The recent calibration of my lenses. This lens, the 105mm was the most problematic to sort as it seemed to be all over the place. Very happy with this result.

This time of the year this part of the world doesn't offer too much insects to photograph outdoors. Many of us then revert to insects kept in ethanol or dry, either in a box at room temperature or in the freezer. This method works well, but dried specimens often show weird patters on the eyes ... It is a problem because it can seriously affect the quality of the image.

The above picture shows the blue blister beetle (earlier post) photographed before (A) and after (B) treating the eyes with ammonia. I used ordinary household ammonia (25%) and diluted it with water to obtain a 10% ammonia solution. It was carefully applied to the eyes, mouth parts and base of the cephalon (I did that under the stereoscope). It took a couple of minutes to recover the normal aspect of the eyes and color of the joints. Ammonia is known to alter colors of mushrooms and plants, maybe also insects, but in this case I did not see any degradation.

Both pictures are stacks (40 exposures, Pmax) taken in exactly the same conditions as in the earlier post. Both images were cropped for the sake of positioning and joining them.

earlier post:

[http://www.flickr.com/photos/andredekesel/8561010614/]

The ship in the car park. Getting a picture of your ship can sometimes (most of the time) be problematical.

Golden hour, morning.

Mount diameters.

1) Nikon F 44mm

2) Nikon Z 55mm

3) Sony E 46.1mm

4) Canon EF 54mm

Canon probably does not even need to change mount when they eventually launch a FF mirrorless and all they’ll need is a simple DSLR EF to mirrorless adapter (just to cover flange difference) to support full functionality on their existing excellent EF lenses since their lenses did away with the potentially problematic mechanical aperture lever long ago!

This mechanical lever (includes Nikon G excludes Nikon E lenses) can eventually wear off/malfunction resulting in shots with incorrect aperture and brightness.

While dual Sony-Nikon shooters mull over the new Nikon Z mount, if Canon brings out a competent FF mirrorless, it’s not inconceivable to totally ditch Nikon especially since Canon lenses are easily adapted on Sony as Sony’s E mount specs is the most opened! It’s not overly prohibitive to sell off Nikon lenses to buy used Canon lenses.

Nikon Z now being the widest can potentially take all other brand lenses via a suitable adapter but Z mount is a closed standard making this option likely suboptimal. Z mount flange is 2mm shorter than even Sony E mount limiting their adaptability on other systems and will hence have a much smaller resale market than Canon lenses.

I’m getting less enthusiastic over Nikon’s new Z mount, silly of Nikon to charge so much for the Z7 with so much limitations on performance vs their D850. The FTZ adapter supporting only 3 out of 5 axis of stabilization even for lenses with VR is also disappointing.

Bottomline, no need to plonk more $ into Nikon’s Z mount until Canon announce their plans on FF mirrorless.

Here is a typical M42 lens aperture mechanism inside the lens. This is an auto-aperture lens with no selectable manual mode. Such lenses are problematic with most adapters since the aperture control won't work unless the aperture pin is pressed. While most “native” M42 mount cameras can press the pin down, no modern DSLR system has this capability. Some special-purpose adapters will permanently press the pin in when the lens is mounted, but they are incompatible with some M42 lenses having protruding parts on the back.

I have converted this lens to a manual aperture lens by permanently pressing down the aperture pin with a piece of plastic cut from a cotton swab. The hollow piece of plastic is about 2 mm long and fits precisely over the aperture pin inside the lens, effectively holding it down.

When re-assembling the lens, take care to align the hook on the aperture lever with its counterpart, otherwise the aperture ring won't work. Typically this is best done with the widest aperture selected. Anyhow, first make sure that that part is aligned, then rotate the rear as required to align the screws with their holes.

After modification, the lens works with all apertures, stopping down to the selected aperture immediately when the aperture ring is turned.

On some other lenses it may also suffice to disable a mechanism (usually a single spring) holding the aperture open until released by the pin. This approach should only be attempted when certain of how the mechanism of that particular lens works; some lenses need the springs to close the aperture. Personally I've only done it when it would have required considerable disassembly to reach the pin for the plastic tube -modification. With some lenses (notably the MC Zenitar 16mm fish-eye) the simplest solution is to disassemble and remove the auto-aperture mechanism altogether.

(The pictured lens is a Fujinon, I have modified several different kinds of them thus.)

Flying commercial airlines is always problematic for me. With my autoimmune illness I tend to catch every airborne virus on the plane and I bring them all home for my wacky immune system to masturbate to for a few months.

I'm still waiting for my private jet to come and whisk me away from all this. Apparently, private jets are currently outside the range of my household budget.

A self-portrait.

Panorama view of Apollo 17 lunar surface photos for Station 6 taken during the third moonwalk of the mission by Apollo 17 commander Eugene Cernan and lunar module pilot Harrison (Jack) Schmitt. The panoramas were built by combining Apollo 17 images starting with frame AS17-141-21575 through end frame AS17-141-21603. The panoramic images received minimal retouching by NASA imagery specialists, including the removal of lens flares that were problematic in stitching together the individual frames and blacking out the sky to the lunar horizon. These adjustments were made based on observations of the Moon walkers who reported that there are no stars visible in the sky due to the bright lunar surface reflection of the Sun.

The kink in the struts was also problematic, because the model's weight will want to collapse the gear. I had to come up with a way to prevent that from happening. After a few false starts, I included little arms that support them. They can be detached from the struts and can fold up an into the undercarriage bays.

Protty: 16 anni

youtu.be/y1dtsJzBjds?t=1m31s

Seen in Thunder Bay, Ontario, with an unknown disposition.

OK: What is this thing? Yes, I know: It's a "Winnebago Warrior;" a motorhome emblazoned with a problematic name and an equally problematic graphic. But what is it beyond that? Near as I can tell, it's a Chevrolet G-van cutaway with a VERY peculiar anteater-like fibreglass nose grafted on. It's...well, certainly on the unexpected side, I'll give it that.

The only reference I can find on the web to an identical vehicle is from a 1983 brochure, so I'm guessing this was manufactured then. Winnebago offered a version without the "attic" above the cab in 1981-82. Beyond that, my knowledge draws a blank.

Sorry to barrage with such similar scenes, but I really like what the kids add and how this older lens handles such delicate details, particularly with problematic backlighting.

Tammy & Shoshanna 'clowning around'.

The very talented Mick Tait had organised a second shoot at Glen Davis Ruins that was originally scheduled for this weekend. Due to the increases in Covid-19 cases in the state of Victoria we decided to postponed this event till May next year in the hopes the corona virus might be less problematic.

I miss my photography friends, both those behind and in front of the camera, but we'll meet again... this I'm sure.

Getting someplace to stay is somewhat problematic during the week of Ballinasloe horse fair. Not for this man though. He brought his accommodation with him, horse-drawn, traditional style! He didn't park up on the outskirts of town either, but made his way into the centre of the fair just beside the fair green. His ancestors probably did the same thing for the past 150 years!

...

Untitled (Hunger 7), Tim Lowly © 1996, tempera on ceramic bowl, 7" x 7" x 4"

This painting is from a series of 21 paintings on the bottom surface of traditional Korean bowls - done for an exhibition I had in Seoul, Korea in 1997. Recently, as I was writing some thoughts on my work to a colleague, it occurred that I had not explained publicly my thinking about and reason for making this work. This seems pretty important given the problematic territory that this work wanders into. What follows is an excerpt from my correspondence:

Around 1995 the “special needs” school that our daughter Temma had been attending for 6 years – Lakeview Learning Center – was preparing to close. I was working at the school on a large painting (titled Big Picture) of the classroom for “severely and profoundly disabled” children that Temma was part of. While working on this large painting I was given a collection of miscellaneous photographs documenting the students in their daily life at the school. Also around this time I was offered an exhibition with a gallery in South Korea, the country where I grew up (my parents were medical missionaries). I decided to make work for this show based on the photographs that I had been given of students from Lakeview Learning Center as a way of making present a population that was largely invisible / marginalized in Korea at that time. My goal in making these paintings was to select photographs that (for me) most powerfully expressed the humanity of these children. In making the paintings my intent was to try to represent them as best as I could in accordance to how I perceived them via the photographs: that is, as completely and compellingly human. Despite my ambivalence about using other people’s photographs as sources for paintings, these photographs – apparently taken by the staff of the school - offered a kind of “objective” perspective on the children somewhat fitting for my relative distance from them personally. That said, to the extent that these children were part of a community of which my daughter was a part I felt it was appropriate to make paintings based representing them.

This latter point is important in relation to the fundamental intent of this project. While I was attempting to portray the children in all their individuality evident in the photographic sources, I was doing so with the primary goal of presenting them as a community: a community as evidently diverse and complex (in various respects) as any other.

There is a well-known (in Korea) poem by the Korean Catholic “Minjung” writer Kim Chi Ha that has an essentially Eucharistic refrain: “God is rice”. In allusion to that poem I decided to do a series of 21 paintings on Korean rice bowls (a very commonly used kind of bowl). More specifically, as an allusion to the marginalization of this population I made the paintings on the bottom / underside (typically unseen) surface of the bowls. In using the rice bowl I not only wanted to draw a connection to Kim Chi Ha’s poem, but further to the movement of Minjung Art that had grown in vitality at the ending period of Korea’s long dictatorship (the early ‘80s). The Minjung Art movement (which, especially in the person of the artist Im Ok Sang, had been very influential for me) made the empowerment of the poor and the marginalized their priority. My hope was to situate the subject of the work I was making – at that time still a largely marginalized community - in the context of the Minjung political imperative.

In this work I was attempting to represent these children as faithfully as I could. It might be helpful to unpack my thinking “representation” a bit: Painting, particularly realistic / representational painting is frequently thought of / received in relation to the convention of “mastery”. That is, when one makes a realistic painting it might be understood as an artists’ claim of mastery and, implicitly, as their claim to an authority over the subject represented. I do not have any interest in that way of approaching painting. I am interested in painting that is a kind of conversation with the material used to make it (as opposed to painting as about control or domination of the material). No less importantly, I’m interested in painting as a regarding of the subject in humility: an attempt to represent the subject as honestly, accurately and respectfully as possible. Put another way: painting for me is learning how to make this painting in relation to trying to understand and represent this subject.

Taking that word representation a bit further: it is of course a reasonable question to ask whether one has the right to represent (make or take a picture of) another person – particularly someone who is not able to give consent. And it is reasonable to question whether I – even as the parent of a member of that community and trusted by the staff of that community – have the right to represent the students. But no less important is the other side of this question: the right of each person to be represented (both literally, in the sense of being pictured, and - via metaphoric implication - politically). In the case of this particular population and the particular context in which these paintings were being shown my intention was to make and show these representational paintings of these children as a claim to their right (authority) to be represented: Particularly towards the goal of advocating the presence of members of this population as they existed in that country at that time.

Now known as 680 N. Lake Shore Drive (because its preceding name, 666 N. Lake Shore Drive was eventually deemed problematic) this building was originally known as the American Furniture Mart. It was designed in 1923 by Henry Raeder, George C. Nimmons, and Max Dunning. Actually Raeder only worked on the original, eastern half of the building. As seen during this year's Open House Chicago

The G13 Mobile Platform System, the new weapon for the Sun System Alliance, combing the best of both world's, the ruggedness of human machinery and the precision of martian mechanics.

