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Bucolic - relating to the pleasant aspects of the countryside and country life.
DMC-G80M - ISO200 - 1/500sec - Olympus m.zuiko 25mmF1.8 @ f/5.6
“Urban art is a style of art that relates to cities and city life. In that way urban art combines street art and graffiti and is often used to summarize all visual art forms arising in urban areas, being inspired by urban architecture or thematizing urban live style.
The notion of 'Urban Art' developed from street art that is primarily concerned with graffiti culture. Urban art represents a broader cross section of artists that as well as covering traditional street artists also covers artists using more traditional media but with a subject matter that deals with contemporary urban culture and political issues.”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_art
“Wild Flowers are not weeds"
Street Art is the modern, urban wildflowers
What's the difference between Graffiti Tagging and Street Art?
1. Street Art is constructive, Graffiti Tagging is destructive.
2. Street Art adorns the urban landscape, Graffiti Tagging scars it and accelerates urban decay.
3. Street Art stretches your mind, Graffiti Tagging is a slap in your face.
4. Street Art is about the audience, Graffiti Tagging is about the tagger.
5. Street Art says "Have you thought about this?", Graffiti Tagging says "I tag, therefore I exist".
6. Street Art was done with a smile, Graffiti Tagging was done with a scowl.
7. Street Art takes skill, Graffiti Tagging takes balls.
8. We mourn losing Street Art and celebrate losing Graffiti Tagging.
Good Street Art is great, good Graffiti Tagging is gone!
”http://www.graffitiactionhero.org/graffiti-tag-vs-street-art.html
Additional interesting sites
www.osnatfineart.com/urban-art.jsp
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Street_art
DSC_0247 final.jpg
I can relate to Frankenstein's monster..there are times when I feel like I've been piecemealed together, my body is a mess. My feet are a size and half different from one another, My left arm is contorted from injury, my spine does not properly align... it goes on and on. But the villagers haven't gathered yet so I'm doing pretty good! LOL
~Holden Rinehart
Sometimes I try to relate the quotes I use to my uploads and sometimes I just find one that I like! This just happened to be one that I found that sounded interesting!
This is a shot overlooking the Beer Garden at the Hofbrauhaus along the Monongahela River. For this one I used 6 exposures from my S90.
Thank you for all the support my friends!
I don't mind invitations, but please no big, shiny, flashing, glitter graphics, they will be deleted. Also, please contact me if you would like to use my pictures for any reason, as all rights are reserved. Thanks!
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When I cry, I secretly hope that you will run all the way to mah doorstep in the rain, wipe mah tear, kiss me on the forehead and stay w/ me through the night...
P.s: It's Romantic rite ;)) keke
This relates to the previous photo I posted. The following night I dressed up in a velvet body shirt and black leather mini skirt and went out to a large Disco! I did have fun even though I was nervous with the big crowd.
OH MY GOD WHERE DO I BEGIN ASDFGHJKL-
*breathes*
Okay, excuse me, this is going to be a ramble as per usual as I have a ton of things I want to talk about both relating and not relating to this lovely little lady right here but i'll space it out over my next few posts so as to not melt your brain staring at one monumental textwall.
OKAY SO. PETRA. OMG. HNNNG. I CAN'T-
So for those of you who keep up with the recent roller-coaster that is my doll journey you'll know that i've talked about shelling my character Petra as a doll for literally years and finally I found the perfect opportunity to go for it and get her with the release of Fairyland Momo. It was kind of up in the air in the beginning whether or not i'd be able to grab Momo while I could but thankfully everything worked out and I was able to get her. Of course, the main reason why I wanted to do so was because I thought the bunny body would be the absolute perfect way of portraying her character in doll form that I previously didn't think would have been possible. For a long time I had resigned myself to just getting her on a regular human body because I didn't think something like this would be possible but OF COURSE, just like with Euclid's perfectly amazing seahorse tail Fairyland is able to read my mind and just know exactly what types of fantasy parts I've wanted for my characters and exactly how to execute them. I'll get into why that is in a bit where I copy/pasta a novel about some of Petra's character but for now let me just say that I LOVE IT SO MUCH and my gosh I am so glad that I was able to get it for her. I know that you can't see her bunny legs in this picture but they actually aren't what I wanted to focus on the most for now. I'll show them off and ramble on about her character/backstory in the future once she is more put together but for now I mainly just want to focus on one thing in particular; THAT SHE IS A MINIFEE ANTE.
Yeah so if you've been keeping up with me for a while you may remember that I had stated numerous times that my plan for Petra was for her to be a Minifee Mio but, well, this happened. Its funny, the moment I first saw Minifee Mio I immediately said "that is Petra" with so much certainty that for the longest time I honestly couldn't imagine her as anything else. Minifee Ante on the other hand was always a sculpt that I was deeply enamored with since I first laid eyes on it but for whatever reason I couldn't see it as anything other than a boy but I didn't have any male characters from my main stories that would suit it and over time it became this ultimate grail for me that I thought i'd never own because I just didn't have the character for it. Well as I mentioned i've been wanting to shell Petra as a doll for years now and at some point I got to looking more and more at Ante as a possible alternative to Mio for Petra. There are things that are more canonically accurate about Mio for Petra, namely the size/shape of her eyes, but the more time went by the more I started to go back and forth between which one was really "right" for her. Eventually I decided upon Mio almost entirely because I knew from her promo photos that she looks great with little angry eyebrows as silly as that sounds, but I think her faceup really was what completely sold me on Mio for her despite being very different than what I would want for Petra. But Ante just kept creeping back into my thoughts especially once I had actually committed to ordering Momo for her bunny body, I just couldn't shake the idea that Ante really has just the perfect little bunny face and captures the cute juvenile look of Petra while still having this air of seriousness. Admittedly Mio gives the same feeling to me but I don't think the sculpt screams "bunny" in the same way that Ante does.
Anyway, I was still debating what I should choose until the very end but eventually my final decision to go with Ante for her came about from being completely unable to find a tan Mio head. xD I'm a believer in fate and that things present themselves the way they do for a reason and being completely unable to get a hold of a Mio head I interpreted as the universe's way of telling me that it just wasn't meant to be. Just when I started to get kind of depressed over it just so happened to come across a pair of tan OE and SP Ante heads and again my mind was flooded with the idea that Ante was in fact the right choice for her.
In thinking about it more heavily I came to realize that while Mio's giant eyes are more canonically accurate, I have to remember that what works in my silly animu drawings don't always translate or work as well as dolls. Faustus and Euclid are incredibly important to Petra and of course i'm insanely picky when it comes to how my really specific character dolls look together so I realized that Mio's giant eyes would probably look way too different and not mesh well with Faustus and Euclid's smaller, more sultry eyes. I learned early on that when translating my characters as dolls its impossible to get them to look EXACTLY like them because of basic stylistic differences and instead to mainly focusing on choosing a sculpt that best captures the "essence" of that character. Like, for example, Euclid's canonical nose looks absolutely nothing like Minifee Luka's nose, but everything else about that sculpt so perfectly evokes Euclid for me that I hardly even notice or think about it, you know? The same is true for me with Petra and Minifee Ante. There are a few characteristics of this sculpt that aren't exactly true of Petra canonically but it still so perfectly captures the FEEL of her character and in a way that also compliments the other important characters in her story. Also the idea of her having a sleeping head really piqued my interest as I've never owned one and they've always interested me but never really had a great excuse to justify getting one, but in thinking about it more, Petra is a character who typically appears outwardly very cold, emotionless and unyielding but a very important part of her character is her journey through very deep emotional and artistic turmoil and I LOVE the idea of using her sleeping head to show a deeply agonized, mournful and ultimately vulnerable side of her that while rarely seen by others is the perfect way of articulating the vital contrasting dynamic of her character.
So yes, in thinking about her in relation to my other dolls and the way that I wanted to portray her character as a doll it became so clear to me that Ante was the right way to go so I took the plunge and went for it and...
;O; I love it.
It was a really strange surreal feeling to own an Ante after having it in my head for so long that i'd never justify being able to own one but it also thoroughly baffled me in a way that I honestly haven't had happen before. Like, my first impression of the sculpt was that this is somehow simultaneously the most bizarre and unrealistic looking sculpt but also gave me the greatest "feeling" of realness and like the sculpt had an air of "life" to it more than any other sculpt i've come across. Idk its hard to explain and probably makes no sense but yeah, it was a strange mix of "wtf am I looking at" and "omg you feel like a real person to me". I've never had that experience before so I was really taken aback by it. It was honestly so confusing that even though I was super busy and shouldn't have been doing so I immediately had to do a suuuuuper quick faceup on her to attempt and sort out my feelings about this sculpt. Seriously, this faceup is legit terrible as it was just an experiment done in a few hours and I feel kind of embarrassed even posting it but ...somehow I still really like it? Like i'll DEFINITELY be making changes when I get the chance to do it properly but I really wanted to test out a few ideas with her eyes specifically since they are extremely important to portraying her character and it actually kind of works. Still needs a lot of fiddling but like I said, this sculpt just captures the "essence" of Petra even with a rushed and imperfect faceup. This sculpt may thoroughly confuse me, but nevertheless it captures Petra bizarrely even better than I could have anticipated. I even really love the way she looks with Faustus and Euclid so far too! She is sooooo far off from being "complete" right now, but still I am loving everything about her~
xD Ack, yeah sorry I figured i'd ramble about this for ages sorry but its crazy how this ended up becoming a thing but i'm really glad that it did and am so ridiculously excited to FINALLY have Petra as a doll and work on her in the future as she going to be a fun, unique and challenging project that i'm positive you guys are going to really love~
I've had so many things on my plate and have kind of been in the midst of both a creative and life-based chaos for a while now but i'm doing my best to sort things out as I can and when things get too crazy take a bit of time for myself and focus a little on my dolls. Over the last month or so I was making a few things for Petra here here and there like the outfit she is wearing and her bunny ears (which you can't really see either but asdfghjkl they aren't finished/painted yet so-) and when she arrived I took a little time to make her wig and do this really quick faceup just to get a feel for her as this sculpt as it baffled me so much initially. Its not much and I still have to mod her ears, finish her bunny ears and tail, do a new faceup, mod her body, make her unicorn horn, make her hammer, get proper eyes asdfghjkl SO MANY THINGS but i'm just really glad to have her home and share what little progress I've made on her~
I'll share with and talk more about some of the individual things i've made for her here later on as well as more about her character but here is just a little hello to her for now. Ah, seriously SO excited to share her with everyone more once she really starts coming together ;w;
Anyway, I'm going to talk more about my Feeple60 Cygne, IbbI, here soonish and probably some more overall updates for me in the hobby soon as well.
xD Thanks so much for putting up with my nonsensical tornado of a doll journey as always *hugs*
.....
ALSO OMG MY SIO2 RAGDOLL FINALLY SHIPPED ASDFGHJKL
....
but his tracking says he's been stuck back in China for an entire week and i'm starting to get worried. Like, he was shipped EMS so he should have been here by now but he apparently hasn't even left China yet... like I get the whole holiday rush and everything but.... ;______;
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Petra (girl) is a Fairyland Minifee Ante on a Fairyline bunny body in Tan skin. Faceup, wig, ears, dress, apron and most props by me.
Overview
Great Minds is a dynamic monument that praises the birth of ideas and relates to all creative people. Light work appears in the form of two monumental brains in dialogue, performing active, luminous brainstorming – the unavoidable phase of each creative process – and figuratively using light to emphasize births of unique ideas and sparkling activities of all great minds. Great Minds was first presented in 2021 at Nobel Week Lights in Stockholm, Sweden with the support of GVA, Control Dept and Rebel Light. About Aleksandra Stratimirovic
Aleksandra Stratimirovic graduated in Applied Arts and Design at the University of Arts in Belgrade. She completed her studies in specialized lighting design at the University of Arts, Crafts and Design, Konstfack and the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. Stratimirovic has broad knowledge and understanding of light and lighting technologies, and she is also the author of temporary and permanent light-art installations for numerous public places in Sweden and abroad. Her works include “Transmission” for the World Heritage Grimeton Radio Station, Sweden, “You Are The Dream” in Gothenburg, “Northern Lights” Jardin du Palais Royal, Paris and participation in the Amsterdam Light Festival. She has received numerous awards and recognitions. Her light works are exhibited worldwide, most recently at the NOOR Riyadh Festival, the National Museum in Stockholm and the Skopje Light Art District.
Partnership Festival: Nobel Week Lights
Nobel Week Lights is initiated and produced by Annika Levin, Alexandra Manson and Lara Szabo Greisman from Troika. The initiative collaborates with the Nobel Prize Museum with support from the City of Stockholm, the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce and the Swedish Space Agency, and many other partners and lighting companies. Inspired by Nobel Prize-awarded discoveries and laureates, stunning artworks light up the darkness of the streets of Stockholm each year during the Nobel Week.
About Fjord Studio
Fjord Studio is a creative studio dedicated to bringing the magic of light art into people’s lives. Fjord Studio curates and produces light art projects for cultural events, urban spaces, architecture and stage. Based in Oslo, the studio works globally and produces the best in light art. The studio collaborates with renowned Norwegian and international light artists and new talents, experienced technical teams and international partners. With projections on buildings, intimate installations, site-specific light sculptures and immersive video art, the studio’s work is a broad exploration of light art. Together with their artists and customers, the studio works towards a shared vision to create meaningful, inspiring and memorable experiences of light and art. Fjord Studio has been developed by artist and curator Anastasia Isachsen and producer Frank Isachsen, the team behind the light art festival Fjord Oslo. Since 2020, their work has expanded to conceptualize, produce and communicate various types of temporary and permanent projects at the intersection of art and technology – in Norway and internationally. Ongoing projects include the annual light art festival Fjord Oslo, the new light art initiative Fjord Geiranger in Geiranger and Nordic Lights – a collaborative project with Harbourfront Centre and light art festivals in Denmark, Sweden and Finland, in addition to several smaller projects. Source: harbourfrontcentre.com/event/great-minds/
Place: Guangzhou, Guangdong Province
Chinese name: 荣威RX5 (róngwēi RX5)
Year of launch: 2016
The Roewe brand emerged after SAIC failed to acquire the Rover marque from BMW in 2005, instead it was sold to Ford in 2006. The carmakers probably feared SAIC would make SUVs competing with Land Rover... SAIC purchased technology relating to the Rover 75, but most assets were bought by Nanjing Automobile (NAC). NAC had the rights on the MG brand. In 2007 Nanjing Automobile merged with the much larger SAIC Group, which means SAIC is now controlling both Roewe and MG. Roewe's first product was the 750 launched in 2006, a revised and extended sedan based on the Rover 75. It was followed by the 550 based on the same underpinnings in 2008 and the new compact sedan 350 in 2010.
The Roewe RX5 SUV was launched in 2016, succeeding the SsangYong Kyron-based W5. Unlike its predecessor, the RX5 is selling like mad, with almost 20,000 units a month. Last week Roewe launched a more compact SUV (4,40 m), the RX3.
Sales figures: carsalesbase.com/china-car-sales-data/roewe/roewe-rx5/
I often relate odd shots I take to memories of my younger days. One of the first trips my wife and I did overseas was to the USA where we visited Disneyland and LA before heading north to San Francisco where some of my Mum's family lived and still live.
I remember being on one of those iconic Disney rides that always seemed to be more well known than they are today, perhaps Small World or the Pirates of the Caribbean. These rides were and still are world class and for innocents like us, they were just fantastic. Anyway, we had this family in the car behind us on whatever ride we were on, staring in awe while one of the young sons in that family just kept on with his mantra "It's fake Daddy!". Grrr, I mean! I wonder what he would say today in the brave new electronic and digital world. Forty years on, he would have his own kids by now, perhaps adults themselves.
Every time I look at this, now damaged concrete sculpture in Humpybong Creek at Redcliffe in SE Queensland, I can't help recalling that kid's words. I just wonder if the two Cormorants drying their feathers were thinking that also in the warm sun?
Adapting a popular song from the 1970s I often find myself singing 'sometimes I want to be a woman' I do also sing the actual line 'sometimes it's hard to be a woman' too as I can relate to both sentiments. I frequently segue into the chorus line of 'stand by your man' unconsciously then a sudden awareness of what I just sang brings me to a halt! Realisation I'm not a woman crashes in and I feel a mix of regret, sadness and fear yet at the same time I feel contentment, delight and real joy.
My relationship with my transvestism is something that fascinates me greatly and is something I really enjoy analysing and on rare occasions get to discuss, I am completely fascinated by my transgender feelings. I do often question my motives as being a transvestite brings with it a lot of emotions and satisfaction, indeed a sense of fulfilment yet it also carries for me doubt and guilt and confusion.
One of the things that causes me fear is the sheer joy I experience when I dress up as a woman, I absolutely love it and find part of me willing to assume the persona of a female with great eagerness. I really want it and to completely cross the gender line and no longer be a man. That part of me is something I feel I fight and suppress as I have fears of what it may set free. The big fear is it may well destroy my actual life with my wife, family, colleagues and work.
For me to appear, or more accurately attempt to appear as a woman is a heady powerful emotional desire that I will openly admit I am drawn to. I simply adore dressing up as a woman and trying to pass myself off as a female. Surely this is not what a man should be doing? Well, that's what society may tell us yet I live as a man and love to be a woman.
There are for me undoubted thrills that accompany the initial cross-dressing such as I may on occasion become sexually aroused by the act of transforming myself into the opposite gender. There is of course the thrill of performance and creating an illusion, in fact the act of attempting female impersonation (albeit not on stage or for theatrical entertainment) gives me a real buzz despite the fact it I only ever cross-dress in private.
I am keen to pass as a woman and to act the role convincingly. As I love female impersonation and acting I constantly challenge myself to try and become the woman I am appearing as and not let any of the man be evident. As a consequence I try to think myself into believing I am female. To try and feel and act more realistically female I create back stories for my female alter-ego and really try to become her as I find the challenge something that is incredibly adventurous.
Sometimes I almost pass out with fear when I act like I find men attractive or talk about my (imaginary) ex husband and boyfriends. The man in me is repelled by this yet the woman I am attempting to portray feels at home. I do try to get over my male fears as I do dream of one day passing convincingly in every way as a woman. I kind of believe if I want to appear realistically to be female then I need to become female in my thinking and interaction.
I have found, despite my male fears, I do feel more like a female by thinking of the camera as my boyfriend and trying to act a bit flirty. Somehow it adds an extra element of femininity to the vibe and hopefully to the photos.
I rationalise this by telling myself I am supposed to be a woman when I have gone to all of the effort to become Helene so I need to switch over into being her. My body is shaved, my genitals are tucked, I have false breasts, my face is painted in make-up, I'm wearing a wig with a female hair style and I'm wearing knickers and bra and a dress and high heels with painted nails...I am trying to look like a woman so I really should try and make the whole ensemble come together and try and fulfil those efforts in a way that makes the illusion feel convincing and real to those who see her. I want my alter-ego to pass as a woman in every way, it's an ambition I harbour as a transvestite.
My vanity, indeed I'm sure more my ego, would love to one day experience being taken out for dinner as Helene by a man. As a transvestite trying to pass as a woman that surely has to be rewarding? To be wined and dined and treated as a lady and spend the evening as a woman being admired by men is the ultimate in passing. It has nothing to do with sex, it is all to do with an inner dream of being able to pass convincingly as a female.
I feel more at ease talking abut such scenarios now as I know my own sexuality and I know I would have enjoyed working as a female impersonator and acting as a convincing looking transvestite in films when I was younger. I enjoy those films when a woman is revealed to be a man and every body is surprised as they never saw it coming. The same with female impersonation, I am in awe of men who look, sound and can behave like women yet the audience know that she is in fact a man performing as a woman. I have been ridiculed, indeed at times humiliated in the past for expressing these personal views and ambitions but as I get older I now think why not be honest about my own motivations and issues related to why I engage in transvestism.
In this photo from early June I was totally getting into being a woman and would happily have posed with a man on my arm to sell the illusion I was female. I enjoyed wearing this outfit and if I am honest felt very much at home appearing like this. The intensity of the moment was quite something to cope with, I wanted nothing more than to remain female forever. However, about four hours after this photo was taken I returned to being a man and was quite happy to do so. I think the knowledge I desire to dress up and look female and act as if I am female is something I get a buzz from. The fact I rarely get to cross-dress is probably what I find attractive about being a transvestite. If I was a woman full time I would not likely get the rewards I have emotionally and physically that I get from the occasional cross-dressing experiences. Yet, I feel there is a part of me that wishes I was female.
To be a cross-dresser is quite a mixed bag of emotions and motivations, nothing is that clear cut and I confess I rather like this often confusing exciting and worrying mix that goes on within me. I am addicted to it, I really am.
Italien / Toskana - San Gimignano
Piazza Duomo
San Gimignano (Italian pronunciation: [san dʒimiɲˈɲaːno]) is a small walled medieval hill town in the province of Siena, Tuscany, north-central Italy. Known as the Town of Fine Towers, San Gimignano is famous for its medieval architecture, unique in the preservation of about a dozen of its tower houses, which, with its hilltop setting and encircling walls, form "an unforgettable skyline". Within the walls, the well-preserved buildings include notable examples of both Romanesque and Gothic architecture, with outstanding examples of secular buildings as well as churches. The Palazzo Comunale, the Collegiate Church and Church of Sant' Agostino contain frescos, including cycles dating from the 14th and 15th centuries. The "Historic Centre of San Gimignano" is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The town also is known for saffron, the Golden Ham, pecorino cheese and its white wine, Vernaccia di San Gimignano, produced from the ancient variety of Vernaccia grape which is grown on the sandstone hillsides of the area.
Territory
The municipality of San Gimignano extends for 138 km² and is located on a hill in Val d'Elsa. The altitude difference is between a minimum of 64 meters a.s.l. in the plain of the river Elsa near Certaldo at a maximum of 631 meters in the area of Cornocchio.
History
In the 3rd century BC a small Etruscan village stood on the site of San Gimignano. Chroniclers Lupi, Coppi and Pecori relate that during the Catiline conspiracy against the Roman Republic in the 1st century, two patrician brothers, Muzio and Silvio, fled Rome for Valdelsa and built two castles, Mucchio and Silvia (now San Gimignano). The name of Silvia was changed to San Gimignano in 450 AD after Bishop Geminianus, the Saint of Modena, intervened to spare the castle from destruction by the followers of Attila the Hun. As a result, a church was dedicated to the saint, and in the 6th and 7th centuries a walled village grew up around it, subsequently called the "Castle of San Gimignano" or Castle of the Forest because of the extensive woodland surrounding it. From 929 the town was ruled by the bishops of Volterra.
In the Middle Ages and the Renaissance era, it was a stopping point for Catholic pilgrims on their way to Rome and the Vatican, as it sits on the medieval Via Francigena. The city's development was also improved by the trade of agricultural products from the fertile neighbouring hills, in particular saffron, used in both cooking and dyeing cloth and Vernaccia wine, said to inspire popes and poets.
