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Instantly recognizable view of Fernald Point and Sharks Cove viewed from the northbound lane of Highway 101 at Sheffield Drive. This is in the Montecito/Summerland section of Santa Barbara County, California. The city of Santa Barbara is visible through the haze in the distance above the trees. This photo dates from my decade living in Santa Barbara and brings back lovely memories of 50 years ago. White cardboard mount Ektachrome Transparency Processed by Kodak slide date stamped Aug 74.
Similar vantage point 2021:
View from the saddle on Cathedral Rock.
Cathedral Rock Trail ascends one of the most recognizable rock formations in the heart of Red Rock Country. Many visitors hike the first quarter mile to enjoy the fantastic views from the first ledge, where the trail meets Templeton Trail. From here, the trail becomes as much a rock climb as a hike, requiring non-technical scrambling up rock faces and ledges to make it to the final ascent to the top. The saddle between two spires offers spectacular views. The unmaintained trail explores the lava dike and spires at the top.
Photo by Deborah Lee Soltesz, January 12, 2011. Credit: USFS Coconino National Forest. Learn more about hiking Cathedral Rock Trail No. 170 in the Red Rock Ranger District of the Coconino National Forest website.
“Suppose this is it…” I said as I looked at the address written on the small slip of paper Fluxx had given me ages ago. I then gazed upward at what looked to be a decently sized facility with “Flickr Fighters” printed on a sign above the entrance.
“Must be a typo…”
Shaking off the peculiar wordage I marched inside to find surprisingly few of my colleagues. Hardly any of which I recognized.
This could prove difficult…
“You alright there Count?” A slightly modulated voice spoke behind me.
I quickly whipped around to find a figure clad in silver and purple power armor with a cape similar to my own. I recognized them from the Halloween incident but like most instances, I could not remember their name.
“Ah, Hello there. By chance do you have any idea where we keep the archives?”
“Try the office next to the meeting room.”
“Which is where exactly?”
“Just follow me…” the figure said with a sigh as he marched through the lobby and down the hall.
We reached the office and they walked over to the filing cabinet and attempted to open it only to discover it was locked.
“Allow me.” I said calmly as I pulled out a couple of bobby pins from my pocket. And began picking the lock.
“Why don’t you just carry lock picks?” They asked likely wondering why a gentleman had hairpins on his person.
“Lock picks always raise suspicion… Not to mention I never could get the hang of them…”
With that, a satisfying “click” sounded as I positioned the last pin and opened the drawer.
“Let’s see… ah, here we are.”
I pulled out a large folder filled with sheets of paper containing a photo of each member along with their name, powers, and a summary of their background.
“What is it you’re looking for anyway?”
“I’m looking for heroes with portal generation abilities…” I answered as I flipped through the papers.
“You mean like this?”
With a flick of the wrist, the hero summoned a small purple rift in space-time about the size of a pie pan.
Then something clicked in my cluttered mind and I remembered that the hero in front of me went by the name Rift Runner.
“Well. I feel like an idio-“
Suddenly a fellow in a black tactical suit wearing a bandana over his mouth entered the office.
“What’s going on here?!” Agent Sharp exclaimed.
“Oh bother, time to go!” I said quickly grabbing Rift runner’s shoulder and shifting to a random dimension.
“Youch! Watch it man, that hasn’t fully healed- What the?! Where the heck are we?!” Rift shouted as he looked around clearly startled by our sudden change in location.
I looked around and saw we stood in a room with yellow wallpaper covered in mildew stains, slightly damp foul-smelling carpet and Fluorescent lights that buzzed loudly overhead.
“It appears we have ended up in the realm known only as the backrooms.” I replied as I pocketed the folder.
“Backrooms? Sounds like one of those crazy stories you find online…”
“Well my friend, the multiverse is often a very odd thing. Sometimes one realm’s crazy story is another’s reality… Now, if we just stay put we should return to the realm we came from shortly.”
“Can’t you just shift us back?”
“One does not enter or exit this realm on purpose. Only by accident. If I were to shift now we’d end up in one of the more treacherous levels of this office building of the damned…”
Suddenly a loud howl echoed through the halls causing Fluffenstein to leap out of my pocket and dash off down the hall.
“Oh bugger! Come on! And try to keep up, this place will drive you mad if we get separated!” exclaimed as I pulled out my cutlass and a bottle of almond water before we ran through the endless halls after the cat.
As we searched I explained the Apophis Ra situation to Rift in order to try and maintain our sanity.
“So what does this guy have to do with me?” Rift asked.
“Well, I honestly have no idea what Apophis is capable of. Thus I devised a backup plan utilizing portals just in case- There!”
I pointed as a white blur dashed towards us and clung to the leg of my trousers.
“Easy there mate. You’re safe now.” I said consoling the frightened feline as I picked him up and gently placed him in my coat. Buttoning it to ensure he stayed put.
“I wouldn’t be so sure Count…” Rift said pointing to a pair of shadowy creatures in the distance slowly approaching us.
“Hounds…” I whispered as I passed Rift the bottle of almond water. “Here, start backing up slowly and If they turn hostile douse them with this.”
Rift nodded and we began to walk backwards. The creatures slowly picking up speed and their appearance becoming clearer as they got closer. Revealing not the canine shape they had at a distance but that of distorted and tangled humanoids walking on all fours with unnatural movements. With a loud snarl, the creatures began rapidly scuttling towards us. I quickly raised my sword and prepared to strike the beast in front as it lunged towards me when suddenly a pair of purple vortexes opened in front of the first creature and above the other as the first tumbled in and sank its claws into the other’s back causing a fight to break out between them. I turned to my companion to see he had his hand raised and was breathing heavy as though he had just had quite a workout.
“Quick Mate, the water!” I exclaimed.
Rift tossed me the bottle and I ripped off the cap frantically before splashing the liquid onto the beasts causing them to scream in pain as it burned their shadowy hide.
I then began shouting and swinging my sword as I walked towards them and the creatures scrambled back down the hall they came from.
“Haha! That’s it ya yella bellied beasties! Run back to the void where ya belong!” I shouted as I pocketed my weapon and turned back to my companion.
“Exceptional work my friend!” I said as I went to pat Rift on the shoulder but caught myself before I made the mistake.
“What even were those things?!”
“Most refer to them as the Hounds of Tindalos after one of Lovecraft’s abominations.” I explained. “Now then, what say we find a way out of this wretched place before Cuthulhu shows up…”
“Should I take that last statement a joke or an actual concern?”
“Best to take it as both mate…” I replied with a laugh. “Best to take it as both.”
After a bit more walking we turned a corner to find the hallway opened into a desert landscape filled with mesquite bushes and cacti.
“Ah, an exit!” I stated as we walked into the “room” only for the hallway to vanish once we turned around.
“Now. Let’s find out where we are…” I said as I began pulling out my navigational equipment. Compass, spyglass, sextant and the like.
“Hold on Capt Sparrow.” Rift said likely referencing something. “Let me handle this.”
Rift then pulled out a smartphone and opened up some sort of map on it.
“Looks like we’re just outside Laredo. Just a quick jump and we’ll be back in Advent City.”
Rift opened a portal under our feet and we disappeared through it and landed in the lounge room of the Flickr Fighters Headquarters. Rift landing on a chair while I crashed backwards into the coffee table.
“Sorry about that Count. I’m used to traveling alone.”
“That’s understandable. Most Vampire hunters choose to be lone wolves…” I said as I picked myself up and let the cat out of my coat before I sat down on the couch.
“Vampire hunter? What are you talking about?”
“Your cape, it’s a trophy from a vampire hunt correct?” I asked. “Got mine after a fight with Dracula last centur- er, a few years ago.”
Rift shook his head.
“I Just thought the cape looked cool and the guys back at HQ whipped this one up for me.” Rift explained. “It helps with gliding and deflects heat and ice rays.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle a bit at Rift’s description.
“Fancy. But I’ll stick with being able to say I pulled mine out of the dust pile that was once a legendary strigoi.”
Just then our discussion was interrupted by the lights flickering out and then on again to reveal the sudden and dramatic arrival of agent sharp.
“The folder. Hand it over.” He said sternly.
I sighed as I pulled out the file and tossed it onto the coffee table. (Which was now cracked down the center and was being held up by only three legs.)
“Anything else officer?” I asked mocking Sharp’s serious tone.
“Yes. You’ve yet to show up at any of the group training sessions or any of the meetings…”
“In my defense, I wasn’t aware either of those were things.”
“I figured as much.” Sharp said shifting to a somewhat softer tone as he picked up the file. “According to Fluxx you only knew about Gravestein last Thursday because he happened to say something to you.”
“Hey, I was at the warehouse wasn’t I? What’s the big deal?”
“The point I’m getting at is the Flickr fighters rely upon communication between heroes. And we can’t function properly if one of them doesn’t even have a phone.”
“I’ll have you know I have two excellent telephones.” I said pulling one out of my pocket. “Why this one even has one of those newfangled rotary dial setups.”
“Man, I didn’t know they still made these…” Rift said as he picked up one of my phones and fiddled with the dial. “And how exactly are we supposed to send you messages on these?”
“Well, I figured we could set up a party line. Telephones still have that right?”
“No Count, they do not.” Sharp said with a sigh. “Look, you have access to a multiverse full of tech. Just find a smartphone you like and then get someone more technologically inclined to connect it to HQ’s network for you.”
“Not to mention you’ll have access to the group files and don’t have to raid the office.” Rift said passing the phone back to me.
As I stuck the phone into my pocket I noticed a sneaky look in Sharp’s eyes as a smirk came across his face.
“Which reminds me, which of you left a hairpin jammed into the lock on the cabinet?”
“He did it.” Rift said quickly slipping through a portal before I had a chance to pull him down with me.
“Well. I believe some extra time in the training room will be suitable consequences. I’ll see you at 0500 tomorrow morning for your first session.”
Sharp then exited the room and once he was a good distance away Rift appeared through a portal and landed back in his seat.
“Sorry man, I survived one training session with him, I don’t know if I’d last through another.”
“Quite alright ol’ chap. But you better not let me down tonight.”
