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WFC 41 Pro & Amateur MMA at Grand Sierra Resort in Reno,NV Saturday June 27th,2015.
Tickets are available at the door or you can get them at www.WFCfights.com.
The event features local fan favorites like Byron “The Cowboy” Cragg who’s making his PRO MMA DEBUT, Jack Montgomery, Steven Siler, Dan Molina, Zach Bunnell, Matt McCrary, Melvin Washington, Lex Sarabia and many more!!
Photos by Mike Lagrange
High resolution prints & digital images available for purchase at:
Do yall see them too or im just trippin?
Outfit / @kosmetic.sl / Clarity Set
Available at mainstore
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Aliens / @badunicornwtf / Lil aliens
Avatars (so will need alpha) HUD to change Skin, hoodie, beanie, socks & wig
Available at mainstore / MP
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Nails / @shop1990.sl / Jennie Set
Available at mainstore
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Rings / @vipera_sl / Zoe Rings
VIPERA – Zoe Rings:
► Rigged mesh rings for:
→ Reborn
→ Kupra
→ Legacy
→ LaraX
→ Peach
► HUD for color changing:
→ Metals: 8 colors
→ Gems: 16 colors (3 groups of gems to color the way you want)
→ Clovers: 16 colors
► Gems glow ON/OFF
► SHOW/HIDE each ring
Available at the grand
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Switch / @kruegerbunnys / Nintendo Switch
Out now with the Gaby set (not worn) both located at the grand event!
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1990: maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Redwood/150/95/23
Bad Unicorn
MP: marketplace.secondlife.com/stores/125109
IW: maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Cravone/111/204/23
Grand: maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/The%20Grand%20Event/113/30/47
Kosmetics: maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Silver%20Crest/108/205/44
Snakes are elongated, limbless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes Like all other squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales. Many species of snakes have skulls with several more joints than their lizard ancestors, enabling them to swallow prey much larger than their heads (cranial kinesis). To accommodate their narrow bodies, snakes' paired organs (such as kidneys) appear one in front of the other instead of side by side, and most have only one functional lung. Some species retain a pelvic girdle with a pair of vestigial claws on either side of the cloaca. Lizards have independently evolved elongate bodies without limbs or with greatly reduced limbs at least twenty-five times via convergent evolution, leading to many lineages of legless lizards. These resemble snakes, but several common groups of legless lizards have eyelids and external ears, which snakes lack, although this rule is not universal (see Amphisbaenia, Dibamidae, and Pygopodidae).
Living snakes are found on every continent except Antarctica, and on most smaller land masses; exceptions include some large islands, such as Ireland, Iceland, Greenland, the Hawaiian archipelago, and the islands of New Zealand, as well as many small islands of the Atlantic and central Pacific oceans. Additionally, sea snakes are widespread throughout the Indian and Pacific oceans. Around thirty families are currently recognized, comprising about 520 genera and about 3,900 species. They range in size from the tiny, 10.4 cm-long (4.1 in) Barbados threadsnake to the reticulated python of 6.95 meters (22.8 ft) in length. The fossil species Titanoboa cerrejonensis was 12.8 meters (42 ft) long. Snakes are thought to have evolved from either burrowing or aquatic lizards, perhaps during the Jurassic period, with the earliest known fossils dating to between 143 and 167 Ma ago. The diversity of modern snakes appeared during the Paleocene epoch (c. 66 to 56 Ma ago, after the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event). The oldest preserved descriptions of snakes can be found in the Brooklyn Papyrus.
Most species of snake are nonvenomous and those that have venom use it primarily to kill and subdue prey rather than for self-defense. Some possess venom that is potent enough to cause painful injury or death to humans. Nonvenomous snakes either swallow prey alive or kill by constriction.
Etymology
The English word snake comes from Old English snaca, itself from Proto-Germanic *snak-an- (cf. Germanic Schnake 'ring snake', Swedish snok 'grass snake'), from Proto-Indo-European root *(s)nēg-o- 'to crawl to creep', which also gave sneak as well as Sanskrit nāgá 'snake'. The word ousted adder, as adder went on to narrow in meaning, though in Old English næddre was the general word for snake. The other term, serpent, is from French, ultimately from Indo-European *serp- 'to creep', which also gave Ancient Greek ἕρπω (hérpō) 'I crawl' and Sanskrit sarpá ‘snake’.
The fossil record of snakes is relatively poor because snake skeletons are typically small and fragile making fossilization uncommon. Fossils readily identifiable as snakes (though often retaining hind limbs) first appear in the fossil record during the Cretaceous period. The earliest known true snake fossils (members of the crown group Serpentes) come from the marine simoliophiids, the oldest of which is the Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian age) Haasiophis terrasanctus from the West Bank, dated to between 112 and 94 million years old.
Based on comparative anatomy, there is consensus that snakes descended from lizards. Pythons and boas—primitive groups among modern snakes—have vestigial hind limbs: tiny, clawed digits known as anal spurs, which are used to grasp during mating The families Leptotyphlopidae and Typhlopidae also possess remnants of the pelvic girdle, appearing as horny projections when visible.
Front limbs are nonexistent in all known snakes. This is caused by the evolution of their Hox genes, controlling limb morphogenesis. The axial skeleton of the snakes' common ancestor, like most other tetrapods, had regional specializations consisting of cervical (neck), thoracic (chest), lumbar (lower back), sacral (pelvic), and caudal (tail) vertebrae. Early in snake evolution, the Hox gene expression in the axial skeleton responsible for the development of the thorax became dominant. As a result, the vertebrae anterior to the hindlimb buds (when present) all have the same thoracic-like identity (except from the atlas, axis, and 1–3 neck vertebrae). In other words, most of a snake's skeleton is an extremely extended thorax. Ribs are found exclusively on the thoracic vertebrae. Neck, lumbar and pelvic vertebrae are very reduced in number (only 2–10 lumbar and pelvic vertebrae are present), while only a short tail remains of the caudal vertebrae. However, the tail is still long enough to be of important use in many species, and is modified in some aquatic and tree-dwelling species.
Many modern snake groups originated during the Paleocene, alongside the adaptive radiation of mammals following the extinction of (non-avian) dinosaurs. The expansion of grasslands in North America also led to an explosive radiation among snakes. Previously, snakes were a minor component of the North American fauna, but during the Miocene, the number of species and their prevalence increased dramatically with the first appearances of vipers and elapids in North America and the significant diversification of Colubridae (including the origin of many modern genera such as Nerodia, Lampropeltis, Pituophis, and Pantherophis).
Fossils
There is fossil evidence to suggest that snakes may have evolved from burrowing lizards, during the Cretaceous Period. An early fossil snake relative, Najash rionegrina, was a two-legged burrowing animal with a sacrum, and was fully terrestrial. One extant analog of these putative ancestors is the earless monitor Lanthanotus of Borneo (though it also is semiaquatic). Subterranean species evolved bodies streamlined for burrowing, and eventually lost their limbs. According to this hypothesis, features such as the transparent, fused eyelids (brille) and loss of external ears evolved to cope with fossorial difficulties, such as scratched corneas and dirt in the ears. Some primitive snakes are known to have possessed hindlimbs, but their pelvic bones lacked a direct connection to the vertebrae. These include fossil species like Haasiophis, Pachyrhachis and Eupodophis, which are slightly older than Najash.
This hypothesis was strengthened in 2015 by the discovery of a 113-million-year-old fossil of a four-legged snake in Brazil that has been named Tetrapodophis amplectus. It has many snake-like features, is adapted for burrowing and its stomach indicates that it was preying on other animals. It is currently uncertain if Tetrapodophis is a snake or another species, in the squamate order, as a snake-like body has independently evolved at least 26 times. Tetrapodophis does not have distinctive snake features in its spine and skull. A study in 2021 places the animal in a group of extinct marine lizards from the Cretaceous period known as dolichosaurs and not directly related to snakes.
An alternative hypothesis, based on morphology, suggests the ancestors of snakes were related to mosasaurs—extinct aquatic reptiles from the Cretaceous—forming the clade Pythonomorpha. According to this hypothesis, the fused, transparent eyelids of snakes are thought to have evolved to combat marine conditions (corneal water loss through osmosis), and the external ears were lost through disuse in an aquatic environment. This ultimately led to an animal similar to today's sea snakes. In the Late Cretaceous, snakes recolonized land, and continued to diversify into today's snakes. Fossilized snake remains are known from early Late Cretaceous marine sediments, which is consistent with this hypothesis; particularly so, as they are older than the terrestrial Najash rionegrina. Similar skull structure, reduced or absent limbs, and other anatomical features found in both mosasaurs and snakes lead to a positive cladistical correlation, although some of these features are shared with varanids.
Genetic studies in recent years have indicated snakes are not as closely related to monitor lizards as was once believed—and therefore not to mosasaurs, the proposed ancestor in the aquatic scenario of their evolution. However, more evidence links mosasaurs to snakes than to varanids. Fragmented remains found from the Jurassic and Early Cretaceous indicate deeper fossil records for these groups, which may potentially refute either hypothesis.
Genetic basis of snake evolution
Main article: Limb development
Both fossils and phylogenetic studies demonstrate that snakes evolved from lizards, hence the question became which genetic changes led to limb loss in the snake ancestor. Limb loss is actually very common in extant reptiles and has happened dozens of times within skinks, anguids, and other lizards.
In 2016, two studies reported that limb loss in snakes is associated with DNA mutations in the Zone of Polarizing Activity Regulatory Sequence (ZRS), a regulatory region of the sonic hedgehog gene which is critically required for limb development. More advanced snakes have no remnants of limbs, but basal snakes such as pythons and boas do have traces of highly reduced, vestigial hind limbs. Python embryos even have fully developed hind limb buds, but their later development is stopped by the DNA mutations in the ZRS.
Distribution
There are about 3,900 species of snakes, ranging as far northward as the Arctic Circle in Scandinavia and southward through Australia. Snakes can be found on every continent except Antarctica, as well as in the sea, and as high as 16,000 feet (4,900 m) in the Himalayan Mountains of Asia. There are numerous islands from which snakes are absent, such as Ireland, Iceland, and New Zealand (although New Zealand's northern waters are infrequently visited by the yellow-bellied sea snake and the banded sea krait).
Taxonomy
All modern snakes are grouped within the suborder Serpentes in Linnean taxonomy, part of the order Squamata, though their precise placement within squamates remains controversial.
The two infraorders of Serpentes are Alethinophidia and Scolecophidia. This separation is based on morphological characteristics and mitochondrial DNA sequence similarity. Alethinophidia is sometimes split into Henophidia and Caenophidia, with the latter consisting of "colubroid" snakes (colubrids, vipers, elapids, hydrophiids, and atractaspids) and acrochordids, while the other alethinophidian families comprise Henophidia. While not extant today, the Madtsoiidae, a family of giant, primitive, python-like snakes, was around until 50,000 years ago in Australia, represented by genera such as Wonambi.
There are numerous debates in the systematics within the group. For instance, many sources classify Boidae and Pythonidae as one family, while some keep the Elapidae and Hydrophiidae (sea snakes) separate for practical reasons despite their extremely close relation.
Recent molecular studies support the monophyly of the clades of modern snakes, scolecophidians, typhlopids + anomalepidids, alethinophidians, core alethinophidians, uropeltids (Cylindrophis, Anomochilus, uropeltines), macrostomatans, booids, boids, pythonids and caenophidians.
Legless lizards
Main article: Legless lizard
While snakes are limbless reptiles, evolved from (and grouped with) lizards, there are many other species of lizards that have lost their limbs independently but which superficially look similar to snakes. These include the slowworm and glass snake.
Other serpentine tetrapods that are unrelated to snakes include caecilians (amphibians), amphisbaenians (near-lizard squamates), and the extinct aistopods (amphibians).
Biology
The now extinct Titanoboa cerrejonensis was 12.8 m (42 ft) in length. By comparison, the largest extant snakes are the reticulated python, measuring about 6.95 m (22.8 ft) long, and the green anaconda, which measures about 5.21 m (17.1 ft) long and is considered the heaviest snake on Earth at 97.5 kg (215 lb).
At the other end of the scale, the smallest extant snake is Leptotyphlops carlae, with a length of about 10.4 cm (4.1 in). Most snakes are fairly small animals, approximately 1 m (3.3 ft) in length.
Perception
Pit vipers, pythons, and some boas have infrared-sensitive receptors in deep grooves on the snout, allowing them to "see" the radiated heat of warm-blooded prey. In pit vipers, the grooves are located between the nostril and the eye in a large "pit" on each side of the head. Other infrared-sensitive snakes have multiple, smaller labial pits lining the upper lip, just below the nostrils.
A snake tracks its prey using smell, collecting airborne particles with its forked tongue, then passing them to the vomeronasal organ or Jacobson's organ in the mouth for examination. The fork in the tongue provides a sort of directional sense of smell and taste simultaneously. The snake's tongue is constantly in motion, sampling particles from the air, ground, and water, analyzing the chemicals found, and determining the presence of prey or predators in the local environment. In water-dwelling snakes, such as the anaconda, the tongue functions efficiently underwater.
The underside of a snake is very sensitive to vibration, allowing the snake to detect approaching animals by sensing faint vibrations in the ground. Despite the lack of outer ears, they are also able to detect airborne sounds.
Snake vision varies greatly between species. Some have keen eyesight and others are only able to distinguish light from dark, but the important trend is that a snake's visual perception is adequate enough to track movements. Generally, vision is best in tree-dwelling snakes and weakest in burrowing snakes. Some have binocular vision, where both eyes are capable of focusing on the same point, an example of this being the Asian vine snake. Most snakes focus by moving the lens back and forth in relation to the retina. Diurnal snakes have round pupils and many nocturnal snakes have slit pupils. Most species possess three visual pigments and are probably able to see two primary colors in daylight. The annulated sea snake and the genus Helicops appears to have regained much of their color vision as an adaption to the marine environment they live in. It has been concluded that the last common ancestors of all snakes had UV-sensitive vision, but most snakes that depend on their eyesight to hunt in daylight have evolved lenses that act like sunglasses for filtering out the UV-light, which probably also sharpens their vision by improving the contrast.
Skin
The skin of a snake is covered in scales. Contrary to the popular notion of snakes being slimy (because of possible confusion of snakes with worms), snakeskin has a smooth, dry texture. Most snakes use specialized belly scales to travel, allowing them to grip surfaces. The body scales may be smooth, keeled, or granular. The eyelids of a snake are transparent "spectacle" scales, also known as brille, which remain permanently closed.
The shedding of scales is called ecdysis (or in normal usage, molting or sloughing). Snakes shed the complete outer layer of skin in one piece. Snake scales are not discrete, but extensions of the epidermis—hence they are not shed separately but as a complete outer layer during each molt, akin to a sock being turned inside out.
Snakes have a wide diversity of skin coloration patterns which are often related to behavior, such as the tendency to have to flee from predators. Snakes that are at a high risk of predation tend to be plain, or have longitudinal stripes, providing few reference points to predators, thus allowing the snake to escape without being noticed. Plain snakes usually adopt active hunting strategies, as their pattern allows them to send little information to prey about motion. Blotched snakes usually use ambush-based strategies, likely because it helps them blend into an environment with irregularly shaped objects, like sticks or rocks. Spotted patterning can similarly help snakes to blend into their environment.
