View allAll Photos Tagged Unasked
I had the privilege of being invited, unasked, onto private land adjacent to the tunnel with a Royal Box view.
I really appreciate this kindness, the good company and the cup of tea!
The tunnel mouth-to-be in all its glory.
Make: Piatnik
Serial: 5454
Title: Schloss Tirol mit Zielspitze
Series: -
Pieces: 1000 (40 x 25).
Size: 26.5 x 17.4 in. 67.5 x 44.1 cm.
Date: -
Bar Code: 9 001890 545467.
Origin: Austria.
Foto: Dieter Drescher, Meran.
This puzzle came together rather more quickly than I expected, perhaps because the picture could be broken down into distinct areas, none of which were overly large or complex in their own right.
Some Piatnik puzzles have pieces that form a tight fitting mat so the finished picture can be lifted as one. This isn't one of those but has the usual Piatnik quality of pieces that fit together well and a selection of peg and hole shapes to assist with this. Most interior pieces are of the standard PHPH form, with a few non-standard shapes and half a dozen non-interlocking shapes to help the builder along.
Built largely from the top downward, although after completing the woodwork I did put together the remainder of the edge and worked on the grass in the lower right corner before finishing off with the vines.
Although the box is undated, the bag containing the pieces has "10 96" printed on it, under the recycling logo (type 04, low-density polyethylene to answer the unasked question). I'm assuming that is a date of manufacture for the bag; therefore dating the puzzle from 1996 or perhaps 1997.
Bought more jigsaws…
DONE: 557 puzzles (376713 nominal piece count). TO DO: 903 puzzles (1155650 nominal piece count).
Oh, yes those shiny or in this case rusty boxes you shouldn't open unasked! I'll try to do more of these grung meets vector things, I think they are in some way pretty unique! Comments are welcome!
for TOTW " accessorize"
and ThE vEnT's "juxtaposin"
i was going for alot more light on the mask,but using hal
l lights and some flashlights pointed at me just wasnt working.
that Flare is real however. i think i actually like the
Alternate better,but it didnt really work for "juxtaposin".
if i had a smiley face sticker on the shovel,it would have.
and yes,to your unasked question, i do
have many locations i keep in my mind as places
i could get rid of a body.
P8280016
From Queen Victoria by E. Gordon Browne (public domain):
CHAPTER IV: Husband and Wife
After four short days the Queen and her husband returned to London, and from this time onward the Prince acted as his wife's secretary, attending to every little detail of the mass of correspondence and State documents which grew larger with every succeeding year.
All the letters received by the Queen during the course of a long and busy life-time were carefully preserved, and at her death they amounted to no fewer than five or six hundred large bound volumes. They include letters from crowned heads of Europe, from her ministers of State, from her children, and from her friends and relations.
All these the Queen read and answered. She was thus at all times fully aware of everything that was happening both at home and abroad, and in her great Empire, an Empire which was destined to grow greater and greater in power and extent during her reign. Day by day, year in, year out, without a single break, this immense correspondence arrived. Ministers resigned and ministers were appointed, but there was neither halt nor rest. Truly 'the burden of Empire' is heavy for those who bear it.
The young Prince determined from the first to master both national and European politics, for it must always be remembered that as he was a foreigner everything in this country was for some time strange to him. In addition to being his wife's right hand he took a leading part in all movements which might help to improve the education and conditions of life of the people. His fine training and sympathetic nature enabled him, little by little, to be the means of helping on important reforms. In addition to this, both he and his wife found time to work at drawing and music, which they studied together under the best masters. Throughout the Queen's correspondence one reads of his devotion to her both as husband and helpmate.
The times were hard; discontent with poverty and bad trade kept the nation ill at ease, and, as is always the case, there were many who did their best to stir up riot. As a consequence, possibly, of this unrest, attempts were made on the Queen's life, once in 1840 and twice in 1841.
The relief and joy felt by the whole nation at their young Queen's lucky escapes from death by an assassin's hand are expressed in the following lines by an anonymous author:—
God saved the Queen—all thoughts apart
This crowning joy fills every mind!
She sits within the nation's heart,
An angel shrined.
The assassin's hand the steel enclosed,
He poised his ruthless hand on high—
But God in mercy interposed
His shadow for her panoply.
Then let ten thousand lyres be swept,
Let pæans ring o'er sea and land—
The Almighty hath our Sovereign kept
Within the hollow of His hand!
