Dear flickr friends,

 

I've come to the realization that I am SO BUSY! School-work is piling up, my internship is keeping me busy, and holiday season is coming up fast , and as a result of all of these combined, you may (or may not) have noticed a conspicuous lack of self-portraits for the 365 group from me. If you have, you're right. I haven't had time to take any SP's lately, much less any pictures! I decided that I'm going to stop the 365 challenge. I'm actually surprised that I've gotten as far as I have! I was thinking about it the other day and I have 168 pictures left to do. Woah. That number completely overwhelmed me! Hence my decision.

 

One thing I noticed in a lot of my SP's is that I don't genuinely smile. Here's the deal. I have yellow and stained teeth. They don't look so bad in this picture because the sun was so blaringly bright (yest that's a word), but the reason my teeth are yellow and stained is because a lot of it is genetic. Thanks dad. :) I actually take really good care of my teeth, have tried bleaching, etc. but nothing really seems to work. I've given up at this point on ever having the star-white teeth and I don't even notice anymore. People tell me I have a nice smile, but then I become self-conscious because I know it's then that they've seen my teeth. This is why i don't fully smile in a lot of my SP's and why make such silly faces, so I can distract you! :)

 

All that said, I'm done with 365, for now. When things start to calm down (like after I graduate!) I might start over. I want to have that feeling of accomplishment of doing this for a year, I don't think I've ever done anything consecutively for a year (well, besides brush my teeth, but we've already talked about that).

 

I'll still take some SP's every once in a while, but just not every day now. I'm done being stressed out, and it feels kind of nice not have to check another thing off of my list everyday. And I'll definitely take pictures of life that happens around me!

 

Thanks for all of you, I feel like I have become ten-times better at my pictures because of your comments and suggestions. 365 truly has helped me become a better photographer and I look forward to doing this project again in the future.

 

*cheers!*

Towards the end of the Korean War, the USAF came to the realization that their transport fleet was becoming obsolete. The C-46 Commandos and C-47 Skytrains in service were no longer adequate, while the C-119 Flying Boxcar was having difficulties. In 1951, the USAF issued a requirement for a new tactical transport, an aircraft that would need to carry at least 72 passengers, be capable of dropping paratroopers, and have a ramp for loading vehicles directly into the cargo compartment. Moreover, it must be a “clean sheet” design, not a conversion from an existing airliner, and the USAF preferred it be a turboprop design. Five companies submitted designs, and six months later the USAF chose Lockheed’s L-402 design—over the misgivings of Lockheed’s chief designer, Clarence “Kelly” Johnson, who warned that the L-402 would destroy the company. Little was Johnson to know that, fifty years later, the L-402—designated C-130 Hercules by the USAF—would still be in production, and one out of only five aircraft to have over 50 years of service with the original purchaser.

 

The C-130 was designed to give mostly unfettered access to a large cargo compartment—the ramp forms an integral part of the rear fuselage, the wing is mounted above the fuselage, and the landing gear is carried in sponsons attached to the fuselage itself, while the fuselage has a circular design to maximize loading potential. The high wing also gives the C-130 good lift, especially in “high and hot” situations. The Allison T56 turboprop was designed specifically for the Hercules, and has gone on to become one of the most successful turboprop designs in history.

 

After two YC-130 prototypes, the Hercules went into production as the C-130A in 1956, to be superseded by the improved C-130B in 1959. The latter became the baseline Hercules variant: C-130As had three-blade propellers and a rounded “Roman” nose, while the B introduced the more familiar, longer radar nose and four-blade propellers. In the 50 years hence, the basic C-130 design has not changed much: the C-130E introduced underwing external fuel tanks, while the C-130H has a slightly different wing. Even the new C-130J variant only introduced new engines with more fuel efficient six-bladed propellers: the basic design remains the same. Lockheed also offers stretched versions of the Hercules, initially as a civilian-only option (the L-100-30); the British Royal Air Force bought this version as the C-130K and it was later adopted by other nations, including the United States.

 

The basic C-130 is strictly a transport aircraft, but the versatility of the aircraft has meant it has been modified into a dizzying number of variants. These include the AC-130 Spectre gunship, the HC-130 rescue aircraft and WC-130 weather reconnaissance version. Other versions include several dozen EC-130 electronic warfare/Elint variants, KC-130 tankers, and DC-130 drone aircraft controllers. The USAF, the US Navy, and the US Marine Corps are all C-130 operators as well. Besides the United States, there are 67 other operators of C-130s, making it one of the world’s most prolific aircraft. C-130s are also used extensively by civilian operators as well as the L-100 series.

 

The “Herky Bird,” as it is often nicknamed, has participated in every military campaign fought by the United States since 1960 in one variation or the other. During Vietnam, it was used in almost every role imaginable, from standard transport to emergency bomber. It was also instrumental in resupplying the Khe Sanh garrison during its three-month siege. Hercules crews paid the price as well: nearly 70 C-130s were lost during the Vietnam War. In foreign service, C-130s have also been used heavily, the most famous instance of which was likely the Israeli Entebbe Raid of 1976, one of the longest-ranged C-130 missions in history. C-130s are often in the forefront of humanitarian missions to trouble spots around the world.

 

As of this writing, over 2300 C-130s have been built, and most are still in service. It remains the backbone of the USAF’s tactical transport service; attempts to replace it with the Advanced Tactical Transport Program (ATTP) in the 1980s and to supplement it with the C-27J Spartan in the 2000s both failed, as the USAF realized that the only real replacement for a C-130 is another C-130.

 

This version of the C-130 is a HC-130P version, codenamed Combat King. These were designed to support air rescue operations, with dedicated crew and electronics to coordinate rescue missions between the downed aircrew, rescue helicopters, and any escorts or aircraft on station. The squared off nose housed a more advanced radar than the standard C-130. The tanks under the wing were hose/drogue refueling pods for helicopters such as the HH-53 Super Jolly Green Giant. In Vietnam, these aircraft used the callsign "Crown."

 

This aircraft, 65-0993, belonged to the 41st Air Rescue and Recovery Squadron, at the time operating from McClellan AFB, California. Dad got this picture on the Malmstrom AFB flightline after it made a fuel stop. It carries the standard Southeast Asia camouflage scheme of C-130s at the time. This aircraft was later modified to a MC-130P Combat Shadow aircraft (with the same role), and was retired from USAF service in 2014. It is currently in storage at AMARC at Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona.

Towards the end of the Korean War, the USAF came to the realization that their transport fleet was becoming obsolete. The C-46 Commandos and C-47 Skytrains in service were no longer adequate, while the C-119 Flying Boxcar was having difficulties. In 1951, the USAF issued a requirement for a new tactical transport, an aircraft that would need to carry at least 72 passengers, be capable of dropping paratroopers, and have a ramp for loading vehicles directly into the cargo compartment. Moreover, it must be a “clean sheet” design, not a conversion from an existing airliner, and the USAF preferred it be a turboprop design. Five companies submitted designs, and six months later the USAF chose Lockheed’s L-402 design—over the misgivings of Lockheed’s chief designer, Clarence “Kelly” Johnson, who warned that the L-402 would destroy the company. Little was Johnson to know that, fifty years later, the L-402—designated C-130 Hercules by the USAF—would still be in production, and one out of only five aircraft to have over 50 years of service with the original purchaser.

 

The C-130 was designed to give mostly unfettered access to a large cargo compartment—the ramp forms an integral part of the rear fuselage, the wing is mounted above the fuselage, and the landing gear is carried in sponsons attached to the fuselage itself, while the fuselage has a circular design to maximize loading potential. The high wing also gives the C-130 good lift, especially in “high and hot” situations. The Allison T56 turboprop was designed specifically for the Hercules, and has gone on to become one of the most successful turboprop designs in history.

 

After two YC-130 prototypes, the Hercules went into production as the C-130A in 1956, to be superseded by the improved C-130B in 1959. The latter became the baseline Hercules variant: C-130As had three-blade propellers and a rounded “Roman” nose, while the B introduced the more familiar, longer radar nose and four-blade propellers. In the 50 years hence, the basic C-130 design has not changed much: the C-130E introduced underwing external fuel tanks, while the C-130H has a slightly different wing. Even the new C-130J variant only introduced new engines with more fuel efficient six-bladed propellers: the basic design remains the same. Lockheed also offers stretched versions of the Hercules, initially as a civilian-only option (the L-100-30); the British Royal Air Force bought this version as the C-130K and it was later adopted by other nations, including the United States.

 

The basic C-130 is strictly a transport aircraft, but the versatility of the aircraft has meant it has been modified into a dizzying number of variants. These include the AC-130 Spectre gunship, the HC-130 rescue aircraft and WC-130 weather reconnaissance version. Other versions include several dozen EC-130 electronic warfare/Elint variants, KC-130 tankers, and DC-130 drone aircraft controllers. The USAF, the US Navy, and the US Marine Corps are all C-130 operators as well. Besides the United States, there are 67 other operators of C-130s, making it one of the world’s most prolific aircraft. C-130s are also used extensively by civilian operators as well as the L-100 series.

 

The “Herky Bird,” as it is often nicknamed, has participated in every military campaign fought by the United States since 1960 in one variation or the other. During Vietnam, it was used in almost every role imaginable, from standard transport to emergency bomber. It was also instrumental in resupplying the Khe Sanh garrison during its three-month siege. Hercules crews paid the price as well: nearly 70 C-130s were lost during the Vietnam War. In foreign service, C-130s have also been used heavily, the most famous instance of which was likely the Israeli Entebbe Raid of 1976, one of the longest-ranged C-130 missions in history. C-130s are often in the forefront of humanitarian missions to trouble spots around the world.

 

As of this writing, over 2300 C-130s have been built, and most are still in service. It remains the backbone of the USAF’s tactical transport service; attempts to replace it with the Advanced Tactical Transport Program (ATTP) in the 1980s and to supplement it with the C-27J Spartan in the 2000s both failed, as the USAF realized that the only real replacement for a C-130 is another C-130.

 

This CC-130H, 130329 of 435 Transport Squadron, stopped in for a visit to Malmstrom AFB in spring 1977, where Dad got this picture. It carries the old Canadian Forces transport scheme of antiglare white over bare metal, with the CAF's "lightning bolt" on the fuselage. At the time, 435 Squadron operated from CFB Edmonton, Alberta, though today they are based at Winnipeg. Sadly, this aircraft crashed in November 1982 with the loss of the entire crew.

At their Mt. Washington HQ.

“I want everything back, the way it was. But there is no point to it, this wanting.”

― Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid's Tale

Master plan peninsula NDSM Amsterdam N

The Nederlandsche Dok and Scheepsbouw Maatschappij (NDSM) has been one of the largest shipbuilders in western Europe, where more than six thousand people worked at the peak. After the bankruptcy in the 1980s, a large site remained unused. The value of this rugged industrial environment was discovered by artists and cultural entrepreneurs and turned out to be an attractive environment for festivals. Catering and temporary student housing have come. A ferry connection to the center was the deciding factor for an acceleration and scaling-up, with media-related companies such as MTV and idTV establishing themselves. The NDSM wharf has become one of the most important places in Amsterdam's creative ambitions. The rugged and spontaneous environment is approaching its best-before date by its own success. Investment decisions are needed to continue the free-growing dynamics of the yard. How can the NDSM yard develop further while maintaining and expanding its spontaneous impulsive character?

ARC19: De Werf Amsterdam - OZ

In five years a project has been established with the municipality, developers, investors and designers that is the start of a new residential area. The urban development and the architectural principles for the block and the rest of the area are determined here. De Werf is an example in the process and design of large-scale transformations in the big cities.

Ensemble De Werf is the first large-scale residential development on the NDSM site. The project realization is an initiative of COD, Verwey Mungra Vastgoed and OZ. The new design of 70,000 m2 with 945 homes has proved to be a catalyst for the growth and popularity of living on the former shipyard. The development strategy and the objective to attract young people with De Werf was an answer to questions about population growth and housing shortage. It is a daring transformation project where, in collaboration with the municipality of Amsterdam, the parties jointly pioneered within the emerging housing market. De Werf is an example of the current building assignment in the big cities. It shows that living in a high-urban environment can be very pleasant. Not the block but the future urban diversity and liveliness on the street has been decisive in the design of the ensemble. Characteristic is the industrial architecture in which the block is divided into seven sub-projects, each with its own entrance and housing typology. The diversity in scale and architectural expression means that the streets in NDSM will soon become an inviting whole when the area is further developed. The difference in height is striking from a distance, but at pedestrian level a pleasant experience in activities and architecture dominates. A pleasant living environment is the result of diversity and facilities. The ensemble has been set up with a wide variety of student accommodation units, rental apartments for young families for which specific 2 and 3 room floor plans have been designed into large family homes and living and working units. On the street side, living, working and relaxation mix, as it should be on NDSM.

 

Name: Kraanspoor

City: Amsterdam

Architect(s): OTH (Ontwerpgroep Trude Hooykaas bv)

realization: 2007

 

Kraanspoor (translated as craneway) is a light-weight transparent office building of three floors built on top of a concrete craneway on the grounds of the former NDSM (Nederlandsche Dok en Scheepsbouw Maatschappij) shipyard, a relic of Amsterdam’s shipping industry. This industrial monument, built in 1952, has a length of 270 meters, a height of 13,5 meters and a width of 8,7 meters. A street length and width. The new construction on top is the same 270 meters long, with a width of 13,8 meters, accentuates the length of Kraanspoor and the phenomenal expansive view of the river IJ. Fully respecting its foundation, the building is lifted by slender steel columns 3 meters above the crane way, appearing to float above the impressive concrete colossus.

 

The challenge of the design for OTH was to utilize the maximum allowable load of the existing craneway. The concrete craneway functions as a foundation, and carries the maximum possible weight of a three storey building, with an asymmetrical overhang on the water-side; this is due to the heavier load barring function for the former revolving cranes that cantilevered to this side. The light-weight building of steel construction made the light-weight floors necessary. By using a hollow Infra+ floor system, the piping and wiring are tucked away in the floor allowing for a maximum clear height.

 

The glass building is clear and simple in plan. The newly built construction is characterized by its transparent double-skin climate façade of glass: the outer layer of moveable motor-driven glass louvers appear as lace-work around the building, the inner façade is of hinged timber windows with a full height from office floor to ceiling. This climate façade allows natural ventilation of the offices and acts as a buffer against heat in the summer and cold in the winter. The concrete Infra+ underfloor of only 70mm allows for concrete core activity. The water from the IJ river is pumped up and used for heating as well as cooling via a water pump.

 

The pre-existing facilities have been utilised in the building’s new function. The former four old stairwells still remain as entrance to the building and are foreseen with panorama lifts and new stairs. The two gangways/catwalks alongside the concrete craneway function as fire-escape routes. In the heart of the original concrete structure, underneath the new structure, is extensive archive/storage space.

 

"A seamless combination of old and new – industrial heritage and modern architecture in which the waterways are restored and the slipway determines the orientation. The entire place with its shipping industrial past has an intense energy. The object is to intertwine the old with the new, to preserve history, and not loose this energy.

 

The wharf is dead? – Long live the wharf."

 

text: www.archdaily.com

Two F-22 Raptors fly in formation behind a KC-135 Stratotanker from the 340th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron during a Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve mission over Iraq, April 11, 2017. The Raptor performs both air-to-air and air-to-ground missions allowing full realization of operational concepts vital to the 21st century Air Force. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Joshua A. Hoskins)

 

Towards the end of the Korean War, the USAF came to the realization that their transport fleet was becoming obsolete. The C-46 Commandos and C-47 Skytrains in service were no longer adequate, while the C-119 Flying Boxcar was having difficulties. In 1951, the USAF issued a requirement for a new tactical transport, an aircraft that would need to carry at least 72 passengers, be capable of dropping paratroopers, and have a ramp for loading vehicles directly into the cargo compartment. Moreover, it must be a “clean sheet” design, not a conversion from an existing airliner, and the USAF preferred it be a turboprop design. Five companies submitted designs, and six months later the USAF chose Lockheed’s L-402 design—over the misgivings of Lockheed’s chief designer, Clarence “Kelly” Johnson, who warned that the L-402 would destroy the company. Little was Johnson to know that, fifty years later, the L-402—designated C-130 Hercules by the USAF—would still be in production, and one out of only five aircraft to have over 50 years of service with the original purchaser.

 

The C-130 was designed to give mostly unfettered access to a large cargo compartment—the ramp forms an integral part of the rear fuselage, the wing is mounted above the fuselage, and the landing gear is carried in sponsons attached to the fuselage itself, while the fuselage has a circular design to maximize loading potential. The high wing also gives the C-130 good lift, especially in “high and hot” situations. The Allison T56 turboprop was designed specifically for the Hercules, and has gone on to become one of the most successful turboprop designs in history.

 

After two YC-130 prototypes, the Hercules went into production as the C-130A in 1956, to be superseded by the improved C-130B in 1959. The latter became the baseline Hercules variant: C-130As had three-blade propellers and a rounded "Roman" nose, while the B introduced the more familiar, longer radar nose and four-blade propellers. (Virtually all A models were later retrofitted to the long nose, though they kept the three-blade propellers.) In the 50 years hence, the basic C-130 design has not changed much: the C-130E introduced underwing external fuel tanks, while the C-130H has a slightly different wing. Even the new C-130J variant only introduced new engines with more fuel efficient six-bladed propellers: the basic design remains the same. Lockheed also offers stretched versions of the Hercules, initially as a civilian-only option (the L-100-30); the British Royal Air Force bought this version as the C-130K and it was later adopted by other nations, including the United States.

 

The basic C-130 is strictly a transport aircraft, but the versatility of the aircraft has meant it has been modified into a dizzying number of variants. These include the AC-130 Spectre gunship, the HC-130 rescue aircraft and WC-130 weather reconnaissance version. Other versions include several dozen EC-130 electronic warfare/Elint variants, KC-130 tankers, and DC-130 drone aircraft controllers. The USAF, the US Navy, and the US Marine Corps are all C-130 operators as well. Besides the United States, there are 67 other operators of C-130s, making it one of the world’s most prolific aircraft, with its only rivals the Bell UH-1 Iroquois family and the Antonov An-2 Colt biplane transport. C-130s are also used extensively by civilian operators as well as the L-100 series.

 

The “Herky Bird,” as it is often nicknamed, has participated in every military campaign fought by the United States since 1960 in one variation or the other. During Vietnam, it was used in almost every role imaginable, from standard transport to emergency bomber: as the latter, it dropped M121 10,000 pound mass-focus bombs to clear jungle away for helicopter landing zones, and it was even attempted to use C-130s with these bombs against the infamous Thanh Hoa Bridge in North Vietnam. (Later this capability was added as standard to MC-130 Combat Talon special forces support aircraft; the MC-130 is the only aircraft cleared to carry the GBU-43 MOAB.) It was also instrumental in resupplying the Khe Sanh garrison during its three-month siege. Hercules crews paid the price as well: nearly 70 C-130s were lost during the Vietnam War. In foreign service, C-130s have also been used heavily, the most famous instance of which was likely the Israeli Entebbe Raid of 1976, one of the longest-ranged C-130 missions in history. C-130s are often in the forefront of humanitarian missions to trouble spots around the world.

 

As of this writing, over 2300 C-130s have been built, and most are still in service. It remains the backbone of the USAF’s tactical transport service; attempts to replace it with the Advanced Tactical Transport Program (ATTP) in the 1980s and to supplement it with the C-27J Spartan in the 2000s both failed, as the USAF realized that the only real replacement for a C-130 is another C-130.

 

This rather plain looking C-130E is actually one of the most decorated Hercules in USAF service. Delievered around 1963 to the USAF as 62-1787, it was assigned to the 374th Tactical Airlift Wing based at Ching Chuan Kang AB, Taiwan, with detachments deployed throughout South Vietnam. On 15 April 1972, using the callsign Spare 617, the crew was sent out to airdrop ammunition to South Vietnamese forces during the Siege of An Loc. As the crew approached the drop zone, Spare 617 was raked by antiaircraft fire that killed the flight engineer, badly wounded loadmaster TSgt. Charles Shaub and the copilot, knocked out two engines, and set the cargo on fire. Despite his wounds, Shaub was able to jettison the ammunition pallets, which exploded just after leaving the aircraft. The pilot, Captain William Caldwell, got the aircraft back to Tan Son Nhut airport on one engine (a third one quit on approach) and with Shaub manually cranking down one of the landing gear. For their actions, Caldwell and Shaub were awarded the Air Force Cross, the second-highest award for gallantry in the USAF.

 

62-1787 was repaired and returned to service, and continued to serve in the USAF until 2011, when it was finally retired after 48 years of flying; its last unit was the 187th Airlift Wing (Arkansas ANG) at Little Rock AFB. It was donated to the National Museum of the USAF, where it remains today. 62-1787 carries its final color scheme of overall AMC Gray, and retains the 187th AW's "The Rock" tail stripe. Just goes to prove that even the most plain of aircraft has a story to tell.

Meet me the woods tonight # Lord Huron . Sometimes it's painful to find out the truth - dreaming of something that never existed.

 

Day 24... Follow your bliss

 

Follow your bliss

and the universe will open doors for you where

there were only walls. - Joseph Campbell

 

-----------------

 

Image created today on the bluff within The Self Realization Fellowship Center Encinitas. The surf break was larger with a strong off shore breeze holding the waves up while producing this beautiful spray...

"With the growing appreciation of true convenience in all the appointments of the home, there is coming a realization of the genuine comfort and satisfaction that enough telephones, properly located, will bring to any household." Uh huh....No place left to hide.

 

I wouldn't mind drinking lemonade on that porch though. If only I could see the lovely girl in the hat through the eyes of a young man of that time. The other girl is calling her broker. This was three months before the crash.

  

After Self-Realization, I thought i understood all the five principles, but i actually had understood only the 4th Principle the most. Before Gnan, I have faced difficult times during conversation with my sticky file which is my ex-wife, but after Gnan when i happened to speak to her i had immense peace within unlike earlier which is very impressive for me.

 

Read here more about Self Realization:

 

In English: www.dadabhagwan.org/self-realization/

 

In Hindi: hindi.dadabhagwan.org/self-realization/

 

In Gujarati: www.dadabhagwan.in/self-realization/

Local author Pemerika Tauiliili held a launching ceremony for his four books on 1-19-11. One of them was "The Rat & The Bat and Other Stories", pictured here.

 

NONE OF THE POEMS THAT FOLLOW APPEAR IN OR HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH THE PUBLICATION SHOWN ABOVE - I'M JUST RUNNING OUT OF ROOM BECAUSE THERE ARE SO MANY OF THEM

 

If you'd like to hear the work of someone who I think really works magic with words, go listen to the late Dan Hicks sing "News From Up The Street". Just a suggestion.

 

LONG DISTANCE DEMONS

 

Most esteemed monsignor,

exorcise my phone – those long

distance demons won’t leave me

alone. It shakes the foundations

of my faith as a believer when

hell’s banshees beckon through

my phone receiver. Unreasonable

reasoning, and when that fails,

they scream like a train flying

off of the rails. Firmly convinced,

puffed up at their proudest, they’ll

win hearts and minds just by

screaming the loudest. Tweet

goes the ring tone, straight up

goes my hair – the rest of my

head spins just like Linda Blair.

