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Prompt: 3D Chibi Disney Pixar, Christmas holiday background, pay attention to color matching, thin green hairy monster dressed in Santa Claus clothes, white westie terrier, ears up, holding a bag full of gifts, a Christmas tree and red lights
I'm considering this the reverse effect of a photo from earlier in my stream. Instead of complete black, the background is nearly solid white. She is actually standing with her feet in the ocean, and the white is all water.
Created for guttergirlz.blogspot.com challenge!! and it also fit nicely into the We Spy challenge blog too!! Thanks for looking! Just a little creative therapy for myself with all sorts of hidden meaning in it.
See where this picture was taken. [?]
Lyndhurst is built on part of a grant in 1796 of 400 acres to Reverend Richard Johnson on Church of England property known as the Glebe. Trustees of the Clergy and School Lands Corporation subdivided the Glebe in 1828 and Lot 5 was sold to Charles Cowper.
The land for Lyndhurst was purchased from Cowper in 1833 by Dr James Bowman for 1500 pounds. In April NSW's foremost Greek Revival style architect John Verge selected the site and prepared designs for the residence. In May and June the plans were prepared .
Lyndhurst house was built between 1834 and 1837 as a 'suburban villa' with view to Blackwattle Bay by Verge for Bowman, the principal colonial surgeon and his wife Mary. Mary was a daughter of graziers John and Elizabeth Macarthur.
The house overlooked Blackwattle Bay and no expense was spared on its building or fitting out. The surviving papers and accounts would make Lyndhurst the best documented domestic dwelling of the period.
In the grounds were the large service yard and balancing wings and stables designed by Verge, elaborately laid out pleasure grounds, shrubbery and the kitchen garden.
Francis Newman was the gardener at Lyndhurst. He was later appointed Superintendent of the Royal Society of Tasmania's garden in Hobart, which later would be renamed the Royal Tasmanian Botanic Gardens, a post he held form 1845 until his death in 1859 .
The Bowman's occupation of their new home did not last long. Dr Bowman had become involved with his Macarthur brothers-in-law over the AA Company and in 1842 was experiencing financial difficulty. The Macarthurs took possession of the property and leased it to the short-lived St James Theological College. James and William Macarthur also became indebted and the Bank of Australia took possession of it. In 1852 the bank sold the property to the Roman Catholic Church for the establishment of St Mary's College, the most important Roman Catholic School in Sydney..
St James was Australia's first theological college and produced several distinguished native born clerics. The success of it's classical department gave Bishop Broughton, Australia's first Anglican Bishop, hope that it would play a part in the emerging university movement. However, its churchmanship was considered too high and this involved a major crisis which let to it's demise. St Mary's shared a similar fate. It taught secular pupils while the English Benedictine community which provided the teaching staff formed a regular order. It had a reputation for its elaborate classical curriculum and high scholarly standards. The school began to decline in the late 1860s when competition from the country catholic schools, the irish dislike of English Benedictinism and criticism for its high fees weakened its popularity.
The college closed in 1877. In 1878 and 1885 the estate was sold, subdivided and terraced houses went up. The service wings behind the house came off, the stables demolished and the grounds built upon. Morris Asher, M.P., a businessman, bought the house in 1878. For some time after this the building was run as a lying-in maternity hospital.
In 1890 Morris had the verandahs and porch demolished, the main staircase taked down and the interior divided into a series of small rooms and passages. Stairs were provided for each house. The houses were not successful and the interior was returned to that of one house, adding to the already confused state of the altered interior
During the period 1890-1905 one of the terraces became Lyndhurst Private School run by Miss Agnes Watt.
Lyndhurst was purchased in 1925 by Aubrey Bartlett who owned it until its resumption for the freeway in 1972. By this time the building had long ceased to be a residence and had been given over to factory use. Buildings had been constructed against its walls and it served as a broom factory, soap factory, ice cream shop and joinery factory among others..
Public support prompted by the Save Lyndhurst Committee for the rescue of a Verge masterpiece and a change of government led to the abandonment of the proposal and the subsequent restoration of the house by Clive Lucas, Stapleton and partners between 1979 and 1988.
The first brief came from the Heritage Council in 1979 to see if the wreck could be saved. Finance was allocated for necessary structural repairs, a temporary roof and caretakers accomodation. This halted decay and allowed for proper assessment. Initial recommendations, including restoration of the hall, dining, drawing room and library, were achieved by 1981, allowing the public to appreciate the house.
In 1983 the building was transferred to the Historic Houses Trust of NSW to complete the project to provide them with a headquarters. Attention was first paid to the interiors. The last phase of the restoration was the reconstruction of the garden. This work was finished in May 1988 (was sold in 2005 for 3.8 million dollars to private hands).
In 1990 Clive Lucas Stapleton & Partners were awarded the Greenway award by the Royal Australian Institute of Architects for Excellence in building restoration.
I am taking advantage of our group site to send all of you who practice the Christian Faith and will celebrate Easter Sunday, this greeting and my love to all of you .
This overlooks our bay front...Corpus Christi, The body of Christ. I texted in the inscription and name of the sculpture because it did not show..
I revisited Donmouth Nature Reserve today 2/3/2018, prompted by the severe weather conditions that the so called "Beast From The East" has brought to the UK in the past few days, I decided to visit and capture any impacts it may have had along the coastline.
