JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS

www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxA3wFYxUB8&feature=share&...

Columbia Pictures. A Morningside Production. Colour. 104 minutes.

Producer: Charles H. Schneer

Director: Don Chaffey

Screenplay: Jan Read / Beverley Cross

Cinematography: Wilkie Cooper

Art Directors: Herbert Smith / Jack Maxsted / Tony Sarzi-Braga

Editor: Maurice Rootes

Music: Bernard Herrmann

Cast: Todd Armstrong, Gary Raymond, Nancy Kovack, Honor Blackman, Nigel Green, Michael Gwynn, Douglas Wilmer, Niall MacGinnis, Laurence Naismith, Jack Gwillim, Patrick Troughton, Andrew Faulds, Fernando Poggi

 

Main on-screen credits: Associate Producer Ray Harryhausen - Creator of Special Visual Effects

 

Six and half skeletons (the legs are missing on one), the Hydra, Talos and one of the Harpies, still exist. Also found recently were the armature for the large hand and foot of Talos.

Starring Todd Armstrong, Nancy Kovack, Gary Raymond, Laurence Naismith, Niall MacGinnis, Michael Gwynn, Douglas Wilmer, Jack Gwillim, Honor Blackman, John Cairney, Patrick Troughton, Andrew Faulds, Nigel Green, and John Crawford. Directed by Don Chaffey.

Pelias (Douglas Wilmer) usurps the throne of Thessaly by killing King Aristo. However, there is a prophecy that he will be overthrown by a child of Aristo wearing one sandal. When he kills one of Aristo's daughters after she had sought and been granted the protection of Hera, Pelias makes an enemy of the goddess.

 

Twenty years later, Jason (Todd Armstrong), Aristo's son grown to manhood, saves the life of Pelias during a chance encounter, but loses a sandal doing so. He does not know that he has rescued his father's murderer, but Pelias recognizes his nemesis. Pelias keeps his identity secret. However, he cannot just kill Jason; the prophecy also says that he himself would die.

 

When he learns that Jason is undertaking a dangerous quest to obtain the fabled Golden Fleece to rally the people of Thessaly, Pelias encourages him, hoping that he will be killed in the attempt. Men from all over Greece compete for the honor of joining Jason. Since their ship is named the Argo after the ship's builder Argos (Laurence Naismith), they are dubbed the Argonauts. Among those chosen are Hercules (Nigel Green) and Acastus (Gary Raymond), the son of Pelias, who is sent by his father to sabotage the voyage.

 

Jason is taken to Mount Olympus by Hermes (Michael Gwynn) to speak to the gods Zeus (Niall MacGinnis) and Hera (Honor Blackman). Hera tells him that she wishes him well, but that Zeus has imposed restrictions on her assistance (Jason, like all mortals, is a piece in the game which the gods play against each other. This is an accurate portrayal of Greek theology and rarely found in any modern medium). Jason is told that he can only invoke Hera's aid five times (the same number of times his sister called on the goddess by name for help before she was slain). In response to Jason's unasked questions, Hera tells him to search for the Fleece in the land of Colchis, on the other side of the world.

 

Many dangers threaten the expedition. When the Argonauts run perilously low on supplies, Jason turns to Hera. She guides him to the Isle of Bronze, but warns him to take nothing but provisions. However, while chasing some goats, Hercules and his young friend Hylas (John Cairney) find a partially-open treasure chamber of the gods, surmounted by an enormous bronze statue of Talos. Despite Hylas' warning, Hercules steals an enormous brooch pin the size of a javelin. The statue comes to life and attacks, causing much mayhem before Jason can destroy it using Hera's advice. Hylas goes missing and is presumed dead, but the guilt-ridden Hercules refuses to leave until he knows for certain. The other Argonauts will not abandon Hercules, so Jason is forced to call on Hera for the last time. She confirms that Hylas is indeed dead and that Hercules is destined not to continue with them.

 

Hera also directs them to seek out Phineas (Patrick Troughton), the blind seer, for the way to Colchis. They find him tormented by two blue-skinned, bat-like Harpies sent by Zeus to punish him for misusing his gift of prophecy. In return for imprisoning the flying creatures, Phineas tells Jason what he needs to know and gives Jason his only possession, an amulet. To reach Colchis however, they must pass between the Clashing Rocks, a strait flanked by towering rock cliffs that shake and drop boulders to sink any ships attempting to pass between them. Fortunately for the Argonauts, they learn this second hand. Another ship tries to run the strait from the other direction and founders. In despair, Jason throws Phineas' gift into the water; the god Triton emerges and holds back the rocks long enough to let the Argo pass through. On the other side, they pick up three survivors of the other ship, including Medea (Nancy Kovack), the high priestess of the goddess Hecate.

 

They sight Colchis the next day. Acastus and Jason disagree on how to approach the King of Colchis. The argument escalates into a swordfight. Eventually Acastus is disarmed and jumps into the sea to escape. Believing him dead, Jason and his men accept an invitation from King Aeëtes (Jack Gwillim) to a feast, but once they are off guard, they are captured and imprisoned. Acastus has betrayed them, telling Aeëtes about their mission. However, Medea helps Jason and his men escape.

 

Acastus tries to steal the Fleece himself, but is fatally wounded by its guardian, the many-headed Hydra. Jason succeeds in killing the monster and taking the Fleece. But Aeëtes is not far behind. He strews the teeth of the Hydra on the ground and prays to Hecate. The planted teeth sprout out of the ground as armed skeletons who pursue and battle Jason and two of his men (in a famous four minute stop motion sequence that took special effects wizard Ray Harryhausen four and a half months to produce[1]). Seeing that his companions have been slain, Jason escapes by jumping off a cliff into the sea.

 

The quest fulfilled, he, Medea and the surviving Argonauts start the return voyage to Thessaly.

 

And what a beautiful spot it is, I've walked in from Clauchlands Point to spend my final night on Arran on this spit of a perch, ahead the cloud- tousled summit of Goat Fell while 100' below me three young Italian lads fish from a bouldered platform along the shore. As I set up camp we exchanged greetings and I got settled-in hyped-up that time and chance have fixed me to this lovely place. Then comes the musicality of Italian conversation , drifting skywards from the rocks below, not a word comprehensible but no worse for that. Later, one of them climbed up and presented me with a fresh-caught mackerell! Half way through my evening meal it had to wait for breakfast. What a wonderful gift, unasked for and welcome, from the young to the old, from the foreign to the local, my goodness there's hope yet... A great camp in a wonderful position, a fitting place to be for my last night on the Island of Arran.

 

Sorry but some of the date data and sequence of pictures are incorrect, but I don't think it matters too much.

In the park across the street from Saints Peter & Paul Church we saw this dog balancing a treat on his muzzle for what seemed like a very very long time. On command from his master he quickly flipped it off and gobbled it down. Faster than I could see it happen really. His homeless owner talked with us a while explaining how he taught his dog to perform the trick. Unasked, we gave him some cash to help him along.

blueprint for a shoeprint

 

by max roderick

 

There are things in the world that don't laugh

It doesn't matter to them

no matter how much it matters to me

because they just don't know

what laughing is.

 

I never asked for anything

it just kind of hurts where my questions sit

unasked

because none of them were answered

with any effort from

the ones outside.

 

I built a house out of innocence

filth isn't welcome in my home

I see it in my head sometimes

but I don't let it stay for long

it's like a friend I don't want to kick out

who's pulling slowly on my hair.

 

There are things in the world that don't sing

it doesn't matter to them

no matter how much it matters to me

because they just don't know

what singing is.

 

I've never seen a bomb I've never seen one fall

I've never seen the towns they're supposed to hit

I've never smoked, never smelled a menthol cigarette,

but I can imagine

I can pretend I have and look at the flames

and clouds that flow in my mind

over the fields, through the grain

that couldn't feed anymore, even if there were hungry things around,

I've known men to be more dangerous than nature

but nature never was too nice to me

and those typhoons hitting the southern nations

that we've been aiming bombs at for years

are kind of making fools of us.