The G13 was designed to replace the problematic G12 ATT prototypes, although the G12 met the specification that the SSA Armed forced requested, field testing showed it was somewhat under armed and problematic in certain situations. Days before the G12 was set to begin mass production the it was taken back to the drawing board and redesigned with feedback from military personal who had used the prototype in the field, the out come was The G13MPS.

comment and criticism very much welcomed.

Of all Ninja infestations, Bird Ninja are one of the most problematic for urban populations, ranking above rats and raccoons.

Bird Ninja are the underlings of the Sorcerers Clan. They are primarily found in groups of three.

They take their appearance from the mythical creatures of Karasutengu (鳥忍 カラス天狗 Torinin Karasutengu) and are able to fly at will. This renders normal household barriers such as fences, guard dogs or moats ineffective.

Their weapons include caltrop bombs and dart-shooting blowguns.

Though potentially dangerous, Bird Ninja are far more pest than peril. They are easily defeated in battle due to being incredibly weak. A well placed broom-smack from a furious housewife or rocks thrown by children will usually subdue the Bird Ninja.

The small wings on their back are merely ornamental. The Bird Ninja flight is characterized by a ridiculous breaststroke-like movement through the air.

They always end their phrases with "yansu". I.e. "We will take over your house yansu!" Or, "Hand over all of your graham crackers yansu!"

__________________________

A year of the shows and performers of the Bijou Planks Theater.

Sekai Ninja Sen Jiraiya

Torinin Karasutengu

Paints by Paprika

The OH had a day off yesterday. We had been scheduled to go to the Adele concert on Sunday at Wembley and then stay overnight and go shopping for holiday clothes yesterday. Adele cancelled and has decided not to reschedule :( I suspect that her throat issue will recover in a few months but she might of course be pregnant, which would make rescheduling problematic. This is only me surmising and I may well be wrong.

Anyhow, we decided it would be pointless to go and stay in London. Annoyed that the hotel still charged us. If Adele had cancelled on the Friday night rather than Saturday morning we would have got our money back :(

Hopefully, we will be refunded the ticket money ...

With all the above, decided to go to Brighton for the day ...

Bumped into Cassette Lord working on a piece outside a cafe where he has an exhibition ...

The internet situation at work is problematic so my uploads are delayed. But I did manage to shoot for the 5th week. Presenting, Sachiko in her new Adidas yoga threads. I love this set so I was so happy when it was finally on sale for around $11 USD.

A Doll a Week 2009

5/52 For the week January 29 - February 4

This is probably how a lot of people everywhere must be feeling. With the problematic economy and high unemployment rates.

Union Square is a 2.6-acre (1.1-hectare) public plaza bordered by Geary, Powell, Post and Stockton Streets in downtown San Francisco, California. "Union Square" also refers to the central shopping, hotel, and theater district that surrounds the plaza for several blocks.[citation needed] The area got its name because it was once used for Thomas Starr King rallies and support for the Union Army during the American Civil War, earning its designation as a California Historical Landmark.

Today, this one-block plaza and surrounding area is one of the largest collections of department stores, upscale boutiques, gift shops, art galleries, and beauty salons in the United States, making Union Square a major tourist destination and a vital, cosmopolitan gathering place in downtown San Francisco. Grand hotels and small inns, as well as repertory, off-Broadway, and single-act theaters also contribute to the area's dynamic, 24-hour character.

The Dewey Monument is located at the center of Union Square. It is a statue of Nike, the ancient Greek Goddess of Victory.

History

Union Square was originally a tall sand dune, and the square was later set aside to be made into a public park in 1850. Union Square got its name from the pro-Union rallies held there on the eve of the Civil War. The monument itself is also a tribute to the sailors of the United States Navy.

Union Square was built and dedicated by San Francisco's first American mayor John Geary in 1850 and is so named for the pro-Union rallies by Thomas Starr King that happened there before and during the United States Civil War. Since then the plaza has undergone many notable changes, one of the most significant happening in 1903 with the dedication of a 97 ft (30 m) tall monument to Admiral George Dewey's victory at the Battle of Manila Bay during the Spanish–American War. It also commemorates U.S. President William McKinley, who had been recently assassinated. Executed by Robert Aitken, the statue at the top of the monument, "Victory," was modeled after a voluptuous Danish-American stenographer and artist's model, Alma de Bretteville, who eventually married one of San Francisco's richest citizens. Another significant change happened between 1939 and 1941 when a large underground parking garage was built under the square; this meant the plaza's lawns, shrubs and the Dewey monument were now on the garage "roof." Designed by Timothy Pflueger, it was the world's first underground parking garage.

This design was to prove problematic in a number of ways. Insertion of the garage raised the square above sidewalks on two of its four sides, creating problematic pedestrian barriers. In addition, designed to be impressive when looking down from adjoining buildings, the layout provided little actual useable space. Lawn areas and planted beds were raised behind 18” granite curbs, and further lined with hedges, making them inaccessible for public use. As social conditions deteriorated, and as the once low hedging grew, the lawn areas became campsites for the homeless who were not as easily deterred. Plant materials were randomly replaced as they died, and the park looked forlorn. At the very heart of the city’s premier retail and hotel zone, it became a place to walk around, not through. And in addition, the waterproofing on the roof deck had failed, pouring water into the garage below.

During the late 1970s, and through the 1980s and 1990s, the area became somewhat derelict as the homeless began to camp in the space. San Francisco's rowdy New Year's parties used to happen yearly at the plaza with some sort of civil disruption and rioting happening afterward. In early 1998 city planners began plans to renovate the plaza to create more paved surfaces for easier maintenance, with outdoor cafes, and more levels to the underground garage. Finally in late 2000, the park was partially closed down to renovate the park and the parking garage. On July 25, 2002, the park reopened and a ceremony was held with then Mayor Willie Brown. In 2004 Unwire Now, a company founded by entrepreneur Jaz Banga, launched a free Wi-Fi network in Union Square which was championed by Mayor Gavin Newsom.

San Francisco’s population peaked in 1950 and went down for the next fifty years, during which time the city’s budget was stressed, and Union Square began to suffer from under-maintenance and management. In 1995, San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association (SPUR), the city’s non-profit good planning and governance group, and the San Francisco chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), published a report, “Union Square: Managing San Francisco’s Landmark Retail and Visitor District”. (SPUR Newsletter/Calendar. Report 329, May 1995). The report highlighted both the civic and fiscal importance of the district centered on the square itself, and called for establishment of a Business Improvement District. The district was formed in 1999 and continues to manage and maintain the district and Union Square itself.

Public art

At the center of Union Square stands the Dewey Monument, an 85-foot (26 m) column on which stand a 9-foot (2.7 m) statue of Nike, the ancient Greek Goddess of Victory. The monument is dedicated to Admiral George Dewey, a hero of the Spanish–American War for his victory at the Battle of Manila Bay in 1898. The monument was dedicated in 1903.

As part of the redesign of the Square, the San Francisco Art Commission commissioned two artists to add artworks to the new design: -R.M. (Ron) Fischer designed four Light Sculptures located along the southern edge of the central plaza. -Vicki Saulls designed a series of Glazed Tiles located at two corner entrances to the Square–the corner of Post and Powell, and the corner of Geary and Stockton.

Beginning in 2009, painted heart sculptures from the Hearts in San Francisco public art installation have been installed in each of the four corners of the square.

Economy

The Tiffany Building is an 11-story, 100,000-square-foot (9,300 m2) building at Union Square.; the bottom two floors contain a Tiffany & Co. store, while the upper floors contain offices. Cathay Pacific maintains its North America regional headquarters on the third floor of the Tiffany Building, The Cathay Pacific North America headquarters moved from Greater Los Angeles and opened in the Tiffany Building in 2005.

The only hotel actually located on Union Square is the Westin St. Francis hotel which is celebrated for its historic Magneta Grandfather Clock. It is believed to be the only hotel in the world that offers its guests, as a courtesy, a coin washing service. The process originated in 1938 at a time when high-society ladies wore white gloves that were easily tarnished during the exchange of money. It uses borax soap in an antiquated, manually-operated burnisher.

Nearby attractions

Union Square has also come to describe not just the plaza itself, but the general shopping, dining, and theater districts within the surrounding blocks. The Geary and Curran theaters one block west on Geary anchor the "theater district" and border the Tenderloin. Union Square is also home to San Francisco's TIX Bay Area, a half-priced ticket booth and Ticketmaster outlet. Run by Theatre Bay Area, tickets for most of San Francisco's performing arts can be purchased the day of the performance at a discounted rate.

At the end of Powell Street two blocks south, where the cable cars turn around beside Hallidie Plaza at Market Street, is a growing retail corridor that is connected to the SOMA district. Nob Hill, with its grand mansions, apartment buildings and hotels, stands to the northwest of Union Square. Directly northeast is Chinatown, with its famous dragon gate at Grant Avenue and Bush Street.

The city's historic French Quarter northeast of Union Square and centers on the Belden Place alleyway, between Bush and Pine Streets, and Claude Lane off Bush Street. This area has many open-air French Restaurants and Cafes. Every year the area is the site of the boisterous Bastille Day celebration, the nation's largest, and Bush Street is temporarily renamed "Buisson."

Directly east of the Square off of Stockton Street is Maiden Lane, a short and narrow alley of exclusive boutiques and cafes that leads to the Financial District and boasts the Xanadu Gallery, San Francisco's only building designed by Frank Lloyd Wright—with its interior most notable for being the predecessor for New York City's Guggenheim Museum. The square is part of the Barbary Coast Trail, linking many San Francisco landmarks.

Shopping

Over the years, Union Square became a popular shopping destination. Several department stores sit within the three-block radius of Union Square, including Neiman Marcus, Macy's, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Barneys New York. Bloomingdale's and Nordstrom anchor the nearby Westfield San Francisco Centre, a shopping mall built in 1988 on nearby Market Street.

A mix of upscale boutiques and popular retailers occupy many of the buildings surrounding Union Square. Among the luxury retailers that front Union Square are Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Bulgari, Loro Piana, Moncler, and jeweler Tiffany & Co.; while flagship Victoria's Secret, Williams Sonoma, Nike, and Apple stores also occupy buildings surrounding Union Square. Other notable brands in the surrounding area include Chanel, Prada, Burberry, Salvatore Ferragamo, Shapur Mozaffarian, Goyard, Dior and Cartier.

Gap Inc., which is headquartered less than a mile away on the Embarcadero, operates multiple flagship and full-line stores for The Gap, Banana Republic, and Old Navy in and around Union Square.

Transportation

Two cable car lines (Powell-Hyde and Powell-Mason) serve Union Square on Powell Street.

In addition, Union Square is served by many trolleybus and bus lines and the F Market heritage streetcar. The Muni Metro and BART subway systems both serve the area at nearby Powell Street Station on Market Street. In 2012, Muni began building an extension of its Muni Metro system to connect Union Square and Chinatown with Caltrain and other neighborhoods in San Francisco. After several delays, the extension, known as the Central Subway, is scheduled for completion by 2020, and the new Union Square station will be called Union Square/Market Street.

In popular culture

Scenes of the square and the surrounding neighborhood were featured in Alfred Hitchcock's thriller Vertigo (1958) and the opening scene of his The Birds was filmed at the edge of the square—the character Melanie Daniels (Tippi Hedren) looks up and sees hundreds of birds flying in a circular pattern around the column at the center of the square.

Francis Ford Coppola shot numerous scenes of The Conversation (1974) in Union Square, where the bugged conversation which forms the foundation of the movie takes place.

