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Alright! Let's go!
Oh, it's Buffaloman AGAIN. *
Or, 'Terri-Bull'...
Nyuk! Nyuk!
What's he gonna do this-
Origin time!
Wait, what?
No!
We're sorry!
Now??
Buffaloman (バッファローマン) is a Devil Chojin with allegiances to Akuma Shogun and Satan, but works alongside the Justice Chojin for a good portion of the original series, before retiring to teach the New Generation.
About
Buffaloman is a charging bull-themed Chojin and one of the Seven Devil Chojin who were said to be too strong and brutal and banished to the ends of the universe.
His techniques and fighting style usually rely on his immense strength and power, but in tight situations he can lower his power in order to become faster. Additionally, he specialises in brutal fighting. He is quite clever and will often lure his opponents into wasting stamina.
He is depicted as a formidable opponent and far more powerful than any other chojin; the concept of Chojin Power was introduced specifically to illustrate this point. Buffaloman's Chojin Power is 10,000,000 Power, which is 10 times that of Warsman, previously Kinnikuman's greatest opponent. By the end of the series many chojin who surpass 10,000,000 Power have appeared, but Buffaloman still boasts of his power and is the only one where it is treated as an advantage.
Personality
Despite being a Devil Chojin, he normally fights honourably and shows his opponents respect, even when using brutal methods in battle. During his fight with Kinnikuman his good heart is awakened, and he is revived as a Justice Chojin after his first death. He also has a great sense of companionship, showing great respect for his fallen comrades. He returns to his evil ways in Kinnikuman (2011), but he maintains his honorable side and does not hate his former allies.
Appearance
He is very large in both height and frame, and has two curved horns called Long Horns (ロングホーン) on both sides of his head, and has a spike on each knee. He has curly brown hair, with a darker shade of skin and pure white eyes. He wears protective gear around both his legs and arms, and tends to have some sort of chest protection in the first few scenes before being destroyed.
He also has red shoes and gloves. When Buffaloman was possesed, he had purple skin and a fire symbol across his face with a smile on it.
Relationships
Kinnikuman
Kinnikuman is the one that showed him that, even if he was a devil, he could become a hero, making Buffaloman to sacrify his last horn and power for the sake of Meat and the dead Justice Chojin. After his resurrection, he become an ally and friend to Kinnikuman, and he even let Doctor Bombe to use his horns as replacement for Kinnikuman's arm bones.
Springman
Buffaloman has a good relation with all his fellow Devil Chojins, but his closet friend seems to be Springman, and the both of them end up fighting in tag matches. They are also the last two Devil Chojin in been defeated in their debut arc. In Kinnikuman Nisei, is shown that Springman visited Buffaloman in hospital, and both travel to see the final match between Mantaro and Ashuraman.
Mongolman
He and Mongolman end up making a tag team to enter the Universal Chojin Tag Tournament, and they come up with some destructive techniques.
Abilities
Buffaloman primary use his horns to do all kinds of techniques and attacks, as well as his powerful body to destroy his opponents.
History
Prehistory
Buffaloman came from the Buffalo Clan. The clan was growing in power and fought over who would become king, and it descended into many years of fighting until the entire clan was wiped out, which left Buffaloman as the sole survivor. He originally had a Chojin Power of 1,000,000 units, and was continually beaten because he lacked skill. At an unknown point, he was training alone and crossed through a hurricane in his travels. The wind blew away a cross on a church, and it headed straight towards Buffaloman, who was forced to use his own power to stop the cross, which taught him the Chojin Cross Drop.
He eventually met and struck a deal with Satan, who granted him more Chojin Power each time he killed another chojin. Eventually he killed so many that his power had climbed to 10,000,000.
He and his comrades, all known as the Seven Devil Chojin (Springman, Atlantis, Stereo Cassette King, Black Hole, Mister Khamen, and The Mountain), were eventually captured by a grouping of 100,000 Justice Chojin and Space Police and trapped in a Chojin Roach Motel and sent into space.
Kinnikuman
Buffaloman initially appears as a villain, as one of the Seven Devil Chojin. He steals parts of Meat's body and forces Kinnikuman to fight in a tournament to retrieve them, culminating in a tag-match between Kinnikuman and Mongolman against Buffaloman and Springman. He joins the Justice Chojin side, after renouncing Satan and freeing Meat. He will later participate in various tournaments alongside the Justice Chojin, before fighting alongside Ataru Kinniku in the Survivor Match for the Kinniku Throne Arc.
Seven Devil Chojin Arc
Harabote reveals that seven chojin were banned from the Olympics, due to their ruthless nature, and these seven Devil Chojin were placed into a floating space prison named a "Roach Motel". The "Roach Motel" is accidentally opened, when Kinnikuman is thrown straight onto the release mechanism during celebrations of his most recent victory. Buffaloman and the other Devil Chojin arrive at a fan-appreciation day, where Kinnikuman and his friends are celebrating the conclusion of the 21st Chojin Olympics.
Buffaloman initially attacks Warsman, who attacks him in defence of the children present. He announces that they cannot allow Kinnikuman to call himself "champion", until he had defeated each of the Seven Devil Chojin. Buffaloman splits Alexandria Meat's body into seven pieces; this forces Kinnikuman to beat them all within 10 days, if he wants to save his friend. When Kinnikuman is too injured to keep fighting the Seven Devils (after he defeated SteCassette King and Black Hole), his friends step in to take on the remaining Devil Chojin in his place. Buffaloman is pitted against Warsman.
In the match, we see Warsman dodging a series of Hurricane Mixers. On the eleventh try, Buffaloman pierces Warsman's hip, and proceeds to take out a chunk of Warsman's helmet. Warsman tries an arm hold, but Buffaloman breaks free and attempts a knee drop, which is countered by a Jet Liner. Buffaloman is unaffected again, and uses a Long Horn Boomerang. Warsman follows with a Palo Special, but is thrown off by Buffaloman and damages his legs. Warsman then destroys his Bear Claws on Buffaloman's horn, when attempting a Screw Driver attack.
Buffaloman pierces a hole through Warsman's chest, which inspires Warsman to use his own version of the Fire of Inner Strength. After an exchange of blows, Warsman begins to smoke from his body, and he grows too exhausted to properly continue the match. Warsman attacks with his Bear Claws one last time, and he manages to break off one of Buffaloman's longhorns. Buffaloman uses a series of Hurricane Mixers to kill Warsman. He then walks away and leaves Warsman deceased in the ring.
The final match takes places in the Denen Colosseum.
Buffaloman faces Kinnikuman in a double match with Springman. There is only one hour left of the deadline, so Kinnikuman only has one hour to save Meat. The stadium is designed as a giant countdown, with bars around the edges that move for each second, and that will destroy pieces of Meat's body at the 30 minutes and 60 minute marks. Just as Kinnikuman is about to fight alone, Mongolman appears to make it a true tag-team match and join Kinnikuman in his fight against Springman and Buffaloman.
Despite it being called a tag-team match, Buffaloman's attention is focused exclusively on Kinnikuman, while Springman fights against Mongolman. Mongolman defeats Springman and saves Meat's limb. Buffaloman is an extremely tough opponent, and - changing colour, as he uses the full force of his 10 million Chojin Power - uses his power to reverse Kinnikuman's techniques, including his trademark finishing move: the Kinniku Buster. During an exchange of blows, Harabote uncovers information on Buffaloman.
After Buffaloman helps fix Kinnikuman's mask, he becomes fully possessed by Satan. When Buffaloman goes beneath the ring, shredding the canvas with his horn, Kinnikuman uses his arm to stop the horn, and tosses him back onto the ring. Buffaloman loses control of his power when he absorbs Kinnikuman's Burning Inner Strength. Buffaloman pierces Kinnikuman's body with his horn, before - overwhelmed by The Fire - the power returns to Kinnikuman and allows him survive.
Due to the respect Kinnikuman showed him, even though they were mortal enemies, Buffaloman changes sides at the end of the match. He cries out the key that will free Meat's head, which allows Meat to be saved just before the final countdown. Buffaloman vows to join the Justice Chojin, if he survives Satan's punishment for defeat. He s fatally injured by Satan, but - before he dies - he gives up his Chojin Power, bought with the blood of other heroes, to bring back to life Warsman, Robin Mask and Wolfman, who had died fighting his teammates.
Golden Mask Arc
Kinnikuman struggles to make it through a door to the final match, and - at the last moment - Buffaloman uses his high chojin power to keep the door open for him. When Kinnikuman offers him a seat at the ring-side, on the side of the justice chojin, Buffaloman refuses and joins the devil chojin in the corner of Ashuraman. Ashuraman appears to gain the upper-hand, but - in a dispute with Meat - Buffaloman inadvertently gives Kinnikuman inspiration needed to counter-attack.
After Akuma Shogun murders Ashuraman, Buffaloman is inspired to rejoin the justice chojin.
He then confronts the Devil Knights leader, Akuma Shogun, in order to give Kinnikuman more time to perfect the Kinniku Driver. He is eventually defeated by Devil Shogun's Hell's Guillotine technique. During the fight between Akuma Shogun and Kinnikuman, Akuma Shogun begins to revive the Devil Knights and absorb them to become more powerful, but Buffaloman puts on Akuma Shogun's mask and fights them off, which gives Kinnikuman the chance he needed to defeat Akuma Shogun with the Kinniku Driver.
Dream Chojin Tag Arc
A second Mount Fuji appears in Japan.
On top of this mountain, the Universal Chojin Tag Team trophy appears. Underneath, there appears a series of rings that allow for eight tag-teams to compete. Buffaloman - along with the other justice chojin - goes to Kourakuen Hall to discuss the situation. Buffaloman refuses to team up with Kinnikuman and leaves. He sends a letter to Mongolman, asking him to join him as a new tag-team.
Buffaloman and Mongolman forms the 20 Million Powers. The name of their combo comes from Buffaloman's 10,000,000 power and Mongolman's 10,000,000 techniques (10 Million + 10 Million). In the first-round match-ups, the teams are required to navigate a labyrinth to be matched against their opponents, and the 20 Million Powers are matched against the Most Dangerous Combo. Just as the 20 Million Powers and Most Dangerous Combo are about to begin their fight, during the Dream Chojin Tag Arc, the Killer Game Combo arrive. This leads to the Killer Game Combo defeating the Most Dangerous Combo.
Brocken Jr. does not want his loss to count for nothing, so - to allow the 20 Million Powers to win - he challenges Buffaloman and allows himself to be pinned; this allows 20 Million Powers to officially win the match. This technical win allows the 20 Million Powers to advance to the next round, but the 20 Million Powers attack the Killer Game Combo for their intrusion. Buffaloman uses a feint against Screw Kid, but Mongolman - using the distraction to attack - injures his leg in the process.
Buffaloman is then struck by Kendaman, and the Killer Game Combo ask for formal permission to enter the tournament in the place of the Most Dangerous Combo. The 20 Million Powers declare that they will earn their place in the next round by first defeating the Killer Game Combo. The match began with a fierce one-on-one battle between Buffaloman and Kendaman, but Buffaloman tries a Hurricane Mixer on Kendaman, but it fails. Buffaloman is then caught in a Scorpion Defence by Kendaman.
He proceeds to break off his Long Horn and breaks the glass of the War-Cube, but is then attacked by a Hell's Screwdriver, which is only stopped by the thrown hair of Mongolman. Buffaloman counters with a powered-up Hurricane Mixer. Fearing the punishment that comes from failing their superiors, Screw Kid and Kendaman begin to use dirty tactics. At this point Neptuneman and Big the Budo reveal themselves, and Kendaman and Screw Kid abandon the match to attack them, and the 20 Million Powers win by default, as the Killer Game Combo are killed by the Hell Missionaries outside of the ring.
During the match-up lottery for the semi-final placements, the 20 Million Powers are matched with the Hell Missionaries. The first match is between the Muscle Brothers and the Stray Devil Chojin Combo, and the 20 Million Powers stay at the edge of the ring to act as spotters. At the end of the match, after the defeat of the Stray Devil Chojin Combo, the Hell Missionaries attack Sunshine, only to be stopped by the 20 Million Powers. They then allow the Hell Missionaries to attack, as the dolls - created by the Stray Devil Chojin to steal the justice chojin Friendship Power scatter, and thus creates animosity between the justice chojin.
The semi-final match against the Hell Missionaries is a simple barbed-wire cage match, but also a mask-removal death-match in which Mongolman must bet his mask. Buffaloman is thrown into the barbed wire by Neptuneman, who then switches with Mongolman, who is at a disadvantage from being unable to use the rope for his techniques. After being thrown into the screen cage, Mongolman rebounds with a kick.
After a series of blows, the 20 Million Powers seem to have the upper hand. Mongolman begins to suffer flashbacks within the ring, as the cage reminds him of his match against Warsman, and Buffaloman is unable to tag in, as both of the Hell Missionaries attack him. The spirit of Warsman helps Mongolman. Buffaloman is tagged in and uses a Buffalo Avalanche Drop. He proceeds to attach his Long Horn, and uses a Hurricane Heat. Mongolman is tagged into the match, but subject to a Cross Bomber.
Neptuneman uses his Magnet Power in retaliation. This heals the wounds of the Hell's Missionaries, and they try continuously to attack with Cross Bombers attacks, only to fail. Due to the Iron Sweat on Mongolman and Buffaloman, they are dragged towards the Hell Missionaries by their magnet power, and they almost defeat the 20 Million Powers with a Magnetic Storm Driver. The 20 Million Powers are then further attacked by a magnetic suplex. They are soon entangled in the magnetic barbed wires, as they regain their Friendship Power, and the Justice Chojin regain their power of friendship overall.
The iron sweat breaks from Mongoman and Buffaloman, and Buffaloman uses his Longhorn Train. This increases the power of the Hell's Missionaries, who use a Silhouette Body Press, and - after a series of blows - are thrown from the war-cube. The Hell's Missionaries summon thunder to increase their electrical power. Their Lightning Sabre attack renders Buffaloman and Ramenman immobile, and Buffaloman uses a fragment of Iron Sweat to draw Neptuneman away from Mongolman.
Buffaloman collapses against the mat, defeated by the Light Sabres.
Mongolman carries Buffaloman on his back, as they try again for a Longhorn Train, but they are defeated by a Magnetic Storm Crash. Once Ramenman is defeated, Buffaloman is rushed to hospital alongside Kinnikuman and Ramenman. At hospital, Doctor Bombe removes Buffaloman's horn in order to save Kinnikuman's arm, even knowing it would result in Buffaloman's death, but the tears in Buffaloman's eyes mark his consent to the procedure.
Blood Oath Brigade Formation!
This story covered the formation of Kinnikuman Soldier's team in detail. Brocken Jr. and Buffaloman want to join Soldier's team, but Asuraman and The Ninja aren't on board with that idea. According to Asuraman, Buffaloman is too easily swayed by his emotions, which is why he never became a Devil Knight despite having exceptional talent.
Kinnikuman Soldier shows up and interrupted Asuraman and The Ninja's departure. In response, The Ninja attempted to read Kinnikuman Soldier's mind with his Expose the Heart jutsu, but there's nothing to read. Unlike the other Fated Princes, Soldier has no ambition to destroy his opponents and take over the throne.
Asuraman gets into a fight against Soldier, but Soldier easily fends him off. Soldier even escaped the Asura Buster in a similar fashion to Kinnikuman and counters with a Dragon Cube Suplex. Buffaloman deduces why Soldier would pick those four. Pride is their main characteristic. According to Asuraman, "all four chojin are bull headed guys who won't listen to anyone".
Asuraman asks if Soldier is a fake Soldier and Soldier confirms this theory. He ambushed the real Soldier's team while they were training near Mt. Fuji and stole the real Soldier's mask. The fake Soldier explains that he joined the tournament because the Friendship Power the Justice Chojin use is a sham and that the pride that they share can bring out their true strength.
Asuraman wants Soldier to prove why this team of outcasts would make an excellent team. Soldier tells him to be silent. A real man would never talk so much. Instead, he'd silently watch the result with his own eyes. Asuraman follows up with his Tornado Hell, but Soldier dodges, causing the building already worn down by the Rolling Cube Suplex to collapse on top of them. Soldier heals them all with a Face Flash. With this act, Soldier convinced them to join his team for the upcoming tournament.
Survivor Match Arc
When Kinnikuman's right to the Kinniku Throne was challenged by five pretenders to the throne, Ataru Kinniku forms a team of five people to fight in a tournament to determine who shall be king of Planet Kinniku. [50] Buffaloman - sans his horns - arrives at the house of Brocken Jr., along with Asuraman and The Ninja. Ataru asks them to join his team, as well as to meet him at Nagoya Castle in three days time, and - during that time - they watch him from a distance to ascertain his character.
After Ataru defeats Bockman and saves a boy, Buffaloman and the others decide to join his team. They proceed to enter Nagoya Castle and face against Team Phoenix, as they announce they have formed The Chojin Blood Oath Brigade. After the defeat of The Ninja and Asuraman, Nagoya and Himeji Castles fly away from their locations and join as one structure.
In the final match during the semi-finals battle against Team Super Phoenix and Team Soldier (Soldier, Buffaloman, and Brocken) competed in a 6-Man Tag Match against Super Phoenix (Mammothman, and Prisman). The match takes place in a floating multi-sided ring. Buffaloman, for the most part, fought against Mammothman. Tremendously weaker without his Long Horns, he found himself losing against the nearly unstoppable Mammothman. He was finally able to gain and advantage when Kinnikuman returned the Long Horns used to fix his arm before the Tag match finals. Soon after, Brocken took out Prisman, but then fell into the canyon below and died. Seeing how much Soldier and Buffaloman cared for their fallen comrade convinced Super Phoenix that Soldier wasn't the real Soldier.
As Soldier begins to have his true identity figured out by his own father Mayumi as his long-lost elder son Ataru, the Evil Gods choose to sabotage him to eliminate him and help Phoenix win the tournament. The God of Brutality steals a page from the Muscle Prophecy, a book owned by Kinniku Clan royalty which contains past, present, and even future information on every Chojin ever, as a means to reveal who Soldier is to Super Phoenix. As the God of Brutality attempts to give the page to Super Phoenix via Mammothman, Buffaloman sees a vision of Mayumi in his head, forcing him to take the page to protect it. As the mammoth Chojin prepares to hand it to Phoenix, the bull Chojin performs the Chojin Cross Drop on him, jumping out of the ring and forcing Buffaloman to hold the page in his mouth. As they fall, Mammothman hits Buffaloman with his Nose Fencing technique and retains the page. At the last second, Buffaloman hits Mammothman with a Buffalo Bomb on the roof of the Himeji/Nagoya castle and saves the page again.
