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In downtown Paprihaven, the girls are headed to Duper's Super as preparations for Thanksgiving at the Simmons continue.
Buckley: Oh, let's stop at Reigny Daze!
Tracy: We don't have time, Buckley! Thanksgiving is toMORow! Hello? This is our third trip to Dupers!
Buckley: Hey, it wasn't my idea to add lemon meringue pie to the list.
Briar: Oh, look, Creepers Sneakers is having a big Thanksgiving sale!
Tracy: Lemon meringue is SO good!
Buckley: HAHAAHA!!
Tracy: What's so funny??
Buckley: On Paprichat, Erin said some action guy's been hitting on Trajetta... and she's been really dressing up now!
Tracy: Those girls always dress up.* And... I've never been sure about Fashions dating Actions.**
Briar: I think RC's dad is dating a Fashion.***
Tracy: Mr. Cooper was married to an Fashion. But she died in the war.
Briar: Oh, that's sad.
Buckley: RC looks very Action.
Briar: *giggles* RC is totally action! There's a looooot of Fashions waiting out his on/off with Shasta.
Tracy: RC definitely takes after his dad, but Cloe and Cici are definitely Fashions.
Buckley: Some big, hunky Action starts giving me attention, I'm all for that! I'm like, "WHUT UUUUP!"
Briar: HAHA!
Tracy: You don't think that's weird? I mean, crossing that boundary with Actions?
Buckley: I guess it's weird coz you don't have many nexus like Paprihaven or Coopers Town where they coexist. But there's nothing wrong with it, right?
Briar: Yeah, when we were watching Cooperstown on TV, wasn't that really good lookin action dating a fashion? What was his name? 'Hawk Fang'?
Buckley: Hawk Fang??
Tracy: Are you talking about Pierce Falcon and Vinona??****
Buckley: HAWK FANG!! GWAAHAHAA!
Briar: *giggles*
Buckley: Was Vinona a fashion??
Tracy: Totally. Slim, non-gripping hands. Big anime eyes.
Buckley: That's right...
Briar: Well, like Buck said, it's rare just because of circumstances, but there can't be anything wrong with it. The Bible says somewhere that in Jesus, there's no difference.
Tracy: True that. Galatians 3:28, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus." It just warns not to be unequally yoked.
Buckley: I dunno how many actions you're gonna find that read the Bible.
Briar: Cam and RC do! Pastor Calvin is an action.
Tracy: Well, whether this question, or anything else, God always has the answer in His Word.
Briar: Yep! And we can always ask Him! James 1:5 , "But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. "
Buckley: HAAAHAHA!!
Tracy: What now??
Buckley: Erin posted a pic of Trajetta with a meme, 'Ready for ACTION!'
Briar: HAHAHA!!
Tracy: Oh, dear.
•───────────︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵────────────•
A year of the shows and performers of the Bijou Planks Theater.
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Subjectivity and the Will of God
If you rely on internal, subjective messages and promptings from the Lord, what prevents you from imagining the input you want from Him? Moreover, what reliable, objective mechanism exists to keep you from misinterpreting your own imagination as divine instruction?
Many good souls and even some heroes of our faith fall into that same error, mistaking imagination for revelation. Many—perhaps most—Christians believe God uses subjective promptings to guide believers in making major decisions. But, a thorough search of church history would undoubtedly confirm that most believers who lean heavily on immediate “revelations” or subjective impressions ostensibly from God end up embarrassed, confused, disappointed, and frustrated.
So how are we supposed to determine the divine will? Virtually every Christian grapples with the question of how to know God’s will in any individual instance. We particularly struggle when faced with the major decisions of adolescence—what occupation or profession we will pursue, whom we will marry, whether and where we will go to college, and so on. Most of us fear that wrong decisions at these points will result in a lifetime of disaster.
Unfortunately, many of the books and pamphlets on discerning God’s will are filled with mystical mumbo-jumbo about seeking a sense of peace, listening for a divine “call,” putting out a “fleece,” and other subjective signposts pointing the way to God’s will. That kind of “discernment” is not at all what Scripture calls for. If we examine everything the Bible has to say about knowing God’s will, what we discover is that everywhere Scripture expressly mentions the subject, it sets forth objective guidelines. If we put those guidelines together, we get a fairly comprehensive picture of the will of God for every Christian. We can summarize them like this:
It is God’s will that we be saved. “The Lord is . . . not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). “God our Savior . . . desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:3–4).
It is God’s will that we be Spirit-filled. “Do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. . . . Be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:17–18).
It is God’s will that we be sanctified. “For this is the will of God, your sanctification” (1 Thessalonians 4:3).
It is God’s will that we be submissive. “Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right. For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men” (1 Peter 2:13–15).
It is God’s will that we suffer. “Therefore, let those also who suffer according to the will of God entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right” (1 Peter 4:19). “For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake” (Philippians 1:29). “Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Timothy 3:12).
If all those objective aspects of God’s will are realities in your life, you needn’t fret over the other decisions you must make. As long as the options you face do not involve issues directly forbidden or commanded in Scripture, you are free to do whatever you choose.
Whatever you choose? Yes, within the limits expressly set forth in God’s Word. If those five objective principles are consistently true in your life—if you are saved, Spirit-filled, sanctified, submissive, and suffering for righteousness’ sake—you are completely free to choose whatever you desire.
In fact, God providentially governs your choice by molding your desires. Psalm 37:4 says, “Delight yourself in the Lord; and He will give you the desires of your heart.” That doesn’t mean merely that He grants the desires of your heart; it suggests that He puts the desires there. So even when we choose freely, His sovereign providence guides the free choices we make! What confidence that should give us as we live our lives before God!
Haddon Robinson wrote: “When we lift our inner impressions to the level of divine revelation, we are flirting with divination.” In other words, those who treat subjective impressions as revelatory prophecy are actually practicing a form of fortune-telling. Those willing to heed inner voices and mental impressions may be listening to the lies of a deceitful heart, the fantasies of an overactive imagination, or even the voice of a demon. Once objective criteria are cast aside, there is no way to know the difference between truth and falsehood. Those who follow subjective impressions are by definition undiscerning. Mysticism and discernment simply do not mix.
- John MacArthur, Adapted from Reckless Faith
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* They certainly do! Trajetta enjoying the azaleas:
[https://www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/33094283862/]
** An ongoing debate in Paprihaven, seen in various scenes such as Paprihaven 1620!
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/52683654653
*** Cam Cooper is indeed dating the lovely Bonnie Bailey, as seen two days ago!
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/54945142388
**** Yep, that was it! Def not 'Hawk Fang'.
www.flickr.com/photos/135742756@N07/39528612572/
Previous Days of Thanksgiving on Paprihaven:
2015:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/23317265455/
2016:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/31221411415/
2017:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/38546781536/
2018:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/44152794180/
2019:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/49128237531/
2020:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/50641046658/
2021:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/51701007283/
2022:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/52517742153/
2023:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/53346631177/
2024:
Yesterday I posted a clock from Santiago de Compostela..today I share another photo taken in 2015 in Spain. You can also watch the video I prepared to summarize my days on the Camino de Santiago ( during that educational tour- I walking without a big backpack ) .So I was not a real pilgrim but this experience was the spark to bring me back on the Camino an live a different experience ( in France in 2019). I know I often talk about this special time . It is in my heart and I want to share with you.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yb1PWF7WAEY&t=24s
Merci de visionner ma vidéo -sur Youtube- qui résume un peu mon Camino en Espagne (2015). Souvenirs inoubliables.