I found that the walk paths have eroded due to the heavy tides and tall waves that have battered the shore over the past few days, you can see the pathway clumps of grass that previously sat above the coastline now laying on the shore waiting for the sea to drag them off to the bottom of the North Sea.
Today was bitterly cold, the sea raged though I enjoyed a magnificent walk along the shore capturing what lay before me.
Check out my photos previously posted to appreciate the impact this "BFTE" has had on this beautiful nature reserve.
Coastal erosion is the wearing away of land and the removal of beach or sand dunes sediments by wave action, tidal currents, wave currents, drainage or high winds (see also beach evolution). Waves, generated by storms, wind, or fast moving motor craft, can cause coastal erosion, which may take the form of long-term losses of sediment and rocks, or merely the temporary redistribution of coastal sediments; erosion in one location may result in accretion nearby.
The study of erosion and sediment redistribution is called 'coastal morphodynamics'.
It may be caused by hydraulic action, abrasion, impact and corrosion by wind, water, and other forces, natural or unnatural.
On non-rocky coasts, coastal erosion results in dramatic (or non-dramatic) rock formations in areas where the coastline contains rock layers or fracture zones with varying resistance to erosion.
Softer areas become eroded much faster than harder ones, which typically result in landforms such as tunnels, bridges, columns, and pillars.
Over time the coast generally evens out. The softer areas fill up with sediment eroded from hard areas, and rock formations are eroded away.
Also abrasion commonly happens in areas where there are strong winds, loose sand, and soft rocks.
The blowing of millions of sharp sand grains creates a sandblasting effect. This effect helps to erode, smooth and polish rocks.
The definition of abrasion is grinding and wearing away of rock surfaces through the mechanical action of other rock or sand particles.
Examples
Small-scale erosion destroys abandoned railroad tracks
A place where erosion of a cliffed coast has occurred is at Wamberal in the Central Coast region of New South Wales where houses built on top of the cliffs began to collapse into the sea. This is due to waves causing erosion of the primarily sedimentary material on which the buildings foundations sit.[2]
Dunwich, the capital of the English medieval wool trade, disappeared over the period of a few centuries due to redistribution of sediment by waves.
Human interference can also increase coastal erosion:
Hallsands in Devon, England, was a coastal village that washed away over the course of a year, an event directly caused by dredging of shingle in the bay in front of it.
The California coast, which has soft cliffs of sedimentary rock and is heavily populated, regularly has incidents of housing damage as cliffs erodes .
The Holderness coastline on the east coast of England, just north of the Humber Estuary, is one of the fastest eroding coastline in Europe due to its soft clay cliffs and powerful waves.
Groynes and other artificial measures to keep it under control has only accelerated the process further down the coast, because longshore drift starves the beaches of sand, leaving them more exposed. The White Cliffs of Dover have also been affected.
Fort Ricasoli in Kalkara, Malta already showing signs of damage where the land is being eroded Fort Ricasoli, a historic 17th century fortress in Malta is being threatened by coastal erosion, as it was built on a fault in the headland which is prone to erosion.
A small part of one of the bastion walls has already collapsed since the land under it has eroded, and there are cracks in other walls as well.
Wave action
Hydraulic action
Hydraulic action occurs when waves striking a cliff face compress air in cracks on the cliff face. This exerts pressure on the surrounding rock, and can progressively splinter and remove pieces. Over time, the cracks can grow, sometimes forming a cave. The splinters fall to the sea bed where they are subjected to further wave action.
Attrition
Attrition occurs when waves cause loose pieces of rock debris (scree) to collide with each other, grinding and chipping each other, progressively becoming smaller, smoother and rounder. Scree also collides with the base of the cliff face, chipping small pieces of rock from the cliff or have a corrasion (abrasion) effect, similar to sandpapering.
Solution
Solution is the process in which acids contained in sea water will dissolve some types of rock such as chalk or limestone.
Corrasion
Corrasion or otherwise known as abrasion occurs when waves break on cliff faces and slowly erode it. As the sea pounds cliff faces it also uses the scree from other wave actions to batter and break off pieces of rock from higher up the cliff face which can be used for this same wave action and attrition.
Corrosion
Corrosion or solution/chemical weathering occurs when the sea's pH (anything below pH 7.0) corrodes rocks on a cliff face. Limestone cliff faces, which have a moderately high pH, are particularly affected in this way. Wave action also increases the rate of reaction by removing the reacted material.
Factors that influence erosion rates
Primary factors
The ability of waves to cause erosion of the cliff face depends on many factors.
The hardness (or inversely, the erodibility) of sea-facing rocks is controlled by the rock strength and the presence of fissures, fractures, and beds of non-cohesive materials such as silt and fine sand.
The rate at which cliff fall debris is removed from the foreshore depends on the power of the waves crossing the beach. This energy must reach a critical level to remove material from the debris lobe. Debris lobes can be very persistent and can take many years to completely disappear.
Beaches dissipate wave energy on the foreshore and provide a measure of protection to the adjoining land.
The stability of the foreshore, or its resistance to lowering. Once stable, the foreshore should widen and become more effective at dissipating the wave energy, so that fewer and less powerful waves reach beyond it. The provision of updrift material coming onto the foreshore beneath the cliff helps to ensure a stable beach.