The shape and number of scales on the head, back, and belly are often characteristic and used for taxonomic purposes. Scales are named mainly according to their positions on the body. In "advanced" (Caenophidian) snakes, the broad belly scales and rows of dorsal scales correspond to the vertebrae, allowing these to be counted without the need for dissection.
Molting
Molting (or "ecdysis") serves a number of purposes. It allows old, worn skin to be replaced and it can remove parasites such as mites and ticks that live in the skin. It has also been observed in snakes that molting can be synced to mating cycles. Shedding skin can release pheromones and revitalize color and patterns of the skin to increase attraction of mates. Renewal of the skin by molting supposedly allows growth in some animals such as insects, but this has been disputed in the case of snakes.
Molting occurs periodically throughout the life of a snake. Before each molt, the snake stops eating and often hides or moves to a safe place. Just before shedding, the skin becomes dull and dry looking and the snake's eyes turn cloudy or blue-colored. The inner surface of the old skin liquefies, causing it to separate from the new skin beneath it. After a few days, the eyes become clear and the snake "crawls" out of its old skin, which splits close to the snake's mouth. The snake rubs its body against rough surfaces to aid in the shedding of its old skin. In many cases, the cast skin peels backward over the body from head to tail in one piece, like pulling a sock off inside-out, revealing a new, larger, brighter layer of skin which has formed underneath.
A young snake that is still growing may shed its skin up to four times a year, but an older snake may shed only once or twice a year. The discarded skin carries a perfect imprint of the scale pattern, so it is usually possible to identify the snake from the cast skin if it is reasonably intact. This periodic renewal has led to the snake being a symbol of healing and medicine, as pictured in the Rod of Asclepius.
Scale counts can sometimes be used to identify the sex of a snake when the species is not distinctly sexually dimorphic. A probe is fully inserted into the cloaca, marked at the point where it stops, then removed and measured against the subcaudal scales. The scalation count determines whether the snake is a male or female, as the hemipenes of a male will probe to a different depth (usually longer) than the cloaca of a female.
Skeleton
The skeletons of snakes are radically different from those of most other reptiles (as compared with the turtle here, for example), consisting almost entirely of an extended ribcage.
The skeleton of most snakes consists solely of the skull, hyoid, vertebral column, and ribs, though henophidian snakes retain vestiges of the pelvis and rear limbs.
The skull consists of a solid and complete neurocranium, to which many of the other bones are only loosely attached, particularly the highly mobile jaw bones, which facilitate manipulation and ingestion of large prey items. The left and right sides of the lower jaw are joined only by a flexible ligament at the anterior tips, allowing them to separate widely, and the posterior end of the lower jaw bones articulate with a quadrate bone, allowing further mobility. The mandible and quadrate bones can pick up ground-borne vibrations; because the sides of the lower jaw can move independently of one another, a snake resting its jaw on a surface has sensitive stereo auditory perception, used for detecting the position of prey. The jaw–quadrate–stapes pathway is capable of detecting vibrations on the angstrom scale, despite the absence of an outer ear and the lack of an impedance matching mechanism—provided by the ossicles in other vertebrates—for receiving vibrations from the air.
The hyoid is a small bone located posterior and ventral to the skull, in the 'neck' region, which serves as an attachment for the muscles of the snake's tongue, as it does in all other tetrapods.
The vertebral column consists of between 200 and 400 vertebrae, or sometimes more. The body vertebrae each have two ribs articulating with them. The tail vertebrae are comparatively few in number (often less than 20% of the total) and lack ribs. The vertebrae have projections that allow for strong muscle attachment, enabling locomotion without limbs.
Caudal autotomy (self-amputation of the tail), a feature found in some lizards, is absent in most snakes. In the rare cases where it does exist in snakes, caudal autotomy is intervertebral (meaning the separation of adjacent vertebrae), unlike that in lizards, which is intravertebral, i.e. the break happens along a predefined fracture plane present on a vertebra.
In some snakes, most notably boas and pythons, there are vestiges of the hindlimbs in the form of a pair of pelvic spurs. These small, claw-like protrusions on each side of the cloaca are the external portion of the vestigial hindlimb skeleton, which includes the remains of an ilium and femur.
Snakes are polyphyodonts with teeth that are continuously replaced
Snakes and other non-archosaur (crocodilians, dinosaurs + birds and allies) reptiles have a three-chambered heart that controls the circulatory system via the left and right atrium, and one ventricle. Internally, the ventricle is divided into three interconnected cavities: the cavum arteriosum, the cavum pulmonale, and the cavum venosum. The cavum venosum receives deoxygenated blood from the right atrium and the cavum arteriosum receives oxygenated blood from the left atrium. Located beneath the cavum venosum is the cavum pulmonale, which pumps blood to the pulmonary trunk.
The snake's heart is encased in a sac, called the pericardium, located at the bifurcation of the bronchi. The heart is able to move around, owing to the lack of a diaphragm; this adjustment protects the heart from potential damage when large ingested prey is passed through the esophagus. The spleen is attached to the gall bladder and pancreas and filters the blood. The thymus, located in fatty tissue above the heart, is responsible for the generation of immune cells in the blood. The cardiovascular system of snakes is unique for the presence of a renal portal system in which the blood from the snake's tail passes through the kidneys before returning to the heart.
The vestigial left lung is often small or sometimes even absent, as snakes' tubular bodies require all of their organs to be long and thin.[71] In the majority of species, only one lung is functional. This lung contains a vascularized anterior portion and a posterior portion that does not function in gas exchange. This 'saccular lung' is used for hydrostatic purposes to adjust buoyancy in some aquatic snakes and its function remains unknown in terrestrial species. Many organs that are paired, such as kidneys or reproductive organs, are staggered within the body, one located ahead of the other.
Snakes have no lymph nodes.
Venom
Cobras, vipers, and closely related species use venom to immobilize, injure, or kill their prey. The venom is modified saliva, delivered through fangs. The fangs of 'advanced' venomous snakes like viperids and elapids are hollow, allowing venom to be injected more effectively, and the fangs of rear-fanged snakes such as the boomslang simply have a groove on the posterior edge to channel venom into the wound. Snake venoms are often prey-specific, and their role in self-defense is secondary.
Venom, like all salivary secretions, is a predigestant that initiates the breakdown of food into soluble compounds, facilitating proper digestion. Even nonvenomous snakebites (like any animal bite) cause tissue damage.
Certain birds, mammals, and other snakes (such as kingsnakes) that prey on venomous snakes have developed resistance and even immunity to certain venoms.Venomous snakes include three families of snakes, and do not constitute a formal taxonomic classification group.
The colloquial term "poisonous snake" is generally an incorrect label for snakes. A poison is inhaled or ingested, whereas venom produced by snakes is injected into its victim via fangs. There are, however, two exceptions: Rhabdophis sequesters toxins from the toads it eats, then secretes them from nuchal glands to ward off predators; and a small unusual population of garter snakes in the US state of Oregon retains enough toxins in their livers from ingested newts to be effectively poisonous to small local predators (such as crows and foxes).
Snake venoms are complex mixtures of proteins, and are stored in venom glands at the back of the head. In all venomous snakes, these glands open through ducts into grooved or hollow teeth in the upper jaw. The proteins can potentially be a mix of neurotoxins (which attack the nervous system), hemotoxins (which attack the circulatory system), cytotoxins (which attack the cells directly), bungarotoxins (related to neurotoxins, but also directly affect muscle tissue), and many other toxins that affect the body in different ways. Almost all snake venom contains hyaluronidase, an enzyme that ensures rapid diffusion of the venom.
Venomous snakes that use hemotoxins usually have fangs in the front of their mouths, making it easier for them to inject the venom into their victims. Some snakes that use neurotoxins (such as the mangrove snake) have fangs in the back of their mouths, with the fangs curled backwards. This makes it difficult both for the snake to use its venom and for scientists to milk them. Elapids, however, such as cobras and kraits are proteroglyphous—they possess hollow fangs that cannot be erected toward the front of their mouths, and cannot "stab" like a viper. They must actually bite the victim.
It has been suggested that all snakes may be venomous to a certain degree, with harmless snakes having weak venom and no fangs. According to this theory, most snakes that are labelled "nonvenomous" would be considered harmless because they either lack a venom delivery method or are incapable of delivering enough to endanger a human. The theory postulates that snakes may have evolved from a common lizard ancestor that was venomous, and also that venomous lizards like the gila monster, beaded lizard, monitor lizards, and the now-extinct mosasaurs, may have derived from this same common ancestor. They share this "venom clade" with various other saurian species.
Venomous snakes are classified in two taxonomic families:
Elapids – cobras including king cobras, kraits, mambas, Australian copperheads, sea snakes, and coral snakes.
Viperids – vipers, rattlesnakes, copperheads/cottonmouths, and bushmasters.
There is a third family containing the opistoglyphous (rear-fanged) snakes (as well as the majority of other snake species):
Colubrids – boomslangs, tree snakes, vine snakes, cat snakes, although not all colubrids are venomous.
Reproduction
Although a wide range of reproductive modes are used by snakes, all employ internal fertilization. This is accomplished by means of paired, forked hemipenes, which are stored, inverted, in the male's tail. The hemipenes are often grooved, hooked, or spined—designed to grip the walls of the female's cloaca. The clitoris of the female snake consists of two structures located between the cloaca and the scent glands.
Most species of snakes lay eggs which they abandon shortly after laying. However, a few species (such as the king cobra) construct nests and stay in the vicinity of the hatchlings after incubation. Most pythons coil around their egg-clutches and remain with them until they hatch. A female python will not leave the eggs, except to occasionally bask in the sun or drink water. She will even "shiver" to generate heat to incubate the eggs.
Some species of snake are ovoviviparous and retain the eggs within their bodies until they are almost ready to hatch. Several species of snake, such as the boa constrictor and green anaconda, are fully viviparous, nourishing their young through a placenta as well as a yolk sac; this is highly unusual among reptiles, and normally found in requiem sharks or placental mammals. Retention of eggs and live birth are most often associated with colder environments.
Sexual selection in snakes is demonstrated by the 3,000 species that each use different tactics in acquiring mates. Ritual combat between males for the females they want to mate with includes topping, a behavior exhibited by most viperids in which one male will twist around the vertically elevated fore body of its opponent and force it downward. It is common for neck-biting to occur while the snakes are entwined.
Facultative parthenogenesis
Parthenogenesis is a natural form of reproduction in which growth and development of embryos occur without fertilization. Agkistrodon contortrix (copperhead) and Agkistrodon piscivorus (cottonmouth) can reproduce by facultative parthenogenesis, meaning that they are capable of switching from a sexual mode of reproduction to an asexual mode. The most likely type of parthenogenesis to occur is automixis with terminal fusion, a process in which two terminal products from the same meiosis fuse to form a diploid zygote. This process leads to genome-wide homozygosity, expression of deleterious recessive alleles, and often to developmental abnormalities. Both captive-born and wild-born copperheads and cottonmouths appear to be capable of this form of parthenogenesis.
Reproduction in squamate reptiles is almost exclusively sexual. Males ordinarily have a ZZ pair of sex-determining chromosomes, and females a ZW pair. However, the Colombian Rainbow boa (Epicrates maurus) can also reproduce by facultative parthenogenesis, resulting in production of WW female progeny. The WW females are likely produced by terminal automixis.
Embryonic Development
Snake embryonic development initially follows similar steps as any vertebrate embryo. The snake embryo begins as a zygote, undergoes rapid cell division, forms a germinal disc, also called a blastodisc, then undergoes gastrulation, neurulation, and organogenesis. Cell division and proliferation continues until an early snake embryo develops and the typical body shape of a snake can be observed. Multiple features differentiate the embryologic development of snakes from other vertebrates, two significant factors being the elongation of the body and the lack of limb development.
The elongation in snake body is accompanied by a significant increase in vertebra count (mice have 60 vertebrae, whereas snakes may have over 300). This increase in vertebrae is due to an increase in somites during embryogenesis, leading to an increased number of vertebrae which develop. Somites are formed at the presomitic mesoderm due to a set of oscillatory genes that direct the somitogenesis clock. The snake somitogenesis clock operates at a frequency 4 times that of a mouse (after correction for developmental time), creating more somites, and therefore creating more vertebrae. This difference in clock speed is believed to be caused by differences in Lunatic fringe gene expression, a gene involved in the somitogenesis clock.
There is ample literature focusing on the limb development/lack of development in snake embryos and the gene expression associated with the different stages. In basal snakes, such as the python, embryos in early development exhibit a hind limb bud that develops with some cartilage and a cartilaginous pelvic element, however this degenerates before hatching. This presence of vestigial development suggests that some snakes are still undergoing hind limb reduction before they are eliminated. There is no evidence in basal snakes of forelimb rudiments and no examples of snake forelimb bud initiation in embryo, so little is known regarding the loss of this trait. Recent studies suggests that hind limb reduction could be due to mutations in enhancers for the SSH gene, however other studies suggested that mutations within the Hox Genes or their enhancers could contribute to snake limblessness. Since multiple studies have found evidence suggesting different genes played a role in the loss of limbs in snakes, it is likely that multiple gene mutations had an additive effect leading to limb loss in snakes.
Behavior
Snake coiled on a stick in Oklahoma. It was brumating in a large pile of wood chips, found by this landscaper after he bulldozed the pile in late autumn 2018.
In regions where winters are too cold for snakes to tolerate while remaining active, local species will enter a period of brumation. Unlike hibernation, in which the dormant mammals are actually asleep, brumating reptiles are awake but inactive. Individual snakes may brumate in burrows, under rock piles, or inside fallen trees, or large numbers of snakes may clump together in hibernacula.
Feeding and diet
All snakes are strictly carnivorous, preying on small animals including lizards, frogs, other snakes, small mammals, birds, eggs, fish, snails, worms, and insects. Snakes cannot bite or tear their food to pieces so must swallow their prey whole. The eating habits of a snake are largely influenced by body size; smaller snakes eat smaller prey. Juvenile pythons might start out feeding on lizards or mice and graduate to small deer or antelope as an adult, for example.
The snake's jaw is a complex structure. Contrary to the popular belief that snakes can dislocate their jaws, they have an extremely flexible lower jaw, the two halves of which are not rigidly attached, and numerous other joints in the skull, which allow the snake to open its mouth wide enough to swallow prey whole, even if it is larger in diameter than the snake itself. For example, the African egg-eating snake has flexible jaws adapted for eating eggs much larger than the diameter of its head. This snake has no teeth, but does have bony protrusions on the inside edge of its spine, which it uses to break the shell when eating eggs.
The majority of snakes eat a variety of prey animals, but there is some specialization in certain species. King cobras and the Australian bandy-bandy consume other snakes. Species of the family Pareidae have more teeth on the right side of their mouths than on the left, as they mostly prey on snails and the shells usually spiral clockwise.
Some snakes have a venomous bite, which they use to kill their prey before eating it. Other snakes kill their prey by constriction, while some swallow their prey when it is still alive.