In 1199, the city made itself independent of the bishops of Volterra and established a podestà, and set about enriching the commune with churches and public buildings. However, the peace of the town was disturbed for the next two centuries by conflict between the Guelphs and the Ghibellines, and family rivalries within San Gimignano. This resulted in competing families building tower houses of increasingly greater heights. Towards the end of the Medieval period, there were 72 tower houses in number, up to 70 metres (230 feet) tall. The rivalry was finally restrained when the local council ordained that no tower was to be taller than that adjacent to the Palazzo Comunale.
While the official patron is Saint Geminianus, the town also honours Saint Fina, known also as Seraphina and Serafina, who was born in San Gimignano 1238 and whose feast day is 12 March. The Chapel of Santa Fina in the Collegiate Church houses her shrine and frescos by Ghirlandaio. The house said to be her home still stands in the town.
On 8 May 1300, San Gimignano hosted Dante Alighieri in his role as ambassador of the Guelph League in Tuscany.
The city flourished until 1348, when it was struck by the Black Death that affected all of Europe, and about half the townsfolk died. The town submitted to the rule of Florence. Initially, some Gothic palazzi were built in the Florentine style, and many of the towers were reduced to the height of the houses. There was little subsequent development, and San Gimignano remained preserved in its medieval state until the 19th century, when its status as a touristic and artistic resort began to be recognised.
Description
The city is on the ridge of a hill with its main axis being north/south. It is encircled by three walls and has at its highest point, to the west, the ruins of a fortress dismantled in the 16th century. There are eight entrances into the city, set into the second wall, which dates from the 12th and 13th centuries. The main gates are Porta San Giovanni on the ridge extending south, Porta San Matteo to the north west and Porta S. Jacopo to the north east. The main streets are Via San Matteo and Via San Giovanni, which cross the city from north to south. At the heart of the town are four squares: the Piazza Duomo, on which stands the Collegiate Church; the Piazza della Cisterna, the Piazza Pecori and the Piazza delle Erbe. To the north of the town is another significant square, Piazza Agostino, on which stands the Church of Sant' Agostino. The locations of the Collegiate Church and Sant' Agostino's and their piazzas effectively divide the town into two regions.
Main sights
The town of San Gimignano has many examples of Romanesque and Gothic architecture. As well as churches and medieval fortifications, there are examples of Romanesque secular and domestic architecture which may be distinguished from each other by their round and pointed arches, respectively. A particular feature which is typical of the region of Siena is that the arches of openings are depressed, with doorways often having a second low arch set beneath a semi-circular or pointed arch. Both Romanesque and Gothic windows sometimes have a bifurcate form, with two openings divided by a stone mullion under a single arch.
Culture
San Gimignano is the birthplace of the poet Folgore da San Gimignano (1270–1332).
A fictionalised version of San Gimignano is featured in E. M. Forster's 1905 novel, Where Angels Fear to Tread as Monteriano.
M. C. Escher's 1923 woodcut San Gimignano depicts the celebrated towers.
Franco Zeffirelli used San Gimignano as a stand-in for the town of Assisi in his 1972 Saint Francis of Assisi biopic Brother Sun, Sister Moon. Most of the "Assisi" scenes were filmed here
Tea with Mussolini, a 1999 drama about the plight of English and American expatriate women in Italy during World War II, was filmed in part in San Gimignano. The frescoes that the women save from being destroyed during the German Army's withdrawal are inside the Duomo, the town's main church. The account of this episode is, to a large extent, fictional, because, although there are reports of intended retribution against the town, there is no evidence of a plan to destroy the churches. However, the reference to risk of cultural destruction is historic, as the Allies bombed the area for ten days.
In the 2005 novel The Broker by John Grisham, Joel Backman takes his second of three wives on vacation in Italy to keep her from divorcing him. They rent a 14th-century monastery near San Gimignano for a month.
A 15th-century version of the town is featured in the 2009 video game Assassin's Creed II.
(Wikpedia)
Piazza della Cisterna is a piazza in San Gimignano, Italy. It has a triangular shape with a slight natural slope and is connected to the nearby Piazza del Duomo by an open passage. The pavement is brick and the piazza is surrounded by houses and medieval towers. There are presently 5 towers onto the square or very near it and the bases of other five are visible on the facade of the various palaces, plus one, the Ridolfi tower, which is no longer in existence having collapsed in 1646 onto the family palace, thus making this relatively small area a concentrate of medieval architecture. In the south-west corner, the piazza meets the Arc of Becci, (l'arco dei Becci), an ancient city gate. The arc is flanked by the massive rectangular towers of Becci (torri dei Becci) on the left and Cugnanesi (torri dei Cugnanesi) on the right.
Past the access to via di Castello, which led down to the original Bishop’s castle, the northern side is characterized by the renaissance Cortesi Palace, which includes la torre del Diavolo, and extends along the north side of the square including the old houses of the Cattani family. There remains of two pre-existing towers are clearly visible onto the facade of the Cortesi Palace.
The west side is adorned with various towers, like the twin towers of Ardinghelli and the tower of palazzo Pellari visible over the roofs.
History
The piazza is located at the intersection of two main streets of the village of San Gimignano: la via Francigena that run north to south and la via Pisa - [[Siena]that runs east to west]. The piazza was used as a market and a stage for festivals and tournaments. Originally the area was divided in two squares by the palace and tall tower of the Ridolfi family, the Piazza dell’ Olmo in the inferior and western part and the Piazza delle Taverne in the eastern side and with the cisterna in the middle. In 1646 the tall Ridolfi tower suddenly collapsed, destroying the palace and thus the two squares were merged into one, the Piazza della Cisterna.
The piazza is named after the underground cistern (Cisterna) built in 1287. The cistern is capped by a travertine octagonal pedestal, which was built in 1346 under the mayor Guccio Malavolti whose coat of arms with the ladder is carved onto the stones, and is close to the center of the square.
(Wikipedia)
San Gimignano ist eine italienische Kleinstadt in der Toskana mit einem mittelalterlichen Stadtkern. San Gimignano wird auch „Mittelalterliches Manhattan“ oder die „Stadt der Türme“ genannt. Die Stadt liegt in der Provinz Siena und hat 7717 Einwohner (Stand 31. Dezember 2019). Sie gehört neben Florenz, Siena und Pisa zu den von Touristen meistbesuchten Zielen in der Toskana.
Allgemeines
Der historische Stadtkern ist seit dem Jahr 1990 Teil des Weltkulturerbes der UNESCO. San Gimignano besitzt noch einige der mittelalterlichen Geschlechtertürme, die in anderen Städten nur als Stümpfe erhalten blieben. Im Mittelalter versuchten die Patrizierfamilien, sich in der Höhe ihres Geschlechterturmes zu übertreffen, obwohl ein luxuriöses Leben darin nicht möglich war. Von den einst 72 Geschlechtertürmen existieren in San Gimignano heute noch 15. Die beiden höchsten, der Torre Grossa aus dem Jahr 1311 und der Torre della Rognosa, weisen eine Höhe von 54 bzw. 51 Metern auf. Die Zisterne auf der Piazza della Cisterna entstand 1287 und wurde 1346 durch den Podestà Guccio Malavolti erweitert.
Geografie
Die Stadt liegt ca. 40 km südwestlich der Regionalhauptstadt Florenz und ca. 28 km nordwestlich der Provinzhauptstadt Siena an der Via Francigena und im Elsatal. San Gimignano liegt in der klimatischen Einordnung italienischer Gemeinden in der Zone D, 2 085 GR/G.
Zu den Ortsteilen gehören Badia a Elmi (94 m, gehört teilweise zu Certaldo), Castel San Gimignano (377 m, gehört teilweise zu Colle di Val d’Elsa), Pancole (272 m), Santa Lucia (268 m) und Ulignano. Weitere wichtige Orte im Gemeindegebiet sind Montauto (277 m), Monteoliveto (275 m) Ranza und San Donato (357 m). Größter Ortsteil ist Ulignano mit ca. 690 Einwohnern.
Die wichtigsten Flüsse im Gemeindegebiet sind der Elsa (4 von 81 km im Gemeindegebiet) sowie die Torrenti Foci (4 von 15 km im Gemeindegebiet) und Riguardi (7 von 7 km im Gemeindegebiet).
Die Nachbargemeinden sind Barberino Tavarnelle (FI), Certaldo (FI), Colle di Val d’Elsa, Gambassi Terme (FI), Poggibonsi und Volterra (PI).
Geschichte
San Gimignano soll bereits um 300 bis 200 v. Chr. von den Etruskern besiedelt worden sein. Erstmals dokumentiert wurde der Ort 929. Den Namen erhielt die Stadt von dem heiligen Bischof von Modena, San Gimignano. Es heißt, er habe das Dorf vor den barbarischen Horden des Totila geschützt.
Diese Stadt verdankt ihre Existenz der Via Francigena (Frankenstraße). Auf diesem Hauptverkehrsweg des mittelalterlichen Italiens zogen Händler und Pilger vom Norden nach Rom. Der Ort bildete sich als Marktstätte zwischen dem frühmittelalterlichen Castello und der Pieve, dem Vorgängerbau der Collegiata. Ein erster Stadtmauerring wurde im 10. Jahrhundert angelegt. Dessen Verlauf markieren zwei noch erhaltene Stadttore, im Norden der Arco della Cancelleria und im Süden der Arco dei Becci.
Vom 11. Jahrhundert an dehnte sich das Stadtgebiet entlang der Frankenstraße in nördlicher und südlicher Richtung aus. An die Existenz des früheren Castello erinnern die Via di Castello, eine der ältesten Straßen, und die Kirche von San Lorenzo, die bei der Zugbrücke lag. Mindestens seit dem Jahr 929 gehörte das Kastell den Bischöfen von Volterra. Diese Bischöfe waren es auch, die die Herrschaft über die sich ausdehnende Stadt ausübten. Erst 1199 gelang es den von den Bürgern gewählten Konsuln, Verträge ohne die Zustimmung des Bischofs zu unterzeichnen. San Gimignano war nie Bischofssitz, sondern gehörte zum kirchlichen Verwaltungsbezirk (Diözese) Volterra und erlangte somit auch keine Stadtrechte. Trotzdem verlief die politische Entwicklung der Landkommune in ähnlichen Schritten wie die der großen Städte. Die Regierung der Konsuln wurde durch den Podestà (einem gewählten Administrator) abgelöst. Diesem standen ein kleiner und ein großer Rat zur Seite. Dem großen Rat gehörte eine bemerkenswert hohe Zahl von 1200 Mitgliedern an, obwohl San Gimignano nur 6000 Einwohner hatte.
Die freie Kommune stritt bis ins 14. Jahrhundert mit den Bischöfen von Volterra in langjährigen Kriegen um Besitzrechte. Sie musste gegen die Nachbarorte Castelfiorentino, gegen Colle und Poggibonsi zu Felde ziehen und nahm auf der Seite des guelfischen Florenz an den großen Machtkämpfen des 13. Jahrhunderts teil. Auch innerhalb der Stadtmauern setzten sich die Kämpfe zwischen Guelfen (Welfen) und Ghibellinen (Waiblinger) fort. Es kam zu blutigen Familienfehden zwischen den Familien der Salvucci (Ghibellinen) und der Ardinghelli (Guelfen).
Ab Mai 1300 hielt sich Dante Alighieri in diplomatischer Mission in San Gimignano auf. Vom 15. Juni bis 15. August 1300 amtierte er als eines von sechs Mitgliedern des Priorats, des höchsten Gremiums der Stadt. Im Jahre 1319 versuchte er in seiner Funktion als führender Florentiner Politiker vergeblich, die verfeindeten Parteien zu versöhnen. Eine Kommune wie San Gimignano konnte sich im 14. Jahrhundert nicht mehr neben den Großmächten behaupten. Im Jahre 1348 wurde die Stadt neben Kriegsverlusten und Familienfehden durch die Pest stark geschwächt. Vier Jahre später, im Jahre 1352, begab sich die Stadt unter den Schutz von Florenz.
Die Blütezeit der Stadt dauerte 160 Jahre an, ihr Wohlstand beruhte auf Handel und dem Anbau von Safran, mit dem man Seidenstoffe färbte. Die Frankenstraße verlor im Spätmittelalter allmählich an Bedeutung, weil der Handel die bequemeren Wege durch die weitgehend trockengelegten Sümpfe der Ebenen vorzog. Die Stadt, die einst Gesetze gegen übertriebenen Luxus erlassen hatte, verarmte.
Hochrenaissance (ca. 1500 bis 1530) und Barock (1575 bis 1770) hinterließen in San Gimignano so gut wie keine Spuren. Die Stadt war niemals ein eigenständiges Kunstzentrum. Künstler aus Siena und Florenz malten die Fresken und Altartafeln. Die Paläste und Kirchen zeigen pisanische, sienesische, lucchesische und florentinische Stilmerkmale. In San Gimignano ist die Zeit scheinbar im Jahr 1563 stehengeblieben. Der erste der toskanischen Großherzöge, Cosimo I. de’ Medici, entschied, es dürfen „auch keine geringen Summen“ mehr in diese Stadt investiert werden. Das musste akzeptiert werden, und so ist San Gimignano geblieben, wie es damals war.
(Wikipedia)
The size of a 40.000 year old tooth from the Denisova cave indicates a very tall individual, and artefacts found tell about
an unbelievable modern technology - including high speed drilling. The first kings of Egypt were called Gods, but they lived with the people and helped them to develop their civilisation. Many of the granite and basalt artefacts found in Egypt can only have been done by high speed drilling. Were these divine kings in fact Denisova hominins? Did they underestimate how fragile the eco-balance of our environment is, did they trigger a worldwide catastrophe that "capsized" the Earth and wiped them out?
Remnants of a previously unknown hominin, distinct from both early modern humans and Neanderthals,
were a few years ago found in the Denisova cave of southern Siberia: Denisova hominins. The bones and also artefacts excavated at the same level were carbon dated to around 40.000 BP. The scientists say these Denisovans had "modern technology and ornaments, including a very beautiful bracelet". Our archaic cousins the Denisova Hominins
A catastrophe in form of a flood that, according to the legends wiped out the Egyptian civilization that was developed by divine kings (Gods), shall have taken place more than 30.000 years ago. The finger bone, the large tooth and the artefacts found in the Denisova cave in the north-east Altai Mountains region are also dated to be more than 30.000 years old. The small bone belonged to a very young girl. A small bracelet of polished stone was also found, and since it was found in the same layer and dated to the same age; it might have belonged to her.
We can only speculate why the young girl was in the cave. Could it be that she was seeking shelter from a coming catastrophe, might be brought there by her mother or father? Or that she was washed into the cave by the raging wave of a tsunami - even if the cave today is 600 meters above sea level?
It seems that the first rulers of Egypt had a technology that was even more advanced than we have today; we are in fact unable to replicate many of the artefacts found. And it still is an open question how they managed to construct the Great Pyramid with its incredible precision and up to 70 ton's stones.
The archaeologists say that the ancient Egyptians used simple tools like bronze chisels and stone hammers but many of the items found, like basalt jars and also the so called sarcophagus in the Great Pyramid, cannot be made without high speed drilling with drill-bits harder than basalt and granite. The artefacts found in the Denisova cave, the bracelet with pendant, the eyed needles and other ornaments, also witness of a superior technology - and believe it or not: They had used hight speed drilling!
Not us homo sapien sapien
We do not know how the Denisova hominines looked but as mentioned: A tooth found in the cave was very large, so they might have been very tall. We know that people in the area surrounding the Altai Mountains in the 6th to 3rd centuries BC had a very advanced technology; a race of white skinned, blond, blue eyed and very tall people with Caucasian features and long skulls.
The divine kings, the "Gods", of Egypt were often depicted as white skinned, blond, blue eyed and very tall people with Caucasian features and a long skull. Were the "Gods" of the ancient Egyptian king-lists in fact Denisovans? Not us homo sapien sapien but our archaic cousins the Denisova Hominins?
We do not yet know what the Denisova hominins looked like but a Denisovan tooth found in the cave is the largest archaic homo species tooth found. Were the Denisovans the giants of the legends all over the world? Where they the first kings of Egypt - the divine Pharaohs? Did they have an advanced technology that later got lost, might be together with the Denisovans themselves, in a world wide catastrophe?
Global warming
Professor Gregory Ryskin at Northwestern University in Illinois, USA, has found that the long-term changes in the Earth's main magnetic field are possibly induced by our oceans' circulation. We know that global warming already has raised the temperatures of the oceans of the world and some scientists have proposed that this could disrupt thermohaline circulation (THC), which is a massive, worldwide system of ocean currents. We have already seen a change in some ocean currents, so a change in our Earth's magnetic field might already be happening! Might be this is why our magnetic poles are moving much more rapid than before! Scary stuff - because this could also mean a change in the Earth's gravity - and changes in gravitational forces will certainly affect the tectonic plates and with the continents on them. Might be this is the reason why we also experience more earthquakes than before?! Might be we should take Hapgood's conclusions and Heyerdahl's warning serious?
Did the Egyptian "capsize" the world - did they have technologies that could contribute to a sudden and rapid polar change? Might be because of and a change in the Earths gravity and/or magnetic field? Well, some say that the ancient Egyptians used the pyramids to create a unique form of energy. That they by paying special attention to celestial events, they could have used natural forces like static electricity, the Earth's magnetic field, and lightning.
Electric phenomenon
Sir William Seimens, a famous German born English inventor, travelled to Egypt and visited the Great Pyramid. While they were standing on the top, the guide remarked that when he raised his hand with his fingers spread, it caused an intense ringing noise in his ears. Sir William ventured a few tests, one by raising his arm with his index finger pointing, which he claimed caused a prickling sensation. He then drank some wine from a metallic cup which gave him a distinct shock. He was convinced he was witnessing some sort of electric phenomenon and instantly put this to the test by assembling a makeshift Leyden Jar, an apparatus for the storage of static electricity, by wrapping moistened newspaper around the wine bottle. The static charge at the peak of the pyramid was so high that sparks began to stream from the bottle. The guide was so shocked that he accused Sir William of witchcraft and tried to grab the bottle, but an electrical jolt knocked him unconscious.
A power plant?
Master craftsman and engineer Christopher Dunn argues that based on his measurements of Egyptian monuments, ancient stonecutting achieved a high-precision accuracy surpassing modern accuracy standards in building. He asked himself what was the power source that fuelled such a civilization and after twenty years of research, Dunn reveals that the Great Pyramid of Giza was actually a electrical power plant. Based on the technology of harmonic resonance, he claims that the pyramid was a large acoustical device! By its size and dimensions, this crystal edifice created a harmonic resonance with the Earth and converted Earth's vibrational energies to microwave radiation. He shows in his books and articles how the pyramid's numerous chambers and passageways were positioned with the deliberate precision to maximize its acoustical qualities.
Inventor Michael F. Praamsma partly agrees but he says that the Great Pyramid at Giza was "a sophisticated acoustical sound chamber that was used as a technique to generate natural sounds to create an elevated frequency environment confined to a single resonant physical cavity". He claims that the Great Pyramid was systematically and competently sealed, and that this was "a sign it was decommissioned and intended to be of use again at a future day, when the awakened humanity would restore it competently to its rightful function, unfortunately history went another way."
A California researcher, Peter Grandics, has shown how an antenna, modeled on the Great Pyramid of Giza, can transfer the power of atmospheric electrostatic discharge impulses into a resonant circuit that converts the random impulses into an alternating current as a potential source of renewable electric power. Thousands of terawatts of power are generated in the troposphere by thunderstorms and a pyramidal structure, with its optimal geometry and construction, can act as a suitable charge sink, capturing this electric.
A biological engineer named John Burke argues that the movement of underground water in limestone aquifers below monuments produces an electric current via friction and the rich magnetic dolomite content of the stone. Burke measured positive ground current at Silbury hill in England, an ancient pyramidal mound composed of chalk and clay that lies on top of such limestone bedrock riddled with zig zagging aquifers filled with rainwater. Such tunnels and water caverns lie beneath the Giza plateau as well. Abd'El Hakim Awyan, a native Egyptian archaeologist, attests to swimming in such tunnels during his youth on the Giza plateau.
Electric torches?
Another alternative theory is that the pyramids were wireless power plants used to generate electricity and for wireless communication. On the internet you will find a video where it is speculated that the Great Pyramid may have been powered by the Ark of the Covenant. The person behind the video is saying that murals inside tombs and temples show that the ancient Egyptians were using handheld electric torches powered by cable free power sources. It is believed that the so called sarcophagus inside the Great Pyramid has the exact dimensions, according to the Christian bible, to house the Ark of Covenant: That the pyramid with a capstone of gold and the covenant in place was a kind of super capacitor the could produce and store electric energy. It is also theorized that Moses stole the Ark of Covenant from the pyramid and took it with him out of Egypt. This should be the main reason for the downfall of the Egyptian pharaohs; without the electrics power their own power dwindled. This should have happened at the time of the pharaoh Ramses II.
Three engineers; Erica Miller, Sean Sloan and Gregg Wilson all agree on one theory: That the Great Pyramid acted as a huge nuclear breeder reactor, which produced Plutonium fuel by mediating uranium isotopes in water. Supposedly, the King's Chamber was flooded with a water pump, and the sarcophagus was packed with uranium ore.
Frenchman Antoine Bovis stumbled upon dead cats and mice that had been disposed of in the trash cans inside the Great Pyramid, and they were perfectly mummified - apparently automatically, without putrefying or giving off a stench. When Bovis returned to France he built a scale model of Khufu's monument, deposited a dead cat inside - and the Giza phenomenon repeated itself, the cat mummified without rotting. Karl Drbal of Czechoslovakia researched this further and said that this was due to the pyramid's special cavity that resonated with cosmic microwaves concentrated in the earth's magnetic field. He also hypothesized that the same concept would work for rusted shavers, and claimed the sharpness of the tools returned after lacing them in a scale model of the pyramid. Stanford Research Institute, however, carrying out experiments in the Great Pyramid, and found that biological samples deteriorated at normal rates within the structure.
Energy grid
Some researchers say that it not by chance that the Great Pyramid was built where it was. They propose that the Earth has a planetary energetic grid that operates through geometric patterns called Sacred Geometry. Grids meet at various intersecting points forming a grid or matrix. These grid points shall be found at some of the strongest power places on the planet. A planetary grid map outlined by the Russian team of Goncharov, Morozov and Makarov has an overall organization anchored to the north and south axial poles and the Great Pyramid at Giza.
It is said that the ancient people, including the Egyptians, knew that wherever the earth's energy gathered into a vortex was a sacred place. Very simular is the theory that the Earth has as net of electromagnetic lines, and that the intersecting points of the network, the knots, are influenced by underground veins of water as well as magnetic forces emanating naturally from the Earth. The ancient Egyptians are said to have been able to move and/or anchor the energy lines by pushing metal rods into the ground before they built a temple or pyramid - they shall have called it "piercing the snake".
Also what is called lay lines seems to be connected to an ancient grid of a form. According to Wikipedia; "Ley lines are hypothetical alignments of a number of places of geographical interest, such as ancient monuments and megaliths." Archaeologists have documented that the alignments are existing but it is not proved that the ley lines and their intersection points resonate a special psychic or magical energy or that they have electrical or magnetic forces as some writers claim.
