View allAll Photos Tagged Recognizing
Meet Edison
A hermit crab using a incandescent light bulb screw end as a protective home. I find many light bulbs washed ashore. This is a good example of adaptive behavior. I found five crabs with beach trash homes tonight.
* All Coenobita species in Okinawa are recognized as a Living Natural Monument.
Photography by Shawn M Miller
Crabs with beach trash homes by Shawn Miller
TEDX OIST talk on this subject by Shawn Miller www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6FWCyVQcNA
Read more about this project
okinawanaturephotography.com/crabs-with-beach-trash-homes...
My series has been featured on-
abcnews.go.com/US/national-geographic-launches-effort-red...
www.businessinsider.com/hermit-crabs-using-trash-as-homes...www.nationalgeographic.nl/galerij/10x-krabben-in-huisjes-...
petapixel.com/2016/08/30/photos-hermit-crabs-beach-trash-...
www.atlasobscura.com/articles/the-trash-homes-of-hermit-c...
www.news.com.au/technology/science/animals/crabs-are-reso...
www.thedodo.com/hermit-crabs-trash-shells-2001062931.html
www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/oceans-so-polluted-crabs...
www.plethorist.com/crabs-adapt-and-uses-plastic-caps-as-h...
www.dailytelegraph.com.au/technology/science/crabs-living...
www.hypedojo.com/you-wont-believe-what-these-hermit-crabs...
The Mallard, or Wild duck (Anas platyrhynchos[1]), probably the best-known and most recognizable of all ducks, is a dabbling duck which breeds throughout the temperate and sub-tropical Americas, Europe, Asia, New Zealand (where it is currently the most common duck species), and Australia.
The male birds have a bright green head, while the female's is light brown. The Mallard lives in wetlands, eats water plants, and is gregarious. It is also migratory. The Mallard is the ancestor of all domestic ducks, and can interbreed with other species of genus Anas.[2] This interbreeding is causing rarer species of ducks to become genetically diluted.
The Mallard is 56–65 centimetres (22–26 in) long, has a wingspan of 81–98 centimetres (32–39 in), and weighs 0.9–1.2 kilograms (32–42 oz). The breeding male is unmistakable, with a bright green head, black rear end and a yellowish orange (can also contain some red) bill tipped with black (as opposed to the dark brown bill in females), and is also nature's most feared duck. The female Mallard is light brown, like most female dabbling ducks. However, both the female and male Mallards have distinct purple speculum edged with white, prominent in flight or at rest (though temporarily shed during the annual summer moult). In non-breeding (eclipse) plumage the drake becomes drab, looking more like the female, but still distinguishable by its yellow bill and reddish breast.
In captivity, domestic ducks come in wild-type plumages, white, and other colours. Most of these colour variants are also known in domestic Mallards not bred as livestock, but kept as pets, aviary birds, etc., where they are rare but increasing in availability.
A noisy species, the male has a nasal call, the female has a "quack" stereotypically associated with ducks.[3]
The Mallard is a rare example of both Allen's Rule and Bergmann's Rule in birds. Bergmann's Rule, which states that polar forms tend to be larger than related ones from warmer climates, has numerous examples in birds. Allen's Rule says that appendages like ears tend to be smaller in polar forms to minimize heat loss, and larger in tropical and desert equivalents to facilitate heat diffusion, and that the polar taxa are stockier overall. Examples of this rule in birds are rare, as they lack external ears. However, the bill of ducks is very well supplied with blood vessels and is vulnerable to cold.
{7:20 P.M.}
Though his face is noticeably decaying, I recognize him. It all makes sense now. All this time I had no clue but now that I know. Now that I know who is underneath the mask it all clicks. It couldn’t be anyone other than him. He knew all of this. The only question is…
”Why?” I ask.
”Isn’t it obvious. You forgot about me. You moved on with Linda. We were so close and it took you less than a month to stop coming to see me. Less than a month to move on and forget. Did you even care? Did anything we do together even matter to you? All those memories for not?” His words pierced my heart. It’s true. I did forget to soon…
”But that still doesn’t give you reason to take Linda from me.”
”Does it not? She took your attention away from me.”
”Did you really expect me to waste my entire life sulking over your death?”
”The least you could do for not fighting harder to save mine.”
”I tried everything I possibly could.”
”Apparently you didn’t try hard enough or I wouldn’t have joined with the negative speed force.”
”How do y…”
”Know about the negative speed force? I’ve been here for a lot longer than you think, Wally. For every second you live out here I live ten more. All that time I spent fighting to stay alive. I would get glimpses of hope in time when you perhaps weren’t using your powers. I thought back to something. The Reverse Flash used powers that were opposite of yours. A negative speed force. Something I learned was that I would grow stronger every second you weren’t using your powers. That’s how I became faster than you.”
”Well all that to fail. You aren’t faster than me, Hunter.”
”That’s where you’re wrong. I didn’t really want to kill Linda, though as tempting as it was when I was so far ahead of you, I didn’t. No, truly the greatest thing to do in retaliation was to kill you.”
”No.”
”So, I slowed down and let you catch up to me.”
”No.”
”I let you knock me down.”
”N-no.”
”I allowed you to feel safe as you took my weapon from you.”
”No.”
”I let you feel hope.” In the matter of an instant, Hunter is up and grabs me by the throat. He lifts me into the air and reels back with his scythe. ”Just so I could rip it from you.”
“No!”
(BLAM! BLAM!)
The sound of bullets ejecting from the barrel of a gun fill the air. Hunter turns back to see the two bullets getting ever closer to the pair of us.
“Or…” Hunter lowers me to the ground and stands me in front of the bullets. ”Have your own girlfriend kill you. Sweet, sweet revenge.”
The bullets get closer and closer to Hunter and I. He holds me so I can’t move. I need to think fast.
”Good-bye, Wally…”
The Eurasian blue tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) is a small passerine bird in the tit family, Paridae. It is easily recognizable by its blue and yellow plumage and small size.
Eurasian blue tits, usually resident and non-migratory birds, are widespread and a common resident breeder throughout temperate and subarctic Europe and western Asia in deciduous or mixed woodlands with a high proportion of oak. They usually nest in tree holes, although they easily adapt to nest boxes where necessary. Their main rival for nests and in the search for food is the larger and more common great tit.
The Eurasian blue tit prefers insects and spiders for its diet. Outside the breeding season, they also eat seeds and other vegetable-based foods. The birds are famed for their skill, as they can cling to the outermost branches and hang upside down when looking for food.
The Eurasian blue tit is usually 12 cm (4.7 in), long with a wingspan of 18 cm (7.1 in) for both sexes, and weighs about 11 g (0.39 oz). A typical Eurasian blue tit has an azure-blue crown and dark blue line passing through the eye, and encircling the white cheeks to the chin, giving the bird a very distinctive appearance. The forehead and a bar on the wing are white. The nape, wings and tail are blue and the back is yellowish green. The underparts is mostly sulphur-yellow with a dark line down the abdomen—the yellowness is indicative of the number of yellowy-green caterpillars eaten, due to high levels of carotene pigments in the diet. The bill is black, the legs bluish grey, and the irides dark brown. The sexes are similar, but under ultraviolet light, males have a brighter blue crown. Young blue tits are noticeably more yellow.
There are currently around 20–44 million pairs in Europe.
The Eurasian blue tit and the related hybrids are considered native species in areas of the European continent with a mainly temperate or Mediterranean climate, and in parts of the Middle East. These areas include Ireland, the United Kingdom and most of the European Union and EFTA (except Malta, where they are considered vagrant, and Iceland, where they are absent), plus: Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, Libya, the Republic of Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Morocco, Russia, San Marino, Serbia, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, Vatican City and Ukraine.
In Great Britain the Eurasian blue tit is typically found in deciduous woodland, parks, gardens and even in the center of towns.
Eurasian blue and great tits form mixed winter flocks, and the former are perhaps the better gymnasts in the slender twigs. A Eurasian blue tit will often ascend a trunk in short jerky hops, imitating a treecreeper. As a rule the bird roosts in ivy or evergreens, but in harsh winters will nest wherever there is a suitable small hole, be it in a tree or nesting box. They are very agile and can hang from almost anywhere.
This is a common and popular European garden bird, due to its perky acrobatic performances when feeding on nuts or suet. It swings beneath the holder, calling "tee, tee, tee" or a scolding "churr".
The Eurasian blue tit will nest in any suitable hole in a tree, wall, or stump, or an artificial nest box, often competing with house sparrows or great tits for the site. Few birds more readily accept the shelter of a nesting box; the same hole is returned to year after year, and when one pair dies another takes possession. It is estimated by the RSPB that there are 3,535,000 breeding pairs in the UK.
The Eurasian blue tit is a valuable destroyer of pests, though it is fond of young buds of various trees, especially when insect prey is scarce, and may pull them to bits in the hope of finding insects. It is a well-known predator of many Lepidoptera species including the Wood Tiger moth. No species, however, destroys more coccids and aphids, the worst foes of many plants. It takes leaf miner grubs and green tortrix moths (Tortricidae). Seeds are eaten, as with all this family, and blue tits in British urban areas have evolved the ability to digest milk and cream.
Voice
Eurasian blue tits are able to culturally transmit learning to other tit species. An example of this, dating from the 1920s, is the ability to open milk bottles with foil tops, to get at the cream underneath. Such behaviour has been suppressed recently by the gradual change of human dietary habits (low-fat or skimmed milk instead of full-fat), and the way of getting them (from a supermarket in plastic containers with hard plastic lids, instead of the milkman). In addition, the instinct to strip bark from trees in search of insects has developed into a tendency to peel building materials such as thatch, wallpaper, stucco and window putty.
For more information, please visit en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurasian_blue_tit
Internationally recognized composer Vangelis ( Pappapanathassiou ) stated in an interview on Al Jezeera News that he felt one of the most significant problems with modern culture was the loss of beauty. Everything is practical, functional with all possibilities of the enobling and uplifting power of beauty removed to facilitate so-called realistic practicalities. it is this perverted notion of beauty as impractical that I also wish to challenge.
Living in the city with the highest amount of ongoing construction in the world, even more than Qatar or Dubai, Toronto is being stuffed to the gills with ubiquitous 'glass box' condo towers. It's almost impossible to tell the architects apart, save for just a few. With such a minimal amount of consideration being given to beauty, never mind if the point tower craze fits into the neighbourhoods that are largely being threatened with destruction or not, a lot of this development is impressive in scale but most of it lacks soul and character.
Being deeply involved in several development projects in the city as a citizen-respondent on working groups etc, I spend a lot of time working to varying degrees of success with developers, planners and architects. It amazes me how little human considerations have any priority.
This series of images proposes another look at architecture with beauty and enoblement at the forefront of considerations. Gothic cathedrals, South Indian gopurams, Egyptian, Chinese and Mayan pyramids and even the Totems of North American indigenous peoples were all designed to facilitate and evoke awe and wonder.
My series asks, "what if we were to marry our technology and scientific bravura to an over-riding sensibility of beauty and inspiration"? "What if we were to advance enough, as cultures, and clearly and emphatically emphasized the role of beauty and inspiration as being fundamentally important to the well-being and uplifting of our peoples?"
These window or ceiling fantasies are offered as prospects for architectures of wonder.
View Large on Black !