Speech too obscene for me

to even tape – it ain’t like phone

sex, no, it’s more like phone

rape. Cut the line, you advise -

but I hope in vain that an angel

might call, not the demons again.

 

ONE NIGHT

 

One night two lizards got it on

right in front of me, beneath

the living room lamp where

their kind congregate to catch

flying termites. How brazen,

shameless and graceless,

those two! From behind,

one mounted, teeth buried

in the other’s neck, a reptile

ritual old as time. Yeah, but

not in my house! I pondered

disruption by force to assert

moral authority, but then

it dawned on me, what does

it profit a man to dominate

lizards so uncultured they

could care less for subtlety?

One night I said whatever,

still mysteriously pissed about

the rude, ill-timed reminder

of what I might have missed.

 

LIT FEST

 

No, they wouldm't like a lit fest

unless the lit was green with

a dead president's portrait.

They might like a lit fest

as long as the lit expressed

their exhaulted history qute

extravagantly, tracing a line

from Nafanua to heroes in

World War Two to winning

the Superbowl. They might

provide a grant for a lit fest

as long as the lit kept

a respectable distance

from topics like poverty

in paradise, pockets full

of federal funds, even

children with a different

last name who somehow

have the greedy elite eyes

of some distinguished clan.

So let's do a lit fest just

to articulate and celebrate

the irony of being free

within certain restrictions.

 

UKULELE ANGELS

 

A band called Ukulele Angels

entertaining at the mall. Shop

to the soothing sounds, stop

to watch. Ascend, serenaded

by Ukulele Angels, to shopping

heaven where everything’s

30% off. In the mall, Camelot

of plenty, customers are royalty

and locals just here to serve.

Happy campers do a consumer

hula as Ukulele Angels strum

rhythmically. See paramedics

scurry across the mall with

some urgency. It’s alright –

just too much excitement for

some tourist eyeing his wife’s

store receipts. No one notices

the heartbroken provider exit

the mall on a stretcher while

Ukulele Angels sing happy

trails to you until we meet

again.

 

BLOOM

 

The sun in Aquarius caused

a bloom of poetry like a bloom

of algae in the sea. Oh, that’s

very convenient for me. I like

excuses handed to me on

a platter. The earth in Leo

caused a boost to the ego

that was truthfully much

needed. Sometimes it’s like

no one appreciates my genius.

The moon in whatever very

often makes me wonder why

I get so possessed. Uranus

in Sagittarius usually leads me

to guess inspiration will just

remain a mystery.

 

LITTLE BREEZES

 

Undo these restraints,

I want to be a hurricane -

brewing off your shores,

gathering anger to show

you what you’re asking

for when you push thin

air around. Air, by nature

thin, seeks out similar

energy – do you feel held

back unfairly, like me?

Then let’s marry forces

to restore the balance.

When the little breezes

have felt big long enough,

caused enough mayhem

to really feel tough, they

go their separate ways,

unity dissipated. Small

wonder they part as

unhappy as they started –

even their power can’t

make them feel together.

 

ROCKABILLY

 

Rockabilly - more personality

than Punk, and like Dracula it

just needs fresh blood mixed

with its dust to rise up again.

It waits patiently in its voodoo

cave, poised to seduce youth

culture, with Elvis as its new

Pied Piper. Kids tune in to his

rhythms, new way of talking.

Now nobody feels like doing

much besides rocking. Aliens

have landed, contaminating

our DNA –Rockabilly’s turning

the youth away from tradition,

and on to cosmic awareness.

Life shifts from claustrophobic

to limitless. You can forget

Russians invading -Rockabilly

overthrew the USA while you

weren’t looking.

 

PURITY

 

Old familiar roles. A villain with

intentions impure, whose desires

threaten disaster. A hero fated

to slay the proverbial dragon,

a knight in waiting, forced to be

brave. A convincing hero saves

the day, but a convincing villain

can’t just fail as if by design. His

defeat needs to reveal a moral

weakness, unlike the purity that

guides a hero to victory. Same

story told a thousand ways –

same message we’re reminded

of every day. Purity - a quality

we’re not inclined to naturally,

otherwise heroes would be

a dime a dozen.

 

ASKING FOR TROUBLE

 

Might be unwise to walk

up to a dragon and sing

Light My Fire. That would

be asking for trouble,

inviting yourself to the last

supper you’ll ever be part of.

Dragons just assume you’re

a threat – they haven’t

exactly made many friends

throughout history. You

probably won’t get as far

as saying you’ve come to

apologize for stereotyping

slashing claws as morally

flawed – hello breakfast –

make like bacon and get

ready to fry. You have to

admire the simplicity –

mutual dislike and distrust

accepted unquestioningly.

Either party surprising the

other with an unexpected

olive branch would clearly

be asking for trouble.

 

CHART

 

Number one this week – good

on you. Don’t take the chart

too seriously – next week it

could be me. Or some sibling

ensemble who we privately

think are terrible. Or some

has-been on the comeback

trail, like McArthur who told

the Philippines, I shall return,

and damn if he didn’t keep

his word. What determines

the results of this chart? It

mirrors of our fickle nature,

the shifting sands of what

fascinates the rank and file.

Freaks or solid citizens, our

chart lets everyone in, true

equality in popularity, maybe

our only real democracy. So

if you make number one,

congratulations. Just don’t

take the chart too seriously,

because next week it could

be me.

 

GREEN CERTIFICATES

 

You make it so someone can

take it from you, earn it just so

you can burn it. I wish I wasn’t

so concerned about these green

certificates. You need it if you

want to have any fun – if you’ve

got any time when your work day

is done. Someone might rob you

with a gun for green certificates.

You can trade it for just about

any old thing, but when it runs

out, what a sad song you sing.

And so we consider everything

in terms of green certificates.

It can make you assured when

you’re growing old and feeble –

unless you’ve got vices like

gambling or needles. People

connive, lie, and wheedle for

their green certificates. My

blood isn’t red now, I think

it’s turned green. No longer

my choice if I’m generous

or mean. All of my thoughts

and my dreams are of these

green certificates.

 

PUSHING FOOTWEAR

 

With no facts accessible,

it’s rumors to the rescue,

riding into the picture on

a bullshit brown horse,

here to force the hand

of that enigma called truth.

It’s none of your business,

but you’ll still get plenty

attention demonstrating

your superior reasoning

and unparalleled insight

by spreading rumors. So

what if it seems likely?

Likely to who? If it seems

so likely to you, shouldn’t

you be the one doing it?

Like some kind of tout

pushing footwear, we

try to match shoes to

feet they seem to fit.

 

MOON

 

You were named after the moon,

and like it you shine when it’s time

to shine and fade when it’s time

to fade. You’re always there, you

just appear different, going through

a phase – circular nature. Chasing

your own tail for eternity? Oh no,

be more complimentary – this is

balance in action, arranged so

dark and light both have their time.

Moon proves you can show both,

just never together. Delicate not

dominant, moonlight won’t try

to burn you, just illuminate your

path through the night.

 

BUILDINGS

 

Ground zero again - everything

built up now gone. Back to just

bones, muscle, and blood, back

to memories, living history.

They say don’t build on sand,

but even solid rock trembles,

shaking off our vanity as if it

were dandruff. Man builds

to celebrate himself – castles

to keep animals out, keep us

contained in comfort. Wood,

brick and steel, transformed

by ideas into buildings, made

to last, or so we believe. Then

most buildings collapse, circle

back to just an idea awaiting

realization. Ground zero again -

now a garden, just as it began.

Returning knows something

buildings don’t.

 

AN ULTIMATE GOOD (FOR STEPHEN HAWKING)

 

I won’t swim in the ocean,

I won’t rock and roll, I won’t

climb up a mountain, or dig

a small hole for the roses I’ll

never grow. Won’t explore

on my own going wherever

I please, never hammer

a nail nor chainsaw a tree

fallen in the path of the car

I’ll never drive. Never any

of this – why even bother

staying alive? My body’s

betrayed me, but I’ve still

got a mind that’s never

forgotten there’s so much

left to find. My runaway

speech left so much unsaid,

but I’ll still find a way to

share what’s in my head.

Can’t touch you with hands,

only with my belief there’s

an ultimate good more

for you than for me.

 

RISK BEING RIGHT

 

Uncertainty holds some kind

of safety, a sort of comfort,

a weary spirit’s last resort.

You can always say you just

don’t know, and no one can

argue with that. And if you’re

not sure if anything needs

doing, then who can blame

you for doing nothing? I’m

not even sure what your

name is anymore – I mean,

you may have changed it.

Since yesterday, you may

be different too – continuity

isn’t guaranteed. Sorry, I

can’t recall whether I ever

took you seriously. Define

yourself for me one more

time, please – that might

reverse my uncertainty.

No one wants to be wrong,

nor will they risk being right.

Just a symptom of our times.

 

PRESTIGE

 

Please don’t die – I can’t afford

the family crisis. Please don’t die

- make me demonstrate a love

I never felt. Please don’t die

- make me return all the favors

you never did for my family.

Please don’t die and make us

pay for respect. Is it the man

you want us to honor, or just

his imagined prestige? Will

Heaven be impressed by the

size of a funeral? Do the angels

all expect an envelope? Until

our land is blessed with money

growing on trees like coconuts,

please make an issue with my

employers why they don’t pay

me as much as you want me

to donate. Please don’t die –

those with little have to empty

their pockets to fill the purses

of those who already have

plenty. Before I die, please

strip my name of any prestige –

spare the loved ones I leave

behind this final exploitation.

 

YARDMEN

 

We’re not at war with nature,

but yardmen still serve as soldiers

in the battle to make something

beautiful. This beauty will only

be temporary, a mostly green

mandala, changing even while

you’re cleaning off the blades.

Chaos forced into order, ugly

transformed from a pumpkin

Into a princess, but only till

midnight – plants formenting

rebellion, writing their green

constitution till they tremble

at approaching Robespierre

wielding a weed eater. From

a casual glance, you’d never

see the drama of managing

plants – they’ll be back, it’s

force of habit, but so will you.

How plant-like, we humans –

maybe by nature we’re not

so beautiful, but with work

we can emerge as at least

half-presentable.

 

SUN

 

Sun, you life-giver, why do you

drain me so? Pass the kava,

Oliver Twist, twist that machete

at a cleaner angle, look how

much better the cut. Dance

in the ballroom of your mind

as you waltz the lawn mower

round again – the square gets

smaller. Weed eaters will get

you immediate results. If you’d

prefer a task more intimate,

take the clippers and trade

gossip with the shrubs while

sculpting their details. It looks

very nice in the end, but like

Hamlet, I’m too much in the

sun. Someone get this Dane

a decent pair of shades.

 

HUMPTY DUMPTY

 

Humpty Dumpty sitting merrily

on his wall, a celebrity, ready

to serenade all and sundry with

a happy tune. Why is it you can

always tell it's the friendly ones

headed for a fall? Humpty courts

disaster, perched precariously –

neither one side nor the other –

beaming neutrality. Forgets

his own fragility, how easily

he could fly out of the frying

pan into the fire, end up just

another omelet. I’m late for

breakfast with destiny, he

remembers suddenly from

high on his wall – she’ll just

have to wait till I’m ready.

Mortality dismissed as trivial,

but meanwhile the suspense

is killing me. How long more

can you balance like that,

Humpty? Fatalistic company

can be fun, he opines, better

catch this heart and mind

before it expires. Humpty

Dumpty’s already a memory,

though he’s not even gone.

Why wait till it’s all over, he

wonders, to join in the fun?

 

SUMMER

 

Summer again and I’m still waiting

for the world to catch up with me.

So many summers come and gone,

some with others, some alone.

Always the promise of starting

again – time for whatever was

yesterday to end. Again I find

I couldn’t finish something, only

defend my emotional Alamo till

summer brought reinforcements.

 

AREN'T WE ALL

 

Imagine a Hobbes without

a Calvin - he can be a bright,

shining presence, but needs

someone it means something

to, or else all that brightness

can't ignite. Aren't we all like

Peter Pan - able to amaze

and delight when we know

someone cares, but crippled

inside, a hollow echo of all

we can be, when we doubt

that anyone does.

 

FARM ANIMAL VALENTINE

 

Nature takes out insurance

every species will survive,

if not thrive. If thrive means

proliferate, it would appear

we’ve achieved our quota,

though there’s no future

for our fine young piglets,

save at breakfast tables

across the USA, where we

make sure America stays

on the go, and fuel national

expansion of your borders

and your waistbands. Eat

America, eat – we’ve

sacrificed our flesh, our

essence – just like some

Saint Valentine you’d find

In the supermarket.

 

POKER

 

It isn’t the hand that I wanted,

but the luck of the draw leaves

no other play. Losing at poker

while some wiser player takes

the prize. Hate the game all

you want, but one cannot win

being unwilling to risk it. Cards

just confuse me – representing

royalty – kings and queens with

their underlings, all competing

to outrank. Together forming

a narrative played out again

and again as long as anyone

can remember – wish for luck,

test your skill, kill or be killed.

 

SACRED

 

No, no, no, you’ve got it all

wrong – there’s lots of things

I think are sacred. Truth told

without putting in the boot

A smile without a price tag.

Puppies happy to see me.

Something actually good

on TV. A song’s that’s not

a carbon copy. Fine days,

fine people, fine music,

fine wine, finding there’s

as much joy as suffering.

All of this and more, all

sacred to me. The biggest

profanity is you thinking

I’m fooled so easily.

 

BUILDINGS

 

Beautiful buildings, if you look

at them right. Beautiful buildings

best seen from afar, the way

they interact with the landscape.

Beautiful buildings, see how

they reflect off the water

at night. The closer you get,

the less you sense their true

majesty. Beautiful buildings

can’t be judged by just one

door or window. You have

to see them in total. Kind of

like some people who’ll stun

you from a distance but don’t

seem beautiful at all up close.

 

OLD EUROPE

 

I want culture. I want history.

I want philosophy. I want

justification for not being

a barbarian. I want the best

that’s survived all the wars

since they started recording

this primal beast’s progress.

Progress always throwing up

something new but seldom

something lasting. Nothing

worthy of replacing all that

stays timeless in old Europe.

 

THE DEAL

 

Got no idea what the deal

really is, only so many

thoughts about what it

could be. Don't know for

sure what the deal really

means, only that if feels

like something's changed.

Wish I knew what the deal

is, because I try to take

care of my own, and let

those who don't want

to be my own go free.

 

TALKING DOG

 

I’m a talking dog, but I’ve

learned to keep quiet. I’m

a talking dog hurting for

good conversation, some

meaningful interaction,

cause with no one to talk

to, what’s the point being

able to talk at all? All this

buzz about magic lately -

vampires are chic, shape

shifters are cool, regular

people with superpowers

rule – must be symbolic

of something, like how

we have the gifts inside

us to rise up, overcome,

break free. So now I’ve

cast off the shackles of

animal speech and still,

no one wants to listen

to me. A bone for some

beautiful poetry…

 

HAPPINESS

 

Strange how you attract so

many enemies when you’re

happy. You’re seen as either

a total fool or as having some

unfair advantage. Oh woe all

the wrongs in the world, so

many hurting, it’s unfair that

anyone should be happy, it’s

an insult to all the suffering,

all the rapes, killing, stealing,

that anyone should find life

full of joy. Mea culpa, I didn’t

mean to, I was suffering just

like you, and then a beautiful

person said something that

changed my point of view

and I knew that if happiness

is really so rare, then we’d

better grab it. We’ll keep

it safe until it can come out

for more of you.

 

ZOMBIES

 

Now I know why zombies

are so popular. Deep down

inside, we know it’s really us

who are the zombies – we

stumble through life with

minds scrambled by poison

drugs, poison food and

worst of all, poison ideas.

Once in awhile someone

remembers they’re human,

but waking up to global

warming, world hunger,

economic disaster, racial

profiling, Al-Quida, school

shootings and Trump sends

them running right back

to the comfort of poison

oblivion. So in those high

rated shows, the zombies

might be the bad guys, but

somewhere inside we’re

thinking – go, zombies, go.

 

BLUES DONE BADLY

 

Blues done badly – let it

remain just a private joke

between friends. Cause

blues done really well

makes you feel, if not

forgiven, like at least

we still have moments

we transcend our flaws.

Blues don’t cast stones,

just eloquently screams

at humanity, hey, you

cut me open.

 

APIA SEAWALL

 

Apia - crazy rich or crazy poor,

no in-between. But both rich

and poor know not to go late

at night to the seawall – that’s

inviting trouble. Joe Foreigner,

loaded on liquid cheer, missing

home, doesn’t know better.

Hopes the ocean will restore

something. Crazy poor street

denizen sees money, not

a person. If he ever speaks

of this night, he’ll say it was

need. Feed a family, feed

a habit, feed resentment –

whatever. Joe Foreigner,

looking down on himself,

the seawall a launching pad

spring-boarding his soul

somewhere there’s no crazy

rich or crazy poor. Wonders -

I thought this was paradise –

what happened?

 

SWEET, SWEET, SWEET

 

I’m told it’s just a trick of history

the Indians didn’t eat the Pilgrims

instead of feeding them. British

flavor, I’m told, is bitter, unlike us

islanders, so sweet, sweet, sweet.

Our people here had apprehensions

of being eaten by Fijians – oral

histories of traumatic emotions

not so sweet, sweet, sweet. Bad

conflicts back then over food, over

women, land and titles, chiefs and

children, even men all made up as

maidens, appearing sweet, sweet,

sweet. Now such crude hunger’s

consigned to the past – these days

we do battle for money and class.

Back then we had muscles, now

we have gas – our cars are sweet,

sweet, sweet.

 

BETWEEN THE TREEES AND THE FLAMES

 

Smoke forcing us from our homes –

anywhere we can breathe. Guilty

of the sin of being flakey, we

preview the afterlife we’ll have

if we don’t change our too-cool-

for-school demeanor. California

has no answer to global warming –

danger won't just meditate forever.

This smoke is like a home invasion,

unconstitutional, but I don’t know

who to sue. I screwed over lots

of people to live comfortably,

and if that freak Mother Nature

thinks she can just move in with

me, then her huggers can go stand

between the trees and the flames.

 

MOMENT

 

Well, it was a thrill at the

moment. Facing pressure

to be amazing, you get

what you pay for, and

this isn’t Vegas. I pick

apart all the little flaws

in the performance, all

the moments some

different assumption

would have resulted

in something more

triumphant, and tell

myself what the hell,

that was me in that

moment just like this

is me in this one.

 

IN MY RADIO MIND

 

Beach Boys playing in my

radio mind, knowing Surfer

Girl’s answer is “no”. Waves

will still crash on the beach,

crabs will still scramble like

good professionals, suntan

lotion will still gob up in

quiet waters, lifeguards

will still lord it over guys

going to seed, kids will still

dig up buried treasure left

in the sand by dogs,

the beach will still need

attention from otherwise

good citizens compelled

into community service

on the weekends. It will

all still look the same – just

not to me in my radio mind.

 

BODY REBELLION

 

Body rebellion, even among

dear ones who always tried

to be strong for us. All this

time, were you crumbling

inside? My own weakness

was more to the surface,

but in you strength was all

I ever saw. Now, in your

time of need, it’s a familiar

helplessness I feel against

your body rebellion. Like

Marie Antoinette backed

into a corner by mobs, you

feel painfully aware of your

body’s demands, but know

it asks for more than you

have left to give.

 

NO LIMIT

 

No limit except the words

at your disposal to describe

your horizons. Get me that

dictionary, I want not only

to expand, but also to tell

it on the mountain.

 

SEALED

 

It’s sealed, not with a kiss,

but by the court. No one

will know but the lawyers.

Prejudicial, not beneficial

to anyone, now it’s sealed

like Pandora’s Box, for only

the foolish to open. Bury

it deep underground like

nuclear matter. Be clear

that this is a menace, not

a power. Delete the public

records, and let the only

mention of it be written

in Latin and stored deep

in the Vatican. Sure, there

may be speculation, but

mystery’s soon forgotten,

exposed as invention, as

obviously preposterous.

But for now, take masking

tape, wrap it with care -

just make sure it remains

sealed.

 

IF WE KNEW ALL THERE IS TO KNOW

 

We filter what we see through

our own particular lens, often

missing the big picture, but

maybe it's all for the better.

For if we knew all there is

to know, we might recoil

at how much danger we're

in just getting out of bed.

If we knew all there is to

know, we'd realize there

must be a God because

things don't always go

as wrong as they might.

We love and hate based

on what we think we know,

and emotion will call logic

into question, but maybe

it's all for the better.

 

LANGUAGE

 

We were given language

not just to build endless

towers to nowhere, but

to build bridges between

minds. A bridge between

hearts is a matter more

complicated, but it can

be accomplished. It can,

it can, it can, it can, it can.

Language, I'm counting

on you - get a message

across the wide canyons

of disbelief for me.

 

BIG FENCE

 

Big fence, not even built yet

but turning our country into

a gated community. You can

be master or slave, depending

on your wages, depending

on your tax breaks. Big fence –

not as nature intended, but

as reassurance of our purity.

Dirty hands won’t besmirch

a system working so perfectly

for us. If they want prosperity,

let them clean up their act.

We kicked out the British –

let them banish the Spanish,

decolonize their mentality.

The land of the free doesn’t

just mean charity, but we’re

still really nice guys from

behind our big fence.

 

I MUST BE ON DRUGS

 

Why is everybody on drugs?

Little drugs, big drugs, legal

drugs or otherwise, we’re all,

to some degree, on drugs.

You take drugs when you’re

sick, and we’re sick to death

of fear. Fear of Mexicans, fear

of Russians, fear of cops, fear

of robbers, fear of failure,

fear of success, fear of Satan,

fear of Jesus, fear of being

poor, fear of being rich, the

list goes on and on. Stop using

drugs and you won’t be afraid

any longer. You might still be

aware of all these scary things,

but you’ll just say whatever.

So if I just say whatever, don’t

do a Nancy Reagan and jump

to the conclusion I must be

on drugs.

 

SHREDS

 

Shreds – all that’s left of love

after the dogs of doubt have

had their way. Enemies smell

the same as friends, and to

the dogs of doubt, all comers

are deceivers. At the first sign

of threat to the heart, they’ll

attack regardless of innocence

or guilt. Shreds – lifeless, torn,

defenseless, ghosts of what

might have grown threatening

or glorious. If you must feed

the dogs of doubt, keep them

on a tight leash, lest your own

defense become your undoing.

 

ADVANCE

 

Such a slow advance -

molasses, moving by the

fraction. Any movement

is better than becoming

hard like a rock time’s

hammer can’t crack.

Such a slow advance –

not like Cong retaking

Saigon, driven by a zeal

bordering on the holy.

Such a slow advance –

Sherlock Holmes puzzled

at clues that don’t fit,

while crime thrives in

corners unlit. Such a slow

advance – the stone

at the top of the hill once

more. What separates

patience from insanity?

Only purpose, the free

choice to advance, no

matter how blindly, no

matter how slowly.

 

REFUND COUNTER

 

I take offense that I’m expending

all this love on you but you don’t

respond in kind. I take umbrage

and insist you owe me something.