Pyramid fortex using a Tesla coil
In addition to all this it is also said that we have high energy spots on the Earth called vortices - and they shall be linked ley lines. A Vortex (plural: vortices) is usually a spinning, often turbulent, flow of fluid but some also include a kind of spinning Earth energy due to its electromagnetic field. Such vortices can be volcanoes, high mountains, hot springs, mineral deposits, deep gorges, rock outcroppings and even in deserts like the Sinai. Ancient sites can also be vortices, like the pyramids of Egypt. Dr. Dee J. Nelson has taken a so called Kirlian photograph of energy spiralling out of the top of a pyramid using a Tesla Coil.
Nikola Tesla - Earthquake Machine
The Tesla Coil was invented by Serbian-American engineer Nikola Tesla (1856 - 1943), one of history's greatest scientists. His coil is an electrical resonant transformer circuit, used to produce high-voltage, low-current, and high frequency alternating-current electricity. Yes, he is best known for inventing the alternating electrical current (AC) used all over the world today, but his patents and theoretical work helped form the basis for radio comunication and many other inventions.
Nikola Tesla was an electrical genius, but he also was responsible for a number of mechanical devices. One of these was his "Earthquake Machine" also known as the Tesla Oscillator. The machine which Tesla tested was no larger than an alarm clock but it is said that when he started to twiddle the machine's frequency-controller in his lab: blocks around chaos reigned as objects fell off shelves, furniture moved across floors, windows shattered, and pipes broke. When the police arrived they found the inventor smashing the resonator to bits with a hammer: "Gentlemen, I am sorry. You are just a trifle too late to witness my experiment. I found it necessary to stop it suddenly and unexpectedly in an unusual way, he said calmly to the astonished officers.
Tesla was convinced that by finding the correct frequency, any structure can be destroyed (an obvious example is the wine glass shattered by an opera singer). He later told a friend that he could split the Earth with one of these devices: "I could set the earth's crust into such a state of vibration that it would rise and fall hundreds of feet, throwing rivers out of their beds, wrecking buildings, and practically destroying civilization".
Tesla and coils
Tesla claimed that the laws of electromagnetics were connected to gravity, and one of his patents was on a flying machine without wings or propellers but based on what he called electrogravitics. Tesla also was working on a generator that basically worked by harnessing the electricity from the air and the ground. He used the natural conductivity of limestone aquifers to generate electrical power. The power ran up the ground into the Tesla coil tower above, which in theory should channel wirelessly transmitted power over great distances. Since Telsa wanted the distribution of the energy to be free, the inventor's sponsor pulled out from funding the scientist's machine before it was completed. Tesla died a poor and disillusioned man.
His research station for transmitting power at Colorado Springs might have a link to the Great Pyramid - a notable harmonic association between the latitude positions of both sites. Coral Castle - 9-ton gate that moves with just a touch of the finger.
Edward Leedskalnin - Coral Castle
Another person that was interested in gravity and electromagnetism was Edward Leedskalnin (1887-1951) - an eccentric Latvian emigrant to the United States. He built the extraordinary monument known as Coral Castle in Florida. Leedskalnin single-handedly and secretly carved and displayed over 1,100 tons of coral rock, the heaviest stone weighing 35 tons. It is a mystery how the tiny man could move all the heavy stones. He claimed to have discovered the secrets of the pyramids, and had found out how the Egyptians and the ancient builders in Peru, Yucatan, and Asia, with only primitive tools, raised and set in place blocks of stone weighing many tons! But he did not want to show
"I have discovered the secrets of the pyramids, and have found out how the Egyptians and the ancient builders in Peru, Yucatan, and Asia, with only primitive tools, raised and set in place blocks of stone weighing many tons!"
- Edward Leedskalninanybody how it was done and worked mostly at night-time. A group of young witnesses claimed to see coral blocks floating through the air "like hydrogen balloons" and another time one of Ed's neighbours found him singing to the stones with his hands placed on their surface as if he were somehow making them lighter.
Ed Leedskalnin disputed contemporary science and believed that "all matter consists of magnets which can produce measurable phenomena, and electricity." Ed would say he had "re-discovered the laws of weight, measurement, and leverage," and that these concepts "involved the relationship of the Earth to celestial alignments."
Researchers have speculated that Ed Leedskalnin learned the secret of levitation and one theory in particular caught the imagination of many. The planetary grid hypothesis postulates that the earth is covered by an invisible web of energy which is concentrated at points of telluric power, the convergence of which create unusual phenomena. Leedskalnin moved the complex from Florida City to Homestead and some suggest this was because Ed realized he had made a mathematical error in his original positioning and moved to an area with greater telluric force.
The famed American psychic Edgar Cayce (1877-1945) said during his readings that the Great Pyramid "was erected by the application of those universal laws and forces of nature which cause iron to float. By the same laws, gravity may be overcome, or neutralized, and stone made to float in air. The Pyramid was thus built by levitation, abetted by song and chanting". He also said that the Great Pyramid was built was built as a hall of initiation around 10,500BC by those who originally came from the civilization of Atlantis.
Levitation by sound
Metal rods that caused the stone to levitate
The current estimates of mainstream science contends that it took a workforce of 4,000 to 5,000 men 20 years to build the Great Pyramid using ropes, pulleys, ramps, ingenuity and brute force. But the 10th century Arab historian, Abul Hasan Ali Al-Masudi had written a 30-volume history of the world and he wrote about how the great stone blocks of the pyramid were transported. First, he said, a "magic papyrus" was placed under the stone to be moved. Then the stone was struck with a metal rod that caused the stone to levitate and move along a path paved with stones and fenced on either side by metal poles. The stone would travel along the path, wrote Al-Masudi, for a distance of about 50 meters and then settle to the ground. The process would then be repeated until the builders had the stone where they wanted it.
An ancient legend tells that The Great Pyramid was built from year 10,490 to 10,390 B.C. That the god Ra made studies of the terrain and took great care in figuring the geometrical location in relation to the Sphinx and the four cardinal points of the compass. The Pyramid was then built by levitation, abetted by song and chanting.
Well, we do not have any proof that the ancient Egyptians could make the huge stones fly through the air but levitation is no longer only a party-trick by magicians with quick fingers. We have high speed trains that levitate by the help of magnetic power and in an incredible move for modern medicine; scientists are using sound waves to help levitate droplets of drugs to make them with less side effects.
A kind of Swiss knife
The Great Pyramid is very different to other pyramids, in Giza or else. Most alternative researches conclude that it was some kind of machine; most possibly a power station. We have seen that it would be impossible to use the Great Pyramid as a tomb for a pharaoh and that dating of seashell tells that it much older than the other pyramids. The nearby sphinx has been re-dated to be at least 5000 years old because of the erosion from water, but it might be much older. The same will go for the Great Pyramid. Some speculate that the Great Pyramid was a kind of Swiss knife - a gigantic multipurpose tool. The world "pyramid" means "fire in the middle" - so if it was a kind of power station with the power source situated in what is called Khufu's sarcophagus the some researches in one way might be correct when that speculate that the pyramid also was built as a gigantic ram water pump - inside the base of the pyramid. Yes, it could have been a power-station with a water cooling system! We have seen that some say that the power source was the ark of covenant from the Christian bible and some say
The King's Chamber with the stones above
King's Chamber and large stones
that Moses was the person who stole it from the pyramid. That the pharaohs' rapid decline took place because with no more energy, in form of electric power, then their advanced civilisation could no longer exist!
A gigantic Tesla coil?
Or might be the Great Pyramid was a kind of a gigantic Tesla coil? That the huge granite stones, highly polished on the underside and placed above the so called Kings chamber, made it possible to harness electricity from the ionosphere - just like Nikola Tesla wanted to do it?
About 20 minutes drive from the Great Pyramid is the site of Abu Ghurab, the "Place of Osiris". The ruined stepped pyramid once had an alabaster platform on the top and on the platform it had been standing an obelisk ("sun stick"); most likely, the total height was between fifty and seventy meters. It had looked like a pyramid with a flat top, just like Great Pyramid! Is it possible that the Great Pyramid once had an obelisk standing on it's flat top - and not a capstone? The legends says that spirit of the sun god entered the obelisks at certain periods…
Could it have been like this - an obelisk on top of the Great Pyramid?
Can it have been like this?
Tesla viewed the Earth as a negative electric pole and the sun as a positive pole of an electrode; so an obelisk standing on top of a pyramid would to him be a solar-electric diode! If the under ground part of the pyramid was a pump that brought water up to the Kings Chamber then we would have a capacitor with a very good earth ground. Yes, the Great Pyramid could have been an extremely powerful kind of solar-panel!
Might be Tesla got the idea of harnessing the ionosphere from the Egyptians? Might be they had made the strongest power station ever but that something went terribly wrong; a technical fault or a construction-fault? Or might be extra strong solar activity? Stephen A. Reynods of New Zealand has done research showing that changes in the ionosphere caused by strong solar activity can cause changes in the Earth's internal magnetic field and through telluric current induced in the Earth's crust trigger earthquakes. So might be it happened that instead of harnessing high voltage that could be stored and used, the pyramid send the current into the ground and
The God Ptah with a Djed pillar
Ptah and pillar
triggered a gigantic earthquake that literally shook the whole Earth and caused geological catastrophes worldwide? Might be the changes to the internal magnetic field was so fast and so strong that the outer crust slipped - just like professor Charles H. Hapgood once suggested (but not due to imbalance of the polar ice)?
Interesting enough; one of the oldest and most important symbols to the ancient Egyptian was the "Djed Pillar". Take a look at the image to the right of the God Ptah holding a Djed pillar. The pillar looks very simular til the set-up of the stones above the Kings Chamber - and also a homemade Tesla coil! You might also have noticed a Djed pillar in picture of what could illustrate an electric lamp in an ancient Egyptian temple, higher up in the article!
Very advanced technology
In the Palermo, Turin and Manetho king lists, there are names of eight god kings that ruled Egypt in the beginning; Ptah, Ra, Geb, Osiris, Set, Horus, Thoth and the female god Ma'at. Even if they sometimes were represented in a variety of forms on murals, often with human body and animals/birds heads, these gods seemed to be something else than imaginary gods living in a theological heaven. They lived on earth, were married with children, and had duties they performed. They also helped the ordinary people to develop. We have seen that Ptah made the Nile-delta liveable after the great flood and Thoth is credited as the author of all works of science, religion, philosophy as well as magic and he is said to have been married with the female god and ruler Ma'at.
Pharaoh Can it be that the first kings of Egypt were called Gods because they came from a far away place and looked a bit different to the other humans in ancient Egypt? The word "God" comes from "shining/bright" and murals picturing the first pharaohs/gods show that they had so white skin that the must have looked very bright compared to other people! Were they also called devine because they had much better mental capabilities and a very advanced technology?
www.sydhav.no/giants/denisova_giants_egypt.htm
Dendera light
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The dendera light
The dendera light is a motif in the Hathor temple at Dendera in Egypt. A fringe theory interpretation of the reliefs is that they depict some form of ancient Egyptian lighting technology, similar to an arc lamp or cathode ray tube.
The temple contains several reliefs depicting Harsomtus, in the form of a snake, emerging from a lotus flower which is usually attached to the bow of a barge. The so-called dendera light is a variation of this motif, showing Harsomtus in an oval container called hn, which might represent the womb of Nut.[1][2][3] Sometimes a djed pillar supports the snake or the container. A closely related motif is "god resting on the lotus flower".
Contents
1Depictions and text
2Similar motifs
3Fringe interpretation
4See also
5References
6External links
Depictions and text
Each of the three objects consists of two reliefs. One half (a) of each pair is in south crypt 1-C (crypte 4), the other half (b) in room G (chambre V) of the temple.[3]
Object
(location)
TextRelief
Object 1(a)
(Crypt 1-C, south wall)
Speaking the words of Harsomtus, the great God, who dwells in Dendera, who is in the arms of the first in the night-barge, sublime snake, whos Chentj-statue carries Heh, whos crew carries in holiness his perfection, whos Ba caused Hathor to appear in the sky, whos figure is revered by his followers, who is unique, encircled by his forehead-snake, with countless names on the top of Chui-en-hesen, the symbol of power of Re in the land of Atum (Dendera), the father of the Gods, who created everything.
Gold his metal, height: four handbreadths
(left)
Object 2(a)
(Crypt 1-C,
south wall)
Speaking the words of harsomtus, the great God, who dwells in Dendera, the living Ba in the lotus flower of the day-barge, whos perfection is carried by the two arms of the djed-pillar as his Seschemu-image, while the Kas on their knees bend their arms.
Gold and all precious stones, height: three handbreadths
(right)
Object 3(a)
(Crypt 1-C,
north wall)
Speaking the words of harsomtus, the great God, who dwells in Dendera, who emerges out of the lotus flower as a living Ba, whos completeness is elevated by the Kematju-images of his Ka, whos Seschemu-image is revered by the crew of the day-barge, whos body is carried by the djed-pillar, underneath his Seschemu-image is the Primal and whos majesty is carried by the companions of his Ka.
Gold, height: one cubit
Denderah. Grand temple. Crypte no. 4 (NYPL b16461786-1548062) (lower).jpg
Object 1(b)
(Room G,
south wall)
Harsomtus in the hn-container of the night-barge that contains four figures. The figure of heh is in front of him, whereas this flower is behind him, the water beneath him.
Gold his metal, height: four handbreadths.
Denderah. Grand temple. Chambre V (NYPL b16461786-1547977) (lower).jpg
Object 2(b)
(Room G,
north wall)
Harsomtus on his barge
Gold and all precious stones, height: three handbreadths
(left)
Object 3(b)
(Room G,
north wall)
Harsomtus of Upper- and Lower Egypt, the Sata-snake, that emerges from the flower, which contains the hn-container, who is flanked by four figures with human faces, under his head the figure of Heh on the Serech on the bow of his barge. The Juf-monkey with the face of a toad, armed with knives, is in front of him, as are the two figures that carry the front part of this flower.
(right)
Similar motifs
Denderah. Grand temple. Chambre V (NYPL b16461786-1547977) (upper).jpg
Denderah. Grand temple. Crypte no. 4 (NYPL b16461786-1548061) (Harsomtus).jpg
Denderah. Grand temple. Chambre V (NYPL b16461786-1547978) (upper).jpg
Denderah. Grand temple. Crypte no. 1 (NYPL b16461786-1548026) (harsomtus).jpg
Denderah. Grand temple. Chambres de la terrasse. Osiris du sud. Chambre no. 3 (NYPL b16461786-1548166) (cropped).tiff
NaqaLionTempleApedemakSnake.jpg
Fringe interpretation
In contrast to the mainstream interpretation, a fringe theory proposes that the reliefs depict Ancient Egyptian technology, based on comparison to similar modern devices (such as a Cathode-ray tube, Geissler tubes, Crookes tubes, and arc lamps). J. N. Lockyer's passing reference to a colleague's humorous suggestion that electric lamps would explain the absence of lampblack deposits in the tombs has sometimes been forwarded as an argument supporting this particular interpretation (another argument being made is the use of a system of reflective mirrors).[4] Proponents of this interpretation have also used a text referring to "high poles covered with copper plates" to argue this,[5] but Bolko Stern has written in detail explaining why the copper-covered tops of poles (which were lower than the associated pylons) do not relate to electricity or lightning, pointing out that no evidence of anything used to manipulate electricity had been found in Egypt and that this was a magical and not a technical installation.[6]
Archaeologist and debunker Kenneth Feder argued that if ancient Egyptians really had such advanced technology, some light bulb remains (glass shards, metal sockets, filaments...) should have been discovered during archaeological excavations. By applying Occam's razor, he instead highlighted the feasibility of the aforementioned reflective mirrors system, and also that the notion of adding salt to torches to minimize lampblack was well known by ancient Egyptians.[7]
See also
Egyptian mythology
References
"Dendera Temple Crypt Archived 2010-04-25 at the Wayback Machine". iafrica.com.
Wolfgang Waitkus, Die Texte in den unteren Krypten des Hathortempels von Dendera: ihre Aussagen zur Funktion und Bedeutung dieser Räume, Mainz 1997 ISBN 3-8053-2322-0 (tr., The texts in the lower crypts of the Hathor temples of Dendera: their statements for the function and meaning of these areas)
Waitkus, Wolfgang (2002). "Die Geburt des Harsomtus aus der Blüte Zur Bedeutung und Funktion einiger Kultgegenstände des Tempels von Dendera". Studien zur Altägyptischen Kultur. 30: 373–394. JSTOR 25152877.
Press, The MIT (15 May 1973). The Dawn of Astronomy | The MIT Press. mitpress.mit.edu. MIT Press. ISBN 9780262120142. Retrieved 2020-10-06.
Bruno Kolbe, Francis ed Legge, Joseph Skellon, tr., "An Introduction to Electricity". Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner, 1908. 429 pages. Page 391. (cf., "[...] high poles covered with copper plates and with gilded tops were erected 'to break the stones coming from on high'. J. Dümichen, Baugeschichte des Dendera-Tempels, Strassburg, 1877")
Stern, Bolko (1998) [1896]. Ägyptische Kulturgeschichte. Reprint-Verlag-Leipzig. pp. 106–108. ISBN 978-3826219085.
Feder, Kenneth H. (2014). Frauds, Myths, and Mysteries: Science and Pseudoscience in Archaeology. New York: McGraw-Hill. ISBN 978-0-07-803507-4., pp.225–7
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dendera light.
The Dendera Reliefs, Catchpenny Mysteries.
Frank Dörnenburg, Electric lights in Egypt?. 2004.
Mariette, Auguste (1870) - Dendérah: description générale du grand temple de cette ville (II: 48, 49; III: 44, 45)
Coordinates: 26.141611°N 32.670139°E
Categories: EgyptologyOut-of-place artifactsPseudoarchaeology
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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dendera_light
The ancient Egyptian Dendera Light "protective magical energy in liquid form" is the evaporative cooling fog. The fact that the Dendera Light is made of liquid water that transforms itself in a magical way, is exactly what are describing ancient Egyptians themselves : [About the snake inside the Dendera Light Bulb] "The field surrounding Ra’s snake form is referred to in ancient Egyptian literature as protective magical energy in liquid form that all gods and pharaohs possess (Faulkner 1970*)." ahotcupofjoe.net/2016/11/dendera-light-bulb-and-bagdad-ba...
*I'm not sure, but the excerpt might be from "The ancient Egyptian book of the dead / translated by Raymond O. Faulkne ; edited by Carol Andrews, 1972."
www.milleetunetasses.com/blog/the-great-pyramid-of-khufu-...
Evaporative cooling for the sodium carbonate manufacturing
My study is based on 2 key elements : the first one is the cold production inside the horizontal passage of the Great Pyramid ; and the second one is the production of sodium carbonate (pure natron), as suggested by the Red Pyramid.
The ammonia still present inside the Red Pyramid, indicates that they were using a sodium carbonate process identical or very close to the ammonia-soda process known as the Solvay process, developed into its modern form in the 1860s in Europe.
In the Solvay process, the ammonia only has a minor role ; but inside the Red Pyramid, my guess is that they didn't control the temperature of the different chemical reactions inside the Solvay towers. They couldn't cool down the towers.
That is the reason why they engineered the visible part of the Great Pyramid : to produce cold inside the horizontal passage, store it inside the Queen's chamber, and transfer it to the sodium carbonate production towers, passing through the Queen's chamber shafts.
Tradition relates that a castle was first constructed on this site by Rhodri the Great, but there are no remains from this period. Dinefwr later became the chief seat of Rhodri's grandson Hywel Dda, first ruler of Deheubarth and later king of most of Wales. Rhys ap Gruffydd, ruler of Deheubarth from 1155 to 1197, is thought to have rebuilt the castle. Giraldus Cambrensis tells a story about a plan by King Henry II of England to assault the castle during a campaign against Rhys. One of Henry's most trusted followers was sent on reconnaissance, guided by a local Welsh cleric, who was asked to lead him to the castle by the easiest route, but instead took the most difficult route he could find, ending the performance by stopping to eat grass with the explanation that this was the diet of the local people in times of hardship. The planned attack was duly abandoned.
Rhys ap Gruffydd also built the spectacular castle at Carreg Cennen, about four miles away to the south. It is not visible from Dynefwr, but Dryslwyn Castle can just be seen on a hill blocking the Tywi valley to the south-west. Rhys also founded two religious houses during this period. Talley Abbey was the first Premonstratensian abbey in Wales, while Llanllyr was a Cistercian nunnery, only the second nunnery to be founded in Wales and the first to prosper.
On Rhys ap Gruffydd's death the castle passed to his son Rhys Gryg, and the earliest parts of the present castle are thought to derive from this period. Llywelyn the Great of Gwynedd was now extending his influence to this area, and Rhys, finding himself unable to resist, dismantled the castle. Llywelyn however had it restored and held it until his death in 1240. In 1255 Llywelyn the Last gave Dinefwr to Rhys Fychan, then later gave it to Maredudd ap Rhys before later returning it to Rhys Fychan. Maredydd now allied himself to King Edward I of England, and helped Edward capture Dinefwr in 1277. Maredudd had apparently been promised Dinefwr in return for his help, but Edward did not keep his promise and had Maredudd executed in 1291.
I have a 90 year old neighbor who has hiked the 890 km length of the Bruce Trail three or four times. In the heyday of his 70's and even 80's, walking 30 or even 50 km was just a walk in the park for him. In the last year, his hips started giving out it's been one of the most difficult things he's had to leave behind. He still goes out for a walk around the block every day, just one step at a time, with a crutch under one arm and a cane in the other. Seeing him hobble down the street, I can completely relate to his determination as our own time feels the most grounded somewhere on a hiking trail. I'm also very blessed having someone to share that passion with and we're both looking forward to the day when the trails reopen after the current pandemic.
Did You Read And Did You Relate To Catcher In The Rye, Now 75! - IMRAN®
Catcher in the Rye turns 75 this year. Growing up in Pakistan in a British/Cambridge‑style school system, J.D. Salinger’s novel was never part of my curriculum — so I didn’t read it and get to know about it’s protagonist Holden Caulfield until I came to the United States in the late ’80s.
What struck me then, and still does, is how Holden sees the world with a mix of sharp skepticism and aching vulnerability. His obsession with “phoniness” isn’t just teenage rebellion — it’s a complex lens on authenticity, loneliness, and growing up.
Have you read it or revisited it recently? What stayed with you?
© 2026 IMRAN®
#IMRAN #CatcherInTheRye #JDSalinger #HoldenCaulfield #Literature #Books #Reading
This picture makes me nostalgic .... I can relate so many things; so many emotions to this very capture.
Leave you with this beautiful number ... need to say no more .
The mellow nostalgic number ... Maar Udaari ~ Nii Kooghiyay Maar Udaari
warning: if you're about to get married ~ can bring some tears ;~)
ps: our brethren in Swat need your help ... please click here and here for some quick dose of Pakistaniat :)
Allah be with my land IA.
ps: Ayeshaaz's video was in my mind too while taking this snap..