The recognizable profile of the Pelican Nebula soars nearly 2,000 light-years away in the high flying constellation Cygnus, the Swan. Also known as IC 5070, this interstellar cloud of gas and dust is appropriately found just off the "east coast" of the North America Nebula (NGC 7000), another surprisingly familiar looking emission nebula in Cygnus. Both Pelican and North America nebulae are part of the same large and complex star forming region, almost as nearby as the better-known Orion Nebula. From our vantage point, dark dust clouds (upper left) help define the Pelican's eye and long bill, while a bright front of ionized gas suggests the curved shape of the head and neck. This striking synthesized color view utilizes narrowband image data recording the emission of hydrogen and oxygen atoms in the cosmic cloud. The scene spans some 30 light-years at the estimated distance of the Pelican Nebula. via NASA
The universal beautiful Rose. Its many colors and shades are always the hit of the flower and garden show. Thanks for visiting my photo stream and leaving your generous comments. Gratitude and Kindness are also “Recognizable In Any Garden In Any Country.”
The Supermarine Spitfire is probably one of the most recognizable and iconic aircraft in history, with a total production number of 20 351. As I have always been fond of it, I decided to give it a try, even though it is my very first propeller aircraft model.
About the aircraft
The history of the Spitfire started in 1934, with the first flight of the famous K5054 prototype taking place on 5th March 1936. After the initial delays, the first Spitfire Mk. Is started to reach the operational units in 1938, and since then the type became a stronghold of RAF fighter forces, with a number of substantial improvements being introduced over the whole duration of WWII. Most of these improvements were directly correlated with the development of another icon, the Rolls-Royce Merlin engine. Consequently, 3 generations of Spitfires are commonly recognized: early Merlins (Merlins with a single-stage supercharger, Spitfires Mk. I, II, III, V, VI, and PR XIII), late Merlins (60 and 70 series Merlins with a two-stage supercharger, Spitfires Mk. VII – IX, PR X, PR XI, and Mk. XVI), and the last generation utilizing more powerful and heavier Rolls-Royce Griffon (Mk. IV, XII, XIV, XVIII, PR XIX, XX, 21-24). Among all those Marks, the Mk. IX and XVI were by far the most numerous, and their introduction was a major step in RAF’s capabilities. The idea for Mk. IX came out of necessity, as after the introduction of Focke-Wulf Fw 190 in late 1941 it became obvious that the then-standard Spitfire Mk. V was no match for the newest Luftwaffe addition. As the two-stage Merlin 61 became available, the Supermarine proposed to address this issue with an interim Mk. IX variant, which was basically Mk. V airframe fitted with the new engine. At the beginning, it was planned as just a short-term fix, with the revised Mk. VIII being the “ultimate” late-Merlin variant. However, the Mk. IX proved to be so successful that there was no point in disturbing its production lines, and it remained in production until the end of the war with constant upgrades being added (e.g. Merlin 66 engine). An interesting twist in the history of the Mk. IX is the Mk. XVI variant, which even though gained a new Mark number, differed only by the fact that instead of the British-built Merlin 66, its US licensed-built Packard Merlin 266 variant was utilized.
About the building process
The Spitfire is my very first propeller-driven aircraft, and it was basically an accident that I even started it. I was playing with some trans-clear canopy solutions and after one of the attempts I thought “Well, this looks like a Spitfire canopy”. As it turned out, it was perfectly scaled to my favorite 1:33 scale, so I had no choice but to continue. Still, the idea to make a WWII fighter was not new to me, as for years I’ve been a great fan of a number of different designs by other builders, so I’ve always wanted to have one for myself. As the Spitfire is an extremely common topic, it is impossible to mention all my inspirations. Still, by far the most prominent one was the Spitfire Mk. IX by Ed Diment, which even utilizes the same scale as mine. Another big inspiration was a much bigger Spitfire Mk. I by Lennart Cort. In fact, I had a very hard time deciding on the scale, as his 1:18 Spitfire looks so amazing it gave me second thoughts. Other, smaller designs, which were extremely useful for me, were the Spits by Dierett89, Sydag, BuildArmy, and picardbricks. As I mentioned before, the first part I got together was the canopy, followed by the engine section. Then, I got stuck a bit with the wings, as I really wanted to include the dihedral on them. Finally, I was able to slightly minimize the solution proposed by Nick Goodwin, which fitted nicely with the rest of the plane. The shape of the wings was also a bit painful to get right, but as I decided to go for the “clipped” wings, I didn’t have to make them fully elliptical, which made it much easier. The rest of the fuselage was quite easy. A big challenge overall was the very disappointing variety of dark green pieces, which I had to compensate for with the extensive amount of stickers. Here, the solution proposed by Maks in his Su-24
turned out to be very handy – I just had to use an awful lot of stickers from 76907 Lotus Evija set. I must say that the results look surprisingly good, as the colors match perfectly.
About the model
The model represents a Supermarine Spitfire LF. Mk.XVIe in a 1/33 scale. The camouflage is based on the aircraft currently stored in the Polish Aviation Museum in Kraków. It was produced in 1944 and served in the 421 Squadron of the Canadian Air Force (RCAF). In 1956 it was moved to the RAF museum in Hendon, having a short episode in the 1967 Battle of Britain film. Since 1977 it has been in the possession of the Polish Aviation Museum, where currently it is presented in the camouflage of the Polish 308 Squadron as TB995 ZF-O. The original aircraft of this designation was delivered to 308 Sqn. on 15th March of 1945, and the Squadron was mainly involved in the anti-V1 and V2 operations. As the Mk. XVI was introduced in 1944, there are so misconceptions about its configuration. Similarly to what happened to P-51 Mustang, the late Spitfire variants were fitted with the teardrop “bubble” canopy. Even though it was used in a number of different Marks, including Mk. IX, it is most commonly associated with Mk. XVI, as due to the shorter production, a much higher percentage of them received this upgrade. Still, the “razorback” Mk. XVIs were also quite common, being virtually indistinguishable from the standard Mk. IXs, which is the case for the TB995 ZF-O. As the model is significantly smaller than my usual jets, I wasn’t able to include as many working features as usual. Still, it has movable flaps, a working tail, and working landing gear.
I write this tentatively because I know myself too well and recognize that if I start something like this again, I wont let myself leave it unfinished.
I have decided to start another 365 project.
With that said, the series may differ slightly from my last one and I may include photos that simply document the day instead of a self portrait. This may be less conceptual.
I was remembering how I felt throughout the project I completed several years ago and how motivated it made me. I had no idea the simple act of having to take a picture each day for one year, of fully committing myself to a project, would influence other areas of my life. I love that I can look through that series and remember all I went through. I also grew tremendously in skill level and I'd like to grow even further.
As I did when I started the first, I thought about where I will be If I complete this project-I will be a second semester senior in college at the end. That thought is terrifying but all the more reason to give this a shot. Last time I was about to graduate highschool; it was a massive undertaking and now I am once again at a huge stepping stone in my life as I grow closer to the end of my college career. I want to try and capture that process.
On another note, know that I am in a very different place than I was when I last did this. I have grown up in a lot of ways and fallen back in others but I do know that I have become less "enchanted" with the internet world than I once was. That's part of the reason why I chose not to start another 365 project until now-I was simply worn out from spending so much time online as silly as that sounds but it was my life.
Now on the other hand, I have been touched by so many people who follow my work. The amount of stories I have read from people who have been influenced by my photos is priceless. I started taking photos because I wanted to relate to people and that bit hasn't changed. I want to do this as much for me as for those who gain something/anything from my photos. I want to motivate, touch, connect with, help, and relate to as many people as I can and if it means starting another journey like this then so be it.
So here's to an effort.
Here's to project 365 year 2.
Woo!!
Like always: listen.
“Clearly recognizing what is happening inside us, and regarding what we see with an open, kind and loving heart, is what I call Radical Acceptance. If we are holding back from any part of our experience, if our heart shuts out any part of who we are and what we feel, we are fueling the fears and feelings of separation that sustain the trance of unworthiness. Radical Acceptance directly dismantles the very foundations of this trance.”
Check out my blog to keep updated:
reachingthesould.blogspot.com.es/2013/12/radical-acceptan...
Cicadas are insects belonging to the family Cicadidae in the order Hemiptera. Cicadas are recognizable by their large size (body length of usually about 1 inch in length or longer) and clear wings held rooflike over the abdomen. Most cicadas are strong fliers that spend their time high in the trees, so they are rarely seen or captured. Their life cycles are long, usually involving multiple years spent underground as juveniles, followed by a brief (roughly 2 - 6 weeks) adult life above ground.
Common habitats for Tibicen canicularis are mixed and deciduous woods in Canada and the eastern United States. Geographic range includes the northern United States and southern Canada, east of the Rocky Mountains.
When mature Tibicen canicularis is recognizable by being mostly black with brown or green markings on its body. The body size is typically 1 - 1.3 inches (27-33 mm) long and the wingspan can reach 3.22 inches (82 mm). The wings are interlaced with green veins which are especially noticeable near the base. While nymphs of the species commonly feed on pine juice and the roots of pine and oak, the adults are not known to eat at all.
As adults, males produce a loud species-specific mate-attracting song using specialized sound-producing organs called tymbals. These sounds are among the loudest produced by any insects. In some species, the male calling song attracts both males and females to mating aggregations, while in other species males remain dispersed. Female cicadas do not have tymbals, but in some species the females produce clicking or snapping sounds with their wings.
Their song is often described as being a loud, high-pitched whine much like a power saw. It fades within 10 - 20 seconds, and starts again after a few seconds of silence. From my observation Tibicen canicularis tends to be the most vocal mid to late morning and then again late afternoon. It's common not to hear them during mid-day. At the peak of the season in late summer they can almost be deafening. To hear the sound of these cicadas, which was taped here in Indiana, please click on the below link...
www.cogsci.indiana.edu/farg/harry/bio/zoo/dogday.htm
After mating, females lay eggs in bark or twigs; the eggs hatch later in the season and the new nymphs burrow underground and begin feeding on roots. Tibicen canicularis spends most of it's life cycle underground as nymphs feeding on root juice. Typically 2 - 3 years. When it comes time to emerge and molt into an adult it uses its strong front legs for digging to the surface. Unlike periodical cicadas, whose swarms occur at 13 or 17 year intervals, Tibicen species can be seen every year, hence their other nickname "Annual Cicadas".
ISO800, aperture f/10, exposure .008 seconds (1/100) focal length 300mm
This beautiful mangrove tree is easily recognized by its large leaves, delicate white flowers and guava-like fruit that hang in long racemes.
Barringtonia racemosa has a straight, unbranched stem that leads to a rounded crown and is usually 4-8 m tall, but occasionally reaches 15 m. The bark is greyish brown to pink with white blotches and raised dots and lines. The branches are marked with leaf scars.
The leaves are alternate and carried in clusters at the ends of branches, are 180-320 x 55-145 mm, with petioles 5-12 mm long. The midribs are prominent on the lower side of the leaf and the branching veins are visible on both sides.
The flowers are produced on hanging racemes up to 1 m long. The buds are pinkish red and split open to bring forth masses of delicate stamens in white sprays up to 35 mm wide, which are often tinged with pink. The flowers give off a pungent, putrid yet faintly sweet odor in the morning. The fruit are quadrangular, 65 x 40 mm. Each fruit contains a single seed surrounded by spongy, fibrous flesh that provides the buoyancy that allows the fruit to be carried off with the tide.
Barringtonia racemosa is mainly a coastal species that thrives under very humid, moist conditions. It is common along tropical and subtropical coasts in the Indian Ocean, starting at the east coast of South Africa. It is also common in Mozambique, Madagascar, India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, southern China, northern Australia, the Ryukyu Islands of Japan and a number of Polynesian islands. It does grow well under dry conditions but it cannot tolerate even mild frost.