 

Double strike, nature's with democracy,

against humanity, trying something new this time,

learning what to do, this time,

telling you what's true, this time,

sending bombs to Xanadu, this time.

 

I can learn from past mistakes

so I can take my history

but I can't control what my country does

and if it wants to send me to the past

I guess I should learn how they lived back then.

 

I saw the sunset so beautiful I went to find the camera

didn't notice it was after dark

didn't notice I was in the third world now

didn't notice where the spiders came from

just saw them sitting in the corner

waiting to lay with me in bed

and bite.

 

I took a trip to Eden, to prove to them exactly what they needed to see,

but once I got there, I learned some people don't laugh

some people don't sing, and some people don't cry,

and they're all the same people,

and you shouldn't thrust them into emotions

that they were born with,

because they've shed them for a reason.

 

So I left the garden, and locked the gate for them,

went home in time to the TV where I read a book

in several wide screen scenes

across the river to the people

of the desert, dried like raisins in the sun,

packed in purple hearts

to feed the overworked

with the milk of the organic cows

before either got to work that day

and got their fucking soars,

their fucking pay.

 

Starting in that garden, all cartoony and cute,

sent back a million years, up the ladder, down the chutes

into a candy land of Willy Wonka factories

sending oompa loompas off to work

to feed their children, maybe get some weed,

and maybe they would, and find some satisfaction,

if they weren't so down and helpless,

and if they were ever allowed to leave.

 

I can talk and I can worry and I can look at things this way

and I can and will and do inside my head

throwing glances off to the corner television,

always back to that glorious altar

I pray at my bedside at night

for a little victory of super bowls and reality

and hoping those designers that look

funny, but can't laugh

won't be voted off until the end,

and maybe it's terrible,

but I can sleep a little better with the dull glow

noise of these P.C. sins.

 

And all the birds were singing

poo-tee-weet?

The way they did after Dresden fell

or so I heard, from a pillar of salt,

and he was there, a rare survivor,

and unlike a few others who didn't die,

it wasn't his fault, though it was almost his job,

and some of those who did die,

well, all of them,

it wasn't their fault, either.

 

So I learn a little from things I read,

things I can't read but can know about, things I can see

but not know about, the supernatural,

the subnatural,

anything but the natural, I guess,

and I can learn and quote and send across blue letters

under slipping drums, but they always land,

they always fall, like autumn leaves,

like red feathers off a white bird,

and they crash before they hit your heart,

but I don't mind, because as all the fish swim upstream,

the bear can't catch them all,

and the proles can't wait all day

they've got work in the morning.

 

One bullet hits, and you'll be in the hospital for years

and that slow recovery in white padded walls

will make you think, learn, live, stay silent longer,

because these words are sharp,

and they barely miss your heart,

and what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger.

 

And when it does end, close the curtains

take a bow, under the spotlight of god's last eye,

tell them you've seen a million beautiful epitaphs in your day,

but none of them apply to you just right,

the birds and the fishes, they both lay eggs,

but we keep our children inside,

away from the light,

because these missiles glow too strong.

 

And pick a few words to describe your entire life

and no matter what they are,

the birds will all chirp on top of that stone

the same old song,

the same old laugh and cry.

This museum is dedicated to the victims of the Pinochet dictatorship. I remain an early bird even when abroad, and get to photograph landmarks before pesky innocent bystanders get in the way of my lens.

 

For those unfamiliar with late twentieth century political history in the Southern Cone: Marxist physician/politician Salvador Allende finally gained power in Chile with thirty-six percent of the vote in 1970, and got plenty of unasked-for help from the Nixon administration and the CIA while driving the Chilean economy into the ground over the next three years. Some exhausted Chileans threw corn at military officers in the street, challenging them to intervene.

 

The military did, under General Pinochet, and gave Chile much more than it had bargained for. Thousands were arrested, tortured, murdered. The DINA secret police generally targeted activists of the militant left, but also seized many without such political views.

 

I think the positive and negative reviews of this museum now on tripadvisor.com provide a nice overview. Detractors note that the museum doesn't tell the whole story of tumultuous Chile before or during the Pinochet regime. (It is certainly worth noting that all administrations after Pinochet stuck with the essential economic framework put in place by the 'Chicago boys' Pinochet hired to aright the country's economic ship, although income inequality worsened under their oversight, and they helped steer the country into a separate economic morass in 1981-82.)

 

I recommend Lois Hecht Oppenheim's Politics in Chile for those interested in learning more. The writing is pretty dry, but Ms. Oppenheim impressed me as impartial and trustworthy.

Questions better left unasked:

 

So, Lilli, what did you do during the war?

www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxA3wFYxUB8&feature=share&...

  

Starring Todd Armstrong, Nancy Kovack, Gary Raymond, Laurence Naismith, Niall MacGinnis, Michael Gwynn, Douglas Wilmer, Jack Gwillim, Honor Blackman, John Cairney, Patrick Troughton, Andrew Faulds, Nigel Green, and John Crawford. Directed by Don Chaffey.

Pelias (Douglas Wilmer) usurps the throne of Thessaly by killing King Aristo. However, there is a prophecy that he will be overthrown by a child of Aristo wearing one sandal. When he kills one of Aristo's daughters after she had sought and been granted the protection of Hera, Pelias makes an enemy of the goddess.

 

Twenty years later, Jason (Todd Armstrong), Aristo's son grown to manhood, saves the life of Pelias during a chance encounter, but loses a sandal doing so. He does not know that he has rescued his father's murderer, but Pelias recognizes his nemesis. Pelias keeps his identity secret. However, he cannot just kill Jason; the prophecy also says that he himself would die.

 

When he learns that Jason is undertaking a dangerous quest to obtain the fabled Golden Fleece to rally the people of Thessaly, Pelias encourages him, hoping that he will be killed in the attempt. Men from all over Greece compete for the honor of joining Jason. Since their ship is named the Argo after the ship's builder Argos (Laurence Naismith), they are dubbed the Argonauts. Among those chosen are Hercules (Nigel Green) and Acastus (Gary Raymond), the son of Pelias, who is sent by his father to sabotage the voyage.

 

Jason is taken to Mount Olympus by Hermes (Michael Gwynn) to speak to the gods Zeus (Niall MacGinnis) and Hera (Honor Blackman). Hera tells him that she wishes him well, but that Zeus has imposed restrictions on her assistance (Jason, like all mortals, is a piece in the game which the gods play against each other. This is an accurate portrayal of Greek theology and rarely found in any modern medium). Jason is told that he can only invoke Hera's aid five times (the same number of times his sister called on the goddess by name for help before she was slain). In response to Jason's unasked questions, Hera tells him to search for the Fleece in the land of Colchis, on the other side of the world.

 

Many dangers threaten the expedition. When the Argonauts run perilously low on supplies, Jason turns to Hera. She guides him to the Isle of Bronze, but warns him to take nothing but provisions. However, while chasing some goats, Hercules and his young friend Hylas (John Cairney) find a partially-open treasure chamber of the gods, surmounted by an enormous bronze statue of Talos. Despite Hylas' warning, Hercules steals an enormous brooch pin the size of a javelin. The statue comes to life and attacks, causing much mayhem before Jason can destroy it using Hera's advice. Hylas goes missing and is presumed dead, but the guilt-ridden Hercules refuses to leave until he knows for certain. The other Argonauts will not abandon Hercules, so Jason is forced to call on Hera for the last time. She confirms that Hylas is indeed dead and that Hercules is destined not to continue with them.

 

Hera also directs them to seek out Phineas (Patrick Troughton), the blind seer, for the way to Colchis. They find him tormented by two blue-skinned, bat-like Harpies sent by Zeus to punish him for misusing his gift of prophecy. In return for imprisoning the flying creatures, Phineas tells Jason what he needs to know and gives Jason his only possession, an amulet. To reach Colchis however, they must pass between the Clashing Rocks, a strait flanked by towering rock cliffs that shake and drop boulders to sink any ships attempting to pass between them. Fortunately for the Argonauts, they learn this second hand. Another ship tries to run the strait from the other direction and founders. In despair, Jason throws Phineas' gift into the water; the god Triton emerges and holds back the rocks long enough to let the Argo pass through. On the other side, they pick up three survivors of the other ship, including Medea (Nancy Kovack), the high priestess of the goddess Hecate.