The adjacent bathymetry, or configuration of the seafloor, controls the wave energy arriving at the coast, and can have an important influence on the rate of cliff erosion. Shoals and bars offer protection from wave erosion by causing storm waves to break and dissipate their energy before reaching the shore.
Given the dynamic nature of the seafloor, changes in the location of shoals and bars may cause the locus of beach or cliff erosion to change position along the shore.
Coastal erosion has been greatly affected by the rising sea levels globally.
Donmouth Local Nature Reserve is a beach site in the historic Old Aberdeen part of the City where the River Don meets the sea.
A great place to see seals and a range of interesting birds. The beach area has changed over time as the river has changed its course. There are lots of interesting plants in the dunes and beach area. Bird hide is an excellent shelter from which to watch the wildlife. The paths run across King Street to the Brig 'o Balgownie., the original bridge in to the City from the North, then down the other side of the river to the sea.
The site was designated a Local Nature Reserve in 1992
Paths are good although wheelchair access to the beach would be difficult as the boardwalk can get covered with sand.
There is plenty of free car parking on the Beach Esplanade and at the car park in Donmouth Road. There are cycle racks on Beach Esplanade
Bridge Of Don has five spans of dressed granite, and rounded cutwaters that carry up to road level to form pedestrian refuges. The spans are 75 feet (23 m), with a rise of 25 feet (7.6 m).
It was widened in 1958-59, from 24 feet (7.3 m), to 66 feet (20 m) by the construction of a new concrete bridge adjacent to the old one.
It now carries four lanes of the A956 road, and is the last bridge on the River Don before it meets the sea. The bridge is just downstream from a substantial island in the river. Around the area of the bridge is the Donmouth Local Nature Reserve, designated as a LNR in 1992.
Near to the bridge are a number of World War II era coastal defences, including a pill box.
Mudflats
Mudflats are formed when fine particles carried downstream by the river are deposited as it slows down before entering the sea, and to a lesser extent by fine particles washed in by the tide. The sand spit at the mouth of the Don provides shelter from the wind and waves allowing this material to build up. The mud flats are a very rich and fertile environment. Despite their rather barren appearance they support a surprisingly diverse invertebrate fauna which includes; worms, molluscs and crustacea. These invertebrates are vitally important to wildfowl and wading birds within the estuary.
Salt marsh
Along the upper shore of the south bank saltmarsh has developed. This habitat would once have been much more extensive prior to the tipping of domestic and other refuse in the area and the formation in 1727 of an artificial embankment to prevent flooding of the river into the Links. This habitat is now reduced to a narrow strip of vegetation along the river margins upstream from the Powis Burn.
The species composition of the salt marsh varies according to the salinity of the water i.e. the proximity to the sea. Close to the Powis Burn this habitat is dominated by reed sweet-grass (Glyceria maxima) with reed canary-grass (Phalaris arundinacea), sea club-rush (Scirpus maritimus), spike-rush (Eleocharis palustris), hemlock water-dropwort (Oenanthe crocata) and common scurvygrass (Chochlearia officinalis).
Further inland reed sweet-grass continues to dominate but hemlock water-dropwort is more abundant with meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria) and valarian (Valariana officinalis),
Sand dunes
Sand dunes are found in the more exposed parts of the estuary at the river mouth. Again, this habitat was once much more extensive in this locality with dune grasslands stretching from Aberdeen Beach inland as far as King Street, southwards from the estuary of the Dee, northwards to the Sands of Forvie and beyond. Many of the dunes formed part of Seaton Tip, and following tipping the area was grassed over. Other areas have been formally landscaped to form golf courses or planted with native trees in 2010 to create a new woodland area.
Some remnants of the natural dune flora can be seen in the 'roughs' on the Kings Links golf course and near the mouth of the river.
Above the high water mark, fore dunes with thick clumps of the pioneer grass species including sea lyme grass (Elymus arenarius) and marram grass (Ammophila arenaria) occur. Few other species are able to cope with the shifting sand. The largest area of these young dunes is to the north and west of the headland. Further inland where the dunes are sheltered from the actions of the wind and waves, and soils are more developed, more stable dunes are present supporting a more diverse grassland habitat.
Strand line plants which are able to tolerate occasional coverage by sea water include sea rocket (Cakile maritima), frosted orache (Atriplex laciniata), sea sandwort (Honkenya peploides) and knotgrass (Polygonum aviculare). Bur-reed (Sparganium sp.) has been recorded; presumably washed down by the river.
Marram grass (Ammophila arenaria) and sea lyme grass (Elymus arenarius) dominate the fore dunes. The latter species is not native to this area but appeared in 1802. It is thought to have been unintentionally introduced into the area by fishing boats. For a number of years it remained uncommon but from 1870 onwards it spread rapidly along the coastline (Marren, 1982).
In the more stable dunes red fescue (Festuca rubra), sand sedge (Carex arenaria), yellow rattle (Rhinanthus minor), wild pansy (Viola tricolour), harebell (Campanula rotundifolia), bird's-foot-trefoil (Lotus corniculatus) and lesser meadow-rue (Thalictrum minus) are abundant. Small amounts of kidney vetch (Anthyllis vulneraria), valerian (Valeriana officinalis) and spring vetch (Vicia lathyroides) are present.