After eating, snakes become dormant to allow the process of digestion to take place; this is an intense activity, especially after consumption of large prey. In species that feed only sporadically, the entire intestine enters a reduced state between meals to conserve energy. The digestive system is then 'up-regulated' to full capacity within 48 hours of prey consumption. Being ectothermic ("cold-blooded"), the surrounding temperature plays an important role in the digestion process. The ideal temperature for snakes to digest food is 30 °C (86 °F). There is a huge amount of metabolic energy involved in a snake's digestion, for example the surface body temperature of the South American rattlesnake (Crotalus durissus) increases by as much as 1.2 °C (2.2 °F) during the digestive process. If a snake is disturbed after having eaten recently, it will often regurgitate its prey to be able to escape the perceived threat. When undisturbed, the digestive process is highly efficient; the snake's digestive enzymes dissolve and absorb everything but the prey's hair (or feathers) and claws, which are excreted along with waste.
Hooding and spitting
Hooding (expansion of the neck area) is a visual deterrent, mostly seen in cobras (elapids), and is primarily controlled by rib muscles.[98] Hooding can be accompanied by spitting venom towards the threatening object,[99] and producing a specialized sound; hissing. Studies on captive cobras showed that 13 to 22% of the body length is raised during hooding.
Locomotion
The lack of limbs does not impede the movement of snakes. They have developed several different modes of locomotion to deal with particular environments. Unlike the gaits of limbed animals, which form a continuum, each mode of snake locomotion is discrete and distinct from the others; transitions between modes are abrupt.
Lateral undulation
Lateral undulation is the sole mode of aquatic locomotion, and the most common mode of terrestrial locomotion In this mode, the body of the snake alternately flexes to the left and right, resulting in a series of rearward-moving "waves". While this movement appears rapid, snakes have rarely been documented moving faster than two body-lengths per second, often much less. This mode of movement has the same net cost of transport (calories burned per meter moved) as running in lizards of the same mass.
Terrestrial lateral undulation is the most common mode of terrestrial locomotion for most snake species. In this mode, the posteriorly moving waves push against contact points in the environment, such as rocks, twigs, irregularities in the soil, etc. Each of these environmental objects, in turn, generates a reaction force directed forward and towards the midline of the snake, resulting in forward thrust while the lateral components cancel out. The speed of this movement depends upon the density of push-points in the environment, with a medium density of about 8[clarification needed] along the snake's length being ideal. The wave speed is precisely the same as the snake speed, and as a result, every point on the snake's body follows the path of the point ahead of it, allowing snakes to move through very dense vegetation and small openings.
When swimming, the waves become larger as they move down the snake's body, and the wave travels backwards faster than the snake moves forwards. Thrust is generated by pushing their body against the water, resulting in the observed slip. In spite of overall similarities, studies show that the pattern of muscle activation is different in aquatic versus terrestrial lateral undulation, which justifies calling them separate modes. All snakes can laterally undulate forward (with backward-moving waves), but only sea snakes have been observed reversing the motion (moving backwards with forward-moving waves).
Sidewinding
Most often employed by colubroid snakes (colubrids, elapids, and vipers) when the snake must move in an environment that lacks irregularities to push against (rendering lateral undulation impossible), such as a slick mud flat, or a sand dune, sidewinding is a modified form of lateral undulation in which all of the body segments oriented in one direction remain in contact with the ground, while the other segments are lifted up, resulting in a peculiar "rolling" motion. This mode of locomotion overcomes the slippery nature of sand or mud by pushing off with only static portions on the body, thereby minimizing slipping. The static nature of the contact points can be shown from the tracks of a sidewinding snake, which show each belly scale imprint, without any smearing. This mode of locomotion has very low caloric cost, less than 1⁄3 of the cost for a lizard to move the same distance. Contrary to popular belief, there is no evidence that sidewinding is associated with the sand being hot.
Concertina
When push-points are absent, but there is not enough space to use sidewinding because of lateral constraints, such as in tunnels, snakes rely on concertina locomotion. In this mode, the snake braces the posterior portion of its body against the tunnel wall while the front of the snake extends and straightens. The front portion then flexes and forms an anchor point, and the posterior is straightened and pulled forwards. This mode of locomotion is slow and very demanding, up to seven times the cost of laterally undulating over the same distance. This high cost is due to the repeated stops and starts of portions of the body as well as the necessity of using active muscular effort to brace against the tunnel walls.
Arboreal
The movement of snakes in arboreal habitats has only recently been studied. While on tree branches, snakes use several modes of locomotion depending on species and bark texture. In general, snakes will use a modified form of concertina locomotion on smooth branches, but will laterally undulate if contact points are available. Snakes move faster on small branches and when contact points are present, in contrast to limbed animals, which do better on large branches with little 'clutter'.
Gliding snakes (Chrysopelea) of Southeast Asia launch themselves from branch tips, spreading their ribs and laterally undulating as they glide between trees. These snakes can perform a controlled glide for hundreds of feet depending upon launch altitude and can even turn in midair.
Rectilinear
The slowest mode of snake locomotion is rectilinear locomotion, which is also the only one where the snake does not need to bend its body laterally, though it may do so when turning. In this mode, the belly scales are lifted and pulled forward before being placed down and the body pulled over them. Waves of movement and stasis pass posteriorly, resulting in a series of ripples in the skin. The ribs of the snake do not move in this mode of locomotion and this method is most often used by large pythons, boas, and vipers when stalking prey across open ground as the snake's movements are subtle and harder to detect by their prey in this manner.
Interactions with humans
Snakes do not ordinarily prey on humans. Unless startled or injured, most snakes prefer to avoid contact and will not attack humans. With the exception of large constrictors, nonvenomous snakes are not a threat to humans. The bite of a nonvenomous snake is usually harmless; their teeth are not adapted for tearing or inflicting a deep puncture wound, but rather grabbing and holding. Although the possibility of infection and tissue damage is present in the bite of a nonvenomous snake, venomous snakes present far greater hazard to humans. The World Health Organization (WHO) lists snakebite under the "other neglected conditions" category.
Documented deaths resulting from snake bites are uncommon. Nonfatal bites from venomous snakes may result in the need for amputation of a limb or part thereof. Of the roughly 725 species of venomous snakes worldwide, only 250 are able to kill a human with one bite. Australia averages only one fatal snake bite per year. In India, 250,000 snakebites are recorded in a single year, with as many as 50,000 recorded initial deaths. The WHO estimates that on the order of 100,000 people die each year as a result of snake bites, and around three times as many amputations and other permanent disabilities are caused by snakebites annually.
The treatment for a snakebite is as variable as the bite itself. The most common and effective method is through antivenom (or antivenin), a serum made from the venom of the snake. Some antivenom is species-specific (monovalent) while some is made for use with multiple species in mind (polyvalent). In the United States for example, all species of venomous snakes are pit vipers, with the exception of the coral snake. To produce antivenom, a mixture of the venoms of the different species of rattlesnakes, copperheads, and cottonmouths is injected into the body of a horse in ever-increasing dosages until the horse is immunized. Blood is then extracted from the immunized horse. The serum is separated and further purified and freeze-dried. It is reconstituted with sterile water and becomes antivenom. For this reason, people who are allergic to horses are more likely to have an allergic reaction to antivenom. Antivenom for the more dangerous species (such as mambas, taipans, and cobras) is made in a similar manner in South Africa, Australia , and India, although these antivenoms are species-specific.
Snake charmers
In some parts of the world, especially in India, snake charming is a roadside show performed by a charmer. In such a show, the snake charmer carries a basket containing a snake that he seemingly charms by playing tunes with his flutelike musical instrument, to which the snake responds. The snake is in fact responding to the movement of the flute, not the sound it makes, as snakes lack external ears (though they do have internal ears).
The Wildlife Protection Act of 1972 in India technically prohibits snake charming on the grounds of reducing animal cruelty. Other types of snake charmers use a snake and mongoose show, where the two animals have a mock fight; however, this is not very common, as the animals may be seriously injured or killed. Snake charming as a profession is dying out in India because of competition from modern forms of entertainment and environment laws proscribing the practice. Many Indians have never seen snake charming and it is becoming a folktale of the past.
Trapping
The Irulas tribe of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu in India have been hunter-gatherers in the hot, dry plains forests, and have practiced the art of snake catching for generations. They have a vast knowledge of snakes in the field. They generally catch the snakes with the help of a simple stick. Earlier, the Irulas caught thousands of snakes for the snake-skin industry. After the complete ban of the snake-skin industry in India and protection of all snakes under the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972, they formed the Irula Snake Catcher's Cooperative and switched to catching snakes for removal of venom, releasing them in the wild after four extractions. The venom so collected is used for producing life-saving antivenom, biomedical research and for other medicinal products. The Irulas are also known to eat some of the snakes they catch and are very useful in rat extermination in the villages.
Despite the existence of snake charmers, there have also been professional snake catchers or wranglers. Modern-day snake trapping involves a herpetologist using a long stick with a V-shaped end. Some television show hosts, like Bill Haast, Austin Stevens, Steve Irwin, and Jeff Corwin, prefer to catch them using bare hands.
Consumption
Although snakes are not commonly thought of as food, their consumption is acceptable in some cultures and may even be considered a delicacy. Snake soup is popular in Cantonese cuisine, consumed by locals in the autumn to warm their bodies. Western cultures document the consumption of snakes only under extreme circumstances of hunger, with the exception of cooked rattlesnake meat, which is commonly consumed in Texas and parts of the Midwestern United States.
In Asian countries such as China, Taiwan, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Cambodia, drinking the blood of a snake—particularly the cobra—is believed to increase sexual virility. When possible, the blood is drained while the cobra is still alive, and it is usually mixed with some form of liquor to improve the taste.
The use of snakes in alcohol is accepted in some Asian countries. In such cases, one or more snakes are left to steep in a jar or container of liquor, as this is claimed to make the liquor stronger (as well as more expensive). One example of this is the Habu snake, which is sometimes placed in the Okinawan liqueur Habushu (ハブ酒), also known as "Habu Sake".
Snake wine (蛇酒) is an alcoholic beverage produced by infusing whole snakes in rice wine or grain alcohol. First recorded as being consumed in China during the Western Zhou dynasty, this drink is considered an important curative and is believed to reinvigorate a person according to traditional Chinese medicine
Pets
In the Western world, some snakes are kept as pets, especially docile species such as the ball python and corn snake. To meet the demand, a captive breeding industry has developed. Snakes bred in captivity are considered preferable to specimens caught in the wild and tend to make better pets. Compared with more traditional types of companion animal, snakes can be very low-maintenance pets; they require minimal space, as most common species do not exceed 5 feet (1.5 m) in length, and can be fed relatively infrequently—usually once every five to 14 days. Certain snakes have a lifespan of more than 40 years if given proper care.
Symbolism
In ancient Mesopotamia, Nirah, the messenger god of Ištaran, was represented as a serpent on kudurrus, or boundary stones. Representations of two intertwined serpents are common in Sumerian art and Neo-Sumerian artwork and still appear sporadically on cylinder seals and amulets until as late as the thirteenth century BC. The horned viper (Cerastes cerastes) appears in Kassite and Neo-Assyrian kudurrus and is invoked in Assyrian texts as a magical protective entity. A dragon-like creature with horns, the body and neck of a snake, the forelegs of a lion, and the hind-legs of a bird appears in Mesopotamian art from the Akkadian Period until the Hellenistic Period (323 BC–31 BC). This creature, known in Akkadian as the mušḫuššu, meaning "furious serpent", was used as a symbol for particular deities and also as a general protective emblem. It seems to have originally been the attendant of the Underworld god Ninazu, but later became the attendant to the Hurrian storm-god Tishpak, as well as, later, Ninazu's son Ningishzida, the Babylonian national god Marduk, the scribal god Nabu, and the Assyrian national god Ashur.
In Egyptian history, the snake occupies a primary role with the Nile cobra adorning the crown of the pharaoh in ancient times. It was worshipped as one of the gods and was also used for sinister purposes: murder of an adversary and ritual suicide (Cleopatra). The ouroboros was a well-known ancient Egyptian symbol of a serpent swallowing its own tail. The precursor to the ouroboros was the "Many-Faced", a serpent with five heads, who, according to the Amduat, the oldest surviving Book of the Afterlife, was said to coil around the corpse of the sun god Ra protectively. The earliest surviving depiction of a "true" ouroboros comes from the gilded shrines in the tomb of Tutankhamun. In the early centuries AD, the ouroboros was adopted as a symbol by Gnostic Christians and chapter 136 of the Pistis Sophia, an early Gnostic text, describes "a great dragon whose tail is in its mouth". In medieval alchemy, the ouroboros became a typical western dragon with wings, legs, and a tail.
In the Bible, King Nahash of Ammon, whose name means "Snake", is depicted very negatively, as a particularly cruel and despicable enemy of the ancient Hebrews.
The ancient Greeks used the Gorgoneion, a depiction of a hideous face with serpents for hair, as an apotropaic symbol to ward off evil. In a Greek myth described by Pseudo-Apollodorus in his Bibliotheca, Medusa was a Gorgon with serpents for hair whose gaze turned all those who looked at her to stone and was slain by the hero Perseus. In the Roman poet Ovid's Metamorphoses, Medusa is said to have once been a beautiful priestess of Athena, whom Athena turned into a serpent-haired monster after she was raped by the god Poseidon in Athena's temple. In another myth referenced by the Boeotian poet Hesiod and described in detail by Pseudo-Apollodorus, the hero Heracles is said to have slain the Lernaean Hydra, a multiple-headed serpent which dwelt in the swamps of Lerna.
The legendary account of the foundation of Thebes mentioned a monster snake guarding the spring from which the new settlement was to draw its water. In fighting and killing the snake, the companions of the founder Cadmus all perished – leading to the term "Cadmean victory" (i.e. a victory involving one's own ruin).
Three medical symbols involving snakes that are still used today are Bowl of Hygieia, symbolizing pharmacy, and the Caduceus and Rod of Asclepius, which are symbols denoting medicine in general.
One of the etymologies proposed for the common female first name Linda is that it might derive from Old German Lindi or Linda, meaning a serpent.
India is often called the land of snakes and is steeped in tradition regarding snakes. Snakes are worshipped as gods even today with many women pouring milk on snake pits (despite snakes' aversion for milk). The cobra is seen on the neck of Shiva and Vishnu is depicted often as sleeping on a seven-headed snake or within the coils of a serpent. There are also several temples in India solely for cobras sometimes called Nagraj (King of Snakes) and it is believed that snakes are symbols of fertility. There is a Hindu festival called Nag Panchami each year on which day snakes are venerated and prayed to. See also Nāga.
In India there is another mythology about snakes. Commonly known in Hindi as "Ichchhadhari" snakes. Such snakes can take the form of any living creature, but prefer human form. These mythical snakes possess a valuable gem called "Mani", which is more brilliant than diamond. There are many stories in India about greedy people trying to possess this gem and ending up getting killed.
The snake is one of the 12 celestial animals of Chinese zodiac, in the Chinese calendar.
Many ancient Peruvian cultures worshipped nature. They emphasized animals and often depicted snakes in their art.
Religion
Snakes are used in Hinduism as a part of ritual worship. In the annual Nag Panchami festival, participants worship either live cobras or images of Nāgas. Lord Shiva is depicted in most images with a snake coiled around his neck. Puranic literature includes various stories associated with snakes, for example Shesha is said to hold all the planets of the Universe on his hoods and to constantly sing the glories of Vishnu from all his mouths. Other notable snakes in Hinduism are Vasuki, Takshaka, Karkotaka, and Pingala. The term Nāga is used to refer to entities that take the form of large snakes in Hinduism and Buddhism.
