Take time to listen to you inner voice and practice stillness as you hear this quiet two minute original song or hymn if you like. Follow the flame and find your heart. Namaste Blessings

This is link to another amazing song too -https://flic.kr/p/2gv6uaq

Ask Alexa, Siri or Spotify to play you the music of

John William Hammond or visit my site at

johnwilliamhammond.bandcamp.com/?from=search&search_i...

Ask Spotify, Alexa, or Siri to stream music by

JOHN WILLIAM HAMMOND -- (use all 3 names)

"Just because she's beautiful, people think she's not tough. But you should never underestimate me. Uh, her — er, I mean — us."

Please check out the link to support my lego Ideas design!

ideas.lego.com/s/p:78d6037104984f7991ccc9ca8bc72690

It can be challenging to get a good photo in the forest without fog or mist. You always need to be extra creative in pursuit of something decent. I love shooting this scene. I do it in all seasons.

I was deliberately planning to shoot in this forest for this shot. The fresh lush forest is just too attractive to me. Hope one day to manage to photograph it in foggy conditions, as I never did. Although I found this forest as a local one, it still needs some sort of vehicle to get there and I have other places where I go when fog is outside.

I wanted to include a trail as a contrast to the greens around. It was a cloudy and overcast day. Perfect for forest shots. I have a position that is a bit above the trail. From there I choose the most optimal perspective for me to take a shot. This scene I found a few years ago which is strange given the fact I go to this forest much longer. It looks magical in autumn. Can’t wait for yellows and oranges to come to this place to photograph it.

Anyway, I took a bunch of photos that day from this place, came home, transferred them and then totally forgot about even going for a shot, as that was the second time in a short period I went there. Just last week I suddenly recalled that I may have an ‘’extra’’ album with photos… And here it is. In the edit, I did some dodging and burning to make the light stand out a bit. Different shades of greens are such a spring thing. Hope you like the photo. I’m highly open to any feedback you have.

Most of you have probably seen how quiet i have been on here and elsewhere of late. I wasn't sure whether to post this or not but then thought i may as well be open. The last couple of years haven't been great, as no matter how hard i have tried to fight it, depressive episodes and anxiety have overwhelmed me, as i try and work out my place and way in this world. I am doing ok, things look a little brighter most of the time but i am still struggling at times, as it just hits you from nowhere. So forgive me for my absences at times, Diana is still there, she just comes out of her shell less often at the moment..which is a shame i as i look at the pile of impulsively purchased new outfits & shoes in the corner of this room... one day soon i promise myself i will be enjoying wearing them again... the desire to feel those sheer nylons slide up my smooth legs, the nails going on, the beautiful feeling you have when your legs are extended in five inch pumps...one day soon. For now i will try and post some pics more often that i haven't previously shared, i love this one as the sun goes down, the warmth on my nylon encased legs, the open toed heeled sandals and the look to the future...lets hope it's a bright one. Apologies for going on, i just felt it right to tell you a little about how the person behind all these images feels at times. And to anyone who feels the same, i hope you find solace in the fact that there are others who understand how you feel and care about you... Sorry for going on...until next time xx

“To insure good health: eat lightly, breathe deeply, live moderately, cultivate cheerfulness, and maintain an interest in life.” ~ William Londen

Sure wish that darn log wasn't in the foreground, but it's not like you get to pick and choose when and where a wildlife opportunity will present itself, so you take what you can get and make the most of it :-) This pretty lady was grazing in & around the Calcite Springs area the entire time we visited along with her two cubs of the year. They were playing at the top of a tree nearby; will post a shot or two of them later. Have a fabulous weekend....thanks for all your visits!!!!

© Darlene Bushue - All of my images are protected by copyright and may not be used on any site, blog, or forum without my permission.

To be honest, tipsy, tired and sexually frustrated...❤❤

Trying not to make it obvious that I'm struggling to keep it tucked away and flat...🙈❤

to drink a coffee and watch the Whales go by. Point Lookout headland. HBM/ Happy Bench Monday!

Wishing all my friends and followers here on flickr a wonderful Christmas and a healthy and prosperous 2023. I will be looking forward to meeting up with old and new faces in the New Year.

Alive in Christ.

a pretty emotional piece I've had in mind for a while now and at last got to execute. it's symbolic of my past, and how it doesn't define me anymore. in Christ I am a new person. I'm dead to myself.

I know this isn't the best, but I'm actually a lot happier with it than I thought it would be. screw that. everyone's positive feedback here and on facebook have changed my mind, and this is definitely growing on me.

hope you are all having a fantastic spring break (if you're on one:)

Facebook page | Old photostream | Formspring (ask questions)

A portion of The Going To The Sun Road heading towards Heavens Peak.

Another late night for us two. Its 4.06am and Aaron is sleeping on my bed, after falling asleep at his laptop whilst editing his shot from today. We are, in a word, knackered.

We spent the day at Alton Towers which was INCREDIBLE, I have never laughed like I do with him. We took a picnic to the gardens and fell asleep in the sun, it was lovely. We got home around 7pm and by the time we were ready to go take our shot (on location) it was past midnight, so we decided to stay in and do something different so we didn't wake my parents up.

This shot itself is pretty personal to me and Aaron. His body, my hands. It's hard to explain through words, so I won't attempt at what I will not succeed, but he's one very special guy, thats for sure.

Hope you're all doing awesome flickr - Aaron reads me out your comments every day and we swoon all the time, its so incredible. You're all invited to the wedding, and all required to come armed with your cameras ;)

Anyway, enough soppy talk from me - sleep is calling!!! Lie-in tomorrow, THANK GOD!

93/365

To The Table - Zach Williams

www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2jpAdXEtV0

V1

hear the voice of love that’S calling

there’S a chair that waits for you

and a friend who understands

everything you’Re going through

v2

but you keep standing at a distance

in the shadows of your shame

but there’S a light of hope that’S shinning

won’T you come and take your place

ch

so bring it all to the table

it’S nothing he ain’T seen before

for all your sin, all your sorrow

and your sadness

there’S a savior and he calls

bring it all to the table

v3

he can see the weight you carry

and the fears that hold your heart

but through the cross you’Ve been forgiven

you’Re accepted as you are

ch

so bring it all to the table

it’S nothing he ain’T seen before

for all your trials, all your worries

and all your burdens

there’S a savior and he calls

bring it all to the table

brdg x2

come on in and take your place

there’S no one who’S turned away

all you sinners all you saints

there’S no one who’S turned away

ch

so bring it all to the table

it’S nothing he ain’T seen before

for all your trials, all your worries

and all your burdens

there’S a savior and he calls

bring it all to the table

Time for a photo dump! Let's turn back the clock to 15 years ago from the day I'm posting this, to July 1, 2007, to turn the clock back 50 years previously. On July 1st, 2007, the Fox River Trolley Museum would commemorate the 50th anniversary of the end of service on the Chicago, Aurora, & Elgin interuban line. The story of the end of the CA&E is a long one, which I will not recount here. I will simply sum up by saying that the CA&E ended service just after Noon on a busy July 3, 1957, trapping passengers trying to return home for the busy Fourth of July holiday.