In July 1840, it was considered necessary to appoint a Regent in case of the Queen's death. A Bill for this purpose was brought in and passed, naming the Prince as Regent. This pleased the Queen, for it was a clear proof of the golden opinions the Prince had won everywhere since his marriage, and it was passed, as she herself said, entirely on account of his noble character. At an earlier period it is certain, as Lord Melbourne assured her, that Parliament would not have passed such a Bill.
The Queen was soon to lose her chief adviser and friend, for in June 1841 Parliament dissolved and the Whigs were not returned to power. Lord Melbourne could, however, resign with an easy mind, for he himself recognized how valuable a counsellor the Queen now possessed in her husband. After handing his resignation to the Queen, he wrote to her: "Lord Melbourne has formed the highest opinion of His Royal Highness's judgment, temper, and discretion, and he cannot but feel a great consolation and security in the reflection that he leaves Your Majesty in a situation in which Your Majesty has the inestimable advantage of such advice and assistance." The Queen was exceedingly proud of these words of praise, coming as they did unasked from a minister of such long experience.
It was in the same year that the Prince was appointed Head of the Royal Commission which had been formed to encourage the study of the Fine Arts throughout the kingdom. This was work of a kind which he especially loved, and he was now in a position to influence the movement which led to the Great Exhibition of 1851.
Prince Albert
F.X. Winterhalter
Photo Emery Walker Ltd.
But all was not plain sailing for the Prince, who was still regarded, if not with dislike, at any rate with some mistrust, as being a foreigner. For a long time yet he felt himself a stranger, the Queen's husband and nothing more. Still, "all cometh to him who knoweth how to wait," and he set himself bravely to his uphill task. To use his own words, "I endeavour to be as much use to Victoria as I can,"—this was the keynote of his whole life.
The Prince took sides with neither of the political parties, and first of all by careful economy he lessened the enormous household expenses and proved that it was possible for royalty to live without always being in debt. He established model farms at Osborne and Windsor, introduced different and better breeds of cattle, and even made a profit on the undertaking. He persuaded his wife to give up the late hours which were still usual, and gradually, by kindness and sympathy, won the household staff over to his way of thinking.
The Prince's life was an extremely full one. Soon after six o'clock was his time for rising. Until nine he read and answered letters. He then looked through all the principal newspapers and gave the Queen a summary of the most important news. He found time also to work and play with his children during his short intervals of leisure. Consultations with ministers, reading and writing dispatches followed, and then a short time was devoted to open-air exercise. After lunch he often accompanied the Queen on a drive. More reading and writing took up his time until dinner, after which there was either a social evening or a visit to a theatre. He was "complete master in his house, and the active centre of an Empire whose power extends to every quarter of the globe. . . . No British Cabinet minister has ever worked so hard during the session of Parliament, and that is saying a good deal, as the Prince Consort did for 21 years. . . . The Prince had no holidays at all, he was always in harness."[1]
[Footnote 1: Miss C.M. Yonge, Life of H.R.H. the Prince Consort.]
Louis Philippe, the first French king who had ever visited this country, except King John, wrote of him: "Oh, he will do wonders; he is so wise; he is not in a hurry; he gains so much by being known. He will always give you good advice. Do not think I say so in flattery. No! No! It is from my heart. He will be like his uncle, equally wise and good. . . . He will be of the greatest use to you, and will keep well at your side if a time of vicissitude should come, such as I hope may never be—but, after all, no one can tell."
IAO bring balance
and Pan grant harmony
to one to all
so none are left to fall
Great Gods answer the mortal call
and prepare a perfect place of greatening grace
so that we that aspire aim higher and higher
to achieve the harmony in balance
and joyous beauty such that call answer call
and rewards are given so that none are left to fall
as the balanced harmony is given all to all.
We have been seeing faces in trees for a long time. This one in the photograph was created by the growth of the Yew tree. The natural growth remained hidden from view as part of the tree trunk. It was only available to be seen after a chainsaw had cut an uneven and textured plane through the trunk of the tree. Pareidolia is the name for the psychological phenomenon that gives rise to people seeing patterns in random stimulus. Faces in trees have been linked to what the roots are growing in, the shoots reveal what the roots find in the dark recesses of the soil. This has led to ideas of trees forming a face of the spirit of the place, or even revealing the presence of hidden remains so that the shoots show what was secreted away. The presence of faces on tree burial sites for humans will be a great connection for some who wish to see their loved ones in the trees. This Yew held on to the face hidden in the trunk until it was deemed to be blocking a path.