The Evil Gods then arrived and began attacking the floating ring in an attempt to take out Ataru. As the ring fell, Buffaloman caught it and held it up. Weakened from the battle with Mammothman, he put on a red headband given to him by the other Justice Chojins and found enough strength to not only hold the ring up longer but also remove his arm guards and toss them up to Ataru. He then pushed it into the air and as it fell again, he jumped up and hit it with a Hurricane Mixer, successfully putting it back in mid-air. Unfortunately, Buffaloman had no more strength and fell into the canyon below. He is revived (along with his teammates) after the tournament by Kinnikuman's Face Flash.
Kinnikuman 2011
Perfect Origin Arc
Prehistory
Like all the other Idol Chojin, Buffaloman was sent off to his home of Spain by Harabote so he could be placed in Medical Suspension, to help him recover from his many injuries from matches past.
However, when he finished his Medical Suspension and made his return while the Seven Devil Chojin invaded the full-scale tournament going on, he declared he was a Devil Chojin again, renegading on his Idol Chojin friends out of nowhere.
The Seven Devil Chojin reconvene in their base. Buffaloman returns, where they all decide which of the Perfect Large Numbers they shall do battle against, and Buffaloman decides to fight against Strong the Budo, due to the fact that whomever fights him will likely lose and he will not sacrifice his teammates. The Mountain refuses to allow this to happen, and offers to sacrifice himself instead, due to the team needing Buffaloman to serve as their leader. He asks only that Buffaloman not avert his gaze during his match.
After Black Hole's match with Dalmatiman, Buffaloman announces that the Devil Chojin are going to purge all Perfect Chojin for their master, Devil Shogun. During the first stage, he mostly oversees how the Devil Chojin fight the Perfect Chojin.
In a flashback, it's revealed that Buffaloman made the choice to return to the Devil Chojin and fight alongside them, which the Seven Devil Chojin welcomed greatly. But they wouldn't let him join them to fight the Perfect Large Numbers because he was their "ace", their leader and without them, the Seven Devil Chojin couldn't perform at their best.
Diablos vs. John Does
Grim Reaper and Turboman enter with the New Large Numbers.
Grim Reaper reveals the next location - of the second-stage of the tournament - will be the Saqqara Pyramid, which has been relocated to Japan's Tottori Dunes. The Grim Reaper lands on the third step, while Turboman takes the fourth step. The Justice Chojin follow them to the mountain, and Buffaloman is assigned against Turboman, who attacks him with a drop-kick before he can enter the ring.
He then drags Buffaloman into the ring with a Turboman Stunner. Turboman punches Buffaloman while he's down, until Buffaloman counters with a headbutt and proceeds to use a back-drop. [60] It is then that Springman arrives on the fourth step to fight the Grim Reaper. [61] Grim Reaper begin the match with a Buzzsaw Hat, which cuts Springman's leg as he enters the ring with a jump.
Grim Reaper throws Springman against the corner-post, but the post goes through Springman's hollow body and allows him to remain unharmed, and a Spring-Body Breaking-Squeeze breaks the corner-post. A Spring Transfer allows him to distract Grim Reaper, whereby he land a drop-kick to the face. While Turboman and Grim Reaper, struggle in their matches and appear to be losing, Jak Tea fights against Black Hole and creates a strong geyser before he dies. This creates a crack along the pyramid.
Turboman frees himself from Buffaloman with a Somersault Kick. He tries a body-press, but Buffaloman catches him and counters with a back-flip. The fifth step finally collapses from the cracks and descends into the fourth step, where the two single matches combine into one tag-match. Turboman gets Buffaloman into a tombstone pile-driver, but - as he prepares for another attack - Springman and Buffaloman combine to use a Chojin Dodgeball. Springman is chastised for attacking Turboman, who was not his original opponent, as the match rules must abide by those of a single-match (due to the unusual circumstances).
The two teams agree to form a tag-team match with tag-team rules.
Springman lunges at Turboman, who uses a lariat and a Starter Revolver, but gets his arm caught inside Springma, who retaliates with a Spring Cyclone. Springman proceeds to use a Killer-Coil Head Attack. A second attempt at the attack is deflected by Turboman's a back-kick. It nearly knocks Springman out of the ring, until Buffaloman catches him. Turboman charges with a flying-cross, but the Diabolos counter again with a Devil Expander. Buffaloman then bounces off Springman to kick Turboman, who proceeds with a series of blows. Turboman uses a Glove Revolver and a Turbine Chop.
Buffaloman and Turboman return to their corners, and Turboman tags in Grim Reaper, who spins around on Turboman's head and delivers an Ignition Dress to Buffaloman. They proceed to use a John Does Arrow. The Diabolos try another Devil Expander, but Turboman dives through Springman and knocks Buffaloman out of the ring, before hitting him again with another John Does Arrows. A High-Capacity John Does Arrow sends Turboman towards Buffaloman, who manages to catch him and slams him against the wall, which causes the wall to crumble into the shape of a flight of stairs.
This allows Springman to use a Devil Slinky. He uses a Spring Body-Breaking Squeeze, which causes Turboman's body to start to glow, as Turboman stores the energy of his opponents. Turboman uses a High-Speed Turbo-Crash, as their two attacks seem to create a stalemate, but soon the release of Turboman's energy causes Springman to harden. He proceeds to stab Springman in his face with Revolver Spikes, and a Revolver Fin causes Springman's body to crash into Buffaloman.
Springman finds strength to lift Buffaloman, despite his weakened state. The Diabolos attempt a Long Horn Train, but - when it only glances off Turboman - follow with a Most Super Express. They follow with a third attack, which against glances off Turboman, but Turboman finds strength to use a Revolver Stud while Springman starts to crumble away. Springman uses all his strength to throw Buffaloman into a Hurricane Mixer, and Buffaloman's horns break through Turboman's Revolver attack and pierce his chest. This leads to Turboman's death, followed by Springman dying within Buffaloman's arms.
The Grim Reaper proceeds to Turboman's corpse, where he opens Turboman's back and steals his Earth Unit (which allows him to store energy to use against an opponent), and then kicks Turboman's body out of the ring. The Grim Reaper removes his robe, which he uses to taunt Buffaloman like a matador, and uses a Skeleton Body to avoid being struck with a Hurricane Mixer. The Grim Reaper states that people fall victim to Buffaloman's attack due to fear and fidgety movements, but - knowing no fear - he cannot be hurt.
The Grim Reaper grabs Buffaloman by his horns, before grabbing at his skin and flipping him over, and - in the process - tears chunks of skin from Buffaloman. The Grim Reaper proceeds to tear off more skin from Buffaloman, and attacks with a Dress Spear, which reveals all the scars on Buffaloman's body from previous matches. He is eventually countered by Buffaloman's Buffalo Hammer. The Grim Reaper proceeds to capture Buffaloman's legs, as he sets up for a John Does Arrows, before revealing it can double as a solo-technique called the Phantom Canon. This causes Buffaloman's scars to reopen in a bloody manner.
Buffaloman summons his blood back into his body by force of will. The scars move to Buffaloman's horn and turn it into a Long Horn, before he speeds around the Grim Reaper and lands a series of blows. The Grim Reaper uses an Ignition Dress, followed by a Thunder Sabre, which pins Buffaloman to the canvas, and the Grim Reaper uses the Earth Unit to absorb power from Buffaloman. The sheer power from Buffaloman causes the Earth Unit to break, and Buffaloman uses a Hurricane Mixer.
This is followed with a Chojin Cross Slam. The Diabolos are declared the winners of the match, and Psychoman exposes his chest with the offer that Buffaloman kills him as he sees fit, due to the Perfect Chojin suicide rule and out of respect to Buffaloman as the victor. The Grim Reaper taunts Buffaloman until Buffaloman stabs him through the chest with his horn, and this cements Buffaloman's return to a Devil Chojin, preventing him from going back to his Justice Chojin allies. Psychoman then vanishes.
Buffaloman takes a piece of Springman's body and leaves.
After the Perfect Origin hit the scene, and Grim Reaper reveals himself to be Psychoman, Buffaloman decides to make up for letting him escape alive, but Devil Knight Planetman beats Buffaloman to fighting Psychoman. Buffaloman mostly observes while the Devil Knights take on the Perfect Origin.
Buffaloman vs. Ganman
The fight takes place on the first ring of Yggdrasil.
They begin by clashing horns in a rapid succession, before Ganman slams Buffaloman's head onto the corner-post with a bulldog headlock. Ganman attempts to ram into Buffaloman, but Buffaloman counters with a preemptive kick, and attempts a body-press, which is caught by Ganman in turn. He throws Buffaloman down, before they lock hands centre of the ring, and Ganman attempts a double over-hook suplex; which prompts Buffaloman to state that he cannot lose, as he must avenge Sneagator.
Buffaloman extends one horn, and uses it to pierce into Ganman's right shoulder. This is followed by a Hurricane Devil Sword, as well as a Buffalo Hammer, until Ganman throws Buffaloman out of the ring and forces him to prevent his fall by drilling into the stone ring. Buffaloman drills a tunnel under the ring, which allows him to pierce his horn through the surface for a Devil Shark manoeuvre. It is impossible for Ganman to "read" Buffaloman's moves while he is underground, and Buffaloman knocks him down by targeting his legs.
Ganman begins to dodge the horn by sensing Buffaloman's breathing, and catches the horn in his hands, which he uses to drag Buffaloman out of the ring, before using Elk Horn Scissors. He slams Buffaloman onto the ring, which reduces the size of his horn, and Ganman shines a light down on Buffaloman with his cyclops eye. Buffaloman attempts a Hurricane Mixer, but Ganman catches him by his horns and proceeds to use a brain-buster. It is revealed Buffaloman is holding back his power, and Kinnikuman and Akuma Shogun convince him to use his full power once more. Buffaloman breaks out of a Canadian Back-Breaker.
He uses a Reverse Suplex, before struggling evenly with Ganman in the middle of the ring. The two engage in a series of even blows, but the scars on Buffaloman start to reopen as he gains back the Friendship Power of the Justice Chojin, and - after an equal battle - Ganman breaks off one of Buffaloman's horns. Ganman gains the upper-hand, after a series of carefully aimed blows, until Buffaloman punches his own eye so that he is left with one working eye (just like Ganman) in order to create a 'fair' fight.
They lock together evenly again in the ring, until Buffaloman dares Ganman to use his eye power on Chojin Enma. This provokes Ganman to use an Elk Horn Compressor, as he states he will not use his eye power on Chojin Enma due to having faith in him as a person. He follows with an Elk Horn Tempest, but - as the throws Buffaloman - Buffaloman uses his one remaining horn to swing on the corner-post. Buffaloman builds up speed by moving post to post, and uses a new finishing move: Hurricane Giga Blaster.
This completely destroys Ganman's horns. Ganman reveals he has remembered Buffaloman's name, which proves he considers Buffaloman a worthy adversary due to how he forgets all other opponents' names, and hands him his dumbbell. This kills Ganman, who dies upon the canvas.
Omega Centauri's Six Spear Arc
He was hanging out with the remaining of the Devil Chojin, when suddenly, a magic barrier seal them inside their HQ, making them unable to face off against the Omega invaders.
Unnamed Arc
As Brocken Jr. and Ataru console Ashuraman's loss after he saw Satan Cross die to The Natural, Buffaloman and The Ninja arrive. Buffaloman notes the coincidence of the five in the same location. The Chojin Blood Oath Brigade has formed again. Ataru believes it is up to the Chojin Blood Oath Brigade to unite as one and put an end to the dangers of the Choushin. Ashuraman is the one who will step up to the plate first.
During the fight between Caucasusman and Mammothman, the Chojin Blood Oath Brigade talk about Mammothman's poor showing in his fight against Caucasusman. Buffaloman talks about how tough Mammothman was during their fight and that Mammothman's calmness unnerved him. The Choushin are crafty enough to place their opponents into tricky situations and Mammothman is not used to that. All they can do is wait for something within Mammothman to break.
After the declaration of the God of Harmony about the opening of the Tower of Babel, Buffaloman decides to be one of the chojins to enter the tower. Once they arrive and enter, they are challenged by the first god, who introduced himself as the God of Evolution, now known as The Executioner. He didn't feel confortable leaving the first rival to Geronimo, knowing that if the young chojin fail, they will be all doomed. But surprinsigly, Geronimo wins, and three new doors are opened.
He decides to travel with Kinnikuman and Warsman, arriving to the next level where they are greet by the choushin of said level. Kinnikuman tries to hide behind Buffaloman, but he take him and tries to throw him into the ring, annoyed by his cowardice, but Warman is the one that jumps into the ring to face against the choushin, who introduce himself as Onyxman.
Kinnikuman Nisei
Buffaloman acts as a teacher within the Hercules Factory. He is matched against Terry the Kid in the graduation matches, which he loses and allows for Terry the Kid to graduate. He will later participate in an exhibition match during the Chojin Olympics, which he fights with Ramenman against The Machineguns. In the Ultimate Chojin Tag Tournament, he again teams up with Ramenman, but will ultimately lose against the Muscle Brothers Nouveau.
Hercules Factory Arc
He became one of the many instructors at the Hercules Factory, training the future generation of chojin to fight evil. He is then assigned to the last test for the First Year Graduation: fight one of the new generation chojin, to see if he is worthy or needs more training.
He end up fighting Terry the Kid, the son of the famous Terryman. After a quick fight, Terry the Kid manage to defeat him with his Texas Clover Hold, congratulating him for his win shortly after.
HF First Year Replacement Matches Arc
He is shown to have been defeated by one of the new First Years: Jade. He then return to see the final match of the tournament, alongside the other teachers that were defeated by the Generation EX.
Demon Seed Arc
Buffaloman meets with Meat and goes with him to check a disturbance. He collapses when Alexandria Meat is taken by six tendrils, much like what happened to him 36 years ago, and the six people reveal themselves to be the ultimate Devil Chojin: the Demon Seeds. Buffaloman cries to see that the new generation cannot enter the General Palast.
Jade begs Buffaloman to help, but Buffaloman - weeping and in a rage - strikes Jade over and over, as he expresses guilt over his actions 36 years ago that set current events into action.
He stabs himself in the chest with a jagged piece of rock, and tears open the wound to accept the General Stone and reaffirms his pact with Satan. [85] He uses his newfound powers to open a hole in the barrier, but only one chojin can pass through as his strength is not enough for more. The barrier closes just after Mantaro Kinniku enters, trapping them both inside, but also cutting off Buffaloman's horn in the process.
Buffaloman tosses away the General stone, only to be carried - in his weak state - by Mantaro. Mantaro is forced to choose an opponent, but The Constellation attacks before the match, and Buffaloman blocks an arrow aimed at Mantaro with his body in defence of his ex-pupil. The Constellation pushes the arrow further into the wound and then proceeds to break his arm, but Buffaloman counters with his Hurricane Mixer. The Constellation uses a Suplex, which smashes Buffaloman's head against the concrete floor and cracks open his skull, incapacitating him.
Mantaro struggles to gain an advantage, but Buffaloman's advice helps him to counter. The Constellation uses a broken post of the ring to attack Buffaloman, so as to stop his invaluable advice, and it strikes Buffaloman on the forehead and knocks him unconscious. He regains consciousness just long enough to offer Mantaro further encouragement, before he faints once more. Mantaro tries to carry Buffaloman to safety, but - due to his injuries - passes out in the central chamber and collapses next to Buffaloman, at which point the B-Evolutions arrive.
Ultimate Chojin Tag Tournament Arc
Prehistory
Buffaloman appears late into this arc, as he participates in the tournament at Kourakuen Stadium. He is featured alongside Mongolman (Ramenman) as part of the 20 Million Powers; despite his missing horns, from the match three days ago in his timeline, Buffaloman seeks to distract the New Generation (to which he sees as the villains). Buffaloman chastises Robin Mask for helping Chaos Avenir, as he believes they are responsible for Alisa Mackintosh's accident.
Battle Royale
He fights against The Gaon and Emperor Death, in a battle royale for the opening match, and their opponents start with the upper hand.
History
Prehistory
Buffaloman came from the Buffalo Clan. The clan was growing in power and fought over who would become king, and it descended into many years of fighting until the entire clan was wiped out, which left Buffaloman as the sole survivor. He originally had a Chojin Power of 1,000,000 units, and was continually beaten because he lacked skill. At an unknown point, he was training alone and crossed through a hurricane in his travels. The wind blew away a cross on a church, and it headed straight towards Buffaloman, who was forced to use his own power to stop the cross, which taught him the Chojin Cross Drop.
He eventually met and struck a deal with Satan, who granted him more Chojin Power each time he killed another chojin. Eventually he killed so many that his power had climbed to 10,000,000.
He and his comrades, all known as the Seven Devil Chojin (Springman, Atlantis, Stereo Cassette King, Black Hole, Mister Khamen, and The Mountain), were eventually captured by a grouping of 100,000 Justice Chojin and Space Police and trapped in a Chojin Roach Motel and sent into space.
Kinnikuman
Buffaloman initially appears as a villain, as one of the Seven Devil Chojin. He steals parts of Meat's body and forces Kinnikuman to fight in a tournament to retrieve them, culminating in a tag-match between Kinnikuman and Mongolman against Buffaloman and Springman. He joins the Justice Chojin side, after renouncing Satan and freeing Meat. He will later participate in various tournaments alongside the Justice Chojin, before fighting alongside Ataru Kinniku in the Survivor Match for the Kinniku Throne Arc.
Seven Devil Chojin Arc
Harabote reveals that seven chojin were banned from the Olympics, due to their ruthless nature, and these seven Devil Chojin were placed into a floating space prison named a "Roach Motel". The "Roach Motel" is accidentally opened, when Kinnikuman is thrown straight onto the release mechanism during celebrations of his most recent victory. Buffaloman and the other Devil Chojin arrive at a fan-appreciation day, where Kinnikuman and his friends are celebrating the conclusion of the 21st Chojin Olympics.