On July 1, 2007, the Fox River Trolley Museum held their event to commemorate the end of CA&E Service. They wanted to make it as authentic as possible, but little did they know just how authentic it would turn out to be. FRTM owns CA&E Car 20, the oldest operating interurban car in the country, which has the distinction of being the only surviving CA&E car that operated on the first and last days of service on the CA&E. So it was only natural that it operated for this occasion. To replicate what happened on that day 50 years previous, CA&E 20 was to take passengers out to the end of the line, drop everyone off, and return to the museum campus. A diesel train would then be dispatched to pick everyone up, simulating how the Chicago & Northwestern eventually rescued to the stranded CA&E passengers. Warren and Saline River Railroad #73, a Whitcomb 70-tonner conviently painted in CNW colors, would operate then be dispatched to pick everyone up and return the to the museum's station.

The first part of this went according to plan. We were all dropped off at the end of the line, where we would wait. And wait. And wait. The diesel train no-showed, and after maybe 30 minutes or more, if memory serves, a museum volunteer drove out and told everyone what had happened. A sagging electric trolley wire got caught on the locomotive, which tore the cap of the exhaust stack off. So no trains could move until that was cleared up. Stranded could either wait it out, or walk the 1+ mile river trail that parallels the museum's line back to the station. I chose to walk, as it was a nice day and the river trail is very scenic. On my walk back, they Whitcomb got unstuck and picked up the other stranded passengers. I believe they were also able to eventually rectify the downed wire, and electric service was able to resume about an hour later. Unwittingly, the Museum had made the experience of the end of CA&E service much more authentic then they had ever intended or planned.

So one detail I forgot is that W&SRR #73 made TWO rescue trips to the "stranded" passengers down in the forest preserve. And it was on the second trip that the train got stuck. It had to have been that way, because 2 full cars of passengers went down, and only one car came to the rescue, as seen here with North Shore #715 arriving at the forest preserve platform.

"Enemies to the east, enemies to the west, enemies to the south, enemies to the north. Whatever stands in our way, we will defeat it."

This location debuted in season 7 of Game of Thrones. It features an enormous and stunning map of Westeros, showcasing its diverse regions, cities, and rivers. Cersei uses this map to strategize her military maneuvers and assess the kingdom's political landscape, making it a striking visual centerpiece for planning in the heart of the Red Keep.

linktr.ee/martin_studio

SN/NC: Dahlia, Syn. Dahlia Pinnata, Asteraceae Family

Dahlia (UK: /deɪliə/ or US: /dɑːliə/) is a genus of bushy, tuberous, herbaceous perennial plants native to Mexico. A member of the Asteraceae, dicotyledonous plants, related species include the sunflower, daisy, chrysanthemum, and zinnia. There are 42 species of dahlia, with hybrids commonly grown as garden plants. Flower forms are variable, with one head per stem; these can be as small as 5 cm (2 in) diameter or up to 30 cm (1 ft) ("dinner plate"). This great variety results from dahlias being octoploids—that is, they have eight sets of homologous chromosomes, whereas most plants have only two. In addition, dahlias also contain many transposons—genetic pieces that move from place to place upon an allele—which contributes to their manifesting such great diversity.

Otros nombres de la dahlia, xicamiti,

flor de camote. Proviene de las regiones de Cuernavaca y Tepoztlán, en México. Se conocen más de 2 mil variedades diferentes de esta planta. Crece en forma de mata y puede medir desde unos pocos centímetros hasta más de un metro de altura, según la variedad.Dahlia (Reino Unido: /Deɪliə /o us: /dːliə /) es un género de plantas perennes arbustivas, tuberosas y herbáceas nativas de México. Un miembro de las Asteraceae, plantas dicotiledóneas, especies relacionadas incluyen el girasol, la margarita, el crisantemo y la zinnia. Hay 42 especies de Dahlia, con híbridos comúnmente cultivados como plantas de jardín. Las formas de flores son variables, con una cabeza por tallo; Estos pueden ser tan pequeños como 5 cm (2 pulgadas) de diámetro o hasta 30 cm (1 pie) ("plato de cena"). Esta gran variedad resulta de que las dahlias son octoploides, es decir, tienen ocho conjuntos de cromosomas homólogos, mientras que la mayoría de las plantas tienen solo dos. Además, las dahlias también contienen muchos transposones, piezas genéticas que se mueven de un lugar a otro sobre un alelo, que contribuye a su manifestación de tanta diversidad. Anders Dahl, botánico sueco, fue quien introdujo la flor en los países nórdicos y, como homenaje, la flor recibió su nombre. Los holandeses contribuyeron a la expansión de esta flor en Brasil.

Dahlia, nome comum dália, é um género botânico pertencente à família Asteraceae. É uma herbácea de porte médio, perene. Quando adulta, a planta chega a atingir até 1,50 metro. É originária do México, onde é muito popular. Os índios daquela região foram os primeiros a cultivar dálias, ainda no período do império Asteca. Por volta do final do século XVIII, o diretor do Jardim Botânico de Madrid encantou-se com a flor, durante uma visita ao México. Foi o suficiente para que a dália atravessasse o oceano e chegasse à Europa, onde se adaptou ao clima temperado. Foi o botânico sueco Anders Dahl, responsável pela expansão das dálias pela região nórdica da Europa, que inspirou o nome da flor. Os holandeses e os franceses foram os maiores incentivadores do cultivo e da produção de inúmeras espécies híbridas de dálias. Os imigrantes holandeses contribuíram para a propagação desta flor no Brasil. Hoje, entre naturais e híbridas, existem mais de 3 000 variedades, com uma diversificação de formas, cores tamanhos e adaptações a diferentes condições.

Dahlia, nom commun Dahlia, est un genre de plantes fleurissantes de la famille des marguerites. C'est une herbacée de taille moyenne, vivace. En tant qu'adulte, l'usine atteint jusqu'à 1,50 Metro. Il est originaire du Mexique, où il est très populaire. Les Indiens dans cette région ont été les premiers à cultiver Dahlia, encore dans la période de l'Empire aztèque. Vers la fin du XVIIIe siècle, le directeur des jardins botaniques de Madrid a été enchanté par la fleur, lors d'une visite au Mexique. Il suffisait que le dahlia traverse l'océan et atteigne l'Europe, où il s'adapte au climat tempéré. C'est le botaniste suédois Anders Dahl, responsable de l'expansion des dahlias par la région nordique de l'Europe, qui a inspiré le nom de la fleur.

Dahlia (uk: /deɪliə /of us: /dːliə /) is een geslacht van bossige, knol, kruidachtige meerjarige planten afkomstig uit Mexico. Een lid van de Asteraceae, Dicotyledonous planten, gerelateerde soorten omvatten de zonnebloem, Daisy, Chrysanthemum en Zinnia. Er zijn 42 soorten dahlia, met hybriden die gewoonlijk worden gekweekt als tuinplanten. Bloemvormen zijn variabel, met één kop per stengel; Deze kunnen zo klein zijn als een diameter van 5 cm (2 inch) of tot 30 cm (1 ft) ("bord"). Deze grote variëteit resulteert van dahlia's zijn octoploïden - dat wil zeggen dat ze acht sets homologe chromosomen hebben, terwijl de meeste planten er slechts twee hebben. Bovendien bevatten Dahlias ook veel transposons - generale stukken die van plaats naar plaats op een allel gaan - wat bijdraagt aan hun manifestatie van zo'n grote diversiteit. Anders Dahl, de Zweedse botanicus, was degene die de bloem introduceerde in de Alnend landen en als eerbetoon kreeg de bloem zijn naam. De Nederlanders hebben bijgedragen aan de uitbreiding van deze bloem in Brazilië.