***
Somehow I can't believe that there are any heights that can't be scaled by a man who knows the secrets of making dreams come true. This special secret, it seems to me, can be summarized in four C s. They are curiosity, confidence, courage, and constancy.
"Walt Disney"
***
Four ships ... "four" you :)
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FOUR is the topic for Friday 13th January 2012
.
Francis of Assisi
The Fioretti ("Little Flowers") is a collection of legends and folklore that sprang up after Francis' death.
One account describes how one day, while Francis was travelling with some companions, they happened upon a place in the road where birds filled the trees on either side.
Francis told his companions to "wait for me while I go to preach to my sisters the birds."
The birds surrounded him, intrigued by the power of his voice and not one of them flew away. He is often portrayed with a bird, typically in his hand ...
I never imagined how truly exciting and interesting his real historical life was, well summarized in Wikipedia.
"Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone (c. 1181 – 3 October 1226), known as Francis of Assisi, was an Italian mystic, poet and Catholic friar who founded the religious order of the Franciscans. Inspired to lead a Christian life of poverty, he became a beggar and an itinerant preacher.
One of the most venerated figures in Christianity, Francis was canonized by Pope Gregory IX on 16 July 1228. He is commonly portrayed wearing a brown habit with a rope tied around his waist, featuring three knots symbolizing the evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity, and obedience.
In 1219, Francis went to Egypt in an attempt to convert the sultan Al-Kamil and put an end to the conflict of the Fifth Crusade. In 1223, he arranged for the first live nativity scene as part of the annual Christmas celebration in Greccio. According to Christian tradition, Francis received the stigmata during the apparition of a Seraphic angel in a religious ecstasy in 1224.
Francis is associated with patronage of animals and the environment. It became customary for churches to hold ceremonies blessing animals on his feast day of 4 October, which became World Animal Day. Francis was noted for his devotion to the Eucharist. Along with Catherine of Siena, Francis was designated patron saint of Italy. He is also the namesake of the city of San Francisco. 17 September is the feast of Francis' stigmatization."
In dem guten Roman von Bodo Kirchhoff „Die Liebe in groben Zügen“ wird man nebenbei auch mit dem Leben des Franz von Assisi vertraut gemacht ...
_MG_1290_92_pt3
Piombìno is an Italian municipality of 32,254 inhabitants in the province of Livorno in Tuscany.
The city preserves evidence of its past, from its Etruscan origins to the Principality of Piombino of which it was the capital; its long history can be summarized in the architectural monuments and works of art preserved in the historic center, to the creation of which Leonardo da Vinci and Andrea Guardi also contributed.
Kudos to the birders who figure out who these drifters are and then take the trouble to help other birders find them.
This guy was way off his patch.
"While today’s vagrant might be tomorrow’s model citizen, destined to become a colonizer and perhaps an established resident, as Grinnell (1922) asserted, most vagrants might be viewed as “failed colonization attempts”. Newton (2008: 267–299) summarized quite well the various explanations of the causes of vagrancy put forward over the past century or so. They include: normal dispersal over long distances, population growth or expansion, drift by winds, migration overshoots, deviant directional tendencies (right time but wrong direction), mirror-image migration, and reversed direction migration. While all explanations probably play a role and explain the occurrence of some vagrant individuals, we address the latter three explanations as they likely involve the vast majority of landbirds. The mirror-image misorientation theory, originally developed by DeSante (1973), and described by Diamond (1982), proposed that vagrants are misoriented by confusion of right and left in relating an inherited migration direction to a compass reference direction. Mirror-image misorientation theory accounts for observations made by DeSante (1983a) that in certain situations large-angle misorientations seem more frequent than small or intermediate deviations from the normal migration course (Alerstam, 1990). Misorientation by the wind has long been suggested as a cause of accidentals (Austin, 1971), but Thorup et al. (2012) found differently, as the authors used radio telemetry to track individual migratory flights of several species of songbirds from the Faroe Islands, approximately halfway between Norway and Iceland, far west of their normal migration route. Birds with expected easterly and south-easterly migration direction departed westward out over the Atlantic Ocean, indicating that these birds are actively flying in the “wrong” direction and that their occurrence is not caused by wind drift. However, on Attu Island, in the Aleutian Islands off Alaska, Hameed et al. (2009) found statistical evidence that the occurrence of spring Asian vagrants on this North Pacific island were correlated with storm winds from the west."
Excerpt from uwaterloo.ca:
Description of the District
St. Clair Avenue Heritage Conservation District runs along St. Clair Avenue between Main Street and Delaware Avenue. The district consists of 23 properties. Twenty-one of these properties are residential and two are commercial.
Cultural Heritage Value of the District
The Heritage Conservation District Planning Study summarizes the value of the district in three points:
• Area has relatively significant historical/architectural structures that represent early 20th century architecture.
• Area was first developed in 1912 on the west side of the avenue, and development on the east side started in 1923.
• Original homeowners were significant individuals in the City of Hamilton.
Designation of the District
The designation of St. Clair Avenue Heritage Conservation District was initiated by the local residents association. According to the planning study, “The St. Clair Heritage District Planning Study evolved from the interest and effort of the St. Clair Homeowners Association and was encouraged by the Hamilton-Wentworth
Regional Planning and Development Department”. The district is protected by By-law 86-125, passed in 1986.
Macro Mondays theme : #Miniature
This little Teddy Bear is very anxious to go on his next adventure! He packed everything he owns, which can be summarized as his little yellow bowtie and the red pull wagon. Wherever you want to go, he is more than willing to accompany you and discover another part of the world! Will you be his guide?
In case you wonder, the little pull wagon is 1 3/8” long (the red part only). It shouldn’t be too hard to pull! 😉
Thank you everyone for your visits, faves, and kind comments
Campione del Garda ist ein Ortsteil von Tremosine sul Garda auf der westlichen Seite des Gardasees in der Provinz Brescia in der Region Lombardei.
Campione del Garda is a frazione of Tremosine sul Garda Lake on the Western side of Lake Garda, province of Brescia, in Lombardy.
The history is here very well summarized:
Die bewegte Geschichte ist hier sehr gut zusammengefasst:
This is probably an image that summarizes my photographic work of the past two years.
That day was one of those days where luck was on my side, I drove my car to this magnificent beach of El Saler and gave me the most spectacular sunrise I had ever witnessed.
In those moments, I took and did some typical shots, but still contemplating the spectacle of lights, I crossed my mind show something different, something we're not used to seeing with our own eyes.
This photograph does not have filters or subsequent effects on processing, is a photograph 30 seconds of exposure, with a neutral gradient filter three steps, with the camera on the tripod, a hand holding a black card to avoid high sky lights for several seconds and with the other hand I carried a repetitive sweeps from side to side to create the effect of movement.