 

They sight Colchis the next day. Acastus and Jason disagree on how to approach the King of Colchis. The argument escalates into a swordfight. Eventually Acastus is disarmed and jumps into the sea to escape. Believing him dead, Jason and his men accept an invitation from King Aeëtes (Jack Gwillim) to a feast, but once they are off guard, they are captured and imprisoned. Acastus has betrayed them, telling Aeëtes about their mission. However, Medea helps Jason and his men escape.

 

Acastus tries to steal the Fleece himself, but is fatally wounded by its guardian, the many-headed Hydra. Jason succeeds in killing the monster and taking the Fleece. But Aeëtes is not far behind. He strews the teeth of the Hydra on the ground and prays to Hecate. The planted teeth sprout out of the ground as armed skeletons who pursue and battle Jason and two of his men (in a famous four minute stop motion sequence that took special effects wizard Ray Harryhausen four and a half months to produce[1]). Seeing that his companions have been slain, Jason escapes by jumping off a cliff into the sea.

 

The quest fulfilled, he, Medea and the surviving Argonauts start the return voyage to Thessaly.

 

A unasked for post thanks to Aperture, I was putting up a pic of a Palla's Warbler, For some reason, Aperture seems to want to post a whole host of other pictures from my library !!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyhow, this is a shot from last Autumn of a young Reed Warbler, saw this over at Wool Dorset

PLEASE VIEW LARGER

----------------------------------------

I'm sure they mean well, but folks who offer unasked-for advice are annoying.

Cervejazul - 25.10.2009

Kelsie Whitmore is the first woman to appear in the starting lineup in an Atlantic League game. I caught her outside the dugout before the autograph session and asked her to personalize this photo; she added the "Never give up" inscription unasked. Signed in-person at a 2022 Staten Island FerryHawks game.

a woman from the gond tribe smiles unasked to my camera when i interrupted her work; dindori, madhya pradesh

Each of the astronauts - maybe also the celebrities - had their own trading card (in addition to a sheet, $10 cost, showing all four astronauts with space at the bottom for their signatures.)

 

Jon McBride is not shown because he left his in the vehicle and also had to check in, and I could not wait for him.

 

Almost none of these cards will be a grade of 10 or even 9, since they were carried in pockets. Drivers or the celebrity carried them. In Marcos Pontes' case, he carried them and signed them unasked.

www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/html/s/signorel/brizio/1/

 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdLjE0oMuDk

 

video.mail.ru/mail/richev42/3962/7279.html

 

======================================================

 

docs.google.com/file/d/0B5WZMlc4xl-8c3FTc1Qwc3pReWc/edit

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiritual_materialism

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pietism

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_idealism

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_view

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleksey_Khomyakov

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Solovyov_%28philosopher%29

 

archive.org/details/warprogressendof00solouoft

 

commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Apocalypse_vasnetsov.jpg

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mysterious_Stranger

 

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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oedipus_Rex_%28film%29

 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=INpmVDj8uic

 

Oedipus, the King of Thebes: “Tiresias, I have sent for you. You are here! From you I’ll know all!”

 

Tiresias, the blind prophet: “How terrible is knowledge when knowing is useless to him who knows. I knew … but I preferred to forget. Otherwise I would not have let myself be brought here.”

 

Oedipus, the King of Thebes: “What frightens you?”

 

Tiresias, the blind prophet: “Let me go home. I beg you, hear me. The burden will be lighter for us both.”

 

Oedipus, the King of Thebes: “No. To speak to the city is your duty.”

 

Tiresias, the blind prophet: “Your words are of no use even to yourself.”

 

Oedipus, the King of Thebes: “Stay! You know. We all beseech you, my citizens and I.”

 

Tiresias, the blind prophet: “You’re mad. I won’t speak. I won’t reveal your ills.”

 

Oedipus, the King of Thebes: “You know and are silent? You want to ruin the city? You’re stone!”

 

Tiresias, the blind prophet: “You reproach me … you blame my nature … and you would not know the nature that is in you.”

 

Oedipus, the King of Thebes: “Those words are an offense … to King and city.”

 

Tiresias, the blind prophet: “Facts will speak even if I say nothing.”

 

Oedipus, the King of Thebes: “Therefore you must speak.”

 

Tiresias, the blind prophet: “I’ve said even too much … and be angry as you like.”

 

Oedipus, the King of Thebes: “Then I think this: you plotted the crime! Were you not … blind, you would have done it, with your hands! ”

 

Tiresias, the blind prophet: “This is what you think? Then I say: Obey your own ban, and beware … of remaining here in our midst. You’re the guilty one who infects … our land. You are the murderer you are seeking. And you do not know of your wicked bond … with the persons most dear. And you refuse to see the evil in yourself.”

 

Oedipus, the King of Thebes: “You will not escape your words unharmed.”

 

Tiresias, the blind prophet: “I am already safe. I have the truth on my side.”

 

Oedipus, the King of Thebes: “The truth for everyone but you with blind eyes, and mind!”

 

Tiresias, the blind prophet: “Unhappy man … You insult me … as everybody, in a short time, will insult you.”

 

Oedipus, the King of Thebes to a messenger/news-bringer who brought Tiresias: “Who’s responsible for these inventions, you or Creon? Oh, riches … Oh, power … what envy you arouse in this life! Thanks to the power I received as a gift … unasked for even the faithful Creon … wants to overthrow me. Creon, Yes, to take my place … sending this charlatan. This beggar, who sees if something is to be gained but is blind artfully.”

 

Tiresias, the blind prophet: “Even if you are the King … I can reply with your same frankness … if I wish. I am subject only to God. And since … before all, and in God’s presence you have mocked blindness and my old age here I say to you: You look … and do not see the shame and evil in which you are. Do you know … who gave you life? … that your kin, living and dead, curse you? One day you will see only darkness. How you’ll cry out then! … the day when you finally understand … how, and with whom, you were married, Son of Fortune!”

 

Oedipus, the King of Thebes: “So you address me? Go away. What are you waiting for? I won’t see you anymore! Or hear you!”

 

Tiresias, the blind prophet: “I’m here as you called me.”

 

Oedipus, the King of Thebes: “I’d never had done it! … if I had thought to hear such madness.”

 

Tiresias, the blind prophet: “This, you see, is our lot. We are mad, for you. We are wise, for those who begot you.”

 

Oedipus, the King of Thebes: “What do you mean? Who begot me?”

 

Tiresias, the blind prophet to a messenger/news-bringer who brought him: “Let us go … lead me.”

 

Oedipus, the King of Thebes: “Yes, get out and disappear …with my torment.”

 

Tiresias, the blind prophet: “I shall leave but when I have finished saying to you everything I have to say to you. Listen, listen … That man you are seeking with threats and orders is here, a foreigner as all believe … yet he is from Thebes. But he will not rejoice in this discovery because, having become a blind beggar he will go among foreign lands like me, wretched flute-player. It will be known … that he is at once brother and father of his children, son and husband of his mother. That he has lain … with the women who was his father’s. And that he … he alone, is his father’s murderer.

 

docs.google.com/file/d/0B5WZMlc4xl-8bXp4aXZyRjJCVVk/edit

 

Jesus Christ: I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockefeller_Chapel

 

spirit.uchicago.edu/

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Clark_Rockefeller

 

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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edoardo_Agnelli

 

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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Mayer_de_Rothschild

 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPwgOiNOSZs

 

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www.youtube.com/watch?v=VafZic-UM_Q

 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWgO9-AIROI

 

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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leszek_Ko%C5%82akowski

 

www.unz.org/Pub/Encounter-1981jan-00009

 

books.google.rs/books/about/Religion_if_there_is_no_God.h...