Dahlia (Regno Unito: /deɪliə /o us: /dːliə /) è un genere di piante perenni folli, tuberose, erbacee originarie del Messico. Un membro delle Asteraceae, piante dicotyledoni, specie correlate includono il girasole, la margherita, il crisantemo e la zinnia. Esistono 42 specie di dahlia, con ibridi comunemente coltivati come piante da giardino. Le forme di fiori sono variabili, con una testa per stelo; Questi possono essere piccoli come 5 cm (2 pollici) di diametro o fino a 30 cm (1 piedi) ("piatto per la cena"). Questa grande varietà deriva da Dahlias che sono poltoploidi, cioè hanno otto serie di cromosomi omologhi, mentre la maggior parte delle piante ne ha solo due. Inoltre, le dahlia contengono anche molti trasposoni - pezzi generatici che si spostano da un luogo all'altro su un allele - che contribuiscono alla loro manifestazione di tale grande diversità. Anders Dahl, botanico svedese, è stato colui che ha introdotto il fiore nei paesi nordici e come omaggio il fiore ha ottenuto il suo nome. Gli olandesi hanno contribuito all'espansione di questo fiore in Brasile.

Dahlia (UK: /DEɪliə /oder USA: /dːliə /) ist eine Gattung von buschigen, knallberechtigen, krautigen Staudenpflanzen, die in Mexiko beheimatet sind. Ein Mitglied der Asteraceae, dicotyledonous -Pflanzen, verwandte Arten umfassen Sonnenblumen, Daisy, Chrysanthemen und Zinnia. Es gibt 42 Arten von Dahlia, wobei Hybriden üblicherweise als Gartenpflanzen angebaut werden. Blütenformen sind variabel, mit einem Kopf pro Stamm; Diese können nur einen Durchmesser von 5 cm oder bis zu 30 cm ("Teller") sein. Diese große Vielfalt resultiert aus Dahlien, die Oktoploide sind - das heißt, sie haben acht Sätze homologer Chromosomen, während die meisten Pflanzen nur zwei haben. Darüber hinaus enthält Dahlien auch viele Transposons - genetische Stücke, die sich von Ort zu Ort auf ein Allel bewegen, was zu ihrer Manifestierung einer so großen Vielfalt beiträgt. Anders Dahl, der schwedische Botaniker, war derjenige, der die Blume in die nordischen Länder vorstellte, und als Hommage bekam die Blume seinen Namen. Die Niederländer trugen zur Ausweitung dieser Blume in Brasilien bei.

Dahlia（英国： /deɪliə /またはus： /dgrliə /）は、メキシコに自生したふさふさした、塊状の草本多年生植物の属です。 キク科のメンバーである双子葉植物、関連種には、ヒマワリ、デイジー、菊、Zinniaが含まれます。 42種のダリアがあり、ハイブリッドは一般的に庭の植物として栽培されています。 花の形は可変であり、茎ごとに1つの頭があります。 これらは、直径5 cm（2インチ）または最大30 cm（1フィート）（「ディナープレート」）までです。 この非常に多様性は、ダリアが卵巣であることに起因します。つまり、8セットの相同染色体がありますが、ほとんどの植物は2つしかありません。 さらに、Dahliasには、対立遺伝子の上に場所から場所へと移動するジェネティックな多くのトランスポゾンも含まれています。 スウェーデンの植物学者のアンダース・ダールは、北欧諸国に花を紹介し、オマージュとして花は彼の名前を得た人でした。 オランダはブラジルでのこの花の拡大に貢献しました。

Dahlia (المملكة المتحدة: /deɪliə /أو الولايات المتحدة: /dːliə /) هي جنس من النباتات الدائمة الكثبانية ، العشبية الأصلية للمكسيك. عضو في Asteraceae ، والنباتات dicotyledonous ، والأنواع ذات الصلة تشمل عباد الشمس ، و Daisy ، و chrysanthemum ، و Zinnia. هناك 42 نوعًا من داليا ، مع الهجينة التي تزرع عادةً كنباتات حديقة. أشكال الزهور متغيرة ، برأس واحد لكل ساق. يمكن أن تكون هذه القطر صغير مثل 5 سم (2 بوصة) أو ما يصل إلى 30 سم (1 قدم) ("لوحة عشاء"). ينتج هذا التنوع الكبير عن دالياس هو الأخطبوط - أي أن لديهم ثماني مجموعات من الكروموسومات المتماثلة ، في حين أن معظم النباتات لديها اثنتين فقط. بالإضافة إلى ذلك ، يحتوي Dahlias أيضًا على العديد من عمليات النقل - القطع الجينية التي تنتقل من مكان إلى آخر على أليل - والتي تساهم في إظهار هذا التنوع الكبير. كان أندرس دال ، عالم النبات السويدي ، هو الشخص الذي قدم الزهرة إلى بلدان الشمال الأوروبي وكمحية حصلت الزهرة على اسمه. ساهم الهولنديون في توسع هذه الزهرة في البرازيل.

The city streets pulse to their own beat, their own music.

Metroline DE993 (LK09ENC) is seen at my local stop on route 331.

This is one of the transfers to replace the ex-First 10-plated DEs, which are going off lease. This is the first to do route 331, however it is displaying the "Ruislip Station" display from route U1 as opposed to the "Ruislip VIA Harefield" display allocated for route 331.

"from the family album: from right to left: the child is my grandmother Ninitta, then there is her mother and my great grandmother Anna, her sister Concetta, finally their mother and my great-great-grandmother Nina, respectively daughter, wife, sister-in-law, mother-in-law of the photographer Gaetano D'Agata, whom in a photograph of him (location Mazzarò-Taormina)"

“dall'album di famiglia: da destra verso sinistra: la bambina è mia nonna Ninitta, poi c'è la sua mamma e la mia bisnonna Anna, sua sorella Concetta, infine la loro mamma e mia trisavola Nina, rispettivamente figlia, moglie, cognata, suocera del fotografo Gaetano D'Agata, cui in una sua fotografia (location Mazzarò-Taormina)”

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or…. Press the “L” button to zoom in the image;

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The photographer Baron Wilhelm von Gloeden: and some "secret stories” of Taormina ...