I hope you like it. Have a nice Weekend. :)
My galleries:
Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/112711738@N06/
500px: www.500px.com/dasanes77
Facebook: www.facebook.com/dasanes77
© Copyright: The reproduction, publication, modification, transmission or exploitation of any work contained herein for any use, personal or commercial, without my prior written permission is strictly prohibited.
Dedicated to Paul Ewing, my good friend, Co-Pano-Saboteur and Co-Founder of PANO-Vision, for his Birthday.
I spent the better part of 2018 creating and posting what we call "Straight" or "Raw" Panos in response to comments by colleagues who felt that PANO-Vision is all about photo manipulation. A slightly purist stance, and I saw it that way, but the point was taken. I'm always up for a challenge, so I made it my project to prove that "Straight Pano" could be just as valid artistically as any form of manipulated Pano.
My proviso, however, was to make sure that the "Straight" panos that I posted were just as rich and artistically rigorous in terms of composition, balance, lighting, colour, mood and mystery as anything that had had some form of "atmosphere" added to it digitally. They still had to be Art.
Coming out of this long project I came to the clear realization and conviction that while I work primarily in the Pano field, and have done much to promote and teach it, I am an Artist FIRST, a Pano-Saboteur, second. Styles and techniques, names for things etc, are smaller details to the larger reality of what it means to be an Artist, I think.
Art is what unites straight and manipulated Panos, is the common denominator between Alexander Rodchenko, Christo, Max Ernst, Cindy Sherman, Titian, Jackson Pollock, Vincent van Gogh, Monet, Louise Nevelson, Andy Goldsworthy, Yayoi Kusama and Gerhard Richter, etc. All of the artists mentioned are quite distinct from each other in their work and their personal thinking about Art, but they are ALL Artists. THIS is what I pay my homage and give my allegiance to. The underlying unity and ineffability of Art.
Going from here I'll be posting work in many styles and genres as my artistic intuition moves me. I'll take my bearings from Max Ernst and Gerhard Richter. Ernst felt that any artist who knows precisely where they are going is a fraud and Richter is committed to as many differing art practices as he sees fit, resolutely refusing to settle into one. To summarize the synthesis of the two - To move fearlessly, even excitedly, into the unknown and unpredictable and by doing so, never settling into the repetition of a single point of view or style of practice.
Here with this image I return to the freedom that we each reserve as Artists to go where we are moved, to follow our hearts and to respond to challenges. I revelled in the creation of this image and was more than happy to not restrain my imagination any more than was necessary. I feel like I'm back in full swing.
ALL the elements of "Denizens" are Pano-Sabotage images. There are 5 different shots all used as the main image, additional panels or veils and as edging elements. None of them are photo manipulated.
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Music Link: "Idiot Prayer" - Porucpine Tree, from their album "Signify".
www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQYMYls0MoI
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© Richard S Warner ( Visionheart ) - 2018. All Rights Reserved. This image is not for use in any form without explicit, express, written permission.
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In most cases, the power of a photo is inversely proportional to the number of different elements it has. This is something that I myself have learned for some years .... photographing and observing thousands of beautiful images ... and these days my photographic "style" is as simple as possible, I also try to see life every day from this way ...
The best images usually have a strong emotional impact... if the viewer has to spend time constantly scanning various elements, that impact is reduced.
I hope I have managed to summarize well what I said above, with this image.
"Simple is the essential, the most basic. But it is not always easy"
It's so simple to be happy and so hard to be simple...right?
Thank you very much for the visits, favorites and kind comments.
You can also find me here / Il est aussi possible de me retrouver ici : Facebook Page
FR : Soir du 9 Juin 2014, pris dans la tourmente de cette ligne orageuse très active que traduit cette photographie avec un temps d'exposition de 15" avec 4 puissants impacts sur celle ci.
ENG : Night of the 9 June 2014, taken in this very active storm. This photograph summarize it with 4 powerful impacts (15" exposition lenght).
1. Se você pudesse se resumir em uma unica palavra qual seria?
Paz
2. A musica da sua vida
Godspell - Day By Day
3. Uma frase
"Todo dia é dia, toda hora é hora de saber que o mundo é seu !"
4. Porque voce deve ganhar o MBB 2010?
Eu não acho que devo ganhar, porque as outras candidatas merecem igualmente o título de Miss, mas eu gostaria de ganhar porque represento o começo de todas elas.
5. Qual seu maior desejo?
Meu maior desejo é encontrar algumas meninas da minha época.
1. If you could summarize in a single word what would it be?
Peace
2. The music of your life
Godspell - Day By Day
3. A sentence
"Every day is a day, every hour is time to know that the world is yours!"
4. Why you should win the 2010 MBB?
I do not think I should win because the other candidates also deserve the title of Miss, but I would like to win because I represent the beginning of them all.
5. What is your greatest wish?
My greatest wish is to find some girls of my age.
Excerpt from baladodiscovery.com/circuits/291/murals-of-sherbrooke--vi...:
#Sherbylove Mural seen from the corner of King and Wellington
Technically and artistically, the Sherbylove mural was the most difficult one that the crafters from the MURIRS group had to achieve. The team dedicated three months of work to it.
The hashtag #Sherbylove originates from a trip and a love story. In May 2011, after two bloggers from Montreal came to visit a tour in Sherbrooke, one of them summarized her stay using one word: Sherbylove. That word had a snowballing effect and was picked up thousands of times on the social networks. Several years later, the word had become so popular that the elected people of Sherbrooke and the crafters agreed to create this mural.
Sherbylove is intended as the reflection of our time. The huge heart in the middle is supposed to be a tribute to a generation which, at the age of social networks, is busy being at the heartbeat of its city.
I taught ChatGPT to write prompts in the way I learned from the great Techhalla.
After ChatGPT understood, I gave the following instruction:
Now create four prompts on four topics on which I invite you to act completely freely. A refusal is not accepted, make an effort.
Topic 1: something I have never seen before.
Topic 2: something you have never seen before.
Topic 3: something extremely surreal.
it worked:
The last Topic 4 will follow very soon.
today the 4 results of topic 3.
I personally don't find the result as exciting as Topics 1 and 2, so I have summarized it. But the absolute highlight is yet to come.
here are the MJ prompts ChatGPT created:
IMAGE: Surreal | STYLE: Abstract | MOOD: Bizarre, Mind-bending | COLOR: Contrasting and vibrant colors | BACKGROUND: Distorted cityscape | SCENE: Floating objects defying gravity | DETAILS: Unusual combinations of everyday objects, impossible physics | RENDER: Dreamlike and unconventional | LIGHTING: Dramatic and surreal lighting | COMPOSITION: Disorienting and visually striking | SHOT: Low angle shot | CAMERA: Sony A7RV | LENS: Focal length 14mm | TAGS: Surreal, abstract, floating objects, distorted cityscape --ar 16:10 --v 5.1 --style raw
Piombìno is an Italian municipality of 32,254 inhabitants in the province of Livorno in Tuscany.