My feelings don’t come cheap,

but I offered them at a discount,

then was injured beyond belief

when you decided you could

do without them. Do you shop

with your heart and love within

your budget? You do me great

dishonor taking my love to the

refund counter, returning it

unopened – denying it without

even trying it. No more will you

squeeze my merchandise then

leave it abandoned. Your status

of preferred customer is stripped,

and your credit’s no longer valid

at my outlet.

 

TRUE ONE

 

Over and over, through and

through - you don't recognize

the true one until after you've

been untrue. The true one

still believes after it seems

there's nothing left to believe

in. The true one makes you

feel forgiven by everyone

but yourself. The true one

conceals their true nature,

just to level the playing field.

but when you stop playing

around, inside the truth's

revealed. The true one

emerges as obvious, but

seldom at first. The true

one often wonders why

they even bother with you -

try to recognize the true one

before you've been untrue.

 

ONE-SIDED

 

How long do you think

a one-sided building

can stand? At the first

sign of adversity, see

it shake, foundations

swaying. A one-sided

building may put on

a brave front, but

even the blind see

through it. Life goes

on public display –

none but an egotist

can take it. Nature

abhors a one-sided

building, would deny

you a permit to even

design it like that.

A one-sided building,

like a house divided,

questions itself – is it

right that I even exist?

So before you break

ground – make sure

your structure includes

two sides, or alas it

may tower in sweet

dreams but collapse

in cold daylight.

 

TRAVEL COMPANIONS

 

A little piece of galaxy dust

drifting all alone. Once part

of something bigger, now

barely a memory, unaware

of its own history. Over time,

longer than we can imagine,

tiny specks in an infinite void

might find each other, turn

into a cloud, become solid,

achieve mass, explode into

a new sun. Events happen

slowly, longer than we have

time to wait. Our fate is to

go the way of dust in space,

maybe drift alone forever,

or maybe be lucky enough

to connect and perpetuate.

No matter how long it takes,

our nature is to find travel

companions while we wait

for something to happen.

 

SUN

 

Sun might come out, but

inside the night never ends.

Better to sleep through

the night than to listen –

darkness is voiceless for

a reason. Sun might come

up on a ravaged landscape,

a purgatory city populated

by fallen angels with bills

to pay, debts to negotiate,

old scores they’re hoping

eternity will settle. Sun,

we turn away from you

half the time, you divide

us by nature. Inside, still

waitiing for the dawn

to break, as if my flesh

and and bones could

ever be that transparent.

 

SUPPOSE

 

I can suppose good

things or bad. Damn,

these choices can be

so inconvenient. I go

by what's right in front

of my nose. Smell will

help me tell, I suppose.

 

WATCH MY FLOWERS

 

Alas, now’s your season

of returning to the soil.

You flowered, bloomed,

matured, then withered.

Now nature begins its

process all over, some

younger thing dreaming

of lasting forever. As I

watch my flowers thrive

and decline, their cycle

just going much quicker

than mine, I’m reminded

it’s all natural and there’s

no reason to feel I asked

for it, that this somehow

is punishment.

In a certain phase in ones life, comes a moment of realization, where he looks back at the years behind and clearly see those nights he spent in agony and pain. And the faces of those he dearly loved and been betrayed by.

 

Unconditional love it was, with no boundaries, or barriers. He never wanted anything in return but to be loved. At first, everything seemed to be perfect! But then, like a fragile building everything began to crumble and fall apart including his weak wounded heart.

 

As he looked back with tears filling his eyes, he could not stop remembering those moments in which he felt ultimate happiness. Even if it was faked, he still wanted to be back to where it all started. To still feel the unconditional love he gave, because it was what made him careless and young. It made him important and made everything around him so pure and happy.

 

Tears fell from his weak eyes. The faces still hadn’t disappeared. They faced him, with what seemed as a true smile, and looked him in the eyes. He could not deny it. He truly still loved them. Every one of them, despite the pain, agony, sorrow and tears, love still pored from his wounded heart.

 

He finally realized that these heart breaks and betrayals are what made him the way he is now. Maybe hurt but never broken. His will to live and faith in the better future is stronger.

 

Life may be harsh; it can make us or brake us… It all comes to who we are at core.

 

Can you face life in all its faces?

  

_________________________________________________________________

I have been too lazy to reply to your comments >_< sorry! but i read them all, and i really really THANK you for your support < hehe =P I've been too lazy to do everything lately hehe

 

Sorry for my "laziness" everyone!

 

Sun Enters Capricorn -The Solstice (December 21, 2015)

Apotheosis

 

The Sacred Path, the Pathway to Perfection…

 

These are the Four Sacred Directions:

 

You Rise in the East, as Aries,

 

You Turn to the South, in Cancer,

 

You Bow in the West, through Libra…

 

And so now you will take this Fourth Way,

 

Look to the North as you enter Capricorn.

 

The Twelve Signs of the Zodiac are the Living Waters of Life-Consciousness-Spirit.

These Four of the Twelve are the Realms of Awareness-Action, they are the Signs of Identity:

 

Aries is your Self-Awareness; Libra your Awareness of the Other.

Cancer is your Sacred Center; and Capricorn is your Destiny.

 

These four corners form the Cross of Purpose; this is the Axis that leads to Apotheosis. In Aries you are Inspired by the Flame of Spirit of being a “one”, you are Self-Aware. In Libra you Know by Mindful Air, you are for one another, you are Inter-Dependent. In Cancer you Feel through the Waters of Life, you are centered and anchored by your Source. In Capricorn you are made Manifest by Earth, you assume your responsibilities as you seek to fulfill your Destiny.

 

These Sacred Four form what is known as the Cardinal Cross; held together they are the whirling wheel that creates the Sacred Path-Way of Praxis. For this is “the Way”, that by this Integral Path that combines Inspiration, Thought, Feeling made Real, it is by this that your wondrous Journey of the Divine-that-is-the-Self-Becoming is made manifest.

 

For you are an Immortal moving through mortal realms and forms. You move into Worlds, Bodies and Lives, but forever and ever you will always “walk on” through and beyond any one world, body or life. You are the self-becoming more and more of what you will be as you unfold the Spark of the Divine that resides at the Core of you in each and every life.

 

And in each life you will grow and become what you are meant to be through “Trial & Error”. You will succeed at times, and you must and will also stumble. For it is by these “failures” and your adjustments that you climb the spiral path of conscious redemption. And, it is by this that you will come to understand, accept and become more of what you are here to be…a fully conscious co-creator of this Cosmos.

 

Yes you are climbing, higher and higher, and at each turning you face again the ancient questions and fundamental truths that were there at the beginning…oh so long ago.

 

Today, as Winter begins, when the shadows have stretched to their greatest extent, and the light seems to be fading away, it is now that you and the world will hold your breath…and you will pray. It is time once again, to face the darkness and believe, that Light and Truth and Goodness will not fade away. It is time to remember who you are, where you came from, who is before you, and why you are here…it is time once again to have a living faith in your destiny.

 

For though it may seem that your world is falling into shadows, that your life and world is in dire peril…you will find a way through. As the familiar forms of self-realization are cracking and crumbling, whether in the realms of Religion, or Government, or Education or the Economy…you will come to know that this is merely the wheel of life turning again, for an old world is passing so that a new and better one shall rise…as it has done many, many times before.

 

And this change, this re-birth, does not come from on high, it will not come by Fiat or by the will of the temporal holders of Power. No, the change in every world, form and life starts in the center of each and every one of you, from within each and every individual heart that hears the “Wind of the Spirit” and answers to the angels of our better nature. It is the "Voice of the Silence", your Higher Self abiding in the Intuitive Knowing that a better world is coming to be…and that you must be its Creator.

 

Each year, at this time of Capricorn, you are asked to examine quite simply this one question, “What is the Responsible thing to do, what is my Responsibility?" To understand this you need but turn that word around. Your responsibility is always and forever about your “ability to respond”. To what, you might ask. What or to who are you responding? How can you know? How?

 

Know Thyself!

 

You are a Spark of the Divine, moving now through this Kingdom of being Human. It is in this time of your Spiritual Education that you are to learn what is “the good”, for you are endowed with the gift of choice, (and angels and those greater than they envy you this choice). You are given this gift so that you might learn to choose what is good, or better or loving. So that you can become a conscious, loving co-creator of creation.

 

For today, in this time, you are here to respond to the needs of yourself, your family, your friends and to all of those with whom you journey. For you have come far and learned much, and you are only here now because you have taken care of one another, helped one another, and loved one another so as to create and form these living-loving spaces for one another that can preserve, protect and promote Life-Consciousness-Spirit. Remain focused upon this, and you will keep to the pathway of Spirit.

 

There is much work to do when a world is passing away and another is coming into being. Your responsibility is great, but so is your reward. Preserve what you can, for many lives and loves fashioned this world and much in it is good. Be guided by your heart and know that the changes you must face and make should be guided always by the fundamental truth that you are here for one another, you are made by one another, and to harm any other inevitably means that you injure yourself equally too.

 

Today you need remember, that even in the darkest hour, there remains a Light that will not go out, a Love that will not fail, and a Promise that will be Fulfilled. And this is so because you stand within a shining Hierarchy of Light that stretches from the Heart of Creation to the furthest reaches of this Cosmos. Every being within this Company of Brave Souls is slowly awakening to the truth, that all are sparks of the Divine, and in the heart of each soul there is found the Alignment and Attunement to one another. All of Creation is of the One, and every particle, life, planet, star and galaxy are At-Onement through and by the Love of the One, and by your love for one another too.

 

At each and every turning, you will face your destiny. It is right, proper and good to align yourself with those like you who seek to bring about a better tomorrow. As we move from one world into the next, keep in your heart the Great Invocation:

 

THE GREAT INVOCATION

 

From the point of light within the Mind of God

 

Let Light stream forth into our minds

 

Let LIGHT descend on Earth.

 

From the point of love within the Heart of God

 

Let Love stream forth into our hearts

 

May LOVE increase on Earth.

 

From the center where the Will of God is known

 

Let purpose guide our wills

 

The PURPOSE which the masters know and serve.

 

From the center which we call Humanity

 

Let the Plan of Love and Light work out

 

And may it seal the door

 

where evil dwells.

 

Let Light and Love and Power restore the Plan on Earth.

R[̲̅ə̲̅٨̲̅٥̲̅٦̲̅]UTI​ON Join Us and Invest in Freedom! www.mayorgalvan.com

Fuck Hillary Clinton ! Arrest that god-damn White-Trash Protestant Piece of Shit Murderer and Traitor and sentence her to hang for treason and crimes against humanity. I am James Partsch-Galvan from Houston, Texas USA and the 2016 Green Party Candidate for US House of Representatives CD 29 in Texas.

 

Wealth Inequality in America

R[̲̅ə̲̅٨̲̅٥̲̅٦̲̅]UTI​ON Join Us and Invest in Freedom! www.mayorgalvan.com

 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPKKQnijnsM GALVANISM, GALVANISM0, GALVANISME, GALVANISMUS Who would you like to invite into R[̲̅ə̲̅٨̲̅٥̲̅٦̲̅]UTI​ON? A Flickr member? You can invite any Flickr member to join a group, whether or not they are your contacts. You'll be able to select people and send them a customized invitation to join R[̲̅ə̲̅٨̲̅٥̲̅٦̲̅]UTI​ON. Invite a Flickr member? or... A friend who isn't a member yet? Inviting a friend to join a group is a good way to get them to join Flickr and get involved in a group they might be interested in. When you invite a new person to join up via a group, we set you up as contacts, and add them as a new member of R[̲̅ə̲̅٨̲̅٥̲̅٦̲̅]UTI​ON. Invite a new person to join Flickr? Galvan Name Meaning Spanish (Galván): from a medieval personal name. This is in origin the Latin name Galbanus (a derivative of the Roman family name Galba, of uncertain origin). However, it was used in a number of medieval romances as an equivalent of the Celtic name Gawain (see Gavin), and it is probably this association that was mainly responsible for its popularity in the Middle Ages.

  

• Location: Beaumont/Pt Arthur, College Station, Galveston, Houston, Huntsville

In a recent trip to see the glaciers up in Jasper National Park, there came the grim realization of global warming. The ice melts more and more each year, eventually non-existing.

  

I had the sad and sudden realization that I hadn't made any pictures lately. Actually it had a been a few weeks since I had even picked up the camera. So I was determined to head out last night after work, and try to get a few pictures of something. I decided to pay a return visit to the old Springfield Bridge, which isn't that far of a drive from home.

 

I drove to Conway and met up with Zack, and we then drove north. The bridge is located near the small community of Bono, which just really consists of a church and a few homes. But it would have been the perfect opportunity to play some U2, but sadly I didn't have the Ipod, or even my Achtung Baby cd, so the opportunity was wasted. What was I thinking? Clearly, it was a lack of planning. At least the camera battery had a decent charge in it.

 

As we got to the bridge, I realized why I hadn't been out to take any pictures lately. It's because it's summer in Arkansas. It was about 94 degrees, with high humidity. So that meant that after a few minutes of being outside, I was already drenched in sweat. Actually saying "drenched" is putting it lightly. It was more like someone took a bucket of sweat and dumped it over my head.

 

And with that lovely mental image, I present instead this shot of the bridge. It is really a neat place to go and get pictures of, even in the summer heat of Arkansas. The bridge is old - actually it's the oldest vehicular bridge in the state. It was built way back in 1874. It served traffic for over a hundred years, before being replaced by a new bridge just upstream in 1994. After that the old Springfield bridge was abandoned, and left to rust and decay.

 

To visit it now, you have to very carefully make your way onto the bridge. Several of the wooden planks on the deck are gone, leaving deep holes. Most of the remaining pieces of wood on the bridge deck are severely rotten, which makes trying to cross the bridge very nerve-wracking. I could easily imagine the boards I was walking over suddenly and without warning breaking apart. Which would probably send me straight down into the muddy waters of Cadron Creek below. Luckily everything held up, and we were able to explore the bridge. But it is in pretty bad shape - no telling how much longer it will last. It would be a shame if the bridge became too unstable to cross.

“Once the realization is accepted that even between the closest human beings infinite distances continue, a wonderful living side by side can grow, if they succeed in loving the distance between them which makes it possible for each to see the other whole against the sky.”

- Rainer Maria Rilke

 

(third in a series...)

 

PLEASE NOTE: i apologize for the large copyright stamp placed on this photo...while i understand it is distracting and takes away from the image, this and many other photographs of mine have been stolen and are being used for profit. This is the only way I can protect my work...thank you for understanding!!!

80's hero

Our first good glimpse of an Indo-Pacific Bottlenose Dolphin. When I was a child, I saw a documentary about the friendly dolphins of Western Australia and was captivated. I had seen dolphins from the coast of South Africa, where I grew up, but had not ever come very close to a wild one. It became a “bucket list” dream of mine to see the WA dolphins. 30 years later, I finally got to do it! The dolphins were as gregarious as described. We were fortunate to have the area to ourselves for about 10 minutes, during which time the dolphins curiously swam around and under our kayak, playfully popping up right beside us only to disappear. They “charged” toward us then dove under, showed off their amazing tails and otherwise delighted us. (When motorized boats later appeared, they swam off. Kayaking was definitely the best way to see them.). It was a very emotional moment for me, as dolphins were my favourite animal as a child, and I had longed to be this close to wild ones; the experience was just a dream come true. Special thank you to Jean Hort for recommending Mandurah! It was so worth the visit.

[MAP]

 

Movie Realization Ronin Boba Fett action figure knockoff

The bus ride from Shenzhen to Enping was long, like watching a freight train chug by, except it doesn't. We had to have been on that bus for seven hours, sometimes napping, and at times, staring out our windows, looking at a world standing still. Traffic was not only a nightmare, but also a mystery, for as many instances in which we could plainly see another egregiously bad vehicular accident, that which has become commonplace, ubiquitous in Chinese travel culture, there were other inexplicable stops in movement, when all of a sudden, as though finishing a swift countdown, our speed dropped so precipitously as to let out a collective lurch, if not in body, then definitely in mind. Calvin, thankfully, in his perspicacity, in his wide-angled, unique view of things, saw beyond the myriad vehicles which lay unmoving as if rocks on a dry riverbed; view the periphery, he bade us, and when we looked to the edges of the road, indeed we witnessed the most peculiar instigator of traffic congestion in the world - men en masse pissing on the side of the road! Men taking leaks creates a domino effect; that one sees another enjoying the relief of an unburdened, easy bladder, so seductive a yoke, that the only retort to the entreaty of this blissful state is to join in with abandon, and impunity. And so soon as the last few shakes are made, back into the cars do these men go, and a few hasty minutes later, traffic flows again!

 

Mike wanted to stop at a village, so we exchanged an increasingly crowded highway for a narrow, cement road, on which we ventured into the dense verdure. Having reached an impasse in the road soon thereafter, and not knowing how to advance further, to actually enter the village proper, we saw two lovely young ladies saddling a moped, motoring towards us. They then suddenly broke, and turned off our path and onto a dirt one which squeezed through two homes as though a mouse through its diminutive hole - that was our key. We greeted them as the girls turned their heads, offering us inquisitive, yet gentle looks. They would be our guides into town.

 

Blue showed me around her neighborhood. Together we walked along bumpy corridors and peered through open windows, beyond flitting cobwebs, to lay eyes on rooms where nowadays only impenetrable shadows repose. She and I examined the perfunctory red banners which framed each door in the village, and subsequently hit it off when I began inquiring into the nature of those two swarthy demons who hung menacingly before the closed doors, their gazes insidiously wild, drunk with rage, perhaps. Indeed later, in the quietude of a sunset raining down on us, while standing by ourselves in front of the village hall, I finally shared my faith with her, and in return she declared the lack of her own - her cousin and older sister, however, do know Jesus, she said, which verily warmed my heart, if not hers.

 

We left the village with much rapidity, but not before I blessed and encouraged Blue's cousin, in whose arms a smiling babe lay, and received joyfully a delectable departing gift: mysterious, "Blue Cookies" (the official Chinese name is 艾糍), whose mottled, homely complexion would disgust if not for the sweetness (an amalgam of sugar, peanuts and herbs) buried inside, a treasure which would be discovered again and again on our tour.

 

The food around Enping epitomizes, I believe, Guangdong cuisine: inexpensive and egregiously non-spicy. For what they lack in price and incendiary acidity, however, these dishes more than compensate with copious amounts of oil, salt and sugar, mixed together for a tantalizing effect on the taste buds. Our group was fortunate enough to have frequented several Guangdong-style dai pai dongs whose victuals both nourished our bodies and replenished our wallets - it's amazing to consider how $250RMB can feed 15 ravenous, cantankerous-when-hungry Christian bikers. In fact, the feasting grew exponentially more enjoyable as journey progressed, as our two primary orderers began to refine their culinary acuity, accurately predicting what would invigorate and excite our collective palate; it helped, too, that our utensils were pretty clean for Chinese standards!

 

Our first evening, we secured accommodations in a building that was not so much a hotel, or even a motel, as a grey, dry concrete edifice in which hardwood beds were arrayed neatly in each room; the spartan conditions dismayed some, including myself, at first. However, thankfulness trumped peevishness, and the realization that, in the middle of nowhere, we had mosquito nets to ward off the inexorable squad of mozzies, and one bathroom with boiling water for a very, very scalding shower was more than enough to placate everyone, especially after a hard day of riding. Besides, austerity succors the soul. We even managed to sleep pretty soundly without mattresses. In my somnolent state, I only remember shifting desperately maybe six, or seven times. It was a good night, and a bargain at only 15RMB per person!

 

On the second day our group dared to test itself on an unknown avenue. Consequently, we were spared the sonorous alarms of gigantic, indomitable trucks and instead subjected ourselves to the vicissitudes of off-road biking, whose soundtrack, undoubtedly for the day, was provided by an orchestra of buzzing cicadas, accompanied, at times, by the rumbling tympani of motorbikes. Oh, the countryside was lush, beautiful verdure all around - a feast for the romantic soul. Yet, for one of my companions, the environment was anything but endearing, for her adeptness at handling the desultory trail, she surely felt, was more chaotic than controlled. She persevered, nonetheless, pushing through her disconsolation to conquer the race marked out for her; such tenacity that only the Father could supply; and that left me thoroughly impressed.

 

At lunchtime, the evangelization effort began in earnest. It started innocently enough, as I asked a group of girls about the secondary school down the dusty road from our restaurant. Then, on cue, the Spirit, whose pacing can only be described as frenetic, whose rhythm is beyond my comprehension, overwhelmed and took over. Leanne and I brought those three girls to Christ; while Tim was assiduously preaching by our side to a band of boys who had gathered to look on; and behind us, ah Cheung had cajoled five boys to form a circle, hand in hand, for prayer. Many people came to know Jesus that hour. There was undoubtedly some serious fire falling down on us!

 

We made a pit stop at the Tam clan village. It was another bucolic community, replete with idling boys, young and old, and those two duplicitous demons standing watch from steady doors, which, it appeared, held together together the ramshackle walls beside them. An electricity meter evinced the reality of life in the village, of a living community that flows flittingly in and out of the houses as though cats leaping over canals; because I for one couldn't see how hundreds of people somehow resided inside those homes when I couldn't spot a single one during my brief tour of the grounds. In the open, by our bikes, there were conspicuous signs of life, however. I was standing in the sun, letting its warm rays melt on my skin, when a young man, not even twenty, approached and asked me about our intents and purposes on what was once such a dull afternoon. His curiosity got the better of me, and together we broached a conversation in faith. Simon joined us, and although he whom I named Henry, told us in his obstinacy that he depends on himself alone, I feel as though a small seed of faith was still planted within him. May it bloom at the appointed time when he most needs it.

 

At last, inside the unlit store where we shared our gleaming hopes and fantastic dreams, Simon and I noticed, to our surprise and delight, two blackboards on which the shopkeeper had written the alphabet, for English as well as for Putonghua (Pinyin). Besides the letters, numbers too had been painstakingly etched into the board, each meticulous stroke perfectly formed. So they ironically were learning that which continues to elude their more economically mobile brethren in Hong Kong, despite their most humble upbringing. I encouraged Henry to pursue this knowledge, since, as the cliche most rightly states, English - and Putonghua, these days - opens up a world of opportunity.

 

China, it seems to me, is one interminable housing start being carried on the shoulders of giants. Behemoths, really, an armada of green and blue dump trucks, on whose backs are the physical manifestation of the hopes and dreams of billions - timber; stone; and coal - were an inescapable part of our three-day trek. They blew passed us, literally, horns afire; and if you stared into the eyes of the drivers high above on those mechanized elephants, you would see the glee with which they pounded both the road and the eardrums of those unwitting peons foolish enough to be nearby. China - and China Mobile, whose stores we uncovered even in the most remote suburb, might I add! - still has much growth left, and the transportation and infrastructure industries, I'm sure, shall assiduously work to keep it that way. My recommendation: keep investing in China.