Barringtonia racemosa can tolerate salt water and therefore thrives under coastal and estaurine conditions. It also grows well under dry conditions where frost does not occur. The chief dispersal agent for the buoyant seeds is the tide. Although there are no records of animals eating the fruit, the presence of the trees up to 1 000 m above sea level points to an as yet unknown animal as a dispersal agent. It flowers twice a year: in spring and again from January to April. The strong scent produced by the flowers at night attract moths and nectar-feeding bats. After the flowers (petals and stamens) are shed, the inflorescences are often crowded with ants that are attracted to the nectar. It is the larval food plant for the butterfly Coeliades keithloa.
The seeds, bark, wood and roots contain the poison saponin and is used to stun fish. The bark, which also has a high tannin content, is frequently used in powdered form for this purpose. Extracts from the plant are effective insectides and are also used medicinally in the East; in South Africa the Zulus use the fruit to treat malaria. In Bengal the seeds are used to poison people and coconut is said to be the antidote. The young leaves are edible and the bark is often used for cordage.
Barringtonia racemosa grows rapidly from the seed or cuttings that are pushed into the ground. The typical substrate on which it grows is the black mud on the banks of the estuaries on South Africa 's east coast.
Split the hard outer covering of the fruit to expose the seed which is about the size of a small chicken egg. Usually a large proportion of the fruits are seedless. Place the seed in a 1:1 mixture of sand and compost kept in a warm, well-ventilated area receiving a lot of light. The seeds generally germinate in 10 to 14 days, depending upon the heat. The seedlings can be planted out into large containers or into the open ground in their second season of growth.
The very large, spear-shaped leaves provide plenty of shade and any plants grown in close proximity to the tree should be shade plants that can tolerate very moist soils. It is well suited for small gardens because the horizontal branching of B. racemosa makes the canopy easy to prune to the required size. B. racemosa is deciduous, dropping its leaves for a short time in early summer before the first rains on the east coast of KwaZulu-Natal.
Barrington racemosa, Yakoroo, Lecythidaceae
Common names : powderpuff tree (Eng.); poeierkwasboom (Afr.); iBhoqo (Zulu)
Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, Miami FL
Keen observer will recognize the typical throttle of an RS-18 to which multiple alterations to the control stand that were made though time, but the Hand sanitizer dispenser leave no doubt in which era this locomotive is operating.
A "anonymous" Chicago Street Artist-
who's work is highly recognizable, and spread
throughout Chicago's North and N.W. Sides.
CLS - must "work" in the middle of the night-
when no one's really payin' attention
to a person with a duffel bag full of scrap wood-
and a battery-powered Nail-Gun.
"The Belair Mansion, located in the historic Collington area and in Bowie, Maryland, United States, built in c. 1745, is the Georgian style plantation house of Provincial Governor of Maryland, Samuel Ogle. Later home to another Maryland governor, the mansion is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Belair is recognized as the only great colonial estate where breeding of race horses was conducted over the course of three centuries. The estate significantly influenced the development of thoroughbred horse racing in the new world, having one of only two stables to raise two Triple Crown champions. The mansion and its nearby stables both serve as museums, operated by the City of Bowie." - info from Wikipedia.
The fall of 2022 I did my 3rd major cycling tour. I began my adventure in Montreal, Canada and finished in Savannah, GA. This tour took me through the oldest parts of Quebec and the 13 original US states. During this adventure I cycled 7,126 km over the course of 2.5 months and took more than 68,000 photos. As with my previous tours, a major focus was to photograph historic architecture.
Now on Instagram.
I put off building a recognizer for a long time. It seems like the easiest thing in Tron to make out of Lego bricks, because of all the blocky shapes, but the two main issues are the colored edges, and the empty space between each section.
I experimented with red highlights (you can see a couple examples in the tank) but didn't work them into this build.
The sections are all held together by a system of recessed one-by plates (studs sideways) leaving roughly a one-stud gap between each section. This makes it much stronger than just using some transparent bricks; you can fly the whole thing around the room without any risk of pieces falling off. The legs cannot (yet) move to the center 'attack' position!
I shot this pic upside down on a table, then flipped the image. Couldn't quite get rid of all the shadows with the lights I had available, so had to photoshop them out.
Version 1.1 (with thinner chest piece and covered feet!):
www.flickr.com/photos/legotron/6921745877
Straight on shot so you can see the recessed supports:
Easily recognizable, the pheasant is a common sight in the countryside and can be found all over the great Britain. This non native bird was introduced by the Romans over a thousand years ago so there is an argument that it is now part of the fabric of our country. The large male game bird has brown and black markings on their body , with green and red face markings. The female is slightly smaller and less colourful with mottled pale brown markings. They usually prefer hedgerows and the fringes of woodlands.
Read more at www.wildonline.blog
Easily recognizable, the pheasant is a common sight in the countryside and can be found all over the great Britain. This non native bird was introduced by the Romans over a thousand years ago so there is an argument that it is now part of the fabric of our country. The large male game bird has brown and black markings on their body , with green and red face markings. The female is slightly smaller and less colourful with mottled pale brown markings. They usually prefer hedgerows and the fringes of woodlands.
Read more at www.wildonline.blog
I recognize the truck on the top, going eastbound on the Marquam Bridge over the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon. The smaller truck, which I don't recognize, looks like some kind of Asian foods Company. Can someone ID it for sure? It is going westbound on the Marquam Bridge in Portland. It may end up in the City of Portland somewhere or perhaps headed south to other places in Oregon.
WinCo is pretty obvious, but I can't quite read the bottom truck's name on the load. I'm thinking maybe an Asian Food company, but I could use some better educated ideas.
This is the Marquam Bridge (pronounced Marcum with no Q or QW sound). It crosses the Willamette River in Portland, Multnomah County, Oregon USA. Oh, and Willamette is pronounced with the accent on the middle syllable rhyming with Dam or Damn as you prefer, but not with the accent on the last syllable, in any way, shape or form.
Oh, and did you know that WinCo does not stand for Win or Winning Company, but for Washington, Idaho, Nevada, California and Oregon. I read the other day that they are thinking of adding another State, but I don't recall which one, only that I thought it wouldn't fit in very well in the scheme of the present initials. LOL I was kind of curious where they might place it.
So by reading this far, you not only get 2 Big Trucks, a cool bridge, some geography and spelling and pronunciation advice, and some proof that I am going out of my stark-raving mind.
.
(DSCN8017WinCoTopQbottomBIGaaCloudsShrpFlickr040722)
The Leaning Tower, Cathedral and Baptistery of Pisa - the most recognizable monuments of Pisa, and one of the famouns landmarks.
Pisa Cathedral - a medieval Roman Catholic cathedral dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, in the Piazza dei Miracoli.
Pisa Baptistery - a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical building. It became the second building, in chronological order, in the Piazza dei Miracoli, near the Duomo di Pisa and the cathedral's free-standing campanile, the famous Leaning Tower of Pisa.
Leaning Tower of Pisa - the campanile, or freestanding bell tower, of the cathedral, known worldwide for its unintended tilt.
Universally recognized as one of the ugliest fighting vehicles in Europe and perhaps the world at large, the Uskok was designed to take a beating and deliver one too. Loaded down with reactive armor, standard applique, hard-kill APS devices, integrated soft-kill APS devices, as well as a multitude of other defensive features, the -84 is capable of delivering its internal payload of usually six dismounts to any combat scenario whilst additionally protecting its crew of three (sometimes four depending on the necessity for a combat network officer in large-scale maneuvers). And just by looking at the AFV, one can see that it packs a hefty wallop in the way of firepower. Although the M-84 has yet to see combat due to the intervention of coalition forces in the Balkans, it is believed to be one of the most capable heavy IFVs to date given its unprecedented firepower, armor, and agility (the latter deriving from the fact it is built on a modified version of the Klepht chassis with a ramped up powerhouse).
I've been feeling a bit antsy these past few days, so I figured I'd complete a project that's been sitting around on my PC for awhile now and post it before my flight out to the Old World. Naturally it's a horrendous lumpy thing, but so is the source material--the recently unveiled Russian T-15. I'll see about taking photos of that MRAP, too.
A young country, it's first recognized citizen was Mackenzie King in 1947. He served as Prime Minister for 22 years.
The sand stone building in front of the Weston hotel is the Senate building. Just this side of the Senate and lower is the start of the Rideau Canal Skateway.
I see something has been spilled, applied to my province's slice of the pie. Recently our premier decided to part or make it clear she would rather have her own agenda when it comes to dealing with another countries threats. Or maybe just an older guy with a bph problem. I'd rather it wasn't in the photo but...it deserves a mention.
I wonder if we should have built the pipeline east in retrospect instead of eastern Canada having to use U.S. and Saudi Arabian oil, another friend.
And promptly the premier of Quebec shuts this idea down, doesn't want a pipeline running through his province.... It seems to me both provinces slices should have an equally telling stain.
Now Freeland is getting trashed by the Chinese in her bid for liberal leader. I'm wondering if part of the previous free trade act included joint tariffs on the Chinese. Why would they want her back. Canada shouldn't be controlled in foreign policy if this is the case. It might be better for Canada if we were as good allies with China as we are with the U.S.
March 4th tariffs targeting our country begin. Premier Smith said we, Alberta would stand with other provinces and the federal government.
March 10th, Danielle is going to Florida on the province's dollar to talk at an event where the organizer thought annexing our country was just a matter of time. It's getting hard to believe she isn't the fox in the hen house.
ca.yahoo.com/finance/news/despicable-ndp-calls-smith-canc...
I have to say the 8 faves this photo received was before writing most of this
Bodie is a ghost town in the Bodie Hills east of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in Mono County, California, United States. It is about 75 miles (121 km) southeast of Lake Tahoe, and 12 mi (19 km) east-southeast of Bridgeport, at an elevation of 8,379 feet (2554 m). Bodie became a boom town in 1876 (146 years ago) after the discovery of a profitable line of gold; by 1879 it had a population of 7,000–10,000.
The town went into decline in the subsequent decades and came to be described as a ghost town by 1915 (107 years ago). The U.S. Department of the Interior recognizes the designated Bodie Historic District as a National Historic Landmark.
Also registered as a California Historical Landmark, the ghost town officially was established as Bodie State Historic Park in 1962. It receives about 200,000 visitors yearly. Bodie State Historic Park is partly supported by the Bodie Foundation.
Bodie began as a mining camp of little note following the discovery of gold in 1859 by a group of prospectors, including W. S. Bodey. Bodey died in a blizzard the following November while making a supply trip to Monoville (near present-day Mono City), never getting to see the rise of the town that was named after him. According to area pioneer Judge J. G. McClinton, the district's name was changed from "Bodey," "Body," and a few other phonetic variations, to "Bodie," after a painter in the nearby boomtown of Aurora, lettered a sign "Bodie Stables".
Gold discovered at Bodie coincided with the discovery of silver at nearby Aurora (thought to be in California, later found to be Nevada), and the distant Comstock Lode beneath Virginia City, Nevada. But while these two towns boomed, interest in Bodie remained lackluster. By 1868 only two companies had built stamp mills at Bodie, and both had failed.
In 1876, the Standard Company discovered a profitable deposit of gold-bearing ore, which transformed Bodie from an isolated mining camp comprising a few prospectors and company employees to a Wild West boomtown. Rich discoveries in the adjacent Bodie Mine during 1878 attracted even more hopeful people. By 1879, Bodie had a population of approximately 7,000–10,000 people and around 2,000 buildings. One legend says that in 1880, Bodie was California's second or third largest city. but the U.S. Census of that year disproves this. Over the years 1860-1941 Bodie's mines produced gold and silver valued at an estimated US$34 million (in 1986 dollars, or $85 million in 2021).