Scattered willows (Salix sp.) and sycamore (Acer pseudoplantanus) have seeded into this area. Gorse (Ulex europaeus) scrub has colonised the dunes in some areas and appears to be spreading.
Scrub
This habitat is almost entirely artificial with only the gorse scrub on the inner dunes being a semi-natural habitat. Alder and willow were planted along the south bank of the river in about 1970 and these shrubs are now generally well established. Further shrub planting on the south bank was carried out in 1990.
Willow (Salix sp.) and alder (Alnus glutinosa) were planted in the 1970's along the south bank of the River Don eastwards of the Bridge of Don. The trees to the west of this strip are doing considerably better than those to the east. More recent planting was carried out in 1990 with hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna), blackthorn (Prunus spinosa) elder (Sambucus nigra), goat willow (Salix caprea) and alder.
Underneath the scrub neutral grassland is present with cocksfoot (Dactylis glomerata), false oat-grass (Arrhenatherum elatius), cow parsley (Anthriscus sylvestris), sweet cicely (Myrrhis odorata), hedge woundwort (Stachys sylvatica) and hedge bindweed (Calystegia sepium).
Grassland
Much of the grassland within the reserve is formed on imported soil and is intensively managed. This includes grassland on the north and south sides of the Esplanade. Daffodils are present in the grassland on the north side of the road. On the north bank to the east of the Bridge of Don is rank grassland on a steep south-facing slope. This is unmanaged and contains some patches of scrub.
Rough grassland is present on the headland. This area has been modified by tipping, with rubble to the east and with grass cuttings to the west. The grassland contains a mixture of neutral grassland, dune grassland, ruderal, and introduced garden species. This area attracts flocks of seed eating birds in late summer and autumn.
Improved grassland is present on the headland and along the south bank of the estuary downstream from the bridge of Don. Much of this vegetation has developed on imported soil and contains a high proportion of ruderal species and garden escapes. On the headland, broadleaved dock (Rumex obtusifolius), nettle (Urtica dioica), coltsfoot (Tussilago farfara), spear thistle (Cirsium vulgare), cow parsley (Anthriscus sylvestris), hemlock (Conium maculatum) and hogweed (Heracleum sphondylium) are abundant. Sweet cicely (Chaerophyllum bulbosum) is widespread and in late summer fills the air with the scent of aniseed.
To the south of the Esplanade the grassland is managed with an annual cut.. The grassland does flood to form pools. Early in the year cuckoo flower (Cardamine pratensis) is common, meadow foxtail (Alopecuris pratensis)is known to occur around the margins of these pools.
Woodland
Semi-mature woodland is present on the steep sided south bank of the river upstream from the Bridge of Don. Most of this woodland has been planted in the mid 1930's though some older oak and elm trees are present. These may be relicts of former woodland cover. The woodland in the reserve is part of a strip of woodland along the River Don corridor which continues upstream from the Brig 'o' Balgownie.
Woodland is present on the south bank upstream from the Bridge of Don.
Much of the woodland consists of even aged stands with willow (Salix sp.), sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus), ash (Fraxinus excelsior), beech (Fagus sylvatica) and alder (AInus glutinosa).
At the top of the slope mature oak (Quercus sp.) and elm (Ulmus glabra) are present. The ground flora contains tufted hair-grass (Deschampsia caespitosa), red campion (Silene dioica), ramsons (Allium ursinum) and lady fern (Athyrium felix-femina) .In a few areas dense shading is caused by the trees and in these areas the ground flora is poor.
On the north bank scattered trees are present, mainly willow and sycamore with some scrub.
Thanks for todays prompt, I used up a LOT of the rest of my January kit scraps making this layout.
I was inspired by this pin:https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/377387643772724360/
and made a LIVe scrap-along video with it that you can find on the Mind the Scrap Facebook group, should you wish to watch it back!
THANKS FOR LOOKING XXX
Working the former GHA route Ruthin to Graigfechan. On Monday 18th July this service will be taken on by M and H
The Terracotta Army or the "Terracotta Warriors and Horses" is a collection of terracotta sculptures depicting the armies of Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China. It is a form of funerary art buried with the emperor in 210–209 BCE and whose purpose was to protect the emperor in his afterlife.The figures, dating from approximately the late third century BCE, were discovered in 1974 by local farmers in Lintong District, Xi'an, Shaanxi province. The figures vary in height according to their roles, with the tallest being the generals. The figures include warriors, chariots and horses. Estimates from 2007 were that the three pits containing the Terracotta Army held more than 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots with 520 horses and 150 cavalry horses, the majority of which remained buried in the pits nearby Qin Shi Huang's mausoleum. Other terracotta non-military figures were found in other pits, including officials, acrobats, strongmen and musicians.
BACKGROUND
The Terracotta Army was discovered on 29 March 1974 to the east of Xi'an in Shaanxi province by farmers digging a water well approximately 1.6 kilometres east of the Qin Emperor's tomb mound at Mount Li (Lishan), a region riddled with underground springs and watercourses. For centuries, occasional reports mentioned pieces of terracotta figures and fragments of the Qin necropolis – roofing tiles, bricks and chunks of masonry. This discovery prompted Chinese archaeologists to investigate, revealing the largest pottery figurine group ever found in China.