Snakes have been widely revered in many cultures, such as in ancient Greece where the serpent was seen as a healer.[148] Asclepius carried a serpent wound around his wand, a symbol seen today on many ambulances. In Judaism, the snake of brass is also a symbol of healing, of one's life being saved from imminent death.
In religious terms, the snake and jaguar were arguably the most important animals in ancient Mesoamerica. "In states of ecstasy, lords dance a serpent dance; great descending snakes adorn and support buildings from Chichen Itza to Tenochtitlan, and the Nahuatl word coatl meaning serpent or twin, forms part of primary deities such as Mixcoatl, Quetzalcoatl, and Coatlicue." In the Maya and Aztec calendars, the fifth day of the week was known as Snake Day.
In some parts of Christianity, the redemptive work of Jesus Christ is compared to saving one's life through beholding the Nehushtan (serpent of brass). Snake handlers use snakes as an integral part of church worship, to demonstrate their faith in divine protection. However, more commonly in Christianity, the serpent has been depicted as a representative of evil and sly plotting, as seen in the description in Genesis of a snake tempting Eve in the Garden of Eden. Saint Patrick is purported to have expelled all snakes from Ireland while converting the country to Christianity in the 5th century, thus explaining the absence of snakes there.
In Christianity and Judaism, the snake makes its infamous appearance in the first book of the Bible when a serpent appears before Adam and Eve and tempts them with the forbidden fruit from the Tree of Knowledge. The snake returns in the Book of Exodus when Moses turns his staff into a snake as a sign of God's power, and later when he makes the Nehushtan, a bronze snake on a pole that when looked at cured the people of bites from the snakes that plagued them in the desert. The serpent makes its final appearance symbolizing Satan in the Book of Revelation: "And he laid hold on the dragon the old serpent, which is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years."
In Neo-Paganism and Wicca, the snake is seen as a symbol of wisdom and knowledge. Additionally, snakes are sometimes associated with Hecate, the Greek goddess of witchcraft.
Medicine
Several compounds from snake venoms are being researched as potential treatments or preventatives for pain, cancers, arthritis, stroke, heart disease, hemophilia, and hypertension, and to control bleeding (e.g. during surgery).
Greg Nelson, left, gathers his gear at the edge of the east entrance road in Yellowstone National Park. Phil Hawkins and Thomas Naberhaus, right, wait for him to join them as they prepare to ski to the summit of Top Notch Peak, overlooking Sylvan Pass. (Ruffin Prevost/WyoFile - click to enlarge)
Them Twins
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Samsung S2 LTE
Default lens
I took this picture on my phone when I went to KL in December. I can't explain how massive and immense the Twin Towers are - it's incredible and only describable by saying: "go see it yourself".
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Watercolor study on paper, based on the gorgeous Cosmos Charm, by Kay Smith. I LOVE to see them together!
The title.
5.4
Kuzyuukuri,chiba,nihon, 2015. shot.............. 3 / 6
(Today's picture.That's unannounced.)
image.
Zero - VAMPS
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Profile.
In November 2014, we caught the attention of the party selected to undertake the publicity for a mobile phone that changed the face of the world with just a single model, and will conclude a confidentiality agreement with them.
steal-a.way-nifty.com/stealaway/2015/03/profile-march20.html
1,000,000 View Over.
steal-a.way-nifty.com/stealaway/2015/03/1000000-view-ov.html
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flickr . ( XL size )
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www.flickr.com/photos/stealaway/
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Postscript 2.
Today's text.
I prepared 9 languages.
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My Novel Unforgettable'
(This book is Dedicated to the future artist.)
Mitsushiro Nakagawa
All Translated by Yumi Ikeda .
1 www.fotolog.com/stealaway/63010795
2 www.fotolog.com/stealaway/63010850
3 www.fotolog.com/stealaway/67367788
4 www.fotolog.com/stealaway/67367870
5 www.fotolog.com/stealaway/71689162
6 www.fotolog.com/stealaway/71689178
7 www.fotolog.com/stealaway/74743283
8 www.fotolog.com/stealaway/74743308
9 www.fotolog.com/stealaway/74743327
10 www.fotolog.com/stealaway/74743347
11 www.fotolog.com/stealaway/78430116
12 www.fotolog.com/stealaway/78430133
13 www.fotolog.com/stealaway/78430151
14 www.fotolog.com/stealaway/78430171
15 www.fotolog.com/stealaway/78430187
16 www.fotolog.com/stealaway/78430217
17 www.fotolog.com/stealaway/81839262
18 www.fotolog.com/stealaway/81839268
19 www.fotolog.com/stealaway/81839275
20 www.fotolog.com/stealaway/81839277
21 www.fotolog.com/stealaway/81839286
22 www.fotolog.com/stealaway/81839299
23 www.fotolog.com/stealaway/84441380
24 www.fotolog.com/stealaway/84441385
25 www.fotolog.com/stealaway/84441393
26 www.fotolog.com/stealaway/84441399
27 www.fotolog.com/stealaway/84441403
28 www.fotolog.com/stealaway/84441405
29 www.fotolog.com/stealaway/84441411
30 www.fotolog.com/stealaway/85928332
31 www.fotolog.com/stealaway/85928336
32 www.fotolog.com/stealaway/85928339
33 www.fotolog.com/stealaway/85928343
34 www.fotolog.com/stealaway/85928345
35 www.fotolog.com/stealaway/85928348
36 www.fotolog.com/stealaway/85928352
37 www.fotolog.com/stealaway/85928356
38 www.fotolog.com/stealaway/85928359
38.1 www.fotolog.com/stealaway/86410872
39 www.fotolog.com/stealaway/86410869
40 www.fotolog.com/stealaway/86410864
41 www.fotolog.com/stealaway/86410860
42 www.fotolog.com/stealaway/86410856
43 www.fotolog.com/stealaway/86410853
44 www.fotolog.com/stealaway/86410850
Fin.
images.
U2 - No Line On The Horizon Live in Dublin
www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oKwnkYFsiE&feature=related
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The next photography place.
2015.
Britain.
2016.
Switzerland.
I am very pleasure.
:)
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Artexpo NY 2015 .
2015. From April 23 to the 26th.
The New York hall.
68 Lexington avenue at 25th street New York, a United States. sponsor.
NY ARTS /The Art Dossier/MANA/HOTEL LINCOLN/etc
work name.
The shadow of the subway.
2015.
Autumn.
Theme.
This must be the place I waited years to leave .
Place. Tokyo Big Sight.
Sponsoring. Design festa.
2016.
Autumn.
DIC Kawamura Memorial Museum of Art.
kawamura-museum.dic.co.jp/en / place.
Sakura-shi, Chiba.
Theme.
All the things you are .
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Title of my book > unforgettable'
Author : Mitsushiro Nakagawa
Out Now.
ISBN978-4-86264-866-2
in Amazon.
www.amazon.co.jp/Unforgettable’-Mitsushiro-Nakagawa/dp/...
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I went to New York 2007.
Day when Japan was left. March 9. Afternoon.
Day where it returned to Japan. March 14. Afternoon.
I am in Japan now.
The photograph in New York starts as follows.
www.fotolog.com/stealaway/22748231
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Japanese is the following.
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glossom
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Why I do clicks and snapping them into frames?
I could never develop a living creature in this physical world; and not only me, by anybody or anything except Earth and Women. Only these are having the potentiality to create a living creature in this universe. All other creations are shadows of the light rayed from them. Often we vocalizing the words Spirit or Soul, and they simply passed on here by them. Wherefore, they are absolute discrete without any comparison.
We call it “Suyambu” in tamil which meant unfeigned or uncontrived or un pretended. Without any persuasion, a fallen seed start to germinate isn’t? So as she! It is difficult that sprouting from a tiny seed and growing spontaneously so as to become a great wild. It won’t stop there; she is with all her heart and hands pretending the lives of thousands of birds, millions of larvae, and even deadly species. She is great mother who is catering the biomass of an entire universe! She is called “Suyambu”.
The dark, which secretes the mother's womb, is primordial light isn’t? I wish to hold my camera ahead them to focus a tiny illumination of the endless light. I know even after a thorough effort, manipulating a superlative frames of aforementioned things may not absolute possible. Still, I need to stand close to it at least. Eventually, I am running through it as my living habitual!
In its prolongation, I started to flash a light on women I cross across on my walk to capture unfeigned smiles of them. Sometimes I go a long way in search of a certain smile that accumulated in the depths of memory a while before. There I won’t try any photographic artifacts or tremendous technologies I swear. All my tutelage is to register a smile of its purest form. From new-sprung buds to those who are waiting on the brink of death after lived a whole life, each one of them adding a different hue to my rainbow.
Turning these images tomorrow will bring rain and I will start to pluck flowers!
For More Works :
www.instagram.com/suyambu_portraitproject/
www.facebook.com/naveengowtham.ng/media_set?set=a.1641109...
Discover fun facts about elephants in Thailand, care and feeding them with love! Feeding, mud SPA and shower with the elephants, make paper from elephant poop, take funny photos with elephants, the price includes lunch, free photographs, free transfer...
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The Britcar Endurance Series Made an Epic Return to the Brands Hatch Indy Circuit for The End of the Year Championship that Would Decide who the Overall Champion would be For Britcar.
Other Support Races were Also Present I the Paddock including The Ever so Popular Dunlop Mini Winter Challenge who had brought with them some Fantastic Racing Mini's Ready to do Battle on the World Famous Circuit.
Other Support Races Included The Ginetta Junior Championship as well as The Silverlake C1 Racing Club who would be Partaking in an Endurance Race that Would Lead Them Into the Night as they Raced for 3 Hours and 145 Laps around the Circuit.
With A Busy Two Days of Both Racing and Qualifying Action Ahead Lets turn to the First Qualifying Session of the Weekend.
Dunlop Mini Winter Challenge-(Qualifying)
First Up on to the Track was the Ever so Popular Dunlop Mini Winter Challenge a Series that Focuses on Mini Racing Thought The Entire Season.
Thease Mini's are Based on both the Mini Sevens and Mini Miglia Spec of Racing Mini's and a Combined Qualifying Session saw both Mini Sevens and Mini Miglia's Together on the Circuit.
Lets Take a Look at Who will be Starting on Pole come the First Race of the Weekend.
In First Place Taking Pole Position and The Fastest Lap was (Rupert Deeth) in his Mini Miglia 1293 with a Best Lap Time of 55.096 and a Top Speed of 78.92mph. Fantastic Work there Rupert Amazing Lap and an Incredible Car Too.
In Second Place was (Colin Peacock) in his Mini Miglia 1293 with a Best Lap Time of 55.142 and a Top Speed of 78.86mph. Brilliant Drive from Colin Who was Pushing Himself Hard to Catch and Beat Rupert's Time.
In Third Place was (Endaf Owens) in his Mini Miglia 1298 with a Best Lap Time of 55.226 and a Top Speed of 78.74mph. Great Work there Endaf A Very Quick Driver who knows a Thing or two about Racing Miglia's.
What an Intense Qualifying Session for both the Mini Miglia's and The Mini Sevens and Some Incredible Drives from the likes of Rupert Colin and Endaf but will Anyone Else be able to Steal that Glory from them During the Race or Will the Likes of Colin and Endaf Manage to Improve their Positions during the Race?
We Will Have to Wait to Find Out
Britcar Endurance Championship- (Qualifying)
Next Up on to the Track was the Britcar Endurance Trophy and Thease Cars will Later be Taking Part in a Very Intense 1 Hour and 45 Minute Endurance Race on the Sunday with Pitstops Included.
A Range of Many Different Machines Align the Grid with the Likes of Porsche 718 GT4'S BMW M3's and Ginetta G55's it will make for an Interesting Race to see who can push their Machinery to its Limits and take Home Glory. But for Now Lets take a Look at Qualifying and who has come out on top.
In First Place Taking Pole and the Fastest Lap was (Team Valluga's Carl Cavers and Sean Doyle) in their Porsche 718 GT4 Club Sport with a Best Lap Time of 50.145 and a Top Speed of 86.72mph. Fantastic Work Guys Really Well Done and a Stunning Lap for Pole Position.
In Second Place was (Team Valluga's Ian Humphries and Benji Hetherington) in their Porsche 718 GT4 Club Sport with a Best Lap Time of 50.415 and a Top Speed of 86.25mph. Another Fantastic P2 for Team Valluga's Well Done To both Teams for Getting P1 and P2 on the Grid.
In Third Place was (Nial Bradley) in his BMW M3 E46 with a Best Lap Time of 50.816 and a Top Speed of 85.57mph. Superb Job there Nial Really Working Hard to Push that BMW into P3.
A Fantastic Qualifying Session for the Britcar Endurance Trophy and With Their Respective Races coming on Sunday it will be Fascinating to See who will come out on Top and Hold onto their Positions Thought the Race. But who will be The Overall Victor?
Stay Tuned to Find Out!
Ginetta Junior Championship-(Qualifying)
The Ginetta Juniors were Up next and Every Year when they Come to Brands Hatch they Remain Ever so Popular with Fans and Spectators alike.
The Racing Series itself is Designed for Junior Races Between the ages of 13-17 Years of Age Before those who turn 18 Can then Enter The Ginetta Senior Classes of Racing.
The Cars Used are Ginetta Racing Cars all of which are Run by Different Teams Looking to Extract as Much Power as Possible from those Engines and they Always Manage to Provide Fantastic and Exciting Racing.
With 2 Races for Today it will be Great to see who can Come out on top and Take their First Victory in Ginetta Junior Racing for the Weekend.
Lets First Take a Look at Qualifying and Find Out who Took Pole and who was Following Closely Behind.
In First Place Taking Pole Position and The fastest Lap was (Josh Rowledge) in his GBR R Racing with a Best Lap Time of 57.996 and a Top Speed of 75.01mph. Brilliant Drive there from Josh who Takes the First Qualifying Session Pole of the Weekend for Ginette's.
In Second Place was (Harri Reynolds) in his GBR Assetto Motorsport with a Best Lap Time of 58.075 and a Top Speed of 74.87mph. Amazing Job there Harri Fantastic P2 and not too Far of Josh's Pole Time either. Looking forward to Race 1.
In Third Place was (Maurice Hendry) in his GBR Fox Motorsport with a Best Lap Time of 58.119 and a Top Speed of 74.82mph. Great Work there Maurice Really showing his Skills in that Ginetta and Pushing Hard for that P3 on the Grid.
An Incredible Qualifying Session for the Ginetta's and with Three Amazing Drivers on the front Row of the Grid in Josh Harri and Maurice This is going to be One Intense Race with All Three Drivers Separated by Less than Half a Second.
With Qualifying Second Fastest Up Next who will be able to Improve and will anyone Else be able to try and Have a go at Making it to the front of the Grid come Race 1?
Ginetta Junior Championship-(Qualifying Second Fastest)
In First Place Taking Pole Position and the Fastest Lap was (Josh Rowledge) in his R Racing with a Best Lap Time of 58.119 and a Top Speed of 74.82mph. Congratulations Josh another Incredible Lap sees him take The Pole for Race 1 This Weekend and in a Superb Style too.
In Second Place was (Liam McNeilly) in his GBR Fox Motorsport with a Best Lap Time of 58.251 and a Top Speed of 74.65mph. Really Great Work there Liam What a Fantastic Achievement and to Beat back the Likes of Harri Reynolds Must be Making him Feel Really Good.