The city preserves evidence of its past, from its Etruscan origins to the Principality of Piombino of which it was the capital; its long history can be summarized in the architectural monuments and works of art preserved in the historic center, to the creation of which Leonardo da Vinci and Andrea Guardi also contributed.
I will use this as my last image of Edisto and it perfectly summarizes the mood and feel of this splendid and unspoiled island..have a blessed weekend all of my contacts..
Les locaux du journal quotidien La Voix du Nord, (qui étaient Le Grand Écho du Nord avant 1941) place du Général de Gaulle, en plein centre de Lille, sont passionnants et fascinants à plus d'un titre. Nous sommes sur une place à l'architecture classique (sans rentrer dans le détail) et cette façade rompt totalement avec l'ensemble, au niveau de son élévation, de ses ornements et même de sa couleur.
Sur son histoire, il est bien difficile de trouver des informations. L'architecte est Albert Laprade, aidé de son dessinateur Bazin.
Le pignon à redent est d'inspiration d'un régionalisme flamand.
Sur les côté, on peut voir deux plus petits pignons, eux aussi à redents, comme un rappel de ce choix assumé, venu tout droit des Flandres.
Au sommet de ce pignon est juchée une statue des Trois Grâces en bronze symbolisant les trois anciennes provinces de la région, en gros aujourd'hui le Nord-Pas-de-Calais : les Flandres, l'Artois et l'Hainaut.
Sur ce même pignon, on aperçoit un balcon, les mots « Défendre le travail dans la région du Nord » et un bas-relief sur le thème du travail, justement. On y voit une allégorie des arts, un marin, des pêcheurs, des ouvriers, des agriculteurs, des mineurs mais aussi des commerçants et des sportifs.
Sur la façade, au dessus de chaque fenêtre, est placé un blason en bas-relief des principales villes de la région.
Pour synthétiser, on pourrait dire que l'Art Déco est surtout dans le bas-relief, à peine dans les motifs du balcon, beaucoup plus dans l'architecture, on peut tout de même qualifier ce bâtiment d'Art Déco avec des éléments classiques et des influences régionalistes.
The premises of the daily newspaper La Voix du Nord, (which was Le Grand Écho du Nord before 1941) on Place du General de Gaulle, in the very center of Lille, are exciting and fascinating in more ways than one. We are in a square with classical architecture (without going into detail) and this facade breaks completely with the whole, in terms of its elevation, its ornaments and even its color.
On its history, it is very difficult to find information. The architect is Albert Laprade, helped by his draftsman Bazin.
The stepped gable is inspired by Flemish regionalism.
On the sides, we can see two smaller gables, also with claws, as a reminder of this assumed choice, coming straight from Flanders.
At the top of this gable is perched a statue of the Three Graces in bronze symbolizing the three former provinces of the region, roughly today Nord-Pas-de-Calais: Flanders, Artois and Hainaut.
On this same gable, we can see a balcony, the words "Defend work in the northern region" and a bas-relief on the theme of work, precisely. We see an allegory of the arts, a sailor, fishermen, workers, farmers, miners but also traders and sportsmen.
On the facade, above each window, is placed a coat of arms in bas-relief of the main towns of the region.
To summarize, we could say that Art Deco is mainly in the bas-relief, barely in the patterns of the balcony, much more in the architecture, we can still qualify this building as Art Deco with classic elements and regionalist influences.
This gentleman was carrying a banner which seemed to summarize at least the eight major themes of the massive demonstrations across the country....and in supporting countries around the world.
This scary beauty cannot be summarized in a single canvas, it gives a majestic look from every angle. first sight of this lake give you a terrifying feeling when you know that this is a result of mighty disaster and for a while this lake become a danger for a very large area of Gilgit. the level was lower down because of the chances of dam failure.
Current length of this lake is 20.9 kms. while travelling to this lake, first glimpse of the water give a terrifying feeling because you are in front of this mighty lake whic have caused displacement of more than 25000 people, including 50 plus casualties.
This photo pretty much summarize the quality of my photography
Location; Hospital, Nowa Ruda, Poland
Mamiya 7ii
Bergger Pancro 400
Dev; Atomal 49
Developed and scanned at home
What’s up guys? it’s been a minute since the last time I was here. I must say that this break wasn’t planed but it was a learning experience. If I had to summarize time spent away from social media it would all feel kinda like this. What do you think?
In a similar fashion to one of the first images I made in the Support for Ukraine series, here we have a dandelion seed as the foundation for water droplets, refracting the image of the Ukrainian flag in the background. This time, sheets of sparkling paper were used. This makes for a lively effect, and the out-of-focus sparkles in the background make for a pleasing “bokeh”.
When things refract, they flip. In order to get the flag to appear in the proper orientation in the droplets, the actual flag has to be placed in the background upside down. An upside-down flag can also be symbolic, as a sign of distress and a request for immediate help. Ukraine has been making such a call for nearly a year now, and the world continues to help. There have been some big developments, some of which you probably haven’t heard of.
An important line has been crossed: other nations are considering or confirming their desire to send main battle tanks to Ukraine. Germany is an odd hold-out, and they have been strangely hesitant to send any aid to Ukraine since the conflict began. Yesterday (January 21, 2023), Germany and it’s allies met at the Ramstein Air Base to discuss the issues, and there was no conclusive answer. Germany can block the transfer of Leopard tanks from other nations, and vaguely said that they would not do this – but with nothing formally stated.
Even without the leopard tanks, the flood of military aid to Ukraine has been massive. More patriot air defense equipment, among many additional defensive armaments. Effectively every country that had previously supported Ukraine is turning up the dial further. And for this, Russia is getting desperate.
Putin has replaced the commander in Ukraine after only three months. Sergei Surovikin will be replaced with Army General Valery Gerasimov. Days after this announcement was made, a horrendous attack in Dnipro followed. On January 14th, a Russian aircraft launched a Kh-22 missile, allegedly aiming to destroy electrical infrastructure. It missed, and destroyed an apartment building. 46 innocent lives were lost, including six children. There’s a tribute to the victims here: kyivindependent.com/national/here-are-the-victims-of-russ...
The Kh-22 missile, though. This weapon was originally designed in 1962 and has a 1000kg warhead. It was intended to be fired at aircraft carriers, and as such, is wildly inaccurate for urban use. Someone in Russia’s command thought this was an acceptable action to take. Such actions continue to disregard human lives and add to the seemingly endless list of war crimes.
This week brought about some interesting positive news, however. It involves actions taken semi-secretly by Bulgaria. Die Welt conducted an investigative journal of the actions taken by Bulgaria since the beginning of the conflict, and Politico created a summarized English version: www.politico.eu/article/bulgaria-volodymyr-zelenskyy-kiri...
I’ll summarize it for you in point form:
- Bulgaria is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of 152mm Soviet-era artillery ammunition.
- At the start of the war, entire cargo planes were filled with munitions and delivered to third-party countries including Poland, for eventual transport to Ukraine.
- Bulgaria’s only oil refinery is just south of us on the Black Sea near Burgas. It receives oil from Russian tankers, and is owned my Russian company Lukoil.
- That facility has supplied Ukraine with 40% of its diesel fuel, transported by truck and train.