Bodie boomed from late 1877 through mid– to late 1880. The first newspaper, The Standard Pioneer Journal of Mono County, published its first edition on October 10, 1877. Starting as a weekly, it soon expanded publication to three times a week. It was also during this time that a telegraph line was built which connected Bodie with Bridgeport and Genoa, Nevada. California and Nevada newspapers predicted Bodie would become the next Comstock Lode. Men from both states were lured to Bodie by the prospect of another bonanza.
Gold bullion from the town's nine stamp mills was shipped to Carson City, Nevada, by way of Aurora, Wellington and Gardnerville. Most shipments were accompanied by armed guards. After the bullion reached Carson City, it was delivered to the mint there, or sent by rail to the mint in San Francisco.
As a bustling gold mining center, Bodie had the amenities of larger towns, including a Wells Fargo Bank, four volunteer fire companies, a brass band, railroad, miners' and mechanics' union, several daily newspapers, and a jail. At its peak, 65 saloons lined Main Street, which was a mile long. Murders, shootouts, barroom brawls, and stagecoach holdups were regular occurrences.
As with other remote mining towns, Bodie had a popular, though clandestine, red light district on the north end of town. There is an unsubstantiated story of Rosa May, a prostitute who, in the style of Florence Nightingale, came to the aid of the town menfolk when a serious epidemic struck the town at the height of its boom. She is credited with giving life-saving care to many, but after she died, was buried outside the cemetery fence.
Bodie had a Chinatown, the main street of which ran at a right angle to Bodie's Main Street. At one point it had several hundred Chinese residents and a Taoist temple. Opium dens were plentiful in this area.
Bodie also had a cemetery on the outskirts of town and a nearby mortuary. It is the only building in the town built of red brick three courses thick, most likely for insulation to keep the air temperature steady during the cold winters and hot summers. The cemetery includes a Miners Union section, and a cenotaph erected to honor President James A. Garfield. The Bodie Boot Hill was located outside of the official city cemetery.
On Main Street stands the Miners Union Hall, which was the meeting place for labor unions. It also served as an entertainment center that hosted dances, concerts, plays, and school recitals. It now serves as a museum.
The first signs of decline appeared in 1880 and became obvious toward the end of the year. Promising mining booms in Butte, Montana; Tombstone, Arizona; and Utah lured men away from Bodie. The get-rich-quick, single miners who came to the town in the 1870s moved on to these other booms, and Bodie developed into a family-oriented community. In 1882 residents built the Methodist Church (which still stands) and the Roman Catholic Church (burned 1928). Despite the population decline, the mines were flourishing, and in 1881 Bodie's ore production was recorded at a high of $3.1 million. Also in 1881, a narrow-gauge railroad was built called the Bodie Railway & Lumber Company, bringing lumber, cordwood, and mine timbers to the mining district from Mono Mills south of Mono Lake.
During the early 1890s, Bodie enjoyed a short revival from technological advancements in the mines that continued to support the town. In 1890, the recently invented cyanide process promised to recover gold and silver from discarded mill tailings and from low-grade ore bodies that had been passed over. In 1892, the Standard Company built its own hydroelectric plant approximately 13 miles (20.9 km) away at Dynamo Pond. The plant developed a maximum of 130 horsepower (97 kW) and 3,530 volts alternating current (AC) to power the company's 20-stamp mill. This pioneering installation marked the country's first transmissions of electricity over a long distance.
In 1910, the population was recorded at 698 people, which were predominantly families who decided to stay in Bodie instead of moving on to other prosperous strikes.
The first signs of an official decline occurred in 1912 with the printing of the last Bodie newspaper, The Bodie Miner. In a 1913 book titled California Tourist Guide and Handbook: Authentic Description of Routes of Travel and Points of Interest in California, the authors, Wells and Aubrey Drury, described Bodie as a "mining town, which is the center of a large mineral region". They referred to two hotels and a railroad operating there. In 1913, the Standard Consolidated Mine closed.
Mining profits in 1914 were at a low of $6,821. James S. Cain bought everything from the town lots to the mining claims, and reopened the Standard mill to former employees, which resulted in an over $100,000 profit in 1915. However, this financial growth was not in time to stop the town's decline. In 1917, the Bodie Railway was abandoned and its iron tracks were scrapped.
The last mine closed in 1942, due to War Production Board order L-208, shutting down all non-essential gold mines in the United States during World War II. Mining never resumed after the war.
Bodie was first described as a "ghost town" in 1915. In a time when auto travel was on the rise, many travelers reached Bodie via automobiles. The San Francisco Chronicle published an article in 1919 to dispute the "ghost town" label.
By 1920, Bodie's population was recorded by the US Federal Census at a total of 120 people. Despite the decline and a severe fire in the business district in 1932, Bodie had permanent residents through nearly half of the 20th century. A post office operated at Bodie from 1877 to 1942
In the 1940s, the threat of vandalism faced the ghost town. The Cain family, who owned much of the land, hired caretakers to protect and to maintain the town's structures. Martin Gianettoni, one of the last three people living in Bodie in 1943, was a caretaker.
Bodie is now an authentic Wild West ghost town.
The town was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1961, and in 1962 the state legislature authorized creation of Bodie State Historic Park. A total of 170 buildings remained. Bodie has been named as California's official state gold rush ghost town.
Visitors arrive mainly via SR 270, which runs from US 395 near Bridgeport to the west; the last three miles of it is a dirt road. There is also a road to SR 167 near Mono Lake in the south, but this road is extremely rough, with more than 10 miles of dirt track in a bad state of repair. Due to heavy snowfall, the roads to Bodie are usually closed in winter .
Today, Bodie is preserved in a state of arrested decay. Only a small part of the town survived, with about 110 structures still standing, including one of many once operational gold mills. Visitors can walk the deserted streets of a town that once was a bustling area of activity. Interiors remain as they were left and stocked with goods. Littered throughout the park, one can find small shards of china dishes, square nails and an occasional bottle, but removing these items is against the rules of the park.
The California State Parks' ranger station is located in one of the original homes on Green Street.
In 2009 and again in 2010, Bodie was scheduled to be closed. The California state legislature worked out a budget compromise that enabled the state's Parks Closure Commission to keep it open. As of 2022, the park is still operating, now administered by the Bodie Foundation.
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2 million residents across a total area of approximately 163,696 square miles (423,970 km2), it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the most populated subnational entity in North America and the 34th most populous in the world. The Greater Los Angeles area and the San Francisco Bay Area are the nation's second and fifth most populous urban regions respectively, with the former having more than 18.7 million residents and the latter having over 9.6 million. Sacramento is the state's capital, while Los Angeles is the most populous city in the state and the second most populous city in the country. San Francisco is the second most densely populated major city in the country. Los Angeles County is the country's most populous, while San Bernardino County is the largest county by area in the country. California borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, the Mexican state of Baja California to the south; and has a coastline along the Pacific Ocean to the west.
The economy of the state of California is the largest in the United States, with a $3.4 trillion gross state product (GSP) as of 2022. It is the largest sub-national economy in the world. If California were a sovereign nation, it would rank as the world's fifth-largest economy as of 2022, behind Germany and ahead of India, as well as the 37th most populous. The Greater Los Angeles area and the San Francisco Bay Area are the nation's second- and third-largest urban economies ($1.0 trillion and $0.5 trillion respectively as of 2020). The San Francisco Bay Area Combined Statistical Area had the nation's highest gross domestic product per capita ($106,757) among large primary statistical areas in 2018, and is home to five of the world's ten largest companies by market capitalization and four of the world's ten richest people.
Prior to European colonization, California was one of the most culturally and linguistically diverse areas in pre-Columbian North America and contained the highest Native American population density north of what is now Mexico. European exploration in the 16th and 17th centuries led to the colonization of California by the Spanish Empire. In 1804, it was included in Alta California province within the Viceroyalty of New Spain. The area became a part of Mexico in 1821, following its successful war for independence, but was ceded to the United States in 1848 after the Mexican–American War. The California Gold Rush started in 1848 and led to dramatic social and demographic changes, including large-scale immigration into California, a worldwide economic boom, and the California genocide of indigenous people. The western portion of Alta California was then organized and admitted as the 31st state on September 9, 1850, following the Compromise of 1850.
Notable contributions to popular culture, for example in entertainment and sports, have their origins in California. The state also has made noteworthy contributions in the fields of communication, information, innovation, environmentalism, economics, and politics. It is the home of Hollywood, the oldest and one of the largest film industries in the world, which has had a profound influence upon global entertainment. It is considered the origin of the hippie counterculture, beach and car culture, and the personal computer, among other innovations. The San Francisco Bay Area and the Greater Los Angeles Area are widely seen as the centers of the global technology and film industries, respectively. California's economy is very diverse: 58% of it is based on finance, government, real estate services, technology, and professional, scientific, and technical business services. Although it accounts for only 1.5% of the state's economy, California's agriculture industry has the highest output of any U.S. state. California's ports and harbors handle about a third of all U.S. imports, most originating in Pacific Rim international trade.
The state's extremely diverse geography ranges from the Pacific Coast and metropolitan areas in the west to the Sierra Nevada mountains in the east, and from the redwood and Douglas fir forests in the northwest to the Mojave Desert in the southeast. The Central Valley, a major agricultural area, dominates the state's center. California is well known for its warm Mediterranean climate and monsoon seasonal weather. The large size of the state results in climates that vary from moist temperate rainforest in the north to arid desert in the interior, as well as snowy alpine in the mountains.
Settled by successive waves of arrivals during at least the last 13,000 years, California was one of the most culturally and linguistically diverse areas in pre-Columbian North America. Various estimates of the native population have ranged from 100,000 to 300,000. The indigenous peoples of California included more than 70 distinct ethnic groups, inhabiting environments from mountains and deserts to islands and redwood forests. These groups were also diverse in their political organization, with bands, tribes, villages, and on the resource-rich coasts, large chiefdoms, such as the Chumash, Pomo and Salinan. Trade, intermarriage and military alliances fostered social and economic relationships between many groups.
The first Europeans to explore the coast of California were the members of a Spanish maritime expedition led by Portuguese captain Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo in 1542. Cabrillo was commissioned by Antonio de Mendoza, the Viceroy of New Spain, to lead an expedition up the Pacific coast in search of trade opportunities; they entered San Diego Bay on September 28, 1542, and reached at least as far north as San Miguel Island. Privateer and explorer Francis Drake explored and claimed an undefined portion of the California coast in 1579, landing north of the future city of San Francisco. Sebastián Vizcaíno explored and mapped the coast of California in 1602 for New Spain, putting ashore in Monterey. Despite the on-the-ground explorations of California in the 16th century, Rodríguez's idea of California as an island persisted. Such depictions appeared on many European maps well into the 18th century.
The Portolá expedition of 1769-70 was a pivotal event in the Spanish colonization of California, resulting in the establishment of numerous missions, presidios, and pueblos. The military and civil contingent of the expedition was led by Gaspar de Portolá, who traveled over land from Sonora into California, while the religious component was headed by Junípero Serra, who came by sea from Baja California. In 1769, Portolá and Serra established Mission San Diego de Alcalá and the Presidio of San Diego, the first religious and military settlements founded by the Spanish in California. By the end of the expedition in 1770, they would establish the Presidio of Monterey and Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo on Monterey Bay.
After the Portolà expedition, Spanish missionaries led by Father-President Serra set out to establish 21 Spanish missions of California along El Camino Real ("The Royal Road") and along the Californian coast, 16 sites of which having been chosen during the Portolá expedition. Numerous major cities in California grew out of missions, including San Francisco (Mission San Francisco de Asís), San Diego (Mission San Diego de Alcalá), Ventura (Mission San Buenaventura), or Santa Barbara (Mission Santa Barbara), among others.