E X P L O R E D #353 ~ 21st may 09
Season of Touit - picture 10
Week 37, Saturday
As far as I can tell photographers are pretty obsessed with the sharpness, but I can surely relate to this feeling myself as well. Looking at the picture and seeing all the small details captured in a moment of split second is just fascinating. This sort of obsession with sharpness is profound with high resolution cameras, because one can zoom in and see even more details. No wonder why 'is it sharp?' or 'how sharp it is?' is number one topic in many photography forums. Like many other Sony Alpha users (especially those coming from the Nex legacy), my first experience regarding sharpness happened with the Sony E-mount kit lens (SEL1855). For those who dismiss kit lenses in general, I can say that even the kit lens can deliver pretty good contrast&colors, and stopped down it can deliver acceptable sharpness as well. But the truth is that when I was using the kit lens I always had to worry about the sharpness. After shooting with it I always felt certain anxiety and needed to check my pictures later on from computer screen to see if they were ok, particularly regarding the sharpness.
My experience with Zeiss is different. The Touit 2.8/12 is very sharp right from the wide open at f/2.8 and doesn't really increase after that even if stopped down a bit – although the focus area increases and makes the image feel sharper in total. What I like about the Touit 2.8/12 is that the sharpness extends to edges as well, particularly if the subject is close focused.
When focusing into far objects, like landscape for example, the sharpness doesn't strike as superb, but might also be because things get rather small in the image field due to small focal length. Nevertheless the results are very good like in this picture of stars where edge sharpness is very important.
Then the Touit 2.8/50M. It is, perhaps unsurprisingly, also pretty sharp even wide open. Stopping down at f/4 or F5.6 things get very sharp and is joy to use in everyday photography. However, the Touit 2.8/50M starts to shows its real capabilities only at the macro range. When focused very near the lens is very very sharp, though this perception might be emphasized by the experience of seeing microscopic details which would otherwise be unreachable for the naked eye. The diffraction doesn't really start to decrease the sharpness until at f/16, which is very impressive and convenient considering that macro photography usually works with small apertures to increase the depth of field.
Are the Zeiss lenses sharper than the x product from the competitors? To tell you the truth, I have no idea. I find them to be more than enough – which in my case means I don't have to make compromises between the aperture value and sharpness (like I had with the Sony E-mount kit lens 18-55). Everything looks very good and after certain level of 'clear single hairs and dust particles' I find it difficult to see the benefit of increased sharpness. I understand that people love to compare things, but for those who are seeking maximum sharpness, I would like to remind that while it feels rational to maximize performance it might not be psychologically the best approach. There is always something better waiting behind the corner and going for maximum performance means that one is more likely to be unsatisfied again when the newness-factor disappears. For me, the best thing regarding the sharpness of these lenses is the fact that I stopped worrying about it altogether and have enjoyed my images ever then.
Year of the Alpha – 52 Weeks of Sony Alpha Photography: www.yearofthealpha.com
A giant tortoise at the Charles Darwin Research Station on Santa Cruz
Galapagos Giant Tortoise
The Galápagos tortoise or Galápagos giant tortoise (Geochelone nigra) is the largest living tortoise, native to seven islands of the Galápagos archipelago. The Galápagos tortoise is unique to the Galápagos Islands. Fully grown adults can weigh over 300 kilograms (661 lb) and measure 1.2 meters (4 ft) long. They are long-lived with a life expectancy in the wild estimated to be 100-150 years. Populations fell dramatically because of hunting and the introduction of predators and grazers by humans since the seventeenth century. Now only ten subspecies of the original twelve exist in the wild. However, conservation efforts since the establishment of the Galápagos National Park and the Charles Darwin Foundation have met with success, and hundreds of captive-bred juveniles have been released back onto their home islands. They have become one of the most symbolic animals of the fauna of the Galápagos Islands. The tortoises have very large shells (carapace) made of bone. The bony plates of the shell are integral to the skeleton, fused with the ribs in a rigid protective structure. Naturalist Charles Darwin remarked "These animals grow to an immense size ... several so large that it required six or eight men to lift them from the ground.". This is due to the phenomenon of island gigantism whereby in the absence of natural predation, the largest tortoises had a survival advantage and no disadvantage in fleeing or fending off predators. When threatened, it can withdraw its head, neck and all forelimbs into its shell for protection, presenting a protected shield to a would-be predator. The legs have hard scales that also provide armour when withdrawn. Tortoises keep a characteristic scute pattern on their shell throughout life. These have annual growth bands but are not useful for aging as the outer layers are worn off. There is little variation in the dull-brown colour of the shell or scales. Physical features (including shape of the shell) relate to the habitat of each of the subspecies. These differences were noted by Captain Porter even before Charles Darwin. Larger islands with more wet highlands such as Santa Cruz and the Alcedo Volcano on Isabela have lush vegetation near the ground. Tortoises here tend to have 'dome-back' shells. These animals have restricted upward head movement due to shorter necks, and also have shorter limbs. These are the heaviest and largest of the subspecies.Smaller, drier islands such as Española and Pinta are inhabited by tortoises with 'saddleback' shells comprising a flatter carapace which is elevated above the neck and flared above the hind feet. Along with longer neck and limbs, this allows them to browse taller vegetation. On these drier islands the Galápagos Opuntia cactus (a major source of their fluids) has evolved a taller, tree-like form. This is evidence of an evolutionary arms race between progressively taller tortoises and correspondingly taller cacti. Saddlebacks are smaller in size than domebacks. They tend to have a yellowish color on lower mandible and throat. At one extreme, the Sierra Negra volcano population that inhabits southern Isabela Island has a very flattened "tabletop" shell. However, there is no saddleback/domeback dualism; tortoises can also be of 'intermediate' type with characteristics of both. The tortoises are slow-moving reptiles with an average long-distance walking speed of 0.3 km/h (0.18 mph). Although feeding giant tortoises browse with no apparent direction, when moving to water-holes or nesting grounds, they can move at surprising speeds for their size. Marked individuals have been reported to have traveled 13 km in two days. Being cold-blooded, the tortoises bask for two hours after dawn, absorbing the energy through their shells, then becoming active for 8–9 hours a day. They may sleep for about sixteen hours in a mud wallow partially or submerged in rain-formed pools (sometimes dew ponds formed by garua-moisture dripping off trees). This may be both a thermoregulatory response and a protection from parasites such as mosquitoes and ticks. Some rest in a 'pallet'- a snug depression in soft ground or dense brush- which probably helps to conserve heat and may aid digestion. On the Alcedo Volcano, repeated use of the same sites by the large resident population has resulted in the formation of small sandy pits. Darwin observed that: "The inhabitants believe that these animals are absolutely deaf; certainly they do not overhear a person walking near behind them. I was always amused, when overtaking one of these great monsters as it was quietly pacing along, to see how suddenly, the instant I passed, it would draw in its head and legs, and uttering a deep hiss fall to the ground with a heavy sound, as if struck dead." The tortoises can vocalise in aggressive encounters, whilst righting themselves if turned upside down and, in males, during mating. The latter is described as "rhythmic groans". The tortoises are herbivorous animals with a diet comprising cactus, grasses, leaves, vines, and fruit. Fresh young grass is a favorite food of the tortoises, and others are the 'poison apple' (Hippomane mancinella) (toxic to humans), the endemic guava (Psidium galapageium), the water fern (Azolla microphylla), and the bromeliad (Tillandsia insularis). Tortoises eat a large quantity of food when it is available at the expense of incomplete digestion. Its favorite food is grasses. The tortoise normally eat an average of 70 to 80 pounds a day. Tortoises have a classic example of a mutualistic symbiotic relationship with some species of Galápagos finch. The finch hops in front of the tortoise to show that it is ready and the tortoise then raises itself up high on its legs and stretches out its neck so that the bird can pick off ticks that are hidden in the folds of the skin (especially on the rear legs, cloacal opening, neck, and skin between plastron and carapace), thus freeing the tortoise from harmful parasites and providing the finch with an easy meal. Other birds, including Galápagos Hawk and flycatchers, use tortoises as observation posts from which to sight their prey. Mating occurs at any time of the year, although it does have seasonal peaks between January and August. When two mature males meet in the mating season they will face each other, rise up on their legs and stretch up their necks with their mouths open to assess dominance. Occasionally, head-biting occurs, but usually the shorter loser tortoise will back off, leaving the other to mate with the female. In groups of tortoises from mixed island populations, saddleback males have an advantage over domebacks. Frustrated non-dominant males have been observed attempting to mate with other males and boulders. The male sniffs the air when seeking a female, bellows loudly, and bobs his head. The male then rams the female with the front of his shell and bites her exposed legs until she withdraws them, immobilizing her. Copulation can last several hours with roaring vocalisations from the males. Their concave shell base allows males to mount the females from behind. It brings its tail which houses the penis into the female's cloaca. After mating (June-December), the females journey up to several kilometres to reach nesting areas of dry, sandy ground (often near the coast). Nest digging can last from hours to days and is elaborate and exhausting. It is carried out blindly using only the hind legs to dig a 30 cm deep hole, into which she lays up to sixteen hard-shelled eggs the size of tennis balls. The female makes a muddy plug for the nest hole out of soil mixed with urine and leaves the eggs to incubate. In rocky areas, the eggs are deposited randomly into cracks. The young emerge from the nest after 120 to 140 days gestation later (December-April) and may weigh only 80 grams (2.8 oz) and measure 6 centimetres (2.4 in). Temperature plays a role in the sex of the hatchling: if the nest temperature is lower, more males will hatch; if it is high, more females will hatch. When the young tortoises emerge from their shells, they must dig their way to the surface, which can take up to a month. All have domed carapaces, and subspecies are indistinguishable. Galápagos Hawk used to be the only native predator of the tortoise hatchlings, as Darwin remarked: "The young tortoises, as soon as they are hatched, fall prey in great numbers to buzzards". Sex can be determined only when the tortoise is 15 years old, and sexual maturity is reached at 20 to 25 years old. The tortoises grow slowly for about 40 years until they reach their full size. Reproductive prime is considered to be from the ages of 60–90. The shape of the carapace of some subspecies of the tortoises is said to have reminded the early Spanish explorers of a kind of saddle they called a "galápago," and for these saddle-shaped tortoises they named the archipelago. Up to 250,000 tortoises inhabited the islands when they were discovered. Today only about 15,000 are left.
The inhabitants...state that they can distinguish the tortoise from different islands; and that they differ not only in size, but in other characters. Captain Porter has described those from Charles and from the nearest island to it, namely Hood Island, as having their shells in front thick and turned up like a Spanish saddle, whilst the tortoises from James Island are rounder, blacker, and have a better taste when cooked.---Charles Darwin 1845
There were probably twelve subspecies of Geochelone nigra in the Galápagos Islands, although some recognise up to 15 subspecies. Now only 11 subspecies remain, five on Isabela Island, and the other six on Santiago, Santa Cruz, San Cristóbal, Pinzón, Española and Pinta. Of these, the Pinta Island subspecies is extinct in the wild and is represented by a single individual (Lonesome George). In the past, zoos took animals without knowing their island of origin. Production of fertile offspring from various pairings of tortoises largely confirmed that they are subspecies and not different species. All the subspecies of giant tortoise evolved in Galápagos from a common ancestor that arrived from the mainland, floating on the ocean currents (the tortoises can drift for long periods of time as they are buoyant and can stretch head upwards to breathe). Only a single pregnant female or breeding pair needed to arrive in this way, and then survive, for Galápagos to be colonised. In the seventeenth century, pirates started to use the Galápagos islands as a base for resupply, restocking on food, water and repairing vessels before attacking Spanish colonies on the South American mainland. The tortoises were collected and stored live on board ships where they could survive for at least a year without food or water, providing valuable fresh meat, whilst their diluted urine and water stored in their neck bags could also be used as drinking water. Of the meat, Darwin wrote: "the breast-plate roasted (as the Gauchos do 'carne con cuero'), with the flesh on it, is very good; and the young tortoises make excellent soup; but otherwise the meat to my taste is indifferent." In the nineteenth century, whaling ships and fur-sealers collected tortoises for food and many more were killed for high grade 'turtle oil' from the late 1800s onward. Darwin described this process thus: "beautifully clear oil is prepared from the fat. When a tortoise is caught, the man makes a slit in the skin near its tail, so as to see inside its body, whether the fat under the dorsal plate is thick. If it is not, the animal is liberated and it is said to recover soon from this strange operation." A total of over 15,000 tortoises is recorded in the logs of 105 whaling ships between 1811 and 1844. As hunters found it easiest to collect the tortoises living round the coastal zones, the least decimated populations tended to be those in the highlands. Population decline accelerated with the early settlement of the islands, when they were hunted for meat, their habitat was cleared for agriculture and alien mammal species were introduced. Feral pigs, dogs, cats and black rats are effective predators of eggs and young tortoises, whilst goats, donkeys and cattle compete for grazing. In the twentieth century, increasing human settlement and urbanisation and collection of tortoises for zoo and museum specimens depleted numbers even more. The Galápagos giant tortoise is now strictly protected. Young tortoises are raised in a programme by the Charles Darwin Research Station in order to bolster the numbers of the extant subspecies. Eggs are collected from places on the islands where they are threatened and when the tortoises hatch they are kept in captivity until they have reached a size that ensures a good chance of survival and are returned to their original ranges. The Galápagos National Park Service systematically culls feral predators and competitors where necessary such as the complete eradication of goats from Pinta. The conservation project begun in the 1970s successfully brought 10 of the 11 endangered subspecies up to guarded population levels. The most significant recovery was that of the Española Tortoise, whose breeding stock comprised 2 males and 11 females brought to the Darwin Station. Fortuitously, a third male was discovered at the San Diego Zoo and joined the others in a captive breeding program. These 13 tortoises gave rise to over 1000 tortoises now released into their home island. In all, 2500 individuals of all breeds have been reintroduced to the islands. However, persecution still continues on a much smaller scale; more than 120 tortoises have been killed by poachers since 1990 and they have been taken hostage as political leverage by local fishermen.
Santa Cruz
With the largest human population in the Galapagos archipelago, Isla Santa Cruz is the most important of the Galapagos Islands. Meaning Holy Cross in Spanish, this island is also known as Indefatigable, after the HMS Indefatigable landed here long ago. The second largest island terms of land area at 986 sq km, Isla Santa Cruz is home to the key town of Puerto Ayora, the Charles Darwin Research Station and the headquarters of the Galapagos National Park Service. With its own airport on Isla Baltra a few miles away, Isla Santa Cruz is where most visitors who come to the Galapagos Islands usually stay. With a number of bars, hotels, restaurants and shops in Puerto Ayora, most tours of the Archipelago also usually begin from here.
Galapagos Islands
The Galápagos Islands (official name: Archipiélago de Colón; other Spanish names: Islas de Colón or Islas Galápagos) are an archipelago of volcanic islands distributed around the equator in the Pacific Ocean, some 900 km west of Ecuador. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site: wildlife is its most notable feature. Because of the only very recent arrival of man the majority of the wildlife has no fear of humans and will allow visitors to walk right up them, often having to step over Iguanas or Sea Lions.The Galápagos islands and its surrounding waters are part of a province, a national park, and a biological marine reserve. The principal language on the islands is Spanish. The islands have a population of around 40,000, which is a 40-fold expansion in 50 years. The islands are geologically young and famed for their vast number of endemic species, which were studied by Charles Darwin during the voyage of the Beagle. His observations and collections contributed to the inception of Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection.
127 comments under the Facebook posting, to a province-wide group, of a photo that a photographer took of three people, one of them myself - angry, rude, critical, judgemental comments, by people who don't even know me or my ethics, including when they relate to photography! Last night, I found the posting again and took a long time going through all 127 comments. Made me feel sick to the stomach. This can't be right, though I know this kind of thing does happen on Facebook. I want the photo removed or for the photographer, whom I don't know, to at the very least completely blur me out of the shot. Though his comment, when he first posted his photo, was about people staying safe when taking photos, he has allowed the posting to develop into an endless bashing.
I wasn't going to post this again, but I have changed my mind after reading all those comments. I sent the man a link to one of my owl photos that has this long description with it, asking him to read, when he has time, what I have written. The link was sent only two or three days ago, so he may not have seen it yet.
"I think the very first Long-eared Owl that I ever saw was seen on 13 October 2006. SInce then, I have been very fortunate to have seen several other individuals - including the day before yesterday. These owls are very secretive and many birders go years between sightings. It is so important not to give the location of this species. Be careful that there is nothing in your photos that gives away the location.
Various people had been posting photos of a Long-eared Owl recently, but I had no idea where they were seeing it. Someone had posted a photo and labelled it "Calgary" (totally untrue!), so I had thought it must have been seen in one of our local city parks. Two days ago, I decided to go for a short drive and get a bit of sunshine and fresh air. Our deep freeze has lasted for more than four weeks, and I have been home for most of that time. It was a milder day, so I decided to make the most of it, especially with more snow forecast for today.
Imagine my surprise when a stranger told me just where it was, and my absolute horror when I came upon a huge crowd of photographers with their lenses raised! So how did they all know about this owl?? Apparently, Facebook has such a bad reputation for people trolling everyone's photostream there, finding out locations for all sorts of things (old barns included!). Then, of course, some people phone others, to ask or to tell. Others follow ebird religiously, dashing out to see every more 'special' bird that is reported and location given. I don't post many photos on Facebook and I certainly don't post the same photo to three groups. It gets so very boring to see the same photos everywhere. These people flood their own Facebook pages and the groups! The only reason I can see is to get as many Likes as possible. Anyway, most people were down in the ditch at the fenceline, so no doubt they were able to get stunning close shots, especially those with enormous lenses. My photos were taken from the road, which was twice as far away, with a point-and-shoot. I'm not out to try and get better photos than anyone else : ) As always, there is so much competition among photographers. I was also not out there all day, like various people always are, and often day after day after day.
So, after saying those things, perhaps you can imagine how extremely upset (devastated, actually) I am to have been told (when I arrived at the owl) by a couple of friends (both of whom are superb photographers) that my photograph had been taken, along with two other people in it, standing at the edge of a road earlier in February. These friends thought it was hilarious and I sure was teased a lot. As they said, my "goody two-shoes" image was gone. They both know I have very high ethics, including when it comes to photography. This photo was posted on Facebook on a provincial birding page, pointing out how dangerous it is for people to stand by the road. This thread turned into a string of comments about people harassing the owls, etc., etc., etc. Actually, the other two people in the photo are both seen taking photos (when I was told they already had taken thousands). There's me, camera not raised, looking disgusted that an owl had been flushed so that they could take flight images. The reason I was out of my vehicle was that these two people were out of theirs and racing down the road at top speed to get yet more shots. When I was sitting in my car, these photographers blocked my view of the owl, so out I got and caught up with them. To prove that I was not planning on getting out of my car this trip, I was wearing just my thin summer jacket (over fleece) in a windchill in the minus 20C's. Two minutes later, I was back in my car!
Sorry to rant, but it just upsets me so much that this photo was taken and posted on Facebook. Have barely slept the last two nights! The very last thing I would ever want is to be connected with bad ethics!! Of course, I must be such a bad person to actually stand by the road - ha, you should see all the dozens of people who do exactly the same (without being photgraphed)!
That day, I took maybe 30 photos of the Long-eared Owl, and maybe a couple of dozen of a Short-eared Owl, almost every single one of the latter needing to be deleted, because they were all totally blurry, thanks to taking the photos from inside my car. You can be sure that most of the others went home with yet another memory card containing thousands of photos.
I am hoping that now I won't be stressing out over it quite as much, every second of the day! Ain't life fun? To the man who took my photo (as far as I know, I have never met him), how about taking a few photos of the crowds of people, especially those who were as close as they could get to the LEO. Or those who stress out the owls day after day after day, often from morning till evening!
PS: I rarely allow people (i.e. friends) to photograph me. Not sure what right this man thinks he has, to take my photo and especially to then post it on a very popular Facebook group page. I want it removed from Facebook, or at the very least, to have myself totally blurred out of the image. When this sort of thing happens, it can totally destroy a person's joy of photography!
Actually, on a more serious note, something that I'm sure most people don't think of. You really need to be careful about taking a photo of someone and then posting it (without signing a consent form). For various security reasons, doing this could actually put someone in danger. For example, a woman (or vice versa) might not want their photo being advertised in this way, not wanting an abusive spouse/partner to know where they go sometimes or what they do. Just something to keep in mind."
This shot was not intended to relate to the disaster on the East Coast, but I cannot look at this image without thinking about it. My thoughts and prayers are with everyone affected by Hurricane Sandy.
I took this from the parking deck at the University of Illinois-Chicago. I recommend that you find this parking deck and make a morning out of shooting here. I spent an hour or two here last weekend. I gave a bit of a description of how to get here in this post.
As for the processing on this shot, I ran four different exposures through Nik HDR Efex Pro 2 and used the "Sinister" preset. I combined that image with an original exposure for the sky and tweaked in CS5.
Thanks to everyone that visited, commented, and "favorited" my Halloween moon shot from this summer on Flickr. It ended up going to #1 on Explore for October 31st. That is definitely a first for me. If you haven't seen it, check out Full Moon Over the Waves on Flickr.
A small portion of the vast Noctis Labyrinthus region, part of a complex graben system relating to volcanic activity in the Tharsis region. As the crust bulged it stretched apart nearby terrain, ripping fractures several kilometres deep and leaving blocks – graben – stranded within the resulting trenches.
This particular scene focuses on one such flat-topped graben etched with landslides, and on the wind-blown dunes in the floor of the surrounding trench and valley walls. The flanks of the graben and valleys appear to be covered by thick dust deposits. In the lower right part of the image wind has accumulated the dust into dune fields, partly lifting them onto the plateau.
The region was imaged by the High Resolution Stereo Camera on Mars Express on 15 July 2015 during orbit 14632. The image is centred on 6°S / 265°E; the ground resolution is about 16 m per pixel.
Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO
Uses: Anything relating to finance and money.
Free Creative Commons Finance Images... I created these images in my studio and have made them all available for personal or commercial use. Hope you like them and find them useful.
To see more of our CC by 2.0 finance images click here... see profile for attribution.
She lived on the curve in the road
In an old tar paper shack
On the south side of the town
On the wrong side of the tracks.
Sometimes on the way into town
We'd say, "Mama can we stop and give her a ride?"
Sometimes we did but her hands flew from her side,
Wild eyed Crazy Mary.
Take a bottle drink it down. Pass it around.
Pass it around.
Next morning on the way into town
Saw some skid marks and followed them around.
Over the curve, through the fields,
Into the house of Mary.
...Pearl Jam
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Lucidity
My twin sister has had, from early memory, a rather silly game she has always liked to play out on me.
Starting quite young, she had always thought it a great tease to try and lift things from my pockets when I was distracted.
And to be Honest, she had soon gotten quite good at it, to my chagrin.
Then of course, I made the mistake of letting her know it got under my skin when she would do that! So of course she kept on doing it, grinning with great satisfaction when she was successful.
Which she was a good deal of the time !
I had tolerated it for quite a few years, until one day when I found a way to get my revenge.