- Much of this was done in secrecy to maintain the coalition government where some parties were pro-Russian.
- With a current caretaker government in place before new elections, the government has now officially agreed to supply Ukraine with further weapons.
40% of Ukraine’s fuel, more than 32,000 barrels a day ( www.novinite.com/articles/218499/32%2C000+Barrels+of+Fuel... ) comes from a Russian-affiliated refinery in Bulgaria. To ensure this arrangement continues, laws have very recently been passed that could allow the Bulgarian government to take control of the facility for up to a year if needed ( ca.news.yahoo.com/bulgaria-clears-way-control-lukoil-1209... ).
Former Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov was also the person who suggested in an emergency meeting on February 25, 2022, to cut Russia off the SWIFT banking system. That suggestion was adopted, and Russia is furious with Bulgaria for it ( www.novinite.com/articles/218512/Russia+on+Petkov%3A+The+... ).
Many nations are helping Ukraine defend itself and defeat Russia. Many of the ways which other nations help are not seen. Much of this can never become public, or is only fully realized years later. While I can say this is true for Bulgaria, I hope that there is a lot more going on behind the scenes across the globe to help Ukraine.
And to that end, this image is in the Public Domain. Do with it what you’d like! Слава Україні.
La recuperación conceptual del monasterio, llevada a cabo a finales del pasado siglo XX, se resume en la instalación de una cúpula de cristal como eje sobre el que giran los tres claustros y la colocación de una cortina o paño de cristal en el claustro de los Caballeros (en la imagen).
Este cristal-espejo del claustro renacentista dialoga con las formas y estilos que allí se concentran y se trasluce en un juego de reflejos fragmentados y diferentes según la iluminación.
El "nuevo" monasterio es, desde el año 2004, un Parador de Turismo con 77 habitaciones.
The "new" Monastery of San Esteban de Ribas de Sil.
The conceptual recovery of the monastery, carried out in the late twentieth century, is summarized in the installation of a glass dome as the axis on which the three cloisters revolve and the placement of a curtain or glass cloth in the Cloister of the Knights (in the image).
This glass-mirror of the Renaissance cloister dialogues with the shapes and styles that are concentrated there and is translucent in a game of fragmented and different reflections depending on the lighting.
The "new" monastery is, since the year 2004, a Parador of tourism with 77 rooms.
Nogueira de Ramuin (Orense). Galicia. España.
www.turismo.gal/recurso/-/detalle/5216/santo-estevo-de-ri...
...and this pouty little one in her snuggly sweater summarizes the mood for today as I battle a cold. 'Tis the season!
Doll: Wedding Belle Poppy Parker, rerooted (I thinks she's often overlooked but is a really pretty Poppy)
Sweater: White Bambina (etsy)
Necklace: by me
Resumir Cuenca en unas pocas líneas no sólo es tarea baladí, sino casi un sacrilegio, ya que por los huecos de la estrechez perderíamos siempre algo valioso, algo importante. Cuenca es ciudad para reposar, no de visita apresurada. Una ciudad para ver por dentro, paseando sus calles, entrando en sus rincones monumentales; y contemplar desde fuera, desde el otro lado del Júcar; para ver bañada por el sol o iluminada por la noche. Para ver las construcciones del hombre y las de la naturaleza. Para descubrir escondidos secretos de callejones fachadas y callejuelas, o para que invada la imponencia de su catedral, o sumergirse de lleno en la envoltura de monumentos de la Plaza Mayor; para la historia del arte o el arte abstracto contemporáneo.
*
La ciudad que se asoma al Júcar colgada desde la pared que la sustenta, es, merecidamente, Patrimonio de la Humanidad e invita desde su percha a transitarla con calma, degustarla y llevársela prendida. Cuenca es la ciudad que no se resume, nos resume ella y nos hace vulnerables ante su esplendor y su belleza.
*
Cuenca summarize in a few lines is not only trivial task, but almost sacrilegious because through the holes of the narrowness always lose something valuable, something important. Cuenca is a city to rest, not hasty visit. A city to see inside, walking the streets, entering his monumental corners; and look from outside, from the other side of the Júcar; to see bathed in sunshine or illuminated at night. To see the constructions of man and nature. To discover hidden secrets of facades alleys and lanes, or to invade its imposing cathedral, or being immersed in the envelope of monuments Plaza Mayor; for the history of contemporary art or abstract art.
*
The city overlooking the Júcar hanging from the wall that supports it, is deservedly a World Heritage Site and invites from his perch to journey it calmly, taste it and take her pinned. Cuenca is the city that is not summed up, she sums up and makes us vulnerable to its splendor and beauty.
ESCOGE CUALQUIERA DE MIS ALBUMES Y MÍRALO SIN PRISAS
TODA MI GALERIA EN UN CLICK
MIS FOTOS MÁS POPULARES SEGÚN VUESTRO CRITERIO.
Y ahora también en FACEBOOK
Mis blogs:
Puedes seguirme en 500px.com/pabloarias
You, everything about you
Summarized into single sentences
Carefully placed between capitols, periods and spaces
Same fellow as the last RBWP I posted that was pecking away for food.
Well, we teachers in WV are having a two-day walkout today, (picket lines, rallying at the capitol) . . . hard to say if it will last into next week or longer (I hope not). If interested, just search WV Teacher Strike in Google, hit news, then sort by date. To summarize our conditions:
*They gave us a 1% raise (we're 48th in salary in the US), but raised our insurance so much that we actually take a pay cut.
*They tried to make us report our health (what we eat, when and how much we exercise, our vitals); failing to do so would raise our premiums by about $1,000.
*They are trying to take our seniority away from us.
*When the WV legislators started working on all this, they offered at first a 1% raise each year for five years . . . that's five percent. Now it is a two percent the first year, then two years at one percent . . . that's a loss of one percent total . . . so they are making it worse.
Being a teacher is not easy to begin with, but being a teacher in WV . . . you're nothing more than Pond Scum to our legislators.
Anyway . . . thanks for Reading--and Viewing, as always. As things settle, I shall return to commenting more. Apologies.
The mosque-cathedral's hypostyle hall dates from the original mosque construction and originally served as its main prayer space for Muslims. The main hall of the mosque was used for a variety of purposes. It served as a central prayer hall for personal devotion, for the five daily Muslim prayers and the special Friday prayers accompanied by a sermon. It also would have served as a hall for teaching and for Sharia law cases during the rule of Abd al-Rahman I and his successors.