 

Visiting the hot springs had been on our agenda since the inception of the trip. We eventually had our chance the second evening, when we raced down a wending hill to our hotel - a real hotel. Our excitement reverberated in the air, crackling with laughter and shouting. Choosing to swim first and foremost, we left dinner to wait and hurried across the street. The resort was packed with other like-minded people, dressed in swimming costumes that should have left more to the imagination; the temperature of the pool water varied, from tepid in one enclosure to skin-searing in another; and for one marvelous hour, we swam and frolicked like little children again, delighting in some wet fun, a suitable reward for one more arduous day spent on the dusty, dry land.

 

We capped the end of a successful day with a bang. The girls, oddly enough, were furtive pyromaniacs in our midst, longing in secret to raid the fireworks shop at the base of the hotel. So after our meal, they raced into the cool evening air and we could only endeavor to follow them in their explosive folly. Inside the store, all sorts of bombastic devices were on display, from the unwieldy, block of (Chicago) bull to the sleek spears adorning the wall whose warheads, no doubt, could just so easily take out a few eyes as mercilessly rip the pitch black from the wall of night sky. The ladies suffered to leave no type of firework untouched by the flame, quickly purchasing an arsenal of rainbow-inducing rockets and slim sparklers to make any pyrotechnic maven proud. Outside we went. At length, the bombs burst in the air, and laughter abound so much as we watched the brilliance of Chinese engineering on display. With the girls' scintillating stock depleted, we finally collected ourselves, and headed upstairs for one more day of wonderment.

 

There was one last village to visit before we reached our final destination of Enping city. As we sped into the shanty community, we knew something was amiss because unlike our other entrances into villages, during which residents would emerge in droves to glimpse us, it seemed as though these villagers preferred the comfort of their own veiled homes to the company of a few, ebullient strangers. It was an ominous setting in which we found ourselves, one characterized by inhabitants rather mistrustful than gregarious, and affable. Nonetheless, we dispersed to share kindness and mercy. To that end, I approached a young lady, a mere 25-years old, who had her three-month old boy on her shoulder and her three-year old son - who was without pants, might I add, preferring to wave them in the air like a terrible towel - by her side. We spoke briefly about her hopes and dreams, which, she says, rest in the well-being of her sons; and then Leanne and I blessed her. That was the end of our village experience in China.

 

To be around people who sharpen you as iron sharpens iron, that verily is a joy. The villagers were simple, warm and welcoming; my teammates were jocular, presumptuous and faithful; and I, in the midst of this confluence, this mosaic of personalities, philosophies, hopes and dreams, could only seek to love, especially in one of my more pensive moments. The trip tested my patience and tolerance, my ability to accept others for who they are - each a flawed creature like myself. Ultimately, so much as we seek the men of peace everywhere we go, we individually must become men of peace too. A true disciple of Jesus runs that race, and appreciates His grace, which shall always be enough in this life.

Sun Enters Capricorn -The Solstice (December 21, 2015)

Apotheosis

 

The Sacred Path, the Pathway to Perfection…

 

These are the Four Sacred Directions:

 

You Rise in the East, as Aries,

 

You Turn to the South, in Cancer,

 

You Bow in the West, through Libra…

 

And so now you will take this Fourth Way,

 

Look to the North as you enter Capricorn.

 

The Twelve Signs of the Zodiac are the Living Waters of Life-Consciousness-Spirit.

These Four of the Twelve are the Realms of Awareness-Action, they are the Signs of Identity:

 

Aries is your Self-Awareness; Libra your Awareness of the Other.

Cancer is your Sacred Center; and Capricorn is your Destiny.

 

These four corners form the Cross of Purpose; this is the Axis that leads to Apotheosis. In Aries you are Inspired by the Flame of Spirit of being a “one”, you are Self-Aware. In Libra you Know by Mindful Air, you are for one another, you are Inter-Dependent. In Cancer you Feel through the Waters of Life, you are centered and anchored by your Source. In Capricorn you are made Manifest by Earth, you assume your responsibilities as you seek to fulfill your Destiny.

 

These Sacred Four form what is known as the Cardinal Cross; held together they are the whirling wheel that creates the Sacred Path-Way of Praxis. For this is “the Way”, that by this Integral Path that combines Inspiration, Thought, Feeling made Real, it is by this that your wondrous Journey of the Divine-that-is-the-Self-Becoming is made manifest.

 

For you are an Immortal moving through mortal realms and forms. You move into Worlds, Bodies and Lives, but forever and ever you will always “walk on” through and beyond any one world, body or life. You are the self-becoming more and more of what you will be as you unfold the Spark of the Divine that resides at the Core of you in each and every life.

 

And in each life you will grow and become what you are meant to be through “Trial & Error”. You will succeed at times, and you must and will also stumble. For it is by these “failures” and your adjustments that you climb the spiral path of conscious redemption. And, it is by this that you will come to understand, accept and become more of what you are here to be…a fully conscious co-creator of this Cosmos.

 

Yes you are climbing, higher and higher, and at each turning you face again the ancient questions and fundamental truths that were there at the beginning…oh so long ago.

 

Today, as Winter begins, when the shadows have stretched to their greatest extent, and the light seems to be fading away, it is now that you and the world will hold your breath…and you will pray. It is time once again, to face the darkness and believe, that Light and Truth and Goodness will not fade away. It is time to remember who you are, where you came from, who is before you, and why you are here…it is time once again to have a living faith in your destiny.

 

For though it may seem that your world is falling into shadows, that your life and world is in dire peril…you will find a way through. As the familiar forms of self-realization are cracking and crumbling, whether in the realms of Religion, or Government, or Education or the Economy…you will come to know that this is merely the wheel of life turning again, for an old world is passing so that a new and better one shall rise…as it has done many, many times before.

 

And this change, this re-birth, does not come from on high, it will not come by Fiat or by the will of the temporal holders of Power. No, the change in every world, form and life starts in the center of each and every one of you, from within each and every individual heart that hears the “Wind of the Spirit” and answers to the angels of our better nature. It is the "Voice of the Silence", your Higher Self abiding in the Intuitive Knowing that a better world is coming to be…and that you must be its Creator.

 

Each year, at this time of Capricorn, you are asked to examine quite simply this one question, “What is the Responsible thing to do, what is my Responsibility?" To understand this you need but turn that word around. Your responsibility is always and forever about your “ability to respond”. To what, you might ask. What or to who are you responding? How can you know? How?

 

Know Thyself!

 

You are a Spark of the Divine, moving now through this Kingdom of being Human. It is in this time of your Spiritual Education that you are to learn what is “the good”, for you are endowed with the gift of choice, (and angels and those greater than they envy you this choice). You are given this gift so that you might learn to choose what is good, or better or loving. So that you can become a conscious, loving co-creator of creation.

 

For today, in this time, you are here to respond to the needs of yourself, your family, your friends and to all of those with whom you journey. For you have come far and learned much, and you are only here now because you have taken care of one another, helped one another, and loved one another so as to create and form these living-loving spaces for one another that can preserve, protect and promote Life-Consciousness-Spirit. Remain focused upon this, and you will keep to the pathway of Spirit.

 

There is much work to do when a world is passing away and another is coming into being. Your responsibility is great, but so is your reward. Preserve what you can, for many lives and loves fashioned this world and much in it is good. Be guided by your heart and know that the changes you must face and make should be guided always by the fundamental truth that you are here for one another, you are made by one another, and to harm any other inevitably means that you injure yourself equally too.

 

Today you need remember, that even in the darkest hour, there remains a Light that will not go out, a Love that will not fail, and a Promise that will be Fulfilled. And this is so because you stand within a shining Hierarchy of Light that stretches from the Heart of Creation to the furthest reaches of this Cosmos. Every being within this Company of Brave Souls is slowly awakening to the truth, that all are sparks of the Divine, and in the heart of each soul there is found the Alignment and Attunement to one another. All of Creation is of the One, and every particle, life, planet, star and galaxy are At-Onement through and by the Love of the One, and by your love for one another too.

 

At each and every turning, you will face your destiny. It is right, proper and good to align yourself with those like you who seek to bring about a better tomorrow. As we move from one world into the next, keep in your heart the Great Invocation:

 

THE GREAT INVOCATION

 

From the point of light within the Mind of God

 

Let Light stream forth into our minds

 

Let LIGHT descend on Earth.

 

From the point of love within the Heart of God

 

Let Love stream forth into our hearts

 

May LOVE increase on Earth.

 

From the center where the Will of God is known

 

Let purpose guide our wills

 

The PURPOSE which the masters know and serve.

 

From the center which we call Humanity

 

Let the Plan of Love and Light work out

 

And may it seal the door

 

where evil dwells.

 

Let Light and Love and Power restore the Plan on Earth.

R[̲̅ə̲̅٨̲̅٥̲̅٦̲̅]UTI​ON Join Us and Invest in Freedom! www.mayorgalvan.com

Fuck Hillary Clinton ! Arrest that god-damn White-Trash Protestant Piece of Shit Murderer and Traitor and sentence her to hang for treason and crimes against humanity. I am James Partsch-Galvan from Houston, Texas USA and the 2016 Green Party Candidate for US House of Representatives CD 29 in Texas.

 

Wealth Inequality in America

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Vishnu (/ˈvɪʃnuː/; Sanskrit: Viṣṇu) is a popular Hindu deity, the Supreme God of Vaishnavism (one of the three principal denominations of Hinduism) and one of the three supreme deities (Trimurti) of Hinduism. He is also known as Lord Narayana and Lord Hari. As one of the five primary forms of God in the Smarta tradition, He is conceived as "the Preserver or the Protector" within the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the divinity.

 

In Hindu sacred texts, Vishnu is usually described as having dark complexion of water-filled clouds and as having four arms. He is depicted as a blue being, holding a padma (lotus flower) in the lower left hand, the Kaumodaki gada (mace) in the lower right hand, the Panchajanya shankha (conch) in the upper left hand and the discus weapon Sudarshana Chakra in the upper right hand.

 

Adherents of Hinduism believe Vishnu's eternal and supreme abode beyond the material universe is called Vaikuntha, which is also known as Paramdhama, the realm of eternal bliss and happiness and the final or highest place for liberated souls who have attained Moksha. Vaikuntha is situated beyond the material universe and hence, cannot be perceived or measured by material science or logic. Vishnu's other abode within the material universe is Ksheera Sagara (the ocean of milk), where he reclines and rests on Ananta Shesha, (the king of the serpent deities, commonly shown with a thousand heads). In almost all Hindu denominations, Vishnu is either worshipped directly or in the form of his ten avatars, the most famous of whom are Rama and Krishna.

 

The Puranabharati, an ancient text, describes these as the dashavatara, or the ten avatars of Vishnu. Among the ten described, nine have occurred in the past and one will take place in the future as Lord Kalki, at the end of Kali Yuga, (the fourth and final stage in the cycle of yugas that the world goes through). These incarnations take place in all Yugas in cosmic scales; the avatars and their stories show that gods are indeed unimaginable, unthinkable and inconceivable. The Bhagavad Gita mentions their purpose as being to rejuvenate Dharma, to vanquish those negative forces of evil that threaten dharma, and also to display His divine nature in front of all souls.

 

The Trimurti (three forms) is a concept in Hinduism "in which the cosmic functions of creation, maintenance, and destruction are personified by the forms of Brahma the creator, Vishnu the maintainer, preserver or protector and Shiva the destroyer or transformer." These three deities have also been called "the Hindu triad" or the "Great Trinity", all having the same meaning of three in One. They are the different forms or manifestation of One person the Supreme Being or Narayana/Svayam Bhagavan.

 

Vishnu is also venerated as Mukunda, which means God who is the giver of mukti or moksha (liberation from the cycle of rebirths) to his devotees or the worthy ones who deserve salvation from the material world.

 

ETYMOLOGY

The traditional explanation of the name Vishnu involves the root viś, meaning "to settle" (cognate with Latin vicus, English -wich "village," Slavic: vas -ves), or also (in the Rigveda) "to enter into, to pervade," glossing the name as "the All-Pervading One". Yaska, an early commentator on the Vedas, in his Nirukta, (etymological interpretation), defines Vishnu as viṣṇur viṣvater vā vyaśnoter vā, "one who enters everywhere". He also writes, atha yad viṣito bhavati tad viṣnurbhavati, "that which is free from fetters and bondages is Vishnu".

 

Adi Shankara in his commentary on the Sahasranama states derivation from viś, with a meaning "presence everywhere" ("As he pervades everything, vevesti, he is called Vishnu"). Adi Shankara states (regarding Vishnu Purana, 3.1.45): "The Power of the Supreme Being has entered within the universe. The root viś means 'enter into'." Swami Chinmayananda, in his translation of Vishnu Sahasranama further elaborates on that verse: "The root vis means to enter. The entire world of things and beings is pervaded by Him and the Upanishad emphatically insists in its mantra 'whatever that is there is the world of change.' Hence, it means that He is not limited by space, time or substance. Chinmayananda states that, that which pervades everything is Vishnu."

 

SACRET TEXTS - SHRUTI & SMRITI

Shruti is considered to be solely of divine origin. It is preserved as a whole, instead of verse by verse. It includes the four Vedas (Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samaveda and Atharvaveda) the Brahmanas, the Aranyakas and the Upanishads with commentaries on them.

 

Smṛti refers to all the knowledge derived and inculcated after Shruti had been received. Smrti is not 'divine' in origin, but was 'remembered' by later Rishis (sages by insight, who were the scribes) by transcendental means and passed down through their followers. It includes the Bhagavata Purana and the Vishnu Purana which are Sattva Puranas. These both declare Vishnu as Para Brahman Supreme Lord who creates unlimited universes and enters each one of them as Lord of Universe.

 

SHRUTI

 

VAISHNAVA CANON

The Vaishnava canon presents Vishnu as the supreme being, rather than another name for the Sun God, who also bore the name Suryanarayana and is considered only as a form of Vishnu.

 

VEDAS

In the Yajur Veda, Taittiriya Aranyaka (10-13-1), Narayana suktam, Lord Narayana is mentioned as the supreme being. The first verse of Narayana Suktam mentions the words "paramam padam", which literally mean "highest post" and may be understood as the "supreme abode for all souls". This is also known as Param Dhama, Paramapadam, or Vaikuntha. Rig Veda 1:22:20a also mentions the same "paramam padam". This special status is not given to any deity in the Vedas apart from Lord Vishnu/Narayana.[citation needed] Narayana is one of the thousand names of Vishnu as mentioned in the Vishnu Sahasranama. It describes Vishnu as the All-Pervading essence of all beings, the master of - and beyond - the past, present and future, one who supports, sustains and governs the Universe and originates and develops all elements within. This illustrates the omnipresent characteristic of Vishnu. Vishnu governs the aspect of preservation and sustenance of the universe, so he is called "Preserver of the universe".

 

Vishnu is the Supreme God who takes manifest forms or avatars across various ages or periods to save humanity from evil beings, demons or Asuras. According to the extant Hindu texts and traditions, Lord Vishnu is considered to be resident in the direction of the "Makara Rashi" (the "Shravana Nakshatra"), which is about coincident with the Capricorn constellation. In some of the extant Puranas, and Vaishnava traditions, Vishnu's eye is considered to be situated at the infinitely distant Southern Celestial Pole.

 

Following the defeat of Indra and his displacement as the Lord of Heaven or Swarga, Indra asks Lord Vishnu for help and thus Lord Vishnu takes his incarnations or avatars to Earth to save mankind, thus showing his position as Supreme God to all of creation.

 

In the Puranas, Indra frequently appears proud and haughty. These bad qualities are temporarily removed when Brahma and/or Shiva give boons to Asuras or Rakshasas such as Hiranyaksha, Hiranyakashipu and Ravana, who are then able to defeat Indra in wars between Devas and Asuras. The received boons often made Asuras virtually indestructible.

 

Indra has no option but to seek help from Vishnu. Indra prays before Vishnu for protection and the Supreme Lord obliges him by taking avatars and generating himself on Earth in various forms, first as a water-dweller (Matsya, fish), then as an amphibious creature (Kurma avatar or Tortoise), then as a half-man-half-animal (Varaha the pig-faced, human-bodied Lord, and Narasimha the Lord with lion's face and claws and a human body). Later, Vishnu appears as human beings (Vamana the short-heighted person), Parashurama, Rama, Krishna, Buddha and finally as Kalki for performing his task of protecting his devotees from demons and anti-religious entities.

 

Vishnu's supremacy is attested by his victories over those very powerful entities. It is further attested by the accepted iconography and sculptures of Vishnu in reclining position as producing Brahma emerging from his navel. Brahma the creator is thus created in turn by Vishnu out of his own person. Instead Vishnu takes various avatars to slay or defeat those demons. But it is to be noted that Vishnu also provided boons to Akupresura, a bear faced demon who was destroyed by Lord Shiva.

 

Vishnu's actions lowered Indra's ranking among Hindu deities and led to the ascendancy of Vishnu.

 

Few temples are dedicated to the Sun or Suryanarayana, nor indeed Indra, nor does Indra figure largely in the Hindu religion.

 

Indra is almost completely absent from the deities considered as the chief or most important deity.

 

RIGVEDA

In the Rigveda, Vishnu is mentioned 93 times. He is frequently invoked alongside other deities, especially Indra, whom he helps in killing Vritra and with whom he drinks Soma. His distinguishing characteristic in the Vedas is his association with light. Two Rigvedic hymns in Mandala 7 are dedicated to Vishnu. In 7.99, Vishnu is addressed as the god who separates heaven and earth, a characteristic he shares with Indra.

 

The Rig Veda describes Vishnu as younger brother to Indra as Vamana. In Vaishnava canon the 'Vishnu' who is younger brother to Indra is identified as Vamana, Avatar of Vishnu, hence referred to as Vishnu by Vaishnavites. Vishnu is the Supreme God who lives in the highest celestial region, contrasted against those who live in the atmospheric or terrestrial regions. Vishnu is content with mere prayer, unlike almost all of the other gods who receive sacrificial offerings such as Havis, which is given using clarified butter, or Soma. Later foreign translators have view that Vedas place Indra in a superior position to Vishnu's Avatar of Vamana but in fact Vamana helps Indra by restoring his Kingdom.

 

An alternate translation is provided by Wilson according to Sayana:

 

When Thy (younger brother) Viṣṇu (Vamana) by (his) strength stepped his three paces, then verily thy beloved horses bore thee. (Rigveda 8:12:27)

 

Wilson mentions Griffith's possible translation as a footnote. However the following verse from Rigveda renders the above translation by Wilson more probable.

 

Him whose three places that are filled with sweetness, imperishable, joy as it may list them, Who verily alone upholds the threefold, the earth, the heaven, and all living creatures. (Rig veda 1:154:4)

 

Wilson offers an alternate translation for Rigveda 10:113:2:

 

Viṣṇu offering the portion of Soma, glorifies by his own vigor that greatness of his. Indra, the lord of heaven, with the associated gods having slain Vritra, became deserving of honour. (Rigveda 10:113:2)

 

This verse sees Vishnu as one who is glorified by his own strength, while Indra became deserving of honor after having slain Vritra only in association with other gods.

 

However Vishnu's praise for other gods does not imply worship. Wilson translates:

 

Viṣṇu, the mighty giver of dwellings praises thee, and Mitra and Varuna; the company of Maruts imitates thee in exhilaration. (Rigveda 8:15:9) (page 280)

 

The following verses show categorically Vishnu as distinguished from other gods in Rigveda.

 

He who presents (offering) to Viṣṇu, the ancient, the creator, the recent, the self-born; he who celebrates the great birth of that mighty one; he verily possessed of abundance, attains (the station) that is to be sought (by all). (Rigveda 1:156:2) (page 98)

 

No being that is or that has been born, divine Viṣṇu, has attained the utmost limit of thy magnitude, by which thou hast upheld the vast and beautiful heaven, and sustained the eastern horizon of Earth.(Rigveda 7:99:2) (page 196)

 

The divine Viṣṇu, the best of the doers of good deeds, who came to the pious instituter of rite (Indra), to assist (at its celebration), knowing (the desires of the worshiper), and present at the three connected period (of worship), shows favor to the Arya, and admits the author of the ceremony to a share of the sacrifice. (Rigveda 1:156:5) (page 99)

 

Jan Gonda, the late Indologist, states that Vishnu, although remaining in the background of Indra's exploits, contributes by his presence, or is key to Indra's success. Vishnu is more than a mere companion, equal in rank or power to Indra, or sometime the one who made Indra's success possible.

 

Descriptions of Vishnu as younger to Indra are found in only the hymns to Indra, but in a kathenotheism religion like that of the Rigveda, each god, for a time, is supreme in the mind of the devotee.

 

In the Rig Vedic texts, the deity or god referred to as Vishnu is the Sun God, who also bears the name 'Suryanarayana'. By contrast, the 'Vishnu' referred to in 'Vishnu Purana', 'Vishnu Sahasranamam' and 'Purusha Sooktham' is Lord Narayana, the Consort of Lakshmi. Vaishnavites make a further distinction by extolling the qualities of Vishnu by highlighting his differences from other deities such as Shiva,[citation needed] Brahma or Surya.

 

THREE STEPS

Hymn 7.100 refers to the celebrated 'three steps' of Vishnu (as Trivikrama) by which he strode over the universe and in three places planted his step. The 'Vishnu Suktam' (RV 1.154) says that the first and second of Vishnu's strides (those encompassing the earth and air) are visible to men and the third is in the heights of heaven (sky). This last place is described as Vishnu's supreme abode in RV 1.22.20:

 

The princes evermore behold / that loftiest place where Vishnu is / Laid as it were an eye in heaven.(trans. Griffith)

 

Griffith's "princes" are the sūri, either "inciters" or lords of a sacrifice, or priests charged with pressing the Soma. The verse is quoted as expressing Vishnu's supremacy by Vaishnavites.

 

Though such solar aspects have been associated with Vishnu by tradition as well as modern-scholarship, he was not just the representation of the sun, as he moves both vertically and horizontally.

 

In hymns 1.22.17, 1.154.3, 1.154.4 he strides across the earth with three steps, in 6.49.13, 7.100.3 strides across the earth three times and in 1.154.1, 1.155.5,7.29.7 he strides vertically, with the final step in the heavens. The same Veda also says he strode wide and created space in the cosmos for Indra to fight Vritra. By his stride he made dwelling for men possible, the three forming a symbolic representation of the dwelling's all-encompassing nature. This nature and benevolence to men were Vishnu's enduring attributes. As the triple-strider he is known as Trivikrama and as Urukrama, for the strides were wide.

 

BRAHMANAS

The Brahmanas are commentaries on the Vedas and form part of the Shruti literature. They are concerned with the detail of the proper performance of rituals. In the Rigveda, Shakala Shakha: Aitareya Brahmana Verse 1 declares: agnir vai devānām ava mo viṣṇuḥ paramus, tadantareṇa sarvā anyā devatā - Agni is the lowest or youngest god and Vishnu is the greatest and the highest God.

 

The Brahmanas assert the supremacy of Lord Vishnu, addressing him as "Gajapati", the one whom all sacrifices are meant to please. Lord Vishnu accepts all sacrifices to the demigods and allots the respective fruits to the performer In one incident, a demonic person performs a sacrifice by abducting the Rishis (sages), who meditate by constantly chanting God's name. The sacrifice is meant to destroy Indra. But the rishis, who worship Indra as a demigod, alter one pronunciation of the Veda Mantra, reversing the purpose of the sacrifice. When the fruit of the sacrifice is given and the demon is on the verge of dying, he calls to Vishnu, whom he addresses as Supreme Godhead and "the father of all living entities including himself".