 

www.economist.com/node/14120114

 

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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deal_with_the_Devil

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sycophancy

 

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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ba%C5%A1_%C4%8Celik

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Scarlet_Letter

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moby-Dick

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kali_%28demon%29

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mara_%28demon%29

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satan

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temptation_of_Christ

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faust

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankenstein

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Double_%28Fyodor_Dostoyevsky_no...

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Picture_of_Dorian_Gray

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strange_Case_of_Dr_Jekyll_and_Mr_Hyde

 

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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Vaknin#Background

 

topdocumentaryfilms.com/i-psychopath/

 

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biblehub.com/john/7-7.htm: "The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that its works are evil."

 

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biblehub.com/matthew/24.htm

www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxA3wFYxUB8&feature=share&...

  

Ray began the film season by introducing Jason and the Argonauts on Sunday 20th June to a packed house of all ages in NFT 1. Ray discussed aspects of the film with Tony and revealed Ugoochio (Ray's name for one the 7 skeletons from the film) to the eager audience.The following Thursday, 24th June, Ray again returned to the NFT to discuss the influence of the 1933 film King Kong on his life and career in the NFT's series 'Screen Epiphany'.Ray talks about the skeleton fight in Jason and the Argonauts whilst Tony holds one of the seven skeletons. Ray is saying, ‘Don’t count the ribs’.

Photo: Mark Mawston.

Starring Todd Armstrong, Nancy Kovack, Gary Raymond, Laurence Naismith, Niall MacGinnis, Michael Gwynn, Douglas Wilmer, Jack Gwillim, Honor Blackman, John Cairney, Patrick Troughton, Andrew Faulds, Nigel Green, and John Crawford. Directed by Don Chaffey.

Pelias (Douglas Wilmer) usurps the throne of Thessaly by killing King Aristo. However, there is a prophecy that he will be overthrown by a child of Aristo wearing one sandal. When he kills one of Aristo's daughters after she had sought and been granted the protection of Hera, Pelias makes an enemy of the goddess.

 

Twenty years later, Jason (Todd Armstrong), Aristo's son grown to manhood, saves the life of Pelias during a chance encounter, but loses a sandal doing so. He does not know that he has rescued his father's murderer, but Pelias recognizes his nemesis. Pelias keeps his identity secret. However, he cannot just kill Jason; the prophecy also says that he himself would die.

 

When he learns that Jason is undertaking a dangerous quest to obtain the fabled Golden Fleece to rally the people of Thessaly, Pelias encourages him, hoping that he will be killed in the attempt. Men from all over Greece compete for the honor of joining Jason. Since their ship is named the Argo after the ship's builder Argos (Laurence Naismith), they are dubbed the Argonauts. Among those chosen are Hercules (Nigel Green) and Acastus (Gary Raymond), the son of Pelias, who is sent by his father to sabotage the voyage.

 

Jason is taken to Mount Olympus by Hermes (Michael Gwynn) to speak to the gods Zeus (Niall MacGinnis) and Hera (Honor Blackman). Hera tells him that she wishes him well, but that Zeus has imposed restrictions on her assistance (Jason, like all mortals, is a piece in the game which the gods play against each other. This is an accurate portrayal of Greek theology and rarely found in any modern medium). Jason is told that he can only invoke Hera's aid five times (the same number of times his sister called on the goddess by name for help before she was slain). In response to Jason's unasked questions, Hera tells him to search for the Fleece in the land of Colchis, on the other side of the world.

 

Many dangers threaten the expedition. When the Argonauts run perilously low on supplies, Jason turns to Hera. She guides him to the Isle of Bronze, but warns him to take nothing but provisions. However, while chasing some goats, Hercules and his young friend Hylas (John Cairney) find a partially-open treasure chamber of the gods, surmounted by an enormous bronze statue of Talos. Despite Hylas' warning, Hercules steals an enormous brooch pin the size of a javelin. The statue comes to life and attacks, causing much mayhem before Jason can destroy it using Hera's advice. Hylas goes missing and is presumed dead, but the guilt-ridden Hercules refuses to leave until he knows for certain. The other Argonauts will not abandon Hercules, so Jason is forced to call on Hera for the last time. She confirms that Hylas is indeed dead and that Hercules is destined not to continue with them.

 

Hera also directs them to seek out Phineas (Patrick Troughton), the blind seer, for the way to Colchis. They find him tormented by two blue-skinned, bat-like Harpies sent by Zeus to punish him for misusing his gift of prophecy. In return for imprisoning the flying creatures, Phineas tells Jason what he needs to know and gives Jason his only possession, an amulet. To reach Colchis however, they must pass between the Clashing Rocks, a strait flanked by towering rock cliffs that shake and drop boulders to sink any ships attempting to pass between them. Fortunately for the Argonauts, they learn this second hand. Another ship tries to run the strait from the other direction and founders. In despair, Jason throws Phineas' gift into the water; the god Triton emerges and holds back the rocks long enough to let the Argo pass through. On the other side, they pick up three survivors of the other ship, including Medea (Nancy Kovack), the high priestess of the goddess Hecate.

 

They sight Colchis the next day. Acastus and Jason disagree on how to approach the King of Colchis. The argument escalates into a swordfight. Eventually Acastus is disarmed and jumps into the sea to escape. Believing him dead, Jason and his men accept an invitation from King Aeëtes (Jack Gwillim) to a feast, but once they are off guard, they are captured and imprisoned. Acastus has betrayed them, telling Aeëtes about their mission. However, Medea helps Jason and his men escape.

 

Acastus tries to steal the Fleece himself, but is fatally wounded by its guardian, the many-headed Hydra. Jason succeeds in killing the monster and taking the Fleece. But Aeëtes is not far behind. He strews the teeth of the Hydra on the ground and prays to Hecate. The planted teeth sprout out of the ground as armed skeletons who pursue and battle Jason and two of his men (in a famous four minute stop motion sequence that took special effects wizard Ray Harryhausen four and a half months to produce[1]). Seeing that his companions have been slain, Jason escapes by jumping off a cliff into the sea.

 

The quest fulfilled, he, Medea and the surviving Argonauts start the return voyage to Thessaly.

 

thursday will be our last trip out to the maximum security prison where i have had sociology class twice a week this semester

we learn inside the facility next to inmates about theories of deviance and criminology

i have grown close to one inmate in particular

today when a guard was sitting in on the class giving her opinion of punishment as a means of rehabilitation which was totally uncalled and unasked for

he turned to me and muttered

she has no idea where people like me are coming from

 

and i know he's right

those prisons are in the middle of goddamn nowhere

run by people in rural areas with no capacity, with no understanding

whose exposure to crime and what is considered crime is completely different from where most of the people inside these facilities are from

 

the guard questions my class presentation, states that she believes inmates benefit to a certain degree, and that if provided with more resources would benefit completely, from the prison system and part of my point is that it doesn't because they just end up returning in alarming rates anyway

it is all i can do to tighten my lips and not say anything in return, but then i think twice and realize

this is my chance to actually say something, to say fuck that to people like that in a formal and organized setting

people in power, like you

people in power, like me

and i remember the conference, i realize

i am white

therefore

i have the guilt of white privilege

but because i am white

i also have the agency

to do something about this

so today

i said, please

think about the system, mam,

think about everyone you know who has ever smoked something as basic as marijuana

do you think that they need to be "fixed"

do you think they need to be fixed?

she looks at me with a strange look and says possession and sales are two different things

and i beg to differ, really

i look at her with a sad face

well, i tried

 

i have been so sad lately about this class

about one person in it in particular

he breaks my heart everytime he talks to me, a little

he says as soon as he gets out of jail he will just wind up back in it because

"that is all there is for someone like me."

"i can't do anything else but what i did to get me in here."

"drugs and me just go together. i can't avoid selling it, there is nothing else for me to do."

"i can't do this."