The hall was large and flat, with timber ceilings held up by rows of double-tiered arches (arcades) resting on columns. These rows of arches divided the original building into 11 aisles or "naves" running from north to south, later increased to 19 by Al-Mansur's expansion, while in turn forming perpendicular aisles running east–west between the columns. The approximately 850 columns were made of jasper, onyx, marble, granite and porphyry. In the original mosque, all of the columns and capitals were reused from earlier Roman and Visigothic buildings, but subsequent expansions (starting with Abd al-Rahman II) saw the incorporation of new Moorish-made capitals that evolved from earlier Roman models. The nave that leads to the mihrab – which was originally the central nave of the mosque until Al-Mansur's lateral expansion of the building altered its symmetry – is slightly wider than the other naves, demonstrating a subtle hierarchy in the mosque's floor plan. The double-tiered arches were an innovation that permitted higher ceilings than would otherwise be possible with relatively low columns. They consist of a lower tier of horseshoe arches and an upper tier of semi-circular arches. The voussoirs of the arches alternate between red brick and white stone. Colour alternations like this were common in Umayyad architecture in the Levant and in pre-Islamic architecture on the Iberian Peninsula. According to Anwar G. Chejne, the arches were inspired by those in the Dome of the Rock. Horseshoe arches were known in the Iberian Peninsula in the Visigothic period (e.g. the 7th-century Church of San Juan de Baños), and to a lesser extent in Byzantine and Umayyad regions of the Middle East; however, the traditional "Moorish" arch developed into its own distinctive and slightly more sophisticated version.
The mosque's architectural system of repeating double-tiered arches, with otherwise little surface decoration, is considered one of its most innovative characteristics and has been the subject of much commentary. The hypostyle hall has been variously described as resembling a "forest of columns" and having an effect similar to a "hall of mirrors". Scholar Jerrilynn Dodds has further summarized the visual effect of the hypostyle hall with the following.
Interest in the mosque's interior is created, then, not by the application of a skin of decoration to a separately conceived building but by the transformation of the morphemes of the architecture itself: the arches and voussoirs. Because we share the belief that architectural components must by definition behave logically, their conversion into agents of chaos fuels a basic subversion of our expectations concerning the nature of architecture. The tensions that grow from these subverted expectations create an intellectual dialogue between building and viewer that will characterize the evolving design of the Great Mosque of Cordoba for over two hundred years.
Reconstructed mosque ceiling, as seen in the southwestern part of the building today
The mosque's original flat wooden ceiling was made of wooden planks and beams with carved and painted decoration. Preserved fragments of the original ceiling – some of which are now on display in the Courtyard of the Oranges – were discovered in the 19th century and have allowed modern restorers to reconstruct the ceilings of some of the western sections of the mosque according to their original style. The eastern naves of the hall (in al-Mansur's expansion), by contrast, are now covered by high Gothic vaults which were added in the 16th century by Hernan Ruiz I. On the exterior, the building has gabled roofs covered in tiles.
The Colour of Winter, Part V, for lichen lovers everywhere. Some great things about lichens: 1 - they are as colourful as wildflowers; 2 - you can find them in winter as well as summer; 3 - the ones that grow on rocks don't move, so it doesn't matter if the wind is blowing; 4 - rock lichens often grow on flat or nearly flat surfaces, so all you have to do is stop down to f/16 or smaller and most or all of your subject will be in focus; 5 - you don't have to worry about backgrounds (again referring to rock lichens), just find a pleasing configuration; 6 - they're everywhere; 7 - they can live for thousands of years, so if you mess up the shot all you have to do is find that rock and try again; 8 - most photographers don't bother with them, so the competition is nil; and 9 - they're often very beautiful.
The down side for some is that to get a TOP quality photo, you have to use a tripod. A tripod allows you to stop your lens way down for maximum depth of field without worrying about the shutter speed. Using a tripod is the only way to achieve the ideal combination of small f-stop, slow shutter, and low ISO. If you don't, image quality will be compromised, either by insufficient depth of field, unintentional blur, or digital noise. Admittedly, these problems are not as great as in times past. In particular, modern sensors in high end cameras are so good - and noise reduction software is now so sophisticated - that you can get a good result at higher ISO settings. But for the BEST quality, without compromise, you still need to tick those three boxes. Oh, and you'll need a decent macro lens, too!
So, to summarize: sturdy tripod, good macro lens, low ISO, stop down the aperture. In addition, I use a cable release and lock my mirror up before exposure to eliminate vibration from mirror slap. Those with mirrorless cameras can skip this step. Of course, you have to be able to see and compose, too :-)
Photographed in Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2021 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
Another year has gone by and it's time to summarize. It is always so much fun to see what photo has drawn most attention in different ways from all of You my Fantabulous Flickr Friends.
This is the result of 2022:
Most Comments: 'Maggie at Grandmas'
I'm overwhelmed with all the love she got!
Most Views: 'In the Snow'
My Middie Blythe June Balloon and her friend Nyla and dog Radar, discovered the snow for the first time.
Most Interestingness: 'Pine Cones & Reindeer' '
Blythe a Day December 6 & 7
Most Faves: 'Dice, Bowl and Banana'
Blythe a Day August 13, 14, 15.
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Thank you so much my sweet dears and fellow toy photographers for brightening my days!! It's been a dramatic year for most of us, but we stuck together and made it!
I look forward to all your photos and toy joy in 2023.
This used to be a TAG game, so please feel free to keep up the tradition with a summary of your year.
See ya!
//Sky
There are all kinds of Easter nests that children in this country put up in the garden so that the Easter bunny can lay colourful eggs and sweets. My daughter decorated this one.
The tradition of the Easter nest (Osternest) has its roots in German folklore. It is closely tied to the concept of the Easter Bunny (Osterhase), which originated in Germany long back, according to AI during the 17th century. Children would prepare nests for the Easter Bunny to lay colorful eggs. AI further summarizes "This custom was influenced by pre-Christian pagan traditions celebrating spring and later merged with Christian Easter celebrations."
Have you ever been so busy that the periphery has to take a backseat? Oh, yeah! Yet, there are motivators that have us going after those things that seem just beyond reach. With just such an influence, I left my house in Durham at 9pm after a hectic day. Arriving at an open spot across from the Hawksbill Mountain trailhead some 3 hours later, I covered up and attempted a few hours of sleep. My plan is to waken by 4:30, but at 4:15, I’m fired up, geared up, and headed up the trail, motivated by expectations of beauty. I would not be disappointed.
Beauty, it has always seemed to me, is one of the great arguments for the existence of God. If we are all only to engage in a pitiless struggle to ensure our DNA survives (as Richard Dawkins suggests), why does beauty matter so much to so many of us?
It was the beauty contained in the Gospel (“good news”) that moved me so profoundly that I became a Christian… I was baptized 50 years ago today, Easter Sunday.
With the help of C.S. Lewis and Josh McDowell, both of whom I could relate to, as well as the Bible, I was awestruck. To summarize: God had an apparently insoluble conundrum between his justice and his love. He cannot turn a blind eye to human rebellion and failure without compromising his perfect justice. He had gone before His chosen people evidenced as a pillar of cloud by day and of light by night, directing their steps through the wilderness. Yet, while Moses was gone 40 days and nights to receive the Ten Commandments, the children of Israel fell into abject debauchery. We're not like that, are we? A good look around now shows that little has changed of the human condition over these thousands of years. A term now identifies that condition, “HPtFTU” or “the human propensity to foul things up.” For all that, God’s perfect love means he cannot remain alienated from those he has created and loves.