In Third Place was (Harri Reynolds) in his Assetto Motorsport with a Best Lap Time of 58.409 and a Top Speed of 74.45mph. Brilliant work Once Again from Harri who Still was Doing all he Could behind the Wheel to take Back his P2 Position while Battling with Liam for The Second Fastest Lap.
What a Qualifying Session with One New Driver in Liam starting P2 and the likes of Both Josh and Harri in P1 and P3 Respectively, This Up Coming Race is one to not be Missed. Lets get into it and Find out who will take The Victory.
Ginetta Junior Championship-(Race 1 Results)
In First Place taking the Race Victory and The Fastest Lap was (Josh Rowledge) in his R Racing with a Best Lap Time of 57.300 and an Average Speed of 74.84mph. Congratulations Josh who has taken a Fantastic First Victory here at Brands Hatch and I'm Sure he was Feeling Very Proud Afterwards, Superb job by Him and The Team.
In Second Place was (Harri Reynolds) in his Assetto Motorsport with a Best Lap Time of 57.375 and an Average Speed of 74.80mph. Brilliant Work there from Harri who crosses the Line to Finnish in a Brilliant P2 and Take back the Hard work he Done During Qualifying. Fantastic.
In Third Place was (Joe Warhurst) in his GBR Elite Motorsport with a Best Lap Time of 57.448 and an Average Speed of 74.79mph. Another New Driver has Achieved P3 in Joe Warhurst, Fantastic Job Joe a Really Well Deserved Victory for you and The Rest of the Team.
What a Race and what a Set of Drivers in Josh Harri and Joe who All Push Themselves Hard and Took Home some Incredible Victories During Race 1. With One More Race to Come will Anyone Else be Able to do The Same?
Ginetta Junior Championship-(Race 2 Results)
In First Place Taking the Victory and The Fastest Lap was (Josh Rowledge) in his R Racing with a Best Lap Time of 57.510 and an Average Speed of 74.68mph. I'm Starting to get the Feeling that This Guy Knows a Thing or two about Racing. Congratulations Josh for Another Superb Drive and Dominant Display Making it two out of Two Wins so Far.
In Second Place was (Liam McNeilly) in his Fox Motorsport with a Best Lap Time of 57.496 and an Average Speed of 74.53mph. Congratulations Liam a Very Well Deserved Come Back Drive after a Not so Good P4 Finish Really Well Deserved Brilliant Driving.
In Third Place was (Max Dodd's)
In His GBR Assetto Motorsport with a Best Lap Time of 57.516 and an Average Speed of 74.10mph. Fantastic To see Another New Driver take His First Step onto the Podium. Congratulations Max a Fine Drive for P3.
What an Amazing Set of Races Seen by the Ginetta Junior Championship with the likes of Josh Liam Max Joe Maurice and Harri all taking Fantastic Victories in their Respective Cars. Looking Forward to Seeing what DAY 2 Brings for the Ginetta's but for Now its Over to the Final Qualifying and Race of the Day.
Silverlake C1 Racing Series-(Qualifying)
The Final Qualifying Session of the Day is now Making its way onto the Circuit and its the Silverlake C1 Racing Series in Preparation for their 4 Hour Endurance Race After.
This Group of 44 Teams are All Racing as Part of the Silverlake C1 Championship which Sees them Travel all over the Country from Silverstone to Knock Hill to Snetterton.
The Series itself uses Citroen C1's (998cc) that Have Been made to go Racing for Extended Period's of Time. With an Insane Grid of 44 Competitors and Teams All Looking for that Victory come the Final few Seconds of the Race it will be interesting to see how Qualifying stacks up and who has the Fastest Machine.
In First Place Taking the Pole and Fastest Lap was (Team Lady Bird Daddy's Patrick Watt's/ Aimee Watt's/Orlando Linsey) in their Citroen C1 998cc with a Best Lap Time of 1:04.743 and a Top Speed of 67.16mph. Fantastic work Team Lady Brid Daddy Taking Pole and The Fastest Lap for P1 on the Gird.
In Second Place was (JW Bird Motorsport's Nick Beaumont and Kieran Griffin) in their Citroen C1 998cc with a Best Lap Time of 1:04.759 and a Top Speed of 67.15mph. Brilliant work to Team JW Bird Motorsport Fantastic Team Effort and a Great Starting Point for the Endurance Race.
In Third Place was (Emax Motorsport's James Little Jake Little and Stuart Ratcliffe) in their Citroen C1 998cc with a Best Lap Time of 1:04.936 and a Top Speed of 66.96mph. Great Work there Team Emax Pushing to the Limits and Holding onto that Important P3 Grid Slot.
With a 3 Hour Endurance Race Anything can Happen and with the Current Top Three Having to do Battle Against a Grid of 41 Other Teams and Drivers All with Varying Skill Level's This Race to Win could be Anybody's for the Taking Good Luck to All Teams Competing and May the Best Team Win.
Silverlake C1 Racing Series-(Race 1 Results)
(Hour 1)
With The Grid set for Racing The Lights slowly began to turn on until All Five Lights were Illuminated and then Simultaneously went out and 44 1000cc Citroen's with 44 Competitive Drivers Behind the Wheel Made their way through Paddock Hill Bend being careful to Avoid One Another while scrapping for Places.
As they Race Towards to the Top of Druids All was Good as they made their way Down towards Graham Hill Bend and onto the Cooper Straight. So Far so Good and All The Citroens came Round the Last Corner with Ladybird Daddy Number 506 Still Leading followed by Emax Motorsport Number 345 and JW Bird Motorsport Number In 3rd Place.
(Hour 2)
As The Second Hour Approached it was time for Some Teams to Start thinking about Pit Stop Strategy and How this Might Move them either up a Position or Down Depending Upon the Time and Driver Driving.
Many of the Teams Pulled into the Pits with Only a Few Cars Out there Still going trying to get a Head Start while the other Teams opted to Pit and Change Drivers or take on Fuel for the Rest of the Race.
11 Minutes after 2 O'clock and the Number 446 Car of Team TAC Racing has made a Trip into the Gravel Trap at the Top of Paddock Hill Bend and had to be towed Out Resulting in a Penalty for Outside Assistance.
They Re-join the Race but will be at least 2 or 3 Laps down on the Rest of the Field for this Costly Mistake.
(Hour 3 The Final Hour)
As 3 O'clock Approached the Headlights of Most Drivers began To Turn On as The Light Around the Circuit began to get even Darker Meaning the Race was Entering its Night Stage.
With Some Drivers being Good in the Day and other being Good in the Night it was Anybody's Race Still as All 44 Cars Continued to Race around the Indy Circuit Lady Bird Daddy was Still in the Lead and Creating a Sizable Gap at The Front of the Pack as they Continued on into the Darkness of Night.
As the Race Continued into the Last Hour a Loud Crash was Heard from the Bottom of Paddock Hill Bend with the Number 320 Car of M Barrand and S Barrand was seen Rolling after a Slide while coming out of Paddock Hill Bend The Marshalls Raced in and Managed to get the Car Right Side Up as the Citroen had Flipped Over onto its Roof during the Crash, Thankfully the Driver Escaped with No Injuries.
As The Race Reached its Conclusion Lets take a Look at the Final Results and see who Won The 3 Hour Endurance Race for Silverlake C1's.
In First Place After Securing Pole During Qualifying and taking a Very Dominant Victory was (Team Lady Bird Daddy's Patrick Watt's/ Aimee Watt's/Orlando Linsey) Congratulations Everybody Some Fantastic Driving and a Well Deserved Win after such a Heroic Drive Thought the 3 Hours.
In Second Place After Taking on the Indy Circuit and Starting P4 was (Team Quattro Formaggio's Alistair May and Chris Parkes) A Phenomenal Drive by Both Drivers Each Working Hard to Keep the Car in a Competitive Spot thought the Entire 3 Hour Race.
In Third Place After a Very Promising start in Qualifying with P2 was JW Bird Motorsport's Tony Prendergast and Robin Welsh. Congratulations to Both Tony and Robin Another Dynamic Duo Who Managed to take the Final Spot on the Podium after an Intense Race.
What a Fantastic Finish to the First Day of Britcar Into The Night at Brands Hatch I Look Forward to Tomorrow where Even more Support Races will be Joining and Maybe even some New Champions Will be Crowned.
Until Then Keep Racing!
'Le Mariage de Convenance' by Sir William Quiller-Orchardson, 1883.
Objects that caught my eye in Kelvingrove Museum, Glasgow.
Apparently - as part of it's defence mechanism, the horns secrete/eject a noxious vapour when approached by an avian opportunist!
Besides which it resembles bird poop!
We're rounding up cartoonists, putting them into teams and letting them battle it out the only way cartoonists know how to battle—by drawing cartoons! The format is simple: the audience provides the topics and the cartoonists let it rip. It's like Iron Chef, but the secret ingredient is punch lines instead of asparagus. Cartoonists don't often perform in public without having the benefit of their usual crutches: a comfortable desk, oodles of time and bathtubs full of whiskey. So this is a rare opportunity.
This show features cartoonists Hilary Price (Rhymes with Orange), Eric Lewis (Animal Nuz, The New Yorker), Matt Diffee (The Rejection Collection, The New Yorker) and Drew Dernavich (The New Yorker), hosted by writer and comedian Patrick Borelli (Comedy Central, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon). There will also be a surprise musical guest for your entertainment, just in case you actually need more entertainment.
Graffiti (plural; singular graffiti or graffito, the latter rarely used except in archeology) is art that is written, painted or drawn on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from simple written words to elaborate wall paintings, and has existed since ancient times, with examples dating back to ancient Egypt, ancient Greece, and the Roman Empire (see also mural).
Graffiti is a controversial subject. In most countries, marking or painting property without permission is considered by property owners and civic authorities as defacement and vandalism, which is a punishable crime, citing the use of graffiti by street gangs to mark territory or to serve as an indicator of gang-related activities. Graffiti has become visualized as a growing urban "problem" for many cities in industrialized nations, spreading from the New York City subway system and Philadelphia in the early 1970s to the rest of the United States and Europe and other world regions
"Graffiti" (usually both singular and plural) and the rare singular form "graffito" are from the Italian word graffiato ("scratched"). The term "graffiti" is used in art history for works of art produced by scratching a design into a surface. A related term is "sgraffito", which involves scratching through one layer of pigment to reveal another beneath it. This technique was primarily used by potters who would glaze their wares and then scratch a design into them. In ancient times graffiti were carved on walls with a sharp object, although sometimes chalk or coal were used. The word originates from Greek γράφειν—graphein—meaning "to write".
The term graffiti originally referred to the inscriptions, figure drawings, and such, found on the walls of ancient sepulchres or ruins, as in the Catacombs of Rome or at Pompeii. Historically, these writings were not considered vanadlism, which today is considered part of the definition of graffiti.
The only known source of the Safaitic language, an ancient form of Arabic, is from graffiti: inscriptions scratched on to the surface of rocks and boulders in the predominantly basalt desert of southern Syria, eastern Jordan and northern Saudi Arabia. Safaitic dates from the first century BC to the fourth century AD.
Some of the oldest cave paintings in the world are 40,000 year old ones found in Australia. The oldest written graffiti was found in ancient Rome around 2500 years ago. Most graffiti from the time was boasts about sexual experiences Graffiti in Ancient Rome was a form of communication, and was not considered vandalism.
Ancient tourists visiting the 5th-century citadel at Sigiriya in Sri Lanka write their names and commentary over the "mirror wall", adding up to over 1800 individual graffiti produced there between the 6th and 18th centuries. Most of the graffiti refer to the frescoes of semi-nude females found there. One reads:
Wet with cool dew drops
fragrant with perfume from the flowers
came the gentle breeze
jasmine and water lily
dance in the spring sunshine
side-long glances
of the golden-hued ladies
stab into my thoughts
heaven itself cannot take my mind
as it has been captivated by one lass
among the five hundred I have seen here.
Among the ancient political graffiti examples were Arab satirist poems. Yazid al-Himyari, an Umayyad Arab and Persian poet, was most known for writing his political poetry on the walls between Sajistan and Basra, manifesting a strong hatred towards the Umayyad regime and its walis, and people used to read and circulate them very widely.
Graffiti, known as Tacherons, were frequently scratched on Romanesque Scandinavian church walls. When Renaissance artists such as Pinturicchio, Raphael, Michelangelo, Ghirlandaio, or Filippino Lippi descended into the ruins of Nero's Domus Aurea, they carved or painted their names and returned to initiate the grottesche style of decoration.
There are also examples of graffiti occurring in American history, such as Independence Rock, a national landmark along the Oregon Trail.
Later, French soldiers carved their names on monuments during the Napoleonic campaign of Egypt in the 1790s. Lord Byron's survives on one of the columns of the Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion in Attica, Greece.
The oldest known example of graffiti "monikers" found on traincars created by hobos and railworkers since the late 1800s. The Bozo Texino monikers were documented by filmmaker Bill Daniel in his 2005 film, Who is Bozo Texino?.
In World War II, an inscription on a wall at the fortress of Verdun was seen as an illustration of the US response twice in a generation to the wrongs of the Old World:
During World War II and for decades after, the phrase "Kilroy was here" with an accompanying illustration was widespread throughout the world, due to its use by American troops and ultimately filtering into American popular culture. Shortly after the death of Charlie Parker (nicknamed "Yardbird" or "Bird"), graffiti began appearing around New York with the words "Bird Lives".
Modern graffiti art has its origins with young people in 1960s and 70s in New York City and Philadelphia. Tags were the first form of stylised contemporary graffiti. Eventually, throw-ups and pieces evolved with the desire to create larger art. Writers used spray paint and other kind of materials to leave tags or to create images on the sides subway trains. and eventually moved into the city after the NYC metro began to buy new trains and paint over graffiti.
While the art had many advocates and appreciators—including the cultural critic Norman Mailer—others, including New York City mayor Ed Koch, considered it to be defacement of public property, and saw it as a form of public blight. The ‘taggers’ called what they did ‘writing’—though an important 1974 essay by Mailer referred to it using the term ‘graffiti.’
Contemporary graffiti style has been heavily influenced by hip hop culture and the myriad international styles derived from Philadelphia and New York City Subway graffiti; however, there are many other traditions of notable graffiti in the twentieth century. Graffiti have long appeared on building walls, in latrines, railroad boxcars, subways, and bridges.
An early graffito outside of New York or Philadelphia was the inscription in London reading "Clapton is God" in reference to the guitarist Eric Clapton. Creating the cult of the guitar hero, the phrase was spray-painted by an admirer on a wall in an Islington, north London in the autumn of 1967. The graffito was captured in a photograph, in which a dog is urinating on the wall.
Films like Style Wars in the 80s depicting famous writers such as Skeme, Dondi, MinOne, and ZEPHYR reinforced graffiti's role within New York's emerging hip-hop culture. Although many officers of the New York City Police Department found this film to be controversial, Style Wars is still recognized as the most prolific film representation of what was going on within the young hip hop culture of the early 1980s. Fab 5 Freddy and Futura 2000 took hip hop graffiti to Paris and London as part of the New York City Rap Tour in 1983
Commercialization and entrance into mainstream pop culture
Main article: Commercial graffiti
With the popularity and legitimization of graffiti has come a level of commercialization. In 2001, computer giant IBM launched an advertising campaign in Chicago and San Francisco which involved people spray painting on sidewalks a peace symbol, a heart, and a penguin (Linux mascot), to represent "Peace, Love, and Linux." IBM paid Chicago and San Francisco collectively US$120,000 for punitive damages and clean-up costs.