"i'm so dumb sometimes, man, i can't understand this shit."

i called my mom to talk to her about him last week

i just cried and cried about his complete lack of self respect

his total disregard for his personal intellect

his complete absence of motivation

 

i get so depressed when we leave the facility every time

because i am walking outside

and i get to see the gigantic sky

and there are flowers everywhere when i go outside

i get to go outside

i get to forget about jail again until thursday

and they spend every

fucking

second

there

 

they are the same as me

i know there is nothing i can really do at this point to change the system and you have to buy into it a little bit in order to change it but it just crushes me with the potency of the truth, the implications of the truth

  

i get so depressed every time we leave

because i get to leave

every tuesday and thursday i come and i go

and they stay in the same building

in the middle of nowhere

with no contact to those that they love

and they just continue to exist

 

i do not know if i have it in me

i do not know if i have the ability to learn everything that sociology teaches

about all the shit that is so, so fucked up

and still believe in happy things

still find happiness in things, in everything

i do not know if i am strong enough

because i can handle it in a typical classroom

but i cannot handle it in action, this is manifested in the fact that i get terribly depressed every tuesday and thursday when we leave

i think that i am too sensitive for sociology

i need something with less feeling because i just don't know if i can handle it in the real world

because when i'm confronted with something as ineffably sad as what i am exposed to

i am amazed at how i feel like i am the only one in my class affected to the degree that i am

i don't know if i can handle this

ayperi@ayperibellydance.com Photo by Bill "Drumdude" Tricomi

 

Backs are nice. They don't always get the credit they deserve. Of course, when one is shooting a spinning dancer with a dig camera that displays a regrettable time delay between hitting the shutter and the camera actually taking the photo, you end up with an inordinate amount of back shots. This one, at least, is deliberate.

 

To answer the unasked question, yes, I have tried to take "back shots" of a spinning dancer in hopes of capturing a good frontal shot. It works. Sometimes. (Depends on the rotational velocity of the dancer.)

  

When I saw ret. Air Force Col. Thomas D. Akers and Bruce E. Melnick were appearing at Space Rendezvous 2015, which included a signing, I picked this page for the two to autograph, as it has an essay about the STS-49 mission which they both were on.

 

As it turns out, Akers signed the facing page (see), which also talks about that flight. Melnick added unasked his position on that mission, MS-2 (Mission Specialist-2.)

 

Melnick was selected by NASA in June 1987, and became an astronaut in August 1988, qualifiing for flight assignment as a mission specialist.

 

During the five years he served in NASA’s astronaut corps, Melnick flew as a mission specialist on STS-41, also with Akers.

 

Melnick was paired up with Akers when he also served as a flight engineer on STS-49. He has logged more than 300 hours in space.

 

Melnick retired from the U.S. Coast Guard and left NASA in July 1992. 7 Nov. 2015, Titusville, Fla.

 

Total signatures: One. Melnick was the 195th overall signature in my "Space Shuttle: The First 20 Years."

“Grab your partner by the wing, move to the left and give her a swing. Point your antenna to the sky, blow a bubble and give her try!”. I heard these southern American tones as I was looking for some ladybirds one day, I was intrigued. “Ace of diamoinds, jack of spade. Grab 3 legs and promenade”, the chant continued unabated. “Keep it down, mate!” I said as I saw the fly “What is that racket?”. “S’that how y’all talk to super sturs over here in London” said this tiny fly in a striped jacket “Dy’all know who you’s talkin’ to, I’m Ethan Cornett.” I waited for further information, who the hell was Ethan Cornett, and who would ever name their child after a chemical compound? “Ethan Cornett, Texas’ foremost diptera line dancin’ caller, yee ha!” came an answer to a yet unasked question. So that’s what that unearthly noise was, as a city boy I never could get the idea of synchronised American country music dancing, ouch. “Oh” I said, “welcome to Nottingham” (why did he think everywhere in the UK was called London?). “What you doing over here?” I asked, feigning interest “I’m practising for the gig tonight, in the other garden” came the instantaneous reply “Dosey doe and turn around, scrape your abdo on the ground” . I had no idea if he was good or not, I found myself walking backwards, screaming internally for the inane rhyming to stop. Eventually the noise faded to an annoying buzz, I gave up photography for that day... Where’s the peacemaker??

From the Massachusetts Historical Society. Not to be reproduced without permission.

 

My Dear Mrs. Warren

  

The die is cast. -- Yesterday

brought us such a Speach from the Throne as will

forever stain with everlasting infamy the reign of Gorge

the 3 determined to carry into Execution "the acts passd

by the late parliment, and to mantain the authority

of the Legislative over all his dominions." The

reply of the house of commons & the house of Lords

shew us the most wicked & hostile measures will

be persued against us -- even with out

giving us an opportunity to be heard in our defence

Infatuated Brittain! poor distressed america.

Heaven only knows what is next to take place

but it seems to me the Sword is now our only, yet duti-

ful alternative -- and the fate of Rome will be

renued in Brittain. She who has been the envy

of nations will now become an object of their Scorn

and abhorance, and as it was said of Rome that

she governd other people by her will but her own

by Law, they now behold her governd herself by

will, by the Arbitary will of the worst of her own

citizens, and arrived at that period which has been

foretold when the people co-operateing with the Enimies

of the constitution by Electing those to represent them

who are hired to betray them, or by submitting

  

[Page 2]

tamely when the mask is taken of or falls of and the

attempt to bring beggary & slavery is avoed or can

be no longer concealed. When this happens the

Friends of Liberty, should any such remain will have

one option Still left, and will rather chuse no doubt

to die last British freeman than bear to live the first

of British Slaves -- and this now seems to be all that

is left to americans with an unfeigned & penitant

suplications to that Being who delights in the

welfare of his creatures, and who we humbly hope

will engage on our side, & who if we must go

forth in defence of our injured and oppressed Country

will we hope deliver us from the hands of our

Enimies & those that persecute us. Tho an haste

should encamp against out hearts will not fear

Tho was Should wage rise against us, in this will

we be confident that the Lord reigneth Let thy Mercy o Lord be upon

us according as we hope in thee.

Mr Adams is in Boston.

I have not seen him since the news arrived royal

royal mandate arrived, nor have I been able to

learn any further news -- I wait for his return

with anxiety even tho I expect it

to be confirmed in all my apprehensions.

  

[Page 3]

Those who have most to loose have most to fear. the

natural timidity of our sex always seeks for a

releif and stands in the need of encouragement &

protection from of the other -- nor am I insensible

Thus far I wrote with a Heart

tremblingly anxious and was prevented from

persuing my Subject by companys comeing in --

Upon Mr. Adams'es return I experienced the truth

of your observation. He laughed at my fears

and in some Measure dispelld them -- made me

see that we were not called either rebels or Trators

told me that there was no other news by this Ship

and he still thought that their fears might have

weight with them -- I would not have my

Friend immagine that with all my fears and

apprehensions. I would give up one Iott Iota

of our rights and privilages -- I think upon

the Maturest deliberation I can say dreadful

as the day would be I had rather see the Sword

Drawn -- Let these truths says the admired

Farmer be indelibly impressed on our Minds

that we cannot be happy without being free

that we cannot be free without being secure

in our property -- that we cannot be secure in

  

[Page 4]

our property if without our consent others may

as by right take it away -- we know too well

the blessings of freedom, to tamely resign them

it -- and there really seems to be a ray of light

breaking thro the palpable darkness which has

for so long a time darkened our hemisphere and

threatened to overwhelm us in one common ruin

and I cannot but hope with you for a more favo-

rable Scenes -- and brighter days --Lord North

has luckily thought of a new explanation of

his Neroism -- what ever

may be their secret motives to change of Measures

is uncertain, but from their formour conduct

we have little shall have little reason to think that

justice or Humanity were the motives -- and

must ever mantain a jealous Eye over those who

have acted so repungant to all Laws both Humane

and Divine -- May justice & Liberty finally prevail

and the Friends of freedom enjoy that satisfaction

and tranquility which ever attends upright

intentions and is the sure recompence of virtue.

But is adverse Days are

Still alloted us, and which neither wisdom or prudence

can prevent, it must be a continual Source

  

[Page 5]

of Satisfaction that every method consistant with

reason and religion has have been adopted to avert the

calimities, but if Innocence must be exposed to Calumi-

ny and virtue become the object of percecution and

the upright individual fall a Sacrifice to his own

virtue, still we must not araign the Divine justice

whowhich acts not by partial but by general Laws

and may have very important and extensive

concequences to answer for the general good of

Society.

