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Praktica MTL3 / Mamiya Sekor 55mm 1.8 lens + expired Ferrania film. Find me elsewhere! Website Blog Twitter Instagram & please like Millie Clinton Photography on Facebook! Email: enquiries@millieclinton.com These images are protected by copyright, please do not use them for any commercial or non-commercial purposes without permission. For licensing queries (or any other questions!) please email: enquiries@millieclinton.com
My Naturalist Friend took all of Zero Seconds to reply to my query: "this is a Tellima; which one you'll have to decide for yourself!" Curiously I found it in our garden in the shade of a large Rhododendron which I was tending. I certainly never planted it so how it came to grow here, I haven't a clue. I'll have to read up on its seeding habits...
The name 'Tellima' is the way botanists at the beginning of the nineteenth century had some fun. It's an anagram of 'Mitella', a very similar plant in the same Saxifrage family. 'Grandiflora' hails from northwestern North America. According to the fine The Botanical Register of 1828 it was found first by Archibald Menzies (1754-1842), naturalist of the famous Vancouver Expedition with HMS Discovery. A few years later intrepid David Douglas (1799-1834) - he of the Douglas Fir and the first mountaineer of North America -, like Menzies also a Scotsman, (re)found it and he promptly sent it to The Horticulture Society in 1826. In the course of the nineteeenth century it became naturalised in Great Britain. I suppose it thus also came to Continental Europe. The wee flowers measure 5-8 mm across.
It's the kind of weed I gladly tolerate in my garden!
Hi everyone! This is an IDEAS project and I have a couple more pictures on my Flickr page for you to look at. If this looks interesting to you and you want more pictures and information, then please visit my IDEAS page using the link below and support my project and follow my page! Thank you very much for your interest and support! :)
The Project Page: ideas.lego.com/projects/69b766f1-104f-48b2-8769-41d13cb532cc
My IDEAS Page: ideas.lego.com/profile/AJBuster/entries?query=&sort=top
well, for one, by posting a limitless supply of pics of when she was actually a girl. Like this from TGMiss photoshoot in 2014.
BTW, psychologically I have not changed a bit. I am now as much of a girl as I have always been, just not so visible
Of course, you Flickr followers already know the answers, though you may want to augment or modify my list. The answers are primarily aimed at any civilians who may encounter me.
Answers:
I like to feel pretty
I like to feel feminine
It is fun (I can't deny that)
It is liberating
It is right!
Find me elsewhere! Website Blog Twitter Instagram & please like Millie Clinton Photography on Facebook! These images are protected by copyright, please do not use them for any commercial or non-commercial purposes without permission. For licensing queries (or any other questions!) please email: enquiries@millieclinton.com
Coastal Brown Bears Lake Clark National Park and Preserve Alaska Silver Salmon Creek Lodge Fine Art Landscape Wildlife Photography! Alaskan Grizzly Bear Elliot McGucken Master Fine Art Landscapes Wildlife Photographer AK
“The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness.” --John Muir
Epic Poetry inspires all my photography: geni.us/9K0Ki Epic Poetry for Epic Landscape Photography: Exalt Fine Art Nature Photography with the Poetic Wisdom of John Muir, Emerson, Thoreau, Homer's Iliad, Milton's Paradise Lost & Dante's Inferno Odyssey
“The mountains are calling and I must go.” --John Muir
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Golden Ratio Compositions & Secret Sacred Geometry for Photography, Fine Art, & Landscape Photographers: How to Exalt Art with Leonardo da Vinci's, Michelangelo's!
Epic Landscape Photography:
A Simple Guide to the Principles of Fine Art Nature Photography: Master Composition, Lenses, Camera Settings, Aperture, ISO, ... Hero's Odyssey Mythology Photography)
The universe itself is God and the universal outpouring of its soul. --Chrysippus (Quoted by Cicero in De Natura Deorum)
Photographs available as epic fine art luxury prints. For prints and licensing information, please send me a flickr mail or contact drelliot@gmail.com with your queries! All the best on your Epic Hero's Odyssey!
What was once a place that teemed with wildlife is fast becoming just another concrete jungle. This picture is testament to that fact. I miss what this place once was.
— via Weather Underground (bit.ly/WUmshare). View on the web:
www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/findweather/getForecast?quer...
💟NEW RELEASE+ GIVEAWAY / DUBAI EVENT
♡Lexa – Brienne Needle Nails
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Clearing Winter Storm Yosemite: Tunnel View Yosemite National Park Winter Wonderland Fine Art Landscape Photography Fuji GFX 100s El Capitan! Pretty Red Orange Yellow Clouds California Winter Snowstorm Elliot McGucken Master Medium Format Fine Art Landscape Nature Photos
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All my photography celebrates the physics of light! The McGucken Principle of the fourth expanding dimension: The fourth dimension is expanding at the rate of c relative to the three spatial dimensions: dx4/dt=ic .
Lao Tzu--The Tao: Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.
Light Time Dimension Theory: The Foundational Physics Unifying Einstein's Relativity and Quantum Mechanics: A Simple, Illustrated Introduction to the Unifying Physical Reality of the Fourth Expanding Dimensionsion dx4/dt=ic !: geni.us/Fa1Q
"Between every two pine trees there is a door leading to a new way of life." --John Muir
Epic Stoicism guides my fine art odyssey and photography: geni.us/epicstoicism
“The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness.” --John Muir
Epic Poetry inspires all my photography: geni.us/9K0Ki Epic Poetry for Epic Landscape Photography: Exalt Fine Art Nature Photography with the Poetic Wisdom of John Muir, Emerson, Thoreau, Homer's Iliad, Milton's Paradise Lost & Dante's Inferno Odyssey
“The mountains are calling and I must go.” --John Muir
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Exalt the goddess archetype in the fine art of photography! My Epic Book: Photographing Women Models!
Portrait, Swimsuit, Lingerie, Boudoir, Fine Art, & Fashion Photography Exalting the Venus Goddess Archetype: How to Shoot Epic ... Epic! Beautiful Surf Fine Art Portrait Swimsuit Bikini Models!
Some of my epic books, prints, & more!
Exalt your photography with Golden Ratio Compositions!
Golden Ratio Compositions & Secret Sacred Geometry for Photography, Fine Art, & Landscape Photographers: How to Exalt Art with Leonardo da Vinci's, Michelangelo's!
Epic Landscape Photography:
A Simple Guide to the Principles of Fine Art Nature Photography: Master Composition, Lenses, Camera Settings, Aperture, ISO, ... Hero's Odyssey Mythology Photography)
All art is but imitation of nature.-- Seneca (Letters from a Stoic - Letter LXV: On the First Cause)
The universe itself is God and the universal outpouring of its soul. --Chrysippus (Quoted by Cicero in De Natura Deorum)
Photographs available as epic fine art luxury prints. For prints and licensing information, please send me a flickr mail or contact drelliot@gmail.com with your queries! All the best on your Epic Hero's Odyssey!
Check railroad casualties where you live:
safetydata.fra.dot.gov/officeofsafety/publicsite/Query/Ca...
Locomotive Horn Signals
Ever wondered why the UP locomotives running on the track just down the block always sound their horns four times when approaching your street? Or heard a whole series of short whistle blasts and wondered what they meant? Horns are sounded for safety reasons – to warn of approaching trains. The following list "translates" some of those horn signals. The "o" indicates short sounds and "=" is for longer sounds. The General Code of Operating Rules (GCOR) contains information on horn use. These rules are frequently updated, and for the most up to date information, the sources of record are the GCOR, General Orders, Subdivision General Orders and Superintendent Bulletins.
Sound / Indication
Succession of short soundsThe whistle is sounded in an attempt to attract attention to the train. It is used when persons or livestock are on the track at other-than-road crossings at grade.
=When train is stopped. The air brakes are applied and pressure is equalized.
= =Train releases brakes and proceeds.
o oAcknowledgment of any signal not otherwise provided for.
o o oWhen train is stopped: means backing up, or acknowledgment of a hand signal to back up.
o o o oA request for a signal to be given or repeated if not understood.
= o o oInstruction for flagman to protect rear of train.
= = = =The flagman may return from west or south.
= = = = =The flagman may return from east or north.
= = o =Train is approaching public crossings at grade with engine in front.
o =Inspect the brake system for leaks or sticking brakes.
= o
Train is approaching men or equipment on or near the track, regardless of any whistle prohibitions.
After this initial warning, "o o" sounds intermittently until the head end of train has passed the men or equipment.
Horn Signals: A Proven Safety Precaution
On April 27, 2005, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), which enforces rail safety regulations, published the Final Rule on the Use of Locomotive Horns at Highway-Rail Grade Crossings. Effective June 24, 2005, the Final Rule requires that locomotive horns be sounded at all public grade crossings 15-20 seconds before entering a crossing, but not more than one-quarter mile in advance.
The pattern for blowing the horn remains two long, one short, and one long sounding to be repeated as necessary until the locomotive clears the crossing. Locomotive engineers will retain the authority to vary this pattern as necessary for crossings in close proximity. Locomotive engineers will be allowed to sound the horn in emergency situations consistent with the Final Rule.
A ban on locomotive horns in Florida was ordered removed by the FRA after it was shown that the accident rate doubled during the ban. The Final Rule preempts any state or local laws regarding the use of the train horn at public crossings. The Final Rule also provides public authorities the option to maintain and/or establish quiet zones provided certain supplemental or alternative safety measures are in place and the crossing accident rate meets FRA standards. Read more about the FRA Rule on the Use of Locomotive Horns
Partly Cloudy Sunset Paradise Meadows Lupine Wildflowers Mount Rainier National Park Washington State Wilderness Fine Art Landscape Photography Fuji GFX100s Pacific Northwest! Elliot McGucken Master Medium Format Fujifilm Fine Art Nature Photographer American West PNW Fujifilm GFX 100 s GF Lens!
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All my photography celebrates the physics of light! The McGucken Principle of the fourth expanding dimension: The fourth dimension is expanding at the rate of c relative to the three spatial dimensions: dx4/dt=ic .
Lao Tzu--The Tao: Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.
Light Time Dimension Theory: The Foundational Physics Unifying Einstein's Relativity and Quantum Mechanics: A Simple, Illustrated Introduction to the Unifying Physical Reality of the Fourth Expanding Dimensionsion dx4/dt=ic !: geni.us/Fa1Q
"Between every two pine trees there is a door leading to a new way of life." --John Muir
Epic Stoicism guides my fine art odyssey and photography: geni.us/epicstoicism
“The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness.” --John Muir
Epic Poetry inspires all my photography: geni.us/9K0Ki Epic Poetry for Epic Landscape Photography: Exalt Fine Art Nature Photography with the Poetic Wisdom of John Muir, Emerson, Thoreau, Homer's Iliad, Milton's Paradise Lost & Dante's Inferno Odyssey
“The mountains are calling and I must go.” --John Muir
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Exalt your photography with Golden Ratio Compositions!
Golden Ratio Compositions & Secret Sacred Geometry for Photography, Fine Art, & Landscape Photographers: How to Exalt Art with Leonardo da Vinci's, Michelangelo's!
Epic Landscape Photography:
A Simple Guide to the Principles of Fine Art Nature Photography: Master Composition, Lenses, Camera Settings, Aperture, ISO, ... Hero's Odyssey Mythology Photography)
All art is but imitation of nature.-- Seneca (Letters from a Stoic - Letter LXV: On the First Cause)
The universe itself is God and the universal outpouring of its soul. --Chrysippus (Quoted by Cicero in De Natura Deorum)
Photographs available as epic fine art luxury prints. For prints and licensing information, please send me a flickr mail or contact drelliot@gmail.com with your queries! All the best on your Epic Hero's Odyssey!
Would love to dress like this to work one day. Also would love to get my legs out for both the guys and girls as my friends say it one of the best features of my body.
In early spring, pools of tiny, red diamorpha succulents were adorned with small white blossoms.
DeKalb County (Stonecrest), Georgia, USA.
27 March 2024.
▶ This is a 'macro ' closeup. These tiny plants appear much larger in the image than they did in 'real' life.
***************
▶ "Every April, monadnocks [isolated rocky mountains caused by erosion of surrounding land] in north Georgia roll out the red carpet. Tiny Diamorpha smallii —rare plants, only a couple of inches tall, endemic to the southeast United States— turn an eye-catching red before donning pure white flowers, blanketing Arabia Mountain's shallow solution pit pools with crimson."
— Arabia Mountain Heritage Area Alliance.
***************
▶ Photographer's note:
On 6 May 2024, the administrator for the Flickr group "PLANET EARTH OUR HOME" rejected this photo. According to the group rules, the image must depict "nature, animals, birds, insects, flowers, trees, landscapes, seascapes, clouds, sunsets, architecture, [or] transport" [emphasis mine]. As this IS an image of a flower and nature, why was it rejected? The administrator has not responded to my query. Interestingly, the same administrator earlier had approved this image for the "PLANET EARTH FLOWERS" group.
***************
▶ Pic(k) of the Week at: YFGF.beer.
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▶ Camera: Olympus OM-D E-M10 II.
— Lens: Olympus M.40-150mm F4.0-5.6 R.
— Macro extension tube: 16 mm.
— Edit: Photoshop Elements 15, Nik Collection (2016).
▶ Commercial use requires explicit permission, as per Creative Commons.
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Desert Solitaire: Double Arch Arches National Park Winter Fuji GFX100 Utah Fine Art Landscape Photography! Elliot McGucken Fine Art American West Landscape Nature Photography! Master Medium Format Fine Art Photographer! Fujifilm GFX 100
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All my photography celebrates the physics of light! The McGucken Principle of the fourth expanding dimension: The fourth dimension is expanding at the rate of c relative to the three spatial dimensions: dx4/dt=ic .