 

Aitareya Brahmana 1:1:1 mentions Vishnu as the Supreme God. But in the Vaishnava canon, in different ages, with Vishnu in different avatars, his relationship with the asuras or demons, was always adversarial. The asuras always caused harm, while the sages and devas or celestial beings, did penance and called to Vishnu for protection. Vishnu always obliged by taking an avatar to vanquish the asuras. In the Vaishnava canon, Vishnu never gave or granted any boons to the asuras, distinguishing him from the gods Shiva and Brahma, who did. He is the only God called upon to save good beings by defeating or killing the asuras.

 

Sayana writes that in Aitareya Brahmana 1:1:1 the declaration agnir vai devānām ava mo viṣṇuḥ paramus,tadantareṇa sarvā anyā devatā does not indicate any hierarchy among gods. Even in Rigveda Samhita, avama and parama are not applied to denote rank and dignity, but only to mark place and locality.

 

In Rigveda 1:108:9,: yadindrāghnī avamasyāṃ pṛthivyāṃ madhyamasyāṃ paramasyāmuta sthaḥ | i.e., in the lowest place, the middle (place), and the highest (place). Agni, the fire, has, among the gods, the lowest place; for he resides with man on the earth; while the other gods are either in the air, or in the sky. Vishnu occupies the highest place. The words avama and parama are understood as 'First' and 'Last' respectively. To support this claim, Sayana adduces the mantra (1,4. As'val. Sr. S. 4, 2), agnir mukham prathamo devathanam samathanam uttamo vishnur asit, i.e., Agni was the first of the deities assembled, (and) Vishnu the last.

 

In the Kausitaki Brahmana (7.1) Agni is called Aaradhya (instead of avama), and Visnu parardha(instead of parama),i.e., belonging to the lower and higher halves (or forming the lower and higher halves). The Vishnu Purana gives tremendous importance to the worship of Vishnu and mentions that sacrifices are to begin only with both the lighting of fire or 'Agni', pouring of sacrificial offerings to Vishnu in 'Agni' so that those offerings reach and are accepted by Vishnu. Worship of Vishnu through Yajnas (or Homams) and other rituals, will not achieve the desired result if Agni's role is neglected.

 

Muller says "Although the gods are sometimes distinctly invoked as the great and the small, the young and the old (Rig veda 1:27:13), this is only an attempt to find the most comprehensive expression for the divine powers, and nowhere is any of the gods represented as the subordinate to others. It would be easy to find, in the numerous hymns of the Veda, passages in which almost every single god is represented as supreme and absolute."

 

However this notion is not completely correct as per the following verses, which shows Rigveda describe one or more gods as subject to other god(s).

 

Him whose high law not Varuna nor Indra, not Mitra, Aryaman, nor Rudra breaketh, Nor evil-hearted fiends, here for my welfare him I invoke, God Savitar, with worship. (Rigveda 2.038.09)

 

I invite to this place, with reverential salutations, for my good, that divine Savita, whose functions neither Indra, nor Varun.a, nor Mitra nor Aryaman nor Rudra nor the enemies (of the gods), impede. (Rigveda 2.038.09)

 

SMRITI

 

VISHNU SMRITI

The Vishnu Smṛti, is one of the later books of the Dharmashastra tradition of Hinduism and the only one that focuses on the bhakti tradition and the required daily puja to Vishnu, rather than the means of knowing dharma. It is also known for its handling of the controversial subject of the practice of sati (self-immolation of a widow on her husband's funeral pyre). The text was composed by an individual or group. The author(s) created a collection of the commonly known legal maxims that were attributed to Vishnu into one book, as Indian oral culture began to be recorded more formally.

 

BHAGAVATA PURANA

Vishnu is the only Bhagavan as declared in the Bhagavata 1:2:11 in the verse: vadanti tat tattva-vidas tattvam yaj jnanam advayam brahmeti paramatmeti bhagavan iti sabdyate, translated as "Learned transcendentalists who know the Absolute Truth call this non-dual substance as Brahman, Paramātma and Bhagavan."

 

VISHNU PURANA

In the Vishnu Purana (6:5:79) the personality named Parashara Rishi defines six bhagas:

 

aiśvaryasya samagrasya vīryasya yaśasaḥ śriyaḥ

jñāna-vairāgyayoś caiva ṣannāḥ bhaga itīṇganā

 

Jiva Gosvami explains the verse in Gopala Champu (Pūrva 15:73) and Bhagavata Sandarbha 46:10:

 

jñāna-śakti-balaiśvarya-vīrya-tejām.sy aśeṣataḥ

bhagavac-chabda-vācyāni vinā heyair guṇādibhiḥ

 

"The substantives of the word bhagavat (bhagavat-śabda-vācyāni) are unlimited (aśeṣataḥ) knowledge (jñāna), energies (śakti), strength (bala), opulence (aiśvarya), heroism (vīrya), splendor (tejas), without (vinā) objectionable (heyair) qualities (guṇādibhiḥ)."

 

SANGAM LITERATURE

Tamil Sangam literature (300BCE to 500CE) mentions mAyOn, or the dark one, as the supreme deity who creates, sustains and destroys the universe. Paripadal 3 describes the glory of Thirumal in the most superlative terms.

 

Paripadal by kaduvan iLaveyinanAr:

 

"thIyinuL theRal nI poovinuL naaRRa nI kallinuL maNiyu nI sollinuL vaaymai aRaththinuL anbu nI maRaththinuL mainthu nI vEthaththu maRai nI boothaththu madhalu nI vencudar oLiyu nI thingaLuL aLiyu nI anaiththu nI anaiththinut poruLu nI"

 

The last line states that Lord Vishnu is the supreme deity who is the inner controller (Antaryamin) of the entire universe. This is one of the Lord's glories, which is first mentioned in Vedas and later propounded by Alwars in Prabhandams and Sri Vaishnavaite Acharyas in various commentaries

 

The Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple and Vishnu, Lakshmi is mentioned in Tamil works of literature of the Sangam era, including the epic Silapadikaram (book 11, lines 35–40):

 

āyiram viritteḻu talaiyuṭai aruntiṟaṟ

 

pāyaṟ paḷḷip palartoḻu tētta viritiraik kāviri viyaṉperu turuttit tiruvamar mārpaṉ kiṭanta vaṇṇamum

 

On a magnificent cot having a thousand heads spread out, worshipped and praised by many, in an islet surrounded by Kaveri with bellowing waves, is the lying posture of the one who has Lakshmi sitting in his chest.

 

THEOLOGICAL ATTRIBUTES

The actual number of Vishnu's auspicious qualities is countless, although his six most-important "divine glories" are:

 

Jnana (Omniscience); defined as the power to know about all beings simultaneously;

Aishvarya (Sovereignty), derived from the word Ishvara which means unchallenged rule over all;

Shakti (Power or Energy), the capacity to make the impossible possible;

Bala (Strength), the capacity to support everything by will and without any fatigue;

Virya (Vigour), the power to retain immateriality as the Supreme Spirit or Being in spite of being the material cause of mutable creations;

Tejas (Splendor), which expresses self-sufficiency and the capacity to overpower everything by spiritual effulgence.

 

Other important qualities attributed to Vishnu are Gambhirya (inestimatable grandeur), Audarya (generosity), and Karunya (compassion). Natya Shastra lists Vishnu as the presiding deity of the Sṛngara rasa.

 

The Rigveda says: Vishnu can travel in three strides. The first stride is the Earth. The second stride is the visible sky. The third stride cannot be seen by men and is the heaven where the gods and the righteous dead live. (This feature of three strides also appears in the story of his avatar Vamana/Trivikrama.) The Sanskrit for "to stride" is the root kram; its reduplicated perfect is chakram (guņa grade) or chakra (zero-grade), and in the Rigveda he is called by epithets such as vi-chakra-māņas = "he who has made 3 strides". The Sanskrit word chakra also means "wheel". That may have suggested the idea of Vishnu carrying a chakra.

 

FIVE FORMS

In Shree Vaishnavism, another school dating from around the 10th century AD, Vishnu assumes five forms:

 

In the Para Form, Para is the highest form of Vishnu found only in Sri Vaikunta also called Moksha, along with his consort Lakshmi, (and Bhumi Devi and Nila devi, avatars of Lakshmi) and surrounded by liberated souls like Ananta, Garuda, and a host of Muktas (liberated souls).

In the Vyuha form, Vishnu assumes four forms, which exercise different cosmic functions and controls activities of living beings.

In the Vibhava form, Vishnu assumes various manifestations, called Vibhavas, more popularly known as Avataras from time to time, to protect the virtuous, punish evil-doers and re-establish righteousness.

In the Antaryami; "Dwelling within" or "Suksma Vasudeva" form, Vishnu exists within the souls of all living beings and in every substance.

In the Arcavatara or Image manifestation, Vishnu is visible and therefore easily approachable by devotees since Para, Vyuha, Vibhava and Antaryami forms can only be imagined or meditated upon because they are beyond our reach. Such images can be

Revealed by Vishnu, for example, a self-manifested (Swayambhu) icon (murti), e.g. The Mahavishnu Temple at Tirunelli, The Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple at Srirangam, The Tirumala Venkateshwara Temple, etc.; or

Installed by Devas or celestial beings such as such as Guruvayur Temple installed by Vayu; or

Installed by humans, and consecrated according to Vaishnava Agama shastras or scriptures such as Lord Jagannatha of Jagannath Temple (Puri) at Puri.

 

RELATIONS WITH OTHER DEITIES

 

SHIVA

The three gods of the Trimurti clan are inseparable and in harmony in view of their common vision and universal good. They are perfectly ideal in all respects.

 

Both Asuras and Devas played supportive roles in this story by keeping company with Vishnu in his incarnated forms. Hanuman is a vanara who is completely dedicated to Rama. He gives Vishnu company and obeys his command, while playing an important part in Rama's life. He is regarded in Vaishnava canon because it is through blessings that Hanuman is born. Thus, Hanuman, Vishnu's constant companion, with his idol appearing temples of Rama, Krishna and Narasimha, i.e. all of Vishnu's avatars, is considered by Vaishnavas.

 

Syncretic forces produced stories in which the two deities were shown in cooperative relationships and combined forms. Harihara is the name of a combined deity form of both Vishnu (Hari) and Shiva (Hara). This dual form, which is also called Harirudra, is mentioned in the Mahabharata.

 

LAKSHMI

Vishnu's consort is Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth (also known as Maya). The Samvit (the primary intelligence/dark matter) of the universe is Vishnu, while the other five attributes emerge from this samvit and hence Maya or dark energy of the universe is Lakshmee is his ahamata, activity, or Vishnu's Power. This power of God, Maya or Shakti, is personified and has multiple names: Shree, Lakshmi, Maya, Vishnumaya or Mahamaya. She is said to manifest as Kriyashakti, (Creative Activity) and Bhutishakti (Creation). This world requires Vishnu's creativity. He therefore needs Lakshmi to always be with Him. Her various avatars as Lord Vishnu's consorts are Varahavatar (Bhoodevi) or Bhoomi, Ramavatar Seeta, Krishnavatar Rukmini)

 

SARASWATI & GANGA

According to Brahma Vaivarta Purana, Lord Vishnu had three wives Lakshmi, Saraswati and Ganga. Due to their constant quarrelsome nature among them. Once Ganga tried to be close with Vishnu, this rebuked Saraswati but Lakshmi tried to pacify them but faced a curse rather. As per the curse, Lakshmi to appear as Tulasi. Sarawati cursed Ganga to run as a river in the world and Saraswati was cursed to run as a river in the netherworld. After this, Lord Vishnu transformed and became Brahma and Shiva to pacify Saraswati and Ganga.

 

GARUDA

Vishnu's mount (Vahana) is Garuda, the eagle. Vishnu is commonly depicted as riding on his shoulders.

 

ICONOGRAPHY

According to various Puranas, Vishnu is the ultimate omnipresent reality and is shapeless and omnipresent. However, a strict iconography governs his representation, whether in pictures, icons, or idols:

 

He has four arms and is male: The four arms indicate his all-powerful and all-pervasive nature. His physical existence is represented by the two arms in the front, while the two arms at the back represent his presence in the spiritual world. The Upanishad Gopal Uttartapani describes the four arms.

The Shreevatsa mark is on his chest, symbolizing his consort Lakshmi.

He wears the auspicious "Kaustubha" jewel around his neck and a garland of vaijayanti flowers (Vanamala). Lakshmi dwells in this jewel, on Vishnu's chest.

A crown adorns his head: The crown symbolizes his supreme authority. This crown sometimes includes a peacock feather, borrowing from his Krishna-avatar.

He wears two earrings: The earrings represent inherent opposites in creation — knowledge and ignorance; happiness and unhappiness; pleasure and pain.

He rests on Ananta, the immortal and infinite snake.

 

Vishnu is always to be depicted holding four attributes:

 

A conch shell or Shankha, named Panchajanya, is held by the upper left hand. It represents Vishnu's power to create and maintain the universe. Panchajanya represents the five elements or Panchabhoota – water, fire, air, earth and sky or space. It also represents the five airs or Pranas that are within the body and mind. The conch symbolizes that Vishnu is the primeval Divine sound of creation and continuity. It also represented as Om. In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna avatara states that of sound vibrations, 'He is Om'.

The Chakra, a sharp, spinning, discus-like weapon, named "Sudarshana", is held by the upper right hand. It symbolizes the purified spiritualized mind. The name Sudarshana is derived from two words – Su, which means good, superior, and Darshana, which means vision or sight; together. The Chakra represents destruction of ego in the awakening and realization of the soul's original nature and god, burning away spiritual ignorance and illusion, and developing higher spiritual vision and insight to realize god.

A mace or Gada, named "Kaumodaki", is held by the lower right hand. It symbolizes that Vishnu's divine power is the source of all spiritual, mental and physical strength. It also signifies Vishnu's power to destroy materialistic or demonic tendencies (Anarthas) that prevent people from reaching god. Vishnu's mace is the power of the Divine within us to spiritually purify and uplift us from our materialistic bonds.

A lotus flower or Padma is held by the lower left hand. It represents spiritual liberation, Divine perfection, purity and the unfolding of Spiritual consciousness within the individual. The lotus opening its petals in the light of the Sun is indicative of the expansion and awakening of our long dormant, original spiritual consciousness in the light of god. The lotus symbolizes that god is the power and source from which the universe and the individual soul emerges. It also represents Divine Truth or Satya, the originator of the rules of conduct or Dharma, and Divine Vedic knowledge or Jnana. The lotus also symbolizes that Vishnu is the embodiment of spiritual perfection and purity and that He is the wellspring of these qualities and that the individual soul must seek to awaken these intrinsic Divine qualities from Vishnu by surrendering to and linking with Him.

 

To this may be added, conventionally, the vanamaala flower garland, Vishnu's bow (Shaarnga/Kodand) and his sword Nandaka. A verse of the Vishnu Sahasranama stotram states;vanamālī gadhī shārngī shanki chakri cha nandaki / shrīmān nārāyaņo vişņo vāsudevo abhirakşatu//; translation: Protect us Oh Lord Narayana who wears the forest garland,who has the mace, conch, sword and the wheel. And who is called Vishnu and the Vasudeva.

 

In general, Vishnu's body is depicted in one of the following three ways:

 

Standing on a lotus flower, often with Lakshmi, his consort, beside him on a similar pedestal.

Reclining on the coiled-up thousand-hooded Shesha Naga, with Lakshmi seated at his feet; the assemblage rests on the "Kshira Sagar" (ocean of milk). In this representation, Brahma is depicted as sitting on a lotus that grows out of Vishnu's navel.

Riding on the back of his eagle mount, known as Garuda. Another name for Garuda is "Veda atma"; Soul of the Vedas. The flapping of his wings symbolizes the power of the Divine Truth of Vedic wisdom. Also the eagle represents the soul. Garuda carrying Vishnu symbolizes the soul or jiva atma carrying the Super soul or Param atma within it.

 

AVATARS

Ten avatars (dashavatara) of Vishnu are the most prominent: Apart from the most prominent incarnations there are believed to more.

 

The most commonly believed incarnations of Vishnu are:

 

Matsya, the fish that kills Damanaka to save the vedas and also saves Manu from a great flood that submerges the entire Earth.

Kurma, the turtle that helps the Devas and Asuras churn the ocean for the nectar of immortality.

Varaha, the boar that rescues the Earth and kills Hiranyaksha.

Narasimha, the half-lion half human, who defeats the demon Hiranyakashipu.

Vamana, the dwarf that grows into a giant to save the world from King Bali.

Parashurama, "Rama of the battle axe", a sage who appeared in the Treta Yuga. He killed Kartavirya Arjuna's army and clan and then killed all the kshatriyas 21 times.

Rama, the prince and king of Ayodhya who killed the Demon King Raavan.

Krishna, the eighth avatar of Vishnu, who takes part in the Mahabharata epic. Krishna is worshipped as the Supreme Avatar of Vishnu (Supreme Personality of Godhead) in Gaudiya-Vaishnava philosophy.

Buddha, the ninth avatar of Vishnu.

Kalki, the tenth Avatar of Vishnu and said to be the harbinger of the end Kali Yuga. This avatar of Vishnu is yet to come.

 

Some versions of the above list include Hayagreeva among the Dashavataras while some include Buddha as ninth avatar of Vishnu. Another 22 avatars are given in Chapter 3, Canto 1 of the Bhagavata Purana, although it states that "the incarnations of the Lord are innumerable, like rivulets flowing from inexhaustible sources of water".

 

BEYOND HINDUISM

 

SIKHISM

Guru Granth Sahib of Sikhism mentions Vishnu, one verse goes:

 

The true Vaishnaav, the devotee of Vishnu, is the one with whom God is thoroughly pleased. He dwells apart from Maya. Performing good deeds, he does not seek rewards. Spotlessly pure is the religion of such a Vaishnaav; he has no desire for the fruits of his labors. He is absorbed in devotional worship and the singing of Kirtan, the songs of the Lords Glory. Within his mind and body, he meditates in remembrance on the Lord of the Universe. He is kind to all creatures. He holds fast to the Naam, and inspires others to chant it. O Nanak, such a Vaishnaav obtains the supreme status.

 

BUDDHISM

While some Hindus consider Buddha as an incarnation of Vishnu, Buddhists in Sri Lanka venerate Vishnu as the custodian deity of Sri Lanka and protector of Buddhism. Lord Vishnu is also known as upulvan, or uthpala varna, meaning "Blue Lotus coloured". Some postulates that Uthpala varna was a local deity who later merged with Vishnu while another belief is that Uthpala Varna was an early form of Vishnu before he became a supreme deity in Puranic Hinduism. According to Chronicles "Mahawamsa", "Chulawamsa" and folklore in Sri Lanka, Buddha himself handed over the custodianship to Vishnu. Others believe that Buddha entrusted this task to Sakra(Indra) and Sakra delegated this task of custodianship to god Vishnu. In contrary to vedic Hinduism, in assimilation of Hindu god Vishnu into Sinhalese Buddhism, Vishnu becomes a mortal being and a Bodhisattva aspiring Buddhahood. Additionally, Vishnu is considered as the god of home and hearth representing mercy, goodness, order and stability. Many Buddhist and Hindu shrines are dedicated to Vishnu in Sri Lanka. In addition to specific Vishnu "Kovils" or "devalayas", all Buddhist temples necessarily house shrine rooms (Devalayas) closer to the main Buddhist shrine dedicated to Vishnu. John Holt in his groundbreaking study examines the assimilation, transformation, and subordination of the Hindu deity Vishnu within the contexts of Sri Lankan history and Sinhala Buddhist religious culture. He then explores the role and rationale of medieval Sinhala kings in assimilating Visnu into Sinhala Buddhism. According to Holt the veneration of Vishnu in Sri Lanka is evidence of a remarkable ability, over many centuries, to reiterate and reinvent culture as other ethnicities have been absorbed into their own. Though the Vishnu cult in Ceylon was formally endorsed by Kandyan kings in early 1700s, Holt states that vishnu images and shrines are among conspicuous ruins in the medieval capital Polonnaruwa. In Buddhist mythology, when Vishnu failed to traverse the universe in three steps, he was given the title "Ardha Vishnu (Half-Vishnu)" and when Vishnu banished demons from the Vaishali (Vishala)in India, he became "Mulu Vishnu or Whole Vishnu". The extreme significance of god Vishnu in Sinhala society is reflected in recitals of the traditional "Offerings to dwarfs and crossing the door frame (bahirwayanta dola pideem saha uluwahu peneema)" that starts with Sri Vishnu invocation.In the recitals,mentioning of the aspiring Buddhahood of Vishnu which is of prime importance to Buddhists and wishes for him to live five thousand and more years highlight the central role of Vishnu in the psyche of Sri Lankan Buddhists.

 

OTHERS

James Freeman Clarke, Richard Leviton, James Cowles Prichard, and others have noted the similarities between Vishnu and Ancient Egyptian God Horus.

 

During an excavation in an abandoned village of Russia in the Volga region, archaeologist Alexander Kozhevin excavated an ancient idol of Vishnu. The idol dates from between the 7th and 10th centuries. In the interview Kozhevin, stated that, "We may consider it incredible, but we have ground to assert that Middle-Volga region was the original land of Ancient Rus. This is a hypothesis, but a hypothesis, which requires thorough research"

 

THOUSAND NAMES OF VISHNU

Vishnu's many names and followers are collected in the Vishnu Sahasranama, (Vishnu's thousand names) from within the larger work Mahabharata. The character Bheeshma recites the names before Krishna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, praising him (Vishnu) as the supreme god. These Sahasranama are regarded as the essence of all Vedas by followers of Vaishnavism, who believe sincere chanting of Vishnu Sahasranama results in spiritual well-being and a greater awareness of God.

 

The names are generally derived from the Anantakalyanagunas (meaning: infinite auspicious attributes).

 

According to the Siddhartha-samhita there are twenty-four forms of Lord Vishnu. The twenty-four forms are

 

Vasudeva

Sankarshana

Pradyumna

Anirudha

Keshava

Narayana

Madhava

Govinda

Vishnu

Madhusudana

Trivikrama

Vamana

Sridhara

Hrishikesha

Padmanabha

Damodara

Purushottama

Achyuta

Narasimha

Janardana

Hari

Krishna

Adhokshaja

 

Upulvan, Uthpala Varna - In Sri Lanka, Vishnu is also referred to as Upulvan ( Blue Lotus Coloured)

 

WIKIPEDIA

(It's a tree. Covered in lights. At the Lincoln Park Zoo.)