At the age of about 11-12, I made a very particular discovery, I found a fair number of ancient photographs (they had been well hidden by my grandmother) inside an ancient chest of drawers in our house in Taormina, for me it was a huge surprise, the a taste for the forbidden appeared in me for the first time, they were black and white photographs, they portrayed naked boys, or only partially dressed in drapes or sheets, they were posed to imitate certain statues (or drawings) of the Greco-Roman period; I was very intrigued by them, every now and then I went to look at them, without ever feeling discomfort, I did not consider them vulgar photographs. Some of the photos were the size of a postcard, others of various sizes increasingly larger, up to a format similar to A3; on the back there were stamps, there were also, inside small red cardboard boxes, glass plates, not large, looking at them against the light, they let us glimpse images of naked boys, or only partially dressed: they were photographic negatives made on glass plates. What was that particular photographic material hidden by my grandmother in the dresser of our house? Let's take a step back in time let's teleport to April 2, 1787 when the German poet, narrator, playwright Johan Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) lands in Palermo, following his Grand Tour in Italy (the word "tourism" derives from it) he will say of Sicily that it is a place of splendor, beauty and harmony, but at the same time a place of poverty, suffering, misery and social injustice; Goethe wrote the book "Journey to Italy", revealing himself to be one of Italy's most passionate admirers, stating that "Sicily is the key to everything" (the incredible resemblance of thought with the great Sicilian writer and journalist Leonardo Sciascia (1921-1989) who published in 1979 the book entitled “Sicily as a metaphor”). At the time of Goethe (and for a long time to come) the knowledge of Sicily was made up of stereotyped ideas, it was considered a land of mysteries, a den of brigands, which aroused fear in travelers, tourism did not exist, very few knew a foreign language, journeys with carriages were slow, nothing strange therefore that Taormina was an unknown village at the time. Garibaldi, in the year 1860, frees Sicily from the domination of the Bourbons. In February 1863, Count Ottone (Otto) Geleng (1843-1939) arrives in Taormina from Germany, he is a landscape painter, he begins an intense pictorial activity, thus succeeding in making Taormina and its landscapes known in the various cultural circles of Germany and France. Count Otto thus invites the then painter (who later became a photographer) Baron Wilhelm von Gloeden (1856-1931) to come to Taormina to treat his "subtle ache", pulmonary tuberculosis, which would have benefited from the mild climate of Sicily. Von Gloeden, twenty-two, arrived in Taormina in 1878, became passionate about photography by taking lessons from the local engineer and photographer Giuseppe Bruno (1836-1904), perhaps also a teacher of Giovanni Crupi (1859-1925), landscape photographer friend of von Gloeden, Crupi himself could also have contributed to the training as a photographer of the young von Gloeden. Like Otto Geleng's paintings, the photographs of the young Wilhelm also began to entice the then bourgeoisie across the border to come to Sicily: in the last 20 years of the 1800s the foundations were being laid for tourism in Sicily. The photographs taken by von Gloeden had as their subject young Sicilian adolescents dressed in the old-fashioned way with drapes, or completely naked, at most adorned with wreaths of flowers or laurel leaves placed on their heads, the young models assumed well-studied poses under the directed by the photographer baron, designed to create scenes that wanted to reconstruct the atmosphere of the mythical Arcadia (bucolic landscape of ancient Greece). In his poetics we can find the interest in disguise and transvestism, the young fisherman is made ambiguous by making him wear a wig, made resembling a young Sicilian girl; the images are not produced for the sole and mere trade, they are works that will be published in various famous magazines (such as "The National Geographic Magazine" or "the photographic progress", A. Stieglitz publishes his nudes on “Camera Notes"), also participating in international photographic exhibitions. The young models are filmed among ancient ruins, in rocky environments, outdoors, eliciting a spiritual feeling full of nostalgia, which follows pictorial models of German romanticism. In the photographic book "Verga photographer" (created on the discovery of 327 glass plates and 121 celluloid frames), in Giovanni Verga (1840-1922) great Sicilian narrator, it is possible to observe his photographs interwoven with "realism", while in the photographs of von Gloeden the symbolism andthe spiritualism predominate, however Wilhelm will also produce documentary-type photographs, photographing the terrible earthquake (and tsunami) of Messina (and Reggio Calabria) of 1908. Von Gloeden seems fully integrated into the Taormina society , nevertheless suffers heavy homophobic attacks from the local press and from important characters from Taormina, including Otto Geleng himself, who will be sued by the baron, which will then be withdrawn upon payment of 896 lire, and a restorative declaration published in the "Gazzetta di Messina" . Von Gloeden worked in his house-studio in front of the Hotel San Domenico Palace, with him lived his sister Sofia Raabe (1847-1930), daughter of his mother's first husband, who helped him manage the house-studio, and in the to receive the illustrious guests who visited him (such as Oscar Wilde, FA Krupp, Richard Strauss, the German emperor Wilhelm II, Eleonora Duse). Von Gloeden died on February 16, 1931 at the age of 74, he was buried in the non-Catholic cemetery of Taormina, his heir was his all-around assistant Pancrazio Buciunì known as "il moro" (1879-1963) ("u 'moru", family nickname), which continues the activity, selling the prints: he undergoes two searches in full fascist regime with partial seizure and destruction of the photographic material that belonged to von Gloeden (fascism persecuted homosexuals, the repression of homosexuality was entrusted to the fascist police, which confined many homosexuals to the islands of the Mediterranean, Lipari was one of these, see the beautiful film by Ettore Scola "a special day"), Buciunì undergoes two trials for detention of obscene material, and, despite an adverse appraisal by the appointed expert prof. Stefano Bottari, holder of the chair of history of medieval and modern art at the University of Messina, who declares much of the seized material obscene, the Court of Messina, demonstrating tolerance and open-mindedness, acquits Buciunì. At this point in the story we return to my grandmother's dresser and reveal the little mystery: the hidden photographs belonged to my great-grandfather Don Gaetano D'Agata (1883-1949), von Gloeden's assistant photographer, also on the baron's teaching, he made nude photographs, as well as landscape or portrait photographs; Don Gaetano was a globetrotter, in our family album he is portrayed in various parts of the world, always in the company of beautiful women: but I will never know if those "forbidden photos" were taken by my great-grandfather Gaetano or by Von Gloeden himself, because my grandmother, having understood that I was going to peek at them in secret, made them disappear permanently, and I never heard anymore of that photographic material. For my part, it is only right to mention other figures who contributed to making Taormina the current destination for international tourism. Lady Florence Trevelyan (1852-1907), was Queen Victoria's lady-in-waiting, she was then sent into exile in various parts of the world by Queen herself, she arrived in Taormina and stayed there forever, she was a woman of exceptional gifts, endowed with great sensitivity and humanity, animal rights activist, philanthropist, passionate about esotericism, she was married to the then mayor and doctor of Taormina dr. Salvatore Cacciola, she were one of the first women admitted to world Freemasonry (her husband Cacciola also belonged to Freemasonry): I have already talked about it previously in one of my photographic stories. On the occasion of the XXI festival of the two worlds in Spoleto, in 1978, the essayist and literary critic Roland Barthes (1915-1980) curated an exhibition entitled "Wilhelm von Gloeden", with interventions by artists such as Andy Warhol, M. Pistoletto and J. Beuys. Finally, Raffaella Perna, Researcher in History of Contemporary Art at the University of Catania, underlines in her book on "Wilhelm von Gloeden, disguises, portraits, tableaux vivants", of how LaChapelle, Witkin, Mapplethorpe are the contemporary artists who they are indicated as heirs of von Gloeden's poetics.

P.S. Von Gloeden's photographs were made by photographing both the large panels with gigantographic reproductions of von Gloeden's works, which are located at the entrance of the Mocambo bar in Taormina, and in the shop-bazaar of the photographer from Taormina, my late friend, Nino Malmbrì (owner of the baron's original photographic material). The photographs of Gaetano D’Agata, were taken from my family album: in a photo a little damaged, but exceptional for its historical and emotional value, my great-grandfather, the photographer Gaetano D'Agata, here very young, holds his daughter "Ninitta" (a of the four children, had by three wives), she is my paternal grandmother; in another photo, the photographer Gaetano D'Agata poses next to her a few years later, with my grandmother already a young girl; always made by great-grandfather D'Agata there is both a portrait photo, a close-up, of my very young grandmother "Ninitta", and there is a photo of her posing as a peasant girl, with a painted backdrop behind her, as if used in studio photos; finally I put two photos taken by my great-grandfather Gaetano "en plein air" of bathers, "the location" is the beach of Mazzarò (Taormina). The photographs of the tombstones of the characters mentioned in the story were taken in the Catholic and non-Catholic cemetery of Taormina; the monumental funerary complex of Count Otto Geleng at the top presents the bust of his son Ermanno, the presence of symbolisms such as the hourglass, the rooster, the book (the Holy Bible) and the god mercury, makes me believe that Count Otto was part of the Masonic lodge of Taormina, at the time the mayor of Taormina was also part of it, dr. Cacciola and his wife Lady Florence Trevelyan: in his palace, Dr. Cacciola, built a temple, which became the first Masonic lodge in Taormina: the "Renaissance" (1904).