Buffaloman initially attacks Warsman, who attacks him in defence of the children present. He announces that they cannot allow Kinnikuman to call himself "champion", until he had defeated each of the Seven Devil Chojin. Buffaloman splits Alexandria Meat's body into seven pieces; this forces Kinnikuman to beat them all within 10 days, if he wants to save his friend. When Kinnikuman is too injured to keep fighting the Seven Devils (after he defeated SteCassette King and Black Hole), his friends step in to take on the remaining Devil Chojin in his place. Buffaloman is pitted against Warsman.
In the match, we see Warsman dodging a series of Hurricane Mixers. On the eleventh try, Buffaloman pierces Warsman's hip, and proceeds to take out a chunk of Warsman's helmet. Warsman tries an arm hold, but Buffaloman breaks free and attempts a knee drop, which is countered by a Jet Liner. Buffaloman is unaffected again, and uses a Long Horn Boomerang. Warsman follows with a Palo Special, but is thrown off by Buffaloman and damages his legs. Warsman then destroys his Bear Claws on Buffaloman's horn, when attempting a Screw Driver attack.
Buffaloman pierces a hole through Warsman's chest, which inspires Warsman to use his own version of the Fire of Inner Strength. After an exchange of blows, Warsman begins to smoke from his body, and he grows too exhausted to properly continue the match. Warsman attacks with his Bear Claws one last time, and he manages to break off one of Buffaloman's longhorns. Buffaloman uses a series of Hurricane Mixers to kill Warsman. He then walks away and leaves Warsman deceased in the ring.
The final match takes places in the Denen Colosseum.
Buffaloman faces Kinnikuman in a double match with Springman. There is only one hour left of the deadline, so Kinnikuman only has one hour to save Meat. The stadium is designed as a giant countdown, with bars around the edges that move for each second, and that will destroy pieces of Meat's body at the 30 minutes and 60 minute marks. Just as Kinnikuman is about to fight alone, Mongolman appears to make it a true tag-team match and join Kinnikuman in his fight against Springman and Buffaloman.
Despite it being called a tag-team match, Buffaloman's attention is focused exclusively on Kinnikuman, while Springman fights against Mongolman. Mongolman defeats Springman and saves Meat's limb. Buffaloman is an extremely tough opponent, and - changing color, as he uses the full force of his 10 million Chojin Power - uses his power to reverse Kinnikuman's techniques, including his trademark finishing move: the Kinniku Buster. During an exchange of blows, Harabote uncovers information on Buffaloman.
After Buffaloman helps fix Kinnikuman's mask, he becomes fully possessed by Satan. When Buffaloman goes beneath the ring, shredding the canvas with his horn, Kinnikuman uses his arm to stop the horn, and tosses him back onto the ring. Buffaloman loses control of his power when he absorbs Kinnikuman's Burning Inner Strength. Buffaloman pierces Kinnikuman's body with his horn, before - overwhelmed by The Fire - the power returns to Kinnikuman and allows him survive.
Due to the respect Kinnikuman showed him, even though they were mortal enemies, Buffaloman changes sides at the end of the match. He cries out the key that will free Meat's head, which allows Meat to be saved just before the final countdown. Buffaloman vows to join the Justice Chojin, if he survives Satan's punishment for defeat. He s fatally injured by Satan, but - before he dies - he gives up his Chojin Power, bought with the blood of other heroes, to bring back to life Warsman, Robin Mask and Wolfman, who had died fighting his teammates.
Golden Mask Arc
Kinnikuman struggles to make it through a door to the final match, and - at the last moment - Buffaloman uses his high chojin power to keep the door open for him. When Kinnikuman offers him a seat at the ring-side, on the side of the justice chojin, Buffaloman refuses and joins the devil chojin in the corner of Ashuraman. Ashuraman appears to gain the upper-hand, but - in a dispute with Meat - Buffaloman inadvertently gives Kinnikuman inspiration needed to counter-attack.
After Akuma Shogun murders Ashuraman, Buffaloman is inspired to rejoin the justice chojin.
He then confronts the Devil Knights leader, Akuma Shogun, in order to give Kinnikuman more time to perfect the Kinniku Driver. He is eventually defeated by Devil Shogun's Hell's Guillotine technique. During the fight between Akuma Shogun and Kinnikuman, Akuma Shogun begins to revive the Devil Knights and absorb them to become more powerful, but Buffaloman puts on Akuma Shogun's mask and fights them off, which gives Kinnikuman the chance he needed to defeat Akuma Shogun with the Kinniku Driver.
Dream Chojin Tag Arc
A second Mount Fuji appears in Japan.
On top of this mountain, the Universal Chojin Tag Team trophy appears. Underneath, there appears a series of rings that allow for eight tag-teams to compete. Buffaloman - along with the other justice chojin - goes to Kourakuen Hall to discuss the situation. Buffaloman refuses to team up with Kinnikuman and leaves. He sends a letter to Mongolman, asking him to join him as a new tag-team.
Buffaloman and Mongolman forms the 20 Million Powers. The name of their combo comes from Buffaloman's 10,000,000 power and Mongolman's 10,000,000 techniques (10 Million + 10 Million). In the first-round match-ups, the teams are required to navigate a labyrinth to be matched against their opponents, and the 20 Million Powers are matched against the Most Dangerous Combo. Just as the 20 Million Powers and Most Dangerous Combo are about to begin their fight, during the Dream Chojin Tag Arc, the Killer Game Combo arrive. This leads to the Killer Game Combo defeating the Most Dangerous Combo.
Brocken Jr. does not want his loss to count for nothing, so - to allow the 20 Million Powers to win - he challenges Buffaloman and allows himself to be pinned; this allows 20 Million Powers to officially win the match. This technical win allows the 20 Million Powers to advance to the next round, but the 20 Million Powers attack the Killer Game Combo for their intrusion. Buffaloman uses a feint against Screw Kid, but Mongolman - using the distraction to attack - injures his leg in the process.
Buffaloman is then struck by Kendaman, and the Killer Game Combo ask for formal permission to enter the tournament in the place of the Most Dangerous Combo. The 20 Million Powers declare that they will earn their place in the next round by first defeating the Killer Game Combo. The match began with a fierce one-on-one battle between Buffaloman and Kendaman, but Buffaloman tries a Hurricane Mixer on Kendaman, but it fails. Buffaloman is then caught in a Scorpion Defence by Kendaman.
He proceeds to break off his Long Horn and breaks the glass of the War-Cube, but is then attacked by a Hell's Screwdriver, which is only stopped by the thrown hair of Mongolman. Buffaloman counters with a powered-up Hurricane Mixer. Fearing the punishment that comes from failing their superiors, Screw Kid and Kendaman begin to use dirty tactics. At this point Neptuneman and Big the Budo reveal themselves, and Kendaman and Screw Kid abandon the match to attack them, and the 20 Million Powers win by default, as the Killer Game Combo are killed by the Hell Missionaries outside of the ring.
During the match-up lottery for the semi-final placements, the 20 Million Powers are matched with the Hell Missionaries. The first match is between the Muscle Brothers and the Stray Devil Chojin Combo, and the 20 Million Powers stay at the edge of the ring to act as spotters. At the end of the match, after the defeat of the Stray Devil Chojin Combo, the Hell Missionaries attack Sunshine, only to be stopped by the 20 Million Powers. They then allow the Hell Missionaries to attack, as the dolls - created by the Stray Devil Chojin to steal the justice chojin Friendship Power scatter, and thus creates animosity between the justice chojin.
The semi-final match against the Hell Missionaries is a simple barbed-wire cage match, but also a mask-removal death-match in which Mongolman must bet his mask. Buffaloman is thrown into the barbed wire by Neptuneman, who then switches with Mongolman, who is at a disadvantage from being unable to use the rope for his techniques. After being thrown into the screen cage, Mongolman rebounds with a kick.
After a series of blows, the 20 Million Powers seem to have the upper hand. Mongolman begins to suffer flashbacks within the ring, as the cage reminds him of his match against Warsman, and Buffaloman is unable to tag in, as both of the Hell Missionaries attack him. The spirit of Warsman helps Mongolman. Buffaloman is tagged in and uses a Buffalo Avalanche Drop. He proceeds to attach his Long Horn, and uses a Hurricane Heat. Mongolman is tagged into the match, but subject to a Cross Bomber.
Neptuneman uses his Magnet Power in retaliation. This heals the wounds of the Hell's Missionaries, and they try continuously to attack with Cross Bombers attacks, only to fail. Due to the Iron Sweat on Mongolman and Buffaloman, they are dragged towards the Hell Missionaries by their magnet power, and they almost defeat the 20 Million Powers with a Magnetic Storm Driver. The 20 Million Powers are then further attacked by a magnetic suplex. They are soon entangled in the magnetic barbed wires, as they regain their Friendship Power, and the Justice Chojin regain their power of friendship overall.
The iron sweat breaks from Mongoman and Buffaloman, and Buffaloman uses his Longhorn Train. This increases the power of the Hell's Missionaries, who use a Silhouette Body Press, and - after a series of blows - are thrown from the war-cube. The Hell's Missionaries summon thunder to increase their electrical power. Their Lightning Sabre attack renders Buffaloman and Ramenman immobile, and Buffaloman uses a fragment of Iron Sweat to draw Neptuneman away from Mongolman.
Buffaloman collapses against the mat, defeated by the Light Sabres.
Mongolman carries Buffaloman on his back, as they try again for a Longhorn Train, but they are defeated by a Magnetic Storm Crash. Once Ramenman is defeated, Buffaloman is rushed to hospital alongside Kinnikuman and Ramenman. At hospital, Doctor Bombe removes Buffaloman's horn in order to save Kinnikuman's arm, even knowing it would result in Buffaloman's death, but the tears in Buffaloman's eyes mark his consent to the procedure.
Blood Oath Brigade Formation!
This story covered the formation of Kinnikuman Soldier's team in detail. Brocken Jr. and Buffaloman want to join Soldier's team, but Asuraman and The Ninja aren't on board with that idea. According to Asuraman, Buffaloman is too easily swayed by his emotions, which is why he never became a Devil Knight despite having exceptional talent.
Kinnikuman Soldier shows up and interrupted Asuraman and The Ninja's departure. In response, The Ninja attempted to read Kinnikuman Soldier's mind with his Expose the Heart jutsu, but there's nothing to read. Unlike the other Fated Princes, Soldier has no ambition to destroy his opponents and take over the throne.
Asuraman gets into a fight against Soldier, but Soldier easily fends him off. Soldier even escaped the Asura Buster in a similar fashion to Kinnikuman and counters with a Dragon Cube Suplex. Buffaloman deduces why Soldier would pick those four. Pride is their main characteristic. According to Asuraman, "all four chojin are bull headed guys who won't listen to anyone".
Asuraman asks if Soldier is a fake Soldier and Soldier confirms this theory. He ambushed the real Soldier's team while they were training near Mt. Fuji and stole the real Soldier's mask. The fake Soldier explains that he joined the tournament because the Friendship Power the Justice Chojin use is a sham and that the pride that they share can bring out their true strength.
Asuraman wants Soldier to prove why this team of outcasts would make an excellent team. Soldier tells him to be silent. A real man would never talk so much. Instead, he'd silently watch the result with his own eyes. Asuraman follows up with his Tornado Hell, but Soldier dodges, causing the building already worn down by the Rolling Cube Suplex to collapse on top of them. Soldier heals them all with a Face Flash. With this act, Soldier convinced them to join his team for the upcoming tournament.
Survivor Match Arc
When Kinnikuman's right to the Kinniku Throne was challenged by five pretenders to the throne, Ataru Kinniku forms a team of five people to fight in a tournament to determine who shall be king of Planet Kinniku. Buffaloman - sans his horns - arrives at the house of Brocken Jr., along with Asuraman and The Ninja. Ataru asks them to join his team, as well as to meet him at Nagoya Castle in three days time, and - during that time - they watch him from a distance to ascertain his character.
After Ataru defeats Bockman and saves a boy, Buffaloman and the others decide to join his team. They proceed to enter Nagoya Castle and face against Team Phoenix, as they announce they have formed The Chojin Blood Oath Brigade. After the defeat of The Ninja and Asuraman, Nagoya and Himeji Castles fly away from their locations and join as one structure.
In the final match during the semi-finals battle against Team Super Phoenix and Team Soldier (Soldier, Buffaloman, and Brocken) competed in a 6-Man Tag Match against Super Phoenix (Mammothman, and Prisman). The match takes place in a floating multi-sided ring. Buffaloman, for the most part, fought against Mammothman. Tremendously weaker without his Long Horns, he found himself losing against the nearly unstoppable Mammothman. He was finally able to gain and advantage when Kinnikuman returned the Long Horns used to fix his arm before the Tag match finals. Soon after, Brocken took out Prisman, but then fell into the canyon below and died. Seeing how much Soldier and Buffaloman cared for their fallen comrade convinced Super Phoenix that Soldier wasn't the real Soldier.
As Soldier begins to have his true identity figured out by his own father Mayumi as his long-lost elder son Ataru, the Evil Gods choose to sabotage him to eliminate him and help Phoenix win the tournament. The God of Brutality steals a page from the Muscle Prophecy, a book owned by Kinniku Clan royalty which contains past, present, and even future information on every Chojin ever, as a means to reveal who Soldier is to Super Phoenix. As the God of Brutality attempts to give the page to Super Phoenix via Mammothman, Buffaloman sees a vision of Mayumi in his head, forcing him to take the page to protect it. As the mammoth Chojin prepares to hand it to Phoenix, the bull Chojin performs the Chojin Cross Drop on him, jumping out of the ring and forcing Buffaloman to hold the page in his mouth. As they fall, Mammothman hits Buffaloman with his Nose Fencing technique and retains the page. At the last second, Buffaloman hits Mammothman with a Buffalo Bomb on the roof of the Himeji/Nagoya castle and saves the page again.
The Evil Gods then arrived and began attacking the floating ring in an attempt to take out Ataru. As the ring fell, Buffaloman caught it and held it up. Weakened from the battle with Mammothman, he put on a red headband given to him by the other Justice Chojins and found enough strength to not only hold the ring up longer but also remove his arm guards and toss them up to Ataru. He then pushed it into the air and as it fell again, he jumped up and hit it with a Hurricane Mixer, successfully putting it back in mid-air. Unfortunately, Buffaloman had no more strength and fell into the canyon below. He is revived (along with his teammates) after the tournament by Kinnikuman's Face Flash.
Kinnikuman 2011
Perfect Origin Arc
Prehistory
Like all the other Idol Chojin, Buffaloman was sent off to his home of Spain by Harabote so he could be placed in Medical Suspension, to help him recover from his many injuries from matches past.
However, when he finished his Medical Suspension and made his return while the Seven Devil Chojin invaded the full-scale tournament going on, he declared he was a Devil Chojin again, renegading on his Idol Chojin friends out of nowhere.
The Seven Devil Chojin reconvene in their base. Buffaloman returns, where they all decide which of the Perfect Large Numbers they shall do battle against, and Buffaloman decides to fight against Strong the Budo, due to the fact that whomever fights him will likely lose and he will not sacrifice his teammates. The Mountain refuses to allow this to happen, and offers to sacrifice himself instead, due to the team needing Buffaloman to serve as their leader. He asks only that Buffaloman not avert his gaze during his match.
After Black Hole's match with Dalmatiman, Buffaloman announces that the Devil Chojin are going to purge all Perfect Chojin for their master, Devil Shogun. During the first stage, he mostly oversees how the Devil Chojin fight the Perfect Chojin.
In a flashback, it's revealed that Buffaloman made the choice to return to the Devil Chojin and fight alongside them, which the Seven Devil Chojin welcomed greatly. But they wouldn't let him join them to fight the Perfect Large Numbers because he was their "ace", their leader and without them, the Seven Devil Chojin couldn't perform at their best.
Diablos vs. John Does
Grim Reaper and Turboman enter with the New Large Numbers.
Grim Reaper reveals the next location - of the second-stage of the tournament - will be the Saqqara Pyramid, which has been relocated to Japan's Tottori Dunes. The Grim Reaper lands on the third step, while Turboman takes the fourth step. The Justice Chojin follow them to the mountain, and Buffaloman is assigned against Turboman, who attacks him with a drop-kick before he can enter the ring.
He then drags Buffaloman into the ring with a Turboman Stunner. Turboman punches Buffaloman while he's down, until Buffaloman counters with a headbutt and proceeds to use a back-drop. It is then that Springman arrives on the fourth step to fight the Grim Reaper. Grim Reaper begin the match with a Buzzsaw Hat, which cuts Springman's leg as he enters the ring with a jump.
Grim Reaper throws Springman against the corner-post, but the post goes through Springman's hollow body and allows him to remain unharmed, and a Spring-Body Breaking-Squeeze breaks the corner-post. A Spring Transfer allows him to distract Grim Reaper, whereby he land a drop-kick to the face. While Turboman and Grim Reaper, struggle in their matches and appear to be losing, Jak Tea fights against Black Hole and creates a strong geyser before he dies. This creates a crack along the pyramid.
Turboman frees himself from Buffaloman with a Somersault Kick. He tries a body-press, but Buffaloman catches him and counters with a back-flip. The fifth step finally collapses from the cracks and descends into the fourth step, where the two single matches combine into one tag-match. Turboman gets Buffaloman into a tombstone pile-driver, but - as he prepares for another attack - Springman and Buffaloman combine to use a Chojin Dodgeball. Springman is chastised for attacking Turboman, who was not his original opponent, as the match rules must abide by those of a single-match (due to the unusual circumstances).
The two teams agree to form a tag-team match with tag-team rules.
Springman lunges at Turboman, who uses a lariat and a Starter Revolver, but gets his arm caught inside Springma, who retaliates with a Spring Cyclone. Springman proceeds to use a Killer-Coil Head Attack. A second attempt at the attack is deflected by Turboman's a back-kick. It nearly knocks Springman out of the ring, until Buffaloman catches him. Turboman charges with a flying-cross, but the Diabolos counter again with a Devil Expander. Buffaloman then bounces off Springman to kick Turboman, who proceeds with a series of blows. Turboman uses a Glove Revolver and a Turbine Chop.