 

Nine months ago, on March 18th, I tore my left anterior cruciate ligament while skiing. I didn't even know it happened, just that I twisted my knee, felt a pop, and while skiing down, my knee sometimes slipped laterally when I pushed off of it. Seventeen days later, I had surgery. They had numbed my entire left leg by injecting lidocaine near my femoral and sciatic nerves. The entire limb was limp and flaccid, a bulky slab of flesh. In three hours, my surgeon, JML3, sliced my knee open, extracted the middle third of my patellar tendon and bone as a graft, drilled through my tibia and femur, threaded the graft through, screwed some plastic in there…Twenty hours later, my leg awoke from its sedated, zombie state. The subsequent journey was nothing I had planned, anticipated nor ever conceived--a journey of mental, intellectual, emotional, physical anguish, confusion, amusement and curiosity. Some of it I documented and described previously. Gross feelings, revelations on knee surgery, molecular basis of healing, the unknowns, the inevitable morbidity, why's, how's, what to do about it all took residence in my brain. I have since endeavored to figure all these things out. I learned you cannot find anything meaningful by querying "gimp" or "gimpy" in the NCBI PubMed literature search.

 

Thus, a list of ten memorable knee things I read:

1. Mechanisms of Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury in World Cup Alpine Skiing

See, I'm not crazy. There's a technical term describing how I tore my ACL. It's called the "slip-catch mechanism." Yeah, that's right, I'm a World Cup alpine skier. Not.

 

2. The "Ligamentization" Process in Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction

Published two weeks after my surgery, this literature review describes the healing process of the ACL graft as observed in numerous animal models and biopsied samples from humans. I read it and freaked out when I came upon the part where they described the graft becoming necrotic about four weeks post-surgery. Necrosis = cell death, in an unnatural, destructive manner. The thing in my knee was dying. Rotting. Zombifying. Gag.

 

3. Observations on a Retrieved Patellar Tendon Autograft Used to Reconstruct the Anterior Cruciate Ligament : A Case Report

A 26-year old man, 18-months post-ACL surgery, died. They took his knee, cut it apart and looked at it. It was mostly healed and the graft had integrated in such a way that looked normal. The bone plugs of the graft were indeed necrotic (acellular) at the core, but the periphery had viable cells and had fused to the femoral and tibial tunnels. The tendonous portion of the graft, also necrotic at the core, had otherwise revascularized and was re-colonized by fibroblasts. Until this study, observations of the stages of healing and graft incorporation were based on animal studies; healing in humans were based on superficial biopsies.

 

4. Potential of Skin Fibroblasts for Application to Anterior Cruciate Ligament Tissue Engineering

They synthesized an ACL graft in vitro and put it into a goat! Two bone scaffolds from a pig, a string between the two bone plugs, some goat ACL fibroblasts, artificial growth media, exogenous collagen, one week in an incubator, and voila! De novo synthesis of a graft. After being put into a goat, the graft became vascularized and innervated and colonized by cells. It got remodeled in the goat's knees, as would the usual other grafts. But it was weak, only 36% of the strength of the native ACL after 13 months. Nevertheless, impressive!

 

5. Comparison of Traditional and Subcutaneous Patellar Tendon Harvest : A Prospective Study of Donor Site-Related Problems After Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction Using Different Graft Harvesting Techniques

Forty days post-surgery, I finally hit the wall and became impatiently frustrated by the gross feelings in my knee and adjacent part of my lower leg. It made it very hard to focus on the tasks at hand. Then, I realized my skin, lateral and inferior to my scar/incision site was numb to both touch and temperature. Epidermal insensitivity. This was the first article I found that helped me make sense of this. Damage to the dermatome--in particular, the infrapatellar nerve, a branch of the saphenous nerve, which runs down the inside of your leg. This article also made me aware of the long-term post-surgical knee morbidity that I would come to experience. Not everything would be honky-dory after all. At the time, I only cared about the feeling in my skin, since I could quantify it. They reported the numbness would persist, probably forever. I followed the changes weekly. I still exhibit 22.7 square centimeters of numbness to touch.

 

6. Biomechanical Measures During Landing and Postural Stability Predict Second Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury After Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction and Return to Sport

On my second day of physical therapy, 18 days post-surgery, I rode on a stationary bicycle. At the time, I was still wearing my brace locked in full extension. I only ever took the brace off to shower and do my physical therapy exercises and had yet to bear weight on my left leg without the brace (that's right, I had to sleep with the thing on--it sucked). The muscles were functionally retarded and unable to coordinate my weight when my knee was bent. I recall asking my physical therapist, "How do I get on the bike with only one leg?" Looking unconcerned, she said, "You'll figure it out." Man, tough crowd. I hopped over and managed to mount the thing. Afterwards, when it was time to get off, I didn't even bother asking how I should best do this, and just pushed off the seat and hopped down onto my right leg. At that moment, my physical therapist, in a serious tone, said, "Careful! You don't want to tear your other ACL." Me, horrified, baffled, whimpered, "What?! That can happen?" Yeah, that can happen. I found this paper and it was ghastly. Of 33 female athletes that had undergone ACL reconstruction, 10 of them tore their ACL a second time. 76% of the time, it happened in the other leg! I showed this paper to my physical therapist and she said to me, "You shouldn't be reading this type of material. It's best to focus on recovery and prevention." I justified to myself that this fits under prevention. PREDICTORS of secondary tears, hence, things I need to work on.

 

7. Gluteus Medius: Applied Anatomy, Dysfunction, Assessment, and Progressive Strengthening

Physical therapy? What is that? I was walking fine before surgery, why can't I do it after? Two months post-surgery and the pieces were still not yet falling into place in my head, and many things I was experiencing I still had not found a decent explanation for. I just didn't get it. In addition, I wanted to know why I was doing bizarre exercises in physical therapy. My physical therapist, who treated me for four months from the time after surgery, humored my curiosity and inquiries. She gave me this review. It became a gateway article to my queries into understanding the biomechanics of one's lower extremities, how strengthening the gluteal muscles subsequently aid to stabilize your knees, ankles, everything. I followed the key words that led to my realization that rupturing of the ACL results in loss of neuromuscular signaling of the knee to brain about joint position, gait abnormalities, increased internal rotation of the tibia, confused and weakened the quadriceps and hamstrings…consequences that at this time I had assumed only to affect my balance and coordination.

 

8. ACL Surgery: How to Get It Right the First Time and What to Do If It Fails

This is a really informative textbook. It has almost everything you need to know about anatomy, diagnosis, biological mechanisms that lead to the failure of the graft to heal itself, types of grafts, fixation devices, pros/cons and technical specifications of these hardware, the technicalities and variations of the surgery (it's crazy complex!), a generalized gist of the molecular healing process, plus what to expect post-surgery in terms of rehabilitation and muscle weakness and inflammation and answers to many of those "why" questions I had (that I had eventually found in circuitous searches through the scientific literature), minus the experimental details. You would be surprised how most mechanical graft failures are attributed to technical errs of the surgery (i.e. graft installed at a bad angle, poor screw fixation, missed/improper diagnoses, etc).

 

It would have been nice to read this before surgery, though I might have been grossed out by the gory surgical photos of splayed open knees. I went into the surgery entirely naive about what to expect afterward and why. The extent of my knowledge was "Brace locked in full extension for four weeks, in brace unlocked to flex to 90 degrees until six weeks, walking unfettered afterwards, running at 3-4 months, cutting/pivoting at 5 months, back to sports at 6 months. Increased rate of osteoarthritis. Some discomfort at the scar when kneeling." Sounded easy--perhaps this was for the best?

 

9. Knee Function and Prevalence of Knee Osteoarthritis After Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction

The first scientific article I came upon of many on this topic. Ultimately (as gleaned from other papers), osteoarthritis (OA) appears to be a direct consequence of the ACL rupture. The twisting of the knee, tearing other things, and banging of the bones (bone and cartilage bruising) may contribute, but simply snipping (transection of) the ligament alone is sufficient to immediately induce the cellular signals that precipitate the joint and cartilage degeneration. Severing of the ligament physically destroys neuromuscular transmission between the ligament to adjacent muscles and the brain. An intra-articular blood vessel is usually ruptured, resulting in joint effusion, inhibition of quadricep function, and unfavorable changes to the articular environment: plasmin dismantling of the fibrin clot that forms as a healing scaffold on the torn ligament; upregulation of matrix metalloproteases that destroy the cartilage and matrix proteins in the joint that serve as lubrication; inflammatory cytokine signaling that affect chondrocyte (the cartilage producing cells) metabolism and viability; reduction of proteoglycan IV (aka lubricin), a "lubricating" joint matrix protein that buffers the cartilage and stimulates chondrocyte activity. The altered neuromuscular signaling also leads to muscular weakness, gait changes, force loading on different parts of the cartilage in the joint, increased friction and wearing of the cartilage, factors of which are not entirely restored by surgery or rehabilitation… Regardless of reconstruction, ACL tears have been reported to lead to osteoarthritis in 20-80% of the population 10-12 years post-injury, 90% OA by 15 years, 45% total knee arthroplasty (replacement) by 35 years. A pretty grim and sobering outlook.

 

I am not a fan of having a statistically sealed fate and I am thus holding out a small sliver of hope that I can be the anomaly that defies these near-inevitable odds.

 

10. Phys Ed: Can Running Actually Help Your Knees? (New York Times Article)

There's a lot of interesting reading in the Wellness blog section of the NYTimes. Anyway, there's no defined protocol on how to avoid OA, nor what differentiates those 10% of people that don't get it in 15 years from the 90% that do. However, numerous correlative studies have found that physical activity keeps the joints lubed up and healthier. They advocate low-impact activities, but without consistent and definitive empirical justification. This article, and many others, discuss observations on how in runners, chondrocytes in the knees continually produce cartilage and maintain cartilage volume; this is in contrast to sedentary folks, where cartilage thinning is observed. The consequences are not clearly defined for previously injured knees, but assuming aberrant cartilage loading due to neuromuscular imbalances, repetitive impact would accelerate joint degeneration. On the other hand, exercise increases and maintains muscular strength, and weight-bearing exercises have, in some cases, been observed to increase cartilage surface area and/or thickness.... I'm going to figure out an experiment to do that involves running. It will span a decade. We will see what happens to me. At worst, I will get OA and require a knee replacement, which at this rate, will occur with a 45% likelihood.

 

Another reason to run? "Runner's high" is actually from increased production of endocannabinoids, not endorphins. Endocannabinoids are fat-soluble signaling molecules, the same class of molecules acquired from use of marijuana. The lipid quality of these molecules allow them to readily cross the membranous blood-brain barrier and stimulate the brain to feel "high." Endorphins are proteinaceous, and thus do not readily diffuse through lipid membranes. Anyway, so running may be beneficial, if not for my left knee, then for my brain. I can feel it in my vastus medialis.

Sunny day in Encinitas CA. Pacific view from the Self-Realization Gardens.

It's been a while since I last uploaded here so... Today, I decided to try out the point and shoot I got from Sony.

 

The DSC-WX7 model has an awesome mode which mimics the bokeh effect!!!

 

Figure: Steamboy Movie Realization

Maker: Bandai

Note: One of the best dioramas I've seen (and owned) so far... :D

"The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today. Let us move forward with strong and active faith."

 

Looking south-southwest at an inscription in the fourth "room" of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial in Washington, D.C., on March 15, 2012. This quotation is from Roosevelt's undelivered Jefferson Day Address, scheduled for a nationwide radio address on April 14, 1945. Roosevelt wrote the speech on the night of April 11. He he died from a cerebral hemorrhage the following day.

 

The memorial was designed landscape architect Lawrence Halprin and dedicated on on May 2, 1997, by President Bill Clinton. It's spread over 7.5 acres (3.0 hectares) of West Potomac Park. (Roosevelt was an avid conservationist. Fittingly, West Potomac Park is made up of silt dredged from the bottom of the Potomac River from 1880 to 1911.) The main entrance is at the north end, although just as many people enter from the south end (walking along the Tidal Basin from the Jefferson Memorial).

 

The memorial consists of four roofless, outdoor "rooms" created by gigantic blocks of rough red South Dakota granite. Each "room" represents one of Roosevelt's terms in office, and each room has a waterfall, inscriptions, and sculpture. The first room's walls are more smoothed and the blocks of stone aligned, and the waterfall is small, smooth, and quiet. The subsequent rooms express the increasing complexity of Roosevelt's presidency as depression and war intruded. The stone becomes less smooth, some blocks of stone are misaligned or jut from the walls; in the third room, massive stones actually lie in the center of the space, tumbled on top of one another. The waterfalls become larger, more complex, more chaotic.

 

Interestingly, the waterfalls were designed to be played in. But the National Park Service, deeply worried that someone would slip and fall on the algae-covered rocks, quickly banned people from doing so.

 

Out of respect for Roosevelt's own disability, the entire memorial is wheelchair accessible. All the sculptures are meant to be touched, and the second "room" contains a huge wall "quilt" of images -- an artwork known as "Social Programs" -- that depicts the people Roosevelt helped (with Braille inscriptions describing each one next to the panels).

 

Stonecarver John Benson did the granite inscriptions seen throughout the memorial. Here's a list of the sculptures in the memorial, along with their creators:

 

* "Prologue" - By Robert Graham, this is the life-size sculpture of Roosevelt in his wheelchair which stands in front of the main entrance to the memorial.

 

* "Presidential Seal, 1932" - By Tom Hardy, this is in the "first room" and depicts the Great Seal of the President of the United States as it existed in 1932 at the time of Roosevelt's first inauguration.

 

* "First Inaugural" - By Robert Graham, this bas-relief panel in the "first room" depicts an image inspired by film footage taken during the first inaugural parade.

 

* "The Fireside Chat" - By George C. Segal, this sculpture in the "first room" depicts a man seated in a chair, listening to one of Roosevelt's radio addresses (the "fireside chats").

 

* "Farm Couple" - By George C. Segal, this life-size sculpture in the "second room" depicts a farmer standing next to his wife (seated in a chair) in front of a barn door (with the upper half of the door open). It symbolizes Roosevelt's commitment to saving American agriculture.

 

* "Depression Bread Line" - By George C. Segal, this sculpture in the "second room" depicts six life-size male figures stand in a line to get free bread. The men face west, and it is just a few feet west of "Farm Couple."

 

* "Social Programs" - By Robert Graham, these 54 bronze panels on a wall and four pillars in the "second room" depict the social programs Roosevelt enacted.

 

* "Funeral Cortege" - By Leonard Baskin, this bas-relief bronze panel in the "fourth room" depicts the funeral of Roosevelt in 1945.

 

* "Eleanor Roosevelt" - By Neil Estern, this life-size statue of the First Lady stands between the "third" and "fourth" rooms. Placed in a niche, it depicts her later in life in a cloth coat, the Seal of the United Nations behind her and to her left. It is the only depiction of a First Lady at a national memorial.

 

* "Fala and Franklin D. Roosevelt" - By Neil Estern, this slightly larger-than-life statue in the "fourth room" is based on depictions of an aging, sick Roosevelt at the Yalta Conference. His cloak masks the chair in which he sits. (If you look closely at the back of the statue, you can see that the chair has wheels, although it is not a wheelchair.) Roosevelt's faithful Scottish Terrier dog, Fala, stands beside him.

 

In the "third room" -- the room dedicated to the war years -- is a massive tumble of granite blocks. Inscribed on a block tilted against another are the words "I Hate"; the block on which this is tilted contains the word "War." This sculpture (for that is what it is) is the "I Hate War" piece. Its placement and design was by Halprin, and Benson carved the words. It was inspired by Roosevelt's 1936 "I Hate War" speech, given in Chautauqua, New York. A longer inscription from the speech is on the stone wall next to the waterfall.

 

It should be noted that the Estern sculpture, as originally planned, more prominently featured Roosevelt in a wheelchair. But this was changed because various project overseers said Roosevelt had not been depicted in a wheelchair in public.

 

Disability advocates strongly criticized this decision when the memorial opened and there was no image of Roosevelt in a wheelchair. The National Park Service permitted disability advocates to add a sculpture near the memorial's entrance, which is the "Prologue" statue by Robert Graham.

 

Memorial designer Lawrence Halprin applauded the move. He said that Roosevelt loved debate and discussion, and rarely made decisions himself but rather ordered his subordinates to "hash it out" and come to a decision. Halprin said adding the sculpture is a true memorial to Roosevelt, for it exemplified people of good will coming together in disagreement but forging a compromise that will allow everyone to move ahead.

#pain #love #reflection

12 JULY 12

 

Today my journey into the world of rain photography led to a couple of realizations. Come along with me on my journey of discovery. Shall we?

 

It was guaranteed rain all day today, at 70%. Yesterday I was kind of mad because it was positively storming all the way into town, but the moment I parked, it let up to a steady drizzle and as I said, everyone was in the tunnels, so the streets were bare. Today, go fig, it's pouring and everyone is out on the streets rushing about. I parked in my usual spot half a click from the dome, made sure I put mad time on my parking decal, and off I went. I was...key word being...was...in good spirits at the start of the trip but no sooner had I started off on the 16 block trek then my bag...my purse actually...containing my camera b/c I didn't want to haul the waterproof backpack around (I know, that totally made sense in my head too) was getting soaked. Like a momma bear to her cubs, I tucked it under my arm as far as I could to protect it, but it still continued to slither down the back. Realization number one: they make camera bags weather proof for days like these and one should probably use the bag they bought for just such occurrences, please and thank you.

 

The rain was relentless which was in truth, what I wanted, but I started not to like it as much having to walk with it pelting my back because of the slanted winds. I retreated into a local shopping center but even there, I was getting wet. Took a few photos with my PAS camera and tried to get artsy but it was too much of a juggling act to hold my large umbrella, juggle my purse, aim, shoot, worry about the lack of light, the constant rain threatening both my cameras, so I stuffed my PAS into my dry pocket...oh, yeah, by this point, my entire right side was soaked from me favoring my left with my wet purse and my DSLR into my bag.

 

I went from the center into the parking garage adjacent and noticed that from this vantage point I could see the lovely cathedral next door. Unfortunately for me, the rain was coming in in droves on that side, so I went to the other where I found a good shot for my tilt shift work. I was going to then attempt some street photography next. This was one of my rain goals, but I massively chickened out in this regard. Every time I saw someone interesting running through the rain or smoking billowing from behind some wall as they attempted to key their cigs dry, I wanted to whip out my camera, but for two reasons, the wimpiness and the issue of water everywhere I just didn't do it. Then came the point at which my day took a massive downturn. Crossing the street we have street signs that count you down...you have 10 seconds to cross the street before the light turns green and cars start rambling through. I was on 2 seconds shy of the curb when there was this lake sized puddle. I didn't think ti was that deep until my foot went in about 7 inches as I tried to hop through it with the heel of my right foot. How did I know it was deep...because the guy and girl in front of me, who were figuring out themselves how they planned to cross lake puddle, both screamed out, Oh Hell NO, and my foot went deep sea diving, and then they ran to the next corner. Realization Number 2: I'm about 8 blocks from my car, and there are no changes of clothes in there, so I'm now going to have to walk the rest of the 8 blocks with a wet sock, a wet shoe, a wet purse, an an entire wet right side of my body. Thanks rain. REally, thanks.

 

Ugh, it was so gross sloshing around in my shoe. It made this sucking sound with each step. I made my way to the bayou again to see the progress of the water and HOLY MOLY! The bayou had definitely begun to jump its banks. I walked down my usual path and then smack, my left foot landed in a puddle of water. In the greatest homage to Thundercats possibly ever, I yelled out: SNARF!!!!! Really...really?!? Now I had two wet gross soggy feet. I took to the ledge to find my way through without stepping in any more water and made it to the underpass. I set my umbrella down and jumped back b/c I saw this awesome grasshopper just hanging out, but as soon as I started taking pictures, the bayou started to flood the area I was standing in. The water became parallel with the walkway and then as I looked up, I saw it licking at my feet, so up the stairs I went to the surface level where I could really see the massive body of water just swallowing everything in its path. Whole trees were floating by and debris from everywhere. One of the funniest things I saw was the ducks. Normally they are about 20 feet down in the water, but since the water was so high, they just paddled right from the water and onto the walkway. REalizaton number 3: this was epic but this was getting dangerous and I had to go now.

 

I went across the bridge to the other side and noticed some lady filming the whole thing next to her dog. I waled down the curvature to the bottom to see first hand the massive water. I rattled off a few shots and then the water began to overtake the banks again and there I was smack dab in the middle of it as the water began to flow around my feet. I took the before and after photos right before I left.

 

Just as I left the area just in time, I heard the Irish Jig. The warning alarm that I had about 40 minutes to get back to my car before the meter maids would or could give me a ticket. From this area to the car is about a 30 minute walk, so I took just a few more pictures and then started on my way.

 

Slosh, slosh, slosh, I hit another puddle. At this point, I was just like F-it. To add insult to injury, my entire backside, but more specifically, my jeans were soaked through and it was reaching critical mass because not having dry underwear is not fun at all. I picked up the pace and began to walk faster which was nearly impossible with my squishy feet. On and on and on I walked...9 blocks....13 blocks...19 blocks...wait, no, what, SNARF!!!! Somehow in my hysteria to get back to the car, I'd missed the turn off street and was now 3 blocks past where I needed to turn off. I was beyond pissed at this point.

 

Got back to the car finally, and 4 minutes late. Thankfully b/c of the rain, I'm assuming the maids would rather stay inside instead of hassle people. Ugh...everything was wet and I only had paper towels to dry off with. I took off my left shoe and sock and my normally brown foot was a wrinkly pale whitish color. I wanted to take off my right, but I can't drive well in bare feet (and yes, I've done it before).

 

Got home finally. Discovered my entire purse was dripping wet on the inside as well. I rushed in and sent my camera to the ER with a blow dryer in lower to make sure the electronics were okay, then toweled 'er off, and sent 'er to bed with a warm blanket, then did the same for myself.

 

I'm over it, for now anyway. Next time I do rain photography, 1...wearing rain gear...as in coat...boots...the works. 2...getting the proper cover for the camera b/c its not worth jacking up your camera...3...having a change of socks and shoes, at least, at the ready in case of sheer rain melt down...and 4...SNARF!!!

Daytime Moon

Reflections...

 

"One moon shows in every pool; in every pool, the one moon." -Zen quote

 

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The artist is a receptacle for emotions that come from all over the place: from the sky, from the earth, from a scrap of paper, from a passing shape, from a spider's web. -Pablo Picasso

 

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Once the realization is accepted that even between the closest human beings infinite distances continue, a wonderful living side by side can grow, if they succeed in loving the distance between them which makes it possible for each to see the other whole against the sky. -Rainer Maria Rilke

 

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Excuse me while I kiss the sky. -Jimi Hendrix

 

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“We all shine on...like the moon and the stars and the sun...we all shine on...come on and on and on...” ― John Lennon

 

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“We are going to the moon that is not very far. Man has so much farther to go within himself.” ― Anaïs Nin

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YouTube –High Spirits Native American Flutes

(Cedar flute in G and the B double flute)

SONG FOR WAKIYA

www.youtube.com/watch?v=LViBPfPrR90

 

Uli Geissendoerfer

www.ulimusic.com/home.html

Premik Russell Tubbs

www.premik.com/

 

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From album Passport To HappYness

HappYness

Composed by Premik Russell Tubbs

Performed by Premik Russell Tubbs and Uli Geissendoerfer

 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUlvj2_2AQw

 

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Most recent recordings and projects:

 

In 2012 Premik recorded with 2011 Grammy nominee vocalist and composer Chandrika Krishnamurthy Tandon. 'Over 75 musicians came together to record the album in the US and India combining ancient traditional instruments like the rhumba, calypso, ektara, dugdugi and esraj with saxophone, banjo and piano to transcend musical boundaries.'