“No prob. I’ll meet you at the museum ’round eleven. This should be interesting…”
That evening…
I walked around the museum half shifted to avoid detection. Looking at the exhibits to pass the time as I waited for either Rift or Apophis to arrive.
I couldn’t help but notice the differences in this dimension’s history I wasn’t aware of. The Sphinx not having a nose, three pyramids at Giza instead of four. But oddest exhibit of all was in the American history exhibit. A playbill from the Ford theatre’s production of “Our American Cousin.” Perhaps this realm’s version of the event went differently than I had learned. If Lincoln hadn’t bent down to retrieve his wife’s handkerchief Booth’s scheme could have easily succeeded.
“Excuse me, sir.” The night guard said rounding the corner and walking towards me. “I’m gonna have to ask you to le- GAH!”
The guard screamed and frantically drew his weapon as he saw the beam of his flashlight hit the wall behind me.
“Ah, Sorry my good fellow.” I said shifting back to where I was no longer translucent and held up my ITF badge. I’m an agent from the Interdimensional Task Force. I’m here to investigate a potential robbery.”
“Interdimensonal? Look, kid, I have no idea what the heck you are or what you’re doin’ here and I honestly don’t care. Now come along-“
Suddenly a portal opened under the guard and he disappeared through it.
“Gotten in trouble with the cops already?.” Rift said as he walked up behind me.
“So it would seem… The ITF must not be very well known in this realm.”
I then noticed rift was holding a cloth knapsack and something in it was moving.
“um, what’s in the bag?”
“your cat.” Rift said shoving the bag in my face. “you left them at HQ. Thought you might need them for whatever plan you have.”
I hadn’t thought of that… If Apophis’ is fascinated with the Egyptian religion then Fluffenstein could be a valuable weapon.
Genius idea mate! Just like The Battle of Pelusium!”
“The what?”
“During the first Persian conquest of Egypt, Cambyses II’s troops painted cat faces on their shields and placed dogs, sheep, cats, ibises and whatever other animals the Egyptians held sacred onto the front lines. Thus, the Egyptians surrendered at once instead of facing the ‘cat army.'”
“Huh, neat… But last time I checked two guys and a cat aren’t an army…”
“What we need is not an army, but a lookout.” I answered. “Follow me into the Egyptian exhibit.
We walked down the hall a ways until we came to a room filled with ancient Egyptian artifacts. Or rather, what the people of this dimension assume to be Egyptian.
“See that camera up there?” I said gesturing to the security device above us in the corner of the room.
“Lemme guess. you want me to head up to the security room and keep an eye on the cameras while you wait here for Apophis”
“You catch on quickly my friend.” I said with a grin. “When he gets here focus on the Egyptian exhibit’s camera and whenever you see me tip my hat open a rift under Apophis into that sarcophagus over there.”
“You got it Count.”
Rift gave me a quick salute before opening a rift behind him and disappearing through it.
“Well Fluffenstein.” I said pulling the kitten from the bag. “I hope that Antiquitus has the same superstitions as Third Dynasty Egypt.”
Around thirty minutes had passed and I had shifted in an armchair from my lair and was beginning to doze off in it whilst stroking Fluffenstein. Something about petting a small furry creature always puts one’s mind at ease.
Suddenly the lights in the room turned on and then began flickering rhythmically as an electronic noise began echoing around me.
I quickly stood up and shifted the chair away to my lair and tucked Fluffenstein behind my back under my cape.
Wait a minute, that noise, is that, music?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-Cbb0AyhBU
Suddenly a cloud of blue smoke appeared and Apophis Ra stepped through it holding an ankh staff in one hand and a strange obsidian tablet in the other.
“Friends, Romans, countrymen…” The Cultist said in a semi-robotic voice. “Apophis Ra here coming at you live with a crossover I have been waiting dynasties to make! Here he is, the menace of the multiverse, Bane of Anubis, Count Dimensio!”
“Bane of Anubis? That’s a new one…” I joked trying to mask my confusion as Apophis held the tablet up towards me.
“Oh yeah, my dude! That ol’ doggo is ticked with you. What with your tomb raiding and all. Right folks?”
“Who the devil are you talking to?!”
I exclaimed in frustration as I scanned the room. “What manner of multidimensional demons have you brought here?”
“Chill, I’m just vloggin dude, Gotta keep them followers posted on my conquest of the multiverse.”
“Well, I’m afraid your cult’s quest ends here…” I said drawing my sword.
“I wouldn’t be so sure…” Apophis replied as he set his device on top of a nearby crate and held up his staff with both hands. “BEHOLD THE POWER OF APOPHIS RA!”
As he tapped the end of his staff on the floor a loud hissing erupted from the walls and hundreds of vipers began pouring out of the cracks and formed a defensive ring around their master.
“Impressive eh? Go ahead my man, try and strike me!” Apophis taunted
“With pleasure…” I said tipping my hat.
On cue, a rift opened under Apophis and he fell into the sealed sarcophagus in the corner.
Before a larger rift opened and the vipers fell into it.
“Well, that was easy.” Rift said as he appeared beside me.
“Indeed, I didn’t even have to use the-“
Suddenly I was cut off by the sound of a laser blast and the lid of the sarcophagus shattering and flying across the room.
“HEY! Not cool dude!” Apophis shouted as he lept out of the casket. “You totally messed up the vibe I had going!”
“Never mind…” I said with a sigh as I dodged a blast from the arch of Apophis’ staff.
“Did he just say vibe? I thought you said he was a Cultist.” Rift asked as we ducked behind a display case whilst Apophis was firing his staff and swinging it around like a maniac whilst doing some kind of strange dance. “He looks more like one of those annoying internet celebrities…”
“I’m certain, he even has a magic tablet that he uses to keep his followers updated on the fight.”
“Tablet huh. Where?”
I pointed out the strange device to Rift and he opened a portal under it causing it to fall right into his hands.
“Uh, Count? this is just a smartphone.” Rift explained looking the device over. “albeit a rather strange looking one. I mean it looks like he’s live-streaming the fight on some kind of youtube style site but the text is all in caps and some kind of weird language.”
“All in capitals? Hand me that…”
I took the phone and sure enough, it was filming us right that moment and many different people were posting messages beside the video in what appeared to be Latin. Or at least a variant of it.
“Hmm, I believe you’re right… it does appear to be an internet-like system..”
“Hey, I have an idea.” RIft whispered. “If his internet is anything like ours I know something that just might give us an advantage.”
“Hey! You fellas comin’ out or am I gonna have to disappoint all my followers?” Apophis asked mockingly before smiling towards where his phone had been and noticing it wasn’t there.
“What the- WHO STOLE MY EYE-PHONE?”
“You mean this?” I taunted as I shifted through the display and walked into the center of the room. “Sorry ‘dude’ but I just had a talk with your followers they think this fight is missing something.”
“Oh yeah? And what do my loyal legion of fans what to see?”
“BEHOLD! THE SLAYER OF RODENTS, DESTROYER OF HOUSEPLANTS! FLUFFENSTEIN!!!” I exclaimed pulling the cat out and holding him in view of the phone’s camera.
“GAH! GET THAT BASTET SPAWN AWAY FROM ME!!” Apophis screamed as he stumbled backward.
“Well now, An Egyptian who’s afraid of cats? Now I’ve seen everything…” I said with a laugh.
“I’m n-not afraid of th-them I’m just Aler- aah, Aah, ACHOO!!”
Apophis then entered a sneezing fit and dropped his staff in the process. which rift quickly snatched up with a portal.
“Allergic?” Rift said with an obvious chuckle in his voice he was trying to hide.
“Yeah…” Apophis answered with a sniffle, reaching for his staff and fumbling around with watery eyes.
“Well, It appears we have the upper-hand here Apophis… Perhaps you better come along peacefully before we have to take you to a hospital…”
“Sure man, ACHOO! J-just get that thing away from me…”
a short while later we had Apophis in cuffs and we had just finished dropping off Fluffenstein at my lair with Jack.
“Right, So I assume you’ll take it from here?” Rift asked.
“I can, but I’d prefer if I had someone else with me. helps keep the cops from getting suspicious if I have a hero with me…”
“But I thought you work for some top-secret Men in black style organization?”
Men In Black? Good heavens no. It’s just the inter-dimensional police. Not the CIA. Now come on…”
I grabbed Rift and Apophis’ shoulders and shifted into the large front lobby of the police station.
marble pillars lining the walls, royal blue carpeting, and a large wooden desk in the center.
“Well look what we got here.” The red-haired woman at the desk stated. “Chief said you’d be comin’ in with a convict but I didn’t expect you to bring in two.”
“Uh, No Miss Lana. This is Rift Runner, He’s part of the hero team I joined.”
Lana raised an eyebrow suspiciously as she looked Rift over.
“If you say so sugar. leave Apophis with Charlie and then head on back to the chief’s office. I’ll let her know Y’all are here…”
“Thank you, ma’am. Come on Rift.”
I walked towards what must have seemed like a wall to Rift and apophis until we stepped through it and into the prisoner processing center.
“So this is where you guys lock up the crooks?” Rift asked.
“No, this is just where we throw the book at em, and that fellow over there is our head book thrower. How’s it going, Charlie?”
The tall gawky looking man jolted up in his seat and straightened his uniform only to sigh once he turned his desk chair around to find me.
“Oh, It’s just you. I thought it was somebody important.” Charlie said with a yawn. “Just stick the perp in cell seven while I work out the papers…”
“Cell seven? Well now, You’re a lucky man Apophis.” I joked. “You get to stay in my old room.”
Apophis merely rolled his eyes as rift shoved him down the hall and into the cell with a seven above it.
“Right, You have a good evening Charlie, I’ll fill out any paperwork later. Gotta go see chief.”
“HEY! you still haven’t turned those papers from-“
I quickly grabbed Rift and shifted to the Cheif’s office door before Charlie could finish.
“Sorry about that Rift, I can’t stand paperwork…”
“Tell me about it. you wouldn’t believe how many reports Sharp has us fill out when we capture a villain…”
“You’re preaching to the choir mate. Preaching to the choir…”I said with a grin as I knocked on the door.