Philip Kaufman's 1978 film Invasion of the Body Snatchers also features scenes of the square.

In Blake Edwards' 1962 film Days of Wine and Roses, Jack Lemmon (as Joe Clay) looks at his reflection in the window of the Union Square Lounge on Maiden Lane and realizes he is an alcoholic "bum."

(Wikipedia)

Der Stadtteil Union Square ist das zentrale Einkaufs-, Hotel- und Theaterviertel von San Francisco in Kalifornien. Als Union Square wird auch der 10.500 Quadratmeter große Park bezeichnet, der durch die Straßen Geary, Powell, Post und Stockton begrenzt wird. Der Name Union Square stammt daher, dass dieser Platz berühmt für Kundgebungen zur Unterstützung der Union Army während des Amerikanischen Bürgerkriegs gewesen ist. Nirgendwo im Westen der USA befindet sich heute eine höhere Konzentration an großen Kaufhäusern, Boutiquen, Souvenirläden und Lokalen als in den umliegenden Straßen des einen Block großen Parks, wodurch Union Square zu einem Hauptanziehungspunkt für Touristen und ein lebendiger, weltoffener Platz in der Innenstadt San Franciscos geworden ist. Große Hotels, kleine Gasthöfe und einzigartige Theater leisten ihren Beitrag zur Dynamik dieses Ortes und füllen ihn 24 Stunden am Tag mit Leben.

Geschichte

Der 1850 angelegte Park wurde im Laufe der Zeit einige Male wesentlich verändert. Das Erdbeben in San Francisco 1906 machte die meisten umliegenden Gebäude dem Erdboden gleich. Ein großes, unterirdisches Parkhaus wurde Anfang der 1940er gebaut, wodurch Grünflächen, Büsche und Skulpturen auf das „Dach“ des Parkhauses verlegt wurden.

Anfang 1998 wurde damit begonnen, den Park umzugestalten. Es wurden mehr asphaltierte Bereiche angelegt, die leichter instand zu halten waren, mit Straßencafés und einem vierstöckigen, unterirdischen Parkhaus. Am 25. Juli 2002 wurde der Park, dessen Umbau 25 Millionen Dollar gekostet hatte, vom damaligen Bürgermeister Willie Brown wiedereröffnet.

Bis heute behält der Union Square seine Rolle als kulturelles Zentrum von San Francisco und dient als Veranstaltungsort für viele öffentliche Konzerte, improvisierte Proteste, Reden von Würdenträgern und jährlich als Platz für Weihnachtsbaum und Menora. Einen guten Blick auf den Union Square bieten die oberen Etagen der umliegenden Gebäude wie das St. Francis Hotel, das Sir Francis Drake Hotel, Macy's oberstes Stockwerk sowie das Grand Hyatt Hotel.

Sehenswertes in der Umgebung

Union Square bezeichnet nicht nur die unmittelbare Umgebung des Parks, sondern allgemein die Geschäfte, Restaurants und Theater in den umliegenden Blocks. Einen Block westlich in Richtung Tenderloin liegen die Theater Geary und Curran im „Theater District“. In Union Square befindet sich außerdem San Franciscos TIX Bay Area, wo Eintrittskarten vieler Theateraufführungen, die am selben Tag stattfinden, zum halben Preis verkauft werden.

Am Ende der Powell Street zwei Blocks südlich, wo die Cable Cars am Hallidie Plaza wenden, befindet sich ein wachsendes Einkaufsviertel, das bis zum Metreon und den Yerba Buena Gardens reicht und über eigene Kunst- und Unterhaltungseinrichtungen, weitere große Hotels, dem Moscone Center und dem San Francisco Museum of Modern Art verfügt. Ebenfalls südlich der Market Street und in der Nähe der Yerba Buena Gardens befindet sich das historische United-States-Mint-Gebäude, das 1874 aus Granit gebaut wurde und eines der wenigen Bauwerke ist, welches das Erdbeben 1906 überstanden hat.

Nob Hill mit seinen großen Villen, Appartementhäusern und Hotels befindet sich nordwestlich von Union Square. Dieses Gebiet beheimatet zugleich einige der exklusivsten Luxushotels in San Francisco. Nördlich liegt Chinatown, eine der größten chinesischen Gemeinschaften außerhalb Asiens, und im Nordosten das kleine, französische Viertel um Belden Place mit französischen Straßencafés und Restaurants. Hier findet jedes Jahr eine große Feier anlässlich des Französischen Nationalfeiertags zur Erinnerung an die Erstürmung der Bastille und den Beginn der Französischen Revolution, bei der die Bush Street vorübergehend in Buisson (franz. Busch) umbenannt wird.

Östlich grenzt die britisch anmutende Maiden Lane, eine schmale Gasse mit exklusiven Geschäften und Cafés, an den Union Square und führt zum Financial District. An ihr befindet sich San Franciscos einziges von Frank Lloyd Wright entworfenes Gebäude: 140 Maiden Lane ist eine frühe Studie seines knapp zehn Jahre später in New York realisierten Guggenheim Museums.

Shopping

Union Square hat sich zu einem populären Einkaufsziel entwickelt, das sich mit sechs großen Kaufhäusern rühmen kann: Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s, Barneys New York, Nordstrom, Saks Fifth Avenue und Neiman Marcus. Darüber hinaus gibt es am Union Square einige bekannte, exklusive Boutiquen wie Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Dior, Chanel, Prada, Giorgio Armani, Marc Jacobs und Hermes, sowie an der Ecke Powell und Post die erste Goyard-Boutique des Landes. Weitere Geschäfte haben sich im renovierten Westfield San Francisco Centre südlich des Union Square an der Market Street niedergelassen. Auch Modegeschäfte wie Abercrombie & Fitch befinden sich nur zwei bis drei Blöcke entfernt an der Market Street.

Einige Handelsketten wie Hennes & Mauritz, GAP, Zara oder Mango sind mehrfach in Union Square vertreten.

(Wikipedia)

The hike to Rummel Lake is a bit of a grind: steep and winding, without decent views. The lake is nice enough once you get there, if you have energy left to enjoy it. Light is problematical, as the trail winds through bear habitat and has many blind corners, so you don't want to be there when the bears are active (which is right when the light is best for photography).

This panorama was stitched from 96 bracketed photographs with PTGUI Pro, tone-mapped with Photomatix, and touched up in Aperture.

Original size: 18249 * 9125 (166.5 MP; 175 MB).

Location: Rummel Lake, Peter Lougheed Provincial Park, Alberta, Canada

This review will have all the spoilers. You've been warned.

It was either late 2013 or early 2014. Good times. I was messing around on Youtube one day looking at videos of the latest Batman game. Then in the recommended videos I saw something that both confused and intrigued me. The thumbnail was the iconic image of Niel Armstrong saluting the American flag he just planted on the moon. Except there were a couple differences. Twisted, terrifying differences. The American flag was replaced with the banner of Nazi Germany. And Niel was Seig Heil'ing to it. I'm pretty sure I let out an audible "what the fuck?" apon seeing this. This was the E3 trailer for Wolfenstein: The New Order. For those who don't know, Wolfenstein is one of the oldest franchises in gaming, and put FPS games on the map. A goofy game about shooting Nazis in WWII that gave 90s gamers the chance to shoot the hell out of Mecha-Hitler. Think of it as a prototype to the more infamous Doom series that would launch shorty after. The New Order was a modern-day reboot with some ambitious questions. The biggest one being "what if they won instead?" The New Order takes you to an alternate 1960 where the Nazis beat the allied forces to the nuke (among other advanced tech) and thus took over the world. It was grim. It was campy. It was subtle. It was loud. It was dumb. And it was also much smarter and more engaging than anyone would've thought. So it went on to be a smash hit in 2014, and one of my favorite games ever. A few months ago to the day this is being posted, Bethesda stopped by E3 and showed the world it was sequel time, showing off Wolfenstein 2 The New Colossus (Actually like the 3rd or 5th in the series) to the world. The next day I preordered the hell out of it. Was it worth it? Well after 10 days of tearing through it, lemme tell you.

So I'll start off with things I didn't like, get the negativity out of the way. It's not a big list but I think what on it is valid. In The New Order, which I shall now abbreviate as TNO, in nearly all sections you could either go in fast and loud, putting holes in everything that moves with dual automatic shotguns and a big laser cannon. Or you could be a bit more stealthy about things, sneaking through vents and corridors putting knives in throats and taking care of problematic enemies from afar with a suppressed pistol (which might I mention was one of the things I loved about the TNO; keeping the pistol relevant and not just a forgettable starter weapon like most shooters). It was all about personal play style, but both options were viable. In The New Colossus, which I shall now abbreviate as TNC, going in loud was the way I always went because it seemed more viable. And I always went stealth in TNO. I probably just need to learn the areas, but there was some problems I ran into. Like this game being dark. Not story wise (even though it is) but literally. I remember alot of areas meant to be stealth-able lacking in the lighting department, and I set my brightness at the recommended settings, too. Anytime I'd get caught it'd be from and enemy that I couldn't see. And that leads to another problem. In TNO, enemies stuck out in the maps. Even if they were dully-colored humaniods coming in plentiful shades of gray you'd still spot them from across the area. It was probably due to both TNO being brighter and the enemies having a wide design variety. Not so much in the TNC. There's less design variety here and they all seem to just blend into the background alot. Even the brightly-colored HAZMAT and Venus space troopers don't pop in anything less than Glamour Magazine photo booth. On top of that those two previously mentioned troopers, while being obvious separate models apon inspection, honestly just look like classic Mortal Kombat-esque palette swaps. Again, TNO had alot of variety in their designs. Which is why it was a shame there was no proper model viewer in TNO, and why it's straight-up bullshit their isn't one in TNC. One of my favorite bits of last year's DOOM (another Id games classic updated for the modern world) was a model viewer that let you get an up-close look at the game's monsters and weapons. The Batman: Arkham games have had it for years. Hell, I remember having them back in 2005 with Jak III. Why can't Wolfenstein, with their toybox of greatly-designed characters, weapons and assets have it? Or a photo mode, too? I'm not insane about graphics in games, but I still appreciate them with how incredible they are today, and TNC is no exception. It's a beautiful game. Let me appreciate it to the fullest extent possible. Honestly these days model viewers and photo modes are something all games should have with how far graphics have gone. If only bosses got the same advancement. TNO had a few that aren't Psycho Mantis or Big Baby Bowser levels, but they were fun nonetheless. DOOM's bosses were one of the highlights for me. TNC has none of those. Here and then there's an enemy that can act as a sort-of miniboss, but their's nothing big and climactic like TNO's showdown with the towering London Monitor, or the final showdown with the main antagonist, General Deathshead. The "final boss" of TNC is more of a gauntlet than anything. 3 pairs of Supersoldiers, a higher-powered but still common enemy assisted by a shitload of standard infantry, finished off by 2 "Zerstörers", which are basically super versions of the Supersoldiers (I call them "Super-duper Soliders"). The main antagonist of the game, General Engel, goes down with one melee attack, only vainly defending herself with a pistol. An outdated pistol by both the game's and IRL standards. In a game where mechs, actual Avengers Helicarriers and boimechanically-enhanced mutants are possible, you'd expect so much more. Especially with Hitler himself making an appearance. I was really looking forward to a modern-day Mecha-Hitler. Not sure if I'd want bosses to worry about though since something as simple as getting your weapons out can be a pain. In TNO you could dual wield nearly every weapon in the game, but you could only dual wield two of the same gun. In TNC dual wield returns, for every weapon you can carry, and you can interchange between them. And while it has it's uses for sure, it feels kinda clunky, not to mention slow. TNC takes it's sweet time letting you change your weapons which can be fatal, especially since this game carries over a problem TNO had in that you're not exactly warned when your current ammo's about to run dry and you're gonna get lit up while changing a clip.