Which I did by lifting her necklace during a rather severely formal event we were rather forced into attending when we were 13.
Actually I lifted her necklace several times that evening without her catching on to what was truly happening…..! But that is another story altogether.
Needless to say, since then we had been going back and forth, cat and dog, trying to out do one another in our versions of the game from that time forward, lasting into our present adult hood.
Now, this rather insightful event I am about to relate, happened about two years after I had discovered my own spin on my twins annoying game.
By then I had successfully played it out on her several times…
This time around it was quite intriguing situation, for neither my sister or I had ever been to a wedding.
My sister( along with our mother) was assigned to be a bridesmaid at our Mum’s University chum’s wedding.
Sis was included to accommodate an age match for the Grooms younger brother, an oops baby Mum had said.
Apparently there were a dearth of females that young on either side of the Bride and Groom’s families.
I will admit me mum and sister looked rather smashing in their matching, quite vibrant bridesmaid’s attire.
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Later on, at the reception, I was watching as my sister was swishing out on the dance floor with the simpy young bloke who was her partner.
As Sis danced about in her long lavender coloured gown of some shiny material, I had eagerly watched her glittery collection of rhinestone diamonds flickering with mad abandon along her figure, as they were caught in the dim lights.
They were the same set of rhinestones which all the bridesmaids had been given and were wearing with the long flowing dresses that matched my sister’s.
They were all the same size too. So that the set my young sister was wearing looked like an adults. Especially her necklace, which seemed to go on forever as it dangled down the front of her slick gown, ending into a long v shape..
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I actually had been pressed into service to help her place the shimmering necklace on around her neck at home before we left.
As she had held up her hair giving me a clear look at the long dangling earrings that she had already clasped on, she lifted the necklace up, holding the jeweled ends up to me to take and clasp.
I did so, watching the sparkling show reflected in our mums vanity mirror from over my sister’s shoulder..
As I observed my sister’s reflection, I could see that she was also keeping a rather watchful eye on me ( and her jewels I suspected)
Of course I acted all of the innocent one !
The jewels my sister was wearing also included a bracelet around a gloved hand, with a glittery ring on same hand. A brooch dangled from her waist, pinned to the front of a wide ribbed sash attached to her gown, and which I was directed to tie in a bow at her back.
She had stood in front of Mother’s long mirror as I stood behind tying.
But, truth be told, despite my innocent act, I had found the rhinestones a most attractive lure. Feeling an all too familiar certain tingle coming up from deep within as she teasingly played with her long gown, admiring her pretty self in the mirror..
It didn’t help much that only the weekend before we had seen an olde American funny show about people stranded on an island. We had seen the silly show a few times before, and I had really thought it was a bit of a bore.
The only thing I found about it to hold my attention is that several of the females liked to dress up in gowns and jewels, which peaked my interest, though it was kinda odd that people stranded on an island would be doing that sort of thing, was it not now?
But this one show had a newcomer, a thief, stranded on the island with them. And…
Well we will come to that soon enough….
But as I helped my sister on with her black velvet jacket, and followed her to the car watching her long gown fluidly flowing down out from underneath her jacket to where it fluttered at her heels, my thoughts were on that telly show, and I pondered over the possibilities of what the day could bring…….
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So now at the reception, as I watched me mum, sister and all the other dancers, I found my eyes kept glancing back at my sister, and her showy attire, mesmerized, as the welcomed feelings re-emerged, dredging up from within!
I also began to notice the other shimmering jewels that many of the female guests were wearing along their equally fancy dressed figures.
So this is what a wedding was like, I was myself, finding it rather a bit interesting all around !
The music ended as the band took a break. The bloke quickly deserted my sister for his side of the family and my twin made her sparkling, gown swirling way, threading through the guests, finally coming up to our table.
I had sat with dad, while mum and sis were up at the head table. We had sat with other members of Mum’s Friends, but they had all left to go to another table once the music had started. Mum had dropped her things off at our table, then Her and Dad had also gone off to visit.
So we were left at the table alone, to find our own devices to entertain ourselves.
Or at least my sister had to find entertainment, unbeknownst to her, I already had mine !
As we talked while sitting at the deserted table, I kept stealing looks at my twin sister’s jewels, which were still rippling with sparkles with every squirming move she made. And the little chatterbox was by no means ever still for long.
Then my sister began to absentmindedly play with her hair ( a sign she was getting bored)!
I saw one of her long earrings give a peek out, shooting out a mad shimmer before darting back into hiding. As I half watched, still deep in thought, she nonchalantly tugged at that sparkling earring, like it was going to be pulled off….!
Then, with sudden clarity, an overwhelming desire surged over me as a rather delicious, devious plot popped in my brain… How many different pieces of my sister’s jewels could I manage to lift at one event?
For you see, on that American tv show, the stranded folks had invited the thief to their fancy dress dinner. The girls had primped up, wearing fancy gowns, and lots of diamonds, much like the plentiful jewels sis ,the other bridesmaids and a few of the younger guests were so winningly wearing.
The people stranded on that island believed the thief when he had said he was reformed, but he had decidedly not been reformed, only pretending to be that way in order to rob them some more.
And the cheeky devil began to rob them again, centering on the ladies and their sparklers he did !
The one wealthy lady was wearing quite a lot of diamonds. Some of her jewels were quite similar to the ones my sister was wearing, including the dangling long necklace. This charming thief managed to smoothly slip that expensive looking necklace off from around the throat of her sparkly blue gown.
I think he also took one of her bracelets! She had had two, both shimmering around each wrist of her long gloves, like the single bracelet my sister was also wearing on a similar long glove, but where this lady’s gloves were white, sis’s gloves were the same colour and material of her gown.
A second lady had hair like my sister’s, long and worn down. She was also wearing these long earrings which were strikingly like the ones sis was now playing around with, as well as a diamond ring similar also to the one my sister had on.
The thief had managed to neatly slip off not one, but both of those pretty sparkly diamond earrings. And looking later, I believe he had also took her ring as he kissed her hand!
The third and last lady was wearing a plainer frock, with small diamond earrings and a matching pinky ring. I believe it was the ring that soon fell victim to this scoundrels wiles. I was not sure, because she had been the first one he had lured off to be alone with him, and it was before I realized just what he was up to.
But he had taken her hand, and something must have happened because the audience had been laughing, as they had done later in the show when the necklace, braclet, and earrings had been nicked.
So I played over in my mind several ways I could lift my twin’s jewels in a similar devious fashion as the “reformed” thief.
Now, as I was my deep in thoughts of acquiring some of her sparkling jewels, I had done a bit of squirming of me own, and, noticing with interest, my sister looked over at me, ” Bored too huh, wanna sneak out now?”
I had almost forgotten. But it may prove to be perfect for my schemes !
You see, we had passed a small playground, then some woods, as we then turned into the church parking lot. As we were getting out of the car, my sister had whispered that we should slip out later and check the area out.
So, looking carefully around to make sure we were not watched, we got up and snuck our way along the wall until we reached the hallway leading to the restrooms.
At the opposite end of that hallway, was a circular staircase that led upstairs and to the side exit leading conveniently out to the back parking lot.
So we now slipped inside the hallway, and after waiting until a couple of giggling older teenage girls , , looking like debutantes in their long flowy dresses, long haired tied up, and their fetching figures adorned with white pearled jewelry, passed us by.
We than scurried our way to the staircase, and up and out to our adventure.
It was a beautiful sunny late afternoon, blue sky with a few wispy clouds that greeted our exit to freedom.
Happily we made our way across the parking lot and up to a stone statute depicting the last station of the cross ( the resurrection) that was set on the edge of the wooded area. The rest of the stations apparently led along a path that winded along through the woods.
We followed the path, looking at the old statuary depiction of the passion walk. The faces of the figures in abrupt agony, most definitely putting a certain chill in the air.
Still we contentedly meandered our way through, my mind meanwhile still working on the problem of how to acquire the first of the brite jewels my sister was wearing in a most certainly quite inviting manner.
It was always a bit fun, the plotting of lifting her jewels!
And today was no exception, as I watched her flirt about in her long flowy gown, her guard now apparently down, as she seemingly appeared to be totally unaware that her jewelry was in peril of being snatched.
Much like those three, diamonds and frills wearing, lasses in that silly tv show had been unawares when welcoming the thief into their party!!
But of course, my stupid mind could not come up with any plan that I thought would be successful to carry out my desired deeds…And I had had quite a few come in and rejected out of my mind as being too cockamamie, while we were walking up that path!
Then my sister, bless her innocence, conveniently gave me an opening.
We had stopped in front of one of the statue stations. A bird had made its nest in the crook of the stone cross. Sis wanted to see it, and kicking off her shoes, had tried to climb up to see inside.
Acting like that gentleman thief from the show, I had helped her up, and held her by the waist as she leaned over and peeked in. Her brooch was dangling freely, and my fingers had clasped around the jewel. I carefully tried to locate and undo the clasp, but could not find it in time, before she found the nest empty and asked me to help her down.
If only the bloody nest had been full !!
I saw She had skipped off ahead of me a bit.
So at least she had not noticed or felt my attempt, so I was still at the bat in the wicket.
I began to replay what I remembered of the show. I looked over my sister as I did so. Her necklace? No, not in the way he did it.
I thoughtfully watched as my sister moved about, her gown fluttering merrily along her figure…hair flying out behind her
My sisters longish hair was loosely down, as his third pretty victims silky hair had been… the one with the dangly earrings he had managed to lift…
Her earrings then ? Hmmm..
But as I was formulating a plan to nab at least one of my sister’s earrings, she abruptly stopped. And letting out a small squeal and stooped over to pick something up from the path.
Damn, I was not paying attention and had allowed her to get far enough ahead that such an obvious opportunity was lost.
It would have been perfect, for there was no way to suggest having her bend down without arousing suspicion. But If I had been closer when she had innocently done it on her own, well who knows what mischief a little thing like falling over into her would have resulted into ?
She rose, and brought over to me a colourful stone that shimmered in her gloved palm much like her jewels. I held her glove hand up, looking at it, my eyes also watching the bracelet just dangling there for the taking.
I picked up the the stone from her hand, and let it slip out, allowing it to fall to the ground. “Clumsy” she scolded, and as she bent down to retrieve it, my fingers raced up to her bracelet. But she pulled her hand from mine as she retrieved the stone, and that opportunity slipped through my fingers also, as I lost hold of her bracelet before working the clasp.
She moved off, looking at the sparkling stone. I followed close, ready and watching for some new opportunity, observing her longish hair falling down along the back of her gown. I watched its silky mass as my mind wandered back to the circumstances I needed in order to create the opportunity for me to nick her cascading jeweled earrings.
In the show on the telly he had…
But before I could finish that thought, we Suddenly found ourselves in by a small narrow clearing, and my sister looking down the hill, saw the playground a distance off through the woods.
My sister grasped my arm, there it is, let’s go over she chirped! As my objectives, her earrings, swinging along from her earlobes, were dancing in and out of her hair as she pleaded.
I held my thoughts in check. Maybe the playground would offer up some nice easy possibilities?!
Even though the path did not go that way, we soon spied a well-used route, not stoned over like the one we were currently following, but unmistakable a short cut through to the playground.
I pointed it out and we happily took the path, heading off to the playground and all its assorted attractions.
We reached it in short time.
But It really was nothing much, just a few swing sets, totter, and a spinner. On the opposite side, probably some 120 meters, was a fenced area with signs warning of electric hazard.
My sister made for the swing and, pulling back her gown, slipped on one, facing the woods, her back to the rest of the playground.
She kicked off her tight heels, laughing. I sat on the swing beside her and we both just kicked back and forth a little, chatting away. I watched as her necklace bounced up and down upon her sleek chest as she swung. A thought struck me on a method to lift away her necklace.
I got up and began to push her, my hands upon her back. I couldn’t see the necklace from this position, her hair was covering it.
But I reached up each time she sung back and eventually had my hands upon her shoulder.
She leaned back giggling, her head bouncing against my chest, my objective sparkling within reach as it dripped down from her throat…and so were her earrings ! All so close and yet so far. My fingers itching to make a try, at something but I didn’t want to muck it up and be caught out on my first attempt either !
I repositioned my hands to the small of her back.
I found that my fingers travelled with effortless ease up along the backside of the slick material of her fancy bridesmaid’s gown.
But my attempt fell short of its objective, my fingers getting lost in her hair that lay splayed across the back of her pretty gown.
I kept pushing her on the swing, my mind going miles a minute. Maybe be a different approach was needed The spinner? Or maybe a game, like say blind man’s bluff?
My mind pounced on that, liking the thought, and I just happened to have a handkerchief in my pocket!
I stole a look around to see if ……
It was as I did so that I saw them.
Two boys and a girl, a few years older than us, leaning against two bikes, smoking right under that sign which clearly, strictly forbade smoking in the area.. There were definitely dressed as punks, spiky hair, chains, ripped jeans, the lot.
And certainly had been watching us with quite some interest.
At that point my sister’s swing hit against me, and I was moved back by the force. I kept my balance, as I saw that my twin had turned to see what had happened. She saw the group of three, and they saw her fully for the first time, in all her fancy dress, with the pretty rhinestones just sparkling away.
I had a dark inkling that we probably should not linger here any longer. I said so much to my sister.
Shoes she said, and I collected hers and quickly placed them back on her feet. I was watching past her and could see that the three had now formed a huddle.
I helped my sister up from the swing, and she straightened her gown, bending down, her necklace dangling temptingly loose.
It would just figure that I now had a perfect opportunity at that point, her hair had fallen forward exposing the necklaces clasp. But to say that the situation was less than ideal, would be an understatement.
So I took her arm and quickly led her off. Looking back I saw that one of the boys, his cig dangling from his lip, had moved towards us a bit, stopping and was watching as we left. Needless to say I felt a bit uneasy as we made our hasty retreat..
We gained the safety of the woods, and soon disappeared into the tree line, scurrying back up along the wooded path.
We finally reached back to the stony path of the passion statues, and felt a bit securer with each step we took, eventually starting to meander about, playing down all thoughts of the incident on the playground.
Actually we both started to feel a bit embarrassed by the whole thing, acting like a couple of fraidy cats!
Soon I found that my mind, regretting the lost opportunity at the play ground , was again working on my intriguing bits of my challenge.
All the while, I stole quick glances at my sister waltzing about.
I just could not get enough of her show!
The long shiny gown fluttering about with each step, as her jewels flashed with what I found to be a now more than just taunting show.
But there had been something about the way those punks had snapped to attention, when me twin sister had turned towards them.
I remember it was concerning a thought I myself had had after the American telly show was over..
The thief in the tv show had only taken a few of the copious diamonds the ladies had been wearing. I guess that I figured if he was luring them off, why didn’t he just take all of their jewels !?
It wasn’t like he was going to be caught and thrown into a jail was he now, stranded alone with them on the island ?
I looked at my sister wandering about, her gown moving fluidly hither and tither as she looked here and there. Those quite mesmerizing jewels keeping in flashy rhythm as she so innocently explored..
What if….?
What if indeed !
I slowed down, letting my sister get to wondering a bit ahead, pretending in my mind of being someone with a devious intent on the ( in my mind, real) jewels that were dangling and sparkling along this fetching lass clad in a shiny gown that swished and swirled about her figure in a rather enchanting fashion.
Much like the gowns and jewels those 3 stranded lasses on that island had been doing!
I stopped by one of the large white Stations of the cross and pondered it over..
My sister soon took a turn ahead of me on the path, disappearing around a corner.
There was a bench across the path facing the statue. Behind the bench was the large trunk of a rather ancient tree. I slipped in behind the trunk to hide .
Spying a short knobby stick at my feet I picked it up…may come in handy I thought a bit wickedly as I prepared to play at being Robin Hood!
Soon I heard her call my name, then silence, except for the swishing of her long gown as she quickly came back down the path. From a hole in a large bush, I could see was looking side to side, her jewels sparkling nicely, like those the poor lasses jewels had been wearing before their loss.. a loss of jewels Like this one was about to encounter!
I waited for her to innocently pass me by, as I lurked back from her sight in the shadows of my tree.
She suddenly stopped, catching a stone in one of her heels.
She limped over to the bench and stooping over pulled off the offending heel and shook it.
I dropped the knobby stick, smelling a new opportunity that was ripe for the picking..
I slipped out ,quiet as a church mouse, and snuck up behind her on the heels of my feet.
Reaching my intended victim without any notice, I held my hands over her eyes.
She immediately straightened up, I could feel her figure freezing rigid.
I could also feel her long earrings under my palms as I still held managed to hold my fingers over her eyes.
I bent over and said in her ear, ” guess who lass?” as I eyed up close several of my objectives just dangling there with no care in the world.
After I spoke, I started pulling my hands from her eyes, and lifted back her hair with my thumbs, while resting my fingers gently upon her earlobes. Both of her earrings dangling coolly from out underneath..!
Meanwhile She had breathed a sigh of relief at hearing my voice while placing her gloved hand upon her beating heart.
“Not funny” she scolded, looking forward. I was watching her ring and bracelet do their sparkling dance from her finger and wrist respectively.
As I positioned my fingers to slowly pull down the long earrings from her earlobes, I started to ask what had happened, hoping she would look down at her feet as I finished my attempt to slip away her eye-catching earrings.
But, before I could start my sentence, that quick, opportunity once again slithered away from my grasp !
For we both simultaneously heard it at the same time…
The slow squealing sound of tyres from a bicycle being walked, coming up to us some short distance behind us on the path, from the direction of the playground!
My sister turned her head, her earrings slipped from my fingertips, as my hands lost their grip and fell down upon her shoulders.
Bollocks I said under my breath, as yet another opportunity to steal away a piece of my sister’s jewelry was lost. This one just whisked from my grasp would have been the easiest yet!
“What’s that ?” she said, innocently turning her face up to look at me, earrings and necklace again shooting off their taunting sparks.
And I now had grown cold with the realization that I may not be the only one my sister’s jewels had been taunting !!
I put a finger to her lips and told her, quick, behind the statues!
.
I realized what the sound of the tyres meant, and they were gaining.
I helped my sister up and we both crossed the stone path, darting behind the cross station statue group.
As we skulked down behind it my sister again asked what I thought it was?
“Sush and, don’t move!” I told her, pulling her silky clad figure close to mine, feeling our hearts beating rapidly…
Soon we heard voices above the sound of the bikes tyres. There were only the two of them, two of the group of three who had been giving my sister the once over at the playground.
One ripped jean jacketed Boy and the spiky haired female. They were walking beside a bike, the boy still had a cig dangling from a crooked, sneering lip. I wondered what had become off the other boy?
The squealing of wheels got closer and closer and we watched through the thicket behind the statue group depicting Jesus falling for the first time, as slowly they walked the bikes past us, looking straight ahead on the path before them.
We quite clearly could hear them now.
He : “She came this way!”
She: “Think they were real…?”
He: “Naw, not on a kid like that, fake, but still the bunch might be worth a few bob… enough for cigs, maybe… plus whats in her shiny purse and the lads tie clasp, probably has a wallet, or some coins at the least!”
“Them rich kids always do have sometin, and they usually give no problem handing them over nicely, do they now? “ He said wickedly…
She: Giggling at some memory..
I heard my sister gasp and pulling her even closer, clamping my hand over her mouth
They had passed.
I heard the girl saying something, but it was broken up. The words, “that little darlings” followed by a mumbled sentence with a word that sounded like “peel”, and then clearly the words “shiny dress ..” , before they had rounded the corner and the rest of her words were lost to us.
We waited a good while, then stole along the path. As my sister walked on directly ahead, I was watching and listening , all too well aware of the reality of being ambushed and mugged by the pair…
An unsettling image flashed in my head, close to home, because it had been my idea also…
In my mind, the bike was now laying abandoned on the ground.
The rude spiky haired punk girl was heartlessly staring at my sister, whilst caressing with grubby hands, the soft gown my twin was now limply wearing along her figure.
As the punk lad, cig still hanging from a curled lip, was methodically searching said figure; locating and pulling off all the jewels my forlorn sister had been wearing, shoving his pockets with the shimmering lot as he displayed a rather evil grin.
I no sooner shook the thought from my head, then another entered it.
Where had that other lad gotten off too?
I imagined a pair of rough hands grabbing me and pushing me off the path, then approaching from behind my unsuspecting sister, much like I had intended earlier with the a stick. But in my mind, what the third one was holdin, was no stick!
Get a grip lad, I thought to myself, as I looked behind us. But the path seemed to be deserted enough.
We moved on, my sister wanting to ask a million questions, but I motioned to her to move away silently.
We cautiously made our way back along the path, looking and listening all about us.
Finally,( it seemed like forever) without further incident, we came out to the edge of the woods and the welcome sight of the parking lot behind the promised sanctuary of the church..
I could see up ahead, on the road leading from the parking lot, the pair still walking beside their bike. We watched until they had moved off out of sight. Then we both darted across the lot and got to the exit leading back down to the security of the reception going on below.
Once safely inside we caught our breaths, before scampering down the stairs. Both of us headed directly to the loo, shortly meeting up again inside the reception area.
People were still dancing and mingling, totally unaware that we had even gone.
Even our parents, when we met up with them back at our table, just calmly asked if we were enjoying ourselves. We looked at each other smiling, yes we said in unison as we both plopped down in our seats.
They then asked what we had been up to in order to amuse ourselves?
“Dancing! “ my sister chirped, then rising, she got me up and led me onto the dance floor to avoid further questions.
We began our dance, weaving our way in and out of the by now liquored up adults.
We mulled over the close shave we had had, and now that the danger had passed, looked upon the occurrence as a bit of a lark. But all thoughts had left of my plots on relieving my sister of her jewels. I felt that it would just would be bad cricket.
It was a slow dance and we mimicked what the other couples were doing, still awkwardly since we had not really had much experience at it. But it was enjoyable all the same.
I know she is just my sister, but as I was aware then of a certain inkling, one that I really grew to appreciate later on with my wife, there is nothing like the experience of holding a warm body in close dance, especially one that is clad in a shiny gown and even shinier jewels!
The music ended all too soon and we left the floor.
My sister stopped me, Well little brother she said ( she is older by a few minutes and never lets me forget), thank you for saving me, and she gave me quite an enveloping hug.
I told her it was nothing.. and she smiled sweetly up at me before we continued our way back.
As we walked I reached down to straighten my tie that I had felt flapping about. It was then I realized my clasp was gone.
I looked at my sister, walking on ahead… The little snit had taken it when she had been giving me a hug, pretending to be sincere!
Game on “older” sister I thought…
My sister slid on her chair at the table, smugly looking all the world like a jeweled cat that had caught the canary. Said jewels, , especially her necklace, still were dancing about with sparkles under the lights, like they too were mocking me..
Well missy I thought, lets try another dance then!
And with my mind I envisioned back to the time I had been successful at slipping off another of her necklaces while we had danced a couple of years back.
But I never got the opportunity, for the band was taking a break, and shortly our parents reappeared to collect us.
We got our coats from the check in, and prepared to leave…
And so it twas, that the evening ended late, and as I helped my sister on with her black velvet jacket. All opportunity seemed lost, at least till next time.