IAO, consist of three Greek letters Iota, Alpha and Omega. IAO is noted as a Gnostic god form, seen as both a Sun God and a Mystery God. The primary universal nature and use of IAO led to it being later identified with the Hebrew Tetragrammaton of IHVH formed by the letters Yod Heh Vau Heh which is well known as Jehovah and Yahweh. Both IAO and IHVH are used as formulae to explore and explain all natural creation. IAO to me can be a spoken key of threefold introduction to a journey into everything and nothing where all is possible.
The character of Pan has been built around his name meaning All. His connection to all gives him access to the ecosystem as greeter, guide and guardian of the groves in which he is often found and again through his All he is found wherever you happen to look for him, to call him and he is there even when you attempt to ignore him. A call to IAO and Pan is to issue a note and to create an invitation for the natural aspects to hear, to absorb and to respond as they see fit. The scientist can record the echo and those in meditation may hear answers to an unasked questions that they had not realised were in the IAO Pan even as they enunciated it. We are great creatures and we can choose to adore great gods. If we ask nothing from everything our own reflective nature will allow us time and space to hear what we want and then to listen further in search of what we need to an understanding of what we have and how best to fulfil ourself with All.
PHH Sykes copyright 2019
phhsykes@gmail.com
An act of secular
solidarity by an unbelieving irredeemable sinner. Me
Having no god
but reason
no prophets
not of this world
But with history by the chapter
I read today of Lambeth
a conference
close to where I live
in London
and think of Lincoln
and of His union
held sacred
sworn for
fought for
made by men to enjure
and by women untold
with vows and
priestly covenants
and wrested
by confederates
who held not all men to be free
Repulsed by soldiers
young
unformed farm boys
and town lads
ending slavery
perhaps unknowingly
with blood
their blood and bodies
Not Gettysberg
but Nigeria
A faint ghost echoes
across an ocean
and an age
and new niggers
arise
and the nigger's nigger
stays home
cooking
caring
unasked
while we
kill
Or practice
slaughter
for play
And ideas look for their
time
Still here
still now
a union creeks
and a prejudice
age old
to be fought
without quarter
without guns
awaits its battle with reason>
they've even caught on to the current succulent craze that I'm noticing back home. well, the ideas at least are proliferate on the internet for succulent wreaths, mini-succulent boutonnieres, a succulent wall in an old palette, a crate, a gutter... in Cuba they just grow, unasked, uninhibited, the drip over balconies, spring up like tiny trees on an unreachable concrete overhang, or sprout, more planned-like, from elaborately barred windowsills.
This scene takes place in the middle of the Pont Saint-Michel, a simple but significant gesture, in the heart of thriving third world Paris.
This stooped and staggering little old lady haunts (almost literally, she looks half dead) the side streets of Saint-Germain des Prés, I've been seeing her for several years now, and seems to spend her life in a perpetually uneasy equilibrium between upright and upended.
Her garb seems to suggest a faith, although what she might have faith in, given her current standing/swaying I wouldn't presume to proffer.
Perhaps she has faith in little boys in bright red cagoules placing pinched pennies into her eternally extended paper cup.
It's difficult to say, but as classic fotograffer's fodder, she features in far more folks photos than she could ever begin to imagine. Although I shouldn't be making assumptions about her imagination. Anyway, what's difficult to say, is whether she registers this unasked for attention for all the wrong reasons, and whether she resents it or just sees it as another marketing opportunity. Whatever the case, she doesn't move fast enough - she barely moves - to ever complain and the scuttling sneaks of street photographers who profit from her are too mean spirited to ever hang around to find out, as if she were going to give them a good hiding with that third leg of hers.
She could probably tear the skin from our self-satisfied souls with one look from that pitiful, pleading gaze though. That's the real reason we don't wait around to meet it, I suspect.
(A Paris iPhone street photograph by Sab Will for the 'Paris and I' photo blog @ paris-and-i.parissetmefree.com )
On Giving ~ Kahlil Gibran
You give but little when you give of your possessions.
It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.
For what are your possessions but things you keep and guard for fear you may need them tomorrow?
And tomorrow, what shall tomorrow bring to the overprudent dog burying bones in the trackless sand as he follows the pilgrims to the holy city?
And what is fear of need but need itself?
Is not dread of thirst when your well is full, the thirst that is unquenchable?
There are those who give little of the much which they have--and they give it for recognition and their hidden desire makes their gifts unwholesome.
And there are those who have little and give it all.
These are the believers in life and the bounty of life, and their coffer is never empty.
There are those who give with joy, and that joy is their reward.
And there are those who give with pain, and that pain is their baptism.