Now to the good, which I assure you outweighs the bad. Lemme start by saying that the gunplay feels as fantastic as before. Every gun has kick and you feel it whenever you see a Nazi get turned to mush by your triple-barreled automatic rotary shotgun. Yes, that's a thing in this game. As is a pistol-sized grenade launcher. And sticky-bomb launcher. And an OP-as hell laser cannon that atomizes people and metal covers/doors alike. And all of these can be powered-up through upgrades. The Shotgun can be upgraded to have ricochet rounds to deal even more damage. The pistol can have a suppressor so it stays useful like it did in TNO. The Assault Rifle can have both a scope and armor piercing rounds making it able to down mechanical enemies in one shot. And the laser cannon. Oh god the Laser cannon. Called the LaserkraftWerk in the game, it's by far the best weapon you'll get, even before upgrades. One shot will destroy even more armored infantry, but when you upgrade it so the blast can be charged, ooooooohhh. One charged blast will down Super soldiers with ease, and even on higher difficulties the powerful Zerstörer units I mentioned earlier will fall with a few good shots. Combo this with an extended battery doubling your already-decent ammo pool, And you're unstoppable. I guess that leads to another issue. While every gun has their uses and you'll likely use every one at one point, like DOOM before it you'll probably cruise along primary'ing 2 guns. For me it was the Shotgun and Laserkraftwerk. But even then they weren't the weapons I used the most. It was the heavy weapons. In TNO there was a Heavy MG you'd find here and there. It was powerful, sure, but could only be picked up and not carried in your inventory, and slowed you down considerably. You couldn't sprint and crouching reduced you to a snail's pace, and interacting with anything would make you drop it. In TNC there's 4 types of heavy weapons and they're awesome. They still slow you down but nowhere near the TNO's. You CAN interact with stuff and you can even sprint with them. Doesn't sound like much but believe me, that makes a world of difference. Another thing that gives you an edge in combat is the contraptions. There's 3 in total; The Ram Shackles, which allow you to bash through both weak walls and enemies alike, the Constrictor Harness, which allows you to sneak around in tight spaces, and the Battle Walker, my favorite, which is just some goddamn stilts. They let you get to higher places so its not anywhere as useless as it sounds, but also has perks, like the other contraptions. You'll be able to tank explosions without falling over, make enemies freeze n terror at the sight of you, and even keep your overcharged health from going down, my favorite. Speaking of health, one thing that makes the newer Wolfenstein and Doom games is the lack of regenerating health. You have to find health and armor in the levels, and this returns in TNC. One addition though is instead of having to pick up stuff manually, walking over health and armor pieces will make you pick it up automatically, though manually picking them up like before is still an option. It admitting needs refinement but it works well enough. It's nice after a firefight were I took a beating, I remember where a health pack or some armor was, I run to that location, and I already have some extra heath/armor on me when I get there from the bits that was lying around. While I did say that their isn't much variety in the enemie's designs, the designs that are there are good, and carry over that retrofuturistic asthetic I loved so much about TNO. My favorites are either the Ubersoldat, with is basically a Nazi T-800, or the previously-mentioned Zerstörer. Enemy behavior is much better in this game too. In TNO during a stealth section if an enemy ran into a dead body, they'd just move along like something happened. In TNC, enemies are much more sharp. Anything louder and light sniffle they're hear and investigate, and if they find a dead body they go into high alert and start hunting for you. The levels are incredible too, truly feeling and looking like a 1960s America under Nazi control. The level layouts in this game are kinda funny. In TNO a new level was an entirely new location. In TNC, multiple levels are across one location. This is due to the levels being so much more vast than TNO if anything. My favorite level is either the Nazi base on Venus (the actual planet), or Manhattan, which was directly hit by a Nazi nuke in WWII and is now a desolate, irradiated wasteland. You could feel how thick and cancerous the air is, and the devastated buildings have their upper skeletons eerily bent and curled from the blast. Fallout fans will have a bit of deja vu going through it. All these locales help guide the story along, which like TNO before it is a standout part of the game. TNC takes place right after TNO more or less, after the main character, BJ Blazcowiz, is mortally injured in his big battle with General Deathshead. You're saved by your resistance buddies before they nuke the place, but you're still messed up. After 5 months in a coma, the game finally starts. With you shooting Nazis on a U-boat you captured previously in a wheelchair. For half the game the only reason you're able fight again is thanks to a power suit wired to BJ's brain. Even while you're fighting BJ's injuries are taking their toll. By his own estimate, he has weeks. Which is tragic to think about since in TNO, he met Anya Oliwa, a nurse who took care of him during a prior comatose, and eventual lover. By the time TNC rolls around, she's heavily pregnant with BJ's twins. Not being their for his kids is something BJ laments a few times, and you feel for him. Especially when you learn about his awful childhood at the beginning of the game. He deserves a good family, and it sucks he'll never get that. And for a bit it really seemed like that he wouldn't since midway through the game, BJ's betrayed by his abusive, racist, Nazi-loving father who make his childhood such a shitshow, and is captured by Nazi forces. After a few weeks of parading "Terror Billy" The most horrible terrorist the world has ever seen according to the Nazi propaganda machine, BJ is executed in front of the Nazified Lincoln memorial to an audience of millions. Beheaded, it really seems like the game took a grim turn. Luckily due to the quick work of his aforementioned buddies in the resistance and some advanced tech, BJ is saved, if head slapped onto a new super soldier body. This brings up something that some reviewers had an issue with. TNC goes through a tone shift in story midway through the game. It starts out very grim and foreboding. Your base was attacked, the leader of the resistance is murdered right in front of you, America seems like it's perfectly fine living under the Nazi's boot, BJ is crippled and basically expecting death, and his unborn kids seem like they won't have a dad. Even in gameplay things feel grim at first. Even with the power suit giving double armor you can't escaped the halved health. You really feel like you're playing a crippled character. BJ himself puts it out there pretty good. "I take it off, I'm afraid I'll fall apart and all the pieces won't fit back together again." Then he loses that body and gains one that can actually move on it's own power and then some. BJ is basically reborn. stronger than ever. It makes sense that the game would kick up to a more upbeat tone. You're a new man, more powerful than ever before. This can be done. You can save the world. This upbeat attitude peaks at the birthday party scene. Just before the final assault, it turns out it's BJs birthday, so what do you and your resistance buddies do? Party like theirs no tomorrow, because for all they know there might not be. If their's one thing I like in a story it's reminding me that the character I'm playing and the characters around them are people, and not by just showing me their trauma and flaws. Every character in Wolfenstein already has those in spades. I'm more for seeing them having fun. Being happy. Enjoying eachother's company. Take me out of the misery for once and remind me that their's something good in the world. Not to say seeing smiles on their faces is what made them good characters. Every major character is pretty good in this game. Grace Walker, The new resistance leader and black revolutionary front member is pretty much a female Samuel L. Jackson. General Engel, The game's antagonist, is the perfect villain in that you want nothing more but to see her get what's coming to her. Super Spesh, Grace's husband and crackpot alien conspiracy theorist, gives some good comic relief for the time he's around. And Anya. Fucking Anya. Loyal, smart, and considering the crazy shit she does while carrying twins in her, may be more badass than BJ himself. And even with the grim beginnings don't think this game takes itself too seriously. In one level, right after BJ monologues to himself about his imminent mortality, he (and us) get a first glimpse at the Nazi's rocket-powered train system. Something he immediately responds to with basically "what the fuck?". After nuking the Nazi high command in fucking Roswell, BJ escapes on what's pretty much the monocycle from Men In Black. Before BJ's head is slapped onto his new body, it's dropped in a jar like Futurama. That Venus level I mentioned earlier? You get there on a Nazi flying saucer. And again, stilts. One of your upgrades is big, stompy stilts.

Overall out of all the recent iD software games to hit the scene lately, I'd say DOOM is my favorite. But I'll give it to The New Colossus. With a few bumps here and their it's just as fun to play as it's predecessor, and improves in most areas. Overall, yes, it's a step up from The New Order, and if you want a fun, absurd shooter with a good story to tell, look no further,

Big Bus Washington LO111 is an Alexander bodied Leyland Olympian which now carries Maryland registration 038P44. This bus was new to KMB in Hong Kong and was subsequently shipped to the UK and operated by Big Bus London for several years. It was then one of four examples to move to mainland Europe for the Big Bus operation in Budapest, Hungary. However the length of these vehicles proved to be problematic and they did not last in service for long there, instead being shipped on to their third continent for use in the USA.

LO111 still carries a couple of internal signs in Hungarian but otherwise carries no clues as to its former identity. However it is believed to be former F90SYE, which was new as DZ296 in Hong Kong and is seen here at Union Station after completing a circuit of the red tour.

Adult with two juveniles, Trumpeter Swan (Cygnus buccinator) Local pond, Kelowna, BC., Canada.

Wingstretch series for the record....

There's much more to come on our wintering swans. For those who DO read the into in the following images, you may find the juvenile in the centre of this threesome problematic as it has some facial characteristics of a juvenile Tundra swan. I'm 99% certain, however, that it's a Trumpeter like its sibling!

Jade and I outside seeing what leaves we can rake.

Resounder, 2018, 16" x 12.5", acrylic on panel.

If you have been following the progress of the Radiator project as I have been posting it over the last few months you will probably recognize this image. It is in fact a new variation on "Reflector", the last painting I finished before the exhibition opened. I struggled mightily with the making of "Reflector" and while I think that it is a good painting it still feels somewhat problematic from my perspective. So I decided to revisit the image. The title "Resounder" had been suggested (by Susan Langeland on FB) for the earlier painting and I really liked that title, but it seemed better suited to a more monochromatic painting: one that seems to reference a deep history.

2021 update: I turned "Resounder" on it's side and it became "Rester"

Compare and contrast. I always loved my 6927 - The functions of the collection and delivery of the tracking station were so amazing - but I always found the front end somewhat problematic. So I've spent way too long making it into more of a sort of moon-tug.

That's dark blue not black which looks Classy AF

(New AFOL after many years of darkness. Please let me know what you think!)

Linking Stations with no passengers....and former old station ghosts.

Seen in Glasgow City Centre is 11716 (YY17GSV), on the Glasgow Inter-Station Rail Link, which this company operates on behalf of Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) and the train companies. This bus was new to Craig of Campbeltown’s Border Buses subsidiary but has now moved to Glasgow. It’s a bit over specified for the station link - which normally runs with short wheelbase Enviro 200MMCs - but it allows for better social distancing.

Although not far apart distance wise, Glasgow’s remaining two mainline railway terminals - there used to be four - Queen Street and Central have always proved somewhat problematic to link bus wise. Initially a subterranean tunnel and travelator were proposed. Then, in the 1970’s there was a 77/88 City Circle service serving the main shopping centres, bus stations and railway stations but that service proved ultimately unsuccessful. Since then it’s been a dedicated service linking the two stations and it was extended in the 1990’s to cover Buchanan Bus Station. Initially, that service was numbered the 98 but has since been renumbered as the 398. The service has had many operators, from Strathclyde’s Buses, Wilson of Carnwarth, Morrows of Clydebank, Kelvin Central Buses, Arriva Scotland West, First Glasgow and currently Glasgow Citybus.