NECROPROLIS
In addition to the warriors, an entire necropolis built for the emperor was found surrounding the first emperor's tomb mound. The earthen tomb mound is located at the foot of Mount Li and built in a pyramidal shape with Qin Shi Huang’s necropolis complex constructed as a microcosm of his imperial palace or compound.
It consists of several offices, halls, stables, and other structures placed around the tomb mound, which is surrounded by two solidly built rammed earth walls with gateway entrances. Up to 5 metres of reddish, sandy soil had accumulated over the site in the two millennia following its construction, but archaeologists found evidence of earlier disturbances at the site. During the excavations near the Mount Li burial mound, archaeologists found several graves dating from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, where diggers had apparently struck terracotta fragments. These were discarded as worthless and used along with soil to back fill the excavations.
HISTORY
According to the writings of historian Sima Qian (145–90 BCE), work on the mausoleum began in 246 BCE soon after Emperor Qin (then aged 13) ascended the throne. The project eventually involved 700,000 workers. Geographer Li Daoyuan, writing six centuries after the First Emperor's death, recorded in Shui Jing Zhu that Mount Li was a favoured location due to its auspicious geology, "famed for its jade mines, its northern side was rich in gold, and its southern side rich in beautiful jade; the First Emperor, covetous of its fine reputation, therefore chose to be buried there". Sima Qian, in his most noted work, Shiji, finished a century after the mausoleum's completion, wrote that the First Emperor was buried with palaces, towers, officials, valuable artifacts and wondrous objects. According to this account, 100 rivers had their flow simulated by mercury, and above them the ceiling was decorated with heavenly bodies below which were the features of the land. Some translations of this passage refer to "models" or "imitations," however those words were not used in the original text, which makes no mention of the terracotta army.
High levels of mercury were found in the soil of the tomb mound, giving credence to Sima Qian's account.
Later historical accounts suggested that the tomb had been looted by Xiang Yu, a contender for the throne after the death of the first emperor, however, there are indications that the tomb may not have been plundered.
CONSTRUCTION
The terracotta army figures were manufactured in workshops by government laborers and local craftsmen using local materials. Heads, arms, legs, and torsos were created separately and then assembled. Eight face moulds were most likely used, with clay added after assembly to provide individual facial features.
It is believed that the warriors' legs were made in much the same way that terracotta drainage pipes were manufactured at the time. This would classify the process as assembly line production, with specific parts manufactured and assembled after being fired, as opposed to crafting one solid piece and subsequently firing it. In those times of tight imperial control, each workshop was required to inscribe its name on items produced to ensure quality control. This has aided modern historians in verifying which workshops were commandeered to make tiles and other mundane items for the terracotta army. Upon completion, the terracotta figures were placed in the pits in precise military formation according to rank and duty.
The terracotta figures are life-sized. They vary in height, uniform, and hairstyle in accordance with rank. Most originally held real weapons such as spears, swords, or crossbows. Originally, the figures were also painted with bright pigments, variously coloured pink, red, green, blue, black, brown, white and lilac. The coloured lacquer finish, individual facial features, and weapons used in producing these figures increased the figures' realism. Most of the original weapons were looted shortly after the creation of the army, or have rotted away, while the colour coating flaked off or greatly faded.
THE TOMB
The tomb appears to be a hermetically-sealed space the size of a football pitch. The tomb remains unopened, given concerns about preserving its artifacts. For example, after their excavation, the painted surface present on some terracotta figures began to flake and fade. The lacquer covering the paint can curl in fifteen seconds once exposed to Xi'an's dry air and can flake off in just four minutes. There is speculation of a possible Hellenistic link to these sculptures, due to the lack of life-sized and realistic sculptures prior to the Qin dynasty according to some scholars.
EXCAVATION SITE
PITS
Four main pits approximately 7 metres deep have been excavated. These are located approximately 1.5 kilometres east of the burial mound. The soldiers within were laid out as if to protect the tomb from the east, where all the Qin Emperor's conquered states lay.
PIT ONE
Pit one, which is 230 metres long and 62 metres wide,contains the main army of more than 6,000 figures. Pit one has 11corridors, most of which are more than 3 metres wide and paved with small bricks with a wooden ceiling supported by large beams and posts. This design was also used for the tombs of nobles and would have resembled palace hallways when built. The wooden ceilings were covered with reed mats and layers of clay for waterproofing, and then mounded with more soil raising them about 2 to 3 metres above the surrounding ground level when completed.
OTHERS
Pit two has cavalry and infantry units as well as war chariots and is thought to represent a military guard. Pit three is the command post, with high-ranking officers and a war chariot. Pit four is empty, perhaps left unfinished by its builders.
Some of the figures in pit one and two show fire damage, while remains of burnt ceiling rafters have also been found.
These, together with the missing weapons, have been taken as evidence of the reported looting by Xiang Yu and the subsequent burning of the site, which is thought to have caused the roof to collapse and crush the army figures below. The terracotta figures currently on display have been restored from the fragments.Other pits that formed the necropolis also have been excavated. These pits lie within and outside the walls surrounding the tomb mound. They variously contain bronze carriages, terracotta figures of entertainers such as acrobats and strongmen, officials, stone armour suits, burials sites of horses, rare animals and labourers, as well as bronze cranes and ducks set in an underground park.