“Enter…” The Chief replied from inside.
I opened the door to see Chief Cahill standing at the window behind her desk. gazing out at the futuristic skyline of Capitus Prime.
“Beautiful isn’t it?” Chief asked as she turned around and sat down at her desk and turned on the banker’s lamp that sat on it.
“I always prefered the look of Capitus Delta.” I replied.
“Of course you would. Have a seat Jones, You too Monteleone.”
“HOW DID YOU KNOW-“
“Your Name? Oh relax, I know more about you flickr fighters than Sharp! why else would I have sent Jones here to Advent city to serve his parole.”
“Well, just don’t tell anybody alright? I prefer to keep my secret identity.”
“Of course, My lips are sealed…” Chief replied with a locking motion over her lips. “Now then, tell me everything that happened…”
I bet many of you will recognize this view. At least two famous buildings are clearly visible: Stockholm City Hall and The Riddarholmen Church. As you can see, the subway trains kept coming and going on the tracks below. I wish they'd have lamps on the roofs or something to allow for smoother light trails. Anyway. The photo was taken from The Lock Area. See also: Interconnectedness.
Part I – Part II – Part III – Part IV – Part V – Part VI – Part VII – Part VIII
Connoisseurs will recognize this brilliant invention which, strangely, never reached toilets in the West.
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Harman reusable Camera
Kodak Ultramax 400
View the complete, uncensored series :
Man I hate Airport Security, it takes hours till you're through it. And of course the Plane came late, beccause my two 'buddy's' had to get out in Metropolis. Well, seems I'm late to this 'war', guess I've got to make up for lost time. Time to Suit-Up.
_
Batwing Arrives at #25: Archie Goodwin International Airport, and Claims it as his Base.
_
Sorry it took so long, brickbros, I was extremly busy of late, but I'm gonna make up for that :)
Sorry that the build and story is so short :(
Comments and Favs appreciated :)
Well, many of us recognize this "style." Ugh. I have had abdominal pain since the day before Thanksgiving, and today, I had an upper endoscopy. In years past, I have had a hernia repair, and that was suspect; also possibility of an ulcer. We don't have all the info in yet, but hope to know what we are going to do with me by Monday. Yikes. As the saying goes- THIS IS ONLY A TEST! but what that means is that nothing is solved, and I am still in pain . . . I always seem to do the fun stuff during holidays. :(
Recognized as one of the Midwest's largest living history festivals, come share in the excitement and make plans to join us August 14-16 2015, at Galesburg Heritage Days. A family event, featuring both pre-1840 early American Colonial Frontier Rendezvous, and a thoroughly fielded Civil War Battle Reenactment/Encampment, along with dozens of unique period merchants...all within walking distance of each other.
Offering 411 acres of woodland and prairie plus a 130 acre lake and your choice of primitive or modern amenities and the best period shopping available. We have one of the most beautiful and truly unique event locations in the Midwest, drawing well over 600 reenactors from 14 different states.
Info from,
Recognized as one of the Midwest's largest living history festivals, come share in the excitement and make plans to join us August 14-16 2015, at Galesburg Heritage Days. A family event, featuring both pre-1840 early American Colonial Frontier Rendezvous, and a thoroughly fielded Civil War Battle Reenactment/Encampment, along with dozens of unique period merchants...all within walking distance of each other.
Offering 411 acres of woodland and prairie plus a 130 acre lake and your choice of primitive or modern amenities and the best period shopping available. We have one of the most beautiful and truly unique event locations in the Midwest, drawing well over 600 reenactors from 14 different states.
Info from,
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.
This is Mills Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park. This is one of my favorite spots in the park. I had such a great day prior to taking this photo.
I had started off by hiking to Dream Lake for sunrise. There were a bunch of people there for the sunrise, and a couple of them I recognized from the morning before. I chatted up with one fellow named Josh who was on a two-week photo trek like me. He was making his way out west and inquired about Aspen/ Maroon Bells which I had been to the week prior. He made his way out there after RMNP and got some great shots from there. You can check out his great work here: www.facebook.com/joshmeierphotography?fref=pb&hc_loca...
After the sunrise at Dream, I made my way down and took some photos at Bear Lake which is at the trail head. I then swapped some gear in my car and decided to hike up to Sky Pond, which is about a nine-mile round trip. As I headed onto the trail, I passed a guy who was heading in my direction. I asked him where he was heading to and he said he was thinking of going to sky pond but was also debating whether to go to Andrew’s Glacier which branches off half-way to Sky Pond. He decided on going to Sky Pond, and we ended up sticking together for the hike up, which I think really helped me out. I had decided to pack a telephoto lens in my gear which really weighed my pack down (and turned out to be pointless as I never came across any wildlife on the trail). Having company on the trail took my mind off the weight I was lugging around and pushed me further on.
The hike up was amazingly beautiful. It started off by passing Alberta Falls, and then made its climb up to the Loch, another beautiful lake in Glacier Gorge (the gorge the hike runs through). After taking a break at the Loch, we continued our way around the lake, and eventually up to Timberline Falls- a 30 foot waterfall. To continue on the hike, you need to climb up alongside the falls which I had been worrying about because I don’t like heights that much. Climbing up turned out not to be as bad as I imagined since I didn’t look down. At the top of the falls, we took another break where we ran into an older gent who was also making his way to Sky Pond. We chatted for a bit and then the three of us decided to continue on to Sky Pond. The trail threw us off for a bit, as someone made cairns (piles of rocks used as trail markers when there aren’t any trees) going upward. We began to climb up and lost track of the cairns. After trying to figure out where to go, we saw the trail further down below and realized we shouldn’t have made our way upward when we saw the cairns but should have stayed more level where we turned off. We were able to make our way down without having to backtrack and soon arrived at the Lake of Glass. Continuing from here, we continued a short while to Sky Pond. Although the lake itself was not that impressive, the mountains and peaks surrounding it were pretty amazing. We even saw some rock climbers way up high on the sheer rock walls (my telephoto lens became useful at this point).
After having lunch, we made our way back down the mountain. Going down Timberline was less enjoyable this time around. At one point I had a hard time getting down a six foot drop, but once I realized I should try lowering my back down first, I had a much easier time. When we reached the Loch, the older gent decided to hang around there for a bit, and Gus (the fellow started the hike with) and I continued down. We decided to make a detour and head up toward Mills Lake. I wanted to photograph Mills Lake with late day light, as morning light is at the wrong angle and too harsh. It was a half mile further up, just below the Loch, but at this point it felt like two miles. We finally made it there and what an impressive view. The light was still high, so I wanted to wait for the sun to go lower, and also for the breeze to hopefully calm down so I would be able to capture the reflection. Gus and I chatted for awhile and rested our legs. During that time, someone came further down the trail (which leads to Black Lake) and asked if we had a cell phone which had a signal. Neither of us did. A seventy something year old woman, two miles further up trail had cut her leg real bad on a rock, and needed medical attention. The person explained that someone had already started there way down to get help. I had considered going up to offer help, but I knew I didn’t have the energy for two miles up mountain, and also, there really was nothing I could do to help. There were other family members with her until helped arrived.
Shortly after, Gus decided to head back down the mountain as he had to get to his campsite. I decided to hang back longer as I still wanted the light to be a bit lower for the photo. I made my way over to Jewel Lake which is just behind Mills Lake, a pretty lake but nowhere near as impressive as Mills. I returned to Mills and the wind had calmed down and I was able to get the photo I wanted. Shortly before, the rescuers had arrived. One stayed back at Mills, as they had cell coverage in this location to communicate with headquarters, while the others went up. Eventually one person came back down, and explained the woman was a former ER nurse and was asking for a helicopter to airlift her out. Her wound was not life threatening, and they explained they could bring in a helicopter but she would have to pay for it (I believe the other option was to carry her down). She was insisting on a helicopter but refusing to pay for. The rescue personnel were trying to figure out their other options with central headquarters on how to get the woman down from the mountain. Once I heard she was demanding a helicopter but refusing to pay for it, I lost sympathy for her. I got my shots, packed up my gear, and headed down the mountain after a long and very fulfilling day.
That day’s hike was by far the best hike I ever had. Between the views, the beauty and the company along the way, it was a day I’ll never forget.
I don't recognize anything as my own, and if such a thing exists, I am floating high above the rest, observing and ruminating in my sterile blanket of heavy solitude.
Far away, yet firmly tethered to my fatherland.
Not free.
My feet are infinitely and unimaginably far from the ground.
I lost my footing a long time ago.
The two kilometers of immediately recognizable pebbles that make up Budleigh Salterton’s beach mark the western start of Devon’s Jurassic Coast. Part of this ancient World Heritage Coastline, Budleigh Salterton is popular with families due to its calm, clean waters which are perfect for bathing, although the water has been known to occasionally suffer from algal blooms.
Beachgoers also have access to not one, but three beach cafes, beach huts which are available for hire and all the amenities in the nearby, pleasant little town of Budleigh Salterton.
On the quieter, Western end of the beach, large red cliffs rise up from the shoreline. These sandstone formations date back to the Triassic period, about 240 million years ago. Frequent erosion and falling rock is common here, so visitors are asked to take care when exploring this area of the beach, especially when with dogs or children.
The more popular, Eastern end of Budleigh Salterton is home to the Otter Estuary and its nature reserve. A well-presented visitor’s centre as well as two viewing platforms allow visitors to explore a variety of saltmarsh vegetation as well as a large wintering wildfowl population.
www.thebeachguide.co.uk/south-west-england/devon/budleigh...
They are recognized by their distinctive long snout and geniculate antennae with small clubs; beyond that, curculionids have considerable diversity of form and size, with adult lengths ranging from 1 to 40 millimetres (0.04 to 1.57 in).
Weevils are almost entirely plant feeders, and most species are associated with a narrow range of hosts, in many cases only living on a single species. With so many species to classify and over 400 genera, the taxonomy of this family is quite complicated, and authors disagree on the number and placement of various subfamilies, tribes and subtribes.
This image is Straight Out Of Camera (SOOC).