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Il barone fotografo Wilhelm von Gloeden: ed alcune “storie segrete” di Taormina …

Io, all’età di circa 11-12 anni, feci una scoperta molto particolare, trovai un discreto numero di antiche fotografie (erano state ben nascoste da mia nonna) dentro un antico comò in casa nostra a Taormina, per me fu una enorme sorpresa, il gusto del proibito si affacciò in me per la prima volta, erano fotografie in bianco e nero, ritraevano ragazzi nudi, o solo in parte vestiti con drappi o lenzuoli, messi in posa imitavano certe statue (o disegni) del periodo greco-romano; io ne ero rimasto molto incuriosito, ogni tanto le andavo a riguardare, senza mai provare disagio, non le consideravo fotografie volgari. Alcune foto erano della grandezza di una cartolina, altre di varie dimensioni sempre più grandi, fino ad arrivare ad un formato assimilabile all’A3; sul retro c’erano impressi dei timbri, c’erano anche, dentro dei piccoli scatoli in cartoncino di colore rosso, delle lastrine in vetro, non grandi, guardandole in controluce, lasciavano intravedere immagini di ragazzi nudi, o poco vestiti: erano i negativi fotografici realizzati su vetro. Cosa ci faceva quel materiale fotografico, così particolare, nascosto da mia nonna nel comò di casa nostra? Facciamo un salto indietro nel tempo teletrasportiamoci al 2 aprile 1787 quando a Palermo sbarca il poeta, narratore, drammaturgo tedesco Johan Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832), in seguito al suo Grand Tour in Italia (turismo deriva da esso) dirà della Sicilia che essa è luogo di splendore, bellezza ed armonia, ma al tempo stesso luogo di povertà, sofferenza, miseria ed ingiustizia sociale; Goethe scrive il libro “Viaggio in Italia”, rivelandosi uno dei più appassionati ammiratori dell’Italia, affermando che “la Sicilia è la chiave di tutto” (incredibile la rassomiglianza di pensiero col grande scrittore e giornalista siciliano Leonardo Sciascia (1921-1989) che pubblica nel 1979 il libro dal titolo “la Sicilia come metafora”). Ai tempi di Goethe (e per molto tempo ancora) la conoscenza della Sicilia era fatta di idee stereotipate, era considerata terra di misteri, covo di briganti, il che incuteva timore nei viaggiatori, il turismo non esisteva, pochissimi conoscevano una lingua straniera, i viaggi con carrozze ertano lenti, nulla di strano quindi che Taormina fosse all’epoca un villaggio sconosciuto. Garibaldi, nell’anno 1860, libera la Sicilia dalla dominazione dei Borboni. Nel febbraio del 1863, dalla Germania giunge a Taormina il conte Ottone (Otto) Geleng (1843-1939), egli è un pittore paesaggista, inizia una intensa attività pittorica, riuscendo in tal modo a far conoscere Taormina ed i suoi paesaggi nei vari circoli culturali della Germania e della Francia. Il conte Otto invita così l’allora pittore (poi divenuto fotografo) barone Wilhelm von Gloeden (1856-1931) a venire a Taormina per curare il suo “mal sottile”, la tubercolosi polmonare, che avrebbe tratto giovamento dal clima mite della Sicilia. Von Gloeden, ventiduenne, nel 1878 giunge a Taormina, si appassiona alla fotografia prendendo lezioni dall’ingegnere e fotografo locale Giuseppe Bruno (1836-1904), forse anche insegnante di Giovanni Crupi (1859-1925), fotografo paesaggista amico di von Gloeden, il quale Crupi stesso potrebbe anche aver contribuito alla formazione come fotografo del giovane von Gloeden. Così come i dipinti di Otto Geleng, anche le fotografie del giovane Wilhelm incominciarono ad invogliare l’allora borghesia d’oltre confine, a venire in Sicilia: negli ultimi 20 anni dell’800 si stavano gettando le basi per il turismo in Sicilia. Le fotografie realizzate da von Gloeden avevano come soggetto giovani adolescenti siciliani vestiti all’antica con drappi, o completamente nudi, tutt’al più adornati da coroncine di fiorellini o foglie d’alloro messi sul capo, i giovani modelli assumevano pose ben studiate sotto la regia del barone fotografo, atte a realizzare scene che volevano ricostruire l’atmosfera della mitica Arcadia (paesaggio bucolico dell’antica Grecia). Nella sua poetica possiamo riscontrare l’interesse per il travestimento ed il travestitismo, il giovane pescatore viene reso ambiguo facendogli indossare una parrucca, reso somigliante ad una giovane ragazza siciliana; le immagini non vengono prodotte per il solo e mero commercio, sono opere che verranno pubblicate su varie riviste famose (come “The National Geographic Magazine” o “Il Progresso fotografico”, A. Stieglitz pubblica i suoi nudi su “Camera Notes”), partecipando anche ad esposizioni fotografiche internazionali. I giovani modelli sono ripresi tra antichi ruderi, in ambienti rupestri, all’aperto, elicitando un sentimento spirituale carico di nostalgia, il che ricalca modelli pittorici del romanticismo tedesco. Nel libro fotografico “Verga fotografo” (realizzato su ritrovamento di 327 lastre in vetro e 121 fotogrammi in celluloide), in Giovanni Verga (1840-1922) grande narratore siciliano, è possibile osservare le sue fotografie intessute di “verismo”, mentre nelle fotografie di von Gloeden predomina il simbolismo e lo spiritualismo, purtuttavia Wilhelm produrrà anch’egli fotografie di tipo documentaristico, andando a fotografare il terribile terremoto (e maremoto) di Messina (e di Reggio Calabria) del 1908. Von Gloeden sembra pienamente integrato nella società taorminese, ciononostante subisce pesanti attacchi omofobi dalla stampa locale e da importanti personaggi taorminesi, incluso lo stesso Otto Geleng, i quali verranno querelati dal barone, querela che verrà poi ritirata dietro pagamento di 896 lire, ed una dichiarazione riparatoria pubblicata sulla “Gazzetta di Messina”. Von Gloeden lavorava nella sua casa-studio di fronte l’Hotel San Domenico Palace, con lui viveva sua sorella Sofia Raabe (1847-1930), figlia del primo marito di sua madre, che lo aiutava a governare la casa-studio, e nel ricevere gli illustri ospiti che lo andavano a trovare ( come Oscar Wilde, F.A. Krupp, Richard Strauss, l’imperatore tedesco Guglielmo II, Eleonora Duse). Von Gloeden muore il 16 febbraio 1931 all’età di 74 anni, viene sepolto nel cimitero acattolico di Taormina, il suo erede è il suo assistente tutto fare Pancrazio Buciunì detto “il moro” (1879-1963) (“u’ moru”, soprannome di famiglia), che ne prosegue l’attività, vendendone le stampe: il quale subisce in pieno regime fascista due perquisizioni con parziale sequestro e distruzione del materiale fotografico che apparteneva a von Gloeden (il fascismo perseguitò gli omosessuali, la repressione dell’omosessualità fu affidata alla polizia fascista, che confinò molti omosessuali nelle isole del mediterraneo, Lipari fu una di queste, vedi il bellissimo film di Ettore Scola “una giornata particolare”), Buciunì subisce due processi per detenzione di materiale osceno, e, nonostante una perizia avversa da parte del nominato perito prof. Stefano Bottari, titolare della cattedra di storia dell’arte medioevale e moderna dell’Università di Messina, che dichiara osceno gran parte del materiale sequestrato, il Tribunale di Messina dimostrando tolleranza ed apertura mentale, assolve il Buciunì. A questo punto del racconto ritorniamo al comò di mia nonna e sveliamo il piccolo mistero: le fotografie nascoste appartenevano al mio bisnonno don Gaetano D’Agata (1883-1949), assistente fotografo di von Gloeden, anch’egli sull’insegnamento del barone, realizzò fotografie di nudo, oltre che di paesaggio o ritratto; don Gaetano era un giramondo, nel nostro album di famiglia lui è ritratto in varie parti del mondo, sempre in compagnia di belle donne: ma io non saprò mai se quelle “foto proibite” erano realizzate dal mio bisnonno Gaetano o da Von Gloeden stesso, perché mia nonna, avendo capito che le andavo a sbirciare di nascosto, le fece sparire definitivamente, e di quel materiale fotografico non ne seppi più nulla. Da parte mia, è doveroso citare altre figure che contribuirono a rendere Taormina l’attuale meta del turismo internazionale. Lady Florence Trevelyan (1852-1907), era dama di corte della regina Vittoria, dalla stessa regina Lady Florence fu poi mandata in esilio in varie parti del mondo, giunse a Taormina e qui vi restò per sempre, era una donna dalle doti eccezionali, dotata di grande sensibilità ed umanità, animalista, filantropa, appassionata di esoterismo, fu sposa dell’allora sindaco e medico di Taormina dott. Salvatore Cacciola, fu una delle prime donne ammesse alla massoneria mondiale (apparteneva alla massoneria anche il marito Cacciola): ne ho già parlato in precedenza in un mio racconto fotografico. Robert Hawthorn Kitson (1873-1947) era un pittore britannico omosessuale, egli lasciò l’Inghilterra a causa dell’emendamento Labouchere, che rendeva illegale qualsiasi atto omosessuale nel Regno Unito (1885), giunse a Taormina e qui si stabilì, costruendo nel 1905 Casa Cusani, una villa con vista sull’Etna, oggi casa museo; nella sua sala da pranzo si trovano gli affreschi “proibiti” realizzati da Frank Brangwyn, essi narrano dell’amore omosessuale tra Kitson ed il suo compagno Carlo Siligato: nel 1908 in seguito al terremoto che distrusse Messina (e Reggio Calabria), essi adottarono un bambino che era rimasto orfano, divenendo di fatto una famiglia omosessuale, all’epoca assolutamente proibita; gli affreschi di Casa Cuseni sono ispirati alle fotografie di von Gloeden, così come nella villa, si trova una “autocromia a colori” del 1910, realizzata da von Gloeden, documento eccezionale che testimonia la volontà del barone di sperimentare nuove tecniche. In occasione del XXI festival dei due mondi di Spoleto, nel 1978, il saggista e critico letterario Roland Barthes (1915-1980) cura una mostra intitolata “Wilhelm von Gloeden”, con interventi di artisti quali Andy Warhol, M. Pistoletto e J. Beuys. Infine, Raffaella Perna, Ricercatrice in Storia dell'arte contemporanea all'Università degli Studi di Catania, sottolinea nel suo libro su “Wilhelm von Gloeden, travestimenti, ritratti, tableaux vivants”, di come LaChapelle, Witkin, Mapplethorpe siano gli artisti contemporanei che vengono indicati come eredi della poetica di von Gloeden.