 

Sound Samples: www.cdbaby.com/cd/chandrikakrishnamurthyta2 Check out "JOG"

 

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Recording projects in 2010-2012 with Grammy award-winning producer and founder of Windham Hill Records Will Ackerman include albums by Fiona Jay Hawkins, Shambhu, Dean Boland, Rebecca Harrold, Ronnda Cadle and Masako.

 

Will Ackerman: ...‘The criteria for who works here go way past simple talent. Imaginary Road is my home and I’m only letting wonderful people into my home. I don’t care how talented you are; if you’re not able to wear your heart on your sleeve don’t bother to turn up. We use Keith Carlock (Sting and Steeley Dan) as a drummer too along with Arron Sterling (John Mayer and Sheryl Crow). Only last year I met Premik Russel Tubbs who plays sax and wind synths for us.

 

‘Premik has become part of the family...'

www.newagemusicworld.com/will-ackerman-interview-new-in-2...

imaginaryroadstudios.com/

 

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Premik recorded with Heidi Breyer and accompanied her at the ZMR Awards 2013, staged in New Orleans.

www.zonemusicreporter.com/admin/performers.asp

ZMR Awards 2013 -Best Instrumental Album – Piano - “Beyond the Turning” - Heidi Breyer - Winterhall Records, produced at Synchrosonic Productions by Grammy winner Corin Nelsen. www.heidibreyer.com/

 

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New Age / Ambient / World Top 100 Radio Chart

ZoneMusicReporter.com

Top 100 Radio Play - #1 Top Recordings for January 2014

Title: Call of the Mountains - Artist: Masako

www.zonemusicreporter.com/charts/top100.asp

Premik plays wind synth on tracks 4 "Watching the Clouds", & 9 "Purple Indulgence".

 

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Premik, in conjunction with jazz pianist Uli Geissendoerfer heads Bangalore Breakdown, an exciting, world music ensemble. They released their first CD, titled Diary, in 2008. In the words of noted Jazz author Bill Milkowski: Is it world music? Is it jazz? Is it some kind of new uncategorizable fusion that hasn’t yet been labeled?

Sound samples here: www.bangalorebreakdown.com/music.html

 

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Premik and Uli Geissendoerfer released in 2014 their own collaborative duo CD titled Passport to 'Happyness' (yes, happiness with a 'y'') www.ulimusic.com

 

www.flickr.com/photos/42514297@N04/15543396956/

 

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Premik will soon be featured in Carman Moore's Cd “Concerto for Ornette” in which Premik will play the orchestral solo saxophone part. Premik is also the featured saxophonist with SKYBAND on its recording of Carman Moore’s “DON AND BEA IN LOVE,” a fantasy concept album roughly about the intense Renaissance love between Dante and Beatrice which, in part, takes place in outer space! Carman Moore is a 2013 Guggenheim Fellowship winner. www.carmanmoore.com

 

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Premik’s ‘Journey To Light Ensemble’

Sound is East/West, jazz., a journey....

With Premik Russell Tubbs (saxpohones, flutes, lap steel, wind synth),

www.premik.com

Dave Phelps (guitar),

www.davidphelpsguitar.com/

Leigh Stuart (cello),

leighstuart.com/about/

Nathan Peck (upright & electric bass),

www.alexskolnick.com/biography-nathan-peck/

Todd Isler (drums, percussion)

toddisler.com/

Naren Budakar (tabla)

www.sooryadance.com/html/Milan/naren.htm

Watch for a Journey To Light Ensemble album to be released in 2014

 

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TriBeCaStan

Premik (saxophones, flutes, lap steel, wind synth)

tribecastan.tv/

 

TriBeCaStan's "Coal Again"- Cd Release 2014

www.flickr.com/photos/42514297@N04/15447303643/in/photost...

 

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Performing in:

25th Anniversary of the Rainforest Fund Benefit Concert

Thursday, April 17, 2014

Carnegie Hall

Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage

7 PM

www.carnegiehall.org/Calendar/2014/4/17/0700/PM/25th-Anni...

 

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Premik solo in SINGING THE OCEANS ALIVE CONCERT with the ROYAL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

Fairfield Hall concert LONDON, ENGLAND APRIL 25, 2014

 

Watch/Listen

YouTubes

 

Premik solo with the London Royal Philharmonic performing "Apla Kathar."

The main melody was composed by Sri Chinmoy & orchestrated by Vapushtara Matthijs Jongepier.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbhReDbyIOY

 

High praise from Craig Pruess:

"The piece was excellent, thrilling even, very well orchestrated, and your playing was note perfect. An honor to work with you, my man." –Craig Pruess Composer, Musician, Arranger, and a Gold & Platinum Record Producer

www.heaven-on-earth-music.co.uk/

 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=4euUuBNUzco

Song of the Ocean by Kristin Hoffmann

All performers of the evening take the stage with the London Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

 

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Premik Russell Tubbs | The Music of Karl Jenkins | Carnegie Hall

MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY

Monday, January 19, 2015

Premik Russell Tubbs played "bansuri & ethnic flutes" in this concert. (Bansuri is an Indian bamboo flute).

 

nyconcertreview.com/reviews/distinguished-concerts-intern...

Distinguished Concerts International New York (DCINY) presents The Music of Karl Jenkins in Review

 

www.karljenkins.com/

 

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Contact/Listen

 

www.premik.com

www.facebook.com/premik.tubbs

www.reverbnation.com/premik

www.broadjam.com/premik

www.myspace.com/premik

www.emusic.com/album/premik/mission-transcendence/10884302/

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premik_Russell_Tubbs

New music coming soon!

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Short Bio

 

World / Jazz / Experimental / Improv / East-West / Ambient / Pop

PREMIK RUSSELL TUBBS

 

Premik, a composer, arranger, producer and an accomplished multi-instrumentalist performs on various flutes, soprano, alto and tenor saxophones, wind synthesizers, and lap steel guitar.

 

Premik has worked with everyone from Carlos Santana, Whitney Houston, Herbie Hancock, John McLaughlin, Ravi Shankar, Narada Michael Walden, Clarence Clemons, Ornette Coleman, Jackson Browne, Jean-Luc Ponty, Lonnie Liston-Smith, Scarlet Riveria, James Taylor, Sting and Lady Gaga, just to name a few. He is equally adept in pop, R&B, jazz, world and experimental genres.

 

Sax solos on #1 Hits -: “How Will I Know” (Whitney Houston) and “Baby, Come To Me” (Regina Belle).

 

Premik's first major recording breakthrough was with John McLaughlin and the Mahavishnu Orchestra on the album“Visions of the Emerald Beyond.” Premik was a major part of the landmark Carlos Santana album "The Swing of Delight" which featured Herbie Hancock as co-arranger and co-musical director. Also featured were Wayne Shorter, Tony Williams, Ron Carter and several members of the Santana band.

 

www.premik.com/recordings/discography/

 

In 1978 Premik joined Carlos Santana on a six-week European tour as part of an opening act for the Santana Band called Devadip Oneness.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=beD58ordH08

"Gardenia" - DEVADIP European tour w/ Carlos Santana, Dec.'78 in Paris

 

www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=juVuh...

!978 Devidip Orchestra Live In Sweden

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YouTube -DEVADIP CARLOS SANTANA ~~ HANNIBAL ~~ 1980

Russel Tubbs, saxo

Devadip Santana, guitar

www.youtube.com/watch?v=lv_jsp_43h0

_____________________

_____________________

 

Looking for music for your film or project?

Let’s talk...

www.premik.com

 

To view as slideshows click links below (non-animated).

For Flickr animated slideshow click double box icon at the top right of the album.

www.flickr.com/photos/42514297@N04/sets/72157632988389457...

View “A Life Of Music - to be cont.'d ...(with GRATITUDE!)” slideshow

 

View as non-animated slideshows

For animated slideshows click double box at right corner of the album

www.flickr.com/photos/42514297@N04/sets/72157635185040413...

View “Photos for Media” slideshow

 

Batman Watches the city of Gotham

 

Movie Realization Batman (SIC) And Makeshift Batsignal

I promise my photos aren't always this depressing.

There just happens to be a lot going on right now.

 

There's a lot more to everybody then everybody knows, and it's ok if people think im crazy, because everyone is a little bit crazy

  

The realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own. Narrated, written, directed, edited and coined by John Koen

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based historical facts. BEWARE!

  

Some background:

Although the performance increases of jet-powered aircraft introduced towards the end of World War II over their piston-powered ancestors were breathtaking, there were those at the time who believed that much more was possible. As far back as 1943, the British Ministry of Aircraft Production had issued a specification designated "E.24/43" for a supersonic experimental jet aircraft that would be able to achieve 1,600 KPH (1,000 MPH).

 

Beginning in 1946, a design team at English Electric (EE) under W.E.W. "Teddy" Petter began design studies for a supersonic fighter, leading to award of a Ministry of Supply (MoS) contract in 1947 under specification "ER.103" for a design study on an experimental aircraft that could achieve Mach 1.2.

The MoS liked the EE concepts, and in early 1949 awarded the company a contract under specification "F.23/49" for two flying prototypes and one ground-test prototype of the "P.1".

 

The P.1 was defined as a supersonic research aircraft, though the design had provisions for armament and a radar gunsight. It incorporate advanced and unusual design features, such as twin turbojet engines mounted one above the other to reduce aircraft frontal area; and strongly swept wings, with the wingtip edges at a right angle to the fuselage, giving a wing configuration like that of a delta wing with the rear inner corners cut out. The aircraft featured an elliptical intake in the nose.

 

The P.1's performance was so outstanding that the decision was quickly made to proceed on an operational version that would be capable of Mach 2. In fact, the second P.1 prototype featured items such as a bulged belly tank and fit of twin Aden Mark 4 30 millimeter revolver-type cannon, bringing it closer to operational specification.

 

Orders were placed for three "P.1B" prototypes for a production interceptor and the original P.1 was retroactively designated "P.1A". The P.1B featured twin Rolls-Royce Avon afterburning engines and a larger tailfin. An airborne intercept (AI) radar was carried in the air intake shock cone, which was changed from elliptical to circular. The cockpit was raised for a better field of view and the P.1B was armed with two Aden cannon in the upper nose, plus a pack under the cockpit that could either support two De Havilland Blue Jay (later Firestreak) heat-seeking AAMs or 44 Microcell 5 centimeter (2 inch) unguided rockets.

 

The initial P.1B prototype performed its first flight on 4 April 1957 and the type entered RAF service as EE Lightning F.1. RAF Number 74 Squadron at Coltishall was the first full service unit, with the pilots acquiring familiarization with the type during late 1960 and the squadron declared operational in 1961.

 

However, while the Lightning was developed further into more and more advanced versions. Its concept was also the basis for another research aircraft that would also be developed into a high performance interceptor: the P.6/1, which later became the “Levin” fighter.

 

P.6 encompassed a total of four different layouts for a Mach 2+ research aircraft, tendering to ER.134T from 1952. P.6/1 was the most conservative design and it relied heavily on existing (and already proven) P.1 Lightning components, primarily the aerodynamic surfaces. The most obvious difference was a new fuselage of circular diameter, housing a single Rolls Royce RB.106 engine.

 

The RB.106 was a two-shaft design with two axial flow compressors each driven by its own single stage turbine and reheat. It was of similar size to the Rolls-Royce Avon, but it produced about twice the thrust at 21,750 lbf (96.7 kN) in the initial version. The two-shaft layout was relatively advanced for the era; the single-shaft de Havilland Gyron matched it in power terms, while the two-spool Bristol Olympus was much less powerful at the then-current state of development. Apart from being expected to power other British aircraft such as those competing for Operational Requirement F.155, it was also selected to be the powerplant for the Avro Canada CF-105 Arrow and led to the Orenda Iroquois engine, which even reach 30.000 lbf (130 kN).

 

The P.6/1 was eventually chosen by the MoS for further development because it was regarded as the least risky and costly alternative. Beyond its test bed role for the RB.106 the P.6/1 was also seen as a potential basis for a supersonic strategic air-to-ground missile (similar to the massive Soviet AS-3 ‘Kangaroo’ cruise missile) and the starting point for an operational interceptor that would be less complex than the Lightning, but with a comparable if not improved performance but a better range.

 

In 1955 English Electric received a go ahead for two P.6/1 research aircraft prototypes. Despite a superficial similarity to the Lightning, the P.6/1’s internal structure was very different. The air duct, for instance, was bifurcated and led around on both sides of the cockpit tub and the front wheel well instead of below it. Further down, the duct ran below the wing main spar and directly fed the RB.106.

The rear fuselage was area-ruled, the main landing gear retracted, just like the Lightning’s, outwards into the wings, while the front wheel retracted backwards into a well that was placed further aft than on the Lightning. The upper fuselage behind the main wings spar carried fuel tanks, more fuel was carried in wing tanks.

 

Both research machines were ready in 1958 and immediately started with aerodynamic and material tests for the MoS, reaching top speeds of Mach 2.5 and altitudes of 60.000 ft. and more.

In parallel, work on the fighter version, now called “Levin”, had started. The airframe was basically the same as the P.6/1’s. Biggest visible changes were a wider air intake with a bigger central shock cone (primarily for a radar dish), a shorter afterburner section and an enlarged fin with area increased by 15% that had become necessary in order to compensate instability through the new nose layout and the potential carriage of external ordnance, esp. under the fuselage. This bigger fin was taken over to the Lightning F.3 that also initially suffered from longitudal instability due to the new Red Top missiles.

 

The Levin carried armament and avionics similar to the Lightning, including the Ferranti-developed AI.23 monopulse radar. The aircraft was to be fully integrated into a new automatic intercept system developed by Ferranti, Elliot, and BAC. It would have turned the fighters into something like a "manned missile" and greatly simplified intercepts.

 

Anyway, the Levin’s weapon arrangement was slightly different from the Lightning: the Levin’s armament comprised theoretically a mix of up to four 30mm Aden cannons and/or up to four of the new Red Top AAMs, or alternatively the older Firestreak. The guns were mounted in the upper nose flanks (similar to the early Lightning arrangement, but set further back), right under the cockpit hatch, while a pair of AAMs was carried on wing tip launch rails. Two more AAMs could be carried on pylons under the lower front fuselage, similar to the Lightning’s standard configuration, even though there was no interchangeable module. Since this four-missile arrangement would not allow any cannon to be carried anymore and caused excessive drag, the typical payload was limited to two Aden cannons and the single pair of wing-tip missiles.

 

Despite its proven Lightning ancestry, the development of the Levin went through various troubles. While the RB.106 worked fine in the research P.6/1, it took until 1962 that a fully reliable variant for the interceptor could be cleared for service. Meanwhile the Lightning had already evolved into the F.3 variant and political discussions circled around the end of manned military aircraft. To make matters even worse, the RAF refused to buy the completely automatic intercept system, despite the fact that it had been fully engineered at a cost of 1.4 million pounds and trialed in one of the P.1Bs.

 

Eventually, the Levin F.1 finally entered service in 1964, together with the Lightning F.3. While the Lightning was rather seen as a point defense interceptor, due to the type’s limited range: If a Lightning F.3 missed its target on its first pass, it almost never had enough fuel to make a second attempt without topping off from a tanker, which would give an intruder plenty of time to get to its target and then depart… The Lightning’s flight endurance was less than 2 hours (in the F.2A, other variants even less), and it was hoped that the Levin had more potential through a longer range. Anyway, in service, the Levin’s range in clean configuration was only about 8% better than the Lightning’s. The Levin F.1’s flight endurance was about 2 ½ hours – an improvement, but not as substantial as expected.

 

In order to improve the range on both fighters, English Electric developed a new, stiffened wing for the carriage of a pair of jettisonable overwing ferry tanks with a capacity of 1,182 liters (312 US gallons / 260 Imperial gallons, so-called “Overburgers”). The new wing also featured a kinked leading edge, providing better low-speed handling. From mid 1965 onwards, all Levins were directly produced in this F.2 standard, and during regular overhauls the simpler F.1 machines were successively updated. The Lightning introduced the kinked wing with the F.3A variant and it was later introduced with the F.2A and F.6A variants.

 

Levin production comprised 21 original F.1 airframes, plus 34 F.2 fighters, and production was stopped in 1967. A trainer version was not produced, the Lightning trainers were deemed sufficient for conversion since the Levin and the Lightning shared similar handling characteristics.

The Levin served only with RAF 29 and 65 Squadron, the latter re-instated in 1970 as a dedicated fighter squadron. When in November 1984 the Tornado squadrons began to form, the Levin was gradually phased out and replaced until April 1987 by the Tornado F.3.

  

General characteristics:

Crew: 1

Length w/o pitot: 51 ft 5 in (15,70 m), 55 ft 8 in (16.99 m) overall

Wingspan incl. wingtip launch rails: 34 ft 9 in (10.54 m)

Height: 19 ft 7 in (5.97 m)

Wing area: 474.5 ft² (44.08 m²)

Empty weight: 8937 kg (lb)

Loaded weight: 13,570 kg (29,915)

Max. takeoff weight: 15,210 kg (33,530 lb)

 

Powerplant:

1× Rolls-Royce RB.106-10S afterburning turbojet,

rated at 20,000 lbf (89 kN) dry and 26,000 lbf (116 kN) with afterburning

 

Performance:

Maximum speed:

- 1,150 km/h (620 kn, 715 mph, Mach 0.94) at sea level

- 2,230 km/h (1.202 kn, 1,386 mph, Mach 2.1;), clean with 2× Red Top AAMs at high altitude

- Mach 2.4 absolute top speed in clean configuration at 50.000 ft.

Range: 1,650 km (890 nmi, 1,025 mi) on internal fuel

Combat radius: 500 km (312 mi); clean, with a pair of wing tip Red Top AAMs

Ferry range: 1,270 mi (1.100 NM/ 2.040 km) with overwing tanks

Service ceiling: 16,760 m (55,000 ft)

Rate of climb: 136.7 m/s (27,000 ft/min)

Wing loading: 76 lb/ft² (370 kg/m²)

Thrust/weight: 0.78

Takeoff roll: 950 m (3,120 ft)

Landing roll: 700 m (2,300 ft)

 

Armament:

2× 30 mm (1.18 in) ADEN cannons with 120 RPG in the upper front fuselage

2× wing tip hardpoints for mounting air-to-air missiles (2 Red Top of Firestreak AAMs)

2× overwing pylon stations for 260 gal ferry tanks

Optional, but rarely used: 2× hardpoints under the front fuselage for mounting air-to-air missiles

(2 Red Top of Firestreak AAMs)

  

The kit and its assembly:

Another contribution to the Cold War GB at whatifmodelers.com, and the realization of a project I had on the agenda for long. The EE P.6/1 was a real project for a Mach 2+ research aircraft, as described above, but it never went off the drawing board. Its engine, the RB.106, also never saw the light of day, even though its later career as the Canadian Orenda Iroquois for the stillborn CF-105.

 

Building this aircraft as a model appears simple, because it’s a classic Lightning (actually a F.1 with the un-kinked wing and the small fin), just with a single engine and a rather tubular fuselage. But creating this is not easy at all…

 

I did not want to replicate the original P.6/1, but rather a service aircraft based on the research aircraft. Therefore I used parts from a Lightning F.6 (a vintage NOVO/Frog kit). For the fuselage I settled for a Su-17, from a MasterCraft kit. The kit’s selling point was its small price tag and the fuselage construction: the VG mechanism is hidden under a separate spine piece, and I wanted to transplant the Lightning’s spine and cockpit frame, so I thought that this would make things easier.

 

Nope.

 

Putting the parts from the VERY different kits/aircraft together was a major surgery feat, with several multiple PSR sessions on the fuselage, the air intake section (opened and fitted with both an internal splitter and a bulkhead to the cockpit section), the wings, the stabilizers, the fin… This model deserves the title “kitbash” like no other, because no major sections had ever been intended to be glued together, and in the intended position!

 

The landing gear was more or less taken OOB, but the main struts had to be elongated by 2mm – somehow the model turned out to be a low-riding tail sitter! The cockpit interior was improvised, too, consisting of a Su-17 cockpit tub, a scratched dashboard and a Martin Baker ejection seat from an Italeri Bae Hawk trainer.

 

Since most of the fuselage surface consists of various materials (styrene and two kinds of putty), I did not dare to engrave panel lines – after all the PSR work almost any surface detail was gone. I rather went for a graphic solution (see below). Some antennae and air scoops were added, though.

 

The overwing tanks come OOB from the NOVO kit, as well as the Red Top missiles, which ended up on improvised wing tip launch rails, based on design sketches for Lightning derivatives with this layout.

 

Colors and markings:

There are several “classic” RAF options, but I settled for a low-viz Eighties livery taken from BAC Lightnings. There’s a surprising variety of styles, and my version is a mix of several real world aircraft.

 

I settled for Dark Sea Grey upper surfaces (Modelmaster Authentic) with a high waterline, a fuselage completely in Medium Sea Grey (Humbrol 165 – had to be applied twice because the first tin I used was obviously old and the paint ended up in a tone not unlike PRU Blue!) and Light aircraft Grey underwing surfaces (Humbrol 166). The leading edges under the wings are Dark Sea Grey, too.

 

The cockpit interior was painted in dark grey (Humbrol 32 with some dry-brushing), while the landing gear is Aluminum (Humbrol 56).

 

Once the basic painting was done I had to deal with the missing panel lines on the fuselage and those raised lines that were sanded away during the building process. I decided to simulate these with a soft pencil, after the whole kit was buffed with a soft cotton cloth and some grinded graphite. This way, the remaining raised panel lines were emphasized, and from these the rest was drawn up. A ruler and masking tape were used as guidance for straight lines, and this worked better than expected, with good results.

 

As a next step, the newly created panels were highlighted with dry-brushed lighter tones of the basic paints (FS 36492 and WWII Italian Blue Grey from Modelmaster, and Humbrol 126), more for a dramatic than a weathered effect. The gun ports and the exhaust section were painted with Modelmaster Metallizer (Titanium and Magnesium).

 

The decals come from several Xtradecal aftermarket sheets, including a dedicated Lightning stencils sheet, another Lightning sheet with various squadron markings and a sheet for RAF Tornado ADVs.

The code number “XS970” was earmarked to a TSR.2, AFAIK, but since it was never used on a service aircraft it would be a good option for the Levin.

 

The kit received a coat of matt acrylic varnish from the rattle can – jn this case the finish was intended to bear a slight shine.

  

This was a project with LOTS of effort, but you hardly recognize it – it’s a single engine Lightning, so what? But welding the Lightning and Su-17 parts together for something that comes close to the P.6/1 necessitated LOTS of body work and improvisation, carving it from wood would probably have been the next complicated option. Except for the surprisingly long tail I am very happy with the result, despite the model’s shaggy origins, and the low-viz livery suits the sleek aircraft IMHO very well.