WEAPONRY
Weapons such as swords, spears, battle-axes, scimitars, shields, crossbows, and arrowheads were found in the pits. Some of these weapons, such as the swords are sharp and were coated with a 10–15 micrometre layer of chromium dioxide and kept the swords rust-free for 2,000 years. The swords contain an alloy of copper, tin, and other elements including nickel, magnesium, and cobalt. Some carry inscriptions that date manufacture between 245 and 228 BCE, indicating they were used as weapons before their burials.
An important element of the army is the chariot, of which four types were found. In battle the fighting chariots form pairs at the head of a unit of infantry. The principal weapon of the charioteers was the ge or dagger-axe, an L-shaped bronze blade mounted on a long shaft used for sweeping and hooking at the enemy. Infantrymen also carried ge on shorter shafts, ji or halberds and spears and lances. For close fighting and defence, both charioteers and infantrymen carried double-edged straight swords. The archers carried crossbows, with sophisticated trigger mechanisms, capable of firing arrows farther than 800 metres.
EXHIBITIONS
A collection of 120 objects from the mausoleum and 20 terracotta warriors were displayed at the British Museum in London as its special exhibition "The First Emperor: China's Terracotta Army" from 13 September 2007 to April 2008. This exhibition made 2008 the British Museum's most successful year and made the British Museum the United Kingdom's top cultural attraction between 2007 and 2008. The exhibition brought the most visitors to the museum since the King Tutankhamun exhibition in 1972. It was reported that the initial batch of tickets sold out so fast that the museum extended its opening hours until midnight on Thursdays to Sundays. According to The Times, many people had to be turned away, despite the extended hours. During the day of events to mark the Chinese New Year, the crush was so intense that the gates to the museum had to be shut. The Terracotta Army has been described as the only other set of historic artifacts (along with the remnants of wreck of the RMS Titanic) that can draw a crowd by the name alone.
Warriors and other artifacts were exhibited to the public at the Forum de Barcelona in Barcelona between 9 May and 26 September 2004. It was their most successful exhibition ever. The same exhibition was presented at the Fundación Canal de Isabel II in Madrid between October 2004 and January 2005, their most successful ever. From December 2009 to May 2010 the exhibition was shown in the Centro Cultural La Moneda in Santiago de Chile.
The exhibition traveled to North America and visited museums such as the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, Bowers Museum in Santa Ana, California, Houston Museum of Natural Science, High Museum of Art in Atlanta, National Geographic Society Museum in Washington, D.C. and the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto. Subsequently the exhibition traveled to Sweden and was hosted in the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities between 28 August 2010 and 20 January 2011. An exhibition entitled 'The First Emperor – China's Entombed Warriors', presenting 120 artifacts was hosted at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, between 2 December 2010 and 13 March 2011. An exhibition entitled "L'Empereur guerrier de Chine et son armée de terre cuite" ("The Warrior-Emperor of China and his terracotta army"), featuring artifacts including statues from the mausoleum, was hosted by the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts from 11 February 2011 to 26 June 2011. In Italy, from July 2008 to November 16, 2008, five of the warriors of the terracotta army were exposed in Turin at the Museum of Antiquities, and from 16 April 2010 to 5 September 2010 were exposed nine warriors in Milan, at the Royal Palace, at the exhibition entitled "The Two Empires". The group consisted of a horse, a counselor, an archer and 6 Lancers. The "Treasures of Ancient China" exhibition, showcasing two terracotta soldiers and other artifacts, including the Longmen Grottoes Buddhist statues, was held between 19 February 2011 and 7 November 2011 in four locations in India: National Museum of New Delhi, Prince of Wales Museum in Mumbai, Salar Jung Museum in Hyderabad and National Library of India in Kolkata.
Soldiers and related items were on display from March 15, 2013, to November 17, 2013, at the Historical Museum of Bern.
SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH
In 2007, scientists at Stanford University and the Advanced Light Source facility in Berkeley, California reported that powder diffraction experiments combined with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and micro-X-ray fluorescence analysis showed that the process of producing Terracotta figures colored with Chinese purple dye consisting of barium copper silicate was derived from the knowledge gained by Taoist alchemists in their attempts to synthesize jade ornaments.
Since 2006, an international team of researchers at the UCL Institute of Archaeology have been using analytical chemistry techniques to uncover more details about the production techniques employed in the creation of the Terracotta Army. Using X-ray fluorescence spectrometry of 40,000 bronze arrowheads bundled in groups of 100, the researchers reported that the arrowheads within a single bundle formed a relatively tight cluster that was different from other bundles. In addition, the presence or absence of metal impurities was consistent within bundles. Based on the arrows’ chemical compositions, the researchers concluded that a cellular manufacturing system similar to the one used in a modern Toyota factory, as opposed to a continuous assembly line in the early days of automobile industry, was employed.
Grinding and polishing marks visible under a scanning electron microscope provide evidence for the earliest industrial use of lathes for polishing.
WIKIPEDIA
Today, I want you to draw a picture, doodle, sketch, of a person who you love, or admire. Then, write that person a letter telling them why they mean so much to you!