The service is free to passengers with a through ticket, funding coming from the rail operators, Scotrail, Arriva Cross Country, Avanti West-Coast, LNER and Trans-Pennine Express, as well as SPT.

And the other two terminals? These were Buchanan Street and St Enoch’s. Buchanan Street, the least well known of the four, was the smallest of the terminals. Opened in 1849 by the Caledonian Railway, it served the north of Scotland and through mergers and acquisitions, it ended up with the London Midland and Scottish (LMS) Railway before ownership passed to British Railways after the Second World War. Initially, the station buildings and goods yards were of a temporary wooden structure, which actually lasted into the 1930s. This was before a more permanent, but rather anonymous structure which looked more like a small warehouse rather than a grand terminal for the ‘Second City of The Empire - as Glasgow was known as.

The station was actually earmarked for closure well before it actually did, as it was mentioned in the "Bruce Report", about how to redevelop Glasgow in the post-Second World War period. The plan included replacing Buchanan Street and Queen Street stations with a Glasgow North station on land including the site of Buchanan Street, but many times larger. There was also a similar scheme to replace Central and St Enoch stations with a Glasgow South station, but neither came to fruition.

This reprieve proved to be only temporary as the station and its six platforms were closed in 1966, as part of the rationalisation of the railway system devised by infamous - but in my opinion much unfairly derided - Dr Richard Beeching, with most of its services running instead to Queen Street. The buildings were demolished in 1967. Unlike St Enoch’s, no one seemed too bothered about Buchanan Street’s closure and it closed with little fanfare or regrets. The 390 metre Buchanan Street tunnel, that ran from just outwith the station to Sighthill, still exists, but public access is prohibited. In 1975, British Rail constructed an office block - Buchanan House (later named 'ScotRail House' between January 1985 and April 1994) - over part of the site with Glasgow Caledonian University occupying the rest of the site of the station. The Station Bar, nearby the old entrance, still exists.

St Enoch’s was a much grander affair. Located on St Enoch Square in the city centre, it was opened by the City of Glasgow Union Railway in 1876. The station, which included a hotel, was actually the first building in Glasgow to be electrically lit. In 1883, it was taken over by the Glasgow and South Western Railway (G&SWR) and it became their headquarters. Services ran to most parts of the G&SWR system, including Ayr, Dumfries, Carlisle, Kilmarnock and Stranraer. In partnership with the Midland Railway, through services also ran to England, using the Settle and Carlisle Railway from Carlisle to Leeds, Sheffield, Derby and on to London St Pancras.

In the 1923 grouping it was taken over and then operated by the London Midland and Scottish Railway. After the nationalisation of the United Kingdom rail network, the station was run by British Railways. The suburban services to East Kilbride was diverted to St Enoch in 1959, when all but three services were dieselised. The diversion was said to be necessary, to reduce the numbers of trains at the nearby Glasgow Central. So you could see the writing was on the wall even then as to the busier station.

It was a large station with 12 platforms and two impressive semi-cylindrical glass/iron roofed train sheds. The station was sadly closed on 27 June 1966, again as part of the rationalisation of the railway system undertaken by the British Railways Board chairman, Dr. Richard Beeching. It was one of the biggest closures under the report and upon its closure, its 250 trains and 23,000 passengers a day were diverted to Central. After that, it was unceremoniously used as a car park before the hotel and the station structure were demolished in 1977, despite many howls of protests for its retention and redesign. Such a demolition would never be allowed to happen now and with hindsight, and in my opinion, it was one of the biggest acts of urban vandalism ever seen in Scotland. Happily, the huge clock that was suspended from the roof of the station was saved from destruction and is now on display in Cumbernauld Town Centre.

For a while, the site lay empty and it was rumoured that the Ministry of Defence was relocating there. However, this was nothing more than a pipe dream as it’s very very rare for London to give up such major parts of the Civil Service. The site of the station is now occupied by another glass structure, the St Enoch Centre, a large shopping centre. The remains of the station and hotel were used to help in fill the Queen's Dock, today the home of the Scottish Events Campus (SEC), previously known as the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre. So technically the station sits under that I suppose.

Though the mainline station is gone, parts of the arched approach embankments (now containing shops and restaurants) can be seen to the east of the shopping centre's car park on Osborne Street. Although the short remaining section which once led into the station now goes nowhere, the southern section remains as a freight line along the route of the Glasgow City Union Railway, crossing the Clydebridge Viaduct of 1899 which spans the River Clyde.

I am so so happy to say that after visiting the Bighorn Sheep off I-84 who were supposedly all moved to other regions in Oregon, not only are most of them still here, but the large alpha male seen in the center here (I named him Steve) was not one of the select few who actually was moved. This particular day it had rained in the gorge and color was everywhere, though I have to say that water and wet plants made climbing the already difficult slope much harder than usual. I actually injured my already problematic back when I slipped on a wet rock and landed on a larger one where my sciatic nerve in my lower back has been having problems. This was a first since I NEVER fall when climbing and I have a lot of experience doing so. But, I did come away with several great group shots of the bighorns as they were particularly calm that day, so all in all it was good.

The western front of the United States Capitol in 2011.

General information

Architectural style American Neoclassicism

Town or city Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C.

Country United States of America

Construction started September 18, 1793

The United States Capitol is the meeting place of the United States Congress, the legislature of the federal government of the United States. Located in Washington, D.C., it sits atop Capitol Hill at the eastern end of the National Mall. Though it has never been the geographic center of the federal district, the Capitol is the origin by which the quadrants of the District are divided and the city was planned.

Officially, both the east and west sides of the Capitol are referred to as fronts. Historically, however, only the east front of the building was intended for the arrival of visitors and dignitaries. Like the federal buildings for the executive and judicial branches, it is built in the distinctive neoclassical style and has a white exterior.

Contents

History

See also: History of Washington, D.C. and List of National Historic Landmarks in Washington, D.C.

The US Capitol dome at night (photo 2010)

Prior to establishing the nation's capital in Washington, D.C., the United States Congress and its predecessors had met in Philadelphia (Independence Hall and Congress Hall), New York City (Federal Hall), and a number of other locations (Maryland State House in Annapolis, Maryland, Nassau Hall in Princeton, New Jersey).[2] In September 1774, the First Continental Congress brought together delegates from the colonies in Philadelphia, followed by the Second Continental Congress, which met from May 1775 to March 1781.

After adopting the Articles of Confederation, the Congress of the Confederation was formed and convened in Philadelphia from March 1781 until June 1783, when a mob of angry soldiers converged upon Independence Hall, demanding payment for their service during the American Revolutionary War. Congress requested that John Dickinson, the governor of Pennsylvania, call up the militia to defend Congress from attacks by the protesters. In what became known as the Pennsylvania Mutiny of 1783, Dickinson sympathized with the protesters and refused to remove them from Philadelphia. As a result, Congress was forced to flee to Princeton, New Jersey, on June 21, 1783,[3] and met in Annapolis, Maryland and Trenton, New Jersey before ending up in New York City.

The United States Congress was established upon ratification of the United States Constitution and formally began on March 4, 1789. New York City remained home to Congress until July 1790,[4] when the Residence Act was passed to pave the way for a permanent capital. The decision to locate the capital was contentious, but Alexander Hamilton helped broker a compromise in which the federal government would take on war debt incurred during the American Revolutionary War, in exchange for support from northern states for locating the capital along the Potomac River. As part of the legislation, Philadelphia was chosen as a temporary capital for ten years (until December 1800), until the nation's capital in Washington, D.C. would be ready.[5]

Pierre (Peter) Charles L'Enfant was given the task of creating the city plan for the new capital city.[6] L'Enfant chose Jenkins Hill as the site for the Capitol building, with a grand boulevard connecting it with the President's House, and a public space stretching westward to the Potomac River.[7] In reviewing L'Enfant's plan, Thomas Jefferson insisted the legislative building be called the "Capitol" rather than "Congress House". The word "Capitol" comes from Latin and is associated with the Roman temple to Jupiter Optimus Maximus on Capitoline Hill.[8] In addition to coming up with a city plan, L'Enfant had been tasked with designing the Capitol and President's House, however he was dismissed in February 1792 over disagreements with President George Washington and the commissioners, and there were no plans at that point for the Capitol.[9]

Design competition

Design for the U.S. Capitol, "An Elevation for a Capitol", by James Diamond was one of many submitted in the 1792 contest, but not selected.

In spring 1792, Thomas Jefferson proposed a design competition to solicit designs for the Capitol and the President's House, and set a four-month deadline. The prize for the competition was $500 and a lot in the federal city. At least ten individuals submitted designs for the Capitol; however the drawings were regarded as crude and amateurish, reflecting the level of architectural skill present in the United States at the time.[10] The most promising of the submissions was by Stephen Hallet, a trained French architect.[11] However, Hallet's designs were overly fancy, with too much French influence, and were deemed too costly.[12]

A late entry by amateur architect William Thornton was submitted on January 31, 1793, to much praise for its "Grandeur, Simplicity, and Beauty" by Washington, along with praise from Thomas Jefferson. Thornton was inspired by the east front of the Louvre, as well as the Paris Pantheon for the center portion of the design.[13][14] Thornton's design was officially approved in a letter, dated April 5, 1793, from Washington.[15] In an effort to console Hallet, the commissioners appointed him to review Thornton's plans, develop cost estimates, and serve as superintendent of construction. Hallet proceeded to pick apart and make drastic changes to Thornton's design, which he saw as costly to build and problematic.[16] In July 1793, Jefferson convened a five-member commission, bringing Hallet and Thornton together, along with James Hoban, to address problems with and revise Thornton's plan. Hallet suggested changes to the floor plan, which could be fitted within the exterior design by Thornton.[17][18] The revised plan was accepted, except that Jefferson and Washington insisted on an open recess in the center of the East front, which was part of Thornton's original plan.[19]

The original design by Thornton was later modified by Benjamin Henry Latrobe and then Charles Bulfinch.[20] The current dome and the House and Senate wings were designed by Thomas U. Walter and August Schoenborn,[21] a German immigrant, and were completed under the supervision of Edward Clark.[22]

Construction

The Capitol when first occupied by Congress (painting circa 1800 by William Russell Birch)

L'Enfant secured the lease of quarries at Wigginton Island and along Aquia Creek in Virginia for use in the foundations and outer walls of the Capitol in November 1791.[23] Surveying was underway soon after the Jefferson conference plan for the Capitol was accepted.[17] On September 18, 1793 George Washington, along with eight other Freemasons dressed in masonic regalia, laid the cornerstone, which was made by silversmith Caleb Bentley.[24][25]

Construction proceeded with Hallet working under supervision of James Hoban, who was also busy working on construction of the White House. Despite the wishes of Jefferson and the President, Hallet went ahead anyway and modified Thornton's design for the East front and created a square central court that projected from the center, with flanking wings which would house the legislative bodies. Hallet was dismissed by Jefferson on November 15, 1794.[26] George Hadfield was hired on October 15, 1795 as superintendent of construction, but resigned three years later in May 1798, due to dissatisfaction with Thornton's plan and quality of work done thus far.[27]

The Senate wing was completed in 1800, while the House wing was completed in 1811. However, the House of Representatives moved into the House wing in 1807. Though the building was incomplete, the Capitol held its first session of United States Congress on November 17, 1800. The legislature was moved to Washington prematurely, at the urging of President John Adams in hopes of securing enough Southern votes to be re-elected for a second term as president.[28]

Early religious usage

In its early days, the Capitol building was not only used for governmental functions. On Sundays, church services were regularly held there - a practice that continued until after the Civil War. According to the US Library of Congress exhibit "Religion and the Founding of the American Republic" "It is no exaggeration to say that on Sundays in Washington during the administrations of Thomas Jefferson (1801–1809) and of James Madison (1809–1817) the state became a church. Within a year of his inauguration, Jefferson began attending church services in the House of Representatives. Madison followed Jefferson's example, although unlike Jefferson, who rode on horseback to church in the Capitol, Madison came in a coach and four. Worship services in the House—a practice that continued until after the Civil War—were acceptable to Jefferson because they were nondiscriminatory and voluntary. Preachers of every Protestant denomination appeared. (Catholic priests began officiating in 1826.)"[29]

War of 1812

The Capitol after the burning of Washington, D.C. in the War of 1812 (painting 1814 by George Munger)

See also: Burning of Washington

Not long after the completion of both wings, the Capitol was partially burned by the British on August 24, 1814, during the War of 1812. George Bomford, and Joseph Gardner Swift, both military engineers, were called upon to help rebuild the Capitol. Reconstruction began in 1815 and was completed by 1819. Construction continued through to 1826, with the addition of the center Rotunda area and the first dome of the Capitol. Latrobe is principally connected with the original construction and many innovative interior features; his successor, Bulfinch, also played a major role, such as the design of the first dome.