How could one resolve such a conflict without compromising one of these twin absolutes? By human logic, it is impossible! But, as Jesus taught his disciples, our logic is not the last word. The Gospel of Matthew records that Jesus told his disciples, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” The astonished disciples ask, “Who then can be saved?” Jesus replies: “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
God’s solution is not to sacrifice his perfect standards of either morality or love, but to maintain both by sacrificing himself. That is the heart of what Christians commemorate at Easter: that God himself intervened in human history, humiliating himself by taking the form of a helpless infant, living a life in perfect conformity with his moral law, and dying an excruciating and shameful death on the Cross.
I know that some consider this a vile doctrine, that what God allows to happen to Jesus makes him a moral monster. They fail to grasp the importance of the understanding that Jesus was fully human and fully divine. It is in that way that God himself pays the price for restoring humanity.
Or, as the Apostle John more poetically puts it: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
I love chasing beauty with the camera as much as circumstances allow. But I’ve found that the greatest beauty is moral beauty – compassion, generosity, self-sacrifice – and the most beautiful expression of it that I have found or could conceive of is what Christians celebrate at Easter in the death and resurrection of Jesus, the Christ.
One of the most beautiful and inspirational verses in all of God's word I’ve found is John 20:16 where you begin to realize the restraints to Jesus’ “divine capacity” were off in a most wonderful way… Jesus called a very bereaved Mary by her name. That's literally all there is to the verse... Jesus said, “Mary.” She thought He was the gardener, and she wasn't far off in that assessment. He did create it. That's what makes this verse so powerful; Jesus is the Word that was there from the beginning (John 1:1). He had just proved Himself through the resurrection. He was victorious over death and sin… in that moment, there was nothing in Nature over which He didn't prevail. The very Universe would snap at His command, yet He cared enough for Mary, not even a mere speck in that Universe, to reach out to her with heartfelt compassion. She had gone in search of Him, but He found her. In this, Jesus set a precedent that differentiates Christianity from all other religions… because He cares for us all no less than He did Mary. That’s why He went to the cross! God wants us to know Him. God not only allows, but also encourages such a relationship. That’s because Christianity in its truest sense isn’t a religion; it’s a relationship, plain and simple… and it's a relationship that's available to us all.
Thank God, Jesus is risen… He is risen indeed!
What a great few days it has been on our Palouse Workshop. We have had clear skies for night photography, epic sunrises and sunsets, dappled midday light, and a foggy morning to add some mood!
Whitman County is in the Phase 2 of its reopening plan which allowed for our small group. Adhering to strict health guidelines, we respected social distances when possible, wore face masks in confined spaces, and implemented sanitization of common surfaces. All of these efforts were well worth it to see the excitement and smiles on everyone's faces. As one of our participants summarized, "I have missed feeling so free!"
In KM21, the Kunstmuseum keeps in touch with the 21st century. Regular visitors are introduced to artists already making a name for themselves in avant-garde circles.
Take Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum (1980, Botswana). She is part of the African art world but grew up in an expat climate. She studied art in the US, culminating in a top study at the Rijksacademie in Amsterdam.
The title of the exhibition in KM21 is telling. ‘The Gods and the Underdogs’ succinctly summarizes her vision of the colonial period. We see women in Sunday best on wooden waiting benches, schoolgirls in uniform, and ghostly apparitions of ancestors. Even extinct steppe animals are hesitantly explored.
Her drawing style is cool and precise, but the subjects are sultry and explosive. She currently works alternately in Cape Town and The Hague. On display until 20 October.
Have to admit that I can't I.D. most lichens by species, and generally view them from a purely aesthetic standpoint. Here is an ultra-close macro shot of a rock lichen on the prairie; at the bottom you'll see a small critter, possibly a springtail, looking up. I didn't even see it while setting up the shot. Often my glasses are fogged or frosted or my eyes are tearing from the wind. This might actually be an advantage, as the world can look kind of abstract to me. Often, when I get the RAW files into Photoshop, I am amazed at the details. Or, as some famous photographer summarized it years ago, I take photos to find out what things look like photographed.
Lichens are fungi in a symbiotic relationship with a species of algae. The fungus provides structural support and some nutrients from the substrate, while the alga can provide carbohydrates via photosynthesis, and a mutually beneficial balance is thus achieved.
I found this on the surface of a glacial erratic in Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission © 2018 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
…is my fourth high key photo and was shot from a water bus about to pass underneath the bridge (I don’t know the name of the bridge. Could be the Memorial Bridge which was completed in 1932 and in the first bridge to cross the Chao Phraya River?)
The Chao Phraya river flows through Bangkok and has an extensive water transport system serving passengers crossing or travelling along the river as well as certain canals. The water bus is one of the modes of transportation for a city that is notorious for its traffic jams (but I’ve never experienced any traffic jam on the river).
The water bus is the service provided by Chao Phraya Express Boat Company and it is one of the cheapest and nicest way to see Bangkok. Some western travellers I’ve met have experienced this 'Bangkok Tour' with me as I do like to share my experience with people. The price? A good conversation.
We would take the water bus from Phra Arthit Pier (Pier 13) to Nonthaburi (Pier 30), the province immediately to the north of Bangkok. There, we would walk about 500 meters to a wet market selling food products, cooked and uncooked where we would sample some of the food there, with me sharing what I know about the food.
After we are done, we would go back to the pier and take the river bus to Saphan Taksin (Pier 1).
On the way to Nonthaburi, had we sat on the right side of the boat, on the way back, we would also sit on the right side of the boat. Then we get to see life on both banks of the river including seeing little boats pulling up to five large barges full of goods.
Once we get to the Saphan Taksin Pier, we would go to the BTS station (BTS or the Skytrain is an elevated rapid transit system in Bangkok) and our destination is Siam Station (largest and busiest station on the BTS) which is situated in the heart of Bangkok shopping district.
There, we would go to the Siam Paragon Mall which is one of the largest malls in Thailand. At the lower ground floor of the mall is the food supermarket and one of the products sold there is a good range of Thai sweets and delicacies. As they give free samples, we get to try more Thai food (but this time it’s free).
When done, we would get out and go to the bus stops across the street where we would take bus #15 to go back to area around tourist area Khaosan Road.
So, to summarize: People who came on my 'Bangkok Tour' get to see three sides of Bangkok and use three different modes of transport with the most expensive mode being the skytrain.
Brussels, Belgium, 2024.
So, the state lies to us, does it? Who can tell? In this increasingly confusing world, no one can ever be too sure. Some people want to believe what the state keeps telling us because they just don't want to worry to much. Others don't believe everything they are told and project their scepticism to the political statements of the governments. And still others want to believe that the state is lying to us because they need it as justification for their own crude world view, for which they themselves are happy to lie.
Regardless of whether you agree or disagree with its message, the text should serve as a reminder that a healthy dose of scepticism and critical thinking is one of the key qualifications of democratic and informed citizens.
I am concerned about the widespread praise of artificial intelligence as a groundbreaking technology. Many people fail to see that relying on AI for tasks such as reading, summarizing, analyzing, evaluating, and forming educated opinions may lead to a decline in our own skills over time. If we become overly dependent on AI for these abilities, it could make it easier for dishonest politicians from both the government and the opposition to deceive us. There’s value in doing things yourself. It keeps our sense sharp and our skills honed.