Buffaloman and Turboman return to their corners, and Turboman tags in Grim Reaper, who spins around on Turboman's head and delivers an Ignition Dress to Buffaloman. They proceed to use a John Does Arrow. The Diabolos try another Devil Expander, but Turboman dives through Springman and knocks Buffaloman out of the ring, before hitting him again with another John Does Arrows. A High-Capacity John Does Arrow sends Turboman towards Buffaloman, who manages to catch him and slams him against the wall, which causes the wall to crumble into the shape of a flight of stairs.
This allows Springman to use a Devil Slinky. He uses a Spring Body-Breaking Squeeze, which causes Turboman's body to start to glow, as Turboman stores the energy of his opponents. Turboman uses a High-Speed Turbo-Crash, as their two attacks seem to create a stalemate, but soon the release of Turboman's energy causes Springman to harden. He proceeds to stab Springman in his face with Revolver Spikes, and a Revolver Fin causes Springman's body to crash into Buffaloman.
Springman finds strength to lift Buffaloman, despite his weakened state. The Diabolos attempt a Long Horn Train, but - when it only glances off Turboman - follow with a Most Super Express. They follow with a third attack, which against glances off Turboman, but Turboman finds strength to use a Revolver Stud while Springman starts to crumble away. Springman uses all his strength to throw Buffaloman into a Hurricane Mixer, and Buffaloman's horns break through Turboman's Revolver attack and pierce his chest. This leads to Turboman's death, followed by Springman dying within Buffaloman's arms.
The Grim Reaper proceeds to Turboman's corpse, where he opens Turboman's back and steals his Earth Unit (which allows him to store energy to use against an opponent), and then kicks Turboman's body out of the ring. The Grim Reaper removes his robe, which he uses to taunt Buffaloman like a matador, and uses a Skeleton Body to avoid being struck with a Hurricane Mixer. The Grim Reaper states that people fall victim to Buffaloman's attack due to fear and fidgety movements, but - knowing no fear - he cannot be hurt.
The Grim Reaper grabs Buffaloman by his horns, before grabbing at his skin and flipping him over, and - in the process - tears chunks of skin from Buffaloman. The Grim Reaper proceeds to tear off more skin from Buffaloman, and attacks with a Dress Spear, which reveals all the scars on Buffaloman's body from previous matches. He is eventually countered by Buffaloman's Buffalo Hammer. The Grim Reaper proceeds to capture Buffaloman's legs, as he sets up for a John Does Arrows, before revealing it can double as a solo-technique called the Phantom Canon.
💪M💪U💪S💪C💪L💪E💪
A year of the shows and performers of the Bijou Planks Theater.
M.U.S.C.L.E. No. 105, "Buffaloman D"
Painted by Paprika, thus losing all collectible value forever.
Buffaloman has been seen in BP 2019 Day 302!
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/48980587088/
BP 2020 Day 133!
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/49852162532/
BP 2020 Day 315!
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/50587994286/
BP 2023 Day 80!
A passerby on a Dublin street
...
I was asked to do a series of my own personal favourites on the blog. I will post one favourite each day this week.
Happy Birthday to Robert Kalman!
The Master Photographer has achieved 75 revolutions around our sun, and is celebrating by offering his prints at a reduced price to benefit children in Nicaragua.
This sale is only this week and the details are at:
www.robertkalmanweb.com/gallerythumbs.html?gallery=Birthd...
A great opportunity to have a beautiful print from a great photographer AND support children.
¡Feliz cumpleaños Roberto!
230718B FP4
1947 Graflex Super D
Kodak 190mm 5.6 Ektar
Photograph © by Jim Hair 2023
Yesterday when I crested the highest dune I couldn't see the ocean for the thick fog. Once I reached the waterline I saw that the tide had exposed a sandbar not far from the shore. Immediately I remembered that last year I had seen pelicans grounded on the sandbar under the same conditions.
No sooner had I walked I few yards than the same scene appeared in front of me through the fog. Unlike seagulls, pelicans do not like humans approaching them too closely.
Ocean Park, Washington.
On Sunday 5/3/2023, an overpowered 1120s (empty Aurizon grain transfer) is seen at Wingfield (Adelaide) with alf23-CLP16-cm3308 in charge.
With the impending withdrawal of all Chopper C Sets on 26/2/21, it sees the start of some several transfer trains to Chullora Industrial Siding. Seen passing Berala is 8144 and 8252 with train T191.
The cars withdrawn include:
C2: C3603, T4269, T4261, C3595
C4: C3589, T4260
C10: C3594, T4255
I made this image with my Holga 6x12 pinhole camera. I have been using this a bit more of late, in no small part because I have put my Zero 6x9 away someplace reaaaally safe apparently. So safe I cannot seem to find it myself. So my pinhole options have been reduced to the 612 and the Zero 2000. Not that I am complaining, the change has been quite nice.
This is from a couple of weeks ago. I had never actually been to this spot before. Can you believe it? A spot under the bridge I had not photographed from! Ha. There are a few I am certain, and I am always looking for them. It remains a valuable lesson and reminder that after all the years I have spent wandering under this bridge, there are still so many vantages, perspectives and angles left to be discovered. I suspect the list is quite endless. And the lesson I learn here, I do my best to remember wherever I go. Multnomah Falls? Yup, always something new to find. Downtown Portland? Same there. Cape Kiwanda? You bet. I have never had a lot of patience for photographers who whine that a place is overshot. It is sort of like blaming all those other photographers for your unwillingness to try a bit harder and be a bit more creative. Oh, and patient too because it may take you wandering around a place for a few years before you find that some different angle or spot to photograph it from. But that level of dedication and patience is often what separates groups of photographers. Shrugging. Just some thoughts.
Oftentimes when I post my panoramic stuff, I get an inquiry or two as well about scanning. Scanning panos like this is not easy at all. As far as my experience goes, there are sort of three options. One is an Epson flatbed scanner. The V700 or V750 is a good place to start. Easy to use, moderately inexpensive. And they can scan an entire pano negative in one go. Not the sharpest result, at least not initially. I have seen some pretty incredibly sharp scans come off those scanners though, so it is possible, it generally just requires a bit of sharpening work in post to sharpen up the film grain.
Option two is a drum scan. Arguably the highest quality result, but also the most expensive. Cheap drum scans generally start about $30 per image for a 30mb file. Roughly speaking. But they are sharp and often use oil immersion to reduce scratches and dust.
The option I use is the Nikon Coolscan 9000. That scanner does not handle 6x12 negatives (or 6x17 for that matter) in one go. Instead I have to scan in two or three parts and stitch them together after the fact. It is tedious and can take a long time depending on the film density. I use this method because when everything goes all right, the results are sharper than the Epson and I simply do not have access to a drum scanner, nor can I afford to pay for drum scans. So the Nikon it is. Of course, Nikon scanners are selling for $3000 or so on the used market, so they are not exactly an inexpensive scanner to pick up.
My recommendation for all you 6x12 and 6x17 shooters out there without unlimited monetary resources? Hands down, the Epson. Yes, they are initially not quite as sharp, but they are not exactly all that soft either. The Epson equipment does in fact do a rather damn good job for a flat bed scanner, all at a price well under $1000.
I will close by saying that scanning is an art. You can buy a really good piece of scanning equipment and turn out incredibly crappy scans. There is definitely a learning curve there. I have now spent like four years of late-night-after-work evenings scanning my own film. After about six months I had to start all over because I had learned enough to realize that all those scans in the first six months were quite crappy - even if I had thought they were good at the time. Some people dismiss the Epson scanners as being too consumer level, or being too soft. I wonder sometimes if that is the person scanning's own lack of experience. I saw a show of work by a local photographer who printed 40x50 inch prints from scans off an Epson, and I stood right up with my nose next to the print and marveled at all the sharp little detail.
So yes, scanning equipment matters of course. But just as with cameras, it is the person sitting behind the scanner that matters even more.
I hope this has helped some of you answer a couple of scanning questions. I really could go on much longer about it all, but I am needed else.
rarely out on patrol in the daytime. perhaps the plankton bloom after the hot sunny week causing reduced visibility makes this fella feel safe
A beautiful triplet of galaxies M65, M66, and NGC 3628.
Image Data:
Takahashi TOA-130 refractor with f5.0 reducer (689mm)
QSI-683 CCD w/ Astrodon filters
Luminance: 16 x 5 minute (Atsion Ranger Station, NJ SQM 20.3)
Color: 12 x 5 minute each of R, G, B (Pemberton Lake, NJ SQM 19.5)
Processed in PixInsight and Photoshop
Modified from a worn-out cap. Print this image (as you would a photo) on letter-size paper then enlarge or reduce it (with a photocopier or playing with printer settings) to attain the desired size, using the scale bar as your guide. Instructions are Here (and here, if you can't access the patternreview site).
The Louvre, is the world's most-visited museum, and a historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo. A central landmark of the city, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement (district or ward). Approximately 38,000 objects from prehistory to the 21st century are exhibited over an area of 72,735 square meters. , Attendance in 2021 was 2.8 million, the lowest since 1986, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The museum was closed for 150 days in 2020, and attendance plunged by 72 percent to 2.7 million. Nonetheless, the Louvre still topped the list of most-visited art museums in the world in 2020.
The museum is housed in the Louvre Palace, originally built in the late 12th to 13th century under Philip II. Remnants of the Medieval Louvre fortress are visible in the basement of the museum. Due to urban expansion, the fortress eventually lost its defensive function, and in 1546 Francis I converted it into the primary residence of the French Kings. The building was extended many times to form the present Louvre Palace. In 1682, Louis XIV chose the Palace of Versailles for his household, leaving the Louvre primarily as a place to display the royal collection, including, from 1692, a collection of ancient Greek and Roman sculpture. In 1692, the building was occupied by the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres and the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture, which in 1699 held the first of a series of salons. The Académie remained at the Louvre for 100 years. During the French Revolution, the National Assembly decreed that the Louvre should be used as a museum to display the nation's masterpieces.
The museum opened on 10 August 1793 with an exhibition of 537 paintings, the majority of the works being royal and confiscated church property. Because of structural problems with the building, the museum was closed in 1796 until 1801. The collection was increased under Napoleon and the museum was renamed Musée Napoléon, but after Napoleon's abdication, many works seized by his armies were returned to their original owners. The collection was further increased during the reigns of Louis XVIII and Charles X, and during the Second French Empire the museum gained 20,000 pieces. Holdings have grown steadily through donations and bequests since the Third Republic. The collection is divided among eight curatorial departments: Egyptian Antiquities; Near Eastern Antiquities; Greek, Etruscan, and Roman Antiquities; Islamic Art; Sculpture; Decorative Arts; Paintings; Prints and Drawings.
The Musée du Louvre contains more than 380,000 objects and displays 35,000 works of art in eight curatorial departments with more than 60,600 square metres dedicated to the permanent collection. The Louvre exhibits sculptures, objets d'art, paintings, drawings, and archaeological finds.
The Louvre Palace, which houses the museum, was begun by King Philip II in the late 12th century to protect the city from the attack from the West, as the Kingdom of England still held Normandy at the time. Remnants of the Medieval Louvre are still visible in the crypt. Whether this was the first building on that spot is not known, and it is possible that Philip modified an existing tower.
The origins of the name "Louvre" are somewhat disputed. According to the authoritative Grand Larousse encyclopédique, the name derives from an association with wolf hunting den (via Latin: lupus, lower Empire: lupara). In the 7th century, Burgundofara (also known as Saint Fare), abbess in Meaux, is said to have gifted part of her "Villa called Luvra situated in the region of Paris" to a monastery, even though it is doubtful that this land corresponded exactly to the present site of the Louvre.
The Louvre Palace changed a lot over the centuries. In the 14th century, Charles V converted the building from its military role into a residence. In 1546, Francis I started its rebuilding in French Renaissance style. After Louis XIV chose Versailles as his residence in 1682, construction works slowed to a halt. The royal move away from Paris resulted in the Louvre being used as a residence for artists, under Royal patronage.
Meanwhile, the collections of the Louvre originated in the acquisitions of paintings and other artworks by the monarchs of the House of France. Francis acquired what would become the nucleus of the Louvre's holdings, his acquisitions including Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa. At the Palace of Fontainebleau, Francis collected art that would later be part of the Louvre's art collections, including Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa.
The Cabinet du Roi consisted of seven rooms west of the Galerie d'Apollon on the upper floor of the remodeled Petite Galerie. Many of the king's paintings were placed in these rooms in 1673, when it became an art gallery, accessible to certain art lovers as a kind of museum. In 1681, after the court moved to Versailles, 26 of the paintings were transferred there, somewhat diminishing the collection, but it is mentioned in Paris guide books from 1684 on, and was shown to ambassadors from Siam in 1686.
By the mid-18th century there were an increasing number of proposals to create a public gallery in the Louvre. Art critic Étienne La Font de Saint-Yenne in 1747 published a call for a display of the royal collection. On 14 October 1750, Louis XV decided on a display of 96 pieces from the royal collection, mounted in the Galerie royale de peinture of the Luxembourg Palace. A hall was opened by Le Normant de Tournehem and the Marquis de Marigny for public viewing of the "king's paintings" (Tableaux du Roy) on Wednesdays and Saturdays. The Luxembourg gallery included Andrea del Sarto's Charity and works by Raphael; Titian; Veronese; Rembrandt; Poussin or Van Dyck. It closed in 1780 as a result of the royal gift of the Luxembourg palace to the Count of Provence (the future king, Louis XVIII) by the king in 1778. Under Louis XVI, the idea of a royal museum in the Louvre came closer to fruition. The comte d'Angiviller broadened the collection and in 1776 proposed to convert the Grande Galerie of the Louvre – which at that time contained the plans-reliefs or 3D models of key fortified sites in and around France – into the "French Museum". Many design proposals were offered for the Louvre's renovation into a museum, without a final decision being made on them. Hence the museum remained incomplete until the French Revolution.
The Louvre finally became a public museum during the French Revolution. In May 1791, the National Constituent Assembly declared that the Louvre would be "a place for bringing together monuments of all the sciences and arts". On 10 August 1792, Louis XVI was imprisoned and the royal collection in the Louvre became national property. Because of fear of vandalism or theft, on 19 August, the National Assembly pronounced the museum's preparation as urgent. In October, a committee to "preserve the national memory" began assembling the collection for display.
The museum opened on 10 August 1793, the first anniversary of the monarchy's demise, as Muséum central des arts de la République. The public was given free accessibility on three days per week, which was "perceived as a major accomplishment and was generally appreciated". The collection showcased 537 paintings and 184 objects of art. Three quarters were derived from the royal collections, the remainder from confiscated émigrés and Church property (biens nationaux). To expand and organize the collection, the Republic dedicated 100,000 livres per year. In 1794, France's revolutionary armies began bringing pieces from Northern Europe, augmented after the Treaty of Tolentino (1797) by works from the Vatican, such as the Laocoön and Apollo Belvedere, to establish the Louvre as a museum and as a "sign of popular sovereignty".
The early days were hectic. Privileged artists continued to live in residence, and the unlabeled paintings hung "frame to frame from floor to ceiling". The structure itself closed in May 1796 due to structural deficiencies. It reopened on 14 July 1801, arranged chronologically and with new lighting and columns. On 15 August 1797, the Galerie d'Apollon was opened with an exhibition of drawings. Meanwhile, the Louvre's gallery of Antiquity sculpture (musée des Antiques), with artefacts brought from Florence and the Vatican, had opened in November 1800 in Anne of Austria's former summer apartment, located on the ground floor just below the Galerie d'Apollon.
On 19 November 1802, Napoleon appointed Dominique Vivant Denon, a scholar and polymath who had participated in the Egyptian campaign of 1798–1801, as the museum's first director, in preference to alternative contenders such as antiquarian Ennio Quirino Visconti, painter Jacques-Louis David, sculptor Antonio Canova and architects Léon Dufourny or Pierre Fontaine. On Denon's suggestion in July 1803, the museum itself was renamed Musée Napoléon.
The collection grew through successful military campaigns. Acquisitions were made of Spanish, Austrian, Dutch, and Italian works, either as the result of war looting or formalized by treaties such as the Treaty of Tolentino. At the end of Napoleon's First Italian Campaign in 1797, the Treaty of Campo Formio was signed with Count Philipp von Cobenzl of the Austrian Monarchy. This treaty marked the completion of Napoleon's conquest of Italy and the end of the first phase of the French Revolutionary Wars. It compelled Italian cities to contribute pieces of art and heritage to Napoleon's "parades of spoils" through Paris before being put into the Louvre Museum. The Horses of Saint Mark, which had adorned the basilica of San Marco in Venice after the sack of Constantinople in 1204, were brought to Paris where they were placed atop Napoleon's Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel in 1797. Under the Treaty of Tolentino, the two statues of the Nile and Tiber were taken to Paris from the Vatican in 1797, and were both kept in the Louvre until 1815. (The Nile was later returned to Rome, where the Tiber has remained in the Louvre to this day.) The despoilment of Italian churches and palaces outraged the Italians and their artistic and cultural sensibilities.
After the French defeat at Waterloo, the looted works' former owners sought their return. The Louvre's administrator Denon was loath to comply in absence of a treaty of restitution. In response, foreign states sent emissaries to London to seek help, and many pieces were returned, though far from all. In 1815 Louis XVIII finally concluded agreements with the Austrian government for the keeping of works such as Veronese's Wedding at Cana which was exchanged for a large Le Brun or the repurchase of the Albani collection.
For most of the 19th century, from Napoleon's time to the Second Empire, the Louvre and other national museums were managed under the monarch's civil list and thus depended much on the ruler's personal involvement. Whereas the most iconic collection remained that of paintings in the Grande Galerie, a number of other initiatives mushroomed in the vast building, named as if they were separate museums even though they were generally managed under the same administrative umbrella. Correspondingly, the museum complex was often referred to in the plural ("les musées du Louvre") rather than singular.