The House and Senate Wings

Daguerreotype of east side of the Capitol (1846 by John Plumbe)

By 1850, it became clear that the Capitol could not accommodate the growing number of legislators arriving from newly admitted states. A new design competition was held, and President Millard Fillmore appointed Philadelphia architect Thomas U. Walter to carry out the expansion. Two new wings were added – a new chamber for the House of Representatives on the south side, and a new chamber for the Senate on the north.[30]

When the Capitol was expanded in the 1850s, some of the construction labor was carried out by slaves "who cut the logs, laid the stones and baked the bricks".[31] The original plan was to use workers brought in from Europe; however, there was a poor response to recruitment efforts, and African Americans—free and slave—comprised the majority of the work force.[32]

The Capitol Building with flowers in the foreground (photo 2010)

Capitol dome

Main article: United States Capitol dome

The 1850 expansion more than doubled the length of the Capitol, dwarfing the original, timber-framed 1818 dome. In 1855, the decision was made to tear it down and replace it with the "wedding-cake style" cast-iron dome that stands today. Also designed by Walter, the new dome stood three times the height of the original dome and 100 feet (30 m) in diameter, yet had to be supported on the existing masonry piers. Like Mansart's dome at Les Invalides (which he had visited in 1838), Walter's dome is double, with a large oculus in the inner dome, through which is seen The Apotheosis of Washington painted on a shell suspended from the supporting ribs, which also support the visible exterior structure and the tholos that supports Freedom, a colossal statue that was added to the top of the dome in 1863. This statue was cast by a slave named Philip Reid. The weight of the cast iron for the dome has been published as 8,909,200 pounds (4,041,100 kg).

Later expansion

US Senate chamber (photo circa 1873)

When the Capitol's new dome was finally completed, its massive visual weight, in turn, overpowered the proportions of the columns of the East Portico, built in 1828. The East Front of the Capitol building was rebuilt in 1904, following a design of the architects Carrère and Hastings, who also designed the Senate and House office buildings.

The next major expansion to the Capitol started in 1958, with a 33.5 feet (10.2 m) extension of the East Portico.[citation needed] During this project, the dome underwent its last restoration.[33] A marble duplicate of the sandstone East Front was built 33.5 feet (10.2 m) from the old Front. (In 1962, a connecting extension incorporated what formerly was an outside wall as an inside wall.) In the process, the Corinthian columns were removed. It was not until 1984 that landscape designer Russell Page created a suitable setting for them in a large meadow at the National Arboretum as the National Capitol Columns, where they are combined with a reflecting pool in an ensemble that reminds some visitors of Persepolis. Besides the columns, hundreds of blocks of the original stone were removed and are stored behind a National Park Service maintenance yard in Rock Creek Park.[34]

In 1960, the dome underwent its last restoration.[33]

National Capitol Columns at the National Arboretum (photo 2008)

On December 19, 1960, the Capitol was declared a National Historic Landmark by the National Park Service.[35] The building was ranked #6 in a 2007 survey conducted for the American Institute of Architects' "America's Favorite Architecture" list.[36] The Capitol draws heavily from other notable buildings, especially churches and landmarks in Europe, including the dome of St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican and St. Paul's Cathedral in London.[37] On the roofs of the Senate and House Chambers are flagpoles that fly the U.S. flag when either is in session. On September 18, 1993, to commemorate the Capitol's bicentennial, the Masonic ritual cornerstone laying with George Washington was reenacted. Strom Thurmond was one of the Freemason politicians who took part in the ceremony.

On June 20, 2000, ground was broken for the Capitol Visitor Center, which subsequently opened on December 2, 2008.[38] From 2001 through 2008, the East Front of the Capitol (site of most presidential inaugurations until Ronald Reagan began a new tradition in 1981) was the site of construction for this massive underground complex, designed to facilitate a more orderly entrance for visitors to the Capitol. Prior to the center being built, visitors to the Capitol had to queue on the parking lot and ascend the stairs, whereupon entry was made through the massive sculpted Columbus Doors, through a small narthex cramped with security, and thence directly into the Rotunda. The new underground facility provides a grand entrance hall, a visitors theater, room for exhibits, and dining and restroom facilities, in addition to space for building necessities such as an underground service tunnel.

$20 million in work around the base of the dome was done, and before the August 2012 recess, the Senate Appropriations Committee voted to spend $61 million to repair the exterior of the dome, which has at least 1,300 cracks that have led to rusting inside. The House wants to spend less on government operations, making it unlikely the money will be approved.[33]

Interior

Main article: United States Capitol rotunda

See also: United States Capitol Subway System

The Capitol building is marked by its central dome above a rotunda and two wings, one for each chamber of Congress: the north wing is the Senate chamber and the south wing is the House of Representatives chamber. Above these chambers are galleries where visitors can watch the Senate and House of Representatives. It is an example of the neoclassical architecture style. The statue on top of the dome is the Statue of Freedom.[39]

Underground tunnels and a private subway connect the main Capitol building with each of the Congressional office buildings in the surrounding complex. All rooms in the Capitol are designated as either S (for Senate) or H (for House), depending on whether they are north (Senate) or south (House) of the Rotunda. Additionally, all addresses in Washington, D.C. are designated NE, NW, SE, or SW, in relation to the Rotunda. Since the Capitol Rotunda is not located in the center of the District—it is slightly farther east and south—the four D.C. quadrants are not the same shape and size.

Art

The fresco painted on the interior of the Capitol's dome titled The Apotheosis of Washington was painted by Constantino Brumidi in 1865 (photo 2005)

The Capitol has a long history in art of the United States, beginning in 1856 with Italian/Greek American artist Constantino Brumidi and his murals in the hallways of the first floor of the Senate side of the Capitol. The murals, known as the Brumidi Corridors,[40] reflect great moments and people in United States history. Among the original works are those depicting Benjamin Franklin, John Fitch, Robert Fulton, and events such as the Cession of Louisiana. Also decorating the walls are animals, insects and natural flora indigenous to the United States. Brumidi's design left many spaces open so that future events in United States history could be added. Among those added are the Spirit of St. Louis, the Moon landing, and the Challenger shuttle crew.

Brumidi also worked within the Rotunda. He is responsible for the painting of The Apotheosis of Washington beneath the top of the dome, and also the famous Frieze of United States History.[41] The Apotheosis of Washington was completed in 11 months and painted by Brumidi while suspended nearly 180 feet (55 m) in the air. It is said to be the first attempt by the United States to deify a founding father. Washington is depicted surrounded by 13 maidens in an inner ring with many Greek and Roman gods and goddesses below him in a second ring. The frieze is located around the inside of the base of the dome and is a chronological, pictorial history of the United States from the landing of Christopher Columbus to the Wright Brothers's flight in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. The frieze was started in 1878 and was not completed until 1953. The frieze was therefore painted by four different artists: Brumidi, Filippo Costaggini, Charles Ayer Whipple, and Allyn Cox. The final scenes depicted in the fresco had not yet occurred when Brumidi began his Frieze of the United States History.

Capitol Rotunda (photo 2005)

Within the Rotunda there are eight large paintings about the development of the United States as a nation. On the east side are four paintings depicting major events in the discovery of America. On the west are four paintings depicting the founding of the United States. The east side paintings include The Baptism of Pocahontas by John Gadsby Chapman, The Embarkation of the Pilgrims by Robert Walter Weir, The Discovery of the Mississippi by William Henry Powell, and The Landing of Columbus by John Vanderlyn. The paintings on the west side are by John Trumbull: Declaration of Independence, Surrender of General Burgoyne, Surrender of Lord Cornwallis, and General George Washington Resigning His Commission. Trumbull was a contemporary of the United States' founding fathers and a participant in the American Revolutionary War; he painted a self-portrait into Surrender of Lord Cornwallis.

First Reading of the Emancipation Proclamation of President Lincoln hangs over the west staircase in the Senate wing.[42]

National Statuary Hall Collection viewed from the South (photo date unknown)[43]

The Capitol also houses the National Statuary Hall Collection, comprising two statues donated by each of the fifty states to honor persons notable in their histories. One of the most notable statues in the National Statuary Hall is a bronze statue of King Kamehameha donated by the state of Hawaii upon its accession to the union in 1959. The statue's extraordinary weight of 15,000 pounds (6,804 kg) raised concerns that it might come crashing through the floor, so it was moved to Emancipation Hall of the new Capitol Visitor Center. The 100th, and last statue for the collection, that of Po'pay from the state of New Mexico, was added on September 22, 2005. It was the first statue moved into the Emancipation Hall.

Features

Under the Rotunda there is an area known as the Crypt. It was designed to look down on the final resting place of George Washington in the tomb below. However, under the stipulations of his last will, Washington was buried at Mount Vernon, and as such the area remains open to visitors. The Crypt now houses exhibits on the history of the Capitol. A star inlaid in the floor marks the point at which Washington, D.C. is divided into its four quadrants; however, the exact center of the city lies near the White House. At one end of the room near the Old Supreme Court Chamber is a statue of John C. Calhoun. On the right leg of the statue, a mark from a bullet fired during the 1998 shooting incident is clearly visible. The bullet also left a mark on the cape, located on the back right side of the statue.

Eleven presidents have lain in state in the Rotunda for public viewing, most recently Gerald Ford. The tomb meant for Washington stored the catafalque which is used to support coffins lying in state or honor in the Capitol. The catafalque is now on display in the Capitol Visitors Center for the general public to see when not in use.

The Hall of Columns is located on the House side of the Capitol, home to twenty-eight fluted columns and statues from the National Statuary Hall Collection. In the basement of the Capitol building in a utility room are two marble bathtubs, which are all that remain of the once elaborate Senate baths. These baths were a spa-like facility designed for members of Congress and their guests before many buildings in the city had modern plumbing. The facilities included several bathtubs, a barbershop, and a massage parlor.