They are recognized by their distinctive long snout and geniculate antennae with small clubs; beyond that, curculionids have considerable diversity of form and size, with adult lengths ranging from 1 to 40 millimetres (0.04 to 1.57 in). Weevils are almost entirely plant feeders, and most species are associated with a narrow range of hosts, in many cases only living on a single species. With so many species to classify and over 400 genera, the taxonomy of this family is quite complicated, and authors disagree on the number and placement of various subfamilies, tribes and subtribes. The word "weevil" has been made famous by the boll weevil, which lays its eggs and feeds inside cotton bolls, ruining the crop.
This image is Straight Out Of Camera (SOOC).
One of the most recognizable buildings in Texas is the Alamo in downtown San Antonio Texas. It is known worldwide by its characteristic shape. The Alamo began as the Mission San Antonio de Valero, a Spanish Mission, in the early 1700's, one of the first in Texas. The establishment of this mission played a crucial role in the settlement of San Antonio, Texas and the Southwest. "Mission San Antonio de Valero" has not always been at this location. The original mission was founded near the headwaters of San Pedro Creek in 1718. In 1719 the mission was relocated a short distance to the south of where it sits today. A 1724 storm destroyed structures at the new site, prompting Spanish officials to relocate the mission to its present spot. It was the mission compound constructed here at the 1724 location that later gained fame as the Alamo. While this is the third spot for Mission San Antonio de Valero, it is the only place the "Alamo" has ever been.The San Antonio de Valero Mission was built to provide local indigenous people, or Indians, with protection from hostile tribes and conversion to the Catholic faith, the state religion of Spain at that time. Accordingly, the first residents of San Antonio de Valero were members of Native American tribes like the Payaya, Sama, Pachaque and other Coahuiltecan Indian tribes. Spanish missionaries provided religious services and directed the work of those residing inside the Mission. Those residents who died in the mission were often buried in front of the Church, according to Spanish tradition. Consequently, the area in front of the Alamo Shrine represented with a patch of green grass, the Campo Santo, is considered hallowed burial ground.
It's difficult to pinpoint when the Valero mission was first called "Alamo." In 1803 a company of Spanish soldiers arrived in San Antonio de Valero or Bejar, now simply known as San Antonio. They were housed in and around the mission, which became known as the Presidio de Bejar. Over time the presidio/mission became know as The Alamo and its garrison as The Alamo Company presumably because of a row of Cottonwood Trees nearby the Mission. Alamo means cottonwood tree in Spanish.
San Antonio de Bexar had long been an important place in Texas. Not only was it home to a military garrison, it was a crossroads and center of commerce. By the early 1830s, the town's population had grown to nearly 2,500. With the outbreak of revolt in Coahuila y Tejas, San Antonio even resumed its old role as the capital of Texas. San Antonio experienced two sieges and battles during the Texas Revolution. The first, the Siege and Battle of Bexar, began in late October 1835 after the incident in Gonzales when angry colonists and Tejanos followed the retreating Alamo Company back to San Antonio in the early stage of the revolution. When the Texian siege of the town stalled, soldier and empresario Ben Milam rallied a force on December 5 that fought its way into the center of San Antonio. After a bloody five-day, house-to-house fight, the Texians took control of the town and Mexican General Martin Perfecto de Cos surrendered the town and the public property it held. Thus, the rebels gained control of San Antonio and the Alamo.
The second battle occurred when the Mexican forces marched north to squash the rebellion and take back San Antonio de Bexar. On February 23, 1836, the arrival of General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna's army outside San Antonio nearly caught the rebels by surprise. Undaunted, the Texians and Tejanos prepared to defend the Alamo together. Eventually the rebels retreated to the inside of the Alamo compound and the siege of the Alamo began. The defenders held out for 13 days against Santa Anna's army. William B. Travis, the commander of the Alamo sent forth couriers carrying pleas for help to communities in Texas. On the eighth day of the siege, a band of 32 volunteers from Gonzales arrived, bringing the number of defenders to nearly two hundred. Legend holds that with the possibility of additional help fading, Colonel Travis drew a line on the ground and asked any man willing to stay and fight to step over — all except one did.
As the defenders saw it, the Alamo was the key to the defense of Texas, and they were ready to give their lives rather than surrender their position to General Santa Anna. Among the Alamo's garrison were Jim Bowie, renowned knife fighter, and David Crockett, famed frontiersman and former congressman from Tennessee.
The final assault came before daybreak on the morning of March 6, 1836, as columns of Mexican soldiers emerged from the predawn darkness and headed for the Alamo's walls. Cannon and small arms fire from inside the Alamo beat back several attacks. Regrouping, the Mexicans scaled the walls and rushed into the compound.
Once inside, they turned a captured cannon on the Long Barrack and church, blasting open the barricaded doors. The desperate struggle continued until the defenders were overwhelmed. By sunrise, the battle had ended and Santa Anna entered the Alamo compound to survey the scene of his victory.
While the facts surrounding the siege of the Alamo continue to be debated, there is no doubt about what the battle has come to symbolize. People worldwide continue to remember the Alamo as a heroic struggle against impossible odds; a place where men made the ultimate sacrifice for freedom. For this reason, the Alamo remains hallowed ground and the Shrine of Texas Liberty.
The Alamo was designated a National Historical Landmark on December 19, 1960. National Historic Landmarks are on the National Register of Historic Places and have high historical significance. Out of more than 80,000 places on the National Register of Historic Places only about 2,430 are NHLs.
This is my LEGO® design of a "RECOGNIZER" as seen in the movie TRON:Legacy. Here you can see it arriving at TRON City (also designed by me).
The Model consists of 4087 Bricks and took about 48 hours to design. I used LEGO's own LDD (Lego Digital Designer) Software during the design phase. Preparation and conversion for rendering with POVRAY was done in "Bricksmith".
I'm using a iMac (6 core i7, with 4GB of RAM) to render the images in POVRAY 3.7 64bit.
I rendered a 3540 frame long animation where I show off the mechanical design of my creation. Check it out on Youtube: youtu.be/vpS_5QYYulQ?hd=1
Recognize the boot?
Please keep in mind that, although I took and processed this photo…
Where it ended up, was as a result of a passionate and diligent team effort…
It was the combined effort of the “Engine 57 Graphics Support Group”.
Our group generated a phenomenal quantity of quality artwork..
Our collaboration was one of those experiences that happens only a few times in life.
I can’t list the names of the team members without their permission.
But, they deserve credit and I hope they distribute their work for all the world to see..
We produced slide shows, funeral programs, a web site,
photographs, ceremonial art and banners…
Much of which I’m sure you’ve seen in the news without knowing it.
All the members of our team purposefully left our names off our original work
out of respect for the recently departed.
But now, it’s time to celebrate our efforts..
Somehow, I believe, the members of Engine 57 would want us to pick up and move on…
That’s what I would want…
Thanks for having a look everyone and it’s good to be back..
Rectify or Games?
The Recognizer sorts rogue programs entering ElecTRONica, a awesome light, music and dance show playing nightly at DCA
About that sky...
Welcome to California Summers at The Disneyland Resort where a phenomenon known as June Gloom, or May Gray, or a Coastal Inversion Layer, or simply FOG shows up mornings and evenings to thwart the white balance, exposures, and beautiful skies for Disneyland photographers...
I usually do something about the brown or orange yuckiness, but it makes a nice contrast with all the blue, so THIS TIME it can stay, haha...
This was taken on an excellent evening at Disneyland Resort with my son Justin and our pals Ryan Pastorino, Melyna Martinez, Bill McIntosh, Cory Disbrow, and Cory's girlfriend Sam...
HDR from 3 images
Taken at Stourhead Garden, England. If you've seen (and are obsessed with, as I am) the latest version of Pride & Prejudice, with Keira Knightly and Matthew Macfadyen, this is the famous scene where passion and loathing are unleashed by the two characters. *sigh*
Carte de visite of Philip Joseph Sanger by Washburn of New Orleans, La. Sanger, left, a second assistant engineer on the sloop-of-war “Monongahela,” was present at the Battle of Mobile Bay, Ala., on August 5, 1864. According to a note in his obituary, “He was thrown to the deck and covered with debris by a shell which demolished the bridge upon which he had been standing, but at once he resumed his post of duty and was applauded by [Rear Adm. David] Farragut for his conspicuous bravery.” He survived the war, became a physician in Philadelphia, Pa., and died in 1887.
Researching the life and military service of this sailor is currently in progress. If you have any information to share, including letters, journals, and other personal and public documents, please contact me.
I encourage you to use this image for educational purposes only. However, please ask for permission.
Yosemite National Park is a United States national park lying in the western Sierra Nevada of Northern California. The park covers an area of 747,956 acres (1,168.681 sq mi; 302,687 ha; 3,026.87 km2) Designated a World Heritage Site in 1984, Yosemite is internationally recognized for its granite cliffs, waterfalls, clear streams, giant sequoia groves, lakes, mountains, glaciers, and biological diversity. Almost 95% of the park is designated wilderness.
On average, about 4 million people visit Yosemite each year, and most spend the majority of their time in the 5.9 square miles (15 km2) of Yosemite Valley. The park set a visitation record in 2016, surpassing 5 million visitors for the first time in its history.
Yosemite is one of the largest and least fragmented habitat blocks in the Sierra Nevada, and the park supports a diversity of plants and animals. The park has an elevation range from 2,127 to 13,114 feet (648 to 3,997 m) and contains five major vegetation zones: chaparral and oak woodland, lower montane forest, upper montane forest, subalpine zone, and alpine. Of California's 7,000 plant species, about 50% occur in the Sierra Nevada and more than 20% within Yosemite. There is suitable habitat for more than 160 rare plants in the park, with rare local geologic formations and unique soils characterizing the restricted ranges many of these plants occupy.