My Friend assures me that

She will comply with my request and gratify my cu-

riosity but at the same conditions with me. If I

comply it will be only to obtain from her a greater

value for a less -- a very selfish motive you will say

yes there are few who would withstand the temptation

I have an other motive too in complying which

I dare not own to her. Some future time perhaps

I may venture to -- in yours to Mr Adams you

seem to labour under apprehension least the severity

with which a certain group was Drawn was in compatable

with that Benevolence which ought always to be

predominant in the female character. Satire in the

hands of some is a dangerous weapon, but when it is

awakened only by the love of virtue and the abhorance

of vice, when truth is preserved, and the [ridiculous?]

  

[Page 6]

and vicious actions are alone the subject, it is so

far from blameable that it is certainly meritorious and

tho an Eagle's talon asks an Eagle's eye,

who combats virtues foe is virtues friend

and a keen Satire well applied has some times

found its way, when every persuasions, admonitions,

and Lectures of Morality have failed -- such is the

abhorance of humane nature when it diviates

from the path of rectitude to be presented in

its true coulours.

"Well may they Dread the Muses fatal skill

Well may they tremble when she Draws the quill

Her Magick quill that like Ithuriels Spear

Reveals the cloven hoof, or lengthen'd Ear

Bids vice & folly take their Nat'ral Shapes

Turns Counsellors to knaves & Beaux to apes

Drags the vile whisp'rer from his dark abode

Till all the Deamon starts up from the toad"

You will excuse me for

given my opinion unasked I will not forestall

our other Friend. he shall not know mine till

he has given his own -- give me leave to Quote

the opinion of a poet upn this subject

  

[Page 7]

"When virtue sinks beneath unnumberd foesWoes

And passions born her Friends revoult her foes

Tis Satires power; tis her corrective part

To calm the wild disorders of the heart

She points to arduous height were where glory lies

And teaches mad ambition to be wise

In the dark Bosome wakes the fair desire

Draws good from ill, a brighter flame from fire

Strips black oppression of her gay disguise

Ands bids the hag in native horrour rise

Strikes tow'ring pride and lawless rapine Dead

And plants the Wreath on Virtue's awful head."

I must intreat a compli-

ance with my other request it will be an additional

obligation conferd upon your much obliged

Friend

  

Abigail Adams

Contrast in New York

TWO LOVES

I dreamed I stood upon a little hill,

And at my feet there lay a ground, that seemed

Like a waste garden, flowering at its will

With buds and blossoms. There were pools that dreamed

Black and unruffled; there were white lilies

A few, and crocuses, and violets

Purple or pale, snake-like fritillaries

Scarce seen for the rank grass, and through green nets

Blue eyes of shy peryenche winked in the sun.

And there were curious flowers, before unknown,

Flowers that were stained with moonlight, or with shades

Of Nature's willful moods; and here a one

That had drunk in the transitory tone

Of one brief moment in a sunset; blades

Of grass that in an hundred springs had been

Slowly but exquisitely nurtured by the stars,

And watered with the scented dew long cupped

In lilies, that for rays of sun had seen

Only God's glory, for never a sunrise mars

The luminous air of Heaven. Beyond, abrupt,

A grey stone wall. o'ergrown with velvet moss

Uprose; and gazing I stood long, all mazed

To see a place so strange, so sweet, so fair.

And as I stood and marvelled, lo! across

The garden came a youth; one hand he raised

To shield him from the sun, his wind-tossed hair

Was twined with flowers, and in his hand he bore

A purple bunch of bursting grapes, his eyes

Were clear as crystal, naked all was he,

White as the snow on pathless mountains frore,

Red were his lips as red wine-spilith that dyes

A marble floor, his brow chalcedony.

And he came near me, with his lips uncurled

And kind, and caught my hand and kissed my mouth,

And gave me grapes to eat, and said, 'Sweet friend,

Come I will show thee shadows of the world

And images of life. See from the South

Comes the pale pageant that hath never an end.'

And lo! within the garden of my dream

I saw two walking on a shining plain

Of golden light. The one did joyous seem

And fair and blooming, and a sweet refrain

Came from his lips; he sang of pretty maids

And joyous love of comely girl and boy,

His eyes were bright, and 'mid the dancing blades

Of golden grass his feet did trip for joy;

And in his hand he held an ivory lute

With strings of gold that were as maidens' hair,

And sang with voice as tuneful as a flute,

And round his neck three chains of roses were.

But he that was his comrade walked aside;

He was full sad and sweet, and his large eyes

Were strange with wondrous brightness, staring wide

With gazing; and he sighed with many sighs

That moved me, and his cheeks were wan and white

Like pallid lilies, and his lips were red

Like poppies, and his hands he clenched tight,

And yet again unclenched, and his head

Was wreathed with moon-flowers pale as lips of death.

A purple robe he wore, o'erwrought in gold

With the device of a great snake, whose breath

Was fiery flame: which when I did behold

I fell a-weeping, and I cried, 'Sweet youth,

Tell me why, sad and sighing, thou dost rove

These pleasent realms? I pray thee speak me sooth

What is thy name?' He said, 'My name is Love.'

Then straight the first did turn himself to me

And cried, 'He lieth, for his name is Shame,

But I am Love, and I was wont to be

Alone in this fair garden, till he came

Unasked by night; I am true Love, I fill

The hearts of boy and girl with mutual flame.'

Then sighing, said the other, 'Have thy will,

I am the love that dare not speak its name.'

 

Love beyond reach: sunset tones of amber, red musk, and blood orange with three chains of roses, velvet moss, white lilies, crocuses, violets, poppies, blue musk, neroli, angel's trumpet, frankincense, benzoin, and night-blooming flowers.

 

When I heard that Marsha Ivins was going to be at the Cradle of Aviation Museum in Garden City, N.Y., I just had to go. I had met Ivins at Villanova University in 2001 or 2002, prior to "Space Shuttle: The First 20 Years" coming out, and thus was on my "bucket list" of astronauts whose signatures I needed in the book. I thought it a long shot at meeting her again.

 

I opened up the book to a page where I had other autographs. Ivins flipped to its cover and remarked, "I took that photo." She then flipped through the book, commenting, "I used to know where all my pictures were... I took that one, that was a satellite we deployed, and I took that one, he was my commander on one of my flights."

 

She finally stopped and signed on a photo of her on "The Hair Memo" page which interestingly was about her. NASA officials, seeing a photo of Ivins with her long hair splayed out due to weightlessness, said that due to safety reasons, an astronaut who has long hair should not have it extended and flowing while on the space shuttle.

 

Ivins signed, unasked, with her middle initial: "Marsha S. Ivins." The other autographs that day I saw didn't have that. There's always something unique or different about the signatures I get!

 

Seeing how Mario Runco authored the essay and he is on my "must get" list - Runco lived in New Jersey - I got him to sign this page. Runco, a former New Jersey State Trooper (really!) flew on three shuttle flights: STS-44/Atlantis; STS-54/Endeavour; and STS-77/Endeavour.

 

Runco was one astronaut I had been trying to get for almost the last five years, ever since I found out he appeared at a Scout camporee in Sea Girt, NJ in 2007.

 

Runco appeared at a previous camporee in 2004, and I was prepared to meet him when it was held again in 2011, but Runco was not one of the guest attendees then.

 

I was also happy to get Runco's signature not only because his was one I had been chasing, but also because I met retired Air Force Col. Ronald J. Garan Jr. the week before but he had to go into a meeting afterward and couldn't sign. Of the two other astronauts I met beforehand in 2012, I already had their autographs. So a new one was uplifting. (The date following Runco's autograph is cut off in the scan.)

 

Interestingly, one of the astronauts I met during the last Kids Week on the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum was retired Air Force Col. Terrence "Tom" Henricks, one of Runco's crewmates on STS-44.