In 2005, a similar ad campaign was launched by Sony and executed by its advertising agency in New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and Miami, to market its handheld PSP gaming system. In this campaign, taking notice of the legal problems of the IBM campaign, Sony paid building owners for the rights to paint on their buildings "a collection of dizzy-eyed urban kids playing with the PSP as if it were a skateboard, a paddle, or a rocking horse".
Tristan Manco wrote that Brazil "boasts a unique and particularly rich, graffiti scene ... [earning] it an international reputation as the place to go for artistic inspiration". Graffiti "flourishes in every conceivable space in Brazil's cities". Artistic parallels "are often drawn between the energy of São Paulo today and 1970s New York". The "sprawling metropolis", of São Paulo has "become the new shrine to graffiti"; Manco alludes to "poverty and unemployment ... [and] the epic struggles and conditions of the country's marginalised peoples", and to "Brazil's chronic poverty", as the main engines that "have fuelled a vibrant graffiti culture". In world terms, Brazil has "one of the most uneven distributions of income. Laws and taxes change frequently". Such factors, Manco argues, contribute to a very fluid society, riven with those economic divisions and social tensions that underpin and feed the "folkloric vandalism and an urban sport for the disenfranchised", that is South American graffiti art.
Prominent Brazilian writers include Os Gêmeos, Boleta, Nunca, Nina, Speto, Tikka, and T.Freak. Their artistic success and involvement in commercial design ventures has highlighted divisions within the Brazilian graffiti community between adherents of the cruder transgressive form of pichação and the more conventionally artistic values of the practitioners of grafite.
Graffiti in the Middle East has emerged slowly, with taggers operating in Egypt, Lebanon, the Gulf countries like Bahrain or the United Arab Emirates, Israel, and in Iran. The major Iranian newspaper Hamshahri has published two articles on illegal writers in the city with photographic coverage of Iranian artist A1one's works on Tehran walls. Tokyo-based design magazine, PingMag, has interviewed A1one and featured photographs of his work. The Israeli West Bank barrier has become a site for graffiti, reminiscent in this sense of the Berlin Wall. Many writers in Israel come from other places around the globe, such as JUIF from Los Angeles and DEVIONE from London. The religious reference "נ נח נחמ נחמן מאומן" ("Na Nach Nachma Nachman Meuman") is commonly seen in graffiti around Israel.
Graffiti has played an important role within the street art scene in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), especially following the events of the Arab Spring of 2011 or the Sudanese Revolution of 2018/19. Graffiti is a tool of expression in the context of conflict in the region, allowing people to raise their voices politically and socially. Famous street artist Banksy has had an important effect in the street art scene in the MENA area, especially in Palestine where some of his works are located in the West Bank barrier and Bethlehem.
There are also a large number of graffiti influences in Southeast Asian countries that mostly come from modern Western culture, such as Malaysia, where graffiti have long been a common sight in Malaysia's capital city, Kuala Lumpur. Since 2010, the country has begun hosting a street festival to encourage all generations and people from all walks of life to enjoy and encourage Malaysian street culture.
The modern-day graffitists can be found with an arsenal of various materials that allow for a successful production of a piece. This includes such techniques as scribing. However, spray paint in aerosol cans is the number one medium for graffiti. From this commodity comes different styles, technique, and abilities to form master works of graffiti. Spray paint can be found at hardware and art stores and comes in virtually every color.
Stencil graffiti is created by cutting out shapes and designs in a stiff material (such as cardboard or subject folders) to form an overall design or image. The stencil is then placed on the "canvas" gently and with quick, easy strokes of the aerosol can, the image begins to appear on the intended surface.
Some of the first examples were created in 1981 by artists Blek le Rat in Paris, in 1982 by Jef Aerosol in Tours (France); by 1985 stencils had appeared in other cities including New York City, Sydney, and Melbourne, where they were documented by American photographer Charles Gatewood and Australian photographer Rennie Ellis
Tagging is the practice of someone spray-painting "their name, initial or logo onto a public surface" in a handstyle unique to the writer. Tags were the first form of modern graffiti.
Modern graffiti art often incorporates additional arts and technologies. For example, Graffiti Research Lab has encouraged the use of projected images and magnetic light-emitting diodes (throwies) as new media for graffitists. yarnbombing is another recent form of graffiti. Yarnbombers occasionally target previous graffiti for modification, which had been avoided among the majority of graffitists.
Theories on the use of graffiti by avant-garde artists have a history dating back at least to the Asger Jorn, who in 1962 painting declared in a graffiti-like gesture "the avant-garde won't give up"
Many contemporary analysts and even art critics have begun to see artistic value in some graffiti and to recognize it as a form of public art. According to many art researchers, particularly in the Netherlands and in Los Angeles, that type of public art is, in fact an effective tool of social emancipation or, in the achievement of a political goal
In times of conflict, such murals have offered a means of communication and self-expression for members of these socially, ethnically, or racially divided communities, and have proven themselves as effective tools in establishing dialog and thus, of addressing cleavages in the long run. The Berlin Wall was also extensively covered by graffiti reflecting social pressures relating to the oppressive Soviet rule over the GDR.
Many artists involved with graffiti are also concerned with the similar activity of stenciling. Essentially, this entails stenciling a print of one or more colors using spray-paint. Recognized while exhibiting and publishing several of her coloured stencils and paintings portraying the Sri Lankan Civil War and urban Britain in the early 2000s, graffitists Mathangi Arulpragasam, aka M.I.A., has also become known for integrating her imagery of political violence into her music videos for singles "Galang" and "Bucky Done Gun", and her cover art. Stickers of her artwork also often appear around places such as London in Brick Lane, stuck to lamp posts and street signs, she having become a muse for other graffitists and painters worldwide in cities including Seville.
Graffitist believes that art should be on display for everyone in the public eye or in plain sight, not hidden away in a museum or a gallery. Art should color the streets, not the inside of some building. Graffiti is a form of art that cannot be owned or bought. It does not last forever, it is temporary, yet one of a kind. It is a form of self promotion for the artist that can be displayed anywhere form sidewalks, roofs, subways, building wall, etc. Art to them is for everyone and should be showed to everyone for free.
Graffiti is a way of communicating and a way of expressing what one feels in the moment. It is both art and a functional thing that can warn people of something or inform people of something. However, graffiti is to some people a form of art, but to some a form of vandalism. And many graffitists choose to protect their identities and remain anonymous or to hinder prosecution.
With the commercialization of graffiti (and hip hop in general), in most cases, even with legally painted "graffiti" art, graffitists tend to choose anonymity. This may be attributed to various reasons or a combination of reasons. Graffiti still remains the one of four hip hop elements that is not considered "performance art" despite the image of the "singing and dancing star" that sells hip hop culture to the mainstream. Being a graphic form of art, it might also be said that many graffitists still fall in the category of the introverted archetypal artist.
Banksy is one of the world's most notorious and popular street artists who continues to remain faceless in today's society. He is known for his political, anti-war stencil art mainly in Bristol, England, but his work may be seen anywhere from Los Angeles to Palestine. In the UK, Banksy is the most recognizable icon for this cultural artistic movement and keeps his identity a secret to avoid arrest. Much of Banksy's artwork may be seen around the streets of London and surrounding suburbs, although he has painted pictures throughout the world, including the Middle East, where he has painted on Israel's controversial West Bank barrier with satirical images of life on the other side. One depicted a hole in the wall with an idyllic beach, while another shows a mountain landscape on the other side. A number of exhibitions also have taken place since 2000, and recent works of art have fetched vast sums of money. Banksy's art is a prime example of the classic controversy: vandalism vs. art. Art supporters endorse his work distributed in urban areas as pieces of art and some councils, such as Bristol and Islington, have officially protected them, while officials of other areas have deemed his work to be vandalism and have removed it.
Pixnit is another artist who chooses to keep her identity from the general public. Her work focuses on beauty and design aspects of graffiti as opposed to Banksy's anti-government shock value. Her paintings are often of flower designs above shops and stores in her local urban area of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Some store owners endorse her work and encourage others to do similar work as well. "One of the pieces was left up above Steve's Kitchen, because it looks pretty awesome"- Erin Scott, the manager of New England Comics in Allston, Massachusetts.
Graffiti artists may become offended if photographs of their art are published in a commercial context without their permission. In March 2020, the Finnish graffiti artist Psyke expressed his displeasure at the newspaper Ilta-Sanomat publishing a photograph of a Peugeot 208 in an article about new cars, with his graffiti prominently shown on the background. The artist claims he does not want his art being used in commercial context, not even if he were to receive compensation.
Territorial graffiti marks urban neighborhoods with tags and logos to differentiate certain groups from others. These images are meant to show outsiders a stern look at whose turf is whose. The subject matter of gang-related graffiti consists of cryptic symbols and initials strictly fashioned with unique calligraphies. Gang members use graffiti to designate membership throughout the gang, to differentiate rivals and associates and, most commonly, to mark borders which are both territorial and ideological.
Graffiti has been used as a means of advertising both legally and illegally. Bronx-based TATS CRU has made a name for themselves doing legal advertising campaigns for companies such as Coca-Cola, McDonald's, Toyota, and MTV. In the UK, Covent Garden's Boxfresh used stencil images of a Zapatista revolutionary in the hopes that cross referencing would promote their store.
Smirnoff hired artists to use reverse graffiti (the use of high pressure hoses to clean dirty surfaces to leave a clean image in the surrounding dirt) to increase awareness of their product.
Graffiti often has a reputation as part of a subculture that rebels against authority, although the considerations of the practitioners often diverge and can relate to a wide range of attitudes. It can express a political practice and can form just one tool in an array of resistance techniques. One early example includes the anarcho-punk band Crass, who conducted a campaign of stenciling anti-war, anarchist, feminist, and anti-consumerist messages throughout the London Underground system during the late 1970s and early 1980s. In Amsterdam graffiti was a major part of the punk scene. The city was covered with names such as "De Zoot", "Vendex", and "Dr Rat". To document the graffiti a punk magazine was started that was called Gallery Anus. So when hip hop came to Europe in the early 1980s there was already a vibrant graffiti culture.
The student protests and general strike of May 1968 saw Paris bedecked in revolutionary, anarchistic, and situationist slogans such as L'ennui est contre-révolutionnaire ("Boredom is counterrevolutionary") and Lisez moins, vivez plus ("Read less, live more"). While not exhaustive, the graffiti gave a sense of the 'millenarian' and rebellious spirit, tempered with a good deal of verbal wit, of the strikers.
I think graffiti writing is a way of defining what our generation is like. Excuse the French, we're not a bunch of p---- artists. Traditionally artists have been considered soft and mellow people, a little bit kooky. Maybe we're a little bit more like pirates that way. We defend our territory, whatever space we steal to paint on, we defend it fiercely.
The developments of graffiti art which took place in art galleries and colleges as well as "on the street" or "underground", contributed to the resurfacing in the 1990s of a far more overtly politicized art form in the subvertising, culture jamming, or tactical media movements. These movements or styles tend to classify the artists by their relationship to their social and economic contexts, since, in most countries, graffiti art remains illegal in many forms except when using non-permanent paint. Since the 1990s with the rise of Street Art, a growing number of artists are switching to non-permanent paints and non-traditional forms of painting.
Contemporary practitioners, accordingly, have varied and often conflicting practices. Some individuals, such as Alexander Brener, have used the medium to politicize other art forms, and have used the prison sentences enforced on them as a means of further protest. The practices of anonymous groups and individuals also vary widely, and practitioners by no means always agree with each other's practices. For example, the anti-capitalist art group the Space Hijackers did a piece in 2004 about the contradiction between the capitalistic elements of Banksy and his use of political imagery.
Berlin human rights activist Irmela Mensah-Schramm has received global media attention and numerous awards for her 35-year campaign of effacing neo-Nazi and other right-wing extremist graffiti throughout Germany, often by altering hate speech in humorous ways.
In Serbian capital, Belgrade, the graffiti depicting a uniformed former general of Serb army and war criminal, convicted at ICTY for war crimes and crimes against humanity, including genocide and ethnic cleansing in Bosnian War, Ratko Mladić, appeared in a military salute alongside the words "General, thank to your mother". Aleks Eror, Berlin-based journalist, explains how "veneration of historical and wartime figures" through street art is not a new phenomenon in the region of former Yugoslavia, and that "in most cases is firmly focused on the future, rather than retelling the past". Eror is not only analyst pointing to danger of such an expressions for the region's future. In a long expose on the subject of Bosnian genocide denial, at Balkan Diskurs magazine and multimedia platform website, Kristina Gadže and Taylor Whitsell referred to these experiences as a young generations' "cultural heritage", in which young are being exposed to celebration and affirmation of war-criminals as part of their "formal education" and "inheritance".
There are numerous examples of genocide denial through celebration and affirmation of war criminals throughout the region of Western Balkans inhabited by Serbs using this form of artistic expression. Several more of these graffiti are found in Serbian capital, and many more across Serbia and Bosnian and Herzegovinian administrative entity, Republika Srpska, which is the ethnic Serbian majority enclave. Critics point that Serbia as a state, is willing to defend the mural of convicted war criminal, and have no intention to react on cases of genocide denial, noting that Interior Minister of Serbia, Aleksandar Vulin decision to ban any gathering with an intent to remove the mural, with the deployment of riot police, sends the message of "tacit endorsement". Consequently, on 9 November 2021, Serbian heavy police in riot gear, with graffiti creators and their supporters, blocked the access to the mural to prevent human rights groups and other activists to paint over it and mark the International Day Against Fascism and Antisemitism in that way, and even arrested two civic activist for throwing eggs at the graffiti.
Graffiti may also be used as an offensive expression. This form of graffiti may be difficult to identify, as it is mostly removed by the local authority (as councils which have adopted strategies of criminalization also strive to remove graffiti quickly). Therefore, existing racist graffiti is mostly more subtle and at first sight, not easily recognized as "racist". It can then be understood only if one knows the relevant "local code" (social, historical, political, temporal, and spatial), which is seen as heteroglot and thus a 'unique set of conditions' in a cultural context.
A spatial code for example, could be that there is a certain youth group in an area that is engaging heavily in racist activities. So, for residents (knowing the local code), a graffiti containing only the name or abbreviation of this gang already is a racist expression, reminding the offended people of their gang activities. Also a graffiti is in most cases, the herald of more serious criminal activity to come. A person who does not know these gang activities would not be able to recognize the meaning of this graffiti. Also if a tag of this youth group or gang is placed on a building occupied by asylum seekers, for example, its racist character is even stronger.
By making the graffiti less explicit (as adapted to social and legal constraints), these drawings are less likely to be removed, but do not lose their threatening and offensive character.
Elsewhere, activists in Russia have used painted caricatures of local officials with their mouths as potholes, to show their anger about the poor state of the roads. In Manchester, England, a graffitists painted obscene images around potholes, which often resulted in them being repaired within 48 hours.
In the early 1980s, the first art galleries to show graffitists to the public were Fashion Moda in the Bronx, Now Gallery and Fun Gallery, both in the East Village, Manhattan.