A steep, metal staircase, totaling 365 steps, leads from the basement to an outdoor walkway on top of the Capitol's dome.[44] The number of steps represents each day of the year.[45]

Height

Main article: Heights of Buildings Act of 1910

See also: The Height of Buildings Act of 1899

See also: List of tallest buildings in Washington, D.C.

Contrary to a popular myth, D.C. building height laws have never referenced the height of the Capitol building, which rises to 289 feet (88 m).[46] Indeed, the Capitol is only the fifth-tallest structure in Washington.

House Chamber

The House of Representatives Chamber has 448 permanent seats. Unlike Senators, Representatives do not have assigned seats.[47] It is adorned with relief portraits of famous lawmakers and lawgivers throughout history. Of the twenty-three relief portraits only Moses is sculpted from a full front view and is located across from the dais where the Speaker of the House ceremonially sits.

President George W. Bush delivering the annual State of the Union address in the House chamber (photo 2003)

There is also a quote etched in the marble of the chamber, as stated by venerable statesman Daniel Webster: "Let us develop the resources of our land, call forth its powers, build up its institutions, promote all its great interests, and see whether we also, in our day and generation, may not perform something worthy to be remembered."[49]

Senate Chamber

Main article: United States Senate Chamber

Old Supreme Court Chamber (photo 2007)

The current Senate Chamber opened in 1859[50] and is adorned with white marble busts of the former Presidents of the Senate (Vice Presidents).[51]

Old Supreme Court Chamber

Main article: Old Supreme Court Chamber

From 1800 to 1806, this room served as the Senate Chamber and from 1806 until 1860, the room was used as the Supreme Court Chamber. In 1860, the Supreme Court began using the newly vacated Old Senate Chamber. Since 1935, the Supreme Court has met in the United States Supreme Court Building.

Exterior

Grounds

See also: United States Capitol Complex

Capitol Hill and its reflection pool.

Aerial view of the Capitol Grounds from the West (photo date unknown, pre-2001)[52]

The Capitol Grounds cover approximately 274 acres (1.11 km²), with the grounds proper consisting mostly of lawns, walkways, streets, drives, and planting areas. Formerly, a number of monumental sculptures were located on the east facade and lawn of the Capitol including The Rescue and George Washington. The current grounds were designed by noted American landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, who planned the expansion and landscaping performed from 1874 to 1892. In 1875, as one of his first recommendations, Olmsted proposed the construction of the marble terraces on the north, west, and south sides of the building that exist today.

Olmsted also designed the Summer House, the open-air brick building that sits just north of the Capitol. Three arches open into the hexagonal structure, which encloses a fountain and twenty-two brick chairs. A fourth wall holds a small window that looks onto an artificial grotto. Built between 1879 and 1881, the Summer House was intended to answer complaints that visitors to the Capitol had no place to sit and no place to obtain water for their horses and themselves. Modern drinking fountains have since replaced Olmsted's fountain for the latter purpose. Olmsted intended to build a second, matching Summer House on the southern side of the Capitol, but congressional objections led to the project's cancellation.

Flags

Up to four U.S. flags can be seen flying over the Capitol. Two flagpoles are located at the base of the dome on the East and West sides. These flagpoles have flown the flag day and night since World War I. The other two flagpoles are above the North (Senate) and South (House of Representatives) wings of the building, and fly only when the chamber below is in session. The flag above the House of Representatives is raised and lowered by House pages. The flag above the United States Senate is raised and lowered by Senate Doorkeepers. To raise the flag, Doorkeepers access the roof of the Capitol from the Senate Sergeant at Arms' office. Several auxiliary flagpoles, to the west of the dome and not visible from the ground, are used to meet congressional requests for flags flown over the Capitol.[citation needed] Constituents pay for U.S. flags flown over the Capitol to commemorate a variety of events such as the death of a veteran family member.

Major events

See also: State funerals in the United States and United States presidential inauguration

The body of former President Ronald Reagan lying in state (photo June 10, 2004)

The Capitol, as well as the grounds of Capitol Hill, have played host to major events, including presidential inaugurations held every four years. During an inauguration, the front of the Capitol is outfitted with a platform and a grand staircase. Annual events at the Capitol include Independence Day celebrations, and the National Memorial Day Concert.

In 1922 the US Post Office featured the US capitol on a US Postage stamp

The general public has paid respect to a number of individuals lying in state at the Capitol, including numerous former presidents, senators, and other officials. Other Americans lying in honor include Officers Jacob Chestnut and John Gibson, the two officers killed in the 1998 shooting incident. Chestnut was the first African American ever to lie in honor in the Capitol. The public also paid respect to civil rights icon Rosa Parks at the Capitol in 2005. She was the first woman and second African American to lie in honor in the Capitol.

Security

See also: United States Capitol shooting incident (1954), 1983 United States Senate bombing, and United States Capitol shooting incident (1998)

On January 30, 1835, what is believed to be the first attempt to kill a sitting President of the United States occurred just outside the United States Capitol. When President Andrew Jackson was leaving the Capitol out of the East Portico after the funeral of South Carolina Representative Warren R. Davis, Richard Lawrence, an unemployed and deranged housepainter from England, either burst from a crowd or stepped out from hiding behind a column and aimed a pistol at Jackson which misfired. Lawrence then pulled out a second pistol which also misfired. It has since been postulated that the moisture from the humid weather of the day contributed to the double misfiring.[53] Lawrence was then restrained, with legend saying that Jackson attacked Lawrence with his cane, prompting his aides to restrain him. Others present, including David Crockett, restrained and disarmed Lawrence.

On July 2, 1915, prior to the United States' entry into World War I, Eric Muenter (aka Frank Holt), a German professor who wanted to stop American support of the Allies in World War I, exploded a bomb in the reception room of the U.S. Senate. The next morning he tried to assassinate J. P. Morgan, Jr., son of the financier, at his home on Long Island, New York. In a letter to the Washington Evening Star published after the explosion, Muenter writing under an assumed name, said he hoped that the detonation would "make enough noise to be heard above the voices that clamor for war." J.P. Morgan's company served as Great Britain's principal U.S. purchasing agent for munitions and other war supplies.

The Capitol at night (photo 2006)

In 1954, Puerto Rican nationalists opened fire on members of Congress from the visitors' gallery. On March 1, 1971, a bomb exploded on the ground floor of the Capitol, placed by the radical left domestic terrorist group, the Weather Underground. They placed the bomb as a demonstration against U.S. involvement in Laos. On November 7, 1983, a group called the Armed Resistance Unit claimed responsibility for a bomb that detonated in the lobby outside the office of Senate Minority Leader Robert Byrd.[54] Six people associated with the John Brown Anti-Klan Committee were later found in contempt of court for refusing to testify about the bombing.[55] In 1990, three members of the Armed Resistance Unit were convicted of the bombing, which they claimed was in response to the invasion of Grenada.[56] On July 24, 1998, Russell Eugene Weston Jr. burst into the Capitol and opened fire, killing two Capitol Police officers. The Capitol is believed to have been the intended target of the hijacked United Airlines Flight 93 on September 11, 2001, before it crashed near Shanksville in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, after passengers tried to take over control of the plane from hijackers.[57][58]

Since the September 11, 2001 attacks, the roads and grounds around the Capitol have undergone dramatic changes. The United States Capitol Police have also installed checkpoints to inspect vehicles at specific locations around Capitol Hill,[59][60] and have closed a section of one street indefinitely.[60] The level of screening employed varies. On the main east-west thoroughfares of Constitution and Independence Avenues, barricades are implanted in the roads that can be raised in the event of an emergency. Trucks larger than pickups are interdicted by the Capitol Police and are instructed to use other routes. On the checkpoints at the shorter cross streets, the barriers are typically kept in a permanent "emergency" position, and only vehicles with special permits are allowed to pass. All Capitol visitors are screened by a magnetometer, and all items that visitors may bring inside the building are screened by an x-ray device. In both chambers, gas masks are located underneath the chairs in each chamber for members to use in case of emergency.[citation needed] Structures ranging from scores of Jersey barriers to hundreds of ornamental bollards have been erected to obstruct the path of any vehicles that might stray from the designated roadways.[61]

Capitol Visitor Center

Opening ceremony of the Capitol Visitor Center, December 2008. The plaster cast model of the Statue of Freedom is in the foreground.

Main article: United States Capitol Visitor Center

The underground, three-level, 580,000-square-foot (54,000 m2) United States Capitol Visitor Center (CVC) opened on December 2, 2008. The CVC is meant to bring all visitors in through one handicap accessible security checkpoint, yards away from the Capitol itself, increasing security and offering visitors educational exhibits, a food court, and restrooms. The estimated final cost of constructing the CVC was US$621 million.[62] The project had long been in the planning stages, but the 1998 killings of two Capitol Police officers provided the impetus to start work. Construction began in the fall of 2001.

Critics say that security improvements have been the least of the project's expense. Construction delays and added features by Congress added greatly to the cost. Citizens Against Government Waste have called the CVC a "Monument to Waste".[63] However many, including those who work in the Capitol, consider it a necessary and appropriate historical project. It is located completely underground, though skylights provide views of the Capitol dome.

casual blue corduroy coat is satin lined. it was problematic but finally completed. i'm happier with this corduroy fabric than that of the green lined coat made recently. accessorized with a scarf to be worn on a cold day, hopefully that won't be until the autumn

the lining is hand stitched into the coat using the slip stitch www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWlE_-mS1-M the lining is meant to be loose so that when worn it doesn't pull the coat in all directions. it's the second garment i've lined. in the main i followed this you tube video www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4iNiib0_TA

i've sewn snap fasteners under the collar thethriftystitcher.co.uk/a-brief-history-of-the-snap-fast... they can't be seen when the collar is down, as in the photo. now able to raise the collar closer to the neck when i want to. looks ok

corduroy fabric £7 per metre (3 and 1/2 metres)

satin lining fabric £5 per metre (3 and 1/2 metres)

gutermann thread black £11 and blue £2.20 plenty of both will be left over for other projects www.johnlewis.com/browse/sport-leisure/haberdashery/threa...

winter coat pattern instructions (now to be a spring/autumn coat) www.sewmag.co.uk/free-sewing-patterns/serena-wool-coat#lo...

setting the sleeve www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nqo-SIy8MXY&t=178s

How to properly sew a shawl collar jacket/sewing techniques for beginners www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjeqgIfSt9c

Easy Way To Sewing shawl collar | Coat Collar Tutorial Cutting and Stitching | Sewing Tutorial www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsUZjA9JErI

Sewing a coat/jacket lining

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ils6xkQu2nI

Adding a Lining to an Unlined Coat Sew Along

www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4iNiib0_TA

How to Sew Jacket Lining

www.wikihow.com/Sew-Jacket-Lining

How to add lining to ANY dress pattern | Sewing Tutorial

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENKI3fSBQBo

coatigan (spring coat) www.sewmag.co.uk/templates/sew-139-august-20-shauna-coatigan

i didn't complete this coat. i made several prototypes but found the instructions for the collar impossible

coatigan prototype flic.kr/p/2pNdB4v

How To Construct the Hand-Tailored Undercollar: Part 1. www.youtube.com/watch?v=emB9vjeX-xk

