30–60 m (98–197 ft). Depths of up to 180 m (590 ft) have been recorded.
Common murres breed in colonies at high densities. Nesting pairs may be in bodily contact with their neighbours. They make no nest; their single egg is incubated on a bare rock ledge on a cliff face. Eggs hatch after ~30 days incubation. The chick is born downy and can regulate its body temperature after 10 days. Some 20 days after hatching the chick leaves its nesting ledge and heads for the sea, unable to fly, but gliding for some distance with fluttering wings, accompanied by its male parent. Chicks are capable of diving as soon as they hit the water. The female stays at the nest site for some 14 days after the chick has left.
Both male and female common murres moult after breeding and become flightless for 1–2 months. In southern populations they occasionally return to the nest site throughout the winter. Northern populations spend the winter farther from their colonies.
Some individuals in the North Atlantic, known as "bridled guillemots", have a white ring around the eye extending back as a white line. This is not a distinct subspecies, but a polymorphism that becomes more common the farther north the birds breed.
The common murre nests in densely packed colonies (known as "loomeries"), with up to twenty pairs occupying one square metre at peak season.[citation needed] Common murres do not make nests and lay their eggs on bare rock ledges, under rocks, or the ground. They first breed at four to nine years old, but most individuals recruit into the breeding population at ages six or seven, although birds may disperse (permanently depart their natal colony) if space is limited. Annual survival probability for birds aged 6–15 is 0.895, and average lifespan is about 20 years. Breeding success increases with age up to age 9-10 to 0.7 fledglings per pair, then declines in the oldest age birds, perhaps indicating reproductive senesence.
High densities mean that birds are close contact with neighbouring breeders. Common murres perform appeasement displays more often at high densities and more often than razorbills.
Allopreening is common both between mates and between neighbours. Allopreening helps to reduce parasites, and it may also have important social functions. Frequency of allopreening a neighbour correlates well with current breeding success.
Allopreening may function as a stress-reducer; ledges with low levels of allopreening show increased levels of fighting and reduced breeding success.
Alloparenting behaviour is frequently observed. Non-breeding and failed breeders show great interest in other chicks, and will attempt to brood or feed them. This activity is more common as the chicks get older and begin to explore their ledge. There has also been a record of a pair managing to raise two chicks. Adults that have lost chicks or eggs will sometimes bring fish to the nest site and try to feed their imaginary chick.
At time of extreme food stress, the social activity of the breeding ledge can break down.
On the Isle of May colony in 2007, food availability was low. Adults spent more of their time-budget foraging for their chicks and had to leave them unattended at times. Unattended chicks were attacked by breeding neighbour which often led to their deaths. Non-breeding and failed breeders continued to show alloparental care.
In areas such as Newfoundland, the birds, along with the related thick-billed murre, are referred to as 'turrs' or 'tuirs', and are consumed. The meat is dark and quite oily, due to the birds' diet of fish. Eggs have also been harvested.
Eggers from San Francisco took almost half a million eggs a year from the Farallon Islands in the mid-19th century to feed the growing city.
Population:
UK breeding:
950,000 pairs
The sunset is getting earlier and earlier out here even though the Fall weather disappeared for a few days this week, reaching a high of 100 on Monday. The 7pm sunset last week at Venice became 6:44 tonight which screwed up my evening plans. I had hoped to arrive a half hour before darkness started to creep in but after taking the dog out and then checking the weather conditions, I realized the earlier time would mean I'd arrive just as the sun was setting and no time to get ready--assuming no traffic or parking difficulties.
A year ago, my obsession with long exposure was just beginning and I took every opportunity to go places where that was an option. In the Maryland countryside, it wasn't always tough to find a decent location for the sunset, usually with a backdrop of the catoctin mountains or thick rows of trees. What I rarely found was a completely unobstructed view of the sunset which is plentiful along the coast of the Pacific Ocean out here. The main difference is where my focus ends up. At home, I seemed to mostly adjust my focus towards the background, on whatever static object was closest to the horizon. In Southern California, I often will focus my attention on the foreground, trying to find an area midway up to the horizon since it's often the only non moving part.