The geology of the Yosemite area is characterized by granitic rocks and remnants of older rock. About 10 million years ago, the Sierra Nevada was uplifted and then tilted to form its relatively gentle western slopes and the more dramatic eastern slopes. The uplift increased the steepness of stream and river beds, resulting in formation of deep, narrow canyons. About one million years ago, snow and ice accumulated, forming glaciers at the higher alpine meadows that moved down the river valleys. Ice thickness in Yosemite Valley may have reached 4,000 feet (1,200 m) during the early glacial episode. The downslope movement of the ice masses cut and sculpted the U-shaped valley that attracts so many visitors to its scenic vistas today.
The name "Yosemite" (meaning "killer" in Miwok) originally referred to the name of a renegade tribe which was driven out of the area (and possibly annihilated) by the Mariposa Battalion. Before then the area was called "Ahwahnee" ("big mouth") by indigenous people [Wikipedia.org]
There's a lot going on in this shot. Let's start with the small, yellow craft docked alongside the ore boat, J.L. Mauthe. That little yellow boat is the Marine Trader that was built in Superior, Wisconsin in 1939 with hull number 238999. The boat was originally 50 feet 7 inches long but was lengthened 10 feet in 1965. It sported many different paint jobs and color schemes over the years and was available day or night to help keep sailors supplied with nearly anything they wanted to buy. It was a floating ship's store, if not a mini-department store. The craft worked throughout the Duluth-Superior harbor for the first 66 years it was operational. As I understand it, owners Franz and Bruce VonRiedel owned this craft and two others, Marine Supplier and Kaner I, that were owned previously by Al and Bernie Kaner, respectively. All three boats were mothballed for a time when VonRiedel's business—Acme Marine Services—was closed in 2000. The boats were eventually sold to different parties between 2000 and 2005. The Marine Trader left the Ports for good in October 2005 and that was apparently the first time the craft ever sailed across Lake Superior for points east. If you would like to do more research on the Trader and see more pictures too then please visit www.boatnerd.com/ for lots more material on this—and every other vessel on the Great Lakes.
Next, if we look closely we'll see a sailor about to embark on a personal shopping expedition. He's climbing down the ladder to Marine Trader from the working deck of the Mauthe. Then, just beyond him are half a dozen men actively engaged in loading natural ore into the Mauthe's hold. Deck hatches are wide open and spouts from Missabe Dock 5 will be lowered and raised in concert by men on top of the dock who will operate those chutes one or two at a time. Then in turn, corresponding ore pocket doors will be opened to allow the staged iron ore to slide right into the big boat with a loud, almost-prehistoric "whooshing" sound.
Then, pay careful attention to the ore cars on top of Dock 5. This will take considerable explanation.
Each ore dock in Duluth and Superior (Two Harbors and Ashland too) was much more than a staging area where ore was simply dumped into the dock. The ore was actually partially blended in each dock pocket. Then when the ore was dumped into a boat it was further blended as it was directed into the near, middle, or far side of each hold. This wasn't simply a matter of blending different iron content either. Individual vessel size and that vessel's loading characteristics played into it nearly as much as both the iron and silica content of that ore.
Silica content was especially important during unloading of the ore dock as ore with higher silica ran faster out of the dock pockets and allowed for more precise loading to the far side of the vessel. By adjusting the angle of the chutes this fast running ore would slide out of the pocket faster and thereby reach the far side of the vessel to make the loading much more even.
While each pocket on Dock 5 held four car loads of ore, dumping into these pockets was not an even-steven kind of operation. Each ore dock had four tracks on top of it. Two tracks fed the pockets on the north side of the dock while the second pair of tracks fed the south side pockets. So each side of the dock had just two tracks used to fill the pockets, that were in turn used to load vessels on opposite sides of the ore dock. Fast running ores and slow running ores each had their own dumping order with 3/4 of the ore going into each pocket via the two inner tracks. The two outer tracks were used to top of the load or to put stickier ore on top of the fast running ore so that it would slide right out behind the fast ore. If the sticky ore went in first, then the load might not release at all.
So during the modern era of blended ores 75% of the dock was filled via the two inner tracks while just 25% was dumped from the two outer tracks. The whole idea was to make each 4-car load in each pocket to be both a proper chemical content and also the most-free-running consistency to make dock unloading quick and easy. Filling a boat necessitated moving the vessel during loading. Deck hatches were generally spaced for every 2nd or 3rd pocket and chute. So a vessel might make 3 or more passes back and forth to get all of the ore contained in the dock for a given load, from a series of 3-4 adjacent pockets. On a good day things went like this but on a bad day when the ore being dumped was sticky or had a high moisture content then the work was much more difficult. You can read about that here: www.flickr.com/photos/jeff_lemke/29092814325/in/album-721...
There are a couple more things worth pointing out from this shot too. Notice how both tracks above the pockets have many more ore cars parked there. Those loads aren't for the next vessel. They are for this vessel. After each pocket is emptied of its contents the final phases of loading this boat will occur. That will be what they called "speed loading" or "topping off" the load that's already inside of the boat. Ore inside of those cars will be dumped directly into the boat through the pocket while the gate is open and the cute is lowered. The ore will fall directly from the car into the boat. Getting the last bit of ore into each boat in this manner became necessary as the boats became larger and sometimes as loads became stickier and harder to dump. Railroads found that the sticky ores became much more sticky when left in the dock for any time and as each car was dumped on top of the previous load, the problem became even worse.
Other times the pockets simply didn't hold enough ore to satisfy the larger holds in those boats. This was true in the taconite era too. I was invited to ride along on just such a train in Superior at Allouez Dock 2 where we were loading pellets directly from the cars through the pockets to top off a load of taconite. The larger BN Dock 5 at Allouez brought about an end to this practice and the balance of Allouez ore docks were abandoned after Dock 5 was up and running at full capacity.
The last thing that I'll mention is the second track in. Take a close look the the two cars farthest right on top of the dock. The black one is a Northern Pacific car while the ones next to it are Great Northern. This load will include interchange ore that was brought to Saunders, Wisconsin by the Burlington Northern. The Missabe's Interstate Job picked up that ore at Saunders then brought it to Proctor via Adolph, sorted it at Proctor, then the Hill Job brought it down for spotting on Missabe Dock 5. All of the ore roads that ran here cooperated to provide each other with the necessary ore to make a boat load the proper and required chemical consistency to fulfill orders from the steel companies. A large amount of ore loaded into the these massive docks actually came here from the non-owning roads. It was this interchange between the railroads of the various ores (that would then be sorted before being loaded into the docks) that really made the whole system work. Without this ore interchange between the various railroads the mining companies would have been limited to shipping in many cases, unusable or unwanted grades of ore. Without the interchange of ore cars that allowed better grades of ore to be created through yard sorting and dock and hull blending—the ore era as we once knew it would have ended decades earlier than it did.
Of course, way back when, when the ore docks were still very young and made mostly of wood, it was possible to load ore willy-nilly because the earliest ores mined were of a sufficiently high iron content that blending wasn't required or desired. But as those better-resources played out, the operation that I described here today is what quickly became the norm. It is the reason why railroads like the Missabe and Great Northern had such huge sorting yards at Proctor and Allouez. They had to be massive because the mix of cars needing to go down to any one track on the docks became a staggeringly complex project that changed by season. Every year there was a different supply of ores to blend.
It should be obvious by now that if you thought that the iron ore used to make steel went straight from the mine to the dock in solid strings of cars—generally speaking you'd be wrong about that. But as natural or direct shipping ores played out and taconite was developed during the mid-1960s, the dream of being able to load an entire train load of Minnesota ore into a Great Lakes vessel finally became a reality through the advent of the taconite pellet—though even that started out rather slowly. Believe it or not many boats ran with split loads containing half natural iron ore and half taconite pellets. That was until the pellet plants could produce enough pellets to load full vessels. Each taconite plant produced its own variety of product too. Ultimately, taconite production turned a difficult sorting and blending process into a relatively easy one by creating an easily transportable product with a consistent iron content.
After 1968, scenes like this one began to become more rare every day. By the time this shot was taken in 1981 natural ore shipments out of Duluth were practically a thing of the past. Just to contrast complex vs. simple processes, here's a nice view of the Duluth docks that I shot in the post-natural-ore taconite era where we can see two varieties of pellets on the ground that still fill boat holds in present day Duluth: www.flickr.com/photos/jeff_lemke/25449237413/in/album-721...
Of course if you visit either of the Twin Ports area "ore yards" today (that's BNSF's Allouez and CN's Proctor facilities) you'll find that those once-huge ore classification yards are truly conspicuous by their complete absence (Allouez) or nearly complete absence (Proctor). In the taconite era, railroad tracks simply store cars not being used at the moment. There's nothing much left to blend because other than the iron particles themselves that are mated with a binding clay and limestone to make the pellets in the first place—all that's left to do is dump them onto the ground for stockpile and then reload them into the dock when the boat gets near.
While the days of sorting ore are likely gone forever it sure is fun remembering just how complicated that process was and how many men and women earned their livings doing this important work for America. I'm glad that I found this picture of Duluth-Superior's most-recognized bumboat to share with you today. That little floating store provided the guys on the bigger boats with an opportunity to do something besides the everyday grind. The requisite climb up and down the ladder to be able to spend a little money had to be worth it, and I'm certain that when the Marine Trader pulled up alongside the ore boats it was truly a welcome sight for sore eyes. Long live the bumboats and their Captains!
The GLAAD Media Awards at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City
The GLAAD Media Awards recognize and honor media for their fair, accurate and inclusive representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community and the issues that affect their lives.
GLAAD, the world's lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) media advocacy organization, honored Robert De Niro, Mariah Carey, and the best in film, television, and journalism at the 27th Annual GLAAD Media Awards at the Waldorf Astoria New York on Saturday May 14th 2016. Jennifer Lawrence, Aziz Ansari, Connie Britton, Diane Sawyer, Caitlyn Jenner, Tamron Hall, Noah Galvin, Andrew Rannells, Andreja Pejić, and Jason Biggs were among the special guests. Recording artists Alex Newell and Bebe Rexha, as well as the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical Fun Home performed at the event hosted by Emmy Award-winning actress Laverne Cox. The 27th Annual GLAAD Media Awards were presented by Delta Air Lines, Hilton, Ketel One Vodka, and Wells Fargo.