 

So on this page:

 

Marsha Ivins. Flew on five shuttle missions, and was one of six women to do so.

 

Mario Runco. Flew on STS-57, the first Spacehab mission.

 

Total this page: Two signatures. Runco was the No. 32 contributor.

 

An aside: I used to have a 1986 NASA Fact Files with astronaut biographies, and up until 2001 or 2002 stopped using it for in-person as well as by-mail signings. Reason was two people didn't sign it: One was Jim Adamson, who instead sent me a signed photo when I sent the booklet to him... and the other was Ivins, who signed only one thing for me at Villanova, a photo which I still have.

  

A youthful transgression! This poster was printed for a left-wing political party which is now GroenLinks, the Geen Party in the Netherlands. A typical 70's design, when you look at the logo. The 'Lepper' saddle was the one of my own bike.

The large space below the party logo was ment for local groups of the party to use for announcements and other statements.

Not one of my best works, I admit, but since a Dutch publisher used it, unasked, for a book cover about the history of the party, it's quite actual. Of course I mailed the publisher and pointed out my copyright and the payment of a fee...

 

Collection

RAILROAD “DATE NAIL”

Steel, ca. 1929, C. E. Length 2 1/2 inches (standard); head stamped “29”; moderately weathered, oxidized.

This Railroad “Date Nail” is a fine and valuable example of these markers, traditionally shared among Gentlepeople of the Road as tokens of especial friendship, most desirably being marked with the year of the recipient’s birth. They are either carried loose on the person or worn on necklaces of copper wire (“railroad bling”).

Date Nails are a tangible symbol of the personal relationship and bonds of affection between giver and recipient as recognized within the larger context of the American Over-soul. The Over-soul, a dynamic confluence of lives on this continent, is described by Ralph Waldo Emerson, invoked in the poems of Walt Whitman, and found on America’s railroads and highways.

Readers conversant with street or road culture will have a first-hand understanding of this phenomenon in its utmost manifestations, and all who have taken a road trip or family vacation will likewise have felt rushing around them, however passingly, the transcendental slipstream, which, here, is entered through motile action. Also, an allegorical figure, experientially and effectively similar to the Over-soul in its outward-regarding aspect, hovers over Saint-Gaudens’ 54th Massachusetts Volunteer (colored) Infantry Regiment as they march to open recognition of their place in not only the collective unconscious, but also the national consciousness.

 

Acquisition Data: Gift of Hansum Jack, Tramp, immediately preceding a July 2007 performance at the MSM by the musical group “Pariah Beat.” The flyer for this performance features a colorful character urging attendance at the concert and featuring numerous motifs and attributes associated with tramp, punk and other subcultures, too numerous to list here but including nautical stars similar to those embroidered on the fabulous 1848 “Sailor Pants” at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. Attributes include “Doc Martens” footwear, rowdy attitude, striped railroad cap, a lady’s garter, old-fashioned tattoos, belly full of roast chicken, handgun, spliff or hand-rolled.

The figure gestures with his right hand; a band member, expressing uncertainty, identified the gesture as “(heavy) metal … devil’s horns,” while agreeing it could also be an unidentified or unidentifiable gesture of blessing or ecstasy originating in other, older religious and/or folkloric practices, the interpretation favored by some experts at the MSM.

It can be no accident that this nail joined our collections at this time.

  

Background: From the mid-19th to the late 20th centuries, railroads drove nails like these into the wooden ties to help monitor their condition. More effective anti-rot treatment of the ties, and information stamped directly onto the ties, have effectively ended the use of date nails. When dropped on a wooden or concrete surface, this nail produces a cheerful clink.

 

Note: In interviewing transients under age 30, we have seen that few identify themselves as “hobos,” and some strongly disfavor the term. Riding the rails must be understood to be an exercise not in nostalgia but in both hardship and occasional unexpected, unplanned joys (such as snowy, leafless spring woods which are nonetheless newly filled with birdsong; a loaf of bread and a block of cheese given, unasked, by a friendly hand; warm new friendships, a cold can of beer, and some hot rockin’ tunes all converging as the late-summer sun sinks below the far horizon; the appearance of a steady job and a place to live for the winter).

 

Because rail-riding was originally, and is still in its essence, a practical solution to an age-old, yet evergreen, problem (“desire to go somewhere else + no money = ?”), rather than a cultural gesture, let alone a posture of self-regard, we find the position of the younger tramps a compelling one: they are not “hobos,” they are “tramps.” The Main Street Museum therefore adopts this usage.

  

Miracle:-- Several meanings exist for Miracle.

 

1. Occurrence of Extraordinary events by supernatural powers.

2. Unexplainable events that scientific experiments can't prove.

 

Great saints, Siddhapurushas, Avatars do certain acts which appear extraordinary to us. We can not explain how they happen? We call these miracles. Creation of objects from air, telling the past and predicting the future, curing incurable diseases, Teleporting things and persons etc- - These are all commonly called Miracles. Hence when such things happen some atheists believe in some higher powers and their perception of God changes. Without any miracles such people won't believe in God. This is the reason for Swami showing innumerable numbers of and varieties of miracles since the time He has taken the present body. Swami has said, otherwise people don't believe in God and God's powers.

 

If we analyse deeply, do only the miracles confirm the existence of God.? The answer is an emphatic NO. Then what may be the reason for people to have faith on God, only if they witness some miracles? The one and only reason is, people assume that miracles occur rarely and it is not a daily occurrence. If we tell this to God, He would smile and tell " My dear children , all these matters which you are seeing now is My miracle only; the eyes through which you see, the ears with which you hear, the nose with which you breath and smell, the mouth with which you eat, the tongue with which you speak, the hands with which you work, the legs with which you walk, and so many usefulness of all your internal and external faculties are absolutely My miracles only. Not only you, billions of human beings have been blessed with similar gifts. In fact all of you are my miracles only. Years before you were all small babies; and now you see, how you have grown up and every limb of your body grown proportionately. Is that not a miracle occurring continuously! People themselves born of miracles crave for miracles!! What a wonder? Have you ever thought you couldn't have been living without the sun, moon, air, water, fire, vegetations, food grains and what not!!

 

For your enjoyment I have created magnificent mountains and valleys, Trees, enchanting flowers and the whole world of different things. EVERYTHING I HAVE CREATED IS A MIRACLE. THERE IS NO END TO THEM. THEY ARE HAPPENING EVERY MOMENT, MOMENT TO MOMENT. But you don't realize that all these are My Miracles ; not understanding this you are asking to show some other miracles which I show you sometimes; really they are not miracles, once I do it they stagnate; but you see all the other real Miracles which are always changing every moment, so they remain very Fresh and Beauty."

 

The Miracles that I show to some people are due to MY Love on those particular people. But the other Miracles I AM doing continuously are due to MY abundant Love for the whole creation. These are not just Miracles. They are my loving gifts to the whole humanity. Sadly you don't realize this! I have given all these, unasked by you out of my love and knowing that you can't lead life happily without them. Alas! You are asking quite different non-essential things.

 

Now some wisdom has dawn on us, hence we pray: OH! My dear Lord, we don't wish any other miracles, we don't wish any other gifts. By Your Grace, now wisdom has dawned upon us. We pray, we want not the gifts, not the miracles; we want the Giver of gifts, we want the Doer of Miracles.

 

At last God really smiles, nodding His head.

 

Humble Prostrations at HIS Lotus Feet.

Sai Ram.

 

- Ranganatha Rao.

 

Dear Saibandhu,

 

Thank you for this very inspiring article on ‘miracles’. Kindly allow me to add the following-

Materialization of the sacred ash (vibhutti) and objects (rakshas) to protect the wearer is only an infinitesimal part of Baba’s miracles. Dreams of Baba and holy visions also are miracles willed by the Lord Himself to arouse the faith of the devotee and to bless him with timely advice and instructions. Yearning for God is ‘bhakti’ –devotion. Wherever there is bhakti, there is miracle.

His greatest MIRACLE, however, is HIS LOVE.