Lao Tzu--The Tao: Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.
Light Time Dimension Theory: The Foundational Physics Unifying Einstein's Relativity and Quantum Mechanics: A Simple, Illustrated Introduction to the Unifying Physical Reality of the Fourth Expanding Dimensionsion dx4/dt=ic !: geni.us/Fa1Q
"Between every two pine trees there is a door leading to a new way of life." --John Muir
Epic Stoicism guides my fine art odyssey and photography: geni.us/epicstoicism
“The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness.” --John Muir
Epic Poetry inspires all my photography: geni.us/9K0Ki Epic Poetry for Epic Landscape Photography: Exalt Fine Art Nature Photography with the Poetic Wisdom of John Muir, Emerson, Thoreau, Homer's Iliad, Milton's Paradise Lost & Dante's Inferno Odyssey
“The mountains are calling and I must go.” --John Muir
Epic Art & 45EPIC Gear exalting golden ratio designs for your Hero's Odyssey:
Support epic fine art! 45surf ! Bitcoin: 1FMBZJeeHVMu35uegrYUfEkHfPj5pe9WNz
Exalt the goddess archetype in the fine art of photography! My Epic Book: Photographing Women Models!
Portrait, Swimsuit, Lingerie, Boudoir, Fine Art, & Fashion Photography Exalting the Venus Goddess Archetype: How to Shoot Epic ... Epic! Beautiful Surf Fine Art Portrait Swimsuit Bikini Models!
Some of my epic books, prints, & more!
Exalt your photography with Golden Ratio Compositions!
Golden Ratio Compositions & Secret Sacred Geometry for Photography, Fine Art, & Landscape Photographers: How to Exalt Art with Leonardo da Vinci's, Michelangelo's!
Epic Landscape Photography:
A Simple Guide to the Principles of Fine Art Nature Photography: Master Composition, Lenses, Camera Settings, Aperture, ISO, ... Hero's Odyssey Mythology Photography)
All art is but imitation of nature.-- Seneca (Letters from a Stoic - Letter LXV: On the First Cause)
The universe itself is God and the universal outpouring of its soul. --Chrysippus (Quoted by Cicero in De Natura Deorum)
Best wishes on your Epic Odyssey!
Homer: Tell me, O muse, of that ingenious hero who traveled far and wide after he had sacked the famous town of Troy. Many cities did he visit, and many were the nations with whose manners and customs he was acquainted; moreover he suffered much by sea while trying to save his own life and bring his men safely home. . . --Homer's Odyssey, Book I
Photographs available as epic fine art luxury prints. For prints and licensing information, please send me a flickr mail or contact drelliot@gmail.com with your queries! All the best on your Epic Hero's Odyssey!
body { font-family: "Calibri","Slate Pro",sans-serif,"sans-serif"; color:#262626 } Sent from my BlackBerry 10 smartphone on the Telkomsel network.
Big Sur Wildflowers California Coast Pacific Coast Highway ! Elliot McGucken Scenic Spring Ocean View Fine Art Landscape Nature Photography Wild Flowers Monterey County Big Sur Seascape Art !
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All my photography celebrates the physics of light! The McGucken Principle of the fourth expanding dimension: The fourth dimension is expanding at the rate of c relative to the three spatial dimensions: dx4/dt=ic .
Photographs available as epic fine art luxury prints on canvas, metal, face-mounted acrylic, and high-end, fine-art paper. For prints and licensing information, please send me a flickr mail or contact drelliot@gmail.com with your queries! All the best on your Epic Hero's Odyssey!
Query: How to quiet a crying infant?
Solution: Combine visual interest (black & white contrast), movement, and the white noise created by a LEGO gear box connected to 6 worm drives.
Result: Infant is fascinated.
IMPORTANT !!!!
******************************
The inhabitants of Buduburam Refugee Camp in Ghana urgently need our support: please consider signing the petition that is currently available on the following page:
For Increased Involvement of the UNHCR on behalf of the refugees in Buduburam Camp, Ghana
Queries and comments are more than welcome!
Made for a contest on LEGO Ideas 'Help Decorate the LEGO House’. At first, it was just gonna be the Spider Girl holding flowers, having a pretty simple design but I didn’t think just this little thing will make it on her own. So I thought of something that would complement the Spider, maybe a outside flower shop display, no, that couldn't be done in do time. But a flower cart could and with plants and flower of different kinds, other world like.
Spider Girl design:
Getting the idea of doing another Spider Girl from ‘Cave and Spider Girl’ but sizing this one up a bit. About last year I made an order of Visorak Technic pieces for a cancel bunch of other more “realistic” based spiders.I took one of those pieces and used it for the base build, while the limbs are even more simple with it just being ultrabuild limbs.
The abdomen is pretty much the only brick base build on her, but to add a bit of detail on it, I used the extra plastic from the Wands (actual wands used on arms) and Wheel Cover.
There wasn’t too much I could’ve think of to do with the torso, as I used a long bone and used Carapar armor to connect the arms. Using the Bionicle 2016 add-on for the chest, so that I could use a flower piece to connect a pink bow on her chest.
Head just used Nokama’s mask, rather than a custom with 4 eyes, and despite you can hardly see through the eyes, the Ice Queen cape was used. But speaking of capes, sense this contest allows parts from licensed themes, I took my chance. Using clothes from Buildable Boba and Range Trooper, I used them for a skirt (honestly that was a cover up parts excuse) and hair, as I didn’t wanted to hair to be brick build and wanted it to be a bit longer rather than short.
Cart Design:
Looking threw different carts to get ideas of what I want it to be, I found the perfect one, a black metal bar cart with a roof. This was also an simple build with the majority of it being technic connecter, and bricks were used for the plat to hold the plants.
There were no wagon wheel (along with ornamental wheel) in black but was at least lucky to have theme in Pearl Dark Gray, I used those. On the roof I used batarang and wings for a bit of detail. And I was happy that I could used those batarang, because I have way too much of them and I STILL have waaaay toooooo much.
Plant Design:
The flowerpot was pretty much easy to choose, color was a small problem, gold and gray wasn’t fitting at all, yellow was just no (especially sense one of the plants was yellow), but red was perfect.
The plant that was already made for the Spider-Girl, that was originally going to be used for another MOC. I got the idea of making this from the Lisa heads that look like they could be used as fruits, to add more to the plant, Master Wu’s Beard and Web Effect was used on the top.
A different Web Effect was also used for flowers with a black stud in the middle of them.
For one of the plants I wanted to use minifigure hat/hair, and used the prisoner cap, using the dark orange and dark blue from the Ninjago Shark Army. It was gonna be only Dark Orange but I had 4 and I didn’t wanted to bother ordering 3 more, so I added Dark Blue to the pot.
One pot just have simple, basic, always used for plants in LEGO set, flowers.
The flower with the eye, I kinda got the idea from a Manga I recently read, sadly couldn’t add the mouth coming out of the eye.
Crystal Plant, rather than it facing in an angel like the others, this one face straight up, as normal looking crystals are growing around it. Sadly I could only get one Power Bursts piece, as using any other would look like a fountain.
The last plant I took the container holding my food pieces for ideas, and the pie was a fitting piece for a flower with the croissant holding 3 of the pies.
The Buildable Episode 7 Ray was gonna be some sort of egg sack for one of the flower pot, though looking kinda stupid, I thought it could be use as a normal sack that I want to hang on the roof, but there wasn’t a string with studs on that could work. So I settle with having 2 sitting next to the cart holding dirt. There was gonna be 3 but that would be too much and I didn’t have another brown wheel piece.
Created for dA Users Gallery Challenge #71 – Snow Globe
Snow Globe with thanks to CandyFlossSTOCK
Model by: Awdi-stock
texture by Pareeerica
texture by JoesSistah
texture (background) by : Temari 09
Iceland Northern Lights Reykjavík KP6 KP7 Aurora Borealis Sun Voyager Viking Ship Sculpture Winter Snow! Fuji GFX100s Medium Format Fine Art Landscape Photography Van Gohh Iceland! Elliot McGucken Master Fine Art Nature Photographer Fujifilm GFX 100s & FUJIFILM GF 20-35mm F4 Lens
"Beauty will save the world." --Dostoevsky
Dr. Elliot McGucken Fine Art Spacetime Sculpture dx4//dt=ic:
Epic Fine Art Photography Prints & Luxury Wall Art:
Support epic, stoic fine art: Hero's Odyssey Gear!
Follow me on Instagram!
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All my photography celebrates the physics of light! The McGucken Principle of the fourth expanding dimension: The fourth dimension is expanding at the rate of c relative to the three spatial dimensions: dx4/dt=ic .
Lao Tzu--The Tao: Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.
Light Time Dimension Theory: The Foundational Physics Unifying Einstein's Relativity and Quantum Mechanics: A Simple, Illustrated Introduction to the Unifying Physical Reality of the Fourth Expanding Dimensionsion dx4/dt=ic !: geni.us/Fa1Q
"Between every two pine trees there is a door leading to a new way of life." --John Muir
Epic Stoicism guides my fine art odyssey and photography: geni.us/epicstoicism
“The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness.” --John Muir
Epic Poetry inspires all my photography: geni.us/9K0Ki Epic Poetry for Epic Landscape Photography: Exalt Fine Art Nature Photography with the Poetic Wisdom of John Muir, Emerson, Thoreau, Homer's Iliad, Milton's Paradise Lost & Dante's Inferno Odyssey
“The mountains are calling and I must go.” --John Muir
Epic Art & 45EPIC Gear exalting golden ratio designs for your Hero's Odyssey:
Support epic fine art! 45surf ! Bitcoin: 1FMBZJeeHVMu35uegrYUfEkHfPj5pe9WNz
Some of my epic books, prints, & more!
Exalt your photography with Golden Ratio Compositions!
Golden Ratio Compositions & Secret Sacred Geometry for Photography, Fine Art, & Landscape Photographers: How to Exalt Art with Leonardo da Vinci's, Michelangelo's!
Epic Landscape Photography:
A Simple Guide to the Principles of Fine Art Nature Photography: Master Composition, Lenses, Camera Settings, Aperture, ISO, ... Hero's Odyssey Mythology Photography)
All art is but imitation of nature.-- Seneca (Letters from a Stoic - Letter LXV: On the First Cause)
The universe itself is God and the universal outpouring of its soul. --Chrysippus (Quoted by Cicero in De Natura Deorum)
Photographs available as epic fine art luxury prints. For prints and licensing information, please send me a flickr mail or contact drelliot@gmail.com with your queries! All the best on your Epic Hero's Odyssey!
side by side, arm to arm , ... so sad ...
First World War Cemetry in Poćwiardówka near Łódź, central Poland.
**************************************************************************************
"BIG LOSSES IN LODZ BATTLE.; German Casualties Given as 160,000 and Russian 120,000.
Special Cable to THE NEW YORK TIMES. ();
December 18, 1914,..."
******************************************************************************************************
query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9A01E0DA1438E6...
For more Information or Purchase Query please email me at: info@salsayegh.com or Visit my Official Website "www.salsayegh.com"
Picture Info:
CameraCanon EOS 5D Mark III
Exposure2.5
Aperturef/13.0
Focal Length25 mm
ISO Speed50
Exposure Bias0 EV
FlashOff, Did not fire
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حقوق الطبع والنسخ والنشر والحفظ في هذا الالبوم جميعها محفوظة وحصرية لـ سارة الصايغ ولا يمكن حفظ او نسخ او نشر او استخدام اي من الصور بدون اذن او عقد مسبق مع المصور
ان كان لديك الرغبة في استخدام او شراء اي من الصور الخاصة بالمصور يمكنك مراسلتي عبر البريد الالكتروني المذكور اعلاه
واي تعديات تخالف ما تم ذكره مسبقاً ستعرض مرتكبها للمسائلة والملاحقة القانونيةWarning!:-Please Don`t Comment With Your Last Picture Or URL, Your Comment Will Be Deleted-Silly Comments Will Be DELETED!.All Rights Reserved for The Photographer. Any usage of the Picture without permission will cause you legal action.
"So, Laurette, why do you have so many pics taken of yourself?"
That's a very good question. Of course, I'm hardly the only one. I guess there are several answers:
1. Self-validation. When I see pics of myself, dressed as a reasonable facsimile of a woman, it reinforces my inner belief that, Yes, I can look pretty good. IOW, vanity.
2. On a more mundane level, by viewing these pics I can get a better idea if some outfit or hairdo, etc., actually works or not. And, if not, then it is something to avoid or perhaps modify.
3. To keep track of my various looks so I don't repeat one too often.
4. Feedback from my loyal followers. There's nothing that makes a girl's heart soar like a hawk more than getting compliments from people I respect.
Le Centaure
œuvre d'Antoine Bourdelle (1861-1929)
Après 1912
Crayon graphite et aquarelle sur papier vélin
Legs Rhodia Dufet Bourdelle, 2002
Paris, musée Bourdelle
Au centaure prédateur, Bourdelle préfère le sage guérisseur, à l'instar du centaure Chiron, précepteur du jeune Achille.
www.navigart.fr/bourdelle/artwork/emile-antoine-bourdelle...
----------
Salle "Hybridations et Métamorphoses"
Exposition "Rodin / Bourdelle. Corps à corps"
Musée Bourdelle, Paris
À travers plus de 160 œuvres, dont 96 sculptures, 38 dessins, 3 peintures et 26 photographies, la confrontation Rodin / Bourdelle donne à voir, avec une ambition et une ampleur inédites, les fraternités et réciprocités comme les divergences et antagonismes de deux créateurs, de deux univers plastiques, porteurs des enjeux majeurs de la modernité... Extrait du site de l'exposition
www.bourdelle.paris.fr/visiter/expositions/rodin-bourdell...