We went back up the stairs we had snuck out on earlier, and regained our car in the now dark parking lot.
We settled in the back of the car for the long trog home.
Soon she was fast asleep, lulled by the cars engine.
Again I smelled ripe opportunity !
I looked down at my passed-out sister, so peacefully dreaming away. I placed my arm around her shoulder, she did not budge. Her jewels were mostly hidden by her fastened velvet jacket.
I looked ahead at my parents, but they were not looking back, probably figuring we both were asleep.
Like a curious thief, I reached down and with upmost care, unfastened the three buttons that hide the treasures from view. After I had undid the last, I pulled her jacket open a bit then settled back and out of the corner of my eye, admired my handiwork !
Her now exposed sleekly soft lavender gown looked like it was pouring out along her figure from underneath the stark black velvet jacket. Her splendid collection of jewels were easy to find, as they occasionally sparkled as headlights from passing cars caught them up in their light.
Her necklace still holding a glittery court as it dropped freely from down around her throat.
So very pretty as it lay there shimmering, and so vulnerably within reach !
My fingers soon began their familiar tingling, my thoughts were racing...
What would that thief on the show had done?
There had been no cars on that show, they were on a deserted island after all.
I shook my head clear and settled back… then opened my eyes wide..
The most wicked, tantalizingly vexing, of thoughts washed over me with a delicious tingle.
But he had robbed them as they slept!
Plus my twerp of a sister did still have my tie clip, didn’t she now?!
I cautiously reached over and then around my twin’s slumbering form, moving my hand down along her side.
My fingers went inside her jacket, glided along her gown till I reached her glittery purse on the seat next to her. I managed to snap open the purses’ clasp, finding and lifting out my purloined gold plated tie clasp.
Putting it in my pocket, I looked the situation most carefully over, both my victims position, as well as the placement of her quite glimmering jewels.
Slowly, ever so slowly, I began to locate and move her jewels about, to see if my victim would stir. She did not! I could now feel the hooked clasp of her necklace.
I lifted up the chain, easily unhooked her necklace, and pulled it ever so carefully from around her throat, stealing glances at the rearview mirror, but our parents still were not paying us in the back any heed.
I finished sliding the necklace around, pulling it away. letting it dangle as a set of headlights from a passing car bathed it in sparkling array, then, reaching around my slumbering victims soft figure, deposited it inside the purse.
It was the best piece she was wearing of all her jewelry, and so naturally would be the first to be taken by any thief worth his salt under similar circumstances !
I reached back down, my fingers feeling along her still gloved arm till I reached her wrist. Then carefully placing a finger under it, lifted the bracelet before finding and then working open its’ clasp. Off it came easily, sliding snakelike from around her wrist. I reached over her again, and it soon landed on top of its mate in her purse .
She stirred a bit, and I reached my arm around my victim’s soft waist, pulled her a bit closer, and she soon settled in back to sleep.
Then I worked on her earrings next. Reaching in her hair, locating, then most cautiously started slipping off, each of her clasped earrings in turn. The twin buggers would not elude me this time!
It wasn’t easy, and took some tricky effort, but I managed it, and in careful turn, slowly, with most upmost care, caressed smoothly each long diamonded earring off her ears in turn. My victim felt nothing, did not stir again from her probably most pleasant dreams.
The purloined earrings also joined their glistening fellows on top of the growing pile inside her purse
Finally I found and worked off her ring from a gloved finger, greatly aided by the smoothness of said satin glove.
As I finished, I deposited the ring, clasped my sister’s purse shut, a job well done.
Feeling rather like an actual thief at that point, I finished the job by slipping the small purse, now weighty with gems, into my pocket.
I knew what just I was going to do next….
Last Autumn my twin had lifted my wallet while pretending to stand behind me fixing my collar to tuck in my tie. I had not caught on at the time, and when I did, she had had time to hide it. In order to get it back, she ransomed it by making me do a full weeks’ worth of her chores.
Well my sweet, conniving sister, what goes around, comes around !
All I had to do was keep her from noticing her jewels had been lifted.
While I dwelt over this thought I eyed over my victim admiring my handy work.
My sister turned a bit, mumbling a little.
She had stretched out and moved away a little, I had just finished relieving her of her jewels just in time!
But as I looked her over, I realized that I had missed a trick! With the next passing car, I saw her now exposed brooch glisteningly betraying its position!
I moved over, leaning, reached down and in, once again my fingers glided along her smooth gown, until I reached her satin sash. Using the sash as a path, I travelled along it till I reached the glittering holdout!
I lifted the jewel, and this time my fingers easily found its’ clasp. Working blind, I thought I had unpinned it, and began pulling the dangly brooch from her sash.
But It was still attached, and as I pulled up, my sister again stirred, waking up, mumbling.
She moved over away from me to the door, rubbing her eyes, still not quite awake.
I just casually started chatting my victim up.
My foremost intention was in keeping her attention diverted from discovering her missing jewels and purse till after we got home and I had had time to hide it!
She managed to say a few words, but the time between those words got long and longer, till she fell back to sleep, lulled in again by the motion of our car.
Forced to be satisfied with what I had, and still happy with the revenge that would soon be mine, I now comfortably settled back into my seat.
I looked over my sister’s now almost jewel less ( damn the brooch) , blissfully sleeping figure, and soon drifted off to join her in happy dreams of my own!!
I woke from deep sleep as we arrived back at our house after the 90 minute ride back from the county.
My parents got out and tasked me with waking my still sleeping sister , ( not always a pleasant task by any means, even to this day I bear the scars(smiles)), and then pushing her up to bed.
^^^^
We live in a split level. An attached garage was converted by a former owner into a master bedroom. This is where my parents would be heading. The other end, with its staircase leading upstairs was where I had to drag my sister. The three bedrooms and bath upstairs were our domain. Each of us having our own bedroom, and the third room was employed as a playroom/sewing room.
^^^^
I began to shake her awake, which, true to form, she rather grumpily tried to fight off.
Finally I just went to the other side and began to pull her out. She slowly, most painstakingly woke herself up and was able to manage finishing getting out on her own.
Leaning against me, still half awake, I helped her up the walk and led her inside the house. All the while snickering that she had no clue that her purse and other valuables were gone, hidden in my pocket, right under her very eyes!
At some point my sister had rebuttoned her velvet jacket, which helped my deception play out immensely.
Especially since once me dad had helped mum off with her faux mink jacket, she had come over and given us each a kiss goodnight. Her necklace, the twin to my sisters , still was glittering around her throat.
If either parental unit had noticed the my sisters missing jewels, I would have had some fast explaining how they came in my passion, and would have lost any hint of revenge. And it was my week to mow the bloody lawn !
Now feeling rather cocky as both parents left us alone, I went over to gallantly helped Sis, who had unbuttoned her velvet jacket, slip off it off , and hung it up for her.
She turned towards me on the first step thanking me. I accepted, secretly looking over her pretty gowned figure that I had so deviously stripped bare of its pretty ornaments, except of course that cursed taunting brooch, which was still freely dangling about at the sashed waistline of my sister’s gown!!
Turning off the downstairs lights, I followed my sister’s swishing progress ahead of me up the stairs.
I saw the unwary victim of my thievery to her room, across from mine, seeing her inside, as I closed the door behind her.
I went to my room, closed my own door and breathed a sigh of relief.
Perfect I thought, saying under my breath, Game set and Match!
Figuring she should come knocking anytime now once she discovered her missing jewels as she was undressing, I laid out on my bed, still in my suit , and waited with eager anticipation till she did.
My thoughts went to a week without assorted chores, including mowing any lawns. Starting with tomorrow. No wait, tomorrow was Sunday. We were on our own , sis and I after morning Church. Our parents were leaving for the big city, shopping, a movie than dinner out to celebrate an early anniversary,, coming back in at around ten that evening.
My eyes opened, a deviously delicious thought had come creeping into my mind.
Give my twin a choice, my week’s chores, or spend Sunday after the parents leave playing the damsel to my thief!
We had played similar games before, my sister being a huge fan of robbing hood as she called Robin Hood, as well as our take on cops n Robbers, and something she came up with called “Help me Honey!” A game where I would have dual roles; she would direct me into placing her in peril, then have me come as a hero to rescue the damsel from the peril she had me put her in!
She could wear the same gown, her jewels, and her black velvet jacket with it if we went outside to the woods. Or better yet, mums mink would still be here ( Sis was always trying it on) !
I mulled over this for some time, while waiting for the expected knock to come….
I must have fallen asleep, for I was awakened when the timid knock was finally made at my door.
It was 2:35 in the bloody morning!
I rolled out of bed and opened my door.
She was standing there ,rubbing her eyes and yawning. I could see her opened door across the hall, light spilling out.
She was also still clad in her elegant gown, looking like a half awakened princess .
And there it was, her twinkling brooch. It still dangled from its position on the sash at her waist. Its’ frenzied sparkles appeared to be mocking my failure at taking it along with the rest of its’ mates!
She hadn’t even made it past the bed in her room before falling unconscious upon it fully clothed !!
What’s up I asked, a bit grumpily, for I had all but forgotten what mischief I had been at.
“My jewels ?” she said miserably, “Their missing!”
“Are you sure?” I asked
That made her think a few seconds before answering, her still gloved hand feeling a diamond necklace and earrings that definitely were no longer sparkling there like they had been earlier .
“Yes I am sure they are gone !” she said rather miserably.
“You took them off twit, probably still on your dresser. Now go to back to bed ! “ I answered paternally , just wanting to do the same myself.
“No,” she said, forlornly shaking her head, “I went right to bed without taking anything off atoll, didn’t I, and she spread out her luxurious gown.
“ I’ve looked everywhere!” She pleaded.
“Was your window opened?” I asked, finally awake enough to tease.
“Yes, I always do, why?” she questioned.
“You fell asleep steal wearing your jewels!” I pointed out…
“Maybe a burglar broke in and took them off you as you slept?” I stated, as I reached over and pointed at the place her necklace had been dangling upon.” Looks like he picked you over clean now !”
“No” she said, again shaking her head, “there was no burglar, and besides no thief could do something like that, I would’ve been woken up !”
“I don’t know” I answered thoughtful, “Someone obviously got the whole lot off you, without you noticing !”
She shivered, “No there was no thief!” she still insisted…
“Lets go and see” I said, and had her turn, followed her swishy gown clad figure back to her room.
I asked if she had checked around the bed, she nodded yes. Check again I commanded and she obediently began looking.
As she did I went over to her opened window, and swiftly slipped her purse, still holding her jewels, from my jacket pocket and placed it out on the ledge. Rather forgetting my old plans, as a deviously new one developed, to make her believe a burglar had been in her room.
Sounds rather mean I know, but I was not fully awake enough to really reason out that aspect!
“You ninny I said, here is your purse ! “ She swished over to my side, and I pointed down.
She reached down and retrieved it, feeling its new heft, she opened it, revealing her sparkling jewels.
She than just stared up at me, disbelief in her sad puppy like eyes.
“Here now ,” I said, “let me show you, Go lay back on your bed” I instructed !
She submissively did so, slipping back up and looking at me blinking from her pillow.
She looked all the world like a sad forlorn young princess , like she did when I played her game with her.
I turned out her lights, laid the purse down beside her, then went to the opened window.
A stream of light from the moon lit up her bed, I could see her clearly as she lay there.
“This is what probably happened Sis…”
“The burglar came in through this window” I mimicked it..
“ He saw you there asleep , and came over for a closer peek.”
I moved in, and saw her shiver as I approached, her whole begowned figure moving as she inched up away from my menacing dark shadowy figure…..
“He saw you were wearing jewels, and decided that he certainly must have them for himself.” ,
My sister had shrunk back as I approached.
“He reached along, and began to..
My fingers had glided up along her quivering figure till I had reached her waist, where I then lifted up her brooch.
“He than steals your…”
She cut me off… “There was no thief! “she insisted her eyes wide, but I could see the beginning of doubt creeping in her voice.”
“That cannot happen, burglars cannot take jewels like that , not with out waking a person up!” she tried to argue, herself half believing it may have happened like that!..
Ignoring her protests, , I picked up the purse from where I dropped it, went back to the window.
“You must have startled him and he dropped the goods as he was leaving, and an ran off!”
She had turned white as a ghost, trying to disbelieve in my words.
“No, it didn’t happen, couldn’t !” she vainly still trying on insisting my scenarios away.
“Tell you what lets try an experiment “ . I suggested as I turned back on the lights.
I laid the opened purse down beside her, jewels inside dimly glimmering .
“Put your jewels back on then, go to back bed, and in a couple of hours once you are back asleep I will come in and ….Li”
“No” she said, cutting me off… “I still don’t….” then she stopped talking as she saw the smirk on my face
“Your right!” I said assuring her qualms ,”There was no thief. It was me, I took em and put them there.”
“You took them, you turd “she scolded, WHEN..HOW?” she directly appealed in a rather fetchingly imploring way…as she raised her arms up to me to help her up.
“Every thief has their secrets luv” I said, as she slipped off from the bed and stood looking up at me, then let out a rather wide Yawn..
I was looking her still begowned figure over, her brooch the only jewel left, still putting on a rather dazzling show as she finished her relaxing yawn, I realized just how long a day it’d been, and just how tired we both were.
It had, actually been a quite long event filled day!
“Maybe I’ll tell in the morning, its late, lets get you off to bed !” I said, and she leaned happily up against me, I wrapped my arms around her warm, slippery figure.
“Good night Sis “ I said and kissed her on the forehead, then started to leave.
“Good night Baby brother” , she said smirking, as she reached back behind her with gloved hands fumbling to undo the tied bow of her gowns’ sash…
“Here,” I said, “please allow me.”
I went up behind her, as she turned to allow me access to the satin bow tied at the back of her svelte waiste.
She giggled as I pulled her bow, making her move back closer to me, as I worked on loosening the satin bows knot.
“I am so glad you have reformed Mr thief, I can feel safe wearing my jewels around you !” she said with another giggle, as I pulled the bow apart,
letting the loose ends dangle freely down.
“Indeed, so you can! “ I said assuringly, my hands wrapping around her waist to give her a hug.
“And I owe it all to you!” I said into her ear.
“There now ” I said as released her with a gentle push moving her towards the dresser. “to bed with you”
“Good night sir” she said facing away, bending over to open a drawer.
I back up alongside her bed, stopping to watch her a minute as she fumbled around in the open drawer.
“Good night “ I echoed, watched as she turned to face me with a swish. Holding a silky nightdress in a gloved hand.
She just smiled at me as I left, closing her door behind me.
I stood with my back to her closed door, grinning…
I opened my left hand, looking down with satisfaction at the sparkling brooch I had easily lifted from her pretty gown while hugging her after untying her bow.
So much for reformation!
I then pulled her unclasped purse , boldly reclaimed from its perch on her bed, from my jacket pocket and slipped the newly acquired brooch inside to join the rest of her purloined jewels…
I congratulated myself, my mind already traveling to tomorrow, Sunday, and the stealing prospects it promised to bring.
I began to walk away from her door, stopping suddenly I turned and looked back.
I whispered out to the closed door…
Addressing my unseen sister on the other side, who would have finally removed by now her quite pretty lavender brides maids gown and exchanged it with her sleeping attire..
“ Lessons Learned Luv!” I whispered with devious intent, taking on my character for tomorrow .
“ Never trust a thief , and don’t ever turn your pretty back to one!”
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Gilligan’s Island,
Season 3
The Kidnapper with Don Rickles
Uses: Anything relating to finance and money.
Free Creative Commons Finance Images... I created these images in my studio and have made them all available for personal or commercial use. Hope you like them and find them useful.
To see more of our CC by 2.0 finance images click here... see profile for attribution.
I've never been able to relate to many people. I've always been the outcast child. I don't follow the rules. That's kind of how I do everything. Through my music, I've found a place in the world where I'm accepted, so I'm happy. "Neon Hitch"
Shirt - [AK] - Andrew Shirt Black
shorts - PBM Mens [Saggin' Shorts] Camo
bracelet - Izzie's - 2 Say It With A Bracelet (Loved)
watch - = REBELLION = "MAGNUS" CUFF WATCH
Shirt - [AK] - Andrew Shirt Black) I got this shirt just as a quick outfit change the other day, I half expected it to be bad, not a slight on [AK] but I've not had great success with shirts lately, I have to dig and dig to find ones I like. This one however surprised me, or I wouldn't be doing a post on it. The texture is subtle, and well done, the shadows are fantastic, not over done, just perfect. The only thing I have an issue with is fitting the shirt over jeans, most of my jeans poke through at the waist area.. However I needed a good shirt with the shorts I have on here, and this fits the bill. So if you want a Deep DEEP V, go pick this up!
Shorts - PBM Mens [Saggin' Shorts] Camo) - Okay so I'm kind of a snob when it comes to pants/jeans/shorts, I admit that freely. I will trash a pair of jeans if the texture is not perfect. So when I looked at PBM, I grabbed the demo and like [AK] shirt I expected these to also be shit. I couldn't have been more wrong, PBM Keep up the good work guys! Love these, they fit perfectly and look great!
The Bracelet and watch I'll do together, you can't really see them well in the photo, but both are very well textured, and both resizable! if you are in need of some accessories give Rebellion and Izzie's a shot! (special thanks to Hope for the bracelet! <3)
Blog Link - normalattireblog.wordpress.com/
the myth retelling Typhon's murder and dismemberment of his brother Osiris.. For alchemists, the myth of Isis and Osiris was a myth of the alchemical process. One of this myths relates him vanquishing Typhon, the dragon of ignorance ...
Set (Seth, Setekh, Sut, Sutekh, Suty) was one of ancient Egypt’s earliest gods, a god of chaos, confusion, storms, wind, the desert and foreign lands. In the Osiris legends, he was a contender to the throne of Osiris and rival to Horus, but a companion to the sun god Ra. Originally worshiped and seen as an ambivalent being, during the Third Intermediate Period the people vilified him and turned him into a god of evil.
Depicted as a man with the head of a ‘Sut animal’ (or a ‘Typhonian animal’ because of the Greek identification with Typhon), or as a full ‘Set animal’ the god is unrecognizable as any one particular animal today. He was also identified with other animals, such as the hippopotamus, the pig and the donkey, which were often abhorred by the Egyptians. These animals were sacred to him. Set’s followers took the form of these animals, as well as crocodiles, scorpions, turtles and other ‘evil’ or dangerous creatures. Some fish were sacred to Set, too – the Nile carp, the Oxyrynchus or the Phagrus fish – because they were thought to have eaten the phallus of Osiris after Set chopped him to pieces.
The ‘Set animal’ has long, squared ears and a long, down-turned snout, a canine-like body with an erect forked tail. He may have been a composite animal that was part aardvark (the aardvark that the ancient Egyptians would have seen was the nocturnal Orycteropus aethiopicus which was between 1.2-1.8 meters long and almost 1 meter tall, and was generally a reddish color because of the thin hair, allowing the skin to show through), part canine (perhaps the salawa, a desert dwelling creature) or even a camel or an okapi. The sign for his name, from the Middle Kingdom hieratic onwards, tended to replace the sign for ‘donkey’ and ‘giraffe’, so he was possibly linked to the giraffe, as well.
He was also believed to have white skin and red hair, with the Egyptians comparing his hair to the pelt of a donkey. Due to his association with red, red animals and even people with red hair were thought to be his followers. These animals were sometimes sacrificed, while the link between Set and red-heads – usually foreigners – gave him godhood over foreign lands. With the relationship to foreign peoples, Set was also a god of overseas trade of oils, wood and metals from over the sea and through desert routes. He was given lordship over western Asia because of this.
As Set was a god of the desert and probably symbolized the destructive heat of the afternoon sun, and thus was thought to be infertile. The hieroglyph for Set was used in words such as ‘turmoil’, ‘confusion’, ‘illness’, ‘storm’ and ‘rage’. Strange events such as eclipses, thunderstorms and earthquakes were all attributed to him.
Horus has seized Set, he has put him beneath you so that he can lift you up. He will groan beneath you as an earthquake…
– Pyramid Texts, Spell 356
He was also thought to have rather odd sexual habits, another reason why the Egyptian believed that abnormalities were linked to Set. In a land where fatherhood makes the man, Set’s lack of children, related to the tale where Horus tore off his testicles (while Set tore out Horus’ eye) would have been one reason why he was looked down on. His favorite – some say only – food was the lettuce (which secreted a white, milky substance that the Egyptians linked to semen and was sacred to the fertility god Min), but even with this aphrodisiac, he was still thought to have been infertile.His bisexuality (he was married and given concubines to appease him, yet he also assaulted Horus sexually starting with the come-on line “How lovely your backside is!”) and his pursuit of Isis were reasons why Set could never have been a ruler of Egypt instead of Osiris, despite originally being a lord of Upper Egypt.When Set saw Isis there, he transformed himself into a bull to be able to pursue her, but she made herself unrecognizable by taking the form of a bitch with a knife on her tail. Then she began to run away from him and Set was unable to catch up with her. Then he ejaculated on the ground, and she said, “It’s disgusting to have ejaculated, you bull!” But his sperm grew in the desert and became the plants called bedded-kau.
– Jumilhac PapyrusIn the Old and Middle Kingdoms there are depictions of these two gods together either leading the prisoners of the pharaoh or binding the plants of Upper and Lower Egypt together (as does the twin Hapi gods) to symbolize the union of Upper and Lower Egypt. He was regarded as an equal to the hawk god. This was Horus the Elder, a god of the day sky while Set was seen as a god of the night sky. When these two gods were linked, the two were said to be Horus-Set, a man with two heads – one of the hawk of Horus, the other of the Set animal.“Homage to thee, O divine Ladder! Homage to thee O Ladder of Set! Stand thou upright, O divine Ladder! Stand thou upright, O Ladder of Set! Stand thou upright, O Ladder of Horus, whereby Osiris came forth into heaven.”
– Pyramid Texts, Pepi I
In the Pyramid Texts he was believed to be a friend to the dead, and he helped Osiris ascend to heaven on a ladder. On one of Seti I’s reliefs, it shows Set and Horus offering the symbol of life to the pharaoh, with Set saying “I establish the crown upon thy head, even like the Disk on the head of Amen-Ra, and I will give thee all life, strength and health.” Thothmose III had a scene showing Set teaching him the use of the bow, while Horus taught him yet another weapon.