During the Bourbon Restoration (1814–1830), Louis XVIII and Charles X added to the collections. The Greek and Roman sculpture gallery on the ground floor of the southwestern side of the Cour Carrée was completed on designs by Percier and Fontaine. In 1819 an exhibition of manufactured products was opened in the first floor of the Cour Carrée's southern wing and would stay there until the mid-1820s. Charles X in 1826 created the Musée Égyptien and in 1827 included it in his broader Musée Charles X, a new section of the museum complex located in a suite of lavishly decorated rooms on the first floor of the South Wing of the Cour Carrée. The Egyptian collection, initially curated by Jean-François Champollion, formed the basis for what is now the Louvre's Department of Egyptian Antiquities. It was formed from the purchased collections of Edmé-Antoine Durand, Henry Salt and the second collection of Bernardino Drovetti (the first one having been purchased by Victor Emmanuel I of Sardinia to form the core of the present Museo Egizio in Turin). The Restoration period also saw the opening in 1824 of the Galerie d'Angoulême, a section of largely French sculptures on the ground floor of the Northwestern side of the Cour Carrée, many of whose artefacts came from the Palace of Versailles and from Alexandre Lenoir's Musée des Monuments Français following its closure in 1816. Meanwhile, the French Navy created an exhibition of ship models in the Louvre in December 1827, initially named musée dauphin in honor of Dauphin Louis Antoine, building on an 18th-century initiative of Henri-Louis Duhamel du Monceau. This collection, renamed musée naval in 1833 and later to develop into the Musée national de la Marine, was initially located on the first floor of the Cour Carrée's North Wing, and in 1838 moved up one level to the 2nd-floor attic, where it remained for more than a century.
Following the July Revolution, King Louis Philippe focused his interest on the repurposing of the Palace of Versailles into a Museum of French History conceived as a project of national reconciliation, and the Louvre was kept in comparative neglect. Louis-Philippe did, however, sponsor the creation of the musée assyrien to host the monumental Assyrian sculpture works brought to Paris by Paul-Émile Botta, in the ground-floor gallery north of the eastern entrance of the Cour Carrée. The Assyrian Museum opened on 1 May 1847. Separately, Louis-Philippe had his Spanish gallery displayed in the Louvre from 7 January 1838, in five rooms on the first floor of the Cour Carrée's East (Colonnade) Wing, but the collection remained his personal property. As a consequence, the works were removed after Louis-Philippe was deposed in 1848, and were eventually auctioned away in 1853.
The short-lived Second Republic had more ambitions for the Louvre. It initiated repair work, the completion of the Galerie d'Apollon and of the salle des sept-cheminées, and the overhaul of the Salon Carré (former site of the iconic yearly Salon) and of the Grande Galerie. In 1848, the Naval Museum in the Cour Carrée's attic was brought under the common Louvre Museum management, a change which was again reversed in 1920. In 1850 under the leadership of curator Adrien de Longpérier, the musée mexicain opened within the Louvre as the first European museum dedicated to pre-Columbian art.
The rule of Napoleon III was transformational for the Louvre, both the building and the museum. In 1852, he created the Musée des Souverains in the Colonnade Wing, an ideological project aimed at buttressing his personal legitimacy. In 1861, he bought 11,835 artworks including 641 paintings, Greek gold and other antiquities of the Campana collection. For its display, he created another new section within the Louvre named Musée Napoléon III, occupying a number of rooms in various parts of the building. Between 1852 and 1870, the museum added 20,000 new artefacts to its collections.
The main change of that period was to the building itself. In the 1850s architects Louis Visconti and Hector Lefuel created massive new spaces around what is now called the Cour Napoléon, some of which (in the South Wing, now Aile Denon) went to the museum. In the 1860s, Lefuel also led the creation of the pavillon des Sessions with a new Salle des Etats closer to Napoleon III's residence in the Tuileries Palace, with the effect of shortening the Grande Galerie by about a third of its previous length. A smaller but significant Second Empire project was the decoration of the salle des Empereurs below the Salon carré.
The Louvre narrowly escaped serious damage during the suppression of the Paris Commune. On 23 May 1871, as the French Army advanced into Paris, a force of Communards led by Jules Bergeret set fire to the adjoining Tuileries Palace. The fire burned for forty-eight hours, entirely destroying the interior of the Tuileries and spreading to the north west wing of the museum next to it. The emperor's Louvre library (Bibliothèque du Louvre) and some of the adjoining halls, in what is now the Richelieu Wing, were separately destroyed. But the museum was saved by the efforts of Paris firemen and museum employees led by curator Henry Barbet de Jouy
Following the end of the monarchy, several spaces in the Louvre's South Wing went to the museum. The Salle du Manège was transferred to the museum in 1879, and in 1928 became its main entrance lobby. The large Salle des Etats that had been created by Lefuel between the Grande Galerie and Pavillon Denon was redecorated in 1886 by Edmond Guillaume, Lefuel's successor as architect of the Louvre, and opened as a spacious exhibition room. Edomond Guillaume also decorated the first-floor room at the northwest corner of the Cour Carrée, on the ceiling of which he placed in 1890 a monumental painting by Carolus-Duran, The Triumph of Marie de' Medici originally created in 1879 for the Luxembourg Palace.
Meanwhile, during the Third Republic (1870–1940) the Louvre acquired new artefacts mainly via donations, gifts, and sharing arrangements on excavations abroad. The 583-item Collection La Caze, donated in 1869 by Louis La Caze, included works by Chardin; Fragonard, Rembrandt and Watteau. In 1883, the Winged Victory of Samothrace, which had been found in the Aegean Sea in 1863, was prominently displayed as the focal point of the Escalier Daru. Major artifacts excavated at Susa in Iran, including the massive Apadana capital and glazed brick decoration from the Palace of Darius there, accrued to the Oriental (Near Eastern) Antiquities Department in the 1880s. The Société des amis du Louvre was established in 1897 and donated prominent works, such as the Pietà of Villeneuve-lès-Avignon. The expansion of the museum and its collections slowed after World War I, however, despite some prominent acquisitions such as Georges de La Tour's Saint Thomas and Baron Edmond de Rothschild's 1935 donation of 4,000 prints, 3,000 drawings, and 500 illustrated books.
From the late 19th century, the Louvre gradually veered away from its mid-century ambition of universality to become a more focused museum of French, Western and Near Eastern art, covering a space ranging from Iran to the Atlantic. The collections of the Louvre's musée mexicain were transferred to the Musée d'Ethnographie du Trocadéro in 1887. As the Musée de Marine was increasingly constrained to display its core naval-themed collections in the limited space it had in the second-floor attic of the northern half of the Cour Carrée, many of its significant holdings of non-Western artefacts were transferred in 1905 to the Trocadéro ethnography museum, the National Antiquities Museum in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, and the Chinese Museum in the Palace of Fontainebleau. The Musée de Marine itself was relocated to the Palais de Chaillot in 1943. The Louvre's extensive collections of Asian art were moved to the Guimet Museum in 1945. Nevertheless, the Louvre's first gallery of Islamic art opened in 1922.
In the late 1920s, Louvre Director Henri Verne devised a master plan for the rationalization of the museum's exhibitions, which was partly implemented in the following decade. In 1932–1934, Louvre architects Camille Lefèvre and Albert Ferran redesigned the Escalier Daru to its current appearance. The Cour du Sphinx in the South Wing was covered by a glass roof in 1934. Decorative arts exhibits were expanded in the first floor of the North Wing of the Cour Carrée, including some of France's first Period Room displays. In the late 1930s, The La Caze donation was moved to a remodeled Salle La Caze above the salle des Caryatides, with reduced height to create more rooms on the second floor and a sober interior design by Albert Ferran.
During World War II, the Louvre conducted an elaborate plan of evacuation of its art collection. When Germany occupied the Sudetenland, many important artworks such as the Mona Lisa were temporarily moved to the Château de Chambord. When war was formally declared a year later, most of the museum's paintings were sent there as well. Select sculptures such as Winged Victory of Samothrace and the Venus de Milo were sent to the Château de Valençay. On 27 August 1939, after two days of packing, truck convoys began to leave Paris. By 28 December, the museum was cleared of most works, except those that were too heavy and "unimportant paintings [that] were left in the basement". In early 1945, after the liberation of France, art began returning to the Louvre.
New arrangements after the war revealed the further evolution of taste away from the lavish decorative practices of the late 19th century. In 1947, Edmond Guillaume's ceiling ornaments were removed from the Salle des Etats, where the Mona Lisa was first displayed in 1966. Around 1950, Louvre architect Jean-Jacques Haffner streamlined the interior decoration of the Grande Galerie. In 1953, a new ceiling by Georges Braque was inaugurated in the Salle Henri II, next to the Salle La Caze. In the late 1960s, seats designed by Pierre Paulin were installed in the Grande Galerie. In 1972, the Salon Carré's museography was remade with lighting from a hung tubular case, designed by Louvre architect Marc Saltet with assistance from designers André Monpoix, Joseph-André Motte and Paulin.
In 1961, the Finance Ministry accepted to leave the Pavillon de Flore at the southwestern end of the Louvre building, as Verne had recommended in his 1920s plan. New exhibition spaces of sculptures (ground floor) and paintings (first floor) opened there later in the 1960s, on a design by government architect Olivier Lahalle.
In 1981, French President François Mitterrand proposed, as one of his Grands Projets, the Grand Louvre plan to relocate the Finance Ministry, until then housed in the North Wing of the Louvre, and thus devote almost the entire Louvre building (except its northwestern tip, which houses the separate Musée des Arts Décoratifs) to the museum which would be correspondingly restructured. In 1984 I. M. Pei, the architect personally selected by Mitterrand, proposed a master plan including an underground entrance space accessed through a glass pyramid in the Louvre's central Cour Napoléon.
The open spaces surrounding the pyramid were inaugurated on 15 October 1988, and its underground lobby was opened on 30 March 1989. New galleries of early modern French paintings on the 2nd floor of the Cour Carrée, for which the planning had started before the Grand Louvre, also opened in 1989. Further rooms in the same sequence, designed by Italo Rota, opened on 15 December 1992.
On 18 November 1993, Mitterrand inaugurated the next major phase of the Grand Louvre plan: the renovated North (Richelieu) Wing in the former Finance Ministry site, the museum's largest single expansion in its entire history, designed by Pei, his French associate Michel Macary, and Jean-Michel Wilmotte. Further underground spaces known as the Carrousel du Louvre, centered on the Inverted Pyramid and designed by Pei and Macary, had opened in October 1993. Other refurbished galleries, of Italian sculptures and Egyptian antiquities, opened in 1994. The third and last main phase of the plan unfolded mainly in 1997, with new renovated rooms in the Sully and Denon wings. A new entrance at the porte des Lions opened in 1998, leading on the first floor to new rooms of Spanish paintings.
As of 2002, the Louvre's visitor count had doubled from its pre-Grand-Louvre levels.
President Jacques Chirac, who had succeeded Mitterrand in 1995, insisted on the return of non-Western art to the Louvre, upon a recommendation from his friend the art collector and dealer Jacques Kerchache [fr]. On his initiative, a selection of highlights from the collections of what would become the Musée du Quai Branly – Jacques Chirac was installed on the ground floor of the Pavillon des Sessions and opened in 2000, six years ahead of the Musée du Quai Branly itself.
The main other initiative in the aftermath of the Grand Louvre project was Chirac's decision to create a new department of Islamic Art, by executive order of 1 August 2003, and to move the corresponding collections from their prior underground location in the Richelieu Wing to a more prominent site in the Denon Wing. That new section opened on 22 September 2012, together with collections from the Roman-era Eastern Mediterranean, with financial support from the Al Waleed bin Talal Foundation and on a design by Mario Bellini and Rudy Ricciotti.
In 2010, American painter Cy Twombly completed a new ceiling for the Salle des Bronzes (the former Salle La Caze), a counterpoint to that of Braque installed in 1953 in the adjacent Salle Henri II. The room's floor and walls were redesigned in 2021 by Louvre architect Michel Goutal to revert the changes made by his predecessor Albert Ferran in the late 1930s, triggering protests from the Cy Twombly Foundation on grounds that the then-deceased painter's work had been created to fit with the room's prior decoration
On 6 June 2014, the Decorative Arts section on the first floor of the Cour Carrée's northern wing opened after comprehensive refurbishment.
The Louvre, like many other museums and galleries, felt the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the arts and cultural heritage. It was closed for six months during French coronavirus lockdowns and saw visitor numbers plunge to 2.7 million in 2020, from 9.6 million in 2019 and 10.2 million in 2018, which was a record year.
قالت مادام الهجر ما منه مصلـوح خفف من السرعه شويه و حاسب
فكر قبل ما تنوي البعـد و تـروح هل القرار اللـي خذيتـه مناسـب؟
"St Anne's Pier was built to a length of 914 feet at a cost of £18,000 and opened in 1885. The architect was A. Dowson. It has an iron column and lattice girder framework structure. In 1904, several kiosks and an impressive Moorish Pavilion were constructed at a cost of £30,000. A mock-Tudor entrance building was constructed at around this time and a Floral Hall was built in about 1910. The Floral Hall was used to stage concerts, operas and vaudeville acts and performers such as Gracie Fields, George Formby and Bob Monkhouse graced the stage. An amusement arcade was added in 1954 and a restaurant in 1960. However the pier suffered considerable damage by fire. In 1974, a fire destroyed the Moorish Pavilion and in 1982 the Floral Hall was burnt down. The pier's length was reduced to 600 feet."
Sounds Rivulet, Murdunna > Tasmania
6 February 2016
4 shot panorama stitched in Lightroom CC
Nikon D7200, ISO 100, f22, 1/8, 50mm, Hoya Circular PL
Broken Hill Proprietary Ltd. (BHP), formed in 1885, faced technical and logistical challenges in mining and processing ore bodies in far west New South Wales.
Broken Hill grew quickly. A population of 17000 in 1889 had more than doubled to 35,000 in 1914, putting it on the map as the then third-largest city in New South Wales. In today's terms, it could be described as Australia's most multicultural city of the time.
Trade Unions quickly formed around the mine and extraction processing industries. The Trades Hall, built between 1891 and 1905, became the first building in Australia owned by unions, who also purchased the local newspaper 'The Barrier Times' in 1908. This strong union tradition permeated all aspects of life in Broken Hill. The city's unionists won a 35-hour week in 1920, the first to do so in Australia.
The struggle of working people for equitable pay arrangements and safe working conditions is a major theme of the story of Broken Hill. During the 19th and 20th centuries Broken Hill became synonymous with industrial action, union organisation, and the cause of socialism. The great industrial disputes of 1892, 1909, and 1919 - 1920 are well remembered in Broken Hill and beyond. Workers' heroes such as Tom Mann and Percy Brookfield are memorialised in various ways all over the town and the story of Broken Hill's mining unions is closely connected with the story of mining unionism in Australia.
The history of trade unionism in Broken Hill goes back to the early days of mining on the Line of Lode. In September 1884 a public meeting was held at the Adelaide Club Hotel at Silverton to form the Barrier Miners' Association. By '1886 the headquarters of the Association had moved to Broken Hill where it was reconstituted as the Barrier Branch of the Amalgamated Miners' Association. By 1889 the Association, whose programme of reforms included and eight-hour day and compensation for injured workers, had achieved agreement for compulsory union membership.
The economic depression of the 1890s led mining companies to consider the arbitrary imposition of contract labour rates for stoping in the mines. This brought them into direct conflict with the Amalgamated Miners' Association. The Association withdrew labour from the mines in 1892 and mining company efforts to import non-union labour were bitterly resisted. Union leaders Herman Heberle, E.J. Polkinghorne, Robert A. Hewitt, Dick Sleath, W.J. Ferguson and John Bennetts were arrested and gaoled for periods of up to two years. The industrial action was unsuccessful and by 1896 union membership had dropped from approximately 6000 to 300.
During the 1890s and early years of the 20th century the Association consolidated its position, establishing its own newspaper The Barrier Daily Truth in 1898 and the Barrier Social Democratic Club in 1903. In 1902 British Socialist and former miner Tom Mann visited Broken Hill. Under the auspices of the Burke Ward Parliamentary Labour League Mann addressed a large crowd from the rotunda of the Hillside Reserve, expounding Marxist ideology and the goals of socialism. Mann so impressed union leaders that in 1908 he was invited by the Combined Unions to return as an organiser to assist in a dispute with BHP.
In that year BHP attempted to reduce wages on the expiration of an existing industrial agreement. In response, the unions commenced a recruitment campaign and began agitation for increased wages. Following an agreement on conditions, BHP closed its mines and announced that it would re-open 'after the Christmas period with rates reduced by 12.5 percent. The company eventually re-opened with non-union labour. In response, the unions picketed the mine and battles with police ensued. The lockout lasted 20 weeks with many miners defecting from the union ranks.
Following World War I the unions, who had recovered from the 1909 strike and consolidated their position, campaigned for a reduction in hours and improved safety. Extended industrial action in 1919 - 1920 led to the introduction of a 35 hour working week. The Barrier unions continued to campaign aggressively throughout the 20th century for improvements in the working conditions of their members.
In 2023, the Broken Hill Trades Hall was endorsed for inclusion on the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List, following the backing of its preliminary nomination by both the New South Wales and Australian Governments.
Source: New South Wales Heritage Register & New South Wales Department of Planning and Environment.
Richard Exell explains how taxes, benefits and public services combine to reduce inequality in society.
Then, by August of last year (and again, this may have occurred earlier; not exactly sure when), the clearance section got a makeover to the just barely current blue and orange promotional décor. I say just barely because also in August, the new Germantown Kroger on Farmington Blvd. opened with the new woodgrain promotional décor, while the nearby store on Exeter Road closed with this blue and orange stuff. Around the same time and everywhere else in the store, Hernando got the new stuff... just not here.
(c) 2016 Retail Retell
These places are public so these photos are too, but just as I tell where they came from, I'd appreciate if you'd say who :)
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Special NOTE: On Feb. 8, 2012 I attached a comment, readable & easily discoverable on Page 2 of the comments below, that details the vast corporatist scheme, fronted by Jeb Bush, financed in part with hundreds of millions from Rupert Murdoch (FOX nooze), to privatize American public education & reduce it to 'virtual' schools - not to improve anything (as national & international educational research studies clearly show), but rather to become the final recipients of the taxes people pay so that they can skim huge profits off of the top while providing grotesquely inferior services & lots of lying propaganda to keep the public bamboozled. I beg everyone to read the report.