Iceland Volcano Lava Eruption Litli-Hrútur 2023 Reykjanes Peninsula Fuji DJI Mavic 3 Pro Cine Fine Art Aerial Landscape Photography Iceland! Elliot McGucken Master Fine Art Nature Photographer
"Beauty will save the world." --Dostoevsky
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All my photography celebrates the physics of light! The McGucken Principle of the fourth expanding dimension: The fourth dimension is expanding at the rate of c relative to the three spatial dimensions: dx4/dt=ic .
Lao Tzu--The Tao: Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.
Light Time Dimension Theory: The Foundational Physics Unifying Einstein's Relativity and Quantum Mechanics: A Simple, Illustrated Introduction to the Unifying Physical Reality of the Fourth Expanding Dimensionsion dx4/dt=ic !: geni.us/Fa1Q
"Between every two pine trees there is a door leading to a new way of life." --John Muir
Epic Stoicism guides my fine art odyssey and photography: geni.us/epicstoicism
“The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness.” --John Muir
Epic Poetry inspires all my photography: geni.us/9K0Ki Epic Poetry for Epic Landscape Photography: Exalt Fine Art Nature Photography with the Poetic Wisdom of John Muir, Emerson, Thoreau, Homer's Iliad, Milton's Paradise Lost & Dante's Inferno Odyssey
“The mountains are calling and I must go.” --John Muir
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Some of my epic books, prints, & more!
Exalt your photography with Golden Ratio Compositions!
Golden Ratio Compositions & Secret Sacred Geometry for Photography, Fine Art, & Landscape Photographers: How to Exalt Art with Leonardo da Vinci's, Michelangelo's!
Epic Landscape Photography:
A Simple Guide to the Principles of Fine Art Nature Photography: Master Composition, Lenses, Camera Settings, Aperture, ISO, ... Hero's Odyssey Mythology Photography)
All art is but imitation of nature.-- Seneca (Letters from a Stoic - Letter LXV: On the First Cause)
The universe itself is God and the universal outpouring of its soul. --Chrysippus (Quoted by Cicero in De Natura Deorum)
Photographs available as epic fine art luxury prints. For prints and licensing information, please send me a flickr mail or contact drelliot@gmail.com with your queries! All the best on your Epic Hero's Odyssey!
===GCPD. Holding Cells.===
The cell door opened; the iron gate dragging along the concrete floor. Sitting alone on a cold metal bench, was a dishevelled looking Leonard Fiasco; his hair damp from a leaky pipe dripping above his head, his facial hair overgrown from three days in captivity. Standing in the doorway, a middle aged police officer; a set of keys in one hand, a cardboard box in the other.
"Mr Fiasco, your bail's been posted. You're free to go," he announced.
Fiasco tilted his head upwards, and rubbed his eyes wearily. "I don't understand... I confessed."
The cop shrugged, as he dumped the box, full of Len's belongings, at his feet. "Hey, welcome to Gotham."
Fiasco grabbed his jacket from the box, dusted the dirt off of his shoulders, and got to his feet. 'Must've been one helluva check,' he thought to himself, as he walked out the door. As he walked down the hall, he felt his hair stand on end, as all around him, police officers glared at him. 'Fuck 'em,' he thought bitterly, as he flung the front door open and walked down the stairs to freedom. Reaching into his pocket, he grabbed another cigarette, and lit it angrily. For a few moments, he just stood outside the precinct, taking in deeper breathes with each puff. And then, a voice called out; a voice colder than any autumnal breeze.
"Hello Leonard."
~
Down the hall, in a disused storage room, Montgomery Sharpe sat adjacent from David Li. Sharpe, was staring glumly at his plastic cup of water. "Don't suppose you've got anything stronger?" he asked.
"I never drink on the job," Li said.
"Bummer," Sharpe scoffed, as he ran a hand across his bruised skin.
"Quite," Li said, adjusting his glasses. "My apologies, Mr Sharpe, my client is currently embroiled in a family affair- but he sent me in his stead. I was hoping to meet with your employer instead, but I couldn't reach him," he said disappointedly.
"Nah, you wouldn't," Sharpe grinned, revealing several cracked teeth. "He's taken something of a sabbatical."
"I see," Li noted, as he drew a pen from his pocket, and began writing. "Do you have any idea where he is now?"
"Eh, some school in Colorado," Sharpe drawled. "I think. Never been big on exposition," he added bashfully.
"Well, that certainly narrows things down," Li said loftily, as he closed his briefcase. "Thank you."
~
Fiasco spun around- standing behind him, a pair of coffee cups held in his hands, was Julian Day- a thin layer of make-up applied to his forehead in an effort to mask his scars. Without warning, Fiasco swung his fist forward, and cracked it across Day's face. Blood dribbled down Julian's chin, but he remained otherwise unhurt.
"Careful-" he winced, as he raised a defensive palm up. "You'll spill the coffee."
"The hell do you want?" Fiasco snarled.
Day placed the cups on the step, and dabbed his bloodied face with a black hankerchief. "You looked hungry," he noted, as he reached into his messenger bag. Fiasco took a cautious step back, his hand tucked behind his jacket.
"Oh, please," Julian smiled. "If I wanted to shoot you, I would have. It's pastrami on rye. Your favourite, if memory serves."
Fiasco snatched the sandwich and turned his head away, as he bit into it hungrily. "So-" he chewed, "what the hell are you doing here?"
"I saw a friend in need, that's all. So I paid your, uh, "bail," and ensured you got out safely," Day explained calmly.
"Oh, that was you, was it?" Fiasco glowered suspiciously. "Why? Out of the goodness of your heart, I guess? Because it sure as hell wouldn't have been cheap."
Day flashed a sly smile. "You have no idea. Fortunately, Ted Barson has a substantial bank account, and an easy to guess PIN number. He's also an idiot."
"You hired him," Fiasco chewed.
Day shook his head. "Leonard, do you truly think so little of me. He approached me. Of course, I said no- I gave him some advice that he didn't heed, and sent him on his way. My partners however were insistent that I salvage something out of that Gotham General debacle, and so- here we are," Day finished, frowning slightly.
"Partners!" Fiasco said snidely. "You're not in charge, are you? You're as much a lap dog as Carson is."
"I'm a team player," Day said coldly. "That's all."
"Oho, is that why you sold us out to Bolton?" Len spat.
"I sold you out to Bolton, because you'd become sloppy and complacent. And, I see not much has changed..."
Fiasco's jaw clenched.
"Doesn't it bother you?" Julian asked. "Living under Drury's shadow? Losing your bar, getting arrested, losing friends and customers in his wake?" He swallowed, as his eyes locked with Len's. "My... partners have given me the opportunity to free the Misfits- Charles, Joseph, Lynns- from their moral shackles. From your insipid dependence on that showboating insect. To accept themselves for what they truly are. But if I can't, they'll be left at Barson's mercy. And you know what he'll do then."
"You said it yourself, he's an idiot."
"Yes," Julian lamented. "An idiot with The Psycho Pirate and The Polka Dot Man on speed dial. With my partners' oversight, they could trick the Misfits into ripping each other apart, or do the job themselves with a well placed portal... I wonder, what exactly do you think they'll do to you, when Barson learns what you did to Ant Man?"
Fiasco got up and placed his sandwich wrapper in the bin. "Thanks for breakfast. Now, piss off."
~
Li placed his hat on his head, and walked down the stairs briskly, and gasped; Just a few metres away, clambering into a yellow taxi, was the Calendar Man. For a moment, both men stood there staring at the other, and then- Day was gone. Li looked down at his phone, wondering whether he should inform Sionis or not, and sighed, before sliding the phone back into his overcoat. If the Calendar Man was indeed hunting Janus officials, then Li was very keen not to make his hitlist. 'Who knows, maybe he'll kill Ferris next,' he hoped to himself.
==The Road==
The Misfits sat in the truck, tiredly; Chuck was still on the wheel, Drury's head was rested on Reardon's shoulders, and Rigger was peering excitedly out the window. In the trailer, the remaining members had put together some makeshift bedding and furniture, and were huddled around a steel drum, playing some sort of card game. Gar, sat a few metres away from them, a laptop resting on his lap. Beside him, their radio blasted Stereophonics loudly:
"Superman on an aeroplane
Sitting next to Lois Lane
You got that woman but you want her gone
So you can sleep with a teenage blonde"
"Well, that's just disrespectful," Blake noted.
"You know, I heard John Corben used to do backing vocals for them," Mayo said casually. "Just thought that might explain it."
Chuck looked over at the clock, and nudged Walker's shoulder. "Drury, I was thinking now might be a good time to get some rest, stretch our legs for a while. Saw a sign for a truck stop a few miles back. Then we can think about maybe finding a hotel for the night? What d'you think?"
"Huh, oh yeah, sure," Drury said, distracted.
Chuck nodded, as he turned off the interstate. "Just stepping out for a quick bite," he said, addressing the trailer. "You guys want anything?"
"Cheese!" Otis' voice yelled out.
"Cheese," Brown repeated blankly. "Of course."
Gar looked into his computer monitor, his daughter, Josie, reached out a chubby hand towards the screen. "Daddy, when are you coming home?" she asked.
Gar's face softened. "I- uh, don't know Fireball. Soon, I hope."
"Well, don't lie to the poor child, Garfield," Clair's voice called from off-screen.
"Soon," Gar confirmed. "Just be good to your momma, and eat your vegetables, alright?"
"Bye daddy! Love you!" Josie called out, as the screen went black, as the vehicle came to a stop.
"Gar, we're heading out," Chuck said, tapping him on the shoulder. "You wanna come with?"
Gar looked over at his travelling companions, and jumped to his feet. "God yes," he said, as he picked a black rucksack up from off the ground, and slung it onto his back. "You think I can ride in front during the next stretch?"
"I think that can be arranged, Chuck smiled in understanding. "Joe, do you think you can takeover for the next shift?" he called into his Walkie Talkie.
"Aye, aye Captain," Rigger replied cheekily.
"Don't worry, we'll man the fort, Charlie," Blake chuckled.
Chuck raised an apprehensive eyebrow, then jumped out the back.
===The Coffee Shop. Truck Stop==
"Hey, Drury, you didn't say anything about a detour," Chuck said, as he examined the map. "Did you leave something behind in Keystone, or what?"
"Something like that," Drury said glumly.
"Right..." Chuck nodded uneasily, as he folded the map back up, as a young waitress approached their table.
"What can I get for you?" she asked the trio.
"One black coffee, and a tea please" Gar said, ordering for Drury. "And you?" he said, tilting his head towards Brown.
"Yeah, hi, do you have any like low fat options?" Chuck asked, looking at a now fuming Lynns.
"We have water?" the waitress offered.
"Water it is, thank you," Chuck said with an embarrassed smile.
The Waitress marked down their orders into a small notebook. "Anything else?"
"Apple Danish please," Drury said softly.
"Raspberry, thanks," Gar said.
"That's it thanks," Chuck nodded, as she disappeared into the back. "She seems nice," he said to Drury. "I'm just saying," he added hastily.
"I, need a smoke break," Gar declared, as he pulled the stool out.
"Thought you quit?" Chuck queried.
"Old habits," Gar muttered. Any excuse to escape the inevitable awkwardness.
"She's a waitress, Chuck, they get paid to be nice," Drury murmured.
Brown tutted. "Cynicism isn't healthy, y'know," he winked.
"Oh? And I suppose doe-eyed optimism is?"
"You would know..." Chuck muttered under his breath. "Wait, Drury-"
"I'm going back to the van," Walker said harshly, as he rose to his feet, and slammed the door behind him.
"So, I suppose I'm paying..." Chuck groaned.
Outside, the Misfits had gathered a stack of deck chairs around the truck- Blake, Mayo and Flannegan each lay shirtless, sunbathing. Dressed in a neatly ironed sweater, Reardon was ironically left as the sole guard.
"Nice ride!" a voice called out.
Blake turned over, his eyes bulging- a woman, in her mid thirties had approached the Bat-Truck, and was now placing her hand on the bat logo. Concerned, Tom looked to his partners for guidance.
Mayo, cleared his throat. "We're actually an Alt-Rock Batman tribute band. We've had a few gigs in Minnesota, nothing too big, but we're really hoping our luck'll change with this next bit."
"Yeah, that," Blake nodded.
"Alt rock?" Reardon hissed, pulling his partners towards him. "We don't know any songs!"
Blake smirked. "Yes, we do."
Ten shook his head, aghast. "No, please," he begged tiredly.
~
Half an hour later, Chuck re-entered the trailer, a plastic bag of full shopping in his hand.
"Yellow American!" he announced, as he reached into the bag and handed Flannegan the packet of cheese. Otis held it in his hand suspiciously, and promptly struck him across the face with it.
"I hate Yellow American," he complained.
"What happened to you?" Chuck said, nursing his bruised cheek, as he turned his head to Blake- a dark purple bruise beneath his right eye.
"He tried to serenade some girl," Reardon lamented.
"Oh, god, you didn't sing did you?" Chuck said anxiously.
"Wouldn't be much of a serenade if he didn't," Mayo sniggered.
~
As night fell, the truck finally arrived in Keystone City. Drury looked out the window, and nudged Rigger's arm. "Stop here," he said.
Confused, Rigger took a glance outside; nothing but a dense forest, and a single, long abandoned house. "What, why?" he asked curiously.
"Just... Please," Drury moaned.