Juan Bautista de Anza led a similarly important expedition throughout California in 1775–76, which would extend deeper into the interior and north of California. The Anza expedition selected numerous sites for missions, presidios, and pueblos, which subsequently would be established by settlers. Gabriel Moraga, a member of the expedition, would also christen many of California's prominent rivers with their names in 1775–1776, such as the Sacramento River and the San Joaquin River. After the expedition, Gabriel's son, José Joaquín Moraga, would found the pueblo of San Jose in 1777, making it the first civilian-established city in California.
The Spanish founded Mission San Juan Capistrano in 1776, the third to be established of the Californian missions.
During this same period, sailors from the Russian Empire explored along the northern coast of California. In 1812, the Russian-American Company established a trading post and small fortification at Fort Ross on the North Coast. Fort Ross was primarily used to supply Russia's Alaskan colonies with food supplies. The settlement did not meet much success, failing to attract settlers or establish long term trade viability, and was abandoned by 1841.
During the War of Mexican Independence, Alta California was largely unaffected and uninvolved in the revolution, though many Californios supported independence from Spain, which many believed had neglected California and limited its development. Spain's trade monopoly on California had limited the trade prospects of Californians. Following Mexican independence, Californian ports were freely able to trade with foreign merchants. Governor Pablo Vicente de Solá presided over the transition from Spanish colonial rule to independent.
In 1821, the Mexican War of Independence gave the Mexican Empire (which included California) independence from Spain. For the next 25 years, Alta California remained a remote, sparsely populated, northwestern administrative district of the newly independent country of Mexico, which shortly after independence became a republic. The missions, which controlled most of the best land in the state, were secularized by 1834 and became the property of the Mexican government. The governor granted many square leagues of land to others with political influence. These huge ranchos or cattle ranches emerged as the dominant institutions of Mexican California. The ranchos developed under ownership by Californios (Hispanics native of California) who traded cowhides and tallow with Boston merchants. Beef did not become a commodity until the 1849 California Gold Rush.
From the 1820s, trappers and settlers from the United States and Canada began to arrive in Northern California. These new arrivals used the Siskiyou Trail, California Trail, Oregon Trail and Old Spanish Trail to cross the rugged mountains and harsh deserts in and surrounding California. The early government of the newly independent Mexico was highly unstable, and in a reflection of this, from 1831 onwards, California also experienced a series of armed disputes, both internal and with the central Mexican government. During this tumultuous political period Juan Bautista Alvarado was able to secure the governorship during 1836–1842. The military action which first brought Alvarado to power had momentarily declared California to be an independent state, and had been aided by Anglo-American residents of California, including Isaac Graham. In 1840, one hundred of those residents who did not have passports were arrested, leading to the Graham Affair, which was resolved in part with the intercession of Royal Navy officials.
One of the largest ranchers in California was John Marsh. After failing to obtain justice against squatters on his land from the Mexican courts, he determined that California should become part of the United States. Marsh conducted a letter-writing campaign espousing the California climate, the soil, and other reasons to settle there, as well as the best route to follow, which became known as "Marsh's route". His letters were read, reread, passed around, and printed in newspapers throughout the country, and started the first wagon trains rolling to California. He invited immigrants to stay on his ranch until they could get settled, and assisted in their obtaining passports.
After ushering in the period of organized emigration to California, Marsh became involved in a military battle between the much-hated Mexican general, Manuel Micheltorena and the California governor he had replaced, Juan Bautista Alvarado. The armies of each met at the Battle of Providencia near Los Angeles. Marsh had been forced against his will to join Micheltorena's army. Ignoring his superiors, during the battle, he signaled the other side for a parley. There were many settlers from the United States fighting on both sides. He convinced these men that they had no reason to be fighting each other. As a result of Marsh's actions, they abandoned the fight, Micheltorena was defeated, and California-born Pio Pico was returned to the governorship. This paved the way to California's ultimate acquisition by the United States.
In 1846, a group of American settlers in and around Sonoma rebelled against Mexican rule during the Bear Flag Revolt. Afterward, rebels raised the Bear Flag (featuring a bear, a star, a red stripe and the words "California Republic") at Sonoma. The Republic's only president was William B. Ide,[65] who played a pivotal role during the Bear Flag Revolt. This revolt by American settlers served as a prelude to the later American military invasion of California and was closely coordinated with nearby American military commanders.
The California Republic was short-lived; the same year marked the outbreak of the Mexican–American War (1846–48).
Commodore John D. Sloat of the United States Navy sailed into Monterey Bay in 1846 and began the U.S. military invasion of California, with Northern California capitulating in less than a month to the United States forces. In Southern California, Californios continued to resist American forces. Notable military engagements of the conquest include the Battle of San Pasqual and the Battle of Dominguez Rancho in Southern California, as well as the Battle of Olómpali and the Battle of Santa Clara in Northern California. After a series of defensive battles in the south, the Treaty of Cahuenga was signed by the Californios on January 13, 1847, securing a censure and establishing de facto American control in California.
Following the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (February 2, 1848) that ended the war, the westernmost portion of the annexed Mexican territory of Alta California soon became the American state of California, and the remainder of the old territory was then subdivided into the new American Territories of Arizona, Nevada, Colorado and Utah. The even more lightly populated and arid lower region of old Baja California remained as a part of Mexico. In 1846, the total settler population of the western part of the old Alta California had been estimated to be no more than 8,000, plus about 100,000 Native Americans, down from about 300,000 before Hispanic settlement in 1769.
In 1848, only one week before the official American annexation of the area, gold was discovered in California, this being an event which was to forever alter both the state's demographics and its finances. Soon afterward, a massive influx of immigration into the area resulted, as prospectors and miners arrived by the thousands. The population burgeoned with United States citizens, Europeans, Chinese and other immigrants during the great California Gold Rush. By the time of California's application for statehood in 1850, the settler population of California had multiplied to 100,000. By 1854, more than 300,000 settlers had come. Between 1847 and 1870, the population of San Francisco increased from 500 to 150,000.
The seat of government for California under Spanish and later Mexican rule had been located in Monterey from 1777 until 1845. Pio Pico, the last Mexican governor of Alta California, had briefly moved the capital to Los Angeles in 1845. The United States consulate had also been located in Monterey, under consul Thomas O. Larkin.
In 1849, a state Constitutional Convention was first held in Monterey. Among the first tasks of the convention was a decision on a location for the new state capital. The first full legislative sessions were held in San Jose (1850–1851). Subsequent locations included Vallejo (1852–1853), and nearby Benicia (1853–1854); these locations eventually proved to be inadequate as well. The capital has been located in Sacramento since 1854 with only a short break in 1862 when legislative sessions were held in San Francisco due to flooding in Sacramento. Once the state's Constitutional Convention had finalized its state constitution, it applied to the U.S. Congress for admission to statehood. On September 9, 1850, as part of the Compromise of 1850, California became a free state and September 9 a state holiday.
During the American Civil War (1861–1865), California sent gold shipments eastward to Washington in support of the Union. However, due to the existence of a large contingent of pro-South sympathizers within the state, the state was not able to muster any full military regiments to send eastwards to officially serve in the Union war effort. Still, several smaller military units within the Union army were unofficially associated with the state of California, such as the "California 100 Company", due to a majority of their members being from California.
At the time of California's admission into the Union, travel between California and the rest of the continental United States had been a time-consuming and dangerous feat. Nineteen years later, and seven years after it was greenlighted by President Lincoln, the First transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869. California was then reachable from the eastern States in a week's time.
Much of the state was extremely well suited to fruit cultivation and agriculture in general. Vast expanses of wheat, other cereal crops, vegetable crops, cotton, and nut and fruit trees were grown (including oranges in Southern California), and the foundation was laid for the state's prodigious agricultural production in the Central Valley and elsewhere.
In the nineteenth century, a large number of migrants from China traveled to the state as part of the Gold Rush or to seek work. Even though the Chinese proved indispensable in building the transcontinental railroad from California to Utah, perceived job competition with the Chinese led to anti-Chinese riots in the state, and eventually the US ended migration from China partially as a response to pressure from California with the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act.
Under earlier Spanish and Mexican rule, California's original native population had precipitously declined, above all, from Eurasian diseases to which the indigenous people of California had not yet developed a natural immunity. Under its new American administration, California's harsh governmental policies towards its own indigenous people did not improve. As in other American states, many of the native inhabitants were soon forcibly removed from their lands by incoming American settlers such as miners, ranchers, and farmers. Although California had entered the American union as a free state, the "loitering or orphaned Indians" were de facto enslaved by their new Anglo-American masters under the 1853 Act for the Government and Protection of Indians. There were also massacres in which hundreds of indigenous people were killed.
Between 1850 and 1860, the California state government paid around 1.5 million dollars (some 250,000 of which was reimbursed by the federal government) to hire militias whose purpose was to protect settlers from the indigenous populations. In later decades, the native population was placed in reservations and rancherias, which were often small and isolated and without enough natural resources or funding from the government to sustain the populations living on them. As a result, the rise of California was a calamity for the native inhabitants. Several scholars and Native American activists, including Benjamin Madley and Ed Castillo, have described the actions of the California government as a genocide.
In the twentieth century, thousands of Japanese people migrated to the US and California specifically to attempt to purchase and own land in the state. However, the state in 1913 passed the Alien Land Act, excluding Asian immigrants from owning land. During World War II, Japanese Americans in California were interned in concentration camps such as at Tule Lake and Manzanar. In 2020, California officially apologized for this internment.
Migration to California accelerated during the early 20th century with the completion of major transcontinental highways like the Lincoln Highway and Route 66. In the period from 1900 to 1965, the population grew from fewer than one million to the greatest in the Union. In 1940, the Census Bureau reported California's population as 6.0% Hispanic, 2.4% Asian, and 89.5% non-Hispanic white.
To meet the population's needs, major engineering feats like the California and Los Angeles Aqueducts; the Oroville and Shasta Dams; and the Bay and Golden Gate Bridges were built across the state. The state government also adopted the California Master Plan for Higher Education in 1960 to develop a highly efficient system of public education.
Meanwhile, attracted to the mild Mediterranean climate, cheap land, and the state's wide variety of geography, filmmakers established the studio system in Hollywood in the 1920s. California manufactured 8.7 percent of total United States military armaments produced during World War II, ranking third (behind New York and Michigan) among the 48 states. California however easily ranked first in production of military ships during the war (transport, cargo, [merchant ships] such as Liberty ships, Victory ships, and warships) at drydock facilities in San Diego, Los Angeles, and the San Francisco Bay Area. After World War II, California's economy greatly expanded due to strong aerospace and defense industries, whose size decreased following the end of the Cold War. Stanford University and its Dean of Engineering Frederick Terman began encouraging faculty and graduates to stay in California instead of leaving the state, and develop a high-tech region in the area now known as Silicon Valley. As a result of these efforts, California is regarded as a world center of the entertainment and music industries, of technology, engineering, and the aerospace industry, and as the United States center of agricultural production. Just before the Dot Com Bust, California had the fifth-largest economy in the world among nations.
In the mid and late twentieth century, a number of race-related incidents occurred in the state. Tensions between police and African Americans, combined with unemployment and poverty in inner cities, led to violent riots, such as the 1965 Watts riots and 1992 Rodney King riots. California was also the hub of the Black Panther Party, a group known for arming African Americans to defend against racial injustice and for organizing free breakfast programs for schoolchildren. Additionally, Mexican, Filipino, and other migrant farm workers rallied in the state around Cesar Chavez for better pay in the 1960s and 1970s.
During the 20th century, two great disasters happened in California. The 1906 San Francisco earthquake and 1928 St. Francis Dam flood remain the deadliest in U.S. history.