New Yorker Hotel (also known as Ramada Plaza New Yorker Hotel)
481 8th Avenue (34th St. & 8th Ave)
New York City, NY 10001
Elevator foyer
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Art Deco architecture symbolizes New York City and the 43-story New Yorker Hotel represents that image.
Construction began in 1929, just prior to the onset of the Great Depression -- and one year before ground was broken for The Empire State Building three blocks away. The $22.5 million building opened for business the day after New Year's Day in 1930. Zoning laws required the architects Sugarman and Berger to design the structure with a pyramidal, set-back tower that would provide the greatest height and the greatest amount of street side sunlight. At the time it opened, it was the largest at 2,500 rooms and tallest at 43-storys hotel in New York City. It boasted a pbx room with 92 telephone operators, a laundry with 150 workers, a barbershop had 42 chairs and 20 manicurists and a kitchen with 35 chefs. Penn Station just down the avenue and connected by underground tunnel deposited a steady streams of guests.
Sugarman & Berger also designed the Sutton Place (now known as aka Sutton Place) the Helmsley Middletowne Hotel and the Mayfair Hotel in Philadelphia.
Mack Kanner, a chief developer of the Garment Center, was the developer and builder of the hotel. However, according to Wikipedia the hotel's mortgage holder, Manufacturers Trust, hired Ralph Hitz to manage the venture. Hitz was able to turn a profit even during the depression. This prompted Manufacturers Trust to hire Hitz to control all of its hotels. In 1932, the National Hotel Management Company was created, with Ralph Hitz as the president. At Hitz's death in 1940, the National Hotel Management Company managed the New Yorker, the Lexington and the Belmont Plaza hotels (New York); the Congress (Chicago); the Netherland Plaza (Cincinnati); the Adolphus (Dallas); the Van Cleve (Dayton); the Book-Cadillac (Detroit); and the Nicollet (Minneapolis).
The opening brochure for the New Yorker describes the guest rooms: "Every bedroom has a radio loud speaker with a choice of four programs; both tub and shower bath; Servidor; circulating ice water; hand telephone; bed-head reading lamps; full-length mirror and full-sized beds. Every room has two or more windows and all rooms are outside and flooded with light and air. Floor secretaries on each floor take your messages when you are out and prevent the annoyance of standing in crowded lines in the lobby to receive your mail and keys."
The brochure describes the New Yorker's heat, light and power facilities: "Seventy-eight feet below the sidewalk is the largest private power plant in the world. Five steam engines and oil-burning Diesel engine produce enough light, heat, power and refrigeration for the average city of thirty-five thousand people. Compressed air forces pulverized coal under the furnaces and blows the ashes out again. The engineering equipment includes the air-cleaning machinery which draws in air on the roof, washes and purifies it, and then forces it down into the restaurant, lobby, ballrooms and other public spaces."
The brochure describes its bellboys as "snappy-looking as West Pointers". It was a Hotel New Yorker bellboy, Johnny Roventini, who served as tobacco company Phillip Morris' pitchman for twenty years, making famous their "Call for Phillip Morris" advertising campaign.
The New Yorker Hotel was purchased by Hilton Hotels in 1953 for $12.5 million and sold just three years later, in 1956, for $20 million to hotel executive Joseph Massaglia and his company Massaglia Hotels. In 1953 Massaglia Hotels also owned the Hotel Waikiki Biltmore in Honolulu, the Hotel Raleigh in Washington DC and the Hotel Miramar in Santa Barbara, California. In 1959, Massaglia sold the hotel to an investment syndicate known as New York Towers Ltd., which allowed the hotel to fall into foreclosure allowing Hilton to reacquire the building in 1967. The construction of new, more modern hotels directly caused the New Yorker to become unprofitable. Hilton closed the hotel in April 1972. The hotel was left vacant until Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church acquired it for $5.6 million to serve as its World Mission Center and church housing.
On July 1, 1982 4,000 followers of the Reverend Sun Myung Moon gathered in the second-floor Grand Ballroom of the New Yorker Hotel and entered into marriage contracts with strangers whom the reverend had picked for them. Beginning in 1994 the church began to re-open it as a public hotel. The church still controls it, but has entered into a lease with an entitiy known as the New Yorker Hotel Management Company to operate it.
In 2008 New Yorker Hotel Management Company hired Stonehill & Taylor to restore the hotel to its former glory. The 18-month, $70 million renovation included: Installation of a new heating and air conditioning system; Total overhaul of furniture, carpets, wallpaper and fixtures in both the guest rooms and the hallways; Complete redesign of the lobby to recapture the grandeur and feel of when the New Yorker opened in 1930; Facelift of the entire front of the hotel on Eighth Avenue – replacing signage, re-facing the stonework, and changing the marquee; Upgrade and refurbishment of the hotel’s restaurants (La Vigna Ristorante (now known as Cooper's Tavern) and the 24-hour Tick Tock Diner.
Since 2000 the New Yorker has been a franchise of the Ramada hotel chain.
VU21 DFK
2021 DAF XF 480 FTG Super Space Cab
Prompt Transport, North Common, Bristol
Buckingham, 2 August 2021
The story on scrapping outside the theme.