Since being here, I've slowly tried to incorporate panoramas into my collection of shooting styles in addition to capturing the amazing reflections found on some of the flatter shorelines like at Venice Beach. My attempts at panoramas began simply because I'd never given them much thought and each time out shooting, I'd try to get a few more images that could be combined in lightroom CC. The main lens I use is still the 18-135mm kit lens that came with my camera. It's the most versatile lens I have and since I use a crop sensor camera, it gives me the biggest view. I started to realize though that even at 18mm, I was missing far too much of a great sky or landscape. I had zero idea how much photography cost when I began to learn in manual since prior, my camera criteria had been a good point and shoot with a large zoom so I could photograph my active dog. I'm effectively priced out of upgrading to a full frame and often it feels like I'm really limiting myself. I love my camera but it really bugs me that I constantly wonder how much better my images could be with a full frame. I've seen the comparisons online that show a border in a full frame shot representing how much a crop sensor camera cuts out. I know they purposely choose photos for maximum effect and it always works on me.
The only real solution is an eventual upgrade (which also means all new glass as well) but for the time being, I've been trying really hard to at least give more of a full frame feel by committing to 2 shot panoramas. It's obviously not the same, but when I can get the waves to mostly line up and then compare the merged 2 panel panorama to the single frame, the difference is enormous to me. Lately, I'll choose a quicker shutter speed and then fire off about 4 or 5 shots at each pivot in the panorama and then search in lightroom and photo merge for the best combinations and view of the bunch. The goal is to only need a few seconds of blending in photoshop to give a seamless look.
This photo is an example of that process and is a 2 shot horizontal panorama of Venice this past Tuesday. I overlapped these shots by about 30% and had an additional panel on either side just in case but they didn't match up well. Even so, I was pretty pleased with the result of this since I really didn't want to back up and mess with the symmetry but also didn't want to cut out any of the great sky and shore that completed this reflection. I set my tripod nearly flat on these reflective surfaces here because there's really no risk of rising water making it that far, especially any waves that would require me to grab my gear quickly. Not too far to the left would be the tip of Venice Pier and a bit to the right would be the actual sunset facing more towards Santa Monica. While I know there are plenty of differences between full frame and crop, the missing view is what bugs me the most at the moment and until I upgrade, this may be my indefinite solution. Of course I could also practice in portrait and shoot fuller panoramas like that but I'm OK with the 2 frame panoramas in landscape at 18-35mm. The biggest problem is long exposures where I often don't have the time or light to take enough shots to merge well. I'd rather fire off 30 shots in 2 minutes than 6 shots in 5. I'm sure when the cloudy skies become more consistent, I'll have a lot more time to work on panoramas using the 10 stop filter to maximize the view. I just really don't want to waste the limited cloudy days shooting in a way that gives me a low probability of success.
▪️WHEN & WHERE▪️
•Venice Beach
•Venice, California
•September 20th, 2016
▪️SETTINGS▪️
Canon T4i
•EF-S 18-135mm IS STM
•2 frame panorama
•@18mm
•ISO 100
•f/8
•1/4 second
•CPL
Alien art
My picture above is showing that an alien bird is picking up a leaf.
Development of some aliens from an animal stage to a developed stage ( at tree of life) might take very long time or the expected development might not happen at all if some components don't come together.
The environment, the world they are in, might not be very rich for the development of the aliens, and/or biological development might head in a very different direction. Their "tree of life" might not have proper branches for a progressive development. The tree would be weak, like a tree in a desert.
For a chemical reaction, we have to have specific atoms. We need substances to create other substances. For reactions to happen, we have to have some conditions present at the place where the reaction should happen.
Already developed aliens would be the lucky ones, passing all hurdles. When we consider the existence of billions of stars, planets and a lot of different places within planets in our universe, the probability would be very hight to be lucky for some aliens.
Another issue is that we might not see any alien at all because of the distance between stars and galaxies. Non of us ( we and aliens ) might reach the very high development to create very high technology to fly that far ( the distance between galaxies getting more in each day, expanding universe ) before our universe collapse, before the black holes pull the galaxies, before the stars of the planets explode, before the artificial intelligence takes over ( AI doesn’t need to be conscious and alive, and doesn’t need to have feelings and emotions. it can survive on its own if it is programmed properly ), etc.
Al might be the biggest threat to humans and aliens, it could wipe out them very easily. The creation of very destructive Al is possible when we consider how much hatred there are in our world between nations, races and between the people with different religions.
Elegant Hindu shrinesbuilt in 700 AD at MahabaliPuram .The Shore Temple is so named because it overlooks the shore of the Bay of Bengal. It is considered the finest early example of medieval southern Indian temple architecture. Unlike most of its neighbours at the site, it is built of cut stones rather than carved out of caves. Its style is characterized by a pyramidal kutina-type tower that consists of stepped stories topped by a cupola and finial. The Mamallapuram monuments and temples, including the Shore Temple complex, were collectively designated a UNESCO World Heritage site. Marco Polo and the European merchants who came to Asia after him called the site Seven Pagodas. One of these is believed to be the Shore Temple. Temple complex in the category of structural temples goes to the King Rajasimha (700–728 AD), also known as Narasimhavarman II, of the Pallava Dynasty. It is now inferred that this temple complex was the last in a series of temples that seemed to exist in the submerged coastline; this is supported by the appearance of an outline of its sister temples off the coast during the Tsunami of 2004 which struck this coastline.