HIS LOVE has transformed the hearts of innumerable men and women to make them tread the path of goodness and godliness. Convinced that GOD does exist, not only outside them but in them, those who are thus transformed know that they can earn His Grace through devotion, truth, righteousness, non-violence and service to others regardless of race, religion or caste and without any thought of reward.

His Miracle is the permanent change of heart of the devotee, brought the moment he starts to see God in all beings, in all his brothers and sisters.

 

At the Lotus Feet of SAI

 

Anita Bacha

  

What the post-space shutle astronauts will be flying - maybe. I needed something for Kathleen H. Rubins to sign, and the alternative to this was a litho of the Orion capsule - which had a dark background.

 

And so, I also had it signed by Serena M. Aunon when I saw her later that week. So I guess this will be my default item to get signed by the Group 20 and later astronauts.

 

Sure enough, although I didn't give it to a friend - I should have - when Jeanette J. Epps made an appearance, one which was delayed and which I couldn't stay for - I did get it signed by Air Force Col. Michael S. Hopkins.

 

February 2015: Another Group 20 astronaut, Gregory R. "Reid" Wiseman, who added (unasked) "Exp. 40/41," signed this.

His guru who was also present cautioned him not to transgress ethi dharma by displaying knowledge unasked by the participants. Sri Mouna Swami received this caution from his Guru there it may develop ego in ones own mind. Swami who took this in the right perspective took a vow that he will not speak and observe silence (Mouna) for life as a direct consequence of wastefully using his tongue. That is how Swami was known as Mouna Swami. By observing Silence his yogic power increased multifold.

Received this as a thank-you for helping out another space enthusiast. He notes, "The signature is certainly not an autopen and unless it's some type of printed signature - unlikely - it should be good. Seems like you mentioned that you could use one. I got it a few years ago, unasked for, as he probably just found some old request of mine and didn't know if he responded or not so sent that."

 

Ret. Marine Col. Charles O. Hobaugh was selected by NASA in April 1996, and reported to the Johnson Space Center in August 1996. He completed 2 years of training and evaluation and was qualified for flight assignment as a pilot.

 

A veteran of three spaceflights, Hobaugh has logged more than 876 hours in space. He was the pilot on STS-104 in 2001 and STS-118 in 2007 and was the commander of STS-129 in 2009.

 

Hobaugh resigned from NASA in August 2011.

 

STS-104/Atlantis (July 12 to July 24, 2001) was the 10th mission to the International Space Station (ISS). During the 13-day flight, the crew conducted joint operations with the Expedition 2 crew and performed three spacewalks (EVAs) to install the joint airlock, “Quest,” and outfit it with four high-pressure gas tanks.

 

The mission was accomplished in 200 Earth orbits, traveling 5.3 million miles in 306 hours and 35 minutes.

 

STS-118 (August 7 to August 21, 2007) was the 119th space shuttle flight, the 22nd flight to the station and the 20th flight for Endeavour.

 

During the mission, Endeavour's crew successfully added another truss segment, a new gyroscope and an external spare parts platform to the International Space Station. A new system that enables docked shuttles to draw electrical power from the station to extend visits to the outpost was activated successfully.

 

A total of four EVAs were performed by three crewmembers. Endeavour carried approximately 5,000 pounds of equipment and supplies to the station and returned to Earth with approximately 4,000 pounds of hardware and obsolete equipment.

 

Traveling 5.3 million miles in space, the STS-118 mission was completed in 12 days, 17 hours, 55 minutes and 34 seconds.

 

STS-129/Atlantis (November 16 to November 29, 2009) was the 31st shuttle flight to the International Space Station.

 

During the mission, the crew delivered two Express Logistics Carriers (ELC racks) to the International Space Station and approximately 30,000 pounds of replacement parts for systems that provide power to the station, keep it from overheating and maintain proper orientation in space. The mission also featured three EVAs.

 

The STS-129 mission was completed in 10 days, 19 hours, 16 minutes and 13 seconds, traveling 4.5 million miles in 171 orbits, and returning to Earth with NASA Astronaut, Nicole Stott, following her tour of duty aboard the International Space Station.

A child's foot doesn't know it's a foot yet

And it wants to be a butterfly or an apple

But then the rocks and pieces of glass,

the streets, the stairways

and the roads of hard earth

keep teaching the foot that it can't fly,

that it can't be a round fruit on a branch.

Then the child's foot

was defeated, it fell

in battle,

it was a prisoner,

condemned to life in a shoe.

 

Little by little without light

it got acquainted with the world in its own way

without knowing the other imprisoned foot

exploring life like a blind man.

 

Those smooth toe nails

of quartz in a bunch,

got harder, they changed into

an opaque substance, into hard horn

and the child's little petals

were crushed, lost their balance,

took the form of a reptile without eyes,

with triangular heads like a worm's.

And they had callused over,

they were covered

with tiny lava fields of death,

a hardening unasked for.

But this blind thing kept going

without surrender, without stopping

hour after hour.

One foot after another,

now as a man,

or a woman,

above,

below,

through the fields, the mines,

the stores, the government bureaus,

backward,

outside, inside,

forward,

this foot worked with its shoes,

it hardly had time

to be naked in love or in sleep

one foot walked, both feet walked

until the whole man stopped.

 

And then it went down

into the earth and didn't know anything

because there everything was dark,

it didn't know it was no longer a foot

or if they buried it so it could fly

or so it could

be an apple.

 

Ret. Air Force Col. Gary E. Payton was a major when he flew on STS-51-C/Discovery, the first Department of Defense shuttle mission. In doing so, he became the first Manned Spaceflight Engineer, one of a group of about 30 mostly Air Force astronauts trained to fly secret DoD missions.

 

Payton was originally scheduled to fly, along with the rest of the 51C crew, on STS-10. But problems with the IUS rocket booster stage on STS-6 caused that flight's postponement - first to STS-15 (41E), then to 41H, and finally to 51C.

 

51C was originally scheduled for Challenger, but tile problems forced a substitution to Discovery.

 

Had Navy Cmdr. David E. Vidrine not be pulled from his tentative assignment on STS-41-C, he, not Payton, would have been the first MSE in space.

 

Payton made an appearance at the Space Foundation in Colorado Springs, and through their generosity, was able to get my Space Shuttle: 20 Years book signed as well as a photo. I was fortunate enough to find a high-res picture of him sufficient to get enlarged as an 8*10 (although I don't know why the border has a Lewis - now Glenn - Research Center moniker.)

 

Payton did the inscription unasked: "Hart - Thank you for your support of America's space program."

  

These people never cease to attempt to meddle in other peoples lives. Abortion is a right and a choice. Sure enough properly used birth control should be the first resort of most. Yet millions of women are raped every year or forced to have children against their will. I'd like to see the progenitor of this poster who just so happens to be a MALE African American pastor be obligated to carry a baby for nine months. Better still I'd like to see all these right to lifers get off their high horses and take in all these unasked for children and give them the lives they deserve. Women living in poverty and poor conditions should not be required to have children to satisfy the holier than thou aspirations of these self serving morons.

 

This monstrous sign on Watts Street and 6th Avenue in Manhattan needs to be torn down or destroyed. I wonder what the owner of the store below thinks. It is offensive and could be considered rascist.

We always called this Dutch hip but the truncated ridge may have other names. Notice, too that below the gable end the roof flares again creating a small overhang on the gable end. This would serve to keep water off the mud chinked log wall. I suspect the truncated ridge serves a similar practical function. While at the Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village I noticed a good number of roofs framed in this style. In the background can be seen another structure with the same style roof. The docents/actors were there to talk about the Ukrainian life style of the homesteaders so I left some questions unasked.

He used to carve meat, but when I visited Sligo, Ireland, in the 1990s his butcher's shop had become a woodcarver's workshop, which also contained a Harley Davidson motor bike. Michael Quirke carved this for me, unasked, very quickly whilst conversing with me and a poet from Santa Fe. Having completed the cat, he asked my name and swiftly carved it on the reverse side. (See below) A quite unforgettable experience.

 

7 Days of Shooting/Week #27/Works of Art/Macro Monday