A 2006 exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum displayed graffiti as an art form that began in New York's outer boroughs and reached great heights in the early 1980s with the work of Crash, Lee, Daze, Keith Haring, and Jean-Michel Basquiat. It displayed 22 works by New York graffitists, including Crash, Daze, and Lady Pink. In an article about the exhibition in the magazine Time Out, curator Charlotta Kotik said that she hoped the exhibition would cause viewers to rethink their assumptions about graffiti.
From the 1970s onwards, Burhan Doğançay photographed urban walls all over the world; these he then archived for use as sources of inspiration for his painterly works. The project today known as "Walls of the World" grew beyond even his own expectations and comprises about 30,000 individual images. It spans a period of 40 years across five continents and 114 countries. In 1982, photographs from this project comprised a one-man exhibition titled "Les murs murmurent, ils crient, ils chantent ..." (The walls whisper, shout and sing ...) at the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris.
In Australia, art historians have judged some local graffiti of sufficient creative merit to rank them firmly within the arts. Oxford University Press's art history text Australian Painting 1788–2000 concludes with a long discussion of graffiti's key place within contemporary visual culture, including the work of several Australian practitioners.
Between March and April 2009, 150 artists exhibited 300 pieces of graffiti at the Grand Palais in Paris.
Spray paint has many negative environmental effects. The paint contains toxic chemicals, and the can uses volatile hydrocarbon gases to spray the paint onto a surface.
Volatile organic compound (VOC) leads to ground level ozone formation and most of graffiti related emissions are VOCs. A 2010 paper estimates 4,862 tons of VOCs were released in the United States in activities related to graffiti.
In China, Mao Zedong in the 1920s used revolutionary slogans and paintings in public places to galvanize the country's communist movement.
Based on different national conditions, many people believe that China's attitude towards Graffiti is fierce, but in fact, according to Lance Crayon in his film Spray Paint Beijing: Graffiti in the Capital of China, Graffiti is generally accepted in Beijing, with artists not seeing much police interference. Political and religiously sensitive graffiti, however, is not allowed.
In Hong Kong, Tsang Tsou Choi was known as the King of Kowloon for his calligraphy graffiti over many years, in which he claimed ownership of the area. Now some of his work is preserved officially.
In Taiwan, the government has made some concessions to graffitists. Since 2005 they have been allowed to freely display their work along some sections of riverside retaining walls in designated "Graffiti Zones". From 2007, Taipei's department of cultural affairs also began permitting graffiti on fences around major public construction sites. Department head Yong-ping Lee (李永萍) stated, "We will promote graffiti starting with the public sector, and then later in the private sector too. It's our goal to beautify the city with graffiti". The government later helped organize a graffiti contest in Ximending, a popular shopping district. graffitists caught working outside of these designated areas still face fines up to NT$6,000 under a department of environmental protection regulation. However, Taiwanese authorities can be relatively lenient, one veteran police officer stating anonymously, "Unless someone complains about vandalism, we won't get involved. We don't go after it proactively."
In 1993, after several expensive cars in Singapore were spray-painted, the police arrested a student from the Singapore American School, Michael P. Fay, questioned him, and subsequently charged him with vandalism. Fay pleaded guilty to vandalizing a car in addition to stealing road signs. Under the 1966 Vandalism Act of Singapore, originally passed to curb the spread of communist graffiti in Singapore, the court sentenced him to four months in jail, a fine of S$3,500 (US$2,233), and a caning. The New York Times ran several editorials and op-eds that condemned the punishment and called on the American public to flood the Singaporean embassy with protests. Although the Singapore government received many calls for clemency, Fay's caning took place in Singapore on 5 May 1994. Fay had originally received a sentence of six strokes of the cane, but the presiding president of Singapore, Ong Teng Cheong, agreed to reduce his caning sentence to four lashes.
In South Korea, Park Jung-soo was fined two million South Korean won by the Seoul Central District Court for spray-painting a rat on posters of the G-20 Summit a few days before the event in November 2011. Park alleged that the initial in "G-20" sounds like the Korean word for "rat", but Korean government prosecutors alleged that Park was making a derogatory statement about the president of South Korea, Lee Myung-bak, the host of the summit. This case led to public outcry and debate on the lack of government tolerance and in support of freedom of expression. The court ruled that the painting, "an ominous creature like a rat" amounts to "an organized criminal activity" and upheld the fine while denying the prosecution's request for imprisonment for Park.
In Europe, community cleaning squads have responded to graffiti, in some cases with reckless abandon, as when in 1992 in France a local Scout group, attempting to remove modern graffiti, damaged two prehistoric paintings of bison in the Cave of Mayrière supérieure near the French village of Bruniquel in Tarn-et-Garonne, earning them the 1992 Ig Nobel Prize in archeology.
In September 2006, the European Parliament directed the European Commission to create urban environment policies to prevent and eliminate dirt, litter, graffiti, animal excrement, and excessive noise from domestic and vehicular music systems in European cities, along with other concerns over urban life.
In Budapest, Hungary, both a city-backed movement called I Love Budapest and a special police division tackle the problem, including the provision of approved areas.
The Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003 became Britain's latest anti-graffiti legislation. In August 2004, the Keep Britain Tidy campaign issued a press release calling for zero tolerance of graffiti and supporting proposals such as issuing "on the spot" fines to graffiti offenders and banning the sale of aerosol paint to anyone under the age of 16. The press release also condemned the use of graffiti images in advertising and in music videos, arguing that real-world experience of graffiti stood far removed from its often-portrayed "cool" or "edgy'" image.
To back the campaign, 123 Members of Parliament (MPs) (including then Prime Minister Tony Blair), signed a charter which stated: "Graffiti is not art, it's crime. On behalf of my constituents, I will do all I can to rid our community of this problem."
In the UK, city councils have the power to take action against the owner of any property that has been defaced under the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003 (as amended by the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005) or, in certain cases, the Highways Act. This is often used against owners of property that are complacent in allowing protective boards to be defaced so long as the property is not damaged.
In July 2008, a conspiracy charge was used to convict graffitists for the first time. After a three-month police surveillance operation, nine members of the DPM crew were convicted of conspiracy to commit criminal damage costing at least £1 million. Five of them received prison sentences, ranging from eighteen months to two years. The unprecedented scale of the investigation and the severity of the sentences rekindled public debate over whether graffiti should be considered art or crime.
Some councils, like those of Stroud and Loerrach, provide approved areas in the town where graffitists can showcase their talents, including underpasses, car parks, and walls that might otherwise prove a target for the "spray and run".
Graffiti Tunnel, University of Sydney at Camperdown (2009)
In an effort to reduce vandalism, many cities in Australia have designated walls or areas exclusively for use by graffitists. One early example is the "Graffiti Tunnel" located at the Camperdown Campus of the University of Sydney, which is available for use by any student at the university to tag, advertise, poster, and paint. Advocates of this idea suggest that this discourages petty vandalism yet encourages artists to take their time and produce great art, without worry of being caught or arrested for vandalism or trespassing.[108][109] Others disagree with this approach, arguing that the presence of legal graffiti walls does not demonstrably reduce illegal graffiti elsewhere. Some local government areas throughout Australia have introduced "anti-graffiti squads", who clean graffiti in the area, and such crews as BCW (Buffers Can't Win) have taken steps to keep one step ahead of local graffiti cleaners.
Many state governments have banned the sale or possession of spray paint to those under the age of 18 (age of majority). However, a number of local governments in Victoria have taken steps to recognize the cultural heritage value of some examples of graffiti, such as prominent political graffiti. Tough new graffiti laws have been introduced in Australia with fines of up to A$26,000 and two years in prison.
Melbourne is a prominent graffiti city of Australia with many of its lanes being tourist attractions, such as Hosier Lane in particular, a popular destination for photographers, wedding photography, and backdrops for corporate print advertising. The Lonely Planet travel guide cites Melbourne's street as a major attraction. All forms of graffiti, including sticker art, poster, stencil art, and wheatpasting, can be found in many places throughout the city. Prominent street art precincts include; Fitzroy, Collingwood, Northcote, Brunswick, St. Kilda, and the CBD, where stencil and sticker art is prominent. As one moves farther away from the city, mostly along suburban train lines, graffiti tags become more prominent. Many international artists such as Banksy have left their work in Melbourne and in early 2008 a perspex screen was installed to prevent a Banksy stencil art piece from being destroyed, it has survived since 2003 through the respect of local street artists avoiding posting over it, although it has recently had paint tipped over it.
In February 2008 Helen Clark, the New Zealand prime minister at that time, announced a government crackdown on tagging and other forms of graffiti vandalism, describing it as a destructive crime representing an invasion of public and private property. New legislation subsequently adopted included a ban on the sale of paint spray cans to persons under 18 and increases in maximum fines for the offence from NZ$200 to NZ$2,000 or extended community service. The issue of tagging become a widely debated one following an incident in Auckland during January 2008 in which a middle-aged property owner stabbed one of two teenage taggers to death and was subsequently convicted of manslaughter.
Graffiti databases have increased in the past decade because they allow vandalism incidents to be fully documented against an offender and help the police and prosecution charge and prosecute offenders for multiple counts of vandalism. They also provide law enforcement the ability to rapidly search for an offender's moniker or tag in a simple, effective, and comprehensive way. These systems can also help track costs of damage to a city to help allocate an anti-graffiti budget. The theory is that when an offender is caught putting up graffiti, they are not just charged with one count of vandalism; they can be held accountable for all the other damage for which they are responsible. This has two main benefits for law enforcement. One, it sends a signal to the offenders that their vandalism is being tracked. Two, a city can seek restitution from offenders for all the damage that they have committed, not merely a single incident. These systems give law enforcement personnel real-time, street-level intelligence that allows them not only to focus on the worst graffiti offenders and their damage, but also to monitor potential gang violence that is associated with the graffiti.
Many restrictions of civil gang injunctions are designed to help address and protect the physical environment and limit graffiti. Provisions of gang injunctions include things such as restricting the possession of marker pens, spray paint cans, or other sharp objects capable of defacing private or public property; spray painting, or marking with marker pens, scratching, applying stickers, or otherwise applying graffiti on any public or private property, including, but not limited to the street, alley, residences, block walls, and fences, vehicles or any other real or personal property. Some injunctions contain wording that restricts damaging or vandalizing both public and private property, including but not limited to any vehicle, light fixture, door, fence, wall, gate, window, building, street sign, utility box, telephone box, tree, or power pole.
To help address many of these issues, many local jurisdictions have set up graffiti abatement hotlines, where citizens can call in and report vandalism and have it removed. San Diego's hotline receives more than 5,000 calls per year, in addition to reporting the graffiti, callers can learn more about prevention. One of the complaints about these hotlines is the response time; there is often a lag time between a property owner calling about the graffiti and its removal. The length of delay should be a consideration for any jurisdiction planning on operating a hotline. Local jurisdictions must convince the callers that their complaint of vandalism will be a priority and cleaned off right away. If the jurisdiction does not have the resources to respond to complaints in a timely manner, the value of the hotline diminishes. Crews must be able to respond to individual service calls made to the graffiti hotline as well as focus on cleanup near schools, parks, and major intersections and transit routes to have the biggest impact. Some cities offer a reward for information leading to the arrest and prosecution of suspects for tagging or graffiti related vandalism. The amount of the reward is based on the information provided, and the action taken.
When police obtain search warrants in connection with a vandalism investigation, they are often seeking judicial approval to look for items such as cans of spray paint and nozzles from other kinds of aerosol sprays; etching tools, or other sharp or pointed objects, which could be used to etch or scratch glass and other hard surfaces; permanent marking pens, markers, or paint sticks; evidence of membership or affiliation with any gang or tagging crew; paraphernalia including any reference to "(tagger's name)"; any drawings, writing, objects, or graffiti depicting taggers' names, initials, logos, monikers, slogans, or any mention of tagging crew membership; and any newspaper clippings relating to graffiti crime.
We stole them from their country and gave them names that made us comfortable. We made them invisible, then "free" and forgot they existed. We gave them "seperate but equal" and smiled at the irony and now - seperately - vandals have robbed him or her of their very memory - a name, a face, a person - a symbol - erased ; forever annonymous, forever unknown... forever forgotten.
African-American Methodist Cemetery - Barstow, Maryland (USA)
My grandpa wanted me to take some of my late grandma's things. I am going to celebrate her memory by using them and not pack them away to rot.
October 2009
Paul and I took part in a one day photography day at Orford Ness National Nature Reserve (owned by the National Trust) in Suffolk.
Orford Ness, apart from being Europe's largest vegetated spit of shingle, was also home to atomic weapons testing in the Cold War.
Since the end of the Cold War, the place has been deserted by the military and after being stripped for scrap metal was left to ruin. The National Trust now manage the site and welcome visitors.
It's an eerie place, with bits of old ordanance left lying around.
I am in the process of trying to process the photos from the site visit. I took them in Raw and now want to try a few PS tricks...think it'll be slow going so case of watch this space!
These are the first few...just added a little vignetting and changed the colours slightly on this one. Paul looks so pleased...he was cold so in the end conceeded to wearing the gloves!
Dear,
How are you today? Hey I am going to tell you about Puffins. Do you like them? It was my first encounter with them yesterday and guess what I fell in love with them. They are so fascinating, I adore and admire their passion, dedication and patience.
Will tell you what, as I don't have a decent lenz attached to my simple base camera, I was not able to reproduce a fab moment of their life. But as they quote says because it is a passion I am sharing this with you.
I am not so sure about the type of this Puffins. I think they are Atlantic Puffins. There is two more species, the Tufted Puffin and Horned Puffins. But they are in North pacific ocean.
This one is from Skomer Island in Pembrokeshire cost, a tiny 2 K.M Island, which will allow only 250 people a day to the Island. (That is what I gathered from the 5 minute intro speech given by one of the guides there). There is every day boat trip to that island starts at 10.00 am depending on the weather. So it is always good to check their website before you go, if you are planning a journey.
It is always good to catch the first boat to the Island, but don't aim for 10.00 am. As you can imagine many other fellow photographers (most of them with their 500ml lnz and full frame body are already in the site for the first boat. So make sure you arrive at-least by 8.30. Those two hours you can wander in the amazing hills and meadows, it is a worth, so there wont be any disappointments.
Hey make sure you have enough food and water with you. And use the toilet in the mainland if you board to the Island. :)
Alright, once you are on the Island, make sure you stick to the footpaths. There is a 30-40 minutes walk to the rocky side of the Island where you can spot the puffins, so don't feel bad as you can't see many puffins closer to you. ( I did).
Alright there we are. Closer to our puffins, aiming for some action shots? Well here is a clue, puffins wave their wings 400 times per minute, so you know the shutter speed required for your camera isn't it? I suggest it is worth borrowing a fast lenz for the occasion as it is worth doing.
All puffins are black or black and white one with large yellow beaks, so on a sunny day make sure you have control over your white balance. But if you are just visiting the place, enjoy the feeding routines.
Soâ¦I finally get to go to Meat & Shake, and I am quite glad that I did. There is quite a lot more to them than I expect there to be, and they certainly deliver on the promise of MEAT and SHAKE (one after another - shake first, obviouslyâ¦). In a nutshell, it's a casual, American style diner/smokehouse ('smokehouse' is mos def a thing now). The first opened back in August 2013, in Tooting - I had already heard tales of its popularity and some good things from people who've visited (i.e near continual lines stretching outside the restaurant, and something they serve called 'dirty fries', usually referred to in hushed tones, etc etc). True, said lines could partly be down to the fact that Meat & Shake don't take reservations - but as you shall soon see, there's more to it than that...