Credits:
Fonts: Impact and Halo Handletter; Digital Kit: Spook by Karla Dudley
Prompt
RAW photo, female, 20s, serious expression, looking at camera, wearing tribal jewelry and headdress, long dreadlocks, body paint, desert background BREAK portrait photography, dramatic composition, close-up BREAK soft lighting, cinematic atmosphere BREAK 8k uhd, sharp focus, high quality, photorealistic, highly detailed skin texture
Prompt
Muscular man with flowing hair, full beard, riding fantastical buffalo-bird hybrid, digital painting, intense gaze rightward, creature with gray-white fur, prominent light brown horns, massive green-yellow-fringed wings, mid-air, surrounded by green mist with surreal glow, bright even lighting casting sharp contrasts, dark gray backdrop, volumetric green smoke swirling, floating particles, debris, small rocks enhancing magical atmosphere, highly detailed
Prompt: Create a digital fine art Wildlife painting, Carl Brenders-inspired style, of mallard ducks flying over a misty marsh at sunrise, golden hour light, calm reflective water, reeds and wetland grasses, realistic feathers, atmospheric haze, low lying fog, old wooden boat in the foreground, tranquil nature scene, highly detailed, 6k resolution, fine art realism, no border, full panoramic horizontal view, no frame, no signature, no watermarks
This digital fine art was created using Google Flow AI and Photoshop
ChatGPT Prompt - Create an image of an Eagle spacecraft from "Space:1999" that is constructed with LEGO and place it on an exhibition table at a LEGO builder's convention.
Apparently the White House referred to Christmas Trees as “Holiday Trees” for the first time this
year which prompted CBS presenter, Ben Stein, to present this piece which I would like to share with you. I think it applies just as much to many countries as it does to America . . .
The following was written by Ben Stein and recited by him on CBS Sunday Morning Commentary.
My confession:
I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejewelled trees, Christmas trees. I don't feel threatened. I don't feel discriminated against. That's what they are, Christmas trees.
It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, “Merry Christmas” to me. I don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn't bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu. If people want a crib, it's just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.
I don't like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don't think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where the concept came from, that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can't find it in the Constitution and I don't like it being shoved down my throat.
Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship celebrities and we aren't allowed to worship God? I guess that's a sign that I'm getting old, too. But there are a lot of us who are wondering where these celebrities came from and where the America we knew went to.
In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a little different: This is not intended to be a joke; it's not funny, it's intended to get you thinking.
Billy Graham's daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her: “How could God let something like this happen?” (regarding Hurricane Katrina). Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response. She said: “I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives. And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?”
In light of recent events... terrorists attack, school shootings, etc. I think it started when Madeleine Murray O'Hare (she was murdered, her body found a few years ago) complained she didn't want prayer in our schools, and we said OK. Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school. The Bible says thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbour as yourself. And we said OK.
Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave, because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr. Spock's son committed suicide). We said an expert should know what he's talking about. And we said okay.
Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves.
Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with 'WE REAP WHAT WE SOW.'
Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world's going to hell. Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says. Funny how you can send 'jokes' through e-mail and they spread like wildfire, but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing. Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace.
Are you laughing yet?
Funny how when you forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list because you're not sure what they believe, or what they will think of you for sending it.
Funny how we can be more worried about what other people think of us than what God thinks of us.
Pass it on if you think it has merit.
If not, then just discard it.... no one will know you did. But if you discard this thought process, don't sit back and complain about what bad shape the world is in.
My Best Regards, Honestly and respectfully,
Ben Stein
Notre ami Philippe BELLIN va être opéré très prochainement, au nom de nous tous ses flickr'amis je lui dédie cette carte lui souhaitons prompt rétablissent, un autre ami fidèle lui a consacré tout un groupe pour y participer suivez ce lien:
www.flickr.com/groups/1927316@N20/
merci
Our friend Philippe BELLIN will be operated very soon, in the name of us all its flickr'amis I dedicate him this card wish him prompt reestablish, another faithful friend consecrated him all a group for there to participate follow this link:
There was a creative prompt in the 52 weeks for dogs group this summer simply titles "the best part". That prompt came at a great time for me as this weekend is a cabin weekend, and the cabin is the best part of summer for my family - people and canines included.
Last time we were here there was still ice on the lake so we had to put out the dock. Eva watched with great interest from the fenced in deck while we rolled in the dock, then assembled the decking on it. Every time someone opened the gate to get more decking, she tried to break through and go swimming. So, my wife took her for a car ride to the local greenhouse while I finished putting in the dock under the supervision on my four year old son who likes the cabin more than anyone else. Once the dock was finished my son literally sat on the end of it for at least ten full minutes while I did some yard work and waited for the gardening crew to return.
When everyone was back, the kids and I put on bathing suits while my wife was smarter and stayed out of the lake. Apparently 3 weeks ice free doesn't mean warm water. Wy wife's job was to handle Eva on the long lead while I took photos and waded in the water with the kids playing in an inflatable boat attached to the dock by a lead of it's own. Eva was so excited to get to the water that she produced sounds no one had ever seen before. Something between a dog, a mating camel and a wookie. Some time in the winter she turned into an avid swimmer wanting nothing more than to swim in circles. But without Kael to lead she was very timid on the dock. No jumps from her this trip, but I'm sure we'll conquer that before the end of the summer.
Her long lead is cloned out in this picture.