GLAAD Media Award recipients announced Saturday in New York. Additional awards were presented in Los Angeles at the Beverly Hilton on April 2.
Excellence in Media Award: Robert De Niro (presented by Jennifer Lawrence)
Ally Award: Mariah Carey (presented by Lee Daniels)
· Outstanding TV Journalism – Newsmagazine: “Bruce Jenner: The Interview" 20/20 (ABC) [accepted by: Diane Sawyer, Caitlyn Jenner, and David Sloan, senior executive producer]
· Outstanding TV Journalism Segment: "Interview with Jim Obergefell" Anderson Cooper 360 (CNN) [accepted by: U.S. Supreme Court plaintiff Jim Obergefell]
· Outstanding Magazine Overall Coverage: Cosmopolitan [accepted by: Laura Brounstein, special projects director]
· Outstanding Film – Limited Release: Tangerine (Magnolia Pictures)
· Outstanding Individual Episode: "The Prince of Nucleotides" Royal Pains (USA Network)
· Outstanding Digital Journalism – Multimedia: "Stopping HIV? The Truvada Revolution" Vice Reports (Vice.com)
· Outstanding Newspaper Article: "Cold Case: The Murders of Cosby and Jackson" by Dianna Wray (Houston Press)
· Outstanding Magazine Article: "Behind Brazil's Gay Pride Parades, a Struggle with Homophobic Violence" by Oscar Lopez (Newsweek)
· Outstanding Digital Journalism Article: "This Is What It’s Like To Be An LGBT Syrian Fleeing For Your Life" by J. Lester Feder (Buzzfeed.com)
SPANISH-LANGUAGE NOMINEES
· Outstanding Daytime Program Episode: "¿El marido de mi padre o yo?" Caso Cerrado (Telemundo)
· Outstanding TV Journalism – Newsmagazine: TIE: "Amor que rompe barreras" Un Nuevo Día (Telemundo) and "En cuerpo ajeno" Aquí y Ahora (Univision)
· Outstanding TV Journalism Segment: "Víctimas de abusos" Noticiero Univision (Univision)
· Outstanding Digital Journalism – Multimedia: "Campeones de la igualdad" (Univision.com)
GLAAD (formerly the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) is a U.S. non-governmental media monitoring organization founded by LGBT people in the media.
Motto - to promote understanding, increase acceptance, and advance equality.
Founded - 1985
Founder
Vito Russo
Jewelle Gomez
Lauren Hinds
GLAAD 2016 President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis
GLAAD
104 W 29th St #4,
New York, NY 10001
USA
(212) 629-3322
Waldorf Astoria Hotel
301 Park Ave,
New York, NY 10022
USA
(212) 355-3000
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Photo
New York City, Manhattan Island, New York State, USA The United States of America country, North America continent
May 14th 2016
Place: Gaozeng, Congjiang County, Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture, Guizhou Province
I was still staying in the touristic village of Zhaoxing when I went off to Gaozeng, as I wanted to have a more authentic Dong experience.
The Dong (also known as Kam) people are one of 56 recognized ethnic groups of China. Most Dong people (in total around 3,000,000) live in eastern Guizhou, western Hunan and northern Guangxi in China. Sadly, due to urbanization and assimilation into mainstream Chinese society, their culture is slowly evaporating, a fate similar to many ethnic minorities. Dong villages can be recognized by drum towers (鼓楼), wooden stilt houses and wind-and-rain bridges (风雨桥).
As I was accustomed I took a taxi, this time an uncomfortable Wuling Hongguang as the shock absorbers were seemingly broken, and I paid a little bit more as per usual so that the taxi driver would wait for me while I could take a look in town for one hour. Anyway, Gaozeng was a very different experience compared to beautiful yet overly touristic and spoiled Zhaoxing. Don't expect an overload of KTV bars and hostels, wide boulevards and 'authentic' cultural performances, but a genuine Dong town. Poor, yet full of charming traditional wooden houses, drum towers and brick houses in between, a place where you get a glimpse of daily rural life.
I recognize this story from having seen its counterpart at colonial churches in Peru.
To modern eyes, it might seem that the angels around the periphery are holding microphones on booms.
That's not the case: they're holding two of the Arma Christi, or Instruments of the Passion.
On our left, an angel holds a vinegar-soaked sponge on a reed. The angel on the left appears to be holding the torch.
The second angel on the right holds Veronica's veil.
The crown of thorns is in the hands of the angel floating to the right of God's left shoulder.
However, this leaves a long list of Instruments of Passion unaccounted for. Maybe they're beyond the bottom of the frame. They are:
The pillar or column where Jesus was whipped in the Flagellation of Christ.
The whip(s), in Germany often birches, used for the 39 lashes.
The Holy Lance with which a Roman soldier inflicted the final of the Five Wounds in his side.
The Nails, inflicting four wounds on the hands and feet.
The reed which was placed in Jesus' hand as a sceptre in mockery.
The purple robe of mockery.
The Titulus Crucis, attached to the Cross. It may be inscribed in Latin (INRI, Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum), Greek, Hebrew, or some other language.
The Holy Grail, the chalice used by Jesus at The Last Supper, and which some traditions say Joseph of Arimathea used to catch his blood at the crucifixion.
The Seamless robe of Jesus
The dice with which the soldiers cast lots for Christ's seamless robe.
The rooster (cock) that crowed after Peter's third denial of Jesus.
The vessel used to hold the gall and vinegar.
The ladder used for the Deposition, i.e. the removal of Christ's body from the cross for burial.
The hammer used to drive the nails into Jesus' hands and feet.
The pincers used to remove the nails.
The vessel of myrrh, used to anoint the body of Jesus, either by Joseph of Arimathea or by the Myrrhbearers.
The shroud used to wrap the body of Jesus before burial.
The sun and moon, representing the eclipse which occurred during the Passion.
Thirty pieces of silver (or a money bag), the price of Judas' betrayal.
A spitting face, indicating the mockery of Jesus.
The hand which slapped Jesus' face.
The chains or cords which bound Jesus overnight in prison.
The lantern or torches used by the arresting soldiers at the time of the betrayal, as well as their swords and staves.
The sword used by Peter to cut off the ear of the High Priest's servant.
Sometimes a human ear is also represented.
Sometimes the heads or hands of figures from the Passion are shown, including Judas, Caiaphas, or the man who mocked Christ spitting in Christ's face.
The washing hands of Pontius Pilate may be shown.
The trumpet played for mocking Christ on the Way to Calvary.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arma_Christi
Another difference between the Arma Christi I have seen in Peruvian churches and this Northern European example is that in Peru the Instruments are depicted as a static ensemble (or, in archaeological terms, an assemblage) of objects. There are no beings in the scene.
Here, however, the evidence of the Crucifixion have been seized by the heavenly hosts. (Is that what happens in Scripture?) While I'm not a believer, I am not without empathy. For that reason, I prefer this scene to the evidence-locker approach to depicting the Instruments. It no doubt served and may still serve a purpose in furthering the role of religious art under the dictates of the Council of Trent.
The difference is that this sculpture clearly depicts the passage of time. It is no longer the day of the Crucifixion but Easter Morning. The instruments have lost their sting.
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The Church of St. Francis of Assisi at Vilnius, Lithuania.
From signage in the church:
Between 1764 and 1781 the church was fitted with an ensemble of late Baroque fixtures: the pulpit, confessionals, pews and eleven altars. The ensemble displayed stylistic harmony, as well as a singleness of purpose-drawing attention to the main altar.
[The main altar] now contains the Crucifix that had previously hung above the altar of the Holy Cross. The cross was known to bestow special grace, and it was at this time that the fresco depicting this Crucifix was painted on the façade of the church. The identity of the person who designed the new interior furnishings is not now known. The interior was executed by several joiners (Giotto, Holtzas, Valteris and others are mentioned). Paintings for the altars were done by . . . a person with the surname Motiejus.
Between 1764 and 1768 Mikaloju Jansonas, a renowned organ builder of the day, restored the church organ and moved it from the side nave to a platform constructed at the back of the presbytery (choir). (At the end of the 19th century the organ was reconstructed once again and moved to the old balcony of the Bernardines.)
From the middle of the 18th century until the end of the 20th century the architecture and furnishings of the church remained largely unchanged. When the church was closed during the Soviet years, the painting over the altar, the liturgical vessels and other fixtures were scattered among museum collections or given to other churches.
The altar ensemble, which was disassembled for reconstruction has only been partially restored. In response to present-day liturgical requirements, a new altar created by Rimas Skakalauakas was constructed in 1998 and placed in the central nave of the church. The altar echoes the lines and shapes of the old Gothic belfry.
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From Wikipedia:
The Church of St. Francis and St. Bernard (also known as Bernardine Church) is a Roman Catholic church in the Old Town of Vilnius, Lithuania. It is located next to St. Anne's Church. Dedicated to Saints Francis of Assisi and Bernardino of Siena, it is an important example of Gothic architecture in Lithuania.
History
After their arrival in Vilnius, Bernardine monks built a wooden church in the second half of the 15th century, and at the end of the same century - a brick one.
In the early 16th century it was reconstructed, apparently with the participation of a master from Gdansk (Danzig) Michael Enkinger.
In the beginning of the 16th century the church was incorporated into the construction of Vilnius defensive wall, so there are shooting openings in its walls.
Afterwards it was renewed many times, particularly after the 1655-61 war with Moscow, when the Cossacks ravaged the church killing the monks and citizens who had taken shelter there.
In the times of the Soviet occupation it was closed down and handed over to the Art institute.
In 1994, the brethren of St. Francis returned to the church.
Church and Monastery are some of the largest sacral buildings in Vilnius, although in the 17th and 18th centuries they acquired the Renaissance and Baroque features.
Being much larger and more archaic than the St. Anne's Church, it forms and interesting and unique ensemble with the latter.
Gothic pointed-arch windows and buttresses stand out on the façade. Above them rises a pediment with twin octagonal towers on the sides and a fresco depicting the Crucifix in the middle niche.
A Gothic presbytery is the oldest part of the church. Eight high pillars divide the church interior into 3 naves.