Although air pollution problems have been reduced, health problems associated with pollution have continued. The brown haze known as "smog" has been substantially abated after the passage of federal and state restrictions on automobile exhaust.
An energy crisis in 2001 led to rolling blackouts, soaring power rates, and the importation of electricity from neighboring states. Southern California Edison and Pacific Gas and Electric Company came under heavy criticism.
Housing prices in urban areas continued to increase; a modest home which in the 1960s cost $25,000 would cost half a million dollars or more in urban areas by 2005. More people commuted longer hours to afford a home in more rural areas while earning larger salaries in the urban areas. Speculators bought houses they never intended to live in, expecting to make a huge profit in a matter of months, then rolling it over by buying more properties. Mortgage companies were compliant, as everyone assumed the prices would keep rising. The bubble burst in 2007–8 as housing prices began to crash and the boom years ended. Hundreds of billions in property values vanished and foreclosures soared as many financial institutions and investors were badly hurt.
In the twenty-first century, droughts and frequent wildfires attributed to climate change have occurred in the state. From 2011 to 2017, a persistent drought was the worst in its recorded history. The 2018 wildfire season was the state's deadliest and most destructive, most notably Camp Fire.
Although air pollution problems have been reduced, health problems associated with pollution have continued. The brown haze that is known as "smog" has been substantially abated thanks to federal and state restrictions on automobile exhaust.
One of the first confirmed COVID-19 cases in the United States that occurred in California was first of which was confirmed on January 26, 2020. Meaning, all of the early confirmed cases were persons who had recently travelled to China in Asia, as testing was restricted to this group. On this January 29, 2020, as disease containment protocols were still being developed, the U.S. Department of State evacuated 195 persons from Wuhan, China aboard a chartered flight to March Air Reserve Base in Riverside County, and in this process, it may have granted and conferred to escalated within the land and the US at cosmic. On February 5, 2020, the U.S. evacuated 345 more citizens from Hubei Province to two military bases in California, Travis Air Force Base in Solano County and Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, San Diego, where they were quarantined for 14 days. A state of emergency was largely declared in this state of the nation on March 4, 2020, and as of February 24, 2021, remains in effect. A mandatory statewide stay-at-home order was issued on March 19, 2020, due to increase, which was ended on January 25, 2021, allowing citizens to return to normal life. On April 6, 2021, the state announced plans to fully reopen the economy by June 15, 2021.
Recognizing that I volunteered as a Ranger, fully knowing the hazards of my chosen profession, I will always endeavor to uphold the prestige, honor, and high esprit de corps of the Rangers.
Acknowledging the fact that a Ranger is a more elite soldier who arrives at the cutting edge of battle by land, sea, or air, I accept the fact that as a Ranger my country expects me to move further, faster and fight harder than any other soldier.
Never shall I fail my comrades. I will always keep myself mentally alert, physically strong and morally straight and I will shoulder more than my share of the task whatever it may be, one-hundred-percent and then some.
Gallantly will I show the world that I am a specially selected and well-trained soldier. My courtesy to superior officers, neatness of dress and care of equipment shall set the example for others to follow.
Energetically will I meet the enemies of my country. I shall defeat them on the field of battle for I am better trained and will fight with all my might. Surrender is not a Ranger word. I will never leave a fallen comrade to fall into the hands of the enemy and under no circumstances will I ever embarrass my country.
Readily will I display the intestinal fortitude required to fight on to the Ranger objective and complete the mission though I be the lone survivor.
Rangers Lead The Way!!!
—Ranger Handbook SH 21-76
Pictured are a squadron of AAM K5TRL.82 "Kestrel" Light Utility Helicopters and a unit of Separatist Army Rangers.
The recognizable profile of the Pelican Nebula soars nearly 2,000 light-years away in the high flying constellation Cygnus, the Swan. Also known as IC 5070, this interstellar cloud of gas and dust is appropriately found just off the "east coast" of the North America Nebula (NGC 7000), another surprisingly familiar looking emission nebula in Cygnus. Both Pelican and North America nebulae are part of the same large and complex star forming region, almost as nearby as the better-known Orion Nebula. From our vantage point, dark dust clouds (upper left) help define the Pelican's eye and long bill, while a bright front of ionized gas suggests the curved shape of the head and neck. This striking synthesized color view utilizes narrowband image data recording the emission of hydrogen and oxygen atoms in the cosmic cloud. The scene spans some 30 light-years at the estimated distance of the Pelican Nebula. via NASA ift.tt/2frkU7N
Widely recognized as one the finest organists of his day, but sadly more often remembered for having taken his own life.
Mr. Thayer was also the dedicatee of one of Dudley Buck's (1839-1909) most famous compositions for the organ: Concert Variations on "The Star-Spangled Banner", Op. 23, which you can listen to here (www.contrebombarde.com/concerthall/music/56492) in a courageous performance (considering his current struggles with health and hearing) by David Lamb using the Hereford Cathedral Willis organ (via Hauptwerk).
Given the precarious state of American politics and the unrestrained epidemic of gun violence that threatens every citizen's pursuit of happiness, it's difficult to muster much unalloyed patriotic feeling on this our nation's birthday. Still, the national anthem does have a great tune and it is delightfully transformed in this set of variations. About 45 years ago I learned this work and presented it in a Fourth of July concert -- I'll have to see later today, how much of it I can still creditably play--this will be our musical fireworks celebration of the holiday, since it is far too hot to attend outdoor pyrotechnics displays, not to mention the risk of initiating wild fires.
The day was not going as Elizabeth had envisioned.
She knocked on the door of the familiar KidKraft structure that she recognized as belonging to Gracie’s sister Julia.
"Hello, Elizabeth,” Julia said as she opened the door. “Oh good, you have a sweater. This cold weather caught us by surprise. Are Room 2 people able to visit again?” Julia asked.
“Just a few of us, temporarily. I’ll tell your sister Gracie you say hi, but first, I’ve heard Rick is here. May I see him?” Elizabeth asked.
Julia was happy to welcome Elizabeth inside.
And there he was: Rick Ross.
Rick asked Elizabeth how she was; he hadn’t seen her in years after all.
Elizabeth said she wanted to know about his trip back to town.
He confirmed that Maddy “Rat” helped him. Now that he was back, he was focused on taking care of his children with Julia and repaying Maddy for her kindness and loyalty. In fact, he said, the first thing he did was negotiate with Rocket Construction for the cardboard unit Rat and Minnie were living in.
“Just until Mr. Booley returns to take care of his wife, of course,” Rick said. “I can’t believe he abandoned her that way.”
“Wait a minute,” Elizabeth said about to correct him. “You know, nevermind,” she then said, stopping. “I think I got the answers I came for.”
Meet button-
A small Land hermit crab using plastic as a protective home
(Coenobita cavipes)
* All Coenobita species in Okinawa are recognized as a Living Natural Monument.
"Crabs with beach trash homes"
Found by Dave Orr on a local beach in Onna village ,Okinawa.
TEDX OIST talk on subject by Shawn Miller www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6FWCyVQcNA
My series has been featured on-
www.businessinsider.com/hermit-crabs-using-trash-as-homes...www.nationalgeographic.nl/galerij/10x-krabben-in-huisjes-...
petapixel.com/2016/08/30/photos-hermit-crabs-beach-trash-...
www.atlasobscura.com/articles/the-trash-homes-of-hermit-c...
www.news.com.au/technology/science/animals/crabs-are-reso...
www.thedodo.com/hermit-crabs-trash-shells-2001062931.html
www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/oceans-so-polluted-crabs...
www.plethorist.com/crabs-adapt-and-uses-plastic-caps-as-h...
www.dailytelegraph.com.au/technology/science/crabs-living...
www.hypedojo.com/you-wont-believe-what-these-hermit-crabs...
She is the unique female of this Lilly's litter and has a great personality and has to be like a real Serena Williams!
She is a Lagotto Romagnolo dog.
This is the only breed of dog that is officially recognized as specialized in truffle hunting.
I'm taking advantage of the temperature bearable for post some photos and trying to catch up on the comments.
© István Pénzes.
Please NOTE and RESPECT the copyright.
3 February 2013
Leica M9
Visoflex III
Elmar-V 65/3.5 Black
OTZFO
Built 1872-73 at no. 140 Marlborough Street.
"Back Bay is an officially recognized neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, built on reclaimed land in the Charles River basin. Construction began in 1859, as the demand for luxury housing exceeded the availability in the city at the time, and the area was fully built by around 1900. It is most famous for its rows of Victorian brownstone homes—considered one of the best preserved examples of 19th-century urban design in the United States—as well as numerous architecturally significant individual buildings, and cultural institutions such as the Boston Public Library, and Boston Architectural College. Initially conceived as a residential-only area, commercial buildings were permitted from around 1890, and Back Bay now features many office buildings, including the John Hancock Tower, Boston's tallest skyscraper. It is also considered a fashionable shopping destination (especially Newbury and Boylston Streets, and the adjacent Prudential Center and Copley Place malls) and home to several major hotels.
The Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay considers the neighborhood's bounds to be "Charles River on the North; Arlington Street to Park Square on the East; Columbus Avenue to the New York New Haven and Hartford right-of-way (South of Stuart Street and Copley Place), Huntington Avenue, Dalton Street, and the Massachusetts Turnpike on the South; Charlesgate East on the West."
Boston (US: /ˈbɔːstən/), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th-most populous city in the country. The city boundaries encompass an area of about 48.4 sq mi (125 km2) and a population of 675,647 as of 2020. It is the seat of Suffolk County (although the county government was disbanded on July 1, 1999). The city is the economic and cultural anchor of a substantially larger metropolitan area known as Greater Boston, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) home to a census-estimated 4.8 million people in 2016 and ranking as the tenth-largest MSA in the country. A broader combined statistical area (CSA), generally corresponding to the commuting area and including Providence, Rhode Island, is home to approximately 8.2 million people, making it the sixth most populous in the United States.
Boston is one of the oldest municipalities in America, founded on the Shawmut Peninsula in 1630 by Puritan settlers from the English town of the same name. It was the scene of several key events of the American Revolution and the nation's founding, such as the Boston Massacre, the Boston Tea Party, the Battle of Bunker Hill, and the siege of Boston. Upon American independence from Great Britain, the city continued to be an important port and manufacturing hub as well as a center for education and culture. The city has expanded beyond the original peninsula through land reclamation and municipal annexation. Its rich history attracts many tourists, with Faneuil Hall alone drawing more than 20 million visitors per year. Boston's many firsts include the United States' first public park (Boston Common, 1634), first public or state school (Boston Latin School, 1635) first subway system (Tremont Street subway, 1897), and first large public library (Boston Public Library, 1848).
Today, Boston is a center of scientific research; the area's many colleges and universities, notably Harvard and MIT, make it a world leader in higher education, including law, medicine, engineering and business, and the city is considered to be a global pioneer in innovation and entrepreneurship, with nearly 5,000 startups. Boston's economic base also includes finance, professional and business services, biotechnology, information technology, and government activities. Boston is a hub for LGBT culture and LGBT activism in the United States. Households in the city claim the highest average rate of philanthropy in the United States. Boston businesses and institutions rank among the top in the country for environmental sustainability and new investment." - info from Wikipedia.
The fall of 2022 I did my 3rd major cycling tour. I began my adventure in Montreal, Canada and finished in Savannah, GA. This tour took me through the oldest parts of Quebec and the 13 original US states. During this adventure I cycled 7,126 km over the course of 2.5 months and took more than 68,000 photos. As with my previous tours, a major focus was to photograph historic architecture.
Now on Instagram.
I wake up, with someone I don't recognize to my left. Placing my hand to my face, its still there. My mask is still on.