As for his role as a friend of the dead, it was believed that “Horus purifies and Set strengthens, and Set purifies and Horus strengthens” the deceased while the backbone of the deceased becomes the backbone of Set and Set has “joined together my neck and my back strongly, and they are even as they were in the time that is past; may nothing happen to break them apart.”Ramesses II, as did his father Seti I, both had red hair and so aligned themselves with the god of chaos. Both were famous warrior pharaohs, using Set’s violent nature to help with their war efforts. In Ramesses II’s campaign against the Hittites, he split his army into four divisions and named them after four gods. One was for Amen, one for Ra, one for Ptah and one for Set. But it was the pharaoh himself who won the battle:Thereupon the forces of the Foe from Khatti surrounded the followers of his majesty who were by his side. When his majesty caught sight of them he rose quickly, enraged at them like his father Mont. Taking up weapons and donning his armor he was like Set in the moment of his power. He mounted ‘Victory-in-Thebes,’ his great horse, and started out quickly alone by himself. His majesty was mighty, his heart stout. one could not stand before him.All his ground was ablaze with fire; he burned all the countries with his blast. His eyes were savage as he beheld them; his power flared like fire against them. He heeded not the foreign multitude; he regarded them as chaff. His majesty charged into the force of the Foe from Khatti and the many countries with him. His majesty was like Seth, great-of-strength, like Sekhmet in the moment of her rage. His majesty slew the entire force of the Foe from Khatti, together with his great chiefs and all his brothers, as well as all the chiefs of all the countries that had come with him, their infantry and their charioteers falling on their faces one upon the other. His majesty slaughtered them in their places; they sprawled before his horses; and his majesty was alone, none other with him.It is likely that the cult of Horus overtook the cult of Set in ancient times, and started to remove his positive sides to give the god Horus more status. The two gods, Horus the Elder and Horus the son of Osiris and Isis were confused, so Set changed from being an equal to his brother, Horus the Elder, to the enemy of Isis’s son. It was only after the Hyksos took Set as their main god, after the Egyptians god rid of the foreigners, he stopped symbolizing Lower Egypt and his name was erased and his statues destroyed.
Set has been worshiped since predynastic times. The first representation of Set that has been found was on a carved ivory comb, an Amratian artifact. He was also shown on the Scorpion macehead. He was worshiped and placated through Egyptian history until the Third Intermediate Period where he was seen as an evil and undesirable force. From this time on, some of his statues were re-carved to become the statues of other gods, and it was said that he had actually been defeated by the god Horus.In the original tale of the fight between Set and Horus, the Egyptians believed that the two would continue their battle until the end of time itself, when chaos overran ma’at and the waters of Nun would swallow up the world. It was only when Set was vilified that this changed, and the Egyptians began to believe that Horus won the battle, defeating Set as a version of good triumphing over evil.
In the tale of Osiris, Set was the third of the five children of Nut, thought to have been born in the Nubt (Naqada) area. Instead of being born in the normal manner, as his siblings were born, he tore himself violently from his mother’s womb.
You whom the pregnant goddess brought forth when you clove the night in twain -You are invested with the form of Set, who broke out in violence.Jealous of his older brother Osiris – either because of the birth of his sister-wife’s son, Anubis, or because of Osiris’ rulership of Egypt – Set made a plan to murder his childless brother and take the throne. He made a great feast, supposedly in honor of Osiris, and with 72 accomplices ready, he tricked Osiris into laying down in a coffer – whoever fitted into the richly ornamented chest would win it – and considering that he’d measured it to fit his brother exactly, Osiris fit perfectly… and Set’s accomplices nailed down the lid and threw it into the Nile.When Isis found out about this, she went on a search through the world to find her husband. Bringing him back, Set happened on the coffer, and tore it open and cut up his brother’s corpse, spreading body parts through the land of Egypt. Isis and Set’s wife Nephthys (who had left him to join her sister) went on a quest to restore Osiris. They succeeded enough so that Isis conceived Osiris’ son and eventually bore the child Horus in the Delta region where he grew up.
By this time Horus had reached manhood … Horus thereupon did battle with Set, the victory falling now to one, now to the other … Horus and Set, it is said, still do battle with one another, yet victory has fallen to neither.Yet Set was thought to be a follower of Ra. It was he who defended the Solar Barque each night as it traveled through the underworld, the only Egyptian deity who could kill the serpent Apep – Ra’s most dangerous enemy – each night as it threatened to swallow the Barque.Then Set, the strong one, the son of Nut, said “As for me, I am Set, the strongest of the Divine Company. Every day I slay the enemy of Ra when I stand at the helm of the Barque of Millions of Years, which no other god dare do.”Even here, though, Set was thought to be a braggart, taunting Ra and threatening that if he wasn’t treated well, that he would bring storms and thunder against the sun god. At this point in The Book of the Dead, Ra drives Set away from the Barque for his insolence, and proceeds on course without the god of storms.Other than Nephthys, Set had other wives/concubines. He was believed to live in the northern sky by the constellation of the Great Bear. To the Egyptians, the north symbolized darkness, cold and death. It was there that his wife Taweret, the hippo goddess of childbirth, was believed to keep him chained. He seemed to have bad luck with women – as with Nephthys, Taweret followed Osiris.At one part in the tale of Set’s argument with Horus over rulership, the company of the gods asked the goddess Neith, rather than Ra – who sided with Set – who should be given the throne of Osiris. Her reply was this:“Give the office of Osiris to his son Horus! Do not go on committing these great wrongs, which are not in place, or I will get angry and the sky will topple to the ground. But also tell the Lord of All, the Bull who lives in Heliopolis, to double Set’s property. Give him Anat and Astarte, your two daughters, and put Horus in the place of his father.”– Myth and Symbol in Ancient Egypt, RT Rundle ClarkSo he was given the two foreign goddesses Anat and Astarte, both war goddesses from the Syria-Palestine area and daughters of Ra. The two were often interchangeable, yet they had their own distinct cults. Anat and Taweret, though they were fertility goddesses, never bore Set any children.Despite his wicked side, Set was still a god of Egypt, and worshiped – and feared – as such. His image changed through time, due to politics, yet he was still a powerful god, the only one who could slay Ra’s worst enemy. To the Egyptians he was the god who ‘ate’ the moon each month – the black boar who swallowed its light – and the god who created earthquakes and heavy, thunderous rain storms. He was a friend of the dead, helping them to ascend to heaven on his ladder, and the crowner of pharaohs and leader of warriors.Despite his bad reputation, he was still a divine being – an equal of Horus, no less – who could be invoked by his followers or warded off by those who were afraid of him. Yet without chaos and confusion there would be no order; without the heavy, thunderous storms there would be no good weather; without the desert and foreign lands there would be no Egypt. Set was a counterbalance to the ‘good’ side of the Egyptian universe, helping to keep everything in balance.
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Typhon (/ˈtaɪfɒn, -fən/; Greek: Τυφῶν, Tuphōn [typʰɔ̂ːn]), also Typhoeus (/taɪˈfiːəs/; Τυφωεύς, Tuphōeus), Typhaon (Τυφάων, Tuphaōn) or Typhos (Τυφώς, Tuphōs), was a monstrous giant and the most deadly being of Greek mythology. Typhon was the last son of Gaia, and was fathered by Tartarus. Typhon and his mate Echidna were the progenitors of many famous monsters.Typhon was the son of Gaia (Earth) and Tartarus: "when Zeus had driven the Titans from heaven, huge Earth bore her youngest child Typhoeus of the love of Tartarus, by the aid of golden Aphrodite".[1] The mythographer Apollodorus (1st or 2nd century AD) adds that Gaia bore Typhon in anger at the gods for their destruction of her offspring the Giants.Numerous other sources mention Typhon as being the offspring of Gaia, or simply "earth-born", with no mention of Tartarus.However, according to the Homeric Hymn to Apollo (6th century BC), Typhon was the child of Hera alone. Hera, angry at Zeus for having given birth to Athena by himself, prayed to Gaia to give her a son as strong as Zeus, then slapped the ground and became pregnant. Hera gave the infant Typhon to the serpent Python to raise, and Typhon grew up to become a great bane to mortals.
Depiction by Wenceslas Hollar
Several sources locate Typhon's birth and dwelling place in Cilicia, and in particular the region in the vicinity of the ancient Cilician coastal city of Corycus (modern Kızkalesi, Turkey). The poet Pindar (c. 470 BC) calls Typhon '"Cilician",and says that Typhon was born in Cilicia and nurtured in "the famous Cilician cave",[7] an apparent allusion to the Corycian cave.[8] In Aeschylus' Prometheus Bound, Typhon is called the "dweller of the Cilician caves",[9] and both Apollodorus and the poet Nonnus (4th or 5th century AD) have Typhon born in Cilicia.The b scholia to Iliad 2.783, preserving a possible Orphic tradition, has Typhon born in Cilicia, as the offspring of Cronus. Gaia, angry at the destruction of the Giants, slanders Zeus to Hera. So Hera goes to Zeus' father Cronus (whom Zeus had overthrown) and Cronus gives Hera two eggs smeared with his own semen, telling her to bury them, and that from them would be born one who would overthrow Zeus. Hera, angry at Zeus, buries the eggs in Cilicia "under Arimon", but when Typhon is born, Hera, now reconciled with Zeus, informs him.
According to Hesiod, Typhon was "terrible, outrageous and lawless", and on his shoulders were one hundred snake heads, that emitted fire and every kind of noise:
Strength was with his hands in all that he did and the feet of the strong god were untiring. From his shoulders grew a hundred heads of a snake, a fearful dragon, with dark, flickering tongues, and from under the brows of his eyes in his marvellous heads flashed fire, and fire burned from his heads as he glared. And there were voices in all his dreadful heads which uttered every kind of sound unspeakable; for at one time they made sounds such that the gods understood, but at another, the noise of a bull bellowing aloud in proud ungovernable fury; and at another, the sound of a lion, relentless of heart; and at another, sounds like whelps, wonderful to hear; and again, at another, he would hiss, so that the high mountains re-echoed.The Homeric Hymn to Apollo describes Typhon as "fell" and "cruel", and neither like gods nor men. Three of Pindar's poems have Typhon as hundred-headed (as in Hesiod),while apparently a fourth gives him only fifty heads, but a hundred heads for Typhon became standard. A Chalcidian hydria (c. 540–530 BC), depicts Typhon as a winged humanoid from the waist up, with two snake tails below. Aeschylus calls Typhon "fire-breathing". For Nicander (2nd century BC), Typhon was a monster of enormous strength, and strange appearance, with many heads, hands, and wings, and with huge snake coils coming from his thighs.
Apollodorus describes Typhon as a huge winged monster, whose head "brushed the stars", human in form above the waist, with snake coils below, and fire flashing from his eyes:
In size and strength he surpassed all the offspring of Earth. As far as the thighs he was of human shape and of such prodigious bulk that he out-topped all the mountains, and his head often brushed the stars. One of his hands reached out to the west and the other to the east, and from them projected a hundred dragons' heads. From the thighs downward he had huge coils of vipers, which when drawn out, reached to his very head and emitted a loud hissing. His body was all winged: unkempt hair streamed on the wind from his head and cheeks; and fire flashed from his eyes.
The most elaborate description of Typhon is found in Nonnus's Dionysiaca. Nonnus makes numerous references to Typhon's sepentine nature, giving him a "tangled army of snakes", snaky feet, and hair.According to Nonnus, Typhon was a "poison-spitting viper",whose "every hair belched viper-poison",and Typhon "spat out showers of poison from his throat; the mountain torrents were swollen, as the monster showered fountains from the viperish bristles of his high head",and "the water-snakes of the monster's viperish feet crawl into the caverns underground, spitting poison!".
Following Hesiod and others, Nonnus gives Typhon many heads (though untotaled), but in addition to snake heads,Nonnus also gives Typhon many other animal heads, including leopards, lions, bulls, boars, bears, cattle, wolves, and dogs, which combine to make 'the cries of all wild beasts together',and a "babel of screaming sounds".Nonnus also gives Typhon "legions of arms innumerable", and where Nicander had only said that Typhon had "many" hands, and Ovid had given Typhon a hundred hands, Nonnus gives Typhon two hundred.According to Hesiod's Theogony, Typhon "was joined in love" to Echidna, a monstrous half-woman and half-snake, who bore Typhon "fierce offspring". First, according to Hesiod, there was Orthrus, the two-headed dog who guarded the Cattle of Geryon, second Cerberus,[36] the multiheaded dog who guarded the gates of Hades, and third the Lernaean Hydra,[37] the many-headed serpent who, when one of its heads was cut off, grew two more. The Theogony next mentions an ambiguous "she", which might refer to Echidna, as the mother of the Chimera (a fire-breathing beast that was part lion, part goat, and had a snake-headed tail) with Typhon then being the father.
While mentioning Cerberus and "other monsters" as being the offspring of Echidna and Typhon, the mythographer Acusilaus (6th century BC) adds the Caucasian Eagle that ate the liver of Prometheus,[39] the mythographer Pherecydes of Leros (5th century BC), also names Prometheus' eagle,[40] and adds Ladon (though Pherecydes does not use this name), the dragon that guarded the golden apples in the Garden of the Hesperides (according to Hesiod, the offspring of Ceto and Phorcys).[41] while the lyric poet Lasus of Hermione (6th century BC), adds the Sphinx.Later authors mostly retain these offspring of Typhon by Echidna, while adding others. Apollodorus, in addition to naming as their offspring Orthrus, the Chimera (citing Hesiod as his source) the Caucasian Eagle, Ladon, and the Sphinx, also adds the Nemean lion (no mother is given), and the Crommyonian Sow, killed by the hero Theseus (unmentioned by Hesiod).Hyginus (1st century BC),[44] in his list of offspring of Typhon (all by Echidna), retains from the above: Cerberus, the Chimera, the Sphinx, the Hydra and Ladon, and adds "Gorgon" (by which Hyginus means the mother of Medusa, whereas Hesiod's three Gorgons, of which Medusa was one, were the daughters of Ceto and Phorcys), the Colchian Dragon that guarded the Golden Fleece and Scylla.The Harpies, in Hesiod the daughters of Thaumas and the Oceanid Electra, in one source, are said to be the daughters of Typhon.The sea serpents which attacked the Trojan priest Laocoön, during the Trojan War, were perhaps supposed to be the progeny of Typhon and Echidna.According to Hesiod, the defeated Typhon is the source of destructive storm winds.Battle with Zeus
Typhon challenged Zeus for rule of the cosmos.The earliest mention of Typhon, and his only occurrence in Homer, is a passing reference in the Iliad to Zeus striking the ground around where Typhon lies defeated.Hesiod's Theogony gives us the first account of their battle. According to Hesiod, without the quick action of Zeus, Typhon would have "come to reign over mortals and immortals".In the Theogony Zeus and Typhon meet in cataclysmic conflict:[Zeus] thundered hard and mightily: and the earth around resounded terribly and the wide heaven above, and the sea and Ocean's streams and the nether parts of the earth. Great Olympus reeled beneath the divine feet of the king as he arose and earth groaned thereat. And through the two of them heat took hold on the dark-blue sea, through the thunder and lightning, and through the fire from the monster, and the scorching winds and blazing thunderbolt. The whole earth seethed, and sky and sea: and the long waves raged along the beaches round and about at the rush of the deathless gods: and there arose an endless shaking. Hades trembled where he rules over the dead below, and the Titans under Tartarus who live with Cronos, because of the unending clamor and the fearful strife.Zeus with his thunderbolt easily overcomes Typhon,who is thrown down to earth in a fiery crash:So when Zeus had raised up his might and seized his arms, thunder and lightning and lurid thunderbolt, he leaped from Olympus and struck him, and burned all the marvellous heads of the monster about him. But when Zeus had conquered him and lashed him with strokes, Typhoeus was hurled down, a maimed wreck, so that the huge earth groaned. And flame shot forth from the thunderstricken lord in the dim rugged glens of the mount, when he was smitten. A great part of huge earth was scorched by the terrible vapor and melted as tin melts when heated by men's art in channelled crucibles; or as iron, which is hardest of all things, is shortened by glowing fire in mountain glens and melts in the divine earth through the strength of Hephaestus. Even so, then, the earth melted in the glow of the blazing fire.Defeated, Typhon is cast into Tartarus by an angry Zeus.Epimenides (7th or 6th century BC) seeminly knew a different version of the story, in which Typhon enters Zeus' palace while Zeus is asleep, but Zeus awakes and kills Typhon with a thunderbolt.[58] Pindar calls Typhon the "enemy of the gods",[59] apparently knew of a tradition which had the gods transform into animals and flee to Egypt, says that Typhon was defeated by Zeus' thunderbolt,has Typhon being held prisoner by Zeus under Etna,and in Tartarus stretched out under ground between Mount Etna and Cumae. However, the historian Herodotus (5th century BC), equating Typhon with the Egyptian god Set, reports that Typhon was supposed to be buried instead under Lake Serbonis in Egypt, near the Egyptian Mount Kasios, (modern Ra Kouroun).According to Pherecydes of Leros, during his battle with Zeus, Typhon first flees to the Caucasus, which begins to burn, then to the volcanic island of Pithecussae (modern Ischia), off the coast of Cumae, where he is buried under the island.Apollonius of Rhodes (3rd century BC), like Pherecydes, presents a multi-stage battle, with Typhon being struck by Zeus' thunderbolt on mount Caucasus, before fleeing to the mountains and plain of Nysa, and ending up, as in Herodotus, buried under Lake Serbonis.Like Pindar, Nicander has all the gods but Zeus and Athena, transform into animal forms and flee to Egypt: Apollo became a hawk, Hermes an ibis, Ares a fish, Artemis a cat, Dionysus a goat, Heracles a fawn, Hephaestus an ox, and Leto a mouse.[The geographer Strabo (c. 20 AD) gives several locations which were associated with the battle. According to Strabo, Typhon was said to have cut the serpentine channel of the Orontes River, which flowed beneath the Syrian Mount Kasios (modern Jebel Aqra), while fleeing from Zeus,[68] and some placed the battle at Catacecaumene ("Burnt Land"),[69] a volcanic plain, on the upper Gediz River, between the ancient kingdoms of Lydia, Mysia and Phrygia, near Mount Tmolus (modern Bozdağ) and Sardis the ancient capital of Lydia.No early source gives any reason for the conflict, but Apollodorus' account[71] seemingly implies that Typhon had been produced by Gaia to avenge the destruction, by Zeus and the other gods, of the Giants, a previous generation of offspring of Gaia. According to Apollodorus "Zeus pelted Typhon at a distance with thunderbolts, and at close quarters struck him down with an adamantine sickle" Wounded, Typhon fled to the Syrian Mount Kasios, where Zeus "grappled" with him. But Typhon, twining his snaky coils around Zeus, was able to wrest away the sickle and cut the sinews from Zeus' hands and feet. Typhon carried the disabled Zeus across the sea to the Corycian cave in Cilicia where he set the she-serpent Delphyne to guard over Zeus and his severed sinews, which Typhon had hidden in a bear skin. But Hermes and Aegipan (possibly another name for Pan)[73] stole the sinews and gave them back to Zeus. His strength restored, Zeus chased Typhon to mount Nysa, where the Moirai tricked Typhon into eating "ephemeral fruits" which weakened him. Typhon then fled to Thrace, where he threw mountains at Zeus, which were turned back on him by Zeus' thunderbolts, and the mountain where Typhon stood, being drenched with Typhon's blood, became known as Mount Haemus (Bloody Mountain). Typhon then fled to Sicily, where Zeus threw Mount Etna on top of Typhon burying him, and so finally defeated him.Oppian (2nd century AD) says that Pan helped Zeus in the battle by tricking Typhon to come out from his lair, and into the open, by the "promise of a banquet of fish", thus enabling Zeus to defeat Typhon with his thunderbolts.The longest and most involved account of the battle appears in Nonnus's Dionysiaca.Zeus hides his thunderbolts in a cave, so that he might seduce the maiden Plouto, and so produce Tantalus. But smoke rising from the thunderbolts, enables Typhon, under the guidance of Gaia, to locate Zeus's weapons, steal them, and hide them in another cave.[76] Immediately Typhon extends "his clambering hands into the upper air" and begins a long and concerted attack upon the heavens.Then "leaving the air" he turns his attack upon the seas. Finally Typhon attempts to wield Zeus' thunderbolts, but they "felt the hands of a novice, and all their manly blaze was unmanned."Now Zeus' sinews had somehow – Nonnus does not say how or when — fallen to the ground during their battle, and Typhon had taken them also. But Zeus devises a plan with Cadmus and Pan to beguile Typhon.Cadmus, desguised as a shepherd, enchants Typhon by playing the panpipes, and Typhon entrusting the thuderbolts to Gaia, sets out to find the source of the music he hears.[82] Finding Cadmus, he challenges him to a contest, offering Cadmus any goddess as wife, excepting Hera whom Typhon has reserved for himself.Cadmus then tells Typhon that, if he liked the "little tune" of his pipes, then he would love the music of his lyre – if only it could be strung with Zeus' sinews. So Typhon retrieves the sinews and gives them to Cadmus, who hides them in another cave, and again begins to play his bewiching pipes, so that "Typhoeus yielded his whole soul to Cadmos for the melody to charm".With Typhon distracted, Zeus takes back his thunderbolts. Cadmus stops playing, and Typhon, released from his spell, rushes back to his cave to discover the thunderbolts gone. Incensed Typhon unleashes devastation upon the world: animals are devoured, (Typhon's many animal heads each eat animals of its own kind), rivers turned to dust, seas made dry land, and the land "laid waist".The day ends with Typhon yet unchallenged, and while the other gods "moved about the cloudless Nile", Zeus waits through the night for the coming dawn.[87] Victory "reproaches" Zeus, urging him to "stand up as champion of your own children!"Dawn comes and Typhon roars out a challenge to Zeus.And a catyclismic battle for "the sceptre and throne of Zeus" is joined. Typhon piles up mountains as battlements and with his "legions of arms innumerable", showers volley after volley of trees and rocks at Zeus, but all are destroyed, or blown aside, or dodged, or thrown back at Typhon. Typhon throws torrents of water at Zeus' thunderbolts to quench them, but Zeus is able to cut off some of Typhon's hands with "frozen volleys of air as by a knife", and hurling thunderbolts is able to burn more of typhon's "endless hands", and cut off some of his "countless heads". Typhon is attacked by the four winds, and "frozen volleys of jagged hailstones." Gaia tries to aid her burnt and frozen son.Finally Typhon falls, and Zeus shouts out a long stream of mocking taunts, telling Typhon that he is to be buried under Sicily's hills, with a cenotaph over him which will read "This is the barrow of Typhoeus, son of Earth, who once lashed the sky with stones, and the fire of heaven burnt him up".