There are many valuable 16th-century wall paintings in Bernardine church and the oldest known artistic Lithuanian crucifix sculpture from the 15th century. [2]
The walls of the naves are decorated with Gothic polychrome frescoes, partly uncovered in 1981 - dynamic, colourful figural compositions on biblical and hagiographic themes, with occasional inscriptions in Gothic characters, floral ornaments, heraldic insignia etc.
These mural paintings date from the early 16th century and are considered unique in the world: their composition and type of presentation of the subject matter belongs to Renaissance, and the stylistics - to the Gothic style. [3]
The Bernardine monastery north of the church, built simultaneously with the church, was renovated and reconstructed several times. Since its founding, a novitiate and a seminary operated at the monastery, a rich library had been accumulated, and a scriptorium operated. There [were] artists, craftsmen and organists among the monks. The monastery was closed in 1864, and the building housed soldiers' barracks. In 1919 it was given to the art faculty of the university, later - to the Art Institute (now the Art Academy).
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_St._Francis_and_St._Berna...
Recognize these characters? They brought back memories of my youth and Saturday mornings at "the pictures." Laurel and Hardy figurines for sale at a flea market in Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia.
As a kid I could recognize Orion's belt as the most prominent feature of the fall and winter skies over New York. I had also seen pictures of the Horsehead Nebula without thinking about where it was, since I wasn't going to see it anyway except on telescope boxes or in a book. Now with a couple of tricks applying everyday technology to backyard astronomy, I can see the two spectacular color structures -- the Flame and the Horsehead -- flanking the first star in the belt, Alnitak. I'm very pleased with my new Borg optics which enabled me to get this sharp colorful image on my laptop within a few minutes of setting up my scope last night.
Tech stuff: Borg 71FL lens on Starlight Xpress SX-694C camera with Astronomik CLS filter. Ioptron CubePro Mount in EQ configuration guided with SBIG ST-i Guider and PHD2. 12 X 5 minute exposures stacked in real time using AstroToaster interface with Deep Sky Stacker. Image finished in PixInsight. Imaged from my yard 10 miles north of New York City.
Wesley Snipes (aka Ugo) is fighting to live.
He really wants to live and we can see in this video clip.
We have to bottle feed him each 2 hours.
He is a Lagotto Romagnolo dog.
This is the only breed of dog that is officially recognized as specialized in truffle hunting.
animal.discovery.com/videos/dogs-101-lagotto-romagnolo.html
I'm still late with my comments. I'm sorry my friends, I'm trying to catch up.
*© All rights reserved *
Update --> April 15th 2011: Wesley Snipes is doing very well!!!
Even thought I had not seen her in ... 11 years? ... I recognized her on the spot. No one rocks the tri-hawk like she does.
Antoinette is kind of a... special catalyst to me. It's a lucky, lucky bonus that she's a real sweetheart, too. Because of one of my first photos of her when I returned to Dragon Con in 2005 (I was last there in 1997) showed me that I had some promise as a photographer, especially in the world of cosplay photography.
This photo was taken with my first Sony camera, a Cyber-Shot DSC-P71 (middle of the road for a digital camera at the time). Given how well *I* thought the photo turned out - with my relative lack of experience with digital photography and Photoshop post-production skills at that time - I still captured a beautiful portrait shot and knew I could do this again and again and get/do better.
Her tail was made by her friend DefenzMechanizm (here she is rocking a similar dino tail from 2011)
Wow! Antoinette hit 4 favorites in less than 30 minutes with only 12 views. That's an insane ratio for my pics. I guess folks dig her looks? 😉
The Irem Temple Mosque is one of the most recognizable buildings in Wilkes-Barre, even as the old performing arts building has been vacant for years. But now, it’s one of the main parts of the city that local leaders want to revitalize.
“It is just a focal point of the downtown -- the architectural history of it,” said Joseph Boylan Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Commerce, adding the chamber is planning the next stages for the building as part of a revitalization plan for the city's downtown.
As a group of local business people and community leaders works to preserve the architectural treasure commonly referred to as the Irem Temple building on North Franklin Street, conversation is focused on the opportunities a refurbished structure of such grandeur could bring to the downtown area.
Construction on the building, which has also been referred to as the Irem Mosque, began in 1907. It took $230,000 to build, and its dedication took place in December of 1908.
“An extraordinary amount of money at the time,” said Wilkes-Barre city councilman Tony Brooks.
Brooks is former executive director of the Luzerne County Historical Society and current chairman of the board of the Wilkes-Barre Preservation Society, and he is known for his knowledge of local history.
Brooks said the example of Moorish-style architecture, which is among the buildings in the River Street Historic District, is unlike any other Shrine auditorium in the country.
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“pain and love have no borders,
even if we raise walls not to see the pain
and we put boundaries to not recognize love.”
(Enzo Bianchi)
“il dolore e l'amore non hanno frontiere,
anche se noi alziamo muri per non vedere il dolore
e mettiamo confini per non riconoscere l'amore.”
(Enzo Bianchi)
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click to activate the small icon of slideshow: the small triangle inscribed in the small rectangle, at the top right, in the photostream (it means the monitor);
or…. Press the “L” button to zoom in the image;
clicca sulla piccola icona per attivare lo slideshow: sulla facciata principale del photostream, in alto a destra c'è un piccolo rettangolo (rappresenta il monitor) con dentro un piccolo triangolo nero;
oppure…. premi il tasto “L” per ingrandire l'immagine;
www.worldphoto.org/sony-world-photography-awards/winners-...
www.fotografidigitali.it/gallery/2726/opere-italiane-segn...
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Questo è un racconto fotografico, realizzato in due giornate nel maggio di quest'anno 2023, nel paese di Limina, in provincia di Messina (lo stesso Santo è celebrato nel paese di Calatabiano, in provincia di Catania, con una spettacolare corsa in discesa !), si realizzano così due tipiche feste religiose tradizionali siciliane che hanno in comune la devozione verso questo santo, San Filippo: egli viene raffigurato di colore “nero” poiché una leggenda lo vede protagonista di una lotta negli Inferi contro Lucifero, dalla cui lotta ne viene fuori ricoperto di fuliggine. San Filippo è un santo molto festeggiato non solo in Sicilia, ma lo è anche nel Salernitano, in Calabria (questi culti si realizzano seguendo il suo percorso fatto in vita) fino ad arrivare al suo culto nell’isola di Malta. La vicinanza con Taormina (paese nel quale abito e lavoro) dei paesi di Calatabiano e Limina, mi facilita certamente il compito di realizzare fotografie di queste feste tradizionali, compatibilmente coi miei turni lavorativi; in entrambi i paesi le feste si svolgono in due giornate; in quel di Limina durante la prima giornata il Santo viene portato in spalla da una chiesa posta in lieve periferia nel paese di Limina fino “al borgo Murazzo”, che dista circa 8 chilometri, sono così 8 Km che vengono percorsi correndo ininterrottamente (tranne una breve sosta di raccoglimento in località “Durbi”); poi ad otto giorni di distanza (la cosiddetta “ottava”) il Santo esce portato in spalla con una corsa “sfrenata-indiavolata” che inizia da un’altra chiesa nel centro di Limina, giungendo poi dopo una ripidissima e faticosissima salita in cima al “Monte Calvario”, poi ridiscende e girovaga tra i quartieri del paese, (ed oltre, fino alla contrada "Durbi", per poi ritornare in paese): non si tratta di un semplice girovagare, in momenti ben stabiliti, il Santo viene “fatto ballare” con uno sfrenato andirivieni su percorsi rettilinei alternato ad un movimento rotatorio vorticoso su se stesso: questa è una differenza sostanziale con la vara di Calatabiano (quest’ultima è pesantissima, circa 12 quintali, percorre un percorso impervio, molto ripido e scosceso in discesa, con “gradoni” in pietra molto alti in parte mancanti , questo è un antico percorso realizzato per giungere al castello Normanno), sicché in Calatabiano la “parodia” con gli esorcismi compiuti dal Santo Nero, consiste nella relativa velocità impressa al Santo durante il percorso, invece a Limina, la vara essendo più leggera, consente ai devoti andature rapide, rettilinee e vorticose, moviemnti anch’essi che rievocano i movimenti convulsi compiuti dagli indemoniati sottoposti agli esorcismi del Santo (un certo rischio di capovolgimento è insito in entrambe le vare). Nel paese di Calatabiano San Filippo acquista l’appellativo di “Siriaco”, cioè proveniente dalla Siria, mentre nel paese di Limina Egli acquista l’appellativo “d’Agira”, dal nome del paese, in provincia di Enna, dove egli morirà: è sempre lo stesso santo (cambia un pochino la fisionomia del volto), in entrambe le statue la mano destra è alzata ad inviare una benedizione, oppure ad effettuare un esorcismo, la mano sinistra stringe un libro (è il documento “apotropaico” che gli diede San Pietro, per consentirgli di vincere le forze del Male). Aggiungo qualche breve cenno sulla vita di questo santo, anche per cercare di capire come nasce il suo culto in Sicilia, come anche in altri paesi al di fuori dell'isola. Le fonti che parlano di San Filippo sono due, chiamate “le Cronache di Eusebio d’Agira” e “le Cronache di Atanasio”, queste cronache tra loro sono in buona parte discordanti, tranne le descrizioni sulle sue caratteristiche di sacerdote e di taumaturgo, sulle sue capacità di compiere esorcismi scacciando i demoni dagli impossessati. Egli nacque probabilmente in Tracia (regione sud-orientale della penisola balcanica nel 40 d.C. (?), all’epoca era una provincia romana, ai tempi d’Arcadio, imperatore romano d’Oriente, nato da padre siriano e da madre romana, nella sua infanzia fu educato ai principi del Cristianesimo che andava propagandosi anche in quelle terre. Egli giunge dalla Tracia a Roma, viene ordinato sacerdote da Pietro, ed è proprio da Lui che viene mandato in Sicilia (terra pagana sotto il dominio Romano), col compito di evangelizzare quei luoghi e compiere esorcismi; sbarca a Capo Faro a Messina iniziando fin da subito il suo mandato, poi percorre la fascia orientale della Sicilia dirigendosi a sud verso l’Etna (ecco che Limina e Calatabiano, interessati dal suo passaggio, grazie alle sue capacità di guaritore ed esorcista, gli divengono devote); giunge così al paese di Agira (Enna), dove lì muore dopo quarant’anni di Apostolato nell’isola.