Joe nodded, and drove into the side. As the door swing open and Drury stepped out, Gar's eyes flashed open, and he looked out towards his surroundings. "I am not sleeping in there," he said firmly.
Drury walked around the muddy path, and finding a good spot, opened his bag, placing Suit's silver gauntlets on the ground. Smiling softly, he began digging a hole beneath a large oak tree.
His work done, he wrapped the gauntlets in a red cloth, and buried them beneath the tree, delivering a brief eulogy before returning to the truck.
"Goodbye, Dell," he said softly. "Thank you. For being there for me when no one else was "
Please visit my Etsy for the sewing pattern ^v^
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Yosemite Tunnel View Sunirse Red Orange Yellow Couds & Red Yellow Orange Green Leaves! Yosemite National Park California Autumn Colors Fall Foliage Fine Art Landscape Nature Photography Fuji GFX100 El Capitan Bridalveil Falls! Elliot McGucken Master Fine Art Luxury Photography Fine Art Fuji GFX 100 & FUJIFILM GF Lens !
Dr. Elliot McGucken Fine Art Spacetime Sculpture dx4//dt=ic:
Epic Fine Art Photography Prints & Luxury Wall Art:
Support epic, stoic fine art: Hero's Odyssey Gear!
Follow me on Instagram!
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All my photography celebrates the physics of light! The McGucken Principle of the fourth expanding dimension: The fourth dimension is expanding at the rate of c relative to the three spatial dimensions: dx4/dt=ic .
Lao Tzu--The Tao: Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.
Light Time Dimension Theory: The Foundational Physics Unifying Einstein's Relativity and Quantum Mechanics: A Simple, Illustrated Introduction to the Unifying Physical Reality of the Fourth Expanding Dimensionsion dx4/dt=ic !: geni.us/Fa1Q
"Between every two pine trees there is a door leading to a new way of life." --John Muir
Epic Stoicism guides my fine art odyssey and photography: geni.us/epicstoicism
“The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness.” --John Muir
Epic Poetry inspires all my photography: geni.us/9K0Ki Epic Poetry for Epic Landscape Photography: Exalt Fine Art Nature Photography with the Poetic Wisdom of John Muir, Emerson, Thoreau, Homer's Iliad, Milton's Paradise Lost & Dante's Inferno Odyssey
“The mountains are calling and I must go.” --John Muir
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Support epic fine art! 45surf ! Bitcoin: 1FMBZJeeHVMu35uegrYUfEkHfPj5pe9WNz
Exalt the goddess archetype in the fine art of photography! My Epic Book: Photographing Women Models!
Portrait, Swimsuit, Lingerie, Boudoir, Fine Art, & Fashion Photography Exalting the Venus Goddess Archetype: How to Shoot Epic ... Epic! Beautiful Surf Fine Art Portrait Swimsuit Bikini Models!
Some of my epic books, prints, & more!
Exalt your photography with Golden Ratio Compositions!
Golden Ratio Compositions & Secret Sacred Geometry for Photography, Fine Art, & Landscape Photographers: How to Exalt Art with Leonardo da Vinci's, Michelangelo's!
Epic Landscape Photography:
A Simple Guide to the Principles of Fine Art Nature Photography: Master Composition, Lenses, Camera Settings, Aperture, ISO, ... Hero's Odyssey Mythology Photography)
All art is but imitation of nature.-- Seneca (Letters from a Stoic - Letter LXV: On the First Cause)
The universe itself is God and the universal outpouring of its soul. --Chrysippus (Quoted by Cicero in De Natura Deorum)
Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;
To bend with apples the moss'd cottage-trees,
And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;
To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells
With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,
And still more, later flowers for the bees,
Until they think warm days will never cease,
For Summer has o'er-brimm'd their clammy cells. --To Autumn. by John Keats
Photographs available as epic fine art luxury prints. For prints and licensing information, please send me a flickr mail or contact drelliot@gmail.com with your queries! All the best on your Epic Hero's Odyssey!
Trona Pinnacles Wildflowers Superbloom Sunset Desert Sand Verbena and Desert Gold Sunflowers American Southwest California Inyo County! Dr. Elliot McGucken Scenic Spring View Fine Art Landscape Nature Photography!
Dr. Elliot McGucken Fine Art Spacetime Sculpture dx4//dt=ic:
Epic Fine Art Photography Prints & Luxury Wall Art:
Support epic, stoic fine art: Hero's Odyssey Gear!
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All my photography celebrates the physics of light! The McGucken Principle of the fourth expanding dimension: The fourth dimension is expanding at the rate of c relative to the three spatial dimensions: dx4/dt=ic .
Lao Tzu--The Tao: Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.
Light Time Dimension Theory: The Foundational Physics Unifying Einstein's Relativity and Quantum Mechanics: A Simple, Illustrated Introduction to the Unifying Physical Reality of the Fourth Expanding Dimensionsion dx4/dt=ic !: geni.us/Fa1Q
"Between every two pine trees there is a door leading to a new way of life." --John Muir
Epic Stoicism guides my fine art odyssey and photography: geni.us/epicstoicism
“The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness.” --John Muir
Epic Poetry inspires all my photography: geni.us/9K0Ki Epic Poetry for Epic Landscape Photography: Exalt Fine Art Nature Photography with the Poetic Wisdom of John Muir, Emerson, Thoreau, Homer's Iliad, Milton's Paradise Lost & Dante's Inferno Odyssey
“The mountains are calling and I must go.” --John Muir
Epic Art & 45EPIC Gear exalting golden ratio designs for your Hero's Odyssey:
Support epic fine art! 45surf ! Bitcoin: 1FMBZJeeHVMu35uegrYUfEkHfPj5pe9WNz
Exalt the goddess archetype in the fine art of photography! My Epic Book: Photographing Women Models!
Portrait, Swimsuit, Lingerie, Boudoir, Fine Art, & Fashion Photography Exalting the Venus Goddess Archetype: How to Shoot Epic ... Epic! Beautiful Surf Fine Art Portrait Swimsuit Bikini Models!
Some of my epic books, prints, & more!
Exalt your photography with Golden Ratio Compositions!
Golden Ratio Compositions & Secret Sacred Geometry for Photography, Fine Art, & Landscape Photographers: How to Exalt Art with Leonardo da Vinci's, Michelangelo's!
Epic Landscape Photography:
A Simple Guide to the Principles of Fine Art Nature Photography: Master Composition, Lenses, Camera Settings, Aperture, ISO, ... Hero's Odyssey Mythology Photography)
All art is but imitation of nature.-- Seneca (Letters from a Stoic - Letter LXV: On the First Cause)
The universe itself is God and the universal outpouring of its soul. --Chrysippus (Quoted by Cicero in De Natura Deorum)
Photographs available as epic fine art luxury prints. For prints and licensing information, please send me a flickr mail or contact drelliot@gmail.com with your queries! All the best on your Epic Hero's Odyssey!
This is the Zion Peak quarry seen from the trail at Mitchell Canyon, on the north side of Mt Diablo State Park, California. I call it "Scarface," but it has its own character and color, if you sliiiide it a bit. Usually, it looks kind of sad and ugly. I thought it was pretty on a sunny spring morning. HSS!
original from:
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if there is any copyright mail me
Second Beach La Push Olympic National Park Sunset Seastacks Washington Coast Ocean Art Seascape Fine Art Landscape Photography Fuji GFX100s Medium Format Forks WA! Elliot McGucken Master Fine Art Nature Photographer Pacific Northwest Fuji GFX 100s & GF Lens Washington Coast La Push!
Dr. Elliot McGucken Fine Art Spacetime Sculpture dx4//dt=ic:
Epic Fine Art Photography Prints & Luxury Wall Art:
Support epic, stoic fine art: Hero's Odyssey Gear!
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All my photography celebrates the physics of light! The McGucken Principle of the fourth expanding dimension: The fourth dimension is expanding at the rate of c relative to the three spatial dimensions: dx4/dt=ic .
Lao Tzu--The Tao: Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.
Light Time Dimension Theory: The Foundational Physics Unifying Einstein's Relativity and Quantum Mechanics: A Simple, Illustrated Introduction to the Unifying Physical Reality of the Fourth Expanding Dimensionsion dx4/dt=ic !: geni.us/Fa1Q
"Between every two pine trees there is a door leading to a new way of life." --John Muir
Epic Stoicism guides my fine art odyssey and photography: geni.us/epicstoicism
“The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness.” --John Muir
Epic Poetry inspires all my photography: geni.us/9K0Ki Epic Poetry for Epic Landscape Photography: Exalt Fine Art Nature Photography with the Poetic Wisdom of John Muir, Emerson, Thoreau, Homer's Iliad, Milton's Paradise Lost & Dante's Inferno Odyssey
“The mountains are calling and I must go.” --John Muir
Epic Art & 45EPIC Gear exalting golden ratio designs for your Hero's Odyssey:
Support epic fine art! 45surf ! Bitcoin: 1FMBZJeeHVMu35uegrYUfEkHfPj5pe9WNz
Exalt the goddess archetype in the fine art of photography! My Epic Book: Photographing Women Models!
Portrait, Swimsuit, Lingerie, Boudoir, Fine Art, & Fashion Photography Exalting the Venus Goddess Archetype: How to Shoot Epic ... Epic! Beautiful Surf Fine Art Portrait Swimsuit Bikini Models!
Some of my epic books, prints, & more!
Exalt your photography with Golden Ratio Compositions!
Golden Ratio Compositions & Secret Sacred Geometry for Photography, Fine Art, & Landscape Photographers: How to Exalt Art with Leonardo da Vinci's, Michelangelo's!
Epic Landscape Photography:
A Simple Guide to the Principles of Fine Art Nature Photography: Master Composition, Lenses, Camera Settings, Aperture, ISO, ... Hero's Odyssey Mythology Photography)
All art is but imitation of nature.-- Seneca (Letters from a Stoic - Letter LXV: On the First Cause)
The universe itself is God and the universal outpouring of its soul. --Chrysippus (Quoted by Cicero in De Natura Deorum)
Photographs available as epic fine art luxury prints. For prints and licensing information, please send me a flickr mail or contact drelliot@gmail.com with your queries! All the best on your Epic Hero's Odyssey!
Pastel Pink Purple Clouds Alpenglow Sunrise First Light Mountain Peaks Snake River Overlook Snowcapped Tetons Mountains Grand Teton National Park Fine Art Landscape Nature Photography Wyoming Winter Snow Panorama! Fuji GFX100s Medium Format Fine Art Landscapes 45EPIC Elliot McGucken Master Luxury Photography WY Fine Art ! Fujifilm GF 20-35mm F4 Wide Angle Lens
Dr. Elliot McGucken Fine Art Spacetime Sculpture dx4//dt=ic:
Epic Fine Art Photography Prints & Luxury Wall Art:
Support epic, stoic fine art: Hero's Odyssey Gear!
Follow me on Instagram!
Facebook:
All my photography celebrates the physics of light! The McGucken Principle of the fourth expanding dimension: The fourth dimension is expanding at the rate of c relative to the three spatial dimensions: dx4/dt=ic .
Lao Tzu--The Tao: Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.
Light Time Dimension Theory: The Foundational Physics Unifying Einstein's Relativity and Quantum Mechanics: A Simple, Illustrated Introduction to the Unifying Physical Reality of the Fourth Expanding Dimensionsion dx4/dt=ic !: geni.us/Fa1Q
"Between every two pine trees there is a door leading to a new way of life." --John Muir
Epic Stoicism guides my fine art odyssey and photography: geni.us/epicstoicism
“The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness.” --John Muir
Epic Poetry inspires all my photography: geni.us/9K0Ki Epic Poetry for Epic Landscape Photography: Exalt Fine Art Nature Photography with the Poetic Wisdom of John Muir, Emerson, Thoreau, Homer's Iliad, Milton's Paradise Lost & Dante's Inferno Odyssey
“The mountains are calling and I must go.” --John Muir
Epic Art & 45EPIC Gear exalting golden ratio designs for your Hero's Odyssey:
Support epic fine art! 45surf ! Bitcoin: 1FMBZJeeHVMu35uegrYUfEkHfPj5pe9WNz
Some of my epic books, prints, & more!
Exalt your photography with Golden Ratio Compositions!
Golden Ratio Compositions & Secret Sacred Geometry for Photography, Fine Art, & Landscape Photographers: How to Exalt Art with Leonardo da Vinci's, Michelangelo's!
Epic Landscape Photography:
A Simple Guide to the Principles of Fine Art Nature Photography: Master Composition, Lenses, Camera Settings, Aperture, ISO, ... Hero's Odyssey Mythology Photography)
All art is but imitation of nature.-- Seneca (Letters from a Stoic - Letter LXV: On the First Cause)
The universe itself is God and the universal outpouring of its soul. --Chrysippus (Quoted by Cicero in De Natura Deorum)
Photographs available as epic fine art luxury prints. For prints and licensing information, please send me a flickr mail or contact drelliot@gmail.com with your queries! All the best on your Epic Hero's Odyssey!
==The Clocktower- Current Residence of the Bat-Family. One day after the Misfits' attack==
"Thank you, Mr Pennyworth," Needham said gratefully, as he took his cup of tea from off of Alfred's silver platter, and sipped it slowly. “Look," he continued, turning his attention to Bruce. "Fiasco believed that Day was masterminding events; Toying with Carson and the Misfits, maybe King of Cats too, all in a deliberate attempt to lure Walker back to Gotham. As part of a scheme where he needed him, and the rest of his crew, in attendance.”
“And you believe him?” Bruce asked.
"Hhn. I believe something's going on. But whether Day's the mastermind, or he's another pawn like Carson is another matter entirely."