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Midtown Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States

 

Prior to the construction of Grand Central Terminal and the electrification and submergence of its tracks (1903-1913) Park Avenue between 42nd and 52nd Streets blighted New York as an exposed rail yard. Noisy, grimy and dangerous, its locomotives tirelessly belched their waste into the air as crosstown traffic was stranded on either side of the maze-like rails. By 1929, however, in a spectacular application of skyscraper technology both above and below ground, revenue producing structures were erected on steel stilts over the yard, transforming the area into Terminal City, a prestigious mixed-use, multi-level enclave, integrated in its architectural expression and modes of transportation

- the finest realization of the City Beautiful Movement in New York.

 

The New York Central Building provided the Terminal City complex with a dramatic linchpin as well as a bridge to the rest of Manhattan. Through special negotiations with city officials it was constructed in 1927-29 astride Park Avenue, allowing for a continuation of the boulevard's sidewalk- and street traffic via pedestrian corridors and vehicular tunnels burrowed through the building's base.

 

The New York Central Building is the skyscraping counterpart of Grand Central Terminal. It was designed by the same architects in the same materials and Beaux-Arts style, simultaneously developing some of the depot's most - innovative circulation systems- Swallowing Park Avenue traffic and thereby, relieving congestion around the terminal the building functions as an open gate to the "Gateway to a Continent."

 

With a distinction all but unique in grid- patterned Manhattan, it has a double focus, as powerful by day as it is dramatic , by night. Unobstructed by surrounding buildings, the New York Central's" honeycombed base and slender tower dominate the street corridor while its glowing and wonderfully ornate roof, visible for miles, enriches New York's constellation of illuminated peaks.

 

For its superb engineering, innovative, circulation systems and the consequent relief of traffic, the structure is exceptional. As a conspicuous and experiential urban monument it is unsurpassed. Identified by railroad officials as the "crowning achievement" of their urban redevelopment program, the New York Central Building, now the Helmsley Building, ranks easily among the finest and best known office towers in New York.

In 1863-67 Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt acquired control of the New York & Harlem, the Hudson River and the New York Centra 1 Railroads (consolidated in 1869 as the New York Central & Hudson River Railroad), Rerouting the trains along a single line (the Harlem) for five miles south from the Bronx, Vanderbilt determined to build a new terminal at 42nd Street- He acquired most of the property between 42nd and 48th Streets (subsequently extended to 52nd Street), Madison and Lexington Avenues, and commissioned John B. Snook to design the depot (1871), with an impressive glass and metal shed by R. G. Hatfield immediately behind.

 

The land north of the new facility was used as a train yard: an exposed, noisy, cinder- and smoke-belching sprawl which made neighboring real estate uninhabitable to all but squatters. The paddle-shaped track network interrupted crosstown streets', leaving then dead ends on either side of the yard.

 

Subsequent improvements lowered the rails several feet below grade and opened crosstown traffic with periodic elevated bridges. But by the turn of the century increased suburban and commuter traffic proved these palliative measures inadequate: the polluting locomotives thwarted seminal attempts at urban renewal while the still only — partially submerged tracks created an intolerable obstacle to the street traffic which the terminal inevitably generated.

 

Solutions to these and a panoply of related-problems came in 1903 when William J. Wilgus, the visionary chief engineer of the New-York Central, presented the railroad with a grand scheme — ultimately proved epochal — for the replacement of the existing Grand Central Terminal with a new, more technologically advanced facility. Key to the project was the electrification of rail lines.

 

Unlike steam locomotives, which required open air or ventilated tunnels for release of their combusted waste, electrified trains could be submerged below ground. The acreage thus reclaimed at ground level and above could be used, Wilgus foresaw, for revenue-producing structures. High profit buildings were erected on skeletal steel supports over the tracks: "And thus from the air [was] taken wealth." The alchemous plan repaid the enormous cost of the new terminal and the electrification many times over.

 

Realization of Wilgus' scheme involved a design competition to which four firms were invited. Per requirements, each submitted a proposal for a skyscraping terminal in the center of Park Avenue but so arranged as to connect both north and south segments of the boulevard. The contest was won by Reed & Stem who had worked with Wilgus on previous railroad commissions (and to whom Reed was related by marriage). Their proposal called for a neo-Renaissance terminal surmounted by a 22-story hotel or office tower. Preceded on the north by a grand "Court of Honor," the depot was, in a stroke of genius, to be girdled by an "exterior circumferential elevated driveway" along which Park Avenue "would flow in divided north- and southbound streams. Architects Warren & Wetmore subsequently transformed the design into the current low, monumental mass, but many of its essential features survived.

 

Indeed, Reed & Stem's tower proposal (together with that of unsuccessful competitors McKim, Mead & White) may be seen as the germ of the New York Central Building which Warren & Wetmore constructed to the north of the terminal some two decades later.

 

In 1903 plans were submitted to the Board of Estimate for the new train station as well as for the revenue-producers that Wilgus had imagined. In addition to the head house, the proposal included mail and express terminals, a post office, and hotels. Several of the structures were undertaken concurrently with the new terminal, but not until the 1920s (after the post-World War I depression) did the precinct assume the distinctive character of the planned enclave known as "Terminal City."

 

Building efforts initially focused on the construction of new hotels whose development, like most luxury buildings, had been stemmed by the war, and whose need near the depot was critical. Between the completion of the terminal in 1913 and the New York Central Building in 1927-29, more than a score of hotels and apartment buildings were added to the precinct, all of roughly the same height and classicizing style.

 

These were followed, after 1922, by the erection of new office buildings, which, although taller than the hotels, were nonetheless related in style, and frequently designed by -the same architects. In each case the new buildings marched north, perched on steel stilts over the rail yard. They transformed Park Avenue into a grand and cohesive urban corridor with a ribbon of spinal plantings. In the process they earned for this boulevard the Park Avenue name which, although official since 1888, had previously been little deserved.

 

The 34-story New York Central Building was the final addition to Terminal—City. Taller, more dramatic and conspicuously sited than any other unit in the complex, it became the riveting linchpin of "one of the most urbane groups, of commercial buildings in the world."

 

The creation of Terminal City was a direct outgrowth of the ,"City Beautiful Movement." Fostered by the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893, this movement sought to transform the haphazard development of American metropolises into clean, symmetrical urban centers, beautified by parks, public monuments and axial roadways, and guided in their future growth by a comprehensive plan for transportation and architectural integration.

 

Like other cities (most notably Washington, D.C. with its MacMillan Plan of 1902-03), New York attempted implementation. In a little-known effort beginning in 1902 and culminating five years later, the New York Public Improvement Commission submitted a comprehensive scheme for the city's development "so designed that all its parts shall be consistent, the one with the other, and form a homogeneous whole."

 

This was the first time since the establishment of Manhattan's street grid in 1811 that a general urban plan had been proposed for New York; it met with unmitigated failure. Calling for parkways, subsidiary streets, pedestrian arcades and imposing vistas (all aspects of Terminal City), the municipal scheme was undermined by an over-emphasis of aesthetic concerns. It suffered from an unrealistic exclusion of economic and social forces and, perhaps most damagingly, from the inability of democratic government to consolidate its widely-diffused powers for urban renewal on such an imperial scale.

 

The degree to which city bureaucracy was incapable of action' contrasted starkly with the position of the railroad at the turn of the century: a multi-million dollar private enterprise whose capital, organization and vast real estate holdings permitted — indeed, encouraged — a coordinated development policy. Moreover, the railroad's massive physical needs, and its cultivated civic and philanthropic self-image found appropriate architectural models in the ancient. Renaissance and Beaux-Arts

 

public buildings which so inspired the City Beautiful Movement. Wilgus, Reed & Stem, and Warren & Wetmore, among others, were nurtured on Utopian urban visions. Their creation of the mixed-use, multi-level Terminal City, integrated in its architectural expression and modes of transportation, is one of the best, if not the greatest, legacy of the City Beautiful Movement in New York- The achievement was challenged — arguably equalled — only by Rockefeller Center which, built in the 1930s, followed the Terminal City prototype.

 

Architects of the New York Central Building

 

Charles Delevan Wetmore (1866-1941) received an A.B. degree from Harvard in 1889 and three years later, in 1892, graduated from its Law , School. He had also studied architecture, and before joining the legal firm of Carter, Ledyard & Milburn, designed for his alma mater the Claverly, Westmorly and Apley Court dormitories.

 

It was during a consultation about the design of his own house that Wetmore met his future partner, Whitney Warren (1864-1943), a graduate of Columbia College (1886), of the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris (1887-94) and subsequently, a member of the New York office of McKim, Mead & White. Warren, impressed by his client's architectural ability,, suggested that Wetmore leave the practice of law. The two men formed a partnership in 1898. Wetmore specialized in the firm's legal and financial Affairs; Warren emerged as the principal designer.

 

Warren & Wetmore's first major commission came just one year later when they prevailed in a contest for the design of the New York Yacht Club (1899). An enormously auspicious beginning, this celebrated project was nonetheless succeeded only "by lesser residential works and modest office buildings. Not until 1903 did the firm emerge on the forefront of New York architecture and then under suspect terms: despite the victory of Reed & Stem in the competition for Grand Central Terminal, and indeed, without the knowledge of that premier firm.

 

Warren & Wetmore submitted another scheme for the depot to William K. Vanderbilt, then chairman of the board of the New York Central (and a cousin and close friend of Whitney Warren). The strength of nepotism was proven, as were Wetmore's skills as an attorney. In a (doubtlessly strained) compromise, Warren & Wetmore became associated with Reed & Stem on the terminal, but later assumed total control of design.

 

Over the course of a decade they combined their low-lying Beaux-Arts proposal with essential elements from Reed & Stem's more innovative scheme. - _ * •

 

In the end, the eminently gifted, if opportunistic, Warren & Wetmore achieved the greater fame, and it was they who became the preferred architects of the New York Central. Engaged by the railroad almost continuously for a quarter-century, the firm was responsible for much of the development of Terminal City. Beginning with the Biltmore Hotel in 1911-13 (designed in association with Reed & Stem; demolished). Warren & Wetmore executed sere ox the most prestigious hotels in the zone, including the Belmont {1905; demolished), the Ritz-Carlton (1910; demolished), the Vanderbilt 1912), Commodore (1916), Linnard (1919; demolished), and the Ambassador (1921), as will as the post office adjacent to Grand Central, several service : • • , for the railroad, nearly a dozen Park Avenue apartment buildings, office buildings and numerous shops. Together with such notable (non-railroad sponsored) commissions as the Heckscher Building of 1920, the award-winning Aeolian Building of five years later, and the former Bonwit Teller department store of 1928 (all on Fifth Avenue), as well as Steinway Hall on West 57th Street (1925), Warren & Wetmore executed at least 92 buildings and building additions in New York, with more than a score of additional commissions elsewhere in the continent.

 

The New York Central Building was their final undertaking for the railroad and the last major project executed by the firm in New York. Completed in 1929, it preceded Warren's retirement by only two years. The office closed a decade later upon Wetmore's death in 1941.

 

The, New York Central Building

 

Between the completion of Grand Central Terminal in 1913 and the 100th anniversary of the New York Central Railroad in 1926, the number of passengers annually served by the depot nearly doubled, rising prodigiously from 23 million to 43 million in just over a dozen years.

 

During the same short period, in a historically unparalleled feat, the most formidable engineering problems had been solved, and Terminal City had risen triumphantly above the tireless rail yard. By 1926 the only open cuts in the precinct lay oh either side of Park Avenue between 45th and 46th Streets. Work on the combined sites began later in the same centennial year and in March 1929 — just seven months before the stock market crashed — New York Central's executives relocated from their corporate offices in 466 Lexington Avenue into the top three floors of their new namesake building across the street.

 

Towering above its neighbors, the 34-story structure literally provided "the crowning achievement" to the railroad's urban development plan. * So skilled were its design and execution and so magnificent its siting, that the railroad's trade journal confidently predicted that the New York Central Building was "destined to become one of New York City's landmarks."

 

Traffic

 

Hardly less spectacular — and to the mind of city officials, Relief far more important — was the solution to a major source of New York traffic congestion. Although elevated drives around Grand, Central had been proposed by Reed & Stem and subsequently incorporated into the design of Warren & Wetmore, their construction did not begin until 1917, four years after the terminal's completion. Not until 1919 (by which time negotiations for the New York Central Building had already commenced) did the road system open to the public, and then with only short-term and partial resolve.

 

Ascending/descending the Pershing Square Viaduct at 40th Street, both north- and southbound traffic continued along the west side of the terminal atop an elevated drive, superimposed like a second story over Vanderbilt Avenue. .(Depew Place, flanking the terminal on the east, also had an elevated level but this was a private way, reserved for baggage and freight deliveries). The western viaduct allowed vehicles to travel along busy 42nd Street without interruption by a north-south artery." Within a few short years, however, increased traffic created the most vexatious bottleneck three blocks north, at 45th Street, where the ramp descended to grade: 13 lanes of bi-directional traffic converged - from Park and Vanderbilt Avenues, 45th Street and the elevated drive, spilling into adjacent streets and Strangling the essentia I flow of this midtown commercial hub. Construction permits for the New York Central Building were withheld until a scheme to relieve this insufferable congestion had been submitted.

 

Roadways

 

An agreement was reached in 1924 after five years of & Tunnels negotiation, during which time the railroad totally revised its plans. Instead of following through with its original intention to erect "one building on the west side of Park Avenue, the same size as the Postum Building [21 stories] and another on the east side of Park Avenue similar to the Park Lexington Building [also 21 stories]," the New York Central proposed to construct one large building astride the boulevard. - In exchange for the required variances, city officials requested, and received from the railroad, the extension of Vanderbilt Avenue two blocks north of its former terminus at 45th Street.

 

The New York Central also agreed to improve the elevated drive along the west side of the terminal and to construct a companion drive on its east (a transformation of the private delivery platform atop Depew Place) so that public traffic could flow around the depot as originally planned, in bifurcated one-way lanes (southbound on the west; northbound on the east). Instead of descending to grade amid the confusion of 45th Street, the elevated drives were to span that street on bridges and, through specially granted easements, continue north on ramps through the base of the proposed' New York Central Building.

 

Cars emerging from its vehicular tunnels at 46th Street would proceed uptown along Park Avenue's newly widened traffic lanes. A corollary of the same agreement provided for "a permanent and perpetual easement of passage on foot," namely the continuation of Park Avenue's sidewalks through two open (shop-lined) corridors on either side of the tunnels.

 

Manhattan Borough President Julius Miller hailed the ingenious circulation system as "the biggest thing in traffic relief in twenty years." The masterminds behind the project were George A. Harwood, Ira A. Place and Amos Schaeffer, all of whom are memorialized by bronze plaques on the New York Central Building's main facade. Execution of the tunnels required reinforcement by special girders and trusses for superstructure support, and, as a protect ion against vibration, their ' erection independent of the building's frame. In addition, the two road-ways — both curved and banked — had to be supported on stanchions installed at a slope so that cars could climb to the elevated 45th Street bridges.

 

The innovative design allowed Park Avenue traffic to continue unimpeded between 46th and 40th Streets — a flow which, to this day, is still an exhilarating experience: one burrows through the New York Central Building negotiating its sharp turns, only to emerge above the city and descend, in roller coaster fashion, down the Pershing Square Viaduct (and, if one chooses, further south, through the subterranean Belmont tunnel — originally a locomotive cut — all the way to 33rd Street).

 

There was, in all of it, a comforting urban justice: the railroad supplied the brilliant remedy to the traffic jams which for so many years it had created. No less germane was the solution's reliance on tunnels, particularly as the New York Central had achieved its mighty prowess by blasting and tunneling through so much craggy terrain, both along Park Avenue, and beyond.

 

Design Inspiration for the design drew obviously from the four Influences competitive proposals submitted for Grand Central Terminal in 1903. Excluding Reed & Stem's preferred scheme with its circumferential viaducts, both Samuel Huckel and McKim, Mead & White provided for the continuation of Park Avenue via tunnels through the depot (as presumably did Daniel Burnham in his now lost entry).

 

McKim's firm executed a version of its unsuccessful terminal proposal for the 26—story Municipal Building at the head of Chambers Street. Designed in 1908. and completed in 1916., this City Beautiful skyscraper, like the New York Central Building of a decade later, includes a monumental arcade through which vehicular traffic originally flowed. Also similar are the projecting side wings which give the Municipal Building (and the more graceful 46th Street facade of the New York Central Building) a depressed U-shaped plan.

 

One can also perceive correspondences between Warren & Wetmore's tower and the chaste classicism of Reed & Stem's 22-story terminal proposal, but most conspicuous is Warren & Wetmore's effort to complement their own earlier work on Grand Central. Like the terminal, the New York Central Building was constructed of. limestone with bronze grilles, ornamented by symbols of industrial progress, and crowned by a heroic clock. Bridging Park Avenue with imposing Beaux-Arts arches, both structures are enlivened at ground level by carefully integrated shops.

 

The correspondences are as binding and intentional as they were clearly stated in the New York. Central Building's specifications. Similarly, and despite the almost exclusive priority of Art Deco design for contemporaneous skyscrapers, the New York. Central was articulated "along strictly classical lines."

 

The decision - to so thoroughly incorporate it with the depot and, by extension, with the rest of Terminal City reinforced the urbane cohesiveness of this "first planned precinct in New York."

 

Construction History

 

Contrary to the normal (and usually ineffective) course of development whereby the railroad erected its buildings and the city, in an independent effort, the surrounding streets, the New York Central assumed physical responsibility for every aspect of construction.

 

The arrangement proved particularly judicious because the entire campaign took place over double-level live trackage. In turn, city officials made every effort to aid and expedite the undertaking.

 

So successfully did the two parties interact that the enterprise was publicly hailed as a model of private and municipal cooperation.

 

Foundation preparations began in December 1926. Final plans for the structure were submitted on February 11, 1927, and three months later, on May 19th, 350 men from the James Stewart Construction Company anchored the last of the New York Central Building's steel piers 50 feet into the ground.

 

The task of providing adequate support for the superstructure had been particularly demanding: the entire campaign took place amid double level tracks which serviced more than 700 trains daily (a locomotive passed through operations approximately every 1-1/2 minutes of each working day).

 

The problem was further compounded because the rails (now electrified) prevented any possibility of continuous foundation walls and even more perplexing, because the frequent non-alignment of upper and lower tracks prohibited the use of through-columns.

 

A solution was achieved through a cleverly staggered skeletal steel frame in which upper level supports were carried on girders spanning the lower tracks. The lower piers, in turn, were irregularly spaced and anchored into the ground as the maze of rails would allow. The building was insulated against vibrations from the rumbling trains with lead and asbestos mats, and further protected by the 4-inch compressed cork tubes which encased those piers adjacent to rails.

 

More than 9,000 tons of steel were used in the foundations and ground floor alone. The entire structure required some 26,000-tons, a "good deal of which went into construction of the vehicular roadways.

 

Work continued at a rapid pace and on April 5, 1928 — just hours after the death of Chauncey Depew, chairman of New York Central's board of directors — the last rivet was driven into the 34-story steel frame. A temporary certificate of occupancy (# 11979) was issued in late December, and on September 25, 1929, building operations were brought to a close. Three years later the New York Central Building was acclaimed "the most remarkable office building in the world...even the wonderful Hudson Bridge [George Washington, 1931] required no greater engineering skill to construct.

 

Urban However brilliant, the New York Central Building's engineering did Impact not fully account for its singular popularity. Even before completion, and continuing unstemmed until the present day, this "absolutely glorious structure has captivated New York like few others. Regarded by many as "the most beautiful and imposing tower" in midtown, it enjoys a distinction all but unique in grid-patterned Manhattan: the building has a double focus.

 

Unlike most New York skyscrapers whose ground floors are visible only at close range and which consequently depend upon distinctive crowns for recognition, the New York Central Building plays a commanding role at both street level and on the skyline. Spanning Park Avenue, its great triumphal arches not only complement and give passage to Grand Central, but echo one of the finest aspects of its original City Beautiful design.

 

Projecting from either side of the apse-like recess in the center of the 46th Street facade, the building's 15—story wings embrace the Park Avenue corridor and realize — in however vestigial terms — the "Court of Honor" which Reed & Stem had intended to locate at the north of the terminal.

 

The impression was particularly imposing in the 1930s and 1940s when the nearly uniform base-, cornice- and roof lines of Park Avenue's midrise buildings acted like powerful orthogonals, leading irresistibly to the focal New York Central Building.

 

Although the streetscape was radically altered in the 1950s and 1960s, convincing elements of this once truly imperial vista survive in the wealth of scrolls, fasces, flags and military insignia which decorate the New York Central Building's (recently illuminated) triumphal arch in (now gilded) bas-relief.

 

Most compelling is the heroic clock which Edward McCartan framed with reposing gods four times life size. The sculptural composition provides the dramatic focus of the 46th Street facade, just as the entire building does for all of Park Avenue.

 

The Tower

 

In erecting the tower, a conspicuous symbol of the railroad's might, New York Central officials made proud comparisons with the Washington Monument, noting with considerable pleasure that their building was 5-6 feet taller.

 

They might also have compared it to the obelisks of baroque Rome which, planted in open piazzas and visible from afar, served as exclamatory urban focuses.

 

At 567 feet the New York Central Building was tall enough to control Park Avenue's 140 foot width, but sufficiently slender to allow the sky to slide by on either side of its shaft — just as it permitted the boulevard's street traffic to flow through its base.

 

The building functioned as a bridge, not a barrier. And while this wonderfully urbane spatial flow was fatally smothered in 1963 when the much taller and wider Pan Am Building stole the sky the New York Central maintains a dignity and monumentality independent of size. For this, a good deal of credit belongs to its exuberant cupola-crowned roof, glistening by day with gold leaf, and illuminated like a fiery constellation by night.

 

The New York Central first appeared on the evening skyline on January 21, 1929. Batteries of flood lights illuminated all four sides of its tower "from base to top." Most of the building's 100,000 candlepower lights, however, accentuated the intricately detailed roof, maximizing the reflective glow of its gold and copper sheathing (nearly 300,000 pounds of which were applied).

 

The building's crowning feature, a marvellously ornate cupola, was literally designed as a beacon. Blazing with "32-marine-type fixtures," it housed a great glass ball (a 6,000 watt lantern) which, "amplified and "projected by a special system of reflectors," had the force of a coastal lighthouse.

 

Eight supplementary projectors threw flame-tinted light through the cupola's oval openings, additional "flaming torches" burning on each corner of the tower's octagonal roof. To the distinct pleasure of New York Central's officials, their building had made a conspicuous mark on the land, visible "for miles up Park Avenue, and also from lower Manhattan, New Jersey and Brooklyn.

 

Recent Like other-skyscrapers in New York, "the New York Central Building History was blacked-out during the war, only to suffer a dark future with the failing finances, and finally the bankruptcy, of the New York Central Railroad. The structure was sold in the late 1950s / at which point it was rechristened the "New York General Building" — an economic change of name which required only two letters to be re-cut on the cornice.

 

Real estate magnate Harry Helmsley purchased the building in 1977 and conferred on it his name. In the following year, an extensive renovation program was undertaken, restoring and refurbishing the building from top to bottom, interior and out.

 

And if the gilding program was somewhat too ambitiously executed, it is to the great credit of the new owner that the New. York Central Building, now the Helmsley Building, has once again become' a vibrant component of New York's street and skyline.

 

- From the 1987 NYCLPC Landmark Designation Report