P.S. le fotografie di Von Gloeden sono state realizzate fotografando sia i grandi pannelli con gigantografiche riproduzioni delle opere di von Gloeden, che si trovano all’ingresso del bar Mocambo di Taormina, sia nel negozio-bazar del fotografo taorminese, compianto mio amico, Nino Malmbrì (possessore di materiale fotografico originale del barone). Le fotografie di Gaetano D’Agata, sono state prese dal mio album di famiglia: in una foto un pò rovinata, ma eccezionale per il suo valore storico e per me affettivo, il mio bisnonno, il fotografo Gaetano D'Agata, qui molto giovane, tiene in braccio sua figlia "Ninitta" (una dei quattro figli, avuti da tre mogli), lei è la mia nonna paterna; in un'altra foto, il fotografo Gaetano D'Agata posa accanto a lei qualche anno dopo, con mia nonna già ragazzina; sempre realizzate dal bisnonno D'Agata c'è sia un foto-ritratto, un primo piano, di mia nonna "Ninitta" molto giovane, e c'è la foto di lei mentre posa come contadinella, con dietro un fondale dipinto, come si usava nelle foto da studio; infine ho messo, due foto realizzate dal mio bisnonno Gaetano "en plein air" a delle bagnanti, "la location" è la spiaggia di Mazzarò (Taormina). Le fotografie delle tombe dei personaggi menzionati nel racconto, sono state fatte nel cimitero cattolico ed acattolico di Taormina; il complesso monumentale funerario del conte Otto Geleng in alto presenta il mezzobusto del figlio Ermanno, la presenza di simbolismi come la clessidra, il gallo, il libro (la Sacra Bibbia) ed il dio mercurio, mi fa ritenere che il conte Otto facesse parte della loggia massonica di Taormina, all’epoca ne faceva parte anche il sindaco di Taormina, dott. Cacciola e sua moglie Lady Florence Trevelyan: nel suo palazzo il dott. Cacciola, realizzò un tempio, che divenne la prima loggia massonica di Taormina : la "Rinascimento"(1904).

Joyeux anniversaire chère amie ♥ Lucie

Enjoy your day sweet friend!

ⓒRebecca Bugge, All Rights Reserved

Do not use without permission.

A stela dedicated to the Egyptian god Ptah by Nakhtemmut. Dating to the 20th dynasty (ca 1187-1064 B.C.) and made of limestone. Found in Deir el-Medina.

"The only way to have a friend is to be one .... "

*** By Ralph Waldo Emerson ***

We can stay days and days searching the good lights, and we aren't lucky always, but sometimes there are special moments, sunsets or sunshines that put a smile on our face, and we enjoy these moments. For these days....

Almost time to go home.

The highly colourful Hellenic Air Force Lockheed Martin F-16C Fighting Falcon 523 'Zeús' blasts away from RAF Fairford's runway as it takes to the air to display during Saturday's RIAT 2015.

Along with sister-ship '536' these 'conformal' fuel tank equipped

F-16's are based with 340/343 Mira.

DSC8995

Processed with CameraBag 2

For Macro Mondays theme - Closed

Walthamstow, East London, UK

Gray Wolf (Canis lupus) trying to bring down a cow Elk (Cervus canadensis nelsonii) in an attack that occured in the Lamar Valley of Yellowstone National Park of Wyoming.

"Heart To Heart"

Love is a language, where mere words have no part.

It is an energy, flowing, from HEART to HEART.

It is a feeling within us, with a strength all it's own.

When we try to express love, it takes form as a poem.

The power of love, is the spirit within.