Bruce considered this. “That doesn't absolve Walker. Or Fiasco."
“No," Needham agreed, staring into the cup distractedly. "Still, I had to let them go. I have faith that if they can just put the pieces together, maybe find a way to neutralise Krill, then perhaps-"
"That's not on them, Eric. And it's not on you either."
"But Batman, listen-"
"No. If there is a conspiracy at large, I'll look into it myself, but I need you focused on the False Facers. Word is that Henry Ferris, Iron-Hat, is back in Gotham, operating under Sionis' orders and I need to know why. There's a gang war brewing here; one our new mayor will undoubtedly profit from."
"Batman-"
"That's an order, Spider."
Needham obliged, and rose to his feet, walking towards his parked motorcycle. Turning his head back to Bruce, he spoke. “Do you know why Walker's gotten to you? Because you believed in him. Because you had to. After Dent, and Hush, you desperately needed to believe in redemption; real, honest redemption. But, the truth is, it doesn't exist. Because people... people are ugly and messy. But that doesn't mean you stop trying; It was your faith in me that kept me going and it's my faith in them that's going to save the Misfits."
==Arkham Asylum==
When The Joker had first taken over the Asylum, Jeremiah Arkham had himself been taken prisoner; in the subsequent weeks, he would become an outlet for the clown's musings and sadistic habits. With Day forging documents on his behalf and Zolomon dealing with the odd trespasser, few had even noticed Arkham was missing. And so long as Billings' illusion held, the Asylum would appear to outsiders as it always had; A dark blemish in the Gotham skyline. All except for one man, who watched the building vigilantly, a gun in his hand, scanning the windows for any sign of movement, any hint at the horrors hidden behind its grim facade.
Making himself at home in the doctor's study, the clown had been quick to dismantle his trophies, vandalise his artwork and incinerate his paperwork. "Tut tut tut, a lot of ABBA. You like ABBA, Jerry?" he asked mockingly, as he rifled through Arkham's rather pitiful record collection. "Mama Mia, here we go again..." he muttered under his breath.
His concentration, was disrupted by the sudden crashing of the door, as a black suited man barged into the room; the watcher from outside, who aimed a silver pistol between the clown's soulless eyes, and without a moment's hesitation, pulled the trigger. Before it could reach its target however, the bullet was intercepted by Zoom's gloved hand, who held it between his fingers, mere inches from the clown's face. The breeze from Zoom's arrival had knocked the intruder backwards, separating him from his weapons as he landed at Joker's feet.
"Huh," the clown frowned, an ABBA record still in his hand. "You, sir, look more like a Nirvana fan. You even smell like Teen Spirit to boot. Pwhoar!"
"Youuuuuuuu saaaaaaaaid wewouldbe secure," Zolomon hissed, as he watched the man curiously.
"Uhuh; almost, Hunter. I said almost," the clown corrected him, as he knelt down beside the intruder. "Always read the terms and conditions. You know, I'm slowly beginning to understand what it's like being an Arkham guard... Revolving door indeed... Eraser, isn't it?" he asked. "Awfully hard to keep track of your lot, you know. You multiply like rabbits."
Fiasco snarled. "Go to hell."
"Already been and already barred! It's overrated anyhow and not at all like the brochure," Joker replied.
"Hooooowwwwwwwdid yoooooou find uuuuuus?" Zoom demanded, as he pulled their new prisoner to his feet. Fiasco, stared back at him in utter incomprehension.
"He's asking how you found us, sweetie," Joker said flatly. "In English, Hunter, please."
Fiasco scoffed bitterly. "It wasn't hard; you're all far too sentimental; Day used Arkham as a staging ground in his last big attack. And I knew Crane wouldn't resist getting another shot at revenge neither. Factor in some poetic symmetry, that this was where Drury killed Larson that first time, and boom. Kinda obvious, really."
"Touché..." Joker smirked. "Though I think you'll find it's Carson."
"Daaaaay called him Barson," Zolomon intruded.
"I think you'll find that I don't care either way," Fiasco shot back at them both.
"Oh my, he's a rather sharp witted pencil, isn't he? Adorable," Joker remarked to an unimpressed Zoom. "It's almost a shame that he's been putting threads together. Ones that we simply can not allow to get out... Oh, well."
"Oh, please," Fiasco spat, still struggling in Zoom's grip, "If I know, it's only a matter of time before the Bat does too."
Joker laughed. "Batsy, yes... Now there's an ever present pain in my abdomen; or perhaps that's the appendicitis again... Still, we've got a contingency for that. You've met Spellbinder, wonderful houseguest. Heavy drinker... A real pity, that."
He snapped his fingers, and Billings limped into the room, his eyes widening as they made contact with Fiasco's. "How did you-?" he began, sweating nervously.
"Well, isn't that the question of the hour!" Joker glared maliciously. "I didn't clothe you, feed you and spring you from Blackgate just for some faulty hardware. Imagine if it failed for Batsy, or Drubert, heaven forbid!"
Billings swallowed, avoiding the clown's eyeline. "As I... tried to explain, the illusion holds for long as those affected continue to accept it as their reality. Once rejected or dismissed, however, the illusion loses its hold on the mind and simply... fades away. Like a mirage in the desert."
"Then whatdowe dooooooowith him?" Zoom inquired, glaring at Fiasco, his arm still wrapped around his neck.
Joker smiled. "Keep 'im. I want to have a spare for when Arkham dies."
~-~
Days passed, and still, Fiasco remained The Joker's prisoner. Following a lead from Mr Freeze, Batman had come and gone, with the clown's cabal believing he'd found nothing of note during his brief visit; Fiasco himself had been moved to Crane's old cell.
Meanwhile, in the study, the clown was firing arrows blindly. Strapped to a chair, squirming as each misfire drew closer to his skull, was Jeremiah Arkham, an apple laid atop his sweaty head. About half the arrows had rubber tips; Harmless; The rest, had recently been sharpened. Joker stuck his tongue out, in a display of faux determination and fired his next arrow. "Now, I know you're just a side project, but I can't help but think we've developed a real bond here! And I don't just mean the ropes and zip-ties."
"The Caaaaaaaaalendar Maaaaaan has returned," Zolomon announced, speeding into the room.
Joker turned his head, put his bow on the ground and winked at Arkham. "Goody, send him in. You- don't go anywhere: Can't be far from a nervous breakdown now, huh, Jerry?" he chuckled as strutted over to his captive and took a bite of the apple, spewing chunks into Arkham's hair as he spoke. "Clearly, the apple doesn't fall all that far from the tree. Hah!"
"I know about Fiasco, Joker," Day stormed into the room. "We had an arrangement; The Misfits were mine."
"Yes, an arrangement that was null and void the second that little stripey son of a tree pointed a gun in my face," Joker rolled his eyes. "He's not harmed. Much."
"I trusted you-" Day spluttered.
Joker shrugged. "Eh. You really shouldn't have."
Zoom put himself in-between Joker and Day, placing a hand around the latter's arm. "Enough. Weeeeeeee mussssssssstfind Walker," he insisted. "The Erasaaaaaaaaaser knows Waaaaaaalker. Sohe must bemadeto taaaaaaalk."
"No need," Day replied plainly. "Abner has a lead."
=Tompkins Homeless Shelter. Gotham=
Behind his iron mask, Ferris' nose wrinkled; This was not where he had wanted to meet. He, would've preferred the Iceberg Lounge, even that Olympus bar, run by that delusional Zeus character would be preferable; Provided he'd put a shirt on, that is.
Instead, he was stuck here; in a venue almost certainly chosen to make him as uncomfortable as possible.
The door chimed as a white suited figure entered the building and greeted Ferris. "Hey, don't I know you from somewhere? Maybe an old Hitler Youth ad?" he joked.
Ferris tilted his head upwards. "Krill," he said coldly.
"Adolf," the spotted man smiled snidely.
"Hope you don't mind," he elaborated, as he slid into the chair opposite him. "But the gay bar down the street's closed, and that feminist rally has been rescheduled."
"Sure," Ferris said stiffly.
"Don't worry, you're safe here; free food, doctor/patient confidentiality, the works. Oh, over here, love," Krill called out, as the server, a young Vietnamese woman, placed two hot bowls of noodle soup between them. Krill winked at her, then slurped down the mixture hungrily. Ferris looked back at him, the mask failing to hide the disgust emanating from his body.
"Ordered in advance," Krill slurped, as his free hand waved his phone at Ferris. "Not a problem for you, I'm sure."
"Of course not," Ferris lied, as he watched Krill spoon several clumps of wet noodles into his mouth. "You're a hard man to get a hold of."
Krill raised a warning finger. "And with good reason; I've only ever accepted serious and/or rich clients. Well, and you, I suppose. Might I just say that helmet really brings out your eyes? That is a very deep shade of blue," Krill teased. "Now, you said you had something for me?"
"Correct," Ferris said. "I'd heard you were looking for those... bug boys, Misfits, whatever you wanna call 'em, doesn't matter... About a week ago, I overheard the chi-"
At this, Krill cringed. "Oho, wow. Oh, wow, you're doing a hardcore racist thing- classy. Real high brow," he recoiled.
"Fine," Ferris hissed reluctantly. "I overheard Bookworm mention a school to Sionis. Greendale. Didn't think much of it, until one of my contacts said they spotted Lynns and the ni- Firebug" he breathed in heavily, "In the city center scoffing down ice cream and swinging their swords around."
Krill paused."That's not a homophobic euphemism is it-?" he queried.
"No," Ferris growled, his patience growing thinner.
"Just checking!" Krill shrugged passively. "Still, worth a look. Greendale, did you say? Neato..."
As Krill rose to his feet, he turned back to Ferris, his lip curled. "What is it?" Ferris demanded.
"Y'know, normally, I wouldn't care, but you've piqued my interest... What exactly do you get out of this? If it were Franco, sure, I'd understand, but you? I mean, let's say Sionis got wind of this-"
"Well he's not going to, is he?" Ferris challenged him. Beneath his mask, he smiled as he repeated Franco's own mantra; "The wind's changing, Mr Krill. From what I hear, there's going to be a change in management very soon; I'm just making sure I'm on their side when it comes. And Sionis? Well, Sionis can't exactly weld another mask to my face, can he?"
"No," Krill conceded, a coy smile on his face. "But you can't exactly rule out a codpiece either."
Another one of those 'oh I like that' moments - this is the inside of my glass at a candle lit table
The Go Ahead Group was exceptionally good at self-promotion in its formative years. This Olympic-themed promotion for Go Ahead Gateshead is particularly apt at the present time, although it actually dates from the mid-1990s. When the Go Gateshead brand was established, it was good marketing sense to identify with the Gateshead Stadium, a source of much local pride. Whilst the stadium continues to flourish, the Go Ahead Gateshead brand has long been replaced by an indifferent mix of route-branded schemes. This digital representation has been prepared by reference to a monochrome photo (an offside view) and it is possible that the colours and layout are not entirely correct (14-Aug-16).
All rights reserved. Follow the link below for terms and conditions, additional information about my work; and to request work from me. I cannot undertake to respond to requests, or to queries of a general nature, which are posted as comments under individual images
www.flickr.com/photos/northernblue109/6046035749/in/set-7...
Cavendish Mews is a smart set of flats in Mayfair where flapper and modern woman, the Honourable Lettice Chetwynd has set up home after coming of age and gaining her allowance. To supplement her already generous allowance, and to break away from dependence upon her family, Lettice has established herself as a society interior designer, so her flat is decorated with a mixture of elegant antique Georgian pieces and modern Art Deco furnishings, using it as a showroom for what she can offer to her well heeled clients.
Today however, we are far from Cavendish Mews. We are not even in England as we follow Lettice, her fiancée, Sir John Nettleford Hughes, and her widowed future sister-in-law, Clementine (known preferably now by the more cosmopolitan Clemance) Pontefract on their adventures on their visit to Paris.
Old enough to be Lettice’s father, wealthy Sir John was until recently still a bachelor, and according to London society gossip intended to remain so, so that he might continue to enjoy his dalliances with a string of pretty chorus girls of Lettice’s age and younger. After an abrupt ending to her understanding with Selwyn Spencely, son and heir to the title Duke of Walmsford, Lettice in a moment of both weakness and resolve, agreed to the proposal of marriage proffered to her by Sir John. More like a business arrangement than a marriage proposal, Sir John offered Lettice the opportunity to enjoy the benefits of his large fortune, be chatelain of all his estates and continue to have her interior design business, under the conditions that she agree to provide him with an heir, and that he be allowed to discreetly carry on his affairs in spite of their marriage vows. He even suggested that Lettice might be afforded the opportunity to have her own extra marital liaisons if she were discreet about them.
The trio have travelled to Paris so that Lettice may attend the ‘Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes’* which is highlighting and showcasing the new modern style of architecture and interior design known as Art Deco of which Lettice is an exponent. Now that Lettice has finished her commission for a feature wall at the Essex country retreat of the world famous British concert pianist Sylvia Fordyce, Lettice is moving on to her next project: a series of principal rooms in the Queen Anne’s Gate** home for Dolly Hatchett, the wife of Labour MP for Towers Hamlets*** Charles Hatchett, for whom she has done work before. Mrs. Hatchett wants a series of stylish formal rooms in which to entertain her husband’s and her own influential friends in style and elegance, and has given Lettice carte-blanche to decorate as she sees fit to provide the perfect interior for her. Lettice hopes to beat the vanguard of modernity and be a leader in the promotion of the sleek and uncluttered lines of the new Style Moderne**** which has arisen as a dynamic new movement at the exhibition.