I. INSCRIPTIONS AT MAMALLAPURAM
NO. 40. ON THE SOUTH BASE OF THE SHORE TEMPLE
This inscription is dated in the twenty-fifth year of Ko-Rajaraja-Rajakesarivarman, alias Rajara-deva. It states, that the king “built a jewel-like hall at Kandulur,” and then given a list of the countries, which he is said to have conquered. Among them Vengai-nadu is the well-known country of Vengi; Ganga-padi and Nulamba-padi are found on Mr. Rice’s Map of Mysore;[1] Kundamalai-nadu, “the western hill-country,” is Coorg ; Kollam is Quilon; Kalingam is the country between the Godavari and Mahanadi rivers; Ira-mandalam is Ceylon; Iratta-padi is the Western Chalukyan empire;[2] and the Seriyas are the Pandyas. I have been unable to identify Tadigai-padi.
Sir Walter Elliot’s and Dr.Burnell’s tentative lists of Chola kings[3] contain a king Rajaraja, who reigned from 1023 to 1064 A.D. These figures rest on three Eatern Chalukya grants, of which two have since been published by Mr.Fleet and one has been edited and translated above (No.39.) From these three grants it appears, that the Rajaraja, who reigned from saka 944 to 985, was not a Chola, king, but a king of Vengi, and that his insertion in the list of Chola kings was nothing but a mistake.
The historical portion of the subjoined inscription almost identical with lines 16 to 173 of the large Leyden grant[4] and must belong to the same king. The Leyden grant states that Rajaraja conquered Satyasraya (line 65). This name was borne as a surname by no less than six of the earlier Western Chalukya kings and was also the name of one of the later Western Chalukyas. From certain unpublished inscriptions of the Tanjore Temple it can be safely inferred, that Rajaraja-deva was the predecessor of Rajendra-Chola-deva, the enemy of the Western Chalukya king Jayasimha III., who ruled from about Saka 944 to about 964.[5] Hence the Satyasraya mentioned in the Leyden grant might be identified with the Western Chalukya king Jayasimha III., who ruled from about Saka 944 to about 930 ; [6] and the Chola king Rajaraja, who issued the large Leyden grant and the inscriptions Nos.40, 41 and 66 of the present volume, with that Rajaraja of the Suryavamsa, whose daughter Kundava was married to the Eastern Chaukya king Vimalditya,[7] who reigned from 937 (?) 944. As Rajaraja-deva boasts in his inscriptions of having conquered Vengai-nadu, the country of the Eastern Chalukyas, this marriage was probably a forced one and the result of his conquest of Vimaladitya[8] identification of the Rajaraja-deva of the Leyden grant and of Nos. 40, 41 and 66 with the father of Kundava is confirmed by the Kongu Chronicle, where some of his charities are placedin Saka 926[9]. The Kongu Chronicle, further suggests the probability of identifying Kandalur, where Rajaraja-deva built a hall (sala), with Chidambaram, as it records that “he enlarged the temples at Chidambaram and erected all kinds of towers, walls, mandapas, flights of steps, etc., and other matters.”
From this and the next-following inscription we learn that Mamallapuram belonged to Amur-nadu,[10] a division of Amur-kttam, and that the name of the Shore Temple was Jalasayana. The purport of the inscription is a new division of the land of thetown of Mamallapuram, which had been agreed upon by the citizens.
TRANSLATION
Hail! Prosperity ! In the twenty-fifth year of (the reign of ) the illustrious Ko-Raja-raja-Rajakesrivarman, alias the illustrious Rajaraja-deva, who,-while both the goddess of fortune and the great goddess of the earth, who had become his exclusive property, gave him pleasure, -was pleased to build a jewel (-like) hall (at) Kandalur and conquered by his army, which was victorious in great battles, Vengai-nadu, Ganga-padi, Nulamba-padi, Tadigai-padi, Kudamalai-nadu, Kollam, Kalingam, Iramandalam, which is famed in the eight quarters, and Iratta-padi, (the revenue from from which amounts to) seven and a half Laksha ; who,-while his beauty was increasing, and while he was resplendent (to such an extent) that he was always worthy to be worshipped,-deprived the Seriyas of their splendour, -We, the middle-aged citizens of this towns, unanimously made the following contract, while assembled in the tirunandavana to the south of (the temple of) Jalasayana-deva at Mamallapuram, the chief town of the fifty (villages called after) Pudukkudaiyan Ekadhira,[11] which from part of Amur-kottam.