Onto the food then. Meat & Shake's website proclaims - âThe burger is omnipotent and irresistible, it can never be weakened.â This is probably true. I like that they don't take themselves too seriously. However, like any good burger place, they DO take their meat very seriously. Their burgers are minced daily from 35-day aged beef - and is also sourced from Selfridges butcher, Mackens Brothers of Chiswick (who I am pretty also look after a few of the Marriott's steakhouses). Speaking of Marriott steakhouses, I'm going to blame the delicious/filling shake (and the fact that it was Tuesday) for why I skip on the opportunity to consume a 1.5kg tomahawk steak. YEAH they actually do fucking tomahawk steaks!? Dayummmmm. Also I'm not sure Lizzie is ready to witness such a thing.
One thing that might not be immediately obvious about Meat and Shake that they're also much known and much loved amongst the Muslim community (having made a show at the Halal food festival etc). Which means that everything on the menu is ABSOLUTELY HALAL (good memes never die, only the actors that play them...). So, no pork or alcohol is served on the premises - though there's quite a selection of virgin cocktails and I believe they use turkey for the bacon. All in all? Prices are reasonable, steaks are legit, staff are chill, and taxidermy animals with weapons are an added plus. The place isn't yet as busy as it's sister in Tooting Bec but I reckon once it's been here a little longer, Ealing's meaty masses will meet here, en masse (DO you SEE what I DID there?!).
Now for us to try the one that opens in Watford's Harlequin Centre in the very near future - and maybe get a delicious tomahawk...
Funny Story about this card. I sent them a report (these were the days of snail-mail only, of course) and they sent a kind letter back to me with this blank QSL card and politely thanked me for the reception report, but would I kindly copy the information onto the card, send it back to them and if the information is correct, they will send it back to me signed and stamped. So I put the card into my manual typewriter, typed the report on the card and sent the card to them in an envelope. Only it didn't fit in the envelope I had. If you look at the top of the card, you’ll see where I folded it to fit in the envelope! After all that they did sent it back! So this card flew over the north pole 3 times by the time I put it on the wall! I guess it saved them money in staff to do it this way, it was certainly unusual. But no matter, I QSL’d radio Sweden!
I went down to visit with them this morning, but you can't take pictures inside. But they have a nice door outside with gold lettering that I think looks cool. It's also like a mirror and you can see the Prairie Edge store across the street.
I only had to wait about 40 minutes before my number was called but I didn't mind, except for the people who had to bring a hyperactive 2 year old kid who constantly yelled and pushed on chairs and stomped her feet...very annoying. But, the guy at the window was very nice and helpful and I appreciated that.
Then I went to the Pennington Co. courthouse to the Register of Deeds to get a copy of my DD Form 214 (military service record) and was accosted outside by a girl with a petition she wanted me to sign to recall some guy who told a black female reporter to go back to Kenya and take Obama with her. I told her I'm not signing it because I don't have a problem with this guy. She called to my back, as I walked away, that..."we're fighting racism in Rapid City!" I almost turned back, but decided it wasn't worth it. Everyone has a right to freedom of speech and should be able to freely express their opinion regardless of whether or not, we like or don't like about what they say. And people who go on racism witch hunts are more racist than those they point fingers at anyway. I thought about going back and taking her pic to put up here, but decided that wasn't worth my time either, and went to the park instead.
Saw them from a distance
in the crowd at
Hollywood-Highland - the big
complex of stores and cafes and
such in the heart of
Hollywood -
and so of course I went to
ask for a photo, to which they
kindly consented on the afternoon
of Easter Sunday -
and I asked them what
their makeup was for -
and they said "Nothing."
Just for strollin' on a Sunday
afternoon of
Easter
in Hollywood.
"Patience is Counting down without exploding"
Id prefer getting comments with the flaw's of my picture rather than compliments ^^ .. Much appreciated ~
When I saw them walking in the marketplace I liked the contrasts in the way they dressed. I asked whether it was OK to make some photos. I was answered positively.
The two friends are university students in Tel Aviv--Arabic and Islam for the third year. They will work as teachers once they've graduated.
Marah, whose name literally means feast, is 21 y/o originally from Nazareth. She is studying also Hebrew literature.
Needless to say her Hebrew was fluent, but I enjoyed exchanging some words in Arabic, too.
Saja's name means quiet. She's 23 y/o and from the village Taybeh.
I wondered about their different ways of dressing - they said it was up to each one to dress as she wanted.
Their friendship doesn't depend on the way they dress.
It was a fun encounter and the girls liked the photos they saw on my camera display.
Vive la liberté !
Here's Marah in her own words:
"I am an Arab, Muslim girl, born in Nazareth in 1995.
I study Arabic and Hebrew Literature at Tel Aviv university, it's my last year.
I work as teacher in a Jewish school, teaching spoken Arabic.
In my free time I like to read books, I like sport and dancing, too.
I see my message to the world in myself. My life is my message to the world so that's why I'm trying to make it inspiring. I volunteer in feminist associations so I got a feminist message to a conservative society. The Arab girl has to be her own self to live in the way that she likes to dress how she likes but the most important thing is to be independent, to be her own self with no one controlling her life and mind. I think we should meet and drink coffee to talk more about this point.
My message to the younger me and the younger than me: be curious. Try new things. Strive for something that stretches you. Of course, there’s a limit to this, so be careful !"
I'll post more photographs of this shelter as I find/scan them. There were several white pictographs which you can see if you look at the full size version, and the rocks along the right have petroglyphs.
Scanned film (Fuji M21A 100 print film).
Back at home Having a few beers after being at the beach all morning working on my tan, my son gave me a 10 beer pack for Christmas so I’m starting to try them now
COMPETITION ENTRY: Hi here is a fantastic pic that I believe shows community spirit at its best. We had stopped to let the little boy join us for a picture with the Pirates ( newly formed Kingstown pirates of hull ) and unbeknown to us was photo bombed by these lovely guys :)
I'm not really sure of a title maybe ( Bobbies on the ..' if you can't Beat them join them ' )
See: www.hu12online.net/community/hedfest-and-summer-photo-com... A £100 prize to be won.
You could smell them in the air!
As Ontarians know, the Holland Marsh has some of the province's best growing conditions. Rich moist soil, perfect for veggies. It wasn't actually named for the Netherlands (it was named for an English colonial official), yet lots of Dutch folk settled there and drained and cleared the land, and turned it into productive farmland, because after all, they have much experience with that sort of thing from back home - but nobody can tell me the name didn't attract them. :) I saw names in the Holland Marsh like Schakel and Visser, so the Dutch legacy continues.
Near Kettleby, Ontario.
(As for Kettleby, according to several sources, such as this one, it came from land originally granted in 1801 to a United Empire Loyalist, Dorothy Burger, who sold her land to a Pennsylvanian Quaker of German background, John Bogart, who sold part of the land to his fellow Pennsylvanian Quaker and son-in-law, Jacob Tool; from his land ultimately came the town of Kettleby; I assume that much of the surrounding land was part of the original allotment to Dorothy Burger.)
Back at home Having a few beers after being at the beach all morning working on my tan, my son gave me a 10 beer pack for Christmas so I’m starting to try them now
Taken By : Me ,,,
Edting By : Me ,,,
Using : Canon 60D ,,,
__________________________________
Miss Them
Commemoration in procession.
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Military vehicles on parade with Mayor Milène Junius, also present several veterans who served recently or in the past.
Photo June 2019, Veteranen monument (June 9, 2016) after 3 years in time.
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Details
Veteranendag - Remembrance
Remembrance event in Hellevoetsluis, with veterans assisted by the "Mariniers van Equipage De Delft" and the "Royal Navy & Marines Landing Party", "Keep them Rolling" and the local mayor.
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Veterans' Day - the Netherlands' annual day of remembrance for the country's servicemen.
Info: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veterans'_Day_(Netherlands).
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Photo - Richard Poppelaars.
© About Pixels Photography: #AboutPixels / #commemoration #procession #Remembrance #Veteranendag in #Hellevoetsluis #Netherlands
Published at - Flickr
Pour 1 mois 1 thème Reflets: Jeux d’ombres et de reflets dans l’eau. On pourrait presque croire à cette passerelle virtuelle qui plonge dans les eaux de la Vilaine sous le Pont de Bretagne.
Ondine.
Slavic unclean spirit. Soul upotlennitsy, unbaptized child.
She is also the Beregin reservoirs, lakes and rivers.
Night Midsummer Ondine, they're mermaids, going to the beach and play around them, swinging on the branches of a weeping willow, luring passersby into his dance, and then kill the tickling. Especially much they love young men, who were then drags himself to the bottom.
Porcelain, height 22 cm
Dois deles e uma perseguição.
Two of them and a chase.
A text In Eglish:
The Swallow-tailed Hummingbird, so called from its forked tail, is one of the largest hummingbirds in cities and gardens, but it also occurs in gallery forests, bushy pastures and edges of woods or coppices. It is green, except for the blue head and upper breast, turning to iridescent purple according to the direction of light; it has dark wings and a heavy black bill. The tail is dark blue with the external feathers longer than central ones. It is very aggressive and attacks other hummingbirds that dare to visit flowers in certain trees. Where the flowers are available for many months, the individual is fiercely territorial, but generally needs to search soon for other flowering plants. It flies to catch small insets on or under leaves in the gallery forests or woodlands. The female builds a small cup-shaped nest saddled on a branch, not far from the main trunk in the shade of leaves. Perched on favorite branches, the male can utter long but low chirps. Once in a while, it interrupts these singing sessions to feed, and flies back for more song or to clean the plumage. They occur from the Guianas and Amazon River to Paraguay and southeastern Peru. They can get along with partially deforested zones, but may disappear with intensive agriculture and with the development of treeless cities.
The African Tulip Tree:
Spathodea campanulata
Common Names: African tuliptree, flame of the forest, fountaintree, fireball
Family: Bignoniaceae (bignonia family)
Description:
This is a large upright tree with glossy deep green pinnate leaves and glorious orange scarlet flowers. It may grow to 80 ft (24.4 m) on an ideal site, but most specimens are much smaller. The tree has a stout, tapering, somewhat buttressed trunk covered in warty light gray bark. The lateral branches are short and thick. The 1-2 ft (0.3-0.6 m) long opposite leaves, which emerge a bronzy color, are massed at the ends of the branches. They are composed of 5-19 deeply veined oval leaflets. The horn shaped velvety olive buds appear in upturned whorls at the branch tips. A few at a time, the buds of the lowest tier bend outward and open into big crinkled red orange tuliplike bells with red streaked gold throats, frilly yellow edges, and four brown-anthered stamens in the center. They are followed by 5-10 in (12.7-25.4 cm) green brown fingerlike pods pointing upwards and outwards above the foliage. Each of these pods contains about 500 tissue papery seeds. The tree flowers in spurts all through the growing season, but peak bloom is usually in the spring. 'Aurea' is a rare cultivar with yellow to orange flowers and tends to be a smaller tree.
Location:
African tuliptree comes from the rainforests of Equatorial Africa. It is widely planted throughout the tropics and has naturalized in many parts of the Pacific. It favors moist habitats below 3,000 ft (914 m), but will grow on drier sites and thrives at up to 4,000 ft (1219 m). The biggest trees grow in moist, sheltered ravines.
Culture:
This species loves rich soil, but puts up with just about anything with a little fertility to it, including limerock. It is not a beachfront plant, but will survive a bit of salinity. African tuliptrees need serious pruning after every freeze or windstorm. Gardeners in marginal regions should plan on growing this as a large ephemeral shrub and plant it in a sheltered place where it can be reached by ladders or bucket trucks for regular pruning and removal of dead branches.
Light: African tuliptree will survive in shade, but demands full sun for fast growth and best flowering.
Moisture: These trees grow best with plenty of moisture, but will shed their leaves and endure drought.
Hardiness: USDA Zones 10 - 11. African tuliptrees drop their leaves when chilled and freeze easily, but they come back from the roots vigorously and often bloom the next season. Top growth will be killed at 28-30ºF (-2.2 - -1.1ºC), but the roots may survive down to 22ºF (-5.6ºC) or below.
Propagation: In the wild, the flowers are pollinated by birds and bats and the seeds are dispersed by wind. In cultivation, African tuliptrees often are grown from seed, but seed production is erratic. New specimens can be started from tip cuttings, root cuttings, or suckers.
African tuliptree:
The smooth gray bark provides a beautiful background for the brilliant red flowers of the African tuliptree.
Usage:
African tuliptrees are grown for shade, color and tropical effects. The wood is difficult to burn, so the tree is also valuable for fire resistant landscaping. The wood has been used for blacksmith's bellows and the like. The buds contain a liquid that will squirt out if they are squeezed or pierced and children enjoy using these as water pistols. They also enjoy playing with the boatlike open seed pods. In Africa and Haiti, the flowers are thought to have magical properties and the wood is used for witch doctors' wands.
Features:
This is one of the world's most spectacular flowering trees. It is also very fast growing. Young trees may put on 6 ft (0.6 m) in height and 2 in (10.2 m) in diameter per year and often begin blooming when they are only a few years old.
WARNING:
African tuliptrees have weak, brittle wood and tend to become hollow and drop large branches as they age, so they are easily shattered by high winds. This tree is also inclined to become invasive in suitable genuinely tropical environments and is regarded as an exotic problem species in Hawaii, Fiji, French Polynesia, and Samoa. In such places, African tuliptree invades both abandoned farmland and mature forests, where the seeds germinate rapidly and form understory thickets from which a few saplings eventually grow into the canopy. Although African tuliptree is not typically thought of as a toxic plant, African hunters are said to have boiled the seeds to extract arrow poison.
Linda Conway Duever 7/20/00; updated 1/20/04
# Family: Bignoniaceae
# California Native: No
# Habit: Evergreen to Partly Deciduous
# Sunset Zones: 21 - 24
# Exposure: Full Sun to Partial Shade
# Water Needs: Moist Soil
# Soil Type: Loam or Sand
# Height: 50 feet
# Growth Rate: 36 Inches per Season
# Shape: Oval or Rounded
# Longevity: 50 to 150 years
# Leaves: Lanceolate to Ovate Glossy Medium Green
# Flowers: Showy, Orange or Red
# Fruit: Very Large (Over 3.00 inches)
# Bark: Dark Gray or Light Gray, Furrowed, Rough or Scaly
Um texto em Português:
Beija-flor Tesoura (Eupetomena macroura), fotografado em Brasília-DF, Brasil.
Eupetomena macroura (Gmelin, 1788): tesoura; swallow-tailed hummingbird c.
Destaca-se das espécies estudadas pelo maior porte e pela cauda comprida e bifurcada, o que lhe valeu o nome popular. Como é comum entre os beija-flores, é uma espécie agressiva que disputa com outras o seu território e fontes de alimento.
Nidificação: o ninho, em forma de tigela, é assentado numa forquilha de arbusto ou árvores, a cerca de 2 a 3 m do solo. O material utilizado na construção é composto por fibras vegetais incluindo painas, musgos e liquens, aderidos externamente com teias de aranhas.
Hábitat: capoeiras, cerrados, borda de matas e jardins.
Tamanho: 17,0 cm