The McGuffey's Ecclectic Spelling Book was published in 1879.
Raymond Cyrus Hoiles (1878-1970) founded Freedom Communications, a newspaper publishing & broadcasting company that has never hesitated to shape the news to fit right wing ideology. When Hoiles was alive & roaring I lived in Orange County, California, home of the equally right wing Walt Disney & Walter Knott, & was frequently compelled to suffer people who agreed with Hoiles' constantly editorialized insistence that public education was a form of theft & communism that must at once be got rid of. Hoiles was motivated by his fundamentalist Christian persuasions, & quite serious. We should restrain our laughter at the abysmal stupidity of his example, because in many ways he & people like him won & are still winning control of public education. - To introduce the article below, I'll say a little about the Christian strategy.
For many years Orange County's teachers worked under a Draconian ruling that forbade the teaching of values. There is no way around the fact, however, that the statement, "Values may not be taught," is itself a value statement belonging to a class of propositions known as Epimenidean Paradoxes. A comparably illustrative sentence would be, "This is not a sentence." Or, a favorite of the best hypnotists, used when addressing a resistant subject, "Do not obey any instruction which I give you."
What, then, was intended by those who created the paradoxical Orange County law? Well, if any teacher dared to say or imply something that would be disagreeable to any person whose beliefs began & ended with church, flag & free-for-all capitalism, then that teacher could be charged with teaching values & be suspended. One family friend, a young man teaching at an elementary school in Anaheim, was charged, hounded, publicly disgraced, threatened with death & discharged from his post, immediately after which he died from a heart attack. The case was depicted in Life Magazine. His only crime was that he was Jewish. His wife, also a teacher, remained bereft & embittered the rest of her long life.
These people became increasingly invisible over time, largely by devising ever more clever ways for gaining control of both education policy & the public dialogue about education.
Ralph Reed, working for Pat Robertson & the Christian Coalition, devised the "stealth agenda" to place fundamentalists in every local school board in America. The plan helped select & fund candidates, who in accord with Reed's instructions never mentioned their religion or religious connections when campaigning for office. In 1983 Reed rigged an election at his university - he got started early, in other words. Recently we learned that Mr. Reed & Jack Abramoff were associate crooks. The revelation forced Reed to abandon his run to become the lieutenant governor of Georgia. Mr. Reed will not disappear, however. He remains a darling of the far Christian right, & owns Century Strategies, a dirty-tricks political consulting & lobbying organization. In 1999 Karl Rove got reed a nice contract with Enron, which was paying Reed $30,000 per month. And guess who recently went to Georgia to try to save poor Reed? Rudy Giuliani, who has the hots to be the next U.S. president & is pandering to the Christians so he can be their new burning Bush.
Stealthiness did not go away when the Christian Coalition folded & Reed went off on his own to rig elections for big bucks. Rather, the stealth moved into policy matters. For instance, all the phony propaganda claiming religious & private education is more successful, creating the excuse to promote vouchers (for which the motives are both religious & racist). Or, most recently, Bush's No Child Left Behind Act, which was sought by the Christians not because they believed all the testing of students would lead to improved education, but rather because they wanted teachers to be made too busy preparing students for endless tests about facts to find time to do the great evil thing, which is the teaching of concepts. Teaching concepts leads to teaching logic, scientific & other academic methodologies which by their nature instill respect for critical - read, skeptical - thinking. Dogmatists, advertisers & con men have equal cause to fear skepticism.
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From: Truthdig.com
Taking Back Our Schools--and Fixing Them
Full text with links: www.truthdig.com/report/item/20060425_taking_back_our_sch...
Posted on Apr. 25, 2006
By Wellford Wilms
The recent news reported in The New York Times that schools are throwing out science, social studies and art to make time for drilling students in remedial math and reading is a sign of things gone terribly wrong. Former New York State Commissioner of Education Thomas Sobol told the Times that narrowing education to just math and reading would be akin to restricting violin students to playing scales day after day. “They’d lose their zest for music.” But most schools that serve poor populations, like those in Cuero, Texas, are squeezed to meet federal math and reading standards. Cuero Superintendent Henry Lind told the paper, “When you have so many hours per day and you’re behind in some area that’s being hammered on, you have to work on that.”
But by the looks of things, hammering students for higher test scores isn’t making much of a difference. Most students have already lost their zest for learning. How do we know? In Los Angeles, upwards of 50% of Latino and African American students never finish high school. This is just the tip of the iceberg.
I’ve been a professor of education at UCLA for more than 25 years and am convinced that despite the fads that come and go, nothing has put a dent in the public schools’ failure to educate inner-city children. In fact, things are getting worse. But I am also convinced that we’ve been looking in the wrong places for solutions. My own research across a wide array of organizations—corporations, trade unions, public schools, colleges, teacher unions and police agencies—suggests another way of looking at the problem and that solutions will come from a new direction.
This essay is a proposition—one that I hope will spark a lively debate among Truthdig readers and inform policy leaders. Future essays will examine Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s campaign to take over the public schools, analyze whether teacher unions can be a force for productive change, and expose promising ways to rebuild public investment in the schools.
Let’s start with Jonathan Kozol’s new book, “The Shame of the Nation: The Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in America.” It is a scathing indictment of American social policy that banned racial segregation in public schools in 1955 and then turned a blind eye to its implementation. Today, Kozol says, schools are more segregated than ever. But he fails to explain why resegregation has occurred. Because Kozol overlooks the root causes of the problem, his solutions—spending more money on dysfunctional schools and wishing for a social mandate to desegregate the schools—miss the point.
To be sure the problems are undeniable. Kozol examines the appalling condition of big-city schools. In school after school we see children who are brimming with potential but who are walled off from the larger society and abandoned by the schools. Most middle-class white Americans simply cannot comprehend the horrid schools that Kozol describes. Ceilings fall in, toilets are filthy, libraries, music and arts have been stripped away. Teachers in these schools, who are paid 40% less than teachers in the suburbs, are forced to teach “scripted” lessons that are written for children who are deemed incapable of learning.
It is all part of the latest reform pushed by the Bush administration’s No Child Left Behind initiative, a reform aimed at the singular pursuit of increasing test scores. Learning has been stripped of its intrinsic meaning and reduced to simplistic steps—“Authentic Writing,” “Active Listening,” “Accountable Talk”—that hamper teachers in teaching anything but how to take a test. Behind it all is an attempt to impose control, much as mass production techniques were used a century ago, to standardize instruction to fit new immigrants to the system.
Meanwhile, millions of children are failing. In nearly half of the high schools in America’s 100 largest districts, fewer than 50% of students graduate in four years. Most of these students are from poor Latino and African-American families. And from 1993 to 2000 the number of failing schools has mushroomed by 75%. Mayor Villaraigosa calls Los Angeles’ high dropout rates “numbers that should put a chill down your spine.”
The reasons, Kozol argues, are lack of money and racial discrimination that produce inferior and segregated schools. No doubt this is partly true. We have tried to desegregate the schools for a half-century and failed. Middle-class white parents have voted for individual freedom with their feet, enrolling their children in private schools, leaving the public schools more segregated than ever. The same is true for middle-class black families. Gail Foster, an educator who has studied black independent schools, was quoted in 2004 in The New York Times as saying: “Many of the most empowered parents and families are removing their children. What’s left, in even working-class communities, are schools filled with the least empowered families. Families with the least parent involvement to offer, families with the least help with homework to offer. There’s been a continual outflow for at least 10 years, and it isn’t stopping now.”
More money is not the answer either. Kozol points to wide disparities in educational expenditures ranging from $11,700 per student in New York City to $22,000 in suburban Manhasset. Disturbing as that is, study after study shows that equalizing money does not necessarily equalize learning.
In 1966, sociologist James Coleman conducted the most extensive study ever made of desegregating education and found that what mattered most in students’ learning was the economic status of their peers rather than the racial makeup of the school. He also found that school funding was not closely related to students’ achievement—their families’ economic status was far more predictive. Coleman’s findings were controversial and led to a bitter debate, but they have been replicated many times. Daniel Patrick Moynihan summed it up best when he commented shortly after Coleman’s groundbreaking study, “We should begin to see that the underlying reality is not race but social class.”
Since social class matters because money follows privilege, and since desegregation will take generations to eradicate, what can be done now? Are poor children doomed to attend grossly inadequate schools? Surely not. We must find ways to remove the influences that have crippled the schools. Money must be diverted from bloated bureaucracies that snuff out innovation. Instead it must go directly to schools where principals and teachers can influence what is taught and what children learn, and help bring parents back into the fold. Otherwise, it is going down a rat hole.
Parents have a significant role to play in their children’s education, but their voices have been largely silenced. Over the last 40 years, we have witnessed the decline of civic involvement and the growing dominance of self-interest over the greater good, a social deterioration that sociologist Robert Putnam calls “hollowing out” in his 2000 book “Bowling Alone.” One result, as the old saying goes, is that “the rich get richer” and the poor fall ever further behind in crumbling schools.
Over the last 25 years, education in general has been taken from ordinary citizens and teachers by politicians, administrators, union leaders, publishers, test makers, consultants, university professors, hardware and software developers and the media, each playing its part in keeping alive the illusion of reform. All in all, this $1-trillion industry has replaced the common interest, and no one, it seems, can muster the will to rein it in.
Local control is only a dim memory. Decisions now come from the top—from the federal and state governments, school boards and high-level administrators who have little knowledge of what goes on in the classroom. Teachers are left out of these decisions, carrying on the best they can, safe in the assumption that the newest fad, like those before it, will blow over. Parents are all but forgotten.
While command-and-control management may seem to produce results in the short run, it strips schools of the capacity to develop the stable leadership that is necessary to sustain success. Principals are besieged with demands from district offices and from the educational fads that emanate from publishers and university researchers. Many principals know that they put their careers in peril unless they do what their bosses want. One elementary school principal told me, “District directives undermine our own abilities to think for ourselves, to believe in what we see and know.” When schools discover something that works, it is rarely sustained because they lack authority or stable leadership.
In 1969 when I worked for the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare, I monitored the schools in impoverished Ocean Hill-Brownsville in New York City. The local school board hired a charismatic superintendent, who fired incompetent teachers and hired young and idealistic ones. The firings set the local board at odds with the huge teachers’ union, which demanded due process for the fired teachers. The superintendent, Rhody McCoy, was convinced that good teachers had to respect the children they taught. He put it in plain words: “If you’re convinced that this kid is doomed by nature or by something else to lead a shrunken and curtailed life, then you’re basically incompetent to teach that child.” The experiment worked. Observing classrooms left no doubt in my mind that students were learning. Eager first-graders sat attentively on the floor in semicircles shouting out answers to fraction problems and reading aloud. The schools buzzed with excitement as parent helpers streamed in and out of classrooms. But in a bitter power struggle the board seized authority and the experiment ended.
Years later, in 1985, Deborah Meier, a passionate educator who founded Harlem’s Central Park East Secondary School, achieved stunning successes that led the school to be celebrated as a model alternative school in Time magazine. But it could not be sustained beyond Meier’s unique leadership. Today, 10 years after Meier left, a respected children’s advocacy group, Insideschools and Advocates for Children, reports that the Harlem school “…has fallen on hard times in recent years with rapid staff turnover, low staff morale and uneven discipline.”
In risk-averse environments like public schools, few principals will stick out their necks, because they don’t want to buck the bosses downtown. Courageous and visionary principals like Rhody McCoy and Deborah Meier keep coming. But charismatic leadership is no match for heavy-handed district management, which always wins out.
Take Foshay Learning Center in Los Angeles, for example. In 1989, Howard Lappin took over a failing middle school. With the help of teachers and an infusion of money, Lappin wrested control from the district and transformed Foshay. The school expanded into a K-12 “learning center” and became largely autonomous of the district’s bureaucratic requirements. Teachers and administrators decided who would be hired and what would be taught. Foshay succeeded, and in 2000 its high school was selected by Newsweek as one of the 100 best in America. But in 2001 Lappin retired, and his unique leadership was lost. Today Foshay is being threatened with sanctions by the district and the county because gains in students’ test scores have stalled. As the school has fallen under the district’s “one-size-fits all” bureaucratic requirements, the impact has been to undermine the once vibrant teacher leadership that made the school so enviable.
The problem with public education is not with the teachers, or with the children, but the way we organize the schools. Probably the greatest casualties are teachers themselves, who are forced to accept decisions by authorities about teaching that they know to be nonsense. One professor interviewed by Kozol said that forcing an absurdity on teachers teaches something: acquiescence. For example, in study after study, teachers report that relying on test scores as sole marks of student achievement and teaching scripted lessons destroy students’ natural love of learning. And such practices also erode teachers’ professional authority, which is fundamental to student learning.
Why is it so hard to foster the only kind of reform that really works, which is right in the schoolhouse? Because politicians, school board members and administrators are under intense pressure to produce immediate results, i.e., higher and higher test scores—a goal that is pursued through directives from districts with little input of principals, teachers and parents. Superintendents serve at the pleasure of school boards, and most board members are elected or appointed and have limited terms of office. As test scores have become the measure of educational quality, everyone is under immense pressure to show fast results or be turned out.
No wonder that school boards hire superintendents who promise to deliver quick results. But few do. Superintendents last on average only three or four years. Many are thwarted by outmoded bureaucracies that were designed a century ago using top-down control practiced in American industry to mass-produce learning. Within these organizations, power has quietly accumulated, making them all but impervious to outside influence. Sid Thompson, former superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District, told me: “Trying to change the district is like trying to change the direction of a fast-moving freight train. You might knock it off course for a moment, but before you know it it’s rattling right down the tracks again.”
Frustration and suspicion about who might emerge from the shadows to sabotage their plans often lead superintendents to jealously guard their power. In 2002, Day Higuchi, then president of United Teachers Los Angeles, the Los Angeles teacher union, had high hopes for working with the school district’s new “can-do” superintendent, Roy Romer. Higuchi hoped that Romer would endorse a new union initiative called Lesson Study, a plan to help teachers work collectively to improve classroom lessons. At a breakfast meeting that I attended, Higuchi presented Romer with an invitation to work with the union to develop and spread Lesson Study across the district. When Higuchi finished, Romer flipped over his paper placemat and with a red felt pen drew a box with an S in it. “That’s me,” he said. Beneath he drew 11 boxes with smaller s’s in them, representing the 11 local superintendents, and below that, a number of small boxes with roofs, representing schools and teachers. Then, pulling his face near to Higuchi’s, he drew bold red arrows pointing downward from the top. Romer jabbed his pen in the air to accentuate each word: “You cannot usurp my authority to manage this district!” It was a dumbfounding moment, one that revealed the true underside of the use of power. Here was a chance for a new superintendent to forge a small but significant step with the union, but Romer, who recently announced his resignation, explained that he was “in a hurry.” He clearly had little time for ideas that were at odds with his own. In the end his refusal to work with the union undermined the possibility of creating a broader base of power that could transcend self-interest.
Nor are the unions exempt from self-interest. A few years ago I helped establish a national group of union presidents called TURN (Teacher Union Reform Network) who were dedicated to remaking their unions as forces to improve education. One way was to cooperate with administrators and encourage teachers to use their classroom know-how to redesign teaching at the schoolhouse. But hostility and mistrust run deep. The union leaders became nervous, fearing that fellow unionists would attack them for “collaborating” with the enemy and that if the effort to collaborate failed they would share the blame. Don Watley, president of the New Mexico Federation of Educational Employees, commented: “It’s like the Normandy landing. We’ve got the best troops in the world. We’ve got the best officers in the world. And we’ve got the best equipment in the world. But at 0800 when we hit the beach half of us are going to get killed!” Sadly, in the years to come, the ingrained mistrust, and the unpredictable dance of union politics, prevented these unionists from becoming a positive force in educational reform. Instead, they have been reduced to stockpiling power, much as the Soviets and Americans stockpiled nuclear weapons during the Cold War, to oppose any hostile moves the other side might make.
So what can be done to break the standoff between teacher unions and districts? How can teachers’ professional authority be restored? How can parents be awakened and brought back into the fold? Experience shows that it can be done. Schools such as Harlem’s Central Park East Secondary, Los Angeles’ Foshay Learning Center, those in Ocean Hill-Brownsville, and many others attest to the fact that schools can be made into safe places where children learn. Sustaining them is the hard part.
There is little doubt that trying to build good schools with command-and-control management doesn’t work. School boards, superintendents and union officials need to clear the obstacles—unnecessary bureaucratic requirements and outmoded work rules—to make innovation at the schoolhouse possible. These top-level educational leaders also must make resources available to support new ways of teaching. Jonathan Kozol has it right. Teaching is the only reform that counts and it can be done only at the schoolhouse by teachers, principals, parents and students working together.
Turning school districts upside down will also mean turning a century of top-down management on its head. But where is such bold leadership to be found? One promising place is among big-city mayors. But they must resist trying to take over the schools, as they did in New York, Chicago and Boston with mixed results at best. Instead, popular mayors could use their influence and visibility to tell the truth about the condition of education and to build a popular consensus about how change must occur.
In the next essay I am going to examine what mayors can do. Waiting for the schools to be saved by someone else is nonsense. Only concerted local action offers a chance. Doubters should recall Margaret Mead’s observation: “Never doubt that a small group of concerned people can change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”
A Progressive Journal of News and Opinion. Editor, Robert Scheer. Publisher, Zuade Kaufman.
Copyright © 2006 Truthdig, L.L.C. All rights reserved.
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"The Roman Catholic parish church of St. Andreas in Karlstadt, the district town of the Lower Franconian district of Main-Spessart in Bavaria, was built from the 14th century on the foundations of a late Romanesque basilica.
From the previous Romanesque building, which dates back to the time the city was founded around the year 1200, the current church contains remains of walls in the nave, as well as the former sacristy in the southern choir corner (today the baptismal chapel), the crossing and the west tower. From the middle of the 14th century, the transept and choir were built in the Gothic style. The Rieneck chapel, which opens to the northern transept and choir, was built in 1447, as evidenced by a keystone on the vault bearing this date. The nave was built around 1481 and vaulted in 1512/13. Around 1583, the Würzburg Prince-Bishop Julius Echter had the tower increased by one storey and given a new pointed helmet.