Jacket: Undercollar

www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyEW3fATn0w

HOW TO SEW A LAPEL COLLAR | LAPEL SEWING | SEWING TUTORIAL PT. 2 | LA MODÉLISTE

www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1TEvxgmVf0

How to cut and sew a shawl jacket in 10 minutes

www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8qNI0vsO2E

Jacket Collar Pattern Cutting _ How to draft and cut Front, Facing, Top Collar, Under Collar

www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfqZS-0bs3o

Making a jacket part 15: Collar

www.youtube.com/watch?v=u87fxFIHL_g

Making a jacket part 17: Attaching the under-collar

www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LCMEpdlBEs

Making a jacket part 18: Attaching the top collar

www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIoht_RWAuw

I Made a Coat! Sew My First DIY Coat with Me!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=naaUpWn7hXE

Sewing a WOOL COAT | In-depth winter coat tutorial

www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRjXbKOBYlY

Sew Better COATS: 10 tips for sewing success

www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAKfU4_sFPQ

L30: How To Make A Felt Under-Collar - Traditional Model | Online Coat Making Course

www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4F5SJWMRQg

How to sew a bespoke under Collar & 2 piece Top collar..Savile Row Tailor"Lee Marsh"

www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mp6IgDX5vo

How to sew a coat | Sophie coat sewing tutorial + pattern

www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0MJZaVk1Lo&t=742s

How to sew a coat | Erica coat sewing tutorial + pattern

www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLFaQ4ese28&t=104s

How to Make Sewing Pattern Bigger or Smaller // Simple Pattern Grading

www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxf4o8seRyI

Top and Dress

Detailed Sewing Tutorial For A Beginner : Simple Linen Top, Bias Binding Neckline【Free Pattern】

www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cFiT8UcU54

Download the Pattern

www.madebysachi.com/2021/09/27/super-simple-top/

LINEN DRESS DIY【Free Pattern +Easy Draft】Step by Step Guide for Beginner /back opening /Skirt Pleats

www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDFRlF_yEtA&t=0s

Download the Pattern

www.madebysachi.com/2021/09/27/super-simple-top/

BASIC SEAM POCKET

www.madebysachi.com/2022/07/09/basic-seam-pocket/

my sewing machine JL220 flic.kr/p/2odruLA from john lewis www.johnlewis.com/john-lewis-jl220-sewing-machine-pepperm...

You Tube Tutorials

Sewing Machine

How to Use your SEWING MACHINE (for Beginners)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmaZBTMzkoY

A Beginners' Guide To Using Your Sewing Machine

www.youtube.com/watch?v=imryOl_LNaw

Beginners Sewing Course - Day 1 - The Basics

www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGITrkYdjJs

Seam Finishes

10 SEAM FINISHES Without a Serger || Basic to Couture

www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYt7JxC_bIc&t=596s

French Seam Pockets

How to Add Pockets to a Side Seam using French Seams

www.youtube.com/watch?v=aatWJL_aAYY

Buttonholes

3 Sewing Tips to Make Buttonholes Neatly and Quickly

www.youtube.com/watch?v=6oOz28Ybk8I

How to Machine-Sew and Custom-sized Buttonhole

www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6P-TKK3tjg&t=135s

Place and Sew Hooks and Eyes Correctly

www.youtube.com/watch?v=_d06GhQx_Wg

How to Fix a Low Neckline

www.youtube.com/watch?v=3U-W6W5fh-4

Interfacing

How to fuse iron-on interfacing to fabric

www.youtube.com/watch?v=7idVbAkUBTU

How to sew a blind hem

www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9yx9GZ7pBE

dressmaking is my new hobby. posting photos of progress to encourage myself to continue. i enjoy it very much but when i started a few months ago it got a bit much with so much to learn and came to a halt. i've had a break, regrouped and am up and running again :) i'm not making any recommendations but thank goodness for you tube ...

Gonna upload some oldies for I haven't had time to shoot a lot lately :( (but I have been drawing and painting a lot lately, not very well I might add but I just love doing it!)

I moved into my apartment this week, which is so beyond weird. And I also do not have wifi or cable which is kind of problematic for a teenager... So please excuse my absence!

And I also start collage on Tuesday ( I am ecstatic no Monday class :) ) so I can always have a three day weekend! So I am trying to save some of my ideas for school projects.

Another reason why I uploaded this is because, this is my best friend and she has been gone for three months and has finally come back! So welcome back to California, Casey!

And of course here are my other social media sites

My Facebook I Twitter I Tumblr

Konishiroku Hexanon 47/1.9, the fixed lens of the Konica Auto S rangefinder. Cost me next to nothing as the camera was sold as defective due to a faulty shutter. The lens was easily removed from the camera, but the shutter proved more problematic. I had to remove the front lens group to open the shutter.

Image created with Kilfitt-Makro-Kilar E 1:3.5/40 C at f/3.5

"Future Navigation" This is my light painting photo shot from last night while enjoying the pleasant mild weather. Time travel into the future can be tricky business.... When attempting to travel into the future, navigation can be quite problematic. Just get and use a handful of magic dust and blow it into the winds of time. This dust is essential to find your intended course of travel if you want to find your future destination. Also, don't forget your time belt.....more on the time belt at a later time....

52 of Twenty Eleven Project

Weekly Theme: Mainly One Colour

Week #46

Taken November 19, 2011

Title: Golden Sunrise

Notes: Well, I was hoping for a nice eagle shot that I could somehow use for this week's theme, but they did not oblige me with any low 'fly bys' even though there were many out and about. And of course they are not really "one color" either ;-). However, the early morning fog and golden sunlight burnishing the Susquehanna River near the Conowingo Dam afforded us some gorgeous views when we first arrived.The fog clung to the river and little islands nearby making bird photography problematic but scenic views were in abundance.

Giant Rhubarb (Gunnera tinctoria) is becoming increasingly problematic for both crofters and wildlife in the Outer Hebrides. Originally from South America, the distinctive large leaved plant was introduced as a garden ornamental but has spread rapidly over crofts and ditches. This is a common plant at Leverburgh on the Isle of Harris, Outer Hebrides, Scotland.

© Roger Wasley 2015 all rights reserved. Unauthorized use or reproduction for any reason is prohibited.

by TAZE

Hamburg

Love is like that

as unproblematic as a vehicle;

Problematic are the drivers, the passengers

and the street.

FRANZ KAFKA

Die Liebe ist so

unproblematisch wie ein Fahrzeug;

Problematisch sind die Lenker, die Fahrgäste

und die Strasse.

FRANZ KAFKA

Polaroid Macro 5 SLR

Impossible Spectra color film

Hand fed through the rollers due to a problematic camera

Going through some old files, and I found this shot of the "extended version" of the waterbomb tessellation from my book.

This was before I wetted it and pressed it underneath books to make it flat - prior to that it was curling up into a cylinder like this, completely uncontrollably... problematic!

Sharing the photo because I haven't folded anything in a long while.

Out of focus, blurry, grainy, problematic colors. Couldn't care less because Magic Kingdom made me insanely happy.

I teared up a lot on this trip, arriving at MK, walking through Hogwarts at Universal, closing MK fireworks... it's been a long school year and after somehow surviving finals week and one of the hardest semesters yet, this trip was a good break. I got to experience Disney with the love of my life and I wouldn't have it any other way.

I miss art and making things and illustrating things and doing things for me that I actually enjoy.

Weightlessness can sometimes be problematic.

Credit: ESA/NASA

© Brian Callahan 2009 All rights reserved.

These swans were very happy the the ice on the pond had retreated from the shore. There were bobbing their heads in and out of the water feeding in the reeds.

The light was problematic, bright low sun from the side. This is a tone map of a single RAW file. Photomatix tone comprssor mode.

I originally wanted to do a dark tan version of my Brownstone, but the lack of dark tan 1x1 bricks was problematic. I wound up doing a completely different design instead.

Onkaparinga River inlet / Southport Beach, SA

Early morning view from the cliffs overlooking the inlet of the onkaparinga river. Sun was problematic creating lens flare. This was taken at high tide. Image was was 2 exposures manually blended - no photomatix - the real scene looked too natural to 'ruin' with fake textures. (reminds me of an uvula)

Other processing :

- Cropped both images in lightroom

- Colour layers to accentuate greens in water and gold on beach

- Dodge and burn layer (50% neutral gray)

- High pass filter layer for sharpening everything but sky

- Resize border US mask on web version

View On Black spot the man on the beach below

The painted surface of the amphora side A) shows a famous mythological scene, Achilles' ambush to Troilus, and two friezes decorated with parades of real animals and Sirens. The scene of the ambush of Troilos is frequently proposed in the context of the Tyrrhenian amphorae. In this case, however, a second female character of problematic identification is introduced alongside the protagonist, Polyxena. She is larger than Polyxena, portrayed with a Hydria near the fountain, and her gesture is authoritative. In the original story she probably played a today unknown role, but, undoubtedly, from the narrative point of view, her presence creates a certain disturbance to the drama described by the painter: Achilles in ambush, Troilos as an adolescent victim and his sister Polyxena. Behind Troilus two hoplites complete the scene.

The earliest surviving literary reference to Troilos is in Homer's Iliad, when Priam berates his surviving sons, and compares them unfavorably to their dead brothers including Trôïlon hippiocharmên, Iliad (XXIV, 257).

ὤ μοι ἐγὼ πανάποτμος, ἐπεὶ τέκον υἷας ἀρίστους 255

Τροίῃ ἐν εὐρείῃ, τῶν δ᾽ οὔ τινά φημι λελεῖφθαι,

Μήστορά τ᾽ ἀντίθεον καὶ Τρωΐλον ἱππιοχάρμην

Ἕκτορά θ᾽, ὃς θεὸς ἔσκε μετ᾽ ἀνδράσιν, οὐδὲ ἐῴκει

ἀνδρός γε θνητοῦ πάϊς ἔμμεναι ἀλλὰ θεοῖο.

[Iliad XXIV 255 -259]

«Woe is me, that am all unblest, seeing that I begat sons the best in the broad land of Troy, yet of them I avow that not one is left, not godlike Mestor, not Troilus the warrior charioteer, not Hector that was a god among men, neither seemed he as the son of a mortal man, but of a god»

Oddly enough, neither Mestor nor Troilos b mentioned elsewhere in Homer. The killing of Troilos by Achilles was related in the Cypria, and was clearly a popular story, as it is often shown in art from the early archaic period onwards, and in literature. The poem Cypria was one of the parts of the Epic Cycle that is no longer extant. The poem covered the events preceding the Trojan War and the first part of the war itself up to the events of the Iliad. Although the Cypria does not survive, most of an ancient summary of the contents, thought to be by Eutychius Proclus, remains.

On side B), two facing sphinxes between two swans

CAV /CAVI @ www.beazley.ox.ac.uk.

Attic black figure amphora

H. 18,1 cm; Dm. 13.5 cm.

Attributed to the Tyrrhenian Group – The Timiades Painter

570 – 560 BC

From Vulci

Rome, Vatican Museums, Museo Gregoriano Etrusco, Inv. No. 39514

Success!

Through emails and an opinion piece, we objected to some problematic text at a major museum show - and the museum changed it. Kudos to the Legion of Honor in San Francisco for responding appropriately.

The old text:

“Klimt’s allegorical depictions of women covered the entirety of the female experience — birth, youth, sensuality and decay.”

The new text:

"Klimt’s allegorical depictions of women represented symbolic themes related to birth, youth, sensuality, and old age."

If the image is too small to read, the online version is here (If it says you need to subscribe to see it, try private browsing or a different browser, you should be able to view 5 items/month for free at the SF Chronicle):

www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/openforum/article/Klimt-Rodin...

If you'd like to thank the museum for making the change, you can use their comment form:

legionofhonor.famsf.org/contact