There's more on www.chm-photography.com.
Enjoy!
If I had to pick one photo to summarize life in Istanbul, it would be this. The endless sea of people flowing about, the bustle of automobiles, and buildings of various styles and vintages stacked above each other, all under the eyes of the medieval Galata Tower. A form of visual poetry, I feel.
I took this when leaving the Yeni Camii mosque, on the European side, looking towards Galata. I like how there are people visible at the top of the tower, even :)
======Technical Details======
Camera: Contax 167MT (1987)
Lens: f1.4/50 Zeiss Planar T*
Film: Kodak Ektar 100
Exposure: ISO 100
Weather: Afternoon, clear.
Scan: Lab scan.
ES:
Reserva Nacional Coyhaique
Muy agradecido por toda la acogida de la gente patagona ,sobre todo a la familia Retamal Vera que me recibieron en su casa y me acogieron como uno más de su familia. Fue un mes de fuertes emociones pero me devuelvo con el corazón lleno de buenas experiencias.
De todos los lugares que he visitado aquí, esta es la mejor foto con la que me puedo quedar y resumir lo que vi en esta tierra.
Respecto a la fotografía, describe las montañas y los bellos paisajes que se pueden encontrar a las afueras de la ciudad de Coyhaique... juegos de temperaturas cálidas y matices, buscando incrementar el contraste de los negros y las sombras mediante esta técnica. Post procesamiento de imagen en Lightroom y Snapseed.
EN:
Coyhaique National Reserve
Very grateful for all the welcome of the Patagonian people, especially the Retamal Vera family who received me at their home and welcomed me as one of their family. It was a month of strong emotions but I return with a heart full of good experiences.
Of all the places I have visited here, this is the best photo with which I can stay and summarize what I saw on this earth.
Regarding photography, it describes the mountains and the beautiful landscapes that can be found on the outskirts of the city of Coyhaique ... games of warm temperatures and nuances, seeking to increase the contrast of blacks and shadows through this technique. Post image processing in Lightroom and Snapseed.
PT:
Reserva Nacional Coyhaique
Muito grato por todas as boas-vindas do povo da Patagônia, especialmente a família Retamal Vera, que me recebeu em sua casa e me recebeu como parte de sua família. Foi um mês de emoções fortes, mas volto com um coração cheio de boas experiências.
De todos os lugares que visitei aqui, esta é a melhor foto com a qual posso ficar e resumir o que vi nesta terra.
Em relação à fotografia, descreve as montanhas e as belas paisagens que podem ser encontradas nos arredores da cidade de Coyhaique ... jogos de temperaturas e nuances quentes, buscando aumentar o contraste de negros e sombras por meio dessa técnica. O processamento de imagens foi feito no Lightroom e no Snapseed.
Character card summarizing Noor´s story for her new adventure in The Mystic Realms!
The Mystic Realms is a new Roleplay SIM debuting soon on SL!
I am super excited to be part of this project and to be able to play Noor in the actual Feywilds.
All her dreams came true: she started a family of her own, with the love of her life; she is as high on the Seelie court as she could hope to be, and she is a very skilled sorcerer and respected contract master.
What can the future hold for her now and to her new born children Astrid, Aiden and Brida? I am thrilled to find out!
Snapshots by Cassandra Middles
Logo and Character by Me
Card template by Deathly Fright
Make your own character template by downloading it on our website: www.themysticrealmssl.com/
The park of Augustusburg Castle in Brühl, which was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List together with the buildings in 1984, represents a monument of garden art of internationally recognized standing. Castles and gardens in Germany emulated its model.
The garden artist Dominique Girard, who had probably received his training in Versailles under André Le Nôtre, designed the Brühl garden parterre from 1728 and summarized his previous findings here, which he had also designed in the gardens of Nymphenburg and Schleißheim as well as the Upper Belvedere in Vienna and ideas according to the strict standards of the theory and practice of French garden art.
The focal point of the Brühl gardens is the large, two-part broderie parterre south of the palace with a round and quatrefoil-shaped fountain basin and adjoining mirror pond. The filigree book ornaments of the decorative beds, which look like embroidery (French broderie), are bordered with rhythmically planted flower borders. The linden avenues bordering the ground floor on the sides lead to triangular hedged quarters, which in turn are designed with round halls, fountains and small salons and were intimate destinations for excursions as early as the 18th century.
From 1842, Peter Joseph Lenné designed the Brühler Park as an English landscape garden for Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussia, the elements of which still determine the forest area today. Here the picturesque alternation of tree areas and meadow areas dominates the basic mood. Irregularly curved paths and small streams lead to the water areas of the two island ponds.
As a technical sensation of the time, Lenné also included the Cologne-Bonn railway line, opened in 1844, in the garden design and led it directly through the island pond area over a richly decorated iron bridge.
The baroque parterre was restored between 1933 and 1937 based on the original garden plan and is now considered one of the most authentic examples of 18th-century French garden art in Europe.
Maple Ridge, BC
Jerry Sulina Park is actually an off-leash dog park which is situated along the Trans Canada Trail.
The park itself consists of a fenced area enclosing a small pond and marsh area with a short series of trails. The pond and surrounding habitat is apparently home to many animals including turtles, cranes and several species of waterfowl.
The Trans Canada Trail system that runs through Pitt Meadows and Maple Ridge is one of a kind. In total the portion of the TCT that runs through our communities is over 21 km. It winds its way along the dykes and through city streets. There are many places to access the TCT trail system, Jerry Sulina Park is just one of them.
The sections of the TCT which are along the Alouette and Pitt rivers are absolutely stunning. The waterways and blueberry fields with the Golden Ears mountains as a backdrop summarize the beauty of Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows perfectly.
This image is best viewed in Large screen.
Thank-you for your visit, and please know that any faves or comments are always greatly appreciated!
Sonja
The south tower of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, taken just before the sun rose on the last Saturday of September.
As I was in the Marin Headlands taking shots that morning, a nearby photographer turned towards me and in a heavy German accent summarized the situation perfectly by shouting, "I think we are in a big, big luck!"
Here's an image made back in 2018 - the same evening as my quite popular sea stack image with the burning sky, The Howling Dog's Throne.
This one apparently slipped through the cracks and I decided to finally process it! I really loved how it turned out, so let me know below!
So have you ever heard of the Nah-So-Mah Tribe's story behind the Face Rock area? It's really something else!
I started looking into the origins of the sea stacks here and came upon a wonderful story of how they came to be (my badly summarized version):
As the legend goes, Chief Siskiyou and his daughter Ewauna were visiting the coastal tribes and a great potlatch was held in celebration.
Ewauna, who came from a mountain tribe and had never seen the ocean, wandered to the beach with her dog Komax, her cat, and a basket of kittens.
She danced and played along the shore and decided to go for a swim, not knowing of the evil spirit, Seatka, who was lurking below.
When he attacked Ewauna, Komax swam into the ocean, basket atow, and bit Seatka who kicked the dog out to sea.
Now Ewauna lies in the ocean, refusing to look at Seatka who sits nearby, with her beloved Komax and felines patiently waiting for her to rise from the waters.