Over the centuries the church was redesigned several times. In 1614 it was painted in the Renaissance style by Wolfgang Ritterlein from Innsbruck. Some of these paintings are still preserved on the frames of the portals and on some windows. During the Baroque period, the church received new furnishings, which were exchanged for neo-Gothic ones at the end of the 19th century. In 1999/2000 the church was further renovated and new furnishings were created.
Karlstadt is a town in the Main-Spessart in the Regierungsbezirk of Lower Franconia (Unterfranken) in Bavaria, Germany. It is the administrative centre of Main-Spessart (Kreisstadt), and has a population of around 15,000.
Karlstadt lies on the River Main in the district (Landkreis) of Main-Spessart, roughly 25 km north of the city of Würzburg. It belongs to the Main-Franconian wine-growing region. The town itself is located on the right bank of the river, but the municipal territory extends to the left bank.
Since the amalgamations in 1978, Karlstadt's Stadtteile have been Gambach, Heßlar, Karlburg, Karlstadt, Laudenbach, Mühlbach, Rohrbach, Stadelhofen, Stetten, and Wiesenfeld.
From the late 6th to the mid-13th century, the settlement of Karlburg with its monastery and harbor was located on the west bank of the Main. It grew up around the Karlsburg, a castle perched high over the community, that was destroyed in the German Peasants' War in 1525.
In 1202, Karlstadt itself was founded by Konrad von Querfurt, Bishop of Würzburg. The town was methodically laid out with a nearly rectangular plan to defend Würzburg territory against the Counts of Rieneck. The plan is still well preserved today. The streets in the old town are laid out much like a chessboard, but for military reasons they are not quite straight.
In 1225, Karlstadt had its first documentary mention. In 1236, the castle and the village of Karlburg were destroyed in the Rieneck Feud. In 1244, winegrowing in Karlstadt was mentioned for the first time. From 1277 comes the earliest evidence of the town seal. In 1304, the town fortifications were finished. The parish of Karlstadt was first named in 1339. In 1369 a hospital was founded. Between 1370 and 1515, remodelling work was being done on the first, Romanesque parish church to turn it into a Gothic hall church. About 1400, Karlstadt became for a short time the seat of an episcopal mint. The former Oberamt of the Princely Electorate (Hochstift) of Würzburg was, after Secularization, in Bavaria's favour, passed in 1805 to Grand Duke Ferdinando III of Tuscany to form the Grand Duchy of Würzburg, and passed with this to the Kingdom of Bavaria.
The Jewish residents of the town had a synagogue as early as the Middle Ages. The town's synagogue was destroyed on Kristallnacht (the Night of Broken Glass, 9 November 1938) by Nazi SA men, SS, and Hitler Youth, as well as other local residents. Its destruction is recalled by a plaque at the synagogue's former site. The homes of Jewish residents were attacked as well, the possessions therein were looted or brought to the square in front of the town hall where they were burned, and the Jews living in the town were beaten.
Lower Franconia (German: Unterfranken) is one of seven districts of Bavaria, Germany. The districts of Lower, Middle and Upper Franconia make up the region of Franconia. It consists of nine districts and 308 municipalities (including three cities).
After the founding of the Kingdom of Bavaria the state was totally reorganised and, in 1808, divided into 15 administrative government regions (German: Regierungsbezirke, singular Regierungsbezirk), in Bavaria called Kreise (singular: Kreis). They were created in the fashion of the French departements, quite even in size and population, and named after their main rivers.
In the following years, due to territorial changes (e. g. loss of Tyrol, addition of the Palatinate), the number of Kreise was reduced to 8. One of these was the Untermainkreis (Lower Main District). In 1837 king Ludwig I of Bavaria renamed the Kreise after historical territorial names and tribes of the area. This also involved some border changes or territorial swaps. Thus the name Untermainkreis changed to Lower Franconia and Aschaffenburg, but the city name was dropped in the middle of the 20th century, leaving just Lower Franconia.
From 1933, the regional Nazi Gauleiter, Otto Hellmuth, (who had renamed his party Gau "Mainfranken") insisted on renaming the government district Mainfranken as well. He encountered resistance from Bavarian state authorities but finally succeeded in having the name of the district changed, effective 1 June 1938. After 1945 the name Unterfranken was restored.
Franconia (German: Franken, pronounced [ˈfʁaŋkŋ̍]; Franconian: Franggn [ˈfrɑŋɡŋ̍]; Bavarian: Frankn) is a region of Germany, characterised by its culture and Franconian dialect (German: Fränkisch).
Franconia is made up of the three Regierungsbezirke of Lower, Middle and Upper Franconia in Bavaria, the adjacent, Franconian-speaking, South Thuringia, south of the Thuringian Forest—which constitutes the language boundary between Franconian and Thuringian— and the eastern parts of Heilbronn-Franconia in Baden-Württemberg.
Those parts of the Vogtland lying in Saxony (largest city: Plauen) are sometimes regarded as Franconian as well, because the Vogtlandian dialects are mostly East Franconian. The inhabitants of Saxon Vogtland, however, mostly do not consider themselves as Franconian. On the other hand, the inhabitants of the Hessian-speaking parts of Lower Franconia west of the Spessart (largest city: Aschaffenburg) do consider themselves as Franconian, although not speaking the dialect. Heilbronn-Franconia's largest city of Heilbronn and its surrounding areas are South Franconian-speaking, and therefore only sometimes regarded as Franconian. In Hesse, the east of the Fulda District is Franconian-speaking, and parts of the Oden Forest District are sometimes regarded as Franconian for historical reasons, but a Franconian identity did not develop there.
Franconia's largest city and unofficial capital is Nuremberg, which is contiguous with Erlangen and Fürth, with which it forms the Franconian conurbation with around 1.3 million inhabitants. Other important Franconian cities are Würzburg, Bamberg, Bayreuth, Ansbach and Coburg in Bavaria, Suhl and Meiningen in Thuringia, and Schwäbisch Hall in Baden-Württemberg.
The German word Franken—Franconians—also refers to the ethnic group, which is mainly to be found in this region. They are to be distinguished from the Germanic people of the Franks, and historically formed their easternmost settlement area. The origins of Franconia lie in the settlement of the Franks from the 6th century in the area probably populated until then mainly by the Elbe Germanic people in the Main river area, known from the 9th century as East Francia (Francia Orientalis). In the Middle Ages the region formed much of the eastern part of the Duchy of Franconia and, from 1500, the Franconian Circle. The restructuring of the south German states by Napoleon, after the demise of the Holy Roman Empire, saw most of Franconia awarded to Bavaria." - info from Wikipedia.
Summer 2019 I did a solo cycling tour across Europe through 12 countries over the course of 3 months. I began my adventure in Edinburgh, Scotland and finished in Florence, Italy cycling 8,816 km. During my trip I took 47,000 photos.
Now on Instagram.
The Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal, originally Cincinnati Union Terminal, is a mixed-use complex in the Queensgate neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. Once a major passenger train station, it went into sharp decline during the postwar decline of railroad travel. Most of the building was converted to other uses, and now houses museums, theaters, and a library, as well as special travelling exhibitions. Since 1991, it has been used as a train station once again.
Built in 1933, it is a monumental example of Art Deco architecture, for which it was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1977.
Cincinnati was a major center of railroad traffic in the late 19th and early 20th century, especially as an interchange point between railroads serving the Northeastern and Midwestern states with railroads serving the South. However, intercity passenger traffic was split among no fewer than five stations in Downtown Cincinnati, requiring the many travelers who changed between railroads to navigate local transit themselves. The Louisville and Nashville Railroad, which operated through sleepers with other railroads, was forced to split its operations between two stations. Proposals to construct a union station began as early as the 1890s, and a committee of railroad executives formed in 1912 to begin formal studies on the subject, but a final agreement between all seven railroads that served Cincinnati and the city itself would not come until 1928, after intense lobbying and negotiations, led by Philip Carey Company president George Crabbs. The seven railroads: the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad; the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad; the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway; the Louisville and Nashville Railroad; the Norfolk and Western Railway; the Pennsylvania Railroad; and the Southern Railway selected a site for their new station in the West End, near the Mill Creek.
The principal architects of the massive building were Alfred T. Fellheimer and Steward Wagner, with architects Paul Philippe Cret and Roland Wank brought in as design consultants; Cret is often credited as the building's architect, as he was responsible for the building's signature Art Deco style. The Rotunda features the largest semi-dome in the western hemisphere, measuring 180 feet (55 m) wide and 106 feet (32 m) high.
The Union Terminal Company was created to build the terminal, railroad lines in and out, and other related transportation improvements. Construction in 1928 with the regrading of the east flood plain of the Mill Creek to a point nearly level with the surrounding city, a massive effort that required 5.5 million cubic yards of landfill. Other improvements included the construction of grade separated viaducts over the Mill Creek and the railroad approaches to Union Terminal. The new viaducts the Union Terminal Company created to cross the Mill Creek valley ranged from the well built, like the Western Hills Viaduct, to the more hastily constructed and shabby, like the Waldvogel Viaduct. Construction on the terminal building itself began in 1931, with Cincinnati mayor Russell Wilson laying the mortar for the cornerstone. Construction was finished ahead of schedule, although the terminal welcomed its first trains even earlier on March 19, 1933 when it was forced into emergency operation due to flooding of the Ohio River. The official opening of the station was on March 31, 1933. The total cost of the project was $41.5 million.
During its heyday as a passenger rail facility, Cincinnati Union Terminal had a capacity of 216 trains per day, 108 in and 108 out. Three concentric lanes of traffic were included in the design of the building, underneath the main rotunda of the building: one for taxis, one for buses, and one (although never used) for streetcars. However, the time period in which the terminal was built was one of decline for train travel. By 1939, local newspapers were already describing the station as a white elephant. While it had a brief revival in the 1940s, because of World War II, it declined in use through the 1950s into the 1960s.
After the creation of Amtrak in 1971, train service at Cincinnati Union Terminal was reduced to just two trains a day, the George Washington and the James Whitcomb Riley. Amtrak abandoned Cincinnati Union Terminal the next year, opening a smaller station elsewhere in the city on October 29, 1972.
Credit for the data above is given to the following website:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cincinnati_Museum_Center_at_Union_T...
Bandon, Oregon
Open lot for sale on the bluff edge above Bandon Beach affords open view of Face Rock.
(homeless woman, sf, 11/12/06)
homeless rebecca from detroit. rebecca doesn't fit. as though she's not where she's supposed to be. i see her as i pass. she is almost ghostly. she sways and bends like the only tree on a hill; unprotected. she seems resigned to a losing battle.
she is panhandling as i pass. or she is praying or mourning. but she is not seen. i turn the corner and watch her for a moment. she grimaces her mouth as though swallowing some new resignation and moves away from the season's passing throng; in my direction, but floating by. i seem to snap a trance when i say hello.
she's been homeless since 1998. she sleeps sometimes in shelters. but says there's not enough beds for women. the men have many more. she went to the shelter this afternoon to put her name in for a bed this evening. there's a lottery, and she didn't get one.
says she has no family and no children. she's the only one. but she has one girlfriend who got a place from the city finally after years. says she's trying to stay there with her friend tonight, if she can make up the guest fee. she's about a third of the way. it's been cold and she clearly doesn't want to be on the street tonight.
she was an accountant not so long back. she had a good job. she worked for kgo. but in '98, they were downsizing her group and she was let go. she thought she'd get another job easy. but she never did. they all wanted someone younger. and now she's 54, and says it's too late for her.
("news" about shows etc.)
"The fog is an illusion,
A master of disguise,
Which hides the tangible
Before our very eyes...
It gives an air of mystery
That has long prevailed.
Dangerously intriguing
Is the fog's foggy veil."
.:: Poem (Partial) © Walterrean Salley ::.
A foggy morning in Upper Normandy.
Étretat is a very picturesque town surrounded by steep chalk cliffs (falaises), including 3 stunning natural arches. Despite the reduced visibility, the most famous of the arches (La Porte d'Aval) and the pointed "needle" were breath-taking. The Falaise d’Aval looks as an elephant dipping his trunk into the sea. Standing next to it is l'Aiguille Creuse (Hollow Needle), made famous by Maurice Leblanc. The French novelist created the character of Arsène Lupin, the Gentleman Thief and set his legendary refuge inside the Needle.
Postcard texture with thanks to Kim Klassen
View Large On Black and have a fabulous day.
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Made from 16 light frames by Starry Landscape Stacker 1.6.2. Algorithm: Min
and four images of the Perseids.
It takes 2 days driving in an all wheel drive from Nairobi to arrive in Loiyangalani on the Turkana lake shores… you have never heard about this place? And yet it’s here that they filmed « The Constant Gardener » with Ralph Fiennes.
The Lake Turkana region presents a lunar landscape, somewhat desert, covered in black volcanic rocks. It’s an extremely inhospitable environment for humans and their livestock. There is no potable water and limited pastures. The rainfall averages is less than 6 inches a year. During the day the high temperatures (up to 45°C) are come with strong winds (up to 11 meters per second), pushing dust. But it’s just a magical place on earth !
No human should be able to live in these conditions and yet 250,000 Turkana people are living here. Their territory extends to northern Kenya around Lake Turkana, and on the boundaries with south Sudan and Ethiopia. In 1975, the lake (400 km long, 60 large) was named after them.
Herders Above All Else : The importance of livestock
They are a traditionally pastoralist tribe, moving their livestock (goats, sheep, camels, cattle, and donkeys) and their homes to search water for their animals. Turkana have not been affected by western civilization yet and live in a very traditional way. The number of animals and the diversity of the herd are closely linked to a family’s status in the community. The herds are their bank account.
They depend on the rain to provide grazing for their animals, and on their animals for milk and meat. Because water is so hard to find in the area, they often fight with other tribes like Dassanech. Their main concerns are land and how to win it or to keep it!
The Turkana place such a high value on cattle that they often raid other tribes to steal animals. These razzias have become more dangerous as they now use guns. As the Turkana are one of the most courageous groups of warriors in Africa, fights are serious!
After a raid, the robbers ask some friends from neighboring villages to keep some cows. Their herd is scattered between several places to reduce the risk of being stolen the whole.
The Turkana choose their good friends as neightbors more so than people they share kinship ties with. The clans (ekitela), 28 in number, no longer have a social function. Each clan owns water wells dug in the dried river beds. Unless an explicit request is made, the community can deny water to those passing by.
Even today, the Turkana never kill their livestock to sell their meat. They only kill for celebrations. The Turkana need their animals since they use them as currency in marriage or various social transactions. If a man loses his livestock to drought, he is not only impoverished but shamed. In these cases, NGOs often help get him back on his feet but he can’t reclaim his pride until he has reestablished his herd.
The animals are given very poetic names which the owners often take on as well. It’s common to call a good friend the name of his favorite bull. The Turkana even write songs for their favorite animals. Once a young man has selected his favorite bull, he shapes its horns into bizarre forms to make it stand out. Many tribes use to do this in the area.
The Fish is Taboo for the Herdsmen
Turkana people traditionally do not fish and do not eat fish. But during the droughts, Turkana people are encouraged to fish to get some food. Fishing has been regarded as something of a taboo, a practice reserved for the very poorest in Turkana society.
Social Structure
The Turkana are organized into generational classes. All males go through three life stages (child, warrior, and elder).
To become a man, the turkana teen must go through a ceremony where he will have to kill an animal with a spear, but he must kill it in one throw! Once done, the old men will open the stomach of the animal and put the content on the body of the new adult. It is the way they bless him.
For women, the process is different. They become adult when they reach puberty. Unlike many other tribes in Kenya, the Turkana do not practice FGM and circumcision.
The Turkana live in small households. Inside live of a man, his wives !as he can marry more than one), their children and sometimes some dependent old people. The house is called « awi ». It is built with wood, animal skin, and doum palm leaves. Only the women build the houses!
Herding is a family affair. The father assigns various tasks to his children depending on their age. It’s common to see kids walking long distances with the cattle. Later they will take care of sheep and goats. The girls carry water and collect wood.
Newborns receive their names in a unique way. They take the name of a parent who has huge prestige and add the name of the most beautiful animal in the herd.
Parents learn very early to the kids the taboos: you must not lie, be coward, steal, neglect elders…
Turkana have their own justice and the revenge system is working well: if a crime is committed, the family of the victim will try to kill the murderer or someone from its close family. They also can steal to the suspect a large amount of cattle. Usually, the elders try to make a reconciliation ceremony. It is an never ending story as the family will also want to make a vandetta of the vendetta !
If the homicide was an accident, it can be solved by giving a daughter in marriage.
Marriage
When a man wants to marry a girl, he must ask his own parents if they agree. His mother will have to check if the girl he wants is a good worker! The blood relationship between the families is forbidden, so the elders will check the family links before any agreement.
The man must pay the bride parents (30 cattle, 30 camels and 100 small stock minimum, sometimes a gun is added). It means that a man cannot marry until he has inherited livestock from his dead father. It also means that he collects livestock from relatives and friends. This strengthens social ties.
Daily life
Cattle dungs are used as fuel to cook the food, the urine is used as soap for washing when chemical soap is not available. I saw people using the urine to wash the milk containers, so I always refused to drink milk!
Camels are used for transportation of goods and are well adapted to the very arid climate of Turkana and the lack of water. They are also used in transactions for weddings, or economics deals.
Donkeys have a special status in Turkana tribe: the people do not drink its milk. They use them to carry their houses when they move or weak people with a special wood saddle. But even if donkeys are very useful, they are mocked by the turkana people. Donkey meat is eaten only in the Turkana, where it is savored as a delicacy while others tribe hate it!
They like chewing tobacco and often walk around with a chewed up ball of it on their ear. They also like snorting powdered tobacco.
Danses and songs are important in the social life. Dances allow the people to meet and to flirt. Circle dances are are performed by group of young unmarried girls. The men and young girls join hands and the circles move around. The men may then jump into the centre of the circle raising their arms to imitate the cow horns.