We find ourselves in the Jardin des Tuileries**** where amidst the finely clipped square topiaries and brilliant white classical statuary of the gardens, on the lush and well clipped lawns, Lettice sits with Sir John and Clemance enjoying a very fine picnic repast in the warm autumnal sunshine of Paris. Arranged with the assistance of the chefs at the hotel they are staying at, Clemance has arranged a splendid picnic to which she has invited her good friends, Marcel and Léonie Dupont, and to which Sir John has invited some of his own Parisian acquaintances. A red and white gingham picnic rug has been spread across the lawn, and its surface is graced with water crackers, a selection of cheeses, dips, pâtés, breads, pies, pasties, sandwiches and even a dressed lobster and a traditional English trifle. Bottles of the finest French wines and champagnes stick up out of silver wine coolers and cutlery, gilt hotel crockery and glassware glint in the sunlight. Birds twitter in the trees and the distant burble of Paris traffic mixes with the chatter of the voices of visitors to the public gardens. In the middle distance, the Louvre Museum, housed in a palace of the same name, basks in the sunshine.
“So, to what pleasures, do we owe the pleasure of your company here in Paris, Mademoiselle Chetwynd?” Monsieur Dupont asks Lettice in slightly laboured and heavily accented English.
“We can speak French if you’d prefer, Monsieur Dupont.” Lettice replies kindly with a gentle smile as she tears a piece of bread delicately from a flour dusted roll, casting a shower of white snowflakes into the linen napkin spread across her lap. “I do speak it fluently.”
“Marcel is very proud of his command of Anglaise, Mademoiselle Chetwynd.” Madame Dupont proffers in reply with a laugh.
“I am,” Monsieur Dupont agrees with his wife, sitting up a little more straightly as he speaks. “I find my command of Anglaise to be useful when doing business with your fellow countrymen. Sadly, I don’t get to practice conversation à la Anglaise enough, Mademoiselle Chetwynd, so I should like to converse in Anglaise with you, if you don’t mind.”
“Not at all, Monsieur Dupont.” Lettice agrees, her own smile broadening, as she lavishes her piece of fluffy white roll with a lashing of creamy yellow butter from a silver knife as she speaks. “However, if you get tired of conversing in English, we can always revert to French.”
“Merci, Mademoiselle Chetwynd.” Monsieur Dupont replies with a grateful sigh and beaming smile below his small waxed petite handlebar moustache*****. “Vous êtes si gentil.” He holds up his glass of rich, jewel like red wine in a toast to Lettice.
“Mon plaisir, Monsieur Dupont.” Lettice replies.
“And in answer to your question, Marcel, my future sister-in-law is probably here more for business than pleasure, unlike Nettie and I.” Clemance adds to the conversation as she holds aloft her half-drunk flute of sparkling champagne, which glints in the sunshine. “For whom it is strictly a visit for pleasure.”
“Ahh.” Monsieur Dupont remarks with interest. “How so, Mademoiselle Chetwynd?”
“Well Monsieur Dupont, I’m visiting Paris so that I can attend the Exposition des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes. My fiancée is escorting me.”
“Nettie was looking for an excuse to visit Paris and catch up with old friends.” Clemance adds with a chuckle, using her pet name for her brother, indicating with her glass to Sir John, who sits on the other side of the red and white gingham picnic rug covered in the delicious repast organised by Clemance, surrounded by a few other picnickers, chatting rather intently with a lowered head with a heavily made up peroxided blonde woman in a fashionable fuchsia coloured afternoon frock.
“So I see,” Madame Dupont remarks a little dourly as her striking emerald green eyes follow Clemance’s gesture. Her nose crumples almost imperceptibly with distaste as Sir John and the blonde woman laugh at a shared confidence whispered into her ear by him.
Lettice’s pretty face clouds just a little as she observes the familiarity that seems to exist between her fiancée and the blonde woman to whom she has yet to be introduced, who arrived late to the picnic with a small coterie of loud and colourful friends who twitter around them like exotic birds. The way the pair’s heads are lowered towards one another, and the closeness of their shoulders seems to imply to Lettice that whoever the blonde woman is, she has been intimate with Sir John. Closing her eyes and quickly shaking her head as if ridding herself of an irritating insect, she tries to dismiss the idea from her mind. Yes, Sir John did come to Paris to meet up with old friends, including a long-standing acquaintance and old flame of his, Cinégraphic****** silent film actress Madeline Flanton, but surely this blonde woman wasn’t her! Sir John promised Lettice that he would never do anything to make her ashamed of him, in public at least. Paris might be freer than London was in relation to propriety and social mores, but surely even he wouldn’t flirt with an old flame like Mademoiselle Flanton in front Lettice in such a public way, would he? Of course not! She shakes her head again to rid herself of the idea. Not every woman Sir John knows is a former lover of his: take Sylvia Fordyce for example. Their relationship, whilst long standing and very close, is strictly platonic.
“I’m only here as a chaperone for Lettice.” Clemance goes on blissfully unaware of Madame Dupont’s disapproval of Sir John’s behaviour, breaking Lettice’s train of thought about him and the blonde woman. “But it also gave me an excuse to return to Paris and see you and some of my other friends.” She smiles beatifically at the Duponts. “I miss you all so.”
“Then you shouldn’t have left us, cher Clemance!” Mrs Dupont scolds Clemance good naturedly. “You can always come back you know.”
“Oh, I know Léonie.” Clemance remarks. “But it’s impossible.” She shakes her head. “After Harrison…” Her voice trails off as she mentions her dead husband and she gulps to gather her composure as unshed tears well in her eyes. “I have lost so much, here in Paris.” She blinks back the tears as she stares meaningfully at Madame Dupont. “No, it’s better if I am in London with Nettie nearby,” She turns to Lettice and smiles bravely. “And my dear Lettice of course.”
Lettice knows that Clemance lost her only child, a daughter, Élodie, to diphtheria when she was just twelve years old, but she cannot let on that Sir John has shared this deepest of confidences with her. So, she knows that Clemance has lost not only her husband, but her daughter in Paris, making the city of light and love a very dark place for her future sister-in-law.
“Of course, Clemance,” Lettice agrees. “And you will always be welcome to stay with John and I whenever you want. You have a home with us, wherever we are.”
“Thank you, Lettice my dear.” Clemance says with a grateful smile, reaching out her left hand and squeezing Lettice’s right forearm comfortingly.
“Ahh…” Madame Dupont taps her nose knowingly. “As the future Lady Nettleford-Hughes, you will become the mistress of Rippon Court.” She refers to the old castle built on Sir John’s vast family estate in Bedfordshire.
“Oh, I don’t think John and I plan on making Rippon Court our country seat, Madame Dupont.” Lettice responds. “He didn’t seem at all keen on the idea when I couched it.”
“Well, that’s hardly surprising.” Clemance adds in a strangulated tone as her face pales.
“Why not, mon cher Clemance?” Monsieur Dupont queries before slipping half a water cracker lavished in creamy and rich duck pâté into his mouth.”
“Surely it is only right that Sir John and Mademoiselle Chetwynd take up residence in the family estate once they are married, Clemance.” Madame Dupont adds.
“Rippon Court does not hold fond memories for either Nettie or myself.” Clemance snaps in an unusual pique of irritation, bristling all over.
“I was born in Wiltshire, on my parent’s estate, Glynes.” Lettice quickly adds in an effort to deflect questions away from her future sister-in-law, who is obviously suffering discomfort at the mention of the home she and Sir John grew up in. “Glynes is quite close to Fontengil Park, John’s Wiltshire estate. I’ve never been to Rippon Court before, but John tells me that even though Fontengil Park is smaller, it is more suitable for us. More comfortable. Heating old houses is so expensive nowadays, never mind a castle.”
“John and I will have to take you to Rippon Court before you get married, Lettice my dear.” Clemance says with less brittleness in her voice. “Even if you don’t live there, as county gentry, you’ll be expected to participate in events around the local hunt. Unlike our parents, Nettie and I have never enjoyed foxhunting, but the old Nettleford Hunt is as much part a part of the county social calendar as Bonfire Night*******, Christmas, New Year and Twelfth Night********.”
“Your brother is très curieux, mon cher Clemance!” Madame Dupont laughs as she reaches daintily for a golden pâté en croûte*********. “How can le gentilhomme Anglaise not like to hunt? It is in your blood, non?” She takes a bite, showing her napkin covered lap in pastry crumbs.
“My father would have agreed with you, Léonie.” Clemance replies. “Nettie and I used to say that our parents were born on horses. Father was always a fine rider, a mad keen steeplechaser********** and bloodthirsty hunter.’ She shudders. “Mother was too. They couldn’t understand why Nettie didn’t enjoy, nor have the aptitude for, the outdoor sports they embraced with such gusto. Nettie was a bookworm***********, like me, and we’d bribe our governesses when we were children with promises of good behaviour and no procrastination at bedtime to lie to our parents and say they hadn’t seen us when they came looking for either Nettie or both of us to join in the hunt.” She giggles rather girlishly. “He and I used to hide in one of Rippon Court’s towers where we kept a small library of our favourite books to amuse ourselves for an afternoon of hiding from our parents.” She pauses for a moment and sips some of her champagne. “I wonder if our childhood books are still up there, gathering dust and shrouded in cobwebs?” she ponders. “Lettice my dear!”
“Hhhmmm….” Lettice says distractedly.
“Lettice, Nettie and I must show you the book tower when we visit Rippon Court in the New Year for the Nettleford Hunt.” Lettice doesn’t reply as her attention is caught by something out of the corner of her eye. Clemance doesn’t notice and continues, focussing upon her friends the Duponts. “However, luckily being the master of foxhounds************ is only a ceremonial role, and Nettie is not forced to mount a horse and take part in the hunt itself. Lettice of course, is a skilled horsewoman, but her role, at least on this first visit to the Nettleford Hunt will be ceremonial too. As the future Lady Nettleford-Hughes, she’ll be restricted to handing out the winners’ trophies.”
Clemance’s chattery voice dulls and morphs into a distant undistinguishable burble in her ears as Lettice’s attention is drawn back to her fiancée sitting on the other side of the picnic blanket. She notices a subtle movement on the fabric of the rug close to a plate of finely cut triangle sandwiches garnished with tomato and cucumber. It’s Sir John’s finger and that of the unknown blonde woman. They are discreetly playing with one another teasingly before entwining their little fingers tightly together, hidden from the view of those in front of them by Sir John’s back. A sparkling peridot in a gold ring on the woman’s finger twinkles whilst the sheen of Sir John’s Georgian gold and carnelian************* signet ring*************, bearing the Nettleford-Hughes crest glares in the sunlight, shining in Lettice’s eyes, causing her to blink and look down.
“Mademoiselle Chetwynd?” Monsieur Dupont queries.
“What?” Lettice asks in a distracted fashion, her attention drawn back to the conversation happing on her side of the picnic, between Clemance and the Duponts.
“You never fully answered my question, Mademoiselle Chetwynd.” Monsieur Dupont explains.
“Err… what question was that, Monsieur Dupont?”
“You never told me why you are visiting the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes, Mademoiselle. Business or pleasure?”
“Well, it’s for business really,” Lettice manages to say with a slightly strangulated voice. “Although I can’t deny that there is a mix of pleasure to be found amidst the business.” She glances back to Sir John and the blonde woman’s entwined fingers, but find that they are no longer interlocked. She quickly returns her attention to Monsieur Dupont’s expectant face. “Thanks to Clemance’s generosity at organising this lovely picnic for us, and introducing me to her old and beloved Parisian friends. She speaks of you both so fondly.”
“Pardon moi, but I wouldn’t call that lovely!” Madame Dupont says in disgust, waving an accusing finger at the picnic.
For a brief moment, Lettice thinks that Clemance’s guest has seen the intertwined fingers of Sir John and the blonde woman, and she blushes red with embarrassment at the thought. Then she notices that Madame Dupont is actually pointing at a round container sitting on the red and white chequered rug, marked ‘U-Like-It Savoury Cheese’**************, featuring two cherub cheeked children in the label. It houses some individually wrapped triangles of cheese, each one’s tin foil*************** affixed with a different brightly coloured label.
“Oh that’s just for Nettie!” Clemance laughs with a sweep of her hand over the container of cheese before taking another sip of her champagne.
“Is our cheese not good enough for your frère, ma chere?” Monsieur Dupont asks, a little offended as he raises his hand to his chest, as if wounded by Clemance’s declaration.
“Not at all, Marcel!” Clemance assures him quickly. “When he inherited the family title, land and estates, amongst them he inherited a sheep station in Australia, called Rippon Station.”
“A railway station?” Monsieur Dupont asks in surprise.
“Built just for sheep transportation?” Madame Dupont adds in confusion.
“How très peculiar Antipodeans*************** are.” Monsieur Dupont declares as he takes up another cracker lavished with pâté and bites into it.
“No, no, Léonie and Marcel!” Clemance explains with a smirk, used to the confusion stirred within her Parisian friends, just as she and her brother had once been confused by some uniquely Australian vernacular. “A station in Australia can mean a railway station as we know it to mean. However, it can also be a name for large swathes of pastural land, like a very large farm.” She chuckles. “I know, it’s a strange term. Nettie and I were just as confused then, as you are now.” She looks at the perplexed looks on her friends’ faces. “Both Nettie and I sailed to Australia after our father died. It took six weeks to get there alone! I think Harrison despaired that I would ever return to Paris. The station, the large farm, is in Victoria. It is looked after by a very competent manager who grazes and breeds cattle for us on the property, and they produce cheddar cheese there. The Australians call it ‘tasty cheese’ rather than cheddar, but call it what you like, it equates to much the same thing. During our stay there, Nettie developed a taste for this uniquely Australian ‘tasty cheese’, pardon my pun. Now when his station sends crates of cheese from Rippon Station to London by refrigerated vessel****************, Nettie always has a few tins of our cheese marketed under the U-Like-It brand sent up to Belgravia for his pleasure. I had this shipped to our hotel in Paris from the London docks a few days ago, once I had settled on the fact that I was going to host this picnic luncheon whilst we were visiting.”