And there are those who give and know not pain in giving, nor do they seek joy, nor give with mindfulness of virtue;
They give as in yonder valley the myrtle breathes its fragrance into space.
Through the hands of such as these God speaks, and from behind their eyes He smiles upon the earth.
It is well to give when asked, but it is better to give unasked, through understanding;
And to the open-handed the search for one who shall receive is joy greater than giving.
And is there aught you would withhold?
All you have shall some day be given;
Therefore give now, that the season of giving may be yours and not your inheritors'.
You often say, "I would give, but only to the deserving."
The trees in your orchard say not so, nor the flocks in your pasture.
They give that they may live, for to withhold is to perish.
Surely he who is worthy to receive his days and his nights, is worthy of all else from you.
And he who has deserved to drink from the ocean of life deserves to fill his cup from your little stream.
And what desert greater shall there be, than that which lies in the courage and the confidence, nay the charity, of receiving?
And who are you that men should rend their bosom and unveil their pride, that you may see their worth naked and their pride unabashed?
See first that you yourself deserve to be a giver, and an instrument of giving.
For in truth it is life that gives unto life while you, who deem yourself a giver, are but a witness.
And you receivers... and you are all receivers... assume no weight of gratitude, lest you lay a yoke upon yourself and upon him who gives.
Rather rise together with the giver on his gifts as on wings;
For to be overmindful of your debt, is to doubt his generosity who has the freehearted earth for mother, and God for father.
Here I was, fifty meters offshore of this small white sanded island in the Libyan Sea, floating effortlessly in pure turquoise waters. Then I saw him, sitting under his tree, innocence lost.
I swam back, grabbed my camera, changed to an 85mm lens in 3 seconds flat. I covered the 100 m between us fast but stealthy. When I reached the scene, she was there, and so was her guilt; they were silent, questions unasked. I went unnoticed.
One eternity later, she left; the world, in all its uncanny splendor, was waiting for her.
He went back under the tree. I frozed for 20 seconds, hidding in plain sight, stone still. He stud there, head in his hands, the same image of desoIation that got me there. I shot six pictures. Then I rested.
Passion fruit dessert at excellent Italian restaurant.
It was provided without being unasked for and was not on the bill.
City of Huế, Thừa Thiên–Huế province, Vietnam 2018.
This is one of the most heart-breaking, yet heart-healing pictures I have ever seen. It is absolute unconditional love as Mother bathes her daughter who is blind, deaf and mute. When I see this, I tear up. This is God holding me, crippled and blind in my sin, loving me tenderly, unasked, unforced, freely and gladly. This picture represents why I hold on as a Christian.
Retrieved this picture from my archives to suit a verse from Gitanjali...
My desires are many and my cry is pitiful, but ever didst thou save me by hard refusals; and this strong mercy has been wrought into my life through and through. Day by day thou art making me worthy of the simple, great gifts that thou gavest to me unasked---this sky and the light, this body and the life and the mind---saving me from perils of overmuch desire. There are times when I languidly linger and times when I awaken and hurry in search of my goal; but cruelly thou hidest thyself from before me. Day by day thou art making me worthy of thy full acceptance by refusing me ever and anon, saving me from perils of weak, uncertain desire....
When not everything is on top and shopping groceries and stuff is not high priority, all of a sudden a fellow Marine showed up unexpectedly having, unasked, done some shopping for us. Every item was carefully selected, even the soft drink bottles...
(NOTE: The plea of a frightened boy cannot change the will of destiny).
Poe: For at the right time, all may be reached.–KF*
Poe: The sage says: "Return good with good. Return evil with justice.–KF*
Poe: Still troubled, Grasshopper?
Young KCC: Sometimes, Master. It seems as if a wall lies between myself and others. A wall through which I may see, but may not touch.
Poe: You feel the fault within you?
Young KCC: I do not know where the fault lies. But I feel apart.
Poe: In your conversation with this other, more is left unsaid than is said?
Young KCC: It is so.
Poe: Who can know himself well enough to hear all. The sage says "Shape clay into a vessel, cut doors and windows for a room. It is the spaces within which make it useful. So we must listen for the spaces between us. We must hear the silences.–KF*
KCC: Master, how can we find our way when all paths seem dark?
Poe: The way runs true through the darkness. Through shadow. Neither is cause for despair. The sage has said: "The 5 colors blind the eye. The five tones deafen the ear. The five flavors dull the taste. Therefore, the wiseman is guided by what he feels, not by what he sees." When our senses are confused and overpowered, our deeper feelings may yet keep us on the way.–KF*
KCC: Master. I am puzzled.