(Line 21.) The wet land, white (?) land, garden land, dry land and all other taxable (?) land of our town shall be divided into four lots of one hundred manais. One lot of (the land), which has been divided into four lots according to this contract[12] shall be a lot of twenty-five manais. The manais (of) the land (included in) the contract of division into lots may be sold, mortgaged, or used for meritorious gifts ; (but) the manais (of) the land shall be given away as defined by the contact of the division into lots. The previous definition shall be wholly cancelled. The fruit-trees, which stand in the various parts of the lands divided into lots, shall be enjoyed by the owner of the respective lot. Those (trees) which stand on the cause ways between the rice-fields, shall belong to (the whole of) the hundred manais. Among those who are without land and are over the age of sixteen, -from those who work for hire one-eighth of a pon and for (each) turn as ploughmen (?) three-eighths of a pon shall be taken at the end of the year. From those who do not submit to this contract, further twenty-five kurajus of gold shall be taken besides as a fine. We, the middle-aged citizens of the town, have unanimously established this contact.
(Line 58). I, Tiruvelarai Muvayirattu-erunurruvan, the Karanam of this town, who worships the holy feet (of the god), wrote this contract according to the orders of the middle-aged citizens. This is my signature.
NO.41. ON THE NORTH BASE OF THE SHORE TEMPLE
The historical part of this inscription identical with that of the preceding one ; its date is the twenty-sixth year of Ko-Rajaraja-Rajakesarivarman, alias Raja-Raja-raja-deva.
The inscription, which is unfortunately mutilated, mentions three temples, two of which were called after and consequently built by Pallava kings. The first of these two is Jalasayana or Kshtriyasimha-Pallava-Isvara-deva. That Jalasayana was the name of the Shore Temple itself, appears clearly from the inscription No.40. The second name for it, which is furnished by the present inscription, proves that the Shore Temple was a foundation of a Pallava king Kshatriyasimha. The second temple mentioned in the subjoined inscription is Rajasimha-Pallava_isvara-deva, which, as appears from one of the Kanchipuram inscriptions (No.24, verse 10), was the original name of the Kailasanatha Temple at Kanchi. The name of the third temple, Pallikondaruliya-deva, natha Temple at Kanchi. The name of the third temple, Pallikondaruliya-deva, (literally : “the god who is pleased to sleep”) may perhaps refer to the Sriranganayaka Temple at Pallikonda near Virinchipuram and would then explain the origin of the name Pallikonda.
TRANSLATION
Hail ! Prosperity ! In the twenty-sixth year of (the reign of) the illustrious Ko-Raja-raja-Rajakesarivarman, alias the illustrious Raja-Rajaraja-deva, etc.[13]- We, the middle-aged citizens of Mamallapuram, a town in Amur-nadu, (a division) of Amurkottam . . . . .of (the temples of) Jalasayana, (alias) Kshatriyasimha-Pallav-Isvara-deva at this town, and of Rajasimha-Pallava-Isvara-deva, and of Pallikondaruliya-deva. . . . .
(Line 31.) . . . . . of the fifty (villages called after) Pudukkudaiyan Ekadhira, which form part of this kottam[14] . . . . .
NO.42. INSIDE THE SHORE TEMPLE
This inscription is dated in the ninth year of Vira-Rajendra-Chola-deva. It records the gift of a piece of land from the great assembly (mahasbha) of Si[ri]davur, alias Narasimha-mangalam to “our lord of Tirukkadalmallai.” By this the Shore Temple at Mamallapuram seems to be meant.
TRANSLATION
Hail ! In the ninth year of (the reign of) the illustrious Vi[ra}-Rajendra-Sora-deva, we the great assembly (mahasbha) of Si[ri]davur, alias Narasimha-mangalam, gave to our lord (of) Tirukkadalmallai as exclusive property, with exemption from taxes, 5 rice-fields (tadi), consisting of 2,000 kuris (of land ; 1.at) Mangalachacheru to the south of the Ukkaviri channel (at) our village ; and (2. at) Narayanan-mangalur, alias Kuttadi-patti, where (the temple of) this god (? kuiyan) stands.
Amusing little clocktower in Grantown. I suspect I may just like it because the picture has my two favourite colours in it: brown and blue. Could almost be an HDR shot, but my embarrasment at possibly being seen with my tripod makes the probability of me ever taking multiple exposures close to nil. And its a faff... :p