The pair of Parisians nod in slightly less confusion.
“You still haven’t answered my question, Mademoiselle Chetwynd,” Monsieur Dupont persists.
“Oh, that’s because I have been chatting away nineteen to the dozen*****************!” Clemance apologises with an embarrassed gasp. “Please, dear Lettice, tell Marcel why you’re visiting the exposition.”
“Well, as I said, I’ve come to view the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes, Monsieur Dupont.” Lettice says again, politely, trying to focus on his inquisitive middle-aged face, and not be tempted to take her eyes off him and stray back to Sir John and the blonde woman, thus drawing attention to their flirtatious behaviour. “I’m an interior designer in London, you see, and I am an exponent of the modernist and uncluttered Art Deco aesthetic.”
“Ahh!” Monsieur Dupont murmurs with interest. “Yes, we are very proud of all that France has on show at the exposition! It’s a symbol of national pride to show the world what the height of fashion is.” he adds proudly. “France, and Paris in particular, has always set the trends for fashion and design.”
“Now that Lettice has finished her commission for our friend Sylvia Fordyce,” Clemance pauses. “You remember Nettie’s and my friend the concert pianist who performed at the Casino de Paris******************?”
“Oui! Oui!” the Duponts reply enthusiastically.
“Well, Lettice is moving on to her next project: a series of rooms for a British politician and his wife in the heart of London.”
“Is that so, Mademoiselle Chetwynd?” Monsieur Deupont asks.
“Yes,” Lettice replies, blushing at the Frenchman’s intense interest. “Mrs. Hatchett wants me to decorate a series of formal rooms in her new London home, in which to entertain their friends.”
“Lettice’s star is on the rise as a society interior designer in London,” Clemance enthuses. “Everyone wants her to design for them. She hopes to beat the small vanguard of this new modern style emerging in London and be a leader in the promotion of the style. Err…” she stumbles. “What did you call it again, Lettice my dear?”
“Style Moderne*******************.” Lettice replies rather distractedly as once again her attention returns to Sir John and the blonde woman.
The blonde woman laughs overly loudly at something Sir John says and places a hand predatorily upon his upper arm in a most unnervingly familiar way, which only helps to confirm for Lettice that whomever she is, this woman has been her fiancée’s lover in the past, and seems to have easily wound him up in her thrall yet again in the short period of time since she and her coterie of friends arrived to join Clemance’s picnic. She peers more closely at her heavily rouged cheeks with their defined bones and her exotic eyes, made even more so by the dark kohl******************** rimming them. She is not as youthful as Sir John’s current conquest in London, the West End actress Paula Young – more middle aged than twenty something - but as Lettice observes her hand lightly caressing Sir John’s tweed jacketed shoulder with her elegant fingers with their pink painted nails, she perceives that this woman shares the same steely determination as Paula, and whilst she appears on the surface to be jovial and gay in a free and natural way, there is a glibness behind it all that suggests to Lettice that she is a woman who has had to fight for everything she now has, and she knows how to enchant Sir John with her coquettish charms, in spite of her age.
“I perceive that you and I may have a fruitful friendship, Mademoiselle Chetwynd,” Monsieur Dupont remarks. “If you intend to pursue your career in interior design.”
“Oh, Nettie is very supportive of Lettice furthering her pursuits as an interior designer, Marcel.” Clemance replies.
“Indeed, how very forward thinking of him.” Monsieur Dupont opines.
“I think it is the businessman in him, Marcel. They say that like is drawn to like, and Nettie saw the determination in Lettice that he has for being successful in business. Isn’t that so, Lettice my dear?”
Drawn back to the conversation, Lettice replies with an apology, “I’m afraid I was distracted, Clemance my dear. What did you say?”
“I was just telling Marcel that Nettie is very supportive of your career as an interior designer, my dear.”
“Oh indeed he is, Monsieur Dupont. He wants me to continue with my interior design business even after I become Lady Nettleford-Hughes.”
“Then I really do believe that you and I will have a very fruitful relationship, mademoiselle Chetwynd.” Monsieur Dupont reiterates.
“Oh no, mon cheri!” Madame Dupont implores. “No business talk today, please! We are here to have fun and see Clemance and Jean, and meet Mademoiselle Chetwynd!”
“Business?” Lettice queries.
“My husband is a fabricant de textiles… a fabric manufacturer who specialises in tissue d’ameublement.” Madame Dupont elucidates.
“A furnishing fabric manufacturer, Monsieur Dupont?”
“Indeed, Mademoiselle Chetwynd.” The Frenchman replies proudly. “You will even see some of my fabrics on display at the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes when you visit it.”
“S'il vous plaît, ne parlez pas de travail, Marcel!” Madame Dupont implores her husband. “Let us just have fun today. Please! No work!”
“Oui! Oui Léonie!” he acquiesces. He then notices Clemance’s empty glass. “More champagne, mon cher Clemance?” he asks.
“How free you are with my champagne, mon cher Marcel!” Clemance giggles. “Please!” She holds out her glass.
“Très certainement!” he replies laughing as he withdraws the bottle from its silver cooler.
As Monsieur Dupont tends to Clemance’s and his wife’s glasses, Lettice cannot help but allow her attentions to return to the mysterious blonde woman sitting next to her fiancée on the grass. Solicitous towards her, she happily accepts anything Sir John offers her with a gracious elegance, yet it seems to be all artifice as she smiles a broad painted smile at him, and lowers her lids coquettishly as he refills her flute with champagne from another bottle.
“I see that you are taken by our ravissante cinéma chantuse*********************.” Monsieur Dupont’s voice breaks Lettice’s silent observation.
“Oh!” Lettice gasps, her hands rising to her cheeks as she feels the heat of embarrassment flush her face at being caught looking so overtly at the blonde woman. “I’m sorry, Monsieur Dupont. How frightfully rude of me.” she apologises to the Frenchman.
“Not at all, Mademoiselle Chetwynd.” he assures her with a shake of his head and a gentle smile. “Who could blame the moth for being drawn to the flame? More champagne?” He doesn’t wait for a reply, but immediately begins refilling Lettice’s three-quarter empty flute.
“Who is she, Monsieur Dupont?” Lettice asks. “You obviously know her.”
“Of course, Mademosielle! Like any red-blooded Frenchman, I know of her.” He cocks his head, looking thoughtfully at Lettice. “But you evidently, do not?”
Lettice looks at Monsieur Dupont and shakes her head.
“That, is Madeline Flanton, the famous French film star. She has been smouldering across our cinéma screens, and working her way into our hearts, since before the war.”
Lettice feels the blood drain from her face just as easily as it was flushed moments ago, as her worst fears, the concern that has been curdling her stomach ever since she noticed the familiarity between her and Sir John, is brought to fruition. Lettice’s mind is suddenly filled with the memory of the conversation she and Sir John had at the Savoy********************** when she first mentioned that she wanted to visit the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes in Paris. His counter proposal involved him attending the exhibition with Lettice in the mornings, before slipping away discreetly and meeting up with his old flame, Madeline Flanton in the afternoon. Determined not to lose face over this suggestion, Lettice suggested that perhaps she could meet Mademoiselle Flanton as well. Rather than balk at the idea, as she had in her heart-of-hearts hoped he might, Sir John warmed quickly to Lettice’s idea, suggesting that if they both went to Mademoiselle Flanton’s apartment for cocktails, the Parisian media wouldn’t question Sir John visiting her, and any whiff of scandal would thus be avoided. He suggested that after a few polite social cocktails with Mademoiselle Flanton, she and Sir John could escort Lettice out via the back entrance to her apartment into a waiting taxi to return her to the hotel that she, Sir John and Clemance have arranged to stay at, leaving Sir John to spend the rest of the night with Mademoiselle Flanton.
Lettice lifts her refilled glass of champagne to her lips and takes a gulp of champagne, rather than her usual ladylike sip. However, rather than tasting refreshing and sweet, the effervescent golden liquid tangs of bitterness, as it roils in the pit of her stomach. And suddenly, everything she was enjoying about Clemance’s picnic in the Tuileries Garden – the delicious spread of food, the warm autumnal sunshine, the birdsong, the pleasant chatter of her companions – all seems suddenly spoilt, and when Mademoiselle Flanton laughs again at something Sir John has said, and she places a hand on his upper arm again, the sound of her guffaws appear harsh, strident and forced.
*International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts was a specialized exhibition held in Paris, from April the 29th (the day after it was inaugurated in a private ceremony by the President of France) to October the 25th, 1925. It was designed by the French government to highlight the new modern style of architecture, interior decoration, furniture, glass, jewellery and other decorative arts in Europe and throughout the world. Many ideas of the international avant-garde in the fields of architecture and applied arts were presented for the first time at the exposition. The event took place between the esplanade of Les Invalides and the entrances of the Grand Palais and Petit Palais, and on both banks of the Seine. There were fifteen thousand exhibitors from twenty different countries, and it was visited by sixteen million people during its seven-month run. The modern style presented at the exposition later became known as “Art Deco”, after the exposition's name.
**Queen Anne’s Gate is a street in Westminster, London. Many of the buildings are Grade I listed, known for their Queen Anne architecture. Simon Bradley and Nikolaus Pevsner described the Gate’s early Eighteenth Century houses as “the best of their kind in London.” The street’s proximity to the Palace of Westminster made it a popular residential area for politicians.
***The London constituency of Tower Hamlets includes such areas and historic towns as (roughly from west to east) Spitalfields, Whitechapel, Bethnal Green, Wapping, Shadwell, Mile End, Stepney, Limehouse, Old Ford, Bow, Bromley, Poplar, and the Isle of Dogs (with Millwall, the West India Docks, and Cubitt Town), making it a majority working class constituency in 1925 when this story is set. Tower Hamlets included some of the worst slums and societal issues of inequality and poverty in England at that time.
****"Style Moderne," often used interchangeably with "Streamline Moderne" or "Art Moderne," is a design style that emerged in the 1930s, characterized by aerodynamic forms, horizontal lines, and smooth, rounded surfaces, often inspired by transportation and industrial design. It represents a streamlined, less ornate version of Art Deco, emphasizing functionality and sleekness. It was first shown at the Paris International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts of 1925.
****The Tuileries Garden is a public garden between the Louvre and the Place de la Concorde in the first arrondissement of Paris. Created by Catherine de' Medici as the garden of the Tuileries Palace in 1564, it was opened to the public in 1667 and became a public park after the French Revolution. Since the Nineteenth Century, it has been a place for Parisians to celebrate, meet, stroll and relax.
*****A petit handlebar moustache is a smaller version of the classic handlebar moustache. It features the same upward-curling ends, but the overall length is shorter, with the ends typically stopping just before the cheeks.
******Cinégraphic was a French film production company founded by director Marcel L'Herbier in the 1920s. It was established following a disagreement between L'Herbier and the Gaumont Company, a major film distributor, over the film "Don Juan et Faust". Cinégraphic was involved in the production of several films, including "Don Juan et Faust" itself. Cinégraphic focused on more experimental and artistic films.
*******Guy Fawkes Day, also called Bonfire Night, British observance, celebrated on November the fifth, commemorating the failure of the Gunpowder Plot of 1605. Guy Fawkes and his group members acted in protest to the continued persecution of the English Catholics. Today Guy Fawkes Day is celebrated in the United Kingdom, and in a number of countries that were formerly part of the British Empire, with parades, fireworks, bonfires, and food. Straw effigies of Fawkes are tossed on the bonfire, as are—in more recent years in some places—those of contemporary political figures. Traditionally, children carried these effigies, called “Guys,” through the streets in the days leading up to Guy Fawkes Day and asked passersby for “a penny for the guy,” often reciting rhymes associated with the occasion, the best known of which dates from the Eighteenth Century.
********Dating back to the fourth century, many Christians have observed the Twelfth Night — the evening before the Epiphany — as the ideal time to take down the Christmas tree and festive decorations. Traditionally, the Twelfth Night marks the end of the Christmas season, but there's reportedly some debate among Christian groups about which date is correct. By custom, the Twelfth Night falls on either January 5 or January 6, depending on whether you count Christmas Day as the first day. The Epiphany, also known as Three Kings' Day, commemorates the visit of the three wise men to baby Jesus in Bethlehem.
*********In French, a pasty is known as "pâté en croûte". Whilst "pasty" can also be translated as "friand" or "tourte" depending on the specific context, if referring to the Cornish pasty, it can be described as a "petit pâté en croûte à la viande et aux pommes de terre".
**********A steeplechase is a long-distance race involving both galloping and jumping over obstacles, primarily fences and water jumps. In horse racing, steeplechases involve horses jumping over various obstacles like fences and ditches.
***********The term "bookworm" was first used in the mid-1500s, specifically in 1549 in a translation by Thomas Chaloner, according to the Oxford English Dictionary. Initially, it referred to the actual insects that would bore into books. Later, around 1580, the term began to be used metaphorically to describe people who spent excessive amounts of time reading, often with a somewhat negative connotation.
************A master of the foxhounds is a ceremonial position in foxhunting. The master of foxhounds is the person responsible for the conduct of a fox hunt and to whom all members of the hunt and its staff are responsible.