Burial under Etna and Ischia]
Most accounts have the defeated Typhon buried under either Mount Etna in Sicily, or the volcanic island of Ischia, the largest of the Phlegraean Islands off the coast of Naples, with Typhon being the cause of volcanic eruptions and earthquakes.Though Hesiod has Typhon simply cast into Tartarus by Zeus, some have read a reference to Mount Etna in Hesiod's description of Typhon's fall:And flame shot forth from the thunderstricken lord in the dim rugged glens of the mount when he was smitten. A great part of huge earth was scorched by the terrible vapor and melted as tin melts when heated by men's art in channelled crucibles; or as iron, which is hardest of all things, is shortened by glowing fire in mountain glens and melts in the divine earth through the strength of Hephaestus. Even so, then, the earth melted in the glow of the blazing fire.The first certain references to Typhon buried under Etna, as well as being the cause of its eruptions, occur in Pindar:Son of Cronus, you who hold Aetna, the wind-swept weight on terrible hundred-headed Typhon,and: among them is he who lies in dread Tartarus, that enemy of the gods, Typhon with his hundred heads. Once the famous Cilician cave nurtured him, but now the sea-girt cliffs above Cumae, and Sicily too, lie heavy on his shaggy chest. And the pillar of the sky holds him down, snow-covered Aetna, year-round nurse of bitter frost, from whose inmost caves belch forth the purest streams of unapproachable fire. In the daytime her rivers roll out a fiery flood of smoke, while in the darkness of night the crimson flame hurls rocks down to the deep plain of the sea with a crashing roar. That monster shoots up the most terrible jets of fire; it is a marvellous wonder to see, and a marvel even to hear about when men are present. Such a creature is bound beneath the dark and leafy heights of Aetna and beneath the plain, and his bed scratches and goads the whole length of his back stretched out against it.Thus Pindar has Typhon in Tartarus, and buried under not just Etna, but under a vast volcanic region stretching from Sicily to Cumae (in the vicinity of modern Naples), a region which presumably also included Mount Vesuvius, as well as Ischia.Many subsequent accounts mention either Etnaor Ischia. In Prometheus Bound, Typhon is imprisoned underneath Etna, while above him Hephaestus "hammers the molten ore", and in his rage, the "charred" Typhon causes "rivers of fire" to pour forth. Ovid has Typhon buried under all of Sicily, with his left and right hands under Pelorus and Pachynus, his feet under Lilybaeus, and his head under Etna; where he "vomits flames from his ferocious mouth". And Valerius Flaccus has Typhon's head under Etna, and all of Sicily shaken when Typhon "struggles". Lycophron has both Typhon and Giants buried under the island of Ischia. Virgil, Silius Italicus and Claudian, all calling the island "Inarime", have Typhon buried there. Strabo, calling Ischia "Pithecussae", reports the "myth" that Typhon lay buried there, and that when he "turns his body the flames and the waters, and sometimes even small islands containing boiling water, spout forth."Others said to be buried under Etna were the Giant Enceladus, the volcano's eruptions being the breath of Enceladus, and its tremors caused by the Giant rolling over from side to side beneath the mountain,and the Hundred-hander Briareus."Couch of Typhoeus" Homer describes a place he calls the "couch [or bed] of Typhoeus", which he locates in the land of the Arimoi (εἰν Ἀρίμοις), where Zeus lashes the land about Typhoeus with his thunderbolts. Presumably this is the same land where, according to Hesiod, Typhon's mate Echida keeps guard "in Arima" (εἰν Ἀρίμοισιν).But neither Homer nor Hesiod say anything more about where these Arimoi or this Arima might be. The question of whether an historical place was meant, and its possible location, has been, since ancient times, the subject of speculation and debate.Strabo discusses the question in some detail.[everal locales, Cilicia, Syria, Lydia, and the island of Ischia, all places associated with Typhon, are given by Strabo as possible locations for Homer's "Arimoi".
Pindar has his Cilician Typhon slain by Zeus "among the Arimoi",[106] and the historian Callisthenes (4th century BC), located the Arimoi and the Arima mountains in Cilicia, near the Calycadnus river, the Corycian cave and the Sarpedon promomtory.[107] The b scholia to Iliad 2.783, mentioned above, says Typhon was born in Cilicia "under Arimon",[108] and Nonnus mentions Typhon's "bloodstained cave of Arima" in Cilicia.Just across the Gulf of Issus from Corycus, in ancient Syria, was Mount Kasios (modern Jebel Aqra) and the Orontes River, sites associated with Typhon's battle with Zeus,[110] and according to Strabo, the historian Posidonius (c. 2nd century BC) identified the Arimoi with the Aramaeans of Syria.[Alternatively, according to Strabo, some placed the Arimoi at Catacecaumene,[112] while Xanthus of Lydia (5th century BC) added that "a certain Arimus" ruled there.Strabo also tells us that for "some" Homer's "couch of Typhon" was located "in a wooded place, in the fertile land of Hyde", with Hyde being another name for Sardis (or its acropolis), and that Demetrius of Scepsis (2nd century BC) thought that the Arimoi were most plausibly located "in the Catacecaumene country in Mysia".[114] The 3rd-century BC poet Lycophron placed the lair of Typhons' mate Echidna in this region.[115]
Another place, mentioned by Strabo, as being associated with Arima, is the island of Ischia, where according to Pherecydes of Leros, Typhon had fled, and in the area where Pindar and others had said Typhon was buried. The connection to Arima, comes from the island's Greek name Pithecussae, which derives from the Greek word for monkey, and according to Strabo, residents of the island said that "arimoi" was also the Etruscan word for monkeys.[116]
Etymology and origins Typhon's name has a number of variants.[117] The earliest forms of Typhoeus and Typhaon, occur prior to the 5th century BC. Homer uses Typhoeus, Hesiod and the Homeric Hymn to Apollo use both Typhoeus and Typhaon. The later forms Typhos and Typhon occur from the 5th century BC onwards, with Typhon becoming the standard form by the end of that century. Though several possible derivations of the name Typhon have been suggested, the derivation remains uncertain.[118] Consistent with Hesiod's making storm winds Typhon's offspring, some have supposed that Typhon was originally a wind-god, and ancient sources associated him with the Greek words tuphon, tuphos meaning "whirlwind".Other theories include derivation from a Greek root meaning "smoke" (consistent with Typhon's identification with volcanoes),from an Indo European root meaning "abyss" (making Typhon a "Serpent of the Deep"),and from Sapõn the Phoenician name for the Ugaritic god Baal's holy mountain Jebel Aqra (the classical Mount Kasios) associated with the epithet Baʿal Zaphon.
As noted by Herodotus, Typhon was traditionally identified with the Egyptian Set, who was also known to the Greeks as Typhon. As early as pre-dynastic Egypt, Set's mascot or emblem was the Set animal; the Greeks and later classicists referred to this unidentified aardvark-like creature as the Typhonic beast. In the Orphic tradition, just as Set is responsible for the murder of Osiris, Typhon leads the Titans when they attack and kill Dionysus, who also became identified with the earlier Osiris.Mythologist Joseph Campbell also makes parallels to the slaying of Leviathan by YHWH, about which YHWH boasts to Job.[123] Ogden calls the Typhon myth "the only Graeco-Roman drakōn-slaying myth that can seriously be argued to exhibit the influence of Near Eastern antecedents", connecting it in particular with Baʿal Zaphon's slaying of Yammu and Lotan, as well as with the Hittite myth of Illuyankas.From its first reappearance, this latter myth has been seen as a prototype of the battle of Zeus and Typhon.Walter Burkert and Calvert Watkins each note the close agreements.Comparisons can also be drawn with the Mesopotamian monster Tiamat and her slaying by Babylonian chief god Marduk. The similarities between the Greek myth and its earlier Mesopotamian counterpart do not seem to be merely accidental. A number of west Semitic (Ras Shamra) and Hittite sources appear to corroborate the theory of a genetic relationship between the two myths.In works of culture. Dante Alighieri's Inferno mentions him amongst the Biblical and mythological giants frozen onto the rings outside of Hell's Circle of Treachery. Dante and Virgil threatened to go to Tityos and Typhon unless Antaeus lowers them into the Circle of Treachery. Typhon (as Typhoeus) appears in Gustav Klimt's 1902 Beethoven Frieze as one of "the Hostile Forces".
Typhon is a recurring character in Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, where he is a friend and ally to Hercules, and a calming influence on Echidna and their children. Typhon appears in the 2007 video game, God of War II where the main character Kratos tries to enlist his aid. The Titan refuses and Kratos blinds Typhon and takes his magical bow, Typhon's Bane.Swedish symphonic metal band Therion dedicated a song to Typhon in their year 2004 album Lemuria.
Uses: Anything relating to finance and money.
Free Creative Commons Finance Images... I created these images in my studio and have made them all available for personal or commercial use. Hope you like them and find them useful.
To see more of our CC by 2.0 finance images click here... see profile for attribution.
WHAT DOES DOG DAY AFTERNOON RELATE TO
"the dog days of summer." Dog days are not about or connected to the loveable canines which many of us enjoy. Dog days are actually referring to the star "Sirius", also known as the dog star, found in the constellation of Canis Major, deriving its name from the Greek word '"seirios", which means "scorching".
The star sirius is most visible in our hemisphere during the summer months as the brightest star in the heavens (not Polaris, the northern star).
So, "dog day afternoon" actually means nothing more than a hot summer afternoon.
LIVERPOOL CITY CENTRE HOT SUMMERS DAY
Today is the ninth day of a 30 day challenge. The objective is to shoot one shot per day on subject matter provided by the local camera club.
Today's subject matter is, "something relating to a car".
BODY:
Maitreya Mesh Body v.4.1
CatWa Head - Kimberly
CatWa Eyes
CatWa Add-on TEETH B [Default]
CatWa Tongue Piercing for Teeth B [Default]
^^Swallow^^ Princess ears
[West End] Shapes - Reese
Izzie's - Whiskey Eyes (applier)
SKIN:
. MILA . Paloma Skin [Ivory] CATWA
. MILA . Body Skin Appliers V3
TATTOOS:
RedFish - Ouija tattoo
JEWELRY:
**RE**Envy Tags
**RE** Rebel Faith Bracelets
+AH+ Casual Goth Piercing CATWA Kimberly 2.1
~~ Ysoral ~~ .:Luxe Ring Veronica:. Engagement
~~ Ysoral ~~ .:Luxe Ring Veronica:. Wedding
^^Swallow^^ Ear Cuff Cross
^^Swallow^^ Princess Bento Rings
[ bubble ] Stars Collarbone Dermals
COLLAR (BDSM):
Cae :: Bound :: Collar
OUTFIT:
Blueberry - Can't Relate Set - Mega Pack
HAIR:
TRUTH Livia - Brunette
Blog post - litasbabygirladventures.blogspot.com/
This one can relate to all kinds of things. Sass and I are in Manoa Falls. There is a spot off the trail where the river water settles a bit and we are able to get nice reflection shots.
I brought back the camera stats for the convenience of the curious ones. Even if it helps only one person, it's worth the extra time.
CRAZY WEATHER
There was a huge storm here last night. Check out this picture that a fellow hawaii photographer took near Waikiki. Man I would have loved to set up a shoot with that in the background! I was stuck at work though :(
NEW SERIES COMING SOON!
I've got ideas for a new series. Twelve different shots over a three month span. I'm still getting together some ideas, but stay tuned!
Find me on facebook, tumblr, twitter, formspring,or my website.
Camera: Canon EOS 60D
Focal Length: 50mm
Lens: Canon 50mm 1.4
Aperture: f/2.0
Exposure: 1/200 sec
ISO Speed: 100
Filter: n/a
Editing Software: CS5
Flash: Canon 430ex II with Lumiquest Ltp Softbox camera left.
The chapel features, on its three walls, frescoed scenes relating to the Universal Flood, the Entrance of the Animals into the Ark, the End of the Flood and Noah's Drunkenness. The compositions are characterised by outdoor visions marked by the presence of human figures and animals, both depicted on a small scale. The painter's attention seems to be focused on the description of the variety of animals and birds, without, however, failing to dwell on the more intensely dramatic scenes, such as the cases of those who drown, going as far as the cold analysis of the corpses strewn on the ground after the Flood. The stories of the Flood are linked to the fresco of the Baptism of Christ that faces them in the cloistered church, as a foreshadowing of that moment of salvation, according to what St Peter makes clear in the First Epistle (3:20-21): "God in his longsuffering waited in the days of Noah for the ark to be built, in which eight people in all found escape from the water, a figure, this one, of the Baptism that now saves us".
Historical-critical information: In these frescoes, Aurelio Luini displays an unprecedented propensity for storytelling and narration for its own sake, which results in a smug amusement directed above all at the descriptive rendering of the various animal species, rendered with an almost lenticular meticulousness. As the son of Bernardino Luini, who was active for many years in San Maurizio, Aurelio showed undisputed talent for painting, which led him to collaborate with his older brother Giovan Pietro from 1555 onwards. Here, as in other cases, Aurelio exhibits the peculiar characteristics of his painting, sustained by an exuberant expressive emphasis that is fully in line with contemporary 'Mannerism'. The naturalistic taste manifested in the frescoes of the Noah's Ark chapel also reflects the interest that Aurelio, a member of the Accademia della Val di Blenio (run by Giovan Paolo Lomazzo), had always shown in Leonardo's research.
91/365
My first overseas collaboration and there wouldn't be a better artist than Laura Vanzo (aka. Pensa Art)
The project is about how two people who had never meet, can be connected through a common cause. This photo is the first in the series which I hope many of you can relate to.
Facebook / Twitter / Tumblr / Vogue Italia / Instagram: mc_cheung88
ift.tt/1L2Qu9W @trunkieygm collabs with @georgethepoet on the song entitled Pavements/Relate. Out 3pm on @linkuptv #UKMUSIC #CAM #LINKUPTV #PavementsRelate
Sure, it's not clever, and sure, I'm not actually gonna buy it.
But it’s relatable. :P
Honestly I just wanted to use this drawing I did a little while ago. Enjoy.
The Moon has reached the first quarter of it's phase, but it's been
so cloudy, misty, foggy and rainy that I haven't been able to see it!
I took this photo on leap day 29th February 2012 when the Moon was at a similar phase as it is now. I love the way that the craters show up so well on the terminator when the sun is shining at an angle.
Highest position in Explore: 112 on Thursday, November 22, 2012
#29 - Leap Day (Any shot to be taken on, or relating to 29th February 2012) in 112 pictures in 2012
The Symptoms of Kali-yuga
This chapter relates that, when the bad qualities of the Age of Kali will increase to an intolerable level, the Supreme Personality of Godhead will descend as Kalki to destroy those who are fixed in irreligion. After that, a new Satya-yuga will begin.
As the Age of Kali progresses, all good qualities of men diminish and all impure qualities increase. Atheistic systems of so-called religion become predominant, replacing the codes of Vedic law. The kings become just like highway bandits, the people in general become dedicated to low occupations, and all the social classes become just like śūdras. All cows become like goats, all spiritual hermitages become like materialistic homes, and family ties extend no further than the immediate relationship of marriage.
When the Age of Kali has almost ended, the Supreme Personality of Godhead will incarnate. He will appear in the village Śambhala, in the home of the exalted brāhmaṇa Viṣṇuyaśā, and will take the name Kalki. He will mount His horse Devadatta and, taking His sword in hand, will roam about the earth killing millions of bandits in the guise of kings. Then the signs of the next Satya-yuga will begin to appear. When the moon, sun and the planet Bṛhaspati enter simultaneously into one constellation and conjoin in the lunar mansion Puṣyā, Satya-yuga will begin. In the order of Satya, Tretā, Dvāpara and Kali, the cycle of four ages rotates in the society of living entities in this universe.
The chapter ends with a brief description of the future dynasties of the sun and moon coming from Vaivasvata Manu in the next Satya-yuga. Even now two saintly kṣatriyas are living who at the end of this Kali-yuga will reinitiate the pious dynasties of the sun-god, Vivasvān, and the moon-god, Candra. One of these kings is Devāpi, a brother of Mahārāja Śantanu, and the other is Maru, a descendant of Ikṣvāku. They are biding their time incognito in a village named Kalāpa.
SB 12.2.1 — Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: Then, O King, religion, truthfulness, cleanliness, tolerance, mercy, duration of life, physical strength and memory will all diminish day by day because of the powerful influence of the Age of Kali.
SB 12.2.2 — In Kali-yuga, wealth alone will be considered the sign of a man’s good birth, proper behavior and fine qualities. And law and justice will be applied only on the basis of one’s power.
SB 12.2.3 — Men and women will live together merely because of superficial attraction, and success in business will depend on deceit. Womanliness and manliness will be judged according to one’s expertise in sex, and a man will be known as a brāhmaṇa just by his wearing a thread.
SB 12.2.4 — A person’s spiritual position will be ascertained merely according to external symbols, and on that same basis people will change from one spiritual order to the next. A person’s propriety will be seriously questioned if he does not earn a good living. And one who is very clever at juggling words will be considered a learned scholar.
SB 12.2.5 — A person will be judged unholy if he does not have money, and hypocrisy will be accepted as virtue. Marriage will be arranged simply by verbal agreement, and a person will think he is fit to appear in public if he has merely taken a bath.
SB 12.2.6 — A sacred place will be taken to consist of no more than a reservoir of water located at a distance, and beauty will be thought to depend on one’s hairstyle. Filling the belly will become the goal of life, and one who is audacious will be accepted as truthful. He who can maintain a family will be regarded as an expert man, and the principles of religion will be observed only for the sake of reputation.
SB 12.2.7 — As the earth thus becomes crowded with a corrupt population, whoever among any of the social classes shows himself to be the strongest will gain political power.
SB 12.2.8 — Losing their wives and properties to such avaricious and merciless rulers, who will behave no better than ordinary thieves, the citizens will flee to the mountains and forests.
SB 12.2.9 — Harassed by famine and excessive taxes, people will resort to eating leaves, roots, flesh, wild honey, fruits, flowers and seeds. Struck by drought, they will become completely ruined.
SB 12.2.10 — The citizens will suffer greatly from cold, wind, heat, rain and snow. They will be further tormented by quarrels, hunger, thirst, disease and severe anxiety.
SB 12.2.11 — The maximum duration of life for human beings in Kali-yuga will become fifty years.
SB 12.2.12-16 — By the time the Age of Kali ends, the bodies of all creatures will be greatly reduced in size, and the religious principles of followers of varṇāśrama will be ruined. The path of the Vedas will be completely forgotten in human society, and so-called religion will be mostly atheistic. The kings will mostly be thieves, the occupations of men will be stealing, lying and needless violence, and all the social classes will be reduced to the lowest level of śūdras. Cows will be like goats, spiritual hermitages will be no different from mundane houses, and family ties will extend no further than the immediate bonds of marriage. Most plants and herbs will be tiny, and all trees will appear like dwarf śamī trees. Clouds will be full of lightning, homes will be devoid of piety, and all human beings will have become like asses. At that time, the Supreme Personality of Godhead will appear on the earth. Acting with the power of pure spiritual goodness, He will rescue eternal religion.
SB 12.2.17 — Lord Viṣṇu — the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the spiritual master of all moving and nonmoving living beings, and the Supreme Soul of all — takes birth to protect the principles of religion and to relieve His saintly devotees from the reactions of material work.
SB 12.2.18 — Lord Kalki will appear in the home of the most eminent brāhmaṇa of Śambhala village, the great soul Viṣṇuyaśā.
SB 12.2.19-20 — Lord Kalki, the Lord of the universe, will mount His swift horse Devadatta and, sword in hand, travel over the earth exhibiting His eight mystic opulences and eight special qualities of Godhead. Displaying His unequaled effulgence and riding with great speed, He will kill by the millions those thieves who have dared dress as kings.
SB 12.2.21 — After all the impostor kings have been killed, the residents of the cities and towns will feel the breezes carrying the most sacred fragrance of the sandalwood paste and other decorations of Lord Vāsudeva, and their minds will thereby become transcendentally pure.
SB 12.2.22 — When Lord Vāsudeva, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, appears in their hearts in His transcendental form of goodness, the remaining citizens will abundantly repopulate the earth.
SB 12.2.23 — When the Supreme Lord has appeared on earth as Kalki, the maintainer of religion, Satya-yuga will begin, and human society will bring forth progeny in the mode of goodness.
SB 12.2.24 — When the moon, the sun and Bṛhaspatī are together in the constellation Karkaṭa, and all three enter simultaneously into the lunar mansion Puṣyā — at that exact moment the age of Satya, or Kṛta, will begin.
SB 12.2.25 — Thus I have described all the kings — past, present and future — who belong to the dynasties of the sun and the moon.
SB 12.2.26 — From your birth up to the coronation of King Nanda, 1,150 years will pass.
SB 12.2.27-28 — Of the seven stars forming the constellation of the seven sages, Pulaha and Kratu are the first to rise in the night sky. If a line running north and south were drawn through their midpoint, whichever of the lunar mansions this line passes through is said to be the ruling asterism of the constellation for that time. The Seven Sages will remain connected with that particular lunar mansion for one hundred human years. Currently, during your lifetime, they are situated in the nakṣatra called Maghā.
SB 12.2.29 — The Supreme Lord, Viṣṇu, is brilliant like the sun and is known as Kṛṣṇa. When He returned to the spiritual sky, Kali entered this world, and people then began to take pleasure in sinful activities.
SB 12.2.30 — As long as Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the husband of the goddess of fortune, touched the earth with His lotus feet, Kali was powerless to subdue this planet.
SB 12.2.31 — When the constellation of the seven sages is passing through the lunar mansion Maghā, the Age of Kali begins. It comprises twelve hundred years of the demigods.
SB 12.2.32 — When the great sages of the Saptarṣi constellation pass from Maghā to Pūrvāsāḍhā, Kali will have his full strength, beginning from King Nanda and his dynasty.
SB 12.2.33 — Those who scientifically understand the past declare that on the very day that Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa departed for the spiritual world, the influence of the Age of Kali began.
SB 12.2.34 — After the one thousand celestial years of Kali-yuga, the Satya-yuga will manifest again. At that time the minds of all men will become self-effulgent.
SB 12.2.35 — Thus I have described the royal dynasty of Manu, as it is known on this earth. One can similarly study the history of the vaiśyas, śūdras and brāhmaṇas living in the various ages.
SB 12.2.36 — These personalities, who were great souls, are now known only by their names. They exist only in accounts from the past, and only their fame remains on the earth.
SB 12.2.37 — Devāpi, the brother of Mahārāja Śāntanu, and Maru, the descendant of Ikṣvāku, both possess great mystic strength and are living even now in the village of Kalāpa.
SB 12.2.38 — At the end of the Age of Kali, these two kings, having received instruction directly from the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vāsudeva, will return to human society and reestablish the eternal religion of man, characterized by the divisions of varṇa and āśrama, just as it was before.
SB 12.2.39 — The cycle of four ages — Satya, Tretā, Dvāpara and Kali — continues perpetually among living beings on this earth, repeating the same general sequence of events.
SB 12.2.40 — My dear King Parīkṣit, all these kings I have described, as well as all other human beings, come to this earth and stake their claims, but ultimately they all must give up this world and meet their destruction.
SB 12.2.41 — Even though a person’s body may now have the designation “king,” in the end its name will be “worms,” “stool” or “ashes.” What can a person who injures other living beings for the sake of his body know about his own self-interest, since his activities are simply leading him to hell?
SB 12.2.42 — [The materialistic king thinks:] “This unbounded earth was held by my predecessors and is now under my sovereignty. How can I arrange for it to remain in the hands of my sons, grandsons and other descendants?”
SB 12.2.43 — Although the foolish accept the body made of earth, water and fire as “me” and this earth as “mine,” in every case they have ultimately abandoned both their body and the earth and passed away into oblivion.
SB 12.2.44 — My dear King Parīkṣit, all these kings who tried to enjoy the earth by their strength were reduced by the force of time to nothing more than historical accounts.
~ Srimad Bhagavatam, canto 12, chapter 2
#InternationalRebellionWeek #srimadbhagavatam
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Oxford Circus, London 🇬🇧
18th April, 2019