Spirituality, Superstitions, Beliefs
In 1960, a famine started in Turkana area, and so the « Africa Inland Mission » established a food-distribution centre in Lokori, bringing also christianity. But conversion did not meet a huge success (5 % may be converted) as Turkana are nomadics and still have strong believes in their own god. Some Turkana elders even told me :
« I wear a christian cross around my neck and go to the church to get an access to the help provided by the the missionaries for food and clothes! »
The majority of the Turkana still follow their traditional religion. There's one supreme God called Akuj, who is associated with the sky. If God is happy, he will give rain. But if he is angry with the people, he will punish them. In the old believings, giraffes were supposed to tickle the clouds with their high heads, and make the rain come !
Four million years ago, the Lake Turkana bassin may have been the cradle of mankind. You can spot some very nice engraving sites showing a mixture of giraffes and geometrics patterns made around 2000 years ago close to the lake.
Deviners, called the « emuron » are able to interpret or predict Akuj's plans through their dreams, or through sacrificed animal's intestines, tobacco, and through the tossing of …sandals ! Sandals are very important for the oracle. He blesses the sandals by spitting on them. He throws them up into the air and gives a meaning to the patterns they create when they fall on the ground.
When someone dies, the Turkana only hold funerals and burry the body. In the old times, people were were not given a burial, but were abandoned to hyenas.
As I was taking pictures of an old Turkana lady, after 3 pictures, she asked me to stop, and started to shout : « You’re sucking my blood, you make me feel weak » and she left. I was explained by a young boy that the old people believe that pictures are taking their blood away.
Medecine
Scarifications on the belly are made by traditional doctors to cure ill people: it is a way to put out the illness from the body. Scarification is practiced for aesthetic reasons too. Scars are a sign of beauty or to show how many people he has killed, if he is a man.
The skin is cut with an acacia or a sharp razor blade that may be shared by the people and bring diseases.
Turkana believe that a person who experienced illness and recovered from it can treat someone else who’s suffering from the same illness. This means that everybody can be a doctor ! If this does not work, they say that the animal slaughtered was the wrong one.
A good Turkana tip : if you suffer from a severe headache, you just have to take out the brain from a living animal, like a goat, and put it on your head !
Or, another solution : to lift a sheep over the patient, to cut the throat so that the blood strickles on the patient’s head.
The Turkana have the highest instance in the world of echinoccocus (7%) due to their proximity with dogs, who live and defecate everywhere. The dogs lick up blood and vomit and the women use the dog’s excrement as a lubricant for the necklaces that touch their neck.
This parasite has three hosts : sheep, dogs, and humans. In Turkana, these three species live very close, surrounded by little else in the vast desert, ideal conditions for the proliferation of the parasite. The diease causes huge cysts that can be removed by surgery. The locals believe that this "disease of the large belly" is due to a spell cast by the neighboring enemy tribe: the Toposa.
Beauty
Turkana girls and women love to adorn themselves with a lot of necklaces. Beads can be made of glass, seeds, cowry shells, or iron. They never remove them! This can only happen when they are ill or during a mourning time. It means they sleep with those huge necklaces… A married Turkana woman will also wear a plain metal ring around the neck. This is a kind of wedding ring (alagama). A Turkana man will do all he can to make sure that his women folk are dressed in beads of class. Even if some are not able to take their girls to school, they will still ensure that they have beads. By the quantity and style of jewelry a woman wears, you can guess her social status.
Beads colors have specific meaning. Yellow and red beads are given to girl by a man when they are fiancé. If a woman wears only white beads, it means she is a widow. Little girls wear few beads, usually given to them by their mothers, but the older ladies and women wear many, which are in sets rows.
A woman who cannot move her neck is envied! The big necklaces are heavy, like 5 kilos.
A woman without beads is bad, men will ignore her. « You look like an animal without beads! »
Young children only wear a simple strand of pearls. Adolescents wear small articles of clothing to cover their sex. These articles are often decorated with mulitcolored pearls or ostrich egg shells. They wear more and longer clothing as they approach puberty.
NakaparaparaI are the famous ear ornaments. They are made by the men of the tribe in aluminium most of the time and look like a leaf.
Men love to make an elaborate mudpack coiffures called emedot. It is a kind of chignon: the hairstyle takes the shape of a large bun of hair at the back of the head. They decorate it with ostrich feathers to show they are elders or warriors. 2 ostrich feathers costs 1 goat.
Men use a wood pillow (ekicolong) to sleep on it and protect the bun. It can last 2 months and must be rebuild after.
Tattooing is also common and usually has special meaning. Men are tattooed on the shoulders and upper arm each time they kill an enemy — the right shoulder for killing a man, the left for a women.
Lower incisors are removed in childhood, with a tool called « corogat », a finger hook. The origin of this practice was against tetanus, as people are lock-jawed, so they can feed them with milk through the hole. It is also a way to force the teeth at the top to stand out and not interfere with the labret many put on the lower lip. The is useful to spit through the gap of the teeth, without even opening the mouth. The Turkana enjoyed to have labrets, but nowadays, only the elders can be seen with on. They used to put an ivory lip plug, then a wood one, and for some years, they use a lip plug made of copper or even with plaited electric wires.The hole between the lower lip and chin is pierced using a thorn.
The finger hook is also used as a weapon, for gouging out an ennemy’s eye !
Hygiene
Since water is so rare, it’s used only for drinking, never for washing. The Turkana clean themselves by rubbing fat all over their skin.
Turkana women put grease paint on their bodies which is made from mixing animal fat with red ochre and the leaves of a tree to have nice perfume. They say it is good for the skin and it protects from the insects.
Women also put animal fat all around their neck and also on their huge necklaces to prevent from skin irritation.
They also use dog shit as a medicine and lubrificant for their neck.
Both men and women use the branch of a tree called esekon to clean their teeth. You can see them using it all day long…The Turkana people have the cleanest bill of dental health in the country.
For long, Turkana people did not use latrines because it is a taboo for men and women to share same facilities like a latrine. Campaigns have now been initiated to sensitize people on the importance of using latrines for hygiene.
Animal fat is considered to have medicinal qualities, and the fat-tailed sheep is often referred to as "the pharmacy for the Turkana. »... when they do not grill it to eat it!
Futur
Recently, oil has been found on their territory… many fear Turkanas people may loose their traditions, but the Turkana succeeded in maintaining their way of life for centuries. Against all odds they manage to raise livestock in the confines of the desert. Their knowledge allows them to live where most humans could not.
The recent discovery of massive groundwater reserves in the ground (3 billion cubic meters, nearly three times the water use in New York City) could allow them to keep their traditions for a long time.
© Eric Lafforgue
Saturn and Jupiter getting closer on December 19th 2020.Taken using a ASI290MM on a 6 Inch Celestron SCT with focal reducer 0.63
When we first had passed this stand of trees on the Zomba Plateau, they were filled with smoke from a bushfire in the valley below. As we passed this time, it began to rain heavily, extinguishing the fire, and replacing the smoke with misty haze.
Schweiz / Berner Oberland - Reichbachfall
The Reichenbach Falls (German: Reichenbachfälle) are a waterfall cascade of seven steps on the stream called Rychenbach in the Bernese Oberland region of Switzerland. They drop over a total height of about 250 metres (820 ft). At 110 metres (360 ft), the upper falls, known as the Grand Reichenbach Fall (German: Grosser Reichenbachfall), is by far the tallest segment and one of the highest waterfalls in the Alps, and among the forty highest in Switzerland. The Reichenbach loses 290 metres (950 ft) of height from the top of the falls to the valley floor of the Haslital. Today, a hydroelectric power company harnesses the flow of the Reichenbach Falls during certain times of year, reducing its flow.
In popular literature, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle gave the Grand (or Great) Reichenbach Fall as the location of the final physical altercation between his hero Sherlock Holmes and his greatest foe, the criminal Professor Moriarty, in "The Final Problem".
Location
The falls are located in the lower part of the Reichenbachtal, on the Rychenbach, a tributary (from the south bank) of the Aare. They are some 1.5 km (0.93 mi) south of the town of Meiringen, and Interlaken. Politically, the falls are within the municipality of Schattenhalb in the canton of Bern.
The falls are made accessible by the Reichenbach Funicular. The lower station is some 20 minutes walk, or a 6-minute bus ride, from Meiringen railway station on the Brünig railway line that links Interlaken and Lucerne.
In popular culture
Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories
The town and the falls are known worldwide as the setting for a fictional event: it is the location where Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's hero, Sherlock Holmes, fights to the death with Professor Moriarty, at the end of "The Final Problem", first published in 1893. A memorial plate at the funicular station commemorates Holmes, and there is also a Sherlock Holmes museum in the nearby town of Meiringen.
Out of many waterfalls in the Bernese Oberland, Reichenbach Falls seems to have made the greatest impression on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who was shown them on a Swiss holiday by his host Sir Henry Lunn, the founder of Lunn Poly. Sir Henry's grandson, Peter Lunn, recalled, "My grandfather said 'Push him over the Reichenbach Falls' and Conan Doyle hadn’t heard of them, so he showed them to him." So impressed was Doyle that he decided to let his hero die there.
The actual ledge from which Moriarty fell is on the other side of the falls from the funicular; it is accessible by climbing the path to the top of the falls, crossing the bridge and following the trail down the hill. The ledge is marked by a plaque as illustrated here; the English inscription reads: "At this fearful place, Sherlock Holmes vanquished Professor Moriarty, on 4 May 1891." The pathway on which the duel between Sherlock Holmes and Professor Moriarty occurs ends some hundred metres away from the falls. When Doyle viewed the falls, the path ended very close to the falls, close enough to touch it, yet over the hundred years after his visit, the pathway has become unsafe and slowly eroded away, and the falls have receded further back into the gorge.
In other media
The Reichenbach Falls are the subject of several early 19th-century paintings by the English Romantic landscape painter J. M. W. Turner.
The indie band Ravens & Chimes named its debut album (released in 2007) after the falls.
Reichenbach Falls was also the title of a 2008 BBC Four TV drama by James Mavor, based on an idea by Ian Rankin and set in Edinburgh. Numerous historical characters associated with the city, including Conan Doyle and his mentor Dr Joseph Bell, are mentioned in the story.
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, a 2011 film adaptation inspired by "The Final Problem", also hosts the falls, although in this adaptation, a large castle has been built over them, replacing the pathway.
The third episode from the 2012 second series of the BBC drama Sherlock, "The Reichenbach Fall" (inspired by "The Final Problem"), is a play on the waterfall's name.The special episode of Sherlock, "The Abominable Bride", which was broadcast on 1 January 2016, featured a re-creation of the showdown between Sherlock and Moriarty set in Victorian times, as depicted in the book.
The final season of the TV series Elementary features a villain named Odin Reichenbach. The next-to-last episode, in which the character meets justice, is titled "Reichenbach Falls".
(Wikipedia)
Der Reichenbachfall (auch Rychenbachfall) ist eine 300 Meter hohe Kaskade von sieben Wasserfällen im Verlauf des Reichenbachs auf dem Gebiet der Gemeinde Schattenhalb südlich von Meiringen im Kanton Bern in der Schweiz. Er ist bekannt vom dramatischen Ende der Kurzgeschichte Das letzte Problem von Arthur Conan Doyle.
Der oberste Reichenbachfall ist der grösste. Hier stürzen im Sommer 3 bis 5 m³/s, nach einem starken Gewitter bis zu 30 m³ Wasser auf bis 40 Meter Breite 120 Meter den Reichenbachfall hinunter. Unterhalb des Falles wird das Wasser im Sommerhalbjahr für das Kraftwerk Schattenhalb 1 gefasst, weil das Kraftwerk Schattenhalb 3 dann nur begrenzt Wasser beim Staubecken Zwirgi entnehmen darf. Das Wasser vom Staubecken Zwirgi, das oberhalb des Reichenbachfalls liegt, fliesst durch eine Druckleitung im Berginnern direkt in die Zentrale im Talboden.
Bis zum obersten Reichenbachfall führt die Reichenbachfall-Bahn. An der Bergstation beginnt ein Wanderweg bergwärts bis oberhalb des Falles mit zahlreichen Aussichtspunkten. Von der Station Hotel Zwirgi führt der Fusspfad zur Seilstation mit Aussicht auf den Wasserfall oder bis unmittelbar zur Stelle, an der Conan Doyles Romanfigur Sherlock Holmes mit seinem Widersacher kämpfte; der Pfad endet hier in einer aus Sicherheitsgründen umzäunten Sackgasse. Der genaue Ort des fiktiven Kampfes ist mit einem weissen Stern markiert, der von der Bahnstation zu sehen ist.
Der Reichenbachfall in der Literatur
Der Reichenbachfall ist Gegenstand örtlicher Sagen. Er fand früh Eingang in die schweizerischen Reiseführer und ist Handlungsort vieler literarischer und filmischer Abhandlungen. Ein Loblied auf den Reichenbachfall schrieb Jeremias Gotthelf in seinem Roman Jacobs, des Handwerksgesellen, Wanderungen durch die Schweiz. Der junge deutsche Handwerkerbursche Jacob, der sich allzu sehr auf radikale und kommunistische Agitation eingelassen hatte, erlebt bei seiner Wanderung durch das Berner Oberland die Allmacht Gottes in den Schneebergen und in der Gewalt des Reichenbachfalles.
International bekannt wurde der Reichenbachfall durch Conan Doyles Geschichte Das letzte Problem aus dem Jahr 1893, in der Sherlock Holmes am 4. Mai 1891 gemeinsam mit seinem Erzfeind Professor Moriarty nach einem erbitterten Kampf den Wasserfall hinabstürzt. Später stellt sich heraus, dass nur Moriarty dabei gestorben ist. Eine Gedenktafel erinnert an diese fiktive Begebenheit.
(Wikipedia)
An herb more commonly known as Butcher's Broom, Ruscus aculeatus is traditionally used for circulation and appears to constrict veins. This is thought to reduce pooling of blood in extremities, and the limited evidence appears to be promising. Butcher's broom is most often used for Cardiovascular Health.
This photo was taken by a Kowa Super 66 medium format film camera with a Kowa 1:4.5/110 lens attached to a T/3 extension tube (16mm) and Kowa L39•3C(UV) ø67 filter using Kodak Portra 400 film, the negative scanned by an Epson Perfection V600 and digitally rendered with Photoshop.
These are the last pics from a couple of days ago.
Due to me actually starting gainful employment this week; I anticipate a greatly reduced service for my followers for the foreseeable future.
And before you ask, no I will not be going to work wearing a dress!
Thanks to all for your continued support.
KT xXx
Went to Tsaritsyno Park south part of Moscow. Stop by the lake and took this long exposure shot of the beautiful autumn scenery.
Using the ND1000 filter, to reduced as much light as I can while taking long exposure shot during daylight..
These are the last pics from a couple of days ago.
Due to me actually starting gainful employment this week; I anticipate a greatly reduced service for my followers for the foreseeable future.
And before you ask, no I will not be going to work wearing a dress!
Thanks to all for your continued support.
KT xXx
The Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal, originally Cincinnati Union Terminal, is a mixed-use complex in the Queensgate neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. Once a major passenger train station, it went into sharp decline during the postwar decline of railroad travel. Most of the building was converted to other uses, and now houses museums, theaters, and a library, as well as special travelling exhibitions. Since 1991, it has been used as a train station once again.
Built in 1933, it is a monumental example of Art Deco architecture, for which it was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1977.
Cincinnati was a major center of railroad traffic in the late 19th and early 20th century, especially as an interchange point between railroads serving the Northeastern and Midwestern states with railroads serving the South. However, intercity passenger traffic was split among no fewer than five stations in Downtown Cincinnati, requiring the many travelers who changed between railroads to navigate local transit themselves. The Louisville and Nashville Railroad, which operated through sleepers with other railroads, was forced to split its operations between two stations. Proposals to construct a union station began as early as the 1890s, and a committee of railroad executives formed in 1912 to begin formal studies on the subject, but a final agreement between all seven railroads that served Cincinnati and the city itself would not come until 1928, after intense lobbying and negotiations, led by Philip Carey Company president George Crabbs. The seven railroads: the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad; the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad; the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway; the Louisville and Nashville Railroad; the Norfolk and Western Railway; the Pennsylvania Railroad; and the Southern Railway selected a site for their new station in the West End, near the Mill Creek.
The principal architects of the massive building were Alfred T. Fellheimer and Steward Wagner, with architects Paul Philippe Cret and Roland Wank brought in as design consultants; Cret is often credited as the building's architect, as he was responsible for the building's signature Art Deco style. The Rotunda features the largest semi-dome in the western hemisphere, measuring 180 feet (55 m) wide and 106 feet (32 m) high.
The Union Terminal Company was created to build the terminal, railroad lines in and out, and other related transportation improvements. Construction in 1928 with the regrading of the east flood plain of the Mill Creek to a point nearly level with the surrounding city, a massive effort that required 5.5 million cubic yards of landfill. Other improvements included the construction of grade separated viaducts over the Mill Creek and the railroad approaches to Union Terminal. The new viaducts the Union Terminal Company created to cross the Mill Creek valley ranged from the well built, like the Western Hills Viaduct, to the more hastily constructed and shabby, like the Waldvogel Viaduct. Construction on the terminal building itself began in 1931, with Cincinnati mayor Russell Wilson laying the mortar for the cornerstone. Construction was finished ahead of schedule, although the terminal welcomed its first trains even earlier on March 19, 1933 when it was forced into emergency operation due to flooding of the Ohio River. The official opening of the station was on March 31, 1933. The total cost of the project was $41.5 million.
During its heyday as a passenger rail facility, Cincinnati Union Terminal had a capacity of 216 trains per day, 108 in and 108 out. Three concentric lanes of traffic were included in the design of the building, underneath the main rotunda of the building: one for taxis, one for buses, and one (although never used) for streetcars. However, the time period in which the terminal was built was one of decline for train travel. By 1939, local newspapers were already describing the station as a white elephant. While it had a brief revival in the 1940s, because of World War II, it declined in use through the 1950s into the 1960s.
After the creation of Amtrak in 1971, train service at Cincinnati Union Terminal was reduced to just two trains a day, the George Washington and the James Whitcomb Riley. Amtrak abandoned Cincinnati Union Terminal the next year, opening a smaller station elsewhere in the city on October 29, 1972.
Credit for the data above is given to the following website:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cincinnati_Museum_Center_at_Union_T...