"Don't worry. I made sure the nurse left it on." The officer says, as she notices me wake up.
"Sorry if I sound ungrateful and all, but who exactly are you? I don't recognize you." I question.
"Officer Yuriko Watanabe. But you can just call me Yuri. As for not recognizing me, that's mostly cause I came to New York a month ago, during which time, you were gone." She replies, staying quite formal in tone, and posture.
"Oh.. Right. Well Yuri, welcome to New York! I have a feeling that this is the start of a beautiful friendship." I say with a grin, not that she can really see it, with my mask on and everything. I reach my hand out to shake hers.
"Already starting to regret my choices, bringing you here." Yuri says with a sigh, as she gets up from the chair she was sitting in, moving to the door.
"By the way, why did you leave my mask on? I mean, I appreciate it, but don't you want to know who I am?"
"Honestly, I don't. It doesn't matter to me who you are. You're someone who wants to make this city a better place to live. The rest of the force may not see it that way, but quite frankly, that's good enough for me." Yuri replies, turning around to face me.
"Wow.. Thanks Yuri." Is all that manages to leave my mouth, as I'm trying to think of what else to say. Suddenly, the words come to me.
"You'd probably know more about this than I would, since I'm kind of out of the loop, but what do you know about the Sinister Six?" Yuri's phone rings the moment I ask.
"Sorry, but I should probably get this. Another time?" With that, she brings the phone up to her ear, and leaves the room. The nurse, Dr. Claire Temple, comes back minutes later, to do some routine tests on me. Against her better judgement, I decide to leave. There's someone I have to talk to. Really, I should've talked to her the moment I got back, but obviously, that didn't happen.
----------
Half an hour later, at Lana Baumgartner's house
Decided against web slinging there, as I'm already straining myself just by walking. The outside lights illuminate the ground, as I walk up the steps to the front door. I hesitate for a couple of seconds, before finally knocking on the door. It takes a while, before someone answers the door. The door opens, and it's Lana. She doesn't look all that happy to see me though.
"Hi Lana, I'm back."
"Yeah, I can see that.. What do you want?"
"I was hoping we could talk. About where I've been."
"Oh, so now you want to talk? You left without so much of a goodbye, and now's the time you want to talk ."
"Awh c'mon Lana.. It's complicated." Of course, the words came out wrong.. Classic Parker luck strikes again.
"Really Peter? It's complicated?! Let me clear the air then. You've been gone for two months. I had to live with the consequences of you leaving. You don't know the shit I've had to endure these past two months. It's changed me in ways that you'll never understand. You had your priorities, and now I have mine. Showing up now doesn't make up for anything. Bye Peter." She snaps, slamming the door shut, before I can even get another word in.
"Well, that could've gone better." I mutter to myself, as I walk down the steps, and down the driveway, heading back home. At least, what home is in these new circumstances.
"I can't believe my eyes! Is that Peter Parker, in the flesh?" A voice says, coming from across the street. Upon getting closer, I realize that it's Harry.
"Harry?! Man, it's so good to see you. Wait, you're not mad at me anymore?" I ask, puzzled.
"It's been two months Pete. As far as I'm concerned, it's water under the bridge. Welcome back to the land of the living!" Harry cheers, giving me a high-five, as he propels his wheelchair forward with his other hand, matching my pace.
"It's good to know someone's not mad at me." I say, looking back at Lana's house for a slight second.
"I wouldn't worry about Lana. She'll come around. I mean, I did, so it's just a matter of time before she does too." Harry reassured me.
"Thanks.. I hope so." I mumbled.
"So, where have ya been for these past two months?" Harry prods, as we arrive at an intersection.
"It's complicated.. I'll tell you everything, though I could really go for a milkshake right about now." I reply.
"Consider it done! I'll even pay for yours!" Harry promises, with a smirk, as we now make our way to Ellen's Stardust Diner. It's good to be back.
TopGear 2002 Season 1 (Episode 6): Renault AVANTIME on the Cool Wall: Jeremy Clarkson places the Renault AVANTIME on the very edge of the Sub-Zero section!
TopGear 2008 Season 12 (Episode 3) a used AVANTIME was recognized by the presenters Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May as one of the few cars that they all three liked.
www.flickr.com/photos/halfbyte/3040409681/
This is my 2002 Renault AVANTIME 2.0 16V TURBO 'NOIR NOCTURNE' photographed on our driveway.
No other car in the world has these ingenious doors and I'm sure this feature will be one of the most remembered features of this AVANTGARDE LOOKING FUTURE CLASSIC.
Detail ingenious doors: www.autoreview.ru/new_site/year2001/n13/avantime/avant-19...
THE AVANTIME HISTORY RETOLD
Renault suffered from over-capacity at their factories, and rather than letting people off, they wanted to take over the manufacture of the hugely successful Espace. So, they made the agreement with Matra that if Matra was given the task of developing this new high-spec topmodel, Renault could bring the Espace production in-house. Since Renault don't have the knowhow and expertise to produce cars like Matra do, they had to redesign the Espace, making it the conventional steel car we see marketed as "Espace IV". Matra took on the task and they came up with a series of design-ideas, all based on the "Espace III".
The Geneva motor show in March 1999 saw the unveiling of a new Renault concept car - where it was called a "Coupéspace" - which leads the way in opening up a long forgotten niche - that of a luxurious Grand Tourer Coupé with space for four adults to relax in comfort.
Poster AVANTIME 1999: www.flickr.com/photos/m_and_jiji/6920221965/
In the 1920's and '30's Renault's main products were luxurious sports models like the 1929 eight-cylinder Reinastella and 1930 Nervastella, driven by Royalty and Europe's aristocracy. The AVANTIME takes some inspiration from these powerful Grand Tourers, built to cover large distances in great comfort and style, whilst focusing firmly on the future. The AVANTIME, illustrates in a forthright manner Renault's ability to shape the future of the motor car. The manufacturer is convinced that there is room in the market for a new breed of coupe, targeted at a customer group seeking the visual distinction, rarity and driving enjoyment of a coupe with the luxury of space and comfort found in a large car or monospace, all wrapped up in a vehicle which is technologically advanced and forward looking. Styled by Patrick Le Quément, the AVANTIME was intended to combine the space of an MPV with four-place pillarless qualities of a coupé. Regarding the styling, Thierry Metroz, design project manager, said, "We wanted someone walking around the car to be continually astonished."
You sit high up, with glass all around you. The AVANTIME has no B-pillars - one thing that certainly delayed the project was getting the pillar-less design safety-approved - which adds a roadster feel to it, with windows down.
It was named the AVANTIME, which is not pronounced fully in French, but a combination 'AVANT' as in French for "ahead" and 'TIME' pronounced in english. In other words "Ahead of its time". They are quite probably right, and it will not be the first time Matra have been ahead of their time, and have spotted a niche almost before it appeared. It is an avantgarde looking car, the target group were people (former Espace-owners) whose kids have left home, but who still prefer the style and flexibility of the Espace, spiced up with a more luxurious interior and some decent performance. Very similar to the Espace the AVANTIME uses a warm-galvanized chassis in the lower part, but with the upper structure done in aluminium, to get the centre of gravity even lower than the Espace. The bodywork is still polyester, which is bonded in place. The doors are now a (galvanized) steel construction with polyester bodypanels bonded to it, making them much stronger than standard Espace doors, which were all fibreglass, with a metal frame, and in later models (J63 and JE) a side-impact steel bar about halfway up, on the inside. The frontend design is developed from the Espace, with the air-con intake moved to above the headlights, rather than the sidemirrors. The sidemirrors, on the other hand, have moved towards the door-windows again, as on the early Espace models.
Matra's engineers have avoided the top-heaviness of a minivan or SUV by fitting a lightweight aluminum superstructure to the Espace chassis. The track has been widened, the suspension lowered, and the wheels and brakes enlarged. Careful development has produced a car that feels stable at high speed on the autobahn, steers accurately, rolls only a little when cornered hard, yet smoothes all but the roughest roads. This is an impressive achievement and makes the AVANTIME fun for the driver and calm and secure for the passengers.
Renault has enlisted the services of French fashion designer Jean-Paul Gaultier to front its first-ever cross-brand advertising campaign "Créateur d'automobiles" (a one-minute spot with music by Etienne de Crécy). The pan-European ad aims to position the French motor brand as being creative and innovative, paving the way for forthcoming launches such as the new AVANTIME GT Coupe in 2001. TV advertising, by incumbent agency Publicis, breaks on October 17 (2000) and shows Gaultier designing and producing a new dress, from sketches to the finished product on the catwalk. After the fashion show, the model sees a Renault AVANTIME and is captivated by it. The ad then shows the process by which the car was created, in reverse from the completed car back to the production line. The designer's sketch is reduced to a blank piece of paper, mirroring Gaultier's process. Eric Bernard, Renault's worldwide advertising director, said: 'We're going to cause a stir with this campaign, and we hope to surprise and interest those who only think of Renault as a brand for small and medium-sized cars. 'It will trigger awareness and help us develop the new message in preparation for the launch of our new large cars.' The TV campaign's launch is being timed to coincide with the Birmingham International Motor Show, where Renault is unveiling its production version of the AVANTIME. It is being supported by press and poster activity.
Link Renault AVANTIME spot commercial 2001: www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FS3V-akz-c
In the meantime - there was a considerable delay in launching the AVANTIME - Renault had tested their design studio VEL SATIS with the public at car-shows and put the VEL SATIS into production, and hit the marked about the same time as the Avantime was finally ready. This means that Renault had two different approaches to the high-end luxury car, one being almost entirely Renault, the other a Matra. The Renault VEL SATIS has 4 doors, which should appeal to less adventurous (or more conservative) people. The AVANTIME was a two-doors only car (well, Matra did have a prototype 4-door version, but it never made it to production), but the doors are "huge" to allow for easy access, and are novel in the way they open, as they are internally hinged, making them sort of fold when you open them. Hereby even these huge doors will only require the same parkingspace as any other car, but at the same time offering excellent access. Having the AVANTIME compete with its Renault sibling obviously was not a good thing for Matra, who must have felt that Renault had not kept their part of the deal. To add insult to injury, its no secret that Renault urged their sales-organisation to push the VEL SATIS before the AVANTIME (by offering higher bonuses to the sales-people). This caused the AVANTIME to sell suficciently poor, to drain Matra for funds, and since there were no hopes for Renault helping them out, Matra decided in december 2002 that enough was enough and in April 2003 they shut down Matra Automobile and closed the factory in Romorantin. The last AVANTIME left the Matra assembly lines 18th of April 2003.
The following production figures have been published (Source: Matra France, L.Thimonner, 2003 ):
2001 : 2067
2002 : 5097
2003 : 1286
HISTORY REPEATING
Only 8450 Renault AVANTIME's were eventually built, before its abrubt end-of-life...
In the science fiction movie 'Children of men' (released 2006), the AVANTIME prototype 4-door version was seen in the cinema, Clive Owen and Julianne Moore travel in the AVANTIME until a breathtaking action sequence disrupt the journey...
Avantime has retained its feeling of novelty!
www.google.nl/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=renault%20icons%20...
The tale of Renault's short lived but stunning coupé is brought to life using interviews with the key players in the cars development, including ex Renault Head of Design Patrick Le Quement and Matra's Phillipe Guedon. With a colourful gathering of over 200 of the iconic cars at the famous Montlhery race track, the Avantime's 10th anniversary is the centre piece of this programme. Enthusiasts and experts swap opinions about what prevented this car becoming as much of a success as it perhaps should have been. Even more of the car's story is provided by Renault Avantime insiders Thierry Metroz and Carole Hurel, while current boss of Renault design, Laurens Van Den Acker gives his verdict on what makes this unique car so special.