Poe: That is the beginning of wisdom.
KCC: I have seen you laugh, and I have seen you cry.
Poe: And you do not?
KCC: We are taught discipline.
Poe: The purpose of discipline is to live more fully. Not less.
KCC: But how shall I know if my sorrow is only the echo of self pity; or my laughter the preening of my own happiness?
Poe: The bird sings in the forest. Does it seek to be admired for its song? Let tears come, when your heart tells you of its sadness. Let joy come unasked, unplanned.–KF*
IAO bring balance
and Pan grant harmony
to one to all
so none are left to fall
Great Gods answer the mortal call
and prepare a perfect place of greatening grace
so that we that aspire aim higher and higher
to achieve the harmony in balance
and joyous beauty such that call answer call
and rewards are given so that none are left to fall
as the balanced harmony is given all to all.
We have been seeing faces in trees for a long time. This one in the photograph was created by the growth of the Yew tree. The natural growth remained hidden from view as part of the tree trunk. It was only available to be seen after a chainsaw had cut an uneven and textured plane through the trunk of the tree. Pareidolia is the name for the psychological phenomenon that gives rise to people seeing patterns in random stimulus. Faces in trees have been linked to what the roots are growing in, the shoots reveal what the roots find in the dark recesses of the soil. This has led to ideas of trees forming a face of the spirit of the place, or even revealing the presence of hidden remains so that the shoots show what was secreted away. The presence of faces on tree burial sites for humans will be a great connection for some who wish to see their loved ones in the trees. This Yew held on to the face hidden in the trunk until it was deemed to be blocking a path.
IAO, consist of three Greek letters Iota, Alpha and Omega. IAO is noted as a Gnostic god form, seen as both a Sun God and a Mystery God. The primary universal nature and use of IAO led to it being later identified with the Hebrew Tetragrammaton of IHVH formed by the letters Yod Heh Vau Heh which is well known as Jehovah and Yahweh. Both IAO and IHVH are used as formulae to explore and explain all natural creation. IAO to me can be a spoken key of threefold introduction to a journey into everything and nothing where all is possible.
The character of Pan has been built around his name meaning All. His connection to all gives him access to the ecosystem as greeter, guide and guardian of the groves in which he is often found and again through his All he is found wherever you happen to look for him, to call him and he is there even when you attempt to ignore him. A call to IAO and Pan is to issue a note and to create an invitation for the natural aspects to hear, to absorb and to respond as they see fit. The scientist can record the echo and those in meditation may hear answers to an unasked questions that they had not realised were in the IAO Pan even as they enunciated it. We are great creatures and we can choose to adore great gods. If we ask nothing from everything our own reflective nature will allow us time and space to hear what we want and then to listen further in search of what we need to an understanding of what we have and how best to fulfil ourself with All.
PHH Sykes copyright 2019
phhsykes@gmail.com
I guess in this photo I'm giving a tutorial on bottom bracket shells. This bike is still looking for a home, which is sad - but convenient for impromptu (and often unasked-for) lessons on framebuilding.
Photo credit: AP
SO YOU WANT TO BE A WRITER?
--Charles Bukowksi
if it doesn't come bursting out of you
in spite of everything,
don't do it.
unless it comes unasked out of your
heart and your mind and your mouth
and your gut,
don't do it.
if you have to sit for hours
staring at your computer screen
or hunched over your
typewriter
searching for words,
don't do it.
if you're doing it for money or
fame,
don't do it.
if you're doing it because you want
women in your bed,
don't do it.
if you have to sit there and
rewrite it again and again,
don't do it.
if it's hard work just thinking about doing it,
don't do it.
if you're trying to write like somebody
else,
forget about it.
if you have to wait for it to roar out of
you,
then wait patiently.
if it never does roar out of you,
do something else.
if you first have to read it to your wife
or your girlfriend or your boyfriend
or your parents or to anybody at all,
you're not ready.
don't be like so many writers,
don't be like so many thousands of
people who call themselves writers,
don't be dull and boring and
pretentious, don't be consumed with self-
love.
the libraries of the world have
yawned themselves to
sleep
over your kind.
don't add to that.
don't do it.
unless it comes out of
your soul like a rocket,
unless being still would
drive you to madness or
suicide or murder,
don't do it.
unless the sun inside you is
burning your gut,
don't do it.
when it is truly time,
and if you have been chosen,
it will do it by
itself and it will keep on doing it
until you die or it dies in you.
there is no other way.
and there never was.