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This is a photographic story, taken over two days in May of this year 2023, in the town of Limina, in the province of Messina (the Saint himself is celebrated in the town of Calatabiano, in the province of Catania, with a spectacular downhill race! ), two typical traditional Sicilian religious festivals are thus held which have in common the devotion towards this saint, San Filippo: he is depicted as "black" in color since a legend sees him as the protagonist of a fight in the Underworld against Lucifer, from whose fight he it comes out covered in soot. San Filippo is a much celebrated saint not only in Sicily, but also in the Salerno area, in Calabria (these cults are carried out following the path he followed in life) up to the cult of him on the island of Malta. The proximity of the towns of Calatabiano and Limina to Taormina (the town where I live and work) certainly facilitates the task of taking photographs of these traditional festivals, compatibly with my work shifts; in both countries the celebrations take place over two days; in Limina, during the first day, the Saint is carried on his shoulders from a church located on the outskirts of the town of Limina to "the village of Murazzo", which is about 8 kilometers away, thus 8 km which are covered by running continuously (except for one short rest stop in the “Durbi” area); then eight days later (the so-called "octave") the Saint comes out carried on his shoulder with a "wild-desperate" run that starts from another church in the center of Limina, arriving after a very steep and tiring climb to the top of the “mountain Calvario”, then descends again and wanders through the districts of the town (and beyond, up to the "Durbi" district, to then return to the town): it is not a simple wandering, at well-established moments, the Saint comes " made to dance" with an unbridled coming and going on straight paths alternating with a swirling rotary movement on itself: this is a substantial difference with the Calatabiano launch (the float is very heavy, around 12 quintals, and travels along an impervious, very steep and steep path downhill, with very high stone "steps" partly missing, this is an ancient route built to reach the Norman castle), so that in Calatabiano the "parody" with the exorcisms performed by the Black Saint consists in the relative speed given to the Saint during the journey, however, in Limina, the launch being lighter, allows the devotees rapid, straight and whirling gaits, movements which also recall the convulsive movements performed by the demoniacs subjected to the Saint's exorcisms (a certain risk of capsizing is inherent in both floats). In the town of Calatabiano San Filippo acquires the name of "Siriaco", that is, coming from Syria, while in the town of Limina he acquires the name "from Agira", from the name of the town, in the province of Enna (Sicily), where he died: it is always the same saint (the physiognomy of the face changes a little), in both statues the right hand is raised to send a blessing, or to carry out an exorcism, the left hand holds a book (it is the "apotropaic" document that gave Saint Peter, to allow him to defeat the forces of Evil). I add some brief information on the life of this saint, also to try to understand how the cult of him was born in Sicily, as well as in other countries outside the island. There are two sources that speak of Saint Philip, called "the Chronicles of Eusebius of Agira" and "the Chronicles of Athanasius", these chronicles are largely discordant with each other, except for the descriptions of his characteristics as a priest and a miracle worker, on his ability to perform exorcisms by expelling demons from those possessed. He was probably born in Thrace (south-eastern region of the Balkan peninsula in 40 AD (?), at the time it was a Roman province, at the time of Arcadius, Eastern Roman emperor, born to a Syrian father and a Roman mother, in In his childhood he was educated in the principles of Christianity which was also spreading in those lands. He came from Thrace to Rome, was ordained a priest by Peter, and it was by him that he was sent to Sicily (a pagan land under Roman rule), with the task to evangelize those places and carry out exorcisms; he lands at Capo Faro in Messina, starting his mandate immediately, then travels along the eastern strip of Sicily heading south towards Etna (here Limina and Calatabiano, affected by his passage, thanks to the his abilities as a healer and exorcist become devoted to him); he thus reaches the town of Agira (Enna), where he dies after forty years of apostolate on the island.
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Limina, S. Filippo torna a correre dopo due anni di pandemia. E’ la rievocazione dei miracoli
Limina. San Filippo d'Agira, il film della festa 2022
Festeggiamenti di San Filippo d’Agira - Limina 11 maggio parte 1
PROMO San Filippo D'Agira - Limina (ME) 2022
Festeggiamenti in onore di San Filippo d’Agira - Limina 21 maggio 2022 parte 2
Festeggiamenti in onore di San Filippo d’Agira - Limina 21 maggio 2022 parte 3
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The Other Son | Official US Trailer
The Other Son | "Joseph meets with his Rabbi" | Official Clip
Mehdi Dehbi in the Making of The Other Son
IL FIGLIO DELL' ALTRA - Clip 7
IL FIGLIO DELL' ALTRA - Clip 2
IL FIGLIO DELL' ALTRA - Clip 5
Il figlio dell'altra - Trailer
IL FIGLIO DELL' ALTRA - Clip 6
IL FIGLIO DELL' ALTRA - Clip 9
IL FIGLIO DELL' ALTRA - Clip 4
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IL FIGLIO DELL'ALTRA, trailer italiano, regia di Lorraine Lévy
Carte de visite by an anonymous photographer. Perhaps one of the most recognizable faces to students of the Civil War is not a famous general, but a sergeant. Alfred A. Stratton's (1845-1874) story is well-known and often told. This version, by correspondent Berry Craig for Orthotics and Prosthetics News, provides a solid overview of the man, husband and soldier:
Civil War Amputee Ended Up a Minister, Husband and Father
Though he lived only to age 29, Alfred A. Stratton led a full life.
Stratton was a 19-year-old private in Company G of the 147th New York Infantry, when “both arms [were] carried away by a solid cannon shot from the defences in front of Petersburg [Va.] on June 18, 1864,” according to an old document in the National Museum of Health and Medicine in Washington, D.C.
The facility was founded during the Civil War as the Army Medical Museum. Stratton, according to the old document, “called at the… [museum], in good health, on Dec. 24, 1869, to have his photograph taken.”
The photos were used for medical purposes. They also were displayed at the museum and exhibited in other cities.
In addition, amputees such as Stratton had their photos reprinted as carte-de-visites – mass-produced photo cards – and sold the pictures to help raise money to support themselves. Perhaps no image was more heart-rending than Stratton’s.
There are reportedly at least seven photos of him. In one he is stripped to the waist, clearly showing his residual limbs. Both arms were missing from just below the shoulders.
Other records in the National Museum of Health and Medicine show that Stratton joined the 147th New York Infantry in August 1863, after the regiment helped the Union army win the battle of Gettysburg. Stratton had been a blacksmith in Jamestown, N.Y.
In June, 1864, Union forces under Gen. Ulysses S. Grant besieged Gen. Robert E. Lee’s army at Petersburg, near Richmond, the Confederate capital. Fighting was fierce.
Lee knew if Grant won at Petersburg, Richmond could not be defended. But not until April 1865, was Grant able to capture Richmond and Petersburg and force Lee to surrender at Appomattox, Va., effectively ending the Civil War. By then, Stratton was a civilian again, “pensioned at twenty-five dollars per month and supplied with artificial limbs of Grinnell’s make,” the old document says.
“The projectile struck both limbs about the elbow, tearing off the forearms, and greatly lacerating the soft parts above the elbow,” the document says. “Cordials [liqueurs] were given, and immediate amputation of both arms was performed by surgeon A.S. Coe, 147th New York Volunteers.”
Afterwards, Stratton was transferred to City Point (now Hopewell), Va., the main supply base for Grant’s campaign against Petersburg and Richmond.
“On June 28, he was sent to the Second Division Alexandria [Va.] Hospital, both wounds progressing very favorably,” according to the document. “The stumps rapidly cicatrized [formed scars], and on Oct. 3, 1864, he was discharged from the service.”
Stratton also was photographed in New York, where he married in 1865 and became the father of a son and a daughter. He was pastor of Washington Street Episcopal Church in Brooklyn before being named rector of the Epiphany Episcopal Church in Washington. He died in 1874.
Berry Craig is a correspondent for O&P Business News: www.healio.com/orthotics-prosthetics/news/print/o-and-p-n...
I encourage you to use this image for educational purposes only. However, please ask for permission.
Amy Adams is recognized for her stunning red mane so some might be suprised to understand that her locks is naturally more of a blonde/strawberry blonde color. It was not up until Junebug that Amy Adams decided to keep to a much more sharper, stunning color that she tailored from the ...
Recognizing the absence of the female voice in American theatre, the DCPA Theatre Company established the Women's Voices Fund in 2005 to commission, develop and produce new plays by women. Now, 14 years later, the Fund has surpassed $1.6 million and enabled the Theatre Company to produce 30 plays by women (including 13 world premieres), commissioned 19 female playwrights and hired 23 female directors. The Hattitude tradition grew out of the Theatre Company’s presentation of Regina Taylor’s "Crowns" in 2005. Her musical play explored black history and identity, using an exquisite variety of hats to tell the shared history and rituals of African-American women, ranging in era from slavery to current fashion. This year's speakers included DCPA CEO Janice Sinden and "Last Night and the Night Before" Playwright Donnetta Lavinia Grays. The emcee was Gloria Neal, and the entertainment included Neyla Pekarek, Abby Noble and Abby Lehrer. The lunch culminates each year in a runway walk where each table designates one representative, and prizes are awarded. For more information on the Women's Voices Fund, go to www.denvercenter.org/support-us/give-now/womens-voices-fund/. Photos by John Moore for the DCPA NewsCenter.
You may recognize them? Yes I have shown a few photos of this school class. This is my favourite one. Hope you don't mind meeting them again.
I like them for the happiness they spread, for their unreflecting charm and for their generous acceptance of people they never ever met before... not caring about age or race. I also like to see boys and girls play together on equal terms. I believe this photo shows that exactly. And I love how all the ties go astray :-)
Photo was taken in southern Sri Lanka, on their school excursion to a folk museum, not far from Galle.