Official Video Renault 10 Years AVANTIME, the "Coupéspace"
www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCXHroaxg8w&feature=feedu
Explore Renault AVANTIME
This piece has been seen on Flickr before, but it was scarcely recognizable then.
On May 24, 2020, almost six months ago as of this writing, I found it on the beach where the tide had deposited it. At 80 inches (2.03 meters) in length, it wasn't something I could tuck into the ziplock baggie I use for my finds.
It was at the far end of the beach from our place. Dragging it all the way home seemed impossible. With much regret, I pulled it into the water and said goodbye.
To my delight, when we went for a beach walk the next morning, I discovered that the currents had carried it south overnight. It was directly in line with our beach path.
Pledging to bring it home, I set off northward with Frank. True to my word, when we returned I stopped to figure out my next move. Frank shook his head in disbelief and continued on to the house.
At that point the mat was a mess. Not only was it covered in sand, below the sand was a layer of slimy algae. The side that had been submerged was encrusted with tiny marine shells. It wasn't ready for my trophy shelf.
That day I only dragged it far enough so I could hide it behind one of the foredunes. Delighted that no one had swiped it overnight, I pulled it up the foredune the next day, down the other side, along the trail through the beach grass and into the first forest.
I continued down the forest path until I reached a sunny spot on a slope. There I left it exposed to the sun and rain for many weeks. During that time the shells fell off and the algae dried out.
Once the mat had lost the distinctive aroma of a tide flat, I dragged it the rest of the way through the first forest, across the beach-grass clearing, through the second forest and up the hill to the house.
What followed was several months of cleaning. First I scoured it with a large scrub brush of the kind used on floors. Then I got to work on it with a tooth brush. The algae was everywhere, but it was particularly hard to remove wherever the ropes crossed and inside the many nooks and crannies of the countless knots. I found that hot water softened the algae and made it easier to remove.
Soon I set to work on it with a needle, which I used to pry out the algae that concealed the beauty of the yellow and blue nylon rope.
Though the odor of dead fish was long gone, a disagreeable smell of mildew remained. I discovered that sunlight was the best remedy, so I laid it over the plastic Adirondack chairs in the sun when I wasn't working on it.
Not all my methods of cleaning were successful. The Water Pik® was a great disappointment. The breakthrough came when the double-ended stainless steel dental tool arrived. There was no bit of encrusted algae that could not be reached and removed.
Finally the day came when I could declare the cleaning complete. I had already decided to hang it in an unused doorway. The loose weave made it easy to run a dowel through the first row of knots at one end. Using a level, I made sure the row of holes for the heavy-duty hooks wasn't sloping in either direction.
When the moment of truth came and I hung the mat, the dowel slipped easily into the hooks' embrace. But when I stepped back a few yards to admire it, I saw immediately that the bottom was puckered and the loose knotting allowed it to be pinched in the middle. Two more dowels solved those problems.
Today I discovered a Reddit beachcombing group. I wasted no time posting this photo to the group and asking whether anyone knew the mat's origin and purpose.
I will update if and when any new information comes in.
Ocean Park, Washington.
Instantly recognizable by the shape of the leaves. This tree is in full fruit, which tells me it is happy to be here.
The most recognized mouse around!
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
#fujifilm_xseries
#fujifilmx_us
#fujixseries
#fujicamera
#fujifilm
#fujifeed
#fujifilm_northamerica
#X100F
#country_features
#photooftheday
#photography
#travelphotography
#shutterbug_collective #photographyeveryday
#fujifilmxseries
#throughthelens
#ipulledoverforthis
#ig_world_photo
#fujilove
#myfujifilm
#photo_collective
#wdw
#waltdisneyworld
#disneyworld
#mickeymouse
#magickingdom
so much inspiration here...I just started putting up mail from art friends on this inspiration board. I have more and will work on again tomorrow. Thank you to all my fabulous art friends. You So inspire me!!
Crabs with beach trash homes by Shawn Miller. This is a good example of Adaptive behavior.
A Blueberry hermit crab (Coenobita purpureus )
Using a plastic cap as a protective home.
Location: Onna village, Okinawa
* All Coenobita species in Okinawa are recognized as a Living Natural Monument.
Featured in Plastic or Planet National Geographic Exhibition in Bologna Italy
of the Church Of Santa Maria Della Vita
www.nationalgeographic.it/wallpaper/2019/04/12/foto/mostr...
Iconic images of 2018 -
Featured in National Geographic June 2018 www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2018/06/plastic-plane...
Read more about this project
okinawanaturephotography.com/crabs-with-beach-trash-homes...
TEDX OIST talk on this subject by Shawn Miller www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6FWCyVQcNA
My series has been featured on-
abcnews.go.com/US/national-geographic-launches-effort-red...
www.businessinsider.com/hermit-crabs-using-trash-as-homes...www.nationalgeographic.nl/galerij/10x-krabben-in-huisjes-...
petapixel.com/2016/08/30/photos-hermit-crabs-beach-trash-...
www.atlasobscura.com/articles/the-trash-homes-of-hermit-c...
www.news.com.au/technology/science/animals/crabs-are-reso...
www.thedodo.com/hermit-crabs-trash-shells-2001062931.html
www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/oceans-so-polluted-crabs...
www.plethorist.com/crabs-adapt-and-uses-plastic-caps-as-h...
www.dailytelegraph.com.au/technology/science/crabs-living...
www.hypedojo.com/you-wont-believe-what-these-hermit-crabs...
www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2018/06/plastic-plane...
www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-44215881
www.boredpanda.com/plastic-crisis-impact-on-wildlife-nati...
www.eurthisnthat.com/2018/05/20/national-geographic-issue...
www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/the-amount...
abcnews.go.com/US/national-geographic-launches-effort-red...
www.natureknows.org/2018/05/national-geographics-newest-i...
www.natgeotraveller.in/for-animals-plastic-is-turning-the...
www.artfido.com/national-geographic-releases-planet-or-pl...
Smug Since recognizing his passion for Graffiti, He has quickly become one of the most talented street artists around.
Sam Bates known as Smug has high-quality murals demonstrate a photo-realistic style, and a careful and precise attitude to his work. Smug is inspired by the people he knows and whomever comes into contact with, creating thoroughly unique pieces that have been exhibited globally.
This mural took about a week to paint and thought to represent Mungo in modern-day clothes. Mungo is Glasgow’s patron saint, born in the 6th century. The story goes that when he was young, some boys from his village started throwing stones at robins that were pecking on the ground for scraps.One bird was hit and fell to the ground. The boys ran away. Mungo ran, too, but he ran to the fallen bird. Picking it up he smoothed and caressed its feathers and prayed over it. After a little while it revived and flew away. Perhaps it was only stunned. The villagers called it a miracle and so it was that a small boy should want to help a fallen bird in trouble.
You may recognize this structure from some of my other photos, but I just really love the shape and the way it plays with light. This is the Tacoma Glass Museum whose interesting design serves to house the Glass Blowing Shop and observation area while allowing exhaust and cooling for the giant blast furnaces. fineartamerica.com/profiles/1-jason-jacobs.html
Hopefully many of you recognize this as the one and only G-Man, Gunther belonging to lucky3110! ( www.flickr.com/photos/34485452@N08/4711209760/ )
I've had some recent inspiration and I realized I haven't drawn a digital Spoo in a LONG time. So I went hunting for a model...and who could pass up Gunther?!
I've spent so much time on this, what was meant to be a simple little drawing... haha... but I really love how it turned out! Let me know what you think.
Ingrid - I hope you don't mind that I used Gunther as a model, and if you don't like his image being up here on my stream just let me know and I'll take it down. I do hope you like it : )
Referenced a number of Ingrid's photos.
"Trinity-Bellwoods is an inner city neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is bounded on the east by Bathurst Street, on the north by College Street, on the south by Queen Street West, and by Dovercourt Road on the west. It has a large Portuguese (mostly originally from the Azores and Madeira islands) and Brazilian community, and many local Lusitanian-Canadian businesses are located along Dundas Street West, continuing west into Little Portugal; this stretch further west along Dundas is known as Rua Açores.
The neighbourhood takes its name from Trinity Bellwoods Park, built around the former Garrison Creek ravine. Bounded on the north by Dundas Street West and on the south by the Queen Street West district, the park is immediately accessible from major pedestrian and bicycling thoroughfares. And it is bounded on the east and west by quiet residential streets. Accordingly, the park has a large natural "constituency". The park also sports a range of environments, including tennis courts, a playground, a hockey rink, a dog walking bowl, a grove, a range of picnic tables, a greenhouse, a community center, and a swimming pool. The northwestern panhandle is home to a farmer's market on Tuesday afternoons from spring to fall.
Toronto (/təˈrɒntoʊ/ tə-RON-toh; locally [təˈɹɒɾ̃ə] or [ˈtɹɒɾ̃ə]) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anchor of the Golden Horseshoe, an urban agglomeration of 9,765,188 people (as of 2021) surrounding the western end of Lake Ontario, while the Greater Toronto Area proper had a 2021 population of 6,712,341. Toronto is an international centre of business, finance, arts, sports and culture, and is recognized as one of the most multicultural and cosmopolitan cities in the world.
Indigenous peoples have travelled through and inhabited the Toronto area, located on a broad sloping plateau interspersed with rivers, deep ravines, and urban forest, for more than 10,000 years. After the broadly disputed Toronto Purchase, when the Mississauga surrendered the area to the British Crown, the British established the town of York in 1793 and later designated it as the capital of Upper Canada. During the War of 1812, the town was the site of the Battle of York and suffered heavy damage by American troops. York was renamed and incorporated in 1834 as the city of Toronto. It was designated as the capital of the province of Ontario in 1867 during Canadian Confederation. The city proper has since expanded past its original limits through both annexation and amalgamation to its current area of 630.2 km2 (243.3 sq mi).
The diverse population of Toronto reflects its current and historical role as an important destination for immigrants to Canada. More than half of residents were born outside of Canada, more than half of residents belong to a visible minority group, and over 200 distinct ethnic origins are represented among its inhabitants. While the majority of Torontonians speak English as their primary language, over 160 languages are spoken in the city. The mayor of Toronto is elected by direct popular vote to serve as the chief executive of the city. The Toronto City Council is a unicameral legislative body, comprising 25 councillors since the 2018 municipal election, representing geographical wards throughout the city.
Toronto is a prominent centre for music, theatre, motion picture production, and television production, and is home to the headquarters of Canada's major national broadcast networks and media outlets. Its varied cultural institutions, which include numerous museums and galleries, festivals and public events, entertainment districts, national historic sites, and sports activities, attract over 43 million tourists each year. Toronto is known for its many skyscrapers and high-rise buildings, in particular the tallest free-standing structure on land outside of Asia, the CN Tower.
The city is home to the Toronto Stock Exchange, the headquarters of Canada's five largest banks, and the headquarters of many large Canadian and multinational corporations. Its economy is highly diversified with strengths in technology, design, financial services, life sciences, education, arts, fashion, aerospace, environmental innovation, food services, and tourism. Toronto is the third-largest tech hub in North America after Silicon Valley and New York City, and the fastest growing." - info from Wikipedia.
The fall of 2022 I did my 3rd major cycling tour. I began my adventure in Montreal, Canada and finished in Savannah, GA. This tour took me through the oldest parts of Quebec and the 13 original US states. During this adventure I cycled 7,126 km over the course of 2.5 months and took more than 68,000 photos. As with my previous tours, a major focus was to photograph historic architecture.
On this trip I had a surprise 4 day layover in Toronto.
Now on Instagram.