*************Carnelian is a semi-precious gemstone, specifically a reddish-orange variety of chalcedony, a type of quartz. It is known for its vibrant colors, ranging from pale orange to deep reddish-brown, and is often used in jewelry and decorative art. Carnelian has been valued for centuries for its beauty and is also believed to possess various metaphysical and healing properties.
**************A signet ring is a type of ring, traditionally with a flat face, that is often engraved with a family crest, initials, or other symbolic design. Historically, these rings were used to seal documents by pressing the engraved face into hot wax, effectively acting as a personal signature. Signet rings have been a symbol of status, family heritage, and personal identity for centuries.
***************"U-Like-It" was a brand of cheese made in Australia, marketed to the rest of the world. It contained a variety of cheddars, marketed as "tasty cheese" in Australia. The term "tasty cheese" itself is commonly used in Australia to describe a medium-aged cheddar, and the "U-Like-It" brand was part of this category. The brand is now known as Cheer, and the "U-Like-It" brand was discontinued after the Second World War.
**************Tin foil, made from thin sheets of tin, was first commercially produced and used in the late Nineteenth and early Twentieth centuries. While the term "tin foil" is still used today, it now often refers to "aluminium foil", which replaced tin foil due to its superior properties and lower cost.
***************The term Antipodean is used when referring to people or items relating to, or originating from places on the opposite side of the globe, especially Australia and New Zealand.
****************Refrigeration on ships began with experimental shipments of chilled and frozen meat in the 1870s, with the first successful voyage occurring in 1878. The Paraguay arrived at Le Havre with five and half thousand frozen carcasses, proving the concept of refrigerated shipping. This was followed by the Strathleven's successful voyage from Australia to London in 1879-1880. The Dunedin's voyage in 1882, carrying a full cargo of refrigerated meat from New Zealand to England, further solidified the viability of refrigerated shipping. By 1900 a worldwide survey indicated 356 refrigerated ships in operation, carrying a variety of cargo. By the mid 1920s, when this story is set, refrigeration on ocean bearing vessels was quite common and reliable, thus making produce from the far-flung corners of the British Empire able to be brought to the heart of Empire in London.
*****************We are all familiar with the phrase “ten to the dozen’” which means someone who talks fast. However, the original expression is actually “nineteen to the dozen”. Why nineteen, you ask? Many sources say we simply don’t know, but there are other sources that claim it goes back to the Cornish tin and copper mines, which regularly flooded. With advancements in steam technology, the hand pumps they used to pump out this water were replaced by beam engines that could pump 19,000 gallons of water out for every twelve bushels of coal burned (much more efficient than the hand pumps!)
******************The Casino de Paris, located at 16, Rue de Clichy, in the 9th arrondissement, is one of the best known music halls of Paris, with a history dating back to the Eighteenth Century. Contrary to what the name might suggest, it is a performance venue, and not a gambling house. The first building at this location where shows could be mounted was erected by the Duc de Richelieu around 1730, while after the French Revolution the site was renamed Jardin de Tivoli and was the venue for fireworks displays. In 1880 it became the Palace Theatre, which housed shows of different types, including wrestling. It was at the beginning of the First World War, however, that the modern Casino de Paris began to take shape, when the venue was converted into a cinema and music hall. After the bombardments of the First World War caused performances to be interrupted, the revue format was resumed, one which lasted through a good part of the Twentieth Century.
*******************"Style Moderne," often used interchangeably with "Streamline Moderne" or "Art Moderne," is a design style that emerged in the 1930s, characterized by aerodynamic forms, horizontal lines, and smooth, rounded surfaces, often inspired by transportation and industrial design. It represents a streamlined, less ornate version of Art Deco, emphasizing functionality and sleekness. It was first shown at the Paris International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts of 1925.
********************Kohl is a cosmetic product, specifically an eyeliner, traditionally made from crushed stibnite (antimony sulfide). Modern formulations often include galena (lead sulfide) or other pigments like charcoal. Kohl is known for its ability to darken the edges of the eyelids, creating a striking, eye-enhancing effect. Kohl has a long history, with ancient Egyptians using it to define their eyes and protect them from the sun and dust, however there was a resurgence in its use in the 1920s and 1930s. In the 1920s, kohl eyeliner was a popular makeup trend, particularly among women embracing the "flapper" aesthetic. It was used to create a dramatic, "smoky eye" look by smudging it onto the lash line and even the inner and outer corners of the eyes. This contrasted with the more demure, natural looks favoured in the pre-war era.
*********************Whilst the chanteuse became a stock character in the film noir genre — a woman singing sultry songs in a smoky nightclub or cabaret — the word simply means "female singer" in French.
**********************The Savoy Hotel is a luxury hotel located in the Strand in the City of Westminster in central London. Built by the impresario Richard D'Oyly Carte with profits from his Gilbert and Sullivan opera productions, it opened on 6 August 1889. It was the first in the Savoy group of hotels and restaurants owned by Carte's family for over a century. The Savoy was the first hotel in Britain to introduce electric lights throughout the building, electric lifts, bathrooms in most of the lavishly furnished rooms, constant hot and cold running water and many other innovations. Carte hired César Ritz as manager and Auguste Escoffier as chef de cuisine; they established an unprecedented standard of quality in hotel service, entertainment and elegant dining, attracting royalty and other rich and powerful guests and diners. The hotel became Carte's most successful venture. Its bands, Savoy Orpheans and the Savoy Havana Band, became famous. Winston Churchill often took his cabinet to lunch at the hotel. The hotel is now managed by Fairmont Hotels and Resorts. It has been called "London's most famous hotel". It has two hundred and sixty seven guest rooms and panoramic views of the River Thames across Savoy Place and the Thames Embankment. The hotel is a Grade II listed building.
Beautiful as it may be, this decadent and delicious looking picnic on the lawns may not be all it seems, for it is in fact made up of miniatures from my 1:12 miniatures collection.
Fun things to look for in this tableau include:
The silver tray of biscuits and crackers in the foreground has been made in England by hand from clay by former chef turned miniature artisan, Frances Knight. She also made the silver tray of pâté en croute, the basket of bread, the porcelain tray of tomato and cucumber sandwiches in the background, the footed glass bowl of trifle and the glass dish containing butter. She also made the U-Like-It tin of cheeses. Each wedge of cheese is carefully wrapped up in foil and stuck with a label, just like the real u-like-it cheeses were presented when they were manufactured! Frances Knight’s work is incredibly detailed and realistic, and she says that she draws her inspiration from her years as a chef and her imagination.
The dressed lobster and the cutlery came from Beautifully Handmade Miniatures in Kettering, as did the cutlery and the gilt edged porcelain plates. The champagne flutes also came from Beautifully Handmade Miniatures. Each is made from real, finely spun glass.
The bottle of champagne is a 1:12 size artisan miniature made of glass by Little Things Dollhouse Miniatures in Lancashire, as are the other bottles you see. The champagne bottle has real foil wrapped around its neck, and all are hand made from glass. Each bottle features the label from a real winery in France or Germany.
The silver wine cellar in which the champagne bottle sits is made by Warwick Miniatures in Ireland, who are well known for the quality and detail applied to their pieces. The second wine cellar in the background and the silver water jug are miniature artisan pieces that I acquired from Kathleen Knight’s Doll’s House Shop in the United Kingdom.
The two large wicker picnic baskets were made by unknown miniature artisans in America. The floral patterns on the top of the one with handles have been hand painted. The hinged lids lift, just like a real hamper, so things can be put inside. It came with some miniature handmade placemats and napkins inside including the yellow napkins sitting in the bottom right-hand corner of the photograph.
The picnic blanket being used is in reality a corner of one of my gingham shirts, which my partner derisively calls my “picnic blanket shirt”. The grass in the background is real, as this scene was photographed on my front lawn during the height of summer, on a partially sunny day.
The Old Testament never mentioned Nazareth.
Think of all the genealogies and historical accounts, and what seems, at least to us today, like unusual attention to land, geography, and place. So many proper names — and not one single mention of a rustic settlement tucked away in a region known for its obscurity.
Nazareth was an uncelebrated, forgotten town, off the beaten path, even for Galilee. When guileless Nathanael queried a friend about Jesus, he expressed the common Jewish sentiment in the first century (John 1:46): Can anything good come out of Nazareth?
Yet here in this sleepy town, his father’s and mother’s story began, and returned. They were Nazarenes. And it was only a matter of time before it would be the moniker that his enemies, and the demons besides, would use to throw shade on his credibility.
“Jesus of Nazareth.”
Thirty Years in Obscurity
His parents came to Bethlehem as census travelers. He was born in noble Bethlehem, but this is not where they would stay. Mary and Joseph returned to their hometown (Matthew 2:23). And after they took their child up to Jerusalem to dedicate him, “they returned into Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth” (Luke 2:39).
So also, after his memorable visit to the temple at age 12, Luke tells us Jesus “went down from Jerusalem” with his parents. Indeed he did. To leave Jerusalem was to “go down” — not just geographically but socially. And yet, as a glimpse into the self-emptying pattern of his incarnation, the Son of God “went down with them and came to Nazareth” (Luke 2:51).
Outside the New Testament references, we know very little, if anything reliable, about ancient Nazareth — because it was so obscure. Eminent first-century figures didn’t know or speak much about it, at least not in prominent enough publications to be preserved.
Still, in God’s wise, world-shaming plan for his Son, part of his life of humility, and submission to his parents, was leaving the buzzing, big-city temple, the very nexus of the nation’s activity and excitement, and “going down” to small-town Nazareth, to live thirty years in obscurity. Here he would remain until John the Baptist’s arrest (Matthew 4:13). And Nazareth not only meant a more out-of-the-way, rural, even backwater life than “up” in Jerusalem, but “Nazarene” would be a stigma he would carry the rest of his life.
Can anything good come out of Nazareth?
‘They Came to Nazareth’
Among Jews, Nazareth’s reputation was poor enough, but outside Israel, the town wasn’t even known. Which is why each of the Gospel writers had to explain what Nazareth was — a town in Galilee — when they first mentioned it (Matthew 2:23; Mark 1:9; Luke 1:26).
Today we sing about the little town of Bethlehem, but Bethlehem, humble as it was compared to Jerusalem, had a name that dwarfed Nazareth. Bethlehem was a city, with a history, and at that, “the city of David.” Nazareth? Can anything good come out of Nazareth?
During his earthly life, so far as we know, Jesus never self-identified as “Jesus of Nazareth.” Only rarely did his followers call him that (John 1:45). Typically, it was crowds unfamiliar with him (Matthew 21:11; 26:71; Mark 10:47; Luke 18:37). Or his foes: demons (Mark 1:24; Luke 4:34), false witnesses (Acts 6:14), and the soldiers who came with the traitor to arrest him (John 18:5, 7). And while many despised him for his hometown, even his fellow Nazarenes soon rejected him, drove him out of town, and threatened to throw him off the cliff (Luke 4:28–30).
Wherever we find his name on the lips of foes who want to give it a derogatory spin, expect them to call him “Jesus of Nazareth.” And if Nathanael’s comment, and the venom of demons and detractors, had not been enough, Pilate inscribed it on the instrument of his torture: “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews” (John 19:19). He humbled himself to the point of death, even death on a cross, even as a Nazarene.
The Glory of Nazareth
But Nazareth’s story did not end in dishonor. His Father saw fit not only to redeem a fallen race, but also a disgraced moniker, when he raised the Nazarene from the dead. Now the risen Christ is indeed “Jesus of Nazareth” — not in shame but unparalleled glory.
First it came from the angel at the tomb: “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here” (Mark 16:6). For more than three decades, “Nazarene” had been a bitter foretaste of his coming crucifixion. Now the tables have turned. Now it tastes of sweet glory.
Soon Peter had the Spirit-transformed palate, and the tagline became a fixture in his ministry. The crucified, risen Lord of the universe was none other than “Jesus of Nazareth” (Acts 2:22). Peter healed a lame man “in the name of Jesus of Nazareth” (Acts 3:6) and declared the name to all who would listen (Acts 4:10). Even to Caesarea he came preaching to the Gentiles of God’s anointing on “Jesus of Nazareth” (Acts 10:38).
Then came the revelation to Paul of Tarsus, who would admit, “I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things in opposing the name of Jesus of Nazareth” (Acts 26:9). Here even Jesus himself — in the only record we have of him self-identifying with Nazareth — took up the newly honorific title when he appeared on the Damascus Road. “I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting” (Acts 22:8).
God Grew Up in Nazareth
God himself grew up in a forgotten town in Galilee. He came down from Jerusalem, and went down in self-humbling, and down into the tomb, and then took Nazareth up with him in his triumph. And how many of us today, in adolescent immaturity, harbor a kind of mild contempt for our Nazareths, suspecting in our unchastened arrogance that we have ascended to heights greater than our modest origins? But oh what might God be doing in our Nazareths, and how might he be redeeming the days, and decades, that feel to us like such a waste?
How remarkable that our Lord, being fully God and perfect man, didn’t make for the big city first chance he got, or insist he dwell where all the action was. Rather, he gave nearly the entirety of his life and public ministry not grasping for Jerusalem, but humbling himself in Galilee — in a man-forsaken town called Nazareth.
The answer to Nathanael’s question is an emphatic yes. And not only good but the greatest. And because he loves to produce his best in the places we least expect, perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised when he makes the forgotten places in our stories into his channels of greatest good.
David Mathis (@davidcmathis) is executive editor for desiringGod.org and pastor at Cities Church in Minneapolis/St. Paul. He is a husband, father of four, and author of Habits of Grace: Enjoying Jesus through the Spiritual Disciplines.
Meadow Fire burn area one year later. California, Sierra Nevada Mountains, Yosemite National Park. John Muir Trail Mile 008.
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