It is a POSITIVE energy, with no knowledge, of sin.

We are conected together, you and I, HEART to HEART,

where no power on earth, not even death...makes us part.

Pauline DiBenedetto

"Welcome to Lanesboro" sign on Fillmore County Roads 8 and 21, shortly before the road takes the plunge into the historic town of Lanesboro, Minnesota.

Lanesboro lies on the South Branch of the Root River in the cave-filled karst topography of Fillmore County in southeastern Minnesota. The region is the part of Minnesota that the most recent glaciations did not reach, leaving it with geologic features that aren't found anywhere else in the state and the name, "the Driftless Area." The scenery in this unique area is spectacular.

Lanesboro, named after one of its founders, F. A. Lane, was platted in 1868 in a beautiful bluff-lined area in the Root River Valley. The town and the area around it were settled mainly by Norwegian immigrants who left their mark all over Fillmore County.

A cloud does not know why it moves in just such a direction and at such a speed...It feels an impulsion... this is the place to go now.

~Richard Bach

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukgvTE3A0Ic

There's a dreamy world up there

All those wings will take you, up so high

Carry me away from here

And take to the sky....

© All rights reserved Anna Kwa. Please do not use this image on websites, blogs or any other media without my explicit written permission

Summer's lush greens are fading quickly to the golds of Fall.

Processed with VSCO with b3 preset

Time to settle down with a nice book.

Last ones from this set and best i don't lead you into any more temptation it after all isn't healthy.

Have to say I have had a giggle at the comments on these photos, It's what makes doing so much fun we all buy into dream and have a little fun along the way, So good to have you all in my little world.

Thanks xxxxx

“Nothing is yours. It is to use. It is to share. If you will not share it, you cannot use it.”

― Ursula K. Le Guin, The Dispossessed

Grass snake, Hereford to Gloucester canal near Newent, Gloucestershire.

The Erawan Museum is the one of most beautiful place to visit in Thialand, It is well known for its giant three-headed elephant art display. The three storeys inside the elephant contain antiquities and priceless collections of ancient religious objects belonging to Khun Lek Viriyapant who is the museum owner

Exhibit space inside the museum

The first floor represents the underworld and contains a collection of Chinese vases from the Ming and Qinq dynasties and a history of the museum's construction as photographs and wall placards.

The second floor representing the earth (or human world) houses more precious antiques and arts including ceramics and European pottery. The hall features a statue of Guanyin, the Chinese Goddess with a thousand arms.

The top floor represents the Travatimsa Heaven, which is located on top of Mount Meru in Buddhist cosmology. On display are relics of the Buddha and very old Buddha statues from several eras including Lopburi, Ayutthaya, Lanna and Rattanakosin. The walls are decorated with paintings depicting the cosmos.

This photo was taken at the 2nd floor

I was born in bed with a lady :-) Wilson Mizner

water lily, sarah p. duke gardens, duke university, durham, north carolina

feel free to follow me here:

my webpage | Facebook | 500px | Google+ | Redbubble

Prints are availible : here

There's a lady who's sure all that glitters is gold

And she's buying a stairway to heaven

And when she gets there she knows if the stores are closed

With a word she can get what she came for

Woe oh oh oh oh oh

And she's buying a stairway to heaven

There's a sign on the wall but she wants to be sure

And you know sometimes words have two meanings

In a tree by the brook there's a songbird who sings

Sometimes all of our thoughts are misgiven

Woe oh oh oh oh oh

And she's buying a stairway to heaven

There's a feeling I get when I look to the west

And my spirit is crying for leaving

In my thoughts I have seen rings of smoke through the trees

And the voices of those who stand looking

Woe oh oh oh oh oh

And she's buying a stairway to heaven

And it's whispered that soon, if we all call the tune

Then the piper will lead us to reason

And a new day will dawn for those who stand long

And the forest will echo with laughter

And it makes me wonder

If there's a bustle in your hedgerow

Don't be alarmed now

It's just a spring clean for the May Queen

Yes there are two paths you can go by

but in the long run

There's still time to change the road you're on

Your head is humming and it won't go in case you don't know

The piper's calling you to join him

Dear lady can't you hear the wind blow and did you know

Your stairway lies on the whispering wind

And as we wind on down the road

Our shadows taller than our soul

There walks a lady we all know

Who shines white light and wants to show

How everything still turns to gold

And if you listen very hard

The tune will come to you at last

When all are one and one is all

To be a rock and not to roll

Woe oh oh oh oh oh

And she's buying a stairway to heaven

There's a lady who's sure all that glitters is gold

And she's buying a stairway to heaven

And when she gets there she knows if the stores are closed

With a word she can get what she came for

And she's buying a stairway to heaven, uh uh uh.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Stairway to Heaven" is a rock song by the English rock group Led Zeppelin, composed by guitarist Jimmy Page, vocalist Robert Plant and recorded on their fourth studio album, (Led Zeppelin IV). It is the most requested and most played song on FM radio stations in the United States, despite never having been released as a single there. In November 2007, through download sales promoting their recent Mothership release, the song hit #37 on the UK Singles Chart . Similarly, the song hit #13 on the New Zealand Singles Chart.

The song's instrumentals were written by Page "over a long period, the first part coming at Bron-Yr-Aur one night". Page always kept a cassette recorder around, and the idea for "Stairway" came together from bits of taped music. The opening guitar cadence took influence from a song called 'Taurus' by the band 'Spirit' with whom Led Zeppelin were acquainted in their opening days.

The first attempts at lyrics, written by Led Zeppelin vocalist Robert Plant next to an evening log fire at Headley Grange, were partly spontaneously improvised and Page claimed, "a huge percentage of the lyrics were written there and then". Jimmy Page was strumming the chords and Robert Plant had a pencil and paper. Plant later said that suddenly, "my hand was writing out the words, 'There's a lady who's sure, all that glitters is gold, and she's buying a stairway to heaven'. I just sat there and looked at them and almost leapt out of my seat." Plant's own explanation of the lyrics was that it "was some cynical aside about a woman getting everything she wanted all the time without giving back any thought or consideration. The first line begins with that cynical sweep of the hand ... and it softened up after that."

The recording of "Stairway to Heaven" started in December 1970 at Island Records' new Basing Street Studios in London. The song was completed by the addition of lyrics by Plant during the sessions for Led Zeppelin IV at Headley Grange, Hampshire, in 1971. The complete studio recording was released on Led Zeppelin IV in November 1971.

All My Links

I've been completely out of action for the last few weeks, engaged in work and other matters. FINALLY I got back outside with the camera and now have some new stuff to share; a big and sudden lack of enthusiasm ensued as well but luckily I got my spark back. Good to be back!!

These little ones are growing on my balcony and answering to the call of Spring. Being that this is my favourite time of year I hope to get out more in the next few days and beyond.

So how is everyone? Hope all is well and so as always, thank you! :)

It seems like when the Long Island Railroad got rid of their C420's, they scattered to the four winds. You could find them anywhere, working on various short lines. The Erie Western got a few of them, too. Here's the 203 getting ready to leave Griffith with a train for the city. Meanwhile, I can spot a nice Vermont Railways box car sitting over in the C&O's yard. Of course, today, this is all gone.

Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, is also known as The Guitar Hotel due to its tower constructed to resemble a guitar, is a hotel and casino resort in Hollywood, Florida, United States, located on 100 acres (40 ha) of the Hollywood Reservation of the Seminole Tribe of Florida. The property currently has one hotel tower, a 140,000 sq ft (13,000 m2) casino, a large poker room, a 4-acre (1.6 ha) lagoon-style pool facility with a center bar, and many private restaurants, shops, spa, cabanas, bars, and nightclubs, and the Hard Rock Event Center. A large expansion was completed in October 2019.

The resort currently has a 12-story "classic Hard Rock Hotel" with 469 guest rooms and suites. Guests are greeted by a 50-foot (15 m) tall signature Hard Rock guitar, (based on a famous Gibson electric guitar model) at the entrance of the hotel, along with a massive LED advertising screen at the front of the main parking garage. The resort has 120,000-square-foot (11,000 m2) of meeting space, including a 38,000-square-foot (3,500 m2) exhibit hall.

The Hard Rock's $1.5 billion property expansion project added a 450-foot (140 m) tower designed to appear as a guitar, with lights providing the imagery of guitar strings, and 638 rooms alongside a seven-story, 168-room "Oasis Tower" overlooking the pool cabanas— open on October 24, 2019, several months in advance of Super Bowl LIV being held in Miami on February 2, 2020. The expansion also included a 42,000-square-foot (3,900 m2) "Rock Spa", and over 20 new dining and nightlife destinations. Between the existing 12-story hotel, new Guitar Hotel, and new Oasis Tower, over 1,200 hotel rooms became available in October 2019.

On May 9, 2014, Seminole Chief Jim Billie announced a $100 million upgrade of the tribe's casinos, with much of that spent on the Hard Rock Hollywood location, including improved entryways, center pool bar, pool facility upgrades, updated hotel room, and suite interiors, and a new restaurant. As of March 2019, the tribe's upgrade budget was significantly increased to over $2.4 billion, split mainly between this location and the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Tampa.

The current casino layout covers over 140,000 sq ft (13,000 m2) featuring slot machines and various table games including blackjack, baccarat, mini-baccarat, Pai Gow poker, Let It Ride, and three-card poker. The casino does not have live craps and roulette, although there are electronic versions of those games available. As of June 2018, the poker room is located in a former ballroom area, relocated from its prior venue due to ongoing construction work.

Blackjack is the most popular card game in the United States and was an addition to the casino. In a deal valued at $1.1 billion, former Governor Charlie Crist gave the Seminole Tribe a license for blackjack in its casinos. In exchange, The Seminole Tribe loaned the State of Florida $1.1 billion over the course of two years. On July 3, 2008, the Florida Supreme Court ruled that the governor's agreement was unconstitutional, but table games continue to operate because the Federal Department of the Interior approved the now-invalid pact with the state. The addition of blackjack to the Hard Rock casinos in Hollywood and Tampa gave credibility to its claim of being a major gambling destination.[

Hard Rock Live is a 7,000 seat multi-purpose theater, which opened on October 25, 2019, with a concert by Maroon 5. The theater replaced a 5,500 seat arena (razed in March 2018 as part of the property-wide expansion) of the same name, which hosted different types of events including musical acts, comedians, boxing, and other smaller events, along with a residency by Billy Joel. During construction of the new theater, events were held at the temporary 3,500 seat Hard Rock Event Center, which hosted acts including Britney Spears on her Piece of Me Tour.

The 69th edition of the Miss Universe competition was held on May 16, 2021, at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino where Zozibini Tunzi of South Africa crowned her successor Andrea Meza of Mexico at the end of the event.

Model Anna Nicole Smith, who was staying at the resort, died in her hotel suite on February 8, 2007. An autopsy ruled her death was caused by an accidental drug overdose from prescription drugs.

Credit for the data above is given to the following websites:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seminole_Hard_Rock_Hotel_%26_Casino...

www.seminolehardrockhollywood.com/hotel/hard-rock-hotel

www.booking.com/hotel/us/seminolehardrockhotelhollywood.h...

© All Rights Reserved - you may not use this image in any form without my prior permission.

Yesterday evening I was shooting these small pink Carnations down in the livingroom. I wanted to create something soft, dreamy and romantic. Somehow I just didn't succeed. So I called it a day and went up to bed. I was sitting on the bed looking at the sun setting behind the Chestnut trees outside. Something made me go downstairs, fetch some flowers and put them in a vase. This was shot on the windowsill and was just backlit. My room was pretty dark at the time. The result was exactly what I wanted. Thanks for looking!

Back to back Powercars 43187 and 43149 drag 57310 and the sleeper set that failed on the 1C99 passing Shaldon Bridge forming the 5Z77 Exeter st Davids to Laira,first time that i have seen powercars dragging a loco.I think it might be time that 57310 should be returned to be fully assessed due to it's poor failure rate.

" I Love You Not Only For What You are, But For What I am When I am with You. I Love You Not Only For What You Have Made Of Yourself, But For What You are Making Of Me. I Love You For The Part Of Me That You Bring Out ... "

Dedicated To You ...

Decided to spend this week practicing macro photography...which I dislike....very challenging for me. This lady bug was the size of a dot on a page-must have been a baby. A slight breeze made focusing very diffucult [handheld].

The insect below was moving in circles...so I had to wait until he turned facing me. No clue what he is. [Robber Fly--thanks LeapFrog! for the ID].

Jasmine was puzzled why I stopped throwing the ball for her....but she is a saint and waited patiently as I took these pics.

All of my life, I had always thought about what it would be like to see a live polar bear ... as opposed to that massive stuffed one that I remember as a child as part of the Miami Science Museum. I still remember being so in awe of the size as it stood on its hind legs, with me dwarfed as I stood next to it. I never imagined though that I would actually have the adventure of my life by actually living that dream.

Kaktovik, Alaska is a remote village - where the land ends, with the arctic ocean separating it from the North Pole. As the day neared, I began imagining how it was going to be. Finally, that day arrived and off I flew, alone, to Fairbanks and eventually Barter Island. I hoped that the bears would be meeting me there and that it would be everything that I hoped that it would be.

Ursus maritimus is the polar bears scientific name. These bears are quite large and males can weigh up to 1,000 pounds. They live on the polar ice, as they hunt seals and other food sources, but are quite at home swimming and playing in the water. Our first bear sightings were along the shoreline, but soon we witnessed them swimming and playing in the icy waters ... very slushy in fact. It was so amazing to watch them, especially fascinating was how they dove under the surface of the water, much like a seal would dive. Such grace as they skillfully navigated about and fabulously playful when they encountered another swimming around as well. As far as bears go, I found them to be much more social than brown bears and the moms to also be exceptional at taking care of their young. I think that for the first day or so, I was so awed by being in their presence and would routinely pinch myself to be sure it wasn't a dream. LOL

One day, I will return to visit them again, whether in Kaktovik or somewhere else, so that Tom could witness the same joy. Until then, I have these memories ... that and LOTS and LOTS of images. :-)

Thanks so much for stopping by to view and especially for sharing your thoughts and comments as well.

© 2015 Debbie Tubridy / TNWA Photography

www.tnwaphotography.com

www.tnwaphotography.wordpress.com

"For last year's words belong to last year's language and next year's words await another voice. And to make an end is to make a beginning."

T. S. Eliot

the breakwater at the Oak Bay Marina today, looking toward the San Juan Islands; big winds, big waves!!

I used to hide behind my hair (wig) or a big coat, Maybe sunglasses, but sometimes a nice hat does the job.

Had a fun afternoon with this dress and taking photos, Just what i needed to get back on track.

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